Newt's climate train wreck

So sad, personally I kinda like Newt, I’d have loved to have him as a 101 Southern Political History instructor, beyond that…. maybe not.

I try and stay from the politics of place I do not live in or vote in. That said N.G. has painted himself in a ideological box year ago. His handlers know he is unelectable unless they can tone down the extreme and at least give the smoke and mirrors impression of moderation. Like the tail of emperors’ and new cloths it is a fools task.

Where’s Obama in all this? Hiding in the golf club, and wincing at any mention of Keystone.
=================

Gosh golly Gee we really need an Evangelical climate scientist hurling a crock of hooey into the debate. On second thought it’s probably more honest than the other bunch who cloak religion in the guise of science. But Old Newt sees the light, perhaps, but just like any politician he knows what’s good for him, and as AGW falls from favor, he shifts his platform. I’m sure there are more than a few Republicans raising their eyebrows at what might be perceived to be an inconsistency in policy?

Newt has been in the government version of the ivory tower so long his brain isn’t filled with gray matter, it’s filled with chameleon color. He will be whatever you want him to be, regardless of pledges to be this or that. This time I am voting for someone who has stood on just one side of the climate fence. If there is such a person. They all seem to have the rail shoved up between their legs.

Newt’s behavior on this issue is disquieting. I know this is not a political blog and I am not an American citizen and have no right to be involved in American politics, so I observe in reference to the climate discussion that Newt should stick to what he knows something about before he steps in and sh*ts it all up for himself, his party and the American people.
He is so sharp and witty and so many issues… how can he be so ZANY and off-the-rails on this?
This revelation, that his has been conspiring with that global warming evangelical, puts him in a category and fundamentally untrustworthy and should be forthwith shunned but the republican party.
I have no problem with religious advocacy. I have a big problem with science being turned into a religion and this woman Katharine Hayhoe (an IPCC reviewer no less) pursues her interests with abandon and claims that science was somehow involved. She is undisciplined in her reasoning and shockingly obsessed with AGW as being a fact, which exposes the inappropriateness of her involvement with the IPCC.
Mysticism is great. Many of the religions in the world do great things. Many religious people have contributed profoundly to science (Bacon, Newton, Pascal, Copernicus, LeMaitre… etc). These great people were able to understand the fundamental necessity of the scientific method and allow their inspirations to be judged by the rigors of proof and evidence. Hayhoe is a delirious and spooky global warming robot with unrestrained religious enthusiasm about it.
Therefore the fact that an aspiring PRESIDENT would engage such an inappropriate extremist nullifies his suitability to be the republican nominee.
My son has a copy of one of his books signed in person by Newt at CPAC, and we think the world of Newt…. but this is the last straw. Newt….you are done.

Good grief…..she had a baby in the shape this planet is in
…we can hope it skips a generation
Whining because her chapter was axed….tuff tooties

If you hire a company to do the roof on your house, are you not allowed to verify that they did the job correctly? After all, if you are paying for it with your money, you have the inherent right to ensure that you get what you are paying for.
Any company, government entity, or employee that receives PUBLIC money should be required, under penalty of imprisonment to produce any and all work or correspondence for PUBLIC scrutiny.
If the public picks up the tab, it is our information. We paid for it.

“Nice to hear that Gingrich is tossing my #climate chapter in the trash. 100+ unpaid hrs I cd’ve spent playing w my baby,” Hayhoe posted on her Twitter account Dec. 30.
_______________
Twitter’s just the right forum for this Hayhoe twit.
What about the countless unpaid hours that all of us will have to work to pay the debt from the global warming boondoggles forced on us by the stupidity of people like her?

Hayhoe has a company selling alarmist computer simulations.
http://atmosresearch.com/who_katharine.html
Don’t know whether she has customers, though. Just like Hansen, there’s a massive conflict of interest. I wouldn’t call her a twit but a person trying to game the system for all its worth. She has understood the propagandistic value of posing as a scientist to drive money her way, and the legality of it.
Undermines the credibility of science further, of course. Also: has this person, who pretends to be a scientist, ever discovered anything? She’s the modern type of publically funded parasite pseudoscientist.

Hey-Ho, your chapter’s got to go!

Ron Paul 2012

An interesting post on this story is at
http://motls.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-would-jesus-deal-with-global.html

Just another to be expected example of politicians following the money train. Gee golly whiz, anyone else come to mind?……

Paul Westhaver says:
January 1, 2012 at 1:40 pm
=============
Hammer meets nail.
I think you got it.

I am not sure I have this straight. Is this the what is happening?
(1)Newt is writing a book entitled “Environmental Entrepreneurs.”
(2)Prof. Hayhoe is contributor (author?) to one planned chapter of the book, which Newt is now going to leave out..
(3)Given Prof. Hayhoe’s publicly professed views on AGW, the ATI wants to know what was in the chapter that was left out.
(4)From her email Prof. Hayhoe seems ticked off about her contribution being left out.
My question: What kind of agreement does she have with Newt that would prevent her from repackaging her contribution to the chapter and publishing it herself? The ATI is apparently trying to expose Newt as agreeing with Prof. Hayhoe. But, Prof. Hayhoe seems perfectly comfortable with her views, whether Newt agrees with her or not. So this all about ATI going after Newt. Not about FOI.
For the record, Newt lost my support after the commercial with Pelosi.

Why gamble your children’s future. Do what you can now.
The scientific community has determined that global warming is happening. As well, it is being exacerbated by our way of living and it is far worse than they had originally calculated. We are approaching a serious tipping point when there will be very little we can do to stop horrible environmental catastrophes that could effectively destroy all human life within this century. It is the duty of every human being to do what he or she can to stop this tragedy. We will not effectively do this until our nation’s governments do the following. Each official or those running for office must:
1. Publicly declare that they recognize global warming as a real phenomenon.
2. Publicly declare that man-made activities are increasing global warming.
3. Pledge to reduce our CO2 emissions by 50% within the next five years. (Effectively, their next term in office.)
5. Pledge not to alter their stance and policy on this matter.
6. Pledge to stimulate effective, non-greenhouse gas emitting energy alternatives and technologies.
7. Pledge to remove all subsidies and tax breaks for dirty energy such as coal, oil and natural gas, except when those subsidies are utilized to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 50% or more.
8. Pledge to apply tariffs on products produced in countries that do not take the same course of action and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 50%.
Please got to:
http://www.change.org/petitions/the-president-of-the-united-states-pledge-to-reduce-man-made-co2-in-the-united-states-by-50-in-5-years and sign the petition today and send it on to all in your contact list.
Thank you for your help.

Observation from afar – Newt is probably way the smartest of the contenders, but he seems to lack a moral, or even political, compass. What was he thinking getting involved with Hayhoe in the first place?

Daryl McCann says:
January 1, 2012 at 3:57 pm
LOL! Drill here. Drill now.

…since this is sorta political
It’s just all about the republicans right now. And the republican candidates are no better or worse than what the democrats had to offer.
You guys remember when it was all about the democrats?
They had one candidate, ‘ol hoof in mouth, that thought Obama was clean.
Another candidate that was busy as he could be making illegitimate children and paying for it.
Another candidate that channeled Mariah Carey, the head bobbing and weaving thing, every time she was in front of a black person….and told lies about almost everything she did
..and finally a candidate that thought there was 58 states, and most of them were clinging to their guns and religion
So cheer up!….I’m not paying one bit of attention to any of it…..every republican candidate is better than what we’ve got now
We’re all going in, going straight down the republican ticket, and walking out, no matter who it is…..LOL

This is not really out of character for Gingrich. He has a habit of latching onto pseudo-intellectual fads of the moment.
This is why he’s so dangerous. Most other politicians are just crooks. He strikes me as being a massive egotist and delusional, not a combination you ever want int a president.

old engineer says:
January 1, 2012 at 3:40 pm
“The ATI is apparently trying to expose Newt as agreeing with Prof. Hayhoe. But, Prof. Hayhoe seems perfectly comfortable with her views, whether Newt agrees with her or not. So this all about ATI going after Newt. Not about FOI.”
Look at the post:
“American Tradition Institute, a non-profit research institute dedicated to restoring science, liberty and accountability to the environmental debate, filed on Dec. 10 a Public Information Act request with Texas Tech University”
When ATI was filing the request Gingrich and Hayhoe were still a team.

I meant he be or was it He’s been?

Hey Daryl,
you left out the “/sarc” at the end. !!

Ok, having read her schtick about ‘what would jesus do about global warming’ i have to say she’s one of those nutjobs that turns me off both religion and politics.
Essentially, if i’m reading her correctly, I live in the first (developed) world i have access to technology and convenience not found in the third world (due to corruption and do gooding westerners). And, since ‘that’s not fair!’ (whiny tone), if I turn on my light switch to cook my dinner in my electric stove and wash my dishes with warm water, it will make the baby jesus cry.
Well, that logic just makes ME cry. What’s she going to do about THAT unfairness?
FOIA away, she’s clearly of the opinion that she’s the one single Joan of Arc of global warming.
I’m willing to bet SHE turns on her electric light switches to cook HER dinner in her modern stove and washes HER dishes with running water. Bet she has a water seal toilet too. Will the baby jesus *ever* get over that! Repent professor, repent!

Joe Ptak
This is horribly off topic but you really need to read this before singing Rick Perry’s praises.
http://non-intervention.com/1018/iowa%e2%80%99s-choice-dr-paul-or-u-s-bankruptcy-more-wars-and-many-more-dead-soldiers-and-marines/

Newt will not be president, Obama and the democrats will slaughter him on the whole character issue.
Romney has ZERO chance to win the south, and if you can’t win the south as a republican, you are not going to win the election.
Rick Perry? Please. He’s certifiably insane.
Plan on 4 more years of Obama.

MattN says:
January 1, 2012 at 6:46 pm
Plan on 4 more years of Obama.
==================================
Hardly……
approx 50% of the registered voters, did not vote in the last election
Obama got approx 50% of the vote and so did McCain….
approx 25% and 25%
No liberal voter in this country sat out the last election….
and Obama’s 66 million votes was all of them
…the 50% that did not vote were conservative republicans
No one in this country has changed from conservative to liberal, or did not
vote for Obama last time and has changed to Obama this time.
Obama did not pay anyone’s mortgage………..
…and every conservative in this country will vote this time

Pat Moffitt [January 1, 2012 at 12:47 pm] says:
“I’m not exactly sure where I draw the line for FOIA and while this example may be legally within FOIA’s scope- to me- this request falls into the “Did you really need to send an FOIA about this?” I worry similar FOIA’s may eventually hurt our ability (and credibility) to demand more important things like code and raw data sets.”

I am quite certain that taxpayers in the great state of Texas will vehemently disagree.
Perhaps if the Congress, with its well-known penchant for selecting misleading names for legislation, had chosen a different moniker, like FOTFIA Freedom of Taxpayer Funded Information Act, then there might be less apprehension at using this ‘FOIA’ tool. Considering the track record thus far for the release of data from the AGW cult, the last thought that would cross my mind at this point would be that FOIA requests might “eventually hurt our ability (and credibility) to demand more important things like code and raw data”. Any FOIA request is one too many to the information gatekeepers.
Anyway, what’s the worst that could happen? The bean counters at taxpayer funded colleges might sharpen their pencils and do their jobs? The (so-called) scientists might hesitate and think twice before sucking up globs of taxpayer grants? If the threat of FOIA requests has a chilling effect on rent-seekers that use taxpayer funded grants then it would be not just a good thing, but a GREAT thing! These taxpayer funded avenues of financing research, particularly controversial AGW propaganda ridden research, should never be the choice of first resort – but the last resort. The more strings attached the better I say.

Gingrich keeps some strange company.

“”””” Pat Moffitt says:
January 1, 2012 at 12:47 pm
I’m not exactly sure where I draw the line for FOIA and while this example may be legally within FOIA’s scope- to me- this request falls into the “Did you really need to send an FOIA about this?” I worry similar FOIA’s may eventually hurt our ability (and credibility) to demand more important things like code and raw data sets. “””””
Well Pat, I think you have it entirely backward. I think it is the interractions between special interest groups and individuals, and government officials, both elected, and unelected beurocrats who make decisions that affect ALL (Americans anyway) that the public (American) has a right to know, under the FOIA doctrine; and especially when taxpayer funds are in play in the derivation or dissemination of said information.
I’m less interested in seeing computer code and raw data from supposedly scientific endeavors; but I reserve the right to take with a grain of salt, any claimed results that are not supported by freely released data, that the creators of consider proprietary; as they say, those people of all people should know just what their stuff is worth. Anonymous postings are worth every bit of the belief that their own author feels proud to put hiser name to.

Well the founding fathers and framers of the Constitution knew what they were doing when they devised a system for having the several States of the Union select a President to manage the Union.
Think of the pickle we’d be in if it was left up to the people to choose a leader as they do in Democracies. We’d probably end up with an Oprah Winfrey or Michael Jackson for the CIC of the world’s most significant super military.
The current primary season looks exactly like an Italian firing squad; figuratively; the only difference is that the incumbent opposition, is entirely outside the circle, and not being addressed by anyone.
Most of these candidates spin much more readily than wind turbines; for what we are about to receive, the American voters will be the last to accept reponsibility for what they do at the voting machine.

The candidates that don’t have a history of scandals and flip flops can’t even be a flavor of a week, much less a month?
When the interest payments on the debt reach one trillion in 2020. We will slowly become a libertarian paradise anyway?
I have never been so discouraged.

@ GE Smith – “Think of the pickle we’d be in if it was left up to the people…” We’re in a pickle. Aristotle wrote in his Politics 2400 years ago, “the appointment of magistrates by lot is thought to be democratical, and the election of them oligarchical; democratical again when there is no property qualification, oligarchical when there is.” Athenian democracy was not elective.
Our freedom was never protected by representative government, but by the Constitution. The oligarchs are destroying the dollar through the Fed. They have destroyed the Constitution using their puppets in Congress. And NDAA 2012 puts the last nail in that coffin with martial law. The US today is an oligarchy; not a democracy; not a republic. And certainly no longer constitutional and no rule of law; just the rule that might makes right.
Ron Paul is the only candidate who can restore the Constitution before there is a total eclipse of liberty in the US. Once SOPA goes into effect and the oligarchs gain control of the Internet, say bye-bye to what freedom you still have.

jorgekafkazar says:
January 2, 2012 at 12:28 am
The US needs another Ike Eisenhower. What we’re being offered is an array of William E. Millers. I’ll vote for whoever says Global Warming is a hoax. Who says that, anybody?
Take your pick:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/perry-suggests-global-warming-is-a-hoax/2011/08/17/gIQAuoZoLJ_video.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/perry-suggests-global-warming-is-a-hoax/2011/08/17/gIQAuoZoLJ_video.html

Think about the converse. As preface let’s remember that a very short while ago over 70% of Americans viewed global warming as a pressing issue. We were deceived, taken in by shysters and con artists.
Hayhoe is one of the more unscrupulous practitioners, and it’s a trivial matter to insinuate yourself, disguised as an “expert”, into a chapter of a book collaboration. The example I’m most familiar with is the guest blogger or the group blog. Think of Protein Wisdom and how that fell apart. The blog proprietor welcomes in the guest blogger, and everything is fine at first, but at some point the new comer decides to set policies that the original blogger doesn’t agree with.
It’s not Hayhoe’s place to set policy for the Gingrich campaign, but being who she is you know that’s what she was doing.
And now we have Horner trying to affirm Hayhoe as Gingrich’s spokesperson on the environmental concerns. Chris do you really want to back Newt into a corner?
I’m not voting for a personality> I’m voting for a policy. If that policy comes from a guy who woke up to facts after climategate, well hallelujah, that makes Gingrich just like the most of us.
I don’t care what his position on global warming used to be two years ago.
I care about what he thinks and does today.
Today, Gingrich says sitting on the couch with Nancy was not just a mistake in policy, but
HIS BIGGEST MISTAKE. Today Gingrich is firing frauds like Kathrine Hayhoe.
To me this is a healthy augury for behaviors he could carry with him into the White House.
Who’s more likely to fire Jimmy Hansen? Romney or Gingrich? Who do you think based on recent history?
So lets say NEWT gets a big push back based on Chris’ FOIA.
Isn’t the end result of that that our politicians shy away from taking a stand, letting the thorny issue of global warming fall to the way side, and whichever milktoast ascends to the nomination, won’t they have got there not because they held the correct policy, but because they were the least offensive to the Hayhoe’s of the world?
This FOI request will make us all blind. Drop it now. We want Gingrich and his eleventh hour epiphany out there on the campaign trail, because it forces all the rest of them to take a position and communicate it, no matter what the CNN and PBS talking heads would rather cover.
DROP IT NOW CHRIS.

savethesharks.com says:
January 1, 2012 at 10:16 pm
“Ron Paul is the only intellectually honest presidential candidate….by a wide margin.”
That may be true but RP is the most ignorant candidate when it comes to world views. He is as ignorant as Obama, just on the other side of the fence.
MattN says:
January 1, 2012 at 6:46 pm
“Plan on 4 more years of Obama.”
Prediction (not from a computer model): Obama will not be the Democratic Party candidate. When the powers that run the show realize he cannot win, they will find a way for him to bow out and old Hillary will come to the “rescue” of America and sweep the election. Now, I do not like Hillary, Obama or any other Democrat, however, there are enough Hillary lovers in this Country for her to pull it off. Remember you heard it here first!

@Dave Burton –
You’re *way* off base with Ron Paul, the only candidate who will return the US to the Constitution. Your remarks are defamatory and total disinformation. Every voter needs to find out for themselves who Paul really is and not rely on this kind of nonsense or listen to Fox. Go to RonPaul2012.com or watch any of hundreds of YouTubes like these to discover the real Ron Paul:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APJeikpqfbg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9VKcTZsnS4
“Ron Paul — the only Republican candidate who told his supporters to vote against the Republican ticket in 2008…” Citation please? This doesn’t sound like Paul at all, but I can say the millions of Paul supporters (like me) will not support any other GOP candidate so if you *don’t* want Obama again, support Paul.
“Ron Paul — …published race-baiting newsletters marketed to white supremacists” Nonsense. There were a few sentences out of hundreds of newsletters and Paul didn’t write them. Paul has disavowed those newsletters. I challenge you to find racist remarks from Paul over his 24 year record in Congress, many books, and hundreds of YouTube interviews and appearances spanning 30+ years. He is the *only* GOP candidate who will end the war on drugs which is really a war on minorities. The only candidate who will pardon the thousands (millions?) of nonviolent drug offenders who are mostly minority.
“Ron Paul — the only Republican candidate who later flagrantly lied by claiming that he hadn’t known what was in his own newsletters…” Wrong. Do you have proof of this?
“Ron Paul — the only Republican candidate who wants to abolish the independent Federal Reserve and thereby take monetary policy away from the Fed…” Huh? The Fed is anything *but* independent. The Fed is destroying our country. The Fed has wrecked the economy. Every dollar the Fed prints is a dollar stolen from Middle Class savings accounts. The Fed is a monstrosity and unconstitutional. Yet Paul has said he won’t try to end the Fed but instead seek to repeal the legal tender laws to create competition in currency and sound money. Learn about the Fed here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu_VqX6J93k&feature=channel_video_title
“Ron Paul — the only Republican candidate who wants let tyrants run amok throughout the world, and doesn’t even mind if Ahmadinejad gets nuclear weapons.” Again, completely false. It’s past administrations who have *supported* dictators. Hussein, Qaddafi, Mubarak were all puppets of US Presidents. Iran has not attacked another nation in centuries. Iran was a peaceful nation until US foreign policy radicalized Muslims beginning with 1953 overthrow of Iran’s democratically elected gov. And even the Israel Mossad is not concerned with Iran obtaining a nuke. Is Iran so stupid they would attack Israel who is believed to have hundreds of warheads? Netanyahu told Congress that Israel can take care of herself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mad9Q4TPaDk
Attacking Iran (a nation of 75 million) would very possibly start WWIII given her close ties to both China and Russia and likely destroy what’s left of the US economy not to mention that I’ll be damned if my son is going to be sent to die in some armpit of the earth to assuage your paranoia and put dollars into Halliburton’s coffers.
“Ron Paul — the only Republican who’s okay with genocide in Darfur.” Paul is not *okay* with it and that’s a despicable statement. He’s a non-interventionist. He follows the Constitution. If Americans want to *do* something, change the Constitution. But acting as policeman to the world will surely bankrupt the nation.
Ron Paul — the only Republican candidate who chums around with raving lunatics like Alex Jones, and quietly courts…” Irrelevant. Chums? Really? He will give interviews to anyone. And if you aren’t concerned about the NDAA 2012… wow! is all I can say.
“Ron Paul — the only Republican candidate for President whose nomination would guarantee a 2nd term for Barrack Obama.” That’s factually wrong. Paul is the only candidate who *will* beat Obama. Paul has huge support among independents and many Democrats. I’m an independent and only chose GOP to vote for Paul. Any other GOP candidate will hand the election to Obama. Only support the other candidates have is establishment GOP and they’ll need independents and crossover Dems to beat Obama.
“So please rethink your support for Rep. Paul. Please support Santorum, Bachman, Perry, Gingrich, Romney, or Huntsman — anybody but Ron Paul!” No.
Paul is the *only* candidate who will cut Fed’l spending and rollback the Fed’l leviathan. The establishment candidates will continue driving the US down the road to perdition and only Ron Paul can be trusted to turn her around.

Paul Homewood says:
January 2, 2012 at 4:59 am
Ya think? She’s an associate professor of political science. Here are her posted credentials from the TTU website:
Hayhoe, Katherine, Associate Professor of Political Science, 2007. B.Sc., U. of Toronto (Canada), 1994; M.S,., Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), 1997, Ph.D., 2010.

When it comes down to it they are all TREES!!!! They sway in the direction they want to when it comes down to it and the idea can benefit them. I personally think Ron Paul is the best man for the job out of everyone in the race.. Seems like a nice honest guy..

if you will forgive a Brit for commenting on this subject i can only offer this quote
“The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office. Their principal device to that end is to search out groups who pant and pine for something they can’t get and to promise to give it to them. Nine times out of ten that promise is worth nothing. The tenth time is made good by looting A to satisfy B. In other words, government is a broker in pillage, and every election is sort of an advance auction sale of stolen goods.
~ H.L.Mencken”

savethesharks said:
“Take heart! Be strong and of good courage.
And I can not believe I am saying this butt I have to admit about the viable candidate: I AM AGREEING WITH R GATES.
Ron Paul is the only intellectually honest presidential candidate….by a wide margin.”
_____
Then we agree twice, as I happen to like Ron Paul as well…certainly the best, and as you said most honest, of the Republican crop. He’s never flip-flopped on any issue as every other candidate has. Unfortunately, he’ll never get too far as the Defense Industry won’t back him (and they have huge clout in D.C.), and the hardliner conservatives see him weak on defense (which he isn’t).

Like her amigo, Andy Dessler, Ms. Hayhoe has a background in atmospheric science. Unfortunately for the tax paying public her real passion is politics (of the moonbat variety). This is a bad combo. As we know for progressives the ends justify any means. Her political goals seem to compromise her scientic objectivity since she uses the cachet of her scientific background to promote her political agenda and uses her political inclinations to advise her ‘science’.
Ph.D. Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
M.S. Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
B.Sc. Physics and Astronomy, University of Toronto
Associate professor in the Department of Political Science Texas Tech

@Tom in Florida – “The POTUS CANNOT do anything about spending without a compliant Congress.”
That’s not true at all.
* The POTUS has control over *all* military operations. By executive order, POTUS can close foreign bases, return troops, stop wars, and disband mercenaries. That alone saves $100’s billions. Paul says he will do that.
* The POTUS has control over foreign aid. Paul would eliminate all and save many billion$.
* The POTUS can cancel *any* prior executive orders. Paul would cancel many if not all. That would include eliminating EPA which was enacted by Nixon executive order. He’ll close Gitmo.
* POTUS appoints governors to Fed and selects Fed chairman. Senate must confirm but not confirming a Paul appointment would go against will of the people. As POTUS, he’d be able to put considerable pressure on the Fed.
* POTUS can close down departments. Paul will close 5 federal depts; Energy, Education, HUD, Commerce, Interior. Saves billion$ more. Congress can’t stop that.
* Current four Supremes in 70’s. Good chance for several appointments under next POTUS. Paul would choose Constitutionalist judges.
Congress can appropriate funds but POTUS spends the money. Paul won’t spend the money. Congress can make laws to force POTUS but Paul would likely challenge them on Constitutional grounds. Their only recourse is to impeach, but if Paul is elected POTUS he has the will of the people behind him. Very risky for Congress to take that path. And Paul might be effective with Congress. To say he won’t is speculation. At the end of the day though, I’d rather have four years of do-nothing Congress than a ‘compliant’ Congress collaborating with the POTUS to continue raping this country.

@Pete – “… Ron Paul, an isolationist.” And Paul is *not* an isolationist. He’s a non-interventionist following the foreign policy of Washington and Jefferson, “…peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.” The real isolationists want to put on sanctions, erect trade barriers, and invade other countries like Obama, Romney, Gingrich, and the rest. They are aggressive isolationists. Imperialists really.

Justa Joe says:
January 2, 2012 at 10:25 am
Why would a person with a degree in physics/math be working from the poli sci department?

Given the high level of discourse on this blog, I am astonished and dismayed by the number of Paulbots emerging on this thread. Ron Paul has many good ideas on domestic fiscal policy, but larger number of completely kooky ones, especially when it comes to foreign policy. His suggestion that we forget about Iran and leave tiny Israel to defend herself against the fanatical mullahs intent upon bringing the 12th Iman into the world by eradicating “the Zionist entity” should disqualify Paul instantly. That isn’t just rhetoric: letting Iran have the Bomb will virtually guarantee the second Holocaust.
I am a big fan of Newt Gingrich, but agree with those who question his intellectual dilettantism; he is also too enamored of statist ‘solutions’ for my tastes. I would love to see Newt eviscerate The Puppet President in debates, but worry about his steadiness as a Commander in Chief. I am also not happy with Newt’s flirtation with AGW dogma and Crap and Tax.
Back in 2008 I sent a letter to Mitt Romney suggesting he take the lead in challenging the academic and political orthodoxy on AGW. I never even got the courtesy of a reply from a staffer. I’m quite sure Mitt’s recent moderation of his warmist views is a politically-motivated gesture to the skeptical Republican base.
Rick Perry is a forthright exponent of skeptical views on climate, but he has yet to convince me he can think on his feet; he makes George W. Bush look positively eloquent.
Probably the best is Rick Santorum:

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum further expressed his strong convictions on global warming in a recent interview with Fox News’ Glenn Beck.
On Thursday’s show, when asked about global warming, Santorum told Beck, “There is no such thing as global warming,” apparently much to Beck’s delight.
Earlier in the month Santorum told Rush Limbaugh that global warming was “junk science.”
Questioned about oil by Beck, Santorum boldly stated, “Drill everywhere,” and proceeded to declare that there is enough oil, coal and natural gas to last centuries.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/25/rick-santorum-glenn-beck-global-warming-oil_n_884646.html
I agree entirely with Sen. Santorum, but doubt there is much chance he can get nominated.
/Mr Lynn

@Mr. Lynn – “…the number of Paulbots” Don’t insult me. What kind of ‘bot’ are you?
“Ron Paul has many good ideas on domestic fiscal policy, but larger number of completely kooky ones, especially when it comes to foreign policy.” He’s the only sane candidate wrt foreign policy. Maybe you can back up your claim of Paul being kooky? Most of the intelligence community agrees with him, Mossad, Netanyahu, CIA bin Laden unit chief… These people kooks too?
Santorum will start WWIII if he’s given half the chance. Santorum was listed by CREW as one of three most corrupt Senators (http://www.citizensforethics.org/index.php/press/entry/crew-releases-second-annual-most-corrupt-members-of-congress-report/). He’s a lobbyist. He’s never held a job outside politics and lobbying. He’s an imperialist and an Israel-firster. If anyone is kooky, he’s the guy.
@Smokey – “I’m just being realistic.” That’s not an answer. I’m being realistic and believe Paul’s got the best chance of beating Obama. Why wouldn’t he? He might not get the support of hard-core neocons but he gets *way* more independents and crossover Dems. So, the Limbaugh and Hannity crowd won’t vote for him… Given a choice between Paul and Obama, would they vote Obama?
If GOP puts up a polarizing candidate like Santorum or Gingrich, Obama wins. If GOP puts up Romney and Romney wins… the establishment wins because the Obama and Romney are ideological twins. There’s no difference between them once you get past the rhetoric.

I think Anthony should endorse Ron Paul. A lot of conservatives that visit wattsup have paleo-conservative values. Even though many of these posters do not realize it, they are really relics of old America just like Ron Paul.
And I don’t see the point of this site, b!tching and complaining about the way the establishment wants carbon taxes, shelters, protects and created (you think someone like Man created a AGW hysteria on his own?) criminals like Man, expose the lies behind AGW endlessly. Yet the climate change machine marches forward, country after country introduces carbon taxes. And when a good opportunity comes to strike at the big GW lie politically, you make no move.
Honestly, what’s the point of this site?
Bachman, Gengrich, Romney all are actors that play the conservative tune but when it comes to action, they’re just liberals, the diet-coke version, no different than Bush or McCain.
Bring the Constitution back, support Ron Paul!!!

john says:
January 2, 2012 at 1:55 pm
. . . Mitt was responsible for the infamously costly Big Dig (which is still plagued with problems).

Big Dig construction began in 1991, long before Mitt Romney became Governor, and planning long before that. It was pretty much a fait accompli by the time he took office.
I have problems with Gov. Romney, but that, and “Wall St.” and his landscapers using illegal aliens are just silly non-issues.
As are claims that he is no different from the Socialist-in-Chief now in the White House. And I though most of the commenters here were scientists, engineers, and other folks with a grounding in reality.
/Mr Lynn

@Tom in Florida –
“This is not the world of Thomas Jefferson, who btw is one of my favorite people. The POTUS cannot simply withdraw the U.S. from the world. Hiding our heads in the sand while the rest of the world falls to evil men is not the way to keep us safe.”
I disagree. US interventionism has *made* the world a dangerous place for Americans; not the other way around. The reason the world hates Americans now is because of a century of failed interventionist empire building. And Paul believes (and I agree) that US intervention makes the US *less* safe.
He wants a strong national defense. He does not believe that a strong defense is a good offense like the neocons. He believes in Christian Just War Theory… fight when attacked and fight to win. The neocons want war to make themselves rich… not to make the US more secure.

@Mr. Lynn –
“Obama… Goldman-Sachs, JP Morgan, Citigroup, UBS, Morgan Stanley.
Romney… Goldman-Sachs, JP Morgan, Citigroup, UBS, Morgan Stanley.”
And what’s really funny is that those Wall St firms “too big to fail” are using *your* money to fund Obama and Romney campaigns today. Remember 2008 there was a big market crash… but these firms got bailed out by Congress and the Fed. The TARP money was tax dollars. The Fed money was taken from your bank account. Now that money is in Romney’s and Obama’s bank accounts…

Ron Paul has addressed the misconceptions about him.
Just do a google search. misconceptions+about+Ron+Paul
I conversed with a lot of people who call themselves liberal or left. I like to keep up with what they’re saying. Many like Dr. Paul and talk about voting for him. Some want to vote for Romney. Not a good sign for Obama.

R. Gates on Ron Paul
Unfortunately, he’ll never get too far as the Defense Industry won’t back him
~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, you are probably correct.

Disgusting, no?
For more evidence, google —> iowa caucus, vote count

GOOD NEWS (FOR AMERICANS)
“THERE MAY NOT have been a party in Times Square to celebrate, but
two of the most wasteful subsidies ever to clutter the Internal Revenue
Code went out with the old year. Congress declined to renew either the
45-cent-per-gallon tax credit for corn-based ethanol or the
54-cent-per-gallon tariff on imported ethanol, so both expired Dec. 31.”
“Taxpayers will no longer have shell out roughly $6 billion per
year for a program that badly distorted the global grain market,
artificially raised the cost of agricultural land and did almost nothing
to curb greenhouse gas emissions. A federal law requiring the use of 36
billion gallons of ethanol for fuel by 2022 still props up the
industry, but the tax credit’s expiration is a victory for common sense
just the same…”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/overcharged/2011/12/30/gIQAzQ0yUP_story.html
—
MEANWHILE, IN BRITAIN, THE INSANITY GROWS…
“…this leaves Britain isolated in a mad little bubble of its own, the only country in the world committed by law to the completely unrealisable goal of cutting CO2 emissions by 80 per cent within 40 years.
“On this very day, January 1, the EU is imposing a tax on airline flights which, on top of the Air Passenger Duty, when George Osborne raises it yet again in April, will bring the tax for a British family of four flying to Florida to £344.
“Next year, Mr Osborne is to impose a “carbon floor price” of £16 on every ton of CO2 emitted by British industry, when the price of “carbon” under the EU’s emissions trading scheme has collapsed to just £5.40. Not only will Osborne’s tax do serious damage to the competitiveness of British industry, it will add £3 billion a year to the cost of our electricity. This will rise within eight years to £5 billion, which alone will add 25 per cent to all our bills.
“Meanwhile, utterly lost in his own green dreamworld, the man supposedly in charge of energy policy, Chris Huhne, babbles about chequering thousands of square miles of our countryside and our coastal waters with a further 32,000 crazily expensive and useless windmills. It is a vision so insane that one cannot imagine why men in white coats have not already hauled him off – rather more expeditiously than the Essex police who, we are told, wish to see him prosecuted for perverting the course of justice over an alleged traffic offence.
“Even if Huhne’s pipedream could be achieved (it is technically out of the question), he still has not grasped that it would be necessary to pay billions of pounds more to build dozens of grown-up gas-fired power stations, as essential back-up for those still days that render the energy contributions of windmills all too frequently derisory. Something that we can predict with certainty is not going to happen in 2012 is any trace of sanity on these matters entering this absurdly dangerous man’s charmless head.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/8986379/Europe-cannot-save-the-euro-nor-save-itself-from-the-euro.html

Newt’s embrace of the Global Warming agenda was nothing short of scurrilous opportunism.
Exactly. No doubt, back when he first got this rolling, he felt this would help make him more “mainstream” and distance himself from the typical republicans… make him more electable to independants. Ie. The “MAVERICK” approach that McCain employs.
A little wishy washyness over a minor issue is one thing, but this is a BIG issue with HUGE ramifications. I’m not comfortable giving a vote to someone willing to sell out the country for personal power.

A Blast from the Past
Election 1940
Republican Candidate for President
Wendell Willkie
After eight long years of depression,
Styling himself as “The ‘Good’ Liberal”

Maybe Texas Tech was closed for winter break during late December and early January and that is why you got no response. Its not appropriate for you to claim that have missed some deadline that you possibly made up. They have ten business days to send to you some response and an appropriate amount of time to send to you ay documents they find. Appropriate amount of time could be one day or 50 days or more depending on difficulty of your request.
If they are closed for winter break, they might not have used any business days yet and could be falesly accused by this author of not meeting a deadline.