President Obama Has My Full Support (and he should have your's)

I understand politics.  I know Republicans are positioning for the mid-term elections, as well they should.  I personally hope they take control of the Senate and expand their majority in the House.

I also realize Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and even Governor Mitt Romney are positioning themselves for a possible run for the Presidency in 2016.  I respect all these men and believe any one of them is capable of becoming a good President.

But I was deeply distressed by Senator Cruz comments today that I felt attacked President Obama in a personal and very derogatory manner.  I find this upsetting.

Cruz said, in summary, that Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russians were "Openly Laughing at President Obama" and he went on to imply that President Obama's weakness was a valid cause for the Russians to belittle the President.  Here is a link to the story:  http://washingtonexaminer.com/ted-cruz-the-russians-are-openly-laughing-at-obama/article/2546343

I hope, when and if Senator Cruz becomes President he is given substantially more support than he has shown President Obama today.

I would have respected Senator Cruz much more if he had instead warned President Putin that America stood strongly behind President Obama and that Putin was making a tragic mistake to think for even a moment that America was weak or lacked the determination to stand by our principles, our allies and our President.

Had Cruz given that tough speech he would, quite literally, be a shoo-in for President in 2016.  America does love a strong leader who places principle above politics.  Playing petty politics in the face of Vladimir Putin is a mistake Senator Cruz and others should not make.

I Blame Mitt Romney

Most of the sane and reasonably informed people, press, politicians and pundits have seen the unraveling of President Obama's lies and deception about the attack and murder of our Ambassador in Libya coming for a long time.  Now even the major media is finally investigating and reporting on a scandal worthy of censure, if not outright Impeachment.

Not only did Hilary Clinton and the Obama Administration refuse to send readily available aid to the Ambassador, they then engaged in the most bizarre series of lies and cover-ups in modern history.

Here are just a few of today's stories unfolding:

Benghazi whistleblowers allegations: US forces in Tripoli told to stand down on night of attack; Hillary cut department’s counterterrorism bureau out of the loop

Clinton sought end-run around counterterrorism bureau on night of Benghazi attack, witness will say

CBS NEWS: Diplomat: U.S. Special Forces told "you can't go" to Benghazi during attacks

NBC NEWS: Official: US Special Forces team wasn't allowed to fly to Benghazi during attack by Lisa Meyers  Here's a small snippet from Lisa Meyers report:

A small team of Special Forces operatives was ready to fly from Tripoli to Benghazi last year after Libyan insurgents attacked the U.S. mission there, but was told it was not authorized to board the flight by regional military commanders, according to a career State Department official scheduled to testify before Congress on Wednesday.

Gregory Hicks, then deputy chief of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya, told investigators for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that U.S. officials had persuaded the Libyan government to allow the Special Forces operatives to board the rescue flight from Tripoli to Benghazi. But an officer received a phone call telling them to stand down before they left for the airport, according to excerpts of his account made available to NBC News on Monday. That conversation occurred after the U.S. ambassador to Libya and another American had been killed in the initial attack, but hours before a second attack that killed two other Americans

What has bothered me since the attack in Libya is why candidate Mitt Romney failed to use this major issue in his campaign.  I wrote this in my blog on November 1, 2012:

Curiously Mitt Romney had a chance. Even more curiously, he decided to forgo almost certain election and pursue a genuinely bizarre last minute campaign strategy, ignoring the huge issue of the Obama Administration's cover-up of Libyan Ambassador Steven's torture and murder in Benghazi and opting instead to double down on a deceptive ad about Jeep moving production to China. 

Obviously had Mitt Romney been elected it wouldn't change the events that had already taken place.  But the cover-up, which continues to this day, would be over and the facts would be known.

In my opinion this event calls into question Barack Obama's fitness to be President.  There will be no Impeachment, nor should there be one.  But the facts, at least as known so far, certainly disqualify Hilary Clinton from becoming President.  That's a shame and a personal disappointment as I've been a long time Hilary Clinton supporter. 

As so often it is in the case of government scandals it's not the event but the cover-up that brings down the politician.  Sadly, this is beyond a doubt the stupidest and most unnecessary cover-up in history.

Why Romney Lost

There is no point in writing a post telling you why Romney lost because I've already spent an entire year telling you why Romney would lose.  And he lost for the exact reasons I already have posted.

November 18, 2011 - Why Mitt Can't Win

February 19, 2012 - Mitt Romney Can't Win

July 18, 2012 - Dear Mr Romney

September 18, 2012 - NOT BREAKING NEWS: Mitt Romney Can't Win

September 28, 2012 - Why Mitt Romney Must Win and Why Mitt Romney Will Lose

November 1, 2012 - Obama is a Lock for an Eight Year failed Presidency

But there are a couple of new points I can add.

My first point is that President Obama waged a brilliant campaign.  Many now say his 2012 campaign will be studied for years to come. He had everything working against him from high unemployment to exploding national debt to a Watergate caliber scandal (Benghazi) that would have easily sunk any other President.

But he ran a text book campaign including the key act of defining the opponent in May and June before the opponent has a chance to define himself.  Romney was quickly defined as an elitist, out of touch, business CEO, a multi-millionaire who genuinely had no regard at all for the lower classes.

Meanwhile Romney also ran a textbook campaign: but his was the textbook about how to lose!  Romney never responded to a single attack in a timely manner.  After playing four quarters of defense, he then tried to run out the clock.

My second point comes from a genuinely great analysis of voter turnout in Real Clear Politics today: The Case of the Missing White Voters by Sean Trende.  Trende points out that minority turnout equaled Obama's first election in 2008.  It had been expected minority turnout would drop.  What did drop and drop dramatically was white middle class turnout.  Had Mitt Romney simply got the votes John McCain and Sarah Palin got in 2008, he would have won.

Obama's ground game was superb.  He got his vote out. And by successfully turning off the middle class voters with his negative defining of Mitt Romney, potential Romney voters stayed home.  

Romney's ground game was, well, pathetic.  He counted on "enthusiasm" instead of a real get-out-the-vote effort.  The Republican Party is also largely to blame.  There are real lessons to be learned here.

But there is also a lesson about enthusiasm.  Romney never got people excited.  And he failed to use the single most powerful weapon in his (potential) arsenal, Sarah Palin, until it was too late.

Palin should have been the keynote speaker at the convention.  Certainly not the traitor Chris Christie, who gave a lackluster speech that was all about Chris Christie.  And Palin should have been on the road.  

To her credit Sarah Palin was on Romney's side to the very end and, when finally asked, recorded robo-calls for Romney.  It was way too little, way too late.

But that's not Romney's style. In fact, Romney has no style. Therein lies the entire problem.

Obama is a Lock for an Eight Year Failed Presidency

For over a year I've predicted a dozen times in this blog alone that Romney cannot win the election and that President Obama is assured of certain victory. I predicted Romney would repeatedly stumble, miss opportunities and fail. Romney is that tone deaf. 

Today I repeat that assertion. President Obama wlll be re-elected Tuesday and by a comfortable margin. 

Curiously Mitt Romney had a chance. Even more curiously, he decided to forgo almost certain election and pursue a genuinely bizarre last minute campaign strategy, ignoring the huge issue of the Obama Administration's cover-up of Libyan Ambassador Steven's torture and murder in Benghazi and opting instead to double down on a deceptive ad about Jeep moving production to China. 

Instead of exposing the truth of the biggest cover-up of this century, Romney decides to repeat a lie about automobile production. Missteps don't get much bigger than this. 

Someday, someone will write a book about this election (they always do) and will reveal why Romney made the gigantic mistake. 

In the meantime, after his comfortable re-election , President Obama will face a massive Congressional and media investigations that could actually bring down his Presidency. Shades of Nixon and Watergate. 

The nation is the loser next Tuesday. We could have had a competent disciplined President who would have turned around our economy and stabilized world relations. Instead will will get four genuinely horrific years of gridlock, investigations, bitterness, divisiveness and an utterly failed Presidency.

Mary at FREEDOM EDEN Takes on The View

Working in retail and heading into the Holiday selling season, I've just not had the time to prepare and write the blog posts I want to write.  I'd like to write an entire blog post about the amount of shear "hatred" I read in many posts, especially on the left.  And Twitter? OMG!!!

I will devote a few short paragraphs to Candy Crowley's role as Moderator of the Presidential Debate this past week.  President Obama won the debate, exactly as I predicted and expected.  No surprise there.  But why and how did Candy Crowley suddenly jump into the debate to defend President Obama with an obscure single word, out of context, factoid from a Rose Garden Speech?  It revolves around one word, "terrorism." 

In fact, why did President Obama, after weeks and weeks of absolute denial of ANY KNOWLEDGE THIS WAS A PLANNED, ORGANIZED, TERRORIST ATTACK during that first ten day period following the torture and murder of Ambassador Stevens (including a lengthy and tortured denial by Vice President Biden last week), suddenly remember he actually DID call it terrorism before any of the "facts" were known?  

More importantly why did the otherwise objective Candy Crowley have that Rose Garden speech literally memorized?  How was she suddenly able to verify Obama's obscure single use of the word "terrorism" in the middle of the Wednesday night debate?  

And why did she need to "fact check" Mitt Romney instantly?  

This smells bad.  I have no proof, of course, but I genuinely believe there was some sort of collusion between Crowley and the President's Election Committee. I don't believe in accidents.  And this was no accident.  This doesn't feel right.  

And it wasn't necessary. President Obama was winning on style and substance.  Worse yet we now know that Candy Crowley was essentially wrong.  She herself has personally "walked back" the interruption saying that Romney essentially correct.

Finally I'm bothered by the vicious attack on Ann Romney on The View today.  Mitt Romney wasn't there (and he should have been).  But, after the sickeningly sweet cotton candy interview of President and Michele Obama, how is it that Barbara Walters let the Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar dogs loose on Ann?

I'm going to let superb blogger Mary from FREEDOM EDEN take it from here. Read her entire post:   ANN ROMNEY: THE VIEW

Why Romney Must Win and Why He Will Lose

Mike Allen, Jonathan Martin and Jim Vandehei, writing the lead, in depth, story today in Politico, have managed to encapsulate both the reasons Romney would be a great President, ready on day one to take on the country's problems, AND the reasons Romney cannot possibly win. It's both a sobering and eye opening article.

Even the article title says it all: In the End, It's Mitt

I'll limit myself to just a few small quotes. Please read the entire article.

It kills his admirers to say it because they know him to be a far more generous and approachable man than people realize — far from the caricature of him being awkward or distant — and they feel certain he would be a very good president. 

“Lousy candidate; highly qualified to be president,” said a top Romney official. “The candidate suit fits him unnaturally. He is naturally an executive.” 

That comment captures precisely why his closest confidants think he is a much better, bigger and more qualified man than often comes through on the trail. He treats his staff with respect, works hard on his weaknesses and does all of it because he possesses supreme confidence in his capacity to lead effectively.

Yet many of the folks who are despairing about Romney [campaign weaknesses] would actually love what he would do in office. Romney’s metric-obsessed transition team is fleshing out a “200-day plan” (100 days wasn’t enough time to pass a bunch of big bills) aimed at goosing the recovery and creating jobs by bringing corporate cash off the sidelines in the United States and attracting investment from abroad. 

The weapons would include tax and regulatory policy and what one aide called a “very aggressive” series of executive orders, many already on the drawing board. Two of Romney’s friends told POLITICO he would be eager to sign a bipartisan grand bargain in the first four months in office to calm markets and ease partisan tensions.

NOT Breaking News: Mitt Romney Can't Win

Barack Obama is, in many ways, the worst President in the last 100 years.  Yet this ego-driven, rather incompetent progressive may well win a 40+ state landslide victory this November.  Thank you Mitt Romney!

I just want to repeat what I've been saying in this blog again and again for the last year.  Mitt Romney cannot possibly win! His flaws are so fatal he will simply self destruct over and often throughout this election cycle.

Yesterday's "hidden tape" released by Mother Jones is simply the latest self destructive explosion, not the last.  But it is the worst so far from a candidate who has proven he can "out Kerry" John Kerry. Wind surfing anyone?

Now Romney will not succeed in "out McGoverning" McGovern.  He can't lose all 50 states. Well, I don't think he can.  But it's early yet, I don't want to underestimate the man.

After the last two weeks Romney is so toxic I believe Republicans will lose the House and most assuredly fail to regain the Senate.

After the election the media will finally turn on Obama.  And the Republicans will most assuredly regain both houses of Congress in 2014.

You Must Read "We Must"

I realize the Convention Cycle is well underway. I realize that Former President Bill Clinton spoke last night and said some very important things.

I realize Sandra Fluke spoke last night and said some of the most inane, insulting and stupid things ever uttered at a Convention. [Fellow Democrat Kristen Powers saw it the same way I did]

I realize President Obama will speak tonight and his speech might just determine the outcome of the election.

But I want you to direct your attention to Lee Kiester's brilliant analysis of the entire 2012 election cycle and why this may be the most important election of our lifetime.  I'm not going to reprint one word of his analysis here, but I strongly urge you to follow this link and read his entire essay (it's not too long).  It WILL change your opinion about this election.  That is a promise!

LINK- - - - ->   We Must

Crying Out For Those Alone....

The horror of 12 senseless murders hit the television, radio, newspapers, blogs and social media yesterday in an inescapable fashion.  The live, non-stop coverage of the frightening assault on a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado was relentless.  Everyone knows of the events and the name of the obviously deranged murdered, and many of the individual heartbreaking stories recounted on Facebook and the national news networks.


It's estimated over one thousand law enforcement officers from local, state and national agencies are involved in the investigation and in the search of the assailant's booby trapped apartment.


Certainly there are many thousands of journalists, bloggers, investigative reporters, pundits, experts, politicians, religious and civic leaders analyzing every tiny detail.  Like similar events in the past, it will be dissected for months and tens of thouands of pages will be written.  Books and even movies are likely to follow that.


I am raising no objection to any of this.  It is as it should be.  I pray for comfort and healing for the suffering and know, in many cases, there will be no relief from the relentless grief.


But, even as Aurora captured the news, there were dozens more murder victims this past week nationwide that gathered no attention.  There will be few, if any, law enforcement officers investigating.  There will be no national task force, no F.B.I., no forensics, no new laws, no  great discoveries. Many of the murderers will never be identified and many will murder again.


For all these murders there will be no national press coverage.  Probably no local press coverage either.  The victims family will never be interviewed by Piers Morgan or Rachel Maddow or Sean Hannity.  We won't know their story, experience their horror or feel their pain.


Facebook entries might be made, but you and I will never see them.


Neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney will make a speech, say a prayer or suspend campaigning in respect for their tragedy.


And the worst part? Next week it will all repeat.  Roughly eighty to one hundred bright young people will be senselessly murdered.  You'll never notice.  You'll never know.  And, as a society, we won't do a damned thing to stop it or even slow it down.


Maybe that's the scariest part of the genocide happening in our country right now.  Because every story is a small piece, we can ignore it.


Because of Aurora our movie going experience will change.  There will be ample extra security, cameras, alarms on doors, maybe even metal detectors.  There will be security guards, probably armed security guards. 


Even though there have been virtually no murders in movie theaters over the last 100 years, we will have massive protection going forward.


But the national genocide will continue unabated, at the rate of 6 to 7 Aurora's every week, 80 to 100 people murdered every week, most in senseless acts of violence every bit as horrific as Aurora.  But nothing will be done.  Nothing.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


As you remember the twelve people killed in the Aurora movie theater this week, please also remember these twelve people killed in Chicago this past week, too. They'll get no press coverage and you'll likely never see their names anywhere but on this blog.


Nathaniel Gonzalez, age 16


Marshall Knights, age 21 


 Ricky Hankins, age 49 


 Daniel Green, age 21 


 Mark Carney, age 26 


Andrew Jackson, age 27 


 James Bell, age 26 


 Martin Tejeda, age 16 


 Elle Mills, age 53 


 Maurice Wilson, age 22 


 Phillip Finley 


Anthony Collazo, age 21

Dear Mr. Romney....

Of course it's unlikely Mitt Romney will ever read this blog or my rather blunt "letter" to him, but here goes......

Dear Mr. Romney,

I read news reports daily about the "Sarah Palin Controversy."  It seems you or someone on your staff believes it would be unwise for Mrs. Palin to have a speaking role at the August Republican Convention in Tampa.  At this point the news is a dull roar, but it's not going away and it's getting louder daily.

I could easily make a case that snubbing Sarah Palin is a serious mistake because her supporters are so loyal and their support is so critical to your success. But I'm guessing your large and well paid staff have analyzed this factor and believe the benefits of her presence are outweighed by the liabilities, whatever those liabilities might be.

So my point today concerns another big factor in your potential success.  I'll summarize it in two parts.  Number ONE, the mainstream media really prefers President Barack Obama and their reports will be slanted against you throughout the convention.  There is nothing you can do about this, it's a fact of life in American Politics.

But, Number TWO, the media really, really loves controversy.  And snubbing Palin is just the raw meat the media craves.  I believe that, by leaving Palin on the sidelines, the convention will actually become ALL PALIN, ALL THE TIME.  She'll get massive amounts of media coverage, interviews and more.  Your messages will be drowned out by an error you can easily avoid right now.  

Invite her and give her a prominent speaking role and she'll electrify the base.  Omit her and she'll be the ghost that haunts your convention every night.

I know there are ill feelings between you and the former Governor.  She has been critical of you on more than one occasion.  But it is actually that criticism that gives her so much credibility among the base.  Embrace her and that all that credibility will flow over to you.

Sincerely,

Bob Keller,

Wizard Extraordinaire 

Federal Stimulus Doesn't Help the Economy

Friday's economic reports were nothing short of disastrous.  Unemployment is back up to 8.2%, new jobs created last month were 50% below forecasts, auto sales dipped to low levels (after earlier improvements), and the stock market dropped to the lowest levels in 2012.


And many think it's going to get much worse.  Could we be looking at a double dip recession? A genuine world wide depression? I certainly hope not.


My point this morning is not to spread doom and gloom, but instead to point out that President Obama's policies of massive government spending and expanded welfare programs just haven't worked.  Washington policies and political party posturing have only made things much, much worse than they needed to be.

I've enlarged the chart beyond the normal size of my blog to insure it is readable.

The chart above, prepared by the non-partisan Comeback America Initiative shows President Obama has stimulated us more that any president in modern history.  Sadly it's mostly through out of control Federal Spending.


Federal spending was close to 20 percent of GDP during the Carter administration, dropped to 18 percent under Clinton, and is currently at an incredible 24 percent of GDP according to the Congressional Budget Office.  And now the economy is slip-sliding backwards.

If government spending worked, it would already be working.  It's difficult to spend more than the 24% of GDP Obama is spending today.  Especially since a great deal of it is borrowed money.


Candidate Romney's prescription for the government is significantly better than President Obama's.  Most importantly, Romney will cut back the amount of Federal interference in the economy.  I fear President's Obama's solution of ever increasing spending will destroy the nation and bring on a world wide depression.


In a future blog entry I'll explain why the "hot button" social issues like abortion or gun control should NOT affect your decision on a President.

North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue: Gay Marriage Ban is “Bad for Business”

It seems to me that North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue is framing the Gay Marriage issue in terms that most Republicans and most conservatives will understand. Such a ban is "Bad for Business."  It will hurt North Carolina's image and hurt tourism.  It "hurts our brand."

As I noted in my previous blog entry, "Call Me Maybe," the public, especially the younger generation, is accepting of gays, lesbians and the alternative lifestyles involved. But our political elders still want to exploit the issue for political gain. In this case the foolish North Carolina Legislature is using an unnecessary Constitutional Amendment as a wedge issue. I;m hoing the voters in North Carolina are wise enough to reject this amendment. 


Please read the entire POLITICO Story here: N.C. Gov: Gay marriage ban ’hurts our brand’


As I pass out "Kudos" I would be remiss not to congratulate Vice President Joe Biden for being unusually candid and remarkably brave in facing the gay marriage issue head on.  It's a path both President Barack Obama and Republican Candidate Mitt Romney are afraid to take.  Both are constantly waffling on the issues of gay rights.


If you read the POLITICO story above you'll note even Governor Perdue is waffling a bit.  I think she would find her approval rating would actually go up f she were clear on the issue.


Also read B. Daniel Blatt's excellent essay on the North Carolina Amendment from a GAY CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN'S perspective: The conservative case against North Carolina’s Amendment One 

After All These Years, Hilary Rosen is Still a Tone Deaf Hack

My history with today's top name in the news:

I need to rebuild and restore the links to the original THE WIZARD, FKAP website archives. My original webpage collection was started long before the term blog ever existed, but included a regular essay under the title The Existential Blues.  All the essays and files still exist and are still on-line.  I'll get the links restored and embedded in the right hand column as soon as possible.


When those link appear, you'll find I've written to and about Hilary Rosen since the early 1990's.  As the head of the Recording Industry Artists of America (RIAA) she is the subject of many of my earliest essays.  She has always been a tone deaf hack and in her official RIAA position, she almost single-handedly destroyed the entire music industry.  She fought legal digital downloads with a single-minded (closed minded) zeal that was breath-taking to behold.  If you wanted to sue Grandma for an illegal download, Hilary was your gal!


She seems incapable of independent thought, and functions mostly as an agent who does the bidding of her masters, currently the Democratic Party National Committee (DNC).


That Hilary Rosen is currently employed by CNN is an embarrassment to journalism.


Today, Hilary Rosen is in the headlines through her foolish comment about Ann Romney.  Here is a summary of the latest Rosen disaster from the AP Newswires:


The multimedia furor erupted Wednesday night when Rosen said on CNN that Ann Romney, whose husband is worth millions, never had to work to pay the bills and should not be her husband's surrogate on women and the economy. "His wife has actually never worked a day in her life," Rosen said. "She's never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of women in this country are facing." 


The backlash was brutal and swift. 


David Axelrod, Obama's top campaign strategist, tweeted that Rosen's comments were "inappropriate and offensive." The president's campaign manager, Jim Messina, said Rosen should apologize. And the Democratic National Committee downplayed any connection to Rosen or her firm.


Although I've written in these spaces that the Republican "war on women" doesn't actually exist, Democrats and President Obama had successfully used this fabricated issue and had gained a virtually insurmountable lean among women voters.  


Hilary Rosen single-handedly turned the tide and gave the issue back to the Republicans on a silver platter.  That she then tripled down on her ill advised statement, assuring that the public forgot, if not forgave, Rush Limbaugh, was stunning to behold.


Republican comments were unnecessary.  We are watching a train wreck in progress.


Her apologies, two so far, were ever worse.  Hilary Rosen doesn't understand the public or the issues involved.  The Democrats need to drop her like the hot potato she has become.  So does CNN.

Paul Ryan, Washington DC's Lone Adult

Over on the Democratic Party side of Washington, DC there was rejoicing in a new PPP Poll that showed when the public was made aware of Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney's arguable mistreatment of his dog Seamus, over 28 years ago, Romney's approval rating tanked.


Seriously, my Liberal and Progressive friends on Tiwtter are simply giddy with excitement.  Leave it to Mitt Romney's dog to sniff out a path to Obama's victory.


Our future is now safe.


Meanwhile, on planet Earth, Representative Paul Ryan has prepared and proposed the most realistic, bold and brilliant budget in the last 20 years.  To do what Ryan has done takes thought, analysis, honesty and courage.  And no polling.


Ryan will be savaged by Democrats who deserve no place in government, cowards and liars, manipulators and pollsters who will not only allow our country to fail, but will ride Seamuss into the very gates of hell.


One does not need to agree with Ryan's every idea, but he should be held in high regard for discussing the real issues of our economy and our exploding debt.


Democrats have failed to produce a budget for three years and they've already signaled that will fail to do so again.  It's so much easier to criticize than to propose ideas and stand behind them. And that's the Democrat plan.


Here are just a few lines from the Washington Post Story linked here and above: 


House Republicans laid down a bold but risky election-year marker Tuesday, unveiling a budget proposal that aims to tame the national debt by reshaping Medicare and cutting deeply into Medicaid, food stamps and other programs for the poor, while reshuffling the tax code to sharply lower rates.


Congressional Republicans plan to use the document to demonstrate their willingness to tackle the nation’s difficult fiscal problems head-on. They argue that restraining future borrowing is a moral imperative and that entitlement programs for the elderly and the poor must be redrawn both to reduce red ink and to ensure that federal benefits continue to be available. 


The proposal, authored by Budget Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), calls for spending cuts and tax changes that would put the nation on course to wipe out deficits and balance the budget by 2040. The national debt would continue to rise but would shrink to the historic norm as a percentage of an expanding economy.

Obama's Bone Headed Tax Strategy

STORY ONE:  Obama Plans to Triple Dividend Tax Rate to nearly 50%

STORY TWO:  Britain's 50p Tax Rate Hike Backfires - Revenue's Drop Dramatically

While Republicans Mitt Romney and especially Rick Santorum attempt to hand President Obama his reelection on a silver platter, President Obama continues his tone deaf and strangely self destructive approach to governing with a massive proposed tax hike that would hit vulnerable senior citizens hardest.  And, history clearly shows, it's a plan that will not work or raise revenues for the government.

As all my Twitter friends are saying, "WTF!!!"  (I'm sure they mean "Win the Future." Yeah, that's it.)

Been there, done that.  By raising Dividend Tax to an insane rate without also raising Capital Gains Tax, companies simply stop issuing dividends and instead plow the same money into stock repurchase plans, effectively turning the returns into Capital Gains.  The graph to the right shows the actual history of this effect in reverse.  Once we dropped the dividend tax rate in 2002, dividends increased dramatically as did tax revenue.

In STORY TWO above, we also see this type of tax increase in the "rich" also always backfires, driving investment, earnings, citizenship and tax revenues downward.  Instead of raising revenue, Great Britain has learned such tax rate increases actually reduce revenue.  There is plenty of historical evidence in the United States that proves the same thing.

Now (and I'm bracing for the attacks I will receive), we are actually harming the country more by totally exempting 50% of Americans from paying any income tax at all and reducing further their contributions to social security and medicare.  All of this is a plan to fail.

Today's it's hard to see how President Obama can lose in November, but he certainly is working to find a way.

P.S. No matter what the pundits are saying today, the gas price increases are absolutely killing the economy.  I'm on the front line and I can see it clearly.  Remember, you heard it here first.

Mitt Romney Can't Win

TODAY'S ASSOCIATED PRESS STORY BY THOMAS BEAUMONT:  Intensity question for Romney stirs doubt for fall 


MY BLOG ENTRY OF NOVEMBER 18, 2011: Why Mitt Can't Win


I'm not sure what the Republicans can do at this point.  For reasons that will forever be a mystery, genuinely viable, electable Republicans never entered the primaries this year, leaving the field to Romney and the seven dwarfs.  Newt Gingrich? Herman Cain?  Michele Bachmann?  You'd think somebody would have looked at this field and the weakened Barack Obama and literally JUMPED into the race.  Alas, no.


I like the current front runner, former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania as a person, though I disagree with many of his positions.  I think he is a genuinely good man and it might actually be nice to have a good man as President.  But his far right wing social conservative positions make him unelectable.


So we're left with the consoling fact: President Obama's on-the-job training has been painful, but he is getting the hang of this President thing.  

Why Mitt Can't Win

This is a really short post prompted by the new POLL showing the Newt Gringrich is about to pass Mitt Romney even n the "firewall" state of New Hampshire.  Here is the link: Poll: Gingrich, Romney in Dead Heat in N.H. 

Here's Mitt's problem in a nutshell. The Mitt Romney who was the excellent governor of Massachusetts could have won easily. I would certainly have chosen him over Barack Obama and so would many others. He was the perfect Republican, intelligent, thoughtful, compassionate and honest. He could have easily overcome the few issues where he didn't match the far right wing of the Republican Party. 


But that Mitt isn't running. Instead he reinvented himself into the far right wing Romney. His problem is that nobody believes him. Those who appreciated the bravery of the original Romney feel betrayed he has so easily abandoned his principles. And far right conservatives just think he's full of shit. 


His only support comes because the liberal media keeps telling Republicans, desperate for a victory, that Mitt's the only candidate who can beat Obama. But there is no passion there. Hell, there's no there, there. Mitt would go down to defeat in a pattern similar to John McCain. 


Republican's have no enthusiasm for Romney. There will be no grass roots effort. The election will be boring with everyone from both sides staying at home. 


Now, I'm on record saying nobody currently running can beat Obama, so it hardly matters. Newt, Mitt, Herman, Rick... they'll all go down to defeat. 


I've often said that a candidates ability to hold to his principles matter more to me that party or even political positions. With that standard it's not possible for me to vote for Mitt.