WayneMorse said:

Polls show Ernst and Gardner leading by solid margins and the window to reverse those leads is shrinking by the day.

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speculawyer said:

Braley should hammer on the fact that Ernst has come out as a climate change denier and point out that the reason for this is that she is in the pockets of the anti-wind energy that will have her slow down Iowa's great wind energy industry.

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WayneMorse said:

Coming back to Colorado, but Udall has run an atrocious campaign against Gardner. Has he attacked Gardner for his position on any issue outside of reproductive rights? That should've served as a complement to a greater campaign of pushing that Gardner was too far right for Colorado but whatever.

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"If you look at any sort of an amendment at the federal level ... they come together through consensus," she said Wednesday. "And, honestly, we don’t have a consensus. It would take two-thirds of the House, two-thirds of the Senate to even pass a proposed amendment, and then it would have to be ratified by three-quarters of our states’ legislatures. We don’t have that consensus at the federal level."

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A Republican running for U.S. Senate in Iowa has been named in a sexual harassment lawsuit. The suit was filed by a former staffer for Iowa Senate Republicans in Des Moines. Kirsten Anderson, the ex-communications director for the Iowa Senate Republican Caucus, alleges she was fired after complaining about an environment "that allowed ordinary sexism and fraternity behavior to flourish."

The suit names a number of alleged examples, including one involving GOP Senate Nominee Joni Ernst.

Anderson claims Ernst, a State Senator, along with fellow Senator Sandra Greiner of Keota were "witnesses sexual innuendo and inappropriate behavior exhibited by their male colleagues and did and said nothing while female staffers stood by unable to say anything."

The lawsuit alleges one male senator repeatedly talked about women's breasts and which lobbyists were the biggest flirts. Another, it claims, repeatedly commented on which of Anderson's shoes and hairstyles he preferred.

The lawsuit focuses largely on a policy analyst, who's accused of gossiping about the sexual history of a female senator and other inappropriate behavior.

Anderson says her supervisors started nitpicking her work after her complaints, then fired her. Republicans say she was fired for performance.

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WayneMorse said:

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WayneMorse said:

.. the Nevada Democratic Party is one of the best organized in the country.

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Asked specifically about his decision to hide backstage, the Republican argued, in reference to his challenger, “I waited to see, until we figured figure out whether he was going to show up” for the debate.

In the post-debate spin room, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a leading Scott surrogate, stuck to that line, saying “it wasn’t clear [Crist] was even going to show up.”

So, let me get this straight. The official Republican explanation is that Rick Scott wasn’t sure Charlie Crist would come onstage, even after Charlie Crist was already onstage. The GOP governor and his allies would have voters believe they couldn’t be sure the guy who’d already showed up would show up.

This, apparently, was the best argument they could come up with.

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Oblivion said:

LOL. I didn't see Rick Scott's post debate damage control for fanghazi:

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HylianTom said:

I'm convinced that, for presidential elections from 2008 onward, Nevada belongs to the "sure Democrat" column. Their turnout machine has become something incredible.

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PhoenixDark said:

Nobody cares about climate change in a bad economy. Peters is winning handily in MI but he spent all summer running climate ads about Land...I just don't get it.

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speculawyer said:

Braley should hammer on the fact that Ernst has come out as a climate change denier and point out that the reason for this is that she is in the pockets of the anti-wind energy that will have her slow down Iowa's great wind energy industry.

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WayneMorse said:

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Aaron Strife said:

Ernst named in sexual harassment lawsuit


Will be swept under the rug by local and national media so they can talk about Braley's chickens

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speculawyer said:

Jobs. People care about jobs (and leasing their farm-land to wind turbine operators).

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WayneMorse said:

I Google News searched for Ernst and all the main stories were bad (sexual assault suit, personhood bill, 47% dabbling) if that means anything.

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stonesak said:

You really think wind-energy jobs is a winning platform to run on in Iowa?

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Oblivion said:

Yes?

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stonesak said:

Why?

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A North Carolina official resigned Thursday rather than perform gay marriages, an individual stand that comes as fewer and fewer states are holding on to oppose same-sex unions.

Triggered by a U.S. Supreme Court decision last week, lower courts across the nation have moved to strike down gay marriage bans. Among the holdouts are conservative states such as Arizona and Wyoming, and their defiance comes against a tide of rulings that give hope to those who want to see same-sex unions legalized in every state.

The North Carolina magistrate who quit his job said performing gay marriages would violate his religious beliefs.

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“What I can tell you is over the last three and a half years, I spent a lot of my days on the phone with CEOs and recruiting jobs to this state,” the governor noted. “I can honestly say I have not had one conversation with a single CEO about the Confederate flag.”

“But we really kind of fixed all that when you elected the first Indian-American female governor,” she insisted. “When we appointed the first African-American U.S. senator, that sent a huge message.”

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speculawyer said:

I like how Fox News assumes that their audiences that are scared cowards no matter what.

And they are right.


And I didn't realize that an artificial sweetener was viewed as so dangerous.

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Oblivion said:

Because wind farming is a pretty big industry in Iowa? Even their Republican governor supports it.

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Oblivion said:

Once again, the party of Lincoln, ladies and gentlemen. Here's Nikki Haley explaining why the confederate flag is no big deal:

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On the October 14 edition of "Hannity" on Fox News, the discussion of Democrats and social welfare programs dominated the conversation. Host Sean Hannity spoke with Fox News contributor and often fill in host, Stacey Dash. Asked if voting for Barack Obama and the Democrats have helped the minority community, Dash answered with a quick "no, not at all." "It still keeps them stuck. They are getting money for free. They feel worthless. They are uneducated," Dash said of minority neighborhoods. "I mean, as long as you are that way, they (Democrats) can keep you under their control," Dash noted.

Hannity attempted to clarify Dash's remarks and asked her if she felt like the Democratic party created a sense of dependency. Dash responded that Democrats have a "plantation mentality" and think that if they keep giving services and money to low income voters, they won't want to think for themselves.

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President Barack Obama said Thursday that it may be necessary for him to appoint a czar to oversee his administration's response to Ebola and signaled that he is open to a travel ban but doubts it would do more to protect Americans.

"It may be appropriate for me to appoint an additional person," Obama told reporters in the Oval Office following a two-hour meeting with top advisers. That person, he said, would "make sure we're crossing all the t's and dotting all the i's" in the long run.

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Wilsongt said:

Welp.

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PhoenixDark said:

I'm not mad considering the entire point of her saying this is to rustle a large response from black people, then play the victim card when someone calls her a name.

These people literally exist to be trotted out by white conservatives and say things they couldn't get away with. It's a game for profit. They write books, get TV appearances, etc while telling white conservatives what they want to hear: black people are lazy, uneducated, have a hive mind, etc.

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Wilsongt said:

And the Florida GOP births FanGate.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/the-florida-gop-is-really-trying-to-make-charlie-crists-fan-a-thing/

Florida GOP ✔ @FloridaGOP
Follow

Faced with his record, @CharlieCrist can’t handle the heat. #CristHitsTheFan #sayfie

http://www.buzzfeed.com/floridagop/cristhitsthefan-g7at

Can't attack him on real issues, so instead attack him over something so trivial that the only one making a stink about it in the first place was Scott.

These people...

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WayneMorse said:

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PhoenixDark said:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_worl...arming_rebels_rarely_works_so_where_does.html

The funny thing is I can just imagine Obama saying "didn't we commission a report that proved arming these assholes won't work?" and Clinton and Panetta rolling their eyes. Caution and facts, negative traits of a leader.

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DOCTOR Ben Carson said:

I would choose common sense over knowledge in almost every circumstance.

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RustyNails said:

Your relationship with Obama is so weird.

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PhoenixDark said:

Elizabeth Warren essentially made that point last week when she said Obama has served Wall Street at nearly every turn...but he also signed the CFPB.

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stonesak said:

You really think wind-energy jobs is a winning platform to run on in Iowa?.

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Iowa is a leading U.S. state in wind power generation with 27.4% of the state's electricity generation coming from wind in 2013.[1][2] At the end of 2013, wind power in Iowa had 5,137 megawatts (MW) of capacity, third only to Texas and California.[3] 15,752 Million kWh of electrical energy was generated by wind powered generators in 2013.[4]


Windpower industry[edit]
A number of companies involved in the windpower industry have office or manufacturing facilities in Iowa. Blades for wind turbines are manufactured in Newton by TPI Composites and in Fort Madison by Siemens. Turbines are manufactured in West Branch by Acciona. Towers are also manufactured in Newton by Trinity Structural Towers. Companies manufacturing other parts for wind turbines are located in Iowa as well.[31]

In addition to manufacturing, various companies support the development of wind power projects.[31] The wind power industry employs 6,000 to 7,000 people in Iowa.[32] Nearly $10 billion has been invested in Iowa's wind power projects and manufacturing facilities.[32]

In late September 2007, Siemens Power Generation opened its new wind turbine blade factory in Fort Madison, on the banks of the Mississippi River. The factory can produce more than 2000 blades annually.[33] A plant expansion in 2008 brought the facility up to nearly 600,000 square feet, up from 310,000. The facility manufactures 148-foot (45 m)-long, 12-ton blades for the company's 2.3-MW wind turbines installed in the United States.[34]

The Iowa Office of Energy Independence (OEI) is tasked with determining policy and setting goals towards renewable energy production. The office seeks to coordinate efforts between industry, community leaders, state and local government, and educational institutions to achieve energy policy goals.[31]

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stonesak said:

It is a big industry, but Ernst has promised to support RFS in congress. There's not much traction to be gained there (Braley has tried).

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“We’re looking at Obamacare right now. Once we start with those benefits in January, how are we going to get people off of those? It’s exponentially harder to remove people once they’ve already been on those programs…we rely on government for absolutely everything. And in the years since I was a small girl up until now into my adulthood with children of my own, we have lost a reliance on not only our own families, but so much of what our churches and private organizations used to do. They used to have wonderful food pantries. They used to provide clothing for those that really needed it. But we have gotten away from that. Now we’re at a point where the government will just give away anything.”

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HylianTom said:

Okay, now I'm annoyed with myself. Apparently Bill Clinton was in town last night, and he found time to stop by Dat Dog for dinner and a round of triva. A ten minute walk away. I'm there all the friggin' time.

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benjipwns said:

But?

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Bam Bam Baklava said:

Mitt Romney will be out in a month talking about how Ebola would have never happened if he was President. No joke.

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Peter Carroll helped shape the mortgage regulations at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau until this spring. Now, Carroll is senior vice president of capital markets at Wells Fargo Home Mortgages, the largest private mortgage lender in the country.

Carroll’s colleague, Lisa Applegate, was the “Mortgage Implementation Lead,” at CFPB, and now she’s “strategic quality manager within Wells' home lending capital markets group,” according to American Banker magazine.

Carroll’s replacement at CFPB, Patricia McClung, was recently at the National Association of Realtors (one of the largest lobbying groups in the country), and for years was an executive at failed mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

...

Many of those people are now “mak[ing] lots more money somewhere else,” and monetizing their “public service.” On the arcadian banks of the C&O Canal in finest Georgetown sits the office of Fenway Summer, a fortunate son of the CFPB.

Raj Date was at CFPB at its founding and served as its deputy director. In 2013, Date founded Fenway Summer, which, according to its website, “uses extensive regulatory, industry, and capital markets expertise to provide unique counsel” to financial firms.

Date brought with him CFPB’s chief of staff, Garry Reader; assistant director of mortgage markets Chris Haspel; senior counsel in the office of regulations Mitch Hockberg; plus CFPB staffers Marla Blow, Alison Miller and Sean O’Mealia. The firm’s website lists 14 employees, meaning half of the team comes from the CFPB.

...

Besides navigating the complexity they created, Fenway Summer profits from market opportunities created by CFPB rules. Fenway Summer this April acquired a mortgage firm, Ethos Lending, which will fill a market niche — so-called non-qualified mortgages — which many banks have exited, thanks to a combination of Dodd-Frank regulations.

Plenty of other CFPB officials have cashed out. Ronald Rubin was an enforcement attorney in the Fair Lending division. Now he’s at the law firm Hunton & Williams, where he “focuses on CFPB and SEC enforcement investigations and litigation, regulatory examinations, and white collar criminal defense,” according to the firm’s website.

Leonard Chanin was assistant director of CFPB’s Office of Regulations, now he “counsels financial institutions on consumer financial services law issues,” at the law firm Morrison Foerster, according to the firm's website.

Other CFPB alumni now serving the financial industry include Catherine West at Promontory Financial, John Tonetti at JPMorgan Chase, Bart Shapiro at Offit Kurman, Neil Peretz at BillFloat, and Benjamin Olson at BuckleySandler.

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Two more employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau came forward Wednesday to tell of their experiences with alleged financial mismanagement, operational incompetence, discrimination and retaliation in what was the third in a series of hearings on discrimination at the CFPB.

The two CFPB employees – current bank examiner in the enforcement and fair lending division Ali Naraghi, and former quality monitor in the office of consumer response, Kevin Williams – were subpoenaed to testify.

The two testified before Congress about a “culture of intimidation and retaliation” at the agency and raised allegations of mistreatment in the workplace.

...

Naraghi is an enthusiastic and idealistic public servant who said he answered the call of Elizabeth Warren’s vision for what the CFPB could be.

“I believe that the root cause of the problems I have encountered at the bureau is management’s lack of accountability. The only consistent thing about CFPB management is its inconsistency,” he said. “I am the naturalized U.S. citizen that bureau management referred to as an ‘f***ing foreigner.’

...

Naraghi said that the CFPB has hired inexperienced managers whose only qualification appears to him to be personal or other connections to bureau hiring officials.

He also testified about gross mismanagement that wastes taxpayer funds.

“For example, in the Southeast Region, about 50-75 examiners were kept at their homes, essentially without work to perform for eight months between approximately September 2011 through May of 2012. In my opinion, this was one of many examples of wasting taxpayers’ funds due to supervision management’s incompetence,” he told the subcommittee.

Most ominous for those dealing with the CFPB from the outside, Naraghi testified under oath that the CFPB favors “results-oriented examinations” where CFPB executives decided at the outset to find a violation even if none were identified.

“I worked on an examination for three weeks reviewing 52 mortgage modification applications, and did not find any violation. The field manager told me that I must not have done my job right because I did not identify any violations,” Naraghi said. “Others in my team were told to expand their sample size if no violations are identified in their initial sample. This is contrary to sampling procedures of the FFIEC and prudential regulators. There is no statistically sound rationale in conducting examinations in this manner.”

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Williams was part of the group referred to by management at the CFPB as “The Plantation.”

“My experience at the CFPB was reminiscent of past eras of injustice, cronyism, discrimination, and retaliation. The events that transpired at the bureau occurred because basic measures were not in place to properly supervise its untested management,” Williams testified.

“Unfortunately, I was a charter member in the Intake unit, which, indeed, came to be referred to as the ‘Plantation.’ There, I personally witnessed and was the victim of racial discrimination perpetrated by black as well as white managers,” Williams said. “The unit was dubbed the Plantation because when we started, the majority of black employees were assigned to Intake, which was basically data entry.

“The Plantation is where black women and white men oversee a unit of black employees who are never considered or groomed for management despite their competitive qualifications,” Williams said. “Bureau management excluded them from the outset as part of a strategy of domination, and completely deprived them of any meaningful opportunity for advancement.”

...

At an April 2 subcommittee hearing, Angela Martin, a current CFPB employee, testified about the discrimination and retaliation she experienced at CFPB.

Misty Raucci, an outside investigator retained by CFPB to examine Ms. Martin’s claims of retaliation, testified that Ms. Martin’s claims were valid.

Raucci also testified that a culture of exclusion, retaliation and collusion is pervasive throughout the division of CFPB in which Martin worked, the Office of Consumer Response.

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APKmetsfan said:

please for the love of god nobody engage him more on this than I've done right here. nobody in their right mind thinks the CFPB is a tool of the elite or wall street.

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Oblivion said:

Well, after saying this, we kinda have to now, don't we?

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