TelePrompTer SCRIPT FOR TODAY’S EPISODE OF PJ NEWS BREAK WITH SCOTT OTT

SCOTT OTT: It’s Wednesday, March 13, 2012, and this is news.

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Despite a huge campaign-spending advantage, and a comfortable lead in the polls just days before the primaries, Mitt Romney came in third in both Alabama and Mississippi last night. Rick Santorum won both states. The race now moves to Puerto Rico, Louisiana, Missouri and Illinois.

Romney, who did not hold an election night rally, said he’s still confident that the delegate math favors his nomination, noting he picked up more delegates than Santorum, thanks to victories in Hawaii and American Samoa. These come on the heels of Romney victories in Guam, the Northern Marianas and the Virgin Islands.

‘Like a lot of American businessmen,’ Romney said, ‘I do well offshore.’

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An unnamed Republican National Committee source defended Romney, saying that the former Massachusetts governor is like the Chevy Volt — ‘Sure it’s expensive and it’s product of big government and crony capitalism,’ he said, ‘and granted, it does better when you keep it close to home — but it’s still the one that people think they ought to want.’

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Newt Gingrich finished a close second in both Alabama and Mississippi and says he’s taking the fight all the way to the convention in Tampa, despite having won only his home state and neighboring South Carolina after 25 contests.

Addressing rumors that one of his advisers is pushing a Santorum-Gingrich ticket, the former House speaker said he’s not ruling out anything, and he would challenge Vice President Joe Biden a series of seven, three-hour debates.

A Biden campaign spokesman said the vice president is not intimidated by Newt’s intelligence or skill, and has already offered to face him in a series of seven bouts of Angry Birds.

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Updated numbers from the Congressional Budget Office show that the Affordable Care Act, will cost nearly twice the CBO’s original estimate — jumping from $940 billion over 10 years, to $1.76 trillion, and will also generate more revenue for the federal government. The so-called ObamaCare law will result in more Americans moving to Medicaid, fewer participating in government-sponsored health care exchanges, and more employers and workers paying penalties for opting out, than the CBO had previously estimated.

A White House spokesman said the President is aware of rising cost and revenue projections, and he’s committed to making the law even more unpalatable, to generate additional penalty dollars from those who don’t want to participate.

‘The more unpopular we make it,’ he said, ‘the more affordable it becomes.’

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And finally today, Orlando-Sanford International Airport, one of America’s 30 busiest airports announced it would opt out of the Transportation Security Administration’s passenger screening system, providing its own security staff instead. This after persistent complaints to the TSA about unnecessary groping and strip searching.
For Florida visitors who enjoy TSA-style services, the White House said, there’s always Spring Break.

For PJ News Break, I’m Scott Ott. Click on PJT dot com throughout the day for your antidote to the obsolete media.

PJ News Break Channel on YouTube

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