Mon 17 Jul 2006
Kossack Bonddad is one of my favorite posters over @ Daily Kos. Today he gives a typical example of why with his proposal of a theory that Republican tax cuts actually killed job growth. As he states it’s just a theory but it makes a LOT of sense. Go read it.
Kossack did a wonderful job on this. He puts forth some legitimate thoughts. Editor, I am a little disappointed you haven’t reported on the OH-02 Congressional FEC numbers. Wulsin was tripled in fundraising by Schmidt. She outdid the Doc by more than $100,000.00. It is time Dr. Vic gets some real P.R./Press people on board. It is silly for her to be getting hammered like this. Though it is encouraging that she raised over $40,000.00 from individuals alone, it is a testament to the staff Dr. Wulsin has surrounded herself with that Schmidt pummeled her in the July Quarterly. Nothing Dr. Wulsin does makes the press…her poll put a blip in blogs. Nothing on T.V., radio, or in the newspapers. Time to get the machine rolling.
Steve, well first off I’ve got to warn you that since you’ve complained you’ve volunteered. I have now granted you front page status on the site, so there you have absolutely NO excuse when you think some important story is missing. I ask that people keep it related to Congress and the 2nd district, and don’t post too frequently. I also have a NO COMPLAINING ABOUT BUSH rule on the site. Every other liberal/progressive blog spends 90% of their time complaining about our lame duck President so I leave it to them. This is a site about Congress.
Wulsin has definitely been lagging on fundraising. One of the hardest things about running for office is pounding the pavement for cash. Within the Hackett campaign it was a constant source of conflict. I’ve heard rumblings within the Wulsin campaign too. Hopefully this poll will trigger some energy on that front.
One hook that the campaign really needs to play up is how big a draw nationally Jean Schmidt is. By fundraising for Wulsin they get to beef up their rolls considerably on one of the GOP’s most infamous characters. Since I doubt that they give all the money they raise to the campaign it could end up being a big win even considering the political demographics of the area.
The media is going to be an enemy of Wulsin no matter what she does. The Enquirer is a major supporter of Congresswoman Schmidt so one can’t be surprised by their slanted coverage. Wulsin will have to work overtime at drawing the cameras.
You’re wrong on the blog coverage. She did get a big surge from the poll release, most significantly two top recommended diaries on Daily Kos, one of which was also front paged. That is some major energy that they can play upon as the months go on. People may forget, but for a while many national bloggers supported Wulsin over Hackett in the special primary, so she’s already got some mojo.
Touche, on the blog front, Editor. Blip was the wrong word…she did get a “big surge” in blog coverage. You are right on in saying that, and I was WRONG to play that down.
It is highly disappointing to me that her poll was not covered in any of the small or specialty newspapers in the District. Yes, the enquirer will kiss the posterior of the republican in OH-02 from here until eternity. We all hate this, but we all know it.
Having spoken to the editors of the other papers, I know they are willing to cover campaign news. They are not getting it. Case in point, the “Thank You” letter Vic wrote that I sent to you and all the media I could reach. It was published gleefully. Even a Huntington, W.V. paper printed it.
I appreciate the front page status. I will not get this story. Perhaps Vic’s people will put it out their way and shed some positive light on it.
I promise, no Bush bashing and no
information on Oregon state house races.
I actually like the occasional story about another campaign where there are lessons to be learned. It’s like we’re running 435 little test cases that we can all study and learn from. The 2nd has been, and I’m betting will continue to be, a huge factor on that front.
FYI, the site uses Markdown for easy formatting. HTML always works.
A couple of notes:
In looking at the FEC reporting thru June 30th 2006, Schmidt may look like she has a lot of money. However, cash on hand is a bit less that Vic has, PLUS she has over 250K remaining out of 420,000 in debt (personal loan).
Vic on the other hand has a bit more cash on hand, yet has very LITTLE debt. (only a 20,000 dollar loan, not 420,000 like Schmidt).
I believe a lot of the reported contributions came in during April of this year. If you look at the FEC reports, she had about 148K this cycle (4/13 – 6/30) of which well over 100K was pre-primary (48 hour contributions including 85,000 from her own funds). She has spent just about everything she has received.
Having said that, Vic definately needs to get her fundraising going. Her totals on her quarterly report are very low and needs to grow RAPIDLY. Schmidt may have spent her capital, but there are still a lot of folks out there who will contribute. Vic best get busy. This will take quite a bit of money if she expects to beat Jean. You saw how much money was spent during the primary between Schmidt and McEwen. A lot of folks are saying THAT was the election, not the one coming up in November.
AS for news media coverage, the Democrats really get the shaft here in SW Ohio. I think the newspapers, including the awful Enquirer, believe only Republicans live in this area of OH. Somehow, Vic’s campaign staff better get a handle on this. If Vic shows them she is definately a contender and will give Schmidt a good run for the money, they MIGHT, and the key is MIGHT, pay some attention.
Since there is little chance the Editors will steer any traffic my way for the REAL story and since there is a 24-hour waiting period for a new member of Daily Kos to post, I’m going to risk my own permanent ban from here by re-posting here what I just threw up on my blog (I’ll leave it up to the admin if this is worth of a link to the blog.)
What the liberals will never tell you: Illegal Immigration and how it impacts the Economy
Earlier today I was reviewing a blog from the dark side of the political spectrum (the progressive liberals of course) and there was what I believe a misguided and uninformed discussion claiming that the 2003 tax cuts could have somehow resulted in the “killing of wages and job growth.” One critical issue that for some reason a majority of liberals tend to ignore is the economical impact of massive illegal immigration.
This is not at all a complicated issue to explain. All economic models are based on the assumption of “all else being equal.” The models also assume that we have a natural unemployment rate around 3.5%. (Don’t let any of those Keynesian economists try to feed you any of that 6% nonsense they spew.) This unemployment rate assumes normal birth and death rates. However, this model does NOT assume massive ways of illegal aliens that come into this country, take a significant number of jobs, and send 80-85% of their wages back to their home countries. (The social problems that surround this issue are a topic for another day.)
Yes, I do have a degree in Economics so I can safely say that I know EXACTLY what I am talking about here. I have an Econ 101 primer on my website if anyone is interested: http://www.noyforcongress.com/services.html.
I managed a restaurant for a year near East Gate Mall in OH-2. My employees from Mexico were the hardest working individuals by far. The culture in Mexico is one that installs a work ethic that a number of Americans are clearly lacking, especially those that grow up with a sense of entitlement that the government forces upon them. Every manger out there in the entire service industry would likely be happy with a staff full of Mexican employees (and yes they were ALL from Mexico and as Mexican’s they considered it an insult to be referred to as Latino.)
I speak from first hand knowledge on the issue of entitlement as well, I myself grew up on Food Stamps in Pike County and most of the people living in government housing around me had a mentality that the government owed them something whether they were going to work for it or not. Luckily a majority of the people in Pike County had the same work ethic that those from Mexico are taught. As do most residents in Adams, Brown, Clermont, Scioto and Warren Counties; (and the part of Hamilton County in OH-2.) So, I washed dishes, served food and took out the maximum in student loans to get myself through school because I understood what hard work and trusting in God can lead to. I also witnessed this same mindset of entitlement that “it wasn’t my fault” or “I didn’t do it” when I represented indigent defendants my final year of law school.
Karl Marx would be very happy with our situation today. However, we have ample evidence that his theories don’t work out all that well when put into practice. John Locke on the other hand knew exactly what the role of government is supposed to be. Give him a read if you don’t know what I’m talking about: the 2nd Treatise of Civil Government by Locke (which not only is the place I’ve been getting my ideologies it just happens to also be a little document that Jefferson and the boys were citing verbatim when they drafted a little something called the Declaration and the Constitution.)
It’s easy to sit back and discuss theory when you’ve never had to live something. By all conventional measures I should be a yellow dog D. I’ve never received anything from any political party or politician. However, I HAVE been there and done that. I know that the theory of supply side economics really does work when properly implemented (Ronald Reagan proved that.) I can also say with a high degree of certainty that John Locke got it right and President Reagan knew that as well.
As always I welcome all counter arguments.
Peace and God Bless,
Nate Noy
Actually I was working up a post on you, but for some strange reason complaining that I don’t do something discourages me from doing it.
You know my wife always tells me I need to learn to keep my mouth shut. Guess I should listen to her more.
The post would likely provide your readers a chance to rip me up and down, so it might actually be more fun for you than me.
I’m smart enough to realize that even getting on the radar doesn’t do much for me until there is some event that convinces my supporters that a vote for me is not a throw-away. As powerful as the blogoshere has become, I’m still not sure it has that kind of reach, especially in OH-2.
If you post on me I’ll chime in and enjoy the flaming (by the way my “bring a knife to a gun fight” close from the post you guys ripped was a rhetorical phrase that I just assumed was something everyone would get) so litmus test moving forward will be whether or not I could read it to my 5-year old (insert crack regarding other side of political spectrum here.) I think I burned my bridges over at the SOB for calling them out for ostracizing me because I want to expose the transgressions of Jean Schmidt, so it may be back to the Island for me.
Regardless, good luck and I’ll keep an eye out for economist hacks.