HERE WE GO AGAIN

ACTUALLY....... When I think of walk-back I think of a famous entertainer who used to "Moon Walk".  That was walking-back in style.  Surely Mitt Romney doesn't think he is anywhere close to Michael Jackson's interpretation, however Mitt's on the roll again.

This time Romney is doing a little Moon Walk on Obamacare.  In his speech to the Republican National Convention he said:  "We must reign in skyrocketing cost of health care by repealing and replacing Obamacare".  Romney's campaign clarified that the he would try to repeal the entire law. His campaign website says that Romney will issue an executive order on his 'first day in office' granting states waivers out of Obamacare, and promises he will "then work with Congress to repeal the full legislation as quickly as possible. I say we're going to replace Obamacare. And I'm replacing it with my own plan". On the day the Supreme Court upheld the Obama law, Romney said "the American people must vote the president out of office in order to get rid of Obamacare".

Here's the walk-back from his previous comments.  On Meet The Press, Sunday, September 9th, Romney said "I'm not getting rid of all of health care reform.  Of course there are a number of things that I like in health care reform that I'm going to put in place.  One: is to make sure that those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage.  Two: is to assure that the marketplace allows for individuals to have policies that cover their family up to whatever age they might like."  Oops! Another shuffle here:  in June, Romney said he was in favor of health reform guaranteeing that people with pre-existing conditions have access to new insurance if they change or lose their job.   Romney's plan refers to only people "who already have coverage and makes no allowance for people with a pre-existing condition who are currently uninsured". What is not said here is the fact that Romney doesn't plan to make sure that those with pre-existing conditions can even get health coverage.

Romney has never backed an important part of the Democrat's health care law - that which allows children to stay on the parent's plans up to age 26. Obamacare does this by requiring that insurance companies offer the coverage for dependent children.  Honestly, I'm not sure what Governor Romney really believes or what he will do. It's sorta' like, Hey Mitt, what about those taxes and offshore accounts?  He won't say!!!

MOST IMPORTANT, I BELIEVE HE DOESN'T HAVE A CLUE 

RYAN'S PEP RALLY

ACTUALLY....Republican vice president candidate Paul Ryan began his pep rally Wednesday night with this wife and three children on stage.  That was an admirable beginning to a speech full of  lies, dishonesty and anger.  He was there, of course, to accept the GOP's nomination for vice president or, in his own words, he "accepted the calling of my generation to help lead the county in tough times" and told the audience that Mitt Romney and he will make the difficult decisions needed to repair the nations economy. "We will not duck the tough issues, we will lead." Neither of the men has said how they would do that. WOW, why doesn't that give me a warm fuzzy feeling?
 
The National Catholic Reporter seems to think that Ryan's budget, fully endorsed by Mitt Romney, is taking out it's fiscal anger on the middle-class and poor, and asks where their deep seated anger comes from.  We all recognize that the federal deficit needs to be overhauled and that Medicare and Social Security could certainly stand improvement.  But the Ryan budget which the U.S. Bishops have called a "moral failure", is not the way to go.

Ryan hammered President Obama on a number of things.   His first hit was on, you guessed it, Medicare.  In a major section of his speech he tried to deflect Democratic criticism that he would slash Medicare benefits as part of his broad budget cutting plan.  Here is were he made one of his huge mistakes.  He said that President Obama made devastating cuts to the health care program for the elderly. Ryan said that the "president robbed Medicare of $716 billion".   What he didn't say that was Obama's Medicare cuts were to be over the next 10 years and in reimbursements to insurers and hospitals, not in payments to beneficiaries.  
Ryan ignored the fact that he incorporated the same cuts into budgets through the House in the past two years, using the money for deficit reduction.

Not everyone was pleased.  There was a woman who wanted to hear Republican leaders address foreign policy.  That was not included in Ryan's speech and she said obviously "this party isn't ready to talk about foreign policy".  (Perhaps it's because they don't know anything about foreign policy.)  Others noted that Ryan didn't say much about how he would cut spending and entitlement programs while preserving Medicare. There again, he probably doesn't have a clue.

He talked about the stimulus legislation that Congress passed at Obama's request in 2009 to help stabilize the economy.  What he didn't elaborate on was that he asked for some of that funding, which eventually went to two energy conservation companies in his home state.

Mr. Ryan spoke of other issues, many of which were based on deception and lies.  That topic is for another day.  As an unidentified woman said at the end of the evening:

"THE CONGRESSMAN'S SPEECH SKIPPED LIGHTLY OVER INCONVENIENT FACTS"

HERE WE GO AGAIN WITH TAX CUTS

ACTUALLY.......Senator Jon Kyl from Arizona has said "that the president’s usage of the phrase “middle class” is “misguided and wrong and even dangerous.”  He called for an end to what he referred to as rhetoric about "classes".  Furthermore he had the audacity to bombard President Obama about “incessantly” talking about class, “particularly the middle-class”.  The Arizona sun has really gotten to that man.

President Obama is trying to protect the middle-class, which by the way is more than just an income bracket.  He is, of course, comparing the American people who are financially not as well off as the wealthy executive's of large corporations or (pardon the expression) private equity owners.  Senator Kyl goes on to say that America doesn’t have “a true class-based society,” since we don’t have an “ingrained class system” or “noble bloodlines.” I think that's a bunch of crap! And, how does he know that someone in the middle-class doesn't have "noble bloodlines"?

What the President wants for our 'middle-class' is a secure job, a safe and stable home, access to affordable health care, retirement security, time off for vacation.  He also wants to have opportunities for families to save for the future and the ability to provide a good education, including a college education, for the children. How else are we to build a strong nation that our children and grand children can be proud of?

President Obama has said repeatedly that his greatest goal is to build our economy from the bottom up, giving the opportunity for less fortunate people that struggle from day to day, to enter the middle-class and enjoy a better standard of living.  We have become a nation so polarized that there is the very wealthy ....... and then everyone else.  Does that sound fair and reasonable?  President Obama has recently called on Congress to extend tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 a year while allowing taxes to raise for households making more.

Romney's plan will  raise taxes on the bottom 95% of the people.  The average middle-class family with children will see a tax increase of more than $2,000.00.  For everyone making less than $200,000, the tax increase averages more than $500.00 per person.  His plan includes a large tax cut for only the wealthiest 5% of Americans.  He's proposing a new $247,000 tax cut for the wealthiest 0.1% - on top of the Bush tax cuts, and another $87,000 tax cut for every millionaire - on top of the Bush tax cuts.  I don't know about you, but this just boggles my mind.  It's hard to understand and even harder to live with.

Oh! And by the way, what the hell is an "ingrained class system".  For crying out loud Senator, GET REAL!!  What planet are you from anyway?

WHERE DID THE MONEY GO?

ACTUALLY....In my last post, I mentioned that I would have some information on President's Obama's 2009 stimulus package.  I have done some research and this is as close as I can get.  I'm the first to admit that this is indeed a confusing project.  This package was passed by the House in 2009,without the need for any GOP votes.

According to the administration, not that all the stimulus money has been spent; it has been committed for specific projects and programs. There’s still about $168 billion in stimulus money that has not actually been paid out. But it says nearly all of that money already is tied up in contracts with companies, obligations with states and local governments, promised taxpayer relief and commitments to government programs.

Raymond Scheppach, executive director of the National Governors Association has said "for states, much of that money for Medicaid and education has been worked into budgets, so if Congress took it back it could leave shortfalls that would be a serious problem because they’re depending on that money.”

According to  Liz Oxhorn, the White House’s spokeswoman for the economic recovery program tells us,  "these remaining dollars include funding for major high-speed rail, clean energy and other infrastructure projects that in many cases have already been awarded and just haven’t been formally put under contract.
Rescinding these funds could halt job-creating projects years in the making where preliminary work in some cases is already under way.”

DO-NOTHING-CONGRESS

ACTUALLY.....Has President Obama failed to remind the GOP, as well as the American People, that this great country of ours was in an economic disaster when he signed the oath of the Presidency?  He has been conscious and courageous in digging America out of a tremendous hole.  Sure, he made promises that he hasn't been able to keep, but most of those failed promises were not his fault. In answer to questions about what he wanted to do and still will try to do in his second term, read on: 

Several months ago President Obama challenged Congress with a "to-do" list.  The list he wanted was not new for the administration.  They were laid out in the American Jobs Act and in his State of the Union Address.  The list included passing legislation to give companies a 20% tax credit to move their overseas operations back to America and legislation to give small businesses that hire new workers or increase wages a 10% income tax credit.  It included legislation on 2 energy tax credits and to create the Veterans Job Corps, which would help post 9/11 veterans get jobs as firefighters and police oficers, as well as other jobs that would serve their communities.

The jobs bill he sent Congress included these policies, and more, that he knew could grow the economy and put Americans back to work.  Every time he put these policies up for a vote, the Republicans in Congress said "no".  The Presidents press secretary is quoted as saying "I don't think congress will act because the President says they must act".  It's like running into a brick wall.

Most Republican lawmakers should explain to their constituents what they did while they were in Washington.  Can they  explain that they put forward every effort to help the economy grow and create jobs?  Certainly not!  Can they say that they have earned their salaries and other numerous perks?  Certainly not!!  Can they say all they really want to do is get President Obama out of office?  YES, that they can certainly say!!

Do we have a "do-nothing" Congress?  Absolutely!! 

WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE......

ACTUALLY.... .going back a few months when Romney was questioned about illegal immigration, his immediate solution was "self-deportation" - let the 11 million immigrants just turn around and go back to where they came from. Well, now we read that at the Texas state GOP convention last week the Republicans blamed the "decades-long failure of the federal government to secure our borders and address the immigration issue".  Now, the  GOP proposes a "national temporary worker program", that's the good news -  but only for periods where no U.S. workers are available. That's the bad news.  The program would be self-funded through fees and fines, require a criminal background check and show proficiency in English.  O.K. How many illegal immigrants are there that would be proficient in English?  This program would fine those applicants with prior immigration violations, not really stating what those violations would be.  In my humble opinion those fines would probably be more than the poor immigrant could afford.  Guess what would happen then?  You got it - adios amigo. 

President Obama has been trying to get the Senate to pass a program designed to provide a fair path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.  The "Dream Act" would grant permanent legal status only to undocumented immigrants brought here before the age of 16 - and even then only to those who spent 2 years in college or in the military.  Don't you think that innocent children would make support of "The Dream Act" an easy call.  Well, think again!  The Republican's find fault and criticize every legislative effort to help these immigrants. In the 2010 Senate session, "The Dream Act" failed. 

In his third State of the Union speech The President said he wants comprehensive federal immigration reform.  But if that's not possible, he at the very least wants to give citizenship to children of illegal immigrants that qualify per his "Dream Act".  In his words:  "If election-year politics keeps Congress from acting on a comprehensive plan, let’s at least agree to stop expelling responsible young people who want to staff our labs, start new businesses, and defend this country. Send me a law that gives them the chance to earn their citizenship. I will sign it right away".

Why doesn't the Mexico born Romney just self-deport back to Mexico?  Then he would know the importance of leaving.

JOB CREATION

ACTUALLY....The President is taking aggressive steps to put Americans back to work.  Before the economic crises middle class security was slipping away, wages were at a standstill and health care costs were rising.  We've added back more than 4.2 million private sector jobs and seen 26 straight weeks of job growth. Way to go Mr. President!!!

There is nothing causing more pain for middle class Americans than being out of work.  We are facing a real sense of urgency over joblessness because from there it's a downward spiral to not being able to pay your home mortgage, putting enough food on the table, having proper health care and in some parts of the country heating your home.   OMG! That sounds like too much to handle! Yet there are millions of Americans facing this crises.  On top of all this, we have Gov. Mitt Romney sticking his wealthy nose in things by sucking the life out of companies across the U.S. and often loading them down with more debt.  He slashes pensions, health care benefits, and causes workers to loose their jobs.  But not to worry about Gov.Romney because he makes a healthy profit for himself and his partners by outsourcing jobs and bankrupting companies.  I'm sure he's quite proud of himself and he undoubtedly added a bit more lavishness to his La Jolla split level beach house.

Manufacturing has added 489,00 jobs since 2010 and plants and equipment business can expense 100% of their investment under a proposed tax extension.  The President also included a proposed 20% income tax credit on expenses for companies moving their operations back to the U.S.  Quickly after taking office the President passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  This cuts taxes for small businesses and 95% of working families.  This Act also included emergency funding for about 300,000 educator jobs and at least 4,600 law enforcement positions, as well as investments in the clean energy sector that supported over 200,000 jobs through 2010.  Terrific!!!

In the last couple of weeks, President Obama released his administrations plan to boost job creation.  His straight forward, emphatic words were "This is a bill that Congress needs to pass".  "No games.  No politics. No delays".  Pretty strong words wouldn't you say?  His administration announced a series of tax policy changes that officials say will pay for the costs of the Presidents job creation plan.  The provisions, announced by the Office of Management and Budget would raise a projected $467 billion over a 10 year period.  The American Job Act, outlined by the President, would cost an estimated $447 billion.

Oh! Let's not forget that Chrysler, GM and Ford are profitable for the first time in years and are adding  jobs and facilities across the country. Mitt Romney said "let Detroit go bankrupt".  WOW, that turned out to be not such a good idea, huh?  Gov. Romney is not so much about job creation as he is about profit creation.

THE ECOMOMY

ACTUALLY... there's good news and bad news.  The good news is President Obama has a "to-do-list" for fixing the economy.  The bad news is that he submitted it to Congress and we all know what's going to happen there.  Bingo! You guessed it, here we go again. Our esteemed Congress, made up of grown men acting like 3rd graders will in all likelihood not pass "the to-do-list" and possibly won't even read all of it.

The President called on the House Republican majority to back 5 of his administrations endeavors.  GOP lawmakers have said they are unwilling to do that.  What a surprise!! Obama's demands included ending tax breaks for companies that outsource work to other countries, which would increase tax benefits for small businesses that hire workers and extend tax credits for clean-energy companies.  He maintains that these are things that we can accomplish NOW to help create jobs and give financial security to families that have lost so much, therefore helping to build the economy.

President Obama also called for a government program to help homeowners refinance their mortgages at lower interest rates.  That doesn't seem like to much to ask from Congress, of course none of them have
to worry about mortgage payments so it's probably not too important.  The President also wants to create a Veterans Job Corp for troops coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.  I'm not sure that Congress can even comprehend exactly what that means.

Democrats and Republicans have come together and extended the payroll tax holiday through the end of the year.  What a big deal that is!  The GOP is stifling an already slow economic recovery.  Can anyone really think of anything new the great Gov Romney has said that's different from the policies that got America into the mess it's in now.

People, we've been pushed right off the cliff and into a big hole and we have to dig ourselves out of it.  I am more confident than I've ever been that Romney is not the man to do it.  Okay, I'll admit that he's made money for some of his investors (during which time he and his partners benefited as well), however, I can find nowhere that says it's a job requirement for being the President of the United States.  Perhaps The Governor has a different idea of the job in question.  Hmmm!

Gov. Romney is an insensitive, out of touch individual that's more interested in raiding corporations for his own profits, than in building the US economy.  Our President has admitted that his work on the economy is unfinished, that he still has more work to do, but he seems to be at the mercy of our Congress, again.

Mitt Romney's economic philosophy has been to eliminate pensions, lay workers off (he likes firing people, you know) and close down businesses. That friends, is NOT the way to build an economy.  What is he thinking??