GOP debate: Rick Perry vs. Mitt Romney, plus Gary Johnson and some dogs

  

If you believe pollster Frank Luntz's focus group in the post-game analysis on Fox News, Mitt Romney did himself a lot of good in Thursday's two-hour Fox News/Google GOP Debate, held in Orlando, Fla.

Nine candidates faced questions from FNC anchors Bret Baier, Chris Wallace and Megyn Kelly, and from citizens via YouTube and text messages: Gary Johnson, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Herman Cain and Jon Huntsman Jr.

Baier mentioned Google had provided Fox News with a new "boop" sound to indicate a candidate had run over time, since the former bell raised the ire of dog owners (and apparently the volume of their pets' barking).

Speaking of dogs, former New Mexico Gov. Johnson, who hasn't been in a debate since the first one in May, got in the line of the evening, quipping, "My next-door neighbors' two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration."

It got a lot of laughs even though some people swear they've heard Rush Limbaugh tell the same yarn.

Not to be outdone in the canine arena, Georgia-born businessman Cain criticized....

Rick Perry's debut gives MSNBC top GOP debate ratings so far

   

You could call it the Rick Perry bump.

Fox News trumpeted its ratings after the Aug. 11 Republican presidential debate in Ames, Iowa, and now MSNBC is snapping its suspenders about its numbers for Wednesday's GOP debate from beneath the wings of Air Force One inside the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

Wednesday was the much-anticipated debate debut for Texas Gov. Perry, who announced his candidacy Aug. 13 and is already the field's front-runner. The debate aired on MSNBC, CNBC and Telemundo, and streamed live on Politico.com.

It drew 5.4 million viewers for MSNBC, with 1.7 million viewers in the key Adults 25-54 demographic. It's the highest-rated of the four Republican debates aired so far in 2011, with two previous ones on FNC and one on CNN.

MSNBC's predictable main post-debate "analysis," which spanned the cable channel's ideological spectrum from Ed Schultz to Al Sharpton, lost half the viewers, down to 2.7 million total, with 817,000 in the target demographics.

Also on hand were Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell and, for humor, Chris Matthews, who got no tingle from Perry.

But while MSNBC fielded its "A" team on analysis, no MSNBC personalities participated in the debate itself.

Moderators were Brian Williams of "NBC Nightly News" and John Harris, Politico's editor-in-chief, with a cameo question period by Telemundo's Jose Diaz-Balart for the immigration interrogations.

By contrast, June's CNN New Hampshire debate featured anchor John King, and both Fox News debates -- May in South Carolina and August in Iowa -- featured FNC anchors Bret Baier and Chris Wallace.

The next GOP debate is Monday at 5 p.m. Pacific in Tampa, Fla., co-sponsored by CNN and the Tea Party Express. It will be carried live on CNN, CNN International, CNN.com and CNN Radio. Also available via live-stream in the CNN Apps for iPhone, iPad and Android.

While MSNBC got the Wednesday numbers, NBC was actually Politico's co-sponsor.

Since it's summer, it's a bit surprising that NBC didn't air its own debate -- except that Wednesday is the night of the "America's Got Talent" results show, which easily trumps choosing a presidential nominee.

The "AGT" show drew 7.9 million viewers, giving NBC the win for the evening in total viewers, and tying it with second-place CBS for the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demo.

When it comes to competitions, Americans are still more interested in who will wind up with the $1 million and headline a Las Vegas show than who might move into the White House in January 2013.

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-- Kate O'Hare

Media critic Kate O’Hare is a regular Ticket contributor. She also blogs about TV at Hot Cuppa TV and is a frequent contributor at entertainment news site Zap2it. Also follow O'Hare on Twitter @KateOH.

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Photos: Rick Perry on a monitor at the Republican presidential debate at the Reagan Library; dance group Silhouettes on "America's Got Talent." Credits: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images (Perry); Trae Patton / NBC (Silhouettes).

Rick Perry joins the GOP fray: 'This is gonna be a fun ride!'

"This," Rick Perry told me as he took the stage to launch his presidential campaign, "is gonna be a fun ride!"

Then the three-term conservative governor of Texas was bounding onto the stage, saying, "Let's get this thing started." He told the RedState Gathering, an enthusiastic crowd of conservative writers, and a national TV audience:

It is time for Americans to believe again, to believe that the promise of our future is far greater than even the best days of our past. It is time to believe again in the potential of private enterprise, set free from the shackles of an overbearing federal government.

And it is time to truly restore our standing in the world and renew our faith in freedom as the best hope of peace in a world beset with strife.

The crowd stood, chanting, "Perry! Perry! Perry!"

"America is not broken," Perry exhorted, "Washington, D.C., is broken.”

Full text of Perry announcement is here.

They didn't need no schtinking straw vote in Charleston on Saturday afternoon. Perry becomes the ninth candidate seeking the Republican presidential nomination in Tampa next year.

Given his executive record of tax-cutting, his undefeated record as a statewide candidate in the nation's second-largest state, his fundraising prowess and the lingering thirst among many GOP members for a charismatic, true conservative, Perry immediately joins the top tier.

He immediately flew off to New Hampshire to Pamela Tucker's home for the kind of living room politics beloved in the Granite State, home of the first primary next winter.

On Sunday, Perry will speak at a Lincoln dinner in Waterloo, Iowa, before returning to New Hampshire next week.

"I will work every day," Perry told the Charleston crowd, "to make Washington, D.C., as inconsequential in your lives as I can, and free our families, small businesses and states from a burdensome and costly federal government, so they can create, innovate and succeed. With the help and courage of the American people, we will get our country working again."

The 61-year-old former Air Force pilot, lieutenant governor, state representative and agriculture commissioner said he comes from Paint Creek, Texas, a tiny town so small it doesn't even have a ZIP pcode. And speaking of Washington, he lit into President Obama for the recent unprecedented downgrade of the federal government's credit rating:

In reality, this is just the most recent downgrade. The fact is for nearly three years, President Obama has been downgrading American jobs, downgrading our standing in the world, downgrading our financial stability, downgrading confidence and downgrading the hope of a better future for our children.

The governor recited some of his state's legislative achievements, including balancing the budget with no new taxes and enacting 'loser-pays' lawsuit reforms. And, of course, jobs. Texas has created 40% of all new jobs in the United States in the past two years. Yet, Perry said:

"One in six work-eligible Americans cannot find a full-time job. That is not a recovery. That is an economic disaster."

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photos: Andrew Malcolm / Los Angeles Times (Perry).

Appeals court rules Obamacare individual mandate unconstitutional

  
President Obama's healthcare overhaul legislation has been handed its biggest legal defeat to date.

In a 2-1 vote, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta sided Friday with 26 states challenging the constitutionality of a provision in the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Referred to as the "individual mandate," it requires nearly all Americans not covered under employer-provided health plans to purchase health insurance or face a penalty.

The administration had argued that the general-welfare and commerce clauses of the Constitution gave Congress the power to require Americans to purchase coverage, but the appeals court rejected that reasoning but also ruled that the rest of the massive law could remain in effect.

The decision is the latest of several rulings on this law, both for and against, including one by U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson in Florida, who struck down the entire law as unconstitutional in January.

Because the individual mandate is a cornerstone of the legislation, the issue is widely expected to wind up before the Supreme Court, which reconvenes in October.

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-- Kate O'Hare

Media critic Kate O’Hare is a regular Ticket contributor. She also blogs about TV at Hot Cuppa TV and is a frequent contributor at entertainment news site Zap2it. Also follow O'Hare on Twitter @KateOH.

Speaking of 2012, follow The Ticket via Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or click this: @latimestot. Our Facebook Like page is over here. We're also available on Kindle. Use the ReTweet buttons above to share any item with family and friends.

Photo: U.S. Supreme Court Justices. Credit: Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images

Obama salutes National Health Center Week

NATIONAL HEALTH CENTER WEEK, 2011
- - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, A PROCLAMATION

Across our Nation, over 19 million Americans look to community health centers for medical checkups, education, advice and critical services that keep them healthy. Throughout National Health Center Week, we recommit to supporting this vital resource for underserved communities, and we recognize the critical role community health centers play in our healthcare system.

Every day, men, women, and children find help at community health centers. These centers lead the way in providing high-quality services at an affordable cost, while lifting up the quality of life for their patients. We see the results among Medicaid beneficiaries -- those receiving care from a health center are less likely to be unnecessarily hospitalized or visit an emergency room.

We also see the effects in rural areas with community health centers, where hospitals see fewer uninsured emergency room visits. These health centers are easy to access -- Americans can find a health center near them by using the "Find a Health Center" tool at www.hrsa.gov.

My administration continues to support these centers. Between the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Affordable Care Act, new funding has been committed to support technology and infrastructure updates to existing centers, as well as the construction of new ones.

These laws also provided for important new initiatives that will benefit all Americans. The Affordable Care Act provided for the Health Centers Advanced Primary Care Practice demonstration project, which will use community health centers to test the impact of team-based treatment approaches on the care of elderly patients.

Across our vast and diverse land, Americans have always made it their duty to serve their neighbors in need. It is the common interest and purpose of building a stronger, healthier nation that drives the work of community health centers and fuels our efforts to improve our healthcare system.

During National Health Center Week, we celebrate the contributions of community health centers, and we rededicate ourselves to advancing the well-being of all our people.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, president of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim the week of Aug. 7 through Aug. 13, 2011, as National Health Center Week.

I encourage all Americans to celebrate this week by visiting their local community health center, meeting local health center providers, and exploring the programs they offer to help keep their families healthy.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 5th day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.

BARACK OBAMA

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Photo: President Barack Obama. Credit: Associated Press

New Jersey becomes 16th state to approve medical marijuana use

New Jersey's Republican Gov. Chris Christie said this afternoon he would permit a bill allowing the dispensing of marijuana for specific medical purposes to become law.

The measure was signed by Christie's predcecessor and Christie said he had doubts about it. But in coming weeks, New Jersey's doctors will be able to legally prescribe marijuana to patients suffering from a specific list of illnesses including HIV and cancer if other treatments have failed.

The Garden State does, however, prohibit home-growing of cannabis.

New Jersey joins 15 others states and the District of Columbia in legalizing medical marijuana use.

Christie said he had initial concerns about opening state dispensaries to federal prosecution. But although he could not obtain a clear answer from the U.S. Justice Department, he decided they faced little risk of that if operating under the new state measure.

"My desire all along has been to bring compassionate care to the people who need it the most,'' Christie said during a news conference. "This is a narrow and medically-based program that will not lend itself to abuses that we have seen particularly in California and Colorado."

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Mel Evans / Associated Press (Christie, July 19).

Mitt Romney 'doesn't know who he is,' claims Harry Reid

Mitt Romney is a flip-flopper who "doesn't know who he is," Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday in Washington. 

“He was for gay marriage when he was governor. Now he’s against it. He was for abortion when he was governor. Now he’s against it. Healthcare — we modeled our bill to a large degree [on] what he did in Massachusetts. Now he’s trying to run from that. If someone doesn’t know who they are, they shouldn’t be president of the United States,” the Senate majority leader said to reporters.

"The front-runner in the Republican stakes now — here’s a man who doesn’t know who he is." 

Conservatives already may have gotten the message. According to a new Zogby poll of probable Republican voters, 24% of those polled favor Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann over the rest of the pack. Romney and businessman Herman Cain were tied for second with 15%.

Reid went on to say that he would "favor" fellow Mormon and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who today threw his hat in the ring, over Romney, who is also a Mormon.

According to the Associated Press, Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Romney, said the campaign isn’t seeking Reid’s backing and wouldn’t accept it if it were offered.

Ouch. It's the first day of summer and things are already getting hot under the collar.

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-- Tony Pierce
twitter.com/busblog

Photo: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. Credit: AP Photo/Susan Walsh

$1 bank robbery doesn't pay off for man who said he was desperate for healthcare

A $1 bank robbery was what Richard James Verone thought would get him thrown in jail so he could get the medical attention that he needs. 

The unemployed, uninsured 59-year-old has a growth on this chest, two ruptured disks and something wrong with his left foot. He figured if he held up a bank for a dollar, he'd get thrown in the slammer and be seen by a doctor.

So, earlier this month, he walked into the RBC bank in North Carolina and handed the teller a note that said, "This is a bank robbery. Please only give me one dollar."

It was Verone's first attempt at crime. After he held up the bank with his note, he sat on a couch, unarmed, as the teller called 911, and they waited patiently and peacefully for the police to arrive.

First debate overview: A bunch of GOP colleagues get together to criticize President Obama

President Obama was the big loser in Monday night's New Hampshire Republican debate, the first with the frontrunner.

Obama, of course, wasn't there. The Democrat and his wife were on opposite sides of the country doing -- guess what? -- a packet of political fundraisers. She was in Los Angeles rounding up Hollywood cash and he was in Miami for a trio of moola events, en route to another fundraiser in Puerto Rico today.

In New Hampshire the existing field of seven Republicans had different missions going into the 120-minute rhetorical tussle. There was a bothersome hectic air about the show. Being TV, host John King was constantly stressing time, time, time, as if there weren't 14 months until the convention and 512 days until the 2012 election. And who cares if Anderson Cooper's show starts late?

So the candidates had a whole 60 seconds to explain various stands plus 30-second responses. Any depth was accidental. (The full two-hour transcript is available here. Good luck with that.)

For Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann, it was....

John Boehner's debt demand: 'Spending cuts need to be larger than the increase in the debt limit itself'

Speaker John Boehner's Remarks at Ashland University Saturday, as provided by his office

Thanks to Peter Schramm for that introduction. I’m honored to have the chance to speak with you tonight at this great event, held in honor of a great man and great Ohioan, John M. Ashbrook.

As most of you know, ‘tonight’ was originally supposed to happen a couple of months ago. We had to reschedule because I had to be in Washington for the final negotiations on the bill to keep the government running and finish last year’s budget.

I was supposed to be with all of you that Friday night. [I]nstead I spent the day on the phone with President Obama, trying to squeeze another billion dollars in spending cuts out of the most powerful man in the world. . .a very reluctant one, I might add.

I’m fairly confident this evening will be more pleasant.  It already has been.  So let me thank you for your patience with my schedule, and for sticking with me as your speaker tonight. 

As important as that process was this spring, it was important in part because we....