The Journey to the Dark Side

The attacks by Andrea Mitchell and others on Mitt Romney's storm relief efforts are a disgusting spectacle. Some things transcend politics - or should.

Photo source: Wikipedia

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Daily Reminder: National Debt

Last week I posted the total national debt, the $16T that is commonly reported in the media. According to the US Treasury much of that is "held by Government trust funds, revolving funds, and special funds; and Federal Financing Bank securities." Many economists argue that the debt held by the public is a more useful measure of the nation's liability:

Data source: US Treasury

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Disaster Relief

No politics as usual today. My thoughts are with the first responders, power company linemen, and brave volunteers who are struggling to keep us safe and dry in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Please remember the Red Cross in this time of need. This article describes some of the relief efforts:

One of the Red Cross shelters that opened Sunday was in Pleasantville, N.J., and by mid-day it was filling with a steady stream of people who were seeking safety from the approaching Hurricane Sandy. Most of those arriving – from babes in arms to senior citizens –- were coming from Atlantic City and nearby towns on the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast, but at least one was a vacationer from San Diego. Shelter manager Duncan Wiedman and his team – most of them volunteers from the Southern Shore and Jersey Coast Red Cross chapters – were preparing for 150 people in the high school and another 150 in the middle school next door... HOW TO HELP People can help by making a donation to support American Red Cross Disaster Relief online, by text or by phone. Donations help the Red Cross provide shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance to those affected by disasters like Hurricane Sandy. To donate, people can visit www.redcross.org, call 1-800-RED-CROSS, or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Contributions may also be sent to someone’s local Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.

News from the Asylum: Special Hurricane Edition

Photo source: Weather Channel

Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for coastal areas in the mid-Atlantic and New England states. Asked for comment, Vice President Joe Biden called the orders “malarkey,” grinned idiotically, and laughed for no apparent reason.

In an official statement, President Obama said, “this is going to be a slow-moving process through a wide swath of the country, and millions of people are going to be affected.” It was unclear whether he was referring to Hurricane Sandy or the weak economic recovery. The president added, “I inherited the worst storm since the Great Depression.”

A Labor Department official stated today that the Bureau of Labor Statistics has made no decision yet as to whether the October unemployment report, due Friday, will be delayed as a result of Hurricane Sandy. The report will be the last set of data about the jobs situation prior to the presidential election. “We’ll decide what to do after we see whether the numbers are favorable to the president,” the official said.

Seen on FB: Just read reports that Hurricane Sandy is a "spontaneous weather event" sparked by a Weather Channel video on YouTube. (Thanks, JW!)

Also seen on FB: Just heard the governor on the radio say: If you have a gas-powered generator please I repeat please, locate it in an open area. <--- thank goodness for this guy, 'cause I had mine all set to go...under my bed. (Thanks, BR!)

CNN reports that 765,000 people are without electric power — and some of them aren't even victims of the EPA's war on coal.

What's the difference between Obama's economic policies and Hurricane Sandy? One blows and the other is a storm system.

All kidding aside, I hope everyone stays safe and dry. Please support the volunteers of the Red Cross as they endeavor to help those hardest hit by the hurricane. You can read about their efforts and make a donation at http://www.redcross.org/news-events.

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Daily Reminder: GDP

The Commerce Department released preliminary 3rd quarter GDP Friday. The economy continues to recover - weakly.

My left-of-center friends think it's unfair to compare the Obama recovery to the Reagan recovery. They say the underlying recessions were so different. Seems to me the main difference between the Reagan Recession and the Bush/Obama Recession is how the presidents responded. Reagan slowed the growth of government, reduced the pace of regulation, and appointed a Fed chairman who exercised monetary restraint. Bush and Obama did the exact opposite on all three points.

Data source: BEA

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Daily Reminder: Unemployment

Did the Democrats say something about a war on women?

Data source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Situation Summary, September 2012, January 2009.

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Romney, Obama, and Weed

As the 2012 election enters its final weeks, I decided to give the characters from my novel Full Asylum a chance to weigh in. First up is Brownie McCoy, sysadmin for the Byte Yourself Software corporation and infamous hippie for capitalism:

Ronald Reagan, man. He used to tell this story about a Republican politician who was campaigning down south, back in the days when Dixie was still Democrat. Arriving at a farm, the politician asked the farmer if he could, like, talk to him. When the farmer heard that the politician was a Republican, he was juiced. “Wait right here ‘til I go get Ma,” he said, “She’s never seen a Republican before.” When the farmer returned with his wife, the politician looked for a podium, but all he could find was a “a pile of that stuff that Bess Truman took 35 years trying to get Harry to call ‘fertilizer.’” The candidate climbed up on the mound and gave his speech. When he finished the farmer said, “That’s the first time I’ve ever heard a Republican speech.” The politician replied, “That’s the first time I’ve ever given a Republican speech from a Democratic platform.” It’s a primo joke, man, but this year the Republican platform got as much fertilizer as the Democrat one. Obama and Romney are both fascizoids. They’re like Republicrats. Neither one of them is serious about getting government under control. They’re both beaucoup with the spending. Romney’s amigo Ryan got a plan to balance the budget — in the year 2040. As for Obama, his budget never balances. Also, neither of these hosers is going to legalize weed. That’s a bummer; Cheech Marin — or was it Tommy Chong? — said marijuana is the friendliest drug there is. Puff on a joint and your first instinct is to hand it to someone else. And those government CREEPS could stand to be friendlier. This one time, one of them was trying to take my brownies away and I said, “I got rights, man” and he hit me with the butt of his rifle. If he got a little baked, he wouldn’t be so hostile. Speaking of weed, did anyone see this from Family Guy? Fox is pretty ruthless about preventing bootlegging, but this guy rebelled and got it on YouTube by adding a bogus intro. Start about 35 seconds in: Oh, I almost forgot. The election. The only candidate for president who can spell freedom is Gary Johnson from the Libertarian Party. He says he’s going to balance the budget next year, repeal the Patriot Act, audit the Fed, and put limits on TSA pat-downs. He’s the only one that gets that free enterprise means no bailouts, no corporate welfare, and no protectionism. Also he wants to legalize weed. ‘Cause it’s important to legalize weed. I know, Johnson’s probably not going to win. But if the Federales try to come after my weed, I’ll be ready. I’m building something in the basement that’ll make them think twice. Love and Greed, Brownie

Brownie McCoy is a character in Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and chocolaty baked goods. His views do not necessarily reflect those of author Michael Isenberg. Check out Full Asylum on Amazon.com.

Daily Reminder: National Debt

Hard to believe a month has gone by since I last visited the National Debt. It's gone up $189 billion since then.

Data source: US Treasury

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Daily Reminder: Money Supply

Money supply growth is the principal cause of inflation. Milton Friedman argued that a healthy economy required restricting growth to the 3-5% range.

Data source: Federal Reserve. Data is for Sept 2011 to Sept 2012.

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

If you want peace...

When Horace said, "Ignorant of the way to make life secure, he diluted war with peace," he must have been thinking about Joe Biden.

Photo source: CNN

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Daily Reminder: Gas Prices

The president has argued that this is an unfair comparison, that the price of gas in 2009 was due to a bad economy. Does that mean the economy is good now and that $3.687 per gallon is acceptable?

Data source: Energy Information Administration

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Five Other Foreign Policy Questions for Barack Obama

Barack Obama with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev
Photo source: AP

Tonight’s final 2012 presidential debate is dedicated to foreign policy. Given that there are only so many times Romney can ask the president what he knew about Benghazi and when did he know it, here are five other questions I’d like to hear:

1. Mr. President, prior to committing US air power to the overthrow of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, you obtained authorization from the United Nations Security Council, but not the United States Congress. Was this the right thing to do, and did it violate the War Powers Act?

2. The Arab Spring has brought the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamad Morsi to the Egyptian presidency, a man who is on record supporting the use of force against Israel and warning Coptic Christians they “need to know that conquest is coming, and Egypt will be Islamic, and that they must pay the jizya or emigrate.” In view of these statements, did you make a mistake in demanding the ouster of Morsi’s predecessor, Hosni Mubarak?

3. In 2007 you said, “I will make an absolute commitment that we will do everything we need to do to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.” In light of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s August report that Iran has accelerated its uranium enrichment activities, can you say that this commitment has been kept?

4. In his debate with Rep. Ryan, the vice president affirmed the administration’s promise to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan by 2014. Is that deadline realistic in view of the continuing violence in that country?

5. In March, you told Russian President Medvedev that you would have more “flexibility” regarding missile defense after the election. What did you mean by that and what do you plan to do after the election that you aren’t doing now?

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Join him on Twitter for live tweets of tonight’s debate.

Daily Reminder: Green Energy

Another government-funded green energy company filed for bankruptcy last Tuesday.

Data source: Forbes.

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Daily Reminder: Welfare Spending

The Congressional Research Service tallied up spending for 80 government welfare programs, including Medicaid, food stamps, child-care, and direct cash payments to the poor. The sum tells a story of ballooning government dependency under the Obama administration.

Data source: CRS via The Washington Times.

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

How Liberty is Lost

Some of my friends are skeptical. When I tell them that the 2012 presidential election will determine whether the United States of America continues to be a free country, they tell me our freedom isn’t even threatened.

I explain the threat in my novel, Full Asylum, in which I portray a future where America is no longer free. Government has become involved in every corner of our lives, and storm troopers called “CREEPS” are standing by to kick in our doors if we don’t fall in line. In this excerpt, I describe how we got to that point. It shows what happens when an economy fails to recover and politicians look for someone to blame. The setting is familiar to fans of the James Bond series — it’s the scene where the secret agent goes to his boss to get his orders:

“Good morning, sir,” said Dunn.         “Good morning, Beta Eleven,” said Alpha One. He sat at his massive oak desk in front of a painting of a fox hunt. “Sit down.”         Dunn sat in one of the leather wingback chairs in front of the desk. A small gentleman moldered in the other one. “You know Sir Brandon Pringle, Chancellor of the Exchequer,” Alpha One said.         “Chancellor,” said Dunn. Sir Brandon grunted.         “What do you know about economic sabotage?” Alpha One asked Dunn.         “It’s a new category of crime since the Financial Crises,” Dunn replied. “The Americans call it E.S. Individual saboteurs are referred to as sabos. After the Third Financial Meltdown, the G-20 powers responded with appropriate measures to expand the money supply and re-regulate out-of-control markets. Although there were some initial signs of their effectiveness, in the long run, the global economy did not improve. Eventually, governments around the world realized the reason. Their political opponents deliberately harmed their efforts: scared off investors, cut jobs, and even committed acts of vandalism.         “The sabo threat is particularly severe in the United States, where Congress responded by passing the Federal Economic Sabotage Act. The act, also called FESA, gave the government the powers necessary to combat the problem. One provision of the act prohibited criticism of government economic policy. There was a constitutional challenge to this, but the Supreme Court upheld the provision on the basis of the governmental interest in safeguarding the integrity of interstate commerce.         “To enforce the law, the government created an elite civilian military unit. The Coordinated Response Emergency Economic Protection Squad reports directly to the attorney general. Although its acronym should be pronounced CREE-TWO-P-S, certain elements of the public have taken to calling the unit members CREEPS, and this pronunciation has, regrettably, caught on. This new force has made significant inroads against the sabos; however, it has not been able to eradicate them entirely. I think that’s all, sir.”         “Yesterday afternoon,” said Sir Brandon, “the Advanced Missile Corporation filed for bankruptcy. Seventy-eight thousand people around the world are filing for unemployment compensation as we speak, fifteen thousand of them in England.”         Alpha One pressed a button on his desk. The fox hunt painting slid into the wall, revealing a large flat panel display. On the screen a photo sprang into view. It depicted a short, middle-aged woman in a fashionable red and black business suit. She had short dark hair and large dark eyes and was smoking a cigarette in a long black holder. Sir Brandon continued, “Iona Klimt, head of Klimt Defensive Software Corporation—KDS. Born in Soviet Russia, 1967. Emigrated to the US in the 1980s during the last days of the Cold War. Estimated net worth: 12.6 billion dollars.”         The picture morphed to an office park. There was a pond with a fountain and two green glass buildings. “KDS headquarters. Just outside Washington, DC. The company is…was…Advanced Missile’s largest competitor.”         “Iona Klimt is one of the leaders of the information revolution,” said Dunn. “Do we suspect she is engaged in economic sabotage?”         “That’s for you to find out,” said Alpha One. “You leave for America as soon as you draw your equipment from Double-G Branch. That’s all, Beta Eleven.”

To find out what happens when Dunn comes face-to-face with Iona Klimt, check out Full Asylum on Amazon.com.

The Wastebook: Your Tax Dollars at Work

Photo source: Office of Tom Coburn

Yesterday, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) released his annual Wastebook, highlighting “more than $18 billion in examples of some of the most egregious ways your taxpayer dollars were wasted in 2012.” Of the 100 examples cited, here are my personal favorites:

#6 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Advanced Food Technology Project…has already developed a recipe for pizza and about 100 other foods that could be served some day on Mars. Of course, NASA no longer has a manned spaced fleet and no current mission plans for human space flight to Mars. $947,000. #7 Researchers at San Diego State University and the University of California (Davis) spent a portion of a $325,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to construct a robotic squirrel named “RoboSquirrel” #8 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) spent $300,000 this year to promote caviar. #14 Relive prom week with National Science Foundation video game – $516,000 #20 With just a quick glance of a face, many people can accurately guess someone’s sexual orientation, according to researchers at the University of Washington and Cornell University, in a study supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). #25 Government-funded study finds golfers need to envision a bigger hole – $350,000 #26 Fighting obesity with giant graffiti carrots – $13,000 #29 Free bus rides for Super Bowl attendees – $142,419 #32 In an effort to prevent drunk driving, the Michigan State Police used $10,000 in federal funds to purchase 400 talking urinal cakes. #35 Science research dollars go to musical about biodiversity and climate change – $697,177…Characters in the first act stand around awkwardly in a train station, and sometimes head into the “jungle,” complete with flying monkey poop. #49 Pentagon raids weapons program to buy jerky – $700,000 #54 Circus classes – $20,000 #55 Watching television reruns gives people an energizing chance to reconnect with pseudo-friends, according to a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study published this year. Researchers used part of $666,905 in NIH grants to look at the phenomenon. #61 How not to flip a house: renovate with federal funds and sell far below market value – $18,410 #70 Male fruit flies are attracted to young females more than to older ones, according to academics funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). $939,771 #73 A New Hampshire brewery, Smuttynose, will use $750,970 in federal funds to construct a new brewery and restaurant on farmland outside of Portsmouth. #74 Using taxpayer dollars, an academic team developed a dancing robot named Shimi to serve as a disc jockey for smartphones. $547,430 #86 The 2012 Alabama Watermelon Queen Tour – $25,000 #92 Thirty-thousand Legos to build an 18-foot long model street – $3,700 #95 With part of $548,731 in grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one group of researchers discovered adults in their thirties who drink heavily also feel immature. #97 Red Velvet, snickerdoodle, and cinnamon buttercream are cupcake flavors that are attractive not only to the paying consumer, but also to Uncle Sam. The Small Business Administration in 2012 arranged over $2.0 million in loan guarantees for ten cupcake shops across the country. #100 D’oh! Postal Service overprints Simpsons and other commemorative stamps – $2 million

For additional details, and the rest of the entries, see www.coburn.senate.gov.

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Daily Reminder: Inflation

Thanks to C.C. for sending me this one.

Data source: USA Today.

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

The VP Debate: Contending with a Fool

Photo source: CNN.

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Movie Review: Atlas Shrugged Part II

Photo source: atlasshruggedmovie.com

I almost didn’t write this. For the first 80 minutes of Atlas Shrugged Part II, I didn’t think I could write a good review and I didn’t want to write a bad one. Ayn Rand’s dystopian epic about a collapsing economy and Americans giving up in despair has long been one of my favorite books. I had written a great review of Part I, but the first two-thirds of this new movie were disappointing. The problem was directing. Although he had an experienced and talented cast, director John Putch just couldn't seem to get good performances out of them.

Samantha Mathis, as railroad executive Dagny Taggart, couldn’t deliver a line naturally to save her life. Mostly she moped around like a wet washcloth. Jason Beghe as steel magnate Hank Rearden sounded like he escaped from the cast of The Godfather, and Esai Morales made for a rather subdued Francisco d’Anconia. The speeches were flat and disconnected from the scenes around them.

Then came Directive 10-289. The government sought to prevent the economic emergency from getting worse by outlawing change. Businesses were prohibited from raising or lowering their output. Employees were prohibited from leaving their jobs. In other words, they were slaves. New Yorkers halted in the street to watch identical images of the president announce the new law, Big Brother-like, from every giant screen in Times Square. Suddenly, Atlas Shrugged Part II had become drama.

The rest of the movie was exciting and fast-paced. Rex Linn gave the best performance of the film as Kip Chalmers, a politician on his way to a fundraiser. He seemed to channel Fred Thompson as he bullied Dagny’s brother James to provide a new locomotive when the one pulling his train broke down. An older, and possibly unsafe coal-burner was found and in a gripping scene, the train got stuck inside a smoke-filled tunnel—with an army munitions train hurtling towards it in the other direction.

And then we even got to see Dagny become forceful. I wanted to cheer when she finally stood up to smarmy bureaucrat Wesley Mouch.

I didn’t completely hate the early parts. There were touches here and there that I enjoyed, many of them provided by the minor characters. Diedrich Bader was very likable as Quentin Daniels, as was, surprisingly, Bug Hall as the Wet Nurse. Star Trek Voyager’s Robert Picardo played Dr. Stadler the way I always imagined him. The production values were better than in Part I: views through the windows made the offices of New York City seem less like movie sets and more like, well, the offices of New York City. There was a great discussion about Rearden Steel on a news show, with Sean Hannity and Juan Williams as panelists. Mr Hannity defended Rearden, of course. And we got to hear the music of Richard Halley. Although his Fourth Concerto had, in the movie, become a rhapsody, the piece was true to the description in the book: “The notes flowed up, they spoke of rising, and they were the rising itself….[Dagny] listened to the symphony, thinking: This is why the wheels have to be kept going.” These bright spots kept me going until the movie got to the good stuff—which really was worth seeing.

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a dystopian comedy about a collapsing economy and Americans fighting back. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Top Ten Democrat Reasons to Re-Elect Barack Obama

Photo source: betf.blogspot.com

10. Mitt Romney wants to kill Big Bird.

9. Mitt Romney wants to kill Big Bird.

8. Mitt Romney wants to kill Big Bird.

7. Mitt Romney wants to kill Big Bird.

6. Mitt Romney wants to kill Big Bird.

5. Mitt Romney wants to kill Big Bird.

4. Mitt Romney wants to kill Big Bird.

3. Mitt Romney wants to kill Big Bird.

2. Mitt Romney wants to kill Big Bird.

And the Number One Democrat reason to re-elect Barack Obama:

1. Mitt Romney wants to kill Big Bird.

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Daily Reminder: Food Stamps

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program July data is out. Up 11,500 from June:

Data source: USDA.

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Daily Reminder: Real Unemployment Rate

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U6, often called the "real unemployment rate," includes "Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons," where "Persons marginally attached to the labor force are those who currently are neither working nor looking for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the past 12 months. Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, have given a job-market related reason for not currently looking for work. Persons employed part time for economic reasons are those who want and are available for full-time work but have had to settle for a part-time schedule."

Data source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Situation Summary, September 2012, January 2009.

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Daily Reminder: Federal Budget Deficit

The 2012 Fiscal Year ended last week and the Congressional Budget Office released its estimate of the deficit.

Data source: CBO

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Daily Reminder: Unemployment

September unemployment report wasn't terrible, wasn't great.

Data source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

How Romney Cheated

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Daily Reminder: Economic Freedom

The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom is a compilation of ten measures that cover rule of law, regulatory efficiency, market openness, and limits on government. Heritage argues that this index correlates strongly with per capita income, economic growth, and other measures of prosperity.

Data source: Heritage Foundation

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Daily Reminder: Household Income

Sentier Research came out with its monthly report on household income last week. Down another 1.1% in August. We're now 8.2% poorer since Obama took office.

Data source: MoneyNews.com

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

What Mitt Romney REALLY needs to do in the debates

We’re two days from the first Romney/Obama debate, and the media is buzzing with advice for the Republican nominee: “provide specifics about a Romney presidency.” (Erin McPike, RealClearPolitics), “offer a tough critique of Obama's record, foreign and domestic, especially spending, taxes and Obamacare.” (Ralph Reed, quoted in The New York Times), “Move to clarity in drawing the contrast between the two.” (Newt Gingrich on Face the Nation. Although I'm not sure why Newt thinks that the guy who trounced him in the primaries needs his advice.)

I respectfully disagree with these esteemed commentators. What wins debates is not specifics, critiques, or contrasts. What wins debates is one-liners.

Consider the 2010 special election here in Massachusetts. Scott Brown got a much needed boost in his bid to succeed Ted Kennedy in the Senate with his famous retort, “It's not the Kennedys' seat, and it's not the Democrats' seat, it's the people's seat.”

Walter Mondale derailed Gary Hart’s 1984 White House bid by quoting a popular television commercial, “When I hear your new ideas, I’m reminded of that ad, ‘Where’s the beef?’” (Of course, Gary Hart derailed his 1988 White House bid without any help from his opponents.)

One-liners are particularly effective in neutralizing criticism. The “age issue” in the 1984 general election (Reagan was 73) completely went away when he promised, “I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”

So Mitt: be prepared. The one-liners are what will be played endlessly on the news the next day. So if, on Wednesday, you haven’t got some ready to defuse a) Romneycare, b) the 47%, and c) your tax rate, you should look for new writers on Thursday.

P.S. Mitt, If you want a copy of my resume you can contact me through my publisher.

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Daily Reminder: GDP

It's now 3 1/2 years - 14 quarters - since the recession bottomed out. The last recession that was comparable in severity was 1981/82 during the Reagan administration. Check out how the growth in Gross Domestic Product compares:

Data source: BEA

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.