Fox's Flawed Attempt To Deflect Attention From
Romney's Leveraged Buyout Record

post from Media Matters for America - Latest Items on 14 May 2012 06:51:49 PM. © Media Matters for America - Latest Items

Fox News is pushing fatally flawed analogies to defend Mitt Romney from criticism over his jobs record at Bain Capital, pointing to the Obama administration's green energy loans and the successful rescue of the U.S. auto industry. These comparisons crumble under scrutiny, as leveraged buyouts are different from providing bankruptcy financing or loans.

Obama Campaign Ad Hits Romney On Jobs

New Obama Campaign Ad Highlights Bain's Takeover Of Steel Mill Under Romney's Leadership. In a new ad, the Obama campaign tells the story of how venture capital firm Bain Capital, which Romney led at the time, took over Kansas City steel mill, GST Steel. GST eventually went bankrupt, resulting in hundreds of workers losing their jobs and much of their pensions. However, Bain's executives walked away with millions of dollars in profit. [YouTube, 5/14/12]

Fox News: Romney Should Respond By Hitting Obama Over Auto Rescue, Solyndra

Byron York: Auto Rescue Is Similar "In Essence" To Bain's Steel Mill Bankruptcy. Fox News contributor Byron York, also the chief political correspondent at the Washington Examiner, wrote:

The Obama campaign has released a new ad holding Mitt Romney responsible for the loss of 750 jobs in the bankruptcy of a steel plant purchased by Romney's Bain Capital in 1993.
[...]
How will Romney respond? The Romney campaign has given some broad hints lately. First, the campaign has carefully scrutinized Romney's entire record at Bain and believes it is a strongly positive one overall. But that is the big picture -- there are individual instances in which Bain investments failed. Given that, look for the Romney campaign and its surrogates to counterattack by focusing on an instance in which Barack Obama, in essence, took over a company and laid people off in an effort to save the larger enterprise.
That was, of course, the auto bailouts, and while Obama often cites his success in "saving" the car industry, few remember today how many (non-union) workers lost their jobs in the Obama administration's handling of the matter. During the economic crisis, General Motors and Chrysler shut down more than 700 dealerships, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. And the companies did it under pressure from Obama. [Washington Examiner, 5/14/12]

Brit Hume: Romney Could "Fire Back" By Highlighting Auto Rescue, Solyndra. Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume stated:

HUME: One way would be to fire back at the president for his record on job creation for what happened to the workers at a place like Solyndra, where the administration, I guess, encouraged that company to hire people and generate a business, and then it went bankrupt and everybody lost, including the workers and the taxpayers.
You could talk about the dealerships, auto dealerships that were closed down when the government got control of a couple of the auto companies, an awful lot of people lost jobs, businesses were closed, and so on. [Fox News, America's Newsroom, 5/14/12]

But The Auto Rescue Plan Cannot Be Compared With Bain's Leveraged Buyouts

New York's Jonathan Chait: Comparing Bain's Actions To Auto Rescue Is "Fairly Silly." New York magazine writer Jonathan Chait wrote:

The transformation of American business is deeply unpopular. It has made working life less secure and has failed to deliver broad-based prosperity even while it has bestowed enormous riches on the most fortunate. The locus of public opinion on it in many crucial ways sits well to the left of what either party proposes. Many Americans want to go back to the days when corporations offered secure employment and generous benefits.
That's why, interestingly, Romney is not trying to fight against the currents of public opinion but glide along with them. His response to Obama is telling. As reported by Byron York, Romney plans to hit back at Obama by citing the auto bailout, which imposed some of the same kinds of restructuring that Romney used at Bain: wage cuts for workers, incentive payments, and so on. The comparison is fairly silly, because the key point is that Romney's career produced huge gains for owners of capital, and the auto bailout forced them to swallow huge losses. But it shows Romney's recognition of what the voters want. [New York, 5/14/12]

Wash. Post's Sargent: "Obama Didn't Personally Profit When He Bailed Out The Auto Companies." The Washington Post's Greg Sargent wrote:

If this is indeed the comparison the Romney campaign plans to pursue, it's a curious one. After all, Obama didn't personally profit when he bailed out the auto companies. By contrast, Bain walked away with at least $12 million in profits after its episode involving GST Steel, the company that is the subject of Obama's ads. More broadly, Jon Chait notes: "Romney's career produced huge gains for owners of capital, and the auto bailout forced them to swallow huge losses."
Beyond this, what's really curious about this counterattack is that it only helps underscore the philosophical difference between the two that the Obama campaign is trying to highlight with the Bain attacks.
[...]
[W]hen Romney invokes the auto bailout, all he does is remind us of an instance where his economic worldview broke down -- where his philosophy compelled him to advocate for what likely would have been a disastrous course. This worldview led him to originally argue that the bailout would guarantee the auto industry's certain demise. This worldview obliges him to continue arguing that the auto industry would be in better shape today than it is now if Obama had not pursued a government "intervention." Many experts dismiss Romney's claims about the bailout as thoroughly wrong on several levels .
Obama, by contrast, argues that an unfettered free market is not a total cure-all. He argues that sometimes active government is necessary to help those who have been damaged by free market excess or to step in when the consequences of allowing unfettered capitalism to run its course could damage thousands of lives. In service of this larger point, the Obama campaign is very happy to engage in a dispute over the auto-bailout, a clear cut case where this argument turned out, by most accounts, to be thoroughly vindicated. If anything, invoking the auto-bailout in the context of the battle over the Bain years only reinforces the larger contrast of economic worldviews the Obama team hoped to draw with the Bain ads in the first place. [The Washington Post, 5/14/12]

Bain Used Leveraged Buyouts To Maximize Return To Shareholders

LA Times: Romney's Leveraged-Buyout Strategy Was "To Create Wealth For Your Investors." From the Los Angeles Times:

Under Romney's leadership, Bain became one of the nation's top leveraged-buyout firms, helping lead a trend in which companies were acquired using debt often pledged against their own assets or earnings.
Bain expanded many of the companies it acquired. But like other leveraged-buyout firms, Romney and his team also maximized returns by firing workers, seeking government subsidies, and flipping companies quickly for large profits. Sometimes Bain investors gained even when companies slid into bankruptcy.
[...]
Bain managers said their mission was clear. "I never thought of what I do for a living as job creation," said Marc B. Walpow, a former managing partner at Bain who worked closely with Romney for nine years before forming his own firm. "The primary goal of private equity is to create wealth for your investors."
[...]
Leveraged buyouts allow investors to purchase businesses with the acquisition funded sometimes by significant amounts of debt. To critics, these leveraged deals can make acquired companies more vulnerable to economic downturns, leading to a greater likelihood of bankruptcy and job cuts. At the same time, the deals sometimes introduce discipline to firms and even whole industries that need it.
Either way, Bain investors typically profited. [Los Angeles Times, 12/3/11]

Boston Globe: With Failing Businesses, Romney "Never Suggested They Had To Do Something To Save Workers' Jobs." From a January 27, 2008, Boston Globe article:

The primary objective, of course, was to make money. That meant every job couldn't be saved. Some strategies, such as a roll-ups, are designed at the outset to cut jobs. In roll-ups, similar firms in the same industry are acquired and combined to boost revenues while eliminating duplicative jobs, particularly in administrative areas such as payroll, personnel, and information technology.
[...]
In assessing deals, Romney and partners didn't consider whether they saved or created jobs, according to a former Bain employee who requested anonymity, citing confidentiality guidelines. When Bain partners discussed shutting down failing businesses in which they invested, Romney never suggested they had to do something to save workers' jobs. "It was very clinical," the former employee said. "Like a doctor. When the patient is dead, you just move on to the next patient." [The Boston Globe, 1/27/08]

Reuters: Under Bain Ownership, Steel Mill Went Bankrupt, But Bain Reaped $12 Million Profit And $4.5 Million In Consulting Fees. In October 1993, Romney's Bain Capital became the majority shareholder in a group of investors that bought the Kansas City steel mill renamed GS Technologies. From Reuters:

[I]n October 1993, Bain Capital, co-founded by Mitt Romney, became majority shareholder in a steel mill that had been operating since 1888.
It was a gamble. The old mill, renamed GS Technologies, needed expensive updating, and demand for its products was susceptible to cycles in the mining industry and commodities markets.
Less than a decade later, the mill was padlocked and some 750 people lost their jobs. Workers were denied the severance pay and health insurance they'd been promised, and their pension benefits were cut by as much as $400 ... a month.
What's more, a federal government insurance agency had to pony up $44 million to bail out the company's underfunded pension plan. Nevertheless, Bain profited on the deal, receiving $12 million on its $8 million initial investment and at least $4.5 million in consulting fees. [Reuters, 1/6/12]

LA Times: Under Bain Ownership, Steel Mill "Cut Jobs And Benefits Almost Immediately." As the Los Angeles Times reported:

Leveraged buyouts allow investors to purchase businesses with the acquisition funded sometimes by significant amounts of debt. To critics, these leveraged deals can make acquired companies more vulnerable to economic downturns, leading to a greater likelihood of bankruptcy and job cuts. At the same time, the deals sometimes introduce discipline to firms and even whole industries that need it.
Either way, Bain investors typically profited.
That was true in the case of GS Industries, the 10th-biggest Bain investment in the Romney years. Bain formed GSI in the early 1990s by spending $24 million to acquire and merge steel companies with plants in Missouri, South Carolina and other states.
Company managers cut jobs and benefits almost immediately. Meanwhile, Bain and other investors received management fees from GSI and a $65-million dividend in the first years after the acquisition, according to interviews with company employees.
In 1999, as economic challenges mounted, GSI sought a federal loan guarantee intended to help steel companies compete internationally. The loan deal was approved, but in 2001, before it could be used, the company went bankrupt, two years after Romney left Bain. [Los Angeles Times, 12/3/11]

Reuters: Bain's "Failed Investment" In Steel Mill Led To "A U.S. Bailout." After the steel mill went bankrupt, the federal government had to bail out its underfunded pensions plan:

The story of Bain's failed investment in the Kansas City mill offers a perspective on a largely overlooked chapter in Romney's business record: His firm's brush with a U.S. bailout.
His supporters say the pension gap at the Kansas City mill was an unforeseen consequence of a falling stock market and adverse market conditions. But records show that the mill's Bain-backed management was confronted several times about the fund's shortfall, which, in the end, required an infusion of funds from the federal Pension Benefits Guarantee Corp.
[...]
The U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp, which insures company retirement plans, determined in 2002 that GS had underfunded its pension by $44 million. The federal agency, funded by corporate levies, stepped in to cover the basic pension payments, but not the supplement the union had negotiated as a hedge against the plant's closure. [Reuters, 1/6/12]

While Obama Administration Used A Structured Bankruptcy To Rescue GM, Chrysler

McClatchy: GM And Chrysler Went Through "Government-Sponsored Bankruptcy" In 2009. McClatchy reported that GM would move through an accelerated "government-sponsored bankruptcy":

Administration officials said late Sunday the federal government would provide an additional $30 billion to GM -- which has already received about $20 billion in government loans -- to help it restructure through bankruptcy. GM will follow a similar course taken by Chrysler LLC, which filed for Chapter 11 protection in April and hopes to emerge from its government-sponsored bankruptcy this week.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in advance of Obama's public remarks, said the administration expects the court process to last 60 to 90 days. If successful, GM will emerge as a leaner company with a smaller work force, fewer plants and a trimmed dealership network. [McClatchy, 6/1/09, via Cleveland Plain Dealer]

U.S. Now Owns A 26 Percent Stake In GM. According to The New York Times, "the Treasury Department still owned a 26 percent stake" in GM as of the beginning of May 2012. This is down from the roughly 60 percent stake owned when GM left bankruptcy in July 2009. [The New York Times, 5/3/12]

Center For Automotive Research: Auto Rescue Saved More Than 1 Million Jobs In 2010. In November 2010, The Wall Street Journal reported that a study from the Center for Automotive Research found that the auto rescue saved well over 1 million jobs:

No matter what happens with Government Motors, the taxpayer intervention in the auto business appears to be a win for Americans, a new research report asserts.
The Center for Automotive Research said today the government's bailouts of the U.S. auto industry spared more than 1.14 million jobs last year alone, and prevented "additional personal income losses" of nearly $97 billion combined for this year and last.
Another 314,400 jobs were saved this year thanks to the $80 billion in taxpayer lifelines extended to GM, Chrysler, and the GMAC and Chrysler Financial financing businesses, CAR said. [The Wall Street Journal, 11/17/10]

Bain Comparisons To Solyndra Are Also Fraudulent

Solyndra Was Given A Loan Guarantee, Not Leveraged For Profit. From a Department of Energy press release announcing the loan guarantee extended to Solyndra in March 2009:

Energy Secretary Steven Chu today offered a $535 million loan guarantee for Solyndra, Inc. to support the company's construction of a commercial-scale manufacturing plant for its proprietary cylindrical solar photovoltaic panels. The company expects to create thousands of new jobs in the U.S. while deploying its solar panels across the U.S. and around the world. [Department of Energy, 3/20/09]

Talking Points Memo: Comparison Between Bain Business Model And Solyndra Loan "Is Misguided On Many Levels." Talking Points Memo's Pema Levy wrote:

The comparison is misguided on many levels and only makes sense if you fundamentally misrepresent both what private equity at Bain meant in practice, and what happened at Solyndra. As a private equity firm, Bain Capital invested in companies and came up with a plan for making them profitable, or more profitable than they previously were. It wasn't merely an investment -- that's venture capitalism -- because it included a business strategy. Sometimes the plan was to lay off workers and cut wages and benefits. Sometimes the strategy failed and the company went under. But Romney, as CEO of Bain, was in charge of strategies that called for laying off workers while benefiting shareholders. None of that is true of Solyndra, where the company was loaned money to follow through on its own projects but ultimately failed anyway. [Talking Points Memo, 1/8/12]

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Lawrence Lessig Testimony on Open Source Dividend
Prizes

post from Firedoglake on 14 May 2012 06:45:18 PM. © Firedoglake

On Tuesday, 10:00 a.m., the US Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging will hold a hearing on the high costs/prices for HIV/AIDs Drugs and the Prize Fund Alternative. Witnesses include Harvard Law's Lawrence Lessig as well as James Love,[...]

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Bombs Away

post from The American Prospect on 14 May 2012 06:26:59 PM. © The American Prospect

There?s no arguing that the Romney campaign?s formula for winning the GOP nomination?attack and destroy, attack and destroy?worked. But it also meant that their man left little or no positive impression with voters. The ?pro-Romney? ads were overwhelmingly anti-Gingrich or anti-Santorum. In Florida alone, his campaign and super PAC spent a head-spinning $15.4 million on ads; exactly one of them was positive. Combine the negativity with Romney?s rich-and-poor gaffes and terminal social awkwardness, and you end up with one of the most startling poll numbers heading into the general election: Sixty percent of Americans find President Obama likeable, but only 31 percent say the same of his Republican opponent.

You can debate how much likeability should matter to voters; today the Prospect?s Paul Waldman reminded us that Democrats weren?t so crazy about the whole ?who would you rather have a beer with?? question in 2000 and 2004. But the Obama campaign knows that it does matter?a lot?and is doing everything possible to reinforce Romney's lack of likeability before he conjures up a way to seem more appealingly human. A powerful new two-minute ad about a steel plant shuttered by Bain Capital tells a story that should stick a lot longer in voters? minds than Romney's prep-school bullying. ?They made as much money off it as they could and they closed it down, they filed for bankruptcy, without any concern for the families or the communities,? says Joe Soptic. ?It was like watching an old friend bleed to death.? And guess who killed Joe?s old friend?

With almost six months till Election Day, it might seem a bit early to be deploying the inevitable "Bain bombs." But the Obama campaign wants to cement those overwhelmingly negative impressions of the Republican standard-bearer. The end result, though, could be that Romney?s campaign feels compelled to wage all-out war on Obama?s friendlier image, far beyond what the McCain campaign attempted in 2008. That would make a sure-to-be-ugly campaign even harder to stomach.

So They Say

"Call me cynical, but I didn?t think his views on marriage could get any gayer."

?Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, weighing in on Obama's announcement that he supports same-sex marriage

Daily Meme: To Wedge or Not to Wedge?

In case you were unconscious all last week, Obama endorsed same-sex marriage.
It was kind of a big deal. Even Fox News' Shep Smith thought so.
Rush Limbaugh disagreed.
A Republican pollster sent out a super-secret memo on how Republicans can get on the right side of history (and voters) on same-sex marriage.
Gawker pointed out another option: "Or just keep being dinosaurs. Up to you."
John Boehner says he wants no part of it: "I'm going to stay focused on jobs, thanks. The president can talk about it all he wants."
Other House Republicans are spoiling for a same-sex marriage fight, though, pushing for banning the use of military chapels for gay weddings.
Romney would also like to get back to the economy, especially given the whole Cranbrook Bully thing.
In sum: Republicans haven't figured out how to deal with the issue, and last week's developments definitely caught them off guard.

What We're Writing

Abby Rapoport: Will Scott Walker?s ?divide and conquer? comments get Wisconsin Democrats fired up anew?
Jamelle Bouie: The Obama campaign is working to turn Romney?s strength?his business experience and ?competence??into a negative.

What We're Reading

Ron Paul will stop campaigning?but keep fighting for delegates.
Marin Cogan has the seven stages of Ron Paul supporter grief.
Tom Junod, former bully, weighs in on Mitt Romney's prep school past.
Ben Adler: Can Romney catch up with Obama online?
Timothy Murphy profiles Michele Bachmann's mentor, who believes in dragons, and the co-existence of people and stegosaruses.
Pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA has purchased ad time in six swing states for next week.
In other super PAC news, theres a new one in the Crossroads family going afteryouth voters.
Buddy Roemer might be the Americans Elect nominee?but he says he won?t be a spoiler.

Poll of the Day

Democrats were hoping that if Indiana Republicans ousted Senator Richard Lugar in favor of Tea Party favorite Richard Mourdock?which they did last week?Democratic Congressman Joe Donnelly would have a fighting chance to capture the seat. A poll released today?conducted, it?s important to note, by a Democratic polling group?foundthey may have been right, as it shows Mourdock and Donnelly in a 40-40 dead heat.

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Mitt Romney donor withdraws support after Romney
condemns marriage equality at Liberty University

post from Daily Kos on 14 May 2012 06:06:29 PM. © Daily Kos

Romney signed the NOM pledge Better late than never ... but Romney did sign the NOM pledge ages agoStanding up to the bully:

A well-known, openly gay supporter of Mitt Romney in New York has decided to withdraw his support for Romney and back President Barack Obama instead.
The clincher: Romney's stance on same-sex marriage.

The supporter, Bill White, is a registered independent who is legally married in New York thanks to the state's embrace of marriage equality. He donated $2,500 to Mitt Romney's campaign, the legal maximum for the primary, but now wants his money back.

"Several days later this past Saturday to a packed stadium of young college students you made the following statement that 'Marriage is only between one man and one woman,'" White wrote, referring to Romney's recent commencement address to Liberty University, an evangelical school in Lynchburg, Virginia.
"I believe that you will do as you now say and try to force a constitutional amendment which would attempt to make my own legal and blessed marriage null and void."

CNN contacted the Romney campaign for comment, but received no response.

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hdraws-support-after-Romney-condemns-marriage-equality-at-Liberty-University

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Nikki Haley, Mick Zais further ruin public
schools with charter bill

post from The Politics of Jamie Sanderson on 14 May 2012 06:01:16 PM. © The Politics of Jamie Sanderson

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signed into law Monday a bill expanding charter schools, calling it a big first step in improving education by expanding options for parents who don't want to send their children to traditional public schools.

The new law allows boys-only and girls-only charter schools and requires traditional schools to open their doors for students who want to do extracurricular activities not offered by their charter school. It also allows universities to sponsor their own schools.

So, we have the further ruining of public schools with Nikki Haley and cohort Mick Zais. Not only do they want to get rid of public education in S.C., they want to ride the backs of those in public education by having charter school students participate in i.e. sports at public schools.

"Charter schools are not a magic bullet, but they are a tremendous step in the way to providing a personalized and customized education for every student - not a standardized and uniform education for every student," Zais said at the ceremony at Greenville Technical Charter High School.

Coded language. In other words, we'll teach you what we want to teach you and leave out what is taught (disagreed with) in public schools.

"Competition is even more needed in education because it lifts the quality of the teachers. It lifts the options for the students and it allows the parents to see the accountability," Haley said.

Kinda hard to compete when you've cut ultra millions from public education.

Why are people not fed up with the evident slap in the face the GOP clowns repeatedly get away with. It's in public - and right in full view of you, the person they want to demean, demoralize and not educate fully.

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ther-ruin.html

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Ron Paul Now Focusing on Yada-Yada-Yada

post from TaylorMarsh.com on 14 May 2012 06:00:54 PM. © TaylorMarsh.com

DROPPING OUT? Jesse Benton, Ron Paul’s campaign spokesman replies:

“Absolutely not! We are focusing our efforts squarely on winning delegates and party leadership positions at state conventions.”

Paul’s statement, via Buzzfeed:

As I reflect on our 2012 Presidential campaign, I am humbled by the supporters who have worked so hard and sacrificed so much. And I am so proud of what we have accomplished. We will not stop until we have restored what once made America the greatest country in human history.
This campaign fought hard and won electoral success that the talking heads and pundits never thought possible. But, this campaign is also about more than just the 2012 election. It has been part of a quest I began 40 years ago and that so many have joined. It is about the campaign for Liberty, which has taken a tremendous leap forward in this election and will continue to grow stronger in the future until we finally win.
Our campaign will continue to work in the state convention process. We will continue to take leadership positions, win delegates, and carry a strong message to the Republican National Convention that Liberty is the way of the future.
Moving forward, however, we will no longer spend resources campaigning in primaries in states that have not yet voted. Doing so with any hope of success would take many tens of millions of dollars we simply do not have. I encourage all supporters of Liberty to make sure you get to the polls and make your voices heard, particularly in the local, state, and Congressional elections, where so many defenders of Freedom are fighting and need your support.
I hope all supporters of Liberty will remain deeply involved – become delegates, win office, and take leadership positions. I will be right there with you. In the coming days, my campaign leadership will lay out to you our delegate strategy and what you can do to help, so please stay tuned.

Whenever I hear Ron Paul talk about “Liberty” I laugh out loud. Paul’s one of the people who think “Liberty” is just for men. If you’re of the Libertarian ilk, your best bet is Gary Johnson, who at least is consistent when it comes to “Liberty.”

Paul’s obviously got definition problems.

May 10, 2012, New York, NY ? Libertarian nominee for President and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson today said he?s ?disappointed? with President Obama?s position on gay marriage. Obama told ABC Wednesday he would let each individual state decide the gay marriage question instead of seeking federal protection of the right to marry. Johnson noted that more than 30 states already ban same sex marriage in one way or another.
In a statement, Johnson said, ?Instead of insisting on equality as a U.S. Constitutional guarantee, the President has thrown this question back to the states. When the smoke clears, Gay Americans will realize the President?s words have gained them nothing today, and that millions of Americans in most states will continue to be denied true marriage equality. I guess the President is still more worried about losing Ohio, Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia than he is in doing the right thing. What is the President saying ? that he would eat a piece of cake at a gay wedding if the state the happy couple lives in allows it ?. Where is the leadership? While I commend him for supporting the concept of gay marriage equality, I am profoundly disappointed in the President.?

I wait with breath held on the pending moment of Andy Sullivan’s fluffing of Gary Johnson. Also for other gay conservatives to rally ’round Johnson instead of Romney.

As for Paul’s announcement today, I guess it all depends on what your definition of dropping out is.

graphic h/t Dave Weigel

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Wisconsin's Scott Fitzgerald Says His Challenger
is a Puppet...for Her Husband

Scott Fitzgerald admitting his agenda on Fox News, March 2011

While Governor Scott Walker got the lion's share of attention over the assault on public unions in Wisconsin, the truth is that his right hand man in the whole agenda was Senate Leader Scott Fitzgerald, member of the Fitzgerald dynasty in Wisconsin. Wisconsinites knew, though, and Scott Fitzgerald was the subject of a recall as well. Within a fairly short period of time, more than 20,600 of his constituents?roughly 12 percent?signed the petition to recall Fitzgerald.

But given how little respect Wisconsinites have gotten from Scott Fitzgerald, is it any wonder that he expresses disdain for his challenger in the most dismissive and sexist of terms?

In comments to the Wisconsin State Journal, Fitzgerald argued that his opposition wasn't really being driven by his challenger, Lori Compas, but by unions, protest groups and her husband. From the paper's report:
For the record, Fitzgerald said he doesn't buy Compas' Pollyanna image. He knows some people are painting the race as a David-vs.-Goliath contest. But Fitzgerald said he thinks her husband is one of the main forces behind her campaign, as well as unions and protest groups.
"I don't for one minute believe she is the organizing force behind this whole thing," he said.
While Wisconsin Republicans have been arguing for months that unions exert undue influence in the political process in the state, Compas was reportedly "audibly stunned" when told of the state leader's remarks about her husband.
"That is pretty insulting, but it does seem in keeping with his general views on women," she told the paper. "He doesn't seem to have a lot of respect for them. That's OK; he can keep underestimating me."

For the record, Compas' husband is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. However, to belittle Compas as a puppet of her husband ignores her long-standing and very prominent role in the We Are Wisconsin movement and the recall of Scott Fitzgerald.

Lori Compas has already survived fake Democrats placed on the ballot by Republican strategists to foil the recall. Unfortunately, she's behind Fitzgerald right now with little party support. If you'd like to show your support for Compas against the misogyny and anti-unionism of Scott Fitzgerald, there's an ActBlue page set up for her campaign here.

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JPMorgan loss due to loophole Dimon lobbied to
have

There's nothing quite like being the victim of your own arrogance. The ugly $2 billion loss - which is probably only the beginning since the bank still owns those positions - sits squarely on the head of CEO Jamie Dimon. As we learned during the crisis of 2008 as well as this latest Wall Street failure is that we need much more transparency in the too-big-too-fail world.Karma, anyone?Soon...

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Buck McKeon Led Effort To Fund Grenades Over
Grandmas

Representative Buck McKeon, chair of the House Armed Services Committee and self-appointed Warmonger in Chief has been engaging in a very public battle with the Pentagon. Why? Because the Pentagon says it doesn?t need the loads of pet projects McKeon submitted in the National Defense Authorization Act. The 2013 NDAA calls for $8 billion more in spending that the Pentagon requested for things like a missile defense system on Long Island that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey called unneeded and duplicative. The HASC prevents the retirement of aging ships and aircraft that the Pentagon says no longer meet strategic requirements. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta claimed that members where trying to restore their favorite programs without regard to Pentagon strategy.

This is in addition to the GOP plan to avoid defense sequestration which passed the House last week attempting to spare the defense budget the $500 billion cut over 10 year as required by the Budget Control Act of 2011, which McKeon voted for but must have had his fingers crossed. McKeon argued that House Republicans ?were careful to identify other non-defense budget sources to accommodate the needed? defense increases. The Congressional Budget Office found that the GOP proposal would actually increase the budget deficit next year by $24 billion.

What are those non-defense sources to be cut? Mostly social programs like meals on wheels for the elderly, school lunches for 280,000 children, food stamps for 2 million people, and child day care. Additionally, Federal workers would have to contribute an extra 5% of their pay to their pension plans.

Dr. Lee Rogers was in Washington last week meeting with Members of Congress and gaining momentum for his campaign to replace McKeon in California?s 25 th District. We asked him what he thought of the 2013 defense budget.

?McKeon?s 2013 NDAA is irresponsible. When we have $15 trillion in debt and running trillion dollar deficits, McKeon ignores any sense of fiscal responsibility. While in the House Office Building, I walked by the room where McKeon was inside chairing a committee session to rob seniors and the poor to overfund defense beyond what the Pentagon requested. Additionally, McKeon was breaking his promise to keep the defense appropriations bills clean and free of social issue legislation when he amended it to limit the religious freedom of military chaplains. A provision on the NDAA prohibits same-sex marriages by military chaplains whose religious orders allow them to perform such ceremonies.?

As I mentioned yesterday, I attended the ?All American Barbeque? [sic] for McKeon and Allen West in Santa Clarita on May 12. The Signal, the district?s largest newspaper reported that there were about 3 dozen protesters there across the ideological spectrum. A Libertarian group protested the indefinite detention clause in the 2012 NDAA. The 2013 NDAA further cements the ability of the government to detain American citizens without due process.

The group points to an explanation in The New American:

?Section 1033 of the mark-up version passed by the committee is offered as the codification of that protection. Here is the current text of that updated provision:

This section would state that nothing in the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40) or the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Public Law 112-81) shall be construed to deny the availability of the writ of habeas corpus in a court ordained or established by or under Article III of the Constitution for any person who is detained in the United States pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40).

The double-speak contained in that paragraph is impressive even for a Capitol Hill lawyer.

Read it very closely: The new bill does nothing to prevent the indefinite detention of Americans under the 2013 NDAA; furthermore, it only reiterates that habeas corpus is a right in courts established under Article III of the Constitution. That such a right exists in the courts of the United States has never been the issue. The concern of millions of Americans from every band in the political spectrum is that Americans detained as ?belligerents? under the terms of the NDAA will not be tried in Article III courts, but will be subject to military tribunals such as the one currently considering the case of the so-called ?Gitmo Five.? There is not a single syllable of the 2013 NDAA that passed out of the House Armed Service Committee on Thursday that will guarantee Americans will be tried in a constitutional court and not a military commission.?

McKeon is doing Rogers? job for him. He?s building the coalition of voters who will eventually kick him out of office. We know that in addition to the district Democrats, Rogers has solidified the Libertarian votes and is quickly adding Republicans to his list of supporters. McKeon stopped representing his district long ago and is now a shill for the military-industrial-complex. Before becoming chair of the HASC, he voted in agreement with the defense industries 25% of the time. In 2011, his defense-related campaign contributions increased more than 400% and McKeon voted in agreement with the industries 100% of the time. That?s a quick lesson in how to buy a congressman.

Blue America is excited about endorsed candidate Lee Rogers and we?ve never seen a congressional district anywhere turn so thoroughly against a longtime incumbent as CA-25 has against Buck McKeon. Even The Signal refused to endorse McKeon in the primary, but they gave him this ?endorsement? in 2006 and now after less than favorable redistricting for him and the coalition of bipartisan anti-McKeon voters, Rogers is looking like he could snag an eventual endorsement and the election. Let?s help Lee keep the heat on Buck McKeon by helping his campaign here. This would be a major coup for progressives to pull the chair out from underneath HASC war profiteer Buck McKeon. The DCCC can thank us later.

Read The Full Article:
http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2012/05/buck-mckeon-lead-effort-to-fund.html

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Pharma Giant Eli Lilly Dumps Climate Deniers At
Heartland Institute

A coalition of climate activists reports that pharmaceutical maker Eli Lilly, BB&T Bank, and PepsiCo have all confirmed that they will not continue funding the Heartland Institute, joining GM, State Farm, and numerous other leading corporations in deserting an organization that produces radical attacks on climate science and scientists. Forecast the Facts, Sierra Club, 350.org, SumOfUs, the League of Conservation Voters, and Greenpeace have now mobilized more than 150,000 citizens to call on corporations to pull their support for Heartland following the extreme “Unabomber” billboards.