July 2011 - Page 13 of 16

Where Massachusetts ranked nationwide in job creation while Mitt Romney was governor. Romney claims to have lowered unemployment by almost 1% but a study by Northeastern University attributes this to 220,000 workers leaving the state. On the campaign trail, Romney says, “The governor before me lost jobs; the governor after me has lost jobs; we actually created jobs.” The first part is technically true (although, as stated, Massachusetts lagged the rest of the country), but the last part is incorrect.

The Bad News

July 11, 2011May 22, 2014 Buck Banks

Setting aside Rupert Murdoch’s political views
And the business tactics he’s wont to use,
At his News International
It’s become quite fashionable
To break laws while “breaking” the “news.”

— Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), quoted by the Huffington Post, accusing Republican leaders of “falling far short of their rhetorical bluster when the topic came to deficit reduction.”

Sarah Palin Calls Obama ‘Sugar Daddy’

July 11, 2011 Buck Banks

The Sugar Daddy has run out of sugar.

— Polebrity Sarah Palin, writing on Facebook, on President Obama’s economic policies, ignoring the fact that it is her team that keeps walking away from the negotiating table.

— Pres. Obama, explaining why he won’t consider another temporary increase in the debt ceiling.

How Much Does Rupert Murdoch Own? Too Much

July 10, 2011July 10, 2011 Trish

Here’s a handy graphic published by Reuters, which provides a quick reference for all things Murdoch. After looking it over, all I can say is, “Hulu? Who knew?”

— Drew Hammill, spokesperson for House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), in what has to be one of the strangest answers to the charge that Pelosi is out of touch on policy issues as the 2012 elections loom, and as such, has been sidelined in the debt ceiling negotiations.

Fox News Owner’s Phone Hacking Scandal in Britain Gets Scant Coverage on Fox or Other U.S. Right-Wing Propaganda Outlets

July 9, 2011January 10, 2023 Jon Ponder

More evidence, as if any were needed, that what Fox and the rest of Rupert Murdoch’s right-wing NewsCorp media empire does is not “news,” it’s propaganda:

Fox News stayed mainly silent on the News of the World scandal during prime time Thursday, largely filling its roster of shows with discussions about topics such as the Casey Anthony sentencing and the federal budget. A Fox News spokeswoman did not elaborate on the network’s approach but pointed to coverage as a business story on several news programs.

Earlier this week, Murdoch abruptly euthanized News of the World, a 168-year-old British media institution he purchased in 1969, because its top editors had been accused of approving the hacking of voicemail accounts of terror victims, war veterans and even a 13-year-old murder victim. Hundreds of journalists and other staffers suddenly found themselves unemployed as a result.

On Friday, Andy Coulson, one of those former editors, was arrested “in connection with allegations of corruption and phone hacking,” according to police. Coulson left NotW in 2007 to take a position as chief spin doctor for British Prime Minister David Cameron, a right-wing politician with ties to the Murdoch empire. Coulson resigned from government in January because of his association with the phone hacking scandal. Prime Minister Cameron held a news conference on Friday to deny he was aware of Coulson’s involvement in the scandal, despite alleged evidence to the contrary.

But Fox News apparently finds none of that to be sufficiently newsworthy to report about it online. On Saturday morning, the FoxNews.com homepage, which is chockablock with dozens of headlines to stories on a range of topics from gossip and politics to finance and entertainment, presented no stories about the scandal.

Meanwhile:

[…]

Florida Insiders Expect Nelson to Win

July 7, 2011July 9, 2011 Buck Banks

70%

Of 79 of the “savviest political minds in the state,” including 42 Republicans and 32 Democrats, expect Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) to be re-elected, including more than half of the Republicans who answered the St. Petersburg Times’ Florida Insider Poll.

New Jersey’s Lofty Political Dialogue

July 7, 2011 Buck Banks

Month: July 2011

Romney Didn’t Create Jobs

50th

The Bad News

The Frustration of Harry Reid

Every time we try to do something big on this, you walk away.

— Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), quoted by the Huffington Post, accusing Republican leaders of “falling far short of their rhetorical bluster when the topic came to deficit reduction.”

Sarah Palin Calls Obama ‘Sugar Daddy’

The Sugar Daddy has run out of sugar.

— Polebrity Sarah Palin, writing on Facebook, on President Obama’s economic policies, ignoring the fact that it is her team that keeps walking away from the negotiating table.

The Time is Now, Obama Says

We might as well do it now. Pull off the bandaid. Eat our peas.

— Pres. Obama, explaining why he won’t consider another temporary increase in the debt ceiling.

How Much Does Rupert Murdoch Own? Too Much

Come Again?

Leader Pelosi knows how to walk and eat chocolate at the same time.

— Drew Hammill, spokesperson for House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), in what has to be one of the strangest answers to the charge that Pelosi is out of touch on policy issues as the 2012 elections loom, and as such, has been sidelined in the debt ceiling negotiations.

Fox News Owner’s Phone Hacking Scandal in Britain Gets Scant Coverage on Fox or Other U.S. Right-Wing Propaganda Outlets

Florida Insiders Expect Nelson to Win

70%

Of 79 of the “savviest political minds in the state,” including 42 Republicans and 32 Democrats, expect Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) to be re-elected, including more than half of the Republicans who answered the St. Petersburg Times’ Florida Insider Poll.

New Jersey’s Lofty Political Dialogue

He’s a rotten prick.

— New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D), quoted by the Newark Star Ledger, on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R).

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“One woman at a rally in New Jersey told me last week that she was ‘nauseously optimistic.’ That may capture a lot of people’s last-minute jitters.”

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), quoted by Axios, on what Democrats feel ahead of the midterm elections.

“I think Congress made a mistake not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom.”

— Former President Bill Clinton, quoted by The Wrap.

“Boy, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It feels like a real desperation play to me, because it has got zero basis in the law.”

— Republican election law expert Ben Ginsberg, quoted by Politico, on the Trump administration’s effort to invalidate Alaska’s election results.

Numerati

3,824

$1.4 billion

-35 points

31%

63% to 38%

KFF Poll: “With the 2026 midterm campaigns in full swing and early voting about to begin, there is a wide enthusiasm gap between partisan voters, with Democratic voters 25 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say they are ‘more motivated’ than usual to vote (63% vs. 38%).”