According to the New York Times, president Obama has "significantly lowered" the bar on how success in Afghanistan is defined.
In four years Obama has gone from "we must never forget, this is not a war of choice, this is a war of necessity" and "this is a war that we have to win" to "Afghan good enough." According to the Times, Obama's new definition of victory in his war of necessity that must be won is Afghan stability and no unimpeded Al Qaeda safe havens:
"The goal is to have an Afghanistan again that has a degree of stability such that forces like Al Qaeda and associated groups cannot have safe haven unimpeded, which could threaten the region and threaten U.S. and other interests in the world."
In today's New York Times, David E. Sanger reports that Obama will announce at the NATO summit that "all combat operations led by American forces will cease in summer 2013, when the United States and other NATO forces move to a 'support role' whether the Afghan military can secure the country or not." Worse, Obama planned this retreat without the benefit of military advice:
"When the president and a half-dozen White House aides began to plan for the withdrawal, the generals were cut out entirely. There was no debate, and there were no leaks."
If Obama doesn't care "whether the Afghan military can secure the country or not," why wait until 2013? Is it because of the presidential election? Perhaps Obama doesn't want to run for reelection in the middle of his Afghan retreat. As Obama explained to the Russians at the UN he'll have more flexibility after the election.
In 2009, President Obama told the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention that the Afghan war was a war of necessity:
"As I said when I announced this strategy, there will be more difficult days ahead. The insurgency in Afghanistan didn't just happen overnight, and we won't defeat it overnight. This will not be quick, nor easy.
But we must never forget: This is not a war of choice. This is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which Al Qaida would plot to kill more Americans.
So this is not only a war worth fighting; this is a -- this is fundamental to the defense of our people."
Nevertheless, Obama has decided to declare victory and retreat from Afghanistan regardless of whether the Afghan military can secure the country or not.
In the weekly GOP address, Wisconsin's U.S. Ron Johnson takes the president to task for the failed Obama economic policies:
"We are all disappointed by the failure of President Obama’s economic policies… His budget busting stimulus plan grew government, grew our debt, but failed to grow our economy."
You can watch Senator Johnson's terrific address below:
Senator Johnson starts by noting that it has now been more than three years since Harry Reid’s Democrat-controlled do-nothing Senate passed a budget and points out that Obama has done nothing to encourage the Senate to pass a budget. This week in the Senate, the President's budget lost by a vote of 0 - 99. Last month, it failed in the House by a vote of 0 - 414. And last year, Obama's budget lost by a 0 - 97 vote in the Senate:
"This is a stunning repudiation of his leadership. At a time when America requires sober financial management, President Obama's fiscal plans have been so unserious, that not a single member his own party supported them with their vote.
Without a budget, is it any wonder that America's fiscal house is in total disarray?"
Not only did the Senate reject Obama's "unserious" budget, it also rejected four Republican alternative budgets.
In the second part of the weekly address, Senator Jonson talks about Obama's failed economic policies and how those policies have grown government, grown our debt, but have failed to grow our economy:
"Instead of concentrating on job creation, President Obama has concentrated on growing government and increasing its control over our lives.
[. . .]
The President and members of his Administration are true believers in big government. They point to the 46 million Americans now on food stamps as a metric of success. It is not. It is a metric of failure that highlights how his policies have not put Americans back to work.
Because of his policies, dependence on government has increased, and individual opportunity has declined."
Obama's policies have caused gas prices to more than double, increased the national debt by more than $5 trillion and failed to get unemployment below 8 percent.
Despite his promises to cut the deficit in half by the end of his "first" term, Obama has racked up the largest deficits in U.S. history:
FY2009: The federal budget deficit was $1.413 trillion, the highest in U.S. history. ("Monthly Budget Review: November 2011," Congressional Budget Office, 11/7/11)
FY2011: The federal budget deficit was $1.299 trillion, the second highest in U.S. history. ("Monthly Budget Review: November 2011," Congressional Budget Office, 11/7/11)
FY2010: The federal budget deficit was $1.294 trillion, the third highest in U.S. history. ("Monthly Budget Review: November 2011," Congressional Budget Office, 11/7/11)
The CBO projects the deficit at the end of Obama’s first term will be $1.253 trillion, Obama’s fourth straight trillion deficit. ("An Anlysis Of The President’s 2013 Budget," Congressional Budget Office, 3/16/12)
You shouldn't be shocked by Obama's failure to reduce the deficit in half by the end of his first term in office. He did warn us there would be "trillion-dollar deficits for years to come."
Senator Johnson ends on an optimistic note calling this the “time to return to the values and principles that made this country great":
"I grew up in an America that valued hard work and celebrated success. America became the economic engine of the world, not because of government, but because millions of Americans had the freedom to pursue their dreams.
We can reclaim this heritage once again and build a society where hard work is rewarded and every American has the opportunity to succeed"
The full transcript of Senator Johnson's address follows:
"Hi, I’m Ron Johnson, from the great state of Wisconsin. 16 months ago, with no previous political experience, I began serving in Senator Harry Reid’s do-nothing Senate.
It is hard to convey how frustrating it has been.
My background is in accounting and manufacturing in the private sector. Like most Americans, I’m used to getting things done…producing results.
The American people understand that we are facing enormous economic challenges. And they’re looking for solutions, not political games.
They have every right to expect their elected officials to be responsible and accountable. We should be making the tough decisions, taking the hard votes, and developing real solutions to our nation's urgent problems.
But that's not what's happening in the United States Senate.
It has been over three years since the Senate passed a budget. Think about that. Even though families and most businesses produce budgets to help control their finances, the largest financial entity in the world is operating without one.
Why? Because Democrats in the Senate refuse to be held accountable. They either don't have a plan, or they simply do not want their fingerprints on one. Maybe that's because their plans generally rely on taking more money out of the pockets of hardworking American families.
Republicans have proven that we are willing to be held accountable. Since regaining a majority in the House, Republicans have fulfilled our responsibility every year by passing a budget. But so far, those good faith efforts have died in the Democrat-led Senate.
For his part, President Obama has done nothing to encourage the Senate to pass a budget. Just this week in the Senate, the President's budget lost by a vote of 0 - 99. Last month, it failed in the House by a vote of 0 - 414. And last year, his budget lost 0 - 97 in the Senate.
This is a stunning repudiation of his leadership. At a time when America requires sober financial management, President Obama's fiscal plans have been so unserious, that not a single member his own party supported them with their vote.
Without a budget, is it any wonder that America's fiscal house is in total disarray?
President Obama has submitted four budgets, but none of them ever included a plan to save Social Security or Medicare. These are important programs that millions of Americans rely on. Without reform, they will not survive. And yet President Obama offers no solutions.
And because of the exploding debt caused by his failed policies, Americans are suffering every day from a faltering economy, and the prospects for our children and grandchildren are being diminished.
If you’re concerned about the financial future of America, these are not encouraging results.
We all want to see America prosper. We all want every American to have an equal opportunity to build a good life for themselves and their family.
And we are all disappointed by the failure of President Obama’s economic policies.
President Obama promised far more. If we had only known that at this point during his term in office:
-Average gas prices would more than double,
-Our nation’s debt would increase by $5.3 trillion,
-And unemployment would never fall below 8%.
Instead of concentrating on job creation, President Obama has concentrated on growing government and increasing its control over our lives.
His budget busting stimulus plan grew government, grew our debt, but failed to grow our economy.
President Obama then turned his attention to taking over 1/6 of our economy. He promised his healthcare plan would lower family premiums by $2,500 per year, but instead, they have increased by $2,300.
The President and members of his Administration are true believers in big government. They point to the 46 million Americans now on food stamps as a metric of success. It is not. It is a metric of failure that highlights how his policies have not put Americans back to work.
Because of his policies, dependence on government has increased, and individual opportunity has declined.
The social welfare economic model of Europe is collapsing. Countries like Greece have made promises to their citizens that they simply cannot afford. President Obama has put this country on the exact same path.
We can do better than this. America should do better.
It is time to return to the values and principles that made this country great. I grew up in an America that valued hard work and celebrated success. America became the economic engine of the world, not because of government, but because millions of Americans had the freedom to pursue their dreams.
We can reclaim this heritage once again and build a society where hard work is rewarded and every American has the opportunity to succeed.
Republicans are ready, willing, and able to lead this noble effort.
The Romney campaign has released its first ad of the general election campaign. "Day One" is a great ad with a positive message about what President Romney would do.
President Romney will have much to do, but approving the Keystone Pipeline, introducing tax reform to encourage job growth, and replacing ObamaCare will be a good start.
You can watch the ad below:
"Day One" Script
VIDEO TEXT: "What would a Romney Presidency be like?"
VOICEOVER: "What would a Romney Presidency be like?"
VIDEO TEXT: "Day 1"
VOICEOVER: "Day one, President Romney immediately approves the Keystone pipeline, creating thousands of jobs that Obama blocked."
VOICEOVER: "President Romney introduces tax cuts and reforms that reward job creators, not punish them."
VOICEOVER: "President Romney issues order to begin replacing ObamaCare with commonsense health care reform."
VOICEOVER: "That’s what a Romney Presidency will be like."
MITT ROMNEY: "I’m Mitt Romney and I approve this message."
Romney's "Day One" ad will initially run in the battleground states of Ohio, North Carolina, Iowa and Virginia.
Romney has previously told us that fostering job creation through economic growth will be his top priority from his first day in office. Some elements of Romney's plan will take time to set in motion, but on Day One he will submit a jobs package to Congress consisting of at least five major proposals and will demand that Congress act on the package within 30 days:
Five Bills for Day One
The American Competitiveness Act -- Reduces the corporate income tax rate to 25 percent.
The Open Markets Act -- Reinstates the president’s Trade Promotion Authority to facilitate negotiation of new trade agreements.
The Domestic Energy Act -- Directs the Department of the Interior to undertake a comprehensive survey of American energy reserves in partnership with exploration companies and initiates leasing in all areas currently approved for exploration.
The Retraining Reform Act -- Consolidates the sprawl of federal retraining programs and returns funding and responsibility for these programs to the states.
The Down Payment on Fiscal Sanity Act -- Immediately cuts non-security discretionary spending by five percent, reducing the annual federal budget by $20 billion.
President Romney will will also take "immediate and specific steps" by issuing a series of executive orders that gets the U.S. government out of the economy’s way:
Five Executive Orders for Day One
An Order to Pave the Way to End ObamaCare -- Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services and all relevant federal officials to return the maximum possible authority to the states to innovate and design health care solutions that work best for them.
An Order to Cut Red Tape -- Directs all agencies to immediately initiate the elimination of Obama-era regulations that unduly burden the economy or job creation, and then caps annual increases in regulatory costs at zero dollars.
An Order to Boost Domestic Energy Production -- Directs the Department of the Interior to implement a process for rapid issuance of drilling permits to developers with established safety records seeking to use pre-approved techniques in pre-approved areas.
An Order to Sanction China for Unfair Trade Practices -- Directs the Department of the Treasury to list China as a currency manipulator in its biannual report and directs the Department of Commerce to assess countervailing duties on Chinese imports if China does not quickly move to float its currency
An Order to Empower American Businesses and Workers -- Reverses the executive orders issued by President Obama that tilt the playing field in favor of organized labor, including the one encouraging the use of union labor on major government construction projects.
According to Marquette Law School Poll Director Charles Franklin, Republicans appear to hold an advantage in likely turnout for the June 5 recall election. Republicans are more likely to say they are "absolutely certain" to vote on June 5, at 91 percent, than are Democrats and independents, both at 83 percent.
Marquette poll also reports a shift in the balance of Republican and Democratic partisanship:
In January there were two percentage points more Democrats than Republicans in the poll. That rose to eight points in February but has since declined to six points in March, three points in April and now just one point in May. When independents are asked if they feel closer to a party, the balance tips to a one-point Republican advantage in the May data.
The poll also notes that the Democrat Public Policy Polling, finds a similar trend.
Retreating from the collective bargaining rights which were the initial focus of the kerfuffle between Wisconsin public workers' unions and Governor Walker over the state's budget, the campaign against Walker is now focused on jobs. Walker appears to be winning that battle as well.
Wisconsin state officials now report a gain of 23,321 jobs (public and private) between December 2010 and December 2011, which represents Governor Walker's first full year in office. That's much better than the much-cited earlier report of an estimated loss of 33,900 jobs for the same 12-month period.
A statement from Walker campaign spokeswoman Ciara Matthews indicated Walker was understandably pleased with the new jobs report:
"With more than 33,000 jobs created since Governor Walker took office and the unemployment rate plummeting to its lowest since 2008, it is certain the governor’s bold reforms and leadership are moving Wisconsin forward. Governor Walker’s policies have helped employers put more people back to work and our economy is moving toward greater prosperity for all. In contrast, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is presiding over a 28 percent spike in unemployment during his reign as mayor of the nation’s ninth poorest city. Wisconsinites cannot afford to undo the forward progress made under Governor Walker and go backward with Mayor Barrett and his failed record.
The quarterly data issued today by the DWD is comprised of reports issued to 96 percent of Wisconsin employers (over 150,000 Wisconsin employers). The size of the reported universe makes quarterly data much more reliable, as monthly jobs numbers are created from a small sample – only 3.5 percent – of Wisconsin employers."
Watch the following video in which Department of Revenue Chief Economist John Koskinen discusses various surveys used to calculate Wisconsin's job numbers.
The data for the new jobs report is obtained from more than 96 percent of Wisconsin employers, approximately 160,000 employers, compiled quarterly and submitted to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unlike the new jobs report, the earlier report used a much smaller sample of Wisconsin households and employers -- just about 3.5 percent of working age Wisconsinites.
The new report will be a big help to Walker because the Marquette poll also reported that Voters continue to hold negative views on jobs in the state, with many saying the state has lost jobs over the past year.
In addition, the new jobs report confirms other indicators that show Wisconsin is on the right track:
Wisconsin's unemployment rate is 6.8 percent in March of 2012 -- the lowest since 2008.
Wisconsin's per capital income is growing and is now 11th in the nation.
Speaking in Des Moines, Iowa this afternoon, Romney took President Obama to task for his incessant spending and borrowing:
"Today America faces a financial crisis of debt and spending that threatens what it means to be an American. Here in the heartland you know in your hearts that it’s wrong. We can’t spend another four years talking about solving a problem that we only make worse every day. When the men and women who settled the Iowa prairie saw a fire in the distance, they didn’t look around for someone else to save them or go back to sleep hoping the wind might blow another direction. They knew their fate was in their hands and so it is today. A prairie fire of debt is sweeping across Iowa and our nation and every day we fail to act we feed that fire with our own lack of resolve."
Romney went on to hit Obama for the so-called stimulus, the ever unpopular ObamaCare and the more than five trillion dollars the Obama deficits have added to the national debt:
"President Obama started his days in office with the trillion-dollar stimulus package – the biggest, most careless one-time expenditure by the federal government in history. And remember this: the stimulus wasn’t just wasted – it was borrowed and wasted. We still owe the money, we’re still paying interest on it, and it’ll be that way long after this presidency ends in January.
Then there was Obamacare. Even now nobody knows the exact cost of that new program. And that uncertainty has done great harm to our economy. Employers aren’t hiring, entrepreneurs are worried, all because of a massive, European-style entitlement that Americans didn’t want and can’t afford.
Through his own decisions, this President has added more than five trillion dollars to the national debt, which now stands at 15.7 trillion dollars."
Then Romney promised to lead us out of this debt and spending crisis:
"As president, I will approach debt and spending differently. My time spent building businesses and leading state government taught me that we need to hold every department and agency to a simple test: If something can be done better and more efficiently outside the federal government, then that’s where it belongs. Wherever we have the option of returning functions back to the states, to local governments, or, better still, to the private sector, that’s what we will do. We will make the federal government simpler, smaller, smarter – and, by the way, more in keeping with the vision of the Framers of our Constitution."
The excerpts are from Mitt Romney’s speech as prepared for delivery. The entire transcript is available here.
Last month the Romney campaign released a video highlighting President Obama's broken promises on spending, deficits and the national debt. You can watch the "Broken Promises: Spending" video below.
Today the national debt is 15,674,182,767,474.36 or $15.7 trillion, it was when President Obama took office it was $10,626,877,048,913.08 or $10.6 trillion.
In 2004, when the deficit was $413 billion and the national debt was $7,419,244,676,835.15 or $7.4 trillion, Obama said the "monstrous federal deficit" was an "enormous problem." On July 3, 2008, presidential candidate Obama said that adding $4 trillion in debt was "irresponsible" and "unpatriotic." Nevertheless, President Obama added more than $5 trillion to the national debt in three years.
President Obama has promised to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first time at least five times:
February 23, 2009: Obama Pledges to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term in office.
February 24, 2009: Obama pledges to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term in office.
May 26, 2009: Obama pledges to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term in office
December 8, 2009: Obama pledges to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term in office.
February 14, 2011: Obama pledges to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term in office.
Despite those promises Obama has racked up the largest deficits in U.S. history:
FY2009: The federal budget deficit was $1.413 trillion, the highest in U.S. history. ("Monthly Budget Review: November 2011," Congressional Budget Office, 11/7/11)
FY2011: The federal budget deficit was $1.299 trillion, the second highest in U.S. history. ("Monthly Budget Review: November 2011," Congressional Budget Office, 11/7/11)
FY2010: The federal budget deficit was $1.294 trillion, the third highest in U.S. history. ("Monthly Budget Review: November 2011," Congressional Budget Office, 11/7/11)
The CBO projects the deficit at the end of Obama’s first term will be $1.253 trillion, Obama’s fourth straight trillion deficit. ("An Anlysis Of The President’s 2013 Budget," Congressional Budget Office, 3/16/12)
You shouldn't be shocked by Obama's failure to reduce the deficit in half by the end of his first term in office. He did warn us there would be "trillion-dollar deficits for years to come."
A CBS4/Miami Herald analysis of information supplied by Miami-Dade shows a large number of the potential non-citizens voters cast ballots in the past -- including the 2000 election, when the presidency was decided by just over 500 votes.
According to Deputy Supervisor of Elections Christina White, there are a "lot of non-citizens on our registration rolls.”
Florida's Division of Elections is checking the citizenship of voters by comparing drivers license records, which show whether a licensed driver is also a U.S. citizen.
Non-citizens are able to become registered voters in Florida because if a non-citizen checks the box on the voter registration form that says they are a citizen they are registered to vote, because the form is signed under oath.
Those registered who are identified as possible non-citizens are reported to the State Attorney’s office The States Attorney may charge anyone who unlawfully registered to vote with a felony.
According to the Heritage Foundation's Hans Von Spakovsky, Florida's investigation is only looking at legal immigrants, not illegal aliens, who may have registered to vote even though they are not citizens. Von Spakovsky, a former member of the Federal Elections Commission, says that Florida is doing the right thing with this investigation, but is only scratching the surface. Florida can't check for illegal aliens who registered to vote because the Federal government is not giving Florida access to Immigration and Naturalization Service records which would help identify illegals who have registered to vote.
You can watch Bill Hemmer and Hans Von Spakovsky discuss Florida's investigation of non-citizens illegally voting in the following video:
Nearly four years after CNN reported on the scandalous ACORN voter fraud, and those fraudulent voter registrations were converted into fraudulent votes, we are still struggling to prevent voter fraud. Instead of working to prevent voter fraud, the Obama regime goes so far as to sue some states that require voters to show a photo ID in order to vote.
President Obama's politics of expediency -- his penchant for obfuscation and trying to be on both sides of controversial issues, finally caught up with him. Catching heat from all parts of the political spectrum because of his because of his bodacious gay marriage straddle, Obama finally man-upped and admitted in an ABC News interview that he supports gay marriage:
"I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married."
Many are reporting that this is the first time Obama has admitted his support for gay marriage. That is incorrect. During his 1996 run for Illinois state Senate, Obama admitted his support for gay marriage in a written response to a questionnaire from Chicago’s gay newspaper Outlines:
"I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages."
Since then, and until today's admission Obama has been, well, nuanced. In true John Kerry fashion:
How can Obama expect to be taken seriously on any issue when you cannot count on anything he says? When Obama states his position, you can only count on the fact that his position will change, or evolve, depending upon the audience and/or the political expedience of the moment.
Thanks to Politico for tracking down Obama's statements.
In yet another attempt to be on both sides of a controversial issue, President Obama refuses to be straight about his position on gay marriage.
During the 2008 presidential campaign Obama said he did not support same-sex marriage and believed "marriage is between a man and a woman." You can watch Obama say it here.
Two years later, on Oct. 27, 2010, Obama revealed that his views on gay marriage are evolving.
"I have been to this point unwilling to sign on to same-sex marriage primarily because of my understandings of the traditional definitions of marriage. But I also think you’re right that attitudes evolve, including mine."
Last year Obama instructed the Justice Department to no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, the legal prohibition on federal recognition of same-sex marriages.
Then, on Sunday, in an appearance on NBC’s "Meet the Press" Vice President Biden said that he is "absolutely comfortable" with gay couples having the same rights as heterosexual couples. On Monday Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said he believes gay marriage should be legal in the United States.
That got the White House press corps so hot and bothered that White House press secretary Jay Carney had to obfuscate president Obama's evolving position on same-sex marriage more than 50 times during yesterday's press briefing. Watch a video of Carney's ordeal:
The reason Obama goes to such lengths to try and be perceived on both sides of the gay marriage controversy is simple --it is his politics of expediency.
Today Gallup reported that 50 percent of Americans believe same-sex marriages should be recognized by law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages. That's down from 53 percent last year. Forty-eight percent say such marriages should not be legal. According to Gallup:
President Obama's campaign strategy team obviously is continuing to grapple with how to handle it -- with the vice president on the one hand essentially endorsing legalized gay marriage, while the administration on the other hand stops just short of the same pronouncement.
Two core Obama constituencies -– young voters and African-Americans -- are on opposite sides of the gay marriage divide. Today North Carolina, one of this year's critical swing states, is voting on a constitutional ban on gay marriage. So Obama, even more nuanced than Senator John Kerry, continues to try and be perceived as if he is both for and against gay marriage.
The new ad plays right into the hands of the Republican National Committee's effort to re-brand the 2008 Obama campaign "hope and change" theme with "hype and blame." Worse, after attempting to avert blame by once again talking about the "inherited" recession, and another reminder about getting bin Laden, the ad ends with this admission:
"Instead of losing jobs, we're creating them. Over 4.2 million so far. We're not there yet. It's still too hard for too many. But we're coming back."
This is a huge mistake for Obama. Having said that if he doesn't have this "done in three years, then there's going to be a one-term proposition," admitting that after three years "we are not there yet," is the same as admitting that he is going to be a one term president. Perhaps Obama was paying attention when Romney said, the presidential campaign is "still about the economy…and we’re not stupid."
The new ad will air in the battleground states of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, Iowa, North Carolina, Florida and Colorado. You can watch Obama's "Go" ad here.
A new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Poll finds the presidential race between President Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to be very close, with Romney leading by a single point -- 48% to 47%, among likely voters.
More important is the 10-point lead, 48% to 38%, Romney has among the critical Independents voters. That confirms Romney's six point lead among Independets that Gallup found last month.
The Battleground poll also found that Romney has a "6-point lead among those who describe themselves as extremely likely to vote in November."
Other interesting findings from the new Battleground poll include:
Obama's job approval rating stands at 48 percent, down five points from February.
Most respondents have already made up their minds about how to vote in the fall: Forty-three percent said with certainty they will vote to reelect Obama, and 42 percent said they will vote to replace the president.
Romney is closing the gender gap -- Obama leads among women by seven points, while Romney has the same lead among male voters. Obama leads among women younger than 45, 57% to 39%, while Romney leads among women older than 45, 50% to 45%.
In an interesting contrast to a message team Obama was spinning on the Sunday talk shows, Democratic pollster Celinda Lake who helped conduct the bipartisan poll admitted, "the Democrats are less enthusiastic than the Republicans."
The POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Poll was conducted from April 29 to May 3 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.
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