30 Days. 30 Ways.

For the 30 days between the start of the Democratic National Convention and the first Presidential debate, we're highlighting 30 ways a Romney-Ryan presidency would hurt the middle class. Here's number twelve.

2012 Democratic Party Platform

Doing the impossible...

2012 Democratic Party Platform

GOP Lawmaker: Contraception Mandate Like 9/11, Pearl Harbor Attacks

As of Aug. 1 most employers in the United States are mandated to cover contraception without co-pay, so some legislators are doing the reasonable thing: comparing the requirement to acts of terrorism. 

Freshman Republican Congressman Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania called the policy an "attack on religious freedom," saying that Aug. 1 would be a date remembered along with 9/11 and the Dec. 7 attack on Pearl Harbor.

Rep. Tim Huelskamp, a Kansas Republican, claimed the measure reintroduced "anti-Catholic bigotry" to American life.

Though churches and houses of worship are exempt from the mandate, 24 lawsuits have been filed against it, and it remains one of the most contentious aspects of President Obama's Affordable Health Care Act. 

Calling the contraception mandate an act of war on America may win support from religious conservatives, but GOP men may also be opening another can of worms ... accusations they are waging a war on women. 

Source: Slate Magazine

Obama Wants $1 Billion for "Master Teachers Corps"

The White House on Wednesday unveiled a proposal to create a national elite teachers corps that would celebrate the achievements of the nation’s top educators in science, technology, engineering, and math, Bloomberg reports.

The 50 top teachers in each field selected for the Master Teacher Corps would receive a stipend of $20,000 added on to their salaries and must commit for multiple years. The Obama administration plans to expand the corps to 10,000 over the next four years, with the ultimate goal that the elite group of teachers will pass their knowledge and skills on to their colleagues to help bolster the quality of teaching nationwide.

On the campaign trail, President Obama has pledged to protect and expand funding for education programs, particularly in science and math, and charges that Mitt Romney’s tax and spending plan would mean inevitable cuts in the field, the Associated Press notes.

Already, the administration has earmarked $100,000 for the program out of an existing fund to incentivize quality teaching, and plans to include $1 billion for funding the initiative in the 2013 annual budget request to Congress.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan hopes that the initiative will receive bipartisan support, saying it has "nothing to do with politics"—but House Republicans may not be so easily convinced. Republican Rep. John Kline, chairman of the House Education and the Workplace Committee, pointed out to the AP that there are already more than 80 quality teacher programs supported by the federal government.

Source: Slate

Morgan Freeman: Obama's not our first black president

My dad is black. My mom is white. That does not make me black. President Obama's dad was African and his mom was white. That does not make him black. I have share Morgan Freeman's sentiments since folks started calling President Obama the United State's first black president back when it looked as though he might win the 2008 election. I am so glad that this statement was finally made by someone who the media would notice.

President Barack Obama is considered by some to be the nation's first black president - but Morgan Freeman isn't one such individual.

The actor told NPR's "Tell Me More" host Michel Martin in an interview posted Thursday that "the first thing" that he thinks of when he thinks of Obama is "all of the people who are setting up this barrier for him," Morgan said.

"They just conveniently forget that Barack had a mama, and she was white - very white American, Kansas, middle America," the Oscar winner continued. "There was no argument about who he is or what he is. America's first black president hasn't arisen yet. He's not America's first black president - he's America's first mixed-race president."

Race aside, however, Freeman also mentioned that he believes the president has been treated unfairly by members of the opposing party.

"He is being purposely, purposely thwarted by the Republican Party, who started out at the beginning of his tenure by saying, 'We are going to do whatever is necessary to make sure that he only has one term,'" Freeman said. "That means they will not cooperate with him on anything. So to say he's ineffective is a misappropriation of the facts."

Credit: The Marquee Blog, CNN

Alien attack! Americans pick Obama over Romney to battle invasion from space

President Obama may be trailing Mitt Romney in the polls on who'd do a better job fixing the economy.

But if the Earth ever is attacked by hostile beings from another planet, a strong majority of voters believe Mr. Obama would be superior in dealing with the situation. 

In what may be our favorite polling question of the campaign so far, a survey by the National Geographic Channel, first reported by USA Today, finds that 65 percent of Americans say Obama would be better suited than Mr. Romney to handle an alien invasion.

And lest you are tempted to dismiss this poll as pure silliness, the study also found that 36 percent of Americans think UFOs exist, while another 48 percent aren't sure. Which means that at least some of the respondents judging the presidential candidates' alien-fighting abilities may see it as a plausible scenario. (According to the poll, 79 percent also say the federal government has been hiding information about UFOs from the public – which may actually say more about the public’s overall distrust of government than its views on aliens.)

Even for those who don't really think aliens might attack Earth, we say it's an interesting poll question – essentially prodding which candidate voters would prefer at the helm in the case of a sudden, terrifying crisis that threatens the world's very existence.

Or, to put it another way, it's kind of like asking voters which candidate has more Will Smith in him? Who'd be more likely to bring down an enemy spacecraft, charge over to the wreckage, and punch the alien in the face?

For most Americans, the answer seems to be Obama.

Of course, part of Obama's edge here may come from incumbency. He's already the president, so voters are automatically more inclined to see him as a wartime leader. Obama's foreign policy ratings in general have been a source of strength for him. This is the guy who took down Osama bin Laden, after all –so why not aliens?

On the other hand, it’s worth pointing out that in the most recent Gallup poll, Obama and Romney were essentially tied on the measurement of who is a “strong and decisive leader,” with 53 percent of respondents saying Obama was, and 55 percent saying Romney was.

Still, it seems being a strong leader isn’t exactly the same thing as defending the nation against aliens.

Delving further into the alien-fighting scenario, the National Geographic survey also probed the key question of sidekicks. Who would Americans want at their side in an alien attack? According to the poll, 8 percent chose Spiderman, 12 percent said Batman, and a full 21 percent chose the Hulk.

Hmmm. Maybe Romney should pick New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as his running mate, after all.

Credit: Christian Science Monitor

Really? Headline: Paul says Obama being too tough on BP

Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul is taking aim at President Barack Obama's handling of the oil crisis off the Gulf Coast.

The president, Paul told ABC, is being too tough on BP - the oil giant that controls the well that has been leaking thousands of barrels of oil a day in the Gulf since late last month.

"What I don't like from the president's administration is this sort of 'I'll put my boot heel on the throat of BP,'" said Paul who overwhelmingly won Tuesday's GOP Senate primary in Kentucky and is a favorite of Tea Party activists. "I think that sounds really un-American in his criticisms of businesses."

"I've heard nothing from BP about not paying for the spill," Paul continued. "I think it's part of this blame game society in the sense that it's always got to be someone's fault, instead of the fact that sometimes accidents happen."

Since capturing the Senate nomination, Paul has faced a barrage of questions over his past criticisms of several federal regulations that intrude on the private sector, including provisions of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the national minimum wage.

"When does my honeymoon period start?" said Paul when he was again asked about his past statements Friday. "I had a big victory. I thought I got a honeymoon period from you guys in the media."

Director and Producer Michael Moore to be Obama's new Chief-of-Staff?

In an open letter addressed to President Obama, Michael Moore "humbly" offers himself as an alternative to Obama's embattled Chief-of-Staff, Rahm Emanuel. The following are excerpts from his letter:

"I will come to D.C. and clean up the mess that's been created around you. I will work for $1 a year. I will help the Dems on Capitol Hill find their spines and I will teach them how to nonviolently beat the Republicans to a pulp."

"Now, don't get too giddy with excitement over my offer, because you and I are going to be up at 5 in the morning, 7 days a week and I am going to get you pumped up for battle every single day. Each morning you and I will do 100 jumping jacks and you will repeat after me:

'THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ELECTED ME, NOT THE REPUBLICANS, TO RUN THE COUNTRY! I AM IN CHARGE! I WILL ORDER ALL OBSTRUCTIONISTS OUTTA MY WAY! IF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DON'T LIKE WHAT I'M DOING THEY CAN THROW MY ASS OUT IN 2012. IN THE MEANTIME, I CALL THE SHOTS ON THEIR BEHALF! NOW, CONGRESS, DROP AND GIVE ME 50!!'"

"Then we will put on our jogging sweats and run up to Capitol Hill. We will take names, kick butts, and then take some more names. If we have to give a few noogies or half-nelson's, then so be it. Like drill sergeants, we will get right up in their faces and ask them, 'WHAT PART OF THE PUBLIC MANDATE DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND, SOLDIER?!! DROP AND GIVE ME 50!'"

"Let me be clear about one thing: The Democrats on Election Day 2010 are going to get an ass-whoopin' of biblical proportions if things don't change right now."

Black Barbie vs. White Barbie

Recently, Wal-Mart has drawn fire for cutting the price of a black Barbie doll to nearly half of that of the doll's white counterpart at one store and possibly others. Thelma Dye, the executive director of the Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem N.Y. says, "The implication of the lowering of the price is that's devaluing the black doll. While it's clear that's not what was intended, sometimes these things have collateral damage." (Read the entire story here.)

Really?!?! It's 2010. Forty-seven years have lapsed since the March on Washington and fifty-five years since the Montogomery Bus Boycott. We are currently one year into the presidency of Barack Obama, our first black president (well half-black, but I have conceded defeated on that topic). Yet, we still cannot get past these simple-minded games. Yes, we can still make great strides in race relations in this country, but we are no where close to where we once were. Let's stop playing these games and get on with our lives.

If we spent the same amount of time working to improve race relations in this country as we do finding reasons to divide our nation, we might finally live in a world free of prejudice and injustice.

The bottom line is simply this, the decision to mark down the black Barbie was simple economics; supply vs. demand.

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