President Obama smiles as supporters sing Happy Birthday during a fundraising reception at the Bridgeport Arts Center on August 12
****
10:40: President Obama departs Chicago en route Nebraska
11:55: Arrives Omaha
12:25: Delivers remarks at a campaign event at Bayliss Park, in Council Bluffs, Iowa
12:45: VP Biden travels to Durham, N.C., where he will deliver remarks at a campaign event at the Durham Armory
4:30: Michelle Obama delivers remarks at a campaign fundraising event in Los Angeles
6:15: PBO delivers remarks at a campaign event at Herman Park in Boone, Iowa
****
President Obama walks through the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago, August 12
****
Crikey, even Politico – Politico! – pushed back against Kantor the shill:
Republicans quickly jumped on a report that President Obama’s largest fundraiser here Sunday was only “half full,” but the crowd for the event was larger than the Obama campaign had initially anticipated.
“At Obama fundraiser in Chicago. Admission only $51, but room is half full,” New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor wrote on Twitter.
The Romney campaign seized on Kantor’s estimate …. The Drudge Report also piled on….
….to this reporter and several others in the White House press pool, the room seemed plenty full. There was empty space at the back of the large loft space during and immediately after the president’s remarks, but the crowd was densely packed to get close to the stage at the front of the room where Obama spoke.
****
****
Morning everyone, early start today 
First time first?
Morning niliathiel – and any other early risers!
Wouldn´t call myself an early riser, it´s shortly past 1 pm here
But good morning to everyone where it is still morning 
Ah, I’m forgetting my time zones niliathiel – good afternoon!
Morning Chips! Hope you’re doing well & had a good weekend. And Good Monday First to niliathiel!
Congratulations on first place, niliathiel! Welcome to the podium.
Good Morning all and Congrats on 1st niliathiel. Today is the day the Obama/Biden campaign bus comes to Rochester for a round table. I was hoping the Pres would be on it, but after looking at his schedule, I don’t think that will happen. But the round table will be interesting and will let you kknow how it goes.
Have a great day everyone
And a special GOOD MORNING TO YOU CHIPS.
Morning Roberta! Have a great day, looking forward to hearing about the roundtable.
Good morning everyone! Have a good day.
Btw, the third picture from the bottom is totally becoming my new desktop background….
I don’t know why you would do that. He’s looking at ME! In a very special way I might add..lol
Oh yeah? I was travelling around Florida, he used to be about one hour behind me on several occasions. Meaning, he´s definitely looking at me
You people are nuts. He’s OBVIOUSLY looking at moi.
I love all these pictures – especially the one with the sign in front of President Obama saying “this area protected by the United States Secret Service”. I know they mean the residential area, but it could just as easily apply to the President. They better protect him from those lunatics on the right!
That Kantor person is a piece of work. We let her have it on twitter yesterday. Then she tweeted about the crowd’s diversity and excitement. And, she tried to tweet Drudge about her clarification– like they’re really gonna correct themselves.
GM TOD’s & Chips, Sweet Jesus!! It Begins! They’re going to try & kill off Obama on the Right!! I hate those MoFo! I usually just Lurk b/c I’m lazy but this made me mad enough to comment! Dream on Drudge; dream on!
Her “half full” charge did not sound right to me, especially on the south side of Chicago, so I checked the reports in Chgo papers. Both had said they were expecting 840 at that event and there were 1000 in attendance, so it had to look full. Kantor is such a partisan that she reports what she wants to see, not what she sees. She’s used up her last bit of believability.
Wasn’t that just amazing shilling by her Dotster? When even Politico felt moved to correct her, it was one heck of a lie.
We know what Kantor problem is. Obama supporters hit back hard on her book, and she didn’t like that.
Also the reviewers of her book were not kind. The major newspapers were dubious about her claims to have known what POTUS and FLOTUS were thinking about.
Btw – PBO does not look like a 51 year old. He could pass for late 30s, early 40s, tbh.
I am 52 and easily pass for 30 something all the time.
Especially to wimmin.
Good Morning TOD!
Thank you all for the Birthday Wishes. The previous thread was too large for me to access last night to thank you.
Have a great Productive O’Day Everyone!!
Yikes, was it your birthday yesterday Donna??
The day before, while she was ‘cruising’ and ‘spa-ing’ with family!
Morning Chips!
It was actually Saturday but I wasn’t able to communicate from the cruise ship so I thanked everyone yesterday evening when we returned.
Ah flip, I missed it Donna – and also completely missed that you’re cruising! Hope you’re having a FANTASTIC time. I’m heading back to base today, after a month working from the worst internet connection in the history of the universe, so from tomorrow no more birthdays will be missed! A belated happy one to you Donna
‘..no more birthdays will be missed!’
Oh! In that case I have a second one coming up (my earlier TOD B-Day celebration was soooo good) but I haven’t decided on the date yet…will let you know.
chips are you in the military ?
Hiya Collegekay, luckily for the military: no! Just fortunate enough to be in a job that allowed me work from away for home for most of the last month, most of which was spent lazing around and not doing half enough work
How are you doing?
Hehehe. I”m well. This is the last week of my internship. I’m moving back to school on Saturday. Summer went by too fast.
Oh, it sure did Collegekay – I keep double-checking the calendar, it feels like it’s early June! Hope the internship went well?
Yup it went great. Ready to volunteer for the Obama campaign during the fall.
Excellent!
You are more than welcome on the BD wishes donna, I think I got you on FB. You have a good day today and I hope your BD went off without a hitch. (((((hugs)))))
Hope you had an awesome birthday
Happy Belated Birthday, DD40, it sounds as if you celebrated well!
So you’re back ?
Belated b’day wishes. Was your streak maintained ?
Yep I’m back and it looks like the streak is alive and well.
Thanks to you and meta and all who donated. I got 14 donations while on my birthday cruise.
Morning and welcome back, DD!! \
amk and I fought over who would post your fundraising page. We both won.
Happy Birthday Donna! Did you get home in time for Political Animals? It was a bit disturbing to me at the end, stay tuned for next week though. I wish you many happy years to come, especially the next 4 with PBO’s 2nd term, let’s get this done!
A belated but warm HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you, Donna Dem. You’e an inspriration around here!
Welcome back Donna. I’m sure it’s been mentioned, but amk (with a little help) did a fantastic job keeping your fundraising page challenge going for you while you were away. Hope you enjoyed your birthday and your vacation!
One Monday closer to OUR #ObamaBiden2012 goal! #FORWARD & ONWARD, TODobots!
Yes. We. Can.
Good Morning, Chips Chica! Good Morning, All TODobots!
‘Special Good Afternoon’, Nilathiel, and Roberta I can’t wait to hear your report. Have a great ’round table’ session..
Moooooooooooorning VC!
Hi
old….young gurl! Sending happy Monday vibes your way.Oi you, less of your ‘old’ – a happy Monday to you too!
G’morning Chips, TOD, lurkers, everyone and congratulations Niliathiel on #1!
Moooooooooooornng Hopefruit
Here is our first attack ad on Medicare, forgive the website-
http://mobile.nationaljournal.com/2012-presidential-campaign/obama-video-attacks-romney-ryan-on-medicare-20120813
Excellent, thanks Jovie – here’s the video:
I hate to nitpick — it’s a great ad. I would add one thing at the end: “MORE tax cuts……… “Additional tax cuts” for millionaires and billionaires.
Tweet that to Priorities USA. They want to hear from us.
Morning Jovie, and thank you. I think I will start up my little used twitter feed today with this one.
Yup. Got to send them to networks, because they only play Robneys for free.
The President and the USDA will announce in Iowa today, it is buying 170 million dollars of Beef.
Will he make that announcement at Bayliss Park campaign stop @ 12:25? That would be great help to the farmers, and it’s an interesting concept. Where is the USDA going to store all that meat. Sell it to the communities?
Yes, he is!
I would happily buy some of that chicken, lamb, pork beef and catfish if the gov’t is selling it a reduced rate.
Happy belated Birthday Donna. We could purchase some of the chicken, beef, catfish, and lamb and throw a great classy birthday party for Donna. Just saying, but that would be fun with all of our TOD family and Chips at the head table. What a fun evening that would be. Maybe, we could even extend an invitation to our beautiful POTUS and FLOTUS.
POB said that they are going to put the meat that they purchase in the military freezers. He said we have lots of freezers. He is always 20 steps ahead of the foolish men. Bless his precious heart.
I also want to shout out to Fred and Mom as well. (((((((((( Hugs to All of our TOD Family)))))))))) I am moving along. I sometime give in to the pain, but not allow it to crush me. Too strong in my spirit for that road, but I am hoping and thinking good thoughts about all that we have to do by Nov. 6th.
Will be attending a local meeting Tues., evening. A lot of work to keep us busy and moving FORWARD. Will do as much as my spirit and heart will carry me through. Please think good thoughts for me as I do for myself daily.((((((((Thank you Chips and all of your lovely family members here. HZ
Thanks HZ, hugs to you and hope your pain is not too debilitating. Do you know that today is Chips’ birthday too! We just found this out tonight. We’re wishing her happy birthday so you can join when you get up to the top thread!
Lmrj, I am No fan of Mark Knoller. I was typing slowly and as soon as I hit “post comment” Mark’s tweet came up. I heard POB speak today about the ‘farm bill’ and he also said that they were going to purchase the foods to help. He said ,”We have lots of freezers.” It is in his speech and there is an article that was on twitter and I also went and read the article and posted it as well with a commen. I am no fan of MK. HZ
Do you Guys still think Steve Schmidt is Moderate? Hahahahaha. He is about as partisan as they get.
Good grief. Get with it… LOL!
I never did, that’s for sure. The good-hearted liberals are always way to willing to give credit when one Republican sounds sane, and are willing to wipe out the decades of damage these people have done. Schmidt realized Palin was a train wreck? Well duh! That didn’t mean he was going to embrace a jobs bill that would truly stimulate the economy, provide health care like every other modern nation, trim wasteful defense spending, or do one damned thing for LGBT rights.
If anyone still calls themselves Republican, they have signed on to the entire lurch to the right of John Birch that is now the Republican Party.
But, people on friendly Obama sites like this one, said Scott Brown was a Liberal when he was first elected.
Some Liberals are easily manipulated, apparently.
I don’t recall anyone on this site calling Scott Brown a Liberal. I do remember people calling him a male bimbo.
Ofa!
I was not on the OFA site, but from what I read, the site had become infiltrated with RW poseurs – people pretending to be liberals or who had “voted for PBO” but really didn’t.
thanks to everyone here for tweeting back so sharply to the hideous Kantor. She looks even dumber and nastier than usual after that nonsense she tried on. i must master the twitter thing …
Even Drudge report picked up her irresponsible comment which she tried to backpedal and “clarify” when she realized the mess she caused.
Are you serious?
I’m sorry I missed it, I would have added to the call outs.
She knew exactly what she was doing but apparently did realize she’d get the push back she did.
President Barack Obama’s senior campaign adviser David Axelrod on Monday said that there’s no difference between the Romney and Ryan budget plans and called it “laughable” to suggest otherwise.
“[Ryan] was a rubber stamp for the Bush era. It was kind of laughable to hear Gov. Romney say last night to say, ‘Well, that’s his plan, I’ve got my own plan.’ Those plans are very similar. For the middle class it’s like a choice between a punch in the nose and a knee to the groin,” Axelrod said on CBS’s This Morning
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79661.html
HAHAHA! You tell ‘em Axe!
Surprisingly, Chuck Todd has been very fair about the Medicare discussion.
Maybe he has some elderly relatives (he’s from FL) and he doesn’t want Karma to come after them if he fails to give the facts as a journalist.
That is what I was thinking.
Even the nuttiest wingnut will have *something* he or she is at least a little liberal about. A relative with mental health issues. A gay sibling. A friend who lost their house. A kid trying to get through college without incurring massive debt. Parents on Medicare.
The RWNJ will have all the appropriate selfish positions except for one.
Yup – Romney-Ryan (or is it Ryan-Romney) are fair discriminators. Everyone’s going to get screwed with their plans. Nobody is spared – even the rich will get screwed in the long run, because when the middle class disappears, they’ll finally realize who the REAL job creators are!
Oh, and David Gregory seems to think that swing Districts will now go Robney way, due to the Ryan Pick???
He is from Virginia. His wife was a big wig in the Democratic Party up there. His grandmother lives and works by me. She is in her 80s and is a big Obama supporter. She works at McDonalds to make ends meet. Chuck knows this. She must have called him.
Oh really, and I thought all along he was from FL! I had heard about his grandmother working at McD’s but didn’t know that she or his wife was a DEM! That’s very interesting to know.
HF, the mystery is how his wife stands him. With his usual nonsense, it would be hard for me not to want to punch him in the nose every night. She must be very forgiving.
His wife was on WH staff—–don’t know if she still is. I assumed Todd’s unfair reporting on PBO was a way of over-compensating for this fact. But—-it went on and on and on and on, and I stopped giving him excuses.
Wow, seriously ??
I don’t trust him one bit.
Wow, Chuck Todd being fair about the Medicare discussion. I would love it if this were the norm and not the exception. I just wish Chuck Todd and his ilk were demanding the truth everyday all the time. It’s pathetic that so many lazy journalists just sit and nod their heads while Republicans just spew lies.
Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod predicted on Monday that excitement for Paul Ryan will burn out much the way it did for Sarah Palin in 2008.
Mitt Romney and Ryan were greeted by huge crowds at events over the weekend.
“I saw that kind of excitement four years ago when John McCain apppointed Sarah Palin…as well,” Axelrod said on “CBS This Morning.” But, he added, “I think when the reality catches up with the moment, it’s not going to be a plus for Gov. Romney.”
Axelrod called Ryan the “intellectual leader of the Tea Party,” whose “dangerous views” have now been adopted by Romney.
“It was kind of laughable to hear Gov. Romney last night say, ‘Well, that’s his plan, I have my own plan,’” Axelrod said. “The fact is that both plans call for trillions in tax cuts for the wealthy…and higher taxes for the middle class…this is not a prescription for a stronger economy, it’s not a prescription for a stronger country.”
The GOP supporters have a strange definition of “huge”. Would be nice to see an enterprising reporter count the number of non-white people present – but I’d settle for an accurate count of the total.
99ts. huge means bigger than the tiny groups Mitt on his own could attract. Everything is relative in GOP land.
500 is hugh to Romney.
Remember that 2011 video of Ryan doing a town hall and making fun of an elderly voter? Now might be a good time to keep it handy, especially if you have contact with elderly GOP supporters. Yes, the senior was a little irascible, but I think Ryan’s response shows his immaturity and insensitivity as a leader who is accountable to ALL Americans.
So disrespectful, so mean, so hateful. What a nasty thing to say to this man. Karma is gonna get Paul Ryan, and when she does, he will regret how he has spoken to old people.
It’s actually not that surprising, given that his idol wrote books about abuse of children, and advocated hate and humiliation of the needy.
Some of our esteemed news media have been thrown by PBO landing in Omaha, Ne. to get to Council Bluffs, Ia. across the border. CBS Chicago just reported that President Obama will be campaigning in Iowa AND NEBRASKA this week. Not careful with the facts again—-did not give this implausibility one moment of consideration. You would think someone there would have said, “Nebraska? That seems weird.”
Nebraska has Offut AFB. In the Middle of nowhere, it was where GW went during 9/11!
The current crop of media are the laziest crew EVER!!! Bought and paid for.
They should know that the “big jets” like the Air Force One 747 has to land at an ‘international” airport or a military airfield with a runway of at least 10, 000 feet. Of course, AF1 would chose a military airfield. But the real deal is … it’s AIR FORCE ONE. It can land wherever the capacity exists to handle the landing and whenever it needs to!
What a bunch of whistleheads!!!
How much do I LOOOOOOOOOVE local news in Austin? Soooooooooooo much. They didn’t let Romney-Ryan bamboozle them or distract them with the shiny new toy that is Paul Ryan. This morning they reported facts about Ryan’s Kill Medicare Bill. They were like, sure this may be a “bold” pick for the GOP but not for the rest of the electorate. They talked about how Ryan’s Medicare Bill if enacted would contract the economy, explode the deficit and how it would turn Medicare into a voucher program for seniors and drastically change Medicare as we know it. They didn’t play the whole “both sides do this or Democrats claim this or Democrats claim that” They reported truth. They didn’t let this VP pick distract them from real issues. They immediately went back to the discussion of Romney’s invisible tax returns. They said that Ryan revealed an extensive tax returns list for vetting but Romney hasn’t done the same. They mocked Sarah Palin for not being invited to speak at the GOP convention and chuckled about how times have changed for her from 4 years ago.
It was beautiful. Living in a Liberal city ROCKS!!!!
Reporting as it ought to be, eh? Pity you can’t clone your reporters and share them in a purple/redish state.
JEALOUS, ut. You are lucky!
Excellent. That’s how it should be done. Thanks for sharing this ut! The local news are always more accurate in their reporting than the corporate cable TV networks and national newspapers. Even in Florida, the Ryan pick was not met with any enthusiasm from the local press.
That’s awesome UT. I am going to use your feedback to communicate with my local newspapers and tv stations. Maybe I can embarrass them into following the lead of Austin, Texas. That’s some serious reporting that needs to be emulated.
UNITED STATES NEWSPAPERS LIST
———————————–
Home/Newspapers TV_Stations Radio_Stations Colleges Major_News/Twitter_Feeds Newspaper_Addresses TV_Addresses Facebook Twitter Contact
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http://www.usnpl.com/
Are you sure that Austin is still in Texas??
It’s so hard to remember that Texas actually had Ann Richards as governor. What happened to THAT Texas?
I love it! We didn’t even see that much truth-telling here in Southern California! Lucky you.
I notice the only PBO reaction to the Ryan pick the media is airing is when he says he’s “a good and decent man, a family man, articulate….” etc. After a bunch of glossy Ryan segments on Today, zero mention of Medicare, of course, I was happy to see Stephanie Cutter in rebuttal. She did not allow Lauer to put words in her mouth and set the record straight. I wonder why Morning Jerk never has her on his program, hahaha. Can’t stomp all over her as he does his other carefully selected Dem invitees.
Now they are airing an Andrea Mitchell report on Ryan’s wife, full of high praise and compliments. She is making her sound like the most wondrous woman that ever existed. I’m already out of patience, deep breath.
They did the same with Palin, hyping up Todd Palin as “First Dude” and all; yet none of that media-gloss helped her or McCain apparently. Imagine, Rev Al is beating Morning Joke in the ratings department – just goes to show you how few people have the time or patience for his drivel.
That’s great news, hf. Really who wants to start their day with hate filled rants.
That’s so good to hear.
I’m listening to the Bill Press show and during commercial they played a sound clip of the event. When he first mentioned Ryan, you heard the boos and then Pres Obama not having that, saying “…no no no; he’s a good, decent man…”
I liked that they let the listener hear Pres. Obama be classy.
Well, he should not have said it. We know exactly what we’re facing in the MSM and we keep playing to their hands.
Romney is exhausted!?!? The campaign has just started!! What does he think it’s going to be like over the next 2-3 months?
How would he cope with that job he so desperately wants if he can’t cope with the campaign.
Remember the Romney campaign used Jet Lag as an excuse for his London Olympics comments?
Well, nobody asked him to run. He thought he was going to float into the White House on a cloud of inevitability and a river of unlimited cash. Nobody told him it was going to be hard and he couldn’t just order lackeys to do the tough stuff. And he “ain’t seen nothing yet.” Our PBO never tires.
Exactly! And another thing that keeps our PBO going is the tremendous amount of genuine love and support he receives from people all over the US and internationally. His body and soul are nourished by all this human contact, positive vibes and appreciation from real ordinary people, not a bunch of power-hungry millionaires Romney doesn’t get any of this love, and his “supporters” don’t really care about him as a person – they are motivated by a desire to get PBO out.
I think this is a really important point. Positive energy brings life. Negative energy suck life out of anything – feeds off its host.
Wanna bet the”exhaustion” excuse is not true? Fear or screaming pissed-off people… yes THAT rings true. Before going to Florida, Romney will first carpet-bomb the state with deceitful ads saying he’s the one who’ll save Medicare while President Obama is the one who’ll throw granny under the bus.
The good news is that the Obama campaign is very well aware of Romney’s modus operandi. The concern is that Romney has a $$$ advantage ( SuperPACS) in the very expensive media market of Florida. No question the Obama campaign has worked like crazy to find the best strategy to counter that advantage.
I suspect Joe Biden and Bill Clinton will be spending a lot of time in Florida…
Don’t forget – we’ve got Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Florida – and she’s got deep roots in the communities. As useless as Alan Grayson was, he was good at talking – and he’s in Florida. Democrats might have thrown Meeks under the bus in 2010, but I think he’s still out there with his contacts. I don’t hold out much hope that Charlie Christ will help spread the message, but who knows (the guy who Democrats rallied behind as though he’d be anything but a blue dog, at best)? Who do the GOP have in Florida – Allen West and his conspiracy theories?
Florida is definitely in play.
Still on a high from my kickass local news team!!!!
I just love all these Billionaires on Tv, saying we have to get rid of Medicate and Medicaid and Social security! This is a sad Day on America, that the Punditry gives billionaires, a premium say on Social Safety nets. Sad Day indeed.
If that don’t beat all!
who is jodi kantor ? why should we care what she tweets?
Apparently, she is best friends with Michelle! NOT!
what ? MO’s best friend?
Her tweets were immediately picked up by the Romney campaign AND Drudge and other RW outfits. I’m glad that there was some serious Twitter push-back on her nonsense, which made her look stupid as she tried to “clarify” and retract some of her catty, juvenile comments.
jodi wrote a book about the Obamas thinking and used her own prejudices to judge and preclude what the Obama’s even think. She went on the book tours as if she was their best friend. (In her head only.)
Perfect description: “willful gullibility of the beltway media”, how they have inserted Ryan into their political play, where he is playing the role of a “thoughtful, serious, conservative wonk. In reality, Ryan is nothing like this; he’s a hard-core conservative with a voting record as far right as Michele Bachman’s……”
WARNING – This link goes back to DKos, but it shows quite a few Florida headlines that are waring about Ryan
Yes, I read it over at Old Orange. The Floridian local press is not sugar-coating Mr. Ryan. Many of them who are thinking of retiring soon or who have elderly relatives are going to be personally affected if the Ryan plan is enacted.
I love it that the third rate media is hyping the voucher boy over mittbot, who must be seething. mccain redux.
ROMNEY HAS BECOME THE RUNNING MATE. HE IS HANGING ON BY RYAN’S COATTAILS
I mean really, who is the presidential candidate?? Mitt Romney has become the running mate. It’s really pathetic. The presidential candidate is running on the VP candidates budget and agenda. Romney is being completely overshadowed by severely overrated Paul Ryan who is best known for his draconian budget, P90X and his devotion to controversial philosopher/atheist/writer Ayn Rand. He signed the Grover Norquist no tax pledge (just like Romney). He has a dismal voting record. He is responsible for passing only TWO BILLS into law in over a decade. He has no foreign policy experience. He has no business experience which Mitt Romney says is a requirement for running for president. He was in a leadership role in the DO NOTHING CONGRESS. And the most outrageous thing of all is that he was at the “TREASON MEETING” on the day President Obama was inaugurated. It should disqualify him. He can’t un-ring that bell.
I have never seen a more inept and cobbled together campaign in my life. It just looks like they are making it up as they go along. It’s nothing but constant lying and blaming President Obama for everything while providing no specifics about what they would do. They are just talking loud and saying nothing. The very idea that they are “relaunching” their campaign two and a half months before the election tells you everything you need to know.
Thanks HF2.
A man was on a walking holiday in Ireland. He became thirsty so decided to ask at a home for something to drink. The lady of the house invited him in and served him a bowl of soup by the fire. There was a wee pig running around the kitchen, running up to the visitor and giving him a great deal of attention. The visitor commented that he had never seen a pig this friendly. The housewife replied: “Ah, he’s not that friendly. That’s his bowl you’re using.”
irish wimmin/smh
LOL! The bigger question is, why would you offer a thirsty person hot soup? Sounds like something Willard would do.
What can I say ? “Irish” wimmin….
Someone needs to take a look at Ryan’s stock dealings at the time this happened…What did he buy…what did he sell ?
Well we know he used insider trading in congress…quite a few of them did
Here’s your answer, Linda:) http://www.the-richmonder.com/2012/08/paul-ryan-traded-on-insider-information.html
t should probably come as no surprise to anyone that someone like Paul Ryan would trade on inside information gained through his position as a congressman to line his pockets, but this particular instance is especially egregious. Ryan attended a closed meeting with congressional leaders, Bush’s Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on September 18, 2008. The purpose of the meeting was to disclose the coming economic meltdown and beg Congress to pass legislation to help collapsing banks.
Instead of doing anything to help, Ryan left the meeting and on that very same day Paul Ryan sold shares of stock he owned in several troubled banks and reinvested the proceeds in Goldman Sachs, a bank that the meeting had disclosed was not in trouble. This is the guy Republicans want one heartbeat away from the presidency?
Hiya everyone, I’ll be back on my teeny plane in a couple of hours, heading for home. I’ve scheduled a ‘heads up’ for PBO’s 12:25 speech, so hopefully it’ll work. See ya later, and behave – especially you amk.
Be safe!
Mom’s out the door! Partaayyyyyyy!!!!!!!!
Who ordered pizza?
What !!! I ordered only a kegger !
You go ahead chips and flirt with that pilot boy. I’ll take care of these peeps. Cross my heart.
Up and at ‘em all my O peeps!!! This is a great getting up day for the TOD team. I’m enjoying the Ryan addition to the dialog. The spin will make a person dizzy,, but somebody had to be pretty dizzy to pick him in the first place. I won’t get into who is the worse media pundit for our side, but there’s one on now who’s doing a great job pushing back on Jindal and his talking points. Up next, Robert Gibbs Btw, he did the same pushback on a certain morning show host when the talking points started up again. .
My political take today is did Rmoney ever stop to consider that he’s one unfortunate international conflict or issue away from being completely forgotten about, should something happen before the election? Neither of them has one iota foreign experience, except Mitts stay in Paris during the Viet Nam war. Ryan, I think the farthest he’s been from Wisconsin happened Sunday morning when he traveled to Virginia. Prior to that it was DC.
I heard Ryan’s supporter on MTP say he had taken several trips abroad as a Congressman. Wondered if that was true or another lie? Thought the committee members in the Senate were the ones taking those trips that were involved with foreign policies. Anyway to look up how many trips Ryan took, when they were taken, and representing which committees? Maybe someone on here could do that or give me clues on where to go to find this info?
I proudly link to dKos when it’s a Jill Klausen diary, of the Winning Words Project:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/13/1119570/-Paul-Ryan-says-you-did-build-it-Well-the-government-built-Paul-Ryan
Ah, that was informative, I tweeted, therefore I thank you 57!
Jill is absolutely fantastic, with powerful messages and frames that are easy to incorporate. The campaign should hire her, IMO. If you get a chance, go over her past posts — they are a treasure trove of good messaging.
Oh thank you, will do….after this Garden Walk of mine on Saturday, I am going to read up on all.
Two quick thoughts, as I have had more time to digest the Ryan pick.
The first is that I think, in some ways, this was a smart pick by Romney. (Hold your horses, I am not really complimenting Romney as you will see).
In the past week, it is obvious that Romney was going to try to start pivoting toward the middle to get more moderate and independent voters. The reaction from the Right, however, was enough to cause some real concern in the Romney camp. They, I am sure, found out that the base may not all be willing to crawl through a field of broken glass just to vote out the black man in the WH. Yet at the same time, they also knew that the base alone would not be enough to win the election.
Bingo, as a rather significant nod to the base, Ryan is picked. I am sure that Romney now felt it would be safer to make those moves to bring moderates on board. After all, he could say “reasonable” things and give a nod to the base and send the message, don’t worry, Ryan is where my real heart is.
Not a bad plan, and probably the best of all possible alternatives. In fact, almost immediately he tried to distance himself from the Ryan budget plan, only to find out nobody was going to let him do so. He keeps forgetting that in this day and age, if you say something, it is on record, and almost immediately, videos of him endorsing the Ryan budget were out there. Like I said, a smart move in that it was the best he could do to try to satisfy the base while still moving toward the center.
It doesn’t look like it is going to work and it is our job to make sure it doesn’t.
Second thought. I am hearing a lot of the Ryan/Romney or Romney/Ryan (the first is the better way to put it) economic plans. What we need to do is go from the RR approach to the RRR approach. Ryan/Romney/Republican plan. We have to tie this around not just Romney’s neck but every Republican candidate’s neck as well.
I Republican district in NY was won by a Dem simply because she pushed the Ryan budget onto her opponent and it worked. We need to do the same in every district.
I think the internals were way softer than anyone realized. I think Romney stood a chance of some Repubs actually staying home (although I still see Repubs as motivated voters, especially to turn out the black guy. The reason this country is in such a mess is because about 1/4 of eligible voters have been deciding who runs the country for the last 30 years.
However, I really think the support for Romney was really soft.
They are going to twist and abandon truth like we’ve never seen.
You’re giving way too much credit for mittbot’s political acumen. It was a panic pick.
As for r/r/r stratergy, PBO has already started doing it.
BREAKING: USA Gallup poll most Americans rate the Ryan picks as poor choice!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/13/1119585/-Breaking-USAToday-Gallup-Americans-Believe-Ryan-is-a-Poor-Choice-Only-Dan-Quayle-Lower
Can the Romney pollster turn around that poll via the writeup
“Romney pollster Neil Newhouse said in a statement that the findings reflect the fact that Ryan, a House member since 1999, isn’t widely known.” – hahaha – they didn’t like the pick because the don’t know him – could it be because they don’t like him or his policy?
And USA Today is red state America’s paper of choice. If this were a NYT poll, they’d be able to brush it off with a “liberal bias” charge. But not USA Today. The “Nascar dads” read USA Today. This is really bad news. I love it.
The saddest part of that post is that the poll questioned all adults, not just registered voters. Why aren’t all adults registered voters? If this country leads the world, then every adult should be responsible for the decisions that are made here. It’s a shame more people don’t take that responsibility more seriously.
Safe ride, Chips!!
Gibbs did a good job on chuck toads show!
Called Robney a Liar! LOL! Well, the Cat is out of the bag.
I posted this amazing video late last night. I hope that all of you take the time to watch it…you will not be sorry you did:)
I love this, thank you for posting. I am going to tweet this to Gabby .
Thanks,edwina:)
FACTS ARE STUBBORN THINGS.
This is an absolutely brutal tweet. It just makes Paul Ryan look so small and insignificant using the facts. More of this please.
DO NOT LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THIS CRAP!!
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/08/13/680461/romney-claims-obama-robbed-medicare-to-distract-from-gop-plan-to-end-medicare/
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are turning the GOP’s greatest political liability — a proposal to drastically restructure Medicare for seniors — into a sharp attack against President Obama, despite Republican efforts to cut more than a trillion from the program.
The $716 billion figure comes from the Congressional Budget Office’s latest estimate of the Republican proposal to repeal the law, though the office doesn’t back up the charge that Obama stole the money from the current Medicare budget. Rather, the savings slow the growth of Medicare over the next decade: eliminate overpayments to private insurers, reform provider payments to encourage greater efficiency, tie reimbursements to improvements in economic productivity, and reduce fraud and abuse.
As a result, “growth in spending will be restrained” and the life of the Medicare trust fund is expanded by eight years, the government estimates. Sixteen million seniors are also benefiting from the savings by receiving preventive benefits without deductibles or co-pays and saving more than $3.9 billion on prescription drugs.
The Ryan-backed GOP budet maintains these cuts, but rather than using them to improve the Medicare program, it applies the savings to pay for massive tax cuts.
After watching MTP last night I emailed the WH that I thought they needed to do a short explanatory ad explaining what the $700 B Romney talked about PBO taking from Medicare was used so the Srs will understand. A truthful comparison is needed.
Stephanie Miller just said that she heard Repugs have already given up & this Ryan pick is all about 2016…..did someone say Romeny cancelled FL today due to exhaustion? Where did I see that?
He had one rally today in Florida already. Another one scheduled for later this afternoon.
Yes, just saw that on twitter. Rumor.Sorry.
Ugh
uugghh, pig lady and pig man ?
Good gawd, that’s a mess. UGH.
Jim Lehrer Is Never going to be one of them. He has said so emphatically on C-SPAN with Brian Lamb in 2011. Bob Schieffer or Crowley, I kind of doubt.
Bob Schieffer???? After he was joined at the tonsils with Romney/Ryan on the 60 Minutes love fest??
1st Debate-Oct 3 with PBS’ Lehrer at U of Denver
2nd Debate-Oct. 11 VP/foreign with ABC’s Raddatz at Danville, KY
3rd Debate- Oct. 16th with CNN’s Crowley at Hofstra U, NY
4th Debate-Oct 22 with CBS’ Schieffer at Boca Raton, FL
I put up a 10,000 dollar bet at BJ that mittbot sez “fuck you peons, I quit” before the coronation. Any TOD takers on that?
You heard it here first.
Well, not here, at BJ first.
That is what my Mom says. I tell Her, but Mom, the Mormons are coming out of the woodwork to donate to Him. He is steadily outraising the President, as a result of. Otherwise, I would say yes.
Listen to your mom jovie. Always.
Wrong Tweet. Pres Obama finds $700B in medicare saving. Then the rest. Ryan was piggybacking on the $700B find then using the funds for tax cuts.
“We need an approach to ethics which makes no recourse to religion and be equally acceptable to those with faith and those without.” ~ HHDL
13 August 2012. @DalaiLama
“can be equally acceptable”
On this site many talk about changing the news cycle. Why are we helping them? We know why the media is orgasmic about Ryan. They want to change the topic and try to stop the Romney meltdown. Let Us not go there. Every tweet and e-mail shout have where are the tax returns. Ryan was part of the 20 for a coup ‘d tat against pres Obama on Jan 20, 2009. Then the debt ceiling. Dems issues must always be part of the tweets. CNN and Fox wanted a different narrative. The Olympics were dominating. They decided to make and change the story.
Great. Thanks.
I agree. The taxes need to remain front and center.
I see your point. However it’s unavoidable that the pick of the VP candidate dominates the news cycle for some time.
What makes it challenging is that the Beltway have been infatuated with Ryan for YEARS. Palin was “exciting” for the media but they didn’t respect her. Ryan is another story.
I know the MSM is losing influence. However, we can’t deny that the narratives they create still permeate the national consciousness to a certain degree, and that makes things a bit harder for canvassers in the field: they have to constantly debunk the nonsense.
That’s why I would LOVE to see some policy wonks like Jack Lew, Austan Goldsbee make the rounds on the national political shows. President Obama and all democrats are going to work more on the emotional level and emphasize “the choice” . But non-politicians like Lew and Goldsbee could be very effective at attacking the CREDIBILITY of Paul Ryan as a guy who’s good on numbers. Ryan’s math DOESN’T add up. Some of his premises are pure FANTASY.
Krugman has already begun talking. But we need others. I mention Lew and Goldsbee because I just love them. I prefer them to Krugman as spokesmen for democrats. You know why? Because they just look like your neighbor, or your accountant. They don’t look hyper partisan; they just ooze sincerity and competence. They are the best people IMO who could “re-educate” the pundit class. Or at least seed some doubt in the Village about Ryan’s competence in economics.
I don’t think the tax issue goes away. As soon as the newness of the Ryan pick wears off (it had to be covered), the tax thing will come back up. There were too many internals that showed it was working. The PBO team are very tactical, they don’t waste efforts. They’re giving Mitt and the MSM the room and time to bask in his VP pick. No way anything was going to stay out front over the VP news. So stay tuned. After this week it’s going to be back to the tax thing. Only this time, PBO gets to tie Ryan’s plan which includes tax reform around the entire Mitt’s taxes.
http://thedailybanter.com/2012/08/memo-to-democrats-how-to-attack-paul-ryan/
We know for sure that Ryan will be an attack dog on the president’s record regarding the stimulus, government spending, the deficit and the debt. But as a member of the House, it’s extraordinarily difficult for him to justify the fact that part of his job — written into the Constitution, in fact — is to vote on appropriations (one of the reasons why hardly any members of the House are successful presidential candidates). So he has a considerable record of voting for legislation and policies that literally created the current deficit and debt.
TARP. Surely the Republicans will continue to demonize the “bailout” in 2008, otherwise known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008) and inexplicably blame it on the Democrats even though it was the Bush White House that proposed the bailout. Paul Ryan voted yes for the bill
AUTO BAILOUT Paul Ryan also voted for President Bush’s 2008 $14 billion bailout
THE 2008 BUSH STIMULUS. What the hell? You mean Bush passed a stimulus? Why, I thought “stimulus” was horrible trespass against conservatism! Oh, and Paul Ryan voted for that one, too.
MEDICARE PART-D. Ryan also voted for President Bush’s Medicare Part-D prescription drug program, which, like most of Bush’s policies, wasn’t paid for — the fiscally responsible thing to do. Instead, he voted for $16 trillion in unfunded spending added to the national debt.
THE IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN WARS. Yes, Paul Ryan voted for both wars and all of the various supplemental spending bills along the way. At least $1.5 trillion in deficit spending without any budget offset or pay-as-you-go legislation that ultimately accounts for around 10 percent of our long-term national debt. Paul Ryan voted yes all along the way.
THE BUSH TAX CUTS. And of course Paul Ryan voted for the Bush tax cuts. As of last year, the tax cuts for the wealthiest five percent of Americans cost the government $1,034,424,338,581 in revenue, thus significantly contributing to deficit and the debt.
Everything here, minus President Obama’s stimulus, has contributed to most of the current deficit and national debt. And regarding the president’s stimulus package, Paul Ryan voted against it, and yet by every economic indicator (short of the slow-to-recover unemployment rate) it absolutely worked. GDP, job creation, the stock market, housing and so forth have all rebounded as a direct result of the economic recovery sparked by the stimulus.
HE NEEDS TO OWN ALL OF THIS!!!
Thanks DF, I’ll send this to the Truth Team asap.
Thanks!
Thanks for putting all in there DF – you are the best!
Me thinks, MSNBainC has hired every single black Republican, in the Country, to be on their Network.
I said as much yesterday when I posted the 14 Points of Fascism….Need to read
http://www.thepragmaticpundit.com/2012/08/if-obama-is-socialist-romney-is-fascist.html
Oh, so that’s you, impressive…DF!
Myth is not the nominee yet. In the shit fight which is to be called the GOP convention, I anticipate all kinds of unhappy surprises for the whole lot of them.
Nah. Methinks the Ryan choice was meant in part to tamp down any drama at the convention.
However, who is going to watch this convention? Ryan will be scrutinized completely by then, there are no surprises. The only suspense is whether Willard can get up the stairs without tripping and deliver a speech without insulting all kinds of people.
Happening Now – President Obama departs Chicago en route Nebraska: http://www.cbsnews.com/liveFeed/widget.shtml
Ryan tears up at Wisconsin rally: ‘My veins run with cheese’
True meaning: “my brains are like moldy cheese”.
The Romney Budget is Even More Radical Than the Ryan Budget
Jonathan Cohn
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Romney has endorsed all of those things—and not just by implication. He’s called for turning Medicare into a voucher system, although he’d theoretically preserve the government-run plan for people who want it. He’s said he would turn Medicaid into a block grant. And he’s called for a tax cut that, according to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, would raise taxes on the middle class even as it reduces taxes on the wealthy—at least if Romney is serious about making his tax plan revenue-neutral.
Romney’s failure to provide actual budget numbers on these proposals has made it difficult to evaluate them individually—and, I’m sure, it’s spared him some of the scrutiny he’d otherwise get. But Romney made one other promise that ought to make very clear what his plans would entail. He’s called for capping federal spending at 20 percent of gross domestic product, while setting aside 4 percent of gross domestic product for defense spending.
Have I become obsessed with this spending cap? Yes I have. And for good reason.
————————————–
http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/106063/romney-disown-ryan-budget-20-percent-spending-cap
Joe Biden vs. Paul Ryan: Smart vs. Dumb Visions for America
A lightbulb just went off in my head as I have not read your clip yet it maybe in it already, but these two could be the 2016 Presidential cndidates.
I hate looking at Herman and Eddie.
Romney actually looks like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz to me. Ryan does look like Eddie Munster though.
#ADollarADayToOFA
ROTFLMAO! So all “teh Blacks” will just come running to Paul with open arms!!!!
…but did he ever date a ‘blah’ person? In what context did that even come up? Did he say, ‘ummm, not to change the subject, but I see black people.’
Some of my best friends were/are……..
I wonder how the his GOP base in the south will feel about his college sweetheart…..
I used to date a Black! I’m not even Black and it is so insulting to me.
POTUS is speaking to NASA now!
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
PBO right now live talking to the NASA folks congratulating them on Curiosity’s Mars landing.
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
Conservative Star’s Small-Town Roots (New York Times – Politics section re: Paul Ryan )
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/us/politics/family-faith-and-politics-describe-life-of-paul-ryan.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1
For once, reading the comments is a joy!!! These New York Times readers are NOT having it!!!
You can follow bus tour on twitter at #baracksbus
photo/1
THE GO BACK TEAM EMBRACES VOODOO ECONOMICS
Ryan’s Hope: Voodoo Economics Still Isn’t A Plan
Joe Conason
——————————————–
By naming Paul Ryan as the Republican vice presidential nominee, Mitt Romney has endorsed what used to be known as “voodoo economics” — and restored that special brand of Republican superstition to the center of national debate. To take Ryan seriously, as all too many pundits and politicians insist we must, requires everyone to behave as if the plans he produced as House Budget Committee chairman represent a meaningful effort to improve the nation’s fiscal future. Sooner or later, however, real analysts will scrutinize the Ryan budget using honest math instead of humbug and magic.
In fact they already have done so — and that is where the myth of Ryan as a serious, scrupulous, and bold reformer begins to disintegrate.
.
.
Voodoo economics, as the senior (and smarter) Bush so memorably termed this belief system, does not work. But Ryan evidently believes in it, because his budget depends heavily on that old voodoo to achieve balance. He claims that closing loopholes and reducing tax expenditures will cover the revenue losses
———————————————————-
http://www.nationalmemo.com/ryans-hope-voodoo-economics-still-isnt-a-plan/
Pres. Obama is such a science geek. He’s so fascinated by Curiosity Rover and Mars. He also told NASA that he’d like to get a Mohawk like one of the science guys who’s been getting marriage proposals on twitter but his team keeps discouraging him. He said he wants to be alerted if they find Martians; even if it’s just microbes. That he doesn’t care how busy he is; that announcement will move to the top of his pile.
The NASA scientists thanked him for calling, thanked him for his investments in science, and R&D and they all gave him a standing ovation.
It was so nice to watch.
When asked what legislation Ryan passed during his time in office under Bush, RNC vice chairman Spieser (sp) couldn’t think of one thing. Yet, he stated how innovative and strong Ryan is as a leader. Ryan was on the budget committee under Bush, and put 2 wars, medicare part D, and tax cuts to millionaires in Bush’s budgets. So, once again, what were they thinking? Ryan’s pick doesn’t help in the swing states, 3 of which have a majority elder population. All he does is excite the base who Mitt already had.
David Bender on Stephanie Miller is saying that David Gregory and Ryan were college basket ball play buddies. Now we know. Another reason why the Media is Not balanced.
And I am livid that Candy Crowley and Bob Schieffer as moderators of the debates? That is wrong in every level. In a nation of 313M, No Black, Brown, Yellow or Red pigmentation? Only White and Women? Issues affecting Voting, inequality in income, youth and truth would Never make it in the debates, again.
New $10 million ad buy by Willard super pac, Restore our Future, running anti-Obama ads on economy in 11 battleground states. Sigh.
http://globegazette.com/news/national/pro-romney-group-spends-m-on-new-ad-campaign/article_e28f5480-3647-5373-9a63-8bcebfdb7e0c.html
Crowd gathers in Council Bluffs
http://instagram.com/p/ORd9IoHMCC/
President on the View NOW.
Thanks for the information. It’s a rerun.
I realized it once I started watching, in fact I saw it the first time. But I enjoyed it again nonetheless.
Here’s Willard’s sparse crowd in Council Bluffs in June
http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/mitt.cb_.1.jpeg.jpg
Crowd lining up in Dubuque for tickies for the appearance by both Obamas on Wed.
photo/1
Like I just posted on twitter, the msm are no longer the gatekeepers and cannot change reality. All of that crap they’ve been spewing about Ryan being a game changer and a boost for Mitt? Not a single poll bears that out. The Ryan pick is polling even worse than Sarah Palin did in 08.
Hand wringing is no longer necessary. Even folks who only watch the news in passing can see it’s biased crap not at all tied to reality.
If by game change they mean crushes any hope of Romney moving to the center and potentially watching Seniors flee the Republican party in droves then yeah it’s a game changer.
President Obama arrives in Omaha: http://livewire.ketv.com/Event/President_Barack_Obama_makes_campaign_stop_in_Council_Bluffs
Thank you!
The BEAST Bus has arrived!! what a sleek sight.
Where are you seeing this my friend?
http://livewire.ketv.com/Event/President_Barack_Obama_makes_campaign_stop_in_Council_Bluffs
Thanks JER!
Other streams up:
http://www.cbsnews.com/liveFeed/widget.shtml; (sound and music playing here);
also: http://www.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=1