Facts Do Matter

It's too bad when "facts" fall victim to "winning at any cost".  

That seems to be what happened at the RNC.  Facts, not Obama took a beating at the RNC.  Check out what happened to the facts at the RNC.

Go to: http://nyti.ms/UeYtCv

Let's do it again.....re-elect President Obama on November 6.

Ryan's Five Lies at RNC

Ryan's five lies

"Mainstream media: Fact-check and call out candidates when they lie. You have an obligation as journalists to educate the public on the facts of the major campaign issues." Sign the Petition!

Last night, Paul Ryan lied to the American people. Some journalists and outlets covered Ryan's lies. But others failed to check the facts and didn't call Ryan out on his brazen lies.

In this crucial election, news reporters have an obligation to educate the public about the facts regarding the major issues and call out the candidates every time they lie.

That's why I created a petition urging the major news corporations—ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX, and MSNBC—to live up to their obligation to report the truth. The petition says: Mainstream media: Fact-check and call out candidates when they lie. You have an obligation as journalists to educate the public on the facts of the major campaign issues.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Here is a list of five lies that Paul Ryan told when he gave his speech at the Republican National Convention last night. Every single news outlet should report on these lies.

1. Lie: President Obama is the "greatest threat" to Medicare.

Truth: Obama didn't make any cuts to Medicare benefits; he made cuts to provider reimbursements to improve cost efficiency and extend the fiscal security of Medicare by eight years. According to the Medicare actuary, "[Obama's] Affordable Care Act makes important changes to the Medicare program and substantially improves its financial outlook."¹

But Ryan actually does want to cut benefits. He proposed dismantling Medicare and replacing it with a voucher system, leaving millions of seniors to come up with more money to pay for care out of pocket.^2,3

2. Lie: President Obama didn't save a General Motors plant in Wisconsin.

Truth: First, Obama wasn't even in office when the GM plant closed. Second, Obama never made a promise to save it.⁴

3. Lie: President Obama ignored recommendations of a bipartisan debt commission.

Truth: Paul Ryan actually sat on that commission. And he led Republicans in voting down the commission's own recommendation. So the commission never gave a report to Obama, because Ryan himself voted to kill the report before it could.⁵

4. Lie: President Obama is responsible for the downgrading of the U.S. Credit Rating.

Truth: House Republicans, including Paul Ryan, held the full faith and credit of the United States hostage to try to ransom it for trillions of dollars in cuts to social programs without increasing taxes on the wealthy one dime. Standard & Poor's said specifically, "We have changed our assumption on [revenue] because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues." That's why our nation's credit rating was downgraded.^6,7

5. Lie: Ryan wants to protect the "weak."

Truth: Ryan's biggest feat in his political career was proposing a budget with dramatic cuts to programs benefiting the poor. He'd cut Medicaid by one third, take away health care insurance from 30 million Americans, and cut Pell Grants for 1 million students. All so that he could give more tax breaks to the rich.⁸

Click here to add your name to my SignOn.org petition urging ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX, and MSNBC to call out candidates when they lie, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Brenda Witt

Sources:

1. "Fact check: Paul Ryan at the RNC," USA Today, August 30, 2012 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=279602&id=50193-17524336-wCOFElx&t=8

2. "Undoing Obama Medicare cuts may backfire on Romney," The Boston Globe, August 18, 2012 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=279597&id=50193-17524336-wCOFElx&t=9

3. "Romney-Ryan Medicare Plan Would Cost 29-Year-Olds $331,200: Report," Huffington Post, August 27, 2012 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=279596&id=50193-17524336-wCOFElx&t=10

4. "Paul Ryan Misleads With GM Plant Closure Tale," Huffington Post, August 29, 2012 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=279598&id=50193-17524336-wCOFElx&t=11

5. "Fact Check: Paul Ryan misleads on debt panel's spending cut plan," CNN, August 30, 2012 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=279608&id=50193-17524336-wCOFElx&t=12

6. "Top 5 Fibs In Paul Ryan's Convention Speech," Talking Points Memo, August 30, 2012 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=279595&id=50193-17524336-wCOFElx&t=13

7. "Paul Ryan Address: Convention Speech Built On Demonstrably Misleading Assertions," Huffington Post, August 30, 2012 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=279604&id=50193-17524336-wCOFElx&t=14

8. "4 Ways Paul Ryan's Budget Would Devastate The Poor," ThinkProgress, August 17, 2012 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=279605&id=50193-17524336-wCOFElx&t=15

This petition was created on SignOn.org, the progressive, nonprofit petition site. SignOn.org is sponsored by MoveOn Civic Action, which is not responsible for the contents of this or other petitions posted on the site. Brenda Witt didn't pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

RNC Convention - Read "Richard's Take" on it

A must read..... http://www.douglascourtney.com/hebert1/.  Richard's Take gets it right!

Let's not sit still while mis-truths and lies are told about Obama and his record.

Let's do it again - re-elect President Obama on November 6.

The Seven Black Presidents Before Barack Obama « Fookem and Bug

Interesting read......:The Seven Black Presidents Before Barack Obama « Fookem and Bug

Let's Do it Again....Re-Elect President Obama on November 6!

Former FL Gov. Charlie Crist: Why I’m backing Barack Obama | Black Politics on the Web

It seems former Gov. Charlie Crist really was a moderate.....he's got it right about President Obama and his readiness to do the right things to keep America on the right path to recovery.  I hope Crist can help others in the Republican Party see more clearly on the question of who's right for America.  Read his words at:

Former FL Gov. Charlie Crist: Why I’m backing Barack Obama | Black Politics on the Web

Let's Do It Again - Re-Elect President Obama on November 6!

Republican Platform Takes Turn to Right - NYTimes.com

If this is what you want for America......vote Red!

Republican Platform Takes Turn to Right - NYTimes.com

I don't want any of it.....Let's do it again, Re-elect President Obama on November 6!

Ron Paul Supporters’ Protest Signals Deeper Division - NYTimes.com

I think there's trouble in Paradise (Tampa) for the Republicans!  Read on to see what Ron Paul and friends are up to.  Go Ron Paul!

Ron Paul Supporters’ Protest Signals Deeper Division - NYTimes.com

Does Race Still Matter?

Will "race" matter in the upcoming election in November?  Check out the article below:

http://www.politicsincolor.com/gbmarshall/2012/will-romney-use-race-baiting-tactics

Let's do it again - re-elect President Obama~

Hypocricy

 

 

A Tampa police armored vehicle is parked outside The Tampa Bay Times Forum in downtown Tampa. (photo: Brian Blanco/Reuters)

 

RNC You Didn't Build That

By Carl Gibson, Reader Supported News

25 August 12

 

Reader Supported News | Perspective

 

he entire theme of the upcoming Republican National Convention in Tampa is "We Built This."

It's a dig at a remark Obama made at a Virginia campaign event, where he pushed the narrative that government investments in national infrastructure like good schools, good roads and good police/fire protection is essential to the success of the business community. Naturally, the GOP

took a few words out of Obama's speech and sold it to a media eager to paint the president as anti-business, even though the stock market is near an all-time high and corporate profits are already at all-time highs.

At a nauseating campaign rally last week dubbed a "town hall meeting" in Manchester, New Hampshire, which turned away Democrats with tickets to the event, both candidates relentlessly harped on Obama's "you didn't build that" remark. The meticulously-scripted event only took questions from fawning supporters, one of whom was a small business owner who also reveled in the GOP's new favorite anti-Obama meme. Paul Ryan's twitter is full of such tired platitudes like: "I'm proud to stand with @MittRomney - a leader who knows that if you have a small business, you did build that!"

Ironically, the Tampa Bay Times Forum arena, the location the Republican Party chose to host a convention with the "We Built This" theme, was built with taxpayer funds, which accounted for $86 million, or 62%, of the total money needed to finance the construction of the stadium.  It's a fitting paradox, as the GOP is expected to nominate a guy for president who made his millions tearing down American businesses and selling them to China, and a vice-presidential pick whose past voting history contradicts nearly every one of his current positions.

Like his party's philosophy, Paul Ryan is a walking contradiction. He didn't become a deficit hawk until Barack Obama was elected. The biggest spending bills during the Bush administration - tax cuts for the top 1%, two unfunded wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the costly Medicare Part D donut hole - all account for most of the current debt for which Ryan, who voted to add $6.8 trillion to the debt, is using to bludgeon Obama. At the August 20 campaign event in New Hampshire, Ryan managed to speak of 1 in 6 Americans living in poverty as "unacceptable" while keeping a straight face, while simultaneously championing a budget plan that would literally cut taxes for people like himself and Romney, while raising taxes on - and cutting paid-for benefits for - people like those in the audience cheering for him. The $4 trillion in cuts proposed in the Ryan budget is offset by the $4 trillion less in revenue that would be collected. Paul Ryan, like his budget, is a complete fraud.

Republicans like Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor blast big government spending in the press, while simultaneously lobbying for it in private. Ryan's district benefited from spending from Obama's Recovery Act, which used $20 million to make homes more energy-efficient.

House Republican Leader Eric Cantor wrote this letter asking for government spending in his own district. Then, once the TV cameras are on, Cantor, Ryan, and the Republicans fall all over themselves to talk about how government doesn't create jobs. And in order to reinforce their false narrative that can't otherwise stand on its own under scrutiny, they fight to get more of themselves elected to office on the premise of "government can't do anything right," and vote down every proposal that would create jobs and improve the economy while saying, "See? We told you government doesn't do anything!"

The Republican Party having their national convention with a "We Built This" theme in a stadium made possible by the government spending they claim to hate is the perfect illustration of how silly today's Republican Party has become. If you're voting Republican in this election and you aren't a millionaire or a corporate lobbyist, you're proving to everyone around that you're just as silly as your politicians.

 

---

Carl Gibson, 25, is co-founder of US Uncut, a nationwide creative direct-action movement that mobilized tens of thousands of activists against corporate tax avoidance and budget cuts in the months leading up to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Carl and other US Uncut activists are featured in the documentary "We're Not Broke," which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. He currently lives in Old Lyme, Connecticut. 

 

Voter Suppression Still an Issue in Florida

We're not out of the woods yet in Florida when it comes to actions being taken that can suppress voter turnout in elections.  But some of our elected officials are fighting back.  Voter fraud is a concern in some places in the US, however, some of the steps being taken are more about blocking the vote of duly registered folks than it is weeding out the frauds.  We can't let 'bad practices' slide by under the mask of 'good intentions'.

Let's do it again - re-elect President Obama on November 6.

'Conservative' Need not be a Dirty Word

Check out this article on what the country needs to begin to address and even make progress against our challenges...there's a lot of sense in it.

But at bottom.....let's re-elect President Obama on November 6!

St. Augustine physician talks improvements needed in health care | jacksonville.com#.UDUDxqBfPIg.facebook#.UDUDxqBfPIg.facebook

The President's Affordable Health Car Act is good medicine, good public policy and good sense.

St. Augustine physician talks improvements needed in health care | jacksonville.com#.UDUDxqBfPIg.facebook#.UDUDxqBfPIg.facebook

Re-Elect President Obama on November 6!

Truth and Lies About Medicare

A  must read article.  There are too many lies out there about what the candidates will do about Medicare.  Read Truth and Lies About Medicare and decide for yourself which way is best.

For the full text, read on.....

Ryan's Plans Will Hurt Not Help

Please share this article on Paul Ryan and his plans on your blog, Facebook page and share with your e-mail lists of friends and colleagues.  We can't let mistruths guide decision making in November.

Re-elect President Obama on November 6.

Court: Texas can cut off Planned Parenthood funds

Don't just sit there and let women's rights be limited....vote-back (fight back) in November on Election Day!  Read the article below and get ready to vote-back!

Court: Texas can cut off Planned Parenthood funds

Re-elect President Obama on November 6th!

Obama Accomplishments First Term - So Far

Stay informed of the work that has been done (or on the table) for Obama's first term - so far. Check out this site.

Let's do it again - re-elect President Obama.

Small Business Tax Cut Bill In Senate Could Lead To Almost 1 Million Jobs, Study Estimates

Will Republican senators support this move or continue to block anything that's good for America and small businesses that comes from Democrats.

Small Business Tax Cut Bill In Senate Could Lead To Almost 1 Million Jobs, Study Estimates

Let's do it again.....re-elect President Obama.

Ryan’s Hope Could Be America’s Nightmare | Black Politics on the Web

Another view on what a Ryan VP-ship means for America and our economic challenges....

Ryan’s Hope Could Be America’s Nightmare | Black Politics on the Web

What Does a Paul Ryan Pick Mean for Latinos, Blacks, and Women? - Rosa Ramirez - NationalJournal.com

What Does a Paul Ryan Pick Mean for Latinos, Blacks, and Women? - Rosa Ramirez - NationalJournal.com

Check out this article....it's on point!

Richard's Take - A Must Read

If you want a really good sight line on the political race as it's shaping up and a good understanding of how the two main political parties work and what their candidates think and stand for, then check out Richard's Take. 

You may not agree with his sense of things, but, you'll be enlightened by his commentary for sure!

Richard's Take is refreshing an don point!

Questions? 

1) If as of today, 23 million people are out of work and there are only 3.5 million jobs currently available...then does that mean "full employment" is defined as 19.5 million unemployed people? 

2)What can the Republicans do beat President Obama's record of 24 straight months of positive job growth in the private sector? 

3 - 4) And, if they could do better, how long will it take before they surpass the Obama record and pace of  job growth?  Think about it, should we dumb the current growth record to have it stall out for 24 months or longer, just to reset the clock? 

NOT!!!!!

Let's do it again.....re-elect President Obama