If you support Mitt Romney for President of the United States and your own personal income is less than $250k a year, you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself WHY?
He doesn’t support any policy that directly benefits you.
So if it isn’t his stance on policies then what is it??? Be honest with yourself?
Are those convictions SO strong that it justifies going against policies that are in your economic best interest?
Is having an African American President so reprehensible that you will cut-off your nose to spite your face?
Can you look at your children in the face and have an argument to justify your vote?
Mitt Romney doesn’t care about the 99% and he’s hasn’t lied about his position.
He’s back-peddled on every issue he’s ever had just to get votes.
If a man stands for nothing, than he’ll fall for anything. Do we want to put a man in the Oval Office with those morals?
I didn’t agree with Senator John McCain on a number of issues just like Rep. Paul Ryan; but one thing I can say is I respect the fact they truly BELIEVED what they said.
What I can’t respect is a man who will compromise his principles just to win the election. He has NO moral fiber so I don’t respect him.
There were some who despite Mitt Romney’s blatant lies and major flip-flop at the first Presidential debate; criticize the President not being aggressive enough. It would seem to me the media would have better served their viewers if they put more focus on the lies spewed by Mitt Romney however I guess reporting on facts isn’t a ratings booster.
Now after Vice-President Biden’s stellar performance at the Vice-Presidential debate- which he was criticized for being too aggressive- the pressure on President Obama is heavier than ever.
Will Obama up his game and pin Romney down when the former Governor tries to lie and/or flip-flop on the issues? Tonight will tell the tale…
Like the rest of America (well, most of America, at least) Thursday night I watched Joe Biden and Paul Ryan duke it out like any old father and his son any staunchly Democrat and Republican Vice Presidential running mate would. Paul Ryan acted as if he had his shit together, yet looked like a little puppy being scolded when Biden would start frothing at the mouth. My favorite part of the debate? Joe Biden’s passive aggressive smile and sarcastic laugh. Joe Biden’s sassiness is unmatched by anyone in politics… or anyone in the public eye at least. Which is why it’s fitting that kissmysass dedicate a post just to the sassiest man in politics, Mr. Biden.
Let’s be real here. Thursday’s debate was no different than a father quarreling with his adolescent, possibly pre pubescent son. Afterall, Biden’s youngest son, is about the same age as Ryan (42). Earlier this…
After watching last night’s Vice Presidential debate what are your thoughts? It was good to hear a substantive debate in which facts prevailed over rhetoric.
I won’t tell you how to vote and I strongly advise you not to allow the media – Right or Left- to shape your own individual reaction to last night’s debate.
I’ve heard the media criticize President Obama for not being aggressive enough and based on that perception, the general consensus was he lost the 1st Presidential debate to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
Last night, Vice President Biden aggressively defended both his and President’s job performance while holding Rep. Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney accountable for their policies and ideology.
There are some who want to steer the conversation away from those facts and focus on frivolous nonsense such as – Joe Biden smiled or laughed too much.
Don’t be fooled by those distractions! Analyze the responses of all of the candidates! Stop watching Jersey Shore or Real Housewives and do the research on your own to see who was telling the truth verses who was trying to sell you snake oil. Then compare those facts to your core beliefs and match each candidates’s ideology to what is in your best interest.
We owe it to ourselves, our children and the future of our great nation, to take this election seriously. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… “In November, we have a huge decision to make and Thursday’s debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan is the vital exchange of policies and ideology that America needs to consider when determining which course builds on America’s innovation and strengths or weakens the competitiveness of the country and delivers a much lower quality of life and hope for advancement for American citizens.”
God Bless You All and God Bless the United States of America!
As the Vice Presidential debate approaches, I am left wondering who will win the debate; Vice President Joe Biden or Congressman Paul Ryan?
On which criteria will America judge each candidate’s performance?
Will substance prevail over a candidate’s ability to convincingly deliver untruths?
If the feedback from the recent Presidential debate between President Barack Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney is an example; we may need to proactively provide fact-based information just in case.
We’ll begin by providing facts about each candidate’s record on some key issues and compare their positions to today’s topics that are most important to Americans. This way we can all enjoy Thursday’s debate however cast our vote based on facts and not political punditry.
Vice President Joe Biden
Vice President Joe Biden, at age 29 became one of the youngest people ever elected to the United States Senate, where he served for 36 years before becoming the 47th Vice President of the United States of America. While in the Senate, Biden served as Chairman or Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee for 17 years. As a Senator, he worked on key legislation such as the Violence Against Women Act and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. Beginning in 1997, Vice President Biden also served as Chairman or Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee where he played an important role in shaping U.S. foreign policy on issues and legislation such as terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, post-Cold War Europe, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia.
Vice President Biden developed the policy parameters of the president’s jobs and infrastructure bill, which will be the key weapon that Obama uses against the Romney-Ryan team.
While serving as Vice President in the Obama Administration, Biden advocated for domestic policies designed to keep Americans in their homes and working and focused on smart investments in nationally vital infrastructure projects that would deliver positive returns for generations.
Those job-generating, infrastructure-investment proposals would also incrementally shift the economy away from the financial sector and toward a more balanced system which placed a premium on science and technology, inbound investment, and high-wage infrastructure platforms that the private sector alone could not produce.
There have been a number of challenges — the war in Afghanistan, nuclear materials management and WMD proliferation, stabilizing Iraq’s political climate, START ratification, even gay marriage — where Biden and his team quietly defined the position Obama either adopted or evolved toward.
Congressman Paul Ryan
Congressman Paul Ryan first became interested in government after reading several novels by Ayn Rand and at age 28 began serving in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1999. Ryan began his political career working as a legislative aide for U.S. Senator Bob Kasten and later for Senator Sam Brownback and New York Republican Representative Jack Kemp. He is considered the fiscally conservative voice of the Republican Party, Chairman of the House Budget Committee and is a Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee.
The Washington Post‘s Brad Plumer wrote an article which shows what the consequences of the Ryan budget would be: raising $2.2 trillion less in taxes, and spending $5.3 trillion less, over 10 years than the Obama budget. Federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid would be slashed — Ryan would cut income-security programs for the poor by 16 percent, transportation expenses and investment by 25 percent, spending on science and technology by 6 percent and investment in education, training, and other social services by 33 percent.
At the same time, Ryan would like to reduce the Obama Administration’s cuts to defense spending growth and wants to increase defense spending. GOP Presidential nominee, Romney has suggested a peg of 4 percent of GDP, which would boost defense spending above current levels by another $100 billion, according to Time‘s Mark Thompson . This would mean pegging defense spending to a specific percentage of GDP regardless of rising or falling threats.
The Choice Between Two Different Americas
The contrast between the Democrat and the Republican ticket couldn’t be more clear- the Obama-Biden vision for America calls for smart investments in technology, science, and infrastructure, Romney and Ryan’s solution is to cut spending.
Whereas Obama and Biden believe that the future of the country can be improved with significant investments in education and educational reform, Romney and Ryan favor massive slashes to education budgets.
America has budget challenges that need to be addressed, but to not invest in the future of our country creates a dim outlook for the prosperity of the nation.
In November, we have a huge decision to make and Thursday’s debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan is the vital exchange of policies and ideology that America needs to consider when determining which course builds on America’s innovation and strengths or weakens the competitiveness of the country and delivers a much lower quality of life and hope for advancement for American citizens.
Mitt Romney has been running for one political office or another for some time now but during this political cycle, we’ve gotten to know the real ‘Mitt’. What I’ve learned this year about Mitt and Ann Romney isn’t pretty in the least.
He’s done everything to win this time from changing his position on any number of ideas to suit whatever political climate, using his wealth and sense of entitlement to try and buy his way into the White House and let’s not forget flat-out lying about any and everything from opponent’s records, his tax returns or any fact on earth.
While there just too many issues for which Romney should be held accountable and forced to answer face to face, I’ve listed a few that I’d like to see President Obama address tonight.
Did I forget to mention he needs to release more tax returns?…
Issue # 1
Mitt Romney said his camp never intentionally ran any false ads saying, “We’ve been absolutely spot-on. And any time there’s anything that’s been a miss we correct it or remove it.”
Mitt Romney’s first campaign ad in the 2012 GOP Primary uses footage from Obama’s trip to New Hampshire in 2008. The text on the screen of the ad reads, “On October 16, 2008, Barack Obama visited New Hampshire. He promised he would fix the economy. He failed.”
The video then shows vacated business and foreclosed homes; Obama’s voice is heard saying, “If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” Click here to view ad, Mitt Romney’s Believe In America campaign ad
What the ad doesn’t tell us is that in the speech Obama was actually quoting an aide to his Republican opponent at the time, Sen. John McCain.
Issue # 2
Mitt Romney said President Barack Obama stole billions of dollars from Medicare. As a matter of fact, on “60 Minutes” Romney said:“There’s only one president that I know of in history that robbed Medicare, $716 billion, to pay for a new risky program of his own that we call Obamacare.”
The reality is that Obama without shifting the costs on seniors, as the Romney plan would do, saved costs – estimated at $716 billion over 10 years – in three ways:
Providing a level playing field between traditional Medicare and private Medicare Advantage plans that have participated in Medicare since 1985. Medicare Advantage costs, per patient, 14 percent more than traditional Medicare. Obama eliminates this subsidy, the right thing to do.
Cuts to hospitals, which agreed because they knew they would have more paying patients and fewer uninsured patients with the Affordable Care Act’s insurance expansion.
And, if Congress itself does not act to rein in costs, an Independent Payment Advisory Board, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, would make recommendations for reducing costs.
It’s not a “rationing board” or “death panel.” The law specifically prohibits the board from recommending policies that ration care, raise taxes, increase premiums or cost-sharing, restrict benefits or modify who is eligible.
Congress could act to assure that Medicare meets spending targets, including voting down the board’s recommendations and proposing its own.
Paul Ryan slammed President Obama for adopting Medicare cuts that were openly supported by Ryan himself.
“The president, I’m told, is talking about Medicare today,” Ryan said. “We want this debate.”
Additionally, Ryan went on to say that “what I don’t think he’ll be telling people is that the president took $716 billion from the Medicare program — he raided it to pay for Obamacare.”
Ryan, like Romney, has pledged to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which included $716 billion in savings taken from health care providers, not seniors’ benefits. But unlike Romney, Ryan wrote and passed two Republican budgets that kept the cuts in place.
Ironically, Romney pledged to reverse the cuts even as he’s promised to close the entire budget deficit by the end of his second term.
Ryan only referred to the proposed $716 billion cut from Medicare in the context of using the funds to finance the Affordable Care Act. But by claiming in Ohio that the cuts will hurt services to seniors, which the White House strongly denies, Ryan essentially accused himself of doing the same thing twice in his own budgets.
“The president’s campaign says this raid of Medicare to pay for Obamacare, which leads to fewer services for current seniors, is an achievement,” Ryan said. “Do you think raiding Medicare to pay for Obamacare is an achievement? Well, neither do I.”
Issue # 3
Mitt Romney created an entire ad campaign saying President Obama revoked the work requirement for welfare which was signed into law by then President Bill Clinton in 1996. Although the ad was totally debunked by fact-checkers, Romney continues to air the ads anyway and still stands by this lie to this very day.
The truth is, the Obama administration announced in July that states could seek waivers from certain welfare rules, but in doing so they would have to provide ideas for projects and initiatives that would do a better job of increasing employment among welfare recipients. Furthermore, the Obama administration has made it clear that it would not drop requirements for states that failed to promise better work outcomes.
Issue # 4
Romney has said many times that he is going to repeal ACA or ‘Obamacare’ and replace it with a new plan to keep Americans from being uninsured. I just have a couple of questions for YOU Governor Romney:
Why do you want to replace legislation that was built upon the crowning achievement of the legislation you passed while Governor of Massachusetts?
After signing into law, legislation that was the building block of the Affordable Care Act, why are you now proposing that Americans without healthcare go to emergency rooms for care? Isn’t this very principle the reason for soaring healthcare costs today?
In an analysis from the Commonwealth Fund, Romney’s new plan would actually leave 72 million Americans uninsured. That’s 12 million more uninsured Americans than before the ACA became the law of the land!
Issue # 5
While running on his experience as a ‘businessman’, Romney claimed to have created over 100,000 private sector jobs as the CEO of Bain. Fact-checkers have since called this jobs claim of Romney’s as ‘untenable’.
According to the Washington Post, “We were able to help create over 100,000 jobs. On the president’s watch, about 100,000 jobs were lost in the auto industry and auto dealers and auto manufacturers, so he’s hardly one to point a finger.”— Mitt Romney, interview on Hot Air,May 16, 2011
The 100,000 jobs is back! The presumptive GOP nominee all but stopped mentioning he created 100,000 in the private sector after we declared in January that claim was untenable and unproven. The biggest problem is that Romney is counting all the jobs added by companies long after he had left the leadership of Bain Capital — and even after Bain’s investment in the companies had ended.
In the Hot Air interview, Romney even made this claim while at the same time arguing that a recent Obama campaign commercial slamming the job lossesat a particular Bain investment was unfair because “the steel factory closed down two years after I left Bain Capital. I was no longer there, so that’s hardly something which is on my watch.” (Technically, Romney had not completely extricated himselffrom Bain but that’s another story.)
The logic there escapes us. Romney appears to be saying it is okay to count jobs created after he left Bain, but it’s not okay to count jobs lost after he left Bain.
As we have said, Romney “certainly has a good story to tell about knowing how to manage a business, spotting opportunities and understanding high finance.” But if he wants to wall off companies that failed after he stopped managing Bain, he also has to stop counting jobs created after he left Bain.
Romney also said he left Bain Capital in 1999 however his sec filings show that he was listed as the CEO and ‘Sole Stakeholder’ in the company for three years after he claims he had no involvement with managing the company.
There’s a good reason why Romney wants to distance himself from Bain after 1999. It was the three years after 1999 that Bain Capital laid-off thousands of American workers while Mitt Romney made millions and American jobs were shipped overseas.
Issue # 6
Mitt Romney further claims the President Obama’s Stimulus Plan created zero jobs when in fact according to the Congressional Budget Office, the Stimulus Plan create as much as 3.3 million jobs! These are irrefutable fact that Romney still refuses to acknowledge even today.
Issue # 7
Let’s not forget Mitt Romney’s most recently secretly recorded comments he made while addressing a crowd of wealthy donors at a whopping $50,000 a plate fundraiser. At the fundraiser with fellow 1% Americans, he said, “There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the President no matter what. All right, there 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, and so my job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
The latest NBC News/”Wall Street Journal” poll shows just 23 percent of likely voters say Romney`s comments made them think more positively about the candidate, 45 percent said it made them feel more negatively about Mitt Romney. Romney senior adviser Ed Gillespie says the Republican nominee is expecting the 47 percent remark to come up in tomorrow`s debate and is prepared to answer it and to address it. We believe the voters will see and appreciate the fact that what Governor Romney`s talking about would improve the quality of life for 100 percent of Americans.
I’m not going to lecture you on how you should vote however Governor Romney has made it painfully honest whose interest he’ll look out for if elected President in November. Many people are basing their vote on the color or President Obama’s skin regardless if he is fighting to give those very same people a fair shot in America.
Republicans have used every dirty trick in the book to manipulate they white base, from racial undertones, voter suppression, obstructing government and outright lies. What makes me so proud of our President is that in spite of all of these tricks, he has still managed to make positive changes in his 1st term. He is the first President in modern history to pass comprehensive healthcare legislation.
The bill President Obama first signed into law, the Lilly Ledbetter Act guaranteed that women will receive equal pay for equal work compared to their male counterparts. This is a bill that Romney’s camp had no knowledge of when asked during an interview.
If President Obama was successful with all of the obstacles he’s faced these last 3 ½, imagine what he can achieve with 4 more years and a Congress ready and will go govern the people.
You have a tough choice America; you have to cast your vote to decide which path is the right path for our country. I pray you make the right decision.
“Mayor Chris Doherty’s decision to cut Scranton public employees’ salaries down the minimum wage will become the “new template” for how American cities treat their workers, The Ed Show’s Ed Schultz said on Tuesday.
The pay cuts were implemented in violation of a court injunction. In response, the fire fighters and other public employee unions sued Doherty on Tuesday for contempt of court.” – Ed Schultz MSNBC
Why aren’t these State and local leaders being charged with contempt for violating court orders when they ignore judicial decisions which prevent them from shredding the Constitution? If an average American citizen ignored a court order, they would be jailed and/or fined.
It’s okay to have opposing views but the Constitutional was created by the Founding Father to specifically address their disenfranchisement under the British system of government. Now hundreds of years later, they have become that which the Founding Fathers vehemently against.
Let’s be clear, voting is a Constitutional RIGHT, not a civic duty. This means American citizens shouldn’t have to pay money in order to exercise this right.
If politicians believe their policies are what’s best for America then there is no need to prevent US citizens from voting. The beauty of democracy is that the MAJORITY rules, not a few little ‘dictators’ imposing their views and/or will on FREE citizens.
As an American, it is NEVER okay to infringe on our Constitutional right to vote. It’s NOT okay for elected officials to blatantly disregard the judicial decisions of our courts.
Some people say they want their country back but what country are they referring because what’s happening in America now is NOT the United States of America.
The political climate after the Citizens United is baffling to me in this age of social media. How can any American be influenced by a political campaign ad when it’s easy to fact-check anything shown in a campaign ad?
How can anyone believe Mitt Romney is a job creator when is easy to do online research and discover his record at Bain Capital and his job record as Governor of Massachusetts proves what he is saying is false?
Mitt Romney says, “The fact is that I spent 25 years in the private sector. And that obviously teaches you something that you don’t learn if you haven’t spent any time in the private sector … You learn through life’s experience,” Romney said, in his first public response to Obama’s criticism. “The president’s experience has been exclusively in politics and as a community organizer. Both of those are fine areas of endeavor, but right now we have an economy in trouble, and someone who spent their career in the economy is more suited to help fix the economy than someone who spent his life in politics and as a community organizer.”
“Romney campaigned for Governor on the promises of more jobs, decreased debt and smaller government,” Axelrod wrote in a five-page public memo previewing his message. “When he left office, however, state debt had increased, the size of government had grown, and over his four years, Massachusetts’ record of job creation was among the worst in the nation.”
“But when it comes to Mitt Romney and his economic philosophy the facts are clear—it didn’t work then, and it won’t work now,” Axelrod wrote.
Romney’s campaign, which hopes voters will see the election as a referendum on the economy, wasted no time hitting back.
“If President Obama had even half of Mitt Romney’s record on jobs and the economy, he’d be running on it,” spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said in an emailed statement that accused Obama of “years of broken promises and job-destroying policies.”
A close examination of the prospectus for Bain Capital paints a different picture of Bain’s operation. Under Romney’s leadership, Bain became one of the nation’s top leveraged-buyout firms, helping lead a trend in which companies were acquired using debt often pledged against their own assets or earnings.
Bain expanded many of the companies it acquired. But like other leveraged-buyout firms, Romney and his team also maximized returns by firing workers, seeking government subsidies, and flipping companies quickly for large profits. Sometimes Bain investors gained even when companies slid into bankruptcy.
Romney himself became wealthy at Bain. He is now worth between $190 million and $250 million, much of it derived from his time running the investment firm, his campaign staffers have said.
Bain managers said their mission was clear. “I never thought of what I do for a living as job creation,” said Marc B. Walpow, a former managing partner at Bain who worked closely with Romney for nine years before forming his own firm. “The primary goal of private equity is to create wealth for your investors.”
Bain’s top 10 dollar investments under Romney — averaging $53 million — spanned a number of sectors, including healthcare, entertainment and manufacturing. The firm’s largest investment was its 1999 buyout of Domino’s Pizza, into which Bain put $188.8 million, eventually reaping a fivefold return.
Leveraged buyouts allow investors to purchase businesses with the acquisition funded sometimes by significant amounts of debt. To critics, these leveraged deals can make acquired companies more vulnerable to economic downturns, leading to a greater likelihood of bankruptcy and job cuts. At the same time, the deals sometimes introduce discipline to firms and even whole industries that need it.
Either way, Bain investors typically profited.
That was true in the case of GS Industries, the 10th-biggest Bain investment in the Romney years. Bain formed GSI in the early 1990s by spending $24 million to acquire and merge steel companies with plants in Missouri, South Carolina and other states.
Company managers cut jobs and benefits almost immediately. Meanwhile, Bain and other investors received management fees from GSI and a $65-million dividend in the first years after the acquisition, according to interviews with company employees.
In 1999, as economic challenges mounted, GSI sought a federal loan guarantee intended to help steel companies compete internationally. The loan deal was approved, but in 2001, before it could be used, the company went bankrupt, two years after Romney left Bain.
More than 700 workers were fired, losing not only their jobs but health insurance, severance and a chunk of their pension benefits. GSI retirees also lost their health insurance and other benefits. Bain partners received about $50 million on their initial investment, a 100% gain.
“It makes me sick,” said Steve Morrow, a retired GSI steelworker, recalling what happened to his fellow workers after the Kansas City shutdown. Some top managers received bonuses from Bain, he said. “But the salaried and hourly people ended up with the shaft.”
If you support Mitt Romney for President of the United States and your own personal income is less than $250k a year, you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself WHY?
Life As I See It... 