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Lucy Goosey

Lucy Goosey's Journal
Lucy Goosey's Journal
September 20, 2012

Mitt Romney’s ‘Invisible’ America

Speaking in welfare code words that is familiar to the Republican base — these 47 percent believe they are entitled, he said, to everything from “health care, to food, to housing, to you name it” — Romney let his wealthy donors know that he was committed to protecting their hard-earned dollars from government freeloaders. His words were void of compassion. It’s frightening to think that someone who once governed a state would reduce complex social issues to a mere matter of personal irresponsibility and shiftlessness.

But I’m not surprised that he made the statements, nor that they exploded through mass media, because what happens in the dark almost always comes to light. The onus is now on us to decide how we will interpret and respond to his statements.

By lumping millions of faceless, nameless Americans under one “entitlement” umbrella, Romney proved that race and class continue to render millions of hard-working people invisible in this country. And we would be fools to believe that his policies won’t be shaped by that sense of elitism.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/mitt-romneys-invisible-america/2012/09/20/2871a2d6-0338-11e2-9b24-ff730c7f6312_blog.html
September 20, 2012

Planned Parenthood targets Romney with online effort

Planned Parenthood's political arm is up with a new online campaign — #AskMitt — targeting the GOP presidential nominee.

The effort solicits Planned Parenthood supporters' questions for Mitt Romney on women's health issues, charging that the former Massachusetts governor "wants to hide his agenda until after the election."

"We can't let him get away with it," Planned Parenthood Action Fund said in a message to supporters.

Reproductive health has taken center stage in the race for the White House as both candidates seek the support of undecided women.


More at link
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/politics-elections/250667-planned-parenthood-targets-romney-with-online-effort
September 19, 2012

New Canadian census reveals gay couples are embracing marriage

Seven years after Canada legalized same-sex marriage, gay and lesbian couples are running to the altar.

Between 2006 and 2011, the number of same-sex married couples more than doubled, according to new census data released Wednesday.

While the number of opposite-sex couples who took the leap into matrimony grew by only three per cent since the last census, the number of same-sex couples tying the knot jumped by somewhere between 121 and 181 per cent over the same period, from about 7,500 in 2006 to as high as 21,000 in 2011.


Read more: http://www.canada.com/news/national/Census+couples+embracing+marriage/7267249/story.html

Ontario was the first province to legalize same sex marriage, in 2003, and in 2005 it became legal accross the country.

September 18, 2012

Another rat fleeing sinking ship: Sen. Brown distances himself from Romney comments

Brown, a Romney backer, said as someone who grew up in tough circumstances, he knows being on public assistance is not a spot that anyone wants to be in.


He may well believe that, but it's hilarious to me that so many Republicans are bailing on their leader right now. I'm enjoying this more than I probably should be.



http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2012/09/18/sen-brown-distances-himself-from-romney-video/Xi7n2clbUPq61sAOHLVohP/story.html
September 18, 2012

Reagan and Dubya's tax cuts are why so many people don't pay federal income tax now

Matthew O'Brien at The Atlantic makes a good point here:

Romney's comments about the 47 percent were baffling because this is what Republicans wanted. As Ezra Klein notes, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush's tax cuts are why so many people don't pay federal income tax now. Refundable tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) are rightly thought of as good conservative tax policy by wonks like Reihan Salam. These credits help the poor, but don't reduce work incentives -- a point research has borne out.

In other words, the 47 percent exist mostly because of Republican policies with Democratic stamps of approval. And they exist because we pay different amount of taxes at different times in our lives. Sometimes we're in school. Sometimes we're out of work. Sometimes we retire from work. Republicans used to think it made sense for us to not pay federal income taxes at these times.


There's more at the link; it's a very good analysis.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/09/was-mitt-romney-a-member-of-the-47-percent/262519/
September 18, 2012

GOP Civil War Is Coming as Mitt Romney Campaign Flails in Video’s Wake

The video carping about government moochers may well have sealed it. Mitt Romney is going down and the fight already is on for the future of the Republican Party. The battle will be bitter—and prolonged, says Robert Shrum.


In an America where the party of angry white men increasingly speaks for and to a permanent minority, it could take another defeat and maybe another before the GOP comes to its senses. Surely Romney himself would have been better off in the general election if he had defended his Massachusetts health-care reform and sounded occasional notes of pragmatism and compassion. But then, of course, he never would have been the nominee. He could even have let us assume he wore pajamas to bed. Now hovering over his apparently desperate march toward a concession speech is the specter of Republicans fighting their protracted civil war. Someday, somehow, someone will do for the conservative side of our politics what Bill Clinton did as the progressive who brought Democrats back to the mainstream. But post-2012, maybe even Ryan won’t be pure enough; it could be full-Santorum ahead.


I, for one, am going to enjoy this "civil war", if it happens.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/18/gop-civil-war-is-coming-as-mitt-romney-campaign-flails-in-video-s-wake.html
September 18, 2012

Guess where the 47%, the "moochers" live? Mitt might be shocked.

I suspect few, if any DUers will be shocked by this; in fact I think this was fairly predictable.




How appropriate that they chose to use red - these are red states in electoral maps, too, obviously.

Via P.Z. Myers @ Pharyngula http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/09/17/is-it-time-to-bury-mitt-yet/

September 17, 2012

John McCain sees vet support slipping for Romney

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view/20220917john_mccain_sees_vet_support_slipping_for_romney/

NASHUA, N.H. — In a troubling note for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, U.S. Sen. John McCain said today that the Republican nominee is struggling to win over veteran support in his own backyard of the Granite State.

”Right now we haven’t — straight talk here — we don’t have that level of support from the veterans of New Hampshire that we need,” said McCain, who is known for his independent streak that sometimes takes him off script. “Unless Romney wins New Hampshire, his chances of winning the presidency are greatly diminished and we need our veterans out.”

Veterans at the VFW hall later said McCain was simply rallying local vets to ensure they would vote.


More good news - I hope this is a national trend!

Also, is Romney really counting on NH? It's not exactly looking like the state is a lock for him.
September 14, 2012

Base where Prince Harry is stationed stormed by heavily armed insurgents, two Marines killed

Source: National Post

WASHINGTON — Heavily armed insurgents attacked a British air base in southern Afghanistan Friday, killing two U.S. Marines and wounding several other troops, U.S. officials said.

Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne, is stationed at the base on a four-month combat tour in Afghanistan. There was no immediate word on his whereabouts at the time of the attack.

U.S. officials said the attack at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan’s Helmand province involved a range of insurgent weaponry, possibly including mortars, rockets or rocket-propelled grenades, as well as small arms fire.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because U.S. military authorities in Afghanistan had not yet announced the battle.

Read more: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/14/prince-harry-afghanistan/

September 13, 2012

Suspects held over fatal consulate raid

Source: The Australian

LIBYA said last night it had arrested several suspects over the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi that killed ambassador Chris Stevens and three other US nationals.

The country's Deputy Interior Minister, Wanis al-Sharef, declined to give any details of the number of people in custody or their backgrounds "so as not to hamper the smooth running of the investigation".

"The Interior and Justice ministries have begun their investigations and evidence-gathering and some people have been arrested," Mr Sharef said late last night.



Read more: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/muslim-brotherhood-stokes-fury-over-us-film/story-e6frg6so-1226473704238

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Home country: Canada
Member since: Thu Jan 17, 2008, 01:27 PM
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