WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A motorcycle police officer who was part of President Barack Obama's motorcade to a campaign event in Florida died Sunday after being struck by a pickup truck.
Officer Bruce St. Laurent, 55, was a 20-year veteran of the Jupiter Police Department and one of several officers from agencies across Palm Beach County helping with security for the president's visit.
He was ahead of the motorcade on Interstate 95 preparing to shut down the highway when he was hit by the Ford F-150, Palm Beach County Sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera said. He was taken to nearby St. Mary's Medical Center and was pronounced dead.
Jupiter Police spokesman Sgt. Scott Pascarella, told The Palm Beach Post he trained St. Laurent when he was a new officer.
"We didn't lose a co-worker. We lost a friend," Pascarella told the newspaper. "He would do anything for anyone."
Barbera said an investigation was ongoing and no charges had yet been filed against the driver.
Obama was on the second day of a bus tour through the key swing state and made a campaign appearance Sunday at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said the president didn't see the accident, but he was notified of the officer's death and said "our thoughts and prayers are with the officer's family."
The Post also reported that St. Laurent had been a motorcycle officer for 18 years and in 2005 he earned a Distinguished Service Award by the Traffic Safety Committee of the Palm Beaches.
The newspaper reported that in 2001, he was injured when a vehicle he was chasing suddenly stopped and he rammed into it. The two occupants were later arrested, one on a charge of driving with a revoked license and the other for having an outstanding warrant for reckless driving.
President Obama is enjoying a post-convention bump in job approval (Gallup says 7 percentage points -- from 45 to 52 percent) after the negative and divisive Republican convention, followed by the energetic populism of the Democrats in Charlotte. With large leads among women and people of color, and the stark contrast on economic issues building movement toward Obama even among white males in key states, the prospects for Obama winning a second term are starting to look pretty good.
But what about the House? Prospects for Dems keeping the Senate are looking better, but if the House of Representatives stays in Republican hands, even if President Obama is re-elected his second term will be crippled. Obama can still name good Supreme Court justices, and he can veto terrible legislation -- both good reasons to vote for him -- but, in the face of Republican obstructionism, he will be virtually powerless to pass economic recovery laws aimed at creating jobs and getting the economy growing and not shrinking.
Obama has repeatedly told voters they have the opportunity to "break the current stalemate in Washington between two fundamentally different ideas on how to create strong, sustained economic growth" -- as he said in Cleveland on June 14. A few days later he told a campaign crowd "What's holding us back is a stalemate in Washington between two fundamentally different visions on which direction we should go, and this election is your chance to break that stalemate.".
Obama is right, of course, but only if the voters reelect him AND sweep into office at least 25 Democrats to seats now held by Republicans. You didn't hear much about taking back the House as a goal of Democrats at the Charlotte convention -- an indication that they don't want to look like failures if they fall short. But for the same reasons Obama now looks like a winner, Democrats and independent activists now have the possibility of "nationalizing" contests for the House and turning this election into an historic wave election that can truly "break the stalemate" and put the nation on a course of decisive change. How do we do that?
1. Tell voters Republican economics won't just fail -- they will kill jobs and plunge us back into recession.
Too many Democrats describe the Romney-Ryan-Republican economic plans as taking us back to "the failed Bush policies." But they are much worse than that -- because they would not only cut taxes for the rich, THEY WOULD KILL JOBS AND PUSH AMERICA BACK INTO RECESSION. Romney and Ryan (and every House member who voted for the Ryan budget) would cut public spending so drastically they would destroy our struggling recovery and throw millions more Americans onto the unemployment rolls. Republicans have voted repeatedly for this kind of European-style austerity. Democratic challengers should call them what they are: job killers. And challenge incumbent Republican Members of Congress to repudiate their votes for the Ryan budget.
2. Oppose outrageously unfair tax cuts for the wealthy.
House Republicans think making the Bush tax cuts for millionaires permanent is very popular with voters -- but they are very wrong. All but four House Republicans voted for the Ryan budget containing these tax provisions. Many of them were committing political suicide -- if Democrats take them on. Every tax provision in the Ryan budget is wildly unpopular in the minds of the majority of voters who reject the idea of more tax cuts for the super-rich. A June 2012 Peter Hart and Associates poll of likely voters for Americans for Tax Fairness found:
72 percent favor increasing tax rates on incomes above $250,000 (rolling back the Bush tax cuts).
68 percent favor ending tax breaks for corporations shipping jobs overseas.
64 percent want to ensure large corporations pay their fair share of taxes.
And 46 percent want to end the low (capital gains) tax rate on income from stocks and bonds
The take-away: Americans hate the idea of tax cuts for the wealthy -- on fairness grounds alone. But Republicans claim tax cuts for the rich are the best way they will create jobs, so the unpopularity of their tax plan (if we expose it) undercuts the entire GOP (so-called) jobs and growth plan as well.
3. Stand up for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid -- and expose all GOP incumbents who have voted to destroy those popular programs.
A large number of House Republicans are on record calling for cuts to Social Security benefits or increases in the retirement age. And many support the kind of privatization of Social Security that Paul Ryan called for in his 2010 Roadmap for America's Future, embraced by most of the House Republican caucus. If Democratic challengers are bold enough to declare opposition to Social Security benefit cuts and attack the idea of privatization, they will find they can put their Republican opponents on the defensive, as these damaging changes to America's most important retirement program are unpopular, even to members of the Tea Party.
All but four House Republican incumbents voted for the 2012 Ryan budget, which passed the House only to be defeated in the Senate. Denounced by the U.S. Catholic bishops for its very large cuts to programs aimed at reducing poverty, including Medicaid, the Ryan budget was described by the bishops as "fail[ing] to meet these moral criteria." And the "Nuns on the Bus" have been touring the country, rallying voters against Medicaid cuts.
The Ryan budget would also turn Medicare into a voucher system, which would cost seniors a larger and larger portion of their incomes, as the value of vouchers fail to keep up with the cost of health care. And it would force older Americans to deal with a confusing array of private insurance plans in their retirement years. This Medicare voucher plan, embraced by Mitt Romney, is very, very unpopular with seniors and Americans of all ages. Aggressive defense of Medicare by Democratic challengers can turn many a contest into an upset.
For those who doubt Dems can win in tough races, consider the 2011 special election victory of Rep. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat running in Jack Kemp's old upstate district, New York 26 -- which hadn't elected a Democrat in four decades. A Washington Post article attributed her victory to her opposition to the "House Republicans' budget plan authored by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan -- and, in particular, his proposal to turn Medicare into a voucher program." Hochul's winning message could win almost anywhere this year: "I won't to let them cut Social Security benefits and end Medicare as we know it while giving more tax cuts to the rich." That was, and is, a winning message. Add a plan for jobs, and your opponent is on the ropes by Election Day.
4. Fight for JOBS FIRST -- and go after every incumbent who opposed Obama's American Jobs Act.
Republicans won the House in 2010 by pointing to high unemployment and charging the Democratic economic program had failed. At that point Democrats had no new jobs plan to run on. A year ago, President Obama stopped talking about deficit reduction and put the American Jobs Act on the table. Every Democrat running for a House seat this year can accuse the Republican incumbent of blocking that jobs plan, which independent experts have estimated would have produced 1.9 million jobs by rebuilding America's infrastructure and schools and helping states hire, not lay off, teachers and cops and firefighters. Democrats need to campaign as a party with a popular plan to put people to work, grow the economy, and get the private sector growing faster. And it would be great if President Obama would campaign a little bit more like Harry Truman, denouncing Republicans in the House (what Truman called the "do nothing Republicans") for their obstructionism in blocking passage of his jobs bill.
Democratic candidates for the House also need remind voters that the (Romney-Ryan) Republican plan to slash public spending will kill jobs and throw the U.S. back into recession -- just as similar radical austerity regimes in Britain and Ireland and Spain and other European countries have caused recession to sweep the continent. We have to expose the Republicans' post-election plans to cut taxes for the wealthy (which won't stimulate the economy) and their plans to slash public investment, which will kill economic growth and increase joblessness. While acknowledging that we have to get deficits under control in the long term, Democrats must insist that America's first priority must be to get unemployment down and economic growth up. And that means getting voters educated and alerted to Republican plans to impose draconian austerity if they manage to keep the House. In the next 60 days, Democrats must be the champions of full-employment, and get the voters to see Republicans as the job killers that they are.
5. Charge up the Democratic base voters -- and give them a reason to get out and vote.
The spectacle of Republicans in Tampa attacking women, welfare-baiting minorities, and doubling-down on tax cuts for the rich has fired up Democratic base voters -- even among progressives, who may have problems with Obama, but who know letting Romney and a Republican Congress run the country would be a disaster. The Charlotte convention helped as well: showing off Democrats as both diverse and united -- and fighting for a much more progressive vision of our economic future.
President Obama is right when he says this election offers us the opportunity to "break the current stalemate in Washington between two fundamentally different ideas on how to create strong, sustained economic growth." But we all have to work to get him to go beyond a pitch for his own re-election. He should ask voters to "send to Washington a new group of Congressional leaders who will work with me to break that stalemate." As he gets more confident in his own re-election, I hope we can get him to call for throwing out the obstructionists.
However, as we've learned, we can't wait for Obama. It's our country, and we need to save it. So it's our job to get to work in every Congressional district that might produce that swing of 25 seats. We've got to teach the Democratic candidates how to campaign -- against the Romney-Ryan job-killing plan, for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, against unfair tax cuts for the wealthy, and for the Democratic plan for jobs.
As I write this, MoveOn is sending around Nate Silver's new analysis in the NY Times that finds "Obama's chance of victory would be an amazing 91 percent if everyone who's registered actually votes this year." MoveOn is asking for contributions to raise $600,000 this week to create (with the AFL-CIO's Workers' Voice) the largest independent get-out-the-vote operation in the country. This kind of thing is doable, and you can learn more here, because getting out the Democratic base vote -- and giving them good reasons to vote -- is going to be crucial in the next two months.
Here's another encouraging sign: Political scientists Jacob Hacker and Nate Loewentheil recently published a paper that summarizes in accessible (and non-political) language, the first four points above. After a blogger conference call to discuss A New Strategy for Prosperity, the legendary Digby and colleagues got the document to progressive House candidates they are supporting, and 16 of them have endorsed the ideas and are running under the banner of Americans for Real Prosperity.
The old optimism from 2008 is coming back -- tempered by the realities of the last four years. We should all work for the re-election of Barack Obama, but we should also work to make sure he has a Congress that can help him carry out the big changes that America needs. And we've got to make sure that after the election there is a powerful progressive movement pushing President Obama and the new Congress to do what needs to be done.
WASHINGTON -- The reelection campaign of Barack Obama is back in the lead on the fundraising front after raising $114 million in August. The total, which is a combination of funds raised by the campaign, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Obama's victory committee, exceeds the $111.6 million the Romney campaign said that they raised in combination with the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Romney Victory for the same time period. This marks the first time since the Romney campaign and the RNC started raising money together that the Obama team has beaten them in monthly fundraising.
"The key to fighting back against the special interests writing limitless checks to support Mitt Romney is growing our donor base, and we did substantially in the month of August," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a statement. "Fueled by contributions from more than 1.1 million Americans donating an average of $58 -- more than 317,000 who had never contributed to the campaign before -- we raised a total of more than $114 million. That is a critical downpayment on the organization we are building across the country -- the largest grassroots campaign in history."
The fundraising jump could help to put to rest a discussion that has occurred throughout the campaign about how the president is falling short in his fundraising, with the Romney camp's recent heavy fundraising seen as the latest evidence. The stated concern is that Obama is not meeting the fundraising record set in his first run for office in 2008 -- or the $1 billion campaign that officials in, or close to, his campaign allegedly once predicted.
The problem with these assertions -- which have circulated through blogs and news sites -- is that they've been wrong throughout the entire campaign. There is a chance that Obama will match the record $750 million that he raised for his campaign committee in 2008. That depends on the amounts the campaign raises in September and October. (It also depends on the breakdown of the $114 million raised in August and how much is for the campaign itself.)
One thing that is certain, Romney's campaign committee will not come close to reaching $750 in campaign receipts -- assuring that he will not be the "best-funded candidate ever." (Romney would have to raise $500 million for his campaign from August through October, or $200 million more than Obama raised during the same time in 2008.)
In fact, no matter how you slice the funds raised by the two candidates, Obama remains the leader, although Romney made up a lot of ground over the summer. Obama is way ahead when we just consider funds raised by the candidate's campaign committees and significantly leads when including the party committees. The most generous comparison, and the one that includes the just released, although not officially reported, August numbers shows that Obama, the DNC and his two victory committees have raised $689 million since April 2011, while Romney, the RNC and his victory committee have raised $613 million.
While each fundraising month is important, September will be the key month to watch in the post-public financing world. In 2008, Obama raised a record $150 million, for his campaign alone, and $192 million, when including funds raised by the DNC. Can either Obama or Romney match that amount?
The only indicator currently available is a push by the Obama campaign to get 600,000 grassroots donations during the Democratic National Convention week. By the end of Friday, at midnight, the campaign had received 700,000 donations. If those donations come in at the average $58 amount that the campaign has consistently raised then, in one week, they would have raised $40 million, solely from contributions received online.
On Romney's side, the August numbers could be seen as a let down. Raising $111.6 million is impressive, but it isn't much higher than his previous two months despite August including big events like his choice of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate and the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. These events should help with fundraising, but they appear to have had minimal impact in August.
Like every brand in existence, the CFDA president hosted a Fashion's Night Out event at her store on Thursday. But instead of trying to rile up excitement around shopping, Diane instructed the crowd at her Meatpacking District store to hurry home to watch President Obama speak at the Democratic National Convention, according to "Page Six":
"Everyone here better be a Democrat; no Republicans. Make sure you go home and watch the president at 10 p.m."
The 65-year-old political enthusiast couldn't get out of FNO fast enough, reportedly telling an attendee at her store, "I just want to leave and watch the president talk.” We're sure Diane was not alone in these sentiments during the big night though. Anna Wintour, Marc Jacobs and Jason Wu are among the fashion set that has been entrenched in the Obama campaign, so we imagine there were quite a few industry insiders rushing to get in front of a television that evening.
Did you have trouble balancing fashion and political priorities (not to mention, watching the VMAs) during Fashion's Night Out?
See more fashion people with strong political views!
NEW YORK — President Barack Obama can beat rival Mitt Romney as a television draw, but can't eclipse his old self.
The Nielsen company said 35.7 million people watched the final night of the Democratic convention on Thursday between 10 and 11 p.m. Eastern time. That's when the president delivered his nomination acceptance speech.
Last week, Mitt Romney had 30.3 million viewers for his speech at the GOP convention, with an assist from Clint Eastwood.
Four years ago, Nielsen said candidate Barack Obama's speech was seen by 38.3 million. But that estimate did not include PBS' audience, which no doubt pushed the audience over 40 million.
Even though NBC did not show the second night of this year's convention due to a football game, loyal viewers returned to Brian Williams for the final night. NBC's coverage was seen by 7.38 million viewers on Thursday.
CNN was second with 5.56 million viewers, MSNBC had 4.55 million, ABC had 4 million, PBS had 3.86 million, CBS had 3.29 million and Fox News Channel had 2.86 million, Nielsen said.
Shawn Lawrence Otto: Obama, Romney Spar Over Climate, Other Science Issues in Online Debate HPFB.init(); HuffPost's QuickRead...ShareBox.ad = function (tag_id){if ($(tag_id) == undefined) return; if ($(tag_id).innerHTML != '') return;ad_spec = {"zone_info": "huffpost.science","ord": 1347018528,"tile": 3,"width": 300,"height": 250,"el_id": tag_id + "_js","class_name": "ad_block ad_wide top","type": "iframe"}HuffPoUtil.WEDGJE.write(ad_spec, tag_id);};Loading... HuffPost's QuickRead... Loading... 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President Barack Obama and his challenger, Governor Mitt Romney, have answered 14 Top American Science Questions put to them by the grassroots nonprofit I lead, ScienceDebate.org. The candidates' answers provide valuable insight into their positions on issues that, while among the most important facing the country, usually get short shrift on the campaign trail. Here they are:
Innovation | Climate Change | Research and the Future | Pandemics and Biosecurity | Education | Energy | Food | Fresh Water | The Internet | Ocean Health | Science in Public Policy | Space | Critical Natural Resources | Vaccination and Public Health
One of the most interesting highlights from the responses is Mitt Romney's shift on climate change, away from his more recent position, which was, "My view is we don't know what's causing climate change on this planet," back toward the view he held in June 2011, shortly after announcing his run for the presidency, when he acknowledged that people are significant contributors to climate change. Four days after he made that statement, Romney was slammed by Rush Limbaugh, who said, "Bye-bye nomination. Another one down. We're in the midst here of discovering that this is all a hoax. The last year has established that the whole premise of man-made global warming is a hoax, and we still have presidential candidates who want to buy into it."
Romney's change in position is unlikely to please his base, many of whom continue to deny the findings of climate science, and to whom Romney has been joking about climate change. The shift signals that he has begun reaching out to more mainstream voters. But after acknowledging the reality and human causes, Romney moves back into denial when he says that there is no scientific consensus. There is. Romney uses this claim to justify rejecting cap-and-trade as a solution to climate change. He prefers to encourage innovation and increase nuclear power in a "no regrets" strategy. So, it's complicated.
The responses are interesting in other ways, as well. Although vaccines don't cause autism, Obama never calls out vaccine-autism science deniers, who are largely on the left, but neither does Romney.
Many readers have expressed surprise at the length and thoughtfulness of Romney's answers. Even so, readers have generally said they feel Obama's answers are more grounded on concrete, well-thought-out policy, but they are disappointed that his answers are largely touting past accomplishments or existing policy positions instead of charting a more visionary path forward on these big issues, like he did in 2008.
The responses are also notable for what they don't say. Some of the questions aren't fully answered when they become politically difficult, and others could really benefit from follow-up discussion; for example, what ideas do the candidates really have for solving problems that cross national boundaries, like climate change and the global financial crisis? Such problems are cropping up more and more in a world with a global economy but no global regulatory structure. When people have a chance to internalize gains and externalize losses, whether they be economic or environmental, they will.
The Top American Science Questions were developed by asking thousands of scientists, engineers, and concerned citizens to submit the most important questions they thought the candidates should be debating but weren't. ScienceDebate.org then worked with several leading U.S. science organizations, including the National Academies, the AAAS, the Council on Competitiveness, IEEE-USA, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and others listed on the site to refine those questions into the final 14 that the group universally agreed were the most important. Barack Obama and John McCain answered similar questions in 2008.
ScienceDebate.org is a grassroots nonprofit organization funded by small individual donations and run by volunteers. Its supporters include more than 40,000 scientists and engineers, concerned citizens, about 200 leading universities and science organizations, dozens of Nobel laureates, and notable writers and editors.
Along with its media partner, Scientific American magazine, the group has also asked some three dozen members of Congress who lead key science committees to answer a subset of eight of the 14 questions. To date, just two have responded.
The questions and answers are part of a larger effort to move political dialogue into the 21st century. Candidates readily debate jobs and the economy even though they are not economists; they debate foreign policy and military intervention even though they are not diplomats or generals; they debate faith and values even though they are not priests or pastors. They should be equally comfortable debating the Top American Science Questions that affect all voters' lives, and a forum, unlike an online exchange of answers, allows for pointed follow-up discussions that would be really helpful on these major topics. To date, neither candidate has accepted the invitation to a presidential forum on these important questions. We know the public's interested. 85 percent of likely voters want them to be debating these topics. The fact is that debating the big science issues is what America is all about. We're a country of innovators. We lead the world in science, though that position is now threatened. Having a simple debate on these topics is what leadership and democracy is all about, and it's high time that candidates realize it.
You can sign up to follow ScienceDebate's efforts at http://www.sciencedebate.org/signon.html.
Shawn Lawrence Otto is the co-founder of ScienceDebate.org and a science advocate. His new book is Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America. Visit him at http://www.shawnotto.com and like him on Facebook. Join ScienceDebate.org to get the presidential candidates to debate science.
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FOLLOW SCIENCE Like 21k Get Alerts #ad_bottom_article_text {margin-bottom: 15px} Climate ChangePresident Barack Obama and his challenger, Governor Mitt Romney, have answered 14 Top American Science Questions put to them by the grassroots nonprofit I lead, ScienceDebate.org. The candidates' answ...President Barack Obama and his challenger, Governor Mitt Romney, have answered 14 Top American Science Questions put to them by the grassroots nonprofit I lead, ScienceDebate.org. The candidates' answ... davewiner Barack Obama swipes at Mitt Romney over climate change jibe. http://t.co/JruhF22e 1 hour ago from Radio2 guardianeco Barack Obama swipes at Mitt Romney over climate change jibe http://t.co/LvOMC7cq 1 hour ago from twitterfeed AriMelber "Climate Change is not a hoax" - another place where Obama hits Romney on policy *and* accuracy. 9 hours ago from Twitter for BlackBerry® stuartmillar159 Obama responds to Romney dig on environment: "... climate change is not a hoax. More droughts and floods and wildfires are not a joke." 9 hours ago from TweetDeck ElectionWatch Not at DNC: TARP, stimulus, climate http://t.co/lvLZjfH0 #Romney #Obama 9 hours ago from dlvr.it climatebrad Obama's energy ad, more pro-oil than Romney was in 2007 http://t.co/eP97UtoN #climatesilence 21 hours ago from TweetDeck Show more results TOP INFLUENCERS ON THIS TOPIC 79 78 74 65 60 TOP LINKS ON THIS TOPIC 1 of 3
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Post to Facebook. Post to Blogger. Post to Twitter. Post to WordPress. Post to TypePad. Post to Tumblr. Post to Yahoo! Blogger login: Blogger password: Select blog: refresh list Remember me: Wordpress host: Wordpress login: Wordpress password: Remember me: TypePad host: TypePad login: TypePad password: Select blog: refresh list Remember me: Tumblr login: Tumblr password: Remember me: Community Notice: We've made some changes to our badge program, including the addition of our newest badge: Community Curator. View AllFavorites Recency | Popularity Page: 1 2 Next › Last » (2 total) Hoodedswan13 Fans 3 hours ago ( 4:06 AM)If 85% of likely voters want the candidates to debate these issues, then it's the responsibility of the debate organizers to include these questions in the upcoming televised debates. Anything that forces them off their scripted responses to the questions they expect to get are good.Hoodedswan: If 85% of likely voters want the candidates to debatehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Hoodedswan/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184724397.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… HUFFPOST SUPER USERLynda Groom192 Fans 5 hours ago ( 2:59 AM)Good luck on getting heart felt replies to the survey. These words from Isaac Azimov immediately come to mind.
'There is a cult of ignorance in the US, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notiong that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' Good words and certainly appropriate to this conversation.Lynda_Groom: Good luck on getting heart felt replies to the survey.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Lynda_Groom/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184718553.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… ubrew12that crazy uncle from Amarcord938 Fans 5 hours ago ( 2:53 AM)Romney: "there remains a lack of scientific consensus on the issue" Manufacturing doubt: Big money (oil in this case) needs to create doubt that a scientific or economic issue affecting their profit margin is real. Science and economics use precise, unambiguous language to engage the neocortex: not a great place to manufacture doubt. So the trick is to make the issue political, because political issues engage the reptilian brain (fear center), using language that is murky and ambiguous. Once you paint a scientific or economic issue as political, then positions on the issue support or attack 'the American Way'. Which is what, exactly? So, no consensus is even possible. Hence, action on the issue is delayed.
The cure is to ask people WHY they hold strong positions on a purely scientific topic. WHY care about global warming and not, for example, the existence of the Higgs Boson? Think back to WHEN someone made you care about the topic. Did they present it as scientific, or political, and if political, was it presented as a threat to 'the American Way'? Bam! That's the power of big money, to bury a purely cerebral concept deep into your fear center, where it's really hard to get back out.ubrew12: Romney: "there remains a lack of scientific consensus on thehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/ubrew12/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184717930.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… Robert Hargraves20 Fans 5 hours ago ( 2:08 AM)The way to satisfy both Republicans and Democrats is through new technology for energy cheaper than coal. Republicans fear that carbon taxes will put the US at an economic disadvantage to exempted developing nations. Democrats fear that continuing CO2 emissions will increase global warming with disastrous consequences for water and food. Both are right.
The US has the capability to develop advanced nuclear power technologies that can produce energy cheaper than coal. Making such clean, safe power plants available globally is the only way to convince 7 billion people in 250 nations from burning coal -- economic self interest.
The liquid fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR), originally developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratories, is now being refined by China, while the US fails to harvest this technology that could check global warming, end energy poverty, and as well lead to a $70 billion export industry. The new book about this,THORIUM: energy cheaper than coal, is described at http://www.thoriumenergycheaperthancoal.comRobert_Hargraves: The way to satisfy both Republicans and Democrats is throughhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Robert_Hargraves/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184712103.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… realtalking271 Fans 6 hours ago ( 1:03 AM)Do NOT expect to hear the truth whenever Mitt Romney speaks! Mitt Romney is a documented liar!realtalking: Do NOT expect to hear the truth whenever Mitt Romneyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/realtalking/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184700135.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… TrueConservativeWay5 Fans 7 hours ago (12:54 AM)It is good to see that Romney is learning conservatism. There is no uncontroverted evidence of man-made global warming.TrueConservativeWay: It is good to see that Romney is learning conservatism.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/TrueConservativeWay/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184698008.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share it HUFFPOST SUPER USERchrisd3Inconceivable!385 Fans 31 minutes ago ( 7:01 AM)Incontroverible facts: Outbound radiation is declining in the exact frequency bands that CO2 and methane absorb. Downward radiation is increasing in the same bands. The stratosphere is cooling while the troposhere warms. Nights are warming faster than days. Winters are warming faster than summers.
Every one of these is a signature of greenhouse warming..chrisd3: Incontroverible facts: Outbound radiation is declining in the exact frequencyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/chrisd3/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184738227.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments…This comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… ccbcBaylorZiman1 Fans 9 hours ago (10:55 PM)I believe that the issue of the preservation of our environment and natural resources is an extremely important topic that the candidates have failed to fully adress. I understand that presently the economy is the main issue on everybodys minds, however, protecting the environment and innovation in environmentally friendly technology go hand in hand with a good economy. For anybody to still deny humans impact on global warming is ridiculous. By creating regulations on carbon emissions and other factors that contribute to global warming we are not cutting economic opportunities but simply forcing manufacturers to be more innovative. In short, it is important for the candidates to fully adress issues concerning the environment and how we can work towards making the preservation of the environment beneficial to the economy.ccbcBaylorZiman: I believe that the issue of the preservation of ourhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/ccbcBaylorZiman/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184659055.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… HUFFPOST SUPER USERnet-drCollege Prof and Engineer and programmer16 Fans 13 hours ago ( 6:31 PM)Catastrophic AGW is a hoax to generate taxes.net-dr: Catastrophic AGW is a hoax to generate taxes.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/net-dr/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184581742.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share it This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program AnthropologistAmongApesGnothi Seauton1920 Fans 9 hours ago (10:13 PM)Denial is a con-spiracy to preserve a greed-driven worldview by exporting harm to future generations.AnthropologistAmongApes: Denial is a con-spiracy to preserve a greed-driven worldview byhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/AnthropologistAmongApes/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184647600.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program Climate Lurker143 Fans 9 hours ago (10:15 PM)You know what I hope for you, net-dr? I hope you have trouble sleeping at night, because it would mean there's integrity left in you. I know you know the truth, and you know it, and so do most of the people on here, and yet you continue to lie for money, or whatever your reason. I hope you lay awake at night thinking about the consequences you and others of your ilk are reaping on the poorest and least able to protect themselves. You can always walk away and find an honest living.Climate_Lurker: You know what I hope for you, net-dr? I hopehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Climate_Lurker/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184648072.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. There are More Comments on this Thread. Click Here To See them AllLoading comments… Loading comments… Loading comments…This comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… HUFFPOST SUPER USERSonicUltimate607 Fans 14 hours ago ( 5:44 PM)To quote Romney, in his response to the first question:
President Obama’s misguided attempts to play the role of venture capitalist, pick winners and losers, and spend tens of billions of dollars on politically-prioritized investments have been a disaster for the American taxpayer.
Uh, Mitt, isn't this the exact thing you do that you purport to be your MAIN qualifier for the Presidency?SonicUltimate: To quote Romney, in his response to the first question:
Presidenthttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/SonicUltimate/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184566038.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… HUFFPOST SUPER USERClimateHawkThink before posting.352 Fans 14 hours ago ( 5:42 PM)"his answers are largely touting past accomplishments or existing policy positions instead of charting a more visionary path forward on these big issues"
Indeed.
Give us a reason to vote for you again. Tell us what you are GOING to do, or what WE need to accomplish as a nation.ClimateHawk: "his answers are largely touting past accomplishments or existing policyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/ClimateHawk/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184565333.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… oafishcad1572 Fans 14 hours ago ( 5:36 PM)Science, Math, Facts? Don't need any of those if you're going to vote based on emotion and superstition. The superstition voters will drag the USA back into the caves if we let them. They have almost complete control of one major political party and most of the south. Heaven help the USA.oafishcad: Science, Math, Facts? Don't need any of those if you'rehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/oafishcad/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184563173.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… HUFFPOST SUPER USERJay DatermanDump The Teapot97 Fans 14 hours ago ( 5:29 PM)Since teapubs flee from. Science like bats on speed fleeing hell we should not. We should not be surprised by a know nothing attitude from them. They prefer the literalist bible thing so they are all into talking snakes, floods that cover the earth, and people networking on Sundays. Oops.....people working on Sundays makes money so that is ok.Jay_Daterman: Since teapubs flee from. Science like bats on speed fleeinghttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Jay_Daterman/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184560826.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… ILoveFictionThat's unbelievable!213 Fans 15 hours ago ( 4:48 PM)By Jove this is remarkable.ILoveFiction: By Jove this is remarkable.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/ILoveFiction/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184546285.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share it HUFFPOST SUPER USERjimboy71Hen Diapheron Heautoi1115 Fans 8 hours ago (11:09 PM)I'm featuring Anubis tonight.jimboy71: I'm featuring Anubis tonight.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/jimboy71/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184663487.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments…This comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… Bakutin30 Fans 15 hours ago ( 4:41 PM)The problem with getting candidates to answer science questions is they would have to do their homework first to make sure they don't say something that is an obvious error. Talking about economics is like talking about the weather, you make certain assumptions and then you guess what will happen. Talking about religion is less likely to get you in trouble. Voters don't much care about what the candidate thinks about religion as long as you don't say you're an atheist. Science, however, is something you have to understand in order to not look ignorant or foolish.Bakutin: The problem with getting candidates to answer science questions ishttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Bakutin/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184543867.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… josephjr10071 Fans 15 hours ago ( 4:09 PM)I am not a scientist by any means, a financial planner by trade BUT Dear Sir/Madame have you considered that Global Warming is the means to a perfect end. With warming our ice caps the resulting melt may cause coastal flooding of land at present sea level. BUT here's the thought that may change everything. In recent weeks scientist drilled several hundred meters below the Arctic Cap to take soil samples. The Samples revealed nutrient rich soil with evidence that this area now covered by ice was once a tropical rain forest. The extinction of the Dinosaur resulting from a mega meteor hitting the earth causing a cloud of dust so dense that it blocked the sun's warmth forming these polar ice caps and burying this rain forest beneath the ice --destroying a lush vegetative land. If uncovered, and the vegetation to take root; the oxygen produced could repairing the ozone layer, less of the sun's radiation would be reflected back into the atmosphere could just be the perfect end result of Global Warming. A thermal image from satellite over The Amazon rain forest or realize the amount of oxygen the Amazon produces. The melting of these caps, a 56 billion year cycle, could be the perfect end to repairing the earth. However in the interim, before this land roots as a rain forest, there will be global adjustment due to the warning. Just a hypothetical thought thanks for indulging me.josephjr1007: I am not a scientist by any means, a financialhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/josephjr1007/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184532191.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share it GuyRCFYI: there is a cream for micro-bio.181 Fans 14 hours ago ( 5:18 PM)That was Antarctica. Back then the coastal zone wasn't occupied by millions of people who are going to be driven inland onto land that is also occupied by millions of people. Back then there weren't millions of people struggling just to get fresh water out of acquifers that will soon be saline because of sea level rise. Back then there were no people.GuyRC: That was Antarctica. Back then the coastal zone wasn't occupiedhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/GuyRC/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184557091.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… cable1977Against logic there is no armor like ignorance397 Fans 13 hours ago ( 6:48 PM)You're right, you aren't a scientist by any means.cable1977: You're right, you aren't a scientist by any means.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/cable1977/obama-romney-spar-over-climate-other-science-issues-in-online-debate_b_1858942_184587353.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. There are More Comments on this Thread. Click Here To See them AllLoading comments… Loading comments… Loading comments… Loading comments… Loading comments… Loading comments… Loading comments…This comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. 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Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America
davewiner Barack Obama swipes at Mitt Romney over climate change jibe. http://t.co/JruhF22e 1 hour ago from Radio2 
guardianeco Barack Obama swipes at Mitt Romney over climate change jibe http://t.co/LvOMC7cq 1 hour ago from twitterfeed 
AriMelber "Climate Change is not a hoax" - another place where Obama hits Romney on policy *and* accuracy. 9 hours ago from Twitter for BlackBerry® 
stuartmillar159 Obama responds to Romney dig on environment: "... climate change is not a hoax. More droughts and floods and wildfires are not a joke." 9 hours ago from TweetDeck 
ElectionWatch Not at DNC: TARP, stimulus, climate http://t.co/lvLZjfH0 #Romney #Obama 9 hours ago from dlvr.it 
climatebrad Obama's energy ad, more pro-oil than Romney was in 2007 http://t.co/eP97UtoN #climatesilence 21 hours ago from TweetDeck Show more results TOP INFLUENCERS ON THIS TOPIC 
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