Mitt Romney and the Republicans are pushing a big lie -- the lie that President Obama raided Medicare to pay for Obamacare. The tactic is in line with a well-known pattern of attacking where they're weak. The GOP is weak on Medicare considering Paul Ryan's budget aims to voucherize the program, so the Republicans are pre-emptively hitting Obama for allegedly attacking Medicare. This is now part of the Republican playbook. Watch it.
I sure remember the last statement I saw on the news, that Blankenship offered for that mine, Massey Upper Branch, disaster....'.....nobody wants more regulations, that's not good for anyone. mumble mumble" I'm sure following safety regulations would have meant a lot to the families of the guys that died.
I get the inkling that the Romney camp chose Ryan for his tea party popularity (innuendo intended and I think they over-estimate the astro-turf T-party)- that they are betting that all the Ayn Rand hero worship, staunch ideologue of mean-spirited conservatism, etc. won't be seen, acknowledged, examined, and or ignored as their constituency is of the Fox news mindset that can't see the truth if it bit them in the face.
All this sudden concern for Medicare. I also remember John McCain at his GOP convention in 2008 mentioning Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal and getting along and working together, etc. Could've heard a pin drop.
Linda S Houston
8/16/2012 5:49:37 AM
Romney has been going to all the coal mining states like West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio. Talking about deregulation of carbon dioxide emissions and more. What is ironic is that these men work in one of the most dangerous environments in the world and were it not for the unions, they probably would not have any protections at all. Guess it's been too long since the last mass death of coal miners in this country. I remember it wasn't too long ago when 29 of them died in one disaster. Of course Romney doesn't talk about that. They are standing there showing support not even realizing his policies will be putting their lives in further danger. I remember the outrage and the lawsuits over the last disaster.
Linda S Houston
8/16/2012 5:33:45 AM
ok so Paul Ryan says he "didn't know Rand was an aetheist." Now we have her having an abortion. Of course he'll say he didn't know about that either. She dipped into Social Security and Medicare under her husbands name to pay for cancer treatment for smoking. She didn't want anyone to recognize her name since she was a staunch opponent of any kind of government assistance. And she said she didn't believe the government's warnings about cigarette smoking being hazardous to your health, she called it a "conspiracy". Yet she died of lung cancer. She also praised a serial murderer and called him something like the "ultimate man" for his decision to do what ever he wanted society be damned.
This was one sick woman. Wonder what the Catholic church will say about this one, they spoke out so vehemently about Ryan's budget. If you ask me, his love affair with this woman given her life decisions should bring some resounding condemnation.
He says he is so ready for a debate. Can't wait to see how he will defend that and his infatuation with Ayn Rand.
He and Romney keep saying they can't wait for a debate but every time you ask them any kind of question that is the least bit controversial they run from it. They will be annihilated in the debates.
John, Los Angeles
8/16/2012 12:14:59 AM
Look closely at the coal miners in the background. Scowls and folded arms; the body language that they don't want to be there. I bet the mining companies told them to be there or clean out their lockers. I hope someone from the press looks into this. Romney's campaign has degenerated into one outright lie after another. Why doesn't he just tell the truth. He and Ryan want to cut taxes on the rich and cut back the social safety net to pay for it. They also want to cut back on the modest regulations of Dodd-Frank on Wall Street. Can't impede profits; too bad if the country gets "screwed" again. Well, obviously, he can't tell the truth so he will just go on lying.
SlawDogg
8/15/2012 9:49:00 PM
Romney has got these coal miners fired up. He has told them he can save their jobs. Here is the tragic, sad truth.
In Southwest Virginia - which was once a coal rich area, there is only about 20 more years of coal in the ground worth mining.
What is going to happen after all of this coal is used up???
Linda S Houston
8/15/2012 9:48:52 PM
Lawrence O'Donell said it all. Imagine it's Barack Obama seeing a Russian aetheist as a mentor. They'd be all over it calling him a traitor and God hater.
Linda S Houston
8/15/2012 9:47:21 PM
Pat I'm sure they were paid. He has to pay people to show up to anything where he appears.
Pat, Grand Lake Co
8/15/2012 9:02:34 PM
so who are those working guys standing behind robme? They don't look rich, so they must be just plain stupid.
TAX THE RICH, these guys are standing behind the wrong man.
blueb
8/15/2012 7:44:59 PM
Tom Hartman got me into the subject trying to understand how this tea party came about. Ayn Rand's collective society is not the tea party but similar. Ayn Rand is a strong athiest that believes religion corrupts. The Tea Part has strong religious ties, but the collectives use them as it benefits the collectives.
The first book i got was 'Ayn Rand Nation: The hidden struggle for America's Sou'l. by Gary Weis as recommended by Tom Hartman.
then 'Goddess of the Market, Ayn Rand and the American Right' by Jennifer Burns, is also good.
Ayn Rand and the world she made by Heller Ann Conover, not as good as book written by Jenifer Gold.
I have a hold on 'The Passion of Ayn Rand' by Barbara Branden. She was Ayn Rands only friend in the collective and one day she just shut her off because of competition for a male relation ship. one day it was as if she didn't exist. i was interested in reading the book and i have a hold on it.
Ayn didn't have friends. She had 1 friend in grade school and same thing one day she just shut her off as if her friend did not exist? Ayn didn't really get along with people her entire life. Tom Hatman describes her as a sociopath and i think he's right on that from the biographies i read about her.
John, Los Angeles
8/15/2012 6:48:06 PM
That's how Repubs always win. They use the big lie; they have to; if they told the truth, nobody would vote for them. Another lie that's coming; I heard that they're going to try to "Swift-boat" Obama on getting Osama bin Ladin. These people are just totally unscrupulous. Their plan to win to blanket the airwaves with misleading, lying commercials paid for by all the money rolling-in thanks to Citizens United. The Democrats need to tap into some of the rich people in this country that have consciences such as Buffett, Gates and Soros so at least they have a fighting chance.
