President Obama Wins Debate

Tonight, President Obama won the debate with Mitt Romney on issues such as immigration, taxes, Libya, women's rights, foreign policy, etc., etc.

Here is the most important clip from tonight's debate where President Obama shows his ability to set the record straight:





LA Times:

A newly energetic and aggressive President Obama went directly after his Republican challenger starting with the first minutes of their second presidential debate Tuesday night, attacking Mitt Romney’s business record and accusing him of offering a meek “me, too” to conservative Republicans in Congress.

“Gov. Romney says he's got a five-point plan. Gov. Romney doesn't have a five-point plan; he has a one-point plan,” Obama said during his answer to the debate’s first question.

Romney’s plan was to “make sure that folks at the top play by a different set of rules,” he added, making quick references to lower tax rates for the wealthy, companies sending jobs overseas and corporate takeovers that “strip away” pensions from workers and “still make money” for owners.....

President Obama did a fabulous job tonight!

Greed is not a Family Value

Mitt Romney is like that brother-in-law that brags that he pays less taxes, even though you know he makes three times more money than you do. Romney appears to have figured out all the angles, loopholes, and tax dodges to reduce his own taxes.  This not only displays his avarice, but it is just not fair. Mitt Romney believes that he should pay lower taxes because he takes financial risks.  Romney doesn't pour all of his money into an investment. Whatever he does invest is a pittance compared to what he has. Our military men and women, police, and fire fighters take real risks every single day, but they pay a higher tax rate than Romney.

>>>  Mitt Romney's tax plan has been judged as a mathematical impossibility. An economist at Moody's has his opinion about the Romney tax plan:

ThinkProgress:

The fact that Mitt Romney’s tax plan is mathematically impossible was reinforced again on Friday, when Mark Zandi, a former John McCain campaign adviser and Chief Economist at Moody’s Economy, admitted as much. 
 
Speaking on CNN’s “Starting Point,” Zandi acknowledged a study by the Tax Policy Center that shows Romney’s plan to lower taxes by 20 percent across the board, while making up those losses in government revenue by closing loopholes on the wealthy, doesn’t add up. Zandi even went so far as to say that “the arithmetic doesn’t work as it is right now”:

ZANDI: Yeah, I think the Tax Policy Center study is the definitive study. They’re non-partisan, they’re very good. They say given the numbers that they’ve been provided by the Romney campaign, no, it will not add up. Now, the Romney campaign could adjust their plan. They could say okay I’m not going to lower tax rates as much as I’m saying right now and they could make the arithmetic work. But under the current plan, with the current numbers, no it doesn’t. I’ll say one other thing, though. I think it is important that we do focus on the so-called tax expenditures in the tax code. Those are the deductions, and credits, and loopholes in the code. We need to reduce those, because if we do we’re going to make the tax system fairer, easier to understand and ultimately lead to stronger growth. So that’s the right place to focus. But, no, the arithmetic doesn’t work as it is right now.

While Romney and his wealthy friends find ways to avoid taxes, the middle class has to make up the difference. While Romney's money heads to the Cayman Islands, Ireland, and other tax shelters, the tax money coming from the middle class helps pay for teachers, roads, defense, etc., etc. This only spotlights why Romney's "we built that" is so wrong. If a majority of Romney's taxes are going somewhere else, his claims to helping the USA are hollow. Romney serves his own greed and that of his fat cat friends.

------------------

Sen. Sherrod Brown will debate his Republican opponent, Ohio's absent Treasurer, Josh Mandel. The debate will take place at the Cleveland City Club.

Hypocrisy at $450,000/week

While Republican Mitt Romney says he'll do something about sending jobs to China, Americans have noticed that Romney's investment in Bain companies that send jobs to China are making some nice profits for Romney.  As Romney talks about saving American jobs, he is still involved in Bain and their outsourcing.  How else does Romney explain his $450,000/week from Bain?

Truthout has the details about the latest Bain Capital outsourcing of American jobs at Sensata:

On the campaign trail Romney says we shouldn't ship jobs to China and should "crack down" on China trade problems. But he refuses to help or even meet with the Sensata workers whose jobs are being shipped to China right now.

Why the refusal to line up his actions with his promises? A must-read, must-read, must-read news report explains how part of Romney's $450,000/week income comes from ... get this ... shipping jobs to China!...

See the article at the NY Times about Bain's outsourcing and Romney's profits.

Those people that think Romney will create American jobs have to wonder why Romney won't even bother to stop the latest outsourcing of American jobs from Sensata.

Ohio Debate on Monday

>>>>  Sen. Sherrod Brown will meet his Republican opponent in a debate at the Cleveland City Club.  The debate is scheduled for Monday, October 15th, at 12:30pm. It might be available through streaming at the media link on the City Club page.

* Who would vote against a bill that would notify tenants that their rental home/apartment is in foreclosure and they might lose their residence?

During the 128th General Assembly, H.B. 9 sought protections for tenants in buildings that were in foreclosure. Republican Josh Mandel voted against H.B.9 on May 6, 2009 (128th General Assembly).  I guess Josh Mandel just doesn't care about regular people living in apartments and rental houses.

GOP Cut Money to Embassy Security

Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz was interviewed today by Soledad O'Brien of CNN.

 CNN:

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) criticizes the handling of Libyan consulate security despite voting to cut embassy funding.

Rep. Chaffetz says, “I think what we’re going to hear is that we didn’t meet the basic, minimum standards required for a facility such as the one we had in Benghazi. And the request for more security personnel went unheeded, unanswered, and consequently, you know, you have the death of four Americans. We [have to] make sure that that doesn’t happen again in Libya. But we also [have to] make sure it doesn’t happen in other places around the world…. We [have to] get at the truth, but thus far it’s been a slippery attempt to try to get the truth because the White House and the Obama administration’s been very slow in giving us the facts.”

Later in the interview, CNN Anchor Soledad O’Brien asks, “Is it true that you voted to cut the funding for embassy security?”

Chaffetz answers, “Absolutely. Look we have to make priorities and choices in this country...."
Chaffetz says you have to have "priorities" on the budget. Chaffetz and the Republicans have priorities--- give tax cuts to the rich, tax cuts for oil companies, end corporate taxes, etc., but apparently they don't want to spend money to protect Americans in foreign countries serving in embassies.

Soledad O'Brien has become the toughest interviewer in journalism. Some people should watch her and learn!

Tax Cuts for Rich, Cuts to Programs

* Republican Mitt Romney's debate acting role might win him an Oscar, but behind that smile hides the real intentions of the RomneyRyan agenda.

Center for American Progress Action Fund shows that the Romney-Ryan cuts would come to programs that benefit minorities:


....One standout feature of the Romney-endorsed Ryan budget is that it would deliver the biggest reductions to funding of Pell Grants in program history. It would cut the Pell Grant program by $200 billion, which could “ultimately knock more than 1 million students off ” the program over the next 10 years and would reduce the number of low-income students receiving bachelor’s degrees each year by as much as 61,000.....

...The Romney-approved Ryan budget could cut programs like Head Start by 20 percent. An analysis by the National Education Association estimated that close to 200,000 children would lose Head Start classroom slots by 2014 under the Ryan budget. More alarmingly, over the next decade this would amount to 2 million children who would not be able to attend Head Start. According to the National Education Association the numbers breakdown like this: Cuts to Head Start in fiscal year 2013 would cause the loss of more than 61,000 slots for low-income children in the program and more than 22,000 jobs; and, in fiscal year 2014, the Romney-approved Ryan plan would cut an additional $1.6 billion from Head Start resulting in the loss of more than 191,000 slots for poor children and more than 79,000 jobs.....

....Gov. Romney has proposed raising the eligibility age for Medicare, similar to his Social Security proposal—starting in 2022 the age for Medicare eligibility would rise by one month each year, which would shift costs to seniors. Some seniors who would no longer be eligible for Medicare would pick up employer coverage, but would end up paying more in premiums and cost sharing. He has also proposed giving individuals the option to stay on traditional Medicare or purchase health insurance from private companies through vouchers....

Face it, America. Romney and Ryan don't want to deal with those that are poor, need some extra help, or the elderly. They want to cut these vital programs so they can get those tax cuts for their rich pals, oil companies, and their wealthy donors.

Is Romney afraid to answer questions?

If Mitt Romney is afraid to answer questions from children, how can we expect him to stand up to our enemies?

RawStory:

After recently promising to end funding for beloved Sesame Street character Big Bird, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is now refusing to take questions from children on a Nickelodeon special, Kids Pick the President: The Candidates.....

.....Deputy National Press Secretary Adam Fetcher told TMZ that Romney had decided to “play hookey” because he couldn’t even handle questions from America’s youth.....

Obama, who recorded his Nickelodeon appearance on Monday, took questions from kids about gun control, the economy, immigration, marriage equality, bullying, obesity and his most embarrassing moment......

Face it. Mitt Romney is afraid to answer the questions from children because he is afraid they'll ask about Big Bird.  Just as Mitt Romney avoided the military by going to France, he is avoiding questions from kids. Pathetic!


Tell your parents that they must vote for Barack Obama because Mitt Romney wants to kill Big Bird, Elmo, and all your friends on Sesame Street.

Mitt Romney Doesn't Know Much

Mitt Romney continues his blabbering, and this time he tried a super duper special on foreign policy. Big deal! Romney's knowledge about foreign policy could fit into a thimble.  He doesn't know the history of our nation's relationships, he has no facts, and most of all, he is completely ignorant about how to behave overseas. (We cannot forget his awkward behavior and inappropriate words in Israel and Great Britain. ) Here is an excerpt from his speech, as provided by the DailyBeast:

....The size of our Navy is at levels not seen since 1916..... 

Really? Romney made similar claims earlier this year and they were debunked by Politifact. Here is what Romney said in January 2012 at the Republican debate in South Carolina, as noted by Politifact:

"The most extraordinary thing that's happened with this military authorization is the president is planning on cutting $1 trillion out of military spending," Romney said. "Our Navy is smaller than it's been since 1917. Our Air Force is smaller and older than any time since 1947. We are cutting our number of troops. We are not giving the veterans the care they deserve. We simply cannot continue to cut our Department of Defense budget if we are going to remain the hope of the Earth. And I will fight to make sure America retains military superiority."

....But what do those numbers mean? Not much, a variety of experts told us.

Counting the number of ships or aircraft is not a good measurement of defense strength because their capabilities have increased dramatically in recent decades. Romney’s comparison "doesn’t pass ‘the giggle test,’ " said William W. Stueck, a historian at the University of Georgia....

Romney received "Pants on Fire" designation from Politifact for these outrageous claims about our military. Remember, today we have fighter jets loaded with missiles on our Navy ships. These are things that were not possible in 1916 or 1917. Our Navy and Air Force are hundreds of times more advanced than they were in the early 20th century. The number of ships and fighter jets are not as important as their advanced capabilities.

Another concern is about Romney's proposal to go to war with Iran. Romney protested against the Viet Nam war and took the easy way out by going to do missionary work in France instead of going into the military. His five sons did not participate in the military.

 HuffPost:

...When asked in 2007, during his first run for the presidency, about his sons' lack of military service, Mitt Romney responded, "One of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping to get me elected because they think I'd be a great president." 

If elected, Mitt Romney will gladly send your sons and daughters to war, but not his sons or their wives, or their children.

Finally, Romney has plans to privatize the medical treatment our veterans and active military receive. This is a very controversial idea, and in the end, our vets, active military, and their families would lose. As an example, think of the advancements made at the VA to help restore lost limbs since the beginning of the Iraq war. Things have changed dramatically because the VA learned from experience, and worked to improve outcomes. Sending injured military personnel to local hospitals would deny many of them the higher quality and specific therapy that has been developed at the VA hospitals.  Romney's lack of empathy, knowledge, and experience in the area of the military would be a disaster for the country, especially with the large amount of veterans needing help. Sending our vets out to local hospitals is dismissing their specific needs and the promise of treatment when they enlisted.

•••••••••••••••••

We've already voted! We voted for Barack Obama! Support President Obama and give him Democrats in the House and the Senate so that we can get those jobs bills passed. 

Did you know that the Republicans even refused to vote for cost of living increases for our military? Boehner and Cantor didn't even put the measure up for a vote. Shame.

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers

With unemployment down, and jobs increasing, I wonder what numbers guru, Nate Silver, has to say about all this?

Here is the headline from NateSilver538 NYTimes: Jobs News Makes Obama's Case Easier
and this....Nate Silver predicts that Barack Obama has an 87.1% chance of winning.

Can Josh Mandel Answer A Question?

* Ohioans know that Sen. Sherrod Brown has shown his dedication to the working men and women of the state.  Sen. Sherrod Brown helped save the American auto industry, support continuing Medicare, keeping and preserving Social Security, and helping seniors, college students, and families survive.

 Sen. Sherrod Brown's opponent is Republican tea party favorite, Josh Mandel. Josh Mandel currently serves as Ohio Treasurer, a job he has avoided doing so that he can attend receptions for his campaign.  The most annoying thing about Josh Mandel is that he has lied repeatedly, all of which has been caught by Politifact (6 Pants on Fire,
3 False, and numerous other findings). Josh Mandel wants to privatize Social Security, and give vouchers for Medicare!

Josh Mandel continues to avoid discussing his views on the auto rescue plan that saved Ohio jobs and the entire American auto industry.

The Youngstown Vindicator:


Asked a half dozen times using different scenarios, Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, wouldn’t give a yes-or-no answer as to whether he supports the $82 billion federal government bailout of the American auto industry.....

....Mandel was asked: In light of the impact the auto rescue has had, does he support it.

“I would do anything in the U.S. Senate I could to protect auto jobs,” he said. “But it needs to be under the umbrella of the free-enterprise system without the federal government picking winners and losers.”


IF Josh Mandel really, honestly supported the American auto jobs, he would have said it by now. His lack of candor is disgusting. Josh Mandel owes Ohio voters answers and the truth.

What?

Republican Mitt Romney wants to hurt Big Bird and kill Sesame Street.

Save Big Bird.

Vote for President Obama.

Vote for Democrats.

Elevator Drama

* Following the bizarre behavior of Josh Mandel on an elevator (see post below), Republican candidate for the Senate, Mandel now has a different version of events.

Dispatch:

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel said a political video tracker “made the initial physical contact with me” in an incident that occurred Friday in a public elevator, offering an explanation that is not supported by eyewitness accounts nor the video of the incident and is a twist from the original statement put out by the Mandel campaign.....

....The video of the incident shows, as The Dispatch previously reported, the tracker following Mandel into the elevator. But it also shows Mandel approach the tracker, say his name loudly, step to the side of him, and then the camera shakes. The tracker, whose name is Tyler Hansen, said "please don’t,” and Mandel relented, asking the tracker “how you been” and quipping “good to see you.” He also asked the tracker if he knew the Dispatch reporter who was in the elevator.

After Mandel and the Dispatch reporter got off the elevator, an unidentified woman who was also on the elevator can be heard on the video remarking to the tracker that she saw Mandel come "right over there to block” the camera. The woman can also be heard saying “(when) he walked in he scared me to death.”


In case you are interested-----Sen. Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, will debate Josh Mandel on Monday, October 10th, 12:30pm at the Cleveland City Club. The debate is scheduled to be a live Webcast through the Cleveland City Club.

Rude Josh Mandel

Republican Josh Mandel, Ohio's absent Treasurer and Senate candidate, has displayed some rude behavior.  With polls showing Ohioans rejecting his Tea Party, right wing, anti-middle class agenda, Josh Mandel did something unexpected, in a public elevator, in front of a reporter.

HuffPost:

The Republican nominee for Ohio's U.S. Senate seat, state Treasurer Josh Mandel, had a bizarre exchange and brief outburst while sharing an elevator Friday with a tracker for a Democratic super PAC. 

Video shot by a tracker for American Bridge 21st Century shows the tracker, identified as Tyler, walking into an elevator occupied by Mandel and two other people. Mandel can be heard shouting "Tyler" when the tracker walks in and then moving to another part of the elevator. He then pushes the camera away from him. The incident occurred in the elevator in the Rhodes State Office Tower, the building that houses the treasurer's Columbus office. Mandel is challenging Sen. Sherrod Brown (D). 

When Mandel pushes the camera, the tracker can be heard saying "please don't." Mandel then engages in pleasant conversation with the tracker, asking him how he's been and introducing him to Joe Vardon, a reporter for the Columbus Dispatch, who was there to interview Mandel. While Mandel plays with his Blackberry and has the camera pointed at his back, Vardon and the tracker engage in a brief conversation before Mandel and Vardon exit the elevator to go into Mandel's 10th floor office.....

With rumors of a disgruntled staff, his bloated ego, dismal poll numbers, his lack of response to numerous requests for public records, and continuing absences from his elected position as Ohio Treasurer, Josh Mandel cannot handle the criticism. For far too long, Josh Mandel has been the star pupil of far right PACs run by Jim DeMint, Karl Rove, Americans for (their own) Prosperity, and FreedomWorks. Now that he faces the reality of losing this campaign, he will be forced to abandon the many receptions held in his honor in New York, Washington, D.C., Florida, Texas, Chicago, Denver, the Bahamas, and other glitzy locations.  Josh Mandel could be forced to finish his job as Ohio Treasurer (unless he can find another elected position for which he can campaign).

More Polls---

> A new poll released today by the conservative Columbus Dispatch has President Obama with a 9 point lead over Romney in Ohio.

*The YWCA Poll shows President Obama with strong support from women.
National Journal:

Another four years of President Obama, according to a new YWCA-sponsored poll that found him leading Republican Mitt Romney by 49 percent to 31 percent. The yawning gender gap mirrors other surveys nationwide and here in Ohio, a hotly contested swing state, and it represents one of Romney’s most pressing challenges in the home stretch before the Nov. 6 election.

Women typically favor the Democratic nominee, but the gender gap popping up in recent polls is larger than expected....

Women are more active in this election! 

• Number guru, Nate Silver of the NY Times FiveThirtyEight Blog,  has the latest on the presidential election:

Barack Obama ....................... Mitt Romney

83.8% ...... Chance of Winning ...... 16.2%

Listen to the Sherrod Brown and Mandel Interviews

* I don't know if the Romney campaign has money to waste, but they sent several pieces of their campaign materials addressed to me.  Needless to say, the mail from Romney and Kasich's pal, Mike Duffey (21st District Ohio House of Representatives), went right into the shredder. Yuck!

Here is an article from the Dispatch (March 30, 2011):

....Rep. Mike Duffey, R-Worthington, and Rep. Anne Gonzales, R-Westerville voted for the bill.Senate Bill 5 would weaken collective bargaining power for about 360,000 public workers, including safety forces, teachers, school cooks, and corrections officers....

Trust me. People in Ohio that are teachers, police officers, fire fighters, nurses, and state employees remember. Just in case you've forgotten, here is a list of elected officials that voted for SB 5-----

Support Donna O'Connor, the Democrat, for Ohio's 21st District of the Ohio House.

**** Ohio voters: support the re-election of Supreme Court Justice Yvette McGee Brown, the only Democrat on the Ohio Supreme Court.

>>> The audio from the interview by the Cleveland Plain Dealer of Sen. Sherrod Brown, and Tea Party Republican challenger, Josh Mandel, is now available online at the PlainDealer.

I listened to all of the 69 minutes of the interviews. Sen. Sherrod Brown came across as knowledgeable about the issues, and the concerns of all the people in Ohio--- the farmers, auto workers, steel workers, teachers, fire fighters, police officers, college students, those in the medical field, office workers, retired men and women, the poor, working families, EVERYONE in Ohio.

As Sen. Sherrod Brown explains, the Recovery Act helped bring the steel mill back to the Youngstown area as well as the jobs that have come with it. Sen. Sherrod Brown also points out that Mandel doesn't understand how insurance work.

Josh Mandel, Ohio's absent Treasurer, just repeated the same speech he gives at every rally and fundraising reception. Mandel sounded robotic, as though he memorized all the talking points that Karl Rove and Jim DeMint gave to him.

The case against Josh Mandel:

1.) Josh Mandel has lied about his whereabouts, has attended only 6 out of 20 Board of Deposit meetings, continues to be absent from his job as Ohio Treasurer, hired unqualified frat friends and buddies, and is unwilling to respond to the media, and.

2.) Mandel says he won't give his views until he is elected.

3.) Josh Mandel is completely clueless about the issues that matter to Ohioans. 

4.) Josh Mandel's arrogance, lack of knowledge, and lack of interest in what matters most to the men, women, and children of Ohio is appalling. His language, vocabulary, and superficial responses show his immaturity, and lack of empathy for the real people of Ohio.

Finally, Sen. Sherrod Brown and his campaign did not attack Mandel's military service.

School Lunches

* Right wing reporters and websites are making a fuss about school children not eating the healthier food being presented in school cafeterias. Let me give these people a clue---kids have always hated school food. They are just whining louder. Give them time, and they will learn to eat the food that is presented to them. Parents, teachers, and administrators need to work together to encourage students to eat healthy so that they can been attentive in class and live healthier lives.

After lunch, students who've eaten a balance meal are awake in class.  In the past, students were allowed to buy candy, and snack foods. I've seen the results of students who were eating 5-6 candy bars for lunch. That is not healthy and it makes students hyperactive, talkative, and unable to focus. 

This is really a non-issue that right winger news people have brought to the public's attention. It might be better for all of us if these "news" reporters would actually report on news. These "news" people should stop attacking Mrs. Obama and the child obesity specialists that are for better, healthier diets for all Americans.

Wake up!!!!

* Another bizarre statement from Republican Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri has women across the country wondering why the Republican candidate continues to insult women. Republican Todd Akin was the candidate that had a stupid statement about rape.
Politico:

....Speaking to Charles Jaco on the Jaco Report on St. Louis’s Fox station, Akin was answering a question about allowing abortions in the case of rape. He said, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

Todd Akin has already demonstrated that he is a moron, but he had to remind us again. The Kansas City Star's Midwest Democracy has the latest ignorant comment from Republican Todd Akin:


More than a month after his comments about “legitimate rape” nearly derailed his campaign for U.S. Senate, Republican Todd Akin said Thursday that it has become clear to him that he will triumph over Democratic incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill this fall. 

Part of his confidence, he said, comes from McCaskill's demeanor during their debate last week, which he said was not as "ladylike" as it was when she faced off with Republican Jim Talent in 2006. 

“I think we have a very clear path to victory, and apparently Claire McCaskill thinks we do, too, because she was very aggressive at the debate, which was quite different than it was when she ran against Jim Talent,” Akin said. “She had a confidence and was much more ladylike (in 2006), but in the debate on Friday she came out swinging, and I think that’s because she feels threatened.”

I don't know about you, but a person like Todd Akin is a Neanderthal. Todd Akin's idea of a woman acting 'ladylike' would be a woman who sits quietly in the corner, says nothing, and allows the men to make decisions for her.  I have some news for Todd Akin----

Wake up, Mr. Akin.  It is 2012 and this isn't the 1950's!

I'm pulling for Claire McCaskill and I hope that the people in Missouri decide to move forward with her, instead of back to the dark ages with Todd Akin.

Read more here: http://midwestdemocracy.com/articles/todd-akin-confident-hell-prevail-over-claire-mccaskill/#storylink=cpy

Kasich, Mandel, Romney Want more Charter Schools????

>>>  The Ohio State Lantern has an article about the work done by Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio which includes this--- "...Brown is also working to protect access to the ballot box, particularly for students and minorities, as well as women’s rights for health care decisions and earning equal pay for equal work....."

Sherrod Brown's work on helping the American auto companies survive and keeping interest rates low on college loans were also mentioned in the article.

Sherrod Brown's opponent, Josh Mandel, Ohio's absent Treasurer, has voiced his opposition to all of these issues.

* Our tax dollars are going to charter schools and yet they are performing at much lower levels.  Want to see how schools are performing in Ohio?  The Kasich administration has dragged their feet releasing this information and yet it is only a small part of the data.

The Dispatch has the school report cards online. In examining various counties, I've found that public schools have much higher graduation rates than the corporately-owned charter schools. Here is an example:

The Life Skills Center of Summit County, charter school:

Ohio Graduation Test Reading (11th grade)	54.5
Ohio Graduation Test Writing (11th grade)	45.5
Ohio Graduation Test Math (11th grade)	36.4
Ohio Graduation Test Science (11th grade)	18.2
Ohio Graduation Test Social Studies (11th grade)	41.7
Longitudinal Graduation Rate (4-year)	6.8
Longitudinal Graduation Rate (5-year)	7.3

Kenmore High School, Summit County, public high school:

Ohio Graduation Test Reading (11th grade)	86.5
Ohio Graduation Test Writing (11th grade)	88.7
Ohio Graduation Test Math (11th grade)	80.9
Ohio Graduation Test Science (11th grade)	70.2
Ohio Graduation Test Social Studies (11th grade)	74.5
Longitudinal Graduation Rate (4-year)	70.9
Longitudinal Graduation Rate (5-year)	81.4

Scott Brown? Really?

* The events this afternoon have painted an ugly picture of the Scott Brown campaign.



TalkingPointsMemo has the latest development from Massachusetts:


Staffers for Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) reportedly participated in war-whoop sounds and “tomahawk chop” gestures at supporters of Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren, mocking Warren’s claimed Native American ancestry.

The incident occurred this past Saturday in Boston, at a rally for Brown featuring former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn, and at which a group of Warren supporters also showed up with signs. The video was posted Tuesday by the state liberal blog Blue Mass Group.

According to the local ABC affiliate in Boston, it has been confirmed that among the participants were Brown’s deputy Chief of Staff Greg Casey, Constituent Service Counsel Jack Richard, plus state GOP operative Brad Garrett....

The video is posted TalkingPointsMemo:


This follows Republican Scott Brown saying that Elizabeth Warren was clearly not Native American. Scott Brown is obviously more talented than anyone knew----he can read someone's DNA from several feet away. Scott Brown's campaign and his campaign workers have revealed themselves to be racist and sexist. This might be the incident that causes Scott Brown to lose this election.

The Senate

> Sen. Sherrod Brown was on the Rachel Maddow show last night.  Sen. Sherrod Brown, who has made a career of working for the middle class of Ohio, discussed the fact that right wing PACs are trying to buy the U.S. Senate seat in Ohio. With over $18 million coming from the likes of Karl Rove, FreedomWorks, Americans for (their own) Prosperity, etc., Sen. Sherrod Brown is being attacked and disrespected from groups that want to put their Republican puppet, Josh Mandel, in the Senate. 


> What is Republican Scott Brown's problem?  Why does he continue to say disparaging things about Elizabeth Warren? An article at USA Today shows that Scott Brown has attacked Elizabeth Warren over her heritage:

....The issue of Warren's heritage roiled the Massachusetts race this summer. Warren, a Harvard law professor, said she knew her mother was part Cherokee and part Delaware Indian. She acknowledged she let people know about her heritage when she filled out forms for a national law school directory, and later gave the information to her employers at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard. 

Brown raised the issue in their debate last week, saying Warren "checked the box claiming she was Native American, and clearly she is not." 

What make Scott Brown think that Elizabeth Warren doesn't have Native American heritage? What does he mean that "...clearly she is not..." in his remarks? Can he prove she does not? I was not aware that Scott Brown had done a DNA test on Elizabeth Warren. Is it possible that Scott Brown just doesn't like smart, powerful women?

When one first looks at Scott Brown, you don't automatically notice that he is an arrogant putz.