It all began with Reagan. He started the low tax, trickled own, supply side idea, which was termed "voodoo economics" by George Bush Sr. (41). "Lil" George (# 43) took the idea to extremes when he fought two wars on the cuff and at the same time cut high-wage-earner taxes to the bone. The plutocrats and corporatists now generally pay less than 10% on their earnings, or at least those earnings that they do not squirrel away in the Cayman Islands. Understandably and predictably, as a result of the low taxes on the wealthy (as well as continued unwise deficit spending) US government revenues have declined and the deficit climbed.
During the "Lil" Bush years the huge housing bubble, war-footing-economy and general mindless optimism of that period masked the problem for a while. Though in the end the boom period came to an abrupt and disastrous conclusion in late 2007-2008 when the Great Recession hit. Revenues collapsed with the economy thereafter and the deficit climbed. When Obama took office the deficit figure stood at about 1.4 trillion dollars (it had not doubled). Those "lost" dollars of uncollected taxes and war spending went into the hands of the few super wealthy and the one-percenters, as well as the war profiteers like Dick Cheney.
My Dad always used to say "follow the money" when he wanted to allot blame. Doing just that we can see how the funds moved from the calloused hands of Chinese laborers and entrepreneurs who saved it and then into the Chinese banks which bought our bonds, in effect lending us the money, and then due to those tax breaks, into the coffers of the super wealthy, who tucked it away in the Caymans, or bought monster yachts, or their second Lear jet. That very same US debt on borrowed money will have to be repaid....by us, our kids and grandkids. Not fair? You bet it ain't.
Obama would like to recoup some of that money....it's still there, after all being held by the wealthy cruising our waters in their yachts and leaving contrails in the ionosphere with their private jets.
Under Obama the deficit did not double as Mr. Romney likes to claim, for today it stands at about 1.2 trillion. But the national debt did climb and now our kids and grandkids will have to pay that back to the Chinese and our other bond holders. It would be sweet revenge if we could recoup some of that money from the hands of the war profiteers and the one-percenters who helped to fuel the awful Great Recession and where much of those funds still remains. How do we do that? Raise taxes on those folks as President Obama suggests. That seems only fair.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
AN AMUSING STORY REGARDING TECHNOLOGY AND IPHONES
I crouched down and made a "fast draw" motion that would have put a smirk on the faces of "Hop -along" Cassidy, Roy Rogers or even Gene Autry, as I reached for my iPhone holster. But I was a goner! The holster, strapped down tight on my thigh, was empty! Ugh! Disarmed and disabled and vulnerable!
Whoa? "Where is my iPhone?" I queried, speaking to myself, as I frantically slipped my hands around my waist, and patted down my empty pockets. Nothing there! I punched my hands deep down into my empty pant's pockets several times-over as I unsuccessfully searched for that familiar hard, flat, rectangular object. My iPhone was definitely missing!
I literally eat, sleep, rest, bathe, and do most everything else with this modern marvel of technology near at hand. The iPhone has taken the place of my radio, TV, small computer, dictionary, encyclopedia, thesaurus, language translator, news source, camera, jogging-route recorder, pedometer, compass, and what else. Besides those functions, it is a multi function communicator extraordinaire, and of course, a hand-held telephone too! This general electronic marvel is always at hand. It has become something between a mechanical robotic "Jeeves" and a third hand. It is always on my belt, or if not there, on my night-stand. ( I would not want to a actually know the results of a bacteriological swabs taken from its surface. It must have a complete and thriving colony of body germs and viruses of many and varied species. I do give it a scrub-off every now and again with an antiseptic wipe. But I do it carefully.)
It was a busy unusual day, when I attempted that fast draw pull of my IPhone 4 from its hard-box holster as I prepared to begin my exercise for the day. I use popular, "Map-my-Run" app to record each walk and run. But as explained above--the instrument was was not there. Mentally, I quickly ran down my previous early-morning schedule. I recalled taking it downstairs to the breakfast table where I read the morning news. I read some of my favorites, the NY Times, UK Guardian, le Monde, Huff Post, Drudge Report, and Real-Clear Politics. I remembered some of the morning stories I digested about the Romney candidacy, Afghanistan and the economy. So I knew I had it in my possession at home.
I also recalled being interrupted during my breakfast electronic-read in by the frantic barking of our Jack Russell terrier, Milo. Milo is a ten-inch high canid with the temperament and self-image of three foot high, 90 pound Pit Bull-Mastiff-cross breed. On hearing him, my fear was that his frantic vocalizations were the consequence of him chasing the mailman or a delivery man across the lawn. He has been known to chew at the ankles of these "interlopers" into his domain, which more than once has resulted in financial and legal difficulties for me---and pain for the mailman. So I clearly recalled pushing off from the table, and with night-clothes and bath robe flying in my slip stream, I ran off to intercede on behalf of Milo's presumed victim to protect him or her from torn trouser-bottoms and bloody ankles.
Outside, the barking had stopped. But ominously, I spotted the little brown and white dog slowly and silently stalking a delivery-man who had parked his truck near our house. The man had stopped and turned to face his stalker with outstretched hand. Aware of what was about to happen, I raced across the lawn, caught up with the tiny dog, scooped him up just as he was going to bite into the proffered hand of the innocent painter-contractor who unthinkingly had in mind an attempt at befriending this mighty-miniature canine whose evil intentions to draw blood, were ingrained in his terrier genes. I smiled at the man, and waved with one hand, as I tucked the snarling and growling little beast under my robe with the other arm and marched off back across the lawn.
That was just the beginning of a hectic day. Our regular schedule including a brisk morning three-mile walk, leisurely breakfast, a few hours of writing and paperwork, light chores, lunch and relaxation prior to light entertainment and preparation for an early dinner, had deteriorated on this day. The grandkids required collecting and transport to school, "critical" shopping had to be done, a short stopover in the barbershop was a necessity, simply for safe vision, then picking said kids up from school, and general transportation and baby sitting services. By late afternoon my wife and I were tired and cranky. I needed a good walk to clear my head. That's the situation I was in when I discovered the iPhone missing. I sought it ,out my "marine ditch bag" which is where I keep all my valuables between "docking" and rising from the bunk in the morning. A thorough search of bedroom, kitchen, family room, etc. etc. revealed no IPhone. Calling the iPhone from our home telephone resulted in no corresponding ring from the missing instrument. We searched the car, the basement the attic, the clothes dryer, the clothes hamper, the toilets. No iPhone. I checked for it in my workshop in our back yard. F.... called the iPhone while I was out there. No response...no instrument. I retraced my steps over the day--but no luck. Finally, I called my Italian barber in town. "John did you happen to see a phone in the shop today?" "Yeah, I gotta da phone." "You found the phone there?" I asked excitedly. "No, I gotta da phone. Número 638-7768. You call me to make appointsament?" "No, no, no. I know YOU have a phone. I lost my phone." Then I tried speaking loudly into the receiver, saying slowly "Ho----perduto----mio telefono." "Ahh "gats en goul," cursed the barber, sorry and embarrassed all at the same time that he did not at first understand me. "No, signore, I ma sorry, I seen no phone here." In desperation F.... tried calling the IPhone again. We listened carefully, for it's ring. Expecting the sound to be faint and far off, perhaps buried under some pillow, some place in the house. I tallied the rings up, one,.....five.....six. I strained my ears to listen for the faint ring. But then some one answered! "Hullo?" "Who's this?" Demanded F....sternly. "Hullo?" "Look, whoever this is, if you found this phone, you better return it to...." retorted F forcefully. The person on the other end did not reply. The only sound was the clatter and click of the receiver as it was slammed down into its cradle. "Someone found it and is planning to wipe its data off and use it for themselves," concluded F.... angrily. She sat down in the chair next to me. "I bet you lost that phone in the barber shop, and some creep from town, instead of turning it in, they picked it up and now they are going to use it." "I don't know about that...I'm not so sure..." I stammered, thinking of the spartan metal chairs in John's shop and the hard tile floor. "I know, I'll call K..., (our youngest, most tech-savvy daughter) she will know what to do when some one steals your phone." "Wait! We don't know yet if the phone IS stolen." "Didn't you hear that call?" "Yeaa ....yes." "It 'was' lost. Now it's stolen." F called our daughter K, who advised us that we immediately call AT&T to cancel the phone account, so that no one could use it to make long distance calls and run up our bill. F duly made the call and cancelled the account. At this point, I began trying to think positively about the loss. After all, the case was scratched. A fine hairline crack appeared on the back case after that fall I had in the winter. I could use more memory. The new iPhone five was coming out soon. Good reasons for a change were piling up. I was actually beginning to feel not that sad about the loss. Of course, I didn't know at that time of the $300-$500 tab for a replacement. K called back. "Dad did you have the "Find My Phone" app on your instrument? "Yes, but don't worry, so much about it. I'm sure it will show up soon." I was thinking now about the new IPhone 5, and becoming inured to the idea of my loss. But she did not seem to believe me. "I'll call back," she said determinedly We sat around gloomily for a little while, I thinking of how I was going to get around replacing all the contacts and other data I had lost, and then F.... began thinking of the replacement costs. Just then the house-phone rang again. It was my daughter K. "I texted your phone, and sent this message," she said. The message read: "This telephone does not belong to you. Return it immediately to where you found it and call this number......" "Oh that's a good idea, but Mom has just cancelled the account on that phone." "Good, I'm glad she did that. I've got another idea. I'll get back to you right away." Some time passed as we waited. The house-phone rang again. "I contacted your phone using my computer and your "Find My IPhone" app." she said excitedly. "Dad, I have a map here on my computer screen, I see here that it indicates that your phone is at your home address! It is somewhere in your house or on your property." "So no one took it? We didn't have to cancel the account number?" I asked incredulously. What about the guy who answered the call?" "No! Mom probably called the wrong number. Gotta go. I'll call you back." A few minutes later the home phone jangled again. It was K. " I have a 'Find My IPhone map' of your place on my computer now," she said excitedly. " The map shows that the phone is somewhere in the backyard, perhaps near your fence." F grabbed the home phone from me and excitedly scuttled out into the backyard with the receiver pasted to her ear. As she walked she spoke to K, who directed her toward the corresponding place where the little blue dot was glowing on K's computer screen in the next town east. From the kitchen, I watched as F move toward a big clump of emerging day-lillies near our back fence. I had actually been there earlier in the day and that fact raised my hopes of finding the phone. F pushed the tangled leaves apart, but could find nothing. She came back into the kitchen waving the house phone at me. "No, just a false alarm! It's not there. I still think someone took it." We sat down at the kitchen table. By this time we were exhausted physically and mentally. We had missed our dinner and had been actively searching for several hours. I was ready to give up. The home-phone rang again. "You want to get that?" I begged, burying my head in my hands and resting my elbows on the table. "It's K! She has a better, more detailed map, and has found a way to make the phone ring." said F. "But the signal is turned off. We shut that number down," I responded. To myself I sounded like a quitter and non-believer in advanced modern technology. But I was very tired now and had more or less come to accept the fact that I was getting a brand new iPhone 5. "She says that doesn't matter, as long as the battery is charged." She handed the phone over toward me. I backed away. "I'm too tired. Please, you do it," I said, resignedly. With the telephone at her ear again, F again began taking directions. Over the land line K moved her mother around as she studied her map on her computer screen. K directed her now toward the front yard, but on the same side of the house as she had been searching before. I wearily watched through the front window as K described where the little blue dot was appearing on her map at her computer station as she directed her mother this way and that toward the spot on the ground. From my perch, I watched F with the phone at her ear moving around in our front lawn. I realized that F was slowly walking toward the path that I had been over earlier in the day when I chased Milo down. A light went on. Perhaps that was when and where I dropped the IPhone? "Wait, I hear something," said F, excitedly. " It's a steady humming sound," she said into the receiver. "Make it louder," she requested. K responded over the phone. "Oh, you can't, I thought 'you' were controlling the sound." A pause in the conversation occurred here, as F crept along the grassy path. "The ring is louder." "Oh there it is, right on the grassy path." My iPhone was recovered! AT&T quickly and easily restored my number and in a few minutes, I was back in operation. I learned a few things. It might be a good idea to have a security code on your iPhone and use it regularly. It can prevent loss or compromise of our personal data in case you loose your iPhone someplace where it can be found by some unscrupulous sorts. The "find my iPhone app"works. So it should be installed on your iPhone too. Finally, one must marvel at our modern technology that we have available on hand. It helps to save dummies and poorly organized sorts like this author from loss and excessive costs. Get the picture? rjk
Whoa? "Where is my iPhone?" I queried, speaking to myself, as I frantically slipped my hands around my waist, and patted down my empty pockets. Nothing there! I punched my hands deep down into my empty pant's pockets several times-over as I unsuccessfully searched for that familiar hard, flat, rectangular object. My iPhone was definitely missing!
I literally eat, sleep, rest, bathe, and do most everything else with this modern marvel of technology near at hand. The iPhone has taken the place of my radio, TV, small computer, dictionary, encyclopedia, thesaurus, language translator, news source, camera, jogging-route recorder, pedometer, compass, and what else. Besides those functions, it is a multi function communicator extraordinaire, and of course, a hand-held telephone too! This general electronic marvel is always at hand. It has become something between a mechanical robotic "Jeeves" and a third hand. It is always on my belt, or if not there, on my night-stand. ( I would not want to a actually know the results of a bacteriological swabs taken from its surface. It must have a complete and thriving colony of body germs and viruses of many and varied species. I do give it a scrub-off every now and again with an antiseptic wipe. But I do it carefully.)
It was a busy unusual day, when I attempted that fast draw pull of my IPhone 4 from its hard-box holster as I prepared to begin my exercise for the day. I use popular, "Map-my-Run" app to record each walk and run. But as explained above--the instrument was was not there. Mentally, I quickly ran down my previous early-morning schedule. I recalled taking it downstairs to the breakfast table where I read the morning news. I read some of my favorites, the NY Times, UK Guardian, le Monde, Huff Post, Drudge Report, and Real-Clear Politics. I remembered some of the morning stories I digested about the Romney candidacy, Afghanistan and the economy. So I knew I had it in my possession at home.
I also recalled being interrupted during my breakfast electronic-read in by the frantic barking of our Jack Russell terrier, Milo. Milo is a ten-inch high canid with the temperament and self-image of three foot high, 90 pound Pit Bull-Mastiff-cross breed. On hearing him, my fear was that his frantic vocalizations were the consequence of him chasing the mailman or a delivery man across the lawn. He has been known to chew at the ankles of these "interlopers" into his domain, which more than once has resulted in financial and legal difficulties for me---and pain for the mailman. So I clearly recalled pushing off from the table, and with night-clothes and bath robe flying in my slip stream, I ran off to intercede on behalf of Milo's presumed victim to protect him or her from torn trouser-bottoms and bloody ankles.
Outside, the barking had stopped. But ominously, I spotted the little brown and white dog slowly and silently stalking a delivery-man who had parked his truck near our house. The man had stopped and turned to face his stalker with outstretched hand. Aware of what was about to happen, I raced across the lawn, caught up with the tiny dog, scooped him up just as he was going to bite into the proffered hand of the innocent painter-contractor who unthinkingly had in mind an attempt at befriending this mighty-miniature canine whose evil intentions to draw blood, were ingrained in his terrier genes. I smiled at the man, and waved with one hand, as I tucked the snarling and growling little beast under my robe with the other arm and marched off back across the lawn.
That was just the beginning of a hectic day. Our regular schedule including a brisk morning three-mile walk, leisurely breakfast, a few hours of writing and paperwork, light chores, lunch and relaxation prior to light entertainment and preparation for an early dinner, had deteriorated on this day. The grandkids required collecting and transport to school, "critical" shopping had to be done, a short stopover in the barbershop was a necessity, simply for safe vision, then picking said kids up from school, and general transportation and baby sitting services. By late afternoon my wife and I were tired and cranky. I needed a good walk to clear my head. That's the situation I was in when I discovered the iPhone missing. I sought it ,out my "marine ditch bag" which is where I keep all my valuables between "docking" and rising from the bunk in the morning. A thorough search of bedroom, kitchen, family room, etc. etc. revealed no IPhone. Calling the iPhone from our home telephone resulted in no corresponding ring from the missing instrument. We searched the car, the basement the attic, the clothes dryer, the clothes hamper, the toilets. No iPhone. I checked for it in my workshop in our back yard. F.... called the iPhone while I was out there. No response...no instrument. I retraced my steps over the day--but no luck. Finally, I called my Italian barber in town. "John did you happen to see a phone in the shop today?" "Yeah, I gotta da phone." "You found the phone there?" I asked excitedly. "No, I gotta da phone. Número 638-7768. You call me to make appointsament?" "No, no, no. I know YOU have a phone. I lost my phone." Then I tried speaking loudly into the receiver, saying slowly "Ho----perduto----mio telefono." "Ahh "gats en goul," cursed the barber, sorry and embarrassed all at the same time that he did not at first understand me. "No, signore, I ma sorry, I seen no phone here." In desperation F.... tried calling the IPhone again. We listened carefully, for it's ring. Expecting the sound to be faint and far off, perhaps buried under some pillow, some place in the house. I tallied the rings up, one,.....five.....six. I strained my ears to listen for the faint ring. But then some one answered! "Hullo?" "Who's this?" Demanded F....sternly. "Hullo?" "Look, whoever this is, if you found this phone, you better return it to...." retorted F forcefully. The person on the other end did not reply. The only sound was the clatter and click of the receiver as it was slammed down into its cradle. "Someone found it and is planning to wipe its data off and use it for themselves," concluded F.... angrily. She sat down in the chair next to me. "I bet you lost that phone in the barber shop, and some creep from town, instead of turning it in, they picked it up and now they are going to use it." "I don't know about that...I'm not so sure..." I stammered, thinking of the spartan metal chairs in John's shop and the hard tile floor. "I know, I'll call K..., (our youngest, most tech-savvy daughter) she will know what to do when some one steals your phone." "Wait! We don't know yet if the phone IS stolen." "Didn't you hear that call?" "Yeaa ....yes." "It 'was' lost. Now it's stolen." F called our daughter K, who advised us that we immediately call AT&T to cancel the phone account, so that no one could use it to make long distance calls and run up our bill. F duly made the call and cancelled the account. At this point, I began trying to think positively about the loss. After all, the case was scratched. A fine hairline crack appeared on the back case after that fall I had in the winter. I could use more memory. The new iPhone five was coming out soon. Good reasons for a change were piling up. I was actually beginning to feel not that sad about the loss. Of course, I didn't know at that time of the $300-$500 tab for a replacement. K called back. "Dad did you have the "Find My Phone" app on your instrument? "Yes, but don't worry, so much about it. I'm sure it will show up soon." I was thinking now about the new IPhone 5, and becoming inured to the idea of my loss. But she did not seem to believe me. "I'll call back," she said determinedly We sat around gloomily for a little while, I thinking of how I was going to get around replacing all the contacts and other data I had lost, and then F.... began thinking of the replacement costs. Just then the house-phone rang again. It was my daughter K. "I texted your phone, and sent this message," she said. The message read: "This telephone does not belong to you. Return it immediately to where you found it and call this number......" "Oh that's a good idea, but Mom has just cancelled the account on that phone." "Good, I'm glad she did that. I've got another idea. I'll get back to you right away." Some time passed as we waited. The house-phone rang again. "I contacted your phone using my computer and your "Find My IPhone" app." she said excitedly. "Dad, I have a map here on my computer screen, I see here that it indicates that your phone is at your home address! It is somewhere in your house or on your property." "So no one took it? We didn't have to cancel the account number?" I asked incredulously. What about the guy who answered the call?" "No! Mom probably called the wrong number. Gotta go. I'll call you back." A few minutes later the home phone jangled again. It was K. " I have a 'Find My IPhone map' of your place on my computer now," she said excitedly. " The map shows that the phone is somewhere in the backyard, perhaps near your fence." F grabbed the home phone from me and excitedly scuttled out into the backyard with the receiver pasted to her ear. As she walked she spoke to K, who directed her toward the corresponding place where the little blue dot was glowing on K's computer screen in the next town east. From the kitchen, I watched as F move toward a big clump of emerging day-lillies near our back fence. I had actually been there earlier in the day and that fact raised my hopes of finding the phone. F pushed the tangled leaves apart, but could find nothing. She came back into the kitchen waving the house phone at me. "No, just a false alarm! It's not there. I still think someone took it." We sat down at the kitchen table. By this time we were exhausted physically and mentally. We had missed our dinner and had been actively searching for several hours. I was ready to give up. The home-phone rang again. "You want to get that?" I begged, burying my head in my hands and resting my elbows on the table. "It's K! She has a better, more detailed map, and has found a way to make the phone ring." said F. "But the signal is turned off. We shut that number down," I responded. To myself I sounded like a quitter and non-believer in advanced modern technology. But I was very tired now and had more or less come to accept the fact that I was getting a brand new iPhone 5. "She says that doesn't matter, as long as the battery is charged." She handed the phone over toward me. I backed away. "I'm too tired. Please, you do it," I said, resignedly. With the telephone at her ear again, F again began taking directions. Over the land line K moved her mother around as she studied her map on her computer screen. K directed her now toward the front yard, but on the same side of the house as she had been searching before. I wearily watched through the front window as K described where the little blue dot was appearing on her map at her computer station as she directed her mother this way and that toward the spot on the ground. From my perch, I watched F with the phone at her ear moving around in our front lawn. I realized that F was slowly walking toward the path that I had been over earlier in the day when I chased Milo down. A light went on. Perhaps that was when and where I dropped the IPhone? "Wait, I hear something," said F, excitedly. " It's a steady humming sound," she said into the receiver. "Make it louder," she requested. K responded over the phone. "Oh, you can't, I thought 'you' were controlling the sound." A pause in the conversation occurred here, as F crept along the grassy path. "The ring is louder." "Oh there it is, right on the grassy path." My iPhone was recovered! AT&T quickly and easily restored my number and in a few minutes, I was back in operation. I learned a few things. It might be a good idea to have a security code on your iPhone and use it regularly. It can prevent loss or compromise of our personal data in case you loose your iPhone someplace where it can be found by some unscrupulous sorts. The "find my iPhone app"works. So it should be installed on your iPhone too. Finally, one must marvel at our modern technology that we have available on hand. It helps to save dummies and poorly organized sorts like this author from loss and excessive costs. Get the picture? rjk
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
ROMNEY'S GRIEVOUS FLAWS EXPOSED IN THE THIRD DEBATE
ROMNEY'S TWO DISQUALIFYING FAULTS
I watched the third presidential debate last night. Romney's flip flops, lies and his faux pas on basic knowledge and geography reveal Romney as not up to "prime time" standards.
One glaring error, among many, was his faulty knowledge of elementary Middle East geography. I would expect a presidential candidate who has stated in the past, and even repeated during the debate last night, that "Iran is the USA's greatest threat", and was also the candidate who blustered and threatened how a "Romney president" would "bomb Iran" to prevent it from gaining the "capability" of building a nuclear weapon.
But last night Romney revealed he has not even a passing knowledge of that nation's geography or location in the Middle East. In a glaring error, he stated for the entire world to hear that "Iran needed Syria as a means of reaching the sea". He apparently did not know that Iran has a huge coastline of its own. I giggled at this stupidity when I heard it. But it was not funny. It is frightening that a man in his position, potentially the leader of the free world, has such limited knowledge of the part of the world he would turn our nation's awesome power against and perhaps start another world war. With that level of expertise one wonders what nation in the ME would he bomb accidentally.
So for me, at that instant, Romney revealed himself to be an intellectual lightweight. One wonders too about his ability to choose advisors....for those who "prepped" him for this debate were apparently deficient as well.
This last debate proved that all those years as a businessman typically concerned only about the "bottom line" and not the "details" did not serve him well as preparation for the highest office in the land. I conclude his experience, training and preparation for the office of the POTUS does not meet minimal standards. His second fault is one of character. Romney's lies, flip-flops and 180 degree turns on policy and his "death-bed conversion" to more moderate positions solely to smooth his path to election, are dangerous for a President and paramount world leader. During the third debate he agreed with all of President Obama's foreign policies, a "180" from his previous positions. His behavior raises the question of his character. How can we trust anything that this man says? In foreign policy, as our Republican friends would assert, a la Reagan, that nothing is more potent in a leader than the knowledge that what a President says is what he means. Even President G W Bush, with whom I had little in common, could be believed (as erroneous that his positions were) at least on what he said he would do. Romney's character flaw, on his relationship to the truth, precludes that trust, and weakens him, and his administration were he to be elected to our highest office. His failure to be able to be believed makes him dangerous to his nation and the world. Get the picture? rjk
I watched the third presidential debate last night. Romney's flip flops, lies and his faux pas on basic knowledge and geography reveal Romney as not up to "prime time" standards.
One glaring error, among many, was his faulty knowledge of elementary Middle East geography. I would expect a presidential candidate who has stated in the past, and even repeated during the debate last night, that "Iran is the USA's greatest threat", and was also the candidate who blustered and threatened how a "Romney president" would "bomb Iran" to prevent it from gaining the "capability" of building a nuclear weapon.
But last night Romney revealed he has not even a passing knowledge of that nation's geography or location in the Middle East. In a glaring error, he stated for the entire world to hear that "Iran needed Syria as a means of reaching the sea". He apparently did not know that Iran has a huge coastline of its own. I giggled at this stupidity when I heard it. But it was not funny. It is frightening that a man in his position, potentially the leader of the free world, has such limited knowledge of the part of the world he would turn our nation's awesome power against and perhaps start another world war. With that level of expertise one wonders what nation in the ME would he bomb accidentally.
So for me, at that instant, Romney revealed himself to be an intellectual lightweight. One wonders too about his ability to choose advisors....for those who "prepped" him for this debate were apparently deficient as well.
This last debate proved that all those years as a businessman typically concerned only about the "bottom line" and not the "details" did not serve him well as preparation for the highest office in the land. I conclude his experience, training and preparation for the office of the POTUS does not meet minimal standards. His second fault is one of character. Romney's lies, flip-flops and 180 degree turns on policy and his "death-bed conversion" to more moderate positions solely to smooth his path to election, are dangerous for a President and paramount world leader. During the third debate he agreed with all of President Obama's foreign policies, a "180" from his previous positions. His behavior raises the question of his character. How can we trust anything that this man says? In foreign policy, as our Republican friends would assert, a la Reagan, that nothing is more potent in a leader than the knowledge that what a President says is what he means. Even President G W Bush, with whom I had little in common, could be believed (as erroneous that his positions were) at least on what he said he would do. Romney's character flaw, on his relationship to the truth, precludes that trust, and weakens him, and his administration were he to be elected to our highest office. His failure to be able to be believed makes him dangerous to his nation and the world. Get the picture? rjk
Thursday, October 11, 2012
ROMNEY TURNS VOTING INTO A GAME OF CHANCE
Romney's lies, flip-flops and obfuscations, have made a shambles out of the first Presidential debate and as they continue, will make voting for him a "crap shoot".
With Romney's refusal to come clean with the voters on his tax returns, his Cayman Island accounts, and his policies,changing the latter at the drop of a pin to suit whim and venue---and the polls, an honest, informed voter can not really know who or what they are voting for. When we step into that voting booth on November 6, we don't want to be faced with a "one armed bandit"instead of a voting machine. But that is the kind of choice we will face.
On the tenth of October Mike Tomasky penned a piece in the Daily Beast (10-10-2012) which includes a list for President Obama on how to make Mitt unacceptable again. (See: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/10/michael-tomasky-on-how-obama-needs-to-make-mitt-unacceptable-again.html) His list is a great one, and includes Romney's tax plan, his vagueness on what he would cut, his disdain for the poor, whom he would relegate to a hospital ER and then call that a "health plan", his problem with women's health issues, his desire to cut basic government functions, and Romney's repetitious lie that Obama's $716 billion-dollar cut (over ten years) to health care PROVIDERS--- is a cut to services....while he ignores his health care cut of the same magnitude which would be taken away from recipients and that money funneled into tax cuts for the wealthy.
But it is Romney's skimpy resume and basic inability to be honest with the American people that disqualifies him and makes him unacceptable in my book.
Let's begin with Romney's resume. It's thin! What has he done? He has no foreign policy experience. He is a one-term governor of a small state, which he left in worse economic condition than when he was elected. He had a much-touted role in managing the Olympics. And with a great deal of financial help and direction from others, he established Bain Capital...a vulture capital firm which made a great deal of money by buying up companies and exporting jobs overseas. To my way of thinking, the fact that he he created great wealth for his buddies and himself on the backs of the US worker is not a recommendation for higher office in the government, or acceptable preparation to make decisions for the future and welfare of a great nation. It makes me question Romney's preparation for the job.
We are now just recovering from the G.W. Bush administration's emphasis on cutting taxes for the super wealthy and hollowing out the middle class. Those policies left us with two costly and simmering wars and the Great Recession of 2007-8. Romney would like to repeat, continue and intensify those disastrous Bush-policies of continuous war and "trickle down" economics. Why would any knowledgeable voter want to revisit that awful period?
But unlike Bush junior, who began his destructive policies while we were affluent, Romney would embark on the same course of failed economic policies in 2012, when we have been weakened and undermined by the disastrous, lingering effects of the Bush wars-on-the-cuff and irresponsible tax cuts. The Obama first term has been able to raise the suffering US carcass only to its knees in the time it had, (while bucking stiff Republican obstructionism determined to make this our first black President---fail). After the Bush years, we find that the top 400 most wealthy in the nation have more assets than the bottom 150 million. When the top ten percent own more than the bottom 90 percent. When wealth is accumulating in the coffers of the super-wealthy at an alarming rate. When the middle class is hobbled by high unemployment, higher tax rates than the wealthy classes, low wages, lack of universal health care, limited upward mobility, and the prospect of an old age suffused in ill health and poverty.
These are the present circumstances that Romney's policies would have us revisit and extend and intensify. Recall, that his tax policy would cut domestic spending in half, and that he sees 47% of Americans--the elderly, working poor, retired and military class on the bottom, in his own words, as "moochers and takers". His "clients" are the upper class, super wealthy, the so-called "makers" and "job creators" classes. It is well to recall here that given the chance as a "job maker" Romney himself failed during his business career--firing and laying off more employees than he hired.
Finally, we must address Romney's absolute lack of core principles. He has been all over the map on health care, women's health issues, taxes, foreign policy, etc., etc. Ted Kennedy once referred to Romney as "multiple choice Mitt", a truly apt epithet. His icon should be some sort of moving and flip-flopping image. His present turnaround on almost every issue that he had formerly cemented himself to in the primaries, (it seems only to gain the approval of the hard right) he is now retreating away from at warp speed.
In a Democracy, we must have a minimum expectation that the candidate whom we elect is truthful and states generally what he actually believes. In Romney's case, we have no idea where he stands on anything. He has been successful in blurring his image so effectively that a voter really does not know who or what he or she is voting for. One could imagine him as taking on any political complexion--socialist, democrat, or even Tory or Whig. He could be any of those since he changes like a chameleon as he moves from one venue to another as circumstances require. Such behavior should disqualify him as presidential material. One thing is certain, that as a rich successful guy with money to spend, he now wants to be the President of the USA and he will do or say anything to close that deal and get his heart's desire.
In this election, if you pull the lever for Romney, a spinning double row of brightly colored fruits may appear in before you in the voting booth, like the "one-armed bandit"of Vegas or Atlantic City. What you get from pulling that lever will just be luck! That is no way to elect a president! Don't fall for it! I'd say demand a straight answer from Mitt, except for the fact that his history indicates whatever he says is suspect. How can we elect a guy like this?
Get the picture?
rjk
On the tenth of October Mike Tomasky penned a piece in the Daily Beast (10-10-2012) which includes a list for President Obama on how to make Mitt unacceptable again. (See: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/10/michael-tomasky-on-how-obama-needs-to-make-mitt-unacceptable-again.html) His list is a great one, and includes Romney's tax plan, his vagueness on what he would cut, his disdain for the poor, whom he would relegate to a hospital ER and then call that a "health plan", his problem with women's health issues, his desire to cut basic government functions, and Romney's repetitious lie that Obama's $716 billion-dollar cut (over ten years) to health care PROVIDERS--- is a cut to services....while he ignores his health care cut of the same magnitude which would be taken away from recipients and that money funneled into tax cuts for the wealthy.
But it is Romney's skimpy resume and basic inability to be honest with the American people that disqualifies him and makes him unacceptable in my book.
Let's begin with Romney's resume. It's thin! What has he done? He has no foreign policy experience. He is a one-term governor of a small state, which he left in worse economic condition than when he was elected. He had a much-touted role in managing the Olympics. And with a great deal of financial help and direction from others, he established Bain Capital...a vulture capital firm which made a great deal of money by buying up companies and exporting jobs overseas. To my way of thinking, the fact that he he created great wealth for his buddies and himself on the backs of the US worker is not a recommendation for higher office in the government, or acceptable preparation to make decisions for the future and welfare of a great nation. It makes me question Romney's preparation for the job.
We are now just recovering from the G.W. Bush administration's emphasis on cutting taxes for the super wealthy and hollowing out the middle class. Those policies left us with two costly and simmering wars and the Great Recession of 2007-8. Romney would like to repeat, continue and intensify those disastrous Bush-policies of continuous war and "trickle down" economics. Why would any knowledgeable voter want to revisit that awful period?
But unlike Bush junior, who began his destructive policies while we were affluent, Romney would embark on the same course of failed economic policies in 2012, when we have been weakened and undermined by the disastrous, lingering effects of the Bush wars-on-the-cuff and irresponsible tax cuts. The Obama first term has been able to raise the suffering US carcass only to its knees in the time it had, (while bucking stiff Republican obstructionism determined to make this our first black President---fail). After the Bush years, we find that the top 400 most wealthy in the nation have more assets than the bottom 150 million. When the top ten percent own more than the bottom 90 percent. When wealth is accumulating in the coffers of the super-wealthy at an alarming rate. When the middle class is hobbled by high unemployment, higher tax rates than the wealthy classes, low wages, lack of universal health care, limited upward mobility, and the prospect of an old age suffused in ill health and poverty.
These are the present circumstances that Romney's policies would have us revisit and extend and intensify. Recall, that his tax policy would cut domestic spending in half, and that he sees 47% of Americans--the elderly, working poor, retired and military class on the bottom, in his own words, as "moochers and takers". His "clients" are the upper class, super wealthy, the so-called "makers" and "job creators" classes. It is well to recall here that given the chance as a "job maker" Romney himself failed during his business career--firing and laying off more employees than he hired.
Finally, we must address Romney's absolute lack of core principles. He has been all over the map on health care, women's health issues, taxes, foreign policy, etc., etc. Ted Kennedy once referred to Romney as "multiple choice Mitt", a truly apt epithet. His icon should be some sort of moving and flip-flopping image. His present turnaround on almost every issue that he had formerly cemented himself to in the primaries, (it seems only to gain the approval of the hard right) he is now retreating away from at warp speed.
In a Democracy, we must have a minimum expectation that the candidate whom we elect is truthful and states generally what he actually believes. In Romney's case, we have no idea where he stands on anything. He has been successful in blurring his image so effectively that a voter really does not know who or what he or she is voting for. One could imagine him as taking on any political complexion--socialist, democrat, or even Tory or Whig. He could be any of those since he changes like a chameleon as he moves from one venue to another as circumstances require. Such behavior should disqualify him as presidential material. One thing is certain, that as a rich successful guy with money to spend, he now wants to be the President of the USA and he will do or say anything to close that deal and get his heart's desire.
In this election, if you pull the lever for Romney, a spinning double row of brightly colored fruits may appear in before you in the voting booth, like the "one-armed bandit"of Vegas or Atlantic City. What you get from pulling that lever will just be luck! That is no way to elect a president! Don't fall for it! I'd say demand a straight answer from Mitt, except for the fact that his history indicates whatever he says is suspect. How can we elect a guy like this?
Get the picture?
rjk
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