On a stage adorned with American flags and amid the glitter of Las Vegas, Donald Trump, who had been threatening a third party run for the presidency, revealed he is endorsing Mitt Romney for president of the United States. Earlier in the day it had been rumored that ‘The Donald’ would be endorsing New Gingrich but that turned out to be false. Whether ‘The Donald’s’ gurus in media attention planned the “mistake” we will probably never know. A more valid question is this. Why should we care who Donald Trump endorses for President?

To say that ‘The Donald’ has a penchant for attracting the white-hot lights of media attention would be to state the blatantly obvious. For months Mr. Trump advanced the idea that he might enter the race for the presidency but whenever pushed to declare “yea” or “ney” alluded to the ridiculous notion that his contract with NBC wouldn’t “allow” him to run…equal time restrictions, don’t you know. Right. And if you believe that…well, “you’re fired!”

Make no mistake; I am not taking issue with ‘The Donald’ for his unique ability to captivate the media. More power to him. I am taking issue with the mainstream media and those swayed by celebrity endorsements of political figures for even caring. We – as a voting public – should aspire to make our political choices based on our own research and experiences, not the declarations of those lucky enough to have achieved notoriety; famous or infamous.

(more…)

LAS VEGAS (AP) – In a surprise twist, Donald Trump planned to endorse Mitt Romney—not Newt Gingrich—for the Republican presidential nomination Thursday, three Republican officials told The Associated Press. Gingrich’s camp had been so confident of winning the endorsement that it had leaked that Trump would support the former House speaker.

Trump was set to make the announcement in Las Vegas at the luxury hotel bearing his name, with Romney in attendance. Nevada holds its presidential caucuses on Saturday.

The GOP officials requested anonymity to speak ahead of Trump’s announcement.

(more…)

(Reuters) – Businessman and reality TV personality Donald Trump will endorse former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, U.S. media reported on Wednesday.

Sources close to the Gingrich campaign confirmed Trump would endorse Gingrich, according to several television and newspaper reports.

(more…)

NEW YORK (AP) - Donald Trump says he is pulling out of a Republican presidential debate he had agreed to moderate in Iowa.

Donald Trump says he is pulling out of a Republican presidential debate he had agreed to moderate in Iowa.The real estate mogul announced Tuesday that he was stepping back in order to preserve the option of running for president in case he’s not satisfied that the eventual Republican nominee can defeat President Barack Obama. The conservative website Newsmax was to host the debate Dec. 27.

But the debate has been in jeopardy ever since Mitt Romney signaled he would not participate. Other candidates bowed out. Only Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum agreed to take part.

Many Republican strategists warned that a presidential debate moderated by Trump, star of “Celebrity Apprentice,” would create a circus-like atmosphere that might diminish the candidates vying to challenge Obama.

Christmas is right around the corner and Hanukkah is even closer.  If you are like me, you will want to go shopping for presents that say “thank you” to some of our favorite political figures and news people who worked so hard during the past year to make our lives more—interesting.  I thought I would help you folks out and come up with a list of suggested items to get for some of my favorites.  I have given my list much thought but, sadly, I can’t afford to buy anything because of the lousy economy.  Yet, that doesn’t mean you guys can’t:

• Nancy Pelosi - An electric broom (what else do you get a witch who has everything?)

• Eric Holder - Hooked on Phonics. You ever see him at a committee hearing? All he ever says is, “no I didn’t read that.” It’s obvious that the guy can’t read.

• Mitt Romney – Not a waffle iron or a pair of flip-flops; that would be too easy. Like the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz, I want to get him a brain, not because he isn’t smart, but so he can understand why people are looking to nominate anybody but him.  I don’t think he gets it.

• Political Adviser David Axelrod - You know, I can’t think of anything he likes.  You will have to figure it out yourself.

• Former Vice President Al Gore - A heating pad… so he can honestly say it’s getting warmer… somewhere.

(more…)

It’s civility week!  Another Twitter montage of #NewTone was just sent our way this afternoon.  Good timing, too, on the heels of Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa Jr.’s warm remarks yesterday.

Lets not forget the lessons in civility that our dutiful media and President Obama conveyed in the wake of the Tucson tragedy. The vitriol does not seem to have died down.  Perhaps this video will help remind people what’s lurking out there on the Twitter public timeline about all you “Sons of Bitches” and “Hobbits” of Terror.

(more…)

In 1978, New York City was crumbling and the leading indicator of America’s seemingly irreversible decline. The South Bronx, once a thriving middle-class neighborhood, had became a national symbol of urban horror. From 1960 to 1980, New York’s murder rate tripled. Out-of-control spending had brought the city to the brink of bankruptcy, leading to a state takeover of its finances. The city’s subway was plauged by crime, graffiti, and equipment breakdowns.

On July 13th, 1977, the city reached its nadir when a 24-hour blackout gave way to mass looting. Bushwick, a working-class neighborhood in Brooklyn, was practically burned to the ground.

Then in 1978, Edward Irving Koch became New York’s 105th Mayor.

(more…)

Donald J. Trump and Ross Perot are both billionaires- but that’s where the similarity ends. Perot is erratic, cranky and conspiratorial while Trump is outspoken, blunt and charismatic.

Ross Perot actually became a legal candidate for President, withdrew and became a candidate again in 1992. Even with his late re-start and with ballot access laws harsher and more difficult than they are today- after a decade of election law reform-Perot got on all 50 state ballots. Trump flirted with running-took himself out and now is sending signals he may still just jump in.

Talking of running a late Independent campaign for President ,Trump told Fox News,  ”If I’m not happy with what I see, I can very easily change my mind. I’m not happy with what I see, and I will make a determination sometime into the future, absolutely. There is no deadline. If I did it as an independent, I could do it very much better.”

Trump was preparing to show a net worth of $7.5 billion worth with over $350 million cash on hand, in his federal disclosure form. Trump’s companies are privately held. Clearly Trump has both the $5 to $7 milion it would take to get on the ballot in all states and the $200 million for an intense paid TV and Cable and innovative new media campaign.

Trump also had some tough talk for the GOP, saying they are setting themselves up to lose the next election. Trump seemed to be positioning himself for a Independent run.

(more…)

Donald Trump may not be finished in the 2012 Presidential race after all.

Trump has been telling freinds that he would not rule out launching an Independent big for President as late as June of next year if the economy is still sour and no Republican has demonstrated the ability to defeat Obama.

Trump recently teased a possible late blooming candidacy when he sent a hand-written note to MSNBC’s Lawerence O’Donnell, a vitriolic Trump critic that said -”Thanks for all your help–see you in the Spring.”

“Trump’s $60 million contract with NBC would expire in time for him free to lauch a bid June 1 of next year. Clearly Trump has the $5 million to $7 million it would take to collect enough signatures to get on the ballot in all 50 states” one Trump supporter told BIG GOVERNMENT ” Those who think Trump would draw only from Republicans are wrong-blue collar Catholic Democrats would also defect to Trump if gas is $6.00 a gallon and unemployment is still high.”

Trump met yesterday with former Governor Palin for a private 45 minute session in which she told Trump she hadn’t decided yet whether to run for the Republican nomination and Trump told her that many of his supporters are urging him to launch an independent bid next year and thsat he hasn’t ruled it out.

(more…)

Trump is drowning in e-mails, letters and phone calls from disappointed supporters who wanted him to make the 2012 Race.

Trump spent $100K on lawyers and accountants who would prepared the disclosure forms to show Trump is worth $7.5 B and has $350M of cash on hand.

Perot an eccentric businessman got out of the 96 race and back in……..and was on all 50 ballots

Trumps’s deal with NBC leaves him free on June 1 of next year.

Trump spoke to Richard Winger Editor and Publisher of the Ballot Access News–a nerd expert on how to get on the legal ballot in all 50 states.

Winger told Trump a late blooming Independent bid could be begun as late a June 1 and get on the ballot in all 50 States- 5 states are hard but doable and one state, Texas would be resolved by litigation.

(more…)

Republican Presidential contenders are melting like tourists on the Vegas Strip, without sunscreen, on a 117 degree day in July. Doesn’t anyone in the GOP actually want to run against the worst President in modern American history?

It can’t be Obama’s record that’s scaring Republicans. Obama is overseeing the worst economy since 1929…contributed heavily to the worst sovereign debt crisis in history…presiding over the worst collapse in real estate ever…helping to ensure the highest gas prices in history by refusing to allow oil drilling until recently…the list goes on and on. You’d think the Republican contenders would be licking their lips at running against that record? Instead they are falling by the wayside.

Let’s examine the carnage. This analyst and political pundit predicted Donald Trump’s political career was over three weeks ago when “The Donald” played casino pit boss and F-bombed his way through a Vegas speech. Have you ever heard of multiple F-bombs in a major political speech in by a Presidential contender? Unimaginable.

Forget the birth certificate controversy. Trump was still sitting high in the polls even after Obama released his birth certificate. But there was no escaping using multiple F-bombs on the biggest political stage. Not in a GOP filled with evangelical Christian voters, and parents who wash their children’s mouth out with soap for using that same word. Donald “F-bomb” Trump’s political career ended that day in Vegas.

What about Huckabee? A Presidential frontrunner, this former man of God couldn’t turn down fame and money. Huckabee proves even the Presidency isn’t as lucrative as a TV show on Fox News.

(more…)

From CNN:

Real estate mogul Donald Trump will not run for the Republican presidential nomination, he said in a statement released Monday.

(more…)

On his Wednesday show, Adam Carolla interviewed Andrew Breitbart to discuss Andrew’s new book, Righteous Indignation.  Let me assure you, you’ll LOVE this duo. Andrew’s been a guest on Carolla’s show before, but this was hands down the most entertaining so far.

Check out some of the comments from Carolla’s regular listeners – not surprisingly, some aren’t exactly Breitbart fans (which makes it that much more enjoyable for me, at least).

Carolla tackled topics with Andrew on just about everything – from Righteous Indignation to Communism, the Left’s Racist meme, the racket of building permits and greenwashing, and unions, just to name a few.  And a whole lotta LA, which, as Andrew illustrates for us, ain’t what is used to be.  The two were on such a rant roll over our waning freedoms, Carolla, who has described himself as having libertarian leanings, almost sounded like another grassroots activist.  Who knows? Sounds like he may just have a bit of Presidential appeal.  Andrew certainly thought so!

“By the way, are you aware that the Republican Party has nobody running for the presidency right now, and if you had put that out there by mistake and people heard that, and that was your spiel, you would have gone up to Donald Trump level, you would have gone up to 17%?”

Oh yeah – Carolla’s also not a big fan of Maxine Waters.  Not. At. All.  Which reminds me, this audio is NSFW.

(more…)

Since late 2006, when Barack Obama put people “on notice” about making fun of his big ears, the majority of Republicans in Congress and the Senate have become conditioned to jump when the President says, “boo”! And when, by chance, one of them works up the courage to ask a question about something like Obama’s religion – either because of the affinity he shows to Muslims or because he claims to be Christian but doesn’t go to church – they quickly fall to silence when an Obama spokesman (or a member of the MSM) reminds them that Obama is a very spiritual man who believes faith is a private matter.

To put it plainly, Republicans on Capital Hill have succumbed to an inside-the-beltway political correctness that neuters serious opposition to Obama’s person or his politics. Although they could be turning the tables on Obama and forcing him play defense once in a while, they satisfy themselves with appearing genteel and when Obama says, “jump”, they just ask “how high”?

Of course it doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, it shouldn’t be this way. And we know this is so because Donald Trump, an outside-the-beltway television celebrity and real estate mogul, laughed when Obama said, “boo”, and afterwards we all saw the President jump for a change.

Perhaps the biggest lesson to be gleaned from the release of Obama’s birth records is that if you dig in and don’t back down, you just might beat the President at his own game.

(more…)

Donald Trump’s was accused of being a hypocrite during one of his recent interviews with CNN after admitting he bought a lot of merchandise from China. Why wouldn’t an American billionaire  buy from the US? There is so much more that could be written on this subject. And Trump didn’t nearly do a good enough job explaining it. So let me give it a shot.

China is currently utilizing several strategies in order to undermine America’s global economic hegemony. To cover even a few of them would fall outside of what’s really at stake between China and the U.S. What has long concerned Washington is China’s overt actions of purposefully decreasing the value of it currency which directly and negatively impacts the U.S., especially during times of high unemployment and while China continues to reach new levels of growth.

(more…)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed

On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson is joined by Matt Lewis to discuss Haley Barbour’s decision not to run for President, Ron Paul’s entrance into the field and who might be leading contenders for VP.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Haley Barbour Not Running For President in 2012
Ron Paul Launches Presidential Campaign
Lee Atwater Talks Haley Barbour Away from DC (1980s)
Rubio’s Advice to Donald Trump: Drop The ‘Birther’ Issue
Matt Lewis at the Daily Caller
Listen to the Matt Lewis Show
Advance praise for Matt’s upcoming book ‘The Quotable Rogue: The Ideals of Sarah Palin In Her Own Words’

Follow Brad on Twitter
Follow Matt on Twitter

I’m a Trump cheerleader. After 25 years as a lobbyist for Trump and Chairman of his 2000 Presidential Exploratory Committee, I like the man. I have studied mountains of polling conducted by the Trump casino interests studying the Trump brand for twenty years. I have studied the shocking new polls that show Trump vaulting to a lead over conventional politicians. A new PPP poll for Talking Points memo showed Trump leading the field.

Trump is a middle class phenomena. Middle aged, middle income, middle class voters are Trump’s core. Hispanic voters give him high favorable ratings as do African Americans and poor whites. The higher your level of education the more likely you are to loath Trump. If you are self-made you are 70% more likely to like Trump than if you have inherited money. Small businessmen like Trump, Wall Street Gekkos do not. The Apprentice has enhanced his standing because his short segments show him being cool, tough and decisive, things voters are looking for after the vacillation of Barrack Obama.

Trump appeals to the strivers. Trump lives as they would live if they were rich. Trump’s over the top lifestyle of the biggest and the best appeals to these voters. The Ivy League educated? Not so much. Old Money? Forget it. Trump appeals to the Perot and Buchanan voter suspicious of both parties. The Tea Party is a natural launching pad for Trump.

Now the Club for Growth is bashing Trump for positions he took ten years ago under far different circumstances. Trump favored a tax on the super-rich to kill the deficit. He was willing to pay himself. He is opposed to the idea today. Hard to imagine voters seeking consistency will switch to Mitt Romney who used to be a pro-abortion, pro gay marriage liberal.

Political operatives who come to work for Trump will soon realize he doesn’t need words put in his mouth and has a very clear sense of what he wants to say and do. Trump is soaring in the polls now because he is following his own populist instincts and expressing himself in street language the average person can understand.

It takes stature, money, energy and discipline to be elected President. Trump has the stature and the money, so far he has demonstrated the energy but whether he has the discipline to stay on his core themes and to parry the attacks on him without getting personal remains to be seen. Much of this furor is about the Trump brand. At last weekends Tea Party Tax rally in Boca Raton Trump asked his host if he should take off his trademark pastel tie for his speech. “No,” he was told, “you gotta look like you look on TV.”

There’s been a buzz the last few months about the possibility of Donald Trump running for President. You’d pretty much have to be living under a rock not to know that, or know that polls show there is at least serious curiosity about a Trump candidacy, and genuine interest amongst the GOP. The buzz has been fueled mostly by The Donald himself, but others have helped.

One “helper” is Michael Cohen, an employee of the Trump Organization who ABC News described as “Trump’s ‘pit bull.’” But that “pit bull” runs the risk of biting his master, and Trump would do well to muzzle him.

Cohen is a Democrat, a former supporter of President Obama and clueless to the ways of politics. He told ABC about his role in the Trump Organization:

“It means that if somebody does something Mr. Trump doesn’t like, I do everything in my power to resolve it to Mr. Trump’s benefit. If you do something wrong, I’m going to come at you, grab you by the neck and I’m not going to let you go until I’m finished.”

This interview was this year in a story about his desire that Trump run. While loyalty is to be admired, this is not exactly the smartest choice of words, to say the least.

Being loyal is one thing, being principled is another.

Cohen’s past as a liberal supporter of Obama and other Democrats (he’s donated to Senator Charles Schumer, for example) is not the best, or even a remotely smart way to endear yourself to conservatives.

(more…)

“The Donald” for President? Would any Republican have considered the idea of a “President Trump” six months ago?

On both sides of the political aisle, people are doubting Trump’s “seriousness” as a candidate.

Democrats are snickering and mocking Trump- and not just about his hair. White House adviser David Plouffe touts that he “hopes” Trump is the Republican candidate- kind of in the same way Democrats say they “hope” Sarah Palin is the candidate, implying that both are easily beatable.

The skepticism regarding Trump’s seriousness has been further heightened- in both Republican and Democrat political classes-by Trump’s recent focus on whether the president was born in this country. Both Republican strategist Karl Rove and Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren have openly criticized Trump for bringing the potentially toxic issue front and center once again, asserting that he is simply playing right into the hands of the Democrats.

Pundits claim the only reason why Trump could be running is because the Republican field of candidates is so weak. In fact, this past week’s Public Policy Polling survey, of the national 2012 presidential race, shows President Obama maintaining, or slightly increasing, his share of the vote over his Republican opponent, whether that individual is Huckabee, Romney, Christie, Rand Paul, Gingrich, or Palin. Donald Trump was not included in this survey.

Another recent poll of New Hampshire Republicans, by the same organization, has Mitt Romney as a front-runner among likely Republican primary voters, with 27%, Donald Trump, with 21%, and Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich tied for third place, with 12% of the vote.

And the most recent national Republican poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling, shows Trump in the lead, with 26%, Mike Huckabee, with 17%, Mitt Romney, 15%, and Newt Gingrich, with 11%. Another poll, conducted by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News, has Trump tied with Huckabee, at 17%, behind Romney, at 21%, among Republican primary voters.

(more…)