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Insider Report from Newsmax.com
2/27/11
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
1. Newsweek Poll: Trump Fares ‘Surprisingly Well’ vs. Obama
2. Google Spins Right to Woo Resurgent GOP
3. Charlie Cook: If Jobs Grow, Obama’s a Lock in 2012
4. Satellite Images Expose Syrian Nuclear Facility
5. CBO: Stimulus Jobs Cost at Least $228,055 Each
1. Newsweek Poll: Trump Fares
‘Surprisingly Well’ vs. Obama
A stunning new poll shows that Barack Obama would barely beat business
tycoon Donald Trump in a head-to-head race for the presidency.
In the Newsweek/Daily Beast poll, Obama received 43 percent of the
votes, while Trump — who has announced that he is seriously considering
a run for the White House in 2012 — was right behind with 41 percent.
The survey also found Obama leading Mitt Romney by two percentage
points, 49 percent to 47 percent. In a three-way race with Trump, Obama
got 44 percent, Romney 38 percent, and Trump 8 percent.
But Trump fared far better in a three-way contest involving Sarah
Palin. While Obama received 51 percent to Palin’s 40 percent in a
head-to-head matchup, with Trump in the race Obama dipped to 48
percent, Palin plunged to 21 percent, and Trump received 20 percent.
“We found that some of the GOP’s biggest names would be wise to keep an
eye out for Trump, who did surprisingly well,” Newsweek observed.
“Could he play the Ross Perot wild-card role in 2012?”
In a recent interview with Newsmax.TV, Trump declared that “there’s a
very good chance” he will run for president, saying, “I hate what’s
happening to this country.”
Editor’s Note:
ALERT: Dick Morris Sees Obama ‘Aftershock’ Coming, Prepare Your
Investments
2. Google Spins Right to Woo
Resurgent GOP
Republican gains in the November elections have prompted traditionally
left-leaning tech giant Google to curry favor with the resurgent GOP.
Google has a “singular reputation among Republicans as a committed
Democratic ally, owing largely to the personal affiliations of its
ranks,” Fortune magazine observed.
Google’s outgoing CEO Eric Schmidt campaigned for Barack Obama and has
served as a key economics adviser to the president. And in the last
election, Google employees gave 83 percent of their political
contributions to Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive
Politics.
But Google has now recruited Seth Webb, “a savvy staffer wired into
House GOP leadership,” to an in-house lobbying group, Fortune reported.
Google has also joined the Congressional Institute, which helps fund
House Republicans’ annual retreat, and invited a parade of GOP
lawmakers to visit its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.
“We’ve believed for a long time that it’s important to build
relationships on both sides of the aisle,” a spokesperson told Fortune.
The strengthened relationship with Republicans could help Google deal
with complaints about the company’s lax attitude toward privacy and
intellectual property, topics that might garner adverse attention from
GOP lawmakers.
And it could play a positive role in Google’s attempt to overcome
antitrust concerns about its $700 million agreement to acquire
Cambridge, Mass.-based travel data firm ITA Software. Those concerns
could well be behind Google’s recent hiring of a Republican staffer
from the House Judiciary Committee.
Editor’s Note:
Olive Oil Can Act Like a Drug on Your Heart
3. Charlie Cook: If Jobs Grow,
Obama’s a Lock in 2012
Political analyst Charlie Cook says a small dip in the unemployment
level could make it difficult for Republicans to beat President Barack
Obama in 2012.
He also says the GOP is likely to nominate a presidential candidate who
is “in between” a Sarah Palin and a Ronald Reagan.
Cook, who writes The Cook Political Report, said in a video interview
for National Journal: “My hunch is that if unemployment is at or
anywhere near the 9 percent level where it is right now, that’s a very
tough time for an incumbent president. Conversely if it drops down to
near 8 percent, I think President Obama would be very tough to beat.
“I think the fundamentals are important, but obviously who the
Republicans nominate is important too. My assumption is that
Republicans are not going to nominate someone who is just totally
radioactive and can’t attract any independent votes at all — Sarah
Palin or someone like that.
“But on the other hand I think any expectation that Republicans are
going to have a reincarnation of Ronald Reagan, a charismatic candidate
that’s going to really resonate incredibly well with everyone, that’s
probably unrealistic too.
“It’s probably going to be somebody who’s sort of in between, and that
gets back to where’s the economy and the perception of how is President
Obama doing. It is a referendum on the incumbent president and there’s
nothing that’s more important than the economy.”
Cook added: “We’ll see. It’s going to be a fun two years.”
Editor’s Note:
Special: Coming Inflation Wave Will Swamp Dollar, Investments
4. Satellite Images Expose Syrian
Nuclear Facility
Recent satellite images have exposed a uranium conversion site in Syria
that was intended to provide fuel for the nuclear facility Israel
reportedly bombed in 2007, according to a U.S.-based research institute.
Syria maintains that the Dair Alzour site bombed by Israel was not a
nuclear facility, while continuing to bar United Nations scientists
from inspecting the site.
American intelligence reports have stated it was a North
Korean-designed reactor designed to produce fuel for nuclear weapons.
Now Washington’s Institute for Science and International Security
(ISIS) has reported that the satellite images reveal a site in Syria to
be a “small uranium conversion facility” that was “functionally
related” to the bombed Syrian reactor at al Kibar.
The site was intended for “processing uranium yellowcake into uranium
tetraflouride,” according to Wednesday’s report cited by the Israeli
newspaper Haaretz.
“This facility could have been related to the process of making fuel
for the planned al Kibar reactor.”
ISIS also claimed the images showed that Syria was attempting to
conceal evidence of their nuclear efforts.
Editor’s Note:
Get a Heart Rate Monitor Watch, Save Your Heart Early
5. CBO: Stimulus Jobs Cost at Least
$228,055 Each
The jobs that were created and saved by the economic stimulus
legislation that President Barack Obama signed in February 2009 cost at
least $228,055 each, according to new data from the Congressional
Budget Office.
In a report released on Wednesday, the CBO said it now estimates the
stimulus bill costs $821 billion, up from its original estimate of $787
billion.
The CBO also estimated that in the fourth quarter of 2010, between 1.3
and 3.5 million people were employed who would not have a job if the
stimulus had not been enacted.
The CBO also estimated that between 1.4 and 3.6 million were employed
as a result of the stimulus bill during the third quarter of 2010.
The figures take into account not only the new jobs believed to have
been created, but also the existing jobs that were saved that would
otherwise have been lost.
So the $821 billion cost of the stimulus, divided by the maximum of 3.6
million jobs the CBO believes were saved or created, equals $228,055
for each job, according to CNS News.
Taking the 1.4 million figure for jobs created or saved means each job
cost $586,428.
Footnote: When President Obama signed the stimulus bill, the national
unemployment rate was 8.2 percent. In January 2011, it was 9 percent.
Editor’s Note:
The IRS’ Worst Nightmare -- How to Pay Zero Taxes
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