The Political Junkie

Romney's Bankruptcy Plan for Auto Industry was Not an Option.

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 07:01:00 +0000

(PHOTO CREDIT: "American Style II" by Busja for Free Digital Photos.net)

Mitt Romney infamously stated that it would have been better for the Detroit auto companies to go through what he calls a "managed bankruptcy." But, as usual, Romney is being disingenuous because outside capital is necessary for a company to emerge from the bankruptcy restructuring process successfully. If you remember those bleak days, no one (bank or otherwise) was willing to invest or extend the capital needed to save the auto industry.

In late 2008 and early 2009, when G.M. and Chrysler had exhausted their liquidity, every scrap of private capital had fled to the sidelines. I know this because the administration’s auto task force, for which I was the lead adviser, spoke diligently to all conceivable providers of funds, and not one had the slightest interest in financing those companies on any terms. If Mr. Romney disagrees, he should come forward with specific names of willing investors in place of empty rhetoric. I predict that he won’t be able to, because there aren’t any.

That is why President Obama's administration acted swiftly and extended the loans to save an industry that is the heart of the Midwestern economy. Those loans are currently being paid back to the taxpayer. For Obama to turn his back on the auto industry would have meant turning his back on the people who make up the backbone of the middle-class -- the "blue collar" workers. President Obama has shown time and time again that he stands firmly with the working person.

How can Romney claim to be a Michigander after being so willing to trash the domestic auto industry? Don't believe the propaganda coming out of this used car salesman. President Obama did the right thing by the auto workers of America and the proof is in the numbers showing the auto industry roaring back to life.

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Mitt Romney is an Extremist on Immigration and Opposes the Dream Act.

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 07:01:00 +0000

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THE FACTS: President Obama on Oil and Gas Prices.

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 22:11:00 +0000

The Republican presidential candidates are getting desperate. The longer their primary process continues the further they are exposed as radicals and inauthentic charlatans. Thus, rather than defend their weaknesses they are trying to deflect the public's attention away from them and onto the president over gas and oil.

They are trying to say that the recent rise in gas prices is President Obama's fault. Well, if that's true, then why has President Obama expanded more offshore drilling in America? And why have we drilled as much under Obama as Bush? Republican President George W. Bush? Don't believe me? Then maybe you'll believe an oil and gas insider:

According to the rolling oil rig count by industry services giant Baker Hughes, the oil and gas industry is drilling as much under the first two years of President Barack Obama as it did under the first two years of George W. Bush.

TPJ: And if that's not enough, the Obama policy on drilling has made the United States an industry leader. "Including those in natural gas fields, the United States now has more rigs at work than the entire rest of the world." That from a Houston Chronicle article by Simone Sebastian.

PHOTO CREDIT: "Oil Well Silhouetted Against Evening Sunset by Victor Habbick for Free Digital Photos.net

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Romney Bet Against Michigan and Michigan Won.

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:59:00 +0000

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

That attitude seems widespread according to an article for "The Huffington Post" by Sharon Silke Carty:

Anyone still debating whether or not the bailout was worth it is "crazy," said Kenny Akinwale, owner of The Detroit Seafood Market, a restaurant downtown. Business at the restaurant was really slow until the end of 2010, when lunch time traffic started picking up. By the end of 2011, Akinwale had doubled sales compared with 2010."You can clearly see all of the company executives who come in here," he said, referring to executives from General Motors, Quicken Loans, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Detroit's energy provider DTE who are back spending money. "You can see a shift in the city."

TPJ: In addition, according to a MSN article by Jeff Reeves, GM has just posted it's largest profit EVER!! I wish all those who said that the government loans to the auto industry is "socialism" would apologize to the hard working, blue collar employees of GM and Chrysler. Leading that apology tour should be Willard Mitt Romney. Romney claims to be from Michigan, but what true Michigander would slam the door on the auto workers of the mid-west? No, Romney is no Michigander, he's an opportunist who will smile one minute and throw you under the bus the next minute, if it suits his callous greed. Michigan, we all know that you have too much common sense to vote for a fraud like Romney.

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Why Does Mitt Romney Hate Michigan so Much?

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:53:00 +0000

Mitt Romney has taken Michigan for granted way too long. He thinks he can swoop into the state with his buckets of money, remind Michiganders that his father is George Romney and expect people to line-up for him at the voting booth.

But, what has Mitt Romney ever done for Michigan? Besides writing off the very auto industry that his father built up!! His exact words were, "Let Detroit go bankrupt." And we all know by now how much Romney loves firing workers!!

When Wall Street collapsed, President George W. Bush had no problems saving Wall Street for his white collar, bank tycoon buddies. However, it took a true man of the people, President Obama, to see that the blue collar workers deserved help, too. Thus, Obama didn't listen to the crony capitalists shouting "wasteful spending" when he bailed out the auto industry, and he certainly didn't listen to "Let Detroit go bankrupt" Romney!!

In a recent opinion piece in the Detroit News, Mitt Romney doubled-down on trashing the auto industry by essentially calling the workers themselves, greedy. "Chrysler's "secured creditors," who in the normal course of affairs should have been first in line for compensation, were given short shrift, while at the same time, the UAWs' union-boss-controlled trust fund received a 55 percent stake in the firm."

In other words, for Romney, the big bankers should win and the workers lose. This from Justin Hyde with "Yahoo! Autos":

Chrysler's secured creditors were a group of Wall Street banks — including J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs — and investment firms, some of whom had bought the company's secured bonds in the months ahead of bankruptcy hoping to cash in. They could have rejected the government's offer of 28 cents on the dollar in cash for their $6.7 billion in bonds and paid to liquidate Chrysler themselves, but decided that not only would they come out even further behind, they'd also be blamed for destroying an American automaker. (GM's secured creditors − also mostly Wall Street banks — were paid in full, and endorsed the Obama bankruptcy plan.)

As for the "union-boss-controlled trust fund," that's what's known as a VEBA trust that now pays the health care of 426,409 retirees from GM, Ford and Chrysler — and in return, owns all future health-care obligations from the companies for those retirees. With this, Romney appears to argue that before hundreds of thousands of UAW retirees got health care, Wall Street should have been made whole.

So, you have to ask yourself, "Would Mitt Romney be the kind of president who would be favorable toward middle-class workers?" Ask the auto industry workers who nearly lost their jobs because of Romney. Ask those who lost their job because of Romney's Bain Capital -- a company that would buy up distressed companies and make them profitable again by slashing employees and the benefits of the employees left. Michigan won't fall for your sweet talk any longer, Mitt. They are smarter than you and are going to need something more than a hand-shake, and an t.v. spot saying, "Hi!! I'm George Romney's son" to get their vote.

Mitt Romney isn't even leading in Michigan!! Rick Santorum has a healthy lead on Mitt Romney. One poll has him up 39% to Romney's 24%. If the Massachusetts governor can't win Michigan, how can he expect to win the Mid-West over President Obama?

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Job Growth Continues for 23rd Straight Month. Unemployment Rate Lowest in 3 Years.

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:02:00 +0000

PHOTO CREDIT: Business Graph by Apple's Eyes Studio for Free Digital Photos

Reporting from Washington—

The U.S. job market strengthened at the start of the year as employers added an unexpectedly large number of new jobs and the unemployment rate in January dropped for the fifth straight month to 8.3%--the lowest in nearly three years. -By Don Lee for The L.A. Times.

That's 23 straight months of job creation in America. A large part of which has been added recently in manufacturing. Such as the auto industry saved by President Obama. Manufacturing has been an area hit hardest by the Great Recession. The job increase in this last month doubled economist's expectations!! We still have to get the unemployment rate down further but considering it use to be 10%, we're heading in the right direction. The trend has been consistently toward getting out of this economic hole. Good on ya, President Obama!!

If Obama's polices have made things worse, as Mitt Romney loves to say, then why have we had consistent positive job growth for over a year? The numbers don't lie. President Obama keeps working at job creation and proposing plan after plan to increase jobs and it's paying off. All you hear from the Republicans though is how bad things will be. They are mostly negative and I hear little in terms of economic proposals that are different from the already failed economic policies of the Bush years.

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Romney "Honored" by Donald Trump's Endorsement.

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:01:00 +0000

By now, most of you know that Mitt Romney bowed before Donald Trump yesterday to accept his endorsement. Mr. Romney said he was "honored" to receive Trump's "seal of approval." Honored, huh? Donald Trump is the same man who offensively suggested that President Obama, isn't a citizen of these United States, which insinuates that he's a fraud!!

He smeared President Obama's integrity by wildly suggesting he forged his birth certificate to qualify to be highest leader of America. That's accusing a democratically elected president of being a criminal, and Mitt Romney feels honored to have the support of such a sleazy guy as Donald Trump???

It underlines the narrative that Romney will say anything and befriend anyone to become president. It's callous, calculating, shallow politics and it assumes the American people are idiots, but we see through your cheesy smiles, Mitt. We know who you really are, a charlatan of the first order. You make P.T. Barnum look like a saint. America still has a heart, and we aren't about to crown a robber baron like you as our leader.

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"Birther" Donald Trump Endorses Mitt Romney.

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:00:00 +0000

There are reports this morning that Donald Trump will endorse fellow multi-millionaire, Mitt Romney, which is about as relevant to struggling Americans as a Kim Kardashian wedding. I think it's safe to say that Romney had the obscenely rich vote locked down, so I see nothing but harm for Mitt coming from this endorsement. Remember, Donald Trump's big issue was trying in vain to prove that President Obama isn't an American citizen and thus not qualified to be president.

Does Romney really think this endorsement is helpful to his campaign that has already suffered from an image problem? Does he really want to be seen with a paranoid conspiracy theorist like Trump? It doesn't look good for Romney to get an endorsement from someone who loves saying, "you're fired!!" Especially after Romney's gaffe stating he likes firing people. Romney looks like he's better qualified to be "the apprentice" working for Trump than being president of all the people (including the very poor he's not very concerned about).

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Romney Blows off Poor Voters.

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:01:00 +0000

PHOTO CREDIT: "Money"by Salvatore Vuono for Free Digital Photos.

By now you have probably heard Mitt Romney's comment that he's not very concerned with the very poor. If you haven't read about the original story, click here to read about it. Romney is doing "damage control" today saying he meant he isn't very concerned by the poor because they already qualify for programs that assist them. However, the reason such a comment is outrageous is because Romney proposes cuts to the very programs he says are available for the very poor!!

His comment presents a wider problem for Mitt Romney. It builds upon the already well established narrative that Romney is an aloof and sometimes callous multi-millionaire. All those years buying distressed companies only to hand out mass firings to make those companies profitable again. He is one who doesn't understand the struggles and fears of the "lower classes." The narrative includes infamous classics such as: "I like firing people," "Corporations are people," "Let Detroit go bankrupt" and challenging Governor Rick Perry to a whopping "$10,000" bet. I'd venture to guess that most people would never be able to make such a substantial bet. These are all comments made at a time when money is scarce for a very large segment of American society.

They beg the question, "How can Mitt Romney lead the poor and weakened middle-class back to prosperity when he doesn't even understand them?" At the very least, his comments betray a dismissal of poor voters. Why would a poor person vote for a candidate like Romney who essentially dismisses their importance in a presidential election?!! I don't think he realizes just how many people have slipped from the middle class into the very poor during this Great Recession. If he did, he wouldn't speak so dismissively about them. By the way, even though they get help from social programs, many of them still work!! They are the "working poor." They have jobs but can't get good enough ones to give them insurance and adequate pay to feed their families.

A person can over-look one or two "out of touch with the masses" statements during a presidential race but when the list goes on and on it becomes clear that a pattern is being established. Add in a set of policies that favors the wealthy and the information that he only pays 15% in taxes and you have a candidate who looks less like a "leader of the people" and more like the millionaire guy from the board game, "Monopoly!!" I still think the best description of Mitt Romney is that he looks less like the guy who's going to hire you and more like the guy who last fired you!!

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Mitt Romney: "I'm Not Concerned About the Very Poor."

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:37:00 +0000

PHOTO CREDIT: Stewart Miles for Free Digital Photos.net

I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it," the Republican front-runner [Mitt Romney] said Wednesday on CNN, following his victory in the Florida primary.

He says we have a social safety net of programs for the poor, but his own plans call for deep cuts to those very programs!!(including social security). His version of "fixing it" sounds less like bolstering these programs and more like cutting them. Once again he's trying to have it both ways on an issue. This guy is such an "empty suit." Being an empty suit means being someone puffed up with his own importance but really having little effect on the lives of others. He or she is ineffectual, perhaps a phony, and is about as relevant or helpful as a suit hanging on a rack.

A lot of families on these programs today are those who were in the middle-class before the Great Recession hit just as President Obama took office. Romney says he wants to help the middle-class first, but there isn't much of a middle-class left!! A lot of them slipped into the category of "working poor." You see whole families showing up at food kitchens and food banks. Thus, part of helping the middle-class is helping the "working poor" get back to work, and thus back into the middle-class. There aren't many left in the middle right now, and that's something Romney doesn't seem to understand.

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Romney and Gingrich Hypocrites on Latino's Speaking Spanish.

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:53:00 +0000

The Republican presidential candidates are suddenly acting like friends of the Latino/Hispanic community now that they need their votes to win the Florida Republican primary. Being the party of diversity, the Democrats have long welcomed Latinos/Hispanic Americans. The first Latino-American U.S. Senator to serve a full-term was a Democrat, Senator Dennis Chavez of the great state of New Mexico from 1935 to 1962. In addition, the great Mexican-American leader and hero, Caesar Chavez was a strong supporter of causes important to the Democratic Party, namely labor unions and equal, civil rights. The Democrats need to increase their support of issues important to Latinos/Hispanics, but overall, they have been the party that most benefits Latinos/Hispanics.

In Florida, we have Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich being appallingly hypocritical toward the Latino/Hispanic community. They insult bilingual Latino-Americans by calling Spanish the "language of the ghetto" as Newt Gingrich does. Or, alienate them by being in favor of "English-only" voting ballots, as Romney does, but then release campaign commercials in Spanish in hopes of fooling Latino/Hispanic Americans into voting for them!! Well, Latino/Hispanics voters are much smarter than either of the Republican candidates, and they are a major driving force for good in American society today. They won't be fooled by these kind of shameless games. Republicans can't ignore, insult or otherwise discriminate against Latinos/Hispanics the majority of the time and then expect their political support come elections, just because they say a few lines in Spanish!!

That will never make up for the awful things said and done to the Latino/Hispanic community by Republican politicians. Just look to Arizona's SB-1070 bill, which basically treats Latinos/Hispanics like second-class citizens. As an American, I am offended at the disgustingly racist things said about Latinos/Hispanics Americans by Republicans. It's rare that I hear a Republican say much of anything good about our Latino/Hispanic brothers and sisters. Such bigotry is not what America is about, it's not what President Obama is about and it's not what the Democratic party is about either.

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Romney Opposed Saving the Auto Industry -- Now Takes Credit for It!!

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:01:00 +0000

A successful leader follows through on the hard decisions despite the naysayers, and that has been President Obama. He had no choice but to inject money into the economy to save the financial sector because that area of the economy is essential -- it's the heart beat that pumps capital (money) throughout the economy.

You can't exactly let the heart die (banks/financial sector) and expect the rest of the body (economy) to live. It was a decision that no one liked but it had to be made, and it was bipartisan. Both President Bush and President Obama knew that this financial collapse wouldn't be like regular recessions where the economy bounced back fairly quickly.

Recovery from this recession is like a really bad car accident versus a fender bender (regular recession). So, it has taken some rehabilitation to get back on our feet again, but we are now able to walk again and are headed in the right direction. When Obama took office, the stock market was down to a pitful 6,000 points. Now? It's around 12,000. Presidents aren't elected to tell the people what they want to hear, presidents are elected to make the decisions that no one else can.

When President Obama came into office, America was hemorrhaging 700,000 jobs a month!! And while there still is room for improvements, unemployment is slowly but surely going down. The overall trend is toward growth. Jobs have been created for the past 22 straight months -- 3 million in total for that time frame. No sector was hit harder than manufacturing, and America's car industry was in the bulls-eye. The big three American auto manufacturers employ one out of every ten jobs in America!! That's not including the parts deals that rely upon the industry, as well.

So, letting those car companies fail could have easily sent the Midwest into a depression. They were taking a hit with high unemployment before the stock market crash, so if the financial sector is the heart of the economy then the auto manufacturers are the lungs that breath life into middle-class workers who often lack college degrees. But, fail is exactly what Mitt Romney proposed for the "big three." Odd position to take considering his father was a big shot in the auto industry, and considering Romney likes to brag about having lived in Michigan.Well, Mitt, you might have lived there but you wrote those workers off like they were nothing to you.

But now Romney is trying to take credit for the bailout of the "big three" car companies!! Yep, typical Mitt. Kick the industry when they're down and then swoop in when it rebounds to take the credit. Here's what the Romney camps says now after first giving Detroit the middle-finger:

Mitt Romney had the idea first,” said Eric Fehrnstrom, a Romney spokesman, citing the Times opinion article. “You have to acknowledge that. He was advocating for a course of action that eventually the Obama administration adopted.”

Democratic officials in Washington and Michigan responded that Mr. Fehrnstrom’s assertion flew in the face of both the time line of events and the financial reality that was facing the companies at the time.

“Mitt Romney must think that the entire country has fallen into a state of amnesia if he believes he can get away with this revisionist history,” said Brad Woodhouse, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee. “The record is clear. Mitt Romney would have let G.M. and Chrysler go bankrupt without extending them a dime of federal assistance.”

Democratic officials noted that Chrysler and General Motors received the federal aid only after they entered bankruptcy — not before, as Mr. Romney’s spokesman asserted.

ARTICLE CREDIT: New York Times

PHOTO CREDIT: Factory welder by Sujin Jetkasettakorn

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If Romney Can't Win Over Republicans, How Can He Beat President Obama?

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:14:00 +0000

WASHINGTON -- Newt Gingrich's improbable late January surge appears to be rolling into Florida, as a new poll confirms that victory in the South Carolina primary produced a "big jump" in the former House speaker's support with just six days remaining before the Florida primary.

TPJ: Mitt Romney just can't seal the deal with Republicans for the party's presidential nomination. If he can't even win over the Republican party base then he's going to have a difficult time getting Independent and Democratic vote. He's the weakest front-runner I've seen since Michael Dukakis!! I wouldn't support him either -- he's too shifty to be trusted to hold the line on basic principles. He changes positions faster than a weather vane!! He changed his position on the fundamental issues of: abortion, second amendment rights, tax pledges, global warming and on continuing the Reagan example in conservative politics. They are all core conservative issues, so if he'll flip on those then what won't he shift on?

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Romney: Undocumented Workers Should "Self-Deport."

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:43:00 +0000

During last night's debate in Florida, Mitt Romney's answer to illegal immigration is to ask illegal immigrants to "self-deport." So, you mean the honor system, Mitt? This exposes that once again Romney is out-of-touch with the issues of the day.

I support a path to citizenship because I believe that it's virtually impossible to round up every illegal worker in this country to deport them, and think of the cost in money we don't have!! I support the DREAM Act, too, which Mitt Romney opposes.

Besides, the vast majority of undocumented workers are some of the hardest working people in America -- why wouldn't we want them to become legal and thus be able to contribute to American success to an ever greater degree?

However, if you're going to oppose undocumented workers in America then at least have the courage to tell everyone the truth. No one is going to self-deport, Mitt and you know it. It's a weak answer meant as a dodge to a very important issue. Do you support deportation or don't you? He's trying to be all things to all people and ends up pleasing no one. Asking people to self-deport sounds about as effective as a voluntary tax code!!

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Newt Gingrich, Florida and the Latino Vote.

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:58:00 +0000

It seems that conservatives have found their champion in Newt Gingrich after he shredded Mitt Romney's paper-thin conservative credentials in South Carolina. Romney has been shown now to have a glass jaw against a true fighter and genuine conservative like Newt Gingrich. Having a glass jaw is a boxing term meaning an opponent with a glass jaw looks strong but can't take a hit and is therefore easily knocked-out. Romney portrays himself as the inevitable nominee of the Republican Party, but once you land a punch, his carefully manipulated image falls down like a cheap pair of pants.

Romney doesn't have the fire in his belly that you see in Newt Gingrich. Romney looks as though he's running to be president of the country club whereas Gingrich is down in the trenches fighting the battles that conservatives want to see waged. Mitt Romney can't beat President Obama in the debates. Romney can't criticize the president for his health care program because it was modeled after Romney's plan that he instituted in Massachusetts!! Romney also can't win on being a champion of the average American, either.

Obama can simply remind Americans that Mitt made his millions off buying up distressed companies and laying off the workers to lower costs so that these companies could be sold at a profit. That's not capitalism, that's vulture capitalism. That's taking advantage of a weakened company to make an extra million on top of his already sizable fortune. It's hard to say you have business experience that can help lower unemployment when your business experience heavily involved doing the opposite -- cutting jobs!!

Newt Gingrich isn't an average American either, but he can speak the language of average conservatives and knows how to relate to their needs better than "silver spoon" Mitt. Newt comes across as one of them and Romney comes across as their aloof boss. Personally, I think both Romney and Gingrich are a step backward toward the same Bush policies that got us in this mess. None of the GOP candidates have any economic plan that's any different than that of George W. Bush. President Obama wants to move forward and build on the improvements in the economy, but conservatives just come across as bitter, angry and spreading fear. President Obama is working hard to turn this economy around while these Republicans fight over who is the best of the worst!! In the end, none of these Republicans have a positive vision for the future that doesn't involve giving more money to their wealthy buddies in the top 1%. I don't begrudge people being rich, and neither does Obama, but they need to sacrifice like the rest of us.

We need a positive vision and someone with a stable, steady hand to continue guiding us through these choppy waters. President Obama hasn't always succeeded but he hasn't had a willing partner in Congressional Republicans. Their stubborn blockage of progress is frustrating everyone. But, at least Obama seems sincere and patient enough to keep trying. He has made mistakes, but we've been slowly but steadily growing jobs. If you look at the over-all employment tread line, it's consistently gone up and up this past year or so. We aren't out of this yet, but we've stabilized whereas Europe is falling apart. Obama deserves some credit for stemming the bleeding. He doesn't run around yelling that the sky is falling like Gingrich, and that's the kind of leadership we need. In the end, I just don't see how any of these Republican candidates looks better than President Obama.

So, now we move onto the Florida primary -- good luck Mitt!! The latest poll shows him behind Gingrich, 32% to Gingrich's 41%. In addition, Gingrich has a friendlier view to Latinos, Cuban-Americans and other non-Cuban Hispanics:

At a debate in Washington, D.C. last November, Gingrich outlined the most moderate immigration stance of all the candidates, saying that the government should not expel immigrants if they have laid down roots here – for instance, if they have been here for a quarter of a century, raising a family, paying taxes, and obeying the law. While Gingrich does not think those undocumented immigrants should be granted full citizenship, he does think they should get legal status. -ABC News

No other Republican has had friendlier views toward the Latino community than Gingrich though he pails when compared to Latino support for President Obama. That all said, Republicans in general are very hostile toward Latinos/Hispanics. Whereas President Obama has been much friendlier. For example, he pushed for the DREAM Act, whereas Mitt Romney would veto the DREAM Act should be become president. Democrats in general also support a path to citizenship for undocumented workers. President Obama has a positive vision of the future, whereas conservatives seem to be selling nothing but hatred and fear. But, if you're looking for a true conservative, Newt Gingrich is your candidate. If you're a conservative, you'd be throwing away your vote to Romney who is a watered down conservative, at best!!

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Why Comparing Family Finances to Government Finances is a False Comparison.

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:16:00 +0000

I hear a lot of people asking why the federal government can't run it's budget like a family runs their budget. It sounds like a good argument on the surface, but comparing government finances to family finances is like comparing apples to oranges. First of all, the government has the ability to tax to create additional revenue, families can't tax their neighbors when they need to fix the roof. Whereas, a government can tax its neighbors (the people) to fix things like dams and roads. Families don't to have build roads and pay for the upkeep of them.

Families don't have to pay the lion's share of cleaning up a state after a hurricane or other natural disaster, as the federal government must. Families also don't have to pay for a standing army. Luckily for families, they pay a tax to the federal government to protect them with an army. The price for such an army doesn't bankrupt a family because it's defrayed by millions of other families chipping in.

The federal government is the issuer of our currency. Its IOUs are always accepted in payment. I wish my IOUs were so desirable. I don’t know any household that is able to spend by issuing currency. OK, some counterfeiters try, but they go to jail.

The family vs. government argument says that families have to balance their budgets and can't run a deficit. Well, what about a mortgage? How many families have a mortgage despite balancing their checkbooks? That's carrying debt like the government does!! Or how about credit cards for medical emergenices? That's all the government is doing when it prints money in periods of crisis such during a Great Depression or natural disaster. I'm not saying that we don't need to pay down our debt, but government is a unique entity and not like a basic family structure and budget. It's not that simple.

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Romney Thinks Paying a Low Tax Rate of 15% Amounts to "A lot."

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:11:00 +0000

PHOTO CREDIT: "Tax Filing" by Arvind Balaraman for Free Digital Photos.net

Only job killer Mitt "Gordon Gecko" Romney would think a 15% tax rate amounts to paying a lot in taxes!! The vast majority of us in the middle-class who are infinitely less wealthy than Romney pay more than 15%!! On top of that, he has money in the Cayman islands and it just so happens that the Cayman Islands are a hot spot location for the ultra-wealthy to shelter their wealth from taxes in America. To top it off, that tax shelter was set up by the now infamous Bain Capital where Romney reigned as CEO, cutting jobs like you'd cut the lawn. Romney just doesn't get it -- we need a leader who understands the average American.

President Obama had to take out school loans to pay for college, something many Americans can relate to. He was raised by a single mother who had to take food stamps for a time, and yet young Barack turned out to be leader of one of the most successful countries in history. That shatters the Gingrich myth that being on food stamps keeps a person from reaching their full potential.

If Mitt gets booed over his low tax rates in the deeply conservative South, then he better get ready for a double dose in the general election from independents and Democrats. Now more than ever we need a president who can relate to the financial hardships of the shrinking middle-class, and Romney just can't go there very well. He represents a small minority of the top 1% of the ultra-wealthy. I don't know how anyone can vote for Romney when people like him caused the financial mess in the first place!! Voting for him would be like rewarding the very people who slashed jobs!! It's not just that he wants to maintain that 15% tax rates for the top of the top 1% -- he wants to give the rich even more!!

His tax policy is heavily slanted toward the super rich according to the Tax Policy Center. He's the wrong person at the wrong time. It's been a tough four years for us all, but President Obama has shown himself to be a man of the people who truly seeks to serve not just the wealthy. He hasn't always succeeded but a lot of that stems from an unruly Congress unwilling to work and compromise with him. But despite the friction, the president has calmly tried to be the broker between the two unruly parties, only to have his hand of compromise slapped back again and again by Congressional Republicans, and even some Democrats. I would rather have a president who tries to compromise but sometimes fails, than a president from a Republican party that has said no to virtually any proposal that would help the middle-class, simply because President Obama signed on to support it.

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Mitt Romney Loses Final Count in Iowa Caucus Making Him a Weak Front Runner.

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:59:00 +0000

Photo Credit: "Road Sign" by Graur Codrin for Free Digital Photos. net

By Mike Glover

Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa—In a surprise flip, Rick Santorum edged front-runner Mitt Romney by 34 votes in the final tally of the Iowa caucuses, Republican officials said Thursday.

TPJ: This exposes Mitt Romney further as a fragile candidate who can't even hold his conservative base behind him. For Romney, the stark truth of losing Iowa is that the only state he's won in a conservative primary process, so far, is the less conservative state of New Hampshire. Don't get me wrong, I love the independent streak in New Hampshire and appreciate their views, but only winning Hew Hampshire exposes his inability to solidify the conservative base behind his candidacy. The Republican party these days is very conservative, so Romney is going to find it hard to motivate the dominate conservatives.

If conservatives aren't satisfied with a liberal Republican Romney leading a conservative primary then voter enthusiasm will be dampened and thus, some might not even turn-out and vote for him on election day. Voter enthusiasm is a big deal in campaigns. If people aren't very enthusiastic about your candidacy then they are less likely to volunteer to knock on doors, make phone calls and do other outreach to convince voters to support you. I believe that one of the reasons conservatives find Romney a bitter pill to swallow is that he's inauthentic. A lot of conservatives, and Americans as a whole, pride themselves on standing up for what they believe, even if it makes them unpopular. Romney is about as authentic as a used car salesman who will tell you anything you want to hear to make you buy that run-down car at the back of the parking lot.

I'll be honest, as a Liberal, I didn't support John Kerry very strongly because he was so inauthentic and willing to change his positions to shamelessly win as many votes as possible. But, Mitt Romney's numerous positions changes make John Kerry look like "Honest Abe!!" I honestly believe that no one really knows the real Mitt Romney because he won't let anyone see beyond his plastic smile and robotic mannerisms. And I don't trust people who come across as fake -- it makes me wonder what they are hiding and thus distrust them. He strikes me as an out-of-touch rich guy trying to pass himself off as a "man of the people" but he's so terrible at it that he just comes across as a charlatan preacher passing through town promising miracles in exchange for money and adoration.

Say what you want about President Obama, but he has a way of making people feel that his service isn't about himself, but about truly wanting to help people better their lives. Obama was a community organizer, after all, and if you know anything about volunteer work, you know it's not about money, prestige or power. It's about service. The only service Mitt Romney knows about is the maid service!! O.k., so he served a Mormon mission, but what kind of service are Mormon missionaries offering by knocking on your door to tell you that the beliefs you know hold are wrong?

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Stop Internet Censorship by Opposing SOPA Bill. Free Internet is at Stake!!

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:51:00 +0000

Many websites are blacked out today to protest proposed U.S. legislation that threatens internet freedom: the Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). From personal blogs to giants like WordPress and Wikipedia, sites all over the web — including this one — are asking you tohelp stop this dangerous legislation from being passed. Please watch the video below to learn how this legislation will affect internet freedom, then email your politicians to oppose the passage of the SOPA/PIPA legislation.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo

Romney Pays 15% in Taxes and Thinks $350,000 Isn't a lot of Money.

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:14:00 +0000

(PHOTO CREDIT: Scott Chan at Free Digital Photos.net)

TPJ: Mitt Romney thinks $374,000 isn't very much money!! Seriously. This from The Huffington Post:

"I get speakers fees from time to time, but not very much."

Not very much? According to his personal financial disclosure, from February 2010 to February 2011, Romney earned $374,327.62 in speaking fees. A few months later, Romney joked that he was "unemployed."

On Tuesday, the Republican presidential candidate finally admitted that the effective tax rate he has been paying for the last several years is likely below that of middle-class workers, which would also include military service members.

TPJ: Wow. It may not be very much to you, Mitt but most people would see making $374,000 for a year's salary as hitting the jackpot!! The vast majority of people don't make anywhere close to that in a year.

In other Romney news, last night, he finally admitted to only paying a 15% effective tax rate!! That's way lower than what the average middle-class person pays!! As if he even needs the money that such a low rate brings in. It's just not right that the ultra-wealthy pay less in taxes than most Americans. I don't begrudge the man for being rich, but it just shows how out of sync and out of touch he is with most Americans. And on top of it, he has the balls to say he wants an even lower tax rate!!

The man would be a great president of Wall-Street but that's about it. He comes across as this used-car salesman with his slicked back hair and plastic grin who's trying to pull one over on people. It's like he's bored of buying up everything he wants, so now he wants to be president for a time and see what that's like. He doesn't come across as someone who feels the passion to help people as a leader -- he comes across as someone who's running for president because it's the last item on his "bucket list."

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Mitt Romney: The Bitter Politics of Envy

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:27:00 +0000

During Mitt Romney's speech last night in New Hampshire, he addressed the controversy surrounding his time at Bain Capital. The job where he bought distressed companies, fired many workers to cut costs and later sold the companies as a profit. He calls it "venture capitalism" but I'd call it "vulture capitalism!!" Romney's response to the criticism that he is better creating unemployment than jobs was to say people are just envious!!

His specific words were his critics were engaged in the "bitter politics of envy!!" Again, Romney shows just how out of touch he is with the lives of average Americans. We're not bitter that he's ultra-wealthy, we're bothered that he made his millions by firing countless people at company after company!! Only a greedy, heartless, bastard like Romney would say people are criticizing his cold and cruel business strategy because we are "envious" of his money!!

That's like saying people despise drug dealers because of their money!! No, we despise drug dealers because they ruin peoples' lives, just like Romney ruined the lives of countless people laid-off at the businesses he bought. He didn't fire people because they all were bad employees. What would the chances be that they were all bad employees? Little to no chance. He fired people because it made him money!! And that makes him part the problem, not part of the solution to unemployment. Should he win the presidency, he can't be trusted to focus on the interests of the average American, instead of the the interests of his fellow greedy bastards. Given the dozens of flip-flops he's done on core beliefs, he's about as slippery and shifty as a salamander!!

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Mitt Romney: "I Like Being Able to Firing People!!"

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:09:00 +0000

On Monday, Mitt Romney strung together seven words that should never be connected by any candidate: "I like being able to fire people." Romney was speaking about being able to fire people providing him services, but the quotation figures to haunt him long after its context has been forgotten. -USA Today

TPJ: It's true that Romney was talking about finding a different company when you disapprove of their service, but the glee with which he spoke about firing in a time of record unemployment was amazingly out-of-touch. It's not the specific context that people are angry about. It's that this statement came from a man who's supposed, "business experience" stemmed from buying failing companies, and firing most of the employees to cut costs to then sell the company at a profit. The statement fits the larger narrative that Romney is less in-touch with the 99% of Americans struggling in this economy than he is with the very circles that make profit off of such unemployment. Want to know more about his time at Bain Capital? Click on this sentence to watch a 20 minute mini-documentary titled, "When Mitt Romney Came to Town." It lays-out his predatory business practices in further depth. That website again is www.kingofbain.com

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So You Think Mitt Romney is Trustworthy?

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:10:00 +0000

He doesn't just change positions a few times, he has changed his mind on numerous core issues. I don't trust someone who will change his mind so readily. How can we trust him as president to stay committed to a course of action when he can't even settle on a consistent set of values? He reminds me of a used-car salesman who will tell you anything to get you to buy a cheap car. He's like an actor who tries on values and beliefs like a fashion model tries on suit coats!! He doesn't look like the kind of guy who would offer you a job. He looks like the kind of guy who would fire you!!

And his "business experience?" He knows more about creating unemployment than jobs. He made his millions by buying distressed companies, firing most of the workers to trim the expenses. Then sell it off at a profit to a third party. He didn't seem to care how many people lost their careers, livelihoods or retirement pensions. So, long as he was bringing in the millions for himself and the greedy board of directors.

I wish I could ask him, "How many lives are worth another million dollars on top of an already sizable fortune?" How much money do you need before you say enough is enough and stop making money off of other peoples' unemployment and misfortune? He's a fraud and a liar. He's been running for president for the last 8 years -- he doesn't care about helping the little guy. He just wants the power of the presidency. Yet again crushing people underneath him to get what he wants. It would be a sad day if Americans sold out their vote for such a charlatan. Don't fall for his big, plastic, grin. He's hiding something and that something is his true personality, which is one of a cold and calculating con-man.

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Improving Jobs Trend Continues.

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:23:00 +0000

GRAPH CREDIT: ADP graph as printed on the "Economic Populist" website.

The trend of decreasing unemployment continues into 2012 as the unemployment lowered to 8.5% which is the lowest in three years. But, perhaps more importantly those job increases are coming in fields that have been hit hardest such as: manufacturing and construction. After 6 straight months of job increases of 100,000 jobs, or more, America seems to be on the right track again. Absolutely we still have a ways to go, but we're going in the right direction and have been now for a sustained period of time. President Obama isn't celebrating too much though because he's dedicated to lowering those numbers even further.

When Obama too office, the economy was in a free-fall from the Bush era, and we were hemorrhaging jobs at an alarming pace. Now the trend is climbing back up toward an increasingly stable economy, and the jobs are importantly in the private sector. Wall-Street has been doing well again for the entire past year and unemployment rates are always a lagging indicator; meaning jobs are the last indicator to improve after a recession. I'm cautiously optimistic that 2012 will continue to improve.

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Mitt Romney Barely Wins Iowa, Which Means He Actually Lost Iowa.

noreply@blogger.com (Handsome B. Wonderful) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:29:00 +0000

PHOTO CREDIT: taoty for Free Digital Photos

Mitt Romney lost the Iowa caucus last night. Yes, technically he won, but only by 8 people!! Eight votes!! He lost because a front-runner should have won handily. He literally garnered less votes in Iowa last night than he did when he ran for president in 2008.

After four years, he still hasn't won over conservatives and many Republicans. In fact, he's lost ground!! His fund-raisers, these anonymous donors, spent millions of dollars trying to buy votes in Iowa only to essentially tie with the guy who barely spent any money, Rick Santorum.

If Romney can't do any better than barely winning the conservative vote, how does he expect to beat President Obama in the general election? Romney has changed his core beliefs so many times that neither party wants to claim him!! If we can't trust Mitt Romney to be honest with us on his core beliefs, then how can we trust him to be honest with the American people, as president?

Meanwhile, President Obama is going about the business of passing middle-class tax cuts and saving the auto industry, which is the core of what's left of the manufacturing base that employs many hard-working, blue-collar Americans. And what is Mitt Romney's business experience that he looks to tout? Working at a "chop shop" venture capitalist firm where they bought failing companies, only to fire most of the work-force to reduce costs and restructure the company. Then they sell-off what's left for a profit. Is that what Mitt Romney thinks will help bring back jobs? Let's vote for Obama and make sure we never find out!!

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