Within about 12 hours of last week's debate, both the Obama and Romney campaigns released new TV ads, both on tax policy. The president's ad noted his challenger's misleading rhetoric on the size of Romney's proposed $5 trillion tax cut.
Romney's ad pushed a very different message.
At a certain level, this is the latest in Romney's "I'm rubber and you're glue" strategy. Obama says Republicans will kill Medicare, so Romney says Democrats will kill Medicare. Obama says Republicans are waging a war on women, so Romney says Democrats are waging a war on women. Obama says Romney is keeping policy details secret until after the election, so Romney says Obama is keeping policy details secret until after the election.
And Obama says Romney's plan would lead to middle-class tax increases, so Romney launches an ad saying Obama's plan would lead to middle-class tax increases. The GOP campaign desperately wants to muddy the waters so that voters who care about key issues assume the candidates are essentially the same, or at least equally offensive.
But this particular ad is more glaring than most. It touts an "independent, non-partisan study" which concludes that "Barack Obama and the liberals" will raise taxes on the middle class by $4,000 per family.
And what's wrong with that? First, as my friend Allen McDuffee reported, the "independent, non-partisan study" is actually an analysis -- not a study -- by the American Enterprise Institute's Alex Brill. Is AEI non-partisan? As a technical, legal matter it is, but "ideologically, one would be hard-pressed to find somebody at AEI who didn't identify themselves as conservative."
Second, the AEI analysis is itself dubious.
Brill came up with the figure by projecting the cost in tax revenue of servicing the debt incurred under Obama's budget. But to characterize that as proof of a tax increase is ridiculous, and the Romney ad wildly inflated the figures anyway.
And finally, far from being "independent" and "non-partisan," AEI scholars are actually Romney campaign advisers, which makes claims of independence that much sillier.
Those who see the attack ad won't know these relevant details, but they should.
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Post-truth politics at it's worst.
Stephen Colbert (the character) is mighty proud; Orwell just shakes his head and mutters "I told you so"
Yup -- the liberal media just lets the Republicans lie themselves to office....
In breaking news, Romney campaign continues to lie out its ass.
In other important news, sun continues to rise in the east.
far from being "independent" and "non-partisan," AEI scholars are actually Romney campaign advisers
Enough said. Touting conclusions developed by Romney's campaign advisers as "independent" is itself a lie, and more of the same from the man who will say and do anything to get elected.
An organization is only "independent" and "non-partisan" if it agrees with Republicans. If one agrees with Democrats or liberals, it's clearly biased and may be disregarded.
Got to keep that bubble intact...
After finally finding something that clarified where the $4,000 figure came from, it's a pretty lame number. On the other hand it denotes what the burden would be if we actually paid our debts. But the left isn't about repayment.
Why he isn't referencing taxmageddon, I don't know. The middle class is about to get smacked. The 47% is about to shrink. Clinton rates for everybody is here in January.
Oh well. Just remember how much prosperity was created by these tax rates. Heh.
I think everybody has to agree with cracked.com that fart pads are simply ridiculous:
The 5 Most Ridiculously Unnecessary Modern Inventions | Cracked.com
#4. Fart Pads
All too often, a good time is brought to its knees by an invisible cloud of someone's colonic stankery. According to the actual U.S. government, meaning they looked into it, the average person passes between one and four pints of gas a day. Which isn't an average at all and is a very ridiculous way to state something, but it's what we have to work with. But, for those interested, four pints is almost two liters, so you're looking at a big ass bottle of Coke floating out of your backside every day. You know, if you're a high average average. That's a lot of ass bilge.
While a chosen few amongst us see farts as an opportunity to grab a lighter and put on a show, or time it just right so that you're performing the hadouken motion just as it erupts, others find them embarrassing and uncouth. It was for these people that fart-absorbing butt pads were invented.
The basic idea behind something like the Flat-D Flatulence Deodorizer is that you jam it down the back of your gitch and force your subterranean kisses through it, thus robbing them of their potency. However, if you've ever appreciated the shape of your ass or have enjoyed the dynamics of a fart in a bathtub as you feel it barreling forth like a slippery little trooper against the rushing waves, you'll start to wonder just how effective a stationary ass maxi pad really can be.
It's like you shhit an actual brick.
In point of fact, they are not effective, as numerous reviews state. Maybe some of the dark wind blows through the filter and is neutralized, but like the dreary mist bringing forth horrors in that Stephen King movie, so too do your butt yawns tend to spread and encompass a vast swath of real estate. The only real way this idea could work would be if, instead of making it a pad for your underwear, it was more like a cigarette filter for your ass and you applied it directly to the hole, like some kind of deranged monocle right there at ground zero where nothing can escape, just looking out and getting fogged up every so often. But of course that's hardly practical and would likely require much more dexterous sphincter muscles than many of us have managed to develop.
And let's be honest, do you want to live in a world full of stink-free farts? Think before you answer and reflect on this little nugget -- remember that game from when you were a kid when some yahoo would suddenly lunge at you with fist raised and you'd flinch and they'd laugh and then hit you for real, only because you flinched, stating something like "Two for flinching"? And over time you developed this bizarre paranoia that any sudden movements were potentially from someone trying to trick or entrap you? And sometimes you'd get hit and other times not and you could never really trust what your brain was telling you was about to happen? That's what a fart pad does. You hear a fart and you're ready to react and then suddenly there's no stink. Well WTF!?!? So you start getting paranoid every time you hear a fart because you never know if it's going to stink or not and the only way to tell is to breathe in and by then it's too goddamn late because you either smell it or you don't. There's no safe way to play the game at all, it's Russian ass roulette. Well that's not cool, people.
"On the other hand it denotes what the burden would be if we actually paid our debts."
So you won't mind your taxes going up under Romney to enable further tax cuts for the wealthy & corporate? Huh, so much for that screed about "small government".....Gotta give it to you RWNJ's, you deny reality and just make crap up. Oh, btw - the reason that taxes will go up in January is because your side refused to be reasonable and compromise - remember WE lost our AAA credit rating because of GOTP tantrums in the House!
If you need good, fun ideas for a baby shower, here's some that will bring a smile to your face:
Dirty Diaper Popped Corn
by karen merrullo
(Gardner Ma U.S.)
Dirty Diaper Popped Corn
I like to use med sized disposable diapers, and fill them with popcorn.
I use gallon size storage bags, and fill some with extra buttered popcorn {very yellow} - and I fill others with caramel popcorn {yucky brownish color!}
I then wrap a diaper around each storage bag and place on the tables for the guests to snack on.
Maybe you can explain how romney and the gop plan on paying off the debt , while cutting everyones taxes by 20% ? But I doubt it
I know when I think about baby showers, I just have to have cookies and milk:
Dirty Diapers Baby Shower Cookies
by Angela
(Battleford Saskatchewan)
Dirty Diapers Baby Shower Cookies
1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
Mix the ingredients above in a large saucepan.
Bring to a boil.
Boil for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
Do not over boil or the sauce will harden.
Stir in
2 cups quick oats
1 cup coconut
Drop by spoonful onto waxed paper and allow to set.
When you are ready to serve,place cookies onto napkins which have been folded to resemble diapers.
Try to drop the cookies into various random shapes to create the look of authentic "poop".
Gross but delicious baby shower cookies!!!
"Clinton rates for everybody is here in January. Oh well. Just remember how much prosperity was created by these tax rates. Heh."
Yes. Let's look at how well the middle class did in the 1990's, compared to the Bush years.
Heh, indeed!
But when you're having so much fun at a baby shower, you just can't yuck it up on yummy Dirty Diaper desserts. You gotta get some substance in there. That's why I always thrill to the anticipation of
Dirty Diapers Recipe
by Tara
(Boise Idaho)
1 can of refrigerated crescent rolls
1 pound ground beef - turkey can also be used- crumbled & cooked
1/2 pkg of bacon- diced and fully cooked
1 pkg cream cheese
after cooking the ground beef and bacon, drain off excess oil, mix together in pan used to cook beef, add cream cheese to the meat mixture, thoroughly mix over low heat so cheese wil melt. Open can of crescent rolls- roll out and separate- fill each roll with 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of meat/cheese mixture. wrap like a diaper. place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake according to pkg directions for the crescent rolls.
serve warm - very easy to double up the recipe
Ummmmmmm...., yum, yum. Hard to beat that!
I think Disgusted is really the reincarnation of Man Ray.
May be. But if so, I have no recollection of such a past.
An independent, non partisan group of Catholic theologians recently met in Rome, and decided that yes indeed, Jesus DID walk on water!
Willard has cited "studies" that turned out to be Op-Eds from newspapers. Who is he trying to fool?
Willard = Never met a lie he didn't embrace.
Can you imagine what this man will tell the American people after he pushes the button to nuke Iran for the glory of Israel? Mitt Romney'll make Bush's lies about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction look like My Pet Goat vs. Dante's Inferno.
It's working for Romney, the dishonesty has him in the lead. His speech yesterday was filled with drivel and double-speak. It sucks how quickly Americans forget about the lies and jump on the bandwagon of a "winner". Of course the Town Hall and Foreign Policy debates won't give the same opportunity to distort as much, so all is not lost. Yet.
One hopes.
Dear Lebowsky,
It's not just that "Americans forget" - did you not realize the President is black, therefore "we just have to remove him from office" is the GOTP mindset!
Can someone tell me what the point of making people click through for two extra paragraphs is? Why bother to put in jumps near the end of a post? To get more page clicks? That's pathetic...
THis blog is for Rachel Maddow. Rachel on your show (10/08/2012), you were very negative towards Pres Obama and his campaign. Why would you give up on your party that you have spent years promoting over a single debate? The other problem with this show was you gave very conflicting information on voter IDs in Ohio. Nina Turner had just been on the Ed Show and her expertise and information cannot be disputed. However, you gave very conflicting information and for that you should be ashamed or do a retraction. You were very confusing to Ohio voters.
Get a grip. MSNBC is not Fox, it's an actual news network with fact-based commentary. The Rachel Maddow Show does not exist to just to promote the Democratic Party no matter what. Rachel obviously is a liberal and her commentary and choice of stories reflect that, but I think most of us watch the show for intelligent and insightful reporting and analysis, not mindless partisanship. Likewise, on the Ohio voter ID issue, if you have a problem with the story, say what it is, don't just demand that no one contradict one particular expert.
If you want liberal commentary that never challenges what you want to believe, the way Fox does for conservatives, there are outlets for that. This isn't one of them.
Most independent voters have the attention span of a gnat and those coveted gnat intellectual qualities may very well elect the next Republican president.
There's already an ad out that attacks the AEI study -- can't remember who paid for the ad, but I've seen it at least a couple of times already.
Is it blanketing the same areas the Mitt ad has fib-bombed?
It is here in Iowa.
It's an Obama ad -- here it is: http://OFA.BO/KT5fE1
Thanks for the link...
Based on an independent study of troll-posts on this blog I have concluded, Romney is so godlike that his lies will lead to milk and honey for all the poor, and the white race will rise through its own intentional ignorance to lead us into a peaceful world held under our threat of complete destruction if they do not obey. 2. Women will benefit from being slapped around and forced to submit to their husbands and legislators because god told the GOP this in the same memo that said the victims of priestly rape were all asking for it.
Not sure how the party that has disavowed facts and science in lieu of maintaining the sanctity of their personal beliefs is expected to be cognizant of how dishonest their nominee's intended ascension to the Oval Office has become.
Next, we'll be getting Ann Romney's "independent non-partisan" evaluation of Mitt's policy statements.
Those who still accept anything Romney says as being true won't care if AEI is truly independent. They also would say that by telling us this you are somehow showing liberal bias.
Yes, Team Romney is counting on the 19% built in racialyl-minded vote combined with the 19% unassuming vote and the other 15% non-racially-minded base Repubicans to take a national election 53% - 47%, victory in November.
Oh, the irony laid on the backs of the 47% Mitt Romney condemns in his sleep! -Kevo
Missing the point people...to many voters the election is entertainment and the winner is the one who puts on the best show.
If no one anticipates it, Romney may propose full equality by the elimination all vestiges of Affirmative Action. Done to create a just and color blind America, of course. In the 3rd. debate maybe? Makes for a great show with Pres. Obama on stage.