Tag: Mitt Romney (page 4)

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan today said they want to overhaul Medicaid and food stamps.

Here are the statistics on hunger in America.

One of the most common misconceptions is the assumption that if someone is hungry, that means they do not have a job and are living on the streets. What most people don’t understand is that anyone can experience hunger. It is a silent epidemic that affects 49 million Americans.

According to the US Census Bureau, in 2010, 21 million people lived in working-poor families. This translates into nearly 9.6 percent of all American families living below 100 percent of poverty have at least one family member working . In fact, 36 percent of client households served by the Feeding America network have one or more adults working.

Robert Greenstein, President of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, called Ryan's plan "Robin Hood in reverse, on steroids."

Via On the Issues: Here are some items from Paul Ryan's record on crime-related issues:

On Crime:

• Voted NO on expanding services for offenders' re-entry into society. (Nov 2007)
• Voted NO on funding for alternative sentencing instead of more prisons. (Jun 2000)
• Voted YES on more prosecution and sentencing for juvenile crime. (Jun 1999)

On Drugs:

• Voted YES on prohibiting needle exchange & medical marijuana in DC. (Oct 1999)

[More...]

A New York Times editorial today calls Paul Ryan a "man of cramped vision."

A candidate [Mitt Romney]of no details — I’ll cut the budget but no need to explain just how — has named a vice-presidential running mate, Paul Ryan, whose vision is filled with endless columns of minus signs. Voters will now be able to see with painful clarity just what the Republican Party has in store for them.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adds:

Mr. Ryan’s budget “will hurt hungry children, poor families, vulnerable seniors and workers who cannot find employment,” the bishops wrote in an April letter to the House. “These cuts are unjustified and wrong.”

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Is anyone waiting with breathless excitement? USA Today reports:

Mitt Romney will announce his vice presidential choice on Saturday, the campaign announced late Friday night. The announcement is scheduled to take place during an event at the U.S.S. Wisconsin, a retired U.S. battleship.

CNN reports Illinois Republicans have chosen Mitt Romney. CBS reports the same. Santorum is now far behind in delegates.

Looks like Newt Gingrich fizzled in Nevada and Mitt Romney will win the state's Republican caucusesby double digits.

Here's the makeup of voters: 4 of 5 are Conservative, 3 out of 4 said they were tea partiers, and 1 of 4 are Mormons.

Where's Romney today? In Colorado Springs, campaigning for Coloradans' votes in the caucuses which will be held Tuesday.

The Florida Republican primary has been called by the news outlets for Mitt Romney.

Mitt's speaking now. He says they will win in November. He says it's time for President Obama to get out of the way. He's ready to lead the party and the nation. He will begin a new era of prosperity. He will save the soul of America. He will balance the budget without raising taxes. He will repeal Obamacare. He will strengthen religious rights.

"I will insist on a military so powerful no one would ever think of challenging it."

What's your prediction for the outcome of today's Florida Republican primary?

Time Magazine says Newt Gingrich is bracing for a loss and in the process of reinventing himself as a grass-roots insurgent. It says Newt is floundering because he was outstumped and outspent.

Gingrich is unlikely to get the chance to implement this vision. But he is shaking things up within his schizophrenic campaign. After skipping from message to message in recent days, he has apparently decided his best shot at knocking off Mitt Romney is to embrace Tea Party populism. And so he has reinvented himself as a grassroots gadfly, ready to dog the GOP “all the way to the convention.”

CNN says the latest polling which includes the 600,000 voters who voted early has Mitt Romney ahead. [More...]

The Romney Campaign has sent out a summary of the tax returns it will be releasing today.

Mr. Romney reported $21.7 million in income. He paid $3 million in federal taxes, slightly more than the $2.98 million he made in charitable donations. At least $1.5 million of his charitable donations went to the Mormon Church.

Of Mr. Romney's 2010 income, he noted a capital gain of $12.6 million, taxable interest of $3.3 million, ordinary dividends of $4.9 million and smaller sums of gains and losses on business income, refunds and other income.

His tax rate comes out to 14%. Why so low? The rate on investment income (15%) is lower than the rate for salaried income (35%.) Who is responsible for the big disparity?

That preferential rate for investment income, which was instituted as part of the Bush tax cuts to spur investment, is the basic reason why the Mr. Romney and his wife have an effective rate of around 15%.

His off-shore investments are not tax shelters. He pays the capital gains rate on those. He's worth between $84.8 million and $264.7 million. [More...]

I don't think there's any doubt that if, as virtually universally anticipated, McCain loses the presidential election on Tuesday, it's because of two things: the economy and his choice of Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential candidate.

Columnist Earl Ofari Hutchinson puts them in perspective, by asking, what if McCain had picked Mitt Romney as his running mate. I've wondered the same thing but he says it much better and more succinctly than I would, so read it and see if you don't find yourself nodding along in agreement with his logic. I sure did. [More...]

Mitt Romney has suspended his campaign.

John McCain effectively sealed the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday as chief rival Mitt Romney suspended his faltering presidential campaign. "I must now stand aside, for our party and our country," Romney prepared to tell conservatives.

Romney says if he doesn't get out now, he increases the chance of a Hillary or Obama win in November. He adds:

"I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know. But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama bin Laden, and on eliminating al-Qaida and terror," Romney said.

"Finding and executing?" How about a trial first or saying you are going to bring him to justice? Those Republicans....

And what about Huckabee? Will he drop out next or stay and try to pick up Romney's religious supporters?

Great answer by Hillary about Mitt Romney saying neither she nor Obama had ever been a CEO.