Willard ‘Mittens’ Romney promises to be the pro-layoffs president
June 11, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Greg Sargemt writes at The Morning Plum: Mitt Romney, The 'Pro-Layoffs' Candidate:
[President] Obama’s “doing fine” quote is getting more media attention than Romney’s quote about cops and firefighters is. But in a sense, Romney’s quote has at least as much actual policy relevance as Obama’s does. Arguably more. After all, Obama has proposed a plan to address the crisis, which suggests he doesn’t really think the economy is doing fine. By contrast, Romney’s quote is a policy statement — he really is proposing to respond to the crisis by cutting government further.
Obama is pushing a plan to send $35 billion to the states for the hiring of first responders and teachers to speed the recovery. Romney has been claiming that he wants to cut thousands and thousands of government jobs in order to … put Americans back to work again. That isn’t an actual plan to do anything about the crisis, in the sense that it’s exactly what Romney would be proposing if the economy were doing great.
[T]he Romney campaign is hoping voters make their decision based on frustration and disillusionment with the pace of the recovery — feelings the Romney camp is trying to exacerbate with the “doing fine” quote — without looking too closely at the true nature of the alternative Romney is offering. The Obama campaign is seizing on Romney’s quote about cops and firefighters to drive home the true nature of the Romney alternative.
Result: The argument over the true relationship between government, public sector jobs and the economic crisis is now front and center. And as it happens, Obama is actually right about the relationship between government job loss and the continuing crisis, and Romney is wrong about it. Surely that’s at least as important as the optics of Obama's admittedly serious gaffe.
Steve Benen picks up this argument as well. Obama camp focuses on Romney's pro-layoffs plan:
As a rule, gaffes tend to capture the political world's attention, but in this case, we have something more significant than a soundbite — we have a policy position. Indeed, the Republican nominee for president seriously believes we can "help the American people" by laying off, not just public-sector workers in general, but specifically cops, firefighters, and teachers — and his background as a one-term governor makes clear he means it.
* * *
I realize the out-of-context "private sector is doing fine" line is the official new plaything, but Romney's position is substantive and important, and apparently even controversial among conservative Republicans. The differences between Obama and Romney on this have the potential to drive the presidential campaign: does it help or hurt America when hundreds of thousands of school teachers and first responders lose their jobs?
For the first time in generations, the two major-party presidential candidates answer that question differently.
Public Policy Polling (PPP): Ron Barber favored over Jesse Kelly
June 11, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: I always warn people that there is only one poll that counts, and that is election day. Turn in your mail-in ballot if you have not already done so — DO NOT mail it today – or get yourself to your polling location to vote on Tuesday. Public Policy Polling, one of the most … Read more
Voter Suppression 101 tactics in CD8 Special Election
June 10, 2012
By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings It looks as if the Kelly campaign's guiding philosophy is "if at first you don't succeed, cheat." One of the oldest gambits in electoral politics is to try to suppress the turnout of the opposition's base by telling them to show up to vote on a day … Read more
Mitt Romney Enjoyed Impersonating a Police Officer When Young
June 10, 2012
by Michael Bryan OK. This is disturbingly weird. National Memo reports that Mitt Romney used to enjoy impersonating a police officer, with a full uniform provided by his daddy the Governor, to pull folks over and prank people. [hat tip to Donna at Democratic Diva] See the video segment from MSNBC's Lawrence O’Donnell, which Donna refers … Read more
GOTV!
June 10, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The weekend is almost over but get out the vote (GOTV) efforts are ongoing. Announcement from the Pima County Democratic Party: Former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords holds hands with Arizona democratic congressional candidate Ron Barber at a campaign rally on Saturday – CNN. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! Special Visit Planned Today 6:00pm Tucson’s Get … Read more
Stand Your Ground in Arizona
June 10, 2012
By Michael Bryan If you aren't living under a rock, you are familiar with the killing of Treyvon Martin by George Zimmerman, and the controversy over Zimmerman's arrest and prosecution for the killing due to Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law. You may not be aware that the geniuses of the Arizona legislature also created a … Read more
Willard ‘Mittens’ Romney likes to fire policemen, firemen and teachers – you’re to blame for the economy
June 10, 2012
Postred by AzBlueMeanie:
The manufactured media story of the week was President Obama stating at his press conference this week the following:
We've created 4.3 million jobs over the past 27 months. Over 800,000 just this year alone. The private sector is doing fine. Where we're seeing problems is with state and local government, often with cuts initiated by governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help they're accustomed to from the federal government.
All of the DC media villagers in the White House press corps knew exactly what President Obama meant: 27 consecutive months of private sector job growth coming out of the Bush Great Recession.
By way of comparison, as Paul Krugman has demonstrated, there has been a massive decline in public sector employment since the end of the stimulus bill funding due to "austerity" budget cuts by Tea-Publican controlled state legislatures across the country, sabotaging the economic recovery by adding to unemployment.
There is no dispute about theese facts. But Tea-Publicans cherry-picked the line "The private sector is doing fine," and began tweeting it to the DC media villagers. I believe it was Mrs. Greenspan (Andrea Mitchell) to whom I was listening admit after the press conference that the media all knew what President Obama meant but that they would all play along with this manufactured story, because the corporate media villagers always take their lead from the GOP talking points.
Ron Barber get out the vote rally and concert (video)
June 10, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
It looks like KGUN 9 scooped their local competitors last night for the 10 o'clock news (KOLD 13 will run its story at the 5:00 p.m. news on Sunday).
9 on Your Side reporter Valerie Cavazos filed this report, Closure for Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford – KGUN9.com:
More than 800 people showed up to not only enjoy the music, but also get a chance to see Gabrielle Giffords at a Get Out and Vote Concert and Rally at the Rialto Theatre. And for the former congresswoman, Saturday's appearance and Tuesday's election mark the end of a chapter in her life.
Tucson mayor Jonathon Rothschild first took the stage to put this CD8 race into perspective. "The entire country is watching this race for Gabby's seat — the difference between a Ron Barber and a Jesse Kelly," said Rothschild.
The mixed style of music moved the upbeat crowd, while the Barber camp recruited more volunteers for the final days of campaigning. Barber's campaign manager, Jennifer Cox, summed up the day. "So today, you knocked on 4,664 doors and made 21,773 phone calls," she said.
And then the moment the crowd was waiting for. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly hold hands as they walk on stage to a cheering crowd. "It's always great to come back to Tucson," said Kelly.
Once again, Kelly spoke on behalf of the congresswoman — first about her decision to resign from Congress to focus on her rehabilitation. "It was a very difficult decision. You know she worked incredibly hard to first be elected to Congress and then to serve. It was her lifelong dream, but she knew that at that point it made sense for her to step down," said Kelly.
And then Kelly told the crowd the significance of the next few days leading up to Tuesday's election. "This is a little about closure. This closure on Gabby's career in Congress. It wasn't when she resigned in January. I really truly believe that this is this coming Tuesday," said Kelly.
The Get Out and Vote Concert and Rally came to a close with a few words from the former congresswoman, "Thank you for your support. Thank you very much."
Video below the fold.
