*Please... Cut the Crap

Some RomneyLies™ From the Second Debate, Debunked

It seems Willard Romney simply is incapable of telling the truth. I only say that because this is the second debate out of two in which there were too many lies to fit comfortably into a single blog post. He's not worthy of a book, so I'm cherry-picking lies the way he cherry-picks his data.

And what is it about "my plan"? He talks about his "plan," as if he actually has one.  If there's a plan, where are the details, Willard? We have never elected a president who promised "secret plans," because not all of us were born yesterday. Romney sounds like those informercial hucksters who hawk "programs" showing you how to make millions off real estate. If they're so damned good at it, why are they making money selling books and CDs? If Romney's so great at business, why is he running for president. Oh, wait... It's because he can make $21.7 million in one year from a company he claims not to even own. Why work, right? 

Okay, back to the lies. Among the more significant lies in the second debate are:

If You're a Moderate Voter Thinking of Voting GOP, You Should Really Think Again.

If you consider yourself to be a moderate voter, and you're even thinking of voting for any Republican this year, you really should reconsider. Just about any of our political ills currently can be traced directly to Republicans.  You can't possibly look at the GOP’s recent record and think of voting for one, if you are a person with a conscience. Even on the debt, which the seem obsessed about, is mostly huge because of them. We had a balanced budget before Bush was "elected," and no one was complaining about their tax bill. Yet Bush cut taxes and started two wars without paying for them, and exploded the deficit, even before he broke the economy. Even when Republicans "fixed" Medicare, they did so withoutpaying for the fix, and it took Democrats to fix that.

Make no mistake; pretty much everything Willard Romney has proposed this year is re-hashed Bush policy.  He wants to cut taxes to the bone. He wants to deregulate the financial services industry. He wants to start a war, only this time, the country’s name will end in “n” instead of “q." Basically, he wants us all to relive the Bush years. Are our memories that short? It’s only been four years, and we haven’t fully recovered, even now.

This isn’t just about Romney and the presidency. The entire Republican Party has demonstrated that it couldn’t care less about anyone except the very rich. Consider their current record in Congress. The 112th Congress is the worst in history, on a number of levels, and it can all be traced to the GOP and its teabagger wing. 

A Look at Where We Are Compared to 4 Years Ago. We're Much Better Off. Thanks, President Obama

Blaming President Obama for all of the bad things in the economy is just absurd. If you want to blame someone, feast your eyes on the Republican Party.  George W. Bush and the GOP Congress watched and congratulated themselves as the mortgage bubble grew and then burst, causing the Great Recession, the worst downturn in 80 years.  Obama and the Democrats were able to stop the bleeding and restore some semblance of order to the economy, but a population that expects instant results wasn't satisfied.

The GOP was elected in 2010 to get things moving even faster, but they've largely stood by and done nothing for almost two years now.  For example, a year ago September 8, President Obama submitted the American Jobs Act to Congress, and most of the bill still sits in the House. They won’t take it up, they won’t discuss it, and they won’t even offer up an alternative. It just sits there, because they can't bring themselves to do anything that President Obama may take credit for. 

Obama's Record Compares Favorably With the Real FDR

Many liberals, including myself, refer to themselves as "FDR Democrats" And why not? Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a great president. He came in during the worst circumstances in our history and turned the country around economically in many ways. He instituted regulations that were necessary at the time to steady the financial markets and to let people know they could be trusted again, and he helped create the Social Security program, and such agencies as the Securities and Exchange Commission, to keep markets honest, which is the key to a thriving economy. 

But many folks use FDR's alleged record to detract from President Obama's accomplishments as president. They use a few offhand mythical comparisons to claim Obama isn't liberal, or to suggest that Obama isn't as bold as FDR. The problem, however, is that they use the FDR myth, and not his actual record, for comparison's sake. When you look at what FDR actually was able to do, President Obama has nothing to be ashamed of at all. 

Like Obama, FDR was quite the pragmatist both when he ran for office and when he held office. He spent much of his early pre-presidential career going after the abuses of New York's infamous Tammany Democrats, who were nearly as corrupt as Republicans today. But when it came time to run for Governor of New York, he realized he had to embrace Tammany in order to win election. FDR knew that the only way to get things done was to get elected to the office, which meant he had to appeal to as many people as possible. Sometimes, a candidate has to at least entertain points of view you don’t always agree with. That doesn’t mean you’re adopting their views; it means that you’re flexible, and willing to try to build a consensus.

This is What Obamacare Does. Romney and the GOP Want to Take It All Away...

With less than eight weeks to go before we (hopefully) reelect President Obama, I was confronted with a Republibot yesterday that just plain made my mind numb. She's on Medicare, and because she's a Romney supporter with all her might, she has convinced herself that Obamacare will do great harm to Medicare, and that it's all around just really evil. She actually said, (and I'm not making this up. I wish I was.) "I don't want a panel of 12 people deciding..." I cut her off, knowing she was talking about "death panels."

I can't believe anyone still believes there will be death panels in Obamacare. But since there obviously are, this piece became necessary. In this piece, you will find out what is in Obamacare, and why it makes our helth care system better. 

Look, folks, it's this simple. Two and a half years ago, President Obama signed into law the most sweeping change to our health insurance system ever. It needs improvement; I will not argue that at all. But overall, it's a very progressive law. 

This law does a lot for people,and not just because it will make insurance available to those who haven't carried a policy for years. Even those who have the same plan they've had for years will see major improvements in their coverage. 

Let's recap how the old system worked. 

This Election is Too Important to Let People Stay Home; Support ALL Democrats

President Obama's convention speech last night was nothing short of brilliant. But that shouldn't be a surprise, since nearly all of his speeches are brilliant. He touched on all the right themes, and demonstrated once again why he deserves a second term. As everyone who reads this blog knows, he has done a lot as president, despite having to work around some really significant obstacles. If you haven't read the list I compiled of President Obama's accomplishments, you owe it to yourself to do so, and pass it around to everyone you know. 

In a normal election year, I wouldn't be worried. President Obama is the best candidate for president, by far. Willard Romney, for all of his business "accomplishments," simply doesn't have the knowledge of what it means to run the government. His only experience in government was four years as Massachusetts governor, and that experience was apparently so bad, he won't even talk about it these days. 

But this isn't a normal election year. Progressives made a statement in 2008, and Barack Obama won in a landslide. It was the largest margin of victory by any Democrat since LBJ, and it felt great. We did it through positivity. Obama and progressives pushed a positive message that resonated with people of all ideological stripes, and we echoed that. We need to do that again. 

But we all stumbled badly in 2010. The negative rhetoric against Democrats caused many potential voters to stay home, and we allowed Tea Party Republicans to take control of the House and also come within a hair's breadth of taking over the Senate, too.

Most Important Qualification for President: Empathy - Obama Has It, Romney Doesn't

In her speech at the Democraic Convention, First Lady Michelle Obama pointed up the stark difference between her husband and his challenger quite well with the following statement:

"Barack knows the American Dream because he's lived it, and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where we're from, or what we look like, or who we love."

Ultimately, the main difference between Obama and Romney is that President Obama lived the dream that most of us imagine and aspire to, while Romney has lived a different dream, and can't seem to relate to what anyone else has gone through. r

That's not to discount Romney's version of the American dream. There is nothing wrong with being born rich and privileged.  But that rich person has to understand that a decision to run for public office is a decision to become a servant of the people. That equires you to make a concerted effort to learn and understand how the rest of us live. 

I'm not saying Romney's an ogre who hates people. I'm saying that he simply show no sign that he understands how the other 99% of us lives. That doesn't make him a bad person, it just disqualifies him from the presidency. Or should.

From the DNC: Willard's Dressage -- Better Watch Now, Before They Pull It.

This is an excellent video from the DNC. Who says they don't fight back?