July 17, 2012

McCain 2008 Campaign Brief on Romney...

http://cdn2.dailycaller.com/2012/01/McCain-2008-Oppo-File-on-Romney.pdf

July 17, 2012

Cheering Crowd and Arena Camera Get Obamas to Kiss

Source: Associated Press

Cheering crowd and arena camera get Obamas to kiss

KEN THOMAS
From Associated Press
July 16, 2012 11:39 PM EDT

- snip -

President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, were taking in Monday night's USA Basketball exhibition game when the Verizon Center's "Kiss Cam" turned its eye their way. Their image on the huge arena screen prompted the crowd to cheer — a not-so-subtle hint that Obama plant one on the first lady.

Both smiled, but Obama just put his arm around his wife as the game resumed. That cautious reaction brought some boos.

Obama got a do-over later in the game when the Kiss Cam swung back his way. This time he delivered, giving Mrs. Obama a big kiss on the lips. And a peck on the forehead for good measure.

And the crowd roared.

Read more: http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20120716/e9b82cd3-063d-4770-af69-d137fde0b78f

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President Barack Obama, right, kisses first lady Michelle Obama for the 'Kiss Cam' while attending the Olympic men's exhibition basketball game between Team USA and Brazil, Monday, July 16, 2012, in Washington. Team USA won 80-69. (AP Photo - Alex Brandon)

July 16, 2012

Tom Tomorrow: Republican Ju-Jitsu (Mitt Can't Quite Get the Hang of It)

Daily Kos Link: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/16/1109454/-Republican-ju-jitsu?detail=hide

Support independent cartooning by joining SPARKY'S LIST: http://thismodernworld.com/archives/7020

July 15, 2012

UPDATE: Campaign Won't Say Whether Romney Traveled to Massachusetts for Bain Business After 1999

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/07/13/516951/romney-interview-directly-contradicts-his-previous-statements-about-bain-tenure/?mobile=wp

Romney Interview Directly Contradicts His Previous Statements About Bain Tenure

Update: The Boston Globe reports “The Romney campaign declined to comment on the record about whether the business trips and board meetings were related to Bain Capital obligations.”

By Igor Volsky on Jul 13, 2012 at 6:54 pm

Mitt Romney told CBS News‘s Jan Crawford Friday evening that he did not attend Bain Capital meetings after he left the company in February of 1999 to run the Winter Olympics. But this answer appears to contradict sworn testimony he delivered in 2002 “as part of a hearing to determine whether he had sufficient residency status in Massachusetts to run for governor”:

– 2002: “(T)here were a number of social trips and business trips that brought me back to Massachusetts, board meetings, Thanksgiving and so forth.”

– 2012: “I was in Salt Lake City for three straight years. I don’t recall even coming back once to go to a Bain or management meeting. We were, I was out there running the Olympics and it was a full time job, I can tell you that.”

“Jan, I had no involvement with the management of Bain Capital after 1999,” Romney insisted on Friday.

MORE[p]

July 14, 2012

Florida election officials to get access to citizen database

Source: Reuters

Florida election officials to get access to citizen database

Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:19pm EDT

By Michael Peltier

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Florida election officials will have access to a federal database to help purge its voter rolls of non-citizens under an agreement reached between state and federal officials and welcomed on Saturday by Florida's Republican governor.

The Department of Homeland Security will allow state officials to access the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database.

Florida and federal officials have been battling over access to the database for several weeks. Florida filed a lawsuit against the Homeland Security Department to gain access to the database. The state was hit by a lawsuit from the Justice Department seeking to stop the purge.

Justice Department officials have said the database is not a comprehensive listing of citizens and that state officials failed to hand over key information to cross-reference the listing.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE86D0ER20120714?irpc=932

July 14, 2012

Robert Reich: The Selling of American Democracy - The Perfect Storm

http://robertreich.org/post/27128864190

The Selling of American Democracy: The Perfect Storm
FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012

Who’s buying our democracy? Wall Street financiers, the Koch brothers, and casino magnates Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn.

And they’re doing much of it in secret.

It’s a perfect storm:

The greatest concentration of wealth in more than a century — courtesy “trickle-down” economics, Reagan and Bush tax cuts, and the demise of organized labor.

Combined with…

Unlimited political contributions — courtesy of Republican-appointed Justices Roberts, Scalia, Alito, Thomas, and Kennedy, in one of the dumbest decisions in Supreme Court history, “Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission,” along with lower-court rulings that have expanded it.

Combined with…

Complete secrecy about who’s contributing how much to whom — courtesy of a loophole in the tax laws that allows so-called non-profit “social welfare” organizations to accept the unlimited contributions for hard-hitting political ads.

Put them all together and our democracy is being sold down the drain.

- snip -

This coming Monday, for example, the Senate has scheduled a cloture vote on the DISCLOSE ACT, which would at least require that outfits like the Chamber of Commerce and Karl Rove’s “Crossroads GPS” disclose who’s contributing what. Contact your senators, and have your friends and relatives in other states — especially those with Republican senators (who have been united in their opposition to disclosure) — contact theirs. If the DISCLOSE ACT is voted down, hold accountable those senators (and, when and if it gets to the House, those House members) who are selling out our democracy for the sake of their own personal ambitions.

MORE AT LINK[p]

July 14, 2012

WikiLeaks Grand Jury Witness David House Releases What He Says is His Grand Jury Transcript

@wikileaks: WikiLeaks Grand Jury witness David House releases what he says is his Grand Jury transcript
http://t.co/nqL5hsGV
https://t.co/xWcNxCbG

@wikileaks: RT @m_cetera: Crump: ACLU ultimately decided to represent David and filed a lawsuit arguing what happened violated both 1st & 4th amendments. #WikiLeaks

@wikileaks: RT @VoxVictoria: I'm releasing my notes from the 2011 grand jury here for the first time: http://t.co/44jkuJ7D | #HOPE9 #ACLU #WikiLeaks

July 13, 2012

Geithner Pressed British Regulators in 2008 on Libor

Source: Reuters

Geithner pressed British regulators in 2008 on Libor

Fri Jul 13, 2012 2:22am EDT

By Timothy Ahmann

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pressed the Bank of England in June 2008 to make changes in the way that Libor, a key interest rate benchmark, was set, according to documents obtained by Reuters.

Geithner, who was the head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank at the time, sent a private email to BoE Governor Mervyn King recommending six ways to enhance the credibility of the London interbank offered rate.

More than a dozen banks are under investigation by authorities in Europe, Japan and the United States over suspected rigging of the global borrowing cost benchmark, which is used in contracts worth trillions of dollars globally.

The June 1, 2008, email, first reported by the Washington Post, included a two-page memo dated May 27 of that year that suggested establishing best practices for calculating Libor, "including procedures designed to prevent accidental or deliberate misreporting."

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE86C08G20120713?irpc=932

July 12, 2012

At least 200 Killed in Syrian Village: Opposition Activists

Source: Reuters

BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 100 people were massacred on Thursday by Syrian government forces in a village in the province of Hama, opposition activists quoted witnesses and residents as saying.

The village of Tremseh was shelled by Syrian troops and later stormed by Shabbiha militia, they said. Several people in the village were killed by the shelling and more were shot later in the head execution-style, they added.

@Reuters: UPDATE: DEATH TOLL IN SYRIAN FORCES' ATTACK ON VILLAGE IN SYRIA'S HAMA REGION IS MORE THAN 200, MOSTLY CIVILIANS - OPPOSITION ACTIVISTS

Read more: http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE86B1DO20120712?irpc=932

July 9, 2012

ReutersTV: MIT Economist Blames Political Elite for Erosion of Democracy & Economy

http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/07/06/reuters-tv-political-elitism-is-eroding-democracy-m?&videoChannel=117853&videoId=236384660

Political elitism is eroding democracy: MIT economist – Freeland File (4:58) 

Politically powerful elites in the U.S. control the economic institutions that are sapping the productivity of the many in favor of the interests of the few, according to a new book from MIT economist Daron Acemoglu. (July 6, 2012)

VIDEO AT LINK[p]