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Of the least-insured metropolitan areas in the United States, seven of the top ten fall in states where the Governor has refused to accept the expansion of the Medicaid program offered up under Obamacare. Texas Gov.

Tags: #Medicaid, advice, author, black, economy, election, florida, rick scott, rick-perry, tweets

Tags: action, facebook, feeds, health, media, organizations, rick-perry, tweets, war on drugs, womens-health

‘Seventeenther’ Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) Late last week, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who is currently campaigning for the U.S.

Tags: affordable care act, constitution, elections, governor, progressive news, rick-perry, security, video

Romney has placed his record at Bain at the center of his campaign. In April for example, Romney said, “ You might have heard that I was successful in business . And that rumor is true…And after 25 years, I know how to lead us out of this stagnant Obama economy and into a job-creating recovery!” ( Multiple independent fact checkers have concluded that Romney’s claims on job creation at Bain are simply false.) On Monday, President Obama took Romney at his word and noted that the former Massachusetts governor’s record at Bain Capital is “ not a distraction ” but “what this campaign is going to be about.” Romney’s Republican primary opponents agreed, and in the last six months offered criticism of his tenure at Bain that make Obama’s remarks sound tame by comparison. Here are the top 10 comments about Bain from Romney’s Republican rivals: 1) “The idea that you’ve got private equity companies that come in and take companies apart so they can make profits and have people lose their jobs , that’s not what the Republican Party’s about.” — Rick Perry [New York Times, 1/12/12] 2) “ The Bain model is to go in at a very low price, borrow an immense amount of money, pay Bain an immense amount of money and leave . I’ll let you decide if that’s really good capitalism. I think that’s exploitation.” — Newt Gingrich [New York Times, 1/17/12] 3) “Instead of trying to work with them to try to find a way to keep the jobs and to get them back on their feet, it’s all about how much money can we make, how quick can we make it, and then get out of town and find the next carcass to feed upon ” — Rick Perry [National Journal, 1/10/12] 4) “We find it pretty hard to justify rich people figuring out clever legal ways to loot a company , leaving behind 1,700 families without a job.” — Newt Gingrich [Globe and Mail, 1/9/12] 5) “Now, I have no doubt Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips — whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out because his company, Bain Capital, of all the jobs that they killed ” — Rick Perry [New York Times, 1/9/12] 6) “He claims he created 100,000 jobs. The Washington Post, two days ago, reported in their fact check column that he gets three Pinocchios. Now, a Pinocchio is what you get from The Post if you’re not telling the truth .” — Newt Gingrich [1/13/12, NBC News] 7) “ There is something inherently wrong when getting rich off failure and sticking it to someone else is how you do your business, and I happen to think that’s indefensible” — Rick Perry [National Journal, 1/10/12] 8) “ If Governor Romney would like to give back all the money he’s earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees over his years , then I would be glad to then listen to him” — Newt Gingrich [Mediaite, 12/14/11] 9) “If you’re a victim of Bain Capital’s downsizing, it’s the ultimate insult for Mitt Romney to come to South Carolina and tell you he feels your pain, because he caused it .” — Rick Perry [New York Times, 1/8/12] 10) “ They’re vultures that sitting out there on the tree limb waiting for the company to get sick and then they swoop in, they eat the carcass. They leave with that and they leave the skeleton” — Rick Perry [National Journal, 1/10/12] Just last night, Newt Gingrich defended his attacks, saying “ I think there are things you can legitimately look at in Bain Capital . I think there are things you can legitimately look at in anybody’s record including Mitt Romney’s record.”

Tags: climate, deficit, economy, feeds, health, marriage equality, mitt-romney, president, rick-perry, taxes

From: Ben Adler Ben Adler Environmentalists fear a Romney presidency. 

Tags: chemicals, crossroads gps, david koch, energy, family relation, function-load, governor, rick-perry, var-addtl, var-oldonload

On Fox News Sunday this morning, Mitt Romney announced that his campaign will release his 2010 tax returns on Tuesday, as well as an “estimate” of his 2011 tax returns. He avoided offering the returns from any years prior but explained that all the investments and taxes were paid in the United States and “you’ll see it’s a substantial amount.” This is the third stance Romney has taken on his tax returns. He first refused to release anything , then said he would release some returns in April if he wins the nomination.

Tags: economy, facebook, green, health, january-2012, media, politics, rick-perry, thinkprogress, tuesday

The 1997 House ethics investigation into then-Speaker Newt Gingrich has resurfaced on the campaign trail, but Gingrich told CNN’s Candy Crowley that all information relevant to the scandal was already public. Gingrich said the $300,000 penalty he was ordered to pay by the House Ethics Committee was a reimbursement for the cost of the investigation, and that “on every single count, I was exonerated.” He added that many House Republicans to vote “yes” on the ethics charges against Gingrich in order to put it behind them more quickly, rather than because they believed he had done anything wrong. Watch Gingrich’s explanation here: As Gingrich himself admitted later in the interview, he was not exonerated on every count. While most of the initial charges against him were dropped, he was sanctioned on one count of flouting tax laws relating to a college course he taught that received non-profit status even though it was political in nature. And contrary to Gingrich’s claim that House Republicans voted to reprimand him simply to move on, many said at the time that they were very disturbed by Gingrich’s actions. “Newt has done some things that have embarrassed House Republicans and embarrassed the House ,” said Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) at the time. “If [the voters] see more of that, they will question our judgment.” Even Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), who cast the lone dissenting vote on the ethics committee against charging Gingrich, the Speaker made “ real mistakes but they shouldn’t be hanging offenses.”

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From: Katie Halper Katie Halper Here are some of his Perryisms we’ll miss. 

Tags: editor's picks, election-2012, electoral politics, function-load, rick-perry, script, typeof-window-onload, var-addtl, var-oldonload

Foreign Policy’s Josh Rogin reports that the U.S. is considering shutting down its embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus. Violence has recently reached near the central city, raising concerns among several missions there. The U.S. is negotiating with the Syrian government over new security measures in the surrounding streets, and if a suitable resolution cannot be reached, the embassy could close its doors. “We’ve had serious concerns about the fact that the mission is exposed, as have other embassies,” an administration official told Rogin. “We’ve been in to see the Syrians to request extra security measures. They are deciding what they can do.” Amb. Robert Ford , who showed “ solidarity ” with protesters and faced physical attacks , left Syria this fall for six weeks, but since returned .

Tags: #Syria, author, diplomacy, foreign policy, health, media, rick-perry, security, since-returned, syria-mission, thinkprogress

In a remarkably quick political two-step, Gov. McDonnell (R-VA) endorsed Mitt Romney this morning, and told Politico the multi-million dollar candidate should speed up the disclosure of his tax returns this afternoon. “He said he’ll release them in April, that’s when most people have done it, that’s up to him,” McDonnell said. “I’d say the sooner the better, but look, that’s a call for him.” This follows Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), who also piled on Romney earlier today concerning the same issue.

Tags: bob-mcdonnell, economy, facebook, feeds, rick-perry, security, taxes, told-politico