Ad
Blaming Romney for Woman's Death Defended
An Obama
PAC ad blaming Mitt Romney for a woman's death because Bain Capital
closed the plant where her husband worked has come under fire for its
inaccuracies. The gist of the ad's pitch is that when the plant
closed the woman's husband lost his health insurance. The woman
subsequently died of cancer.
The ad
failed to disclose that the woman had her own insurance through her
employer, that the decision to close the plant came at a time when
Romney was no longer active in the management of Bain, or that the
woman's cancer wasn't diagnosed until several years after the plant's
closing.
For its
part, the Obama campaign at first denied any connection to the ad. It
has since been shown that Joe Soptic, the husband laid off when the
plant closed, took part in an Obama campaign teleconference last May.
Senior Obama campaign adviser Stephanie Cutter insisted that her
prevarication on the issue “shouldn't be allowed to obscure the
fact that such a thing could very well have happened. While Romney
may not be responsible for the death of this particular woman it is
quite clear that his actions would at some point result in someone
dying from the lack of health care.”
Cutter
argued that “Romney's promise to make the repeal of the Affordable
Care Act one of his top priorities if elected pretty much validates
the content of the ad. This combined with his career as a businessman
shows that he places a higher priority on the financial feasibility
of policies than on their benevolent intent. This is the exact
opposite of how President Obama sees the world.”
Obama
Expresses Dissatisfaction with Media Coverage
President
Barack Obama expressed his profound displeasure with the media's
coverage of the election campaign.
“I'm
sure they think they're being even-handed when they juxtapose the
message we're trying to get out with the false assertions of the
opposition,” Obama complained. “Unfortunately, this gives an
undeserved platform from which the enemies of truth can spread their
lies.”
The
President said he had hoped that “our friends in the media wouldn't
succumb to pressures to appear balanced. When we hand them the truth
they shouldn't feel they have to dilute it by inserting the
disagreeable counterpoint of a disproved theory. For example, we
don't see the viewpoint of the 'flat-earthers' included in every
report on astronomy. Why must clearly erroneous opinions on
healthcare, taxes, or spending be sandwiched into every piece on the
election?”
“If the
media continue to feel compelled to include these erroneous opinions
why can't they clearly label them as such?” he asked. “I mean,
expecting the average voter to sort out the difference between what's
true and what's not is may be assigning him a task he isn't capable
of handling.”
Reforming
the way the media reports on Administration policies is on the
President's agenda for a second term. “It's clear that we need to
do more than the Federal Election Commission has been doing to police
what rhetoric is allowed in public,” Obama said. “We need to add
scrutiny of statements that may be made in between election seasons.
I think the federal government needs to take a stronger stance on
behalf of the truth on a 24/7 basis.”
First
Lady Urges Lazy to Get Behind Obama's Reelection Effort
Speaking
at the University of Sciences in Philadelphia, First Lady Michelle
Obama urged the audience to “rouse your lazy friends to campaign
for President Barack Obama’s reelection.”
Though the
prospect of inspiring the lazy to take action might seem daunting,
Michelle reminded the audience of its importance. “Surely, even the
most dedicated sloths can see that reelecting my husband is their
best chance for protecting their way of life,” Michelle contended.
“It's not as if we're really asking that much. The effort required
is minimal and of short duration. A small investment of time over the
next three months could help prevent the years of wage-slavery that
Republicans will impose on them if they win in November.”
States
with Highest Unemployment Likely to Vote for Obama
Polling
data shows that voters in the states with the most unemployment are
leaning toward Obama. States with the lowest unemployment are leaning
toward Romney.
“These
results only seem counter intuitive if you're one of those who's
bought the GOP line that everyone wants to work,” Obama campaign
adviser David Axelrod chortled. “I don't know anyone who's happy
about getting out of bed and going to work everyday. The notion that
this is something a person ought to do is pure propaganda. It might
suit the corporate exploiters who hope to get cheap labor, but it
doesn't speak to the President's constituency.”
“The
real downside of unemployment is the lack of a stable source of
income,” Axelrod explained. “Once voters realize that the
President is the one they can trust to break the link between work
and pay they'll rally to his cause. It is in the states where larger
numbers have appreciated his moves to extend unemployment benefits,
eliminate the work requirement for receiving welfare, and remove
restrictions on how food stamp money can be spent that the President
enjoys the biggest margins over his opponent.”
“There
are now over 100 million on this country's welfare rolls,” Axelrod
boasted. “Of course, not all of them are voting age. But if we can
get a significant fraction of those who are to go out and vote for
the Democratic Party we'll have a solid, and I think permanent,
majority from here on out.”
In
related news, the Government of Massachusetts spent $300,000 on a
mailer to nearly half a million welfare recipients encouraging them
to register to vote. “We need these people to understand how
critical it is for them to vote,” said Governor Deval Patrick (D).
“If they let the election be decided by people with jobs we want
them to know that there is no guarantee that their interests can be
protected. People with jobs may be indifferent or even hostile to
being taxed to support those not working. But when 100% of your
income comes from the government you ought to do all you can to see
that the flow isn't cut off.”
IRS
Pays Billions in Refunds on Bogus Claims
The
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) estimates
that the IRS may have paid more than $5 billion on bogus claims in
2011. The root of the problem is Individual Taxpayer Identification
Numbers (ITINs). These numbers are used by illegal immigrants in lieu
of a Social Security number.
The fraud
is hardly sophisticated. For example, the IRS issued 2,706 refunds
totaling $7.3 million to the same address in 2011. One might think
that multiple claims for refunds from the same location would raise a
“red flag.” However, IRS supervisors told employees attempting to
respond to this red flag to ignore it.
“Given
the state of the economy we felt it was imperative to process claims
as quickly as possible in order to help get money in the hands of
consumers so it could be spent,” explained Treasury Secretary Tim
Geithner. “Taking extra time to check the validity of potential
refunds would've impeded the stimulative effects.”
Giethner
insisted that “it's not impossible that 2,700 taxpayers could share
the same address. Illegal immigrants don't have the same attitudes
about sharing living space that we do. The Administration didn't want
to jump to conclusions that might be perceived as discriminatory.”
The
Secretary further argued that “even if the recipients of some of
these refund checks weren't entitled to the money there's no denying
the fact that the funds were still pumped back into the economy. In
our view, achieving that objective took priority over whether the
right person got the refund.”
In related
news, a report from the Center for Immigration Studies found that 43%
of immigrants who have been in the U.S. at least 20 years were on
welfare"a rate nearly twice that of native born Americans. The
figure was called “perfectly logical” by Press Secretary Jay
Carney. “Considering that the likely employment options for most
immigrants entail long hours of hard work for low pay, it makes sense
that a large number of them would consider compensated leisure a
better deal if they can get it. It's what I'd do if I were in their
shoes.”
Citizenship
Question Deters Some Voters
A few
potential voters were turned away from Michigan polling places this
last week when they refused to answer the citizenship question that
the state requires they answer before handing them a ballot
One of the
turned away voters professed himself confused. “They tell us it is
okay to vote, but at the poll they say we have to be citizens,” he
said. “I come to America for opportunity. Now I am denied
opportunity to vote. I do not understand your system of government.”
Jocelyn
Benson, former Democratic candidate for secretary of state and now
Director of the Michigan Center for Election Law chastised the
Secretary of State’s office for what she said was “an attempt to
discourage people from voting. The fear that non-citizens are
illegally attempting to vote is unwarranted. The Republicans are just
trying to erect as many barriers as they can in the belief that
suppressing turn out will favor them. This is not what America is all
about. We invite the wretched refuse to come to our country. Why
should we get upset if they want to participate in our freedom?”
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