The 2012 Elections

Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, 2008 US presidential candidate. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jim -- Today, Mitt Romney launched a shameless attack on the President, taking part of a statement he had made earlier about getting our economy back on track, and twisting it completely out of context.  As always, here are the straight facts: The President urged Congress to pass his jobs plan, noting that much of the job creation we've seen has been in the private sector. Remember, this is the guy who came into office in the midst of an economic crisis and helped turn it around to an economy that has seen 27 months of private sector jobs growth in a row, with 4.3 million jobs. The President said that while we still have more work to do in the private sector, it's doing fine compared to the public sector.  Here's what Romney turned that into: He acted as if the President said the economy is doing fine. That's right -- the man who said he likes to be able to fire people called our president out of touch, and then went on to criticize President Obama's jobs plan: "He says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. Did he not get the message from Wisconsin? ... It's time for us to cut back on government and help the American people." Apparently, Mitt Romney has decided we need fewer jobs for middle-class Americans, not more. This is a perfect example of how the Truth Team can help. If anybody questions why Congress needs to pass the President's jobs plan while the Romney campaign is still out parading this latest distortion, kindly point them to our first item in this week's tipsheet: #1 Tell Congress jobs can't wait We released a new ad this week asking supporters to join President Obama in calling on Congress to pass his bipartisan plan to create jobs right away. The plan isn't new -- the President introduced it nine months ago in an address to Congress. But congressional Republicans are still refusing to act. Apparently, defeating the President in November is more important to them than passing a proposal now that could create one million new jobs -- leaving teachers, construction workers, and many other Americans without work and waiting. This common-sense plan would put into action the ideas the President has laid out for jobs, including cutting taxes for small businesses that hire or raise wages and for companies that bring jobs home, expanding refinancing for responsible homeowners, creating a jobs corps for our veterans, and making smart investments in clean energy manufacturing. Take a look at the ad, share it, and ask your friends and family to join us in telling Republicans in Congress to start putting country ahead of politics, and get Americans back to work. #2 Romney's refusal to take a stand on equal pay This week, the Senate voted on the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would help women, who currently make 77 cents on every dollar a man earns, receive equal pay for equal work. It's a bill that gives women more tools to fight pay discrimination and helps close that gap by making it easier for them to learn whether they're being discriminated against, and protecting workers who share information about their wages from being fired. Astoundingly, all 47 Republican senators voted to filibuster the bill. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney was asked several times in the past few weeks about his stance on the bill, and he dodged the question each and every time. Take a look at our blog post about Romney's lack of leadership on this issue, and share it with your friends. #3 Romney's double standard In case you missed it, I recorded a video earlier this week about the wildly different standards the Romney campaign uses to judge the President's record and Romney's record as governor of Massachusetts. If you haven't yet, take a look and pass it along -- we really can't let them get away with this one. #4 Heard it all before Speaking of Romney's record as governor, we released a new TV ad this week looking at the mess he left behind in Massachusetts. You'll be hearing a lot more about Romney's Massachusetts record, because the promises he's making now are the same ones he made when he ran for governor in 2002 -- and people need to know that he failed to deliver. Watch the ad, and share it with others. Thanks, Stephanie P.S. -- This is something I just couldn't resist sharing -- last Friday, Tyler Sullivan, a Minnesota fifth-grader, missed school. But he had a pretty good excuse.