Here's a link to an article about the veterans' jobs bill. The callous, hypocritical indifference of Republicans toward veterans continues. Why would 100,000 more people sign up for this if Mitt Romney is elected?

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/09/19/republicans-axe-veterans-jobs-bill-prove-zero-interest-in-job-creation/

The result of the callous Republican move will mean the 13.1% unemployment rate among post-September 11 military veterans will persist, leaving a quarter of a million vets unemployed after their service.

“I’ve been surprised at the many obstacles and weird arguments that have been thrown at us,” commented Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the bill’s co-sponsor and chairperson of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. Murray worked with Republicans including Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) to incorporate GOP provisions before introducing it to the floor.

While the Senate voted 58-40 in favor of the bill, it fell 3 votes short of the three-fifths majority needed to override the objection of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) that the bill violated a budgetary rule because it will add to the deficit. The bill’s author argued that the budgetary rule doesn’t apply because the $1 billion bill creates new revenue to pay for itself over 10 years. Only five Senate Republicans voted for the bill, while all of the “no” votes came from GOP senators.

And here's some encouraging news from Wisconsin, to go with that poll from Marquette University that showed President Obama up here 59-40 percent, and the other poll that showed he was up by 6 percent.

It looks as if he may have some coat-tails.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/polls-baldwin-easily-leads-thompson-in-one-ties-him-in-another-596u1d5-170364006.html

In a major turnabout, Democrat Tammy Baldwin surged ahead in a Marquette University Law School poll Wednesday in the race for U.S. Senate, taking a 9-point lead over Republican Tommy G. Thompson.

In another poll released on Wednesday by Quinnipiac University, The New York Times and CBS, Baldwin and Thompson were tied. Those results represented a drop in support for Thompson.

The latest Marquette poll shows Baldwin with a 50% to 41% lead over Thompson among likely Wisconsin voters.

The results are the exact opposite from the last Marquette poll on Aug. 22 when Thompson held a 50% to 41% advantage.

Marquette's pollster Charles Franklin described the latest findings as a "big Baldwin pickup."

"It's quite dramatic how much the shift has been," he said.

Albany Joe --

The FUNNIEST part was when he told us about the double-secret room in the sub-sub- basement called the “Lizzie Warren room”. It’s rumored that this is where “they” hide the “rigging” from the public and the govt regulators.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!

It probably won't be this funny the next time Wall Street melts down and comes dragging its tail to Washington with its hand out. My favorite bumper sticker of this political season --

"Those who ignore history are doomed to vow Republican."

Well, well, well. Hmmm, Hmm, Hmmm.

The headline for the day should be that Romney is President Obama's best surrogate on the campaign trail. It is fascinating watching the Romney campaign implode.

Which leads us to wonder this: If Romney is SUCH an excellent businessman, if he can analyze and organize BETTER than anyone else...shouldn't he be ahead?

Or is that just story time from the Republican National Committee?

The debates are coming up, Romney already has his side running from him as fast as they can. So I also wonder about this:

Did the primary process HIDE Romney's weaknesses? Were there so many really bad candidates running at the same time, attacking each other, that Romney escaped both scrutiny and tempering by this process? If you remember, the most memorable things from Romney during that time were things that made him look foolish, like, well, the $10,000 bet he tried to make with Perry.

I guess we will find out.

One thing for sure, Romney blows that first debate, you will see his money from supporters start to dry up! No sense throwing good money after bad.

And Romney is pretty bad.

David Walker --

They need understanding. They need a life line. I don't want to be an elitist pig. I want to be a caring liberal. I'm willing to throw them that life line. In fact, I feel so bad, I'm going to throw them both ends of that line.

You and Albany Joe should have lunch. It turns out you have a lot in common. (smiles)

And then maybe he'll take you on a tour of the secret room where stockbrokers screw the rest of us.

Back to reality today: Romney doesn’t look too good in the polls. And America may be stuck with four more years of TRILLION dollar-plus deficits

Obama's 2013 budget proposal cuts $400 billion from the deficit. Romney's plans increase the deficit by $600 billion. Who is the fiscal conservative again?

These are facts.

Chris: Vote for President Obama like your middle class life depends on it....because it does!

You can't say it too often!

4 more 4 44

p.s. Where is Fiesty?

Anyone can PRETEND to be a moderate after they get caught saying the things that Romney said with his guard down. What a joke. I truly hope that America is smart enough to see through this charade.

With all the "gotcha" politics happening on both sides, the most pertinent story got buried. Jobless claims went down by 3,000 (we know that will be adjusted higher), the rolling 4-week average rose by 2,000 (not so good).

Employers created 96,000 new jobs last month (good), but that was a drop from 141,000 (not so good).

I sure wish either candidate would stay on focused on this issue, instead of throwing and swinging at pitches in the dirt.

Spending our way out of this nightmare is going to further devalue the dollar, our credit and ultimately hurt us all. Eliminating taxes for small businesses only solves some of the problem, but who is to say those people will start to hire? We need a compromise here and quick.

To add to Backhouse's comment. The Veterans Jobs Act was a bi-partisan bill, it contained amendments from most republicans including amendments by Senators Bozeman, Burr, Johanns and Toomey. The bill was entirely funded. Yet Bozeman, Burr, Johanns and Toomey voted NAY and they hide behind their objection of by-passing a senate rule. As if by-passing a rule is the ultimate wrong instead of the ultimate wrong being voting NAY.

Unemployment for returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans stands at 10.9%. Republicans voted to send these men and women to fight two unfunded wars yet their version of "Support Our Troops" is to vote NAY. Shameful, absolutely shameful. No doubt there's a suitable name for men like these four GOP Senators but it is not printable. Remember their names, they and the 36 other filibustering Senators are what the GOP has become: Bozeman, Burr, Johanns, Toomey.

Just like a fish on a stream bank, flip..flop...flip..flop...flip..flop...flip..flop..!

It’s the return of the ETCH a SKETCH MAN

xabre --

Obama's 2013 budget proposal cuts $400 billion from the deficit. Romney's plans increase the deficit by $600 billion. Who is the fiscal conservative again?

These are facts.

Republicans like to ignore the actual consequences of the Ryan budget not balancing until at least 2040.

Somehow they believe that the additional deficits that will accumulate during the intervening years magically don't count.

I gather they learned this from George W. Bush and his Congresses, who hid their deficits off the books and now blame President Obama for them.

And Romney himself appears not to know how it works.

Chef Darrell --

Ahhh PAYGO rears its ugly head. How's that working for you Mr President?

And since this was a creature of Democrats during the Clinton administration, where has it been all these years in between, do you think? While Republicans controlled the Congress under George W. Bush, PAYGO magically disappeared, just like the war deficits.

By the way, if you read my link, you will see that this bill met the PAYGO standards, while none of Romney's proposals for tax cuts appear to have any funding attaching to them.

Apparently, we can have unfunded tax cuts for the wealthiest few, but no jobs for veterans.

American Exceptionalism. Catch the fever.

More flipping and flopping by Mitt Romney. Is this the best the Republicans can offer us, Mitt Romney the flip flopper ? Lets send Mitt to McDonalds and he can flip burgers.

Spending our way out of this nightmare is going to further devalue the dollar, our credit and ultimately hurt us all. Eliminating taxes for small businesses only solves some of the problem, but who is to say those people will start to hire? We need a compromise here and quick.

Add to your concerns what the Federal Reserve is doing with their quantitative easing which is only further devaluing the dollar. A recent article on MSN states that it's not so much not being able to find a job, the problem is finding a job that pays well enough to pay the bills. Inflation is the real issue here. See: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/front for a candidate that is actually focused on the real issues.

More Moderate??? Laughing.... Yeah, the same party that wants to tell me who I can marry, what my religion should be, and what women can and cannot do with their own bodies is NOT moderate.

GOP/Romney - It's to late......You can't keep re-inventing yourself everyday, but thank you for amusing us. Kick out the teaparty and maybe the GOP can think about 2016....

Obama 2012/Romney 1040.

@AM

Republicans like to ignore the actual consequences of the Ryan budget not balancing until at least 2040.

Somehow they believe that the additional deficits that will accumulate during the intervening years magically don't count.

Indeed. We have a billboard around here talking about the deficit and telling people to: "Vote Conservative". I feel a pathological need to attach these facts to said billboard.

Clint Eastwood: Republicans 'dumb' for asking him to speak

"People loved it or hated it, and that's fine," Eastwood offered. "I figure if somebody's dumb enough to ask me to go to a political convention and say something, they're gonna have to take what they get." Asked if he would deliver the speech if he had the chance to do so again, Eastwood said, "I never look backward...."

Forward (4 more for 44!!)

Eastwood then went on to add that he isn't a republican, but rather a Libertarian!!! Does that mean he intentionally sabotaged the Romney Convention???? MMMM... that is the question.

So true. The Republican Senators showed us that they don't like the veterans either.

Which Romney would be there after election day? The one that panders to elitist and ends the Middle Class.

There is "light at the end of the tunnel" and it can only happen if we elect more Progressive leaders. If you look at a country like Denmark, they have universal healthcare and other social safety nets. There is no heavy public debt and there is no expansive military. Education is covered within the tax code--so there is no student loan debt. Citizens are treated with dignity. I'd rather be in the position of Denmark than Russia. Russia and Mexico are the only 2 countries in the top 100 economies that pay lower taxes than the top earners in the US, and they do so without loopholes. Close the loopholes and make sure that we stop chopping away at education and the infrastructure, while spending even more on the "war machine."

Tax Romney and his type at a higher rate. They have not brought jobs back to US shores and they have no intention of doing so.

no joe, no bo, nj

What is epic NoJo is your clinging to a sinking ship. The save the captain first mentality gets everyone drowned.

More Moderate??? Laughing.... Yeah, the same party that wants to tell me who I can marry, what my religion should be, and what women can and cannot do with their own bodies is NOT moderate.

It's About Time: Exactly.

Now the Back-Peddling begins and the Tap Dancing. My my, what a surprise. Romney, has this man ever told a lie he didn't like? Republican Conservatives, the Party of liars. Now comes Rep. Issa's spanking. This loud mouth Tea Potty jerk has just been told by the Justice Department that he has no case against our AG, Eric Holder. It was all trumped up to begin with. Vote this fraud out in November along with the rest of his fellow cronies.

OBAMA IN 2012.

Romney "the shape shifter".

Now he's more moderate? Health care is okay, gay partnerships are okay, and last but not least, illegals don't have to be deported.

My head hurts from all of his shifting positions.

Romney = "who do you want me to be, so you can vote for me".

California Tom, I was just going to say this just Mitt's "tap dance on water" routine. No one can tap dance on water, not even the President (yes, I know that's a potential racial joke Mr. President, sorry, maybe you should do it in white face?). We need to be the solid flooring under any politician. I kind of like having Obama there, but I'm not under Mitt's feet by choice.

A more moderate Mitt returns

Etch-A-Sketch strikes again, infuriating the right wing extremists.

Now Mitt the Twitt will have to figure out how to be a Severely Moderate Conservative.

This whole thing is laughable to everyone but Rmoney's supporters, so, nobody with any relevance will be offended.

@SI: I was trying to give some positive credit because it is better than nothing or even losing jobs. Didn't characterize it as excellent, merely good.

RE: senate killing veterans bill.

Johanns is an absolute disgrace to my state. partisan hack is all he is. i remember as governor here he supported a christian rally on the capital lawn and then denied the same right to a pagan group who wanted to assemble the week after. The fact that he put his own provisions in the bill, along with those other 3 senators who helped to make a bipartisan bill to help the troops, and then voted against it because of the mandate from the party bosses is absolutely disgusting. i'm thinking there might just be an independent challenger running against this fool the next time he's up for re-election...

We all know the real Mitt, the flip-flopper! We don't like either one, old or new! We don't like the party that has held Americans hostage by doing nothing for three years either! Vote Democratic both for president and locally. Here in Wisconsin Tommy T. was leading 50% to 41% over Tammy B. Now it is Baldwin 50% and Tommy 41%. There is a big swing coming as the republicans show and tell that they don't care about most of us! 47% of us anyway. I happen to be in the 53%, but don't care about them and won't be voting for a republican again until the party comes back to the middle from the extreme right!

Tunde Akins - Eastwood also called Obama a hoax.

Clint Eastwood loves talking to an empty chair, and I hear with his latest movie (it's terrible) he will have a chance to do that further.

Albany Joe --

AM: I'm laughing all the way to the bank. Late 2007- early 2009 was the biggest "going out of business" sale in the stock market since FDR. Thousands of financially sound, viable, companies were there for the taking at unbelievably low stock prices. All you had to do is realize the bargains were there and buy them. It was a bit of a gamble, but, one I was willing to take, and it paid off handsomely.

So, what exactly did you BUILD during this period? What real wealth did you add to the economy that would be worthy of calling you a "job creator," and therefore worthy of favorable tax treatment? How did what you did make anyone else better off? How did your actions make the economy stronger?

I really need your help here because it seems to me, you merely skimmed off the top of the stream of commerce and profited off of other people's misery, like the banks that are making out on both sides of the mortgage crisis. And like Mitt Romney and Bain did when they looted companies, ran up debt, sold off assets, pocketed the proceeds, and left the company, and the lives of its workers, in ruins. Non-sum-zero.

And thank you. You have exactly summed up why "trickle-down" economics doesn't work.

As for Feisty, I have no idea. She doesn't confide in me.

geo -- Your complaints are a testament to how bad the REPUBLICANS screwed this country up.

Flip floppin on issues could only mean one thing.

Whatever weed Romney's smoking; man, must be some good weed...

You dont play chameleon like that if you smokin some bad weed...

Romney is trying to play all sides. What they are going to do is have his name on the ballot several times, that way we all get a chance to vote for the Romney that says what we want. Problem solved.

Romney's mother praising welfare ... what a @!$%#hole he's falling into!!!!!!

@AM

So, what exactly did you BUILD during this period? What real wealth did you add to the economy that would be worthy of calling you a "job creator," and therefore worthy of favorable tax treatment? How did what you did make anyone else better off?

Seems to me, you just skimmed off the top of the stream of commerce and profited off of other people's misery, like the banks that are making out on both sides of the mortgage crisis. Non-sum-zero.

And thank you. You have exactly summed up why "trickle-down" economics doesn't work.

I refuse to believe with his level of education, Joe In Albany could contribute anything to this society.

Q22

" I still don't know what the hell Obama has planned ..."

That's not all you don't know.

Taxing the rich a little more = redistribution of wealth? That seems to be the entire GOP and their ilks argument. IF the rich aren't taxed more then you are I will be taxed more, so why don't they consider that redistribution of wealth? They have a double standard one for them and one for us and Mitt has a gold club card to the Country Club where they all hang out a talk about how the F'ed the poor last week.

Who do you really think Mitt is for? (This week)

And then maybe he'll take you on a tour of the secret room where stockbrokers screw the rest of us.

_______________________________________

AM: Anyone foolish enough to use a stockbroker for investment guidance deserves to get screwed. Would you also take your medical care from a funeral director who only makes his money if you die??

Your complaints are a testament to how bad the REPUBLICANS screwed this country up.

I'm sorry - was Bush a dictator? Seems to me that Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate. If I remember correctly the head of the House Banking Committee and the Chair of the Senate Banking Committee both balked at efforts to regulate Freddy and Fannie.

Mitt Romney does another reboot to recreate himself. He just doesn't get the fact that you can't stick a square peg in a round hole. Romney just doesn't understand that he is nothing more than a round hole. According to the things he says, he's a rather large one at that!

Sounds like Romney got up on the left side of the bed today. But...on which side will he get up after his afternoon nap? As so many have said before, this guy doesn't have a clue where he stands on anything. Too bad he doesn't imbibe as we might have a better idea who he really is after a few quaffs.

If this guy can't own what he stands for, he should just go home.

I'm an NC Unaffiliated voter for Obama / Biden 2012.

Xabre - good point....unfortunately the GNOP doesn't need "fact checkers" they make up the facts as they go along.

As for veterans....talk about flip floppin...doncha just love the way the GNOPers wave the flag and and send out troops off to fight and claim how they support our troops...but when it comes time to support the troops what do they say,,,,"NO" ...I wish Pres. Obama would move all the military facilities from those Sens that voted NO to those states that appreciate what the veterans have done for us......

GNOP all they can say is "NO" They don't like facts...THEY CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!

C'mon Mythe,,,show us the 1040's...What ARE you hiding@?

So when do we stop taking Romney seriously and start working on getting the House out of the hands of the TP/GOP? That is where real change will come from.

no joe, no bo, nj

Wow. In the middle of First Thoughts, we are given the information that, gee, it looks like the Libyan attack was actually Planned.

Any idiot with a calendar knew that, but at least you guys are catching on.

Oh wise one where was you detailed insight when you posted this?

no joe, no bo, nj Comment collapsed by the community

I notice there was no mention of the fact that the very people who killed our Ambassador are the people Obama engaged in an illegal "kinetic military action" to assist in taking over their government.

#1.63 - Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:10 AM EDT

Where was your calander idiot?

After revealing himself to be ignorant about who his "47%" are, he is flipping back to the center in a desperate move to seem like less of a jacka$$. Good luck with that. You're done.

Part of the Romney video not discussed much on this blog, revealed a strange part off Mitt's character: he's afraid of the ladies on The View! Romney talks about the "sharp tongued women" on the show and there being "only one conservative," in explaining why he avoids the popular talk show.

Good lord! If he's afraid to sit down with Whoopi Goldberg how would he handle Vladimir Putin?

I'm sure Grover and the Koch brothers are in that secret room every day wondering how in the heck they made such a mistake in helping choose Romney for their candidate! It will be interesting to see which Romney shows up at the debates, will the same Romney show up for all 3? Will Ryan stay the shrill and keep on topic or will he explode if social issues (abortion, gay marriage, workers rights) questions are asked during the VP debate? This is gonna be fun no matter who you are!

As I said yesterday, we are upset regarding the 47% remark but we are mad as all get out about the fact that to the 1% you have to make $200,000 to be middle class - sure reminds me of the days of George, Sr when he said you had to make $100,000 to be middle class. When George, Sr made that remark $100,000 was a lot of money and to most of us real working/middle class folks making around $30,000 was a pretty good living so making $100,000 was really upper class - nothing in the middle about it, same as making $200,000 is today - thats a pretty rich lifestyle no matter who you are or where you live. I've been raised middle/working class all my life, thought I was middle class until George Sr made that statement, then we finally thought we would be middle class again when Romney once again pulls the rug from under us. No votes from my house for R/R/R (Romney/Ryan/Republicans) 2012, 2016, 2020 - ever!

So, what exactly did you BUILD during this period? What real wealth did you add to the economy that would be worthy of calling you a "job creator," and therefore worthy of favorable tax treatment? How did what you did make anyone else better off? How did your actions make the economy stronger?

_________________________________________

AM: The goods and services that I was able to buy with the profits of my hard work researching investments and my risk-taking in putting my OWN money on the line, with no govt guarantees, stimulated (LOL!!!) the economy with real, not Chinese credit card, dollars. The people that work for the employers that produced those goods and services had their jobs created or saved by my successes.

Too bad Barry and the lefty liberals just don't get it: Trickle-down govt spending is not the way to get the american economy growing again.

Good lord! If he's afraid to sit down with Whoopi Goldberg how would he handle Vladimir Putin?

Face it...even Putin is afraid of Whoopi.

Sounds like Romney got up on the left side of the bed today. But...on which side will he get up after his afternoon nap?

That's funny PJ #'s.

The redistribution attack on Obama is a dangerous ground for Romney to walk on considering that republicans have used taxes to redistribute wealth to the top since Reagan.

Mr. Romney, its too late to become the moderate you should have come out of the primaries as, nothing seems believable anymore.

Speaking as a person who endured Mitt as Governor - don't do it. You never know who you are getting when you vote for him. The man is simply two-faced.

General observation -- Mitt Romney is really no longer Mr. Etch-a-Sketch. He has morphed into Rosemary's baby. His head is spinning so fast from rotation of his multiple faces that he could probably power a small city for a thousand years.

Does anyone remember the scene at the end of Chinatown, where Jack Nicholson keeps slapping Faye Dunaway while she says "my sister, "my daughter," "my sister," "my daughter"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuAZGFYW6DE

That's Mitt Romney being slapped by the 47 percent on one side, and his now highly offended base on the other side.

Too, too predictable.

Albany Joe -

Would you also take your medical care from a funeral director who only makes his money if you die??

I'd also prefer not to take my medical care from someone whose profit comes from volume of patients or take my drugs from pharmaceutical companies whose primary interest is not in curing you.

AM: The goods and services that I was able to buy with the profits of my hard work researching investments and my risk-taking in putting my OWN money on the line, with no govt guarantees, stimulated (LOL!!!) the economy with real, not Chinese credit card, dollars. The people that work for the employers that produced those goods and services had their jobs created or saved by my successes.

I highly doubt it. You and your few fellow one per centers simply don't trickle down enough on a personal level to save anything. To save jobs you need to have more money circulating throughout the economy.

If that's true, then why is unemployment still so high, Joe?

David Stockman, h/t Huffington Post:

Mitt Romney learned nothing about creating jobs from Bain Capital (Former Reagan Office of Management and Budget Director DAVlD ST0CKMAN stepping all over Romney’s claims that his experience in the leveraged buyout business taught him Read More... anything at all about ‘job creation’)...

I don’t think Mitt Romney can legitimately say that he learned anything about how to create jobs in the LBO business.

The LBO business is about how to strip cash out of old, long-in-the-tooth companies and how to make short-term profits...You know, the LBO business is legitimate, free enterprise business, just like, you know, running a BR0THEL if that’s what you want to do, or a house of gambling....But it’s not a good model for how we rebuild an economy or grow jobs. It’s irrelevant.”

And here are more polls.

HuffPost Model Estimate

• Barack Obama 48.0%
• Mitt Romney 45.3%
• Undecided
• Other

Currently tracking 454 polls
Updated 23 minutes ago

Rasmussen has it at 45% Rumney, Obama 47%

Somewhere in the middle is the answer, which we will know in November.

Ooooohhh! Look the Romney-of-the-week is out! Cool, what does he say he stands for this week? Wow, that's so cool that he can be anything for as long as he wants! Hey can some one click my reset button like the rest of these right wing twits have who continue to say with a straight face that any idiot like Romney should be president so that I can forget who he was the previous six times? You have got to be kidding me...I don't know what is more insulting, the fact that the Romney campaign thinks that they run a week to week campaign and can change whenever they feel its needed or the MORONS who will vote for the this twisted up pretzel plutocrat no matter what. Good god I could get a tape of this guy shooting a child through the head for sport with a huge smile on his face while he is pulling the trigger and you morons would still vote for him. You live in a deluded world. Obama ain't close to perfect but he is better than the double-down on 30 years of failed philosphy that Romney wants to foist on us. Good god wake up you fools and stop quoting statistics that really are beyond the control of jsut the president. You sound like broken records from a different era.

Qtt, Obama went on to say that he wasn't going to give up on those people, and that deep down there is more to them than guns and religion. Romney sounded like a jerk and then doubled down on sounding like a sociopath. And saying that 47% of the country including retired service, the elderly and working class people who are relying on food stamps right now view themselves as victims and will never take responsibility for themselves isn't contempt?

The LBO business is about how to strip cash out of old, long-in-the-tooth companies and how to make short-term profits...You know, the LBO business is legitimate, free enterprise business, just like, you know, running a BR0THEL if that’s what you want to do, or a house of gambling....But it’s not a good model for how we rebuild an economy or grow jobs. It’s irrelevant.”

This is why Stockman was fired as Budget Director. Bain Isn't an LBO it is a Venture Capital firm. They make investments in new and existing companies not leveraged buyouts.

Romney changes? Take a lesson from Clinton Romney. Remember when he was campaigning, if he was before a group of seniors he had his hair died with a little gray in it and then when in front of a younger crowd, there would automagically be no gray. Yep, shallow, superficial.

Doc - ah, hholiday - Mitt's the only chameleon I know of can wear plaid and look natural doing it.

Anna Molly wrote:

"You have exactly summed up why "trickle-down" economics doesn't work."

Well madam, there it is. In his post the Albanian idiot flatly stated that he was gambling. He is not a capitalist by the furthest stretch of imagination. He does not contribute to wealth creation. To the contrary. He plunders capital. He is a gambler. No less and no more.

Someone else provides the labor that creates the wealth. The Albanian idiot simply steals that wealth by doing no more than shuffling pieces of paper. When he throws the dice and he makes a buck or two, his success is solely attributable to his genius. When he fails, well that's someone else's fault. This is a man with the intellectual depth of Saran Wrap.

etch a scetch - haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

aaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Taken from: http://bottomline.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/20/13968386-maryland-is-the-richest-state-mississippi-is-the-poorest

Not surprisingly, poverty rates continued to be high. The percentage of Americans living below the poverty line increased in 17 states between 2010 and 2011, the third consecutive increase for ten of these states. Of the states with the lowest income, eight had among the 10 highest poverty rates. Mississippi had the highest poverty rate in the country, at 22.6 percent of residents, compared to the national rate of 15.9 percent.

The poorest states in the country are almost entirely found in the South, with the exception of New Mexico. The wealthiest states can be found all across the country, including three in New England, four in the Mid-Atlantic, and two outside the contiguous 48 states.

Hey GOP, your states are doin' it wrong.

Look at this for confirmation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_income

BTW, is it true that Nasty DumbFux is serving a one week FR suspension??

which kind of kills your conspiracy theory that she secretly owns this forum. Get over it. We've all spent time in the penalty box, including you.

Since the age of Kings, there has been someone supervising the marketplace. When a wise Lord of the manor saw a poor harvest, he would increase the peasants share and they would all survive, but with less. When a stupid Lord of the manor saw a poor harvest, he might increase his share, so he would have as much as during a good harvest. The stupid Lord would see his people face starvation as a result and some might resort to violence or theft to survive.

Last year the rich saw their incomes go up another 13% while workers again saw their wages stagnant. The rich complain about redistribution of wealth as 47% pay no income tax while struggling to make ends meet.

Who do these rich sound like, the wise Lord or the stupid Lord?

If that's true, then why is unemployment still so high, Joe?

______________________________________

AM: That's the question all voters thinking about re-electing Barry for four more years should be asking themselves. The honest answer to that question should frighten the Hell out of them.

Mitt was born again so many times he will go straight to heaven...

Q22 .... I'm sure the doc warned you about missing those meds .......

David Corn, the Mother Jones journalist who broke the story about the Romney video, said that whoever took the video surreptitiously on a cell phone was probably one of "the help" serving wine and delicacies to the wealthy diners. As they sat around the table gobbling down the fine food and guzzling the fine wines, the diners commiserated between mouthfuls about how the government takes their hard-earned money and gives it to useless moochers who don't pay taxes, a group that likely included some of "the help" waiting the tables and collecting dirty dishes before the next course was served.

The sort of people who attend Romney's $50K fundraisers seem to consider "the help" to be mere objects there to serve them, not actual human beings who just might get angry when they overhear insults directed at working people like themselves who are scraping to get by and not earning enough to pay federal income taxes. Looks like one of "the help" had finally had enough at that Romney fundraiser, and got his or her revenge with a cell phone.

Yeah, Q22 but the difference is that Obama was referring to an illogical group of poorly educated xenophobic fools who are on the fringe and not about nearly half the country (the 47%) which included right and left leaning people from all walks of life. Obama's comment was a little risky but referred to a small group of people seathing with hate and fear who look to an outdated "american frontier" mentality and religions (which quite frankly are the invention of humans) to try and dictate how the entire country should live. Romney showed that he believes that 47% of the population will not vote for him (true) and that despite working and making varying amounts of incomes (true) and paying little or no income tax (true) that they are some how freeloaders (mostly false) because they benefit from deductions, exemptions, and credits (mostly put in place by republicans to use the tax code as an incentive) and that they long for hand outs for the government. His statement insulted a wide swath of the American public as apposed to Obama's observation which referenced a small (and continually shrinking demographic of terrified white lower middle class voters who think the world is coming to an end because the "darkies" have come to the US) group of fringe voters mostly consolidated in the southeast and middle states. Like it or not it is different. Romney's comment paints a wide vatiety of Americans, an enormous majority of whom, he believes are free loaders incapable of self-reliance...but he conveniently neglects the fact that they have been boxed into that situation by a system which ships jobs over seas, crushes unions, rewards and allows dangerous banking practices and more importantly has made them slaves of a tax code which is fool of games and credits.

Well madam, there it is. In his post the Albanian idiot flatly stated that he was gambling. He is not a capitalist by the furthest stretch of imagination. He does not contribute to wealth creation. To the contrary. He plunders capital. He is a gambler. No less and no more.

Someone else provides the labor that creates the wealth. The Albanian idiot simply steals that wealth by doing no more than shuffling pieces of paper. When he throws the dice and he makes a buck or two, his success is solely attributable to his genius. When he fails, well that's someone else's fault. This is a man with the intellectual depth of Saran Wrap.

________________________________________

David: Jealousy is an ugly emotion. It will eat you up from the inside out.

Life is good. Enjoy.

Republican superpacs would do well to refocus their money on congressional seats. Romney has been a deeply flawed candidate from the start who beat a weak field (except for Huntsman who is way too moderate for todays GOP). He really would need a major screw up from the Obama campaign and they aren't prone to the same kind of screw ups Romneys had. I predicted all along that Romney would be brought down by a continuous release on his past statements to keep him on the defense.

The honest answer to that question

Part of the problem is Congress. Specifically the House.

Vote the OBSTRUCTIONISTS out.

David: Jealousy is an ugly emotion. It will eat you up from the inside out.

Life is good. Enjoy.

Joe thinks David is jealous? Oh God I'm dying from the hilarity.

Talk to the Hand

Where's Fisty?

We know you are out there Feisty!

Even the right wing nut jobs are missing you

Meanwhile, nearly 400k new jobless claims. Way to go O!

I wonder what Romney's voice would sound like if his tongue didn't have that "fork" in it...?

Still waiting for those middle class facts! If you want to address blame, the 2006-2010 Democratic Congress would be the starting point!

AM: The goods and services that I was able to buy with the profits of my hard work researching investments and my risk-taking

The Albanian would have us believe that all his hard 'research' work on the best craps odds translates to buying stuff. Right - for every thousand dollars he makes, he buys another toaster, then another, then another. Do you really think the Albanian has 50,000 toasters in his pantry. Nah, he has one - the same one he bought before he became a card shark. All the Albanian does with his winnings at Wall Street black jack is gamble more and more in the tireless game of push-pull in trying to one-up the 'house'. No job creation there. Why do you think Las Vegas has one of the highest unemployment figures and highest foreclosure rates in the country?

Romney's real problem is the ever expanding group if Americans who know he's a liar.

Part of the problem is Congress. Specifically the House.

Poor Obama. The only President to have to deal with a congress controlled by the other party. It's just unfair! :P

I gotta ask you conservatives - what do you think of Mitt now embracing the title of "grandfather of Obamacare"?

Seems like only yesterday he was saying that it "shredded the constitution." Now he wants credit for it?

Can any conservative tell me how that is acceptable to them? How many times does Mitt have to kick you in the face before you say, "Hey, I don't like this guy."

Still wating for those middle class facts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just looked and was wondering what facts are you requesting? You never asked?

BTW it's waiting, not wating.

If you want to address blame, the 2006-2010 Democratic Congress would be the starting point!

Huh? You mean Mitt going more moderate all of a sudden is the 06 through 10 Dems fault? lolz

My God you are obsessed with Feisty! She really bugs you huh?

While I don't agree with her every statement, I sure don't obsess on her or aNyone else who posts here

The question is ... if a political party causes you to lose your job ... and another political party (in 3 years) can't undo the problem they created ... do you re-elect the party that cost you your job in the first place?

Life is good. Enjoy.

@David - I guess you stand corrected .. it isn't the intellectual depth of Saran Wrap, it is Glad Wrap.

I gotta ask you conservatives - what do you think of Mitt

4 more years of bumping along on the bottom of a weak economy and listening to Obama whine about how hard it is having a Republican controlled Congress to deal with is incentive enough for me.

This [the Albanian Idiot] is a man with the intellectual depth of Saran Wrap.

Exactly. You can see right through to his core. . . Oops! Guess he and Mitt have more in common than I originally thought.

4 more years of bumping along on the bottom of a weak economy and listening to Obama whine about how hard it is having a Republican controlled Congress to deal with is incentive enough for me

That's just brilliant, Q22. What part of Mitch McConnell's "Our first priority is the make sure he's a one-term president" didn't you understand? I'll answer for you. "All of it."

Well, I'm sorry for my Republican friends but the party is over. Literally and figuratively. And I have an ache in my heart that the party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, yes, even Reagan (a flaming liberal by today's GOP standard) and MY MOTHER has become this sad, sad shadow of it's former self.

It truly is the party of the past. They want what they HAD, in the 1950's with all the trimmings. They are not looking forward. It's a new day and a new world and they have failed to keep pace.

I heard one pundit yesterday saying that the reason Romney is making so many gaffes and mistakes is because he is trying to be something he is not. He's a moderate and a progressive. Conservative, yes, but a moderate and progressive conservative. But in order to be president he has to court the new GOP base, which is right of right, holier than thou and brooks no compromise. He's a square peg trying to fit into a round hole and it's just not working.

Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendel yesterday said this Romney is not the same Romney he knew in 2004.

It must suck to be Mitt Romney.

I understand there is a new poll out showing the dramatic shift among independent voters following Romney's 47% comments. I don't have any details, sorry, but I'm sure NBC will share those with us later. Among independent voters likely to vote in November Obama's support has risen to 53% while Romney's piece of the pie is at 38%. That's really bad news for the GOP and if that trend continues we ARE looking at an historic landslide.

If you doubt that let me mention I was reading another thread this morning on NBC regarding Mitt's 100% campaign re-re-reboot. The first comment after the article was pro-Romney and it got 31 positive votes (at the time I read the piece) the next two reply posts were both anti-Romney. Number 2 got 234 positive votes and number 3 got 174 positive votes. No, it's not scientific, but it's significant.

Get out the vote and get ready for 2016 when we have to face the NEW, new Republican Party, righter than right, with god on their side and a hot line to heaven (or so they'd have us believe).

"When Fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." Sinclair Lewis

THEY'RE HERE! And we've got to be ready.

Obama/Biden 2012

It's Thursday so we have yet a NEW Romney - just wait until next week folks - he'll be someone else. How does anyone with any intelligence support this nothing man? Oh, that's right - intelligent people don't.

Joe Scarborough was on Leno last night bemoaning the path the Republican party has taken. He talked about how they are uncooperative and have been taken over by the far right. Said although he's a Conservative, he could not be a Republican today.

He went on to talk about Romney and how he has botched everything he has done in his campaign. He clearly has no use for him or the current Congress. Said when he was in the House he told one of Clinton's people he absolutely hated Clinton. They told him it was okay, Clinton hated him too. He said they then went on to work together to balance the budget and provide a surplus. He didn't have anything good to say about the current Congress and the obstructionists.

We have to vote as many Republicans out as possible this go around and get the country going again!

Obama/Biden 2012

sandtrich - Which Romney would be there after election day?

That was my first thought listening to him talk to Telemundo.

What is this, Rombot Reboot v.6.20?

"Trust me, I'm a severe conservative!"
"Trust me, I don't worry about the 47%!"
"Trust me, I really like dogs!"
"Trust me, I want to be President of the 100%!"
(tomorrow) "Trust me, I really will deport all illegal aliens!"
"Trust me, I really did pay taxes. Really!"

Uh, NO!

4 more years of bumping along on the bottom of a weak economy and listening to Obama whine about how hard it is having a Republican controlled Congress to deal with is incentive enough for me.

Yes, because a record high number of filibusters and a record low number of bills passed has no merit whatsoever. Just completely ignore facts Q22.

Thank you for downloading Rombot 8.0.3!

Installing:

[||||||||||||||||_______] - 47%

Error: Installation failure!

REDISTRIBUTION BEGAN WITH PRESIDENT REAGAN AND HIS VOODOO TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS!

Yes that's right, very far right policy that began with Reagan. Bush Sr. named it voodoo economics. Taking from the middle class and poor and giving it up to the upper rich folks in tax breaks and in every policy decision repubs make. Bush Sr opposed this idea until he was offered V.P. job by Reagan. The money has flowed upward ever since with CEO's making incredible amounts of money while the actual workers pay remained stagnant. Now the middle class and poor say no more to republican trickle on economics. Trickle down republican economics did not work the last 30 years and the MIDDLE CLASS want their FAIR SHARE BACK!

Romney Ryan plan killls Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Post Office privatizing all the programs for more profit for the GREEDY RICH.

Romney and Ryan want even more tax breaks for the rich so Romney pays almost nothing and middle class pays up to $2000 more in taxes to make up what Romney does not want to pay. Redistribute the wealth back to a fair share for all Americans and not just to Romney Ryan greedy rich.

VOTE NO TO ROMNEY/RYAN REDISTRIBUTION TRICKLE ON ECONOMICS!

VOTE FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA/BIDEN AND DEMOCRATIC PARTY 2012!

I don't understand his campaign strategy.

He has lost most Independents and won't get them back no matter how much he swerves to the center at the last minute... and now he is trying to lose the far Right.

He must be taking a page from Newt's playbook: Milk the donors for all you can, even when everyone knows he's going nowhere.

If I'm reading this correctly, Mitt Romney has changed positions on healthcare gay rights and helping those on welfare, please somebody correct me if I'm wrong, and you mean he even wants to distance himself from the May fundraiser comments too. Talk about someone "flippin" on the issues when the chips are down. Boy oh boy, I can't believe how retarded the GOP are and even Romneys running mate Paul Ryan thinks Romney has poor judgement. Hmmm, better get the GOP think tanks in full gear because with only 6 weeks before election day there is a lot of explaining to do to the 47%.

newscover, the housing collapse was cause by a continuation of the Clinton HUD's "fair housing" policies. Policies that were admittedly designed to influence the private banks into doing exactly what they did. Guess what...it worked!

Hard to blame that solely on Bush.

"how will conservatives to the new, more liberal romeny? they won't care because they know he is just a wolf in liberal clothing, softening his stance to get elected then he will swing to the extreme right, back to his facist self.

newscover, the housing collapse was cause by a continuation of the Clinton HUD's "fair housing" policies.

Bullsh@t. It was not caused by HUD anything. Are you really trying to lie or where you lied to about this?

Here, being the truth is vastly different from your hallucination.

what caused the housing crisis in america

BTW that's a google search. There's a bunch of work on it and I haven't seen anything point fingers at HUD. I also didn't post it to convince you. I honestly don't think you want to know the truth. I posted it for those who aren't dogmatic.

"I gotta ask you conservatives - what do you think of Mitt" -- noncoms

Doesn't matter what I think of Mitt. It matters more what I think of Obama.

Words to learn today: Fabianism, gradualism

That's just brilliant, Q22. What part of Mitch McConnell's "Our first priority is the make sure he's a one-term president" didn't you understand? I'll answer for you. "All of it."

Read the Woodward book and you will realize who the problem. Republicans - including McConnell - were ready to give Obama the "Big Deal" that would have guaranteed his re-election and make people like me admire him. But he couldn't do it. He screwed the pooch - not the Republicans. And so we continue to bump along the bottom with nearly 400k new jobless claims yet again.

Q22 SAID:

Would those of you who are so worked up about Mitt's 47% comment explain to me how it is anything different than Obama's "Clinging to their guns and religion" comment from 2008? If anything, Obama's was worse because it showed complete contempt for a segment of the population whereas Romney only said that 47% were not going to vote for him.

WRONG Romney said more than that they were not going to vote for him...you left ut what he said:

And so my job is not to worry about those people.

Sorry Mittens if you are President you have to worry about all the people; not dismiss almost half of them. Because in that 47% you have a lot of retired people living on their social security, you have those on disability including those who fought for this country and got hurt and disabled while doing it, as well as CHildren (Mittens said "People' not Adults and his number does not add up without them)

I am a 1%-er; and I support Obama...no he is not perfect and we don't agree 100% on everything. But he stopped a ongoing crash and began to turn things around, and I give him a huge amount of credit for that.

Mittens Halloween is coming up, change your costume daily if you like, the people see right through your FLIP FLOPs. THis man will say ANYTHING, to get elected, and he will change what he sys on a daily and even hourly basis. Later he will re-assure NeoCOns he is still their guy, all the while pandering to whomever he is speaking to.

He is like a short order cook..."What will you have?"

Sorry Mitt we have seen your menu filled with daily changes, and we prefer something more stable.

@ Pat and David,

I was raised in Michigan as Mitt was. But, our fathers differed in their beliefs. As evidenced by Mitt's comments, the Romney's placed great value on riches (on earth). My father believed that riches were not as valuable as making a difference in the lives of others.

My father was a (United) Methodist Minister. When I went to work in the Chevrolet Foundry, I made more money that first year than my father. And, when I would brag, he would ask me what had I done for aonther person that week. When I was laid off and went to college, my father didn't ask what I had learned, he asked how was I going to apply my knowledge to help others.

What do you think George asked of his son?

Wow,...I guess the rat's really are jumping from the sinking ship:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/tim-pawlenty-bank-lobbyist-mitt-romney_n_1899774.html?utm_hp_ref=politics%3Fshow_comment_id%3D189028235#comment_189028235,sb=895134,b=facebook

TPaw lives up to the hype that there really isn't any blue or red in the DC Beltway,...

Only GREEN!

Way to bank, mr. tpaw. Put your mouth where the money is, so to speak!

PS. R$mney just created ONE job this election cycle. Anyone looking to be Captain of the Titanic? Only serious candidates need apply!

SeekingSanity

It's Thursday so we have yet a NEW Romney

Not NEW Romney, it's THURSDAY Romney. Tomorrow it's going to be FRIDAY Romney...and so on. This has been going on since 1994 so there no hope that we will ever know who Mitt is.

Best argument there is for not going back to the policies of the GOP:

Private Sector Payroll Employment

Bullsh@t. It was not caused by HUD anything. Are you really trying to lie or where you lied to about this?

HUD had a role, Freddy and Fannie had a role and the House and Senate Banking Committees - deep in the pockets of the big mortgage lenders - had a role. There isn't a single Bush policy or law that caused the banking crisis. It sure as hell had nothing to do with tax rates.

Lets FLIP FLOP it again, This is what the GOP is about, they will say anything to suck of the Governments TIT, and I'm talking about those good for nothing Congressmen, We need a change and it all starts right there in those chambers, Vote the GOP OUT this NOVEMBER, America needs people that actually work for the people not the RICH & SHAMELESS. >>>>>> OBAMA 2012/CLINTON 2016 <<<<<< Keep AMERICA Strong VOTE Democrat.

Mike in SA - Doesn't matter what I think of Mitt. It matters more what I think of Obama.

That's the same train of thought that brought Hitler to power.

Under that rationale, you would vote for the worst person on the planet without ever looking at what he stood for.

(Romney has...) had to walk them back after receiving criticism from conservatives. That’s the thing to watch today: Will we see any conservative blowback about Romney’s comments last night?

Count on it.

Or will conservatives cut him slack for the first time this campaign because he’s on the ropes?

Not a chance, they aren't that bright.

And then comes the question: Will the real Mitt please stand up? At this point, who knows what the hell this man really is?

Doesn't matter what I think of Mitt. It matters more what I think of Obama.

Actually after reading your other posts I can honestly say that doesn't matter either. :D

Q22 - really, your little comments are rather pitiful.

NBC put up the whole comment from years ago, that was quite rational, and sure doesn't throw the poor and middle class under the bus. "In the whole clip, Obama says:

I think the trick is figuring out how do we structure government systems that pool resources and hence facilitate some redistribution because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level to make sure that everybody's got a shot. How do we pool resources at the same time as we decentralize delivery systems in ways that both foster competition, can work in the marketplace, and can foster innovation at the local level and can be tailored to particular communities.

Obama continues in a few words after that to describe the use of tax credits in setting public housing development policy in Chicago as an example before concluding."
Now, the GOP has tossed the Veteran's jobs bill - that they got most of what they wanted on....??
NO VOTES FOR THE GOP 2012.

Romney's next campaign advertisement should be a clip of his "47%" speech as well as Obama's speech when he clearly states he is for redistribution of wealth. Then ask America which way they want to go and approve the ad.

It is ironic that the loser grandson of the worst President in history, Carter, is going undercover to help the 2nd worst President in history.

Read the Woodward book and you will realize who the problem.

I will realize "who the problem"? Can you even write a grammatically correct sentence? There is no correlation between the Woodward book and McConnell's statement. Go back and look at the timeline, idiot.

And I'm reminded of the Romney supporters showing up at the Republican convention and asking, "Is this the VIP entrance? We're VIP."

bayllie - so true! I actually don't really give a d*mn who the real Romney is. Just want him to have NOTHING to do with my life!

Reading the article you can clearly see that Mitt is trying to distance himself from - himself! Aren't we all!!!

Obama/Biden 2012

Doesn't matter what I think of Mitt. It matters more what I think of Obama.

Republicans went from "anyone but Obama" to "anyone but Romney"

And that's all in 3 weeks from the date Mitt was nominated by the RNC.

Q22 - You aren't as smart as your avatar, son.

The housing crisis had everything to do with the repeal of Glass-Steagall.

Which the banks tried to buy forever. And they finally found their "pocket boys" in Phil Gramm (R-Texas), Jim Leach (R-Iowa) and Thomas J. Bliley, Jr. (R-Virginia).

Who gave us Gramm-Leach-Bliley, and the rest is history.

John Dingell (D-Michigan) predicted the crash the day they passed the bill.

During debate in the House of Representatives, Rep. John Dingell (Democrat of Michigan) argued that the bill would result in banks becoming "too big to fail." Dingell further argued that this would necessarily result in a bailout by the Federal Government

Xabre

Back to reality today: Romney doesn’t look too good in the polls. And America may be stuck with four more years of TRILLION dollar-plus deficits

Obama's 2013 budget proposal cuts $400 billion from the deficit. Romney's plans increase the deficit by $600 billion. Who is the fiscal conservative again?

These are facts.

I don't know what planet your talking about him cutting the deficit as the CBO has said all along Obama is going to continue to increase the deficit. If you are talking about Obama's own words in his speeches he isn't saying he is going to lower the deficit he says he is going to slow down the growth of the deficit...........two different things...........but he leads people to believe that he is talking about deficit reduction (in total not growth).

It is ok to make up your mind but not ok to make up your own facts.

Of course I'm using a nonpartisan source Which makes it harder for people who are pushing an idea or agenda to argue with since they will cite opinions or talking points from people they agree with.

In conjunction with analyzing the President's budget, CBO has updated its baseline budget projections, which were previously issued in January 2012. Unlike its estimates of the President's budget, CBO's baseline projections largely reflect the assumption that current tax and spending laws will remain unchanged, so as to provide a benchmark against which potential legislation can be measured. Under that assumption, CBO estimates that the deficit would total $1.2 trillion in 2012 and that cumulative deficits over the 2013–2022 period would amount to $2.9 trillion

Q22 my Homer is still superior over your Homer. :o

From NPR:

By grouping those who don't pay income taxes together with those who he says are "dependent upon government" and therefore support President Obama, Romney has earned "three Pinocchios" from The Washington Post's The Fact Checker. It writes that:

"Romney appears to conflate a few things — Obama's approval rating, the percentage of people who do not pay income taxes and people who rely on government assistance.

"There may be some overlap between these groups but they really are not the same thing."

In fact, while Romney seemed to say that the president will draw most of his support from those who pay no income taxes, a Tax Foundation map highlighting the 10 states with the highest percentages of "non-payers" shows most are Republican territories:

— Alabama

— Arkansas

— Florida

— Georgia

— Idaho

— Louisiana

— Mississippi

— New Mexico

— South Carolina

— Texas

hahahaha
Romney insulted his own voters

It truly is the party of the past. They want what they HAD, in the 1950's with all the trimmings. They are not looking forward. It's a new day and a new world and they have failed to keep pace.

The sad thing is that the 1950's weren't what people remember. And, of course, although the president was Republican, he had a lot more in common with Teddy Roosevelt than with, say, Santorum or Romney.

But, you're absolutely right, the GOP is a party living in the past, devoid of new ideas, and fearful of the future. What conservatives fail to realize is the future WILL arrive, whether they like it or not. They should be helping to shape the future, not engaging in a futile effort to stop it.

I don't know what planet your talking about him cutting the deficit as the CBO has said all along Obama is going to continue to increase the deficit.

Don't partially quote.

This report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) presents an analysis of the proposals contained in the President's budget request for fiscal year 2013. The analysis is based on CBO's economic projections and estimating techniques (rather than the Administration's) and incorporates estimates by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation for the President's tax proposals.

In conjunction with analyzing the President's budget, CBO has updated its baseline budget projections, which were previously issued in January 2012. Unlike its estimates of the President's budget, CBO's baseline projections largely reflect the assumption that current tax and spending laws will remain unchanged, so as to provide a benchmark against which potential legislation can be measured. Under that assumption, CBO estimates that the deficit would total $1.2 trillion in 2012 and that cumulative deficits over the 2013–2022 period would amount to $2.9 trillion.

The President's budget request specifies spending and revenue policies for the 2013–2022 period and also includes initiatives that would have budgetary effects in fiscal year 2012. CBO estimates that enactment of the President's proposals would have the following consequences for the budget:

• The deficit in 2012 would equal $1.3 trillion (or 8.1 percent of gross domestic product), $82 billion more than the 2012 deficit projected in CBO's baseline.
• In 2013, the deficit would decline to $977 billion (or 6.1 percent of GDP), $365 billion more than the shortfall projected for 2013 in CBO’s baseline.
• The deficit would decline further relative to GDP in subsequent years, reaching 2.5 percent by 2017, but then would increase again, reaching 3.0 percent of GDP in 2022. The deficits after 2013 would exceed those in CBO's baseline by between 1.4 percent and 1.9 percent of GDP each year.
• In all, between 2013 and 2022, deficits would total $6.4 trillion (or 3.2 percent of total GDP projected for that period), $3.5 trillion more than the cumulative deficit in CBO's baseline.
• Federal debt held by the public would increase from $10.1 trillion (68 percent of GDP) at the end of 2011 to $15.2 trillion (77 percent of GDP) at the end of 2017 and then to $18.8 trillion (76 percent of GDP) at the end of 2022. Under the assumptions of CBO's current-law baseline, debt held by the public would increase more slowly, ending 2022 at $15.1 trillion; as a percentage of GDP, however, such debt would decline to 61 percent by the end of 2022.

http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43083

SeekingSanity

bayllie - so true! I actually don't really give a d*mn who the real Romney is. Just want him to have NOTHING to do with my life!

I would like to see who Romney really is because I take that low life personally. He affected my life as my governor and finding out the truth (even though most people of Mass already know it) would be a nice way to ensure that voMitt never holds a public office ever again.

The housing crisis had everything to do with the repeal of Glass-Steagall.

Which was signed into law by Bill Clinton! You guys blame everything that occurred during the Bush presidency on him but when things happen under the Clinton administration you blame Republicans in Congress. Can't have it both ways. I will concede - the housing crisis belongs to Bill Clinton.

Headline: Massachusetts Mitt reborn? A more moderate Romney emerges

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, boys and girls, cats and dogs...

May I introduce the NEW and IMPROVED "More Moderate Mitt!"

Not the Severely Conservative Governor you thought you knew.

This one a Kinder and Gentler and made from

ONE HUNDRED PERCENT RECYCLED MATERIALS! (aka, Flip Flops)

He no longer panders to the Republican Base. He is focused like a laser light on the 47% of American-Moochers who he wants to help have a sunny and brighter American Dream Future.

DO NOT MISUNDERESTIMATE MITT!

He's there for YOU, whoever YOU are, whatever YOU do, or don't do, it doesn't matter, he likes everybody now!!!

Now available at a thrift shop near you, where many other recycled products can be found!

Yes, the entitlements that farmers get need to be stopped as they are part of the 47%. Crop price guarantees, crop insurance and set asides.

Q22 my Homer is still superior over your Homer. :o

You are missing Aristotle.

Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysts say nearly six million, mostly in the middle class, will face tax penalty for not carrying medical coverage once Obama's health care law is fully in place.

Tim Pawlenty resigns from Romney campaign... drip drip drip

LogicReguired

This is priceless! Because the liberals with their friends in the media have tried to label him an extremist

no, Mitt did that when he said: "I was a severely conservative Republican governor,”

"severely" implies adherence to rigorous standards or high principles and often suggests
harshness

so Mitt labeled himself as an extremist even though it was a total lie

Now Romney is just acting like a dog chasing his tail.

Mitt Romney hasn't taken a stand on any issue OTHER THAN more tax cuts for the rich.

Other than that, the man is completely lost somewhere out there in "What do I say next" outter space.

Obama/Biden 2012

Oh Mr. Romney - Rush is not going to be happy with your new softer moderate tones. Will this mean tomorrow we will get another press conference saying I did not mean that?????????????

Obama/Biden 2012

He affected my life as my governor

Unemployment was at 6% when Romney took office in Mass., it declined during his term and was 4.6% when he left office. Was this one of the ways he "affected" your life? What is the unemployment rate in the state today? How about the rate the last 4 years? Anywhere near 4.6%?

TO: clwyd-2621393 who wrote:

"Yes, the entitlements that farmers get need to be stopped as they are part of the 47%. Crop price guarantees, crop insurance and set asides."

Republicans don't even have a clue what an "entitlement" is and Mitt Robme isn't doing anything but confusing the zombies even MORE, but THEY want to run this country!

Hell no!

Obama/Biden 2012

Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysts say nearly six million, mostly in the middle class, will face tax penalty for not carrying medical coverage once Obama's health care law is fully in place.

Which is up from 4 million in the original estimate which no one has lied about. That said, it represents less than 2% of the population.

"witchrunnerNobody But Narcissist-in-chief! The Obama campaign people are really getting desperate. Still trying to focus on Romney and every little word he says. But, the people are smarter than that. They are well aware that NBC is nothing more than an arm of the DNC. And the fact is that Romney has nothing to do with what has been going on in the economy or the violence against Americans overseas. Obama, on the other hand is directly responsible for the terrible economy."

So Romney isn't focused on every little word that comes out of Obama? haha

They are so desperate they have a ad with a line taken totally out of context, in short its a lie. If you think the people are "smarter than that" why are you a Romney supporter? The economy is a mess due to the last administration and a group of republicans that vowed to make Obama a one term President and have done everything possible to derail his plans (I wonder why they did that instead of doing what was right for the country?)

And what did Obama do to incite the violence over seas? When are you going to realize we are not the only people on this earth with opinions and that we are not always right? Oh and we don't need to start a war every time some joker goes nuts.

in short you are not "smart enough" and you're a hypocrite with selective memory.

What happen to the other Romney !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enough with all the Romney's running for President !!!!!!!!!!!!

We only need one, but that one is a Clown and we don't need Romney the Clown in the White House pushing the "N" button with that crazy loose cannon Benjamin !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Liberals just KEEP telling LIE AFTER LIE AFTER LIE!!

What’s the Democrat-mainstream media-created narrative for why we had the 2008 collapse? Republicans refusing to regulate? Read what the New York Times said back in September 11, 2003:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10— The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.

Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.

So Bush WANTED to regulate, in contradiction to all the lies that you heard.

And who blocked those regulations? Omigosh, it was Barney Frank and his Democrats.

”These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ”The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”

Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.

”I don’t see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing,” Mr. Watt said.

You would find if you bothered to look at the facts that Bush demanded reform and regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac SEVENTEEN TIMES during his presidency. And that Democrats refused to regulate the GSEs and even threatened filibusters against regulation. Not that the mainstream media is honest enough to report the truth.

You would find if you bothered to look at the facts that financial experts literally predicted that the Clinton-birthed Fannie and Freddie expansion would ultimately explode.

Again from the New York Times, September 30, 1999:

In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980′s.

”From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,” said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ”If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.”

What do we have, even in the pages of the New York Slimes? A prediction that as soon as the economy cooled off, the mortgage market wold explode like a depth charge and the government would have to step in to prevent a catastrophe? From a Clinton program?

The same man – Peter Wallison – who had predicted the disaster from 1999 wrote a September 23, 2008 article in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Blame Fannie Mae and Congress For the Credit Mess.”

The New York Times acknowledged that Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac “buy mortgages from lenders and repackage them as securities or hold them in their own portfolios.”

And the Los Angeles Times on May 31, 1999 describes how this process turned into a bubble, as more begat more, and then more and more begat more and more and more:

TO: KingK who wrote:

"Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysts say nearly six million, mostly in the middle class, will face tax penalty for not carrying medical coverage once Obama's health care law is fully in place."

What, are Republicans changing their argument?

First Republicans didn't want Affordable Health Care because they said they already have their insurance and their doctors and they didn't want no stinking Democrats in there crowding up their doctors' offices.

Now Republicans want to argue that THEY are going to be assessed a penalty!

Somehow I feel it would be a waste of my time to try to educated these poor misguided Republicans who have been lied to by the GOP for so long they can't find which way is up.

Obama/Biden 2012

Hey, Mitt! Did you forget about the people that DO pay taxes that DON'T aspire to be millionaires? There are many of us, and I am one. Sorry, but my number one priority in life isn't to collect the most pieces of paper featuring the portraits of white men that have been dead for over 100 years. I also don't want you shoving your religion (or your party's religion) down my throat. You won't get us, either, and we're not in the "47%" that you mentioned...

TO: KingK who wrote:

"Hey NBC how about actually doing your job and start asking Obama to answer the questions about his ideological outlook and his vision of the role of government, redistribution, taxes, deficit spending, payment of the debt and balancing the budget, etc..."

Why ask President Obama, is it because you know Mitt Robme CAN'T answer any those questions and he needs a leader like President Obama to tell Romney what to say, is that it?

You've got questions, and President Obama has answers.

Mitt Robme is stuck in the headlights.

Obama/Biden 2012

no, Mitt did that when he said: "I was a severely conservative Republican governor,”

When did he say that? Maybe During a speech to conservatives who were attacking him for being to much of a MODERATE during the nomination process?

“I fought against long odds in a deep blue state, but I was a severely conservative Republican governor,” Romney said at CPAC.

Romney, who is under fire from the White House, the DNC, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich for various decisions he made while in office that relate to contraception, and healthcare

Jeff-1592116

I don't know what planet your talking about him cutting the deficit as the CBO has said all along Obama is going to continue to increase the deficit.

Don't partially quote.

Jeff I hope you understand what your quoting. I don't think you get it. When they say the deficit for the year (not the overal deficit just the deficit for this year) declines from previous predictions that means we are still increasing the DEFICIT just not as much as previously predictied a deficit is still a deficit. It still isn't lowering the DEFICIT it is still getting BIGGER. You do understand that.............right?

So thank you for agreeing with me (if you understand what you quoted) that the President is still increasing the deficit every year into the near future. Heck he even told Letterman not to worry about the deficit in the short term..............he isn't.

Backhouse #1.1 states that McConell requires 60 votes to pass bills into law. Did he just wake up from a deep sleep? When the democrats were in control of the Senate they also demanded 60 votes to pass bills.

I am a registered democrate, a union member and a veteran but would like backhouse to explain just how this jobs bill was fully funded when we have no money? Is it anything like the shovel ready jobs president obama promised then later joked saying I guess they were not shovel ready after all?

president obama will change this country and not for the good.

"The sky is falling! Obama will grow the deficit!"

What do you think cutting revenues and taking us into another pre-fab war is going to do?

"because the Dems don’t get their way in their class warfare crusade to punish the successful with higher taxes"

Sorry, but those poor rich people were given enormous tax breaks while we were told it would create jobs. They failed to keep up their end of the bargain, so we will go back to tax rates we had when America was more successful. They aren't being punished. The fact that they keep crying about their taxes just shows me that they are soft, weak people who fall apart when they don't get their way. The "job creators" are a myth, like unicorns and compassionate conservatives.

So the batteries in that etch-a-scetch must need to be changed by now.

I thought MittWitt was a money genius, a CEO super millionaires that controls money, a CEO so well organized that he can create 12 million jobs.

Well come to find out money man Mittwiitt is having money problems of his own.

President Obama put you boot on his throat and stomp him out of his misery.

I JUST DONATED $700.00

PRESIDENT OBAMA 2012

Albany Joe --

AM: That's the question all voters thinking about re-electing Barry for four more years should be asking themselves. The honest answer to that question should frighten the Hell out of them.

No, that's the question that answers itself. Twelve years of tax policies favoring the wealthy at the expense of the rest. Thirty years of anti-worker policy that have crammed down wages, sent jobs overseas, dampened demand, and failed to provide the necessary conditions for real economic growth. And more than a few years of failed thinking by mortgage lenders and other Wall Street wannabe wizards.

Res ipsa loquitur.

David Walker --

This is a man with the intellectual depth of Saran Wrap.

That deep? Huh. I was thinking more shallow.

Didn't Mr Obama stay in that hotel?

Chris said,

"Vote for President Obama like your middle class life depends on it....because it does!"

I'm pretty sure those 6 million "middle class " Americans will have something to say about your "life depends on it" comment...

You know the ones that will be affected by the "tax" of Obamacare!!

6 Million votes is a lot to throw away!!

Let's turn the page on this failed presidency...

The middle class and your children/grandchildren can't afford 4 more!!

16 TRILLION and counting... tick tick tick

A more moderate Mitt returns?

The next hard lesson for the Romney campaign will be that there does come a time when it's too late to shake the Etch A Sketch.

Then again I don't think Mitt the Human Weathervane is capable of any other behavior.

"1) Lots of Americans rely on the government to survive (which is kind of like slavery because when uncle Sam commands, you must obey). While there are those who sincerely need it, there are also those who abuse the system - try to argue that if you want to appear silly.

What can be argued is that all this some how happened under Obama and that he wants people to not work and go on assistance, which seems to be the underlying tone of the GOP and their ilk.

Also the 47% includes many that are not on assistance nor doesn't it count for party. Yes believe it or not Mitt some of those are your supporters (it boggle the mind doesn't it) The Statement shows his true colors and not the campaign Mitt that will say anything to get elected. Heck he's changing again should we start calling him a flip flopper?

The only plan I've heard from Mitt is to lower taxes on the rich because somehow taxing the rich is redistribution of wealth. Well if the rich don't help out who do you think will take the brunt of the burden? The middle class but somehow that's not redistribution of my wealth??

2) Since Romney's plan is one of personal responsibility and original freedom as our founding forefathers envisioned, it requires personal effort, thus removing much of the need for government assistance. While it truly is better to be free, more work is not attractive to most so he can't win that vote.

Please define "personal responsibility" because to me is sounds like "if you aren't rich like me" then its your own fault. If you're not rich you should have borrowed money from your parents for some seed money or education to make you rich (as though that is the magic to being rich)

everyone doesn't have the same breaks in life and everyone isn't able to become rich believe it or not.

3) He was not speaking to the world, he was responding to an individual's question on how he can win the election and admitted that it will require everyone's effort.

Well if its so true why wasn't he saying it to the world?

@ Q22

"What I find interesting about the First Thought section is that it is always about what Mitt is doing. It's as if there isn't another campaign going on at the same time. I still don't know what the hell Obama has planned if re-elected other than to piss and moan about the Republican lead Congress and Senate"

Maybe he has a legitimate gripe about congress and the senate. I think we out to charge insurgents with treason. You want one in the White House? Don't look now dude but you're part of the problem. Attn: Repubs, I don't care if you're tired of reading this. You'll get over it.

REPUBS CAUSE THE ECONOMY TO GROW SLOW, THEN WHINE THAT IT IS NOT GROWING! RYAN SABOTAGES THE ECONOMY AND 911 responder health care bill.
From dailykos.com 9/6/12 by keepemhonest Story :

FACT 1. In Robert Draper's book, "Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives" Draper wrote that on inauguration night, 2009, during a four hour, "invitation only" meeting with GOP Hate-Propaganda Minister, Frank Luntz, the below listed Senior GOP Law Writers literally plotted to sabotage, undermine and destroy America's Economy.
FACT 2: Draper wrote the guest list included:

The Guest List:
Frank Luntz - GOP Minister of Propaganda
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA),
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX),
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX),
Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI)
Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA),
Sen. Jim DeMint (SC-R),
Sen. Jon Kyl (AZ-R),
Sen. Tom Coburn (OK-R),
Sen. John Ensign (NV-R) and
Sen. Bob Corker (TN-R).
Non-lawmakers present Newt Gingrich

FACT 3: Newt Gingrich confirms meeting took place in an interview with Al Sharpton's Politics Nation on June 12, 2012

SHARPTON: In fact, let`s go to a book that Mr. Draper wrote about the night of the inauguration. There was a meeting at a hotel near the inaugural ball, about a mile away ... He writes about that night the plan was to show united and unyielding
opposition to the president`s economic policies ... And Draper writes that you told the group -- you, Newt Gingrich, "You will remember this day...you will remember this day the seeds of 2012 were sown."
If there was a commitment from day one, before he ever took a seat
behind the desk of the Oval Office, that everyone was going to obstruct
him, then what he`s done has been almost unbelievable, against those kind
of odds, Speaker Gingrich.
NEWT: it was an important meeting and I was glad and honored
to be part of it.
SHARPTON: I`m glad you admit you had it.

FACT 4: Two months after Paul Ryan's covert meeting where they plotted to sabotage the US Economy, in March 2009, Rep. Pete Sessions said Republicans should follow the model of the Taliban in its battles against President Obama.
In the March 2009 interview with National Journal Rep Sessions said:

"Taliban Insurgency, we understand perhaps a little bit more because of the Taliban. Insurgency is the way they went about systematically understanding how to disrupt and change a person's entire processes. And these Taliban -- is an example of how you go about to change a person from their messaging to their operations to their frontline message. And we need to understand that Insurgency may be required when [dealing with] the other side"
~Rep Pete Sessions, March 2009 to National Journal

Rep Pete Sessions went on to say:

"If they [democrats] do not give us those options or opportunities then we will then become Insurgency ... I think Insurgency is a mindset and an attitude that we're going to have to search for and find ways to get our message out and to be prepared to see things for what they are, rather than trying to do something about them"

FACT 5: Also, at the January 20, 2009 meeting they plotted to suddenly stop supporting any Stimulus Legislation, even though, they all supported Bush/Cheney Stimulus legislation.

At the meeting, Rep Kevin McCarthy said,
"We've gotta challenge them on every single bill."
"Show united and unyielding opposition to the president's economic policies."

FACT 6: Remember, these same Republican members of Congress supported the very Bush/Cheney policies that caused America to teeter on the brink of the 2nd Great Depression and caused the 2007 US Economic Meltdown.

Here's how they all voted:
-- "Yes" to Bush/Cheney January 2008 Stimulus
-- "Yes" to Bush/Cheney bailing out Bear Stern
-- "Yes" to Bush/Cheney bailing out AIG
-- "Yes" to Bush/Cheney TARP (sept 2008)
-- "Yes" to Bush/Cheney TARP (oct 2008)

And these same Republican members of Congress:

Supported Bush/Cheney keeping cost of two wars out of the Budget.
Supported Bush/Cheney spending $4Trillion while giving Top 1% Tax Cuts; ignoring the fact that taxes pay for wars.

Not only did these Senior members of Congress plot to destroy the American Economy more than it already was destroyed? They actually carried out their mission:

Every one of these Senior members of Congress have threatened Government Shutdown over things like:
- Funding planned parenthood,
- Raising the Debt Ceiling which, in-and-of-itself, would cause US Economic turmoil.

FACT 7: Last year, during the Debt Ceiling negotiations, Eric Cantor and Sen. Jon Kyl abruptly walked out of negotiations and refused to renew discussions with Democrats. As a result, America's credit rating was lowered which put a smile on Republican's faces.
FACT 8: Meanwhile, the 2009 Sabotage the U.S. Economy covert meeting members, Senators: Jim DeMint, Jon Kyl, Tom Coburn, John Ensign, and Bob Corker have:

- Filibustered more Bills (over 300) than any Congress combined in US History.
- Voted NO on every single piece of Legislation brought to the Floor including:
NO on Al Franken's Anti-Rape Amendment,
NO on Lilly Ledbetter,
NO on Fair Pay Act,
NO on Anti-Outsourcing Bill (2010)

FACT 9: The House members who attended the 2009 Sabotage America meeting have been busy rejecting legislation that helps victims of natural disaster.

Representatives: Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Pete Sessions, Jeb Hensarling, Pete Hoekstra and Dan Lungren have voted NO on every single piece of Legislation including:
NO on increasing FEMA during natural disasters.

FACT 10: Paul Ryan and these other same failed Congressmen have been on tv constantly chanting the lie that they were guilty of ... the lie that "President Obama's policies undermine the US Economy."
There are more facts listed...but I think you get the point. repubs obstruct for the greed of money and for their own party to benifit from the greedy rich!

LogicReguired

Unemployment was at 6% when Romney took office in Mass., it declined during his term and was 4.6% when he left office.

nice round up, noLogic. Unemployment was 5.7% and Romney "lowered" unempoyment by 0.9%.

Few problems with Romney's lowering unemployment:

1. Only Ohio, Michigan and post-Katrina Louisiana did worse than Romney's Massachusetts

2. The Massachusetts jobs growth over Romney tenure badly lagged other high-skill, high-wage, knowledge economy states like New York (2.7%), California (4.7%) and North Carolina (7.6%).

3. Romney's predecessor and successor did better

4. There was an anemic population growth during that time. Romney "lowered" the unemployment because Massachusetts lost enough of working adults.

BTW, tell me, why isn't Romney talking about Mass? I mean if his record is so great - as you try to claim - why isn't Romney bragging about it? Is Romney shy? Is he modest?

TrueTexan -- Care to tell me why REPUBLICANS are fighting EVERY and ALL regulation of WALL STREET today?

What? Are you closing your eyes to who's obstructing regulation of these "too big to fail" institutions?

In your post you fail to mention ALL the REPUBLICANS that were complicit in the problem. You also give a pass to Wall Street. Just because alcohol is legal it doesn't mean you can drink and drive and possibly harm someone. Get it?

Joe in Albany

. Imagine the growth and new jobs potential of that kind of business under Jimmy Carter’s third term!!!

No worries, look at all the government jobs Republican state houses are creating down at the DMV as they try to suppress voters errrr I mean discourage "voter fraud"

Why ask President Obama, is it because you know Mitt Robme CAN'T answer any those questions and he needs a leader like President Obama to tell Romney what to say, is that it?

Why ask President Obama??? BECAUSE HE IS THE PRESIDENT!!!! Shouldn't we find out what his plan for the next four years is instead of some stupid bumper sticker that says keep moving foward! What the hell policy is that? Maybe the media can try to DO THEIR JOB, and maybe Obama could take time away from Pimp with a limp and Letterman to answer some basic questions.

You've got questions, and President Obama has answers.

I got questions, and so far Obama has given no answers! Whane was the last time he took questions from a real reporter?

LogicReguired

When did he say that? Maybe During a speech to conservatives who were attacking him for being to much of a MODERATE during the nomination process?

see that's the problem - it shouldn't matter who he was speaking to. It matters that he said it. We are not talking about a little fib to impress the listeners. We are talking big ticket items like being severely conservative or believeing that 47% of US citizens are moochers.

TO: Q22 who wrote:

"... liberals really don't understand conservatives..."

Who is a conservative, give us a name.

Republicans haven't done anything but borrow and spend billions of dollars for decades now, and there AIN'T nothing "conservative" about THAT!

"Conservative" is more like another word for "Republican" but it has NOTHING to do with actually "being conservative and NOT spending". Republicans are bigger spenders than the Dems. At least when the Dems spend, they spend here at home instead of sending billions of our American Taxpayer dollars overseas !

Everyday the Mittster is reborn as not the guy who he said he was, when he said he was, the guy he said who he was.

Just who is Mitt Romney? He certainly doesn't know, and by this time in his life....he should know by now.

Like a shadow he stands behind the person he is talking to and takes the shape of that person, instead of being a man and casting his own shadow!

Vote President Obama/Biden and Team Democratic party 2012

Jeff I hope you understand what your quoting. I don't think you get it.

I get it, you left out all the other parts to bolster your argument. I get it alright.

Next time post the entire quote and cite the source.

I actually feel sorry for Mitt the sorry bastard. He set himself up as the rope in a gigantic tug of war, conservatives on one side moderates on the other and liberals as the cheering session. He hoped he could pull these groups together for the good of the GOP but boy oh boy did he underestimate his Samson like characteristics. I hate to see living creatures being torn asunder by an unfeeling mob, and the election can't get here soon enough so that Mitt and family can get back to their %12 life style.

TO: LogicReguired who wrote:

[Why ask President Obama, is it because you know Mitt Robme CAN'T answer any those questions and he needs a leader like President Obama to tell Romney what to say, is that it?]

Why ask President Obama??? BECAUSE HE IS THE PRESIDENT!!!! Shouldn't we find out what his plan for the next four years is instead of some stupid bumper sticker that says keep moving foward! What the hell policy is that?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Mitt Robme is a wannabe, nothing more. All Mitt Robme wants to know is what he's supposed to say, and there is NOTHING presidential about that. You want to know what Romney's ideas are? More tax cuts for the rich, that is the ONLY thing Mitt Robme is sure of, outside of the FACT that everybody who is NOT rich is gonna have to pay for those tax cuts for folks like Mitt Robme himself!

If you want answers, next time President Obama speaks, try listening.

Obama/Biden 2012

In Kristoff"s opinion piece in the NYT titled, It Takes One to Know One, he says:

Another illustration of radicalizing self-delusion comes when the son of a governor and corporate chief executive says that "everything that Ann and I have, we earned the old-fashioned way, and that's by hard work."

Romney has proved himself right: We manifestly do have a problem with people who see themselves as victims even as they benefit from loopholes in the tax code.

Full article here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/opinion/kristof-it-takes-one-to-know-one.html?_r=0

FACT 10: Paul Ryan and these other same failed Congressmen have been on tv constantly chanting the lie that they were guilty of ... the lie that "President Obama's policies undermine the US Economy."
There are more facts listed...but I think you get the point. repubs obstruct for the greed of money and for their own party to benifit from the greedy rich!

And then they broke to eat baby seal steaks.

Republicans had an agreement with Obama on a Big Deal that would have raised nearly $800b in revenue and cut over$2T in spending. It would have guaranteed Obama's re election and boost the economy but Obama couldn't do it. HE screwed the deal. Read Woodwards book - a more reputable source than your "facts".

Mr. Adams will make some explosive charges. He says the administration used a racial double standard in deciding last year to drop the prosecution of the New Black Panther Party after members were videotaped in front of a Philadelphia polling place on Election Day 2008 dressed in military-style uniforms, brandishing a billy club and using racial slurs against voters. Mr. Adams says the career prosecutors who pursued the case did their job but were stymied by Obama political appointees, for whom he has harsh words: "To abandon law-abiding citizens and abet wrongdoers constitutes corruption," he told Fox News last week.

President Obama's Justice Department continues to stonewall inquiries about why it dropped the voter intimidation case, which Bartle Bull, a former civil rights lawyer and former publisher of the left-wing Village Voice, calls "the most blatant form of voter intimidation I've ever seen." Mr. Bull and others witnessed one Black Panther pointing his billy club at voters and making racial threats. Mr. Bull says he heard one yell: "You are about to be ruled by the black man, cracker!"

Nonetheless, the Justice Department moved to dismiss most of the charges a month after winning a default judgment against the Black Panthers when the party failed to appear in federal court. The move came after Justice secured an agreement from one Black Panther member not to carry a "deadly weapon" near a polling place until 2012. In a written statement, the Justice Department now says it acted in good faith, adding: "It is regrettable when a former department attorney distorts the facts and makes baseless allegations to promote his or her agenda."

But the Washington Times has reported that six career lawyers at Justice, including Christopher Coates, former chief of the Justice Department's voting section, also favored pursuing the case. One of the career attorneys, Appellate Chief Diana Flynn, had urged in an internal memo that a judgment be pressed against the defendants to "prevent the paramilitary style intimidation of voters" in the future.

All of the career attorneys were overruled by Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli, an Obama appointee.

Sorry to see you off the team TPaw, however understand the
opportunity!

BTW, tell me, why isn't Romney talking about Mass? I mean if his record is so great - as you try to claim - why isn't Romney bragging about it? Is Romney shy? Is he modest?

Better yet, why isn't Obama bragging about his economic and jobs accomplishments? I mean a President has a much greater effect on employment than a Governor.

Q22

Read Woodwards book - a more reputable source than your "facts"

stop getting all your info from some guy's book. Books are written to sell copies...holy crap

Also, you could prove to us that this book is based on facts by providing facts to back up that claim. And no, saying that the author states it's a fact does not qualify....

@ dont carry... I guess you cant read OR didnt read it all AND didnt check ANYTHING OUT on my post!

You can spread B.S. all you want BUT you cant ignore the FACTS! LYING LIBERALS will never change!!

Q22

Better yet, why isn't Obama bragging about his economic and jobs accomplishments?

but he is - you just don't listen. To sum it up for you:

stock market is doing great (2008: 8k+; 2012 13k+)

jobs are being created (2.6 million jobs lost in 2008 alone; 4.6 million jobs lost in 15 months btw jan2008-March2009)

companies sit on record profits

banks are lending

Basically everything that was going to sh*t in 2008, is not anymore

Pawlenty knows when to get off a sinking ship! The USS Romney lost at sea!

Better yet, why isn't Obama bragging about his economic and jobs accomplishments?

He cannot have "accomplishments" that you're looking when they're filibustered in the Senate (at record rates) and shot down by the House (also in record rates). But here's an accomplishment: we're recovering faster from the recession faster than almost every other nation on Earth.

Why aren't the GOP going into details explaining their proposals?

Sorry texan -- It seems to me you have a reading problem.

@ clwyd - maybe so! so close to the election though?

Jeff-1592116

Jeff I hope you understand what your quoting. I don't think you get it.

I get it, you left out all the other parts to bolster your argument. I get it alright.

Next time post the entire quote and cite the source.

Actually posting the entire quote is long and boring but it bolsters my point even better. It states that Obama policies will continue to increase the budget DEFICIT through 2022............for the next ten years as the CBO only goes out 10 years we have no predictions after that. So when do we start spending less than we have? We are saddling the future generations with massive deficits and our current leader plans on increasing for at least 10 more years. When he told Letterman that long term we needed to worry about our DEFICIT apparantly that means further than 10 years from now.

But I do thank you for bolstering my position even though I don't think you knew you were. But now we both agree that Obama has no intentions of lowering the nations DEFICIT but will continue to increase it. Again thanks.

It states that Obama policies will continue to increase the budget DEFICIT through 2022.

Is that why Obama's 2013 Budget Proposal cut the deficit by over $400 billion from 2012?

Flip-Flop? Etch-a-sketch?

No. The REAL worry about Romney are the things he DOES NOT SAY. And this is MORE that what he does say.

Like Walker in Wisconsin, Romney, if elected (God help us), will do MANY THINGS that he hasn't even talked about. The HIDDEN GOP AGENDA that NOBODY but the real NUTCASES that are running the party know about will GET US ALL. WORSE than the HUGE TAX CUTS for the WEALTHY and CRAZY MEDICARE VOUCHER SYSTEM and an EXISTENTIAL SLASHING of SOCIAL SECURITY, these changes will inherently alter the fabric of America.

FEAR IT! You think the GOP Neo-Colonialist Oligarchs actually have YOUR BEST INTERESTS at heart? GET REAL! The REAL GOP agenda involves unregulated multi-national corporations running ROUGHSHOD over our rights. BET ON IT!

No. This is NOT a small matter. If the GOP gets their way on VOTER DISCRIMINATION, YOU - YES YOU! - may not even be ABLE TO VOTE.

You think I am crazy but I have seen it in Wisconsin. No unions. Crazy discriminatory voter practices, environmental laws re-written at the whim of huge corporate behemoths. It is here NOW!

Vote Obama like your LIFE DEPENDS ON IT! BECAUSE IT DOES!

Balloon mortgages were not the invention of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. People were put in these unsustainable mortgages by mortgage brokers who saw a quick profit and simply were not ever worried whether people could meet the balloon payments. This segment was the first wave in the mortgage defaults that brought investment banks to their knees.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bought a lot of mortgages and were stuck with some bad ones. They did not place them. Certainly, they should have been more vigilant in their investments.

1/3rd of houses sold in 2007 were not primary residences. The investor class and some who were striving to be in the investor class were speculating on rising home prices to make a quick buck.

The surplus of investment money to put into the housing market is what created the housing price upward spiral and the resulting market bubble which burst. Many blame the people who borrowed the money. What about the rich people and their representatives (banks) who loaned them the money? Don't they deserve blame here too? They were the ones who got bailed out while the person borrowing the money was left to the foreclosure process.

The excess investment money controlled by the rich is what fed the housing bubble and the inability of people to meet their payments is what caused it to burst. In other words, the rich have too much money and the middle class does not have enough. This out-of-balance income distribution is the result of the wealthy getting many tax cuts and making decisions that increased their share of productivity growth over the last 30 years.

It is government that can and should address this situation to return the economy to an equilibrium point where increasing wages of the middle class increase sales spurring investors to invest more to meet rising demand. Then, more workers will add to sales growth and the cycle will repeat itself yielding higher economic growth.

We will all prosper as the economy grows. The rich can invest in growing business and stop investing in 0% 10 year T-bills and see their return on investment go up. The rest of us will have access to more jobs and higher incomes which we can spend driving sales still higher.

ROMNEY IS SETTING HIMSELF UP TO BE A COLLECTABLE DOLL!

That's right. Everyday he sets out a new version of the Mittster just like Cabbage Patch Kids and Beanie Babies. Different postions everyday wearing different clothes. The most collectible ones should be the Costco Kid. When you pull the string on back of this doll it says, "Costco shirts come 3 in a pack!" It is the only time he was seen wearing jeans and wearing shirts from Costco. Ann said so!

The other Mittster dolls comes with recorded voices too!. When you pull the string the doll says hundreds of different flip flops of Mittsters. A delightful toy for those people who have everything!

That deep? Huh. I was thinking more shallow.

______________________________

AM: you sound bitter today. Maybe you and David should get together for a theaputic self-pity party.

Life is good. Enjoy. :~)

Jeff - Your mental midget friends on this post, are calling on the middle class to vote for President Redistribution. I simply ask why? And still no facts or reasons to vote Obama! Except, Hey, look over here! Don't look at the economy or the Middle East! So Jeff, show some facts on why the middle class should vote for President Redistribution. I'll be WAITING!

Lobbyist=Politicians=Lawyers=Crooks

Not really changing jobs are you Pawlenty! };~p

AM: you sound bitter today. Maybe you and David should get together for a theaputic self-pity party.

Why is it that, when you've got absolutely nothing else, you always accuse me of being bitter? It sounds like the same kind of contempt that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan show for those who are not as fortunate as they are. Next thing you'll do is accuse me of class envy.

But don't waste your time. I'm possibly the least bitter person you know.

And from everything I can tell, for all your wealth, you've got nothing that I envy, Joe.

Pawlenty was kicked off the Romney ship. Pawlenty was acting the same way Mittster has been acting. When Pawlenty was shoved aside by Bush jr so Norm Coleman could get at Senator job, Pawlenty went for governor job with the backing of big bucks from repubs. From day one Pawlenty kept going further to the right to remain in the new republican extreme right grace. No longer the person he was he became Mr. Photo Op Pander pants. As the party went extreme rt...there he was following like a puppy taking the Norquist pledge! Another man who casts no shadow of his own!

Xabre

It states that Obama policies will continue to increase the budget DEFICIT through 2022.

Is that why Obama's 2013 Budget Proposal cut the deficit by over $400 billion from 2012?

Xabre.............it doesn't cut the DEFICIT at all. I will attempt one more time. What Obama is claiming that the Deficit for fiscal year 2013 will be less than they origianlly thought. Now listen this is the important part it still is going to INCREASE THE DEFICIT (spend more money than we have) but not as much as they first thought.

In simple terms your spouse has been gaining weight at an average of 25 lbs a year next year you get on a diet that will only gain 20 lbs..........your still gaining weight just at a little slower pace..............get it?

But in your defense that is how politicians (both party's) try to say things to make it sound better than it is. The administration is confusing you with the difference between "lowering" and "slowing". They have nothing that actually lowers our deficit it continues to grow but they are saying they are slowing the growth. In the end it is all bad for all of us espcially our children. And the DEFICIT was caused by both parties they just have to quit playing politics and make the hard decisions.

How do politicians even sleep at night...???

Something tells me that this "opportunity" was just a way of saving face for both Romney and Pawlenty.

Truetexan -- Here's some reading for you:

2003‐05: The first effort during Republicans’ 12‐year control of Congress to reform the GSEs came in 2003, when then‐Financial Services Committee Chairman Mike Oxley (R‐OH) worked to pass a bill. That year, Oxley had scheduled a Financial Services Committee markup of the legislation, but had to cancel the markup due to White House opposition. The legislation would have established a stronger regulator to ensure the GSEs’ safety and soundness. As CBS Marketwatch reported on October 7, 2003:

Strong opposition by the Bush administration forced a top Republican congressman to delay a vote on a bill that would create a new regulator for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac . . . The vote on Rep. Michael Oxley’s bill to reform oversight of government‐sponsored entities including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was scheduled for Wednesday. Oxley, an Ohio Republican, is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.xviii

House Committee on Financial Services

5In 2005 Oxley tried again and this time got a reform bill through the House. Democrats unanimously supported the bill in the Financial Services Committee. A majority of Democrats supported it on the floor, though Congressman Frank and others voted against it because of unrelated restrictions it placed on the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The bill passed the House, but the Bush administration and Senate Republicans opposed the Oxley bill. Senate Democrats offered the House‐passed Oxley bill in that chamber, but Senate Republicans, who held the majority, lacked the votes to pass the bill. They took no action on any bill.

On September 14, 2006, members of the House Financial Services Committee who had supported GSE reform, including Congressman Frank, sent a letter to then‐Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby urging the Senate to work with them to get a pill passed into law. The letter stated:

Accounting violations by the GSEs have brought to light the fact that current GSE regulators lack many of the supervisory and enforcement powers bank regulators can wield. We must remedy this situation by consolidating GSE regulation and providing the tools needed to oversee these large, complex financial institutions. Both H.R. 1461 and S. 190 create a strong independent agency to ensure the GSEs operate in a safe and sound manner and comply with their statutory missions.

However, as Oxley told the Financial Times in September 2008, the White House gave House Republicans “the one‐finger salute.”xix

http://democrats.financialservices.house.gov/FinancialSvcsDemMedia/file/key_issues/Predatory_Subprime_

Mortgage_Lending/GSEs_Subprime_timeline.pdf

Jeff - Your mental midget friends on this post, are calling on the middle class to vote for President Redistribution.

Being a derogatory jerk doesn't win points with me.

I simply ask why? And still no facts or reasons to vote Obama!

That's not a question. You're looking to be an ass and succeeding at least on that point.

Except, Hey, look over here! Don't look at the economy or the Middle East!

Mitt Romney and his dimwitted comments HE stated are why people are focusing elsewhere. Heck even Mitt can't seem to stick to the economy. He also screwed up last week on the Middle East. That too is his fault, not anyone making up something.

So Jeff, show some facts on why the middle class should vote for President Redistribution. I'll be WAITING!

Facts on why someone feels something strongly? That is a stupid question. Reasons are reasons, not facts. People have REASONS for not voting for Mitt. Some reasons are based on facts. Like the FACT he screwed up this week with his comments.

I want facts on why you love your wife. Show me facts proving you love her. Works the same way.

I tell you what. Read up on what a logical fallacy is. You've been bad at making a logical statement and obviously have no clue.

http://www.logicalfallacies.info/

geo-195.... Nope - the party of mental midgets, the radical right, will sadly never get a clue and will vote Romney. Hopefully there are enough of us who get what the right is proposing and won't let them get away with it - we'll vote for President Obama. But, to you mental midgets, go ahead. You've proved over and over you either don't understand or don't actually care. You are so "party" oriented you don't realize the "party" left you behind years ago.

Obama/Biden 2012

Every day gets a little bettter in the ROmney Rope Factory where he is busy weaving a sufficiently long rope.

True Texan --

So Bush WANTED to regulate, in contradiction to all the lies that you heard.

That much is true, as far as it goes. The rest of your post is misleading.

Don't forget that in those years, both houses of Congress were controlled by REPUBLICANS.

In fact, Republicans killed Chuck Hagel's bill that potentially could have prevented the meltdown because of heavy lobbying efforts by CONSERVATIVE lobbyists, including Newt Gingrich.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-15/gingrich-said-to-be-paid-by-freddie-mac-to-win-republican-allies.html

In 2006, before subprime mortgage losses pushed the two firms toward insolvency, the companies were facing calls for stricter regulation and smaller portfolios as the Treasury Department warned about potential financial market instability if they failed to hedge their assets against interest rate shifts and other risks. The companies, which were private but had implicit government backing, also were reeling from a series of accounting scandals.

Although Freddie Mac had developed strong supporters in the Democratic caucus, the firm started a new campaign to win over allies in Republican circles. Hollis McLoughlin, a former Treasury Department chief of staff in President George H.W. Bush’s administration, was brought in to head the effort.

Republican New Hires

McLoughlin hired Gingrich and several other Republicans, including former Representative Vin Weber and political message expert Frank Luntz, to assist the cause.

A statement posted on the campaign website after the debate said Gingrich was hired to provide “strategic advice.” The former lawmaker told the company it could win over conservatives by stressing “the historical success of public-private partnerships in achieving public goods at a minimum of taxpayer money and bureaucracy.”

...

None of the former Freddie Mac officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said Gingrich raised the issue of the housing bubble or was critical of Freddie Mac’s business model.

http://www.bu.edu/writingprogram/journal/past-issues/issue-1/acharya/

For example, one freshly exposed lobbying scandal showed that, in 2005, Freddie Mac secretly paid a Republican consulting firm about $2 million to put an end to potential legislation that would have regulated Fannie Mae. The legislation, put forth by a Republican Senator, Chuck Hagel, would have overhauled the regulatory system currently in place.¹³ At the time, most Republican senators supported the bill. Unknown to Hagel and the senators who supported his plan, DCI, the consulting firm, was undermining his efforts by targeting and convincing various Republican senators to drop support for Hagel’s bill. In the end, there was not enough Republican support to warrant even bringing it to the floor for a vote, since Democrats were all against the bill due to the divisive politics that plagued, and continue to plague, Washington. Hagel and his supporters wrote to the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, saying, “If effective regulatory reform legislation . . . is not enacted this year, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the . . . financial system and the economy as a whole.”¹⁴ This statement proved to be ominously accurate, as retrospective observation proves.

(emphasis added)

Jeff - As usuall No Facts on why the middle class should vote for President redistribution! Jeff I could really give a sh1t about scoring points with you, trust me! You proved my point, nothing on the middle class, just diversion. Congratulations on being a Democrat. SeekingSanity - What exactly is President Redistribution proposing? Xabre - " is that why 2013 Obama's budget proposal cut the deficit by 400 billion from 2012?" Why would you actually write that. Obama has NOT passed a budget, so how can we believe anything in his budget? His last budget did not recieve a single Democrat vote. Spew on!

The 47% who don't pay federal income tax includes people who make less than $50,000.00 a year, but pay the 7.75 percent federal payroll taxes for Medicare and Social Security. Many work multiple minimum-wage jobs, like those available at Walmart & Staples. Romney calls himself a job creator, but he seems to despise those jobs he helped create at Staples because those workers don't make enough to pay federal income tax. Romney paid $29,000.00 out of $20.7 million in income in 2010 for Medicare & Social Security, a rate of 0.14 percent. I implore anyone who is undecided, if you care about our great country being respected to not vote for Mitt Romney for President. The most recent leaked negative comments toward our lower-income earners should really be the last straw. This is one of many truly inappropriate and unintelligent comments he has made over the past few months. Calling lower-earning people "Victims", who should take personal responsibility and care for their lives, should be all the evidence needed not to Vote for him. Personally I don't care to hear what Romney has to say after it's been edited and scripted by his writing team. I want to hear what comes out"Off the cuff" - Romney's phrase as he tried to wiggle out of his latest gaffe, it's the unscripted comments that reveal the true colors and identity of a person. I will be Voting for President Obama because he shows to be everything Romney is not and that's a Leader. Thank you and you all have a nice day with out RobMeHood !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What is the algorithm here? How many people in these on-line chats possess even the most basic understanding of economics?

How many have any idea of the economic disaster that will be brought to bear as a result of Obama's reckless spending, runaway immigration policy, unbridled welfare programs and the implementation of socialized medicine he has forced on working Americans?

Can you even conceptualize what will happen now that the Federal Reserve has been forced to monetize Obama's reckless spending (debt). Does the rule of 72 as it applies to inflation mean anything to anyone extolling the virtues of Obama?

No American with even a "scintilla of economic intellectual acumen" can possibly support 4 more years of Obama. So, let me give you the bottom line in a simple fashion!

1) Obama's policies are forcing this country into bankruptcy!!! You scream for government support, but there is no money left! He has added nearly 6 trillion dollars to our national debt in 3 ½ short years. As a result, Obama's socialist policies will force 90% of America into living in utter dire economic squalor!

2) Excessive debt brought about by deficit spending acts like a cancer on any nation or
society. Cancer grows and cannot be contained without serious and often invasive intervention. As a result, the cure itself poses serious side effects. We can look to Greece as a sort of microcosm that effectively illustrates what Obama is doing to America with what may go down in history as the "most reckless fiscal policy in the history of the industrialized world."

3) In the case of the Greek economy, it experienced a negative growth rate averaging over -3.3% for the last 4 consecutive years and reached a debt to GDP ratio of 165% in 2011 prior to the most recent debt restructuring effort. Their unsustainable public sector wages, pension commitments and reckless fiscal policy served as drivers in collapsing their economy. It is important to note that their meltdown actually began to gain significant steam back in 2009 as their debt to GDP ratio hit 112% . THAT IS PRECISELY WHERE OBAMA POLICIES WILL HAVE PLACED AMERICA BY 2013!

4) Those who believe the upcoming election is somehow about political differences between Democrats vs. Republicans are the saddest of creatures serving only as pawns in a cleverly cloaked war of ideologies. In the face of an overwhelming abundance of information, it has become crystal clear that Obama is not a true American Democrat, but rather a closet Marxist whose dangerous anti-American and anti-colonialism agenda has metastasized into a pathological cancer on our society.

5) Active members of the single issue constituencies supporting him are on their own self-serving fool's errand. You may win the right for homosexual marriage, the right to murder the unborn or the right to live on welfare with no effort being required to find a job or improve you lot in life. But, electing a man determined to marginalize America at any cost will destroy every other aspect of your life! Is it worth it?

6) My God people give up your childish, intellectually economically compromised, self-absorbed perspective and smell the coffee!!! If Obama is reelected, everything you have ever know or taken for granted will change.

Obama's reckless spending has forced America to borrow 40% of every penny he spends! What do you really think is going to happen? Take a good look a life in Greece and ask yourself if that is the future you want for yourself and your family! Let me tell you it is HELL!

This is a campaign about the 100%..(of the 53 percent i care about)

Jeff - As usuall No Facts on why the middle class should vote for President redistribution!

You know what? Talking to people dumber than me is a waste of time. Welcome to ignore.

Patriotic American --

Your post is generally great, but here's some news. People who make less than $50,000 a year also pay income taxes. Most of them don't have the deductions that would allow them to escape taxes, either.

This is what conservative economics has bought us. The middle class has seen their wages crammed down by Republican anti-worker policies, by the shipment of jobs overseas, the destruction of unions, and tax policies that favor the wealthy at their expense.

And in return, the same conservatives that skewed all the rules in their own favor turn around and blame those from whom they have robbed opportunity.

Union Baby: Yeah, I agree with you.....I thought I was doing pretty good at being around the middle/middle class; but now, after Romney's comment about middle class being in the $200,000 region, I'm upset! Apparently, I'm at the lower end of middle class. I'm depressed!!! I'm going to go jump off a bridge!! AND, he had to add insult to injury he tells me that I'm lazy and no good because I had enough deductions last year that I actually got a small refund on my taxes.....bummer!! I'm just all-around bad news, I guess!!! What am I to do?

Romney's camp suggested that Romney should come up with a plan when all else fails !!!!!!!

• OK people -- pay attention. We are roiling out the latest NEW and IMPROVED -- Mitt Romney. Get this version now because it won't last long. By the end of the day we roll out the next version of the NEW and IMPROVED -- Mitt Romney.

I dunno, Charlie. There may be a new version of Mitt "Etch-A-Sketch" Romney on the market but I can't say he has improved. He looks like the same ol' liar and cheat he's always been.

geo-1957883

How has the middle class performed under Obama? Income down from $55,000 to under $51,000, Unemployment over 8% his whole Presidency, foreclosures at record levels, a drop of 5 million people working under Obama from 63 million to 58 million, food stamp dependancy up 40%, little access to credit, highest level of small business bankruptcies in a lifetime, poverty rate at 15%, Obama has NOT created 1 job yet. Yeah, your right Obama has done it to the middle class alright! Do you idiots actually believe what you write? Show SOMETHING that proves your point!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's some facts for you, Geo. Remember the AMERICAN JOBS ACT that Obama tried to pass last summer? Remember the VETERANS JOBS ACT that they tried to pass this week? Your Lovely Republicans voted against both of those measures, which would have helped create badly-needed jobs for Americans. What's wrong with your Lovely Republicans that they don't want to help our middle class get jobs, eh? All they care about is obstructing Obama on anything he tries to do to help the people in this country we all love so much.

The GOP will be going on fox retard news to apology for Romney's Stupidity !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Romney's new Slogan, Shoot from the hip with Benjamin !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bill, Fairfax VA... I can only agree with your previous comment (#1.4) about the Orioles. The O's are BACK baby!!! Grew up in Reston and have been an O's fan ever since.

HOWEVER, the remainder of your comment is nonsense. If anything Romney and his superPACs have been the mudslingers since he got the Grand Ole Plutocrat nod in the primaries. Obama's campaign has issued a few negative ads but NO WHERE near the amount that the Romney superPACs, campaign and tax exempt "social welfare groups" (aka crossroads GPS, American for Prosperity and Chamber of Commerce). The main stream media has been dealing with Romney using kid's gloves... How often do you hear them raise questions about Bain, tax returns, Romney LYING to the MA state voters about his residency? NONE, nada, zilch, zip, zero that how many times you have heard it. Fox news has atleast 4 people who are contributors who WORK for the Romney campaign as advisers so you can bet your house that they do nothing but sing his praises. This Grand Ole Plutocrat BS of calling the main stream media biased towards Obama is blatantly false. The non-Faux News media (ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, PBS) are corporate owned and operated as if they were entertainment money generators instead of asking the hard questions and calling politicians (on both sides of the aisle) out on their BS comments. Look at how often Palin, Bachmann, Santorum, Biden, Gingrich, Reid and their ilk are able to outright LIE about policy and legislation. The media, with the exception of a handful of political correspondents, in this country is a disgrace. We the electorate need to quit watching Dancing with the Idiots, American morons and start actually learning about our political history so we are not so easily duped about facts. My point is that the media no longer asks the hard questions and simply allows idiots like Bachmann to say whatever they want.

Here's a exercise for all: name one company that had a lower corporate debt after Bain Capital took it over. Name one company that had more employees after Bain Capital took over.

Sorry Geo, you can't blame it on the Democrats in the Senate because that is when the Republican filibustering took off

Filibuster in the United States Senate - Wikipedia, the free ...

The really big spike started in 2006 and kept on going.

And all of this business about President Obama having a big majority in both houses of Congress is another Romney lie. It takes 60 to be filibuster proof:

20 Jan 2009 - 55 Dems, 2 Independents, total 57, 2 vacant (Senator Kennedy not there because of malignant brain tumor [he collapsed on inauguration day] and the results of the Minnesota seat were contested)

28 Apr 2009 - 56 Dems, 2 Independents, total 58, 2 vacant (Arlen Spector switched parties, Senator Kennedy ill, Minnesota seat contested)

15 May 2009 - 56 Dems, 2 Indep, total 58, 3 vacant (Senator Kennedy ill, Minnesota seat contested, Senator Byrd hospitalized)

June 2009 - 57 Dems, 2 Indep, total 58/59, 2 vacant (Senator Kennedy ill but came one day to vote for the healthcare bill, Senator Byrd still in hospital, Minnesota seat still contested)

7 July 2009 - 58 Dems, 2 Indep, total 60, 2 vacant (Senator Franken sworn in, Kennedy & Byrd still ill)

Get the picture? So there wasn't a filibuster proof majority siting in the Senate until after Senator Kennedy died and was replaced temporarily on 24 September 2009 with Dem. Paul G. Kirk. That ended when Senator Brown took over the the Massachusetts seat that had been Senator Kennedy's on 24 Feb 2010.

The GOP voted down the Vet's Jobs bill act for Veterans coming back home from Iraq & Afghanistan, but they give the 1% tax cuts, this redistribution would go to more Elevators to give the middle class a lift !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you always accuse me of being bitter?

___________________________________

AM: I’m gonna bet it’s that Chicago teachers union sweetheart contract that has you in a funk. As a former teacher who now works in the real world of the private sector, you know you will never, ever, get a 16% raise for working 180 days a year with very little accountability for the quality of the work you do.

you've got nothing that I envy, Joe.

___________________________________

Not even my generally sunny disposition and happy outlook on life??

Life is good. Enjoy. :~)

Romney's latest campaign speech.

What I said when I said, what I said I was for, I now say I am no longer for.

I am now for what I said when I said, I wasn't for it before!

Any taxation is a form of redistribution! Take your taxes closer to home that pay the wages and benefits for firemen and women. If your house is on fire or you need a paramedic they come to you. They don't put you on hold and consult a list of taxes paid to see if you paid enough for them to venture out to help you. Can you imagine the first responders on 9/11 going into the twin towers and asking each person there if they paid state or local income taxes and if so how much? And if they didn't remember what they had paid, the firemen just ignoring them and going on to the next person! They fight fires in the wilderness where there are no houses or taxpayers and we do need them to do that!

I just all depends on how the tax structure is skewed. If your trickle down, you have to make sure the wealthy get to keep a bigger percentage of their wealth than the middle class and a bigger percentage of bigger pot of money does impact the middle class.

P.S. In August of this year we had 25 large fires going in 10 of our western states and former Governor Romney thinks we have to many firemen!

Joe

The goods and services that I was able to buy with the profits of my hard work researching investments and my risk-taking in putting my OWN money on the line, with no govt guarantees, stimulated (LOL!!!) the economy with real, not Chinese credit card, dollars. The people that work for the employers that produced those goods and services had their jobs created or saved by my successes.

First, spare us the "hard work researching" bull-s***. You are not the only one who gained obscene profits in the crash. And it did not take "hard work researching". Talk about arrogance. And risk? LOL. Yes, I took a HUGE risk buying Apple when it was $90 in 2008. That giant company might have disappeared... ohhhhhh, what a risk. (sarcasm)

Second, your little story supports Obama and his "redistribution". You articulate how putting MORE money into the hands of most people... 99% of the population... is better than putting more money into the 1%. Why? Because the 99% will BUY products that support the businesses owned by the 1%. So the money that gets "redistributed" to the middle and lower class will come back to the 1% through the businesses they own.

Look at you... growing up and learning to embrace liberal philosophy.

GREAT POINTS DevilsSon !!

Have you, like I , noticed that when a TURD starts spinning in the crapper that it slips faster & faster

as it nears the point of no return ?

OR

That there seems to be 50% of the RWNJ's missing or they're now talking about 2016...?

Man, when the GOP ship pops a hole

the rats can't bail fast enough

on something they & their BIG MONEY MOUTHPIECES

told the nation was a SURE THING...

BETTER than a WAR HERO & a pig in lipstick !

Those veterans do vote! I hope they are paying attention to the Republicans who gave them the shaft!

So - now Romney is more moderate - does anyone recall "etch-a-sketch"?

You know what I find ironic and very amusing (if it wasn't so sad)--Romney pays no federal income tax himself! He pays capital gains tax (at a much much lower rate than the workers he disparages). Romney hasn't had a real job for 10 years. He doesn't have to get up every morning and go to a place of business--or risk being unemployed at his employers' whim. Even his wife has said he's not running for President because "he needs the job"--he's running because he cares about us so much (gag me!)

Romney must hate himself--he's one of the 47%!

Crazy!

Today Romney is a new man, Mitt is now reborn and he said forget his mistakes of the past, "it's me again" the new Romney. God help America if this Wacko gets Elected !!!!!!!!!!!

Anna Molly #1,231, Salute !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gingerbread Mamma, thank you for your post #1.7:

Meet the 40 Senate Republicans who betrayed veterans by killing The Veterans Job Corps Act 0f 2012.

Thanks to our President the White House is secure for the second term.

Mr Romney is at the travel agency booking one-way tickets to the Cayman Islands.

We still have a lot of work to do. Let's roll up our sleeves and persevere to protect the Senate from any more shameful filibusters and take back the House from the shameless Republicans.

The demise of the GOP is imminent. May the Lord have mercy on their souls.

"A moderate Mitt Romney returns?"

Mitt "R-money" has had more flip flops than the shoe check girl at a Baghdad mosque. Why doesn't the GOP just strap him to the top of a car and see which way the wind blows him?

The guy can take any strong position, stands for nothing, knows nothing, and says anything. No wonder people have a bad impression of him. Listen to him pander at the fundraisers.

In a horse race election, at least the horse's head is ahead of the horse's ass.

I love it when conservatives fall back on their "liberal media" excuse. Anyone who has ever read the news, seen a billboard, watched TV, read a magazine...basically anyone who has left their house can see how the media objectifies women and bows to censorship (not what I'd call "liberal" ideals!). It's no secret that the media was covering up for Republican obstructionism in Congress. If you want "conservative media", there are any number of channels and outlets just like Fox who will just keep telling you exactly what you want to hear.

Has it ever occurred to any one of you... that maybe, just MAYBE, if the media is exposing your party's twisted logic, and fact checkers are having a hey dey with your party's bold-faced lies, then maybe it's not the media...MAYBE SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG WITH YOUR IDEALS?!

No. Of course not. That would require critical thinking and logic.

Shake that Etch-A-Sketch, Mittwit!

There is no Flip Flop, he still stands for marriage between a man and a woman but that gays should be treated with respect and not discriminated against, ...

He also said that he supports domestic partnerships for gays. Hmm .. I wonder how often he said that during the primaries? Zero? That's why he's a flip flopper. He veered so far to the right that he made the Taliban look reasonable, and now we're supposed to accept him as a moderate?

So 255 posts and still no one can say what Obama has DONE to help the middle class. I am not talking about FAILED plans or bills. Something that he has DONE to help the middle class! People bring up failed bills, how is Obama going pass bills if he can not work across the aisle? Reagan and Clinton did this successfully, but Obama IS NOT A LEADER. He will have to work with republicans IF he wins, the Republicans have the House locked up (thanks Pelosi) and a very good shot at the Senate. So again, explain why having 4 more years of Obama will help this nation? Thank you Jeff for putting me on ignore, 1 less retard to try explain logic too.

I have read a good deal of these posts and have found them to be quite enlightening. You see I am Canadian and as such I like to follow the US Elections because whatever the economy etc. is down there sooner or later affects us here. Four years ago when Obama was running for President I expressed my concern that he wasnt experienced enough to run a country but took and wait and see approach. I believe he ran on the platform of Universal Health Care which in my opinion you guys really need - but I think he put so much emphasis on that issue that he didnt have the time needed to approach other issues. But I am hoping if he gets in again he now will be experienced enough to make some changes - much needed changes.

Now for Romney - I have watched the conventions, listed to their speeches and followed closely what the Romney camp is saying. And long before now in what he has just stated I saw a man who really doesnt have a platform. He runs his campaign on finding out what he could do go get people to vote for him and then he makes that his platform. Then when there is a backlash he sees that he is going to lose votes so he changes his platform again. He has changed platforms so many times that I dont think he even knows who he is and what he believes anymore. In watching him for the last year I really havent learned much about him except that he is rich and a Mormon. And I actually find him quite scarey to be a candidate for President because really he is a loose canon ready, willing and able to switch directions just to boost his popularity. He might be a very smart businessman and knows how to make a great deal of money - but he is not any better qualified to run the whole country than I am. He even changes his religious beliefs when necessary when people dont approve of his beliefs and I watched him change his mind about gun control after the massacre of all those people at the theatre. He was strongly in favor of gun control when he was Governor. But now he says there is no need to be concerned about gun control - what he did when he was governor and his belief in this day and age are two different things. I couldnt believe what he was saying. I think the case here is what we so often have in our country is that sometimes we are forced to vote for the lesser of two evils because we dont feel either one is the one to rule the country. When your country is down and hurting it is only natural to want to throw out the party in power and put in a new one hoping they will clean up the mess left by the previous government - but what is more the people want it done fast. And that is not possible. Obama was handed a mess when he took office and there is no way he could clean it up in 4 years. We have expected this of a new government too and when they havent fixed things fast enough we want the other government back. My opinion is that I hope people will at least give Obama 4 more years to finish what he started. And that someone should lock Romney in a mental institution (oh and put all his money there too so he has something to do counting it everyday) where he belongs because this guy is an absolute idiot. He is so transparent you can see right through him and what you see is not good - it is called greed and bettering things for himself. He could give a d*mn about the people - it is all in the $$$$$. He is a liar, he is a phoney and he cant be trusted and if you guys vote him in I truly believe you will live to regret it.

The Brits said it best: "Mitt the twit."

TO paraphrase a GREAT American & Socialist, Woody Guthrie....

"If you want to know just how smart the RICH are,

just look at the MORONIC candidates they pour their money into...."

Geo,

So 255 posts and still no one can say what Obama has DONE to help the middle class.

Why not do the research yourself? All you have to do is use your itchy little fingers to google it instead of typing your useless, tired rhetoric on here. Here's a helpful website: http://www.republicansforobama.org/consider

I could list off a bunch of things, starting with Obamacare, lowering taxes for the middle class, creating jobs, etc. But you know you won't believe me.

Why are you so afraid to just look for the truth yourself? Pretty hypocritical to call Obama a failed leader when your party of obstructionism has refused to compromise on a SINGLE issue, has repeatedly voted down bills even when they aligned with your party's ideals, and have used filibusters at an unprecedented rate, even voting down bills that would create more jobs.

If your party's only strategy is butt-hurt vengeance, to make Obama a "one term president", why the hell should we vote for Romney? Your party's focus on the past 4 years has just to get Obama out of office. YOU have nothing to show for us.

Check out the fake tan he had applied to try to appeal to minority voters. Romney is a joke and there is no end! http://www.upworthy.com/seriously-did-mitt-romney-get-a-bad-spray-tan-to-appeal-to-latino-voters .

Sing with me now: "I see your true colors shining through.............."

PrecededByNone - Thats the best you got, Obamacare, the largest tax increase in American history, by tax cuts, you mean the Bush tax cuts, and not 1 single job under Obama, actually 5 million less people working, Yep, that will do it I'm definetly going to vote for Obama now! Please list some more FACTS!etc.

"That's the same train of thought that brought Hitler to power.

Under that rationale, you would vote for the worst person on the planet without ever looking at what he stood for." -- RealAmericansFirst

Here we go, when you don't have anything valid to say, regurgitate lame divisive rhetoric comparing Republicans to Nazis. Just grow up. Once you do, the next thing you may want to do is take a history lesson, because I highly doubt Obama is going to appoint anybody-- much less his rival -- as chancellor.

You see, Hitler didn't come to power because people voted against his political rival. His rival -- von Hindenberg -- won their election handily. Hitler was only appointed chancellor by Hindengerg because Hitler promised the outgoing chancellor -- Papen -- that Hitler would name him vice-chancellor if he talked Hindenberg into giving Hitler the title. You see as opposed to your fantastical world of unicorns, glitter rainbows and marshmallow clouds, the reality is that Hitler's rise to power had nothing to do with people voting against his political rival. Try to remember that for the next time somebody asks you about reality.

You see there is one other big problem with your statement. You have no idea who I am supporting. (Hint: it's neither Obama nor Romney.) If you have no idea who I am voting for, how possibly can you compare that person to Hitler.

The reality is that what you are describing is much more like 2008 when the Dems sold Americans on the notion that Republicans were at fault for the housing market collapse (even though all they did was continue to follow Clinton's previous "fair housing" policies). Millions of voters voted against Republicans as punishment. Hence the rise of one BHO. So...if you want to use that Hitler comparison, be my guest but it applies more closely to 2008 and the Dem dominance of that election cycle.

I love the 4 long noses that the Washington Post gave Romney for the edited tape of Obama 14 years ago to make it completely out of context and sounding like lies today! This is so typical of the republican right wing extremists who will try to buy, cheat, deny the vote ID to win at all cost. They are so similar to the Nazi's in the 30's

Personally I wonder how many republicans will have to hold their nose to vote for Romney, he isn't even very well liked among republicans, and the far right despise him enough to write in Ron Paul of vote for Johnson. Its days like this that I am really, really glad to be identified as a liberal. The democrats have a strong candidate in Barack Obama.

Mike,

I grew up in Deutschland in the 30's. True I was just a kid, but I know that Nazi's had voter ID's as a start to eliminate some voting groups, that they got the German Supreme Court to rule that unlimited funding for campaigns would be allowed ( the big industrialist who would later benefit from Hitler's wars love it) PACS and just like in Wisconsin, the Nazi's began running fake candidates to confuse the electorate. Sound familiar! Republicans have done all of these things and what will they do next? Wear armbands saying, "Don't Tread on Me?"

For anyone with a memory that lasts longer than a set of commercials, the Etch-a-sketch won't work.

clwyd. Thanks for the insight.

So Romney's a moderate now?

"I was a severely conservative Republican governor." —Mitt Romney, speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Feb. 10, 2012

Flippin' the flop!

PrecededByNone - Thats the best you got, Obamacare, the largest tax increase in American history, by tax cuts, you mean the Bush tax cuts, and not 1 single job under Obama, actually 5 million less people working, Yep, that will do it I'm definetly going to vote for Obama now! Please list some more FACTS!etc.

You're a silly, silly little person to start going on about "facts" when everything you just wrote was a lie. (Obamacare is NOT the biggest tax increase in history, Obama has created plenty of jobs: YOU'RE the one skewing the facts, or you're just a dittohead repeating skewed facts, either way, I don't respect you--not because of your beliefs but because you're nasty, stubborn and condescending and refuse to listen to anyone else's point of view. Do you really think you're right 100% of the time? I know I'm not... Anyway, I digress.) Again, I said I COULD give you information, but I don't think I need to spoon feed you anything when you're just going to spit it right back out on me. Besides: you claim to be better than the rest of us, why don't YOU do the research for yourself? AFRAID OF WHAT YOU'LL FIND?

Romney said Voter ID law is how I will Win ????????????????

PrecededByNone, geotroll is a worthless ignoramus. Hell his stupid question to you is completely twisted from the one he told me he was asking. Just ignore the twerp, you're better off doing so.

Some people are beyond saving, and then some aren't people to begin with.

This is worth repeating.

but I know that Nazi's had voter ID's as a start to eliminate some voting groups

And again...

but I know that Nazi's had voter ID's as a start to eliminate some voting groups

And again...

but I know that Nazi's had voter ID's as a start to eliminate some voting groups

And again...

but I know that Nazi's had voter ID's as a start to eliminate some voting groups

And again...

but I know that Nazi's had voter ID's as a start to eliminate some voting groups

NO, I do not believe the Republicans are Nazis, but I do believe they'd do anything to gain absolute power. And even they would corrupt that if given a chance.

I fear the America that has one controlling party, PERIOD.

...and what will they do next? Wear armbands saying, "Don't Tread on Me?"

Yes...

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/c100.0.403.403/p403x403/39675_141339522553729_7023264_n.jpg

https://www.wristbands.net/custom/20120628_125316138_img.png

If, after the candid statements by Mitt Romney and his rich friends, the majority of the people in this country still vote for these despicable Republicans, we deserve the misery to which we are sentencing ourselves.

Whoever up there thinks we have 5 million fewer jobs than when Obama took office, you know nothing. You need better sources of information.

Just do a search on "how many jobs lost or gained since Obama took office?" Easy.

People bring up failed bills, how is Obama going pass bills if he can not work across the aisle? Reagan and Clinton did this successfully, but Obama IS NOT A LEADER.

Reagan and Clinton didn't have to deal with opposition parties that refused to compromise, regardless of what that stance did to the country. Obama had barely taken the oath of office when Mitch McConnell announced that it was the job of the Republicans to ensure that he was a one-term president. Rush Limbaugh announced within days of the beginning of the Obama presidency that he hoped that Obama would fail, ignoring the fact that failure meant consigning Americans to more years of economic misery. The GOP has no interest in helping the people of this country, it just wants to win the next election. Look at Rep. Boehner who was unable to deliver his own party after negotiating a deal with the White House.

I'm no liberal. I'm a life-long registered Republican, from a line of Republicans dating to the 19th century. But, I've found the behavior of the GOP so appalling these past four years that I just can't vote for it anymore. Well, to be honest, my horror began when McCain named Palin as his running mate. I knew then that the party had gone over the edge.

Yep, Barry... I wrote this a few months ago when the book by Draper about the House of Representatives came out:

In January 2009, while Obama and the Democrats planned policies and laws to help beleaguered Americans, the Republicans plotted to throw us all under the bus.

We all knew that something like the meeting Draper discusses in his book happened... but let's put this into perspective:

Let's all remember how difficult things were in the fall of 2008 and the winter of 2009. We were losing 700,000 jobs a month when Obama took office, and weekly first time unemployment claims kept increasing to over 600,000 to 700,000 a week. We had lost a total of 4,400,000 jobs BEFORE Obama took the oath of office.

The stock market had tanked, the banks were virtually insolvent, the auto industry was bankrupt and on its last legs, and people were scared. I didn't know anybody in those months and weeks who wasn't terrified and unsure of what the future was going to bring.

Though anxious, most of us looked forward to the inauguration, to the stimulus and to new programs that would help to pull the country (and the world) out of the chaos and out of that economic ditch.

While we were afraid of what was happening, we were also full of hope for where we might go in the coming weeks and months. Meanwhile, the Republicans were committing to spend their time and efforts to push the bus, along with the 300,000,000 frightened Americans on it, the rest of the way off of the cliff. They cared NOT ONE BIT about the frustrations and concerns of the American people who were embroiled in the worst economic crisis in the last 80 years; they cared only about destroying the man who was about to try his darnedest to do the best he could for the American people.

These Republicans are a shameful, sorry, repulsive, and despicable lot, and they need to all be tossed out of office, out of any positions of power, onto their pompous and useless rears. And any person who still plans on voting for the Republicans after reading about this meeting needs to pack his/her bags and get the hell out of this country. These Republicans care not one bit about you, me, or the country.

These Republicans are traitors.

The clock is ticking, Mitt.

Except in the Romney household (if you can call it that!) the clock doesn't go tick-tock, like it does it most American and world households. No, in the Romney household it goes: flip...flop...flip...flop...

Gtouch- You're confusing Deficits with Debt.

If you plan to spend 100 dollars more than you make this year you are running a 100 dollar deficit and will be 100 dollars in debt at the end of the year (assuming you had no debt prior to this year).

If you plan to spend 60 dollars more next year than you make, you are running a 60 dollar deficit and will be160 dollars in debt (assuming 0 interest) at the end of the year.

From this year to the next year your deficit decreased by 40 dollars, even though your total debt increased by 60.

In other words, yes Obamas policies decrease the DEFICIT while Romneys will INCREASE the deficit. We will still be going in to more debt, but at a slower rate than under Romney.

Another fact that so many Conservatives refuse to acknowledge is the fact that Obama has slowed the growth of the deficit.. While we still ran a higher deficit from one year to the next, it was a lower % increase then every year under Bush.

Joe in Albany

So, what exactly did you BUILD during this period? What real wealth did you add to the economy that would be worthy of calling you a "job creator," and therefore worthy of favorable tax treatment? How did what you did make anyone else better off? How did your actions make the economy stronger?

_________________________________________

AM: The goods and services that I was able to buy with the profits of my hard work researching investments and my risk-taking in putting my OWN money on the line, with no govt guarantees, stimulated (LOL!!!) the economy with real, not Chinese credit card, dollars. The people that work for the employers that produced those goods and services had their jobs created or saved by my successes.

Unfortunately, that is not what grew the economy. You buying stock to fill up your inventory counts, but other than that you don't do @!$%#. Businesses do not create jobs; sorry Joe, but you didn't create as many jobs as you think you did. Your customers did. When a person buys something, THAT creates a job; demand is the essence of job creation. The U.S. economy is 70% consumption; ergo, at least 70% of all economic growth is attributed to consumers (not producers). And since most consumers are poor or in the middle of the economic spectrum, that means that the rich don't create jobs; they merely get the cash and create jobs in response to demand.

Too bad Barry and the lefty liberals just don't get it: Trickle-down govt spending is not the way to get the american economy growing again.

Actually, if you look at our history, it's EXACTLY the way to get the economy growing again. During the Great Depression, World War II (and the New Deal, to a lesser extent) lifted the economy out of the dumps. Under Ronald Reagan, military spending skyrocketed, leading to an economic recovery (aided by the Fed greasing the rails). Throughout our recent history, government spending has picked up the slack left when the private sector stops spending; how you can avoid that is beyond my understanding.

ClearVoice2

What is the algorithm here? How many people in these on-line chats possess even the most basic understanding of economics?

Quite a few of us do, actually.

How many have any idea of the economic disaster that will be brought to bear as a result of Obama's reckless spending, runaway immigration policy, unbridled welfare programs and the implementation of socialized medicine he has forced on working Americans?

Man, you really need to lay off the conservative kool-aid.

Can you even conceptualize what will happen now that the Federal Reserve has been forced to monetize Obama's reckless spending (debt). Does the rule of 72 as it applies to inflation mean anything to anyone extolling the virtues of Obama?

We haven't seen high inflation for decades; hell, inflation is lower now than what it was during Reagan (and no, I don't count food and gas prices as they are too volatile).

No American with even a "scintilla of economic intellectual acumen" can possibly support 4 more years of Obama. So, let me give you the bottom line in a simple fashion!

Yea, we'll see about that.

1) Obama's policies are forcing this country into bankruptcy!!! You scream for government support, but there is no money left! He has added nearly 6 trillion dollars to our national debt in 3 ½ short years. As a result, Obama's socialist policies will force 90% of America into living in utter dire economic squalor!

First of all, Obama only raised the deficit by around $4.8 trillion (assuming he started when the debt reached $11.2 trillion). I don't know where you're getting that $6 trillion figure, but it's grossly inaccurate. And secondly, the vast majority of that (roughly $2.5-3 trillion) was caused by the recession and the extension of the Bush tax cuts (necessitated by the holding hostage of unemployment benefits by Republicans).

2) Excessive debt brought about by deficit spending acts like a cancer on any nation or
society. Cancer grows and cannot be contained without serious and often invasive intervention. As a result, the cure itself poses serious side effects. We can look to Greece as a sort of microcosm that effectively illustrates what Obama is doing to America with what may go down in history as the "most reckless fiscal policy in the history of the industrialized world."

What you fail you realize is that deficit spending is not a problem and can actually be an asset during a recession. When a recession occurs, government spending naturally rises and tax revenue falls, causing a deficit. But the government should not seek to balance that budget, for doing that would deepen the recession and hamper any attempts to significantly reduce the deficit. Instead, governments should start pumping money into the economy via spending projects (infrastructure repairs, aid to states, extension of unemployment benefits, etc) in order to make up for slackening private-sector demand. Secondly, the only reason why the deficit is so high is because of Republican policies during the last administration, most notable the irresponsible Bush tax cuts. The Republicans are playing hot-potato; first they were saying that deficits don't matter under Bush, and yet now they bitching about it under Obama. If you wanted to deal with the damn deficit, why the @!$%# didn't you do it under Bush???

3) In the case of the Greek economy, it experienced a negative growth rate averaging over -3.3% for the last 4 consecutive years and reached a debt to GDP ratio of 165% in 2011 prior to the most recent debt restructuring effort. Their unsustainable public sector wages, pension commitments and reckless fiscal policy served as drivers in collapsing their economy. It is important to note that their meltdown actually began to gain significant steam back in 2009 as their debt to GDP ratio hit 112% . THAT IS PRECISELY WHERE OBAMA POLICIES WILL HAVE PLACED AMERICA BY 2013!

America is not Greece; we have a much larger population, a larger economy, and a smaller welfare state, so saying that we are becoming like Greece has no argument. In addition, the Greeks aren't the only people in trouble; the Italians and the Spaniards are in the same ditch, and BOTH of them had stable fiscal policies before the recession. The RECESSION caused the @!$%#ing deficit, not the other way around; in our case it got stacked on top of the Republicans' deficits under Bush. Thirdly, debt to GDP is roughly 74% right now (one-quarter of all government debts is actually owed to different parts of the government, so economists don't tend to count that in). And finally, Obama actually PROPOSED a balanced way to cut the deficit by $4 trillion. Maybe if your stubborn bastards in Congress had bitten their tongues and accepted the deal, we would reducing the debt by now.

4) Those who believe the upcoming election is somehow about political differences between Democrats vs. Republicans are the saddest of creatures serving only as pawns in a cleverly cloaked war of ideologies. In the face of an overwhelming abundance of information, it has become crystal clear that Obama is not a true American Democrat, but rather a closet Marxist whose dangerous anti-American and anti-colonialism agenda has metastasized into a pathological cancer on our society.

Actually, Obama is a true Democrat. Although stubbornly in the center (and in some cases a bit to the right), he reminds Democrats of their ancestors, the New Deal Democrats. The New Deal Democrats didn't buy the laissez-faire crap on economics, and helped establish the foundation of a 30-year economic boom for EVERYONE after World War II. And how the hell is Obama a Marxist??? The guy adopted a REPUBLICAN healthcare plan, used tax cuts to stimulate the economy, AND offered to cut government spending by at least $2.2 trillion WITHOUT revenues. You obviously have no idea on what Karl Marx advocated.

6) My God people give up your childish, intellectually economically compromised, self-absorbed perspectiveand smell the coffee!!! If Obama is reelected, everything you have ever know or taken for granted will change.

Obama's reckless spending has forced America to borrow 40% of every penny he spends! What do you really think is going to happen? Take a good look a life in Greece and ask yourself if that is the future you want for yourself and your family! Let me tell you it is HELL!

It isn't Obama's spending; the federal budget has been on autopilot due to the recession. Secondly, the smart businessmen around the world are FOR Obama, not Romney. Amazing how they are getting it right and we aren't.

And by the way, Romney will signal the end of the middle class in America and the dawn of a new, corporate-dominated plutocracy instead of the American democracy that we all know and love.

OBAMA BIDEN 2012

The problem, clwyd, is that you out yourself as a liar in more than one instance.

First you say "the German Supreme Court to rule that unlimited funding for campaigns would be allowed". That never happened. It is a lie.

You make it worse by claiming "I grew up in Deutschland in the 30's." Now, the one thing being a lie made me think that most of your statement was a lie, so I went on a little journey through your past statements. You've previously said:

"You used the wrong name. My mom who is bed ridden is part of that 47% and is in her 80's."

Of course you've also claimed -- mere minutes later in another thread -- that she was in her 90s, but hey...what's a decade here or there.

So best case scenario -- for you -- is that she's 89. If she had you at the extremely tender age of 14, you would be 75 meaning you were -- at best -- born in 1937. But then you go in other posts making comments like:

"I want to tell you the righties remind me of Nazi Germany 1930's that I lived through."

Lived through??? Assuming you have any honesty in you -- which is a dubious assumption -- at the very best you were 2 years old in 1939. Again even if you have a shred of honesty, you really didn't really "live through" anything.

You continue by later saying:

"The average tax paid by those top 1% is close to 15% of their earnings while I paid 21% and I'm in the middle."

So if you're paying 21% in income tax, your household is making over $100,000 a year...without working, being retired and all. Right. Make sure you look at #6.43 on that page.

Yet there is more inconsistency that I'm smelling here:

"I was working my first job in 1969"

So you were 30+ when you got your first job??? Really??? What a slacker you are! Things are really starting to not add up about that whole "lived through Nazi Germany" thing.

I feel like I'm getting closer to something and wait...it does get better! You see, then in another post you finally say:

"Now I'm a wise 67."

WAIT! Hold on there buster. It doesn't take a mathematical genius to correctly answer the following equation. Care to do it with me??? Here is how it goes: 2012 - 67 = "I'M A LIAR". You may be 67, but that puts your birth in 1945 at the earliest so it also makes you not just a little liar but a BIG liar. Again and again you claimed to have "lived through" the 1930s Nazi Germany even recounting how you "can remember firing squads on the next street an being told not to look out the window, but I did!" LIAR!

There it is! Embrace it! Go ahead and finally say it! "I'm...a...liar." You were nowhere near Germany in the '30s. You weren't even born until midway through the next decade! Typical liberal liar. Have to make up fantastical false lives to rationalize their idiotic ideas and support for failed policies. That's like saying you were a war hero when in actuality you were picking your navel in your basement or saying you are a cancer victim when you aren't to gain sympathy. You disgust me.

What is Amazing is the select few number of Naive Americans who have beenConned/Fooled by the republicanCrimeCartelPropagandaMachine. Think about it... These Very Well monied, SnakeOil Saleman, MittTaxPittanceRommel and his SideKick, Eddie Munster, are The Elitist Thug's economic Hitters Who Caused This Whole Disaster Starting with President Reagan and Most Assuredly Pronounced with KingGeorge The VacuumBrained during his NOTORIOUSLY SHAMEFUL Shrubber Reign 2001- 2008. These two Amoral Politaphiles are into Contolling and Manipulating America in their favor, ACTUALLY Stealing America's economic power. Research It: These Republican 1-10% wealthy and corporate Thieves have OVER $20 Trillion Dollars Stashed in Overseas accounts in their names and registration numbered foreign accounts. Money needed for rebuilding America NOT Bloating their elitist "family wealth" for the future of their "Little Darlings" SUCH AS Rommels $48,000,000 Malibu Mansion WITH an InHouse Car Elevator for his son's $180,000 Ferrari. Prez O is the ONLY Choice. These Elitist rich Thugs calling themselves "republicans" belong in Prison NOT in Congress or The WhitHouse.Try this one on for size: President Harry Truman in 1948: "The Republicans … will try to make people believe that everything the Government has done for the country is socialism. They will go to the people and say: "Did you see that social security check you received the other day—you thought that was good for you, didn't you? That's just too bad! That's nothing in the world but socialism. Did you see that new flood control dam the Government is building over there for the protection of your property? Sorry—that's awful socialism! That new hospital that they are building is socialism. Price supports, more socialism for the farmers! Minimum wage laws? Socialism for labor! Socialism is bad for you, my friend. Everybody knows that. And here you are, with your new car, and your home, and better opportunities for the kids, and a television set—you are just surrounded by socialism! Now the Republicans say, 'That's a terrible thing, my friend, and the only way out of this sinkhole of socialism is to vote for the Republican ticket.'" And, AND!, AND!!! that was 64 Years Ago!!!. The republicanCrimeCartel is still doing the same exploitation of people THEY ARE NOTORIUS FOR. BUT, according toKingGeorgeTheVacuumBrained, it is called "free market" capitalism; with families in the streets and 25% Unemployment and worse with MittTaxPittanceRommel and his buddy EddiMunster. Fellow and Sister Americans: A vote for ANY republicanCrimeCartelSoldier, Rommel, is a vote Against Yours and Your Family's Well Being. You Can Take That Advice To The Bank. Vote to keep Prez O and sane economic reconstruction continuing in the Country.

Thanks for that intelligent and cogent reply, Freshiee... I read some of that blathering and just don't even know where to begin; so much of it is just plain bogus.

Wow Mike, you sure went to a lot of trouble just to school an obvious troll...

Freshiee--brilliant. Just, brilliant. Thank you!

America is not Greece; we have a much larger population, a larger economy, and a smaller welfare state, so saying that we are becoming like Greece has no argument.

Freshieee ... great post! You should also add that America is not Greece also because we control our own monetary policy, unlike the Greeks who are tethered to the Euro.

Freshieee, your misguided post is almost laughable. How you entirely ignore -- or are unable to fathom -- that the consumers creating that demand are employed by the suppliers is beyond me. No suppliers = no supplier employees = no consumers = no demand.

BTW...I didn't have time to go through your whole post this statement caught my eye as particularly ridiculous:

"America is not Greece; we have a much larger population, a larger economy, and a smaller welfare state, so saying that we are becoming like Greece has no argument."

Ummmm...in case you haven't heard we also have a MUCH, MUCH larger debt (more than 16X) and our welfare state is growing quickly.