Research

This Week, Obama Will Be Taking A Taxpayer Funded Trip To Colleges In Colorado And North Carolina In An Effort To Energize The Youth Vote. “President Barack Obama will take a two-day, three-state trip this week to visit college campuses and talk about student loan interest rates. The trip is billed as an official one, paid for by taxpayers. But the Obama campaign is also capitalizing on the trip, touting the president’s student-loan message and drawing contrasts with Mitt Romney. … Obama is scheduled to visit the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the University of Iowa on his official trip Tuesday and Wednesday. In his (official) weekly address on Saturday, the president said he will be talking to students about making college more affordable, and about pushing Congress to pass legislation to prevent interest rates on student loans from increasing.” (Donovan Slack, “Campaign Capitalizes On Official Trip,” Politico, 4/23/12)

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Voters Disapprove Of The Obama’s Job Performance

Pew Research Center: 46 Percent Of Voters Disapprove Of President Obama’s Job Performance, While 45 Percent Approve. (Pew Research Center, 3,008 A, MoE 2.1%, 4/4-15/12)

• 50 Percent Of Independents Disapprove Of President Obama’s Job Performance, While 40 Percent Approve. (Pew Research Center, 3,008 A, MoE 2.1%, 4/4-15/12)

Quinnipiac University Poll: 56 Percent Of Independents Disapprove Of The Job President Obama Is Doing. (Quinnipiac University Poll, 2577 RV, MoE 1.9%, 4/11-4/17)

Quinnipiac University Poll: 49 Percent Of Voters Have An Unfavorable Opinion Of President Obama, While 45 Percent Have A Favorable Opinion. (Quinnipiac University Poll, 2577 RV, MoE 1.9%, 4/11-17/12)

• 56 Percent Of Independent Voters Have An Unfavorable Opinion Of President Obama. (Quinnipiac University Poll, 2577 RV, MoE 1.9%, 4/11-17/12)

New York Times/CBS Poll: 61 Percent Of Voters Think The Country Is On The Wrong Track, Compared To Just 31 Percent ... more

It’s been a bad week for the President. As Obama desperately tries to deflect blame for high gas prices and sell his Buffet tax gimmick, his pandering has been overshadowed by scandal and the political fallout. Highlights of Obama’s week include:

More and more Democrats are joining Republicans in calling for Keystone to be approved.

Obama Is Finding Himself “Increasingly Boxed In On The Keystone Pipeline As More Congressional Democrats Are Joining Republicans In Backing The Project.” “President Obama is finding himself increasingly boxed in on the Keystone pipeline fight as more Congressional Democrats are joining Republicans in backing the project, which has strong labor support and could generate significant numbers of jobs in economically hard-hit states.” (Jennifer Steinhauer, “Democrats Joining G.O.P. On Pipeline,” The New York Times, 4/19/12)

• “This Week The Republican-Run Housed Passed A Transportation Bill That Includes A Provision Requiring Approval Of The Pipeline, With ... more
  
  

FYI, banner morning for Democrats criticizing Barack Obama and his policies that are leaving this nation worse off. Check out the run down below:

NJ: “Manchin On The Fence About Obama Vote”

http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/manchin-on-the-fence-about-obama-vote-20120419

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who has done more than any other Democrat up for reelection this year to distance himself from President Obama, said he does not know if he will vote for Obama or presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney in November. “I’ll look at the options,” Manchin said this week. The last three years “have made it pretty rough” for his state, he said.

WS: “Endangered Democrat: 'This Isn't About The Presidential Race'”

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/endangered-democrat-isnt-about-presidential-race_640456.html

On MSNBC Thursday, Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) was asked whether President Barack Obama being at the top of the ticket in November would be a "drag" on Tester's reelection chances. Watch the ... more

HOUSE COMMITTEE TAKE DOE OFFICIALS TO TASK OVER WASTEFUL ENERGY DEPARTMENT SPENDING

Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on budget and spending concerns at the DOE. Director of the Office of the Budget of the U.S. Department of Energy Christopher Johns, DOE Inspector General Gregory Friedman and Director of Natural Resources and Environment Frank Rusco were grilled on wasteful spending practices rampant within the Department of Energy.

Highlights of the Hearing: Congressman Joe Barton (D-TX) grilled Budget Director Johns on his lack of knowledge of how many cars the Department of Energy owns. IG Friedman called the estimated 60 million the department spends on travel a year “paltry” in comparison to that of DOE contractors. Director Rusco remarks that the DOE Loan Guarantee Program is “less willing” to accept the GAO’s recommendations to curb wasteful spending practices.

Inspector General Friedman ... more

Obama White House Won’t Speculate Whether Today’s Announcement Will Actually Impact Gas Prices

Click To Watch 

CBS’s Norah O’Donnell: “With this new action, how much do you think it will decrease the price of gas at the pump?”

National Economic Council Deputy Director Brian Deese: “So as you know, and as all of you know, the President, as part of his all of the above energy strategy, has said we need to be doing everything that we can to try to increase domestic production, reduce our dependence on imported oil and protect consumers. He’s also said there is no single silver bullet. And so, you know, I’m not going to speculate on this provision or any other provision and the specific impact that it would have on prices at the pump but what I would say at a time when you’ve seen trading activity increase by 30 percent, when you’ve seen prices increase and you’ve seen uncertainty in these markets increase, that is the most important time to be doing everything you can to have cops on ... more

Barack Obama must believe the American people can be fooled into thinking he actually has an energy policy because he is about to head out for yet another speech to again either express concern about or announce a plan to crack down on oil speculation. Unfortunately, Obama’s plan to get headlines isn’t an energy policy to bring down gas prices. At the same time, last month, McClatchy reported that Obama’s task force to deal with oil speculation which he announced in April 2011, “met only a handful of times and has never reported to the public.” Check it out below:

Haven’t We Seen This Before From Obama?

• Reuters (6/23/08): “Obama Vows To Crack Down On Oil Speculation”
  
• Reuters (6/18/09): “Obama Still Concerned About Oil Speculation: White House”
  
• Reuters (4/20/11): “Obama Blames Speculators For Rising U.S. Fuel Prices”
  
• Reuters (4/17/12): “Obama To Announce Crackdown On Oil Market Manipulation”

An Obama Task Force That Did Nothing:

Since Obama Announced A Task Force To Deal With Oil ... more

Today, Jeff Neely, the GSA official who organized the now infamous Las Vegas conference which resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars of wasted taxpayer money, pled the Fifth before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. This marks the fourth time individuals involved in scandal with connections to the Obama administration have pled the Fifth.

Jeff Neely Pled The Fifth, Refusing To Answer Any Questions Regarding The GSA Scandal

Neely, Who Pled The Fifth, Organized The Las Vegas Conference Which Cost Taxpayers $822,000. “The General Services Administration official tasked with organizing a now-infamous $822,000 Las Vegas conference plans to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights ahead of a scheduled Monday grilling on the Hill. On Thursday, House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) served a subpoena to require Jeff Neely to appear before the committee, according to Democratic committee documents obtained by POLITICO. Neely’s attorney on ... more

This morning, former U.S. Comptroller David Walker criticized Obama for his lack of leadership on the budget, and willingness to play politics rather than embrace real solutions. Obama’s two budgets have been unanimously rejected by both the House and the Senate, a show of bipartisanship which the White House can’t spin its way out of.

CNBC’s Joe Kernan: “David is this a record for how long it's been without a budget or has this happened before in periods of U.S. history?”

Former Comptroller David Walker: “Over three years without a budget.”

Kernan:  “Has it ever happened before?”

Walker: “Not to my knowledge we’ve been this long without a budget.”

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Kernan:  “Let's get back to what happened then. We understand this is -- there's an election coming and it's a divisive time. What did the President propose that allowed him to get zero votes? What was the -- what was the mechanism of what he was doing? What was the Obama administration thinking? Why did it get zero and then we'll ... more

Obama’s Approval Rating Is Down

A 51 Percent Majority Of Voters Disapproves Of The Job Obama Is Doing, While Just 42 Percent Approve.  “Obama’s overall job approval rating stands at 42 percent, down from 47 percent last month. The drop comes mainly from Democrats: 80 percent approve now, down from 86 percent in March. A 51 percent majority of voters disapproves of the job Obama is doing.” (Dana Blanton, “Fox News Poll: Romney Edges Obama As Approval Of President Drops,” Fox News, 4/12/12)

76 Percent Of Americans Say The Economy Is Still In Recession

“More Voters Think Obama’s Policies Have Hurt Rather Than Helped The Economy. Three In 10 Say His Policies Haven’t Made Much A Difference Either Way.”  (Dana Blanton, “Fox News Poll: Romney Edges Obama As Approval Of President Drops,” Fox News, 4/12/12)

 “There’s One Number In The Latest Washington Post-ABC News Poll That Should Send A Chill Up The Collective Spine Of President Obama And His Reelection Team. That Number? 76.” (Chris ... more