Harry Reid: Bain Investor Told Me That Mitt Romney 'Didn't Pay Any Taxes For 10 Years'

Source: Huffington Post

A month or so ago, he said, a person who had invested with Bain Capital called his office.

"Harry, he didn't pay any taxes for 10 years," Reid recounted the person as saying.

"He didn't pay taxes for 10 years! Now, do I know that that's true? Well, I'm not certain," said Reid. "But obviously he can't release those tax returns. How would it look?

"You guys have said his wealth is $250 million," Reid went on. "Not a chance in the world. It's a lot more than that. I mean, you do pretty well if you don't pay taxes for 10 years when you're making millions and millions of dollars."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/harry-reid-romney-taxes_n_1724027.html

NPR's Cokie Roberts: Romney's trip to Poland was racially motivated.

Cokie Roberts says Romney’s Poland trip meant to excite ‘ethnic white voters’

ROBERTS: Well, I think that part of it was a desire to portray President Obama as something of a wimp and say he has abandoned Eastern Europe. But look, you remember well the Reagan Democrats, those ethnic white voters who had been Democrats for many years, turned out for Ronald Reagan and have been fairly predictable Republicans since then. Now, it's a smaller percentage of the population, of the voting population than it used to be, but white voters are still much more Republican than any other group in the electorate.

They went for McCain in 2008 by 55 percent, and I think that, you know, getting those ethnic voters excited is really what Romney has in mind here. It's more for the folks at home, the descendants of the people that he will be speaking to in Poland.

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/30/157580706/week-in-politics-romney-headed-to-poland

Our Marie Antoinettes are getting a little bit nervous

Our Marie Antoinettes are getting a little bit nervous

by digby

For years I've been writing that the wealthy are "begging for pitchforks" with their royalist behavior in the wake of economic crisis that seems to come straight out of the French aristocracy. (I would guess that only in America do they they simultaneously claim they are "middle class".) The smugness and entitlement of these "job creators" has been something to behold, particular among the Masters of the Universe who are largely responsible for the recent crash.

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Until now. This article in New York Magazine about billionaire Jeff Greene indicates that our betters are getting nervous:

Mitt says "culture makes all the difference". I disagree. Class makes the difference, & He Has None.

GOP REPORT FINDS NO CONNECTION BETWEEN WHITE HOUSE AND ‘FAST AND FURIOUS’

Source: Think Progress

GOP REPORT FINDS NO CONNECTION BETWEEN WHITE HOUSE AND ‘FAST AND FURIOUS’ | Despite insistence from GOP leadership that the White House was behind the so-called “Fast and Furious” gunwalking program, a report from House Republicans released Tuesday names five officials at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms as culprits in the misguided effort. All five were reassigned before the release of the report — the first of three. The indictments in the report contradict House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) insistence that the President invoked executive privilege over the Justice Department’s information on ongoing investigations to protect his personal interests. The indication, however, is that the upcoming reports will try to tie the President to the program. It will “address the unprecedented obstruction of the investigation by the highest levels of the Justice Department, including the attorney general himself,” according to the Republicans who wrote the report.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/07/31/614491/fast-furious-report-white-house/

$800 Million buys a lot of fucking denial---Rmoney: 'I didn't actually say what you heard me say'

Romney: ‘I Did Not Speak About The Palestinian Culture’ :

Mitt Romney caused a stir in Jerusalem by suggesting Israel’s economic superiority over the Palestinian territories was a product of “culture” and “providence,” but the Republican candidate insists that he was misunderstood.

“That is an interesting topic that perhaps can deserve scholarly analysis but I actually didn’t address that,” Romney said. “I certainly don’t intend to address that during my campaign. Instead I will point out that the choices a society makes have a profound impact on the economy and the vitality of that society.

Romney grossly overstated the Palestinian per capita GDP (it’s about $1,500) while underestimating the per capita Israeli GDP (about $31,000), but the juxtaposition was clear as he segued into an explanation of his “perceptions about differences between countries” based on a Harvard history professor’s book.

“Culture makes all the difference,” Romney said. “And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things.” One of the additional factors he cited was “the hand of providence.”

Prescient quote of the century

Prescient quote of the century

by digby

Via reader Bennet G:

NREL Study: Solar Power could provide 100 Times the Amount of Current U.S. Electricity Needs!

Source: Daily Kos

TUE JUL 31, 2012 AT 07:35 AM PDT
NREL Study: Solar Power could provide 100 Times the Amount of Current U.S. Electricity Needs!
by Lawrence

The NREL recently did a study on renewable energy potential in the U.S. and the results certainly expose the lies spouting from the mouths of the Republican(Big Fossil, Inc.) Party. Contrary to the nonsensical statements that we continuously hear from Republicans about solar power being a pipe dream, solar power actually has the greatest potential of any energy source in the U.S.

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The U.S. currently generates around 4k Terawatt hours of electricity from fossil, nuclear, and a small amount from renewables. What this NREL study clearly shows is that renewables, and especially solar power, blow all other sources out of the water in terms of electricity-generating potential. Solar alone could generate 400k Terawatt hours of electricity!

The study is even conservative in its estimates. For example, an efficiency rating of 13.5% was used for rooftop solar panels while a 20% efficiency rating is rapidly becoming the new normal with solar pv panels. In regards to urban utility scale solar, parking lots were excluded despite them having some of the greatest potential for urban solar power generation. So, not only is the solar power potential likely even more than 100 times our current electricity generation, it seems clear that rooftop solar and urban utility solar alone could provide us with all our electricity needs.

http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy12osti/51946.pdf

Read more: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/31/1115314/-NREL-Study-Solar-Power-could-provide-100-Times-the-Amount-of-Current-U-S-Electricity-Needs

OMG! - Mitt Romney’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad

OBAMA: "I approve this message."

PRESIDENT OBAMA, speaking last night at a fundraising dinner (60 people at $40,000 each = $2.4 million) at the NoMad Hotel in Manhattan: “Jim Messina, … my campaign manager, … was in some event, and this young couple who was there with their adorable four-year-old son, and I guess there was a picture of me somewhere, and so they were very excited. They said, ‘Sammy, who’s that?’ And he said, ‘That's Barack Obama.’ ‘And what does Barack Obama do?’ And the boy thinks for a second and he says, ‘He approves this message.’ (Laughter and applause.) So that’s what I do. (Laughter.) I approve this message. (Laughter.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/the-morning-plum-yes-government-is-important-to-our-economic-lives/2012/07/31/gJQAjfscMX_blog.html