Our Politicians

Paul Ryan asked on August 29 - why, without new leadership should the next 4 years be any different from the last 4 years. Roseanne Barr, like many of us, thinks both the Republican and Democratic parties have gotten out of hand and in August said she was running for president with the Peace and Freedom Party. Per the Ballotpedia.org website there are 23 political parties recognized in the US. There hasn’t been much support for other parties (1990s Ross Perot made a dent) and the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision to allow more money to be wasted in contributions to SuperPacs (money coming from foreign entities and those not wanting to pay a fair share in taxes) hasn’t helped us.

On August 20, 2012 it’s reported the FBI’s Lawmakers Gone Wild investigation of 30 Republican delegates who met with Israeli officials found that several delegates jumped into the Sea of Galilee (an Israeli vacation spot and place of Christian significance-Jesus gave a sermon, walked on water and fed thousands) and one swam naked. Although not as bad, on September 3 a California delegate to the Democratic National Convention was dismissed after being belligerent to hotel staff and telling police he was a Congressman and another (neither were Congressmen) was taken to the hospital for intoxication. This shows our process has to change but it needs to start with those we put in Congress.

At the Univision forum Obama on September 20 said “…You can’t change Washington from the inside, you can only change it from the outside.” Romney’s response “The President today threw in the white flag of surrender again…I can change Washington”. I agree with the President. We are the answer to change. We need to hold our representatives, including the Supreme Court, to a higher standard. Example: Republican Hispanic star Marco Rubio started in the Senate January 2011 and from then to September 2012, he missed 29 of 430 recorded or roll call votes, which is 7.0% - the average is 2.5%. There are 33 seats up for grabs this year, 23 are held by Democrats and in order to gain the advantage, Republicans need to flip just 4 seats (3 if Romney wins, his vice president can serve as a tiebreaker). On September 23 Robert Reich, Professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said: This right wing Republicanism is different from your father’s Republican Party. To get our political system working for the 98% earning less than $250,000 a year, I believe the answer is the candidate holding the interests of the average American at heart. Obama needs to be reelected and Republicans (mainly single minded Tea Party who have their own Party scared) need to be voted out of Congress. 

Romney's Money & Tax Returns

On August 16, 2012 Ann Romney said on Rock Center with Brian Williams that they “have a blind trust and don’t know where their money is and their stance that more tax returns will only give them (Democrats) more ammunition”; Romney said he went back and looked at his returns and he never paid less than 13%. Ann repeated what Mitt said July 10, 2012 on Iowa Radio “My investments have been held by a blind trust and are managed by a trustee. I don’t manage them and don’t even know where they are.” He wants you to believe that he can handle the country’s finances when he doesn’t handle his own and he needed an extension for his 2011 tax return.

On August 18 Paul Ryan’s tax returns showed he paid: 2010-15.9% and 2011-20%. Ryan gave more than 2 years to Romney but they weren’t released to the public. There is no law requiring the release of tax returns or when they should be released. George Romney, Mitt’s father, started the practice in 1968-he released 12 years in his bid for the Republican Party nomination. Per the National Journal’s July 19, 2012 article we have not suffered a significant tax scandal involving a nominee or sitting president since President Richard Nixon's abuse of the tax code and his Vice President, Spiro Agnew pleading no contest in 1973 to tax evasion. But, the public became interested in the financial disclosures. Gerald Ford didn’t release any. In 1976 Jimmy Carter set the precedent for presidents and vice presidents to release their returns. In the last 36 years a minimum of 3 years of tax returns were released until 2008 when Republican nominees John McCain (released on April 18) and Sara Palin only released 2 years. Here’s the thing, Romney gave McCain 23 years of returns when he was being considered as a vice presidential candidate and had only released one until September 21; his 2011 showed he made almost $13.7 million without working a day and voluntarily paid 14.1% (didn’t fully claim the $4 million given to charity-if he had he would have paid about $500,000 less in taxes and a rate just over 10%). On July 28 Romney in regard to his 2010 tax return (made $21.6 million and paid 13.9% in taxes) said “Frankly if I had paid more (taxes) than are legally due I don’t think I’d be qualified to become President.” Take a hint from yourself Mitt.  

Back in December 2011 the Romney campaign disclosed his 5 sons had a $100 million trust fund; after checking it out Reuters September 11 report said: a special tax deal was given to those who managed investment partnerships (Bain Capital 1984-1999), the trust was created in 1995, Romney added to the trust without paying gift taxes and current law allows up to $10 million to be given free of taxes. Romney’s not following anyone’s lead when it comes to releasing tax returns but you have to give him credit for knowing how to use the law – laws he wants to keep.

Small Business is Okay

On January 7 the first question in the debate was – We saw 200,000 jobs created last month and optimists say this is a sign of a turnaround, are you in line with this? Romney responded with – I am an optimist and hope to see good news…but it’s not because of President Obama; his policies have made the recession deeper and the recovery more tepid; from ObamaCare, Dodd-Frank, to a stimulus plan that wasn’t as well directed as it should have been, to a host of new regulations that have made it hard for small entrepreneurs and big business to invest in America. According to Romney, if something improves the President has nothing to do with it but if it falters it’s solely his fault. And, he continues to echo this message.  

I learned that historically about 50% of new businesses fail but could not find any information to support that failure was due to regulations. Last year ABC started their Made in America campaign which started companies changing the way they do business. On April 30 Global Foundries (GF) had chosen Malta, New York to make microchips; they said 17 schools were funneling in the workforce. GF said American brainpower and high tech machinery, the fact that Americans work faster and produce more than their world counterparts was the reason for returning to the US. Because of GF other Malta businesses were also thriving. Other small companies are also bringing their businesses back to the US; too bad the big ones don’t take a hint. On September 8 a Florida pizza joint owner was so happy to see Obama that he lifted him off the floor – this does not seem like an act of a disgruntled small businessman.

I already told you about the September 2012 CNN Money Report that said the stimulus plan made us, the taxpayers, money and the World Economic Global Competitiveness Index said it was the silver lining that stopped us from falling further in world competiveness. I’m convinced there is no one so big, so powerful, who can make change without a fight – Obama is fighting for the average American and he needs our help to continue.

For a Better Future

Romney said on August 30, 2012 “You might have asked yourself if these last years are really the America we want, the America that was won for us by the greatest generation…The America we all know has been a story of the many becoming one, united to preserve liberty, uniting to build the greatest economy in the world,…that America, that united America can unleash an economy that will put Americans back to work that will once again lead the world in innovation and productivity and will restore every father and mother’s confidence that their children’s future is even brighter than in the past… that united America will honor and respect the elderly and will give a helping hand to those in need; that America is the best within each of us; that America is what we want for our children. If I’m elected president of these United States, I will work with all my energy and soul to restore that America, to lift our eyes to a better future, that future is our destiny; that future is out there, it is waiting for us, our children deserve it, our nation depends on it….”  

I don’t know what generation Romney was talking about as I feel we have had several great generations of Americans. We had people who learned from the 1692 Salem witch trials to give us freedom of religion, a civil war that started the road to equality, range wars between sheepherders and cattlemen that helped us find a way to live together, those that went to war and those that made it through recessions and depressions. This campaign has brought so many issues to the surface that we thought were forgotten. Because the 2011 budget crisis caused automatic spending cuts and a distrust among businesses and political leaders the US dropped to #7, from #5, in the September 5 World Economic Global Competitiveness Index; the report noted things would have been worse if Obama hadn’t reacted quickly to intervene and force the deleveraging of the banking system from its toxic assets. The Republicans are pulling us apart, taking away liberties from some and causing a huge financial gap with others. On September 13 in Golden, Colorado the President said - This is a tumultuous time that we're in. But we can and we will meet those challenges if we stay true to who we are. I agree. To get a better future this generation must realize the falsehoods of the Republican Party.

The Truth About Obama's Bailout

Obama did something no other president has done. When he bailed out businesses, he didn’t’ give our tax dollars away instead it was loans or a purchase of assets. As part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), General Motors (GM) received $50.7 billion. Per Kgbanswers.com - As of September 2012 GM is still indebted to the US Government for $27.2 billion and the government holds an approximate 26% stake in the equity of GM. Chrysler, on the other hand, repaid all of it TARP loans in May 2011 and they were not due until 2017. A current report issued to Congress showed that if the government were to sell its position in GM, it would be at a loss of $25.1 billion to the American taxpayer; however GM also has until 2017 to pay off its loan so it’s undecided if the government will lose money overall on the auto industry bailout. The government disbursed $245 billion to the banks and received principal repayments of $230 billion and interest payments of $34 billion for a total of $264 billion subsequently making money on the bank bailout.

Per a September 11 MoneyCNN report the Treasury still holds about 500 million shares of GM, worth about $11.5 billion at current prices and those shares would have had to rise to almost $57 from its current price of $23.14 in order for taxpayers to break even. The Treasury sold $20.7 billion worth of American International Group (AIG) stock, cut its stake in the company to 15.9% from 53%, and counting the TARP and Fed bailouts together, the AIG bailout has already turned a $15.1 billion profit for taxpayers and when it sells off its remaining stake will make more of a profit for taxpayers. But about $14.8 billion is still owed by nearly 400 smaller banks that received TARP help. Only 3 banks still owe taxpayers more than a half-billion dollars (Synovus Financial of Columbus, Georgia, Popular of Puerto Rico and Zions Bancorporation of Salt Lake City, Utah). The Treasury has written off losses of about $2.8 billion in other TARP money given to smaller banks and financial firms, with most of that -- $2.3 billion -- due to the CIT Group bankruptcy. Outside of TARP, billions were given to mortgage finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; the Treasury received $45.7 billion in dividends from the firms and made an estimated $25 billion profit on the sale of mortgage-backed securities during the last year; it is also due to receive all future profits from the two firms. The other financial firm with significant bailout funds still at risk is Ally Financial, formerly GMAC. The bank, auto and home finance firm was rescued as part of the auto bailout since it was a major source of financing for many of the nation's auto dealers. Ally received $16.3 billion and has only paid $5.7 billion back to Treasury, primarily in dividend payments. The Treasury owns 74% of its stock but won't be able to cash out until Ally has an initial public offering. The Treasury estimates there's another $10 billion yet to be repaid from a number of other smaller programs that fall under the TARP umbrella.

Contrary to what the Republicans want you to believe, the government is recouping much of the taxpayer dollars.  

Ideas That Were Tried and Failed

On August 30 Rubio said “Our problem is not the he (Obama) is a bad person; our problem is that he’s a bad president. Because his new slogan for his campaign is the word ‘forward’, a government that spends one trillion dollars more than it takes in, an $800 billion stimulus that created more debt than jobs, a government intervention into health care that is paid for with higher taxes and cuts to Medicare, scores of new rules and regulations, these ideas don’t move us forward, these ideas move us backwards. These are tired and old big government ideas that have failed every time and everywhere they’ve been tried. These are ideas that people come to America to get away from. These are ideas that threaten to make America more like the rest of the world instead of helping the rest of the world to become more like America.” As I’ve checked voting records and listened to the news over the past year and verified the facts with websites published prior to this campaign, I knew at this point I couldn’t listen to his rhetoric anymore. Romney in his speech said: “The President hasn’t disappointed you because he wanted to, the President has disappointed America because he hasn’t lead America in the right direction. He took office without the basic qualifications that most Americans have and one that is essential to the task at hand, he had almost no experience working in a business-jobs to him are about government.”

Ronald Reagan who the Republicans continually tout had no experience in business. He cut taxes on the rich and his approach was again tried by George W. Bush who ended up funding wars and more using Trust Fund money like Social Security and Medicare. The cutting of taxes on the rich is the true government failure that has been tried and failed. The deficit grew because repeatedly the Republicans wouldn’t increase taxes on Americans making over $250,000 a year. They want you to believe that regulations hinder business (not profits) when in fact their policies allow greed to drive our companies. On September 7 it was reported only 96,000 jobs were created in August and the unemployment rate was 8.1%. It was also said corporations are sitting on $300 billion and only 17% of them plan on hiring before end of year (August 8 Obama freed up $473 million in unspent earmarks for highway projects). Obama’s way of doing business shows that on August 31 major lenders reduced homeowner mortgages by $1.3 billion due to foreclosure abuse settlements, CitiGroup is to pay $590 million for misleading investors with sub-prime mortgages, September 8 Scotts Miracle-Gro is to pay $12.5 million for violating pesticide laws; September 12 a whistleblower got a $104 million reward for helping IRS recover about $5 billion from Switzerland’s UBS bank and on September 13 the Federal Reserve said it will pump $40 billion into the economy to counteract corporations withholding jobs (another discussion). I say this: If people come to America for Reagan’s approach to government and not for what’s best in America then they should not come; we do not need more people who don’t believe in the Constitution. 

Romney's Claim The US Borrowed From China

During his August 30, 2012 speech Romney said: This is when our nation is supposed to be paying down our national debt and rolling back those massive deficits. This was the hope and change that America voted for, it’s not just what we wanted, it’s not just what we expected, it’s what Americans deserved… does the America we want borrow a trillion dollars from China…”

In November 2011 the US Treasury said China owned $895.6 billion in US bonds, not trillions as Romney said. The reason the bonds were sold to China is because the Reagan’s tax cuts increased the deficit by 218%, more than doubled it and the ‘Bush tax cuts (the 2001 Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act and the 2003 Jobs and Economic Growth bills) reduced tax revenue by $1.35 trillion by 2012. Additionally, during the Bush era wars and other programs went unfunded and money was taken from Trust Funds such as Social Security and Medicare.

President Obama has repeatedly tried to repeal the cuts but has been continually stopped by the Republicans. On November 4, 2011 they rejected the $60 billion portion of the Jobs Act for construction which would’ve been paid for by raising taxes a lousy ½% on 300,000 people. If the Republicans weren’t so insistent on keeping the tax cuts for the rich perhaps more jobs would have been created and the government wouldn’t be spending more than it takes in. If the Republicans really want the deficit to decrease and/or don’t want money borrowed from China then they need to stop supporting tax cuts for the rich, tax credits for oil moguls, credits for those doing business overseas, and others. On August 1, 2012 Paul Ryan voted for HR 8-Extends Bush-Era Tax Cuts Through 2013. 

Medicare in Romney's Words

On August 18 Ryan said: “Medicare should not be used as a piggy bank for ObamaCare, Medicare should be the promise it made to our current seniors…” On September 21 at an AARP forum Ryan was booed when he said “The first step to a stronger Medicare is to repeal ObamaCare because it represents the worst of both worlds.” In the Romney September 23 CNN interview with Scott Pelley: There is a lot of rhetoric about Medicare. What do you intend to do? Romney: Well, I don't want any change to Medicare for current seniors or for those that are nearing retirement. So the plan stays exactly the same. The president's cutting $716 billion from current Medicare. I disagree with that. I'd put those dollars back into Medicare. Pelley: Mr. Ryan has proposed something similar, almost precisely the same number, 716. Romney: Yeah. He was going to use that money to reduce the budget deficit. I'm putting it back into Medicare and I'm the guy running for president, not him. So what I do in my Medicare plan for younger people coming along is say this, "We're going to have higher benefits for low income people and lower benefits for high income people. We're going to make it more means tested." I think if we do that, we'll make sure to preserve Medicare into the indefinite future. Pelley: The idea under your plan for future seniors would be that the federal government would write that senior a check, essentially, and say, "Now, you can go buy a private insurance plan or you can buy Medicare from the federal government." Is that essentially it? Romney: Yeah. That's essentially it. People would have a choice of either traditional, government-run, fee-for-service Medicare; or a private plan, which has to offer the same benefits.

On September 5 former President Clinton said “…Here’s what really happened, you be the judge…What the President did was to save money…cut unwarranted subsidies to providers and insurance companies that were not making people healthier and were not necessary to get the providers to provide the service and instead of raiding Medicare he used the savings to close the doughnut hole in the Medicare drug program…and add 8 years to the life of the Medicare Trust Fund so that it is solvent until 2024...Governor Romney…wants to repeal those savings and give the money back to the insurance company. He wants to go back to the old system which means we reopen the doughnut hole that forced seniors to pay more for drugs and we’ll reduce the life of the Medicare Trust Fund…if he’s elected and if he does what he promised to do, Medicare will now go broke in 2016…That means after all that we won’t have to wait until their voucher program kicks in-in 2023 to see the end of Medicare as we know it; they’re gonna do it to us sooner than we thought.” I believe Bill Clinton because he increased taxes on the rich to keep the deficit increase low and battled Republicans to maintain Medicare when he was in office. Subsidizing health care providers and insurance companies holds true with what Republicans have been doing for the last 30 years – taking from the poor to give to the rich.  

Romney's Government Reduction Plan

In Romney’s CBS 60 Minutes September 23, 2012 interview Pelley said: Balancing the budget will require sacrifice. And I wonder what is it, specifically, that you're asking the American people to sacrifice? Romney: I'm going to look at every federal program and I'll ask this question, "Is this so-- program so critical it's worth borrowing money from China to pay for it?" And if it doesn't pass that test, I'm going to eliminate the program because we just can't afford to keep spending more money than we take in. This is something which is not just bad economics. I think it's immoral. Pelley: So many people at home look at Washington and think that it is completely broken. You are going to have to reach out to Democrats in order to get anything done. How do you heal that breach, especially after a fairly acrimonious campaign? Romney: There's no question but that Washington is broken. And I happen to think that flows from the president. I think ultimately the buck stops at the president's desk. He'd probably say the same thing. I think you have to have a president-- Pelley: The president would probably blame it on the Republican Congress, governor. Romney: His challenge with blaming it on the Republican Congress is of course that for his first 2 years, right now the majority of his term, he had a Democrat Congress, a super majority in the Democrat Congress. And he had a whole series of things he said he was going to do, he didn't do. Leadership is not just working with your own party, but working with both parties. And I learned that. I was governor of a state with a legislature 87% Democrat. Just as you said, Scott, I realized I was going to get nothing done unless I had a relationship-- a respect, and trust with the members of the opposition party. Pelley: What are the essential qualities of a leader? Romney: Well, a leader has to have the capacity to build trust in the people he or she works with. People have to look at that person and say, "I may disagree with them. But I know where they stand. And I can trust them." A leader has the capacity of vision, the ability to see where things are headed before people in general see those things. That vision is typically a product, in part not just of their skill and brilliance, but even more their experience, their life experience. And so if you're looking for a leader to guide an economy, you hope that you have someone who didn't just study it in school, but someone who's actually lived in the economy.

I’m not sure Obama schmoozing would have helped; Boehner couldn’t control his Republicans either. Romney’s comment about a Democrat Congress is bull if you check the records; they have 51 Senators-it takes 60 to get a bill passed and the Republicans control the House. I’ve said it before, the Tea Party had one agenda - don’t pay a fair share of taxes and reduce the deficit. Once Romney shifts the programs that Americans need to the states, he'll go after the agencies that protect our health and safety such as the EPA and FDA.  

Romney's Social Security Plan

On August 30, 2012 Romney said “I’m running for president of America to help create a better future…where no seniors fear for the security of their retirement, an America where every parent knows their child will get an education that leads them to a good job and a bright horizon.” Romney has repeatedly said he’d repeal the Dodd-Frank Act that stops Wall Street from risking people’s retirement and said nothing about Social Security (SS) in his speech. In Romney’s CBS 60 Minutes interview that aired September 23 host Scott Pelley said: How would you change Social Security? Romney: Well, again, no change in SS for those that are in retirement or near retirement. What I'd do with SS is say this: that again, people with higher incomes won't get the same high growth rate in their benefits as people with lower incomes. People who rely on SS should see the same kind of growth rate they've had in the past. But higher income folks would receive a little less. Pelley: So in the Romney administration, in the Romney plan, there would be means testing for SS and for Medicare? Romney: That's correct. Higher income people won't get as much as lower income people. And by virtue of doing that-- and again, that's for future retirees. For-- by virtue of doing that, you're able to save these programs on a permanent basis.

Currently what you and your employer put into SS determines what you will be paid upon retirement and there is a cap on what is received (the rich pay in more than they receive). It seems to me that Romney’s proposal will no longer take this into consideration. The President back in October made such a proposal for Medicare in the 2011 Deficit Reduction Plan that didn’t pass (I thought it was fair because rich people haven’t been paying their fair share of taxes for quite a while). The only change in Medicare came with ObamaCare, it closed a doughnut hole that was costing seniors more for medical. Romney’s approach to SS may or may not decrease benefits for the next generations of Americans.   

Romney's Plan Shifts Programs to the States

In Romney’s CBS 60 Minutes interview that aired September 23, 2012, Scott Pelley said “You would move some government programs to the states. What would they be?” Romney: “Well, for instance, Medicaid is a program that's designed to help the poor. Likewise, we have housing vouchers and food stamps, and these help the poor. I'd take the dollars for those programs, send them back to the states, and say, "You craft your programs at your state level and the way you think best to deal with those that need that kind of help in your state." Pelley: “So how does moving those programs to the states bring relief to the taxpayer?” Romney: “Because I grow them only at the rate of inflation, or in the case of Medicaid, at inflation plus one percent, that's a lower rate of growth than we've seen over the past several years, a lower rate of growth than has been forecast under federal management. And I believe on that basis you're going to see us save about $100 billion a year.” Pelley: “So you're going to cap the growth on those social welfare programs?” Romney: “Exactly right”. Pelley: Why would shrinking the federal government on the large scale that you have in mind not throw the country back into recession? Romney: Well, the plan I have to go after the deficit and to shrink federal spending is metered out in a very careful way, such that we don't have a huge drop off with an austerity program that puts people out of work in government. But instead, through attrition, over time, we scale back the number of federal workers so I'm very careful in the way I do this. But lasting budget reform isn't likely without doing something about Social Security and Medicare. They are exactly one third of the entire federal budget.” 

So, in addition to health care, Romney would give states an allowance to handle housing and food stamps and he would cap the spending and growth of each. This is one way to fix the federal budget – put the burden on the states. Without consideration for unemployment and poverty levels their allowances would be fixed – I wonder how all this would be decided – in my mind it leaves a lot of room for inequities and favoritism. I find it interesting that his answer to marriage equality is also to put it on the states. If he’s elected, I’d hate to be a Governor with less money and more burdens. 

Romney's Domestic Partnership Approach

On January 7, 2012 Romney said “Domestic partnership or contractual relationships can be addressed state by state” for Gays. During the debates the 1965 Supreme Court ruling in Griswold v Connecticut was brought up – the Court decided that states cannot prohibit the use of contraceptives (as it violated a person’s right to privacy which is protected by the Constitution). Romney said - that’s the law of the land and if we don’t like it we have the amendment process; we should have an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman and he believes that decision along with Roe v Wade (1973) was decided incorrectly. Although a May 23 poll showed 53% of Americans support same-sex marriage, in his August 30 convention speech Romney said “As President I’ll protect the sanctity of life, I’ll honor the institution of marriage and I will guarantee America’s first liberty, the freedom of religion…America will uphold the constellation of rights that were endowed by our creator and codified in our Constitution.” When asked on September 19 (Univision forum) what his advice would be for any Gay relative who wanted to get married he said “My view is this, that individuals should be able to pursue a relationship of love and respect and be able to raise a family as they would choose” and preserve the term ‘marriage’ as between a man and a woman. 

Washington DC along with 8 states and 2 Native American Indian tribes (recognized as sovereign nations) have approved marriage equality; California’s law valid from June-November 2008 is again pending appeal but its domestic partnership law is still valid. In February 2012 New Jersey approved Gay marriage but Governor Christie vetoed it-said the people should vote on the issue; not a handful of politicians. Maine, Minnesota and Wisconsin will vote on the issue in November. In the US a marriage license from another country is accepted but under the law no state is required to recognize a Gay marriage of another state (Rhode Island and Hawaii do). The US is supposed to be a leader in human rights, however, world-wide information shows 11 countries already have legalized Gay marriage (many have Gay unions that offer most if not all the rights of marriage) and 24, including Cuba and Israel (recognizes Gay marriage) are considering marriage or unions while debates over other forms of recognition continue within several other countries.

The message that our Constitution is not being upheld seems lost on many Americans-to ensure freedom of religion and human rights in our country we must allow non-Christian religions and values to exist and prevent laws to the contrary.  

Campaign Ad Lies

The other day on "60 Minutes," apparently President Obama said that some of his campaign ads, quote, "go overboard." Romney called it a reckless disregard for the truth. On September 25, 2012 CNN "Keeping Them Honest" host Anderson Cooper said: Today in Ohio, CNN's National Political Correspondent Jim Acosta asked Mitt Romney about his ads.

ACOSTA: Just the other day, you said the president has been trying to fool people with his ads and his speeches about your record, but fact checkers have also taken issue with your ads. Haven't you also played fast and loose with the facts from time to time? ROMNEY: We've been absolutely spot-on and any time there's anything that's been amiss, we correct it or remove it. The president, on the other hand -- ACOSTA: Even the welfare ad? ROMNEY: Look, it has been shown time and again that the president's effort to take the work requirement out of welfare is a calculated move, the same thing he did with regards to food stamps. He took work out of welfare -- excuse me, work out of the food stamps requirement. What was the result? The study shows that twice as many people went from having food stamps to -- those that are able-bodied to -- as a result of that change. ACOSTA: But PolitiFacts calls it pants on fire and the "Washington Post" gives it four Pinocchios. ROMNEY: Well, there are -- there are – ACOSTA: They're wrong? ROMNEY: You look at the facts. Did he take the work requirement out of welfare? ACOSTA: I think what the Obama administration has said is that no, they're trying to give governors the flexibility to increase the amount of work that goes into receiving welfare benefits. You're saying you don't buy that. ROMNEY: No, no. No, no. You always have the capacity to add work. There's never been a requirement that you can't have more work. The requirement that they're waiving was saying that people don't have to work to get -- to get welfare. That's the change that they proposed. I disagree with that -- with that direction. I think the president also -- I disagree with the direction on the work requirement as it related to food stamps. Look, taking work requirements out of government assistance is, in my opinion, a very -- a very bad course to take and creates a culture of dependency. We help people who need help. We want to help people that need help. But the idea of removing work requirements I think is a mistake. COOPER: Well, "Keeping Them Honest," as you just heard…and Factcheck.org said this, quote, "A Mitt Romney TV ad claims the Obama administration has adopted a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements. The plan does neither of those things." COOPER: So, Jim, you pressed Governor Romney specifically on that welfare ad which as we said independent fact checkers have said it was false. He didn't back down. Not only did he not back down, he seemed to double down on it. ACOSTA: That's right…I've asked 3 separate Romney campaign officials to get back to me with some kind of citation or example. They just haven't done that at this point. 

Romney Donors & Lies

On August 31, 2012 after the Republican and before the Democratic conference ABC reported: As allowed under current law, Romney won’t release the names of his big donors but it was discovered that his campaign hosted a secret week-long series of lavish parties and special events for big donors and used a 150’ yacht registered in the Grand Cayman Islands to host the ‘Victory Council’ who have each promised to raise $1 million or more; the donors refused to talk to ABC. The Center for Responsible Politics said the Romney campaign is the first in many years not to release the names of their bundlers and the American people have a right to know who’s paying for the convention and campaign; the Victory Council wouldn’t give ABC their names or say how much they promised but ABC estimated that the Council is expected to raise more than $800 million. The founder of the Center for Public Integrity said – here we have billionaires giving unprecedented sums and we have levels of secrecy never seen in the contemporary historic era.

On September 1 ABC said – unlike the 2008 campaign the Democrats are treating their big money donors like royalty, they had a document outlining the perks like a John Legend concert but this year just like the Republicans, the Democrats are keeping the names of their top fundraisers a secret. Romney’s actions are not bringing out the best in Americans, not in their actions or in the running of campaigns. AlterNet on July 31, 2012 had a post that summed up the Republicans: they’re afraid of losing power and influence in American politics and culture; today’s Republicans cannot compete fairly and win. When it comes to political tactics, there are 3 things today’s GOP fear more than almost anything: Fear #1 -Majority rule in the Senate, Fear #2 - Open elections and Fear #3 - Standing by their words in public. The Maddowblog.MSNBC.com/_news/2012/08/17/13338337-chronicling-Mitts-mendacity-vol-xxx has tracked 533 lies by Mitt Romney in 30 weeks (probably why on September 13 he openly starts calling Obama a liar).  

Romney's Convention Lie

In Romney’s August 30, 2012 speech he said: “I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed. But his promises gave way to disappointment and division… How many days have you woken up feeling that something really special was happening in America, many of you felt that way on election day 4 years ago, hope and change had a powerful appeal…If you felt that excitement when you voted for Barack Obama, shouldn’t you feel that way now that he’s President Obama…You know there’s something wrong when the kind of job he’s done as President when the best feeling you had is the day you voted for him… and the centerpiece of the President’s entire reelection campaign is attacking success, is it any wonder that someone who is attacking success has led the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression. In America we celebrate success, we don’t apologize for success…That’s why every president since the Great Depression who came before the American people asking for a second term could look back at the last 4 years and say with satisfaction that you’re better off than you were 4 years ago, except Jimmy Carter and except this president. This president can ask us to be patient, this president can tell us it was someone else’s fault…We’re no better off today than when he took office, America has been patient, Americans have supported this President in good faith, but today the time has come to turn the page, today the time has come to for us to put the disappointments of the last 4 years behind us, to put aside the divisiveness and the recriminations, to forget about what might have been and to look ahead at what can be, now is the time to restore the promise of America.” The Huffington Post on September 1 reported that in a 2009 Larry King interview Romney said he wanted liberal policies to fail and Obama to fail on many other issues. This is just another lie by Romney.

Romney was right in saying “Now is the moment we can do something…Now is the moment when we can stand up and say I am an American, I make my destiny; we deserve better…my country deserves better.” The Great Depression and our biggest recession began with Republicans. Democrats have been trying to clean up Republican messes for decades – today is no different. If you care about America, not just you, cast your vote to stop the Republicans from getting us into a bigger jam. 

Romney Truths

On August 28, 2012 New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said “We have a nominee who will tell us the truth, who will lead with conviction and now he has a running mate who will do the same…”

On August 29 Paul Ryan said he and Romney “will not duck the tough issues”. When Diane Sawyer talked to Ryan on August 30 she brought up the newly released September 3, 2012 Times article in which Mitt didn’t give any specific big cuts but said instead: “I know our Democrat friends would like to have me specify 1 or 2 so they could amass the special interest to fight that effort”. Ryan responded with “Mitt has said there would be a 5% cut in discretionary (government agency) spending”. When Diane asked specifically what there would be beyond government cuts, Ryan responded with “Mitt Romney has been more specific on what it’s going to take to prevent a debt crisis on solutions to get people back to work than anybody else running for president including the President himself”. Asked twice and not answered. I guess not answering is not ducking the issue or the same as not telling the truth. The first time we hear anything somewhat specific is the September 23 Romney interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes. 

Just 2 days after Christie’s speech Romney lied in his; I’ll give you that later. However, on April 2 and August 3 Romney said the President had raised taxes on the middle class - he did get around to telling a truth on September 26 when he said - the President “He’s got one new idea, I admit this, he has one thing he didn’t do in his first 4 years which he says he going to do in the next 4 years, which is to raise taxes.” Obama does want to raise taxes but only on those making $250,000 a year or more which is on only 2% of Americans. 

Romney's Care vs. ObamaCare

In Romney’s CBS 60 Minutes interview that aired September 23, 2012, Pelley said “You talk about balancing the budget without raising taxes. But to do that, you would have to have trillions of dollars in budget cuts. So let's be specific in this interview: what would you cut?” Romney: “The first big one is I'm not going to go forward with Obamacare. I will repeal Obamacare. It costs about $100 billion a year. Second big area is taking major government programs at the federal level, turning them back to the states, where they'll grow at the rate of inflation, not at a multiple of that rate. And that saves about $100 billion a year. And finally, I'll cut back on the size of government itself, as well as go after the fraud and abuse and inefficiency that's always part of a large institution like our government.”

Pelley “Does the government have a responsibility to provide health care to the 50 million Americans who don't have it today?” Romney “Well, we do provide care for people who don't have insurance, people-- we-- if someone has a heart attack, they don't sit in their apartment and die. We pick them up in an ambulance, and take them to the hospital, and give them care. And different states have different ways of providing for that care.” Pelley “That's the most expensive way to do it…In an emergency room.” Romney “Different, again, different states have different ways of doing that. Some provide that care through clinics. Some provide the care through emergency rooms. In my state, we found a solution that worked for my state. But I wouldn't take what we did in Massachusetts and say to Texas - You've got to take the Massachusetts model." Now let’s go back to September 7 when report found in one year $750 billion was lost in our health care system because of fraud and waste; ObamaCare is closing the holes in the system. Additionally back in February information by the Public Religion Research Institute showed 84% of Americans supported the use of birth control and insurance companies said it’s cheaper to pay for birth control than it is to pay for births. Also, to be considered is the elimination of 62% of the bankruptcies due to medical bills and the decrease in medical costs for preventive care versus emergency care. All of this debunks Romney’s claim that ObamaCare will cost taxpayers more. Because Romney's plan is to put the responsibility on the states some people may get nothing as the states are already in a financial bind.  

Romney Helping the Middle Class with Less Tax

On September 4, 2012 when ABC said the Democrats are saying their budget plan will crush the middle class, Ryan said it’s not true, what we are proposing is to reduce people’s tax rate by 20% and we’ll do it by closing loopholes. Come on, reducing tax reduces revenue so to balance the budget they’d have to shut down public schools, eliminate entitlements and more. Also closing loopholes of the average American will increase not lower their tax which is what experts have said could be an additional $2,000. Romney/Ryan to get votes continually confuse people with their double talk. 

In Romney’s CBS 60 Minutes interview, September 23, for the first time we hear something almost specific about his plan for reducing taxes. Scott Pelley said “What would the individual federal income tax rates be?” Romney responded “Well, they would be the current rates less 20 percent. So the top rate, for instance, would go from 35 to 28. Middle rates would come down by 20 percent as well. All the rates come down. But unless people think there's going to be a huge reduction in the taxes they owe, that's really not the case. Because we're also going to limit deductions and exemptions, particularly for people at the high end. Because I want to keep the current progressivity in the code. There should be no tax reduction for high income people. What I would like to do is to get a tax reduction for middle income families by eliminating the tax for middle income families on interest, dividends, and capital gains”. Pelley, “The tax rate for everyone in your plan would go down.” Romney, “That's right. Middle income people will probably see a little break, because there'll be no tax on their savings”. This is ridiculous to me. First the top rate going from 35% to 28% is 7% - not 20%. Second, he gave no specific value for the average American except to say they’d not pay taxes on their savings while investors get to keep a low rate on their dividends and capital gains. Middle and lower income people are scrapping to get by so I don’t think many have savings accounts and if they do I bet the value is not equal to the amounts in dividend and capital gain accounts. 

Romney Admits Mistakes & Taxes Are Fair

In Romney’s CBS 60 Minutes interview that aired September 23, 2012 host Scott Pelley said “Now, you made on your investments, personally, about $20 million last year. And you paid 14% in federal taxes. That's the capital gains rate. Is that fair to the guy who makes $50,000 and paid a higher rate than you did?” Romney said “It is a low rate. And one of the reasons why the capital gains tax rate is lower is because capital has already been taxed once at the corporate level, as high as 35%.” Pelley “So you think it is fair?” Romney replied “Yeah, I think it’s — it’s the right way to encourage economic growth, to get people to invest, to start businesses, to put people to work.” My mind starts twirling – jobs are created by the company making a profit – the profit comes from people buying the product – both of us should be taxed at a higher rate than the guy who does nothing but gives the company a loan and makes a profit off the loan.    

Pelley said: People wonder, "Does Romney believe the things that he says?" Romney replied: “The principles I have are the principles I've had from the beginning of my political life. But have I learned? Have I found that some things I thought would be effective turned out not to be effective? Absolutely. If you don't learn from experience, you don't learn from your mistakes. Why, you know, you ought to be fired.” This issue has me somewhat at odds. Romney has admitted that he’s made mistakes and fortunately he’s been given an opportunity to change. Obama has made mistakes but Romney doesn’t think he should be given an opportunity to make things right. Romney flips-flops constantly; on September 5 a clip of Romney’s and Ted Kennedy’s debate on October 25, 1994 was shown Romney said “I believe abortion should be safe and legal in this country” and Ted said: “I have supported the Roe v. Wade, I am pro choice, my opponent is multiple choice”. I believe you have to have a stand before you can learn from your mistakes. This is only one example. Romney has no experience in foreign policy, considering the current world turmoil and his one week trip overseas (made friends with one country while ticking off 4 or 5), in my mind, I’d rather give opportunity to the guy who can fix his mistakes rather than to one who will make more. 

Romney's Middle East View

September 12, 2012 to boost Romney’s position on Israel false statements surfaced saying the President did not meet with Israel’s Prime Minister and a rift was created between countries. On September 23 because the Obamas were going to be on the View, Fox News said – So he has time for Whoopi Goldberg but he doesn’t have time for world leaders? Obama’s Campaign Adviser responded with – The President is going to be actively involved at the UN General Assembly which is where he was the very next day (September 24).

In an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes the President when asked about supporting the Arab Spring said he doesn’t regret supporting it and “I was pretty certain and continue to be pretty certain there are gonna be bumps in the road”. Romney responded with “Look at the entire context, the assassination, 20,000 people killed in Syria, Iran coming close to being a nuclear nation. These are far from being bumps in the road”. The President when talking about Syria and Iran said “If Governor Romney is suggesting that we should start another war then he should say so”.

First, the Ambassador died of smoke inhalation caused by an uprising over a movie on YouTube. Second, the UN was negotiating with Syria’s regime, after several attempts he quit out of frustration on August 2; on this same date Obama signed an order authorizing non military support for the Syrian rebels; this is within our UN commitment. Third, the President has maintained that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon-this is not the same as them having nuclear power; again we’ve complied with the UN and on August 2 Congress approved additional sanctions on Iran. Romney doesn’t have his facts straight when it comes to the Arab Spring (in 2008 a mining area in Tunisia, a North African country, began protesting for civil rights and democracy; their successful rebellion spread to other countries including Syria; the rebellions officially became the Arab Spring on December 18, 2010). When Romney was overseas in July 2012 in an interview with the Israeli daily newspaper Israel Hayom he said the Arab Spring might never have happened had Bush's ‘freedom agenda’ not been prematurely halted by President Obama. Yet, when the Arab Spring began many Bush foreign policy advocates made an argument different to that of Romney-they asserted that it was Bush's agenda that served as the main impetus for the revolutions. On September 24 Romney said-Obama said the developments in the Middle East are bumps in the road…We had an Ambassador assassinated…and Iran is closer to having a nuclear weapon. The White House Press Secretary said “There is a certain, rather desperate, attempt to grasp at words and phrases here to, ah, find political advantage and in this case that’s profoundly offensive.” (You be the judge.)  

Ryan's Mixed Message Comment

Let’s talk about Paul Ryan’s September 14, 2012 comment about sending mixed messages. On March 9, 17 Afghan civilians were murdered and 4 were injured when by either a single American soldier or multiples attacked them in their sleep (2 months after 4 Marines peed on Taliban dead and 3 weeks after Qurans were burned). In 90 minutes years of trust were lost and the Taliban discontinued the peace talks as a result. We rush our guy to safety and start excusing the behavior. The ‘Innocence of Muslims’ filmmaker was interviewed and released; he and his family are in hiding. On September 11 on the View I heard a man wrote into Pat Robertson of the 700 Club asking what to do with a wife who belittles him and has caused him to lose his confidence. Robertson said “You could become a Muslim then you could beat her, this man has got to stand up to her and can’t let her get away with this stuff - I don’t think we condone wife beating these days but you can’t divorce her according to the scripture, so I say move to Saudi Arabia”. The 700 Club is seen in many countries and perhaps this too caused the killing of our people. Other governments can’t do anymore than our own when it comes to stopping people from reacting to an incident. It’s unbelievable to me that Americans think our people are more important to us than the people of other countries are to them.

In the US we have plays on Broadway that mock Mormons, TV shows that mock Christians and laws against hate crimes. When the Colorado theater incident occurred July 19 Republicans blamed the Batman filmmaker for the incident. In the case of the Libyan diplomats deaths they don’t blame the filmmaker or YouTube (doesn’t review things prior to their release) but are blaming the President for a lack of understanding terrorists. When it comes to the world-wide-web or syndicated TV in my opinion we need to do something to prevent our people and companies from putting what appears to be hate crimes or false accusations out there. We will never be better than or earn the trust of others if we don’t respect their customs or people. I believe that without our diplomats we wouldn’t be able to maintain relationships with other countries. The reactions of Republicans has caused some Americans to say we should get out of other countries and others to say we should bomb them. Most people don’t blame a country for the act of a few men but extremists do so now I wonder if the Republicans have become extremists. 

US Support by Others

The Pope went to the Middle East and yet, on September 17, 2012  the militant Hezbollah in Lebanon organized the biggest protest including boy scouts and clerics and warned that if the US doesn’t ban the film there will be serious repercussions. Things were quiet in the areas that started the uprising. All Egyptian newspapers encouraged non violent protests but want the US to enact a law to prohibit defamation of Islam - this is the cry of Muslims around the world.

September 20, 2012 Republican John McCain said “It shows the level, the dismal level, of their knowledge about the fundamental aspects of terrorist attacks and militant operations”. Because we’ve given money to Egypt, Paul Ryan said “The Administration sent mixed signals to those that attacked our Embassy in Egypt and mixed signals to the world.” In an interview with Telemundo the President said “I don’t think we would consider Egypt an ally but we don’t consider them an enemy.” The Pentagon sent about 50 Marines to Libya and 2 warships armed with missiles to its coast as well as sending Marines to the other countries. Look at what other did while the US finger points and argues over freedom of speech. The Egyptian Muslim President immediately condemned the attacks and promised to protect the American Embassy; a concrete wall was erected around the Embassy and police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse the crowd; on September 19 Egypt issued arrest warrants for 7 Coptic Christians and Pastor Jones for their part in the movie uprising. Libyan officials were fast to denounce the attack saying it was criminal and cowardly and vowed to punish the attackers; the Libyan people immediately apologized to the US and let us know that’s not how they feel (it was only 20 militants) as a people. Within 24 hours Libya arrested 4 suspects and on September 21 the Libyans attacked and burned the building of a militia group. In Pakistan the government blocked cell phone signals so bombs couldn’t be set off and police killed 19 and injured more than 160 in its attempts to stop protesters. Sudan blocked the Marines from entry into their country saying they’d handle security themselves. Authorities in Kenya arrested 2 in a major Somali Al Qaeda terror plot. The governments of the various countries all supported us because of the relationships the President has built. 

Request to Remove the Movie

According to a CNN summary of a Google report released earlier this year that did not specify the nature of requests to remove content from its servers, the number of censorship requests by the US government increased more than 700% during the latter half of 2011 compared to the beginning of that year. (This makes sense if you know that YouTube didn’t hit the Arabic nations until March 9, 2011.) The US government did request YouTube to remove the movie ‘Innocence of Muslims’ and the request was denied on September 14. The White House drew immediate criticism from several groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF). Eva Galperin of the EFF called YouTube's potential removal of the video "an unusual move" since it would take place "without a valid court order." Once YouTube has made the decision to proactively censor its content, they start down a slippery slope that ends in YouTube Knows Best moral policing of every video on their site. Soon after, a Google representative said - We work hard to create a community everyone can enjoy and which also enables people to express different opinions- This can be a challenge because what's OK in one country can be offensive elsewhere - This video which is widely available on the Web is clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube. The Afghan government didn’t wait for a response to the US’ request; it blocked access to YouTube altogether on September 12, 2012.

By September 14 the uprising over the movie had spread to at least 31 countries. Muslims demonstrated across Malaysia calling for the US to prevent distribution of the film they said was part of a plot by "Christian extremists." Cabinet ministers demanded the film be taken offline and condemned YouTube for being "insensitive" and "oblivious to the tumult it has caused." On September 16 Google said the film now deviated from the site's community guidelines that encourage free speech but not hate speech. "When videos breach those rules, we remove them…Where we have launched YouTube locally and we are notified that a video is illegal in that country, we will restrict access to it after a thorough review." Google said it was restricting the clip to comply with local law rather than a response to political pressure. A Google spokesman said "We've restricted access to it in countries where it is illegal such as India and Indonesia, as well as in Libya and Egypt, given the very sensitive situations in these 2 countries…This approach is entirely consistent with principles we first laid out in 2007." I found this to be a complete turnaround from its previous denial.   

Reaction to Consulate Attack

On September 13, 2012 when ABC spoke to Romney regarding his comments he said “What I said was exactly the same conclusion the White House reached which was that the statement was inappropriate, that’s why they backed away from it as well”. ABC then said - they didn’t say it sympathized with the attackers and Romney replied – The statement stayed on the website as I indicated for some 14, 15 hours, the statement was reiterated after the attackers breached the sovereignty of the embassy and even after the killing in Libya, and by the way what I said was exactly the same conclusion the White House reached which was the statement was inappropriate and that’s why they backed away from it as well. I think it was not directly applicable and appropriate for the setting, I think it should have been taken down and apparently the White House felt the same way. I am amazed that Romney is so sure of what the White House thinks.

On September 20 at the Univision forum in Florida the first question asked of the President was why there wasn’t more security at the Consulate in Libya, Obama said “When the initial events happened in Cairo and all across the region we worked with Secretary Clinton to redouble our security…our goal now is not only to make sure our embassies and diplomats safe but also to make sure that we bring those that carried out these events to justice” – he didn’t answer the question. On this same date the White House for the first time called the assault a terrorist attack and said there was no advance notice because it was a spontaneous reaction to the movie. The Director of the National Counterintelligence Center told Congress that it’s likely that Al Qaeda played a role whether or not it was preplanned or spontaneous but there’s been no evidence of it yet and Secretary Clinton said there’s been no evidence that the Ambassador was on a terrorist hit list. Republican Marco Rubio said “What happened in Benghazi was not an anti-American protest, it was not as the result of a YouTube video, it was an orchestrated Anti-American terrorist attack”. I unlike Rubio say the uprisings were caused by the movie because that’s exactly what the protesters (Taliban, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, etc.) have said over and over again in every country. But, I thought I’d check things out further.

Libyan Consulate Deaths

On September 11, 2012 while the President observed a White House moment of silence, attended a memorial service at the Pentagon, visited Arlington National Cemetery and met privately with wounded soldiers and their families at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Romney was campaigning in Reno, Nevada. Egyptians scaled the walls of our Embassy, tore down and shredded our flag and replaced it with a black flag that read – There’s no God but Allah. Later, in darkness 20 armed militants attacked the Libyan Consulate killing the US Ambassador (first since 1979 and the sixth in US history) and 3 staff; 3 Americans were wounded. There were 2 former Navy Seals, no Marines, at the Consulate and Libyan security couldn’t protect our people from the fire that was set. The cause of the attack is said to be the movie ‘Innocence of Muslims’ made by a California realtor and put on YouTube (shown only once in Hollywood) and promoted by Florida Pastor Terry Jones who burned a Quran in 2010. The movie was shown by an Egyptian cleric on his July 21 talk show and was never shown again; on September 17 he said he told people to defend their faith, was shocked by the fury sparked by the movie; never intended to incite violence-deplores it and said he has no regrets. Upon learning of the movie the US Egyptian Embassy issued an apology but no warning went out to other embassies in the region.

On September 12 Jones said the movie was not designed to attack Muslims but to show the destructive ideology of Islam. Romney said it is “disgraceful the Obama Administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions but to sympathize with those who conducted the attack…An apology for America’s values is never the right course.” When it’s pointed out that the film apology came out of the Egyptian Embassy before the attacks Romney said “It’s never too early for the US government to condemn attacks on Americans and to defend our values. American leadership is necessary to ensure that events in the region don’t spin out of control.” Even though Romney’s original criticism was assailed by some Republicans for bad tone and timing, Romney stood by them saying – if he sees a point to attack he will (the facts didn’t matter). In an interview with CBS the President said “Governor Romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later and as President one of the things I’ve learned is you can’t do that”

Immigrants & Civil Rights

On September 23, 2012 George Stephanopoulos asked Republican Ann Coulter about a page in her new book ‘Mugged’ regarding the civil rights movement. She said we got the beneficiary group right – we owe the Blacks – we don’t owe the homeless, we don’t owe feminists, we don’t owe women desirous of having abortions – we don’t owe Gays who want to get married to one another. George then asked if civil rights were for immigrants and she said - no civil rights are pretty much for Blacks. She said the point on immigration is you can have open borders or you can have a welfare state – you can’t have both – when you have a big government giving out benefits for all sorts of things than you have to care very much about who the immigrants are. She went on to say – both legal and illegal immigrants are way more likely to be on welfare than native born Americans. Ann needs to do her homework. The US government is finding corporations dependent on migrant labor, the same situation it was in back in 1929 (Hoover), 1943 (WW II-FDR), 1986 (Reagan granted amnesty to 3 million Mexican-American workers) and 1990 (GHW Bush). Clinton enacted the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 and immigration bills were passed annually. However, during George W. Bush’s tenure there was a lot of talk of a comprehensive immigration bill but in 2006 there were immigration reform protests and he failed to get a bill passed. Obama used an Executive Order in 2011 to get something done. However, Congress has not passed an immigration reform bill since 2001 and it needs to end its 11 year drought. 

Several Republican states enacted tough voter registration laws and the Tea Party has vowed to go after the courts that overturned them and on September 20 it was said that Farmers Branch, Texas banned illegal immigrants from renting homes. On September 23 Robert Reich, Professor at the University of California at Berkeley said – The baby boomers are aging, we have an aging population, the only way we can improve the ratio of people who are working to people who are retired is by taking in young immigrants from the rest of the world. And anybody who doesn’t recognize that and understand this is on the wrong side of the fence. 

Romney's False Cuba

On August 30, 2012 Marco Rubio spoke before Romney and said “There is no freedom or liberty in Cuba”. Romney said: “We’re a nation of immigrants…ones that wanted a better life, the driven ones…not just in pursuit of the riches of this world but for the richness of this life, freedom, freedom of religion, freedom to speak their mind, freedom to build their life, and yes, freedom to build a business with their own hands. This is the essence of the American experience. Americans have always felt a special kinship with the future. When every new wave of immigrants looked up and saw the Statue of Liberty or knelt down and kissed the shores of freedom just 90 miles from Castro’s tyranny…But none doubted that here in America they could build a better life, that in America their children would be blessed more than they. But today, 4 years from the excitement of that last election, for the first time the majority of Americans now doubt that our children will have a better future…”  Romney also said the President “…has relaxed sanctions on Castro’s Cuba…”

The French started work on the Statue of Liberty in the early 1870s and it was officially dedicated on October 28, 1886; we had many immigrants before this time. I found 3 House Amendments from 2000-2005 that Ryan voted for that didn’t do well for Cubans. I also discovered that on February 24, 2008 Fidel’s brother Raul Castro became the leader of Cuba. A May 13, 2012 MailOnline article said: The daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro revealed her father has been working to end sexual discrimination, possibly opening the path to same-sex marriage. Mariela Castro, 50, known for her work as a gay rights advocate and head of Cuba’s National Center for Sex Education, also repeated her praise for President Barack Obama, who had publicly expressed support for same-sex marriage this week. Castro said the American leader’s words ‘have great value because of the influence they might have’ on others, but added that words must be followed by actions. In January, Cuba's Communist Party Congress passed a resolution ‘to fight against all forms of discrimination, including against sexual discrimination, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and sexual identity.’ It appears Cubans may end up having a freedom or liberty that Americans are not granted. It would be foolish for the US to hold Raul responsible for his brother if he’s trying to make a better Cuba (Indians and others forgave us for our part in wars). I’m tired of Republicans continually distorting the facts.