American Bridge and Courage Campaign Partner To Launch “Mitt Gets Worse”
Rapid Response Campaign To Highlight Romney’s Anti-LGBT Agenda MittGetsWorse.org
WASHINGTON -- Today, American Bridge 21st Century and Courage Campaign Super PAC partnered to launch Mitt Gets Worse, a new oral history project and rapid response campaign to educate voters about Mitt Romney’s extreme anti‐LGBT agenda. Romney has earned a reputation as a flip-flopper -- changing his positions in whatever direction advances his career. But when it comes to LGBT issues, there’s one thing you can always count on: Mitt Gets Worse. Year after year, Mitt has moved further and further toward the extreme right. The Mitt Gets Worse campaign is an oral history of Mitt Romney’s efforts to diminish the rights and the freedoms of LGBT Americans, told by supporters, activists, and LGBT advocates that have personally been impacted by Mitt’s anti-equality agenda. Over the next few weeks, the campaign will be releasing first person accounts of LGBT activists and organizers who have played key roles in this fight.MEMO: Questions Romney Can Clear Up With His Tax Returns
TO: Interested Parties FROM: Rodell Mollineau, American Bridge 21st Century DATE: July 16, 2012 RE: Questions Romney can clear up with his tax returns Mitt Romney has been trying very hard to run out the clock on this campaign without providing a complete and accurate picture of his finances. He has released his returns for 2010 and [whatever he releases], but that does not provide a full accounting of his financial priorities and practices. For example, from his limited release to this point, very serious questions need to be answered about his offshore holdings, trusts, and ongoing profit from his private equity career. He is also taking great pains to distance himself from his involvement with Bain Capital post-February 1999, but yet refuses to release his tax returns over that period which would prove his veracity on the subject. Romney’s father started the tradition of releasing his taxes by providing 12 years. Romney himself provided 23 years of taxes when he was being vetted for the vice presidential slot under McCain (and losing out to Sarah Palin). So, it should be easy for Romney to put a number of questions to rest by simply providing the public with his income taxes just as he provided them to John McCain. Here are the questions that could be easily answered through a full and transparent disclosure.
MEMO: Questions Romney Can Clear Up With His Tax Returns
TO: Interested Parties FROM: Rodell Mollineau, American Bridge 21st Century DATE: July 16, 2012 RE: Questions Romney can clear up with his tax returns Mitt Romney has been trying very hard to run out the clock on this campaign without providing a complete and accurate picture of his finances. He has released his returns for 2010 and [whatever he releases], but that does not provide a full accounting of his financial priorities and practices. For example, from his limited release to this point, very serious questions need to be answered about his offshore holdings, trusts, and ongoing profit from his private equity career. He is also taking great pains to distance himself from his involvement with Bain Capital post-February 1999, but yet refuses to release his tax returns over that period which would prove his veracity on the subject. Romney’s father started the tradition of releasing his taxes by providing 12 years. Romney himself provided 23 years of taxes when he was being vetted for the vice presidential slot under McCain (and losing out to Sarah Palin). So, it should be easy for Romney to put a number of questions to rest by simply providing the public with his income taxes just as he provided them to John McCain. Read the full memo after the jump.
NEW MICROSITE: Veepmistakes.com
Today American Bridge unveiled a new website, veepmistakes.com, featuring video tracking footage and comprehensive research books on likely Republican vice presidential contenders. Check out the site here.
Connie Mack Agrees: We Should Phase Out Medicare, Social Security
At a Tea Party event in Central Florida, Connie Mack agreed with an event attendee who suggested we eliminate the corporate income tax and eventually phase out Medicare and Social Security. Wonder how this will play with Florida voters?
BRIDGE BRIEFING: Romney's Record on Issues Impacting the African American Community
Romney Administration
Romney Failed To Appoint Minorities To Top Positions In His Administration As Governor. According to the Associated Press, “A new report faults Governor Romney for failing to appoint minorities, particularly Latinos and Asian-Americans, to top positions in his administration. Of 163 top-level positions, fewer than eleven percent were held by minorities. That’s according to the report by the McCormack Graduate School’s Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at U-Mass Boston. Latino appointments made up one-point-eight percent of the total number of posts, even though Latinos make up seven percent of the state’s population. Asian-Americans make up four percent of the state population, but hold fewer than one percent of total top-level positions. A Romney spokesman defended the governor’s record -- saying approximately 52 percent of all employees in the administration are women, and 22 percent are minority.” [Associated Press, 12/6/06]Romney Applauded Individual Mandate In 2006
Just prior to the Supreme Court's ruling on health care reform, American Bridge released video footage from 2006 in which Mitt Romney said that he was “very pleased” with the inclusion of the individual mandate in Massachusetts’ health care reform, as it was “essential for bringing health care costs down for everyone and getting everybody the health insurance they deserve and need.” The video was included in coverage of the health care decision from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal and was a fixture on cable news programs. It was also featured on this past Sunday's Meet the Press, as Romney surrogate Gov. Bobby Jindal was questioned about the footage.
Romney: "It's Not A Tax Hike. It Is A Fee."
With Romney & other Republicans attacking Obamacare as a tax increase, it's worth looking at how Romney viewed an identical policy when he was governor. Here's brand new video from the Mass. archives in which Romney says of the tax penalty for not purchasing health insurance: "It's not a tax hike. It is a fee, an assessment."
MEMO: Remember Scott Brown 41?
Now that the Supreme Court's majority has chosen legal precedent over Republican talking points, voters of Massachusetts should be reminded that despite his claims of bipartisanship, Brown took office on a promise to be the 41st vote against health care reform. Brown's efforts - to drive young adults off their parent’s health insurance coverage, to allow insurance companies to deny coverage for a pre-existing condition or to cancel your coverage after you get sick – have been frustrated. And the people of Massachusetts have learned that their Senator is more concerned about standing with his party’s leaders than taking real action to address the problems that plague our nation.
Background:
Brown Spoke Out against Health Care Bill. At a press conference at the headquarters of the Massachusetts Republican Party in Boston, Scott Brown spoke out against the health care reform bill. He said, “I could be the 41st senator that could stop the Obama proposal that’s being pushed right now through Congress. I could stop it and they could bring it back to the drawing board.” According to the Boston Globe, “Brown said this afternoon that everyone should have some form of health care coverage, but much of that should be done on a state-by-state basis. And while he supports the landmark health care proposal that Massachusetts approved in 2006, he said, he doesn’t see any benefit to the Bay State that the federal legislation would provide. ‘My primary responsibility is to ensure that the people of Massachusetts get the best value for their dollar,’ Brown said. ‘I’m not concerned about subsidizing South Dakota or North Dakota or Idaho or other states.’” The article also noted that Brown has filed a bill to ease requirements for insurance companies which, he said, would bring down costs. He believes that they should not be required to cover some medical procedures, like in vitro fertilization. [Boston Globe, 12/28/09]MEMO: The Individual Mandate Record Tommy Thompson Hopes You Forget
Today, the Supreme Court chose to uphold the individual mandate provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But when Tea Party-pandering GOP Senate candidate Tommy Thompson releases his statement expressing his profound disappointment with the Court’s decision, Wisconsin voters should remember that just a few short years ago it was Thompson, the former Secretary of Health and Human Services, who was touting the necessity of an individual mandate in health care reform.