“…It didn’t work here so I’m not quite sure why he thinks it might work nationally…”

For republicans, that’s a feature, not a bug.

The Obama campaign has a new video on Mitt Romney’s (r) record in Massachusetts:

The transcript:

[2002]

[Mitt Romney ran for Governor of Massachusetts…

and he made a lost of promises.]

Mitt Romney (r): …We’re gonna have a stronger economy because I’m gonna be governor…

…I have experience in the private sector…

…I know how jobs are created and how jobs are lost…

…I’m gonna work tirelessly as governor, bring more good jobs to Massachusetts…

…I know how to solve a budget problem…

…I stand very clearly for lowering, uh, the taxes…

[Sound familiar?]

[Here’s Romney now.]…

…[2011]

…Jobs and the economy is what I know…

…I spent my life in the private sector…

…I know why jobs come and why they go…

…My number one job will be to see that America once again is number one in job creation…

[2012]

…I will finally get America on track to have a balanced budget…

..I will cut marginal taxes across the board…

[So what can we expect from a Romney presidency?]

…people want to know what I stand for, they can look at my record as governor…

John Barret: …Mitt Romney was not an effective leader in Massachusetts. And the proof is in the pudding…

Jay Kaufman: …I had worked only under Republican governors…

…and I worked really well with all of the others, but there was really not much working with Mitt Romney…  

Rob Dolan: When Governor Romney became governor of Massachusetts many of the issues that our country faces were at our door step, high debt, the need for jobs, the need to support a working middle class. There were great opportunities and there was great hope that Governor Romney could deliver. He didn’t deliver…

[Jobs]

[2002]    

Mitt Romney: …We need a job revolution, we need to have more jobs in Massachusetts, more good jobs. That’s the key to our future…

Karen Spilka: There was that promise, uh, and hope that Romney would deliver with jobs and grow the economy here in Massachusetts and that did not materialize.    

Jack Yunits: …Massachusetts growth stopped, companies stopped coming, that new jobs were not being created….

Jeffrey Sanchez: …We knew that we were losing manufacturing jobs and he never found any solutions to try and figure out how do we keep them…

…By the time that Romney left office we were forty-seventh in the nation in terms of job growth…      

Rob Dolan: During Mitt Romney’s tenure as governor wages dropped five percent his first two years which really had a very negative effect throughout Massachusetts…  

[Taxes & Fees]

[2002]

Mitt Romney: …I will fight to keep our tax rate, not going up, but to keep it where it is and then bring it down by the end of my first term…

Jay Kaufman: What we heard from Mitt Romney during the campaign was the no new taxes pledge…

…And he found very quickly once he was in office that he couldn’t deliver on any services without having sufficient resources, so he raised our taxes by raising our fees…

Rob Dolan: …But a rose by any other name is absolutely still a rose. Fees are an increase out of the pockets of every Massachusetts resident. That’s a tax. Let’s call it what it is…

Carl Sciortino: …Struggling working families, they were paying more under his administration. They’re paying at the Department of Motor vehicles, they’re paying for marriage fess and burial fees…

John Barret: …Every fee that he put in place or increased impacted mainly the average middle income person…

Carl Sciortino: …The only place that I remember Mitt Romney actually cutting taxes was for the two hundred and seventy-eight wealthiest families in our state…

[Debt]

[2002]

Mitt Romney: …I’ve indicated what my position is on how to balance the budget and it’s by cutting out waste and inefficiency and taking advantage of great efficiencies that I think we can capture…

Jay Kaufman: …under the Romney administration we accumulated the greatest debt build up of any state in the country, that’s after a campaign promise to do exactly the opposite…

Carl Sciortino: …He used debt to pay for annual operations costs. That’s like paying your, your rent on your credit card. And that was Mitt Romney’s way of paying for the way we maintained our highways, the way we cleaned our streets. It was a really flawed way of addressing basic operations, was to go deeper and deeper into debt…

Rob Dolan:…Governor Romney’s plan for America is the same plan that he sold to the people of Massachusetts in two thousand two, less government, less debt, better business, and less taxes. The result was the opposite, more fees, less business, more debt, bigger government here in Boston.  

John Barret:…He just did not get the job done. He just didn’t walk the talk…

Carl Sciortino:…There are time when I watch Mitt Romney saying the exact same things now that he said here in Massachusetts in two thousand and two, in a robotic way that is completely hollow. It didn’t work here so I’m not quite sure why he thinks it might work nationally…  

John Barret:…Romney economics doesn’t work. It didn’t work in Massachusetts and it’s not gonna work in Washington…  

[RomneyEconomics.com]

It’s the record, stoopid…

A billboard along Interstate 70 in Kansas.

Previously: PPP: Claire McCaskill, not particularly liked (February 1, 2012)

But, then, neither are the republican candidates – when people even know who they are…

Public Policy Polling [pdf] conducted a surveyed of 602 Missouri voters between May 24th and 27th. The margin of error 4.0%:

Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of Senator Claire McCaskill’s job performance?

Approve 40%

Disapprove 50%

Not sure 10%

Q2 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Todd Akin?

Favorable 21%

Unfavorable 21%

Not sure 57%

Q3 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of John Brunner?

Favorable 20%

Unfavorable 23%

Not sure 58%

Q4 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Sarah Steelman?

Favorable 30%

Unfavorable 26%

Not sure 45%

Karl Rove’s minions spent all that money and no one knows who their candidate is.

There’s an interesting crosstab:

McCaskill Approval

Approve 40%

Disapprove 50%

Not sure 10%

Democrat

Approve 74%

Disapprove 13%

Not sure 12%

Republican

Approve 9%

Disapprove 83%

Not sure 9%

Independent/Other

Approve 35%

Disapprove 57%

Not sure 7%

[emphasis added]

Interesting. One quarter of self described Democrats are not in the approval column.

Toss Up in Missouri

….There’s no more clarity for the general election than there is for the primary. Claire McCaskill is basically tied with all three of her competitors, leading Brunner 46-44, dead even with Steelman at 44, and down 45-44 to Akin. Little has changed since our last poll when all three match ups came down at 43-43….

So much for being in the center.

Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission::

C121042 05/29/2012 MISSOURIANS FOR HEALTH AND EDUCATION Orscheln Management Co. 2000 US Hwy 63 South Moberly MO 65270 5/29/2012 $25,000.00

[emphasis added]

A Missouri company, instead of an out of state interest, contributing to an initiative campaign in Missouri. How refreshingly different.

C121042: Missourians For Health And Education

Po Box 412887 Committee Type: Campaign

Kansas City Mo 64141

(816) 820-8201 Established Date: 01/26/2012

Statutory Amendment To Chapters 149 & 196 Rsmo Relating To Tobacco Taxation & Regulation 11/06/2012 Tobacco Taxation & Regulation Statewide Support

[emphasis added]

Previously:

Initiative petitions on raising the tobacco tax (February 14, 2012)

Campaign Finance: Initiative petitions on raising the tobacco tax (February 15, 2012)

Campaign Finance: cough, cough, hack, hack (April 10, 2012)

Campaign Finance: up in a cloud of smoke (April 20, 2012)

Campaign Finance: smoke gets in our eyes… (April 26, 2012)

Campaign Finance: stepping up to clear the air (May 25, 2012)

By @BGinKC

I knew that my first attempt at interviewing anyone on camera would have moments that would make me cringe, and I was right. But on the whole, all of my mistakes were rookie ones and I had to see and hear myself before I can get better at this new phase of my blogging life.

So what did I learn? I learned that I tilt my head to the left when I speak. If we hadn’t been doing the interview at a sidewalk cafe and kept the camera on the subject after the intro, it could have gotten really annoying. I’ll work on that. Ditto forgetting to make sure the mic is pointed toward the person doing the talking.

I also learned some practical things. Like don’t ad lib. I left my prepared questions and was in the weeds immediately. We left it in during editing to remind me not to do that again.

I also learned that when using a tablet PC instead of notecards, change the settings from “power saver” because the screen goes black at the. worst. times.

I also learned that while it sounds like a cliche, it’s true: I stop being nervous the instant the red light comes on.

All in all, while it was obviously a rookie effort, I’m still proud of the end result and look forward to developing the skills to get really good at it. And to that end, I have a couple of other interviews lined up and I’m doing the prep for them now.

I want to thank Senator Justus for agreeing not just to sit down and chat, but for being such a great sport and agreeing to go first. I would also like to thank the staff and management at Aixois in the beautiful Crestwood neighborhood, nestled between the Plaza and Brookside in beautiful Kansas City, for allowing us to set up and conduct this experiment. And of course, thank you Jerry Schmidt for the fantastic video and editing expertise. I would also be remiss if I didn’t thank the anonymous, but annoyed gentleman who graciously surrendered his table to us because it was the perfect place for us to set up.  

The shrill one:

….For the modern American right doesn’t care about deficits, and never did. All that talk about debt was just an excuse for attacking Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and food stamps….

And an excuse to reduce Willard’s tax rate to single digits.  

The retail price of gasoline in small town west central Missouri at noon on May 27, 2012. Still, it’s less expensive than beer.

Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) sent out a Memorial Day weekend e-mail to some constituents:

From: Representative Vicky Hartzler [….]

Date: Sun, May 27, 2012 at 7:00 AM

Subject: View From the Capitol – Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler’s Newsletter for the Week of May 21-25, 2012

To: [xxxxxxxxxx]

[….]

With the Memorial Day weekend comes the traditional start of the summer travel season. And the fact is gas prices are too high for many Missourians who cannot afford to take the family on vacation. It is time for the elected representatives of the people to take definitive actions to help seriously lower pump prices to allow Americans to spend more of their hard-earned money on paying the mortgage, putting food on the table, and – yes – enjoying that road trip with the family.

Gas prices are impacting the family budget. They have doubled since President Obama moved into the White House. Most economists agree that the price we pay at the pump is tied directly to supply and demand, meaning greater supply of gasoline would bring about much lower prices. Yet, President Obama has consistently stood in the way of efforts to increase supply. He has discouraged the use of American energy, put a moratorium on off-shore drilling, and delayed the issuing of drilling permits. His rejection of the Keystone pipeline project that would bring much-needed oil from Canada is the latest in a series of poor decisions to appease environmental extremists while increasing our dependency on Middle Eastern oil.

[….]

Americans are fed up with high gas prices. Common sense approaches from the House will develop more energy from all of our available resources and reduce energy prices. It is time America used the natural resources with which we have been blessed and stopped relying heavily on foreign dictatorships for our energy needs. Without this action, prices will most assuredly stay high. By embracing a proactive energy policy we could not only become energy independent as a nation, but also create jobs and preserve a cherished American tradition – the family vacation.

It is truly an honor to represent you in Congress.

Have a great week.

Vicky Hartzler

Member of Congress

Interesting. Let’s look at the current information on gas prices from the United States Energy Information Administration:

Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update

Gasoline Release Date: May 21, 2012

U.S. Regular Gasoline Prices*  (dollars per gallon)

Midwest (PADD2) 3.721 (05/07/12) 3.641 (05/14/12) 3.626 (05/21/12) values are down – 0.015 (week ago) values are down – 0.191 (year ago)

Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t the gas prices in the photo over forty cents a gallon less than the Midwest price from almost a week ago? Could that mean that gas prices are going down? Does President Obama get credit for that, too? Just asking.

From March 2012:

Oil war: the ad battle between ‘Big Oil’ and DNC, Part 1

Posted by Josh Hicks at 01:39 PM ET, 03/30/2012

….The Post created a graphic a while back to show how perception about gas prices doesn’t quite match the reality. Despite the way prices look, they are roughly average after adjusting for inflation. A rate of $1.38 per gallon in 1981 sounds amazing until it’s converted to $3.35 in today’s dollars – better than the current price, but still much higher than when Obama took office.

Inflation-adjusted gas prices have indeed doubled during Obama’s time in the White House, but they were unusually low when he took office because of the massive economic downturn. Rates have gradually increased back to normal levels as the economy has improved. As we said in a previous column, it’s doubtful that anyone wants to return to those conditions for the sake of cheap gas….

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t $3.20 less than $3.35? Just asking.

Previously:

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): we don’t need no stinkin’ objective reality (January 21, 2012)

Teresa Hensley (D): Vicky Hartzler <3 Big Oil (April 13, 2012)

This past week we spoke with Holmes Osborne (D), the Democratic Party candidate in the 53rd Legislative District, outside the Johnson County Courthouse in downtown Warrensburg. The district includes Lafayette County and a portion of Johnnson County. Holmes Osborne is a Chartered Financial Analyst and the owner of a small business in Odessa. We spoke about public infrastructure, jobs, and education:

Video by Jerry Schmidt.

Previously:

Holmes Osborne (D) on Occupy Wall Street (October 27, 2011)

Holmes Osborne (D): running for the Missouri House (November 29, 2011)

This past week we sat down to speak with Gary Grigsby (D), a Democratic Party candidate in the 51st Legislative District. The district extends from the eastern part Warrensburg in Johnson County, through parts of western Pettis County, into Marshall in Saline County. Gary Grigsby has owned and operated a small business in downtown Warrensburg for a number of years, lives in Johnson County, and was raised in Saline County. We spoke about the economy, jobs, and education:

Video by Jerry Schmidt.

Previously:

Unofficial Primary Results: 122nd Legislative District (August 3, 2010)

122nd Legislative District: April 2010 campaign finance reports (April 23, 2010)

Gary Grigsby at Missouri Boys State (June 22, 2008)