MORNING MESSAGE: Romney Full Of "Wind Jobs"
OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "'I appreciate wind jobs in Iowa and across our country,' said Romney. But there are wind jobs and there are 'wind jobs.' Romney's campaign has stated unequivocally that he would end the Wind Production Tax Credit that helped create those Iowa jobs. In another blast of hot air, Romney said he wants to grow Pell grants for students - even though his own campaign paper says sneers at those grants and says he'll cut them back. Even worse, Mitt Romney says in that paper that they're part of our country's 'expanding entitlement mentality.' … it's hard to top this comment for sheer audacity: 'I came through small business,' said Romney. 'I understand how hard it is to start a small business.' Whoosh. That was one heck of a wind. Bain Capital was set up by Bill Bain, Romney's boss. Romney insisted on a written contract from Bain guaranteeing he could have his old job back if he failed - without even losing his scheduled bonuses. Romney never put up his own money for the business, never went without a fat paycheck, never took a chance - in other words, he was never an entrepreneur."
Romney Claims Continue To Be Debunked
"Romney-Cited Researcher Disputes Romney’s Jobs Math" reports TPM: "…the Romney campaign cited three separate studies that, taken together, include numbers that add up to 12 million jobs created … as [the Washington Post] found, the studies employ different time frames, and two of them have no bearing on Romney’s policies. And, it turns out, not all of the authors believe their research helps justify Romney’s conclusion either. 'I think the WP [Washington Post] story says it all,' said Ed Morse, a managing director at Citigroup Global Markets, in an email. 'I have no comment to add.'"
"Romney’s Proposal to Cap Deductions Would Not Pay for His Tax Cuts, Analysis Says" reports NYT: "Mitt Romney said at the second presidential debate on Tuesday that he might try to cap itemized tax deductions in order to make up the revenue that would be lost by his proposal to cut marginal income tax rates across the board by 20 percent … But an analysis released Wednesday by the Tax Policy Center found that capping deductions would not yield enough revenue to make up the roughly $5 trillion that Mr. Romney’s various tax proposals are projected to cost over a decade … [It] would yield only $2 trillion over 10 years … 'Even if you zero out itemized deductions, you’re still not going to get there,' Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center…"
Romney campaign still can't get it's story straight on equal pay for women. Time: "'The governor would not repeal the Lilly Ledbetter Act' [Romney spox Ed Gillespie] said, referring to a law that increased the legal options for women discriminated against on the job. 'He was opposed to it at the time. He would not repeal it.' Hours later, Gillespie retracted his comment in an email to the Huffington Post. 'I was wrong,' Gillespie wrote. 'He never weighed in on it. As President, he would not seek to repeal it.' Immediately, the Obama campaign pounced on the confusion."
"In Conference Call, Romney Urged Businesses To Tell Their Employees How to Vote" reports In These Times: "In a June 6, 2012 conference call posted on the anti-union National Federation of Independent Business’s website, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney instructed employers to tell their employees how to vote in the upcoming election … 'I hope you make it very clear to your employees what you believe is in the best interest of your enterprise and therefore their job and their future in the upcoming elections' … The call raises the question of whether the Romney campaign is complicit in the corporate attempts to influence employees' votes that have been recently making headlines … the conference call raises troubling questions about what appears to be a growing wave of workplace political pressure unleashed by Citizens United."
Obama Draws Firm Line On Taxes
Obama pledges to veto any deficit reduction bill that does not increase taxes on wealthy. W. Post: "Freed from the political and economic constraints that have tied his hands in the past, Obama is ready to play hardball with Republicans … If the president emerges victorious on Election Day, top GOP aides in both chambers say Republicans would press him to abandon his quest to raise the top rates, in exchange for a more meaningful prize — a long-sought agreement to stabilize the debt, in part with significant new tax revenue … Still, Republicans acknowledge that Obama could emerge from the November election with a strong hand, and policy aides in both chambers are sorting through ideas for raising taxes on the rich without raising rates."
Greeks launch another general strike to protest austerity. NYT: "… in a bid to show European Union leaders meeting in Brussels that fresh austerity cuts being demanded by Greece’s lenders would cripple society … The action comes as Greece’s so-called troika of lenders — the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission — press Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to seal a package of austerity cuts of 13.5 billion euros, or almost $18 billion. Those include new cuts in salaries and pensions as well as demands to streamline rigid labor laws…"
GOP Saddled By Tea Party
GOP nominated too many extreme conservatives, jeopardizing chances to win Senate. Politico: "…in several of the races — like Arizona, Wisconsin and Missouri — the party’s hands-off approach to primaries produced battered, weakened candidates who are struggling to pull away in races many Republicans thought were sure bets … the overarching explanation is that its leaders can’t control their base … Mourdock is in a tough race against Democrat Joe Donnelly [in Indiana]. Flake has been battered after a long and expensive primary against a wealthy self-funder, putting him in a tough battle with Democrat Richard Carmona [in Arizona]; Berg and Rehberg [North Dakota and Montana] have been hampered by their service in an unpopular House; and Allen and Thompson are struggling to command the support they won when they were governors of their respective states [Virginia and Thompson] in a different era."
Vulnerable House members running away from "tea party" label reports Politico.
