Daily Kos

President Obama in Dubuque, Iowa, returning fire on Medicare in the wake of the Romney-Ryan campaign's new "Mediscare" attack ad:

"I think they know their plan is not very popular," the president said. "You can tell that because they're being pretty dishonest about my plan."

"Here's what you need to know," the president continued. "I have made reforms that have saved millions of seniors with Medicare hundreds of dollars on their prescription drugs." Obama was referencing the fact that Obamacare closed the donut hole, which Romney and Ryan would reinstate. "I have proposed reforms that will save Medicare money by getting rid of wasteful spending in the system. Reforms that will not touch your Medicare benefits, not by a dime."

As for Romney and Ryan? "They have a very different plan," the president said. "They want to turn Medicare into a voucher program." That would end the guarantee of Medicare, Obama said, citing the CBO study showing that the Ryan plan would cost seniors an extra $6,400 per year.

"My plan has already extended Medicare by a decade. Their plan ends Medicare as we know it. My plan reduces the cost of Medicare by cracking down fraud, and waste, and subsidies to insurance companies. Their plan makes seniors pay more so they can give another tax cut to millionaires and billionaires. That's the difference between our plans on Medicare, that's an example of the choice in this election, and that is why I'm running for a second term as President of the United States of America."

The Hon. Robert Simpson of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has denied the ACLU of Pennsylvania's motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to block the implementation of Pennsylvania's voter ID law. His opinion is here (pdf).

His decision is largely premised on three conclusions:

• That the standard for evaluating claims of impairment of voter rights should be evaluated on a "gross abuse" standard, giving "substantial deference to the judgment of the Legislature" in its decisions regarding the regulation of elections;
• That because this case was brought up as a facial challenge to the constitutionality to the act, the many examples of how the law would work burdens as applied to particular voters were irrelevant; and
• To the extent that those citizens were burdened under the law, there were remedies: (1) the pretrial announcement of a new, fewer-documents-needed voting ID card would make IDs more readily available; (2) many elderly voters could cast absentee ballots; and (3) the prospects of Election Day (and post-Election Day) judicial relief to have a citizen's vote counted, based on particular circumstances.

As to the remarks of House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, Judge Simpson called them "disturbing" and "tendentious" (p. 60), but that he declined to infer that other members of the General Assembly shared his "boastful views" expressed outside the legislative chamber, and that so long as neutral justifications for the law also existed, he would not strike down the law because some legislators also had partisan motivations.

Judge Simpson also concluded that "somewhat more than 1 percent and significantly less than 9 percent" of registered voters currently lacked photo ID, and that enjoining the law now would work significant disruption to the Department of State's (and others') efforts to educate voters about the new law and assist them in helping them obtain valid IDs. Greater harm would result, he determined, by immediately blocking those efforts to implement the law, given how difficult it would be to implement those steps only after a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling upholding the law.

The decision will be appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. It currently sits as three justices elected as Republicans, three as Democrats, with one Republican justice recused from all cases due to her indictment on charges alleging use of state resources for campaign purposes. If the Court is deadlocked, Judge Simpson's decision governs.

Flashback to December of 2011 when Mitt Romney told Newt Gingrich to quit "whining" about attack ads:

Reasonable point. As he told Fox's Brit Hume later that month:

If you can't stand the relatively modest heat in the kitchen right now, wait until Obama's hell kitchen shows up. It's probably a good thing for us to get this out in the air right now so people can have the chance to know what's going to come down the road if any one of us happens to become the nominee.

Or as he said to Sean Hannity on January 2 of this year:

Look, this is a campaign. We've got to have broad shoulders. You can't spend your time whining about the fact that people are drawing attention to your record in the past. I’ve been attacked. It's fine. Get used to it. It is going to get a lot of worse.

And:

Let me tell you, it hasn't begun yet. Wait until President Obama gets in with our nominee with a $1 billion to spend. You have to have somebody who can take his message to Obama and fight back. And I'll fight back hard.

Mitt's bottom-line:

"Speaker Gingrich," said Romney, "is not revealing himself to be the kind of person I think he would want to be seen in this race for president, because fundamentally, we look for qualities in a president, but we don't look for whining and excuses."

But now Mitt finds himself under attack. And despite his tough talk against Newt Gingrich, we're finding out just how fragile his jaw really is. And he's becoming a little—dare I say—unhinged.

The sum entirety of every bill ever introduced by Paul Ryan that was passed into law:

Coincidentally, the new name for that post office is the Ted Nugent Post Office, and you can buy discount arrows there.

According to Politico's Alex Isenstadt, last night John Boehner hosted a conference call aimed at reassuring nervous House Republicans that Mitt Romney's selection of Paul Ryan won't hurt their chances of winning reelection:

"The pundits are buzzing that with Paul on the ticket, the Democrats are going to attack us on Medicare," Boehner told members on the call, according to two sources familiar with the Speaker’s remarks. "Well, here’s a news flash: they were gonna do that anyway."

"The best defense on Medicare is a good offense," Boehner added. "And Paul Ryan gives us the ability to play offense."

What a difference from two years ago, when Boehner was instead trying to reassure voters that House Republicans wouldn't be crazy enough to actually support Paul Ryan's agenda:

Representative John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, the minority leader, has praised Mr. Ryan but said the Roadmap would not be a part of the Republican agenda this fall.

“There are parts of it that are well done,” Mr. Boehner told reporters last month. “Other parts I have some doubts about, in terms of how good the policy is.”

The difference between then and now? Back then the tea party didn't control the GOP. Now it does. And despite Boehner's attempt to put lipstick on the pig, Republicans are right to be nervous about the politics of the Ryan plan.

I used to have a stump-speech critique of the Democratic Party that went something like this:

There's a reason so many economically disadvantaged whites and tea party suckers are propping up Wall Street Republicans at the expense of their own self-interest. The Democratic desire, no, (pathological) need to win the debate on intellectual terms is oftentimes the cause of our undoing. (Another example? Liberals argue for gun control by citing gun deaths statistics. Conservatives have built an entire warm-and-fuzzy culture around gun ownership that will always trump those stats.)

That's why liberals have been on the defensive for so long. Our usual appeals to intellect, by and large, are inferior to hitting someone's emotional centers—be it appeals to fear, or resentment, or bigotry or greed.

So it's with much amusement that I read this quote in Tueday's oft-quoted piece on Republican panic over the Paul Ryan pick:

Another strategist emailed midway through Romney and Ryan’s first joint event Saturday: "The good news is that this ticket now has a vision. The bad news is that vision is basically just a chart of numbers used to justify policies that are extremely unpopular."

Democrats have had marginal success in using a chart of numbers to justify policies that are extremely popular. It's refreshing to see Republicans adopt one of our biggest mistakes, then try and use it to justify policies that are toxic.

Oh, Ann, honey, is the pressure of the campaign trail getting to you too? Feeling a little exhausted, maybe? All that hard work of reporting back to your husband on things ladies care about wearing you down? We know it's certainly been tough on your beloved Willard. Hope you're not starting to become a little unhinged yourself.

Because, um ... what?

"We have been very transparent to what's legally required of us,” she said. “There's going to be no more tax releases given."

Mrs. Romney said if they release any more information, "it will only give them more ammunition."

In regards to their finances,  she said "there's nothing we're hiding."

"It's been managed by a blind trust since before Mitt was governor, you know, 2002 forward,” she told Morales. “And so, you know, I'll be curious to see what's in there too."

So, let's see if we've got this right. Ann says the Romney money is all legal and above board, and they're not hiding anything, except that she knows whatever it is they're not hiding will be ammunition to use against the Romneys, except that she has no idea what's actually in her finances and she's "curious" too. And besides, as she told us before, she and Mitt have "given all you people need to know."

Hmmm, Ann. If you don't know what's in there, how do you know you have nothing to hide?

Mitt Romney may want to stop giving interviews, because dayum, he sucks at them.

"The president seems to be running just to hang on to power. I think he'll do anything in his power to try and get reelected."

Oh no! The president is trying to get re-elected? He's saying and doing things to try to win an election? How dare he?

How dare he, asks the guy who was for Obamacare when he called it Romneycare.

How dare he, asks the guy who was going to be further to the left than Ted Kennedy on gay rights, before he was going to be further to the right than Michele Bachmann on gay rights.

How dare he, asks the guy who believed in women's rights because of that one time a close relative died from a botched abortion, plus also Romney invested in a company that disposed of aborted fetuses, only now he believes every sperm is sacred because that's what it takes to be a Republican these days.

How dare he, asks the guy who believed in climate change until he got the memo that Republicans don't believe in that stuff because of Jesus.

How dare he, asks the guy who wanted to "let Detroit go bankrupt" until he decided it was his idea to save it.

Oh, the nerve of that president, saying and doing things to try to get elected. Who does he think he is—Mitt Romney?

You can't have any illegals working on our property. I'm running for office, for Pete's sake!

Mitt Romney was never truly tested during the primaries. He ran an exclusively negative campaign, refusing to spend a dime justifying his own existence in the race. Rather, he had his cast-of-clowns opponents systematically felled by the Super PAC funded by his gazillionaire donors.

It is now August, and Romney tried the same tactic—over $100 million has been spent by the conservative Super PACs attacking President Barack Obama, yet the president has remained resilient in the polling. Perhaps more damaging, Romney has been stuck in the low 40s in key battleground states. His personal unpopularity has acted as an anchor around his neck, preventing him from making real gains against Obama.

Then, with the press in a frenzy over his refusal to release more tax returns, and with a conservative base ready to revolt at his convention over his sudden defense of Romneycare, it was clear that Romney was close to the breaking point. Thus, the bizarre and poorly crafted rollout of the Paul Ryan VP pick.

Yet rather than earn him some breathing room in the campaign and a nice honeymoon, the reception has been cold at best. Sure, there's been a smattering of puff pieces about Ryan's body fat composition, but the coverage has been more focused on the facts that Romney has moved to the Right rather than the center, that he had to pacify an increasingly hostile base, that Ryan endangers GOP advantages with seniors, that his presence on the ticket is a nightmare for downballot Republicans, and that his budget gives Democrats a treasure trove of material with which to attack.

Indeed, in the last several days, half the questions Romney has gotten have been along the lines of, "Where, exactly, do you disagree with the Ryan budget?"

Romney is on the breaking point. He's already had to cancel campaign appearances (though not fundraisers!) because of exhaustion. He's used to being surrounded by yes-men who tell him he's wonderful. Now that Obama fellow (and even critics on his own side) has the temerity to talk about him!

The president's campaign has put out a campaign that's talking about me and attacking me. I think it's just demeaning to the nature of the process, particularly when we face the kinds of challenges we face.

It's so demeaning to elections to have candidates talk about each other! Of course, it wasn't demeaning when Romney accused Obama of not being American. That part was as perfectly all right as was insulting the British prime minister, the cookies at a campaign stop, and the ponchos worn by NASCAR fans. That's just Mitt being Mitt (IOW, a dick). But to have other people talk about you? That can't stand!

Thus Romney is on his epic hissy fit today, frazzled and, yes, unhinged. It's only mid-August, and he's already lost his composure and spewed crazy shit.

People who are winning don't act like Mitt Romney is currently acting. If you want to see how winners act, just look at President Barack Obama.

About four minutes into his interview this morning with CBS's Gayle King and Anthony Mason, Mitt Romney finally admitted what's really bothering him about the 2012 campaign:

The president's campaign has put out a campaign that's talking about me and attacking me. I think it's just demeaning to the nature of the process, particularly when we face the kinds of challenges we face.

Boo hoo, poor Mitt, pissed off that his opponent would dare talk about him. How rude. Doesn't Obamaland know that you're not allowed to criticize Cranbrook's finest graduate? Don't they realize that if you're not telling Mr. Bain that he's God's gift to the American economy that you've crossed a line?

What a whiney little glass-jawed brat.

7:16 AM PT: Oh, and the Obama campaign isn't just about attacking Mitt Romney. They are also talking about the president's accomplishments. Like killing bin Laden. And saving the auto industry. Which Mitt took credit for.

Reposted from Comics by Tom Tomorrow

Click to enlarge.

McDonald's being the official restaurant of the Olympics is a bit like XBox being the official study aid of the National Spelling Bee. But, of course, the biggest crime of this year's games coverage was the omission of Ray Davies from the U.S. broadcast of the closing ceremony.  

Mitt Romney is standing by his claim last night that President Obama is running a campaign of "hate" and is denying that his harsh criticism is in any way unhinged.

Appearing earlier today on CBS's morning show, Romney told anchors Gayle King and Anthony Mason that he believes "the president's campaign is all about division and attack and hatred" and is designed to "bring about enmity and anger." Romney said the president sought to divide Americans based on "income, age, and ethnicity."

Romney also rejected the Obama campaign's characterization of his remarks as having been "unhinged." The remarks "were very measured," Romney said. "I can be much more dramatic." Romney said it was the president who was unhinged.

Romney said his criticism was prompted by remarks yesterday by Vice President Biden. Biden said Republicans wanted to unchain Wall Street, which he said would put the middle-class back in chains. Romney said the metaphor of "chains" offended him, but declined to say whether he was offended by Paul Ryan's proposal to "unshackle" Wall Street from Dodd-Frank. "Look, no one is talking about deregulating Wall Street," Romney said. That, of course, is untrue: Romney pledges to repeal the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill on his own campaign website.

Here's a sampling of some of Romney's comments from the interview.

• On whether he wrote the harshest passage of his speech himself: "Well, of course. The words that I use in speeches are words that I craft, or put in there, or agree with."
• On the Obama campaign: "The president's campaign is all about division and attack and hatred."
• On whether his remarks seemed unhinged: "They were very measured. I can be much more dramatic, I think. I think unhinged would have to characterize what we've seen from the president's campaign."
• On what he means by the president's campaign being about hatred: "Well, I think if you look at the ads that have been described, and the divisiveness based upon income, age, ethnicity, and so forth, it's designed to bring a sense of enmity and jealousy and anger."
• On his view of the president: "The president seems to be running just to hang on to power. I think he'll do anything in his power to try and get reelected."
• On personal attacks against him: "I think these personal attacks are demeaning to the office of the White House."
• On Biden's Virginia remarks about Republicans putting Americans back in chains to Wall Street: "And the comments yesterday by the vice president I think just diminish the White House that much more."
• On what Biden's remarks meant to him: "Well, of course, we have to have regulation on Wall Street and every street, so it's factually inaccurate to begin with. And secondly, I'd say, I think the comments of this nature sink the White House just a little lower. The American people expect something better from the president than these kinds of divisive comments."
• On whether Republicans, including Paul Ryan, have used the unshackling/unchaining metaphor: "You know, I can't speak for anybody else, but I can say the comments of the vice president, as I heard them, I thought were one more example of a divisive effort to keep from talking about the real issues. Look, no one is talking about deregulating Wall Street."
• On what has really got him mad: "The president's campaign has put out a campaign that's talking about me and attacking me. I think it's just demeaning to the nature of the process, particularly when we face the kinds of challenges we face."
• On what specifically troubled him about Biden's comment: "You know, I think I've expressed myself well enough. I think the American people had the same reaction, which is they listened to the vice president, and they found again an unfounded charge, and a metaphor which is not uplifting, not uniting, but one which is once again a divisive attack."

Gayle King and Anthony Mason, who conducted the interview, deserve tons of credit for forcing Romney to actually answer the questions. It's not their fault that his answers were so absurd.