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1.) Loose lips sink ships campaigns — Mitt Romney has been guarded about crucial details of some of his policy proposals and elements of his financial history, but apparently he isn’t quite as opaque and cautious with all audiences. TheDC’s Alex Pappas reports:
“A video that has surfaced online shows Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaking candidly about the election and saying President Obama’s most diehard supporters are ‘dependent on government’ and think they are ‘entitled to health care, to food, to housing.’ The candidate made the comments about Obama’s supporters while speaking at a closed-door fundraiser this year, according to two liberal news outlets who were leaked the video. ‘There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what,’ Romney says in the undated video. ‘All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent on government, who believe that, that they are victims, who believe that government has the responsibility to care for them,’ Romney said. ‘Who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing.'”
The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Jim Antle argues Romney’s statement misses the point of Reagan-era conservative economics, since “[p]olicies leading to lower taxes for everyone, including the 47 percent, are part of the solution.” Whether there is any political fallout from Romney’s comments depends on how well the Obama campaign demonizes them.
2.) Media Matters hearts the DOJ — The liberal activist organization Media Matters is very protective of the Department of Justice, reports TheDC’s Matthew Boyle:
“Internal Department of Justice emails obtained by The Daily Caller show Attorney General Eric Holder’s communications staff has collaborated with the left-wing advocacy group Media Matters for America in an attempt to quell news stories about scandals plaguing Holder and America’s top law enforcement agency. Dozens of pages of emails between DOJ Office of Public Affairs Director Tracy Schmaler and Media Matters staffers show Schmaler, Holder’s top press defender, working with Media Matters to attack reporters covering DOJ scandals. TheDC obtained the emails through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.”
3.) Iran not of fan of attacks on its nuclear program — For some reason, the Islamic Republic doesn’t take kindly to clandestine sabotage efforts of its nuclear program. Jill Gregorie reports for TheDC:
“Speaking at an International Atomic Energy Agency conference Monday, Iran’s Vice President Fereydoun Abbasi raised the possibility of IAEA ‘terrorists and saboteurs’ detonating explosives at a nuclear site in an attempt to derail the nation’s nuclear program, The Associated Press reports. Abbasi referenced an incident at the Fordo plant last month where inspectors arrived soon after explosives cut off power at the site. ‘Terrorists and saboteurs might have intruded the agency and might be making decisions covertly,’ he said.”
“Terrorists and saboteurs?” How about friends of freedom. Or at least friends of not allowing Iran to obtain nuclear capability.
4.) No aid for ingrates — Unless the government of Egypt shapes up pronto and proves their worth to the U.S., President Obama and Congress should seriously consider cutting off the over $1 billion in aid the U.S. gives to the country annually, TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein (ME!) opines:
“Egypt has historically been a very important player in the Arab world and I am not saying we should move hastily to cut off aid. But we should get tough and make it clear that the option is being seriously considered unless the Egyptian government changes course. Among the things we ought to demand in order to continue the money flow is that Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi publicly reject his 9/11 trutherism; apologize to the United States for what happened to our embassy last Tuesday and explain why the Egyptian military did not protect it; and pledge that he will ensure that the Egyptian army protects our embassy from such attacks in the future.”
5.) Poll of the Day: Americans support Voter ID laws — CBS News/NY Times poll asks, “Do you support or oppose efforts to require voters to show a photo identification card to vote?”: 70% support, 28% oppose, while 2% are unsure.
6.) Tweet of Yesterday — daveweigel: Haven’t been checking in with the Occupy anniversary protests, but I assume the banking industry has caved in to all their demands.
