August 4, 2010 by Tim McDowell.

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN

Published on DickMorris.com on August 4, 2010

As we suggested in our recent column, the new Gallup/USA Today poll confirms that Obama’s ratings have collapsed as a result of the WikiLeaks release of Afghan War memos.  Down from 46% in the most recent poll, Obama’s job approval has plunged to 41% — the lowest it has ever been in any major poll.
     
Democrats have now joined in the defection from Obama impelled by their increasing anger over his continued involvement in Afghanistan and the emerging double dip in the recession.  Support for his war policies there has dropped to 38% from 46% in February while approval of his handling of the economy has plunged to 39%.

Elected as a peace and jobs candidate, the defections over these two issues among his base are likely to be especially injurious in the 2010 Congressional elections.  The generic Republican v Democratic ballot now shows an eight point GOP lead according to Rasmussen Reports.
        
We have recently reviewed polls for five Republican House challengers to Democratic incumbents in Iowa, North Dakota, Virginia, and New York and were shocked to see the Republicans leading in each.  Normally, one would consider GOP chances excellent if the challenger were able to hold the incumbent to under 50% of the vote, since the undecided almost always goes entirely for the challenger.  But to actually show leads at this point is incredible.
     
Once Democrats start abandoning Obama, there is no bottom to his ratings.  Disaffection and cynicism spread easily in that party and the left has shown signs of increasing galvanization against the war.  More than 100 House Democrats voted against war funding, about 40% of the total Democratic membership in the House.
      
Adding to the party’s woes is, of course, the emerging scandals involving Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and Maxine Waters (D-CA).  Coming just as the fall campaign kicks off, they remind one of the Foley scandal that so darkened GOP chances in 2006.  With the House Democrats certain not to expel either member but to slap each on the wrist, the scandal will flare into a conflagration that will further diminish Democratic chances in November.
     
In a presidential year, these Democratic defections would only be consequential were there a third candidate or a primary challenger to choose.  But in an off-year, staying home is a viable option, particularly for the minority and young voters Obama lured to the polls for the first time in 2008.  Their defection will be disastrous for Obama and will cost him control of both houses of Congress

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July 30, 2010 by Tim McDowell.

“The Massachusetts Legislature has approved a new law intended to bypass the Electoral College system and ensure that the winner of the presidential election is determined by the national popular vote,” reports the Boston Globe. The bill would award all 12 of the Bay State’s electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote and is part of a larger National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC). The goal is to persuade enough states to enact similar legislation to reach 270 electoral votes, ensuring that the winner of the popular vote also wins the Electoral College vote. Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and Washington — all blue states — have already approved the legislation. No doubt the main reason for this effort is lingering bitterness over the 2000 election, in which George W. Bush lost the popular vote to Al Gore, but won the Electoral College, and thus, the presidency.

However, the law would take effect only when enough states have signed on — and assuming a future legislature doesn’t change the rules again. Indeed, as Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto, in an outstanding analysis of the constitutionality and political feasibility of the law, writes, “Since the NPVIC would be legally unenforceable, only political pressure could be brought to bear to ensure that state legislatures stand by their commitments to it. Would this be enough? Let’s put the question in starkly partisan terms: If you’re a Republican, do you trust Massachusetts lawmakers to keep their word, and to defy the will of the voters who elected them, if by doing so they would make Sarah Palin president?”

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July 29, 2010 by Tim McDowell.

By Dick Morris And Eileen McGann

07.28.2010

When Judge Susan Bolton granted an injunction halting the enforcement of key provisions of the Arizona immigration enforcement law, she ruled in favor of the Justice Department’s position, but against the president’s political interest.

Had the judge sustained this law, it would have made moot Obama’s opposition to the Arizona law. As it is, she has transformed the law into a big campaign issue against Obama. Now the president is standing in the way of a state that wants to enforce the law that he won’t.

The Arizona law is massively popular in the United States. Over 60 percent of all American voters support it. But the president has sought and has succeeded in stopping it from taking effect. Now this majority — close to two-thirds of the electorate — that backs the law will be able to focus their blame for its non-enforcement squarely on the president of the United States.

In the long term, the Bolton decision will likely be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court and Arizona will find itself vindicated. But, in the meantime, the decision endangers the re-election chances of three Democratic Congressmen from Arizona. Their constituents will not be satisfied with statements from these Democrats supporting the Arizona law. They will become embittered because Obama’s Justice Department has overridden their will.

Why did Obama bring the suit in the first place if it hurts him? Because he was seeking to increase the turnout of Latino voters and trying to win them by the same huge margin (2:1) that they delivered to him in 2008. Since he took office, Obama’s approval among Hispanics has dropped to 54%, foreshadowing a massive abandonment of his Congressional candidates in November.

But what Obama miscalculated was the intense support from among most voters that the Arizona law has elicited. As he bid for Latino votes, he has sacrificed much of his liberal, Democratic base.

This decision hurts him badly.

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July 30, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

A security researcher has discovered a Trojan that is designed to extract account data from as many as 4,600 of the world’s most popular and wealthy businesses. In “one of the largest and most professional thieving operations on the Internet,” a Trojan called Clampi (also known as Ligats, llomo, or Rscan) has spread across Microsoft networks in a worm-like fashion, and may already have infected hundreds of thousands of corporate and home PC users, according to SecureWorks researcher Joe Stewart, one of the world’s foremost authorities on botnets and targeted attacks.

“We weren’t all that worried about Storm, and we weren’t all that worried about Conficker,” Stewart says. “This one you need to worry about.” The Trojan uses PsExec — a popular, lightweight Telnet replacement tool that lets one system execute processes on other systems — and a sophisticated process of encryption and packing to hide its origins and targets. So far, Stewart says, the Trojan appears to be targeting 4,600 Websites, of which he has identified approximately 1,400 in 70 countries. Among the industries being targeted are banks, credit card companies, stock brokerages, insurance, retail, advertising networks, and utilities.

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July 28, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

bills-111hr3200ih.pdf

To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce
the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes.

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June 12, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

The Homeland Security Department has delayed “until September implementing a rule requiring federal contractors to verify that new hires are eligible to work in the United States, the fourth time the Obama administration has postponed the requirement,” reports NextGov. “… U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which manages E-Verify, said the delay will give the administration more time to examine the system and the requirement placed on contractors.
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090605_6483.php

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June 12, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

The United Nations World Health Organization “has declared a global flu pandemic after holding an emergency meeting,” reports the British Broadcasting Corporation. “… It means the swine flu virus is spreading in at least two regions of the world with rising cases being seen in the UK, Australia, Japan and Chile. The move does not necessarily mean the virus is causing more severe illness or more deaths.” Worldwide, there have been 21,940 cases with 125 deaths, reports WHO—up from 19,273 cases and 117 deaths as of last week. As of Wednesday, the United States had 13,217 confirmed and probable cases of swine flu and 27 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—up from 11,054 cases and 17 deaths as of last week.

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December 5, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate released the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) today, recommending Manhattan, Kan., as the preferred site for the state-of the-art, high-security laboratory facility to study foreign animal and zoonotic (transferable from animal to human) diseases that can impact livestock.  A formal Record of Decision, which will officially designate a site on which to build the NBAF, will be published on Jan. 12, 2009.  Facility design will begin in 2009 with plans for construction to begin in 2010. It is expected that the NBAF would be operational by 2015.“This facility, once built, will help us to protect our livestock industry, food supply, and public health from the accidental or intentional introduction of a foreign animal or zoonotic disease in the U.S.,” said Homeland Security Under Secretary for Science and Technology Jay Cohen. “The assessment process was extensive, engaging experts within and without the government as well as each potential site community, and this final report carefully weighs the input from all interested parties.”The NBAF will be designed to replace the current facilities at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) in New York, which is currently the only facility in the U.S. that studies the live virus that causes Foot-and-Mouth disease. The current facility is too small to meet new research needs, has an outdated physical structure and is not appropriate for zoonotic disease research that must be conducted at Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4).  There is currently no laboratory facility in the U.S. with capabilities for BSL-4 research on livestock. PIADC will be closed once the NBAF is operational, and DHS will evaluate options in the coming months for transitioning the PIADC facility and land for future sale or use.The EIS analyzes the risks associated with potentially building the NBAF at each of the six proposed locations: Athens, Ga.; Manhattan, Kan.; Madison County, Miss.; Granville County, N.C.; San Antonio, Texas and Plum Island, N.Y. The report also analyzes a “No-Action” alternative, assessing the impacts if no NBAF were built at all.The EIS analyzes health and safety issues, land use, visual effects, infrastructure requirements (potable water, electricity, fuel, sewer, etc.), air and water quality, noise, geology and soils, biological and cultural resources, traffic and transportation issues, waste management, existing environmental issues, and cumulative effects.The process also included extensive community involvement, beginning in July 2007 when DHS announced its intent to evaluate site alternatives for the proposed NBAF.

Further details on the proposed NBAF and the site-selection process are available at www.dhs.gov/nbaf. 

 

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December 3, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

Groups seek power system management. Another major source of demand is on the horizon: plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). The current. President-elect has already expressed his support for expanding the nation’s fleet of PHEVs, calling for a million of them on the road by 2015, and a $7,500 tax credit for the purchase of plug-ins is already on the books. As the Northwest Power and Conservation Council prepares to draft its next Northwest Power Plan, officials are taking a look at the potential impacts of plug-ins on the regional grid. “…Down the line, as you grow the number (of plug-ins) there’s going to have to be some kind of charging regulation,” said the council chairman. Council members met late last month to hash out the benefits and challenges of bringing PHEVs onto the grid, taking in a presentation from a Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory scientist. He has been working for two years on research into “smart-grid” technology which incorporates sophisticated tools that allow PHEVs to communicate with the power grid, drawing from it during low-demand times and potentially giving back to it — or shutting off — during peaks. His research suggests that by using smart-grid management, between 43 and 73 percent of all the cars and trucks in the United States could be replaced with PHEVs without requiring new power plants or transmission lines. Source: http://www.idahobusiness.net/archive.htm/2008/12/01/Girding-up-for-plugins-Groups-seek-power-system-management

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December 2, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

 (Secrecy News, 12/1/08)

Among other things, the executive branch has failed to establish an integrated database of all security clearance authorizations. As a consequence, “no one knows how many people in the U.S. Government hold security clearances.” (It is more than 2.5 million and probably around 3 million people in government, military and industry.) Government agencies have also failed to fulfill a requirement for security clearance “reciprocity,” referring to the acceptance by one agency of a security clearance granted by another agency. This is in spite of an explicit statutory requirement that “all security clearance background investigations and determinations… shall be accepted by all agencies.” http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

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