Mitt Romney

Romney Tax Cut Plan Benefits Wealthy Three Times As Much As George W. Bush’s Tax Cuts

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News has come out that Mitt Romney’s Tax Cut plan would TRIPLE the benefit to the top one percent of the population, which includes Mitt Romney.

George W. Bush’s tax cuts were equivalent to one percent of Gross Domestic Product at the time, while Romney’s tax cuts would be equivalent of 3.4 percent of GDP, and cause massive cuts in domestic social programs, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Romney himself would gain a 40 percent or greater tax cut, added on to his 15 percent or less tax burden now.

No wonder Romney does not wish us to see how he acquired his $250 million wealth over the years, and refuses up to now to reveal his past tax returns, even though his father, George Romney, was path breaking, in releasing 12 years of tax returns when he ran for President in 1968 as a potential Republican nominee.

So senior citizens and the poor would bear the burden of Romney’s tax cut plan, as he is very willing to enrich the “one percent” at the expense of the rest of us.

How could anyone support Romney against Barack Obama hearing the truth about the Romney tax plan? It is again an example of the tone deafness of many people, who secretly still hate that a guy who is black is our President! There is no rational explanation otherwise, sorry to say, why anyone would vote against his or her own economic interest!

One Year To Inauguration Day!

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Three years ago today, Barack Obama took the oath of office as the 44th President of the United States.

One year from today, we will see the inauguration of a President–at this point, one of five men.

Tomorrow’s South Carolina Primary may decide who will be challenging Barack Obama in November.

One has to wonder where is the leadership, the statesmanship, of the opposition party, that they cannot come up with anyone on the level of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, or George H. W. Bush. This is not saying that all of the above had records in office approaching perfection, but compared to Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, they appear as a long lost Republican leadership.

And of course, to wish for the likes of past Republicans such as Nelson Rockefeller, William Scranton, George Romney, and Henry Cabot Lodge, among others, all of whom sought and failed to win their party’s nomination, is to expect too much in today’s political climate!

Rick Santorum The Winner In CNN South Carolina Republican Debate

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Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum has had a good day, as he was declared the winner of the Iowa Caucuses this morning, belatedly, by 34 votes over Mitt Romney.

And tonight, Rick Santorum put both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich on the defensive, with strong assaults on their backgrounds, records in office, and suitability to compete with Barack Obama in the fall, during the CNN South Carolina Presidential Debate.

Having been ignored much of the time in earlier debates, Santorum really shone in a way that makes trying to predict the order of finish in the South Carolina Primary this Saturday impossible to predict.

But Santorum, for all of his faults and shortcomings, impressed tonight, in the sense of taking his opponents on in an aggressive manner!

Despicable Attack On The News Media By Republicans Who Seem To Wish There Was A Controlled Media!

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The Republicans in tonight’s CNN South Carolina Presidential debate have made the news media the “whipping boy”, rather than accept their own faults and take responsibility.

So Newt Gingrich attacked the moderator, John King of CNN, for bringing up the issue of his former wife’s accusations about Newt wanting an “open marriage”, and turning the audience against the media.

Mitt Romney made clear that he is not happy with the media for pushing the issue of his tax returns.

Rick Santorum said that the media fail to recognize that he has performed better in election results than Newt Gingrich, and yet he is expected to withdraw, rather than Newt.

Ron Paul complained that he was being ignored, rather than being considered an equally qualified candidate, particularly on medical matters, since he had a career as a gynecologist.

The only complaint that actually makes sense is the Ron Paul matter, but the rest of the above issues are simply what the news is, not what the journalists are creating or conjuring up.

It seems obvious that the Republicans would wish there would be a controlled media, so that they are not held accountable for their words and actions!

The Romney Vulnerability Factor In Play As South Carolina Primary Is Near

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Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts Governor, and supposed front runner for the Republican Presidential nomination, has has a rough week.

First, he performed poorly in the Monday night South Carolina debate sponsored by Fox News Channel, being constantly on the defensive due to attacks by his rivals for the nomination.

As news came out all week about Bain Capital, and the fact that Romney, while refusing to release his tax returns anytime soon, admitted that he only paid 15 percent on his investment income, and “only” earned $364,000 in speaking fees, his polls started to suffer.

Now, today, Rick Perry has dropped out of the Presidential race and endorsed Newt Gingrich. And Rick Santorum has been declared the winner of the Iowa Caucuses by 34 votes, after trailing by 8 votes to Romney.

With Gingrich gaining support in the public opinion polls in South Carolina because of his strong debate performance, and now with Perry’s endorsement of Gingrich, it is more likely that the former Speaker of the House could defeat Romney in South Carolina.

Since 1980, every Republican winner of South Carolina’s primary has gone on to be the GOP Presidential nominee. So if Romney loses, after being declared the loser in Iowa, and only winning what is basically his “home” state, New Hampshire, suddenly Mitt Romney will be extremely shaky and vulnerable in his quest for the Republican Presidential nomination.

The Ultimate Judgment Day For Evangelical Christians: Romney, Santorum Or Gingrich?

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So it has come down to this: the ultimate judgment day for evangelical Christians, specifically in South Carolina this Saturday, but really nationally, as well.

Evangelicals always talk about the significance of “family values” in their lives, and that is to be applauded.

So now they must decide the future of the Republican Presidential race. They may talk about “redemption”, but can they really back Newt Gingrich after it has been revealed that he asked his second wife to agree to an “open marriage”, after having cheated with her on his first wife? Gingrich talks about “traditional marriage” being upheld against gay marriage, but is his concept of marriage indeed “traditional”?

It seems to the author that the family lives of Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum fit the image of what evangelical Christians claim to believe, and already, a large group of evangelical leaders last week endorsed Santorum. To top it off, Santorum ended up ahead of Gingrich in New Hampshire, and now has been declared the winner of the Iowa Caucuses over Mitt Romney by a final count of 34 votes, rather than being 8 votes behind.

It will be interesting to see whether evangelical Christians will follow the endorsement of their leaders and support Santorum, or even go beyond their faith and back Romney.

If they back Gingrich, however, it will show their hypocrisy. Opportunism is what it might be called after Saturday.

Newt Gingrich’s Hubris Has No Limits!

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Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, has called upon fellow Presidential contenders Rick Santorum and Rick Perry to withdraw from the race and back him as the alternative to Mitt Romney. What hubris he has beyond belief!

The fact that Rick Santorum may have won Iowa, if not ending up eight votes behind Romney, does not seem to impress Gingrich.

The fact that Rick Santorum came in fourth, ahead of Gingrich, who ended up fifth, in New Hampshire, does not seem to impress Gingrich.

The fact that more than two thirds of evangelical Christian leaders meeting in Texas over the past weekend decided to throw their support to Santorum, does not seem to have impressed Gingrich.

Gingrich sees himself as brilliant, intelligent, far above all other candidates in capabilities, even though a vast majority of former House associates and Republican political leaders nationally have attacked his candidacy on many grounds.

Instead, it is Todd Palin, and now his wife Sarah, either endorsing or speaking up for Gingrich, with Sarah avoiding going as far as her husband.

Is not that involvement by the Palins enough of an answer about the legitimacy of Newt Gingrich? The Palins, particularly Sarah, have loads of hubris like Gingrich, but not even with his intelligence and brilliance! They are the mark of the STUPID group within the GOP, which includes former candidates Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain!

Newt Gingrich has stated that if he does not win South Carolina this coming weekend, that the race is over. Let’s hope that such is the case, and that we will stop having to listen to the braggadocio of this pompous, overbearing, obnoxious, egotistical person who has passed his prime long ago!

Mitt Romney’s Concept Of Taxes And Speaking Fees: A Major Minus For His Campaign For President

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has stirred up a new controversy with his comments about taxes (that he pays only 15% on his income, mostly investment, not work in the past ten years), and his statement that his one higher taxed income on lecture fees ($376,000) is “not that much money”.

This causes outrage among hard working Americans, who do not get a 15% tax rate, because they face the challenge of going to work every day, and dealing with the stresses of life, not sitting back and watching their money make money!

If Romney is worth $250 million, the estimated amount of his fortune, that means even a one percent return is $2.5 million!

And to call $376,000 in lecture fees not much money is an outrage, as that is EIGHT times the average income of a typical American!

Just as a comparison, this author and blogger NEVER made $100.000 a year while working; has a retirement income of about half of that amount; earns about $5-7,000 a year on lecture fees, at about $200 to $250 per lecture, despite his credentials to be an expert being far greater than Romney as a propagandizing politician; and only wishes that his assets were just $1 million to lean back on, instead of being a fraction of that amount!

How can Romney appeal to anyone who knows what it is to earn a living, and does not have a silver spoon in his mouth when he is born, and will never have the “American Dream” fulfilled as Mitt Romney was fortunate enough to be born to?

What should make him entitled to such a low tax rate while everyone else has to struggle on a much lower income and make tough decisions every day? And this is referring to the middle class, not even to the poor who get vilified constantly for their status in society, even with most of them being children and single women!

Withdrawal Of Jon Huntsman From Republican Presidential Battle: The Loss Of Competence, Credibility And Principle

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With the withdrawal of Jon Huntsman, former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China, from the Republican Presidential battle, we see the loss of competence, credibility, and principle , and are left with a uninspiring and inferior group of candidates for the Oval Office from the opposition party.

For a supporter of Barack Obama, this can be seen as a good omen, but there is also the lingering fear that anything is possible when it comes to a Presidential election, and we could, potentially, end up with one of the remaining candidates in the White House on January 20, 2013.

Under the circumstances, Mitt Romney is the best of a bad lot, but the thought that the endorsement of Rick Santorum by evangelical Christians could possibly lead to the former Pennsylvania Senator’s nomination, creates a lot of unease.

The question that arises is why the Republican Party cannot find candidates more competent, credible, and principled than the sorry group that remains in the competition, as the country deserves better!

Even though Huntsman has now dropped out, he remains someone to watch in 2016 if the Republicans lose the Presidential election, still a likely scenario! His credentials remain very impressive, and he was a real threat to Obama, and his selection, had it occurred, would have made for a very competent battle, but in 2016, without an incumbent President, if Obama wins, Huntsman would have to be given a greater chance of success.

Holy War In Play: Social Conservatives Against Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, And Separation Of Church And State!

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Social conservatives have always been a problem for the Republican Party since the rise of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and the Moral Majority, Christian Coalition and their associated groups, including large numbers of Tea Party Movement activists.

Insisting that separation of church and state are not the beliefs of the Founding Fathers who created our Constitution, the evangelical Right has been exasperated over the performance in office of Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush, and discontented with the candidacies of Bob Dole in 1996 and John McCain in 2008.

So now, a large group of these social conservatives, including many religious leaders and wealthy businessmen, have met in Texas, and decided to coalesce around former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum as the best hope to stop former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican Presidential nomination.

More than two thirds of those gathered in Texas decided that Texas Governor Rick Perry and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had too many weaknesses and shortcomings, and that Santorum, who has emphasized his opposition to gay rights and abortion rights, was their “man”!

These religious right wingers are desperate to defeat Barack Obama, but see Romney as a “Massachusetts liberal”, and many are uncomfortable with a Mormon running for the Presidency, as many of them see the Church of Latter Day Saints as a cult.

It will be interesting to see whether the Evangelical Right will be able to stop Romney from being the nominee, and stop Barack Obama from having a second term of office in the White House.

The whole idea of a Mormon candidate against a mixed race President, who is black in appearance, drives these religious fanatics crazy. The whole concept of separation of church and state, and the idea of personal freedom of individuals to control their own lives, drive these extremists to fury and anger.

Hate is the key word here, and it seems likely that the evangelical Right will lose on both counts, and America will be the better for their repudiation!