Gingrich Slams Romney's Debate Honesty: 'It's Clear He Changed' on Tax Cuts

Gingrich Slams Romney's Debate Honesty: 'It's Clear He Changed' on Tax Cuts
"Former Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on Sunday admitted that GOP hopeful Mitt Romney had "changed" positions during last week's debate when he claimed that he had not proposed a $5 trillion tax cut."

Mitt Romney Sings Different Tune On Middle East With Key Donors

Mitt Romney Sings Different Tune On Middle East With Key Donors
"Here's Mitt Romney a few short months ago telling donors all about how the only real strategy in the Middle East is...hope."

Romney’s Major Reversal On Foreign Aid

Romney’s Major Reversal On Foreign Aid: In a Columbus Day speech to the Virginia Military Institute, Governor Mitt Romney backed away from his controversial position of requiring foreign assistance to be “zeroed out” each year. The speech, billed as a “major foreign policy address” as the Romney campaign seeks to highlight the candidate’s policy positions in the run-up to the election, [...]/p

Why Romney’s Mormonism Matters » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Why Romney’s Mormonism Matters » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka the Mormons), with its history of religious severity, appears to be a perfect fit for the über-orthodoxy of the Tea Party-controlled GOP. Despite misgivings that many non-Mormon Republicans may have (most Christian groups don’t consider the Mormons to be Christians), the history and doctrine of the Mormon faith seem to go hand in hand with the kind of derelict bigotry and racism that the current GOP espouses."

Mitt Romney's win is conservatism's loss

Mitt Romney's win is conservatism's loss
"But none of this changes one simple fact: Romney's last-minute wholesale reinvention tour is nothing more than the last, desperate gasp of a candidate who knows that the conservatism he had to adopt to win the primary will get him absolutely nowhere this November. It is his last, greatest, Etch-a-Sketch: starting off the last month of the campaign by pretending on national television that none of the rest of the campaign ever happened, and hoping that the public is only paying attention just now and is too stupid to realize the difference."

CHART: Comparing Bush And Obama’s Records On Job Creation

CHART: Comparing Bush And Obama’s Records On Job Creation: Today’s jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the American economy added 114,000 jobs in September. BLS also revised the job gains for July and August up by a total of 86,000, and the report contained several other good signs for the economy. The private sector has now added jobs for 31 [...]/p

Top 10 Excuses Conservatives Are Already Making For Losing The Election | Alternet

Top 10 Excuses Conservatives Are Already Making For Losing The Election | Alternet
"All the current polling has President Obama beating Mitt Romney and Republicans failing to take over the Senate . There is an obvious reason for this:  the public likes how progressive Democratic policies have worked in the past four years more than how conservative Republican policies worked in the past eight.

Accepting the obvious is proving difficult for conservative leaders. Instead of taking responsibility for past policy mistakes and proposing changes, conservatives are frantically coming up with various excuses why they are about to take a ballot box beating. The list is impressive. Let it not be said conservatives are not creative."

Tea Party Voter Suppression Group Under Investigation For Possible ‘Criminal Conspiracy’

Tea Party Voter Suppression Group Under Investigation For Possible ‘Criminal Conspiracy’: The Tea Party organization launching a multi-pronged voter suppression effort this election is under investigation by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) for a possible “criminal conspiracy to deny legitimate voters their constitutional rights.” Cummings sent a letter to True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht warning her that the Ohio branch of the group, in suing to [...]/p

Foreign-owned subsidiary's million-dollar contribution to Romney Super PAC raises red flags

Foreign-owned subsidiary's million-dollar contribution to Romney Super PAC raises red flags
"The law is straightforward regarding foreign nationals. They may not indirectly or directly contribute money to influence U.S. elections. Period."

Romney Has ‘No Idea’ About Outsourcing Tax Breaks, But His Economic Plan Makes Them Worse

Romney Has ‘No Idea’ About Outsourcing Tax Breaks, But His Economic Plan Makes Them Worse: "But even Fox News acknowledges that “companies can claim a deduction for the costs associated with moving jobs overseas.” The idea that former Bain CEO Romney wouldn’t know this is simply not believable. Instead, his advisers have argued that this isn’t a “special” tax break for outsourcing — it’s just a deduction like any other cost of doing business."

Etch-A-Sketch Romney Tries to Rewrite 47 Percent Remarks

Etch-A-Sketch Romney Tries to Rewrite 47 Percent Remarks
"In the mean time, since he didn't get a chance to try to sanitize his remarks during the debate, he ran to Sean's loving arms at Fox to have them "Hannitized" instead."

Romney Disavows '47%' Remarks, Makes Fools of Right-Wingers Who Defended Him

Romney Disavows '47%' Remarks, Makes Fools of Right-Wingers Who Defended Him
"This is what happens when you just reflexively defend everything your candidate says, no matter how offensive and stupid."

10 Most Shameless Romney Debate Lies -- Debunked | Alternet

10 Most Shameless Romney Debate Lies -- Debunked | Alternet
"Romney’s debate performance was chock full of lies, recalling his running mate’s address to the GOP convention, which was also chock full of lies. Hopefully, just as Ryan’s address was dissected and debunked by some media outlets, Romney’s claims are as well, so the debate can move to substantive issues instead of stylistic ones.

Here are ten of Romney’s fact-challenged claims from last night:"

Romney's big Medicare lie takes center stage in debate

Romney's big Medicare lie takes center stage in debate
"There is still the truth here: the cuts to Medicare in the President's plans don't hurtbeneficiaries. The cuts will extend the solvency of the Medicare trust fund because they save the program money in the long term. Romney's plan would make Medicare insolvent by 2016, the end of his first presidential term, if he wins. And that does some serious damage to current retirees."

Republican brand tanking with electorate

Republican brand tanking with electorate
"The favorability ratings for both the GOP and the tea party are totally underwater, with just 39 percent approving of the GOP and 32 percent liking the tea party. Among self-identified party members, Democrats have a five-point edge over Republicans in favorability, 89 percent of Democrats are positive, versus 84 percent of Republicans. And here's where it gets interesting."

Wingnuts Hurl Racist Comments At Cardboard Obama in Denver

Wingnuts Hurl Racist Comments At Cardboard Obama in Denver
"The four-minute video on YouTube, in which dozens of Republicans pass by cardboard Obama and, in a few cases, can’t help but hurl less-than-politically correct comments its way. You can watch the video below.

“Go back to Kenya!” one person says.

“Strangle him!” says another."

12 Misleading Things You’ll Probably Hear At Tonight’s Debate

12 Misleading Things You’ll Probably Hear At Tonight’s Debate: Tonight’s debate brings the election into its home stretch, which means the candidates will be pulling out all their best lines (or zingers, as the case may be) to try to woo voters. Here are some common misleading lines the candidates have used on the campaign trail that they’re likely to use again tonight: 1. [...]/p

And yet another attempt to 'introduce' Romney that doesn't end in disaster

And yet another attempt to 'introduce' Romney that doesn't end in disaster
"The country knows who he is. They don't like him. They don't like how he loves to fire people. They don't like how he mocks their non-Kenneth Cole jackets. They don't like how he shits on the gourmet cookies that cute old ladies give him. They don't like how he makes $10,000 bets when they're all getting fired by the Mitt Romneys of American industry. They don't like how he dismisses 47 percent of America as a bunch of moochers. They don't like how his wife barks at people as if they're the help. They don't like how he "jokes" about crying when writing a check (from his ample treasury) to a church in which he's a bishop. They don't like how he'sa jerk to his own family.

That's why his unfavorability numbers have gone up and up and up the more people get to know him:"

Right-Wing Media Hopelessly Confused About Their Race-Based Attacks On Obama | Alternet

Right-Wing Media Hopelessly Confused About Their Race-Based Attacks On Obama | Alternet
"It's rather amazing that Barack Obama has been on the national political stage for more than eight years and the far-right media, committed to hating the president with a peculiar passion, still haven't figured out the race angle. Or specifically, they haven't figured out which  race-baiting angle  they prefer to play against him."

Ryan Challenged By Voter To Provide Policy Specifics, Fails To Deliver

Ryan Challenged By Voter To Provide Policy Specifics, Fails To Deliver: A woman at a rally in Clinton, Iowa challenged Paul Ryan for not providing specifics about the GOP presidential proposals on Tuesday, echoing a growing concern among reporters, pundits and voters alike: QUESTION: My question is, you know, you keep talking about China and jobs and then we talk about the unemployment, but where are [...]/p

Scott Brown: Romney who?

Brown has avoided any association with Romney in his race against Elizabeth Warren

Breaking News on the RNC's Election Fraud Scandal

Greg Palast breaks the story on the Koch Brothers Connection to the Voter Registration fraud outfit working in Florida, North Carolina, Colorado and several other states.

Tenn. GOP Candidate Posts Gun Pic on Facebook: 'Welcome to Tennessee Mr. Obama'

Tenn. GOP Candidate Posts Gun Pic on Facebook: 'Welcome to Tennessee Mr. Obama'
"You've got to wonder about the intelligence, or at the very least the lack of common sense of some people currently running for Congress. Call it the "Sarah Palin Effect", or maybe she's just a symptom of a disease that was there long before her ascent. And while it is true that many rank-and-file republicans find such posts as this one completely innocent and non-threatening, so much so they've become "normal". Whatever your take on this incident itself, many non-republicans take a dim view of all this, and see it as a cancer in that party that just keeps growing."

Evangelical fundraising campaign by Ralph Reed's coalition depends on demonizing Barack Obama

Evangelical fundraising campaign by Ralph Reed's coalition depends on demonizing Barack Obama
"It doesn't matter whether Reed actually thinks any of the flyer's claptrap is true. Most of the targeted recipients already believe the piles of lies, distortions and exaggerations about Barack Obama featured it contains and would never vote for him anyway. Reed's objective is to raise enough money from these true believers so a pernicious "voter guide" can be shipped to millions of other voters who so far may be at least a little skeptical of the demon depiction of the president. Success convincing these voters depends on one of the traditional values Reed doesn't tout on his résumé: profuse, unrepentant lying."

Chris Hayes: The Republican Bubble Trap

Chris Hayes: The Republican Bubble Trap
"From this Saturday's Up With Chris Hayes, Chris' Story of the Week and the Republicans who have been living in their own alternative universe these days as they refuse to accept the reality that the poll numbers in the presidential race really are not looking good for Mitt Romney."

As the Romney campaign unskews, will the GOP's racist id take over?

As the Romney campaign unskews, will the GOP's racist id take over?
"Like Mitt Romney's 47 percent remark, the Republicans use overtly racist appeals to whites to attempt to give the impressions that non-whites are the prime beneficiaries of "government handouts." And as in that case, when the 47 percent was mostly comprised of whites, like whites on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans benefits, student loan for college, the universal phone service requirement primarily benefits whites, in this case rural whites. Consider the Universal Service Program for Rural Health Care Providers"

Why Right-Wingers Need ‘Skewed Polls’ Conspiracy Theory for Romney to Win -- And Even More If He Loses | Alternet

Why Right-Wingers Need ‘Skewed Polls’ Conspiracy Theory for Romney to Win -- And Even More If He Loses | Alternet
"Since the inception of the ironically named Fox News Channel, right-wing media consumers have been convinced that every news source outside of their favored outlets pushes lies designed to destroy their beloved country with a collectivist 

agenda, one that favors those perceived as unworthy of partaking in the nation’s bounty. (These “unworthy,” of course, are often non-white and/or non-heterosexual-male.)

To those of the paranoid, xenophobic mindset first identified by Richard Hofstadter in the 1960s, it’s hardly a stretch to believe it when they’re told that the very polls that are used by media to assess the state of political contests are skewed to favor the liberal candidate, especially when the candidate is a black man named Obama."

RNC Chair Reverses Course, Says Republican Party Will ‘Absolutely’ Support Todd Akin

RNC Chair Reverses Course, Says Republican Party Will ‘Absolutely’ Support Todd Akin: Republicans, stuck with Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) in the Missouri Senate race after the dropout deadline passed this week, have hit the fifth stage of grief: acceptance. After Akin declared last month that women cannot get pregnant from “legitimate rape” because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” nearly [...]/p

Florida Republican Volunteer Tells Senior Citizens: Obama Is A ‘Muslim’ Who Will ‘Get Rid Of Your Medicare’

Florida Republican Volunteer Tells Senior Citizens: Obama Is A ‘Muslim’ Who Will ‘Get Rid Of Your Medicare’: A volunteer for the Republican Party of Clay County, Florida called President Obama a “Muslim” and said that he would “get rid of your Medicare” while calling voters on behalf of Mitt Romney. In audio obtained by a Tampa-area radio station, the woman made the remarks directly to senior citizens, but her comments were recorded [...]/p

3 Things That May Have Wrecked Mitt Romney's Shot at President | Alternet

3 Things That May Have Wrecked Mitt Romney's Shot at President | Alternet
"Mitt Romney arguably lost Florida , with its heavy concentration of older voters, when he picked as his vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan, the face of the conservative plan to end Medicare as we know it."

Marine Veteran and Senator Jim Webb Rewrites Mitt Romney

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

GOP Senate Candidate Akin: ‘Free Enterprise’ Means Being Allowed To Deny Equal Pay To Women

GOP Senate Candidate Akin: ‘Free Enterprise’ Means Being Allowed To Deny Equal Pay To Women: Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) has struggled with a well-established woman problem in his Senate campaign, ever since he claimed women could not get pregnant from “legitimate rape.” After he said his opponent, incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), was not “ladylike,” her campaign released a video of Akin suggesting that businesses should be allowed to pay [...]/p

Fox News' bad news for Romney

Fox News' Laura Ingraham refuses to participate in the GOP battle against the polls especially after a Fox poll shows Romney trailing by five points.

National Review Admits Bush Legacy Is Dragging Down Romney

National Review Admits Bush Legacy Is Dragging Down Romney
"After cheering on George W. Bush for 8 years, then spending the next 4 polishing his legacy, the clowns at the National Review are finally realizing that he was a big, freaking disasterfor the Republican Party."

Poll suggests Republicans would be better off with Bush

Poll suggests Republicans would be better off with Bush
A wave of recent polls has shown Romney struggling to keep up with President Barack Obama. A lower favorability rating than Bush, who was recently named the most unpopular living U.S. president, shows how difficult it has been for the GOP nominee to resonate with voters during his current presidential bid.

Why Mitt Romney Is Losing Ohio | Alternet

Why Mitt Romney Is Losing Ohio | Alternet
"Those famed white working-class voters that pollsters love to obsess over, make up a large chunk of Ohio's electorate, and they're not happy with the Bain Capital-ist and his history of calling for the auto industry's bankruptcy, endorsing attacks on their collective bargaining rights, and his plans—or lack thereof—for the economy. Barack Obama may not look like them, but Romney, as many have said, looks like the guy who fired them. And despite Republican governor John Kasich trying to take credit for improvements in the state's economy, Ohioans think that Democrats are a better bet when it comes to jobs. So it's no wonder that Romney's behind by 8 points or so in Ohio."

PPP: Pat Kreitlow sneaking up on tea party Rep. Sean Duffy

PPP: Pat Kreitlow sneaking up on tea party Rep. Sean Duffy
"Rep. Sean Duffy, the Wisconsin tea party freshman once famous for his stint on MTV's Real World, but most recently known for whining about how difficult is to live on a congressional salary of $174,000 per year, might just be having to find another gig soon. Challenger Pat Kreitlow is inching up on Duffy, according to new polling from PPP on behalf of CREDO Super PAC."

New Romney Video Surfaces Debunking His Job Creator Claims

New Romney Video Surfaces Debunking His Job Creator Claims
Remember when Mitt Romney used his time with Bain Capital to assure us that he was the only candidate in the race who "understood job creation" because he had been in business and had "turned around" companies?

Yeah. Not so much. Thanks to David Corn over at Mother Jones, we have a new video of a much younger Willard Mitt Romney talking up the purpose of Bain Capital. Here it is in a nutshell straight from Willard himself:

Bain Capital is an investment partnership which was formed to invest in startup companies and ongoing companies, then to take an active hand in managing them and hopefully, five to eight years later, to harvest them at a significant profit…

Senator Puts 'Secret Hold' on Veterans COLA Bill | Military.com

Senator Puts 'Secret Hold' on Veterans COLA Bill | Military.com
A Republican senator is using an anonymous hold to block the traditionally bipartisan cost of living adjustment that is given to America’s disabled veterans and their survivors.

How The Tea Party Hopes To Purge Thousands of Ohio Voters

How The Tea Party Hopes To Purge Thousands of Ohio Voters: Members of an Ohio tea party group are taking it upon themselves to individually police alleged voter fraud, launching challenges to a targeted list of voters that includes hundreds of college students, trailer park residents, homeless people and African Americans in counties President Obama won in 2008. In all, the group has sought to remove [...]/p

Romney Has a Jobs Plan ... for China | Common Dreams

Romney Has a Jobs Plan ... for China | Common Dreams
"You may never have heard of Sensata Technologies, but in this election season, you’ve probably heard the name of its owner, Bain Capital, the company co-founded and formerly run by Mitt Romney. When they learned this, close to a dozen Sensata employees decided to put up a fight, to challenge Romney to put into practice his very campaign slogans to save American jobs. They traveled to Tampa, Fla., joining in a poor people’s campaign at a temporary camp called Romneyville (after the Hoovervilles of the Great Depression). They organized a petition drive, getting 35,000 people to join their demand for Romney to call on his former colleagues to save their jobs. Since Freeport is close to two swing states, Iowa and Wisconsin, they traveled to a Romney rally and appealed directly to him there (Ironically, for appealing to Romney to save their jobs from being sent to China, the Sensata workers were jeered as communists at the rally, and removed by U.S. Secret Service)."

Obama Widens Lead in Two Biggest Swing States | Alternet

Obama Widens Lead in Two Biggest Swing States | Alternet
"President Obama has widened his lead in the two biggest swing states, Florida and Ohio, according to new polls by The New York Timesand the Washington Post . Obama leads in Ohio by 10 points and in Florida by 9 percentage points.

“In Ohio — which no Republican has won the presidency without — Mr. Obama is leading Mr. Romney 53 percent to 43 percent in the poll,” the Times/CBS Newspoll found. “In Florida, the president leads Mr. Romney 53 to 44 percent in the poll"."

6 Ways Mitt Romney's Getting His Butt Kicked | Alternet

6 Ways Mitt Romney's Getting His Butt Kicked | Alternet
"One has to admire the conservative brain's ability to stave off cognitive dissonance. Republicans have convinced themselves that Obama is the second coming of Hitler, and were sure that Americas would reject him for a nice-looking white business-guy with good hair. But now things aren't going well, so they've simply decided, en masse , that a conspiracy is afoot. The polls are being skewed, and any minute now Romney will come thundering back to crush the Kenyan interloper.

Here in the real world, however, a different picture is emerging. After the necessary caveats – Romney can still win, external events could shake up the race late, nobody knows how restrictive voting laws will ultimately impact the vote – Romney is getting his butt kicked. And here’s how."

Battleground snapshot: Romney pummeled in key states

Battleground snapshot: Romney pummeled in key states
"The big story, as I've harped on all year, is still Mitt Romney's unpopularity. Of the nine states left on this list, only one gives him 46 or better. He can't even crack 44 percent in Ohio. People don't like him, and they'll never like him."

Romney’s startling confession on taxes

Romney’s startling confession on taxes
"For months, Mitt Romney has argued repeatedly that President Obama raised taxes. It's not really true -- Obama has cut taxes repeatedly -- but it's a standard line of attack."

Romney Ignores Facts, Lies About Taxes

"This is the same sort of scam that the extremely wealthy have been perpetrating on working people for centuries. And to compound the hustle, now Romney and his rich buddies are claiming that if we tax them at the same rate a surgeon pays, at 35 percent like everybody else instead of the 15 percent "capital gains" rate paid for by banksters like Romney and heiresses like Paris Hilton, then the economy will suffer. But history - and facts - prove this point wrong."

Freedom isn't just for the 1%

If this is a big idea election - then Mitt Romney should lose. On 60 Minutes - Romney said his "big idea" is...Freedom! That's it - Freedom. At least it can easily fit on a bumper sticker. You see - Mitt Romney's so-called "big idea" is the same "big idea" that's been pushed by every Republican since Reagan - freedom, freedom, freedom. When Republicans are talking about freedom - they're not talking about freedom like we think of it. They're talking about freedom for billionaires and corporations. That's freedom from taxation - like the freedom for Mitt Romney to treat his capital gains income as special and pay a lower tax rate than the rest of us. Or the freedom for a corporation like General Electric to pay no taxes. They're talking about freedom from regulation - like the freedom for Koch Industries to pollute entire towns or let oil pipes explode now that government regulators have been taken out of the picture. They're talking about freedom from litigation - like the freedom for doctors and hospitals to not get sued when they amputate the wrong leg. Or freedom for banksters not to get sued after they gamble away your savings or blow up your home's value. The so-called 'big idea" about freedom - pushed by Republicans for more than three decades, and now being pushed by Mitt Romney, is very specific, despite how vague it sounds. It means freedom for the wealthy elite to continue getting richer while the rest of us get poorer and poorer. That's why over the last three decades - ever since these freedom fighters for the rich took power - wealth inequality has exploded and the middle class has come under siege. Wall Street was given freedom to crash our economy and then get a bailout. Big oil was given freedom to destroy the Gulf of Mexico and yet continue to receive billions in subsidies courtesy of you and me the taxpayer.

Ryan's 'Secret' Tape Is Even More Extreme Than Romney's | Alternet

Ryan's 'Secret' Tape Is Even More Extreme Than Romney's | Alternet
"When they  booed Paul Ryan at the American Association of Retired Persons last week, most people didn't even know he called Medicare and Social Security "third party or socialist-based systems." Or that he  said he wants to privatize them in order to "break the back" of a "collectivist philosophy."

On recently transcribed remarks from an audio recording, Ryan said his ideas and values were shaped by an extremist author who thought humanity must "reject the morality of altruism," and that his opinions on monetary policy are guided by a fictional speech which says "the words 'to make money' hold the essence of human morality." That author says the "collectivist philosophy" Ryan ascribes to Social Security and Medicare is a "looters' credo." By that reckoning, anyone who receives assistance from the government -- including disabled combat veterans or impoverished children -- is a "looter"."

Top GOP Senate Candidate Just Says It: 'Do Away With Medicare, Medicaid' | Common Dreams

Top GOP Senate Candidate Just Says It: 'Do Away With Medicare, Medicaid' | Common Dreams
"Just to repeat: a top Republican Senate candidate has been caught on video talking about how he would “DO AWAY WITH MEDICAID, AND MEDICARE.”

Just to repeat: “DO AWAY WITH MEDICAID, AND MEDICARE.”

It should be understood that Thompson is no fringe-dwelling Todd Akin. As the longtime Republican governor of a swing state, he’s worked with every GOP president since Ronald Reagan, and he oversaw social programs for the Bush-Cheney administration. This year, he’s one of his party’s premier recruits in the fight to retake the Senate. Indeed, the race between Thompson and Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin could decide which party controls the chamber.

Thompson is, as well, closely aligned with Paul Ryan. The Senate candidate’s ties to Ryan’s politically connected family go back to when the Republican vice-presidential nominee was a child. Thompson has been a Ryan booster from the very beginning of the younger Wisconsinite’s career in electoral politics—when Thompson was the powerful governor of the state and Ryan was organizing his first Congressional bid.

When Thompson joined the Bush-Cheney Cabinet, he and Ryan kept regular company in Washington. They look forward to working together when Thompson becomes the point man on entitlement debates in a Republican-controlled Senate and Ryan is the Romney White House’s chief liaison to Capitol Hill.

The voters will have something to say about that, however."

Taxes and the Super Rich » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Taxes and the Super Rich » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
"A few more years of supply-side economics and America will turn into a virtual reality of the film Escape from New York, a dystopian world where the city of New York has been converted into a maximum-security prison."

Conservative Group Claims Obama Has ‘Communist Beliefs,’ Compares His Policies To Hitler’s

Conservative Group Claims Obama Has ‘Communist Beliefs,’ Compares His Policies To Hitler’s: A conservative religious group is sending its members a ‘survey’ that compares President Obama’s policies to those of Nazi Germany, and asserts that the President has “communist beliefs.” The mailer, a product of the Faith and Freedom coalition, is titled the “Voter Registration Confirmation Survey.” But its questions have little to do with registering to [...]/p

How The Right's Latest Conspiracy Theory Might Unleash a Wave of Domestic Terrorism if Obama Wins | Alternet

How The Right's Latest Conspiracy Theory Might Unleash a Wave of Domestic Terrorism if Obama Wins | Alternet
"In a somewhat desperate attempt to maintain morale among a Republican base that disdains its standard-bearer, a number of conservative media outlets are pushing an alternate reality in which Mitt Romney is leading in the polls by wide margins and American voters have a decidedly negative view not of the challenger, but of Barack Obama.

It's an exceptionally dangerous game that the right-wing media are playing. If Obama wins – and according to polling guru Nate Silver, he'd have a 95 percent chance of doing so if the vote were held today – there's a very real danger that this spin -- combined with other campaign narratives that are popular among the far-right -- could create a post-election environment so toxic that it yields an outburst of politically motivated violence."

Scott Brown takes the racial low road

Rachel Maddow reviews the way Senator Scott Brown has relied heavily on racial resentment as a campaign strategy against Elizabeth Warren.

Take a Look at What Paul Ryan Did to His Own Congressional District, and Be Very Scared for Your Country | Alternet

Take a Look at What Paul Ryan Did to His Own Congressional District, and Be Very Scared for Your Country | Alternet
"Ryan trumpeted the $1.2 trillion in Bush tax cuts showered largely on the richest 1%, pushed for the deregulation of Wall Street financial manipulations, opposed 2007 efforts to rein in the financial industry’s increasingly risky practices but then voted for a virtually unconditional bailout of the big banks after the meltdown in 2008 in order to “save the free enterprise system.” Ryan also voted for the auto bailout without any provisions to prioritize US jobs including those in his district. Further, Ryan has been a consistent supporter of the “free trade” deals with low-wage, repressive regimes that have fueled the offshoring of jobs.

In recent years, Ryan’s home district has lost thousands of family-sustaining jobs. Its economic foundations have been dangerously hollowed out: Delco in Oak Creek shut down at a cost of 3,800 jobs, mostly going to Mexico; Chrysler in Kenosha had 850 jobs sent to Mexico with the help of auto industry “bailout” funds; and General Motors in his hometown of Janesville eliminated 2,800 jobs directly with its pre-Christmas 2008 plant closing, while GM kept open a low-wage plant with parallel capacities in Silao, Mexico. The GM shutdown in Janesville wiped out another 3,000 jobs in nearby supplier plants.

The three major industrial counties in Ryan’s district have endured devastating manufacturing job losses since 2000, with Kenosha County losing 30%, Racine County 33%, and Rock County an astonishing 54%.

Battleground snapshot: Obama winning by bigger margins than four years ago

Battleground snapshot: Obama winning by bigger margins than four years ago
"'ve made a couple of changes to our weekly battleground snapshot. First of all, New Mexico and Pennsylvania have been removed. They are no longer battlegrounds, so no need to pretend that they are. More interestingly, I've added a new column -- a comparison to the Real Clear Politics composite score from exactly four years ago ("O" is for Obama, "M" is for McCain). So today's numbers include a comparison from September 21, 2008. That way we can see how Pres. Barack Obama is running compared to his first bid. And the answer, for the most part, is "much better"."

Domestic Terrorism: Senate Hears Testimony About the Rise of the Right-Wing Threat

Domestic Terrorism: Senate Hears Testimony About the Rise of the Right-Wing Threat
"In reality, right-wing domestic terrorism is occurring at a remarkable rate, more than twice that of the "Islamist" domestic terrorism that has so preoccupied people like Rep. Peter King and the House Homeland Security Committee in the past couple of years."

Mitt's desperate Friday news dump

Mitt's desperate Friday news dump
"In the near future, I think we might be able look back to say that this was the week the Mitt Romney campaign entered its death throes. I suppose some miracle cure is still possible, but given that his vice presidential pick is getting pelted by boos from seniors and he himself was caught on tape calling half the nation shiftless moochers, sending things so off the rails that Mitt now wants to talk about his tax returns, of all things, you know the Romney camp is in quite a panic. That's a hell of a Friday news dump."

Senator Bernie Sanders Eviscerates Mitt Romney's 47% Secret Video

Bernie Sanders Eviscerates Mitt Romney's 47% Secret Video

Ryan Lies And Gets Booed At The AARP

Ryan Gets Booed At The AARP: The address didn’t go over well. One man called Ryan a “liar” and the audience repeatedly booed his critique of President Obama and health reform.

Papantonio: Voter Backlash Anger Will Destroy Republican Party

Mike Papantonio appears on The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann (RT America) to talk about the GOP's laundry list of problems heading into this election, including the numerous court decisions striking down their voter suppression efforts.

VoteVets.org on the Ed Show About Romney Tape

Jon Soltz, Iraq War Veteran and Chairman of VoteVets.org, appears on the Ed Show to discuss the tape of Mitt Romney at a fundraiser

Romney's real view of workers

The Romney campaign is out with a misleading new commercial on the coal industry. Ed Schultz sets the record straight on the ad and takes a deeper look into Mitt Romney's view on workers by looking at yet another clip from the "47 percent" video

Backlash Culture: White Supremacy and the Music of Hatred

Backlash Culture: White Supremacy and the Music of Hatred
"For the angry right, hatred is a symphony of duplicity, orchestrated by turning the truth on its head - which is how they came to compose an operatic backlash in which a rampaging neo-Nazi was transformed into an insidious tool of the left."

Romney's Rhetoric Responsible For Obama's Surge And New Lead In Polls | Alternet

Romney's Rhetoric Responsible For Obama's Surge And New Lead In Polls | Alternet
"Mitt Romney's string of offensive remarks—attacking Obama after U.S. diplomats were murdered in Libya and saying 47 percent of Americans don't pay taxes and are pathetic government dependents—has resulted in the largest lead by Obama in 2012's polls."

Hiding In Plain Sight - Paul Ryan's Plan to Privatize SS

Hiding In Plain Sight - Paul Ryan's Plan to Privatize SS
"A writer for America, the Catholic weekly, decided to transcribe the rest of Paul Ryan's 2005 speech at the Atlas Society (which was conveniently shortened on their website), and guess what he came up with? Ryan's stated objective to privatize Social Security and Medicare! Or, as Ryan put it, to convert them from “collectivism” to believers in a “capitalistic individualistic” philosophy. Gee, you have to wonder why the Atlas Society left that out of the transcript."

Republicans kill veterans' jobs bill

The bill was fully paid for, and entirely bipartisan -- Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) had his own set of ideas for the bill, and Murray incorporated all of them into her legislation. And yet, all but five Senate Republicans voted to kill it anyway, 48 days before a national election. Even Burr sided with his party to defeat the bill, and it was filled with his provisions.

Paul Ryan Called for Ending Social Security in Speech to Ayn Rand Fans | Alternet

Paul Ryan Called for Ending Social Security in Speech to Ayn Rand Fans | Alternet
"So, what would be more articulate way of making that point? How about describing Social Security and Medicare as “collectivist” and “socialist” systems that must end, as Ryan did in a 2005 address he delivered to the Atlas Society, a group of Ayn Rand devotees, asreported Wednesday on the Web site of the Jesuit magazine, America"

Mitt Romney: A Corporation Masquerading as a Person for President | Common Dreams

Mitt Romney: A Corporation Masquerading as a Person for President | Common Dreams
"There was something missing from the release of a tape showing Mitt Romney pandering to fat cats in Boca Raton, Florida with these very inflammatory words: “There are 47 percent who are with him, (Obama) 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. These are people who pay no income tax.” Romney said his job “is not to worry about those people"."

GOP Kills Veterans Jobs Bill, Grants Themselves a Vacation

GOP Kills Veterans Jobs Bill, Grants Themselves a Vacation
"Let's talk about how dedicated Republicans really are to creating jobs. While they talk pretty about the unemployment rate and publicly tear their clothes, don sackcloth and spread on ashes over higher veterans' unemployment rates, they do everything they can to kill any possibility of actually employing veterans."

GOP Senators Defeat Jobs Bill for US Veterans | Common Dreams

GOP Senators Defeat Jobs Bill for US Veterans | Common Dreams
"The US Senate failed to pass a jobs bill aimed at putting US veterans to work through a federally funded public works program."

Romney Co-Chair Abandons Campaign, Will Head Group Lobbying Against Wall Street Reform

Romney Co-Chair Abandons Campaign, Will Head Group Lobbying Against Wall Street Reform: Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty announced Thursday morning that he would step down as co-chair of Mitt Romney’s campaign to become the head of the Financial Services Roundtable, a trade organization that represents the 100 largest financial services companies in the country. Pawlenty tenure will begin as the group continues to lobby against the 2010 [...]/p

5 Ways Mitt Romney Has Stirred Up Race Resentment | Alternet

5 Ways Mitt Romney Has Stirred Up Race Resentment | Alternet
"Nestled amid the contempt Romney shows for everyday people of all races is a simmering resentment of brown and black people."

Taibbi: Rich People Have to Excuse Their Treatment Of Poor

Taibbi: Rich People Have to Excuse Their Treatment Of Poor
"Leave it to Taibbi to put things in perspective. Yes, the one percent does need to believe these things. How else can they justify what they do? Now how do we rationalize the beliefs of the Tea Partiers and the rest of Fox Nation?"

Proof Romney & Ryan are Consumed by the Libertarian Utopian "Me Society"

Mitt Romney's "off the cuff" comments caught on tape are the latest proof that he - and Paul Ryan are consumed by the selfish "me society" preached by Ayn Rand.

Paul Ryan targeted Social Security and Medicare as 'collectivist' barriers to dog-eat-dog society

Paul Ryan targeted Social Security and Medicare as 'collectivist' barriers to dog-eat-dog society
"If that sounds like the siren song of privatization designed to lure the nation into shattering two of the most successful and crucial social programs in America, it's because it is.

It is what Ryan and Romney have in mind, have, at least in Ryan's case, had in mind all along when talking about "government-dependent" Americans. The solution: Turn everything over to individuals. Make us into a you're-on-your-own society, as Bill Clinton described it in his convention speech in Charlotte. That is exactly the way things were when those programs were initiated 75 years and 45 years ago. A dog-eat-dog society. A let-the-devil-take-the-hindmost society. The good old days."

Romney blames the 47%, lets Wall Street off the hook

Romney blames the 47%, lets Wall Street off the hook
"Mitt Romney does not concede the grievous error of the Randian Republican anti-government, anti-regulation ideology that cost millions of Americans  their jobs, homes and savings. Indeed, he promises a return to Bush era economic and regulatory policies."

8 Terrible Things That Have Happened to Mitt Romney...Just This Morning | Alternet

8 Terrible Things That Have Happened to Mitt Romney...Just This Morning | Alternet
"Yesterday was a no good, very bad day for the Romney’s campaign, who had to mop up the mess their candidate created when he said that “47 percent” of Americans are “dependent on government” and “believe they are victims.” But the bad news hasn’t stopped today.
From poll numbers to Republican politicians throwing Romney under the bus, the campaign’s woes continue."

Obama leads among small business owners

Obama leads among small business owners
"Nearly half of small business owners (47 percent) plan to vote for a second term for the president, compared to 39 percent who plan to vote for Mitt Romney, according to a new poll conducted by the George Washington University School of Political Management and Thumbtack.com. Even more importantly, perhaps, the president is perceived as more supportive of small companies by the most coveted group of voters — independents."

FULL Secret Video Released: Mitt Romney on "Freeloaders," Mideast, and Why He's Scared of the Women on 'the View" | Alternet

FULL Secret Video Released: Mitt Romney on "Freeloaders," Mideast, and Why He's Scared of the Women on 'the View" | Alternet
"The secret video obtained of Mitt Romney speaking off-message at a fundraiser for some of his wealthiest donors has put his campaign in quite the tight spot, forcing the candidate to make a hastily-arranged late-night press conference appearance last night. Romney has suggested that people must see the whole video and this afternoon Mother Jones complied; the full video is posted below. 

At his press conference last night, Romney halfheartedly defended the surreptitiously-obtained remarks that leaked yesterday, remarks which, as we reported,  disparaged almost half of the population, the 47% of hard-core Obama supporters, characterized by Romney as freeloaders whom he could never reach.

Other questionably humorous remarks Romney made that made news? He said he wished his father was Mexican so he could get the Latino vote, and that he was using his wife sparingly as a surrogate lest people get sick of her on the campaign trail. The full video also has Romney explaining why he'd never go on the television show "The View":"

Romney campaign knows it has screwed the pooch

Romney campaign knows it has screwed the pooch
"Grim-faced aides acknowledged that it was an unusually dark moment, made worse by the self-inflicted, seemingly avoidable nature of the wound. In low-volume, out-of-the-way conversations, a few of them are now wondering whether victory is still possible and whether they are entering McCain-Palin ticket territory."

10 Desperate and Depressed Conservative Reactions to Romney's 47 Percent Moment | Alternet

10 Desperate and Depressed Conservative Reactions to Romney's 47 Percent Moment | Alternet
"Team Romney's biggest problem continues to be Mitt Romney. It's tough to build a campaign around a cartoonish 1-percenter whose CPU doesn't appear to be programmed for human empathy and who lacks an effective filter between brain and gums."

Full Romney Video Leak Released | Common Dreams

Full Romney Video Leak Released | Common Dreams
"As David Corn at Mother Jones reports, the complete video demonstrates that Romney's abrasive comments, which have been widely criticized over the past 24 hours, were not taken out of context but are consistent with an overall message in this behind-closed-door speech."

Meet Mitt Romney's 'old friend,' wealthy fundraising sex-partier Marc Leder

Meet Mitt Romney's 'old friend,' wealthy fundraising sex-partier Marc Leder
"But the name Marc Leder may be familiar, as he is the co-chief-executive of Sun Capital Partners, a private equity group very similar to Mitt Romney's own Bain Capital, and with a similar record of leveraged buyouts (the practice of borrowing other people's money to take over unrelated companies, upon which magic happens, depending on your definition of magic).

No? Still doesn't ring a bell? All right, what if I just told you he was The Famous Orgy Guy?"

Atlanta Embraces Tenets of Obamacare, Cuts Health Costs by $3.2 Million

Atlanta Embraces Tenets of Obamacare, Cuts Health Costs by $3.2 Million: For the first time in six years, the city of Atlanta will see its health care costs and city employees’ premiums go down instead of up, to the tune of $3.2 million in savings. As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, the city’s contributions to health plans for more than 19,000 residents were initially expected to increase [...]/p

Romney Campaign to Politico: Over Here! Shiny Thing!

Romney Campaign to Politico: Over Here! Shiny Thing!
"All of it is a distraction intended to yank attention away from the fact that the third poll has come out showing President Obama pulling away from Romney and solidifying his lead, particularly in the swing states.

The Romney campaign, eager to snatch news cycles with any news, good or bad, appears to have opted for the "everyone is fighting with everyone else inside the campaign" narrative, with Stuart Stevens being the named staffer appointed to fall upon the pre-appointed sword."