Michele Davis and Hank Paulson in 2008.
When it comes to Mitt Romney's controversial private sector background, there's widespread disagreement about the potency and efficacy of Democratic criticism. The polls have been pretty steady for months, and for every pundit who says Bain Capital attacks are making a difference, there's another to say the opposite.
But we can now say with certainty that Romney and his campaign team are convinced the criticisms matter a great deal. How do we know for sure? Because Romney just hired a lobbyist specifically to help address his Bain problem.
Michele Davis, a former top aide to Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, has told colleagues that she will join the Romney campaign to lead a vigorous effort to defend his career in the private sector, a source told BuzzFeed Wednesday.
Davis is currently a partner at the Brunswick Group in Washington, D.C., a corporate public relations and strategy firm.... Davis brings experience of navigating the highest levels of government and media, and a reputation as one of the most capable hands at the intersection of finance, government, and the press. She was on Capitol Hill for the drafting of the Contract with America, and was a trusted adviser at Treasury: New York Magazine described her in 2008 as Paulson's "right-hand woman."
It's hard to say whether Davis will help Romney's defense or not -- there are only so many ways to spin a story of a guy who got rich laying off American workers -- but it's worth noting that Davis was a Fannie Mae lobbyist before she joined Paulson's team at the Treasury Department.
Earlier this year, Romney blasted Newt Gingrich for having been a Fannie Mae lobbyist. Perhaps the Republican candidate has reconsidered whether "influence peddling" for the mortgage giant is really scandalous after all.
As for the political salience, if the Bain criticisms weren't taking a toll on Romney's standing, he wouldn't have hired a staffer like Davis to rescue him.
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WOW!
Now explain to me how TARP is viewed again....
ROTFL!
No really this is STUPID!
She's a mercenary that has doesn't care which side she works for. Completely amoral, just like her new boss.
You mean you guys are not impressed with the billion $ banking tv commercial campaigns from the last 2 years ? With fuzzy puppies and nice people telling everyone how wells fargo helped make their life better?
They are openly hostile to American workers , and our constitutional gov , then THEY SCREAM class warfare , and finance lies about obama , who at least tries to help the working class , P R reps indeed , Orwellian propagandist would fit better
The heck with Bain crap. We don't care. Bain crap isn't going to improve the lagging economy nor make the jobless rate decline. Tallk about Obama's FAILED economic plan which has been a disaster!
You want an off topic, then................
Let's hear about heroric people, Like Fr Frank Pavone:
WASHINGTON, DC (Priests for Life) - The following message from Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, was released on August 1, 2012:
Dear Friends,
The unjust and unconstitutional HHS mandate, against which Priests for Life and 57 other plaintiffs have sued the federal government, takes effect today, August 1, 2012. We at Priests for Life do not qualify for the year that the government has offered certain groups to 'adapt' to the mandate. And we are not 'religious' enough for this Administration.
But regardless of all that, we do not adapt to injustice; we oppose it.
Therefore today, on behalf of our organization and on behalf of myself personally, I announce our conscientious objection to this mandate.
Priests for Life has the highest respect for civil government and advocates the observance of all just laws. But this policy is unjust, and today I reaffirm our intention to disobey it.
I have issued the following memo this morning at 12:01am to all our employees, consultants and prospective employees:
August 1, 2012
Dear Priests for Life Staff and Consultants,
The HHS mandate, about which we have been educating people since January and against which we have launched a federal lawsuit, goes into effect for Priests for Life today.
Whether or not the government decides to eventually impose fines on us when our health insurance policy is renewed in a few months is not the issue. The issue is that as of today, as far as the government is concerned, we have to provide health insurance coverage for practices that are morally objectionable.
In order to avoid the slightest semblance of scandal, or compromise of our principles, and lest any employee should imagine that we would ever consent to provide coverage for actions that destroy human life, I want to make it clear to you today that we will disobey this mandate.
Neither Priests for Life as an organization, nor any one of our administrative team or Board of Directors, nor I personally, consent to provide, pay for, advocate, counsel, refer, or in any way tolerate or cooperate with any process, plan, exchange of money or services, or any other activity that would enable a person to engage in the use of abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, or sterilization.
We reaffirm that our mission is precisely to eliminate abortion in every form, and we reaffirm our trust in you that you share that mission and are likewise offended by this mandate. We will therefore stand together in resisting it, and in our confidence that we will prevail, by persevering in prayer and action, in our lawsuit.
Thank you
Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director
Having officially communicated this memo to our staff, I likewise invite all our supporters across the county and around the world to stand with us, and let their voices be heard by joining our Citizens' Amicus Brief and by doubling their commitment to help our many initiatives succeed, especially those related to fostering the political responsibility of citizens.
Sincerely,
Fr. Frank Pavone
(The man Maddow FEARS to debate about the HHS Mandate)
Since you've chosen to go there, I'll go right along with you. Please tell me exactly why you people choose to force women to bear children yet find it alright that once those little darlings come into the world it's alright that their parents cannot afford to feed them? Please explain why you people are have no problem targeting Medicare & Social Security for cuts, yet are so not opposed to cutting defense spending for these needless wars? Please explain why you are not marching in front of the NRA demanding that they stop lobbying against sensible gun control? Please explain why in your efforts to "promote life" you people see not the hungry, ill-educated children that are already here?
Could it be that your lies regarding "life" only extend to my uterus and has nothing to do with the lives of people already born?
This snark is to long.
Fr. Frank Pavone is not a man who listens...
The heck with Bain crap. We don't care. Bain crap isn't going to improve the lagging economy nor make the jobless rate decline. Tallk about Obama's FAILED economic plan which has been a disaster!
You want an off topic, then................
Let's hear about heroric people, Like Fr Frank Pavone:
WASHINGTON, DC (Priests for Life) - The following message from Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, was released on August 1, 2012:
Dear Friends,
The unjust and unconstitutional HHS mandate, against which Priests for Life and 57 other plaintiffs have sued the federal government, takes effect today, August 1, 2012. We at Priests for Life do not qualify for the year that the government has offered certain groups to 'adapt' to the mandate. And we are not 'religious' enough for this Administration.
But regardless of all that, we do not adapt to injustice; we oppose it.
Therefore today, on behalf of our organization and on behalf of myself personally, I announce our conscientious objection to this mandate.
Priests for Life has the highest respect for civil government and advocates the observance of all just laws. But this policy is unjust, and today I reaffirm our intention to disobey it.
I have issued the following memo this morning at 12:01am to all our employees, consultants and prospective employees:
August 1, 2012
Dear Priests for Life Staff and Consultants,
The HHS mandate, about which we have been educating people since January and against which we have launched a federal lawsuit, goes into effect for Priests for Life today.
Whether or not the government decides to eventually impose fines on us when our health insurance policy is renewed in a few months is not the issue. The issue is that as of today, as far as the government is concerned, we have to provide health insurance coverage for practices that are morally objectionable.
In order to avoid the slightest semblance of scandal, or compromise of our principles, and lest any employee should imagine that we would ever consent to provide coverage for actions that destroy human life, I want to make it clear to you today that we will disobey this mandate.
Neither Priests for Life as an organization, nor any one of our administrative team or Board of Directors, nor I personally, consent to provide, pay for, advocate, counsel, refer, or in any way tolerate or cooperate with any process, plan, exchange of money or services, or any other activity that would enable a person to engage in the use of abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, or sterilization.
We reaffirm that our mission is precisely to eliminate abortion in every form, and we reaffirm our trust in you that you share that mission and are likewise offended by this mandate. We will therefore stand together in resisting it, and in our confidence that we will prevail, by persevering in prayer and action, in our lawsuit.
Thank you
Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director
Having officially communicated this memo to our staff, I likewise invite all our supporters across the county and around the world to stand with us, and let their voices be heard by joining our Citizens' Amicus Brief and by doubling their commitment to help our many initiatives succeed, especially those related to fostering the political responsibility of citizens.
Sincerely,
Fr. Frank Pavone
(The man Maddow FEARS to debate about the HHS Mandate)
I think if Fr. Pavone disapproves of contraception he shouldn't use it, and if he disapproves of abortions, he shouldn't have one.
Plus, I'm not interested in anything the church has to say on public policy until they start paying taxes.
I did not realize you are in the Prelate class.
As a priest, you perhaps should examine the actual tenets of your faith, and learn the Knowledge (Gnosis) then practice that discipline, otherwise when you reach threshold at your very last breath (Breath: 3rd technique of Knowledge) you will have missed the reason for being alive plus very likely your time spent leading people's beliefs has been counter to the work of the living master.
Bad father, bad father...
How is the refutation of someone elses choices denying religious freedom to you?
Pat is a fake priest , just like most of the gop are fake americans , they imagine they live in a christian dictatorship , with a rewriten constitution and conservative jesus as the fore father
hmmm, so this woman will have to figure out when Romney was "really" at Bain and when he was at the Olympics? that should fun. Which version shall she do with!
oh and what hilariousness from "Father Pavone". Hi, there Irishpat, nice ot see a little false witnessing from a "good Christian". Tell me how getting jobs back on the positive side is a "disaster". Go oh, I'll wait for you. Heck, if Rachel won't debate you then I volunteer, you pretentious sad little man. It's so cute to watch you prate about religious freedom when you don't give a damn about the religious freedom of others. Such a lovely hypocrite.
Not about me at all velkyn. Its about the HHS mandate and Religious Freedom. Let Maddow the phoney debate Fr Pavone. Keep on subject, it isn't about me I could care less about your personal attacks.
You are right, this is the greatest economic BOOM we have ever seen. Happy Days are here again! 2012 The year of the Best economy on record ever!! Yipee
It's interesting how the religious zealots always yell about "religious freedom" or "freedom of religion" when this country was actually founded on the principle of Freedom FROM religious persecution - ya know - that's when one thinks that his religion should be forced on everyone else!
We have "freedom of religion" because zealots are NOT free to force it on everyone else.
Now, on topic, it will be interesting just how this woman can spin the bane of Romney's campaign. But other than that, I'm not really interested in what she has to say.
Irish Pat - it's curious to me you seem to think conservatives have a shred of credibility to complain about the economy. It's solely because of actions taken by the Obama administration and the-then Democratically-controlled House and Senate that the economic collapse brought about by GOP policies has been halted and turned around.
Republicans have done absolutely nothing constructive towards repairing the damage their policies caused. Conservative governors have slashed public sector jobs in their states and refused/diverted federal funding meant for job-creation for their constituents. Congressional Republicans have cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars with their repeated efforts to stall the economy by trying to shut down the government and by trying to make the US default on paying its bills. Conservatives right now are blocking job-creation legislation that could create in the neighborhood of 1,000,000 jobs and lower the unemployment rate by a full percentage point. And the (1) jobs bill they did pass? Moody's analysis is that might actually cause another recession.
Even if we take conservative complaints at face value, Romney is not the answer. He is planning to double down on the policies that brought the country to the brink in 2008. He has horrible judgement and has been dead wrong on everything. So, it makes no sense to first blame Obama for conservatives deliberatly stalling the economic recovery, and then secondly, to point to Romney as the answer. None at all.
Joepack I do believe the wording is "The free exercise OF religion". The "From" exists to prohibit Congress or The Governement from establishing a religion (like Henry the VII did). You are welome for your daily history lesson.
The First Amendment addresses the rights of freedom of religion (prohibiting Congress from establishing a religion and protecting the right to free exercise of religion), freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of petition.
June today seems no different than any other as concerns msnbc viewers such as you. I could hear the exact same speal from Debbie Wassemann Schultz, you are all so exact with the "party line" defiinition of the historical and present day selective review and analysis of the economy.
If this is Congress's fault then so too were Bush's failings the fault of a democrat led congress & senate when he was in office. That's YOUR equation in action.
Obama had 2 years of all majorities in both houses and he FAILED. If the Obama enonmy is so great then why are we at 1.5 GDP? Higher unemployment again, everyone on the hill is begging Bernacke for another "stimulus" and all Obama can come up with is more green jobs which have already failed to bankruptcy levels. Hey, BTW, where are ALL those shovel ready jobs Obama promised?
I need only go downtown to see the affcets. Nobody at the local retail stores, nobody even at Wal Mart. The grocery store parking lots are baren except on weekends and there are NO jobs available. My personal income taxes went WAY up this past year. My health insurance rate sky rocketed and my deductable went from $100.00 to $1000.00 after Obama Care. That's in NH. Now tell me how wonderful and rosey a picture there is in YOUR hometown. Business booming?
NO The Obama plan has FAILED. Anybody could do better, heck even Jimmy Carter would be better in a second term than Obama. And Carter was gawd awful.
Which rbings us to gas prices. How are they doing in YOUR area? Going down? NO. They are on the rise again along with an inflation rate that is ever cusping towards a real viable problem.
So go ahead, tell me how great Obama has done with the economy. You sound like one of those robotic writ & verse voices on msnbc telling everyone the Wassermann Schultz line item democratic party line spokesperson's chorus. If the stock market crashed tomorrow Wassermann Schultz and msnbc would say "Yes, 43 straight months of economic growth etc etc etc Happy Days are here again! ........bull crap. Obama has failed.
This how freakin stupid these people are , the house did not go dem till 2006 you moron , then the senate was 50/50 with the usual conservadems , this is what you get for listening to fat head rush all day
aw, IrishPat, can't accept my offer of debating your dear "father"? I expected as much. So much for showing who's really scared, Father Pavone. God got your tongue? I am quite happy with my words about you. Seems that you can't show evidence why you thing I'm wrong about those either. Again, dear "true Christian" where is the evidence of this economic disaster you claimed? Ah, yes, no where to be found, but you are too much of a coward to admit that. It seems that you dont' actually beleive in this god of yours. Such lies and false witnesses, even given a chance to support yourself, and you keep on, putting your mortal soul in danger. I guess you've not read Romans 3, where it says your god hates lies and liars, especially those who think they are doing it for this god.
Poor thing, keep going on with having no evidence only ranting about things you can't prove. Keep going, IrishPat, you are a lovely example that religion makes no one good, but it can make them quite an idiot. It also seems to make them unable to understand how Congress works and dear, it's not by a simple majority.
Again, how is reversing job loss a "failure". Exact reasons please, not baseless claims on how "empty" parking lots are when I can claim the exact opposite and if you'd like take pictures here in PA. And Hmmm, gas prices? Well, dear the president doesn't control those. Corporations who are supporting Republicans do. Please do pay attention. Same with your lies about how Obama is responsible for your health insurance deductible, no, dear, insurance companies raise them not the gov't. Oh and show how "green jobs" have failed and how that's the "only" thing Obama has. You see, Father, people want facts, not baseless claims. I know how you could be confused becuase your religion has none of those facts supporting it either.
This is an interesting article about Romney's chances in the election. It has a nice summary of taxation under Reagan, Clinton and Gingrich. And, as you already know, Romney = Bush.
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/01/11/rino-romney-is-the-least-elect/
Puhlese, if Rawmoney has hired a PR firm to "help his image" (spread more lies) - then please know he's very afraid....
Well . . . when your lies aren't working, it's time to hire a professional.
The issue, seen on the TV tubes and been in discussion is that the electorate feels (still) that taxing the Wall Streeters and generally the 1% investor class, is supported somewhere along the lines of 67% and up, no matter the politics.
This has been and is still the case, static in polling, the writing is on the wall and hiring a lobbyists to shape debate, PR drops, will itself be attached to the GOP nominees ankle like one more ball and chain.
Note to the prelate PR team offended by 8/1/12, when faith requires belief to supersede understanding, then the reasons to support the various churches fails, and agreed as well above, if an faith wants political power beyond that of the Jesuit cabal already installed on the SCOTUS bench, then pay taxes and hire lobbyists too.
Otherwise, moralist hew and cry from non taxpayer but immeasurably funded groups such as religions run by men, are false equivalency. Just 'sayin.
For the most part, an empty PR campaign that's too slick will be seen from a mile away. Unlike the Obama ads - heavily and professionally produced with a lot of polish to them, but they have substance and heart, at their root.
As someone fascinated by marketing, both successful and failed, and where modern campaigns really are just marketing campaigns with some politics in them...I'm looking forward to either an extremely creative approach, but most likely, a failed Madison-Avenue-like attempt to polish a turd.
No, I bet she's gonna hit very very hard. And the usual crowd of I-Believe-Anything-a-Republican-Tells-Me will be handed a whole new arsenal of nasty sound bites to justify voting for this
cretinannointed pillar of It's Our Turn.And we will get every one of those sound bites repeatedly on this site from the usual suspects.