Fact checking the GOP debate at the Reagan library
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on September 9th, 2011 4:36 am by HL
Fact checking the GOP debate at the Reagan library
That was a rip-roaring Republican debate Wednesday night at the Reagan library. As is our practice, we will quickly assess a number of claims and then perhaps come back later with a deeper look at some issues.
The debate started with a back and forth between former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry over job creation during their tenures. This in many ways is a silly discussion — governors and even presidents are very much at the mercy of the economic situation they inherited — and Romney actually framed it well:
FBI searches offices of Solyndra; lawmakers say they were misled about firm’s finances
FBI agents executed a surprise search Thursday of a Silicon Valley solar company that collapsed last week, in an investigation that appeared to center on half a billion dollars in federal loan guarantees granted to the company by the Obama administration.
The search at the offices and plant of Solyndra, a California-based manufacturer of solar panels, came as Republicans on Capitol Hill demanded answers to questions about the company’s selection for the $535 million Energy Department loan guarantee. Some Democrats questioned whether the company misled federal officials about its deteriorating financial condition.
Football fantasy: A world where I don’t have to hear about ‘your’ team
Thursday night’s kickoff of the 2011 NFL season also kicked off of the 2011 fantasy football season, and I’d like to wish all the “owners” the best of luck with their “teams.”
That said, a word of friendly advice: Shut up about it.
No one cares who you drafted, or how you got a sleeper pick, or really pretty much anything else about your fantasy team — except other fantasy players. Identify those people and carry on short, quiet conversations with them — far, far away from me.
After six years of squabbling over how to fix the country’s patent system, the Senate passed a bill Thursday touted by lawmakers as important for creating jobs and encouraging innovation.
But a wide range of patent experts said that the bill had been so watered down after years of debate and lobbying that it will do little to repair the country’s dysfunctional patent system — and is unlikely to spur much job growth.
“Every time I’ve heard either a Republican or Democrat talking about jobs relating to the patent bill, I feel like I’m in ‘Alice in Wonderland,’?” said Ed Black, president and chief executive of the Computer and Communications Industry Association. “Unless they’re counting patent lawyer jobs, it’s very unlikely.”
