Chad’s Morning Brief: Chris Winn Attacks Randy Neugebauer’s Wealth, France Surrenders to Socialism, & More

Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of May 7, 2012. Give us your feedback below and tune in to Lubbock’s First News with Chad Hasty for these and many more topics from 6-9 am.

1. Chris Winn Goes After Neugebauer's Wealth (link)

Former Lubbock County GOP Chairman and current challenger to U.S. Representative Randy Neugebauer has been campaigning in and around Abilene lately and got a big write up in the local newspaper on Saturday. The paper reported on Winn's rhetoric that we've heard here on KFYO. Winn says he is running against all incumbents this year and believes we should have the "us vs. them" mentality.

Winn also criticized Neugebauer for being out of touch. Not because of his voting record though, but instead because Neugebauer is just too wealthy. According to the Reporter News:

"I think after 10 years of service, we need to go a different direction," Winn said. "I'm getting across this district, meeting people, and the folks that I'm meeting are more open to that message."
After saying it was nothing personal, Winn painted a picture of a wealthy, out-of-touch incumbent invested in the Washington establishment.
Winn said Neugebauer is one of the richest congressmen.
"I think he's out of touch with the people of West Texas," Winn said. "He's part of the problem and not part of the solution."
Neugebauer is ranks No. 33 in wealth in House members, according to Center for Responsive Politics.
Neugebauer has said he and wife Dana worked hard to succeed.
Winn also cited the Funraiser, which Neugebauer bought with family members, as evidence voters should give the incumbent the heave-ho.
During a trip to Washington, Winn said he spotted the yacht while he was jogging.
"What's a congressman in land-locked West Texas doing with a 52-foot yacht in D.C.?" he said.In response to Neugebauer's request for an opinion, the Federal Election Commission advised Neugebauer he could rent the boat and use it to raise campaign money by following certain guidelines.
"Mostly I brought it to attract my grandsons to come up to Washington to see me, and we intended to have some fun on that boat," Neugebauer said. "Unfortunately, we've been very busy in Congress, and we haven't had as much time to use our boat as a family as we'd like to."

Again, according to the article Chris Winn NEVER disagreed with a vote of Neugebauer's. The only political problem Winn mentioned was the fact that Neugebauer had been in D.C. for too long, but really gave no reason why. The biggest complaint Winn seems to have against Randy Neugebauer is the fact that Neugebauer has money.

I think we can now add Chris Winn to the list of politicians who like to attack the wealthy in this country. I applaud the Neugebauer's for making money. I don't care if they own a yacht or how big it is. I hope one day I can have a yacht. If Winn wants to criticize how someone made their money, then he should do so. However, as long as Randy Neugebauer has made his money legally, I see no problems. Saying that Neugebauer is out of touch with West Texas because of his wealth is just silly and makes Winn look bad. Is Chris Winn part of the Occupy Lubbock movement or the Republican Party? One group attacks the wealthy in this country, the other celebrate wealth. Winn has talked about being a Tea Party Republican. Funny, I haven't seen any other Tea Party candidates attack someone's wealth.

We've seen other Republican's attack politicians because of their wealth, and it never works. Most people don't want to criticize those with wealth. They want to be those people one day. Seems to me that Randy Neugebauer isn't the one who is out of touch here.

2. France. Forward. (link)

No, President Obama didn't win France, but his idea of government sure did! Socialist Francois Hollande defeated Nicolas Sarkozy in the Presidential Election on Sunday. According to reports, 80% of voters participated in the election.

So now France is marching down the road of socialism again. It won't be good for the French, but they just weren't ready for less government. I fear the same for many here in the United States.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy lost his bid for a second term Sunday to Socialist candidate Francois Hollande, in a vote that could have reverberations across Europe and around the world – and especially in Washington.
The decision marks a sharp turn away from the budget-cutting policies trumpeted by Sarkozy and other European leaders who tried to respond to the financial crisis by tightening their belts.
By contrast, Hollande has called for more spending, financed by more taxes. His election means a Socialist is taking power in Paris for the first time since Socialist Francois Mitterrand was president from 1981 to 1995.
In Washington, Obama invited Hollande to the White House, Camp David for the G-8 Summit and Chicago for the NATO Summit.
"President Obama indicated that he looks forward to working closely with Mr. Hollande and his government on a range of shared economic and security challenges," a White House statement read.

Congrats France and good luck with that.

3. Rubio Sounds Off (link)

Senator Marco Rubio sounds more and more like a VP candidate. This time he's attacking Obama's "magic".

Sen. Marco Rubio charged Sunday that President Obama has lost his political touch, accusing the incumbent of employing a "divisive" and "cynical" style that now pits Americans against one another -- tough words that come amid speculation the Republican senator is trying out for the No. 2 slot on the GOP presidential ticket.
Rubio, without explicitly discussing his vice presidential aspirations, staunchly defended Republican candidate Mitt Romney over a series of recent controversies. And he launched broadside after broadside at Romney's presumed opponent. In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," he said President Obama has been in Washington so long -- he's been there seven-and-a-half years -- that he's starting to sound "just like anybody else in Washington."
"All the things that made him different and special four years ago are gone," Rubio said. "And now all he does is run, dividing Americans against each other, obviously because he can't run on his record."

4. Preschoolers Show Behavior Problems After Parents Split (link)

To me this study is just common sense, but what do you think?

The study found that such disruption, particularly in the child's first three years but likely as long as five years, "more strongly influences children's development than changes later in childhood," and those influences "seem to have negative effects on children's behavior."
The analysis of 3,492 children conducted by researchers from Georgetown University and the University of Chicago was presented on the final day of the Population Association of America's annual meeting here, at a session on family structure and child well-being.
"Family-structure changes during early childhood at the preschool period seem to matter more than later changes," said the study's co-author Rebecca Ryan of Georgetown, an assistant professor of psychology.
"They increase behavior problems particularly if you move from a two-biological-parent family into a single-parent family or experience some other type of change," Ryan told the session. "Change experienced in middle childhood and pre-adolescence had no effect on kids' outcomes."
The analysis also looked at other types of family-structure changes, such as moving from a single-parent family to a blended family; that kind of family change wasn't associated with negative behaviors, she says — a contrast to what earlier studies have shown.

5. Dumb story of the morning (link)

Terrible person.

An Arizona woman wanted to enhance her bust, but she couldn’t afford breast augmentation surgery -- so she allegedly started lying about having a deadly disease so people would donate to her ‘cause,’ MyFoxPhoenix reports.
Jami Lynn Toler has been accused of telling her mom, grandparents and co-workers that she had breast cancer and needed a double-mastectomy and reconstructive surgery -- and she didn't have insurance.
She said it would cost about $7,800.
Toler is also accused of reaching out to Hallmark Hospice for help.
The Hospice organized fundraising events, and the public donated. They ended up raising more than $8,300 -- even more than Toler needed for her fake double-mastectomy.
"Try to encourage her. Give her hope. Give her something to see a purpose through this," said Thomas Bettcher, Hospice Chaplain.
Then a mysterious debit to a well-known cosmetic surgeon’s office for a "supra-spectral breast augmentation" was discovered.
The surgeon went on record to say that Toler had no cancerous masses in her breasts, and that she had performed a standard boob job.

6. Good Brews Good News of the Day (link)

First grader saves friends life after learning the Heimlich Maneuver on TV.

Elspeth "Beanie" Mar is a wisp of a girl, but she's a big hero this week, having performed theHeimlich maneuver on a choking classmate at their school in the Pocket area.
Six-year-old Beanie, who learned the Heimlich watching television, wasn't all that impressed with her own actions.
After popping out a piece of apple clogging the throat of her good friend Aniyah Rigmaiden on Tuesday, Beanie and her friend sat back down and finished eating in the Caroline Wenzel Elementary School lunchroom.
It wasn't until they returned to class that her teacher, Maria Marshall, learned of 38-pound Beanie's exploits.
Both Beanie's and Aniyah's parents were notified of the incident. In honor of Beanie and Anthony Roy Jr., another classmate who first noticed Aniyah turning red, an impromptu ceremony was held in which Beanie and Anthony were named "Heroes of the Day."
Judy Montgomery, principal of the Greenhaven Drive school, was much impressed by Beanie's cool.
"It was so matter-of-fact," said Montgomery. "She got up, got the apple out of the little girl's throat and then just sat back down. That is how it should be.
"But I was blown away at how a first-grader could handle something like that so seamlessly. Usually, I would expect them to yell, 'Hey, help! Someone's choking!' "
Later, Montgomery asked Beanie where she learned to perform the Heimlich, a maneuver in which a person wraps his arms around a choking victim's waist, grasps one fist with the other hand and presses into the upper abdomen with a quick upward thrust.
"From 'A.N.T. Farm,' " Beanie replied. The Disney Channel television show is about a musical prodigy.