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JERUSALEM — Mitt Romney told Jewish donors Monday that their culture is part of what has allowed them to be more economically successful than the Palestinians, outraging Palestinian leaders who suggested his comments were racist and out of touch with the realities of the Middle East. Romney’s campaign later said his remarks were mis-characterized. “As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality,” the Republican presidential candidate told about 40 wealthy donors who ate breakfast at the luxurious King David Hotel.

Romney said some economic histories have theorized that “culture makes all the difference.”

“And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things,” Romney said, citing an innovative business climate, the Jewish history of thriving in difficult circumstances and the “hand of providence.” He said similar disparity exists between neighboring countries, like Mexico and the United States.

Palestinian reaction was swift and pointed. (more…)

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Barack Obama’s Online Town Hall: The worst part about pandering for votes is that even after a candidate becomes president, he has to keep doing it.

At last night’s CNN presidential debate in Jacksonville, Florida, the GOP candidates told an unemployed woman in need of health insurance that they would repeal the health reform law that could help her find coverage and give her a tax deduction to go out and find her own insurance.

The woman — Lynn Frazier — said she found herself “unemployed for the first time in 10 years and unable to afford health benefits.” Under the Affordable Care Act, Frazier may qualify for temporary insurance in the state’s high-risk pool, which already provides coverage for 3,285 Floridians who can’t find affordable coverage elsewhere. In two years, she’ll be able to pick out a health policy through the state’s Exchange. All private insurers will offer a comprehensive basic set of benefits and allow consumers like Frazier to compare and contrast different plans to find the coverage that works best for them and their family. Insurers won’t be able to deny insurance based on past illness or rescind coverage unexpectedly, as they often do in today’s health market, and Frazier will pay a “community” rate and may even qualify for tax credits to help her afford her premiums and out of pocket cost-sharing expenses.

The Republican candidates pledged to undo these benefits and instead encouraged her to find coverage “as an individual” — on her own — with the help of a government tax deduction: (more…)

The CNBC Republican presidential debate will be forever remembered for one thing and one thing only, but Rick Perry can’t remember what it is. Sorry, Oops!

Mitt Romney has very serious ideas for fixing the economy. How do we know? By the typeface.

Romney’s released a 59-page plan in one of those very, very serious typefaces – Garamond, or Cambria, or Times New Roman – Well, to be honest, I’m not sure which. But trust me. It’s a serious typeface. And get this:

There are graphs.

The graphs and layout and typography in this “jobs plan” remind us that Romney’s crowning career achievement was running the massive consulting company Bain. He’s clearly taken the chief maxim of the consulting profession to heart: If you can’t dazzle ‘em with brilliance, baffle ‘em with bullsh*t.

That’s exactly what this “plan” is. It’s a slickly packaged re-presentation of the same agenda that’s killed millions of American jobs and will kill millions more if enacted again.

But it is pretty. All typesetters show you their proposed layout using the same dummy Latin language, which begins “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna …”Those typesetters did a great job with this booklet. But the ideas?

Here are five reasons Romney’s “new ideas” are the same job-killing conservative poison we’ve swallowed and regurgitated before: (http://www.nationofchange.org/five-reasons-romneys-plan-same-old-job-killing-madness-1315494528)