the Rand family — — reminders

Ron Paul: More Freedom, Less Government, Lower Taxes, Strong National Defense

Ron Paul mailer predicted race war — Newsletters with signatures possibly from Paul ..some written in 1993

 http://youtu.be/W58FmTuaSfk

Freshman Congressman Rand Paul … Celebrated his Teapublican victory at a Private Country Club …

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) said yesterday that Kentucky GOP U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul’s positions should be the positions of the Republican Party. “I think a lot of us in the Republican Party would like to see Rand Paul and his voting and how he will vote in the U.S. Senate [become] the position of the Republican Party,” Bunning told reporters. Bunning, however, didn’t endorse Paul’s controversial view of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.TP

Rand Paul has been reported stating,  he would (modify)? maybe abolish Dept of Education, Farm Subsidies, Slash Medicare, Fair Housing Act, American Disabilities Act and believes any Public entity should be subjected to the rule of law but Private Ownership should have the right to refuse service to anyone they want; which, makes one wonder if Rand actually understands the 1964 Civil Rights Act or how and who potential business owners get the right to do business, Public or Private … uh City, State, Federal business license ….

From NBC’s John Yang
LOUISVILLE — Rand Paul wasn’t the only Tea Party-favored candidate to defeat an establishment candidate in Kentucky today.

UPS pilot Todd Lally ran away with the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth in Kentucky’s 3rd Congressional District, which centers on Louisville. He beat three candidates, including Jeff Reetz, a Pizza Hut franchise owner who was the favorite of the House Republican campaign committee.

Lally is strongly pro-gun rights and anti-abortion rights. The Louisville Courier-Journal‘s editorial page said that during his endorsement interview, he said President Obama wouldn’t be able to get a security clearance if he wasn’t president and said health care reform was for the benefit of “freeloaders.”

By Will Femia

Rachel Maddow interviews Kentucky Republican Senate nominee Rand Paul about how he reconciles his views on small government with civil rights, racism and segregation.

WASHINGTON – Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul said Friday that President Barack Obama’s criticism of BP in the wake of the Gulf oil debacle sounds “really un-American.”  Paul, already facing a backlash over remarks earlier this week about civil rights legislation, criticized the Obama administration for declaring it will put its “boot heel on the throat of BP.” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs used similar language shortly after the spill.  In an interview Friday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Paul says the president’s response is part of the “blame game” that’s played in the United States. msnbc

The morning after he declined to endorse the totality of the Civil Rights Act in his much-discussed appearance on the Rachel Maddow Show, Dr. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) copped to feeling regret — not over his comments, but rather his decision to be interviewed by Maddow in the first place.

“It was a poor political decision and probably won’t be happening anytime in the near future,” the Tea Party endorsed Senate candidate said on the Laura Ingraham show on Thursday morning. “Because, yeah, they can play things and want to say, ‘Oh you believed in beating up people that were trying to sit in restaurants in the 1960s.’ And that is such a ridiculous notion and something that no rational person is in favor of. [But] she went on and on about that.”

Blaming the messenger is a tactic often used by politicians when the message itself is to blame. And Paul’s appearance on the Maddow show on Wednesday night was anything but bland. For 15 minutes, he and the host went back and forth in debating where there should be limits to government efforts to desegregate private institutions (Paul was skeptical that the government should play any role at all). But the notion that the MSNBC host was somehow unloading liberal hostilities on him doesn’t jibe with the fact that Paul got the same type of treatment during an NPR interview earlier that morning — or, for that matter, that a conservative voice on MSNBC, Joe Scarborough, seemed aghast at his answers. “He needs to come up with an answer today, or Kentucky will be Arizona: a battleground for ugly, racial politics,” Scarborough said. “He has 24 hours.”

(Paul, in fact, chose Maddow’s show to initially launch his Senate candidacy a year prior to last night’s appearance.)

Paul did seem to draw back (or tighten) his discussion of the Civil Rights Act during his interview with Ingraham.

“These are settled issues in the Civil Rights Act,” he said. “I have no intention of bringing up anything related to the Civil Rights Act… I think [segregation] is sort of a stain and blight on our history — so, no, I have never really favored any change in the Civil Rights Act or any of that. But they have seemed to unleash the loony left on me.”

In April of last year, Dr. Rand Paul was the featured guest speaker at an event held by the Constitution Party of Minnesota, whose stated goals include “restor[ing] American jurisprudence to its Biblical foundations.”

Bruce Wilson

Writes on religion and politics

Rand Paul Keynoted 2009 Rally for Far-Right Constitution Party

All you really need to know about Christian Reconstructionism is in the title of a January 2008 Talk To Action story of mine, More From The Biblical Stoning & Legalized Slavery Movement.

Enter Rand Paul.

Amidst the hullaballoo over Republican Rand Paul’s upset victory in the Kentucky GOP primary for US Senate, one of the few journalists to raise the issue of Paul’s somewhat uncomfortable proximity to Christian Reconstructionism has been Alternet’s Adele Stan, who observes that Rand Paul’s father Ron Paul is personal friends with one of the bigger names in the Christian Reconstructionist movement, Howard Phillips, founder of the US Taxpayers Party — now re-branded as The Constitution Party. But there’s much more direct evidence tying Ran Paul to the Constitution Party, whose national platform declares,

“The goal of the Constitution Party is to restore American jurisprudence to its Biblical foundations…The U.S. Constitution established a Republic rooted in Biblical law”

As Adele Stan notes, Phillips gave a keynote address at the Ron Paul For President Convention in Minneapolis a year and a half ago. And, Ron Paul endorsed the 2008 Constitution Party’s presidential candidate in the 2008 election, Chuck Baldwin.

As it’s said, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. In a May 21, 2009 appearance on the Alex Jones Show, Rand Paul affirmed that his political beliefs were extremely close to those of his father Ron:

Alex Jones: ”You’re basically what I would call a chip off the old block. Your policies are basically identical to your father, correct?”Rand Paul: ”I’d say we’d be very very similar. We might present the message sometimes differently.. I think in some ways the message has to be broadened and made more appealing to the entire Republican electorate because you have to win a primary.” [Rand Paul on Alex Jones, 5/21/09]

So it isn’t altogether surprising that Rand Paul could be found, in April 2009, at a rally held by a political party that’s been heavily influenced by a movement whose founder, Rousas Rushdoony, advocated executing homosexuals by stoning, wanted to reimpose the institution of slavery, and maintained that the Sun rotated around the Earth.

[below - video from Minneapolis "End the Fed" rally establishes that Rand Paul was in the vicinity prior to the Minnesota Constitution Party rally later that day. Note: the rally itself was not held by the MN Constitution Party.]

On April 25, 2009, Rand Paul was the featured guest speaker at The Constitution Party of Minnesota’s “event of the year.” I’ve found video of Rand Paul at an afternoon Minneapolis rally, so he was without a doubt in the vicinity.

Just to make sure I talked to Tammy Houle, whose phone number is the Minnesota Constitution Party listed contact number, and she confirmed to me that Rand Paul had indeed spoken at the April 25th evening event.

The odd thing about Rand and Ron Paul’s political tendency is that it offers liberals and progressives a number of points of agreement, probably more than with more ‘mainstream’ conservative GOP politicians. For example, Ron Paul has been a principled opponent of the invasion of Iraq and US military adventurism in the Mideast generally, and Rand Paul espouses the same position.

But it’s hard to get much more extreme than Christian Reconstructionism, whose founder Rushdoony was a Holocaust denier, a racist, a creationist, and an advocate for slavery who claimed that African-American slaves were lucky.

Weigh it for yourself — Howard Phillips, who founded the Constitution Party, has, according to journalist Frederick Clarkson, described Rousas J. Rushdoony as “my wise counseler.”

As Rushdoony wrote in Politics of Guilt and Pity:

The white man is being systematically indoctrinated into believing that he is guilty of enslaving and abusing the Negro. Granted that some Negroes were mistreated as slaves, the fact still remains that nowhere in all history or in the world today has the Negro been better off. The life expectancy of the Negro increased when he was transported to America. He was not taken from freedom into slavery, but from a vicious slavery to degenerate chiefs to a generally benevolent slavery in the United States. There is not the slightest evidence that any American Negro had ever lived in a “free society” in Africa; even the idea did not exist in Africa. The move from Africa to America was a vast increase of freedom for the Negro…

None of this, of course, is Rand Paul’s direct responsibility. But it certainly is suggestive.

And so, without further ado, here’s the April 9, 2009 post advertising Rand Paul’s April 25th appearance at the Minnesota Constitution Party “Liberty Banquet 2009″ that’s posted on Ronpaulforums.com :

The Constitution Party of Minnesota announces with anticipation, the event of the year — Liberty Banquet 2009Patriots and statesmen will come together on April 25th to hear featured guest,

Dr. RAND PAUL

Don’t miss this opportunity to unite with other like-minded folks for an evening of inspiration and motivation. The evening begins at 5:00 pm with a social hour, dinner at 6:00, followed by introductions and guest speakers. Preceding Dr. Paul, we will hear a few words from the two tenacious gentlemen that recently accepted the co-chairmanship of the CPMN Veteran’s Coalition, Leon Moe and John Salsbury.

The Chaska VFW will be the location of the event, which is located one block west of the intersection of Old Hwy. 212 and Hwy. 41 near downtown Chaska. The cost of tickets is $30 per person or 4 for $100. Get yours soon by sending payment to CPMN Treasurer, Patricia Becker, 23078 – 21st Avenue, St. Augusta, MN 56301.

Related News On Huffington Post:

A version of this post was originally published on Talk To Action.

• Rand Paul

Related News On Huffington Post:

Rand Paul Gently Rebuked By GOP Senators Over Civil Rights Act Opposition Senate Republicans are cautiously distancing themselves from the controversial comments about civil rights legislation made by the GOP candidate who wants to join their caucus….

Top Dems Suggest Tea Party Might Be More Bark Than Bite Top Democrats at the various campaign committees are expressing more and more confidence that they can overcome the wave of anti-government populist sentiment unleashed by…

Sarah Palin: Rand Paul’s ‘Libertarian Streak’ Will Ward Off ‘Leftist Liberal Overreach’ Former Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin spoke Wednesday night about the positives of the establishment-shaking victory of Rand Paul, the Tea Party and Palin-supported…

Rand Paul: Obama Sounds ‘Un-American’ For Criticizing BP Over Gulf Oil Spill (VIDEO) In attempting to close the book on his controversial statements about the scope of the Civil Rights Act, Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul invited another…

Rand Paul Is ‘Kentucky Fried Candidate’ Over Civil Rights Comments WASHINGTON (AP) — A tea party conservative on a national stage, Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul of Kentucky labored Thursday to explain remarks suggesting businesses…

Is Rand Paul The Real Deal Or Just A One-Hit Wonder? “Washington is horribly broken.” “The debt bomb is ticking.” Those were the words spoken by newly-christened Kentucky Republican Senate nominee Rand Paul during his victory…

Rand Paul Blasted By James Clyburn Over Civil Rights Act: ‘He Is Not Good For This Country’ (VIDEO) GOP leaders in Congress have been cautious — if not tepid — in their rebuke of Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul for his refusal…

Attitudes about Middle/Lower class & the Poor … on Christmas eve

just another rant, but not exactly mine

While annoying attitudes about the Middle/Lower Class and the Poor linger we must all press on … educate motivate and recruit potential voters to put better Representatives for the People in Congress in 2013 – 2014 … not to mention better Governors; all of whom should do the People’s Business not for a small group of benefactors !

HIM:

In January of 2009, Joe Biden said the middle class was left out of the last economic boom in America and now suffer because of it and President Obama supposedly initiated a task force to improve the quality of life for the American Middle Class. ** Many such comments have been made by several administrations over the last several decades.

I think the best advice is not to impose federal programs/regulations that work toward transforming the middle class into the rest of a society that denies itself nothing regardless of the ability to pay for it. To truly help the middle class, start by reducing and limiting federal subsidies for the less fortunate and completely eliminate them for the lazy. At the same time scrap tax & investment programs only the upper crust can take advantage of. Reward fiscal responsibility by leveling the playing field (make the words “equal opportunity” mean something again).

Promote individual responsibility to mortgage only what can be repaid, applaud the ability to recognize the difference and put on a pedestal the integrity to put both in play.

Government cannot create jobs or wealth. You have seen first hand how command economies have run the rest of the planet into the ground while America became the envy of the world. What’s happened to us is corruption. Corruption with the size and scope to turn Freedom and Liberty asunder.

Harry, I am the Middle Class…. but it’s not a measure of my wealth – rather it’s a mind-set and it’s what’s in my heart. I rarely think about being rich because deep down inside I do believe it’s not possible to get that way without at some point wrongfully taking advantage of others and/or breaking the rules BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE POOR EITHER FOR EXACTLY THE SAME REASON. I don’t want to lead… I don’t want to follow…. I don’t want anything to do with politics. All I want is to be left alone to peaceably be responsible for myself and no-one else unless I see fit and I despise the desires of government to treat me otherwise. I am not your enemy nor am I an enemy of anyone… however you Sir, have proven a thousand times over to be mine.

ME:

I read and re-read your comment and while I believe what VP Joe Biden said is true; it is obvious that you do not and if I may take it even farther you sound like a Ron Paul supporter who I feel… let me say that again … whom I feel is an isolationist deep down and some other things that really have no place here.  I believe, the government is there when the People cannot do for themselves and if you have watched listened and heard what happened while George Bush was President you might side with me though he did prove without a doubt, he had absolutely no control of the government.  The idea that “he and his people”  waged 2Wars 2huge Tax cuts without a pay for then decided to wait until the very last-minute as Americans prepared to vote in 2008 Presidential election to let us know quite vaguely that our economy was at risk. I know I was not alone -wondering and sensing something was wrong and while Hank Paulson held several pressers telling everyone that we need $$ because our Countries economic stability was about to collapse or was and that taxpayers had to help the banks etc. because they were too big to fail and we cannot tell you how the money will be used or how much -which really meant that the Private Sector had done something and it wasn’t good.  The damage done need government intervention … maybe not the way Hank Paulson& George Bush handled it but the tangled weave woven of our monetary system is not only a national problem but an international one which is still at risk  … you may not have felt it …I did …my state government started laying off people and while it was not given a lot of PR … I have to say way too many co-workers working for the state lost half if not more of their 401S ….and the climb up was slow . The House of Bush lost its credibility by waging 2Wars and giving his rich friends 2 tax cuts and a lack of regulation by an unqualified 8yr tenure of spending …This could not have been recalibrated by the market or private sector … because they were the problem right they didn’t figure it in … bankers etc. org like country wide did some awful things and that dragged not just the middle class it managed to create ”the new working poor” unable to pay their housing mortgages …and though folks in the know say people should not have gotten into loans they could not afford a lot more to that story than meets the eye… BofA knows and so does country wide … Sir, there are at least 300 million people in the US of A and the Government thank goodness is there to take up where others cannot …I like and want FEMA,FDA regulations regulating food,FAA, the dirty air and water available for ALL Americans because I know I cannot regulate these things.  I am happy our Government takes care of those things and let us not leave out Teachers, Firefighters, EMTS or the Police … all usually government jobs. I am not a States Rights believer. I still cannot believe any state would and should privatize such important jobs …and to know that in this yr. of 2011,people who don’t or cannot pay for the protection of their homes or belongings gets absolutely no service while their house burns down is far beyond my understanding of any libertarian ideology and as far as corruption? I still feel like America got raped by our fellow Americans by the financial system and those JOB Creators the banksters abused their power and while VP Biden is your enemy he and President Obama has been our savior in my eyes. The governing body has had to put aside the status quo for trying something new, pushing, promoting a balanced call to action … Unfortunately, the status quo is far more acceptable than doing the right thing … We can all see that by tuning into the rhetoric from Republicans and the Tea party who just tried to take our economy and our Democracy down again. I am certain that we are our brothers keepers and with the right balance….

Capitalism will live on, hopefully in lower case c; If we have learned anything it is that absolute power can create absolute corruption …like banksters and anyone affiliated should be warned and our future better when the proper amount of regulations are implemented … so that AIG, BP, the Massey mine and disaster like it are regulated …and the keystone pipeline as well. I believe we need a Congress that is concerned about our fiscal issues but who don’t forget the past and the damage done … Republicans seem bent on the status quo and VP Biden and President Obama want ALL Americans to do well- I support that. It is all about balance … just think if in President Obama’s first few months or 2yrs in, Congress had acted for the good of ALL Americans instead of Republicans deciding to take the President down, or those blue dogs and yes some clintonites held grudges …imagine if all these members of Congress had done what we taxpayers actually pay them to do – put People over Profit, Country over Political Party. No task forces no filibusters no personal BS – I wager more regulation but balanced and a respect for the People’s vote in 2008- I do not live in an isolationist country though we all have the right to privacy. I would say that income inequality, racism, the war waged on worker and women’s rights are the enemy of mine

HIM:

Submitted on 2011/12/24 at 3:01 PM

No, quite the contrary…. the middle class has indeed been kicked in the teeth for nearly 5 decades. Year after year, decade after decade the middle class has lost ground to the wealthy and yet forced to pay more for the poor because government tries to feed, clothe and house them yet at the same time turns it’s back on corrupt manipulation of the economy. Both sides of the political aisle in the US have been equally vile and corrupt for a long long time. Until we address this and rid ourselves of it, we will never be able to right ourselves. Arguing Democrat vs Republican nonsense is just the rhetoric used to feed the fire… to keep your focus off all the criminal intent between Washington and business. There’s nothing wrong with honest Democrat/Republican doctrine/values. What’s going on today has little to do with with either and it’s time we grow up… face it…. and do something about it.

There are plenty of laws to provide for a decent and civil society as long as we are willing to enforce them. The problem today with asking our government to capture and punish the bad guys is that many in government ARE the bad guys. USA Today reports that 57 members of Congress are included in the top 1% of the wealthiest Americans. In fact the report says that in all, Congress holds 249 millionaires. Interesting that both Republicans and Democrats pretty evenly make up the list and gee what a surprise to find out that most of them amassed their wealth after taking office. We know these guys are all just astute investors/businessmen because they’ve told us so. There’s no taking advantage of non-public market information going on in Washington. This is America – remember…. the land of equal opportunity for all who are willing to work.

ME:

Submitted on 2011/12/24 at 4:28 PM | In reply to

Well, having read this response means you really did not read mine. I was agreeing that the Middle Class has suffered for quite some time. If I remember, you are against task forces to remedy the issue. I believe we agree on some of the issues but clearly disagree at how those issues can and should be dealt with.

I lean left. I believe that I am my brother’s keeper and as a person of colour it is in my own best interest to make sure that not only are minorities treated like others … with respect, equality and access to all the same opportunities to move up because it makes America an even better place and as far as Democratic or Republican rhetoric? there is a stark difference … getting money out of Washington if that is your main interest means starting on the local level. The status quo pays but it starts in your State where the best or most promising get courted. I have no problem with the idea …”getting money out of Washington” what I do take issue with is how folks act like it just started and blame President Obama for the ills of at least 20yrs of destruction having come to bear on his watch. I am upset Bush was allowed to skate without so much as a question … when did the bs really start ,why didn’t you implement a pay for the 2Wars waged 2Bush Bonus dollars . I read your comment …my question is … did you feel this much about it for the nearly 5 decades you state we have been kicked in the teeth for? I watch various pundits on cable yelling screaming and then blame the Obama Admin …where were they during the House of Bush… and unlike some I have no problem with that 1-2% of self-made million/billionaires who have tried to give back I do take issues with the Cantor, Boehner and McConnell’s clearly having a positive upward agenda for the 1-2% but not for the Mid-lower classes …like I said I have no problem with capitalism with a small c. I agree Congress is sometimes vile, greedy and speaks for the 1% … but that is usually when Republicans are out of control like Bush. I support President Obama but am not very happy with conservadems , conservative members of Congress , Tea Party members or Republican Governors throwing us under the bus – Ask a Republican … what kind of an America are they trying to move us into when they live ,love and push income inequality … class warfare – and just so you know … folks are willing to work yet those JOB Creators keep offshoring jobs making life unequal as more opportunities dry up.

HIM: I have no further comment other than to wish you a Merry Christmas.

ME: Thank You … and A Happy New Year to you …

gary johnson … For Child Labor, supports eliminating medicare social security and medicaid?

Former Governor Gary Johnson Says End Child Labor Laws

Gary Johnson interview with Thom Hartmann

Gary Johnson supports Ron Paul who has made some questionable comments about the 14thAmendment the Civil Rights Act

the Progress Report: Sabotage

By         ThinkProgress War Room

Putting Today’s Jobs Report Into Perspective

Today’s monthly employment report brought the disappointing news that the economy created 84,000 private sector jobs in June, with the unemployment rate remaining at 8.2 percent. Let’s take a closer at how we got here and why we’re not moving forward more quickly.

As the election nears, we’re reminded of when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) outlined the GOP’s number one goal:

The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.

Not creating an economy that works for everyone. Not putting Americans back to work. The GOP’s top — and almost singular — goal is to defeat the president, even if that meant more and longer suffering for millions of Americans in the process.

And true to form, House Republicans aren’t responding to today’s jobs news by announcing plans to pass to jobs legislation. Instead, they’re planning on just wasting more time next week on yet another vote to repeal Obamacare. This obsession with taking away health care from millions of Americans has not ever and will not now create one job. By contrast, the health care sector’s 13,000 new jobs was one of the bright spots in this month’s jobs report.

And it’s not just that Republicans and their failed policies wrecked the economy and now they’re just trying to wait out the clock until November. ThinkProgress’ Jeff Spross outlines five ways the GOP has sabotaged job growth:

1. Filibustering the American Jobs Act. Last October, Senate Republicans killeda jobs bill proposed by President Obama that would have pumped $447 billion into the economy. Multiple economic analysts predicted the bill would add around two million jobs and hailed it as defense against a double-dip recession. The Congressional Budget Office also scored it as a net deficit reducer over ten years, and the American public supported the bill.

2. Stonewalling monetary stimulus. The Federal Reserve can do enormous good for a depressed economy through more aggressive monetary stimulus, and by tolerating a temporarily higher level of inflation. But with everything from Ron Paul’s anti-inflationary crusade to Rick Perry threatening to lynch Chairman Ben Bernanke, Republicans have browbeaten the Fed into not going down this path. Most damagingly, the GOP repeatedly held up President Obama’s nominations to the Federal Reserve Board during the critical months of the recession, leaving the board without the institutional clout it needed to help the economy.

3. Threatening a debt default. Even though the country didn’t actually hit its debt ceiling last summer, the Republican threat to default on the United States’ outstanding obligations was sufficient to spook financial markets anddo real damage to the economy.

4. Cutting discretionary spending in the debt ceiling deal. The deal the GOP extracted as the price for avoiding default imposed around $900 billion in cuts over ten years. It included $30.5 billion in discretionary cuts in 2012 alone, costing the country 0.3 percent in economic growth and 323,000 jobs, according to estimates from the Economic Policy Institute. Starting in 2013, the deal will trigger another $1.2 trillion in cuts over ten years.

5. Cutting discretionary spending in the budget deal. While not as cataclysmic as the debt ceiling brinksmanship, Republicans also threatened a shutdown of the government in early 2011 if cuts were not made to that year’s budget. The deal they struck with the White House cut $38 billion from food stamps, health, education, law enforcement, and low-income programs among others, whilesparing defense almost entirely.

And when it comes to Mitt Romney, economists agree that his plans will actually make things worse and could cause another recession.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You May Have Missed

The president slammed Mitt Romney for putting politics above principle on health care.

President Obama consoled a woman whose uninsured sister died of cancer.

Thanks to GOP austerity, local governments cut 130,000 teaching jobs last year.

In 2006, Mitt Romney called the jobs standard he holds Obama to “silly.”

Another Latino poll spells trouble for Mitt Romney.

Yes, climate change is real and it’s having an impact right now.

George Zimmerman is out of jail again.

Pundits frequently call on the president to call for policies he’s already proposed.

The biggest financial scandal you’ve never heard of.

Five consequences of the GOP plan to repeal Obamacare.

Other recent Progress Reports

Jul 5, 2012: Do You Own a Secret Corporation in Bermuda?

Even More Reasons Why We Need to See Mitt Romney’s Tax Returns Way back in October, we began calling for Mitt Romney to release his tax returns — mostly to see how Romney’s proposed tax policies would impact his own situation relative to that of middle class Americans. We also wanted to know if Romney [...]

Jul 3, 2012: The Other Things the GOP is Obsessed With

No Time for Jobs and the Economy We’ve been discussing the GOP’s obsession with health care, but that’s not the only thing Republicans are obsessed with. Here’s a few other things they’ve focused on instead of creating jobs and moving the country forward. Cutting Taxes on the Wealthy: Republicans successfully held middle-class tax cuts hostage [...]

Jul 2, 2012: The Republicans’ Biggest Obsession

GOP Focused on Old Battles, Not Moving America Forward As we discussed Friday, the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding Obamacare has really thrown Republicans for a loop. Things didn’t get any better over the weekend. Instead of moving on and working to move the country forward, Republicans are continuing to obsess over taking away people’s health [...]

Jun 29, 2012: SIX Health Care Questions the GOP Must Answer

GOP in Disarray After Obamacare Ruling Aside from launching a new false attack on the law (which also happens to be an attack on Mitt Romney) and promising to vote one more time on repealing the law, Republicans don’t quite know what to do. Some of them even openly admit that the GOP has no [...]

Raw Politics Quiz: Spot the Romney endorsement … by Ella Chick

Raw Politics Quiz: Spot the Romney endorsement

Here are some selections drawn from recent newspaper endorsements backing Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential primary – along with some similar-sounding critiques drawn from an equal number of editorial writes backing his opponents. Can you tell which is which? Give it a shot! (Answer key below)

1) …for the past 12 months, Romney has been refashioning himself as something other than what his record suggests. He has made gestures toward economic and social radicalism, and eschewed the common sense of cooperative governing that made him a success in Massachusetts.

2) It has become difficult to define who Romney really is and what he believes. Is he feigning some positions now to win votes? How would he govern as the virulent anti-tax, anti-federal government candidate we see now or as the more reasoned leader he used to be?

Romney’s auto gaffes (there’s really no other honest way to describe them) are a discomforting window onto how those questions might be answered.

3) (Romney’s) stance against government interaction to revive the domestic automobile industry is disappointing. Also disappointing are inconsistencies in his message.

4) Romney was also dead wrong when he opposed government bailouts for the auto industry …in late 2008. And he has since adopted a recalcitrant and, at times, revisionist defense of his position in the face of overwhelming evidence that the bailouts he opposed were necessary.

5) What’s troubling is not so much that Romney’s plan was misguided, but that he now is unable to admit that and has decided to claim some credit for the auto turnaround. Last week, Romney (said) that he is sticking by his initial analysis.

It’s doublespeak, and a sign of questionable leadership qualities.

6) Although Romney begat health-care reform while governor of Massachusetts, he now disowns its national twin as illegitimate. One can only wish there were mandatory DNA testing for politicians. Anyway, a sensible stance on health care is only one of many moderate positions Romney once held and has since abandoned, leading many conservatives to wonder whether he will be true to them if elected president. It’s a pertinent question.

7) …on the campaign trail, Romney has distanced himself from his health reform success to woo votes from conservatives who despise the insurance mandate. He has couched some of that distancing in a distinction between reforms at the state level and the national level, but has also indulged some duplicity on that subject.

8) (O)n the campaign trail Romney manages to reinforce almost daily the devastating put-down delivered during the 2008 election cycle by then-rival Mike Huckabee, who famously said, “I want to be a president who reminds you of the guy you work with, not the guy who laid you off.” Romney did little to dispel this impression with his heartfelt rejoinder to a heckler in Iowa earlier this year: “Corporations are people, my friend,” or with his offer of a friendly $10,000 wager to settle a debating point with Perry.

9) Throughout the GOP campaign, Romney has been his own biggest impediment. He is reluctant to talk about his lucrative business career, and he has precious little gift for connecting with voters on a human level.

10) Romney does not excite voters and is a suspect choice…

12) Romney, having vastly outspent his rivals, managed to win six fewer votes in Iowa this time than he did four years ago. He was virtually tied by Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, gained less than a quarter of the vote, and yet declared “victory.”

13) Romney, who turns 65 next week, served only a single term as governor, and by the standards of most serious presidential contenders, his political resume is short: two statewide campaigns and an unsuccessful bid for the GOP presidential nomination four years ago. Perhaps that is why he sometimes appears so awkward in public, especially when talking about himself and, in particular, his personal wealth.

14) Job growth in Massachusetts… was slower than it was in all but three other states while Romney was governor.

Romney did not raise taxes as governor and, for a time, was able to balance a budget that had been badly out of whack, but he left office with the state facing a significant budget gap.

15) AFTER MONTHS of flirting with candidates who considered inexperience an asset, obstinance and vitriol a virtue and extremism,  even flakiness a job requirement, Republican voters seem to be settling down. Increasingly, they are rallying around a grownup who has impressive experience as a chief executive, in and out of government, and a history of making things work rather than pursuing ideological fetishes. Yet nearly two-thirds of Republican primary voters still reject Mitt Romney…

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ANSWER KEY

1) Endorsement from Detroit Free Press on 2/23/12

2) Endorsement from Detroit Free Press on 2/23/12

3) Endorsement from Grand Rapids Press on 2/22/12

4) Endorsement from Detroit Free Press on 2/23/12

5) Endorsement from Detroit Free Press on 2/23/12

6) Non-endorsement from Valley News in New Hampshire on 12/18/11 (Huntsman endorsement)

7) Endorsement from Detroit Free Press on 2/23/12

8) Non-endorsement from Valley News in New Hampshire on 12/18/11 (Huntsman endorsement)

9) Endorsement from The Seattle Times on 3/1/12

10) Endorsement from The Seattle Times on 3/1/12

11) Non-endorsement from The Boston Globe on 1/6/12 (Huntsman endorsement)

12) Signed editorial from Joe McQuaid, Union-Leader (New Hampshire) publisher on 1/5/12 (Gingrich endorsement)

13) Endorsement from The Cleveland Plain Dealer on 3/3/12

14) Endorsement from Detroit Free Press on 2/23/12

15) Non-endorsement from The State (South Carolina) on 1/15/12 (Huntsman endorsement)

Post by: Rebecca Sinderbrand Filed under: 2012 Election • Raw Politics

The Myths That Are Killing Us … by Alan Grayson

As the Republican demolition derby rolls on, I continue to be amused by how each remaining contender tries to assume the “small government” mantle.

Mitt Romney wants a government so small that it provides universal health care.

Newt Gingrich wants a government so small that it will establish a permanent base on the Moon.

Rick Santorum wants a government so small that it will fit inside a woman’s uterus.

The only real remaining advocate of small government is Ron Paul.  Dr. Paul appears to be disqualified from the Republican Presidential Primary, however, because he is unwilling to drench himself with the blood of our imagined enemies, like Gerard Butler in the movie “300.”

But what about that Jon Huntsman guy?  This week three different people told me, quite independently of each other, how sorry they were that Governor Huntsman never gained any traction in the Republican Presidential Primary.

I told them that they should get over it.  Huntsman wasn’t any better.

It somehow counts as an act of courage for Huntsman to have tweeted:  “I believe in evolution.”  Of course, it would have been more courageous if Huntsman had said that to a Tea Party audience, and then they tore him limb from limb, thereby disproving the theory of evolution right before our eyes.

And evolution is not something that you “believe” or “disbelieve.”  Evolution is like gravity; it’s not like Santa Claus or the Abominable Snowman.  (Question:  Why do they both live at the North Pole?)

Be that as it may, neither Huntsman nor any other Republican Presidential candidate has been willing to take on the hard myths.  The myths that are killing us.  Here are a dirty dozen, right off the top of my head:

(1) The Government can’t create jobs.  (Tell that to FDR, who created four million jobs in three months.)

(2) Tax cuts reduce the deficit.  (Doesn’t it bother them that a man named “Laffer” came up with this one?)

(3) A fetus is a baby.

(4) The poor have too much money.

(5) Cutting the federal deficit will end the recession.

(6) The rich are incentivized by tax cuts, while the poor are incentivized by lower wages, no benefits, an end to the minimum wage, and unemployment.

(7) An unwanted child is God’s will.

(8) Everyone who wants health insurance has it.

(9) The problem with education is the teachers.

(10) The “free market” satisfies every human need.

(11) There is no discrimination in America anymore.

(12) The distribution of wealth and income are irrelevant.

I don’t remember Jon Huntsman disputing any of these myths.  And these are the ones that do the real damage.  Show me a candidate who is willing to take on these myths, and I’ll pay more attention.

 

Courage,

Alan Grayson

the Progress Report … War on Women’s Health Care

The GOP Candidates’ War On Women’s Health Care

By ThinkProgress War Room

Going After Birth Control is Just the Beginning

Conservatives have launched an all-out assault on affordable access to birth control, but their war on women’s health care doesn’t stop at contraception. We’ve compiled a chart showing the extreme positions on women’s health care issues that the four remaining GOP presidential contenders have taken. To a man, they oppose everything from no-cost coverage for cancer screenings to the elimination of domestic violence as a preexisting condition.

Take a look:

	Newt Gingrich	Ron Paul	Mitt Romney	Rick Santorum
Opposes insurance covering birth control
Opposes breast cancer screening
Opposes coverage for maternity and newborn care
Opposes women paying the same for insurance as men
Opposes closing the donut hole for prescription drugs
Opposes women under 26 from staying on parents insurance
Opposes screening for diabetes
Opposes eliminating domestic violence as a pre-existing condition

(Hint: click the box to read the source.)

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You May Have Missed

One day after Romney doubled-down on “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,” a new poll finds that President Obama is leading Romney by 16 points in Michigan.

Three years later, the stimulus did help turn the economy around.

How come there aren’t many scientists in Congress?

Nancy Pelosi: The Democratic party should formally come out in favor of marriage equality.

Austin police allegedly question and detain a white man for spending time with his black granddaughter. Again.

Internal documents shed light on the corporate-funded initiative to teach children that climate change is a hoax.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) wants to eliminate “wasteful things like foreign aid.”

Americans (and especially independents) overwhelmingly oppose subsidizing fossil fuels.

What’s the farthest away you can get from McDonald’s?

Thank Obama for prioritizing our future over Big Coal interests!

By putting in place the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, President Obama made a substantial leap forward for our nation’s health and environment. Not every leader would have done this for our country, since Big Coallobbyists and corporate special interests make great efforts keep us dependent on their hazardous products and services.Give President Obama a huge THANK YOU for putting our people first and standing strong against mercury pollution.» The other current presidential candidates, for example, want to take away our environmental protection and set back the progress we’ve made.Newt Gingrich wants to “maximize oil, gas, and clean coal production.” Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have already received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Big Coal companies which visibly alters their stance on energy. And Ron Paul has stated that he would eliminate the EPA altogether. It takes a strong leader to make such a bold environmental decision. Take a moment to let President Obama know that we appreciate his actions in standing up to Big Coal for our future.»         Thanks for taking action!Rachel M. Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team

Thank President Obama for standing strong against mercury pollution!

the Daily Share … MoveOn.Org

Amazing: Toddler Calls Out Large Corporations On Gender Equality

Which Corporations Occupy Congress?

The Scariest Future You Can Imagine, Starring Ron Paul

Sorry, Republicans. George Washington Isn’t Buying Your Bull.

How Much Money Can One President Spend?

The Poster Every Parent Should Show Their Kids

the Progress Report

270 Times Bigger

By ThinkProgress War Room on Jan 10, 2012 at 5:16 pm

An Economic Agenda for the Wealthiest 1 Percent, 270 Times Over

Last week, we reported on the Republican candidates’ economic agenda for the wealthiest 1 Percent. Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) crunched the numbers on several of the candidates’ tax plans and found that on average they would give the wealthiest 1 Percent a tax cut up to 270 times larger than what the middle class would receive under their plans.

Here’s the rundown.

• Newt Gingrich would give the wealthiest 1 Percent an average tax cut of $391,330, or more than 190 times larger than what a middle income American would receive under his plan.
• Jon Huntsman’s plan was not reviewed by CTJ; however, an earlier CAP Action Fund analysis found that Huntsman would give a half-million dollar tax break to each the wealthiest 0.1 Percent of Americans, while raising taxes on veterans, seniors, students, and most middle class families.
• Ron Paul’s plan was not reviewed by CTJ, but he has called for repealing the 16th amendment altogether, cutting corporate taxes, and instituting a flat tax, which would regressively target lower and middle income Americans.
  
• Rick Perry would give the wealthiest 1 Percent an average tax cut of $272,730, or more than 270 times larger than what a middle income American would receive under his plan.
• Mitt Romney would give the wealthiest 1 Percent an average tax cut of $126,450, or more than 100 times larger than what a middle income American would receive under his plan. What’s more, a CAP Action Fund analysis of Tax Policy Center data found that Romney’s plan would actually raise taxes on half of middle class families with children.
• Rick Santorum would give the wealthiest 1 Percent an average tax cut of $217,500, or more than 100 times larger than what a middle income American would receive under his plan.

As we reported last week, these gigantic tax cuts for the very wealthiest Americans are paired with cuts that would be devastating to the other 99 Percent of Americans, including deep cuts to Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, and other vital programs and services that Americans depend on each and every day.

VIDEO — New Hampshire Heckler to Romney: “Are You Going to Fire the Baby?!”

Mitt Romney’s stated love for firing people is already catching up with him on the hustings. Check out this video from earlier today in New Hampshire:

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You May Have Missed
A new study finds that women ask for raises and promotions as often as men, but get less in return.

An undocumented immigrant who helped New Jersey police solve a high-profile murder now faces deportation for coming forward.

Americans vastly overestimate the number of undocumented immigrants in the country.

The linchpin of Romney’s most powerful argument has turned out to be bogus.

TV stations refuse to yank “end Medicare” ads.

How Republicans will spin Romneycare.

New Hampshire students carry the nation’s highest debt load and the GOP has no solutions.

Congressional Budget Office finds that raising Medicare age would reduce Medicare spending by 5 percent, while increasing costs to seniors.

New “readily available and inexpensive” material could remove carbon dioxide from atmosphere at unprecedented rate.

 

 

Other recent Progress Reports

Jan 9, 2012: Mitt Romney, Job Killer

The Romney Record at Bain: Bankruptcies, Bailouts, & Mass Layoffs Mitt Romney’s pitch is that he’s a “businessman” who understands the “real economy,” in contrast to President Obama who Romney says “doesn’t understand how the economy works.” During a presidential debate in November, Romney reminded the audience of the source of his “real economy” experience: “I [...]

Jan 6, 2012: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Jobs, By the Numbers 2…the number of years of consecutive employment growth in manufacturing, after not one single year of growth between 1997 and 2010. 8.5 percent…the unemployment rate, the lowest since February 2009 just after President Obama took office. 22…the number of consecutive months of private sector job growth. 12,000…the number of public sector [...]

Jan 5, 2012: Rick Santorum’s Most Outrageous Campaign Moments

Rising GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum is presenting himself to national audiences as a common sense conservative senator from a Democratic state with both economic and national security acumen. A late surge in Iowa led the former Pennsylvania senator to a near-win in that state’s caucuses and gave his campaign momentum ahead of next Tuesday’s [...]

Jan 4, 2012: Why The Appointment Of Richard Cordray Is A Victory For Middle Class Families

Nearly 18 months after the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the agency will finally have its first director. That’s because President Obama, using his power to make appointments during a congressional recess, announced today that he was appointing former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray — [...]