ridin' the storm out
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Thomas Paine and Ben Franklin: You Didn't Build That
By Jason Koebler
July 27, 2012 http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2012/07/27/thomas-paine-and-ben-franklin-you-didnt-build-that
When President Obama said at a rally earlier this month that "if you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own … if you've got a business, you didn't build that," he started a political firestorm, and an opposing "I built that" campaign from Mitt Romney. But it turns out Obama didn't build that argument from scratch, either. And his comments seem to be closer to the founding fathers' principles than opponents might like to believe.
As noticed by Reddit, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine, two men who literally built the country, expressed similar sentiments in the 1700s. And, reading the passages suggests that they wouldn't take all the credit for founding the country, either.
In a Christmas Day letter to Robert Morris in 1783, Franklin wrote that "the remissness of our people in paying taxes is highly blameable," and that "all property…seems to me to be the creature of public convention."
He continues:
"All the Property that is necessary to a man, for the conservation of the individual and the propagation of the species, is his natural right, which none can justly deprive him of: But all property superfluous to such purposes is the property of the publick, who, by their laws, have created it, and who may therefore by other laws dispose of it, whenever the welfare of the publick shall demand such disposition. He that does not like civil society on these terms, let him retire and live among savages."
Paine, in 1795's Agrarian Justice, puts it even more bluntly: "Personal property is the effect of society; and it is as impossible for an individual to acquire personal property without the aid of society, as it is for him to make land originally."
"Separate an individual from society, and give him an island or a continent to possess, and he cannot acquire personal property. He cannot be rich," he writes.
Obama, Franklin, and Paine say it's OK to become rich through hard work—just don't trample on the people who helped make it happen.
In the everlasting words of one Mister Spock, "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
For those not paying attention, Obama's lawsuit is not about stopping early voting for the military, the argument before the court is that EVERYONE (including the military) gets to early vote for the same amount of time. Will you learn to read and not just see President Obama mentioned and having your tiny little Teatard brain blow a fuse? Thank you.
duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
so you are for posting lies... why do you prefer lies?
Update:
American Stinker is withdrawing this story... (oops)
Further research shows that the suit brought by the Democrats does not target the military. The suit seeks to restore 3 extra days of early voting for all Ohioans.
Currently, due to tea-publican criminal voter suppression, only active duty military are able to vote during those three days. The suit seeks a permanent injunction against the law that prevented all but military voters from voting 3 days before the election:
Plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment, preliminary injunction, and permanent injunction prohibiting Defendants from implementing or enforcing the HB 224 and SB 295 changes to Ohio Rev. Code § 3509.03, thereby restoring in-person absentee voting on the three days immediately preceding Election Day for all Ohio voters.
"American Stinker" regrets the LIE... whoops we mean err, error.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/08/obama_campaign_sues_to_restrict_voting_by_military.html#ixzz22XShgMtl
why r "some people" such incompetent lying liars?
Update:
American Stinker is withdrawing this story... (oops)
Further research shows that the suit brought by the Democrats does not target the military. The suit seeks to restore 3 extra days of early voting for all Ohioans.
Currently, due to tea-publican criminal voter suppression, only active duty military are able to vote during those three days. The suit seeks a permanent injunction against the law that prevented all but military voters from voting 3 days before the election:
Plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment, preliminary injunction, and permanent injunction prohibiting Defendants from implementing or enforcing the HB 224 and SB 295 changes to Ohio Rev. Code § 3509.03, thereby restoring in-person absentee voting on the three days immediately preceding Election Day for all Ohio voters.
"American Stinker" regrets the LIE... whoops we mean err, error.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/08/obama_campaign_sues_to_restrict_voting_by_military.html#ixzz22XShgMtl
why are "some people" incompetent lying liars?
Update:
American Stinker is withdrawing this story... (oops)
Further research shows that the suit brought by the Democrats does not target the military. The suit seeks to restore 3 extra days of early voting for all Ohioans.
Currently, due to tea-publican criminal voter suppression, only active duty military are able to vote during those three days. The suit seeks a permanent injunction against the law that prevented all but military voters from voting 3 days before the election:
Plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment, preliminary injunction, and permanent injunction prohibiting Defendants from implementing or enforcing the HB 224 and SB 295 changes to Ohio Rev. Code § 3509.03, thereby restoring in-person absentee voting on the three days immediately preceding Election Day for all Ohio voters.
"American Stinker" regrets the LIE... whoops we mean err, error.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/08/obama_campaign_sues_to_restrict_voting_by_military.html#ixzz22XShgMtl
shermann7... you lying sack of shit
maybe you should take a second and fact check the manure you spread from "breitbart" before you take a crap on the board
are you just too lazy & dumb?... what a blatant despicable lie you are peddling
here's the truth you incompetent fuck
Obama Campaign Sues Ohio for Cutting Early Voting Days
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/07/18/obama-campaign-sues-ohio-for-cutting-early-voting-days/
The Obama campaign is suing the state of Ohio for restricting early voting in this year’s election, claiming that recent changes made by the Ohio legislature create inequality among voters and violate the Equal Protection Clause.
“This lawsuit seeks to treat all Ohio citizens equally under the law,” Bob Bauer, attorney for President Obama’s campaign committee, said. “We want to restore the right of all to vote before Election Day,” he said, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.
The campaign says the election-law changes made by Ohio’s Republican-controlled legislature and signed by Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, unfairly ends in-person early voting for most people on the Friday evening before Election Day — a Tuesday — but allows military and overseas voters to cast ballots in person until Monday, AP reported.
Obama for America, the president’s campaign committee, is joined in the lawsuit by the Democratic National Committee and the Ohio Democratic Party. In a statement, the parties called the maneuver a “partisan attempt to restrict voting,” CNN noted.
Jon Husted, the Secretary of State in Ohio — named a defendant in the suit — said there is no constitutional violation because federal law treats military voters differently than other voters, Bloomberg reported. Mr. Husted also said he is taking steps to create uniformity and consistency in the election process.
“If this lawsuit were to prevail,” Mr. Husted said, “we would be back to a system that allows voters in one county to be treated different from another county,” Akron Beacon Journal reported.
Mr. Husted also told CNN that the three days before an election were needed for local election boards to “get their records straight” and “make sure their voting rolls are accurate.”
The days of early voting are often used by those who may not have the flexibility to take time off on a Tuesday to vote. More than 1.7 million people in Ohio voted before Election Day in 2008, accounting for about 30% of all ballots cast. About 100,000 of them voted in person in the final three days before the election, Akron Beacon Journal noted.
President Obama won Ohio’s electoral votes in the 2008 presidential election, in what was considered to be a battleground state. Ohio is thought to be one of the deciding factors again in this year’s election.
shermann you lying sack of shit
you banned me from another board because i exposed your stupid lie
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=78193897
why are you an incompetent lying sack of shit?
Update:
American Thinker is withdrawing this story, although the blog post will remain up.
Further research shows that the suit brought by the Democrats does not target the military. The suit seeks to restore 3 extra days of early voting for all Ohioans. Currently, due to some legislative confusion, only active duty military are able to vote during those three days. The suit seeks a permanent injunction against the law that prevented all but military voters from voting 3 days before the election:
Plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment, preliminary injunction, and permanent injunction prohibiting Defendants from implementing or enforcing the HB 224 and SB 295 changes to Ohio Rev. Code § 3509.03, thereby restoring in-person absentee voting on the three days immediately preceding Election Day for all Ohio voters.
American Thinker regrets the error.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/08/obama_campaign_sues_to_restrict_voting_by_military.html#ixzz22XShgMtl
two choices
"You watched and worried: two wars, tax cuts for millionaires, debt piled up. And now we face a choice.
Mitt Romney's plan?
A new $250,000 tax cut for millionaires, increase military spending, adding trillions to the deficit.
Or President Obama's plan?
A balanced approached, $4 trillion in deficit reduction, millionaires pay a little more."
"I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message because in order to cut the deficit we need everyone to pay their fair share."
and why should it surprise anyone that you are against preventative health care for women?
you are the poster child for the cult of stupidity... congratulations
are you proud to be an immoral drunken fat slob?
well, polls are one thing
vote rigging republican crooks are another
it's all about the swing states
thankfully Rmoney seems to be getting more stupid by the day
but unfortunately so does the American public
that's even stupid for you
you Obama Derangement freaks get more insane by the day
we've been having plenty of rain here
you know NOLA has a large population of gay people
maybe jesus was gay? he's punishing the chick-fil-a folks
yeah, it's either god punishing us or the evil government
i sure wish their god would hurry up and rapture them
"You need to know about Haarp, People killer 666 machine -
climate change and Cern in a Nutshell -
Haarp and Cern - Illuminati's Secret Weaapons (PART2)(2012)
Be sure to watch PART 1 " - an ihub Ronpaultard
National Survey Shows Support for Voter ID Laws Strongest Among Those with Negative Attitudes Toward African Americans
July 17, 2012
http://www.udel.edu/cpc/research/idrace2012/Voter_ID_and_Race_2012/Voter_ID_and_Race.html
A new National Agenda Opinion Poll by the University of Delaware’s Center for Political Communication reveals support for voter identification laws is strongest among Americans who harbor negative sentiments toward African Americans.
Voter ID laws require individuals to show government issued identification when they vote. The survey findings support recent comments by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who portrayed a Texas photo ID law now being challenged as similar to poll taxes used in the Jim Crow era, primarily by Southern states, to block African Americans from voting. Holder pledged to oppose “political pretexts” which, he said, “disenfranchise” black voters.
Obamacare gives 47 million women preventative health services
You’ve heard a lot from the foes of Obamacare, the landmark health care law enacted in 2012. Today, the White House wants you to hear the other side of the story. Here it is:
Eight new prevention related health measures are now being provided to 47 million women under the Affordable Care Act (the official name of what is more commonly known as Obamacare).
Previously some insurance companies did not cover the eight preventative services, or only offered co-pays or deductibles.
However beginning on August 1, or at the next renewal date, the following services will be completely covered by the insurance companies:
Well-woman visits.
Gestational diabetes screening that helps protect pregnant women from one of the most serious pregnancy-related diseases.
Domestic and interpersonal violence screening and counseling.
FDA-approved contraceptive methods, and contraceptive education and counseling.
Breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling.
HPV DNA testing, for women 30 or older.
Sexually transmitted infections counseling for sexually-active women.
HIV screening and counseling for sexually-active women.
The greater focus on preventative measures will allow women to make health decisions to stay healhty and have a higher likelihood of catching potentially serious conditions earlier, and reduce crushing medical bills.
“President Obama is moving our country forward by giving women control over their health care,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. “This law puts women and their doctors, not insurance companies or the government, in charge of health care decisions.”
The Institute of Medicine relied on independent physicians, nurses scientists, other experts and evidence-based research to develop their list of recommended services for the program.
meanwhile republican douchebags are trying to force rape victims or incest victims to bear the child of their rapist
why are today's republicans such vile human beings?
Top 5 Health Care Benefits for Women
Most people don't know this, but the health care bill that President Obama signed has a ton of benefits in it that impact women specifically. And studies show that the more people know about what's in the bill, the more likely they are to support it and use those great new benefits. Right now--when health care is in the news and lots of people will be talking about it--is a great time to share what's in it that's great for women with your friends and colleagues.
Top 5 Benefits for Women in the Health Care Law
1. Being a woman is no longer a "pre-existing condition." Yes, women were denied coverage for just being women before the Affordable Care Act was law. Insurance companies would classify pregnancy, c-sections or even being a domestic violence or rape survivor as pre-existing conditions 1 and deny coverage on that basis. Women will no longer be denied care2 for pre-existing conditions.
2. Insurance companies can't charge you more for being a woman either. Before the Affordable Care Act was law, women were sometimes charged up to 150% more than men of the same age. The health care law makes gender discrimination illegal.3
3. Having a pap smear still sucks, but at least you don't have to shell out a co-pay for it. Breast cancer screenings, cervical cancer screenings, domestic violence counseling and screenings and a whole bunch of other preventive care measures must be covered by insurance companies.4
4. You also don't need a co-pay for birth control anymore.5 And when 1 in 3 women in our country can't afford it, that's a big deal.
5. Have kids? Or want to? The law helps with that too. If you have kids, they can stay on your health insurance until they're 26 years old--regardless of whether they live with you or are married or not.6 And if you want to have kids, the law will help you get pre-natal care and counseling and help with breast feeding and supplies too.7
Gore Vidal looks back on his remarkable life
Romney’s now telling us, ‘So what if Palestine is angry? It’s the media’s fault for reporting what I said.’
Day two of Mitt Romney’s foreign tour involved telling a foreign newspaper, owned by a right-wing American billionaire donor, that he wants to get back to Bush-era foreign policy. He thinks that George W. Bush was doing it right; and that’s where he wants to take the country and the world, back to the Bush way of doing things.
Texas has a solution
Texas GOP Declares: "No More Teaching of 'Critical Thinking Skills' in Texas Public Schools"
http://truth-out.org/news/item/10144-texas-gop-declares-no-more-teaching-of-critical-thinking-skills-in-texas-public-schools
Governor "Bobby" Jindal also has a plan in Louisiana
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=77913380
State money will continue to flow to scores of private and religious schools participating in Louisiana's new voucher program even if their students fail basic reading and math tests, according to new guidelines released by the state on Monday....
...Some of the schools the state has approved for voucher students use Bible-based science textbooks and other controversial teaching approaches.
Bush has a new book out
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/29/paul-begala-on-george-w-bush-s-very-bad-economic-advice.html
The book is titled The Four Percent Solution: Unleashing the Economic Growth America Needs. You gotta hand it to Bush. Either he was born without the moral compass that engenders humility or he has one sick sense of humor. To start with, let the record show that George W. Bush was in fact president of the United States for eight years. And for those eight years economic growth averaged not four percent, but 2.04 percent. For Bush to attach his name to a book claiming to be a recipe for economic growth is what we Texans call chutzpah. What’s next? Charlie Sheen as spokesperson for Just Say No? Chris Christie’s fitness video? Kim Kardashian’s tips for a long and happy marriage? The mind boggles.
Where Dubya is concerned I have tried so hard to be Elvis Costello, who famously sang, “I used to be disgusted, but now I try to be amused.” But I just can’t get past the retching revulsion I feel about what this man and his policies did to our nation and the world. We will set aside the legacy of lost blood and treasure caused by his unwarranted invasion of Iraq for another day—perhaps when His Airheadedness decides to publish a book on national security. For now let us focus on the economy and the Bush Institute’s book.
The institute’s executive director, James K. Glassman, who also wrote the introduction, is no stranger to failed economic prophecy. In 1999 he co-authored (with current Romney adviser Kevin Hassett) a book with the unintentionally hilarious title “Dow 36,000: The New Strategy for Profiting From the Coming Rise in the Stock Market.” They almost got it right. Instead of a rise in the stock market there was a crash. The Dow went to 6,500, and 13 years after their book was published it is around 13,000. So they were only off by 23,000 points.
Asked about his time as president, Bush remarks, “Eight years was awesome. And I was famous and I was powerful.” Oh my God. The greatest nation on earth was led by a four-year-old.
one thing is for sure
we have irrefutable proof that you are a liar and support crooks and liars
the truth hurts i know
The Conservative Case For Obama »
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/07/what-happened-to-the-obamacons.html
On almost every front, on almost every issue, in this crisis, Obama is more conservative than Romney.
Obama has sought a modest re-regulation after the chaos of 2008. Romney seeks to do nothing to prevent the next financial panic, and wants to roll back what few rules have been re-imposed. On access to health insurance, Romney wants to return to the free-rider model of the past couple of decades, in which soaring costs are linked with the worst general outcomes in health and wellness in the West. Obama attempted a reform that sought - as Romney did in Massachusetts - to keep the system primarily private, while offering government subsidies to help the working poor stay healthy and stop their ultimate healthcare costs from soaring beyond their (and our collective) reach.
On foreign policy…Obama is even more obviously conservative than Romney. His lesson from the Iraq war was extreme caution in military intervention in the Middle East. Romney’s lesson is that we should launch another religiously polarizing war on Iran to little long-term effect but insuring a permanent war, with incalculable economic consequences. Obama sought to rebalance the US on the global stage by defusing the Bush-Cheney polarization, while still waging a lethal war on al Qaeda. In four years, we have seen the decimation of al Qaeda in Af-Pak, the killing of Osama bin Laden, withdrawal from Iraq and a timeline for leaving Afghanistan.
The reason Romney’s campaign is vague on so many…questions is that it has little to offer on these practical issues but ideological stridency. It is brain-dead. And zombie-conservatism is not conservatism. It is the violent twitching of a political corpse. This election is a chance to bury that corpse and start over. We should be grateful a de facto moderate Republican is president while conservatism has a chance to regroup.
Mitt Romney Did Not Say Any of the Things You Heard Him Say
by Kris E. Benson
Who ELSE can Romney offend, now that he is done insulting England, praising socialism (seriously), scheduling a $50,000 per plate fundraiser on a national day of fasting set aside to commemorate Holocaust victims, making thinly veiled anti-Semitic comments praising Israel’s “business acumen,”and basically telling Palestinians that they suck for being poor? A Palestinian official summed up our thoughts exactly when he said, “What is this man doing here? Yesterday, he destroyed negotiations by saying Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and today he is saying Israeli culture is more advanced than Palestinian culture.” Indeed. What IS this man doing here, and would you like to exchange him for Rick Santorum or Michele Bachmann, because we can maybe work that out for you! Anyway, you are thinking that there is no one left that he can possibly insult, but you are WRONG, there is someone, and it is you and your intelligence.
Under fire from Palestinian leaders for recent comments suggesting that Israel’s economic success is borne out of its “culture,” Mitt Romney on Tuesday attempted to clarify his remarks, telling Fox News that he had not talked about “the Palestinian culture or the decisions made in their economy.”
“I’m not speaking about it, did not speak about the Palestinian culture,” Romney told Fox’s Carl Cameron, in an interview taped before the candidate’s departure from Poland. “That’s an interesting topic that perhaps could deserve scholarly analysis but I actually didn’t address that. I certainly don’t intend to address that during my campaign. Instead I will point out that the choices a society makes have a profound impact on the economy and the vitality of that society.”
Choices like…socialized medicine? Which he seemed pretty excited about when he was in Israel? Or choices like…letting gays in the military maybe, which, as it turns out, he is also super into (so long as Poland does it or he happens to be Governor of Massachusetts).
Then there’s the small matter of coming perilously close to invoking a “Culture of Poverty” argument, which wouldn’t bode well for his Southern chances, since he seems to be explaining that it’s the South’s own damn fault they aren’t as rich and awesome as every single blue state. Or at least, it wouldn’t bode well for his Southern chances if Barack Obama were a white man.
Hopefully he will continue this winning streak when he is back in the U.S. We can’t wait.
http://wonkette.com/479670/mitt-romney-did-not-say-any-of-the-things-you-heard-him-say#more-479670
Tennessee State Rep. Knows Precisely How Obama Will Steal This Election
by Jim Newell
Good news, people of Tennessee: we get to discuss your state legislature again this morning! Oh, put away your groans. This guy you’ve got, state Rep. Kelly Keisling, had such a smart insight into the future of American politics that he took the liberty of emailing it to his constituents. How’s the rest of 2012 gonna play, O holy Byrdstown prophet? “A Republican member of the Tennessee state legislature emailed constituents Tuesday morning with a rumor circulating in conservative circles that President Barack Obama is planning to stage a fake assassination attempt in an effort to stop the 2012 election from happening.” What’s that, reader? You don’t take this seriously? Well what if we told you that the rumor came from a “Florida-based conservative blogger”? Mmhmm, yep. It’s all happening.
Here’s where the Obama campaign’s collective political acumen will apparently land us before the election. These guys are canny, what with the total hilarious transparency of their plan.
Rep. Kelly Keisling (R-Byrdstown) sent an email from his state email account to constituents containing a rumor that Obama and the Department of Homeland Security are planning a series of events that could lead to the imposition of “martial law” and delay the election. Among the events hypothesized in the email is a staged assassination attempt on the president that would lead to civil unrest in urban areas and martial law.
What’s amazing — well, a lot of this is amazing — but what’s amazing is that they think Obama would want to be an autocratic ruler for the rest of his life. Does he seem to be enjoying the job that much?
Keisling appears to have forwarded a more widely circulated email from Joe Angione, a Florida-based conservative blogger. Angione prefaces the rumor by saying it has not been confirmed but likewise notes it has not been denied. Angione also writes that people need to work to prevent the rumor from becoming reality.
Wow, let’s tip our cap there to Huffington Post writer John Celock for the understated literary beauty of that trifecta of sentences that so neatly describe how insane hustlers work our politics.
1. Idiot in Florida gets a modem.
2. Idiot in Florida emails fellow idiots some hilarious thing he just made up.
3. Idiot in Florida notes that the hilarious thing he just made up has not been denied.
4. Idiot in Florida says that since the hilarious thing he just made up cannot be denied, people must work to stop it.
5. Every idiot he emailed this to believes him.
6. A wingnut state representative shares the email with his constituents.
7. Idiot liberal bloggers post about this to make fun of him.
8. Wingnut state representative wins reelection.
[HuffPo via bobbert in Wonkville]
http://wonkette.com/479749/tennessee-state-rep-knows-precisely-how-obama-will-steal-this-election#more-479749
Good Job, Republicans, You Finally Found A Dead Voter!
Well, you finally found a dead voter besides the one James O’Keefe found, who wasn’t actually dead. But sad face, that is because your candidate for Pinal County, Arizona, supervisor, was voting for his dead girlfriend for five years. Oops.
John Enright, a Republican running for Supervisor of Pinal County, Arizona, ended his campaign on Thursday morning after allegations that his former companion — who has been deceased for five years — has been voting by absentee ballot since her death.
http://wonkette.com/479563/good-job-republicans-you-finally-found-a-dead-voter
Romney: I Love Socialized Medicine
Jonathan Cohn
July 30, 2012 | 1:28 pm
Conservatives have spent a lot of time accusing President Obama of trying to bring socialized medicine to America. It’s a grossly misleading charge: For better or for worse, the Affordable Care Act relies heavily on private insurance and involves far laxer regulation than most universal coverage schemes.
No, if you want to see a system with truly socialistic characteristics, you have to look elsewhere. Israel, for example. And guess who just praised that system? Mitt Romney, while addressing a fundraiser in Jerusalem.
Via Zeke Miller at Buzzfeed, here’s what Romney said:
"...When our health care costs are completely out of control. Do you realize what health care spending is as a percentage of the GDP in Israel? 8 percent. You spend 8 percent of GDP on health care. And you’re a pretty healthy nation. We spend 18 percent of our GDP on health care. 10 percentage points more. That gap, that 10 percent cost, let me compare that with the size of our military. Our military budget is 4 percent. Our gap with Israel is 10 points of GDP. We have to find ways, not just to provide health care to more people, but to find ways to finally manage our health care costs.
Miller notes that Israel has a truly universal health care system, in which the government guarantees every citizen not just insurance but insurance with a minimum set of benefits and full choice of provider. That’s all true. But there’s more to it than that. Israel also regulates the health care system aggressively, with what would, by any reasonable standard, qualify as price controls. Jack Zwanziger and Shuli Brammli-Greenberg wrote about this in Health Affairs:
The national government exerts direct operational control over a large proportion of total health care expenditures, through a range of mechanisms, including caps on hospital revenue and national contracts with salaried physicians. The Ministry of Finance has been able to persuade the national government to agree to relatively small increases in the health care budget because the system has performed well, with a very high level of public satisfaction.
The Washington Post’s Sarah Kliff, who dug up the Health Affairs article, adds that “Israel’s lower health care spending does not look to sacrifice the quality of care. It has made more improvements than the United States on numerous quality metrics, and the country continues to have a higher life expectancy.”
It’s true that Romney did not cite the Israeli system as a model for reform in the U.S. He merely praised its performance. He was merely commending its performance. But that tells us something. Like the better performing European and Asian health care systems, the Israelis get good health care while spending a whole lot less money than we do. And they do it with a lot of government involvement.
So was Romney simply clueless about the details of Israeli health care? Was he too busy trying to ingratiate himself with his hosts to pay attention? Or does he secretly think government-run health care has its virtues? I don't know—and I’m not sure Romney does either.
Ear, nose and throat disorder
By Tom Toles
So Romney was off on his Pander Tour to show how ineptitude beats apologies every time. No wonder Mitt never apologies. If he ever started apologizing for every stupid thing he’s ever said, he’d never have time for anything else, like insulting people’s intelligence.
Speaking of which. In Israel, he fawns over how their Health Care system delivers better care at lower prices. He giggles like a middle school student who stumbles on the answer to the project the teacher assigned him. Ooooh! Lower prices and better care! Let me write that down! How do they do it? Health care is supposed to be a Romney specialty. One of his signature issues. And on and on he prattles about what in fact is a SOCIALIZED MEDICAL SYSTEM! Without, apparently even knowing! Or even being aware that this just might be, you know, a political boobytrap? Booby caught.
This reveals a man who is no longer serious. He didn’t bother to find out about the Israeli medical system because he doesn’t care. If he cared, he’d find out, and start advocating for national health care in the US along the lines of the system he was so blindly praising. But he won’t. Because he doesn’t consider it to be in his political interest to talk seriously about heath care policy. This is an illness in the US political system for which the seems to be no apparent cure.
Romney Lies: “I Did Not Speak About the Palestinian Culture”
The art of the Big Lie
Charles Johnson
Politics • Tue Jul 31, 2012 at 10:27 am PDT • Views: 295
Mitt Romney has learned the lesson of the Big Lie — how to simply state things that are not true, with authority: Romney: I ‘Did Not Speak About’ Palestinian Culture.
CBS News) Under fire from Palestinian leaders for recent comments suggesting that Israel’s economic success is borne out of its “culture,” Mitt Romney on Tuesday attempted to clarify his remarks, telling Fox News in an interview that he had not talked about “the Palestinian culture or the decisions made in their economy.”
“I’m not speaking about it, did not speak about the Palestinian culture,” Romney told Fox’s Carl Cameron, taped before the candidate’s departure from Poland. “That’s an interesting topic that perhaps could deserve scholarly analysis but I actually didn’t address that. I certainly don’t intend to address that during my campaign. Instead I will point out that the choices a society makes have a profound impact on the economy and the vitality of that society.”
Yes, he absolutely did speak about Palestinian culture; this is an outright lie. Here are the exact quotes again:
“As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 dollars, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality,” he said. …
“Culture makes all the difference,” Romney told Israeli donors on Monday. “And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things.”
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/40681_Romney_Lies-_I_Did_Not_Speak_About_the_Palestinian_Culture
Has there ever been a politician who lies as fluently and with as little self-consciousness as Mitt Romney?
Republicans Still Want to Raise YOUR Taxes
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/07/27/600341/gop-fast-track-taxes/
Republicans invariably claim that Democrats want to raise your taxes, but Republicans want to give you a tax cut. Both claims are lies. In fact Obama and the Democrats have cut taxes for the 99% more than Bush ever did. The truth here is that Obama and the Democrats want to cut your taxes and raise taxes only on millionaires and billionaires. Conversely Republicans want to raise your taxes and cut them for millionaires and billionaires. The dirt is in the details.
House Republicans next week intend to vote on a plan that would both extend all of the Bush tax cuts — including those on income in excess of $250,000 — and fast-track “tax reform.” If the House GOP bill were adopted, tax reform legislation would “have special protections in the U.S. Senate [Murdoch delinked], limiting the opportunities for lawmakers to use blocking tactics.”
But the GOP bill only calls for a certain kind of tax reform — specifically that which would benefit the rich and corporations. Under the GOP’s fast-track approach, a tax reform bill would have to consist of:
(1) a consolidation of the current 6 individual income tax brackets into not more than two brackets of 10 and not more than 25 percent;
(2) a reduction in the corporate tax rate to not greater than 25 percent;
(3) a repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax;
(4) a broadening of the tax base to maintain revenue between 18 and 19 percent of the economy; and
(5) a change from a ‘‘worldwide’’ to a ‘‘territorial’’ system of taxation.
As Citizens for Tax Justice noted, http://www.ctj.org/taxjusticedigest/archive/2012/07/top_gop_tax-writer_proposes_fa.php
these changes would massively benefit the wealthy and corporations, shifting the tax burden down the income scale. In fact, consolidation of the tax code in the way the GOP envisions would give millionaires a $187,000 annual tax cut, while likely increasing taxes on the middle-class and working families, due to the elimination of deductions upon which they depend…
learn some self-reliance and responsibility and figure it out yourself
stop being a goddamn welfare queen demanding everyone give you shit