RNC Chairman Reince Priebus: “For years, the Michigan GOP has been a very serious Republican party in this country, always in the top 5 parties in the country concerning organization and money and knowledge and how to win and connect the dots on the ground and we’re going to need that because Michigan is going to be a battleground state, we’ll be there heavily in this election cycle, I really feel like we can really continue the momentum of 2010 in making sure that Michigan stays a red state and we help Barack Obama hit the bricks in the White House by winning Michigan… “Here we are again talking about another tax-payer paid campaign visit to Michigan and his campaign team sure does like to use the state of Michigan as a campaign prop and he’s doing it again today. “It will be a busy week for the President, he kicked it off with a recycled State of the Union speech…We put out a web video, I think it has over a half a million hits on it right now, and if you look at the 2010, 2011 and 2012 speech, man I’ve heard of being lazy before, I know he likes to get on the campaign trail, but using the same speech at the State of the Union address for three years is pretty remarkable. “Then, he hit four states important to his campaign to give more speeches to voters who’ve heard it all before. So then, he takes the Air Force One, on a taxpayer paid 747 and he runs around, and it just so happens to once again find his way in battleground states. “Here’s the problem with this President: he travels the country not promoting policies that will get Americans back to work but giving the same old stump speech full of failed economic policies and broken promises. And people across Michigan and across our great country they’re just not buying it anymore and that’s why you see his polling numbers in the tank and that’s why you see the momentum and enthusiasm on the Republican side of the aisle. “Today, you will probably hear the President tout his big government tax and spend policies and I think it’s great that Michigan and the auto industry is on the rebound and it’s great for our nation, but I mean let’s take this opportunity today to highlight two of his many broken promises: one, he said the taxpayers wouldn’t be on the hook for his bailouts, and look at where that got the taxpayers. Okay, we’ve been on the hook for his bailouts, and we’re grateful that the auto industry is slowly coming back, but the taxpayers are still on the hook for the money. He said there would be one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015, and we are far, far away from that number. So while students at Michigan will get a campaign speech from Barack Obama…They’re ready for actual policies, real solutions and a leader, not a campaigner in chief thinking about the best way to save his job or the easiest path to 270 electoral votes, but a commander in chief worried about freedom, security, and the jobs of the millions of Americans that have been out in the cold since he’s taken over in their White House. “Voters in Michigan will make their voices heard loud and clear when they go to the polls in November. They’ll reject new taxes, big government red tape, and most importantly they will reject his bid for another four years in the White House.”   Michigan Republican Party Chairman Bobby Schostak: “As relates to the past year in Michigan, we really got to focus on what’s going on and why things have turned around and you don’t have to do much as the President of the United States to just traveled to Lansing, and meet with Governor Schneider, to meet with our leaders in the Senate and the House. In the first year, in the first months, they’ve cut billions out of our budget, they’ve reformed our tax system, they’ve got unemployment being reduced, and people are looking at Michigan in a very favorable way for growth. “You look at the country, there’s more than 360,000 people since Obama took office that are on unemployment. His signature legislation, Obamacare, health care costs are going up. So Americans are not better off… “While the auto companies are showing some success… let’s give credit where credit is due. It’s due to the innovation, the engineering, and the folks on the line building these cars. The quality of the product is competitive worldwide and highly desired in foreign countries, and the premier choice inside the United States…It’s not a government bailout. It’s not the fact that Chapter 11 that took place was funded by the taxpayers. That was a horrible outcome, bad for America. A debtor in possession, finance, bankruptcy by the government was completely unnecessary. A normal course of refinancing should have happened on the capitol markets. “Frankly, I’m getting pretty tired of hearing the President take credit for the outcome of the automobile companies. Who deserves credit is those who design and build them and the marketing of the vehicles. “If you look further as to what’s going on, or not going on, look at what the President is not talking about. You don’t hear him talking about Social Security or Medicare. Those two programs would require presidential attention. You don’t hear him talking about the growing deficit and what he has created since his watch. We must cut spending. “Every American, any survey you look at agrees that we’re living way beyond our means and we’re bankrupting ourselves by using our credit card. So rather than using his State of the Union to show some leadership and to show some new direction for the country and to give us hope that the future can be brighter, he chooses to take credit for things that were not a result of his doing, and on top of that, doesn’t show the courage to take responsibility for those things that were not successful. “So, in Michigan, our grassroots, our county chairs, our district chairs, are appealing to the Independents and to Democrats, and there are plenty of Conservative Democrats, that we are very confident that notwithstanding that Obama.com declares 62 campaign offices in Michigan, that we will be out in force, messaging very clearly what the President has not accomplished and point out very clearly how the master of spinning the message, we will show where the truth lies.” Click Here To Listen To The Full Audio: http://www.gop.com/audio/1.27.2012_Michigan.mp3      

“GOP’s Priebus: Remember Obama’s Record on Economy Today”   By: Reince Priebus January 27, 2012  Excerpts from the Detroit News: “Michigan is the final stop on President Obama's cross-country, five-state tour. Setting aside his presidential duties, he's back to what he really loves: campaigning. “But if Obama takes some time away from politicking at the University of Michigan today, the state of Michigan could teach this ex-professor an important lesson… “Rick Snyder and his Republican colleagues have proven over the last year, it is possible for an elected official to keep his promises. It's possible to balance a budget, turn a deficit into a surplus, and implement pro-growth tax reform. Michigan Republicans have done all of that and more. Compare that to Barack Obama's record…of failed promises. “On the economy, jobs, the debt, the deficit, housing, health care, energy and ethics, the president has failed to keep his promises to Michigan and to America. It's no surprise that 62 percent of Michiganians disapproved of his job performance in a November poll… “Obama promised to change the way business is done in Washington and issued a ban on lobbyists in his administration. He then promptly broke it. After he vowed lobbyists would not "find a job in my White House," the White House hired nearly 100 of them. “The president knows he can't win an election on his record…When Michigan voters go to the polls in November, they will ask themselves the question voters always ask when an incumbent president is on the ballot: "Am I better off than I was four years ago?" In the face of a struggling national economy and exploding government debt, most Americans won't have to think twice.” Read the Full Op-Ed Here: http://bit.ly/zltO5k   “Obama’s Mission— It’s All Politics”  By: Bobby Schostak January 27, 2012   Excerpts from the Detroit Free Press: “What does a president who is worried about re-election look like? “He unveils political ads in swing states the same week as his State of the Union speech. “He visits politically active swing states within days after State of the Union. And he pushes policies that have failed middle class taxpayers across America… “In Ann Arbor, Obama will give another re-election themed speech wrapped in the context of an official visit…He will not address the national debt and federal deficit, growing health care costs due to the Affordable Health Care Act, or his inability to control unemployment. Rather, Obama will propose new programs to assist his re-election campaign… “Middle class taxpayers across Michigan are ready for a new direction, and although Obama will provide another eloquently worded address this morning, there is no hiding the fact that he has let Michigan citizens down… “Voters looking for a contrast to Obama's failed policies need to look no further than what Republican leadership has done in Michigan. “Gov. Rick Snyder and Republican leaders made dramatic progress in Michigan by doing the opposite of what Obama is doing. Republicans in Michigan balanced the budget, paid down more than $1.5 billion in long-term debt, and eliminated the job-killing Michigan Business Tax…Michigan's unemployment is the lowest it has been in more than three years. “Michigan's middle class taxpayers are beginning to see a little light at the end of the tunnel. Life in Michigan continues to improve, though we realize there's a lot of hard work ahead of us… “The president's visit today is part of his re-election strategy, a flawed strategy that relies on pretending that his first three years in office do not exist.” Read the Full Op-Ed Here: http://on.freep.com/yp4CY0     ###  

“GOP’s Priebus: Remember Obama’s Record on Economy Today”   By: Reince Priebus January 27, 2012  Excerpts from the Detroit News: “Michigan is the final stop on President Obama's cross-country, five-state tour. Setting aside his presidential duties, he's back to what he really loves: campaigning. “But if Obama takes some time away from politicking at the University of Michigan today, the state of Michigan could teach this ex-professor an important lesson… “Rick Snyder and his Republican colleagues have proven over the last year, it is possible for an elected official to keep his promises. It's possible to balance a budget, turn a deficit into a surplus, and implement pro-growth tax reform. Michigan Republicans have done all of that and more. Compare that to Barack Obama's record…of failed promises. “On the economy, jobs, the debt, the deficit, housing, health care, energy and ethics, the president has failed to keep his promises to Michigan and to America. It's no surprise that 62 percent of Michiganians disapproved of his job performance in a November poll… “Obama promised to change the way business is done in Washington and issued a ban on lobbyists in his administration. He then promptly broke it. After he vowed lobbyists would not "find a job in my White House," the White House hired nearly 100 of them. “The president knows he can't win an election on his record…When Michigan voters go to the polls in November, they will ask themselves the question voters always ask when an incumbent president is on the ballot: "Am I better off than I was four years ago?" In the face of a struggling national economy and exploding government debt, most Americans won't have to think twice.” Read the Full Op-Ed Here: http://bit.ly/zltO5k   “Obama’s Mission— It’s All Politics”  By: Bobby Schostak January 27, 2012   Excerpts from the Detroit Free Press: “What does a president who is worried about re-election look like? “He unveils political ads in swing states the same week as his State of the Union speech. “He visits politically active swing states within days after State of the Union. And he pushes policies that have failed middle class taxpayers across America… “In Ann Arbor, Obama will give another re-election themed speech wrapped in the context of an official visit…He will not address the national debt and federal deficit, growing health care costs due to the Affordable Health Care Act, or his inability to control unemployment. Rather, Obama will propose new programs to assist his re-election campaign… “Middle class taxpayers across Michigan are ready for a new direction, and although Obama will provide another eloquently worded address this morning, there is no hiding the fact that he has let Michigan citizens down… “Voters looking for a contrast to Obama's failed policies need to look no further than what Republican leadership has done in Michigan. “Gov. Rick Snyder and Republican leaders made dramatic progress in Michigan by doing the opposite of what Obama is doing. Republicans in Michigan balanced the budget, paid down more than $1.5 billion in long-term debt, and eliminated the job-killing Michigan Business Tax…Michigan's unemployment is the lowest it has been in more than three years. “Michigan's middle class taxpayers are beginning to see a little light at the end of the tunnel. Life in Michigan continues to improve, though we realize there's a lot of hard work ahead of us… “The president's visit today is part of his re-election strategy, a flawed strategy that relies on pretending that his first three years in office do not exist.” Read the Full Op-Ed Here: http://on.freep.com/yp4CY0     ###  

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus Interview on “FOX 2 News”   WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus appeared on “FOX 2 News” in Detroit today and took the opportunity to discuss the back taxes owed by White House staff as reported by Investor’s Business Daily: “The president wants to play this class warfare game as far as who is paying their fair share. It turns out that news broke that 36 members of Barack Obama's staff owes the IRS over $800,000 in back taxes. “So before he launches this pay your fair share game, maybe he ought to look at his own staff and figure out whether his own people are paying their fair share.”   ###

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus Interview on “FOX 2 News”   WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus appeared on “FOX 2 News” in Detroit today and took the opportunity to discuss the back taxes owed by White House staff as reported by Investor’s Business Daily: “The president wants to play this class warfare game as far as who is paying their fair share. It turns out that news broke that 36 members of Barack Obama's staff owes the IRS over $800,000 in back taxes. “So before he launches this pay your fair share game, maybe he ought to look at his own staff and figure out whether his own people are paying their fair share.”   ###

WASHINGTON – The Republican National Committee (RNC) released a new web video highlighting Barack Obama’s bad timing as his campaign swing stops in Las Vegas today. On the same day that Barack Obama is in Nevada touting clean energy, Las Vegas news is reporting that one of his past clean energy investments, Amonix, is cutting 200 jobs at their local plant. Another failed clean energy policy of the Obama administration, not to mention, bad timing. Web video can be viewed here. Download the web video here. ###

Excerpts from The Wall Street Journal Editorial January 26, 2012   “Remember the moment in 2008 when Charlie Gibson of ABC News asked Senator Barack Obama why he would support raising the capital gains tax even though ‘revenues from the tax increased’ when the rate fell? Mr. Obama's famous reply: ‘I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness.’ Well, we were warned… “President Obama on Tuesday night linked the term ‘fair’ to U.S. tax and economic policy seven times. The U.S. economy is still hobbling out of recession, real family incomes are falling and 14 million Americans are unemployed, but Mr. Obama declared that his top priority is not to reform the tax code to promote growth and job creation. His overriding goal is redistributing income… “Mr. Obama endorsed the political ruse he calls the Buffett rule, which asserts as a matter of moral principle that millionaires should not pay a lower tax rate than middle-class wage earners. Specifically, Mr. Obama is proposing that anyone earning more than $1 million pay at least 30% of that income to Uncle Barack. “The White House says that if a millionaire household's effective tax rate falls below 30%, it would have to pay a surcharge—in essence a new Super Alternative Minimum Tax—to bring the tax liability to 30%... “The Buffett rule is rooted in the fairy tale that taxes on the wealthy are lower than on the middle class…The Congressional Budget Office notes that the effective income tax rate of the richest 1% is about 29.5% when including all federal taxes such as the distribution of corporate taxes, or about twice the 15.1% paid by middle-class families… “The new 30% capital gains rate would be the developed world's third highest behind only Denmark and Chile, according to the American Council for Capital Formation…Lower capital investment in the U.S. means less wage growth, and so the people hurt most by this tax hike would be workers, according to a study by the Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation. “Mr. Obama conceded on Tuesday that the high U.S. corporate tax is an economic loser. Yet he misses the crucial point that business owners assess the combined corporate and capital gains tax on those business profits… “Mr. Obama isn't setting himself apart merely from conservatives with this Buffett ploy. He is rejecting 35 years of bipartisan tax policy that began with the passage of the Steiger Amendment… “In a time of the highest deficits since World War II, Mr. Obama wants to double the capital gains tax rate even as he raises the top income-tax rate to 42% or so. Mr. Obama really is taking us back to the worst habits of the 1970s… “This isn't tax fairness. It's tax folly.” Click Here To Read The Editorial: http://on.wsj.com/zBP0SA   ###  

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus: “The president’s State of the Union address last night and again, taxpayer-funded campaign stop today in Arizona, makes it abundantly clear that this president has given up completely on governing and he’s gone into full time campaign mode… he’s been in campaign mode for three straight years. Arizonans have heard all this before: more failed promises, more empty rhetoric and he has no results to show for it… “Arizonans continue to wait for him to deliver on his promises of his campaign that he gave to us the first time around, unfortunately, he’s more intent on giving more speeches, more rhetoric and more unfulfilled promises. “The Obama campaign would really like to believe Arizona would be a battleground state in 2012. But Arizonans didn’t buy into this president’s empty rhetoric in 2008. And after 3 years of speeches and campaign tours and failed policies, they’re not going to buy into this president in 2012.  “Poll after poll shows that Obama is struggling among Arizona voters. A poll released just last month showed Obama with a dismal 41 percent approval and one released just yesterday shows more Arizonans continue to disapprove of the job Obama’s doing as he struggles with independent voters across America… “While it’s an exciting event any time the President of the United States comes to town, Arizonans don’t need a president concerned about hitting the campaign trail to save his own job, they need a president who’s concerned about their job in Arizona.”   Rep. Ben Quayle (AZ-3): “Last night, we watched the president launch his reelection campaign during the State of the Union, but, today, we see that he is going to my home-state of Arizona as part of his launch tour… “But, we’re happy to have him in Arizona. I got to say that I think there are many ways he could be using his time a lot better. Perhaps, he can lean on Senate Democrats to pass a budget. As of last night, it will have been 1,000 days since they did so… “I really hope he listens to Arizonans as they voice their concerns about action he has taken that directly affect their lives. We can start out with the fact that the EPA is impacting some of our energy providers with a utility MAC provision that could end up shutting down the Navajo generating plant that will cost hundreds of jobs and raise the energy cost for all Arizonans. “Perhaps, he will reconsider his decision to withdraw one million acres of land in Northern Arizona from uranium mining. This decision to block access to mining on non-environmentally sensitive land could cost Arizona as many as four thousand jobs… “He can ask the Senate to pass the Resolution Compromise Land Exchange that will end up giving us thousands of high paying jobs in Arizona but the Senate continues to block it… “I hope he will listen to Arizonans as they express their concern over border security and hold Attorney General Holder to account to the disastrous Fast and Furious Operation that enabled carnage on Arizona’s soil… “I hope the president will listen to Arizonans, like many Americans, who are struggling in this tough economy. If he does that, I think we will be much less likely to take blatantly political moves like blocking the Keystone XL pipeline, which will cost an estimated 20 thousand immediate jobs. “Last night the president spoke to the nation. Today in Arizona, I hope he will listen.” Click Here To Listen To The Full Audio: http://www.gop.com/audio/1.25.2012_Arizona.mp3     ###

WASHINGTON – The Republican National Committee (RNC) released a new web video highlighting Barack Obama’s biggest failed promise yet: changing Washington. After making it a central theme of his 2008 candidacy, President Obama has instead made Washington more divisive and more partisan. Matt Lauer’s question is key: if Barack Obama hasn’t changed Washington like he said he would, why should we give him another chance?   Web video can be viewed here. Download the web video here.   ###

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus: “Obviously, the President’s State of the Union address last night and now, as always, his taxpayer-funded campaign stop in Iowa, makes it just absolutely clear that President Obama has given up governing…and he’s gone into full campaign mode… “Iowans, like many Americans, have heard all of this before. More failed promises.  More empty rhetoric. With no results to show for it. And the Hawkeye State has been the backdrop for numerous presidential visits, and it even helped Obama launch his candidacy back in ‘07 at the time. But Iowans are still waiting for Obama to deliver on the promises of his campaign and his first term.  When Iowans need a president who will lead, we’ve got one that is doing his best not to govern but to secure a second term.  While Iowans are still waiting for him to deliver on the promises of his campaign and his first term, Obama’s just out giving speeches, going to battleground states… “He’s criss-crossing the country, rallying disaffected voters in battleground states, and he’s running disingenuous ads in 5 battleground states, including Iowa, that were called out for the lies in those ads within an hour of him launching those ads. “You don’t have to take a look any further than Iowa to see why Obama is in full campaign mode.  In 2008, Iowa voters…abandoned Obama and the Democratic Party while GOP voter registration grows and Republicans gain momentum in Iowa.  The prime example of the GOP momentum is Governor Branstad, who will provide a stark contrast today in Cedar Rapids between a Republican governor committed to a pro-job agenda and President Obama, who’s failed to follow through on his promises to turn the economy around. “Let me be clear.  While it’s an exciting event any time the President of the United States comes to town, Iowans don’t need a president concerned about hitting the campaign trail, giving speeches and rehashed promises – just to save his own job.  They need one who’s actually concerned about their job.”   RNC Political Director Rick Wiley: “I think Reince hit the nail on the head when you look at this swing state that we have in Iowa. Barack Obama…started with a job approval rating in April of 2009—64 percent of Iowans approved of his job, and now he finds himself at 43 percent. “It’s a disastrous bottoming out of his numbers. The other thing ObamaCare—60 percent of Iowans do not support ObamaCare. When this campaign goes out and continually talks about his signature piece of legislation, I think they’re going to have a very difficult time. “As Reince had mentioned, we have 34 straight months of GOP registration gains in the state of Iowa. So you’re seeing folks that were swelled up into the Obama magic in 2008, and they are leaving that campaign in droves. So, I think with his sinking approval ratings, we have a recipe for a good year in 2012. “We had record attendance at the Iowa caucuses this year—that, coupled with record turnout in the primary in New Hampshire and South Carolina, you’re seeing record absentee ballot requests in the state of Florida. So, Republicans are very enthusiastic about where we find ourselves and as this campaign and this president goes out and campaigns on your taxpayer dollars I think there’s a reason for that. He’s having a really difficult time. “I wanted to mention one other thing before I turn it to questions is the RNC put out a great video last night The State of the Union. And if you look at some of the rhetoric this president has had…we have a great video, if you go to gop.com where you can view it. Where you see him saying one thing in 2010, the same thing in 2011, the same thing in 2012. Empty rhetoric is all this president is about.” Click Here To Listen To The Full Audio: http://www.gop.com/audio/1.25.2012_Iowa.mp3     ###