It's not really very hard to figure out what is going on here. For the Koch brothers and the rest of these guys with all this money it is all about power and sociopathic greed and getting the black guy out of the White House. I don't think it is very complicated at all.

By the way, has anyone asked these guys if they have ever considered maybe building a hospital with all this money instead of pouring it into an election?

The fact that Mr Roemer is not in the race should not change the fact that there is too much money in the election process. The idea of banning corporations from contributing in order to get perks from who ever wins and limiting donations to $100 per voter is a great idea. It will give the voters the choice to vote on the issues & not making the decision base on popularity. Citizen should demand that even without Mr Roemer. A petition should be taken in each an every state so it can be put in the general elections ballot. The ways it is now isn's ethical.

"Ethics is not about the way things are, it is about the way things ought to be."
-- Michael Josephson

Hi there. Can you throw the graphic of the childhood poverty up somewhere? I am a teacher, and I would love to post this to my class website.

Thanks in advance,

Melissa Megehee

If the GOP was a party of people and if their leaders want to do good for the people of the US they should have passed the jobs bill, they should not have raise the Student Loan interest rates, and would not be looking to privatize most of the government.

They have missinformed their base so, that they agree to anything the GOP dishes out. Even the Supreme Court is corrupt with greed and power.

Romney is planning to run this country the same way he ran Bain. But the USA isnt a corporation. A corporation objective is to make money for STOCK HOLDERS. The USA government officials get paid by tax payers. They are supposed to be public servants. Their main objective should be to represent the citizens of the US, protect the interest of the majority, and make fair policies that keep the most powerful of the country to abuse their powers.

When government caters only to the business and industries of a country, that country is not a democracy but a fascist state in which corporations receive the taxes and are ruling by slaving citizens. And the wealthy are the ones benefiting.

The Ryan Plan will perpetuate the situation where 15% of the top population continues to control 93% of the wealth of the country by policies that protect them, by keeping salaries low and prices of goods and services high. While the bottom 85% will continue trying to get by and competing for the 7% wealth remaining.

So what is the fear of the bottom 85%? Isn't is possible that by being the bigger majority we, the people of the US demand our voices be heard and obeyed by those to whom we pay salaries. Otherwise, isn't that taxing without representation?

As far as I’m concerned, after the Bush/Cheney disaster, the Republican Party is dead to me. The results of Bush/Cheney and the Republican controlled Congress (1994-2006) speak for themselves. Waste, fraud, abuse of power, scandal, corruption, media consolidation, sexual deviancy, welfare for the rich, soldiers getting electrocuted in showers, arms dealing, environmental deregulation, war profiteering, Constitutional violations and a corporate crime wave of epic proportions. The greatest looting of a nation’s wealth & resources in the history of mankind… Yet these shameless hypocrites have the audacity to act they’re the responsible adults at the table, BULLS***!

I think what the Obama/Biden Administration is doing is genius. The way I see it, President Obama is giving the Republican monkeys enough rope to hang themselves. Eventually Conservatives are going to snap out of their cult stupor and realize Republicans aren’t representing the best interests of the American people.

When one brings the debate home to it’s roots or simplest terms the only thing that really matters is RESULTS! What are the results of trickle-down Reaganomics? How is the Bush/Cheney corporate crime wave impacting our daily lives? Is the 2010 Republican Congress getting results? HELL NO!

GOD forbid we talk about the 50 MILLION Americans struggling below the poverty level… OR do an investigative report on the Corporate Crime Wave that gripped this nation during Bush/Cheney… Ask vital questions such as WHY are Republicans leading the charge to obstructionism, voter suppression, (YES, VOTER SUPPRESSION. It worries me the Black community isn’t up-in-arms about Florida’s new voter laws. I mean the way they purged 170,000 mostly Blacks from the 2000 election roles... that's a real slap in the face, right?)

Let’s not forget about the union busting, debtor’s prison and repealing CHILD LABOR laws? (REALLY?) These un-American mofo’s want to get rid of an American Institution, the POST OFFICE for GOD sake…

NOTE: (Post office motto Inscribed on post office on 33rd St. + 8th Ave, NYC:
“neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds” HERODOTUS 503 BC. These hero’s didn’t count on a destructive force known as a lame duck Republican Congress, lol, remember 2006?)

Maybe some info on the trust fund babies who are holding back capital, jobs, stalling technology and keeping gas prices high just to make Obama/Biden and Democrats look bad… (ask Jimmy Carter about big money working against his Administration)

So the most important job of the new American patriot is DEMANDING ETHICS, RESPONSIBILITY and ACCOUNTABILITY from our Capitalist Over-Lords (lol). The Aristocrats and their Republican Party flunkies have a LOT TO ANSWER FOR! These vain, self-serving, power-mad, greed stricken silver spoon con artists have turned the USA into the United Sucker of America. If you're not in the fight then you don't deserve the rights and freedom this nation affords.
© 2012 by F.G. E. spoact.blogspot.com

When is the voting public going to wake up and recognize that a small wealthy minority is attempting to co-opt the democratic process and that Romney is Nixon 2.0 on steroids.

Great discussion on money, anonymous money, in politics. Given the distinct possibility of foreign donors in this now legal political "process," Obama's State of the Union words were prophetic and spot on. There was a time recently when Republicans advocated for unlimited money as long as it is disclosed.

So Obama's dilemma then is a choice of adapting to the new rules - having Super PACs too - or sticking to what he believes is the right way to fund a campaign.

It is notable that these big money boys funding Mitt Romney's Super PACs are also funding voter supession laws. It is also notable that sometimes the one who spent the most money also lost the election.

Ms. Harris asked about the impact of having Bill Clinton appear here in Wisconsin. On one hand, he's a celebrity to an area too often ignored by our political leadership. Beyond that, the impact of Clinton's welfare "reform" and NAFTA has caused a tremendous amount of hardship to a large part of the population here in WI. I guess he's still popular with the "country club liberals," though. He made his appearance Friday morning, when most of us were at work.

The citizens united ruling, I'm finding, has had a much different effect then pundits are actually talking about. Sure, they are trying to buy the election with money. How? Advertising. My solution, to avoid the mind numbing lies being thrown at me is very simple: don't watch any souce that shows it. I suspect that I'm not the only one that would rather watch dvds, blurays, Netflix, and PBS for 6 months, and let comercial driven business go hang. Networks might be wise to check their business model. If we don't watch, they don't live. I won't be watching, because I can't stand the lies from either side. How many other Americans will just be so fed up that they turn the tv off, and the xbox or dvd player on?

Something to consider.

I was also diagnosed with MS when I had an insurance policy which limited physical therapy benefits to accidents. Consequently, I never had a chance to walk again after a the "defining" exacerbation. When I had to go from a manual wheelchair to a power chair two years later, the insurance company cancelled me. I went without any insurance with only minimal treatment for the next several years. I attempted to purchase insurance and when salespeople would call trying to sell insurance I always played along when they would "guarantee" that they could find a policy knowing full well that that wasn't going to happen. Nobody would sell me insurance at ANY price even when I offered to accept a rider excluding my MS from coverage.

Then, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was initially inelligible for Medicaid because my partner and I were both listed on a bank account so Alabama counted her income in determination of my eligibility. We had to rework our previously combined finances to make me eligible so while it didn't pay for my surgery it did pay for part of my chemotherapy. I was then approved for Social Security Disability which increased my income, again making me ineligible for Medicaid just as I entered radiation therapy! Because there is a two year delay between starting SSDI and Medicare eligibility, I was again without insurance coverage for another two years.

I am grateful to have that coverage even though premiums for all four parts of Medicare now take a third of my income. But limits on physical therapy under Medicare still make it impossible for me to receive the treatment that might allow me to walk again, though after nearly 20 years that prospect is probably remote.

I'm pleased when anyone with MS is able to received beneficial treatment and continue to be productive, and that includes Ann Romney.

But I appreciate your attention to the fact that she is the major exception and far too many of us are left hanging in the wind with little chance of recovering lost functions or returning to any form of "normal" and productive life.

Thanks.

p.s. If you want to know what I used to 100+ hours a week, just Google, "Rev Felicia Fontaine"

Can anyone explain to me what Doug Brinkley was talking about when he said "Bush v. Gore, with the hanging chads. . . PROVED that VOTES MATTER?

It sounded like he was suggesting that "every vote counts" and "matters".

Is he aware that Bush v. Gore is likely the WORST EXAMPLE he could cite for that premise?

As Melissa was listing the president's many accomplishments during his term of office it occurred to me that if he was white he would be 30 points ahead in the polls and not in a dead heat with Romney. Is there any doubt that if it had been a Republican that caught Bin Laden or eliminated Gaddfi that we would be erecting monuments to that individual? He has kept our country safe, passed health reform, championed equal rights all against the total opposition of a Republican party gone insane and yet there is a good chance he will not be re-elected.

As Walt Kelly's Pogo once said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

You are discussing the Queen's Jubilee and why we need to celebrate these events. This brought to mind Bill Moyer's interview of Oren Lyons, the Faithkeeper of the Iroquois Nation. Lyons said we must celebrate these events because they teach our children RESPECT. We take our children to religious events, we celebrate major events in our lives, we get together with our elders to teach our children that we value this and expect them to show respect to others too.