Obama signs order to improve mental health access for veterans, faster suicide prevention contacts

Obama signs order to improve mental health access for veterans, faster suicide prevention contacts
"Before heading out for a speech at Fort Bliss, Texas, today, President Obama signed a executive order directing the Department of Veteran Affairs to expand its suicide prevention mental health services. In addition to adding new staff for this purpose, the department will bolster its own efforts by seeking partners among local mental health professionals.

Veterans with mental health issues—including post-traumatic stress syndrome and the effects of traumatic brain injuries that have been so common in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars—complain that getting appointments with Veterans Administration mental health staff can take months. Rather unhelpful when suicide is a possibility"

CHART: Republican Presidents’ Depressing Record On Wage Growth

CHART: Republican Presidents’ Depressing Record On Wage Growth: Wage growth has failed to keep up with record-setting corporate profits, and wages as a percent of gross domestic product reached an all-time low after the Great Recession, as BusinessInsider’s Henry Blodget noted today. Wages as a percentage of the economy have fallen precipitously since their peak in the 1960s, when the minimum wage reached [...]/p

Romney World’s: Freedom from Fact | Common Dreams

Romney World’s: Freedom from Fact | Common Dreams
"Like Bush’s World, Romney’s World also is a place where reality is demonized, where loyal Americans are separated from disloyal ones based on whether they embrace fiction as fact. It is a place where ignorance is celebrated and bigotry is okay.

While having similarities to previous Republican worldviews that brought the GOP to power – from Ronald Reagan’s voodoo economics in 1980 to George H.W. Bush’s “flag factory” and “Willie Horton” campaign in 1988 to George W. Bush’s “restore honor and decency” approach in 2000 – Romney’s campaign style has the look of a refined model made possible by the decades-long expansion of the right-wing media that has conditioned Americans to Orwellian absurdities.

In Romney’s World, the happy citizens will enjoy the ultimate in liberty; they will be fact-free."

Never Mind Super PACs: How Big Business Is Buying the Election | The Nation

Never Mind Super PACs: How Big Business Is Buying the Election | The Nation
"US law still bans foreign corporations from participating directly in elections. But after Citizens United, trade associations like API—whose influential members include foreign corporations—are free to spend as they wish, unburdened by disclosure requirements. And these groups have taken full advantage of their new freedoms. While other campaign committees, from labor unions to Super PACs, face strict transparency rules, trade associations enjoy unparalleled power to covertly manipulate elections using corporate money."

9 Important Omissions From Romney’s Convention Speech

9 Important Omissions From Romney’s Convention Speech: Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech at the Republican Convention was long on biography but short on policy. The former Massachusetts governor reminded the national audience about his family’s background and business career, reiterated his critique of President Obama, and promised a better future. But for a candidate who chose Paul Ryan as his running mate to [...]/p

Romney-Ryan: The Medicare Killers | Common Dreams

Romney-Ryan: The Medicare Killers | Common Dreams
"But Mr. Ryan’s big lie — and, yes, it deserves that designation — was his claim that “a Romney-Ryan administration will protect and strengthen Medicare.” Actually, it would kill the program."

5 National Parks That Could Be Threatened Under The Romney Energy Plan | Alternet

5 National Parks That Could Be Threatened Under The Romney Energy Plan | Alternet
"Mitt Romney recently released his  energy plan , which focuses extensively on turning energy development on federal public lands over to the states.  If states are determined to aggressively push fossil energy development, giving oversight of mining and drilling to them could put some of our special places at risk. "

Koch Party Time: Billionaire Brothers Show Off the Republican Politicians They Bought | Alternet

Koch Party Time: Billionaire Brothers Show Off the Republican Politicians They Bought | Alternet
"Since 2010, when Tea Partiers swept the House of Representatives and state houses across the nation, Koch has been on a roll, moving the G.O.P. in line with his hard-core anti-regulatory, anti-labor, anti-health-care reform, anti-safety net, anti-environmental agenda -- thanks to a relentless effort to build a get-out-the-vote infrastructure and a torrent of backlash against the nation's first African American president."

The Real GOP Convention Is on the Cracker Bay | Common Dreams

The Real GOP Convention Is on the Cracker Bay | Common Dreams
"It's clear what Mitt Romney owes these people. What do you think he owes you? Ann Romney said that Mitt was a man who would not fail. She's right; he will not fail his donors. He is a good businessman, so he will give them the service they paid for.

They're so brazen the boat they were meeting on was flying a Cayman Islands flag. As one local put it, even their yacht doesn't want to pay taxes. In the old days, you'd be a little embarrassed about things like this and it would be huge news if you got caught. Now people treat it like it's perfectly normal."

Crazy Country: 6 Reasons America Spends More on Prisons Than On Higher Education | Alternet

Crazy Country: 6 Reasons America Spends More on Prisons Than On Higher Education | Alternet
"Dollars doing to prisons will soon outpace dollars going to higher education in every state of the union."

7 Facts About Mitt Romney’s Economic Plan He Doesn’t Want You To Know

7 Facts About Mitt Romney’s Economic Plan He Doesn’t Want You To Know: 2) It raises taxes on the middle class. A Tax Policy Center analysis found that Romney’s plan would raise taxes on middle class families byup to $2,000 if he were to keep his promise to maintain the current level of revenue. A later analysis that added in the cost of Romney’s corporate tax cuts nearly doubled the size of the tax hike on the middle class to as much as $4,000 for a family of four.

Paul Ryan Is the Newest New Nixon, a Moocher Belied | Common Dreams

Paul Ryan Is the Newest New Nixon, a Moocher Belied | Common Dreams
"More to the point, during the whole time Paul Ryan was on his own path, his own journey, the American journey where he could think for himself, decide for himself, and define happiness for himself, every rough road was made smooth by his reliance on Social Security survivor's benefits that came to his family upon the death of his father. At least Chris Christie had the self-awareness to mention the G.I. Bill on Tuesday night, when he was talking about his father. The assistance that young Paul Ryan got from "the central planners" as he rose from Janesville, through Miami of Ohio, and to a career in which he never has had a job that wasn't inside, or very close to, the national government was not even acknowledged. He knows, in his Randian soul, that he once was a moocher, that in many ways he remains a moocher, and perhaps it galls him just a bit. It eats at him, the way Richard Nixon's childhood poverty was wormwood in his soul. That's where the connection lies. Paul Ryan is the newest new Nixon and, don't kid yourselves: He's a lot better at it than the old one was."

Chump Change: The Rich, Especially Adselon, Are Different From Us | Common Dreams

Chump Change: The Rich, Especially Adselon, Are Different From Us | Common Dreams
"With yet another study finding that the rich lie, cheat and steal more than the rest of us, and the GOP greedily embracing Citizens United in their platform - more of those people's money! - a little perspective on the fortunes of Sheldon Adelson. The $25-billion casino mogul has already given Republicans at least $5 million to retain control of the House, and has now reportedly pledged $500,000 to one candidate."

Medical Marijuana Supporters Forcing Ballot Referendum To Repeal L.A. Ban

Medical Marijuana Supporters Forcing Ballot Referendum To Repeal L.A. Ban: After the Los Angeles City Council voted to ban medical marijuana dispensaries last month, the city has been moving to shut down thousands of businesses where they believe such shops are operating. City officials warn that unless the dispensaries close their doors by next week, they’ll face steep fines for every day they remain open. [...]/p

Congresswoman Opposes Federal Law Preventing Insurance Companies From Denying Care To Leukemia Patients

Congresswoman Opposes Federal Law Preventing Insurance Companies From Denying Care To Leukemia Patients: TAMPA, Florida — There should be no federal law preventing insurance companies from denying coverage to leukemia patients, according to a leading Republican congresswoman. In an interview with ThinkProgress, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) argued that, contra Obamacare’s new protections, insurance companies should not be prevented by federal law from denying insurance to people with pre-existing [...]/p

Money in Politics: Where Is the Outrage? | Common Dreams

Money in Politics: Where Is the Outrage? | Common Dreams
"Their appetite for more is insatiable. As we write, Mitt Romney, after two fundraisers in which he raised nearly $10 million from the oil and gas industry, and having duly consulted with the Oklahoma billionaire energy executive who chairs the campaign’s energy advisory committee, has announced that if elected President, he will end a century of federal control over oil and gas drilling on public lands, leaving such matters to local officials more attuned to industry desires. Theodore Roosevelt, the first great advocate for public lands in the White House, would be rolling in his grave, if Dick Cheney hadn’t already dumped his bones in a Wyoming mining shaft during the first hours of the Bush-Halliburton administration.

We are nearing the culmination of a cunning and fanatical drive to dismantle the political institutions, the legal and statutory canons, and the intellectual and cultural frameworks that were slowly and painstakingly built over decades to protect everyday citizens from the excesses of private power. The “city on the hill” has become a fortress of privilege, guarded by a hired political class and safely separated from the economic pressures that are upending the household stability, family dynamics, social mobility, and civic life of everyday Americans."

Are you a journalist? Politico leads the crop of post-Ryan reporting failures

Are you a journalist? Politico leads the crop of post-Ryan reporting failures
"At this point, thanks to various individuals who have had the meager audacity to know what Paul Ryan was going on about at the time he was going on about it, we have a fairly good list of the biggest lies uttered in Paul Ryan's speech. Among the biggest is Ryan's attack on $700 billion in Medicare savings under Obama, an attack rather effectively neutered once anyone with half a brain in their heads remembers that Paul Ryan quite specifically has always supported and included those same cuts in his own budget proposals, and so Paul Ryan talking about "saving" Medicare from the very cuts he himself has been endorsing is a Damn Curious Thing at best. Bigger still is Ryan's casual assertion that Obama damaged the credit rating of the United States, which is also a Damn Curious Thing when you consider the rating agency involved specifically called out Paul Ryan's personal band of Congressional anarchists and privateers as the seminal reason for downgrading that credit. Then there is the GM plant that announced its closing during the summer of 2008, before Obama had even gained the small pleasure of trouncing the now perpetually crabby John McCain in state after state after state, much less before he was in any position to do anything about a plant closing in Paul Ryan's neck of the woods."

Paul Ryan: Wrong for the Middle Class

Paul Ryan's speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa was full of wrong and misleading statements. If you've seen any coverage of it, you know that the consensus among journalists and independent observers is that it was factually challenged. As the National Journal stated: "Paul Ryan is long on style, shorter on facts" He lied about Medicare. He lied about the Recovery Act. He lied about the deficit and debt. He even dishonestly attacked Barack Obama for the closing of a GM plant in his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin -- a plant that closed in December 2008 under George W. Bush. Paul Ryan failed to offer one constructive idea about what he would do to move the country forward.

How The Media Soft-Plays Paul Ryan’s Lies: ‘Factual Shortcuts,’ ‘Perceived Inaccuracies,’ ‘Questionable Claims’

How The Media Soft-Plays Paul Ryan’s Lies: ‘Factual Shortcuts,’ ‘Perceived Inaccuracies,’ ‘Questionable Claims’: Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) speech to the Republican National Convention last night was chock-full of bald-faced lies. For example, Ryan blamed the Obama for S&P’s downgrade of our credit rating (despite the fact that S&P blamed GOP policies) and blasted Obama for failing to heed the Bowles-Simpson debt commission (which Ryan torpedoed). Yet political reporters covering the speech have, in many cases, been curiously reticent to call Ryan’s lies what they are. Here’s a list, in no particular order, of the euphemisms used in place of “lie” to describe Ryan’s falsehoods

Bush Administration Praised Closure Of Auto Plant That Ryan Now Blames On Obama

Bush Administration Praised Closure Of Auto Plant That Ryan Now Blames On Obama: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) claimed during his convention speech Wednesday that President Obama is responsible for the closure of a GM plant in Janesville, Wisconsin. However, as many media outlets have noted, GM announced plans to close the plant in June ’08 — long before Obama was even elected — and it ceased major operations [...]/p

6 Worst Lies In Paul Ryan’s Speech

6 Worst Lies In Paul Ryan’s Speech: Vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is taking flack on the morning news shows for his keynote address at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night. His speech was riddled with false claims, so much so that even Fox News wrote, “To anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to facts, Ryan’s speech was an [...]/p

Greed and Debt: The True Story of Romney and Bain Capital | Common Dreams

Greed and Debt: The True Story of Romney and Bain Capital | Common Dreams
"By making debt the centerpiece of his campaign, Romney was making a calculated bluff of historic dimensions – placing a massive all-in bet on the rank incompetence of the American press corps. The result has been a brilliant comedy: A man 

makes a $250 million fortune loading up companies with debt and then extracting million-dollar fees from those same companies, in exchange for the generous service of telling them who needs to be fired in order to finance the debt payments he saddled them with in the first place. That same man then runs for president riding an image of children roasting on flames of debt, choosing as his running mate perhaps the only politician in America more pompous and self-righteous on the subject of the evils of borrowed money than the candidate himself. If Romney pulls off this whopper, you'll have to tip your hat to him: No one in history has ever successfully run for president riding this big of a lie. It's almost enough to make you think he really is qualified for the White House."

They Love the Lies Paul Ryan Tells | Common Dreams

They Love the Lies Paul Ryan Tells | Common Dreams
"But the “deficit hawk” congressman who voted for two unfunded wars, a budget-busting prescription drug plan that steered billions into the accounts of Big Pharma, and the bank bailout of 2008 made his choice long ago. He’s not going to level with the American people. He’s going to try to make them believe things that are not true.

The biggest Ryan fantasy is the austerity lie: the one that says the wealthiest country in the world is going broke because some children are educated, some sick people are cared for and most old people are afforded a measure of retirement security. As lies go, it’s an effective one. Most of the delegates to this year’s Republican National Convention certainly seem to believe it.

But the reality that Paul Ryan would do anything to avoid is this. If the Wall Street speculators, bankers and CEOs who have contributed millions to Paul Ryan’s congressional campaigns would simply pay their fair share of taxes, if American assets were not off-shored to tax havens, if American jobs were not sacrificed in a free-trade driven race to the bottom, the country’s fiscal fortunes would be entirely different.

The man who claims to offer “good-faith reforms and solutions equal to the problems” is just another fiscal fabulist.

That’s exactly what the delegates to this year’s Republican National Convention wanted. And that’s why Paul Ryan’s speech was such a hit.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t true."

Paul Ryan Obscures His Koch-Backed Agenda With a Pack of Lies in Convention Speech | Alternet

Paul Ryan Obscures His Koch-Backed Agenda With a Pack of Lies in Convention Speech | Alternet
"Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan may carry himself with an air of earnestness, but at his heart, he's a liar. What other determination could one make after Ryan's compendium of distortions and outright untruths, delivered Wednesday night to the Republican National Convention?"

Reintroducing the real Paul Ryan

Reintroducing the real Paul Ryan
"On Medicare: We already know that his plan would effectively end Medicare, turning it into a privatized voucher system. The vouchers given to seniors to purchase health insurance would decrease in value relative to the cost increase of health care, sicker and older people would stay in traditional Medicare, costing it more and more, and retirees would be forced to spend much more out of pocket to get less care. And yes, the cuts proposed by Ryan and Mitt Romney will hit current seniors, not just the under 55 crowd.

• On Social Security: Ryan calls Social Security a Ponzi scheme, and he's not just a Social Security privatizer, he had a plan that was so extreme, George W. Bush, the only president who's ever tried to privatize Social Security, rejected it.
• On the War on Women: Ryan's a true warrior, as anti-choice as Todd Akin. He says that the talk of "forcible" rape didn't mean anything, it was just "stock language" and that rapeis basically just a "method of conception"."

FACT CHECK: Yes, Romney’s Tax Plan Requires A Middle-Class Tax Increase

FACT CHECK: Yes, Romney’s Tax Plan Requires A Middle-Class Tax Increase:  A recent study by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center found that Mitt Romney’s tax plan, which purports to be “revenue neutral,” would require households with incomes under $200,000 to pay higher taxes, on average, in order to [...]/p

GOP Platform Suggests Billionaires Should Be Able To Give Unlimited Donations To Mitt Romney

GOP Platform Suggests Billionaires Should Be Able To Give Unlimited Donations To Mitt Romney: The Republican National Convention Tuesday adopted a party platform that embraces the highly unpopular Citizens United ruling, opposes meaningful campaign finance disclosure, and actually calls for allowing donors to give more money to politicians. In a section entitled “The First Amendment: Speech that is Protected” the platform states: The rights of citizenship do not stop [...]/p

Romney's ILLEGAL TAX Avoidance.

Unions, inequality, and faltering middle-class wages | Economic Policy Institute

Unions, inequality, and faltering middle-class wages | Economic Policy Institute
"Between 1973 and 2011, the median worker’s real hourly compensation (which includes wages and benefits) rose just 10.7 percent. Most of this growth occurred in the late 1990s wage boom, and once the boom subsided by 2002 and 2003, real wages and compen­sation stagnated for most workers—college graduates and high school graduates alike. This has made the last decade a “lost decade” for wage growth. The last decade has also been characterized by increased wage inequality between workers at the top and those at the middle, and by the continued divergence between overall productivity and the wages or compensation of the typical worker.

A major factor driving these trends has been the ongoing erosion of unionization and the declining bargaining power of unions, along with the weakened ability of unions to set norms or labor standards that raise the wages of comparable nonunion workers. This preview of the forthcomingThe State of Working America, 12th Edition presents a detailed analysis of the impact of unionization on wages and benefits and on wage inequality."

Voter caging...should Rep. Tim Griffin be in jail?

One of the speakers who took to the stage earlier today at the RNC was Congressman Tim Griffin - who really should be sitting in a jail cell right now. Why's that?

Renewable Electricity Nearly Doubles Under Obama: ‘I Think They’re The Future. They’re Worth Fighting For’

Renewable Electricity Nearly Doubles Under Obama: ‘I Think They’re The Future. They’re Worth Fighting For’: Non-hydro renewable electricity generation has nearly doubled since President Obama took office, reaching 5.75 percent of net electricity, according to figures from the Energy Information Administration. In 2008, before Obama entered the White House, non-hydro resources like solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass represented just over 3 percent of generation. Today, they total nearly 6 percent. [...]/p

GOP Budget Cuts Would Devastate Hurricane And Weather Forecasting

GOP Budget Cuts Would Devastate Hurricane And Weather Forecasting:  It’s late August. The Republicans are having their national convention. A huge tropical storm is bearing down on the U.S. Gulf Coast. So what’s new? We have had major hurricanes bearing down on the United States during four of the past six Republican conventions: Andrew in 1992, Frances in 2004, Gustav in [...]/p

ALEC Goes After the Center for Media and Democracy | Common Dreams

ALEC Goes After the Center for Media and Democracy | Common Dreams
"As calls for investigation of ALEC's lobbying activities and financing practices mount (with three complaints now filed before the IRS and other ethics investigations at the state level), it will take more than Edelman PR and "combat journalism" to rescue ALEC from the trouble it is in."

Republicans Debate How Much To Cut Education While China And India Invest More

Republicans Debate How Much To Cut Education While China And India Invest More: Republicans have been internally debating just how much to cut federal spending on education, but their platform unveiled this week at their convention in Tampa Bay does little to clarify their vision beyond referencing that no new [...]/p

Mitt’s secrets and lies: Romney’s tax rules aren’t the same as yours

Hundreds Rally Against Voter Suppression Laws Near Republican National Convention

Hundreds Rally Against Voter Suppression Laws Near Republican National Convention: TAMPA, Florida — Hundreds of citizens rallied nearby the Republican National Convention Tuesday, protesting the spread of voter suppression laws across the country over the past two years. Florida has been the epicenter of voter suppression since 2011. Last year, state Republicans passed a law slashing early voting in the Sunshine State, including cutting out [...]/p

Iowa Hospital Officials Voted Unanimously To Expand Medicaid

Iowa Hospital Officials Voted Unanimously To Expand Medicaid: Although Republican governors across the country have pledged to reject the expansion of the Medicaid program under Obamacare — turning down nearly $300 billion in federal funds and leaving 17 million low-income Americans without coverage — they are standing in direct opposition to medical professionals. Hospital officials across the country have advocated for expanding the [...]/p

The 8 Worst Examples of Fox News Election Journalism Malpractice (In Just 8 Weeks) | Alternet

The 8 Worst Examples of Fox News Election Journalism Malpractice (In Just 8 Weeks) | Alternet
"Mitt Romney, the Original Bankster , continues to be evasive about his international business affairs, and he refuses to release more than a single year of tax returns in order to quell speculation. His electoral prospects have not been noticeably enhanced with the addition of Wisconsin congressman and right-wing extremist Paul Ryan to the ticket. So, the GOP PR machine (aka Fox News) has swung into action"

Deficit Hawk Hypocrites | Common Dreams

Deficit Hawk Hypocrites | Common Dreams
"Let us never forget that when Bill Clinton left office in 2001, this country enjoyed a healthy $236 billion SURPLUS.

Under George W. Bush and his fellow "deficit hawks," we went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. Bush and Congress "forgot" to pay for those wars that will end up adding some $3 trillion to our national debt. Where were Paul Ryan and the other "deficit hawks" when we spent trillions on wars and added to the deficit? They voted for those policies.

Under George W. Bush and his fellow "deficit hawks," we gave huge tax breaks to the wealthiest people in this country, which cost $1 trillion over a decade. Where were Paul Ryan and the other "deficit hawks" when Bush and Congress spent a trillion dollars on tax breaks for the very rich and added to our national debt? They voted for those policies.

Under George W. Bush and his fellow deficit hawks, Congress passed an overly expensive Medicare prescription drug program written by the insurance companies and drug industry. The government was barred from negotiating lower drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry under the program, which will end up adding $400 billion to our national debt over a 10-year period. Where were Paul Ryan and the other "deficit hawks" when Bush and Congress spent $400 billion for a much too expensive prescription drug program? They voted for those policies.

Now, having run up huge deficits, our born-again "deficit hawks" want to cut every program in sight to save money. In order to cover the costs they incurred in Iraq and Afghanistan, they want to cut Social Security. In order to cover the costs of the tax breaks for the rich, they want to cut Medicare and Medicaid. In order to cover the insurance-company-written Medicare prescription drug program, they want to cut education and food stamps.

This approach - balancing the budget on the backs of the elderly, the sick, the children and the poor - is not only immoral, it is bad economic policy. It is something that must be vigorously opposed."

Peace Advocates Attempt 'War Crimes' Arrest of Condi Rice at RNC | Common Dreams

Peace Advocates Attempt 'War Crimes' Arrest of Condi Rice at RNC | Common Dreams
"ampa police barred a dozen peace activists on Tuesday from entering an event attended by Condoleezza Rice after asserting their intention to perform a citizens arrest of the former Secretary of State for war crimes relating to her involvement with the invasion of Iraq in 2003."

Author Of South Carolina Voter ID Law Acknowledges Racist Emails

Author Of South Carolina Voter ID Law Acknowledges Racist Emails: During Tuesday night’s Republican Convention, Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) complained that the “hardest part” of her job is “this president” opposing South Carolina’s voter ID law, which would require a photo identification as a prerequisite for voting. But just hours before Haley took the stage, opponents of the measure uncovered new emails revealing that the [...]/p

South Carolina Voter ID Law Author Cannot Cite Single Example Of In-Person Voter Impersonation

South Carolina Voter ID Law Author Cannot Cite Single Example Of In-Person Voter Impersonation: As a federal court considers whether to reinstate a South Carolina state voter identification law — denied pre-clearance by the U.S. Department of Justice for violating the Voting Rights Act — one of the bill’s authors took the stand Monday to defend the bill. But when pressed, state Sen. George E. “Chip” Campsen III (R) [...]/p

Fox News' Megyn Kelly Spreads Propaganda That Mitt Romney Is 'Self Made'

Fox News' Megyn Kelly Spreads Propaganda That Mitt Romney Is 'Self Made'
"My God, George Romney was worth a huge fortune and was Michigan royalty as their long-serving governor. If Romney fell into the kind of real hard times that average Americans do every day with no way out, George would have bailed him out as many times as was required. As it was, Romney got the privileged leg up of an expensive prep boarding school and Harvard education, courtesy of Dad's name and wealth. Many wealthy kids try to make it on their own and it's one thing for a person who has no safety net to venture out into the world, but another when you have a gold-plated safety net in the form of a rich and connected dad waiting their to catch you.

Megyn breathlessly gushes over Mitt like a love-struck puppy."

Ohio Secretary Of State Fires Board Of Elections Officials For Supporting Weekend Voting Hours

Ohio Secretary Of State Fires Board Of Elections Officials For Supporting Weekend Voting Hours: Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted has fired two Montgomery County board of election members who voted for expanded early voting hours on weekends in defiance of his state-wide directive ordering them to restrict voting hours to weekdays only. Dennis Lieberman and Thomas J. Ritchie, Sr. were suspended immediately after voting to expand the board’s [...]/p

Crime-Ridden New Jersey City Busts Police Union To Save Money

Crime-Ridden New Jersey City Busts Police Union To Save Money: A New Jersey city often described as the most dangerous in the country will no longer have its own police force, as a crunched state budget has intensified an effort to reduce costs by busting the local police union. Camden, New Jersey ranks among the most crime-ridden cities in America — in 2008, it had [...]/p

High-Frequency Trading Pioneer: Today’s Trading ‘Has Absolutely No Social Value’

High-Frequency Trading Pioneer: Today’s Trading ‘Has Absolutely No Social Value’: Thomas Peterffy, who pioneered the computer-based high-frequency trading that generates millions of dollars in profits for big banks, said in an interview with NPR’s Planet Money that speed trading has gotten so fast that it now “has absolutely no social value”: Peterffy says automation has done some very good things for the world. It’s made [...]/p

10 Things the GOP Platform Hates About You | Alternet

10 Things the GOP Platform Hates About You | Alternet
"The GOP of 2012 is a big tent. Especially if you're a white, wealthy, currently elderly, heterosexual, Christian, non-DC resident who plans on living forever."

Prison, Drug War Spending Rockets While Higher Education Funding Declines | Common Dreams

Prison, Drug War Spending Rockets While Higher Education Funding Declines | Common Dreams
"In 2012, both corrections spending and student debt hit $1 trillion milestones, leading higher education advocates to wonder how prison costs soak up education allocations, thus hurting the economy and limiting low income students’ access to campuses."

Paul Ryan Didn't Work All That Hard To Help His Own Hometown

Paul Ryan Didn't Work All That Hard To Help His Own Hometown
"Considering how little concern Paul "Atlas Shrugged" Ryan has for his hometown constituents, is it any wonder that supporters had to rehearse when to cheer for him pre-rally?"

Did David Koch buy Paul Ryan’s VP nomination?

After Democratic Convention Bans Corporate Donations, Corporations Avoid GOP Convention Too

After Democratic Convention Bans Corporate Donations, Corporations Avoid GOP Convention Too: For the first time this year, the Democratic National Convention will take no contributions from PACs, lobbyists, or corporations. A new CQ analysis suggests the Democratic ban caused corporations to rethink their giving to the Tampa Republican National Convention. With public sentiment strongly against corporate political contributions and the Democrats’ ban making it impossible for [...]/p

EXCLUSIVE: As Hurricane Isaac Targets New Orleans, GOP Rep. Calls For Making Disaster Relief Contingent On Budget Cuts

EXCLUSIVE: As Hurricane Isaac Targets New Orleans, GOP Rep. Calls For Making Disaster Relief Contingent On Budget Cuts: TAMPA, Florida — Though many Republicans are fretting about the optics of holding their party’s convention as Hurricane Isaac slams into New Orleans, a leading Tea Party congressman is vowing to use the opportunity to extract budget cuts if Congress wants to dole out disaster funding to help victims. Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) told ThinkProgress [...]/p

Rewriting Republican policy on rape

Another national Republican candidate caused controversy for his remarks on rape.

Farmer Debunks Corporate Propaganda Against Proposed Law to Label Genetically Modified Food | Alternet

Farmer Debunks Corporate Propaganda Against Proposed Law to Label Genetically Modified Food | Alternet
"I’ve been a farmer for more than 40 years. While I no longer live or farm in California, I do co-manage 120 acres of farmland in Vermont, and I know that a GMO labeling law passed in California will have widespread implications for consumers and farmers in every state in the country. As a farmer who has experience in both conventional and organic farming, I’m compelled to address the anti-labeling campaign’s so-called “concerns” for farmers and consumers."

Romney tells miners 'you've got a great boss.' That boss made them lose pay to listen to Romney.

Romney tells miners 'you've got a great boss.' That boss made them lose pay to listen to Romney.
""You've got a great boss, he runs a great operation here," Mitt Romney told a group of Ohio coal miners at a Murray Energy mine on Aug. 14, before launching into an attack on President Obama's supposed opposition to coal. That "great boss," it turns out, had made the miners' attendance at the Romney event mandatory and unpaid"

US “Fifty Wealthiest Lawmakers” list: A Congress of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich : Information Clearing House: ICH

US “Fifty Wealthiest Lawmakers” list: A Congress of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich       :    Information Clearing House: ICH
"The “50 Wealthiest Lawmakers” list shows that dozens of congressional politicians have amassed huge fortunes while simultaneously slashing the wages, benefits and social services of the American people."

She's Just an Easy-Bake Oven: How the GOP and the Anti-Choice Movement See Women | Common Dreams

She's Just an Easy-Bake Oven: How the GOP and the Anti-Choice Movement See Women | Common Dreams
"The good news about the Rep. Todd Akin situation is that it genuinely seems to have raised the public’s awareness of how much the anti-choice movement is rooted not in some love of fetal life, but in a profound misogyny that focuses heavily on fear of female sexuality."

Republicans: Our welfare ad is a lie. And it works. So we're sticking with it

Republicans: Our welfare ad is a lie. And it works. So we're sticking with it
"The Republicans claim Obama is gutting that reform. Fact-checkers have found Team Romney's claims to be, putting it charitably, baloney."

RNC Official: New Mexico Is ‘Going to Hell’ For Hosting Meeting With American Indians About Economic Development

RNC Official: New Mexico Is ‘Going to Hell’ For Hosting Meeting With American Indians About Economic Development:  An executive member of the Republican National Committee said that his home state of New Mexico is “going to hell” because an annual meeting between the governor and the state’s 22 American Indian tribes [...]/p

GOP Platform Calls For Prosecutors To ‘Vigorously’ Prosecute Porn

GOP Platform Calls For Prosecutors To ‘Vigorously’ Prosecute Porn: Republicans are said to be the party of deregulation, but their platform this year aims to seriously regulate the pornography industry through strict enforcement of laws against porn or other materials deemed “obscene.” In a copy of the GOP platform expected to be approved this week, one line reads, “Current laws on all forms of [...]/p

Unpopular with minorities, Romney targets 'white vote'

Mitt Romney continues to lie and use the racial "dog whistle" to target the white vote.

Doctors Storm Tampa To Support Health Care Reform

Doctors Storm Tampa To Support Health Care Reform:  Doctors for America is taking our message of health care on the road. On Sunday, we kicked off the tour outside the RNC near Tropicana field. Although the RNC delayed their convention by a day, we are out [...]/p

Ten Pieces of Bad News for Romney Heading into the GOP Convention | Alternet

Ten Pieces of Bad News for Romney Heading into the GOP Convention | Alternet
"3. Some 60% of likely voters say Obama is in tune with the problems of women. Only 30% say that about  Romney."

Tea Party Group Builds ‘Poll Watcher’ Network To Discourage Voting, Create False Record Of Voter Fraud

Tea Party Group Builds ‘Poll Watcher’ Network To Discourage Voting, Create False Record Of Voter Fraud: Since 2009, a Tea Party organization called True the Vote has been stoking the recently ignited fervor for voter purges and voter ID requirements currently winding their way through state courts. The Houston-based group has involved itself in every major election in the past three years, purporting to defend election integrity from widespread voter fraud. [...]/p

6 Right-Wing Zealots and the Crazy Ideas Behind the Most Outrageous Republican Platform Ever | Alternet

6 Right-Wing Zealots and the Crazy Ideas Behind the Most Outrageous Republican Platform Ever | Alternet
"The official 2012 Republican Party platform is a far-right fever dream, a compilation of pouting, posturing and policies to meet just about every demand from the overlapping Religious Right, Tea Party, corporate, and neo-conservative wings of the GOP. If moderates have any influence in today’s Republican Party, you wouldn’t know it by reading the platform."

Mitt Romney, repeating welfare lies, says Obama wants to 'shore up his base'

Mitt Romney, repeating welfare lies, says Obama wants to 'shore up his base'
"Mitt Romney is continuing his prolonged episode of mendacity so extreme that the media is repeatedly calling him out on it in straight news stories. That is, he's continuing his attack on President Barack Obama for the waivers Obama's administration has proposed granting states on welfare-to-work requirements but has not actually granted yet. Those are the same waivers Romney took advantage of as governor of Massachusetts, not to mention the 2005 letter he signed asking for more waivers. Romney really thinks he's got a winner here, and he's going to push it as far as he can"

'Remember When Sick People Used To Hold Online Bake Sales?'

'Remember When Sick People Used To Hold Online Bake Sales?'
"If this election's about anything, it's about the fact that here, in the richest country in the world, a dying man still has to hold a virtual bake sale to pay for much-needed medical care. We've made a start. Hopefully, we'll finish it. One day, we'll tell children stories about a time when sick people had to publicly beg for help and they'll look wide-eyed and say, "Really?"

Don't let the loons take away that progress."

We Arm the World! US Dominates Global Arms Sales | Common Dreams

We Arm the World! US Dominates Global Arms Sales | Common Dreams
"The US military-industial complex sold 78 per cent of the world's arms in 2011. Russia was a distant second, with just $4.8 billion in weapon sales."

Rig the election for Romney in PA...Done!

Authoritarian Politics in the Age of Casino Capitalism » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Authoritarian Politics in the Age of Casino Capitalism » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
"The United States has entered a new historical era marked by a growing disinvestment in the social state, public goods, and civic morality. Matters of politics, power, ideology, governance, economics, and policy now translate unapologetically into a systemic disinvestment in institutions and policies that further the breakdown of those public spheres which traditionally provided the minimal conditions for social justice, dissent, and democratic expression. Neoliberalism, or what might be called casino capitalism, has become the new normal. Unabashed in its claim to financial power, self-regulation, and its survival of the fittest value system, neoliberalism not only undercuts the formative culture necessary for producing critical citizens and the public spheres that nourish them, it also facilitates the conditions for producing a bloated defense budget, the prison-industrial complex, environmental degradation, and the emergence of “finance as a criminalized, rogue industry.”[i] It is clear that an emergent authoritarianism haunts a defanged democracy now shaped and structured largely by corporations.  Money dominates politics, the gap between the rich and poor is ballooning, urban spaces are becoming armed camps, militarism is creeping into every facet of public life, and civil liberties are being shredded.  Neoliberalism’s policy of competition now dominates policies that define public spheres such as schools, allowing them to stripped of a civic and democratic project and handed over to the logic of the market.  Regrettably, it is not democracy, but authoritarianism, that remains on the rise in the United States as we move further into the 21^st century."

Michigan GOP Governor Dismisses Romney’s Auto Rescue Opposition: ‘It’s History’

Michigan GOP Governor Dismisses Romney’s Auto Rescue Opposition: ‘It’s History’: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) and Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney haven’t always seen eye to eye on the rescue of the auto industry that saved hundreds of thousands of American jobs. Romney has held several positions on the topic: he wrote an editorial calling on the government to “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” before the [...]/p

An open letter to the people who hate Obama more than they love America

An open letter to the people who hate Obama more than they love America
"Now that you have thrown everything and the kitchen sink at President Obama and it still hasn't worked you are panicking. Obama's approval ratings are still near 50% despite your best efforts to undermine the economy and America's recovery at every step you can. You tried to hold the American economy hostage to force America into default on its' debts, debts that YOU rang up under Bush, so you could blame it on Obama and it failed. You've used the filibuster more than any other Congress ever, going so far as to vote against providing health care access to 9/11 first responders. You remember 9/11, don't you, it's that thing you used to lie us into a war in Iraq, and then when Obama killed Bin Laden and ended the war in Iraq you told people that he hates America and wants the troops to fail. You monsters. You hate Obama with a passion, despite the fact that he is a tax cutting, deficit reducing war President who undermines civil rights and delivers corporate friendly watered down reforms that benefit special interests just like a Republican. You call him a Kenyan. You call him a socialist. You dance with your hatred singing it proudly in the rain like it was a 1950's musical.

Frankly, you disgust me. Your hatred nauseates me. Your bigotry offends me. Your racism revolts me.

Dear haters, I am openly questioning your patriotism.

I think you hate gays, Obama, black people, poor people, all of us, women, atheists and agnostics, Latinos, Muslims, Liberals, all of us, I think you hate every one who isn't exactly like you, and I think you hate us more than you love your country.

I think you hate gay soldiers more than you want America to win its wars.

I don't even think you want America to win wars, you just want America to have wars, never ending wars and the war profiteering it generates. You love that kind of spending, you love spending on faith based initiatives and abstinence based sex education (George Carlin would have loved that one), you love spending on subsidies for profitable oil corporations, you spend like drunken sailors when you are in the White House, but if it is a Democrat then suddenly you cheer when America doesn't get the Olympics because it might make the black President look bad. But oooh you love your country, you say, and you want it back. Well listen here skippy, it isn't your country, you don't own it, it is our country, and America is NOT the religiously extremist Foxbots who hate science, elitist professors and having a vibrant and meaningful sex life with someone we love if Rick Santorum doesn't approve of it. Rick Santorum isn't running for America's fucking high school dance chaperone, he should probably just shut the hell up about sex, but he can't because he has nothing else to run on.

Republicans can NOT win on the issues. They've got NOTHING. All they have is a divide and conquer class war that pits ignorant racist and bigoted people against the rest of us in a meaningless battle of wedge issues and the already proven to fail George W. Bush agenda again of tax cuts for the rich, deregulation, privatization and war profiteering and nothing else, so all they can do is blame black people, gays the government, anybody and everyone else for their own failings. The party of personal responsibility, my ass." Read More