Day: May 4, 2012

Romney’s Call for 500,000 Jobs Per Month is Pure Bluster

Trish

On the campaign trail, Mitt Romney added another rhetorical superlative to his record when he criticized the slow but steady employment improvement by saying, “We should be seeing numbers in the 500,000 jobs created per month.” In fact, such a figure would be an aberration.

Although the most recent employment numbers reflected 19 months straight of growth, the 115,000 jobs figure from March, 2012 is one everyone would like to see go higher. But Romney’s half-million jobs a month figure has never been consistently maintained, and has in fact only been reached a few times, according to the New York Times’ Peter Baker.

Baker looked at the past 50 years and found only five instances where job growth reached 500,000 in a month. First, the following presidents never attained Romney’s ideal:

  • John F. Kennedy (1961 – 1963)
  • Lyndon B. Johnson (1963 – 1969)
  • Richard M. Nixon (1969 – 1974)
  • Gerald R. Ford (1974 – 1977)
  • George H.W. Bush (1989 – 1993
  • George W. Bush (2001 – 2009)

The list of presidents who did see that rate of growth is short, and to some, surprising.

Both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton saw the creation of 500,000 jobs once each during their eight years in office.

The only president in the last 50 years to see it happen twice (and in only four years at that) was…Jimmy Carter.

The final president to see that level of employment growth was Barack Obama in 2010. No doubt Obama will meet — and break — fellow Democrat Carter’s record in his second term.

More Proof Romney Doesn’t Have a Clue What a ‘Normal’ Economy Is

Buck Banks

We should be seeing numbers in the 500,000 jobs created per month. This is way, way off from what should happen in a normal recovery.

— Mitt Romney, blasting President Obama on Fox News after the jobs report released this morning showed anemic growth of just 115,000 jobs last month.

Think Progress: “That sort of growth, however, is hardly “normal,” as Romney claims … there have only been 16 months since 1939 — and only four in the last 50 years — in which the economy added 500,000 jobs or more.”

Romney Campaign Ignores Hispanic Vote at its Peril

Buck Banks

A full year after Romney launched his presidential bid, the campaign doesn’t have a Spanish version of its website, nor has it hired a Spanish-speaking spokesperson. Romney boycotted a primary debate on Univision, leading to the event’s collapse, and, to date, he has only done one sit-down interview on a national Spanish network. The apparent apathy has left Latino advocates — and more than a few Republicans — baffled, wondering whether the campaign has already written off one of the fastest-growing demographics in the country.

— McKay Coppins, writing for Buzzfeed.

Billy Graham, 93, Shreds His Legacy, Joins Hate Group Crowd in Endorsing Anti-Gay Amendment in North Carolina

Jon Ponder

Text: At age 93, I never thought we would have to debate the definition of marriage. The Bible is clear -- God's definition of marriage is between a man and a woman. I want to urge my fellow North Carolinians to vote FOR the marriage amendment on Tuesday, May 8. God bless you as you vote, Billy Graham
Text: At age 93, I never thought we would have to debate the definition of marriage. The Bible is clear -- God's definition of marriage is between a man and a woman. I want to urge my fellow North Carolinians to vote FOR the marriage amendment on Tuesday, May 8. God bless you as you vote, Billy Graham
Yesterday, Billy Graham, who was once considered the spiritual leader of the Protestant church in America, shredded his place in history by endorsing Amendment 1, a ballot initiative in his home state of North Carolina that would ban gay marriage. The amendment is redundant because marriage equality is already illegal in the state, but it would also outlaw civil unions and domestic partnerships.

The ad was released by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association on the same day that North Carolina’s African-American voters were expressing outrage over an assertion by Jodie Brunstett, the wife of a state legislator who supported the amendment, that its purpose was to perpetuate the Caucasian race. Brunstett later admitted that while she had used the word “Caucasian,” she was not referring to race — and that she may have been experiencing heat stroke when she made the statement.

Another controversy erupted on Sunday, when a hate-based preacher in the military enclave of Fayetteville was recorded during a sermon exhorting his followers to beat their children for what they perceive as gay behavior. Sean Harris, the preacher, later apologized, saying beating children is bad, even if they are exhibiting “effeminacy and sexual immorality of all types.”

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Mitt Romney – Mormon Polygamy and Hidden Mormon Temple Records

Helen Radkey

(Willard) Mitt Romney—2012 Republican presidential candidate, a lifelong Mormon who boasts of having one wife, defines marriage as between “one man and one woman.”

Miles Romney, a great-great-grandfather of Mitt Romney, is in the process of being “sealed” to a 14th spouse.

Mitt Romney has publicly stated he follows the faith of his fathers—but he distances himself from the polygamous lifestyle that was freely chosen on an eternal note by many of his Mormon forefathers. According to Mormon records, polygamous unions galore can be found on the paternal lines—and one maternal line—of Romney’s direct ancestry.

Mitt Romney has openly condemned polygamy. During a “Sixty Minutes” interview with Mike Wallace in 2007, Romney said he couldn’t imagine anything more “awful” than polygamy, and was quick to insist The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) outlawed the practice over a century ago. As a devout Mormon, Romney must accept Mormon founder, Joseph Smith, as a prophet of God. It should be questioned why Mitt Romney is so critical of a foundational Mormon practice that was introduced by Smith.

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