Source: Mother Jones

From former Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, in his new memoir, The Courage To Act:

I lost patience with Republicans’ susceptibility to the know-nothing-ism of the far right. I didn’t leave the Republican Party. I felt that the party left me.

This is, of course, a deliberate echo of Ronald Reagan's famous line about the Democratic Party leaving him. And it's hard to blame Bernanke. The know-nothing wing of the Republican Party rebelled against the TARP rescue package at the height of the economic meltdown. They howled that low interest rates would lead to imminent hyperinflation. They resolutely refused to consider fiscal stimulus despite Bernanke's repeated pleas (see helpful illustration below from 2011). They wanted to audit the Fed. They wanted to end the Fed. They wanted to put us back on the gold standard. When Bernanke told them that spending cuts would lead to higher unemployment, Rep. Kevin McCarthy refused to believe him. Now he's about to become Speaker of the House.



Read more: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/10/quote-day-republican-party-left-me

Source: CNN

Washington (CNN) - The budding tension between the two Floridians running for president escalated on Tuesday as Marco Rubio defended his Senate record amid new attacks by Jeb Bush.... Bush aides and allies have increasingly been highlighting Rubio's poor attendance for votes in Washington -- a tally that has also been fodder for another new Rubio agitator, Donald Trump.
...
"We are not going to fix a dysfunctional Washington, D.C., by electing a celebrity entertainer or D.C. senator who is either part of the problem or has proven incapable of fixing it," the former Florida governor wrote.

Later that night, he grew forceful in Bettendorf, Iowa, saying, "We should cut the pay of elected officials that don't show up to work."... "I don't know about you, but this idea this idea that somehow voting isn't important, I mean what are they supposed to do? They should go to the committee hearings, they should vote," he said, lightly pounding his first on the podium at a Scott County GOP dinner.


Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/06/politics/marco-rubio-jeb-bush-attendance/index.html

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This is so enjoyable.

Source: CNN

Donald Trump ... tops his closest challenger Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, by five percentage points -- 21% to 16%, the poll by Texas Lyceum found.

Ben Carson would receive 12%, Jeb Bush gets 10% and Carly Fiorina would take 6% of the vote, according to the poll.

The poll also showed that in a general election match-up, Clinton would narrowly lose Texas to Bush, Cruz and Trump by single digits.

"Mrs. Clinton actually polls better in Texas right now than one might have expected," said Professor Daron Shaw, who oversees the Lyceum Poll. ... The survey shows Clinton leading by double digits in the Democratic primary. Clinton would win 36% of the vote, while Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont takes 24%.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/01/politics/trump-clinton-texas-poll/

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So which part of this is most awesome:

Cruz cannot even lead in Texas?

Bush name doesn't even help Jeb! do better than 4th place in Texas?

Clinton kicking Rubio's ass head-to-head in Texas?

Sanders within striking distance of Clinton in Texas?

Source: Washington Post

Dr. Ben Carson is better liked than fellow political outsiders Donald Trump or Carly Fiorina among both Republicans and political independents in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, even as many have not heard of the famed pediatric neurosurgeon.

... Trump and Fiorina -- get more mixed reviews from the public at large.

Trump's ratings are upside-down at 35 percent favorable and 60 percent unfavorable, while Fiorina receives a 35-30 favorable-unfavorable split. More than one-third have no opinion of Fiorina (35 percent) at this point.

... Trump nearly matches Carson on positive ratings (62 percent), but his unfavorable ratings are about twice as high (34). Republicans give Fiorina a narrower positive split (47-27), though over one-quarter still have no opinion on the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/09/30/ben-carson-is-a-very-popular-man-these-days/

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Carson = "None of the Above"

The real headline is that neither Trump nor Fiorina are well liked.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Mr. Bush lost support across the board: among men and women, voters under and over 50 years of age, talk-radio listeners, and values and tea-party voters alike. Though his support flagged among likely voters who identified as very conservative and total conservatives, Mr. Bush lost the most ground – a 15-point decline — among self-described moderate and liberals, earning 8% from those voters in September compared with 23% in July.

Voters also have less positive sentiment about the former Florida governor. The change was greatest among likely Republican primary voters, whose positive feelings decreased to 39% from 50%. Meanwhile, negative feelings toward Mr. Bush increased by four

Read more: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/09/28/where-did-jeb-bush-lose-support-everywhere-wsjnbc-poll/

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Similar report in the Washington Post:

By now, you surely know that Donald Trump is the least-liked Republican candidate for president. How could he not be, after months and months of coverage of how disliked he is? A new Fox News survey reveals that, thanks to opposition from Democrats, Trump is indeed viewed less favorably than any other candidate.

But if you look only at Republican respondents, that changes: Republicans view Jeb Bush even worse.

Among all voters, Trump is at negative-25 -- that is, he is viewed 25 points more unfavorably than favorably. Bush is at -21. Among Republicans? Bush gets lower marks than anyone, at plus-1. Even Chris Christie is at +4. The difference is inside the margin of error, but this is clearly not where Bush would like to be.

"No Republican 2016 candidate is less liked by his or her party than Jeb Bush"

Source: MSNBC

The latest Bloomberg Politics shows a tightening Top Talkers: Democratic race: Hillary Clinton is at 33 percent, while VP Joe Biden stands at 25 percent and Sen. Bernie Sanders is at 24 percent.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/dem-nomination-a-three-way-contest--poll-530702915512

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But one of those 3 is not running.

Source: USA Today

SAN FRANCISCO — Presidential candidate and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has been criticized for HP's performance during her tenure. This is how the company fared under the leadership of Fiorina and others:



Fiorina's claims that HP's stock (HPQ) under her tenure was a result of the post dot-com bust hold water — to a degree. But shares still did worse.




Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/09/22/carly-fiorina-vs-hewlett-packard-ceos/72609718/

Vice President Joe Biden believes that life begins at conception, according to a statement he made while inviting pro-lifers to join the Democratic party in conjunction with Pope Francis’s visit to the United States.

Biden maintained that the question of when life begins is a religious matter. “I’m prepared to accept that at the moment of conception there’s human life and being, but I’m not prepared to say that to other God­-fearing [and] non­-God­-fearing people that have a different view,” he said during an interview published by America, a Jesuit-run outlet, on Monday.

“Abortion is always wrong,” Biden continued. “All the principles of my faith, {which} I make no excuse for attempting to live up to — I don’t all the time. But I’m not prepared to impose doctrine that I’m prepared to accept on the rest of {the country}.”

I have never thought of myself as a "non-God-fearing" person, but I suppose I cannot deny that label.

Source: Washington Times

Businessman Donald Trump has retained his position at the top of the 2016 Republican field in the early state of Iowa, with ... the support of 24 percent of Hawkeye State Republicans in the survey released Tuesday by the Democratic-leaning firm Public Policy Polling, followed by Mr. Carson at 17 percent and Ms. Fiorina at 13 percent.

“For all the controversy over the last six weeks Donald Trump’s in a slightly stronger position now than he was after the first debate,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling.

In a survey taken right after the Aug. 6 GOP debate in Cleveland, Mr. Trump had been in first in the state at 19 percent, followed by Mr. Carson and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at 12 percent each, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 11 percent, and Ms. Fiorina at 10 percent.

In the survey released Tuesday, Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida were at 8 percent apiece, followed by Mr. Bush and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 6 percent each.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/sep/22/donald-trump-leading-ben-carson-carly-fiorina-iowa/

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Jeb! has fallen to 6th place and can't get up.

Source: Huffington Post

Carly Fiorina has a big problem with the truth. More specifically, she has a problem with embellishing the truth, in a manner very reminiscent of disgraced NBC anchor Brian Williams.

On Friday, conservative radio host Sean Hannity asked Fiorina to explain stories that Hewlett-Packard violated in the Iran embargo, by selling millions of dollars of computers, parts and equipment through a Dubai-based company, while she was CEO.

"The SEC did a thorough investigation and concluded that no one in management, myself included, knew anything about it," Fiorina told Hannity.

...

Yes, except the SEC investigation didn't. In fact, the SEC didn't perform an investigation at all, especially one that cleared her of any knowledge of the affair.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-schmeltzer/carly-fiorina-lies-to-fox_b_8163596.html