Tag: hypocrisy

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Romney ad features business owner who took hundreds of thousands in government help – while he criticizes that help

In the Mitt Romney campaign web and television ads that received national attention last week, a blunt Jack Gilchrist of Gilchrist Metal Fabricating in Hudson tells President Barack Obama that he, his father and his son _ and not the government _ built his company.

But as it turns out, Gilchrist did receive some government help for his business.

In 1999, Gilchrist Metal received $800,000 in tax-exempt revenue bonds issued by the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority “to set up a second manufacturing plant and purchase equipment to produce high definition television broadcasting equipment,” according to a New Hampshire Union Leader report at the time.

Last year, Gilchrist Metal also received two U.S. Navy sub-contracts totaling about $83,000 and a smaller, $5,600 Coast Guard contract in 2008, according to a government web site that tracks spending.

Jack Gilchrist said today his message is not “compromised” by the fact that he received the proceeds of tax-exempt bonds made possible by the federal government.

But he did not shy away from the fact that he has utilized government programs.

He also said his company received a U.S. Small Business Administration loan totaling “somewhere south of” $500,000 in the late 1980s.

“I’m not stupid, I’m not going to say ‘no.’ Shame on me if I didn’t use what’s available,” he said. “As a matter of fact, right now, I’m driving on a road.

“So, no,” said Gilchrist, “I don’t feel as though I’ve compromised anything or misled anybody.”

Via Unionleader.com

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Rick Santorum on Mitt Romney’s job creation record

Yep – you knew this was coming, didn’t you? A whole primary season’s worth of material custom made for the Democrats and President Obama.

Thank you Rick Santorum for doing our homework.

Btw – Rick Santorum will be campaigning for Mitt Romney soon. At that point I’ll be very confused on who the “flip-flopper” is…

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Fox News: What’s the BFD? WTF?

After its years-long misinformation campaign against health care reform, Fox News is now down to attacking the Obama reelection campaign for selling what Fox deems as “vulgar” T-shirts to celebrate the law.

The campaign recently released a line of T-shirts bearing the slogan, “Health reform still a BFD,” which plays off Vice President Joe Biden’s famous open mike moment during the health care law signing ceremony in March 2010.

On March 23, Fox’s leading culture warrior, Todd Starnes, called the “BFD” shirts “vulgar.” Fox Nation quickly trumpeted his attack:

This morning, the Fox & Friends Saturday crew devoted several segments to parroting Starnes, with guest co-host Nicole Petallides calling the shirts “so vulgar” and asking, “Would [Obama] like his daughters to wear that T-shirt?” Co-host Clayton Morris said: “I wouldn’t want my son to see that. I wouldn’t want him to see Daddy in a T-shirt like that.”

Morris also said that “you expect more from the presidency of the United States than to be tweeting out from their own account driving to you a T-shirt that has a vulgarity on it. It just doesn’t sit well.”

The Democratic National Committee’s Organizing for America arm released a line of shirts with the slogan, “Health reform is a BFD,” a week after Biden’s comment — two years ago.

And if Fox genuinely feels that “BFD” is offensive, wouldn’t the network also object to the “WTF” construct?

In January 2011, Fox News contributor Sarah Palin used the phrase “WTF” on the network to repeatedly attack Obama’s 2011 State of the Union speech. Palin, of course, was the Republican Party’s vice presidential candidate in 2008.
(source)

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Congressman Joe Walsh behind on child support while fighting debt reform

U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh of McHenry owes more than $100,000 in child support and interest to his former wife, she alleges in a Cook County Circuit Court filing.

The dispute, set out in a court filing last December, remains unsettled. Walsh’s ex-wife says he is $117,437 behind in payments.

Walsh, 49-year-old Republican, entered Congress in January, swept into office with help from tea-party activists. He often appears on television demanding the country drastically cut its spending and pay its bills.

Walsh, who lives in McHenry and has remarried, won office in November even after problems surfaced with respect to his financial history. He had a condo in Evanston that he lost to foreclosure and state and federal tax liens, which ultimately were satisfied.

John Coladarci, who represents Laura Walsh, said Thursday that she lives in the Chicago area and is a non-practicing attorney who works for Eli Lilly, the Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical firm.

He said she would not be speaking to the press, but noted the money she was seeking from Walsh was important to her.

“Laura needs the money,” Coladarci said. “She’s been scraping by pretty much on her own for years, trying to collect from Joe. It’s been very, very hard to raise three children on one income, as anyone who has done that knows. He hasn’t been particularly helpful in that aspect since 2005.”

The attorney said Walsh owes an additional $9,639 — on top of the child support and interest — which represents his 50 percent share of certain educational, extra-curricular, medical, dental and insurance expenses for the children.

Already, some $2,135 is being taken every month from Walsh’s congressional paychecks so he may meet his ongoing child-support obligations, Coladarci said.

Rank-and-file members of Congress are paid $174,000 a year.
(via Chicago Tribune)

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Missouri congressman calls for repeal of stimulus, attends ground breaking of stimulus project

Rep. Billy Long attends groundbreaking of stimulus
funded health care clinic

Freshman Rep. Billy Long (R-MO) called for a complete repeal of President Obama’s stimulus program during his campaign last year. “I hope that Congress will admit they made a mistake and vote to repeal the Stimulus Act in order to reduce our deficit,” he said confidently at the time.

On the second anniversary of the bill’s signing, Long sent out a press release claiming that the stimulus had “failed.”

On Friday, however, Long appeared with other community leaders to break ground for the new Access Family Care clinic in Cassville, Missouri. The construction was made possible with a $635,000 grant from the stimulus, secured in part by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), who unlike Long supported the stimulus.

Plans for the facility include housing three medical providers, two dentists and two dental hygienists. “This will be a great facility,” Long declared at the event.

I’m not sure if Long revealed to the audience that he had called for repealing the funds that made the clinic possible.

Ah, hypocrisy. It’s a funny word, isn’t it?