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CHICAGO – Mitt Romney sought to sharpen his contrast with President Obama on the nation’s most pressing economic issues in a Tuesday afternoon speech on the president’s home turf.
Romney assailed what he called the administration’s “assault on economic freedom” in a speech at the University of Chicago, where Obama was a law professor for 12 years. The school is also reputed as the traditional home to the school of economics that compose the intellectual foundations of modern free-market conservatism.
Romney castigated the president for applying the "heavy hand of government" too broadly, particularly on taxes and regulations, and told his audience of some 150 students and faculty that the time had come to change the economic course of the country.
"Over the last several decades, and particularly over the last three years, Washington has consistently encroached upon our freedom. The Obama administration’s assault on our economic freedom is the principal reason why the recovery has been so tepid – why it couldn’t meet their expectations, let alone ours," Romney said. "If we don’t change course now, the assault on freedom could damage our economy and the well-being of American families for decades to come."
The former Massachusetts governor used the high-profile speech, covered by a large contingent of Chicago and national media, to decry the state of the nation under the Obama administration, but did not roll out any new policy prescriptions of his own.
"We once built the interstate highway system and the Hoover Dam. Today, we can’t even build a pipeline," Romney said. "We once led the world in manufacturing, exports, and infrastructure investment. Today, we lead the world in lawsuits"
Romney's speech, in which he promised that "our economic freedom will be on the ballot," comes amidst two straight days of campaigning almost solely on kitchen-table economic issues like gas prices and tax relief. While Romney made no mention of his opponents as "economic lightweights" directly in this speech, as he has at each other stop in Illinois, his campaign illuminated the contrast on his behalf, sending out a press release just as Romney's speech ended, quoting his chief rival, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum saying this morning that "the issue in this race is not the economy."
As Romney was delivering his speech, roughly 100 miles away in Dixon, Illinois, Santorum was talking about freedom, too, attacking Romney for the health care law he passed in Massachusetts.
"Let’s just be brutally honest about it. There’s one candidate in this race who could never make this race about freedom because he simply abandoned freedom when he was governor of Massachusetts and he abandoned it when he promoted Obamacare in 2009,” Santorum said.
(Santorum was making reference to a 2009 op-ed by Romney in USA Today in which he argues for modeling national health reform on the plan he enacted as governor of Massachusetts.)
Near the end of his remarks, Romney remarked on the pet issue of one former candidate, long removed from the nominating contest, when he joked about the end of incandescent light bulb sales in the US, a regulatory battle long fought, and ultimately lost, by Rep. Michelle Bachmann.
"A regulator would have shut down the Wright Brothers for their “dust pollution," Romney joked. “And the government would have banned Thomas Edison’s light bulb. Oh yeah, Obama’s regulators actually did just that."
NBC's Andrew Rafferty contributed reporting.
Leave a Comment:
The speech was as flat as the pancake Willard ordered yesterday...
Ahem - in my best Gomer Pyle voice...
SURPRISE - SUPRISE - SURPRISE!
It would be nice if some intrepid reporter would ask some TOUGH questions for a change.
Instead of allowing the rhetoric to roll out of both sides of Willard's mouth!
..........Romney castigated the president for applying the "heavy hand of government" too broadly, particularly on taxes and regulations...........
Yeah, I guess lower taxes and helping to prevent damage to the environment is a bad thing in the eyes of the GOP candidates. Obama has fought long and hard to help everyone especially the middle class by always calling for tax breaks for us. What exactly is wrong with that?
Why on God's green earth would ANYONE want our federal government to get any bigger than it already is?!?
Seriously.....unless you're on the dole somehow, I just don't get it.
If you're among the lower half of income earners you're currently paying ZILCH in income taxes! What is it that I'm missing?
Is this board filled with food stamp recipients? WTF am I missing? Any government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take it away.
I will never get liberalism.
Yeah... that's the ticket. I 'll lie about the President in his home state that should garner a whole lot of support.
Good Luck with that!
Obama/Biden 2012
The Columbus Dispatch:
Where is the conservation movement drifting? Nowhere you’d visit if you like to hunt, fish, trap or watch wildlife.
That’s the message from a report headlined, “Sportsman’s Storm: Fish-and-game protections are in the path of a killer Congress,” in the March issue of Field & Stream.
The U.S. House is particularly culpable. One in five (20%) roll-call votes in 2011 involved the weakening of environmental regulations, the report says, citing the mainstream National Wildlife Federation as its source.
The article quotes Dale Hall, CEO of Ducks Unlimited and a 31-year veteran of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as saying, “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Moreover, warnings are being issued by people who on many fronts traditionally have leaned toward supporting Republican Party principles, which appear to have changed dramatically in a generation.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2012/03/18/conservationists-alarmed.html
from the Washington post ... "In his 19-minute speech, which Romney delivered wearing a suit and with the aid of *teleprompters*, Romney said the word "freedom" some 29 times."
That must have lit up a room full of economics/finance students/professors. These guys are all about numbers, not useless diatribes.
Michael,
Size of Government --
>History of the Federal workforce on average (Excluding military personnel):
Key: President <> (Average Govt. Employees) <> (Population) <> (Percent of Population)
Reagan <> 2.91 mil <> 237.5 mil <> 1.23%
Obama <> 2.78 mil <> 308.7 mil <> 0.90%
"Heavy hand" on taxes? Whatever IS Romney talking about?
And where am I, anyway?
Is this Oz?
No.
The point, as usual.
Well, you got that right, anyway. You never WILL get it.
And to answer my own question, I guess it IS Oz, after all.
Now, devie. As a liberal, you should feel sorry for poor Mitt. As Ann Richards once said about George H.W. Bush, "Poor [Mitt] ... he cain't help it ... he was born with a silver foot in his mouth."
And as a result of this deformity, he lies just about every time he opens it.
I know right!? All the crazy TLAs that we barely have an idea about (let alone their budgets) and on top of all those, the Republicans want to spend more time and money all up in women's nether regions?
Some of us have no choice. Smaller cereal boxes from the big corps, higher gas prices from the big traders and all that. Never mind the utterly skewed housing "market" where many people won't even live to pay off those mortgages if they were doing so on time...
You could if you would just open your mind, listen to the other side and stop using Fox News as your source of information.
And you ain't seen nothin' yet, neither, if we don't hold at least one house of Congress or the White House.
The philosophy here is to throw enough stuff up at the ceiling, and eventually, Democrats will get tired of blocking it ... and some of it will stick.
And even worse, the Democrats are too busy soliciting campaign contributions from energy companies to pay attention.
...And the best answer you come up with is to take more from your neighbor?
I will never get liberalism.
Feisty: "It would be nice if some intrepid reporter would ask some TOUGH questions for a change."
Well, apparently an intrepid STUDENT tried to ask Romney a tough question about things like student loans today. Check out Mitt's response. I can just see young people stampeding to join his campaign!
http://www.hapblog.com/2012/03/romney-at-university-of-chicago-i-dont.html
O.K......challenge on. I'm all eyes. Sincerely, define liberalism.
My television is off so Fox and MSMBC are not in earshot. Tell me what I'm not getting.
I believe you have that totally a** backwards. Many folks were doing just fine until your idols came along and destroyed the unions that protected their jobs, took away their health insurance, wrecked the housing market, and robbed everyone's 401(k) plans.
YOUR side is the side that keeps taking, and taking, and taking from your neighbors, and then blaming them because they have nothing left.
No, you never WILL get it.
But you might ... if you only had a heart, a brain, the nerve.
Holy Cow Anna Molly! Food stamps not come in time?!?!....WTF are you so angry about?!?
Tell ya what, get up tomorrow and start fresh. Smile and go be a productive member of society. You'll thank me later for the advice.
Now......back to my challenge......define liberalism.
Anna, that just about sums up Mitt "the Weather Vane" Romeny. He will say and do anything to get his greedy mits on the reins of power.
Poor ol' Mitt? Man, oh man I need to be that kind of poor. Sure is hard to feel sorry for a guy that rich. :)
"We once built the interstate highway system and the Hoover Dam. Today, we can’t even build a pipeline," Romney said.
That's right, dork-boy- "WE" built.....
You know- "WE...as in "T A X P A Y E R S". Seems those projects were done by *gasp* GUBMINT!
What a lame-brain. This guy been haning around with No Jo too damned long.
'Why on God's green earth would ANYONE want our federal government to get any bigger than it already is?!?'
I've been wondering that myself, when I read about all these new laws being implemented or proposed against women. I don't get conservatives, they decry the government is too big, yet they keep pushing to make it even bigger.
One thing I do know about them, NONE of them can mind their own business, they hate women, and for that matter, really anyone who is not an white Anglo Saxon male.
Good Gawd JoAnne!
Couldn't you just feel the enthusiasm? lol
Of course not. He has no credible prescriptions.
I'll make a deal with Romney and others like him. We can eliminate all regulations and enact one. It would read something like this: Do no harm.
Nice and broad based. And if any drillers, bankers, business or Wall Street cause harm they will be allowed to argue their case before an arbitration board paneled with citizens.
As for the lightbulb nonsense, it was enacted under Bush. Get the facts straight.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Independence_and_Security_Act_of_2007
I like how JFK put it.
That is what a "Liberal" is, Michael.
http://www.liberalparty.org/JFKLPAcceptance.html
Hey, Feisty -
"Mitt Mania" rocks Chicago - I'm surprised you haven't been swept away!
P.S. to devie - I'd proudly go with JFK's definition, too - thanks.
LMAO!....Awesome "bumper sticker".
Should I just copy and paste one on Reagan's finer moments for ya? Please don't solidify my thought that you cannot think for yourself.
See, this here lame excuse for a retort just about sums up your problem. I'm "angry," if you can call it that (since I'm sitting here smiling) because I'm stuck here at work for another hour when I really would love the chance to play and play all day on line ... like some of the conservatives out here seem to do.
I'm "angry" precisely because I DON'T get food stamps. What's YOUR excuse?
As for defining liberalism ... I suspect you'd know it, if ever you saw it. But admittedly, it's tough to see from inside those gated communities that you and your paranoid friends are all so fond of.
Double dog dare you.
Shining city on a hill. Morning in America.
Talk about a legacy. Should be good for a laugh.
Well technically, I have been busy sweeping - all the crap off my porch that Willard's been dropping! ;o)
I've met paper plates with more personality than Willard!
Romney wants to take regulations off of the corporations who put us in the place we are in now. Once again, corporations under a Romney administration would be free to make a killing for themselves while they kill the economy for everyone else. Gee that was fun in 2008, let's do it again!
At the same time, the "small government" people want to place all kinds of restrictions on what people do in terms of who they can marry and how they shall reproduce. The government is also interested in mandatory peeks into women's orifices. A vote for Romney is a vote for a government who thinks your business is their business.
Obama/Biden 2012!
This says it all: Game Over
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2POembdArVo&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Mikey FUBAR is back, and it's STILL obvious he has no effing clue...so, in a few moments he will say:
...and be on his merry way, back to Fox Nation and the Blaze...
Mikey, your homework for tonight is to find and read the study that found Conservatism to be a mental disorder...no really...scientific data and all...then you will understand why you are the way you are.
Ah. That explains a few things. The wind has been blowing from the South all day, sending all that stuff this way. Even the flies are dropping like flies from the stench of it.
Belfast Lad - Powerful video & great reminder of how far we have come...
Still, I'm gonna save my touchdown 'dance' until 11.7.2012! ;o)
Anna Molly,
Sorry about that - next time I'll use my Dyson! ;o)
Michael 1969,
You do realize that most senior citizens are at that low income level and by the way it isn't half the population in the lower income levels. There are more today than there were in, say 1999 but we've had a big recession or did you miss that? Once people are finding jobs because employers are hiring again the number of people in the lower income brackets will go down and middle income will go up. Now, if Willard and his ilk have their way there will only be two classes the extremely wealthy and the extremely poor, kind of like feudal Europe or a third world country.
Senior citizens have worked hard and long and earned retirement. Unfortunately retirement doesn't pay like working does and so the income is much smaller. With the decline in funds earned from 401K and IRA plans due to the recession some are returning to work at low paying jobs and part time just to try and make ends wave at each other let alone meet.
Do you want streets filled with beggars who can't even afford a decent meal? Get up on your high horse and toss farthings at the peasants and delight in the sight of them scrambling to get one or two. Do you delight in the misery of others so your selfish whims can be met at your becon call? If not, Michael maybe you are more liberal than you think. Living in the greed is good 80 is a long time passed. I know conservatives love living in the past but try, try living in the present and facilitate the future with us will ya?
I am with JFK on this and others citing his statments were certainly in order.
Now, now Michael, Don't be alarmed. All of us including you are influenced by our leaders and one who so eloquently put into words how all of us "Liberals" feel and think is worth repeating.
The whole idea that we are all on Food Stamps is ludicrous. You do know that ultra "Conservative" Bob Dole was one of the biggest supports of the Food Stamp Program, right? Yes that is correct. He knew the best way to distribute food to the poor and the needy was through what? The world's best food distribution network our Super Markets. Wow! Imagine that.
Now thanks for listening.
@ JoAnne (regarding your video clip) --
And Republicans have the NERVE to accuse President Obama of class warfare.
I couldn't believe my eyes and ears.
@ baldeagle --
If you haven't watched Joanne's video clip, you really should. Romney is openly pitting the younger generation against the older generation. He is essentially telling young people that the only way they'll ever have anything is to take it away from their parents and grandparents.
Ayn Rand would be SO proud.
Not sure about Jesus, though.
Blah, blah, blah. We already know that Teapublicans are incapable of learning, and want to go back to letting Wall Street run wild and protecting tax breaks for the rich while the rest of us wait for some of it to trickle down to us, but it never does. Been there, done that, don't need to do it again. Romney doesn't have to strive for a clear distinction, he is already the poster boy for the 1%.
Let's see a real plan from one of these Teapublicans that won't cause deficits to skyrocket or destroy the middle class!
Anna Molly -- Good ole Oz. Don't look behind the curtain! Well I for one have no interest in Kansas, and sure hope Mitt keeps his mitts off of Toto.
Wayne-1656909
A great bumper sticker.
A good closing to an ad -- The GOP/TP where your business is their business.
Unless you're a Republican and there's -- Heaven forbid -- sex going on back there. In that case, feel free to look.
But they're only doing it for our own good.
I believe Carole King recorded the song ... "I've been to Kansas, and I don't wanna go back again ...."
Except for the little field trip I'm organizing to visit Koch industries.
I want THEIR business to be MY business.
To paraphrase Dorothy, "and Santorum, too."
To paraphrase Glinda, "he's worse than the other one."
Eeeeuuuwww.
I completely understand that we have to have a Republican Candidate, also, for this November's upcoming Wing-ding; but does "no substance" RRR, Inc (Ranting Republican Romney, Inc) understand that LIFE consists of more than, and is actually at this moment, almost completely destroyed by, just another and one more in a long long continuing series of "Deceptive-Republican" conveniently misued and misguided "catch phrases" for continued assault, itself?
"Assault on Economic Freedom" = "Right to Work", as "deceptive catch phrase", No?
nomoresameo "Yeah, I guess lower taxes and helping to prevent damage to the environment is a bad thing in the eyes of the GOP"
How do you get 'lower taxes' when Obama is spending $1.3 Trillion more than we are taking in each year? Someone has to pay for that, and it will be our children - with HIGHER taxes.
And how about a 'balance' with 'reasonable' environmental protections that don't kill jobs. Some environmentalists would be happy if we all lived in caves and used campfires to stay warm - Oops, nix the campfires - too much 'Carbon Pollution'.
Of course we are taking in less than we spend -- Haven't you heard about the Great Recession, and people losing their jobs (income tax), losing their homes (property tax) and unable to spend (sales tax)? And if you're so concerned about your children paying for it, then how about paying your own damn taxes right now?
Temporarily we can have low taxes, or we can spend below 20% of GDP, but we can't do both forever. Once the economy and job creation improves enough, we need to let the Bush tax cuts expire -- with the 2003 breaks for the rich ending immediately. And for heaven sakes, bring our troops home from Afghanistan ASAP. If there are any more wars, pay for it with War Bonds or what have you, but pay for it!
Apparently Romney does best in mudslinging and best in talking big hot air. On taxes he paid less tax than the rest of All taxpayer. Wasn't he the one that put over 10 000 people out of work when he was at BAin capital ? I can Imagine if he becomes the pres, unemployment reach 20%. Romney is good for himself not for the American taxpayer that built the hoover dam, Romney wouldn't allow Hoover dam to be built if he was president then, it was built when a democrat pres was in office. the previous pres was a republican that bankrupt the US. Is time for Romney to stop the Bullsh..and act like an electable candidate with integrity and have real good plans. Remember This mess we are in is from the previous republican administration/congress from overspending.
Job Creation
http://energytomorrow.org/job-creation/#/type/all
America's oil and natural gas industry supports 9.2 million men and women across the United States in a wide range of highly skilled, well-paying
professions. In fact, oil and natural gas industry exploration and production
wages are more than double the national average. An analysis of
API's public data, independent research and corporate annual reports finds that
the industry distributed $176 billion in wages paid to U.S. employees, plus
benefits and payments to oil and natural gas leaseholders.
Oil and natural gas companies invest in cutting-edge
technology and offer fulfilling careers to the next generation of American
engineers, geophysicists, chemists, earth scientists, geologists, climate
experts and explorers. These individuals, working with the best technologies,
will help find and recover oil and natural gas here and abroad and help secure
America's energy future. In addition, the industry employs professionals that
most people don't normally associate with our industry, such as botanists and
marine biologists, even zoologists and veterinarians.
With the right government policies in place, the oil and
natural gas industry can create more American jobs that can help grow the U.S.
economy, generate substantial new revenues for government and provide greater
energy security for our nation.
In fact, with increased access to U.S. oil and gas
resources we can create 1
million new jobs in the next ten years alone. To put that in perspective,
that would provide enough jobs for nearly every citizen of Rhode Island. A
recent study by Wood
Mackenzie found that by 2030, nearly 1.4 million new jobs could be added
through policies which encourage development of America's oil and natural
resources, and facilitate Canadian
oil sands production through the development of Keystone XL and other
related piplines. A few examples are as follows:
Shale alone could create 160,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, 20,000 jobs in
New York and 30,000 jobs in West Virginia by 2015.
exploration and development could result in up to 100,000 new
Florida jobs by 2016--just with increased access to federal areas
within the Gulf of Mexico.
the Keystone XL
pipeline could generate nearly
85,000 jobs by 2020
To learn more about the Wood Mackenzie study and view
state specific job creation numbers, view this interactive job creation map.
The defining moment for liberalism was a simple one, we need to pass this bill so everyone can find out what is in it. Pretty much sums up the honesty and integrity of liberalism. For liberals, the end justifies the means. Winning at all costs, by any means is all that matters to liberals.
They epitomize hypocrisy, with the perfect example being bashing Bush for adding 4 trillion to our national debt over 8 years, but giving Obama a pass when he adds even more in less then four years. To the liberals, two wrongs do make a right if one of the wrongs is a liberal which means there is actually only one wrong. If that is almost impossible for you to follow, then you now have a good grasp of liberalism.
Winners take responsibility, losers blame others. We have had 3.5 years of the Obama administration and his supporters blaming everyone and anyone for everything. This country needs a president that wears big boy pants, and not someone that can only talk a good game.
Romney says "Washington has consistently encroached upon our freedom."
Is he speaking for al-Qaeda, or just the overpaid capitalists who want to bundle bad mortgages with bad and sell them with impunity? I'd really like to know whose "freedom" Romney thinks the Obama administration has hurt.
Amy mindlessly worshipping at the Altar of Big washington Government, yet again.
Liberals cant comprehend basic facts: that government usually isnt the solution, it is the problem.
Well Bob in VA,
Who caused the financial meltdown? The government, or private banks who could speculate against their own products?
Who created the foreclosure crisis? The government, or underwriters who engaged in exotic loan modifactions (3/1 ARM, anyone?)?
Who created the trade disparity? The government, or Walmart shoppers?
Who fired/refused to re-hire veterans returning from deployments? The government, or private businesses?
I don't think the government is always the answer.
But I do think that privatizing everything most definitely is not, and never will be.
Bob ... then there is
"The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself." Patrick Moynihan
nothing is ever perfect, but at least we can have a say in our government, if big business was running the show do you think any of us would ever have a say in what they do.
the government is for the people (at least it should be)
big business is for profits (and always will be)
who do you want to lead our nation now
Bob,
Republicans love to quote these little homilies as if they were proven facts, instead of hollow rhetoric dreamed up by old, dead politicians like Reagan. At least you threw in a "usually" instead of just asserting "government isnt the solution, it is the problem." I suppose that makes you a moderate.
When you look at the difference between how Japan has handled a natural disaster, as opposed to Haiti, I think you will agree with me, a better generalization might be "a well organized government means the difference between being able to rebuild after a disaster, and still sleeping under tarps on traffic medians years after your structures have collapsed."
Bob in Virginia, you have your talking points down pat. Repeating the FoxNews cliche talking points verbatim, is not a very convincing argument.
The Republicans are only too happy to encroach on a woman's freedom to have a frank and honest discussion with her physician and arrive at the health care decision that is best for her. They are also happy to order that woman to pay for invasive tests that are unnecessary and that she may not be able to afford.
Bob: name me an example of how government is the problem. I can give you three ways in which the government is the solution; retirement care for seniors, safety nets to keep people from falling into poverty, and regulation to keep the economy from doing the same thing it did in the Depression and the Great Recession.
OBAMA BIDEN 2012
BIG GOVERNMENT 2012
SMALL GOVERNMENT MY ASS 2012
Wake me up when Romney actually has a positive plan out there (sorry, trickle down does not count as a new plan - neither does cutting taxes on the rich, more deregulation, and spending cuts).
And a "positive" plan to liberals means more and more government, taking over more and more of our lives.
Positively ruining our freedom and way of life.
Sure.
And you and the Republicans want a government small enough to fit into a woman's uterus.
Only 6 inches of government, right?
Oh, and a massive military-industrial complex to keep fighting your wars for you (probably only have 3 inches of government, but tell them all it's 6)
Not if you are a woman in Arizona - freedom means having to answer intrusive questions by your employer and then risking getting fired. I don't know how much more of an intrusive government you can get than that.
Bob,
Has anyone ever told you that your sunny disposition could spoil a wet dream? Just asking.
Bob, you tout the usual GOP mantra that 'Liberals' want a larger Government, and Republicans want a smaller Government. Isn't it ironic that it is the GOP who have been passing/trying to pass laws the past 3 years to the detriment primarily towards women, gays and the middle-class worker/family, which in turn means a BIGGER GOVERNMENT? President Obama has been reducing GOVERNMENT jobs left and right, while filling more PRIVATE sector jobs, trying to ensure rights to ALL people, and keeping AMERICA towards a better future. Oh wait, that can't be right, it goes against everything the GOP has been espousing!!! Damn that President Obama!!!!
The meaning of freedom to Mittens is him paying no taxes. Obviously, 15% is too big a chunk for him. He wants to stash even more money in the Cayman Islands.
And about loss of manufacturing.......... I think he and Bain helped that when they started closing down factories so they could cyphon the profits for themselves.
And I don't think their would be much freedom for women if he were in charge. Just more vaginal probes and less cancer screenings.
Yes Mitt......... With you in charge, what a wonderful world it would be..........................NOT!!!
!
The meaning of freedom to most liberals is getting a government check..
Except that Republicans are more likely to be on welfare than democrats.
Source: content.ksg.harvard.edu/blog/jeff_frankels_weblog/2010/03/31/red-states-blue-states-and-the-distribution-of-federal-spending/
Vagina Bob - Why don't you look up the meaning of "Liberal", you stupid hillbilly, before you make such idiotic statements. Are you sure you're not from Mississippi?
You should change your name to "Vagina Bob in Mississippi"
This? This is the small government.
fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-tea-party-leader-accused-of-sexual-assault,0,5956236.story
Small enough that it won't protect women from a brutal raping.
Totally not surprised, though. It's a natural extension of their recently-declared war on women's bodies.
You go right ahead thinking that, Bob. A smart fighter knows his opponent so as to better take them on but you instead choose to parrot right-wing talking points about the folks that post here. You underestimation of Obama supporters will be a factor in your inevitable defeat.
Bob, get your Faux News mustache ready to wear since you're a believer of the Republican way like another infamous person was....
Who do the republicans get their talking points from?
"The national government will maintain and defend the foundations on which the power of our nation rests.
It will offer strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective morality.
Today Christians stand at the head of our country. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit.
We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theatre, and in the press -- in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of LIBERAL excess during the past years."
-- Adolf Hitler
So republicans, who's wearing the funny mustache now?
Everyone who understands how the GOP IS the fascist party please repost this ad nauseum. The voting public needs to be educated to exactly who they would be voting for.
Adolf sounds like the perfect speech writer for Santorum. Reading it I thought that is who you were quoting until I got to the Adolf part.
Too funny.
Bob, can you give me some examples of liberalism "taking over more and more of our lives"?
I think I can answer this question as Bob reminds me of my own dear departed hateful, staunch republican father. My father liked nothing more than demeaning women, being from Arkansas and part of the good old boy club. He told me the aspirin joke in the 60's only then it was a can of tomato juice.
If I spoke up about my rights of not being talked to the way he did, then his next favorite was to backhand me and bounce me off the wall.
White men have thought for many, many years that they are better and have more rights and are smarter and know everything better than anyone else in the world. Therefore President Obama is not white and could not possibly know what he is doing. That is also why they didn't need a women to speak about birth control.
Now that women have rights and their husbands are no longer allowed to beat them and people of color are becoming our president brought to you by liberals, their whole being and self-worth and power is slipping away and therefore they think that liberalism is "taking over more and more of our lives"
It makes you understand why the republicans are so desperate to make laws that put them once again in control of women's bodies and want to deprive the poor blah people food. All about demeaning just like the vaginal probe laws.
Republicans like my father needed someone to demean to make himself feel more like a man. Kinda like the republicans beating their chest on their march to war to feel more like a man.
VOTE FOR TRUE FREEDOM...VOTE FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS.....Obama/Biden 2012
Romney selling his brand of freedom(that only benefits his rich buddy's) to the middle classes is like selling tires to someone who doesn't own a car. Doesn't mean a whole helluva lot.....
Obama/Biden 2012
Less Government......... OK:
And these rules are for everyone, including retired tea-baggers.
But rest-assured..........women will still have to get those vaginal probes.
Ramboet, your post is no exaggeration. Since Tea Party governor LePage took over in Maine, he has tried to kick 65,000 poor and sick people off of Medicaid, funnel tax payer funds to private schools, (in the name of "school choice") roll back environmental laws (like the ban on the chemical BPA in children's sippy cups), lowered taxes on the wealthiest, and tried to create a sub-minimum wage for teenagers, while relaxing the hour restrictions on how much they can work. It's the right wing agenda in action, plus he's approached governing itself with an utter lack of civility.
Don't ask me how any of this was supposed to create jobs in Maine.
PS
And since Gov Christy was elected in NJ, he's cut spending on cops to the point where Trenton has lost a third of it's police force and crime there is on the rise.
Ramboet...You're scaring me......The real truth about TeaPeople is frightening.
It amazes me when ever a major problem arises people call on the government to fix everything. Then once the problem is fixed the people complain that the government is too big and controlling and demonizes the government
you can't have it both ways
either we have a government that regulates big business to make sure we normal people don't get screwed,
or we can deregulate and go back to lazzie-faire style government and let big business run wild (which btw led to the great depression in the first place)
you get what you vote for
Romney is a liar, a hypocrite, and is morally repugnant. His self serving and narcissistic personality is nauseating. All of that I can take- his policies are the reason I could never vote for him.
Romney has signed a pledge to overturn Roe v Wade and he has the nerve to talk about someone else taking your freedom.
Republicans are trying to make women into second class citizens. Doesn't sound all that free to me.
Same old, same old, look over here at the economy while we steal all your human rights and put the republican taliban in charge.
VOTE.....FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS......Obama/Biden 2012
Please cite where you read/heard that Romney has signed a pledge to overturn Roe vs. Wade
It is included with the person-hood pledge that all of the nominees have signed.
Plus he said it on televison on the Huckabee show. He said the direct words that he wanted to overturn Roe v Wade. I heard it with my own ears even though I couldn't believe he said it. In that same interview he said he supported the person-hood amendment that is so radical that the republicans could not even get the people in ultra conservative Mississippi to vote for it.
Plus I read it in an article in the Nation magazine.
Want to give up your rights, vote for a republican for anything.
If companies were responsible citizens there would be no need for "heavy handed" government. Regulations are in place because of greedy people who want to be able to run amok grabbing all the money for themselves and not giving a wit about anyone else. (Sound familiar Mitt, ol boy).
Taxes in the US are already among the lowest of all developed countries. It is time people woke up to the fact that we can't live with them but we also can't live without them. President Obama has already headed up a smaller government than he inherited and more cuts are being made in the federal and state governments due to lack of funds to pay people.
How do we get more funds to serve the people? Raise the income. That can be done by either hiring more people in the workforce both private and public sectors so they will pay taxes and put money in the coffers; we could make millionaires pay a tad more; cut subsidies (welfare) to big oil companies; we could raise tarriffs on imports from places like China or Vietnam; and we could stop pork barrel spending such as bridges to nowhere and other such nonsense projects but really spend on infrastructure that will benefit whole communitis while putting people to work; we can bring back the jobs that were out sourced to places like China, Vietnam, India and the Philippines. By spending a little for incentives toward clean, safe, renewable, reliable eventually low cost sources of energy we can create higher paying jobs thus generating more income tax revenue. President Obama knows this and has said as much obviously Mitt Romney hasn't got a clue. The GOP/TP talking points since 1980 has been cut cut cut and cut more. Ronald Reagan, the god of the Republicans raised taxes several times because it was necessary to stop the inflation much of which came from spending on the Vietnam war, star wars and the like.
bald -- some thoughts on your post though your cheap shot at the beginning will be ignored.
Tax burdens need to be shared. Today in America we have 40% or so tax-paying eligible folks paying nothing. That has to change. I believe wealthier individuals should pay more but we cannot balance the federal budget on their backs alone.
Please provide a source your claim on size of government. I find 2010 stats but not 2011. The 2010 stats do not support your claim.
The Congress, republicans and democrats share equal blame for the tax code.
Tax subsidies on big oil range anywhere from $20B - 40B per year. At 2010 rates of federal government borrowing that is around 10 days of help. Not a lot, but every bit helps. I would take it beyond big oil and eliminate all government subsidies.
Raising taxes on imports is a slippery slope, the countries involved will likely just do the same to us.
Agree on the bridge to nowhere. Also suggest that many pork barrel things are what get the politicians reelected. Many brag how much they brought back home. As long as that is a successful campaign tool it won't change.
I agree on the infrastructure but it needs oversight. The eventual admission that the "shovel-ready" jobs of the recent past did not really exist should be remembered.
Outsourcing is a function of the global economy. Companies are in business to make profits for shareholders. My company recently transferred some California positions to Poland. With the communications technology available today there was no need to pay California wages and taxes.
It looks like you want the government to pick the winners and losers with your incentives. I think that is how we got to where we are today. When the democrats in the house introduced the big oil subsidies in the mid-1980s it made sense but not today. Spending money on renewable energy is good but whether you can say they are low cost is worth discussion. I wonder how much energy is expended to generate the electricity needed to charge a Volt or a Leaf?
I disagree with your conclusion as you seem to lay blame for everything at the feet of the republicans. I believe, as i said earlier, that both parties are equally irresponsible and have gotten us to where we are today.
The President has made some good decisions but by and large I think he has not done well in the job. Can Romney do better, not sure, but I am listening.
Good response james.
Michael1969, asked why would anyone want the federal govt. to be bigger than it already is? My answer is below
Why dont we ask Mr Rubio and Mr. Blunt. How large would they want the federal govt to be in other to enable it police women health care and what contraceptive is used for in the privacy of their bed room.
This war on women thing is getting old. You liberal women (and unfortunately some of your "men") are the only ones that see it. I remember reading one of your cronies after the Kansas primary writing something like "how can these women vote for Santorum? Don't they realize he is trying to take their rights away" followed by all kinds of name calling and derogatory statements that would make Limbaugh blush. The difference is, conservative women are comfortable in their own skin. They feel threatened by no one. They live their lives and don't profess to know what is best for their whole gender and their lives. They live life. Not worrying about some pie in the sky demon that is going to come out of the basement and take away everything. You liberals are so wrapped up in your own "greatness", that you have forgotten how to live and look over your shoulder for the boogey man that is going to strip you or your rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If you would open your eyes, that boogey man is the one whom you worship in office right now. You write off his ridiculous form of "leadership" as progressive and caring and moving forward when in reality, the ultimate goal is to control every aspect of your life through increase government regulation and eventually, a single class. Reading some of your comments, that is not something you will like. You are all of the mindset that you are invincible and all knowing what is good for everyone. You do realize that equal is equal right? Let's give the annointed one another four years and see if you like where you end up on the scale. You don't think YOUR life will change. However, equal is equal. If you are in the lower classes, you MAY be lifted. If you are in the upper class, let's see how much you like giving away everything you have worked for in the past, as well as the future as the equalization (wealth redistribution) takes place. You are NOT immune, whether you like it or not.
For years the right wing has openly attacked womens rights on all levels. This is not a figment of one's imagination. From their right to vote, to probing their vagina's, the right wing has tried to keep them down. As far as your statment, "conservative women are comfortable in their own skin", it's their right of choose. For the rest of the women, they don't have to be "Stepford Wives" for anybody.......
I see republicans trying to make women into second class citizens as a war on women.
I see that all of the republican nominees that have signed a pledge to overturn Roe v Wade as a war on women.
How is the government telling me that I can't decide about my own body freedom?
How is it my employers right to know if and why I take birth control? How is that freedom for women?
How does mandating me to have a medically unnecessary proceedure freedom?
Sounds like you are a bit too comfortable letting someone else decide for you. And that is exactly what Santorum and the rest of the republicans have against educated women, we just won't mind and do what we are told.
As Rush said and all the republicans agreed with their silence is that women who speak up for her rights are nothing but sluts and whores.
VOTE FOR WOMEN'S FREEDOM......Obama/Biden 2012
They aren't Stepford wives. Yes they have the right to choose. They know what they need and feel threatened by no one. They have the right to vote and no one is going to take that away. Probing their vaginas is not my choice at all to educated them or change their minds to exercise personal responsibility either yet, it is way overblown to push an agenda which ultimately may cause more distress going forward.
Haven't seen that pledge you speak of.
Why would your employer know? He doesn't see your insurance claims? If he/she does, you have a HIPPA situation.
Which makes your life all paranoia and concentrating on things that don't exist. Educated women KNOW they are truly in control of most situations. Unless you aren't married.
@Talk to the hand, obviously how can you speak of what it is to be a woman. Yea, just like your counterparts, quite unenlightened aren't you. It's people like you..who have a veil over their eyes and wouldn't see the truth if it slapped you across the face, it's plain to see that you are a chauvinist...and probably single. You need to, really do more homework. And educated men know the difference, and will fight by our side.
Not single. Wife, son, two daughters, three grandchildren. I know what it is to be a woman through my family and their life experiences. Not a chauvanist but a realist. Chauvanist indicates no clue and no experience. And trust me, my wife as well as my daughters agree with me about your ilk and the me me me attitude you put forward. They love to see what I have to say in response to the ridiculous posts that you "liberated and holding the line" liberals have to say. All college educated and not indoctrinated like many of your friends. They learned that critical thinking went beyond the one way street and know what they feel and how they live their lives without buying into a bunch of crap fabricated by the liberal mainstream media. Have a great night and a better day tomorrow. Be comfortable in your own skin. You will find it liberating.
As long as you have the control of their happiness, yes. Wait until you are 65 years old and the need for "what you have that he doesn't" goes away. You will see just where the men stand. The get tired and no longer have the need to satisfy your "out there" needs and support.
Bob in VA and all Republicans thumping their chests about "smaller government".. Kids, you ain't seen "big government intrusion" unless you are a woman looking down the barrell of Republican extremists and the all out assault on women's rights. We are in danger of losing everything our fore-mothers fought for beginning with winning the right to vote. Republicans make no secret of their wish to keep us at home, make babies, and not part of the work force. Romney stepped in it when he pandered with the far Right in order to maybe win the nomination. It is the Republican right wing social conservativism that is "taking over more and more of our lives", not Democrats. Maybe you don't care because you are not a woman.
And maybe you are delusional because you are one. Read #14 above and think about it for a minute. Why are you so damned scared? This is something contrived by YOUR party to:
1) Take your eyes off of what is truly happening with this administration.
2) Take advantage of you becoming a scared sheep who heard that the big bad wolf is hunting down your flock.
Number 2 makes no sense. Live and quit worrying. Worry and over reaction is exactly what the Democrats want you to do. It will scare you right into their lair where they can use you to promote an otherwise unwise agenda before you realize what has happened.
Talk about taking our eyes off the ball.
That is exactly what you are talking about. You want us to pay attention to some made up lies to make us forget that the real war is about our freedom from the republican taliban taking over our country.
Not only do the republican want to take away women's rights they then want to raise the taxes on the poor so we can pay for tax cuts for Romney and his rich friends he so likes to talk about.
I can't remember who but someone above was whining about the poor rich having to share and how awful that would be to work all your live and then have to share. What you forget is the people we are asking the rich to share with and give food to are people who have lost every penny they worked their entire life for.
The crash hit, they lost their jobs and then lost their homes through no fault of their own. People are still losing homes, their entire life's worth. Then the republicans can't bring themselves to a .05% tax on someones second million to put people back to work.
Obama/Biden 2012
You are so wrong in so many ways. Good luck in the future. You vote the way you did, you're going to need it. I have copied and pasted my comments and all of yours to a word document. I will copy and paste them to a post in the not too distant future. Good luck with your continuation on the path to hope and change.
Because they spent all of their money buying too big of a house, too high style of car, and too much of the "trinkets" that their neighbor had to have any reserves JUST IN CASE something horrible should happen. It is called personal responsibilty and planning for a rainy day. Something you liberals have yet to learn because you exist, therefore, you deserve.
This canned speech will go down in history as one of Mitt's lamest. Put your trust in corporation he says - sure. How many people did he lay off to pad his and other 1%ers pockets again?
No thanks, Mitt. Nobody's buying the bs you're trying to sell. Oh and btw - most people haven't forgotten the speech where you claim you're practically a Progressive either.
Romney has not shown his card of economic solutions to American
problems nor given his concept workable for America capitalistic system. He is
just targeting Obama as none other President was before him.
Because he, as the Democrat in charge now, wants to be able to use the excuse "we had no idea of how bad it really was" in his first three years.
The biggest assault on economic freedom in recent times was perpetrated by Mitt's rich, white-guy buddies on Wall Street and elsewhere.
wabbit season,duck season,wabbit season,duck season ......voting day.....obama the next 4 years....
Yeah Willard. How many people did you throw out on the street while you shipped jobs overseas and lined your pockets? You make me want to puke.
Oh, and I guess your trickle-down policies of taxing the poor and giving their money to the rich is any better???? I would rather have a class war right here; right now. I'll take on ol' Slick Mitt any day of the damn week. People who think that all tax cuts are good make me sick. I'd be happy to pay higher taxes if that meant a better future for my family and a relatively healthy economy and government today. If only the Teapublicans could understand...
OBAMA BIDEN 2012
Talk, I need to understand equating adding a 5% tax on millionaires (which there are approx. 3.1 million in the U.S., and I'm just going by $1 million gained in a year, since we all know there are many MULTI-millionaires) and would amount to approx. $170 billion more in revenue, compared to 46 million at poverty level (that's approx. 46 million people/families making $22,000 a year) at 5% tax shelling out a total of $150 billion in revenue. That is $55,000 against $1,100 tax difference. Now, WHO is going to hurt more by paying taxes, Talk, the millionaire or the person/family in poverty, since we all know the millionaire has ample access to cuts and loopholes, and those in poverty are just in a hole and their only access is welfare?
Gas $3.85 and rising; obama has done nothing to stop it. He will not be reelected.
Thank God for that!!!
If Faux News wasn't your main source of information on subjects like this, you might even be able to recognize that Obama has little, if any, control over that. It's much more a function of the workings and machinations of the conservatives' blessed marketplace than the doing of any one person. Why don't you rip the true culprits, here; the commodities speculators on Wall Street whose financial interests are served by the prices of oil and other raw materials skyrocketing. Lemming.
economic freedom like Enron, or Apple using sweat shops or putting a pipe line through pristine environments ect ect ect, republicans at work
Could you be any more clueless? Like the witch of the North said, "come out come out wherever you are"
Cannot wait until this moron loses. And he will lose. All these Republican nobodies will lose. I'm an independent, but nobody running for the Republican nomination this election is worth walking across the street to see for free.
Nor are your Chrismas decorations on your house.
Makes as much sense as your post Griswold/