Obama’s Lowlights (7/19/12)

Unemployment – All 17 GOP governors elected in 2010 have reduced the unemployment rates in their states. Furthermore, the average drop in the unemployment rate in these states was 1.35%, compared to the national decline of .9%, which means, according to the analysis, that the job market in these Republican states is improving 50% faster than the national rate.

Syria – The rogue nation is poised to earn a seat on the U.N. human rights council in 2014.

California - Capping a dramatic showdown over the most expensive project in state history, California legislators gave final approval to high-speed rail (69 billion dollars), firing the nation's first bullet train toward the future after an impassioned debate over whether the project's price tag was too high in a state whose economy is still hobbling.

ObamaCare - Texas will not expand Medicaid or establish a health insurance exchange, two major tenets of the federal health reform that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld last month, Gov. Rick Perry said last week. In fact, the governors of Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Mississippi, and Louisiana have all said their states will not expand Medicaid programs, nor will they create a health insurance exchange.

Texas – Inmates are suing the state for the right to have taxpayer funded air conditioners for their prison cells.

Ray LaHood - Echoing the laments of pundits like Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood argued that China outpaces the United States in building major transportation infrastructure like high-speed rail because of its authoritarian system and because the Chinese don't have the Republican Party holding up progress.

Polls - A new poll from The Hill found 56 percent of likely voters believe Obama’s first term has transformed the nation in a negative way.

Fast and Furious - After more than 18 months of waiting and a contempt of Congress charge against Attorney General Eric Holder, the FBI unsealed an indictment of five illegal Mexican bandits charged with the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in Arizona and offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest of four of the five men who are still on the run and suspected to be in Mexico.

Campaign Finance – The final June numbers show Romney with 106 million dollars compared to only 71 million dollars for Obama.

Unemployment – The federal government made 14 billion in unemployment benefits to those who aren't actively searching for a job, those who were fired or quit voluntarily, and those who continue to file claims even though they've returned to work. Any of those circumstances would make a person ineligible for benefits.

Unions – They have spent 4.4 billion on politics the past 6 years instead of investing in the people they supposedly advocate.

Voter ID - Attorney General Eric Holder addressed the NAACP Nation Convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. What did media need in order to attend? That's right, government issued photo identification (and a second form of identification too!), something both Holder and the NAACP stand firmly against when it comes to voting. Holder's DOJ is currently suing Texas for "discriminatory" voter ID laws.

Spain - Seventeen European finance ministers agreed to lend Spain €30 billion to help bailout its distressed banks. The proposal will be submitted to a meeting of all 27 EU finance ministers.