Open Thread

One month ago, President Obama blamed the sluggish economy on technologies like ATMs and self-service kiosks, extremely underestimating the value Americans find in innovation. To prove how vital new technology is to the economy, Southern Methodist University professor Michael Cox asked his students how much money they would have to be paid to give up the internet for the rest of their lives, but found few takers to his proposal.

Do you think you could be paid to give up the internet forever? Check out a video produced by the free market group the Fund for American Studies after the break, and let us know what you think in the comments.

For general discussion and debate about politics, the economy, sports, the British Open, or whatever else tickles your fancy.

The Federal Election Commission, which serves to govern the financing of federal elections, ended its second quarter for presidential fundraising on June 30. Of the Republican candidates who released their numbers, former Gov. Mitt Romney led the Republican presidential hopefuls with $18.3 million, trailed by Rep. Ron Paul with $4.5 million, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty with $4.2 million, and former ambassador and Gov. Jon Huntsman with $4.1 million. Earlier this morning, Obama 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina previewed President Barack Obama's fundraising numbers and placed his fundraising sum at $86 million, far overshadowing any of his GOP competitors.

While the number appears ominous to his rivals, it isn't as staggering as it seems, and might even place Obama behind the mark of where he hopes to be. As National Review's Jim Geraghty explains, Obama's fundraising is actually behind his 2008 pace, and if he keeps the same pace for the remaining seven quarters, will not come close to achieving his goal of $1 billion. Check out more of Geraghty's analysis after the break, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

After nearly four months of a costly military intervention in Libya to oust leader Muammar Gaddafi, little progress has been made in assuring the quick exit President Barack Obama promised in March.

With no end to the conflict in sight, either, Obama's NATO coalition looks like it could fall apart before Gaddafi's regime does.

Let us know what you think of the US involvement in Libya in the comments.

For general discussion and debate about politics, the economy, sports, or whatever else tickles your fancy.

Tell us what's on your mind this Friday -- like the last space shuttle flight, or the budget talks.

In another effort to engage the online community once bubbling with support for President Barack Obama, Obama will participate in a Twitter town hall today at 2 pm EDT to answer questions on jobs and the economy posed by Twitter users with the hashtag #askobama.

The questions Obama answers will be handpicked by Twitter staffers and pre-selected Twitter users, who will be tracking the popularity and geographical distribution of the questions to determine which questions to ask Obama. Don't expect any hardball questions, though. As Michelle Malkin points out, the moderator of the town hall, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, is a close friend of the administration as a State Department adviser.

Will you be participating? Let us know what you think of Obama's latest online engagement effort in the comments.

For general discussion and debate about politics, the economy, sports, and whatever else tickles your fancy.

Polls of potential voters early in the primary season define front-runners in the race early on. At sixteen months out from next year's election, though, many voters have yet to invest much interest into researching candidates, which could play out into very skewed survey results.

As the Weekly Standard's Jay Cost points out, support in early primary polls is not always reflected once the nomination process actually rolls around. Read Cost's explanation after the break, and let us know what you think in the comments.

As pointed out by National Review's Jim Geraghty, a new campaign video for President Barack Obama's $5 raffle dinner was filmed in the White House, which could violate FEC campaign finance laws.

Check out the video after the break, and let us know what you think in the comments.

For general discussion and debate about politics, the economy, sports, and whatever else tickles your fancy.

President Obama announced last night that he will withdraw his entire 30,000 troop surge from 2009, bringing home 10,000 troops from Afghanistan this year, and an additional 20,000 troops by the end of next summer.

The plan is a much more aggressive withdrawal than recommended by the Gen. David Petraeus and other Pentagon officials, who recommended one more fighting season against the Taliban to maintain the recent gains American troops have made.

Check out a video of his speech after the break, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

In typical Obamanomics fashion, the tax code is being used as a conniving way to promote favored activities and discourage others, in this case, punishing a small handful of profitable big oil companies by forcing a different set of tax laws only on them and not across the board.

The Washington Examiner's Tim Carney explains the flawed policy of a bill that would raise taxes on Exxon, Chevron, Conoco, Shell and BP, but not on smaller oil companies. Read Carney's analysis of the bill after the break, and let us know what you think of this latest move against big oil in the comments.

For general discussion and debate about politics, the economy, sports, and whatever else tickles your fancy.

An MSNBC interview from early 2009 has resurfaced to haunt Barack Obama, who explained to Matt Lauer that if he had not fixed the economy within three years, then he will be a one-term president.

Check out the video after the break, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

For general discussion and debate about politics, the economy, sports, and whatever else tickles your fancy.

According to Janet Napolitano, concentrating terrorist screening efforts on young Muslim men is "not using good logic."

Her response came after a reporter in the audience asked, "Why wouldn't the Department focus more of its attention on the category of individuals that turned up most often as the suspect?"

Check out the video of Napolitano's response after the break, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

After admitting on Monday to sending lewd messages and pictures to a number of women, some Democrat and Republican leaders are urging Rep. Anthony Weiner to resign his congressional seat.

Nancy Pelosi has called for an ethics investigation, Harry Reid has refused to defend Weiner's actions, but perhaps most out-of-the-blue is former DNC chair and Democratic Senate candidate Tim Kaine's call for Weiner's resignation.

Check out the video with Kaine's remarks after the break, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.