President Obama walks to the Oval Office upon his return from a trip to Michigan, December 10
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Hiya everyone, sorry for the lack of updates today, work has been marginally bonkers 
Hopefully it’ll debonkers itself soon.
Will try to catch up properly tomorrow.
So, how are ya all doing?
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ThinkProgress: The federal government’s ability to respond to natural disasters, like Hurricane Sandy currently bearing down on the East Coast, would be significantly hindered under a Romney-Ryan administration.
At least three times, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have publicly demanded that the federal government only disburse disaster relief funding if Congress agreed to offsetting budget cuts elsewhere. This would hold desperately-needed disaster relief funding hostage unless Congress agreed to cuts elsewhere in the budget, an extraordinarily difficult prospect even in normal circumstances.
More here
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Romney campaign heads explode:
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Rolling Stone (Thanks Collegekay)
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Michael Tomasky: F-You Dishonesty: Romney and Jeep
There’s basic dishonesty and then there’s f-you dishonesty – dishonesty so blatant, so consciously abusive of facts that everyone knows, that it deserves a category of its own. Kato Keilin: dishonesty. O.J.: f-you dishonesty.
Romney’s new ad about Jeeps and Italy is f-you dishonest….
Full post here
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Bill Keller (NYT): The No Agenda Myth…
…. With Obama, we can anticipate that the unfinished business of universal health care and the re-regulation of the Wall Street casino will be finished. We can expect investments in education, infrastructure and innovation, followed by a gradual, balanced attack on deficits that includes higher taxes on the wealthiest …. We can expect the Pentagon, after winding down two wars, to bank a peace dividend ….. The fact that these objectives represent a continuation of his first term does not mean he is aiming low. These are ambitious goals.
If Romney is elected…. we can fairly expect a rollback of universal health care in favor of the rough marketplace, and at least a partial dismantling of regulations on banks, extractive industries and whatever other industries squeal about job-killing red tape. We can expect a lowering of the safety net, especially a retrenchment of Medicaid and a marketization of Medicare. His deficit plan will rely on draconian spending cuts and on the supply-side superstition that tax cuts automatically produce growth …. You can expect another Scalia or two on the Supreme Court, the defunding of Planned Parenthood and a social agenda aimed at appeasing the evangelical base….
There’s more, but you get the idea. Two agendas; compare and contrast…..
Full article here
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Detroit News: Chrysler Group LLC reported a net profit of $381 million for the third quarter of 2012 on Monday, up 80 percent from the $212 million profit the company reported for the same period a year ago.
It was further proof that the Auburn Hills automaker’s recovery is continuing, and should help offset the losses that its Italian parent company, Fiat SpA, is expected to announce on Tuesday.
…. Monday’s results mark the third consecutive quarter of solid profitability for the company…
…. Since emerging from bankruptcy in 2009, Chrysler has not only returned to solid profitability, but also announced investments of more than $4.5 billion in the United States and Canada, repaid its government loans in full with interest six years ahead of schedule and launched 18 new or refreshed cars and trucks.
More here
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Orlando, October 28 (Scout Tufankjian for Obama for America)
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Michael Cohen (The Guardian): Two conventions, two Americas. Seldom has the divide been greater – Witnessing both conferences is to see anger from the Republicans and abiding hope from the Democrats
…. the philosophical and tonal divide between them has never felt broader. Quite simply, Democrats and Republicans operate in two completely distinct realms, one that is defined by an attachment to reality and one that is increasingly detached from it.
…. Republicans reside in a fantasy world where government plays no role but that of malevolence, where the free market is the salvation to all that ails this nation and where the country is locked in a Manichaean struggle between the forces of freedom and a failed, socialist interloper named Barack Obama.
…. For four decades, Republicans have relied on an undercurrent of white resentment toward social and economic change to maintain their pre-eminence in national politics. But with an African-American president and the country moving closer to “minority-majority” status, that dominance is slipping away and it feeds the sense of anger and desperation they tried to keep hidden in Tampa, but that all too often crept to the surface….
…. the contrast between the hues in Charlotte and Tampa was remarkable. The Democratic party is a party that looks like the palette of the American experience, not just in skin colour, but in class level. The Republican party (the one in the Tampa convention hall) is one that looks like Sunday brunch at a country club.
Full article here
Thanks Ladyhawke and amk
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President Obama’s introduction at The Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida, Sept 9
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Genius:
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AP: Ford is adding 1,200 workers to a suburban Detroit factory to build the Fusion, a sign of confidence that the revamped sedan will be a big seller.
Ford Americas President Mark Fields told workers at the Flat Rock plant Monday that the Fusion’s market segment is growing two times faster than the rest of the U.S. auto industry. The new Fusion goes on sale this fall.
…. Ford will hire the 1,200 new workers starting next spring. It will also invest $555 million in new equipment at the plant.
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President Obama demonstrates size of bounce received by Romney after Republican convention:
Florida, Sept. 9
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R.E.M.‘s “Losing My Religion” was used in the Fox News coverage of the Democratic National Convention last night. R.E.M. today, through its music publisher, Warner-Tamerlane Music, demanded that Fox News cease and desist from continuing its unlicensed and unauthorized use of the song. Michael Stipe said, “We have little or no respect for their puff adder brand of reportage. Our music does not belong there.”
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Steve Kornacki (Salon): Barack Obama is winning …and he has been pretty much all year
The final evidence isn’t in yet, but there are strong indicators that Barack Obama received a real boost from the Democratic convention – bigger than the paltry bump Mitt Romney got out of his party’s gathering and potentially big enough to push Obama’s national lead to heights not seen since Romney emerged from the GOP primaries back in the spring.
Gallup’s daily trendline, which remained flat during and immediately after the Republican convention, has spiked in Obama’s favor over the last few days; as of Sunday afternoon, his lead was five points. He’s also pulled a few points ahead in Rasmussen’s daily poll, which has tended to be more Romney-friendly than other surveys, grabbed a four-point lead in a Reuters/Ipsos poll, and seen his job approval rating crack the 50 percent mark. A PPP poll released Sunday night also showed Obama hitting 50 percent in Ohio…..
The movement in Obama’s direction reinforces a point that many neutral campaign observers have been reluctant to make for months now: The presidential race is not, and has not been, a virtual tie – Obama is, and has been, winning.
More here
Thanks BWD
LA Times: Consumers bought cars at a steady pace in August as the automobile industry continued to help anchor the U.S. economy.
“August continues this summer’s trend of healthy growth,” said John Humphrey, senior vice president of global automotive operations at J.D. Power and Associates.
…. General Motors Co. said its U.S. sales rose 10% to 240,520 in August compared with the same month a year earlier.
Ford Motor Co. reported that sales increased 13% to 197,249 vehicles as shoppers gravitated to smaller cars.
…. Chrysler Group said its sales rose 14% to 148,472 vehicles compared with the same month a year earlier. It was the automaker’s best August sales since 2007.
More here
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LA Times: Nationwide home prices shot up 3.8% in July, making their largest year-over-year leap since 2006…. The gain marks the fifth straight rise in the gauge, part of a positive swing following a year and a half of slumps. The last time prices rose so much was in August 2006, when they jumped 4.1%.
Prices in California bounded up 4.4%. Without distressed sales – including foreclosures and short sales – national prices were up 4.3% compared with last July.
The report, coming as a glut of house-hunters clamor after a shrinking inventory, suggests that the real estate market is “clearly seeing the light at the end of a very long tunnel,” said CoreLogic Chief Executive Anand Nallathambi in a statement.
More here
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President Barack Obama talks with Senior Advisor David Plouffe on Air Force One during the flight to Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 21, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
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The First Lady is speaking now in Florida (5:50 ET):
SacBee: General Motors Co. says its U.S. sales rose 11 percent in May on strong sales of trucks and the new, pint-size Chevrolet Sonic.
GM sold 245,256 cars and trucks in May, its highest monthly total since the Cash for Clunkers deal in August 2009.
Sales of small cars rose 16 percent compared with last May thanks to the Sonic subcompact. Buick sales rose 19 percent due to demand for the new Verano small car.
Pickup truck sales were also strong as construction activity picks up. Chevrolet Silverado sales rose 22 percent.
Obama campaign co-chair and ex-Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland:
“Today’s report that the auto industry is surging ahead is good news for our state and the 1 in 8 Ohioans who depend on the auto industry for their livelihood. Despite what the polls, pundits, and prominent Republicans like Mitt Romney said, President Obama bet on the American worker to spur the comeback of the American auto industry. Now, we have a critical choice in this election between President Obama, who is fighting for us and working to create an economy built to last, and Mitt Romney who would have ‘Let Detroit go bankrupt,’ with devastating consequences for Ohio.”
