Credit Where Credit Is Due? (9/01/2010)
Today President Obama addressed the nation from the Oval Office to formally announce the end of combat operations in Iraq.  All day long Republicans on TV and in the papers were on the war path urging the President to give former President Bush credit for implementing the surge which led to a more stable Iraq.  Well let''s give credit where credit is due.  Let''s give Bush and the Neo-Cons credit for lying to the American People and the World when they told us the Iraq had WMD''s that threatened the World''s security. Let''s give them credit for underestimating what it would take to occupy a post war Iraq.   Let''s give them credit for being wrong when they said "the war would pay for itself,"  that "we would be greeted as liberators" and that this would be a "slam dunk."The GOP is out of touch.  Sure the surge worked I will acknowledge that, but Bush knew we needed more troops before we even went in, his generals told him so, he didn''t listen to them.  He bit off more then we could chew and didn''t want anyone but the brave man and women in uniform (and their families) to feel the pain of war.  There was no draft, no great call for the citizens of our nation to sacrifice in a time of war.  In fact we got a tax cut and were told to shop.  Meanwhile our finest young men and women faced shortages of body armor and multiple tours in a war zone where it was hard to tell friends from enemies.  Our soldiers are the only ones who deserve credit.  They deserve that, a GI bill and for a VA that will expertly treat the wounds they brought home whether they be physical or psychological. We didn''t get this right after Vietnam.  Many Vets found themselves homeless and unable to make the adjustment to life at home.  Still more suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that in some cases stayed dormant for years.  And the public didn''t welcome them home the way they should.  It''s comforting that even those who opposed the war support and honor our troops.  Thank them and give them the credit.  They deserve it.

Cavuto 8 23 10 Seg 2 A (8/30/2010)

Will President Obama Run For Re-Election? Cavuto 8 23 10 Seg 1 (8/27/2010)
Conservatives seem to think President Obama will not seek re-election.  I think they are either out of their minds or engaging in wishful thinking.  What do you think?

Video: Is Obama A Christian Or A Muslim? (8/24/2010)
Is Obama a Christian or a Muslim? Should we care?

Last Combat Brigade Leaves Iraq (8/19/2010)
Today the last full combat brigade left Iraq.  Probably a good time to have a discussion about the war coming to an end.  Should it have started to begin with.  Are we better off as a nation for fighting it? What about the region, is it more or less stable without Sadam Hussein pretending to have WMD''s?  Are Iraqis better off? Thoughts

America Live 8 16 2 (8/17/2010)
Here''s a clip from America Live.  

The Week Ahead (8/15/2010)
Going to be an intense week.  With POTUS weighing in on the Mosque my appearance on strategy room Monday @ 3pm with Monica Crowley should be dominated by the topic.  You can watch it live here.  http://live.foxnews.com/strategy-roomUsually the last 2 weeks of August are slow news weeks but don''t count on that this year.  What do you think the story of the week will be?

Obama Didn''t Sign TARP (8/13/2010)
I know the GOP wants to blame Obama for everything but lets be clear.  George W. Bush demanded, pushed for and signed TARP, the Troubled Assets Relief Program.  This is the program that bailed out the banks and insurance giant AIG.  Today we learned that France and Germany benefited greatly from the AIG bailout and conservatives rushed to point fingers at the President. Let''s be clear which president the fingers should be pointed at.  

About Last Night (8/12/2010)
So here is the quote I was trying to paraphrase at the end of my Hannity appearance last night.  I had a few people ask about it so I thought it would make a good post.  "People talk about the middle of the road as though it were unacceptable. Actually, all human problems, excepting morals, come into the gray areas. Things are not all black and white. There have to be compromises. The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters." -Dwight D. EisenhowerHis words are still very true today.  Having to govern means finding the center.  Obama is being called out by the left as being too conservative and conservatives have accused the President of being a socialist radical.  He clearly is not.  This President has compromised as all presidents have and will in the future.  All the extreme talk on both sides ignores history.

More Mosque Debate On Hannity (8/11/2010)
I am going to leave this as an open discussion....  Thoughts?

Bulls & Bears 8-6-2010 1.avi (8/10/2010)
My appearance last week on Bulls &Bears.

Back On Hannity Tuesday (8/09/2010)
I will be back on Hannity''s Great Great American Panel Tuesday 9pm on Fox News.   I will bring the balance... Should be fun...

Great Day For America (8/06/2010)
Yesterday was a momentous day if you care about civil rights in this country.  Federal Judge Vaughn Walker, appointed by George H.W. Bush, ruled that the state can not interfere with the contract that is marriage, gay or straight and overturned California''s ban on gay marriage  that was voted on as Proposition 8.  Ted Olson, who prosecuted Bill Clinton during the impeachment hearings, was one of the attorneys who argued for Gay Marriage.There is no credibility to any of the arguments for the state being involved in peoples personal lives.  If you are a conservative, this should be a no brainier.  You want less government and for people to have more liberty.  Why should the state have any say in who you love and how you commit to that person.For those who will argue that the judge is an activist who over-ruled a popular vote let me explain how rights work in our republic.  You don''t get a vote on rights.  In a republic, even minorities have rights that are protected even when it''s not popular.  The court is there to protect your rights and that''s what Judge Walker did. It wasn''t popular when the courts ended segregation and Jim Crow laws.  It wasn''t popular when the court ended bans on inter racial marriage.  The Declaration of Independence states "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."  Please note who gave us these rights, the "Creator" (read God) and his vote counts more then all of us.  We don''t get a vote on rights.  They come from God and they are not subject to popular opinion or referendum.  

Fox Business News Tomorrow (8/06/2010)
I will be on Bulls and Bears tomorrow at 4pm I will be one of the many in the split screen panel that pops up a few times during the show.  tune in.  Tons of topics should be fun...  I will of course be out numbered...

Cavuto 8-4-2010.avi (8/05/2010)

Fox Business News Tonight 6:00 (8/04/2010)
I will be on Fox Business News Channel tonight with Cavuto.  I will be on both panels at approx 6:15 and 6:45pm today.  We will be talking about the State and Local Aid Bill that passed the Senate today and the Moveon.org boycott of target...   Tune in and let me know what you think.

I''m Back In The Fox News Strategy Room Tuesday 10 Am (8/04/2010)
Should be a good day to talk politics.  Lot''s going on.  you can log to http://live.foxnews.com/strategy-room and watch it live and email questions and comments.  Iwill try to continue the conversation here by responding to comments left on this post..

Cancel My Trip To Dubai, UAE (8/03/2010)
The UAE has banned Blackberry use.  Good luck selling those private islands they built a few years back.  I have avoided restaurants and golf courses where I can''t get service, I can''t see how I will go to en entire country where I will be disconnected from the world.  Wasn''t Dubai supposed to be the new business hub of the world? They built the tallest skyscraper and luxury resorts, expanded their coast line.  The plan was to attract western business and tourism to a "progressive middle eastern nation".  I don''t see how this policy helps that.  Who wants to have an office in the middle of the desert without Blackberry coverage? Not me.  Honestly, I like most of us have seen the discovery channel program about creation of the Dubai Palm Islands and the World. The engineering was amazing and it looked like a place I might want to check out at some point.  Not anymore.  While I am an iPhone guy, I am sure they are blocking that too.  Sorry Dubai, I will be vacationing in Montauk.  I hope my phone works there.

August And Everything After... (8/03/2010)
My first post in August.  Should be much quieter then last August when the Tea Party Emerged at Congressional Town Halls across the nation....The NYS legislature will be back in Albany on Tuesday and the last piece of the budget may be passed... ah optimism...I will be on Fox''s Strategy Room this Wednesday 10 am log on to http://live.foxnews.com/strategy-room to watch it live and get in on the discussion by emailing your questions....

Cavuto July 30 (7/31/2010)
Here''s video of me on Cavuto yesterday. Immediately after my spot former presidential candidate and actor, Fred Thompson, takes a shot at one of my comments. I don''t know how to take it, on one hand my views were dismissed, on the other hand my views were acknowledged by a guy I have enjoyed in movies for years.... Watching the Hunt For Red October will never be the same.

Happy Birthday Medicare (7/31/2010)
I did a spot on Fox News Channel''s Your World with Neil Cavuto today.  The topic was Medicare''s 45th Anniversary and it''s comparison to health care reform.  I am sure we all have relatives that have benefited greatly from the program, I know I do.  It''s amazing that more people haven''t picked up on the fact that in the US if you live to 65 years old, the age you become eligible for Medicare, you have the longest life expectancy of any nation in the world.  Between birth and 65 we have among the lowest life expectancy on the planet.  Argument for affordable and accessible health care?  I will have video of the Cavuto spot up soon.  Let me know what you think.

Obama On The View, Sherrod, And Rangel (7/30/2010)
POTUS was on the View.  Uhggg... I guess that politics in 2010.  It''s nice to know he doesn''t know who Snookie is.  I am not opposed  to President Obama going on the View, I guess I am just upset I had to watch the View.Shirley Sherrod say''s she will file a lawsuit against conservative blogger Andrew Briegtbart.  Ok.  I guess that''s an option.  Will she also file against her former employer?  Should she? The House Ethics Committee announced 13 ethic charges against NY Congressman Charlie Rangel.  I hate to say this about my fellow St, John''s Law School Alumnus, but he needs to settle this even if it means his resignation and he should have done it last week.  He has had a wonderful 40 year career in Congress and I would hate to see it end with his removal.  The battle over the finer points of the law and whether or not he broke any rules will not be the determining factor here.  At the end of the day, a vote will occur, in Congress, weeks if not days before an election.  I find it hard to believe that many House members will view this on the substance of the legal arguments as applied to the facts of his case and not on how it will influence the election.  The GOP will make Rangel a focus of their Fall campaign regardless of what comes out in the trial.  Public opinion will determine how House members vote especially those in tough races. At the end of the day, politics will win out even if Charlie makes his case.  He knows this and this is why a deal will be struck soon.

Does Anyone Care? (7/28/2010)
The Quinnipiac poll today says it all. http://www.scribd.com/doc/34984372/072810-NY-GOV-BP  People are not paying attention to the primary in NY. Anything can happen. It''s going to come down to organization even in statewide contests.This poll reminds me of a funny incident I had a few weeks back with an elected official who was very concerned about going out in public. He asked if my national television appearances had led to people approaching me. I told him that the only people who know I have done the spots are people who know me already and I told I was on. The total benefit of 6 national and local tv appearances and 16 stints on the Strategy Room over the last three months is I got extra chocolate chips on my gelato at the shop I have been going to every week for 2 years. (they knew I was on because I told them).I told the official that he needed to get over himself. No one knows him. No one knows AG candidates running state wide and spending millions of dollars. People outside of politics don''t care as much about it as those of us junkies who live and breathe it. I advised the pol that chances are you can go out and grab a drink without worry that the paparazzi will publish a picture of you enjoying a draft. I believe he is looking for fake mustaches as we speak.I was in the green room at Fox with John Kasich, the GOP candidate for Governor in Ohio. I am a political junkie but I did not know him by face. I introduced myself to him, he assumed I knew who he was and did not introduce himself. After all we are at Fox News Channel and Ohio is a swing state. It lead to an awkward moment thats all I will say about that encounter. John I don''t usually give advice to GOP candidates but here''s some. Introduce yourself to everyone you meet when you''re running for office. Maybe it was a New York thing but we talked for 10 minutes and I didn''t realize he was running for Governor until I saw his spot on the air.  I was a little embarrassed.Point is this poll is not unusual.  There are few politicians who achieve the status as being known by the public at large.  They may know their names but not much else.  The Ag''s race in NY is going to come down to organization and who can get out the vote.  

More Mid Term Fun. Today''s Strategy Room (7/28/2010)
On today''s strategy room we talked about the mid terms and the Wiki Leaks.  Again I pressed the argument that House seats are local affairs and candidates matter in statewide elections.  Although the prevailing wind is pushing the GOP forward, they''re facing major headwinds due to poor candidate selection and in part due to the Tea Parties influence.Some candidates around the nation are downright bizarre.  We discussed Nevada''s Sharron Angle who is clearly not ready for prime time.  Here in NY, the likely GOP nominee for the 1st Congressional District is a guy who made his millions outsourcing jobs to India.  That should play well in this economy.   In Colorado, former GOP congressman Tom Tancredo is promising to run on a third party line.  This comes as today the Democratic candidate has inched ahead of his likely GOP opponent for the first time all year.  If Tancredo joins the race and pulls the right wing of the party away from the GOP candidate, the Democrat can''t lose.  GOP Senate hopes are fading in Colorado as there leading candidate, Ken Buck, who claims to be a Tea Party member offended some when in a movement of honesty he referred to "Tea Party Birthers" as "dumb asses."  He could have chose his words more carefully, but he''s right.  Of course, that remark could cost him the primary as it''s now against the law of the Tea Party to ever agree with Obama even when it comes to where he was born.  Colorado looks like it will join Nevada as a state where the GOP will fail to pick up a seats due to candidate selection.  We also talked about the Wiki Leaks story now dominating the news.  In reality there is little that we have learned from this that the American public hasn''t expected for some time.  The war in Afghanistan is not going well and the Pakistanis at best aren''t much help at worst are actively working against us.  This complicates the decisions the President must make in the coming months.  July 2011 is coming up fast.  I would love your thoughts.

News 12 From June On State Budget... (7/27/2010)
With the legislature back in Albany this week I thought I would post a clip up of an appearance on News 12 Long Island''s LI Talks program from late June.  Since nothing has changed since then I think this analysis holds up....