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Election

After Romney Joked About Being ‘Unemployed,’ His Camp Hits Obama For ‘Making Light’ Of Unemployed On Fallon

By Alex Seitz-Wald on Apr 25, 2012 at 6:20 pm

President Obama earned laughs when he appeared on Jimmy Fallon’s show last night to “slow jam the news” about student loans, but not everyone was amused. The Republican National Committee (RNC) put out a grumpy web ad today called “A Tale Of Two Leaders” that juxtaposed Mitt Romneys’ victory speech last night with Obama’s Fallon appearance over ominous music, meant to show that Obama made unemployed people “the punch line.”

Then, Romney senior strategist Eric Fehrnstrom (of Etch A Sketch fame) Tweeted the video with the hash tag “#NotFunny,” and went on to hit Obama for “crack[ing] jokes” and “making light” of young people without jobs.

It’s a humorless and partisan attempt at outrage, but it’s also ironic considering that the multimillionaire Mitt Romney himself famously joked last year — when the unemployment rate was higher than it is today — “I’m also unemployed.” It would have been silly for Fehrnstrom to take offense to Romney then, just as it is for him to do so with Obama now.

Of course, Romney also said he likes being able to fire people — though he wasn’t joking that time.

GOP Rep. Scott Tipton Takes Campaign Contributions From Oil Companies He Owns Financial Stake In

By Rebecca Leber on Apr 25, 2012 at 4:00 pm

Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO) relies on campaign contributions from some of the same oil and gas companies that he has a financial stake in.

During the first three months of 2012, Tipton raised $31,600 a week, relying heavily on large campaign and corporate contributions. Public Campaign reports that one-third of Tipton’s first quarter fundraising comes from corporate PACs and party committees, while only 14 percent comes from small donors of less than $200.

His backers include companies with some of the deepest pockets in the world, such as the oil giants ExxonMobil (which donated $5,000), Chevron ($3,000), Koch Industries ($3,000), and BP ($1,000). He has also taken thousands from coal companies, like Arch Coal ($2,000) and Oxbow Carbon ($1,000).

Tipton’s financial disclosure forms show he owns stakes in Exxon, Royal Dutch Shell, and BP.

Just last week, the congressman, who has been a vocal proponent of oil interests on the Hill, sponsored legislation requiring the Interior Department to develop a pro-oil drilling plan for public lands every four years.

Tipton, a freshman flushed into office in 2010 wave, is facing a tough reelection battle this year from state Rep. Sal Pace (D) in a race that is likely to attract national attention.

Education

‘Romney’s Man In Congress’ Falsely Blames Obamacare For High Student Loan Rates

By Alex Seitz-Wald on Apr 25, 2012 at 3:30 pm

If Congress doesn’t act, the interest rates on government-backed student loan will jump in July, so President Obama has made a big push this week to prevent that from happening. Republicans have thus far held up the extension, though presumed GOP nominee Mitt Romney called for preserving the lower rates Monday.

But Romney’s “man in Congress,” Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), seems to misunderstand the issue. In an interview on MSNBC this afternoon, Blunt blamed high student loan rates on the Affordable Care Act:

BLUNT: Why is that rate as high as it is? Because it was one of the pay-fors in the president’s health care plan. If the health care plan goes away, as the court very well might decide, there is no longer an argument about this loan rate, because it was used to take money from students, and pay for health care. … The wrapping up of that student loan thing into the Obama health care deal is the real problem here.

Watch it:

In fact, the rate was set back in 2007, when President Bush signed a Democratic-backed law to lower the rate from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent. That law expires on July 1 of this year, and the lower rates end along with it. The Affordable Care Act and President Obama are entirely irrelevant.

Blunt is likely thinking of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), a bill that was attached to the Affordable Care Act. And while it did not affect loan rates, it did remove banker middlemen from the student loan process, which will save taxpayers millions of dollars.

Justice

WV Senate Candidate John Raese Defends Ted Nugent’s Threatening Remarks Toward President Obama

By Josh Israel on Apr 25, 2012 at 3:10 pm

John Raese (R-WV) campaigns with Ted Nugent

John Raese (R-WV) campaigns with Ted Nugent (AP Photo/Jon C. Hancock)

In a recent campaign speech, Senate candidate John Raese (R-WV) offered a full-throated defense of Ted Nugent’s recent threatening comments about President Barack Obama and lambasted the Secret Service for taking the comments seriously.

The Huffington Post posted a portion of his speech, in which Raese said:

RAESE: How many of you remember Ted Nugent? I do. Ted Nugent came to West Virginia to help me in 2010. He came along with Sarah Palin and we had a wonderful event. And we had a wonderful event. Now I’m with Josh Sowards. Josh, how are you today? Josh is a former Mountaineer basketball player. He played in a lot of those good [West Virginia Mountaineers basketball coach] Bob Huggins games that we all sat at many Lincoln Day dinners when people said ‘Time out, we gotta listen to the Mountaineers beat Kentucky.’ Remember all that stuff? He was a part of that. Now Josh, if Bob Huggins came in and told you that we’re are in a vicious game against Penn State and we are gonna go right out on that court and we’re gonna kill’em, would the FBI want to investigate Bob Huggins? I don’t think so. That’s called a figure of speech. Controlling the people. Remember that, controlling the people. Ted Nugent is a patriot. Ted Nugent is somebody that’s firm in this country. And when you see scenarios that break down like that scenario, it’s a concern, isn’t it.

Watch the video:

But Nugent didn’t say that Republicans should “kill” Democrats in the general election. He said “If Barack Obama becomes the president in November again, I will be either be dead or in jail by this time next year.” Virtually all 63,500 Google hits for the phrase “dead or in jail by this time next year” are references to Nugent’s comment, so it is hard to see how that constitutes a “figure of speech.”

Nugent has not been charged with any crime — merely interviewed by the Secret Service so they could be certain he was not a threat to the safety of the president. Forty three men have served as president of the United States. Four have been assassinated and several others — including Obama — have survived assassination attempts. Because America is rooted in the belief that ballots, not bullets, are the way to settle political disagreements, any threats to the safety of the president or others directly in line to be president are a crime and must be taken seriously by the officers tasked with protecting their safety.

It is hard to imagine many West Virginian’s would share Raese’s opinion of what constitutes “controlling the people.”

Rove’s Crossroads GPS Spends $1.2 Million Of Secret Money On Dishonest Attacks In Key Senate Races

By Josh Israel on Apr 25, 2012 at 2:58 pm

Crossroads GPS Attack Ad (Virginia)

Crossroads GPS Attack Ad (Virginia)

Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS is using $1.2 million of its secret money to launch attack ads against Democrats in five closely-contested senate races, this week. The tax-exempt 501(c)(4) is running “issue ads” blasting Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Sen. John Tester (D-MT), former Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA), former Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), and Rep. Shelley Berkeley (D-NV).

Crossroads GPS, which almost exclusively backs Republicans, claims, “these spots [are] intend to alert citizens to the anti-job policies in Washington and push for real economic solutions to create jobs,” but the spots are little more than dishonest attacks against Democratic candidates and President Obama.

The ads attempt to cast the Democratic candidates as stand-ins for Obama, but because Heitkamp and Kaine have never served in Congress, the attacks on these two are particularly disingenuous.

In North Dakota, Crossroads GPS uses the same clip of Heitkamp as the National Republican Senatorial Campaign (NRSC) posted on YouTube last week. Like the NRSC, Crossroads takes out of context an innocent comment by Heitkamp that she expected then-candidate Obama’s 2008 convention speech to be “amazing,” and it attempts to use that as a way of blaming Heitkamp for everything the group dislikes about Obama and the Affordable Care Act.

The clip comes from a 2008 video made by North Dakota attorney and Democratic National Committeeman Chad Nodland. Nodland successful got YouTube to remove the NRSC’s posting of the video, citing his copyright of the footage. In an email, he confirmed to ThinkProgress that he is already preparing a cease-and-desist letter to Crossroads GPS and will alert YouTube and North Dakota television stations to the copyright violation. (Out of respect for Mr. Nodland’s legal right to the video, ThinkProgress will not link to the Crossroads GPS spot).

Read more

NEWS FLASH

Obama To Romney: No Etch A Sketching | In an interview with Rolling Stone, President Obama signaled that he won’t allow presumed GOP nominee Mitt Romney pivot back towards the center after veering far to the right during the GOP primary, something he’s already started doing. Obama suggested that he’ll make Romney own the hard-right positions he took during the primary, saying, “I don’t think that their nominee is going to be able to suddenly say, ‘Everything I’ve said for the last six months, I didn’t mean.’” “I’m assuming that he meant it. When you’re running for president, people are paying attention to what you’re saying,” Obama added.

By Alex Seitz-Wald on Apr 25, 2012 at 12:51 pm

Health

Obamacare Opposition Contributes To Blue Dogs’ Primary Losses

By Guest Blogger on Apr 25, 2012 at 12:10 pm

Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA)

Last night, Rep. Jason Altmire lost his Democratic primary battle against fellow congressman Mark Critz. Altmire, who currently represents the state’s 4th District, was forced into a primary challenge against Critz after redistricting. Critz represented the original 12th District.

Altmire was considered the early favorite, but soon Critz was boosted by the support of several unions — including the SEIU and the United Steelworkers — who were upset that Altmire voted against the Affordable Care Act. Critz took office after it had already passed; he has said he opposes the bill but will not vote to repeal it.

In the race for the Democratic nomination in the 17th District, progressive attorney Matt Cartwright defeated Rep. Tim Holden. Cartwright had frequently attacked Holden for his vote against Obamacare, at one point claiming Holden was “voting with the insurance companies and against health care reform.”

-Zachary Bernstein

NEWS FLASH

Romney Campaign Spent $126,000 Per Delegate | Mitt Romney spent over $76 million to win the GOP presidential primary, more than the combined spending of all three of his main opponents. That breaks down to $18.50 per vote, and $126,000 per Republican convention delegate through the end of March, according to an analysis by CNN Money. If one includes the spending from super PACs supporting Romney, the total jumps to $122 million and breaks down to nearly $30 per vote and more than $200,000 per delegate.

By Alex Seitz-Wald on Apr 25, 2012 at 12:06 pm

Climate Progress

Religious Youth To Obama: ‘Creation Care Is A Swing Vote For Many Evangelicals’

By Climate Guest Blogger on Apr 25, 2012 at 11:29 am

by Catherine Woodiwiss

This week, students from four Christian colleges went to the White House for a briefing with officials from the EPA and the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives. Their message: Climate change and clean air is a driver of their votes.

“We want to tell the White House that creation care is a swing vote for many Evangelicals,” said Chelsea Watkins, a young coordinator of the demonstration from Houston, TX.

At the gathering, students joined young environmental advocates, NGOs, and faith leaders in unveiling a giant quilted topographic map of the United States, sewn together from recycled clothes donated from around the country. Many also donned shirts emblazoned with the slogan “Green the Golden Rule.”

“You can’t remove the topsoil or destroy the watershed and love your neighbor. It doesn’t compute,” said Tyler Amy, coordinator of Renewal, a youth-minded sustainability-focused group that brought students together for the day of advocacy.

“If [Congress] is not listening to the EPA, maybe they’ll listen to us,” said Amy. “That’s the beauty of our democracy. Young people can make a difference.”

Officials agreed. “We all care about stewardship,” said Drew Elons, Director of Outreach and Public Relations for the EPA. “Destructive environmental practices cause massive public health concerns, and health affects education and the economy – for many of us, these things translate into moral issues.”

Read more

Security

Military Shift Campaign Donations From Ron Paul To Obama In March

By Ben Armbruster on Apr 25, 2012 at 10:30 am

The Army Times reported in February that anti-war GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-TX) was at that time, “by far,” getting the most in campaign contributions from members of the United States military. According to a review of Federal Election Commission data, Paul received nearly $250,000 in donations from servicemembers, President Obama, $130,000 and GOP presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney just $23,000.

But now that Paul’s campaign is all but over and presumably, Romney will be the Republican nominee, the military’s donation trend is beginning to shift: away from Paul and toward Obama, the Open Secrets blog reports:

[I]n March, it was Obama that scooped up the most support from the armed forces — about twice as much as Paul, in fact. Romney remains an also-ran when it comes to backing from the military.

Overall, Paul retains the lead. Analysis of OpenSecrets.org data shows that so far in this election cycle, members of the military who donated more than $200 have given Paul’s campaign about $333,134, versus $184,505 to Obama and just $45,738 to Romney.

But in March, Obama and Paul switched places. Members of the military sent $36,448 to Obama and just $17,733 to Paul. Even though Romney solidified his position as the presumptive Republican nominee, military donations to his campaign remained anemic — only $8,630.

Open Secrets charts the donations for March:

The 2012 trend in military donations to presidential candidates mirrors 2008. Early on in the race, both Paul and Obama led Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and other pro-war candidates in campaign contributions from U.S. servicemembers and by the time the Texas congressman exited the race, Obama maintained his lead in military donations over McCain.

NEWS FLASH

BREAKING: Newt Gingrich To Drop Out Next Week | The inevitable has finally come for Newt Gingrich, or will next Tuesday when he will suspend his campaign for the presidency, according to Fox News. Gingrich, however, will continue to campaign this week. Senior campaign aides told the conservative news network that the former House Speaker will “more than likely” endorse presumed nominee Mitt Romney at that time. Gingrich had been hoping for a strong showing in Delaware’s primary last night, but Romney bested him by a 2 to 1 margin.

By Alex Seitz-Wald on Apr 25, 2012 at 10:03 am

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