Manic, Chill

Elizabeth Warren Raises More Than Scott Brown, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, and Jon Hunstman During The Final Three Months of 2011

Something tells me that the Koch brothers will have to empty their coffers if they want incumbent-Senator Scott Brown to win his re-election bid in 2012.

from The Boston Globe:

Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard Law School professor and consumer advocate whose US Senate candidacy has fired up Democrats across the nation, raised $5.7 million in the last three months of 2011, an unusually large amount for a first-time candidate and a reflection of what many observers say is her potent appeal to party leaders and activists eager to recapture the seat once held by Edward M. Kennedy.

Her overall fund-raising for the three final months of 2011 far outpaced Senator Scott Brown’s $3.2-million total for the same period.

On Monday, Brown’s campaign released figures showing that the Republican had raised a total of $8.5 million in 2011, some several hundred thousand less than the $8.8 million Warren raised since summer.

While official numbers for Q4 have yet to be released by the FEC, early estimates show several Republican presidential hopefuls lagging behind Mrs. Warren in the race for campaign dollars.

Rick Perry is estimated to have received between $3-5 million in additional campaign contributions during Q4, while Rick Santorum told reporters that the $1 million he raised in 24 hours after his second-place finish in Iowa represented nearly 50% of his yearly donations. Exact figures have not been released by the Huntsman campaign, but his attempt to raise $100,000 to air ads in New Hampshire cannot bode well for the campaign.

(image courtesy of Politico)

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(Source: videocafe.crooksandliars.com)

Analysis: Proposed Tax Cuts For The Rich Are Up To 270 Times Larger Than Proposed Tax Cuts For The Middle Class

from ThinkProgress:

The 2012 Republican candidates are largely in lockstep when it comes to economic policy, wanting to give huge tax cuts to the rich and corporations while doing next to nothing to boost consumer demand or help the middle class and the unemployed who have been battered by the Great Recession. In fact, according to an analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice, the average tax cuts received by the richest 1 percent of Americans under the Republican plans would be 270 times as large as the cut received by the middle class.

Citizens for Tax Justice released a multi-page document, breaking down the differences and results of each candidate’s proposed tax plan.

from Citizens for Tax Justice:

• Former House Speaker  Newt Gingrich’s $18.1 trillion tax plan would give the richest one percent of Americans an average tax cut of $391,330, which would be over 190 times as large as the average tax cut of $1,990 that the middle fifth of Americans would receive.  
• Texas Governor  Rick Perry’s $10.5 trillion tax plan would give the richest one percent of Americans an average tax cut of $272,730, which would be over 270 times as large as the average tax cut of $1,000 that the middle fifth of Americans would receive.  
• Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s $6.6 trillion tax plan would give the richest one percent of Americans an average tax cut of $126,450, which would be over 100 times as large as the average tax cut of $1,220 that the middle fifth of Americans would receive.  
• Former Senator Rick Santorum’s $9.4 trillion tax plan would give the richest one percent of Americans an average tax cut of $217,500, which would be over 100 times as large as the average tax cut of $2,160 that the middle fifth of Americans would receive

Read More

(chart courtesy of ThinkProgress)

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“Having men and women who share my philosophy, and then giving that clear instruction to those agencies, and if the bureaucrats in those agencies try to block — for Health and Human Services is a great example,” he continued. “If you have Health and Human Service bureaucrats that try to block our being able to block grant dollars back to the states so you all can decide how best to handle health care in New Hampshire — I don’t think you can fire federal bureaucrats, but you can reassign them — so reassign them to some really God-awful place.”

As The Huffington Post’s Amanda Terkel noted, Perry was incorrect in stating that federal civil service workers cannot be fired.

More importantly, it would probably be illegal to punish workers who do not share his “vision.” Title 5 of the United States Code bans discrimination against federal employees for personal conduct which which does not affect on-the-job performance.

Perry to Federal Workers: ‘Share My Vision’ or Get Punished
Crooks & Liars 

(image courtesy of Martha Zoller)

Sheriff Joe Endorses Rick Perry In New Hampshire | TPM

Credo Mobile Targets Rick Perry, Right Wing Policies, and AT&T In Newly Launched Marketing Campaign Intended to Court Liberals and Progressives

Credo Mobile, a cellular service provider that bills itself as the only progressive phone company in the country, may have become the first corporate entity in the nation to officially weigh-in on the current crop of presidential hopefuls.

The image above is the header from promotional materials, currently being circulated by Credo, that attempt to paint Rick Perry and AT&T in quite the negative light. Highlighting the large number of campaign donations Perry previously received from AT&T, whose proposed-merger with T-Mobile he also supported, is a smart business move during a time when many are already upset with AT&T.

While Credo wrote separate messages for circulation via email versus snail mail, both focus on the implication that AT&T supports Rick Perry’s extremely-conservative. Both focus on AT&T’s decisions to spend $18,000 purchasing, and subsequently distributing, 700 copies of the Texas Governor’s book Fed Up! at a conservative conference last December.

The letter concludes with a rundown of current sales and special monthly rates for new customers, along with a note that the company donates a portion of all sales to progressive nonprofit organizations. Whether or not the campaign will have any measurable effect on voters, or consumers for that matter, remains to be seen.

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Phyllis Schlafly: Perry’s Tax Plan Fails to Protect Traditional Marriage

from The Texas Independent:

Phyllis Schlafly, the religious-right icon who, like Perry, was featured at this year’s Values Voter Summit in Washington, says Perry’s plan fails on another measure: protection of marriage. 

In an op-ed at Creators.com, the Eagle Forum founder tears into Perry’s flat-tax proposal which, she says, “would eliminate all tax advantages for married couples where one spouse is the primary breadwinner.”

Schlafly bristles at the possibility that, if Perry has his way, husbands and wives wouldn’t be allowed to file jointly, ending the deductions and other tax benefits married couples enjoy today. “Does Rick Perry want to undermine traditional marriage?” she asks…

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Rick Santorum: Dead Foreign Scientists a “Wonderful Thing”

from Crooks & Liars:

[Rick Santorum] told supporters in Greenville, South Carolina that it was a “wonderful thing” when scientists in Iran lose their lives.

“On occasion, scientists working on the nuclear program in Iran turn up dead,” he explained. “I think that’s a wonderful thing, candidly.”

The former Pennsylvania senator, who in January declared that life was a civil right, is also prepared to celebrate the death of scientists in other counties.

“I think we should send a very clear message that if you are scientist from Russia or North Korea or from Iran, and you are going to work on a nuclear program to develop a nuclear bomb for Iran, you are not safe.”

[emphasis added]

Santorum also blasted President Obama’s handling of U.S./Israel relations, voicing his displeasure with the President’s condemnation of additional Israeli settlements in Jerusalem, and implying that Israel was much better off prior to the Obama Presidency. Not content with simply setting back foreign relations with several countries, he would go on to give his analysis of several opposing Republican presidential hopefuls.

from Taylors-WadeHampton Patch:

Santorum then put forth his argument on why he is the best choice for voters, drawing distinctions between himself and Romney, Cain and Perry.

• On Romney: “When he ran for Senate in Massachusetts he was to the left of Ted Kennedy. It’s stunning how liberal he was.”
• On Cain: “Do we want someone who’s never won an election going up against the biggest re-election machine ever created?”
• On Perry (and his recently announced 20 percent flat tax): “It’s simple and you can put it on a postcard, but it’s a huge shift in the tax burden on to the middle class.”

Santorum wrapped up his speech discussing what the Republican strategies, for the 2012 elections, should be. He mentioned a need for the GOP to appeal to the lower forty percent of the tax base, a need to focus on manufacturing jobs, and possible incentives to convince companies to bring jobs, moved to China, back to the United States.

(image courtesy of Nerve)

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