ThinkProgress Logo

Election

Members Who Supported Massive Giveaway To Big Oil Have Received $38.6 Million From The Industry

By Rebecca Leber on Jun 21, 2012 at 4:46 pm

The House of Representatives, which already holds the title of the most anti-environment House ever, today added another mark to the list — the Domestic Energy Production Act, H.R. 4480. The act is specifically designed to increase oil and gas development, with measures that block safeguards from smog and pollution and mandate drilling on public lands. The House Republicans passed this pollution and plunder energy package overrun by oil and gas industry interests, 248 to 163. This breakdown includes 229 Republicans and 19 Democratic members.

A ThinkProgress analysis of Center for Responsive Politics data shows how that oil and gas money overwhelmingly went to the votes for gutting safeguards from air pollution, drilling regulations and public lands protections:

  • The 248 pro-Big Oil votes received over four times more oil and gas contributions over their careers.
  • The 248 members — 229 Republicans and 19 Democrats — voted to pass the bill and enrich Big Oil. They received a total of $38.6 million in oil and gas campaign cash — or an average of $156,000 each — for their federal campaigns.
  • Of the yes votes, 229 Republicans received $36.2 million.
  • The 163 members who voted no — 158 Democrats and 5 Republicans — voted to protect children and seniors from smog, and ensure that our public lands could be enjoyed by all Americans, not just used for oil production. They received $5.8 million, or $36,000 each.

Read more

Politics

7 Days And Counting: Romney Refuses To Say If He’d Undo Obama’s Immigration Directive

By Igor Volsky posted from ThinkProgress Politics on Jun 21, 2012 at 3:09 pm

Mitt Romney refused to take a stance on President Obama’s immigration directive during a speech before the National Association of Latino Elected Officials conference Thursday afternoon, roughly 7 days or 142 hours after the president first announced that he would defer the deportation of some one million undocumented young people. The former Massachusetts governor did not say if he would undo the measure and instead explained that he plans to seek an unspecified permanent solution to the immigration problem if elected president:

ROMNEY: Some people have asked if I will let stand the President’s executive action. The answer is that I will put in place my own long-term solution that will replace and supersede the President’s temporary measure.

As President, I won’t settle for a stop-gap measure. I will work with Republicans and Democrats to find a long-term solution. I will prioritize measures that strengthen legal immigration and make it easier. And I will address the problem of illegal immigration in a civil but resolute manner. We may not always agree, but when I make a promise to you, I will keep it.

Watch it:

The speech comes as some Republicans and conservatives have begun to pressure Romney to abandon his campaign strategy of avoiding policy details and adopt more defined, specific positions. “I think we’re going to wait and see what Gov. Romney has to say and then our members are going to be discussing his views on this, and I think many of them will have similar views,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said on Wednesday.

For now, the campaign is ignoring the advice. Romney repeatedly dodged immigration questions during an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation this past Sunday and the campaign abruptly ended a conference call about the economy when reporters asked where the candidate stood on immigration.

A ThinkProgress whip count found that almost every congressional Republican opposes Obama’s initiative.

Republican Congressman’s Advice For Mitt Romney: Start Bragging About Your Wealth

By Scott Keyes on Jun 21, 2012 at 2:34 pm

Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL)

Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) has some advice for Mitt Romney as he campaigns for the presidency: start bragging about your wealth.

During a town hall meeting in Elmhurst this past weekend, Walsh told constituents that because making money is a good thing, Romney’s key to success is to tout his wealth. He advised Romney to start telling voters, “Hey you know what America? I’m a rich guy!” Walsh concluded that Romney should not be humble about his extraordinary wealth if he wants to succeed — “Don’t shy away from that! Rejoice in that!”

WALSH: It’s a good thing in this country, Tammy Duckworth, to make money. That is a good thing. I wish Mitt Romney would be proud of that. I wish Romney walked around every day in this campaign and said, “you know what? I’m real successful. Hey you know what America? I’m a rich guy! In fact, you might call me wealthy. That’s me, Mitt Romney. You know what? I worked my butt off to get this way. And you know what? I want you to be rich like me.” Don’t shy away from that! Rejoice in that!

Watch it:

Romney is worth an estimated $250 million. He made his wealth after spending years at Bain Capital profiting off of troubled companies that often had to lay off workers.

Though Romney won’t say exactly how large his personal fortune is, he did feel the need to open accounts in countries notorious for tax dodging, including Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. In fact, Romney’s tax returns show that he makes more money in a single day than an average American makes in an entire year.

Even if Romney has largely ignored Walsh’s advice and avoided discussing his own wealth, many of his comments on the campaign trail betray the every-man image he’s trying to convey. He proposed a $10,000 bet on national television with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, said his $374,000 speaking fees was “not very much,” bragged about his “friends who are NASCAR team owners,” and declared that he’s “not concerned about the very poor.”

Justice

Rove ‘Makes A Mockery’ Of Law: Super PAC Co-Founder To Attend Romney Strategy Session This Weekend

By Josh Israel posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Jun 21, 2012 at 12:03 pm

Karl Rove

Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

This weekend, Mitt Romney and his campaign will host a retreat for top $100,000-and-up campaign bundlers and donors at a Park City, Utah resort. The event, dubbed the “First National Romney Victory Leadership Retreat,” will reportedly be an opportunity for “strategizing and fraternizing” between those bankrolling the campaign and those running it.

But one name has raised flags for campaign finance watchdogs. A Saturday panel on “media insight” will feature American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS co-founder Karl Rove. The Crossroads reportedly plan to spend a stunning $300 million to help Romney defeat President Barack Obama this November, but they are legally prohibited from coordinating this effort with Romney’s campaign.

Back in December, Romney decried the rise of Super PACs like Rove’s American Crossroads, saying they have been a “disaster” for the political system. He said at the time:

Super PACs have to be entirely separate from a campaign and a candidate. I’m not allowed to communicate with a super PAC in any way, shape or form… If we coordinate in any way whatsoever, we go to the big house.

Mary Boyle, vice president for communications at Common Cause, told ThinkProgress that having one of the leaders of an allied Super PAC at at campaign event with major donors “seems to make a mockery of the rule that bans coordination between a super PAC and a candidate.”

Tara Malloy, senior counsel at the Campaign Legal Center agreed that this presents appearance issues, but would probably not violate any coordination rules. She told ThinkProgress that “the coordination rule is a pretty slim reed between candidates and the SuperPACs that support those candidates. It’s not by any means and airtight barrier between those two.” In order to violate the rules, a candidate would have to have a “substantial discussion” about the Super PAC’s advertising strategies — something Romney and Rove are unlikely to do at this retreat.

“The scandal in Washington,” Malloy observed, “is what is legal, not what’s illegal.” As such, while Romney’s inclusion of Rove at the event open him up to questions of judgment and hypocrisy, is unlikely either will end up in the “big house.”

Economy

Romney To Republican Governor: Discussing The Economic Recovery Will Hurt My Election Chances

By Tara Culp-Ressler posted from ThinkProgress Economy on Jun 21, 2012 at 9:30 am

Republican governors in states across the country have been touting their states’ economic growth, pointing to falling unemployment rates and continued signs of economic recovery. Gov. Terry Branstad (R-IA) has expressed frustration that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is using his state as an example of the nation’s economic woes.

However, since positive economic messages directly contradict Romney’s central campaign push — convincing voters that Obama has made the economy worse — the Romney campaign would prefer to downplay any signs of recovery.

In fact, the Romney campaign has directly asked Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) to “tone down” his positive statements about Florida’s improving economy because they inconveniently clash with Romney’s national narrative. Two campaign officials confirmed that Scott has been asked to instead say that his state’s economy would improve under a Republican presidency, Bloomberg News reports:

What’s unfolding in Florida highlights a dilemma for the Romney campaign: how to allow Republican governors to take credit for economic improvements in their states while faulting Obama’s stewardship of the national economy. Republican governors in Ohio, Virginia, Michigan and Wisconsin also have highlighted improving economies. [...]

A Romney adviser made the request this week to Scott’s staff after press releases from the governor’s re-election campaign and Internet messages from the Florida Chamber of Commerce trumpeted the state’s drop to 8.6 percent unemployment rate in May from 8.7 percent in April, the people said. The national unemployment rate is 8.2 percent.

Although Romney continues to lament the economic failures of the country under President Obama, even his campaign now acknowledges that things are improving. As Americans continue to climb their way out of the Great Recession, the GOP’s contradictory messages aren’t telling them the whole truth about a slowly recovering economy.

Switch to Mobile
ThinkProgress Signup Overlay Skip and Continue to ThinkProgress Skip and Continue to ThinkProgress

Sign Up