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DES MOINES, Iowa -- It may be cold outside here (about 15 degrees colder than usual), but it feels like there's a bit of a political Spring in the air.
The big event this morning is Rep. Steve King's (R-IA) Conservative Principles Conference at the Downtown Marriott here. Five candidates considering bids for president are set to speak: Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS), former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain, and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was slated to speak, but he canceled yesterday because of a family emergency. Santorum was waiting for a connecting flight in Minneapolis on his way to Des Moines, when he decided to return home, a Santorum spokesperson told First Read.
The conference is notable also for who's not here: Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty (not to mention Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee).
For Romney, it may be a sign that he will not be competing as hard here as he did here in 2007 and 2008. Pawlenty will compete hard both here and in New Hampshire.
The Republican caucuses in Iowa are dominated by social conservatives, many of whom live in King's very conservative Western Iowa district. But, as we noted in First Thoughts Friday, Iowa is a swing state -- won by Barack Obama (D), George W. Bush (R), and Al Gore (D).
First Read is here and will update as news warrants. You can also follow along on Twitter: @DomenicoNBC
Here's the lineup:
10amET: Rep. Steve King kicks off the conference
10:18amET: Barbour
10:58amET: Gingrich
2:38pmET: Bachmann
4:23pmET: Cain
5:23pmET: Bolton
Leave a Comment:
The good people of Iowa, have my sympathies...
The crazy train from Beckistan has arrived at the station! lol
Sort of like the VW that pulls up and 20 clowns climb out...
Iowa is one of those states that can go either way. Probably the last place you would want to parade your loons.
I don't know why anyone would go. We all know what it's going to be. Every word spoken will be hate President Obama. It's all they know it's all they think about they eat sleep and drink this stuff, it consumes them 24 hrs. a day everyday, their so consumed they can't function in their everyday lives. If you listen to one of them you've listened to them all, they say the same thing over and over.
Good Morning Mo!
Kinda reminds you of the little VW pulling up to the tent and 20 clowns climbing out, doesn't it?
It's the same here on FR, for giggles have someone ELSE read to you the comments by MB, NJNB, JS1 & the rest of the 'gang'...
You won't be able to tell who is who... trust me! ;o)
Same worn out talking points by the insane 'clone' posse! Rinse & SPIN & REPEAT! lol
I suppose we shouldn't hold our breath waiting for any of these speakers to offer anything resembling a solution to the challenges facing this country during their little "Group Therapy Session".
What's the over/under on the number of times Newt's going to change his mind today on whether or not he would have intervened in Libya if he were President?
How's you moonbat "Group Therapy Session" going this morning?
The pathetic use of the term 'lol' , only masks the leaden dull attempts at wit, by the likes of 'Feisty'.
We are laughing at you, not with you.
I'm guessing Bob bet the under...and lost.
And he probably had Duke in the finals of his bracket picks. Bad week.
Here we go again,tear down Obama and no answers on how we can make the U.S. better
Go back to his campaign. "They (Congress) can call me if they need any help" - that was over the TARP issue.
Okay, so now the Republicans and the Democrats are dialing his number - and getting a busy signal! That should be no surprise - should it?
Just goes to show you: It's caucus season, and even a loon like Steve King can get attention.
Doesn't mean that anyone outside his Eastern Nebraska district cares all that much for him.
Bachman's trip to Iowa is costing taxpayers 200 million dollars a day. LOL !
*spits out Diet Coke*!!!
You have been reading too much of NJNB's fiction Tom! LMAO!
PS; I sent you some invites...
That's good ;) LOL
same old liberal bull sht coming out of their mouths
yeah, well, it takes an article like this to bring out the Reichwing loons... LOL
Gee, Domenico--you get all the great business travel in this gig!
Fiesty come on you know you have not had anything "diet" in your mouth since you were 12! But I do "GASP' agree with you since I truly am a Independent, I dont believe there are any credible republican candidates.....Yet! You do realize that extra double latte with double cream will ruin your keyboard!
michele bachmann's trip to lowa is costing taxpayers 210 million dollars a day. bachmann is a racist phoney.
Stanley just for you I have adapted the Liberal Cha Cha to reflect your posts
Koch Koch Kock cha cha cha Rove Rove Rove cha cha cha bushy bush bush ummmmpoppa mau mau! bachmann bachmann bachmann oOoOo SO Hot.....OoOoOo so hot!!! Do the hokie pokie and shake it all about(Feisty this is were the Diet Coke would help)...Cha cha cha!
michele's trip to lowa is costing 220 million dollars a day. What about those crazy looking eyes when she gave her speech after obama sotu address. She is a nut. This baglady is all about hate.
palin is stupid but bachmann is extremist right wing nutjob wacko. She has a mouth like a pig and she is so racist & hateful.
I think what scares you Liberals about this woman is that she is a cash earning machine. She can out do any dem. in the campaign money grab and that scares you guys.....when you guys get scared you start a campaign of name calling and vile spewing. It doesn't help that shes good looking (along with Palin) and the frumpmistress's on the Democratic side are not in that league. And again I want to emphasize that I do not wish either of these women run for President, but it is funny that the liberal sider of the house goes blathering crazy over both of these women.
Actually, it scares me that any politician, repub or dem, can convince anyone to send them a penny. But hey, that's just me.
Oh, you mean like the Reichwing Loons do and did when Hillary was running and when she was First Lady......
It seems that the Reichwing Loons were pretty scared of her, being a strong women and all....Then of course there was Geraldine Ferraro that you people decided to vilify when she was the running mate for Mondale.....There was another Bright Intellegent NO Quitter women for ya, yep, she had you people running scared....
But of course you sit act like that never happened....Yeee-ah, right...You better check to see if your nose is getting bigger.
But you see I give the dem women a lot of credit for being better educated, at least they know where the first shot was fired from during the Revolutionary War, unlike Bachmann who said it was Concord NH.....
Then of course there is the Half Wit, Half Term Gov.....Yep, name calling, you people wrote the book on it. Prime example, Michelle Obama, everytime she comes up, the Reichwing Loons tear the hair out of their heads.....Do me and the rest a favor, Get Over Yourself!!!!
jan-1678944
michele's trip to lowa is costing 220 million dollars a day. What about those crazy looking eyes when she gave her speech after obama sotu address. She is a nut. This baglady is all about hate...
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Hey Jollyoldsoul1.....Prime example of the name calling that the Reichwing Loons are doing....I see your nose is getting bigger....... LOL
Lies, Lies, Lies, that is what the Reichwing/Republican't/Fleabaggers are all about!!
What is sad, is that Jan can't even spell Michelle's name right....But typical of the Reichwing Loons, they can't spell, must take after the Fleabaggers....LOL
So Feisty leads off with the GOP clowns comment ......... (I wonder if they make little wigs for their cats?) ..... Indy Lib follows up with the thoughtful illuminating loon comment ...... Mo says they hate Obama and wonders how they function in everyday life .......(I wonder if they have an imaginary bar they have to go?) ...... Na Noids supposes we shouldn't hold our breath (I would qualify that - when under water it is advisable) and says they will offer nothing resembling a solution to the challenges facing this country ...... David says they just want to tear down Obama and no answers.
Really good stuff guys - typical - but really good stuff. You won me over. I think we should talk about Obama, his triumphs last week were very educational and inspiring. And best of all - he provided the real answers to many problems plaguing America, how we can make America better and clarified how the right was wrong about a central theme regarding Obama the Man.
Obama takes a vacation, I mean take your wife and kids and Grandma Robinson to work day in South America. He tells the Brazilians.....
"We want to help you with the technology and support to develop these oil reserves safely. And when you're ready to start selling, we want to be one of your best customers."
Seems like he has given up the global warming crap, huh? (Funny - the article above even mentions it is 15 degrees colder in Iowa than usual) He think we should develop those newly found vast fossil fuel reserves. He wants to help create oil jobs, he wants us invest in oil companies, he wants to decrease dependence reliance on Mideast oil and he wants America to be the best customer of this oil.
Perfect! Great! Well done Mr. Presifdent! Spanks and I couldn't agree more! The other conservative dumbasses (It's OK to spell it correctly if your talking about conservatives, right?) including the clowns in Feisty's VW would all agree!
One question. Why can't we do it here? We have the most fossil fuel fuel resources in the world. We are surrounded by the crap. We are sitting on the crap. We could probably find even more of the crap like Brazil did if we could look for it like they did. Oil revenues is the second highest source of income behind income taxes - we need the money - we need the jobs - we need the lower prices for energy - we don't need to increase our trade deficit ......
OK. Then Obama goes to Chile and says he picked Chile to grace with his appearance and spend a few vacation days in because .......
(Brief history for Bev, Feisty ....)
Chile was a few years ago a Third World Marxist Porta-Potty country. Forty years of state owned industries, heavy protectionism and massive bureacraccy. Special interest, unions and corporate monoplies.
Pinochet took over, Fiscal control and discipline, privatization instead of big government owned and free market / free trade. Banks were made independent, subsidies were cut, government spending was cut, and government jobs were cut big time.
First 4 years - economy surged 32%. They have even privatised their social security - 10 times the performance of the gov't program.
Today - Obama calls it the model for the world to follow. Obama tells us this is the model to solve our problems.
Terrific! Wonderful! COULD NOT AGREE MORE! Well done Mr. President! Perfect!
One question though? Why can't we do it here?
Fiscal control - cut the budget - you said you would - the GOP in Iowa are screeming for it.
[Mr. President .... if I may ...... the cowboys fought Inidans (without high capacity magazines) and snow storms (without union snow plowers) and hail storms (without breathless Doppler radar updates interupting the basketball game) and desert heat (without Redbull energy drinks) and snakes (did you not see that scene in "Lonesome Dove" with the water moccasins - no Fish and Wildlife Mgt helping on that gig!) and they ate beans on tin plates with spoons (no napkins, no salads - not even cut-up fruit in zip-lock bags ........ they can handle it if you cut their poetry.... trust me ..... they will be O-KAY.]
State owned corporations? We got that. BTW - Your's and GM's Volt sold about 250 last month. They are ramping up production to 100,000 next year. What would that leave them - 8,000 units short - PER MONTH. Only have to increase demand and sales by 37 times. This doesn't look like a good idea. I think Chile would agree.
Special interest? We got that too. Hello greenies. Barack ... Bye-bye right? Unions? Duh. (I know breaking up is hard to do - But you and Trumpka can still be friends.) Chile says it is best in the long run and you know they are right - you said so.
Free trade? Where are those free trade agreements Columbia, Panama, etc. They are on your desk somewhere - lets see when was the last time you saw them ...... could they be under the basketball stuff, mixed up in the travel guides, with the copy of "Mideast Countries for Dummies" in the john .... Look under all the Trumpka e-mails and threats - I bet that's where they are.
Anyway you get the idea - exact same problems, same model with the rest of the stuff - I agree, let's do it here.
Presidents (at least this one) say the funniest things when they leave the country. Which brings us to the final question - American exceptionalism. You don't say you believe in it particularly, at least no more than any other country thinks they are special. Funny, the Chilean model? Pinochet's model was Milton Freidman's model - an American. The American trained economists hired to implement were called the "Chicago Boys". The great mine rescue in Chile that captivated the world - led by Americans and American technology. Brazilian model for energy - you want to help with American technology.
So the question other than why you don't follow what you say is the model .... for energy policy - Brazil; the economic policy - Chile; is.... When you talk about America not being exceptional, are you talking about America AFTER your presidency since you ignore what made it exceptional and refuse to do what you know works?
There you go Libs. That was was all positive. Just a few harmless questions.
The problem with Friedman's model, at least as I extrapolate its future, is that in the wrong hands it could lead to eventual anarcho-capitalism. I've had many debates with some of my anarcho-capitalist friends and I have yet to hear a valid argument of how this would not lead to plutocracy. In my view, that would be hell-on-earth.
So Obama's hands are the wrong hands?
And really Indy Lib, name anything in the world that meets "the wrong hands" standard.
Since both corporations and the government exist to control wealth and the population by repression, I have a hard time believing any hands are the right ones unless they belong to the people.
Are you sure you're liberal?
"Society is a blessing. Government at its best is a necessary evil, at its worst, an intolerable one."
Bush was big government. Obama is bigger government.
Obama was grade the most liberal senator in 2007, TO THE LEFT OF A SELF PROCLAIMED SOCIALIST.
You really think the hands of the American people are that liberal?
The people do not decide their health care - the government does. The people don't like the way HCR was legislated. 28 states are against HCR on Constitutional grounds (almost 60%), the majority of Americans are against this HCR. Does that sound like the hands of the people. Can the people get their hands on one those waivers without being in a union or working for a company that didn't support Obama?
The people are against cap and trade - Obama does the same thing through EPA regulation. How is that not big government aginst the people. The people want secure borders. Obama makes token effort but doesn't do it. The people want lower gas prices - Obama wants higher prices (Steve Chu - government Energy Secretary has stated he wants $8 gas) That sound like the hands of the people?
The people want fiscal control - Obama has a deficit of 223 billion last month alone. That sound like the hands of the people?
On and on.
Indy, I like a lot of your stuff. You need to figure out the emotional attachment to liberalism. Your intelligence and common sense deny liberalism.
Honest. No offense intended, but you are lot brighter than the Bevs, Feistys, etc.
Indy,
I don't trust / like the GOP. I didn't trust / like the Bush big government GOP. They are/were simply the necessary evil.
Obama and the Dems are bigger government, bigger intrusion, bigger control ... are simply the intolerable evil. They are farther away from the "hands of the people" than Bush!
I want closer.
Oh well - have a good weekend Indy.
Indy Lib
The people as you call them, are sheep by and large, that follow those who pipe the tune they want to hear and believe in. The average citizen only hears what the party wants to share with them.
In our state of Ca., our legislators constantly offer propositions for the masses to vote on, rather than perform the functions we voters elected them to do. The prop. is worded in such legalize that a person MAY believe they are voting their value system to the prop., when they actually are voting against their value. Then you have the special interest groups pouring large amounts of funds to pass or defeat the proposal. You know the drill........Then after passage or defeat, the lawyers get involved, and the courts rule. Quite a joke.
In CA., we as a state are broke thanks to the excessive spending without having the revenue. The spending Dems continue to spend, borrowing money and kicking the can down the road. But, they passed a $8B bond for fast-rail, even though the majority of people don't wish to have this cost added to state losses. But the bond was worded well, and sold well to those progressives who will never use the service.
A larger crook to the people is not business or unions, it is the politicians and their self-importance to themselves and their bank accounts. Go follow the money and see my statement is true.
Bob, Actually according to an interesting website where you answer questions to determine your political tendencies (I followed a link someone posted on the vine), I'm a Libertarian Socialist. Guess thats why I've always liked Noam Chomsky. So yes, I'm a lefty, but not a liberal. I'm also not from Indianapolis. And I also like Feistys of the world, they have a passion I appreciate, even though I may disagree with them politically from time to time.
But one thing concerns about your side. I've known many conservatives over the years who had a true grasp of their philosophy and could argue its merits quite eloquently. But this embracing of neocon philosophy has turned many true conservatives into little more than excuse makers for the republican party. When the tea party folks can claim to be Libertarians, does anyone on the right even know what Libertarianism means anymore?
You are a better man or woman than I am in a way, I never could make it through 50 pages of Chomsky. Tried several times too.
Oh well, at least I did pick up on the anti-government aspect and that certainly answers why you didn't answer the question whether Obama's hands were the wrong hands. (Or is Obama really reducing everything to the same level for the new Libertarian Socialists world order?)
And btw - what does Libertarian Socialism look like in the wrong elite's hands?
bob-1805084
You are a better man or woman than I am,...
That pretty much went without saying,...
Indy lib - probably took the same web based test, only mine came up as a centrist leaning to the right.
Regardless, I heard one commentator (source forgotten) that made the observation of what Europeans considered a liberal to be or a Conservative to be was far different than how Americans looked at them to be.
My own veiwpoint is if our politicians refuse to come up with a consensus on a long term goal on where we want America to be 20 -30 years down the road we are economically and politically doomed. We can no longer afford to keep kicking the can down the road.
Just a bunch of rich old men "hypocrites" that will bash Obama and not offer any solutions --politicans - the "Car Salesman' of today....
It will be fun to watch the critics try to tear apart Obama for everything yet without giving specific ways that they would have done things because then they would have to answer for their ideas. It is a lot easier to critizise then actually do anything. The presidents are responsible for what happens on their watch. But consider the alternative. Going back to Bush policies of lower taxes and greater spending. Starting wars we neither need or can afford. Raise the taxes slightly on those making over 150,000 per family slightly......I will pay more and want to as long as everybody else pays more, then hold govt spending even for the next 4 years. Clinton did that in his first year...Dole told everyone it would ruin the economy......I think Dole was wrong. Bush gave Obama two wars, banking crisis, auto crisis and jobs being lost at an alarming rate. In two years and two months a lot of things are better. Reagan asked if you were better off then 4 years before. That will be the question in 2012 election as far as i am concerned.
Were I you guys I would not call Rep Bachman a racist. As a Demcratic researcher who knows her district well, I don't think that charge will stick at all. Be accurate-and fair.
You can say she called Barack Obama "un American". White people get called "unAmerican "too-just ask Adali Stevenson and Gene McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey. I can point to speechafter speach where this occured. Vice presidnet Spiro Agew said it about Sen McGovern...
Being a Demcrat I would say its really a badge of honor. They called FDR that over social securty. They called HarryTrumant hat over civil rights in 1948.
Yes, Michelle did say that. And you would be right on pointing it out. But to claim it is racists is kind of stretch. You see they said it about white fols too.
Bob1805084
Don't forget our dear friend Sarah Palin called on her facebook page for the US to take over BP during the oil spill last year. If that's not socialism -whic his defined as goverment takeover-I don't know what is.
I'll tell u you what is meant Stick Uncle Sam with the Bill. Obama said no.
social conservatives? these people aren't social conservatives. they are social controllers. their goal in life is not to create jobs or solve any of real problems. rather, they seek to impose some "divinely" inspired rule over our private lives. they feel a need to get ready for the next life by ruining ours in this life.
Just another buch of politicions running off at the mouth.unfortunitly most of what they say will be double talk.
"...a Santorum spokesperson told First Read."---Santorum has its own spokesperson?
The GOP "Carnival of Clowns" is going on the road to Iowa. The Party of No is meeting to decide how ignorant they are on social issues, and how politically corrupt they will be in 2012." The Nazis News Network." AKA. Fox News will help "spew" their messages of economics for the very rich, politics for those who are worthy, and social issues that ignore 95% of our society. These "Gross Odd People" (GOP) need to change their message, their attitudes, and their politics. I do not think that this is going to happen anytime soon. "Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! The Party of No has got to go!"
Progressive=Forward 11
Hmmm, will they be meeting the Traveling Democratic Party of WI there? I can't wait to see what the DNC does when they visit Charlotte for their convention. Who will oppose the current guy in the WH? Surely the guy with the big ears will be challenged....
Progressive - it will be interesting to see what clowns the democrats will bring to the party in 2015 and 2016. All those candidates jockeying for position, all the gaffs, nonsense and spin. Laughing just thinking of it.