Last night, the DNC went into full effect in Charlotte, NC at the poorly chosen venue of Bank of America Pavilion. No one thought that the four day, anti-Wall St slam fest wouldn't look massively hypocritical? Way to spell out your true agenda, morons.
Overall, the speeches last night were devoid of the absence of anything resembling truth that the RNC was last week. I swear, not one Repubican speaker could go three sentences before saying something absolutely stupid or untrue with a straight face. Ann Romney got decent reviews even though her heavily altered bio suggested Mitt and Ann were poor black children living in a shoe and eating rocks for food when they first married that was so obviously false I expected her nose to start growing as she spoke. Michelle Obama, one of the most elegant, beautiful first ladies in decades, gave a moving, well rehearsed speech that should prove helpful to her husband. However, her speech, like Ann Romney's, was filled with mostly personal testimony and did show that her and her husband both know what it's like to be in debt and struggling, unlike the uber-rich Romney's who never knew a hard day's work or what it's like to cope without money.
Others, like MA Deval Patrick and actor Kal Penn, gave great speeches that slammed Romney to the curb with only a handful of misrepresentations or falsehoods, unlike Ryan's lie-fest 2012. How is a man like Ryan known for being such an "honest" individual when everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie, like his recent bullshit about running a marathon in record time (he didn't even come close)?
Back to Patrick and the others, let's look at some of the common themes of the night and how they hold up to scrutiny:
Gov Pat Quinn of IL, and others like Patrick, said that Romney failed on his campaign promises while running for MA Governor.
Quinn, Sept 4: Mitt Romney promised Massachusetts three things: more jobs, less debt and smaller government. Then he left his state 47th out of 50 in job growth, added $2.6 billion in debt and on his watch, government jobs grew six times faster than private-sector jobs. What does Romney promise today? More jobs, less debt and smaller government. But he didn't do it then, and he won't do it now.
This one is tricky as it is misleading but not entirely untrue. While the state did finish in 47th on average, it did go from 50th to 28th during his term. However, how much of that can be tied to Romney's economic policies is pure guesswork.
Middle Class taxes also took center stage as no fewer than three speakers hammered home the idea that Romney's plan will raise taxes on the middle class while providing huge tax cuts for the 1%. Julian Castro, mayor of San Antonio, former Virginia governor Tim Kaine and Maryland governor Martin O'Malley all said the same thing
Castro, Sept 4: And now we need to make a choice. It's a choice between a country where the middle class pays more, so that millionaires can pay less or a country where everybody pays their fair share.
Kaine:, Sept 4 To pay for their plan, they'd slash middle-class tax breaks, raising taxes on the middle class.
O'Malley, Sept 4: Instead of a balanced, achievable plan to create jobs and reduce the deficit, Mitt Romney says he will cut taxes for millionaires and raise them for the middle class.
This is somewhat misleading but not a total lie either. It is true that not one person on Earth who has looked at Romney's tax plan say it is feasible. NOT ONE. However, nowhere in the plan does he specifically say he will raise taxes on the middle class. However, if he tries to enact his plan as is, he will have no choice but to raise taxes on the middle class so it's not a stretch to suggest what he might do in the future either.
Making the discredited Equal Pay pitch was Rep Rosa DeLauro CT and equal pay rights activist Lilly Ledbetter at the DNC last night.
DeLauro, Sept 4: "America's women still make just 77 cents for every dollar men earn."
Ledbetter, Sept 4: "When we lose 23 cents every hour, every day, every paycheck, every job, over the entire lives, what we lose cannot be measured in dollars."
This is a total lie, and one I have written about in a previous post. Using a flawed statistical model that includes pregnant women in the study, the numbers decrease to 77 cents because as women are the only sex to get pregnant, they tend to miss more time from work as their male counterparts. Remove that group from the equation and the number jumps to 98 cents for every dollar a man makes, not that huge a difference. There are other factors such as work women take that have more flexible hours, or even not working the same hours for which men work significantly more. This statement is not true and one I wish the democrats would stop using, especially Elizabeth Warren who has been touting the statistic in her ads. These kinds of lies don't help anyone who are going to call you a liar and rightfully so.
Sebelius, Sept 4: What's missing from the Romney-Ryan plan for Medicare is Medicare. Instead of the Medicare guarantee, Republicans would give seniors a voucher that limits what is covered, costing seniors as much as $6,400 more a year.
Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, and others, gave the statistic that many are pouncing on in the MSM as dead wrong. This goes to show how little even people in the media understand health care, possibly the only thing slightly less confusing than credit default swaps, the derivative market and the popularity of "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo." We keep hearing that the GOP plan doesn't apply to those over 55 so don't worry about it, only your kids get screwed, not you. This is also totally not true. While they are correct that the new voucher system will only apply to under 55's, the system will break quickly as only sick, non insurable individuals will use Medicare while the healthier younger seniors will find cheaper alternatives. This will saddle Medicare with the sickest, oldest individuals which will bankrupt the system within ten years, meaning everyone loses who depends on the system. Contrary to what you keep hearing, the Ryan plan affects us all regardless of age and they want to get rid of it along with all other safety net provisions. Vote GOP at you own risk knowing this.
So last night was better than the RNC on facts where Chris Christie told one fib after another and Ryan's was near slander. And how did the polls react to the RNC? Piss poor with Romney getting one of the lowest bumps ever, 2%, tying George Bush in 2004 after his acceptance speech, a fact that should give Romney pause. That election is eerily echoing this one where a highly unpopular president is still doing better than the MA politician running against him.
Romney got a further headache this week when the ultra-conservative Constitution Party got the right to be on the Virginia presidential ballot. Romney must have been spitting bullets and screaming swear words like "FIDDLE STICKS, and "DANG IT," as this may now cost him the election (My prediction is a final tally of 303-235, by the way). Ohio is now a super swing state that he absolutely, positively has to win because without Virginia, he's toast. Even if as few as 16,000 people vote for the third party candidate, he may handing Obama the victory just as Ralph Nader did when his support cost Gore Florida and the election.
Tonight at the DNC are Elizabeth Warren and Bill Clinton. Should be exciting so stay tuned for my review tomorrow.
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