"Pants on Fire" from PolitiFact for Josh Mandel
During a November 14th radio interview on the Tea Party Express Hour, Ohio Treasurer said that Sen. Sherrod Brown is "out there egging on a lot of these protesters who are spitting on policemen and going to the bathroom on policemen's cars at these protests on Wall Street and other places." PolitiFact Ohio analyzed Mandel's statement and came to this conclusion:
As a public official, Mandel knows words matter. And given the incendiary level of other comments he made in the interview (he says at one point that Brown has "vilified capitalism" and views anyone who creates jobs as "the enemy.") his clear meaning was that Brown was encouraging protesters who are "spitting on policemen and going to the bathroom on policemen’s cars." That statement is not accurate and also makes a ridiculous claim. On the Truth-O-Meter, that rates Pants on Fire.
TPM: How Mitt Romney Revived A Scandal-Plagued CEO’s Career
On November 18, 2011, Talking Points Memo reported:
In this particular case, however, Romney’s business experience really was instructive. As an executive at Bain Capital he faced a similar situation in the private sector with a businessman whose successful career had been derailed by a sex scandal...
POLITICO: Romney vs. DNC FOIA wars, round two
On November 17, POLITICO reported:
In response to the Romney campaign's Freedom of Information Act earlier today to highlight the ties between Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and President Obama, the Democratic National Committee is filing a FOIA request of its own: for any references to deleting files or emails during Romney's time as governor. [...] It's a request that may not get the DNC any actual documents -- many of Romney's old files are sealed to the public, according to the Democratic opposition research group American Bridge, and can't be FOIAed.
USA Today: Bachmann, Democrats take shots at Gingrich
On November 17, 2011, USA Today reported:
American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic organization, has a new video out today that compiles some of Gingrich's past statements about Fannie and Freddie with clips of more recent coverage.
POLITICO's Arena: Will Obama's "lazy" comments haunt him?
For all that Republicans talk about American exceptionalism, it appears that it is they who have forgotten what makes America great. Without Americans’ determination, the gifts with which we are uniquely endowed would go to waste. Without Americans’ commitment, declarations of American greatness would be but hollow claims. Rather than desperately taking the President’s words out of context, Republicans should understand that over 235 years of American success have been driven by the singular thought that we can do better. As any athlete or artist who reaches the pinnacle of their craft would attest, when the benchmark of the best has been passed, it is the motivation to always be better that remains the elusive target for which we strive. The American people know that President Obama’s words were meant to challenge our country not to be corrupted by a culture of complacency. We can’t afford to grow lazy, can’t afford to settle just for being the best when there is always room to get better. Though the formulation changes, the challenge has been issued time and again, from John F. Kennedy to Vince Lombardi. In fact, Mitt Romney would be well served to remember that in his own book, “No Apology,” he issues the same challenge: “We have been accustomed to being the world’s leading nation for so long, enjoying the freedom, security, and prosperity that comes with that leadership, that we have tended to avoid the hard work that overcoming challenges requires.” So while Republican candidates choose to feign outrage, expect the American people to back leaders who exemplify the truly American response – rising to meet the challenge, as we have always done.
Huffington Post: Obama's 2012 Campaign Cavalry Takes Shape
On November 16, 2011, the Huffington Post reported:
In a bare-bones room on the second floor of an office building blocks away from the Capitol lies one of the more influential political operations in Washington D.C. Roughly forty staffers sit along white tables in the room, only a handful of whom even the biggest political junkies would know by name. They work in relative silence, staring into one of the two computer monitors in front of them, headphones covering their ears. On the walls are mounted a dozen 42-inch televisions turned to one of the three major cable news networks. Pipes are exposed in the ceiling above and the cement floor below has no carpeting, revealing painted instructions for future movers. Off to the side, a server gives off a heated, humming sound. It is in that server that the one of the largest collections of campaign-related video footage will soon to be stored. American Bridge 21st Century is a relatively new Democratic operation -- conceived by David Brock, the founder of the highly successful progressive media tracking organization Media Matters, and run by former high-ranking Hill and campaign staffers -- but its ambitions, as exemplified by plans for that server, are far-reaching: The group aims to redefine the art of opposition politics.
POLITICO: Questions arise about Rick Perry's business deals back home in Texas Tribune report
On November 16, 2011, POLITICO reported:
The Tribune piece looks at the deals in detail, but they include reports on buying and then flipping a Horseshoe Bay property from a friend, and a probe the Huffington Post revealed that was done on a land deal with Dr. James Leininger, a major Perry donor. The left-leaning group American Bridge hit Perry hard on the issue after his government-overhaul speech Monday, in a line of attack that will become a refrain if the governor starts to rise again.
Texas Tribune: Perry Decries Insider Trading But Critics Call Foul
On November 16, 2011, the Texas Tribune reported:
Newly — and fiercely — critical of using public office for personal financial gain, Gov. Rick Perry this week unveiled a campaign addemanding that lawmakers who use “insider knowledge to profit in the stock market” be jailed, and he rolled out an overhaul plan of the federal government that would make that possible by criminalizing insider trading by members of Congress. Some longtime observers of the Texas governor say his effort to portray himself as a reform-minded government “outsider” is inconsistent with his record, which they argue is peppered with instances in which his personal and political relationships became entangled in ways that helped him profit financially.
Houston Chronicle: Rick Perry’s ‘wrecking ball’ plan, explained
On November 15, 2011, the Houston Chronicle reported:
Perry also said he would jail lawmakers profiting from insider information, a reference to a CBS “60 Minutes” program that showed some congressional members bought stock in companies with an interest in pending legislation. A Democratic political action committee, American Bridge 21st Century, said Perry’s proposal smacked of hypocrisy and said the governor made tidy profits in stock holdings in Kinetic Concepts through his association with San Antonio-based James Leininger.
POLITICO: Mitt Romney Says Americans Avoiding 'The Hard Work' In Book, American Bridge Reports
On November 16, 2011, POLITCO reported:
The folks at the Democratic-backing group American Bridge flagged a quote from Mitt Romney's book "No Apology" amid the flap over the Republican hitting President Obama for describing Americans as having become "lazy" in terms of preserving exceptionalism.(emphasis added)The passage in the book reads this way:
“We have been accustomed to being the world’s leading nation for so long, enjoying the freedom, security, and prosperity that comes with that leadership, that we have tended to avoid the hard work that overcoming challenges requires. When I was about ten, I asked my dad how he thought his company’s Rambler automobile could ever successfully compete with General Motors; they were so far ahead that catching up appeared impossible. He said something that has since been widely attributed to him: “There is nothing as vulnerable as entrenched success.” I believe that our many years of success may, in fact, be the greatest obstacle we face. In election after election, candidates have told us that simple measures will solve our challenges, and that their election alone will guarantee a bright future. We have joined in the cheering for this heady prospect. But much more than cheering is going to be required in the years ahead.”