Obama Speaks in Portland Oregon July 24

Romney will have difficulty twisting Obama's words and intended meaning from this video, unless Romney splices a bunch of videos, which is a possibility given the lack of integrity from the Romney campaign. Partial video for now:





Obama reiterates that Romney lied about what Obama said:

Romney Signed Law Banning Assault Weapons in Massachusetts

As governor, Romney was an advocate of gun control. Who knew? The president of the leading gun control group says Romney did a lot for stricter gun laws when he was governor of Mass.

“In their time in office, I would say with a pretty strong degree of certainty that Romney did more,” says Dan Gross, the president of the Brady Campaign, the pro-gun-control group named for former White House press secretary Jim Brady. “However, Romney has certainly gone further out of his way to pander to the gun lobby during the election.” When he was the governor of Massachusetts, Romney signed a ban on assault weapons, like the one used in the movie theatre in Aurora. “Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts,” he said at the time. “These guns are not made for recreation or self-defense. They are instruments of destruction with the sole purpose of hunting down and killing people.” Romney also signed a law that raised the state’s gun-licensing fee to a hundred dollars, from twenty-five. New Yorker

So why does the NRA hate Obama so much?

"With the extent to which Romney has pandered to them, I think they have more confidence that he will do their bidding—or at least not work against them, relative to Obama.”

There's the other reason too. Obama is black. The NRA is pretty much aligned with tea party, rightwing extremist types.

(Updated July 25) As might be expected, Romney has since changed his mind about gun laws.

Obama's Statement on Death of President John Evans Atta Mills of Ghana

It was with great regret that I learned of the passing of President John Evans Atta Mills of Ghana. I will always remember my trip to Ghana in 2009, and the hospitality that President Mills and the people of Ghana showed to me, Michelle, Malia, Sasha and our entire delegation. I was also pleased to host President Mills in the Oval Office earlier this year. President Mills tirelessly worked to improve the lives of the Ghanaian people. He helped promote economic growth in Ghana in the midst of challenging global circumstances and strengthened Ghana’s strong tradition of democracy. Under his leadership, the United States and Ghana deepened our partnership in the promotion of good governance and economic development. He was also a strong advocate for human rights and for the fair treatment of all Ghanaians. On behalf of the American people, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the people of Ghana, and reaffirm the deep and enduring bonds between our democracies that President Mills helped to strengthen.

Obama's most recent meeting with Mills:

Obama's Campaign Speech in Oakland

Full video:

Romney's VFW Speech Makes Some Bold Claims

Updated with partial video of Mitt's speech.

Yesterday, Obama spoke in Reno at the VFW convention.
Today, Romney will speak. Judging from his speech excerpts, he's going over the cliff. He's going to say Obama intentionally leaked classified information to reporters for political gain. I hope he has some facts and people to back himself up. What I wonder about Romney is when he's going to start talking about his policies?

An excerpt:

It is reported that Bob Gates, the President’s first secretary of defense, bluntly addressed another security problem within this administration. After secret operational details of the bin Laden raid were given to reporters, Secretary Gates walked into the West Wing and told the Obama team to “shut up.” He added a colorful word for emphasis.

Lives of American servicemen were at stake. But astonishingly, the administration failed to change its ways. More top-secret operations were leaked, even some involving covert action in Iran.

This isn’t a partisan issue; it’s a national security crisis. And yesterday, Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, quote, “I think the White House has to understand that some of this is coming from their ranks.”

This conduct is contemptible. It betrays our national interest. It compromises our men and women in the field. And it demands a full and prompt investigation, with explanation and consequence. Whoever provided classified information to the media, seeking political advantage for the administration, must be exposed, dismissed, and punished. The time for stonewalling is over.

It is not enough to say the matter is being looked into, and leave it at that. When the issue is the political use of highly sensitive national security information, it is unacceptable to say, “We’ll report our findings after Election Day.”

Exactly who in the White House betrayed these secrets? Did a superior authorize it? These are things that Americans are entitled to know – and they are entitled to know right now. If the President believes – as he said last week – that the buck stops with him, then he owes all Americans a full and prompt accounting of the facts.

And let me be clear: These events make the decision we face in November all the more important. What kind of White House would reveal classified material for political gain? I’ll tell you right now: Mine won’t.

Read more at TIME.

Keep in mind, Mitt supports Bush/Cheney's foreign policy and vice versa, therefore Mitt will bring back the Bush years of foreign policy, where war is always the answer.

I sure hope Obama returns fire on this. Mitt should be ashamed of himself.



Romney's full speech, accusing Obama of putting the nation at risk for personal gain:

White House Report on Middle Class Tax Cuts

Read White House report, which was released today. Obama wants to extend middle class tax cuts and end tax cuts for the rich. 

Obama's Schedule July 24

Times are eastern:

1:15 PM	The President departs San Francisco, California en route to Portland, Oregon Local Event Time:  10:15 AM PDT San Francisco International Airport Open Press
2:40 PM	The President arrives in Portland, Oregon Local Event Time:  11:40 AM PDT Portland International Airport Open Press
4:50 PM	The President attends a campaign event Local Event Time:  1:50 PM PDT Oregon Convention Center, Portland Oregon Closed Press
7:10 PM	The President delivers remarks at a campaign event Local Event Time:  4:10 PM PDT Oregon, Oregon Convention Center, Portland Pooled TV, Open to Correspondents
8:05 PM	The President departs Portland, Oregon en route to Seattle, Washington Local Event Time:  5:05 PM PDT Portland International Airport Open Press
8:50 PM	The President arrives in Seattle, Washington Local Event Time:  5:50 PM PDT Boeing Field Open Press
9:15 PM	The President attends a campaign event Local Event Time:  6:15 PM PDT Hunts Point, Private Residence, Washington Closed Press
11:15 PM	The President delivers remarks at a campaign event Local Event Time:  8:15 PM PDT Hunts Point, Private Residence, Washington Print Pool

Some reads:

Romney's off to London, Israel and Poland this week. He'll meet up with fellow conservative and good friend Netanyahu.

New Obama ad points to Romney's "build" lie and the website to the video where you can see what Obama actually said. WaPo factchecker said Romney was fibbing.

White House report on middle class tax cuts.

In Oakland, Obama lets people know that Romney knowingly twisted his words. If nothing else is true, that is.

New NBC/WSJ poll in which more people say Romney has "good ideas" to fix the economy, which is sort of strange since he hasn't named an idea. I would love to know what people are thinking. Obama leads in caring about the middle class and on foreign policy.

15 Science Organizations Press Obama and Romney for Answers

Obama at the White House science fair. 

The organizations want them to answer science-related questions such as these:

2. Climate Change.  The Earth’s climate is changing and there is concern about the potentially adverse effects of these changes on life on the planet. What is your position on cap-and-trade, carbon taxes, and other policies proposed to address global climate change—and what steps can we take to improve our ability to tackle challenges like climate change that cross national boundaries?


14. Vaccination and public health.  Vaccination campaigns against preventable diseases such as measles, polio and whooping cough depend on widespread participation to be effective, but in some communities vaccination rates have fallen off sharply. What actions would you support to enforce vaccinations in the interest of public health, and in what circumstances should exemptions be allowed? See all the questions at ScienceDebate.org

Obama's Statement on Sally Ride's Death

Michelle and I were deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Sally Ride. As the first American woman to travel into space, Sally was a national hero and a powerful role model. She inspired generations of young girls to reach for the stars and later fought tirelessly to help them get there by advocating for a greater focus on science and math in our schools. Sally’s life showed us that there are no limits to what we can achieve and I have no doubt that her legacy will endure for years to come. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sally’s family and friends.

From Sally Ride Science:

7/23/2012 Sally Ride died peacefully July 23, 2012 after a courageous 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Sally lived her life to the fullest, with boundless energy, curiosity, intelligence, passion, commitment, and love. Her integrity was absolute; her spirit was immeasurable; her approach to life was fearless.

Sally was a physicist, the first American woman to fly in space, a science writer, and the President and CEO of Sally Ride Science. She had the rare ability to understand the essence of things and to inspire those around her to join her pursuits.

Sally’s historic flight into space captured the nation’s imagination and made her a household name. She became a symbol of the ability of women to break barriers and a hero to generations of adventurous young girls. After retiring from NASA, Sally used her high profile to champion a cause she believed in passionately—inspiring young people, especially girls, to stick with their interest in science, to become scientifically literate, and to consider pursuing careers in science and engineering.

In addition to Tam O’Shaughnessy, her partner of 27 years, Sally is survived by her mother, Joyce; her sister, Bear; her niece, Caitlin, and nephew, Whitney; her staff of 40 at Sally Ride Science; and many friends and colleagues around the country.

Star of Romney's Ad Received Millions in Government Goodies

In Romney's lying ad about what Obama said, the star of the ad received government handouts. Doesn't the Romney camp do any kind of basic legwork? Is the Romney campaign so weak that it has to make up stuff about Obama? Why doesn't Romney just run on his record? Oh, that's because all of his records are secret or destroyed. Romney's looking like a guy that wants to be elected -- no questions asked. His wife even says he's the man with all the answers and we people ought to take him at his word.

The New Hampshire Union Leader’s John DiStato today reports that in 1999 the business in question, 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’…” In addition, in 2011, Gilchrist Metal “received two U.S. Navy sub-contracts totaling about $83,000 and a smaller, $5,600 Coast Guard contract in 2008…” ABC

Romney's Olympic Documents Unavailable and Some Destroyed

We can't learn about Romney's experience running things because he destroyed the documents created during his years as governor, he won't release his tax returns, which would give insight into Bain, and his Olympic records have in part been destroyed.

More than a decade has passed since Mitt Romney presided over the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, but the archival records from those games that were donated to the University of Utah to provide an unprecedented level of transparency about the historic event, remain off limits to the public. And some of the documents that may have shed the most light on Romney's stewardship of the Games were likely destroyed by Salt Lake Olympic officials, ABC News has learned.

But the absence of publicly available records that detail the decisions he made while running the games has increasingly become an uneasy subject for the library, which has for months been receiving inquiries from journalists and other researchers trying to subject Romney's version of the events to an analysis based on documents from the events. ABC

Romney Twists Australian Official's Remarks

In attempt to puff himself up, Romney twists the words of an Australian official to say the US is in decline (and therefore Obama has to go). I guess Romney thinks if foreign officials say that America is in decline, then it is. Is that why he keeps his stash overseas?

Turns out Australia's foreign minister didn't say what Romney said he said. Not too good a start for Romney, who begins his foreign policy tour Wednesday, heading to London.

Was something lost in translation? Mitt Romney told a group of California donors that the foreign minister of Australia warned him there is talk abroad that America is “in decline” - but the Aussie official says that’s not what he meant. Romney met with Foreign Minister Bob Carr at the same San Francisco hotel where 250 donors paid up to $50,000 to rub elbows with the Republican candidate Sunday night.

....

But after Romney’s remarks made headlines, Carr’s spokesman suggested that the foreign minister did not intend to wade into a major ally’s presidential debate. He said Carr had only meant to express his confidence in the U.S. economy and not undermine it. “That interpretation is not correct,” the spokesman said of Romney’s comments to the National Times of Australia.

Read more a NYDailyNews

More from Politico

More from AP

President Obama Speaks at Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention in Reno July 23

In full:

Obama's Schedule July 23

Obama and Aurora's police chief Daniel Oates, praised by Obama for doing everything right in the aftermath

Times are eastern.

2:25 PM	The President departs San Francisco, California en route to Reno, Nevada Local Event Time:  11:25 AM PDT San Francisco International Airport Open Press
3:10 PM	The President arrives in Reno, Nevada Local Event Time:  12:10 PM PDT Nevada Air National Guard at Tahoe International Airport Open Press
3:35 PM	The President delivers remarks at the 113th National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars LIVE STREAM Local Event Time:  12:35 PM PDT Reno Sparks Convention Center Open to pre-credentialed media
5:00 PM	The President departs Reno, Nevada en route to Oakland, California Local Event Time:  2:00 PM PDT Nevada Air National Guard at Tahoe International Airport Open Press
5:50 PM	The President arrives in Oakland, California Local Event Time:  2:50 PM PDT Jacksonville International Airport Open Press
6:20 PM	The President attends a campaign event Local Event Time:  3:20 PM PDT California, Oakland, The Scottish Rite Center Closed Press
8:35 PM	The President delivers remarks at a campaign event Local Event Time:  5:35 PM PDT Private Residence Print Pool
10:55 PM	The President delivers remarks at a campaign event Local Event Time:  7:55 PM PDT California, Oakland, The Fox Theatre Pooled TV, Open to Correspondents

Good reads for today:

The Obama administration fires back on welfare.

14 reasons why this is the worst Congress EVER.

Last week Romney lied about what Obama said about business. In 2002, Romney told Olympians: "You didn't get here solely on your own," which is exactly the spirit of Obama's message when it's not selectively edited. 

Romney keeps making stuff up. Maybe he feels his policies are too weak to stand on. 

ABC finds that some of Romney's Olympic records have likely been destroyed.