2012 above - 2008 below

The difference was North Carolina, Nebraska, Indiana and possibly Florida. President Obama held his ground. Some of the electoral college numbers are different, but, not enough to matter.

I understand Alan Grayson made a historic return to the US House.

Exactly.

Teacher Unions Rock!

...Bennett raised $1.3 million for the race, (click here) four times as much as his Democratic challenger, Glenda Ritz, a veteran teacher who relied mostly on union support. Bennett's donors included major education reform figures, such as Wal-Mart heir Alice Walton, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Los Angeles developer Eli Broad. He also had the advantage of running in a solidly red state, where Republicans up and down the ticket had strong showings.

Yet Ritz won 54 percent of the vote. She argued that Bennett had put too much emphasis on standardized test scores, which rose during his tenure, and vowed to give local schools more autonomy.

Bennett declined to comment.

The result "was definitely a surprise, no doubt about it," said Michael Petrilli, executive vice president at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which last year honored Indiana with the title of the "reformist" state in the nation because of Bennett's work.

"This was the most aggressive reform agenda in the country, and you might say that voters thought things were going too far, too fast," Petrilli said....

Speaker Boner does not have a mandate to oppose President Obama.

Boehner puts down cocktail to shake Koch's hand

Did I make that clear?

Let me write it again to be perfectly clear. Speaker Boner does not have a mandate to oppose President Obama.

Speaker Boner and his majority House is BOUGHT by the plutocrats. He needs to GET OVER It !!!!

What about this election does Boner not understand?

9:37 AM, November 7, 2012
Rep. Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party favorite (click here) who ran for the GOP presidential nomination, barely survived her toughest race yet, beating Democrat Jim Graves to earn her fourth term in the U.S. House....

Bachmann is out of there in two more years. Time to get started!

...A July 16 e-mail said she knew (click here) “our time was extremely valuable,” so she wanted “$25, $50, $100 or more” to defeat her opponent, wealthy businessman Jim Graves and “fight leftist Democrats like Nancy Pelosi.”

Two days later she e-mailed that she was “very concerned you haven’t responded” to that e-mail.

On Aug. 17 we got an e-mail noting a headline that morning raising a frightening possibility: “Could Bachmann lose?”

“The answer,” she said, “is without your immediate support, yes.” So she wanted another $25, $50, $100 or more.

On Sept. 25, we got a “Confidential Campaign Update,” since she said we were “one of my best supporters.”...

The Republican House is bought and paid for, if they think for one minute they are going to get away with their corrupt agenda they have another thing coming!

...In late May, KochPAC, (click here) as Koch Industries' PAC is known, donated $10,000 in one day to Bachmann-linked committees—$5,000 to her 2012 congressional re-election committee and $5,000 to her political action committee, MICHELE PAC, according to the most recent records available. (That's short for Many Individual Conservatives Helping Elect Leaders Everywhere PAC.) The two checks weren't KochPAC's first contributions to Bachmann. According to federal campaign records, the committee has given $25,000 to the Minnesota congresswoman since 2006, excluding the May donation....

The electorate REJECTED the Vulture Capitalist that bought his GOP nomination at the top of the ticket. Ryan is a FLUNKEY. Enough! The American electorate will not be held hostage anymore!

Michigan ends the dictatorship of the Emergency Manager Law.

Protesters speak out against Flint's emergency manager on the lawn of Flint City Hall in April.

There is no problem a community has that requires the dismantling of democracy!

The governor's agenda for Michigan has been rejected.



Posted: Nov 07, 2012 1:00 AM EST
Updated: Nov 07, 2012 11:29 AM EST
By Amy Akers

...All six proposals were voted down. (click here)
Proposal 1: Emergency Manager Law

Gov. Rick Snyder says a decision by Michigan voters to reject a proposal that would have retained an emergency manager law he championed will make it more difficult for financially troubled communities to succeed.

The Republican told WWJ-AM on Wednesday morning that everyone wants to see those communities succeed, but the best tool to help them now is off the table.

The law gave state-appointed managers sweeping authority to cancel union contracts and oust elected officials overseeing insolvent local governments.

Michigan voters also rejected five proposals to amend the state constitution to deal with issues ranging from collective bargaining to building a new bridge to Canada.

Snyder had urged voters to reject the proposals to amend the constitution. He says those could have been "devastating" to the state if approved....

This activity is not appropriate.

The storm, termed as the Nor’easter could impact New York City today through Thursday morning.

If the ocean is nothing but sea foam, human beings should not be anywhere near it. You won't find fish there, why would people think they were safe?

GET OUT OF THERE!

This is the reason I stated  it was far more prudent to wait to begin reconstruction of some projects. This is not the season, necessarily. When an ocean is this churned up there is a reason to wait. 

You know the North Atlantic is famous for its turbulence. As the fishermen / women who know these waters will state. There are just times when there is no sense to trying to accomplish 'dreams' against impossible odds.

By Eugene Robinson, (click here)

NEW YORK
Let me propose an initiative for the next administration, starting with Day One: Get the nation started on the surge barriers, flood walls and other big infrastructure projects that can protect our coastal cities from being ravaged by the next Hurricane Sandy....

Yes and no. There are plenty of models regarding manmade structures causing  more problems than not. Before construction of sea walls and the like, New Jersey is usually held as an example of where 'cement groins' are disastrous and cause beach erosion rather than maintaining them. 

There needs to be some modern day assessments of the tides and beaches to determine what is best for 'The Jersey Shore.' There also exists zoning problems for beach communities in New Jersey. There are well established communities that cannot simply be allowed to be wiped off the map and to that understanding permanent structures have to be established. These areas have to be known ZONED areas where the community takes precedent over the recreation beaches. People have a right to property rights.

The thing with the cement groins in New Jersey is this; they can cause large bathtubs of redundant tides during these storms. The washing back and forth of the storm between these cement groins might be a huge factor in the destruction that resulted. So before any reconstruction takes place New Jersey needs to be defensively assessed to find the best 'tide model' that will actually dissipate powerful tides rather than increase their energy in redundancy of movement between concrete structures.

The local communities will want what is best and will appreciate an approach that actually provides for a good defense of their shoreline. It might be the concrete groins have to be demolished if indeed they have caused tidal damage. That dynamic might be what occurred to make the damage appear to be from a higher category storm, too. 

Much has to be done, but, "The Jersey Shore" is too important to simply reconstruct a disaster in the making. The people of New Jersey have to get it right this time.

NC is looking for a miracle. Ain't going to happen. The only difference is the new Governor won't need to worry about veto overrides.

1:13AM EST November 7. 2012 - RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina voters (click here) put a Republican in the Executive Mansion for the first time in 20 years on Tuesday, extended the party's advantage in the General Assembly and kept control of the Supreme Court in a big day for the GOP....

The State of North Carolina is corrupt from one end of its political system to the other. They are entrenched in old world ideology and the state's economy shows it.

At one time North Carolina had dignity and pride in their land and values; all it has now is groveling politicians to corrupt cronies. It is a prime example of what happens to economies when Romneyites have their way with domestic economies. Its citizens are impoverished and cannot find their way out of their own devastated local economies.

If the USA wants to see what an extremist Republican value system results in when it comes to an economy North Carolina is it. There is no ethical standards in their legal system. They define their morality by church values only. North Carolina lawyers are among the lowest income in the nation. Their teachers among the lowest paid in the nation. 

The economy in North Carolina is completely demoralized in trying to build a better "Boom Machine" out of nothing but pity on their sorry ideas of ? quality of life ?.

The 'deregulated' society has resulted in a destroyed economic infrastructure cutting corners at every turn and exploiting every aspect of life for a buck. The citizens of North Carolina have a chronic battle to maintain any kind of life style including having their homes built of substandard materials. North Carolina is the epitome of Republican deregulation and citizens are left to worry about their ability to survive even in Emergency Rooms.

North Carolina doesn't deserve an economy, they don't even give dignity to the definition.

The new governor might have a chance to having an economy if he gets rid of the North Carolina Foreign Trade Zone (click here).

Neutral, secured areas legally outside of the U.S. customs territory, that offer economic advantages for businesses involved in international trade.

There are six Foreign or Free Trade Zones (FTZ) in North Carolina. Several subzones are also approved for use by individual manufacturers....

They are better named, "Have Pity on Us Zones."

North Carolinians run for office because it pays better than their day jobs.

The state government should actually pay enough to have their own graduates from The Cameron School of Business rather than having them move to major Wall Street firms. They might actually know how to turn the state around. North Carolina is so demoralized they can't even compete for their own graduates.

From Michael Moore's Facebook Page. Thank you, Mr. Moore. We have never had a President that have embraced us so entirely.

No one is going to harass Governor Chris Christie. He is a hero.

Governor Christie is the epitome of good governance. It is up to Democrats to uphold the dignity of bipartisanship that works.

Governor Christie is going to be just fine. 

He is more of a Governor than Jeb Bush could ever hope to be. I witnessed Jeb Bush lie openly under oath to a federal panel about the Great Recession. His brother did do that! That cast the dye for Jeb Bush's political future. He will say and do anything to achieve his priority for this country. I could go on and on, but, I am sure the opportunity will present itself in the not too distant future. When I heard him say, "They want to blame everything on my brother. It sounded like the war chant of "W" about Saddam. No lie, that is the first thing that came to my mind. I thought, "Oh, good, another Bush zealot."

Governor Christie is a hero. At a time when his party's priorities was to destroy the reputation and honor of President Obama he rose above the fray and carried out his responsibilities with determined outcomes for the people of New Jersey. No one can take away his obvious dedication to his state.

McConnell needs to resign as minority leader of anything. There is no ethical content to his leadership. Leadership? I don't know what ya call it.

The political cartoon is from The Washington Post.

No more Bush Tax Cuts !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sandy? Latinos? You have got to be joking!

They are horrible men !

They had nothing to offer this country except exploitation of wealth and destruction of the Middle Class.

Dear God, Romney has dedicated his life to destroying the working class of this country.

GET for REAL.

Romney was Wall Street when Wall Street was still at $1000. They are horrible people. Every one of them! His pacifier was emblazoned with Commodity Platinum. He isn't even close to his father's legacy. Not even close.

There must be drugs in the Janesville, Wisconsin water. The EPA needs to send a field staff to test the air, too. 

According to the Billings Gazette, Jon Tester is winning his Senate bid.

U.S. Senate from Montana (click here)

According to the Gazette Tester carries 54 percent of the vote while Rehberg has 40 percent. The Libertarian candidate has made an impressive appearance of nearly 6 percent.

I like Senator Tester. He deserves to be re-elected.

Senator Tester is not alone, the Montana Governor is turning out to be a Democrat, Steve Bullock. 

Congratulations to both. 

Congratulations!

Democrats!

Well done!

I have never witnessed such dignity in the face of venomous attacks. I am very proud of the 'Party of the People.' Very proud.

I will miss Bob Kerry in the Senate. I am a little surprised Nebraska didn't elect him.

CBS News reported several hours ago President Obama received 62 percent of the first generation voters. Last year he received 64 percent. I was worried. I thought perhaps they had become discouraged and estranged from their best interests in the past four years, but, they stuck together and kept the promise of the future. I am proud of them, too.

A second term for President Obama provides a mandate to his leadership. We need to move FORWARD.

Vote for the man that loves us all.

They called it a Tax Rebate / Stimulus Check, not food stamps.

When the cost of the Bush Rebates are added up there are a whole lot of food stamps that can be supplied to those in need. It was a method to include everyone on the corruption.

MARCH 5, 2003

WASHINGTON, DC—Amid growing anti-war protests (click here) and polls indicating eroding public support for an invasion of Iraq, President Bush is offering U.S. taxpayers a rebate in the amount of $300 if we go to war....

You think it is a joke. Why not read the assessment of nearly a decade ago predicting the endangered status of our most coveted entitlements.

No joke, just fact.

Citizens for Tax Justice (click here)
January 8, 2003 (2 pages)
"President Bush's new, $674 billion tax cut plan would boost the size of his tax cut in 2001 by one half over a decade, sending our country deeper into debt and endangering important public programs, while doing little to stimulate the economy. A computer analysis of the effects of Bush's new tax cuts shows:
- ...three quarters of Bush's tax cuts this year will go to to best-off 10 percent of all taxpayers.
- The typical taxpayers will get a tax cut of $289 this year.
-...in contrast, taxpayers with income over $1,000,000 would get a tax cut of over $30,000 each.
- By the end of the decade, more than half the President's proposed new tax reductions would go to the top one percent....


We just don't want this form of draconian government back in DC. We just don't.

We don't belong in Iraq. We never did. 

We don't need a draconian government. We never did.

Don't get caught up in the hype, it is against your best interest.

Russian cartoon titled "Sandy's Rage."

Sandy shortened President Obama's campaign. Don't let him down now.

What will come of our "Dreamers." Temporary is not god enough.

Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana  (click here) a non-profit, non-governmental, community-based, family members of Mexican immigrant workers in their great majority, and Central and South Americans. People belong to a membership-affiliated organization.

Posted: Nov. 5, 2012 | 2:00 a.m.
Updated: Nov. 5, 2012 | 7:27 a.m.

They stand in long lines, (click here) then peer through the tiny holes of glass windows, asking loads of questions. They hope to get a shot at the coveted two-year work permit.

Step by step, they inch closer. They eventually take seats inside small offices. They consult in great detail with those versed in the immigration guidelines of the federal government. It's an entirely different language in and of itself. They pray that their proof of U.S. residency will suffice.

Then, after their paperwork has been stamped, filed and mailed to the U.S.Citizenship and Immigration Service in a distant Washington, D.C., they anxiously wait for that letter of approval, which, in effect, will temporarily suspend their deportations.

They dream of those letters....

Michael Moore on Piers Morgan Tonight, 10/31/12, Part 4

The reason to vote for President Barak Hussein Obama is that while on Wednesday life will go on as always, he will work to change that reality. He will move our future closer to being a future of promise and opportunity. Mr. Romney will not.

Vote. Take a friend and make Michael proud of our electorate. He is a great guy. He believes in all the purpose for the Democratic Party. He believes Middle Class America is the answer to a productive economy and people with purpose. 

Give his plea a second thought and then give it a third. President Obama never caused the problems, he was obstructed from solving them. Pull yourself up by the boot straps one more time and let's get on with our future sculpted by us and not hostile agendas of plutocrats that will inevitably cause us more grief and not less. We don't want it back and that is the only resolve that needs to be realized for tomorrow.

Vote and put President Obama and the Democrats back in office.

Sunday, November 4th, 2012

To my friend who is not voting on Tuesday:



I get it – and I don't blame you. You're fed up and you could care less whether Tweedledee or Tweedledumber wins on Tuesday – because on Wednesday, your life will be the same, unchanged, regardless who is president. Your mortgage will still be underwater. You will still owe $50,000 on your student loan. Your son will still be in Afghanistan. Your daughter will still be working two jobs to make ends meet. And gas will still be at $4.



Four years ago you gave in and voted – and you voted for Obama. You wanted to believe he would go after the Wall Street crooks who crashed the economy – but instead the banks that were "too big to fail" four years ago are now even bigger and more dangerous. You thought there'd be universal health care – but the new law only went so far (with most of it not taking effect until 2014). You were tired of war and homeland security measures that violated our civil liberties – but we're still in Afghanistan, we're sending in drones to Pakistan and basic constitutional rights to privacy and a fair trial have been ignored. And you thought you'd have a middle-class, good-paying job like your dad had – but you didn't know that Goldman Sachs was Obama's #1 private campaign donor in 2008, and well, he was beholden to corporate America in more ways we cared to think about.

 



So, I get it why you've had it with all these politicians and elections. In the end, it doesn't really seem to be our country any more. It's run by those who can buy the most politicians to do their bidding. Our schools are made a low priority and women are still having to fight for just the basic human rights we thought they already had.



So, it's hard for me to ask you for this very personal favor. It's OK if you say "no," but I'm hoping you don't.



I cannot believe it is possible that, after a group of rich plutocrats wrecked the economy, threw people out of work and stole our future, we may actually hand the keys to our country over to...a rich Republican plutocrat who made millions by throwing people out of work! This is insane, and despite all the legitimate criticisms of Obama, he is nothing like the tsunami of hate and corporate thievery that will take place if Mitt Romney is president. As bad as it feels now, it will only get worse. I need your help to stop this.



I can't promise you that your life will get better, easier under Barack Obama. I do think he cares and I know for sure that if the other guy is sitting in the Oval Office, I can guarantee you that not only will your life not get better, it will get much, much worse. Don't take my word for it. Just ask your parents what life was like before a 30-year pillage by the Republicans of the middle class. Your parents bought a house and eventually owned it outright. They weren't in debt. College was free. They bought a new car every 3 or 4 years. They took vacations and were home for dinner by 5 or 6 PM. They had a savings account in the bank. They didn't live in fear of not knowing if they'd even have a job next year.

That's all gone. I don't know if we can get it back, but I do know that Mr. Romney would love the chance to complete the final elimination of the middle class and the American Dream.

He must be stopped. Take 20 minutes on Tuesday and go vote. If you don't want to do it for your country, then do it for me! It's the only favor I'll ever ask of you.





Thanks for taking the time to read this. I know that you care, and care deeply, about your future and your kids' future. You have every right to be cynical about all this. And you hold the power to stop the bastards who plan on squeezing every last dime out of you that they can. Take a stand. And make a statement to those who are hoping against hope that you'll stay home on Tuesday. Your presence at the polls is what they fear most.



Go scare the s**t out of them! For me.

Yours,
Michael Moore

Conservative political groups are a shell game in hopes everyone gives up on identity of donors.

The Chamber of Commerce says it speaks for 3 million businesses. That just doesn't add up—we did the math. (click here)

The sources of the monies for these organizations is coming from The United States Chamber of Commerce. They are spinning off all kinds of organizations with the same theme.

...But the disclosure (click here) did little to shed light on who was behind the $11-million donation to a California campaign fund. The Arizona group, Americans for Responsible Leadership, identified its contributors only as other nonprofits.

The money was passed from Americans for Job Security to the Center to Protect Patient Rights to Americans for Responsible Leadership, according to state authorities. From there, the money was sent to a California campaign committee fighting Gov. Jerry Brown's tax-hike plan, Proposition 30, and pushing a separate ballot measure to curb unions' political influence, Proposition 32.

As of Sunday night, the Arizona nonprofit Americans for Responsible Leadership appeared ready to fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to avoid disclosing any records to state authorities by election day on Tuesday.

The Fair Political Practices Commission has been trying for two weeks to audit the group to determine whether it is improperly shielding the identities of its donors. California regulations says contributors must be identified if they give to nonprofits with the intention of spending money on state campaigns.

Americans for Responsible Leadership reached an agreement with the commission to reveal its contributors on Monday morning, allowing state authorities to skip the audit process. However, the disclosure of more nonprofits did little to satisfy activists who were seeking contributors' true identities.

Derek Cressman of Common Cause, which originally filed the complaint against the Arizona nonprofit, called the group "irresponsible, cowardly money launderers."...

How many of these groups exist with funneled monies from the US Chamber of Commerce? The US Chamber of Commerce stacks the odds against the American people and in favor of Wall Street. No, they are not the same thing.

Fortunately, companies like Chrysler are making a difference. Chrysler is finding a good practice in any market they seek profits, FIRST, hire employees to build an economy that can actually afford their products. Destroying American jobs to outsource is the worst practice a company can participate in. Chrysler has found out that is the truth. 

I support Chrysler in seeking to maintain its markets through good paying jobs in the USA while building markets in once third world countries. Nothing short of such dynamics works to grow a global economy.

Those countries will have vibrant economies, increase the quality of life of their citizens and add to increases in demand of many products, not just cars. They are incredibly huge markets for products, just as soon as the people have a disposable income. These markets don't happen overnight, but, once begun they do grow exponentially. Imagine the quality of life uptick a Chinese family will receive when just one of their members are employed by Chrysler producing cars for the Chinese market? 

The idea Chrysler could ever expand their markets into China without an investment in their economy is hideous. How is a Chinese citizen suppose to purchase an American Jeep on subsistence wages? Americans are stupid, they just want their markets intact backed by good paying jobs. The Chinese will want to import our cars too, among so many other products. The reason the balance of trade has been so terrible between China and the USA was because  the Chinese people were impoverished and their bothers and sisters in the USA were matching the loss of income. Greed was at work and it only served to crash the industry, not grow it.

Americans for Job Security (AJS) (click here) is a "pro-business advocacy organization" based in Arlington, VA. AJS spun off in the late 1990s from a group called The Coalition: Americans Working for Real Change, a group that had been formed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to counteract the extensive soft money spending by the AFL-CIO starting in the 1996 elections....

We don't need draconian organizations such as the United States Chamber of Commerce to undermine everything the people of the world are trying to build. The US Chamber of Commerce is promoting corruption and obstructionism. The US Chamber of Commerce didn't just want to compete with unions of American employees, they wanted to destroy them.

By Viveca Novak and Robert Maguire on May 18, 2012 2:35 PM 

...The donors to the Center to Protect Patient Rights(CPPR) are almost entirely unknown. Such tax-exempt organizations must detail the groups to whom they gave grants, but not the sources of their own funds. A small grant of $200,000 came to CPPR from American Action Network, yet another 501(c)(4), according to the Form 990 tax return that American Action filed with the Internal Revenue Service this week.

And if its donors are unknown, so is much else about CPPR. According to its own 2010 tax return, which was filed last November, it is run by Sean Noble, who is listed as its director, president and executive director. Noble describes himself on his Twitter account as a "PR/Political consultant, conservative strategist/operative, former GOP Hill chief of staff, blogger, proud father, fighting for liberty." Noble was chief-of-staff to former Republican Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona, for whom he worked for 13 years, and since then has worked as a political consultant and in public relations. 

Noble took no salary from CPPR, but his firm, Noble Associates, was paid $340,000 by the group for "management services." Noble was also paid $10,000 to lobby for the group....

Why are all these organizations in Arizona? What is this all about? What is so attractive about Arizona to these organizations? How much duplicity is there and why? Who is pulling in the bucks here? What is the money trail?