Happy Friday to you all, here are the stories that we are following in ‘The War Room’ today, April 13th, 2012:
It’s tax time again! Have you finished your tax return? Has Mitt Romney finished his? Can we see it? President Obama and Vice President Biden have not only posted this year’s returns online – they have posted every return since the year 2000. Ball is in your accountant’s court, Mitt!
The mendacity of Mitt Romney on taxes: The campaign likes to claim that Obama “has already raised taxes on millions of Americans.” Greg Kessler at the Washington Post asked the Romney campaign for the proof, and wouldn’t you know it, they had very little to offer. In fact, President Obama has cut taxes for millions of Americans. Romney is once again proving to be a negative barometer: Anything he says, you can believe the opposite is taking place. But as Paul Krugman points out: “The core of Romney’s campaign strategy seems to be contempt for the news media (and the voters), the belief that he can say anything and pay no price — which was the way things worked for Bush. But maybe, just maybe, his calculation was wrong, and serial dishonesty will become, justifiably, part of the narrative.” We can hope.
Little victories add up. Ed Kilgore of the Washington Monthly points out today that, thanks to very public corporate withdrawals of support from the conservative legislation mill ALEC, the group is now becoming a well-known name inside the Beltway. And not in a good way. The power of consumer pressure has forced the group and its goals into the daylight. So, from now on, instead of calling your elected officials to voice your opinion on issues that affect your life, perhaps you should start calling the people who fund their campaigns. Welcome to the start of a new era in representation where the voters can be the ultimate Board of Directors.
The Ryan budget plan not only means the destruction of the American system of providing for this country as we know it, but it is an insult to the Republican Party, writes Jonathan Alter at Bloomberg. “Are we really talking about the elimination of broad swaths of government services not to protect our children from mountains of debt but to help offset another tax cut for the wealthy? Yup.” Glad that people are starting to notice. Must-read of the day.
ICYMI, we were honored to host Former Speaker and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi last night in ‘The War Room’, take a look at a clip:
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