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Updated 10:07 a.m. - ATHENS, OH – Energized by a huge crowd and, likely, his improved debate performance against Mitt Romney Tuesday night, President Barack Obama went on an extended riff during remarks here about what he said was Romney’s inauthentic support for coal energy.
Noting that Romney praised coal during the debate at Hofstra University, Obama pointed out that as governor of Massachusetts, Romney appeared in front of a coal factory to criticize its high level of toxic pollution, saying, “that plant kills people.”
Obama said voters should be skeptical of Romney’s embrace of coal, mocking him as “running around talking like he’s Mr. Coal,” as a crowd of 14,000 at Ohio University cheered him on.
“Does anybody ever actually look at that guy and think, man, he’s really into coal?” Obama asked the audience as he chuckled.
Obama then brought up an ad, released earlier this week, that showed Romney speaking to workers at an Ohio coal mine, saying the workers in the ad were forced to attend the August Romney event – which the mining company and some of the workers have refuted.
“Did you see when he was doing that ad, he was in front of all those guys – all these miners with hard hats. Find out later they had to come. Boss made them come. Come on, gotta be on the level if you want to be the president of the United States!” he exclaimed.
The Romney campaign responded to the president's remarks in Athens by releasing a statement from spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg. "“As we approach Election Day, President Obama’s rhetoric and personal attacks will not mask a failed record that has left middle-class families hurting. Under this President, permits for drilling on federal lands have declined, over one hundred coal-fired plants are schedule to close by the end of the year, and gas prices have more than doubled. Mitt Romney has an all of the above energy strategy, which will create millions of jobs and put our nation on a course toward North American energy independence by 2020.”
Obama returned to the White House on Wednesday night. He heads to New Hampshire Thursday before taping "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" in New York City.
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Obama should go to WV and speak to coal miners about who they will be voting for. Over 4,000 (and counting) coal miners out of work - mines closed, jobs lost. He will not get votes from any coal miners in WV. Not a chance in hell.
Mines in WV are shut down because of cheap natural gas.
That would be a one way trip. They would lynch him.
That would be a one way trip. They would lynch him.
to - bushisanidiot: YOU are the idiot - check the facts before you post
The only thing I can see coming out of this election is there will be less Rethuglicans after Obama wins and there are mass suicides. Their outlook of gloom and doom,and everyone in the worid is out to get them will take it's toll.
Rich it is our duty as proud Americans to throw a bad President out. WAKE UP ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
Romney 2012
UIf you wanted to throw out a bad President it should have been Bush,they don't come any worse than that.
IXLR8 - How about sending Obama to "coal country" instead. Coal miners will not vote for him. They want change - they want their jobs back. They can't feed their families - Obama has shut down the mines and they know who is responsible.
Mines in WV are shut down because of cheap natural gas.
It's easier to blame Obama than what is the reality of the situation. Don't confuse them with the facts that CHEAP natural gas is why not as much coal is being mined.
I want to see Willards math on how he is going to lower taxes for everyone, increase military spending and at the same time payoff our deficit.
I want to see how much revenue will be brought in by raising the rate on those over $250,000; when the Buffet's & Romney's won't be effected.
Nevermind whether or not it can pay for deficit reduction, healthcare, teachers, policemen, firemen, infrastructure, alternative energy, green jobs, technology, education, food stamps, etc....
BUSHISANIDIOT because when more people are working and there is less people taking handouts, there will be people paying in-- instead of taking out. WAKE UP YOU MORON.
For WAYNE: Didn't check your facts. The coal miner's that were on the stage in the political Ad all came out and said that everything in the Ad was a lie.........check it out Wayne
How does an "all of the above" energy policy include forcing coal to be a more expensive energy source?
Barry ought to be showing up for his campaign rallies in a dress. He's a f..k..g coward! A loud mouth, sissy, community organizer. A chicken@!$%#, blame passing, hide behind the girls aggitator. He's real good as sucker punching, talking behind your back kind of no courage bully. After his ass is kicked out next month, I'd like to punch him in the snot locker and watch him cry like a baby. Barry, when you call a man out, you call him out to his face. You chicken @!$%# f..k!
Barry was a nickname the President out grew. Mitt is a nickname Willard still goes by. Maybe when Willard grows up he will choose to be called by the name his parents gave him.
He evolved from it. LOL
Wireman, BARRY is the legal name Obama still has as he changed it when he moved to Indonesia. Never filed any paper work to change it back.
huh? boss made them come to a political gathering while on the clock? For payable hours worked? Is Romney that desperate for votes? Why can't Romney goto the workers instead like taking an all day tour and idling a handfull of workers at a time? It's not about the people, it's about respecting the business entity and it's scheduled production output for the day. Even if visit was planned ahead, production output just don't make up for lost time.
Willard has stated that a person has a right to change positions on an issue from time to time, and I agree with his statement. HOWEVER, Willard has changed his position on everything. From abortion to health-care to the stimulus to assault weapons to EVERYTHING. Do your own research on this. There are plenty of videos of him taking both sides of many issues.
Bottom line, if you can't stand our President, you should vote for somebody other than Willard. Willard will say to the audience he is standing in front of, whatever that audience wants to hear. He will say anything to be elected President of the US. The acquisition of power is his main objective in life. This makes him a dangerous man.
WIREMAN look in the mirror with the canidate you support. His founding principles make him a dangerous man. His mentor Frank Davis was on a FBI watch list for Christs sake WAKE UP!!!!
Romney2012
Hussein Ostumbler- "I did not have sex with that video."
Whatever you took. It was too much.
I think that was funny!!
Thank you
C'mon Wireman ...I was talking to leftsux...
This President is the master of putting words into his oponents mouth...and then believing it. That is what got him into trouble on his first debate...it is what has him in trouble now. Mr President ... Please tell us what you are going to do for us the next 4 years.....not what you want people to believe that President Romney said ...
Mike - he can't tell us what he will do in the next 4 years. He will do the same thing that he has done in the past 4 years which is NOTHING
wow 41% of adults in america are not working and all this assclown can do is crack one liners and act cool. this is what happens when you elect someone based on the color of their skin and not their experience or character.
When did unemployment hit 41%?
The sky is falling! The sky is falling! At least that is what Repubs are crying. Some of them all the way to the Cayman Island bank that is.
Funny there is nothing from feistyredhead on this subject. First time around it was "I want to put the coal industry out of business." Now, he needs the votes and it's an "all the above approach to energy independence. Were you lying then or are you lying now, Mr Obama? The answer is of course, yes.
That is because Fiesty knows about as much about the Economy and Energy as the President does.
Top Ten Coal Mining States: Montana, Illinois, Wyoming, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, Texas, Indiana. These states account for 135 of the electoral votes. The amount of coal that experts estimate actually can be mined is called the "recoverable reserve base." It amounts to an estimated 267 billion tons, or 29 percent of the entire world's recoverable coal.
Let's look at the numbers. If Mr Romney gave the same percentage of his income to charity that Mr Obama gave, his effective tax rate would be 23%. Is the president saying Mr Romney should show as little generosity as he shows? Don't bring up the difference in income. Mr Romney funded his own pension while Mr Obama is relying on the government for his (that means the tax payers).
President Obama's career has been "working with other people's money"; a.ka. solicit and/or tax & spend.
But Mr Romney's charity is the Mormon church... which isn't really a charity..
O&JOE2012
he donates to more than that. HATER. Obama lets his own family live in poverty.
Romney2012
You know you "SUCK" when you have too "force coal workers" too stand on a stage with you while you lie too the American people...
But too RobMe these hard working Americans are nothing more than "PROPS" in the World of the 1%...
Or, when you have to stand on stage and learn firsthand how wrong your campaign "messaging" was at "framing" your opponent...
GORILLA: check the facts. These miners were not forced into standing on a stage.
"Does anybody ever actually look at that guy and think, man, he's really into coal?" Obama asked the audience as he chuckled.
Mr Coal sounds better than Mr Dirt and that's what Obama has become this campaign- a real low life desperate dirtbag.
Coal Miners Letter to Obama re:TV Ad: "Dear President Obama: We are writing as the employees of American Energy Century Mine in Beallsville, Ohio. You have approved in a running television campaign ads about the Mitt Romney event that was held at our Century coal mine. These ads state that we were forced to attend this rally and that is blatently false. There are numerous false statements and absolute lies concerning our participation in this event, we, the employees, mostly started by a local shock jock host. Since your approval is attached to these ads, you may not wish to support these mistruths. Why would you lie about the 500 working miners who have signed this letter? We, the employees of Century Mine would request you immediately stop these false ads. Thank you. Century Mine Employees"
Coercion and threats can do amazing things!
The miners were not coerced or threatened.
You really ARE confused!
Time for truth - I am not confused at all - I remain "undecided" about my vote. I saw the POTUS fall on his AS* during the debates - and believe it or not, I still remain undecided. He has two strikes against him now as far as I am concerned. He has failed us as a leader. He has not convinced me at all that he deserves a second term. Instead of taking this great country FORWARD, it has gone BACKWARD. Any candidate has to show me the facts and be worthy of my vote.
Tagg Romney wanted to "take a swing" at the President during the debate! But Sasha Obama was there! And he didn't want to get beaten up by an 11 year old! Again. There was that unfortunate incident during his senior year of college ...
Too bad the only thing we know about Obama's school days was that he was stoned all the time.
hahahahahahaha. you have confused your President with that little stoner Ryan. He wants to legalize his good friend maryjane!
Those of you denouncing the president for saying coal miners were forced into backing Romney, don't you think that the initial reports were true, and that each of these men are going to say and do what ever the boss tells them to do in order to keep their jobs? That is the way I see it. They had to come out and say it wasn't true, or they would lose their job. It just so happens that quite a few of Romney backers are doing this to their employees. It is either vote for Romney or lose your job. Some have come out publicly and said it is true. If the Koch brothers owns these mines, You had better believe it is true, they want nothing more then Romney to win, so that he will deregulate the industry. Why don't you people think? Use your frigging heads. Do you know what will happen if Romney gets in and deregulates everything? You think life will be better? Do you realize why all of these big companies keep sending our jobs over seas? They only pay these people in china pennies per hour. Sensata is paying its employees in china 99 cents per hour. Do you want that? could you live on 99 cents per hour? Romney says he will make it more attractive to companies to keep their manufacturing here, how do you suppose he plans to do that? You think he is really just going to cut taxes? They want to get rid of the minimum wage, they want to cut regulations. They want to cut out any help for the poor. What the heck do you think will happen to our country if he does that? Think, people, think!
HUH - DUH, can't believe this post - and you are encouraging people to think! Unbelievable. What do you think will happen if Obama is elected for another 4 years? Yes, you are right - another 4 years of debt, lies and what we have had the past 4 years - absolutely nothing! Yes, it's all another big cover-up. Why don't you take off your blindfold..........
Coal was the miracle fuel of the industrial revolution. To bad that was more than 100 years ago.
Mining coal comes with many issues ranging from the danger of collapse to black lung, which still affects far to many miners in this day and age.
I'm not saying turn our backs on coal, but we do need to look for alternatives that don't exact such a high price on those that supply our need (addiction) for energy.
Barry Hussein- "Hillary come up to my office and wear a blue dress.
President Barack Obama's plan involves raising the price of oil, coal, and natural gas to force America to embrace energy resources that are deemed clean and green, such as wind and solar. As he stated before his 2008 election, his plan was to make energy prices "necessarily skyrocket" to make expensive, inefficient forms of energy more competitive.
Barry Hussein- "Hillary come up to my office and wear a blue dress."
Maybe Hussein Ostumbler can fuel the economy with all the methane he's spewing.
The kenyan kalamity. One and done.