Obama makes "birther" joke in N.H.
President Obama speaks to supporters at a campaign event at Elm Street Middle School, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012 in Nashua, N.H. / AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
NASHUA, N.H. While wanting to be seen keeping an eye on Hurricane Sandy and overseeing federal preparedness for the storm, President Obama came to swing state New Hampshire to slam Mitt Romney for upping taxes and fees in neighboring Massachusetts.
"He raised fees to get a birth certificate which would have been expensive for me," said the president to laughter and cheers. It was a veiled reference to so-called "birthers" who doubt he was born in America and question the veracity of his Hawaii certificate of birth.
Obama: Romney birth certificate fee "would have been expensive for me"
On the flight from the nation's capital to the Granite State, Mr. Obama was updated on steps being taken by FEMA and other agencies to help states and localities prepare for severe weather.
In a statement, the White House said the president again directed that his storm team "bring all available resources to bear" and "ensure there were no unmet needs as states continue to prepare" for Sandy's unpredictable onslaught.
The hurricane is affecting some campaign schedules. A spokesman said Mr. Obama would leave Sunday night instead of Monday morning for a previously-scheduled campaign event Monday in Orlando, Fla.
"He will continue to focus on the storm, even as he campaigns," Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters aboard Air Force One. He said it's another example of the president putting his responsibilities as commander in chief and leader of the country first, while also fulfilling his responsibilities as a candidate.
Earnest said Mr. Obama's priorities are clear: making sure state and local officials have what they need to prepare for this storm.
It was a mild day in New Hampshire, where sometimes there's snow on the ground at this time of year. But at 63 degrees, it was warm enough for Mr. Obama to deliver his campaign remarks in rolled-up shirt sleeves. He said the temperature felt closer to 70.
On the front steps of Elm Street Middle School, addressing a crowd estimated by the local fire marshal at 8,500, the president sought again to portray Mitt Romney as a politician whose promises could not be trusted.
Close to the border with Massachusetts, Mr. Obama spoke of Romney's campaign for governor there.
"He said he'd fight for jobs and middle class families. But once he took office, he pushed through a tax cut that overwhelmingly benefited 278 of the wealthiest families in the state. And then he raised taxes and fees on middle class families - to the tune of $750 million."
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"Tagg Romney's Company Misled Reporters About Its Relationship With Ponzi Scheme-Linked Firm Lee Fang on October 12, 2012 - 8:10 PM ET
The private equity firm run by Tagg Romney—Mitt's eldest son, misled reporters last year about its involvement with a company run by men accused of taking part in a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.
Last year, I reported that Tagg had formed a business partnership with several North Carolina investors who are still facing a lawsuit for receiving bonus pay for selling CDs as part of the $8 billion Stanford Financial Group Ponzi scheme.
In a nutshell, Tagg helped these investors form a company—called Solamere Advisors, a nod to Tagg's firm Solamere Capital—shortly after their boss, Allen Stanford, was caught by law enforcement for his elaborate Ponzi fraud.
When I interviewed him in Las Vegas, Tagg told me that his associates were "cleared" of any wrongdoing associated with the Stanford Ponzi scheme. Court documents directly contradict Tagg and show that the lawsuit has not been dismissed.
The New York Times followed up on my story with its own report and confirmed that Tagg's business partners received incentive pay for selling bunk Stanford CDs. They wrote about one Stanford victim, a local Charlotte businessman and philanthropist named Herman Stone. Stone was pressured by Brandon Phillips, an executive working now for Tagg's firm, into putting $2 million into a fraudulent Stanford CD and lost everything.
Solamere Capital attempted to distance itself from the story by claiming that their business was not actually connected to the Ponzi-tainted firm, Solamere Advisors. In a statement to ABC News, they claimed that their managers, not Solamere Capital itself, were involved (emphasis added):
"It is inaccurate to suggest that Solamere Capital made an investment in this firm [Solamere Advisors]. Solamere Capital was approached to invest in a new wealth management firm being launched by these three individuals. After extensive due diligence, Solamere Capital decided not to invest because the business was at an early stage and did not meet our investment criteria. However, Spencer Zwick, Tagg Romney and Eric Scheuermann each own a minority stake in the business as individual investors."
However, Solamere Capital's statement, provided to ABC News, is false. Disclosures from the Securities and Exchange Commission show that Tagg's company indeed maintains ties with the Ponzi-linked firm, Solamere Advisors.
The claim that Solamere Group didn't invest directly in Solamere Advisors, the firm employing former Stanford employees, appears to have been an attempt to shield Mitt Romney. Mitt invested about $10 million into Tagg's Solamere Capital venture, which would suggest Mitt has a direct financial relationship with folks involved in a Ponzi scheme. That's because Solamere Capital pools together investment money to co-invest in other companies
Is there anything this Dirt Bag won't do? So the Caymen Island Accounts are not just his, he is also helping his kid to rip off people."
Remember the quote from Newt Gingrich about Romney? "How can you debate someone who lies about everything?"
• Under Gov. Romney, Massachusetts fell to 47th out of 50 in job creation:
Before Romney's time as governor, Massachusetts ranked 36th out of 50 in job
creation, but over the course of his tenure the state ranked a dismal 47th out
of 50—even as the national economy was growing. The Bay
State only beat Michigan,
Ohio, and Louisiana—which was still recovering from
the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Gov. Romney created or raised over 1,000 taxes and fees:
Though he promised he wouldn't raise taxes as governor, he increased taxes and
fees by as much as $750 million per year, leaving the average taxpayer to pay an extra $1,227 in state and local fees and
taxes. During his first year in office, Romney
raised fees on milk, driver's licenses, hospitals, nursing and barber licenses,
and even on the blind.
Gov. Romney left behind a huge budget deficit:
Romney broke his pledge to balance the budget and left his successor, Gov.
Deval Patrick, with a $1 billion budget deficit. Long-term debt increased by
16% over Romney's four-year term, and he left Massachusetts with the highest debt per
person in the nation.
I would NEVER vote for Rob-Me; after one term as Massachusetts Governor, the People of the State of Massachusetts decided the same thing, INCLUDING REPUBLICANS!!!!
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/10/devastating-new-crossroads-ad-obamas-benghazi-lies/
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/10/27/mainstream-media-watchdogs-are-toothless-covering-obama-and-libya-scandal/
RICE: But when things are unfolding very, very quickly, it's not always easy to know what is really going on on the ground. And to my mind, the really important questions here are about how information was collected. Did the various agencies really coordinate and share intelligence in the way that we had hoped, with the reforms that were made after 9/11?
So there's a big picture to be examined here. But we don't have all of the pieces, and I think it's easy to try and jump to conclusions about what might have happened here. It's probably better to let the relevant bodies do their work.
Republican remember!
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/10/25/1089691/condi-rice-pours-cold-water-libya/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49556392/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama-second-term/
Republican remember!
"When he took over, the country was in very, very difficult straits, we were in one of the worst recessions we had seen in recent times, close to a depression ... we were in real trouble," Powell said, adding that housing market has started to pick up, the auto industry has recovered and consumer confidence is rising.
"I think generally we've come out of the dive and starting to gain altitude," he said. "I see that we are starting to rise up," he said, but added problems such as unemployment and the housing market still need work.
Powell also criticized Romney's foreign policy as inconsistent and questioned the former Massachusetts governor's ability to address the deficit and looming defense cuts.
"I'm not quite sure which Governor Romney we'd be getting with respect to foreign policy," he told CBS, calling Romney's foreign policy "a moving target."
Republican remember!
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3460_162-57371674/giuliani-romneys-flip-flops-give-me-pause/
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/15/news/la-pn-giuliani-raps-romney-praises-gingrich-20111215
Giuliani on Romney - "He will say anything do anything to get elected"
One of them was a slave owner so would not have approved of Obama and was it a Democrat who set the slaves free???
Whites (and a lotta others) are mad at Obama cos he has NO IDEA!!
At least Romney became a millionaire!
(Must know how to run things, which is contrary to how Democrats operate).
They ARE good at criticism (even racial), and at expanding government `Crats and the power they gain which sometimes negates the Constitutional Rights.
(Guns are the best example of this...tho there are others...(you pick)!!)I agree that a bail out of people would have been bettere (maybe) but wouldn`t THAT have attracted claims of Communism/Socialism?
And we CANNOT label Obama a SOCIALIST.....Can we????
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg6S1HOo0j8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQwrB1vu74c