Bloomberg Endorses Obama, Citing Climate Change - NYTimes.com

 

In a surprise announcement, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said Thursday that Hurricane Sandy had reshaped his thinking about the presidential campaign and that as a result, he was endorsing President Obama.

Mr. Bloomberg, a political independent in his third term leading New York City, has been sharply critical of Mr. Obama, a Democrat, and Mitt Romney, the president’s Republican rival, saying that both men had failed to candidly confront the problems afflicting the nation. But he said he had decided over the past several days that Mr. Obama was the better candidate to tackle the global climate change that he believes might have contributed to the violent storm, which took the lives of at least 38 New Yorkers and caused billions of dollars in damage.

Click on the following to read all of the story:  Bloomberg Endorses Obama, Citing Climate Change - NYTimes.com

US economic growth reached still-modest 2 pct. rate in Q3 on higher defense, consumer spending - The Washington Post

 

The U.S. economy grew at a slightly faster 2 percent annual rate from July through September, buoyed by more spending by consumers and the federal government.

Growth accelerated from the 1.3 percent rate in the April-June quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday. Even with the increase, growth remains too weak to rapidly boost hiring.

US economic growth reached still-modest 2 pct. rate in Q3 on higher defense, consumer spending - The Washington Post

Tax Policy Center in Spotlight for Its Romney Study - Yahoo! Finance

By ANNIE LOWREY | New York Times

 an August study by the Washington-based Tax Policy Center, a respected nonprofit that issues studiously detailed tax analyses.

That study found, in short, that Mr. Romney could not keep all of the promises he had made on individual tax reform: including cutting marginal tax rates by 20 percent, keeping protections for investment income, not widening the deficit and not increasing the tax burden on the poor or middle class. It concluded that Mr. Romney’s plan, on its face, would cut taxes for rich families and raise them for everyone else.

Click on the following to read the entire article:  Tax Policy Center in Spotlight for Its Romney Study - Yahoo! Finance

Romney’s ‘Let Detroit Go Bankrupt’ op-ed jumps to top of NYT’s ‘Most Viewed’ list | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

 

the editorial, Romney said that "if General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye." Romney argued that the auto companies should seek a privately financed managed bankruptcy, with the government providing guarantees to their loans.

Click on the following to read all of the story:  Romney’s ‘Let Detroit Go Bankrupt’ op-ed jumps to top of NYT’s ‘Most Viewed’ list | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

Recent Polls?

Above from:  http://news.yahoo.com/elections/polls/

Koch Industries, other CEOs warn employees of layoffs if Obama is reelected | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

Is this right?  Is this the American way?

Koch Industries, the Wichita, Kan.-based company run by the billionaire Koch brothers, sent a voter information packet to 45,000 employees of its Georgia Pacific subsidiary earlier this month.

In it was a letter, dated Oct. 1, from Koch Industries president Dave Robertson implicitly warning that "many of our more than 50,000 U.S. employees and contractors may suffer the consequences" of voting for President Obama and other Democrats in the 2012 elections, a list of conservative candidates the company's political action committee endorses and a pair of editorials: one, by David Koch, supporting Mitt Romney, and the other, by Charles Koch, condemning Obama.

Click on the following for more details:  Koch Industries, other CEOs warn employees of layoffs if Obama is reelected | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

Daily Kos: UPDATE: Even More on Bain Moving Sensata to China

 

UPDATE: Even More on Bain Moving Sensata to China

by ZwoofFollow

 

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permalink
171 Comments / 171 New

Here is more info on Romney/Bain moving Sensata factory to China.

But first, watch this 10 second video.

And then watch the video below the fold...

•    Romney makes $450,000 per week from his blind trust.
•    Bain is closing a factory and shipping equipment and jobs to China
•    The US government has paid $780,000 retraining fired Sensata workers.
•    Bain can deduct the expense of moving to China from US taxes.
•    US workers at the Sensata factory have to train their Chinese replacements.
•    Romney owns about $8 million worth of Bain funds that hold 51 percent of Sensata’s shares.

•    These are high-tech, well paid jobs performed by skilled American workers.
•    Workers in the Sensata factory in China make 99 cents an hour.
•    Chinese laborers work 12 hour shifts, 7 days per week.
•    Chinese workers are housed 2 to 3 to a room in barracks
•    The American workers set records for profits for Sensata

UPDATE
How Mitt Romney will benefit from closing Sesnata.

As mentioned in the bullet-points above, Bain/Romney will receive tax deductions after closing the factory in Freeport. Huffington Post takes a closer look at the tax benefits for Romney.

•    Romney transferred $701,703 worth of Sensata stock to the Tyler Charitable Foundation, a 501(c)3 tax-exempt nonprofit controlled by Romney.
•    Moving the stock to his nonprofit brings Romney twin benefits. First, he gets to deduct the full value of the stock. At a 35 percent tax rate, that's nearly a $250,000 benefit. At 15 percent, it's just over $100,000.
•    Romney is able to avoid paying capital gains taxes on the stock price increase. Romney's returns list no cost for the stock, and indicate he obtained them as part of a partnership interest in Bain. Avoiding capital gains taxes on the full increase would save an additional $100,000.
•    In 2010, Romney gifted $170,000 worth of Sensata stock to his charity, saving $25,000 in capital gains taxes that year.

Originally posted to Z. Woof on Sat Oct 13, 2012 at 08:40 AM PDT.

Also republished by The Bain Files.

Click on the following for more details:  Daily Kos: UPDATE: Even More on Bain Moving Sensata to China

FactCheck.org : Romney’s Clean Energy Whoppers

 

Mitt Romney made numerous bogus claims in the Oct. 3 debate about the $90 billion in grants, guaranteed loans and tax breaks for energy projects in the stimulus bill:

• Romney falsely claimed “about half” of the clean-energy companies that received U.S.-backed loans “have gone out of business.” But 26 companies received loan guarantees under a loan program cited by Romney, and three of those have filed for bankruptcy. The three firms were approved for about 6 percent of the loan guarantees.
• Romney incorrectly claimed the “$90 billion in breaks to the green energy world” was provided “in one year.” It was two.
• He stated at one point that Obama put $90 billion “into solar and wind.” But only $21 billion went for renewable energy projects, “such as the installation of wind turbines and solar panels,” according to a White House document cited by the Romney campaign. The spending also included $18 billion for transit projects and $10 billion to upgrade the nation’s electrical grid.
• He falsely claimed the $90 billion was equal to “about 50 years’ worth of what oil and gas receives” in tax breaks, which he estimated at $2.8 billion. By his own figures, it would have been 32 years’ worth. But it’s even less than that. The administration estimates that eliminating oil and gas tax preferences would raise about $3.9 billion a year (23 years’ worth). The industry itself says the administration would increase its taxes by $8.5 billion a year (10.5 years’ worth).
• He falsely claimed Obama “put $90 billion into green jobs … that would have hired 2 million teachers.” But that $90 billion included loan guarantees, not just grant money, and the government can’t hire teachers with loan guarantees.

We asked the Romney campaign about the $90 billion, and it referred us to a July 14, 2010, administration report on the economic impact of the stimulus. But that report said only about $21 billion went “for Renewable Generation, such as the installation of wind turbines and solar panels.”

The seven other sub-categories of “clean-energy” projects identified in the report were:

• $29 billion for energy efficiency, including $5 billion for the weatherization of low-income homes;
• $10 billion to modernize the nation’s electric grid;
• $6 billion for domestic manufacturing of advanced batteries and other components of alternative vehicles and fuel technology;
• $18 billion for transit projects, including high-speed rail;
• $3 billion for researching and developing clean-coal technology;
• $3 billion for job training;
• $2 billion in manufacturing tax credits.

So, clearly, the $90 billion wasn’t just for wind and solar projects.

Click on the following for more details:  FactCheck.org : Romney’s Clean Energy Whoppers

Daily Kos: Cardinal Dolan & K-Lo are going to have a sad: Obama slaughtering Romney among Catholics

Daily Kos: Cardinal Dolan & K-Lo are going to have a sad: Obama slaughtering Romney among Catholics

Romney tax plan: Is it 'mathematically impossible' or not? - CSMonitor.com

 

One study said Mitt Romney's tax-reform numbers don't add up. Another says they do. The reality: It depends a lot on the assumptions made about how deeply Romney is willing to cut tax breaks for the rich, including incentives for investment.

….Romney supporters are eager to defuse the "mathematically impossible" issue as a Democratic talking point. If they can't, it puts pressure on Romney either to lay out more details of his plan, or to backpedal and revise it.

By Mark Trumbull, Staff writer / September 28, 2012

Click on the following to read the entire story:  Romney tax plan: Is it 'mathematically impossible' or not? - CSMonitor.com

Mitt Romney tells voters: If I'm elected, don't expect huge tax cuts - Yahoo! News

By Mark Trumbull | Christian Science Monitor –

Don't be expecting a huge cut in taxes, because I'm also going to be closing loopholes on deductions," Mr. Romney said Wednesday in Westerville, Ohio, flanked by a national debt clock, chronicling the nation's rising burden on future taxpayers.

The comments in some ways raise as many questions as they answer.

RECOMMENDED: Obama vs. Romney 101: 5 ways they differ on taxes

Click on the following for the rest of the story:  Mitt Romney tells voters: If I'm elected, don't expect huge tax cuts - Yahoo! News

Mitt Romney releases 2011 tax returns, paid $1.9m in taxes on $13.7m in income - The Source - Latest news and updates from Boston.com

 

Romney’s updated tax returns show that he paid $1.9 million in taxes on $13.7 million in income, most of which came from his investments. It means his effective tax rate for 2011 was 14.1 percent, which is slightly higher than it was in 2010.

For political reasons, Romney claimed a charitable deduction of $1.75 million less than he could have – claiming $2.25 million from contributions of $4 million. The reason, according to his accountant, was so that he could still abide by a pledge he made in August that he paid at least 13 percent in income taxes in each of the last 10 years.

….

Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, paid an effective rate of 20 percent in 2011 on $323,416 of adjusted gross income.

President Obama paid an effective tax rate of 20.5 percent in 2011 on adjusted gross income of $789,674. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife paid an effective rate of 23.2 percent on income of $379,035.

Click on the following to read all of the article:  Mitt Romney releases 2011 tax returns, paid $1.9m in taxes on $13.7m in income - The Source - Latest news and updates from Boston.com

SECRET VIDEO: Romney Tells Millionaire Donors What He REALLY Thinks of Obama Voters | Mother Jones

When he doesn't know a camera's rolling, the GOP candidate shows his disdain for half of America.

—By David Corn

 

During a private fundraiser earlier this year, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told a small group of wealthy contributors what he truly thinks of all the voters who support President Barack Obama. He dismissed these Americans as freeloaders who pay no taxes, who don't assume responsibility for their lives, and who think government should take care of them. Fielding a question from a donor about how he could triumph in November, Romney replied:

There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.

Romney went on: "[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Mother Jones has obtained video of Romney at this intimate fundraiser—where he candidly discussed his campaign strategy and foreign policy ideas in stark terms he does not use in public—and has confirmed its authenticity. To protect the confidential source who provided the video, we have blurred some of the image, and we will not identify the date or location of the event, which occurred after Romney had clinched the Republican presidential nomination

Click on the following to view the actual video:SECRET VIDEO: Romney Tells Millionaire Donors What He REALLY Thinks of Obama Voters | Mother Jones

Romney to outline how he would govern - Yahoo! News

By KASIE HUNT and KEN THOMAS | Associated Press

Mitt Romney will seek this week to explain more about what he would do as president, a strategy shift intended to change the trajectory of a race that President Barack Obama appears to be winning.

Seven weeks before the election, campaign aides say Romney plans to release a new batch of TV ads, re-focus his campaign appearances on his five-point economic plan and make a series of speeches aimed at offering voters a more concrete outline of his plans for the country.

Click on the following for more details:  Romney to outline how he would govern - Yahoo! News

Republican plan for Medicare could face years of hurdles: experts - chicagotribune.com

David Morgan

Reuters

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney wants to turn Medicare into a voucher system and President Barack Obama hopes that fact alone will help him win votes among senior citizens and baby boomers.
But health policy experts, including two analysts who first floated the idea of Medicare vouchers 17 years ago, say no such plan is likely to become legislation - let alone law - until after the next presidential election in 2016.
That is because the mere notion of fundamentally revamping the $590 billion-a-year healthcare program, which serves 50 million elderly and disabled Americans, raises a multitude of policy issues that no politician or policymaker has addressed publicly…..

No experts in either the public or private sectors of the $2.8 trillion U.S. healthcare system have said in detail how a voucher system might work. The task require better insurance risk-adjustment mechanisms than are available now, as well as a deeper understanding of geographic variations in medical costs.

Click on the following for more details:  Republican plan for Medicare could face years of hurdles: experts - chicagotribune.com

Larry Flynt offering $1 million for Romney's financial records | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

 

Hustler magazine publisher, and self-described free speech activist, Larry Flynt is offering $1 million for anyone who will provide him with Mitt Romney's financial records.

Flynt, 69, has purchased full-page ads in Sunday's Washington Post and Tuesday's, September 11 issue of USA Today

Click on the following for more details:  Larry Flynt offering $1 million for Romney's financial records | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

Bain Documents: Romney Offshore Investments Used 'Blockers' To Avoid Taxes

In the financials for the Bain Capital Asia Fund, for instance, the audit describes the establishment of blocker corporations to hold more than $92 million in contributions from the fund.

Some experts have pointed to the blockers to help explain how Romney has been able to amass between $20.7 million and $101.6 million in a tax-free IRA, many times more than the typical amount an IRA can hold. Romney has not responded to questions about his IRA.

Click on the followings for more details:  Bain Documents: Romney Offshore Investments Used 'Blockers' To Avoid Taxes

Cardinal Dolan to give benediction for RNC

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/nyregion/new-york-archbishop-will-give-closing-prayer-at-gop-meeting.html?_r=1

Northwest Herald | Obama campaign offers Romney 5-year tax disclosure

 

Barack Obama's re-election campaign kept up pressure against Republican rival Mitt Romney on two fronts Friday, launching a new ad defending the president's record on Medicare while challenging Romney to release at least five years of tax returns.

Click on he following for more details: Northwest Herald | Obama campaign offers Romney 5-year tax disclosure

Romney: I’ve paid at least 13 percent tax rate in each of past 10 years - The Washington Post

Will actual tax returns be far behind?

look at my taxes and over the past 10 years I never paid less than 13 percent. I think the most recent year is 13.6 or something like that. So I paid taxes every single year,

 

Click on the following to read all of the story:  Romney: I’ve paid at least 13 percent tax rate in each of past 10 years - The Washington Post