Just Days Before Tampa, Obama Leads Romney 48% to
44%

post from TaylorMarsh.com on 22 August 2012 09:00:35 AM. © TaylorMarsh.com

After Mitt Romney selected his vice presidential running mate, and just days before the political conventions kick off next week, President Barack Obama maintains his advantage in the race for the White House, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. A Democratic ticket featuring Obama and Vice President Joe Biden gets support from 48 percent of registered voters, and a Republican ticket of Romney and new running mate Paul Ryan gets 44 percent. – NBC/WSJ poll: Heading into conventions, Obama has four-point lead

EVERYONE KNOWS IT and are waiting for it. Mitt Romney needs a baffo convention speech and an electric send off, because the very next week Barack Obama is up and then the opportunities narrow, with the debates looming next.

As the NBC/WSJ reports, Romney has to do two things: repair his image and solidify the ground under the Paul Ryan medicare approach Mitt Romney has endorsed, because without both the Republicans will lose. However, tucked into the poll is some very good news for Romney:

When voters are given a description of the Romney-Ryan plan ? that future seniors would receive a guaranteed payment that some call a voucher, and that these seniors could use it to purchase either private insurance or to have access in the traditional Medicare program ? twice as many call it a bad idea (30 percent) versus good idea (15 percent). However, 51 percent of voters said they have no opinion.

Oh, and Mark Halperin is wrong, again. New data confirms what I’ve been writing for some time.

What?s more, Obama bests Romney by 35 points (58 percent to 23 percent) on the question of which candidate is more likeable, and by 22 points (52 percent to 30 percent) on caring about average people. [...] And by a 36 percent to 6 percent difference, voters say what they have seen, heard and read about Romney?s tax returns ? he has refused to release returns prior to 2010 ? has given them a more negative impression of the Republican candidate.

Reports this week also reveal that Mitt Romney’s Mormonism will be highlighted at the convention.

The festivities are on view for the wider public Monday night.

Read The Full Article:
http://taylormarsh.com/blog/2012/08/just-days-before-tampa-obama-leads-romney-48-
to-44/

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National Security Brief: U.S. Deaths In
Afghanistan Near 2,000

post from ThinkProgress on 22 August 2012 09:00:27 AM. © ThinkProgress

– The New York Times reports: “Nearly nine years passed before American forces reached their first 1,000 dead in the war. The second 1,000 came just 27 months later, a testament to the intensity of fighting prompted by President Obama?s decision to send 33,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in 2010, a policy known as the [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org.feedsportal.com/c/34726/f/638927/s/229ee53c/l/0Lthinkpro
gress0Borg0Csecurity0C20A120C0A80C220C7245610Cnational0Esecurity0Ebrief0Eafghanistan0E20A0A0A0C/story01.htm

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Circular Firing Squad

post from Kmareka.com on 22 August 2012 09:00:22 AM. © Kmareka.com

I was gonna stay out of this, since I have to be at work in an hour, but incredibly, even Sarah Palin is piling on…

Sarah Palin slammed GOP Senate hopeful Todd Akin?s decision to continue his bid for the Missouri seat and suggested that she might back a third-party challenger in an interview on Fox News Tuesday night.
?He?s inviting himself back into this general election that?s coming up, and he?s going to get defeated. And that?s unfortunate,? the former Alaska governor said on ?On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.? ?That is why we have to think pragmatically about this, and we have to think, well, what?s another option? Is a third-party another option? If it is, let?s go. The status quo has got to go.?

Todd Akin’s real mistake was to put in crude terms what will most certainly become the official platform of the Republican Party– a personhood amendment that bans terminating a pregnancy from fertilization on, with no exceptions for rape or any other circumstances.

Since there’s no way to track the moment of fertilization, anti-abortion activists endorse a disproven belief that emergency contraception might prevent implantation of a fertilized egg. Therefore they want to ban the ‘morning after’ pill. (see here for more on the science.)

Emergency contraception is the standard of care for rape victims who come to the emergency room. This standard is not always followed.

In 2008 I wrote a post, Crime and the Politics of Sexual Assault in Alaska, that demonstrates how politics corrupts legal and medical care for crime victims. I never said Sarah Palin wasn’t very smart, and it’s no accident that when she was mayor in Wasilla, AK, rape victims had to pay for their own forensic exam and emergency care. This would give Mayor Palin deniability if she should ever face a challenge from the anti-abortion Right.

There’s really no daylight between Todd Akin and the rest of the Republican Party. Akin disclosed his fantasy that a certain level of physical violence has a contraceptive effect, the Republican party says that’s crude. Both say that a woman’s personhood and agency come second to a pregnancy, or even a potential conception regardless of circumstances. Texas may succeed in closing down Planned Parenthood in the state, no aspect of women’s care matters more than banning abortion. Toward the goal of total purity on that issue, the most extreme would ban all artificial birth control.

This is far from the mainstream of the American public, and no Republican president has been able to fulfill this agenda.

But in Wasilla, in emergency rooms, in times of crisis these policies harm women and abandon those who deserve the protection of law. ‘We’ll pray for those people’ is not an answer.

AND ANOTHER THING: It’s clearly unfair to pile on Rep. Akin’s use of the phrase ‘legitimate rape’. He obviously meant that a woman has no right to claim rape unless she is visibly beat up or threatened with a weapon by a person who has no social status. That’s another outrageous statement, but a whole other blog post is needed to address it.

Read The Full Article:
http://kmareka.com/2012/08/22/circular-firing-squad/

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Morning Briefing: GOP To Remind Voters We Did
Build This! From A Stadium Built With Government Funding

post from ThinkProgress on 22 August 2012 09:00:15 AM. © ThinkProgress

– A full day of the Republican National Convention will be dedicated to the theme “We Did Build This!” One problem: the venue hosting the RNC is funded mostly by taxpayer dollars. – Even Mitt Romney’s advisers admit that by repealing the Affordable Care Act, Mitt Romney will likely end up driving Medicare towards insolvency [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org.feedsportal.com/c/34726/f/638927/s/229ed463/l/0Lthinkpro
gress0Borg0Cpolitics0C20A120C0A80C220C7245510Cmorning0Ebriefing0Eaugust0E220C/story01.htm

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The Morning Pride: August 22, 2012

post from ThinkProgress on 22 August 2012 09:00:05 AM. © ThinkProgress

Welcome to The Morning Pride, ThinkProgress LGBT?s daily round-up of the latest in LGBT policy, politics, and some culture too! Here?s what we?re reading this morning, but please let us know what stories you?re following as well. Follow us all day on Twitter at @TPEquality.

- When will the military’s assessment of transgender health catch up to science’s?

- HRC President Chad Griffin and The Advocate editor Lucas Grindley push back on the Family Research Council’s umbrage to the term “hate group.”

- The Advocate is celebrating its 45th Anniversary with a timeling of LGBT history.

- Rep. C. W. Bill Young (R-FL) is the last living member of the Florida “John’s Committee” that investigated and persecuted homosexuals in the 1950′s and 60′s.

- The Peace Advocacy Network has filed a complaint with the American Psychological Association about two ex-gay therapists operating a clinic just outside Philadelphia.

- The Fenway Institute’s Network for LGBT Health Equity has released a new report of best practices for LGBT Tobacco Prevention and Control.

- Police in Lincoln, Nebraska have arrested Charlie Rogers for staging the hate crime she claimed she endured.

- A lesbian couple in Colombia is challenging the country’s laws on same-sex adoption.

- In an interview with Larry King, actors Kristin Bell and Dax Shepard criticized Chick-fil-A COO Dan Cathy for his “homophobic, terribly outdated, wrong-side-of-history opinion,” but defended his right to free speech, just like “The Ku Klux Klan should have the right to open a pizza parlor.” Watch the full interview:

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/08/22/724391/the-morning-pride-august-22-2012/

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Econ 101: August 22, 2012

post from ThinkProgress on 22 August 2012 09:00:05 AM. © ThinkProgress

Welcome to ThinkProgress Economy?s morning link roundup. This is what we?re reading. Have you seen any interesting news? Let us know in the comments section. You can also follow ThinkProgress Economy on Twitter.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued its first securities fraud whistleblower award under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. [CNN Money]

A top adviser to Mitt Romney’s campaign says he would suggest retaining Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman should Romney win the election. [Reuters]

President Obama will extend a two-year pay freeze for federal workers until at least next spring. [Washington Post]

After years of negotiations, Russia joined the World Trade Organization today. [Bloomberg]

Americans waste 40 percent — $165 billion worth — of produce and meats each year, a new study says. [Washington Post]

The Federal Housing Administration released new rules aimed at making it easier for homeowners to sell their homes for less than they owe on their mortgage. [Wall Street Journal]

Prohibited from campuses, credit card companies are using social media to target college students. [Boston Globe]

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/08/22/724111/econ-101-august-22-2012/

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August 22 News: Wind Manufacturer Laying Off
Workers In Iowa, Citing Tax Credit That Romney Wants To Eliminate

post from ThinkProgress on 22 August 2012 09:00:05 AM. © ThinkProgress

A wind turbine manufacturing facility in Cedar Rapids is laying off some employees. Clipper Windpower officials say they?re reducing their company wide workforce by 32-percent, from 550 to 376 workers. The company is not releasing how many of those 174 layoffs are in Cedar Rapids, but workers at the plant believe it?s around 75. [Radio Iowa]

In spite of the PTC uncertainty wreaking havoc on the supply chain, turbine manufacturers continued to move their sourcing activities to the U.S. last year, with 67 percent of the equipment used in U.S. [Renewable Energy World]

Life in the world’s oceans faces far greater change and risk of large-scale extinctions than at any previous time in human history, a team of the world’s leading marine scientists has warned. [Science Daily]

The world urgently need to adopt drought-management policies as farmers from Africa to India struggle with lack of rainfall and the United States endures the worst drought it has experienced in decades, top officials with the U.N. weather agency said Tuesday. [Associated Press]

Mitt Romney plans to roll out an energy policy blueprint on Thursday, according to published reports. [The Hill]

The UK Government believes companies have been ?profiting unfairly at the expense of [the] consumer? by overloading the national grid with electricity. [The Telegraph]

Wave power developers planning a project off the Oregon Coast now have the nation’s only federal permit to develop a commercial wave power park. [CBS News]

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet says GE’s $10 million clean technology innovation investment proves business wants to embrace a clean-energy future. [World News Australia]

China?s solar panel manufacturers, who dominate global sales with a two-thirds market share, are confronting growing trade and financial problems, a Chinese industry official acknowledged Tuesday, shortly before one of the industry?s largest companies, Trina Solar, announced weak results for the second quarter. [New York Times]

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/08/22/724171/august-22-news-wind-manufactur
er-lays-off-workers-in-iowa-citing-tax-credit-that-romney-wants-to-eliminate/

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The Rich People Under the Stairs: Daily Kos Radio
is on the air!

humor Mitt Romney's real estate agentTodd Akin! Mittbot Romney! Kevin Yoder! Steve King! It's a rich vein for Daily Kos Radio to mine this week, and the Kagro in the Morning and The Ministry of Truth shows are working overtime (not really) to get the best nuggets. To listen to today's lineup, use the player at the bottom of the post, or see the alternative instructions for listening on mobile devices.

I've got the phone lines (mostly) up and running these days, too. Want to join in the fun? Give us a call at (617) 500-7147, extension 14.

What'd you miss if you skipped the shows yesterday? Sure, there was plenty of Akin talk. But I took time for another of my favorite stories, The Rich People Under the Stairs. That's what I call the saga of Mitt & Ann's lean years, allegedly living in son Tagg's unfinished basement. Lolwut?

Aug. 21 highlights
Non-Flash link

Daily Kos Radio is on the air, Monday through Friday, now from 9 a.m. to noon, ET. We start with two hours of the Kagro in the Morning show from 9-11, and then it's The Ministry of Truth, with Armando Llorens, starring Jesse LaGreca from 11-12.

How to Listen

Your options to listen LIVE:

Click on the embedded Flash player below
Go to netrootsradio.com and click on the embedded player or direct link there
Click on this direct link if you need a non-Flash player, say, for iPad or iPhone
iPad and iPhone users can download the SHOUTCast Radio app for your mobile device & search for "Blue Skies Radio." That's the Netroots Radio home base, and it's where you'll find our Daily Kos Radio programming. You might also try "Netroots Radio," since it appears we're transitioning to try and make things less confusing
For Android: try either the "StreamFurious" or "TuneIn" apps
BlackBerry users, see this guide by idbecrazyif

And here's a new tip: If the player hiccups in between shows, or drops the audio between the shows, just go ahead and stop and restart it, and things should go smoothly after that.

Hear today's shows from 9-12 am ET, right here:The Daily Kos Radio Player
Non-Flash

Reminder: Congress is out of session this week, and in fact for all of August. So let's all get together on Daily Kos Radio and talk about them behind their backs!

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/JR5o5WArrfw/-The-Rich-People-Under
-the-Stairs-Daily-Kos-Radio-is-on-the-air

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This Famous Investor Spent $3.4 BILLION on These
3 Stocks

One of the stock market's biggest players has made three bets that should grab the attention of investors everywhere. Not only because of the amount, a whopping $3.4 billion altogether, but because this . . . → Read More: This Famous Investor Spent $3.4 BILLION on These 3 Stocks

Read The Full Article:
http://jutiagroup.com/20120822-this-famous-investor-spent-3-4-billion-on-these-3-
stocks/

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On This Day In History August 22

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow GazetteThis is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.Find the past "On This Day in History" here.August 22 is the 234th day of the year (235th in leap years)[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.docudharma.com/diary/30663/on-this-day-in-history-august-22

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