Tag: Pres. Obama

AP Mixes Up Facts and Opinions, Even As AP Reporters Get President’s Name Wrong

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Meanwhile, it looks like the AP could stand to do more fact checking of its own.

“It would be more appropriate to make its complaint against CBO than against President Obama’s speech.”

— Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, in a post titled, “AP Factcheck Should be Billed to Romney Campaign.” Baker takes issue with Associated Press “fact checkers” who claim there would be no peace dividend from winding down the war in Afghanistan.

President Obama is working off a baseline set by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that assumes war spending continues over the next decade. If he doesn’t intend to continue this spending then he is freeing up money relative to this baseline. AP may not like this method of scoring, but it is absolutely standard in Washington policy debates. Changes are measured against a baseline.

Baker joins others who suggest that the AP’s analysis might have been more correctly classified as an editorial than as fact checking.

H/T to The Nation

Clinton Beats Mitt in Tweets Per Minute but Not Michelle O

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22,087

Highest spike in Tweets per minute during Pres. Bill Clinton’s address to the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, Sept. 5. The peak came at the end of the speech, indicating that audiences can focus for 49 minutes if the material is good. Clinton’s Twitter peak far outdistanced Mitt Romney’s (14,289) but did not surpass First Lady Michelle Obama’s the night before (28,003).

Fact Checkers Looking for Lies Come Up With Slim Pickins at Democratic Convention

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What a woman looks like when she's not lying

The media wasted no time trying to make equivalency arguments about how just as much fiction was bandied by Democrats on the first night of their convention as by Republicans during theirs. Fact-checkers, however, could find little to rival Lyin’ Ryan or Refit Mitt. Here’s the most FactCheck.org could come up with.

— “The keynote speaker and others claimed the Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, would raise taxes on the ‘middle class.’ He has promised he won’t. Democrats base their claim on a study that doesn’t necessarily lead to that conclusion.”

Romney has yet to reveal what he will do if elected, other than retaining the Bush tax cuts for those at the top of the income ladder. The Wall St. Journal described the findings in the study, conducted by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.

[…]

Have Democrats Stolen Twitter?

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Although it’s just the first night at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, people have already posted more than 3 million Tweets, including #DNC2012 and related terms. In comparison, there were 4 million Tweets sent throughout the three days of last week’s Republican National Convention (#RNC2012).

The official Twitter blog, adding up the numbers from the start of the Democratic National Convention. The blog added, “Among tonight’s keynotes, First Lady Michelle Obama’s (@MichelleObama) primetime speech peaked at 28,003 Tweets per minute (TPM) at its conclusion — nearly double Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s (@MittRomney) 14,289 peak. One line in her speech this evening — ‘we’ve got so much more to do’ — saw 22,004 TPM.”

Super Low Prices on Obama Merch, Plus 25% Discount Now

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Before you hit the Labor Day sales, spend some $$$ at barackobama.com, where the code “SUMMERSALE” gets you an 25 percent off orders of $10 or more. That’s a deal, since most of the stuff you want is already on sale — with free shipping!

Hurry, you should order now so you can answer the door in your Obama t-shirt when the Romney/Ryan folks knock, or have your Obama/Biden car magnet in place when you pass the idiot with the Romney/Ryan sticker.

That Day One Pledge from Romney

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I’d like to know what’s noble about making it harder for people to get health care.

David Axelrod, Obama campaign strategist, commenting on the number of times Republicans pledged to repeal health care reform during their convention. Axelrod noted that his daughter, Lauren, was diagnosed with epilepsy at seven months, and without the reforms would be ineligible for insurance due to her pre-existing condition.

Why Does Romney Not Expect to Be Asked About His Birth Certificate?

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Yes, he really said this:

No one has ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised.

And these people said this about the remark:

  • Take a moment or two to think about that, what he’s actually saying, and what it says about Mitt Romney. — Jim Messina, Campaign manager, Obama for America
  • [Romney] wasn’t using prepared remarks. — A Romney campaign aide quoted by CNN
  • The governor has always said, and has repeatedly said, he believes the president was born here in the United States. He was only referencing that Michigan, where he is campaigning today, is the state where he himself was born and raised. — Kevin Madden, Romney senior adviser
  • It’s one thing to give the stage in Tampa to Donald Trump, Sheriff Arpaio, and Kris Kobach. But Governor Romney’s decision to directly enlist himself in the birther movement should give pause to any rational voter across America. — Ben LaBolt, Obama campaign press secretary
  • I thought it was great because why should we have to worry about whether the president has a birth certificate or not? — Guy Myers, a Romney supporter from Clarkson, Mich., who witnessed the remark