Boston.com: In 2009, as Rep. Paul D. Ryan was railing against President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package as a “wasteful spending spree,” he wrote at least four letters to Obama’s secretary of energy asking that millions of dollars from the program be granted to a pair of Wisconsin conservation groups, according to documents obtained by the Globe.
The advocacy appeared to pay off; both groups were awarded the economic recovery funds — one receiving a $20 million grant to help thousands of local businesses and homes improve their energy efficiency, agency documents show.
Ryan’s letters to the energy secretary praising the energy initiatives as he sought a portion of the funding are in sharp contrast to the House Budget Committee chairman’s image as a Tea Party favorite adamantly opposed to federal spending on such programs.
More here
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Boston.com: After seeking millions of dollars from a federal stimulus program he opposed on grounds it would not help the economy, Republican vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan then appeared on a Boston talk radio program and denied he lobbied the Obama administration for the home state aid.
On October 28, 2010, after the Wisconsin Republican penned at least five letters to two federal departments seeking grants under the Obama administration’s economic recovery package, Ryan responded to a caller on WBZ’s Nightside with Dan Rea who asked if he sought any of the money. Ryan said that he would not vote against something “then write to the government to ask them to send us money.”
“I did not request any stimulus money,” he continued.
In response to a request from the Boston Globe, the CBS affiliate replayed the audio for a reporter on Thursday.
Ryan’s campaign spokesman, Brendan Buck, did not immediately respond to a request for comment….
More here
The Obama Diary 
Turing in two new voter registration forms today! GOTV
Congrats, proud, on #1.
Great that you’re part of the solution, and encouraging people to vote.
Thank you. I don’t hold events…I do it at work, the store where ever. Again, all I ask is are you registered to vote. I never have to work at it…it just comes out. I carry my clipboard with me where ever I go.
Terrific, proud. Every single registration is a huge step forward!
When will these nitwits learn that all one has to do is “Google” and all their crap pops up?
They don’t care because the media rarely holds them accountable for more than a moment for their lies. He brushes this off and moves on to bash the President. You’ll see very little else by the media on this stuff. They have so much info that they could be hammering R&R on but if the campaign doesn’t do it this media for the most part won’t. This is why Chuck Todd’s interview with that Gov yesterday was so great to see. That should be the norm but it is mostly the exception and that’s a sad statement.
I guess we’ll take what we can get when we get it.
This Presidential race shouldn’t even be close. Our President would be blowing these nuts out of the water if our media was legitimate.
OUR CHALLENGE IS TO CREATE A “FIREWALL OF TRUTH”
// begin rant
Exactly, if the mainstream media was focusing on providing the facts to the American people, there would be a “firewall of truth” that would neutralize all of the lies, distortions, and deceptive ads coming from Romney and the Republican Party. The American people would be well armed to reject the misinformation. But sadly, the mainstream media has abdicated his responsibility to educate and inform the public with the facts. So we have too many Americans who are totally defenseless when it comes to deciphering the facts from the GOP bullshale. All we get are sheep regurgitating what the other guy wrote. Followed by the obsession with both sides do it. And cowards who can’t call a lie a lie because it might hurt someone’s feelings. And we can’t forget the ever popular selective outrage. Mitt Romney lies with his first ad and continues lying every day since then. But the media is outraged that Vice President Biden dared to say the word “chains”. I don’t know how some these folks can look at themselves in the mirror. It’s disgraceful and an insult to their profession of journalism.
// end rant
THIS^^^^ Is A Righteous Rant!
Thank you Ladyhawke for summing up my feeling explicitly
I doubt that. The media could do their job 100% and you’d still have a huge chunk of the electorate convinced it’s all a liberal conspiracy and vote against their best interest.
“This Presidential race shouldn’t even be close. Our President would be blowing these nuts out of the water if our media was legitimate.”
You said the absolute truth, Donna!
Someday you’ll see the Rmoney and Ryan twins under the word LIAR in the dictionary. Hypocrite will have a full page photo spread of the RR twins. Children will grow up accusing each of of romneying and playground shouts will include: Ryan, ryan, pants a fryin’.
Just so they know, we know ….
And, thank you Chips for posting the “One More Term” video earlier today.
#PRESSON
Thank you for the great investigative work Chips. Paul Ryan is slowly ruing the day he decided to accept Mitt’s offer of running mate.
ROMNEY AND RYAN ARE LIKE TWO PEAS IN A POD. THEY ARE BOTH CONSUMMATE LIARS. THEY WERE MADE FOR EACH OTHER. WHAT A TEAM?
A nautical term for this weasel is: lower than WhiskeyHotelAlphaLimaEcho SierraHotelIndiaTango!
And don’t forget Willard’s wife. By her admission he relys on her for everything.
I don’t know if this has been posted already but here is another Republican determined to lie even when called out on it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=978J6kmoOaQ
Only Mitt Romney would go on a white board to talk about Medicare and end up making headlines about his Taxes. #whatsMittHiding. PROVE IT BASTARD that you paid any taxes
SHAME ON YOU GREY LADY
How The New York Times Perpetuates Falsehood That Obama Is Gutting Medicare
By MELODY JOHNSON (Media Matters)
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A New York Times article failed to report the truth behind Mitt Romney’s and Paul Ryan’s false claim that President Obama has stolen $716 billion from Medicare.
The Times reported that a Romney ad claimed that “Obama has cut $716 billion from Medicare.” While the article included a statement from Obama contesting Romney’s charge, it included no attempt to ascertain whether Romney’s charge was true or false.
The truth is Obama’s Affordable Care Act included hundreds of billions of dollars of Medicare savings, but those savings are actually reductions to future growth in Medicare, not cuts in current spending levels. And those savings do not cut any Medicare benefits.
But none of these facts made it into the Times article:
.
.
By contrast, the Associated Press and Los Angeles Times both informed their readers that the Romney-Ryan claims are completely untrue.
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http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/08/16/how-the-new-york-times-perpetuates-falsehood-th/189394
😀 😀 😀
Ok, this hilarious. Over on Andrew Sullivan’s blog they have been dissecting Romney’s humanoid laugh. This comment cracked me up:
“I always think of this scene from Anchorman when I see Romney’s “laugh” (starts around 0:33). I imagine him going through the steps in his head … “Ok, someone made a joke and people are starting to laugh. Time to smile and chuckle. Keep going, they’re still laughing. Ok, they’re slowing down, let’s bring it down a notch. Are we done yet? Ok, it’s dying down. Reduce it to just the smile. Ok it’s over, back to the script. Really great job Mitt, you’re a winner.”
The Anchrorman clip:
Mitt Romney Promise To Reverse Medicare Cuts Would Cause Trust Fund To Go Insolvent Earlier
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/16/mitt-romney-medicare-cuts_n_1788517.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
Whiteboard Face Off: ThinkProgress Takes On Romney’s Medicare Madness
http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/08/16/699791/the-real-white-board-the-differences-between-obama-and-romney-on-medicare/
Mitt Romney offered a white board presentation during a news briefing in South Carolina on Thursday morning that sought to untangle the campaign’s contradictory message about Medicare. Over the last week, Romney and Ryan have twisted themselves into a pretzel to attack President Obama for “stealing” $716 billion from Medicare, while trying to explain why Paul Ryan included the savings in his FY 2013 budget. Romney had previously pledged to sign the document into law.
During the presentation, Romney tried to lay out the differences. Obama takes the money out of seniors’ Medicare Advantage plans and cuts payments to providers, causing some to lose his coverage, he argued. The program’s trust fund would go bankrupt by 2024, under Obama, and seniors would lose access to the care they need. His plan, alternatively, would preserve the program for current retirees and keep it solvent indefinitely.
ThinkProgress explains why this is wrong:
The Obamacare savings slow the growth of Medicare over the next decade by, in part: eliminating overpayments to private insurers in Medicare Advantage, reforming provider payments to encourage greater efficiency, tying reimbursements to improvements in economic productivity, and reducing fraud and abuse. The law does not impact patient benefits.
As a result of these savings, “growth in spending will be restrained” and the life of the Medicare trust fund is expanded by eight years, the government estimates. Sixteen million seniors are also benefiting from the savings by receiving preventive benefits without deductibles or co-pays and saving more than $3.9 billion on prescription drugs.
Should Romney restore the $716 billion — and unless he institutes other yet to be specified reforms — we would move back to the old system of overpaying private insurers and providers. He’d be re-inserting inefficiency back into the system, jeopardizing the benefits that seniors are currently enjoying, and shrinking the solvency of the Medicare trust fund from 2024 under current law to 2016.
That was terrific. Short, sweet and to the point.
It also allows the Medicos to practice proactive medicine instead of defensively operating.
Joe Biden’s propensity for making unpredictable remarks and gaffes had his team going to extreme lengths to ensure positive coverage of the vice president, Politico reported on Thursday.
On Biden’s most recent trip, Politico reported that campaign aides kept the press on a short leash during Biden’s tour of Virginia. As somewhat expected, reporters were shuffled out of some stops, and aides almost stopped Biden from delivering his emotional response at the Virginia Tech shooting memorial.
Particularly eyebrow-raising, however, was how Biden aides attempted to influence pool reports, which are written by the journalists on the trail and then distributed to the press corp and media at large.
Politico’s Jonathan Martin reported that Biden aides tried to edit pool reports twice on the trip.
“His staff sought to have certain elements in the reports highlighted while reporters drafted them and discussed the contents with the reporters after the summaries had been sent but before they had before sent to the broader media,” he wrote. Martin called this development “all but unheard of,” noting that reporters’ notes are usually distributed to the press without additional commentary.
Campaigns have also sought to influence coverage through quote approval, a controversial media practice of allowing political sources to edit their own quotes. The practice drew fire earlier this summer, prompting a number of organizations to speak out about it and even reconsider allowing their reporters to agree to it.
——
Why….why….why…..? This kind of stuff always leaks out…….Please stop it….
Linda, as you’re implying, this happens in ALL campaigns. Suffice to remember that Jonathan Martin and Politico are not the best at objective journalism.
I know….but so do the campaigns …so why do they even try to manipulate anything in the first place ?
Throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. The Obama/Biden ticket still doesn’t get the positive coverage it should be getting. I don’t blame them.
Does anyone other than me find it sooo doofus that the media et al have spent more than 3 days dissecting Joe’s speech. Every word doctor on the planet has something to say about a word and its meaning. Screw farm aid and the Dream Act. So the cost of food, and other commodities are going thru the roof, and who gives a shit about “them” anyway…..smh
especially when the folks who they are attempting to be outraged for could give a crap what VPOTUS said. Most want to know where in the heck are Mitt Romney’s tax returns.
Why anybody would think Politico is a legitimate news source is beyond me. And why is it I understand perfectly what Joe Biden was referencing to with the ‘chain’ comment but nobody else does? He was talking about Wall Street…period! This faux news just makes me SMDH.
Well said, Kari Hope!
Will someone please tweet this REAL-WORLD Medicare story all over creation?
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Found it here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021143182
“Guess what I got in the mail today?
My Medicare card, effective 12/01/12! Instead of making me feel old, I feel nothing but grateful. I’ll no longer have to pay $640 a month for insurance through BC/BS, I’ll be paying $99 a month.
I only hope Medicare will be there for my son and his wife when they reach my age, and for all other Americans, too. We can’t let Medicare and Social Security be gutted!”
Wonderful! In one year I will have my Medicare card. Romney/Ryan want to take it away from me, but Americans are not going to let that happen.
The media is so callow to say that PBO’s comment “he’s got something else on the roof” to R-money’s *vicious* *personal* attacks against PBO and Biden. And they’ve really dug in their heels against Priorities USA ad versus crickets on Kove/Koch/Adelson SuperPACs. I guess part of the reason is that PBO and Biden offer so little ammunition for the GOP to do the only thing they can do: sling mud.
WE KNEW THIS WAS COMING (PAUL RYAN AND HIS MOTHER ARE HEADED TO FLORIDA)
Paul Ryan taking Medicare battle to Florida retirement community over weekend
Posted by Felicia Sonmez
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WARREN, Ohio – How serious is the Romney campaign about seizing the offense in the Medicare battle?
The campaign is dispatching Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, to a Florida retirement community this weekend.
Ryan will headline a campaign event at 10 a.m. Saturday in The Villages, the sprawling retirement community frequented by GOP candidates, including by Romney during this year’s primary battle.
.
.
Ryan will be joined at the event by his mother, Betty Douglas, 80.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/post/paul-ryan-to-campaign-at-florida-retirement-community/2012/08/16/3a501fd6-e7cd-11e1-8487-64e4b2a79ba8_blog.html
His mother can’t cover up for the fact he wants to gut Medicare.
The Conservative candidates have been effectively using their mothers in ads to counter the impression that their plan is bad for Medicare recipients. It is working so Ryan is doing it too now. His poor mom probably does not know the difference and couldn’t believe he would do anything to harm others.
Romney makes his tax-return troubles worse
By Steve Benen
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The bad news is, his answer was horrible.
(VIDEO)
For those who can’t watch clips online:
“…I did go back and look at my taxes and over the past 10 years I never paid less than 13 percent. I think the most recent year is 13.6 or something like that. So I paid taxes every single year. Harry Reid’s charge is totally false. I’m sure waiting for Harry to put up who it was that told him what he says they told him. I don’t believe it for a minute, by the way. But every year I’ve paid at least 13 percent and if you add in addition the amount that goes to charity, why the number gets well above 20 percent.”
Let’s walk through the top five reasons this answer is woefully unacceptable.
1. Romney can prove this claim is accurate, and also prove that Reid is wrong, by releasing his tax returns (the tax returns he already turned over to John McCain). For reasons he can’t explain, Romney still refuses. Today’s response, at its root, comes down to, “trust me.”
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http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/16/13318306-romney-makes-his-tax-return-troubles-worse?lite
Besides what is mentioned above about Romney’s tax comments I wondered about his equating paying to charity was akin to paying 20% taxes as it is not considered that way by most people. Almost a dig at his church.
Oh, and if everyone else considered their tax charitable contributions in that way he would still be behind what others pay percentagewise.
The media is at fault here. All the media need to do is press Mitt Romney to prove that he paid 13% of federal income tax from 2000 to 2009. They can remind him of St. Ronnie Reagan’s favorite saying: “Trust but Verify!”
Too freaking ROMANTIC for words! I’m verklempt!!
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http://www.daylife.com/photo/03DefjF4Jr4kG?__site=daylife&q=obama
Here’s another angle…
http://www.daylife.com/photo/0giR6WN19aaIS?__site=daylife&q=obama
Chips these definitely oughta be feature photos!!!
That is sooooo cool and romantic!!! I read about it this morning but there wasn’t a picture. Thanks, Dudette
and another one… [SIGH!!]
http://www.daylife.com/photo/07cf5ZRbRc4ac?__site=daylife&q=obama
A 3,000-pound granite marker sits at the corner of Dorchester and 53rd Streets where President Barack Obama first kissed first lady Michele Obama Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012, in Chicago. The owners of a shopping center in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood installed the granite marker this week. The Obamas will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary this October.
Here’s the AP article:
Thanks for posting these pics! Love the plaque, makes me want to go to Chicago.
PBO will be in Denver for the first Presidential debate vs. R-money on his 20th wedding anniversary. But no doubt, he’ll make up for it with a spectacular family Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Speaking of conservation groups, only 2% of Canadians don’t believe in climate change, versus 15% of Americans (according to an online poll, which tend to skew younger, I think). The good news is that the percentage of Americans who don’t believe in climate change is down from 22% in March.
New post everyone:
http://theobamadiary.com/2012/08/16/hey-an-historical-site/
I’m sorry if this has been posted a bazillion times already this week…. it’s JUST SO AWESOME.