A few days ago President Obama delivered a speech in which he reminded his audience that everyone who succeeds in America has done so with the help of other Americans. We are all mutually dependent on the resources and civic projects that keep this country humming. The President made the point that even he was a beneficiary of the social and economic collective advancement that’s historically been a part of our nation’s framework. He noted that “Somebody gave me an education. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Michelle wasn’t. But somebody gave us a chance.” However, in the past few decades, something changed in our country. As Dylan Ratigan says in his book Greedy Bastards…
“[S]omething has gone wrong in America. For the last few decades, the rising tide has been lifting only the yachts. Almost anywhere you look, if you just open your eyes, you will see ordinary, hardworking people struggling. Not far away you’ll find a few greedy bastards making out like bandits. What defines greedy bastards? It’s not merely that they’re rich. […] Greedy bastards have given up on creating value for others and instead get their money by rigging the game so that they can steal from the rest of us.”
That’s the heart, and what passes for the soul of Mitt Romney, who somehow extracted an interpretation of the President’s words that led to the absurd criticism that, “This is a president more intent on punishing people than he is on building our economy.” However, when even a cursory examination of the facts is made, it’s clear that it is Romney who is The Punisher. His policies, if enacted, will punish a broad spectrum of Americans from almost every possible constituent group. For instance…
1. WOMEN:
Despite telling representatives of Planned Parenthood that he supported Roe v. Wade when he was running for governor of Massachusetts, he now says that he believes that life begins at conception and that the historic Supreme Court ruling should be overturned. And while the health care plan he implemented as governor included coverage for abortions and contraception, he is now fervently opposed to such coverage. He has also expressed his opposition to the Lilly Ledbetter Act that Obama signed in order to assist women seeking equal pay and relief from workplace discrimination.
2. THE POOR:
Earlier this year Romney famously declared that he is “not concerned about the very poor [because] We have a safety net there.” Clearly Romney has never had to avail himself of the services provided to those reliant on the safety net, or he might be a little more concerned. He might also not have developed a tax plan that would further cut taxes for the wealthy while raising them for lower income citizens.
3. WORKERS:
Once again, Romney let his true feeling be known when he gushed that he “like[s] being able to fire people.” That being the case, it is no wonder that he regards unions as impediments to his goals. He blames unions for many of the nation’s economic problems and promised a policy to forbid union preferences in federal contracting beginning on his inauguration day.
4. GAYS AND LESBIANS:
Romney is adamantly opposed to same-sex marriage and open homosexuality in the armed services. This is another position that conflicts his record in Massachusetts where in 1994 he campaigned for a senate seat saying that he would be even an stronger advocate of gay rights than Ted Kennedy.
5. AUTO COMPANIES/EMPLOYEES:
Romney considers Michigan, where his father was once governor, one of his many home states. Nevertheless, he was so against a stimulus package for the auto industry that he publicly stated his preference that they should be allowed to go bankrupt. The stimulus was provided by the Obama administration and today GM has retaken its position as the number one car manufacturer in the world. And that was achieved with no help from Romney who even traveled around the country giving speeches that disparaged the company’s products, particularly the Chevy Volt which now receives high praise from industry experts and consumers.
6. LATINOS:
Romney has staked out an extremist position on immigration that will not endear him to Latinos. He has called Arizona’s SB1070, a law that nearly criminalizes being brown-skinned, “a model for the nation.” Romney opposes the DREAM Act that would establish residency for immigrants who came to the United States as children and then served in the military or completed college. But a Romney administration would expect these, and all immigrants, to self-deport.
7. SENIORS:
If you are 65 years old, or ever expect to be, Romney is intent on making your golden years somewhat less shiny. He advocates raising the retirement age to eligible for Social Security benefits. He supports moving funds into private accounts that would fluctuate with the uncertainties of the stock market. And he has proposed tying increases to the Consumer Price Index rather than the Wage Index, which would significantly undercut the purchasing power of seniors dependent on a fixed income.
8. ANYONE WHO CARES ABOUT CIVIL LIBERTIES:
For anyone concerned about the rights granted by Supreme Court decisions, Romney carries a frighteningly extreme portfolio. He has said that would nominate judges like Roberts, Alito, and Scalia to the bench. But even more disturbing, he recently brought on Robert Bork as his new top legal adviser. Bork was the man behind the “Saturday Night Massacre” where two Justice Department leaders resigned rather than fire the Special Prosecutor investigating Watergate. It was Bork who stayed and carried out Nixon’s orders. Bork also once called the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “a principle of unsurpassed ugliness.”
9. RESIDENTS OF EARTH:
Three words: Drill baby drill. Romney is a staunch advocate of exploiting fossil fuels on land and at sea. He is a critic of off-shore oil bans and a supporter the KeystoneXL pipeline that risks contaminating ground water in order to enrich refineries who intend to ship the oil products overseas. Although he has said that he believes that global warming exists and the it may be caused by human activity, he is opposed to addressing the problem with regulations that he believes would impair economic growth. Because economic growth is more important than having a planet on which to grow.
10. DOGS:
Just ask Seamus, the poor Irish Setter who was forced to ride in a cage on the roof of the family station wagon while on a 600 mile road trip.
Mitt Romney has a resume and an agenda that promises pain for average Americans. He would increase the financial burdens of the poor, reduce the protection of agencies that monitor everything from Wall Street to toxins in foods. He respects only wealth and, consequently, has assembled a program that could be called Trickle-Down on Steroids. Yet he has the audacity to accuse President Obama of wanting to punish people simply because the President’s plan asks billionaires to pay a few percentage points more on their wildly extravagant income.
Romney thinks it’s punishment to return to the tax rates of the 90s when the economy was booming, but he can’t comprehend the punishment of millions of families losing their homes, thousands of students losing their grants, innumerable sick people unable to get necessary treatment, or communities across the nation being exploited by greedy corporations and politicians like Romney. In Romney’s world it is better to protect one American millionaire than a million Americans. It’s the code of the Greedy Bastards.
If we did everything the Republicans wanted next week, third world country status would ensue in short order. That appears to be what Republicans want and then they project this onto what the Obama policies are doing to the economy. If you look at the economy when Obama took office and the economy today and ask the question, are you better off than you were four years ago? Most of the country will have to answer in the affirmative. Republicans say Obama’s economic policies are a failure, then what the hell do they call the economic meltdown of 2008 after 8 years of Bush’s(their) policies-a success? Give me a break! To be a Republican today requires you have no sense of shame or standards for anything.
I cannot grasp how stupid the GOP thinks we all are. Because they said ‘there is no war on women!!!” they think we’ll ignore the obvious attempts to control us down to the date of our last period. They say “Obama wants to run your life” while the GOP is far more intrusive than anything any Democrat has ever considered. They say they are for freedom, but they mean freedom of the white males to enhance their wealth at the expense of everyone else. How is working for a minimum wage that won’t cover gas, let alone rent and food, being free? I tell you, if the GOP retains one seat outsiide of the South (where Obama is so hated for his skin and intelligence that they will never admit the GOP is screwing them) there is something dreadfully wrong in this nation.
Wow..hatred runs deep Sally…your no better than the people you see as out to get you. By generalizing “but they mean freedom of the white males to enhance their wealth at the expense of everyone else” (your words) you have put all white people in a catagory which by todays standards makes you a racist. I dont think you are though (not yet), but you definitely feel that you dont have to take responsibility for were you are in life. That minimum wage job you are speaking of. I am sure you earned it! I earned my job as well. I grew up in the “Hood” and my father made $10,000.00 to $18,000.00 a yr. We werent on welfare. We didnt have much, but our house was clean and we took care of what we did have. I wasnt much of a student and got D’s & E’s, because i wanted to fight, drink, chase women and drugs. When my son was born, i worked my tail off. Sometimes 120hrs a week. Yah, thats not a typo. I would do this for 8-9 months until my health went a little, then I cut back to 70-80hrs a week. Point is, i worked and no one gave a anything. On the contrary, I was told i spoke ghetto and dress that way as well. So i made a decision to change my speech and my dress for my families benefit. That with my hard work and positive attitude and the help of the good lord. Has brought me farther than i had ever imagined. Growing up i thought that dealing drugs was the only way i could become successful. so i did that for a while. I have lost everything 2 times, but i keep getting back up and not letting any obstacle stand in my way. I have had many friends die when i was a teen and the ones still alive never finished school and couldn’t hold a job. That’s there fault! I always told them when they were bitching about it, it was no ones fault but there own. The government thru pell grants paid for my schooling because my parents were “poor”. Sally, only you can hold you back. If you have a positive attitude, work hard and have some sense to you, then you will go as far as you want. God Bless…I am sure you guessed I am white, but I dont care if god made me blue! I would still be were I am today, because of me!
Sally, my father worked really hard for that little money. He traveled to detroit everyday and I rarely saw him when he was working, but he always told me, i would be a loser and not amount to shit (he was mean..lol..but truthful at the time) but he also taught me to respect everyone and dont expect anything from anyone. He taught me the value of hard work and not depending on anyone (except God). He taught me to make my own way and not let anything get in the way of my dreams or what i wanted. My dad didn’t have an education and was abusive (to the family, addicted to hard drugs) but he had his great qualities as well. I love him and don’t harbor any resentment towards him at all and i sure as hell wouldnt blame him for anything that i have done in my life (like everyone does today). My choices are mine alone! He helped make me who i am today!
I realize I am extremely blessed and fortunate for i am the 1 of 2 in a 1000 to escape the cycle of poverty. The thing that is profound to me is that, my attitude was different that everyone around me. I didnt blame anyone (ok, i have before..lol). But i would snap out of it and look in hte mirror. It was pure hell getting to were i am today, but i am not free from falling. As i had mentioned, i have lost ALL my material possessions twice,because of the economy. You re invent yourself and go forward and pick yourself up when you get knocked down (happens everyday). I hope something I have told you about my life helps.
Sally, if you respond please don’t call me a wigger. That term came around in the 90’s and it originated with WELL off kids trying to dress like us. We used to laugh at them and comment how we would dress like they did if we had the money. We dressed how we did because we wore a lot of cloths that were hand me downs from other family members and friends as well as buying cheep clothing. That is also where baggy pants came from. Now its a fashion fad! I am 40yrs old if your wondering how old i am.
WTF?!?!?
August, you’re wasting your breath here – these people don’t want to here that kind of story. I’ve tried before, not as well but tried anyway, and MORE excuses came at me – good to hear someone is taking on the heavy lifting of life on their own and not allowing themselves to be held down, I’m sure someone here will tell you it’s because the government did it for you or something along those lines – you won’t get any credit here. Good luck anyway.
Thanks Steve! The thing I have noticed is that people who are considered “losers” by societies standards and those that are considered a “success”. Have the same thing in common. Losers – Blame everyone and have a piss poor outlook on life. Successful people – Are always working for something better and never give up. Thanks again Steve, God Bless you brother!
Silence from the peanut gallery – well done. They clearly have no stomach for talking down your life journey and how you rose to beat the things in life that hold you back – clearly done through perseverance and a strong desire to succeed. There is one commenter here specifically that makes excuses for why they haven’t reached their potential – exactly due the reasons you stated, blaming all others for their lack of success. In their mind it’s the rich peoples fault and nothing they’ve done or not done to reach their goals.
Wow, you should’ve taken advantage of those programs. Then you’re life may not have been such a shit laden obstacle course. The point is to make hard times easier and give people a net from rock bottom, when has anyone here ever said that government should get me to my goals?? What the hell is that? I admire doing it all yourself, but it was much much harder than it should’ve been, obviously.
The way I see it, you just told us that you’re life was SUPER shitty for a really long time because you didn’t take advantage. I saw that whole story as a case FOR what you’re trying to argue against. Again, it’s to make rough times a little easier. Do you not see that?