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Politics

national-debt-capitol-hill

US national debt piles up next to the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., where no one has the political courage to rise to the challenge of staving off the coming crisis.

The U.S. national debt has surpassed $19 trillion for the first time ever this week, a milestone that comes only a month after new dire budget projections.

The Congressional Budget Office last month released their revised budget projections that show the federal deficit ballooning as a result of the compromise between President Barack Obama and the newly elected House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

“If current laws generally remained unchanged, the deficit would grow over the next 10 years, and by 2026 it would be considerably larger than its average over the past 50 years,” the CBO projected. “Debt held by the public would also grow significantly from its already high level.”

The CBO report said the deficit will hit $544 billion in fiscal year 2016, which represents a staggering 24% increase over the prior year. It’s also represents a far cry from what the analysts had projected and promised in August, when they told Congress deficits would continue to fall on the margins.

National-Debt-Clock-19-Trillion

The U.S. national debt has surpassed $19

Politics

Ted-Cruz-Iowa-Memo-Split

Sen. Ted Cruz, right, speaks during a caucus night rally as his wife Heidi listens Monday, Feb. 1, 2016, in Des Moines, Iowa. An internal memo, left, circulating false information told operatives to spread the word at sites. (Photo: AP/Chris Carlson)

EARLIER: PPD has learned that caucus site supporters of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz were falsely telling caucus-goers Dr. Ben Carson had suspended his campaign. Based on the reports and evidence, it would appear that the spreading of this false information was intentional and specifically targeted the supporters of Dr. Carson because the Cruz campaign previously identified them as voters highly likely to back Cruz as their second choice.

UPDATE: Breitbart News has obtained voicemail audio that stands in complete contradiction to the defense put forward by Sen. Ted Cruz, as well as Jeff Tyler, the campaign’s communications director. Tyler specifically denied such calls went out making these claims during an appearance on “Hannity” Wednesday night.

[brid video=”27016″ player=”2077″ title=”Cruz voicemail 1 Carson Dropping Out Galveston Texas 707 p.m. CST”]

[inaudible]…from the Ted Cruz campaign, calling to get to a precinct captain, and it has just been announced that Ben Carson is taking a leave of absence from the campaign trail, so it is very important that you tell any Ben Carson voters that for tonight, uh, that they not waste a vote on Ben Carson, and vote for Ted Cruz. He is taking a leave of absence from his campaign. All right? Thank you. Bye.

[brid video=”27017″ player=”2077″ title=”Cruz voicemail 2 Carson Dropping Out Cruz Volunteer Line 729 p.m. CST”]

Hello, this is the Cruz campaign with breaking news: Dr. Ben Carson will be [garbled] suspending campaigning following tonight’s caucuses. Please inform any Carson caucus goers of this news and urge them to caucus for Ted instead. Thank you. Good night.

It’s important to note that the calls were placed after the Carson campaign had already clarified that Carson was not suspending his campaign. However, upon researching the results, Trump carried this particular precinct (DC-A-B). That said, as explained in the initial original story below, that’s not necessarily relevant as to whether this tactic swayed the results of the Iowa caucus (Read more below).

“The voicemails are in line with the reports that were made at that time,” Cruz campaign spokesperson Catherine Frazier told Breitbart News. “Our campaign shared an accurate report that Carson was suspending campaigning after the caucuses – he went home and he went to D.C. – and these voicemails do not suggest that he would completely drop out of the race.”

Republican primary voters will have to read the timeline below and decide whether they believe that or not. However, it is undeniable that the story from the Cruz team has evolved and the voicemail was not in line with reports at the time.

BACK TO ORIGINAL STORY: “There has never been a more tainted victory in the Iowa caucuses,” said Jason Osbourne, senior communications strategist for Ben Carson. “From the mailing denounced by the Iowa Secretary of State to his abject lies about Dr. Ben Carson, Senator Ted Cruz demonstrated he is a worst kind of Washington insider. No candidate who claimed to be an outsider would stoop to these tactics.”

The “mailing” cited by Mr. Osbourne, which claimed Iowans listed were guilty of a “voter violation” for lack of activity in past elections, made headlines the day before the Iowa caucus. But Osbourne produced an internal Cruz memo from Spence Rogers, a member of Cruz’s Iowa team, which instructed supporters to spread the false word to caucus-goers.

Ted-Cruz-Iowa-Memo

On Monday, Cruz’s team deployed some 12,000 volunteers, with precinct captains in roughly 90 percent of Iowa’s 1,681 precincts and county chairs and supportive pastors across the state. With such a significant ground game in place, it isn’t hard for analysts to conclude the effort could have had a significant impact on the outcome of the Iowa caucus results. If Cruz’s captains failed to sway just 4 votes each based on this information, Donald Trump would’ve won the Iowa caucus.

“This doesn’t look good for Sen. Cruz and certainly isn’t the news you want floating around the day after a win,” said Richard Baris, PPD’s senior political analyst. “I’m a data guy, and this smells really bad. It looks like a premeditated ‘Plan B’ effort.”

Because of Cruz’s data juggernaut, the campaign had already identified Carson supporters as a threat, despite their second choice preference. With Carson pulling in support from such a similiar pool of voters, particularly self-described evangelicals, a large enough showing from Carson could’ve denied Cruz a win and could’ve allowed Trump to carry the night. According to Baris, this would help to explain the disparity between the entrance polls and the results.

What’s important to remember is that neither Chris Moody at CNN or Dana Bash, whom the Cruz team is scapegoating, ever reported that Carson was quitting. On the contrary, Moody only initially said he was going to travel to Florida rather than New Hampshire. Yet, hours later the memo above went out with the added assertion that Carson was calling it quits and had plans to make a “big” announcement, which was never reported.

Further, Rep. Steve King, who serves as Cruz’s state chair, tweeted the falsehood after 8:30 p.m. local time, when he knew full well that it was incorrect. Moody had already sent out repeated clarifications and, again, never reported on any break or announcement.

Worth noting, Carson’s wife reported to have shown up to a caucus site to find supporters overjoyed to have her there to set the record straight with caucus-goers in the room. Following a speech, he carried that particular site. Unfortunately, PPD has spoken with numerous caucus-goers with identical stories, absent the clarification.

“Cruz over-performed no doubt in large part due to his organization,” Baris said. “But this helps me make sense of what otherwise appeared to be a strange and almost random pattern of results in certain counties. It certainly stains, at least in my mind, what previously appeared to be just a very impressive victory as a result of a well-engineered, organized grassroots campaign.”

PPD reached out to Jeff Tyler, the communications director for Ted Cruz. However, we did not receive a comment or response to the allegations. Tyler, among others on the Cruz team, were retweeting the unconfirmed reports ahead and during the caucuses.

[brid video=”26996″ player=”2077″ title=”Karl Rove Explains How Cruz ‘s Cheating Could’ve Cost Trump Iowa”]

PPD has learned that caucus site captains

Opinion

Donald-Trump-VT-Rally-AP

Donald Trump talks with supporters and signs autographs during a campaign stop at the Flynn Center of the Performing Arts in Burlington, Vt., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. (Photo: AP)

“As far as single payer, it works in Canada, it works incredibly well in Scotland.” “I would press for universal health care. … I would put forward a comprehensive health care program and fund it with an increase in corporate taxes.” “We must have universal healthcare.”

“I hate the concept of it, but on a humanitarian basis, you have to (take in Syrian refugees).”

“I support the ban on assault weapons and I also support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun.” “I hate the concept of guns.” “The Republicans walk the NRA line and refuse even limited restrictions.” “I probably identify more as a Democrat.”

“Everybody’s got to be covered. This is an un-Republican thing to say. I’m going to take care of everybody. … The government is going to pay for it.” “I believe the Republicans are just too crazy right.”

“I’ve very impressed by (Nancy Pelosi). I like her a lot.” “Hillary is a great friend of mine. Her husband is a great friend of mine.”

“I’m a liberal on healthcare.” “As far as single payer, it works incredibly well in Canada.” “I am pro-choice in every respect.”

Those are Donald Trump’s words over the last number of years. Trump’s position supporting a socialist healthcare scheme is about the only consistent position he has maintained.

In 2010, Donald Trump funded Democrat efforts to stop Republicans from taking back Congress. In 2014, he switched teams and supported the Republican Establishment against conservatives. Now he has tilted all the way to the right to support the anti-establishment conservatives he so recently hated as “crazy right.”

Conservatives, particularly evangelicals, have lost their ability to discern wolves in sheep’s clothing. Donald Trump calls himself a Christian, but has never asked God for forgiveness and sees no need to repent. Point that out to many an evangelical Christian and they will be quick to accuse you of judging Donald Trump. And if you point out that 1 Corinthians 5 makes clear that Christians are to judge anyone who calls himself a Christian, Trump defenders will proclaim they are not electing a pastor. Paul wrote, “(do not) associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler.” The Bible also implores the faithful to seek out godly men for their leaders.

Pastors in the United States — including Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, an evangelical megachurch — have hitched their wagons to Trump. Jeffress and other evangelical ministers seem convinced that the flawed vessel of Donald Trump can make America great again when they, as pastors, are supposed to be saving souls, not nations. Jeffress and his cohorts are seeking earthly powers to fight spiritual battles.

That men who spend their time wrapped in scripture and preaching in pulpits are quick to embrace a man who is on his third wife gets me thinking. This man is on his third wife — after having cheated on his first wife with his second — and says he has never asked God for forgiveness, cannot name a favorite book of the Bible and has no favorite passage of scripture. This suggests to me that many Christian preachers in this country have unsure moorings and let their homesickness for this country as they think they once knew it supersede their homesickness for the land to which they have not yet been, but to which they supposedly long.

As Screwtape wrote to Wormwood, “we want a man hag-ridden by the Future — haunted by visions of an imminent heaven or hell upon earth — ready to break the Enemy’s commands in the present if by so doing we make him think he can attain the one or avert the other — dependent for his faith on the success or failure of schemes whose end he will not live to see. We want a whole race perpetually in pursuit of the rainbow’s end, never honest, nor kind, nor happy now, but always using as mere fuel wherewith to heap the altar of the future every real gift which is offered them in the Present.” Many a pastor and Christian for Trump seems hag-ridden by the Future and ready to pursue a rainbow.

Erick Erickson tries to underscore Donald Trump's

Opinion

OC-Forest-Lands-Sign-PL-NR

The 187,000 acres on which sits the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge never belonged to the state of Oregon, much less the band of cowboy exhibitionists who’d taken it over. This and other federal lands were acquired through conquest over, purchases from or treaties with Mexico, Russia, Spain, England, France and Native Americans.

The federal government lets loggers, ranchers and other businesses make a subsidized living off public land, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer. The fees ranchers pay for grazing on federal land are considerably below those charged by private landowners. The government loses money on nearly all timber sales on public land.

Now that we’ve gotten this off our chests, let’s sympathize with the hardworking people of the rural West, losing a beautiful way of life to harsh economic realities. The growing poverty in the sparsely populated high desert of south central Oregon is shared by communities far from the region’s booming cities.
The good folks of Harney County certainly did not deserve this invasion by outsiders. They are entitled to resent the closing of the refuge along with threats against neighbors working there. The disruption spread through the community.

It’s true that the federal government owns massive amounts of Western land. It’s true that tighter environmental restrictions have curtailed some economic activity on this property. And we must recognize that many local complaints about federal management of the land have merit.

But a federal retreat from the rural West would spell economic disaster. Thinking people throughout the West understand this. In Harney County, government paychecks account for 60 percent of earned income.

Consider this headline in The Missoulian newspaper: “Rural western Montana counties struggling mightily with loss of federal funds.” This happened during the 2014 budget wars, when Congress failed to renew the Secure Rural Schools Act and Community Self-Determination Act. Gone was $300 million in subsidies for roads, schools, government jobs and other programs.

Rural Westerners might ask themselves why so many of them buy into the “government is evil” philosophy. The conservatives they send to Washington have made common cause with Easterners eager to save their taxpayers some dollars.

Ronald Reagan famously said, “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases.” One was “if it stops moving, subsidize it.”

You don’t have to be a small-government conservative to question the trainload of subsidies that keep many rural economies moving. If a shoe factory in Massachusetts can’t make a profit, it closes. Why are the rules so different for Western agricultural businesses?

It’s easy to blame environmentalists and ignore the biggest killer of logging jobs: automation and a large forested landmass called Canada.

Rural areas benefit from the federal Payment in Lieu of Taxes program — whereby Washington sends money to counties with large tracts of federal land that local governments can’t tax. (The fairest of subsidies, the funding was cut under sequestration.) Some suggest changing the program to direct more money toward the poorer communities.

A wildlife refuge is itself an economic asset. The federal government pays salaries and other costs of maintaining an amenity that also brings in tourists.
Do the state and local taxpayers care to bear these costs? Or would the plan be to let industry pay for the right to savage the land, except for the nicest vistas, which would be sold to billionaire “ranchers”?

An estimated 47 million bird watchers in America spend $40 billion a year on their passion. Having a federal wildlife refuge in your community seems not a bad deal at all.

As Reagan said, “Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.”

The federal government lets loggers, ranchers and

Opinion

Thomas-Sowell

Random thoughts on the passing scene:

Will this November’s presidential election come down to a choice between a felon and a pied piper?

People who call Barack Obama a lame duck president seem not to have noticed that he is exercising more power than ever, and has turned the Republican Congress into a lame duck branch of government.

The best New Year’s Resolution I ever made was to stop trying to reason with unreasonable people. That may be especially valuable during an election year.

With 4 of the 9 Supreme Court justices being more than 75 years old, the next president will probably be appointing replacements who can help determine the direction of American law well into the next generation. This is just one of the many very serious things that we can only hope the voters keep in mind, instead of voting on the basis of just one issue or on emotions.

Among the common phrases of the past that we seldom hear today is “None of your business.” Apparently everything is other people’s business these days, including the media’s business and the government’s business.

In this scientific age, it is amazing how many people act as if magic words can make realities vanish. For example, they talk as if behavioral differences between groups can be made to disappear by saying the magic word, “stereotypes.” This fallacy affects everything from statistical claims of discrimination to admitting refugees with cultures hostile to our own.

After a famous naval victory in the War of 1812, Commodore O.H. Perry reported: “We have met the enemy and they are ours.” After the Republican Congressional majority’s repeated capitulations to the Democrats’ minority, Congressional Republicans could say, “We have met the enemy and we are theirs.”

The central non sequitur of the political left is that, because America has never lived up to its ideals, it is to be condemned and repudiated. But what society of human beings has ever lived up to all its ideals? Despite all its achievements, America is condemned by the left because it is not exempt from all the sins and failings found in societies around the world.

One of the apparently immortal fallacies is the belief that disarming peaceful people reduces violence. That fallacy underlies both national disarmament and gun control within nations.

In trying to come up with alternatives to the welfare state, even some staunch conservatives have created plans that exempt low-income people from paying taxes, or plans that provide some basic income to all, making it unnecessary to work. But exempting anyone from responsibility and reciprocity as members of society risks disaster for those individuals and for society.

Egalitarians never seem to understand that promoting economic equality in theory means promoting resentments and polarization in practice, making everyone worse off.

It is corruption if an elected official uses his office to get money for himself or for someone else. But judges can fine someone to pay a donation to some organization that the judge favors. Typically these are organizations on the left. But I am sure the left would see the problem if a conservative judge forced people to donate money to the National Rifle Association.

Someone is always parading statistics showing that some small number of people at the top of the income scale have more than some larger number of people at the bottom. But would we be better off if people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs had never created things that widened our access to opportunities and enriched our lives, just because it also enriched theirs?

Some people are surprised at how many young people look favorably on socialism. But socialism is a wonderful-sounding idea. Those who have lived through the era of its disasters in the 20th century, or learned about them from history, are likely to see through the appearances to the reality. A young age prevents the former and our dumbed-down education prevents the latter.

A biographer of Herbert Hoover said that he was a great man but not a great president. Had he never become president, Hoover’s greatness in other areas would still be remembered today. But his wrong economic moves as president were amplified by his successor, and mired the country in a decade of tragedy. Great achievements in other areas are no reason to make someone president.

Thomas Sowell, a senior fellow at the

Politics

Ted-Cruz-Iowa-Caucus

Ted Cruz’s team is deploying what it says is 12,000 volunteers for the Iowa caucuses. | AP Photo

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the man who put it all on the line in the Hawkeye State, has won the 2016 Iowa Republican caucus with 99% of precincts reporting. Donald Trump came in second place followed closely by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Dr. Ben Carson. Cruz led the pack with 28% support from caucus-goers, with Trump at 25% and Rubio a surprising 24%.

Turnout on the Republican side blew past the prior 122,000-plus record set in 2012, with officials estimating turnout could hit upwards of 180,000.

Cruz, in large part due to his superior organization, outperformed his polling support statewide by at least 6 points, while Trump underperformed by 4.2 points. Rubio over-performed by 6.1 points. Cruz allies have been pounding Trump in the more conservative state of Iowa, seeing it as their best chance to stop the man who has been leading in the polls for months.

“Congratulations to Ted Cruz for winning the Iowa GOP Caucus, and to Marco Rubio for a great finish,” said Club for Growth president David McIntosh, a Cruz ally. “Republican voters want a consistent, pro-growth, small-government economic conservative to be president, not a phony liberal. Pro-growth candidates won a clear majority from GOP caucus goers, while Donald Trump badly underperformed and lost. Republican voters will continue to bail on Trump as they learn the truth about his long-held far-left positions on taxes, health care, bailouts, and eminent domain.”

In the end, it was Cruz’s organization that carried the day and the caucus. Last week, he completed the “Full Grassley,” a reference to the state’s favorite senator, Chuck Grassley, who makes an annual trip to all 99 counties. On Monday, Cruz’s team deployed some 12,000 volunteers, with precinct captains in roughly 90 percent of Iowa’s 1,681 precincts and county chairs and supportive pastors across the state.

And it worked. Cruz has set a record for the most Iowa Republican caucus votes out of any candidate.

“Sen. Ted Cruz put together and ran one of the finest grassroots, ground game campaigns I’ve ever witnessed,” said Richard Baris, PPD’s senior political analyst. “Cruz drove turnout in counties he needed to drive it up in and kept the margins very close in counties he was never expected to. It was an extremely impressive performance.”

Meanwhile, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, the winner of the 2008 Iowa caucus, announced shortly after the results that he is suspending his campaign.

Now, Cruz and the rest of the GOP field head to New Hampshire, the first in the nation primary where Trump has held a substantial lead, The Granite State is far more friendly territory to the New York businessman and far less friendly to the Texas victor. Trump leads in New Hampshire by over 21 points on the PPD average of New Hampshire Republican primary polls, though Rubio will hope to capitalize on his better-than-expected showing.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the man who

Politics

martin-omalley-2016

Martin O’Malley is joined by his wife Katie O’Malley as he announces his intention to seek the Democratic presidential nomination. (Photo: Jim Bourg/Reuters), Mart

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is suspending his campaign following his poor showing in the Iowa Democratic caucus Monday night. PPD confirms O’Malley will suspend his campaign at around 10:30 local time at a local restaurant.

With 80% of precincts reporting, O’Malley earned just 0.5% of the vote in the Iowa Democratic caucus.

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is suspending

Politics

Donald Trump Holds Slight Lead in Iowa Caucus Entrance Polls

Iowa-Caucus-Reuters

(Photo: Brian Snyder/Reuters)

UPDATE: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is currently outperforming his polling support statewide by 6 points, while Donald Trump is underperforming by 1 point. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is holding his own in third place, hurting Trump slightly more than Cruz, who remains in the leader slot. Big voting centers in Des Moines, among others, are still out.

Turnout will likely hit–if not break–150,000 on the Republican side. That, as PPD predicted, will absolutely shatter the prior caucus turnout record of 122,000-plus in 2012. Though that typically was thought to favor Trump, organization is carrying the night.

EARLIER: Several Iowa Republican caucus sites are reporting they are running out of ballots and registration forms amid high turnout in certain precincts. Donald Trump has a slight lead in the Iowa caucuses based on early entrance poll estimates, followed closely by Ted Cruz in second and Marco Rubio a fairly distant third.

Excitement and a desire for a political outsider, as well as support from first-time caucus goers are boosting Trump in entrance poll results, while Cruz is winning support from very conservative participants. But evangelical Christians are closely splitting their vote between Cruz (26%), Trump (24%), Rubio (21%) and Carson (12%).

New caucus-goers, which are making up nearly half of the electorate, are choosing Trump (44%) over Rubio (21%), with Cruz earning 18% and Carson taking 10%.

Late deciders are breaking toward Rubio with 28%, Cruz with 20%, Trump at 14% and Carson 11%. But they make up roughly a third of the caucus electorate versus nearly 48% in 2012. Outsiders are ruling the day by 51% to 43% and, of those voters, Trump is the number one choice of 49%. Only Carson and Cruz are far behind with 16%.

This one will come down to the last ballot, but as the real vote begins to come in, it appears that Cruz has a tiny lead in the raw vote. However, the sample is small and Carson’s support among evangelicals is hurting Cruz against Trump. When later results come in, considering the new participants flooding in at sites, it will be a very small margin for Cruz if he can hold on.

Cruz counties are coming in first, while counties like Dubuque, where Trump is expected to perform better than the state average, haven’t reported yet.

Several Iowa Republican caucus sites are reporting

Economy

Bikini Luxe

If you are an admirer of grandiloquent swimwear, then you must have heard of Bikini Luxe – the primary choice for any bikini shopper over the Internet, and why not, I ask? In only 18 months,they are the third largest online swimwear company in the world and planning to be in second or even first,this year! Presently, they hold over 5 million impressions over Pinterest, stocking over 1800 different bikinis to choose from.

The name Bikini Luxe originates from her nickname Bikini Geek, mixed with the short termLuxe derived from Luxury, which every woman aspires. Bikini Luxe is one of the fastest growing online swimwear companies, and at the heart of it, is her audacious founder Candice Galek, who defines herself at her own website as the “ultimate bikini geek”. She is not just another pretty face you stumble across internet business portals, rather a face carved with ambitions as she chooses to define herself through her prosperity over the Internet. Here is her success story:

Candice Galek, being born and raised on the sunny beaches of South Florida, has always been the ultimate fashionista over the bikini industry and she let her success prove her fascination for bikinis, as it all started with her fiery passion for swimwear and all the inspiration she received from her love for the beach lifestyle and her experiences from traveling.

Candice’s journey started when she realized women deserve much better when it comes to shopping online for swimsuit. She used to search the Internet to get an overview regarding her target market. Important part of the inception was accepting the huge learning curve for online companies but never slowing down the enthusiasm to learn, and being the vibrant character as she is, she chose to wake herself early in the morning and venture into new apps and services that could help her in the grander scheme of her business.

Even now, she is constantly looking for new products, apps and platforms that can help her business grow. With such dedication, it is not surprising that she discovered the lack of enough budget-friendly online options for those who wanted to dress as mermaids. She knew she needed to make a difference and that is how Bikini Luxe took over the internet like a storm.

The beginning of any success story is not always easy and her one was not any different. Candice initially struggled to find supporters, since her brand was still new in business. However, fate eventually took a different turn and favored the brave and fearless as she did not allow stress to overpower her and kept her entrepreneurial flame burning. With her passion and hard work, she was soon able to change her figures, moving on from tens of visitors per day to hundreds and jumping to thousands of bikini shoppers in just 18 months of business – that is success!

Initially, nobody wanted to work with her fledgling brand but now it transformed into a name – a name companies and brands larger than the ones Bikini Luxe originally reached out to, are always contacting to collaborate. Having been an unsatisfied customer herself, Galek particularly praises her PR and SEO team for all her explosive achievements. She feels that they made an impact in the online market by focusing on customer service which, to her, is something that a lot of other online retailers fail to do.

That is how businesses become successful – you asses a void in the market, which graduates will have you believe as a market failure, you venture out to fill the void like the perfect missing piece of the puzzle, devise strategies to pitch it up to your customers and success is just a matter of time.

However easy it may sound, the way gets tough without the appropriate group of people, and Galek knew she needed the right people to work with when narrating her success tale with a silver pen. They started out focusing on South Florida based brands from Miami and Ft. Lauderdale; she found a niche market of local Miami designers that had beautiful bikinis but little knowledge of SEOs or selling online, and went for face to face meetings with them. This allowed Bikini Luxe to truly comprehend the brands designers were carrying;in return, designers understood what they were collectively aiming for. With all their powers combined, local knowledge of bikinis and pitching it up for sales online, the two parties collaborated and changed their fates for good.

Finding the right team to work with is never easy but Galek, using her charisma, energized the whole team and gradually moved Bikini Luxe up the ladder. She was keen to hire teams from all over the world, consisting mainly of people specializing in Search Engine Optimization and Marketing.

The Bikini Luxe team fully grasped the importance of Search Engine Optimization, which is why the team utilized its skill to devise lucrative bikini related keywords to capture attention on Search Engines and rise in ranks. Bikini Luxe currently has a full-time team dedicated to just shopping websites and a separate in-house team that takes care of their social media and SEO; what became passion for one, turned in to a goal for the whole!

Galek, as a personality, is quite impressive on her views and philosophies too. When asked about her brand philosophy in an interview, she replied the following:

I find myself including sayings such as these into my work: “The better you dress, the worse you can behave” and“Looking good and feeling good come naturally when you choose the right brands and fabrics.”

In another interview, when she was asked about her promotional and marketing strategies, she mentioned the importance of SEO when it comes to e-commerce:

“These days it’s all about Social Media Marketing. SEO is always changing, but we try to keep up with the times and change our game plan frequently.”

Bikini Luxehas always made themselves available wherever there is an opportunity, which is why they are grossing around a quarter of a million social media followers across different channels which includes Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Wanelo, Polyvore, YouTube, Google+, etc, and the journey is still ongoing. In the coming years, Bikini Luxe is planning on expanding to newer waters by featuring many new brands and types of items offered, as well as furthering their own brand name. To Galek, every day is a scope for a new challenge and the goal, asBikini Luxe, is always on the surfboard to beat the big waves.

If you are an admirer of grandiloquent

Politics

Ted-Cruz-Donald-Trump

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, left, and Donald Trump, right. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Turnout on Monday for the Iowa Republican caucus is expected to shatter the previous recorded high of 122,225 in 2012, party officials estimate. Turnout in the Iowa Republican caucus could hit as high as 150,000 and the state party is moving to ensure caucus sites are prepared.

“We’ve never seen this level of intensity. We are getting an average of a hundred calls an hour from people asking where their caucus sites are. It is normally closer to four or five,” Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said Monday morning. “I can’t imagine a scenario in which that previous record isn’t broken.”

That is particularly bad news for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who cannot simply rely only on his base to show up to earn enough support to emerge victorious in the Iowa Republican caucus Monday night. If Cruz is to win he also needs Donald Trump’s supporters to not show up to caucus. While estimates vary, conventional wisdom between and among the campaigns put Cruz’s tipping point from 135,000 to 150,000.

“If that number goes well above that, Donald Trump has a shot,” said Iowa Rep. Steve King, who has campaigned almost continuously with Cruz all month. “If that number is that or below that, Ted Cruz is in control.”

But analysts say Trump has more than just a shot even if those numbers don’t exceed 150,000. Quietly, Cruz’s backers are predicting–or, rather they are counting on–less than 135,000 people showing up to caucus Monday night.

“If we are to believe the polls, the reality of the problem for Cruz is that Trump wins even without a surge of new voters,” Richard Baris, PPD’s senior political analyst said. “His performance among evangelicals is far stronger than most pundits and campaign operatives ever thought it would be. Cruz needs to expand his edge and right now he’s too busy trying to hold them against Sen. Marco Rubio.”

Kaufmann also said a greater than anticipated number of independents and Democrats are switching their voting registration to participate in the Iowa Republican caucus. He said he attributes much of that to the Trump message and, to a lesser extent, Sen. Rand Paul bringing in younger voters previously registered as Democrats.

Jeff Roe, Cruz’s campaign manager, disputed the models and the impact of turnout shown in recent polls. Roe mocked the latest Des Moines Register/Bloomberg poll that had Trump leading with 28%, Cruz with 23% and Rubio with 15%, tweeting the survey suggested turnout of 386,000. That assertion was disputed by the J. Ann Selzer, who runs the widely respected state survey.

“Turnout seems not to affect him [Trump],” Selzer said. “Either way, he seems on solid ground.”

Meanwhile, Trump ended an event in Waterloo, Iowa, early Monday afternoon where he slammed against D.C. Republicans for being ineffective at stopping President Obama’s agenda. The national frontrunner also pressed his supporters to caucus at all costs before moving on to another event at Cedar Rapids.

On Monday, Cruz’s team deployed some 12,000 volunteers, with precinct captains in roughly 90 percent of Iowa’s 1,681 precincts and county chairs and supportive pastors across the state.

“We are in uncharted territory here,” Baris says. “Whomever is telling you that they know who will win the Iowa Republican caucus, is full of hot air.”

Turnout on Monday for the Iowa Republican

People's Pundit Daily
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