America is the land of the uncertain, I would have thought that by 2012 we wouldn't be swinging all over the place. By "swinging" I mean going back and forth between a Republican President and a Democratic President. Bush enacts costly war, Obama enacts costly health care. What did Clinton do, again? ***the sound of slapping skin*** Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
And how is it Obama enacted costly healthcare? Because that is not what the numbers say. That is not what the non partisan Congressional Budget Office says. That is not what other industrial countries say who have enacted similar legislation. That is what the healthcare industry special interests and the Republican/Tea Party have said. But that does not make it true.
Romney Campaign Fiasco Offers Glimpse Into Republican Minds Romney Campaign Fiasco Offers Glimpse Into Republican Minds Alright, the brief backstory: Not long ago, the Romney team hired Richard Grenell, formerly President G.W. Bush's Director of Communications and Public Diplomacy, and later the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, as a foreign policy spokesman. This move sparked controversy among Democratic supporters, because Grenell had a history of tweeting derogatory remarks about women, including Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Sandra Fluke, Rachel Maddow, and even Callista Gingrich. To Republicans, this was not much of a problem; Grenell eventually scrubbed over eight hundred posts from his Twitter account. But his place on Team Romney was not to last. The Washington Post's in-house Republican partisan, Jennifer Rubin, brought the news today: Richard Grenell, the openly gay spokesman recently hired to sharpen the foreign policy message of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, has resigned in the wake of a full-court press by anti-gay conservatives .... .... According to sources familiar with the situation, Grenell decided to resign after being kept under wraps during a time when national security issues, including the president's ad concerning Osama bin Laden, had emerged front and center in the campaign. Pieces in two conservative publications, the National Review and Daily Caller, reflected the uproar by some social conservatives over the appointment. In the National Review, Matthew J. Franck wrote late last week: "Suppose Barack Obama comes out—as Grenell wishes he would—in favor of same-sex marriage in his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. How fast and how publicly will Richard Grenell decamp from Romney to Obama?" The argument that Grenell could essentially not be openly gay and serve on a GOP presidential campaign was belied by the fact that Grenell has been a loyal Republican for many years, working for esteemed foreign policy figures including former Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton. The ongoing pressure from social conservatives over his appointment and the reluctance of the Romney campaign to send Grenell out as a spokesman while controversy swirled left Grenell essentially with no job. So, let us consider: • Open misogyny? That's cool with conservatives. And while one might make the case that the murmur and buzz among Democratic supporters was overstated because, hey, it's just a joke, anyway, we should remember that Grenell scrubbed over eight hundred tweets, which suggests a bit of what we might call a comedic obsession with women. • Openly gay? Not cool with conservatives. At all. Period. It might be well enough for Team Romney to write off the gay vote, since they were going to lose that bloc, anyway. But with a seventeen-point gap in the women's vote—a much more substantial demographic—the Grenell controversy only reinforces the association of Republicans and misogyny. It should be noted that in a statement, Grenell explicitly thanked Mitt Romney "for his belief in me and my abilities and his clear message to me that being openly gay was a non-issue for him and his team". ____________________ Notes: Rubin, Jennifer. "Richard Grenell hounded from Romney campaign by anti-gay conservatives". Right Turn. May 1, 2012. WashingtonPost.com. May 1, 2012. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...conservatives/2012/05/01/gIQAccGcuT_blog.html
That is pretty easy. How about the longest period of economic expansion for starters? http://clinton5.nara.gov/WH/Accomplishments/eightyears-01.html The Clinton Presidency: A Historic Era of Progress and Prosperity Longest economic expansion in American history The President’s strategy of fiscal discipline, open foreign markets and investments in the American people helped create the conditions for a record 115 months of economic expansion. Our economy has grown at an average of 4 percent per year since 1993. More than 22 million new jobs More than 22 million jobs were created in less than eight years -- the most ever under a single administration, and more than were created in the previous twelve years. Highest homeownership in American history A strong economy and fiscal discipline kept interest rates low, making it possible for more families to buy homes. The homeownership rate increased from 64.2 percent in 1992 to 67. 7 percent, the highest rate ever. Lowest unemployment in 30 years Unemployment dropped from more than 7 percent in 1993 to just 4.0 percent in November 2000. Unemployment for African Americans and Hispanics fell to the lowest rates on record, and the rate for women is the lowest in more than 40 years. Raised education standards, increased school choice, and doubled education and training investment Since 1992, reading and math scores have increased for 4th, 8th, and 12th graders, math SAT scores are at a 30-year high, the number of charter schools has grown from 1 to more than 2,000, forty-nine states have put in place standards in core subjects and federal investment in education and training has doubled. Largest expansion of college opportunity since the GI Bill President Clinton and Vice President Gore have nearly doubled financial aid for students by increasing Pell Grants to the largest award ever, expanding Federal Work-Study to allow 1 million students to work their way through college, and by creating new tax credits and scholarships such as Lifetime Learning tax credits and the HOPE scholarship. At the same time, taxpayers have saved $18 billion due to the decline in student loan defaults, increased collections and savings from the direct student loan program. Connected 95 percent of schools to the Internet President Clinton and Vice President Gore’s new commitment to education technology, including the E-Rate and a 3,000 percent increase in educational technology funding, increased the percentage of schools connected to the Internet from 35 percent in 1994 to 95 percent in 1999. Lowest crime rate in 26 years Because of President Clinton’s comprehensive anti-crime strategy of tough penalties, more police, and smart prevention, as well as common sense gun safety laws, the overall crime rate declined for 8 consecutive years, the longest continuous drop on record, and is at the lowest level since 1973. 100,000 more police for our streets As part of the 1994 Crime Bill, President Clinton enacted a new initiative to fund 100,000 community police officers. To date more than 11,000 law enforcement agencies have received COPS funding. Enacted most sweeping gun safety legislation in a generation Since the President signed the Brady bill in 1993, more than 600,000 felons, fugitives, and other prohibited persons have been stopped from buying guns. Gun crime has declined 40 percent since 1992. Family and Medical Leave Act for 20 million Americans To help parents succeed at work and at home, President Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993. Over 20 million Americans have taken unpaid leave to care for a newborn child or sick family member. Smallest welfare rolls in 32 years The President pledged to end welfare as we know it and signed landmark bipartisan welfare reform legislation in 1996. Since then, caseloads have been cut in half, to the lowest level since 1968, and millions of parents have joined the workforce. People on welfare today are five times more likely to be working than in 1992. Higher incomes at all levels After falling by nearly $2,000 between 1988 and 1992, the median family’s income rose by $6,338, after adjusting for inflation, since 1993. African American family income increased even more, rising by nearly $7,000 since 1993. After years of stagnant income growth among average and lower income families, all income brackets experienced double-digit growth since 1993. The bottom 20 percent saw the largest income growth at 16.3 percent. Lowest poverty rate in 20 years Since Congress passed President Clinton’s Economic Plan in 1993, the poverty rate declined from 15.1 percent to 11.8 percent last year — the largest six-year drop in poverty in nearly 30 years. There are now 7 million fewer people in poverty than in 1993. The child poverty rate declined more than 25 percent, the poverty rates for single mothers, African Americans and the elderly have dropped to their lowest levels on record, and Hispanic poverty dropped to its lowest level since 1979. Lowest teen birth rate in 60 years In his 1995 State of the Union Address, President Clinton challenged Americans to join together in a national campaign against teen pregnancy. The birth rate for teens aged 15-19 declined every year of the Clinton Presidency, from 60.7 per 1,000 teens in 1992 to a record low of 49.6 in 1999. Lowest infant mortality rate in American history The Clinton Administration expanded efforts to provide mothers and newborn children with health care. Today, a record high 82 percent of all mothers receive prenatal care. The infant mortality rate has dropped from 8.5 deaths per 1,000 in 1992 to 7.2 deaths per 1,000 in 1998, the lowest rate ever recorded. Deactivated more than 1,700 nuclear warheads from the former Soviet Union Efforts of the Clinton-Gore Administration led to the dismantling of more than 1,700 nuclear warheads, 300 launchers and 425 land and submarine based missiles from the former Soviet Union. Protected millions of acres of American land President Clinton has protected more land in the lower 48 states than any other president. He has protected 5 new national parks, designated 11 new national monuments and expanded two others and proposed protections for 60 million acres of roadless areas in America’s national forests. Paid off $360 billion of the national debt Between 1998-2000, the national debt was reduced by $363 billion — the largest three-year debt pay-down in American history. We are now on track to pay off the entire debt by 2009. Converted the largest budget deficit in American history to the largest surplus Thanks in large part to the 1993 Deficit Reduction Act, the 1997 Balanced Budget Act, and President Clinton’s call to save the surplus for debt reduction, Social Security, and Medicare solvency, America has put its fiscal house in order. The deficit was $290 billion in 1993 and expected to grow to $455 billion by this year. Instead, we have a projected surplus of $237 billion. Lowest government spending in three decades Under President Clinton federal government spending as a share of the economy has decreased from 22.2 percent in 1992 to a projected 18.5 percent in 2000, the lowest since 1966. Lowest federal income tax burden in 35 years President Clinton enacted targeted tax cuts such as the Earned Income Tax Credit expansion, $500 child tax credit, and the HOPE Scholarship and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits. Federal income taxes as a percentage of income for the typical American family have dropped to their lowest level in 35 years. More families own stock than ever before The number of families owning stock in the United States increased by 40 percent since 1992. Most diverse cabinet in American history The President has appointed more African Americans, women and Hispanics to the Cabinet than any other President in history. He appointed the first female Attorney General, the first female Secretary of State and the first Asian American cabinet secretary ever.
More on Grenell's Departure More on Grenell's Departure Andrew Sullivan has followed up on the resignation of Richard Grenell from the Mitt Romney campaign: He'd been part of organizing a conference call to respond to Vice President Biden's foreign policy speech, now known best for the "big stick" remark. So some reporters were puzzled as to why Grenell, a week into his job as Romney's national security spokesman, was not introduced by name as part of the Romney team at the beginning of the call, and his voice completely absent from the conversation. Some even called and questioned him afterwards as to why he was absent. He wasn't absent. He was simply muzzled. For a job where you are supposed to maintain good relations with reporters, being silenced on a key conference call on your area of expertise is pretty damaging. Especially when you helped set it up. Sources close to Grenell say that he was specifically told by those high up in the Romney campaign to stay silent on the call, even while he was on it. And this was not the only time he had been instructed to shut up. Their response to the far right fooferaw was simply to go silent, to keep Grenell off-stage and mute, and to wait till the storm passed. But the storm was not likely to pass if no one in the Romney camp was prepared to back Grenell up. Hence his dilemma. The obvious solution was simply to get Grenell out there doling out the neocon red meat—which would have immediately changed the subject and helped dispel base skepticism. Instead the terrified Romneyites shut him up without any actual plan for when he might subsequently be able to do his job. To my mind, it's a mark of his integrity that he decided to quit rather than be put in this absurd situation. And it's a mark of Romney's fundamental weakness within his own party that he could not back his spokesman against the Bryan Fischers and Matthew Francks .... .... Remember: Grenell was told to be silent solely because he was gay. He was accused in National Review of being a potential fifth columnist for Barack Obama, simply because of his support for marriage equality, which he was never going to speak in public on anyway. His job was to speak on national security, a job for which he was very well prepared and very, very neoconservative. I keep trying to come up with some useful comment, but as the swirling rumors and hints get more specific ... I don't know, at some point, this ought to be unbelievable. ____________________ Notes: Sullivan, Andrew. "The Muzzling Of Ric Grenell: An Update". The Dish. May 2, 2012. AndrewSullivan.TheDailyBeast.com. May 3, 2012. http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast...med-as-part-of-the-call-a-reporter-asked.html
Romney touts his leadership abilities, but he has been unable to lead his own party. Romney's behavior thus far has been a classical case of the tail wagging the dog syndrome. He doesn't even have the guts to tell the Tea Party queen that she is wrong when she accuses President Obama of treason. It would appear that anyone who disagrees with the Tea Party is a guilty of treason. This new Republican/Tea Party, is pretty damn scary and getting more scary by the minute.
i hear romney tortured a gay guy back in the day there might have been buggery involved damn republicans
Who would have thought, Romney the bully. http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2012/05/10/romney-bullying-allegations-grow-legs/ Apparently four other guys, led by Romney, remember attacking and cutting this guys hair off. But Romney is claiming amnesia. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! How convenient. Romney's cohorts have vivid memories, memories that haunt them of this event. But Romey, the ring leader seems to not be able to recall the event, if you believe him. How can you lead an attack like this and not remember it? What does that say about the man's character? Do you want this man with his finger on the nuclear button? Romney sounds increasing like a psychopath to me.
Romeny also whats to get back to Bushs policies of lower taxes and forgien polices because he doesn't have the capacity to have any thoughts on these subjects himself and he can't seem to connect with the average person
and Romney wants to get back to Bush's tax cuts and foreign policy , absurd the thing that troubles me is that I think Romney is doing so because he has NO thoughts of his own about what to do in foreign policy and has no ability to connect with the common people
True, he also wants to get back to the freewheeling regulatory policies of the George Junior administration, the very same policies that led to the debacle known as The Great Recession. More than not being able to connect with the common folk, the man cannot lead his own party. He is always following his party foot soldiers and never leading them. He suffers from the same problem House Speaker Boehner suffers from, the inability to lead his own party. How can Romney lead the nation when he cannot even lead his party?
which begs the question , is Romney really a good American ? meaning , that for him is okay that millions of Americans retirement goes up in smoke Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! agreed
"Music To Spin Plates By", that's what I think about when I hear anything Mitt Romney. Change is too expensive. We can't afford it.
Romney Likes Firing People Romney: Cut Back on Firefighters, Police, Teachers Mitt Romney on President Obama and the role of government: He says we need more fireman, more policeman, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It's time for us to cut back on government and help the American people. (qtd. in Sargent) There is a saying about gaffes, that one commits a gaffe by accidentally telling the truth. Remember that notion. Because if you ask Republicans, "Why do you want to cripple society by getting rid of firefighters, police officers, and teachers?" they generally take offense. It's not so much the idea that they want to cripple society; of course they don't. But why would we ever think they want to get rid of teachers, firefighters, and police? As of today, the answer is, "Well, the guy you Republicans are putting up for president finally came out and admitted it." And remember: Public employees are the enemies of society. So says Mitt Romney. Wait. What's that? One of the components of the American Jobs Act that Obama continues to demand that Republicans pass would invest $35 billion in federal funds to keep cops, firefighters, and teachers on the job. Republicans, Romney included, oppose this plan. Central to their argument against this type of investment is to keep the focus on public sector workers as a class, arguing that they are bilking the taxpayer and are to blame for the economic plight of struggling Americans. As Romney recently put it: "We have 145,000 more government workers under this president. Let's send them home and put you back to work." (Sargent; boldface accent added) You know, because it's you or them. The best thing about Romney's candidacy is that Republicans can no longer hide what they really are. ____________________ Notes: Sargent, Greg. "Mitt Romney: We don't need more cops, firefighters or teachers". The Plum Line. June 8, 2012. WashingtonPost.com. June 8, 2012. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...s-or-teachers/2012/06/08/gJQAvOgDOV_blog.html
look republicans are self reliant. they do not need cops because they are armed to the teeth they do not need firefighters because they have residential fire sprinklers and who need teachers when kids can be home schooled? quite unlike us pansy dems, ja?
Quite Quite. Indeed, it makes for an interesting electoral message. Vote for me, because I like to fire you.
