"tempusfugit1" who appears to be UNBELIEVABLY MYOPIC has TOTALLY MISSED THE POINT.

He appears to be complaining about GEORGE SOROS exercising his "NOW SCOTUS APPROVED" right to GREENBACK FREE SPEECH, thanks to the "Citizens United" decision.

"tempus" apparently doesn't UNDERSTAND that IT'S NOT "WHO" IS FUNDING THE CORRUPTION AND PURCHASING OF OUR LEGISLATORS, but that it is allowed AT ALL.

The unlimited cash payments to our legislators BY ALL SOURCES has driven a stake into the HEART OF OUR DEMOCRACY....it has literally taken away our power to control the destiny of our Republic through the ballot box and GIVEN IT TO BILLIONAIRE CORPORATIONS AND WEALTHY INDIVIDUALS.....

This is a TRAVESTY. THIS WILL DESTROY OUR WAY OF LIFE. This needs to be "fixed" by CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT or specifically designed LEGISLATION.

WE are ALL the losers because of this SCOTUS DECISION and the resultant unlimited flow of CORRUPTION CASH to our "selected", not ELECTED representatives.

NO ONE WINS HERE....we ALL lose.

I agree with iheard;

However for the record Soros' one and only donation to a superpac was done in September "in protest" of the United Citizens decision and the outlandish spending by (his) the opposition. The amount was one million dollars.

tempusfugit1

Ahhhh, this is peanuts compared to what George Soros has been shelling out for the past four years....and continues to "donate."

.......and don't forget one of the Republican's favorite "giver of the Buck," Sheldon Adelson. I am surprised the article didn't mention him. He shoveled millions into Newt Gingrich's coffers this past year and gave him one of his corporate jets to travel around the country in.

Look up ol' Sheldon Adelson in Forbes and see where the old Geezer sits on Forbes list of Billionaires.

The Citizens United decision legalized bribery of our public officials and must be reversed....period.

@ tempusfugit1, number one, you provide no information to back up your uninformed remark, and two, there is a world of difference in Wall Street Republicans and George Soros. Wall Street is shelling out for more tax cuts to make the wealthy wealthier. Soros, along with a few others, are shelling out to the very people who what to raise their taxes. It's the patriotic thing, something the low information, empathy deficient, faux-patriot, faux Christian, oligarchic, Republican base simply don't get, or don't care.

Actually it should be "welcome to Corporation World". The real rulers of the world are becoming the international financial institutions and they are actively taking over the democratic process, because democracy is the only thing that stands in their way. If you're thinking of voting for Romney, think about where the money for all those last minute ads is coming from, and read about or watch the edition of Moyers & Company , that ran yesterday before you cast your ballot to "remind yourself of how we’ve been maneuvered by Wall Street and Beltway insiders, politically engineered into a state of inequality and the disproportionate power of a very few." http://billmoyers.com/content/chapter-one-of-winner-take-all-politics/

The GOP should be disgusted by this... But the the Republicans are the ones behind this sleezy monstrosity..

Vote Obama, please. For all our best interests, Americans! Unite!

Corporate America paid for and bought by the greedy elite!!! Stand up to them, and vote against the person of their choice! Don't let their money take away your freedom!!

Vote Obama/Biden on Nov. 6, 2012!!!

From this day forward and until the end of time...when I am asked how America ended up in the toilet...I will simply point to these comments, and explain that the American people actually are being taught to believe this crap

Conservatives will destroy America with their fealty to Corporations. Koch, Adelson, Karl Rove (and his FOX News) are leading the way to a fascist America.

Sell democracy to the corporations. Check.

Sell military access for wars to fulfill corporate demands. Check.

Sell the fleet for Israel's use without congressional consent. (Yeah, and I'm a supporter of Israel, too, but geesh.) Check.

Ensure the wealthy have no requirement to contribute to America's infrastructure. Check.

Promote the right-wing propaganda machine. Check.

Undermine the constitution and your job is done.

[Tea Party morons will complain that they were a solution, not the problem. But you got co-opted by Dick Armey who now owns your agenda. The Tea Party has a become a footnote to stupidity and manipulation. Scream into the black hole you've created. You're tools to Bachmann, Palin and the other ignorati who've made you a laughing stock, ]

Not to mention GOP masters would threaten to fire people if Obama win.

Imitation to get more votes, how low can they sink? They talk about voter fraud and they are the first to do it.

GOP talk about more rights, less government and yet all they have to do is limit rights for women, homosexual. The more they try to limit others, the less rights they would have it on themselves.

I guess they didn't even realize that. Talk about more freedom and yet their actions would result less freedom for everyone.

Every time the Republican and Tea Party members of Congress blocked President Obama, they were blocking the Americans that voted for him as well.

So you mean to tell me that Ariana Huffington and George Soros Did not give any thing to Democrats?

What total Bias garbage... as if Obama didn't get any money from Super Pacs.... Please.

".when I am asked how America ended up in the toilet...I will simply point to these comments, and explain that the American people actually are being taught to believe this crap"

So you think it's good that completely anonymous individuals and groups are permitted to do what ever they want in the election? How do we even know that this money came from an American source? How do we know that Romney hasn't struck a deal with the Chinese in return for this little (indirect) campaign contribution?

Many of these ads have about as much basis in reality as the Easter bunny and yet for the superPac ads run since October 1st we will have no idea where the money came from until 2013 and for the 501(c)4 super PACs we may never know.

And you think that is just fine and WE'RE the ones flushing this countries future down the toilet.

Really?

Did anyone ever consider that Romney himself coould be the source of these funds? Just askin'.

This circus is brought to you by the GOP organized crime family. Bow and bend over for your masters when exiting the show. Ask not what your country can do for you, Ask what you can do for the corporations.

And how many jobs could have been created by all that easy money flowing into those political coffers? Oh I forgot that money was available because your neighbors job went to China.

Obama needs to have a majority in both House and Senate to get this country running on all eight again. VOTE>

RepublicansForObama,

Yes. That was a great post. I loved it :)

Election's biggest corporate donor an enigma with $5.3 million in contributions

By Michael Beckel and Reity O’Brien If I recall correctly back in 2008 Senator Obama received large amount of money from the corporation including wall street. So tell what the difference? Or only your party could receive large amount of contribution.

RepublicansForObama-6186389 best analogy I can give is that this country was bankrupted by greedy Republicans shipping our jobs overseas while creating 2 unneeded wars. It takes everyone on the same page to get this country running properly for EVERy ONE. Since Day ONE of Obamas presidency the Repubs came out publicly and stated that they would do everything possible to see that his recovery policies went no where. ,,, Now you take the people of Hurricane Sandy who want water, phones, heat in 1 day after she totally devastated the area. Sad to see so many people getting angry but they need a reality check, and if all relief agencies are not on the same page that is not going to happen sooner. People in the gulf states have a more realistic expectations as to how soon infrastructure can be rebuilt after such devastating storms.

chicory he had both the senate and house and didn't accomplish a thing. They made this country worst. also why not investigate your fellow democrats and see how many are millionaires and how they obtain their wealth. before you post this. Democrats and Independent for Romney by the way I was a register democrat and switch my registration card to Republican.

I wonder if congress will ever do what they should have done already, redefine the corporate entity. It is not a person, it is not punished by the courts in the same way persons are. It does not breathe, it has no conscience, it is immortal. The corporation exists for two reasons only: firstly to create profit, and secondly, to shield the owners(shareholders) from any responsibility.

Adam Smith (Wealth of Nations 1776) the father of free market capitalism, believed that the joint stock company (corporation) was a threat to the free market.

Until corporations start to have their freedom to trade taken away as punishment for criminal actions nothing will change. They view a fine for criminal activity as just the cost of doing business. If it is cheaper to break the law and pay the fine, that's what they will do. Boards of directors have some liability for the actions of the company, but they are never prosecuted.

Legislators are beholding to those that control corporations. Bought and paid for. If they worked for the people as the Constitution says, the corporation would not be classified a person.

When the mindless drones on the right figure out, that they gave up all rights to elected any government official to any post by empowering the corporations and the .05% yes the .05% to make donations without restrictions,and with that money have totally controled what was once your representatives, who doesn't give a rats ass about any of you who are part of that 47% that they talk about and to boot the remaining % is everyone else minus the .05% and the corporations who now control our country.

Yes that one (our country) that you said you wanted to take back. Well take it back you didn't. You sold it and your soul to the corporate devil and the .05%.

You have allowed yourself to be manipulated by your Church's agendas and the strange pastors you are giving YOUR money to, only to have them dictate to you what you should believe in.

Wolfs dressed as pastors and guess who is dinner? YOU!!!!

If you are still capable you need to start looking over your backs , because the devil is going to be coming to collect his dues, if you his willing drones, vote his drones into power.

Obama/Biden 2012

This Super Pac completely aligns with the GOP and the Mitt Romney agenda. Their message is corporate America is more important than the people who work and pay taxes to keep this country running. Billions in tax cuts for the wealthy are at stake so they don't mind sending millions in the gamble.

I think it is great they wasted their money and will see 4 more years of President Obama.

brutaltruth

Anyone notice the news story yesterday about Osama Bin Laden donating to Obama?

Drone silence is deafening.

Actually, being yesterday was Sunday, I was out enjoying myself, but hey, if you have a link, why didn't you post it?

On the other hand, anyone read the numerous reports over 12 years of the bin Laden family in Saudi Arabia donating to the Bush Campaign, poppa-Bush, (as a REAL Independent, I voted for poppa-Bush), and W.?

OBAMA/BIDEN....2012!!!!

Oh, little special ED. Times and laws have changed since 1776, Smith would be absolutely pro corporation today.

Early corporations were chartered by the Crown or legislature. In the days before corporate income taxes, this was a novel way for a government to raise revenue. The monarch would grant a corporation special trading rights or other monopoly privileges in return for certain payments. The Crown might even invest money in this enterprise for a share of its dividends, or expect these enterprises to lend large sums to the government at favorable rates. The incestuous relationship between government and corporations no doubt colored Smith's view of these kinds of businesses.

Were Adam Smith alive today, he'd be an activist hedge fund manager or a private equity raider. He had a decidedly pessimistic view about corporations. Most businesses of his day were proprietorships or partnerships. He didn't think corporations--joint-stock companies, as they were then called--would amount to much, because badly incentivized managers would inevitably destroy them.

"The directors of such companies ... being the managers rather of other people's money rather than of their own, it cannot well be expected that they should watch over it with the same anxious vigilance with which [they would] watch over their own," he wrote. "Negligence and profusion, therefore, must always prevail, more or less, in the management of the affairs of such a company."

In other words, managers are invariably prone to waste. They will gold-plate their office equipment and cut out early for their kids' music recitals. And what about stockholder fraud, such a large source of angst among modern governance critics? Smith felt that the possibility of theft existed in every area of commercial life, yet commerce thrived. "Negligence and profusion," what economists now call "agency costs," were different; they were, and are, an inherent result of the separation of ownership and management.

Smith was well aware of the benefits of corporations, including their ability to concentrate large amounts of money into capital-intensive undertakings. But he thought that the costs of agency would always be too high. He believed that those costs scaled up with the business, as that was the experience of his day. Therefore, the bigger a business got, the worse the waste. He frankly didn't see any way around it, even if the corporation had monopoly privileges.

"It is upon this account that joint-stock companies for foreign trade have seldom been able to maintain the competition against private adventurers. They have, accordingly, very seldom succeeded without an exclusive privilege, and frequently have not succeeded with one," wrote Smith.

Early corporations were chartered by the Crown or legislature. In the days before corporate income taxes, this was a novel way for a government to raise revenue. The monarch would grant a corporation special trading rights or other monopoly privileges in return for certain payments. The Crown might even invest money in this enterprise for a share of its dividends, or expect these enterprises to lend large sums to the government at favorable rates. The incestuous relationship between government and corporations no doubt colored Smith's view of these kinds of businesses.

Why was Smith so far off the mark on the survivability of corporations? For one thing, the relationship between corporations and the state has since transformed. Although the incestuous quid pro quo that was prominent in Smith's day remains the norm in most of the world, it's not typical in developed economies. Most western corporations operate without any special privileges, under licenses that are routinely offered to anyone willing to go through some simple administrative processes. The resulting lack of special treatment from the government forces corporations to become ever more competitive in minimizing unnecessary costs, including agency costs.

Nominally, the main tool for controlling agency costs has been board oversight. However, Smith was no more confident in the efficacy of that control than were many subsequent critics of boards, with good reason. Boards get fooled all the time, and they have their own issues with greed. The dramatic reduction in agency costs that made corporations feasible was, in fact, brought about by the development of two other, powerful tools that Smith did not foresee: transparency and internal incentives.

In the 19th century, railroads were the biggest promise of corporations--and the biggest challenge to their existence. Railroads were capital-intensive and operated on such a large scale that no central committee could supervise its operations. Money flowed in and out of the business through countless retail transactions. Railroads were ungovernable by any standards of Adam Smith's time. But the new technology spawned new kinds of organization, and new governance mechanisms to cope with it.

The Baltimore and Ohio (B&O), the first of the big railroads, pioneered a new level of transparency. It began with a five-page letter from the president to the investors in their first year of construction. Three years later, it had grown to a 153-page letter with 15 tables of actual vs. budgeted construction costs. After they began operations, B&O management provided revenues by station and expenses by month, as well as net income and cash flow. Nobody told B&O's managers that they had to do it--not the government or the stockbrokers or "good governance" critics. Their managers simply figured that if they wanted the cash needed to grow the businesses, they needed to make their investors as comfortable as possible.

A little later, corporations discovered sophisticated managerial incentives. Early in the growth of Standard Oil, John D. Rockefeller offered stock to his senior managers so they would think of themselves as partners in the enterprise. Alfred Sloan developed an innovative profit-sharing plan for his managers that effectively aligned their interests with that of General Motors' (nyse: GM - news - people ) shareholders without diluting their equity. Management incentives eventually evolved into tools for motivating even lower-level employees to work hard for the shareholders. Notwithstanding the paternalism of capitalists in his day, Smith could not foresee a sales manager and her family being sent to Aruba for winning a sales contest. How could any company afford to be so generous? Why would they give something like that away? Where is Aruba?

Adam Smith will go down in history as one who foresaw innumerable ways that market processes could adapt and organize themselves to allocate scarce resources between economic agents. He would be quite comfortable--and mighty pleased--with the dizzying scope of trade in every commodity, product and service imaginable, and the incredible wealth engendered by that trade. He predicted that. But he would be surprised by the degree to which economic agents themselves would evolve, that they could scale up dramatically while keeping their agency costs well under control. After realizing how utterly wrong he was about corporations, Smith would probably nod in satisfaction. Or, maybe he'd buy them out and fire the managers.

Marc Hodak is managing director of Hodak Value Advisors, a firm specializing in the finance and compensation issues of corporate governance. He teaches corporate governance at New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business.

http://www.forbes.com/2007/10/24/adam-smith-corporations-markets-marketsp07-cx_mh_1025hodak.html

What this article wants you to believe is that only Republicans are benefiting from Super PAC's, and nothing could be further from the truth. When in fact all this ruling did was level the playing field for Republicans that had to face massive Democrat contributions from Unions.

But the real irony of this article is that if Obama was so opposed to Citizens United, then why didn't he lead Congress into changing campaign laws so no one benefited? That would have meant a change in how Unions could donate as well, and that would have meant no Democrat would have supported it.

Washington was bought and paid for long before Citizens United. In Maine the BILLIONAIRE husband of Congressional Representative Chellie Pingree owns every major news outlet in the state. Everyone endorses Obama, and every other Democrat including the states closet Democratic candidate Angus King who is a monster liberal running for Snowe's senate seat. As if honest reporting will ever be in print in Maine. Rigging elections is certainly not restricted to anyone individual or Super PAC, they all do it.

Elliot,

Republicans will try to co-opt or corrupt anything to push their agenda. Adam Smith is spinning in his grave.

US is not a democracy - it is a plutocracy - rule of the rich. Since I live in one of those swing states I get at least 5 robo calls a day urging me to vote one way or another. These groups probably spend hundreds if not thousands to get one vote. That is a total scam. Money in US politics is a root of all evil.

gregorio057

chicory he had both the senate and house and didn't accomplish a thing.

Wrong, the whole agenda of the republican party since day one was blockage, and defeat of anything President Obama tried to pass. It's been personal against THIS particular President from the beginning as proven below:

On January 20, 2009 Republican Leaders in Congress plotted to sabotage and undermine U.S. Economy during President Obama's Inauguration:

The Guest List:

Frank Luntz - GOP Minister of Propaganda

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) YOUR WANNABE VP!!

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA),

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX),

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX),

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI)

Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA),

Sen. Jim DeMint (SC-R),

Sen. Jon Kyl (AZ-R),

Sen. Tom Coburn (OK-R),

Sen. John Ensign (NV-R) and

Sen. Bob Corker (TN-R).

"The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told National Journal's Major Garrett in October.

"Well, that is true," McConnell replied. "That's my single most important political goal, along with every active Republican in the country."

Even with the country on the brink of default, the Senate's highest ranking Republican says his "single most important" goal is to make Barack Obama a one-term president.

They hated President Obama from day one, never wanted him to succeed.

OBAMA/BIDEN....2012!!!!

Specialty Group Inc., of Knoxville, Tenn., donated nearly $5.3 million between Oct. 1 and Oct. 11 to FreedomWorks for America, which is affiliated with former GOP House Majority Leader Dick Armey

There is nothing freeing or liberating about the GOP and their operatives. The right represents power and control for the rich over the majority of Americans. Their aim to "squeeze" the populace is so important to them, that the Republicans will spend staggering amounts of money to achieve this nefarious goal. This article highlights that the GOP prefers a Corporatocracy over a Democracy.

Obama/Biden for all Americans!

Adam Smith is without a doubt rolling in his grave, if he could see how government controlled and inefficient our free market has become he would be sick.

There are 22 incumbents running for re-election in the senate. It is expected that 20 of those will win. So when voters keep sending the same people to Washington, who really is the problem the voters or the money? We have the same people in Washington, Reid and McConnell for 25 years each, and yet voters expect different results. Until voters starting kicking out incumbents who are the real problem, politics will never change.

No surprise, that these far left-wing studies never point out the millions the corrupt unions, or communist like Soros or Peter Lewis (Progressive Insurance), et al contibute to liberals.

Ed, Dave

The Communist Party USA is very proud of you today!

Public funding for elections. Period.

WAY cheaper in the long run. (For the public)

emilymdare, we warned you, but you didn't listen.

And where did Barry get all of his money for 2008 campaign? Funny there have been so many of his "bundlers" in trouble for one thing or another.........

Hey, elliot-3020456,

Maybe your argument would be more valid if you ignored convention, type in a boldface font larger than the one everyone else is using, and simply YELL LOUDER AND USE MANY, MANY, MANY, MANY, MANY, MANY, MANY, MANY MORE WORDS THAN EVERYONE ELSE. Maybe that would make you more credible.

Oh, you mean you tried that and it didn't work? Perhaps you could just keep posting over and ov... what, you tried that, too? I guess I'm out of suggestions.

We need a Constitutional Amendment against PACs and Citizens United.

Right now, there is a disaster in the east, and that area produces a large part of our Gross National Product.

If those campaign donations (especially this one that was made since Sandy) went to the country's deficit, or for disaster relief (including fixing the infrastructure and prevention), then we would be much better off. Unions and the left give small donations; their PACs represent groups and are not at all like the handful of right-wing billionaires that are like kings telling everybody what to do.

Patriots would have given to the disaster relief, not to campaigns at this time. I gave whatever I could to the Red Cross; more than I have given to all my candidates this year (and I only give to the President, Senate, Congress, and local people). What have these super PACs done... nothing at all for America.

2012: Vote Obama/Biden, and Democrats in the Senate and House, and local Democrats.

Don't any of you worry! We will have the best government wealthy special interest groups can BUY! Now, go vote on Tuesday then its back to your minimum wage jobs, until the minimum wage laws are repealed by the GOP, if they win this election!

Getting money out of the elections is the 1 thing both sides can agree on! But focusing on what the voters agree on won't get you elected. So we bicker like little children, remain divided and counquered and our democracy remains broken.

"Attention Attention, the auction err, election is about to being, opening bids will start at $1,000,000. If you don't have that kind of money don't worry we will still accept lesser amounts but it will not mean anything but that's ok you can still take one of our voting err how are we doing cards fill it out and at least make yourself feel better about the process, we may or may not look at them or listen to what you are saying anyways."

How sad is this? Complete disgrace to the concepts our country was founded on. The money in politics needs to go as do the lobbyists and the rules they follow. It is time for this nonsense to end. I agree the both sides of the American public would like to see the money go but I guarantee you both sides of those in DC would want nothing of the sort since they both benefit from it so much. Until we get someone who really cares and says to hell with a two term bid and starts making the tough decisions from day one that have been passed on for years now, don't expect anything different.

I'll add to, with the vast number of other positive things this money could've been spent on it really makes you shake your head. I know I know do what you want with your money, but when you see corporate sponsors on both sides spend this type of money you have to wonder, why not give to the workers? Why not reinvest into the company instead? The whole thing from top to bottom is FUBAR and needs fixed in the worst way.

Dear Founding Fathers,

Sorry but we have failed you.

Regards,

The American Public.

Updated as of 10:00am EST on Monday, November 5, 2012:

*** OBAMA, AT LONG LAST AND AS EXPECTED, PULLS AHEAD IN VIRGINIA WHILE WIDENING HIS LEAD IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Additionally, Obama’s leads strengthens over the weekend in Ohio and Iowa while softening in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan; Romney successfully expands his lead in Florida while losing slight ground in North Carolina.

Curiously, polling in Colorado is strangely absent over the weekend.

Mischief alert: Quite a bit of suspect outlier polling favorable to Romney was floated out in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan on Sunday in the face of multiple polls which confirmed consistently strong Obama leads in each of these states (the Karl Rove axiom of 'shaping perceptions to alter outcomes,' perhaps?).

---------------------------------------------------------

With less than 14 hours to go in the 2012 presidential campaign, Real Clear Politics (RCP) reports that Obama leads in nine of their eleven toss-up states with Romney leading in two.

In descending order of 'percentage of lead' in favor of Obama, followed in ascending order of 'percentage of lead' in favor of Romney, here are the published averaged numbers from RCP as of 10:00am EST together with the most recent FiveThirtyEight election night probabilities of victory for either candidate:

In WISCONSIN, with 10 electoral votes, Obama's lead fell Sunday to 4.2%, down from 5.0% on Saturday. However, FiveThirtyEight currently gives Obama a 94.5% chance of victory here, up by 1.2% from Friday and by an astounding 8.8% since Tuesday.

In PENNSYLVANIA, with 20 electoral votes, Obama's lead fell Sunday to 3.9%, down from 4.1% on Saturday. However, FiveThirtyEight currently gives Obama a 97.9% chance of victory here, up by 1.8% from Friday and by a significant 3.8% since Tuesday.

In MICHIGAN, with 16 electoral votes, Obama's lead fell Sunday to 3.8%, down from 4.0% on Saturday. However, FiveThirtyEight currently gives Obama a 98.7% chance of victory here, up 032% from Friday and by 0.6% since Tuesday.

In IOWA, with 6 electoral votes, Obama's lead rose late Sunday to 3.0%, up from 2.0% on Saturday morning. FiveThirtyEight currently gives Obama an 81.2% chance of victory here, down by 1.4% from Friday but up and by a substantial 7.3% since Tuesday.

In OHIO, with 18 electoral votes, Obama's lead rose Sunday night to 2.9%, up from 2.6% on Friday. FiveThirtyEight currently gives Obama an 86.8% chance of victory here, up by 6.1% from Friday and by an astronomical 13.5% since Tuesday.

In NEVADA, with 6 electoral votes, Obama's lead has been holding at 2.8%, up from 2.4% on Friday. FiveThirtyEight currently gives Obama an 90.0% chance of victory here, up by 2.8% from Friday and by an
astonishing 10.3% since Tuesday.

In NEW HAMPSHIRE, with 4 electoral votes, Obama's lead this morning has risen to 2.0, up from 1.5% over the weeknd. FiveThirtyEight currently gives Obama a 80.2% chance of victory here, up by 1.5% from Friday and by an astounding 9.9% since Tuesday.

In COLORADO, with 9 electoral votes, Obama's lead has been holding at 0.6%, down from 0.9% on Friday. FiveThirtyEight currently gives Obama a 69.7% chance of victory here, up by 4.0% from Friday and by an astronomical 14.3% since Tuesday.

In VIRGINIA, with 13 electoral votes, Obama early this morning emerged with his own lead of 0.3%, reversing a longstanding but narrowing Romney lead of 0.3% from Saturday. FiveThirtyEight currently gives Obama a 72.6% chance of victory here, up by a substantial 7.8% from Friday.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

In FLORIDA, with 29 electoral votes, Romney's lead this morning has risen to 1.8%, up from 1.4% over the weekend. FiveThirtyEight currently gives Romney a 55.5% chance of victory here, up by 0.7% from Friday.

In NORTH CAROLINA, with 15 electoral votes, Romney's lead fell this morning to 3.0%, down from 3.8% over the weekend. FiveThirtyEight currently gives Romney a 77.2% chance of victory here, down 2.2% from Friday.

So...

In order for Obama to win re-election the least complex route would be through maintaining his existing leads in the five toss-up states where his current margins are widest (Wisconsin at 4.2%, Pennsylvania at 3.9%, Michigan at 3.8%, Iowa at 3.0%, and Ohio at 2.9%. Doing so would bring his electoral vote total on Election Day to 271. In this scenario, Obama could still surpass 270 while failing to hold Nevada, New Hampshire, Colorado, and Virginia.

However, should Obama fail to hold the strategic prize of a hotly-contested Ohio, the loss could effectively be neutralized by any of the following combination of wins from states where FiveThirtyEight is currently
forecasting Obama victories:

Path #1: Obama loses Ohio but holds three of his remaining four toss-up states where his current leads are greatest, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Colorado resulting in 272 electoral votes.

Path #2: Obama loses Ohio but wins Virginia while also taking only one state from among Nevada, New Hampshire, or Colorado resulting in 272, 270, or 275 electoral votes, respectively.

----------------------------------------------------------

For Romney to unseat Obama, he not only would have to hold the two states in which he presently leads, North Carolina and Florida, bringing his electoral vote total to 235, but also steal victories in at least one of the following possible combinations from states currently leaning Obama, listed in descending order of likelihood based on the reverse engineering of current FiveThirtyEight numbers for election night chances of victory:

Path A: Romney retakes Virginia and steals both Ohio and Colorado resulting in 275 electoral votes (least unlikely outcome).

Path B: Romney retakes Virginia and steals both Ohio and New Hampshire resulting in 270 electoral votes.

Path C: Romney retakes Virginia and steals both Pennsylvania and Colorado resulting in 277 electoral votes.

Path D: Romney retakes Virginia and steals both Pennsylvania and New Hampshire resulting in 272 electoral votes (most unlikely).

Working against two of these scenarios (Paths A and B) are rising averaged polling numbers over the past two days for Obama in Ohio; however, in that same forty-eight hour period Romney succeeded in reducing Obama's averaged leads in Pennsylvania, Colorado, and New Hampshire. Perhaps somewhat mystifyingly, the Romney campaign continues to make pronouncements alluding to their having embraced the "Pennsylvania Strategy" included in Paths 3 and 4 above, the two paths which have the least likely chance of success.

So, is this a bold strategic maneuver on the part of Eric Fehrnstrom or a feint designed to draw Obama away from Ohio in the waning hours of the campaign in the hopes of reversing a damaging trend in that state away
from Romney? If so, a review of the published travel schedules for the President and key Democrat surrogates for this last day of campaigning, with the one exception of Bill Clinton, suggests the Obama campaign is not taking the bait.

In any event, should Romney retake Virginia but fail to steal either Ohio or Pennsylvania he could overcome this shortfall by capturing the four other states in which Obama's current leads are smallest (Colorado at 0.6%, New Hampshire at 2.0%, Nevada at 2.8%, and Iowa at 3.0%) resulting in an electoral vote total of 273.

--------------------------------------------------------

FiveThirtyEight this morning estimates the chance of Election Day victory for each candidate as follows: Obama 86.3% (up significantly from Friday morning's 80.9%) and Romney 13.7% (down by a similar margin from Friday's 19.1%).

FiveThirtyEight now also projects that on Election Day the final electoral tally will be as follows: Obama 307 (up 8 from Wednesday's 299) and Romney 231 (down 8 from Wednesday's 239).

Lastly, although it makes no difference in terms of the final result which can only be determined by the Electoral College, FiveThirtyEight currently predicts a national popular vote distribution on Election Day as follows: Obama 50.6% (up from Thursday's 50.4%) and Romney 48.5% (down from Thursday's 48.6%).

With only 14 hours of campaigning left, holdout voters may now be left to nothing more than the proverbial 'feel in their gut' as tomorrow approaches.

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A FEW ELECTION DAY PREDICTIONS:

Expect a plethora of polling place horror stories from across the nation on Election Day including fistfights and resulting arrests involving Tea Party-backed poll watchers from TRUE THE VOTE, et al, in multiple urban
precincts throughout many if not all of the eleven toss-up states.

Expect craziness in Republican Governor Rick Scott's Florida…sheer lunacy, in fact.

Expect unwillingness on the part of the Republican Secretary of State in Ohio, Jon Husted, to call the election in his state in a timely manner.

Expect a mandatory recount in Colorado if the margin of victory falls below 1.0%, bearing in mind that the Republican Secretary of State in Colorado, Scott Gessler, is a doppelganger for Ohio's Jon Husted.

Expect FOXNEWS to be clamoring for Darrell Issa-led congressional investigations into Democrat voter fraud, less real than imagined, even before the polls close.

Expect Right Wing talk radio hosts Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Erick Erickson, and Glenn Beck to begin fomenting, if not actually inciting, "popular resistance" to the certification of the legitimate Electoral College outcome, and we all know what THAT is code for, while condemning the continued use of the Electoral College itself.

In spite of these obstacles, Obama wins the White House with an electoral vote tally of 303 to Romney's 235, taking Colorado and Virginia but failing to steal Florida in the process. All legal challenges to the certification of the election in federal courts are summarily dismissed with prejudice and Barack Hussein Obama is sworn in for his second term as President of the United States on January 20, 2013.

The very next day, and with no fanfare or publicity, the lights come on in Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign headquarters.

Good post.

That money came from one of these 26 Billionaires.

In his new report, America For Sale: A Report on Billionaires Buying the 2012 Election, Sen. Bernie Sanders named names and called out the billionaires who using Citizens United to buy our democracy.

In front of a Senate panel today, Sen. Bernie Sanders outed the 26 billionaires who are members of 23 billionaire families that are using Citizens United to buy elections. Sen. Sanders estimated that these 26 billionaires are the tip of the iceberg. “My guess is that number is really much greater because many of these contributions are made in secret. In other words, not content to own our economy, the 1 percent want to own our government as well.”

Sanders explained how the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision put the government up for sale, “What the Supreme Court did in Citizens United is to say to these same billionaires and the corporations they control: ‘You own and control the economy, you own Wall Street, you own the coal companies, you own the oil companies. Now, for a very small percentage of your wealth, we’re going to give you the opportunity to own the United States government.’”

Sen. Sanders also did the last thing the billionaires wanted. He called them out by name.

According to the report, America for Sale: A Report on Billionaires Buying the 2012 Election, here are the 26 billionaires who are trying to buy your government:

1). Sheldon Adelson, owner of the Las Vegas Sands Casino, is worth nearly $25 billion, making him the 14th wealthiest person in the world and the 7th richest person in America. While median family income plummeted by nearly 40% from 2007-2010, Mr. Adelson has experienced a nearly eightfold increase in his wealth over the past three years (from $3.4 billion to $24.9 billion). Forbes recently reported that Adelson is willing to spend a “limitless” amount of money or more than $100 million to help defeat President Obama in November.

2. The Kochs (David, Charles, and William) are worth a combined $103 billion, according to Forbes. They have pledged to spend about $400 million during the 2012 election season. The Kochs own more wealth than the bottom 41.7 percent of American households or more than 49 million Americans.

3. Jim Walton is worth $23.7 billion. He has donated $300,000 to super PACs in 2012.

4. Harold Simmons is worth $9 billion. He has donated $15.2 million to super PACs this year.

5. Peter Thiel is worth $1.5 billion. He has donated $6.7 million to Super PACs this year.

6. Jerrold Perenchio is worth $2.3 billion. He has donated $2.6 million to super PACs this year.

7. Kenneth Griffin is worth $3 billion and he has given $2.08 million to super PACs in 2012.

8. James Simons is worth $10.7 billion and he has given $1.5 million to super Pacs this year.

9. Julian Robertson is worth $2.5 billion and he has given $1.25 million to super PACs this year.

10. Robert Rowling is worth $4.8 billion and he has given $1.1 million to super PACs.

11. John Paulson, the hedge fund manager who made his fortune betting that the sub-prime mortgage market would collapse, is worth $12.5 billion. He has donated $1 million to super PACs.

12. Richard and J.W. Marriott are worth a combined $3.1 billion and they have donated $2 million to super PACs this year.

13. James Davis is worth $1.9 billion and he has given $1 million to super PACs this year.

14. Harold Hamm is worth $11 billion and he has given $985,000 to super PACs this year.

15. Kenny Trout is worth more than $1.2 billion and he has given $900,000 to super PACs this year.

16. Louis Bacon is worth $1.4 billion and he has given $500,000 to super PACs this year.

17. Bruce Kovner is worth $4.5 billion and he has given $500,000 to super PACs this year.

18. Warren Stephens is worth $2.7 billion and he has given $500,000 to super PACs this year.

19. David Tepper is worth $5.1 billion and he has given $375,000 to super PACs this year.

20. Samuel Zell is worth $4.9 billion and he has given $270,000 to super PACs this year.

21. Leslie Wexner is worth $4.3 billion and he has given $250,000 to super PACs this year.

22. Charles Schwab is worth $3.5 billion and he has given $250,000 to super PACs this year.

23. Kelcy Warren is worth $2.3 billion and he has given $250,000 to super PACs this year.

The thing that these billionaires love most about Citizens United it is that it allows them to operate in total darkness. The American people couldn’t fight back because the billionaires were giving their money anonymously. This same cloak of invisibility is what made ALEC so effective for years. The conservative billionaire cabal works best in private, behind closed doors, far away from curious eyes.

With his report today, Sen. Sanders has made it more difficult for thieves of liberty to keep operating in the night. We now have a list of names and we know what they are trying to do to our government. Sen. Sanders is one of the few federally elected officials who has the courage to talk about these people in public.

Most of the members of the House and Senate are too afraid to speak of, much less take on, the billionaires. Even those decent members of Congress who might speak out against them have been terrified into silence by threats of multimillion dollar negative ad buys that will run against the incumbent back home.

Bernie Sanders is displaying a brand of political courage that is sorely lacking in American politics today, and he needs you to stand with him to protect our liberties, our freedoms, and to battle to return the government back to the American people.

RepublicansforObummma - I am really proud that I have a 11 year old grand daughter smarter than you!!! I would never admit that a person would LIE, CHEAT & STEAL as much as the President of these United States. He has totally F%$#ed this country. No, I/m not brainwashed, because I WAS democrat for 43 years. I couldn't have my name on a party that would elect lying scum. The democrats would allow a person that is not a natural born citizen actually run for, much less elect him is beside me. All I can say is your a true IDIOIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And for those that think this is ok, here is a list of the top legal donors.

Top Contributors

Barack Obama (D)

1
University of California
$1,092,906

2
Microsoft Corp
$761,343

3
Google Inc
$737,055

4
US Government
$627,628

5
Harvard University
$602,992

Mitt Romney (R)

1
Goldman Sachs
$994,139

2
Bank of America
$921,839

3
Morgan Stanley
$827,255

4
JPMorgan Chase & Co
$792,147

5
Credit Suisse Group
$618,941

View Top Contributors for All Candidates
NOTE: The organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organizations' PACs, their individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.

Our politicians need to wear outfits like the NASCAR drivers ... so we'll know who their corporate sponsors are.

When any special interest group pays to have a person elected, then that person (by definition) is beholden to that special interest group and will do its bidding. Those holding elected political office are SUPPOSED to be representing the best interests of the majority of the American citizens NOT whatever group bought and paid for them to hold the office.

Romney for 1% of Americans ... Obama for ALL Americans.

This entire thing is disgusting. I just LOVE how you reps always toss out Soros donations, but you fail to point out the amount pales in comparison to the multitude of million/billionairs giving to the conservative pac groups. The worst thing about this story was what they are doing to Duckworth. What a vile ad... making people think she is taking care of "buddies" instead of the vets that she works so hard to help. Here she is a vet herself, injured in duty and being treated like this.

We need to get this election behind us and THEN pass a constitutional amendment to ban these super pacs AND the unlimited anon donations.

If I try to open a bank account the same way this one was set up, and start getting deposits of even 1 Million a month, let alone 5.3 million in 10 days, I would be fully investigated for illegal drugs money laundering, racketeering, or even terrorist funding, and taken to jail.

Does anyone see how important the White House is for Wall Street, or do still you need a better explanation?

This is pure legalized corruption!

Say thank you to the supreme court for it, the highest court of the land., ah, and don't forget, corporations are people also.

A vote for Mitt the Twit is a vote for PLUTOCRACY.

A vote for Obama is a vote for Americans.

We need to find out who the donors are. There must be transparency in political donations. Then we can boycott businesses that support causes in which we do not believe. For example, I will never again stay at or gamble in any of the properties of Sheldon Addelson.

When you left the democrats you left your brain there and submitted yourself to the rights brain washing which apparently is working just fine since everything you posted is a lie.

What this article wants you to believe is that only Republicans are benefiting from Super PAC's, and nothing could be further from the truth. When in fact all this ruling did was level the playing field for Republicans that had to face massive Democrat contributions from Unions.

Maybe just maybe you need to read the article which clearly states that 86% of the PAC money is coming to the coffers of REPUBLICANS which makes your comment just stupid.

Our once proud electoral system is flawed and will collapse in the near future if we do not do something about it as now the courts rule on who will get elected not the people. The one man one vote thing is a joke. Corporations do business here as a priveledge not a right and are not individuals.

Only way to handle these people is in their pocketbooks. Boycotts hurt. Right now I am taking Whitecastke and that pocorn company and all others on the lists I have off of my places to shop.

Look up ALEC to see what you are in store for if republicans get control again before they completly collapse the entire world economy again. Guess what? Corporations in America made huge profits during the recession while plain citizens suffered and went backwards so they do not care if we ever get jobs back. Even God cannot do what Romney says he will do. Cut taxes for the rich create 12 million jobs etc and pay down the debt unless he pulls a lot of cash out of his magic underwear.

Breadex, please total the donations from outside pacs going to reps AND then total union giving... not even close... try again.

I failed to mention even with the disgusting ads against Duckworth, she is up 10% over Walsh, so their money isn't working THIS time. AGain.... let's make it ALL illegal... take back the process and get the special interests OUT of our govt. BOth sides I'm saying...

elliot-3020456

For those who have a problem with the Citizens United ruling, Did you also have a problem with Hollywood Directors always making Anti-republican movies around election time? Or the fact that it was illegal for non Hollywood interest groups to make anti-democrat movies? How about the fact that Unions could give limitlessly to the Democrat party? Or that it was illegal for private citizens to gather under a common interest and give freely to a political party?

The Citizens United case was a step in the right direction.

And you're the biggest shill on here with the heaviest bias. Your last sentence is the cherry on top. A step in the right direction eh? How much do they pay you? How many MSNBC skins do you have? Maybe you should not bother coming here if it's truly that disgusting to you. Time and again your posts have more lean than a mid 80's Michael Jackson video.

Did you also have a problem with Hollywood Directors always making Anti-republican movies around election time?

Where is your outrage for this?

You might wanna hit the bathroom, your double standards are showing.

They left two whoppers out of the mix -

1. The Einhorn Foundation.
2. The Bradley Foundation - The godfathers for Paul Ryan and Scott Walker.

Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation

One of the country's largest and most influential right-wing foundations, the Bradley Foundation is known for its clearly articulated political and ideological vision. In addition to providing funding for a host of right-wing organizations, Bradley contributes to conservative and often highly controversial scholarship, publications and "academic" research aimed at legitimizing far-right policy positions.

Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
PO Box 510860
Milwaukee, WI 53203-0153
Website: www.bradleyfdn.org

Established: 1942
President/CEO: Michael W. Grebe
Board of Directors: Thomas L. Rhodes (Chairman), Reed Coleman (Vice-Chairman), Michael Grebe, William L. Armstrong, and more.
Finances: $665,329,753 (2004) assets
Grants awarded, annually: $33,332,537 (2004) grants awarded
Employees: 20
Publications: The Lion Letter, annual reports outlining contributions and donations
Formerly known as: Allen-Bradley Foundation
Prize Recipients 2005: George F. Will (syndicated columnist), Ward Connerly (anti-affirmative action, founder of American Civil Rights Institute), Heather McDonald (Olin fellow at the Manhattan Institute), and Robert P. George (professor, former presidential appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights).

Principal Issues

• The Bradley Foundation is one of the largest philanthropic foundations responsible for the financial backing of the right-wing agenda for nearly twenty years.
• Bradley's philanthropy supports right-wing organizations, privatized educational programs, as well as many non-partisan social programs and civic organizations.
• Issues Bradley supports include: private school vouchers, faith-based social services, and welfare reform.
• According to Bradley, the projects sponsored by the foundation "encourage improved government, a more vital sense of citizenship, and a strong belief in personal responsibility."
• Bradley has been accused of underreporting the grant amounts that it gives to many of the right-wing organizations that it supports.

Activities

• Bradley has made right-wing inroads in academia by establishing chairmanship positions, undergraduate and graduate programs, fellowships, and whole departments at many prestigious universities including: Boston College, Boston University, Bowling Green State University, Carnegie Mellon University, Catholic University, Columbia University, Georgetown University, George Mason University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Kenyon College, Marquette University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michigan State University, New York University, Princeton University, Stanford University, University of California- Berkeley, University of California- Los Angeles, University of California- San Diego, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania, University of Virginia, University of Wisconsin, and Washington University- St. Louis.
• Bradley has supported and in some cases, had to defend controversial right-wing recipients of their grants, particularly Charles Murray and Dinesh D'Souza.
  Charles Murray - Murray, author of "The Bell Curve," which argues that intelligence is predicated on race, and "Losing Ground," whose thesis is that social programs should be abolished. Murray's work was so controversial and objectionable that the right-wing Manhattan Institute, supported by Bradley and for which he worked, asked him to leave. However, the Bradley Foundation stood by him because Murray, according to former Bradley President Michael Joyce, "is one of the foremost social thinkers in the country." Bradley extended Murray's $100,000 per year grant when he went to the American Enterprise Institute.
  Dinesh D'Souza - D'Souza, in his book, "The End of Racism," attempts to absolve Whites from discrimination against Blacks during slavery, claiming that Blacks were too uncivilized to be a part of society anyway.

List of Right-Wing Grantees

Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty
Alexis de Tocqueville Institution
American Civil Rights Institute
American Civil Rights Union
American Conservative Union Foundation
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Becket Fund
Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO)
Capital Research Center
Center for Individual Rights
Center for Education Reform
Center for Public Justice
Center for the Study of Popular Culture
Children's Educational Opportunity Foundation America
Citizens for the Preservation of Constitutional Rights
Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy
Collegiate Network
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Empire Foundation for Policy Research
Evergreen Freedom Foundation
Equal Opportunity Foundation
Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies
Fellowship of Christian Athletes
Friends of Choice in Urban Schools
Free Congress Research and Education Foundation
Galen Institute
Heartland Institute
Heritage Foundation
Hudson Institute
Hoover Institute
Institute for American Values
Institute for Justice
Leadership Institute
Mackinac Center for Public Policy
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
National Association of Scholars
National Center for Policy Analysis
Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy
Thomas B. Fordham Institute

President Bush on the Bradley Foundation

"The reason that I am so happy that my friend Mike Grebe is here and Mike Joyce and others from The Bradley Foundation is because "Foundation America" must be a part of the revitalization of our communities as well. And The Bradley Foundation has always been willing to see different solutions. They have been willing to challenge the status quo. They say where we find failure, something else must occur. And the Foundation not only has been kind and generous with its donations, the Foundation also has been willing to help people think anew, and I appreciate you all coming. I am honored you're here and thanks for your good work."
– President George W. Bush,speaking at the Bradley Foundation-supported Holy Redeemer Institutional Church of God in Christ, Milwaukee, July 2002.

Okie-2790128,

"All I can say is your a true IDIOIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I hope your - that's y-o-u-r - 11 year old grand[]daughter (no space) knows you're - that's y-o-u-'-r-e - not very good with spelling or ideas, but I'll bet she's real proud of you because you really know how to use an exclamation point.

I'll bet she doesn't know that some of the things you've been "teaching" her are absolute lies but that she will learn the truth, once she's old enough to think for herself, that the Democratic party is subject to federal election law as enforced by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). When she finds out that the FEC would not allow a candidate from any party - Democrat or Republican - who is not a natural born American citizen on the ballot, she's gonna lose a lot of respect for you.

When does Sci-Fi became reality? The answer is often. Does anyone remember some of the movies and TV series about the role of Corporations and how the U.S. was transformed from a Democracy to a Corporation State? dave-735909 was correct in his assumptions. The U.S. is headed toward a Corporation takeover! GOP Ultra-Right Wing has plans to abolish the Education Department, the EPA, the FDA, OSHA, and many others unfavorable to Corporation interests. Included within this list is the Justice Department, Federal Prisons, the Military, and eventually State run similar programs. AND you can bet that they will kill the Minimum Wage Law immediately.

Among the ideas within the Right-Wing is that Corporations should be running these Departments. If this happens, your personal Freedoms and Rights WILL fly out of the door. Freedoms and Rights will be determined by Corporations rather than by Laws and Amendments by Elected Officials whether at the Federal or State Levels of Government.

old guy-2484691

FLASH: MITT ROMNEY FACES ETHICS CHARGES FOR AUTO BAILOUT PROFITEERING!

Nov 4, 2012

Exactly!!

Mitt and Ann Romney made at least $15.3 million from the bailout..and a few of Romney's most important Wall Street donors made more than $4 billion. This is an interesting read, link below, talk about hypocrites. Just another reason why Romney does not want you to see his tax returns!

In September, the Obama campaign launched television ads blasting Romney's November 2008 New York Times op-ed, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." But Romney has done a good job of concealing, until now, the fact that he and his wife, Ann, personally gained at least $15.3 million from the bailout—and a few of Romney's most important Wall Street donors made more than $4 billion. Their gains, and the Romneys', were astronomical—more than 3,000 percent on their investment.

Romney's "job creators" did create jobs—in China, where Delphi now produces the parts used by GM and other major automakers here and abroad. Delphi is now incorporated overseas, leaving the company with 5,000 employees in the United States (versus almost 100,000 abroad).

http://www.thenation.com/article/170644/mitt-romneys-bailout-bonanza?rel=emailNation#

OBAMA/BIDEN....2012!!!!

California is about to shine the light on the donors of a superpac from Arizona that has spent millions to affect the outcome of our election here in CA. They are scrambling to hide them, but I hope this is the first of many cases forcing donors into the light. It is shameful that any money paid to buy elections is secret.

Obama/Biden 2012

African Americans know how important this election is and we are voting in record numbers. Straight Democrat is our motto. Anything less would lead the United States to a fascist Nation. Let's beat back corporate greed, let's end corporate welfare, Let's do some nation building in America, Let's put any crook in jail who steals from the American people that includes anyone on wall street.

Hi B White,

I would've hoped that one of those things you could have believed in with me and others is the most important of all our liberties...The right to free speech. But, since Adelson doesn't share your political views you would like to deny him your business. Maybe in your worldview political speech you disagree with must be punished, but not in mine. My bet is you are more typical than atypical of the leftist mentality and if I'm right I only would have one question: Why should I ever support or give credence to your views if your first view is that I should only be able to politically support those things you say are "appropriate"?

Hi JS in SD,

I've given this a lot of thought same as you. I've flirted with your idea as well. I could accept it, or at least wouldn't oppose it, but I don't think it actually solves the problem. I don't agree too much money is in politics--we spend less on politics than on potato chip advertising for pete's sake--but to the extent people think money is the problem the solution is more basic.

If you are a corporation, particularly a larger corporation, regulations and tax provisions, not to mention government contracting revenues, matter a great deal. It is irresponsible for our leftist friends in here to want to silence voices opposed to those regulatory and tax schemes which would affect businesses, but this is more or less exactly what the left wants to do. It's so much easier to get your way when your political opposition isn't allowed to speak, you know? So for me the solution boils down to disclosure (though this can be avoided as well in the same way your plan could be) and, and more importantly, to voting for a government which confines its duties and powers to just those enumerated in the Constitution.

These limits don't mean the government must be small, though I would argue a smaller government would make each of us better off--including the poor. But you see that the Univesity of California employees are a major donor to democrats including Mr. Obama, for instance. They give money to serve their self interest, just as corporations would. What is their self interest? More federal education dollars? That would mean more educators, more students, more incomes for the various employees. It all makes sense. But it is also no where authorized in the constitution, and because of this cash infusion college tuitions continue to skyrocket, and (we are deep into the territory which completely loses leftists here) we end up with lower standards and worse education performance. In other words, in order to get federal money to "help" we cause prices to climb and benefits to fall.

But ask the average voter and they will say one of their first federal government priorities would be to spend more on education. Curtailing corporate political spending won't improve this ongoing disaster, but restricting the federal government to its Article One powers would. And corporations and the employees of them that benefit from federal spending would give less as it would not have the benefit to them personally that results. The point is there is no easy way out of this fix we are in. We just have to want less government, or we should all stop whining about political money since there is no way to stop it.

As others have mentioned, if you can't vote, you should not be able to make a campaign donation. This should apply across the board and there should be a $10,000 (at the most) limit. Our elected officials are suppose to represent the voting public, not their biggest donors. Campaigns should be limited to 6 months for the primary and 6 months for the general election. Romney would have never made it this far if he hadn't been able to buy his way into the primary. We probably would have seen Gingrich as the repub candidate. Campaign reform is very necessary right now as our country has already been bought by the corporations and we bring to take control back to the citizens!

The democrats would allow a person that is not a natural born citizen actually run for, much less elect him is beside me. All I can say is your a true IDIOIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh god, not this crap again.

/palmface

The centers’ analysis found that 85 percent of money from companies flowed to GOP-aligned groups, 11 percent went to Democratic groups and the remainder went to organizations not aligned with either party.

Still think the corporations didn't buy themselves a few Supreme Court seats? And a major decision in their favor?

They're trying to buy a few more with this election. Hey, GOP? NO!

republicans have made a complete mockery out of democracy.

Time to lock up all far right wing republicans in a for profit prison system of their creation

Way too many of these comments are the fodder from which civil wars are born! Just when it will turn into a war of bullets and bombs from a war of words is not certain! Just a little thought to ponder the day before elections. What will it be in OUR future elections, here in the United States of America, BALLOTS or BULLETS?

This is what is truly wrong with the Citizens United decision:

A foreign company or individual is not allowed to make contributions to a political campaign (or a PAC.)

A foreign company or individual CAN form a US corporation. They can then put all sorts of money into the newly formed company. Then that new corporation can make the contributions. It can then dissolve and disappear. Political money laundering 101, fully approved by the US Supreme Court.

Hi Rich, How do you get that I don't support freedom of speech? Do I punish political speech I don't like? Yes- for starters I won't vote for someone- and if they are some billionaire supporting causes that I don't believe in, why would I decide to patronize that business? What planet do you live on? Didn't the right wing start the whole business of boycotting tv show sponsors? Your distortions are idiotic. Specious arguments are a specialty of the right wing conservatives. All you have to do is start talking about science and the scientific method and the whole conservative coalition comes crashing down in flames. As long as you ally yourself with those anti-science forces, you are taking the wrong path- it is folly of the worst sort to engender a distrust of science. The Genie is out of the bottle.

Citizens United has destroyed tranparency. In the era of a global economy and multinational companies, this law could allow a country like China to influence our elections. Sign up to MovetoAmend.org to overturn Citizens United.

"Corporations are people." The U.S. Supreme Court

"Corporations are people, my friend." Willard "Mitt" Romney

"Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." Benito Mussolini

People should watch what they wish for.

Who is secretly trying to influence Calif voters? With the disclosure finally coming out, it seems like THE KOCH brothers are part of the big secret. Who woulda thought? I hope every state forces this kind of disclosure.

I agree with @BWhite we need to find who the donors are. There must be transparency in

political donations. Such people should be exposed and hopefully result in our country no longer

being divided. On a lighter note. Chicago beat Tenn. really badly on Sunday. Really as

coined by SNL>

lib50 -- Apparently the Koch brothers are behind the effort to defeat Prop. 30 in California, which would raise taxes temporarily on the most wealthy, in order to help close the deficit. The prop. is about other things as well, which would benefit the state, but that wouldn't matter to them since it's all about the taxes. It's also well-known that they're behind the effort to defeat Prop. 32 in an effort to shut down union contributions to candidates but with loopholes for themselves. The state of Calif. is in court to try to get disclosure of theirs and others' contributions before the elections tomorrow. I hope they're successful and hope it's not too little too late. The main reason I don't mail in my ballot ahead of time is voters can't change their minds due to last-minute information.

Correction -- The Koch brothers are funding Prop. 32, not trying to defeat it. They ARE spending money to try to defeat Prop. 30, though.

We need to keep the Kochs and their particular brand of poison out of California politics.

I am absolutely embarrassed to admit that I have engaged any of you in honest conversation...

When all else fails you can rely on Conservatives to fall back on their "liberal media" tripe.

How much bandwidth did MSNBC waste on stories about how the polls were mostly wrong and Romney was winning? Was that also a product of the "liberal media"?

President Obama won the popular vote and an electoral landslide...TWICE. Get over it.

woof - Might want to get back on the meds. Exactly where did you come up that Bill Gates has anything to do with Monsanto? Gates used to be the CEO of Microsoft.

The tea stooges are mindless zombies that do whatever Fox Noose tells them to do.

And you follow empty slogans and rehashed communist party words like FORWARD...kinda like China with the Great Leap Forward. Get a life drone!

At least we don't follow investment bankers from the Republican Party that cheat people out of money and steal their retirement!!

We're Obama people, we believe that everyone deserves a fair shake. Not if you're rich!!! YOu're an American too, and we're all in this together!

Everything has rebounded. Everything is better! It's time to let Obama make our world wonderful, instead of losing our homes and being unemployed! The Republicans don't care about minorities! They care about their money!

Mindless name calling will not change the reality, that one person/one vote has been replaced by one dollar/one vote. That's in the best interests of the wealthy elites but no one else. Citizens United is poison to our democratic process.

You can tell it's finally getting close to Election Day, people are really stretching for new insults for the other side.

since 1978—the richest 1% gaining 256% after inflation while the income of the lower earning 80% grew only 20%

Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer--and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class is a book by political scientists Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson. In it the authors argue that contrary to conventional wisdom, the dramatic increase in inequality of income in the United States since 1978—the richest 1% gaining 256% after inflation while the income of the lower earning 80% grew only 20%^[1]—is not the natural/inevitable result of increased competition from globalization, but of the work of political forces.^[2] Those at the very top of the economic ladder have developed and used political muscle to dramatically cut their taxes, deregulate the financial industry, keep corporate governance lax and labor unions hamstrung.

Best Supreme Court decision money did buy.........Best durn gov'mint money CAN buy!

Dave Simpson

We're Obama people, we believe that everyone deserves a fair shake. Not if you're rich!!! YOu're an American too, and we're all in this together!

Exactly, but notice who fights America's wars? If you take one company of Army Infantry, approximately 150-men(+,-), I doubt you'll find 5 guys who's parents are millionaires. America's wars are fought by poor/middle class. And please, don't tell me anything about a handfull of millionaire
Generals, I'm talking about boots on the ground, the soldiers, front-line, DYING!

OBAMA/BIDEN....2012!!!!

Well said Moshuluu..

And you certainly won't find any family member in the history of our country with their boots on the ground from the Romney family.

Yup, Don't, the only thing we've seen is the Romney family hot footing it to Mexico and France. Talk is cheap when speaking of other family's and their loved ones. Ryan's "marvelous" budget calls for a 13% cut in VA Benefits, OMB report. Republicans love, love the Military until it comes time to keep the Promises, then its we don't know you and suck it up after all "you" volunteered to get shot up.

Obama 2012

oh, yeah, brutaltruth,

I am totally with ya. It's not the first time, either. When I heard the words, "Go forward, move ahead, try to detect it, it's not too late, to whip it..." I knew it was some subversive political group advocating for the takeover of this great country of ours by the Communist Chinese by spying on people and whipping them for... what? You mean those were lyrics? Devo is not code for "Secret Communists" - it was just the name of a musical group?

huh. boy do I feel like a moronic lemming :\

Let us compare that Mittwit with others in his age group.

Clinton protested loud and long against the Vietnam War. He stayed true to his beliefs.

Kerry enlisted anf served in Vietnam. He stayed true to his beliefs.

Romney dressed up as a State Trooper. He likes uniforms.

Romney demonstrated in favor of the war. He likes war.

Romney then went off to a mansion in France. Romney has no core beliefs and is a chickenhawk.

What will the tea baggers say once President Obama is re-elected tomorrow? Oh he cheated his way into the white, he stole the election.

What about Florida, Ohio & Wisconsin were all three have republican election officials, that's doing everything in there power, including suing to stop or throw out votes. No matter which side you vote for that is indefensible period. That's cheating, that's voters suppression and in a dozen cases the republicans have committed voters fraud.

Don't worry we will vote you out of office starting tomorrow.

republicans are destroying freedom, and destroying America.. They are a disease

Just curious ... how many times has the cowardly lyin' Mitt visited our troops in the war zones? Or any of his 5 sons? Or any of his corporate sponsors? Have they even bought them a turkey dinner? Maybe sent them Christmas cookies? Maybe phone cards to call home? Just think how far just 1/10th of 1% of his PAC money would have gone toward any and all of these options!

The tealiban is pure evil.

Right, and Citizens United is the only problem with corruption in politics. Let us wonder what politics would be like if citizens voted on Congressional pay and benefits. Let us wonder what politics would look like if there were term limits in Congress and campaigns were restricted to how much they could spend. Let us wonder what politics would look like if there was a Constitutional balanced budget amendment.

Instead, everyone has a reason against rational political measures that protect the citizens and their tax dollars. Can't restrict all money only that which we don't like, can't have term limits, no balanced budget amendment, and so on and so on. But those same people complain about citizens united, which is now in its first campaign, and they ignore the fact the whole system has been corrupt for decades. Yeah, removing citizens united will clean up the entire mess for sure. Now can I interest you in an acre of land on the moon?

Well Big Daddy - you could have voted against the Koch Brothers in this election. They are some very scary people and we do need to get their dirty hands out of our government. If you have not watched "Koch Brothers Exposed" which I found on Netflix, you may want to. It was very disturbing.

The Koch Brothers' father was the founder of the Birch Society that found a communist under every rock they turned over

They believed that flouride in your water was a communist conspiracy to control your brain - unfortunately Pinnellas County in Florida has now banned flouride in their water - hello cavities in small children

The Koch Brothers are more insidious in controlling School Boards and local elections

Bigger than them is The Bradley Group - to control all local elections - been around for years and are responsible for the fear mongering signs in Ohio and Wisconsin

If you think this isn't a war against the Middle Class - it has been waged since Sir Ronnie and they are winning

"Right to Work" BS - all that is is a dupliticious misnomer on the "Right to not give you a Living Wage"

It took them 30 years to numb you together with Faux News - better wake up!

Koch family very active and prominent in Germany during WWII, true google it, just moved the operation to the US on tainted fortune. Really some bad actors in the Koch family. Koch Bros. much admired and toadied to by the monied crowd, should give some a pause for thought, you would think.

Obama 2012

True. The koch family was present at the Nuremburg War Trails, but on the wrong side.

They also accused President Eisenhower of being a Communist.

I can't wait until the day all the koch family drops dead.

If you do not like their politics, do not buy their products.

The Koch brothers own Chevron and Georgia Pacific among many other companies. Then there is Walmart.

In his new report, America For Sale: A Report on Billionaires Buying the 2012 Election, Sen. Bernie Sanders named names and called out the billionaires who using Citizens United to buy our democracy.

In front of a Senate panel today, Sen. Bernie Sanders outed the 26 billionaires who are members of 23 billionaire families that are using Citizens United to buy elections. Sen. Sanders estimated that these 26 billionaires are the tip of the iceberg. “My guess is that number is really much greater because many of these contributions are made in secret. In other words, not content to own our economy, the 1 percent want to own our government as well.”

Sanders explained how the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision put the government up for sale, “What the Supreme Court did in Citizens United is to say to these same billionaires and the corporations they control: ‘You own and control the economy, you own Wall Street, you own the coal companies, you own the oil companies. Now, for a very small percentage of your wealth, we’re going to give you the opportunity to own the United States government.’”

Sen. Sanders also did the last thing the billionaires wanted. He called them out by name.

According to the report, America for Sale: A Report on Billionaires Buying the 2012 Election, here are the 26 billionaires who are trying to buy your government:

1). Sheldon Adelson, owner of the Las Vegas Sands Casino, is worth nearly $25 billion, making him the 14th wealthiest person in the world and the 7th richest person in America. While median family income plummeted by nearly 40% from 2007-2010, Mr. Adelson has experienced a nearly eightfold increase in his wealth over the past three years (from $3.4 billion to $24.9 billion). Forbes recently reported that Adelson is willing to spend a “limitless” amount of money or more than $100 million to help defeat President Obama in November.

2. The Kochs (David, Charles, and William) are worth a combined $103 billion, according to Forbes. They have pledged to spend about $400 million during the 2012 election season. The Kochs own more wealth than the bottom 41.7 percent of American households or more than 49 million Americans.

3. Jim Walton is worth $23.7 billion. He has donated $300,000 to super PACs in 2012.

4. Harold Simmons is worth $9 billion. He has donated $15.2 million to super PACs this year.

5. Peter Thiel is worth $1.5 billion. He has donated $6.7 million to Super PACs this year.

6. Jerrold Perenchio is worth $2.3 billion. He has donated $2.6 million to super PACs this year.

7. Kenneth Griffin is worth $3 billion and he has given $2.08 million to super PACs in 2012.

8. James Simons is worth $10.7 billion and he has given $1.5 million to super Pacs this year.

9. Julian Robertson is worth $2.5 billion and he has given $1.25 million to super PACs this year.

10. Robert Rowling is worth $4.8 billion and he has given $1.1 million to super PACs.

11. John Paulson, the hedge fund manager who made his fortune betting that the sub-prime mortgage market would collapse, is worth $12.5 billion. He has donated $1 million to super PACs.

12. Richard and J.W. Marriott are worth a combined $3.1 billion and they have donated $2 million to super PACs this year.

13. James Davis is worth $1.9 billion and he has given $1 million to super PACs this year.

14. Harold Hamm is worth $11 billion and he has given $985,000 to super PACs this year.

15. Kenny Trout is worth more than $1.2 billion and he has given $900,000 to super PACs this year.

16. Louis Bacon is worth $1.4 billion and he has given $500,000 to super PACs this year.

17. Bruce Kovner is worth $4.5 billion and he has given $500,000 to super PACs this year.

18. Warren Stephens is worth $2.7 billion and he has given $500,000 to super PACs this year.

19. David Tepper is worth $5.1 billion and he has given $375,000 to super PACs this year.

20. Samuel Zell is worth $4.9 billion and he has given $270,000 to super PACs this year.

21. Leslie Wexner is worth $4.3 billion and he has given $250,000 to super PACs this year.

22. Charles Schwab is worth $3.5 billion and he has given $250,000 to super PACs this year.

23. Kelcy Warren is worth $2.3 billion and he has given $250,000 to super PACs this year.

The thing that these billionaires love most about Citizens United it is that it allows them to operate in total darkness. The American people couldn’t fight back because the billionaires were giving their money anonymously. This same cloak of invisibility is what made ALEC so effective for years. The conservative billionaire cabal works best in private, behind closed doors, far away from curious eyes.

With his report today, Sen. Sanders has made it more difficult for thieves of liberty to keep operating in the night. We now have a list of names and we know what they are trying to do to our government. Sen. Sanders is one of the few federally elected officials who has the courage to talk about these people in public.

Most of the members of the House and Senate are too afraid to speak of, much less take on, the billionaires. Even those decent members of Congress who might speak out against them have been terrified into silence by threats of multimillion dollar negative ad buys that will run against the incumbent back home.

Bernie Sanders is displaying a brand of political courage that is sorely lacking in American politics today, and he needs you to stand with him to protect our liberties, our freedoms, and to battle to return the government back to the American people.

The Koch brothers are behind the Tea Party.

Please don't group all Republicans in that group. My husband is a moderate, served 28 years in the military, and will be voting for the President to be reelected. There are many more like him.

How can one, "Not" group a Republican in that group?

The Republicans have been pigs for 12 years and the world has suffered from it!!

The teabags just lost... Heard it on a newsline just now.. Who was that?.. Everybody voted Democratic!

Obombya never served, he has done nothing in his four years but spend us into oblivion, lost more jobs than any other president, signed the ndaa bill and watched those fine folks in libya the ambassador and his minion die while standing down aid for them, yup sounds like he needs 4 more years to make amerika look like calcutta, now go get your obamaphone and food stamps ans shut the hell up. And dont think for a minute hes not filling his pockets with corporate loot, if you dont believe it your a fool.

OBL is dead. Mission Accomplished

Those checkenhawks bush/cheney could not do that after 3,000 Americans died on their watch.

Action talks and bu**sh** walks.

AmericanVeteran1... Were you asleep during George W's presidency? Eight years of trashing the place and you want it fixed immediately? And you are, of course, aware that he was a National Guard deserter during time of war (Vietnam) and simply walked away from his obligation and his duty to his country. Try looking up his military records. Lotsa' luck with that. Oh, and how about his college transcripts?

"When people who are honestly mistaken learn the truth, they will either cease being mistaken or cease being honest." Unknown

Sorry Vet, but I believe you are delusional. Unless you are one of the 1% you are voting against your own economic self-interest.

First, was I asleep when Mittwitt (or his sons for that matter) served or even visited a single war zone?

Was it Obama that spent us into oblivion or was it the 2 Bush wars and the Bush tax cuts that have been acruing the past 4 years put on the USof American express card that is the MAJOR contributor of what "spent us into oblivion." I have to laugh when the GOP keeps blaming the Prez for this and acting like their hands are totally clean.

Who lost the jobs? I believe it was Bush/Cheney that started the 800,000 jobs lost per month that started the job loss landslide.

The Benghazi report to be completed in December will tell us what happened there. Until then, you should keep your pants on before you whip yourself into a tizzy. Wish you were so aghast about 9/11 when Bush/Cheney ignorred the warnings that foretold of what was pending as you seem to be about Benghazi.

Yet you don't seem the least reticent to return to the policies that started that big boulder Bush/Cheney sent rolling down the mountain off the cliff.

And then you conclude with pocket stuffing, research Delphi Auto and how much the Romneys made from the auto bailout. Or how much they have shielded from taxes in the Caymen and Swiss accounts. Then you can see exactly who is the fool!

Vet I appreciate your service (probably more than the Romney's do) but I believe you should do a little more research and become a little more informed.

I suggest you read the editorial in the (I believe) Washington Post about how Romney is insulting your intelligence while he takes several positions on each issue thinking you won't be smart enough to notice.

While you're at it please look up Congressional Research Service report R42729 that was pulled after GOP protest. Here's a clue; it proves that there is no correlation between reducing tax rates on the rich and economic growth. Ask yourself, why do you s'pose the GOP didn't want that out for public consumption?

And did you hear about the employers that are threatening their employees with job losses if Obama wins?

Do you really want to put the party that specializes in voter suppression back into the White House?

Don't you think a vote for any Republican it is rewarding the culprits for their bad behavior?

Between Coorporate Greed and the Give Away Programs the big O supports - I've got to go with Coorporate Greed. Where do you think jobs are created?

Spend - Spend - Spend Super PACs!

THe thing is propaganda reallly works. If you don't believe me witnesss Germany in the midddle part of the last century. Propaganda convinced the people of a modern indutrialized nation to murder 6 milllion of what most people would consider their best citizens. Boogie on DIck Armey.

Yes, logos being: Republican- Blind mask with pea-shooter!

Democrats - Brains and diplomacy... I PICK THE DEMOCRATS AND OBAMA!!!

So you're OK with your government going to the highest bidder. Shame on you, the Founders are somewhere shaking their heads sadly over this development.

To "Rightturn"

Spending has to be equivalent. Radio and media outlets have to have 50/50 split for all candidates. Anything else results in revocation of their radio license!

The fact that you think the Democrats have an advantage shows your ignorance.

The fact that noboby supports you, shows that you've entered conversation as one of the sheep of the Republicans. Don't follow sheep.. YOu're just an idiot then! Sorry...

Vote Obama, somebody who will actually care if you get a job that makes you proud in your life!

It's called: "The Public File".. Every radio station has it and it has to be kept intact or the license can be revoked immediately...

These "Hicks" make our economy work and take responsibility for its success. You sit around in the faculty lounge and spout slurs about the people who pay your salaries. PHHHTTT!

And people on the Left of the economy DON'T make the economy work? Your mindless sloganeering tells us you're completely blind and clueless to the danger Citizens United represents for our way of life.

27 red states take more from the feds than they pay in taxes.

5 blue states take more than they pay in taxes.

Of the 18 states that pay more than they receive, 14 are blue states.

It is us hard working tax paying Democrats who are supporting you worthless red state welfare queens.

We trash food in this country in order to control the price. This is one of the many reasons why capitalism is only a good thing if a healthy dose of regulation is involved, and is also why I'm praying for a full Republican sweep tomorrow- the sooner this entire deal sh*ts the bed, the better off we'll be. We're at the point now where Democrats are only slightly less brainwashed than conservatives insofar as greed is concerned, and it is hastening the demise of the planet. Unfortunately, no one will wake up until it really takes a dump altogether, which is why I say the sooner, the better....

You had better hope that doesn't happen. This is the time to beat back the Tea Baggers. Give them control and your children will march in lockstep.

Okay, you can make anything out to be negative if you say it loud enough.

Is it truly negative? NO.. Obama is the guy with a normal sense of intelligence. Obama will not think your pregnancy is the Nations problem!

He won't tax you, until the wealthy have been taxed to help heal this nation from whence the wealthy made their money.

They aren't rich because they lost money... They're rich because they made TONS OF MONEY and now they have to pay taxes!

Let it be! Let it be! Let it be! Let it be!

Whisper words of whisdom, let it be....

So you are ok with President Obama buying votes with American tax payer money? He has spent the last 3 1/2 years giving our money to his supporters.

Sorry tracy - prove that or shut up - give me links - I'm not into hearsay or Faux News feeding you garbage

Actually Tracy you post here often with your unsubstantiated lies and I don't appreciate it tell me your source

Wow, lot of hate in this room. Facts, all political candidates and their supporters have spent a large fortune on every election in recent history. No one of the two parties can claim innocence on pandering money from their special interest groups. Both of the two major political affiliations stand equally accused of selling their votes to the cash that got them there, not to the will of the people. The most money flows from the far left and far right.

This leaves moderates that are trying to work together for an intelligent solution generally screwed. All the pork barrel spending needs to stop. Americans need to come together as patriots and tell ALL of our leader in Washington to stop pissing away our money on special interest groups!

Write you elected often and let them know where you stand!

You really need to do a little research. Here are the top legal donors to the campaigns. Who represents you?

Top Contributors

Barack Obama (D)

1
University of California
$1,092,906

2
Microsoft Corp
$761,343

3
Google Inc
$737,055

4
US Government
$627,628

5
Harvard University
$602,992

Mitt Romney (R)

1
Goldman Sachs
$994,139

2
Bank of America
$921,839

3
Morgan Stanley
$827,255

4
JPMorgan Chase & Co
$792,147

5
Credit Suisse Group
$618,941

View Top Contributors for All Candidates
NOTE: The organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organizations' PACs, their individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.

That would be some sort of sleezy contributor I think! Republicans suck!!

The gangsters reside in the Whitehouse.

The only gangster you know is Mitt Romney!! He made you and he's breaking you right now!!

Huh?... It's true... You're nothing with Romney!

americanfools - so what else is new? I worked in a Pharmaceutical Tax Division for twenty years - you know the Corporate Tax Rate of 35% that the Republicans throw around? Not one Corporation pays that amount - Pharmaceuticals pay 6% - Exon 0% - GE .01% - should I go on?

The problem is the loop holes - every major corporation has three floors of attorneys, all there to minimize their taxes

The one I love the most and is the most flagrant - is when there is an off sight - or a Conference and spouses are invited - and corporations could not get a tax deduction for the additional expenses - guess what they came up with

Spouses are now called "Sparkling Companions" I kid you not and are now tax deductible for their additional expenses

Can I choke on that one - and the IRS allowed that?

I believe it was Pamela Geller who reported some donations came from overseas — raising the question of whether Obama was accepting donations from foreigners. (It can also screen cards issued by foreign banks.)

This entire section is "in quotes" ...and this statement stands out as a "personal" (as in "first person") observation ("I believe...) and speculation not proof ("...raising the question..."). Source, please? Credible journalist or right-winger blogger? .... the latter, I'm betting.

Here's the answer to the question of whether the Obama campaign accepted donations from overseas without documentation, or turned off AVS.

when was the summer of recovery suppose to start?

Unemployment peaked at 10% in 2009 and is now at 7.9% and still heading down. More people are looking for work.

The national debt has been going down and is now at the same level as it was in 2006.

The deficit has been going down for three years and has been cut by 24%.

The Dow was at 8,000 and is now around 13,000

House prices are going up.

Housing starts are at a 4 year high.

OBL is dead. Mission Accomplished.

Dave Simpson

what nonsense, Obama has done absolutely nothing for the economy or you, what kind of a blind fool are you? no jobs, jobs leaving faster under him than any other president, the ndaa bill, fast and furious, government motors, 21 new taxes written into obamacare thats going to take effect on jan 1st, as a matter of fact its the largest tax hike in american history, funny how it doesnt take effect until after the elections, and main stream media, will not i repeat report anything negative on this empty suit, why? because their owned by his handlers, grow up do some research, learn the truth about this neo commie. plus standing down help to the american ambassador in libya, watching live from a drone while they died, what a president, wake up grow up.

If you could form a sentence with candid thought instead of bad typing and bull sh*t, I might think you weren't an idiot. But you ARE'!!

You can't even take the time to type out a real thought with real rhetoric. It's all lying and BS to you!

1TRUE - Try PBS! Make a donation while you're there, another entitlement Romney wants to cut! And, if almost all of the networks bash the GOP, maybe that should tell you something!?!?!

wow such mean talk, from the liberal love everyone rainbow groups, the grammar police and the liberal hate groups love bashing, and victimizing others rights to independent thoughts, so the liberal left screams obnoxious insults, while acting superior in their knowledge. though please take a walk down any u.s. street see the people wearing their pants pulled down to their limbs, with their butts hanging out and ask yourself which political party do they represent, and what will their contribution be to our nation. you are either for U.S. or you are against U.S.

Please let me know who this donor is when you find out. I want to make sure I never buy their products or support their company. I try to keep a list of the others so I

Is that all you have got? You complain about getting spanked by the facts and then turn around and start insulting people.

Mr.True Patriot: Why then if you hate this network so much do you keep spewing forth your own special hate? Go to Faux News. When one person can give 100M to a campaign, they could have spent that money to hire more people. And you want to support tax breaks for these high rollers? Oh I forgot, Mr. Adelson hires a lot of people barely over minimum wage at his casinos, but he provides a lot of employment. If that 100M were going into the Democratic coffers you would be throwing a fit too! I wonder how Evangelicals feel about accepting 100M in gambling revenue. Just think of the families, divorces and bangruptcies that this money has helped create.

Corruption = GOP = Control the news outlets and those you don't control attack them relentlessly until they agree with your position. = make bribery legal - Citizens United = Turn lies into the truth by picking one word from the truth sentence that is easy to remember and use it in the lie sentence making in a LIE.

Congress GOP Tea Baggers Right Wing Nut Jobs you are next. We will vote straight Democrat come 2014.

True Patriot, (really?!!??), you mean the fair and balanced faux nooz? By the way TP, did you happen to see General Wesley Clark on Cavuto's show yesterday? I really got a charge out of it when the General called out the wing-nuts' on their voter suppression tactics and Cavuto's reaction. GREAT HUMOR! True belly-laughs!