Featured Stories
Obama campaign ad: ‘Republican Women for Obama’
August 24, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Obama campaign has released a new ad, "Republican Women for Obama." Republican women share their history with the Republican Party and how the party's views are no longer aligned with their own. They don't support Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan and share how Romney and Ryan are wrong for women.
As they share:
"If you truly believe in a small government. That government shouldn't be deciding what I can and cannot do with my own body."
"There is no way on God's green earth that I would consider voting Republican."
"I don't even want to think about them having control—as a woman I don't."
"If you're a conservative woman, and you believe in small government, then Barack Obama is your candidate because he's keeping the government out of the decisions that should remain between you and God, and you and your own conscience."
Video below the fold.
3 good reports on Paul Ryan’s ‘Kill Medicare’ Plan
August 24, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
There are 3 good reports this week on the Paul Ryan "Kill Medicare" Plan, none of which seem to get reported in the "lamestream" Arizona newspapers. Arizona's newspapers are failing miserably to inform their readers.
The first report comes from the New York Times, Costs Seen in Romney’s Medicare Savings Plan: Patients Would Pay More if Romney Restores Medicare Savings, Analysts Say:
Mitt Romney’s promise to restore $716 billion that he says President Obama “robbed” from Medicare has some health care experts puzzled, and not just because his running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan, included the same savings in his House budgets.
The 2010 health care law cut Medicare reimbursements to hospitals and insurers, not benefits for older Americans, by that amount over the coming decade. But repealing the savings, policy analysts say, would hasten the insolvency of Medicare by eight years — to 2016, the final year of the next presidential term, from 2024.
While Republicans have raised legitimate questions about the long-term feasibility of the reimbursement cuts, analysts say, to restore them in the short term would immediately add hundreds of dollars a year to out-of-pocket Medicare expenses for beneficiaries. That would violate Mr. Romney’s vow that neither current beneficiaries nor Americans within 10 years of eligibility would be affected by his proposal to shift Medicare to a voucherlike system in which recipients are given a lump sum to buy coverage from competing insurers.
For those reasons, Henry J. Aaron, an economist and a longtime health policy analyst at the Brookings Institution and the Institute of Medicine, called Mr. Romney’s vow to repeal the savings “both puzzling and bogus at the same time.”
Marilyn Moon, vice president and director of the health program at the American Institutes for Research, calculated that restoring the $716 billion in Medicare savings would increase premiums and co-payments for beneficiaries by $342 a year on average over the next decade; in 2022, the average increase would be $577.
Beneficiaries, through their premiums and co-payments, share the cost of Medicare with the government. If Medicare’s costs increase — for instance, by raising payments to health care providers — so, too, do beneficiaries’ contributions.
DNC Convention Preview: Entertainment before Obama speech to feature NC native son James Taylor
August 24, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) today announced part of the lineup for festivities that will precede President Obama’s nomination acceptance speech at the Bank of America Stadium on Thursday, September 6.
Calling it a “tribute to the dynamic convention host state,” entertainers will include five-time Grammy award winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee James Taylor; local performing arts group and stars of America’s Got Talent, Inspire the Fire; and genre-bending rock band Delta Rae. DNCC Announces James Taylor and Other Hometown Talent for 2012 Democratic National Convention:
“I’m all fired up to take the stage at the Democratic Convention for President Obama right here in North Carolina,” said James Taylor, who penned and performed “Carolina in my Mind” – the iconic song that many people from North Carolina consider to be the state’s unofficial anthem. “I think it’s so important that he have a second term to keep this country moving forward.”
“Highlighting such amazing talent from North Carolina as part of the entertainment at the convention’s closing event is just one way that convention organizers are working to bring the flavor of North Carolina to all Americans,” said DNCC CEO Steve Kerrigan. “Whether you’re one of the tens of thousands who received community credentials to attend this historic event in person, or tuning in remotely, you will have a taste of the wonderful region that is home to this year’s convention.”
I am sure that James Taylor will lead the stadium audience in a sing-a-long of "Carolina in my Mind" – sure to bring a tear to the eye of Tarheels. (Video below the fold).
DNC Convention Preview: Cristina Saralegui to address convention
August 24, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Cristina Saralegui, the popular Latina television host who has been referred to as the “Hispanic Oprah,” will speak at the Democratic National Convention, according to the DNC and the Obama for America campaign. Cristina Saralegui to speak at Democratic convention:
Saralegui as well as actress Eva Longoria will join a roster of speakers during the three-day event which takes place in Charlotte, North Carolina, September 4th through 6th.
In June, Saralegui publicly endorsed President Barack Obama. “You’ve had our back, and now, with utmost respect and admiration, I have yours.” The Cuban-American television and radio talk show host added that ”President Obama is a principled man who has worked hard to put healthcare and a good education in the reach of millions of Americans, and believes that everyone who works hard and plays by the rules, should have a fair shot at the American dream.”
Video below the fold.
Friday is the LAST day to mail in your primary ballot
August 24, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Friday is the LAST day to mail in your primary ballot. If you have not already done so, do it now! After today, you will need to drop off your mail-in ballot at the Pima County Recorder's office on Monday, or at any polling location on Tuesday, Primary Election Day. A list of the 288 … Read more
Romney’s latest excuse for not disclosing his tax returns to the American people
August 23, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Bob Lord and I have expressed different views on this subject, but today Willard "Mittens" Romney says his church donations are private:
Mitt Romney explains one reason why he considers his tax returns privileged personal information, via The Salt Lake Tribune:
"Our church doesn’t publish how much people have given," Romney tells Parade magazine in an edition due out Sunday. "This is done entirely privately. One of the downsides of releasing one’s financial information is that this is now all public, but we had never intended our contributions to be known. It’s a very personal thing between ourselves and our commitment to our God and to our church." …
While it may not be a major reason, Romney says disclosing his charitable donations isn’t something he wants to do.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are encouraged to donate 10 percent of their gross income to the faith, and Romney’s disclosure early this year shows he did just that and also forked over more through his family charity.
Dude, I am sure the Obama campaign and reporters will be happy to allow you to redact your charitable contribution line if this is really your reason (which I seriously doubt that it is). Get out your black magic marker.
Obama and Romney to appear in Univision ‘Meet The Candidate’ events
August 23, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Dylan Byers at POLITICO reports that President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have accepted Univision's invitation to attend forums focusing on Latino issues, but on separate nights. Obama, Romney agree to Univision forums: The "Meet The Candidate" events, hosted by Univision anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas in front of live … Read more
Kris Kobach, Romney anti-immigration adviser, files suit against Obama DREAM Act-Lite
August 23, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who is Willard "Mittens" Romney's anti-immigation adviser and the author of Arizona's SB 1070, is representing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who believe that Obama’s immigration action requires them to break federal law. The suit [pdf], which names Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and … Read more
