Category Archives: President Obama

The Corporatization Of America.

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Teapublicans are fond of calling President Obama a socialist, a communist or worse.  Of course, there is absolutely no evidence to substantiate their claims.

Most likely, the reason for their accusations is to distract voters from recognizing what’s really happening to their country.  Over the past 40 years, Teapublican policies have given virtually all of the political power to large, multi-national corporations as well as the very wealthy and the very powerful. They’ve accomplished this through the systematic use of propaganda.

Following more than a decade of acccusations that mainstream media was liberally-biased, they were able to repeal the Fairness Doctrine in 1987.  Within 20 years of the repeal, 91 percent of talk radio was conservative blather, giving them a large megaphone with which to peddle their ideas.

In the 1980s, Republican-appointed bureaucrats (along with a few Democrats) approved an unprecedented number of mergers and acquisitions in defiance of monopoly laws.  It was done under the guise of globalization; to better prepare American corporations to compete with European and Japanese businesses.  As part of this globalization, multi-national corporations were permitted (actually incentified) to ship manufacturing jobs overseas in order to cut labor costs and crush labor unions.

The Free Trade Act, intended to make it easier to export our products, instead made it even easier to export our jobs.  It also allowed our subsidized agri-businesses to dump cheap corn into Mexico and Central America, displacing tens of thousands of small farmers.

When Americans began to recognize the full impact of jobs being sent overseas, Teapublicans created straw dogs.  Prior to elections, they proposed so-called “values” legislation banning abortions, banning gay marriage, and denouncing so-called attacks on Christianity in order to distract voters.  They blamed our economic problems on immigrants, unions, “entitlements,” government employees, teachers and first responders to keep voters from focusing on the real issues.

Conservative Supreme Court justices ruled that money equals free speech, and that corporations should enjoy the same rights as individuals.  Of course, these rulings allow multi-nationals to spend as much as they want to elect officials who will be most favorable to their issues.

To keep President Obama from meddling with their grand corporate plan, Teapublican legislatures passed a variety of strict voter ID laws to disenfranchise many of those most likely to vote for Obama.  Now they’re crying “Class Warfare” and “Redistribution of Wealth!”

Will they continue to get away with this corporate takeover?  Or will the majority of Americans finally recognize what’s happening and take our country back?

Who’s Really Redistributing Wealth?

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Following the “Mitt Happens” moment in which Romney was caught on video disparaging the 47 percent who pay no income taxes, Teapublicans have countered, claiming that President Obama and the Democrats are guilty of trying to “redistribute wealth.”

Apparently, they believe Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, VA benefits, GI Bill benefits, Unemployment Insurance and Food Stamps are evidence of “class warfare.”

Fact is, redistribution of wealth has occured since the beginning of graduated federal income taxes in 1862.  The idea was to ask the wealthy to pay a larger percentage of their income in taxes than those who are less fortunate.  Our tax code embraced the idea until the election of Ronald Reagan.

Reagan’s flawed policy of “Trickle Down” economics greatly reduced tax rates for the rich while, at the same time, increasing taxes on the poor and the middle class.  Indeed, one of the largest tax increases in history was Reagan’s elimination of tax deductions for interest on loans: car loans, college loans, credit card loans, etc.  Now who do you think was harmed the most by that change?

Around the same time, Reagan eliminated the estate tax (aka the “death tax”) so the wealthy could pass their accumulated wealth to their children without penalty, and Teapublicans cut the capital gains tax rate paid on earnings from stocks and other investments.

More recently, the infamous Bush tax cuts were also weighted to benefit the wealthy.

But that’s only part of the redistribution of wealth upward.  During the past 40 years, multi-national corporations have been given a host of unfair competitive advantages over their smaller competitors.  Teapublican policies not only encouraged them to ship jobs overseas. They allowed multi-nationals to shelter income overseas in order to avoid paying taxes to the very government responsible for their success.

Meanwhile, small businesses and ordinary citizens have been asked to take up the slack.

The result of all this is the hollowing out of the middle class, the destruction of our domestic manufacturing base and the deterioration of our infrastructure.  It has led to higher unemployment, lower federal revenues, decaying cities, higher poverty and millions without access to basic healthcare.  Over the same time period, the wealthy have gotten even wealthier.

Class warfare, indeed!

A Political Party So Obstructionist It Even Opposes Itself.

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For years, GOP governors have asked for changes in the welfare reform bill of 1996.  They wanted more flexibility in how states measure work requirements, hoping that changes would help even more people move from welfare to work.  Even Governor Mitt Romney supported such changes in 2005.

Upon the recommendation of his Health and Human Services department, President Obama endorsed the changes.

Of course, that meant Teapublicans had to oppose the changes.  Mitt Romney and his Wisconsin partner-in-lies immediately went on the attack, saying “President Obama wants to eliminate the work requirement for welfare.”  They even made a TV commerical repeating the lie.

On Thursday, Liein’ Ryan and his obstructionist House-mates made it official.  They voted against the welfare changes that their own party requested.

None of this should come as a surprise to anyone who has followed Teapublican hypocrisy over the past four years.  Following the Inauguration-night strategy meeting during which Teapublican leaders vowed to block every initiative by President Obama, they have steadfastly refused to support the administration even if it means attacking their own ideas such as Romneycare…er, Obamacare.

Is it any wonder Congress hasn’t been able to pass tax reform and jobs bills?

Get Yer Guns Before Obama Bans Them!

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For the past four years, the National Rifle Association has fomented panic among the pistol-packing, assault rifle-collecting gun nuts that President Obama is going to take away their Second Amendment rights.  Of course, this fear has about as much veracity as the claims that President Obama is a foreign-born, un-American, freedom-hating Muslim.  But wingnuts and the NRA have never let the truth get in the way of a good fear-baiting story.

The truth is that Obama has never publicly stated a position on gun ownership.

Nevertheless, the NRA-fueled concerns persist, creating a huge windfall for the gun industry.  Domestic gun sales have soared.  And with each new mass killing, the sales spike higher, putting even more guns in the hands of the paranoid, the bullies, the cowards and the mentally-disturbed.  According to Sturm, Ruger & Co. President and CEO Mike Fifer, “It took us nearly all of 2011 to build 1 million firearms, but in 2012 we accomplished it on August 15th.”

The NRA rumors and racist lies about Obama have even given birth to a new industry – that of “prepping.”  Demand from hate-mongering wingnuts, domestic terrorist groups and the tinfoil hat crowd has led to thousands of Americans building “safe houses” and stocking them with enough food to last for years and enough weapons to launch World War III.

Of course, it can’t all be credited to the irrational hatred of our first black president.

Some preppers believe in the Mayan 2012 “prophecy.”  Some believe the Teapublican lies that liberals have led our nation to the precipice.  Others are worried about the black-shirted “New World Order” taking away our freedoms.  Even more are worried about the growing Latino, African-American and immigrant populations which will relegate angry old white people to minority status.

Let freedom ratta-tat-tat-tat…er, ring.

Are We Better Off Than 4 Years Ago? Let Me Count The Ways.

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What an utterly ridiculous question!  As a campaign technique, it may have worked in 1980 against Jimmy Carter and in 1984 against Walter Mondale.  But it’s completely absurd now.

At the end of the Bush administration, the US was losing 800,000 jobs a month.  Since President Obama took office, those losses have stopped and our economy has added private sector jobs for 29 straight months.

On December 31, 2008, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 8,776, resulting in devastating losses for pension funds and Individual Retirement Accounts.  Today, the Dow has soared to more than 13,300.

When President Obama took office, General Motors and Chrysler were on the verge of bankruptcy, jeopardizing more than a million jobs. Now both automakers are thriving, and General Motors has reclaimed the title of world’s largest automaker.

Four years ago, we were immersed in two lengthy and costly wars.  Since then, President Obama has ended the war in Iraq, ordered the killing of Osama bin Laden, and placed an end date on the war in Afghanistan.

In 2008, healthcare costs were soaring out of control, sending many American families into bankruptcy and costing those who could not afford insurance their lives.  In 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act which has stemmed the rising cost of healthcare and given more than 30 million people access to health insurance.

I could go on.  But, seriously, do I really need to?

If you can’t see that our nation is a whole lot better off since the beginning of the Obama administration, you’ve been spending far too much time watching the Fox News Channel and listening to conservative hate radio.

Do Teapublicans Actually Know Anything?

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For several years, surveys have shown that the majority of Teapublicans don’t know that President Obama was born in the United States.  The polls have also shown that a significant number of Teapublicans think Obama is a Muslim.

Now polls in Ohio and North Carolina show that approximately two-thirds of “very conservative” Teapublicans think former governor Mitt Romney deserves more responsibility for ordering the killing of Osama bin Laden than President Obama!

Say what?

Romney ordered the killing of bin Laden?  Now that would have been quite an accomplishment for someone who has no current standing in the federal government.  Nevertheless, that is what the polls show.

Is it any wonder that so many Teapublicans believe their lieing leaders?  Is it any wonder that poor and middle class Teapublicans continue to vote against their own self-interests?  Is it any wonder that our nation’s politics are so fractured?  How can anyone hope to negotiate and compromise with officials who represent these people?

No doubt these are the same people who think the Earth is only 6,000 years old, and that our ancestors rode dinosaurs.

Teapublicans are doing everything possible to keep Democrats and minorities from voting this election by requiring new photo IDs.  Instead, maybe they should require an intelligence test for voting.  If they did, we might not see another Teapublican president or Congress in a generation.

Where Are The Leaders?

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Now that both political conventions have ended, I think it’s fair to make comparisons.

In watching the Republican National Convention, you saw a collection of mostly angry old white men.  Moreover, you saw few people who would deserve the title of leader.  Not Romney.  And certainly not Ryan.

As in 2008, the people on display not only seemed mean-spirited.  They were largely untruthful.  Those who have elbowed their way to the top of the GOP seem hollow; devoid of compassion and lacking ideas that would benefit anyone but the powerful and rich.

By contrast, there were many leaders on display at the Democratic National Convention; people with vision.  One doesn’t have to stretch the imagination to see Cory Booker, Tammy Duckworth, Elizabeth Warren, Ted Strickland, Julian Castro, Duval Patrick, and Vice-President Joe Biden occupying the White House.  And, of course, President Barack Obama seemed as presidential as ever.

Given the contrast, it’s difficult to imagine that the GOP will win the White House in the near future.  Of course, there’s always the possibility that their lies and voter suppression efforts might allow them to steal an election as they did in 2000.

Let’s make sure that voter turnout for President Obama is so overwhelming that the GOP’s attempts fail!

Ted Strickland Outlines The Stark Differences Between Candidates.

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Michelle Obama and Duval Patrick gave great speeches at the Democratic National Convention. But, so far, nobody has done a better job of contrasting the two presidential candidates than former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland. In case you missed it, here is the text of his prepared remarks:

I’m Ted Strickland, and I come from Duck Run, Ohio. Let me tell you, folks in Ohio know what happens when you have a president who stands up for average working people.

Ina Sidney is a grandmother who lost her ability to provide for her family when they closed down the auto plant in Perrysburg, Ohio. Ina says thanks to Barack Obama for having the courage to back an industry that others had given up on. She’s an autoworker and a breadwinner once again.

As he celebrated the birth of his newborn baby boy, Brian Slagle lost his job just at the moment he needed it most. But today he’s back making auto batteries in a factory in Springfield Township, Ohio. And he said there’s one reason he has a steady paycheck again: Barack Obama refused to let the American auto industry die.

James Fayson felt like there was no tomorrow when he was laid off. “I believe in working every day,” he said, “and that was taken from me.” Today, James is working sixty hours a week on the Jeep Liberty line in Toledo. He is thrilled to say that his life right now is “eat, sleep and Jeep.” He’s back, he said, because Barack Obama gave us a chance for a comeback.

The auto industry supports one of every eight jobs in Ohio, and it’s alive and growing in America again. Late last year, Chrysler announced they were hiring eleven hundred new autoworkers in Toledo. Just last month, GM announced a plan to invest 200 million dollars in Lordstown, keeping five thousand jobs in Ohio and building the next generation of the Chevy Cruze—a car we are proud to say is made entirely in Ohio.

It’s been a long slog back, and we’ve still got a long way to go. But all over Ohio—all over America—men and women are going back to work with the pride of building something stamped “Made in America.” Before Barack Obama took office, it looked like that pride could have vanished forever, but today, from the staggering depths of the Great Recession, the nation has had 29 straight months of job growth. Workers across my state and across the country are getting back the dignity of a good job and a good salary.

Vince Lombardi was right when he said, “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get back up.” And my friends Ina Sydney, Brian Slagle and James Fayson were all knocked down. But Ina, Brian and James are all standing today. The auto industry is standing today. The middle class is standing today. Ohio is standing today. America is standing strong today.

That’s what happens when you have a president who stands up for average working people. President Barack Obama stood up for us, and now by God we will stand up for him. Quite frankly, Barack Obama knows what it’s like to pay a mortgage and student loans. He knows what it’s like to watch a beloved family member in a medical crisis and worry that treatment is out of reach. Barack Obama knows our struggles. And, my friends, he shares our values.

Now, Mitt Romney, he lives by a different code. To him, American workers are just numbers on a spreadsheet.

To him, all profits are created equal, whether made on our shores or off. That’s why companies Romney invested in were dubbed “outsourcing pioneers.” Our nation was built by pioneers—pioneers who accepted untold risks in pursuit of freedom, not by pioneers seeking offshore profits at the expense of American workers here at home.

Mitt Romney proudly wrote an op-ed entitled, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” If he had had his way, devastation would have cascaded from Michigan to Ohio and across the nation. Mitt Romney never saw the point of building something when he could profit from tearing it down. If Mitt was Santa Claus, he’d fire the reindeer and outsource the elves.

Mitt Romney has so little economic patriotism that even his money needs a passport. It summers on the beaches of the Cayman Islands and winters on the slopes of the Swiss Alps. In Matthew, chapter 6, verse 21, the scriptures teach us that where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. My friends, any man who aspires to be our president should keep both his treasure and his heart in the United States of America. And it’s well past time for Mitt Romney to come clean with the American people.

On what he’s saying about the president’s policy for welfare to work, he’s lying. Simple as that. On his tax returns, he’s hiding. You have to wonder, just what is so embarrassing that he’s gone to such great lengths to bury the truth? Whatever he’s doing to avoid taxes, can it possibly be worse than the Romney-Ryan tax plan that would have sliced Mitt’s total tax rate to less than one percent?

My friends, there is a true choice in this election. Barack Obama is betting on the American worker. Mitt Romney is betting on a Bermuda shell corporation. Barack Obama saved the American auto industry. Mitt Romney saved on his taxes. Barack Obama is an economic patriot. Mitt Romney is an outsourcing pioneer. My friends, the stakes are too high, the differences too stark to sit this one out. Let us stand as one on November 6th and move this country forward by re-electing President Barack Obama.

GOP Convention: Lies, Lies And More Lies.

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That’s not just my opinion.

Surprising as it may be, the media finally seemed to be paying attention and checking facts! Sally Kohn of Fox News summed it up best when she wrote that the convention speech by Teapublican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan was “an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech.”

For example, Ryan tried to pin the downgrade of our nation’s credit rating on President Obama, but it actually happened because Teapublicans threatened to not raise the debt ceiling.  Ryan blamed the closure of the GM plant in Janesville, Wisconsin on Obama, but it actually closed under President Bush.  Ryan claimed that Obama said that government deserves credit for the success of private businesses, but that’s not what he said.  Ryan also claimed that Obama cut $716 billion from Medicare, but in reality, that amount is the result of savings from insurance companies and hospitals as the result of the Affordable Care Act.

Not to be outdone by his vice-presidential choice, Romney also lied about the Medicare savings.  He made misleading statements about energy costs.  And his claim that Obama began his presidency with an “apology tour” of the world earned a Pants on Fire rating by Politifact.com.

Of course, Romney and Ryan were not alone in showing a complete disregard for the truth during the convention.  Jeb Bush, Calista Gingrich, Nikki Haley, John Thune, Rob Portman, Rick Santorum, Scott Walker, Michele Bachmann, Artur Davis and others had difficulty with the facts.

Their statements weren’t the result of a difference of opinion, misunderstandings, or spinning the truth.  These were outright falsehoods, half-truths and intentionally misleading statements.  For Teapublicans, lieing is a strategy.

For more, read The Teapublican Book of Lies available at Amazon.com and other on-line bookstores.

America’s Collective Amnesia.

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It seems many Americans have forgotten what happened in 2008.  They can’t remember who was at the wheel when our economy was driven into a ditch.  They can’t remember who led us into an unnecessary and unfunded war.  They’ve blanked out the memory of the second-largest stock market crash in history.  They can no longer picture the deer-in-the-headlights look of the Bush administration when the housing bubble burst.

As a result, many Americans seem to accept the latest assortment of conservative lies.

Despite the fact that President Obama rescued our economy from the abyss, many voters seem to accept Teapublican claims that his policies have failed.  Despite unprecedented obstruction by Teapublicans, voters seem inclined to reward them for their disgusting behavior.

Nevermind that it was decades of “conservative” policies that resulted in the loss of American jobs and growing disparity between the rich and the middle class.  Nevermind that Republicans squandered the surpluses of the Clinton administration in order to give tax breaks to the wealthy.  Nevermind that Romney intends to reinstate many Bush administration policies, voters are considering giving him a chance to repeat the same failures.

(Sure, trickle-down economics and free-market ideologies have repeatedly failed in the past, but maybe they’ll work this time.)

President Obama has not only guided our nation back to solid economic footing.  He has restored America’s reputation throughout the world.  He has earned another four year term.

Indeed, if voters sought the truth, this coming election wouldn’t even be close.  But Teapublican lies seem to have placed the outcome in doubt.  Teapublicans seem to have convinced voters that the path to prosperity isn’t the high road after all.  It’s back through the same ditch they drove us into more than four years ago.