The latest Rasmussen poll of likely Iowa caucus-goers has Newt Gingrich in first at 32 percent. He’s followed by Mitt Romney (19 percent) and Herman Cain (13 percent). Ron Paul is in fourth at 10 percent, trailed by Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, both at 6 percent.

Jonathan Gruber, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who advised both Mitt Romney and President Obama on the construction of their health-care programs, is irritated that Romney is trying to draw distinctions between the two programs on the campaign trail.

“The problem is there is no way to say that,” Gruber told Capital New York. “Because they’re the same f***ing bill. He just can’t have his cake and eat it too. Basically, you know, it’s the same bill. He can try to draw distinctions and stuff, but he’s just lying. The only big difference is he didn’t have to pay for his. Because the federal government paid for it. Where at the federal level, we have to pay for it, so we have to raise taxes.”

Jonathan Gruber, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who advised both Mitt Romney and President Obama on the construction of their health-care programs, is irritated that Romney is trying to draw distinctions between the two programs on the campaign trail.

“The problem is there is no way to say that,” Gruber told Capital New York. “Because they’re the same f***ing bill. He just can’t have his cake and eat it too. Basically, you know, it’s the same bill. He can try to draw distinctions and stuff, but he’s just lying. The only big difference is he didn’t have to pay for his. Because the federal government paid for it. Where at the federal level, we have to pay for it, so we have to raise taxes.”

Herman Cain faced several foreign policy questions while stumping in Florida yesterday. From the Miami Herald:

Cain, who last week stumbled over questions about what he would do in Libya, seemed to know little about Cuba. His campaign kept reporters at bay, and when asked about the Cuban Adjustment Act and the so-called wet-foot, dry-foot policy, Cain seemed stumped.The policy allows Cuban immigrants who have made it to US soil to stay.

“Wet foot, dry foot policy?” Cain asked. His press handlers interrupted as Cain diverted his course and ducked back into the building. Later, when he emerged, he was asked again by another reporter. Cain wouldn’t answer.

“Gotta run, gentlemen,” Cain said. His staff promised he’d answer questions later at the Versailles Restaurant, a Little Havana nerve center for Miami-Dade’s politically active Cuban-American community, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the county’s 368,000 registered Republicans.

Cain, though, wouldn’t talk to reporters there, either. A FOX reporter asked Cain what he thought of President Obama’s easing of travel restrictions to Cuba. Cain said that was a “gotcha question.” 

At Versailles, Cain sipped cafecito and munched on croquetas “How do you say ‘delicious’ in Cuban?” he asked, perhaps not realizing there is not language as ‘Cuban.’

Results from an Iowa State University/Gazette/KCRG poll of registered Iowa voters (979 Republicans and 277 Independents): Herman Cain (24.5 percent), Ron Paul (20.4 percent), Mitt Romney (16.3 percent), Rick Perry (7.9 percent), Michele Bachmann (7.6 percent), Newt Gingrich (4.8 percent), Rick Santorum (4.7 percent), and Jon Huntsman (0.0 percent). 

The poll was conducted from Nov. 1 to Nov. 13th. 

Results from Fox News poll of GOP primary voters: Newt Gingrich (23 percent), Mitt Romney (22 percent), Herman Cain (15 percent), Ron Paul (8 percent), Rick Perry (7 percent), Michele Bachmann (6 percent), Jon Huntsman (3 percent), and Rick Santorum (2 percent).

General election match-ups: Romney vs. Obama is 44 percent to 42 percent; Cain vs. Obama is 38 percent to 47 percent; and Gingrich vs. Obama is 41 percent to 46 percent. 

From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

[Cain] defended his view that presidents and presidential candidates don’t need to be immersed in the fine print of world affairs – they simply need to be leaders who can surround themselves with the right people and sift through their advice.

“I’m not supposed to know anything about foreign policy. Just thought I’d throw that out,” he said, a dig at his critics.

“I want to talk to commanders on the ground. Because you run for president (people say) you need to have the answer. No, you don’t! No, you don’t! That’s not good decision-making,” said Cain.

Rick Perry described his awkward moment in last week’s debate, when he forgot the Department of Energy was the third department he wanted to eliminate, as a “brain freeze” in an interview this afternoon.

“Unfortunately, the president of the United States has those brain freezes as well and he forgets who our friends are,” Perry said on Sean Hannity’s radio program.

In response to Rep. Steny Hoyer’s (D., Md.) remark earlier today asking, “Is this a serious proposal he’s making for a country that has very high unemployment, who’s budget deficit is larger than it’s ever been in history, which has two wars that we’re confronting and trying to bring to a conclusion?” in reference to Perry’s plan, the Texas governor said, “You better believe it, Steny.” Perry added that Americans were “serious” about cutting spending and ending insider trading among Congressional members.

Perry called the notion that Americans would pick the next president based on candidates’ debating skills an idea “a little bit foreign to me,” and noted that Obama was an excellent debater.

He also fought back against the idea that his candidacy was finished. “In the spring, everybody wrote Newt off as dead and gone,” Perry pointed out, noting that much of the first two months of his candidacy had been spent fundraising or in retail politics, and he had only recently begun rolling out specific policy proposals.

The Cain campaign just issued this statement about Herman Cain’s position on collective bargaining for government employees:

Mr. Cain was consistent in his Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel editorial board meeting yesterday and has always supported Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s legislation to balance his state budget and give his state’s government the tools it needs during the ongoing economic crisis. In fact, Mr. Cain traveled to Madison earlier this year to voice his support for Governor Walker’s initiative to limit collective bargaining privileges in Wisconsin.

Contrary to what the editorial board members stated, federal employees can bargain collectively on some elements of their contracts. The editorial board members were wrong to correct Mr. Cain on this point.  They are forbidden to go on strike. This was a provision within the legislation that allowed federal employees to form unions. We all remember President Ronald Reagan famously firing the air traffic controllers because they went on strike in violation of federal law. We need leadership like Reagan’s today in Washington – and this is why Mr. Cain is running for the office.

In the interview with the Journal-Sentinel, Cain indicated he supported collective bargaining powers for public employees if it did not lead to “collective hijacking,” namely onerous burdens on taxpayers.

The Cain campaign just issued this statement about Herman Cain’s position on collective bargaining for government employees:

Mr. Cain was consistent in his Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel editorial board meeting yesterday and has always supported Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s legislation to balance his state budget and give his state’s government the tools it needs during the ongoing economic crisis. In fact, Mr. Cain traveled to Madison earlier this year to voice his support for Governor Walker’s initiative to limit collective bargaining privileges in Wisconsin.

Contrary to what the editorial board members stated, federal employees can bargain collectively on some elements of their contracts. The editorial board members were wrong to correct Mr. Cain on this point.  They are forbidden to go on strike. This was a provision within the legislation that allowed federal employees to form unions. We all remember President Ronald Reagan famously firing the air traffic controllers because they went on strike in violation of federal law. We need leadership like Reagan’s today in Washington – and this is why Mr. Cain is running for the office.

In the interview with the Journal-Sentinel, Cain indicated he supported collective bargaining powers for public employees if it did not lead to “collective hijacking,” namely onerous burdens on taxpayers.

Results from a new Bloomberg poll of likely Iowa caucus-goers: Herman Cain (20 percent), Ron Paul (19 percent), Mitt Romney (18 percent), Newt Gingrich (17 percent), Rick Perry (7 percent), Michele Bachmann (5 percent), Rick Santorum (3 percent), and Jon Huntsman (1 percent). Margin of error is 4.4 percentage points.

Bloomberg asked those polled about whether various issues would make them inclined to rule out supporting a candidate. Fifty-eight percent viewed support of an individual health-care mandate as disqualifying, 48 percent saw three marriages and extramarital affairs as worth ruling out a candidate over, 42 percent thought support for in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants was a deal-breaker, and 30 percent thought being accused of sexual harassment made a candidate unacceptable.

Asked about the tax plans put forth by Romney, Perry, Cain, and Huntsman (although the questions outlined the broad parameters of the plans and did not name the candidates), 32 percent preferred Romney’s, 24 percent Cain’s, 18 percent Huntsman’s, and 14 percent Perry’s. 

Gloria Cain remains confident that her husband did not sexually harass any women. From her interview with Fox News host Greta Van Susteren last night:

VAN SUSTEREN: Is there any chance — and I got to ask you the question — you know, women always think that their husbands — I mean, the very public thing with the wives of many years of whom they, you know, love and have a family, that there’s another little side of them off to the side what — where they have some extracurricular activity?

GLORIA CAIN: No, because his conscience would bother him. His conscience would bother him, and he couldn’t look me straight in the eye. And I can usually tell if there’s — is there something wrong? It’s, like, Well, I was supposed to go such-and-such a place, or whatever. His conscience bothers him to the point where he would say something to me.

So yes, I know the type of women that you’re thinking about, that the little woman at home is the last to know. But I never see myself as being the little woman at home. And I’ve always said when I’ve seen stories like that, I will not be one of those people who will stand up on stage with a smile and knowing that you were wrong. I’m not going to do that.

Video of extended interview about the allegations:

Rick Perry said earlier this month that he would bring a “wrecking ball” to reform Washington if elected, and his proposals introduced today bear out that he’s not suggesting small, incremental changes.

Included in Perry’s “Uproot and Overhaul Washington” plan, announced today during a speech in Bettendorf, Iowa, are proposals to slash congressional salaries in half and make being a House member or senator a part-time gig.  Perry would also institute 18-year terms for Supreme Court justices, currently appointed for life. The terms would be staggered such that every two years, a justice’s term would expire.

“[T]here are those who believe, as I do, that Washington is too broken to be fixed by tinkering on the margins,” Perry said in his speech. “I do not believe Washington needs a new coat of paint; it needs a complete overhaul. We need to uproot, tear down, and rebuild Washington, D.C. and our federal institutions.”

Perry also wants to cut congressional staff budgets, make it a criminal activity for congressional members to make stock trades on insider information they have access to, and — as debate-watchers may recall — eliminate the Departments of Commerce, Education, and Energy. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be privatized, and Perry would back legislation requiring all federal regulations would need to be renewed by a congressional vote periodically. On the budget front, Perry’s goals include instituting a Balanced Budget Amendment, passing a law mandating a two-thirds majority for tax hikes, and cutting congressional salaries in half (again) if there was no proposed long-term balanced budget. More details here.

“[T]his is the season for tearing down and rebuilding again, for uprooting the broken branches of government in Washington, and building a new government that is smaller and more humble, so America can be stronger and freer again,” Perry said.

Full speech, as provided by the campaign, below the jump

#more#

 

Text of Gov. Perry’s Uproot and Overhaul Washington Speech

Nov. 15, 2011, Bettendorf, IA

*NOTE: Gov. Perry sometimes deviates from prepared remarks

Thank you. It is great to be here at Schebler in Bettendorf, Iowa. 

I want to say a special thanks to Jim Anderson, your president, for opening your facility to us, and letting us meet the hardworking men and women of this plant. And I am especially delighted to be joined by the governor of a nearby Midwestern state, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback.

Governor Brownback not only has the perspective of a leader in America’s heartland, but was a United States Senator, where he had an up-close view of just how broken Washington is, and has witnessed Washington’s encroachment on the 10th Amendment from both perspectives. He shares my desire for fundamental reform in Washington, and I am delighted to be joined by him today here in Iowa. 

The issue this election is not whether Washington is broken, but how we go about fixing it. There are two approaches, and even my own party is split.

There are some who want to tinker with the status quo. They want to work within the current system to achieve marginal change. Then there are those who believe, as I do, that Washington is too broken to be fixed by tinkering on the margins. 

I do not believe Washington needs a new coat of paint, it needs a complete overhaul. We need to uproot, tear down and rebuild Washington, D.C. and our federal institutions.

We should apply the wisdom of Solomon to Washington. Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3, says, “there is a time to plant and a time to uproot, there is a time to tear down and a time to build.”

It is time to tear down the monuments to bureaucratic failure, and in their place build a smaller, more efficient federal government that puts the American People first. 

The Washington Insiders won’t address Beltway decay, they won’t try a totally new way, because they like things as they are. 

The lobbyists make their living on protecting corporate loopholes and securing earmarks for the special interests they represent. 

The status quo is good to the Washington Insiders. It’s good to the overpaid bureaucrats. It’s good for the power-players, who can trade favors to build fiefdoms of influence.

While the rest of America remains mired in the ruin caused by Washington’s out-of-touch, big government economic policies, Washington is doing fine. 

In fact, the Washington metro area is now the most affluent metropolitan area in the country. That’s because all the lobbyists, contractors and overpaid czars and bureaucrats haven’t suffered one bit in the worst economy in 70 years. While Main Street’s windows have been boarded up, the cash continues to flow to Wall Street financiers and Beltway profiteers.

Let me ask you a question: if you found out the house you built had crumbling walls, faulty wiring, and a leaky roof, would you call in the original incompetent builder to fix it? 

And if it was fundamentally flawed, would you add on to the same faulty structure, or would you tear it down, and re-build again with a totally new crew?

Our country’s foundation – the American people and the United States Constitution – is still strong.  

It’s what the politicians and bureaucrats have built upon that foundation, on the backs of American taxpayers, that must be replaced and rebuilt. 

Those who got us into this mess will not get us out. Those who increased the debt $4 trillion in three years cannot be trusted to bring in a new era of fiscal austerity. Those who made the economic crisis worse do not have the capacity to make it better.

In recent weeks our president has taken to pointing the finger of blame instead of taking responsibility. He has called us soft and lazy, and he has said Americans lack ambition and imagination. 

Mr. President, Americans aren’t soft or lazy, and Americans do not lack ambition or imagination — Washington has failed us. 

We need new leadership. We need a new builder. We need a Washington Outsider. 

Unique to the Republican field, I have never been an establishment figure, have never served in Congress or part of an Administration, and have never been a paid lobbyist. My career has been that of a Washington Outsider.

Here is my plan to fix our three broken branches of government.

Part one of my plan is to reform the federal judiciary by ending life terms for unelected federal judges. Too many federal judges rule with impunity from the bench, and those who legislate from the bench should not be entitled to lifetime abuse of their judicial authority.

Under my plan, future appointees to the federal bench will not receive a lifetime appointment.

Part two involves deconstructing the permanent political class in the legislative branch. Congress is out of touch because Congressmen are overpaid, over-staffed and away from home too much. Americans have had enough. 

It’s time to create a part-time Congress where their pay is cut in half, their office budgets are cut in half, and their time in Washington is cut in half.

And if they do not submit a budget that balances by 2020, as my plan calls for, we should cut their pay in half again. 

And when I take office, we will work to freeze congressional and agency salaries until the budget is balanced.

We have a lot of well-intentioned members of Congress. But they have become creatures of Washington. They get paid more than three times the average American Family, and they have doubled their own budgets in the last decade. 

They are completely detached from the people, who are struggling to get by, and can’t vote to raise their own pay.

Some have even abused the public’s trust, trading on inside information to pad their stock portfolios. Congress has proven it can’t be trusted to watch our money, and now its clear they can’t be trusted with theirs’. 

Any Congressman or Senator that uses their insider knowledge to profit in the stock market ought to be sent to jail – period. 

And my plan makes that clear. But in reality, they shouldn’t wait until we have a new president, they ought to pass a law right now that criminalizes Insider Trading in Congress, no ifs, ands or buts.

We send members of Congress to look out for America, not enrich themselves. But too often, they are taken captive by the Washington culture. 

That’s why we need a part-time Congress. I say send them home to live under the laws they pass among the people they represent.

Further, we must change the spending culture in Congress. 

No more bailouts of bankers, no more earmarks for pet projects, and no more spending beyond our means.

I will bring spending down to 18 percent of GDP, the average amount of the last 50 years. And I will fight in every corner of this country for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

And two more points on spending: no longer will we prop up failed entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were at the heart of the economic collapse because of mortgage financing policies that gave false confidence to homebuyers who have now defaulted or are under water. 

We will privatize Fannie and Freddie so politicians can no longer politicize them, and taxpayers will no longer be fleeced by them.

And lastly, we will put a permanent stop to federal funding of Planned Parenthood because our tax dollars should never be used in taking an innocent, unborn life.

The third part of my plan involves the dismantling and rebuilding of the permanent bureaucracy.

We will eliminate agencies that perform redundant functions. I will get rid of the Commerce Department, the Department of Education, and the Department of Energy.

We will downsize and re-task the EPA, so it no longer torments job creators or gives an official stamp to phony science.

We will end the TSA’s harassment of law-abiding travelers and return transportation security to the private sector. 

And we will restructure the behemoth that has become the Department of Homeland Security.

We will perform a full audit of the Federal Government, and there will be no sacred cows, including wasteful spending at the Department of Defense, where every dollar we spend should support our warfighters around the world. 

We will put a moratorium on every pending federal regulation, and order a full audit of the last five years of new regulations, repealing those that are not affordable, effective or that kill jobs.

And we will say to every bureaucrat except our military and law enforcement: no salary increases until the federal budget is balanced. And because a president must lead by example, we should cut his salary in half until the budget is balanced.

Washington is so broken, Americans will accept nothing less than a complete overhaul of the way business is done in America.

Americans know there is a season for everything under the sun. And this is the season for tearing down and rebuilding again, for uprooting the broken branches of government in Washington, and building a new government that is smaller and more humble, so America can be stronger and freer again.

 

Our Destiny PAC, which supports Jon Huntsman’s presidential bid, is going on the air in New Hampshire with this ad starting tomorrow, reports the Associated Press:

Herman Cain releases a new web video:

Results from new poll of GOP primary voters from Democratic firm Public Policy Polling: Newt Gingrich (28 percent), Herman Cain (25 percent), Mitt Romney (18 percent), Rick Perry (6 percent), Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul (5 percent), Jon Huntsman (3 percent), Rick Santorum and Gary Johnson (1 percent).

One particularly interesting note from PPP: “There’s reason to think that if Cain continues to fade, Gingrich will continue to gain.  Among Cain’s supporters 73 percent have a favorable opinion of Gingrich to only 21 percent with a negative one.”

Fifty-four percent of GOP voters view the accusations against Cain as “mostly false,” while 24 percent say they are “mostly true.”

Herman Cain, who previously wasn’t scheduled to visit Iowa until Nov. 19th, is returning to the state tomorrow, tweets his Iowa chairman Steve Grubbs. So far Cain is scheduled to visit his campaign’s Iowa headquarters in Urbandale and Manna World Cafe in Dubuque, Iowa.

In a Politico/George Washington University poll of likely voters released today, Mitt Romney loses to President Obama by six points (43 percent to 49 percent), and Herman Cain loses by 10 points (40 percent to 50 percent). If President Obama faces a generic GOP candidate, it’s a tie: 43 percent to 43 percent.

In an interview with Fox News host Greta Van Susteren set to air tonight, Gloria Cain, in her first extensive media appearance this cycle, says that her husband would have to have “a split personality” to have done what Sharon Bialek accused him of doing. Herman Cain, Gloria Cain stresses, “totally respects women.”

Video:

In a Rasmussen poll of likely GOP primary voters in Florida conducted yesterday, Herman Cain lead the poll at 30 percent. He was followed by Mitt Romney (24 percent) and Newt Gingrich (19 percent). 

Herman Cain will be a guest on David Letterman’s show next Friday (Nov. 18), reports the New York Times. 

The Romney campaign releases a web video with an eye to the general election:

ABC News reports that Anita Perry, Mary Kaye Huntsman, and Callista Gingrich are all friends with one another. Perry and Huntsman even exchange e-mails:

While they see each other at debates and other major political events, the two keep in contact with each other via email, sending each other quick missives several times a week.

“Just a quick, ‘How you doing?’ ‘Where are you today?’ ‘Keep your head up high.’ It’s more on things that we do, too,” Huntsman said. “I’ll send her a picture of the kids doing something, a lot of things about what our kids are doing because that is where you have to stay most centered and realize it puts the right perspective on some of these things that are happening around you.”

Perry and Huntsman’s conversations stick strictly to friendly topics, checking in on when they’ll see each other again and how their families are handling the campaign.

As Herman Cain continues to face sexual harassment allegations, Rick Perry releases an ad to be shown in Iowa entitled “Values,” that stresses his family and faith:

Herman Cain denied in an interview this afternoon that he had met Sharon Bialek in Washington D.C. one night in 1997, as she alleged.

“I reject all the accusations. I don’t remember that,” Cain said in ABC/Yahoo interview, referring to Bialek’s claim that she had met with Cain for drinks and that the two had driven off together.  “I don’t remember knowing her.”

Cain said that as he watched Bialek’s press conference, he tried “to recall who she was and if I knew her.” But he said he could not “even recall knowing her back then” in 1997, when she worked at the National Restaurant Association.

“I have absolutely not acted inappropriately with this lady or anyone else in my entire career,” Cain said.

He also said he did not intend to let the allegations make him end his campaign.

“I am not going to be discouraged to the point that I’m going to pull out of this race because of these baseless attacks,” Cain said.

Mitt Romney called the latest allegation against Herman Cain “a very serious matter” in an interview today.

 “Anytime there is an accuser that comes forward with charges of this nature you recognize this is a very serious matter and it should be taken seriously,” Romney told ABC News.

“They’re going to have to be addressed seriously,” he said of the allegations.

Romney would not say that if the allegations were found to be accurate that Cain should be considered “disqualified.”

“I don’t want to suppose truth or lack of truth,” Romney said. “I just think it’s important to recognize that a number of women have come forward with concerns. This woman’s charges are particular disturbing and they’re serious.”

Rick Perry declined to comment on the Cain allegations in his ABC News interview today.

“I think trying to make theoretical calls about issues that are dogging a particular campaign is not of great interest to me,” he said. 

The Cain campaign just sent out this statement:

As Ms. Sharon Bialek has placed herself in the public spotlight through making patently false allegations against Herman Cain, it is only fair to compare her track record alongside Mr. Cain’s.

In stark contrast to Mr. Cain’s four decades spent climbing the corporate ladder rising to the level of CEO at multiple successful business enterprises, Ms. Bialek has taken a far different path.

The fact is that Ms. Bialek has had a long and troubled history, from the courts to personal finances – which may help explain why she has come forward 14 years after an alleged incident with Mr. Cain, powered by celebrity attorney and long term Democrat donor Gloria Allred.

In the courts, Ms. Bialek has had a lengthy record in the Cook County Court system over various civil lawsuits. The following cases on file in Cook County are:

· 2000-M1-707461 Defendant against Broadcare Management

· 2000-M1-714398 Defendant in lawsuit against Broadcare Management

· 2000-M1-701522 Defendant in lawsuit against Broadcare Management

· 2005-M1-111072 Defendant in lawsuit against Mr. Mark Beatovic.

· 2007-M1-189176 Defendant in lawsuit against Midland Funding.

· 2009-M1-158826 Defendant in lawsuit against Illinois Lending.

Ms. Bialek was also sued in 1999 over a paternity matter according to ABC 7 Chicago (WLS-TV). Source: WLS-TV, November 7, 2011

In personal finances, PACER (Federal Court) records show that Ms. Bialek has filed for bankruptcy in the Northern District of Illinois bankruptcy court in 1991 and 2001. The respective case numbers according to the PACER system are 1:01-bk-22664 and 1:91-bk-23273.

Ms. Bialek has worked for nine employers over the last seventeen years. Source: WLS-TV, November 7, 2011

Curiously, if Ms. Bialek had intended to take legal action, the statute of limitations would have passed a decade ago.

Which brings up the question of why she would make such reprehensible statements now?

The questions should be – who is financing her legal team, have any media agreed to pay for her story, and has she been offered employment for taking these actions?

Rep. Aaron Schock (R., Ill.) endorsed Mitt Romney today. 

For Romney, it just adds another to his growing list of congressional endorsements: the Associated Press reported last week that Romney has 33 such endorsements to Rick Perry’s 14. The other candidates are even further behind. 

Chris Christie will be campaigning for Mitt Romney in New Hampshire tomorrow, first attending a volunteer rally at the Romney campaign’s Granite State headquarters in Manchester, and then attending a house party in Nashua. 

After the house party, Christie will head over to Boston and watch that night’s debate with the winner of a contest sponsored by the Romney campaign, per the Union-Leader.

The Huntsman campaign targets Mitt Romney in a new web video focusing on his lack of media availability: