We're All In This Together

by muon

I was thinking last night that maybe we need a national pep rally more often. Not just Democrats or Republicans or Tea Party or Occupy, but everyone. The only time Americans seem to cheer for Americans is during the Olympics. I think we need to cheer for more than our sportsmen. We need to cheer for each other, and not only every four 4 years.

The DNC was for the most part a very positive event. The speeches didn't ignore what was wrong with America, in fact, many brought to light nuances of issues that voters may never have considered, but the tone of most of the speeches was that, working together, we could fix things. By the end of the convention last night, I think every person in that auditorium felt more empowered than they did at the opening gavel. Chances are, lots of TV viewers were effected the same way.

What difference does it make?

When FDR took office in 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression, he spoke to the nation frequently. The tone of his words was very much like that of the speeches of the past week. He communicated an optimism in America's capabilities that went a long way toward Americans picking themselves up and making the nation economically healthy once more. We hear about things like consumer confidence, and that's part of it--that is, people feeling secure enough to spend money they otherwise would save for a rainy day. Optimism--a light at the end of the tunnel--makes people quit waiting for someone else to help. If they see something better, they work toward it. Fear, as FDR said, makes us hesitate, then despair makes us sit down and stop trying.

Political views aside--considering solely the tone of the discourse--I can't describe the GOP Convention as optimistic or uplifting. The speeches dwelt on who to blame for America's problems. When the subject turned to mending those problems, we heard, essentially, Romney, Ryan, private companies, and the Religious Right will fix everything (details to be disclosed after the election). The tone was "We'll decide what's right for America," taking even their own audience out of the process.

I prefer to be asked "What's good for America? And how can we all make it happen?"

As former President Clinton put it: "We're all in this together is a far better philosophy than you're on your own."

So Much for Freedom

by Ruth A. Sheets

The Republican Party likes to get the word out that it is the party of “freedom.”  They also claim that we should be “free” of big government and that government should be out of our lives. 

The party publicists know that the word “freedom” triggers a lot of feelings about America and how special the country is.  It makes their faithful feel patriotic and important.

When one examines their idea of freedom, however, it may cause one to pause a moment to ask for their definition.  No one seems to do that these days, especially the media.  Republicans are delighted because they don’t want people to know what is really going on.

They cry “freedom” when they take away a woman’s right to choose, related to her body and family planning.

They cry “freedom” when they propose laws to eliminate EPA and other forms of regulations that would protect citizens from environmental destruction, pollution, and hostile takeovers.

They cry “freedom” when they pass laws to require photo IDs for a type of voter fraud that doesn’t actually exist in numbers high enough to matter, yet which will disenfranchise the most vulnerable of our voters.

They cry “freedom” when they pass laws that encourage citizens to treat immigrants with disrespect, which can lead to violence, in order to drive the immigrants out – “voluntarily,” of course.

They cry “freedom” when they refuse to consider gun control legislation which could protect citizens as well as law enforcement from folks who have no business having any gun let alone an assault weapon.

They cry “freedom” when they cut funds for education, malign teachers, and take over school districts, claiming they are protecting people from waste or poor teachers.  

This last false cry of “freedom” hits me particularly hard because my district, Chester Upland in Southeastern Pennsylvania has been a target of these education cuts and government takeover.  Our district was handed to our governor’s campaign supporters with no accountability requirements for what happens in the schools which are paid for by taxes yet run by for profit companies, and they do make a lot of profit off the backs of our citizens.

For ten years, Pennsylvania government officials ran our district and left us about 40 million dollars in debt.  They made several charter schools, all but two of which failed badly.  The larger one that still operates skims off the money it wants before the rest of the district gets any funding.  The money goes to them straight from the state capital, and into the pockets of the governor’s Republican friends. 

Again we are living under a takeover.  To make sure that the district cannot be successful, the state legislature has passed a bill essentially turning our district over to Joe Watkins, a powerful Republican, who is a voucher freak and a charter school aficianado.  He has 30 days to make a plan for what will happen to our district – charters, vouchers, or something else.  He knows nothing of our community and the poverty here, yet he will decide our fate in just 30 days.  Our teachers will lose their jobs, our union will be broken, because of course, a charter school can’t have a union.  And with this new “freedom” contracts, dedication, professionalism, and service mean nothing.   .

The deck has been stacked against a whole community in the name of “freedom.”  This reminds me of Orwell’s “1984” when words like freedom meant exactly the opposite.  I am guessing that most Republicans have not read that book and those who have, actually like the premise.   

It feels weird to be fighting against “freedom,” but that’s what we need to do, the Republican brand of freedom.  

Night Two of the Republican Convention 2012

by Ruth A. Sheets

The Republican National Convention is in session again.  My real-time observations are here.

1. Rand Paul is way too emotional, especially since so much of his speech was centered on a basic lie that President Obama said that people didn’t actually build their own businesses.  The man is a bit nutty.

2. I am getting a headache.   I think hearing all the negativity and hatred by the speakers is really getting to me.  I can’t see how this can be uplifting for anyone, even the Republicans who are more attentively listening to it. 

3. John McCain’s speech started out graciously and is nearly the first time someone actually began with reference to Romney and his nomination.  McCain, though quickly moved to the talking point that Obama (implied) is leading from behind.  What nonsense!  Of course, he had to get in the plug for the military folks.  His comment “if we don’t make a change, We will move toward “a future that is dimmer, darker, more dangerous than anything we have seen” is a bit over the top.  More militarism is in the offing.  Then, there’s another set of lies accusing the current administration of leaking secrets.  I had hoped for higher ground for McCain, I can see that will not be happening.  Scare the core supporters.  I don’t know if this is a good strategy.    

4. OMG!  There is an attorney general duet.  It is kind of sad.  They are trying to represent their position opposing Obamacare.  Because they didn’t win the argument in the Supreme Court, they are whining.  “The only reason Obamacare stands is that it is a tax.  This is not why our founding fathers established America.”  They had a set of dueling questions equally ridiculous, but the crowd likes it.  It is so scripted, it is embarrassing.  Two Southern lawyers making such a presentation is offensive since it is the working poor and middle class who will benefit most from Obamacare and neither of them will be in either category.  They don’t even see the silliness of their presentation.  Any listener not in the hall did, though.  NPR followed the duet by interviewing someone who supported Romneycare in Massachusetts., but not Obamacare.  The hypocrisy is actually funny.  It makes no sense, but the delegate doesn’t seem to notice.  NPR folks won’t call him on it.      

5. One speaker, John Thune of SD, said “let it never be said of us that when we were faced by such an economic crisis that we did nothing.”  That is amusing since that is exactly what Republicans have done for the past four years.  That is audacity!

6. I keep hearing that negativity doesn’t work when it comes to ads, but it clearly works at conventions and with some viewers.

7. Ok, Rob Portman from Ohio is now speaking.  He again is playing on the untruth that Obama is against success and that Romney got money “the old fashioned way, he earned it.”  An interesting borrowing of a slogan from a defunct company, Smith-Barney, but certainly not true.  His business practices slanted his deals so that he couldn’t lose.  It was for others to lose.  Isn’t it interesting that we are being lectured to by the budget director for George W. Bush, the one who took a large surplus and turned it into an incredible deficit.  How can he possibly blame Obama?  Another hypocrite in action.

8. Tim Pawlente, another over emotional speaker.  It is just another reiteration of the talking points.  He has another drippy story about his past, growing up among the poor.  How is it so many people who grew up so poor ended up rich in the Republican Party?  I suspect the Government helped him a lot in his rise, but he wants the government off his back.  fascinating!  Now he comes to the candidate, Romney and talks about his wonderful success.  If it is so wonderful, how come so few people actually like him and the rest of the people in the hall have to be convinced that he would be a good president.  Now, Romney is a “great leader”  Hyperbole!  There is no evidence of his personal leadership greatness.  I want to know what He has actually done to make life better for anyone outside his family or faith.

9. Mike Huckabe would not strike anyone as being a Christian minister.  His comments were a mixture of untruths and half truths.  His back-handed comment that President Obama was the only “self professed evangelical in the campaign this year” lets him keep the seed of doubt about Obama’s Christianity germinating among the stupid.  Huckabe claims to be “pro-life” but is really only pro-birth.  Pathetic!

10. Then it was Condaleza Rice’s turn.  I expected a lot from her because she is, after all a college professor and accomplished woman.  Her speech was just another iteration of the same old same old.  More military, more security, more business, less regulation, more success, you get the idea.  Her difficult past was also a small theme, as it fit in with all the others these two evenings.  Then, what was most disturbing from someone who knows foreign policy pretty well, she claimed that Romney knows and understands foreign policy and will be good at it.  She can’t possibly believe what she said.  If she does, she is not someone to be admired for her judgment.

11. Susanna Martinez was next in the parade ofsuper successful people who “made it.”   This making it was presumed to be all on her own.  She was a Democrat according to her, but she saw the light and became a Republican because she couldn’t possibly support welfare and pay for those awful people who just collect government money.  She also loves guns.  You can’t miss that.   

12. Now, it is Paul Ryan’s turn.  He is strident.  He uses that arrogant tone of voice to make himself seem more important and knowledgeable than he actually is.  It works with a lot of people.  He begins with lines about the Obama administration being silent about their record because all they can do is sow fear.  Then he claims that Romney is so decent that he can’t be dragged down by negativity.  He goes for the family card early by introducing his cute wholesome family, including his mom.  Now, his family story, almost as pathetic as the rest of the folks on the docket tonight.  He is so proud that he lives on the same block where he grew up and belongs to the same church.  OK, how does that qualify you for anything? Then, he blames Obama for the closing of the factory in his hometown.  It couldn’t be outsourcing!  You can tell he has practiced his speech so well that he has all the inflections down perfectly.  He claims that Obama had a moment when he got everything he wanted from Congress.  I don’t know when that was and neither does anyone else.  There was one company that was involved with alternative energy and all Ryan can talk about is that they borrowed and lost the money.  The banks and insurance companies lost a lot more than that and well, they have a lot of power, so they don’t count as failures.  What a waste of time.      

13.  He didn’t go there!  He wouldn’t do it!  He did it!  He did the lie that has been given the “pants on fire” rating.  Is that what people want, a vice president who lies and doesn’t mind doing it in front of a huge audience?  Scare the old people about Medicare!  Do it even if you have to lie.  That’s not good!  I know that his plan will not make things better for any senior today or in the future.  If he were as intelligent as he would like everyone to believe, he knows it too.  Maybe, money does blind people to things. 

14. Oh no, he didn’t blame Obama for the down grading of America.  That was a direct result of Republican refusal to negotiate to raise the debt ceiling.  Ryan’s smugness and pretended disbelief are disingenuous.  but Republicans have to march in step these days.

15. OK, he drags out the line that Obama has caused a bigger debt than any other president.  OMG, another pants on fire!  Mr. Ryan forgets that Bush did not count the wars and tax cuts as part of the debt.  Obama chose to be honest and count it all.  Of course, that caused the debt to rise on paper, but it had already risen years before.

16.  Here it comes, the family story of his mom building a business presumably on her own.  You’d think that all those Republicans are so gifted that they could all do it on their own.  Isn’t that nice.  They talk about a mythical plan they have of coming up with 12 million jobs in the next few years and do it with not raising the debt.  He lies!  We are in a recession and that is not going to happen.  He is even more naïve than Obama was when he was running four years ago and less excuse for it.  There it is the word “freedom.”  I knew he had to throw it in somehow.  His hyperbole is now getting out of control.  He accuses Obama of calling his promises his record.  That is really what Romney has done.  His only record is working at Bain Capital and helping out with the Olympics (with government support, of course).  How does either activity prepare him for anything America is facing?  Ryan has even less experience.  He has been in government, that hated government for most of his adult life.  Hmm!

  17.   Here comes another myth, that is the belief that people can still move up from one class to the next.  There is less mobility due to lack of opportunities in business than there has been since the 1890’s and that is not Obama’s fault because as Ryan says, Obama is not a businessman.  I have pretty much gotten to the point where I can’t listen to the garbage any longer.  Besides, “The Daily Show” is about to come on and that show makes more sense than Ryan can ever make.  Oh wait, before I go, he did it again.  He’s on the theme of Obama bashing Romney’s success.  I have not once heard Obama bash Romney’s success, but that is another Republican myth.  Democrats are bashing Romney’s dishonesty, disingenuousness, fabrication of events, the way his wealth is hidden in other countries to avoid taxes, the way Romney changes his views, character, and positions to meet whatever situation he is in.  The call for tax returns is  appropriate.  Why is Romney running?  Maybe it’s just the power and prestige he wants.

First Night Notes

by Ruth A. Sheets

This blog entry will be a bit different.  It contains real-time reflections on the first night of the Republican Convention 2012.  The following are some of my observations.

1. There are a lot of women speakers.  These women don’t have much to say about Romney and why they support him in particular, but they are pretty strident and very negative regarding President Obama, often repeating the lies that are going around.

2. The people interviewed by NPR have very little original to add to the Republican position.  No one challenges anything they have to say and they do ramble on.

3. Nikki Haley of South Carolina bragged about having the most tires manufactured in America, yet the Republicans were opposed to the assistance for the auto industry.  Who needs those tires?  

4. There is a lot of God talk, more of a formulaic mention of God rather than any meaningful inclusion of God in the proceedings.

5. Anne’s breathy emotionalism is a bit much, like a teenager who just has to over emphasize everything.  It is like a not-too-good actress in a not-too-good play.  Her talk about women is a bit disingenuous.  Her little laugh after her saying “I hear your voices.” is a bit much too.

6. Anne Romney’s tribute to mothers is insulting.  Save it for Mother’s Day.

7. The convention’s parade of children of immigrants was lovely to hear, well, not really.  The hypocrisy is overflowing.  Somehow, these descendents of immigrants are opposed to immigrants who come here “illegally.”  None of the speakers mention whether their families came here “legally.”  I wonder . . .

8. Anne Romney’s description of her and Mitt’s first apartment, a basement apartment, was pathetic.  She lies easily, just like her husband.  She claims she knew nothing of his financial situation.  Not possible!  They grew up in the same town.  Her emotional claim that “No one will work harder or care more than Mitt Romney” when he is president is  ridiculous.  She can’t possibly be shocked that Mitt has been “attacked for his positions" (and the way they keep changing).  Unbelievable.  In the next days, we will hear how wonderful her speech was and what a lovely person she is.  Her speech was typical Republican nonsense and she may be a lovely person; it’s hard to tell when you are reading someone else’s words.  Again, the claim that he built what he had all by himself.  Gag!  Her claim that he struggled so hard with his business, big deal!  He certainly made enough money at it.

9. Christie’s self-righteousness was a bit hard to take, but for some reason, a little easier than Anne Romney’s simpering emotionalism.  I am not sure why.

10. Christie talks about how he did so much for New Jersey, but doesn’t mention the desertion of the parts of New Jersey that don’t back him or have economic power, like Camden.

11. Then there’s the teacher union bashing.  Union bashing was one of the themes of the night, of course.

12. What a stupid line “Our ideas are right for America and their ideas have failed America.”  I guess that is about all they can say.  It is so vague that it means nothing.

13. The hypocrisy that Republicans claim to care about older Americans is reflected in their Medicare plans.  The party of fantasy is accusing the Democrats, the party of some reality, of not being realistic.  What a joke.  I expected more from him, but look at the company he keeps. 

14. Again Mr. Christie is making teachers be the fall guys for things that fail.  “They believe in unions, we believe in teachers”  What a batch of bull!   Unfortunately, a lot of the less-thinking among his followers will believe it.  Gag again!

15.  Christie accuses the Democrats of wanting to divide, yet the Republicans have done everything they could over the past 4 years to divide the country.  Amazing!

16. Christie claims that Mitt Romney will “tell the truth."  That is another joke since Romney has done a lot of lying so far.  Christie says Romney will tell us the hard truth.  Maybe he will tell his truth, which of course, will be hard on everyone except the wealthy and Republican powerful.  Everyone else suffers.  I guess that is what makes it a “hard truth.”

17. Of course, Christie must say “It’s now our time” (how soon they forget which party got us into this mess and did everything they could to make sure we didn’t get out of it during the past four years).  He is counting on the short attention spans of most Americans.

Are You a Racist? Take This Quiz and Find Out

by muon

I was told last week that suggestions of racism among Romney supporters is highly offensive. I was told this by someone who was more of an Obama non-supporter than a true Romney supporter. He stomped his foot and shrieked while making his point, so I know he was sincere.

Okay, I agree, generalizing is never a good idea. Thus I invite everyone, no matter whom you support, to take this quiz, add up your score, and see how you do.


A) I believe President Obama was born

1-  in Kenya, and is therefore not a citizen and not qualified to be President.
2-  possibly outside of the US, but he has an American mother, so it doesn't matter (as in the case of George Romney, Mitt's dad, who was born in Mexico, yet no one questioned his citizenship when he ran for president)
3-  in Hawaii, and he should have been believed even before producing 2 birth certificates, but now that he has produced them, get over it.

B) I believe President Obama

1-  is a Muslim, and that's a bad thing.
2-  might be a Muslim, but in a country where we have freedom of religion, what does it matter?
3-  is a Christian, specifically, a member of the United Church of Christ, like more than one million Americans.

C)  I believe

1-  candidates for president should have American-sounding names.
2-  if a candidate has an odd name, it doesn't mean he wouldn't make a good president.
3-  that all Americans have American-sounding names. It's that melting pot thing.

D) I believe Mitt Romney's welfare ads

1-  show that lazy black welfare recipients have been released from their work requirement by Obama, and are taking tax money right out of the pockets of hard-working white people.
2-  not sure what the ads show, but I'm sure not all welfare recipients are black and not all workers are white. Even if they were, shouldn't we help those in need?
3-  are proven lies. Work requirements have not been dropped, only moved to the states, which is what states requested (including Republican governors). The states in turn have to meet a set of federal regulations to keep their right to make their own reforms. Moreover, as of 2011, nearly the same number of white and black families (about 38%) were receiving welfare. The remaining 20-some% went to other minorities.


If you scored

12 -  You're not a racist and are well-informed to boot.
8-11 - You're not a racist; your heart's in the right place. You just need to get your news from reliable sources and don't believe everything you hear. Go to factcheck.org, which checks statements and ads from BOTH sides.
5-7 - Try the reliable sources mentioned above for two weeks and take the quiz again. Put all political ads and right-wing talk shows on "mute."
4 - Sorry, you're a racist. No getting around it. If this offends you, think of how much more you offend me.

Getting to Know Him

by Ruth A. Sheets

Well, the Republican National Convention has arrived. We keep hearing from pundits and commentators that this is Mitt Romney’s chance to let America know who he is.  Interesting!  Mitt Romney has been running for president for nearly five years.  Is it possible that there is something about him we can learn this week that we didn’t know?

I suspect that part of the problem we have in getting to know Romney is that he constantly changes himself to fit whatever situation he is in.  When running for office in Massachusetts, he chose to be moderate, support human rights, believe in universal health care, and respect a woman’s right to choose.  The people of Massachusetts wouldn’t elect anyone with less.

When running for president in 2008, he moved somewhat to the right.  This was a realistic position for him  because the Republican Party had not yet chosen its new compass which only points Right.  He seemed to move away from health care a bit and dropped his stance on women’s right to choose, as well as his open, accepting stance on rights for gay Americans. .

For the 2012 presidential election, he has made the full Right turn along with the party.  Now, he can’t even defend the health care program he helped get through in Mass. because it looks too much like the plan the Democrats passed in 2010.  Not only is he against women’s right to choose, he is decreasing the types of exceptions he would allow for abortions, and stands against most types of contraception, perhaps all (one can’t really tell since his mind changes so often).

Romney is a wealthy, white, conservative, Mormon, former businessman who owned and operated a company that specialized in buying out other companies.  He is not a good speaker.  He can’t tell a joke (as evidenced by his comments about his birth certificate). 

He has had no military service, but is a  war hawk and wants to continue to bloat the defense budget.  He also wants to cut many programs that support disadvantaged citizens as he “attempts” to cut the deficit.

 

Mitt Romney claims to be a family man, having a wife, Anne, and five sons.  He does not do his own shopping (the answers given when asked what he was buying at a store: hardware stuff, groceries).

From his comments to audiences and ads, it is clear that he tells the truth only when he feels he will gain politically from the effort.  (According to some fact checking sites, he avoids the truth  about 10% of the time, something like a tithe).  The web can supply numerous examples of Mr. Romney’s untruths.

When asked to comply with demands for documentation, the same demands he has made of opposing candidates in the past, he refuses.  (He has released only 1 year of tax returns and one estimate of the current year, when he has asked for more from others.)

So, what do we think we will learn from Romney’s Convention persona?  How are they going to make him appear more human?  Come to think of it, he is such a skilled cameleon thus far, I guess they can make him whatever they want him to be and he will be it. 

The sad part for me is that a whole lot of Americans will believe whatever nonsense they are fed about this man and his worthiness to be president.  Even if Romney and his team can’t be honest, moderates and liberals will need to try to keep the truth in front of voters.  Good luck with that.

Think Republicans Won't Raise Your Taxes?

by muon

We've all had the experience of walking into a grocery store and finding that some favorite food is now in a smaller container.  Pounds of coffee are now 13 ounces. Half gallons of ice cream are now 1.5 quarts. Did they lower the price? No. Or, even if they do temporarily, the savings doesn't cover the reduction in size. Per ounce, you're paying more.

Grover Norquist is a lobbyist. In a kind of protection racket designed to keep certain kinds of Republicans in office and weed out anyone who doesn't toe the line, Grover has made elected officials sign a pledge never to raise taxes. It's the main reason nothing has gotten done in the US House the last two years. Republican congresspeople won't fund anything, because, they say, they'd be voting to raise taxes.

The Paul Ryan Budget, in essence, pulls the same kind of a switch certain brands in grocery stores have pulled. He and his GOP cohorts want to reduce the amount of product you get for your money. They say this isn't increasing your taxes. Technically, no, but I guarantee you're going to feel as gypped as you do when you pick up that new tube of Colgate, only to find that it's gone from 6 oz. down to 4.

Grover Norquist has said he wants to shrink government down to the size where it can be drowned in a bathtub. Even if Congress lowers your taxes a bit, you'll still be paying more than the shrunken services will be worth. Like the groceries, you'll be paying more for less. Get used to rutted highways and dangerous bridges, at the same price.

For corporations, sometimes the money they save by giving you less of a product goes to cover the rising costs of doing business. More often though, it gets diverted to increasing profits and executive compensation. According to the Ryan Budget, the extra money from cutting government services, used by the poor and middle classes, will go to the wealthiest people in America, by extending the Bush tax cuts.

Bottom line: you'll be getting less for your tax money. And that, pledge or no, is a tax increase.