American Bar Assoc poll: ObamaCare likely to be upheld by Supreme Court

The Obama health care reform law is likely to be upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, predict more than a dozen academics, lawyers and journalists who follow the Supreme Court who were polled by the American Bar Association’s magazine Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases.

Approximately 85 percent of the panel, who were promised anonymity, predict the law will be upheld.

The law’s individual mandate – which requires individuals buy health insurance or pay a penalty – will be affirmed by a vote of 6-3, the group predicts. All of the experts think that the court’s liberal wing – Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor – will vote to uphold it. Chief Justice John Roberts will join them, 69 percent of the experts think, as will Justice Anthony Kennedy, according to 53 percent.
(source)

Obama Meets "Mad Men"

Obama Meets "Mad Men" from The Chris Matthews Show this past Sunday.

Two year anniversary of ObamaCare

From Think Progress: Two year anniversary of "ObamaCare" today. While most of the law does not go into effect until 2014, take a look at some of the benefits Americans are already enjoying and what Republicans would take away:

President Obama's statement on Trayvon Martin killing

President Obama spoke today about the killing of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, FL:

"When I think about this boy, I think about my own kids," Obama said in the Rose Garden. "I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this. And that everybody pull together."

"My main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," Obama said. "All of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves."

"Obviously, this is a tragedy. I can only imagine what these parents are going through," Obama said. "All of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how something like this has happened."

Trayvon Martin, a middle-class black teen with no history of trouble, was shot and killed in Sanford, Fla., a community just north of Orlando. His alleged assailant, George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain and criminal justice student, apparently killed him on Feb. 26 as the 17-year-old walked home from a convenience store near his suburban neighborhood to his father's house a few blocks away.

Before the shooting, Zimmerman, who has a weapons permit, told a police dispatcher there was "a real suspicious guy" who looked "like he was up to no good or on drugs or something" and looked to have "something in his waistband." Although he was directly told not to follow Martin, Zimmerman chased Martin on foot and eventually shot him. Martin was unarmed, carrying only a bag of Skittles and an iced tea he had just purchased.

Racist bumper sticker defended by seller

From Think Progress: President Obama’s critics hate being labeled racists, but occasionally it’s hard to argue with the charges. Paula Smith, the owner Stickatude.com, is defending a popular bumper sticker that is igniting debate on race and spawning widespread condemnation.

“Don’t Re-Nig in 2012,” reads the sticker — a not-too-subtle play on a word that invokes one of the most repulsive racial epithets to attack the country’s first black president. Yet, Smith sees absolutely nothing wrong with it, as she told Forbes:

Ms. Smith insisted that the bumper sticker is not racist. I asked her about the “N” word, for which “nig” is the shortened version. “According to the dictionary [the N word] does not mean black. It means a low down, lazy, sorry, low down person. That’s what the N word means.”

Even if one were to ignore the racial scars of left by the “N-word” and rely solely on an academic definition, Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines it as an offensive word referring to “a black person.”

But she goes further, explaining that her website found the design on a different site in 2010 and decided to sell it herself because she “thought it was cute.” Pressed by Forbes on whether she thought the N-word is offensive at all, she replied “no,” explaining that she herself doesn’t use it and that she has “helped black families.” “And besides,” she added, “Obama is not even black. He’s got a mixture of race. It’s his choice of what his nationality is.”

Perhaps most upsetting of all is the fact that the sticker is currently the site’s top seller. Smith says she no longer actively maintains the website, and that she thought the site was “dead.” But in the last few days, people have been buying up the sticker at $3 apiece.

President Obama's energy policy: domestic oil production at 8 year high

American oil production is at an eight-year high, and we are less reliant on foreign oil than at any time in the last 16 years.

Oil and petroleum imports are down an average of more than 1.5 million barrels per day and domestic crude oil production has increased by an average of more than 720,000 barrels per day since 2008. Domestic oil production has gone up every year under President Obama.

Racist anti-Obama sticker goes viral then disappears

From ABC News: A photograph of a bumper sticker that features a racist play on words lit up Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere Thursday, adding to what is already shaping up to be one of the most vicious and negative presidential races in history.

The sticker reads “Don’t Re-Nig In 2012″ and sits above a smaller text that reads: “Stop repeat offenders. Don’t re-elect Obama!”

The design seems to have originated from a site called Stumpy’s Stickers, which has since been dismantled. The site featured similar stickers for sale, including a picture of an ape that reads, “Obama 2012″; a drawing of the Confederate flag with the message “If this flag has offended you, then it made my day!”; and another that features members of the Ku Klux Klan and reads, “The Original Boys In The Hood.”

ABC tried to access the website Friday morning, but the email address has been suspended, and the person(s) responsible for the website has not been identified.

The photograph went viral when it was posted to Facebook on Thursday afternoon.

The Road We've Traveled - inside look at Obama's first 3 years as President

From Academy Award®-winning director Davis Guggenheim: "The Road We've Traveled"

This film takes a look at many of the decisions President Obama has had to make to get our country back on track.

I realize we aren't where we want to be yet. But with unemployment coming down, getting out of Iraq and soon to be out of Afghanistan, the stock market rebounding (which affects millions of retirement accounts), the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell - the country is slowly getting better.

Certainly better than it was when President Obama took office - when we were LOSING 700,000 jobs a month. We are now gaining jobs every month.

It's a slow slog, and I know some folks just want to hate on the President. I believe he wants the best for the country. AND everything isn't within his power to change. But he's doing what a President can.

Take at look at the video. See what you think.

President Obama releases statement opposing anti-gay Amendment One in North Carolina

President Barack Obama today came out against the proposed constitutional amendment on North Carolina's May 8th ballot banning same sex marriages and civil unions, weighing into a fight in a key battleground state.

His campaign issued a statement saying the amendment was discriminatory.

“While the president does not weigh in on every single ballot measure in every state, the record is clear that the President has long opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same sex couples,” said Cameron French, his North Carolina campaign spokesman. “That’s what the North Carolina ballot initiative would do – it would single out and discriminate against committed gay and lesbian couples – and that’s why the President does not support it.”

Obama leads all GOP candidates in head-to-head contests

President Barack Obama is leading all of the Republican presidential candidates in head-to-head match-ups, according to a poll released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

• A national survey taken March 7-11 showed Obama leading Romney by 12 percentage points (54-42) and even further ahead of Santorum with 57 percent of support to Santorum's 29 percent.

• For the first time since shortly after Osama bin Laden was killed, half of all Americans (50 percent) say they approve of Barack Obama's job performance.

• Mitt Romney currently holds a 33-24 lead over Santorum among registered Republican and Republican-leaning independent voters, with 20 percent backing Newt Gingrich and 14 percent favoring Ron Paul.

• By a 59-32 margin, most Americans think Barack Obama will win the election if Mitt Romney is the Republican nominee. That margin is far wider if Rick Santorum is the GOP nominee: 68 percent think Obama would win, while just 24 percent predict a Santorum presidency.

• In the current survey, just 29 percent of Americans say they have a favorable view of Romney, while 51 percent say they have an unfavorable impression.

• Women favor Obama over Romney by 20 points—virtually unchanged from a month ago.
(source)

New Pew Poll shows Romney leading nationally but losing to Obama

A new Pew Research poll shows that Romney is, again, the favorite nationally among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents for the nomination, leading Rick Santorum 33 to 24 percent in a poll that was in the field through Sunday.

A month ago, Santorum and Romney were in a statistical tie, with the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania slightly ahead.

However, a large percentage of voters surveyed by Pew, 59 percent, see Romney losing to President Obama.

Conservative news sources: Obama not to blame for rising gas prices

Recently, Newt Gingrich laid blame for rising gas prices at the feet of President Obama saying “The price of gasoline when Barack Obama became president was $1.89. All of this gigantic increase came from his policies.”

But the conservative Wall Street Journal countered by saying:

“U.S. gasoline prices, like prices throughout the advanced economies, are determined by global market forces. It is hard to see how Mr. Obama’s policies can be blamed.”

"Mr. Gingrich ignores the basic fact about U.S. gas prices: They are largely fixed by the price of crude oil, which is determined by global supply and demand."

"When Mr. Obama was inaugurated, demand was weak due to the recession. But now it’s stronger, and thus the price is higher."

"What’s more, producing a lot of oil doesn’t lower the price of gasoline in your country. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Germans over the past three years have paid an average of $2.64 a gallon (excluding taxes), while Americans paid $2.69, even though the U.S. produced 5.4 million barrels of oil per day while Germany produced just 28,000."

In addition, the Koch Brothers funded Cato Institute had this to say:

“Is President Obama responsible for spiraling price of gasoline? Republicans say yes, but the facts say no. Despite the popular perception of President Obama as anti-oil, domestic oil production is increasing for the first time since the Johnson administration…. Unfortunately, presidents get blamed for world market changes that occur during their time in office … but generally, they do not cause them."

President Obama versus GOP candidates

Click pic for larger view

Although it's very, very early I was curious to see the most recent polls regarding head-to-head match ups between President Obama and Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

According to the Real Clear Politics Averages, President Obama is leading Mitt Romney in polls by an average of 5.1%

And polls show President Obama leading Rick Santorum by an average of 6.8%.

Head over to Real Clear Politics to see a round-up of the latest polls.  Great resource.

Fox News 2008: Presidents don't have the power to lower gas prices

Well, now isn't this interesting?  The busy people at Media Matters have taken a look through the archives, and lo and behold, guess who said "no President has the power to increase or to lower gas prices."

Very, very interesting clips from Fox News where practically everyone there was giving President Bush a "pass" when gas prices were rising in Summer 2008.

NOW, however, following GOP strategy, Fox News is blaming the Obama administration for rising gasoline prices -- a claim that has been repeatedly debunked by energy analysts.

In 2008, Fox's coverage occasionally even mirrored today's facts: expanding domestic oil drilling will not significantly lower prices, and the only way to reduce our vulnerability to gas price spikes is to use less oil.

Remember when I mentioned politics is just a big, big game?

President Obama leads GOP candidates in Ohio by double digits

A new NBC/Marist poll of Ohio registered voters shows President Obama at the fifty percent mark in the swing state against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who sees 38 percent versus the President. Obama leads all possible GOP challengers in the state by double digits, which sampled over 3,000 Ohio voters. From Marist's analysis:

Ohio voters are more likely to identify as independents than they were in a similar poll conducted in October 2008. 35% of registered voters now consider themselves to be independent compared with 31% at that time. Republican identification has decreased from 31% to 26%, and Democrats are little changed. They went from 37% in 2008 to 38% now. 

“President Obama’s advantage over his potential challengers in Ohio is underscored by the fact that more voters support him over the GOP field than approve of his job performance,” says Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, Director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.
(source)

Judge Sends Racist, Bestiality Email About Obama - Says He’s Not Racist

A federal judge, Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull from Montana, admitted sending a racist and bestiality-laden email about President Barack Obama and his mother.

He says he’s not a racist, and adds that he sent it because he is not a fan of the President.

Click to view larger

The email compares African-Americans to dogs, or, alternatively, suggests President Obama’s mother had sexual intercourse with a dog, reads:

“Normally I don’t send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine.

“A little boy said to his mother; ‘Mommy, how come I’m black and you’re white?’” the e-mail joke reads. “His mother replied, ‘Don’t even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you’re lucky you don’t bark!’”

Judge Cebull did not write it but forwarded it.

Judge Cebull gave this explanation to John S. Adams of the Great Falls Tribune, who broke the story:
“The only reason I can explain it to you is I am not a fan of our president, but this goes beyond not being a fan,” Cebull said. “I didn’t send it as racist, although that’s what it is. I sent it out because it’s anti-Obama.”

It’s one thing to criticize President Obama’s policies or leadership or even his character. But to insult his mother and equate interracial sex with bestiality? SRSLY? And this from a federal judge...

Sad.

Dow Jones closes over 13,000 - first time since May 2008

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed today over 13,000 for the first time since May 19, 2008.

The stock market is now up over 56 percent since Obama took office. Today, the stock market was buoyed, in the view of one economist, by “job and income gains…leading to higher confidence and spending growth, in turn driving further spending gains.” Here’s how the stock market has fared under our last three presidents:

Remember - the GOP Presidential candidates are campaigning on the idea that "the country is headed in the wrong direction." So I'm guessing they'd rather the stock market DROP as it did under President Bush?

The success of the stock market under Obama is particularly notable considering the majority of Republicans believe he is a “socialist,” presumably out to destroy private enterprise.
(via ThinkProgress.org)

President Obama pulls us out of a recession AND he's cool...

Blues night at the White House, February 21, 2012. See the full concert on PBS on February 27.

He lifted America out of a Republican-induced depression.

250,000 new jobs in January 2012. 3.7 million private sector jobs in three years.

He saw to it that bin Laden was eliminated.

Ended the war in Iraq.

He rescued the auto industry - which is now booming, like never before. Keeping good American jobs here in the US.

After near catastrophe, America is loved and respected again.

AND he sings.

You can have Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney or a guy who's heading us in the right direction. Is this a hard question?

I mean, SRSLY.

Come on...

Fox News Poll: President Obama leads GOP contenders in swing states

President Obama leads each Republican contender in swing states according to a Fox News Swing State Poll that also suggests a significant shift in the battleground landscape.

The new poll, released Wednesday, shows Obama leads Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich in the all important swing-states.

The registered-voter poll was conducted across 10 states where Obama had small margins of victory in 2008 and are considered decisive in the upcoming presidential election.

These swing states fall into three regional tiers:
• the Rocky Mountain tier includes Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico
• the Rust Belt tier includes Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin
• the Dixie tier includes North Carolina, Florida and Virginia

The swing-state voters back President Obama over Romney by 8 percentage points, and over Santorum by 9 points.

President Obama tops Ron Paul by 12 points in the poll.

Gingrich lags farthest behind Obama, as voters in these key states prefer the president to the former Speaker by 20 points.

Overall, swing-state voters look much like the national electorate.

Obama currently holds a 14-point lead over Romney in the Dixie states, and an 18-point edge over Santorum.

Compare that to the more cautious mood in the Rust Belt states where Santorum ties with the president, and voters are almost evenly split between Romney and Obama (+1 point).

Rocky Mountain voters give Obama a 7-point edge over Romney.
Nationally, voters approve of President Obama (48 to 45 percent) -- his highest approval rating in more than seven months.

Poll: Things slowly looking up for President Obama

From the most recent CBS/New York Times poll: Things are slowly looking better not only for the economy but for President Obama.  Click the pic above to enlarge.

The breakdown basically is:

• 50% of Americans approve of President Obama job performance versus 43% disapprove
• 34% of Americans feel the economy getting better versus 22% who feel it's getting worse
• President Obama's approval numbers on job creation are going up, while the disapproval numbers are going down

Looking ahead to November, the CNN/ORC poll indicates that the president's re-election chances are on the rise.

His approval rating is at 50% in this poll as well.

And in hypothetical matchups among registered voters, Obama holds a 51%-46% margin over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, leads both former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas by the same 52%-45% advantage, and beats former House Speaker Newt Gingrich 55%-42%.