Drudge Hypes Campaign 'Sex Scandal' - Business Insider

Wait, is it the President?  or the Chief of Staff?  Sec Def?  FLOTUS?  

The Romney campaign's best friend!  Pushing the Romney message - on call!

Drudge Hypes Campaign 'Sex Scandal' - Business Insider: "The Drudge Report, the heavily-trafficked blog run by conservative Matt Drudge, is up with a new headline hyping a "sex scandal to hit campaign..." According to Drudge, the story is "developing."
Drudge, a close personal friend of Mitt Romney's campaign manager Matt Rhoades, has hyped up several exclusive news stories during the 2012 campaign cycle, most of which have fallen flat. So our hopes aren't too high for his latest report. "

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RMONEY Bumper

The Obama Haters Book Club: The Canon Swells - The Daily Beast

The Obama Haters Book Club: The Canon Swells - The Daily Beast: "The Communist; The Muslim Brotherhood in the Obama Administration; Where’s the Birth Certificate?; The Manchurian President: Barack Obama’s Ties to Communists, Socialists and other Anti-American Extremists; The Great Destroyer: Barack Obama’s War on the Republic; Trickle Down Tyranny: Crushing Obama’s Dream of the Social States of America; Gangster Government: Barack Obama and the New Washington Thugocracy; How Obama Embraces Islam’s Sharia Agenda; The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America; To Save America: Stopping Obama’s Secular Socialist Machine; The Blueprint: Obama’s Plan to Subvert the Constitution and Build an Imperial Presidency; and what is still my personal favorite title: Whiny Little Bitch: The Excuse Filled Presidency of Barack Obama."

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Congresswoman Accuses Obama Of 'Harming' Auto Company That Went Defunct In 1988 | ThinkProgress

Congresswoman Accuses Obama Of 'Harming' Auto Company That Went Defunct In 1988 | ThinkProgress: "CHIRS JENSING (HOST): Let me ask you about some of the things going on on the campaign trail, and there’s a controversy about Mitt Romney telling voters that jeep is going to move production to China. According to the company that’s entirely false. Is he lying about that?
BLACKBURN: Oh, well, I don’t know. I haven’t talked with with the campaign staff about that. I will say this. For workers in the auto industry, across the board, whether it is GM, whether it’s Nissan, whether it’s American Motors, individuals are very concerned about the impact of regulation that the EPA and OSHA and other federal agencies are heaping on our manufacturers."


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Gov. Romney Wants To Eliminate FEMA Absolutely - YouTube

Gov. Romney Wants To Eliminate FEMA Absolutely - YouTube: "As Hurricane Sandy prepares to ravage the East Coast and beyond, let us pause and be thankful that Mitt Romney is not our current president. For Romney, when asked by CNN's John King about what he would do with FEMA, said essentially this:

Federal funding for disaster relief is "immoral," and is something that should be left up to the states or, "even better," the private sector."



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537 - Obama for America TV Ad - YouTube

ANOTHER GREAT COMMERCIAL!!


537 - Obama for America TV Ad - YouTube: "Make your voice heard, vote: http://OFA.BO/7oEdyo

Voiceover:
"Five hundred and thirty seven. The number of votes that changed the course of American history.""

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What the election means for health care, in one graph

What the election means for health care, in one graph: "We spend a lot of time talking about how the two candidates would structure Medicare differently. But the biggest differences aren’t in Medicare at all; both President Obama and former governor Mitt Romney want to spend nearly the same amount on the program that provide health-care benefits to seniors.
The biggest difference is in Medicaid, the program that covers low-income Americans. This graph from Aaron Carroll at the Incidental Economist helps capture that especially well:"

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Eli and Seth Lovell - Twin Brothers and Veterans Who Support President Obama - YouTube

Interesting!
Eli and Seth Lovell - Twin Brothers and Veterans Who Support President Obama - YouTube: "Eli and Seth Lovell, twin brothers who were deployed to Afghanistan together, share how together they pulled through serving overseas and how they both support President Obama. Both Eli and Seth support President Obama because the President has stood by veterans and the President brought an end to the Iraq war—while Mitt Romney has and will continue to fail the commander-in-chief test."



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My Job - Obama for America TV Ad - YouTube

My Job - Obama for America TV Ad - YouTube: "THIS IS THE ONLY COMMERCIAL NEEDED!!!! AMERICANS WORK AND CARE FOR THEIR FAMILIES. ROMNEY CARES THAT HIS FAMILY GET THE PINNACLE...THE W H. WHAT YOU SAY BEHIND CLOSED DOORS IS WHO YOU ARE...FACT!!!!!!!!!!"

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Broken Promises: Romney's Massachusetts Record - YouTube

I always like commercials with historical context.  This one works.



Broken Promises: Romney's Massachusetts Record - YouTube: "The United States has had two presidents who were CEOs: Herbert Hoover and George W. Bush. Need I say more? Running a government in a democratic society and running a business are two entirely different things which require different skills sets. A president has to serve all the people, not just wealthy Wall Street investors."

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"Clear Choice" - Obama for America TV Ad - YouTube

"Clear Choice" - Obama for America TV Ad - YouTube: "Remember, with Clinton as President we had a SURPLUS. But under George W. Bush we cut taxes for the rich and more than doubled military spending. We deregulated and stopped enforcing laws. We let the big corporations run rampant. Our federal budget turned from huge surpluses to massive deficits. The deficits are the direct result of tax cuts for the rich, and huge increases in military spending. Then, Bush bailed out the wealthy. Obama, looking out for me, a middle-class, tax-paying American."

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Swing-State Billboards Warning Against Voter Fraud Stir Backlash : It's All Politics : NPR

Swing-State Billboards Warning Against Voter Fraud Stir Backlash : It's All Politics : NPR: "Civil rights groups and Democrats complain that the billboards are meant to intimidate voters.

The billboards began appearing two weeks ago — 85 of them in and around Milwaukee, and an additional 60 in Cleveland and Columbus. The signs say in large white letters "Voter Fraud is a Felony!" There's a big picture of a judge's gavel and small letters at the bottom that say the ads are funded simply by a "private family foundation.""


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Controversial Voter Fraud Billboards to be Removed

Controversial Voter Fraud Billboards to be Removed: "A Cincinnati outdoor advertising company announced Tuesday that it will take down controversial billboards that opponents claim are aimed at intimidating voters.

Norton Outdoor Advertising had been contracted to put up about 30 billboards that read “Voter Fraud is a Felony!” The billboards also listed the maximum penalty for voter fraud — up to 3 and a half years and a $10,000 fine."

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Corporate Japan Buying American Assets - Business Insider

Corporate Japan Buying American Assets - Business Insider:

Just look at the deals we've seen in the last few days:

• Sotbank just acquired a huge stake in Sprint for a staggering $20 billion.
• Auto parts company Toyota Industries is spending $759 million (in cash) to buy US auto parts maker Cascade.
• Last week, industrial parts company Dayton was acquired by Japanese firm Misumi.
• On October 5, Japanese firm Takeda Pharmaceutical bought a small pharmaceutical maker in Montana.
• In September, recruitment site Indeed.com was bought by a Japanese firm in a deal thought to be worth over a $1 billion.
• In April, Japanese air conditioning company Daikin bought a US rival for $3.7 billion.

So what's going on? Is it because Japan owns a ton of US dollars that now it needs to collect on, as everyone feared in the 80s.

Heck no. The CEO of Softbank made it clear at the press conference when it acquired Sprint. Growth in Japan is pretty much non-existent. If you want to expand, you have to go abroad, and the US still looks like a fertile territory. It's pretty much as simple as that.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/corporate-japan-buying-american-assets-2012-10#ixzz2A40sFYtU
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Meet Mitt’s latest foreign policy adviser: Gen. Tommy Franks : The Reid Report

Meet Mitt’s latest foreign policy adviser: Gen. Tommy Franks : The Reid Report: "AKA, the fourth worst general in American history.
Could another Iraq style debacle be far behind if Romney becomes president?"

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Wisconsin Mall Shooting - Business Insider

Wisconsin Mall Shooting - Business Insider: "Here's the latest on an apparent shooting at a spa near a mall in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
According to the AP, the suspect Radcliffe Brown Deer has been found dead.  There were no additional details at the time."

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POLITICO Playbook - POLITICO.com

POLITICO Playbook - POLITICO.com: "“Rice based her comments on talking points provided to her the previous day by the Central Intelligence Agency and based on consultations with the office of the DNI ... The talking points, which were initially written for congressional committees and top administration officials, said ‘the currently available information suggests that the demonstrations in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi and subsequently its annex’ ... The talking points also said there were ‘indications that extremists participated in the violent demonstrations.’”"

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Unemployment rate drops in 41 states, including most swing states

Thank you President Obama!

Unemployment rate drops in 41 states, including most swing states: "The unemployment rate dropped in 41 states in September, including many of the top swing states in the presidential race, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
As we noted this a.m. in Morning Fix, the state-based unemployment numbers can actually be a better indication of how the voters that matter in the 2012 election (i.e. swing state voters) are viewing the economy than the national unemployment figures."

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Colin Small Disavowed By Republicans After Arrest | TPMMuckraker

Colin Small Disavowed By Republicans After Arrest | TPMMuckraker: "The Pennsylvania man arrested in Virginia on Thursday for allegedly throwing completed voter registration forms into a dumpster was released overnight on a $3,000 bond and scheduled to be back in court the day before the election."
...

While Small listed himself as a “Grassroots Field Director” for the Republican National Committee on his LinkedIn profile, spokesman Sean Spicer told NBCthat Small was never directly employed by the RNC and will be “told to take that down.” The RNC was financing the Virginia voter registration drive as well as drives in seven other swing states, the Los Angeles Times reported.

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GOP Senate Candidate Admits To Owning Stock In Companies That Do Business With Iran | ThinkProgress

GOP Senate Candidate Admits To Owning Stock In Companies That Do Business With Iran | ThinkProgress: "THOMPSON: I heard about this stock. Wait a minute, let me finish. Let me finish, you had two minutes, let me finish. You want to interrupt me, Joe Biden, just give me a chance. The other thing is, ladies and gentlemen, is that she is talking about stock. I did not know about the fact that my stockbroker had purchased two shares, two company stocks. I sold it. I sold it today. I found out today and I sold it today. I do not tolerate, I do not agree with anybody doing business with Iran, none whatsoever. And I think you should turn back the $60,000 you got from that company that supports no sanctions for Iran."

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Tea Party Group Plans Obama Phone Bank Sabotage

MORE POLITICAL EVIL FROM THE TEA PARTY.

Tea Party Group Plans Obama Phone Bank Sabotage: "A small Florida-based Tea Party group, Lee912, is urging Republicans to sabotage a key Obama campaign organizing tool, an online feature that allows supporters to access a list of phone numbers and place calls on behalf of the campaign from home.
Posting on the website, Meetup.com, the group's founder — Dr. Joe Magnant, a vein specialist practicing in Fort Meyers, Fla. — asked Lee912 members Thursday to use the Obama phone list to campaign for Romney.
Magnant suggests callers make the case directly for the Romney-Ryan ticket or just mark the voter as "already called" ("This will remove them from their call list," Magnant explains)."

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Wonkbook: Is the housing market back?

Wonkbook: Is the housing market back?: "Housing starts are up 15 percent in September."

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Virginia Health Commissioner Resigns In Protest Of Restrictive Abortion Clinic Regulations | ThinkProgress

Virginia Health Commissioner Resigns In Protest Of Restrictive Abortion Clinic Regulations | ThinkProgress: "In a letter to colleagues this afternoon, Remley writes that “how specific sections of the Virginia Code pertaining to the development and enforcement of these regulations have been and continue to be interpreted has created an environment in which my ability to fulfill my duties is compromised and in good faith I can no longer serve in my role.”
“I have submitted my resignation from the position from State Health Commissioner effective today.”"

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Top political memes of the 2012 race - Photos - 5 of 13 - POLITICO.com

Top political memes of the 2012 race - Photos - 5 of 13 - POLITICO.com: "Rom Com 2012 reimagines Mitt Romney as the star of popular romantic comedies such as “Say Anything” and “Knocked Up.”"

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Pro-Obama group defends him on Israel - POLITICO.com

Pro-Obama group defends him on Israel - POLITICO.com: "An outside group is coming to President Obama's defense on Israel, with an new ad airing in Florida.

The Jewish Council on Education and Research — a registered federal super PAC — is airing a new ad that interviews Israelis about what they think of the president.

They've placed a small three-day buy on Fox News and CNN in Florida, with plans to expand as fundraising permits."

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BREAKING: Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down DOMA In Opinion By Republican-Appointed Judge | ThinkProgress

BREAKING: Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down DOMA In Opinion By Republican-Appointed Judge | ThinkProgress:
We conclude that review of Section 3 of DOMA requires heightened scrutiny.The Supreme Court uses certain factors to decide whether a new classification qualifies as a quasi-suspect class. They include: A) whether the class has been historically “subjected to discrimination,”; B) whether the class has a defining characteristic that “frequently bears [a] relation to ability to perform or contribute to society,” C) whether the class exhibits “obvious, immutable, or distinguishing characteristics that define them as a discrete group;” and D) whether the class is “a minority or politically powerless.” Immutability and lack of political power are not strictly necessary factors to identify a suspect class. Nevertheless, immutability and political power are indicative, and we consider them here. In this case, all four factors justify heightened scrutiny: A) homosexuals as a group have historically endured persecution and discrimination; B) homosexuality has no relation to aptitude or ability to contribute to society; C) homosexuals are a discernible group with non-obvious distinguishing characteristics, especially in the subset of those who enter same-sex marriages; and D) the class remains a politically weakened minority.

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Web pounces on Romney 'binders full of women' comment | Marketplace.org

Web pounces on Romney 'binders full of women' comment | Marketplace.org: "“I went to a number of women’s groups and said, 'Can you help us find folks,?' and they brought us whole binders full of women," Romney said.

That turn of phrase --“binders full of women” -- was just unusual enough to launch a new Internet meme."


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Democrats Launch New 'Romney Tax Plan' Site - Business Insider

Democrats Launch New 'Romney Tax Plan' Site - Business Insider: "The Democratic National Committee launched a new microsite today attacking Mitt Romney's failure to provide details about his tax plan.
Click on the image to check out the site."

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Election-Year Stakes Overshadow Nuances of Benghazi Investigation - NYTimes.com

Election-Year Stakes Overshadow Nuances of Benghazi Investigation - NYTimes.com: "After a month of conflicting statements and partisan criticism, the circumstances surrounding the attack that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012, have become clouded in ambiguities and questions: Did the attack grow out of anger against an American-made video mocking the Prophet Muhammad, or was it waged by an affiliate of Al Qaeda out to mark the 11th anniversary of its attack on United States soil?"

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Dispute Over Libya Attack: Reporter Says Militants Attacked Because Of Video, Not 9-11 | Here & Now

Dispute Over Libya Attack: Reporter Says Militants Attacked Because Of Video, Not 9-11 | Here & Now: "Election year politics has clouded public understanding of what happened one month ago during the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. In Tuesday’s New York Times, reporter David Kirkpatrick tries to try to clarify what happened and why.

He asks whether the attack grew out of anger over an American-made anti-Islam film, or whether it was waged by al-Qaida operatives seeking to mark the 11th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks."

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Tea Party Launches 'Obama Phone' Ad - NYTimes.com

Tea Party Launches 'Obama Phone' Ad - NYTimes.com: "Last month the Drudge Report hyped a video of an African-American woman at an Ohio rally claiming the president had given her a free phone. “Everybody in Cleveland, low minorities, got Obama phones…Keep Obama in president, you know! He gave us a phone, he’s gonna do more.” Dozens of news sites took it upon themselves to explain that the Obama campaign was not in fact operating an electronics-for-votes ring in swing states, but that there is in fact a government program that provides low-income people with free or cheap phones. It started under George W. Bush, not his successor."


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Pakistani Taliban Declare War on Media - The Daily Beast

Wow this sounds familiar!  There are far right!
Pakistani Taliban Declare War on Media - The Daily Beast: "So how are the Pakistani Taliban responding to so much public condemnation? By declaring war on individual journalists and the media, of course. “For days and days, coverage of the Malala case has shown clearly that the Pakistani and international media are biased,” says a Pakistani Taliban commander in South Waziristan. “The Taliban cannot tolerate biased media.” The commander, who calls himself Jihad Yar, argues that death threats against the press are justified: he says “99 percent” of the reporters on the story are only using the shooting as an excuse to attack the Taliban."

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Court clears way to early voting in Ohio

Thankfully!

Court clears way to early voting in Ohio: "Early voting will proceed as planned in Ohio, as the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a Republican request to get involved in a dispute over the state's plan.

President Obama's campaign and Ohio Democrats had sued over a state law that would have ended early voting three days before the Nov. 6 Election Day, except for military personnel and residents living overseas."

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Romney Warned Against Pointing Fingers At Bush Administration After 9/11 Attacks | ThinkProgress

Romney Warned Against Pointing Fingers At Bush Administration After 9/11 Attacks | ThinkProgress: "It’s very easy, it is extraordinarily easy to point fingers and say, ‘Why, this part of government knew this and it didn’t tell that part.’ And, ‘These people here haven’t learned that.’ Well, the reason those barriers exist is for legitimate purpose in a world that was pre-September 11th. And judging our intelligence by post- September 11th conditions is something we have to do carefully. We do that to help us get better, and to the extent we find criticism in the kind of work that I’ve had to do and others are doing, it should be focused on how we can make ourselves more effective in the post-9/11 world. But trying to judge what happened pre-9/11 by post-9/11 knowledge is probably not terribly fruitful."

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The Real Story About Romney’s Tax-Cut Plan - Businessweek

The Real Story About Romney’s Tax-Cut Plan - Businessweek: "For viewers at home, the most frustrating interchange was over Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s tax-cut plan. President Barack Obama repeatedly said Romney was proposing a $5 trillion tax cut, and Romney repeatedly said he wasn’t. Obama said Romney couldn’t cut taxes as much as he wants to without increasing the budget deficit. Romney said he could. It was a lot of “automatic gainsaying of anything the other person says,” as the Monty Python skit had it."

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The Final Word on Mitt Romney’s Tax Plan - Bloomberg

The Final Word on Mitt Romney’s Tax Plan - Bloomberg: "Mitt Romney's campaign says I'm full of it. I said Romney's tax plan is mathematically impossible: he can't simultaneously keep his pledges to cut tax rates 20 percent and repeal the estate tax and alternative minimum tax; broaden the tax base enough to avoid growing the deficit; and not raise taxes on the middle class. They say they have six independent studies -- six! -- that "have confirmed the soundness of the Governor’s tax plan," and so I should stop whining.  Let's take a tour of those studies and see how they measure up.
The Romney campaign sent over a list of the studies, but they are perhaps more accurately described as "analyses," since four of them are blog posts or op-eds. I'm not hating -- I blog for a living -- but I don't generally describe my posts as "studies.""

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Paul Ryan Stimulus Funds Requests Show VP Nominee Asked For More Than Previously Reported [READ]

Paul Ryan Stimulus Funds Requests Show VP Nominee Asked For More Than Previously Reported [READ]http://www.scribd.com/doc/109858723/Paul-Ryan-Letters
: " During Thursday night's vice presidential debate, Vice President Joe Biden attacked Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) for criticizing the president's stimulus act despite having sent two separate requests for stimulus funds for his district.

Biden was wrong. Ryan sent at least four requests."

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Charity president: Paul Ryan "did nothing" at soup kitchen photo-op - CBS News

Charity president: Paul Ryan "did nothing" at soup kitchen photo-op - CBS News: "The head of a charity in northeastern Ohio where Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan and his family were photographed cleaning dishes over the weekend said Monday that Ryan was not authorized to be on the premises and "did nothing" while there.

Brian J. Antag, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society in Youngstown, told the Washington Post that the Romney campaign had not asked to make the Saturday visit to the soup kitchen. He said that he runs an apolitical faith-based organization which has bylaws barring it from hosting political candidates, and that the visit jeopardized donations from private individuals. "

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Parsing Romney's middle class tax pledge - CBS News

Parsing Romney's middle class tax pledge - CBS News: "President Barack Obama has claimed that Mitt Romney's tax numbers do not add up, arguing that the Republican presidential candidate's promise to lower tax rates for all families can't be paid for without cutting popular tax deductions for middle class families.

Vice President Joe Biden repeated the claim during last week's vice presidential debate, saying, "The only way you can find $5 trillion in loopholes is cut the mortgage deduction for middle class people.""


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Arthur Allen Email: CEO Of ASG Software Solutions Asks Workers To Vote For Mitt Romney

Arthur Allen Email: CEO Of ASG Software Solutions Asks Workers To Vote For Mitt Romney: "Arthur Allen, CEO of ASG Software Solutions, emailed employees about voting for Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, suggesting their jobs may be at stake if they don’t.

In the email, obtained by MSNBC's "Up w/ Chris Hayes," Allen asked his employees to "give us one more chance to stay independent by voting in a new President and administration," noting that "that chance goes away" if Obama stays in office."

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Photos of Paul Ryan: Pumped Up by P90X Ahead of Vice President Debate - LightBox

Photos of Paul Ryan: Pumped Up by P90X Ahead of Vice President Debate - LightBox: "When TIME named Paul Ryan a runner-up in the 2011 Person of the Year issue, many were familiar with his proposed budget, but few knew that the Wisconsin Congressman stayed fit with the now best-selling P90X workout plan. (Ryan’s father and grandfather both died of a heart attack.) In fact, it was Ryan’s fitness regime — and Herculean strength on all things fiscal — that inspired this workout-themed sitting for Person of the Year. One of these portraits, photographed by Gregg Segal, appears in the Oct. 22, 2012, issue.

Tony Horton, the stand-up comedian turned P90X creator, says the rigorous workout has been boosted from both sides of the aisle. “I think Paul Ryan’s been very good for P90X, as much or more so as Michelle Obama,” he says. “I’ve worked with the First Lady and her Let’s Move campaign. Some of the Secret Service came up to me and said, ‘Hey man, we’re really loving the P90X.’ I’m well aware that they’re using it in the White House.”"

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Libyan Ambassador’s Death Not a Political Issue, Says Dad - Bloomberg

So Gov Romney, ENOUGH!

Libyan Ambassador’s Death Not a Political Issue, Says Dad - Bloomberg: "The father of Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya who was killed in the attack in Benghazi last month, said his son’s death shouldn’t be politicized in the presidential campaign.
“It would really be abhorrent to make this into a campaign issue,” Jan Stevens, 77, said in a telephone interview from his home in Loomis, California, as he prepares for a memorial service for his son next week."

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Shot fired at Obama Denver campaign office - POLITICO.com

Shot fired at Obama Denver campaign office - POLITICO.com: "A Denver police spokesperson told The Denver Post that no one was injured in the Friday incident that took place at West Ninth Avenue near Acoma Street. According to the police department, a window at the campaign office was shattered.

A campaign official confirmed those reports to POLITICO, and indicated that no staffers were injured in the attack."

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Economist: Romney's Tax Plan 'Doesn't Work'

Economist: Romney's Tax Plan 'Doesn't Work': "ZANDI: Yeah, I think the Tax Policy Center study is the definitive study. They’re non-partisan, they’re very good. They say given the numbers that they’ve been provided by the Romney campaign, no, it will not add up. Now, the Romney campaign could adjust their plan. They could say okay I’m not going to lower tax rates as much as I’m saying right now and they could make the arithmetic work. But under the current plan, with the current numbers, no it doesn’t. I’ll say one other thing, though. I think it is important that we do focus on the so-called tax expenditures in the tax code. Those are the deductions, and credits, and loopholes in the code. We need to reduce those, because if we do we’re going to make the tax system fairer, easier to understand and ultimately lead to stronger growth. So that’s the right place to focus. But, no, the arithmetic doesn’t work as it is right now"

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Four Key Areas Where Romney’s ‘New’ Foreign Policy Is Identical To Obama

1. Afghanistan. Romney pledged he would “will pursue a real and successful transition to Afghan security forces by the end of 2014.” This is precisely the same position the current Administration takes. Romney surrogates have been unable to point to one specific difference between Obama and Romney on our largest ongoing war.

2. Syria. Romney endorsed providing military aid through relevant third party states: “I will work with our partners to identify and organize those members of the opposition who share our values and ensure they obtain the arms they need to defeat Assad’s tanks, helicopters, and fighter jets.” The Obama Administration has already approved the provision of assistance to Syrian rebels through friendly Arab states.

3. Iran. Romney said he would “put the leaders of Iran on notice that the United States and our friends and allies will prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons capability.” President Obama said that “four years ago, I made a commitment to the American people and said that we would use all elements of American power to pressure Iran and prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon. And that is what we have done.” Romney also pledged to “restore the permanent presence of aircraft carrier task forces in both the Eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf region,” but the US is already maintaining a carrier group in the Gulf.

4. Free trade. Romney, arguing that “The President has not signed one new free trade agreement in the past four years,” pledged to increase a push toward trade agreements. Obama has signed new free trade agreements with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia, and Romney didn’t specify what new agreements would be passed in a Romney Administration.

Romney’s Major Reversal On Foreign Aid

In a Columbus Day speech to the Virginia Military Institute, Governor Mitt Romneybacked 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, contained little new in terms of specifics.

One area that Romney did differ from previous statements was his position on the United States’ delivery of foreign aid to allies abroad. In today’s speech, Romney spoke on the continuing need to provide assistance to governments in the Middle East, along with conditions that recipients had to follow:

I will rally our friends and allies to match our generosity with theirs. And I will make it clear to the recipients of our aid that, in return for our material support, they must meet the responsibilities of every decent modern government-to respect the rights of all of their citizens, including women and minorities… to ensure space for civil society, a free media, political parties, and an independent judiciary… and to abide by their international commitments to protect our diplomats and our property.

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 throw thousands of students, trailer park residents, homeless people and African Americans off the voting rolls, may be violating the law:

At some point, an effort to challenge voter registrations by the thousands without any legitimate basis may be evidence of illegal voter suppression. If these efforts are intentional, politically motivated and widespread across multiple states, they could amount to a criminal conspiracy to deny legitimate voters their constitutional rights.

True the Vote released a statement affirming their support for the Ohio voter purge advocates on Monday:

True the Vote stands by the well-intentioned efforts of these citizens and is disgusted by the attempts of some within government and media to warp what should have been a simple, legal process into a calculated partisan charade.

Gingrich Concedes Romney Wasn’t Honest About His Tax Plan During Debate

Gingrich acknowledged the clear inconsistency, saying “I think it’s clear he changed.” He described the change as “good politics.”

Watch it:

Romney’s Strong Debate Performance Erases Obama’s Lead | Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

Romney’s Strong Debate Performance Erases Obama’s Lead | Pew Research Center for the People and the Press: "Mitt Romney no longer trails Barack Obama in the Pew Research Center’s presidential election polling. By about three-to-one, voters say Romney did a better job than Obama in the Oct. 3 debate, and the Republican is now better regarded on most personal dimensions and on most issues than he was in September. Romney is seen as the candidate who has new ideas and is viewed as better able than Obama to improve the jobs situation and reduce the budget deficit."

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Frank Luntz, one of the noted architects of conservative communications: 2005

Call undocumented 'Illegal' to criminalize the person!

The right has effectively used the illegal frame to generate opposition to many of the reforms
typically on the progressive policy agenda. Frank Luntz makes the case this way:

http://www.frameworksinstitute.org/assets/files/Immigration/immigrationmessagememo.pdf

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Romney Misstates Reason For Unemployment Rate Drop

Another fact he got wrong!
Romney Misstates Reason For Unemployment Rate Drop: "Labor force is actually up since the start of the year."
But the labor force has actually grown since the start of the year

While the unemployment rate has declined

In fact, a key reason for the decline in the unemployment rate is a substantial increase of the number of part-time workers

UPDATE: An aide says Romney was referring to the labor force participation rate

The rate is the share of the overall population who have entered the job market — and it has declined since the start of the year, meaning that the labor force growth has not kept up with population growth.

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Stephen Barton 'Demand A Plan' video: Aurora theater shooting victim appears in campaign ad

Stephen Barton 'Demand A Plan' video: Aurora theater shooting victim appears in campaign ad: " A man wounded in the shootings at a suburban Denver movie theater is appearing in a television ad aimed at getting voters' and candidates' attention before the first presidential debate — and to shed some light on gun violence.

Stephen Barton, a 22-year-old from Southbury, Conn., was among the 58 people injured in the July 20 attack in Aurora that also left 12 people dead."


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Could the jobs statistics be rigged? | Marketplace.org

Could the jobs statistics be rigged? | Marketplace.org: "The Department of Labor reported today that the unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent in September, and the number of people reporting they have jobs rose by a surprisingly high 873,000.

And within nanoseconds, there was political controversy. Specifically, former GE CEO Jack Welch tweeted this: @jack_welch “Unbelievable jobs numbers..these Chicago guys will do anything..can't debate so change numbers”"


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Jon Hubbard, Arkansas Legislator, Says Slavery May 'Have Been A Blessing' In New Book

Jon Hubbard, Arkansas Legislator, Says Slavery May 'Have Been A Blessing' In New Book: "“… the institution of slavery that the black race has long believed to be an abomination upon its people may actually have been a blessing in disguise. The blacks who could endure those conditions and circumstances would someday be rewarded with citizenship in the greatest nation ever established upon the face of the Earth.” (Pages 183-89)"

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The jobs numbers truther movement - Patrick Reis - POLITICO.com

These people are crazy!
The jobs numbers truther movement - Patrick Reis - POLITICO.com: "A cadre of conservatives from Jack Welch to Allen West are crying conspiracy over Friday’s good economic news, accusing the White House of cooking the books to boost President Barack Obama’s prospects for reelection.

The word from Republicans who have worked with the jobs numbers before? Bunk."


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Romney Campaign Robocall: Black Woman Expresses Openness To The Governor

Romney Campaign Robocall: Black Woman Expresses Openness To The Governor: "The Romney campaign has launched a robocall campaign in, at least, Virginia, featuring a disaffected Obama supporter who says she will give the Massachusetts Republican a chance in this election.

The call, which was flagged by Shaun Dakin, CEO and founder of StopPoliticalCalls.org, features a woman named Marketa explaining her disappointments after voting for the president in 2008."

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Drop in Jobless Figure Gives Jolt to Race for President - NYTimes.com

Drop in Jobless Figure Gives Jolt to Race for President - NYTimes.com: "
"
The jobless rate abruptly dropped in September to its lowest level since the month President Obama took office, indicating a steadier recovery than previously thought and delivering another jolt to the presidential campaign.

The improvement lent ballast to Mr. Obama’s case that the economy is on the mend and threatened the central argument of Mitt Romney’s candidacy, that Mr. Obama’s failed stewardship is reason enough to replace him.
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Romney Says Plan Would Cover People With Pre-existing Conditions. Adviser Acknowledges It Wouldn't. | The New Republic

Romney Says Plan Would Cover People With Pre-existing Conditions. Adviser Acknowledges It Wouldn't. | The New Republic:

The debate spin room is the place where advisers are supposed to convince reporters that their guy won. It's not the place where advisers are supposed to make news. But it sounds like Eric Fehrnstrom, a top Romney adviser, did exactly that night. And it's wouldn’t be the kind of news that makes his candidate look good, although it remains to be seen how many people will notice.

It happened while Fehrnstrom was answering questions about health care. During the debate, Romney repeated a claim he’s made many times: That his health care plan would provide protection for people with pre-existing conditions. As noted here and elsewhere, that claim is false. Romney has suggested he’d prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions if they already have insurance coverage. That wouldn’t protect the many people who’ve let insurance lapse (say, because of a job loss) or couldn’t get it in the first place. It also wouldn’t guarantee that people could pay for the insurance, either by providing financial assistance or regulating prices. In short, it wouldn’t do much more than the current law does, which isn’t very much.

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Job Truthers

Job Truthers

Poll Truthers

Poll Truthers

extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

Carl Sagan:

"extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence"

Romney Campaign Stays Away From BLS "Truther" Charges

Romney Campaign Stays Away From BLS "Truther" Charges: "Romney Campaign Stays Away From BLS “Truther” Charges
As conservative blogosphere says the fix is in, Romney campaign doesn't play "

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Auditing Romney's tax plan

 

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JetBlue will fly upset voters out of the country - POLITICO.com

MORMON AIRLINE OFFERS FREE TRIPS OUTSIDE THE US IF YOUR CANDIDATE DOESN'T WIN THE ELECTION!
JetBlue will fly upset voters out of the country - POLITICO.com: "JetBlue Airlines is offering Americans upset about their candidate's defeat in the upcoming November election a chance to leave the country for free — if only temporarily.

"If your candidate doesn't win, don't worry. Election protection could be your ticket out of the country," the company writes on a new website."

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Presidential debate: Mitt's 'W' problem - POLITICO.com

Presidential debate: Mitt's 'W' problem - POLITICO.com: "The attack is Obama’s carefully tested way of saying that Romney would represent a third term for George W. Bush and the 43rd president’s hands-off approach to taxes, spending and regulation that, in the incumbent’s words, “led to the crisis.”"

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NBC/WSJ/Telemundo: Obama up 50 among Latino voters - POLITICO.com

NBC/WSJ/Telemundo: Obama up 50 among Latino voters - POLITICO.com: "A new poll of Latino voters out from NBC/WSJ/Telemundo this afternoon shows President Obama leading Mitt Romney among the demographic by 50 points."

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Here's The Problem With Our Economy - Business Insider

Here's The Problem With Our Economy - Business Insider: "These and other factors have contributed to the most radical redistribution of wealth that the United States has ever seen. Since the late 1970s, the country's assets and income have moved steadily from "average" Americans to the richest Americans. This has created a society with more extreme wealth inequality than we have seen at any time since the 1920s."
1) Corporate profit margins are at an all-time high.
2) Fewer Americans are working than at any time in the past three decades. 

3) Wages as a percent of the economy are at an all-time low. 

 
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Fox & Friends: The Fail Compilation (VIDEO)

Fox & Friends: The Fail Compilation (VIDEO): "Fox & Friends has carved out a unique space in the world of weekday morning television: the popular Fox News Channel show is part news; part conservative boilerplate; part frothy entertainment; and part complete and utter absurdity. No wonder the show and its hosts, already a favorite target of Jon Stewart, were recently lampooned by SNL."

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Obama Also Spoke Of Racism And Hurricane Katrina In 2005 Harvard Speech

The truth about this 'Race and Katrina' meme can harken back to what General Holder said, "Americans are cowards to talk about race", it makes them uncomfortable.  It is easier to fall back to the old habits of talking around race.  From the earlier post in Hampton, I was in hurricane Andrew and the response was totally different.  Is that race?  Look at the other federal spending in different areas.
 
Obama Also Spoke Of Racism And Hurricane Katrina In 2005 Harvard Speech: "The then-newly-elected Illinois Senator, the keynote speaker at the Harvard Law School Association Award Luncheon, spoke of the failure surrounding Hurricane Katrina saying it was caused by a “passive indifference common in our culture.”"

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Here Is the Only Picture of Mitt Romney at Chipotle You Will Ever Need - David A. Graham - The Atlantic

Mitt you're not normal people stay away from the commoners.  

Here Is the Only Picture of Mitt Romney at Chipotle You Will Ever Need - David A. Graham - The Atlantic: "In Denver on Tuesday, a day before he meets Barack Obama for the first presidential debate, Mitt Romney stopped by local favorite Chipotle for a bite to eat. The national chain was founded in the city in 1993. Accompanied by Ohio Senator Rob Portman, who's playing Obama in debate prep, Romney ordered a burrito bowl with pork, rice, black beans, pico de gallo, and guacamole. And then he stepped around the table to take this epic photo with the staff.

The three workers on the left seem a bit perplexed by the whole preceding. But the guy on the right: Is he surprised? Crazed? Hysterically amused? Leave your intepretations and caption ideas in the comments."

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Romney Campaign Denies Involvement In Obama Video

Keeping hate mongering in fashion in the conservative world!

As conservative media buzzes about newly resurfaced footage of then-Senator Barack Obama delivering a 2007 speech in which he talks about race, the Romney campaign is denying that it had anything to with the tape's release.

The relationship between campaign manager Matt Rhoades and Matt Drudge — whose site first started teasing the video — has been widely reported, and the Drudge Report regularly features stories and headlines meant to give Romney a boost.

Caller editor Tucker Carlson also aired a portion of the video on his MSNBC program in 2007.

Jon Stewart Mocks Voter ID Laws: Video - Business Insider

Jon Stewart Mocks Voter ID Laws: Video - Business Insider:

On the day a judge halted a controversial provision of Pennsylvania's newly implemented voter ID law, Jon Stewart mocked the law and others for trying to solve what is, "by all accounts, is nonexistent, but nevertheless a major concern for all Americans."

Five weeks before the election, Judge Robert Simpson halted — for this election only — a provision that would have required all voters to show a government ID at the voting booth, a law that was implemented by a Republican legislature. 

Stewart took a look at who the law could affect — veterans, the elderly and ... Jim Cramer's father. 

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/jon-stewart-voter-id-laws-video-republicans-pennsylvania-fraud-suppression-2012-10#ixzz28FWsLHrD

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CHART: Stock Market Winners And Losers Under Obama - Business Insider

CHART: Stock Market Winners And Losers Under Obama - Business Insider: "Stoltzfus' report looks back at Obama's presidency to see how the stock market performed.
With Election Day only 35 days away, we look at the overall performance of the S&P 500 and the 10 GICs/Sectors over the course of the last four years. In the period, the benchmark and its sectors rallied dramatically from their lows of the financial crisis/housing bubble bust.
Republicans might argue that President Obama assumed the presidency near the market’s trough and conveniently benefited from the rally that ensued. Democrats might counter that policy implementation and platform initiatives created an environment for substantial equity outperformance. As strategists, we’ll let our readers decide for themselves.
Here's a sector-by-sector break down:"

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Meet Richard Hayes. He picks up Mitt Romney's trash. - YouTube

Don't know how I feel about this.
Meet Richard Hayes. He picks up Mitt Romney's trash. - YouTube: "Richard is a City of San Diego sanitation worker whose route includes Mitt Romney's $12 million oceanfront villa in La Jolla, Calif. This is his story.

Not only does Mitt Romney think we should have fewer public service workers, he has aggressively tried to avoid paying his fair share in taxes for the service they provide him.

Immediately after Romney bought his $12 million La Jolla mansion, he hired a lawyer to knock more than $100,000 off of his tax bill for it. More here: http://afsc.me/QoI0d8"

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The Professor Slur!

Very neat to go back in time.  Personally I don't understand the negativity in the conservative world against educators.

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Churches using 'souls to polls' to rally vote | www.wdbo.com

Churches using 'souls to polls' to rally vote | www.wdbo.com: "Exhorting congregations to register to vote, church leaders are distributing registration cards in the middle of services, and many are pledging caravans of "souls to the polls" to deliver the vote.
The stepped-up effort in many states is a response by activists worried that new election rules, from tougher photo identification requirements to fewer days of early voting, are unfairly targeting minority voters — specifically, African-Americans who tend to vote heavily for Democrats. Some leaders compare their registration and get-out-the-vote efforts to the racial struggle that led to the 1965 Voting Rights Act."

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