And Eastwood’s bizarre, rambling off-colour ad-lib was about all anybody took anyway from the RNC which was supposed to be about Romney finally getting his likeability rating up from historic lows for a challenger. No wonder Romney’s aides were so exasperated with whoever signed off that shambles of a guest-speaker. Was funny for the rest of the world though. Clinton showed how to ad-lib effectively a few days later.
I’m kind of amused I have to admit by the painting of Obama by right-wingers as Marxist. Obama is, if anything, a little right of centre when you look at the whole political spectrum across the world (not just in the ultra-narrow band in the US). To call him Marxist is just far incorrect based on what Marxism actually is that it’s something us lot from outside the US just find incredulous.
Ultimately I don’t see Romney having much chance winning this. Republican party seems adrift at the moment without any real identity. Romney struggled to beat some very, very average candidates. If you’re not crushing racist bigots like Bachmann or political lightweights like Hermain Cain or ultra-religious zealots who would never get elected in a million years like Santorum you don’t look good. Romney knows this was his one chance as in 4 years time if Obama wins the Republican party will likely have identified a credible challenger and whoever this person is would wipe the floor with somebody like Romney. Romney’s problem is that he just isn’t likeable. The fact that he believes in a slightly nutty religion doesn’t help. And his Bain past and (politically understandable) reluctance to show how little tax he paid does him no favours with the electorate either. Unless the economy takes a bit of a nose-dive in the next few months I think Obama will take this one and miraculously the US won’t become a Soviet state by 2016.
[B]As Lloyd Benson might have said, turns out Romney is no Ronald Reagan.[/B]
I pretty much agree with a lot of what you say about Romney, though I don’t think his religion is a problem. I view myself as one of the independent middle of the road moderates, a US swing voter. I believe you have the right to own a gun and marry who you want to. I voted for Clinton in 92 & 96, Bush in 00 & 04, Ike is my model of a great US President & hero!
I was a supporter of Romney when he entered the 2008 Republican primary and had high hopes for him, ironically I’m a big fan of how he handled the health ins issue in the state of Massachusetts. LOL!
I was very surprised and disappointed with Romney’s weak performance in 2008. I ended up voting for Obama and will again. But over the horizon I’ll keep an eye on Jon Huntsman.
It’s comical that Romney is campaigning against his own medicare plan basically. But then Mitt is an elite flip-flopper. His pro-choice stance is especially flexible depending on where he’s campaigning and what he’s campaigning for.
Huntsman, unfortunately, is too sane to ever get the Republican vote. I think he would make a good president who could get things done. But American politics has become too polarised and poisoned at the moment and to get the Republican vote you have to start frothing at the mouth a bit. Romney, despite his religious beliefs, doesn’t seem all that conservative really but he’s been forced to go ever more right to get the vote. It’s what happens when you have clowns like the Tea Party and the ridiculous Sarah Palin having a pull like they do.
A lot of people are understandably disillusioned with Obama after they realised he wasn’t about hope and change and was more of a pragmatist. If Romney was allowed to just be Romney he might have a chance with swing voters but he’s having to position himself with the battier side of the party and I don’t think he’s personally comfortable there. Throw in the other problems that he has with likeability, etc. and it’s a tall order for him in my opinion. Still, having the backing of Wall St. will certainly help fill his coffers with plenty of cash and promises to keep if he wins.
I don’t like Romney or Obama, but I would prefer Romney… That said, regardless of who wins our economy will implode. The Republicans have gotten to the point where they don’t offer many cuts at all. If anything they are cuts in proposed increases, and the democrats caterwaul about the Republican’s non existent cuts as “gutting” all the social programs. The only person that offered real cuts and a path to restore America was Ron Paul, but the media was quick to assassinate his character, or just ignore him flat out.
Once interest rates on our debt rise, people will realize just how far gone America is… No longer will we be able to fund Unconstitutional federal social programs or unconstitutional wars.
Meanwhile people will continue to label Obama’s “achievements” such as the affordable care act as a success…
Let’s ignore the fact that it was written by the companies it was intended to regulate, but that is the nature of the beast… Government regulations are typically written or influenced by a large corporation or business, so that smaller businesses can’t compete… But this is the predictable outcome of what happens when the Govt ignores the Constitution and starts to “regulate”. Even according to Government Statistics it costs small businesses 70% more to comply with Federal regulations.
I suppose being a Pragmatist means implementing the same detrimental policies as the prior president. Low interest rates, easy credit, excessive govt spending… Yep, that sure helped us out the last go around.
Oh, and as far as the “Affordable” Care Act (Obamacare), let’s delve into it a little.
As Democrat Senator Max Baucus confirmed when The “Affordable” Care Act was passed, the genesis of the bill was an “87-page document which became the basis, the foundation, the blueprint from which almost all health care measures in all bills on both sides of the aisle came.”
And who wrote that 87-page white paper? None other than Liz Fowler – who in the two years before the bill was passed and while she was writing the “foundation” for Obamacare, was simultaneously working as Vice President of WellPoint - the largest health insurance company in America… Certainly there are no conflict of interest here.
Oh, and oddly enough, Liz Fowler is going to be in charged of Health Care “oversight”… I find that laughable. In reality all Obamacare did was cartelize the Large Insurance Companies by forcing small companies that couldn’t comply with the exchange standards out of business. And we all know that when you get rid of competition prices go down… Oh wait, no they don’t.
It’s funny how Health Insurance costs have gone through the roof since the government got involved back in the 60s, but I’m sure the government that created the problem can offer solutions… Actually, I doubt that. But I’m sure we will really stick it to those “Evil” Insurance companies by having the government destroy their competition so only a few Large companies are left. LOL.
I didn’t know “hope and change” translated to:
Government takeover of GM/Chrysler, bombing sanctions in Pakistan (four times as many as Bush in half the time), intervention in Libya, intervention in Yemen, continuing the war in Afghanistan, special forces in Uganda, continuing the drug war, passing the unconstitutional NDAA, Reauthorizing the “Patriot” Act… TWICE and saying he would withdraw US troops from Iraq in 1 year but instead takes 3 years and just follows George W. Bush’s timeline for withdrawal. (then just employs private military contractors to do the dirty work in Iraq) And failing to cut the deficit in half, as he promised.
Just wondering, you ever run for the US Senate from CT? You look and sound very familiar, especially your strong support for Ron Paul.
If so you’re a smart guy and probably familiar with the WWII era history behind employer-suppler based health ins. What do you think about scrapping the employer-suppler based model and adapting an individual base system similar to how we now buy auto, homeowner’s and life ins?
There’s no question that you people in Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain know far more about socialism, from first-hand experience, than we in the U.S. know, or care to know. In fact, it’s the mess you find yourselves in that convinces us that we need to get rid of our radical left-wing politicians.
This nation can be great once more, if we will rid ourselves of the imposter who currently occupies the White House, and replace him with an honest, competent, experienced chief executive who can lift us out of the Great Obama Recession.
The mess we’re in in Ireland is due to a rampant property boom that wasn’t reined in by the government and banks who should have known better but let greed take them. Ireland has never been a socialist country - we tend to occupy a centre ground often with coalitions between a slightly right and slightly left party. Though by America’s oddly skewed viewed of the political spectrum it probably would be seen as left-leaning overall by, eh, you people.
Let me ask you this though. Pinpoint the time when America was “great” and then stopped being “great”? It wasn’t just 4 years ago was it?
Also, the Great Obama Recession sounds a bit ridiculous surely? America had lost 4.4m jobs before he even took office. What do you call that period then? The Great Pre-Obama Recession? Another 4.3m were lost after he started in office and around 2.6m have been clawed back since then. Is the worldwide recession we’re experiencing at the moment not really due to his raging lefty views but perhaps more due to economic imbalances that built up during the decades preceding the recession that will have to be unwound painfully over time? Causes such as the housing bubble, commodity boom, worldwide inflation, over-easy credit, etc. are why we’re at where we are now.
No doubt that certain European countries over-spent on their more social-leaning agendas and belt-tightening will have to be done. But at least they over-spent it on their people. America frittered away trillions of dollars in illegal wars such as Vietnam and Iraq as well as numerous other interventions around the globe. But then perhaps that’s really what made the somewhat quixotic American empire great for its, presently, brief lifespan.
Your ire being focused on Obama as if replacing him will somehow make everything ok again seems misplaced to me and you’re setting yourself up for a disappointment. Domestic US policy is mostly decided by the oodles of what are essentially bribes thrown at the government by big business. If you think replacing one bought and paid for president with another is going to help, well, good luck with that. This is probably the point where Ron Paul gets mentioned. I can think of another republic that had an intransigent senator who would never compromise his beliefs, was immune to bribes, despised corruption and opposed adventurism. Paradoxically he ended up helping it’s destruction with those qualities. Ron Paul is not what America needs though it would be kind of funny to see the havoc he would unleash if he was ever made president. I think overall he would be highly ineffectual and would spend his 4 years being blocked at every turn.
Palin. Good call John, good call. Could you imagine voting for him knowing that she was one heart attack away from being president? You can’t have somebody who believes man and dinosaur co-existed as -president- of the most powerful country in the world.
Ireland’s external debt to GDP ratio is 108% while the US is 103%. Try to keep things in the factual realm. Which probably means avoiding creationism and, ahem, intelligent design also.
I’m talking about external debt to GDP, not Public debt.
And If my comment was childish, your diatribe about people who hold different beliefs being stupid is repugnant. I don’t always agree with other people’s religion or lack of it, but I don’t insult their intelligence because of it. This is actually a political thread, if you wish to debate religion perhaps you should start up another thread.
I’m sorry if I came off as blunt.
And if it makes you feel better, I think most people, including myself, know deep down that America could very well be worse off than any European country if we continue the status quo.
What made America great can easily be traced to writings of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, who acknowledged the Creator and that without the morality of their religion, the constitutional republic they set up wouldn’t succeed…You’ve been witnessing for the last 100 years, really, a slow, but steady moral decline in America, as it’s people have lost sight of Who provides for them, and the Source of true freedom, the statistics of family numbers shows what happened at the same time liberal Supreme Court rulings throughout the last decade. This is the last stand on Earth, a place where if we aren’t careful, we will be telling our children and grandchildren, as we watch a sunset, how it was to be free.
I like to trade because it’s pure capitalism, supply and demand at it’s very best, and I am directly responsible to myself for my mistakes and success, and feel the weight of that as the trades play out. I hope to make tons of money. However, let me clearly say,
If all I had was hope in this world I would be of all men, most miserable.
Thankfully, that is not the case, so profit or lose, I still have my sights set on a higher cause.
Great post. There is definitely a lot of truth to that. Although the founders didn’t want us to have a state religion for obvious reasons, many of them were certainly people of great faith.
Our society has really has become very decadent and void of morals over the last few generations. Although I am a Libertarian, it would be shameful to ignore the negative effects that have come from fatherless families and a general lack of morals.
Absent fathers are the root cause of children who are oftentimes abused, live in poverty, and suffer psychological distress, which produces: 63% of youth suicides, 90% of all homeless and runaway children, 85% of all children with behavioral problems, and 85% of all youth in prisons. Single parent families are 6x more likely to live in poverty than families with married couples.
Although I think the root of most of America’s problems lies in the Cartelization of our money supply, the next most noticeable problem is the government’s subsidization of divorce that occurred back in the 60s. The rates of children born out of wedlock and single parent families has absolutely exploded since LBJ’s “Great Society”. The statistics are absolutely disgusting.
You look and sound very familiar, especially your strong support for Ron Paul.