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Subscribe to RSSRomney’s half pivot toward the general election… Romney gives speech tonight in New Hampshire, but a new poll shows him trailing Obama there by nine points… Obama speaks in Chapel Hill, NC and Boulder, CO… It’s primary day in CT, DE, NY, PA, and RI, and we’re watching Romney’s percentages in those states… Delaware or bust for Newt?... Two PA primaries to watch… Priorities USA Action partnering with League of Conservation Voters?... And so you’re telling me there’s a chance: Boehner says there a one-in-three chance GOP could lose the House.
Jessica Kourkounis / Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign stop with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at Mustang Expediting April 23, 2012 in Aston, Pennsylvania.
*** Romney’s half pivot: Today is another presidential primary day, but you know we’ve fully moved on to the general election when Mitt Romney began to pivot to swing voters yesterday -- ever so slightly. First, after taking a hard line on immigration during the primaries, he said in a press conference that he was open to “studying” Marco Rubio’s DREAM Act alternative. “I'm taking a look at his proposal. It has many features to commend it, but it’s something that we're studying.” (Translation: This is going to be something that I endorse soon, but not yet -- even though Marco Rubio is standing here next to me.) Second, he said he supports the student-loan push that President Obama is making. “I fully support the effort to extend the low interest rate on student loans,” Romney stated. But it really was just half of a pivot. After the press conference, the former Massachusetts governor delivered his usual serving of conservative red meat at a later town hall (repeal the health-care law, support voter ID measures, “I won’t apologize for America,” etc.). Bottom line: Romney is beginning his general-election pivot, but he’s not there just yet. He’s still minding his base.
The Daily Rundown's Chuck Todd talks about the 231 delegates at state in the Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware primaries on Tuesday.
*** Romney’s trailing in New Hampshire: You also know we’re fully in general election when Romney isn’t delivering an address tonight in one of the primary states, or even an upcoming primary state. Rather, Romney will give a speech – entitled “A Better America Begins Tomorrow” -- at 9:00 pm ET in Manchester, New Hampshire. Unfortunately for Romney, a brand-new WMUR/University of New Hampshire poll shows President Obama leading Romney by nine points in the battleground state, 51%-42%. New Hampshire is a cautionary tale for Romney (despite owning a home there and serving as governor of a next-door state): Much of the southern part of the state is essentially a suburb of Boston. And what these poll numbers suggest is that Republicans are struggling in the ‘burbs. So if Romney’s down in New Hampshire, that also means he’s trailing in Northern Virginia and the Philly suburbs. New Hampshire is a state that has always been open to fiscal conservative messages but reticent about a focus on social conservative issues. Last year, New Hampshire was the battleground state Obama was struggling in the most, then the GOP began its conversation during the presidential primaries on non-economic issues (re: contraception) and the state seems to have moved dramatically.
*** It has been written -- “Those who have the youth have the future”: While Romney hits New Hampshire today, Obama will be in Chapel Hill, NC and Boulder, CO, where he will call on Congress to stop student loans from doubling. The president’s remarks in North Carolina take place at 1:15 pm ET, and his speech in Colorado is at 8:45 pm ET. Also while he’s in the Tar Heel State, Obama will sit down for an interview with Jimmy Fallon. And tomorrow, the president heads to Iowa City, IA. As we wrote yesterday, this is all about the youth vote.
*** Watching Romney’s percentages: Even though the general election campaign is now underway -- after Rick Santorum’s exit earlier this month -- there are five primaries today in Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania (Santorum’s home state), and Rhode Island. As a result, this is the first primary day where Romney doesn’t face any real competition. So when we watch the returns, we’ll get a good idea of the true anti-Romney vote tonight. Does he get at least 50% in all of these contests? What about 60%? 70%?
*** The skinny on tonight’s primaries: At stake tonight are 222 total delegates. Per NBC’s John Bailey, Connecticut awards 25 (district delegates are winner-take-all per congressional district, at-large are proportional per statewide wide but winner-take-all with a majority); Delaware awards 17 delegates (and it’s winner-take-all per statewide vote); New York allocates 92 delegates (with district delegates going 2 for the winner and 1 for the runner-up unless there’s a majority and at-large delegates decided proportionally per statewide vote but needing to meet a 20% threshold); Pennsylvania awards 72 delegates but they’re not bound by the vote; and Rhode Island awards 16 delegates (both district and at-large delegates are proportional per statewide vote needing a 15% threshold). Polls close at 8:00 pm ET in Connecticut, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, and they close at 9:00 pm ET in New York. and Rhode Island. *** Correction *** Polls close at 8:00 pm ET in Rhode Island.
*** Delaware or bust for Newt? In an exclusive interview yesterday, Newt Gingrich told NBC’s Alex Moe that a poor showing in Delaware -- where he has been actively campaigning for the last few weeks -- could end his candidacy. "I think we need to take a deep look at what we are doing," he said. "We will be in North Carolina tomorrow night and we will look and see what the results are." Gingrich added, per Moe, that he would have to “reassess” his campaign if he doesn’t fare well in this winner-take-all contest. Give Newt credit for deciding if he can’t do what Christine O’Donnell did – win a Republican primary in Delaware – then maybe he should rethink his strategy. Call it the “Christine O’Donnell test.”
*** Two PA primaries to watch: In Pennsylvania, there are two other primaries worth watching tonight. The first is a battle of two incumbent Democratic congressmen, Jason Altmire and Mark Critz. From what we’ve heard, it’s going to be very close. The other is the GOP primary to see who emerges as the Republican challenger to Sen. Bob Casey (D). And the field is thin on formidable candidates: former Santorum staffer Marc Scaringi, businessman Steve Welch, businessman David Christian, and Sam Rohrer, the director of Americans for Prosperity’s branch in Pennsylvania. This GOP field should be a warning sign to Republicans who want to make this state competitive in November: They couldn’t find a top-tier or even second-tier challenger to take on Casey in this battleground state.
*** Priorities USA partnering with League of Conservation Voters? It appears that the pro-Obama Super PAC Priorities USA Action is teaming up with the environmental group League of Conservation Voters for a nearly $1 million ad buy through mid-May. Smart Media, an ad-buying firm, reported that the two entities have purchased $980,000 on broadcast and cable TV in Colorado and Nevada. Asked for comment by First Read about the ad and possible partnership, Priorities USA’s Bill Burton replied, “We'll have some info for you in the next couple days.” Priorities USA Action has so far struggled in raising money for the presidential contest. In March, it reported raising $2.5 million for the month (up from $2 million in February) and it has $5 million in the bank. Meanwhile, Priorities USA Action is partnering with another Dem-leaning group -- American Bridge -- for this video hitting Romney on education.
*** So you’re telling me there’s a chance: In an interview on FOX last night, House Speaker John Boehner said that Republicans have a one-in-three chance of not holding the House, NBC’s Luke Russert and Frank Thorp report. "I would say that there is a two-in-three chance that we win control of the House again, but there's a one-in-three chance that we could lose," Boehner said in the FOX interview. "We've got a big challenge, and we've got work to do."
Countdown to Election Day: 197 days
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BrianB you get your info from soundbites on utube. Are you serious?
A SMALL SAMPLING OF THE MANY LIES OF Willard Mitt Romney
"100,000 new jobs." Romney has repeatedly claimed that during his tenure at Bain Capital, "net-net, we created over 100,000 jobs." His campaign defends the figure by tallying the current employment totals of some companies Bain aided. That's a stretch in and of itself, but it's also not a net figure. It lacks the balancing context of how many jobs were destroyed by Bain. As the Los Angeles Times reported in December, while Bain helped some companies grow, "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."
Indeed, the Wall Street Journal looked closely at Bain's record under Romney and found that 22 percent "either filed for bankruptcy or closed their doors by the end of the eighth year after Bain first invested, sometimes with substantial job losses." Which is not really terribly surprising: Bain's raison d'etre is not job creation but wealth creation for its investors. As Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler noted in an article Monday calling Romney's "100,000 jobs" figure "untenable," Romney and Bain "never could have raised money from investors if the prospectus seeking $1-million investments from the super wealthy had said it would focus on creating jobs."
As a corollary, when Romney's record has been criticized, he has dismissed criticisms as an attempt to "put free enterprise on trial." It's not an attack on free enterprise. It's an attack on Romney's strained attempt to spin his successful record of wealth-creation into one of job-creation. It's also a recognition that while a net good, the free market has its destructive side—and it's a fair question to ask, whether voters consider experience in that sort of vulture capitalism as a good qualification for the presidency. Do they want government to be run more like that kind of business?
[See a collection of political cartoons on Mitt Romney.]
Obama's jobs record. By Romney's own logic (touting jobs created but ignoring jobs lost), his attacks on President Obama's economic record are nonsensical. He told Time that Obama "has not created any new jobs," and he told Fox News last week that Obama has "lost" 2 million jobs as president. This is indeed a net figure, but also a misleading one. When Obama took office, the economy was shedding jobs at a rate of nearly 1 million jobs per month, losing roughly 3 million during the first four months of 2009. But presidential policies don't take effect as soon as the incoming chief takes his oath. Once Obama's policies started to take effect, the trend turned. The country had added 3.2 million private sector jobs over the course of 22 straight months of private sector growth. By Romney's definition, the president has created more than 3 million jobs—not enough, but also not none.
[Read the U.S. News debate: Will Mitt Romney Be the GOP Presidential Nominee?]
In fact the biggest drag on job growth is the 600,000 public sector jobs that have disappeared under the auspices of budget austerity. As my colleague Danielle Kurtzleben reported in September, "government jobs are being shed by the tens of thousands almost every month, hindering an already weak recovery."
"Entitlement society." Romney has argued that Obama "is replacing our merit-based, opportunity society with an entitlement society," where "everyone is handed the same rewards, regardless of education, effort, and willingness to take risk." As New York's Jonathan Chait has observed, "This accusation is approximately as accurate as claiming that the Republican Party wants to pass laws forbidding poor people from making more money." The idea that President Obama (or any Democrat) advocates for equality of outcomes simply lacks a basis in fact.
[See a collection of political cartoons on the budget and deficit.]
It's an important fabrication, because it marks a turning point in Romney's attacks on Obama. Previously the president was characterized as ineffectual, but not a socialist. Forced to battle to win the GOP primaries, Romney has adopted the Tea Party's extremist rhetoric. It won't play with swing voters, even delivered in his polished drone.
Defense cuts. In an October speech on national security, Romney promised to "reverse President Obama's massive defense cuts." One problem: Pentagon spending has gone up under Obama, from $594 billion in 2008 to $666 billion. The 2011 request was for $739 billion. As Rick Perry would say, "Oops."
[Read the U.S. News debate: Are Cuts to the Defense Budget Necessary?]
No apologies. Romney has said that Obama "went around the world and apologized for America." This is part of the conservative, dog-whistle meme that Obama is un-American (and possibly even a foreigner!). While the notion of an international apology tour is a staple of the conservative case against Obama, it is also fictitious. The Washington Post's fact-checker concluded that "the claim that Obama repeatedly has apologized for the United States is not borne out by the facts, especially if his full quotes are viewed in context." Don't hold your breath waiting for an apology from Romney on this one.
Medicare cuts. Romney said that Obama is "the only president to ever cut $500 billion from Medicare." So as we said then, and repeated several times since, the health care law reduces the amount of future spending growth in Medicare. But it doesn't cut Medicare.
The rest of Romney’s statement implies that Obama is doing something no other president has done -- making cuts (which he isn’t).
Military Strength. Romney said The U.S. military is at risk of losing its "military superiority" because "our Navy is smaller than it's been since 1917. Our Air Force is smaller and older than any time since 1947." However, a wide range of experts told us it’s wrong to assume that a decline in the number of ships or aircraft automatically means a weaker military. Quite the contrary: The United States is the world’s unquestioned military leader today, not just because of the number of ships and aircraft in its arsenal but also because each is stocked with top-of-the-line technology and highly trained personnel.
Thanks to the development of everything from nuclear weapons to drones, comparing today’s military to that of 60 to 100 years ago presents an egregious comparison of apples and oranges. Today’s military and political leaders face real challenges in determining the right mix of assets to deal with current and future threats, but Romney’s glib suggestion that today’s military posture is in any way similar to that of its predecessors in 1917 or 1947 is preposterous.
Free Economy. Romney said "We're only inches away from no longer being a free economy." there is little indication that the government’s role has risen dramatically enough over the past few years to threaten the kind of free market that the U.S. has operated under in recent decades. And international comparisons show that the U.S. ranks low in both total tax burden and high in economic freedom -- at least as measured by a prominent conservative think tank.
Health care act. Romney said “Eliminating "Obamacare" ... "saves $95 billion a year."
Romney said repealing the health care law would save $95 billion a year. But that only accounts for outlays in one year, 2016. Because of the revenue sources that the law established, repealing it actually adds significantly to the deficit over the long haul, according to the CBO. Romney’s is statement False.
Mitt Romney ad says labor board tried to block Boeing from building factory in South Carolina.
The NLRB’s complaint started a legal process that could ultimately have resulted in a factory closure, but the NLRB as a whole didn’t tell Boeing anything. What’s more, the legal basis for the action centered on whether Boeing was punishing the union for staging strikes, not that Boeing had opened a factory in a right-to-work state. the statement is False.
Says Barack Obama said, "If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose."
Obama was quoting John McCain. Romney took the words way out of context. Obama said in the speech. "Sen. McCain's campaign actually said, and I quote, ‘If we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose.’"
Says Barack Obama "never worked in the private sector" before he was elected president.
Some of the relevant jobs in Obama’s work history include:
— A stint in 1983-84 as a research assistant at Business International Corp. in New York City, where he helped write a newsletter.
— Working from 1985 to 1988 as a community organizer for the Developing Communities Project in Chicago;
— Working from 1993 to 2004 as an associate, and then a partner, at the Chicago law firm of Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, where his work included employment-discrimination and voting-rights cases.
Obama’s State of the Union Speech. Romney said "He gave a speech the other day at his State of the Union address. He didn't even mention the deficit or the debt” At least six different times in his 2012 State of the Union address, Obama mentioned the debt or deficit by name.
"Mitt." It's a small one, but might be my favorite. During a debate in November, when moderator Wolf Blitzer introduced himself by saying that "Wolf" is really his first name, Romney greeted the audience by saying, "I'm Mitt Romney, and yes, Wolf, that's also my first name." In fact, Willard is his first name. It's a lie notable for being so mundane: Why would someone fudge their name? It's almost as if he can't control himself.
Geez Therm,
It sure did take a lot of time and effort to say nothing.
Bill, you really should try to hate less. I know it will be hard for you but it would be good for your health.
the bottom line is that Romney has and will say anything at anytime to get what he wants....so, if he is elected, how do you know what his position will be on any one issue? the man lacks all credibility and integrity.
A SMALL SAMPLING OF THE MANY LIES OF Willard Mitt Romney
"100,000 new jobs." Romney has repeatedly claimed that during his tenure at Bain Capital, "net-net, we created over 100,000 jobs." His campaign defends the figure by tallying the current employment totals of some companies Bain aided. That's a stretch in and of itself, but it's also not a net figure. It lacks the balancing context of how many jobs were destroyed by Bain. As the Los Angeles Times reported in December, while Bain helped some companies grow, "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."
Indeed, the Wall Street Journal looked closely at Bain's record under Romney and found that 22 percent "either filed for bankruptcy or closed their doors by the end of the eighth year after Bain first invested, sometimes with substantial job losses." Which is not really terribly surprising: Bain's raison d'etre is not job creation but wealth creation for its investors. As Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler noted in an article Monday calling Romney's "100,000 jobs" figure "untenable," Romney and Bain "never could have raised money from investors if the prospectus seeking $1-million investments from the super wealthy had said it would focus on creating jobs."
As a corollary, when Romney's record has been criticized, he has dismissed criticisms as an attempt to "put free enterprise on trial." It's not an attack on free enterprise. It's an attack on Romney's strained attempt to spin his successful record of wealth-creation into one of job-creation. It's also a recognition that while a net good, the free market has its destructive side—and it's a fair question to ask, whether voters consider experience in that sort of vulture capitalism as a good qualification for the presidency. Do they want government to be run more like that kind of business?
[See a collection of political cartoons on Mitt Romney.]
Obama's jobs record. By Romney's own logic (touting jobs created but ignoring jobs lost), his attacks on President Obama's economic record are nonsensical. He told Time that Obama "has not created any new jobs," and he told Fox News last week that Obama has "lost" 2 million jobs as president. This is indeed a net figure, but also a misleading one. When Obama took office, the economy was shedding jobs at a rate of nearly 1 million jobs per month, losing roughly 3 million during the first four months of 2009. But presidential policies don't take effect as soon as the incoming chief takes his oath. Once Obama's policies started to take effect, the trend turned. The country had added 3.2 million private sector jobs over the course of 22 straight months of private sector growth. By Romney's definition, the president has created more than 3 million jobs—not enough, but also not none.
[Read the U.S. News debate: Will Mitt Romney Be the GOP Presidential Nominee?]
In fact the biggest drag on job growth is the 600,000 public sector jobs that have disappeared under the auspices of budget austerity. As my colleague Danielle Kurtzleben reported in September, "government jobs are being shed by the tens of thousands almost every month, hindering an already weak recovery."
"Entitlement society." Romney has argued that Obama "is replacing our merit-based, opportunity society with an entitlement society," where "everyone is handed the same rewards, regardless of education, effort, and willingness to take risk." As New York's Jonathan Chait has observed, "This accusation is approximately as accurate as claiming that the Republican Party wants to pass laws forbidding poor people from making more money." The idea that President Obama (or any Democrat) advocates for equality of outcomes simply lacks a basis in fact.
[See a collection of political cartoons on the budget and deficit.]
It's an important fabrication, because it marks a turning point in Romney's attacks on Obama. Previously the president was characterized as ineffectual, but not a socialist. Forced to battle to win the GOP primaries, Romney has adopted the Tea Party's extremist rhetoric. It won't play with swing voters, even delivered in his polished drone.
Defense cuts. In an October speech on national security, Romney promised to "reverse President Obama's massive defense cuts." One problem: Pentagon spending has gone up under Obama, from $594 billion in 2008 to $666 billion. The 2011 request was for $739 billion. As Rick Perry would say, "Oops."
[Read the U.S. News debate: Are Cuts to the Defense Budget Necessary?]
No apologies. Romney has said that Obama "went around the world and apologized for America." This is part of the conservative, dog-whistle meme that Obama is un-American (and possibly even a foreigner!). While the notion of an international apology tour is a staple of the conservative case against Obama, it is also fictitious. The Washington Post's fact-checker concluded that "the claim that Obama repeatedly has apologized for the United States is not borne out by the facts, especially if his full quotes are viewed in context." Don't hold your breath waiting for an apology from Romney on this one.
Medicare cuts. Romney said that Obama is "the only president to ever cut $500 billion from Medicare." So as we said then, and repeated several times since, the health care law reduces the amount of future spending growth in Medicare. But it doesn't cut Medicare.
The rest of Romney’s statement implies that Obama is doing something no other president has done -- making cuts (which he isn’t).
Military Strength. Romney said The U.S. military is at risk of losing its "military superiority" because "our Navy is smaller than it's been since 1917. Our Air Force is smaller and older than any time since 1947." However, a wide range of experts told us it’s wrong to assume that a decline in the number of ships or aircraft automatically means a weaker military. Quite the contrary: The United States is the world’s unquestioned military leader today, not just because of the number of ships and aircraft in its arsenal but also because each is stocked with top-of-the-line technology and highly trained personnel.
Thanks to the development of everything from nuclear weapons to drones, comparing today’s military to that of 60 to 100 years ago presents an egregious comparison of apples and oranges. Today’s military and political leaders face real challenges in determining the right mix of assets to deal with current and future threats, but Romney’s glib suggestion that today’s military posture is in any way similar to that of its predecessors in 1917 or 1947 is preposterous.
Free Economy. Romney said "We're only inches away from no longer being a free economy." there is little indication that the government’s role has risen dramatically enough over the past few years to threaten the kind of free market that the U.S. has operated under in recent decades. And international comparisons show that the U.S. ranks low in both total tax burden and high in economic freedom -- at least as measured by a prominent conservative think tank.
Health care act. Romney said “Eliminating "Obamacare" ... "saves $95 billion a year."
Romney said repealing the health care law would save $95 billion a year. But that only accounts for outlays in one year, 2016. Because of the revenue sources that the law established, repealing it actually adds significantly to the deficit over the long haul, according to the CBO. Romney’s is statement False.
Mitt Romney ad says labor board tried to block Boeing from building factory in South Carolina.
The NLRB’s complaint started a legal process that could ultimately have resulted in a factory closure, but the NLRB as a whole didn’t tell Boeing anything. What’s more, the legal basis for the action centered on whether Boeing was punishing the union for staging strikes, not that Boeing had opened a factory in a right-to-work state. the statement is False.
Says Barack Obama said, "If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose."
Obama was quoting John McCain. Romney took the words way out of context. Obama said in the speech. "Sen. McCain's campaign actually said, and I quote, ‘If we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose.’"
Says Barack Obama "never worked in the private sector" before he was elected president.
Some of the relevant jobs in Obama’s work history include:
— A stint in 1983-84 as a research assistant at Business International Corp. in New York City, where he helped write a newsletter.
— Working from 1985 to 1988 as a community organizer for the Developing Communities Project in Chicago;
— Working from 1993 to 2004 as an associate, and then a partner, at the Chicago law firm of Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, where his work included employment-discrimination and voting-rights cases.
Obama’s State of the Union Speech. Romney said "He gave a speech the other day at his State of the Union address. He didn't even mention the deficit or the debt” At least six different times in his 2012 State of the Union address, Obama mentioned the debt or deficit by name.
"I don't have lobbyists running my campaign."
And there's no question that some key people in the Romney campaign are well-connected lobbyists:
• Kaufman, a senior adviser to Romney, is chairman of Dutko Worldwide, which has lobbied for American Pacific Corp., American Trans Air, Amgen, AT&T; – and that's just some of the As.
• Ben Ginsberg, the campaign's national counsel, is a partner in the firm Patton Boggs, a large lobbying firm that has represented Kaiser Aluminum, Lucent Technologies, the Venetian Casino Resort and many others. His bio on the firm's Web site boasts that "Mr. Ginsberg represents a variety of clients on Capitol Hill on a wide range of issues including appropriations, trade, broadcasting and health care."
• Cardenas is chairman of the Romney Hispanic Steering Committee, a finance co-chairman for the campaign and a frequent spokesman for Romney. He is a partner in Tew Cardenas, a lobbying firm with offices in Washington, Miami and Tallahassee. Records show he has lobbied for Progress Energy, Bell South, the Florida Association of Realtors and the Recreational Fishing Alliance, among others. His Web site boasts that "He has been named as one of Washington, D.C.'s top lobbyists by The Hill newspaper."
• Comstock, an adviser and frequent spokeswoman for the Romney campaign, is a founding partner of Comstock Corallo, which has lobbied for the Hearst Corp. and the National Association of Broadcasters.
"Mitt." It's a small one, but might be my favorite. During a debate in November, when moderator Wolf Blitzer introduced himself by saying that "Wolf" is really his first name, Romney greeted the audience by saying, "I'm Mitt Romney, and yes, Wolf, that's also my first name." In fact, Willard is his first name. It's a lie notable for being so mundane: Why would someone fudge their name? It's almost as if he can't control himself.
Get em Merman.
Therm,
So you are going to prove Romney is a liar by posting several pages of lies?
If by "pivot" you actually mean "re-flip-flop", then yes, he is pivoting big time. After all, he has been & will continue to be all things to all people. A very principled man.
MITT ROMNEY FLIP-FLOPS
'I think the minimum wage ought to keep pace with inflation.'
'There's no question raising the minimum wage excessively causes a loss of jobs.'
---
'It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam.'
'I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there.'
---
'I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.'
'Ronald Reagan is... my hero.'
---
'I saw my father march with Martin Luther King.'
'I did not see it with my own eyes.'
---
'Roe v. Wade has gone too far.'
'I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years we should sustain and support it.'
---
'I will work and fight for stem cell research.'
'In the end, I became persuaded that the stem-cell debate was grounded in a false premise.'
---
'I respect and will protect a woman's right to choose.'
'I never really called myself pro-choice.'
---
'I've been a hunter pretty much all my life.'
'I'm not a big game hunter... I've always been a rodent and rabbit hunter. Small varmints, if you will.'
---
'I like mandates. The mandates work.'
'I think it's unconstitutional on the 10th Amendment front.'
---
'This is a completely airtight kennel mounted on the top of our car.'
'They're not happy that my dog loves fresh air.'
And another Willard flip-flop;
In February 2007, in his very first presidential campaign visit to New Hampshire, Mitt Romney toured a solar power plant. Unsurprisingly for a politician in such a location, he found some nice things to say about renewable energy.
North Andover’s Eagle-Tribune reported that Romney promised he would soon “lay out a full energy program” featuring government incentives for developing alternative energy — including solar and wind power. Romney anticipated such “incentives will foster technological breakthroughs that can speed up” the development of alternative energy, reported the paper.
Today, Mitt Romney isn’t quite such a fan of changing the world with solar power, if we are confident enough to believe his campaign website: “…Green technologies are typically far too expensive to compete in the marketplace…The failure of windmills and solar plants to become economically viable or make a significant contribution to our energy supply is a prime example.”
Of course, back in 2007, Romney also believed that climate change was man-made and supported a global cap-and-trade system to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Now he says “we don’t know what’s causing climate change on this planet” and “I do not believe in cap-and-trade.” So it shouldn’t be all that much of a shock that Romney is giving the cold shoulder to solar power. If there’s one thing we know about Mitt, he never allows his past positions on an issue to weigh him down.
America is going to become New Zion if Romney is elected.
Romney says that he enjoys firing Americans - He will instruct his supporters to find reason to fire those that do not support his agenda...an agenda that is only meant to further his business goals of building his Mormon Empire once he leaves office. Thus making him to be a king in using the Office of the President of the United States of America to build his empire which like so many anti-government types of the GOP they want the American government gone so that each state will be ran independently by mega corporations without any interefence by a unified central government.
Republicans like Huckabee have many times over tried to de-establish various government agencies such as the IRS, Department of Education, etc. for the simple fact that the GOP wants to bring the American government down to the ground so that the Constitution of the United States and the rights protected under the Constitution are erased and religious laws imposed upon America where every Americans right to choose will be given to them by religious leaders where your daily activities are then sent to your employer to be used against you to force you to be who they want you to be based upon a religious doctrine and not what you choose to believe.
President Obama has not once imposed any religion over America because he believes in every Americans freedom choice.
The GOP hates education and those who are educated because it makes them the lesser in a world of educated professionals who strive to better the planet and not just their self.
Let the GOP hear your roar this year at the polls America.....let them feel your the steel of your soul as your vote tears through their soul
Keep America free keep America rolling along and New Zion will be borne.
Having Romney as the president will also allow send a note to the terrorists in the Middle East that a weak president in office and that Americans will cower before an attack and thus surrender to the goal of the terrorists backed by China to overthrow America.
America isn't lost yet. But the more Americans comply with allowing Chinese goods into America without the Chinese being free to hold elections means that the philosphy of Communism is present in every object that says "Made In China."
Which religious laws have ever been imposed on Americans? You are thinking about Obama who seems to embrace Islam and Sharia Law. That is why some of us did not want to vote for him. After all, he does have a Muslim name.
Obama is being shallegened constantly because he keeps trying to impose Sharia Law on the US so who is really trying to destroy our constitution.
Obama has impose more taxes than anybody since he took office. Anybody remember him saying he would not?
ABO 2012
Romney begins his FLIP FLOP to the middle.
The big question is, How far will the Teas and right wing follow Mits down this path towards socialism? Will they revolt at some point? Will they see the wolf in sheep skin?
I quote so many of the left wing here. "Do you even know what socialism is?"
Yes, I know what it is and how it works as well as other economic systems. Studied that stuff back in my college years and I don't think the fundamentals of socialism, capitalism, feudalism or any other system has changed since then. It is the right wing of this country that really has a problem understanding exactly what socialism is. They have a habit of attaching it to anything that Obama or the Democrats do.
John Magnusson
If you really knew that much about socialism you would know that there are so many different forms of socialism that there is no way you could cover them all with a blanket statement but........
What it appears that Obama is leading us to is a Socialist Democracy. Look that up. Most of us really like living in a republic and we are going to seriously resist any efforts by you liberals to change it.
republic can be a lot of things. Great Britian would be defined as a republic. By definition a republic only needs to have elected officials. That is pretty broad and includes a lot of governments you wouldn't be very happy with. Even your Social Democracy would be a republic, if the leaders were elected by its citizens.
Let me see, "PIVOT" must be another way of saying more flip flopping???? What do you think?
So, let me understand all you bashers. If Romney were to give you all you want out of government and run the country your way, would you still call him a flip-flopper?????
Doesn't everyone realize that Obama is the Tip of the Spear Of Destiny?
If you mirror his presidential number which is 44 on itself the second four becomes the right side of the tip of the spear or arrow in fight for Democracy with each Democrat being the shaft and the hand that throws the spear against the enemy.
Growing new replacement orgins the 21st way.
Would Romney provide funding for the following research to continue that would allow new orgins to be grown to replace diseased or failing orgins in an American?
Or will Romney kill such research and science merely because it involves the use of Cell Stem Cells in the building of the new replacement orgin.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/life-extension/how-doctors-will-build-your-new-organs-in-the-lab
The article discusses how Wake Forest has been able to create replacement orgins without having to wait for a donor or having the orgin rejected by the transplantee.
With this technology a replacement orgin can be grown in no less than ten weeks.
This is research that every American can agree upon as being a neccesity in increasing taxes by 2% to pay for such research.
Think of it like this. You lose a finger during an accident Wake Forest can grow it back for you within a few weeks making it like you never lost the finger to begin with.
This is real science that everyone can get behind and could be paid for through health care insurers or medicaid.
dwighthuth
Dummy, the stem cell research that has been criticized so much uses stem cells from aborted fetuses. The criticism has been that fetuses would be created and harvested for the sole purpose of selling organs to the highest bidder.
The article you link to speaks of using the hosts own stem cells.
So, Romney's a pivot man. Figures.
I would expect on this site that most folks are going to automatically badmouth any Republican candidate.
Folks accuse him of saying what he needs to to win. How does that differ from Obama who has been in full campaign mode ever since the election ?
I have seen such a small amount of honesty from our current president and I am willing to give anyone a try.
examples? details? I suggest you read #363.
We should all be a little more proactive on this vine. We need to start discussing President Romney's agenda for the first of his eight years in office.