Romney's White Supporters

On October 24, 2012 Romney supporter Donald Trump offered $5 million to the charity of the President’s choice if he supplies his college records and US passport application - remember he reneged on this birth certificate offer – this flip-flopping seems to be a Republican staple. Barbara Walters on The View said Trump was making a fool out of himself. President Obama on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno said in reference to the Mourdock incident – I don’t know where these guys come up with these ideas – rape is rape.

Romney is saying his campaign is a growing movement across the country and this seems to be true as a poll shows white, married, middle class women are voting 60% Romney, 37% Obama and white men are 66% Romney to 32% Obama. I don’t understand the women’s vote. In addition to the reproductive issue a recent study found women are earning 82% of men working in the same field. If you check voting records you’ll find Paul Ryan and other Republicans are not in favor of equality for women – in or out – of the workplace.

On October 25 former Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell speaking on CBS’ This Morning endorsed President Obama for reelection saying “I think that the actions he’s taken with respect to protecting us from terrorism have been very, very solid. And so I think we ought to keep on the track that we are on." Powell also said “I’m not quite sure which Governor Romney we’d be getting with respect to foreign policy” calling his positions a “moving target.” He also said “There are some very, very strong neo-conservative views that are presented by the Governor that I have some trouble with.” To this Republican John Sununu, former Governor of New Hampshire, said to Piers Morgan – he applauds Powell for standing with someone of his own race; Sununu later tried to backtrack on his comments.  

George Washington said “A man ought not to value himself of his achievements or rare qualities of wit, much less of his riches, virtue or kindred.” And “Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for ‘tis better to be alone than in bad company.” Romney is too egotistical, not only associates but joins fellow Republicans that have no respect for women, and picked a running mate whose ethics and character is very questionable. I’m sure Washington would not have associated with him. 

Support for Lies and Rape

On October 16, 2012 Michael Oren, Israel’s Ambassador to the US, was on The View and he said they are in very close contact with the US Administration on the Iranian program; he confirmed that the red line was for uranium development as Biden said in the October 11 debate. I also heard on this date that a University of California study said bosses don’t smile often at people they think are important; they smile more at people they feel are unimportant. I thought about the continual lies of Republicans and the Romney/Ryan campaign. Both the President and the Vice President give the American people more credit than I do - their smiling or laughing represented their faith that the people would value the truth over lies.

On October 24 we hear Richard Mourdock, running for the US Senate in Indiana, in a debate said “I came to realize that life is a gift from God and I think that even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, it is something that God intended to happen.” A statement came out saying that Romney disagrees with Mourdock but he’s still supporting the guy (don’t forget Paul Ryan and Todd Akin believe the same). Republicans publicly supporting Mourdock are: Senators Mitch McConnell (Kentucky), John McCain (Arizona), Marco Rubio (Florida.), Reince Priebus-Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Josh Mandel-Ohio State Treasurer and Newt Gingrich who said on October 28 “…he said what virtually every Catholic and every fundamentalist in the country believes…” and he asked why some people…could not "get over" the comments. It is NOT just these people, check the Republican governed states with laws hindering Roe v Wade. The idea that these people hold so dear the 6^th commandment-Thou shall not kill AND IGNORE commandment #3-Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain and #10-Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s house, wife…or anything that is thy neighbor’s just amazes me. Rape is a violation of the 10^th and their judging or deciding for God is a violation of the 3^rd commandment. In Nevada Romney said – I think of that single mom raising a child or two or three, scrimping for herself so she can put a good meal on the table-in the October 16 debate Romney said - we need parents helping to raise kids, stressed that kids get married before having kids and living in poverty increases with a single parent. It was reported that an 11 year old New Jersey boy wrote to the football commissioner and wanted the referee flags to be pink for breast cancer awareness instead of yellow; this boy showed more respect for women than the Republican Party. George Washington said “The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” The Republicans have an attitude opposite of Washington and as I’ve said before violate our Constitution.     

The Debate Process

I’ve thought about all the comments made after the 3 presidential debates and one vice presidential debate. If the Republican was calm and unflustered (Ryan on October 11, 2012) it won over voters but when the President was the same way on October 3 they said he didn’t show up, it looked like he didn’t care, and called him week. Joe Biden was called aggressive and energetic, Elisabeth Hasselbeck said he was immature – I wonder how many times she’s been immature defending her truth on The View. Some didn’t like him laughing and interrupting Ryan in fact Republicans said he interrupted Ryan 82 times and yet, no one was counting in the October 3 Obama/Romney debate. Romney interrupted Obama and the moderator, Jim Lehrer even interrupted him to ask Romney if he agreed with something Obama said and Lehrer couldn’t get Romney to stop going over his allotted time. Romney’s aggressive behavior was called presidential instead of getting a negative comment for his behavior. I personally liked Martha Raddatz’ handling of the vice presidential debate as she had firsthand knowledge of the facts on the issues she was questioning. Jim Lehrer on the other hand didn’t question anything that was said and the American people were once again subjected to false information. In the October 16 presidential debate with Candy Crowley bantering occurred as in the first debate but Crowley had a better handle on it; she also corrected something Romney said and had to take flack for it from Republicans. In the final presidential debate of October 22 Bob Schieffer let some of the bantering go on for too long and did try to get some clarification on what was said.

It appears demeanor and not truth matters in these debates. If debates are just meant to be a face to face discussion without actual content than I believe we have achieved our objective. However, I disagree with this approach. I believe debates should be an arena in which specific points are addressed with complete and true information and not be a place for speech rhetoric as candidates already have that opportunity when travelling to constituents. If we want our system to change then we need to hold our representatives to a higher standard and demand more honesty and less bullying in campaigns. Debate moderators must therefore be familiar with the facts of the issues the candidates are responding to and be able to question the information given. Otherwise, devise an electronic mechanism with bells and whistles so the people know when they’re being lied to. I also don’t want any debate analyses that are not based on the facts. 

Comments After the Debate

On October 23, 2012 George Stephanopoulos when talking with Joe Biden said - One of Romney’s advisors said the statement about fewer bayonets and swords is not going to go down as one of the President’s finer moments – it was demeaning to the military and the mission abroad. Biden responded - what telling the truth that one aircraft carrier is more powerful than the entire Navy was back then; our Navy is superior to every other Navy in the world combined; it doesn’t rest on the number of ships – it rests on the total capacity; it’s clear that he (Romney) is not ready to be the Commander-in-Chief, he’s demonstrated his lack of sophistication about what’s going on in the world – his rapid change of positions; being President requires a clear vision and a steady hand and he (Romney) demonstrated that was lacking. George then spoke with Paul Ryan who of course disagreed with Biden and said – Americans for the third time got to see a man ready to become a great president – they got clear answers, a clear vision for foreign policy and a clear distinction on how we should go forward; what we got from the President was mostly attacks on Romney, no agenda on how we should move our country forward on foreign policy; he just defended his bad record; Ryan repeated what’s going on in the Middle East. George said he wasn’t surprised that Ryan thought Romney won the debate even though polls showed Obama had won. Ryan repeated himself on the reasons he thought Romney won. George said you pointed out the differences in the 2 men but most are saying Romney agreed with the President. Ryan said – we agree with getting Bin Laden, we agree with the 2014 transition from Afghanistan, we agree with the President’s decision to carry out the Bush administration’s drone strike policy, but we disagree on the handling of Iran and Russia, and the military cuts.

I don’t agree with what the Republicans have said here, I don’t agree that Romney established himself as a credible president as some are saying. For the life of me I don’t know why no one hears the contradictions and lies in Romney’s statements. On September 23 when Romney was asked why he was trailing he said “I think the President’s campaign has focused its advertising in many cases on very inaccurate portrayals of my positions…He’s trying to fool people into thinking I think things I don’t…and I think that ends during the debates”. Obama said he is for the middle class and will listen to both sides as long as it benefits them and he says ‘no’ to both sides when it doesn’t – this message has remained the same. Somehow the debates did benefit Romney and I do wonder if those voting for him are voting for Jekyll or Hyde. On October 25 the President in Nevada said Romney is counting on Americans forgetting what he’s said and called it Romnesia. It appears to be working.

Romney's Closing Statement

In closing the October 22, 2012 debate Mitt Romney said – I’m optimistic about our future, I’m excited about our prospects as a nation, I want to see growing peace in this country – it’s our objective, we have a real opportunity to have real leadership, America is going to continue to have that leadership and promote principles of peace that will make the world a safer place and make this country more confident that their future is secure, I also want to make sure to get this economy going and there are two very different paths the country can take – one is a path represented by the President which at the end of 4 years would mean that we will have $20 trillion in debt, heading toward Greece, I’ll get us on track for a balanced budget; the President’s path means continuing declining in take home pay, I want to make sure that our take home pay turns around and starts to grow, the President’s path means 20 million people out of work struggling for a job, I’ll get people back to work with 12 million new jobs, I’m going make sure we get people off food stamps not by cutting the program but by getting them good jobs; America is going to come back but for that to happen we’re going to have to have a President who can work across the aisle, I was in a state where my legislature was 87% Democrat, I learned how to get along on the other side of the aisle, we got to do that in Washington, Washington is broken, I know what it takes to get this country back, we’ll work with good Democrats and good Republicans to do that, this nation is the hope of the earth, we’ve been blessed by having a nation that is free and prosperous thanks to the contributions of the greatest generation, they held a torch for the world to see, a torch of freedom and hope and opportunity and now it’s our turn to take that torch, I’m convinced we’ll do it, we need strong leadership, I’d like to be that leader with your support, I’ll work with you, I’ll lead you in an open and honest way.

In Romney’s Republican Convention address he said everyone would get a job-yet he only promises to get 12 million employed will you be part of the 11 million that remain without a job and left on food stamps. Also, remember that business already said that they’d hire AFTER the election so what is he really doing for you. For a man who doesn’t like being attacked I found his message mostly just that – attacking. Even in this statement he had to point toward Greece – how can he handle foreign policy if every speech harms another country. George Washington said “Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.” Romney is right in that it’s our turn to be great but to do so we have to recognize that he has no platform that is truly supportive of the average American or our Constitution. 

Obama's Closing Statement

In closing the October 22, 2012 debate President Obama said – now you have a choice, we’ve made real progress digging out of policies that have given us 2 prolonged wars, record deficits and the worst economic situation since the Great Depression and Romney wants to take us back to those polices, a foreign policy that’s wrong and reckless, economic policies that won’t create jobs or reduce our deficit but will ensure that those at the top won’t have to play by the same rules as you do, I’ve got a different vision for America, I want to build on our strengths and I put forward a plan that will bring manufacturing jobs back to our shores by rewarding companies and small businesses that are investing here, not overseas, I want to make sure that we have the best education system in the world and we’re retaining our workers for the jobs of tomorrow, I want to control our own energy, yes by developing oil and gas, but also the energy sources of the future, I want to reduce our deficit by cutting spending we don’t need but also by asking the wealthy to give a little bit more so we can invest in things like research and technology that are the key to a 21^st century economy, as Commander-in-Chief I will maintain the strongest military in the world – keep faith with our troops and go after those that would do us harm but after a decade of war I think we should recognize that we have to do some nation building here at home – roads and bridges and especially in caring for our veterans that sacrificed so much for our freedom; we’ve been through some tough times but we always bounce back because of our character because we always pull together; if I have the privilege of being your President for another 4 years I promise I will always listen to you voices, I will fight for your families and I will work every single day to make sure that America continues to be the greatest nation on earth.

The President’s closing was heartfelt, honest, and made me wonder what it is that people are not hearing. The only things I can guess is 1) the rich have a hold on employees – voter intimidation stories began to air in 2010, companies were telling employees that if they voted for Obama they would get laid off; 2) Fox News twists and leaves out much of the truth that their viewers are brainwashed; 3) Voter ID laws in Republican governed states are hindering some people from voting; and 4) people have become so self-centered that anything that goes against their personal view is more important than upholding our Constitution. This election could become America’s most embarrassing moment.    

Part 2 of the Threat to the US

In response to Mitt Romney’s October 22, 2012 answer to the question – what do you believe is the greatest future threat to the national security of this country? President Obama said – Romney is familiar with shipping jobs overseas and his polices would continue with the situation (tax credits, lack of funding for research and innovation, etc.); he said exports to China have doubled since he’s been in office and currency is at its most advantageous point since 1993; we have to make more progress and that’s why we’ll keep on pressing them; we were able to pivot our military to the Asian Pacific region after ending the Iraq war - sending a clear signal that America is a Pacific power and we’ll have a presence there; we’re organizing trade with other countries so China feels pressure about meeting international standards.

Again Romney said that attacking him is not an agenda for improving trade and he went on about his support of the auto industry which started bantering back and forth again. Romney said we can compete with anyone in the world but we’re going to have a President however that doesn’t think that investing in car companies like Tesla and Fisker making electric battery cars; he said investing in companies like Solyndra is government investing in companies not research; he wants to invest in research, providing funding to think tanks and Obama’s investing in companies won’t encourage private business to invest in America. The President said – Romney was trying to airbrush history and there was more bantering about the auto industry; Romney jumped and when Obama jumped in, Romney said I’m still talking; Obama waited to repeat that we need to invest in education, research and innovation. Romney jumped in again – but Obama didn’t say I’m still talking – he waited and said we have to make some smart choices here and pointed out Romney’s policies that won’t work and they’re the policies that got us into this difficulty; Obama said we’ve made progress and need to move forward, not back. Romney said he couldn’t agree more about moving forward and not back but not back to the last 4 years and he went on to again describe our situation. Moderator Bob Schieffer stopped the discussion and went on to closing statements.

Romney’s comments about the green energy projects tell me he has no inclination to develop alternative energy sources. And his defending his position on the auto industry lets me know that he has lied so much that he believes his lies are reality. In addition to thinking Schieffer should have stopped the bantering, I find Romney again whining about being attacked and his double standards on how to hold a conversation to be totally un-presidential behavior.  

What is the Greatest Threat to the US

In the October 22, 2012 debate moderator Bob Schieffer said with the rise of China – what do you believe is the greatest future threat to the national security of this country? President Obama said – I believe it will continue to be terrorists. In regard to China, it is both an adversary and a potential partner in the national community if it’s following the rules. Americans have seen jobs being shipped overseas, businesses and workers not getting a level playing field when it came to trade that’s why I set up a task force to go after cheaters when it came to international trade, that’s why we’ve brought more trade cases against China for violating trade rules than the previous administration did in 2 terms and we’ve won most cases – he went on to talk about steel and tire cases and Romney said he was being too tough in the tire case; President Obama said in the long run we have to take care of business here-he repeated education and more; he said Romney’s budget won’t allow us to make those investments.

Romney first replied with his - it’s not government that makes businesses, etc. speech; he said the greatest threat is a nuclear Iran and went on to say China has an interest like ours – they want a stable world, they want the economy to work and the world to be free and open so we can be a partner with them if they’re willing to be responsible; they look at us and wonder how strong we’re going to be, they look at our economy – we owe $16 trillion, they look at us cutting back our military – the Secretary of Defense called the cuts devastating, they look at America’s commitments around the world and ask – will America be strong and the answer is ‘yes’ if I’m President; we’ll make trade relations that work for us – I’ve watched year in and year out as companies shutdown and people lost their jobs; he repeated the ways China is not acting fairly and his labeling of them as cheaters; he said they have to understand that we want to trade with them but they have to play fair. Schieffer said – if you label China a currency manipulator on day one some are saying you’ll start a trade war. Romney said there’s a silent trade war going on now we import more than we export and we can’t just surrender; he went on again about their unfair trade practices and said we can’t let it go on.

The President is aware that there will always be people that will dislike us and want to do us harm and as such our future will always be threatened by them. I think if Romney was sure of himself in stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon he would not have chosen that as the greatest threat to our future. I also believe Romney never answered the question that was posed in regard to his actions with China possibly creating a trade situation worse than today, 

The Candidates on Pakistan

In the October 22, 2012 debate moderator Bob Schieffer said – Pakistan has been giving safe haven to those killing Americans – is it time for us to divorce Pakistan. Romney said – no, it has 100s of nuclear weapons and is on its way to double that, it has a serious threat of terrorist groups within its nation, if it becomes a failed state the terrorists can get their hands on the weapons; Pakistan is technically an ally even though they’re not acting like it and I don’t blame the administration that the relationship is strained - we had to go into Pakistan to get Bin Laden but we have to help them move to a more responsible course than the one they’re on, we have to make it clear that the support we send to them is tied to them becoming a civil society. Schieffer then asked Romney what his position was on the use of drones. Romney said – he believed we should use any and all means to take out people who pose a threat to us, he supported the President’s increase in drone usage and went on to say that we need more than going after the bad guys; Romney repeated his need for a far more effective and comprehensive strategy for moving the world away from terror and Islamic extremists – we haven’t done that yet, look at the record for the last 4 years – he again described the conditions in the Middle East and that he’s convinced with strong leadership things would change.

President Obama said – keep in mind our strategy wasn’t just going after Bin Laden, we’ve created partnerships throughout the region - in Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan; we’ve also engaged these governments in the kinds of reform that will make a difference in people’s day to day lives - to make sure their government is not corrupt, they treat women with decency and they have a free market system that works; we’re engaging them in building capacity and standing on the right side of democracy; Americans should be proud that when Tunisians began to protest we stood by them earlier than most countries, in Egypt we stood on the side of democracy and in Libya we stood with the people; there is no doubt that attitudes toward Americans has changed but there’s always going to be elements within these countries that threaten the US, we want to shrink those groups and networks but we have to remain vigilant; Al Qaeda is weakened.

Romney had me softened when he spoke of Pakistan but then he went back to beating the dead horse. How many times of repeating the conditions in the Middle East and his view that the past 4 years have been a failure will it take to cremate this darn horse? I did find evidence that within a couple months of the initial Tunisian uprising the US was standing by the protesters; with the actions taken in Egypt and Libya – the President’s statements are true.    

The Candidates on Afghanistan

In the October 22, 2012 debate moderator Bob Schieffer asked – what do you do when the Afghanistan deadline comes and they are unable to take over responsibility? Mitt Romney said – he’ll bring troops home because the training schedule is on track and the Afghanis are ready to step in; we’ll look at what’s happening in Pakistan because it impacts Afghanistan; he went on about why Pakistan is important – saying we need to be more helpful in Pakistan getting a more stable government and that our aid to them has to be conditioned upon them meeting certain benchmarks.

President Obama went into what we’ve done in Afghanistan; said the coalition and US troops will pull out responsibly and the Afghans are ready; Obama then went back to his approach allowing us to rebuild our economy and getting our veterans the care they need along with changing the process for certifications they need to get jobs – he gave the example of a medic wanting to be a nurse and having to start from scratch with certification when the experience the veteran had was more than what a nurse here would have done; he said the First Lady has done great work with Joining Forces and the unemployment rate of veterans is lower than that of the general population instead of being higher as it was when he came into office.

Both implied that the troops would be coming home with the end of 2014 – this is a turnaround for Romney. Since the question had nothing to do with Pakistan – I won’t address it. I checked out what the President said and darn – true again. The certification process needs to change. Per the Labor Department in March 2009 the veteran jobless rate was 11.2% for those 18 and older (it rose 4% in the past year) and the corresponding rate for non-veterans in the same age group was 8.8%. Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics the August 2012 veteran unemployment data showed a 6.6% rate for all veterans, the lowest rate in more than 3 years, and the national unemployment rate was 8.1%.

Israel Throws US Under The Bus

The Nunn-Lugar is the 1992 Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program within the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. The CTR website says "the purpose of the CTR Program is to secure and dismantle weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their associated infrastructure in former Soviet Union states." CTR provides funding and expertise for states such as Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to decommission nuclear, biological and chemical weapon stockpiles as agreed by the Soviet Union under former disarmament treaties. Under scrutiny of American contractors warheads are stockpiled at designated sites in Russia; CTR expanded its mission to include protecting against WMD "on the move" by enhancing land and maritime border security in the former Soviet Union. On December 22, 2010 the Senate voted 71 to 26 (13 Republicans defied their leadership) in favor of New Start – a strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia to further reduce their nuclear arsenals and resume the on-site inspections that lapsed in December 2009 with the expiration of the original Start law.  

The letter Romney mentions that was signed by 38 Democratic Senators was in April 2010 and it was sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and forwarded to the President. The pro-Israel group AIPAC organized the initiation of the letter because the President was irritated with Israel going against the 2001 US request to halt its expansion of settlements in Palestinian territories. During the President’s transition the Israelis and Palestinians were at war in Gaza and on paper the Gaza War ended in 2009 with unilateral cease fires. Despite knowing for years what was necessary to attain peace, in March 2010 via Vice President’s Biden’s visit to Israel the US was told by Israel’s Interior Ministry that they were building new settlements in contested East Jerusalem. Israel’s settlements within Palestinian territories are the subject of wide international scorn and have been deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice and are not supported by any country in the world.

So, Romney’s snide comments are another sign he is not ready to be President. Obama got a better deal with Russia than the Nunn-Lugar and restored on-site inspections of nuclear weapons. And, I don’t appreciate our representatives thinking it is okay for Israel to – throw us under the bus - especially since we give them about $3 billion a year.   

Israel v. Iran

In response to what the President said to Bob Schieffers’ October 22, 2012 question regarding what deal would you accept with Iran? Mitt Romney replied – we should not have wasted these 4 years letting them continue to spin those centrifuges; he went on about the apology tour and our freeing countries from dictators. Obama said – in 2008 the first trip he took was to visit our troops; when he went to Israel he didn’t take donors and didn’t attend fundraisers – he went to visit the Holocaust museum to remind himself of the nature of evil and why our bond with Israel will be unbreakable, he also went to Sderot battered by missiles which is why we funded the Iron Dome Project to stop them; he has stood on the right side of history and that credibility has been why we have been able to show leadership on a wide number of issues facing the world right now.

Schieffer asked – what if Israel’s Prime Minister called and said our bombers are on the way to Iran – Romney said let’s not talk about hypothetical’s, my relationship with Israel is good; we’d know before that happened so let’s go back to what the President was talking about that’s happening in the world and the President’s statement that things are going so well (he didn’t make such statement); he said he looks at what’s happening around the world and went into the Middle East again then said - trade with China is growing every year, North Korea continues to export their nuclear technology, Russia said it isn’t going to follow Nunn-Lugar anymore and will back away from the nuclear treaty we had with them; I don’t see our influence growing, I see it receding in part because the President has failed to deal with our economic challenges at home, in part because of the withdrawal to our commitment to our military; in part because of the turmoil with Israel – the President received a letter from 38 Democrat Senators saying the tension with Israel is a real problem and asking him to repair the relationship. Obama said – the problem is on a whole range of issues, whether it’s the Middle East, Afghanistan, Iraq, or Iran, Romney’s been all over the board; Obama was pleased with Romney agreeing about the diplomatic pressure on Iran and went on to cite his changing positions; he said going after those that harm us sends a message to the world and it lets Americans know we haven’t forgotten them; the decisions aren’t always popular. Romney tried to jump in but Schieffer stopped him because he had his time.

A CNN October 23 fact check report said Obama told the truth about his trip to Israel. I’ll give you the fact checking information on the things Romney said next.     

The Apology Tour

In the October 22, 2012 debate moderator Bob Schieffer asked – what deal would you accept with Iran? The President said – our goal with Iran is for it to give up its nuclear program, they have an opportunity to rejoin the League of Nations and we would welcome that and we hope their leadership takes the right decision; the deal we’ll accept is straight forward - they end their nuclear program; the work involved in setting up the crippling sanctions is pain staking, it’s meticulous, we started day one and had to make sure that all countries participated even Russia and China; Iran has to abide by the rules that have already been established, convince the international community that they’re not pursuing a nuclear program, there are inspections that are very intrusive but over time they can regain their credibility but we’re not going to let up until we have clear evidence; we’re not going to allow Iran to perpetually engage in negotiations that go nowhere; we know when it’s too late to stop them so we’re going to make sure that we take all options to make sure they don’t have a nuclear weapon. Romney said – from the beginning Iran has felt that this administration has not been as strong as it needed to be; the President said that in his first year he would sit down with all the worst actors – Chavez, Kim Jong-il, Castro, Ahmadinejad – then the President went on what he called ‘the apology tour’ where he criticized America and I think they saw weakness; I think they noticed the silence with the President during the Green Revolution and the space created between Israel and the US; now there are 10,000 centrifuges spinning uranium; it’s important that a President show strength from the beginning and an Iranian nuclear program is not acceptable to us; he repeated his plan for dealing with Iran and said if we do that we won’t have to take military action. Obama said – what Romney has said is not true and the apologizing claim "has been probably the biggest whopper that's been told during the course of this campaign"; while we were busy placing sanctions Romney was invested in a Chinese company that was doing business with the Iranian oil sector; as far as the Iranian revolution he said he made in clear that the murderous acts were contrary to internal law and what civilized people stand for; the strength we’ve shown is in mobilizing the world – when he came in to office the world was divided; Iran is at its weakest and we will continue to make sure they don’t get a nuclear weapon.

CNN October 23 fact check of the President’s 2009 trips showed Romney's claim is false; the president mentioned past US mistakes and flaws during speeches but the snippets were part of larger and grander narratives about repairing ties, building friendship and working together-he never apologized. In December 2011, Michael Cohen, a columnist for Foreign Policy's Election 2012 Channel, called the ‘apology tour’ claim "a lie that has been reiterated so often that it has become conventional wisdom on the right. The apology canard has been disproven practically as often as it has been made."

Facts on Iranian Sanctions

Since 2003 the international community pressured Iran via the UN and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to halt its uranium enrichment related and reprocessing activities. Serious European Union (EU) efforts were made in 2005 when Iran wanted Israel “to be wiped off the map”. The Bush administration started sanctions and the Obama administration escalated and intensified them. The New York Times reported June 30, 2012 that Iran conceded that its oil exports were down 20 to 30% and its currency had plunged more than 40% against the dollar since last year. Obama and his European allies placed a round of penalties effective July 1 that some said represent one of the boldest uses of oil sanctions as a tool of coercion since the US cut off oil exports to Japan in 1940. In addition to these measures Obama has tried open appeals to the Iranian people and private letters to the supreme leader; he accelerated a cyber attack to exploit vulnerabilities in Iran’s nuclear program. R. Nicholas Burns, who helped design the Bush administration’s sanctions strategy said the new sanctions “are the toughest sanctions imposed to date. We should give them a few months to have the kind of impact for which they are designed — to force Iran to negotiate more seriously.” The administration was successful in managing to cut purchases from Iran without raising oil prices, a feat many doubted would be possible; it helped that suppliers including Saudi Arabia, Libya and Iraq have increased their production and there was weakening global demand. Since January, Washington has engaged in an intense diplomatic campaign to get big purchasers of Iranian oil including India, South Korea, China and Japan to reduce their volume of imports so they do not find themselves facing sanctions. Many countries grumbled but complied particularly after Saudi Arabia and other countries made it clear they could replace the lost supply; the biggest holdout was China and Washington granted China and Singapore waivers, avoiding what could have been a tense standoff as the administration faced penalizing its biggest sovereign creditor. The Chinese, for their part, did not want to appear to be bending to American pressure. This past spring there was hope for an agreement when Iran met with the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany but subsequent rounds of talks have gone nowhere. Reuters on October 17 reported according to the International Monetary Fund Iran had foreign reserves of $106 billion at the end of last year; some analysts estimate they may have dropped by several tens of billions of dollars as the sanctions cut Iran's oil income. On October 25 the Tehran Mehr News Agency reported the Iranian currency had lost nearly 40% of its value against the dollar this month.

The President was correct in saying Iran’s currency had plunged 80% (40% by June & 40% in October). The fact that Obama is right more than wrong and Romney is wrong more than right is not swaying American voters. 

Candidates Response to Attacking Iran

In the October 22, 2012 debate moderator Bob Schieffer asked – would either of you be willing to make the declaration that an attack on Israel is an attack on the US? President Obama said if Israel is attacked the US will stand with Israel; this week we’ll be carrying out the largest military exercise with Israel in history; as long as he is President, Iran will not get a nuclear weapon; he’s organized the largest coalition and strongest sanctions and Iran’s economy is crumbling – their currency has plunged 80%, their oil production has dropped to its lowest level in 20 years; we cannot afford to have a nuclear arms race in the most volatile region in the world; Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism and for them to provide nuclear technology to non state actors is unacceptable, they’ve said they want Israel wiped off the map; Iran has a choice, they can take the diplomatic route and end their nuclear program or they will have to face a united world; Obama said he won’t take options off the table; Romney has suggested that we should take premature military action and he thinks sending troops into harm’s way is the last resort not the first resort. Romney responded with agreeing that he’ll stand by Israel and a peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear weapon issue is also what he wants; he said 5 years ago he called for crippling sanction on Iran; he would have put them into place sooner; today he’d tighten the sanctions – say that ships that carry Iranian oil can’t come into our ports along with those moving or trading their oil; he’d take on diplomatic isolation, make sure Ahmadinejad is indicted under the Genocide Convention and that their diplomats are treated like the piranha that they are around the world; a military avenue is the last resort and only after all other avenues have been tried to their full extent.

My take - Romney feels the Bush administration didn’t act harsh enough in the beginning, he is not aware of the tough sanctions already in place and he thinks he would have more power than he actually would – he sounded like a world dictator instead of a leader working with others. I’m going to give you some background on this issue.

The Size of the US Military

In the October 22, 2012 debate moderator Bob Schieffer asked – you want a bigger military and don’t want to cut defense spending - where are you going to get the money? Mitt Romney said – were going to cut 5% in discretionary spending, excluding the military; Schieffer interrupted and Romney said to look at his website-he’d see how we get to a balanced budget within 8-10 years, we go through each program and get rid of those we don’t need like ObamaCare, those we keep like Medicaid that’s for the poor we give it to the states because they run it more efficiently – they’re proving it; by doing these 2 things we’ll have a balanced budget. Romney wanted to get back to the military and Obama wanted to respond - he talked about Romney’s budget plan; the President said we spend more on our military than the next 10 countries combined, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and so on; he said he worked with the Joint Chiefs of Staff to determine the budget needed - Romney’s budget numbers don’t work – when it comes to the military we need to think about capabilities, not just the budget, we need to be thinking about cyber security, space; Obama said his budget is driven by a strategy to keep Americans safe - not politics – it allows us to reduce the deficit which is a national security concern, we have to have a strong economy so we can project military power overseas.

Romney responded – he’s pleased that in his experience he has balanced budgets, the President hasn’t; he went on to say – our Navy is smaller than it has been since 1917, the Navy said it needed 313 ships to carry out its mission, we’re now at 285 and headed to a low 200 with sequestration-he wants to make sure we have the ships we need; our Air Force is smaller than when it was founded in 1947; since FDR we’ve always had the strategy that we could fight in 2 conflicts at once, now we can only fight one; in his view the safety of the American people is number one. Obama’s response – the sequestration cuts weren’t something he put forward and he’s maintaining the military budget and not reducing it; he said Romney hasn’t looked at how our military works, in regard to the Navy we also have fewer horses and bayonets, the nature of our military has changed – we have aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines, the question is not a game of battleship, it’s about our capabilities and the best way to meet all of our defense needs in a way that keeps faith with our troops and takes care of our veteran and that’s not reflected in Romney’s budget.

On January 5 the Pentagon said it was cutting about $450 billion (8%) of its budget in the next decade; Panetta said our forces would be agile, flexible and ready; we’ll use fewer ground troops and more air/naval attacks, robots and drones. On September 12 the military revealed a robot dog that goes about 3mph and can carry about 400 pounds of equipment through rough terrain; October 15 we heard we had robot squirrels. In checking recent legislation, Congress approved money for equipment but reduced personnel spending. Taking Romney’s approach, more ships etc, means more troops to man them. I like using more technology and fewer troops in an effort to reduce injuries and loss of lives.       

What America Needs to Compete

In response to President Obama’s answer to the October 22, 2012 question – what is America’s role in the world- Mitt Romney said he has a policy and an agenda for the future and a plan to create 12 million new jobs and increase take home pay; what we’ve seen over the last 4 years he doesn’t want to see over the next 4 years and he repeated his 5 step plan stating you can’t get companies to invest in America if they think we’re headed on the road to Greece.

Obama said – let’s talk about what we need to compete; when Romney was Governor of Massachusetts (MA) small business development ranked 48 out of the 50 states because his policies don’t help small business and small business to Romney includes large business; Obama went on to what he’s done to reform education; he said Romney disagrees that hiring more teachers and having smaller classrooms makes a difference; Obama believes having a skilled workforce will bring jobs to the US; he said not asking for the rich to pay more and slashing education undermines our position in the world and the world notices. Bob Schieffer, the moderator, tried to get things back on track but Romney said he needed a moment and went on to say -  he said he’s proud of his education record in MA, when he was Governor the 4^th and 8^th grades came out first in the country in English and Math because they had better teachers. This led to bantering back and forth and I’m not going into it because I addressed this issue earlier. Schieffer interrupted them and went on to the next question.  

I do find it interesting that Romney brought up just 2 years of the education system so his statements are probably true. However, trying to fact check Romney’s MA small business record is almost impossible – it seems all sites are either pro or anti Romney. A pro Romney site did say Obama has an ad that claims Romney “left the state $2.6 billion deeper in debt”; it’s true that long-term bond debt, for capital improvements, rose under Romney. I guess who holds the bond is more important than the bonds themselves as Romney continually has knocked Obama for the bonds that China holds.  

America's Role in the World

In the October 22, 2012 debate moderator Bob Schieffer asked – what is America’s role in the world? Mitt Romney got to go first and said – America has a responsibility and the privilege of helping defend freedom and promote the principles that make the world more peaceful; the principles are human rights and dignity, free enterprise, freedom of expression, and elections – because people tend to vote for peace, not war; we recognize there are places of conflict in the world – we want to end those conflicts as much as humanly possible but in order to fulfill our role in the world America must be strong, America must lead and for that to happen we have to strengthen our economy; he again described our situation. He said we have to strengthen our military long term, in 2000 there was no talk of terrorism and a year later 9/11 happened so we have to make decisions based upon uncertainty; we have to stand by our allies – he brought up tension between Israel and the US and pulling our missile program out of Poland as disrupting the relationships that existed and he thought it was an enormous mistake for the President to stand silent when the Green Movement began in Iran.

Obama said – America remains the one indispensable nation; the world needs a strong America and America is stronger now than when he came into office; because we ended the war in Iraq we are now able to refocus our efforts not only on the terrorist threat but also on beginning a transition in Afghanistan; it also allowed us to refocus on alliances and relationships that had been neglected for a decade in Asia, Europe, Africa, with Israel where we have unprecedented military and intelligence cooperation with the Iranian threat; Obama said we’ve positioned ourselves so we can start rebuilding America, that’s what my plan does – making sure we bring jobs back to America and not rewarding companies shipping jobs overseas; making sure we have the best education system in the world; he went on to repeat the things he’s done and his plans for a budget so we can get the research and technology that’s always kept us at the cutting edge; he said Romney’s plan won’t do it – as he praised Bush as a good economic steward and Cheney as showing wisdom and judgment; Romney wants to take us back to those kinds of strategies that got us into this mess and that is not the way we are going to maintain leadership in the 21^st century. I’ll give you Romney’s response next. 

Oct. 22 - Debate on Egypt

In the October 22, 2012 debate moderator Bob Schieffer asked if the President had any regrets saying Mubarak should go when some in his administration thought we should wait. Obama said – no, I think America has to stand with democracy, the notion that there were tanks running over young people that is not the type of American leadership that Kennedy talked about 50 years ago; they have a democratically elected government now and it’s their responsibility to make sure they protect religious minorities and women-who should be educated and we’ve put significant pressure on them to do that; they have to abide by the treaty with Israel and work with us when it comes to counter-terrorism; we’ll help them with their economy because it’s important to them and the world that their young people see opportunities-their aspirations are similar to those of the young people here; we’ve been working with Egyptian entrepreneurs to show them how to rebuild their economy without corruption and being transparent but for us to be successful there are things we have to do here; we’ve done some experimenting in nation building in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan but we’ve neglected our economy, energy, and education and it’s hard for us to project leadership around the world when we’re not doing it here. Romney said – he supported Obama’s action in Egypt but wished we had a better look at the future; he said looking at the beginning of the President’s term he wished we had seen what was coming so it didn’t explode in the way it did. He stepped back and said our purpose is to make the world more peaceful so people have better lives; we didn’t ask for the mantle of world peace but we have it - for us to be able to promote the principles of peace requires us to be strong and that requires our economy to be strong; when the President of Iran comes out and says our debt makes us not a great country – that’s a frightening thing and the former Joint Chief of Staff Admiral Mullen said our debt is the biggest national security threat that we face; we’ve weakened our economy and we need to have a strong military; it’s second to none in the world but the idea of $1 trillion in cuts to the military would change that; we need to have allies – we have 42 around the world and we have to stand by our principles; if we’re strong in each of those things America’s influence will grow, fortunately nowhere in the world is America’s influence greater than it was 4 years ago. Scheiffer tried to stop Romney but he went on with – and that’s because we’ve become weaker on those dimensions. Scheiffer told the President that he’d be able to respond later because that went into the next segment.        

In regard to Romney’s single comment on Egypt – the President acted sooner than some thought we should but he wants a crystal ball to look into the future. I found it disturbing that Romney finds the negative words of an unfriendly – frightening; his Mullen quote was from 2010 when we already had a large debt left by Bush. FYI - forces in Afghanistan consisted of troops from 57 countries and as of May 2012 the troops from the US and 50 countries remain. 

Oct. 22 Final Debate on Syria

In the October 22, 2012 debate with moderator Bob Schieffer President Obama’s response to Mitt Romney’s answer to – Should we reassess our policy on Syria was - we are playing the leadership role and he repeated everything he already said we’re doing; he went on to say we’re making sure that those we help will be friends of ours and our allies for the long term; he said going back to Libya – we’re were successful there because of the coalition that we organized; he gave Romney credit for supporting that effort but went on to say that Romney suggested that making sure Gadhafi was captured was mission creep/mission muddle-other than Bin Laden, Gadhafi had more American blood on his hands and going after him is part of the reason the Libyans stand with us – we did so in a careful, thoughtful way, making certain we knew who we were dealing with and those forces of moderation were ones that we could work with and we have to do the same thing with Syria. Schieffer asked Romney if he’d go beyond what the Administration has done – Romney used a lot words that sounded like agreement with the President and then said – this has been going on for a year and it’s time for American leadership, the insurgents there haven’t come together, haven’t formed a unity and America can help that happen and we need to make sure they have the arms they need. Obama responded with – you heard that he doesn’t have different ideas and that’s because we’re doing exactly what we should be doing. Schieffer then went on to Egypt. 

I want to remind everyone that on October 21 the Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, born in Kumasi, Ghana, again warned the world that military intervention in Syria won’t work. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for his founding of the Global AIDS and Health Fund to support developing countries in their struggle to care for their people. From February 23 until August 31, 2012 Annan was the UN Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria. If you check Annan’s background you’d see that he’s been around the block a few times in handling peace missions and he has worked with several Arab and Muslim countries on women's rights and other topics. Not at least listening to this man, as the Republicans have suggested, would be foolish on our part. On October 23 it was reported that the Syrian rebels are worried that Al Qaeda is hijacking their revolution. You can’t be a world leader and not hear others before making a decision on what you want to do for another country.  

Oct. 22 Initial Debate on Syria

In the October 22, 2012 presidential debate with moderator Bob Schieffer the second part of the Middle East question was – Should we reassess our policy on Syria? President Obama said – we’ve organized the international community into saying Assad has to go, we’ve initiated sanctions and made sure they’re isolated, we’ve provided humanitarian aid and we’re organizing the opposition and are particularly interested in mobilizing the moderates in Syria but ultimately the Syrian people have to decide their destiny; we’re working with others like Israel and Turkey but we have to make sure that we don’t put arms in the hands of those who can turn them against us. Romney responded with – Syria is Iran’s only ally in the Arab world so this is an opportunity for us; Syria is Iran’s route to the sea and their route to arm the Hezbollah in Lebanon which threatens Israel; Romney used a lot of words to say the same thing Obama did and didn’t offer anything new accept that he wouldn’t be relying of the UN or Russia to do something – we should be taking the leadership role but not on the ground with the military.

How in the heck can he or anyone else believe that Syria is Iran’s route to the sea when Iran has tried to block the Strait of Hormuz? If he can’t get the geography right he definitely shouldn’t be in charge of foreign policy. He should also be aware that Russia is an ally to Syria because they supply the weapons to that government. So even though Syria may be Iran’s only Arab ally by Russia’s support of Syria they too are an ally of Iran’s in the region.

No one saw what was coming in Syria. Bashar Al-Assad was quiet and reserved and lacked interest in politics or the military; he went to medical school and in 1988 started work as a physician in the army; he attended postgraduate studies at the London Western Eye Hospital but in 1994, after his elder brother was killed, he was recalled to Syria and entered the military academy. In 1998 Al-Assad took charge of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon and running unopposed was elected President of Syria in 2000 and 2007. Because of this history I believe the President is right in that it’s ultimately up to the Syrian people to decide their destiny just as the Libyans did.  

Oct. 22 - Romney Whines in Debate

In the October 22, 2012 presidential debate with moderator Bob Schieffer President Obama responded with – I’m glad you (Mitt Romney) recognize Al Qaeda as a threat as a few months ago you said the biggest threat was Russia, you want to take foreign policy to the 1980s, social policies to the 1950s and economic policies to the 1920s. You said you didn’t want to duplicate what we did in Iraq and just a few weeks ago said we should have more troops in Iraq. Obama also said – I know you haven’t been in a position to execute foreign policy but every time you’ve offered an opinion, you’ve been wrong; you said we shouldn’t be in negotiations with Russia for a nuclear treaty despite the fact that 71 bipartisan Senators voted for it; first you said we shouldn’t have a timeline in Afghanistan, then you said we should, and now you say it depends - sending mixed messages to our troops and allies. What we need is strong steady leadership not wrong and reckless leadership.

Romney said he doesn’t agree with the President’s view of what he has said and attacking him is not an agenda. The 2 candidates started bickering and the moderator failed to stop them – this time Obama won the contest and said what’s he done and will continue to do is – 1) make sure countries are supporting our counter-terrorism efforts, 2) make sure they stand-by (support) Israel’s security, 3) make sure we protect religious minorities and women because countries can’t develop unless 100% of the population does, 4) develop their economic capabilities and 5) we can’t just do nation building in these countries, part of American leadership is to do it here at home – that will help us maintain the leadership we need. The moderator went on to the next question.

Over and over again Romney attacks Obama and blames him for everything that Congress has done wrong but when Obama uses his words against him – Romney calls it attacking. What world does he live in? If he thinks he’ll be able to get away with whining in the international arena he’s crazy. What scares me most is that Americans think his arrogant behavior is acceptable – Desmond Tutu doesn’t agree. On October 23, a BBC World Service poll of 21 countries resulted in a blowout for Obama; Romney would only win in Pakistan. Does everyone but Americans know he’s NOT the guy for the job?    

Oct. 22 - Presidential Debate - Question 1

The October 22, 2012 presidential debate was with moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS news who announced it was the 50^th anniversary of Kennedy announcing the Cuban missile crisis. The first question was what happened in Libya and the Middle East. Romney gave a general description of the area, congratulated the President for going after Bin Laden and Al Qaeda and said – we can’t kill our way out of this mess, we have to put together a comprehensive and robust strategy to help the world of Islam and other parts of the world to reject this radical violent extremism. The President said – his job as Commander-in-Chief is to keep Americans safe and that’s what we’ve done in the last 4 years; we went after those that killed us on 9/11, ended the war in Iraq and are helping Afghanistan to be responsible for itself - that allows us to rebuild allegiances around the world to combat future threats. In regard to what happened in Libya he restated what was said in the previous debate and went on to say that for the cost of 2 weeks in Iraq we liberated the 40-year dictatorship of a country and despite the tragedy there were 10s of thousands of Libyans marching in support of America and that represents an opportunity we have to take advantage of; Obama said he was glad that Romney agreed that we have been successful in going after Al Qaeda but stated Romney’s previous positions would not have kept Americans safe or built opportunities in the Middle East. Romney said – his strategy is straightforward, go after the bad guys, do our best to interrupt or kill them but my strategy is broader than that and the key is to get the Muslim world to reject them on its own; the right course for us is to go after the leaders of the countries that are anti-American; he said a group of Arab scholars went to the UN and said – 1) in a coordinated effort we, along with our friends, should key foreign aid to economic development, 2) education, 3) gender equality, 4) the rule of law – we have to help them create civil societies. He said it is nice Libya is making progress but right next door is Egypt, northern Mali was just taken over by Al Qaeda, Syria is killing their own people, (Bob tried to interrupt) but Romney added Iran.

Romney said we should go after anti-American countries. In the past he’s slammed our support of the UN and now touts a UN Arab proposal. How can we help others create a civil society when we don’t lead by example-in July a report said the US has averaged 2 mass murders a year for the past 15 years; by October 18 more people were killed in Chicago this year than in Afghanistan. I did not like the implication that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood President is bad; they been supportive of us so far. Mali achieved independence in 1960, had a coup in 1991 that led to a new constitution and the establishment of a democratic multi-party state; March 22, 2012 a group of soldiers seized control and declared the government dissolved and its constitution suspended; April 6 rebels from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad declared the secession of a new state however they were sidelined by Islamist groups associated with Al-Qaeda and dropped their demands; an interim government led by former Prime Minister Traore plans to re-take the north with international assistance and hold long-delayed national elections-Romney keeps blowing things way out of proportion. 

Ann - Mitt Under Pressure

On October 18, 2012 Whoopi Goldberg of The View said to Ann Romney - one of the jobs you have as First Lady is to talk to the families of deceased veterans returning home; Ann cleared up that their faith doesn’t prevent them from joining or fighting in the military – she said none have served by one son feels he’s giving back because he’s a doctor taking care of veterans. She said she sent her boys on missions to help others and they came back men and she thinks this is what the military does. She did acknowledge that our military is sacrificing their lives for us and said as Governor Mitt went to the funeral of every veteran and it was the hardest thing for him to do. Ann also told us when Mitt went to Stanford and then on his mission, she hadn’t seen him for about 3 1/2 years and she was dating others – it put Mitt in a French hospital but when he returned it was like time stood still; they were back where they were and they’ve been together ever since. Josh Romney said when his father is left alone on the campaign trail too long he starts to get a little crazy so they bring their mother in for Mitt to unload on her and then he relaxes. Ann said the term Mitt stabilizer was given to her by the boys because they noticed growing up that Mitt would get crazy until he shared things with her. Ann also said if he doesn’t win the election there will be no more politics–they’ll stay in Massachusetts. If they do win she’ll work with at risk youths-the most important thing is that they know they’re loved and God thinks they’re precious; she’ll also have multiple sclerosis and cancer as her causes.

Comparing our military to a Mormon mission – really? Mitt while on his mission wrote – I love Ann in the sand – how does this compare to the hardship and horror our military is experiencing. I’m happy to hear attending military funerals was hard for him, at least there was some compassion but some isn’t enough. In looking at the Romney family history it has no courage and I don’t think that one son being a doctor treating the military is giving back to our country – it’s just that he’s the only one that doesn’t have a job in the family business. If Mitt can’t handle the pressure of Ann dating other people or the stress of the campaign how can he handle the pressure of being the President of the USA?    

US Politics in Stem Cell Research

Because of Ann Romney’s October 18, 2012 comments regarding stem cell research on The View and researchers as well as doctors saying politics are slowing them down, I checked the US history on the issue. I found that in 1995 Congress banned appropriating funds to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) research. But, the issue burst on the scientific scene in November of 1998 when researchers with private funding reported the isolation of hESCs. In December of 1999 NIH released draft guidelines allowing federally funded research on hESCs derived in the private sector and providing for stringent oversight of such research. On August 25, 2000 NIH released final guidelines with the backing of President Clinton and solicited applications for its first hESC research grants. However, President Bush opposed the research and discouraged many scientists from submitting proposals. Media attention on stem cell research grew and reached the front pages on July 9, 2001 and President Bush sought a compromise; he announced in a primetime address to the nation on August 9, 2001 that he decided to allow federal funding of hESC research to go forward but only on cells already in existence. This is where things stood until President Obama on March 9, 2009 via an executive order required new guidelines by the secretary of Health and Human Services through the NIH; the final guidelines took effect July 7, 2009. However, on August 23, 2010 a US District court issued a preliminary injunction barring NIH from funding hESCs research. On September 9 the DC US Appeals Court granted the government's request to stay the injunction until it could hear oral arguments regarding the injunction. During the period NIH was able to fast-track some grants that had previously been on hold. A 3-judge panel heard oral arguments on September 27 and on the following day ruled that federal funding of hESC research could continue while the appeals process moved forward. On July 27, 2011 the US District court ruled on the underlying case and decided in favor of the Obama policy, dismissing the lawsuit. The judge followed the reasoning of the Appeals Court but said “this court has become a grudging partner in a bout of 'linguistic jujitsu,'” referring to the dissenting opinion of one of the Appeals Court judges. For FY 2011 NIH estimated $358 million of its budget would go toward human non-embryonic stem cell research and $126 million would go toward hESCs research. It’s because of Obama’s action that the previously noted October 2012 transplants for Pelizaeus-Merzbacher was performed and research continues. If Romney were president this would not have occurred; if he’s elected president this type of research will probably be discontinued which should be a true disappointment for many Americans.