NEWS AND OPINION:
He is the busiest of all the presidential hopefuls this week. Sure, Sen. Marco Rubio will celebrate his birthday in Las Vegas on Thursday, and Carly Fiorina and Gov. Scott Walker will head for New Hampshire later in the week, but it’s Sen. Bernard Sanders who has the wall-to-wall schedule punctuated by the rallying cry, “A political revolution is coming.” So step aside, folks.
On Tuesday, the Vermont senator kicks off his formal campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination with a Zydeco band and free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Company founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield will be by his side, incidentally. Mr. Sanders rushes to New Hampshire on Wednesday for town meetings in Concord, Portsmouth and Eppington. By Thursday, he will be in Iowa for more town meetings in Davenport, Muscatine, West Branch, Iowa City and Kensett and pushing his new “Agenda for America” wherever he goes. And Mr. Sanders, 73, is in a fighting mood when it comes to the press.
“In terms of campaign coverage, there is more coverage about the political gossip of the campaign, about raising money, about polling, about somebody saying something dumb or some kid works for a campaign and sends out something stupid on Facebook, right?” Mr. Sanders told CNN on Sunday. “The media’s job is to say, ’Look, these are the major issues facing the country. We’re a democracy. People have different points of view. Let’s argue it.’”
A CHEER FOR MISS AMERICA
The National Memorial Day Parade to honor the American military has its share of celebrities on Monday: actors Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna; celebrity chef Robert Irvine; singers Billy Corgan, Caleb Johnson and Beau Davidson; and TNA Wrestling stars, including Army vet Chris Melendez. Then there is Miss America Kira Kazantsev, who will wave at the crowd as only Miss America can do.
“As Miss America, it is my responsibility to not only raise awareness about the military, our veterans and their needs, but to thank them in person for their service. The National Memorial Day Parade is the perfect opportunity for that, and I am so honored to be a part of this celebration of our troops,” Ms. Kazantev tells Inside the Beltway.
She is also the first Miss America in four decades who has stepped up to the plate for the USO and visited U.S. troops overseas — logging 25,400 miles last month with stops that included Afghanistan, Bahrain, the Korean DMZ and USS Carl Vinson. In her online diary of the experiences, she recounted meeting a Medal of Honor recipient who recalled his time in Vietnam — particularly memories of a certain Hollywood patriot who arrived in the unforgiving combat zone with Miss America. The hero had never forgotten those moments.
“He said that Bob Hope would bring Miss America up on stage and say ’Soldiers, this is what you’re fighting for.’ I still can’t believe that I am now a part of this legacy and that, in my own way, I have had the honor of serving our country,” Ms. Kazantev wrote.
GOP: SHOW SOME TEETH
“Fully 75 percent of Republicans want GOP leaders to challenge President Obama more often; just 15 percent say they are handling relations with the president about right, and 7 percent say GOP leaders should go along with Obama more often,” reports a new Pew Research Center poll.
Forty percent of Americans overall agree with this, along with 37 percent of independents and 15 percent of Democrats. More numbers at column’s end.
ALOHA, OBAMACARE
The Affordable Care Act does not get intense media coverage these days, but it’s still a troublemaker. Americans for Tax Reform reports that the rickety Obamacare sign-up system will cost taxpayers plenty.
“The Obama administration had implemented the special enrollment period from March 15 to April 30 to assist individuals who were unaware they would face a tax penalty for not having qualifying health insurance. In all, less than 250,000 individuals decided to enroll nationwide — meaning that millions of Americans would rather pay the tax than enroll in Obamacare,” reports analyst Alexander Hendrie.
His case in point: In Hawaii, the Obamacare exchange enrolled no participants during the grace period. None. The state’s sign-up website, meanwhile, cost taxpayers $205 million to launch, with a total of 8,592 people enrolling in the first year. The cost to taxpayers is $23,899 per person, Mr. Hendrie says.
“Hawaii’s is not the first website to implode. Oregon’s $305 million exchange was officially abolished earlier this year at an additional cost of $41 million. The exchange is currently under investigation by numerous federal organizations for how it wasted so much money,” he adds. “In all, states received $5.4 billion from the federal government for state-based Obamacare exchanges with no strings attached and zero oversight over spending decisions.”
THE OKLAHOMA AFTERMATH
“Hillary Clinton must not be president of these United States as she is not trustworthy, and does not have a record of leadership. Since I launched my campaign for the presidency less than three weeks ago, I have answered 413 questions from the press, and yes, I am counting. Hillary Clinton, I think, has answered 13 questions since April 12. We know that Hillary Clinton will not be held to account unless we have a nominee that holds her to account in the general election,” Carly Fiorina told the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, which ended Saturday in Oklahoma City.
And in a telling snapshot, Ben Carson won the straw poll at the aforementioned conference with 25 percent of the vote. Gov. Scott Walker placed second with 20 percent, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Chris Christie, Rick Perry, Jeb Bush, Sen. Rand Paul, Sen. Marco Rubio, Gov. Bobby Jindal, Ms. Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum and Donald Trump — who each received between 1 percent and 16 percent of the vote. Three-fourths of the 715 poll respondents were from Oklahoma, incidentally.
WHITE HOUSE CRUNCH TIME
Are things getting a little intense on Memorial Day? Pollster John Zogby suggests so.
“President Obama is one step closer to achieving fast-track authority to negotiate a new free trade agreement with Asian nations. This is one of his key goals and one he shares with Republican leaders, though vigorously opposed by the left,” Mr. Zogby says. “Secretary of State John Kerry held a four-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose help can be useful in both Iran and Syria. Nonetheless, the Islamic State has taken over the capital of Anbar Province, the city many Americans lost their lives to liberate several years ago, and have secured control over the whole Iraq-Syria border. It’s crunchtime for U.S. decision-makers.”
His current grade for Mr. Obama: C-.
POLL DU JOUR
• 72 percent of Americans disapprove of the job performance of Republican leaders in Congress; 55 percent of Republicans, 74 percent of independents and 84 percent of Democrats agree.
• 60 percent of Americans disapprove of the job performance of Democratic leaders in Congress; 87 percent of Republicans, 65 percent of independents and 35 percent of Democrats agree.
• 37 percent overall say what Congress is accomplishing is “less than expected”; 36 percent of Republicans, 38 percent of independents and 38 percent of Democrats agree.
• 23 percent overall say GOP leaders are “keeping their campaign promises”; 37 percent of Republicans, 20 percent of independents and 17 percent of Democrats agree.
Source: A Pew Research Center poll of 2,002 U.S. adults conducted May 12-18.
• Hurrahs and cautious cheers to jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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