Welcome, friends. The purpose of this regular series is to promote enthusiasm and action among Daily Kos members. Romney will very likely out-fundraise President Obama. However, we believe that we can still win if (1) we can remain competitive financially, and (2) we volunteer our time and energy (GOTV, canvassing, phonebanking, LTE, ...).
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Right into the news.
First, President Obama has a new description of Mitt Romney's tax polices. Instead of Robin Hood robbing the rich and giving to the poor, Mitt Romney will take from the poor and give to the rich. It's Romney Hood.
President Barack Obama told cheering supporters at a fundraiser in Connecticut on Monday that Mitt Romney's tax plan would raise taxes on middle-class Americans to pay for a tax cut benefiting the very rich: "It's like Robin Hood in reverse. It's Romney Hood." His remarks drew laughter and applause.
Yahoo News
Second, the Press has the vapors over Harry Reid, but President Obama is not repudiating Reid. The Press Secretary to the President today repeatedly refused to denounce Senator Harry Reid for stating that he had been told by a Bain investor that Romney did not pay any amount of taxes for 10 years.
Here's just a taste of the many questions that sound like Romney campaign talking points (describing in the question itself that Reid's comments were "below the belt", vicious", etc. Compare the kiss-ass questions they give to Romney when Lord Romney makes himself available, which is rarely.).
Each time, Press Secretary Carney refused to denounce Reid and turned the issue back to Romney's failure to release his taxe returns.
Q On another front, Leader Reid-Governor Romney story continues to percolate. Does the President think that it’s appropriate for Leader Reid to be making these, some would say, unsubstantiated charges on the Senate floor? And has the White House spoken to him about it?
MR. CARNEY: I’m not aware of the White House speaking to Senator Reid about this issue. I would simply say that you all probably know Senator Reid well, and he speaks for himself, and he has addressed this issue.
I think that the broader question, as it relates to the President’s view, is that he thinks the tradition that has been in place since 1968 of candidates for President releasing multiple years of their tax returns is an important one. It’s not always every candidate’s favorite part of the process, but it’s a tradition that's important. It's valuable to the American people as they decide who should be President. So that's why the President has put forward his financial information, his tax returns when he was a candidate, and believes that that’s an important tradition.
snip
Q I just want to follow on taxes because the charge is not just that maybe Mitt Romney paid less than a factory worker or whoever, but it’s a bit more vicious than that from Harry Reid. He’s saying that he didn't pay -- he has an anonymous source telling him that he paid no taxes for something like 10 years. So the President has talked a lot about changing the tone in this town. Why hasn’t he picked up the phone and asked Harry Reid to stop making a charge like that?
MR. CARNEY: Again, I think the idea that people tell Harry Reid what to do is inconsistent with what everyone here understands to be --
Q But you can express your opinion that maybe that's below the belt.
MR. CARNEY: Look, I think that the President -- you hear the President going out and talking about the important issues facing the American people every day. And he talks about those issues in terms that reflect the importance of economic matters like our tax code and how our tax code, for example, currently benefits companies that ship jobs overseas. He would change that so that it ceases encouraging investment overseas and outsourcing of jobs, and encourages insourcing of investment and jobs.
He talks about that in terms of, as I was saying earlier, a tax code that allows in totally legal fashion hedge fund managers to pay an effective tax rate that's significantly lower than most Americans -- or many Americans -- and that that is not reflective of a system that we need to have in place that helps the American middle class grow, helps enhance its security.
Q Right, but that's not the charge. The charge is that Mitt Romney didn't pay taxes for 10 years. Does the White House believe that allegation?
MR. CARNEY: Again, I would refer you to Senator Reid for -- I can't -- only Senator Reid knows his source, which he has discussed, and I would refer you to that.
I think it is a fair point to make that this is an issue that was not originated during the general election campaign, did not start with the President’s campaign or with Senator Reid, it started in the Republican primary when Governor Romney’s opponents brought up this issue and the fact that Governor Romney’s father began a tradition in 1968 of major candidates for President releasing multiple years of their tax returns, and that that is a tradition that has been adhered to by major candidates for President ever since.
Transcript Editors
Some video of the CBS question and Secretary Carney answering it. Note the bias in the question. But they are still talking about Romney's tax returns. :-)
I'm glad the White House is standing firm on this. Romney can show his tax returns and end the speculation, but he won't. I'm also glad the Senator Reid refuses to back down, which leads to our third story:
David Krone, Reid’s chief of staff, said in an interview with Politico Sunday night that Republicans were "cowards" for avoiding the issue. Here's Krone:
“They’re a bunch of cowards, and they’re avoiding the issue. Lindsey Graham, Reince Priebus — they’re a bunch of henchmen for Romney, and they’re all reading off the same talking points. They couldn’t hold a candle to Harry Reid.”
Krone added: “What Harry Reid said is the fact of what he was told. To turn it around, all their childish rants this weekend about calling Reid a ‘liar’ and all that, it just shows you how scared they are that Harry Reid was telling the truth.”
Business Insider
Now, our fourth story: President Obama orders flags to be flown half-mast in honor of the victims of the Oak Creek tragedy.
HONORING THE VICTIMS OF THE TRAGEDY IN OAK CREEK, WISCONSIN
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on August 5, 2012, in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, August 10, 2012. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh.
BARACK OBAMA
Presidential Proclamation--Honoring the Victims of the Tragedy in Oak Creek, Wisconsin
Finally, some bonus Michelle Obama news. Mrs. Obama will make her third appearance on the "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on Monday, August 13 to talk about life in the White House and what it was like to lead the U.S. Olympic delegation. Jay is a Republican, but Michelle is worth seeing anyway.
That's the Obama news for tonight.