Bad Deeds for 8-13-2012

Romney Got Several Years of Tax Returns From Pawlenty, But Only Wants to Give Us One or Two – Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty was passed over for the vice presidential slot by presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Now Pawlenty is indicating that Romney may have higher standards for his running mate than he does for himself.

On “This Week With George Stephanopoulos,” Pawlenty said that he gave Romney “a bunch” of tax returns as part of the vetting process for the second spot on the GOP ticket.

“I don’t remember the exact number,” Pawlenty told Stephanopoulos. “It was several years, I believe.”

Republican Congressman is OK With Bringing a Child to Dogfighting and Cockfighting – Republican Congressman Steve King of Iowa last week made shocking comments opposing a federal bill that would crack down on dogfighting and cockfighting. King defended his campaign to defeat legislation that would make it a crime to attend or to bring a child to an animal fight. In a tele-town hall, King said, “there’s something wrong with passing legislation to keep children away from animal fights when it’s not a federal crime to induce somebody to watch people fighting.” He added, “there’s something wrong with the priorities of people that [sic] think like that.”

Fortunately, legislation backed by the Humane Society Legislative Fund to strengthen the federal animal fighting law, making it a crime to attend or bring a child to a dogfight or cockfight, has passed the U.S. Senate as part of the 2012 Farm Bill, and also has passed the House Agriculture Committee. But Congressman Steve King is trying to derail this legislation. He doesn’t consider it a priority to stop professional animal fighters from bringing children to dogfights, exposing them to the violence, blood-letting, and illegal gambling. And he wants no federal penalties for the spectators who finance criminal animal fights with their admission fees and gambling wagers.

Republican Congressman Submitted Forged Petitions For His Re-Election – Four staffers of former U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter (Republican-Livonia) were charged in connection with the false nominating petitions that led to McCotter’s departure from Congress,” the Detroit Free Press reports. “Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette described the four as ‘not simply Keystone Kops running amok … criminal acts were committed.’ He said the petition forgeries and cut-and-paste jobs on the petitions ‘would make an elementary art teacher cringe.’ Schuette said the McCotter staffers also likely did the same thing in the 2008 elections, using 2006 petition signatures.

Voter ID Could Keep Candidate From Voting – Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi – a candidate for Congress – said he may not be able to vote this November because of Pennsylvania’s new voter ID law,” Path reports. Maggi’s name was released by the Department of State as having a different name on his voter registration than he does on his driver’s license. His voter registration is listed as ‘Larry Maggi’ while his driver’s license reads ‘Lawrence Owen Maggi.’ To raise awareness of how unprepared the state is to implement this law less than 90 days from today, Maggi created www.letlarryvote.com to encourage others to sign his petition and demonstrate support for an injunction to delay the law’s implementation.

Republican Lawyers Prove Republicans Wrong About Voter Fraud – Data from the National Republican Lawyers Association shows that there have been only 340 confirmed cases of all types of voter fraud in the entire United States over the past 10 years. That averages to only 0.7 cases per state per year. And those numbers include things like errors on petitions and voter registration forms, on which voter ID laws would have no affect. Voter ID laws are needed as much as leash laws for unicorns.

Fox News Guest Says Gold Medal Winner Not Patriotic Enough; Wants American Olympic Spectators to Be More Eager to Wage War – Fox News was complaining that Gabby Douglas wasn’t patriotic enough because she wore a pink leotard when she was winning a gold medal in gymnastics for the United States of America. If you’re not sure which one she is, let me save you some time: She’s the black one.

Fox asked a black conservative commentator, David Webb, to tut-tut her tutu. There was some bizarre whining that people weren’t chanting “USA! USA! USA!” loudly enough, but then things got really weird.

“We’ve lost over time that jingoistic feeling,” said Webb. The American Heritage dictionary defines jingoism as “extreme and emotional nationalism, or chauvinism, often characterized by an aggressive foreign policy, accompanied by an eagerness to wage war.”

I’m not quite sure they picked the right target in Douglas. She hasn’t seen her father in two years because Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Timothy Douglas is stationed in Afghanistan.

Republican Councilman Carries Sign Showing President’s Bloody Head on a Spike – Republican Councilman Paul Smith of Sterling Heights, Michigan, has found himself at the center of controversy after video of him holding a sign that depicted President Obama’s head on a spike surfaced after being recorded at a Tea Party rally more than three years ago in April 2009. He also had other signs that included Nancy Pelosi with bullet holes in her head, and a noose around the neck of former Michigan Governor, Jennifer Granholm.

The sign that depicted a decapitated President Obama with blood dripping from his neck contained the statements, “Shit on a stick”, and “One more day is too many!” and “He changed American into Uganda.” which was scrawled out in large letters.

While that sign was repugnant, Smith’s signs towards female politicians were notably harsher. Democratic Minority Leader of the House, Nancy Pelosi ,was depicted with 6 blood dripping bullet holes in her face. The ugly phrases included “Pelosi hates America. Loves bribes and wetbacks.” The sign also said “Extreme Left Bitch.” Indeed, because nothing says civility like holding a sign calling another person an extreme bitch. Right?

Romney’s Half-Truths About His Education Record – Mitt Romney’s claims about his education record while governor of Massachusetts raise the question about whether his at-times selective and less-than accurate credit-taking reflect a pattern.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact.com rated as “Half True” this statement from Romney made this month: “When I was governor, not only did test scores improve – we also narrowed the achievement gap.”

According to the fact-checking service, “State education figures over two years support Romney’s claim about learning gains, although it’s worth noting that some areas declined on his watch, such as the drop-out rate. And it’s always somewhat dubious to take a snapshot of statistics from only one or two years . . .”

It goes on, “What’s more, Romney, a single-term governor, should not get all the credit for improvement in the achievement gap, which is influenced by myriad factors. His statement is partially accurate but omits a lot of important information and overstates his impact.”

What, then, are some verifiable education-related actions taken by Romney as governor?

Romney proposed eliminating early literacy programs, full-day kindergarten, and class size reduction programs. [Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, March 5, 2003]

Romney vetoed a universal pre-kindergarten bill and “questioned the benefits of early education.” [Massachusetts Telegram and Gazette, February 2, 2007]

College fees soared 63% under Romney because of his cuts to higher education budget as governor. [Boston Globe, June 29, 2007]

For more verifiable information about how Romney and President Barack Obama compare on education and issues that affect the middle class, read the Education Votes 2012 Candidate Issue Guide.

Regards,

Jim