Plutocrat Wanker of the Day

post from Crooks and Liars on 09 July 2012 07:00:07 PM. © Crooks and Liars

enlarge Common people not welcome. You wouldn't understand.

Courtesy of one of the Koch-Romney fundraiser invitees:

For one of these donors, the big danger of 2012 is that people who aren?t as wealthy as her might still be able to have some input on this election. The L.A. Times? Maeve Reston caught a gem of a quote from this attendee as she drove in.
?I don?t think the common person is getting it,? she said from the passenger seat of a Range Rover stamped with East Hampton beach permits. ?Nobody understands why Obama is hurting them.
?We?ve got the message,? she added. ?But my college kid, the baby sitters, the nails ladies ? everybody who?s got the right to vote ? they don?t understand what?s going on. I just think if you?re lower income ? one, you?re not as educated, two, they don?t understand how it works, they don?t understand how the systems work, they don?t understand the impact.?

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http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/plutocrat-wanker-day

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Gov. Chris Christie: The War On Drugs ‘Has
Been A Failure’

post from ThinkProgress on 09 July 2012 07:00:07 PM. © ThinkProgress

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) spoke out against the country’s decades-long War on Drugs during a speech at the Brookings Institution today, saying, “The war on drugs, while well-intentioned, has been a failure. We’re warehousing addicted people everyday in state prisons in New Jersey, giving them no treatment.” Christie is a proponent of mandatory drug treatment programs rather than jail time for first-time, nonviolent drug offenders. Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) also recently described the War on Drugs as a “failure.”

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http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/07/09/513349/gov-chris-christie-the-war-on-
drugs-has-been-a-failure/

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Elizabeth Warren: Health Care Reform ‘Isnt
A Political Issue’

post from ThinkProgress on 09 July 2012 07:00:07 PM. © ThinkProgress

Ahead of the 31st House vote to repeal Obamacare on Wednesday, Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren (D) writes in Massachusetts’ MetroWest Daily News that, for those who benefit from provisions of the Affordable Care Act, their health “depends” on the law. “For millions of people this isn?t a political issue, it?s a personal one,” she writes. Warren, who is running against Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) describes the regulations that expand health care access for millions, like allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ health plans until age 26. Hundreds of thousands of patients in Massachusetts have benefited from preventive services being available without a co-pay, she writes, but “Republicans want to take that away.” Warren is one of a growing number of Democrats who are campaigning on the benefits of the Affordable Care Act — a sharp break from 2010 when Democrats were reluctant to embrace the law.

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http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/07/09/513146/warren-health-care-reform/

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Drudge Pushes Conspiracy That President Obama Was
Secret CIA Agent In Pakistan

post from ThinkProgress on 09 July 2012 07:00:07 PM. © ThinkProgress

Matt Drudge, founder of The Drudge Report

The Drudge Report, Mitt Romney’s preferred news outlet, continued its habit of linking back to preeminent birther website World Net Daily, this time to lend credence to the theory that President Obama took a leave of absence during his time at Columbia Law School so he could serve as a special agent for the CIA in Pakistan.

The WND article, written by washed up fiction author Jerome Corsi, alleges that there is a discrepancy in Columbia University’s records which “casts doubt” on Obama’s well-documented two year tenure at the New York school. He then inexplicably suggests that the reason for the “missing year” is that Obama spent it in Pakistan as an agent for the Central Intelligence Agency:

Swirling amid the black hole of information are a host of theories about Obama?s whereabouts ? particularly during the 1981-1982 school year ? including speculation he was working for the CIA in Pakistan.

The story more closely resembles a Saturday Night Live parody of birther conspiracy theorists than an actual news report, yet Matt Drudge, former darling of assignment editors in newsrooms across the country, found it worthy of a link on his highly-trafficked home page.

It’s the latest in a long and growing line of conspiratorial headlines that Drudge has heavily promoted, including links to 9/11 truthers, birthers and more.

The Mitt Romney campaign’s public decision to forego actual journalists in favor of pandering to gossip sites like Drudge Report and Breitbart.com has raised concern that voters won’t actually be exposed to thorough reporting on a top presidential candidate.

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http://thinkprogress.org/media/2012/07/09/513284/drudge-obama-cia-agent/

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Kill or Capture, Torture and Detain Indefinitely:
Partisan Disagreement on the War on Terrorism

post from Firedoglake on 09 July 2012 06:59:05 PM. © Firedoglake

The presidency of Barack Obama has entrenched many of the counterterrorism policies of President George W. Bush in the national security state and helped to further cement bipartisan consensus on these policies. However, there is one vile aspect about[...]

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Mr. Middle Class

post from The American Prospect on 09 July 2012 06:34:43 PM. © The American Prospect

You?d think it would be downright ludicrous?late-night comedy material?for Barack Obama, the elegant and eloquent Man from Harvard Law, to pitch himself as any kind of regular Joe. But he managed it pretty well in 2008. And he was at it again last Friday, on a lawn in Maumee, Ohio, flanked by hay bales and an American flag, talking to a bunch of middle-American types in a loose-fitting, short-sleeved checked shirt he may have last worn while bowling in Pennsylvania?and sounding pretty darn regular, inspiring choruses of that?s rights and amens. He talked about his single mom, who ?raised me and my sister right,? about his grandparents? service in World War II, about his HoJo?s vacations as a kid. The message: I?m middle class to my bones, y?all, believe it or not. Along the way, he previewed today?s call for extending the Bush tax cuts, which expire at the end of the year, for income under $250,000?another component of the campaign?s renewed emphasis on economic fairness and, you know, middle class, middle class, middle class. ?Unlike my opponent,? he told Maumee, ?I?ll ask the wealthiest Americans who got the biggest tax cuts over the past decade to do a little more.? Amen!

Meanwhile, Mitt was on that other vacation?and heading toward the Hamptons to fundraise with the Koch brothers. (See Daily Meme, below.) The optics, especially considering Friday?s distressing jobs report, were pretty darn good on the Democratic side. And today?s call for extending tax cuts ?to the middle class? put Romney in quite a bind?as the leader of the party that refuses to cut taxes for ?regular people? unless they?re also cut for the wealthiest 2 percent. In just the last few days, we?ve gotten pretty convincing answers to the question on every pundit?s lips: With the economy where it is, and Obama?s approval ratings where they are, how in the heck is he still leading?however slimly?in the polls? It?s partly because he can unleash a pseudo-populist stemwinder in Maumee, Ohio, that is convincing?and his opponent simply cannot. It?s also because, at a time when awareness of economic inequity is running unusually high, running an unrepentant plutocrat for president might not have been the Republican Party?s brightest idea ever. And Obama is hell-bent on exploiting that mistake for all it?s worth. Even if he has to wear that shirt.

So They Say

"For these white liberals to believe they can have this condescending manner toward black conservatives, that we need to have approval from our, I guess, 'masters,' for us to be able to speak?see, that?s where the true racism really lies, Governor, is with the white liberals who don?t want to see someone such as myself that broke away from their dependency class and is out here and able to possibly contend against them with the policies that they are promoting that is destroying the black community. I know I?m their number one target and it just emboldens me to speak out even stronger."

?Congressman Allen West, Florida Republican, holding forth on Huckabee

Daily Meme: He's Big in the Hamptons

Mitt Romney had fun collecting big checks in the Hamptons this weekend.
Steve Benen sums up the event: "Imagine if Thurston Howell III and C. Montgomery Burns were real people. Then imagine they were attending a fundraiser for Mitt Romney in the Hamptons...It turns out, you don't actually have to imagine any of this, because yesterday, it actually happened."
Romney gets it, the Hamptonites say?unlike Obama and those common Democrats. One woman said, "But my college kid, the baby sitters, the nails ladies? everybody who's got the right to vote?they don't understand what's going on. I just think if you're lower income? one, you're not as educated, two, they don't understand how it works, they don't understand how the systems work, they don't understand the impact."
"Maybe there'd be more ?commoners? at Romney events if they were $7.50 or $75 per person, but $75,000 is just a bit beyond the reach of most Americans."
Another woman made her appearance yelling, ?Is there a V.I.P. entrance? We are V.I.P.", from her Range Rover.
As Matt Yglesias points out, if the richest are in charge of running the economy ? they aren't doing too swell a job right now.
Protesters did try to make some noise, even hiring a local pilot to fly a banner that read, ?Romney has a Koch problem,? over Revlon chair Ronald O. Perelman?s estate.
A less successful group of protesters tried to crash the party and ended upcrashing into a police boat.
But in the end, Mitt's just "a plain-talking guy," said former Lehman Brothers head Peter Cohen, cigar in hand.
And then Romney headed from the Hamptons straight to ? Aspen.

What We're Writing

Scott Lemieux asks: Should liberals be mad at Kagan and Breyer?
Abby Rapoport explains the bewildering mess that is the Florida voter purge.

What We're Reading

Why is everybody misreporting Obama?s tax proposal?
Texas?s voter-ID law has gone on trial.
Romney outraised Obama last month by $35 million.
Molly Ball unpacks the politics behind Obama?s move on taxes.
Tom Junod writes about the uncomfortable legacy of Obama's kill list.
Amy Sullivan tells the media it's time to slow down.
New York magazine collects the year's most revealing/entertaining Rupert Murdoch tweets, which don't show much Romney love.
Steve Kornacki explains why Democrats are doing so much better than Romney?s erstwhile GOP opponents at exploiting his one-percentness.

Poll of the Day

According to Gallup/USA Today, Obama holds a narrow edge in 12 ?battleground? states?two points?while he leads Romney by four percent in the other 38.

Read The Full Article:
http://prospect.org/article/mr-middle-class

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The Best Way to "Fight the Fed" and Possibly
Make 30%

post from Jutia Group on 09 July 2012 06:33:24 PM. © Jutia Group

The biggest trades are the ones no one sees coming. Take housing in 2006. Optimism was at an all-time high. Prices were screaming higher every quarter. The mere mention of a correction brought . . . → Read More: The Best Way to "Fight the Fed" — and Possibly Make 30%

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http://jutiagroup.com/20120709-the-best-way-to-fight-the-fed-and-possibly-make-30
/

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Le Tour de France 2012: Stage 9

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 09 July 2012 06:02:21 PM. © Docudharma - Front Page

The Tour de France 2012, the world's premier cycling event kicked off last Saturday with the Prologue in Liège, Belgium and will conclude on July 22 with the traditional ride into Paris and laps up and down the Champs-Élysées. Over the next 22 days the[...]

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http://www.docudharma.com/diary/30320/le-tour-de-france-2012-stage-9

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O'Malley Hammers Romney: Swiss Bank Account Never
Built an American Bridge

O'Malley Hammers Romney: Swiss Bank Account Never Built an American Bridge

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Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) struggled on Sunday to explain presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's investments outside the United States, including Swiss bank accounts and a corporation in Bermuda.

During an interview with ABC's Terry Moran, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) ripped into Romney for betting "against America" with his foreign investments.

"President Obama is not running against the Almighty, he is running against the alternative," O'Malley explained. "And the alternative in this case is Gov. Mitt Romney, who had the 47th worst job-creation rate as governor, and also has a penchant, a talent for offshoring American jobs -- sending them overseas. And also maintaining offshore bank accounts in Bermuda, Swiss bank accounts."

The Maryland governor added: "I've never known of a Swiss bank account to build an American bridge, a Swiss bank account to create American jobs, or Swiss bank accounts to rebuild the levies to protect the people of New Orleans. That's not an economic strategy for moving our country forward."

Moran asked Jindal if it was even fair for voters to consider Romney's investments outside the U.S.

"The bottom line is I'm thrilled Mitt Romney has been successful in the private sector," Jindal demurred.

"Is it OK for voters to consider the money he has put outside of the country in tax havens offshore, in secret Bermuda companies?" Moran pressed. "Does that make sense for voters to consider?"

"I think voters will consider all the distractions put out by the Obama campaign," Jindal quipped. "At the end of the day, this election is about two fundamental choices. It's about President Obama, who wants to continue to spend money we don't have, incurred now a trillion dollar-plus deficit every year he's been president after he promised we'd cut the deficit in half."

But O'Malley quickly disagreed that the Obama campaign was throwing "sand in the eyes of the American voters" to divert attention away from the president's record.

"No, it's not a distraction at all," O'Malley insisted. "The relevance is this, that Gov. Romney can't claim that his state was actually great at creating jobs when he was governor so he's fallen back and said, 'Vote for me, I was a business man, I created jobs.' You want to talk about going the way of Europe? What went the way of Europe were the Swiss bank accounts and the American dollars that Mitt Romney stuffed in that offshore Swiss bank account, jobs that he facilitated companies in moving offshore, out of places like Ohio, out of Pennsylvania and Maryland."

"This is a fundamental disagreement between two different candidates and their vision for our county's future," he continued. "Barack Obama believes enough in our country to be willing to work for it and invest in it. Mitt Romney bets against America. He bet against America when he put his money in Swiss bank accounts and tax havens and shelters and also set up the secret company, the shell company in Bermuda. Which by the way in order to avoid disclosure, he put in his wife's name right before he became governor of Massachusetts."

"These are legitimate questions that a man who is holding himself as wanting to lead our country forward needs to answer."

Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs on Sunday called for Romney to release several years of tax returns to prove that he was not dodging tax laws.

"The one thing he could do, Candy, to clear up whether or not he?s done anything illegal, whether he?s shielding his income from taxes in either Bermuda or Switzerland is to do what every other presidential candidate has done, and that?s release a series of years of their own tax returns," Gibbs told CNN's Candy Crowley. "This is a guy whose slogan is ?Believe in America? and it should be ?Business in Bermuda.? That?s what Mitt Romney is all about."

(h/t: Talking Points Memo)

Read The Full Article:
http://crooksandliars.com/david/omalley-hammers-romney-swiss-bank-account-ne

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It's a Trend!!!

For some folks, putting your money abroad just ain't enough. They need to go the full monte. First, Eduardo Saverin. Now Denise Rich. Renouncing your American citizenship to cut your taxes is going mainstream. [...]

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