Romney, Ryan, and Akin, oh my!

These things I’ve read trouble me:

A quote: "I'm as pro-life as a person gets," Ryan told The Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine, in 2010.

And an article: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/the_rumble/2012/08/todd-akin-paul-ryan-and-the-very-real-war-on-women

(excerpt)
Akin and Ryan were the original co-sponsors of the controversial bill H.R. 3, “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” which initially included language which changed the definition of “rape” to “forcible rape,” until public pressure forced the bill’s supporters to remove that unacceptable and narrow definition. As I wrote previously, Paul Ryan is not just anti-choice; his anti-choice views are extreme and just plain bad for all women.

Linking Ryan to Akin and the idea that there is such a thing as “legitimate rape” based on pseudo-science and folklore is something that needs to be done before the upcoming election. While Team Romney attempted to create distance with Akin, saying that both Romney and Ryan “disagree” with his statements, there was nothing in their statement that said they condemn his remarks as hurtful to victims. There was also nothing in Team Romney’s statement that pointed out that what Akin said about pregnancies resulting from rape being rare is just flat-out wrong.
(/excerpt)

Wait? What? What year is it? 2012? Yup, but guess what happened in 2011? Todd Akin and Paul Ryan cosponsored H.R. 3! 3! Third bill on the calendar year for congress... they could not wait to go full bore into a war on women. Don't take my word for it. Search the record, look at what is going on in our country in 2012.

It's not even close to funny anymore.  C’mon, we all got a good chuckle out of the Republican Primary, right? And then we got Romney. Go ahead and admit it. You chuckled a little. But then he picked Paul Ryan as his running mate. And yet, he still is at 44% in the current polls. How can these two misogynists have so many supporters? It is incredible. I stare in disbelief at my computer screen and TV almost daily. I thought the Republican Primary was funny. But don’t think this is funny anymore.

We are less than 80 days away from the election and 44% of voters are agreeing with these two knuckle dragging Neanderthals. How is that so? This is not funny anymore. There is indeed a Republican War on Women. Please wake up America. These guys will set us back 50 years...

Wow… What a nightmare it must be to be a woman today. I am saddened by the lengths at which Republicans will go to ... I don’t know... what the hell are they doing?

I've been registered as a Republican since Reagan! I was embarrassed by George Bush Jr., but this primary season was the last straw. It did not really matter what party I had as my registration. I could vote in the Primary for the weakest candidate and laugh. Except, when I went to vote in the Primary and the poll worker called out my party designation... I felt shame. I am no longer a registered Republican. The last three years of racism and misogyny have shamed me out of the party.

In Pennsylvania 750,000 voters could be disenfranchised and unable to vote because of the GOP. That is the margin President Obama won by in 2008. That feels like cheating. In several states... wait... Ohio too. They tried to change early voting rules. Florida? The news cycles are dizzying. There are now new voting rules in state after state. There is an assault on Planned Parenthood. And it is so much more.

Somehow “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" has turned into "Jobs, Jobs, J-abortion". Do not think for a minute that they don't have a chance. They do.

 44% of likely voters support them. It is scary...

Who is voting for these guys?

I am embarrassed as a man for the ignorance that has been allowed to fester and grow in this country during the last decade. I remember being vaguely aware of the E.R.A. and confused as to why it was an issue. I was a small child and wondered why my mom was not considered an equal. I barely knew the words that grown-ups were discussing on the TV. I scoffed as a young man when Nancy Reagan told us to "Just Say No." But for some reason, I joined the Republican Party.

I was weary of the Christian Coalition but believed in the Separation of Church and State; but my mind cannot believe how they have recreated themselves as a Tea Party Juggernaut. And who really trusted Newt Gingrich when he was speaker of the house. But I hoped that fiscal responsibility would save the day. It does in my own personal life but these Republicans lied. They are neither for Fiscal responsibility nor for Freedom.

Freedom is about choices. And ever since President Obama was elected I have seen some of the ugliest hate, racism, and ignorance I’ve had the misfortune of witnessing. I knew it was out there, but I chose not to see it. I shrugged it off as a few bad apples. But now there are just too many bad apples to ignore.

Paul Ryan may not be racist, but his view of what choices women should be allowed to make certainly make him sexist. Paul Ryan co-sponsored a federal Personhood Amendment. Amendment. He wanted to change the constitution in order to overturn Roe vs. Wade. This guy voted to defund Planned Parenthood and Mitt Romney has said he too wants to defund it. Paul Ryan opposes all abortions, except when the life of the mother is at risk. And, he wants the same ultrasound thing that other states have forced upon their women. If men got pregnant, this would not be a requirement.

This is a scary year. How is it so? Why are we going backward in time?

Romney Ryan Road to Ruin

I've paid into Social Security/Medicare/FICA for 20+ years... been working since my teens. I didn't expect much to be left after the Baby Boomers got done with Social Security. But I figured they couldn't mess things up too bad.

Sure, they were the cool kids who partied with me because I was precocious; but I never thought they were all that bright. I was hoping they would not take away medicare too. The fact that it is someone from the X generation doing this to us is astonishing and unsurprising. They are on the cusp of being told they are wonderful but did not get stars for wiping their buts or graduate from every grade school class they ever matriculated through.

Ryan is looking for his gold star for doing poo poo in the toilet.

Saying I'm pissed is an understatement. If Ryan gets in do I get all my FICA contributions back? No... this putz just leaves everyone under 55 hanging out to dry. We won't have Social security or Medicare.

And... The most disgusting thing about Paul Ryan is he is planning to dismantle the very thing that made his success possible. He got Social Security benefits and rode them into Congress. Now he wants to make sure no one else can be helped by the very same programs he used to succeed.

What a disingenuous and pathetic hypocrite.
Contribute now to help Rob Zerban defeat Paul Ryan!

Romney Hood picks the Sheriff of Nottingham

Romney Hood picks Sheriff of Nottingham as his running mate:

Let's hope Americans realize that Class Warfare is real and the winning side just picked their champions. We need to stop Plutocrats from extracting more wealth from the Working Class.

Yikes!

what-would-jesus-vote-for

who-is-saul-alinsky

ryan-budget-plan

i-hope-mitt-romney-does-not-get-elected

Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!

Can we get rid of the intractable partisan politicians and find a bipartisan group of politicians who will pledge to do what is best for American Workers? We need politicians who offer us a solution to the American Jobs Act.

We all agree that public infrastructure needs maintenance and buttressing. How much better would we all be with a wider and more robust broadband solution? Our roads and bridges need repair. We need to invest in wind, solar and other renewable energy sources. We need education support for American citizens to fill the jobs of the future.

Jobs, jobs, jobs.

Where are the jobs? The jobs are in manufacturing. We have to import solar and wind components because we do not have the manufacturing processes in place to meet the demand of new technology. We need to educate our people to be able to build the futures infrastructure. It is time to abandon ideological canards and move forward with the progress of America.

We can do anything we put our heart and souls into. We were the first on the moon. We should be the first in technological breakthroughs in renewable energy. We were the first to implement the internet. We need to be the first to bring that technology to its next evolution. We need to educate our citizens in the trades of technology.

We need to invest in our future. The late 1920’s and early 1930’s saw our country convulse in a spasm of deprivation. And we built ourselves out of that chasm to become the greatest economy in the world. We are that kind of country. Now we need those kinds of politicians. Do not vote for any politician who won’t tear up his signed pledge to Grover Norquist. Who is Grover Norquist anyway?

Why is a pledge to Grover Norquist more important than the Oath of Office?

To our politicians we need to say: “Bring us solutions, or go home! We do not need your ideological heresy. We need jobs! And, we need the jobs now!”

A New American Independent

07/29/2012 EDIT: This is a post I recently made on a discussion about Mitt Romney over at Politico:

Bwah ha ha ha! Thank You Kevin Schmelzlen! Imagine my horror when I double checked your assertion and found out that The American Independent Party is not for independents. WOW! Color me chagrined. I have rectified that and will be mailing out my non party designation Monday. I assumed American Independent would be for independents. Thank you very much for pointing out my error. I think I need a shower... LOL!

 But to your other assertion; I have no malice in my heart towards Christians. I believe a lot, if not most, or all of what Jesus preached. I do not know of anything that he spoke of that I would disagree with. What I have a problem with is the hypocrisy of politicians who use a supposed faith in Jesus to get elected and then turn around and vote the exact opposite way in which a living Christ would most likely vote.

And if you read my blog carefully you will note the many times I have prefaced things with disclaimers of absolute knowledge. I barely know enough to pick the right political party. But I do know enough to know a rat when I see one. It's all about perspective.

YIKES! I cannot believe how naive I was to not research what the American Independent Party was really about. I just assumed it was for independents. As I can't find an official Independent Party, I will have to go with undeclared... How embarrassing... D'OH!

07/29/2012 /END EDIT

The confession of a former republican. Please forgive me.

I had been registered as a Republican for 20+ years. When I voted in the recent primary I cringed when the guy checking me in said in a loud voice to the person that was preparing the ballots: "He needs a Republican ballot." I felt shame. I was holding on to my republican voter card to make sure I could vote for some sort of reasonableness. But on that day, I felt shame in being called a republican.

I got a form after voting and switched my party affiliation to American Independent  [changed to undeclared I had no Idea The American Independent Party was what it is... blech. I cannot believe I made such a foolish mistake.] that same day. I've received my new voter card and, I have ID. No one can challenge my right to vote. And, I do not see myself ever voting for anyone in the republican party again.

The only Republican I will ever vote for is one who knows the value of compromise and can stand up against the hateful elements within the party. What the Republicans are saying and doing has disgusted me. If they keep lurching to the right with hate and vitriol, I cannot imagine ever voting for them again.

I have been calling myself an Independent for a couple years now. The last couple years has made my decision to abandon the Republican Party a relief. I am embarrassed to have ever been associated with the Republican Party. The Grand Old Party is a new breed of contempt that I cannot support. It seems almost palpable. When I read the comment sections of many articles I am mesmerized by the hate, bigotry, and racism that is filling up the page.

I remember wanting to believe in the Compassionate Conservative, but I always had a weary eye out for the Christian Coalition. They have now been reborn once again as the teavangelicals. The religiosity that has been bleeding into republican politics over the last couple decades is disconcerting to say the least. Our forefathers fought and died for religious freedom. I will not stand by and watch the dream of a free America be decimated by religious zealots of any faith.

It is apparent in their deeds that many politicians who campaign as Christians are only paying lip service to the words. When I see politicians speak of protecting the wealthy at the expense of the poor, I know in my heart that they do not believe in the God of which they say they do. The duplicity of their actions and behavior is disgusting.

Those Republicans who profess to want smaller government and rail against 'sharia law' are usually the first to vote for their own christian brand of sharia. It is pathetic. the blowhards of small government are the ones who are producing more laws governing sex, morals, and faith than any we've seen before.

How does your small government fit into female bodies? I am a man, and it makes me recoil in disgust when I see what other men are trying to do to the women of our country. I learned about forced inter-uterine vaginal ultra sound probes this past year. Republicans lost me a long time ago. But legislating the rape of a woman is absolutely reprehensible. I am disgusted by what the Republican Party has become...

whttevrr works ‏@Whttevrr

When will we call #colorfullanguage what it really is?

Dear Mr. Romney, What About Global Tech?

OK, let's say Romney had nothing to do with Bain after 99'. Well, what about this?

On April 17, 1998, Brookside Capital Partners Fund, a Bain Capital affiliate, filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission noting that it had acquired 6.13 percent of Hong Kong-based Global-Tech Appliances, which manufactured household appliances in a production facility in the industrial city of Dongguan, China. That August, according to another SEC filing, Brookside upped its interest in Global-Tech to 10.3 percent. Both SEC filings identified Romney as the person in control of this investment: "Mr. W. Mitt Romney is the sole shareholder, sole director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Brookside Inc. and thus is the controlling person of Brookside Inc." Each of these documents was signed by Domenic Ferrante, a managing director of Brookside and Bain.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/bain-capital-mitt-romney-outsourcing-china-global-tech

Would that be profiting from outsourcing American jobs?

Oops.... March 25, 1999?
Some excerpts from an SEC filing:
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1028348/0000927016-99-001166.txt

This filing is also being made by Sankaty High Yield Asset Partners, L.P. (the "Sankaty Fund"). Together, Brookside Capital Partners Fund, L.P. and Sankaty Fund own 1,101,000 shares, or 9.11%, of the Common Stock of Global-Tech Appliances, Inc.



*snicker*



As of the close of business on March 25, 1999, the Brookside Fund owned 1,053,000 shares of Common Stock of the Company.  The Brookside Fund has the sole power to vote and dispose of the shares of Common Stock. The Brookside Fund acts by and through its general partner, Brookside Investors.  Brookside Investors acts by and through its general partner, Brookside Inc. Mr. W. Mitt Romney is the sole shareholder, sole director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Brookside Inc. and thus is the controlling person of Brookside Inc. No person other than the respective owner referred to herein of shares of Common Stock is known to have the right to receive or the power to direct the receipt of dividends from or the proceeds from the sale of such shares of Common Stock.

                                  Page 5 of 8


As of the close of business on March 25, 1999, the Sankaty Fund owned 48,000 shares of Common Stock of the Company. The Sankaty Fund has the sole power to vote and dispose of the shares of Common Stock. The Sankaty Fund acts by and through its general partner, Sankaty Investors. Sankaty Investors acts by and through its managing member, Sankaty Ltd. Mr. W. Mitt Romney is the sole shareholder, a director, and President of Sankaty Ltd. and thus is the controlling person of Sankaty Ltd. No person other than the respective owner referred to herein of shares of Common Stock is known to have the right to receive or the power to direct the receipt of dividends from or the proceeds from the sale of such shares of Common Stock.

EDIT:: 09/21/2012

Does anyone wonder if this is Global-Tech that Romney is talking about?

"When I was back in my private equity days, we went to China to buy a factory there. It employed about 20,000 people. And they were almost all young women between the ages of about 18 and 22 or 23. They were saving for potentially becoming married. And they work in these huge factories, they made various small appliances. And as we were walking through this facility, seeing them work, the number of hours they worked per day, the pittance they earned, living in dormitories with little bathrooms at the end of maybe 10 rooms. And the rooms, they had 12 girls per room, three bunk beds on top of each other. You’ve seen, you’ve seen them? And around this factory was a fence, a huge fence with barbed wire and guard towers. And we said gosh, I can’t believe that you, you know, keep these girls in. And they said, no, no, no. This is to keep other people from coming in. Because people want so badly to work in this factory that we have to keep them out. " 

Mediate and Ben LaBolt seem to think so:

Over the weekend, Obama For America Press Secretary Ben LaBolt released this statement, pegged to the Globe‘s reporting and the video:

“As Mitt Romney tries to convince Americans he is a modern day trade warrior, it’s clear that his hypocrisy knows no bounds.  Before Mitt Romney started claiming he’d stand up to China and its unfair trade practices, he was profiting off of them.  Governor Romney even maintained his investment in a Chinese manufacturing company that relied on outsourcing American jobs after seeing its poor work conditions, which he described as surrounded by barbed wire and packed with 12 women per dormitory room.  When our competitors started a global race to the bottom, rather than placing a premium on creating American jobs and lifting the middle class, Mitt Romney dove in head first.”

 

I Hope Mitt Romney Does Not Get Elected As President Of The United States.

One can only judge a man by his words and deeds. It is apparent that Mitt Romney’s words and deeds are not what are best for The United States Of America.


“Corporations are people, my friend.”(Mitt Romney)

This statement strikes me as a form of Psychopathy. I’ve never personally known a person who has chased someone down, had them held, and then cut their hair with scissors. I have known some marines who ran with knives. And, I have actually run a short distance with scissors. But have never witnessed the cruelty that Mitt Romney is purported to inflict upon a classmate. It shows a distinct lack of empathy. It is incomprehensible that someone would so carelessly put someone in danger just for laughs. Or what, discrimination based on orientation?

Who could believe that corporations are people? Only a psychopath could believe this. Can a corporation stub its toe? No, and not only can corporations not stub a toe; they also can’t feel the pain that throbs through the foot and into a brain.  Can a corporation miss a loved one? No, a corporation cannot love. Can they feel the pain of longing that at times strikes into their core for the one that got away? No, corporations can’t even get married. Can a corporation cry?

Can a corporation be imprisoned for a crime? No, as a matter of fact, I do believe they are a legal entity that separates their human owners from liability. If corporations are people, my friend; then those who own corporations should be prosecuted for violating the laws against slavery. If owning people is against the law then corporations cannot be people, my friend.


“I like being able to fire people”(Mitt Romney)

Really? No one I know has ever said this or insinuated that this was a truism for them. Most supervisors truly dislike the prospect of firing someone. It means stripping them of their primary survival tool. It strips bare a person and makes them vulnerable. It is the epitome of emasculating a man. As for a woman; I do not have that perspective. But I imagine that women cherish the independence and survivability that is afforded by meaningful employment in just the same way as men.

It is incomprehensible that anyone, excepting the dysfunctional, would like firing people. What supervisor would enjoy firing someone and then go through the process of rehiring and retraining a new employee? Hiring replacements does not make things easier for supervisors. It cost time and money to train new hires.

Most supervisors I know use rationalizations to remove themselves from the process by saying something like “They fired themselves.” Liking the act of firing people is not a general sentiment that is found in caring humans. Some individuals might innervate a person to the point that they hope they do something ignorant enough to justify firing them. But, it is more likely a personal conflict that brings a person to that kind of animosity. For the most part, I see supervisors shake their head and do what needs to be done when someone has to be fired. It is almost never a joyful occasion.



“I should tell my story, I’m also unemployed.”(Mitt Romney)

It’s not the same in any way, shape, or form. Mitt Romney cannot comprehend the pain of true unemployment. This statement puts him in the ‘Alien’ category. Most unemployed people would be overjoyed to be making $2,473/hr. while not working. That is $59,346.50 in a day while being unemployed. Could you be OK for $50,000 per day?  For Mitt Romney to equate the largess of his ‘unemployment’ with the real suffering of the unemployed in America is a clear disassociation from the human condition. This man has no idea what people are suffering from. He is condescending and a bit frightening in his inability to understand the pain of others. Mitt Romney is not going to The Presidency with Americans in mind. It is a narcissistic lark for him. He is not interviewing for a job and trying to secure employment. He is looking for a trophy on his mantle.

It is this mantelpiece that should scare people. What price will America pay? This man was a pioneer of outsourcing. He made millions laying people off and saddling corporations with enormous amounts of debt in order to extract from that debt a heavy management fee for him and his partners. What kind of leveraged buyout will Mr. Romney do for America?

This man touts his business resume as a reason for people to vote for him. His experience is in extracting wealth. Who will get the wealth that he extracts from America? Will it be the American Workers or the Elite Investors he is plying for campaign contributions? Does his past performance say that he will invest in our future, or does it say that he will make sure America turns a profit for his investors? I think it will be the latter.

I do not think America can afford Mitt Romney as the next President of the United States.