Politics Plus

When the right started boiling over with charges of crony capitalism, regarding a little known auto brand, the Fisker, I ignored it.  I have no problem covering Democratic Party scandals, but this one did not smell right, and I was confident that, as more information about the issue came out, the real facts would have little resemblance, if any, to Republican claims.  Poor Willard!  He etched a scandal and got caught!

“I am ashamed to say that we’re seeing our president hand out money to the businesses of campaign contributors, when he gave money, $500 million in loans to a company called Fisker that makes high-end electric cars, and they make the cars now in Finland. That is wrong and it’s got to stop. That kind of crony capitalism does not create jobs and it does not create jobs here.”

— Mitt Romney, Irwin, Pa., July 17

Hoping to turn attention away from questions about his departure from Bain Capital a decade ago, Mitt Romney has sought to focus attention on what he calls President Barack Obama’s “crony capitalism.”

The Fisker Automotive case keeps coming up, and Romney has now raised the stakes by asserting a connection between the loan and campaign contributors. (Fisker has developed a luxury plug-in electric sedan called the Karma that retails for $108,000, currently manufactured in Finland. It hopes to develop a $50,000 sedan , the Atlantic, that would be manufactured in Delaware.)… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Bend Bulletin>

Picture Credit: Inhabitat

Watch Willard lie:

In fact, the Washington Post gave him four Pinocchios. (It should have been four GWs.)

…Romney said the president gave money to “the businesses of campaign contributors.” Doerr is an important partner at Kleiner, and he has been an advocate for green energy, but it is a stretch to say it is his “business.” In fact, Ray Lane, who contributes mostly to Republicans, is an important Kleiner partner on this deal. Moreover, the money was raised before Obama became president.

Romney said Obama gave “$500 million in loans to a company called Fisker” — but it was a loan originally submitted under the Bush administration for a Bush administration program. He also said “they make cars now in Finland” — technically true, but in a way that suggests the taxpayer money went for that purpose, rather than for jobs and work in the United States.

Finally, Romney makes the leap that because of the “crony capitalism” — not proven — no jobs will be created. The company says jobs have been created, though the venture is still highly uncertain.

Romney’s phrasing has too many weasel words. An ordinary listener would believe that Obama paid off a contributor to build cars in Finland with U.S. taxpayer money, with no hope of U.S. jobs being created. That does not appear to be the case, at least as Romney has framed it.

We usually give some credit for a semblance to the truth, but the net effect of Romney’s words is too much. [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Washington Post>

Picture Credit: Democratic Underground

Rachel Maddow went into detail exposing Willard’s lie, and explained how it reflects the state of his campaign.

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Now you know. Just like their now thoroughly debunked Fast and Furious scandal, Willard and the Republican Party are lying to manufacture another scandal. There is a reason Republicans use this tactic. They invent scandals, because they can find no real scandals they can use to distract attention from their own very real scandals. Their haste and sloppiness in crafting this one reflects their level of desperation as well as their incompetence.

If you’ve read me for a while, you know I don’t say many nice things about Republican politicians and pundits.  I have no objection to doing so.  The problem is that, given the current state of the Republican Party, opportunities to say something nice are few and far between.  However, when I learn of a Republican doing something worthy of praise, I’m happy to give it.

Allegations that top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin is an operative for The Muslim Brotherhood are bull, Republican Sen. John McCain said today in a hands-across-the-aisle floor speech.

McCain, the GOP’s 2008 presidential pick, trashed a report from The Center For Security Policy [hate mongers delinked] that pegged Abedin (pictured right) as trying to influence U.S. foreign policy in favor of the extremist group.

“To say that the accusations [are] not substantiated by the evidence they offer is to be overly polite and diplomatic about it. It is far better, and more accurate, to talk straight: These allegations about Huma, and the report from which they are drawn, are nothing less than an unwarranted and unfounded attack on an honorable citizen, a dedicated American, and a loyal public servant," the Arizona senator said…

…Abedin was born in Michigan, but moved with her parents to Saudi Arabia, returning to the U.S. for college.

Republican Rep. and former 2012 GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann, among others, have urged federal authorities to investigate the suggestion that Abedin is using her position and influence with Clinton to advance the interests of the Brotherhood, which promotes jihad…

Inserted from <NY Daily News>

Picture Credit: LA Times

I won’t go into Republican hate speech against Abedin, because I already covered it.

Lawrence, O Donnell covered this story with Mark Thompson.

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Kudos to John McCain.  I disagree on most of what he says, but if the rest of the Republican Party leaders were this ethical, the nation would be far better off.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!  Republicans lave looked for them between women’s legs.  They have looked for them in Obama’s birth certificate.  They have looked for them everywhere that will create no jobs.  They parrot the need to protect the job creators, but we are the job creators, and they have done nothing to protect us.  Their policies have created millions of jobs, but they created what used to be our jobs in China and other cheap labor markets.  They could help bring jobs home, but they will not.

After the Senate fails again to advance the Disclose Act on Tuesday afternoon, it will immediately consider legislation that would discourage U.S. companies from hiring overseas, and encourage them to hire domestically.

The Bring Jobs Home Act, S. 3364, is sponsored by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who said her bill is needed to stop giving tax breaks to companies that move jobs overseas.

"It’s time to stop rewarding companies that send jobs to other countries and instead support businesses creating jobs here at home," she said earlier this year when the first version of her bill was introduced.

Under current law, companies can deduct the cost of moving people and equipment overseas from their tax bill. Stabenow’s bill would eliminate that deduction, and create a new 20 percent tax credit for all costs associated with moving overseas jobs back into the United States… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <The Hill>

Graphic credit MNM

It’s very simple and straightforward.  Ed Shultz and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) explained the Bill.

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There are only two reasons for Republicans to oppose this bill. First, as long as Obama is President, they want Americans to be jobless. Second, Republicans want to keep the poor and middle classes paying the cost of outsourcing to make the 1% richer.  It’s part of how trickle down gushes up.