Month: October 2012

Romney: ‘The President Has Not Signed One New Free Trade Agreement in the Past Four Years’ – Wrong, Mitt, He’s Signed Three Trade Bills

Jon Ponder

I will champion free trade and restore it as a critical element of our strategy, both in the Middle East and across the world. The President has not signed one new free trade agreement in the past four years. I will reverse that failure.

– Mitt Romney, telling a bold-face lie in his foreign policy speech yesterday. Pres. Obama signed three free-trade bills — with Colombia, Panama and South Korea — last October. Some fact-checkers give Romney a pass because these bills were not technically “new.” Initial negotiations had started under the previous administration. But if we’re going to quibble, the president has not been in office for “four years,” so it’s dishonest to criticize him for trade bills that did not get signed in the last three and a half months of the Bush administration.

Waiting Game: Longest Ballot Ever Presented to Florida Voters

Trish

17

Number of minutes it will take to read a general election ballot in Florida, where the state legislature has added 11 constitutional amendments for voters to consider. All amendments are deceptively worded and written by the Republican-led body, and all received a thumbs-down from the League of Women Voters. Thanks to the 3,000 words on the ballot, the longest lines in history are expected at the polls. No doubt voters who can’t wait more than an hour or two will give up in frustration.

Jon Stewart Debates Bill O’Reilly, ‘the Mayor of Bullshit Mountain’

Jon Ponder

The producers pulled the YouTube video of the debate. There is apparently a way you can view it for a fee, but in a quick scour of the Internet, I could not find it, so I’m posting Jon Stewart’s recap of the debate from his show — although now this video seems faulty. We apologize for their problems.

[…]

Why “Independent” Doesn’t Equate to “Idiot”

Trish

It’s hard for those of us who have absolutely no trouble whatsoever figuring out how to vote to understand what’s going on in the heads of “the undecideds.” It’s also easy to believe that they’re like the folks in this video, clueless morons distracted by irrelevant issues — and not all that bright.

When the dust settled, the choice given was Romney, a candidate McCain himself considered a poorer choice than Palin in 2008

But an essay* from a retired cop in Jacksonville named Jim Crosby, who’s changed parties several times, shows that not all independents are self-absorbed halfwits. In fact, some of them do a more thorough job of thinking through the issues and making a decision than those of us whose leanings in one direction or the other allow us to get there faster. For proof, read on.

I defected…I changed my voter’s registration from Republican to Democrat.

[…]

Were We This Crazy When Bush Was in Office?

Trish

I don’t think BLS cooked numbers. I think a bunch of Dems lied about getting jobs. That would have same effect.

— One of many nutty tweets expressing rightwing suspicion over new unemployment numbers that show the biggest month to month drop in nine years at the end of September, 2012. Some, like Jack Welch, CEO of GE and Obama critic, claim the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the lower figures to throw the election.

Obama Has 5 Point Lead in in First Post-Debate Poll

Jon Ponder

Pres. Obama lost a little ground to Mitt Romney after their first debate but still has a 5 percentage point lead. According to the Reuters/Ipsos survey released today, the president leads Mitt Romney 48 to 43 percent.

However, the poll shows a 2 percentage point drop in support for the president since the last survey was taken.

The most positive news for Romney was that for the first time since he began running for the presidency, 51 percent of voters said they viewed him favorably. This compares with 56 percent who said they had a favorable view of Pres. Obama.

Obama: Romney Would Crack Down on Sesame Street, Not Wall Street

Buck Banks

When he was asked what he would do to actually cut spending and reduce the deficit, he said he’d eliminate public television funding. But I just want to make sure you got this straight. He’ll get rid of regulations on Wall Street — but he’s going to crack down on Sesame Street.

— President Obama, quoted by TPM, on Mitt Romney’s statements in last night’s debate.