Friday News Roundup - Domestic
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-09-28/friday-news-roundup-domestic
New polls showed President Barack Obama ahead in several key swing states with just six weeks to go until the election. Mixed economic news this week with reports showing higher consumer confidence but weaker GDP growth. And the NFL reached a tentative agreement with its referee union. Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post, Lisa Lerer of Bloomberg News and Michael Hirsh of National Journal join guest host Susan Page for analysis of the week's top national news stories.
Guests
Chris Cillizza
author of The Fix, a Washington Post politics blog, managing editor of PostPolitics.com and author of a new book, "The Gospel According to The Fix."
Lisa Lerer
politics reporter for Bloomberg News.
Michael Hirsh
chief correspondent at National Journal magazine and author of "At War with Ourselves: Why America Is Squandering its Chance to Build a Better World."
Friday News Roundup Video
With the first presidential debate scheduled for Oct. 3, 2012, our panel discussed how significant the event could be in shaping the election outcome. "It's very important because you've got so many eyeballs on it," The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza said. Lisa Lerer of Bloomberg News said the debates could move the opinions of Mitt Romney's donors and fellow Republican politicians. Michael Hirsh, chief correspondent of National Journal, added that Romney "really needs a knockout punch" to emerge from the debates.
Comments
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Last Friday's DR Show, David Corn said the missing two minutes of the surreptitiously recorded Romney event that Mother Jones put on youtube was due to "the recording device inadvertently being turned off. The source noticed this quickly and turned it back on."
Did Corn buy that excuse by Rosemary Woods regarding the missing 18 1/2 minutes of the Nixon tapes?
Corn was forced to update his original comment, which promised the "full" video, to reflect the fact that a key portion of the video is, in fact, missing.
Rasmussen was the most accurate polling firm reporting on the presidential race in 2008. I have heard Scott Rasmussen interviewed and believe him to be someone of great integrity seeking honest results to the best of his abilities. He calls the 2012 race as a dead heat. It is hard to believe that the enthusiasm of 2010 elections against the big government policies put forward by the democrats and Obama specifically have evaporated as other highly questionable poles seem to indicate.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administra...
I heard an interesting theory about how the right wing pollsters (aka Rasmussen) and pundits will claim the mainstream polls are all wrong and are mistakenly using 2008 models or polling too many democrats.
The theory contends that when the Oligarchs' Hatchet men "steal" the election through Jim Crow like voter ID laws, wrongfully purged voter rolls and hacked computers and everyone cries foul, they can point to their in-house polls and pronounce. “SEE WE WERE RIGHT ALL ALONG, all those polls showing Obama in the lead were just your imagination.”
Unfortunately for the American people, these guys have so little respect for the democratic process that they could do it and get away with it
!!!!! AGAIN !!!!!.
UNLESS !!!!
The American people go out and vote in such overwhelming numbers that any nefarious election fraud scheme will stand out like a sore thumb.
UNLESS !!!!
The American people stand up to the election Saboteurs like True the Vote and the Koch Brothers and ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council) and tell them that the right to vote is sacred and inalienable.
UNLESS !!!!
The American people go to the polls and stand up to the Oligarchs and Proclaim in One Loud Voice that
OUR DEMOCRACY CANNOT BE BOUGHT OR STOLEN.
At least not without a fight.
Stand up my fellow citizens and show the world what democracy is all about.
I'm going to repeat the question I asked last week because it seems even more likely now:
GOP HIT BY HURRICANE MITT
or The Week Mitt Romney Lost the Election
Mitt Romney's leaked video is just the latest in a string of catastrophic hits the GOP has sustained as we enter the final stretch. Are the Republicans ignoring the warning signs of another wave election?
Romney, GOP Suffer "Flash-Crash" at Intrade
Stock analysis gives President 93% chance of Reelection
" Did Obama Just Win the Election?" Schaeffer's Investment Research
Republicans Fear Romney Could Cost Them the Senate- The Votemaster
Romney-Ryan are using an odd doublespeak to seniors now, hoping to cash in on CLASS WARFARE between old folks and those under 55.
On one hand they "promise" not to touch Medicare or Social Security for current recipients.....basically those over 55.
BUT they also speak in cataclysmic terms about the deficit, threatening total annihilation........"someday soon".......without revealing the truth that the deficit, even if left alone, would not really harm oldsters for years into the future. If seniors are truly so self centered that they don't care what happens for literally the next 10 to 25 years because they are held immune, they would double down and ignore the deficit worries as well.
The truth is that intelligent seniors DO care about citizens of all ages.....including their own descendants.......and are willing to participate in any reasonable solution, even if it causes pain for current recipients. e.g.Social Security was held without increases via COLA for two years.......it was not that painful after all.
Honest?Abe wrote: "Romney-Ryan are using an odd doublespeak to seniors now, hoping to cash in on CLASS WARFARE between old folks and those under 55"
The "affordable care act" (choke) takes $716 billion from medicare to pay for Obamacare as soon as it is fully implemented. Obama claims he is not cutting funding to those presently on Medicare but is cutting payments to the providers of medicare. THIS IS DOUBLESPEAK! For your information medicare is not fully funded by the government, doctors and hospitals make up for the short comings of medicare by over charging private insurance plans, ironically the same ones that would be put out of business by Obamacare.
"Confronting The Medicare Cost Shift
Plans are increasingly concerned about the degree to which providers overcharge them to make up for losses from government programs"
http://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/0612/0612.costshift.html
"Here is where Obamacare falls far short. Democrats claim that they haven’t raided Medicare, because the ACA doesn’t cut benefits. This is technically true but misses the larger point. If cuts to providers fall below the cost of actually providing those services to Medicare patients, providers will limit or stop offering those services to patients. Put another way, seniors will be offered fewer benefits."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/sep/26/obamacare-will-end-medic...
I wish the media would explain to the voters the difference between small and big government. Over the years I have heard this talking point so often that it literally has no meaning at all. The GOP uses this and is constantly mentioned by conservatives like the word socialism. The truth is that GOP has never been fiscally conservative and have always grown the govt. as much or more than the democrats. At times I'm astounded at how naive some Americans can be and so easily influenced by meaningless talking points. The U.S. is rapidly becoming a nation of misinformation.
Robin Shoulders wrote:"The truth is that GOP has never been fiscally conservative and have always grown the govt. as much or more than the democrats"
The GOP is certainly guilty of growing government, but it pales in comparison to FDR's "new deal" and LBJ's "great society" programs. Truth be told the democrats can take a lot of credit for the "military industrial complex" that a lot of democrats like to talk about. Every major conflict of the 20th century had democrats in control of government at the time.
The problem with the the establishment GOP is they always compromise away or abandon the philosophies of "small government" to get elected. I hope some spine can be found in the coming years.
The problem with the the establishment GOP is they..... are just another political party filled with politicians who don't care about the American people. Republicans are responsible for larger deficits than Democrats.....but in the grand scheme of things, so what. Both parties are in the business of growing government out of control.
If you are pinning your hopes on the Republicans for shrinking government and look to the Romney/Ryan ticket to do anything about this....think again. Foreign policy by the same group who brought you two unpaid wars in the middle east. And their answer to the economy? Double down on the crap that drove the car in the ditch the last time.
I certainly don't trust O, but would I trust two rich white guys with the keys to the national car again? Nope.....
Nate Silver:
'On Tuesday, polls conducted by the firm Rasmussen Reports — which released more than 100 surveys in the final three weeks of the campaign, including some commissioned under a subsidiary on behalf of Fox News — badly missed the margin in many states, and also exhibited a considerable bias toward Republican candidates.'
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/rasmussen-polls-were...
Please discuss the President's statement that he will end the war(s) and use that money to lower the deficit. How can he do that when the money to fund the war has been borrowed? Also, G. Soros's $500,000 donation to Dem PAC's. And, Howard Fineman's article in HuffPost admitting that the President hasn't been questioned as closely as has Romney. Thank you!
Teece Bowman wrote: "Republicans are responsible for larger deficits than Democrats"
2/3 of the federal budget goes to for the most part democrat party enacted entitlements, and republicans are more responsible? If you are referring to the Bush "middle class tax cuts" they have had little impact on long term entitlement costs. Now we have the biggest government democrat party entitlement program in the history of the world coming on line (Obamacare), unless something is done fast look for real trouble very soon.
Re Teece Bowman's comment: "White guys"? What a way to discuss important matters. Discouraging.
According to Politico, "Rasmussen’s final poll of the 2008 general election — showing Obama defeating Arizona Sen. John McCain 52 percent to 46 percent — closely mirrored the election’s outcome."[38] In reference to the 2008 presidential election, a Talking Points Memo article said, "Rasmussen's final polls had Obama ahead 52%-46%, which was nearly identical to Obama's final margin of 53%-46%, and made him one of the most accurate pollsters out there."[39] An initial Nov.5, 2008 Fordham University analysis ranked 23 survey research organizations on the accuracy of their final, national pre-election polls, assuming a 6.15% margin of victory by Obama. Rasmussen Reports and Pew Research Center tied as the most accurate.[
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasmussen_Reports
Has a Presidential debate other than Kennedy Nixon ever turned an election?
Please address the Republicans nationwide efforts to disenfranchise voters. Democracy Now reported this week that close to 10 million hispanic voters could be disenfranchised.
Please address the Republicans nationwide efforts to disenfranchise voters. Democracy Now reported this week that close to 10 million hispanic voters could be disenfranchised.
Well they are two guys....and they are white. What's your point?
It seems to me that the Citizens United decisions are backfiring on the Republicans. Unlimited contributions has allowed an few mega-billionaires to take control of the Republican message. That message does not resonate with most people.
Robert the caller is right. He, and every other voter, needs to IGNORE everything he hears and believe only what he SEES Obama doing.
The recent Al Qaida assassination in Libya which it is now clear the Administration lied about (the perptrators were known within 24 hours) is just the most recent example. If you listen to what they say, you would still think the video caused all that. If you listen to what they say, you would think the economy is recovering. If you watch what they DO, you will vote for Mitt Romney and end the slide of America into the dustbin of history.
Re Teecee Bowman's note: "I certainly don't trust O, but would I trust two rich white guys with the keys to the national car again? Nope....." My point is that your comment describes the Republican candidates as quoted above.My question is how does the emphasis on their race further the discussion?
woodgm wrote:
"Has a Presidential debate other than Kennedy Nixon ever turned an election?"
You are either young or were asleep during the 1980 election.
This cycle is EXACTLY like 1980. Economy a mess, middle east burning, and nothing but incompetence in the Oval Office. Next Friday's show after the first debate is going to be interesting. Every point Obama tries to make will be blown out of proportion. Every haymaker Romney lands will be minimized. But the American aren't stupid.
Everything old is new again - it's 1980 all over again.
Teece Bowman wrote:
Well they are two guys....and they are white. What's your point?
What is the point of bringing up their skin color?
By the way explain "unpaid for wars" you mean they were added to the deficit like every other unpaid for federal government expense, i.e. entitlements.
This show is like one big taxpayer financed commercial for our Dear Leader. It's not a very clever masquerade. Cutting financing for this nonsense should be at the top of the Republican's list.
I believe that the American people are exhausted from the obstructionist, non-inclusive views of the Republican party. Maybe the polls show more Democratic leaning because the electorate has evolved. The "big tent" does not exist within the Republican party.
shakazulu - I agree with you! And to hear the commentator say that he can not see how anyone could conclude that the "media" is biased towards the President is just more evidence of their blindness. I'll mention Howard Fineman's article in HuffPost.
S. Brown is not trying to "undermine" her credentials - she is not legally qualified to practice law in MA! That's not undermining, that's a fact.
S. Brown is not trying to "undermine" her credentials - she is not legally qualified to practice law in MA! That's not undermining, that's a fact.
Jim Gamble wrote:
"Mitt Romney's leaked video is just the latest in a string of catastrophic hits the GOP has sustained as we enter the final stretch. Are the Republicans ignoring the warning signs of another wave election?"
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The video was not "leaked." It was illegally recorded and then edited for maximum effect by Mother Jones' David Corn. In actuality, the supposedly damaging video only impacted Romney's polling numbers by 1 percentage point. Wow!
woodgm wrote:
"Has a Presidential debate other than Kennedy Nixon ever turned an election?"
-------------------
Careful. Those who listened to that debate on radio overwhelmingly thought Nixon won, while those watching the debate on TV thought JFK won. But what turned the 1960 election was papa Joe Kennedy buying votes in Illinois.