Stories to Watch: 2/20/12

Heads up: I probably won't be blogging at all Wednesday, because I've got an important errand to run that'll probably eat up the whole day. Now here's the news...


Gallup gives Rick Santorum a substantial national lead over Mitt Romney. But the latest poll in Michigan shows his lead there has completely evaporated. It's now a tie.


Meanwhile, Rick's spending a lot of time "clarifying" the stupid and insane things he says.


Republicans sure do love their racism, don't they?


23 years, 500 episodes -- I think The Simpsons must be the most successful spinoff in the history of television.


Republican voters definitely do not want a brokered convention.


Romney's Super PAC blew through $14 mil. last month.


Finally, Santorum says liberals are "anti-science," because we don't want to use up the Earth's resources in a big hurry and pollute everything. In other words, if you don't want to do something that science tells you is absolutely stupid, that means you're against science. Black is white, up is down, and Rick Santorum's a freakin' genius.

Related articles

• Romney Making A Comeback In Michigan? (outsidethebeltway.com)
• Why a Republican Political Savior and a Brokered Convention Is Unlikely to Happen (themoderatevoice.com)
• Rick Santorum Leads National Polls, But When Will The Roller Coaster Stop? (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)
• Talk of Brokered Convention May Be Just That (thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com)

News Roundup for 1/31/12

Unstoppable

-Headline of the Day-
"Stephen Colbert’s FEC report: Big money!"

Stephen Colbert's Super PAC is super-loaded. According to the report, "Between July 1 and Dec. 31, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow collected more than $825,400, ending the year with nearly $674,000 cash on hand, according to disclosures filed over night with the Federal Election Commission." To date, treasurer Shauna Polk says the super PAC has raised $1,023,121 total.

"Stephen Colbert, President of ABTT, has asked that I quote him as saying, 'Yeah! How you like me now, F.E.C? I’m rolling seven digits deep! I got 99 problems but a non-connected independent-expenditure only committee ain’t one!'" Polk wrote in a statement, adding, "I would like it noted for the record that I advised Mr. Colbert against including that quote."

So how's that measure up against other celebrity Super PACs? Let's look, shall we?

Sarah Palin’s political action committee raised $756,000 in the second half of last year – a steep drop off from the first half, when she as flirting with a presidential bid.

Palin’s relatively meager second half haul came despite heavy spending on fundraising and a bus tour that fanned speculation she might seek the GOP presidential nomination.

Colbert's PAC is (mostly) a joke and he's clobbering Sarah Palin in fundraising.

So, yeah... (Politico)


-Noodles v. Mittens-



It may be unending, but it's still fun to watch. (Washington Post)


-Bonus HotD-
"Robocall of the Year."

Mitt Romney forced holocaust survivors to eat pork chops!

This message brought to you by Newt's robot. (Political Animal)

News Roundup for 6/30/11

"It's almost impossible to break campaign finance laws you say?
Challenge accepted"

-Headline of the Day-
"Johnson $10M Payday Could Raise Red Flags For IRS."

When Ron Johnson spent $9 million to win Russ Feingold's senate seat, people saw it as evidence that wealthy frootloops could just buy senate seats with self-funded campaigns. Thank God that's not true. It turns out that Johnson's plastics company, Pacur, bought the seat for him. And Ron came out $1 million ahead after all the smoke had cleared.

According to the report, Ron "received a $10 million payment in deferred compensation from his former plastics company, Pacur, weeks after his $9 million self-financed 2010 campaign for Senate came to an end." Not surprisingly, this is bad. Even with the Citizens United ruling, corporations still can't give corporate money directly to political candidates.

So Johnson found a way to break an election law in an era when there are virtually no election laws.

What an innovator. (Talking Points Memo)


-Cartoon Time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, you know how your parents don't like those violent video games? Now you can tell them to shut up and that the Supreme Court agrees with you! Yay!


Click for animation

Remember kids, boobs = bad and 7.62mm minigun = good! (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"Outside FEC, Stephen Colbert Says His 'Super PAC' Is No Joke."

Still, check out the video of his announcement for the yuks anyway. (Talking Points Memo, with video)