Mitt Romney’s Path To Electoral College Victory Is Still Very Narrow

As of today there are 99 days left until Election Day and, just as was the case several months ago, while the national polls remain tight and there are signs that the state of the economy continues to hurt the President, the path to victory for Mitt Romney remains very precarious and, some might say, unlikely:
President Obama has an overall edge in the 12 decisive battleground states that is measurably greater than his advantage in national polling.
The dynamic, which may reflect a combination of lower swing-state unemployment rates and demographic advantages for the president, is causing stirrings of unease among Republicans, even as they emphasize that it is important not to read too much into the state of the race right now.
“Obama is concentrating his considerable early resources and messaging in the swing states, and it’s had an impact,” said Mark McKinnon, who served as a media adviser for President George W. Bush’s presidential campaigns.
(…)
The crucial battleground states number about a dozen: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Taking the polling averages used by Nate Silver in the New York Times, the president is ahead in 10 of the 12 vital states. If those polls were borne out on Election Day, Obama would coast to victory with 332 electoral college votes. Only 270 votes are needed to win the presidency.

Read more: http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/mitt-romneys-path-to-electoral-college-victory-is-still-very-narrow/

German investors hit in multi-million dollar ponzi scheme

Prosecutors in Mannheim, Germany said they have evidence that 1,295 investors from Germany, Austria and Switzerland lost at least $37 million in a pyramid scheme allegedly run by a German man arrested in Las Vegas last week.
"The actual damages are expected to be higher," the Mannheim prosecutor's office said in a statement on Monday.
Ulrich Felix Anton Engler, 51, was arrested in Las Vegas on Wednesday for violating U.S. immigration law.
U.S. Immigration and Customs said last week Engler was in the custody of its officials and would be deported and turned over to German law enforcement authorities, adding he was wanted by them on multiple criminal charges after allegedly defrauding investors.
Investigators from the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg are standing by to aid with a transfer of Engler, the Mannheim prosecutor's office said on Monday.
The prosecutor said Engler is accused of using a Florida-based marketing company to lure investors between end-2004 and mid-2007, under the pretence of investing the cash on the New York Stock Exchange.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/30/us-germany-ponzi-idUSBRE86T0XO20120730

Doctor Shortages, Jobs Destroyed, Coverage Dropped

The Supreme Court's decision last month to uphold the Obamacare mandate tax did not vindicate the propriety or efficacy of the law itself, a point Chief Justice Roberts explicitly stated in his ruling.  "It is not [The Court's] job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices,” he wrote.  As we learn more about Obamacare's practical consequences, the urgent need for repeal becomes increasingly apparent.  Consider the following news items from the past week alone:

(1) "Doctor Shortage Likely to Worsen with Health Law":

The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that in 2015 the country will have 62,900 fewer doctors than needed. And that number will more than double by 2025, as the expansion of insurance coverage and the aging of baby boomers drive up demand for care. Even without the health care law, the shortfall of doctors in 2025 would still exceed 100,000. Health experts, including many who support the law, say there is little that the government or the medical profession will be able to do to close the gap by 2014, when the law begins extending coverage to about 30 million Americans. It typically takes a decade to train a doctor.

“We have a shortage of every kind of doctor, except for plastic surgeons and dermatologists,” said Dr. G. Richard Olds, the dean of the new medical school at the University of California, Riverside, founded in part to address the region’s doctor shortage. “We’ll have a 5,000-physician shortage in 10 years, no matter what anybody does.” Experts describe a doctor shortage as an “invisible problem.” Patients still get care, but the process is often slow and difficult. In Riverside, it has left residents driving long distances to doctors, languishing on waiting lists, overusing emergency rooms and even forgoing care. “It results in delayed care and higher levels of acuity,” said Dustin Corcoran, the chief executive of the California Medical Association, which represents 35,000 physicians. People “access the health care system through the emergency department, rather than establishing a relationship with a primary care physician who might keep them from getting sicker.”

Read more: http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2012/07/30/obamacare_fewer_doctors_jobs_destroyed_coverage_lost

Why Elizabeth Warren Wants America to Be More Like Communist China

Massachusetts residents who tuned in to the Olympics opening ceremony saw a new 30-second campaign commercial from the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Elizabeth Warren, that said America should be more like Communist China.
“We've got bridges and roads in need of repair and thousands of people in need of work. Why aren’t we rebuilding America?” asks Warren, a professor at Harvard Law School who served in the Obama administration. “Our competitors are putting people to work, building a future. China invests 9% of its GDP in infrastructure. America? We’re at just 2.4%. We can do better.”
The ad juxtaposes robust Chinese cranes and dump trucks with decaying American bridges and idle but sympathetic-looking American workers wearing hard-hats.
Warren has been in the news lately as an inspiration for President Obama’s “you didn’t build that” comment. And Mr. Obama himself has been making somewhat similar points about infrastructure on the campaign trail. On July 27, the same day Warren announced her new ad, Mr. Obama, campaigning in Virginia, said, “I think it makes sense for us to take half the savings from war and let’s use it to do some nation-building here at home. Let’s make sure that we’re rebuilding our roads and our bridges. Let’s build broadband lines into rural communities and improve our wireless networks and rebuild our ports and airports. We can put people to work right now doing the work that America needs done.”

Read more: http://reason.com/archives/2012/07/30/why-elizabeth-warren-wants-america-to-be

DHS gears up for civil unrest prior to presidential elections

The Department of Homeland Security has ordered masses of riot gear equipment to prepare for potential significant domestic riots at the Republican National Convention, Democratic National Convention and next year’s presidential inauguration.
The DHS submitted a rushed solicitation to the Federal Business Opportunities site on Wednesday, which is a portal for Federal government procurement requisitions over $25,000. The request gave the potential suppliers only one day to submit their proposals and a 15-day delivery requirement to Alexandria, Virginia.
As the brief explains, “the objective of this effort is to procure riot gear to prepare for the 2012 Democratic and Republican National Conventions, the 2013 Presidential Inauguration and other future similar activities.”
The total amount ordered is about 150 sets of riot helmets, thigh and groin protectors, hard-shell shin guards and other riot gear.

Read more: http://rt.com/usa/news/dhs-unrest-gear-283/

Obama Admin Reportedly Putting off Costly & Controversial Regs Until After the Election

The Obama administration is avoiding implementing “costly and controversial” regulations so as not to upset the president’s chances of a November win, according to USA TODAY.
“The pace of regulations issued by the Obama administration is receding as the nation’s economy falters and the 2012 election approaches,” Richard Wolf reports.
“Several of the most expensive and controversial rules — to protect the food supply, reduce exposure to silica dust, require rear-view cameras or other devices on cars, and more — remain under review by the White House long after they were expected to be published,” he adds.
Of course, depending on your political persuasion, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“Advocates for the environment, health and safety say the delay signals an effort by the administration to reconsider the economic and political impacts of its actions, in light of the struggling economy and the 2010 midterm elections that empowered Republicans,” the report adds.
Simply put, someone in the White House thinks enacting all these regulations might hurt the president’s reelection bid.
“Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office scolded the administration for delaying the significant Medicare cuts outlined in the new health care law until after the election to avoid political backlash,” the Washington Free Beacon adds to the report.

Read more: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/it-can-wait-obama-admin-reportedly-putting-off-costly-controversial-regs-until-after-the-election/

RON PAUL TRIUMPHANT

That tireless defender of civil liberties, limited government, and the Constitution, Dr. Ron Paul of Texas, is about to end his quarter century congressional career at the age of 77. No one in Congress has been more committed to our founding principles than Ron Paul. His imminent departure from Congress is therefore an incalculable loss for the United States and the world. On the eve of his departure, just when the pundits thought him incapable of achieving a political gain, he proved them wrong, the capstone to a career marked by independence from Republican sell-outs to big government and Democratic advocates of big government. On July 25, an astonishing 327 members of Congress voted in favor of his Audit the Fed bill, causing it to pass with the two-thirds majority required during the House’s suspension of its normal rules. Although the bill is one Harry Reid despises and will not let come to a floor vote in the Democratic Senate, the promise of a future when the Federal Reserve will be more transparent in its decision making appears brighter today than at any other time in American history. Senator Rand Paul, Ron Paul’s son, has pending S. 202, which is the Senate version of the House Audit the Fed bill.

Under Dr. Paul’s bill, the Government Accountability Office is authorized to examine the previously closed-door discussions of monetary policy performed at the central bank. Federal Reserve financials are already reviewed by an outside audit firm with results published by the central bank. The GAO also audits the Federal Reserve’s financials, but to date deliberations on policy decisions governing monetary policy have been shrouded in secrecy. Dr. Paul’s bill would force those secret deliberations into the light by eliminating the statutory exemption that has shielded them from GAO audits. “I think when people talk about independence and having this privacy of the central bank,” said Dr. Paul in the July 24 floor debate on the bill, “they want secrecy, and secrecy is not good. We should have privacy for the individual, but we should have openness of government all the time, and we’ve drifted a long way from that.”

Read more: http://www.newswithviews.com/Emord/jonathan256.htm