The Hiding of Liberalism

post from Firedoglake on 19 October 2012 02:40:04 PM. © Firedoglake

You can assess these arguments on their own. But I would say that the agenda at the upper echelon of the Democratic Party has narrowed over the past 50 years, and it's not like the safety net is so stable and robust that there's nothing more to do. In[...]

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Anti-Bullying Advocate Receives Canned Rejection
Letter For Anti-Bullying Task Force

post from ThinkProgress on 19 October 2012 02:30:54 PM. © ThinkProgress

Since the suicide of her son, Justin, Tammy Aaberg has been an outspoken advocate against bullying in his school district, Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin School District, and the surrounding communities. She started an ever-growing organization in his name, Justin’s Gift, to provide safe spaces and resources for LGBT teens. Given her direct involvement and awareness on the [...]

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gress0Borg0Clgbt0C20A120C10A0C190C10A516110Cbullying0Eadvocate0Ereceives0Ecanned0Erejection0Eletter0Efor0Eanti0Ebullying0Etask0Eforce0C/story01.htm

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Immigration Groups Ask Romney Campaign To Take
Down Misleading Spanish-Language Ad

post from ThinkProgress on 19 October 2012 02:25:05 PM. © ThinkProgress

As Mitt Romney tries to moderate his immigration stances in order to win over Latino voters, his campaign released a new ad in Spanish touting the GOP candidate’s promise to fix the nation’s immigration system and to find a “permanent solution” for young undocumented immigrants. But immigrant rights groups are calling for Romney to take [...]

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On The Daily Show, Obama Finally Faces A Question
About Housing

post from ThinkProgress on 19 October 2012 02:15:24 PM. © ThinkProgress

Through two presidential debates and one vice-presidential debate, the candidates have faced exactly zero questions about the U.S. housing market, despite the fact that housing has been a weight on the economic recovery. As ThinkProgress noted before the debates, there are several pertinent questions that both candidates should be asked about housing policy. But the [...]

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Washington City Paper Stops Using Redskins, Picks
A New Team Name

post from ThinkProgress on 19 October 2012 02:07:56 PM. © ThinkProgress

Two weeks ago, the Kansas City Star drew attention when the paper’s public editor explained the paper’s long-standing policy against using “Redskins” when referring to Washington’s National Football League franchise. The name, public editor Derek Donovan wrote, is “an egregiously offensive term.” Last week, the Washington City Paper, DC’s alt-weekly newspaper, announced that it also [...]

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Queer Talk: Still No Romney / Ryan Endorsement
From Log Cabin Republicans

post from Taylor Marsh on 19 October 2012 02:00:59 PM. © Taylor Marsh

If your playing position is inside the System, then you must always consider the consequences of criticizing those controlling the System. That?s the reality for the Log Cabin Republicans and the Stonewall Democrats. They?re partisan organizations, who,[...]

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Romney touts analysis saying his approach to
taxes would shift burden to poor and could hurt economy

post from Daily Kos on 19 October 2012 02:00:45 PM. © Daily Kos

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (L) shakes hands with businessman and real estate developer Donald Trump at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada February 2, 2012. Trump re-injected himself and his wealth int "I did it all for guys like you, Donald!"Uh, on the face of it, this is is a really stupid move:

The Romney campaign is highlighting a 2006 Joint Committee on Taxation analysis of a tax plan that would eliminate most tax breaks while lowering tax rates to bolster its claims that the GOP presidential nominee?s plan would boost economic growth.

Part of the reason that touting the JCT analysis is dumb is that it assumes virtually all middle-class tax breaks would be eliminated, directly contradicting Romney's claim to the contrary. But another reason, as Think Progress points out, is that the analysis actually says Romney's approach could lead to a "redistribution" of the tax burden from the wealthy to lower-income Americans. As a result, it could hurt the economy. Here's what the analysis concludes:

Two of the models suggest that consumption would increase as a result of the proposal; however, the third suggests that consumption would decrease because of a redistribution of individual income tax liability from high wage earners to low wage earners.

So while the analysis says that Romney's plan might increase economic activity, it also says that it might not. Whether or not it boosts the economy, the tax plan would eliminate virtually all middle-class tax breaks and shift the tax burden from the wealthy to everyone the poor. And keep in mind, this is all from an analysis that Romney is using to defend his plan!

If you think Romney's tax plan is a bad idea, please chip in $5 to help President Obama win reelection.

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-saying-his-approach-to-taxes-would-shift-burden-to-poor-and-could-hurt-economy

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Romney Uses Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner As An
Opportunity to Bash Obama

post from Crooks and Liars on 19 October 2012 02:00:31 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Mitt Romney at the 2012 Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner

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I enjoyed the 2008 version of this event quite a bit more, and thought John McCain was actually pretty funny.

This year, someone needed to tell Mitt Romney that you're supposed to make a few jokes about yourself at these events. He seemed to think it was a roast of President Obama and treated it more like another campaign stop, rather than a charity event.

I think the President did a lot better job of keeping things a little more light-hearted and with making fun of himself and his last debate performance in particular. If you missed Gov. Romney and President's remarks this Thursday, you can judge for yourself here.

Barack Obama at the 2012 Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner

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Virginia Voter Registration Scandal Has Ties To
GOP - Updated

Yesterday's news brought us the news that a new registration scandal had broken out in Virginia. Today's news seems to indicate that the firm employing the man caught tossing registration forms has ties back to Nathan Sproul's outfit and the Republican party.

I know, what a surprise. First, let's have a look at Talking Points Memo's report:

A Pennsylvania man employed by a company working for the Republican Party of Virginia was arrested by investigators from the Rockingham County Sheriff?s office on Thursday and charged with destroying voter registration forms.

Colin Small, a 31-year-old resident of Phoenixville, Pa., worked for Pinpoint, a company hired to register voters on behalf of the Republican Party of Virginia. Prosecutors charged him with four counts of destruction of voter registration applications, eight counts of failing to disclose voter registration applications and one count of obstruction of justice.
Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson?s office said there was no indication that the activity was widespread in their jurisdiction and said the conduct ?appears to be limited in nature.? His office said there is a possibility that additional charges may be filed.

Hmmm. Pinpoint. Wait, that's the same firm that's under investigation in Florida, and that investigation is now a criminal investigation. Via the LA Times:

"I did nothing wrong," said the former assistant auto parts manager, who lost his post at a Jaguar dealership about a year ago. He said he got the voter registration job after responding to a Craigslist ad placed by a company called PinPoint Staffing seeking people to do "voter surveys." The ad specified that all applicants had to be registered Republicans and active voters.
Although he reported to a PinPoint Staffing office in West Palm Beach, he said, "I thought I was dealing with the Republican Party."

Oh, you mean CraigsList ads like this one?

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Is it just me, or is it more blatant than ever this year?

Update:

Well, well, well... It seems that Colin Small, the accused fraudster in Virginia, is tied directly to the RNC. Brad Friedman has an update this morning:

Colin Small, according to his LinkedIn profile, as captured by the NotLarrySaboto blog (which was the first to highlight the initial report of a man with PA license plates tossing a bag of Virginia Voter Registration Forms into a Harrisonburg dumpster), wasn't only working for the state GOP or for Strategic Allied Consulting or for PinPoint. He was working as a "Grassroots Field Director at the Republican National Committee".

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Marijuana Legalization Initiative on Track to Win
in Washington State

Of the three marijuana legalization measures on the ballot this November, Initiative 502 in Washington State continues to do the best in the polls. With less than three weeks until election day and ballots already being mailed out to voters, I-502 still[...]

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