Research

Der Spiegel, a German news magazine with one of the largest circulations in Europe, penned an editorial today venting the growing frustration of European leaders towards President Obama’s continued indecision on Afghanistan, despite months of meetings, and a troop request by his leading commander in Afghanistan. 

Afghanistan and Pakistan are being shaken by attacks, and the Taliban is dictating the course of the war. US President Obama has been silent about the situation for far too long and European countries like Germany and France are correct to demand better American leadership on the issue of Afghanistan.

The President has been anything but clear on Afghanistan, and our allies are noticing President Obama’s indecision. As a candidate, Obama promised the resources necessary to win in Afghanistan, but as Der Spiegel points out: “Obama's silence stands in contrast with the impassioned rhetoric that carried him into the White House.” 

During the campaign, Obama stressed the ... more

Sounds like the beginning of a joke, right?  Well, this story isn’t too funny. Two days ago, President Obama signed a Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill that includes pork for the embattled Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). President Obama had cut $35 million for new emergency operations centers in Reid’s home state of Nevada from the budget because “the program's award allocations are not based on risk assessment,” which is wonk-speak for 100% prime grade pork.

But here’s the punchline: Congress did not just reject Obama’s cuts; they nearly doubled the funding for Reid’s pork project. The centers will now receive $60 million in funding, a gift from Congressional Democrats for Reid to campaign on since he’s struggling with his unpopularity back home. In the words of Richard Simon at The Los Angeles Times: “As it turns out, President Obama's proposed spending cuts aren't entirely the kind of change Congress can believe in.” 

But Mr. Simon gives way too much ... more

That’s Speaker Pelosi’s idea of health care reform. She has made no secret of the fact that she, like her fellow House progressives, wants a “robust public option,” one of the most liberal versions of government-run health insurance. In fact, the most liberal House Democrats claim they’ve already compromised because they’d rather have a “single-payer system,” a complete government takeover of health care.

But this morning, Politico’s “Huddle” reported the House bill that was introduced yesterday isn’t going to be the end-all-be-all of health care reform for Pelosi:

‘On any given day, success that upsets business as usual in Washington can be perishable. I don’t want to get too bogged down,’ Pelosi told POLITICO in an interview Thursday afternoon. ‘We are not passing a bill, shutting the door, turning out the lights and walking away. We will have other legislation.’

What’s next? A single-payer system? The author of the public option, Jacob Hacker admitted that government-run health ... more

Earlier this morning, we warned in a memo, “one should be very cautious in determining whether [the Obama Administration jobs report coming out today] contains a trick or a treat.” Now, according to Politico’s Mike Allen, we know it’s a trick.  Allen reports that Obama will claim at least 1 million jobs “created or saved” by the stimulus. As we noted in our memo, the Obama Administration has developed a pattern of offering misleading job estimates. But don’t take our word for it. Last night, CBS News also examined these estimates, with chief White House correspondent Chip Reid saying, “if the Administration's first effort at counting stimulus jobs is any guide, tomorrow's numbers could be hard to believe.” (Hat tip: House Republican Leader John Boehner’s office.)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is playing games with the truth again, claiming her newly introduced government-run health care plan will cost less than $900 billion over ten years, even though the plan actually costs over $1 trillion.  Politico’s Chris Frates explains:

There was a lot of confusion this afternoon when the CBO released its cost estimate for the House bill. Democrats had said earlier in the day that the bill would cost $894 billion -- just under the $900 billion limit set by President Obama. But in the CBO analysis there were two price tags: a net cost of $894 billion and a gross cost of just over $1 trillion. Both numbers are correct, but Democrats shifted the terms of the debate and cherry picked the lower one.

If you want to know how much something costs, you want to know the total.  Pelosi can keep misleading people about the facts, and we’ll keep calling her out.

As Michael O’Brien of The Hill reported last night, we at the RNC Research Department wrote a memo on today’s White House report on stimulus “jobs created or saved” from state governments and nonprofits, outlining the Obama Administration’s continued use of misleading job estimates. In analyzing the four different stimulus job estimate reports released in the last two months from the White House, we noticed an interesting trend:

With a pattern of these White House “jobs created or saved” reports being published in close proximity to releases of real data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (showing continuing job loss and rising unemployment), it is clear the Obama Administration is trying to cover up economic reality by manufacturing job numbers out of thin air.

That’s right. The Obama Administration is literally trying to argue with reality. Whether it’s the “jobs created or saved” fantasy they’ve been trying to sell or their instruction to states to make wild guesses when ... more

In a recently completed Economist/YouGov poll, results show that “independents view two major initiatives of President Obama and Democratic Congress in [a] negative light.” What do the numbers look like?

Let’s first take a look at how folks feel about an experiment Obama has already conducted – his $787 billion stimulus:

• 56: Percent of independents who think the stimulus is not working.
• 54: Percent of independents who were unsure of the stimulus’ current benefits, but are pessimistic about its future benefits.
• 60: Percent of independents who say the stimulus “will note create a substantial number of jobs.”

Now let’s take a look at how folks feel about Obama’s next experiment – his government-run health care scheme:

• 55: Percent of independents opposed to Obama’s proposed health care plan.
• 57: Percent of independents who believe Obama’s government-run health care plan will mean more taxes or high premiums.
• 74: Percent of independents who believe Obama’s plan will worsen the ... more
  
  

Our friends in the Senate Republican Conference have released a list of the top ten wasteful stimulus projects and it is quite a list.  The highlights include:

• $300,000 to map radioactive rabbit feces
• $2.3 million for bug research in Connecticut
• $6 million for a snowmaking facility in the 15^th snowiest city in the country, Duluth, MN

Obama promised that stimulus funds would not go to wasteful projects, but as Joe Biden admitted back in June: “We know some of this money is going to be wasted ... some people are being scammed already.”

A story in today’s The Washington Post adds to the many instances where Biden’s prediction came true: $1.2 billion in stimulus funds have gone to 30 companies that according to a watchdog group are the “most egregious offenders of state and federal laws.”  These companies have sold defective products, doctored safety tests, submitted phony travel claims, and filled contracts with false fees.  The Post also reports that half of the $16 billion in ... more

Bob Stallman, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, explains today in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee how the Democrats’ “cap-and-trade” scheme will mean higher costs and a reduced international competitiveness for American farmers:

Increased input costs will put our farmers and ranchers at a competitive disadvantage with producers in other countries that do not have similar Greenhouse Gas (GHG) restrictions.

Increased production costs and lost competitiveness will result in reduced food production and higher food costs domestically and abroad.

Cost increases incurred by utilities and other providers resulting from climate change/energy legislation will ultimately be borne by consumers, including farmers and ranchers. Electricity costs are expected to be one-third higher than would otherwise be the case by 2040.

The impacts of the legislation go far beyond just the farm and ranch community. Families will be hit hard with higher energy costs under any ... more

Yesterday, Robert Gibbs stood at his podium and unequivocally told the American people that neither Obama nor the DNC took money from registered federal lobbyists or PACs. Gibbs said that had been the Democrats’ policy since Obama became the party’s nominee.

So why was an invitation for a DNC fundraiser was sent to “dozens of lobbyists”? The Hill reports that the headliner at the fundraiser was Obama cabinet member and EPA chief Lisa Jackson, who’s currently pushing the Senate to pass a national energy tax and threatening to create job-killing regulations on carbon emissions. Of course, the invitation could probably be forwarded from a lobbyist to his or her client, so the White House wouldn’t need a pass-through to engage in Chicago-style bullying on different industries into accepting their big-government agenda.

Additionally, the Democrats’ Congressional campaign committees, DCCC and DSCC, have no problem taking money from registered federal lobbyists. These committees have been ... more