Romney: I'm 'about the 100 percent'

Updated: September 19, 2012 - 11:29 PM

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Mitt Romney said Wednesday that he would represent "100 percent" of Americans, striving to dampen a controversy that has dogged him since Monday, when video surfaced of him saying nearly half the nation's voters were dependent on the government and would never support him because he would not be able to convince them to take responsibility for their lives. "My campaign is about the 100 percent in America. And I am concerned about them. I am concerned about the fact that over the past four years, life has become harder for Americans," he said at a Univision forum.

LOS ANGELES TIMES

CHICK-FIL-A TO END SOCIAL DEBATE

Chick-fil-A has pledged to stop giving money to anti-gay groups and to back off political and social debates after an executive's comments this summer landed the fast-food chain in the middle of the gay marriage debate.

The Civil Rights Agenda, a gay rights advocacy group in Illinois, said Chick-fil-A agreed to stop donating to groups such as Focus on the Family and the National Organization for Marriage. Such groups oppose same-sex marriage. The LGBT advocacy group Equality Matters found that since 2003, the fast-food company has donated more than $5 million to Christian groups that oppose homosexuality.

Chicago Alderman Joe Moreno also announced the change. The Atlanta-based chain said that its nonprofit arm, the WinShape Foundation, "is now taking a much closer look at the organizations it considers helping, and in that process will remain true to its stated philosophy of not supporting organizations with political agendas."

LOS ANGELES TIMES

SENATE GOP HALTS OBAMA'S VETS PLAN

President Obama's proposal to create a Veterans Jobs Corps to stem high unemployment among recent military veterans was shelved Wednesday after Senate Republicans balked over the five-year, $1 billion cost, giving both sides fresh ammunition for the election.

The measure had been on Obama's to-do list for Congress. The jobs bill would have hired veterans who served in the military since 9/11 to work on federal public lands projects, and would have established a network of job training centers. The jobless rate among those veterans was 10.9 percent in August, compared with 8.1 percent in the broader population.

Republicans objected to the projected price tag as well as the administration's plan to pay for it by imposing penalties on Medicare providers and suppliers who are delinquent on taxes, and by collecting back taxes from others. The Veterans Jobs Corps measure was turned back, 58 to 40. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said job training programs already exist for veterans. Five Republicans voted to advance the bill, including Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada.

LOS ANGELES TIMES

HOUSE CUTS FUNDS FOR CONVENTIONS

House Republicans and Democrats came together on at least one way to reduce spending -- by eliminating federal assistance for the two parties' presidential conventions. The vote was 310-95.

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said the government has spent about $224 million on the gatherings since 1976. He said this year federal assistance for the conventions was about $35 million, slightly more than 20 percent of the total costs. The Senate has approved similar legislation and the two sides must now resolve differences in the two bills.

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