In a sign of the times, Beutler announced that she is expecting on her Facebook page. She stated that she and her husband are “blessed” and “excited” to be able to give their parents grandchildren.

The Facebook note, in full:

A few years ago when I was newly married and recently elected to Congress, I remember fielding some speculation as to whether or not I was “expecting.” Well… my husband Dan and I are thrilled to announce that this fall, there will be yet another person in Southwest Washington who will – for their entire adult life – get to explain “No, no, it’s pronounced Butler.” That’s right – we’re expecting a baby!

Not only are we blessed to begin building our family, we’re also pretty excited to be giving Dan’s parents, Paul and Patti Beutler of Salem, their first grandchild and to be giving my parents, Armando and Candice Herrera of Camas, a grandchild to visit only a few miles away. I am thankful for the close proximity to both sets of grandparents because like any new parents, I’m sure we’ll need the help!

Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and encouragement.

Jaime and Daniel

Beutler isn’t the first congresswoman to be pregnant, though the event is rare. Eight other women have become pregnant during their terms in office. Most recently, another Washington congresswoman, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, gave birth to a daughter in December 2010, making her the first congresswoman to give birth twice in office. Her first time giving birth in office was in April 2007. Similar to Beutler, Rodgers also announced her pregnancy through her Facebook page.

According to a report from The Dallas Morning News, Perry died in his sleep on Saturday night or Sunday morning at his home in Houston. The cause of the death has not been released

In the late 1960s, Perry started a homebuilding business in Houston called Perry Homes. The company is now one of the largest home builders in the U.S.

With the success of Perry Homes, Perry became wealthy, and used his wealth to support conservative political causes. He was a major donor for both George W. Bush and Rick Perry (no relation) during their campaigns for Governor of Texas. Perry was also reportedly donated over $900,000 to the Texas Republican Party in 2002.

During the 2004 election, Perry was the largest single donor to the 527 group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, donating over $4.4 million to the group. Since that time, Perry has donated millions to organizations dedicated to electing Republican candidates, including 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

The first mention of the internet in the platform is to state that there should be no regulation of political speech on the internet. Next, an entire section is devoted to the topic titled “Protecting Internet Freedom.” The GOP has chosen to go with its free market sensibilities in regard to the topic, and states that it generally wants things to stay as they are. From the relevant section:

The Internet has unleashed innovation, enabled growth, and inspired freedom more rapidly and extensively than any other technological advance inhuman history. Its independence is its power. The Internet offers a communications system uniquely free from government intervention. We will remove regulatory barriers that protect outdated technologies and business plans from innovation and competition,while preventing legacy regulation from interfering with new and disruptive technologies such as mobile delivery of voice video data [sic] as they become crucial components of the Internet ecosystem. We will resist any effort to shift control away from the successful multi-stakeholder approach of Internet governance and toward governance by international or other intergovernmental organizations. We will ensure that personal data receives full constitutional protection from government overreach and that individuals retain the right to control the use of their data by third parties; the only way to safeguard or improve these systems is through the private sector.

The platform mentions in several other places that the GOP opposes any diplomatic measures that would put the internet under some sort of international regulatory control, such as the UN. It also states that Republicans want to auction off any surplus spectrum to help spread broadband access and dismisses the FCC’s net neutrality stance as government micromanagement.

The Republican platform, however, is not wholly libertarian with regard to the internet. There is another section in the document titled “Making the Internet Family-Friendly.” It details the GOP position that internet gambling should be illegal and pays lip-service to having “service providers” protect children from internet predators.

The full text of the 2012 Republican Platform can be seen on the GOP website.

“This clock reminds every delegate and every American why we are here in Tampa – because America can and must do better,” said Priebus. “Every American’s share of the national debt has increased by approximately $16,000 during the current administration.”

Priebus added that Mitt Romney would be able to “turn this fiscal mess around.”

The activation of the debt clock will be the only official event of the Republican National Convention on Monday. A full speaking lineup was originally scheduled, but worries about Tropical Storm Isaac caused convention organizers to rearrange the schedule. Nearly the entire convention will now take place in three days instead of four.

A full current schedule for the convention can be found on the Republican National Convention’s website. Some of the speakers to be featured during the convention include Speaker of the House John Boehner, former senator Rick Santorum, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (who recently became the first woman to join Augusta National), and, of course, Mitt Romney.

Delaware County GOP spokesman Tom Bennington, who expressed that the punching bag was “mildly offensive”, added, “I’m retired military and I respect the commander in chief. From that perspective it was offensive and we asked to take it down and it was taken down.”

The offending punching bag features a cartoon version of the President wearing shorts and boxing gloves, as well as sporting a black eye. Bennington said the inflatable toy was supposed to illustrate Republicans “beating” Obama in the upcoming election, though, at the end of the day, fair officials seemed to understand that the object was more than a little disrespectful.

However, just because folks at an Indiana fair think it’s in poor taste to display such an item, that doesn’t mean you can’t go online an purchase one of your very own. A quick search online reveals the Obama punching bag is available from a number of different retailers, including Amazon, eBay, and Prank Place. If you currently have twenty bucks (plus shipping) burning a hole in the pocket of your skinny jeans, then, by all means, knock yourselves out. Just don’t be surprised if someone is offended by your brand new lawn decoration.

Not surprising, of the over 200 brands included in the study, the two parties mostly disagree about which are the best, but there was some consensus. Both Democrats and Republican agree that Coca-Cola is their favorite beverage. They also both indicate that Visa is their number one credit card of choice.

Who is number one in technology and gadgets? They both chose Apple and Google as the top most desired brands (I am sure most would agree). Beauty products, which seems like an odd place to find consensus, had them both agreeing that Olay is their favorite brand.

Gary Singer, Founding Partner & CEO of Buyology Inc. comments on the interesting results of the study:

“Both candidates and brands have never fought harder for our affection and our votes,”

“It’s never been more important to understand why people make the choices that they do. Brands can learn a lot by having a deeper understanding of the deep-seated connections that drive our decision-making.”

So, now for the contrast you’ve all been waiting to hear about; are you a Jeep or a BMW? But I think you already know the answer to that one. If you’re a Republican, you most likely prefer a BMW, and if you’re a Democrat, you most likely desire a Jeep. Almost cliche, is it not?

Republicans prefer Sharp for electronics and Democrats prefer Sony. As far as gaming systems, Republicans prefer XBOX and Democrats prefer Wii. Coffee? Starbucks for the Democrats and Dunkin’ Donuts for the Republicans.

Most Democrats chose the NFL as their most desired sport, while Republicans chose MLB. The most desired restaurant? Republicans said Subway and Democrats said Wendy’s.

As far as what they watch on television, Democrats like Animal Planet, and Republicans prefer the History Channel. Most Democrats prefer Progressive for insurance coverage, while Republicans typically go with Allstate.

Interesting results. As with any good research study, the results seem to reflect what many could have guessed, especially when we are talking about automobiles and television programming preferences. I doubt this knowledge will help them do a better job running the country, but it’s still fun to take a look at.

It makes me wonder, what’s going on with families that have a BMW and a Jeep in the driveway?

(Image courtesy of Utahhousedemocrats.com)

The nomination and the fight to take out Barak Obama will now fall to only man that has a realistic chance anyways, Mitt Romney. Romney had essentially wrapped up the nomination last week. The only way Santorum would have won was to get 100% of all the remaining electoral votes. Near impossible.

Mitt Romney had out spent, and outclassed Santorum on nearly every front and in a lot of ways Santorum never really had a chance once he switched from a centrist point of view to a hard right wing point of view. His stances on birth control are what seemed to finally put the nail in the coffin.

“We made the decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over for us, for me, and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting,” Santorum said at a press conference. “This race was as improbable as any race as you will ever see for president.”

While he was nearly mathematically eliminated from contention, his daughters sickness this weekend “did cause us to think in the role that we have as parents in her life.” He said that “this was a time for prayer and thought over this past weekend.”

But it’s possible all that work could be unraveled with one comment, made to CNN by Romney’s campaign adviser Eric Fehrnstrom yesterday.

“I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign,” said Fehrnstrom. “Everything changes. It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again.”

The comment was made in referral to Romney’s stance on the issues, which is already a matter of contention with Democrats, whose main issue with the candidate is that he is without core beliefs and changes them according to what will gain him the most voters. With this potentially damning gaffe, they now point out as an example for their argument that Romney has recently accused President Obama of wanting to see gasoline prices go up, yet in 2006 it was he who championed high gas prices and opposed a reduction in state gas taxes.

Alex MacGillis of The New Republic had this to say:

“Governor Romney responded to price spikes by describing them as the natural result of global market pressures and by calling for increases in fuel efficiency—the same approach that he now derides Obama for taking as president.”

As for Romney himself, he says he doesn’t flip flop and isn’t planning on it in the future.

“The issues I’m running on will be exactly the same. I’m running as a conservative Republican,” Romney said.

Yesterday we brought you news that Republican senator Marco Rubio had backed down from his support of PIPA, of which he was listed as a co-sponser. Now it seems that Orrin Hatch of Utah, also a co-sponsor, has joined the ranks of senators rushing to withdraw their support. Hatch made the following statement late yesterday:

After listening to the concerns on both sides of the debate over the Protect IP Act, it is simply not ready for prime time and both sides must continue working together to find a better path forward. Rushing something with such potential for far-reaching consequences is something I cannot support and that’s why I will not only vote against moving the bill forward next week but also remove my cosponsorship of the bill. Given the legitimate vocal concerns, it is imperative that we take a step back to allow everyone to come together and find a reasonable solution.

Though neither SOPA nor PIPA are quite dead yet, news like this is encouraging. Hopefully more senators will follow Hatch’s example.

Turns out, it was far less exciting.

The press release from Trojan Tree touting the newest release of “Obama Clock”, a giggling favorite in the conservative world, says that “a simple click on each countdown statistic calls forth a graphical depiction of the depressing trend in unemployment, gas prices, housing depreciation, and public debt over the entire Obama term.”

So, I popped over to the iTunes App Store to download the free version of the Obama Clock app to see what this was all about. The reviews of the app were not encouraging. They were divided between hardcore Republicans who approved of the spirit of the app and people who were disappointed with the app itself as less-than-functional or pandering for upgrades.

Upon firing it up, the first thing that happened was a pop-up ad that tried to up-sell me to the Deluxe version of the app for $1.99.

Turns out, you have to shell out that amount to actually see the “graphical depiction” they announced. After clicking [No Thanks], I landed on the main screen. Here there are statistics displayed that reportedly show:

* President Obama’s approval rating, as reported by Rasmussen Reports.

* Unemployment, from Dept. of Labor figures.

* Gas prices, US average.

* House prices, from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, averaging all transactions.

* Public debt. From Treasury.

* A countdown clock to Inauguration Day 2013

Todays numbers look like this:

The purpose of this app, according to their press release, is “to meaningfully influence the 2012 election”. Since it seems unlikely that a Democrat would care at all to buy the deluxe version of this app, and it seems to be mostly marketed toward the same Fox News viewers who bought it up last time, I am not sure how they intend to achieve any “meaningful” influence on the election. A preacher can’t fill a revival tent by firing up the choir.

Any serious person who wants to make the best informed decision about whom to vote for in November will look at the stories behind the numbers this “clock” displays. Where did those employment numbers come from? Who is doing anything about those numbers? Who is obstructing those efforts? What actually causes gasoline price increases? What were unemployment numbers under the previous Republican administration? How have they changed since then?

This looks like this is a cute little app designed to take money from die-hard Republicans. The information it displays is nothing you can’t find in a quick Google search for the rest of the country.