Mitt Romney

Paul Ryan As Potential Commander In Chief? Very Scary!

Ronald 18 Comments

Wisconsin Republican Congressman Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential running mate, would be a heartbeat away from the Presidency if Romney became President.

That would be totally terrifying in so many ways!

Yes, Ryan is intelligent, unlike Sarah Palin. He is also, personally, very charming, but that is not all that important in a President!

Those are the only two points in his favor, if he is a heartbeat away from being Commander in Chief!

Ryan is arrogant, reckless, cocky, overly ideological, uncompromising, and inflexible, and those are NOT characteristics we need or want in a future President!

He would be the most ideological President in modern American history, and he would be a total disaster for the nation in both economic policy and foreign policy!

The idea that a Congressman, with his record of accomplishment, is qualified to be President is disturbing, and is part of a weird tendency of the Republican Party to select a person who represents one out of 435 Congressional districts to be a national leader.

Ryan follows William E. Miller in 1964, Jack Kemp in 1996, and Dick Cheney in 2000 in being in the Vice Presidential slot, and the one successful case, Cheney, is enough reason to be totally terrified at Ryan becoming Vice President!

Finally, Paul Ryan has very little experience in foreign policy, and would be a total unknown in that regard, but he voted for the Iraq War, and is against getting out of Afghanistan, and by his domestic record, including his proposed budget plan, would likely be a foreign policy “hawk”, going along with the neoconservatives, as he already goes along with the social conservatives on every issue!

Back To The Gilded Age: The Gospel Of Wealth And Social Darwinism

Ronald 2 Comments

In the Gilded Age of the late 19th century in America, there were prevailing philosophies that influenced the growth of economic concentration and social conservatism and justified them.

The first was the “Gospel of Wealth”, published by steel industrialist Andrew Carnegie, that argued that America should honor and respect the great capitalists, despite the reality that the growth of monopoly capitalism was curbing small business opportunities, promoting the exploitation of working people, and providing lack of competition in pricing of products for consumers. Instead, the great capitalists should be applauded and respected for their “great” contributions to America!

Social Darwinism, based on a distortion of the ideas of Charles Darwin and Adam Smith, was a philosophy based on the writings of British writer Herbert Spencer and American sociologist William Graham Sumner, justifying the “laissez faire” viewpoint of Adam Smith on economics, and applying it to society regarding the struggle for survival and survival of the fittest of Charles Darwin in his evolutionary theory. So therefore, government should NOT intervene to give aid and support to the poor, the sick, the disadvantaged, and instead let nature take its course, as that would advance society, eliminating the weak in society through natural causes.

What Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan offer is a return to the Gospel of Wealth and Social Darwinism.

The question is whether we are ready to reverse 140 years of history and revert to the 19th century in the 21st century, and leave tens of millions of Americans behind as we surge forward on the growth of monopoly capitalism and concentration of wealth to a level not even seen in the Gilded Age!

The “Might Have Been” Vice Presidents And Presidents!

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Every four years, Presidential candidates pick a running mate for Vice President, and every four years, there are potential running mates who are passed over.

Sometimes, these potential running mates for Vice President may feel as they are “a bridesmaid, instead of the bride”, when they come close to being the choice more than once.

And sometimes, a potential running mate passed over sees someone else become President by succession.

Examples in the last half century are numerous!

Florida Senator Bob Graham was on the “short list” for both Bill Clinton in 1992 and Al Gore in 2000.

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty made the “short list” for John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012.

Missouri Senator Stuart Symington was the favored choice for John F. Kennedy in 1960, but Lyndon B. Johnson was picked instead for political and sectional reasons, to gain the support of the South for Kennedy, despite his Catholicism. Of course, Johnson went on to be President.

Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy was on the “short list” to be Vice President with Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, but Hubert Humphrey was selected instead, and McCarthy went on to become a major critic of the Vietnam War, and challenge Johnson in the New Hampshire primary in 1968. Who knows whether or not Johnson might have avoided a primary challenge altogether if he had picked McCarthy in 1964, although it is still likely that Robert Kennedy would have challenged Johnson for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1968 in any case. And of course, there were rumors that Kennedy was considered by Johnson to be his running mate in 1964, which would have made it impossible for Kennedy to challenge Johnson in 1968 altogether. But then, maybe Humphrey would have done so instead, without the trap of being Vice President under Johnson!

Mayor John Lindsey of New York City was on the “short list” for Richard Nixon in 1968, and had he been on the ticket and become Vice President, he would have succeeded Nixon after the President resigned due to the Watergate scandal!

When Nixon faced having to replace Spiro Agnew in 1973, due to scandal, he considered John Connally, former Democratic Governor of Texas, but who had become a Republican and was his Treasury Secretary, as his new Vice President, but knew that there would be a battle for him to be confirmed, so Nixon picked Gerald Ford instead, and Ford became President. Connally might have been President, if he had not alienated Democrats by switching parties!

So if things had worked out differently, we might have had President Symington in 1963, President Lindsey in 1974, or President Connally in 1974, and President Johnson might have had no challenge, run and defeated Nixon in 1968!

And poor Bob Graham and Tim Pawlenty were passed over twice each, by two different candidates for President in their parties! Graham never had another opportunity, and Pawlenty will not, either!

The Rise Of Paul Ryan: Threat To Republican House Leadership If He Loses Vice Presidency!

Ronald 2 Comments

A side effect of Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan’s Vice Presidential candidacy if he and Mitt Romney lose the election to Barack Obama, but the Republican Party keeps control of the House of Representatives, is a challenge to the House leadership as it now stands!

That would likely lead to a move by Ryan, who can run for his Congressional seat while on the ballot for Vice President, to wish to be Speaker of the House, second in line to be President, and to challenge Barack Obama on his agenda much more than Speaker John Boehner!

It would also be a challenge to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who very much wishes to be Speaker, and would try to stop Ryan from reaching that office, but having run for Vice President and become a national figure as a result, Ryan would have the edge to overcome both Boehner and Cantor!

So the future of House leadership, if the GOP keeps control, will be very fascinating to watch!

Odd And Interesting Points About Paul Ryan, And The Presidential Election Of 2012

Ronald 4 Comments

There are many odd and interesting points about Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan that have been gathered, and here are some of them!

Paul Ryan, like Mitt Romney, is handsome, and they look good together photogenically.

Paul Ryan looks as if he could be one of Mitt Romney’s sons, and actually is only 12 days older than Romney’s oldest son, Tagg!

Paul Ryan has spent his whole adult life in government, with no experience in the private sector.

Paul Ryan was affected by the narrow minded, selfish teachings of Ayn Rand, and he was involved in work with former Congressman Jack Kemp, one of the authors of what became known as Reaganomics, which started tripling the national debt in the 1980s, due to the theory of Supply Side Economics. Now, Ryan wishes to multiply what Reaganomics in the 1980s and Bushonomics in the 2000s brought about, most of the increased national debt, $7 trillion of the total $10.5 trillion debt that existed when George W. Bush left the Presidency in January, 2009!

Paul Ryan’s dad died when he was in high school, and he was supported by the social safety net of Social Security with survivors benefits while in college.

Paul Ryan has lived off the American taxpayer his entire life, and will receive better health care and pension benefits as part of the federal payroll, that he wishes to cut for everyone else in the middle and lower classes!

Paul Ryan alienated Catholic nuns when he came out for cuts in food stamps and other benefits to poor children, and called for privatizing of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, while wanting greater tax cuts for the top two percent!

Paul Ryan was booed in his own congressional district for the Ryan plan which passed the House of Representatives earlier this year, but with no Democratic support and ten Republicans voting against, as well.

Paul Ryan comes across as articulate, handsome, and charming personally, the latter much more than Mitt Romney, but he also comes across to many as arrogant, nasty, mean spirited, uncaring, hypocritical , uncompromising, and loved by the Tea Party and the right wing media which have declared war on women, senior citizens, the middle class, minorities, and the poor!

Paul Ryan has no foreign policy experience, and being only a Congressman, can be seen as not qualified to be Commander in Chief on Day One!

This is the 5th time in the past half century that a member of the House of Representatives has been selected as a Vice Presidential running mate—William E. Miller of New York with Barry Goldwater in 1964; Geraldine Ferraro of New York with Walter Mondale in 1984; Jack Kemp of New York with Bob Dole in 1996; Dick Cheney of Wyoming with George W. Bush in 2000; and now Paul Ryan of Wisconsin with Mitt Romney in 2012. Notice all four of the earlier choices LOST the election that followed, with the exception of Cheney with Bush, but remember that Al Gore actually won the popular vote in 2000 by 540,000 votes, and the Supreme Court decided the election, intervening for the first time in American history!

And as said in an earlier post, finally, this marks the fourth time in the past 60 years that the Vice Presidential nominee has been more than 20 years younger than the Presidential nominee—Richard Nixon with Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952; Dan Quayle with George H. W. Bush in 1988; Sarah Palin with John McCain in 2008; and now Paul Ryan with Mitt Romney in 2012.

Additionally, we have no one on either ticket for this upcoming election who is from the Sun Belt states, the growing part of the nation. Instead, we have a Midwesterner and an Easterner on each ticket–Barack Obama and Paul Ryan from the Midwest, and Joe Biden and Mitt Romney from the Northeast!

Also, there is no candidate with military experience on either Presidential ticket, the first time since the 1940s!

And we also have no mainline Protestant on the Republican ticket, a mainstay of the GOP, and instead have a Mormon and a Catholic.

If anything, the only true “Protestant” is Barack Obama, as Joe Biden is Catholic!

More oddities and trivia will probably arise as the campaign develops further!

Paul Ryan Vice Presidential Pick Creates Most Ideological Election Since 1964!

Ronald Leave a comment

The decision of Mitt Romney to select Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, head of the House Budget Committee, as his Vice Presidential running mate, throws down the gauntlet clearly for all voters!

This election will be the most ideological election since the Lyndon B. Johnson-Barry Goldwater race of 1964!

It is a clear cut attempt of the right wing—-the Tea Party Movement, the social conservatives, and the economic conservatism of Fox News Channel, The Wall Street Journal, The National Review, and The Weekly Standard—to destroy the New Deal and Great Society!

It is a war on senior citizens, minorities, women, the poor, the middle class, in favor of the elite wealthy two percent, the corporations, the privileged, who want to destroy the social safety net of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid!

It is the triumph of Ayn Rand, who promoted selfishness, greed, and lack of concern for our fellow citizens, in the mad dash to only promote one’s own interests!

It is an attempt to bring back the Gospel of Wealth of industrialist Andrew Carnegie in the Gilded Age!

It is the promotion of arrogance, selfishness, greed, a mean spirited nature, and false claims of promoting the so called message of Jesus Christ as not caring about the sick, the poor, the disadvantaged! Catholic nuns and open minded Protestant groups have condemned Ryan’s call for ending food stamps and other assistance to poor children, and his push to privatize Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, while wishing to give more tax cuts to the elite wealthy!

So the battle is on, and the election, which seemed to have no focus, has become very focused, and it is a battle for the middle and lower classes, and it is a battle that cannot afford to be lost, because if President Barack Obama loses, the “American Dream” will be destroyed, as we allow an oligarchy, which already has too much power and concentration of wealth, to seize control of all wealth and property, and make us closer to Fascism than at any time since the defeat of Fascism in World War II!

The Right Wing Push For Congressman Paul Ryan As Vice Presidential Nominee

Ronald Leave a comment

Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan is being pushed by right wing forces, including the Wall Street Journal and the National Review, as Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential running mate, as the time nears for the announcement of who will be the former Massachusetts Governor’s Number Two!

Ryan is very young (42), handsome, articulate, and willing to get into the fray, as he is an ideologist, out to privatize Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, therefore dramatically changing American economic and social policy. His budget plan, drawn up as House Budget Committee Chairman, is highly controversial.

But for a man like Romney who emphasizes the private sector, Ryan is just the opposite, as his entire career has been in government, a contradiction of what Romney thinks is his own advantage over other politicians.

If Ryan is picked, he would be the fourth Vice Presidential nominee of the GOP who would be extremely young, as compared to the Presidential candidate, an interesting scenario, as Richard Nixon was 40, more than 22 years younger than Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952, and Dan Quayle was 41, more than 22 years younger than George H. W. Bush in 1988. Ryan at 42 is also more than 22 years younger than Mitt Romney. Of course, Sarah Palin was 28 years younger than John McCain in 2008 at age 44, the all time difference in age.

Of course Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida are almost a year and a half younger than Ryan, at age 41, so would be actually 24 years younger than Romney, were they to be chosen.

The question that also arises is whether Romney really wants a strong willed, outspoken man to be his running mate, since he loves to be in charge of everything he runs, without question. Who would he be most comfortable with is certainly a factor in who he chooses.

The gut feeling is that either he goes with Ryan as a bold pick, an ideological pick, hoping to benefit from the clear cut alternative to what Barack Obama represents, or surprises everyone by selecting a woman, such as Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, a swing state and a pitch to women, similar to what John McCain did with Sarah Palin in 2008. Ayotte, while certainly better than Palin, would still be a controversial pick, as her total experience in government is extremely limited.

Picking Senator Rob Portman of Ohio or former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty would make more sense long term, but would be boring, and would not please the ideological right!

We will learn a lot about Mitt Romney when he picks his running mate in the next few days, already a long time overdue!

Turning Point May Have Been Reached In New CNN/ORC Poll For Barack Obama!

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The latest CNN/ORC (Opinion Research Corporation) Poll indicates a “tipping point” may have been reached in the Presidential Election of 2012 for President Barack Obama.

Obama has had trouble reaching the threshold of 50 percent, a majority, but now possesses a 7 point lead, 52-45, over his GOP rival, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in the national poll.

Additionally, Obama has an 11 point lead over Romney among Independents; a 9 point lead over Romney among women; and a six point lead over Romney among men!

Additionally, Romney’s unfavorability rating is up, an alarming development; and by six points, voters would prefer Democrats over Republicans for control of both houses of Congress!

It is still 89 days to the election, but the situation is certainly looking better, with many conservatives and Republicans alienated from Mitt Romney, as the weeks go by!

Latest Poll Averages Show Obama Ahead Of Romney In Eleven Of Twelve Battleground States!

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Barack Obama may be only slightly ahead of Mitt Romney nationally in the average of various polls–47.3 percent to 44.7 percent, but when one looks at twelve battleground or swing states, he is ahead of Romney in all but North Carolina, where he trails Romney by 48.5 to 46.5, two percentage points.

Obama is ahead by almost 6 points in Ohio; by 2.5 points in Virginia; by 3 points in Florida; by 6.5 points in Pennsylvania; by almost 4 points in Iowa; by 5.5 points in Nevada; by 5 points in Wisconsin; by 7 points in New Mexico; by 6.5 points in Michigan; and by almost 3 points in New Hampshire. In Colorado, the margin is only two tenths of one point for Obama over Romney, nearly an even split.

So Obama is ahead in 10 of the 12 states listed, all of which he won in 2008, nearly even in Colorado, and only behind in North Carolina!

Not bad considering the blistering attacks and lies and deception that have been going on for three and a half years as President, greater than any President since the last one who was called every name in the book, and yet won a landslide victory in 1936 in the midst of the Great Depression, with unemployment levels still much higher than they are in 2012.

The author is referring here to Franklin D. Roosevelt!

Conservative Outrage Against Mitt Romney Over Reaction To Barack Obama Campaign Ad On Health Care An Indication Of The Nightmare Facing Romney If He, Somehow, Wins The Presidency!

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A campaign ad by a group loyal to Barack Obama, describing the death of a woman who lost her health care under Bain Capital’s takeover and closing of a company her husband had worked for, is causing a literal nightmare for Mitt Romney.

An aide to Romney made the statement today that IF that woman had been in Massachusetts, she might not have died, because she would have had health care!

It is not clear if the aide flubbed in making that statement, or was authorized to do so by Mitt Romney, but it has caused a firestorm of conservative protest today!

Romney has been trying to deny that what was good for Massachusetts is good for the nation on health care, and has campaigned on getting rid of ObamaCare. Now this comment by his aide seems to suggest otherwise!

Rush Limbaugh sputtered when he heard of the comment by the Romney aide. Sean Hannity was angry, and Ann Coulter, a guest on his show was livid, and said why should conservatives campaign for Romney anymore, since he is as unreliable as John McCain was in 2008. Erick Erickson, a leading conservative blogger, also displayed anger and exasperation.

The reaction of these ideologues, in just a few hours after the statement by the Romney aide, is clearly a demonstration of what will happen regularly if Mitt Romney, somehow, wins the Presidency!

Romney will NOT have a day of rest or peace as President from his own party, much of it way to the far right of him!

Were Romney to win, he would be better off with a Democratic Congress, who he could use as a whipping boy when he runs for a second term, but at the same time, he could actually get something done, as he did with an 85 percent Democratic state legislature when he was Massachusetts Governor.

Mitt Romney is probably, secretly, hoping the Tea Party Movement and the far right evangelical Christian influence would just go away, but it will not, and that means a nightmare of massive proportions awaits him if he is elected President on November 6!