Rebekah Reports

Thoughts on meals, media, momming and more

Read Round-up: Race for the White House

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Since I last wrote about the race for the White House, several candidates have joined Sen. Ted Cruz as 2016 contenders. Things are starting to heat up, especially in light of the upcoming release of the already-controversial book by Peter Schweizer, Clinton Cash.

And though the Clinton campaign camp would like everyone to think that Schweizer’s some rabid partisan member of the press out to get the only current Democratic candidate for 2016, you should know the following facts reported this week in The Hill:

  • Schweizer has said that his next book will investigate the finances of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) who is expected to enter the presidential race soon.
  • “Schweizer was a vocal advocate for reforms to prohibit members of Congress from using nonpublic knowledge to profit from the stock market. He was centrally featured in a CBS ’60 Minutes’ report on the issue. Reformers’ efforts eventually reached fruition when President Obama signed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act into law in 2012.”
  • Schweizer gave The New York Times and the Washington Post early copies of Clinton Cash on the understanding that they could use his work as the foundation for new reporting. A) That tells me he doesn’t have anything to hide, and B) neither media outlet is exactly known for their right-leaning work.

Now, here’s a brief round-up of some of the more interesting pieces (and some simple summary pieces for those of you who may need to get caught up) I’ve been reading about the presidential race’s current candidates:

Sen. Marco Rubio (R)

Sen. Rand Paul (R)

Hillary Clinton (D)

A read that mentions all of the above

“Not another Bush or Clinton: political dynasties reach for ‘regular Joe’ status” by Dan Roberts – The Guardian

And just because you probably need a good laugh after all of that:

Cover photo credit: Diego Cambiaso, Flickr

Google — the Wizard of America

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Photo credit: Carlos Luna, Flickr
Photo credit: Carlos Luna, Flickr

I’ve said for years, “Google is taking over the world.” I was half-kidding. Then, for a while, I thought Facebook was taking over the world. After reading this article, I’m back to thinking it’s Google.

In the article, author Kyle Smith details how far “in bed” Google and the Obama Administration are together. Let’s just say, they’re waaaay more, uh, friendly, than I’d thought they were, and Google is more powerful politically than I’d realized.

What’s scarier is what the future could potentially hold. “Google says that in the future, its determinations about what is true and what is untrue will play a role in how search-engine rankings are configured,” Smith writes.

Yikes. I don’t know about you, but no matter how much I love technology (and Google for that matter, because I am an avid user) and how “smart” it can be, I don’t think I want a company deciding what’s truth for me. That determination is supposed to happen between my ears. Worse still, Smith makes a good point that the company that could be deciding what you see/what you don’t see is the same company that “ranked second in all of corporate America in campaign donations to Obama.”  Yeaaaah, that’s not neutral.

Our country was created with governmental checks and balances for a reason. Humans, quite simply, are flawed and can’t always be trusted. We need to be put in check. So where are those checks and balances for companies (run by flawed human beings) that get so big that the president is practically their puppet?

Houston, we have a candidate

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Photo credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr

Elections are like Christmas for journalists and news lovers, and we got our first gift ahead of 2016’s race for the White House on Monday.

Hailing from Houston, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz officially became the first 2016 presidential candidate at midnight with a Twitter announcement:

The Princeton and Harvard Law grad later gave a rousing speech at Liberty University, making his announcement more formal. He was accompanied by his wife and two, adorable young daughters.

  • You can watch his speech here.

Speaking of Cruz’s wife, though I’m a Texas resident I have not heard much about her. I looked her up today and was pleasantly surprised. She, too, is a Harvard grad and an accomplished businesswoman. #girlpower In order to support her husband on the campaign trail, she’ll be stepping down as a managing director at Goldman Sachs in Houston.

Now with the announcement behind him, Cruz certainly has his work cut out for him. According to Real Clear Politics, he’s in a dismal 8th place on a list of GOP presidential hopefuls. And, no stranger to controversy, he’s got a lot of feathers to smooth out on both sides of the political aisle. Will he be able to rally the Independent voters too? I’m not convinced, but we shall see.

  • Read a sampling of some of Cruz’s most provocative comments here.

He’s also going to have to learn to shoot straight. His PolitiFact Truth-O-Meter report card has a bit too many “Falses” on it for my taste.

  • See his report card here.

Love him or hate him, one thing is certain — Cruz can talk. His 40-ish-minute speech was done entirely by memory/off-the-cuff. NO TELEPROMPTER. Wow. Kudos.