Flower Child

Dressed ever so smartly down to the flower power zipper pull is one John Forbes Kerry.

I’ve always felt money, gobs of it, and fashion sense don’t necessarily go together. Right again. Flower power went out of style how many years ago? Sixties? Hippie.
Credit goes to Power Line for this incredible fashion find.

Wictory Wednesday

The Bush ads are working. Here’s what Gallup has to say about them:

In a survey taken in mid-February, Kerry led Bush by 28 percentage points in [17 swing states where the ads are airing], 63% to 35%. Now Bush leads Kerry in them by six points, 51% to 45%.
In contrast, there has been much less volatility in states where the ads haven’t aired. Kerry held a four-point lead in them in February; Bush holds a two-point lead now.

Running those ads costs money. Every dollar you contribute ensures that several voters in a swing state see an ad exposing Kerry’s ultra-liberal record.
Today is Wictory Wednesday. Every Wednesday, dozens of bloggers ask their readers to volunteer and/or donate to the Bush 2004 campaign.
If you’re a blogger, you can join Wictory Wednesdays simply by putting up a post like this one every Wednesday, asking your readers to volunteer and/or donate to the Bush campaign. And then e-mail wictory@blogsforbush.com so that you’ll be added to the Wictory Wednesday blogroll, which will be part of the Wictory Wednesday post on all participating blogs:

Are the Bush Ads Working?

The answer would appear to be, “yes”:

A week of hearings on Capitol Hill and criticism from a former counterterrorism aide have eroded President Bush’s poll standing on fighting terrorism. But that’s nothing compared to the damage that Bush’s campaign ads may have done to Democratic candidate John Kerry.
A USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows a remarkable turnaround in 17 battleground states where polls and historic trends indicate the race will be close, and where the Bush campaign has aired TV ads. Those ads say Bush has provided “steady leadership in times of change” while portraying Kerry as a tax-hiking, flip-flopping liberal.
The ads have been one factor in wiping away an inflated lead Kerry held in those states. Most of them have had primaries or caucuses that allowed Democrats to dominate the news and Kerry to emerge as a victor. In a survey taken in mid-February, Kerry led Bush by 28 percentage points in those states, 63% to 35%. Now Bush leads Kerry in them by six points, 51% to 45%.

Keep in mind, boys and girls, that President Bush has not even begun to fight…

Outsourcing The Myth

Interesting news from Silicon Valley Biz Ink on outsourcing. It’s not the dreaded sucking sound of jobs being whisked off to India that we thought.

The in-depth Study found that global sourcing of computer software and services, while displacing some IT workers, actually benefits the U.S. economy and increases the number of U.S. jobs. According to Study findings, the U.S. economy has much to gain from global sourcing and an environment of free trade, open markets and robust competition. Benefits include job creation, higher real wages, higher real GDP growth, contained inflation and expanded exports resulting in increased economic activity.

Anybody got a problem with that? More jobs, better economy, free trade, not to mention the foreign companies that insource, ie hire U.S. workers. By the numbers, here’s the benefits.

According to the Study, U.S. spending for offshore outsourcing of computer software and services is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of almost 26%, increasing from approximately $10 billion in 2003 to $31 billion in 2008. During the same period, total savings from the use of offshore resources will grow from $6.7 billion to $20.9 billion. Using offshore resources lowers costs and boosts productivity. As a result, inflation is lower, interest rates are lower, and economic activity is higher. The increased economic activity creates a wide range of new jobs, both in IT and other industries. While there are some dislocations that affect both industries and regions, the overall economy adjusts so that offshore IT outsourcing actually creates new jobs. Over 90,000 net new jobs were created in the U.S. through 2003. The number of net new jobs is projected to grow by 317,000 in 2008. The impact on U.S. jobs does vary by industry sector, with the major beneficiaries for the next five years being construction, transportation and utilities, education and health services, wholesale trade, and financial services.

Looks a lot better than what we’ve been expected to believe. I really do think Bush knows what he is doing with free trade. Works both ways and the number show it. Now what will the Dems do with this positive data?

Debunking DBunker – Part VI

The latest installment of John Kerryís DBunker section is an unmitigated mess. Itís just a baffling collection of spurious and contradictory statements on the issue of rising gas prices. It would take me pages to unravel all the false assumptions and outright lies, but let me try to cut the Gordian knot here and summarize the DBunker allegations:
Dick Cheney met with energy executives and conspired to raise gasoline prices during an election year to hurt the re-election prospects for a pro-energy President. This same President has too much pride to beg Saudi Arabia to pump out more oil (and after theyíve been such good allies in the war on terror!) As a result, Americans now face a ìtaxî in the form of higher gas prices.
John Kerry, on the other hand, is not ashamed to kiss the feet of the Saudis. (Hijackers? What hijackers?) And heíll tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, reserved for wartime, because weíre not in a war ñ free oil for everyone! Of course, neither of these actions reduces our dependence on foreign oil but thatís OK because weíre all going to drive hybrid cars.
ItísÖletís say ìinterestingîÖto characterize a price increase on a commodity as a ìtax increase.î But thereís only one candidate in this race who has unquestionably voted in favor of high gasoline taxes: John Kerry. As noted here, Kerry voted for a BTU tax and a 4.3 cents-per-gallon increase in federal gas taxes. Also, in 1994, Kerry told the Boston Globe that he supported for a 50-cent increase in the gas tax; this would cost the average family over $600 per year.
Take it from John Kerry ñ a man who knows how to keep taxes high ñ thatís a tax.
Extra: See how much Kerryís 50-cent tax could cost you with this handy calculator.