House Democrats responded to the wave of new voting restrictions by introducing a comprehensive new bill yesterday, “The Voter Empowerment Act,” aimed at expanding voting rights for all Americans, Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike.
Romney rejects using the Rev. Jeremiah Wright against Obama
“I repudiate the effort by that PAC to promote an ad strategy of the nature they’ve described,” Romney told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in an interview set to air later today and previewed by Townhall.com. “I would like to see this campaign focus on the economy, on getting people back to work, on seeing rising incomes and growing prosperity — particularly for those in the middle class of America.”
Romney, translated: “I need moderates and Independent swing voters to win, and the only way I can get them is if I lie about the economy and avoid the bullshit social issues and racist dog whistles that have alienated such voters from the GOP.” Meanwhile, Joe Ricketts is frantically backpedaling from the plan, releasing a statement this morning: “Not only was this plan merely a proposal – one of several submitted to the Ending Spending Action Fund by third-party vendors – but it reflects an approach to politics that Mr. Ricketts rejects and it was never a plan to be accepted but only a suggestion for a direction to take.” — Ryking
It’s revealing that Romney made his pro-Clinton comments the same day that — speaking to reporters as elevator doors were closing on him — former president George W. Bush announced, “I’m for Mitt Romney.” Funny that Romney made a bigger deal about Clinton than about that Bush endorsement. Yet Republicans, including Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.), categorically reject the lessons that Clinton taught.
When Clinton raised the top tax rate, without a single Republican vote, supply-side conservatives howled that asking a little more from the wealthy would tank the economy. It did nothing of the sort. After Clinton’s tax increase, the economy roared, deficits turned into surpluses and the empathetic guy from Arkansas, despite certain well-known difficulties, earned the long-term affection of the American people. On the other hand, polls show that Bush, who pursued policies Republicans are proposing more of now, is remembered less fondly. Romney would prefer to leave Bush behind the elevator doors.
For the rest of this campaign, count on Republicans to tout Clinton as more pro-business than Obama and to do all they can to separate our current president from the best parts of Clinton’s legacy. Yes, many business folks who initially resented Clinton’s tax increases came to appreciate the economic boom that followed. But whose approach to government, budgets and taxes more closely resembles Clinton’s? Here’s a hint: It’s not the guy who went out of his way to vote against Clinton in 1992.
Romney’s air kiss to Bill Clinton
You’d think one of his advisers would have told Mittens that endorsing and praising Clinton — who in turn is endorsing and praising Obama — isn’t very smart. It’s basically like Romney endorsing and praising Obama.
![Sherrod Brown Held Corporations Accountable, Now They’re Spending Millions To Unseat Him
It’s important for the public to understand why this much money is being spent by the [Chamber of Commerce] to defeat Brown. On virtually every issue area, he has upset the corporations that fund the Chamber, and those corporations now want to get rid of him. We’ve prepared this mini-report to explain how specific donors to the Chamber may have been angered by Brown decided to stand with his constituents and the taxpayers instead of corporate donors…
Brown has the banking, health insurance, and pharmaceutical industries after him, along with several multibillion-dollar companies that want to outsource American jobs. Make a donation to Brown here.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m44k6f9h3M1qztsh3o1_1280.jpg)
Sherrod Brown Held Corporations Accountable, Now They’re Spending Millions To Unseat Him
It’s important for the public to understand why this much money is being spent by the [Chamber of Commerce] to defeat Brown. On virtually every issue area, he has upset the corporations that fund the Chamber, and those corporations now want to get rid of him. We’ve prepared this mini-report to explain how specific donors to the Chamber may have been angered by Brown decided to stand with his constituents and the taxpayers instead of corporate donors…
Brown has the banking, health insurance, and pharmaceutical industries after him, along with several multibillion-dollar companies that want to outsource American jobs. Make a donation to Brown here.
Top Wisconsin Democrats are furious with the national party — and the Democratic National Committee in particular — for refusing their request for a major investment in the battle to recall Scott Walker, I’m told.
The failure to put up the money Wisconsin Dems need to execute their recall plan comes at a time when the national Republican Party is sinking big money into defending Walker, raising fears that the DNC’s reluctance could help tip the race his way.
“We are frustrated by the lack of support from the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Governors Association,” a top Wisconsin Democratic Party official tells me. “Scott Walker has the full support and backing of the Republican Party and all its tentacles. We are not getting similar support.”
“Considering that Scott Walker has already spent $30 million and we’re even in the polls, this is a winnable race,” the Wisconsin Dem continues. “We can get outspent two to one or five to one. We can’t get spent 20 to one.”
EXCLUSIVE: Wisconsin Dems furious with DNC for refusing to invest big money in Walker recall
Another day, another right-wing smear of Elizabeth Warren debunked. The GOP is clearly desperate.
Democrats can argue that almost two-thirds of private-sector job growth in the past five decades came with them in the White House.
The BGOV Barometer shows that since Democrat John F. Kennedy took office in January 1961, non-government payrolls in the U.S. swelled by almost 42 million jobs under Democrats, compared with 24 million for Republican presidents, according to Labor Department figures.
Democrats hold the edge though they occupied the Oval Office for 23 years since Kennedy’s inauguration, compared with 28 for the Republicans.
Private Jobs Increase More With Democrats in White House
Just another reminder that Democratic presidents are better for the economy than Republican presidents.
9 Swing States, Critical to Presidential Race, Are Mixed Lot
With just over six months until Election Day, an analysis of the emerging electoral map by The New York Times found that the outcome would most likely be determined by how well President Obama and Mitt Romney perform in nine tossup states.
All nine voted for Mr. Obama in 2008, only to see Republicans make big gains since then.
Now, with many of those states transformed economically and politically by the recession, they are perhaps even less predictable than they were in past close elections. The disparity in their circumstances highlights the challenges that both the Obama and the Romney campaigns face in framing arguments that will resonate across the country.
“Go:” The new Obama campaign ad which details the catastrophic situation the President inherited due to the GOP’s policies, and how he and the Democratic Party brought America back from near-total ruin.
