Perry's In, Pawlenty's Out, and Bachmann Wins the Iowa Straw Poll

The Iowa Straw Poll took place on August 13th, 2011. To no surprise, Michele Bachmann came out very well; she got the most votes in the Straw Poll. What's interesting is that Bachmann bought and gave out over 6,000 tickets ($30 per ticket). In the end, however, she only received 4,823 votes (80% of the votes she bought).

Ron Paul, who was once an annoyance, has finally started talking about social issues, the issues that most people care about. After switching his issues from economy to social, he received an astounding 4,671 votes (28%) in the poll, making him one of the leading candidates in the GOP.

Although Tim Pawlenty received third highest number of votes in the poll, the next day he announced that he will be ending his campaign for president, saying that "the audience was looking for something different."

Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas, has announced on the day of the Straw Poll that he will be running for president. Surprisingly, he received 718 write-in votes (3.6%). This might have had something to do with Stephen Colbert's advertisements for "Rick Parry."

More information on the 2011 Iowa Straw Poll can be found here.

Finally, A Decision

President Obama signing the bill

Our government finally made a decision on the debt ceiling crisis. Surprisingly, they didn't choose default. Instead, President Obama signed the Budget Control Act which will increase the debt ceiling by $900 billion. Liberals, don't get excited, the Republicans would never agree to this increase without something in return. Just like the old saying, "You scratch my back, I scratch yours." Republicans made sure that for the $900 billion increase, the government would have to make over $900 billion in cuts over the next decade.

Second, the government would establish a "Super Congress" — made up of six Democrats and six Republicans. The committee will have to produce a legislation by this November to cut at least $1.5 trillion over the next ten years. The decision will be immune to any amendments or filibuster.

This whole debate over the debt ceiling is a preview of the 2012 election. Obama, as always, has failed to do anything he wanted to do. Republicans got what they wanted — massive cuts and no tax increases ­— and they will even have the pleasure of voting on a Balanced Budget Amendment, which even some Democrats in the House are planning to vote for. With the support of two-thirds of the House and the Senate, the proposal will go directly to the states to be ratified, and Obama won't have a voice in the decision.