At the outset of the call, Romney said he has some connections to Wisconsin. “One of most humorous I think relates to my father. You may remember my father, George Romney, was president of an automobile company called American Motors … They had a factory in Michigan, and they had a factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and another one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,” said Romney. “And as the president of the company he decided to close the factory in Michigan and move all the production to Wisconsin. Now later he decided to run for governor of Michigan and so you can imagine that having closed the factory and moved all the production to Wisconsin was a very sensitive issue to him, for his campaign.

Mitt Romney’s sense of humor. The guy’s a cut-up!

Romney calls in to Wisconsin voters from Texas, embraces Walker and Ryan - JSOnline

(via felixsalmon)

Palm + face

(via motherjones)

(via motherjones)

Source: jsonline.com

occupyallstreets: STUDY: Ron Paul Never Attacked Romney Once During 20 Debates, But Attacked Romney’s Rivals 39 Times In recent days, attention has focused on the unusual relationship between Ron Paul and Mitt Romney, who are purportedly competing against each other for the Republican presidential nomination. The New York Times reported recently that Romney has “worked to cultivate” a friendship with Paul. The candidates talk on the phone frequently. And when Paul’s “campaign jet broke down last year,” Romney “offered his jet to take them home to Texas.” Rick Santorum has directly accused Paul and Romney of working together, noting “their commercials look a lot alike, and so do their attacks.” A review by ThinkProgress of the 20 GOP debates suggests Santorum might be onto something. This is particularly striking given that Paul and Romney do not agree on virtually any policy positions. Paul has gone beyond merely refraining from attacks. He has actively defended Romney on some of his biggest vulnerabilities. For example, when Rick Perry attacked Romney for “Romneycare” during an October 18 debate, Paul interjected: First off, you know, the governor of Texas criticized the governor of Massachusetts for “Romneycare,” but he wrote a really fancy letter supporting “Hillarycare.” So we probably ought to ask him about that. Paul has also run advertisements attacking Romney’s key rivals at critical times. He ran hundreds of thousands of dollars in brutally negative ads attacking Gingrich in Iowa. Paul now is using his scarce funds on a television ad attacking Rick Santorum in Michigan, a key state where Paul is a non-factor. Paul is effectively acting as Romney’s on-stage surrogate during the debates. The key question is: what is Paul getting out of it? Source
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occupyallstreets:

STUDY: Ron Paul Never Attacked Romney Once During 20 Debates, But Attacked Romney’s Rivals 39 Times

In recent days, attention has focused on the unusual relationship between Ron Paul and Mitt Romney, who are purportedly competing against each other for the Republican presidential nomination. The New York Times reported recently that Romney has “worked to cultivate” a friendship with Paul. The candidates talk on the phone frequently. And when Paul’s “campaign jet broke down last year,” Romney “offered his jet to take them home to Texas.”

Rick Santorum has directly accused Paul and Romney of working together, noting “their commercials look a lot alike, and so do their attacks.” A review by ThinkProgress of the 20 GOP debates suggests Santorum might be onto something.

This is particularly striking given that Paul and Romney do not agree on virtually any policy positions.

Paul has gone beyond merely refraining from attacks. He has actively defended Romney on some of his biggest vulnerabilities. For example, when Rick Perry attacked Romney for “Romneycare” during an October 18 debate, Paul interjected:

First off, you know, the governor of Texas criticized the governor of Massachusetts for “Romneycare,” but he wrote a really fancy letter supporting “Hillarycare.” So we probably ought to ask him about that.

Paul has also run advertisements attacking Romney’s key rivals at critical times. He ran hundreds of thousands of dollars in brutally negative ads attacking Gingrich in Iowa. Paul now is using his scarce funds on a television ad attacking Rick Santorum in Michigan, a key state where Paul is a non-factor.

Paul is effectively acting as Romney’s on-stage surrogate during the debates. The key question is: what is Paul getting out of it?

Source

Source: occupyallstreets

Romney Crushes it in Arizona, Scrapes by in Michigan Romney is the projected landslide winner in Arizona, according to CNN, NBC, NPR, Fox News, and a slew of others. Michigan is still too close for the news channels to call, although on Twitter, commentators are calling it for Romney: If the exits are correct, they imply Romney will win MI by a few points, writes the Washington Examiner’s Philip Klein. Santorum may have benefited from the votes of Democratic Michiganders, who’ve been enticed to the GOP polls by a combination of Santorum-campaign robocalls and “Campaign Hilarity,” a movement started by liberal blog site the Daily Kos to ensure an Obama vs. Santorum line-up in the presidential election.
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Romney Crushes it in Arizona, Scrapes by in Michigan

Romney is the projected landslide winner in Arizona, according to CNN, NBC, NPR, Fox News, and a slew of others.

Michigan is still too close for the news channels to call, although on Twitter, commentators are calling it for Romney:

If the exits are correct, they imply Romney will win MI by a few points,
writes the Washington Examiner’s Philip Klein.

Santorum may have benefited from the votes of Democratic Michiganders, who’ve been enticed to the GOP polls by a combination of Santorum-campaign robocalls and “Campaign Hilarity,” a movement started by liberal blog site the Daily Kos to ensure an Obama vs. Santorum line-up in the presidential election.

Source: topix.com

Ron Paul and Mitt Romney: Secret Allies?  The Daily Caller’s Alex Pappas reports on a study by ThinkProgress revealing Ron Paul’s strange lack of charges against Mitt Romney during the course of the GOP debates. Paul has gone after Santorum on over 20 occasions, but never once targeted Romney: ThinkProgress reported that Paul attacked Santorum 22 times and Gingrich 8 times in the debates. He attacked Texas Gov. Rick Perry and businessman Herman Cain four times each and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann one time while they were in the race. Is this because Paul, a staunch libertarian, finds Santorum and his well-known anti-libertarian views a more worthy opponent? Whatever the reason, theories abound as to why Paul is staying silent vis-à-vis Romney. Die-hard Paul supporters, however, deny any collusion, telling Talking Points Memo, “There’s no way Ron Paul is helping Mitt Romney in Michigan.”
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Ron Paul and Mitt Romney: Secret Allies?

 The Daily Caller’s Alex Pappas reports on a study by ThinkProgress revealing Ron Paul’s strange lack of charges against Mitt Romney during the course of the GOP debates. Paul has gone after Santorum on over 20 occasions, but never once targeted Romney:
ThinkProgress reported that Paul attacked Santorum 22 times and Gingrich 8 times in the debates. He attacked Texas Gov. Rick Perry and businessman Herman Cain four times each and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann one time while they were in the race.
Is this because Paul, a staunch libertarian, finds Santorum and his well-known anti-libertarian views a more worthy opponent? Whatever the reason, theories abound as to why Paul is staying silent vis-à-vis Romney. Die-hard Paul supporters, however, deny any collusion, telling Talking Points Memo, “There’s no way Ron Paul is helping Mitt Romney in Michigan.”

Source: topix.com

Is there a difference between Republicans’ and Democrats’ love affair with Wall Street?  According to the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent, the right-wing effort to portray Obama as a crony for big business is “sowing confusion” and rank with hypocrisy. Citing the efforts of Mitt Romney’s Super PAC and an outfit called The American Future Fund to undermine Obama’s “populist message” by painting him as one of Wall Street’s biggest allies, Sargent has this to say about both: You can see one of the key reasons these outside groups exist: They can spend huge sums of money on ads that are truly amazing in their up-is-downism — ones that are designed to do nothing more than blur lines, muddy waters, and sow confusion — even as their chief beneficiaries avoid any accountability for their absurdity. The hypocrisy charge is certainly on point, but is Obama really a thorn in the side of Wall Street? Not even close, as the Washington Examiner’s Tim Carney has long revealed. Here’s Carney’s report from an Obama fundraiser in 2011, written long after the passage of Dodd-Frank, the supposed bane of Wall Street. Note the long list of Wall Street donors and this telling quote from Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein: “We will be among the biggest beneficiaries of reform.” But maybe hypocrisy is less important than effective hypocrisy management, and anything that hurts Obama will inevitably help Republicans. If that’s where Sargent is coming from, it’s understandable that he’d want to avoid, as he puts it, “blurring the lines.”
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Is there a difference between Republicans’ and Democrats’ love affair with Wall Street?


 According to the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent, the right-wing effort to portray Obama as a crony for big business is “sowing confusion” and rank with hypocrisy. Citing the efforts of Mitt Romney’s Super PAC and an outfit called The American Future Fund to undermine Obama’s “populist message” by painting him as one of Wall Street’s biggest allies, Sargent has this to say about both:

You can see one of the key reasons these outside groups exist: They can spend huge sums of money on ads that are truly amazing in their up-is-downism — ones that are designed to do nothing more than blur lines, muddy waters, and sow confusion — even as their chief beneficiaries avoid any accountability for their absurdity.
The hypocrisy charge is certainly on point, but is Obama really a thorn in the side of Wall Street? Not even close, as the Washington Examiner’s Tim Carney has long revealed. Here’s Carney’s report from an Obama fundraiser in 2011, written long after the passage of Dodd-Frank, the supposed bane of Wall Street. Note the long list of Wall Street donors and this telling quote from Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein: “We will be among the biggest beneficiaries of reform.” But maybe hypocrisy is less important than effective hypocrisy management, and anything that hurts Obama will inevitably help Republicans. If that’s where Sargent is coming from, it’s understandable that he’d want to avoid, as he puts it, “blurring the lines.”

Source: topix.com

Is the Endless GOP Primary Making America More Conservative? The answer is yes, absolutely, says Salon’s David Sirota: I believe the longer the Republican primary battle continues, the more the GOP’s most extreme proposals are given a mainstream platform, the more their ideas are granted public credibility and the more conservative propaganda is invisibly woven into our most basic political assumptions. Sirota probably has a point. After all, the dark side of contraception wasn’t a major talking point until the Santorum et. al. pushed the issue onto the national agenda.
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Is the Endless GOP Primary Making America More Conservative?

The answer is yes, absolutely, says Salon’s David Sirota:

I believe the longer the Republican primary battle continues, the more the GOP’s most extreme proposals are given a mainstream platform, the more their ideas are granted public credibility and the more conservative propaganda is invisibly woven into our most basic political assumptions.

Sirota probably has a point. After all, the dark side of contraception wasn’t a major talking point until the Santorum et. al. pushed the issue onto the national agenda.

Source: topix.com

motherjones: Chart: Contributions from military members to presidential candidates. Not quite what you expected, eh? Full story here.
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motherjones:

Chart: Contributions from military members to presidential candidates.

Not quite what you expected, eh? Full story here.

Source: motherjones

Are GOP Candidates Against Birth Control? Last night’s GOP debate saw a surprising amount of consensus on the evils of birth control. “Which candidate believes in birth control, and if not, why?” asked host Jonathan King - a question clearly aimed at Santorum’s unfashionable approach to contraception. The audience loudly booed, and the other candidates, who’d previously been tearing each other a new one over fiscal issues, closed ranks and defended Santorum. Gingrich explained that Obama was the dangerous radical on sexual health matters, not Santorum: In the 2008 campaign, not once did anybody in the elite media ask why Barack Obama voted in favor of legalizing infanticide. OK? So let’s be clear here. If we’re going to have a debate about who the extremist is on these issues, it is President Obama. The question referred to a moment late last year, when Santorum promised to talk about what “no president has talked about before - the dangers of contraception.” Speaking at last night’s debate, Santorum elaborated on these dangers: Children being born out of wedlock in America, teens who are sexually active…children being raised by children… The family is fracturing.
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Are GOP Candidates Against Birth Control?

Last night’s GOP debate saw a surprising amount of consensus on the evils of birth control.

“Which candidate believes in birth control, and if not, why?” asked host Jonathan King - a question clearly aimed at Santorum’s unfashionable approach to contraception.

The audience loudly booed, and the other candidates, who’d previously been tearing each other a new one over fiscal issues, closed ranks and defended Santorum. Gingrich explained that Obama was the dangerous radical on sexual health matters, not Santorum:

In the 2008 campaign, not once did anybody in the elite media ask why Barack Obama voted in favor of legalizing infanticide. OK? So let’s be clear here. If we’re going to have a debate about who the extremist is on these issues, it is President Obama.

The question referred to a moment late last year, when Santorum promised to talk about what “no president has talked about before - the dangers of contraception.” Speaking at last night’s debate, Santorum elaborated on these dangers:

Children being born out of wedlock in America, teens who are sexually active…children being raised by children… The family is fracturing.

Source: topix.com

Santorum Digs Himself a Hole at GOP Debate Earmarks are one thing that all voters loathe, and the GOP crowd at the Arizona debate was no exception. When Santorum got deep in the weeds defending earmarks, the audience reacted with uneasy silence, in contrast to the loud applause that followed his previous demolitions of Romney. Even Santorum looked like he was thinking, “why the hell am I saying this out loud?” and started tripping over his words. “Earmarks” are “the wacky system whereby individual congresspersons can tack on unrelated spending to bills,” writes the Guardian’s Richard Adams, leading to bloated bills involving hundreds of lines of federal spending. Romney also came out of the tangle looking the worse for wear, after Gingrich got off a zinger about his double standards. Romney essentially said, “earmarks are bad when you guys do it, except for my earmarks, which were awesome.” GINGRICH: “I just think it’s kind of silly for you to then turn around and run an ad attacking somebody else for getting what you got and then claiming what you got wasn’t what they got because what you got was right and what they got was wrong.” The skirmish turned into a circular firing squad, with candidates shouting over each other and a lot of head-shaking and derisive laughter. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” said Santorum to Romney. “I didn’t follow all of that,” retorted Romney. Watch it here (7:40).
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Santorum Digs Himself a Hole at GOP Debate

Earmarks are one thing that all voters loathe, and the GOP crowd at the Arizona debate was no exception.

When Santorum got deep in the weeds defending earmarks, the audience reacted with uneasy silence, in contrast to the loud applause that followed his previous demolitions of Romney. Even Santorum looked like he was thinking, “why the hell am I saying this out loud?” and started tripping over his words.

“Earmarks” are “the wacky system whereby individual congresspersons can tack on unrelated spending to bills,” writes the Guardian’s Richard Adams, leading to bloated bills involving hundreds of lines of federal spending.

Romney also came out of the tangle looking the worse for wear, after Gingrich got off a zinger about his double standards. Romney essentially said, “earmarks are bad when you guys do it, except for my earmarks, which were awesome.”

GINGRICH: “I just think it’s kind of silly for you to then turn around and run an ad attacking somebody else for getting what you got and then claiming what you got wasn’t what they got because what you got was right and what they got was wrong.”

The skirmish turned into a circular firing squad, with candidates shouting over each other and a lot of head-shaking and derisive laughter. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” said Santorum to Romney. “I didn’t follow all of that,” retorted Romney.

Watch it here (7:40).

Source: topix.com

Will Santorum Ban Working Mothers from his Administration? The top story on Glenn Beck’s news site The Blaze reports on a possible case of media bias against Rick Santorum. On Sunday’s Meet the Press, Santorum was challenged by host David Gregory on whether he’d hire working mothers: David Gregory: Let me ask you one more question about women. If you are President of the United States, and women want to work in your administration. Do single women without children only need apply? Are you going to respect the decision of women to come work for you if that’s the choice they make, or would they be somehow held by radical feminists? Gregory was riffing on Santorum’s own statement from his 2005 book It Takes a Family, as quoted in The Washington Post last week: Radical feminists have been making the pitch that justice demands that men and women be given an equal opportunity to make it to the top in the workplace. Later that day, when ABC host George Stephanopoulos asked Santorum about the quotation, Santorum seemed taken aback and unfamiliar with the quotation.
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Will Santorum Ban Working Mothers from his Administration?

The top story on Glenn Beck’s news site The Blaze reports on a possible case of media bias against Rick Santorum. On Sunday’s Meet the Press, Santorum was challenged by host David Gregory on whether he’d hire working mothers:

David Gregory: Let me ask you one more question about women. If you are President of the United States, and women want to work in your administration. Do single women without children only need apply? Are you going to respect the decision of women to come work for you if that’s the choice they make, or would they be somehow held by radical feminists?

Gregory was riffing on Santorum’s own statement from his 2005 book It Takes a Family, as quoted in The Washington Post last week:

Radical feminists have been making the pitch that justice demands that men and women be given an equal opportunity to make it to the top in the workplace.

Later that day, when ABC host George Stephanopoulos asked Santorum about the quotation, Santorum seemed taken aback and unfamiliar with the quotation.

Source: topix.com

New Jersey Senate Says “I Do!” to Gay Marriage New Jersey lawmakers just voted 24-16 in favor of a bill legalizing gay marriage. But gay Jerseyites won’t be walking down the aisle any time soon, because Governor Chris Christie has promised to veto the bill. His veto means passing up a gay marriage tourism boom for his state, but it’s also means he’ll avoid getting stuck with the Log Cabin Republican label when he makes his presidential run, as he inevitably will.
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New Jersey Senate Says “I Do!” to Gay Marriage

New Jersey lawmakers just voted 24-16 in favor of a bill legalizing gay marriage. But gay Jerseyites won’t be walking down the aisle any time soon, because Governor Chris Christie has promised to veto the bill.

His veto means passing up a gay marriage tourism boom for his state, but it’s also means he’ll avoid getting stuck with the Log Cabin Republican label when he makes his presidential run, as he inevitably will.

Source: topix.com

Obama’s Budget Hits the Wealthy, the Wars, and the Deficit Hawks Americans can look forward to another government stand-off after Obama’s budget is released later today. “Like the 2012 budget, it has no chance of being adopted by Congress,” writes The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein. GOP-ers will be incensed by the budget, most of all because it breaks Obama’s promise to halve the deficit. Republican Paul Ryan has fired the first shot in this battle, telling POLITICO that We face a totally predictable debt crisis, and this is the fourth year in a row that the president has ducked it. I honestly thought he would triangulate after the 2010 elections, but he’s moved left. WaPo’s Klein defends the broken deficit promise, arguing that “fulfilling that promise” would have been “a dumb thing to do.” Who are the winners of Obama’s budget, released later today? Roads, infrastructure, manufacturing, and education all get a cash injection. The unemployed get extended benefits, and workers get a longer payroll tax holiday, according to The Washington Post’s Lori Montgomery. And the budget’s losers? Corporations and the wealthy, who’ll see tax hikes adding up to $1.5 trillion, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which get spending caps.
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Obama’s Budget Hits the Wealthy, the Wars, and the Deficit Hawks

Americans can look forward to another government stand-off after Obama’s budget is released later today. “Like the 2012 budget, it has no chance of being adopted by Congress,” writes The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein.

GOP-ers will be incensed by the budget, most of all because it breaks Obama’s promise to halve the deficit.

Republican Paul Ryan has fired the first shot in this battle, telling POLITICO that

We face a totally predictable debt crisis, and this is the fourth year in a row that the president has ducked it. I honestly thought he would triangulate after the 2010 elections, but he’s moved left.

WaPo’s Klein defends the broken deficit promise, arguing that “fulfilling that promise” would have been “a dumb thing to do.”

Who are the winners of Obama’s budget, released later today?

Roads, infrastructure, manufacturing, and education all get a cash injection. The unemployed get extended benefits, and workers get a longer payroll tax holiday, according to The Washington Post’s Lori Montgomery.

And the budget’s losers? Corporations and the wealthy, who’ll see tax hikes adding up to $1.5 trillion, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which get spending caps.

Source: topix.com

Obama: Most Moderate President Since WW2, Also the Most Polarizing Wouldn’t it surprise you to hear that Obama is the most moderate president since World War II? That’s what a new study has shown: President Obama is the most moderate Democratic president since the end of World War II, while President George W. Bush was the most conservative president in the post-war era. However, Obama’s moderation has likely not been of his own choosing. The Washington Post’s Ezra Kelin notes that Obama’s been forced to the right by the “extremism” of Republican politicians: The GOP, in closing ranks against almost every major initiative Obama has attempted, has taken away most of his opportunities to be truly liberal.” Paradoxically, Obama is America’s most polarizing recent president, as well as the most moderate.
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Obama: Most Moderate President Since WW2, Also the Most Polarizing

Wouldn’t it surprise you to hear that Obama is the most moderate president since World War II? That’s what a new study has shown:

President Obama is the most moderate Democratic president since the end of World War II, while President George W. Bush was the most conservative president in the post-war era.

However, Obama’s moderation has likely not been of his own choosing. The Washington Post’s Ezra Kelin notes that Obama’s been forced to the right by the “extremism” of Republican politicians:

The GOP, in closing ranks against almost every major initiative Obama has attempted, has taken away most of his opportunities to be truly liberal.”

Paradoxically, Obama is America’s most polarizing recent president, as well as the most moderate.

Source: bit.ly

Romney Hits the Jackpot in Nevada To literally no one’s surprise, Mitt Romney swept the board in the casino state. Romney’s Nevada caucus victory was always on the cards, and with 71% of precincts reporting, he’s raked in 48% of the vote. He’s trailed by Gingrich at 23%, Paul at 19%, and Santorum at 11%. Romney went in to the caucus with two, ahem, trump cards - Donald Trump’s endorsement, and Nevada’s Mormon voters. Mormons made up more than a quarter of Nevada caucus-goers, and broke over 90% for Romney.
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Romney Hits the Jackpot in Nevada

To literally no one’s surprise, Mitt Romney swept the board in the casino state.

Romney’s Nevada caucus victory was always on the cards, and with 71% of precincts reporting, he’s raked in 48% of the vote. He’s trailed by Gingrich at 23%, Paul at 19%, and Santorum at 11%.

Romney went in to the caucus with two, ahem, trump cards - Donald Trump’s endorsement, and Nevada’s Mormon voters. Mormons made up more than a quarter of Nevada caucus-goers, and broke over 90% for Romney.

Source: topix.com

Trump fired speculation with his promise of a “major announcement” at a Las Vegas press conference last Thursday. Would he re-enter the race? Release Obama’s Kenyan birth certificate? The media widely - and incorrectly - reported the Gingrich camp’s claim that Newt was about to snag the coveted Trump endorsement. But embarrassingly for Gingrich, Trump announced that Mitt’s his guy. Romney, looking profoundly uncomfortable, professed himself “delighted” and wrapped up the event so fast that it was over five minutes after it began. In thanking Trump, Romney said “There are some things you can’t imagine happening in your life. This is one of them.” His tone suggested he didn’t mean this in a good way. (Watch it here.) Pundits have questioned Romney’s wisdom in tying himself to a man known in pop culture for the catchphrase “you’re fired!” (Photograph: Michael Nelson/EPA)
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Trump fired speculation with his promise of a “major announcement” at a Las Vegas press conference last Thursday.

Would he re-enter the race? Release Obama’s Kenyan birth certificate?

The media widely - and incorrectly - reported the Gingrich camp’s claim that Newt was about to snag the coveted Trump endorsement.

But embarrassingly for Gingrich, Trump announced that Mitt’s his guy. Romney, looking profoundly uncomfortable, professed himself “delighted” and wrapped up the event so fast that it was over five minutes after it began. In thanking Trump, Romney said

“There are some things you can’t imagine happening in your life. This is one of them.”

His tone suggested he didn’t mean this in a good way. (Watch it here.)

Pundits have questioned Romney’s wisdom in tying himself to a man known in pop culture for the catchphrase “you’re fired!”

(Photograph: Michael Nelson/EPA)

Source: topix.com