“I was, frankly, offended by it,” said Republican strategist Karl Rove. “I’m a huge fan of Clint Eastwood, I thought it was an extremely well-done ad, but it is a sign of what happens when you have Chicago-style politics, and the president of the United States and his political minions are, in essence, using our tax dollars to buy corporate advertising.”

Already, Democrats have begun co-opting the “It’s Halftime In America” meme, and President Barack Obama’s campaign team has already signaled that “saving” Detroit and the American auto industry will be a central campaign theme in Mr. Obama’s 2012 reelection bid. Indeed, in June 2011, Mr. Obama proudly declared:

Chrysler has repaid every dime and more of what it owes American taxpayers for their support during my presidency–and it repaid that money six years ahead of schedule.  And this week, we reached a deal to sell our remaining stake.  That means Chrysler will be 100 percent in private hands.

The Washington Post fact checker, however, disagreed–strongly.

We take no view on whether the administration’s efforts on behalf of the automobile industry were a good or bad thing; that’s a matter for the editorial pages and eventually the historians. But we are interested in the facts the president cited to make his case.

What we found is one of the most misleading collections of assertions we have seen in a short presidential speech. Virtually every claim by the president regarding the auto industry needs an asterisk, just like the fine print in that too-good-to-be-true car loan.

At issue was the slippery language Mr. Obama used to calculate Chrysler’s repayment of its taxpayer-funded bailout.  Mr. Obama’s numbers were based off of the $8.5 billion the federal government loaned Chrysler while he was in office and did not include the government’s prior $4 billion loan extended in the last month of President George W. Bush’s presidency, for a total bailout of $12.5 billion paid for by taxpayers.   Therefore, even after the $11.2 billion the Obama Administration says it received from Chrysler, taxpayers are still left holding the bill for $1.3 billion.

Indeed, in a startling statement, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner conceded that, yes, taxpayers would never recoup the $1.3 billion, but that the decision was nonetheless wise:

We did this to save jobs. The biggest impact was in the jobs saved and the wealth preserved. We’ll get everything we can to maximize the gain and minimize the loss. We are going to lose money on the auto industry but our job is to protect the country.

Still, Mr. Geithner hailed the taxpayer boondoggle a tremendous success:

As Treasury exits its investment in Chrysler, it’s clear that President Obama’s decision to stand behind and restructure this company was the right one. Today, America’s automakers are mounting one of the most improbable turnarounds in recent history – creating new jobs and making new investments in communities across our country.

At the time, Mr. Eastwood himself criticized the automobile bailout:

We shouldn’t be bailing out the banks and car companies.   If a CEO can’t figure out how to make his company profitable, then he shouldn’t be the CEO.

As for Mr. Eastwood’s compensation for the ad, Mr. Eastwood claims that “anything they gave me for it went to charity.”  Chrysler has not released figures on the total costs to design, shoot, and air the two-minute spot.  However, 30-second commercials reportedly cost $3.5 million.

Mr. Eastwood also says he is “certainly not affiliated with Mr. Obama.”

However, critics are left to wonder: how could a company who has yet to repay taxpayers the $1.3 billion it loaned them afford such a lavish advertising campaign?  And if, indeed, Chrysler is back on top, then why hasn’t it volunteered to repay Americans the money it still owes them?

After all, as the commercial says, “It’s halftime in America, too. People are out of work and they’re hurting. And they’re all wondering what they’re going to do to make a comeback. And we’re all scared, because this isn’t a game.”

So when can taxpayers expect Chrysler to cut them that $1.3 billion it owes them?  After all, isn’t that the right thing to do?

In a nutshell, as the nation watched the South Carolina primary approaching, Romney had two things going for him—the Republican establishment and the equally pro-Romney mainstream media. This gave him the illusion of strength: an illusion the Tea Party was able to see past (and through) as they ran to the one candidate whom Sarah Palin said she’d vote for in South Carolina—Newt Gingrich.

To put it as the UK’s Telegraph did:

The Tea Party was dead – long live the Beltway Cocktail Hour! Then came South Carolina, where religious and fiscal conservatives finally got it together and backed a candidate against Mitt Romney.

Honestly folks, even with the backing of prominent people like Karl Rove, Ann Coulter, and others, Romney only managed to win one of the first three contests (New Hampshire), and he didn’t just lose in South Carolina, he got throttled. Now, the historic fact that whoever wins South Carolina wins the GOP nomination has staggered Romney. And now he looks to Florida where Newt promises to deliver “the knockout punch.” So Romney’s handlers are circling the wagons, and talking about Gingrich the way they talked about Tea Party House and Senate candidates during the Nov. 2010 mid-term elections.

For example, David Brooks said: “The guy (Newt Gingrich) has, I think, a 27 percent national approval rating. He’s just unelectable. Maybe I’m just an elite pundit out of touch, but I can read numbers.” (Mind you, this is the same Brooks who, in 2008, said that Sarah Palin represented “a fatal cancer to the Republican party” and that John McCain was one of “the best candidates we’ve had in a long time.”) Romney supporter Ann Coulter quickly piled on to Newt as well, calling him the “least conservative” option as well as the “least electable.” And pundits at the POLITICO were quick to point out their theory that Gingrich didn’t win South Carolina because he did well in debates, but because he did well in disguising his weaknesses. (In an effort to continue holding out hope for an inside the beltway triumph, the POLITICO not only informed its readers that Romney will “rip that disguise from Gingrich” in Florida, but also told Romney how to do it, should he need  few pointers.)

As I’ve already noted: historically speaking, whoever wins South Carolina wins the GOP nomination. There wasn’t a lot of focus on this point prior to the primary there because the establishment thought Romney had it, and there’s not a lot of focus on it now because they don’t want hayseed, backwoods conservatives believing that Gingrich can actually pull this off.

Only one thing is for sure at this point: The Republican establishment is feeling desperation. (Romney isn’t spending money 20-to-1 in Florida because his victory is inevitable.)

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.

• Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann - A tape recorder that will keep asking her questions so she doesn’t have to interrupt at debates begging to answer every question offered up to other candidates.

• Abe Foxman (head of the ADL) -  A Jewish Star weighing 20 pounds to wear around his neck so he can be constantly reminded that he works for a Jewish organization, not a progressive think tank.

• Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum - A pacifier so he can stop whining at debates.

• Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty - A time machine so he can go back in time and un-drop out of the race.  If he hung around, Pawlenty might have been the “not-Romney” candidate.

• The SCHMOTUS Joe Biden - A case of duct tape so he can cover his mouth every time he leaves his house.

• Alec Baldwin – Decaffeinated coffee.  There’s a guy who needs to calm down.

• Newt Gingrich - A copy of Arguing with Idiots, because he better study it before he ever appears on the “Glenn Beck Show” again.

• Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post - A night with Mitt Romney (you know she wants it).

• Chris Matthews - A night with President Obama (you know he wants it).

• New York Senator Chuck Schumer - A night with Chuck Schumer (you know he wants it).  Plus a TV Camera and a cameraman to aim the camera at the Senator.  After all, it is all about him.

• Karl Rove – A life-sized cut out of President Obama.  The way I see it, Bush lost the popular vote in 2000 and he should have beaten John Kerry by much more than he did in 2004, so the only miracle election Rove ever pulled off was helping to give us Barack Obama in 2008.  He should have something to memorialize his big win.

• Jon Huntsman - A T-shirt saying “I’m Still Here.”

• Todd Palin - An opportunity to beat the crap out of everyone (with no repercussions) who has been lying about his family, starting with Levi Johnson.

• Donald Trump – A pair of big red floppy clown shoes and a big red rubber nose.  If he is going to act like a clown by interfering with the primary season just to get himself more publicity, he might as well look like one also.

• President Barack Obama – A brand new set of the best golf clubs available.  That way he will have something to do when he goes into retirement in January 2013. Also a map of the Holy Land created by his good friend, PA President Abbas. (Anybody notice something missing? The president didn’t.)

If I left you off this year’s list, I am very sorry, but money has been tight since January of 2009, and based on the coming of Obamacare and other programs the progressives are trying to stuff down our throats…well…things are going to get much tighter.

Now Rove’s moved on to Herman Cain, whose candidacy he’s doing all he can to sink, sidetrack, or otherwise derail.

On Fox News this past Monday, Rove did his best Mr. Rogers imitation by holding up a small dry-erase board with words (and phrases) for the day like “abortion, neoconservative, Afghan policy,” etc.  According to Rove, Cain’s “gaffes” in these areas have rendered him unelectable.

How so? Well, according to Rove: “I think it has created an image of him as not being up to this task. [And] that’s really deadly.”

Of course, it’s important to keep in mind the fact that Rove is an establishment Republican who supports McRomney And if someone really wants to focus on gaffes, they should focus on McRomney’s deception on hiring illegal lawn care workers, his full-blown support of Roe v. Wade not so long ago, his support of the assault weapons ban, his support of the Brady Bill, and his ongoing belief in manmade global warming, among other things.

But I guess all that wouldn’t fit on Rove’s little board.

Anyway, while on Fox News Monday Rove talked about how there was “a hint” that Cain’s numbers had peaked sometime between October 6^th and October 10^th, and they “had begun to slide slightly since then.” In other words, “Move on, people; there’s nothing to see here.”

However, the latest Zogby poll, taken October 18-21, well after Cain’s supposed “slide” had begun,  shows that Cain would trounce McRomney and, by extension, Rove into the ground.

And even better news is the fact that Cain doesn’t appear to be the least intimidated by Rove (which is another quality salt-of-the-earth people love in Cain). However, he does appear a bit perturbed at Rove’s antics: “It’s a good thing the voters are not looking at Karl Rove’s little whiteboard. [Because] I believe it is a deliberate attempt to damage me because I am not, quote unquote, the establishment choice.”

In the end, Cain is doing the right thing by brushing Rove’s duplicitous criticism aside and asking: “Why not go with the choice that the people seem to like?”

It really is quite simple: We can either have another Rove-anointed McCain who will lose to Obama again or we can let the Tea Party guide us to victory via the candidate of their choice.

My opinion – Why not trust the people on this one?

Former Bush advisor Karl Rove says he believes former Alaska governor Sarah Palin will enter the Republican presidential race sometime around Labor Day. Appearing on Fox News Saturday morning, Rove said Palin “has a schedule next week that looks like that of a candidate, not a celebrity.” Rove also cited a new campaign-style video Palin has released on her recent visit to the Iowa State Fair as evidence Palin is gearing up for a run.

Palin will be the keynote speaker at the Tea Party of America’s “Restoring America” event in Iowa September 3. The event location was recently moved from Waukee, Iowa, to Indianola, Iowa to accommodate a larger crowd.

“This is her last chance,” Rove said. “She either gets in or gets out [after the Iowa visit]. I think she gets in.”

A late entry into Iowa always raises questions about whether a candidate has the time to raise money, build an organization and meet voters face-to-face. Rove was asked whether a Palin candidacy might operate from “a different playbook” — that is, one that does not touch the traditional bases in Iowa. “She thinks the normal rules don’t apply,” Rove said. “If you’re Sarah Palin, you just show up and the money comes and the organization comes and the people come.”

Read the whole thing here.

On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Andrew Malcolm to discuss the 2012 GOP field, the power of the hat, and more. Then Pejman Yousefzadeh talks about Newt Gingrich’s bid for President.

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:

For political leaders like Moammar Kadafi, ruling power is really all about The Hat
Rep. Michele Bachmann scores a prime early GOP speaking gig in New Hampshire
Malcolm: Top of the Ticket
Newt Gingrich Set to Throw His Hat in the Ring to be 2012 Republican Nominee for President

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