Conservatives Request to Secede...A Vision of the Future

The stupidity over the election is getting much worse.  There are now multiple petitions from at least a dozen states to withdraw from the United States.  Before we begin to panic (because I'm sure we are all starting to worry), we have to stop and remember that these petitions are the result of complete stupidity - from the petitioners and the media.

First, the media is reporting this story with headlines like, Divided States Of America: 20 States Petition To Secede After Re-Election Of President Obama.  This gives people the impression that the states have sent the requests instead of a handful of nutjobs.  Not one of the petitions has originated in any state government office.  The states aren't asking for anything...it's the crazies who are signing these petitions.  Unfortunately for them, the White House won't even consider any petition until it reaches 25,000 signatures - which they must collect within 30 days.  The only one that is reasonably close is the petition for Texas.  

While there is zero chance that any petition would succeed, let's have some fun.  Let's assume that the government is tired of Texas pretending to be more important than it really is and grants their request.  There would be a mass exodus of citizens from Texas.  I'm sure there would be some more geniuses that would choose to enter Texas to be a part of their new country.  Either way, this would have devastating effects on the economy of Texas.  

With the laws of the United States no longer being in place, there would be a period of near anarchy while representatives were chosen and a constitution was developed.  The wild west would be alive and well while Texans were killing each other.  of course, the import and export agreements that the United States would no longer be in place, so these agreements would have to be negotiated for Texas.  I imagine they wouldn't get very favorable terms from the U.S. in these agreements.  Not to mention the fact that they would have a very limited amount of exports since most large companies would pull their production out of Texas to remain in the United States.  Limited resources and high import costs would cause the cost of goods to skyrocket in the new Texas.  This would add to the escalating crime rate, particularly because there would be no regulation of firearms while they developed a legal system.  

While many businesses would pull out, there is one business that would see the anarchy as a great opportunity.  The drug industry would move in with full force.  As drug cartels set up shop, they would bring the full force of their arsenals.  With very little in the way of peace keeping force, Texans would be at the mercy of these cartels.  They would quickly seize power.  By the time a government was established including peacekeeping forces, they would be facing a long and bloody war with the cartels.  Of course, they wouldn't have any military equipment because the U.S.Government would have pulled all of this out before we withdrew.  This means that any army or police force would be incredibly outgunned and the cartels would likely control Texas.  

I'm sure that the U.S. and Mexico would be willing to provide a limited amount of firepower for Texas with some major discounts on oil.  This would mean that Texas would not realize the full value of their oil exports for the foreseeable future.  

Let's assume some time passes and order is eventually restored.  The economy in Texas would be in shambles.  The vast majority of the wealth would be in the hands of a precious few individuals.  The remaining population would be living in poverty.  Drugs, violence, and other crimes would be rampant.  I'm sure the U.S. would be willing to offer amnesty to many of the people looking to leave their beloved new Texas for the safety, security, and opportunity that they used to enjoy in the United States.  

The remaining population would begin to grow increasingly angry at the aristocracy of Texas (don't think they won't exist).  Eventually the nobles would have a hard time convincing the starving population that the wealth would trickle down.  They wouldn't be able to convince them that they were better off starving because abortion and gay marriage was illegal.  The poor workers would finally begin to rise up against their masters.  The very loose firearms laws in Texas would mean that the armies of the nobles would be vastly outgunned.  

A brief and bloody civil war would ensue.  Even more people would abandon Texas for the safety and security of the United States border.  Many of these people, due to concern for their families, wouldn't want to wait for proper immigration procedures and would probably cross the border illegally.  That would be part of the wonder irony that would result from this situation.  

Finally, the people would seize power and begin negotiations with the United States to re-enter the Union.  They would be allowed back into the United States, but with strict oversight by the federal government for a time.  While many of these conservatives were gone, an overwhelming majority of the United States would have elected liberal leaders to run our country.  

Social issues like gay marriage would have been resolved.  We would be prospering and enjoying a society well on its way to pure equality between all groups.  Our economy would be prospering with a very strong middle class.  The upper class would be prospering, but the disparity between the classes would be much smaller due to the share of tax burden that they would be paying.  This would greatly increase the money coming in to the federal government.

We would be much better able to care for those who were struggling.  While poverty would still exist, it would be at a much lower rate.  Starvation and homelessness would have been virtually eliminated when we realized that there was no reason our country should allow these horrible conditions to exist.  Some would be paying a higher percentage of taxes, but the higher revenues would be able to pay off our debts and provide the infrastructure we need to build a strong economy.  With everyone's health care covered, the cost of medical care would have dropped significantly.  The amount of bad debt write-off at hospitals would be effectively zero.  This debt wouldn't have to be passed on to the rest of the population so costs would plummet.  

After a while, these conservatives would adjust to our new society.  They would realize that none of the fears that they had were justified.  They would be free to practice their respective religions free from interference as long as they didn't try to enforce their beliefs on others.  While the wealthy conservatives would be paying higher tax rates, they would realize that many of the services they were paying for would be much less expensive so that they could enjoy the fruits of their labor to a greater extent.  The people they previously put down for living under "entitlement programs" would be productive members of society, increasing the workforce and growing the economy.  A sense of great pride and patriotism would exist in the citizens of the United States that would be admired by our allies around the world, including many Islamic nations.  We would be a very happy, productive country in which we all would be proud. 

This is what would come from a bunch of conservatives leaving the Union and allowing us to move forward.  Regardless of what they tell you, progress is not a bad thing.  We must move forward on issue like equal rights.  We spend way too much time debating and fighting over these issues.  It doesn't matter what your religious or personal beliefs are.  What matters is that we respect the rights of others, even if they believe differently.  Instead of focusing on how we can do this, we are dealing with a bunch of children who don't want to play with us anymore because things didn't go their way.  It's time for them to grow up and act like adults.  While they can't have any of our states as a new country to spread their bigotry and stupidity, they are free to leave any time.  This doesn't just include the people signing these petitions.  It includes the members of Congress who need to put aside their personal beliefs and get down to work.  The people have spoken.  We have said that we don't want their trickle down economics and theocratic laws.  Do your jobs or get out so we can find someone who will. 

Election Day Stupidity---Get Out and Vote!

One of the most hotly contested elections in recent history will be decided today.  It seems everyone who has a voice is encouraging people to get out and vote.  Today I saw something that I find deeply disturbing.  I saw posts from two people with military experience refusing to vote. 

Let me say that I understand that not everyone will vote.  Some people don't care.  Some don't understand.  Some don't feel like they are well enough informed.  Here's my problem:  these people entered a profession in which they put their lives at stake for our ability to vote.  Now, they also protected the right to choose.  So they have every right to exercise the ability to abstain.  The issue is that they expressly stated that they will still complain about the outcome of the election. 

The posts stated that they didn't like any of the candidates.  They included all of the Presidential, congressional, and local offices in this blanket statement.  My response to this is that elections aren't about liking a person.  It is about choosing the person who you believe will best perform the duties of office.  There are many candidates that I don't particularly like or dislike that got my vote.  I simply believe that they are the best candidate for the job.  You don't get perfect choices in this world.  Complaining about it does nothing.  You have to do something.  If that means choosing the best person for the job now and working to support a  better person later, then that's what you do.  What you can't do is refuse to choose, and then complain about the choices everyone else made. 

I was discussing this with my wife and she had a wonderful analogy for the situation (of course, it's a food analogy because she's a chef and her mind works in food).  Let's say a person was at a party and the group needed to order pizzas to feed everyone.  Each person was polled about the toppings they wanted on each of the pizzas.  If you don't really like any of the toppings you could choose to abstain.  But by abstaining you give up the power to complain about the toppings chosen by others.  If you cast your vote, even for toppings that had no chance of making it onto the pizza (let's say anchovies), then you could complain about the decisions.  This is the burden of choosing to abstain.  My immediate response to anyone who refuses to vote will be to ask what they did in the election to improve the situation.  Doing nothing will never improve the state of affairs. 

So even if you feel uninformed...get out and vote!  There are multiple tools out there to help you choose the candidate that fits your beliefs.  Here are a couple:

ISideWith.com

Project Vote Smart

These sites make it easy for you to choose your candidates.  There is no excuse for not voting other than pure laziness.  Just remember, if you exercise your right to abstain....that includes your right to complain.

Jon Husted...Secretary of Suppression

It seems that every day I am hearing some new regulation that has been put in place by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted.  Pretty much all of them are attempts to suppress votes in Ohio.  His attempts to suppress votes have gone as far as the Supreme Court, which refused to allow him to end early voting this weekend.  He has reduced the hours for early voting, sent absentee ballots to every voter in Ohio with incorrect dates, and tried to write misleading language into the ballot.  Interestingly enough, the unethical moves by Husted are all to benefit his own political party. 

I expect the Secretary of State to make some minor changes that benefit his or her own party, but this guy is getting ridiculous.  He has done everything except attempt to ban Democrats from voting in the election.  My question would be, how many unethical changes does a Secretary of State have to make before he is found guilty of abusing the powers of his office and get removed?  I don't know what the line is, but I'm sure that he has crossed it. 

It is insane that his antics are being allowed, particularly in a state that is as important in an election as Ohio.  In my opinion he should be charged with abuse of office and removed.  He now ranks up there with morons like Rush Limbaugh as one of the biggest douchebags in American politics. 

Mourdock's Comments Costing Republicans Senate Seat

For those of you who read my column in The American Complaint Department, this week's was about the ridiculous comment made by Senate candidate Richard Mourdock (read the article here).  In his final debate with Joe Donnelly and Andrew Horning, Mourdock was asked about his position on abortion in the case of rape.  If you haven't heard, Mourdock said that, if a woman got pregnant from rape, it was "something God intended to happen."  

Of course I think his statement is ridiculous, but great news has come out about Mourdock's Senate campaign.  The results of the first independent poll that has been released since his statement came out today.  The poll shows that Mourdock is now trailing Joe Donnelly by an 11 point margin.  If this poll is even close to accurate, Mourdock has likely ruined his chances of winning this race with his extremist comments.  He would have to pull off a miracle come back in the final four days of the election.  I doubt that is likely because Indiana television stations are being flooded with commercials condemning Mourdock's tea party extremism.  In the short time it took me to write this blog, I have seen about 6 or 7 commercials using Mourdock's comments against him. 

Most importantly is what this means for the election in general.  Republicans have been working very hard to gain a majority in the Senate.  This was going to be an uphill battle, but Indiana Republicans made it even harder when they replaced 35 year incumbent Richard Lugar with a tea party extremist candidate.  Lugar was a well-known moderate Republican that has worked well with Democrats for decades.  The desire to rid themselves of anyone who has worked across the aisle has now likely lost Republicans a seat that has been a mainstay for over three decades.  I hope Republicans take this into consideration as proof that the majority will reject the tea party extremist element that has been infecting their ranks.  It lost them an ally in the Senate, and will continue to destroy the Republican party from within.  Of course, that's not an entirely bad notion.

Election 2012: Latest Poll Results

There is a very interesting election shaping up.  The latest polls show Gov. Romney leading President Obama by less than one point.  The very interesting piece is that, even though Romney is leading in the national polls, he is losing the electoral college estimates based on the polls.  Here's the electoral college forecast I've created using the latest poll information from Real Clear Politics. 

Real Clear Politics takes the most current polls from various organizations and averages them.  Their averages are used by news sites on all sides of the political spectrum from MSNBC to Fox News (two of the most politically biased news organizations in mainstream media).  I used the RCP average to award each state to the candidate leading in the polls for that state.  The only perfect tie was in Colorado.  I gave that state to Romney to make the results more even. 

After doing all of this, I came up with Obama winning the election by 24 electoral votes.  This means that the results could be off a little and Obama would still win the election.  If the President lost New Hampshire and Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, or Wisconsin he would still win the election.  With only about a week and a half until the election, this is great news for those of us who support the President.

What it doesn't mean is that anyone can sit back and let their vote go uncounted.  Get out there and use your vote.  Vote early if that option is available to you.  Either way, don't let one of the few rights that we have to control our government go to waste.  Vote Obama 2012!

Conservative Cowards and Voter Intimidation

It's a growing issue with this election.  Voter intimidation and suppression.  We've seen it in telephone calls being placed to voters urging them to vote by phone so they don't have to go to the polls on election day.  We've seen billboards placed in minority neighborhoods warning that voter fraud is a felony.  We've seen employers threatening layoffs if President Obama wins another term.  We've seen the development of "poll challengers" who are intended to discourage people from voting under the guise of protecting the integrity of the election.  And we've seen numerous laws and proposals requiring unreasonable voter identification and changing voting regulations right before the election.  Fortunately most of these have been struck down or delayed by the courts. 

We live in a country that was founded on the idea that we can get up on election day and cast our vote for the people that we want to represent us in government.  This is a basic principle of our nation, yet we have groups that are working very hard to ensure that some people are misinformed, discouraged, intimidated, or disqualified from exercising that right. 

I try not to deal in absolutes.  I know that this kind of behavior can occur in any group.  However, it seems that the overwhelming majority of these problems are coming from Republicans.  These are generally the people passing the restrictive laws (smaller government, right?).  These are the people threatening employees (see my article about the American Aristocracy for more on that).  These are the workers who were caught giving false information to volunteer poll monitors that would specifically target minority voters. 

As with all of the other idiotic and bigoted behavior that these conservatives display, Republicans dismiss these as isolated incidents.  Well how many isolated incidents does it take to become a pattern?  I'm not talking about one or two...I'm talking about dozens. 

It's pretty obvious that Republicans are trying to suppress the vote.  The question we have to ask is, why?  The only reasonable answer is that they are afraid of the aftermath if people were allowed to vote freely without many votes being discouraged or changed due to intimidation and misinformation.  If these cowards can't face everyone in the nation and win an election, then they have no place in our government. 

It's our job to block out all of the noise from these outside groups.  If you want true voter information, contact your state's Secretary of State or election division.  Don't take the word of any activist group.  If anyone outside a polling location is trying to intimidate you or give you information don't listen.  The only accurate source of information is the polling location volunteers.  No one can stop you from voting if you are legally registered to vote and meet the requirements in your state.  If you see anyone trying to intimidate voters, including yourself, there are people in place to help you.  If you see this behavior contact The Election Protection Coalition at 866-OUR-VOTE or 888-VE-Y-VOTA or tweet the information to @866ourvote. Include a hashtag, your zip code, and a brief description of the issue. 

Even though we have the duty to stand up to these people, it is time that our government got involved to ensure that no person who wants to cast a vote is denied.  Regardless of the Citizens United Ruling that allows employers to directly express their political beliefs to employee, threatening the jobs of your employers based on their vote is unlawful and should be prosecuted.  We can't allow these people to control our elections.  We can't allow cowards to run our country.

Election 2012: President Obama's Final Debate

We saw President Obama in his final debate tonight.  The debate centered on foreign policy.  Overall I feel like the President severely outclassed Mitt Romney in this debate.  It's not very surprising.  Romney is well known to fall all over himself with foreign relations while President Obama has successful experience dealing with the world. 

What really made me happy is that I saw the Barack Obama that I have expected to see during the debate.  I saw a man who was confident in his position.  Who was forceful in pointing out the inconsistencies and lies in Romney's propaganda.  Who looked Presidential.  I'm glad that the President was able to finish his debating career with a strong statement on the role of the United States in the world.  I look forward to seeing him spend another four years leading our country as the President of the United States. 

Debunking Conservative Arguments is Fun

I came across this post through a friend.  He is actually one of the people who is honestly looking for the truth about the candidates in this election.  That is why things like this upset me so much.  Using lies and misleading information to win over voters should not be a way to win a campaign.  As I enjoy doing in the many debates in which I find myself engaged, I have debunked much of what this post claims to be true.  I have included the entire post (as it was shared by my friend) with my responses below each section (original post in red, my comments in blue).

AS PROMISED - Something that REALLY struck me the other night, and caused me to really start researching the "facts" that we are being fed by our President, and his campaign.

This train of thought has been percolating in my head for a few days. I started thinking about it after I watched the first Presidential debate, it came more into focus after hearing the remark made by Paul Ryan about how Romney helped a family that had been the victim of a serious car accident, and really started to crystallize after listening to Charles Krauthammer.

The Obama camp has painted Romney as a person that the working class should despise.... Someone who doesn't care about anyone but himself. An "Evil rich person". Someone who will
"Raise taxes on the middle class, and give millionaires a 250k tax break." (That claim has been exposed as pure crap. The economist that the Obama camp used to come up with that has completely contradicted that. It is a LIE, plain and simple.)

Well, the numbers used here are inaccurate.  The truth is that an independent organization, The Tax Policy Center, did an analysis of Romney’s goals in his tax plan.  They admitted that they could not do any exact analysis because, as many of us have been saying for months, the man has not presented a true plan with facts and figures.  However, using his goals and the few numbers that his campaign has supplied, the Tax Policy Center came to the conclusion that it was impossible to remain revenue neutral and meet the goals.  They concluded that, given the information provided by Romney’s campaign, there would be an $86 billion shortfall of revenue.  To make up for this shortfall, taxes on the middle and lower income population must be raised.  So the answer to this is, yes Romney is rich.  Yes, his plan will raise taxes on the middle class.  And yes, his plan will give people making more than $200,000 per year a tax break that will add up to approximately $86 billion per year.  http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/UploadedPDF/1001631-FAQ-Romney-plan.pdf

They painted him as a corporate raider, as someone who shipped jobs overseas, and even as someone who KILLED SOMEONE'S WIFE. (That disgusting commercial was also proved to be a complete
load of crap.)

Let’s be clear on this.  The commercial was blaming Romney for the loss of a guy’s job and health care benefits which were supposedly the reason his wife’s cancer was not found earlier.  While the problems of GST Steel, the plant that laid off this worker, can be traced back to Romney, the ad went too far.  But please note that this ad was not put out by the Obama campaign.  It was created and run by the Priorities USA Action Super PAC.  Just as there are many conservative Super PAC’s that support Romney and don’t get his approval on their commercials, this organization did the same. 

“If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.” (Sen. Barack Obama, “Remarks,” Denver, CO 8/28/08)

Why has the Obama camp done this?? Because of the quote above. The Obama administration has been in control for almost 4 years, and has managed to do almost nothing.

We’re going to dissect this blatant lie piece by piece.  We’ll start with things that Obama has done during his administration.  Here are some links to hundreds of things that have been accomplished.

http://well-played-sir.blogspot.com/2012/10/argument-against-obama-debunked.html

http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/what-has-obama-done-since-january-20-2009.html

And here is the reason that the Republican congress is responsible for much that hasn’t been done during his term.

http://well-played-sir.blogspot.com/2012/07/real-republican-economic-plan.html

Unemployment is horrible, economic growth is at a standstill, and most people are worse off than they were 4 years ago.

Not true.  Despite the ridiculous claims of conspiracy, the unemployment rate is lower than it was when President Obama took office.  This is even more impressive when you consider the fact that the President shouldn’t be credited with many of the job losses.  See this ling for further explanation. 

http://well-played-sir.blogspot.com/2012/08/election-2012-jobs.html

The Middle East is LESS stable, the Iranians are much closer to having a nuclear weapon, the Russians are pushing us around, and Al Qaeda is still killing our people.

Well...the Middle East has always been unstable.  It’s simply a matter of degree at this point.  Of course Iran is closer to having a nuclear weapon...more time has passed.  Should we just send our troops into every corner of the world and wage war on every sovereign nation that does something we don’t like?  It seems that is the answer for Republicans, but we’re not everyone’s parent.  We can’t police the world.

The magical health plan that was supposed to save families 2,500.00 per year has ended up RAISING health care costs by about 2,500.00 per family. Many employers are getting ready to dump employee health care. And....it was passed before anyone really knew what was in it.
First, the ACA has not cost anyone more.  The insurance companies have raised prices.  Many of the provisions of the ACA have not yet taken effect.  An academic study of the effects of the ACA determined that the results of the changes will be lower health care costs.  The idea of companies dumping health care is a ludicrous scare tactic.  Finally, this is the age of information.  Congressional bills are available online during the entire process.  No one needs to hold this writer’s hand.  He needs to get online and look up the information.  If his representative didn’t do that then he needs to bring it up with the representative...it was available. 

http://www.cms.gov/apps/files/ACA-savings-report-2012.pdf

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/all

The average family has lost lost a median amount of 4,000.00 per year in income. Gas prices have skyrocketed, as have grocery prices. Our national debt is RIDICULOUS.
WE ARE WORSE OFF THAN WE WERE FOUR YEARS AGO. FAR WORSE.
Okay...the median income based on reports by Sentier Research is down about $4,000.  However, this is due to the recession.  As the President has a limited amount of control over the economic forces in play, one cannot blame him for this.  Gas prices!  This argument drives me crazy.  I will repeat this one more time for all of the conservatives out there.  THE PRESIDENT DOES NOT CONTROL GAS PRICES!  These prices are controlled by supply, demand, and Wall Street.  The supply is controlled by organizations like OPEC.  The President does not control these organizations.  The only factor that he controls is the federal tax on gas, which hasn’t changed since the late 90’s.  Finally, grocery prices.  There are two factors that have caused the rise in grocery prices.  First is the aforementioned rise in gas prices and recession, neither of which were caused by President Obama.  Another factor is the droughts that we have gone through at the end of last year and throughout this summer.  They have caused a reduction in supply which has led to higher prices.  Unless the President can be blamed for the drought there can be no blame for grocery prices. 

Now, alot of people buy into the "Obama inherited a mess" routine. WRONG. He VOLUNTEERED for this, he did not "inherit" anything. He told us that he could fix this mess, that he would get unemployment UNDER 6% by spending a ton of money (That our kids will have to pay off.), he told us that he could handle the Iranians by negotiating, he told us that he
would lower our health insurance costs. He told us that he would repair the economy.
He has FAILED. Pure and simple.
Yes, he volunteered for the job.  But he took the job as our country was spiraling towards a depression and managed to pull us out of this spiral and into a period of recovery.  And, regardless of the fact that conservatives don’t want to hear that Bush caused this mess, it is true.  And the fact that Romney plans to take our country back to the policies and practices of the Bush administration are terrifying because they will lead to the same disaster that we just experienced.  The President has done what he can to improve all of these areas, but his plans are long-term fixes.  They are not something that can be achieved overnight. 

The Obama camp has also done this because of Obama's hatred for Romney on a personal level. Why does Obama despise Romney? Because Romney embodies everything that Obama seems to sneer at. He is an example of Someone "Who built that". An example of someone who has succeeded without government making things "fair". He has shown that private enterprise does a BETTER job than government. He is everything that Barak Obama has despised, and fought against. Romney represents the American Free Enterprise system. He represents capitalism, and how well it works.
Everything in this paragraph is just ridiculous.

After watching the debate and realizing "Hey, Romney isn't the insensitive tool that the commercials say he is.", I decided to do some of my own research (PLEASE....IF you want to make an informed decision, do your OWN research.) What I found was rather astonishing. It completely contradicts everything that the Obama camp has been spouting. Remember, Romney is supposed to be an uncaring profiteer who will take advantage of people, the guy who will put "rich" people ahead of everyone, who will insure the wealthy profit at the expense of the "common man".....Here are a few things that most people do not know:

- Romney donated over 30 percent of his income (BEFORE taxes) to charity.

Easy to do when you are making millions of dollars each year.  And don’t forget, these donations are tax deductible.
- He refused to TAKE A SALARY as Governor of Massachusetts, and even paid for his own travel expenses. (That's right, he worked for free.)

I would turn down a small six figure salary if I made millions of dollars in other investments and could use it as a political tool too.

- When the Olympics were in trouble, he left Bain Capital, and made them a success. And, he worked for free there, too.

See previous comment.
- As Governor, he got rid of a 1.5 billion dollar deficit, through a combination of spending cuts, increased fees, and the closure of corporate tax loopholes.(Not quite the corporate stooge he is presented to be, Huh?)

That’s funny...the plans that he has presented show that he will be responsible for adding $86 million to the deficit if he wins the presidency.  That or he has to increase middle class taxes.
- He presided over a state government whose schools are number one in the nation. The best.

I’m sure that this had much more to do with the school systems and staff then anything Romney did, but I’ll give him this one.
- He worked with a legislature that was 87 percent Democrat, and successfully got things done.

Mostly because the legislature was 87 percent Democrat.  The only option he would have would be to veto the bills and that could be overridden by the legislature.  In fact, Romney had approximately 844 budget line-item vetoes and over 700 of them were overridden.  It’s easy to work with the man when you can just ignore his protests. If you want a truly telling measure of his home state, look at the polls.  Obama is expected to win Romney’s home state by almost 20 points!  These are the people that have lived with his governance already. 
- When a Bain Capital employee's daughter went missing in 1996, he shut down the entire office, brought all of the employees to New York.....and made sure that she was located.

Good for him.  There’s something good.
- When his father died, and he inherited his father's money, he donated ALL of it to charity.

He was already super rich.  Who cares?  And again...tax deduction.
- He owner financed a house for a "less than wealthy" family in Texas.

So he has hundreds of millions of dollars and he financed a house for them?  How about just give them a house?  Will.I.Am gave over $350,000 of his own money to help two families that were facing foreclosure pay off their homes.  This makes Romney’s owner financing look pretty insignificant. 
- He paid for the college tuition for children of a family that had been devastated in a car accident.

Another good thing.  But it seems in contrast to his platform on student debt.  Not only does he not plan to increase the grants available to students, his running mate created a budget that sent student loans back to private lending institutions.  This reverts the recent change in student loans originated by the government and would cost the government a fortune in subsidies to the lending institutions.  Just another way to get money into the hands of private organizations at the expense of the rest of the country.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2012/09/20/romney-ryan-on-student-loans-crony-capitalism/

- He helped subsidize the food for a veteran's homeless shelter for years....and didn't tell them.

Tax deduction.
- When fire destroyed numerous homes in a neighborhood in San Francisco, Romney and his son showed up and helped people clean out their homes...for hours.

Good.  I hope it was better than the work Ryan did at the soup kitchen recently. 
- He helped build a playground (Not writing a check, physically helped build it) to honor a boy who died of Cystic Fibrosis.
Good.  See my last comment.

Have I made my point? He really doesn't look like a rich, greedy corporate raider, now does he?? Cold and unfeeling bastard who is responsible for the death of someone else's wife?
Nope....You've been lied to. Repeatedly.
This paragraph at least has some truth to it.  You have been lied to.  Repeatedly.  By both the writer of this and the Romney campaign. 

Now, let's look at his life as a businessman. Ever heard of companies like: Staples, Sports Authority, Dominoes Pizza, Bright Horizons, Steel Dynamics, Sealy Mattresses, Brookstone?
Romney either funded, rescued, or helped start those companies. OVER 100,000 jobs created.
The jobs outsourced under Romney’s tenure as Bain’s CEO is debatable.  Mostly because the date he actually let go of his role is in question.  He says one thing, but legal filings show something different.  Either way, he created the company and instilled the principles on which the company runs.  This means he is ultimately responsible for the actions of the company, including the outsourcing of jobs that is still going on today. 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57472228/what-was-romneys-role-at-bain-during-outsourcing-/

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/10/18/1041171/employees-protest-bain-romney-as-their-jobs-are-outsourced-to-china/

After doing all of this research, I have to say that I am pretty pissed. Obama has managed to lie to America, and paint a very decent man as a villain.....simply because Obama has accomplished virtually nothing.

My thinking is this.....We have about 3 weeks until we vote. We can vote for a decent man, who does good things; who has accomplished alot both in private industry, and in government .....or vote for someone who has completely lied to us, manipulated us, twisted the truth.....but, above all....has been a FAILURE. Someone who has left us WORSE off, and will continue to do so.

Your choice - Success versus failure, Decent and generous versus dishonest and misleading. Up to you.

Like I said before.  This poster is full of lies and misleading statements.  Starting with the lie that Obama has accomplished nothing.  Do I think Romney is evil?  No.  I think he is a corporate puppet in this election that is meant to take office and improve the lives of corporations and the rich at the expense of the middle class.  I think he will further an agenda of hate with homosexuals and women by writing his religious beliefs into law.  I also think he is an opportunist who will take every advantage available including placing his money in off shore banks to avoid tax liability and hide his returns to keep us from finding out the truth about his unethical, though likely legal, practices.  Speaking of manipulation, this post is very full of exactly that. I find it interesting that I rarely hear liberals call Romney evil, but I routinely hear conservatives talk about President Obama as the anti-Christ and call his supporters cult members and similar derogatory terms.  How could we possibly elect a man to run our country who has only lies and misleading statements to defend his position?  How can anyone attempt to defend policies that have been proven impossible and harmful to our country?  Fortunately, it is up to us, and we can choose to vote for President Obama and forget that Romney ever had a chance. 

Conservative CEO's Using Voter Intimidation to Support Romney

In probably the most disturbing trend in recent political history, we have seen a rash of companies threatening the jobs of their employees based on the outcome of the Presidential election.  These threats have been veiled in the guise of potential problems that the companies would face if Romney isn't elected; however, unless you are an unquestioning follower of Republican propaganda, you can easily see this for what it is - voter intimidation.

The most politically correct threat has been made by the Koch brothers.  They sent a "voter information packet" to their employees.  In the letter including in the packet, the employees were told that, although they were free to vote for whomever they chose, "many of [Koch's] more than 50,000 US employees and contractors may suffer the consequences" based on the outcome of the election.  They also included an op-ed by David Koch endorsing Romney and one by Charles Koch condemning Obama. 

The next threat, from ASG Software Solutions CEO Arthur Allen, was a lot more direct.  In an email to employees, Allen stated, "I can tell you, if the US re-elects President Obama, our chances of staying independent are slim to none....If we fail as a nation to make the right choice on November 6th, and we lose our independence as a company, I don’t want to hear any complaints regarding the fallout that will most likely come." 

In probably the most disgusting display of coercion, David Siegel of Westgate Resorts emailed his employees a very blatant threat.  This email stated, "The economy doesn’t currently pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is another 4 years of the same Presidential administration....If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, as our current President plans, I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company....This means fewer jobs, less benefits and certainly less opportunity for everyone."  Allen also claims credit for getting Bush elected.  He told Bloomberg, "I had my managers do a survey on every employee [8,000 total]. If they liked Bush, we made them register to vote. But not if they liked Gore."  He said he made sure all of the employees who supported Bush got to the polls and surveyed them afterwards to see how many people wouldn't have voted if it weren't for his efforts.  He says 1,000 people did and claims that this was the deciding factor in Florida.  This is a guy who is currently constructing the largest home in America, a 90,000 square foot lakeside residence with an estimated value of $65-$75 million.  If that's not enough to convince you that this is a threat instead of concern about the business, Siegel told Reuters in July that "We're the most profitable we've ever been."  He also hired 1,500 new employees and said he has had to fend off banks that are throwing money at him.  So he's in such dire straights that his company is the most profitable it's ever been?

This is the worst example of thug behavior that I have ever seen.  These companies might as well have management standing at the polls with baseball bats.  I'm sure people would rather face the threat of physical pain to the threat of losing their livelihood.  I'm sure it will be deemed legal because they told the employees that they could still vote for whomever they want, but unless you are a fool you will see this as coercion and voter intimidation.  However, this is no different than a manager telling an employee, "you don't have to sleep with me, but you might lose your job if you don't."  If they had done that, they would all be facing sexual harassment charges.  These men should be held accountable to the law and imprisoned.  There is no place in a free society for executives to determined the outcome of elections through threats to the lives of their employees. 

Slight of Hand: Conservatives Can't Debate Romney

I've noticed lately that every time someone posts a discussion about Romney, the conversation ends up being about President Obama.  Actually, I noticed this a while ago with some of the conservatives which whom I routinely have debates.  I had hoped that it was a localized phenomenon, but sadly I was wrong. 

Does this sound familiar to anyone who has tried to discuss Romney's many failings with a conservative?

"But look at what Obama did!"

That's all I seem to hear anymore.  Romney economic plan a joke?  But Obama increased the debt!  Romney proving he is a complete failure at foreign relations?  But Obama didn't have any experience and look at the riots in Libya and Egypt!  Romney obviously trying to hide something in the tax returns that he refuses to release?  But Obama hasn't given us all of his educational records!  Romney dismissed 47 percent of Americans as not his problem?  But Obama is a radical Muslim communist!

I like to call this recent tactic by conservatives, "slight of hand."  They are like magicians trying to hide what they are doing in one hand by making you focus on something else in their other hand.  The problem is that they don't really have any way to defend Romney's complete inadequacy as a candidate because he is practically indefensible.  By his own admission he doesn't have any complete plans for the country.  He is relying on certain "principles" to guide his policies and actions.  But try to bring that up with a conservative and you'll get a discussion of Obama's policies.  

I love debates.  They are a big reason that I do this blog.  I think that, as long as we keep an open mind in a debate, we open ourselves to new perspectives that help us learn and grow.  But that doesn't work if a debate is simply a forum for pointing fingers at Obama without actually discussing the issue.  I would love to see a conservative debate something posted about Romney without using the word Obama.  Just once.  You never know, maybe if they had some good points I might look at an issue differently. 

The Rumble 2012: The Best Debate of the Election

If you haven't seen it, please watch Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly in The Rumble 2012.  While there are a lot of jokes floating around in this mock debate, there are a lot of good points being made.  I saw more passion and conviction in Stewart and O'Reilly than I have seen in any candidate in an election since I have followed politics.

I understand that this was really only for entertainment purposes (and half of the proceeds from the live stream went to charity), but there was a level of seriousness in the discussions.  I even found points that O'Reilly made with which I would agree (not many).  For example, Bill discussed why he believes that the political discourse in our country is so poor.  He blames it on capitalism.  He says that people can make money selling hate, and that is what is driving such severe polarization and hatred in our discourse.  I completely agree with this sentiment.

I would love to see an actual debate with the candidates for president that was as impressive as this.  Hell, I'm practically ready to put Jon Stewart in office in November.  Like I said before, if you haven't seen this, give it a watch.  It's only about 90 minutes, but you'll be entertained and you might even actually get some good perspective. 

Register and Vote!

November 6 is only 30 days away!  After the first debate, we've seen a conservative base that has been charged up and ready to vote.  Liberal and moderate voters should take their queue from the conservatives and make sure that they are ready to vote on election day.  If you support Obama, or even just recognize the fact that Romney can't tell the truth and is a terrible option for the presidency, get yourself registered and get to the polls.  Don't let Romney steal the election on lies and impossible math. 

Some people have already seen their voter registration deadline come and go.  Many people are only days away from the deadline.  Click here to check your state's deadline.  

Not sure if you're registered?  Not sure where to vote?  Click here to check your registration and find your polling location.  Finally, get out there and vote!  No matter what your viewpoint, you have no business complaining about the government if you refuse to exercise your power to make a change. 

Presidential Debate: Top Romney Bullcrap

Some of my favorite Romney bullshit of the debate:

“The role of government...look behind us.  The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.  The role of government is to promote and protect the principles of those documents.  First, life and liberty.  We have a responsibility to protect the lives and liberties of our people.”

“Second.  In the line that says we are endowed by our creator with our rights...I believe we must maintain our commitment to religious tolerance and freedom in this country.  That statement also says that we are endowed by our creator to pursue happiness as we choose.   One – making sure that those people who are less fortunate and can’t care for themselves are cared for by one another.  We’re a nation that believes that we’re all children of the same God.  And we care for those that have difficulties.  Those that are elderly and have problems and challenges.  Those that are disabled.  We care for them.” 

“But we also believe in maintaining, for individuals, the right to pursue their dreams.  And not to have the government substitute itself for the rights of free individuals.” 

I guess none of this doesn’t apply to women or homosexuals.  His own words contradict everything he said.  Many of his responses sound great at face value, but he never backs up his claims!  The sad thing is that many people believe the crap that he spews!

 And by the way, Mitt...religious freedom means that we don't all believe that we are all children of the same God.  We give each person the CHOICE to determine what they believe.  Apparently you don't hold that same belief.