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When’s the last time a first-term president lost re-nomination by his own party? I can’t think of a time it’s ever happened, but some people are starting to suggest that Barack Obama is so unpopular that Hillary Clinton has a shot at the Democratic nomination for next year. Are they crazy or could there be something to this?

It’s far too early in the process for me to make predictions about who’s going to win, so I’m not ready to come down hard on either side of the discussion. But the fact that I’m seeing it mentioned so frequently is a strong indication of Obama’s possible electoral weakness right now.

When it was just Dick Cheney suggesting that Clinton run against Obama, you could write it off as a Republican eager to sabotage an incumbent Democratic president. You could also say that James Carville was just living up to his “ragin’ Cajun” image when he wrote blunt advice to Obama about what he had to do to survive.

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The taxpayers of New Jersey just shelled out close to half a million dollars to MTV to go toward the production of “Jersey Shore.” Aren’t you proud that your taxes support the fine arts?

Why is the state in the business of funding a TV program? It’s all in the name of economic development, of course. Here’s how the show’s summary reads on the application to the state Economic Development Authority:

“The film is about eight roommates. There is no screenplay. The roommates live in a house and are asked to work in a local establishment on the New Jersey Coast. The cameras capture the interaction among the roommates and how the roommates interact at work and at play in Seaside Heights.”

I don’t watch TV anymore, but something tells me that the description is a bit tamer than what’s really going on. I’m just guessing, though.

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What does it mean to make an investment? It’s pretty straightforward. It’s money that you put into something in hopes of getting a return on it in the future. If I choose to invest $10,000 in XYZ Co., that’s an investment. If someone takes my money by threat of force and spends in on XYZ Co., that’s theft. Some politicians don’t know the difference.

As I expected, the City Council in my suburb raised our sales tax to 10 percent earlier this week. I talked about it when it was first proposed and then when the City Council held a public hearing about it, so I don’t have a lot new to say about it. But something the City Council president said at the vote in favor of the tax irritated me:

Council President Wayne Taylor said the increase is “about reinvesting in the community we all love.”

This is pure arrogance and stupidity. It’s using words that have a clear and definite meaning to cover up what’s really going on. The politician is using force to take money from people in order to spend it the way he wants to spend it. It’s no different than the Mob taking money from people through coercion and then buying businesses with the cash. It’s theft, regardless what the thief does with the money.

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