Union "Goons" to protect polling places, while Businesses threaten Workers in corporate takeover.

It's almost unthinkable anyone would take the following points of view without feeling a bit uncomfortable or just a little wary. After all, conservative talker Vicki McKenna is your typical paranoid right winger, why would she put so much trust in an employer?

What would normally viewed as harassment at work, where a boss wields power over a subordinate, McKenna is on board...

The picture below shows the incredible hypocrisy of McKenna, who is oddly complaining union workers have to baby sit tea party losers.

But it's okay for right wing thugs to intimidate voters like they did in Racine:

Tea Party group True the Vote will dispatch poll watchers throughout the country to challenge voters’ rights as they cast their ballots. 

Wisconsin’s restrictions are minor when compared with a few other states:

Observers generally need to stay 6 feet away from poll workers and they are allowed to raise questions only with supervisors … Conservatives have complained the Government Accountability Board has placed too many restrictions on where observers can stand.

Iowa restrictions: 300 feet of a polling place’s entrance ... In Texas, it’s 100 feet. 

Romney Endorsements prove Republicans working under different set of rules.

In a state where Scott Walker and the Republican legislature, lead by the highly offensive and partisan Fitzgerald brothers, rammed through a straight partly line agenda without one Democratic vote, I thought this section of the Wisconsin State Journals endorsement of Mitt Romney stood out as especially hypocritical:

Our pick: Mitt Romney-It was Obama and his fellow Democrats who went it alone on health care, making subsequent deals even harder to find. It still is Obama who hasn't laid out a clear vision for the next four years.

I know, I almost choked on the idea that Romney actually laid out a "clear vision"  of the next four years. He didn't. Low information voters got what they wanted, a low information campaign.

After not taking one question from the press in 3 weeks from the print media, and four weeks from the TV networks, it's difficult to imagine any voter being satisfied with that. Yet things might be going in that direction.

But even worse, the media set themselves up for further irrelevance and declining viewership. They oddly settled on being shut out of the election by the Republican candidate for president. Instead of fighting back and calling out the Romney/Ryan campaign for shortchanging the public's need to know, they said...nothing.

Pundit prognostication can only tolerated so long before viewers have had enough and tune out. 

Katy Perry for Obama...

These pictures are getting a lot of attention. To be honest, I couldn't help but like Katy Perry's blue Obama dress too.

Perry: "If you're over 18, and you have a real cool outfit and you wear it on Tuesday, you tweet me and I'll retweet it."

Here's Ed Schultz with State Senator Lena Taylor and The Progressive Magazine's Ruth Conniff:

Montgomery Burns Endorses Mitt.

I liked the way Martin Bashir led up to the Burns clip, and put Romney's campaign in the right perspective:

The Wisconsin Nailbiter.

From Friday night, John Nichols and Ed Schultz on the latest Wisconsin election news:

"We Built It" slogan smashed by Hurricane Sandy and Gov. Chris Christie!!

Bookmark this outstanding argument against "small government" Republicans like Paul Ryan, where GOP star Chris Christie destroys his own parties talking points once and for all.  Oh sure they'll pretend Hurricane Sandy and Christie's comments never happened, but I won't. Lawrence O'Donnell connects all the dots perfectly:

Biden rips Territorial Tax System to Wisconsin supporters, and for good reason.

ABC reporter Jake Tapper blew any credibility he had when he took this shot at Joe Biden’s recent criticism of a “territorial tax,” where companies would pay the hosting countries taxes but not have to pay the U.S. tax. In a moment of uncharacteristic wonkiness, Biden dropped this on supporters:

Tapper seems to think Biden should fall in line with other corporate administration officials who support it, even though it’s a lousy idea:

ABC: VP Biden railed against Romney backing a territorial tax system: But a number of advisers to the president support the idea as well – including members of the President’s Export Council, the commission the president set up to recommend ways to reduce the deficit, and members of his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

In a letter … Boeing CEO Jim McNerney … called for a “competitive territorial tax system for the United States,” one that “should broadly follow the practice of our trading partners and should not be designed to raise new revenue, or to destabilize the U.S. corporate tax base, but rather to make the US tax system more competitive with its major trading partners. The rest of the world increasingly uses territorial systems under which foreign earnings – taxed once in the foreign country – can be brought back for reinvestment in the domestic economy without incurring additional home country tax.” McNerney noting that of the 34 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 25 use territorial systems, with the United Kingdom and Japan having adopted them in 2009.

It’s a horrible idea that failed once already, as mentioned below. Funny thing, Tapper may not be aware that many of those twenty-five countries are backing away from territorial taxes:

Foreign Policy: One sign that the territorial system is not the answer is the fact that the European Union is considering proposals to move away from the system.(European Commission, Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base).

Nice try Jake, but research is just so much touble. Even though Biden’s explanation was simplified enough so even I could understand, here’s a more detailed reason why it’s all wrong for job creation and as U.S. policy:

The President's Export Council … calling for U.S. taxes to apply only to earnings in the United States with foreign profits taxed only in the territories where they were earned. The president and Congress  should recall the New York Times quote of a high ranking Apple executive to the effect that the company doesn't "have an obligation to solve America’s problems" … For a long time it was argued that without the necessity to pay U.S. taxes upon repatriation of foreign earnings, U.S. global corporations would rush to move capital back to the U.S. where they would invest and become a job creation machine.  But in 2004, when Washington instituted a one year tax amnesty the results were disappointing … the Congressional Research Service calculated that the top ten repatriating U.S. corporations actually reduced employment by 447,000 after repatriating about $99 billion … A territorial tax system would only be a boon for the already thriving tax avoidance industry … encourage further investment in tax havens and complex intra -company transfer pricing schemes to move as much income as possible out of normally taxed countries into the well-known low or zero tax havens.

The answer is two-fold. First, the U.S. corporate tax needs to be reduced to 15-20 percent but with a base broadened by elimination of a variety of deductions. Second, the U.S. tax deferral for un-repatriated foreign earnings should be abolished.

Avoiding the press for 3 weeks, Romney's Echo Chamber Campaign Tour Promises No Compromise Leadership.

I've always been fascinated by the way the media plays dead to Mitt Romney’s claim he achieved “change” as governor of Massachusetts; yeah, if you ignore the Democratic legislatures veto overrides and liberal political agenda, where they balanced the budget, cut spending, improved schools, etc.. It wasn't because of Mitt, it was in despite of Mitt. But compliant low information voters aren't bothered by such wonky details I guess, so in West Allis the crowd roared with approval:

WSJ: "President Obama promised change, but he could not deliver it. I promise change, and I have a record of achieving it," the former Massachusetts governor told the cheering crowd.

And like the 2010 Republican tea party campaigns, Mitt has decided to stay away from the media for a whole month. Really, can he do that and get away with it? The public’s need to know, their desire to make an informed vote, was just too much to ask so close to the election. For Mitt Romney, if elected, he will lead and do what he wants because it’s his turn, as Ann Romney insisted in a recent interview.  

He hasn't done interviews with local TV stations in weeks. His last newspaper interview, with the Columbus Dispatch editorial board, was on Oct. 10. His most recent press conference was Sept. 28.

Romney told the crowd that only he will be able to work with congress and avoid the fiscal cliff, if of course, the Democrats allow the Republicans to extend the Bush tax cuts and kill any proposed tax increases. Lawrence O’Donnell and Ezra Klein make a few clarifications to Mitt’s bluster:

Similar to Romney’s promise to go on a “jobs tour,” Mitt’s presidency will be filled with nothing but empty symbolism, like his chances to win:

The candidate is arguing he has momentum. Advisers say a perception that Romney is heading to victory is critical to maximizing GOP interest in the race. 

Oh no! Move over Obama, Natural Disasters now causing Business "Uncertainty."

I never could understand the ridiculous "business uncertainty" meme pushed by supposed free market Republican advocates. 

But now Wall Street investors are lamenting the "uncertainty" caused by Hurricane Sandy. They've just jumped the shark:

WSJ/AP: Waterlogged from Superstorm Sandy and unmoved by a solid October jobs report, U.S. stocks fell sharply Friday. Rob Lutts, president of Cabot Money Management in Salem, Mass. (said) "I think the markets are trying to digest that and understand that, so there is a little bit of uncertainty."

Scott Walker is just Creepy...

Just looking at this tweet gives me the creeps...

...who believes this crap?

Tommy Thompson gets his News from Sean Hannity!!!

Sean Hannity is Tommy Thompson's go to guy for news and idiocy. The interviewers reactions to Tommy's answers are priceless.

From Hannity's positions on so many important wedge issues, to the latest news and fictions about liberals and Obama. Thanks to Sly in the Morning for capturing this wonderful moment:



Just for fun, here are a few forgettable moments of "Hannity outrage" over the most petty things, like children singing/free speech:



Here Hannity gets help from nut case paranoid David Horowitz to argue against limiting free speech, by advocating limiting free speech...really:



Hannity freaks out over Michael Moore's funny ad featuring seniors actually...swearing. Do they do that? Not in Hannity's world.

Mitt Romney's appearance at State Fair Park titled "Real Change from Day One." Should be "Real Change from One Day to the Next."

Brought to you by "Voter's against their own self interest!"

Willing "followers" of their flip floppy chosen "leader" reached new heights as adoring fans shouted "four more days." 

jsonline: In an address titled "Real Change From Day One," Romney told the crowd, "we're going to win on Tuesday night. What a great state, what a great welcome. This state is going to help me become the next President of the United States," Romney said.

Me, me, me.....

Obama/Springsteen new ticket?

Here's the latest on Obama's next Madison appearance:

WSJ: President Barack Obama's Election Day eve campaign rally in Madison will be held on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in front of the City County Building on Monday morning, local authorities told some office workers in the area on Friday.

Rock icon Bruce Springsteen will appear with Obama at the rally.

The president is expected to arrive at the rally mid-morning. People attending the event will enter through a secure area on Doty Street, office workers were told.

Ryan's new "Extreme Budget Shredder" video....

You gotta like this Onion story:

Republicans cry alligator tears for Delphi worker pensions and falsely blame Obama for cuts, when blame should go to Hedge Fund Owners.

This is the ultimate summation of how Delphi played a pivotal role in the GM and Chrysler bailout, how Delphi's hedge fund owners blackmailed the government, and turned a neat profit for Ann Romney. 

Check out the link for more of the details. Here's a short easy to understand sample:

The Nation-Greg Palast: Delphi, once the Delco unit of General Motors, was spun off into a separate company in 1999. Alone, Delphi foundered, declaring bankruptcy in 2005, after which vulture hedge funds, led by Silver Point Capital, began to buy up the company’s old debt. Later, as the nation’s financial crisis accelerated, Singer’s Elliott bought Delphi debt, as did John Paulson & Co. John Paulson, like Singer, is a $1 million donor to Romney. Also investing was Third Point, run by Daniel Loeb, who was once an Obama supporter but who this summer hosted a $25,000-a-plate fundraiser for Romney and personally donated about $500,000 to the GOP.

By the end of June 2009, with the bailout negotiations in full swing, the hedge funds, under Singer’s lead, used their bonds to buy up a controlling interest in Delphi’s stock. Just two years later, in November 2011, the Singer syndicate took Delphi public at $22 a share, turning an eye-popping profit of more than 3,000 percent. Singer’s fund investors scored a gain of $904 million, all courtesy of the US taxpayer. Yet without taking billions in taxpayer bailout funds—and slashing worker pensions—the hedge funds’ investment in Delphi would not have been worth a single dollar, according to calculations by GM and the US Treasury.  Then there was the big one: the government’s Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation took over paying all of Delphi’s retiree pensions. The cost to the taxpayer: $5.6 billion. The bottom line: the hedge funds’ paydays were made possible by a generous donation of $12.9 billion from US taxpayers.

Obama hired Steven Rattner to head the task force that would negotiate with the troubled firms and their creditors to avoid the collapse of the entire industry. In Rattner’s memoir of the affair, Overhaul … in March 2009 Delphi, now in the possession of its hedge fund creditors, told the Treasury and GM to hand over $350 million immediately, “because if you don’t, we’ll shut you down.” His explanation was corroborated by Delphi’s chief financial officer … Rattner likened the subsidies demanded by Delphi’s debt holders to “extortion demands by the Barbary pirates.” Once the hedge funders, took control of the firm, they rid Delphi of every single one of its 25,200 unionized workers.

Of the twenty-nine Delphi plants operating in the United States when the hedge funders began buying up control, only four remain, with not a single union production worker. Romney’s “job creators” did create jobs—in China … leaving the company with 5,000 employees in the United States (versus almost 100,000 abroad).

Even before the hedge funds won their bid for Delphi’s stock, they were already squeezing the parts supplier and its workforce. In February 2009, Delphi, claiming a cash shortage (which they were not), unilaterally terminated health insurance for its nonunion pensioners. The savings to the hedge fund billionaires of dropping retiree insurance was peanuts—$70 million a year … But the harm to Delphi retirees was severe.  Bruce Naylor had been forced into retirement at the age of 54 in 2006, when Delphi began to move its plants overseas. Naylor’s promised pension was slashed 40 percent, and his health insurance and life insurance were canceled.

During its years of economic trouble, Delphi had been chronically shorting payments to its pension funds—and by July 2009, they were underfunded by $7 billion. That month, Singer’s hedge fund group won the bid for control of Delphi’s stock and made clear they would neither make up the shortfall nor pay any more US worker pensions. Checkmated by the hedge funders, the government’s Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation agreed to take over Delphi’s pension payments. The PBGC would eat the shortfall.

With Delphi’s new owners relieved of its healthcare and pension obligations, its debts to GM and its union contracts—
and now loaded with subsidies from GM funded by TARP—the company’s market value rose from zero to approximately $10.5 billion today.

President Obama needed to be blamed for the pension disaster. Of course, it wasn’t Obama who refused to pay the Delphi pensions; it was Paul Singer and the other hedge funds controlling Delphi. The Romneys were invested with Elliott Management by the end of 2010, before Delphi was publicly traded. So, in effect, they got Delphi stock at Singer’s initial dirt-cheap price. When Delphi’s owners took the company public in November 2011, the Romneys were in—and they hit the jackpot … even if the Romneys were blind to their initial investment in Elliott, they would have known by the beginning of 2010 that they had a massive position in Delphi and would make a fortune from the bailout and TARP funds.

Republicans Rejected Congressional Research Service Report that found No Correlation between Tax Cuts and Economic Growth!

You would think news this big would be a major factor in the presidential election. The idea of a supply side/tax cuts for the wealthy economic system, is nothing more than a totally debunked model now:

NY Times: The Congressional Research Service has withdrawn an economic report that found no correlation between top tax rates and economic growth, a central tenet of conservative economic theory, after Senate Republicans raised concerns about the paper’s findings and wording. Sen. Mitch McConnell and other senators “raised concerns about the methodology and other flaws.” 

It's always something isn't it? But typically, this was another missed opportunity for Democrats, who ignored the rejected report, until now:

“This has hues of a banana republic,” Mr. Schumer said. “They didn’t like a report, and instead of rebutting it, they had them take it down.”

The rise of the tea party was the result of soft media coverage of the radicalization of the Republican Party. This downward slide continues as the media allows the GOP to successfully discredit every source of professional legitimate criticism. 

The pressure applied to the research service comes amid a broader Republican effort to raise questions about research and statistics that were once trusted as nonpartisan and apolitical.

Fact checkers be damned policy: The Bureau of Labor Statistics released (the) unemployment figures for October, a month after some conservatives denounced its last report as politically tinged to abet President Obama’s re-election. When the bureau suggested its October report might be delayed by Hurricane Sandy, some conservatives immediately suggested politics were at play.

Republicans have also tried to discredit the private Tax Policy Center ever since the research organization declared that Mitt Romney’s proposal to cut tax rates by 20 percent while protecting the middle class and not increasing the deficit was mathematically impossible. 

And as things get worse in the U.S., Republicans will use the bad news as proof more needs to be done their way to turn things around.

Congressional aides and outside economists said they were not aware of previous efforts to discredit a study from the research service. Economist Jared Bernstein said, “I’ve never seen anything like this, and frankly, it makes me worried.”

If Romney wins, and/or the senate is taken over by Republicans, can we say at this point we were all appropriately warned? The reports shocking conclusion couldn't be clearer:

The Sept. 28 decision to withdraw the report was made against the advice of the research service’s economics division … The report examined the historical fluctuations of the top income tax rates and the rates on capital gains since World War II, and concluded that those fluctuations did not appear to affect the nation’s economic growth.

“The reduction in the top tax rates appears to be uncorrelated with saving, investment and productivity growth. The top tax rates appear to have little or no relation to the size of the economic pie,” the report said. “However, the top tax rate reductions appear to be associated with the increasing concentration of income at the top of the income distribution.”

Jobs Up, Unemployment numbers show more people are looking.

The monthly jobs numbers are up again, and the previous two months of jobs numbers were increased as well. But why not try something different, go in a different direction, see how that works out?

According to CNN: 

Obama argues that he's more than made up for the number of jobs lost since he inherited the crisis. Romney underscores that it's not the quantity, but the quality of those jobs, which have been lower-paying and have offered fewer benefits than those lost.

Huh? Romney wants us to compete globally, against Asia and China, with higher paying jobs? Really? How can any politician promise big paychecks when the free market will decide what really happens? This is one of the big lies repeated by Romney and more often by Paul Ryan. Very nostalgic but now a fantasy.

Mitt Lies Again about Jeep, and the Real Story about Manufacturing.

Romney and Ryan's record on the auto industry is dismal. In fact Mitt Romney decided to mislead Ohioan's about the offshoring of Jeep's jobs.

Chris Matthews interviews the Car Czar Steve Rattner, who details Fiat's deal with Chrysler, and the author of "Once Upon a Car's" Bill Vlasic, who explains that all automaker's build their cars in the countries they sell cars in:

Chris Christie, friend of Obama or Foe?

I thought this little Chris Christie video, before and after, was more than interesting. From the Daily Show:

Will Wisconsin Really Send a Right-Wing Kook to the U.S. Senate?

Do you trust this crazy, out of control right wing tea party fanatic with your life? This ranting tea party lunatic, Tommy Thompson, will destroy America.

Okay, I may be joking, kinda, to make a point about the screen captured headline below, but seriously, they're kooks. Just more conservative projection, from a party too intolerant to allow an opposition party to exist in the U.S.!! I think they call it a dictatorship. The story below passes as news:  

Wagner shows off his incredible attention to detail and political acumen with this sharp biting observation:

Next Tuesday, we find out whether Wisconsin voters will really send an extreme Left-wing hardcore Madison nut job to the U.S. Senate? Can a State that elected Scott Walker(and overwhelmingly rejected an effort to recall him last June) really elect kooky Tammy Baldwin?

Wow, TMJ is a showcase of radio genius' like this.