Hillary Clinton lacks leadership qualities

Much has been made of Hillary Clinton's leadership qualities. In reality such qualities are largely lacking.

• Unfortunately for the Democratic party she is not a conviction politician.
• Each statement is carefully crafted to soothe the sensibilities of the targeted audience.
• Hillary is all things to all men.
• There is no evidence from her statements that she could take hard decisions .
• The 1993 Hillarycare fiasco provides a graphical illustration of her political ineptitude. It was even disowned by fellow Democrats.
• Hillary Clinton wants to run the largest enterprise in the world. She hasn’t run a corner store. She hasn’t run a state. She hasn’t run a city,” “She has never run anything. And the idea that she could learn to be President as an internship just doesn’t make any sense-Mitt Romney.
• Clinton leads on evading questions.
• Clinton leads on planting questions.
• She is confused on illegal immigration. Her latest u-turn on the issue of driving licenses for illegal immigrants proves conclusively that all her pronouncements are tailored to suit the prevailing mood. She cannot take a firm stand on anything.
• She is strongly pro abortion. Yet she tries to reach out to anti abortion voters with anodyne statements. What hypocrisy.
• She is the master of obfuscation in relation to taxation policies. Hillary will simultaneously balance the budget, introduce tax cuts and greatly extend social programmes and health entitlements. This is an attempt to square the circle. Her taxation policies will cripple the middle class.
• Hillary is too thin skinned. She could not take criticism from Obama and Edwards.
• Sending Bill out to bat for her indicates she lacks the toughness required to face down hard men like Putin.

Now contrast Hillary with Mike Huckabee who has clear cut policies on taxation (The Fair Tax) abortion and Iraq. It is a no contest.

Mike Huckabees support for Fair Tax boosts his campaign

One of the reasons for the upsurge in support for Mike Huckabee is his advocacy of the Fair Tax Plan. The Fair Tax Plan has spawned a huge and mushrooming grassroots movement. Increasingly supporters are swinging in behind the Huckabee campaign.

What Is The FairTax Plan?

The FairTax is a bill before the U.S. Congress—called H.R. 25 in the House and S. 25 in the Senate—that replaces the federal income tax with a national retail sales tax of 23% on new goods and services for personal use, eliminating the following taxes:

• Personal Income Tax (Federal Tax)
• Social Security (FICA) Tax
• Medicare Tax
• Estate Tax
• Gift Tax
• Capital Gains Tax
• The Alternative Minimum Tax
• Self-Employment Tax
• Corporate Tax..............................

Taken from:

FairTax Made Simple

In summary:
The existing tax code would be eliminated. In order to make up for that revenue, a national sales tax would be payable on all goods sold in the United States. A "prebate" would return all of the money you paid in for taxes up to the poverty line. The taxation code would be simplified the paperwork would be reduced to just a few pages and an army of taxation consultants would disappear. The IRS (Internal Revenue Service) would be abolished. Retailers would send in the tax money they collect, and then you would be sent a prebate at the end of the year.

US Politics:Republican Party-Social Conservatives come centre stage

The Social Conservatives within the Republican Party have begun to flex their muscles. However they have been unable to coalesce behind a single candidate for the Republican Party nomination. To a certain extent this has diluted their influence in the campaign.

Christian conservative leader Pat Robertson's endorsement of Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani has surprised many conservatives who are mystified at Robertson's decision to endorse a liberal on social issues. Robertson's star has been setting and his support for Giuliani is unlikely to be of major significance.

Mike Huckabee has secured additional endorsements from influential faith leaders across the country, augmenting a strong show of support he received Friday from Southern Baptist Convention leaders.
The new major endorsements include:
· Stephen Strang, Founder of Charisma Magazine – Lake Mary, Fla.
· Rick Scarborough, President and founder of Vision America – Pearland, Tex.
· Jerry Cox, President of Arkansas Family Council – Little Rock, Ark.
· Janet Folger, President of Faith2Action – Dania Beach, Fla.
· Jim Pfaff, President and CEO of Colorado Family Action – Castle Rock, Col.
· Mathew Staver, Founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel – Lynchburg , Va.
· Kelly Shackelford, President of Free Market Foundation – Plano, Tex.
· Phil Burress, President of Citizens for Community Values – Ohio

Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas -who is conservative on social issues and is a former presidential candidate -has endorsed Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

Paul Weyrich, cofounder of the Moral Majority, supports former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Fred Thompson, the former senator from Tennessee and prime-time television star has secured the National Right to Life Committee’s endorsement .

A Clinton Presidency and Democratic Congress spells disaster for US taxpayers

The following is an excerpt of an article taken from Newsmax.com:
Talk may be cheap, but the cost to keep promises made by Democratic candidates could top $700 billion and push individual tax rates above 50 percent for the first time since the 1986 Reagan tax reform, fiscal experts warn.
In fact, a Democratic sweep in 2008 could push America’s tax burden up to 7th highest in the developed world, up from 21st place, according to researchers at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.
“If Democrats control everything after 2008, there will be a substantial tax increase,” Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia tells Newsmax. “Most or all of the Bush tax cuts will be allowed to expire and tax rates may be increased besides.”
The largest hike in federal spending would come from Democrats’ plans to extend health coverage to 47 million uninsured U.S. residents.
Hillary Clinton’s plan, according to her campaign, would add about $110 billion a year to the federal budget. ............................"

Comment:

The Middle Class will pay for Hillary Clinton's grandiose schemes. Whilst Hillary’s Health Care Plan is conservatively costed at $110 billion per year there is a growing body of evidence which indicates that the cost is more likely to approach $200 billion per year. The tax payer will fund this.
Hillary’s Baby Bond Proposal would give $5,000 to each of the 4 Million Babies born in The U.S. each year, totaling $20 Billion Per Year. This will be funded by increased taxation.

The list of promises goes on and on.....................If Sen. Hillary Clinton could enact all of her campaign proposals, taxpayers would in my view be faced with Financing $860 Billion in new spending over one White House term .
The message for the middle class is patently obvious: Be very very afraid of a Clinton Presidency and a Democratic Congress. A vote for Clinton is a vote for taxation levels which will quickly approach those of countries such as Sweden.

The Dallas Morning News-Several Christian conservative leaders gravitating toward Huckabee

The following is an excerpt from a fine article by WAYNE SLATER in the Dallas Morning News

"Several Christian conservative leaders, troubled by the appearance the movement is divided, are moving toward Republican Mike Huckabee in hopes of making him the consensus candidate of the religious right.

The effort seeks to blunt the impact of recent high-profile endorsements for other presidential candidates, notably televangelist Pat Robertson's support of Rudy Giuliani.
Mr. Giuliani faces stiff opposition from many social conservatives because he supports abortion rights and gay rights.
"What you're seeing is a huge coalescing around Huckabee," said Kelly Shackelford of the Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute. "The vast percentage of pro-family leaders in the nation are going for Huckabee."
The Huckabee campaign is expected to announce the endorsement of several social conservative leaders, including Christian radio host Janet Folger and Matthew Staver, dean of the law school at Liberty University founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell........................"

Ireland-Late Late Show decision to drop Dr. John Crown is a huge own goal

On Friday night last consultant medical oncologist Professor John Crown was due to appear on the Late Late to discuss the Irish Health Service. Professor Crown has been a strong critic of PD policy on the basis that it will create a two tiered health service. In this he is correct. He was also strongly criticized in the Dail by the Taoiseach. The Taoiseach claimed that consultants were paid more than himself. Mr Ahern said that Professor Crown had a huge private practice along with his public practice. Mr Ahern stated that he wasn't saying every thing that was in his briefing document. Dr Crown has interpreted this as a threat.

The Sunday Independent carries the heading "I was the victim of a McCarthyite campaign". The Sunday Tribune states that John Crown believes that his exclusion was "censorship by proxy." He told the Mail on Sunday that the decision to drop him "smacks of McCarthyism". He told Newstalk that he feared for his position after remarks made by the Taoiseach.
Some interesting questions arise:

• Who made the decision to drop Dr. Crown?
• Why was this decision made?
• Was there political pressure to drop John Crown?

So far there has been a chorus of denials from Government and RTE circles. The decision to silence John Crown has created a storm of controversy and paradoxically has now given greater prominence to his views. The fall out has tarnished not alone RTE and the Late Late Show but also the Government. There is now a strong perception of Government interference in this decision-whether true or not.

The Late Late was the subject of major political controversy prior to the last General Election. A panel consisting of John Waters, Eoghan Harris and Eamonn Dunphy discussed the General Election campaign. Harris and Waters took a pronounced pro FF line. This helped sway the outcome of the General Election. It damaged the credibility of the Late Late Show.

The Late Late is now on the slippery slope.

Ireland-Construction Downturn

There is increasing evidence of a downturn in the building industry. House prices are overvalued by about 20% . Some optimists forecast that the moderate fall in house prices would have run its course by early 2008. It is more likely that the correction underway will continue for some time. The spectre of negative equity looms for some.
There are several reasons for the decline in house building:

• The 2% rise in interest rates has impacted strongly on repayments.
• Many builders were over optimistic in their assumptions in relation to future demand. They are now left with unsold houses.
• There has been an unsustainable rise in house price inflation.
• The Government takes 30%-40% of the cost of a new house in tax.
• The Stamp Duty issue has not been resolved.
• Unemployment has begun to rise.

There is a tendency to scapegoat economists -like David McWilliams- who have forecast choppy waters ahead. Some have gone so far as to blame them for the fall in house prices. This is of course nonsensical.

There are indications that on average builders have up to 10 new houses unsold in some parts of Ireland. In 2008 a more conservative approach will be adopted. Forecasts for 2008 vary widely.It is likely that new house starts will drop from 90,000 to 60,000 in 2008. There is a danger that it could drop to 50,000 as builders must first off load large numbers of unsold houses.

The growth rate for the economy will drop to 3.5%-This is the benign scenario. Government cutbacks rising oil prices and a housing crisis could drag the rate down to 1% or less.