Tuesday, June 12, 2012 5:46:10 AM
Maddow calls out Romney's lying problem
May 31, 2012
Rachel Maddow marvels at the ability of Mitt Romney to tell plain, checkable lies, without being called on those lies by the media assigned to cover his candidacy.
© 2012 msnbc.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/47640054#47640054 [the above YouTube, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V77FZdDEiqU , contains Maddow's core presentation in the segment of some of the brazen lies Romney has made and continues to make, slightly shorter cut, a little more off the beginning of the segment, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jqZ3C9I7To ; the complete segment includes introductory comments and coverage of the Bushes at the White House for GWB's portrait unveiling at the beginning]
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Romney dishonesty enabled by artificial reality
May 31, 2012
EJ Dionne, columnist for the Washington Post and author of "Our Divided Political Heart," talks with Rachel Maddow about the challenge facing the media in dealing with politicians like Mitt Romney who employ the context of an artificial reality to lie with impunity.
© 2012 msnbc.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/47640077#47640077 [the above YouTube of the segment at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4MgwzGHFCw , also at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buPOAOkHWn4 ]
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Romney unmoved to change ad despite fact-check smackdown
June 4, 2012
Rachel Maddow credits mainstream media outlets with catching Mitt Romney's lie in his recent Solyndra speech and extends the further challenge that Romney be held accountable for continuing the run the lie in a campaign ad even after he's been called out so publicly.
© 2012 msnbc.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/47683705#47683705 [the above YouTube of the sement at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB1BFFYcWxA , also at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idWt2RjcBLI ]
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Once caught, Romney not interested in correcting lies
June 7, 2012
Noam Scheiber, senior editor at The New Republic and author of "The Escape Artists: How Obama's Team Fumbled the Recovery," talks with Rachel Maddow about Mitt Romney's shameless and repeated lying about the contents of his book in attacks on President Obama.
© 2012 msnbc.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/47730618#47730618 [the first two above YouTubes, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjxyvCd0YjI and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blFDQpLNjsQ , together cover the segment; the third, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=merZOMG1qeA , contains Maddow's core presentation in the segment of brazen lies Romney has made and continues to make, while the complete segment includes additional introductory comments at the start and the Noam Scheiber interview at the end]
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Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XXI
By Steve Benen
Fri Jun 8, 2012 2:17 PM EDT
Campaigning in St. Louis yesterday, Mitt Romney, reading from his teleprompter, told supporters [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/07/mitt-romney-obama-president-deception_n_1578714.html ] he would never be a "president of doubt and deception."
You could almost hear irony weeping. After all, as Kevin Drum explained [ http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/06/lie-day-romney-obamacare ], "I expect political candidates to bend the truth a fair amount.... But Romney's willingness to flat-out lie is singular."
Or as Rachel explained just last night [Maddow segment just above embedded], "Mr. Romney gets caught saying things that are factually wrong, and the thing that is different about him is that he does not mind; he doesn't fix it; he doesn't even try to worm out of it. He doesn't appear to feel any shame about it at all -- and he's happy to keep telling the lie once he knows it is a lie."
As has become painfully clear, Romney's reliance on "deception" has practically become an addiction. To help appreciate the scope of the dishonesty, consider the 21st installment of my weekly series, chronicling Mitt's mendacity.
1. Campaigning in Texas, Romney argued, "[W]ith America in crisis, with 23 million people out of work or stopped looking for work, [President Obama] hasn't put forth a plan to get us working again. Now I know we're getting close to an election so he'll come out with one soon, but three and a half years later, we're waiting."
No, actually we're not [ http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/07/12103801-the-jobs-agenda-slips-down-the-memory-hole ].
2. Referencing Noam Scheiber's book, "The Escape Artists," told a remarkable tale about Obama and his aides, saying, "[T]here was discussion about the fact that Obamacare would slow down the economic recovery in this country." He added that the administration "knew" the health care reform package would hurt the economy, "but they concluded that we would all forget how long the recovery took once it had happened, so they decided to go ahead."
Given the relevant details, Romney is "just making stuff up [ http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/07/12106344-in-new-attack-romney-just-making-stuff-up ]" with this deceptive tale.
3. Romney added that he's concerned about the millions of Americans "on food stamps, most of whom never expected that would be their course."
This, at a minimum, is misleading, given that Romney enthusiastically endorsed a budget plan that slashes food stamps [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/20/house-gop-budget-plan_n_1366455.html ].
4. In the same speech, Romney said the Affordable Care Act includes a "job-killing mandate."
The individual mandate in the law does not undermine job creation, and more importantly, Romney championed the same mandate policy for years.
5. In the same speech, Romney rhetorically asked, "Did the trillion-dollar deficits make it more likely for people to invest in America?"
First, the drivers behind the deficits are Bush-era policies, so blaming Obama for them is dishonest. Second, the deficits have not adversely affected investors' willingness to invest in America.
6. Romney also argued that Obama isn't really for an "all the above" energy policy: "All of the above means that you like oil and gas and coal and nuclear and renewables. And yet he has made it harder and harder to take advantage of some of those."
Actually, that's the opposite of the truth. Obama has expanded renewables and expanded nuclear plants. Also, coal production is up [ http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/26/11410453-gop-keeps-slamming-obama-for-agreeing-with-the-gop ]; we have more natural gas [ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/23/natural-gas-industry-faces-plummet-in-price/?page=all ] than we know what to do with; and oil production is up [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG0evk8Iad8 ]. Obama's support for "all of the above" continues.
7. Romney said Obama has blamed "the ATM machines" for the slow recovery.
As his lies go, this one's just dumb [ http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_06/conservatives_pick_odd_things030293.php ].
8. Romney also said of the president, "His idea is to make America more like Europe."
As it turns out, that's backwards. Europe is trying (and failing) to grow through austerity measures, which is what Romney, not Obama, intends to do here.
9. Romney went on to argue, "If [Obama's] president, you're going to see more trillion-dollar deficits. And they're going to put us on a path to becoming like Greece."
In reality, Obama is already on track to reduce the deficit below a trillion in his second term, and comparing our path to Greece has no basis in reality [ http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10270340-why-mitch-mcconnell-should-avoid-discussing-the-debt ].
10. Romney also said, "If I'm president, I'm going to put America on a track to get a balanced budget. It's immoral and wrong for us to pass on these obligation to our kids."
That's plainly false. Romney says his plan "can't be scored [ http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/03/07/439570/romney-plan-cant-be-score/ ]," but independent budget analysts have found his agenda would make the deficit bigger [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/why-mitt-romney-gets-away-with-his-lying/2012/05/16/gIQADLzyTU_blog.html ], not smaller, and add trillions to the national debt.
11. In a campaign ad, Romney claims, in reference to the federal loan guarantee Solyndra received, "The inspector general said contracts were steered to friends and family."
That's as clear a lie [ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#47683705 ] as the campaign has told all year.
12. In St. Louis, Romney claimed the Recovery Act "left us with record unemployment."
Actually, millions of Americans owe their jobs to the Recovery Act, and the unemployment rate isn't at a "record" high -- it's lower now than when Obama took office, and it didn't get as high as it did in Reagan's first term.
13. He also argued, "Over the last three and a half years, record numbers of Americans have lost their jobs or simply disappeared from the work force."
The only way in which that makes any sense is if you use standards the Romney campaign rejects [ http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/06/12087320-romney-surrogate-boosts-obamas-jobs-message ].
15. Romney went on to say, "For a family watching their house being sold at foreclosure ... the results are just as devastating."
Romney has no intention of intervening to stop foreclosures [ http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/05/12067661-dont-try-and-stop-the-foreclosure-process ].
16. Romney also argued, "Today, government at all levels consumes 37 percent of the total economy or G.D.P. If Obamacare is allowed to stand, government will reach half of the American economy."
There is no version of reality [ http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/08/12122377-free-enterprise-is-not-at-risk ] in which this is true.
17. Romney promised, "[F]or every government-spending proposal, I will ask the following question: 'Is this program so important that it is worth borrowing more money from China to pay for it?'"
The implication here is that U.S. debt is financed by the Chinese. This isn't true -- China only holds about 8% [ http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/21/who-owns-america-hint-its-not-china/ ] of the nation's debt.
18. Describing President Obama's economic vision, Romney said, "There is nothing fair about a government that favors political connections over honest competition."
This is a serious allegation of corruption, which Romney has backed up with literally no facts of evidence at all.
19. The Romney campaign claimed [ http://www.mittromney.com/news/press/2012/06/obama-america-ad-fact-check-jobs ] in a press release, "Under President Obama, the nation has lost 552,000 jobs."
Again, according to the Romney campaign's own standards [ http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/06/12087320-romney-surrogate-boosts-obamas-jobs-message ], the Romney campaign isn't being honest.
20. And finally, the Romney campaign argued this week that the taxpayer investment in Konarka Technologies during Romney's tenure as governor "was approved by the prior administration. The governor made it clear that his philosophy was that government should not be in the business of venture investing."
That's a nice attempt at spin, but it's not even close to being true [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/romneys-conflicting-remarks-on-solyndra-like-investments/2012/06/07/gJQABn0vLV_blog.html ].
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Previous editions of Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity:
Vol. I
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/mitts_mendacity034574.php
II
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/chronicling_mitts_mendacity034751.php
III
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/chronicling_mitts_mendacity_1034892.php
IV
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/03/10311610-chronicling-mitts-mendacity
V
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/10/10374854-chronicling-mitts-mendacity
VI
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/17/10436726-chronicling-mitts-mendacity
VII
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/24/10498938-a-campaign-of-almost-pathological-dishonesty
VIII
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/02/10563689-chronicling-mitts-mendacity
IX
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/09/10624620-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-ix
X
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/16/10720707-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-x
XI
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/23/10832032-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xi
XII
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/06/11058547-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xii
XIII
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/13/11184541-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xiii
XIV
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/20/11309846-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xiv
XV
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/27/11432528-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xv
XVI
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/04/11541783-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xvi
XVII
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/11/11663048-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xvii
XVIII
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/18/11758220-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xviii
XIX
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/25/11882052-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xix
XX
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/01/12010806-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xx
*
© 2012 msnbc.com (emphasis in original)
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/08/12126612-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xxi [with comments]
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One Thing Hitler Did Right According to Mitt Romney: Coal
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The Charts That Should Accompany All Discussions of Media Bias
By James Fallows
May 31 2012, 11:19 PM ET
They are the ones presented this morning by John Sides [ http://themonkeycage.org/blog/2012/05/31/romney-obama-and-media-bias/ ], drawing on Pew analyses [ http://features.journalism.org/campaign-2012-in-the-media/tone-of-news-coverage/ ] of positive, negative, and neutral press coverage of all Republican candidates and of President Obama through this past year.
Here's the trend in coverage of Mitt Romney. The solid line means "positive" stories (in Romney's case, about his business record or primary-election successes); the dotted line means "negative" stories (for Romney, about Bain-related layoffs or campaign-trail gaffes); and "neutral" stories are left out.
Main theme: Romney endured slightly-to-somewhat more negative-than-positive coverage in much of 2011, during the intense primary debates and negative ads, but has had much more positive-than-negative coverage through this year.
Now, here is comparable coverage of President Obama:
Main point: President Obama has always had more negative-than-positive coverage through the past year.
Here is how the two charts look when combined:
Main point: At no time in the past year has coverage of President Obama been as positive as that of Governor Romney. Indeed, at no time in the past year has it been on-balance positive at all.
You can argue that negative coverage of the administration is justified. You can argue that incumbents are -- and should be -- held to a tougher standard, since they have a record to defend. But you can't sanely argue that the press is in the tank for Obama, notwithstanding recent "false equivalence" attempts [ http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=2FD8EE3E-C775-472B-BF06-BB7BBCA92508 ] to do so.
One more chart from Pew:
Copyright © 2012 by The Atlantic Monthly Group (emphasis in original)
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/05/the-charts-that-should-accompany-all-discussions-of-media-bias/257961/
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Romney warns of Obama's 'government-run economy' in St. Louis
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign [appearance].
(Whitney Curtis / Getty Images)
By Seema Mehta
June 07, 2012
ST. LOUIS -- Arguing that growing government control of the economy threatens the country's freedom, Mitt Romney on Thursday said President Obama is trying to transform the United States into a nation that is starkly at odds with its founding.
"America is on the cusp of having a government-run economy. That's where he’s taking us. President Obama is transforming America into something very different than the land of the free and the land of opportunity, and we know where that transformation leads," Romney told several hundred supporters gathered in a factory that produces equipment that protects soldiers from chemical, biological and nuclear threats.
"There are other nations that have chosen that path," Romney said. "It leads to high unemployment, crushing debt, and stagnant wages, and, yeah, Greece. I don't want to transform America. I want to restore to America the principles that made us the hope of the Earth."
Romney made the remarks in Missouri, which has 10 electoral votes and is a state that Sen. John McCain won over Obama by 0.12% in 2008.
Romney's speech was new -- instead of a collection of vignettes of suffering Americans he has met on the campaign trail and stories about his time leading Massachusetts and the Olympics, the remarks were more sweeping about the stark differences between his and the president's worldviews. But Romney offered no new policy, a fact seized on by Obama's campaign.
"In yet another in a long line of 'major' economic speeches, Mitt Romney offered no new ideas and no new policies that would actually grow the economy and strengthen the middle class," said spokeswoman Lis Smith. "Mitt Romney has promised to use his experience to turn around the economy, but all he has offered to date are negative and dishonest speeches tearing down President Obama."
In his remarks, Romney argued that the government under Obama has breached faith with and morally failed Americans because of its inability to right the nation's economy. The president, Romney said, puts more faith in government bureaucrats than Americans, leading to a world in which citizens are reliant on the government for permission on how they live their lives, from what they can buy to who they can hire.
Romney painted himself as a champion of the free-enterprise system who would turn around the economy by lowering taxes, relaxing regulations, increasing trade and energy production and issuing waivers to states concerning Obama's healthcare law.
"I am absolutely convinced we can prosper again," he said. "... All this can be more than our hope, it can be our future. It can begin this year. We don't have to wait; it can begin this year on November 6th."
seema.mehta@latimes.com
Copyright 2012 Los Angeles Times
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/07/news/la-pn-romney-warns-of-obamas-governmentrun-economy-in-st-louis-20120607 [with comments]
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Romney: Obama’s economic stewardship ‘moral failure of tragic proportions’
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
(Evan Vucci - AP)
Posted by Philip Ruckerat 03:25 PM ET, 06/07/2012
ST. LOUIS — Mitt Romney cast President Obama’s stewardship of the economy in moral terms here Thursday, delivering a broad speech about the free-market economy in which he said Obama’s first term has represented “a breach of faith with the American people.”
Romney said Obama “simply doesn’t understand” America’s free enterprise system and suggested that the president’s policies were effectively making government dependence a substitute for the dignity of hard work.
“We have waited, and waited, and waited for the recovery, and enough time has passed for us to pronounce judgment on the president’s economic policies,” Romney said. “They have failed. They have not worked.”
Romney added, “This is not just a failure of policy; it is a moral failure of tragic proportions. Our government has a moral commitment to help every American help himself — him and herself — and today, that fundamental commitment has been broken.”
Romney pledged to “end these days of drift and disappointment,” saying he would not be a “president of doubt and deception. I will lead us to a better place.”
The Obama campaign’s Chicago-based reelection team has been continuing its assault on Romney’s record as governor of Massachusetts. Yet while Obama’s team says he had a “failed economic performance” there, Romney made no mention of his governorship in his speech.
“In yet another in a long line of ‘major’ economic speeches, Mitt Romney offered no new ideas and no new policies that would actually grow the economy and strengthen the middle class," Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said in a statement. “Mitt Romney has promised to use his experience to turn around the economy, but all he has offered to date are negative and dishonest speeches tearing down President Obama.”
Romney also did not offer many specifics about what he would do in office or how his policies would revitalize the economy. But what his 18-minute speech lacked in details he tried to make up for with lofty rhetoric.
Reading from teleprompters and standing in front of a banner trumpeting his new slogan, “Putting Jobs First,” Romney used his visit to a St. Louis warehouse to frame what he considers the stark differences between his and Obama’s economic visions.
“Where our vision believes in the ingenuity of the American people, his vision trusts the wisdom of political appointees and boards and commissions and czars,” Romney said. “It’s one in which ordinary Americans have to get permission from people in Washington before they can buy something or build something or invest in something or hire someone.
“It’s a world of federal mandates and waivers, tax credits, subsidies, federal grants, loan guarantees,” he continued. “It’s an economy where a company’s lobbyists are more important than their engineers, and federal compliance lawyers will outnumber patent lawyers.”
© 2012 The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/post/romney-obamas-economic-stewardship-moral-failure-of-tragic-proportions/2012/06/07/gJQAwD6hLV_blog.html [with comments]
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The ‘American Dream’ Is a Myth: Joseph Stiglitz on ‘The Price of Inequality’
By Aaron Task
Daily Ticker – Fri, Jun 8, 2012 8:43 AM EDT
Income inequality has become the subject of much debate in this country, in large part because of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
In his latest book, The Price of Inequality [ http://www.amazon.com/The-Price-Inequality-Endangers-ebook/dp/B007MKCQ30 , http://books.wwnorton.com/books/The-Price-of-Inequality/ ], Columbia Professor and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz examines the causes of income inequality and offers some remedies. In between, he reaches some startling [to author Aaron, perhaps] conclusions, including that America is "no longer the land of opportunity" and "the 'American dream' is a myth."
While we all know stories of people who've moved up the social stratosphere, Stiglitz says the statistics tell a very different story. In the last 30 years the share of national income held by the top 1% of Americans has doubled; for to the top 0.1%, their share has tripled, he reports. Meanwhile, median incomes for American workers have stagnated.
Even more than income inequality, "America has the least equality of opportunity of any of the advanced industrial economies," Stiglitz says. In short, the status you're born into — whether rich or poor — is more likely to be the status of your adult life in America vs. any other advanced economy, including 'Old Europe'.
For example, just 8% of students at America's elite universities come from households in the bottom 50% of income, Stiglitz says, even as those universities are "needs blind" — meaning admission isn't predicated on your ability to pay.
"There's not much mobility up and down," he says. "The chances of someone from the top [income bracket] who doesn't do very well in school are better than someone from the bottom who does well in school."
Because the children of those at the top of society tend to do better than those at the bottom — thanks, in part, to better education, health care and nutrition — the income inequality that's slowly emerged over the past 30 years will only widen in the next 10 to 20 years.
If the root causes of income inequality go unaddressed, America will truly become a two-class society and look much more like a third world economy, Stiglitz warns. "People will live in gated communities with armed guards. It's a ugly picture. There will be political, social and economic turmoil." (Hence the book's subtitle: 'How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future')
The good news is Stiglitz believes this "nightmare we're slowly marching toward" can be avoided, citing Brazil's experience since the early 1990s as an example of a country that has reduced income inequality. Among other things, he recommends improving education and nutrition for those at the bottom of society, and eliminating "corporate welfare" and other policies which "create wealth but not economic growth."
For example, he cites the provision in Medicare Part D which forbids the federal government from negotiating prices with the drug companies. Over 10 years, that rule will generate approximately $500 billion for the industry, he estimates, but no tangible benefit for taxpayers or the economy as a whole.
Importantly, Stiglitz believes inequality of wealth and opportunity are hurting the overall economy, by limiting competition, promoting cronyism and keeping those at the bottom from reaching their potential.
"What I want is a more dynamic economy and a fairer society," he says, suggesting income inequality is ultimately detrimental to those at the top, too. "My point is we've created an economy that is not in accord with the principles of the free market."
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More from The Daily Ticker
Stiglitz on Europe: Soros Is "Being Generous" Giving Them Three Months
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/stiglitz-europe-soros-being-generous-giving-them-three-131813499.html
U.S. Economy Rx: Fix Unemployment and Healthcare First, Says Stiglitz
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/u-economy-rx-fix-unemployment-healthcare-first-says-160409951.html
*
Copyright © 2012 Yahoo! Inc. (emphasis in original)
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/american-dream-myth-joseph-stiglitz-price-inequality-124338674.html [with embedded video segment, and comments]
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FACT CHECK: Looming tax hike not the biggest ever
AP
June 11, 2012, 4:04 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are calling it "Taxmageddon," the big tax increase awaiting nearly every American family at the end of the year, when a long list of tax cuts is scheduled to expire unless Congress acts.
It would be, GOP leaders in Congress say again and again, "the largest tax increase in American history."
Except it wouldn't be, not when you take into account population growth, rising wages, and most importantly, the size of the U.S. economy. When those factors are taken into account, the largest tax increases were those imposed to help pay for World War II — back when the U.S. raised additional revenue to pay for wars instead of simply borrowing.
Nevertheless, it is an exaggeration that has proved too tempting for top Republicans in Congress:
— "Any sudden tax hike would hurt our economy, so this fall — before the election — the House of Representatives will vote to stop the largest tax increase in American history," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a May 15 speech in Washington.
— "Before we leave for August, I expect to schedule a vote on legislation preventing the largest tax increase in history," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., wrote in a recent memo to fellow House Republicans.
— "Millions are unemployed and millions more are underemployed and the country is facing the largest tax hike in history at the end of the year," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday in a speech on the Senate floor.
— "This would be, without any exaggeration, the largest tax increase in American history," said a May 17 letter from 41 Republican senators to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gives the claim a different twist, applying it to President Barack Obama's budget proposal for next year. That's an even bigger exaggeration.
THE FACTS: A huge collection of tax cuts is scheduled to expire at the end of the year, affecting families at every income level and businesses of many stripes. Many of the tax cuts were first enacted under former President George W. Bush and extended under Obama.
If Congress does nothing, income tax rates would go up, estate taxes and investment taxes would increase and the alternative minimum tax would hit millions of middle-income people. A temporary payroll tax cut that has been of benefit to nearly every wage earner in 2011 and 2012 would expire, costing the average family an additional $1,000 a year.
In addition, dozens of other tax breaks for businesses and individuals that are routinely renewed each year already expired at the end of 2011. Congress was expected to renew many of them by January, so taxpayers could still claim them on their 2012 tax returns.
If Congress fails to act, businesses would lose a popular tax credit for research and development as well as generous tax breaks for investing in new plants and equipment. Individuals would lose federal tax breaks for paying local sales taxes, buying energy efficient appliances and using mass transit.
In all, federal taxes would increase by about $423 billion next year, according to figures from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation, the official scorekeepers for Congress.
Combined with federal spending cuts scheduled to take effect next year, the one-two punch would probably send the U.S. economy back into recession, according to a recent CBO study.
Still, the tax increases would pale in comparison to those imposed to help finance World War II.
Before the 1940s, the individual income tax applied to only a small percentage of the population. By the end of war, the income tax was levied on most working people, with a top tax rate of 94 percent on income above $200,000.
By comparison, the current top rate is 35 percent, on taxable income above $388,350. If Congress does nothing, the top rate would return to 39.6 percent next year — the same rate that was in place for most of the 1990s.
In dollars, next year's tax hikes would be the biggest. But the population is more than twice as big as it was in the 1940s and the size of the U.S. economy is 80 times bigger. That's why economists usually measure taxes and government spending as a share of the economy.
The 1942 tax increase represented more than 5 percent of the U.S. economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, or GDP. The 1941 tax increase was 2.2 percent of GDP, according to a Treasury Department paper published in 2006.
Next year's looming tax increase would represent 2.6 percent of GDP — a huge tax hike but not the biggest.
Measured another way, the 1942 tax hike increased federal revenue by a whopping 71 percent, according to the Treasury Department paper. The 1941 tax hike increased federal revenue by 32 percent.
By comparison, next year's potential tax hike would increase federal revenues by 16 percent, according to CBO.
*
ROMNEY: "President Obama has failed to even pass a budget. In February, he put forward a proposal that included the largest tax increase in history, and still left our national debt spiraling out of control, and the House rejected it unanimously," Romney said in an April 4 speech to newspaper executives and editors.
ROMNEY AGAIN: "Rapidly rising federal spending and debt threatens our economic future, and the president has responded by proposing the largest tax increase in history," Romney said in a Feb. 22 release.
THE FACTS: Obama's budget proposal would represent one of the largest tax increases since World War II, if you count letting the payroll tax cut expire as a tax increase. But again, it wouldn't be the largest ever. Obama's 2013 budget proposal mixes tax cuts designed to improve the economy with long-term tax increases aimed at reducing the federal budget deficit.
Obama has proposed extending Bush-era tax cuts for families making less than $250,000 and ending them for families that make more. He would end tax breaks for oil and gas companies but make permanent the research and development tax credit.
In 2013, Obama's budget proposal would increase tax revenue by $195 billion over current policy — if you include the tax increase from letting the payroll tax cut expire. The tax increase would represent 1.2 percent of GDP. Or, measured a different way, it would increase tax revenue by 7 percent.
That would rank as the fourth-largest tax increase since World War II, behind tax hikes enacted in 1950, 1951 and 1968, according to the Treasury Department paper.
Further dousing Romney's claim, House Republicans have passed a budget for next year — which Romney has embraced — that would raise just $7 billion less in taxes than Obama's budget in 2013. That's the equivalent of a rounding error, when you're talking about revenues of $2.7 trillion.
*
Online:
Treasury paper on major tax bills since 1940:
http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/tax-policy/tax-analysis/Documents/ota81.pdf ( http://tinyurl.com/65r8f84 )
*
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press
http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/fact-check-looming-tax-hike-not-the-biggest-ever/bee35651df6946b1afcfd2343cc3cd23
===
Obama Wants More Police, Teachers, Romney Wants More Crime
Mitt Romney
(from Creative Commons)
Posted by: Bridgette P. LaVictoire on June 8, 2012.
President Barack Obama may believe that, should the Republicans lose big this November, they will finally wake up and realize that they need to work for the good of the nation. Sometimes, it feels as if our President is a bit too naive; however, he is currently going after Congress with regards to the fact that they are unwilling to actually pass any jobs bill for the nation.
In the ad [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70tav9QveOM (above)], the voice-over states “The president’s jobs plan would put teachers, firefighters, police officers and construction workers back to work right now. And it’s paid for by asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more. But Congress refuses to act. Tell Congress we can’t wait.”
Of course, the Republicans are responsible for doing things like firing large numbers of police, firefighters and teachers. This is because the GOP is heavily anti-government and would rather destroy the government than raise taxes on the top 1%. Romney even mocked the ad stating that “He wants another stimulus, he wants to hire more government workers. He says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It’s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.”
Romney should keep in mind that the people of Wisconsin only barely kept Walker in place, and that Walker may have survived, but the Republican majority in the state Senate did not. He also ignores the fact that private sector job creation is doing fairly well while government jobs have been deliberately slashed by Republicans in order to depress the economy.
Amanda Henneberg, a Romney spokesman, even stated “Americans know we aren’t moving in the right direction today, and they can’t afford more of the same. As president, Mitt Romney will enact a pro-growth agenda that gets our economy back on track and allows our small businesses and job creators to thrive.”
By that, Henneberg means that Romney will impose heavy restrictions and taxes on small businesses so that they cannot actually grow, just like George W. Bush did, and lower taxes on megacorporations and the super rich, which will not create jobs at all, as we have seen time and time again.
© 2012, Lez Get Real
http://lezgetreal.com/2012/06/obama-wants-more-police-teachers-romney-wants-more-crime/ [no comments yet]
===
Romney Says America Doesn’t Need ‘More Firemen, More Policemen, More Teachers’
By Travis Waldron on Jun 8, 2012 at 4:39 pm
The last three years are the worst on record [ http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/04/09/460380/worst-ever-public-sector-job-loss/ ] for public sector job loss, and the 700,000 government jobs that no longer exist remain a large drag on the American economy.
Today, New Jersey Gov. and Mitt Romney campaign surrogate Chris Christie (R) said that those losses meant the country was moving in “the right direction [ http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/06/08/496719/christie-fire-public-sector/ ],” and Romney himself backed that statement up later, criticizing President Obama for calling for the hiring of more teachers, firefighters, and police officers [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/mitt-romney-we-dont-need-more-cops-firefighters-or-teachers/2012/06/08/gJQAvOgDOV_blog.html ], the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent reports. From CNN’s report of the Romney event:
Romney said of Obama, “he wants another stimulus, he wants to hire more government workers. He says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It’s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.”
State and local governments have been forced to layoff mass amounts of teachers, firefighters, and police officers because budget crunches have led to school closures and the elimination [ http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/03/22/450114/kasich-budget-privatize-fire/ ] of public safety departments. That has hurt the unemployment situation (which Romney also criticizes), considering the unemployment rate would be a full point lower without the 700,000 layoffs.
Romney’s honesty isn’t a new position [ http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/08/16/296220/with-government-job-losses-holding-back-recovery-romney-promises-to-slash-even-more/ ] for him or the GOP — he’s called for more government layoffs since the beginning of his campaign. But it’s yet another indication that Romney is more interested in continuing the GOP’s ideological battle against government instead of curing the ills that are plaguing the American economy.
© 2012 Center for American Progress Action Fund (emphasis in original)
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/06/08/496799/romney-says-america-doesnt-need-more-fireman-more-policemen-more-teachers/ [with comments]
===
Florida GOP Takes Voter Suppression to a Brazen New Extreme
May 30, 2012
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/florida-gop-takes-voter-supression-to-a-brazen-new-extreme-20120530 [with comments]
*
The GOP War on Voting
In a campaign supported by the Koch brothers, Republicans are working to prevent millions of Democrats from voting next year
August 30, 2011
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-gop-war-on-voting-20110830 [with comments]
===
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The Rachel Maddow Show
May 31, 2012
Rachel Maddow marvels at the ability of Mitt Romney to tell plain, checkable lies, without being called on those lies by the media assigned to cover his candidacy.
© 2012 msnbc.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/47640054#47640054 [the above YouTube, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V77FZdDEiqU , contains Maddow's core presentation in the segment of some of the brazen lies Romney has made and continues to make, slightly shorter cut, a little more off the beginning of the segment, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jqZ3C9I7To ; the complete segment includes introductory comments and coverage of the Bushes at the White House for GWB's portrait unveiling at the beginning]
===
Romney dishonesty enabled by artificial reality
The Rachel Maddow Show
May 31, 2012
EJ Dionne, columnist for the Washington Post and author of "Our Divided Political Heart," talks with Rachel Maddow about the challenge facing the media in dealing with politicians like Mitt Romney who employ the context of an artificial reality to lie with impunity.
© 2012 msnbc.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/47640077#47640077 [the above YouTube of the segment at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4MgwzGHFCw , also at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buPOAOkHWn4 ]
===
Romney unmoved to change ad despite fact-check smackdown
The Rachel Maddow Show
June 4, 2012
Rachel Maddow credits mainstream media outlets with catching Mitt Romney's lie in his recent Solyndra speech and extends the further challenge that Romney be held accountable for continuing the run the lie in a campaign ad even after he's been called out so publicly.
© 2012 msnbc.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/47683705#47683705 [the above YouTube of the sement at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB1BFFYcWxA , also at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idWt2RjcBLI ]
===
Once caught, Romney not interested in correcting lies
The Rachel Maddow Show
June 7, 2012
Noam Scheiber, senior editor at The New Republic and author of "The Escape Artists: How Obama's Team Fumbled the Recovery," talks with Rachel Maddow about Mitt Romney's shameless and repeated lying about the contents of his book in attacks on President Obama.
© 2012 msnbc.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/47730618#47730618 [the first two above YouTubes, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjxyvCd0YjI and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blFDQpLNjsQ , together cover the segment; the third, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=merZOMG1qeA , contains Maddow's core presentation in the segment of brazen lies Romney has made and continues to make, while the complete segment includes additional introductory comments at the start and the Noam Scheiber interview at the end]
===
Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XXI
By Steve Benen
Fri Jun 8, 2012 2:17 PM EDT
Campaigning in St. Louis yesterday, Mitt Romney, reading from his teleprompter, told supporters [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/07/mitt-romney-obama-president-deception_n_1578714.html ] he would never be a "president of doubt and deception."
You could almost hear irony weeping. After all, as Kevin Drum explained [ http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/06/lie-day-romney-obamacare ], "I expect political candidates to bend the truth a fair amount.... But Romney's willingness to flat-out lie is singular."
Or as Rachel explained just last night [Maddow segment just above embedded], "Mr. Romney gets caught saying things that are factually wrong, and the thing that is different about him is that he does not mind; he doesn't fix it; he doesn't even try to worm out of it. He doesn't appear to feel any shame about it at all -- and he's happy to keep telling the lie once he knows it is a lie."
As has become painfully clear, Romney's reliance on "deception" has practically become an addiction. To help appreciate the scope of the dishonesty, consider the 21st installment of my weekly series, chronicling Mitt's mendacity.
1. Campaigning in Texas, Romney argued, "[W]ith America in crisis, with 23 million people out of work or stopped looking for work, [President Obama] hasn't put forth a plan to get us working again. Now I know we're getting close to an election so he'll come out with one soon, but three and a half years later, we're waiting."
No, actually we're not [ http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/07/12103801-the-jobs-agenda-slips-down-the-memory-hole ].
2. Referencing Noam Scheiber's book, "The Escape Artists," told a remarkable tale about Obama and his aides, saying, "[T]here was discussion about the fact that Obamacare would slow down the economic recovery in this country." He added that the administration "knew" the health care reform package would hurt the economy, "but they concluded that we would all forget how long the recovery took once it had happened, so they decided to go ahead."
Given the relevant details, Romney is "just making stuff up [ http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/07/12106344-in-new-attack-romney-just-making-stuff-up ]" with this deceptive tale.
3. Romney added that he's concerned about the millions of Americans "on food stamps, most of whom never expected that would be their course."
This, at a minimum, is misleading, given that Romney enthusiastically endorsed a budget plan that slashes food stamps [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/20/house-gop-budget-plan_n_1366455.html ].
4. In the same speech, Romney said the Affordable Care Act includes a "job-killing mandate."
The individual mandate in the law does not undermine job creation, and more importantly, Romney championed the same mandate policy for years.
5. In the same speech, Romney rhetorically asked, "Did the trillion-dollar deficits make it more likely for people to invest in America?"
First, the drivers behind the deficits are Bush-era policies, so blaming Obama for them is dishonest. Second, the deficits have not adversely affected investors' willingness to invest in America.
6. Romney also argued that Obama isn't really for an "all the above" energy policy: "All of the above means that you like oil and gas and coal and nuclear and renewables. And yet he has made it harder and harder to take advantage of some of those."
Actually, that's the opposite of the truth. Obama has expanded renewables and expanded nuclear plants. Also, coal production is up [ http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/26/11410453-gop-keeps-slamming-obama-for-agreeing-with-the-gop ]; we have more natural gas [ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/23/natural-gas-industry-faces-plummet-in-price/?page=all ] than we know what to do with; and oil production is up [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG0evk8Iad8 ]. Obama's support for "all of the above" continues.
7. Romney said Obama has blamed "the ATM machines" for the slow recovery.
As his lies go, this one's just dumb [ http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_06/conservatives_pick_odd_things030293.php ].
8. Romney also said of the president, "His idea is to make America more like Europe."
As it turns out, that's backwards. Europe is trying (and failing) to grow through austerity measures, which is what Romney, not Obama, intends to do here.
9. Romney went on to argue, "If [Obama's] president, you're going to see more trillion-dollar deficits. And they're going to put us on a path to becoming like Greece."
In reality, Obama is already on track to reduce the deficit below a trillion in his second term, and comparing our path to Greece has no basis in reality [ http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10270340-why-mitch-mcconnell-should-avoid-discussing-the-debt ].
10. Romney also said, "If I'm president, I'm going to put America on a track to get a balanced budget. It's immoral and wrong for us to pass on these obligation to our kids."
That's plainly false. Romney says his plan "can't be scored [ http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/03/07/439570/romney-plan-cant-be-score/ ]," but independent budget analysts have found his agenda would make the deficit bigger [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/why-mitt-romney-gets-away-with-his-lying/2012/05/16/gIQADLzyTU_blog.html ], not smaller, and add trillions to the national debt.
11. In a campaign ad, Romney claims, in reference to the federal loan guarantee Solyndra received, "The inspector general said contracts were steered to friends and family."
That's as clear a lie [ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#47683705 ] as the campaign has told all year.
12. In St. Louis, Romney claimed the Recovery Act "left us with record unemployment."
Actually, millions of Americans owe their jobs to the Recovery Act, and the unemployment rate isn't at a "record" high -- it's lower now than when Obama took office, and it didn't get as high as it did in Reagan's first term.
13. He also argued, "Over the last three and a half years, record numbers of Americans have lost their jobs or simply disappeared from the work force."
The only way in which that makes any sense is if you use standards the Romney campaign rejects [ http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/06/12087320-romney-surrogate-boosts-obamas-jobs-message ].
15. Romney went on to say, "For a family watching their house being sold at foreclosure ... the results are just as devastating."
Romney has no intention of intervening to stop foreclosures [ http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/05/12067661-dont-try-and-stop-the-foreclosure-process ].
16. Romney also argued, "Today, government at all levels consumes 37 percent of the total economy or G.D.P. If Obamacare is allowed to stand, government will reach half of the American economy."
There is no version of reality [ http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/08/12122377-free-enterprise-is-not-at-risk ] in which this is true.
17. Romney promised, "[F]or every government-spending proposal, I will ask the following question: 'Is this program so important that it is worth borrowing more money from China to pay for it?'"
The implication here is that U.S. debt is financed by the Chinese. This isn't true -- China only holds about 8% [ http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/21/who-owns-america-hint-its-not-china/ ] of the nation's debt.
18. Describing President Obama's economic vision, Romney said, "There is nothing fair about a government that favors political connections over honest competition."
This is a serious allegation of corruption, which Romney has backed up with literally no facts of evidence at all.
19. The Romney campaign claimed [ http://www.mittromney.com/news/press/2012/06/obama-america-ad-fact-check-jobs ] in a press release, "Under President Obama, the nation has lost 552,000 jobs."
Again, according to the Romney campaign's own standards [ http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/06/12087320-romney-surrogate-boosts-obamas-jobs-message ], the Romney campaign isn't being honest.
20. And finally, the Romney campaign argued this week that the taxpayer investment in Konarka Technologies during Romney's tenure as governor "was approved by the prior administration. The governor made it clear that his philosophy was that government should not be in the business of venture investing."
That's a nice attempt at spin, but it's not even close to being true [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/romneys-conflicting-remarks-on-solyndra-like-investments/2012/06/07/gJQABn0vLV_blog.html ].
*
Previous editions of Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity:
Vol. I
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/mitts_mendacity034574.php
II
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/chronicling_mitts_mendacity034751.php
III
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/chronicling_mitts_mendacity_1034892.php
IV
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/03/10311610-chronicling-mitts-mendacity
V
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/10/10374854-chronicling-mitts-mendacity
VI
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/17/10436726-chronicling-mitts-mendacity
VII
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/24/10498938-a-campaign-of-almost-pathological-dishonesty
VIII
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/02/10563689-chronicling-mitts-mendacity
IX
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/09/10624620-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-ix
X
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/16/10720707-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-x
XI
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/23/10832032-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xi
XII
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/06/11058547-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xii
XIII
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/13/11184541-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xiii
XIV
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/20/11309846-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xiv
XV
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/27/11432528-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xv
XVI
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/04/11541783-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xvi
XVII
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/11/11663048-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xvii
XVIII
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/18/11758220-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xviii
XIX
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/25/11882052-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xix
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http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/01/12010806-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xx
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© 2012 msnbc.com (emphasis in original)
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/08/12126612-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xxi [with comments]
===
One Thing Hitler Did Right According to Mitt Romney: Coal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hio0OjgBdUM
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The Charts That Should Accompany All Discussions of Media Bias
By James Fallows
May 31 2012, 11:19 PM ET
They are the ones presented this morning by John Sides [ http://themonkeycage.org/blog/2012/05/31/romney-obama-and-media-bias/ ], drawing on Pew analyses [ http://features.journalism.org/campaign-2012-in-the-media/tone-of-news-coverage/ ] of positive, negative, and neutral press coverage of all Republican candidates and of President Obama through this past year.
Here's the trend in coverage of Mitt Romney. The solid line means "positive" stories (in Romney's case, about his business record or primary-election successes); the dotted line means "negative" stories (for Romney, about Bain-related layoffs or campaign-trail gaffes); and "neutral" stories are left out.
Main theme: Romney endured slightly-to-somewhat more negative-than-positive coverage in much of 2011, during the intense primary debates and negative ads, but has had much more positive-than-negative coverage through this year.
Now, here is comparable coverage of President Obama:
Main point: President Obama has always had more negative-than-positive coverage through the past year.
Here is how the two charts look when combined:
Main point: At no time in the past year has coverage of President Obama been as positive as that of Governor Romney. Indeed, at no time in the past year has it been on-balance positive at all.
You can argue that negative coverage of the administration is justified. You can argue that incumbents are -- and should be -- held to a tougher standard, since they have a record to defend. But you can't sanely argue that the press is in the tank for Obama, notwithstanding recent "false equivalence" attempts [ http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=2FD8EE3E-C775-472B-BF06-BB7BBCA92508 ] to do so.
One more chart from Pew:
Copyright © 2012 by The Atlantic Monthly Group (emphasis in original)
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/05/the-charts-that-should-accompany-all-discussions-of-media-bias/257961/
===
Romney warns of Obama's 'government-run economy' in St. Louis
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign [appearance].
(Whitney Curtis / Getty Images)
By Seema Mehta
June 07, 2012
ST. LOUIS -- Arguing that growing government control of the economy threatens the country's freedom, Mitt Romney on Thursday said President Obama is trying to transform the United States into a nation that is starkly at odds with its founding.
"America is on the cusp of having a government-run economy. That's where he’s taking us. President Obama is transforming America into something very different than the land of the free and the land of opportunity, and we know where that transformation leads," Romney told several hundred supporters gathered in a factory that produces equipment that protects soldiers from chemical, biological and nuclear threats.
"There are other nations that have chosen that path," Romney said. "It leads to high unemployment, crushing debt, and stagnant wages, and, yeah, Greece. I don't want to transform America. I want to restore to America the principles that made us the hope of the Earth."
Romney made the remarks in Missouri, which has 10 electoral votes and is a state that Sen. John McCain won over Obama by 0.12% in 2008.
Romney's speech was new -- instead of a collection of vignettes of suffering Americans he has met on the campaign trail and stories about his time leading Massachusetts and the Olympics, the remarks were more sweeping about the stark differences between his and the president's worldviews. But Romney offered no new policy, a fact seized on by Obama's campaign.
"In yet another in a long line of 'major' economic speeches, Mitt Romney offered no new ideas and no new policies that would actually grow the economy and strengthen the middle class," said spokeswoman Lis Smith. "Mitt Romney has promised to use his experience to turn around the economy, but all he has offered to date are negative and dishonest speeches tearing down President Obama."
In his remarks, Romney argued that the government under Obama has breached faith with and morally failed Americans because of its inability to right the nation's economy. The president, Romney said, puts more faith in government bureaucrats than Americans, leading to a world in which citizens are reliant on the government for permission on how they live their lives, from what they can buy to who they can hire.
Romney painted himself as a champion of the free-enterprise system who would turn around the economy by lowering taxes, relaxing regulations, increasing trade and energy production and issuing waivers to states concerning Obama's healthcare law.
"I am absolutely convinced we can prosper again," he said. "... All this can be more than our hope, it can be our future. It can begin this year. We don't have to wait; it can begin this year on November 6th."
seema.mehta@latimes.com
Copyright 2012 Los Angeles Times
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/07/news/la-pn-romney-warns-of-obamas-governmentrun-economy-in-st-louis-20120607 [with comments]
===
Romney: Obama’s economic stewardship ‘moral failure of tragic proportions’
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
(Evan Vucci - AP)
Posted by Philip Ruckerat 03:25 PM ET, 06/07/2012
ST. LOUIS — Mitt Romney cast President Obama’s stewardship of the economy in moral terms here Thursday, delivering a broad speech about the free-market economy in which he said Obama’s first term has represented “a breach of faith with the American people.”
Romney said Obama “simply doesn’t understand” America’s free enterprise system and suggested that the president’s policies were effectively making government dependence a substitute for the dignity of hard work.
“We have waited, and waited, and waited for the recovery, and enough time has passed for us to pronounce judgment on the president’s economic policies,” Romney said. “They have failed. They have not worked.”
Romney added, “This is not just a failure of policy; it is a moral failure of tragic proportions. Our government has a moral commitment to help every American help himself — him and herself — and today, that fundamental commitment has been broken.”
Romney pledged to “end these days of drift and disappointment,” saying he would not be a “president of doubt and deception. I will lead us to a better place.”
The Obama campaign’s Chicago-based reelection team has been continuing its assault on Romney’s record as governor of Massachusetts. Yet while Obama’s team says he had a “failed economic performance” there, Romney made no mention of his governorship in his speech.
“In yet another in a long line of ‘major’ economic speeches, Mitt Romney offered no new ideas and no new policies that would actually grow the economy and strengthen the middle class," Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said in a statement. “Mitt Romney has promised to use his experience to turn around the economy, but all he has offered to date are negative and dishonest speeches tearing down President Obama.”
Romney also did not offer many specifics about what he would do in office or how his policies would revitalize the economy. But what his 18-minute speech lacked in details he tried to make up for with lofty rhetoric.
Reading from teleprompters and standing in front of a banner trumpeting his new slogan, “Putting Jobs First,” Romney used his visit to a St. Louis warehouse to frame what he considers the stark differences between his and Obama’s economic visions.
“Where our vision believes in the ingenuity of the American people, his vision trusts the wisdom of political appointees and boards and commissions and czars,” Romney said. “It’s one in which ordinary Americans have to get permission from people in Washington before they can buy something or build something or invest in something or hire someone.
“It’s a world of federal mandates and waivers, tax credits, subsidies, federal grants, loan guarantees,” he continued. “It’s an economy where a company’s lobbyists are more important than their engineers, and federal compliance lawyers will outnumber patent lawyers.”
© 2012 The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/post/romney-obamas-economic-stewardship-moral-failure-of-tragic-proportions/2012/06/07/gJQAwD6hLV_blog.html [with comments]
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The ‘American Dream’ Is a Myth: Joseph Stiglitz on ‘The Price of Inequality’
By Aaron Task
Daily Ticker – Fri, Jun 8, 2012 8:43 AM EDT
Income inequality has become the subject of much debate in this country, in large part because of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
In his latest book, The Price of Inequality [ http://www.amazon.com/The-Price-Inequality-Endangers-ebook/dp/B007MKCQ30 , http://books.wwnorton.com/books/The-Price-of-Inequality/ ], Columbia Professor and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz examines the causes of income inequality and offers some remedies. In between, he reaches some startling [to author Aaron, perhaps] conclusions, including that America is "no longer the land of opportunity" and "the 'American dream' is a myth."
While we all know stories of people who've moved up the social stratosphere, Stiglitz says the statistics tell a very different story. In the last 30 years the share of national income held by the top 1% of Americans has doubled; for to the top 0.1%, their share has tripled, he reports. Meanwhile, median incomes for American workers have stagnated.
Even more than income inequality, "America has the least equality of opportunity of any of the advanced industrial economies," Stiglitz says. In short, the status you're born into — whether rich or poor — is more likely to be the status of your adult life in America vs. any other advanced economy, including 'Old Europe'.
For example, just 8% of students at America's elite universities come from households in the bottom 50% of income, Stiglitz says, even as those universities are "needs blind" — meaning admission isn't predicated on your ability to pay.
"There's not much mobility up and down," he says. "The chances of someone from the top [income bracket] who doesn't do very well in school are better than someone from the bottom who does well in school."
Because the children of those at the top of society tend to do better than those at the bottom — thanks, in part, to better education, health care and nutrition — the income inequality that's slowly emerged over the past 30 years will only widen in the next 10 to 20 years.
If the root causes of income inequality go unaddressed, America will truly become a two-class society and look much more like a third world economy, Stiglitz warns. "People will live in gated communities with armed guards. It's a ugly picture. There will be political, social and economic turmoil." (Hence the book's subtitle: 'How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future')
The good news is Stiglitz believes this "nightmare we're slowly marching toward" can be avoided, citing Brazil's experience since the early 1990s as an example of a country that has reduced income inequality. Among other things, he recommends improving education and nutrition for those at the bottom of society, and eliminating "corporate welfare" and other policies which "create wealth but not economic growth."
For example, he cites the provision in Medicare Part D which forbids the federal government from negotiating prices with the drug companies. Over 10 years, that rule will generate approximately $500 billion for the industry, he estimates, but no tangible benefit for taxpayers or the economy as a whole.
Importantly, Stiglitz believes inequality of wealth and opportunity are hurting the overall economy, by limiting competition, promoting cronyism and keeping those at the bottom from reaching their potential.
"What I want is a more dynamic economy and a fairer society," he says, suggesting income inequality is ultimately detrimental to those at the top, too. "My point is we've created an economy that is not in accord with the principles of the free market."
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More from The Daily Ticker
Stiglitz on Europe: Soros Is "Being Generous" Giving Them Three Months
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/stiglitz-europe-soros-being-generous-giving-them-three-131813499.html
U.S. Economy Rx: Fix Unemployment and Healthcare First, Says Stiglitz
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/u-economy-rx-fix-unemployment-healthcare-first-says-160409951.html
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Copyright © 2012 Yahoo! Inc. (emphasis in original)
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/american-dream-myth-joseph-stiglitz-price-inequality-124338674.html [with embedded video segment, and comments]
===
FACT CHECK: Looming tax hike not the biggest ever
AP
June 11, 2012, 4:04 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are calling it "Taxmageddon," the big tax increase awaiting nearly every American family at the end of the year, when a long list of tax cuts is scheduled to expire unless Congress acts.
It would be, GOP leaders in Congress say again and again, "the largest tax increase in American history."
Except it wouldn't be, not when you take into account population growth, rising wages, and most importantly, the size of the U.S. economy. When those factors are taken into account, the largest tax increases were those imposed to help pay for World War II — back when the U.S. raised additional revenue to pay for wars instead of simply borrowing.
Nevertheless, it is an exaggeration that has proved too tempting for top Republicans in Congress:
— "Any sudden tax hike would hurt our economy, so this fall — before the election — the House of Representatives will vote to stop the largest tax increase in American history," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a May 15 speech in Washington.
— "Before we leave for August, I expect to schedule a vote on legislation preventing the largest tax increase in history," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., wrote in a recent memo to fellow House Republicans.
— "Millions are unemployed and millions more are underemployed and the country is facing the largest tax hike in history at the end of the year," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday in a speech on the Senate floor.
— "This would be, without any exaggeration, the largest tax increase in American history," said a May 17 letter from 41 Republican senators to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gives the claim a different twist, applying it to President Barack Obama's budget proposal for next year. That's an even bigger exaggeration.
THE FACTS: A huge collection of tax cuts is scheduled to expire at the end of the year, affecting families at every income level and businesses of many stripes. Many of the tax cuts were first enacted under former President George W. Bush and extended under Obama.
If Congress does nothing, income tax rates would go up, estate taxes and investment taxes would increase and the alternative minimum tax would hit millions of middle-income people. A temporary payroll tax cut that has been of benefit to nearly every wage earner in 2011 and 2012 would expire, costing the average family an additional $1,000 a year.
In addition, dozens of other tax breaks for businesses and individuals that are routinely renewed each year already expired at the end of 2011. Congress was expected to renew many of them by January, so taxpayers could still claim them on their 2012 tax returns.
If Congress fails to act, businesses would lose a popular tax credit for research and development as well as generous tax breaks for investing in new plants and equipment. Individuals would lose federal tax breaks for paying local sales taxes, buying energy efficient appliances and using mass transit.
In all, federal taxes would increase by about $423 billion next year, according to figures from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation, the official scorekeepers for Congress.
Combined with federal spending cuts scheduled to take effect next year, the one-two punch would probably send the U.S. economy back into recession, according to a recent CBO study.
Still, the tax increases would pale in comparison to those imposed to help finance World War II.
Before the 1940s, the individual income tax applied to only a small percentage of the population. By the end of war, the income tax was levied on most working people, with a top tax rate of 94 percent on income above $200,000.
By comparison, the current top rate is 35 percent, on taxable income above $388,350. If Congress does nothing, the top rate would return to 39.6 percent next year — the same rate that was in place for most of the 1990s.
In dollars, next year's tax hikes would be the biggest. But the population is more than twice as big as it was in the 1940s and the size of the U.S. economy is 80 times bigger. That's why economists usually measure taxes and government spending as a share of the economy.
The 1942 tax increase represented more than 5 percent of the U.S. economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, or GDP. The 1941 tax increase was 2.2 percent of GDP, according to a Treasury Department paper published in 2006.
Next year's looming tax increase would represent 2.6 percent of GDP — a huge tax hike but not the biggest.
Measured another way, the 1942 tax hike increased federal revenue by a whopping 71 percent, according to the Treasury Department paper. The 1941 tax hike increased federal revenue by 32 percent.
By comparison, next year's potential tax hike would increase federal revenues by 16 percent, according to CBO.
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ROMNEY: "President Obama has failed to even pass a budget. In February, he put forward a proposal that included the largest tax increase in history, and still left our national debt spiraling out of control, and the House rejected it unanimously," Romney said in an April 4 speech to newspaper executives and editors.
ROMNEY AGAIN: "Rapidly rising federal spending and debt threatens our economic future, and the president has responded by proposing the largest tax increase in history," Romney said in a Feb. 22 release.
THE FACTS: Obama's budget proposal would represent one of the largest tax increases since World War II, if you count letting the payroll tax cut expire as a tax increase. But again, it wouldn't be the largest ever. Obama's 2013 budget proposal mixes tax cuts designed to improve the economy with long-term tax increases aimed at reducing the federal budget deficit.
Obama has proposed extending Bush-era tax cuts for families making less than $250,000 and ending them for families that make more. He would end tax breaks for oil and gas companies but make permanent the research and development tax credit.
In 2013, Obama's budget proposal would increase tax revenue by $195 billion over current policy — if you include the tax increase from letting the payroll tax cut expire. The tax increase would represent 1.2 percent of GDP. Or, measured a different way, it would increase tax revenue by 7 percent.
That would rank as the fourth-largest tax increase since World War II, behind tax hikes enacted in 1950, 1951 and 1968, according to the Treasury Department paper.
Further dousing Romney's claim, House Republicans have passed a budget for next year — which Romney has embraced — that would raise just $7 billion less in taxes than Obama's budget in 2013. That's the equivalent of a rounding error, when you're talking about revenues of $2.7 trillion.
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Online:
Treasury paper on major tax bills since 1940:
http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/tax-policy/tax-analysis/Documents/ota81.pdf ( http://tinyurl.com/65r8f84 )
*
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press
http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/fact-check-looming-tax-hike-not-the-biggest-ever/bee35651df6946b1afcfd2343cc3cd23
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Obama Wants More Police, Teachers, Romney Wants More Crime
Mitt Romney
(from Creative Commons)
Posted by: Bridgette P. LaVictoire on June 8, 2012.
President Barack Obama may believe that, should the Republicans lose big this November, they will finally wake up and realize that they need to work for the good of the nation. Sometimes, it feels as if our President is a bit too naive; however, he is currently going after Congress with regards to the fact that they are unwilling to actually pass any jobs bill for the nation.
In the ad [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70tav9QveOM (above)], the voice-over states “The president’s jobs plan would put teachers, firefighters, police officers and construction workers back to work right now. And it’s paid for by asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more. But Congress refuses to act. Tell Congress we can’t wait.”
Of course, the Republicans are responsible for doing things like firing large numbers of police, firefighters and teachers. This is because the GOP is heavily anti-government and would rather destroy the government than raise taxes on the top 1%. Romney even mocked the ad stating that “He wants another stimulus, he wants to hire more government workers. He says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It’s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.”
Romney should keep in mind that the people of Wisconsin only barely kept Walker in place, and that Walker may have survived, but the Republican majority in the state Senate did not. He also ignores the fact that private sector job creation is doing fairly well while government jobs have been deliberately slashed by Republicans in order to depress the economy.
Amanda Henneberg, a Romney spokesman, even stated “Americans know we aren’t moving in the right direction today, and they can’t afford more of the same. As president, Mitt Romney will enact a pro-growth agenda that gets our economy back on track and allows our small businesses and job creators to thrive.”
By that, Henneberg means that Romney will impose heavy restrictions and taxes on small businesses so that they cannot actually grow, just like George W. Bush did, and lower taxes on megacorporations and the super rich, which will not create jobs at all, as we have seen time and time again.
© 2012, Lez Get Real
http://lezgetreal.com/2012/06/obama-wants-more-police-teachers-romney-wants-more-crime/ [no comments yet]
===
Romney Says America Doesn’t Need ‘More Firemen, More Policemen, More Teachers’
By Travis Waldron on Jun 8, 2012 at 4:39 pm
The last three years are the worst on record [ http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/04/09/460380/worst-ever-public-sector-job-loss/ ] for public sector job loss, and the 700,000 government jobs that no longer exist remain a large drag on the American economy.
Today, New Jersey Gov. and Mitt Romney campaign surrogate Chris Christie (R) said that those losses meant the country was moving in “the right direction [ http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/06/08/496719/christie-fire-public-sector/ ],” and Romney himself backed that statement up later, criticizing President Obama for calling for the hiring of more teachers, firefighters, and police officers [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/mitt-romney-we-dont-need-more-cops-firefighters-or-teachers/2012/06/08/gJQAvOgDOV_blog.html ], the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent reports. From CNN’s report of the Romney event:
Romney said of Obama, “he wants another stimulus, he wants to hire more government workers. He says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It’s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.”
State and local governments have been forced to layoff mass amounts of teachers, firefighters, and police officers because budget crunches have led to school closures and the elimination [ http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/03/22/450114/kasich-budget-privatize-fire/ ] of public safety departments. That has hurt the unemployment situation (which Romney also criticizes), considering the unemployment rate would be a full point lower without the 700,000 layoffs.
Romney’s honesty isn’t a new position [ http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/08/16/296220/with-government-job-losses-holding-back-recovery-romney-promises-to-slash-even-more/ ] for him or the GOP — he’s called for more government layoffs since the beginning of his campaign. But it’s yet another indication that Romney is more interested in continuing the GOP’s ideological battle against government instead of curing the ills that are plaguing the American economy.
© 2012 Center for American Progress Action Fund (emphasis in original)
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/06/08/496799/romney-says-america-doesnt-need-more-fireman-more-policemen-more-teachers/ [with comments]
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Florida GOP Takes Voter Suppression to a Brazen New Extreme
May 30, 2012
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/florida-gop-takes-voter-supression-to-a-brazen-new-extreme-20120530 [with comments]
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The GOP War on Voting
In a campaign supported by the Koch brothers, Republicans are working to prevent millions of Democrats from voting next year
August 30, 2011
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-gop-war-on-voting-20110830 [with comments]
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Greensburg, KS - 5/4/07
"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
from John Philpot Curran, Speech
upon the Right of Election, 1790
F6
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