Category Archives: government
Cartoon(s) of the Week – Does Big Bird sum up the Debate?
Jeff Danziger in the L. A. Times:
So what is memorable from the debate?
– and –
Robert McKee in the Augusta Chronicle:
Are the issues food or labor?
– and –
Nick Anderson in the Houston Chronicle:
Did you see them serve up their achievements or potentials?
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Clay bennet in the Chattanooga Times Free Press:
As displayed by his announcement to cure the deficit by dropping PBS and Big Bird.
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Gary McCoy for Universal Press Syndicate:
Oh well… Halloween is coming. Do you think we can forget politics for a while?
Related articles
- Cartoon: Decision 2012 (englishblog.com)
Obama was blocked by Republicans from passing so many bills. Romney doesn’t seem to know that.
In 2010, Mitch McConnell set the Republican Senators’ goal to make sure Obama didn’t get the legislation he promoted approved. Both the Senate and House Republicans set working AGAINST Obama as more important than working FOR America.
Here’s the Republican record for the past 3.5 years:
- Tax companies that ship jobs overseas – BLOCKED (Source)
- The Dream Act – BLOCKED (Source)
- Political Ad disclosure Bill – BLOCKED 2x (Source)
- Small Business Jobs Act – BLOCKED 2x (Source)
- Anti- Rape Amendment – BLOCKED (Source)
- Benefits for Homeless Veterans – BLOCKED (Source)
- Affordable Healthcare for America – Voted 33x to Repeal (Source)
- Healthcare for the 9/11 First Responders – BLOCKED (Source)
- The Jobs Bill – BLOCKED (Source)
- Wall Street Reform – BLOCKED (Source)
- Oil Spill Liability – BLOCKED (Source)
- Immigration Reform – BLOCKED (Source)
- Fair Pay Act of 2009 – BLOCKED and DEFEATED (Source)
- Unemployment Extension Bill – BLOCKED (Source)
In 2012 they want you to think that Obama is to BLAME!! What do Americans think? If your neighbor blames Obama, pass this list on and let them know the way the GOP congress has acted.
Related articles
- Poll: Hispanics in Florida favor President Barack Obama over Mitt Romney, 61-31 (tampabay.com)
- If Obama Won’t Defend the Last Four Years, Why Would America Give Him Another Four Years? (swampland.time.com)
- Obama Blames GOP, Economy for His ‘Biggest Failure’ (commentarymagazine.com)
- I Don’t Need a Reporter to Tell Me That Obama Won the First Debate – and on His Anniversary !!! (bonjupatten.com)
- Barack Obama: Says 50 million people would lose their health insurance if Obamacare is repealed. (politifact.com)
- Obama zings Romney: Are you keeping your plans secret because they’re too good? (rawstory.com)
- Mark Gongloff: Romney’s Dodd-Frank Comments Shock Bewildered Bankers (huffingtonpost.com)
Nestle, Byron (my dogs) and I agree with Bill Maher:
(Thanks to All Hat, No Cattle for putting this one up.)
Related articles
Unemployment rate drops to 7.8%!
After listening to Romney accusing the President of not being able to get the unemployment rate below 8.1%, today the newest rate report was released. At 7.8% it’s lowest level since January 2009.
Let’s hear it for the President as the rate came down and jobs, even though just a little (114000 jobs in September), moved up.
Meanwhile, what has Romney done to support his country in helping promote unemployment activity? Why, nothing. Nothing at all.
Related articles
- Unemployment rate drops to 7.8 percent, lowest in four years (wjla.com)
- Unemployment rate falls to 7.8% (abcactionnews.com)
- The death of a talking point (maddowblog.msnbc.com)
- US unemployment rate falls to 7.8 pct. in September (bostonherald.com)
- Unemployment rate below 8%, but Romney says not enough (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
- 114K new jobs, unemployment drops to 7.8% (cbsnews.com)
- Unemployment Rate Drops to 7.8% (politicalwire.com)
Romney says he’ll eliminate PBS to cut the debt… Not a good move!
He shouldn’t have let us know that Sesame Street was on the line for cancellation if he was elected. Big Bird is going to get even by exposing the Mittster’s lies:
Obama’s comments today about Romney and the debate… a GREAT speech.
Obama gave this speech in Denver this morning:
It looks like Obama is putting the Mittster on the rack for a roast. I assume this is a key to what will happen in the next debate.
Related articles
- Mitt Romney Jots Down Ideas For Concession Speech While Obama Talks (theonion.com)
- A relaxed Romney rolls by out-of-sync Obama in first presidential debate (miamiherald.com)
- Denver debate is a presidential wonkfest, send in the fact checkers (denverpost.com)
- Video: Romney fights Obama on $5 trillion tax cut (cbsnews.com)
- Many watch debate; some are pleased, few are moved (sacbee.com)
Romney’s Pants are On Fire…
Romney pumped out at least 20 lies last night, masquerading them as fact. What I found interesting is the statement he made about his sons who could tell the same lies over a period of time until they were accepted as fact. This is obviously a family trait.
Here are some examples of Romney’s fabrications:
Mitt: “I don’t have a $5 trillion tax cut. I don’t have a tax cut of a scale that you’re talking about.”
A Tax Policy Center analysis of Romney’s proposal for a 20% across-the-board tax cut in all federal income tax rates, eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax, eliminating the estate tax and other tax reductions, would reduce federal revenue $480 billion in 2015. This amount to $5 trillion over the decade.
Mitt: “I will not under any circumstances raise taxes on middle-income families. I will lower taxes on middle-income families.”
The studies Romney cites actually further prove that Romney would, in fact, have to raise taxes on the middle class if he were to keep his promise not to lose revenue with his tax rate reduction. Combine this with his statement two weeks ago that “Middle Income” means an annual earning averaging $250,000.00 with a minimum of $200,000.00. That sure sounds like upper income to me. Us $50-60,000.00 folks will get taxed.
And what about corporations that ship jobs overseas?
If he’s such a businessman… who has actually sent companies to China… don’t you think he knows about the tax break?
I wonder ho many lies will come out of the VP debate? Ryan certainly has been spouting them since his nomination.
Frankly, I don’t believe anything the Republican candidates say. If they have learned to do a good performance of untruthful things then that is what has to be addressed. Obama better wise up to this.
Related articles
- Romney Backs Away From Own Tax Plan (tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com)
- Romney Runs Away From His Own Tax Plan (alan.com)
- Truth Squad: The presidential debate (firstread.nbcnews.com)
- Debate fact check (salon.com)
The Supreme Court is one of the best reasons to re-elect Obama:
Given the fact that probably three Supreme Court justices will retire in the next presidential term, we should think about who the elected leader of the country will nominate to fill the jobs. Right now there is a small tip toward conservative thinking on the SCOTUS, but if Romney is elected the right wing could end up in complete control.
Here’s something to think about:
This, in itself, is one of the best reasons not to vote for Mittens. It would be important to preserve a court that upholds civil rights, women’s rights, diversity in college admissions and support of health care legislation. Should we lose these, the United States goes back to where it was in the first half of the last century and years of development and reform will get flushed down the drain.
It’s up to us to preserve years of important reform.
Related articles
- Judge Napolitano: Next Supreme Court Challenge to ObamaCare Could Result in ‘Different Outcome’ (foxnewsinsider.com)
- Carter Slams U.S. Supreme Court for its Endorsement of Corruption (dissidentvoice.org)
- This Far-Right Supreme Court Is Reason Enough to Vote Obama (truthdig.com)
- Why are candidates silent on Supreme Court? (cnn.com)
- Big Supreme Court Term Starts Today (abcnews.go.com)
- As The Supreme Court Returns, More Historic Decisions? (ibtimes.com)
- What else is at stake in the election? The Supreme Court (leanforward.msnbc.com)
- Poll: Swing Voters Find Obama Would Pick Better Judges then Romney (legaltimes.typepad.com)
Today there will be debate evaluations everywhere…
There is general feeling on the television news shows that Romney scored last night, primarily by not screwing up. However, I agree with reporter Michelle Goldberg said in The Daily Beast:
“Romney lied brazenly about everything—notably on taxes—yet over and over again an honest but listless and meandering Obama failed to effectively challenge him.”
The fact that Obama didn’t call him on his lies, that he never hit on the 47% comments… well Goldberg sums it up thusly:
“Perhaps Obama, feeling comfortable in his lead, didn’t want to get down in the muck and call Romney a liar, or perhaps he was just unprepared for the level of deceit on display. Debating someone who is willing to simply make things up is incredibly discombobulating. Regardless, it means that most viewers will be left with a seriously distorted view of what the Republican candidate is proposing. Tomorrow, the fact-checkers will try to correct the record, but the Romney campaign has already decided that facts don’t matter.”
I expect this will change Obama’s approach to the next debate.
Don’t Forget:
Related articles
- Romney Won and the Truth Lost (thedailybeast.com)
- Video: The entire first 2012 presidential debate (cbsnews.com)
- Denver debate is a presidential wonkfest, send in the fact checkers (denverpost.com)
- The Debate: Evaluation (respectinpolitics.org)
- Video: First Presidential Debate: Partisan Gridlock (cbsnews.com)
- Debatable Thoughts (thepsychobabble.net)
- The First Debate (democracyforum.blogspot.com)
If you wonder why Romney flip-flops tonight…
Who does Romney get his debate advice from? Here’s the top 8 of his advisors:
Be Aggressive – “He’s got to smack the president like [conservative radio host] Laura Ingraham would smack him.” – Bill O’Reilly
Don’t Be Aggressive – “Relax and be prepared…You can be on offense without being offensive.” – Newt Gingrich
Focus On The Economy – “This really is about our economy. When he lays out a plan to fix our tax code to stop the overreach of regulations coming out of Washington, to get our debt problem under control, and to have a national energy policy, let me tell you what, the American people will respond.” – John Boehner
Don’t Focus On The Economy – “In debate, @MittRomney should ask Obama why autobiography states, ‘born in Kenya, raised in Indonesia.'” – Donald Trump
Go Big – “It makes you think how far ahead Romney would be if he were actually running a campaign. His unwillingness to go big, to go for the larger argument, is simply astonishing … Make the case. Go large.” – Charles Krauthammer
Don’t Go Big – “The challenge for Gov. Romney is to relate to people personally and provide some inspiration that their quality of life will improve,” – Linda DiVall, Top GOP Pollster
Keep It Simple – “I think he just has to lay out his plan and his vision … In the end this is going to be about Governor Romney over the next four or five weeks laying that vision out for folks.” – Chris Christie
Totally Change Up His Game – Romney should say, “I’m a nonideological guy running in an ideological age, and I’ve been pretending to be more of an ideologue than I really am. I’m a sophisticated guy running in a populist moment.” – David Brooks
Related articles
- 8 Republicans Giving Mitt Romney Totally Contradictory Advice For The Debate (upworthy.com)
- VIDEO: Bill O’Reilly, Laura Ingraham Clash Over Mitt Romney’s Debate Strategy (foxnewsinsider.com)
- Charles Krauthammer Calls Out Romney Campaign’s Missed Opportunities On O’Reilly (mediaite.com)
- David Brooks: Mitt Romney Is ‘The Least Popular Candidate In History’ (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)
- Fox News’ O’Reilly says Romney ‘can’t care about the press’ in debate (theblaze.com)
- How Mitt Romney is blowing it, according to Every Conservative Pundit | Benjy Sarlin (guardian.co.uk)
- Chris Christie: Mitt Romney Will Turn Race ‘Upside Down’ With Debate Performance (huffingtonpost.com)
I imagine that Romney will accuse Obama of not having created jobs…
… but I doubt if he will identify the actions of the Republican House majority or the Senate Republican filibusters in preventing Obama‘s 17 jobs bills t6o go through.
So what were the results of the Republican refusal to work with their president? Take a look:
Remember this when Romney brings up the 8.1% unemployment rate… remember it when he says Obama has done nothing to even attempt to create jobs.
Related articles
- Sen. Harry Reid to US: ‘Romney is not the face of Mormonism’ (ksl.com)
- Obama On Romney Welfare Accusations: ‘You Can’t Just Make Stuff Up’ (mbcalyn.com)
- Romney under pressure to score debate win against Obama – Reuters (reuters.com)
- Obama hits Romney on miners ad (politico.com)
- GOP reviews turning negative on Romney’s campaign (cnsnews.com)
- Obama launches new criticism of Romney and China (usnews.com)
Ready for Debate Night?
This is it… first debate of the election season tonight at 9:00 PM Eastern Time. We’re all making guesses as to who is going to say what, who is going to come out on top, etc.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) shared his thoughts on the presidential debate:
“Romney has to hit it out of the park. This is probably his last chance, and I bet on Obama.”
Obama has more to think about on this date. It happens to be his and Michelle‘s 20th wedding anniversary… not a great way to celebrate it I think. However, this could also give Obama a really special goal in taking on Romney as a salute to his wife and an extension of his positive mood.
This may be Romney’s last chance to recover the lead in the race… it’s his to lose as many pundits are saying. He has been rehearsing more than he has been out campaigning and, as we have been told, he is memorizing “zingers”. What they are we will have to wait to see, also we’ll have to observe when he uses them. This could be his major mistake of the evening.
Anyway, I wish the Obamas a Happy Anniversary and hope Barack has good luck this evening in Denver.
Related articles
- Suggested Romney Zinger Lines (themoderatevoice.com)
- Sand Baggery & Zingers (aphilosopher.wordpress.com)
- Mitt Romney Has His Debate Zingers All Ready To Go (nymag.com)
- CNN to Air Interviews with Michelle Obama, Ann Romney Ahead of First Debate (cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com)
- President Obama, Mitt Romney to square off in first debate (fox6now.com)
- First debate sets up moment of high-risk theater (news.yahoo.com)
- Obamas’ wedding anniversary lands on debate night (wjla.com)
- Obamas’ wedding anniversary lands on debate night (seattletimes.com)
Latest Swing State Polls show Obama ahead in 5 out of 6…
Here are the latest polls from the battleground states:
Colorado: Obama 49%, Romney 46% (We Ask America)
Florida: Obama 49%, Romney 48% (Gravis Marketing)
Iowa: Obama 48%, Romney 44% (We Ask America)
Michigan: Obama 52%, Romney 40% (We Ask America)
New Hampshire: Obama 54%, Romney 39% (WBUR)
North Carolina: Romney 50%, Obama 46% (American Research Group)
While other polls have some different results (I’ll post them when they come up), Obama in general seems to be keeping enough of a lead to finally win the election.
The debates, of course, may change all of this. We’ll see.
This Debate Week… Wednesday is the Event.
As we get closer to the first presidential debate the news commentators are filled with comments on the pre-debate rehearsing each candidate is doing and speculation as to who is the better debater. Clips appear from Romney’s primary debates (never a 1 on 1 effort, however, always with three other candidates) and Obama‘s debates from the 2008 campaign. From what I see, they both have their strengths.
Romney says he has “zingers” ready to pull on Obama during the debate. What these are, however, is unclear… apparently written by his support staff and committed to memory by Mittens at his rehearsals. Obama is saying that he’s more interested in the seriousness of the debate as opposed to zingers, and, as far as I’m concerned, zingers are probably the best method for Romney to put his foot in his mouth once again.
Everyone seems to agree that if Romney doesn’t win this debate, he might as well give up the whole campaign effort. He needs to win it to be back as a potential winner.
Related articles
- Romney Practices Debate Zingers (politicalwire.com)
- Obama Campaign Says Don’t Expect Zingers (politicalwire.com)
- Suggested Romney Zinger Lines (themoderatevoice.com)
- Romney Thinks He Can Win The Debate With “Zingers” (outsidethebeltway.com)
- Mitt Romney Memorizing Zingers To Throw At President Obama During Wednesday’s Debate (alan.com)
- Obama v Romney: tense US presidential debate looms (guardian.co.uk)
- Romney and Obama curtail debate expectations ahead of first meeting (guardian.co.uk)
- Stakes for Denver debate are mile high for Mitt Romney (freep.com)
- Obama, Romney Gear Up for Debates (voanews.com)
- Using Debates to Turn Electoral Tide – Difficult but Not Impossible – NYTimes.com (policyabcs.wordpress.com)
We don’t have Frank Zappa to advise us anymore… but we do have Gail
This is for all folks getting involved in politics and for women in particular. Gail Zappa calls up the spirit of her late husband, Frank Zappa:
Many of us have missed Frank for years and celebrate Zappadan every year. It’s nice to hear from Gail in this season of political madness.
Related articles
- Vintage Frank Zappa dental health PSAs (osocio.org)
- FRANK ZAPPA: American Composer (musicbyday.com)
- 10 Odd Things You May Not Know About Frank Zappa (spotify.com)
Ann Romney’s biggest worry: Mitt may go nuts in office…
Nevada television station KTVN interviewed Mitt’s wife, Ann Romney, who revealed that her biggest concern is her husband’s mental well-being” if he becomes president.
Her statement:
“I think my biggest concern obviously would just be for his mental well-being. I have all the confidence in the world in his ability, in his decisiveness, in his leadership skills, in his understanding of the economy. …So for me I think it would just be the emotional part of it.”
So… is Ann’s lack of confidence her husband’s ability to mentally handle the job as the President of the United States going to instill confidence in voters? Well, she still supported his run even though it might produce this emotional distress.
Related articles
- Ann Romney: Biggest Concern For Mitt In White House Would Be His ‘Mental Well-Being’ (mediaite.com)
- Ann Romney: Mitt’s ‘mental well-being’ would be her biggest concern if elected (thehill.com)
- Ann Romney worries about Mitt’s ‘mental well-being’ if he wins election (rawstory.com)
- Ann Romney Expresses Concern About Mitt’s ‘Mental Well-Being’ if Elected President: VIDEO (towleroad.com)
- Ann Romney has one concern (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
- Video: Ann Romney worried about Mitt’s ‘mental well-being’ (nyaltnews.com)
Cartoon(s) of the Week – As Romney gets closer to the debates…
Tony Auth of Newsworks.org:
Romney plans health care for the 47%…
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Rob Rogers in the Pittsburg Post-Gazette:
Is Romney sure he wants to cut off about half the contributors?
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Kevin Siers in the Charlotte Observer:
Isn’t Romney the king of mixed messages?
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Nick Anderson in the Houston Chronicle:
At least he has Ryan to depend on…
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David Horsey in the L.A. Times:
Now if he could avoid the bad dreams…
Related articles
- Tony Auth’s farewell as staff editorial cartoonist for The Philadelphia Inquirer (nextlevelofnews.com)
- Eastwood and Romney (Cartoon) (themoderatevoice.com)
Rep. Todd Akin has made up his own responses to rape and women…
Rep. Todd Akin has made up his theories about the female body being able to turn off responses to rape.
This is pretty stupid for the Tea Party… and female bodies when subjected to rape do not have ways to shut the whole thing down.
This is not the situation that is defined by response by women to the Tea Party view.
Related articles
- Todd Akin: Claire McCaskill was like a “wildcat” in debate (washingtonpost.com)
- Todd Akin’s wife to GOP: Stop raping my husband! (dailykos.com)
- “The Arbiter For Women”: Todd Akin Just Can’t Seem To “Shut It Down” (mykeystrokes.com)
- Rep. Todd Akin’s comments prove need for sex ed in schools (suntimes.com)
- Rep. Todd Akin Says It’s Rare Women Get Pregnant from ‘Legitimate Rape’ (theatlanticwire.com)
- Todd Akin: ‘Legitimate’ rape victims don’t get pregnant (dailykos.com)
- Claire McCaskill: Todd Akin ‘Makes Michele Bachmann Look Like A Hippie’ (huffingtonpost.com)
Debate in a week… Is Romney ready?
We are a week away from the first debate and folks are wondering if this is where Romney will turn around the devastating performance and low poll numbers he has been experiencing as of late. We’re all watching closely as he campaigns today in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts today – two turn-around states where he is currently lower in the polls than Obama. Will he make a new gaffe..or tell of his support of Romneycare which still operates in Massachusetts and is literally the model for Obamacare,
Mitt the gaffemonger has to face a premiere challenge in the debates. More Americans will be watching him at one time than at any other time during the campaign. He can’t do obvious flip-flops for an hour or talk in vague sound bite generalities on the issues. He has to be at least marginally specific and lay out the so called “plans” he keeps claiming he has. Wii he do it? Doubtful.
As to Obama in the debates, the general feeling is that this is his event to win and he probably will.
Related articles
- Mitt Romney expected to bring in $7.5m during Boston area fundraisers on Friday (boston.com)
- As debate looms, Romney looks to Pennsylvania (cnsnews.com)
- As debate looms, Romney looks to Pennsylvania (modbee.com)
- Poll: Obama widens lead over Romney to 11 points in Pennsylvania (thehill.com)
- Mitt Romney campaigns in Philadelphia area in the hopes of swaying Pennsylvania voters (pennlive.com)
- Romney Talks Polls, ‘Character Assassination,’ and Promotes His Role in Mass. Health Law (news.yahoo.com)
- As debate looms, Romney looks to Pennsylvania – CTV News (ctvnews.ca)
- Reid cancels floor votes to force Brown to debate Warren (thehill.com)
- Obama widening lead over Romney in key states (miamiherald.com)
So, did businessman Romney really create jobs…or destroy them for profit?
Mother Jones has obtained a video from 1985 in which Romney, describing Bain’s formation, showed how he viewed the firm’s mission. He explained that its goal was to identify potential and hidden value in companies, buy significant stakes in these businesses, and then “harvest them at a significant profit” within five to eight years.
The video was included in a CD-ROM created in 1998 to mark the 25th anniversary of Bain & Company, the consulting firm that gave birth to Bain Capital. Here is the full clip, as it appeared on that CD-ROM (the editing occurred within the original).
Read David Corn‘s story about this video: http://bit.ly/VKJL6L
Quote defines Romney’s career as Massachusetts Governor:
Mitt Romney seems to have been an ineffective Governor.
“It was almost like there was a moat system around the Romney castle. He had aides walking around with fake ear pieces in their ear, pretending that they were secret service agents. He put up a velvet rope in front of the office, made sure no one had access to the governor’s office whatsoever.”
So what kind of president would he make? At least he’d get real Secret Service agents which we would pay for.
Related articles
- Romney’s Latest Reboot is to Pretend He’s Barack Obama (politicususa.com)
- MA Lawmakers Dish on Romney: ‘The Man Did. Not. Care.’ (crooksandliars.com)
- Mitt Romney then and now (ask.metafilter.com)
- MA Gov. Deval Patrick’s Rousing DNC Speech Slams Romney’s Record As Governor (mediaite.com)
Romney’s right-wing religious supporters have a terrifying view (and a disgusting one) of liberals:
Here is why we have to keep Romney and his buddies away from controlling America:
So liberals are Nazis and are going to gas Christians like Nazis did Jews in WWII era. Also, I don’t think Christians in America are a minority… hopefully only the ones who share Pat Robertson‘s obscene attack. And Robertson sees Romney as his buddy.
Related articles
- Romney campaigner Pat Robertson tells man to beat his wife (americablog.com)
- Pat Robertson to humiliated hubby: ‘Well, you could become a Muslim and you could beat her’ (rawstory.com)
- Jews Must Be Converted | American Right Wing Nuts’ Hates Fest (theageofblasphemy.wordpress.com)
- FRCWC Says Shame on You Pat Robertson (peacemattershere.wordpress.com)
- Mitt Romney’s new economic message: Keep the word ‘God’ on coins (dailykos.com)
- Romney/Ryan 2012: Pallin’ around with terrorists (dailykos.com)
Under The LobsterScope 