Sachs of Gold II

Detroit. The Motor City. Motown.
What's in a Name? Hockey Town. City of Champions. Rock City. The culture that inhabited this space in Michigan has left its imprint on generations. When we drive, when we sing, when we dance, there will always be a little Detroit in all of us. Yesterday we sang the ballad of The Big D, and how it became one of the most profitable cities in the world. Not back in the 20s, or 50s, but now, right now.

Detroit Today

From the days of prosperity and growth, we've seen a slow motion slip into poverty. Generationally, parts of the city were just abandoned. We hear horror stories, we see photos, and it all sounds just awful. Property values crashed. Businesses tanked. Blocks and blocks of empty houses. Who would want to live there now?

Most of the talk show chatter focuses on the bankruptcy details. NBC asks, "If Detroit is allowed to stop or shorten payments to their retirees, will states like California or Illinois follow suit?" CNN warned, "Large, unfunded pensions for city and state workers across the US are looming liabilities", and Chris Mathews added, "Detroit is the canary in the coalmine. If they get away with going bankrupt, not delivering on pension promises, we could be looking at a domino effect in the future."

Living in a World of Their Creation
There's alot of talk around Detroit and its problems. But no talk about a little district in Detroit known as Hamtramck. Try to say that out loud, and you'll get some idea of why no one talks about Hamtramck.

Hamtramk is home to the now famous Goldman Sachs' warehouses, that make billions a year, while producing nothing at all. It sits in the center of the bankrupt community of Detroit, the city that went broke. Flat broke. Emergency managers were put in charge of towns all over Michigan. With a swipe of the Governor's hand, venture capitalist Gov. Snyder (R) completely replaced elected officials to help "manage" "low income" areas, and quickly, things went from worse to over.

To make sure you are up to speed at this point, The Daily Show, as usual, offers a somewhat concise update, so grab a cold one, enjoy the laugh, we'll see you back here in five.

The Daily Show July 25, 2013 ~~ We suggest starting at :35

Who's In Charge Here?
In the video from our last blog post, we left off with an NBC interview of beloved Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio (D), who currently sits on the Senate Banking Committee. Brown said he had no idea where the metals market oversight was based. Who made the rules, anyway? How can we end this national scam in practice? Who's going to take responsibility here?!?

Inside the Goldman Sachs Aluminum Warehouses of Hamtramck
(Detroit, Metro International.com, 2013)

A World of Pure Imagination
Say you are what the banks call a 'consumer'. You use commercial grade aluminum in bulk to produce cars or planes, crutches or the great American gift of soda cans, or whatever, somewhere in the world. Well, ya can't just go down to ye olde local aluminum store. No. If you want that kind of aluminum (or zinc, or copper), you're gonna need a warrant. There is only one place in the world to get that canceled warrant of purchase, wait for it, from a coven of members known as The Ring who run the London Metal Exchange. Seriously.

Regardless of where metal is stored after being mined, consumers around the world fill their metal needs at global prices set by business conducted in The Ring.

What's in a Name?
A holdover from the days of yore, when Britain ruled the world, if you want to buy aluminum, you need to do it in London. To start with, this isn't really new news. International metal trading began in Britain when the Romans invaded in AD43, but by the early 19th century, there were so many commodity traders at court, it became impossible to do business. As a result, individual groups of traders set up shop in the coffee houses of London. A merchant with metal to sell would draw a circle in the sawdust on the floor and call out 'Change', at which point all those wishing to trade would gather around in a circle, or ring, and make their bids and offers. The name stuck.

Change You Can Believe In
None of this was a fast process. Shipments took months and months to come in from all over the world. The need for a central unit to watch over the purchases, and deliveries of these metals, made it necessary to create a watchdog organization.

In 1877, LME was founded to oversee the locations, travel times and price changes of the world's trades in metal. Over time, they incorporated oversight of other commodities, as well. Since the process was slow as molasses, this was rather easy to do.

LME traded copper and tin since its inception. Lead and zinc since 1920. Special high grade zinc since 1986. Primary aluminium was introduced in December 1978. Nickel trading started in April 1979, and the featured commodity of this news cycle, aluminium alloy, was added in October 1992. Later, cobalt and molybdenum, were included. Fun Fact; molybdenum is a superalloy, stronger than all the rest, made up of oxidized minerals.

Copper Ingots Stacked
(Minersweekly.com, 2010)

Today, 80% of the world's aluminum is, at one point or another, held in a warehouse that is part the LME system. The remaining 20% comes from scrap metal, or from secondary metal processors, who originally picked up their raw aluminum from an LME warehouse.

If you are still awake and reading, god bless you. Seriously. This is thick stuff, and nothing about it is fun. It's about dusty warehouses, and historical trading details. Metal is cold, and statistics about storage do not a fantasy team make. But a Policy Geek is always curious, and these issues directly affect the economies of the whole planet. Mostly importantly, it has a tight connection to this We Are The 99% thing.

The 3rd, and hopefully final installment, pulls back the curtain, so we can pay attention to the Gold Men Standing behind it. For the third installment: see Heavy Meddle Coming Soon

The Policy Geek

The Aluminati's Sachs of Gold

Let's take a closer look
(Fast Company, 2013)

Fun Facts
Auto Icon, Henry Ford (despite his antisemitic writings distributed during the later part of his life), was widely considered the father of the age of industrialization. Thanks to Ford, in 1901, Detroit became the Silicon Valley of its day. He invented "the living wage", the assembly line, and once he opened his factory in Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit, the city became an instant mecca for innovation. Today is Henry Ford's birthday.

(Not So) Fun Facts
According to the Michigan Historical Review: Over time,“Detroit was betrayed by a lack of political vision, torn asunder by racial conflict, and devastated by deindustrialization." By the 1960s, Detroit had become the center of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, and a mecca for the civil rights movement. 

No man's land.
(Atlaobscura, 2013)

When the riot on Detroit’s 12th Street broke out in the summer of 1967, Gov. George Romney ordered the Michigan National Guard into the city, and President Johnson sent in Army troops. About 7,200 rioters were arrested and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed. Yes, you heard right. The Romney's are in this story too.

Detroit Riots
(Kennedy Picker, 1967)

By 1974, the well-intentioned War On Poverty programs were terminated nationwide after race riots and a series of confrontations between police and inner city black youth.

By 2012, Detroit was generating $33 of long-term debt for every $1 of net assets recorded.

Morally Bankrupt
As you must have heard by now, on July 18th, Detroit, The Motor City, The Birthplace of Motown Music, filed for bankruptcy. That happened. Detroit flatlined. Of course, there is plenty of blame to go around. Depending on who you read, it was a result of high crime rates, race issues, greedy unions, ill equipped emergency managers, bad accounting, fraudulent land grabs, and/or the slow decline of the auto industry.

The great bustling city of the modern automobile has become a no man's land. No schools, no water service, no streetlights.

A new young generation will eventually take on the task of rebuilding. They'll set a standard for reinvention. They'll revision what it means to be a state-of-the-art city.

We'll Begin With A Spin
But wait. What's that rumbling sound coming out of the ashes? Ask any local, and they'll tell you it's the sound of the "merry go round" of trucks over at the Goldman Sachs warehouses, commonly referred to as Metro International Trade Services. As it turns out, despite its decline, Detroit is actually the most profitable city in the world.

Last week, MSNBC reported on some of that unusual activity going on in a city with almost nothing going on. Here’s the best wrap up of how the story began (you're going to have to be patient, there's a commercial first):

The Spin
(NBCNews.com, July 23, 2013)

Come With Me And You'll See
This isn't easy. Slowing delivery times sounds benign. They know. How do you make "physical commodities" sexy? Ya can't. And that's exactly how the banks like it. The details of this saga, the ones that take Detroit from then until now, are hard to follow and boring to listen to, but if you are willing to take on a little extra credit, you'll be glad you did. And mad as hell. We did our best to make this meals-on-wheels taste like a gourmet feast paired with a fine french wine. So, bon appetit.

Humanity, meet the Bankers. Bankers, meet the rest of the civilized world.

The Main Players
Merrill Lynch, Pierce,and Fenner and Smith
Morgan Stanley
Credit Suisse Securities (USA)
Goldman, Sachs
UBS Securities

The Minor Players
Citigroup Global Markets
Moelis and Company
RBC Capital Markets Corporation
The Williams Capital Group
Davenport and Company
(Let's see who gets angry for not being thought of as a major player, shall we?)

Who's In Charge
LME

For the rest of this piece, please see Sachs Of Gold II
The Policy Geek

To Endorse A President

Optimists think they'll all come around eventually.
(ImagChef.com, 2012)



What goes into making an Endorsement for President, essentially laying your reputation, character and judgement on the line for the record?  The most fascinating chess moves of the election season happen here. The cynical will say it just takes money. It can come in many forms, some as subversive as your employer threatening your job security if you don't endorse his/her endorsement. We prefer to focus on those interesting Endorsements that appear to be made strictly based on moral convictions or after careful consideration...and money. Hey, sometimes a newspaper can endorse a Presidential candidate after something as simple as a group vote. Very democratic.

No matter how the Endorsements get made, we love every single one of them, the good, the bad, and the downright funny.

College Students Vote
Here's Alicia Keys going after the youth vote with her Endorsement:



(Alicia Keys for OFA, 2012)

30,000 strong Univ. of Wisconsin rally
(Wisc.edu, 2012)

In fact, the re-elect Obama team is going after the college crowd with full force, as mentioned on the CBS News October 4th piece on the Obama rally at University of Wisconsin Campus. "We have a strong social media presence but have also been doing things on the ground to organize on campuses," said one Obama aide at campaign headquarters in Chicago. "I think we have (even) more tools then we had last time." 

Whether at Owens Community College in Ohio, or in Denver at the University of Colorado in front of 10,000 students, you will find either President Clinton, President Obama, or Michelle Obama barnstorming and winning the younger voters to their corner, and it's a treat to watch.

While we are on the subject of Our First Lady, and in case you missed it, here is a treasured moment of Michelle Obama from this last DNC event (thank you CSPAN):

But we digress.

Celeb Endorsements
The following are some of the many Endorsements that have come in for President Obama over the course of this election cycle:

George Clooney ~ The Oscar-winning actor hosted a dinner at his home where a bevy of Hollywood high rollers paid to have a meal with the president. The event reportedly raised an estimated $15 million for Obama's re-election campaign, which would make it the most lucrative presidential fundraiser in U.S. history

Tom Hanks ~ The Oscar-winning actor endorsed Obama and backed it up by narrating a 17-minute Obama campaign film called, The Road We've Traveled. (this is a really great video worth sharing with your friends and family)

Maya Angelou ~ Sending emails on Obama's behalf, Maya wrote "I am not writing to you as a black voter, or a woman voter, or as a voter who is over 70 years old and 6 feet tall. I am writing to you as a representative of this great country — as an American," she said. "It is your job to vote. …You may be pretty or plain, heavy or thin, gay or straight, poor or rich."

Katy Perry ~ She hit the road with one free concert after another and some very original costuming in support of 4 more years of President Obama

Mary J. Blige ~ The R&B star shot a campaign ad urging voters to protect women's health issues by re-electing Obama.

Madonna ~ She recently asked concertgoers in New Orleans if they were registered to vote and then added, "I don't care who you vote for as long as you vote for Obama."

Mayor Bloomberg ~ Bloomberg clearly laid out his exact reasons for endorsing our President for a second term: Climate Change, Leadership, his stance on carbon emissions, his support of excellent accessible primary education in America, the likelihood of vacancies on the Supreme court and predictable judgement in making those subsequent choices, et al. This was a clearly throughout and plainly explained written Endorsement by this formerly uncommitted Independent Mayor. Bravo.

More American Mayors Endorsing Obama:
Alexandria, VA Mayor William D. Euille
Atlanta, GA Mayor Kasim Reed
Baltimore, MD Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
Boston, MA Mayor Thomas Menino
Charlotte, NC Mayor Anthony Foxx
Chicago, IL Mayor Rahm Emanuel;
  former US Representative, and former White House Chief of Staff of Illinois
Chicago, IL Former Mayor Richard M. Daley
Denver, CO Mayor Michael Hancock
Detroit, MI Mayor of Detroit Dave Bing
Gainesville, FL Mayor Craig Lowe
Houston, TX Mayor Annise Parker
Jacksonville, FL Mayor Alvin Brown
Los Angeles, CA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
Minneapolis, MN Mayor R.T. Rybak
New Haven, CT Mayor John DeStefano, Jr.
New Orleans, LA Mayor Mitch Landrieu
New York, NY Former Mayor David Dinkins
New York, NY Former Mayor Ed Koch
New York, NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker
Orlando, FL Mayor Buddy Dyer
Philadelphia, PA Mayor Michael Nutter
San Antonio, TX Mayor Julian Castro
San Francisco, CA Former Mayor Willie Brown
Tampa, FL Mayor Bob Buckhorn

Colin Powell ~ Another lovely seasoned decision to Endorse the President for a second term, "There's some very, very strong neo-conservative views that are presented by the governor that I have some trouble with," Powell said, adding, ""I'm not quite sure which Governor Romney we'd be getting with respect to foreign policy," calling Romney's foreign policy "a moving target." As for the U.S. budget, he concluded: "It's essentially, let's cut taxes and compensate for that with other things, but that compensation does not cover all the cuts intended or the expenses associated with defense."

Chris Christie ~ It is widely well known that Governor Christie went gaga over the way Obama handled the recent crisis in New Jersey. When the s#it hit the fan in the form of Hurricane Sandy, Christie told the Today Show that the President had done a "magnificent job" and his support was "outstanding".  While on Fox and Friends, Christie was asked if Romney was coming to New Jersey for a campaign stop. Christie responded, "I have no idea, nor am I the least concerned or interested. I've got a job to do in here in New Jersey that's much bigger than presidential politics and I could care less about that stuff" adding, "If you think right now I give a damn about Presidential politics, then you don’t know me” Now, Rupert Murdoch is "demanding that Christie recommit to Romney."

and lastly
Will Ferrell ~ Promises, promises. He'll do anything to get you to vote.

Counter Endorsements that also seem to help POTUS:
Meat Loaf ~ Embarrassing himself and his fans in his first presidential endorsement EVER, the painfully off key musical icon joined Romney during a rally at a football stadium in Defiance, Ohio, for a duet of "America the Beautiful". Hard to watch. Per Rolling Stone magazine, "America ain't so beautiful when she's sung about like this." Interesting side note, it turns out that Meat Loaf isn't eligible to vote this year. He never registered.



Eastwood and the chair (Mashable.com, 2012)

Clint Eastwood ~ Although he has won an Oscar, many say his worst performance to date was speaking to an "empty chair" in an attempt at comedy at the Republican National Convention in 2012. He was even heckled with, "Please say, Make My Day!" When asked later about this appearance, Eastwood replied, "They should have known better than to ask an old man to improvise about politics. I had no idea why they asked me to do it."

Donald Trump ~ Promising an "October Surprise" that would change the presidential election, Trump offered a $5 million donation to a charity of Obama's choice if he released his college and passport records. The stunt fell flat. He actually offered $5 million dollars, and no one, not even the craziest of the crazies, bothered to hack the info and take him up on his offer. Colbert took advantage of this fairly transparent extortion stunt to offer with his own financial challenge. Trump ended up extending his deadline and extra day, due to the Hurricane thing, causing Colbert to announce to the Colbert Naion that he'll do the same.

Joe Isuzu ~ Romney locks up the 1980's used car salesman vote. Thanks to Leisure and comedy producer Martin Lewis, the car salesman is back to endorse the GOP presidential candidate with some more Joe-like promises.

Joss Whedon ~ This Buffy The Vampire Slayer producer made a short endorsing Romney.

Next post ~ To Endorse A President: Newspapers

The Policy Geek

Big Bird, Binders, and Bayonettes

After the third and final debate tonight, one thing is very clear. One cannot stand for nothing, and win the position of POTUS. That is to say, Romney can not stand for everything and nothing and try to occupy the same space at the same time. Can't be done.

So quick and dirty, here are some of our favorite quotes from tonight:

Really? lol.
(Seattle Globalist, 2012)

"We're going to have to see if soulless shape-shifting has a cost." ~~ Rachel Maddow/MSNBC

"Forceful Obama bests defensive Romney in foreign policy debate." ~~ Tom Cohen/CNN

"Barack Obama wins third debate decisively; Mitt Romney passes on big chances." ~~ Lane Filler, Newsday

"The Third Debate:  Obama Wins on Style and Substance" ~~ Joe Klein, TIME Magazine

"Syria is Iran's route to the sea." ~~ Mitt Romney 10/22/2012 3rd Debate

"Obama Wins the Third Presidential Debate 52-48 over Romney" ~~ TJ Walker, Forbes Magazine.

One thing I've learned as President, "you’ve got to be clear, both to our allies and our enemies, about where you stand and what you mean." ~~ Barack Obama 10/22/2012 3rd Debate

"Obama Gains 2 Points On Intrade After The First Hour Of The Debate" ~~ Henry Blodget, Business Insider  At the same time, reports say that Romney went down by 1 point on Intrade after the debate.

(Democratic Party, 2012)

 

"But, Governor, when it comes to our foreign policy, you seem to want to import the foreign policies of the 1980s, just like the social policies of the 1950s and the economic policies of the 1920s." ~~ Barack Obama 10/22/2012 3rd Debate

"CBS Poll: Obama Wins Third Debate By Landslide" ~~ Jordan Zakarin, Hollywood Reporter

"I think Governor Romney maybe hasn’t spent enough time looking at how our military works. You — you mentioned the Navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets — (laughter) — because the nature of our military’s changed. We have these things called aircraft carriers where planes land on them. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines." ~~ Barack Obama 10/22/2012 3rd Debate

At the time of this posting, Fox News Insider's poll of WHO WON THE THIRD DEBATE has Obama with 61.2%  and Romney at 38.8% ~~ Fox News Insider

In conclusion, no one thought Romney won the debate, many undecided have finally fallen into the Obama camp, and Romney has again left us with some really stupid sound bites.

The Policy Geek

Here's a link to the entire transcript as posted by the New York Times if you missed it: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/us/politics/transcript-of-the-third-presidential-debate-in-boca-raton-fla.html?pagewanted=all

Please Proceed Governor...

per The Daily Kos, enjoy our President's 'Ninja Moment'..

ROMNEY: Yes, I — I...

CROWLEY: ... quickly to this please.

ROMNEY: I — I think interesting the president just said something which — which is that on the day after the attack he went into the Rose Garden and said that this was an act of terror.

OBAMA: That's what I said.

ROMNEY: You said in the Rose Garden the day after the attack, it was an act of terror.

It was not a spontaneous demonstration, is that what you're saying?

OBAMA: Please proceed governor. (that was a ninja moment for Barack!)

ROMNEY: I want to make sure we get that for the record because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror. (Governor proceeding to put foot in mouth....)

OBAMA: Get the transcript.

CROWLEY: It — it — it — he did in fact, sir. So let me — let me call it an act of terror...

OBAMA: Can you say that a little louder, Candy?

CROWLEY: He — he did call it an act of terror.

The crowd which had been very quiet and serious up until that moment, chuckled.

The Policy Geek

OCCASSIONAL REPOST: We're On The Right Track

www.groundup.com (2012)

With permission from out new friends at Ground Up, reposting.
We're On The Right Track

I’ve been quiet lately about Mr. Romney and his running mate. That’s because this pair has been so awful, they stole my thunder in trash talking about them. All is not lost. We had the first debate and a marvelous jobs report and here’s my take.

The First Presidential Debate. Or, more aptly titled, “The Ghost of Reagan Past.” Is it just me or did anyone notice that Romney’s new hair cut looks just like former Pres. Ronald Reagan? Romney even mimicked some of Reagan’s body language. And he made a rather awkward attempt at Reagan-style bluster. I’ll bet the preparation Romney did was primarily focused on watching old Reagan speeches and debates, mimicking the former President as best he could.

It wasn’t good. At times, it was painful to watch because clearly, Romney was not comfortable with his new persona. He fluctuated between anger and frustration, coupled with feeble attempts of being compassionate but then rather animated and a bit jerky. It was like watching a white guy with two left feet trying to perform hip-hop at the Apollo Theater on Amateur Night. The only item missing was the long hook to remove Romney off the stage. Had he something of value to say, we would have forgiven his rather odd new look and stance. Instead, none of what he said had any substance or truth to it. He lied, over and over again.

I went to a local restaurant to watch the debate. Some of the people there were Independents and conservative Democrats. They came because they were undecided on who to vote for and felt that perhaps the debate would help them to come to a decision. It did. They were disgusted with Romney’s performance — especially what they saw as blatant lies about everything. As they left, they said, “we’re voting for Obama.”

The Jobs Report. 7.8 percent, 144,000 jobs: I have one suggestion to anyone who wants to pooh-pooh the latest jobs report. Complain to the people who found a job this time around and listen to what they have to say. Moreover, that folks are still getting jobs — not losing them — is profound encouragement; it says we’re moving in the right direction.

Just think about where we are. In just four years President Obama, despite unfathomable odds, has managed to keep us from total free fall and gain back the half the jobs we lost. We truly are in the green column. Were Romney President, he would have “let the auto industry fail” and the “housing market go bankrupt,” both of which would have benefited companies like Bain Capital. No wonder he and his supporters are doing their best to water down the American people’s positive results. This is no time to turn the country over to someone who doesn’t care about the middle class. Remember this:

 

By The GroundHog

Tweets From The Dark Side

As a policy wonk is apt to do, we were following some fun tweets during the first Presidential Debate of 2012 between Romney and Obama this evening. Social media creations are often lively and informative. Here's some of the flotsam and jetsam:

Boone Pickens TWEET:
is happy Romney's #1 worry is energy independence. #Debate
Geek Translation:
That means more money for oil companies like BP.

A fun Karl Rove TWEET: 
Who woulda thunk Obama would suggest Lehrer move on to another topic after Mitt pounds home tax reform? #Debate
Geek Thought:
Now there's a sound bite you can sell, Rove. Not!

*NICE DETAIL
Obama when discussing Medicare and Medicaid, said that 'the name lends one to think of people who are dependent, but in reality the money comes from people who have worked hard, hard all their lives, and paid into Medicare/Medicaid.'
Geek Reflection:
Lovely soft comment Mr. President, but in 90 minutes there were so many more important things the lefties would have loved for you to have hammered home.

*FUN FACT: 
In an effort to bring down Medicare costs, $716 Billion was saved in the costs of the Medicare program by no longer overpaying for things.  This resulted in a $600 average drop in prescription costs to seniors on their medications each year.
Geek Timeline Note:
Lots of trending comments about how Romney is interrupting and bullying Lehrer at this point.

*MOST TWEETED ABOUT AND MENTIONED ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Romney says, "I love Big Bird" as he notes he would cut PBS subsidies to address national debt.
Wonkathon Finds:
This post going viral on Facebook and Twitter...

 
Neal deGrasse Tyson @nealtyson TWEET:
Cutting PBS support (0.012% of budget) to help balance the Federal budget is like deleting text files to make room for a 500Gig hard drive.
Geek Reflection:
Said as only Neal deGrasse Tyson could phrase it.  Gotta love facts and brains.

Twitter Government TWEET and *FUN FACT Combo:
17,000 Tweets per minute for "Big Bird" and 10,000 Tweets per minute for "PBS".

Here's a video clip of that moment courtesy of ABCNews and You Tube:

Nuff said.

Moving on, Romney says that: 50% of doctors say they won't take any medicare patients.
Geek Note To Self:
We have to do a #FactCheck on that one.
 
*DEBATE MOMENT:
 Romney proposes voucher program which eliminates the collective buying power of Federal Medicare and Medicaid as it determines costs and co-pay amounts. During his flashy vouchery-states-rights talk, Romney interrupts POTUS a few times and bullies Lehrer.  Oh yeah, and when Mitt No-Apologies Romney apologized to the President for saying "Obamacare," he also dropped a "bro" in there, as in "Ok, bro."  Seriously.

Jenny Johnson TWEETS:

Y'all stop making fun of Jim Lehrer, this is his Make-A-Wish.

Chris RockOz TWEETS:
I wish Mitt Romney could figure out how to smile without looking like he's at his mother-in-laws house for xmas dinner.
and later
Obama is waiting for the right moment to pull out Bin Laden's skull from behind the podium. Wait for it. Wait for it. 
Geek Fun Fact:
This Chris Rock "Bin Laden's Skull" #debate joke was retweeted over 7770 times & faved 1400 times in first hour, according to a tweet from Mark Silva. There is also a discussion on whether or not this is even Chris Rock's twitter account.

@Imagination TWEETS:
"As President, I will sit down on day one" -- Mitt Romney, man of leisure.

PoliticsUSA.com tells us which top 5 lies Romney drops in the first half of the debate: "Mitt Romney is telling so many lies at the first presidential debate with Barack Obama that we had to take a half time break." www.politicsusa.com

The Washington Post TWEETS:
[Romney's] math on green energy does not add up.

Andy Borowitz ‏@BorowitzReport TWEETS

Paul Ryan on Romney's performance: "I was proud of him. He said all the things I wanted to lie."

CNN's Gergem TWEETS:
Romney was "sort of flat out lying."
 
HuffPost Politics‏@HuffPostPolTWEETS:

No mention of #47percent remarks. Why? http://huff.to/RC6QaX

 

*DEBATE MOMENT:
Romney tonight:  "I have five boys, I know what it's like to have a lie told to me over and over hoping I believe it's the truth."

@AngryBlackLady (who we love) TWEETS:
#Debates: Ultimately, It’s Not Good News for Mitt Romney. At her site, she adds, "The media has been building up this debate as if it was going to be a game-changer. Folks expected Romney’s debate performance to be as much of a clusterfuck as his campaign is. It wasn’t. Romney stood up on two feet, with a weird grin that made him look like he was in gastrointestinal distress, and he lied. HE LIED. He exuded confidence when he did it, which, hooray!, I guess. But he lied."

Our general takeaway?  This policy geek thinks the main problem was that POTUS looked down sometimes, didn't call Romney out on bending the debate rules, and didn't call Romney out on ANY of his lies really.  We couldn't see the President's hands during the debate so  most viewers didn't realize he was taking notes to respond.  Lastly, we want sound bites.  Loud, angry, I-welcome-their-hatred type of speech regardless of what Romney says.  Romney's not debating.  His dropping propaganda nonsense and campaigning still.  POTUS should be angrily and dismissively defending his legacy of legislation, and look and sound like he's out there campaigning.  This isn't a final exam.  It's an American election, by golly!!
 

 Here's a video of the whole debate, so you can watch it yourselves.  Let's just hope Potus gets sharper and angrier and fights more in the next ones. Mentions the filibuster abuse, mentions the blocked legislation list (not even allowed to come to the floor for debate let alone a vote). 'Cause the main consensus on the evening is, "Wah?"
 

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

 

The Policy Geek