Happy FRY-day, Everyone. 3 Chics hopes you’ve enjoyed John Lee Hooker Week. We’re ending the series with “THE HEALER & SHAKE IT BABY.”
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Black Girls Rock!
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Potus Takes Oath of Office
Flotus & Daughters at Great Wall of China
My Brothers Keeper
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AFRO PUFFS
Most Adorable Shoe Stealer
Six Little Babies
Fatherhood
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Poll: Republicans Could Be Heading For A Devastating 2012 Defeat
http://www.politicususa.com/en/poll-republicans-could-be-heading-for-a-devastating-2012-defeat
A new Democracy Corps poll revealed a nightmare scenario for Republicans where not only does Obama get reelected but Democrats regain total control of Congress.
According to Democracy Corps, for the first time in two years the Democratic Party has taken the lead on the generic congressional ballot, 47%-44%. The bad news for the GOP is that Independents have shifted back to the Democratic Party. In the previous surveys congressional Republicans led congressional Democrats by a net 9 points in October and 19 points in August with Independents, but today Democrats have taken a two point lead.
Why have the Democrats surged? The answer is that the behavior of Republicans in Congress has turned off voters. By a margin of 53%-39% respondents said the more they watched the Republicans in Congress, the less they like what they are offering. Approval of Republicans in Congress has dropped to a new low of 28%, and 8% strongly approve of the Republican caucus.
Romney’s Empathy Problem
A reader writes:
All of that money, all of those highly-paid advisors, years of preparation … and the best response that Mitt Romney’s team can come up with for one of our society’s biggest issues sounds like the words coming from a Jerry Springer guest being booed offstage: “Y’all are just jealous!”
Another writes:
It wasn’t too long ago that Romney, in anticipation of the general, expressed his concern for the middle class and, explicitly, his lack of concern for the future prospects of the already-rich: “I’m not worried about rich people. They are doing just fine.” And now, in responding to Newt, he has taken the bait and full-throatedly claimed the mantle of defender of Wall Street. Not too savvy, and somewhat reminiscent of Obama’s “clinging to guns and religion” gaffe. It’s not a game-changer, as Obama’s error wasn’t, but it reinforces certain preconceived notions and makes the fires in the Democratic camp burn more brightly.
Another:
I’ve been thinking about this for a few weeks, and it really crystalized with the video you posted earlier, in which Romney accuses his opponents of envy. Mitt Romney’s fundamental electoral problem is that he comes off as a complete asshole.
He’s got all the characteristic asshole qualities: a dismissive, contemptuous attitude towards rivals; lack of any evident feeling or empathy; a completely transparent willingness to say whatever voters want to hear in any given situation; arrogance; untrustworthyness; smarminess – you name it, he exudes it.
To a certain degree, I imagine nearly all politicians are assholes, but the successful ones find a way to deflect it. Obama is very good with self-depreciation. Dubya had a down home, “have a beer with him” demeanor. Clinton exuded warmth and interest. Romney just comes off like a prick in a suit and hasn’t found any way that I’ve seen to exhibit any self-awareness around this.
At a time in which people are angry and frustrated, this dude is wearing a “kick me” sign and doesn’t seem to know it. Can you imagine anyone thinking, “That Mitt Romney, he really cares about us”? That is why the Bain stuff is so devastating – it gives a form to this rather evident but hard to pin down quality about him: that he seems like just a total asshole.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/01/romney-cant-meet-his-own-standard.html
Mitt Can’t Meet His Own Standard
Romney has repeatedly claimed that Bain helped create 100,000 jobs. Ryan Lizza says that “Romney’s success depends on whether that job-creation statement withstands scrutiny”:
Romney has made a similar mistake to the one the Obama Administration made in early 2009, when two of Obama’s economists released a study with overly optimistic unemployment projections. Ever since then, critics have been able to point to that study as evidence that, if judged by Obama’s own standard, his stimulus has been a failure. We could end up with a race that pits Obama’s stimulus record against Romney’s Bain record. Judging from the gleeful reaction of Democrats this week, it’s a debate Obama would welcome.
Chait explains how a Romney-Obama matchup would fuel a debate about class:
The GOP Establishment’s deepest and most recurrent fear is an open debate over economic class. This is not a debate they feel they can win even among Republican voters, a majority of whom actually favor higher taxes on the rich. Romney’s assertion … that economic inequality should not be discussed, or should only be mentioned in “quiet rooms,” is a too-frank expression of the GOP elite’s actual belief that the issue must be kept out of political debate.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/01/romney-cant-meet-his-own-standard.html
Does Romney Have A Wealth Problem?
John Sides nods:
[H]ere is the problem that Romney confronts. Americans perceive him as personally wealthy more than they do Obama. They perceive him as caring more about the wealthy, but less about “people like me” and the middle class, than does Obama. Moreover, Obama can “get away with” being perceived as personally wealthy or caring about the wealthy in ways that Romney cannot. For Americans, Romney’s personal wealth is more intimately tied to the perception that he cares about the wealthy—and this in turn implies that he cares less for the middle class.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/01/does-romney-have-a-wealth-problem.html
Menendez Bows To Pressure, Backs Obama’s Judicial Nominee
http://www.rollcall.com/news/menendez_bows_to_pressure_backs_obamas_judicial_nominee-211490-1.html?pos=htmbtxt
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) will back Patty Shwartz to join the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit after taking heat from the White House and newspaper editorial boards for opposing her.
“After an in-depth discussion today with Judge Patty Shwartz, I am pleased to announce that I am supporting her nomination to serve on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals,” Menendez said in a release. “Judge Shwartz satisfactorily answered questions covering important legal topics such as current law on the rights of corporations under the First Amendment, constitutional limits on Executive Branch power and the application of heightened standards of review under the Constitution. She adequately allayed my earlier concerns.”
“I am grateful to members of the federal bar whom I respect greatly — Gerry Krovatin, James Cecchi and John Vazquez — for sharing their positive insights regarding Judge Shwartz’s abilities,” Menedez continued.
Menendez initially opposed Shwartz’s nomination after meeting her in August and asking her about issues he felt appellate judges should know about, such as the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling.
Heads up, 3 Chics!
Hey guys,
Jonathan Alter is suggesting that First Lady Michelle Obama ought to get used to the idea and feel good about Kantor’s book because it’s positive. Alter further argues that the First Lady “shouldn’t trash a book she hasn’t read.”
Y’all know it’s on & poppin now…
For those of you who tweet….let your voice be known.
http://chirpstory.com/li/3833
Sorry Jonathan alter. FLOTUS has spoken on this topic. I don’t need to hear from anyone else on what, how when where Michelle Obama SHOULD, OUGHT, to be doing. Bye BOY!
@jonathanalter How dare you tell Flotus to get use to a trashy lie. Are you kidding me? Kantor lied! So, you support lying liars? GTFOOH
tell it
TELL IT!!
Mitt Romney Supporter, Kris Kobach, Backs Apartheid
http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/2012/01/romney-supporter-backs-apartheid/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Mitt Romney has gotten slammed for celebrating his endorsement by Kris Kobach, the Kansas Secretary of State and notorious author of Arizona and Alabama’s “show me your papers” laws. (Along with several similar nasty laws.) Of course, immigration advocates have pounced all over the endorsement and the press has written a lot about how this move is straight-up dumb if he’s trying to win the affections of Latinos this year.
Now I’ve known that Kobach is an equal opportunity hater for some time but hadn’t seen this yet. Center for New Community published “10 Reasons Why Mitt Romney Should Reject Kris Kobach’s Endorsement” on their Imagine 2050 blog. Check out #1 on their list:
ThinkProgress:
Two weeks ago, Romney said he created “over 100K jobs” at Bain. Two days ago: “Tens of thousands.” Today: “Thousands” http://thkpr.gs/w3v0k1
Lying liars and the lies they tell!
Pen_Bird:
Breaking News: Obama just merged 2 of the 3 gov’t agencies that Perry can’t remember he wants to get rid of. Your king’s in check, dude.
BWA HA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA GOP bunch of INCOMPETENTS…
NPR Politics:
Judge Rejects GOP Virginia Primary Ballot Appeal http://n.pr/yxmSon
IMUST READ
t wasn’t just about lunch counters
SmartyPants
On the eve of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s birthday in 2012, its hard for me to grasp that we’re even having conversations with those who call themselves liberals or progressives and think we should consider the ideas of a presidential candidate who’s position is that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was unconstitutional.
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2012/01/it-wasnt-just-about-lunch-counters.html?showComment=1326487667066#c5249893138105083410
Breaking News:
John Edwards Has Life-Threatening Condition: Doctor
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/john-edwards-trial-delay_n_1204150.html
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Ex-presidential candidate John Edwards has a life-threatening heart condition that will require surgery next month, his doctor told a judge presiding over Edwards’ upcoming court case over possible campaign violations.
A cardiologist for the 58-year-old ex-North Carolina Senator wrote two letters about his condition to Judge Catherine Eagles who talked about them Friday during a hearing to consider whether the trial would go on later this month. She delayed it until at least March 26.
Edwards walked into the courtroom in Greensboro without assistance and appeared healthy. The judge requested that he be there.
The judge did not give any more details about what sort of surgery or what illness Edwards may have. The doctor also wrote that Edwards should avoid driving and travel, including to the court proceedings.
“The public has an interest in a speedy trial, and this case has already been continued twice,” Eagles said. “Ordinarily, I would try to manage something like this. But clearly there are some limitations on Mr. Edwards due to real and serious health issues.”
Prosecutors had said they were ready to try Edwards on six felony and misdemeanor counts related to nearly $1 million from wealthy donors used to help hide his pregnant mistress during his 2008 White House run.
Ummm….
.In Defense of Black Women Against the “Angry” Stereotype
Michele Norris of NPR just concluded a compelling and heartfelt set of tweets about why the stereotype of an “angry” Black woman is so damaging and hurtful. It speaks the truth in so many ways.
http://chirpstory.com/li/3829
This comment stood out for me:
“If anything research into history of people of color in US reveals a stunning lack of anger under circumstances where it would be justified.”
US First Lady Michelle Obama dances onstage during ‘Random Dancing’ with cast members of the Nickelodeon television show iCarly, including Miranda Cosgrove (C), who plays Carly Shay, and Jennette McCurdy (R), who plays Sam Puckett, during a screening of an episode of the show featuring Obama at Hayfield Secondary School in Alexandria, Virginia, on January 13, 2012. Obama appears on an episode honoring military families and kids which will air on the children’s cable network January 16. On the show, the character of Carly Shay is the daughter of an Air Force Colonel serving overseas in the military.
theonlyadult:
Obama Campaign Memo shows why Bain is so devastating for Romney! http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/13/1054353/-Obama-Campaign-Memo-shows-why-Bain-is-so-devastating-for-Romney! via @dailykos
Daily Kos:
John Boehner seeks to cut tea party faction out of payroll tax cut extension negotiations http://bit.ly/AxeeYB
Brett Favre’s brother pardoned by outgoing Gov. Haley Barbour
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/9950528-419/brett-favres-brother-pardoned-by-outgoing-gov-haley-barbour.html
JACKSON, Miss. — The brother of former NFL quarterback and Mississippi native Brett Favre has been pardoned by Haley Barbour, whose last day as governor was Tuesday.
State records released Tuesday show Earnest Scott Favre had his record cleared in the 1996 death of his best friend, Mark Haverty. Scott Favre was among dozens of people pardoned or given early release in Barbour’s final days in office. The Republican left office Tuesday, at the end of his second term.
Favre had driven in front of a train in Pass Christian while drunk. He pleaded guilty in 1997 and was sentenced to a year of house arrest followed by two years’ probation.
Calls went unanswered Tuesday to a listing for a Scott Favre.
Brett Favre was a standout at Southern Miss turning pro.
Mississippi Atty. General May Authorize Manhunt For 5 Prisoners Pardoned By Gov. Haley Barbour. http://url2it.com/lgaa
Random dance on agenda for Michelle Obama in Va.; scheduled to join “iCarly” cast at school
By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, January 13, 1:48 AM
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — First Lady Michelle Obama is planning to bust out some random dance moves at a northern Virginia high school.
Mrs. Obama is scheduled to join the cast of Nickelodeon’s TV show “iCarly” Friday morning at Hayfield Secondary School in Fairfax County.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/random-dance-on-agenda-for-michelle-obama-in-va-scheduled-to-join-icarly-cast-at-school/2012/01/13/gIQAhEDPvP_story.html
What’s he saying to her? LOL
I’ll let the video say it. LOL
Hey Now! ;)
January 13, 2012 11:25 AM
Boehner’s once bitten, twice shy
By Steve Benen
My prediction about the failure of a year-long payroll tax-cut deal isn’t looking so good. On the contrary, it’s looking increasingly likely that an agreement should come together well ahead of the deadline.
The problem, as I saw it, was that House Republicans bit the bullet in December after badly miscalculating. They accepted a two-month deal, but they would, I argued, make excessive demands in the next round, dooming any possible extension. Since GOP members tend to oppose the tax-cut policy anyway, they wouldn’t have much of an incentive to be cooperative.
To be sure, far-right members will continue to push an extremist wish list, but unlike last time, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is reportedly “prepared to navigate around rebellious Tea Party-aligned lawmakers to get a deal.”
“I think Boehner will seek a more accommodating approach to get a good percentage of Democrats to vote for it — even if it costs him a lot of House Republican freshmen,” one House Republican leadership aide told Reuters.
“His instincts will be not to be so reliant on House Republican freshmen,” the aide added, referring to the 85 first-term congressmen.
From the perspective of House GOP leaders, Boehner took orders from the right-wing contingency in December, and the result was a fiasco in which Republicans were pushing for a middle-class tax increase a few days before Christmas. The Speaker could pursue a replay, but he seems to realize there’s not much of an upside for his party. Why suffer through the same easily-avoided debacle twice?
The deadline for an extension is Feb. 29, but Boehner is apparently so eager to get this over with, the Reuters report indicated he’d like to wrap up a deal over the next two weeks — so President Obama can’t use it against Republicans in the State of the Union address.
This is not to say Republicans will go along with a surtax on millionaires and billionaires as part of a compromise — that wouldn’t have the votes to pass either chamber, no matter how popular the idea is with the American mainstream — but just about any other funding mechanism would likely get the Speaker’s approval.
Nothing is ever easy in this Congress, and there will be plenty of opportunities for failure, but the odds of eventual success appear to be improving.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/boehners_once_bitten_twice_shy034741.php
zizii2:
SBA elevated to Cabinet Level Agency. New website: “BusinessUSA”. Romney must be hopping mad at #PBO stepping all over his “territory”
Beat that ass, Soledad! Kantor is a lying money hungry liar. She needs the taste smacked out of her mouth. Lying skank!
Kantor thought she could roll al up in CNN at Soledad, and not be challenged about that nonsense she wrote about FLOTUS. The nerve of her thinking she can push Laura Bush, and other First Ladies’ names to justify her need for greed through this book. GTFOH
Nice job Soledad!
PBO speaking now on consolidating depts. at http://bit.ly/AtyQGy.
Before It’s News:
Bain Capital Owns Clear Channel (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Etc.) http://ow.ly/1gHr4y
AH HA
Isn’t that something? well well well…
Bain Capital Owns Clear Channel
http://url2it.com/lftn
Clear Channel owns more radio stations (850) than anyone else in the United States. They also own Premiere Radio Networks, the company that syndicates the radio shows of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck, among others.
Needless to say, Clear Channel basically owns conservative talk radio in the United States. So who owns Clear Channel?
Well, it turns out that Bain Capital is one of the primary owners of Clear Channel. Yes, you read that correctly. The company that Mitt Romney ran for so long is one of the “big bosses” over virtually all conservative talk radio in America.
Of course Mitt Romney is not running Bain Capital anymore. He is a “retired partner”, but he still has a huge financial stake in Bain Capital. We’re talking about millions upon millions of dollars. If you doubt this, just check out page 34 of this public financial disclosure report. So if you have been wondering why so many conservative talk show hosts are being so incredibly kind to Mitt Romney, this just might be the answer.
That’s why the pundits are tryna push ole Mittens off on America and conservatives are lshing out at Newt and Perry for their attacks on Mittens VULTURISTIC maneuvers.
New voting laws target Black college students
By CYRIL JOSH BARKER Amsterdam News Staff New York Amsterdam News | 0 comments
As Black people across the nation face the challenge of keeping access to the franchise of voting while Republican legislators and governors try to suppress the Black vote to derail President Barack Obama’s reelection efforts, Black college students find themselves a primary target of those strategizing to keep people of color away from the polls.
New voting laws that went into effect in several states could impact the turnout of young college voters in several states, including Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Texas. Many of these states have a number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, with tens of thousands of student coming from the New York City area as well as other states with large Black populations
Laws that now require college students to show government-issued ID work to exclude them from the voting process because lawmakers know they are unlikely to have such identification. Student IDs will not be accepted at the polls in several states, even if the IDs are from state institutions.
Students in Florida, Georgia and Texas are also being legislated out of participating in voter registration drives. In addition, a lack of time, money and resources is going to be a factor for college students who must get in-state IDs in order to vote.
Numbers show that during the historic 2008 election of Obama, young voters mobilized in record numbers. According to the U.S. Census, there were 2.5 million Black college students in the fall of 2008. The turnout rate during the 2008 presidential election for the 18- to 24-year-old Black population was 55 percent, with Blacks having the highest turnout rate in this age group.
In response to the passage of Senate Bill 14, which requires voters to show state or federal ID in order to cast their ballot, the Texas State Conference of the NAACP is claiming that students at all-Black Prairie View A&M University, located outside of Houston, Texas, are being targeted.
In a joint letter to the Department of Justice, the Texas NAACP, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and the Brennan Center for Justice detailed how Black college students are being suppressed. African-Americans constitute 17.2 percent of Texas’ total university student population and 16.9 percent of the state’s public university students, despite representing a smaller share of Texas’ overall voting age population.
“African-Americans are more likely to be attending a public university in Texas than whites, but student IDs were not included as an acceptable form of identification in Senate Bill 14,” they said. “According to the 2009 American Community Survey, 8 percent of voting-age African-Americans in Texas were attending a public university, compared with only 5.8 percent of voting-age whites.”
http://www.amsterdamnews.com/politics_noir/new-voting-laws-target-black-college-students/article_82a3908c-3d4c-11e1-bf09-0019bb2963f4.html
January 13, 2012 10:35 AM
Get to know Steel Dynamics
By Steve Benen
Mitt Romney has a new ad out this morning, which, in addition to moving the job-creation goal posts, defends the candidate’s private-sector business practices at Bain Capital. Hoping to bolster Romney’s record, the commercial highlights an Indiana company called Steel Dynamics.
Romney campaign staff may want to reconsider their choice of examples.
What Romney doesn’t mention is that Steel Dynamics also received generous tax breaks and other subsidies provided by the state of Indiana and the residents of DeKalb County, where the company’s first mill was built.
The story of Bain and Steel Dynamics illustrates how Romney, during his business career, made avid use of public-private partnerships, something that many conservatives consider to be “corporate welfare.”
The former governor, on the campaign trail, likes to tell voters that government “gets in the way of creating jobs.” Romney apparently didn’t feel this way when he relied on government handouts as part of his business deals.
The Steel Dynamics example is especially interesting — the community even had to levy a new income tax to help finance Romney’s venture.
Funny, the campaign seems to have overlooked this detail in the new commercial.
Indeed, Steel Dynamics isn’t some isolated story from Romney’s past that he would just as soon see us overlook; this is a story that Romney considers proof of his job-creating expertise. The takeaway, apparently, is that the Republican frontrunner wants government to get out of the way of the private sector, but only after the government gave Romney some handouts that helped boost his profits.
This is corporate welfare,” said Tad DeHaven, a budget analyst with the Washington-based Cato Institute, which encourages free-market economic policies. DeHaven, who is familiar with corporate tax subsidies in Indiana and other states, called the incentives Steel Dynamics received “an example of the government stepping into the marketplace, picking winners and losers, providing profits to business owners and leaving taxpayers stuck with the bill.”
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/get_to_know_steel_dynamics034737.php
Friday, January 13, 2012
Shiggity Pegreaux Black Men Say…
Pegreaux = Pretentious + (sometimes) Nouveau + Negroes. <~~ Get into it. Ah yes, 'tis the age of the Pegreaux. That species of hustle-disguised-as-know-it-all-ness gentleman heating up airwaves, TV sets and these here innanets. They are everywhere. They are smarter than the rest of us (to hear them tell it) and they have opinions. As do I.
Many of you have seen the various, multiple spins on Sh*t (insert any type of people) say. White Girls, Bougie Black Girls :-/, Purple Squirrels… good times. Everyone else has had so much fun compiling their lists, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon too. Of course when I write a list about Pegreaux… I actually know enough of them well enough to be accurate in my tongue-in-cheekiness. I get that it's hot in the streets to make up a list about the two chicks who deigned to speak to you at last week's Happy Hour because they thought your name tag was cute. I just thought I'd do my list a little differently.
So what's tripping lightly off of Les Pegreaux lips this days? Allow me to share..
1. "Buy my book, it will change your life!" (Or buy my t-shirt or my signature vodka or watch my show and come to my event. If you're particularly lazy – just click "LIKE"!). You have to know by now that words of epic wisdom and absolute pearls of intellectual superiority are to be found inside a Pegreaux-penned publication. Nothing is going to raise this race up or bring hordes of angry single black woman to their ultimate salvation like following the gospel of Pegreauxism. Let's raise a Hibiscus Martini at the next happy hour to this, shall we?
2. "But seriously, have you bought my book yet?" For Social Media's sake, you see me in all my Pegritude hustling and tweeting and blogging and you still haven't bought my book? That's no way to catch a man, ladies. That's no way to be on your Jay-Z-Z baller status, gents. And isn't that what this life is all about anyway?
3. I'm not doing this for me, it's all about you. A Pegreaux's battlecry is that he is not a pretentious prick just on G.P. – he is out there grindin' for the betterment of all black people everywhere (especially those that have purchased their books).
4. "You need to get to my level." I love it when a man tells you to get like him only to later discover his life is a freaking shambles behind closed doors. No sir, I'm good right up and through here.
http://www.blacknbougie.com/2012/01/shiggity-pegreaux-black-men-say.html
January 13, 2012
Is Romney’s opposition ‘fractured’?
There is something of a contradiction in this morning’s Politico headline, “Fractured S.C. right could boost Mitt.”
On the one hand, it’s true that Romney benefits from the nicely diced-up vote among his competitors — an analytical theme that the commentariat tediously emphasized all the up to Iowa, all the way up to New Hampsire, and now all the way to South Carolina. The theme no longer counts as “insight,” nonetheless it lies at the core of pretty much every “analysis.” At any rate, here’s South Carolina’s Rep. Tim Scott repeating it:
Whether we like it or not, Mitt Romney is the beneficiary of three candidates who are very strong and going after the tea party base with a concerted effort — Perry, Gingrich, Santorum.
So, there’s that. Romney’s competition is hopelessly “fractured,” right? That would seem to be the case. Yet Rep. Scott said something else, of an eye-catching twist:
I am a social conservative as much as I am a fiscal conservative. So, it would be nice to have someone that is just a clearer cut on both sides of the aisle, that makes you feel warm and fuzzy about what you’re going to do on the social side and that makes you feel strong about your entrepreneurial opportunities going forward.
To modestly restate Scott: Romney’s competition is virtually monolithic; it is ideologically undifferentiated, on issues its candidates are indistinguishable (there is no “clearer cut” contender), their followers are of precisely the same mind. In sum, it’s not “fractured” at all; indeed, its greatest blessing, in terms of Romney’s needs, is that it’s so bloody unified.
The reason for this jarring unity is perhaps a trifle too obvious to note, but note it anyway, I shall. Romney’s competitors have merely checked off the requisite ideological boxes in their headlong rush to pander to the far-right base. Abortion, same-sex marriage, school prayer, gay rights, cap and balance, a grotesquely oversized defense department — whatever the issue, you name it, the candidates have tidily checked it off. So has Romney, of course; in these boiling primaries of purity, one mustn’t ever defy the far-right’s rigidity. Romney’s problem is simply that the base doesn’t believe him (nor should they).
So is the right in South Carolina fractured? From one angle, it sure looks that way; but from another vantage point, quite the opposite.
http://pmcarpenter.blogs.com/p_m_carpenters_commentary/2012/01/is-romneys-opposition-fractured.html
January 13, 2012 10:00 AM
To hell with the ‘quiet room’
By Steve Benen
While some would have us limit all discussions of income inequality to “quiet rooms,” I’m relieved to see that President Obama’s economic team feels differently.
What Mitt Romney a few days ago called “the bitter politics of envy,” President Obama’s chief economic adviser instead described Thursday as the basic economics of unequal opportunity.
As long as the rich keep getting richer and the middle class languishes, he said, the economy as a whole will suffer.
Alan B. Krueger, the chairman of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers and an accomplished labor economist, presented chapter and verse of the administration’s understanding of income inequality, economic opportunity and the fortunes of the middle class in a speech to the Center for American Progress, a research group closely aligned with the administration’s viewpoint.
His theme: “Rising inequality has been bad for the U.S. economy.”
The full test of the speech is online here (pdf) and it’s well worth reading. Krueger isn’t an inspirational orator, but that’s really not the point here — this was the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers making a detailed case for closing the widening chasm between rich and poor.
Indeed, as far as Krueger is concerned, the future of the nation’s economic health depends on it.
Want to understand the differences between priorities of a Democratic and a Republican administration in 2013? This is an issue for the top of the list.
What’s more, the economist highlighted the right remedy to address these obscene wealth disparities: a commitment to “equality of opportunity” through, among other things, health care reform, safeguards to protect consumers against Wall Street recklessness, and the end of “unnecessary tax cuts for the wealthy.”
In contrast, in case anyone’s forgotten, every Republican presidential candidate intends to eliminate the entirety of the Affordable Care Act, give Wall Street free rein, and expand unnecessary tax cuts for the wealthy.
Regardless, the larger political point is hard to miss: President Obama fully intends to stick to the message he delivered in Osawatomie, when he argued that restoring economic balance and fairness is “the defining issue of our time.”
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/to_hell_with_the_quiet_room034736.php
Mitt Romney no stranger to tax breaks, subsidies
Bain Capital profited from a steel company that got them, and he used them to attract business when he governed Massachusetts
By Matea Gold, Melanie Mason and Tom Hamburger, Washington Bureau
January 12, 2012, 6:14 p.m.
Reporting from Washington— As Mitt Romney defends his record running a private equity firm, he frequently points to a fast-growing Indiana steel company, financed in part by Bain Capital, that now employs 6,000 workers.
What Romney doesn’t mention is that Steel Dynamics also received generous tax breaks and other subsidies provided by the state of Indiana and the residents of DeKalb County, where the company’s first mill was built.
The story of Bain and Steel Dynamics illustrates how Romney, during his business career, made avid use of public-private partnerships, something that many conservatives consider to be “corporate welfare.” It is a commitment that carried over into his term as governor of Massachusetts, when he offered similar incentives to lure businesses to his state.
Yet as he seeks the GOP presidential nomination, he emphasizes government’s adverse effects on economic growth.
“Fundamentally, what happens in America that creates jobs is not government. It has its role. But by and large, it gets in the way of creating jobs,” he said during a debate Saturday sponsored by ABC News and Yahoo.
Bain Capital began looking at investing in the steel start-up in late 1993. At the time, Steel Dynamics was weighing where to locate its first plant, based in part on which region offered the best tax incentives. In June 1994, Bain put $18.2 million into Steel Dynamics, making it the largest domestic equity holder. It sold its stake five years later for $104 million, a return of more than $85 million.
As Bain made its investment, the state and county pledged $37 million in subsidies and grants for the $385-million plant project. The county also levied a new income tax to finance infrastructure improvements to benefit the steel mill over the heated objections of some county residents.
“I’m very pro-business, but I’m not pro-business-welfare,” said DeKalb County resident Suzanne Beaman, 58, who fought the incentives. Steel Dynamics “would have done fine without our tax dollars, I have no doubt.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bain-subsidies-20120113,0,1268299.story
Conservative fears Romney is “McCain all over again”
On the eve of a Texas meeting of prominent social conservatives and evangelical Christians to discuss the state of the Republican presidential race, one invitee is worrying that a Mitt Romney nomination would be “John McCain all over again.”
Dick Bott, founder and chairman of Christian Radio’s Bott Radio Network, says he would vote for the former Massachusetts governor against President Obama, but that “people just won’t care.”
“Why on earth give other things [like volunteering time or donations] for someone you think is a bit of sham?” says Bott, who would not confirm he will be attending this weekend’s summit. “All of a sudden there’s a conservative movement that is being spoon-fed by Republican establishment leaders.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57358181-503544/conservative-fears-romney-is-mccain-all-over-again/?tag=cbsContent;carouselBar
He is McCain all over again, because he will lose in November. No matter how much the GOP forces Newt’s hand on attacks on Bain, Mitt is boring, and does not appeal to a broad audience.
Citizens United is Kicking Romney’s Ass
by mistermix
Mitt Romney, who in years past would be watching his weak also-ran competition starting to bow out because of lack of campaign cash, is fighting off a multi-million dollar avalanche of Citizens United style Super PAC money. It’s not just Newt’s Super PAC and their anti-Romney movie :
[…]The Red, White and Blue Fund, an outside group that is promoting the candidacy of Rick Santorum, began advertising in South Carolina before the New Hampshire primary, softening the negative effects of Mr. Santorum’s potentially campaign killing — at least by the old rules — poor finish there on Tuesday.
On Thursday, the group, which was seeded with a major contribution from Foster Friess, a wealthy mutual fund executive, announced a new investment of $600,000 in television advertising in South Carolina. […]
While Jon M. Huntsman Jr. has had too little campaign cash to afford substantial advertising, a super PAC supporting him, Our Destiny, helped keep him afloat through New Hampshire and is expected to weigh in for him to some degree in South Carolina. The group has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Mr. Huntsman’s father, a billionaire industrialist.
Super PAC money is probably going to have a major negative effect on Democrats in House and Senate races. For example, in pre-Citizens United years, I’d say that Elizabeth Warren would cruise to an easy victory in Massachusetts. This year, since she’s probably facing millions of dollars of Super PAC funded negative ads, I’m not so sure. But for the race that Republicans want to win the most, the Presidency, Super PACs are going to be at least as tough on Romney as they are on Obama. The Obama campaign is a money-raising machine unrivaled by Romney, so Mitt is going to have to waste time fundraising, and deplete his campaign accounts, to try to beat back Super PAC ads during at least the next couple of primaries. Before Citizens United, his campaign would have been stockpiling cash, not spending it.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/01/13/citizens-united-is-kicking-romneys-ass/
January 13, 2012 9:10 AM
How low can he go?
By Steve Benen
Everyone has probably heard the corny “I once caught a fish this big” joke. A guy boasts about the size of the fish he reeled in, but when pressed, he gradually reduces the actual size of his catch. The little comedic routine is about exaggeration.
I wonder if Mitt Romney has heard it.
As recently as two weeks ago, Romney had a fairly specific number in mind when it came to the jobs created by his vulture-capitalist firm.
“I’m very happy in my former life; we helped create over 100,000 new jobs.”
A few days ago, the total dropped.
“People here in the state know that in the work that I had, we started a number of businesses, invested in many others, and that over all created tens of thousands jobs.”
This morning, the Romney campaign unveiled a new ad, which moved the goal post again. Greg Sargent picked up on the new message:
The ad claims Romney only created “thousands of jobs,” which is the latest shift in his campaign’s claims.
So, over the course of two weeks, Romney has gone from “over 100,000 jobs” to “tens of thousands” to “thousands.”
By next week, I expect Romney to tell us, “I probably created a handful of jobs.”
The criticism and scrutiny of Romney’s record of mass private-sector layoffs appears to be taking a toll on the Republican’s rhetoric.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/how_low_can_he_go034735.php
12 Jan 2012 01:23 PM
“The Bitter Politics Of Envy”
That’s how Romney frames debates about inequality in America:
Dan Amira expects this message to flop:
This is not a gaffe, really, just a particularly stark reflection of Romney’s true beliefs as he’s repeatedly expressed them. Still, it’s a ballsy way to handle issues of income–power inequality, particularly when he’s already being portrayed as an unfeeling, opulently wealthy corporate monster by Democrats and Republicans alike. And Romney might soon find that the 77 percent of Americans (including 80 percent of independents) who believe there is “too much power in the hands of a few rich people and large corporations” and the 61 percent (including 61 percent of independents) who say that “the economic system in this country unfairly favors the wealthy” don’t find his ideology very relatable.
Ryan Avent likewise questions the wisdom of Romney’s argument:
[I]t seems strange to me to refuse to acknowledge that what has happened [with inequality] has happened, and stranger still to lack any sensitivity to this divergence in outcomes. After all, it is those who have benefited most from recent labour-market developments that have the most to lose from a breakdown in the system. One would think that if a return to Clinton-era top tax rates was what it took to purchase the quiescence of the 99%, that it just might be worth it to avoid any broader populist movement. That doesn’t seem to be how the 1%’s political leadership views the issue, however.
A reader watched the above segment:
I honestly could not believe what I was hearing. In no way did Romney attempt to find some middle ground and admit that perhaps, just perhaps, there was some truth in the claims that the income distribution in this country is unfair. And then he doubled down, seeming to say that public discussion on the matter was not OK, that it was something to be discussed only in private. This man is completely tone deaf to the needs and opinions of most informed Americans. I don’t blame the majority of the Republican Party seeking a different candidate; they are sharp enough to know this guy is not a winner.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/01/mitt-romney-anti-populist.html
January 13, 2012 8:00 AM
‘The French Connection’
By Steve Benen
The short film put together by Newt Gingrich’s Super PAC is proving to be one of the bigger political stories of the week, but a new video from the Gingrich campaign itself is also likely to raise a few eyebrows.
This new spot doesn’t appear ready for broadcast — it’s a minute long, not 30 seconds, and is being billed as a “web ad” — but it could presumably be turned into a television commercial without too much trouble.
Most of the ad includes some clean hits. Viewers are reminded, for example, that Romney not only supported and donated to liberal Democrats, he even voted in a Democratic primary. It’s an issue that hasn’t come up much at all over the last several months, and one might ask Gingrich why it’s only coming up now, after Romney won Iowa and New Hampshire.
But it’s the last 10 seconds that stood out: “And just like John Kerry, [Romney] speaks French, too.”
I had a hunch this would come up eventually.
If pressed, the Gingrich campaign would probably say it’s just drawing parallels among Massachusetts politicians, connecting Romney to Kerry and Michael Dukakis.
But I don’t think we need any special insights to see the line Gingrich is pushing here. The disgraced former House Speaker, in advance of the South Carolina primary, wants Republican voters to think there’s something wrong with being bilingual, especially if the other language is French.
I have no idea if this will work, but the fact that “he speaks French” is considered a potentially potent attack in Republican politics in the 21st century is just sad.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/the_french_connection034733.php
The Danger Of Short-Term Gains
Joe Klein argues against blaming Romney for job losses. But he doesn’t let Mitt off the hook:
To my mind, the more questionable private equity practices had to do with the way they restructured the companies they bought: it was always in the direction of higher returns–higher salaries and bonuses for executives, higher returns for the investors in their funds. What’s wrong with that? Nothing, in principle. In practice, it led to a lot of short-term, quarter-to-quarter, thinking; often it led to a stripping away of research and development, less emphasis on the patience needed to bring new products to market and an addiction to ever-increasing profit margins. This caused a fundamental distortion in the free market system.
Yep, and it meant those companies were strapped with debt, while Bain sucked the equity life out of them.
And as we saw, it just so happens that Bain often sold the stocks at peaks, and then the companies swiftly tail-spun into bankruptcy. I have to say I am not envious of the wealth of others. I celebrate the success of others. I have often refused to demonize the wealthy or even criticize them.
But this is not about being wealthy; it’s about how you get wealthy. The more I learn about what Romney actually did, the more Wall Street in the worst sense it appears to be. Not making things, but manipulating things; not building companies, but ransacking them with clever plays in the stock market, helped by positive reviews from Lehman Brothers, for goodness’ sake. The contrast with the people actually living out there in the heartland, with his glib, slick celebration of money for its own sake is … well brutal.
Maybe he has a better story to tell about jobs created. He needs to get it out there quickly.
But Mitt’s role in life has been that of the repo man, who wins the lottery every time he brings bad news. He may be necessary, but you sure don’t like him. And in this recession, I have to say it could be fatal.
Game on.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/01/the-danger-of-short-term-gains.html
When Democrats Attack
Benjy Sarlin suspects that the Democrats’ Bain onslaught will be more potent than the attacks we are seeing now:
Once Democrats decide its time to make their ultimate Bain push, they’ll have the resources to flood the zone with TV spots, direct mail (likely referencing Bain layoffs in targeted swing states), and a small army of Democratic lawmakers and operatives reinforcing the story 24/7 on cable news. Think 2004, when the entire GOP apparatus (including, awkwardly, Mitt Romney) worked in unison to drive home the John Kerry “flip flopper” meme.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/01/when-democrats-attack.html
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13 Jan 2012 01:30 AM
Yes, Romney Could Lose
[Reposted from earlier yesterday.]
I just watched the Bain documentary featured below and being broadcast throughout South Carolina by Newt Gingrich’s SuperPac in full. It’s loaded with out-of-context quotes and heavily biased; it focuses on the specific human suffering of the necessary “creative destruction” of capitalism not its general benefits to the economy. It does so through the voices and stories of ordinary Americans. And, as an emotional bludgeon, it’s devastating.
But what makes it so dangerous to Romney, it seems to me, is that the Bain Brahmin didn’t just fire thousands of working class people in restructuring and in closing companies. He made a fucking unimaginable fortune doing it. That’s the issue. Other Republicans can speak about the need for free markets in a sluggish economy. But with Romney, we have a singular example of someone who made a quarter of a billion dollars by firing the white middle and working class in droves in ways that do not seem designed to promote growth or efficiency, but merely to enrich Bain.
Here’s the New York Post, for Pete’s sake, making the case last year against the shifty Wall Street games of Bain:
Romney’s private equity firm, Bain Capital, bought companies and often increased short-term earnings so those businesses could then borrow enormous amounts of money. That borrowed money was used to pay Bain dividends. Then those businesses needed to maintain that high level of earnings to pay their debts…
* Bain in 1988 put $5 million down to buy Stage Stores, and in the mid-’90s took it public, collecting $100 million from stock offerings. Stage filed for bankruptcy in 2000.
* Bain in 1992 bought American Pad & Paper (AMPAD), investing $5 million, and collected $100 million from dividends. The business filed for bankruptcy in 2000.
* Bain in 1993 invested $60 million when buying GS Industries, and received $65 million from dividends. GS filed for bankruptcy in 2001.
* Bain in 1997 invested $46 million when buying Details, and made $93 million from stock offerings. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2003.
Romney’s Bain invested 22 percent of the money it raised from 1987-95 in these five businesses, making a $578 million profit.
Some of the associations in the ad are unfair – but they will resonate emotionally. Many, many people in, say, South Carolina, have lost jobs. That’s rough enough. But if Romney comes across as the man who made a fortune off this kind of Wall Street maneuvering, he becomes a symbol and a focus for all the roiling populist discontent out there. When he is responsible for someone losing her house, the contrast with his multiple mansions and private beach gets a little de trop. One ad with one victim could be poison.
Of all the jobs he liquidated, moreover, many are in the American heartland. And his response to the people in this documentary – white working class heartland Americans, the GOP base – is that they are merely envious of his achievements. They don’t come off that way in the ad. They come off as bewildered, betrayed and sure that Romney’s goal in all this was merely, solely to make money for himself – the kind of money that most Americans cannot even compute.
I simply cannot imagine a worse narrative for a candidate in this climate; or a politician whose skills are singularly incapable of responding to the story in any persuasive way. This ad is powerful. Romney has already seen a drop in South Carolina. I suspect he’ll drop some more. And I suspect once the potency of this line of attack is absorbed by the GOP establishment, there will be some full, if concealed, panic.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/01/yes-romney-could-lose.html
Good Morning, and Happy FRY-day, Everyone! :-)
Good MOrning, Everyone :)