kpete

kpete's Journal

May 29, 2012

Mitt: I don't agree with all the racists who support me but I need to get 50.1%

Asked on his charter plane whether Trump’s questioning of President Barack Obama’s birthplace gave him pause, Romney simply said he was grateful for all his supporters.

“You know, I don't agree with all the people who support me and my guess is they don't all agree with everything I believe in,” Romney said. “But I need to get 50.1% or more and I'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people.”

http://www.wcvb.com/news/politics/Romney-doesn-t-shy-away-from-birther-Trump/-/9848766/14245986/-/13yq4ax/-/index.html
via:
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/5/29/104016/243

May 29, 2012

Obama has big edge in California, poll shows (56% to 37%)

Source: Los Angeles Times

Obama has big edge in California, poll shows
Women, independents, moderates and Latinos all favor the president by huge margins over Republican Mitt Romney, whose supporters mostly say they want only to unseat the president.

The potent mix of voters that has powered Democratic presidential victories in California for a generation overwhelmingly supports President Obama's bid for reelection, forming a demographic wall blocking Republican Mitt Romney from the biggest pot of electoral votes available in November.

By huge margins, women, independents, moderates and Latinos are arrayed against the presumptive Republican nominee, according to a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll of registered voters that found Obama leading overall 56% to 37%.

Although Romney has made up ground nationally since the primary season essentially ended in April, he has not improved his standing in California against Obama. The presidential race has been frozen in polls dating to last year, with Romney's California support substantially below Obama's among the vast majority of voter groups. Obama was winning at least 6 of every 10 women and moderates, and three-quarters of Latino voters.

Moreover, Obama's voters were mobilized by support for him — unlike many of Romney's voters. Less than half of Romney backers said they were casting a ballot in order to vote for him, while the majority was doing so to vote against Obama. Among Obama voters, 83% were voting for the president, and 15% were motivated by disdain for Romney.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-poll-presidential-20120529,0,648534.story

May 29, 2012

Bombshell: Japan PM says Japan under nuke dictatorship

Truthleak: Japanese ex-PM says nuclear industry is corrupt, dictatorial. A case history on the functioning of propaganda

Posted by Charles II on May 29, 2012

The former Prime Minister of Japan, Naoto Kan, has given striking testimony to Parliament, in which he accepted blame for his own poor response during the Fukushima meltdown, but also attempted to obtain some degree of absolution because of the degree of corruption of the nuclear industry. He also urged Parliament to abandon nuclear power. To my surprise, Voice of America had some of the best coverage, reporting that Kan said:

“TEPCO and the Electric Power Companies of Japan have dominated the nuclear power industry for the last 40 years. Through this nuclear clique and the rules they created, they expelled and isolated industry experts, politicians and bureaucrats who were critical, while the rest just looked on because of self-protection and an attitude of peace-at-any-cost. I’m saying this because I feel partly responsible.”
…
“This nuclear clique, which has been created by the vested interest, is similar to the former Imperial Japanese military. We have to totally destroy and eradicate the organizational structure of the vested interests and (the) influence it has on the public. I think this should be the first step in reforming the nuclear industry.”

http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2012/05/28/former-japanese-pm-tells-parliament-to-scrap-nuclear-power/

Comparing the nuclear industry to the Imperial Japanese military is to call that industry a fascist state.

And the biggest story is who is not covering it.

This is an excellent case history in propaganda. A propaganda system does not completely squelch stories. It is careful to tell only lies that are too big or unverifiable to be detected. Propaganda systems tell a portion of the truth, in such a way as to distort the meaning. And if one can find a portion of the information system where what they are covering up differs from what the rest of the system is covering up–like Der Spiegel’s reporting on an industry that has no political power in Germany–then occasionally the truth leaks out.

MORE:

http://phoenixwoman.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/truthleak-japanese-ex-pm-says-nuclear-industry-is-corrupt-dictatorial/
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/29/1095555/-Bombshell-Japan-PM-says-Japan-under-nuke-dictatorship

May 29, 2012

Romney HAS a post-Bain record. Let’s look at it. (Possible Criminal Quid Pro Quo?)

Romney HAS a post-Bain record. Let’s look at it. (Possible Criminal Quid Pro Quo?)
By Mugsy

Mitt Romney likes talking about his “private sector record at Bain Capital” as a “job creator”, saying that that experience makes him better suited to be president than Barack Obama. He doesn’t like talking about his time as governor of Massachusetts (2003-2007) with lousy economic record and pushing through a state-wide health insurance mandate that gives Tea Party members fits of indigestion. But no one ever seems to point out the obvious: that he was governor AFTER leaving Bain Capital in 1999. So we don’t have to guess what his business experience would bring to public office. Just go back and look.

.....................

So, what exactly did Mitt Romney do at Bain Capital do that would prepare him for the job of leading a state or entire nation?
........................................................

This is where things get VERY interesting…

February 2005: Governor Romney unveiled his “jobs program” jointly with “Citizens Financial Group”… a Massachusetts bank… to provide small business loans to people who promise to create “one job for every $25,000 borrowed.” CFG approached Romney with the idea to offer super low-interest business loans, agreeing to assume all risk on loans of just 2.5% APR (well below the then national average of 5.5%). I found no reports of the contract being put up for a bid. Low-rate business loans with no risk to the state? Naturally, the Romney Administration jumped at the proposal. This all strikes me as very odd. Why would any bank lobby for the chance to assume all risk on low-return loans? Yes, they were given a monopoly, but at just 2.5% APR, they could of cornered the market on their own. So I’m a bit stumped. Was this a Sweetheart Deal? CFG was run by Romney friend, “Staples” founder Tom Stemberg. Note: a month later, CFG was charged with fraud in an unrelated matter (“unethical or dishonest conduct” for “systematically targeting senior citizens” for sales of uninsured high risk/penalty variable-annuities.) Was this a case of Quid Pro Quo? Aiding Romney in exchange for leniency in their fraud case? After searching news archives from February of 2005 to January of 2009, I could find NO information regarding the outcome of the case nor if the case itself was even brought before a judge at all. This could suggest someone got the case dismissed, OR simply, the info is beyond the resources available to me online.

This “jobs program” was introduced by Romney following a corporate merger he was roundly criticized for not preventing (ibid “jobs program” link above) between “Proctor & Gamble” and “Gillette” that cost the state some 4,000 jobs. Interesting. A corporate buyout that led to the shedding of jobs for the profit of just one organization… does THAT sound like a skill Romney picked up from his years at Bain that he was able to apply to the role of Governor? It certainly appears as though Stemberg threw his friend Romney a lifeline (the cheap business loan program) when he needed it most.

.....................

(Note: When Romney’s term ended, he left Massachusetts with a 34 percent approval rating.)

MORE plus links:
sounds like we need to do some MORE research on this DUers!
http://mugsysrapsheet.com/2012/05/28/romney-has-a-post-bain-record-lets-look-at-it/

May 29, 2012

Eugene Robinson: Romney’s pants on fire-"Not to put too fine a point on it, he lies. Quite a bit."

Romney’s pants on fire
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By Eugene Robinson, Published: May 28

There are those who tell the truth. There are those who distort the truth. And then there’s Mitt Romney.

Every political campaign exaggerates and dissembles. This practice may not be admirable — it’s surely one reason so many Americans are disenchanted with politics — but it’s something we’ve all come to expect. Candidates claim the right to make any boast or accusation as long as there’s a kernel of veracity in there somewhere.

Even by this lax standard, Romney too often fails. Not to put too fine a point on it, he lies. Quite a bit.

..............

MORE:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/romneys-distortions-about-obama-do-us-a-disservice/2012/05/28/gJQA9JuTxU_story.html

May 29, 2012

President Lincoln Responds To Today's GOP...

Not the Party of Lincoln

Posted on May 28, 2012
Bill Day, Cagle Cartoons

http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/not_the_party_of_lincoln_20120528/

May 29, 2012

I Saw This Pic Today.

MON MAY 28, 2012 AT 10:51 PM PDT
I Saw This Pic Today.
by webranding

It made me cry. Uncontrollable crying. The wife in the picture just said she wanted to spend another night beside her husband.

..............

MORE:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/29/1095516/-I-Saw-This-Pic-Today-

May 28, 2012

Paul Krugman Destroys Every Republican Argument for Austerity

Paul Krugman Destroys Every Republican Argument for Austerity

By: Jason EasleyMay 26, 2012see more posts by Jason Easley

Krugman said,

We are in a depression. We are actually in a classic depression. A depression is when nobody wants to spend. Everybody wants to pay down their debt at the same time. Everybody is trying to pull back, either because they got too far into debt, or because if they’re a corporation, they can’t sell because consumers are pulling back. The thing about an economy is that it fits together. My spending is your income. Your spending is my income, so if we all pull back at the same time, we’re in a depression. The way to get out of it is for somebody to spend so that people can pay down their debt, so that we don’t have a depression. So that we have a chance to work out of whatever excesses we had in the past, and that somebody has to be the government.

We ended the Great Depression with a great program of government spending for an unfortunate reason. It was known as World War II…but when the war broke out in Europe, and we began our buildup that Great Depression that had been going on for ten years. People thought it would go on forever. Learned people stroked their chins and said there are no quick answers. In two years, employment rose 20%. That’s the equivalent of 26 million jobs today, the depression was over. We had full employment, and it never came back, or it didn’t come back until 2008, because people managed to pay down those debts, and we had a durable recovery.

great discussion:
http://www.politicususa.com/paul-krugman-bill-maher.html

May 28, 2012

Scared Yet?

Scared yet?

Don’t worry. In the sequel, the Democrat Party reprograms him and puts him up against a Newt Gingrich made out of liquid metal. Instant box office hit.

http://ddssblog.tumblr.com/post/23913397600/scared-yet-dont-worry-in-the-sequel-the

May 28, 2012

Coal industry paid astroturfers $50 to wear pro-coal t-shirts at EPA hearing

In Chicago and Washington Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency held the first of its hearings on a carbon pollution standard for new power plants. The coal industry, which objected to standards curtailing mercury and other toxic emissions imposed on power plants earlier this year by the EPA, decided to show "grassroots" support in opposition to the proposed standard. So it put the above ad on Craigslist seeking people to attend the hearing wearing a t-shirt "in support of an energy project." No mention of coal.
MORE:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/25/1094835/-Coal-industry-paid-astroturfers-50-to-wear-pro-coal-t-shirts-at-EPA-hearing

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