Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to effect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security.
MORNING MESSAGE: The Hard Truth About Romney's Republican Party
OurFuture.org's Robert Borosage: "…New Jersey Governor Chris Christie argued that this is the party of 'hard truths,' ready to tackle our debt and deficits … But in fact, Mitt Romney's Republican Party isn't passionate about reducing deficits. A candidate that promises to hand out another $900 billion in tax breaks a year by 2015, mostly to the already wealthy, isn't focused on deficits. And telling 'hard truths' is not a trait of a candidate who promises to pay for those tax cuts by closing loopholes he won't identify, and pledges deep cuts in spending but refuses to reveal what he would cut … This is the candidate and the party of privilege, intent on lavishing more benefits on the few while savaging the already inadequate support for the poor and the vulnerable. That's the 'hard truth' Chris Christie didn't bother to mention."
Christie Misfires
Christie's tough guy act was just that. The American Prospect's Harold Meyerson: "Christie’s speech began with a very long warm-up: My mom was tough cookie and she taught me to be a tough cookie and I’m going to say tough things tonight. And then—he didn’t."
Christie theme fits Obama better than Romney. NY Mag's Jonathan Chait: "The theme of Chris Christie's keynote address tonight was toughness, leadership, disregarding the polls and doing the hard, unpopular thing … it's an awfully strange way to attack President Obama, who pushed for all sorts of policies — health care reform, a reorganization of the financial sector, an endorsement of gay marriage — that carried huge political risks. Second, it's an even worse endorsement of Mitt Romney, who at every stage of his career has remade himself into whatever the electorate at any given moment appeared to desire."
"Christie Aims for Obamacare, Hits Romneycare" says TNR's Jonathan Cohn: "[Christie said,] 'Mitt Romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to end the debacle of putting the world's greatest health care system in the hands of federal bureaucrats and putting those bureaucrats between an American citizen and her doctor.' … Romney has said the very same thing, arguing … 'we didn’t go out and raise taxes on people and have a unelected board tell people what kind of health care they can have.' That italicized portion of the statement is false. The Massachusetts health law created an independent board, with members not directly elected by the people, to oversee its universal health care scheme. The board, known as the Connector Authority, has power to define what benefits insurers must cover, among other things."
Convention speakers call for return to Bush. NYT's Andrew Rosenthal: "The Republican speakers at the first night of the party’s convention in Tampa kept shouting that 'it is time' or 'about time' or 'past time' that the United States had a president who appreciates small businesses, or hates red tape, or wants to get rid of regulations, or wants to cut taxes … But wasn’t George W. Bush president for eight years before Barack Obama? … In the not-so-distant past we had a Republican president, a one-time businessman, who hated red tape, and under his watch the grossly under-regulated financial system collapsed, bringing on the Great Recession."
And talk about how good the economy is. WSJ: "The Obama campaign seized on remarks by Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker – all Republicans – to make the case that the president has presided over an economic recovery in all three Midwestern battlegrounds … an upbeat theme that runs counter to Mitt Romney’s doom-and-gloom pronouncements about the state of the American economy."
Republican Platform Craziest Ever
The Republican platform is the most right-wing ever. NYT: "The new platform — with its call to reshape Medicare to give fixed amounts of money to future beneficiaries so they can buy their own coverage, its tough stance on illegal immigration and its many calls to shrink the size and scope of government — shows just how far rightward the party has shifted in both tone and substance in the decades since it adopted the 1980 platform, which was considered a triumph for conservatives at the time … some political scientists say that party platforms do matter. Gerald M. Pomper … found that winning political parties try to redeem roughly 70 percent of their concrete platform pledges."
Platform attacks Pentagon for considering impact of climate change. The Hill: "The official Republican platform takes aim at Obama administration military planning documents that emphasize the security risks of climate change, alleging they reveal a White House that has strayed from core defense priorities … But defense analysts say that climate change presents security risks by creating conflicts over affected resources and other challenges."
Racism Behind Voter Suppression Campaign Exposed
Lawmaker behind SC voter ID law admits to racist emails. McClatchy: "Garrard Beeney, who represented the civil rights groups, presented emails sent to and from [State Rep. Alan] Clemmons’ personal account between 2009 and 2011, when he was working on the law. One, from a man named Ed Koziol, used racially charged rhetoric to denounce the idea that poor, black voters might lack transportation or other resources necessary to obtain photo ID. If the legislature offered a reward for identification cards, 'it would be like a swarm of bees going after a watermelon,' Koziol wrote. Beeney asked Clemmons how he had replied to this email. Clemmons hesitated a moment before answering, 'It was a poorly considered response when I said, "Amen, Ed, thank you for your support."'"
Court finds TX redistricting discriminates against minorities. NYT: "They denied granting so-called preclearance to the maps, because in some cases districts drawn to look like Hispanic ones on paper would actually perform to the benefit of candidates preferred by white voters."
OH Dems on state elections board fired for wanting people to be able to vote. AP: "The state elections chief fired two Democrats from the elections board in the Dayton area on Tuesday after they pressed to allow early voting on weekends … [Sec. of State Jon] Husted told the two on Tuesday that he was dismissing them because they had 'knowingly and willfully violated Ohio election law' by not following his directive on early voting hours."
Breakfast Sides
President rallies students in IA and CO. USA Today: "…he touted his efforts to double Pell Grants, end the war in Iraq and pass health care reform, all red-meat issues for younger voters … more than 15 million young Americans have become eligible to vote since the last election, but they've come of age during a period when hundreds of thousands of college graduates throughout the country struggle to find work."
After boosting value of euro in August, challenges arise in September. NYT: "The first big test could come next week, on Sept. 6, when the bank’s governing council meets. Afterward, Mr. Draghi will again hold a news conference to try to explain whatever the central bank has or has not done. Bearish traders will be poised to pounce yet again on any signs of waffling. Worries are also swirling that Germany will refuse to grant Greece the time and resources it is seeking to reduce its debt…"
