HUFFPOST HILL - The Did-We-Mention-That-Mitt-Romney-Had-A-Swiss-Bank-Account National Convention, Night 2

HUFFPOST HILL - The Did-We-Mention-That-Mitt-Romney-Had-A-Swiss-Bank-Account National Convention, Night 2


There will be no balloon drop after President Obama delivers his renomination address, so his lawyers will have their hands full in the coming weeks as they try to un-nullify his candidacy. Paul Ryan requested Obamacare funds, which for Republicans is like the fiscal version of serving as best man at a gay wedding. And the convention added "God" into the party's platform at the last minute, leading us to wonder if He finally ponied up and hired Tony Podesta. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Wednesday, September 5th, 2012:

RYAN REQUESTED OBAMACARE FUNDS - Back in December 2010, America's paragon of parsimoniousness did a very VERY bad thing. The Nation: "On December 10, 2010, Ryan penned a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services to recommend a grant application for the Kenosha Community Health Center, Inc to develop a new facility in Racine, Wisconsin, an area within Ryan's district. 'The proposed new facility, the Belle City Neighborhood Health Center, will serve both the preventative and comprehensive primary healthcare needs of thousands of new patients of all ages who are currently without healthcare,' Ryan wrote. The grant Ryan requested was funded directly by the Affordable Care Act, better known simply as healthcare reform or Obamacare." [The Nation]

Is Paul Ryan standing on a mountain of lies?

@samsteinhp: Romney will be doing MTP this Sunday. "His most recent appearance was June 28, 2009."

DEM CONVENTION GETS RON PAUL-Y - There was an outbreak of democracy at the convention today, though luckily it was squashed right quick. Jon Ward and Josh Hersh: "After they took heat for omitting any reference to 'God' in their platform, and for eliminating language from the 2008 platform that identified Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Democrats tried to add the language back into their party platform with a voice vote. A source informed on the deliberations told The Huffington Post that President Obama personally interevened to strenghten the language. But when Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villagairosa, the convention chairman, came to the podium to ask for the approval of the delegates, those who shouted opposition to the language change were as loud, if not louder, than those who voiced their support. Villagairosa, in what quickly became an awkward moment, asked for the voice vote three times in all. After the second time, he paused for several seconds and looked behind him for guidance from a convention staffer -- possibly a parliamentarian -- before turning back and asking for a third vote. Even though the no's were again as loud if not louder than the aye's on the third vote, Villagairosa said he had determined that two thirds of those present had voted in favor. Boos filled the arena in response." [HuffPost]

Tonight (among others): Cecile Richards, Steny Hoyer, Barney Frank, Eric Shinseki, Sandra Fluke, Chris Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren, Antonio Villaraigosa, Bill Clinton.

EVERYBODY DIALED BACK THEIR ISRAEL LANGUAGE - Democrats have been on the defensive all day against Republican attacks for not originally including the status of Israel's capital in its platform, thereby making them a bunch of Goebbels hell bent on depriving God's chosen people their homeland. As noted by BuzzFeed, this goes both ways: "There are also elements of the 2008 Republican platform absent from the 2012 version. The key sentence present in 2008 and missing in 2012 is: 'We support Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel and moving the American embassy to that undivided capital of Israel.' In both parties' cases, the revisions don't seem to reflect a dramatic policy shift, but rather attempts by party leadership to avoid foreign policy commitments in the non-binding political document." [BuzzFeed]

DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Sonia Street makes less money than she used to, but she says she is better off today than four years ago thanks to lessons learned from a brutal unemployment spell. "I am grateful that I do have a job. Being out of work two years was tough," Street said. "From a personal perspective, I think I am better off ... [Unemployment] taught me how to live differently." Street, who is 44 and lives in Charlotte, lost her $17-an-hour job handling accounts payable for a commercial property firm in 2009. She said her new position handling customer service at a Charlotte Sprint store pays $12 an hour.... Between the two jobs, Street said she became less materialistic. Describing her former mindset, she recalled a TV ad for prepaid debit cards that said "everyone should have access to the American Dream." "Prepaid card, like it's the American Dream to have plastic," Street said. "That was a real prominent thing at that time. If you didn't have it, you were on the bottom rung. I don't have any credit cards right now. I don't want to get caught up in that again." [HuffPost]

It was a commercial for Russell Simmons' fee-laden cards. In 2010, Simmons yelled at HuffPost Hill for mentioning the fees. Then he threatened to "jump in the ocean."

RUN, ASHLEY, RUN - At the Emily's List panel today -- featuring Ashley Judd, Patty Murray, Nancy Pelosi, Joanna Coles, Kirsten Gillibrand, Stephanie Schriock and Val Demings -- Schriock told Judd she should run for Congress in 2014. The crowd broke into a "Run, Ashley, Run" chant and Judd said that she was "thinking about it." "She's totally gonna run," said one attendee who we believe. The reception afterwards included Howard Dean, Al Franken, Kathleen Sebelius, Tammy Duckworth, Shelley Berkley, Tammy Baldwin, Steny Hoyer and DWS.

Don't be bashful: Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill

WELL, HERE'S SOME CHANGE: OBAMA TO DELIVER CONVENTION SPEECH INDOORS - If there's one thing Obama's people love doing, it's depriving its supporters of access to major events :: pours one out for the inauguration purple ticket holders::. Although this time our Earth Mother might have more to do with it. Amanda Terkel: " President Barack Obama will not be giving his big speech on Thursday in Bank of America Stadium after all. On Wednesday, the Democratic National Convention announced a change of venue, saying the president will be addressing the nation from inside the Time Warner Cable Arena because of the chance of severe rainstorms...More than 65,000 people were expected to turn out for the president's open-air address at the stadium, with the campaign hoping to replicate the energy and enthusiasm that Obama generated at the 2008 convention, when he spoke outside at Mile High Stadium in Denver." [HuffPost]

Doubling down: @PaulRyanVP: The plant retooling Obama promised to the people of Janesville never came. A promise made. A promise broken.

If "economy" was part of your convention drinking game, we hope you were drinking Bud Light or something sub-four percent: "HuffPost Off The Bus bloggers used the new Convention Mention Meter to track talking points in real time, showing that the main focus of Tuesday's remarks was the economy. The term was mentioned over 100 times in total, dropped into almost every speech and often discussed along with the need for a 'robust" middle class." [HuffPost's Kristen Taylor]

@BarackObama: I might be a bit biased, but I thought @MichelleObama knocked it out of the park at the convention last night. -bo

POLL: EASTWOOD RANT WAS MORE MEMORABLE THAN ROMNEY'S SPEECH - No, you're not reliving the 2008 campaign, there's a new old white guy rambling at Barack Obama, and a Pew survey indicates that he stole the show last week. Pew: "The public paid far less attention to this year's Republican convention than it did to the GOP convention four years ago. Just 37% say they watched all or some of the Republican convention, down from 56% in 2008. And while there has been a modest increase in the percentage saying they view Mitt Romney more favorably in the wake of the convention, his acceptance speech was not the highlight of the event: As many of those who watched at least a little convention coverage cited Clint Eastwood's speech as the convention highlight (20%) as named Romney's speech (17%). One-in-five say there was no convention highlight, about the same percentage as four years ago." [Pew]

We're getting back to the issues, finally. Here's a third-party ad that calls Joe Biden America's drunk uncle.

Rahm Emanuel is ditching a fake campaign job for a real campaign job. WaPo: "Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel -- a legendary fundraiser and political strategist before he won elected office -- has dropped his honorary chairmanship of the Obama campaign to help raise big-dollar contributions, so that Democrats can compete with what is emerging as a clear GOP fundraising advantage this election cycle, campaign and fundraising individuals said. Emanuel started working with the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA in the last two weeks. News of the switch began circulating through Charlotte on Tuesday, as the Democratic National Convention was getting underway." [WaPo]

"I just find all the special-interest money lined up on the other side, tilting the scales in a way that I don't want to see. So if I can help, I'm going to help," Emanuel told the Times, totally unironically.

...THEY'RE ALL HERE FOR THE PRESIDENT - The Iowa delegation held a breakfast this morning, much to everyone's shock, it was not bum rushed by every single Democratic senator and governor. Politico: "A trio of potential 2016 hopefuls -- Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner -- all spoke to members of the first-in-the-nation caucus delegation, stressing their ties to the Hawkeye State despite their insistence to the press that they're not thinking about their future political plans... O'Malley, who's making the rounds of state delegation breakfasts this week, ended his speech by talking about his own time in Iowa working for Sen. Gary Hart in 1984...Klobuchar stressed that as a Minnesota resident, she's a neighbor of Iowa." [Politico]

Optics-wise, Romney could do worse than have a story published about him titled, "Romney doing debate prep at $3.9 million mansion." For example, he could have a story published about him titled, "Romney bemoans loss of ivory toothpicks, dispatches aides to Democratic Republic of Congo." Or, maybe one titled, "Romney to supporter: You call this a boat?" The possibilities are endless. See, it's not so bad!

SUDDEN ONSET OF GENTRIFICATION LEADING TO CONVENTION HOMELESSNESS - The recent appearance in Charlotte of thousands of well-educated, NPR-listening, it's-ok-I-brought-my-own-bag types has priced out a number of long-term motel residents. Dave Jamieson: "Doug Lutz had to pack up and leave his motel here last week, just as delegates and revelers were preparing to pour into town for the Democratic National Convention. Lutz spent his first nights on a park bench and a loading dock downtown, his bag of belongings beside him. Someone swiped his phone while he slept. Lutz, 44, had spent 46 weeks living in an extended-stay motel on a gritty highway strip near the airport, he said. But while the DNC may have coincided with Lutz' expulsion from his motel, he was careful to note that it didn't necessarily cause it. Lutz, who makes ends meet by doing freelance computer repair, had fallen behind on his rent for the room. If his manager had hoped to find a paying guest during the convention, he had every right to do so, Lutz insisted...CNN reported this week that one Charlotte hotel, the Sunset Inn, had jacked its rates to take advantage of the demand during the convention, putting out long-term renters of lesser means. 'Everybody's raising the price, so why [wouldn't] we?' the manager asked the network." [HuffPost]

Oy vey: "Rabbi David Wolpe of Los Angeles' Sinai Temple, where Monica Lewinsky and her family were congregation members for decades and where Lewinsky attended religious school, is scheduled to deliver the benediction at the Democratic National Convention tonight -- not long after Bill Clinton speaks." [ABC News]

OFA PRESSES FOR OHIO EARLY VOTING ACTION ENFORCEMENT - Luke Johnson: "Obama For America filed a motion Wednesday asking a federal court to enforce three days of early voting in Ohio before the 2012 election.The motion came in response to a directive issued by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, who stated that new voting hours would not be announced until an appeals court ruled on a dispute over early voting in the state." [HuffPost]

HUFFPOST PANEL ON JOBS - Matt Sledge: A group of business and political leaders discussing America's jobs crisis agreed on Wednesday that while Washington might be paralyzed until after the November elections, solutions can start now. The goal of the panel was to change the discussion about unemployment from "one of kind of fatalistic acceptance of the 'new normal,'" in the words of Arianna Huffington, to one about what is already working. The panel was sponsored by The Huffington Post, moderated by Tom Brokaw, and called "Opportunity: What Is Working." "When you're coming back from what was the greatest crisis since the Great Depression, as much as government policy is critical, everybody does have to be in this together," said Gene Sperling, director of the administration's National Economic Council. [HuffPost]

BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Monkeys riding bikes, which oddly reminds us of the convention's press center.

Here's the text of the apology letter Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign wrote the guy who owns the rights to "Eye of the Tiger": "Dear Mr. Sullivan, We are very sorry your song 'Eye of the Tiger' was associated with the Newt Gingrich campaign. We will do our utmost to assure that this does not happen again. Very truly yours, Vince Haley, Campaign Manager." Now you know! [TMZ]

COMFORT FOOD

- Photos of the San Francisco earthquake blended in with photographs from the present day. [http://bit.ly/UrXSgF]

- We've reached that point: a forthcoming cell phone will come with a built-in .gif app. [http://bit.ly/RlhnmQ]

- The cast of "Mad Men" sing Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up." Rick Rolling: it will never die. [http://bit.ly/NMmnGx]

- A scientific explanation of why things look cute, beyond the technical explanation that they are omg so adorable. [http://bit.ly/Q761Zh]

- British mugshots from the 1930s. [http://bit.ly/QlThfl]

- Plant doesn't like being touched. [http://bit.ly/R8BSsm]

TWITTERAMA

@KenJennings: I actually am better off than I was four years ago, but that's only because Oasis broke up.

@pourmecoffee: Today in 1774 the first Continental Congress assembled to guarantee right to high powered assault rifles and not having health care.

@stefanjbebecket: #famouslasttweets RT @feliciasonmez: We're motorcading to an undisclosed location.

ON TAP

TONIGHT

5:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Infrastructure gets its day at Moving America Forward, an event put on by a number of rail, bus and trucking interests. Expect appearances from relevant congressional committee members. [127 N. Tryon St.]

5:00 pm: Center for American Progress OMGS OMGS OMGS OMGS over Michelle Obama's speech at their reception. [King's Kitchen, 129 West Trade Street]

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm: The Democratic Governors Association has their "Governors Reception," where they'll all gush about what a knockout speech Pat Quinn gave last night. [e2 emeril's eatery, 135 Levine Avenue of the Arts]

6:00 pm: Human Rights Campaign hosts a reception for LGBT delegates. [5Church, 127 North Tryon Street]

7:30 pm: Remember "Vote or Die?" Neither do we. Anyhoo, perennial Democratic event performers Foo Fighters gig for Rock the Vote. [The Fillmore, 1000 NC Music Factory Boulevard]

9:00 pm: The Hill hosts its "Women to Watch" party, and now that we're out of Tampa, the strip club capital of the U.S., that party title doesn't make us do a double take any more. [Butter Night Club, 950 Music Factory Boulevard]

9:00 pm-1:00 am: NDN hosts its "Late Night Featuring Craft Beer and Good Cheer." Democrats being ever nervous and doubtful about the future, we can't promise the good cheer. But Dems do love them some craft beer/ [Dandelion Market, 118 West 5th Street]

9:00 pm - 1:00 am: We still can't get over how hilarious "Democratic Governors Association Late Night" sounds... it's as if Andrew Cuomo and Pat Quinn will be playing quarters in the corner. [721 North Tryon Street]

10:00 pm: Flo Rida, who surprisingly wasn't invited to perform at the Republican convention, performs at a charity show benefiting veterans group Got Your 6.

10:00 pm: NARAL fights the war on women with a boatload of cocktails and conversation. [Kanvas Gallery, 525 East 6th Street #117]

10:00 pm: The one party where it's practically mandatory to get sloshed: the Irish American Democrats tar tee tar tee tar until they can't see straight. [RiRa Pub, 208 North Tryon Street]

10:00 pm - 1:00 am: The Warren Haynes Band, which we told you was playing last night, is playing tonight. Look for Pete Rouse, Jim Messina, Bruce Kieloch, Ilyse Hogue and other hippies getting their noodle on. [RE:PUBLIC, 314 N. College Street]

TOMORROW

7:00 am - 8:00 am: If you can get up early enough for this, and respect yourself enough, there will be a yoga class sponsored by Yoga Shala. That is unless of course you're at the toilet practicing your downward facing hangover. [Midtown Park]

8:00 am - 10:00 am: The California Democratic Party hosts a breakfast. [The Blake, 55 South McDowell Street]

9:00 am - 10:30 am: The DSCC hosts its breakfast where it will make fun of Scott Brown's haircut for a little bit then get down to business. [The Ballantyne Hotel]

11:00 am - 1:00 pm: Since we're in North Carolina, what could be more natural than a union caucus? AFSCME hosts a caucus for delegates and guests. [Hilton Center City]

Got something to add? Send tips/quotes/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to Eliot Nelson (eliot@huffingtonpost.com), Ryan Grim (ryan@huffingtonpost.com) or Arthur Delaney (arthur@huffingtonpost.com). Follow us on Twitter @HuffPostHill (twitter.com/HuffPostHill). Sign up here: http://huff.to/an2k2e

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