What do you think?

•  A spokesman for a Republican office holder has suggested throwing acid "...at those female Democratic Senators."


Huffington Post:

A spokesman for Rep. Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.) is facing criticism after advocating violence against female Democratic senators in a Facebook post. 

Jay Townsend, the official campaign spokesman for the freshman representative, went on a vicious online rant on Saturday, which he began by taunting a constituent who voiced criticism about an earlier post on gas prices. "Listen to Tom. What a little bee he has in his bonnet. Buzz Buzz," Townsend wrote. 

"My question today... when is Tommy boy going to weigh in on all the Lilly Ledbetter hypocrites who claim to be fighting the War on Women? Let’s hurl some acid at those female democratic Senators who won’t abide the mandates they want to impose on the private sector."

What is it with men like Jay Townsend that they hate strong, opinionated women?  Has he been fired yet?

*****************

•  Josh Mandel, Ohio Treasurer and Republican candidate for Senate, has had a lot of scandals. With the recent FBI investigation of the Mandel campaign for inappropriate contributions from employees of the Suarez Corp., other people are starting to notice the string of controversies attached to the Mandel campaign.

The Maddow Blog at MSNBC has this on the Josh Mandel campaign:

It wasn't too long ago when Ohio Republicans were rocked by systemic scandals, which led then-Gov. Bob Taft (R) to face criminal conviction and even sent then-Rep. Bob Ney (R) to prison.

We haven't seen controversies of this magnitude since, and the stench of corruption didn't dissuade Ohio voters from giving the GOP big victories in 2010, but there's a burgeoning scandal in the Buckeye State that's causing some heartburn in Ohio Republican circles.

At issue are questionable donations, first reported by Alec MacGillis, which went to Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel (R), who's running for the U.S. Senate this year, and Rep. Jim Renacci (R), who's in a competitive race of his own. The suspect contributions have already drawn the interest of federal law enforcement officials......

Is it a coincidence that Ohio Republicans always seems to have problems with ethics, rules, and laws?  

The Toledo Blade has an editorial about Josh Mandel:

...The state treasurer missed his first 14 monthly meetings of the Ohio Board of Deposit, which he chairs. Skipped meetings, frequent fund-raising jaunts, and his campaign for the next job he covets suggest a lack of focus on the job voters elected him to do.

Mr. Mandel has not adequately addressed charges that he rewarded campaign aides with high-paying jobs in the treasurer's office. He can't provide some of their resumes to dispel doubts about their qualifications for their taxpayer-funded jobs....

....he needs to be seen doing the job he was elected to do, rather than constantly reaching for the next star on the political horizon.

Josh Mandel should be ashamed of his campaign and his work ethic as Ohio Treasurer.  There are plenty of people in Ohio more qualified for the position and more willing to work everyday. 

_______

Former Sen. John Glenn appeared at a reception for Sen. Sherrod Brown.  Sen. Glenn said that Democrats believe in "opportunities for everyone."  That in itself is something to believe in. 

Sen. Sherrod Brown said that if the Republicans get their way, they would "cut $130 billion from the SNAP program" (formerly known as food stamps).  In my view, that kind of Republican agenda shows a heartless, unkind, strategy that rewards the wealthy and throws the poor, the elderly, and the sick on the street.  Do we really want that for our fellow human beings?  I don't believe we do.

If Josh Mandel would answer a direct question, I'd like to know if he plans to support such a horrific agenda.

*   *   *

√  Is Florida purging all of their Democratic voters, people who have last names that end with vowels, voters under 30 years of age, women, and anyone that might vote Democratic?  It seems so.  The Republicans will do anything they can, even disqualify voters, to regain power.  

Romney is Frightening

Have you ever heard of the expression, "Everything old is new again"?  It can apply when we look at those people picked by Mitt Romney as his "advisors" on policy.  See if these names sound familiar:

Rod Paige -
1. Paige worked in the Bush administration and promoted the Texas "miracle" in education.  Unfortunately, for the children of Texas, there was no miracle.  Investigations found that Texas raised test scores by keeping special needs and bilingual children at home during testing days.

2. Rod Paige, as Bush's Secretary of Education, said "...that the National Education Association, one of the nation's largest labor unions, was like ''a terrorist organization...''  (NY Times)

3. A report, Texas on the Brink, outlines Texas rankings, as compared to other states
(a ranking of 1 is the best, a 50 is the poorest):
• Percent of Population 25 and older with a high school diploma.......50th

• Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) Scores.........................................45th

A quick look at Romney's education advisors (see Washington Post) shows that many are associated with the Bush administration.  I would not want to have someone with Rod Paige's history to be advising me on education matters or anyone else with ties to the failed Bush administration.


On Foreign Policy, Mitt Romney's list of advisors shows a real neo-con bent to it.
The Nation:

...Of Romney’s forty identified foreign policy advisers, more than 70 percent worked for Bush. Many hail from the neoconservative wing of the party, were enthusiastic backers of the Iraq War and are proponents of a US or Israeli attack on Iran. Christopher Preble, a foreign policy expert at the Cato Institute, says, “Romney’s likely to be in the mold of George W. Bush when it comes to foreign policy if he were elected.” On some key issues, like Iran, Romney and his team are to the right of Bush. Romney’s embrace of the neoconservative cause—even if done cynically to woo the right—could turn into a policy nightmare if he becomes president....

That is frightening! If Romney is elected President, we are assured of another war with our volunteer military.  Romney is quite willing to send your sons and daughter to war. Romney had this to say about his own five sons and their lack of military service---
CBS News:

....He added: "One of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I'd be a great president."

Romney's five sons range in age from 37 to 26 and have worked as real estate developers, sports marketers and advertising executives. They are now actively campaigning for their father and have a "Five Brothers" blog on Romney's campaign Web site.

Romney noted that his middle son, 36-year-old Josh, was completing a recreational vehicle tour of all 99 Iowa counties on Wednesday and said, "I respect that and respect all those and the way they serve this great country."

I'm reminded of another group of brothers that served our country and gave their lives------ The Sullivan Brothers.

 (pic from U.S. Naval History Center)

The Sullivan Brothers served together and died together during World War II.  You can read about them at the following links:

The Navy and The Sullivan Brothers

Arlington Cemetery: The Sullivan Brothers

Home of Heroes: The Sullivan Brothers 

Romney didn't serve because he was a missionary in France, but he protested against the war protesters. How is it that his sons are unable and unwilling to serve? We've all had family members serve through all our wars.  Why hasn't Romney?

Mitt Romney Is Wrong on Women

• Mitt Romney's association with Donald Trump makes me sick.  As long as Romney hangs out with Donald Trump, many independent voters will stay away from him.  Mitt Romney is wrong on many issues, especially those that pertain to women.

PPAF on YouTube




There is even more on Romney's view of our country.  He seems to see only white people, as this diary at DailyKos points out:

So Mitt Romney has a sappy new video out called The Promise of America. His basic message: that he will make America better by returning us to the nation we once were. He doesn't explain what that means, but if you look at this collage of every closeup shot in the video, one thing is clear: the America Mitt Romney sees is really, really white....

Check out the image from the Romney campaign and posted at DailyKos:  IMAGE

Here We Go Again.....

•••••  Republican Josh Mandel has been telling falsehoods again!

Politifact has declared that Josh Mandel's latest statement is FALSE!   

Politifact: The Truth-O-Meter says: that Josh Mandel's statement that Sen. Sherrod Brown "cast the deciding vote for a government takeover of health care" is FALSE.

Josh Mandel seems unable to speak the truth.  He has no political record to stand on except  his extreme right wing plans/statements-(short list below)
 • tax cuts for "job creators" in Ohio (see his laughable "Jobs" plan, that is anti-worker rights)
 • his lack of support for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
 • his vocal support for SB 5 (Issue 2) with appearances around the state.
  (see Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/masonbuzz/6244420239/lightbox/ and below)

(<---- at left, Mandel in Mason, Ohio, pro-SB 5 rally)

 • his vote against HB 176,which sought to add sexual orientation and gender identity to  areas of discrimination.
 • his support of the illegal "heartbeat bill"
 • his lack of support for pay equality
 • his lack of effort on his current job as State Treasurer, and the resulting flub in which he said the state pension funds in the Ohio Treasury were at "$100 billion" instead of the exact amount of "$165 billion"
 • his support of repealing laws for clean air, clean water, and a clean environment
 • his support of charter schools, over public schools, and the obscene amount of contributions that he has received from White Hat Management, the Brennan family, and their employees.  White Hat is the owner of the most charter schools in Ohio. (view White Hat's contributions at Join the Future)

Have you had enough of Josh Mandel's lack of honesty?  I have.

What "Vast Experience"?

In reading a post called "ElectMandel" recently, I noticed that that Josh Mandel, Ohio's Treasurer and Republican candidate for Senate, did not provide information on how he would help the unemployed.  If you take that with his tax cuts for job creators, Josh Mandel has no solutions for those unemployed.  His only solutions appear to be to get rid of regulations and stop spending money.  Does Josh Mandel support stopping unemployment insurance because he thinks it is a waste of money? 

The "Elect Mandel" website also has this little bit of information:

.....Mr. Mandel has vast experience dealing with pension funds, banks, investment firms and other financial issues during his time in government....

"...vast experience...."????  Really????  Really?  Eighty-seven days after taking the oath of office as Ohio Treasurer, Josh Mandel started to campaign for the Senate.  He has spent days out of Ohio visiting fundraisers around the country (Hawaii, DC, NYC, Kentucky, Florida, Texas, California, Nevada, etc., etc., etc.) and even left the country to collect campaign money in the Bahamas.

Unfortunately, Josh Mandel is clueless about the amount of money in the state pension plans. Those individuals with money in the state pension plans (STRS, OPERS, OP-F, OHPRS, OHSERS) are already losing any remaining confidence they had in Mandel.

YouTube



As noted by the reporter, there is $165 billion in the state pensions, not  $100 billion as said by Mandel.


If Josh Mandel actually spent time in Columbus doing his job as Treasurer, he might know the exact figures of the state pension funds.  However, Josh Mandel seems to spend every waking moment working on his next office, traveling, and getting campaign donations.   Mandel's lack of focus on his job as Treasurer appears to be taking a toll.

Memorial Day

Today we honor all those who have served our country.  We thank them for their service and we thank their families.

Currently, we have several in our family and extended family who are active duty military. We are aware of the dangers that they face and we pray for a safe return for all our men and women in uniform.

Mitt Romney Wants to Destroy Public Education

Mitt Romney, the product of elite, private schools, has an opinion on class size that will get a lot of parents, teachers, and education scientists shaking their heads in disbelief.

Washington Post:

...During a round-table discussion, teachers and local education leaders rejected some of Romney’s education prescriptions, including his assertion that class size doesn’t matter. Romney also identified two-parent families as one of three keys to educational success, along with good teachers and strong leadership....

....Steven Morris, a music teacher at the school, disputed Romney’s assertion on class size.

“I can’t think of any teacher in the whole time I’ve been teaching, over 10 years — 13 years — who would say that more students would benefit them. And I can’t think of a parent that would say ‘I would like my kid to be in a room with a lot of kids,’” Morris said. “So I’m kind of wondering where this research comes from.”

In response, Romney cited a study by the McKinsey consulting firm, which he said examined education systems in foreign countries and concluded that class size wasn’t a significant issue.....

Mitt Romney is not a teacher and is clearly one of those right wingers that wants to destroy  public education.  How does having 40, 50, 60 children in a classroom serve the needs of children and parents?  Romney and the rest of the Republicans want to turn public schools over to their rich charter school owners who are in business to make money.

Romney and Mandel: A Real Lack of Ethics

••••  Does anyone know how many of Mitt Romney sons attended public schools?  Romney suddenly thinks he knows everything about public schools and wants to take federal education money and give it to states.  Really?  Do you really think that some governors can be trusted to use that money for education?  Why does Romney dislike and disrespect public school teachers so much???

>>>>>  Mitt Romney was interviewed recently. He said that, according to USA Today, that
 "I understand, for instance, how to read a balance sheet."
Really?  So can I, and millions of others.Unfortunately, Romney made his money by raiding companies, firing workers, absconding with their pensions, and still managing to collect millions of dollars for himself.  His riches were accomplished by destroying the lives of others.  How is that ethical????


****  In case you missed it------ Ohio's roaming Treasurer Josh Mandel, a Republican candidate for the Senate, has been the subject of an investigation by the FBI over some over the top campaign contributions.  The Toledo Blade reports that the Mandel campaign is giving back the campaign donations:

Ohio state Treasurer Josh Mandel, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, has returned $105,000 in campaign contributions that are under investigation by the FBI for possible campaign finance violations.

The money came from the employees of a North Canton business and their spouses and had sparked questions because contributions were made by individuals who did not have a record of making campaign donations and who did not appear to have high incomes.....

Will Josh Mandel ask for his thank you notes back? (See Plunderbund for an explanation about the Mandel thank you notes.)


•  Why does the Ohio GOP want to prevent you from voting??? 

Slate:

...While nobody has uncovered an epidemic of vote fraud, it’s true that a good deal of what goes wrong with elections is due to the human mistakes of poll workers. And presumably if those mistakes are not the fault of the voter, it makes no sense to reject that ballot. 

But these and other provisions were challenged last month when Tom Niehaus, president of the Ohio Senate, and Lou Blessing, a state representative, filed an action in the Ohio Supreme Court calling the consent decree into question. A few weeks ago the federal district judge who had issued the 2010 consent decree, ordered the two to stop challenging it in the state Supreme Court because, as he explained, as leaders of Ohio’s General Assembly suing in their “official” capacities, they were bound by the very consent decree they were challenging. Now Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted says he will seek to invalidate the consent decree, including the obligation to count ballots where government workers make mistakes. He will file a brief making his case by June 6. That means that the person in charge of administering the presidential election in Ohio is seeking to be relieved of his obligation to count ballots that, according to Ohio law, are valid. Should this battle continue to escalate, it could set up a massive confrontation between federal and state courts over state election law.......

....What possible reason could the Ohio GOP offer for expressly prohibiting poll workers from assisting voters in completing election forms or locating their correct polling place? One can only suppose that the objection to counting good ballots tainted only by worker error stem from that same noxious paranoid soup that has infected all modern electoral politics: mistrust for voters, mistrust for government workers, and mistrust for the single most basic premise of any democracy—that we want more people to vote, not fewer. Almost every aspect of the recent efforts to “improve the integrity” of the voting system actually ends up undermining the integrity of the system. But punishing voters for poll-worker error and silencing poll workers best placed to help voters achieves new lows in cynicism. The net effect will serve no purpose other than to raise doubts about voting as a whole. 

The Ohio Republicans are idiots!  They don't want you to vote, and they will do everything they can to prevent you from voting.

Are Josh Mandel's Visits Tied to Pro-SB 5 Companies and Contributors????

The MorningJournal noted another campaign stop by Ohio roaming Treasurer, Josh Mandel:

...Mandel visited Beckett Corp. in North Ridgeville and praised the third generation family-owned company as a business that embodies “the backbone of Ohio’s economy.”

In case you might not know, the Beckett family apparently contributes to the Republican Party.  Also a Kevin Beckett was a contributor to the pro-SB 5 campaign in Ohio (see page 22 at the StateImpact contributors to pro-SB 5 Building a Better Ohio group).  

Josh Mandel visited Exhibit Concepts last week where he campaigned.  Interesting thing is, the president of Exhibit Concepts, Kelli Glasser, is also listed as a contributor to the
pro-SB 5/Building a Better Ohio (anti-labor) group. (See StateImpact list of the 996 people that donated to Building A Better Ohio.)

(Note:  the list of contributors to the Building a Better Ohio campaign (anti-labor, anti-police, anti-teacher, anti-firefighter, anti-workers' rights) posted at State Impact is arranged by alphabetical order of the first name of the contributor.)

Are Republican Josh Mandel's business visits tied to only pro-SB 5 companies and contributors???  When will we hear about the findings of the FBI investigations involving the Kasich administration, Josh Mandel's campaign, and Jim Renacci's campaign???? Why did Josh Mandel not know that he is the custodian of Ohio's $165 billion pension funds, not just $100 billion, as he stated????

YouTube



If you are a voter in Ohio, are you troubled by the fact that Josh Mandel doesn't know how much money is in the Ohio pension fund?????

Who gives them the right.....?

Hayley Rose has an excellent article, The Importance of Choice, posted at Salon.com:

After being raped by two men when I was just fifteen years old, I understand the value of choice. Maybe that's because I never had one. The trauma I experienced reminds me of the abortion ban Mississippi law makers are pushing through their state legislature. Had I become pregnant as a result of those rapes, there is no doubt in my mind that I would've aborted the fetus.

For most of those (pro-lifers) leaning towards the anti-choice stance, rape and incest are often the two exceptions to the rule, when it comes to the outlawing abortions. Who gives them the right to put stipulations on other people's decisions? Who gives them the right to take away my choice? Maybe one has to have the option of choice taken away before he or she can fully understand it's value....

...On the subject one proud State Representative, Bubba Carpenter said,

“They're like, 'Well, the poor pitiful women that can't afford to go out of state are just going to start doing them at home with a coat hanger.' That's what we've heard over and over and over. But hey, you have to have moral values. You have to start somewhere, and that’s what we've decided to do. This became law and the governor signed it, and I think for one time, we were first in the nation in the state of Mississippi."

Read the rest of the post at Salon.

In case you're interested, the original video of Bubba Carpenter's speech on abortions with a hanger, can no longer be embedded, according to the Maddowblog.  The script of what Bubba Carpenter said is on the Maddowblog.

Confirmed

NOLA:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is involved in a probe of questionable campaign contributions to two Ohio officeholders, freshman U.S. Rep. James Renacci (reh-NAY'-see) and state treasurer and U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel (man-DEHL').

Andrew Hayden, the FBI's supervisory resident agent in Canton, said Tuesday the bureau has questioned employees of Suarez Corporation Industries about combined donations to each campaign totaling $100,000.

Hayden said further details could not be released because the investigation is ongoing.....

What is it with Ohio Republicans and scandals????

 ------------

••••••  Veterans & Military Families for Obama has a sign up page here.   The DaytonDailyNews has information about the Ohio group, headed by John Boccieri, a former member of Congress:

In an effort to connect with veterans and their families, President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign announced the launch of Ohio Veterans and Military Families for Obama on Monday.

Veterans and Military Families for Obama is made up of active military veterans including several in the Dayton area to represent their community to the campaign, recruit volunteers and put together phone banking sessions and canvasses.

The outreach campaign emphasizes the president’s record as commander in chief: boosting education opportunities for veterans, reducing Taliban forces and ending the war in Iraq....

President Obama needs your support. For further information, check out the Veterans for Obama Launch, on May 24, 2012, 7pm.

Another FBI Probe???

•  Another Ohio politician being probed by the FBI?

Plunderbund:

In a blockbuster report this morning, The New Republic uncovered that the FBI is investigating a slew of campaign donations to our absentee Treasurer Josh Mandel and his congressional buddy Jim Renacci.

News of yet another investigation is truly shocking, even for the likes of Mandel and Renacci, for whom scandals ordinarily constitute another day at the office.....

.....Josh Mandel and Jim Renacci have already demonstrated there are no barriers to what they’ll do for a quick buck. Between throwing their next fundraisers in places like the Bahamas and Key Largo, Josh Mandel and Jim Renacci ought to come clean by immediately revealing to Ohioans everything they know about these tainted donations.

Even the Washington Post has the news about Mandel and Renacci:

* The Department of Justice is looking into campaign donations to Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) and Ohio Senate candidate Josh Mandel from employees of Suarez Corporation Industries, a direct-marketing firm. The Toledo Blade reported last year that employees of the firm and their spouses, many of whom had never donated to campaigns before, gave tens of thousands of dollars to the two candidates.

Ouch!  This investigation involving Josh Mandel and Jim Renacci follows news that John Kasich, Republican governor of Ohio, is also being probed by the FBI.

Dispatch:

The FBI has interviewed former Portage County Republican Party Chairman Andrew Manning in connection with a nasty feud that led to a change of leadership at the Ohio Republican Party.

Manning, a member of the GOP State Central Committee, filed an affidavit on March 8 with law-enforcement authorities saying that allies of Gov. John Kasich’s offered him special influence over gubernatorial appointments if he agreed not to run for the central committee, which Kasich successfully took control of in April.....

Looks like Ohio's Republicans might be keeping investigators busy.

Romney's "creative destruction"

• • • The San Francisco Weekly has an informative article about Mitt Romney:

America's Parasite: Romney's Bain Represents Capitalism's Worst

...His specialty was flipping companies — or what he often calls "creative destruction." It's the age-old theory that the new must constantly attack the old to bring efficiency to the economy, even if some are destroyed along the way. In other words, people like Romney are the wolves, culling the herd of the weak and infirm.

His formula was simple: Bain would purchase a firm with little money down, then begin extracting huge management fees and paying Romney and his investors enormous dividends....

...Romney didn't learn his lesson. He seemed incapable of noticing that his brand of "creative destruction" left a lot of human wreckage in its wake. Or that voters might see him as more scumbag than saint....

Not a pretty picture. There is something unethical when someone reaps millions of dollars while workers lose jobs, pensions, and a community loses an employer.


•••   A new website shows what Romney Economics has done.  To see what Romney Economics did in your state, check this link.  Here in Ohio, Romney Economics did this:

More than one hundred workers laid off 

Dozens of stores closed downOne company moved its headquarters out of state

• Romney held full ownership of Bain Capital while:
• Alliance Laundry eliminated manufacturing jobs in Norwood
• Stage Stores closed all of its stores across Ohio
• Sealy—North America's largest mattress manufacturer—moved its Cleveland headquarters out of state

Wait A Minute!

The Joe Ricketts that is behind a planned smear campaign of President Obama (see NY Times)  is part of the Ricketts family that also owns the Chicago Cubs?  This is the same Ricketts family looking for money to fix their baseball stadium in Chicago?????

HuffPost:

Chicago Mayor and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is "livid" over a proposed $10 million ad campaign funded by TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts that would tie President Barack Obama to his former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

"The Mayor was livid when he read that the Ricketts were going to launch a $10 million campaign against President Obama -- with the type of racially motivated ads that are insulting to the President and the Presidential Campaign,” an Emanuel aide told the Chicago Sun-Times. "He is also livid with their blatant hypocrisy."

....The Ricketts family owns the Chicago Cubs, and Joe's son Tom is chairman of the team. The bombshell report couldn't come at a worse time for the Ricketts, who are seeking public funds to renovate 98-year-old Wrigley Field. Emanuel has a plan to use amusement tax revenues and other incentives to pay for the renovations to the park, which did not have night lights until 1988.

Emanuel is reportedly refusing to take the Ricketts' calls..... 

Joe Ricketts is the founder of TD Ameritrade (AMTD) and owns, according to public records at Yahoo Finance, millions of shares of stock.

Once again, we see the greedy, wealthy, far right millionaires using their money to attack President Obama.  We should not give one more cent to TD Ameritrade, or other companies that use their money to fund anti-Progressive, anti-Obama, and anti-worker agendas.

If you are looking for sources to research a company, you can visit OpenSecrets or purchase a guide like The Blue Pages: A Directory of Companies Rated by Their Politics and Practices.  I use my copy of The Blue Pages constantly.

To the those people trying to get a handout for their stadium while they simultaneously attempt to attack President Obama:  Don't count on it!

If you'd like to send a message to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, visit this City of Chicago "contact page" to send your comments on the Ricketts request for a new stadium.

You Can't Make It Up.....

 
••••• Did we just witness a flip-flop by Republican Josh Mandel??????  In a March news article at the Youngstown Vindicator, Josh Mandel said he had opposed the auto recovery plan (aka auto bailout), even though 850,000 Ohio jobs are related to the auto industry.  Now, Mandel has a different story.

News-Herald:  ....Mandel said he didn’t have a position on the federal auto bailout because he was a state representative at the time.

“I can tell you moving forward, one of the most significant planks of our platform is putting in place a better environment for restoring manufacturing jobs here in Ohio,” Mandel said. “An important part of that platform is the auto industry.”

What????  Mandel cares about the American auto industry now??????? OMG!!!!   

By the way, I encourage you to read Mandel's Jobs Plan to find out how he embraces businesses, instead of people.

*****

*  Mitt Romney says he supports veterans, but his support is given only in words.  When Romney (see ChicagoTribune) called Paul Ryan's budget "marvelous," he didn't mention what the Paul Ryan budget did to veterans.

TalkingPointsMemo:

On a conference call Thursday, the Obama campaign will announce the launch of Veterans and Military Families for Obama, building on work the campaign has been doing to engage the military vote this election cycle. But the messaging doens’t stop there. The campaign will also attack Mitt Romney, arguing that his policies – like his support for the Ryan Budget – would hurt veterans.

From the press release:

Our country can’t go backwards, but that’s exactly what Mitt Romney promises America’s veterans.  The Romney-Ryan budget includes deep domestic spending cuts that – if applied across the board – would cut veterans’ spending by $11 billion a year.  Additionally, he said he would consider eliminating the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which would put thousands of Veterans on the streets by eliminating critical funding and support for programs aimed at helping homeless Veterans. In fact, Romney suggested privatizing veterans benefits and giving veterans vouchers for health care – an idea that outside experts said would leave veterans unable to receive essential care and that the Veterans of Foreign Wars immediately came out in opposition to. 

As TPM has reported, the Obama campaign has been reaching out to veterans and members of the military and their families, a vote that is increasingly important now that states like Virginia and North Carolina are in play.......

Jon Stoltz, Iraq war vet, and the founder of Votevets.org, noted this about what the Paul Ryan budget does in a piece at the Huffington Post:

....we read that the GOP doesn't even talk about veterans in their budget.

But, without saying the word "veteran," the budget tells us a lot about what they think about veterans. The budget calls for across the board spending freezes and cuts. If enacted, the Ryan GOP budget would cut $11 billion from veterans spending, or 13 percent from what President Obama proposes in his own plan.

It's unconscionable that they'd do this at a time when so many Iraq veterans have just come home and rely on veterans care. Over 45,000 US troops were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more will come who will rely on VA services, on top of veterans of other wars and eras who depend on the VA. But, this shortsightedness isn't new.....

....Yet, here we are. A budget from the GOP that short changes veterans, horribly. And where does that money go? Not to reducing the debt. The debt as a share of GDP would actually increase under the Ryan plan. The money doesn't go towards anything, really. But it does go towards some people. As in $3 trillion in tax giveaways to the richest Americans and corporations. People like Mitt Romney, who already pays a tax rate lower than most of our troops.....

The Paul Ryan budget is "marvelous" for people like Romney, but for our veterans, not so much.

They've Spoken

The Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters (OAPFF) has endorsed a candidate for the U.S. Senate:

OAPFF ‏@Ohio_pro_ffs

OAPFF delegates vote to unanimously endorse @SherrodBrown for US Senator from Ohio. "A true friend of fire fighters."

Sen. Sherrod Brown is indeed "a true friend of fire fighters" and a true friend to every working woman and man in the state.

What about Josh Mandel? Mandel is a true friend to millionaires, special interests, anti-worker groups, anti-women's rights groups, and anti-environment pin heads. Josh Mandel's "Jobs Plan" is a hoax.  He isn't trying to create jobs for regular people, he is trying to give more wealth to business owners.  Read what I found out about Mandel's plan at http://ohio15th.blogspot.com/ and you'll realize that Mandel doesn't give a damn about you.

Could someone ask Josh Mandel how he defines a "small" business? Are Duke Energy, AEP, Nationwide, Bob Evans, etc., small businesses?

___________

Attention:

Voters in Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District:  Your member of Congress, Republican Rep. Joe Pitts needs to get into the swing of things. The recent reply that Pitts sent to a constituent who expressed concern about the Middle East, is embarrassing and ridiculous.
 Philadelphia Inquirer:

...Replying to a Chester County constituent's e-mail regarding Middle East tensions, Pitts wrote on April 20 that "it is now incumbent on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasir Arafat" to hunker down at the negotiating table.

Problem is, Arafat died in 2004. And Sharon, no longer Israel's leader, has lain in a coma-like state since a massive stroke in 2006....

According to ThinkProgress, Republican Joe Pitts also sponsored the "Let Women Die" Act in 2011.
ThinkProgress:

House Passes The ‘Let Women Die’ Bill | In a 251 to 170 vote, Republicans led the House to pass the “Protect Life Act” last night, sponsored by veteran anti-choice Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA). Known by women’s health advocates as the “Let Women Die” bill, the measure allows hospitals that receive federal funds to reject any woman in need of an abortion procedure, even if it is necessary to save her life......

Instead of re-electing the out of touch Pitts, vote for Democrat Aryanna Strader.  She'll stay awake and stay in touch with events in the world.

Republican Perversion

Bubba Carpenter, an elected Republican official in Mississippi, is an idiot. Think Progress has the text and the video, provided by Rachel Maddow. Bubba seems proud that poor women will have to resort to the coat hanger as a self-abortion method.  Read the whole post at Think Progress. (Be sure to read the comments!)

Why do Republicans, especially Republican men, think that they should control what a woman does with her body?  Why are they so interested in controlling vaginas?  Doesn't that seem weird?  Why are Republicans talking about your vagina, your ovaries, and your uterus?  If a strange man walked up to you and asked about your recent pelvic exam, wouldn't you think he was a pervert?  Yet Republicans deny they have a war on women.

>>>> The crazy Republicans in the Ohio Senate are working on a bill to require drug tests for welfare recipients, according to the Dispatch.  I think that we should test the Republicans for drugs and alcohol before they go into a session.  After those fundraising luncheons they attend, how can voters be sure that any of them are even sober?  I hope that this stupid legislation that has been put forth by State Sen. Tim Schaffer, is swatted down as unconstitutional, as it has been done in other states.

A Little Bizarre?

Republican Josh Mandel's comments about Politifact have some people wondering about Mandel's grasp of reality.  Mandel believes what Politifact has to say about Sen. Sherrod Brown, but calls Politifact wrong for calling some of his own statements as "Pants on Fire."  Politifact Ohio has judged Josh Mandel's statements in the following manner:

Mandel's statements by ruling

Click on the ruling to see all of Mandel's statements for that ruling.

• True  3(3)
• Mostly True  1(1)
• Half True 4(4)
• Mostly False  2(2)
• False  2(2)
• Pants on Fire  3(3) 

Here are the three "PANTS ON FIRE" designations given to statements by Josh Mandel by Politifact:

•  "Make no mistake -- Sherrod Brown is one of the main D.C. politicians responsible for Ohio jobs moving to China."

Politifact:  "PANTS ON FIRE"  Bold? Yes. Accurate? No.

•  Sen. Sherrod Brown "has chosen to side with Washington bureaucrats and fringe extremists in the attacks on our natural resources."

Politifact:  "PANTS ON FIRE" Fringe element includes local leaders and a college president

•  Says that Sen. Sherrod Brown is "out there egging on a lot of these protesters who are spitting on policemen and going to the bathroom on policemen’s cars at these protests on Wall Street and other places."

Politifact:   "PANTS ON FIRE"   Brown's support was specific: nonviolent protests

That isn't even all of it.  Josh Mandel made some bizarre statements yesterday and the Youngstown Vindicator has them:

...During his talk with local NFIB members, Mandel said he is a “strong supporter of uniforms in schools,” and has “no problem” with not permitting students to talk in hallways between classes. Both are ways to instill discipline in students, said Mandel, a former Marine....

Really?  What other freedoms does Josh Mandel want to take away from students?  Does Mandel have an interest in suppressing student free expression???? 

We know that Josh Mandel has refused to endorse Sen. Sherrod Brown's plan to keep low interest rates for student loans. When will Josh Mandel stand up for Ohio's college students?

>>>>>>   If you are interested in Josh Mandel's 2010 responses to questions from the League of Women Voters of Ohio, follow this link-----> SmartVoter.  Cincinnati Enquirer also has listed the answers that Josh Mandel gave to some of their questions here.

Romney Economics: He Wins, You Lose

Here is a video from the website Romney Economics----Mitt Romney's Private Sector Record:




How is it right that Romney and Bain made money while people lost their jobs? Bain made a profit of $12 million, yet 750 people were put out of work. Is that being a job creator?

Just the Facts

•••••••  The boycott by listeners and advertisers of the Rush Limbaugh program has proven to be a financial disaster. Do you think they got the message or are they too stubborn headed to care?????
  
MediaMatters:

Last night, Cumulus Media, a radio company that carries Rush Limbaugh's show on 38 of its stations, announced millions in losses directly attributable to Limbaugh's show.

From Radio Ink (emphasis mine):

Monday evening Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey said the advertiser boycott cost his company "a couple million" dollars in ad revenue in the first quarter and "a couple million" in the second quarter. He said things look like they will be back to normal in June. Cumulus carries Rush Limbaugh 38 markets and blames 1% of the 3.5% drop in revenue for the quarter on the Rush boycott. Dickey said Cumulus was "hit pretty hard by this."

This report certainly undermines protestations from Limbaugh and his crisis manager that everything is fine.....

This proves that when women and groups can organize and fight against discrimination and hatred, it can become an economic disaster.  Women and liberal groups should use this as a lesson to organize against those that want to hurt or hinder our progress!


••••  Does it matter that Mitt Romney was a bully in high school?  It matters to me.
HuffingtonPost:

Five high school seniors at an elite prep school stalk, then jump a younger student with a new haircut they think looks too gay. Their 18-year-old ringleader cuts off the offending locks, while the victim screams and begs for help. Decades later, the victim and several participants are still haunted by the attack.

It's not a scene from Bully. It's a revealing episode from Mitt Romney's formative years.

....Here's the simple picture that's emerging: If you're less fortunate or less powerful, Mitt Romney won't think twice about walking over you if you're in his way.....

Isn't the incident of Romney putting his dog in a crate on the roof of his car another sign of his bullying nature?

•  The layoffs continue in Ohio.  Gov. John Kasich can reward his buddies with huge tax incentives and state money, but he doesn't seem to be able to help small businesses.  Check out the latest layoffs at ODJFS (Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services).

Are you an informed voter?

There is another great ad about Josh Mandel's unbridled ambition----
YouTube



A recent poll indicates that many Ohioans don't know Josh Mandel.  The ad above explains part of it, but you should also know that Josh Mandel has demonstrated cronyism in the Treasurer's office.  Why would anyone vote for this totally inept person?


>>>>> If you haven't seen the news today, you've missed this-----
WashingtonPost:

Mitt Romney returned from a three-week spring break in 1965 to resume his studies as a high school senior at the prestigious Cranbrook School. Back on the handsome campus, studded with Tudor brick buildings and manicured fields, he spotted something he thought did not belong at a school where the boys wore ties and carried briefcases. John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn’t having it.

“He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann’s recollection. Mitt, the teenaged son of Michigan Gov. George Romney, kept complaining about Lauber’s look, Friedemann recalled. 

A few days later, Friedemann entered Stevens Hall off the school’s collegiate quad to find Romney marching out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber’s hair. Friedemann followed them to a nearby room where they came upon Lauber, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors.....

There is more on this at the Huffington Post where you can read some additional information, including the over  22,000+ comments from readers. It is so sad to see that the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, was a bully. 

God Bless, President Obama!

My husband and I have been married for 38 years. We've been blessed to have children, grandchildren, dogs, and a great extended family.  I think it is wonderful that President Obama has stated his support for marriage equality.  This is the right thing to do to provide civil rights for everyone.

As a married couple, my husband can visit me in the hospital, can provide power of attorney, and can include me on his health insurance.   Why should same sex couples be denied the advantages that heterosexual couples enjoy?

If people believe that everyone is equal, everyone should have equal rights.  The only people that will stand in the way will be the hatemongers and bigots.

Don't look now......

Don't look now----
Mitt Romney is hoping that you didn't bookmark/read the opinion piece that he wrote for the New York Times in 2008 that had the following as a headline:

 "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt."

Now Romney wants credit for the recovered American auto industry.  HuffingtonPost has all the dirty details:

....Despite his 2008 call to "let Detroit go bankrupt," presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said Monday that he would "take a lot of credit" for his impact on the U.S. automobile industry's comeback. 

During an interview with WEWS-TV in Cleveland following a campaign stop, Romney said his views helped save the industry. 

"I pushed the idea of a managed bankruptcy," Romney said. "And finally, when that was done, and help was given, the companies got back on their feet. So I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back." 

Will Mitt Romney soon take credit for removing Osama bin Laden, ending the war in Iraq, finding a cure for cancer, etc., etc., etc.?  Mitt Romney is a pompous, dressage horse owner. What else can you expect from a man that said, "Corporations are people too, my friend...."?

Mitt Romney: Yawn

Republican Mitt Romney spoke in front of a crowd of approximate 300 people today (see Toledo Blade) in Euclid, Ohio. Seeing as how voters find Romney's campaign as exciting as cement, Romney is going to have to work a lot harder if he wants to turn up enthusiasm among the voters.  With his plans to cut off Planned Parenthood, follow Paul Ryan's plan and give vouchers to current Medicare recipients, give more tax cuts to the wealthy, and increase taxes on the poor and middle class, it is not surprising that people are avoiding Romney. 

Romney's speeches are by invitation only.  President Obama's rallies are open to the public.  Romney made his money by buying companies, loading up on the management fees, firing people, and closing down factories.  Romney's wealth came when he profited off the misery of others.

>>>> Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich won his battle in getting Ohio GOP Chair Kevin DeWine out, and now he is engaged in a battle against Republicans in the Ohio General Assembly (see CincinnatiEnquirer).  Kasich must be going through another one of his tantrums.  No matter what he does, Ohioans have to limit Kasich to one term.  The destruction that is being done to Ohio through fracking cannot be reversed and we can squarely blame Kasich and his buddies.

14,000 > 200

President and Mrs. Obama were in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday.

A woman remarked to me that she like Michelle Obama because she liked shopping at Target, just like she did.  People that were able to meet and speak with President and Mrs. Obama said that they were nice, engaging, and polite. 

On many levels, people can relate to President Obama and Mrs. Michelle Obama because of their working class roots, and their understanding of the challenges of raising a family. People believe that President and Mrs. Obama share their values and understand that when we all succeed, the country succeeds. When everyone has a job, can support their families, students can go to college, and our society can help provide for the poor and elderly, our country is better for it.

President Obama addressed a crowd of 14,000 people at the Schottenstein Center on the campus of the Ohio State University. The rally was open to the general public. 

According to Otterbein360.com, on April 27, 2012, when Mitt Romney visited Otterbein:

....The event was open only to invited participants, including seven students involved in a round table discussion with Romney. Five more students were invited to stand on stage during Romney’s speech to the 200 invited guests in Battelle’s Riley Auditorium, according to Dean of Student Affairs, Robert Gatti.....

Isn't that just like Romney?  Only specially invited guests were invited to his talk.  Isn't that the way Romney operates------ only a chosen few will have success.  In Romney's world, only the rich get the tax cuts, college students are supposed to borrow money from their parents, and the elderly get vouchers for their Medicare.

Word of the Day--"Malleable"

Republicans view Mitt Romney as "malleable," or as the Free Dictionary defines it: "Easily controlled or influenced..."  In other words, special interests within the Republican Party think that Romney can be easily influenced.

This week, we had an example of "Malleable" Mitt Romney. His adviser that was acknowledged as openly gay, was fired or forced to resign because of pressure exerted by  someone associated with Focus on the Family. 

DailyKos linked to this video from RightWingWatchBlog  (YouTube):



Malleable Mitt will face President Barack Obama, the man with a strong sense of determination, as we've seen in his accomplishment of getting Osama bin Laden.  Can you imagine the amount of new jobs we would have had IF the Republicans wouldn't have blocked legislation and passed all of Obama's jobs bills????

Romney: Outsourced Pins

Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, was bragging about how he had some lapel pins made in preparation for the Olympics.  The pin said, "We Stand United."  That is a very nice thought, however, Romney outsourced the production of the pin to China (see Think Progress).

ThinkProgress:
...Outsourcing has been a latent issue in the campaign, and just yesterday the Obama campaign released an ad hitting Romney for “shipp[ing] American jobs to places like Mexico and China” when he led Bain Capital. Indeed, Bain was outsourcing jobs even while Romney was governor. And his top economic adviser Greg Mankiw (who was recently promoted to chairman of Harvard’s economics department) said that “offshoring” American jobs is a good thing.

Meanwhile, Lynn Sweet at the Chicago Sun-Times notes that a conference call hosted by the Republican National Committee (RNC) yesterday attacking President Obama for “high unemployment” was hosted by a firm in The Philippines (apparently a subcontractor of Verizon, whom the RNC used).

These Republicans just don't care about saving American jobs.

Things Are Never What They Seem

* Republican candidate and continually absent Ohio Treasurer, Josh Mandel, continues to run more ads about boots.  Unfortunately, Josh Mandel hasn't talked about what happened after the Marines.  What jobs has he held out side of government?  How was he able to hire so many friends, fraternity connected people, school buddies, and campaign workers for his office as Ohio Treasurer?  Did these new hires fill out appropriate applications, provide resumes and verifiable references? It is just amazing how Josh Mandel is able to avoid speaking about issues in his campaign.

* You've heard all those Mitt Romney stories about how he claims that he never raised taxes in Massachusetts and created jobs as governor.  Things are never what they seem. Here is how Romney paid for the budget gap.

Dispatch:

.....The presumptive Republican nominee and Democratic state lawmakers raised hundreds of millions of dollars for cash-strapped state coffers by approving new and higher fees on everything from marriage licenses to real estate transactions to gun licenses.....

....Romney's handling of the fiscal crisis when he took over as governor in 2003 is a guide to how he might act on his promises for lower taxes and reduce the federal deficit if he's elected president. He has sketched a broad, fiscally conservative vision during the primaries but has yet to specify how he would pay for it......

....Among the fee increases the study found: Marriage licenses went from $4 to $50, driving permits from $15 to $30, deed-recording fees from $25 to $100 and mortgage-recording fees from $36 to $158..... 

No matter how you look at it, Romney may not have raised taxes, but taxpayers paid out larger fees to cover everything.  Taxpayers still lost money under Romney.

>>>  All that gas drilling is not paying off for those governors that thought that it would.
USA Today:

Energy-producing states are bracing for lower tax revenue from the plummeting price of natural gas, which is just above half of what some states forecast when they put together budgets for 2013 and beyond.

Production of natural gas is up nationally largely because of the spread of hydraulic fracturing, a drilling practice that allows tapping of deposits formerly out of reach. A warm winter cut demand, driving the price below $2 per thousand cubic feet in April.

That reduces natural gas heating costs for millions of Americans — the Energy Information Administration estimates they will be 25% lower this year than in 2008 — but crimps states dependent on natural gas taxes. Some are preparing for lower prices for 2013 and 2014 budget years....

This is good for consumers.

Women Must Vote For Those That Support Their Rights

Even though the Republicans continue to deny that there is a war on women, the attacks continue. The GOP cannot dispute the reality of their continued efforts to restrict a woman's access to birth control, family planning clinics, mammograms, yearly pap smears, and access to abortion, even if a woman is a victim or incest or rape.  Shame on the GOP.

Republicans have shown their disdain for the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act with only 2 Republicans voting in favor of the measure (Murkowski and Specter). Today, you heard crickets when the Romney campaign was asked if Romney supported the Fair Pay Act. According to several news reports, the Romney campaign had to check to see where they stood.  Women are still not sure if Romney, if elected, would try to overturn the law.

Women are paid less than men, no matter how Republicans and Fox News tries to deny it.

Media Matters examined some recent Fox News discussions in which the "news"? organization and the talking heads tried to dispute the pay gap.  Media Matters posted a chart obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau:



 [U.S. Census Bureau, September 2011]

 Every woman knows that there is a pay gap.  Just walk into a large discount store, an office, or executive suite, and you'll see that many of the managers are male.  In Ohio, Plunderbund provided statistics that showed that Governor Kasich pays women less in his own office. As Plunderbund states in the headline, John Kasich pays male staffers 56% more than women, Plunderbund shows the numbers:

...Of the 34 people listed as Governor’s office employees, only 4 of the top 17 paid staffers are women (76% are men). And only 4 of the bottom 17 are men (76% are women). The chart below shows the distribution, with women listed in yellow and men in blue.

...If we take the average yearly salaries for men and women, we end up with a 56% difference in favor of men:

Women:   $49,498.52
Men:     $77,730.88

If women really want to protect their rights in the doctor's office and the work place, women must support Democratic candidates for the President, the Senate, the House, and local offices.