Chad’s Morning Brief: Joe Straus Endorses Romney, Perry May Run for Re-Election & More
Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of February 22nd, 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. Speaker of the Texas House Endorses Romney (link)
On the day after a poll showed Rick Santorum crushing his competition in Texas, Speaker Joe Straus decided to announce his endorsement of Mitt Romney.
Straus, a San Antonio Republican who has served two terms as Texas House speaker, cited Romney’s career in business and his oversight of the 2002 Olympics as evidence that the former Massachusetts governor has what it takes to fix a troubled nation.
“Mitt Romney has proven his ability to turn around troubled organizations, and I can think of few places more in need of a turnaround than Washington, D.C.,” Straus said in the release. “We've seen a number of good candidates in this primary race; I believe Mitt Romney is the best choice to defeat President Obama and bring our Texas spirit of low taxes, limited government, balanced budgets and fiscal conservatism to Washington.”
Interesting timing from Speaker Straus and I don't really get it. I understand he may like Romney and supports Romney, but why make an endorsement right now? It doesn't help Romney and could only hurt the standing Straus has in the state.
Straus is seen as a moderate and this won't go very far in getting rid of that stigma. Doesn't Straus have political advisers? It doesn't really seem like it. Again, no one wins with this endorsement. Romney won't see a bump, even in Texas. Maybe Straus is angling for a job in the Romney administration. That is the only reason this endorsement makes sense.
2. Rick Perry May Run Again (link)
Governor Rick Perry may run again. Yes, he may run for President, but this time he may seek re-election. Perry spoke with the Texas Tribune and discussed his failed White House run and his future in Texas.
Perry also told The Texas Tribune he had learned a few lessons from his failed presidential bid. He said he knows now he got into the race too late. He underestimated how hard it would be to recover from back surgery. And he learned that everything a candidate says in a presidential race is fodder for the national media echo chamber.
Other than that, he loved every minute of it.
“It was fun. I had a great time,” Perry said. “I would not in any form or fashion tell you I wish I hadn’t done it, and I am so glad I did it.”
What about re-election?
“I happen to think that being the governor of Texas, I’ve said many times, is the best job in the world. I still believe that,’’ Perry said. Asked if he was leaning toward running, Perry said: “Oh sure, yeah. I think it’s absolutely on the radar screen for me.”
“If I had to make a decision today, I’d say, yeah, absolutely, I’m going to give it consideration. But again, it’s way early.”
If Perry does run and win re-election in 2014 that means he could serve at least 18 years in the governor's office. It may all depend though on who wins the White House in November. Could Perry run for re-election? Yes. Could he win? You bet... as of now.
3. Affirmative Action Back to the Supreme Court (link)
Oh boy! Another topic for the campaign trail. Let's see how long it takes for the Republican nominee to be called racist.
By agreeing to hear a major case involving race-conscious admissions at the University of Texas, the court thrust affirmative action back into the public and political discourse after years in which it had mostly faded from view. Both supporters and opponents of affirmative action said they saw the announcement — and the change in the court’s makeup since 2003 — as a signal that the court’s five more-conservative members might be prepared to do away with racial preferences in higher education.
The consequences of such a decision would be striking. It would, all sides agree, reduce the number of African-American and Latino students at nearly every selective college and graduate school, with more Asian-American and white students gaining entrance instead.
I hope the Supreme Court ends Affirmative Action. It is a terrible practice and does nothing but hurt people. Students shouldn't get into college just because of their race. On the flip side, race shouldn't hurt students when applying for college. Our schools should take the best possible candidates. Just like employers should hire those who are most qualified. Affirmative Action is reverse racism. It disqualifies white people because they are white.
Why would anyone be proud to be where they are because of Affirmative Action? You didn't get the grades, you didn't work as hard, but hey you're black or Hispanic so you're in! That's not how this country should work.
4. Santorum and Satan (link)
Santorum has a warning about Satan. From Drudge:
"Satan has his sights on the United States of America!" Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has declared.
"Satan is attacking the great institutions of America, using those great vices of pride, vanity, and sensuality as the root to attack all of the strong plants that has so deeply rooted in the American tradition."
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The former senator from Pennsylvania warned in 2008 how politics and government are falling to Satan.
"This is a spiritual war. And the Father of Lies has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies would have his sights on: a good, decent, powerful, influential country - the United States of America. If you were Satan, who would you attack in this day and age?"
"He attacks all of us and he attacks all of our institutions."
Santorum made the provocative comments to students at Ave Maria University in Florida.
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The White House contender described how Satan is even taking hold of some religions.
"We look at the shape of mainline Protestantism in this country and it is in shambles, it is gone from the world of Christianity as I see it."
Okay. The Liberals will jump on this and so will some Republicans. I understand what Rick Santorum is saying here. It won't help Santorum's image of wanting to become America's Pastor, but I get it. If you go to a lot of churches these days, the pastor will talk about being spiritually attacked. That the "enemy" aka Satan is trying to bring down all Christians. Well, if you believe the United States is a Christian nation and overall a good nation, you would probably think that Satan is trying to bring down the nation. Christians believe that Satan is trying his hardest to tempt us. Why would he not use people and institutions to do that?
In his blog this morning, Erick Erickson of RedState nails it. Check it out here.
5. Dumb story of the morning (link)
The USPS tries to remain in business.
The Postal Service says it would save $2.7 billion annually by cutting mail delivery to five days a week and $7.1 billion a year by managing its own health-care benefits.
Raising the price of a first-class stamp to 50 cents would raise $1 billion a year in new revenue, according to the plan.
Postage-rate increases now can’t exceed the rise in the consumer price index. The service wants to make the 5-cent increase over one or more years in addition to annual inflation- linked boosts, Chief Financial Officer Joseph Corbett said on the call.
“The U.S. today is by far the least expensive of any post in the world,” Corbett said. “Clearly we’re underpriced in that area for single-piece first-class, and we would like the ability to move that price up.”
The price of a first-class stamp was raised to 45 cents last month from 44 cents.
The Postal Service drafted its business plan with analysis from Boston Consulting Group and Accenture Plc.
Nothing can save the USPS. From here on out they will lose money.
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