which makes more sense?

Too Much Santorum

...so I'll make his own special blog post (divorcing him from the original "Conservatives 2012" post)

ON GAYS

• Gays "Make God Want to Vomit": Meet Santorum's Honorary Florida Chairman | Mother Jones (1/21/2012)  
• Rick Santorum Says He Will Overturn The Supreme Court If Same-Sex Marriage Is Ruled Legal (VIDEO) | Addicting Info (2/13/2012) 
• Rick Santorum: Same Sex Relationships Don't 'Benefit Society' (2/5/2012) 
• Santorum: 'I'll Die' to Stop Same Sex Marriages | Video Café - Crooks & Liars (10/21/2011)

go ahead, google santorum

 ON ABORTION

• Rick Santorum and James Dobson Push 'Death Panels' Myth, Nostalgic for Time When Abortion was a Crime | Right Wing Watch (2/6/2012)
• Santorum Longs For Good Old Days Of 'Shadow Abortions' When Women Obtained Back-Alley Procedures | ThinkProgressn(2/6/2012)   
• Santorum: Rape Victims Must ‘Make The Best Out Of A Bad Situation’ | The New Civil Rights Movement (1/23/2012) (see video at end of post, too)
• Santorum: Our Abortion Was Different | Our Silver Blog (4/15/2011) 

Sue.

Politicizing Women's Health

 Contraception, ACA, Religion and the ACORNification of Planned Parenthood

...modern women being told by Republicans that they’re not qualified to talk about their own sexual health, are dressed like “whores” and probably need birth control because they’re so slutty. And this is just in one day.     --How The GOP Went Back To The 1950s In Just One Day | TPM2012 (2/17/2012) 

Last week, Freshman Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) filed legislation to allow any employer, religiously affiliated or not, to refuse to cover any essential or preventive health service, not just contraceptives, based on the "religious belief or moral conviction" of the employer. ... Our own Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) has signed on as a co-sponsor of the Blunt legislation. Brown spokesperson John Donnelly has confirmed to the Washington Postthat the Senator supports the Blunt legislation. So this is not an academic matter for Massachusetts voters. The Blunt proposal goes well beyond contraception and freedom of religiously affiliated institutions. "[M]oral conviction"...is in no way defined in the legislative language. So any employer could stop offering any medical service otherwise required by law to be provided to workers by invoking "moral conviction."

-  Republican Over-Reach on Contraception - Health Stew - Boston.com (2/14/2012) -
(see also: Re: "Conscience clause": USAprogressive: No, Scott Brown The Blunt Amendment IS Not Like Kennedy's Bill (2/17/2012) http://bit.ly/xW6a58)

Just for the record, on the day that the Senate voted 51-48 to defeat the heinous Blunt Amendment (yay!) SUPPORTED BY SCOTT BROWN--Poll: Most Americans Support Contraception Rule - Kaiser Health News (3/1/2012)

$R-Money

All of Mitt's flips and flops in one video, so, all your candidate research, in a nutshell.

Pathetic: Mitt Romney Asks Pres. Obama to Stop Talking About His Taxes, Business Record - (Aug 2012) http://bit.ly/PL8mCQ

On 2008: "Why pick Palin, not Romney, as a running mate? “Oh come on, because we thought Sarah Palin was the better candidate,” John McCain told reporters Tuesday. “Why did we not take Pawlenty, why did we not take any of the other 10 other people. Why didn’t I? Because we had a better candidate, the same way with all the others.” (Sarah Palin was the better choice, says McCain - ComPost - The Washington Post - (7/17/12) http://goo.gl/41zYO )

Colbert takes down Mitt Romney and Bain... brilliantly as always: "

Mitt Romney knows how to treat America's sick economy with his business experience.

("The Business End", June 9, 2011)

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - The Business End
www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog

Video Archive

HIS PLANS/POLICIES

• He's full of lies and vagueness: 
• Romney himself said in March, his budget plan “can’t be scored” and is missing key details about which deductions it would eliminate. Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan failed to answer the same question a day earlier, telling Fox News’ Brit Hume, “I don’t know exactly what the balance is. I don’t want to get wonky on you, but we haven’t run the numbers on that specific plan.” In sum, Romney’s plan is “mathematically impossible.”
• The Romney budget requires even harsher cuts in entitlement programs than Ryan’s radical House-endorsed plan. Ten-year cuts in spending would range from one-third deeper than those in the Ryan budget to almost twice as deep as the Ryan cuts, with potentially disastrous consequences for low-income and middle class Americans — including taking food stamps away from as many as 13 million people.
• (from ThinkProgress 8/15/2012: Romney Adviser 'Embarrassed' He Doesn't Know When Romney Would Balance Budget, But Shouldn't Be | ThinkProgress - http://bit.ly/RXaz4o )
• Analysis: Romney tax plan strongly favors the rich - Political Hotsheet - CBS News (3/12/2012)- http://goo.gl/bWkgd
• Greg Sargent, Washington Post: "Yup: Mitt Romney's own plan would cut billions from cops, firefighters & teachers, a new analysis finds" ( 6/13/2012) http://wapo.st/LTUSV2
• What’s getting lost in the back and forth here is that Romney’s actual economic plan would, in fact, cut billions of dollars in federal money that goes to cops, firefighters, and teachers — perhaps more than $10 billion a year, in fact.

MITT'S "JOBS"/ECONOMY RECORD

• Biz whiz? Small government? Romney took a record level of taxpayer money to run the 2002 Winter Olympic Games — Keeping GOP Honest (2/2012)
• Mitt Romney - Op-Ed Contributor - Let Detroit Go Bankrupt - NYTimes.com (2008)
• Romney’s Firm Instructs American Airlines to Sack 13,000Workers | Addicting Info (2/5/2012) 
• On Wednesday, February 1st, American Airlines announced that it will take the advice of Mitt Romney’s firm, Bain Capital, and lay off 13,000 workers -15 percent of its workforce- replacing their pension plans with 401(k) plans and ending company-paid retiree healthcare.
• Think Progress, MA Economy Was ‘Below Avg, Often Near Bottom’ During Romney’s Time As Gov. (2/2012)

• As Massachusetts governor, Romney’s record on jobs was unremarkable (2/2012) The Washington Post 
• Political Animal - Romney: U.S. economy ‘getting better’ under Obama (1/23/2012) --good read, short
• Romney Dissed Neighborhood Where He Is Now Highlighting Business Record - BuzzFeed (7/19/2012) http://goo.gl/Lge4K

 {More on Mitt, after the flip!}

Movement on 3 Strikes--and getting TRUE reform

From the State House News Service... Your phone calls/emails are working.  If you have not called/emailed, it would be a great time to do it.  The narrative is shifting.  We may need to "give" on a narrower/less sucky "3 strikes" piece, in order to get truly good reforms like reduced sentences on non-violent criminals and reductions in school zones.  If you have not called, please do.  I will update the calling rubric/talking points shortly! 

CONFEREE OFFERS TO PITCH SENATE’S REDUCED DRUG SENTENCES TO HOUSE MEMBERS

By Matt Murphy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, FEB. 3, 2012…. Without the opportunity for House members to vote on key pieces of a Senate crime bill, House Judiciary Chairman Eugene O’Flaherty said on Friday he believed he could sell a compromise bill to the full House that toughens penalties for repeat violent offenders and includes Senate plans reducing mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offenders, lowering drug weight limits that trigger tougher sentences, and slashing the size of school zones with special penalties for drug dealers. 

O’Flaherty made his offer to Friday morning to three Senate members of a conference committee negotiating an omnibus sentencing reform package that cleared the House and Senate in different forms late last year. The House passed a much narrower bill that only dealt with repeat violent offenders by eliminating parole after a third felony, a measure also included in the Senate bill.

The positioning from the House Friday appeared to open a window for compromise on a bill that has drawn protests from social justice, prisoner and religious groups for its “harsh” approach to dealing with repeat offenders.

Enemies from the Chalkboard

Bill Moyers Essay: Newt's Obesession with Saul Alinsky from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.