Romney campaign in disarray, already looking for scapegoat

Romney campaign in disarray, already looking for scapegoat
"You know a campaign is in trouble when it's only September, and it's already trying to figure out whom to blame when the ticket loses in November.

But that, claims a devastating new Politico article, is exactly what's happening in Romneyland, "based on accounts from Romney aides, advisers and friends, most of whom refused to speak on the record because they were recounting private discussions and offering direct criticism of the candidate and his staff."

The Republicans want to talk about unemployment. Let's accommodate them.

The Republicans want to talk about unemployment. Let's accommodate them.
"The Republicans have no credibility on deficits. The Republicans have no credibility on national security. For decades, both have been all but ceded as Republican strengths, despite plenty of evidence that they shouldn't be. On those issues, Democrats have often played on the Republican home field, to the detriment of everyone. The Republicans would like for the same dynamic to pertain on the economy and unemployment. At the end of last week, while President Obama was enjoying the early indications of what we now know is a substantial post-Convention bounce, Republicans rejoiced at the release of a lousy jobs report. They were sure that would deflate what they deluded themselves into believing was but a temporary Obama polling bubble. It's the economy, stupid—Republicans rejoiced. And it is the economy. And unemployment still will be one of the key issues in this election, up and down the ballot. But not in the way Republicans think.

President Obama and the Democrats have tried to pass jobs bills. The Republicans killed the American Jobs Act. The Republicans killed the jobs bill that would have repaired our badly crumbling national infrastructure. The Republicans killed the jobs bill that would have given tax cuts to small businesses that create jobs. They're even holding up a bill specifically designed to create jobs for military veterans. The Republicans don't care about creating jobs. Republicans do care about playing politics over jobs, obstructing bills that would actually create jobs so they can exploit the lack of jobs for political gain."

The Post-Truth Campaign: Mitt Romney Tells 530 Lies in 30 Weeks

The Post-Truth Campaign: Mitt Romney Tells 530 Lies in 30 Weeks
"While the sheer number of Romney's lies are indeed unprecedented for a presidential campaign, his fact-free campaigning is simply the logical continuation of a trend that started in the George W. Bush administration, when Republicans literally walled themselves from reality."

A Good Ole Boys’ Family Feud - In These Times

A Good Ole Boys’ Family Feud - In These Times
"What we’re witnessing, as Louis Nayman writes in the latest issue of In These Times, are the last, bitter stages of the GOP’s “Southern strategy”: appealing to the anger that white voters feel toward America’s growing religious and racial diversity. That strategy has created a solid South for the Republicans—and turned out the base in big numbers—since Richard Nixon. It will continue to do so for another decade or two. But that won’t be enough to win national elections. Live by the sword, die by the sword."

Far Right: Our Speech is Freer! | Alternet

Far Right: Our Speech is Freer! | Alternet
"Wing nuts insist on their right to spew hate -- but demand that those who criticize them be "held accountable"."

Ryan Still Channeling Ayn Rand Despite Pretending to Disavow Her Views

Ryan Still Channeling Ayn Rand Despite Pretending to Disavow Her Views
" Paul Ryan can pretend to run from his hero Ayn Rand, but he can't hide -- Paul Ryan may have broken up with Ayn Rand, but their extreme ideas sound awfully similar:"

Why Obama's lead is even better news than you think

Why Obama's lead is even better news than you think
"Only two years ago, the billionaire backers of the Tea Party managed to mask their money grab as a populist uprising. Two years ago, they got a majority of Americans to vent their frustration on Democrats, President Obama, common sense, history, science, and anything else that didn't get out of the way. But two years can be a long time.

The best news over the last weeks is that the politics of pure obstruction and vitriol are played out. The American people are awake. They see that the Republicans have nothing to offer but the same plan that created the problems in the first place. Many of them are starting to realize that the biggest problems we face aren't unknowable forces of nature, but very familiar sources of obstanance in the House and Senate. More than any time in the recent past, Americans seem to be willing to look at what people are saying, rather than just listening to the tone."

Ryanomics Assault on Poor and Hungry Children | Common Dreams

Ryanomics Assault on Poor and Hungry Children | Common Dreams
"Ryanomics is not only poor arithmetic, it is also poor morality and gross injustice which turns upside down the requirements of all great faiths to protect the poor and vulnerable. The U.S. Catholic Bishops in a letter to every member of Congress on May 8, 2012 said: “deficit reduction and fiscal responsibility efforts must protect and not undermine the needs of poor and vulnerable people” and declared that the proposed cuts in the House budget ”fail this basic moral test.” The much publicized “Nuns on the Bus,” Catholic Sisters committed to fighting poverty, challenged Ryanomics declaring: “we insist on a Faithful Budget that affirms the life of all God’s children – not just the wealthiest few.” And Albert Camus, Nobel Laureate, speaking at a Dominican monastery in 1948 said: “Perhaps we cannot prevent this world from being a world in which children are tortured. But we can reduce the number of tortured children.” He described our responsibility as human beings “if not to reduce evil, at least not to add to it” and “to refuse to consent to conditions which torture innocents.” “I continue,” he said “to struggle against this universe in which children suffer and die." And so must all of us including our political leaders of all parties.

Every American who believes in basic fairness must resoundingly reject Ryanomics."

Jews Must Be Converted, Says Family Research Council Vice President

Jews Must Be Converted, Says Family Research Council Vice President
"Bad news for Eric Cantor. He spoke today at the Values Voter Summit, but he’s apparently still going to hell. Let me explain.

Jerry Boykin is the Executive Vice President of the Family Research Council and Tony Perkins’ right-hand man. FRC is hosting the far right conference that the House Majority Leader, who is Jewish, addressed today.

Boykin, much like Bryan Fischer, has a penchant for saying exactly what’s on his mind – things which others know not to say, even when they’re thinking the same thing. While you may know Boykin from his prolific Muslim-bashing, he also has some interesting things to say about Jews."

Far-Right Extremists Tried Pinning Blame for Anti-Islam Film on Jews

Far-Right Extremists Tried Pinning Blame for Anti-Islam Film on Jews
"It turns out now that the amateurish hate film that sparked the lethal riots in Egypt, Libya, and Yemen -- or at least, in the case of the Libya murders, provided a pretext -- is a product of the fetid, far-right underbelly of American politics. And it seems that not only did the Islamophobic far-right militiamen behind the movie make it with the explicit intent of sparking riots abroad, but they even attempted to pin the blame for its production on Israeli Jews."

How Paul Ryan Would Decimate the New Deal | The Nation

How Paul Ryan Would Decimate the New Deal | The Nation
"Ryan’s vision for reforming the social safety net can be explained in three verbs: he wants to block grant Medicaid,voucherize Medicare and privatize Social Security. Yes, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security would likely still exist, but those changes would mean a profound difference for the average person who receives government benefits over his or her lifetime. Let’s look at what happens to Jessie, a low-income woman living in Pennsylvania who is eligible for all three programs at different periods of her life."

DeMint Likens Teachers Striking In Chicago To ‘Thugs’ In The Middle East

DeMint Likens Teachers Striking In Chicago To ‘Thugs’ In The Middle East: Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) jokingly compared the teachers strike in Chicago to the unrest in the Middle East during a speech at the Values Voters summit Friday morning. “You know, we had a lot of bad news this week,” DeMint began. “On my way over, I was reading another story about a distant place where [...]/p

Kansas Republican establishment goes full birther

Kansas Republican establishment goes full birther
"Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is already well known in the Latino community—he's the author of Arizona's hateful SB 1070 law and, as an adviser to Mitt Romney, a big reason that our nation's top vulture capitalist will lose the Latino vote in record numbers this year."

North Carolina Supreme Court Justice To Speak To Nullificationist Group That Compared Obama To Hitler

North Carolina Supreme Court Justice To Speak To Nullificationist Group That Compared Obama To Hitler: The words “tea party” are not normally associated with moderation and restraint, but a group known as the Asheville Tea Party is extreme even by tea party standards. The Asheville Tea Party published a lengthy rant comparing President Obama to Hitler (sample quote: “Hitler took control of the banks….Obama took control of the banks. Hitler [...]/p

Romney Immigration Adviser Goes Birther, May Keep Obama Off Kansas Ballot

Romney Immigration Adviser Goes Birther, May Keep Obama Off Kansas Ballot: Romney immigration adviser and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is considering banning President Barack Obama from the ballot in his state this fall for a lack of sufficient proof that he was born in the United States. He and his colleagues on the Kansas’s Objections Board will decide Monday whether to accept the birther-based [...]/p

John Boehner chooses politics over governing, won't take up farm bill

John Boehner chooses politics over governing, won't take up farm bill
"For the first time in modern history, Congress is going to fail to produce a farm bill. This in one of the worst farmland drought years in recent memory. The drought has resulted in more than1,800 counties in 38 states being declared natural disaster areas, and every sector of agriculture has been affected. And House Republicans refuse to act."

Liars Don't Lead, They Mislead

Liars Don't Lead, They Mislead
"Romney pollster Neil Newhouse stated, "Fact checkers come to this with their own sets of thoughts and beliefs, and we're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers." In a representative democracy, facts do matter, and checking the facts is how we hold our representatives accountable. Romney and Ryan have based their campaign on smoke and mirrors, sleight of hand, political prestidigitation, lies and deceit.

Liars don't lead; they mislead."

Ryan returns to Capitol Hill to cast hypocritical vote

Ryan returns to Capitol Hill to cast hypocritical vote
"The need to convince the non-crazy voters outside of the teabagger base that they really aren't so extreme, never mind all those previous hostage-takings, trumps their principle. Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia, president of the Republican freshman class admits as much, saying that it's just no "good to have another threat of a shutdown."

It's about saving their skins, which is why Ryan is returning to vote for it. It's why he's abandoning his own budget. He's running for vice president, for Pete's sake, he can't let his true colors show on this vote."

7 Mitt Romney Statements As Idiotic as His Libya Response | Alternet

7 Mitt Romney Statements As Idiotic as His Libya Response | Alternet
"In a presidential campaign stretching for months, if not years, it is easy to forget Romney's earlier unfiltered pronouncements or just to dismiss them as gaffes. But the overall pattern is unmistakable: Romney lives in a world where his values are not the same as ordinary people and where he hides behind conservative principles regardless of their impact or harm.

What follows is a quick collection of videos clips, some assembled by other websites, which underscore that Romney’s intemperate and bellicose comments in response to the Libya crisis are hardly unique, but are consistent with views that are not appropriate for the world’s most powerful political leader."

6 Right-Wing Zealots (or Groups of Zealots) That Would Blow Up the World for Political Gain | Alternet

6 Right-Wing Zealots (or Groups of Zealots) That Would Blow Up the World for Political Gain | Alternet
"As for Romney, his antics on Tuesday and Wednesday may well be the end of his campaign. With even many of his Republican supporters  running away from him  as if he were on fire, the media establishment judged that the candidate had inserted his foot directly into his mouth in a very serious way. It was a desperate attempt to shift the dynamics of the race – a Hail-Mary pass by a candidate looking at a 7-point deficit in Gallup's tracking poll – and it didn't work."

PERRspectives: Romney Fails the Commander-in-Chief Test. Again.

PERRspectives: Romney Fails the Commander-in-Chief Test. Again.
"If there were any lingering doubts about Mitt Romney's unfitness to serve as Commander-in-Chief, his shameful response to the killings of four Americans at a U.S. consulate in Libya should have put them to rest. Romney didn't know the facts. He didn't know the timeline of events. He didn't know who was responsible for the embassy breaches in Cairo and Benghazi. Yet even beforeAmericans had learned of and could mourn their deaths, Governor Romney used their murdered countrymen to slander the President of the United States. When the proverbial 3 A.M. phone call came, Romney let it go to voice mail, where his pre-recorded message called the President "disgraceful" and charged that Obama "sympathize[d] with those who waged the attacks."

Of course, it shouldn't have taken this appalling episode for Mitt Romney to disqualify himself in the eyes of so many. He long ago proved he lacks the judgment, temperament and steadfastness needed to guide the United States during times of crisis.

Consider, in no particular order, the following examples:"

Romney Has Found a New Way to Lie!

Mitt Romney has figured out a new way to lie. In an interview on Sunday with NBC, watched by millions of people - Romney said that there are a number of things he likes with Obamacare - including a guarantee that health insurers can't deny healthcare to people with pre-existing conditions - and reforms that allow children to stay on their parents' health plans until the age of 26. So the man who first created Obamneycare in Massachusetts, and then disavowed it when he ran for President, now supports it again. Or he did for a few hours, until his campaign told Buzz Feed that Romney actually opposes all provisions of Obamacare and instead believes that the corporate-run "free market" will find a way to cover those with pre-existing conditions. In other words, Romney wants to roll-back Obamacare. So the Romney Big Lie strategy works like this - go on Meet the Press, where a lot of moderate, undecided voters will be watching - and lie about your position on protecting people with pre-existing conditions. Try to assure the independents that you won't let health insurers act like death panels toward children with pre-existing conditions. And then, after the show is off the air - immediately backtrack - and issue a "correction" to your base, a group of right-wing crazies who are perfectly OK with letting health insurance companies discriminate against sick children again. I've said it before - I'll say it again - the only way Mitt Romney can win this election is by lying. And now he's coming up with ever more clever ways to do so.

5 Issues this Election Should Be About, and One to Drop | Common Dreams

5 Issues this Election Should Be About, and One to Drop | Common Dreams
"One in four working families is spending more than half their income just to keep a roof over their heads. There are more than half a million Americans who are homeless on any given night, and one in three families headed by a single mother is going hungry at least part of the year.
To get the economy moving again, we need to start by putting more earning and spending power in the hands of the poor and middle class, starting with a higher minimum wage and progressive tax policies. Only then can businesses invest, knowing they will have customers."

The Billionaires' Tea Party

PERRspectives: Failed Bush Team Marks 9/11 by Slandering Obama

PERRspectives: Failed Bush Team Marks 9/11 by Slandering Obama
"After all, on the same day Thiessen made his claim that the Obama White House laughed off as "hilarious," new revelations about the Bush administration's fatal lack of concern over the Al Qaeda threat to the U.S. homeland in 2001 came to light. Which is why Team Bush, the one which protested that "nobody could have predicted" the 9/11 tragedy, the chaos in Iraq, the Katrina disaster, the 2008 economic collapse and so much more, will forever be remembered by the words of Condoleezza Rice and President Bush himself:

"I believe the title was 'Bin Laden determined to strike in U.S.'""All right. You've covered your ass, now."

Writing in the New York Times, 500 Days author Kurt Eichenwald documented the Bush administration's near-total deafness to the rapidly growing threat from Osama Bin Laden in the summer of 2001. While Americans learned three years later of the famous August 6, 2001 PDB ("Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S"), Eichenwald's findings show the Bush White House pre-occupied with Saddam Hussein at best and, at worst, asleep at the wheel"

New poll shows Massachusetts Senate race in dead heat

New poll shows Massachusetts Senate race in dead heat
"There's some evidence that Brown's supposed party independence is getting a closer look by Massachusetts voters. For example, this surprising column in the Brown-boostingBoston Herald, that scrutinizes his voting record and finds him not really all that bipartisan when it comes to the War on Women and on big money in politics."

STUDY: Health Care Reform Helps Small Businesses

STUDY: Health Care Reform Helps Small Businesses: Economic researchers on a recent Georgetown University panel all agreed that Massachusetts’ small business owners were actually bolstered by health care reform, as the number of small businesses offering health care to their employees increased from 70 percent to 77 percent in the time since Romney enacted the reform in 2006. Linda Blumberg, an economist and senior fellow at the Urban Institute, said her organization’s research confirmed that small business owners are not struggling to afford the insurance plans that the health reform law requires them to provide for their employees

Laura Ingraham Lashes Out At GOP: 'If You Can't Beat Obama, Shut Down The Party'

Laura Ingraham Lashes Out At GOP: 'If You Can't Beat Obama, Shut Down The Party'
"Like Jeb Bush, who thinks the Republicans' problem is "tone," Ingraham is convinced that if only Republicans had the right candidate saying the right words, they'd be running away with the election.

This is basically crazy.

First of all, this analysis ignores that the last Republican administration was a catastrophic disaster and the last Republican president left office one of the least popular presidents in modern times. One can only speculate why Ingraham is completely oblivious to the massive damage George W. Bush and Dick Cheney inflicted on the Republican brand, but it's real."

Greed and Debt: The True Story of Romney and Bain Capital | Common Dreams

Greed and Debt: The True Story of Romney and Bain Capital | Common Dreams
"By making debt the centerpiece of his campaign, Romney was making a calculated bluff of historic dimensions – placing a massive all-in bet on the rank incompetence of the American press corps. The result has been a brilliant comedy. A man makes a $250 million fortune loading up companies with debt and then extracting million-dollar fees from those same companies, in exchange for the generous service of telling them who needs to be fired in order to finance the debt payments he saddled them with in the first place. That same man then runs for president riding an image of children roasting on flames of debt, choosing as his running mate perhaps the only politician in America more pompous and self-righteous on the subject of the evils of borrowed money than the candidate himself. If Romney pulls off this whopper, you'll have to tip your hat to him: No one in history has ever successfully run for president riding this big of a lie. It's almost enough to make you think he really is qualified for the White House."

Conservatives really don't want to hear more specifics from Mitt Romney

Conservatives really don't want to hear more specifics from Mitt Romney
"And Salon's Steve Kornacki points out that while attacks on Romney's lack of specificity are nothing new, those attacks have typically come from Democrats. Now that they are coming from his own party, it's bad news. Romney is coming under fire from fellow Republicans for not being sufficiently specific, and these attacks do reinforce preexisting story lines about Romney's lack of core beliefs. But I don't believe for a second that Romney's Republican critics actually care about whether and to what extent he offers specific policy proposals. Instead, they care about establishing a narrative to explain his defeat—a narrative that places the blame for that defeat squarely on his shoulders.

For professional conservatives, the only thing more important than winning the 2012 presidential election is not getting blamed for losing it. And as much as they might be disappointed by a Romney defeat this November, the thing that would actually crush their souls would be if Romney were to lose and their ideas were assigned the blame. Better to throw him under the bus now, even if it means he's less likely to win, than to suffer that fate."

Having fun with Romney campaign's 'DON'T PANIC!' memo

Having fun with Romney campaign's 'DON'T PANIC!' memo
"How do you know a campaign is panicking? When they send out memos urging people not to panic."

Paul Ryan posts online Q&A, gets 200 views and one question. Campaign declares it a great success.

Paul Ryan posts online Q&A, gets 200 views and one question. Campaign declares it a great success.
"So ... Romneyland puts Paul Ryan up for an online Q&A that almost nobody sees, and decides that they probably won't answer the one question that he got because they didn't like it, nor will they necessarily answer any questions in the future because not enough people were ready to buy their bogus political arguments."

Why Five Studies Cited By Romney Further Prove His Plan Will Raise Taxes On The Middle Class

Why Five Studies Cited By Romney Further Prove His Plan Will Raise Taxes On The Middle Class: The non-partisan Tax Policy Center last month released a study showing that if Mitt Romney were to keep his promise to cut tax rates by 20 percent while still balancing the budget, he would have to raise taxes on middle class families by more than $2,000. The Romney campaign has disputed the study, saying that [...]/p

CHART: Some Clear Evidence Taxes And Regulations Aren’t Holding Back The Recovery

CHART: Some Clear Evidence Taxes And Regulations Aren’t Holding Back The Recovery: One of the most passionately held premises amongst conservatives and the Republican Party is that employers’ fear of taxation and regulation is what’s holding back job growth. The unspoken corollary to this premise is that demand in the economy is fine as is — that consumers could be buying far more goods and services than [...]/p

GOP Senator: ‘Bomb Everybody Tomorrow’ Is ‘Typical’ Republican Policy

GOP Senator: ‘Bomb Everybody Tomorrow’ Is ‘Typical’ Republican Policy: Between calls from leading Republicans to get ready for war with Iran, remain in Afghanistan and Iraq, and intervening militarily in Syria, it’s no surprise that some on the left might label the GOP’s approach to foreign policy “bomb everyone tomorrow.” But when a Republican Senator says the same thing, it’s worth sitting up and [...]/p

In defense of red state socialism

In defense of red state socialism
"But almost as galling for many Democrats is the persistent phenomenon of red state socialism. That is, despite Republican paeans to "small government" and "rugged individualism," red states benefit from a one-way flow of dollars from Washi

ngton, a federal gravy train disproportionately provided by blue state taxpayers. But hypocrisy or no, that is as it should be. Because when it comes to health care, education, public safety, needed infrastructure and so much else, Americans' mutual commitment to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness cannot end at the state line.

To be sure, red state socialism is real. As a 2007 analysis by the Tax Foundation (above) of federal spending per tax dollar received by state shows, the reddest states generally reaped the most green. (As Politifact rightly noted, the rankings are based on 2005 data. The Tax Foundation is planning an updated study.) Eight of the top 10 beneficiaries of federal largesse voted for John McCain for president. Unsurprisingly, all 15 states at the bottom of the list—those whose outflow of tax revenue is funding programs elsewhere in the country—all voted for Barack Obama in 2008. Alaska's number three ranking was particularly ironic, given Gov. Sarah Palin's farewell message warning her state to "be wary of accepting government largesse; it doesn't come free."

But the ironies don't end there. A 2010 map of personal government benefits received versus taxes paid showed secession birthplace South Carolina to be one of the big winners."

Flabbergasted Rand Paul Learns Public Employment Decreased Under Obama

Flabbergasted Rand Paul Learns Public Employment Decreased Under Obama: One of the least appreciated but easily-confirmed facts about the current state of the American economy is that the number of Americans employed by the government has gone down under President Obama. But apparently this is news to one the Republican Party’s most prominent tea party conservatives. During a roundtable discussion on ABC this morning [...]/p

Ryan: I Didn’t Vote For The Defense Cuts I Voted For

Ryan: I Didn’t Vote For The Defense Cuts I Voted For: Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan has gotten in hot water before for criticizing President Obama for the very same defense cuts that he voted for in 2011. When confronted with this incongruity today on Face The Nation, Ryan simply denied that he ever voted for the cuts, telling an incredulous Norah O’Donnell that he didn’t [...]/p

Romney campaign admits it: they're losing

Romney campaign admits it: they're losing
"President Barack Obama heads out of the national political conventions with a much clearer path to winning, top advisers to Mitt Romney privately concede"

10 Rankest Hypocrisies of Mitt Romney and the Republican Party | Alternet

10 Rankest Hypocrisies of Mitt Romney and the Republican Party | Alternet
"Modern Republicans give us an opportunity to peer into the soul of a party that has embraced an open aversion to the truth. Meanwhile, their hypocrisy has reached historic proportions. It’s as if they have lost the ability to recognize the obvious contradictions they put forth. Or, more likely, they just don’t care, since lies and hypocrisy are an efficient way to score political points and smear opponents.  The hyper-hypocrisy of today’s GOP has spread through the party’s bloodstream."

Walker's New Capitol Police Chief Cracks Down on the First Amendment

Walker's New Capitol Police Chief Cracks Down on the First Amendment
"On September 5, 2012, eight people were arrested, handcuffed, and ultimately given citations for simply holding signs in the Wisconsin State Capitol. This may come as a surprise to the hundreds of thousands of people who marched through the Capitol in February and March of 2011 proudly holding home-made signs that denounced Governor Scott Walker’s attack on collective bargaining rights, but there’s a new sheriff in town -- a new Capitol Police chief to be exact."

Romney once again claims credit for saving auto industry, says Obama did 'exactly as I proposed'

Romney once again claims credit for saving auto industry, says Obama did 'exactly as I proposed'
"Romney wanted to let the companies go through bankruptcy on their own, but if that had happened, the entire industry would have been devastated. We were in the middle of a financial crisis, and there simply wasn't any private financing to be had. In order to protect the companies from simply collapsing, the question was whether the government would step in, as it had with Wall Street, to keep a bad situation from getting worse.

President Obama made a tough call—and took a huge political risk—when he put the weight of the U.S. government behind the auto industry, but his decision has paid off. Mitt Romney would have done the exact opposite, and the results would have been disastrous. In fact, Romney said that if the U.S. took the path followed by President Obama, "you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye."

Well, President Obama didn't follow his advice, and now the auto industry is now once again number one in the world (update: although GM was number one in the world for 2011, the last full year of data, Toyota regained the lead for the first half of 2012). And as President Clinton would say, it takes some serious brass for Mitt Romney to try to claim credit for that."

Paul Ryan Acknowledges Requesting Federal Money From Program Funded By Obamacare

Paul Ryan Acknowledges Requesting Federal Money From Program Funded By Obamacare: Earlier this week, the Nation uncovered the fact that Paul Ryan — who has voted with his party to repeal President Obama’s health care law over 30 times — requested Obamacare funds for his Wisconsin district in 2010. However, after the news broke that Ryan sought to fund a new community health center with federal [...]/p

Paul Ryan Acknowledges Requesting Federal Money From Program Funded By Obamacare

Paul Ryan Acknowledges Requesting Federal Money From Program Funded By Obamacare: Earlier this week, the Nation uncovered the fact that Paul Ryan — who has voted with his party to repeal President Obama’s health care law over 30 times — requested Obamacare funds for his Wisconsin district in 2010. However, after the news broke that Ryan sought to fund a new community health center with federal [...]/p

Romney On Omitting U.S. Troops From RNC Speech: ‘You Talk About Things You Think Are Important’

Romney On Omitting U.S. Troops From RNC Speech: ‘You Talk About Things You Think Are Important’: In an interview with Fox News this afternoon, Mitt Romney shot back at critics who complained that he didn’t mention Afghanistan or praise U.S. troops in his convention speech last week, arguing that he focused on issues that are “important.” Fox News’s Brett Baier told Romney that “several speakers” at the Democratic National Convention in [...]/p

Unhappy Anniversary: Republicans Have Blocked The American Jobs Act For One Year

Unhappy Anniversary: Republicans Have Blocked The American Jobs Act For One Year: On September 8, 2011 — one year ago tomorrow — President Obama laid out a series of policy proposals known collectively as the American Jobs Act. The plan included stimulus spending in the form of immediate infrastructure investments, tax credits for working Americans and employers to encourage consumer spending and job growth, and efforts to [...]/p

President Obama Acceptance Speech at 2012 Democratic National Convention

President Barack Obama accepts the Democratic Presidential nomination at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC.

VP Joe Biden on Pres. Obama: 'I Don't See Him in Sound Bites. I Watch Him in Action'

Vice President Joe Biden accepted the nomination of his party and spoke to the Democratic National Convention Thursday night, speaking about President Obama's record and attacking Mitt Romney's plans. "You never quit on America. And you deserve a president who will never quit on you."

Fmr Gov. Jennifer Granholm Remarks at 2012 Democratic National Convention

Bill Clinton Speaks At The DNC

Bill Clinton speaks at the Democratic National Convention.

Elizabeth Warren: 'Americans Are Fighters'

Elizabeth Warren, candidate for U.S. Senate, spoke to the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night, speaking about the middle class and the struggles to find the American dream.

Paul Ryan requested Obamacare funding for his district

Paul Ryan requested Obamacare funding for his district
"Remember how a couple of weeks ago Paul Ryan had egg on his face after being forced to admit that he had indeed requested funds from the stimulus bill that he so vehemently opposed and has continued to vilify? His excuse then was that, when he wrote those letters of support for all that federal funding, he didn't know it was stimulus money he was asking for.

So what's his excuse going to be this time?"

Paul Ryan brings back the welfare lie

Paul Ryan brings back the welfare lie
"He just can't help himself. It's getting to the point where you have to wonder if Ryan can actually distinguish the truth anymore. What is glaringly obvious is that he and Romney have absolutely no shame. They've been called out for the lie, repeatedly. They've beencalled out for playing the race card, repeatedly. Hell, the campaign itself has all but admitted that the charge is a lie, and in the same breath said they weren't going to give it up because they think it's working."

CHART: The Comeback Of The U.S. Auto Industry

CHART: The Comeback Of The U.S. Auto Industry: A recent report from the St. Louis Federal Reserve highlights that automotive sales continue to be one of the most encouraging aspects of an otherwise sluggish economic recovery. The report notes that “most analysts regard increases in automobile and light truck sales as an important component of an economic recovery.” And ever since the recession [...]/p

6 Reasons We Need to Protect America from Texas Politicians | Alternet

6 Reasons We Need to Protect America from Texas Politicians | Alternet
"It looks like the influence of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the right-wing nutcase-creation machine might have tipped Texas Republicans over the edge and into dangerous territory. Their politicians are flying right off the rails. Is it time to think about setting up border checkpoints around Texas to protect ourselves? Even better, maybe we should just build a big fence around the state to keep their elected officials in.

Here are six reasons why we should think about building a big fence around Texas to keep the Lone Star state's wacky Republican politicians away from the rest of us."

The GOP's Disgusting New Southern Strategy: Take the Vote Away from Blacks, Roll Back the Civil Rights Movement | Alternet

The GOP's Disgusting New Southern Strategy: Take the Vote Away from Blacks, Roll Back the Civil Rights Movement | Alternet
"The GOP's war on voting rights isn't new. It harks back to past efforts to alter the political process."

The Republicans as the Party of Big Government | Common Dreams

The Republicans as the Party of Big Government | Common Dreams
"One of the jokes of our era is the Republican Party's claim that it favors “small government.”  An accurate description might go more like this: the present-day Republican Party (libertarians excepted) has never seen an oppressive power of the national security state it didn’t want to bolster or grow.  And it loves big government—the bigger the better—as long as we’re talking about the military-industrial complex.  Mitt Romney, for instance, is eager to build ever more naval vessels, increase the size of U.S. ground forces, and up by an extra $2 trillion or more over the next decade the Pentagon’s already staggering budget.  As the Bush administration proved and the Obama administration emphasized, stimulus packages, including massive infrastructural projects, are fine and dandy when pursued in Baghdad (biggest embassy on Earth) or Afghanistan (most bases ever).  Consider it an irony, that even undocumented aliens are a Republican “go,” if they happen to be part of thesemi-slave labor force that helps to build and service American bases in war zones abroad."

Michelle Obama's full DNC speech

Julián Castro's DNC Keynote Speech

Mayor Julián Castro of San Antonio delivered the keynote speech Tuesday night at the 2012 Democratic National Convention

Gov. Ted Strickland Speaks At The Democratic Convention

Gov. Deval Patrick: This Is 'Election of a Lifetime'

Deval Patrick, governor of Mitt Romney's state of Massachusetts, called for Democrats to rally to re-elect President Obama.

Tammy Duckworth: 'Barack Obama Will Never Ignore Our Troops'

Candidate for the US House of Representatives in Illinois and Former Assistant Secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs Tammy Duckworth addressed the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night, speaking to how President Obama has lived up to his title of Commander-in-Chief by his actions with the U.S. military.

Lily Ledbetter: Without Equal Pay, 'We Lose What Cannot be Measure by Dollars'

Lilly Ledbetter, Women's Equality Leader and Namesake of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, talks about her struggle to earn equal pay as a woman for the same job done as a man, and how the first bill President Obama signed into law.

Stacy Lihn speech @ 2012 Democratic National Convention

Stacy Lihn on her daughter Zoe and why she supports Obamacare 2012 Democratic National Convention. Let's remember what the Tea Party wants to take away.

Papantonio: Tea Party Finally Tips The Craziness Scale

The Tea Party's constant charge that "Obama hates America," as well as how the entire Republican Party has become a reactionary, intolerant bunch with no facts to stand on.

A tale of two party platforms—a choice of the future or the past

A tale of two party platforms—a choice of the future or the past
"It's often said that party platforms don't matter, that nobody reads them and after they are approved every four years at the national conventions, everybody ignores them. While probably not more than one in 100 Americans can explain the details of each party's platform, and while the implicit promises within them are often broken or take years if not decades to come true, they aren't mere textual kabuki. They do indicate a path, a direction. And set against each other, some of the differences can be stark."

Tea Party's Amy Kremer: 'We need a president that luvs this country!'

Tea Party's Amy Kremer: 'We need a president that luvs this country!'
"This deliberate strategy of trying to paint President Obama as "the other" should have ended with its failure in 2008, yet it persists in the constant refrain of dog-whistles we hear from these people: 'Marxist', 'Foreign', 'Muslim', with the sickness of Birtherism and the like. Republicans don't seem to care if they're seen as bigots anymore either, and in fact many have publicly embraced it."

CHARTS: Yes, We’re Better Off Than We Were Four Years Ago

CHARTS: Yes, We’re Better Off Than We Were Four Years Ago: The Romney campaign this week is basing its message off of former President Reagan’s “are you better off?” question from his 1980 campaign, even though Romney himself admitted in an interview earlier this year that “of course [the economy is] getting better” under President Obama. And the numbers don’t lie. While the economy is only [...]/p

Watch A Democratic Mayor Expose The Tea Party’s Deficit Hypocrisy

Watch A Democratic Mayor Expose The Tea Party’s Deficit Hypocrisy: "During an appearance on CNN’s Starting Point on Tuesday, Tea Party Express Chairwoman Amy Kremer refused to condemn the deficit increase that would result from Mitt Romney’s proposed tax cuts, suggesting that the group is more concerned about acting as a surrogate for the Republican candidate than promoting fiscal responsibility.

Romney would extend all of the Bush tax cuts, reduce all individual income tax rates by an additional 20 percent, lower the corporate rate from the current 35 percent to 25 percent, eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, the estate tax, Obamacare’s Medicare taxes on high-income individuals, and taxes on investment income for households under certain income levels. The former governor claims that he could recoup the lost revenue by closing unspecified “tax expenditures,” though economists predict that he would have to dramatically slash spending to pay for his tax cuts or add trillions to the national deficit."

The ED Show - History shows we're better off today than 4 years ago

Four years ago, the economy was in free-fall and the country was losing nearly 800,000 jobs a month. Republicans say Americans were better off.

GOP Rep. Burgess Suggests Medicare Is Unconstitutional

GOP Rep. Burgess Suggests Medicare Is Unconstitutional: At a panel during last week’s Republican National Convention, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) strongly suggested that he believes Medicare is unconstitutional — before going on to say that its constitutionality doesn’t matter so long as it is used to achieve conservative ends. Burgess’ comment arose during a discussion of whether the Constitution permits the federal [...]/p

Romney On Whether We’re Better Off: ‘Of Course It’s Getting Better’

Romney On Whether We’re Better Off: ‘Of Course It’s Getting Better’: "But if it’s an insult to say that the economy is better off, then Mitt Romney has been slinging some insults of his own, considering how he answered a question from conservative talk radio host Laura Ingraham back in January"

Ten Big Lies Paul Ryan Keeps Repeating That the Corporate Media Refuses to Push Back On | Alternet

Ten Big Lies Paul Ryan Keeps Repeating That the Corporate Media Refuses to Push Back On | Alternet
"This year’s Republican campaign may be the most dishonest in history. "

Bush Chief Political Strategist: Paul Ryan’s Speech Was Full Of Lies

Bush Chief Political Strategist: Paul Ryan’s Speech Was Full Of Lies: Paul Ryan’s speech before the Republican National Convention was riddled with lies, including a tall-tale blaming President Obama for the closure of a GM plant that announced its shutdown in June 2008. On ABC’s This Week on Sunday, Matthew Dowd, chief political strategist for former President Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign, criticized Ryan’s for its many [...]/p

Is Ralph Reed Still Exploiting Evangelicals for His Clients?

Is Ralph Reed Still Exploiting Evangelicals for His Clients?
"Ralph Reed, my very favorite faux-Christian unindicted co-conspirator, con man par excellence, obviously still has real pull in the upper levels of the Republican Party, allegedly because of his super duper database of evangelical voters - and his superPAC. I have to wonder if he has something to do with the GOP plank calling for no minimum wage in the Marianas Islands in the Republican platform?"

Republicans strive to make their platform worse on workers' issues in 2012 than it was in 2008

Republicans strive to make their platform worse on workers' issues in 2012 than it was in 2008
"The horrors of the 2012 Republican platform are legion, from abortion to marriage equality to to financial reform. To that list, you can of course add labor issues, where the Republican Party's quest to have its 2012 platform be not just bad but decisively worse than previous ones continues. Josh Eidelson compares 2012 to 2008"

Dishonesty on display throughout GOP convention

Three days' worth of lies, distortions and manipulations from dozens of speakers at this year's Republican National Convention.

How the Main Stream Media Helps the GOP Big Lie

Colbert Slams Media For Giving Ryan's Lying Convention Speech a Pass

Colbert Slams Media For Giving Ryan's Lying Convention Speech a Pass
"Leave it to Stephen Colbert to take some of the talking heads on cable news to task in a way that only he can. After pointing out that even Fox's web site featured an article which called Paul Ryan's speech "an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech" and the Romney campaign stating that "We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers," Colbert made a mockery of some of CNN's coverage which we featured here at C&L."

Bill Moyers: Christian Right Hypocrite Ralph Reed Has Resurrected Himself in the GOP -- He Must Be Praying We'll Forget His Past | Alternet

Bill Moyers: Christian Right Hypocrite Ralph Reed Has Resurrected Himself in the GOP -- He Must Be Praying We'll Forget His Past | Alternet
"As head of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, Reed boasts he’s building a political dynamo of five million members with a massive database, an annual budget of $100 million and full-time lobbyists in all fifty state capitals, a colossal effort aimed at putting in place a right-wing social agenda and identifying and establishing contact with what it estimates as 27 million conservative voters in America. As you can imagine, with clout like that, Reed and his coalition were in high cotton at the Tampa convention."