Corporations are people, my friend. Too bad teachers aren’t:
The bigger problem, Romney said, is that “the person sitting across the table from them should not have received the largest campaign contribution from the teachers union themselves … [It's] an extraordinary conflict of interest and something that should be addressed.” He later added that “we simply can’t have” elected officials who have received large contributions from teachers sitting across from them at the bargaining table “supposedly” to represent the interests of children. “I think it’s a mistake,” Romney said. “I think we have to get the money out of the teachers unions going into campaigns. It’s the wrong way for us to go. We’ve got to separate that.” — Romney: Teacher contributions to politicians should be limited – CBS News
SAYS THE MAN being financed by Sheldon Adelson, “the mega-donor who’s “made history …[as] the first person to spend $70 million to sway a presidential election” and who plans to spend $100 million by Election Day.
Sure, Mitt. It’s the teachers unions and all their tens of dollars that are the problem with campaign contributions and conflicts of interest.
“Worth just over $21 billion and now in the cross hairs of the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, Adelson has made history: He is the first person to spend $70 million to sway a presidential election, and he plans to spend more — perhaps as much as $100 million — by Election Day.”
President Obama got a bounce. Wealthy Republican financier Willard Milton “Mitt” Romney got none. Key swing states are slipping his reach. Many in the progressive blogosphere are a bit too confident for my comfort 50 days out. The richest men and most powerful industries in America are not prepared to see their hundreds of millions of dollars contributed to Romney and Citizens United-enabled GOP super PACs flushed down the toilet. Voter suppression efforts are in full gear, especially critical in Ohio. — Rogue Columnist (via azspot)
Don’t even think about getting comfortable with the outcome of this election. Sure Romney is spiraling and seems to be a walking punchline — but remember George W. Bush and the commitment of the reliably deranged zombie voters of the GOP. This is far from over.
“Romney’s corporate tax reforms would also provide Adelson’s casino company approximately $1.2 billion in tax breaks on overseas profits and $565 million from Romney’s proposed shift to a territorial tax system. Adelson’s share of that, the report says, would be upward of $900 million, nine times what he pledged to spend to get Romney to the White House.“
No wonder Adelson and the other billionaires consider the millions they’re throwing at Romney a sound business investment — Adelson stands to get NINE TIMES what he’s giving to Romney’s campaign. $900 million! Naturally, someone’s got to pay for Adelson’s windfall… and that will be you and me, the peasantry:
“While Romney’s tax plan would further enrich billionaires like Adelson, it would have to raise taxes on middle class families by as much as $2,000 if Romney were to keep his plan to maintain current levels of revenue.”
Summary: if you’re a billionaire / millionaire looking to keep even more of your income by paying even less in federal taxes, then it makes sense that you’d vote for Romney. However, if you’re an ordinary working stiff who earns less than $250,000 and you want to vote for Romney, check yourself into the nearest hospital for a thorough evaluation. You’re obviously suffering some kind of head and/or psychological trauma.
Buzzfeed reports “As of Tuesday morning, reporters would not be permitted to cover Ryan’s fundraiser with billionaire mega-donor Sheldon Adelson at The Venetian in Las Vegas tonight. The campaign’s agreement with the press is that events not at private residences are to be open to reporters. The campaign has also kept reporters from events where Romney does not deliver formal remarks. Ryan aides would not comment on the change on the record. Ryan held a fundraiser in Denver on Monday that was closed press because it was at a private home. [...] A Romney aide told reporters that the event in Las Vegas is not a fundraiser but a “finance event,” and therefore closed to reporters. The aide would not say what the distinction is between the two, declining to say whether the campaign is collecting checks at the event.”
Just like Mitt and his tax returns, the billionaires who want to buy Romney the White House prefer their privacy when making political investments.
UPDATE: Romney’s campaign announces it raised $7.4 million online in 3 days after announcing Paul Ryan pick – @thehill http://t.co/uv9ZJqUI (via: thepoliticalfreakshow)
A shadowy super PAC called the Conservative Majority Fund has begun an ad campaign which they claim will disqualify President Obama from running for re-election, according to Think Progress:
“As the ad’s announcer reads his script, a chryon runs at the bottom asking questions such as “What is [Obama's] connection to Bill Ayers?” “What is his current relationship with Rev. Wright?” and “Who paid for his Harvard Education?” The Conservative Majority fund’s website also appears entirely devoted to promoting far right myths, including a campaign to keep the United Nations from seizing people’s guns, an attack on the Obama Administration’s supposed “deep and dirty involvement in the the Fast & Furious gun-running scandal,” and multiple pages devoted to fighting the nearly non-existent problem of voter fraud. Their birther petition calling for Congress to “investigate Barack Obama’s forged birth certificate” prominently features anti-immigrant Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
“The Conservative Majority Fund only filed its initial papers with the Federal Elections Commission a month ago, and has not yet disclosed the extent of its spending on this ad. Their spending is significant enough, however, that the ad ran simultaneously on both CNN and Fox News this morning, and it is twice the length of a normal campaign ad.”
Certainly if could be any (or all) of the few billionaires who have stated they will be shoveling money into Romney’s campaign indirectly through Super PACs. Foster Friess said he’s going to donate “undercover” so it’s “not so high profile.” Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson is throwing money around like it grows on trees (which for him, it might). Adelson has said his political contributions will be “limitless” to get Mitt Romney elected. These billionaires are simply investing in their future.
Seems to me that if anyone involved with the Conservative Majority Fund actually believed in any of the ridiculous conspiracies and far-right myths they’re putting out on President Obama, they wouldn’t be hiding in the shadows. But that’s the point: they don’t believe a word of it. That’s why you can’t find out who’s actually funding and creating this thing. It’s simply racist dog whistling disguised as ‘very serious’ campaign information, paid for by the wealthiest one percenters who want more tax cuts.
And that’s your modern Republican Party. When poor and working class racists and the wealthy elite have one thing in common: the enemy of their enemy is their friend.
Mitt Romney – seen here talking to the media – complains that US media coverage of his overseas trip has focused on his gaffes. Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters
THE RETROACTIVE WORLD TOUR BEGINS: For some reason, Mitt seems to want to quickly change the subject from his Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad World Tour and suddenly focus on the economy? Romney thinks it’s a shame the lamestream media won’t report what’s best for his campaign, like Fox “News” does:
Mitt Romney Blames Press For Overseas Controversies: “Romney told Fox News today that the controversies were the result of the press “trying to find anything else” to write about. “I realize that there will be some in the fourth estate or whatever estate who are far more interested in finding something to write about that is unrelated to the economy, to geopolitics, to the threat of war, to the reality of conflict in Afghanistan today, to a nuclearization of Iran,” Romney said. “They are instead trying to find anything else to divert from the fact that these last four years have been tough years for our country,” he said.”
Romney denies criticizing Palestinian culture: “Mitt Romney insisted Tuesday he was not specifically talking about Palestinian culture at a fundraiser in Israel on Monday when he was quoted suggesting culture was the reason for the economic disparity between Israel and Palestine. “That’s an interesting topic that deserves scholarly analysis, but I actually didn’t address that,” Romney told Fox News’s Carl Cameron, adding he didn’t “intend” to talk about the subject in his campaign. “Instead, I will point out… that the choices a society makes have a profound impact on the economy and vitality of that society.”“
Actual words in Jerusalem: “As I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things.”
”I am overwhelmingly impressed with the hand of providence, whenever it chooses to apply itself, and also the greatness of the human spirit, and how individuals who reach for greatness and have purpose above themselves are able to build and accomplish things that could only be done by a species created in the image of God.”
Mitt forgot to talk about “the hand of providence” today and who God loves better. It’s funny how he was all over that yesterday in Jerusalem, when there was money involved.
The Gafftastic World Tour continues with yet another racist dog-whistling moment for Mitt Romney. Instead of whistling at his usual target — President Obama — this time Mittens thought he’d compare the Israeli and Palestinian cultures and decide which one was better:
Huffington Post: “Mitt Romney told Jewish donors Monday that their culture is part of what has allowed them to be more economically successful than the Palestinians, outraging Palestinian leaders who called his comments racist and out of touch. “As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 dollars, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality,” the Republican presidential candidate told about 40 wealthy donors who breakfasted around a U-shaped table at the luxurious King David Hotel.
“The reaction of Palestinian leaders to Romney’s comments was swift and pointed. “It is a racist statement and this man doesn’t realize that the Palestinian economy cannot reach its potential because there is an Israeli occupation,” said Saeb Erekat, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. “It seems to me this man (Romney) lacks information, knowledge, vision and understanding of this region and its people,” Erekat added. ‘He also lacks knowledge about the Israelis themselves. I have not heard any Israeli official speak about cultural superiority.’”
This is like telling the U.K. that you have a special shared Anglo-Saxon heritage, except it might be worse. Hey everyone in America who’s not a millionaire like Romney: his “culture” is better than yours, obviously.
Mitt’s feeling a bit insecure so hang on, everybody — we’re going to war again! Wheeee!!
Think Progress reports that Dan Senor, a top right-wing foreign policy adviser to Mitt Romney, told reporters in Jerusalem that “Iran should not be able to attain a nuclear “capability” — a significant break in language from state U.S. policy.” Senor stated: ”If Israel has to take action on its own, in order to stop Iran from developing the capability, the governor would respect that decision.”
“During an appearance with Romney in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he agreed with Romney’s approach, falsely claiming that “all the sanctions and diplomacy so far have not set back the Iranian program by one iota.” U.N. sanctions have delayed Iran’s nuclear progress. A U.N. ban on selling Iran weapons technologies appears to have set back their ballistic missile programs as well.
“President Obama considers a potential Iranian nuclear weapon a threat to both the security of the U.S. and its allies in the region, as well as the nuclear non-proliferation regime. And he’s vowed again and again to keep all options on the table to deal wtih it. U.S., U.N. and Israeli intelligence estimates give the West time to pursue a dual-track approach of building international pressure and using diplomacy to resolve the crisis. Questions about the efficacy and potential consequences of a strike have led U.S. officials to declare that diplomacy is the “best and most permanent way” to resolve the crisis. Obama has also reaffirmed Israel’s “sovereign right to make its own decisions about what is required to meet its security needs.”
“Romney has long supported military involvement in the Middle East and still defends President Bush’s preventative invasion in Iraq...”
Not only is Mitt trying to take some of the American Jewish support away from Obama, but Romney must feel he needs to commit himself to a penis-measuring contest with the President, maybe because of London. Romney’s going to prove he’s manlier than Obama and more willing to order our troops into Iran – at Israel’s request!– so it’s good to know who’d actually be calling the shots if Romney won the election.
Another major factor in Mitt’s new wide stance on Israel / Iran is that apparently Sheldon Adelson’s gambling money can buy just about anything, including what the U.S. military will be used for if Romney wins. Adelson is in Jerusalem and will be meeting with Romney this week for Mitt’s debriefing and further marching orders.
How to buy the White House (aka political investing for profit):
“About four dozen donors and families have given at least $1 million to super PACs this election cycle, with three-quarters of them giving to the GOP. Combined, these four dozen donors have provided $130 million of the $308 million super PACs have raised this cycle (more than 40 percent) — a reflection of how much these outside groups are funded by extremely wealthy donors. And that goes double on the GOP side, where nearly half of the $228 million raised by super PACs has come from about three dozen million-dollar donors. [...] Topping our list, of course, is the family of Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, which has combined to give more than $36 million (including funds given by their children). Much of it has gone to a super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich in the Republican presidential primary, but more recently the couple gave $10 million to the top super PAC supporting Mitt Romney. [...] The point? Democrats are making the case that Romney is an extremely wealthy man propped up by extremely wealthy super PAC donors. And at least for now, with super PACs carrying the load for Romney in the early ad wars, there’s a lot of truth to that.” — The Fix’s super PAC Millionaires Club – The Washington Post
What do they hope to get for the millions they’re pouring into Romney? More money, more tax cuts, loopholes, and subsidies, paid for with austerity cuts for the rest of America.
Daily Intel reports: Conservative casino magnate Sheldon Adelson has reportedly pledged a total of $35 million to three conservative nonprofits: the Karl Rove–linked Crossroads GPS, an unspecified group with ties to the Koch brothers, and a third affiliated with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. This is in addition to the $10 million he gave to pro-Romney super-PAC Restoring Our Future last week… Sources say he’s ready to commit $100 million to right-wing causes and candidates this year.
Additionally, John McCain said recently that Sheldon Adelson “is indirectly injecting millions of dollar in Chinese foreign money into Mitt Romney’s presidential election effort,” according to Josh Rogin.
Those facts would probably be reported more by the mainstream media, if all the billionaires didn’t own the mainstream media.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that casino magnate Sheldon Adelson “is indirectly injecting millions of dollar in Chinese foreign money into Mitt Romney’s presidential election effort,” Josh Rogin reports. (via: Political Wire):
“Much of Mr. Adelson’s casino profits that go to him come from his casino in Macau, which says that obviously, maybe in a roundabout way foreign money is coming into an American political campaign,” McCain said in an interview on PBS’s News Hour. “That is a great deal of money, and we need a level playing field and we need to go back to the realization… that we have to have a limit on the flow of money and corporations are not people,” he said. Adelson announced Thursday he would be giving $10 million to the pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future, and reports stated his future contributions to pro-Romney groups could be “limitless.” [...] Romney has also come under criticism for his former corporation Bain Capital’s business ties to Chinese state-owned firms, some of which are linked to the Chinese military and simultaneously seek to acquire U.S. technology firms.
You have to wonder why McCain’s complaining. He’s been firmly on the side of ‘anything to win‘ and ‘politics before country‘ before.
Political Wire:A well-placed source in the Sheldon Adelson camp tells Forbes that further donations from the casino billionaire to Super PACs supporting Mitt Romney will be “limitless.” The source says Adelson will do “whatever it takes” to defeat President Obama and that “no price is too high” to protect the U.S. from what he sees as Obama’s “socialization” of America.
What’s $100 million to Sheldon Adelson? As NPR White House correspondent Ari Shapiro notes today, $100 million constitutes the same percentage of Adelson’s wealth that $300 to $400 does for normal Americans. As Shapiro tweets: “Sheldon Adelson says he may spend $100m on this presidential race. As a % of wealth, that would be like a typical US family giving $360.” — The Atlantic
WHAT ROMNEY / REPUBLICANS STAND FOR———————————————
“With how he treated me, is that how he’s going to treat others? You know, if he gets in office is he going to be that way to us little people?” – Dianne Bauer, owner of the Main Street Diner in Council Bluffs, Iowa, regarding Mitt Romney’s use of her diner for a campaign stop (The answer is YES, Dianne, of course that’s how he treats the little people who aren’t immediately being used as a photo-op. lol)
Mitt the Mormon — The uptick in anti-Mormon voter attitudes may come as a surprise to those who predicted Romney’s candidacy would have a mainstreaming effect on his faith. But as University of Sydney scholar David Smith, the paper’s author, writes, just as President Obama’s successful candidacy didn’t put an end to tense race relations in America, Romney’s political assent hasn’t cured the country of anti-Mormonism. In fact, as the data shows, Romney’s rise may have led to increased anxiety about his religion among his natural political opponents. […] Strikingly, the correlation between attitudes about Mormonism and support for Romney is even stronger than political ideology or party identification. Perhaps most potentially distressing to Romney’s campaign is the study’s finding that conservatives who said they were less likely to vote for a Mormon were much more likely to say they were undecided or would not vote at all in a contest between Obama and Romney. Pundits have been predicting for months that anti-Mormon Republicans would stay home in November; this study reaffirms that idea. – Buzzfeed
Romney tells CEOs they deserve more tax cuts, deregulation, and warm tongue baths from DC – Preaching to the converted on lower taxes and less regulation, Republican Mitt Romney courted more than 100 of America’s top chief executives Wednesday demanding government be an ally of enterprise, “not the enemy. Government has to be the partner, the friend, the ally, the supporter of enterprise — not the enemy,” Romney told a gathering of the Business Roundtable, a grouping of executives of leading US firms with some $6 trillion in annual revenue. “Too often, you find yourself facing a government that looks at you like you’re the bad guys,” he said in a 20-minute speech before going into a closed-door discussion with his audience. “I want to change the attitude (in Washington) and encourage the growth of enterprise in this country.” – Raw Story
Romney Endorses Massive Corporate Tax Giveaway That Failed To Create Jobs In The Past – [At the same CEO roundtable, Romney] called for the repeal of the tax on corporate profits that is levied when those profits are returned (repatriated) to America. Repealing the tax, Romney said, would drive investment in the United States and spur job creation. In the past, however, temporary tax holidays for profits stored overseas have not led to the job creation that proponents promised. Instead of creating jobs, companies used a 2004 repatriation tax holiday to line their executives’ pockets, paying stock dividends and buying back shares. The holiday “didn’t accomplish the stated goals of bringing jobs and investment to the US,” according to former member of President Bush’s Council on Economic Advisers. –Think Progress
Adelson give $10 million to Romney Super PAC – Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who helped keep Newt Gingrich’s failed presidential campaign alive during the GOP primaries, is giving $10 million to a super PAC supporting Mitt Romney, the Wall Street Journal reports. The $10 million donation to the super PAC Restore Our Future appears to be the largest single donation toward Romney’s efforts so far. – Political Wire
The rise of the megadonors (the end of democracy) –The Adelsons are hardly the only ones taking advantage of the post-Citizens-United free-for-all. But they are blowing all other donors away: Their spending exceeds that of the next six biggest donors. (So far, most major donors are also supporting conservative super-PACs, which are outspending their liberal counterparts by a factor of 7 to 1.) – Mother Jones
John McCain Haz a Sad – Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told The Hill that President Obama never made a sincere effort to reach out to him after the 2008 election. He wants us to know he’s not bitter, though – not even a little bit.
How they cheat to win in Michigan – Michigan Republicans passed three bills yesterday to make voting harder. In particular, the legislation makes it harder to run a voter-registration drive. As has been their custom this year, House Republicans passed the legislation under immediate effect over the objections of the minority Democrats. That means the legislation could become law this year instead of waiting until 2013. – Maddow Blog
WHAT THE PRESIDENT / DEMOCRATS STAND FOR ————————————
“I am telling you, I want you all to pay attention over the next five months and see if they’re offering a single thing that they did not try when they were in charge, because you won’t see it.” — President Obama
A lampoon of Mitt Romney, by Mitt Romney: “Out of touch” – the video features a highlight reel of the Republican’s gaffes, a collection of Romney’s missteps, including such comments as “corporations are people,” “I like being able to fire people,” and “I’m also unemployed.”
…
Sen. Sanders blasts conflicts of interest at the Federal Reserve – Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday explained the importance of ending conflicts of interest at the Federal Reserve, [such as with] Jamie Dimon, the CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase, serv[ing] on the New York Fed’s board of directors. “The idea that we don’t have a Fed which is sitting there with knowledgeable, intelligent people who are fighting for the middle class and working families and not just for the profits of the large financial institutions — I mean, to me, that’s just a very simple reform,” Sanders said on Current TV’s Viewpoint. “But at the end of the day, if we are serious about trying to rebuild the middle class of this country, rebuild our manufacturing sector, et cetera, no question we need real Wall Street reform. To get Wall Street reform, we need Fed reform. To get Fed reform, we’ve got to get the bankers off of the regional Feds.” Sanders has introduced the Federal Reserve Independence Act to prohibit banking industry executives from serving as Fed directors. – Raw Story
Millions of old people are benefitting from Obamacare but are voting for Romney anyway – A Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services study determined that senior citizens more than any other demographic group of Americans benefit from Obamacare. The law hasn’t even really kicked in fully and yet 14.3 million senior citizens have benefitted from the law’s preventative care provisions. In other words, millions of old people have received free preventative care via Medicare that they wouldn’t have received if Obamacare hadn’t been passed. And so they’re going to vote for the guy who wants to repeal the law. – Bob Cesca
CBO Director: Romney’s claim is nonsense — Mitt Romney and many other Republicans commonly claim that President Obama’s health care law is already harming small businesses in the U.S. …Doug Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office, called that nonsense. “We don’t think that the health care law is having a significant impact on the economy today,” Elmendorf told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast roundtable Wednesday. – TPM
More Romney nonsense: Obamacare made a small business in Iowa close — Mitt Romney has debuted a new talking point on the campaign trail, arguing Obama is out of touch with the negative impact Obamacare is having on small businesses. …Romney’s claim is based on a local interview Obama gave in Iowa, in which the president was told by a reporter that a local company had closed and was moving jobs to Wisconsin because of Obamacare. [...] It turns out that the company didn’t close because of Obamacare at all, according to a company spokesperson. What’s more, the company sees lack of demand as the key problem — a lack of demand that is partly due to the drive to repeal or modify Obamacare, not to the implementation of the law itself. [...] “We never said health care reform is the reason we’re closing and consolidating that operation,” Schurman said. “We never said it’s the result of the health care reform legislation.” – Greg Sargent
Senate Republicans introduce bill to block Obama Admin’s rule allowing home health workers to earn minimum wage – The Obama administration last year introduced a rule that would extend minimum wage protections to home health workers who, up to that point, had received no guarantee of a livable wage or fair overtime pay. But Senate Republicans are attempting to block the rule from going into effect: A group of Republican senators on Thursday introduced legislation aimed at blocking the Obama administration’s controversial efforts to extend minimum wage and overtime protections to 2 million in-home care providers through Department of Labor regulations – Think Progress
Both President Obama and Mitt Romney will deliver economic speeches in Ohio today. – Associated Press
Donald Trump: “I mean, part of the beauty of me is that I’m very rich.” 3/17/11
Sheldon Adelson: “I don’t take comments from anybody unless they’re rich. If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich? Now if they’re rich, then they must be smart.” 1/7/11
Unless you’re rich, you don’t count. That’s about the only thing you can take to the bank from these guys. Also, too:
Mitt Romney Wants the Biggest Military Ever, Regardless of Cost — Mitt Romney wants a bigger government, so long as its the kind with more guns and fewer social programs. “We have two courses we can follow: One is to follow in the pathway of Europe, to shrink our military smaller and smaller to pay for our social needs,” Romney told a San Diego crowd of some 5,000 on Monday outside the Veterans Memorial Center and Museum. “The other is to commit to preserve America as the strongest military in the world, second to none, with no comparable power anywhere in the world.” – Mother Jones
You can bet that Mitt does not plan to pay for his biggest, fastest, bestest, most manliest new military with more revenue, such as with higher taxes for himself and the rest of his wealthy friends. You and I and everyone else (who isn’t rich) will be paying for this awesome, Orwellian expansion of our great military (some wars end, some others need to begin!), and the continuation of tax cuts for the one percent, with austerity measures for the rest of us. But maybe it’ll be exciting, like living in a Mad Max movie.
And the dumb shites who have no more money than the rest of us will line up to vote for Romney in November because of mental disorders which they shout from the bumpers of their cars or on Facebook and Twitter or nightly on Fox “News” in a hypnotic, rapid-fire, Tourette-like manner: NOBAMA! BIRTH CONTROL! SHARIA LAW! ILLEGALS! SOCIALISM! ‘MURKIA! JESUS! GUNS! GAYS! COMMUNISM! BIRTH CERTIFICATE!
Which makes the wealthy laugh. All the way to the bank.
Mitt the Mormon — The uptick in anti-Mormon voter attitudes may come as a surprise to those who predicted Romney’s candidacy would have a mainstreaming effect on his faith. But as University of Sydney scholar David Smith, the paper’s author, writes, just as President Obama’s successful candidacy didn’t put an end to tense race relations in America, Romney’s political assent hasn’t cured the country of anti-Mormonism. In fact, as the data shows, Romney’s rise may have led to increased anxiety about his religion among his natural political opponents. […] Strikingly, the correlation between attitudes about Mormonism and support for Romney is even stronger than political ideology or party identification. Perhaps most potentially distressing to Romney’s campaign is the study’s finding that conservatives who said they were less likely to vote for a Mormon were much more likely to say they were undecided or would not vote at all in a contest between Obama and Romney. Pundits have been predicting for months that anti-Mormon Republicans would stay home in November; this study reaffirms that idea. – 
Romney Endorses Massive Corporate Tax Giveaway That Failed To Create Jobs In The Past – [At the same CEO roundtable, Romney] called for the repeal of the tax on corporate profits that is levied when those profits are returned (repatriated) to America. Repealing the tax, Romney said, would drive investment in the United States and spur job creation. In the past, however, temporary tax holidays for profits stored overseas have not led to the job creation that proponents promised. Instead of creating jobs, companies used a 2004 repatriation tax holiday to line their executives’ pockets, paying stock dividends and buying back shares. The holiday “didn’t accomplish the stated goals of bringing jobs and investment to the US,” according to former member of President Bush’s Council on Economic Advisers. – 
Sen. Sanders blasts conflicts of interest at the Federal Reserve – Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday explained the importance of ending conflicts of interest at the Federal Reserve, [such as with] Jamie Dimon, the CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase, serv[ing] on the New York Fed’s board of directors. “The idea that we don’t have a Fed which is sitting there with knowledgeable, intelligent people who are fighting for the middle class and working families and not just for the profits of the large financial institutions — I mean, to me, that’s just a very simple reform,” Sanders said on Current TV’s Viewpoint. “But at the end of the day, if we are serious about trying to rebuild the middle class of this country, rebuild our manufacturing sector, et cetera, no question we need real Wall Street reform. To get Wall Street reform, we need Fed reform. To get Fed reform, we’ve got to get the bankers off of the regional Feds.” Sanders has introduced the Federal Reserve Independence Act to prohibit banking industry executives from serving as Fed directors. – 
