Jon Meacham: “Here’s the political problem, is if these were two, if this were an open seat, Obama could make this case. But, Obama’s got a record, and so – ”
Jeffrey Sachs: “I think that’s what makes it hard.”
Meacham: “It makes it really hard to argue -”
MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski: “Somewhat convoluted.”
Meacham: “Yeah, because don’t look at what I’ve done in the last four years, look at what he might do. That’s a very complicated balance.”
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough: “Because, Josh, at the end of the day, a reelection of a president is about whether you want to rehire this guy or fire him.
Josh Green: “Right. And I think the strategy on Bain is to shift from that question and make it, and put the spotlight more on Romney because there isn’t a morning in America type of economy, type of campaign for Obama to run.”
Scarborough: “You know, that may make sense in focus groups, but at a very gut level, when people walk into a voting booth. And I’ve seen it, I was talking about my dad and my mom, whenever they walk into a voting booth, and they close that curtain, it was like ‘Ok, how did this guy do over the past four years? Do we want to rehire him or should I give that other guy a chance?’” (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 5/25/12)
Corzine’s Risky Bet
Obama’s “Wall Street Guy” Lobbied Regulators For Rules That Pleased Him, Leaving MF Global Customers To Face The Consequences
OBAMA LAUDED JON CORZINE AS HIS “WALL STREET GUY” WHO HELPED CRAFT THE STIMULUS
Obama: Corzine Is “Our Wall Street Guy.” “The rollout also provided a showcase for Corzine, the former Goldman Sachs CEO whom Obama referred to as ‘our Wall Street guy’ at a meeting of Democratic governors in Chicago on Friday.” (Claire Heininger, “Corzine Profile Rises In Obama Camp,” The Star-Ledger (NJ),6/23/08)
Obama: Corzine “Was An Ally With The Obama Administration In Helping Us Develop A National Recovery Plan.” OBAMA: “Jon Corzine wasn’t just the first governor to pass an economic recovery plan for his state; he was an ally with the Obama administration in helping us develop a national recovery plan.” (President Obama, Remarks By The President At New Jersey Rally For Governor Jon Corzine, Holmdel, NJ, 7/16/09)
Vice President Biden: “Jon Corzine Helped Craft The Recovery Act.”BIDEN: “It’s not coincidental that that’s what the Recovery Act is. Jon Corzine helped craft the Recovery Act. It’s not coincidental that the things he did here turned out to be the exact same things the recovery act has because way back in the transition period before we were sworn in, when Barack Obama and I were literally sitting at a desk in a high rise in Chicago beginning to plan how we would try to get this economy out of a ditch, literally the first guy I called was Jon Corzine. Not a joke. Not a joke. Because first of all, he’s the smartest guy I know in terms of the economy and on finance.” (Vice President Joe Biden, Remarks, NJ, 5/7/11)
In The Early Days Of The Obama Administration, Biden “Literally” Called Jon Corzine For Advice On The Economy Because “He Knew About The Economy … And We Trusted His Judgment.” “‘I literally picked up the phone and called Jon Corzine and said Jon, what do you think we should do,’ Biden said. ‘The reason we called Jon is that we knew that he knew about the economy, about world markets, how we had to respond, unlike almost anyone we knew. It was because he had been in the pit — because he had been in the furnace. And we trusted his judgment.’” (Conor Friedersdorf, “Obama’s Team Relied On Jon Corzine For Economic Advice,” The Atlantic, 11/14/11)
Corzine Was The Obama Campaign’s Wall Street Liaison
Corzine Played A “Central Role” In Obama’s Wall Street Fundraising Efforts. “His new legal troubles, sparked by the bankruptcy filing of his investment firm, MF Global, could complicate the president’s efforts to raise money from the financial community given Corzine’s central role in those efforts.” (Michael Isikoff, “Corzine, Top Obama Fundraiser, Under FBI Investigation,” MSNBC, 11/2/11)
Corzine Bundled Over $500,000 For Obama’s Reelection Campaign. (Center For Responsive Politics, Open Secrets, Accessed 5/22/12)
- The Obama Campaign Has Not Returned The Bundled Money. “Corzine was one of 41 donors who bundled more than $500,000 this year for Obama’s re-election effort, according to documents released by the campaign Oct. 14. The campaign doesn’t plan to return those bundled donations and will evaluate other contributions from MF Global employees on a case-by-case basis, according to the Democratic official.” (Hans Nichols, “Obama Returns $70,000 In Corzine Donations,” Bloomberg, 12/23/11)
CORZINE PERSONALLY LOBBIED REGULATORS SO HE COULD CONTINUE HIS RISKY BETS AT MF GLOBAL
While At MF Global, Corzine Borrowed Money From Other Accounts To Fund Firm Trading, A Practice Known As “Internal Repo.” “At MF Global, his strategy was simple: ‘We are transforming from sort of an old-like brokerage firm into an investment bank’ Corzine told CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo. Key to his plan was a massive bet on European government bonds – a bet that would swell to more than $6 billion, and ultimately lead to MF Global’s collapse. Corzine’s bet could not have occurred without a finance strategy known as ‘internal repo.’ In essence, MF Global was borrowing money from customer accounts and using it to fund trading in another part of the firm. During the summer of 2011, however, just months before MF Global filed for bankruptcy, internal repo was a strategy regulators were hoping to do away with.” (Jason Breslow, “How Corzine Steered Regulators To Protect Fatal MF Global Bet,” PBS, 5/22/12)
Empty Promises: College Costs Still Rising
Ex-Rep Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN): Booker Was Right The First Time
Obama Deputy Campaign Manager: Economy “Will Continue To Be A Challenge” For Us
PBS’ Jeffrey Brown: “I’m wondering if this is frustrating for you. I went back and looked at an interview you did with Jim Lehrer for our program two years ago. Very similar situation, even some of the same language about the scars, about how long it takes, about seeing some signs of progress but not enough and here you are two years later still saying the same thing. Is that frustrating?”
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner: “No, I think that was the reality we faced.” (PBS’ “New Hour,” 5/17/12)
PROMISE: In 2008, Obama Promised A “Net Spending Cut” To The Federal Budget By Going “Through The Federal Budget Line By Line, Page By Page.” OBAMA: “But there is no doubt that we’ve been living beyond our means and we’re going to have to make some adjustments. Now, what I’ve done throughout this campaign is to propose a net spending cut.” (Third Presidential Debate, Hempstead, NY, 10/15/08)
OBAMA: “We need to eliminate a whole host of programs that don’t work.And I want to go through the federal budget line by line, page by page, programs that don’t work, we should cut.” ( Third Presidential Debate, Hempstead, NY, 10/15/08)
BROKEN: Federal Outlays Have Increased By 20.4 Percent Since Obama Took Office. The federal government spent $3.1 trillion in FY2008 in inflation adjusted dollars. Under Obama, in FY2012 the federal government spent $3.8 trillion dollars.(“Table 1.3 - Summary Of Receipts, Outlays And Surpluses Or Deficits In Current Dollars, Constant (FY2005) Dollars, And As Percentages Of GDP: 1940-2016,” Office Of Management And Budget, Accessed 5/16/12; “Budget Of The United States Government, Fiscal Year 2013,” Office Of Management And Budget, 2/13/12)
The Obama-Biden Attacks On American Coal Energy Jobs
In 2008, Obama Said Adding $4 Trillion To The National Debt Was “Irresponsible” And ”Unpatriotic.” OBAMA: “The problem is, is that the way Bush has done it over the last eight years is to take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children, driving up our national debt from $5 trillion for the first 42 presidents - #43 added $4 trillion by his lonesome, so that we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back — $30,000 for every man, woman and child. That’s irresponsible. It’s unpatriotic.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At A Campaign Event, Fargo, ND, 7/3/08)
Since Obama Took Office, The National Debt Has Increased By Over $5.0 Trillion, An Increase Of Over 47 Percent. (U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 5/11/12)
