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Is this Really the Most Important Election in a Generation?

October 19th, 2012 | Posted by Rich in Blog | Featured - ()

by Rich Abete

 

Every four years, the political analysts and pundits predictably proclaim, “This election is the most important election in a generation,” or some such hyperbole. While I’m not certain if that statement is generally true this time around, the damage that a Republican administration could plausibly inflict upon this nation (and especially its women) if President Obama loses this election is breathtaking.  Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan must be stopped.

On the domestic front, we need look no further than the last two Republican House Budgets that came directly from Mr. Ryan, as he is the House Budget Committee Chair and the author. Based upon the analysis of Robert Reich, in my previous post,Is the GOP Morally Bankrupt?, I noted, “Mr. Ryan’s budget, which would be the law of the land if the GOP controlled the Senate and the White House, is a surprisingly diaphanous attempt at upward wealth redistribution and class warfare. It should be required reading for any civic-minded American and be treated as a cautionary tale when pulling the lever in November.” Mr. Romney has endorsed the Ryan Budget on several occasions, which, according to Mr. Reich, dramatically cuts programs and eliminates tax credits and deductions essential to the poor, seniors, the working poor and middle income families in favor of a tax cut for the wealthy and corporations. In addition, Mr. Romney promises to reduce the deficit. So, essentially, a Romney/Ryan Administration would implement an austerity program similar to the recently catastrophic European example; but here’s the cherry on top: instead of reducing the deficit with the savings from draconian spending cuts to vital programs and the elimination of tax credits and deductions upon which the middle class depends, they would kick much of the proceeds upward to the wealthy where it may just sit in off-shore accounts accruing interest (if they follow the example of their hapless reverse-Robin Hood leader) vs. being pumped into the economy. To be fair, many wealthy folks would actually welcome a more progressive and equitable tax regime in this country.

When it comes to our personal freedom as individuals, women should be particularly alarmed at the prospect of a Romney/Ryan administration. Neither man generally supports issues that are important to women, including issues of equality and the personal right to make choices regarding her own reproductive health. Mr. Romney is opposed to making contraception accessible by requiring health insurance to cover all or part of the cost of various forms of birth control. Incidentally, birth control reduces the number of unwanted pregnancies and therefore the number of abortions (DUH!). Some forms of contraception even reduce the transmission of disease… How ‘bout that!? During Tuesday night’s debate, Mr. Romney said he would leave it up to the discretion of the employer to determine whether or not contraception would be covered via that employer’s insurance plan. It’s interesting how the folks on the Right are always warning that one day, liberals will devise panels of bureaucrats to “ration your health care, but they apparently have no qualms in allowing employers to do that very thing, even with something as personal as family planning. On the issue of abortion, Mr. Romney magnanimously makes an exception for the victims of rape or incest, or when the mother’s life may be compromised by giving birth. While Mr. Ryan is now bound to the positions of his counterpart and boss, his previous record on women’s rights is abysmal. Most recently, he co-sponsored legislation with the now infamous misogynist, congressional Republican and senatorial candidate Todd Akin, that would re-define rape more narrowly, making it harder to convict rapists in certain circumstances. Of course, one of the more troubling features of a potential Romney/Ryan Administration would be their inevitable ability to place one, and perhaps two, right-wing extremists (a.k.a., mainstream Republicans) on the Supreme Court in place of retiring liberals. If they are elected, the delicate balance on the already right-leaning court would change emphatically, both in character and the manner in which they hand down decisions. The votes would surely be there to overturn it, so there is no reason to believe that Roe wouldn’t be fair game. To believe otherwise would be naïve.

Regarding foreign policy, Mr. Romney has shown himself to be uniquely inept. From his statement that getting bin Laden was not a priority or “worth moving heaven and Earth for,” to jumping the gun on the Libyan consulate attack by immediately holding a press conference to score some cheap political points by criticizing the Administration when he had yet to obtain the facts, or when he criticized the Brits on their organizational acumen during the Olympics (while he was in Britain!) which by most accounts was a wild success, he has shown a singularly acute ability to say or do the wrong thing at the wrong time. This assertion was proven spot-on in Monday night’s Presidential debate when Mr. Romney was fact-checked in real time by the moderator regarding his statement that the President did not characterize the attacks on the Libyan consulate as terrorism until two weeks after they had taken place. But even more problematic is his incessant drum beating and bluster regarding Iran. His myopic overtures seem more than a little dangerous, and could ultimately lead to yet another ill-advised ground war in the Middle East if he is our next Commander-in-Chief.

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan must be stopped.  Get out and vote in November!

 

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Our Herculean President

September 27th, 2012 | Posted by Rich in Blog | Featured - ()

by Rich Abete

We loyal lefties have had to endure some hits this go around. From the ACA (“ObamaCare”) without a public option, to necessary bank bailouts with no strings attached, to the continued wholesale tax giveaway to the rich and corporate welfare for Exxon/Mobil and the like, to watered down legislation of all varieties, it hasn’t been a perfect ride. But I do not blame President Obama for that. He’s been getting so egregiously hammered by the Right, unlike any of his predecessors except for perhaps Bill Clinton (sans the racism), and has been up against the most obstructionist and singularly motivated opposition in our history; all this with the corrupt corporate influence of Citizen’s United and the brave new world of heretofore unseen influence of multi-billionaire characters such as the Koch brothers (et al.)  still to come.

During his tenure, and certainly during this campaign, President Obama has been accused of being the following (this is by no means an all-inclusive list):

•    A usurper and an exotic foreigner and therefore illegitimate

•    “The worst president ever”

•    Weak on national defense

•    A socialist

•    The creator of a “government takeover” of  healthcare (when the ACA clearly remains a market-based system)

•    Treasonous (Yup! He was accused of treason by his post-fact opponent(s))

•    Incompetent and ineffective

The President, did however,  repeatedly commit one monumental error during the last four years: He allowed his PR folks to take a powder when they should have been busy indeed trumpeting his achievement de jour, from rooftops if necessary. If his PR team were effective, the electorate would be perfectly clear on the President’s triumphs over adversity and almost heroic accomplishments. Here are some of his more Herculean, albeit, un-celebrated, efforts:

•    He prevented a second Great Depression (As if that isn’t enough by itself! This is considered a fact to any economist of merit.)

•    He stopped the U.S.from hemorrhaging the almost 800,000 jobs a month we were losing when he took office

•    He facilitated more than two years of monthly gains in private sector jobs at a time of lackluster economic growth and near economic calamity

•    Here’s one that our Republican friends should really appreciate, but don’t: The value of the stock market has essentially doubled during his tenure, again despite a tepid economic recovery

•    He made health insurance available to almost 40 million Americans

•    He ended healthcare insurance “redlining” (no loss of insurance for pre-existing conditions or reaching a cap)

•    He made a politically difficult decision to save an entire banner industry (auto)

•    He reversed the trend of a waning manufacturing base inU.S.(knowing that a lost manufacturing base is a last indicator of empire in decline)

•    Good or bad, he has radically increased domestic petrol-based energy production over almost all previous administrations, including the Bushs’

•    He allowed gays to serve proudly and openly in the military

•    He substantively improved benefits for military families and veterans

•    He directed a sorely needed  overhaul of the student loan program by cutting out the banks from the middle and saving student’s money (thereby making college more affordable)

•    He vastly improved K-12 education via Race to the Top

•    He dramatically decimated al Qaeda’s command structure, including the elimination of their top 20-30 leaders

•    He liberated Libya by taking Gaddafi out with minimal risk to our blood and treasure

•    He made a courageous decision to take out Osama bin Laden that would have crushed his re-election prospects and legacy if it failed

•    He ended the war in Iraq in a timely manner

•    He has thankfully demonstrated an acute awareness that austerity at times of sluggish economic growth is a path to economic catastrophe (via Europe’s example)

•    He fought to preserve women’s right to dictate their own reproductive healthcare choices

•    He signed into law a provision to allow for equal pay for equal work for women

•    He appointed two high-caliber progressive women (one a minority) to  the U.S. Supreme Court

•    He effectively wielded his power to circumvent a “do nothing” congress by issuing Executive Orders to achieve some of his agenda

•    And just for good measure (for those who disparage the notion of “collective good” and fail to realize that reasonable taxes are a price one must pay for a civil society, he cut taxes numerous times for the middle class and small business.

…and the list goes on.

Compare this partial accounting of the President’s noteworthy achievements to any Republican…or Democratic administration, even those of two terms. In fact, in one term, he has arguably more significant accomplishments than any other President in the modern era…perhaps in any era for that matter. How can anyone criticize this President with a straight face? My bet is that Romney and Ryan and McCain and all of their minions share in a good laugh at the frivolity of their own public statements when they are out of public view. Let’s just hope the folks in swing states realize that.

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Mitt Romney: The Shape-Shifter

June 20th, 2012 | Posted by Rich in Blog | Featured - ()

by Rich Abete

This post originally appeared on BNV in April. However, it has been edited and updated and remains relevant today.

I’ve written quite a bit about the Republican presidential candidates. I mean, who could resist that certifiable and hapless bunch? From the rank hypocrisy of Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann (and the rest of them for that matter), to Rick Santorum’s misogynistic overreach, from Newt’s baggage (which would rival the contents of the cargo hold on a 747), to Ron Paul’s list of pathologies that likely appear in the DSM-IV, they have provided me with endless fodder upon which to opine….and about which to be horrified. But there is a conspicuous omission from this list of characters from which I’ve derived such reluctant and ambivalent pleasure: Willard Mitt Romney.

Alright, so the obvious question is, “Why would I take a pass on such an easy target?” The answer is in the question (of course, they were all like hitting the broad side of a barn). However, since Mr. Romney has clinched his party’s nomination, it is now my civic duty (and anyone else’s who has a venue in which to rant) to make sure this guy’s myriad foibles are exploited to the hilt. To that end, let’s have some fun!

Let’s first establish what type of guy Mr. Romney is. This one word sums him up quite neatly: chameleon. Even with the absence of a darting tongue, this much is apparent. By the way, chameleon, according to dictionary.com, can be defined as a changeable, fickle, or inconstant person.

Much has been made of Mr. Romney’s political shape-shifting and glaring lack of core convictions… and rightly so. He has flipped (or is it flopped?) on every major issue that he was cornered to take a position on during the rabid, Republican primary. In fact, he has shape-shifted and painfully pandered on more than a dozen issues…some momentous…since launching his candidacy for the last go around in 2008. In the interest of time and space, here are just a fatuous few that I would consider biggies:

Universal Healthcare (specifically, the individual mandate): We all know that Mr. Romney signed into law a version of universal healthcare coverage when he was governor of Massachusetts that is remarkably similar to the federal Affordable Care Act (which is incidentally facing a constitutional challenge in the SCOTUS with regard to the so-called individual mandate).  Even as late as 2009, Mr. Romney wrote an op-ed during the national healthcare debate supporting the Massachusetts plan for the nation as a whole, and he specifically supported the individual mandate.  He has distanced himself from his position to such a degree that he now criticizes the President regarding the same mandate for which he advocated, and he has vehemently pledged to “repeal Obama Care.”

Man-Made Climate Change: Mr. Romney once reasonably believed that the issue of man-made climate change was settled by climate change scientists (as factual), of which 98% concur that man is contributing substantively to global warming. Not to be outdone by his primary opponents who unanimously derided the idea of man-made climate change as a hoax during the primary regardless of their previously stated positions, Mr. Romney now speaks eloquently (well, maybe not eloquently) the language of his right-wing cohorts.

Immigration: Once advocating a path to citizenship for “illegals,” Mr. Romney lurched so far right-ward in a transparent maneuver to out-flank his opponents during the primaries, that observing his conversion could have given you whiplash. He now proposes that the government round up the folks that are here illegally (all 12+ million of them!) and send them packing. What a douche… Sorry. That was lazy…but it’s the truth, right? It should be noted that since initial publication of this post, President Obama has gotten out in front on this issue by signing an Executive Order that would functionally allow young folks that come to the U.S. illegally with their parents to stay here without threat of deportation. This has left Mr. Romney literally speechless as of this date, despite incessant questions from reporters regarding the matter.  

Right to Choose: In 2002 while campaigning to be governor of Massachusetts, Mr. Romney stated, “I will preserve and protect a woman’s right to choose and am devoted and dedicated to honoring my word in that regard.”  Now, of course ever pandering to the right wing, he is ardently pro-life.  He does, however, magnanimously make an exception for the victims of rape and incest, unlike many of his brethren on the Right.

What will be so very fascinating to observe for we political junkies, will be Mr. Romney’s artful (or more likely, painfully inept) two-step back to the center in an attempt to appeal to the more moderate electorate in the general election. You really can’t pay for that kind of entertainment. Although it remains inevitable before November, Mr. Romney has not yet made any inevitably awkward maneuvers to claw his way back to moderation to gain the support of many independents. As such, there is yet much to look forward to in the upcoming campaign. His first jerky movement to the center will no doubt be his eventual response to the President’s bold…and yes, political…action on immigration.

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HOTM: Willard Mitt Romney

May 30th, 2012 | Posted by Rich in Blog | HOTW - ()

by Rich Abete

In our previous incarnation as JWAD, we had a similar feature which highlighted GOP hypocrisy which was called Hypocrite of the Week. As one can easily imagine, the Republican presidential primary season provided endless fodder for our posts. In fact, every major candidate running earned the title HOTW over a several month period, with one glaring exception: Mitt Romney. The reason Mr. Romney was excluded from the fun certainly wasn’t because he was not a hypocrite. Apparently, it was just a matter of saving the best for last. Now that he has the Republican nomination in the bag, it’s even more urgent that folks realize what a pathological hypocrite he actually is.  With that, I give you Mitt Romney, Hypocrite of the Month.

According to Dictionary.com, hypocrite is defined thusly:

hyp·o·crite

[hip-uh-krit]

noun

1.  a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.

2.  a person who feigns some undesirable or publicly approved attitude, especially one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.

According to the above definition, Mr. Romney is such a perfect hypocrite that his picture, as they say, should appear next to the word in the dictionary. It seems that just about every position that he has stated publicly, belies or contradicts a position he publicly held previously. There is a difference between one’s opinions evolving around an issue and straight up pandering. As I have previously written, Mr. Romney is a political shape-shifter and a chameleon (sans the darting tongue). How can one lead without consistent public beliefs, never mind core convictions?

Let’s begin with an obvious example: Mr. Romney’s position on Universal Healthcare and the so-called individual mandate. While the governor of Massachusetts only a few short years ago (2003-2007), he signed into law a version of market-based (no, not socialism) universal healthcare coverage that included what has now become anathema in GOP politics, the individual mandate.  Mr. Romney (and many Republicans) was as recently as a 2009 op-ed piece an enthusiastic proponent of the law and the mandate…that is, until President Obama lifted the Romney plan to use as a blue-print for the Affordable Care Act (incidentally, also market based and not socialism) and signed it into law.  Mr. Romney has now made his pledge to “repeal Obama Care” a central theme in his campaign.

Mr. Romney once advocated a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, but he lurched so far to the right to pander to the rabidly right-wing Republican primary electorate that he put his fellow xenophobes…um…Republicans, to shame.  He actually strayed so far from what had been his consistently moderate view on immigration, to actually advocating self-deportation of the more than 12 million folks that are in the U.S. illegally.

On the issue of climate change, the former governor of Massachusetts once espoused a mainstream and commonly held view that man was contributing to the change in climate, once popularly referred to as global warming. He probably arrived at this reasonable assumption based on the conclusions of 98% of climate change scientists. However, once stepping into to world of Republican primary politics, Mr. Romney quickly adopted the position that climate change science is just theory and may even be a hoax. His 2011-2012 primary opponents, of course, all concurred.

In 2002 while campaigning to be governor of Massachusetts, Mr. Romney stated, “I will preserve and protect a woman’s right to choose and am devoted and dedicated to honoring my word in that regard.” In order to be a viable presidential candidate for the Republican Party and appeal to the Republican electorate, he is now predictably ardently Pro-Life and believes that abortion should be illegal.  Unlike many in his party, however, Mr. Romney does acknowledge that there should be an exception for rape and incest victims who become pregnant.

Because Mr. Romney has been lately engaged in a knock-down, drag-out Republican primary battle with veritably every one of his right-wing GOP opponents nipping his heels at one time or another, the public positions of the former moderate governor have all predictably lurched far to the right as outlined above. The question becomes, did he hypocritically pander to become the governor of the bluest of blue liberal states in 20002-2003 and lie about his personal beliefs to get elected, or has the real hypocrisy taken place in his five year quest to reside at Washington’s most exclusive address? Perhaps not even Mr. Romney knows what he truly believes anymore. I suppose we’ll never find out unless…I can’t even bring myself to write it.  I’ll leave it at this: Get out and vote in November!

 

 

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