Strategic Allied Consulting Busted For Voter Registration Fraud…..Again.

   After getting nailed in Florida last week for attempting to register only Republican voters while originally telling possible registrants that they were doing surveys, we now have a teenaged girl on video in another state pulling similar stunts.

  The Republican Party can’t even hire people smart enough to get votes without getting nailed.

   That’s what all of those Republican cuts to education will do to you.

By Elisabeth Parker  September 29, 2012    AddictingInfo.org

On September 28th, a shopper at a Safeway in Colorado Springs, Colorado used her cell phone to videotape a teenage girl cheerfully admitting to voter registration fraud in favor of (surprise!) GOP not-particularly-presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The teenager claimed that she was registering voters for the El Paso County Clerk’s office, and finally let slip, “Well, I’m actually trying to register people for a particular party. Because, we’re out here in support of Romney, actually.” The Safeway shopper rightfully felt suspicious, and posted the video to You Tube.

For a transcript of the video, read below:

[Safeway Shopper with cell phone video recorder turned on approaches Teenage Girl ostensibly gathering voter registrations]

Teenage Girl: Would you vote for Romney or Obama?
Safeway Shopper: I thought you were registering voters a minute ago.
Teenage Girl: [puzzled] Um … I am.
Safeway Shopper: [suspiciously] All voters?
Teenage Girl: [perkily] Well, I’m actually trying to register people for a particular party. Because, we’re out here in support of Romney, actually.
Safeway Shopper: And who’s paying you for this?
Teenage Girl: [cagily] Oh, um, the … let’s see … we’re working for the County Clerk’s office.
Safeway Shopper: [vehemently] OK, you cannot come here and register one party, lady. Are you working for the County Clerk’s office? I’ve got it all on tape.
Teenage Girl: [holds out hand to hide her face]
Safeway Shopper: [raises voice] You’re working for the County Clerk’s Office?
Teenage Girl: I believe so, yes.
Safeway Shopper: [increasingly outraged] And you’re only registering Republicans?
Teenage Girl: [brightly] Nope.
Safeway Shopper: You said you were only registering Romney people.
Teenage Girl: [smugly] Well, we’re trying to…to be honest.
Safeway Shopper: [almost shouting] And you’re working for the COUNTY’s OFFICE? What’s your name?
Teenage Girl: [with a baffled smile and eyes goggling in disbelief] Ma’am, my name is ___________.
Safeway Shopper: That’s all I need, honey bunch.

Redditor Internet Detectives are on the case trying to ID the young lady

Further investigation by Denver, Colorado-based KTVU/Fox31 TV Political Reporter Eli Stokols revealed that the teenager was actually employed by the Strategic Allied Consulting group, which had been hired by the Colorado Republican Party to increase GOP voter turn-out. The firm was subsequently fired following distribution of the video (see September 28th’s “Colo. girl registering ‘only Romney’ voters tied to firm dumped by RNC over fraud“).

If the firm’s name sounds familiar, that’s because Strategic Allied Consulting was also recently dropped by the Republican National Committee and the Florida Republican Party amidst news headlines and allegations of voter fraud in 10 Florida state counties. According to Phillip Elliot’s September 28th article in the Florida Times Union, 108 questionable new voter registrations were red-flagged in Palm Beach County, FL alone. As followers of the 2000 presidential election may recall, disputed ballots from Palm Beach County played a crucial role in the Supreme Court’s decision to appoint George W. Bush … um … rule in favor of a George W. Bush victory. (Fun fact: The Bush v. Gore SCOTUS decision was clarified by the justices to be non-precedent-setting. Normally a SCOTUS decision sets a precedent for lower courts to cite and / or examine when they are dealing with future similar legal disputes. Bush v. Gore has been designated as a stand-alone unique decision.)

The Virginia-based firm is run by Nathan Sproul, who also owns the Lincoln Strategy Group … which, coincidentally, has also been involved in widely-reported voter fraud scandals. According to the Los Angeles Times, the RNC requested that Sproul create the newly-minted Strategic Allied Consulting company to avoid the negative publicity associated with Sproul’s older firm. To date, the Florida Republican Party has paid Sproul $1.3 million, and the Colorado Republican Party has shoveled out more than $500,000. Before cutting ties, the RNC had also retained Strategic Allied Consulting to handle voter registration drives in Virginia, North Carolina, and Nevada, in addition to get-out-the-vote drives in Wisconsin and Ohio.

Technorati Tags: Strategic Allied Consulting,Voter Registration Fraud,The Republican Party,Mitt Romney,2012 Elections,Current Events

Who Has Two Thumbs And Oversaw The Growth In Manufacturing – This President

By Nathaniel Downes   September 26, 2012    AddictingInfo

The good news for President Obama keeps on coming. Now Bloomberg is confirming what many have said, that the US is experiencing solid Manufacturing growth. The new level of 12 million manufacturing positions is still 7 million less than the highest point, set in 1979, but it is a solid improvement after the Bush administration had manufacturing drop from 17 million when he took office to 11 million when he had left. Obama’s 8% gain in Manufacturing jobs is a bright spot and an upswing for the nation.

Now, some have said that the reason for US manufacturing decline has been the cost of the US worker. But studies show that the US Worker’s direct cost is now 40% lower than comparable manufacturing nations, while the overall cost is higher due to factors outside of the worker. Reports cite the lack of a national healthcare, that the US lacks a full pension system, that US courts are too heavily weighed in favor of giant corporations and not to smaller entities, for US having lax consumer protections, and the lack of regulations as the prime drivers for increased manufacturing costs, not the workers.

It was none other than Alexander Hamilton, the first US Secretary of the Treasury, who put forth that America must be a nation of manufacturers. His economic program with its heavy focus on domestic, self-sufficient manufacturing, became known as the American School of Economics.

Obama is not an economics master, he is a constitutional lawyer turned politician. But even he understands that a strong manufacturing base is essential for our economy. That message seems lost on the Republican party, who have run someone who outsourced jobs to foreign nations.

Thom Hartmann gave advice to President Obama shortly after he won in 2008, before he had taken office. That advice was simple, listen to the wisdom of Alexander Hamilton, of the American School. With the turnaround in manufacturing, and the Obama Administration standing up to China and other trade-bullies, it might be that the President has listened after all.

                                           Creative Commons License

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama,Manufacturing,The Economy,Current EventsEmployment

Friday Funnies: Mitt Romney Is Stupid Edition

   So Mittens thinks that airplane windows should be made to be opened? What an idiot!

Jimmy Fallon: "Clint Eastwood’s new movie, “Trouble with the Curve,” opened in third place this weekend after making only $12 million. Of course, when he saw a movie theater had so many empty seats, Eastwood was like, 'Look at these crowds!'"

Jay Leno: "Well, last week in Vermont, the guy from the Dos Equis beer commercials -- you know "the most interesting man in the world" -- he hosted a fundraiser for President Obama. See, that shows you how things have changed. Four years ago the slogan was hope and change. Now it’s 'stay thirsty my friends.'"

"At a concert the other night, Madonna promised fans that she will strip naked if President Obama is reelected. Is it just me, or does that sound like an endorsement for Mitt Romney?"

"Congratulations to both Mitt Romney and President Obama. They both won Emmys for their performance on "60 Minutes" last night. Obama won for acting as if everything has gotten better over the last four years, and Romney won for pretending to care about that other 47 percent."

"A new book claims the reason Texas Gov. Rick Perry did so terrible in the debates and forgot everything was due to a sleep disorder. Apparently the disorder was he slept through grade school, high school and college." –Jay Leno

Seth Meyers: "The 14 percent tax rate Romney paid is less than the 20 percent paid by the average American. How does he pay such a low rate? He claims 47 percent of Americans as dependents."

Technorati Tags: Mitt Romney,Barack Obama,Republicans,Late Night Talk,Jay Leno,Bill Mahar,Political Humor,Current Events,Friday Funnies

MoveOn Calls For Criminal Investigation Into Mitt’s Time At Bain Capital

   Via AddictingInfo.org on September 27, 2012

   By Don Hamel               Creative Commons License

This morning, MoveOn.org sent an 8 page analysis of Mitt Romney’s financial disclosure to the U.S. Department of Justice, outlining their contention that Romney lied about the extent of his involvement in Bain Capital in his federal financial disclosure filing (form SF-278). If that is the case, Mitt Romney could be prosecuted under the federal False Statements Act (18 U.S.C. §1001), a felony.

According to their website the analysis contends, in brief, that:

Romney claimed in his disclosure filing that he departed from “any” active role in Bain Capital in 1999, which would be politically convenient because it was before Bain Capital was most heavily involved in outsourcing jobs. However, the legal analysis released today, which includes a review of state law in Delaware, where Bain Capital was incorporated, concludes that existing evidence is “clearly inconsistent with [Romney’s] flat disavowal of ‘any’ involvement in the ‘operations of any Bain Capital entity in any way’” after 1999.

It is undisputed that Romney was the sole director, Chief Executive Officer and President of Bain Capital, Inc. at least through the middle of 2000. MoveOn’s analysis finds that under Delaware law, while he held these titles, Romney was legally required to maintain “reasonable oversight” of Bain, which contradicts Romney’s claim in his 2011 disclosure filing that he did not have “any” involvement in Bain after 1999.

Reports that Romney’s financial disclosures are at odds with Bain’s records have been widespread. Even ultra-conservative Forbes magazine expressed grave doubts about the veracity of Romney’s timeline. However, like his tax returns, Romney’s seeming unwillingness to deal honestly with voters is a huge, well-known issue, that hasn’t yet been fully explored.

The full text of the document sent to the DOJ was further analyzed and seconded by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), whose Executive Director stated:

CREW strongly supports a Department of Justice investigation into the evidence that Mitt Romney remained involved with Bain Capital after 1999, given that he stated the exact opposite in his financial disclosure forms in apparent violation of the False Statements Act.

Any investigation that the DOJ undertakes will immediately be inundated with accusations of ‘partisan politics.’ But all appearances suggest a rather obvious discrepancy in Bain documentation and Romney’s statements. Furthermore, lazy misrepresentations  have been a hallmark of the Romney campaign since its very beginning; it’s almost as if he’s daring someone to do something about it.

And finally, someone has.

Technorati Tags: Mitt Romney,Bain Capital,S.E.C.,False Statements Act,Current Events