12/27/2015 articles
Latest Polls
Reuters for December 24, 2015, from a group of 624 respondents shows
Donald Trump with 39.3%,
Ted Cruz 12.8%,
Ben Carson 9.6 %,
Marco Rubio 8.5%, and those who wouldn’t vote 7.4%.
Jeb Bush
Mr. Bush and his super PAC burned through more than half of the $133 million they raised in the first three quarters this year, according to S.A. Miller, The Washington Times. The return on that investment has been a drop in polls from about 15 percent when he entered the race in June to about 4 percent in recent surveys.
“He has not been a great candidate and the campaign never seemed to hit its stride despite all the money he had,” said Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Jacksonville.
“He had to slash his campaign payroll nearly in half to organize into a leaner operation in October when it became clear that the spending was out of control and donations were drying up while his run had stagnated in the middle of a crowded Republican field.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump’s latest treatise deploys a subliminally sinister attack on Hillary Clinton, Washington Times, Dec. 22, 2015, Charles Hurt.
“Trump operates at a level of psychological sophistication so far above this modern world of dummy politicians, none of the politicos gets that Trump wasn’t even talking about the man who beat ‘Joan’ (Hillary Clinton) at the polls. He was talking about her husband, former President Bill Clinton.”
Constitutional Convention? Where do the GOP candidates stand?
“A push by conservative activists for states to call a national convention to amend the U.S. Constitution has won the backing of several of the Republican presidential contenders.
Senator Rand Paul (R. Ky.) has testified in his state Legislature in favor of a balanced budget amendment, and he thinks a convention could be limited by rules.
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R. Ark.) has endorsed the specific effort from the President of Citizens for Self-Governance, Mark Meckler’s group. Ben Carson supports the effort as well.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R. Fla.) and Gov. John Kasich (R. Ohio) support the idea of a convention in principle.
Three Democratic presidential candidates, former Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton,
Sen. Bernard Sanders (D. Vt.) and former
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley have called for a constitutional amendment.
The major fear of opponents using the Article V process is a runaway convention…they cite the precedent of the 1787 convention called to amend and improve the Articles of Confederation but wound up scrapping them and sending the states a whole new constitution, the one in effect to this day.” David Sherfinski, Washington Times, Dec. 24.
Slow Financial Recovery
“Slow Recovery Pushed Boundaries of Fed’s Powers - and its Imagination
Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Chair: “I feel confident about the fundamentals driving the U.S. economy.”
Stanley Fischer, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman: “You’re going down this path looking left, looking right—something hits you right in the back of the head.”
John Williams, San Francisco Fed President: “You can’t keep that stimulus forever.”
Don Kohn, Former Federal Reserve Vice Chairman: “Never be too sure of yourself. I don’t think we were.”
Jeffrey Lacker: “We often wait too long and get behind the curve.” Ylan Mui, Washington Post, Dec. 27.