This and That For Thursday

Even after you read this story you may not believe it. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner discussed his support for the tax increases proposed by President Barack Obama, saying they were "fair" and would be preferable to spending cuts.

~~~ Where did John Kerry’s bags beneath his go. Did the bags disappear when he broke his nose playing hockey or was there was a little surgery here?

 

Now he’s a pretty boy again.

~~~ Gallup released new information on Monday showing that the unemployment rate has managed to creep back up to 9.0 percent. Gallup gathers daily unemployment information of U.S. adults in the workforce, ages 18 and older, who are underemployed, unemployed, and employed full-time for an employer.

However, unlike the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report that the administration cites, Gallup's data are raw numbers and not packaged with seasonal adjustments. With seasonal adjustments, BLS shows the unemployment rate at 8.3 percent.

Gallup also shows the underemployment rate is at 19.2%. Those who are underemployed, according to Gallup, are individuals who "are employed part time, but want to work full time, or they are unemployed."

~~~ Mitt Romney seems to have reached a plateau with a ceiling of much less than forty percent. His only hope is to keep the number of opponents such that he can win pluralities in state after state until it is down to him versus Ron Paul (who appears to be in for the whole race to the convention). There is no way Romney could defeat either Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich one on one.

At some point Romney needs to earn a majority or make a deal with either of the conservatives to get over the fifty percent needed to secure the GOP nomination.

We have discussed the Romney inability to get the fifty percent he needs. This will likely do his candidacy in. That would lead to a so-called brokered convention where the delegates are free to vote for whomever they wish.

It has been many years since such a convention occurred.

Enter Sarah Palin from stage right. This would lead to a fight for the soul of the Republican Party. The so-called moderate wing of the party would scramble for a leader but they would be confronted with the reality convention delegates are mostly conservative and more ideologically committed and more inclined to take a shot at nominating Palin or another conservative.

Palin is making the rounds and in recent interviews she is selling the idea the above is a likely scenario.

Stay tuned, we are about to see the status quo turned on its head.

More tomorrow.

Ciao…….Moe Lauzier