Better Paying Jobs

Mitt Romney has been running around the country saying that the solution to the food stamp nation is better paying jobs.  I couldn't agree more.  The problem that Mitt Romney has in making such statements is that he is on record as being opposed to the minimum wage and being for wage and benefit cuts as part of corporate restructuring.  Not to mention the heading of companies that collapsed and had their jobs either eliminated or sent overseas.  I think that the middle class finally is getting that we pay all of the bills and then lose wages and benefits in the interest of corporate profits.  I think before Mitt starts promising higher paying jobs he needs to talk to his buddies in corporate America about giving existing employees a raise and to stop being on record as opposed to the minimum wage.  I also think that they should drop the opposition to Obamacare as more and more companies are dropping healthcare plans because they are too expensive.  Proving once again that the power of the market cannot control the costs of health insurance.  I hope that he is right that he will (not that government creates jobs) create 12 million new high paying jobs which is about half of the 23 million jobs that he says the country need.  The skeptic in me says that we are likely to see less than 12 million minimum wage jobs.

Tagg Romney

On Wednesday after the Tuesday debate Tagg Romney was asked how it felt to have the President call his dad a liar.  first of all the President didn't call him a liar, he said that what he was saying was not true.  Tagg responded by saying that he wanted to punch the President in the nose but couldn't because of secret service.  What Tagg should be doing is reading the multitude of posts from fact checkers who stated that his dad was not exactly truthful 31 times in 41 minutes, an impressive total by any stretch.  The problem with Mitt Romney is that he has an inability to maintain consistent positions on the issues and he gets facts wrong (likely deliberately to make himself look better).  Tagg don't be like your dad, get the facts right before you go punch anyone in the nose especially the President.

The Food Stamp President

That's what Mitt Romney and the Republicans call President Obama.  Some look at this as a slam against the President who as a child received food stamps.  Some point to the fact that the number of people on food stamps has increased during his presidency and that somehow he made it easier to qualify for food stamps.  The facts on food stamps are a little more complicated.  The majority of the recipients have jobs.  So, why would they qualify for food stamps?  Because both wages and hours are down since 2008, but in reality they have been in decline for 30 years.  The bottom line is that you have more people who simply cannot afford to live in this country.  If we would reduce the food stamp program (both Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney are on record although recently they have change their mind) Paul Ryan would be able to get in a nice photo op at the soup kitchen probably similar to the depression.  You remove the floor and people are going to fall hard.  The Republicans believe that this is what should happen.  My question is what is the point?  Does anyone really believe that if you cut off aid to the poor suddenly the poor will get higher paying jobs or start a business?  Of course not.  What will happen is that we will see the true effects of this economy, which is that it is disastrous for the majority of Americans.  Maybe, we as a country need to go through a period like this so that people will finally wake up and understand that the wealthy, the corporations, and the politicians did this to us and finally demand change.   

The Case for War

Paul Ryan says that he and Romney will only take the US to war if the national interests of this country are threatened.  He didn't really define this but there are indicators from past actions.  While Mitt Romney was dodging the draft of a war that he not only fully supported but a war where he helped organize pro-war protests.  That war was Vietnam.  A war where there were no clear threats to our national security other than the domino effect of communism.  In fact today with the communists still in charge Vietnam has become an important trading partner, Mitt may have even shipped some American jobs over there.  Paul Ryan voted for the war in Iraq and Mitt Romney supported it.  Again another conflict without a clear threat to the country.  So, if they win expect to go into both Syria and Iran not that either country poses a threat to this country.  Even if Iran had a bomb they would be incapable of delivering to the United States.  If by some miracle they pulled off blowing one up in the US what exactly would happen to Iran?  I think that we would no longer have to worry about the Iranians.  Syria is simply not a threat and there is no clear good group worthy of our support.

Healthcare at the Pres Debate

You knew that healthcare would take center stage at the debate.  Healthcare being the signature plan of both candidates (same plan in fact).  Mitt has staked the position of repeal, now repeal and replace.  I guess the flat out repeal wasn't poling well.  I thought that he had some amazing comments on the topic.  First he said that he believes in the private sector.  But, then he said if you don't like your company you can just switch.  This is simply not true if you fall into any one of the following categories, pre-existing conditions, undergoing current treatment, or need a specific treatment.  There is not an insurance company that is going to take people with those conditions.  If your insurance is provided by an employer you can change once per year assuming that your company offers more than one plan (not that common).  He also stated that he doesn't want an unelected panel making healthcare decisions for him.  The problem with this statement is that it is not true, but lets assume that it is.  How would that be different from an insurance company panel that we pay directly for?  This is not uncommon, if you need a procedure that is not covered in your statement of benefits or is deemed experimental you can ask for it to be covered.  A panel will decide if you need that procedure.  Then they will decide if they will pay for it.  You want to see a specialist that is outside the plan, the same system applies.  A real example is right here in Dane county.  I had spine surgery this spring.  The surgeon follows up for 2 years.  The problem my surgeon works for UW hospital, my insurance company is Physicians Plus.  They no longer cover this.  So I asked for a referral, I was granted 1 follow-up visit where no diagnostics can take place and I was directed to a list of orthopedic surgeons.  The problem is that none of them specialize in spine surgery.  Not a problem, I'll ask for a name.  That was 2 weeks ago and I still haven't heard back.  I'm so glad that the private sector is showing the way on healthcare!  If you have to interact with the system you know that it is broken and you dislike it more than your cell phone company.  Apparently if you are wealthy like Mitt Romney and you have a pre-existing condition like Ann Romney the system works but for the rest of us it sucks and it is getting worse every year as the insurers try to maximize profit.

We are the 47%

When Mitt Romney talks about the 47% of Americans who don't pay income taxes everyone immediately conjures up a view of some poor, lazy, good for nothing and know that he is not talking about them.  Unfortunately this is not the reality as countless people have pointed out.  I'm not going there instead I would link what Romney said to what our own Diane Hendricks had to say about right to work.  She was knowingly on camera, Romney wasn't but the two displayed what can only be characterized as contempt for the non-rich (the people who help make them the maker class).  What has shocked people is that this is out in the open and no one is backing away.  Sure there were cracks before, Leona Helmsley famously said that only the little people pay taxes, which I believe led to her conviction on tax evasion charges.

What is truly amazing is that this is the same group of people who would eliminate the minimum wage which will create even more people who don't pay income taxes.  They are either ignoring the income disparity or are really trying to create a peasant class where we are grateful for the scraps that fall from the table of the rich.

Mitt the Mexican

I want to focus on Mitt Romney's comment about how his father was born in Mexico but that he is not Hispanic but if he were the race would be going better.  Mitt how are you not Mexican?  Is it because you don't look like the Mexicans crossing the border?  You know Mitt the ruling class in Mexico is pretty white, but if are referring to appearance that is a pretty racist statement.  Is it because your family never really embraced the culture of their adopted homeland?   I sure hope that the current Romney's in Mexico have assimilated.  Or is it because you don't want to bring attention to the fact that your family moved to Mexico to escape US law on Polygamy?   And you with no sense of irony going around the country saying that marriage is between one man and one woman when that isn't even true within your own family.

One More on Romney and Obamacare

I think that Mitt Romney should pose as someone in the middle class and go insurance shopping.  I think that he would find it very difficult to find insurance and any price much less a price that is affordable to a middle class family.  Why would finding health insurance be so difficult?  Because, Ann Romney has a pre-existing condition that also happens to be fatal.  No one in their right mind would be willing to take on that risk at an affordable price.

On Day One: Repeal Obamacare

Mitt Romney yesterday said that on day one he would repeal Obamacare and return healthcare to the States and individual responsibility.  The problem with this is this isn't how it is now.  If gov. Romney is serious the second thing that he needs to do on day one is repeal a Reagan era law that says that health care providers must treat people who walk in. Here is the problem we have people in this country who don't take responsibility and buy insurance because they are healthy, we have people who want insurance but can't afford it for a variety of reasons, and then we have people who are denied coverage due to pre-existing illnesses.  Unfortunately we (the taxpayers) pay the health care costs for these people.  So, unless Romney is going to let the rest of society kick those without insurance or the means to pay for their care to the curb the taxpayers are going to be on the hook for health care expenses for an increasing number of people.  You want to know why casts are out of control?  It is because the responsible citizens have been paying for the irresponsible and we have had enough.  I have no problem cutting off the gravy train and teaching responsibility through denial.  It seems to me that the individual mandate is a good idea short of single payer universal coverage but if the people want this repeal then at least have the sense to remove the mandatory care provisions that we have.

More on the Bully

Now the right wing is equating the President pushing a girl in the seventh grade as the same as attacking, holding down, and cutting someones hair.  The differences are so numerous to be ridiculous.  For one the president wrote about the incident and what he learned from it.  Mitt didn't remember beating this classmate up and he gave a forced apology.  The other was in Mitt's case this was assault and given that he was 18 at the time should have been turned over to the authorities.

Now you also have the family saying that they have no knowledge of the incident.  Before you folks on the right think that this was made up consider that Lauber left school after that year.  Why was that?  No one is talking there.  Was it a lack of money?  Was it a bad fit?  Did he not have any friends?  Was he being harassed?  There is an appearance of running away.  Could be that Mitt and his buddies' behavior had something to do with him leaving school.  I know that if I were a parent paying private school costs I would have very little tolerance for this and would pull my kid out. 

It sounds like Romney was the arrogant rich kid who got away with everything.  I do not think that these are qualities that the country needs in a President, especially when we have so many kids who commit suicide or get revenge after being tormented in school.  I don't think that a President Romney would be able to relate to problems that many Americans went through in school. 

As for Cranbrook, hopefully they are doing a better job protecting all of their students today than they did 40 years ago.  Their literature and recruiters certainly act that way.

Mitt Romney the Bully

Mitt Romney participated in a few pranks in high school as did many of us and the right has the view that these things don't matter to becoming President.  The difference is that Mitt did was assault in the case of the hair cut incident and classic bullying in the rest of his pranks.  This and the fact that years later (after all of the studies on the effects of bullying) he still laughs them off are what disqualifies him to be President.  This bulllying behavior has long lasting effects on the victims and in this case on all of the perpetrators except one, Mitt Romney.  The only thing about this that might qualify him to be President is that he was able to lead a bunch of people to help him hold this kid down and give him a haircut.  That is really a sad comentary.

The Shrinking Job Market

The Wisconsin State Journal today ran an editorial cartoon of Uncle Sam holding up a way too small t-shirt (US workforce) that just came out of the Obamanomics drier with the caption I don't understand why it keeps shrinking.  This is supposed to be Obama's fault when the US workforce of jobs that pay a living wage has been in decline for more than 30 years.  The President is actually trying to put policies in place that would possibly encourage companies to quit creating jobs overseas but has been stifled by a do nothing congress.  Now along comes the job creator Mitt Romney.  This is a man who made a career out of buying companies, running them into the ground, filing for chapter 11, and then shipping the jobs to lower wage countries as part of restructuring.  I would think that a Mitt Romney Presidentcy will make that t-shirt a lot smaller. 

The only thing that will bring jobs back to this country is if we make it too expensive to manufacture products out of this country.  That would mean renegotiating trade treaties that have helped to destroy the economy.  That would mean raising taxes on products produced abroad.  That would mean ending tax breaks for companies that ship jobs out.  Most corporations would say that if they had to manufacture here the products would cost too much.  This is a red herring.  A lot of products already cost too much.  All one has to do is look at the record profits and the salaries of the top executives to know that there is enough money available.  For example Apple has said to manufacture the i-phone in the US would add $30-60 dollars to the cost of each phone which they would have to pass on to the consumer.  Keep in mind that this is a company that had $100 billion dollars in cash on hand.  They could keep the price the same but then they would have a lower profit.  This is the side of the equation that no one wants to talk about.  How much profit should a company make, how much should the executives (who have been lowering wages and benefits of workers) make?  No the workforce and their buying power are shrinking but it is not entirely Obama's fault, it is the fault of policies enacted over the last 30 years and decisions made by corporations.  I'm afraid that if we keep going in this direction we (the workers) will not be able to purchase the products that are for sale, then the boards of directors and politicians might notice. 

Just Heard

Just heard that someone at a Mitt Romney rally asked what Mitt would do if elected President to try President Obama for treason.  Mitt's reaction was a non-reaction and when pressed he did not denounce this comment.  First to try someone for treason you need to have a charge.  The teaparty likes to say that it is increasing the debt.  No it is not.  You need to prove that you actively aided our enemies.  Ok so where are we on this one.  We killed Bin laden, we overthrew the government of Libya, we have launched countless predator drone strikes in foreign countries, and we have gone to war with pirates.  Now some of these could be considered treason because I don't believe that congress authorized such actions.  Except if we are going to go there what about Iraq, Grenada, Lebanon, Iran,...  None of those President have been brought up on charges.  If you look at as damage to the US economy (which isn't right but we'll go with it) then Presidents Bush and Hoover should have been tried because they presided over the greatest destruction of wealth in this country.  After that probably Ford and Carter.  Obama is way down the list.  He currently has positive job numbers, inflation is low.  Sure the debt is high.  We could solve that problem by ending welfare and put millions on the street so that things look like the 1930's.  Same thing with the unemployed.  Then try Bush for bailing out the banks off budget to the tune of 7.7 trillion.  Then try Bush for running a war off budget ($3 trillion, he wasn't the first to do this (Johnson, Nixon) but the resulting collapse of the economy is the same).  Obama, and I think that a majority would rather millions were not on the streets.  That creates an unstable society.  So, what Mitt should we try the President for?

Ann Romney not Working

I for one don't think that the comment from the Democratic party strategist was that bad, because in context she meant that Ann didn't have a clue about the struggles of the average family where most mothers and fathers both have to work and have trouble making ends meet. I would be willing to bet that the Romney's have ever had to go without, but most Americans make those decisions everyday. Whether it as simple as deciding between buying hamburger or steak or a new car instead of used.

Some wealthy people (Teddy and Franklin Rosevelt) can relate to the regular people, but the Romney's continue to say things that put them out of touch with people in a lower class. For example, when talking American cars Mitt says that Ann has a couple of Cadillacs. Even one Cadillac costs more than most Americans earn in one year, but he says it like everyone has a couple of Cadillacs.

A Debate Question that Should be Asked

I wish that Mitt Romney would be asked this question:

Governor Romney you are advocating an austerity plan to stimulate the US economy can you state how such a plan would differ from the austerity plans that Greece, Portugal, Spain, and England have been operating under for the last 2 years and have caused their economies to collapse.