Poll: Obama Leading Romney 49% To 46% Ahead Of Second Debate

[notmyself]

Christian preacher blames gays for Hurricane Sandy

An anti-gay Christian preacher is already blaming Hurricane Sandy on gays. As the east coast of the United States prepares for the storm, which has already killed 60 people in the Caribbean, author and chaplain John McTernan has decided who is at fault.

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/christian-preacher-blames-gays-hurricane-sandy291012

Your common or garden Republican voter.

[Jingthing]

It actually reminds people how far Romney is out of the loop of actually being an elected official. Yes he WAS a one term governor who left office with pathetically poor approval ratings (much lower than Obama as president). Eight years ago. He (unemployed Romney) has nothing to offer the governors in the thick of this. PRESIDENT Obama has everything to offer.

Edited October 29, 2012 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Christian preacher blames gays for Hurricane Sandy

An anti-gay Christian preacher is already blaming Hurricane Sandy on gays. As the east coast of the United States prepares for the storm, which has already killed 60 people in the Caribbean, author and chaplain John McTernan has decided who is at fault.

http://www.gaystarne...ane-sandy291012

Your common or garden Republican voter.

The same kind of crazies always come out of the woodwork at times like this. They said the same about Katrina in New Orleans, but I have to admit New Orleans IS a decadent city ...

Maybe their logic now is that the storm is headed for OBAMA states ...

Oh well.

Edited October 29, 2012 by Jingthing

[uptheos]

Christian preacher blames gays for Hurricane Sandy

An anti-gay Christian preacher is already blaming Hurricane Sandy on gays. As the east coast of the United States prepares for the storm, which has already killed 60 people in the Caribbean, author and chaplain John McTernan has decided who is at fault.

http://www.gaystarne...ane-sandy291012

Your common or garden Republican voter.

The same kind of crazies always come out of the woodwork at times like this. They said the same about Katrina in New Orleans, but I have to admit New Orleans IS a decadent city ...

Maybe their logic now is that the storm is headed for OBAMA states ...

Oh well.

It's on my bucket list, but now much higher.

[uptheos]

Romney cancels rallies for Mon and Tues.

"It's a time for the nation to come together"

Sensible, smart, genuine?

[koheesti]

It actually reminds people how far Romney is out of the loop of actually being an elected official. Yes he WAS a one term governor who left office with pathetically poor approval ratings (much lower than Obama as president). Eight years ago. He (unemployed Romney) has nothing to offer the governors in the thick of this. PRESIDENT Obama has everything to offer.

The best that Obama can offer to the American people is a farewell address.

[Jingthing]

Romney cancels rallies for Mon and Tues.

"It's a time for the nation to come together"

Sensible, smart, genuine?

The first two.

Seriously it must be frustrating for this man who is obviously so totally driven to be the first Mormon president and do what his Daddy failed to do.

Here he is, locked into an clear electoral disadvantage with only a few days left to do something, and now he can't campaign at all without appearing unfeeling and crass.

In a week's time he will be either president or more likely ... retired for good. Obama at least if he loses will join the ex-president's club.

Edited October 29, 2012 by Jingthing

[notmyself]

and now he can't campaign at all without appearing unfeeling and crass.

Sorry JT but I have to call you on this. He has been doing it all year so I don't see a reason why he should stop now.

[Jingthing]

and now he can't campaign at all without appearing unfeeling and crass.

Sorry JT but I have to call you on this. He has been doing it all year so I don't see a reason why he should stop now.

He is stopping making personal appearances for two days. After that, who knows? Depends on how bad the storm is and also consider Romney's HQ is in BOSTON. Edited October 29, 2012 by Jingthing

[notmyself]

and now he can't campaign at all without appearing unfeeling and crass.

Sorry JT but I have to call you on this. He has been doing it all year so I don't see a reason why he should stop now.

He is stopping making personal appearances for two days. After that, who knows? Depends on how bad the storm is and also consider Romney's HQ is in BOSTON.

No, I mean why would he worry about appearing unfeeling and crass as he's been doing it all along anyway.

[Jingthing]

Well there is a PR aspect. He can't afford a big PR hit at this stage. Too risky.

[notmyself]

Well there is a PR aspect. He can't afford a big PR hit at this stage. Too risky.

I bet he personally wants to.

Y'know, I have yet to hear one single good reason why someone would vote for Romney. All I ever hear is it's because Obama done this or didn't do that but nothing about a positive reason to vote for him.

[Chicog]

Well there is a PR aspect. He can't afford a big PR hit at this stage. Too risky.

I bet he personally wants to.

Y'know, I have yet to hear one single good reason why someone would vote for Romney. All I ever hear is it's because Obama done this or didn't do that but nothing about a positive reason to vote for him.

Supposedly because he did really well with Daddy's (and other peoples) money, he is a top notch businessman who will single-handedly eliminate the deficit, and with his extensive knowledge of foreign bank accounts he can solve the Middle East crisis as well.

Or something.

As Sky put it, the Republicans have done a tremendous job of making people forget what a royal f*** up Obama inherited - it's as if he's done all the damage himself.

People must have very short memories.

[koheesti]

Well there is a PR aspect. He can't afford a big PR hit at this stage. Too risky.

I bet he personally wants to.

Y'know, I have yet to hear one single good reason why someone would vote for Romney. All I ever hear is it's because Obama done this or didn't do that but nothing about a positive reason to vote for him.

I think it's the opposite. Many people have listed reasons to vote for Romney on this thread (I myself gave a long list several pages back). Only one poster, maidu, has listed reasons to vote FOR Obama. Just about every other Obama supporter just repeated various Obama campaign attacks on Romney as reasons to vote for Obama. It's difficult to list concrete reasons to vote for Obama, I understand that. The man has done little good in 4 years. Even leftie Olive Stone rips Obama for his failures... http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/82993.html?hp=r6

[koheesti]

As Sky put it, the Republicans have done a tremendous job of making people forget what a royal f*** up Obama inherited - it's as if he's done all the damage himself.

Obama did f*** it up. Go back a few pages and look at the GDP chart. Obama wasn't in office 2 quarters before the recession ended. Then there were 3 qtrs of +3.5% growth, as Obama's policies came into play and the "stimulus" was spent, etc the economy has slowly tanked and it's been decreasing each of the past 3 qtrs. Spin that one as Bush's fault.

[notmyself]

I myself gave a long list several pages back).

I'll have a search.

[keemapoot]

BTW, and this is really really rich now, Romney is on record as supporting ABOLISHING FEMA. You've got to know the Obama campaign is going to get that fact out very soon, probably in more discreet ways, but its a powerful message now.

Having studied Constitutional law, I have always been interested in federalism, and sympathetic to many of Romney's arguments, that States should take more responsibility and have more power for many things, and that the Federal Government should not preempt its powers.

Dual federalism is a theory of federalconstitutional law in the United States according to which governmental power is divided into two separate spheres.^[1] One sphere of power belongs to the federal government of the United States while the other severally belongs to each constituent state.^[1] Each sphere is mutually equal, exclusive, and limiting upon the other sphere, and each entity is supreme within its own sphere.^[1]

However, in times of national crisis, it's clear that in the "sphere of power" of disaster management, a strong FEMA is absolutely necessary, especially in THIS case. Katrina was localized to one State. This storm impacts the entire Eastern Seaboard, and watching Gov. Cuomo last night, he said normally, in cases of emergency responders will come in from other states to assist, but this storm will mean there are not enough state resources to be borrowed. The importance of FEMA's national coordination abilities cannot be overstated in this case, and will highlight the Democrat's case for why the Federal Government is needed to ensure safety of citizens.

As one of the political comedians said "Romney wants to wipe out the federal programs, you know, unimportant things like highways, bridges, EPA." I am sympathetic with giving more power to the States, and do think they can manage some things better, but not a blanket policy.

This storm will highlight the importance of FEMA, and the leadership of Obama...a real life example of the President in action doing what Presidents should do, speaks louder than one recent failed debate performance as the last image voters have before casting their ballots...

Though Romney hasn't come out and said he would shut down FEMA entirely, he has certainly advocated for cutting its funding and reducing its scope. He believes states should handle this. Again, a multi-state crisis would probably be worse under Romney as FEMA would likely be a shadow of what it is now.

Edited October 29, 2012 by keemapoot

[Ulysses G.]

See for yourself.

I saw for myself. He agreed that "the states should take on MORE of this role" - not all of it. He said pretty much what he said here and did not say anything about getting rid of FEMA.

Gov. Romney believes that states should be in charge of emergency management in responding to storms and other natural disasters in their jurisdictions,” Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said in a statement. “As the first responders, states are in the best position to aid affected individuals and communities, and to direct resources and assistance to where they are needed most. This includes help from the federal government and FEMA.”

Read more: http://www.politico....l#ixzz2AhZl2Qld

Edited October 29, 2012 by Ulysses G.

[Jingthing]

Romney as the severe conservative. Ryan on the other hand is severely severe. Have people noticed that Ryan is now being HIDDEN AWAY outside the battleground states? Ryan ruins the theme of the temporary Moderate Mitt show that is Romney's endgame gambit. That is probably mostly because his extremist radical right wing views on abortion and abortions related to rape are incredibly out of the mainstream, especially most women voters. On FEMA too, with Ryan, watch out, his views are radical, and yes downright mean. No wonder from an Ayn Rand cultist. That is who Romney picked for VP: a right wing extremist who wants to make extreme cuts. He is trying to gloss that over now just to win the election.

http://www.politicus...ter-relief.html

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the difference between now and under Romney would be stark, “States and local areas hit by natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, and tornadoes often seek help from the federal government. In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, at a governor’s request, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) helps people affected by the disaster get food, water, and shelter, and can help with search-and-rescue missions and providing electric power. FEMA also helps states and local governments repair or replace public facilities and infrastructure, which often is not insured. This form of discretionary federal aid would be subject to cuts under the Ryan budget. If it were scaled back substantially, states and localities would need to bear a larger share of the costs of disaster response and recovery, or attempt to make do with less during difficult times. Federal discretionary funds also help states, cities, and other local governments hire police officers. Big cuts in funds to hire police officers would shift more of the cost of hiring these officers to state and local budgets.”

The thing is, Americans LOVE big government for some things, and rightly so, and natural disasters are one of those things. Especially in FLORIDA. How can the Obama campaign get this complicated and important message out to Florida in the few days left? Perhaps not possible but the potential is there.

Edited October 29, 2012 by Jingthing

[theslime]

As Sky put it, the Republicans have done a tremendous job of making people forget what a royal f*** up Obama inherited - it's as if he's done all the damage himself.

Obama did f*** it up. Go back a few pages and look at the GDP chart. Obama wasn't in office 2 quarters before the recession ended. Then there were 3 qtrs of +3.5% growth, as Obama's policies came into play and the "stimulus" was spent, etc the economy has slowly tanked and it's been decreasing each of the past 3 qtrs. Spin that one as Bush's fault.

Would not Bush have Growth because of War.

[Johpa]

Well there is a PR aspect. He can't afford a big PR hit at this stage. Too risky.

I bet he personally wants to.

Y'know, I have yet to hear one single good reason why someone would vote for Romney. All I ever hear is it's because Obama done this or didn't do that but nothing about a positive reason to vote for him.

I think it's the opposite. Many people have listed reasons to vote for Romney on this thread (I myself gave a long list several pages back). Only one poster, maidu, has listed reasons to vote FOR Obama. Just about every other Obama supporter just repeated various Obama campaign attacks on Romney as reasons to vote for Obama. It's difficult to list concrete reasons to vote for Obama, I understand that. The man has done little good in 4 years. Even leftie Olive Stone rips Obama for his failures... http://www.politico....2993.html?hp=r6

Obama has (1) eliminated BIn Laden, (2) repealed don't ask don't tell, (3) insitututed the better than nothing Republican baseded Heritage Foundation mandated healthcare, (4) stopped the economic freefall with at least an anemic recovery, (5) kept the US out of Libya, Syria, and Egypt, (6) saved the domestic car industry, (7) improved the image of the US throughout the larger global population, and I am sure I can think of other things. What Obama has not done is (1) free himself from Wall Street, (2) fire the criminals Summers and Geitner, (3) reinstate Glass-Stegal, (4) falied to criminally prosecute Blankenship, Rubin et al (all of which are really just spins on the first noted failure). But all in all Obama has accomplished quite alot given the context of an opposition party which is absolutely unified to make not a single political concession to the sitting president because these people could never bring themselves to concede anyting to a Black man. Such an action is simply not within their Weltanschauung.

Romney was a professional vulture capitalist who purchased distressed companies, forced those companies to take on heavy debt while using those same loans to pay himself substantial fees all taxed at a lowly 15%. He then set the companies adrift with no interest whether they succeeded or not. Romney was also called in to run the Salt Lake Olympics, but what he really did was act as a fund raiser and he was indeed very good at raising money and running a very expensive event with other people's money. Romney was also a one term governor of Massachusetts who accomplished very little during his tenure although, to his credit, he took the Heritage Foundation mandated healthcare plan and, together with Ted Kennedy, implemented the plan in that State. Sorry, but it scares the dickens out of me that some would elect an LBO specialist into the White House. Better to keep a fracking lawyer than a vulture capitalist as Chief of State.

[keemapoot]

The thing is, Americans LOVE big government for some things, and rightly so, and natural disasters are one of those things. Especially in FLORIDA. How can the Obama campaign get this complicated and important message out to Florida in the few days left? Perhaps not possible but the potential is there.

hehe, the boss man at FEMA is none other than Craig Fugate, a Jeb Bush appointee for disaster guru in Florida! I wonder if he will advocate cutting FEMA now to help Romney get elected.

Edited October 29, 2012 by keemapoot

[Ulysses G.]

Romney was not alone on reducing the role of FEMA. Obama's proposed cuts to FEMA for the upcoming budget sequester included the following :

• Flood Hazard Mapping and Risk Analysis Program - $8 million
  
• State and Local Emergency Programs (non-defense) - $183 million
  
• State and Local Emergency Programs (defense) - $5 million
  
• United States Fire Administration and Training - $4 million
  
• Salaries and Expenses (non-defense) - $75 million
  
• Salaries and Expenses (defense) - $7 million
  
• Disaster Relief - $580 million
  
• Emergency Food and Shelter - $10 million
  
• Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program - $3 million
  
• National Pre-disaster Mitigation Fund - $3 million
  

http://www.whitehous...s/stareport.pdf pages 94-96

Edited October 29, 2012 by Ulysses G.

[keemapoot]

Romney was not alone on wanting to reduce the role of FEMA. Obama's proposed cuts to FEMA for the upcoming budget sequester included the following :

• Flood Hazard Mapping and Risk Analysis Program - $8 million
  
• State and Local Emergency Programs (non-defense) - $183 million
  
• State and Local Emergency Programs (defense) - $5 million
  
• United States Fire Administration and Training - $4 million
  
• Salaries and Expenses (non-defense) - $75 million
  
• Salaries and Expenses (defense) - $7 million
  
• Disaster Relief - $580 million
  
• Emergency Food and Shelter - $10 million
  
• Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program - $3 million
  
• National Pre-disaster Mitigation Fund - $3 million
  

http://www.whitehous...s/stareport.pdf pages 94-96

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against cuts to FEMA, and they are probably needed. And, what is the probability that the US will suffer a multistate disaster needing a huge FEMA? Probably small. And I see that Obama has proposed such cuts too. Do I favor radically scaling back FEMA. I don't know, I'm not a disaster expert.

I do know, however, that this incident makes Romney look bad to most Americans. The latest reports say he was on a 20 minute phone call with FEMA, with many other agencies, etc., Homeland Security, but there's no way he can take any kind of leadership on this issue.

Edited October 29, 2012 by keemapoot

[koheesti]

Romney as the severe conservative.

If Romney is a "severe conservative". then someone raided Lenin's tomb, inserted some modern animatronics (with a quirky speech module), touched him up with some spray-on tan and are now flying him to fundraisers and gold courses around the country under the name "Barack Obama"

[Ulysses G.]

Romney was not alone on wanting to reduce the role of FEMA. Obama's proposed cuts to FEMA for the upcoming budget sequester included the following :

• Flood Hazard Mapping and Risk Analysis Program - $8 million
  
• State and Local Emergency Programs (non-defense) - $183 million
  
• State and Local Emergency Programs (defense) - $5 million
  
• United States Fire Administration and Training - $4 million
  
• Salaries and Expenses (non-defense) - $75 million
  
• Salaries and Expenses (defense) - $7 million
  
• Disaster Relief - $580 million
  
• Emergency Food and Shelter - $10 million
  
• Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program - $3 million
  
• National Pre-disaster Mitigation Fund - $3 million
  

http://www.whitehous...s/stareport.pdf pages 94-96

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against cuts to FEMA, and they are probably needed. And, what is the probability that the US will suffer a multistate disaster needing a huge FEMA? Probably small. And I see that Obama has proposed such cuts too. Do I favor radically scaling back FEMA. I don't know, I'm not a disaster expert.

I do know, however, that this incident makes Romney look bad to most Americans.

That would be speculation. I don't think that most Americans trust the Huffington Post's version of what Romney supposedly said concerning FEMA and they can just look at the video of what he actually said if they do.

Edited October 30, 2012 by Ulysses G.

[koheesti]

Well there is a PR aspect. He can't afford a big PR hit at this stage. Too risky.

I bet he personally wants to.

Y'know, I have yet to hear one single good reason why someone would vote for Romney. All I ever hear is it's because Obama done this or didn't do that but nothing about a positive reason to vote for him.

I think it's the opposite. Many people have listed reasons to vote for Romney on this thread (I myself gave a long list several pages back). Only one poster, maidu, has listed reasons to vote FOR Obama. Just about every other Obama supporter just repeated various Obama campaign attacks on Romney as reasons to vote for Obama. It's difficult to list concrete reasons to vote for Obama, I understand that. The man has done little good in 4 years. Even leftie Olive Stone rips Obama for his failures... http://www.politico....2993.html?hp=r6

Obama has (1) eliminated BIn Laden, (2) repealed don't ask don't tell, (3) insitututed the better than nothing Republican baseded Heritage Foundation mandated healthcare, (4) stopped the economic freefall with at least an anemic recovery, (5) kept the US out of Libya, Syria, and Egypt, (6) saved the domestic car industry, (7) improved the image of the US throughout the larger global population, and I am sure I can think of other things.

(1) SEALs eliminated bin Laden

(2) YAWN.

(3) Yeah, that was pretty process, wasn't it? I wonder why he never seems to bring it up on the campaign trail?

(4) NO HE DID NOT. The economy was growing again in 2009 before any of Obama's policies were enacted. The last few quarters have been going downhill. Thanks Barack!

(5) we were kept out of Libya? We should have at least provided some armed guards for our diplomats.

(6) He gave GM to the Unions. Ford was fine, didn't need any bailout money.

(7) That's what an Apology Tour will do for you. American voters care one bit anyway, other countries do not like America more because she is strong, but because the President went around grovelling to them.

Edited October 30, 2012 by koheesti

[keemapoot]

That would be speculation. I don't think that most Americans trust the Huffington Post's version of what Romney supposedly said concerning FEMA and they can just look at the video of what he actually said if they do.

My point is that Romney and Ryan's platform has been all about cutting big federal government. That is the impression they give. Americans might be reminded at a time like this that, as JT says, sometimes you need big government for some things, like defense, and perhaps disaster management. If that impression is in people's minds, that Romney would take a butcher knife to essential federal services, especially when seen as against this disaster, they will think negatively toward Romney.

[Ulysses G.]

I agree that the democrats will try to misrepresent Romney's positions, but what is new?

[keemapoot]

Well, is Romney's position the same as Ryan's position? It's supposed to be right? This article (yes, it's that cursed huffington Post again. ) lays out how Ryan's budget plan likely puts FEMA on the cutting table for invasive surgery.

Romney and Ryan are going to have trouble wriggling out of this one, but I expect Romney to do so soon.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/29/paul-ryan-budget-fema_n_2040878.html