• Tax Revenue Shortfall Due to the Economic Crisis  —  470 billion each year
• The Bush Tax Cuts —————————————  220 billion each year
• Federal Unemployment Insurance ———————  110 billion each year
• War in Iraq ———————————————–  105 billion each year
• War in Afghanistan —————————————-  45 billion each year
• Payroll Tax Cut ——————————————— 10 billion each year

Total Budget Deficit ———————————– 960 billion each year

So, actually, the trillion dollar deficit has nothing to do with President Obama over spending.  He pushed to extend federal unemployment benefits and for payroll tax cuts.  Both were bipartisan initiatives to boost the economy and provide relief for the long term unemployed.  This only leaves about $40 billion a year that one could attribute to new spending by the Obama administration.  Ironically, most of that money was used to pay for things like increased educational spending, green energy initiatives and 18 small business tax cuts.  The Republicans are totally misleading the American people about the deficit and, unfortunately, most of the media are silently allowing this to happen.  (This information was found by searching Google and several government web sites. It took all of 20 minutes).

The obvious and simple fact is that President Obama is not running a trillion dollar deficit.  He’s running an insignificant 40 billion deficit, with most of that money being invested in the country’s future.  Don’t let the Republicans spin you into believing the otherwise.  Most Republicans don’t like to hear this,  but it’s all Bush’s fault.  The Bush tax cuts blew a hole in the budget; the unnecessary war in Iraq blew another hole in the budget. The Bush administration ignored the war in Afghan and it has dragged on much longer than necessary, and it’s still blowing a hole in the budget.  The Bush administration’s lack of financial regulations and inept policies surrounding the housing market led to the economic crisis.  This, in itself, led to the tax revenue shortfall.  Like it or not, the inconvenient truth is that the Obama administration is taking the blame for a budget deficit caused by the Bush administration.

If Romney gets elected, he’s going to make everything worse.  All the budget busting issues listed above are still going to be there, except for the war in Iraq.  Romney not only wants to keep the Bush tax cuts in place, he also wants to tack on the Romney Tax Cuts, which will cost another $500 billion a year. His claim that it will be revenue neutral is the same position that Bush told us about his tax cuts.  My question: “Do these guys ever learn from their mistakes?”  Apparently not, and neither do the people that keep voting for them.  Unfortunately, most people believe the Republicans’ misleading talking points regarding the deficit and debt.  They have erroneously tried to equate deficit spending to ordinary household debt.  These are totally different; there is no comparison.  Americans need to stop falling for the Republican mind games.  Come on people.  Like Samuel L. Jackson says, “… wake the ‘freak’ up!” Well, that’s sort of what he said.

1.  Osama Bin Laden, the terrorist mastermind, is dead.   Not only is America better off than it was four years, so is the entire world.  George Bush famously said that he didn’t know where Bin Laden was, and that he didn’t spend that much time thinking about him.  Romney added that it wasn’t worth moving heaven and earth to go after one man and that it wasn’t worth the money.  Now, let’s ask Bin Laden if he’s better off today than four years ago?

2.  We’re safer today than we were four years ago.  The President decimated Al Qaeda with drone strikes and Special Forces missions.  Al Qaeda is now on the run and disorganized.  The President even sent a strong message to the Somali pirates by authorizing the Navy Seals to take them out.  The Navy Seal shot a Somali pirate in the eye and we haven’t had a US Vessel hijacked since.

3.  Our auto industry is better off today than it was four years ago.  GM and Chrysler were both heading towards liquidation, but the Obama administration stepped in and provided the funding and the leadership to help both companies reinvent themselves.  Today, both companies are going strong, turning a profit and paying back the loans.

4.  Four years ago, our financial system was about to collapse.  The U.S. credit markets were frozen, banks were going under, and the world economy was in peril.  The Obama administration showed strong leadership in the way they managed the TARP funds.  Not only were they able to rescue our banking system, most of the banks have already paid back their loans with interest.  Our financial system is definitely better off today than it was four years ago.

5.  Four years ago, we were losing over 700,000 jobs a month.  To date we’ve had 30+ straight months of job growth and the economy has created over 5 million jobs.  That’s better than we were four years ago no matter how some folks try to spin it.

6.  In the first quarter of 2009, the stock market bottomed out and today it’s up over 6,000 points.  And, if you have a 401K, or a mutual fund, or an investment portfolio, you’re doing much better than you were four years ago.  Most of Mitt Romney’s income comes from capital gains, so he’s doing much better today than he was four years ago.  Of course, we would know just how much better if he would release his tax returns.

7.  Because of ObamaCare, millions of people with pre-existing conditions are able to get health insurance.  It also expanded access to free preventive services like flu shots, diabetes screenings, and mammograms for 54 million Americans.  Over 100 million Americans saw lifetime caps on coverage lifted, so that families have the security of knowing that their insurance will cover them when they need it most.  Also, 3.1 million young Americans now have health insurance because they can stay on their parent’s policy until age 26.  When it comes to healthcare, a lot of people are much better off today than four years ago.

8.  Four years ago, the war in Iraq was going full force with no end in sight.  President Obama ended the Iraq War and brought our troops home.  We all know the Republicans don’t believe in setting departure dates for the wars they started.  If they had been calling the shots, we would still be in Iraq.

9.  We have a withdrawal date from Afghanistan.  Four years ago, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and the rest of the republicans made it clear that they don’t believe setting withdrawal dates from the conflicts they start.  President Obama believed otherwise and set withdrawal dates from Iraq and Afghanistan.

10.  President Obama reversed the ban on federal funding for stem cell research.  Today, we’re much closer to finding cures for Alzheimer’s, spinal cord injuries and other medical conditions.  We’re four years ahead in stem-cell research, instead of being four years behind.

11.  The LGBT community is better off today than they were four years ago.  ”Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” was repealed.  Gay and lesbian service members can now serve our country with dignity and free from persecution.  People like McCain and Romney argued it would be detrimental to troop morale and, as usual, they were both wrong.  President Obama also decided not to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

12.  President Obama appointed two women to the Supreme Court; the Hispanic woman was historic.  This gave the Hispanic community a strong voice on the highest court of the land.  As a nation, we are much better off with two more women on the Supreme Court.

13.  President Obama suspended the deportation of students.  Because of President Obama’s policies and decisions, the Hispanic community is better off today than it was four years ago.

14.  Our veterans are much better off today due to numerous initiatives that the President, as well as, the First Lady and Jill Biden have pushed through over the past four years.  The Veterans Skills to Jobs Act makes it easier for veterans to put their skills to work and transition to the private sector.  The GI Bill was upgraded and medical benefits have been enhanced.

15.  President Obama has restored America’s respect and influence around the world.  His “Obama Doctrine” for foreign policy is about engagement, mutual respect and forming coalitions.  His approach has allowed us to gain better cooperation and commitments from our international partners.  We saw the Obama Doctrine in action when the Libyan rebels overthrew the Muamma al-Gadaffi regime.  President Obama organized support from our allies and, most importantly, support from the Arab nations. Consequently, we were able to take out al-Gadaffi without losing any American lives and at minimal cost to the United States.  Let’s compare that to the Bush Doctrine and the invasion of Iraq, which left over 5,000 US soldiers dead and almost $2 trillion dollars spent.  This Texas style, guns blazing, “my way or the highway,” or “you’re either with us or against us” foreign policy has proven to have been nothing less than a disaster.

The Bush/Cheney Doctrine destroyed America’s reputation and made it difficult to form international coalitions, in other words, people hated us.  President Obama restored our international image and helped us regain our ability to influence foreign affairs.  In other words, people liked us again.  Our international standing and image are obviously better off today than four years ago.  And, let’s not forget, when George Bush left office people were throwing shoes at him.

1. His economic plan is the same Reagan and Bush trickle down strategy of tax cuts for the rich. The Bush tax cuts took the budget surplus that Clinton left and turned it into a deficit and it also ushered in the worst job creation numbers we’ve seen since in decades. Obama created more private sector jobs in 3-years than Bush created in 8-years. We know for a fact that this strategy doesn’t work so why should we go down that road again. Or I should say, why should we continue to go down that road because remember we’re still living under the Bush tax cuts. How did that work out for us? What happened to all the jobs? If tax cuts really worked as economic stimulus then they should be working now. But they’re not, so how much more evidence do we need? Tax cuts for the rich have proven to be ineffective for creating jobs and it would be insane to double-down on a strategy that we know doesn’t work.

2. Romney and Ryan want to turn Medicare into a voucher system. This is such a bad idea that it should disqualify Romney from the race. The reason we have Medicare is because it’s impossible for the elderly to get health care coverage in the private insurance market. Elderly health care costs are too high for the profit driven health care industry. So the voucher will not be enough to cover the insurance and will result in a huge out of pocket expense, if they can get coverage at all.

Some people may not know it, but the Republicans have been against Medicare and Social Security from the very start. Both programs are Democratic ideas that were criticized by the Republicans as a march towards socialism. People like Ronald Reagan even did television and radio commercials saying that Medicare was a mistake for the country and if enacted it would lead to our downfall. Of course Reagan and rest of the Republicans were on the wrong side of history and they’re on the wrong side today. So the Republicans are the last people you want in charge of fixing Medicare and Social Security. It’s like putting the fox in charge of security at the hen house. The fox was against building the hen house right from the start.  So his ideas for security probably won’t be in the hen’s best interest.

3. Mitt said it wasn’t worth moving heaven and earth and not worth the money to hunt down Bin Laden. I think those comments should disqualify Mitt from being President of the United States. It should be a deal breaker for every citizen of this country. That’s a direct slap in the face of the victims of not only 9-11 but also the victims of the numerous other terrorist attacks that Bin Laden is responsible for.  He’s killed so many people and destroyed so many lives that it was definitely worth moving heaven and earth to remove him from this earth. And if Mitt Romney doesn’t believe that, he isn’t fit to be our Commander-in-Chief.  Mitt also had the gall to say that even Jimmy Carter would have made the call to take out Bin Laden. I believe Carter would have made the call to take out Bin Laden but a Romney administration never would have had the chance. Because how could you take him out if you didn’t think it was worth the money to hunt him down? On this issue alone, it’s clear that Mitt Romney is not fit to be our President and certainly not fit to be our commander-in-chief. I think everyone realizes it, but no one wants to say it. Well I just did.

4. Romney said let GM and Chrysler go bankrupt, which at the time would have led to liquidation. Mitt knew it would have led to liquidation because he knew the credit markets were frozen; so there was no entity to take the companies into receivership and manage the bankruptcy. Mitt showed no compassion for the millions of jobs that would have been lost and had no problem sitting back and allowing a major US manufacturing sector disappear. How could someone who wants to be President, be willing to allow something like that to happen to our country? The problem with Mitt is that he’s got Bain on the brain. You can’t run a country the way he ran Bain Capital. It not just about balance sheets and cash flow, it’s about real people and families and lives. It about America’s position in the world and saving an industry that we created. Henry Ford will rest a lot easier knowing that Mitt Romney was not in charge. This issue alone should disqualify Mitt from being President.

5. Mitt is taking the 5^th on his tax returns and his off-shore investments. He obviously has something to hide so he refuses to do or say anything that will lead to self-incrimination. It’s hard to say what he’s trying to hide but I figure it must be one of three things or maybe all three. One, he’s invested in a company that he doesn’t want anyone to know about. Two, maybe he’s gone several years without paying any income taxes. Three, maybe he took advantage of the IRS amnesty program back in 2009. The program allowed tax cheats that were hiding money in Swiss bank accounts to come clean and pay the back taxes and avoid prosecution. If Mitt would show his complete tax returns we could solve the mystery and put the whole thing to rest. You have to have some brass to lecture everyone on paying taxes and then refuse to release your own tax returns so people can see what you paid. When you combine the tax issue with the fact that his off-shore investments are in a blind trust, it reminds me of what the church lady from the old SNL skits used to say … “How Convennnnient”.

6. Mitt wrote off half the country with his 47% comments and he literally said he wasn’t going to worry about them. How can you aspire to be President and label half the country as lazy slackers that consider themselves victims and feel entitled to mooch off the government from cradle to grave? Mitt’s comments on the 47% gave us a glimpse into his soul and what we saw wasn’t pretty. It revealed a person totally out of touch with the working class, with zero compassion and blind ambition. It also revealed a person that didn’t have his facts straight. But then again his campaign said they would not be dictated by fact-checkers.

One group within Mitt’s 47% are young military families. Most people don’t know it but young military families with kids, when they initially join the service, qualify for food stamps.  Many of these young military families gladly accept them to help make ends meet. So under a Romney administration a service member putting his life on the line in Afghan would have to worry about his wife having a tougher time feeding their kids. This is just another example of the pattern of contempt that Romney has shown for working people.  He said let Detroit go bankrupt and be liquidated, he said let the housing market hit bottom; he also said he wasn’t concerned about the very poor, and that he likes to fire people.  Mitt Romney isn’t just out of touch with real Americans, I’m not sure that he’s ever been in touch. Or ever will be.

I think it was divine intervention that Jimmy Carter’s grandson was the one that found the 47% video. The Romney campaign had been bad mouthing the Jimmy Carter administration in a lot of crude and unfair ways. So it’s cruel irony that Jimmy Carter may play a role in destroying Romney’s run for the Whitehouse. Like they say, what goes around comes around and God still don’t like ugly.

7. Romney was against ending the war in Iraq; he called the Presidents final withdrawal of troops from Iraq “tragic”. So obviously if Romney had been President, we would still be bogged down in Iraq. Romney actually said during the primaries that he may send troops back into Iraq. We’re supposed to be out of Afghan in 2014 but we all know that the Republicans do not like to set withdrawal dates for the wars they start. Remember during the 2008 campaign Sen. Obama wanted to set a withdrawal date from Iraq but the republicans and John McCain were totally against it. So if Romney is elected, it’s possible that all the Bush neo-cons that he has surrounded himself with will cancel our withdrawal date from Afghan. So if you want to go back into Iraq and stay in Afghan then Romney is your guy.

8. Mitt protested in favor of the Vietnam War and he also protested in favor of the draft. However he ran off to France on a Mormon mission in order to dodge the draft and to avoid going to Vietnam. He had no problem doing his part to help send other kids off to war but he couldn’t bring himself to go and fight. In my book that’s lower than low. It’s one thing to protest against a war that you disagree with and refuse to go and fight. But it’s entirely different to protest in favor of the Vietnam War AND the draft and then run off to France to avoid going yourself. I don’t see how any veteran or military member could vote for Romney. This is not a man that deserves to be our commander in chief. Additionally, his five boys didn’t fall far from the tree, none of them have ever even thought about putting on a uniform. The same goes for Romney’s father and his grandfather. For the Romney men it’s all about take, take, take and bleeding the country dry; without ever risking a drop of their own blood and fight for their country. This is not the kind of family we need in the White House. They don’t represent real America.

9. The way Romney handled the attack at the Egyptian Embassy was pathetic. Everyone on both sides of the aisle panned his rambling, self-serving response. He made a ludicrous assertion that the President was sympathizing with the attackers. It was a foolish grab for political gain from an event that was still transpiring. But it wasn’t surprising because we know Mitt is a fanatical opportunist who will do anything to get to the White House. In his infamous 47% tape, he gleefully acknowledges that if an international event presented itself he would take full advantage it and exploit it to the max. This is one instance when he kept his word and his actions were very un-presidential.

10. Romney constantly lies about his positions on the issues. Exhibit A: In the second debate he said he doesn’t agree that an employer should be able to deny coverage for contraception in their employee’s health care plan. But he supports the Blount amendment which gives employers that exact authority. He told a blatant lie in front of 65 million people. I guess Romney must keep that etch-a-sketch in his back pocket and yes Tagg, I called you’re dad a liar.

11. Romney commented that he didn’t have to know that much about foreign policy because he will leave everything up to the State Dept and the military commanders on the ground. Obviously he doesn’t understand what it takes to be the commander-in-chief and this comment should disqualify him from the job.

12.The people in Massachusetts know Romney very well and they obviously can’t stand him because he’s losing Mass by over 30 points. If he did such a great job as governor then why is he losing so badly? The people in Mass had him for four years, so they know him well and we should listen.

13. Ann Romney made some kind of weird comment about it being their turn. What the heck is she talking about? There is no “turn”.  It’s just another example of how the Romney’s come across as rich and privileged and they feel like getting to White House is simply their destiny.

14. After what corporations did to America four years ago. Why would we put a CEO in charge of the country? That’s not only stupid it’s insane.

15. Mitt doesn’t hold any positions as a matter of conviction everything is simply a matter of convenience. He’s an empty suit that doesn’t know what he believes about anything. Ted Kennedy called him “multiple choice” Mitt but I call him “all of the above” Romney. 

16. Romney has no backbone. If he won’t stand up to Rush, Trump, Sununu, and the rest of lunatic fringe. How can we expect him to stand up to countries like Iran and China?

17. Romney would bring a lot of baggage with him to the White House.  People like Karl Rove, Grover Norquist, and groups like ALEC will have a seat at the table. How scary is that?

18. Corporate radicals like the Koch Brothers and Sheldon Adelson will show up at the White House to cash in their chips for the millions they spent on Romney’s campaign. Wonder what they will want for spending all that money?

19. If Romney wins, FOX News will once again become state-run media and a propaganda machine for the White House. Fox News will go back to being the cheerleading squad for every bad policy coming from a Romney administration. We remember how that worked out with the Bush-Cheney crew and it would be a nightmare to have to live through another four years of that.

20. Romney has surrounded himself with the same neo-con-men like John Bolton that got us into the war with Iraq. They will be back in business and pushing to start a war with Iran.

21. Romney will appoint Supreme Court justices that will overturn Roe v Wade.

22. The oil companies will get to keep their subsidies.

23. Republican led voter suppression goes unchecked because a Romney appointed Attorney General won’t give a damn.

24. Mitt has no humility. He can’t bring himself to apologize for anything because in his eyes he’s never wrong about anything. That’s typical of a CEO, they think they have all the brains and all the answers. Have you ever heard Mitt admit to being wrong or apologizing about anything. Look no further than his 47% statement.  He finally admitted that what he said about the 47% was wrong but he didn’t say he was wrong for saying it.

25. Mitt is lying when he says that taxes for the rich won’t go down under his tax-cut plan. Mitt’s whole life has been about hiding his true intentions in the fine print of a well written contract. He can usually get away with it, so he thinks he can get away with it again. But we’re going to catch him in a lie. If you listen closely to what he says, he promises that under his plan the proportion of income taxes that the wealthy pay will not go down. But the proportion and the actual amount of taxes paid are two different things. Right now the top 10% pay about 65% of income taxes collected. Romney’s 20% tax cut across the board would lower all taxes including the proportion that the wealthy pay. Granted they may still pay a 65% proportion of all income taxes but the amount needed to get there will be substantially less. SO no matter how Mitt tries to dress it up, it’s still a tax cut for the rich.

26. Mitt is telling a lie when he says that taxes for the rich won’t go down under his tax-cut plan. Mitt’s whole life has been about hiding his true intentions in the fine print of a well written contract. He can usually get away with it, so he thinks he can get away with it again. But we’re going to catch him in another lie. If you listen closely to what he says, he promises that under his plan the proportion of income taxes that the wealthy pay will not go down. But the proportion and the actual amount of taxes paid are two different things. Right now the top 10% pay about 65% of income taxes. Romney’s 20% tax cut would lower all taxes including the proportion that the wealthy pay. Granted they may still pay a 65% proportion of all income taxes but the amount needed to get there will be substantially less. So no matter how Mitt tries to dress it up, it’s still a tax cut for the rich.

27. Even the Republicans don’t like him. Rick Santorum, Newt, and rest of the clown act masquerading as republican primary candidates all warned us that Romney couldn’t be trusted, he has no core and he will say anything to get elected. He represents blind ambition at its worse and nothing has changed. So even though they don’t like him and don’t trust him they have no problem thrusting him into the highest office in the land. Country first my butt.

28. He signed the Grover Norquist pledge to never raise taxes under any circumstances. The pledge also prohibits cutting loopholes that would result in paying higher taxes. Signing the pledge is a disgrace and it should disqualify Romney from being president.  He’s supposed to pledge allegiance to the United States not to Grover Norquist.  I don’t see how anyone could vote for a candidate that would sign a pledge like that. Sometimes it seems as though republican voters are from another planet.

29. You can’t trust republicans in times of crisis. They’re willing to hold on to ideology until it turns into idiotology. You don’t have to look any further than the debt ceiling crisis. They were willing to block raising the debt ceiling unless the Democrats agreed to defund Planned Parenthood. They were oblivious to the consequences of not raising the debt ceiling. These are not the kind of people you want in charge of anything important and they certainly should not be in the Oval Office.

30. Paul Ryan sponsored the personhood amendment with Todd Akin which would give an embryo all the rights given to a baby outside the womb. It would basically criminalize abortion. It would also bring into question whether or not a woman could be prosecuted for doing something harmful to her unborn child. If she smokes or drinks alcohol could that be deemed an assault with a deadly weapon. Would all miscarriages have to be investigated as a possible negligent homicide? This is not a road we should be going down but it’s a path that Romney and Ryan want to take us. It’s beyond a slippery slope it’s a step right into an abyss of chaos and confusion.

1. President Obama authorized the Navy SEALS to take out Bin Laden. Romney said it wasn’t worth moving heaven and earth or worth the money to go after one man. Bush said he didn’t know where Bin Laden was and said he didn’t care. A lot of people don’t realize that the intelligence cell that was tasked with tracking down Bin Laden had its budget cut and was down to just a couple of analysts during the waning years of the Bush administration. But when President Obama took office he made capturing or killing Bin Laden a top priority. He increased the budget and had the intelligence cell fully staffed and that’s why they were able to track him down. And that’s why President Obama deserves all the credit for taking out Bin Laden.

2. President Obama saved our auto industry. GM and Chrysler were both going down the tubes and one of the conditions for saving them was that they had them reinvent themselves. They did what the President asked and today they’re both going strong and very profitable. Millions of jobs were saved and GM is back to being the number one auto manufacturer in the world. Romney and others said let them go bankrupt.

3. President Obama saved our financial sector and kept our economy from going over a cliff. Conventional wisdom at the time was that taxpayers wouldn’t get a dime of the bailout funds back. However President Obama was determined to change that narrative. He got tough on the banks and he made sure they were not spending taxpayer money on stuff like executive bonuses and corporate jets. Consequently, they couldn’t wait to get the President out of their books; so most of the banks paid back the loans as fast as they could, with interest. So the President saved the banking system AND got the taxpayer money back. Do you really think the Republicans would have been as tough on the banks?

4. President passed a Health Care Law that will help millions of people get insurance that would otherwise be denied because of pre-existing conditions. It expanded access to free preventive services like flu shots, diabetes screenings, and mammograms for 54 million Americans. It provided 13 million people more than $1 billion in rebates for being over-charged by their insurance companies. You haven’t heard about any of the Obama-Care haters sending their insurance rebate checks back have you? Don’t hold your breath on that one. They don’t hate it that much. Everyone of those hypocrites happily chased their rebate check. Over 100 million Americans saw lifetime caps on coverage lifted, so that families have the security of knowing that their insurance will cover them when they need it most. Also 3.1 million young Americans now have health insurance because they can stay on their parent’s policy until age 26. ObamaCare is a good thing, regardless of how much the Hopeless Obama Haters (HOH’s) try to vilify it.

5. Under President Obama’s watch the stock market is up almost 7,000 points. President Obama’s economic policies such as the payroll tax cuts, free trade agreements and small business tax cuts have helped businesses thrive. Consequently, since March 2009 the stock market is up almost 7,000 points. This strong business environment has increased job security and if you own stocks, a mutual fund or a 401K, then your portfolio is also doing quite well. If the stock market had risen 7,000 points under a Republican president, all the HOH’s on Wall Street would be giddy. They would be shaking their pom poms and cheering for the home team while declaring complete economic recovery. The unemployment numbers would become a sideline issue and corporate profits would once again be the barometer for economic prosperity.

6. Under President Obama, we’ve seen over 30 straight months of job growth, adding 5.2 million private sector jobs, including 459,000 manufacturing jobs – the most growth since 1997

7. President Obama reversed the ban on federal funding for stem cell research so we’re 4-years ahead instead of 4-years behind in finding treatments and cures for things like Alzheimer’s and spinal injuries.

8. President Obama passed the Lilly Ledbetter act which guarantees equal pay for women.

9. President Obama has been a champion for women’s health issues. He believes a woman’s health care choices are personal decisions, best made with her doctor—without interference from politicians. He fought back against Republican attempts to defund Planned Parenthood. He ended the health insurance practice of charging women more than men for the same coverage. He made sure health insurance companies cover recommended preventive care like birth control, mammograms, and other cancer screenings.

10. President Obama’s economic stimulus plan created millions of jobs and saved millions more. It specifically kept teachers, fire fighters, and policemen from getting laid off in cash strapped states. The stimulus plan kept things from getting worse.

11. President Obama appointed two women on the Supreme Court and one of them is of Hispanic heritage. We need more women in positions of power in this country and the President’s Supreme Court appointments were a huge step in that direction.

12. President Obama had the Navy SEALS take out a Somali pirate and we haven’t had a US vessel hijacked since. He also had the Navy Seals rescue American hostages being held captive in Somalia.

13. President Obama put pressure on BP during the oil spill and made them come up with a $20 billion clean up fund. The amount they were liable for was a lot less than that but the President was not going to let them off the hook. He kept the pressure on them and made them cough up $20 billion. What was the Republican response? Remember, they were on the floor of Congress apologizing to BP. Rand Paul and others said the President was putting his boot on BP’s neck. I think it’s safe to say that if the Republicans had been in charge we would not have gotten a $20 billion clean up fund.

14. President Obama’s drone strikes have decimated al-Qaida. He has taken out so many al-Qaida leaders that it doesn’t even make the news anymore.

15. President Obama ended the war in Iraq. Romney said the withdrawal was tragic and the he would have left at least 10,000 troops there. Romney also said he wouldn’t hesitate to go back.

16. President Obama set a withdrawal date to get out of Afghanistan by the end 2014. And as we all know, the Republicans don’t believe in setting any withdrawal dates so if they were in charge there would be no end in sight for the Afghan War.

17. President Obama changed the federal student loan program and started loaning money directly to the students and cut the banks out of the loop. This process has saved millions of dollars that can be used to loan to students.

18. President Obama reversed the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. So gay and lesbian service members can serve our country with dignity and free from persecution. People like John McCain and Mitt Romney both said it would be detrimental to troop morale. They were both wrong.  President Obama also decided not to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

19. President Obama made history when he voiced his support for gay marriage. This was a huge victory for the LGBT community.

20. President Obama has enacted numerous policies to help our veterans. Including the Joining Forces program that encouraged more than 2,000 American companies to hire or train 125,000 veterans and military spouses. This effort, combined with other policies and legislation put in place by the President, have resulted in a 20 percent decrease in veteran unemployment.

21. President Obama has restored America’s respect and influence around the world. His “Obama Doctrine” for foreign policy is a policy of engagement and mutual respect which has allowed us to gain better cooperation and commitments from our international partners. We saw the Obama Doctrine in action when the Libyan rebels overthrew the Qadaffi regime. The President organized support from our allies and most importantly from the Arab nations and we were able to take out Qadaffi without losing any American lives and at minimal cost. Now compare that to the Bush Doctrine and the invasion of Iraq. Over 5,000 US Soldiers dead and almost $2 trillion dollars spent. The Bush Doctrine was Texas style, guns blazing, my way or the highway; you’re either with us or against us foreign policy. The Bush-Cheney Doctrine destroyed our reputation and made it difficult to form international coalitions, in other words, people hated us. President Obama restored our international image and helped us regain our ability to influence foreign affairs, in other words, people like us again. And as we all remember, when George Bush left office people were throwing shoes at him.

Those are just 21 of the many reasons why President Obama should be reelected. If a Republican had been in charge they would simply run on killing Bin Laden and the stock market being up 7,000 points. Those two issues would be their whole campaign. Remember Rudy Giuliani thought he could get elected President just because he happened to be the Mayor of New York during the 9-11 attacks. Rudy figured that just because he didn’t pee in his pants and have a nervous breakdown that he should be President. But he has the nerve to say this President doesn’t have a record to run on. Give me a break. President Obama has done more than enough to justify reelection.

It’s true however, that the IRS will give the 47% most of their income taxes back when they file their tax returns but you can’t say they never paid. I’ll let you in a secret; the IRS is not going to send you a tax refund check if you never paid any federal taxes.  So please stop saying that 47% of Americans don’t pay income taxes because it’s simply not true. But anyway, I don’t see why Romney is raising such a fuss about people who are simply following the tax code and filing their taxes. They didn’t write the tax code. If Romney & his friends at that Boca Raton fundraiser don’t like the way the tax code is structured then they should lobby for it to be changed. But don’t hate the player hate the game.

The irony is that some high income individuals and corporations like General Electric also end up with a low tax liability. But I don’t think Romney called any of them moochers and freeloaders. It’s not as if the 47% are doing anything wrong. They’re not hiding their money in the Cayman Islands or in a Swiss bank account. They don’t hire an army of tax lawyers to dig up every loophole they can find. They don’t intentionally claim a lower charitable deduction than they’re entitled so they can meet a stump speech tax liability promise.  The 47% simply work every day and pay their income taxes. Then they file their tax returns at the end of the year. They check this box, check that box, look at a couple of charts and if the amount on line A is larger than the amount on line B, it says they overpaid and they’re due a refund.

Maybe Romney is jealous because the 47% are able to reduce their tax liability to almost zero without an army of tax lawyers. It’s obvious from that video that Romney was incensed and upset about 47% of Americans getting big tax refund checks. So there you go folks, I think we just uncovered another piece of Mitts secret tax plan. Mitt Romney wants to take back or reduce the tax refund checks sent to the 47%. So if you want to keep your tax refund, you better vote Obama-Biden 2012.

But in the context of politics, the economy is not as bad as the republicans are making it out to be. You can actually make a case that the economy is doing quite well. But the Republicans don’t want you to know it, the Democrats are afraid to say it and the media is reluctant to report it. The Republicans have a vested interest in selling doom and gloom because they’re trying to win an election. The Democrats can’t say the economy is doing fine because they don’t want to seem out of touch with the misery of the people that are really suffering. The media is in the best position to set the record straight but they’re asleep at the wheel as usual. The media are supposed to be the referees but they never bring their flags to the game. I think Paul Krugman said it best, “If the republicans claimed that the world was flat, the headline in mainstream media would be Controversy About The Shape of the Earth”. The mainstream media won’t even point out obvious lies coming from the right. And that’s a problem.

Economic data is usually the gold standard that both sides will accept without too much spin or bias. But that hasn’t been the case since President Obama took office. We all know that Wall Street and the financial pundits favor the Republican Party so they usually go out of their way to support any financial policy put forth by the republicans.  They also paint a more optimistic picture about the state of the economy when the republicans are in charge. Remember during the last few years of the Bush administration when the economy was going down the tubes. Despite the obvious downfall of the economy, the financial pundits on CNBC like Larry Kudlow were still cheerleading the economy and continued to look for a silver lining. It was ridiculous and it actually made things worse because they should have been sounding the alarm about the economy instead of propping up the flawed republican ideas and glossing over the economic mess right in front of their eyes.

But when the democrats are in the White House the tone of Wall Street and the financial pundits is totally different. They pick apart and ridicule every democratic economic policy before the ink can dry. They also downplay any signs of economic recovery and consistently pour cold water on any good economic news. It’s ridiculous but it has a huge effect on how people view the economy. The way they talk about the stock market is a perfect example. During Bush’s second term the stock market was booming and reaching record highs. The financial pundits constantly reminded us that even though unemployment was inching up and we had a huge budget deficit that a strong stock market was still the key indicator of economic prosperity. They talked about how corporate profits are necessary to fuel the economy and grow jobs and that a strong stock market was a key indicator. They also reminded us that 70% of Americans either own individual stocks or they benefit from a strong stock market because they own mutual funds, 401K’s and other retirement programs. In other words a strong stock market and corporate profits equaled a strong economy.

Well that was then and this is now. As soon President Obama took office all of sudden a strong stock market doesn’t mean anything. Even though we’ve been on one of the longest stock market bull runs in the history of this nation. Since the market bottomed out in March 2009 the stock market has risen almost 7,000 points. You could have bought stock in Apple back in March 2009 for less than $90 a share. Now Apple stock is selling for almost $700 a share and is on the verge of becoming the first company valued at over a trillion dollars. But the Hopeless Obama Haters (HOH’s) on Wall Street and other financial pundits have changed their tune. Now they say that a strong stock market doesn’t mean a thing and the only barometer for the economy is the unemployment rate and the budget deficit. See how their attitude changes when the democrats are in the White House?

So the point I’m making is that Wall Street and the financial pundits are all HOH’s and they’re the ones setting the tone for how people feel about the economy and how the media reports on the economy. So we’re getting a biased viewpoint that is downplaying good economic news and exaggerating the extent of any bad economic news. Put it this way, if a republican had been in charge of a 7,000 point increase in the stock market and corporate profits were going through the roof; not only would the pundits be singing a different tune they would be declaring a complete economic recovery.

But under the Obama administration the lie Wall Street keep using revolves around the word “uncertainty”.  They keep saying that businesses aren’t hiring because they’re uncertain about the future. Investors aren’t investing because they’re uncertain about this or uncertain about that. The only thing I’m certain about is that it’s all bunch of crap. They’ve been telling that same lie about uncertainty since the 2008 election. First they were uncertain about who was going to win between Obama and McCain. Then they were uncertain about the bank bailout and how it would work out. Then they claimed they were uncertain about how the stimulus money would affect the economy. They were uncertain about the auto bailout, uncertain about Iraq and Afghan, uncertain about what actions the Federal Reserve might take. They were uncertain about whether the Bush tax cuts would be extended, uncertain about the raising the debt ceiling, uncertain about Europe and China, and now they’re uncertain about the fiscal cliff. You see where this has been going? What’s next? Are they uncertain about whether the world is going to end on Dec 21, 2012 or maybe they’re uncertain about whether the earth will be hit by a meteor in the next 4 years.  Businesses have been using this perpetual “uncertainty” excuse to avoid admitting that the economy is doing fine, and that we have a new normal and the job market is about where it should be.

Think about it, if businesses needed to hire more people they would. But if they’re meeting demand and making record profits with the personnel they have, why would they hire more people? That would be stupid. Businesses need to stop blaming everything on uncertainty. They should just admit that they’ve maximized operational efficiency and they’re able to meet the demand for their product or service with minimal increases to payroll.  In other words they’ve found ways to do more with less people.

I don’t know about you but I believe what I see. I don’t have to wait for a bunch of HOH’s on Wall Street to crunch the numbers and do a Power Point presentation before I can make a decision about the state of the economy. If the economy was as bad as they’re making it out to be it would be obvious as soon as you walk out the door. I don’t think the people in Haiti have to wait on the housing report in order to realize they have housing problem. Funny how the US housing problem is defined by having too many houses but in Haiti their housing problem is defined by not having any houses.  I don’t think the people in Somalia have to wait on the jobs report to find out they have an unemployment problem. If signing up to be a pirate is one of the better job openings, then you probably have problem with unemployment.  Something is profoundly wrong about having to wait for a government agency or someone on Wall Street to provide you with a number before you can decide how you should feel about the economy. I’ll let you in on secret, if you have to wait on a number then odds are, you’re probably doing pretty good and the economy is too. I don’t know about you but when I walk outside I don’t see any soup lines; I don’t see any shanty towns or thousands of homeless people roaming the streets.  But if you listen to the republicans and the media, you would think we were in the middle of  another great depression.

But anyway, when I go to the mall it’s still hard to find a parking spot and thousands of people are in there spending money. When I go to buy groceries the shelves are stocked and the prices are low. When I look in the Sunday paper there are hundreds of jobs posted. Businesses are showing record profits quarter after quarter and they’re sitting on trillions of dollars in cash. The stock market is up almost 7,000 points since March of 2009. Inflation is low and food is cheap. You can still buy a roast chicken from Wal-Mart, already cooked for $5; all you got to do is eat it.  Interest rates are at record lows so you can get a car loan or a mortgage loan at a record low interest rate. If that’s a bad economy … what’s good? What does good look like?

Another good example is Apple. They’re selling iPad’s so quick they can’t make them fast enough and they’re not cheap. Apple doesn’t depend on rich people to buy their products. Ordinary middle class folks purchase Apple products and they have pushed Apple’s valuation to almost a trillion dollars. How many iPad’s would Apple sell in a “good” economy? How high does the stock market have to go before the HOH’s on Wall Street will say it’s a good economy?  How many companies will have to show record profits before they admit that it’s a good economy? How cheap does food have to get, how low do interest rates have to go. Come on folks, we don’t have to channel the misery of the folks that are doing the worst in the economy and use that as the barometer. You can’t judge the whole economy by the 10% or so that are struggling. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t focus on them at all but we shouldn’t paint the whole country with a broad stroke of misery based on their current situation. Because most people are getting up and going to work every day and they’re doing just fine. The employment rate is about 93% and I don’t know about you but every time I’ve scored a 93, I was happy. Last time I checked that was an A.  So stop buying the doom and gloom that the republicans, the HOH’s on Wall Street and the media are selling. The economy is doing great and it’s getting better.

1. Mitt, you made over $20 million in 2011 and almost all of it was capital gains. According to the Republicans that means you’re a job creator and you shouldn’t have to pay any income taxes. My question is how many jobs did you create in 2011?

2. Paul Ryans tax plan which would drop your tax rate to below 5% and eventually down to zero. Do you think that’s fair and how many more jobs will that help you create?

3. Who do you fear the most Rush Limbaugh or Iranian President Ahmadinejad?

4. Do you still hold the position that you would not go into a sovereign nation to go after terrorists? You also said that it wasn’t worth moving heaven and earth or spending the money to go after Bin Laden.  You also said that Senator Obama was naive for saying he would go into Pakistan, without their permission, to go after Bin Laden. Do you regret making those statements and is that still your position?

5. Follow-up to #4: Since you didn’t think it was worth the money or the effort to go after Al Qaeda #1. I guess AlQaeda #2, Zawahiri, doesn’t have anything to worry about. Would that be a safe assumption?

6. Since you claim to have extensive auto-industry experience and years of experience turning around failing companies, why didn’t you team up with your buddies at Bain Capital and step in and save GM and Chrysler? If you’re the business wonder-boy that you claim to be you should have recognized the opportunity to make some money.  And if you love this country as much as you say you do, you should have been eager to step in and help the economy. So why didn’t you contact Bain and volunteer your services as a consultant and step in and save GM and Chrysler with private money instead of sitting on the sidelines and criticizing the government for stepping in?

7. Do you regret protesting in favor or the Vietnam War and protesting in favor of the draft and then going to France to do missionary work in order to avoid going to Vietnam?

8. You seem to be very anxious and willing to launch an attack on Iran. My question is will any of your son’s be joining the military so they can join the fight. Or did they already book their flights to France?

9. You signed the Grover Norquist pledge to never raise taxes under any circumstances. You’re supposed to pledge allegiance to the flag not to Grover. Please explain how you will tackle our economic issues with one hand tied behind you back.

10. Did you take advantage of the IRS amnesty program in 2009 that gave tax cheats that were hiding money in Swiss bank accounts the opportunity to pay their back taxes and avoid prosecution?

So that means our employment rate is about 92%. I don’t know about you but everytime I ever scored a 92  I was happy. The last time I checked that was an A. In a so-called good economy the unemployment rate is usually around 4%. So our unemployment rate is really only about 4% higher than normal. That’s sounds pretty good to me. Especially when you compare it to what’s going on in Europe. They’re looking at 12-15% unemployment and countries like Greece and Spain are both over 20%. If you gave any European country our unemployment rate not only would they be happy, they would probably declare complete economic recovery.

I don’t know if many people know it, but about 3.5 million private sector jobs are posted every month. Unfortunately most applicants don’t have the necessary skills to fill the positions so those jobs continue to go unfilled every month. Who’s to blame for that? If we could fill those 3.5 million jobs, unemployment would drop to about 6% overnight and we wouldn’t be talking about unemployment.

But why is it so hard to fill those 3.5 million jobs that are available every month? Training is one issue but it has to be more than that. I started thinking about it and trying to figure out some of the reasons why it may be difficult for some people to find a job in any economy.

1. How many people have a criminal record?  I know this is a touchy subject but it is what it is. The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country on the planet. According to the Dept of Justice over 60 million people in the US have a criminal record. That’s about 1 in 5 or about 20% of the population.  Over 7 million people were on parole in 2009. I don’t think it anyone would be shocked to find out that people with criminal records face discrimination when trying to get a job. We’re all familiar with the three strikes and you’re out rule in the criminal world but in the job world its one strike and you’re out.  A lot of the offenses are minor drug possession charges but it’s still a huge scar on your record and will make it tougher to get a job.  Our war on drugs and zero-tolerance policies are a double edged sword because when those folks get out of jail they go straight to the unemployment line and they can’t get a job.

You have to be bonded for a lot of jobs now days. So if you get a conviction for anything dealing with stealing you can forget it. No one is going to trust you around money or property. Get in trouble with drugs and people think you’re going to come to work high.  Get convicted for assault and they think you’re going to come to work and beat somebody up. Businesses just don’t want the liability that comes with hiring people with criminal records. Because if the person gets in trouble again everyone is going to ask how did they get hired and why? So if nationwide 20% of the population have a criminal record it would be safe to assume that 20% of 12.5 million people that are unemployed have a criminal record. That equals about 2.5 million people and you can set them aside because they would have a tough time getting a job in any economy.

2. How many people do not have a high school diploma? You used to be able to get by and get a service job or some type of day labor position without a high school diploma but not anymore. Now days without a high school diploma you’re basically unemployable.

3. How many people do not have a college education? If you want a decent job at a decent entry level you have to some college. If you’re one of those folks walking around with no college education you’re probably spinning your wheels. It can also be hard to get a promotion at your current job without a college degree.

4. How many people have substance abuse problems? Alcohol and drug dependency is a big problem for a lot of people. It’s hard to get or keep a job because they keep relapsing and if they have a conviction for a drug related charge see paragraph 1.

5. How many people have mental issues (depression, compulsive disorders etc.). This one hits more people than you think because a lot of people are walking around who have either been misdiagnosed or have never been treated.

6. Bad credit. Unfortunately the credit rating agencies have found a way to ruin our lives beyond just trying to get a loan. Some employers will deny you the job because of bad credit.

7. Suspended driving licenses. If you can’t get to work you can’t get the job.

8. Dishonorable discharges from the military. This one hurts a lot of people and will follow them for life.

9. No skills or experience at doing any specific task. There is a chronic shortage of skilled workers. You’ve got to bring something to the table.

10. If you’ve ever sued an ex-employer. A lot of employers will check the public record and if you’ve ever sued a former employer, you can forget getting hired.

11. If you change jobs too often. This is a sign that you’re unstable and unreliable. They also may suspect a substance abuse problem.

12. Too much time has passed since you had a job or you have a big gap in employment. This is a red flag for someone that may have been in prison.

Those issues and others have a huge impact on employment and none of them have anything to do with a good or bad economy. If we set all those folks aside and factored in the 3.5 million jobs that are not being filled, I wonder what the unemployment rate would be?

First of all, everybody wants health insurance. So the silly argument that the mandate is forcing people to buy something they don’t want is completely false.  There isn’t one person in the U.S. that doesn’t want health insurance. Not everybody can afford it, but everybody wants it. Because who wants to get stuck with a huge medical bill and have a collection agency chasing you for the next 10 years. The republican opposition to the mandate is totally ridiculous and hypocritical. Because the mandate is the same plan that the republicans presented in opposition to Bill Clinton’s healthcare plan. Back then, the republicans said the mandate was necessary because everyone should take personal responsibility and buy health insurance. They said it wasn’t fair for people with insurance to have to carry the burden for those that didn’t have it. Well that was then and this is now. You see the pattern? You see what being a HOH does to you? You’re brain turns to oatmeal and you become so irrational that you start opposing your own ideas.

The ultimate example of stupidity was the lawsuit that the republican state attorney general’s took to the Supreme Court. Talk about HOH’s gone wild. That was so ridiculous. Can you imagine all the money they wasted on that boondoggle? And they have the nerve to talk about tort reform; when they took the most frivolous lawsuit you could imagine all the way to the Supreme Court. The citizens of those states should sue them for incompetence. Besides, who were they representing? I haven’t seen one person without health insurance complain about ObamaCare. The only people complaining are people that already have health insurance and they won’t be affected by the mandate at all. Once again, the lawsuit had nothing to do with health care or the mandate. It was simply blind opposition to an Obama policy.

We already have a socialized government-run health care system called Medicare and Medicaid. So I’m always perplexed at how the Tea Party and the rest of the HOH’s on the right always complain about how ObamaCare is pushing us towards government-run health care. Don’t these folks realize that we already have government-run health care?  It just doesn’t kick in until you turn 65 and then the government is on the hook to pay your medical bills. So isn’t it reasonable to want everyone to be as healthy as possible before they turn 65? What sense does it make to let people go their whole lives without ever getting a check-up or any kind of preventive care? And then they show up on Medicare’s doorstep a complete physical train wreck. That’s insane. That’s why Medicare is costing so much. If we did more preventive care and early detection people would be a lot healthier by the time they got on Medicare.  It makes more sense to try and detect diseases and ailments while they can still be treated. Preventive care and early detection is a lot less expensive than having to deal with the full blown issue. That’s the whole point of ObamaCare.

Look at it this way, if you were on the hook to pay your neighbor’s car repairs after he reached 100,000 miles. You would be concerned about how well he kept up the vehicle. Since it’s going to soon be your responsibility to pay for the repairs, you would want to make sure he did all the mandatory maintenance checks and kept the vehicle in good shape. If he couldn’t pay for the maintenance or the oil changes you would gladly pay for it. Because you know it would be much cheaper to pay for the periodic maintenance than to have to buy a new engine or a new transmission because of neglect. The concept behind ObamaCare is the same thing. They want to stop people from neglecting their health their whole lives and then showing up on Medicare’s doorstep a complete physical train wreck. How could anyone in the right mind be against that?

Mitt & Friends don’t seem to realize that most middle-class tax payers get a tax refund at the end of the year. Mitt assumes that everyone is sitting around like him and his buddies obsessing over the taxes they owe and trying to dig up every loophole they can find. But the situation is totally different for the middle-class and Romney just doesn’t get it.

If middle income folks wanted the equivalent of a tax cut they could simply go to their payroll department and increase the number of exemptions on their W-4. Most people don’t claim enough exemptions on their W-4, so they overpay their federal income taxes throughout the year. But they know exactly what they’re doing because they would rather get a big tax refund check instead of getting an extra $100 or so per pay period.

Most people don’t have the discipline to save that $100 so they would rather let the IRS hold it and then get it back at the end of the year when they file their taxes. This common practice drove Steve Forbes nuts back when he ran for President in 1996 and 2000. Forbes kept trying to advise people to increase the number of exemptions on their W-4 and use the extra money to invest in a mutual fund instead of giving the IRS an interest free loan. But he couldn’t get anyone to listen and no one is listening now. People look forward to getting their tax refund because it’s the only way they can save any money. They certainly don’t want Romney screwing around with it by changing the system.