Year: 2012

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Mitt Romney Politics

The Full Context of Obama’s “I Actually Believe in Redistribution” Statement

In an effort to change the topic, Fox News and the Romney campaign are trying to highlight a small snippet of a 1998 speech by Barack Obama. The part of the speech they are focusing on shows Mr. Obama saying,”I actually believe in redistribution.” But like any propaganda machine, Fox News and the Romney campaign refused to show the full context of Mr. Obama’s speech.

The part of the clip these Republicans conveniently left out shows Mr. Obama doing something they claim they agree with – praising competition, the free market and making government more efficient. In a calculated move, Republicans knew that showing the full context of what Mr. Obama said in 1998 would soften the effect they’re trying to portray to their audience – that President Obama is trying to take from the rich and give to the poor – so that context was intentionally left out.

NBC however, is bringing the full context to light and here it is.

I think the trick is figuring out how do we structure government systems that pool resources and hence facilitate some redistribution because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level to make sure that everybody’s got a shot.  How do we pool resources at the same time as we decentralize delivery systems in ways that both foster competition, can work in the marketplace, and can foster innovation at the local level and can be tailored to particular communities.

NBC reports. The video circulated by Republicans, which has used as fodder for an attack on Obama, includes a longer reflection by Obama about talking about how government action can be effective. But the clip has been cut short after the word “shot;” Obama’s words about competition, the marketplace and innovation are omitted from the clip.

Romney has nonetheless seized upon this clip as his campaign looks to regain its footing after the release of a surreptitiously-recorded video of the GOP presidential nominee speaking at a private fundraiser in May. Romney’s campaign has been bogged down in criticism from conservatives and Democrats alike since the release of the clip, in which Romney talks about how he couldn’t count on the support of 47 percent of Americans, since they pay no taxes, and are “dependent” on government.

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Mitt Romney Politics

Mitt Romney’s “Oops” Moment – Now Says He’s For 100% of Americans

Can you say a Rick Perry “Oops?”

After showing his true colors in what he thought was a private gathering with his millionaire friends, where Mitt Romney expressed that 47% of Americans consider themselves “victims” who depend on the government for food, clothing and shelter and lack the ambition to “take care of themselves,” Mitt Romney is now changing his tune and he is hoping the American people are too slow to notice.

At an appearance on a Spanish network on Univision, the Republican presidential nominee is now quoting another number – 100%

“My campaign is about the 100% of America,” he said.

Romney also tried to put a different spin on what he said about the 47%. He explained;

“I know that I’m not going to get 100% of the vote and my campaign will focus on those people we think we can bring in to support, but this is a campaign about helping people who need help.”

ABC News noted Romney stressed the number three times in the first 10 minutes of the candidates forum.

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Mitt Romney Politics taxes

Harry Reid – “For All We Know, Mitt Could Be One of The 47%” Who Pays No Taxes

Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid took to the Senate floor today and renewed his call for Mitt Romney to release his taxes. Using Romney’s own words that 47% of Americans pay no taxes, Reid said;

“For all we know, Mitt Romney could be one of those who have paid no federal income tax,” he said. “Thousands of families making more than $1 million pay nothing in federal income taxes each year. Is Mitt Romney among those?”

“We’ll never know,” Reid concluded, “since he refuses to release tax returns from the years before he was running for president.”

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Mitt Romney Politics

Peggy Noonan Sees The Light – “Mitt, This Isn’t Working”

Peggy Noonan, another respected voice in the Republican establishment is using that voice to let her party know that Mitt Romney isn’t working. Noonan voiced her opinion on the Romney debacle that is his campaign, and his recent statement that 47% of Americans are moochers.

“My goodness,” Peggy wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “that’s a lot of people who won’t vote for you. You wonder how he gets up in the morning.” Ms Noonan continued;

Republicans are going to have to right this thing. They have to stabilize it.

It’s time to admit the Romney campaign is an incompetent one. It’s not big, it’s not brave, it’s not thoughtfully tackling great issues. It’s always been too small for the moment. All the activists, party supporters and big donors should be pushing for change. People want to focus on who at the top is least constructive and most responsible. Fine, but Mitt Romney is no puppet: He chooses who to listen to. An intervention is in order. “Mitt, this isn’t working.”

Mrs Noonan has joined a long list of Republicans who are voicing their displeasure in Romney’s loosing efforts to win the White House.  Scott Brown and Linda McMahon recently distanced themselves from Romney, and last week, other Republicans including radio personality Laura Ingraham did the same.

It is now left to see if Romney’s billionaire supporters who were actively trying to purchase the White House for their candidate continue throwing money at the flawed candidate.

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Mitt Romney Politics

Mitt Romney Explains Using American Hostage Crisis or Dead Americans for Political Gain

Four Americans were recently killed in a terrorist attack in Libya. Before the terrorists even fired their rocket-propelled grenade into the Embassy that housed the Americans, Romney was issuing a statement blaming President Obama’s policy for the attack. It was a political move by Mitt Romney and he gained much criticism from Democrats and Republicans for injecting himself into an ongoing national security issue… an unprecedented move on his part.

And now, thanks to a newly released recording that shows Romney saying some very disparaging things about 47% of Americans, we can now understand why Romney chose to politicize the events in Libya. To put it simply, Mitt Romney would say or do anything to further his own political ambitions, even if it means doing so on the backs of dead Americans.

Around the 4 minute mark of the now infamous recording, Romney explains that if given a chance, he would jump at the opportunity to use an American hostage crisis or a situation where Americans died to gain favorability. At the fundraiser where the recording took place, a question was asked about foreign policy and the discussion gradually went to the hostage crisis in 1980. That is when Romney said this;

 “And yet, in that election, in the Jimmy Carter election, the fact that we had hostages in Iran, I mean, that was all we talked about. And we had the two helicopters crash in the desert, I mean, that was the focus, and so him [Reagan] solving that made all the difference in the world.

I’m afraid today that if you simply got Iran to agree to stand down on nuclear weapons, they’d go, ‘Now hold on. It’s really a…‘ I mean, if something of that nature presents itself I will work to find a way to take advantage of the opportunity.”

In other words, what happened in Libya was looked upon by Mitt Romney and his advisers as “a way to take advantage of the opportunity.” Americans died in Libya and even after that fact was known, Romney continued doubling down on his false claim that the President’s foreign policy was somehow responsible.

At a time when America is under attack by foreign forces, the last thing this nation needs is a politician who use those attacks as a way to “take advantage of the opportunity” in an effort to “get the focus.”

Unacceptable!

Categories
Mitt Romney Politics

The Passion of the Mitt

Really, all that’s missing is the thorny crown. Mitt Romney all but threw himself under the bus this past week as he attempted to show his conservative bona-fides. The problem is that right-wing Mitt hasn’t quite reconciled with moderate Mitt. The result is a political dissonance not seen since Sarah Palin looked out her front window and saw Russia. It’s embarrassing, and it’s going to cost Romney the election.

Of course, I’m not talking about the 53% of Americans he identified by omission as hard-working people who take not a whit of government money, including Social Security, public pensions or tax credits. These people built it by themselves and if it wasn’t for those Cheatin’ Chinese, we’d be out of the economic doldrums and on our way towards prosperity.

What I’d like to know is why the 53% aren’t showing up in polls for Romney? In the latest national polls, Romney has 45, 43, 46, 45, 46 and 47 (in a Rasmussen poll where he actually leads Obama by two) percent of the vote. The latest NBC/WSJ poll has him losing by 50-45%. If the 47% are in the tank for Obama, that should leave plenty of room for a majority in Romney’s corner. It isn’t happening yet. And time is running out quickly.

What Mitt’s comments about the moochers who support Obama and his disastrous ruminations on the violence in the Middle East have done is to divert precious moments away from his central attacks on the president’s economic record. And Medicare (does anybody remember Medicare? This is an election about Medicare.) And the deficit. And any other substantive issue that Romney/Ryan believed was going to win them the hearts and minds of American voters with valid picture ID’s everywhere. The Republicans have lost days in the maelström of media-driven narratives and have tripped over their own tongues. And all Obama has had to do is to get out of the way, gracefully, and let them fail.

This election is by no means over. The first debate is October 3, and that presents Mitt the absolute last chance to reset himself and present his arguments to the electorate. The problem is that research shows that the debates do more to solidify the state of the race as it exists prior to the debates than they actually change minds. Plus, many people are just now tuning in to the election and they could decide that Obama has had his chance and he didn’t deliver. Stranger things have happened.

But even stranger things have already happened in this campaign. And they’ve all happened to Mitt.

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Mitt Romney Politics

Republican Senate Candidate Linda McMahon – “I Disagree With Gov. Romney”

Connecticut GOP Senate candidate Linda McMahon distanced herself Tuesday from Mitt Romney’s comments dismissing the “47 percent,” becoming the first high-profile Republican candidate to do so.

“I disagree with Gov. Romney’s insinuation that 47 percent of Americans believe they are victims who must depend on the government for their care,” McMahon said in a statement. “I know that the vast majority of those who rely on government are not in that situation because they want to be. People today are struggling because the government has failed to keep America competitive, failed to support job creators, and failed to get our economy back on track.”

In her statement, McMahon referenced her family’s early struggles, when she and her husband, Vince, declared bankruptcy and lost their car and house. The McMahons are now multimillionaires, having developed World Wrestling Entertainment, where Linda served as CEO from 1997 to 2009.

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Joe Scarborough Mitt Romney Politics

Joe Scarborough – “Mitt Romney Sounds Like a Plutocrat!” – Government By The Rich, For The Rich

I’m not a big fan of Morning Joe on MSNBC. Host Joe Scarborough usually get to me and I still cannot figure out what Mika’s role on the show is. But sometimes, Joe would say something worth repeating and on Tuesday morning, the news worthy part of Joe’s broadcast featured his cast discussing Romney’s recent blunder, where he was caught on video dissing 47% of America.

Joe started the discussion pointing out how comfortable Mitt Romney when he said that poorer Americans are basically lazy and dependent on the government. “What was that?” Joe asked.

“That’s the case the Obama campaign made last night. This was a man saying what he believes. This is a window into the real Mitt Romney,” was one answer.

A second guest added, “… unfortunately he says this thing, this one sentence, ‘I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.’ That’s pretty much every senior citizen in America. Pretty much every senior citizen in America who is on Medicare and Social Security doesn’t pay any income tax. That’s the one voting group Mitt Romney had a clear advantage over the President with. It’s so contentious, it’s so condescending.”

Joe then made a comparison with George Bush who, according to Joe, tried to get voters from the minority group. Joe finished up with the conclusion that Mitt Romney sounds like a “plutocrat.” (According to the Dictionary, a plutocrat is someone who believes that Government is for the wealthy, that the wealthy should be the ones controlling the government.) He later added that this week is the worst he’s seen for the Romney campaign.

WOW! Video below.

Categories
Mitt Romney Politics

Mitt Romney Degraded Half Of America At Fundraiser Hosted By Sex-Party Organizer

By now you’ve all heard the one about Mitt Romney and his disgust for half the American people. He is so disgusted with this group, that he has already wrote them off as Obama voters, fully dependent on the government and too lazy to take care of themselves. Of course I’m just paraphrasing what Romney said at his private fundraiser. His exact words however, does not take away from the interpretation given above.

Here’s what Romney said;

There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.

My job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

As unbelievable a statement as that is, there’s more. Word on the street is that Romney’s infamous statement about 47% of Americans was made at a fundraiser… hosted at the estate… of a Sex Party-throwing Hedge Fund Manager.

David Corn just said on TV that the now infamous Romney fundraiser was held in Boca Raton, Florida at the estate of hedge fund manager Marc Leder.

According to the New York Post, Leder throws a pretty mean party.

His “wild end-of-summer bash was the talk of the Hamptons this year,” the Post reported last December. “At the Bridgehampton home that Leder rented for a whopping $500,000 a month, guests cavorted nude in a pool and performed sex acts, while scantily clad Russian women danced on platforms. Dancers at the party also twirled flaming torches to booming beats.”

Come to think about it, we never really saw what was going on from the waist down while Romney was making his speech.

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Mitt Romney Politics

Mitt Romney – Obama Voters Believe In Entitlements And Are Not Responsible

Mother Jones posted a very damaging video today showing Mitt Romney talking to a small group of big-time donors. Romney, in the presence of these rich folks chose to talk about poorer Americans, and he expressed his feelings about these unfortunate citizens.

Romney said that these poor Americans are people who believes in an “entitlement” society. He said that they look at themselves as “victims,” and concluded that his job is not to “worry about those people,” because he can never “convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

These voters Romney claimed, are Obama voters.

There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.

[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

Categories
Politics

Video Shows Ambassador Chris Stevens Being Rescued From Burning Building

Al-Bakoush told the Associated Press on Monday that Stevens was breathing, though his face was blackened and he seemed paralyzed.

A translation provided by The New York Times shows that one of the Libyans said: ‘I swear, he’s dead.’

Another man says: ‘Bring him out, man! Bring him out,’ another says.

There is hope as others are heard saying: ‘The man is alive. Move out of the way. Just bring him out, man.

‘Move, move, he is still alive!’

The crowd that had formed in the area then shouts: ‘Alive, Alive! God is great.’

Al-Bakoush said the crowd carried Stevens to a private car to drive him to a hospital, since there was no ambulance.

h/t The Daily Mail

Categories
Healthcare ObamaCare Repeal

New Study – If Republicans Repeal ObamaCare Seniors Would Pay More

The report was done by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Among other findings, the report says;

A number of Republican proposals to repeal the 2010 health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), include the elimination of the law’s Medicare provisions. This Data Note reviews the impact of repealing those provisions for Medicare beneficiaries and program spending.

If the ACA was repealed, Medicare spending would increase by an additional $716 billion over 10 years, Medicare’s hospital trust fund would be projected to be insolvent beginning four years from now, in 2016, eight years earlier than current projections, and many beneficiaries could see increases in premiums and costs for other services.

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