Original post here. The updates to that were getting too extensive, so here's a new post with the latest.

1. Justin Hart at My Man Mitt has details of a conversation with someone at Western Wats:

UPDATE: Just spoke to my Western Wats source (a senior employee at the firm).

* He said the notion that this is Romney-driven is “nonsense” and “ridiculous”.
* He did not confirm or deny that the calls came from his firm.
* His company employs 1500 people with centers is Idaho, Nebraska, Utah, and numerous other states.
* He also indicated that this is being blown way out of proportion. He thinks if the details came out people would scratch their heads wondering what the big deal was.

My thoughts: as I said earlier (and some people, ahem Hugh Hewitt, seem not to have noticed), it is beyond farcical to suggest that Romney's team could have orchestrated this. And, based on Justin's intel, it seems they did not, thank goodness (Romney can at least sleep easy tonight knowing his campaign has not lost its collective mind). But, as Hugh himself suggests, "no one can rule out a crazy friend of Mitt." Or for that matter a crazy friend of another candidate. Or a crazy 527 group. Crazy friends and 527 groups, for the record, are where I'm concentrating my conspiracy theories right now. Take note, Hugh. I'm not blaming your guy, or his staff. I just think there are some noteworthy links that might give an indication as to what other individual, or entity, might be involved here.

2. My buddy Soren Dayton has posted some more on this, wh...

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... from Florida:

This week’s callous budget slashing and the downright laughable property tax “cut-reform” mess merely illustrate what 43 of the United States already know: Florida needs a state income tax, a graduated, progressive income tax. It seems so obvious if you’re not rich like 90% of the people in this state: taxes should be based on one’s ability to pay. It’s doable if you have the political will. Even the most Republican state of all has an income tax (and property taxes to boot): Utah. If I were Governor, I’d go all out to enact an income tax and this week I’d be proposing a budget that increases state spending by a billion dollars, not slashing it one billion. The money would go to phase out property taxes, fund high quality socialized early education for all two, three and four year olds, class size reductions and parent training courses for all high school students and all other imminent parents.

Liberals, eh? It's always tax, tax tax, spend, spend, spend.

Seriously, though, it's hard to know what really to say about this. I come from one of the other apparently idiotic seven states (that's Washington, for those just tuning in) that does not have an income tax. We've always managed just fine, provided that no one gets too excited about hiking property or sales taxes.

Which I'd imagine appeals to this guy, who apparently is dumb enough to think that high school students are "imminent parents" (seriously, go back and read the last sentence). I guess teenage pregnancy is running at about 99% down there...

Separate (snarky) question: why bother with the parent training courses at all, if kids are going to start going to school at 2? Mom and Dad only need to be able to make it through the first 2 years, then it's up to that high quality socialized system to deal with the kids for 8 hours or whatever of every day (my guess is this g...

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According to a new ARG poll, it is veritably so.

Romney 26%
Huckabee 24%

Looks like maybe this:



hasn't worked out so well for him after all.

By the way, this comment from Huckabee:

I think Mitt Romney would rather keep people out of college so they can keep working on his lawn

is one of the funniest, and most to-the-point statements I've heard in a long time. I also think the fact that Huckabee is willing to go in hard on this and make an issue of it, rather than running defense, shows that Romney is vulnerable on the subject of immigration-- as indeed he should be. After all, this is a guy who totally did squat about illegal immigration and in fact supported comprehensive immigration reform until he realized that a lot of conservatives disagreed with him on the issue. And, as we all know now, whatever conservatives want to hear is whatever Romney says, whether or not it has anything to do with any position he has historically held.

Side note: they're talking RomneyCare on Tucker. Bill Press-- Bill Press, people-- is the only one on the show who likes the scheme. That should tell us all something.

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