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J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Ron Darling and other riggers load nets full of balloons for the Republican National Convention festivities inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Friday.
A "salute" to oil baron David Koch. A fete bankrolled by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. And gala bashes for GOP super PAC donors and bundlers featuring rock stars like Kid Rock and ex-Eagles guitarist Don Felder.
Those are only a handful of the big parties planned for Republican delegates, lawmakers and donors in Tampa starting this weekend. While some of the events are well advertised and open to the public, private schedules, prepared for GOP fundraisers and obtained by NBC News, show that this year's convention will once again provide a unique opportunity for lobbyists and big dollar donors to wine and dine lawmakers -- and press their agendas.
"It's a mega-fundraising, lobbying extravaganza. Everybody is in one place at one time," says Jack Abramoff, the onetime kingpin lobbyist whose 2006 conviction for corruption led to reforms aimed at cracking down on lobbyist influence peddling.
Abramoff, who was released from prison last year and will be attending this year's GOP convention as a commentator for "Inside Edition," said that, as far as he can see, lobbyists and their lawyers have merely figured out creative new ways to skirt the rules -- a point underscored by the dizzying array of parties all week in Tampa. "Nothing has really changed," he said.
Storm warnings notwithstanding, the action begins in earnest Sunday at 5:30 p.m. when one of Washington's biggest lobbying firms, Williams and Jensen (whose current clients include the American Bankers Association, Pfizer and Comcast, which owns NBC) hosts a kick-off reception and dinner for GOP delegates at a local eatery called Bern's Steakhouse.
Just a half hour later, another big D.C. lobbying powerhouse -- Fierce, Isakowitz and Blalock (current clients: the American Gaming Association, Ford Motor, J.P. Morgan and Time Warner Cable) -- hosts a dinner for the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee at the Tampa Museum of Art.
Then later in the evening, oil giant Chevron and Aflac, the insurance firm, are co-hosts of a "Two Step, Soul and Rock 'N Roll" party at the Historic Cuban Club; AT& T throws a competing party at Armani's Grand Hyatt; and the American Action Network, an "issues advocacy group" headed by former GOP Sen. Norm Coleman, teams up with Citizens United for a bash at Liberty Plaza.
But delegates may have to pace themselves. On Monday night, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce joins the Distilled Spirits Council for a "Celebrate the Spirit of Tampa" party at the Tampa Aquarium. On Tuesday, Barbour Griffith and Rogers, another of Washington's biggest lobbying firms (among its current clients: Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline and the country of Qatar) hosts the delegates at Stump's Supper Club with a party honoring its founding partner, Haley Barbour, who, after serving as governor of Mississippi and toying with the idea of running for president, has rejoined the firm.
The next morning, Restore Our Future, the Romney super PAC, offers a private briefing for its mega donors by Sen. Marco Rubio. And that afternoon, the Republican Jewish Coalition throws a "Salute to Pro-Israel Elected Officials at the Crowne Plaza, where the coalition's major bankroller, casino kingpin Adelson, is expected to make a grand appearance. (That's not the only Adelson presence at the convention. According to a report in Yahoo News on Friday, the YG Network -- named for House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor's Young Guns -- has named a "Woman Up!" pavilion for Miriam Adelson, the mogul's Israeli-born wife.)
Craig Holman, a lawyer for Public Citizen, a campaign watchdog group that plans to "bird dog" the parties , says that this year's convention is showcasing new ways that lobbyists are bypassing ethics rules. Those rules -- enacted in 2007 after the Abramoff scandal -- barred lobbyists from throwing parties honoring "a member of Congress." So this year's parties don't honor individual members; they honor groups of members such as "A Salute to the House and Senate Energy and Commerce Committees" being thrown by a new consulting firm called GOP Convention Strategies at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. ("It's a Home Run!" reads the invite.)
But perhaps the most conspicuous honoree is not any member or delegate: It's David Koch, the billionaire oil man who helps run energy giant Koch Industries. Along with his brother, Charles, Koch has emerged as one of the biggest and most controversial financiers of conservative advocacy groups that gave rise to the Tea Party and other GOP causes. On Thursday, Americans for Prosperity -- one of the Koch-backed groups that has announced it plans to spend $151 million on this year's campaign, including a new blitz of TV ads attacking President Barack Obama -- will sponsor "A Salute to Entrepreneurs Building America."
There will be two men honored at the event: Art Pope, the group's chairman, and Koch.
Leave a Comment:
If ONLY the top 5% of the wealthiest "good-old-boys" would think with their heart instead of their ego & donate all those millions they're spending to put Romny in office & have fun at the RNC, it would put a serious dent in the deficit. Obama even has a highly educated wife who is involved, trying to make a difference & not just be a blond bangle on his arm.
Tampa is now truly a ghost town, with all ghosts annointing one of their own - a vulture..to get ready to loot the treasury, to take away from your livelihood (rising gas price is just one such strategy).
All the cons are to gather in Tampa, carrying with them all the tampons for use during this PERIOD of convention.
cons = conservatives.
GOP: The worst America has to offer!
Let's hope that hurricane has great aim and washes all those dirt bags clean out into the ocean.
Disgusting how these guys piss on the memories of every soldier that has ever fought and died for this country, and on the founding fathers that created it.
Tampa is plural for Tampon?
Good to see the "family values" party represent.
Wonder how many will attend the local S & M club in Tampa this year?
Stripe Clubs will be so busy. So much about the party of family values.
Another GOP convention in Florida?
1968 Hillary Clinton, still a Republican, attended the 1968 GOP Convention in Miami, but was sexually harassed in her hotel room by a con (conservative politician).
Hillary successfully rebuffed the harassment, then left the GOP forever.
So much about the party of family values - the GOP...
somethimes you wonder why Hillary is what the GOP has descrbed a 'militant' feminist - the cons (conservatives) only have themselves to blame.
Fast forward to 2012...
Enter Todd Akin
Conservatives haven't changed, at least in their War Against Women.
Funny, I remember seeing a headline on a news crawl that claimed that the GOP in Tampa had been making rounds to the strip clubs there to get all of the prostitutes out before the convention. Don't remember which news program it was on.
I just want to fill this post with obscenities.
I can't post my displeasure with this article by using words that won't get me kicked off or start an investigation.
FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU....
Read the rest of the headlines and pull your head out of the sand!! Obama had his chanced and screwed the pooch. Won the election based on lies and deceit and has not lived up to but the most minor of promises. Even Democrats are starting to see through the slick Chicago style politics that got him there and are tired of hearing that Bush hurt the economy so bad that Obama needs more time.
How about a president that abides by the law. Look at the Obama administrations stance on Illegal immigration and enabling the current illegal's in your face demands for legal status and all of that bull@!$%#. Combine that with his AGs squashing efforts to clean up the voter rolls in Florida which are full of latinos voting in the place of the deceased and illegals. Look it up.. Obama is trying to steal the election with votes that should not count by pandering to the illegals to get their votes. Looking the other way while the law is being broken by non-citizens.The illegals have more rights than actual citizens.
Go ahead lemmings, vote once again for the most ineffectual, polarizing president in my lifetime. The rest of us, who's ancestors worked the soil of this land and earned us the status of a great country, will go a different way.
And Michelle Obama...give me a break. She has an education...so? She has done nothing special with her education as first lady. Have you traveled abroad? Anywhere outside of your small little circle? If you have you know that the rest of the world is laughing. He is incompetent and is luck to have had a chance no matter how bad he failed..
He is good at throwing up smokescreens and distraction and avoiding the real problems.
And to stop those who think my comments are solely based on political affiliation.. I apologize, as I voted for him too. Screw me once shame on you. Screw me twice, shame on me!
Wake up America.
The political whores are out to earn their money. Goddamn SCOTUS, thanks a lot for allowing the sale of our democracy.
Sodomy will be the theme of this gathering.........
Your a loser idiot, Tampa is well known for the strip clubs and why superbowls are played there. Have you ever been there? Mons Venus on Dale mabry??. Ybor is for little boys.
Bush did the same thing. What was his excuse?
Please don't tell me you''re bringing up election/voter issues with Florida...? I mean, really??? 2000 wasn't that long ago that we forgot.
Let's get one thing perfectly clear. We're in deep doo-doo. We're in the midst of one of the worst economic downturns the world has ever seen. Even the giant economic machinery of China is finally slowing down. Believe this, we're on our way back into recession in 2013. Nothing will stop that.
Now... We've been setting up this economic collapse since the 1950's. When Eisenhower left office in 1960, he warned each and every one of us that special interests and corporations were imperiling our way of life, and we chose to ignore him (Eisenhower was actually a pretty decent President).
Anyone who got voted into office in 2008 was going to be fighting upstream against special interests, corporate interests, lobbying efforts, and the status quo. All, while trying to deal with this disaster we've been setting up for DECADES!!! If McCain was elected in 2008, we'd be hearing the exact same thing about his ineffectual tenure in office. Anyone who got elected in 2008 would not be able to accomplish much at all. Thankfully, we got rid of the "Good ol' boy" we had in office, and at least got a president in place who didn't sound like a complete moron on the world stage. He at least is letting us keep some dignity as our spiral downward continues.
...and that pretty much says everything we need to know about you.
Jesus said "it is easier for camel to pass thru the eye of a needle than for a rich merchant to enter Heaven" I wonder how difficult it will be for Romney, Mormon or not !
@linseyleft
You must remember. These people are Tea Party Conservatives. So. Instead of booze, they will serve tea. And there will be no sex or any perversions.
Republicans are all party and of no real work substance , esp. those in Congress. They are not mainstream people of reality, nor do they care about the vast majority of main-streamers, except for how much more you can give to them. Just remember this when you go to vote in Nov. It's time to vote all of the party players out of the House & Senate. It's time for them to get down to work, and not just what can be done for the wealthy 1%. Turn the tables around on their greed and shameful Dark Ages attitude toward women.
Since Obama has WELL over 50% approval, from the rest of the world. They should TAKE him! (He's only below 50% in Russia, China, and most Muslim countries) Mexico has him at 55%, because he deports more than any Republican president.
Oh my ever lovin' god!
Good handle, Typical!
You are a rediculous joke. Typical of the sheep that the right have ordained. You just spewed everything that the Faux network has said for the last four years!
Really? That's your stance? You can't think for yourself?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
You are the exact reason that Obama, Barry, Hussein, the Muslim, the Socialist, the N word, the Failed President, the Non-American, Jeez, I think I've actually forgotten some of the tripe you robots have barfed, will again be elected the President of the United States. And when that happens, I hope you lose faith in your future as a racist mysoginist (look it up, troll), put on your Depends, and take your 2nd ammendment AK-47 and shoot yourself in the face.
Send me a picture right before the act and have your poor, abused, alcoholic wife send me a picture afterward. I'll post it on my map of Switzerland.
My email is, youreapuppetoftheuberwealthywhowilluseyouastheirbitchtogetricher@yahoo.com
The same crap will happen at the DNC convention next week but don't expect MSDNC to run a front page story about it.
Typical -- "How about a president that abides by the law?"
__________
That obviously does not include candidate romney. Tax cheating son of a ____. Draft dodger. Destroyer of American jobs. Enemy of the state.
Don't bother replying; I've already put you on ignore.
Geez bj, you need anger management, or else have your meds increased. LMAO that your messiah is going to lose big time- makes your head explode.
Romney/Ryan 2012 the end of an error HAHAHAHAHA
Obama panders to his fair share of billionaires too. Does the name George Soros ring a bell?
WOW. Our nation is being turned into a banana republic as the filthy rich continue to strip-mine our wealth, destroy our planet, and defeat the rule of law. Democracy is dead, we are all being forced into Koch slavery, and all you people can do is snipe at each other.
Maybe we deserve it.
If it is baloon-shaped it's lobbying, otherwise the condom is for partying.
Romney and Bain siting in a tree, hiding all there $ so America can't see....
http://news.yahoo.com/bain-documents-romney-offshore-investments-used-blockers-avoid-185957445--abc-news-topstories.html
WTF???
"Swineboy...there are no strip clubs in Tampa..... Please do your homework. They will if they want have to go to Ybor city.....cigar city!"
you'realoser - You need to either research or adjust the meds. I will give you a hint. Dale Mabry
I find it quite interesting that the lobbyists for the liberal media are throwing party's at the convention. I have noted a recent trend in the media that they are straddling the political fence because they will switch sides if the Republicans control things. I for one believe that the American people will put things in order in November. Every last one of these incumbent politicians needs to get voted out of office. They are bought and paid for by these vulture capitalists and do nothing to represent the American people.
Here is the time for America to shine:
Prevent people from buying health insurance, reduce taxes on the super rich, tax the middle class more, borrow more money to compensate for the tax breaks, ship more jobs to China, destroy medicare by changing it to coupon care, let Rick Scott show you how to steal millions from medicare and explain why recessions are good for America.
Vote Romney (god of money) 2012
Do you libs really believe that this is limited to the GOP? Of course not! You just give the dems a free pass. The dems major rule is that if it is conservative, bash it. If it is liberal, then it's OK.
I'd sure like to see the libs vote with their wallets. If you hate corporations then please don't buy anything from them. Or, you can be a hypocrite like the dems in office and criticize all the corruption, but enjoy the benefits of the corruption.
No strip clubs in Tampa? Pshaw! There's at least 30-40 in the area!
One Tampa strip club ("Thee Dollhouse") has reportedly hired a Sarah Palin look-a-like, porn star Lisa Anne Corpora to strip for the expected crowd of "family values" Republican convention goers. There's also gay clubs for those that would rather see a Paul Ryan look-a-like strip.
These venues are betting millions of dollars in renovations that those holier-than-thou Repubs will show up in droves. Besides, it's their duty as true Americans. The convention goers can't stand by and let these small businesses suffer! Besides, it's a cornerstone of their economic recovery strategy. By putting all those "trickle down" dollar bills into g-strings, the economy will rise faster... or something like that.
averon, you have to say soros fifty or sixty times to keep up with Rotten Romney's list of corrupt fat cats.
So hop to it, deep thinker.
Will we see the same story next week when the Dumbocrats are doing the same thing? I don't think
MSDNCNBC will do that.David Koch? Sheldon Adelson? sound like characters in the Thriller who try to seal Romney's doom?
.....
grizzly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom
And though
you fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver
For no mere mortal can
resist
The evil of the thriller
(Into maniacal laugh, in deep echo)
GOP's supporting cast also include an ex-con (Abramoff) with other not-yet-convicted cons (short for 'conservatives').
...and that caused rage of the God who has sent a storm to crash the party - Hurricane Isaac
...so Halloween comes early this year for Tampa (the haunted city), with all the full cast of vultures, ghosts, ghouls, and vampires coming to town.
I hope it's a good party ---- one where the good old times are talked about again and one where they can also talk about the future, having a little excitement in the air for it again.
I'm looking to turn this country back into a bunch of go getters, instead of all of us becoming a bunch of government dependent sloths.
Romney, Ryan 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hilarious hungrymongoose....
What a bunch of go getters you have there! An ex-felon, and ex-governor that pardoned 8 murderers that killed wives and girlfriends (one which killed his wife while she was holding their infant son), and a man whose company is being investigated for bribery by the DOJ, the SEC, and the Nevada Gaming Control Board. What a great bunch of christians you have there! You know you're on the up and up when Abramoff is there to cover the "nothing has really changed" gala. My only question is, why was Akin not invited to be the guest of honor? The GOP: sleaze balls that stick together!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/13/sheldon-adelson-regulators_n_1773231.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57358839-504083/8-of-the-murderers-haley-barbour-pardoned-killed-their-wives-girlfriends/
"...good old times are talked about again..."
Translation - When the servants knew their place and ghettos were where the working class lived..
"...government dependent sloths."
Translation - Defense Department Contractors.
Birds of a feather to @!$%# us Together!
Pigoty on coke tonight, save some for the end of the race........
To hungrymongoose (Post 2.3):
To quote you:
Speak for yourself bud, and not for ALL the people. What the hay having you been contributing to society, besides whining like a schoolyard bully?? Did you spend any time in service? I seriously doubt it. Put in 25 plus years, and then you may squawk with some real justification.
ooops, all intelligent people.
The Koch Brothers announced today that they are demanding the Republican Party emblem be changed to a condom because,
Wait a minute. The article says that Koch is throwing a party to honor himself! What a _________— (fill in the blank).
Kock?
Koch has also built himself a village reminiscent of the wild west. hhhhhmm wonder who will be role players. The rest we will leave to the imagination..............
Yeah the one building his own town in Colorado is not one of the two brothers you hear about all the time, but I am sure he is just as evil and just as willing to manipulate the political process to benefit him and only him as his brothers.
Congratulations, Pigotry; you win by default (you were the only one to fill in the blank). I was hoping that someone would say "narcissist", but it's been over three hours and apparently nobody wants to play my game. Thanks for playing (and I mean that respectfully).
I once worked with a guy that planned and paid for a "surprise" birthday party for HIMSELF! That's what's the end of the article was reminding me of. I didn't go to that party (I really didn't like him), but I heard it was a blow-out. Three kegs, unlimited weed, and, well, other stuff as well.
There are other one word answers that could have been used to fill in the blank, such as "dufuss", "idiot", "jerk", etc, but apparently nobody else wanted to play my game.
Thanks for playing.
COinFL:
I don't think it is that we weren't playing the "fill-in-the-blank", I believe most of us where at least thinking of appropriate words to put there. However, as a lady I try not to use words like that in public!
So the 2010 election of the TeaClowns was going to clean up Congress, out with old corrupt lifers and in with a new crop of rats. I suppose they are only at these parties for the Cheese and Champagne. Hope their constituents get to see the list of parties and Lobbyists that are more influential than the concerns of their voters back home. Mom and Pop TeaPartier don't have a chance of competing.
Blatant Hypocrisy, just keep on taking gifts and giving back favors. Looking forward to the pics of the Hooker Lobbyists and drunk skinny dipping Evangelical Congress pimps.
yeah, these robber barons are ready to rob the middle class again, their next major move is to take back the White House.
The guys and gals attending are not the secret service or the GSA...this is real leadership which is respected, unlike what is going on in the WH now.
ChicagoLady, If history is any indication those ex-Secret Service Agents are now Security Guards for the Kochs and the ex-GSA people are employed by the Lobbying arm of the Resort and Gaming Association.
Are you kidding about ".this is real leadership which is respected...", these are the Geniuses who bankrupt our economy and had to be bailed out by the taxpayers or we would be in the 2nd Great Depression for the next 30 years. It was many more than just Lehman Bros that did it to us.
Pot calling the kettle black. EDUCATE YOURSELF!!. Look at the cronyism in the current administration. Look at how many of the wall street bankers, some of which were up for charges, are now in the Obama White House. I can only assume ou are too lazy to do your homework. Ok then, watch a movie and learn. Check out the documentary, "Inside Job" narrated by Matt Damon, backed up with facts and real events that you can confirm yourself. Look at what really happened with the financial meltdown on Wall Street an how Obama rolled over.
It's nauseating that so few Americans will even dig deep enough to see for themselves, but instead will vote the idealism Obama preaches but does not practice.
The economy is worse than it was four years ago!!
Illegal aliens(undocumented, lol) being allowed to walk all over us and Obama looking the other way so they can vote for him. Even to the point of squashing efforts by ICE to enforce the laws and deport illegals who are now brazenly demanding more now that Obama is obviously pandering to them.
This crap belongs back in Chicago where he came from where they are used to corruption by politicians..
And you really want to look at family values at this point?
Give me a law abiding president any day.
Typical:
Consider it done. Some of the facts laid out by the film include:
All while Bush was in office. So, is your complaint the fact that 4 years after Obama inherited the mess made by "Free-Market" conservative Pro-Businessmen like Bush and his cronies - He hasn't fixed the problem, and THEREFORE, we MUST put another REPUBLICAN in office to correct the mess made by the LAST REPUBLICAN in office.
That's a very kind offer you've made us. We'll think about it and get back to ya.
...the numbers for Bush's last three months. Between October and November, 597,000 jobs were lost; between November and December, 681,000 were lost; and between December and January, 741,000 were lost.
April 2012 marks the 26th straight month of gains in private-sector employment, for a total of 4.2 million private-sector jobs.
DJIA Dec 1, 2008 = 8149
DJIA Aug 24, 2012 = 13157
Dec 29, 2008 U.S. corporate earnings probably fell for a sixth-straight quarter, the longest streak in at least 20 years, as consumer spending on automobiles, homes and retailers collapsed.
May 11, 2012 Fortune magazine released its ranking of the 500 biggest US corporations Monday, which showed that they received a record-breaking $824 billion in combined profits in 2011, up 16 percent from 2010.
Clearly, the economy is not worse than it was 4 years ago.
Although... I may go with Typical and suggest that we DO put Romney into office. Indicators are showing that we are heading back into recession in 2013, and this may be an even harder dip than what we saw in 2008. (Hints: Look what's happening to the Chinese economy, the Euro Zone, etc...).
It would be fun as HELL to be sitting here 4 years from now (or the alley I moved into) bitching about how Romney is responsible for the ruined economy and our destroyed nation.
Someone's going to need to take the blame.
Since 99% of all of Utah's elected officials are going to be in Tampa maybe they should drop by the big Scientology building and see if Moroni left any messages for them. Not sure about this, but maybe the two alien super races are throwing a party for RomNutz. Will they have Cruise and Travolta as guest entertainers? Top Secret of course, but maybe "The Inquirer" or Cellphone Tappin Murdoch can get to the truth.
Local TB news: "Tampa is the"lapdance" capital of USA, they expect a HUGE turnout. Republicans spend 3 times more on "those" than Democrats!" All those millions on getting Romny elected, partying & pleasing their ego when so much of America needs help!
What Happens if all the republicans drown in Tampa when the hurricane hits?
I mean what does that do to the race does Todd Achen then become the republican candidate? He's not going (asked to stay away)
I just had a vision of Jesus appearing 50 Feet tall in the middle of the convention floor and proclaiming that ALL the republicans are going to hell and today's judgment day for them and then a giant wave hits the convention
Just asking
whoopee ! you go jesus drown them !
Dummo the man. Not one clear point and a failed attempt at comedy. You will vote for him again. Retard.
Typical
Talking about the pot calling the kettle black. Retard would typically be construed as an insult, but coming from your mouth it only sounds like a compliment. I, like Willard, will flip flop on my first statement. You are not the pot calling the kettle black because comparing you to someone that is retarded would be an insult to those affected by down syndrome or mental retardation the world over.
Typical your mom is calling. Time to crawl out of her basement and eat some dinner, but tidy up the place a bit first. At 38 you are old enough to pick up after yourself.
I here the Koch Bro. are buying all the whores for the party and writing it off as a tax deduction !
Well, considering how angry the republican party seems to be, I suppose that providing whores for them might qualify under the tax code as being "therapeutic". Kinda like how the dancing horse works for the "lady".
Ba ha ha. You are so creative and funny!
Don't quit your day job. Glad you can find humor when the country is suffering from the most ineffectual president ever.
Lemmings, the cliff is over there behind the president.
Sounds like a ton of fun... once again mixing politics and lobbying. We need a Congress that will absolutely outlaw lobbying and a Supreme Court that will also get us back to when people, not corporations and outside groups had the right to petition the government. We the people has not been the case for too long.
Voting Independent...
Couldn't agree with you more... George Carlin had it pegged years ago when he had this to say:
Make sure you have enough cameras and backup camera all you media folks, we don't want you to miss any of them skinny dipping at thei, or hotel pools or out in the Gulf or going to the rooms with any "pros" or getting lap dances.
Typical NBC smear. Let's see EXACTLY the same headline (city changed) and the same grubby detail about the Dem Convention. No chance of that, the way the bias works on this site. I'll be watching.
NBC is owned by ,get this, REPUBLICANS.
Old Man--evidence to support your bogus claim. Quit spewing your non-sequitur bull@!$%# and show us where you determined republican ownership. Fact is there will not be equal coverage and NBC has Obama leanings. Can it be more obvious?
Maybe NBC leans toward Obama. Maybe it doesn't. Why ya getting so hot under the collar about it? Fox is absolutely pro-Republican, yet we don't hear you complaining about their unfair coverage.
Anjisan: Fox News is pretty moderate compared to NBC News these days you should go over there sometime. When I come over here I feel like I was somehow redirected to the Obama campaign website.
NBC is owned by Comcast. The lobbying firm that represents them is throwing one of the parties mentioned in the article. How's that for proof?
Hah! Fox news is so biased!! They don't even give all the facts, and they skew the facts they do give to make Obama and/or liberals look evil. Example: Fox News was reporting that Obama was trying to take away voting rights from soldiers. What was actually happening: Obama was suing the state of Ohio because they were creating unfair voting policies (designed to exclude minority voters from the polls). He just wanted people in Ohio to have the same "early voting" rights that others, like soldiers, have.
Another example: Bill O'Reilly was talking about California and medical marijuana. He said that all you have to do is pretend to stub your toe, and walk into a "pot shop" and you can all the drugs you want. The truth: You would NEVER be given a "recommendation" for medical marijuana for stubbing your toe (unless you stubbed it on the wrong end of a chainsaw-- while the chainsaw was on). You actually do have to have a legitimate medical problem and you must have legitimate proof of that condition-- meaning a diagnosis from your primary doctor. Oh, and... they don't sell pot at the same places that you get a recommendation-- like O'Reilly claimed. He made it sound as if everyone in California is stoned and we walk in and out of stores buying more and more drugs whenever we want to. (Drugs are what Liberals do instead of working, right?)
Too bad liberals and conservatives can't just separate and live in their own "countries." I fear it wouldn't take long for the conservatives to wipe us liberals out though...with all your guns and anti-women, anti-minority, anti- environment policies.
Well, let's take a quick look, shall we?
First page headlines:
Fox News poll : Race for the White House tightens
(in this article the Fox poll shows a 1% lead for Romney - the exact opposite of what most other polls show)
Fox News poll: Voters want Uncle Sam to 'Leave me alone'
With Ryan pick, Romney may have saved his campaign
Ryan could bring senior, female votes to GOP ticket despite Dem narrative
Nope, same old crap. When I went there I felt like I was somehow redirected to the Romney campaign website.
Rocky
South Carolina is Evangelical Christian. They don't do nasty stuff there.
Only in American politics are serious issues supposed to be addressed by parties while conventions are for having fun.
The worst democracy money can buy.
What democracy? When the president encourages votes by illegals by not upholding the law? And the money? We are wasting far more money keeping this clown in office. And all of you self righteous democrats talking about the RNC and strip clubs. Your memory fails you if you do not remember Monica Lewinski and the great family values demonstrated in the humidor. BJ anyone?
Focus on the issues, of which Obama has only made worse or completely ignored. This president hasn't even made one tough presidential call. His presidency has been consumed by cover ups about Wall Street, distractions, smokescreens.
Vote for him..your kids will hate you for it later.. How's that for family values.
Watch Inside Job with Matt Damon narrating. You can easily verify the facts in the documentary and easily see you have been had fool.
Watched "Inside Job"... Sounds like we've found the villain you wanted us to see: BUSH Jr.!!!
Some of the facts laid out by the film include:
All while Bush was in office. So, is your complaint the fact that 4 years after Obama inherited the mess made by "Free-Market" conservative Pro-Businessmen like Bush and his cronies - He hasn't fixed the problem, and THEREFORE, we MUST put another REPUBLICAN in office to correct the mess made by the LAST REPUBLICAN in office.
Ya know... Anyone elected into office in 2008 would be suffering from the same claims you make against Obama ("made worse or completely ignored" "cover-ups about Wall Street"... etc...). We'd be hearing the same thing about McCain if he were elected to office.
What are you...? A five year old? You think a financial melt-down that resulted from years and years of good-old-boy, corporate cronyism, and deregulation would be fixed in 4 short years? Nice try, I don't think if we filled the White House with Rocket Scientists and the Best Economic minds from around the world would be able to fix this train wreck of an economy.
Love it. They start on Obama. Both sides are the same, you fools. They just spin the BS differently.
Obama renewed the Patriot Act. That proves there is no right or left in the USA.
Typical - Illegals cannot vote! Period - Where the hell do you get your propaganda from?
I wish someone would let loose Wild Pigs at this Convention.Although they might not Notice anything different.
Another comedian...Ba ha ha , I bet you embarrass your family with your "sense of humor"
You seem to stereotype pigs, that's wrong? Pigs can be bad and get slaughtered, pigs can be good too, though still get slaughtered.
Pigotry - Actually pigs have been found to have a higher intellect than Republicans
It used to be -- "One man, One vote" ---
Now it seems to be -- "One dollar - One vote"...
Corporations are people? Really??
Really. And their vote and money count much, much more than your vote and money.
It also used to be one Dem, eight votes but states have started passing voter ID laws.
More like one EBT Food card equals one vote? Vote Obama....LOL
Tell us what an EBT food card is USCitizen......you seem to be more familiar with it than I am. I assume it has something to do with food, but can you explain how it all works?
Head down to your Grocery store, When you see a big fat Illegal Hispanic women get out of her New Cadillac escalade rolling on $8.000.00 wheels pull out about four little fat Phuck Trophies walks into the store gets her groceries and pulls a card out her purse and scans it to pay for her groceries, That is an Electronic Benefit Transfer card or EBT Card, Answer your Question sleuth?
I've eaten at Bern's, the steaks are incredible!!, but very expensive.
Happy days are here again,
The sky above is clear again,
So the GOP can "make it rain again",
Happy days are here again!
Not much here for average folks. If Romney/Ryan is elected, and the GOP gets control of the House and Senate, these fats cats will rule our country. President Romney and Congress will be nothing more than order-taking puppets whose strings are pulled by big business and the wealthy.
Count on that.
What do you think is happening right now in the White House. Obama is padding his pockets by doing nothing. Everybody is worse off since he took office period. You really still buy that load of @!$%# from the first election. After all of the pain of the last four years, it is time for some of you to get off of your fat lazy asses and dig into the reality of the current administration. Do some research and quit relying on old stereotypes about republicans to make your decisions. The future of the country depends on it and our forefathers count on you doing due diligence and empowered you to make up your own mind and vote accordingly. If, after you do real research and can still paint Obama as a saint, you drank something I didn't.
Oh, Obama is not a saint. If I had my way, I'd vote for Jill Stein from the Green Party; HOWEVER,
Despite her pledge to cut the Defense budget by 30%, roll those defense jobs into Green Infrastructure jobs, and this is what she has to say about our current financial situation:
The Mid-Western, Iron Belt, and Bible Belt Republicans seem to think that standing with the Republican Party is taking a stand against "Welfare Mothers", "People on the Dole", "Lazy bums sucking on the Government Teat" and any other assortment of nonsense.
The truth of the matter is this...
Corporations and the extremely rich have lawyers, tax code specialists, and lobbyists employed to ensure that their taxes are low, and their opportunities are great while THEY draw the largest share of Government support in the millions and billions of subsidies and tax breaks.
It's pretty sad. This heavily conned people who will vote for Romney and Ryan are going to be voting more money into the pockets of the people who caused this economic disaster we're in while continuing to destroy their own standard of living.
Democrats and Republicans both work for Corporate Lobbyists. The only difference is the Democrats are slightly ashamed of it, and the Republicans are overly proud of it.
It's a shame Jill Stein doesn't have a chance. One of her bullet points of her campaign is this one: "Unbought". As it stands, I can't afford to allow the vote to be divided by voting with my heart (Jill Stein), I'll have to go with the candidate who's closer to what I want... The guy who's slightly ashamed by the fact that he's been paid for by the corporations.
Welcome to the Corporate States of America. Here's your number.
A puppet, a black guy, an illegal alien, a Muslim and a Communist walk into a bar.
@typically stupid - Do some research yourself and maybe you'd be able to back up your lies with someone else's lies. If you think things have got worse since Obama got in, you hace brain dead from 2004 till now.
@ crystal - have you changed your name? It's always good when a KKKer exposes the racist republickan base.
...the numbers for Bush's last three months. Between October and November, 597,000 jobs were lost; between November and December, 681,000 were lost; and between December and January, 741,000 were lost.
April 2012 marks the 26th straight month of gains in private-sector employment, for a total of 4.2 million private-sector jobs.
DJIA Dec 1, 2008 = 8149
DJIA Aug 24, 2012 = 13157
Dec 29, 2008 (Bloomberg) U.S. corporate earnings fell for a sixth-straight quarter, the longest streak in at least 20 years, as consumer spending on automobiles, homes and retailers collapsed.
May 11, 2012 Fortune magazine released its ranking of the 500 biggest US corporations Monday, which showed that they received a record-breaking $824 billion in combined profits in 2011, up 16 percent from 2010.
@eengineer - Good post. The astonishing thing is that this has been reported in every news venue (maybe not Fux?) five hundred times. Yet they continue to lie about it. Even republicans can't be that stupid, so there really is only one reason for them to keep saying it, and that is: they can tell it's true simply by looking at Obama.
Perhaps Hurrricane Issac can pick up some steam, make a hard right and level the RNC convention!!!
For Sale : America
Price : democracy
So the Koch suckers and the Teabaggers are gonna party, I hope Tampa goes 10 feet underwater, it's simple people . Profit's vs. Humanity, I know which side I'm on and I don't loose any sleep at night !
I cant f'n WAIT for some of the stories to come out of there. the Pube'lickens are doing their BEST to sink Romney. This is as awesome as watching Clinton scissor them in '96 but they're doing it to themselves. It is DEFINITELY proving them to be the party of ignorance....BWWWWAAAAHAHAHAHA
Johnson/Gray 2012
I'd be willing to bet, that the Dems Convention will have a smaller number of viewers as it will be boring in comp0arison to the circus that will happen in Tampa, which will most likely get the higher ratings because it will be more entertaining. Much like the way the primaries went. High viewerships because it was kind of like watching a circus. You didn't know how outrageous each candidate was going to be in order to gain the support of the far right. Spent quite a bit of time laughing my butt off at those debates. Oh wait, they're supposed to be serious? My bad. LOL!
Brent...Try as you may...your party is DONE. It's FINISHED. No direction, no focus, no new ideas. The party of NO. BWWWWAAAHAHAHAHAHA
Sorry WisconsinDad, I'm not a Repub. Just another progressive online. If you read the whole post, you'll see that I was making fun of the GOP. The Dems convention will be lame in comparison the the 3 day circus the Repubs are going to give next week. . What I am saying is that their convention will be way more hilarious than the Dems because of the insannity they are trying to push upon us. Watch and be entertained, even as they expect you to be serious about it. Is Johnson/Gray the Patriot Party campaign?
I'm gonna watch, just to count the dog whistles they spew for the racists!
Clinton only scissored Lewinski.
Wis dad shouldn't be in the gene pool
Typical - You are so old news - I'd rather go to Diaper David Vitter - now that's a visual you would like
Guess I found the posting blog of the extreme left.
I'm a voter with no party. I see little from either party that even begins to solve this nations problems. The left is constantly looking for free handouts at the expense of the hard working, is abusing unsustainable entitlements, and bashes anyone who disagrees with their viewpoint. The right seems to exist only for the benefit of the very wealthy and mega corporations, is completely out of touch with the average worker, and is home to 2 Bush Presidents whose legacy is that they crippled this nation for future generations.
I can't vote for Obama again, he lied to us about change and is borrowing us into a bottomless hole; ObamaCare will be the largest tax increase in world history as he played fiddle to the big pharmaceuticals behind closed doors to get what he wanted (something he promised he would never do) and then forced it down our throats by using dirty Chicago style politics. What kind of democracy is that? Not one Wall Street criminal went to jail under his reign while many now serve in his administration. No wonder he collects so much campaign money (buy-offs) from Wall Street. Romney on the other hand seems to be more of the same from the Republican party, it's all about the rich, rich, rich with just enough thrown in for everyone else to get him elected. I really wanted Ron Paul, he makes so much more sense but he's been vilified as radical because not enough people understand the dire situation this nation is in and the extreme pain we all face going forward. Paul at least was willing to do the necessary extreme changes that would face these problems and make this country stronger, but we've become such a nation of American Idol dead-heads that we follow anyone who will promise us more government free stuff regardless of the conseqeunces. It's like a child voting for ice cream 3 meals a day. Maybe it's time for everyone to grow up and do the adult thing. If you're one who constantly complains about things not getting better but keeps voting for the same politicians over and over, do you really think anything is going to change?? Vote for Obama again and see what happens - nothing will change other than the national debt getting uncontrollably bigger. It'll be 4 more years of high unemployment, crippling borrowing that benefits only the wealthiest, and tax increases FOR ALL to pay for all this waste (unwarranted entitlements). Please, vote for anyone other than Obama.
Thurston Howell III/Eddie Munster 2012!!!
Anyone would be better than dumb and dumber in the Whitehouse now!
I understand. You hate Obama for no real reason... Even the GOP leaders said we were going to have to spend to get out of the recession, back in 2007! So, yes, we stopped the slide to a depression with the stimulus. Obama succeeded. But, you want to continue on the same old path, driving the economic car right off the cliff. Lunacy!
Look through his posts. He's no more than a low-rent, right-wing racist pus bucket. His kind make up about 20-25% of the republicker party.
Makes me want to vomit... absolutely repulsive.
If I were you...I'd just die!...of course thats just an opinion
ubethcha- by the grace and power granted to me God Almighty and Joe Smith, you are him. And you may have your wish, if you want.
With all the Billionaire, foreign government operatives and overseas companies in town Romney should pull in quite a chunk of cash. America cannot be bought. Send Mittens back to his back room, smoke filled office! Him and the dancing horse he rode in on!
Of Course America can be bought...Obama sold it for a couple of Watermelons and a six pack
Thanks, Sarah Palin, for giving us the benefit of the very peak of your intellect. Now back to reality.