Elizabeth Warren takes on Mitt Romney.. and Rings the "class warfare" bell?

Elizabeth Warren.. from politicususa

Class Warfare and Elizabeth Warren:

If you really believe that Progressives/liberals/ Democrats are the people who are starting the "class war", maybe you need a different perspective, particularly if you support Mitt Romney:

This article at Politicususa sums up "class warfare" fairly concisely:          

The right has been screaming class warfare every time Warren’s name is mentioned, but what they don’t get is that most Americans have been feeling like they have been under attack for decades. The conservative agenda of keeping wealth at the top has made life harder for every other American. Elizabeth Warren speaks to and for all of those people who are fighting to survive. No one in American politics discusses inequality better than she does.

Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC's The Last Word recently asked Elizabeth Warren about Scott Brown’s statement that Mitt Romney is in an income category that people don’t understand. O’Donnell asked Warren if she understood Romney’s income category, and she answered:

“Yeah, actually, I think I do understand it, and that is that Mitt Romney pays fourteen percent of income in taxes, and people who get out there and work for a living pay twenty five, twenty eight, thirty, thirty three percent. I get it. Mitt Romney gets a better deal than any of the rest of us, because he manages to earn his income in a way that has been specially protected for rich folks. I think that’s wrong.”

Is Romney's "wealth problem" really such a problem for him?  Well.........

 Anyone who has watched the Republican debates this year understands that Mitt Romney struggles to answer questions about his taxes, wealth, and investments. His excuse for investing Fannie, Freddie, and Goldman Sachs when it was brought up during the most recent debate was that it was his trustee’s fault that he had these investments and a Swiss bank account. The problem is that Romney’s answers usually take minutes to deliver, seem evasive, and are never clear.

The discussion of Romney's means of earning money; his wealth, his tax issues continues in the comments. Here are a few noteworthy exchanges:

Is the way Romney earns his money "wrong"?

I’d say lots of people here think that making millions by doing hostile takeovers of companies, liquidating their assets, firing their employees, and bankrupting them in the name of quick profit is wrong. Can I get a show of hands, here, folks?

And:

 He’s never, ever had to work for a living the way most of us understand work. Apart from that, (Romney's company) Bain specialized in raiding companies for their assets, then offshoring the manufacturing these companies did, where labor is cheap and environmental regulations nonexistent. 

A conservative type expounds on the conservative talking point of "double taxation":

You guys are showing your lack of understanding/comprehension on taxing dividends as opposed to working wages. The money Romney is paying 15% tax on is MONEY THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN TAXED. They are DIVIDENDS. First you earn the money AS WAGES and pay 35%… then you invest it, taking all the risk that comes with investing. THEN, the money you make AFTER your investment, is taxed at 15%, the rate for DIVIDENDS. Elizabeth Warren is sadly uninformed. Truth is he’s paid closer to 50% tax on his money. This is the same reason Warren Buffet only pays 15% and his secretary pays 30% or more. He’s paying tax on DIVIDENDS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN TAXED. Sorry Ms. Warren, but, your lack of understanding is showing and you are either misleading folks or outright lying…

From the same reader:

...He has already paid taxes on the money he’s invested. Those are wages. Taxed around 35%. Then, he invests it. If he makes any money on the investment, he pays taxes on that. Around 15%. THE MONEY HE USED TO MAKE HIS INVESTMENT HAS ALREADY BEEN TAXED AT 35%. I don’t know how to make it any more clear. And your last statement puzzles me. Where did I say there was any problem with paying taxes on dividends? It’s YOUR contention he hasn’t paid enough. It’s taxed twice!

But there are readers who know enough not  to accept the conservative "double taxation" talking point:

 I don’t think you understand how it works. He is not paying the 15% on the principal. He is paying the 15% on the INTEREST and dividends, the *new* money. So no, he has *not* previously paid taxes on this.

And:

 I love this shibboleth from the right (and parroted above) about so-called “double taxation”. This is simply incorrect.

The original income has indeed been taxed. The NEW income (..that it emanates from net disposable income prior is irrelevant, it is new, additional income) is untaxed…until the 15% (…or 14% for Mitt) is levied. So – let me make it plain for you: The DIVIDENDS HAVE NOT ALREADY BEEN TAXED. Capisce?

Talk about “misleading”…

To summarize this:

He’s paying 15% tax on the profits and dividends from those investments, not on the amount of the original investments. Profits and dividends are earned by investors like Romney because of the hard work and sweat that the employees of those growing companies put in day in and day out. Those employees are getting taxed in the 25-33% brackets. Romney and others like him get the rewards from their work, and he pays only 15% on the profits for doing little more than simply sitting around and watching his bank accounts rise. 

The current tax structure is completely upside down. Those regular wage earners paying their 25-33% will likely never get the opportunities that the rich have to take advantage of the low taxes we have on investments. They’re living day to day and don’t have the disposable income the rich have to make those investments. They’re stuck in and endless paycheck to paycheck cycle…. which is exactly what the rich want. Out of fear of losing everything, it keeps wage earners fighting for their lives working hard in thankless jobs to cover their bills and keep food on the table. The rich benefit from the cycle, and keep it chugging by influencing government in areas like health insurance and educational financing, which are designed to keep people stuck and afraid…

The tax code should be flipped… giving middle class wage earners a chance to really get ahead… Don’t worry rich folk, you’ll still be plenty rich. Remember, you’re only paying taxes on the PROFIT you make from your investments.

From a Romney supporter:

And here's someone who supports Romney, the way he made his millions, and his ability to shelter money from taxes:

In fact he did it in a way that many people envy & then criticize. Why can’t you just be glad for an upstanding, impressive man who has done well in life & wants to share his experience & expertise with the American people? May we be saved from Obama & his “experience & expertise” for one more term. You wish this little ol’ comment would stop Romney. Not happenin. It’ll take more than you’ve got, obviously…dint forget to check the poles next week :-)

The reply:

Hiding money in the Cayman Islands and Swiss banks accounts impresses you does it? I find Romney’s practices: Self First – Country be damned. I pay a greater federal tax percentage of income than Mitt Romney tithes and has the audacity to call it paying taxes. I pay more so vampire capitalist millionaires and billionaires don’t have to – not really necessary for you to spin that for me again, N.“Why can’t you just be glad for an upstanding, impressive man who has done well in life & wants to share his experience & expertise with the American people?”

I am: his name is President Barack Hussein Obama. He has 3 years of experience as CiC.

What was the Republican party?

The Republican Party has not always been like this:

In this editorial in the Wisconsin Citizens Media Co-op, Dee Ives, who considers herself a Wisconsin old school Republican, describes how she has watched "with horror" as the Tea Party infiltrated the party of Lincoln,  LaFollette, and Reagan:  

"Over 1,000,000 WI citizens gave our Governor Scott Walker a peoples referendum on his TEA Party Budget and theft of open and transparent politics in WI. For, you see, I am a WI Republican, and have watched with horror as the TEA Party infiltrated our Party of Lincoln, LaFollette, Reagan & Thompson turning it away from exactly what we in WI stand for…Progressive People Powered Democracy. " 

"I was appalled as I watched our Senate, lead by Scott Fitzgerald, break the open meetings laws we had in Wisconsin, despite Peter Barca’s pleas, to illegally pass Act 10 as our brave WI 14 were in Illinois. But, it was just the start of the daily assault we in WI found ourselves faced with. The politicizing of our Dept of Veteran’s Affairs, wanting to cut educational funding by $800 million, raising taxes on our working poor and seniors by cuts to EIC and Homestead monies, wanting to sell State assets without a bidding process, Voter ID, every day we watched our 1st Amendment right to free speech being curtailed, locked out of our house, the Capitol , despite court orders.  We started the Senate Recalls , and many said we failed, but two of those TEA Party fake Republicans were ousted…and all 3 Democrats won back their seats." 

So, I joined the We Are WI team last summer, a non partisan group, one of the things we were concerned about was the voter ID bill, especially as many seniors in nursing homes, including many of my fellow veterans, do not have access to the documentation to get these ID’s so that they can vote in 2012. As I collected my 316 signatures to recall Walker, and 310 signatures for Lt Gov Kleefisch, I finally, almost a year later, got to meet our Governor. When I did, I told him of our Republican concerns of what he was doing cutting BadgerCare and then my boss told him I was a veteran. So, I asked him “Will you give the gift of assurance that all of the Veterans living in our State Veterans Homes will have the free photo ID so they can vote in the next election?” Gov Walker stuttered a “Well, uh” as I reminded him we Veterans all served to protect our Freedom & Democracy…and he was moved very quickly off my unit without answering. 6 veterans were outside, denied the chance to hear him speak , by the State Patrol at the doors. No wonder today I cried… "

There might have been a time when "Both Parties Were (closer than they are now but still not the same)", but that was in a good way, and those days are now gone.      

Hey News Media! Stop sugarcoating Republicans!

A good rant from Facebook Friend Andrew Rei:

"OK News: I've grown really tired of you "sugarcoating" or giving a free pass to the political party that's our biggest threat, foreign or domestic: the Republican Party!

You need to abandon this twisted sense of fairness you have and take Jane Fonda's advice: tell the truth! Conservatives/GOP have a talking point/myth regarding the "Liberal media bias"; and, because you hear them say that, you don't really dig for the whole truth about these racist, sexist, fascist, elitist, greedy, incompetent, corrupt and arrogant bastards. 

For instance: the GOP like to spout the talking point that the "economy is all President Obama's fault"; B*llsh*t! Those of us with half a brain KNOW that the GOP and President GW Bush are STILL RESPONSIBLE for our economic ills; but, you don't want to call them on their BS; frankly, Democrats, Liberals, Progressive and even MODERATE GOP VOTERS ARE TIRED OF HEARING THIS BS! IT NEEDS TO STOP! START TELLING THE WHOLE TRUTH ABOUT THESE BASTARDS!

Please share this liberally; I'd like to see this go "viral" on FB and other media platforms, if possible"

Let's remember:  Both parties are NOT the same!

The GOP Abolishing the Middle Class?

Is there a conscious conspiracy among Republicans to get rid of the middle class?

I really don't believe that there is some kind of conscious conspiracy among the majority of Republicans to get rid of the middle class in favor of a dual class system of the very rich, very privileged, and the rest of us who are starting to scrounge around in an attempt to keep a roof over our heads and food in the bellies of our children.

No, I can't believe that this is what the majority of Republicans want.  But this is what Republican policies could bring us, intentionally or not.

I'm surprised that so many have forgotten why we have a social safety net, regulatory agencies like the EPA, civil and voting rights acts, and fair wage and hours laws. None of this stuff came about out of nothing; it all came about due to NEED:  Without these kinds of programs, large segments of the United States population were struggling and suffering, or they were in danger of doing so. We have cleaned up our lakes, rivers, and air to an amazing extent over the past 40 years. Most of the elderly no longer live in abject poverty. The conditions exposed in books like The Jungle are mostly a thing of the past here... though the condition of Chinese and other foreign workers is disgusting.

Many people who follow Republican dogma have been convinced that help from the government keeps people "on the dole". Therefore, they feel justified in getting rid of those programs.

We don't want people to starve:  Does that mean we want Utopia?

Then I read comments like this one, from a Ron Paul supporter:

"Utopia can't be bought with other people's money."

Utopia?  Who is talking about Utopia?  We are talking about survival here, and perhaps a chance at a greater-than-subsistence life.  And let's not forget that much of the riches of the uber-wealthy were bought with "other people's money".. Corporations paying people peanuts, often to work long hours like dogs, while they (CEO's, officers, and stockholders) pocketed great wads of cash.  

Eric Wattree tackled this issue of the GOP abolishing the middle class  a few days back.

He starts:  

If there’s anyone left in America who, at this point, can’t see that the Republican Party is the enemy of the American middle class, they have to be either feeble minded, or harboring a hidden interest which precludes them from wanting to see. All one has to do to get a clear view of this political reality is to open one’s eyes and look at who the GOP is putting forward to assume the highest office in the land.

One is Mitt Romney, a vulture capitalist who became a charter member of the top one percent club by purchasing perfectly sound companies, firing their employees, and then selling the companies off, one piece at a time, for profit. The other is Newt Gingrich, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives who was so self-serving and corrupt that in 1998 he was forced to resign from congress by his own Republican colleagues.

These two gentlemen, and the self-serving activities of others of their ilk, are the two bookends that led directly to the 2008 collapse of the American economy, causing millions of Americans to lose their jobs, their homes, and their life savings. Mitt Romney represents the selfish capitalists who threw America under the bus for their own personal greed, and Newt Gingrich personifies the corrupt former politician who uses his influence in Congress to lobby his former colleagues to water down the law, allowing the Romney’s of the world to ply their trade.

Wattlee talks about Romney's plan to let foreclosures hit bottom:

He has absolutely no concern for the devastation and turmoil that losing a home would visit upon the lives of a family that’s been turned out into the street – and we’re not just talking about an unfortunate few here. Mitt Romney is talking about casually writing off millions of Americans as collateral damage.

Wattlee then mentions Newt's turn-kids-into-janitors-while-Dad-hits-the-unemployment-line plan:

This Republican frontrunner for president is completely oblivious to the dire straits of the average American family. His solution would make the situation worse. He’s not the least bit concerned with stabilizing the plight of poor and middle-class families. He’s only concerned with destroying organized labor by firing the father and replacing him with the cheaper, and un-unionized, labor of his children.

He finishes:

And the irony is,this GOP fixation on returning poor and middle class American families to Great Depression status has become such of a fundamental part of the GOP mindset that average Republicans, who would be devastated by such a policy, are applauding! They’ve been conditioned to hate this nation’s first Black president so passionately that they’ve bought into self-sacrifice: “Obama is un-American – he’s engaged in a socialist plot to save my family.” ...

What these average Republicans don’t understand is that they’re being manipulated. The corporate conservatives who run the Republican Party don’t care any more about them than they do black people, gays, undocumented workers, or anyone else. The corporatists are simply manipulating their anger, prejudices, and uninformed minds in order to keep the poor and middle class divided. That way, we’re so busy fighting one another that we fail to recognize that they’re cutting all of our throats....

So again, it’s time for America to wake up – and particularly poor and middle class Republicans. Because entrusting this nation and our economy to the GOP would be like entrusting our children to convicted child molesters:

THE GOP: A ONE HUNDRED YEAR RECORD OF SWINDLING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Anybody who thinks that "Both parties are the same" needs to read Wattlee's article.  

My Reply To A Ron Paul Supporter

My Reply to a Ron Paul supporter: 

On a thread at the Facebook page "Republicans Bigotry, Hate, Fear, Lies and Distortion", Charles wrote: "Hey us Paulbots are okay, we are all after the same goals, NO corruption? Am I right? I mean really do not let the party stand in the way... It is the individual that needs to be judged and Newt, Mitt all of them are no good. Ron is the honest one.." 

No, Charles, I am not after the same thing as Ron Paul. This is the 21st century, not the end of the 19th century, and this "every man for himself" stuff won't help us as we compete with countries that care about their citizens. It's called "Progress".

It's believing that we as a country aren't great if we have legions of people living in poverty, living without health care, living without access to good, first-class education. I do not want to be part of a Ron Paul world or a Ron Paul country. I care too much about this country, and I want to see it as great as it should be. 

About Ron Paul's honesty: If he lied about not knowing what racist ideas were published under his name, he is not honest. If he is honest that he had no idea what extreme racist ideas were being published under his name, he is too incompetent to hold public office. If you or I had something written under our names, perhaps a report for work, that had glaring errors or omissions, and our boss asked us if we wrote it, how far would we get if we said, "Yep, my name is on that report, but I didn't write it, my subordinate did. Blame him."

No Difference Between the Republicans and the Democrats?

Copied from a recent Facebook conversation (A disclaimer:  I do NOT agree with every last sentiment expressed in this conversation.):  

Steve wrote:  "No difference between Democrats and Republicans? Hmmmm, let's see. 

• Bush started two wars; Obama's ended combat operations in one of these already. 
• Bush "didn't think about Bin Laden"; Obama had him killed. 
• Bush oversaw years of torture at GitMo; Obama tried to close the detention center during his first year in office (admittedly, he failed thanks to Congressional resistance). 
• Bush pushed for and signed an unpaid-for prescription-drug bill; Obama pushed for and passed the most sweeping and potentially money-saving healthcare reform bill since Johnson.
• Bush gave tax-breaks to only the rich; Obama passed a stimulus bill which, though smaller than needed, put enough Americans to work that Rick Perry used its success to give himself credit for job-growth in Texas. 

Sorry, but those who "see no difference" between the two parties simply aren't looking hard enough."

D. replied:  "Steve...looks like you've got a copy of the standard issue talking points...there's one of those for the other side too...i'm over the two party system..it's not working."

(Sometimes talking points are true!)

Steve:  "D., talking points or not, they also happen to have the added benefit of being true. Also, notice I did not say anything about Obama being perfect, infallible, Superman, etc.; simply that your contention that there is little to no difference between the two parties is dead wrong. Feel free to keep up the sarcasm if you wish, and it's certainly your right to vote third-party, write-in, or not at all, but if you'd like to stick to the actual issues as I have, I'll be happy to listen with an open mind :)."

Granny added:  "Two party system, D.? The problem is there is one big party on Wall Street in a big fat casino where the Romneys of the world think it's their personal playroom. If we eliminate Wall Street altogether these issues won't exist. Wall Street is the biggest fattest lie that trickle down Reaganomics ever gave birth to. It should not exist to begin with, but became the monster it is because of one USA-destroying jerk named RayGun and we aren't going to take it anymore. OUTLAW WALL STREET altogether, it has nothing to do with reality!! :)"

Granny continued:  "Steve I know the difference:  The Right uses their wealth for selfish and wicked purposes; the Left has to play within the rules of the system the Right created and owns. I say if you have to fight money with money, so be it. It's what one DOES with their wealth that matters, and how they acquire that wealth is an issue too. But, bottom line, if the Obamas of the world, and there aren't enough of them, can use corporate money to further a better agenda, so be it until we reform the system at its core. If that requires a bloody revolution, and it appears that is what the Right is bent on having, so be it. I'm a pacifist at heart, but I'm also not going to sit back and let the Right further destroy our nation without a good fight. Brains and Good Intentions First, Fists and Toe Stomping if that's what they force us to use. I prefer to fight fire with water, but if these idiots continue to force us into more drastic measures, I will risk my very life to fight fire with fire!!"

Granny continued:  "Maybe it's time we trick Wall Street's pimps the same way they trick everybody else. Maybe we have to help them set themselves up for total failure and have them begging for the privilege, the same way they have tricked the masses into bowing down to their whims and licking their boots for the "privilege". We must teach them the meaning of the word privilege, for they think it means "I get what I want anyway I can get it and fuck everybody else." They think opportunity means "My opportunity to screw you over for my selfish purposes." They think liberty means "My liberty to do as I please because I have no soul and no morals, ethics or integrity." I'd help them understand LIBERTY if I could have five minutes alone in a windowless room with them. They'd understand liberty once they got out of the room and away from Granny's tongue lashing, and as they exit that room they will all be handed orders which charity or social cause they have been appointed to serve until we give them permission to have their own lives back. Radical? Maybe, but sometimes tough love is the only way."

Steve replied:  "Go Granny! LOL I'm with you. We need publicly-funded elections, anti-trust laws with teeth, the reinstatement of Glass-Stegal, and a New Deal-style plan for building infrastructure and education here rather than knocking other countries down. Furthermore, we need to get God out of politics, an immigration policy that makes sense, healthcare and education for all citizens, environmental regulations which provide enough energy without destroying the planet, and a foreign policy based on mutual trust and national security instead of feeding a corporate agenda via an ever-expanding military-industrial complex on the backs of our poor and under-employed youth...and no, I'm not running ;)."

Granny:  "Steve I agree totally. Don't forget college loan issues Obama has dealt with in spite of congressional hostage taking, ..."

If You Think Obama Sucks, You are not Paying Attention!

Shirley added:  "If you think Obama sucks, you are not paying attention. 

• He has passed the most reforms in history. 
• He kept up us out of a depression. 
• He ended Bush's war, on time. He is cutting the Afghanistan war in 2011 and 2012. 
• He repealed DADT. 
• He is cutting the Pentagon budget by 1 trillion. 
• He over-road huge GOP opposition and named Richard Cordray as the Consumer Watchdog Chief.
• He signed the Wall Street Reform bill -- this was against Wall Street's wishes. 
• He has signed over 200 reforms of Bush's and poor government policies of the past. 
• He pushed the American Jobs Act to get jobs for teachers, firemen, construction workers, and Vets. He succeeded in the jobs incentives for Vets. 

According to history, he has been the most progressive POTUS ever. What sucks about that? What do you want?  For him to walk on water?  Pres. Obama has accomplished more than any leader could have with this obstructive Congress. Read the news. He is kickin' ass. But the unappreciative American people are too blind and deaf to notice."

Well, Shirley, SOME of the unappreciative American people are too blind and deaf to notice.  


Thanks to Steve, Granny, Shirley, and even D.

GOP Politics Are More Vicious than Democratic Politics

The following is from an article at Yahoo Voices by Brian Conners: 

"I defy you to find a Democrat calling a GOP Presidential candidate an un-American terrorist sympathizer. That was Sarah Palin's accusation directed at President Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign.

We don't have to look far back in US history to see how this developed. In the 2004 presidential candidate Bush 43... was not a war hero. His opponent John Kerry was. Karl Rove, Bush 43's "Turd Blossom" had a strategy. He attacked Kerry's strong point and made Kerry use time and resources defending an asset of his character. ...

... The GOP traditionally loves dirty politics. They have done the research and they realize the dirtier they campaign the better they do.

The media had to give equal time to Bush 43's slanderous attack while Kerry defended himself. Every time Kerry defended himself Bush 43's slanderous attack seemed more plausible.

How did Rove come up with this strategy? He adapted his mentor Lee Atwater's Willie Horton strategy which helped Bush 41 win the presidency by making his Democratic opponent, Michael Dukakis, expend his time refuting the claim that he would let rapists out of jail to commit crimes.

How is the GOP using this tactic now?

Katrina Vanden Heuvel in the Washington Post article "Voting rights, super PACs and the media cloud the election" writes "For too many journalists, calling out a Republican for lying requires criticizing a Democrat too, making for a media age where false equivalence is confused, again and again, with objectivity."...

On September 11, 2010, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich stated that Obama could only be understood by people who "understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior." White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs accused Gingrich of "trying to appeal to the fringe of people who don't believe the president was born in this country". Gibbs went on to say, "You would normally expect better of somebody who held the position of Speaker of the House, but look, it is political season, and most people will say anything, and Newt Gingrich does that on a, genuinely, on a regular basis."

Gibbs gave Gingrich's attack free air time by rebutting it. Newt loved that because he estimates that the people who don't like the "politics of personal destruction" wouldn't vote for him in any case and those who would vote for him could use some reminders of why President Obama is not like us....

Propaganda's definition is "information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc."

Isn't that what the GOP has done in the past and is preparing to do now?

Dukakis, Kerry and Obama haven't gotten down in the slime with the GOP which makes them look weak to the undecided, low information voter. This is the GOP's goal.

As long as the GOP can see advantageous poll results they will continue their attack of the Democrats."

Good article, but it presents the serious issue confronting the Democrats in the face of Republican attacks:  If you answer these charges, you make them seem plausible.  If you ignore them, it seems as though you are admitting they are true.   I'm not sure what the right strategy for the Democrats is in these cases.  Please read the whole of Brian Conners' article HERE.

Brian Conners, a Yahoo contributor:

"Was a consumer and producer. Don't know what I'll do in next. I support Democrats who protect the bottom 99%! 

The GOP really is the party of no. When 43 was (Prez), they supported 2 wars, but look at them become doves under President Obama. They supported health care reform until President Obama implemented Affordable Health Care.  They increased the debt limit until President Obama need(ed) to do so.

Rove introduced the "permament campaign" into GOP politics. The GOP really doesn't care about governing and policies and their ramifications. They care only about the next election and shaft the bottom 99% for the benefit of their fat cat contributors."

Brian has been contributing to Yahoo for a couple of years now, and we'll continue to follow him.  Thanks, Brian!

Best Comments on the Big Differences Between the Two Parties

Yes, There is a Very Big Difference!

These are some of my favorite comments from around the Internet on the differences between the two parties in 2012.  I will add to this article when I find new favorite comments:

"There is a very big difference in the two parties this year. 

The right has tried to blow up the presidency of Obama. If he fails, they think they win the White House. That has been their only goal since Obama was elected, and they have done it with great detriment to our country. They didn't care what happened to the people, jobs or the economy. Obama has done everything he can to help the middle class. The GOPTP have voted against him at every turn.

I will vote the straight Democratic ticket in November. I only watch the debates to confirm my choice, and it's working. They are all for themselves­. No thank you. Obama 2012! Straight Democratic ticket 2012!"

No.. They Are NOT the Same!

Welcome to "Both Parties Are NOT the Same!"

As these endless Republican debates continue, I have been increasingly disturbed with what I hear from these candidates and by what I see from the Republican crowds watching these debates.

I have been equally frustrated by many people, many from the progressive uber-left, many supporting someone like Ron Paul or a third party candidate, some from the Occupy movements, that "Both parties are the same".  Look, I know the Democrats and Obama are not perfect (Did anyone expect them to be perfect?), but I know in my heart that they are NOT THE SAME as these, racist, homophobic, anti-woman, and anti-human people who populate the Republican party in the year 2012.

I firmly believe that a vote for any third party person this year is a vote for the Republicans.  I furthermore believe that staying home because someone believes that "There is no difference between the Democrats and the Republicans; they are both tools of Wall Street" is the same as voting approval to the race-baiting, despicable Republicans. 

I intend to include two major types of articles in this blog:

1. Information, articles, comments that really highlight the difference between the current crop of Republicans and the Democrats.
2. Information, articles, comments that answer some of the complaints from the uber-left, disgruntled Progressives, Ron Paul supporters, and various Third Party supporters that "both parties are the same; both parties are supported by corporations", etc.  

Though I am a fierce advocate of getting money out of politics, overturning Citizen's United, and putting strong caps on lobbying, particularly on behalf of corporations, I do not feel that both parties are the same, that Obama is just a tool of Goldman-Sachs, and I'm tired of reading such rhetoric as the "Bush/Obama perma war machine."

I will say that Ron Paul is fair game on this blog.  I contend that the poor quality of education in this country has led the way to many young people completely missing Paul's racist and sexist character and somehow seeing him as a hero.

Unlike my Molly's Middle America blog, which highlights jobs and employment numbers and trends, as well as political commentary, this blog will not feature as much original writing.  I expect that it will include mostly links to other information, paragraphs, "blurbs" and comments from Facebook and other places that are relevant to the topic of the blog, but all of this information will be organized for easy reference.

I welcome all comments and any emails, particularly those with articles or sources.  I will not delete comments with opposing viewpoints unless they involve name-calling, abuse, lies, or repeated inane statements.  Those will go.

The Four Republican Stooges

A quick run-down on the Republican Candidates for President from a vehement opponent: 

They are all liars. They are all TRASH. They are poor excuses for human beings and they are only in the race for their EGOS, not because they give a damn about America.

Newt the Puke... 84 Ethics violations as Speaker of the House. Thinks 5-year black children need to clean toilets an work. Is that his answer to educational needs in America, deprive black children of one and enslave them?

Mitt the Sh*t.., thinks Corporations are People and should not pay taxes... Since most pay Zero, I guess we would pay them to have a job. 

Ron the Pawn- thinks blacks are worthless and put in writing. They all feel that way about Hispanics as well.

Rick the Dick- thinks women are garbage and he has the right to control their bodies, although he never mentions that his wife had an abortion. He also agrees with the Puke about the direction of black 5- year olds.

Not one of these representatives of what the GOP has to offer has a feasible plan to bring us out of the Bush Debacle and help bring the rising deficit down except make working people work for nothing so the wealthy keep all they have.

That's not gonna happen no matter how many dumb ass people ... listen to Fox News and don't read the facts on who did what to this country and it is not President Obama....

Whether or not you believe in 'God' one thing is for certain:

These Republican candidates could not be further off from Jesus's teachings as laid out in the bible if they TRIED to be; everything they stand for is almost the exact opposite of what the bible says. Feed the poor, care for the sick, love your enemies, reject greed, do not foster hatred of your fellow man, promote togetherness, do not point fingers, do not take the Lord's name in vain.

Truly disgusting bunch in every way, absolutely disgusting that this is level we are at in this country, these people being of a high enough stature to run for PRESIDENT. These people are not fit to hold ANY office, should have been run off years ago.

Update 5/17/2012

Three of the four have been run off, and one remains.  What does the Republican party have to offer the American people?  The answer now, as it was four months ago when this was written, is:  Not one thing.