cal04
cal04's JournalSeinfeld actor stumps for his 'man-crush' as early voting begins in Iowa
- A pizzeria in this small city west of Des Moines was the setting for a celebrity visit Thursday from an actor once famous for talking about nothing.
But these days, Jason Alexander -- who played George Costanza on the TV series "Seinfeld" -- is a surrogate for Barack Obama, and he insists he has a lot on his mind.
"I am hardcore middle class. And I stepped in a puddle. And that puddle was called, 'Seinfeld,'" Alexander told about 50 Obama supporters. He said the job put him in the upper echelons of society.
(snip)
Alexander told the crowd he has a "man crush" on Obama, who he said he has met several times.
http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/27/14129180-seinfeld-actor-stumps-for-his-man-crush-as-early-voting-begins-in-iowa
Planned Parenthood hits Romney in Virginia mailboxes
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/27/planned-parenthood-hits-romney-in-virginia-mailboxes/Swing state television airwaves are already saturated with ads, and now - with early voting soon to be underway in several states - mailboxes are starting to fill up as well.
Voters in Virginia this week received a glossy mailer from Planned Parenthood Action Fund warning that Republican nominee Mitt Romney would "turn back the clock" for women if elected.
The two-sided mail piece portrays Romney inside a primitive 1950s-looking television set and highlights his proposal to eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood and his support for overturning Roe vs. Wade.
"Mitt Romney would go too far and interfere in a woman's personal medical decisions," reads the mailer, provided to CNN by a voter in the Richmond area who received it.
DSCC Chair: Akin’s ‘Ladylike’ Jab ‘Demeaning To Women’ (Patty Murray)
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/dscc-chair-akins-ladylike-jab-demeaning-to-womenSen. Patty Murray (D-WA) called Todd Akin's latest controversial statement, in which he said his opponent Claire McCaskill did not act "ladlylike" in their last debate, was "demeaning to women and offensive to all."
"Todd Akin is at it again with another comment that's demeaning to women and offensive to all. What's truly astonishing is that the national party embraced Todd Akin yesterday and now refuses to repudiate his statement," Murray, who chairs the DSCC, said. "Unless the national party condemns Todd Akin and his latest comments, every Republican candidate in the country will be held accountable for their support of Akin's beliefs and sentiments."
The NRSC, which signaled it could return to Missouri to help Akin, declined to comment on Akin's "ladylike" line Thursday.
Report: George Soros Donates $1 Million To Democratic Super PAC
Source: TPM
Billionaire financier George Soros is donating $1 million to Priorities USA, a super PAC supporting President Obama's re-election, according to the New York Times. He plans on giving another $500,000 to Democratic super PACs aimed at winning House and Senate races. Previously Soros had indicated he planned to remain on the sidelines in 2012 when it came to funding partisan groups.
Read more: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/report-george-soros-donates-1-million-to-democratic
Soros Gives $1 Million to Democratic ‘Super PAC’
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/soros-gives-1-million-to-democratic-super-pac/
The billionaire George Soros is committing $1 million to Priorities USA Action, the “super PAC” supporting President Obama, two people with knowledge of the decision said Thursday, a significant donation that could help spur further contributions to the group in the closing weeks of the election.
A longtime political adviser to Mr. Soros, Michael Vachon, made the announcement at a luncheon on Thursday hosted by the Democracy Alliance, a group of liberal donors who have already invested heavily in building grassroots organizations and research institutes. Mr. Soros will also give an additional $500,000 to two super PACs backing congressional Democrats. Other donors at the lunch were expected to commit between at least $10 million more to Democratic super PACs, suggesting that many — like Mr. Soros — had overcome their aversion to the purely advertising-oriented super PACs.
The luncheon, which was headlined by former President Bill Clinton, suggested a rapprochement of sorts between progressive donors who have traditionally favored movement-building and Democratic strategists who badly want large checks to finance the party’s emerging super PAC apparatus, which only in recent months have begun to draw significant financial support, much of it from traditional party sources like Hollywood, trial lawyers, and unions.
Patty Murray On NRSC’s Todd Akin Change Of Heart: ‘Absolutely Shameful’
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/patty-murray-on-nrscs-todd-akin-change-of(snip)
“The statement by national Republicans in support of Todd Akin is absolutely shameful. All Republican candidates across the country are now going to have to answer for their party's support of Akin.”
“Their decision to support Akin should leave zero doubt in anyone’s mind that the Republican Party and the candidates they support are downright dangerous for women.”
“I expected more, but sadly, Todd Akin represents the official position of the Republican Party. All Republican Senate candidates support a Republican agenda that would pose a serious threat to women and inflict Todd Akin’s extreme views on our country.”
American Crossroads On MO-SEN: ‘Nothing Has Changed’
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/american-crossroads-on-mo-sen-nothing-has-changed
American Crossroads, the super PAC that pulled out of the Missouri Senate race after Todd Akin's "legitmate rape" comments along with the NRSC and other groups, did not jump back on the Akin bandwagon Wednesday in the wake of the NRSC signalling a change of heart.
Poll: Chris Murphy Up 6 Points In Connecticut Senate Race
Democratic Rep. Chris Murphy is pulling ahead of Republican nominee and former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon in the Connecticut Senate race.
Murphy leads 48 percent to 42 percent, in a survey released Wednesday from Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling. The survey of 801 likely voters was conducted Sept. 24-26, and has a 3.5 percent margin of error.
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_CT_9261.pdf
Both candidates are unpopular in the poll, with Murphy's favorable rating at 36 percent and an unfavorable rating of 44 percent, and McMahon also underwater at 42 percent favorable to 49 percent unfavorable. In addition, McMahon's company WWE is at only 17 percent favorable, with 51 percent unfavorable.
The PollTracker Average shows Murphy ahead, 44.3 percent to 39 percent.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/poll-chris-murphy-up-6-points-in-connecticut
PPP: Chris Murphy widens lead in Connecticut Senate race
by Joan McCarter
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/26/1136761/-PPP-Chris-Murphy-widens-lead-in-Connecticut-Senate-race
(snip)
PPP's newest poll of the Connecticut Senate race finds Democrat Chris Murphy expanding his lead to 6 points over Republican foe Linda McMahon, 48-42. Last month he led 48-44. [...]
The key question we asked on this poll was probably whether people wanted Democrats or Republicans in control of the Senate, and by a 50/38 margin folks say they want the Democrats in charge. That reality should help Murphy along as well.
Goal ThermometerMcMahon actually leads the race with independents, 51-38. Her problem is that 20% of Republicans are supporting Murphy over her, similar to what we found her losing to Richard Blumenthal in 2010. You simply can't win as a Republican in Connecticut without holding your party base in line to a greater extent than that, but many GOP voters continue to find her unacceptable.
There's a huge gender gap on the race with Murphy leading 54-35 with women, while McMahon has a 49-41 advantage with men.
Romney’s Tax Rate Lower Than Any President’s Since Nixon
Mitt Romney is worth double the sum of the last eight presidents’ wealth, but he has paid one of the lowest tax rates. According to CNN Money, only President Richard Nixon paid a lower tax rate, at 6.1 percent, in the last 40 years.
http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/26/news/economy/romney-tax-rate/?source=cnn_bin
The chart below compares Romney’s relatively low tax rate to recent presidents including Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, who each paid above 20 percent:
Since much of Romney’s income comes from investments, the low 15 percent capital gains tax rate saved him $1.2 million in taxes in the last year. Romney’s tax return dump on Friday confirmed that his 14.1 percent tax rate is lower than than many middle class Americans’ tax rates.
The precedent for presidential candidates to release their tax returns began after Nixon drew fire for paying a mere 0.3 percent tax rate from 1970 to 1972. Nixon’s tax avoidance became a point for controversy in his administration, since Nixon took “extremely aggressive efforts at keeping it low,” particularly, a charitable deduction for donating his vice presidential papers.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/09/26/910391/romneys-141-tax-rate-is-lower-than-any-presidents-since-nixon/
CNNMoney Romney's tax rate would be lowest since Nixon
http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/26/news/economy/romney-tax-rate/?source=cnn_bin
WHO PAID LESS IN TAXES
One president in the past 40 years had a lower effective tax rate than Mitt Romney. Nixon.
http://money.cnn.com/
Warren Ad: Scott Brown ‘Attacking My Family’ On Native American Claims
&feature=player_embeddedElizabeth Warren fires back at Scott Brown's attack on her claims of Native American ancestry, in a new TV ad in the Massachusetts Senate race. Earlier Monday, the Brown campaign released an ad that questioned Warren's honesty, and whether she would have gotten any job based on the claim.
"As a kid, I never asked my mom for documentation when she talked about our Native American heritage. What kid would?" Warren says to the camera. "But I knew my father's family didn't like that she was part Cherokee and part Delaware — so my parents had to elope."
"Let me be clear, I never asked for, never got any benefit, because of my heritage. The people who hired me have all said they didn't even know about it. I'm Elizabeth Warren, I approve this message. Scott Brown can continue attacking my family — but I"m gonna keep fighting for yours."
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/warren-ad-scott-brown-attacking-my-family-on
47 Percenter Single Mom: 'Who Wants To Be Poor?'
Gracie Fowler didn't earn enough money to pay income taxes last year. She won't make enough this year, either, and has turned to Medicaid to make sure her two small children have access to health care.
Despite what Mitt Romney seems to believe, she's not content to go on being one of the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay federal income taxes.
"Who wants to be poor? Half of Americans? What an ugly, ugly statement about Americans," said Fowler, a 35-year-old single mother who lives in Orlando, Fla. "Being poor has never been the place you want to be."
(snip)
"You just said about Americans that half of us are cool with feeling like we need a handout, we need to be babied?" said Fowler. "That's what you think of us? Us hard workers, us college-educated, us non-criminals, us parents, us workers?"
(snip)
"You jerk. My children are entitled to health care. They're humans," she said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/24/47-percenter-single-mom_n_1909722.html
video at link
Gracie Fowler of Orlando, Fla., is one of Mitt Romney's 47 percent and has enrolled her children in Medicaid.
Elizabeth Warren Explains: ‘No, Governor Romney, Corporations Are Not People’
&feature=player_embeddedElizabeth Warren, the Democratic senate candidate in Massacusetts, drew roaring cheers, applause, and even tears tonght at the Democratic Convention when she laid out the differences between corporations and people. Knocking Romney for his infamous line “corporations are people, my friend,” Warren illustrated the stark divides — “People have hearts,” she said:
After all, Mitt Romney’s the guy who said corporations are people. No, Governor Romney, corporations are not people. People have hearts. They have kids. They get jobs. They get sick. They thrive. They dance. They live. They love. And they die. And that matters. That matters. That matters because we don’t run this country for corporations, we run it for people.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/09/05/803891/elizabeth-warren-corporations-people/
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