Wisconsin U.S. Senate candidate Tommy Thompson (R) acknowledged during a debate on Thursday that he recently sold stock in a company that did business with Iran, only after news reports highlighted his interests in the companies. The admission came as the former governor accused challenger Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) of being soft on the regime and voting against sanctions.

“I was so disturbed after having heard some of your rhetoric around my position on Iran to have read a report just hours before taking this stage that you have tens of thousands of dollars in investments in companies that do business with Iran, including a company that teams up with Iran doing Uranium mining in Africa,” Baldwin said in reaction to Thompson’s attacks. “I find that shocking. And, if you want to be tough on Iran, we have to isolate Iran. We have to make sure that companies don’t do business, to make sure that they are isolated in the world stage.”

Thompson responded by accusing Baldwin of opposing international sanctions and accepting $60,000 from Council for a Livable World — a group that supports “a negotiated solution to Iran’s nuclear program” and opposes military force:

THOMPSON: She also received a $60,000 in campaign funds, $60,000, ladies and gentleman, for a campaign from a company that believes and supports no sanctions in Iran. I heard about this stock…

BALDWIN: Who are you talking about?

THOMPSON: I heard about this stock. Wait a minute, let me finish. Let me finish, you had two minutes, let me finish. You want to interrupt me, Joe Biden, just give me a chance. The other thing is, ladies and gentlemen, is that she is talking about stock. I did not know about the fact that my stockbroker had purchased two shares, two company stocks. I sold it. I sold it today. I found out today and I sold it today. I do not tolerate, I do not agree with anybody doing business with Iran, none whatsoever. And I think you should turn back the $60,000 you got from that company that supports no sanctions for Iran.

Watch it:

Thompson’s personal financial disclosure show that he owns up $50,000 worth of stock in multiple firms that are owned by China and Russia and do business in Iran. As the Huffington Post’s Michael McAuliff reports, Thompson has “up to $1,000 in the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, Gazprom and the China National Petroleum Corporation, which were all cited in a recent Government Accountability Office study as having done business with Iran.” He also “owns up to $17,000 worth of stock in Royal Dutch Shell, which the GAO also named, and between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of stock in oil services firm Schlumberger, which has been probed by the Justice Department over its Iran work.” Finally, Thompson maintained “between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of stock in the mining operation Rio Tinto, which is partners with Iran in mining uranium. Iran owns 15 percent of a uranium mining operation in Namibia with Rio Tinto.”

Rep. Connie Mack IV (R-FL)

Mack recognized the female members of his family and then quickly changed the subject to economic issues, steering clear of domestic abuse. “What women are worried about in this country is jobs and security, and being secure at home and making sure that their children are taken care of, and that they put food on the table,” he said and insisted that he had answered the moderator’s question. Pressed on the bill, however, Mack reluctantly promised to support its reauthorization. Watch it:

Mack’s reluctance to address the measure is reflected in his poor voting record. In May 2012, Mack voted against considering re-authorization the bill, though it received strong bipartisan support in the Senate, and instead supported a watered-down version of the VAWA — proposed by House Republicans — that stripped protections from undocumented, Native American, and LGBT victims of domestic abuse. More than 300 domestic abuse advocacy groups opposed the House bill.

Reauthorizing the VAWA is especially important in Florida, which has been hit harder than most states by the economic crisis and ranks third in the nation in foreclosure rates. The recession has increased incidents of domestic violence, and Florida has seen funding cuts for domestic violence services, forcing shelters to turn away women in need. As the Florida Herald-Tribune writes, “Since September 2008, three of four domestic violence shelters report an increase in women seeking help with an abuser, and 73 percent attribute the increase to ‘financial issues.’”

– Greg Noth

Sensata Technologies, an Attleboro, Massachusetts-based sensor manufacturer, is mostly owned by Bain Capital. As the company prepares to replace workers at an Illinois plant by offshoring jobs to China, soon-to-be laid off workers have been protesting both Bain Capital and the corporate values instilled by the company’s former CEO, Mitt Romney.

Several protesters descended on Sensata’s headquarters Thursday. A local paper reported that “about two dozen people, including six Sensata workers and supporters from Illinois, held signs and chanted: ‘We are from Freeport, we are united, we don’t want a Romney Economy.’” Protesters have asked Romney to intercede on their behalf, thus far to no avail.

During Tuesday’s presidential debate, Romney sought to deflect the politically embarrassing investment and argued that Obama too is invested in companies that outsource American jobs:

OBAMA: When he talks about getting tough on China, keep in mind that Governor Romney invested in companies that were pioneers of outsourcing to China, and is currently investing in countries — in companies that are building surveillance equipment for China to spy on its own folks. That’s — Governor, you’re the last person who’s going to get tough on China.

…

ROMNEY: Just going to make a point. Any investments I have over the last eight years have been managed by a blind trust. And I understand they do include investments outside the United States, including in — in Chinese companies.

Mr. President, have you looked at your pension? Have you looked at your pension?

OBAMA: I’ve got to say…

ROMNEY: Mr. President, have you looked at your pension?

OBAMA: You know, I — I don’t look at my pension. It’s not as big as yours so it doesn’t take as long.

ROMNEY: Well, let me give you some advice.

OBAMA: I don’t check it that often.

ROMNEY: Let me give you some advice. Look at your pension. You also have investments in Chinese companies. You also have investments outside the United States. You also have investments through a Cayman’s trust.

It is true that both Romney — who owns millions of dollars worth of Bain investments — and Obama — whose under $100,000 Illinois state pension plan holdings do mean both have some investment in Sensata. But that detail is quite misleading: Illinois state pensioners each have an average of about $11 invested in Sensata — hardly a significant stake. Romney, on the other hand owns hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Sensata through his foundation and millions of dollars worth of the part of Bain that owns the bulk of the company.

More importantly, Obama never ran Bain. The protesters are not suggesting Romney’s holdings in Sensata are the problem. They are protesting the profits-over-people approach Romney brought to Bain, as he invested in companies that have been called “pioneers in outsourcing.”

A new Esquire profile of Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) details the Senate candidate’s hard-scrabble childhood on an Arizona cattle ranch — where he was sustained by federal school lunch programs he has repeatedly tried to hobble as a Congressman.

Flake’s elder brother, Scott, explained to Esquire how they benefited from entitlement programs meant to provide nutrition for children from low-income families:

It didn’t feel like we were poor, but we always qualified for free school lunch and those kinds of things. I guess it was just a function of having so many kids. They made enough money raising cattle to raise big families very efficiently, carefully. But they didn’t have enough money to send anybody off to college. If you wanted to go to college, it was encouraged and good luck to you, but you had to figure out how to do it.

Though Flake was a direct beneficiary of the federal school lunch program, he’s refused to support these free school lunches for other children. Flake has regularly been one of a few hard-line conservatives to vote against child nutrition and school lunch programs in Congress. In 2004, Flake and just 4 other members of Congress voted against reauthorizing funding for child nutrition programs. He has also steadfastly opposed even recognizing the importance of school lunch programs over the years, voting against Congressional resolutions celebrating the School Breakfast Program and the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which provides food assistance in daycare for low-income families. Most recently, he refused to express support for “the goals and ideals of the National School Lunch Program.” Each time, he was joined by around 10 other members in opposing the overwhelmingly popular programs.

There are around 48.8 million people currently living in food insecure households like the Flake family. 20 million children take advantage of free and reduced lunches every day.