Archive for August, 2012

Paul Ryan: MoveOn calls him out on his lies

When most media outlets failed to do their job, MoveOn step up to the task and called out Paul Ryan on his lies. It looks like Paul Ryan is going to be Mitt Romney’s hatchet man.

Last night, Paul Ryan lied to the American people. Some journalists and outlets covered Ryan’s lies. But others failed to check the facts and didn’t call Ryan out on his brazen lies.

In this crucial election, news reporters have an obligation to educate the public about the facts regarding the major issues and call out the candidates every time they lie.

That’s why I created a petition urging the major news corporations—ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX, and MSNBC—to live up to their obligation to report the truth. The petition says:

Mainstream media: Fact-check and call out candidates when they lie. You have an obligation as journalists to educate the public on the facts of the major campaign issues.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Here is a list of five lies that Paul Ryan told when he gave his speech at the Republican National Convention last night. Every single news outlet should report on these lies.

1. Lie: President Obama is the “greatest threat” to Medicare.

Truth: Obama didn’t make any cuts to Medicare benefits; he made cuts to provider reimbursements, to improve cost efficiency and extend the fiscal security of Medicare by eight years. According to the Medicare actuary, “[Obama’s] Affordable Care Act makes important changes to the Medicare program and substantially improves its financial outlook.”1

But Ryan actually does want to cut benefits. He proposed dismantling Medicare and replacing it with a voucher system, leaving millions of seniors to come up with more money to pay for care out of pocket.2,3

2. Lie: President Obama didn’t save a General Motors plant in Wisconsin.

Truth: First, Obama wasn’t even in office when the GM plant closed. Second, Obama never made a promise to save it.4

3. Lie: President Obama ignored recommendations of a bipartisan debt commission.

Truth: Paul Ryan actually sat on that commission. And he led Republicans in voting down the commission’s own recommendation. So the commission never gave a report to Obama, because Ryan himself voted to kill the report before it could.5

4. Lie: President Obama is responsible for the downgrading of the U.S. Credit Rating.

Truth: House Republicans, including Paul Ryan, held the full faith and credit of the United States hostage to try to ransom it for trillions of dollars in cuts to social programs without increasing taxes on the wealthy one dime. Standard & Poor’s said specifically, “We have changed our assumption on [revenue] because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues.” That’s why our nation’s credit rating was downgraded.6,7

5. Lie: Ryan wants to protect the “weak.”

Truth: Ryan’s biggest feat in his political career was proposing a budget with dramatic cuts to programs benefiting the poor. He’d cut Medicaid by one third, take away health care insurance from 30 million Americans, and cut Pell Grants for 1 million students. All so that he could give more tax breaks to the rich.8

Click here to add your name to my SignOn.org petition urging ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX, and MSNBC to call out candidates when they lie, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Brenda Witt

Sources:
1. “Fact check: Paul Ryan at the RNC,” USA Today, August 30, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=279602&id=50193-17959764-rtK3_vx&t=8

2. “Undoing Obama Medicare cuts may backfire on Romney,” The Boston Globe, August 18, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=279597&id=50193-17959764-rtK3_vx&t=9

3. “Romney-Ryan Medicare Plan Would Cost 29-Year-Olds $331,200: Report,” Huffington Post, August 27, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=279596&id=50193-17959764-rtK3_vx&t=10

4. “Paul Ryan Misleads With GM Plant Closure Tale,” Huffington Post, August 29, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=279598&id=50193-17959764-rtK3_vx&t=11

5. “Fact Check: Paul Ryan misleads on debt panel’s spending cut plan,” CNN, August 30, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=279608&id=50193-17959764-rtK3_vx&t=12

6. “Top 5 Fibs In Paul Ryan’s Convention Speech,” Talking Points Memo, August 30, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=279595&id=50193-17959764-rtK3_vx&t=13

7. “Paul Ryan Address: Convention Speech Built On Demonstrably Misleading Assertions,” Huffington Post, August 30, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=279604&id=50193-17959764-rtK3_vx&t=14

8. “4 Ways Paul Ryan’s Budget Would Devastate The Poor,” ThinkProgress, August 17, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=279605&id=50193-17959764-rtK3_vx&t=15

This petition was created on SignOn.org, the progressive, nonprofit petition site. SignOn.org is sponsored by MoveOn Civic Action, which is not responsible for the contents of this or other petitions posted on the site. Brenda Witt didn’t pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

–MoveOn email.

Nancy McLaughlin, We’re Laugh’in

While running for the Washington State Senate, Nancy McLaughlin was caught faking the support of the popular Ben Stuckart.  Stuckart, President of the Spokane City Council, was not amused.  He wants to make it “loud and clear” that he does NOT support Republican Nancy McLaughlin in her effort to be elected to the 3rd Legislative District against Democrat Andy Billig.

 

Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart said Thursday that he didn’t give City Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin permission to use a picture of him on a campaign mailer for state Senate. Read the rest of this entry

This is going to be a fun election year with Republican Paul Ryan on the Presidential ticket.

Breaking news: Mitt Romney just picked tea party hero Paul Ryan as his running mate. And Romney may have just committed political suicide.

Paul Ryan is the author of the most extreme right-wing budget ever proposed in Congress. He wants to dismantle Medicare, privatize Social Security, and cut taxes for millionaires while raising taxes on the middle class.1

Simply put, the policies Republican Paul Ryan stands for are politically toxic.

But here’s the thing: Republican Paul Ryan isn’t just a extremist—he’s young, smart, and charming. The media constantly describe him as looking like “the boy next door.” He’s the ultimate wolf in sheep’s clothing.

The next ten days are crucial to make sure the American people understand the truth about Paul Ryan. We’re launching an emergency “Paul Ryan is Wrong For America” campaign, but we need to raise $200,000 this weekend to make it happen.

Chip in $5 to help America learn the truth about Paul Ryan.

Here’s the plan:

    • We’ll hold protests everywhere Romney and Ryan go this week, and we’ve got an ambitious plan to hand out over 1 million pink slips to voters to show how many jobs the Romney-Ryan ticket would cost us.

 

    • We’re going to share stories from Paul Ryan’s actual constituents who know best what he’s all about—including one woman who was unemployed, facing large medical bills, and literally camped out for a week in front of Paul Ryan’s office because he refused to meet with her. She’s still waiting for her meeting.

 

  • We’re putting together a wave of super-sharable videos, photos, and Facebook posts that we can use to tell people about Paul Ryan via social media. For starters there’s an unbelievable clip of Glenn Beck calling Paul Ryan his “soul mate.”2

I’m so excited to put this plan into action. If we can pull it off, this could hurt the Romney campaign the way the Sarah Palin debacle hurt Republican John McCain. But we can’t do it unless we can raise $200,000 this weekend. 

Chip in $5 to help make sure America knows the truth about Paul Ryan.

The next ten days are crucial for the future of America. Every day this week, Mitt Romney will be making appearances with Paul Ryan at diners, town squares, factories—all to create the false impression that he and Paul Ryan understand the concerns of people like you and me.

The Republicans are trying to do exactly what they did with George W. Bush—convince people that he’s someone you’d like to have a beer with, and then ram though a far-right agenda that screws the middle class.

We can’t count on the media to tell the truth. It’s up to us to set the record straight.

Chip in $5 to help make sure America knows the truth about Paul Ryan.

Thanks for all you do.

–Justin, Tate, Laura, Julia, and the rest of the team

Source:

1. “12 Things You Should Know About Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan,” Think Progress, August 11, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278662&id=48654-17959764-4gjyBjx&t=5

2. “Glenn’s Soulmate?” GlennBeck.com, April 12, 2010

 

Felonies and Voting

Eastern Washington Voters registered Lee Ann to vote this July in downtown Spokane. For her loosing the right to vote was very painful, and now she appreciates the right to register to vote even more. She did not know her right to vote had been automatically restored once she was off of community custody until Eastern Washington Voters talked to her.

(posted for anonymous)

I love this site.  Jim West taught Todd Mielke everything he knows.  As aid to Jim West, Todd Mielke learned the ropes of state office. As West’s roommate during his time as State Representative, learned how to wheel and deal at the capital.  He learned to serve the special interests well at tax payer expense—his finale was to kill his fellow Republican, Senator Moyer’s Health Care bill for Children just before he resigned for the more lucrative job of lobbying for Big Tobacco, Pharmaceutical Companies and the Chamber of Commerce.  Todd Mielke is quick to serve the special interests but when has he ever served us?

 

Democratic U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell defeated Republican State Senator Michael Baumgartner in the 2012 Primary for the U.S. Senate 55% to 30%.  Cantwell has always been a hero of mine.

Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell

Maria Cantwell has always been on the forefront of the issues I care about the most: slowing down climate change, campaign finance reform, and banking reform.  Even when no one else stood up for the middle class on these issues, Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell did.  Michael Senator, we are looking forward to six more years.  Below is a post-primary email from her campaign.

First off, thank you to our amazing supporters who turned out to give Maria a huge victory in last night’s primary election — we can’t thank you enough for your incredible support!

But now our attention turns to the November elections, and after last night the troop of Republicans who wanted to challenge Maria has been whittled down to a single opponent: (Republican) State Senator Michael Baumgartner. Given the statements that he has made about Maria in the past, we can only assume that the attacks will be coming soon — and we have to be ready.

Statewide elections in Washington are always close and hard fought, so we can’t take anything for granted. That’s why we’re kicking off the general election by setting a goal of 500 contributions before midnight on Saturday so we can show the grassroots strength that will re-elect Maria to the Senate.

Let’s get the general election off to a strong start — help us reach our goal by contributing $3 or more to our campaign today!

Now that the primary is over, we need to make a huge statement right away. That’s because right-wing mega-donors like Sheldon Adelson and the Koch Brothers — along with shadowy right-wing front groups like Karl Rove’s American Crossroads — will be watching closely in these early weeks of the general election to see if we’re vulnerable.

By making a big statement now, it’s more likely they’ll stay out of the race entirely, without pouring millions of dollars in. These outside forces could change the dynamics of this race overnight, and we can’t let that happen.

There’s just too much at stake in this election for us to risk outside involvement: From educating the workforce of tomorrow and ensuring that Washington remains the hub of American aerospace, to protecting Medicare and Social Security for Washington’s seniors, we need to keep Maria in the Senate so she can continue fighting for us. Will you help, right now?

Please contribute $3 or more today — help us reach our grassroots donors goal and start the general election strong!

Thank you for helping Maria. With your support, we’ll show our grassroots strength and put ourselves on solid footing for the general election race ahead.

Sincerely,

Robin Brand
Campaign Manager
Friends of Maria

Hopefully, it will be a good year for Democrats with Republicans like Mitt Romney, Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, and Michael Baumgartner running.

The Jay Inslee Surge

It was really nice to see Democrat Jay Inslee pull ahead in the only kind of  poll that really maters: election results.  I was a little worried about this Governor’s race.  Jay Inslee trailing in the polls made me nervous.  However, that he trailed should not really have surprised anyone.  Jay had less name recognition.

However, a lot can happen between now the general election.  We should not let up on this race one bit . Below is Jay Inslee’s post primary email to his supporters.

Jay Inslee’s post primary email

 

Our momentum has been building, and it showed last night. We can’t let up now.

The special interests that have propped up my opponent’s campaign will not let our victory go unanswered. They will redouble their efforts. We must redouble ours.

Today, we’re launching a General Election Fund drive. We need to raise $100,000 in one week to counter the attacks we know are coming.

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.

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As of this morning we are up by almost 4% in the primary. With results like these, we know our opponent’s special interest friends will hit hard and hit fast.

We need to have the resources to fight back.

Voters are responding to my message about building a working Washington, but getting our message out requires significant resources.

There are 90 days to go in this election. Every dollar, every hour counts. If we hit our fundraising goals and have the resources to fully fund our general election program, we will win in November.

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I’m so glad you’re fighting by my side. This is it. Let the race begin. Ready, set, go.

Very truly yours,

Jay Inslee

P.S. I am proud of Jay Inslee for standing up for gay and lesbian marriage.

Rob McKenna

Update: Some comments about Inslee’s opponent Rob McKenna can be found at the Vashon Democrats.  They point out that Rob McKenna is not  a moderate.   He’s a less than honest politician like Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.   McKenna will say whatever he needs to get elected, then turn around and do the opposite for ideological reasons.

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Mitt Romney’s tax records

MoveOn is at it again.  Ya got to love it.

We cannot assume that working class Americans will automatically become wise to Mitt’s history of class warfare.  I met a homeless guy today who said he would vote for Mitt because he looked like his grandpa.   We have to keep educating voters about their class interests.

Mitt Romney hinding his tax records

We may not know what’s hiding in Mitt Romney’s tax records, but now we know what’s hiding in Mitt’s tax plan: tax breaks for American companies that outsource jobs, which could create 800,000 jobs overseas and pink slips at home.1

So to expose the real impact of Mitt’s outsourcing plan, MoveOn members are hitting the streets next Thursday to hand out 800,000 pink slips nationwide. We’re also releasing a scathing new ad hitting Mitt for being outsourcer-in-chief, and our grassroots muscle will make sure the message reaches millions more swing voters than it otherwise would.

MoveOn members are gathering at shopping malls, post offices, coffee shops, movie theaters, and other high-traffic areas, holding signs and passing out Mitt’s pink slips to draw the attention of voters and media.

Can you set up a time and place in Spokane on Thursday, August 16, to pass out Mitt’s pink slips?

Mitt’s on a mission to brand himself as the candidate to turn the economy around, even though his plan only does more to help the 1%. Sounds laughable, but Romney’s out-raising Obama and will run ads so confusing that voters might think he actually cares about the 99%.

By combining a provocative ad with a fun grassroots tactic, we’ll reach millions of voters with a simple message: Romney’s an unapologetic outsourcer and his policies would cost Americans their jobs. We need MoveOn members to take to the streets and their social networks to get all of Mitt’s 800,000 pink slips into the hands of voters so they know the truth.

Can you amplify our new ad about Romney’s outsourcing plan and lead a gathering in Spokane next Thursday, August 16?

Yes, I want to hand out Mitt’s pinks slips in my community!

Leading an event like this is easy to do, and you’ll make a powerful impact when you add it to hundreds of similar events happening on the same day across the country. By organizing an event, you’re giving other MoveOn members the chance to make a difference. You’ll get all the materials and steps you’ll need for a great event.

Thanks for all you do.

–Lenore, Mariana, Ryan, Nick, and the rest of the team

State Rep. Timm Ormsby speaks at the Eastern Washington Voter’s BBQ to turnout the vote in the 3rd Legislative District just before the August Primary 2012 election.  Tim, who spent 30 years as a construction worker, is a perfect fit for the 3rd Legislative District.