Republican County Legislature Chairman Attempts IQS Panel Cover-UP

A Democrat legislator selected to serve on a panel to review proposals received for data imaging services for the Oswego County Clerk’s office had been kicked off the committee for allegedly violating the communication clause of the request for proposal.

Legislator Dan Farfaglia said he was notified July 12 that he was removed from the committee because he was quoted in the newspaper in regard to Info Quick Solutions, Inc., the current contract holder.

Farfaglia commented in regard to a system crash in the clerk’s office that left some computers down for two days.

Minority Leader Mike Kunzwiler said he requested Farfaglia be replaced with another Democrat, however, that did not occur.

“I accepted the decision of the Chairman (Fred Beardsley) to remove me from the panel even though I completely disagreed with it,” said Farfaglia. “I did not violate the terms of the contract that the members signed when it was formed. It stated that the we were not to speak to the media about the process. And I didn’t, all I did was publicly state my opinion regarding a serious problem with the current vendor for the County Clerk’s office.

“It would not have impaired my ability to review the proposals objectively because these were blind bids, we didn’t know which RFP’s belonged to who,” Farfaglia added. “When their computer systems crashed, I was told that it was not a major crisis and that most systems were restored. I went to the clerk’s office myself and saw that it was not the case.

“Again, IQS was supposedly brought in so that these problems wouldn’t occur,” he continued. “Now I’m extremely disgusted that IQS was selected to keep the contract despite having the lowest rating and being the most costly of the proposals. So the work of this bipartisan panel over the last few months was all for nothing. All of us wasted our time with this because the decision was made beforehand.”

During Wednesday’s meeting of the Legislature’s Community and Consumer Affairs Committee, County Clerk George Williams noted that both Judge Norman Seiter and Judge James McCarthy receive the services of IQS free of charge. The two judges have reportedly had the service for approximately two years.

 POST

The Diplomat

Weekly Address: The House of Representatives Must Act on Middle Class Ta...

Maffei: Buerkle, House GOP should focus on economy, not repealing 'Obamacare'

Robert Harding, Auburnpub.com

When the House of Representatives voted to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on July 11, it marked the 33rd time House Republicans tried to eliminate all or parts of the 2010 health care law.

CBS reported shortly after the repeal vote that the House GOP has spent more than 80 hours, or two work weeks, trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The cost to run the House for two weeks, according to the CBS report, is $48 million.

That's time Dan Maffei, the Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, R-Onondaga Hill, in the 24th Congressional District, believes would be better spent on other issues, like jobs and the economy.

"I think (the CBS report) underestimates the cost because it adds up the financial cost of operating the House of Representatives for two weeks," Maffei said in an interview. "But the real cost is in what we're not doing in that time.

"We're not doing any kind of action that would help create jobs, or make sure that we're making a proper investment in infrastructure or help people afford higher education. We're not doing anything. This is one of the least productive Congresses ever... (CBS) estimated about $50 million. That's an important cost and it just shows how much is being wasted by doing the same thing over and over again. But the real cost is what Congress is not turning to. Ann Marie Buerkle is so obsessed with repealing the health care bill and making sure that she gets the spotlight on Fast and Furious that she's not paying attention to jobs issues in the district."

Maffei says instead of trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Republicans should work with Democrats to improve the health care law.

"Maybe they might want to consider working with Democrats to improve the things that need to be improved and work together to both improve health care, but also get to the economy and the ever-important jobs creation agenda that they are not getting to in the meantime," he said.

As for his campaign, Maffei says volunteers are calling voters in the 24th Congressional District and their door-to-door efforts are underway. There was also good news for Maffei in the recent July quarterly campaign finance filings, as Maffei now has more cash on hand than Buerkle.

"I continue to be very happy with the level of support that we're getting, both in terms of financial backing of the campaign and particularly in terms of volunteers who are willing to go door-to-door to get our message out," Maffei said. "We will have the resources we need to compete with a sitting incumbent who is able to get PAC money, etcetera. In that sense, I'm proud of the job we've done because we don't have those kind of incumbent advantages."

Read the rest here.

Oswego County Republican lawmakers block tax break for homeowners

Republican lawmakers blocked an effort by the Democrat caucus that would allow homeowners who make improvements to their property to receive a tax break.

During Wednesday’s meeting of the Oswego County Legislature’s Consumer and Community Affairs Committee, a resolution was presented to schedule a public hearing on the issue.

Legislator Jake Mulcahey, a Democrat, made the motion to set the hearing date. Legislators Dan Chalifoux, Mary Flett, Kevin Gardner, Terry Wilbur, John Martino and Robert Hayes, all Republicans, sat in silence.

With the lack of a second to the motion, the resolution cannot be brought to the floor. “I guess it dies then,” said Wilbur, who chairs the committee.


According to an informational memorandum submitted by Legislator Dan Farfaglia, the resolution would bring back a program that expired several years ago, however, few residents took advantage of the program.

The proposed law would have given residential homeowners the opportunity to make improvements in excess of $30,000 for a 100-percent exemption on the increase in the assessed value attributable to the reconstruction, alteration or improvements for the first year and for the following four years on a sliding scale basis.

The exemption would be limited to $80,000 in increased market value of the property.

The exemption would not be available to those making routine maintenance and repairs. Eligible properties could not be more than two family homes and the greater portion of the home to be improved is at least five years old.

Story

Obama, Republicans Still Bickering On Taxes

WASHINGTON -- New day, old bickering between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans.

Obama used his Saturday radio and Internet address to finger GOP lawmakers for a stalemate that could increase taxes on Americans next year. A leading Republican senator cast the president and his Democratic Party as obstructionists who want to place the tax burden on businesses during an economic slowdown.

Obama pressed the Republican-controlled House to extend Bush-era tax cuts for households making $250,000 or less while letting lower rates on wealthier taxpayers expire and go up. The Democratic-controlled Senate narrowly passed such a measure this past week; the House is not expected to follow suit.

"Instead of doing what's right for middle-class families and small-business owners, Republicans in Congress are holding these tax cuts hostage until we extend tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans," Obama said.

Story

Romney on the Olympics

Carl Lewis On Mitt Romney's London Trip: 'Some Americans Shouldn't Leave The Country'

American sprinter Carl Lewis, a 9-time Olympics gold medalist, gave his own assessment Friday of presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney's comments about London's preparation for the upcoming games.


"Every Olympics is ready, I don't care whatever he said," Lewis told London's Independent. "I swear, sometimes I think some Americans shouldn't leave the country. Are you kidding me, stay home if you don't know what to say."

Earlier this week, Romney launched the England leg of his first international trip as a presidential candidate by announcing that he saw some "disconcerting" signs regarding London's preparedness for the Olympics.

Story

Lord Romney

Tax exemptions considered for home improvement projects

Members of the Oswego County Legislature’s Community and Consumer Affairs Committee will consider a resolution that would provide a property tax exemption to homeowners who make capital improvements to residential properties.

The committee will consider the matter during Thursday’s meeting, which is generally held Wednesday but had to be moved due to a nuclear plant drill.

According to an informational memorandum submitted by Legislator Dan Farfaglia, the resolution would bring back a program that expired several years ago, however, few residents took advantage of the program.
The proposed law would give residential homeowners the opportunity to make improvements in excess of $30,000 for a 100-percent exemption on the increase in the assessed value attributable to the reconstruction, alteration or improvements for the first year and for the following four years on a sliding scale basis.

The exemption would be limited to $80,000 in increased market value of the property. POST

Buerkle Target Of Enviro Campaign

Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle is one of five House members across the country are who are the subject of a $1.5 million campaign being waged by the The League of Conservation Voters.

Buerkle, who has laid out a conservative agenda and voting record since in her first term, has been named to the program today, which the group dubbed the “Flat Earth Five.”

“We can’t expect Congress to address climate change when some members of the House of Representatives refuse to admit it even exists. We need to defeat climate deniers like Ann Marie Buerkle and Dan Benishek to restore the place of science on Capitol Hill,” said Gene Karpinski, President of the League of Conservation Voters.

In particular, the group takes issue with Buerkle saying “the jury is still out” on climate change, despite scientific evidence to the contrary.

The campaign will come in the form of TV advertising, direct mail and what the group calls “an extensive” phone-call program in order to reach voters on the issue.

Buerkle is in one of perhaps a half dozen truly competitive House races across New York, with many in the upstate area this year. She faces former Rep. Dan Maffei in a rematch from 2010. LINK

Senate Dems Continue To Prod On Minimum Wage

Senate Democrats are renewing their efforts to push for an increasing in the state’s minimum wage, releasing a 19-page study that seeks to refute claims a raise would equal job losses.
The report is heavy with charts and graphs explaining the lack of real-wage growth in New York state over the years, along with job losses in New York.
For the minority conference, the main takeaway from the report is this: Jobs won’t be lost if the state’s $7.25 minimum wage is increase and business groups are not “monolithically opposed” to the move.

“Today’s report expands on what the Senate Democratic Conference has consistently said over the past legislative session. Our state needs a higher minimum wage and our economy will improve once New Yorkers are better compensated for their hard work,” Minority Leader John Sampson said in a statement.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver had in January pushed a bill that would increase the state’s minimum wage to $8.50 and tie future increases to the rate of inflation.

Full Story

Mitt Romney: Chairman, CEO, and Sole Shareholder—But Not Responsible?

Weekly Address: Remembering the Victims of the Aurora, Colorado Shooting

Why are the Koch Brothers Betting on Mitt Romney?

Maffei raises more than $224,000; has more cash on hand than Buerkle

After U.S. Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle outraised him in the pre-primary period, Dan Maffei has returned the favor.

According to his July quarterly filing, Maffei raised $224,169.58 from June 7 to June 30. When you combine that with the $140,615.75 he raised in the pre-primary period, he raised$364,785.33 from April 1 to June 30 -- what is traditionally the July quarterly fundraising period.

While Maffei had a better July quarterly filing, Buerkle had stronger pre-primary numbers.Buerkle raised $113,217.85 in the July filing period and $264,686.33 in the pre-primary period for a total of $377,904.18 raised between April 1 and June 30.

The DUBYAs

It's Not the Tax Returns -- It's the Arrogance

"What is Mitt Romney hiding?" isn't the most damaging thing that can be said about his refusal to release his tax returns. Here's what is: Romney thinks the rules don't apply to him.

Americans don't resent wealth. They resent a rigged system. Ordinary people have to play by the rules, but the lesson of the financial meltdown is that plutocrats don't.

One of the rules of running for president is that you have to release your tax returns. It's not a law, but that doesn't mean it's not a rule. There's no law that a presidential candidate has to debate, either, but that's the way we do it in America.

Romney reeks of entitlement. He thinks it's up to him to decide whether his financial life should be transparent. It doesn't even occur to him that he owes this to voters -- that it's an obligation, not an option.
He may or may not be hiding something. But it almost doesn't matter whether he ultimately discloses his tax returns, because he's already disclosed his arrogance.

Is Oswego County dumping money down a hole?? questioned by legislator...

As more money had to be transferred to cover the cost of transporting inmates from the Oswego County Correctional Facility to other facilities, one legislator questioned the long-term plan to correct the problem.

During last Thursday’s meeting of the Oswego County Legislature, a resolution to transfer $200,000 to cover inmate costs sparked a debate when Legislator Jake Mulcahey asked what the long-term plan is to resolve the problem.

“I understand we are waiting on potential funding from the state, but I don’t know if that’s the answer. Looking ahead, where are we going?” Mulcahey asked.
 
Mulcahey said the county has spent nearly a million dollars on the problem. “We have to start looking at what we can do to be investing rather than dumping money on this,” he said.

The state requires the county to house state prison parolees who have violated parole, which adds to the overcrowding problem.

Story Link

John McCain Stands Up For Huma Abedin Against Michele Bachmann's Muslim ...

County Committee meeting AND PICNIC July 19~ 5:30 pm

County Committee meeting AND PICNIC July 19~ 5:30 pm Information Link

Governor Cuomo signs law in Utica to help small craft brewers

Governor Andrew Cuomo came to the F.X. Matt Brewery Wednesday to sign legislation to help out small craft brewers.

The legislation is designed to support New York's breweries and wineries, increase demand for locally grown farm products, and expand industry-related economic development and tourism.

It protects an important tax benefit for small breweries that produce beer in New York, exempts breweries that produce small batches of beer (regardless of location) from paying an annual State Liquor Authority fee, and creates a Farm Brewery license that will allow craft brewers to expand their operations through opening restaurants or selling new products.

"In addition to producing some of the finest beer in the world, New York's craft breweries are creating jobs, supporting our state's farmers and hops growers, as well as bringing in tourism dollars in local communities across New York," Governor Cuomo said. "The legislation signed today demonstrates that the new New York is truly working for small business, as this law will allow breweries and wineries the opportunity to invest in new opportunities and expand their operations. I commend the bill sponsors and legislative leaders for their work on this important law."

The new legislation includes the following benefits:

Protects a Vital Tax Benefit for New York State's Breweries.

Full Story

Even Republicans Agree: Mitt Romney's Hiding Something

Mitt Romney: Cayman Islands Accounts Used By Foreign Investors To 'Not Be Subject To' U.S. Taxes

WASHINGTON -- Some tax experts are alarmed by Mitt Romney's apparent admission that Bain Capital set up offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands to help wealthy investors avoid paying U.S. taxes.

During an interview with the National Review's Robert Costa, Romney said that offshore sub-companies in the Cayman Islands help foreign investors avoid paying taxes on investments in the United States. Bain Capital currently has 138 such sub-companies headquartered in the Cayman Islands.

Story

Mitt Romney Taxes For 2010 Not Fully Disclosed

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney has not released his full tax records from 2010, including key documentation connected to his Swiss bank account.

Although President Barack Obama and an increasing number of Republican politicians have called on Romney to release tax returns from years prior to 2010, the public criticism has so far failed to note that Romney has not disclosed all of his tax documents for 2010 itself -- the only year for which the GOP presidential nominee has presented any final tax forms.

Full story

Trickle Down

Investigation Of Leading Republican Money Man Sheldon Adelson

A decade ago gambling magnate and leading Republican donor Sheldon Adelson looked at a desolate spit of land in Macau and imagined a glittering strip of casinos, hotels and malls.

Where competitors saw obstacles, including Macau's hostility to outsiders and historic links to Chinese organized crime, Adelson envisaged a chance to make billions.

Adelson pushed his chips to the center of the table, keeping his nerve even as his company teetered on the brink of bankruptcy in late 2008.

The Macau bet paid off, propelling Adelson into the ranks of the mega-rich and underwriting his role as the largest Republican donor in the 2012 campaign, providing tens of millions of dollars to Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and other GOP causes.

Now, some of the methods Adelson used in Macau to save his company and help build a personal fortune estimated at $25 billion have come under expanding scrutiny by federal and Nevada investigators, according to people familiar with both inquiries.

Full Story 

Whats Mitt Hiding

Maffei Calls on Congresswoman Buerkle to Reject Support from Radical Group that Calls her District “Hostile Territory"

Demoratic Congressional Candidate Dan Maffei called on Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle to publicly disavow, and reject further support from the Susan B. Anthony List, a radical anti-choice group that calls her District “hostile territory.”

“If this District is “hostile territory” for Congresswoman Buerkle it is entirely because of her choice to vote with radical groups like this to defund Planned Parenthood, raise taxes on middle class families and drastically cut Medicare.  Instead of working together to help get our economy back on track, Congresswoman Buerkle has focused on a radical right agenda that fails to serve her constituents,” said Maffei.  “Congresswoman Buerkle must reject any further support from this radical group that clearly has no respect for her constituents, or their ability to make decisions for themselves.”

The President of the Susan B. Anthony List called Congresswoman Buerkle’s District “hostile territory.” [Syracuse Post-Standard, 7/12/12]

“The congresswoman’s position on abortion earned her campaign special national status in the view of the Susan B. Anthony List, which has 345,000 members nationwide.

“For House members, without question she is at the top of our list,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the group’s president.

Dannenfelser said the SBA List will encourage individual contributions from its membership and send them to Buerkle, rather than launching its own advertising campaign on her behalf.

“We are committed to doing everything it takes to get her elected,” Dannenfelser said. “She’s arguably in the most hostile territory of any of the women that we have helped elect right now.”

The SBA List is Congresswoman Buerkle’s biggest contributor, and she has received at least $92,000 through them thus far. In the 2010 and 2012 election cycles, Buerkle has received at least $92,319 through the Susan B. Anthony List – including $10,000 and $11,281 in contributions from the group’s PAC in 2010 and 2012, respectively, and $71,038 in conduit funds during the 2012 cycle. [Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 7/12/12; Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 7/12/12; fec.gov, accessed 7/12/12]

The SBA List accused President Obama of infanticide. In 2008, the group released a mail piece that argued that Obama would not save an infant laying on a train track from an oncoming train. [Politico, 10/30/08]

The SBA List  supports banning abortion without exception for the life or health of the mother. Susan B Anthony supports outlawing abortion and opposes an exception to protect the health of the mother, calling protections for a mother’s health “frivolous.” [Susan B Anthony List, 7/20/10]

The SBA List  opposes potentially lifesaving stem cell research. Susan B. Anthony List opposing potentially lifesaving embryonic stem cell research. [Susan B Anthony List, 12/07/10]

Mitt Romney Bain Capital Document Lists Him As 'Managing Member' In 2002

Add another document to the pile of evidence contradicting Mitt Romney's continued insistence that he ended his active role with Bain Capital in early 1999, part of his long-running effort to avoid responsibility for the company's activity, related to outsourcing and bankruptcies, during the years that followed.

A corporate document filed with the state of Massachusetts in December 2002 -- a month after Romney was elected governor -- lists him as one of two managing members of Bain Capital Investors, LLC "authorized to execute, acknowledge, deliver and record any recordable instrument purporting to affect an interest in real property, whether to be recorded with a Registry of Deeds or with a District Office of the Land Court."

Full Story 

Obama for America TV Ad: "Firms"

Campaign check lists clerk’s phone number

A check drawn on the account of New York State Senator Patty Ritchie’s campaign fund lists the telephone number of the St. Lawrence County Clerk’s office, something that Ritchie’s press spokesperson Sarah Compo said was simply a mistake.

The “Friends of Patty Ritchie” campaign fund account has imprinted the telephone number 3125-379-2237, which is the number of the St. Lawrence County Clerk’s office, along with the address P.O. Box 626, Canton, N.Y. 13617.

Community Bank, where the account is held, is located in Ogdensburg.

Ritchie is the former St. Lawrence County Clerk and served as the clerk during her campaign two years ago.

Full Post

It's Time for Congress to Pass the Middle Class Tax Cut ...

Hospital edits Senate Candidate's photo out of picture

A recent Oswego Health newsletter is coming under fire for photoshopping a political candidate out of an event photo.

Oswego County Legislator Amy Tresidder was one of more than a dozen people who posed for a photo during the April ribbon cutting to mark the re-opening of the Fulton Medical Center.

In the original photo, Tresidder can be seen standing behind a spokesperson for State Senator Patty Ritchie's office.

But in the edited version that was sent out in Oswego Health's newsletter, Tresidder has been photoshopped out. This was first reported by the Watertown Daily Times and they also provided this photo.

Amy Tresidder is running against Ritchie in this year's election.

Oswego Health claims they took Tresidder out of the photo because they couldn't identify her for the caption beneath, but a spokesperson for Oswego Health does admit that the company's CEO, Ann Gilpin, made a $175 donation to Senator Ritchie in 2011.

* NYS Board of Elections

Oswego Health did issue a statement that reads, "Oswego Health President and CEO Ann C. Gilpin has already apologized to Amy Tresidder by both a phone call and letter for the removal of her image from the recent health system newsletter, Inside Healthcare. Oswego Health is taking internal action to modify its policy and procedures to ensure this does not occur again." Story Link


Click here to see the Board of Directors for Oswego Health



Story from the Watertown Daily News


Amy Tresidder, a Democratic Oswego County legislator who is looking to make the leap to the state Senate against incumbent Republican Patricia A. Ritchie, needs all the exposure she can get.

But Mrs. Tresidder didn’t get any help from the Oswego Health newsletter, which digitally edited her out of a ribbon-cutting photograph that was taken in April.

Representatives for Mrs. Ritchie — whom Mrs. Tresidder will face Nov. 6 — remained in the photograph. But the hospital insists that it did not Photoshop Mrs. Tresidder out of the photograph out of political favoritism, but rather because it couldn’t identify her in the caption.

“We have apologized to Amy by both phone and by letter,” said Marion Ciciarelli, the hospital’s public relations manager.

The hospital’s president and CEO, Ann C. Gilpin, donated $175 to Mrs. Ritchie in 2011. But no political malice was intended, Ms. Ciciarelli said.

“She was very sincere in her apology,” Mrs. Tresidder said. “I have to take her at her word. We all know how it looks. It looks bad.”

However, he said of the hospital’s explanation that it couldn’t recognize her: “I find it odd. The hospital is in my district. I’m not really a stranger to the Chamber” of Commerce, which helped organize the photo opportunity.

Mrs. Tresidder originally appeared over the left shoulder of Sarah V. Compo, Mrs. Ritchie’s spokeswoman. In the photograph that ran in the newsletter, Mrs. Tresidder is rather sloppily edited out. Her disembodied legs still remain in the photograph, specks of white appear on Ms. Compo’s shoulder and Mrs. Tresidder is replaced with a wall that is an unnatural brown color.

Expand Access for the Middle Class, Not Perks for Congress

Democratic Congressional candidate Dan Maffei released the following statement in response to Congresswoman Buerkle’s vote to repeal the entire Affordable Care Act without any plan to replace it with an alternative:

“Today, Congresswoman Buerkle voted to make seniors pay more for prescription drugs, while giving herself access to lifetime healthcare subsidized by American taxpayers. Instead of working together to improve the law and expand access to quality, affordable care to more middle class families, Congresswoman Buerkle is focused on expanding her own perks, and paying for them with cuts to Medicare. The average New York senior would have spent over $700 more for prescription drugs, so far, under Congresswoman Buerkle’s plan,” said Maffei. “It’s exactly what you would expect from a Congresswoman who is only in touch with her right wing allies in DC, not her constituents at home.”

Background:

Congresswoman Buerkle voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act: [clerk.house.gov, Vote 460, accessed 7/11/12]

Repealing health law would mean more benefits for members of Congress. “Repealing President Obama’s healthcare law would let members of Congress keep their government-subsidized insurance coverage after they retire — a benefit they lost under the health law. The Affordable Care Act — specifically, a Republican amendment to the Affordable Care Act — kicked members of Congress and their aides out of the healthcare program for federal employees. Instead, lawmakers and staff have to get coverage through the insurance exchanges created by the healthcare law. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who championed that provision, said it ensures that lawmakers live under the same rules as their constituents.” [The Hill, accessed 7/10/12]

Repealing the Affordable Care Act would increase costs on current Medicare beneficiaries. From January, 2011 through May, 2012 247,989 Medicare Part D beneficiaries in New York received an average benefit of $704.99 from the changes to Medicare Part D contained in the Affordable Care Act. [cms.gov, accessed 7/11/12]

“GOP offers health care repeal without alternative” [CBS News, accessed 7/11/12]

Can Mitt Romney Explain his Swiss Bank Account? Nope.

The greatest lie ever told: Obama is a classic tax and spend liberal

From the Ed Show

The greatest lie ever told, the ones Republicans most want you to believe, is that President Obama is a classic tax and spend liberal.

In truth, under Obama taxes have hit a 30-year low, in part because of tax cuts enacted by the president as part of the stimulus package.

Average federal tax rates are lower than they were under Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

These are numbers from the Congressional Budget Office and it doesn't matter if you look at just income taxes or all federal taxes combined, under President Obama, taxes are at a 30 year low.
The CBO report only goes through 2009, but since then, President Obama has lowered taxes even more with the payroll tax cut.

Of course, these facts haven’t stopped Republicans from complaining about taxes under the president's watch.

To be fair, some of this Republican whining is in response to President Obama's pledge to let the Bush tax cuts expire for the top two percent.

But the fact remains, under President Obama, taxes are at a 30 year low.

Yes, some of this republican whining was in response to president obama's pledge to let the bush tax cuts expire for the top two percent, but tax rates would still be at a record low.
President Obama has had to combat the lie with the facts.

 

On SiriusXM's Media Matters Radio, Eric Boehlert Explains How The Right Wing Media Is Attempting To Manage Romney's Campaign

Groups Shield Political Gifts of Businesses

American Electric Power, one of the country’s largest utilities, gave $1 million last November to the Founding Fund, a new tax-exempt group that intends to raise most of its money from corporations and push for limited government.

The giant insurer Aetna directed more than $3 million last year to the American Action Network, a Republican-leaning nonprofit organization that has spent millions of dollars attacking lawmakers who voted for President Obama’s health care bill — even as Aetna’s president publicly voiced support for the legislation. 

Other corporations, including Prudential Financial, Dow Chemical and the drugmaker Merck, have poured millions of dollars more into the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a tax-exempt trade group that has pledged to spend at least $50 million on political advertising this election cycle. 

Full Post

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand visits Richland farm to talk about renewable energy program

Eileen Yager used to raise beef cattle and turkeys on her farm in Richland but today her 112 acres sit idle.

Yager, 81, said the farm work became too physically demanding, but she hopes a new renewable energy program will help bring in an income.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., held a news conference Thursday afternoon on Yager’s farm to announce a $4.3 million federal grant that would support farmers interested in growing willow shrubs for renewable energy fuel.

Full Post

The Right-Wing Media's "Biggest Health Care Tax Increase" Narrative Collapses...IS FALSE

Right-wing media have responded to the Supreme Court's decision that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional by claiming the act's revenue-generating provisions will be the "biggest tax hike in the history of the universe." But those provisions are significantly smaller than many previous revenue-enhancement acts and are focused on high-income earners and corporations.

Right-Wing Media Have Claimed The ACA Is The "Biggest Tax Increase In The History Of The Universe"

Pinkerton: ACA Is "The Biggest Tax Increase In The History Of The Universe." On the June 30 edition of Fox News Watch, Fox guest James Pinkerton cited right-wing columnists to claim Chief Justice "Roberts has now declared this to be the giant -- the biggest tax increase in the history of the universe, and Obama has to wear it." [Fox News, Fox News Watch, 6/30/12, via Media Matters]

Rush Limbaugh: "What We Now Have Is The Biggest Tax Increase In The History Of The World." During the June 28 edition of his radio show, Rush Limbaugh said that, with the Supreme Court ruling, "what we now have is the biggest tax increase in the history of the world." [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 6/28/12, via Media Matters]

Jim Hoft: Obama "Now Owns Largest Tax Hike In US History." In a post on his Gateway Pundit blog headlined "FLASHBACK: Barack Obama Promises to Cut Taxes -- Now Owns Largest Tax Hike in US History," Jim Hoft wrote:

Today the Supreme Court ruled the Obamacare mandate was a tax.
Barack Obama now owns the largest tax in US history. Obamacare will cost over $1.76 trillion in ten years.
Take that, 99%ers! [Gateway Pundit, 6/28/12]

But The ACA's Revenue Increases Are Modest And Focused On High Earners And Corporations

PolitiFact: "Health Care Law Is Not The Largest Tax Ever." In a June 28 post, PolitiFact called the claim that the ACA is the "largest tax increase ever" a "pants on fire" lie. The post pointed out that although the law does generate revenue, the amount is significantly smaller than previous revenue-generating provisions passed in other administrations. From PolitiFact:

Depending on your rounding, that would mean the tax increases resulting from the health care law would be about the size of tax increases proposed and passed in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter, in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush and in 1993 by President Bill Clinton.

The health care-related tax increases are smaller than the tax increase signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1982 and a temporary tax signed into law in 1968 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. And they are significantly smaller than two tax increases passed during World War II and a tax increase passed in 1961. [PolitiFact, 6/28/12]

Kevin Drum: The " 'Biggest Tax Increase In History' Nonsense Is Crazy." In a July 1 post on Mother Jones, Kevin Drum pointed out that, even including all revenue-generating provisions of the ACA, the bill still falls short of several tax increases in history. Drum noted that the claim that the ACA is the "biggest tax increase in history" is "crazy, and no news outlet interested in accuracy should let it pass without challenge." From Mother Jones:

Let's be fair: When Republicans talk about ACA's tax increases, most of them are talking about all the taxes in the bill, not just the penalty. But they're still off base. There have been 15 tax increases of significant size since 1950, and Jerry Tempalski, a tax analyst in the Treasury Department, has estimated the size of all of them as a percentage of GDP.  Tempalski hasn't estimated the eventual size of ACA, but PolitiFact took a crack at it using the same methodology, and they figure that ACA amounts to a tax increase of 0.49% of GDP seven years from now. That places it tenth on the list.
It's fair for Republicans to complain that ACA includes a bunch of new taxes. It does. Most of them fall on high earners and corporations, not the middle class, but they're still taxes. However, the "biggest tax increase in history" nonsense is crazy, and no news outlet interested in accuracy should let it pass without challenge.

The post included the following chart which shows the ACA's place in the list of historical revenue generating legislation:


[Mother Jones, 7/1/12]

Ezra Klein: The Affordable Care Act Is "Not Even The Biggest Tax Hike In The Past 60 Years." In a July 2 post on The Washington Post's Wonkblog, Ezra Klein noted, "[T]he Affordable Care Act isn't the "biggest tax hike in history." It's not even the biggest tax hike in the past 60 years. Or 50 years. Or 30 years. Or 20 years." The post included the following chart, made by economist Austin Frakt:

MSNBC's Hayes: Peddling "A Lot Of Wrong Information Seems To Be The Business Model Of A Lot Of Conservative Media"

Jobs and the Economy Must be the Top Priority

Democratic congressional candidate Dan Maffei released the following statement in response to Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle’s claim that her constituents don’t care about jobs, the economy, or Medicare unless they’ve been ginned up by outside groups.

"It is remarkable how out of touch Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle is with the people of Central New York to think that voters don’t care about jobs, the economy, or Medicare,” said Dan Maffei.  “It’s clear that Congresswoman Buerkle is stuck in a bubble of extreme right-wing Washington pundits, and has no concept of what actually matters to Central New Yorkers.  Our top priority needs to be getting people back to work, creating an environment for businesses to grow and succeed, and protecting Medicare and Social Security for our seniors.  I will dedicate myself to fighting for the middle class, not for the Washington extremists who are the clear top priority for Congresswoman Buerkle.”

Background:

Buerkle: Constituents Care More About “Fast and Furious” Than Jobs, Medicare. In July 2012, Buerkle said that “Operation Fast and Furious” was “the issue first and foremost on the minds of my constituents.” She said her office received more feedback on the issue than any other, but then proceeded to discount those she claimed had “been ‘ginned up’ in organized campaigns from state and national groups on issues such as jobs, the economy, Medicare and health-care reform.” [Post-Standard, 7/01/12]

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"I'm Beginning To Wonder If It Would Have Been Best Had The South Won The Civil War"

In today's column for the Washington Times, National Rifle Association board member and prominent Mitt Romney endorser Ted Nugent wrote, "I'm beginning to wonder if it would have been best had the South won the Civil War."

Nugent's remark came in response to what he called "turncoat" Chief Justice John Roberts' "traitor vote" to uphold President Obama's health reform law, including the individual mandate. According to Nugent, Roberts "squandered the opportunity to restore judicial, financial and legislative sanity to a government that by any sane person's standards is insane and addicted to centralized federal control of our lives."

Nugent then stated:

Because our legislative, judicial and executive branches of government hold the 10th Amendment in contempt, I'm beginning to wonder if it would have been best had the South won the Civil War. Our Founding Fathers' concept of limited government is dead.

Nugent is infamous for wearing shirts emblazoned with the Confederate battle standard during his concerts.

LINK

Weekly Address: Pushing Congress to Create Jobs, Keep College in Reach f...

Health care mandate opponent

Mitt Romney...Where the Money Lives

For all Mitt Romney’s touting of his business record, when it comes to his own money the Republican nominee is remarkably shy about disclosing numbers and investments. Nicholas Shaxson delves into the murky world of offshore finance, revealing loopholes that allow the very wealthy to skirt tax laws, and investigating just how much of Romney’s fortune (with $30 million in Bain Capital funds in the Cayman Islands alone?) looks pretty strange for a presidential candidate.

A person who worked for Mitt Romney at the consulting firm Bain and Co. in 1977 remembers him with mixed feelings. “Mitt was … a really wonderful boss,” the former employee says. “He was nice, he was fair, he was logical, he said what he wanted … he was really encouraging.” But Bain and Co., the person recalls, pushed employees to find out secret revenue and sales data on its clients’ competitors. Romney, the person says, suggested “falsifying” who they were to get such information, by pretending to be a graduate student working on a proj­ect at Harvard. (The person, in fact, was a Harvard student, at Bain for the summer, but not working on any such proj­ects.) “Mitt said to me something like ‘We won’t ask you to lie. I am not going to tell you to do this, but [it is] a really good way to get the information.’ … I would not have had anything in my analysis if I had not pretended.

“It was a strange atmosphere. It did leave a bad taste in your mouth,” the former employee recalls.

 This unsettling account suggests the young Romney—at that point only two years out of Harvard Business School—was willing to push into gray areas when it came to business. More than three dec­ades later, as he tried to nail down the Republican nomination for president of the United States, Romney’s gray areas were again an issue when he repeatedly resisted calls to release more details of his net worth, his tax returns, and the large investments and assets held by him and his wife, Ann. Finally the other Republican candidates forced him to do so, but only highly selective disclosures were forthcoming.

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President Obama Campaign Attacks Bain Outsourcing