Because the ruling needed Obama to sign off on it before it could be implemented, the President has just gone on record that he has flip-flopped on his earlier promise that he would not violate the “conscious clause” that allows the Catholic Church and it’s affiliates to follow Church teaching on the sanctity of human life.

Mz. Noonan believes that a significant percentage of this nation’s 35 million Catholic voters are outraged by this intrusion by a ham-fisted government into their private lives and into the practice of their faith.

For my own part, I could see this coming from the outset of the legislative circus that surrounded the passage of this un-Constitutional bill. Whatever his promises were at the time, I felt certain that as soon as he thought that the bill was out of the limelight for a sufficient period of time for the American people to forget about some of it’s especially toxic provisions, that Obama would allow this long anticipated assault on Catholics to be launched with a vengeance.

As to why he would do this nine months before a Presidential election…only Obama can answer that question.

Having said that, I am very grateful for the timing of this ruling and the President signing off on it when he did. It gives the Republican Presidential candidates plenty of time to incorporate this issue into upcoming debates and to make sure the voters know full well that, whatever their religious denomination, they will not be allowed to follow their consciences in this mater of the rights of the pre-born, if this law is not repealed.

So now its up to Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul to use this issue as one more in a long list of reasons why Barack Obama needs to be ushered out of the Oval Office in January 2013.

~~John Cronin~~

His decision on Catholic charities makes Romney’s big gaffe look trivial

BY PEGGY NOONAN

What a faux pas, how inept, how removed from the essential realities of America. Yes, I’m referring to President Obama. But let’s do Mitt Romney first.

He’s taken heavy fire for his interview with CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, in which he said, “I’m not concerned about the very poor.”
Every criticism has been true. It was politically inept, playing into stereotypes about Republicans and about his own candidacy. It was Martian-like in its seeming remove from the concerns of everyday citizens. We’re in a recession here! It was at odds both with longtime American tradition and with rising conservative concern over …

Read more @…….http://online.wsj.com/article/declarations.html?mod=WSJ_topnav_opinion

 Solid Principles Podcast: Episode 45

2/3/2012

Fortuño Who?: When Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño issued his endorsement to Mitt Romney, it also increased speculation of Fortuño becoming a prospective VP candidate in the 2012 Republican Presidential Race.

On this edition of Solid Principles we present an unabridged interview with Fortuno from 2010, on the topic of Puerto Rico Statehood, and Hispanic Republicanism.

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By KRISTINA PETERSON And DAMIAN PALETTA

WASHINGTON—The federal budget deficit likely will top $1 trillion for the fourth consecutive year in fiscal 2012 as the economy continues to grow at a sluggish pace, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted Tuesday.

Congress’s official budget scorekeeper projected a sober outlook in its semi-annual report Tuesday, forecasting that the unemployment rate will remain above 8% both this year and next year and above 7% until 2015. The economy will see a “continued slow recovery” as real gross domestic product grows 2% this year, measured from the fourth quarter of the previous calendar year, and by 1.1% next year.

The federal budget deficit is expected to decrease modestly, but the CBO said its outlook hinged on policy and budget choices lawmakers face this year.

For example, the deficit will grow by $3.1 trillion over 10 years if spending cuts and tax increases are allowed to go into effect at the end of this year. If they are halted, the deficit would grow by roughly $11 trillion over the next 10 years.

The federal budget shortfall likely will clock in at $1.1 trillion in fiscal year 2012, down slightly from the $1.3 trillion deficit in the previous fiscal year, the CBO projected. Over the next few years, the expected deficits drop significantly, averaging 1.5% of GDP between 2013 and 2022, compared with the fiscal-year 2012 deficit, which is expected to be 7% of GDP.

Read more @http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204740904577194872392678482.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

TMZ REPORTS: Newt Gingrich is being sued by the company which owns the rights to the 1982 song, “Eye of the Tiger” — claiming Newt had no right to use it as part of his campaign. 

As predicted: When It Comes to Music, Republican Candidates Can’t Get Enough ‘Cease-and-Desist’ by Solid Principles

“Political activism within the music community has held an uncanny ability to always stand on the left side of political idealism. Historically, musicians seem quite happy to be blissfully ignorant about its rather cozy relation to the Left. Forgetting to learn this important characteristic, will continue to give Republican campaigns grief henceforth.”

Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño appearing at the 2011 CPAC Convention.

GOP Presidential candidates Romney & Gingrich appeared today at the Hispanic Leadership Network (HLN), and both expressed support for the concept of a plebiscite addressing Puerto Rican Statehood. It was Romney however that supported an outcome to that of Statehood for Puerto Rico.

“… I expect the people of Puerto Rico will decide that they want to become a state and I can tell you that I will work with [Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno] to make sure that if that vote comes out in favor of statehood, that we will go through the process in Washington to provide statehood to Puerto Rico.”  - Mitt Romney

The event also was the base for the announcement of Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño’s endorsement for Romney, and so brings a chance to revisit the Solid Principles produced Audio Documentary ‘United States Plus One – The Prospect of Puerto Rico as the 51st State‘ from 2010. Around that time HR.2499 (the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2010) passed the House 223 – 169, which barely gathered a whimper of press.  The prospect of America gaining a new state would normally be newsworthy, yet H.R.2499 missed out. Meanwhile, decade old perceptions of Democratic gerrymandering, and opinions based on the 1993 and 1998 failed plebiscites re-surfaced.

One the participants interviewed for the project was Govenor Fortuño himself, and through this investigation, what I thought I knew about Puerto Rico, was not what it appeared to be. More than anything, the plebiscite has the ability for focusing further attention onto Hispanic voters within the GOP, and challenging the stereotypical depiction of the Democratic Party holding a monopoly over this voting base.

Read More at Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich Pressed on Puerto Rico Statehood in South Florida ABC News