From Eric Dondero:

The leftwing SB Nation mentions matter of factly that five NASCAR drivers are snubbing Obama who invited them to a ceremony at the White House recently:

President Barack Obama will honor NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson and the 11 other Chase drivers from last year in a White House ceremony on Wednesday - but nearly half of the 2010 playoff contenders won't be there.

NASCAR said Thursday that five drivers - Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart - will not be attending the White House visit due to "schedule conflicts."

Rick Moran writing at American Thinker pegs it (NASCAR drivers give thumbs down to presidential visit):

The sneering condenscension of the left for "NASCAR Dads" has not gone unnoticed among the ranks of drivers - most of whom have a pretty good PR sense when it comes to their fans. Like C&W singers, the bond between a driver and his fans is very close and it is not surprising that since most fans of NASCAR have strong feelings against the president, that drivers would forgo the opportunity to be a prop in his re-election campaign.

Photo - One of my personal NASCAR favorites Carl Edwards. Carl's page

With 0% Job Growth Obama administration says No to 5,000 new private sector jobs

From Eric Dondero:

AT&T pledged to re-locate over 5,000 jobs from India to the United States if the deal were to be approved. But the Obama DOJ said no to the merger.

The International Business Times reports that back in May, Perry expressed his strong support for the merger:

Perry, in his official capacity as the Texas Governor, even wrote a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in support of it.

Below are some of the pro-merger arguments Perry made:

- AT&T's commitment of $8 billion in additional investments

- More wireless broadband access to rural America

- More U.S. network capacity and output

The Perry campaign has since re-iterrated the Governor's support.

In response, a Perry spokesperson told the publication that the governor believes the deal "will be good for consumers, good for technology innovation, and good for American job creation."

From Eric Dondero:

Libertarian Republican columnist for the WSJ John Fund goes down a laundry list of reasons why Sarah Palin will not be running for president, and will ultimately endorse her friend Rick Perry in his latest, "Why Sarah Palin Is Not Running."

Fund outlines strong hints from Palin such as her lack of any organization, her less-than-stellar poll numbers in the GOP primary race, familial responsibilities, and her very latest statements.

Also, this little juicy tidbit (via NewsMax):

So if Sarah Palin isn’t running for president, what will she do in 2012? Even as a non-candidate she has the potential to shake up the GOP race. In a recent slickly-produced video producer by Team Palin that chronicles her bus tour of Iowa, Palin shakes hands with a girl in an “Americans for Rick Perry” T-shirt and then poses for a photo with the girl and her fellow Perry supporters.

“Given the elaborate editing that went into this production, is it likely that Palin would have approved a visual nod to Perry as a mere coincidence?” asks blogger Robert Stacy McCain, a keen-eyed Palin watcher. “I don’t think so.”

Photo credit - UncleJimbo.com