Sarah Palin

Conservatives Question Why Mitt Romney Refuses To Release Tax Returns: What Does He Have To Hide?

Ronald 3 Comments

Mitt Romney is rapidly destroying any chance that he will be elected President by his refusal to release multiple years of his tax returns, which has become a common expectation for Presidential candidates.

It is not just Democrats or liberals and progressives who are demanding such information be provided, but also conservatives who hint that Romney MUST have something to hide!

This includes conservative pundits George Will and Bill Kristol; former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour; Alabama Governor Robert Bentley; former Republican National Chairman Michael Steele; and Republican strategist Michael Dowd.

Dowd called what Romney is doing as simple arrogance, a word that keeps on describing Romney, who seems to feel that he is “entitled” to tax breaks for a racing horse, and loves to brag that he has paid everything in taxes he has to, and not one penny more, as if it would be unpatriotic to avoid manipulating the tax law with accountants, as rich people tend to do with relish!

As Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, former top adviser to Barack Obama said, the fact that John McCain saw 23 years of Romney tax returns and financial information, and chose to select Sarah Palin instead in 2008, is testimony as to time bombs ticking in his campaign, whether he ultimately releases the tax returns or not!

The Vice Presidency Competition: Only Tim Pawlenty Or Rob Portman Makes Sense!

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More speculation about the race to be Vice Presidential nominee with Mitt Romney has been churning lately, with one clear conclusion: Only former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty or Ohio Senator Rob Portman make any sense!

Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan is simply too toxic with his plan to privatize Medicare and Social Security, although Mitt Romney has endorsed the plan. It would harm Romney in a major way in the upcoming campaign.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is simply too controversial and outspoken, not a good match for the reserved Mitt Romney. His image as a “Bully” Governor would be harmful.

New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte, the only woman mentioned, has too little experience to be a heartbeat away, and might bring about comparisons to Sarah Palin, although obviously Ayotte is much smarter and more intelligent than Sarah.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal would bring little to Romney’s candidacy, and there are doubts about either being qualified to be a heartbeat away from the White House.

Marco Rubio would be too controversial, too much of a lightning rod, and would not draw Hispanic or Latino support of Mexican Americans or Puerto Rican Americans, or others, other than Cuban Americans.

The only possible alternative to Pawlenty or Portman might be Senator John Thune of South Dakota, but it is clear that Pawlenty and Portman are both qualified, non controversial, and most important, from the heartland Midwest, which Romney must win to become President. Only Thune is from the same area, unless you include Ryan, who again is extremely toxic, and would be unwise for Romney to select!

Tim Pawlenty Surges To Lead For Vice Presidential Nomination With Mitt Romney!

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Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has surged to the lead in speculation for the Vice Presidential nomination with Mitt Romney for the Presidential Election of 2012!

Pawlenty originally ran for President, but dropped out early, and is seen by many as having the fewest faults and shortcomings of anyone rumored to be on the list for Vice President.

Pawlenty comes across as friendly, decent, approachable, and as someone who apparently has no “skeletons in the closet”, although his stewardship as Minnesota Governor a few years ago has been challenged for its effectiveness, much like Romney’s in Massachusetts.

The two men get along very well, and Pawlenty has been an excellent advocate for Romney in recent months.

His being an evangelical Christian would help Mormon Romney in many areas of the South and Midwest.

But, his nomination, if it occurs, has several shortcomings:

No foreign policy experience

No military experience

First time since 1948 that both the Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees were Governors, with little national exposure, with neither ever having been in national government in any way.

Certainly, Pawlenty will have to be vetted totally, but he seems to have an edge right now in the struggle for who will be Romney’s running mate.

One more thing: Pawlenty was on the short list for John McCain’s running mate in 2008, and would certainly have been a better choice than Sarah Palin!

It will be interesting to see if Pawlenty actually gains the nomination, and whether he is an asset to Mitt Romney in November, but don’t expect him to be able to carry his home state of Minnesota, or Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, or Iowa!

The Failure Of “Americans Elect” As A Third Party Movement In 2012

Ronald 1 Comment

Independent minded centrists, disgusted with the two party system and the failure to promote political compromise, made a valiant effort to promote an online third party under the name “Americans Elect”, but they have utterly failed for the upcoming Presidential Election of 2012.

This is a bad sign for the future, as it indicates that the party conflict, greatest since the Civil War, is going to continue, and it endangers any hope of our system working, unless one party is able to win and keep control of government for a sustained period of time.

Having said the above, the author still feels that the victory of Barack Obama is essential, and that IF he is given a Democratic Congress, the country can make progress on the many issues that divide us, and loom in the future.

What it comes down to is that all of the potential independent candidates, symbolized by Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City, simply did not want to break with their party, did not want to go through the literal Hell that is the reality of running for President at a divisive time as we are now going through.

The list of potential candidates included also Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels, Rick Santorum, Hillary Clinton, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Howard Dean, Donald Trump, Al Gore, Sarah Palin, and David Petraeus.

One looks at this list and is shocked that Christie, Santorum, Paul, Trump, and Palin are on the list, all horrible choices in so many ways.

But to put most of the others on the potential list is also totally out of touch with reality, particularly with Powell, Rice, Clinton, Dean, and Gore.

Daniels, Huntsman, and Petraeus join Bloomberg as the most reasonable candidates, but again none wanted to put their name in the running.

The reality is that the Presidency is becoming such an obstacle course, that many good people will decide NOT to run in the future, leaving us with the danger of the kind of mediocrity we saw this year in the Republican Presidential race.

Lack Of Republican Diversity In Presidential Tickets: Nixon, Dole, And Bush Dominant Since 1952

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With the discussion of Jeb Bush as a possible Vice Presidential running mate for Mitt Romney, it reminds us of the oddity that three names have dominated Presidential tickets in the Republican Party for the past sixty years, since 1952.

Richard Nixon was on the ballot five times–Vice President in 1952 and 1956, and President in 1960, 1968, and 1972.

Bob Dole was on the ticket twice–Vice President in 1976 and President in 1996.

A Bush was on the ballot six times–George H. W. Bush for Vice President in 1980 and 1984, and for President in 1988 and 1992. His son, George W. Bush, was the Presidential candidate in 2000 and 2004.

So only twice were none of these three names on the ballot–1964 when Barry Goldwater and William E. Miller ran, and 2008, when John McCain and Sarah Palin ran.

The Unusual Nature Of The 2008 Election, In More Ways Than One!

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2008, the year of the economic collapse in America, unrivaled since the Great Depression of the 1930s, was a very unusual election year.

This was the first time we had an African American Presidential nominee, and he won the election, despite a majority of white men voting against him.

The country had both candidates for President born off the mainland of America–John McCain in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936, and Barack Obama born in Hawaii in 1961.

The country had the greatest gap in age between the two Presidential candidates in American history–a difference of 25 years between McCain and Obama.

The country had the first college professor (although part time) winning office since Woodrow Wilson 96 years earlier, in 1912.

Barack Obama was the first President from Illinois since Abraham Lincoln 148 years earlier, in 1860.

Barack Obama was the first Northern President elected since John F. Kennedy in 1960, and is the only Democrat to have at least 51 percent of the total vote since World War II, with the exception of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

The year 2008 saw the first Republican woman nominee for Vice President, Sarah Palin.

John McCain became the second Arizona Senator to lose the Presidency, after Barry Goldwater 44 years earlier, in 1964.

So the 2008 election was a path breaking election in more ways than one!

The “Tantalizing” Concept Of Condoleezza Rice For Vice President: A Mirage!

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A CNN poll of Republican and Independent voters as to who they would like to see as the GOP Vice Presidential nominee came up with a surprise Number One–former Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice!

This is a major surprise, as Rice’s name has not been listed as a realistic possibility, and she has not shown any interest in the past in running for public office, preferring to live the scholarly life at Stanford University, after eight grueling years in the midst of stress and tension as a major figure in the George W. Bush Administration.

Having been involved in a rivalry with Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Rice seemed perturbed at the memoirs of both men, and a need to defend her record and stands on issues. To believe that she would wish to get into the political fray is beyond comprehension of any intelligent observer.

But the thought of Rice running is “tantalizing” to many, as there are definite pluses, but also, however, minuses if she ran.

The pluses include:

Rice has broad and extensive experience in all areas of foreign and national security policy, a major plus for Mitt Romney, who has none of it.

Rice is highly intelligent, and would be a great contrast to Sarah Palin, the VIce Presidential nominee four years ago.

Rice, as a black woman, would possibly fill the image of diversity, even though most blacks would not vote for Romney because Rice is on the ticket. Maybe somewhat more women would vote if she was on the ticket, but not very much.

The minuses are:

Rice is a reminder of the George W. Bush Administration, and its failure to prevent September 11, and its long, drawn out wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Rice has no political experience, and has never been involved in domestic affairs responsibility of any kind.

Rice would likely be a problem for many Republicans, because she is pro choice on abortion and open minded on gay rights, two areas that would disqualify her for many hard line right wing Republicans and conservatives.

Rice is a strong willed person, and would not fit well into being a Vice President under a person, Mitt Romney, who seems to have traditional views of the roles of women, which Rice does not fit very well.

So it is interesting to think about the possibility of Condoleezza Rice, but don’t put betting money on the idea that she would indeed run for Vice President with Mitt Romney!

Losing Vice Presidential Candidates And Their Careers

Ronald 2 Comments

In the past fifty years, since the Kennedy-Nixon election of 1960, we have had a total of 12 losing Vice Presidential nominees of major parties, not including Vice President Walter Mondale under President Jimmy Carter in 1980, and Vice President Dan Quayle under President George H. W. Bush in 1992.

What ever became of these 12 losing Vice Presidential nominees?

Henry Cabot Lodge, who ran with Richard Nixon in 1960, went on to be Ambassador to South Vietnam for President Kennedy in 1963-1964, a sign of bipartisan cooperation, even though Lodge had lost his US Senate seat to President Kennedy in 1952. He then was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President in 1964, but did not get very far in the race. Lodge had had a distinguished career as Senator from Massachusetts from 1937-1953, played an influential role in drafting Dwight D. Eisenhower for President in 1952, and served as Ike’s United Nations Ambassador for eight years, before becoming Nixon’s running mate in 1960. Overall, a very distinguished career, to say the least!

William E. Miller, who ran with Barry Goldwater in 1964, served as a member of the US House of Representatives from upstate New York from 1951-1965, and was Republican National Chairman from 1961-1964. His public career ended with the Goldwater defeat, but his daughter, Stephanie Miller, is a comedian and radio talk show host, and also on Current TV five mornings a week. Interestingly, she is very liberal, while her father was a solid conservative.

Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine ran with Hubert H. Humphrey in 1968, after having served in the US Senate for ten years, and continued to serve in the Senate until 1980, when he agreed to be President Jimmy Carter’s Secretary of State for one year. He also sought the Presidency himself in 1972, was considered a front runner, but his candidacy floundered.

Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri was George McGovern’s first running mate in 1972, but was forced out over revelations that he had undergone shock treatments and taken psychiatric medication. Despite that, he served in the US Senate for 18 years from 1969-1987, and served with distinction, with whatever mental problems he had not interfering with his performance.

Sargent Shriver, the brother in law of President Kennedy, replaced Eagleton, and was well known as the head of the Peace Corps under Kennedy, and as head of the War on Poverty under President Lyndon B. Johnson. Then he served as Ambassador to France under Johnson and Richard Nixon, before running for Vice President. He also ran for President unsuccessfully in 1976, and became the head of the Special Olympics. His daughter, Maria Shriver, became an NBC reporter and the wife of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California. His decline due to Alzheimer’s Disease had an impact on publicity about that disease. He died a much beloved public servant.

Gerald Ford had Senator Bob Dole of Kansas as his running mate in 1976. Dole had been a member of the House of Representatives from 1961-1969, and served in the Senate from 1969 until his resignation in 1996, when he became the Republican nominee for President. He remains active today, and is highly honored for his public career, and his wife Elizabeth also served as a United States Senator from North Carolina. Additionally, Dole had served as Republican National Chairman from 1971-1973 under Richard Nixon. He also was, at different times, Senate Majority Leader and Senate Minority Leader.

Geraldine Ferraro was Walter Mondale’s running mate in 1984, becoming the first woman to run for Vice President. She had been a Congresswoman from Queens County, New York City from 1978-1984, and was later US Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights under President Bill Clinton from 1993-1996. She ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate in 1992 and 1998, and later was involved in the Hillary Clinton Presidential campaign of 2008.

Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas was the running mate of Michael Dukakis in1988. He served in the House of Representatives from 1949-1955, and as US Senator from 1971-1993, winning his seat the first time over future President George H. W. Bush, He was also Senate Finance Committee Chairman, and Treasury Secretary under BIll Clinton in 1993–1994.

New York Congressman Jack Kemp, a former football player for the San Diego Chargers and the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League, served in the House of Representatives from upstate Buffalo, New York, from 1971-1989. He ran for President unsuccessfully in 1988, before agreeing to be Bob Dole’s running mate in 1996. He also served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the first President Bush from 1989-1993. He was a major supporter of economic conservatism, and a follower of President Ronald Reagan. He continued to advocate his views after losing the Vice Presidency.

Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman was Al Gore’s running mate in 2000, and was the first Jewish nominee for Vice President. He had served in the Senate since first being elected in 1988, and will retire from the Senate in 2012, after four complete terms, as a controversial independent Democrat, progressive on social issues, but hard line conservative on foreign policy. He was called conservative intellectual William F. Buckley, Jr’s “favorite Democrat”.

In 2004, North Carolina Senator John Edwards was John Kerry’s Vice Presidential running mate. He served in the Senate for one term from 1999-2005, and sought the Presidency in 2008, and when his campaign failed, he was revealed to have a consensual affair with a woman while his wife was sick with cancer, and the liaison produced a daughter, and now has led to a trial that might lead to his imprisonment on charges of illegal use of campaign funds to cover the affair and the needs of the child and mother. This is truly a sad situation, still to be played out.

And finally, who could forget Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who came out of obscurity as the second woman to run for Vice President, with John McCain in 2008. She became a lightning rod, and many blamed the debacle of the McCain campaign on her, and her obvious ignorance of the issues and the facts of American politics and history. She has remained a controversial figure, who has made millions writing some books and giving speeches,and is seen by many as a major factor in the conservative wing of the Republican Party. Her future is still ahead of her, and we will not be able to ignore her, as she will be part of political news for a long time.

So who stood out among these losing VP candidates?

Clearly, Lodge, Muskie, Eagleton, Shriver, Dole, Bentsen, Kemp, and Lieberman had a positive effect on American history.

The same cannot be said for Miller, Ferraro, Edwards, and Palin.

However, all of them contributed to our history, and should be remembered!

Allen West Goes Rogue: Calls 80 Democratic House Members “Communists”! The Rise Of A Black Joseph McCarthy!

Ronald 3 Comments

Florida Congressman Allen West, who defeated Congressman Ron Klein in 2010, and went on a rampage against Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, head of the Democratic National Committee, insulting her in the most despicable terms, is running for a new term in a newly created Congressional district in Northern Palm Beach County, as well as Martin and St Lucie Counties further north.

Holding a town meeting, the former Army Lieutenant Colonel, forced out of the military for his inappropriate behavior against an Iraqi detainee in 2003, went off the deep end literally, accusing 80 members of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives of being “Communists”, bringing back the ugly reminder of Wisconsin Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy, who ran rampant from February 1950 to December 1954, accusing everyone under the sun of being a Communist or sympathetic toward Communism, promoting the Red Scare, and in so doing, undermining the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations for nearly five years, until he was finally censured for his misbehavior after nearly five years of demagoguery!

Allen West is a literal wingnut, a whacko, a mentally ill person who has had undiagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and is behaving in a dangerous, aggressive manner, which requires complete denunciation by the House leadership of Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, as well as GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney!

But will this happen? Of course NOT, and the conservative radio talk show hosts and Fox News Channel will take advantage of his irresponsibility to spread the conspiracy theory and try to connect it to Barack Obama as well!

The lunatic fringe of the party is backing Allen West as a possible Vice Presidential nominee, with Sarah Palin and Herman Cain endorsing West for VP. Is there a need to say anything after that statement, that these two leading examples of totally unqualified political leaders would endorse someone just as dangerous and reckless as they are?

Were Romney to pick West, which he will not do, then we would have to order men in white coats to take him forcibly to a mental hospital for observation and testing!

Romney is not that impractical and crazy, but a repudiation by Romney and a censure of West in the House of Representatives, and a chorus of criticism from party members in the US Senate should be seen as a question of character and legitimacy, if the Republican party is to retain ANY respect with the American people!

Allen West needs to be silenced by the voters of his new congressional district, who have the great alternative of Patrick Erin Murphy to represent them in the 113th Congress!

Everyone, no matter where one lives, needs to contribute to Murphy to save that district and the nation any more public attention paid to this lunatic, dangerous, unstable, reckless excuse for a Congressman! The defeat of Allen West needs to be on the front burner for the next seven months!

Rick Santorum: Delusional Liar, NOT A Candidate For Vice President!

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Rick Santorum is on his last legs as a Presidential candidate, and not too soon!

The former Pennsylvania Senator is about to lose the Maryland and Wisconsin Primaries being held tomorrow, and as he flails about, trying to gain traction in recent weeks, he has been shown to be a delusional liar!

Two examples follow:

About a month ago, he attacked the nation, The Netherlands (also known as Holland, with the people being the Dutch), claiming that they promote mercy killing or euthanasia against old people, against their will, and he connects this to his pro life views.

Why is Santorum even spending time condemning a foreign government that is a friend of the United States, an ally in NATO, who he would have to deal with if he was President of the United States? Is this the way to conduct diplomacy, to make up stories and issue attacks on no evidence at all, since this assertion by Santorum about the Netherlands is TOTALLY untrue!

What does this tell us? It shows us that Rick Santorum is a delusional liar! He does not know what he talking about, and it makes one wonder about his sanity and stability to be President!

The second example just occurred recently, when Santorum, out of the blue, declared that the California state university system does not teach American History courses, even if one wants to take them!

Except for one fact that is clear: This is totally made up, is totally untrue, and one can show this by examining the class schedules and catalogues of all the state university system schools.

Why does Santorum make up such a story, and what is his purpose in saying such ridiculous, untrue accusations?

The answer is that we do not know, and Santorum will not apologize through even a campaign aide, that he might have misspoken.

No, he continues to assert total falsehoods, and shows evidence that he can only be described as a delusional liar!

This man is not only wrong headed in his views, but he is also a dangerous, unstable man who apparently does not realize how ridiculous he sounds, and how totally wrong he is in what he claims!

Thank goodness this man is not going to the White House, and if Mitt Romney has the nerve and craziness to pick Santorum as his Vice Presidential running mate, he should be condemned by everyone as putting, within a heartbeat of the Presidency, a person actually more dangerous than Sarah Palin, who may be dumb and ill informed, but is not perceived as a delusional liar!