Ryan's Speech--and His Missteps

Check out this link:

http://news.yahoo.com/fact-check-ryan-takes-factual-shortcuts-speech-070905927.html

Ryan's Lies

If you've seen any coverage of Paul Ryan's speech in Tampa, you know that the consensus among journalists and independent observers is that it was ... factually challenged. He lied about Medicare. He lied about the Recovery Act. He lied about the deficit and debt. He even dishonestly attacked Barack Obama for the closing of a GM plant in his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin -- a plant that closed in December 2008 under George W. Bush. He also failed to offer one constructive idea about what he would do to move the country forward. Don't roll your eyes. We can't just groan and shrug and remark to our like-minded friends that this is ridiculous, because this is a significant moment in this campaign. The fact that this speech, on this huge stage, is this blatantly false represents a huge bet by the Romney campaign -- they've decided that facts, truth and reality will not be a brake on their campaign message. And they just signaled to the extremist billionaires and corporate interests that support them that they should go ahead and spend their hundreds of millions of dollars attacking Barack Obama with whatever lies can work. Jim Messina

Obama administration's biggest climate accomplishment

It's the Obama administration's biggest climate accomplishment.

Send the White House a thank you card for strong fuel efficiency and carbon pollution standards today!

This morning, the Obama administration took the biggest step of any administration in history to cut climate pollution.

After working with automakers, autoworkers, and environmental advocates, the White House has announced final rules for cleaner cars. Together with earlier standards, these rules will double average fuel efficiency for new cars to 54.5 mpg by 2025, cutting their carbon pollution in half.

This is huge! Cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars mean we will start to break our reliance on oil, save money at the pump, and drastically cut climate pollution.

Will you send the White House a thank you card for this historic environmental achievement?

June and July were the hottest months ever recorded. As if that wasn't enough, this summer has also seen an oil pipeline spill in Wisconsin, a refinery fire in California, and disturbing new tar sands pipeline plans in New England. It's never been clearer that our nation needs to move beyond oil. That's why the president's announcement on cleaner cars that rely on much less or even no oil is so important.

Combined with previously announced standards, these new rules will reduce U.S. oil use by 3 million barrels a day. More efficient vehicles will also save the average new-car buyer $8,000 at the pump, even after paying for fuel saving technology -- keeping trillions out of Big Oil's pockets. These standards will reduce U.S. climate pollution by 570 million metric tons in 2030 alone. That's nearly 10% of our current annual carbon output -- the equivalent of shutting down 140 coal plants! 1

This is the Obama administration's biggest climate accomplishment. Will you send a thank you card today?

From the environment to the economy, these new standards are nothing but good news. According to a recent Blue Green Alliance study, these new standards will help create 570,000 new jobs across America. 2

But this isn't just the administration's biggest climate accomplishment -- it's also yours. Over the past year, Sierra Club activists sent more than 160,000 letters to the administration in support of raising the bar on fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas pollution standards. We wrote hundreds of letters to the editor and turned out in droves to hearings in Detroit, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.

This kind of leadership will help move the U.S. beyond oil. We need to let the White House know the nation noticed and applauds -- send your thank you card to the White House today!

Time and time again, we've seen that when we speak with one voice, we can make a difference. Put the capstone on this victory today and reinforce it with a thank you card.

Thanks for all you do to protect our environment,

Ann Mesnikoff
Sierra Club Green Transportation Director

Mitt Romney's Intolerant Platform

Mitt Romney's platform calls for:

-- Turn Medicare into a voucher program to buy private insurance, forcing seniors to pay more out of pocket for their health care costs.

-- Outlaw all abortions without exception for rape or incest (including a "salute" to states like Virginia that have passed extreme ultrasound laws).

-- Ban marriage equality and reject civil unions of all kinds.

-- Won't protect the mortgage interest deduction for middle-class families if Romney enacts his tax plan, even though it helps more than 30 million middle-class families.

-- Kill investments in clean energy jobs and reject the wind production tax credit, which would cost up to 37,000 American jobs. 

No wonder why The New York Times calls it "mean-spirited" and "intolerant."

Intolerance or Obama? Obama is the only choice!

What is being passed at the Republican Party Convention:

The intolerant document calls for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. It condemns President Obama for not defending the Defense of Marriage Act. The platform fails to recognize civil unions for gay couples, and it rejects the "use of the military as a platform for social experimentation" -- a veiled dig at the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

This platform, which was written at the direction of Mitt Romney's campaign, defines the Republican Party today.
It's a sharp reminder of what we stand to lose if Romney and Ryan take the White House this November. One party supports our right to be equals in the eyes of the law, the other rejects it.

There is a clear choice in this election for the LGBT community and allies.

We've got to fight for the only candidate who has our back. Join Obama Pride on Dashboard, the campaign's online field office, and stay informed about campaign news, events, and opportunities to volunteer.

Jamie Citron

This is the evil of the Republican Party

As a prosecutor, I argued hundreds of rape cases—held survivors' hands, cried with them, and fought tooth and nail for justice. So when my opponent, Todd Akin, said that survivors of “legitimate” rape can’t get pregnant because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” it made me sick to my stomach. While Akin’s financiers publicly condemn him, the national Republican Party and Karl Rove still have $5.8 million in ad time reserved to support him. Paul Ryan called Akin a “great asset” while the two fought to bar pregnant rape survivors from the right to choose, and now Romney’s campaign refuses to talk about abortion in news interviews. But just because the extreme voting record of Romney’s running mate creates a political liability doesn’t mean Romney can ignore the rights of half of our nation. This isn’t about politics. This is about real rape survivors who would lose the right to choose if Republicans take over government and implement their agenda. --Claire McCaskill

Why Republicans Cannot be Allowed to Win

Republicans are taking the podium at their convention today. The message they'll hear will mirror the distortions Governor Romney has based his entire campaign on -- amplified 10,000 times. They're going to talk about the economy, but they won't mention that their $5 trillion plan gives big tax breaks to people who don't need them. They won't mention their plan to turn Medicare into a voucher system that could cost seniors up to $6,400 more per year. They'll talk a lot about strengthening the middle class, when their plan is to do the opposite: repeal Obamacare, cut Pell Grant scholarships and Head Start funding, and raise taxes on the average family.

Should We Elect a Man Who Does Not Pay Income Tax

Of course, not. Check out this link:

http://news.yahoo.com/bain-documents-romney-offshore-investments-used-blockers-avoid-185957445--abc-news-topstories.html

Bain Documents: Romney Offshore Investments Used 'Blockers' To Avoid Taxes

By MATTHEW MOSK and EMILY FRIEDMAN
ABC News

....The private equity firm founded by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made use of arcane techniques in several of its Cayman Islands-based funds to avoid U.S. taxes, according to a trove of Bain Capital's private audit and finance records made public on the website Gawker today.

The audited financial statements of one of the Cayman Islands funds make note of the use of "blocker" entities, which are used to help retirement accounts and nonprofit entities avoid some taxes. Financial statements for another fund note that it "intends to conduct its operations so it will … not be subject to United States federal income or withholding tax ..."

The newly released documents rekindle questions about one of the more technical tax questions that has emerged about Romney's investments – the use of so-called "blocker" entities. The blocker is a paper company that serves as a buffer between the investor and the fund holding the investments, Wilkins explained. That means the investment income can be counted as a dividend and in some cases avoid income tax.

In the financials for the Bain Capital Asia Fund, for instance, the audit describes the establishment of blocker corporations to hold more than $92 million in contributions from the fund.

Some experts have pointed to the blockers to help explain how Romney has been able to amass between $20.7 million and $101.6 million in a tax-free IRA, many times more than the typical amount an IRA can hold. Romney has not responded to questions about his IRA.

How Can We Really Consider Romney as a Serious Candidate?

By BETH FOUHY and JULIE PACE


Since selecting Ryan as his running mate, Romney has faced questions about how his policy positions differ from those espoused by Ryan, the architect of a controversial budget blueprint that would dramatically alter Medicare. On abortion, Romney does not oppose abortion in cases of rape and incest or if it will save the mother's life, while Ryan does oppose abortion in cases of rape and incest.

Another Reason Why the Tea Party is Dangerous

Michael — Did you see the breaking news?

Republican Congressman Todd Akin told a Missouri news station:

"First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare... If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Republican Todd Akin is staying in the race, and is leading the polls even after saying victims of “legitimate rape” can’t get pregnant because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

***Akin Polling Update***

Before:Akin leads 45-44

After:Akin leads 44-43

Today is absolutely critical: Akin vowed that he “has not yet begun to fight.”
--Guy Cecil    

My note:   Why do Missouri voters continue on this path? Do they not see this candidate is dangerous?

Romney's Taxes Are Important to Know About and Here's Why:

From an email to me--

Friday morning, I sent a letter to Mitt Romney's campaign manager, asking that Romney release just five years of tax returns. And I made a commitment that, if he does, this campaign would not demand more.


You should add your name. Here's why:

Right now, our opponent is proposing a $2,000 tax increase on middle-class families with kids in order to pay for tax breaks for millionaires like him.

He's asking Americans to put him in charge of their taxes, while refusing to come clean about his own.

This isn't going away because voters deserve better, and everyone but the Romney campaign seems to recognize that.

Call for Mitt Romney to join President Obama in this basic and traditional act of transparency.

Romney's refusal to release his returns is raising more questions than he's been willing to answer.

According to the one full year of returns he has released, Romney paid 13.9% in taxes on his income. Thursday, he said he went back and looked, and has never paid less than 13% over the last ten years.

Now we're asking him to put his money where his mouth is.

It is absolutely relevant for us to ask how much a presidential candidate paid in taxes, if he sheltered his money or tried to get out of paying taxes at all, why he started -- and continues to own -- a corporation offshore in Bermuda, why he keeps his finances offshore in the Cayman Islands, and why he opened a Swiss bank account.

In refusing to be transparent about it, he's not only breaking the trust he's asking voters to place in him, but also three decades of precedent that began with his own father's presidential campaign in 1968.

This issue isn't going away, and for good reason. Tell Romney to follow 30 years of precedent and release his tax returns:

http://my.barackobama.com/Release-the-Returns

Thanks,

Jim Messina

Release your taxes, Mr. Romney

You can tell us again and again how you gave to charity--all of us do--and how you paid about thirteen percent of your income to taxes, but until you release your tax filings, we have to believe you are not telling the truth--or bending it at the very least--and I'm being very nice here because there is no way I am voting for a liar, a con artist, a man who cannot back his words with action.

Romney said: "I'm not concerned about the very poor."

"Sister Simone Campbell has invited you--Mr. Romney--to spend a day with Catholic Sisters who work every day to meet the needs of struggling families in their communities. You have not responded to her invitation. Please RSVP to the nuns."

Is this because Romney said: "I'm not concerned about the very poor," in a televised interview on CNN after he won the Florida primary.

And now he's doubled down on that sentiment by naming Paul Ryan, whose budget would give $3 trillion in tax cuts to the richest Americans while drastically cutting food stamps for millions of poor Americans,1 to the Republican ticket.

Clearly, Romney and Ryan are dangerously out of touch. Thankfully, a group of righteous women who have dedicated their lives in service to the least among us have invited Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to spend a day with them to learn about the struggles of some our poorest citizens.2

Tell Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan: RSVP to the nuns. You may be familiar with "Nuns on the Bus," a group of courageous women who have been traveling to the Congressional districts that would be hardest hit by Paul Ryan's immoral Tea Party budget that gives money to the ultra-rich while stripping vital services from the poorest Americans.

Now the nuns are turning their attention to the Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates directly. But neither Romney nor Ryan has RSVPed to the nuns who have asked them to "spend a day with Catholic Sisters who work every day to meet the needs of struggling families in their communities."3
Tell Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan: RSVP to the nuns.  In fact, the Romney-Ryan campaign hasn't responded at all to Sister Simone Campbell who issued the invitation on behalf of her Catholic sisters. If we can build more momentum for the "Nuns on a Bus" invitation to Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, we can help them get a response from the campaign and bring more attention to the immoral dimensions of their heartless policies for the poor.

http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6939995&p=romney_rsvp&id=45251-5959716-dxxTQxx&t=10

Thank you for standing with the nuns.
Becky Bond, Political Director

CREDO Action from Working Assets





1. Pat Garofalo, "62 Percent Of The House Republican Budget Cuts Would Hit Programs For Low-Income Americans," Think Progress, March 23, 2012

2) Travis Waldron, "Nuns Challenge Romney To Spend A Day With Them To Learn About Plight Of America's Poor" Think Progress, August 8, 2012

3) ibid.

Do You Care About the Planet?

If you care about the earth at all--then read the email I recently received--and make the right decision: Vote against Romney:

Big polluters now have their dream ticket for the presidency.
With Romney's rhetoric and Ryan's record, it's clear what's top on their agenda: big profits for big polluters. Big Coal and Big Oil are going to pull out all the stops to make sure their friends win the presidency, the vice presidency, and dozens of House and Senate races all across the country.

In the race for the White House and control of Congress, big polluters are playing to win. Chip in with a donation of $5, $10 or more and help us fight back against the dirty money and dirty policies of the big polluters and their candidates this election.
With the one-two punch of Romney-Ryan, big polluters like the Koch brothers see a future where they can destroy our air and water protections. But it doesn't stop there.

Big polluters have good friends in congressional races in Ohio and California, in the Senate race in Massachusetts, and in other contests all across the country. Candidates like Dan Lungren, Heather Wilson -- and Paul Ryan -- think polluter profits should trump clean air and water, and the health and safety of our communities.

Paul Ryan and other candidates are fighting to keep massive taxpayer subsidies for big polluters that want to run dangerous pipelines through our neighborhoods.

They're promising to roll back the historic protections from toxic mercury pollution, putting thousands of lives every year at risk.

Romney, Ryan, and dozens of others are undermining the clean-energy companies that employ tens of thousands of Americans and are helping our country move away from dirty energy.
The Sierra Club is pulling back the curtain and showing America which candidates are bankrolled by Big Oil and Big Coal. We're helping elect environmental champions by recruiting thousands of volunteers in competitive races all across the country. And we're cutting through the political noise to share the truth about candidates' environmental records. Your support makes all that -- and more -- possible this election season.

We can't match Big Oil and Big Coal dollar-for-dollar in this election. But when we fight and effectively use our grassroots network to get the word out about these vital issues, we will win. Thanks for all you do to protect our environment,

Cathy Duvall

Sierra Club Political Director

Romney and Swiss Bank Accounts

So Romney had money hidden in Swiss Bank accounts. If it was you or me,  we would have incurred fines and/or jail time. But not him: he can hide money in Swiss bank accounts--and get away with it.

Remember: people hide money because they do not want to do something (pay taxes) or they want to hide illegal profits.

Can we vote for a man who knowingly breaks the law?

Of course not.

More On Ryan

When Mitt Romney chose Tea Party darling Paul Ryan as his running mate, he put the extremists one step closer to running this country into the ground.


If Romney and Ryan take the White House and Senate, the Tea Party fringe will control our entire government. Threats to bar abortion, destroy Medicare, and outlaw contraception will become real.

We can’t let the Tea Party oust President Obama and take over our country. Stop them: http://dscc.org/stopryanfund


Thanks for standing with us,

Guy Cecil

Why We Must Vote Against Paul Ryan--Tea Party Candidate

Mitt Romney's VP pick matters to women for so many important reasons.

Right now, we're having debates that we already had decades ago. We can't let these two men drag us back to the policies of the 1950s.

Let me tell you a little more about the man who, if we don't stop him, could be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

In his time in the House of Representatives, Rep. Ryan cast 59 anti-choice votes on abortion and reproductive-rights issues. He's committed to banning abortions, even for women who are the victims of incest and rape. Ryan co-sponsored the bill that would have allowed employers in public and private sectors the power to deny women birth control coverage if they had a moral or religious objection.

Rep. Ryan is also the co-sponsor of a truly radical bill that would define "personhood" as beginning at conception -- which could outlaw not just abortion, but many forms of birth control, including the pill. This kind of legislation is so far outside the mainstream, even socially conservative Mississippi voters rejected it.

Like Romney, Ryan wants to tear down Obamacare in its entirety, including specific benefits for women, like copay-free birth control and increased access to preventive health care services like cancer screenings and well-woman exams.

And the Ryan budget that Republicans are so proud of? It dismantles Medicaid and Medicare as we know them.

We've already fought and won these battles. But if the Romney-Ryan ticket takes the White House, we'll lose all of the progress we've made.

We can't let that happen.

There is too much at stake for women for us to stay quiet. Step up and fight today by joining Women for Obama:

http://my.barackobama.com/Protect-Our-Rights

Thanks,

Jen O'Malley Dillon

Jim Ryan--Now There is No Choice

Here is a letter emailed to me:

By choosing Paul Ryan as his running mate, Mitt just made the most radical choice possible.

Paul Ryan is the Tea Party's darling and architect of the GOP's plan to destroy Medicare. And while dismantling the nation's social safety net, he will give even more tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires like Mitt Romney.

We need your help to stop them. Right now.

We only have 86 days until the election.

You need to act now-- we cannot prevent a GOP takeover of the White House and Senate without you.

http://dscc.org/supportobama

Thanks for your help,

Harry Reid

And a video worth watching with additional comments:

http://www.barackobama.com/romney/ryan/?source=em12_20120811_da_nd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=obama&utm_campaign=em12_20120811_da_nd

The Tea Party in charge? We're on our way to fundamentalism and third world status if we even think to vote for them.

Let's Put a Criminal in Office--and we're not talking about the current president

So Romney is too good to show his income tax?

And what's with hiding money in a Swiss Bank for over a decade?

If any of us did this, we would definitely need legal counsel--but Romney? No. And why not? Because obviously he's above the law.

Howe can we even think to put a man who thinks he's above the law in the law's highest position?

A vote for Romney is a vote for white collar crime.