The Growing Revolt Against Grover Norquist

The Growing Revolt Against Grover Norquist
http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/12/01/the_growing_revolt_against_grover_norquist

Grover Norquist Collateral Casualty of 2012?

Grover Norquist Collateral Casualty of 2012?; http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/11/12/grover_norquist_collateral_casualty_of_2012

Conservatives at a Dead End?

Conservatives at a Dead End?

http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/11/06/conservatives_at_a_dead_end

Can Mitt Romney Fix the Economy?

Can Mitt Romney Fix the Economy?

http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/11/05/can_mitt_romney_fix_the_economy

Mitt Romney and Autumn's Black Swan

Mitt Romney and Autumn's Black Swan; http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/11/02/mitt_romney_and_autumns_black_swan

C'mon Mitt, Privatizing Disaster Relief Would be a Disaster

C'mon Mitt, Privatizing Disaster Relief Would be a Disaster

:http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/10/31/cmon_mitt_privatizing_disaster_relief_would_be_a_disaster

Romney & Co., Beyond the Pale in Politicizing Benghazi

Romney & Co., Beyond the Pale in Politicizing Benghazi
http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/10/16/romney_co_beyond_the_pale_in_politicizing_benghazi

October 16th Talking Points For President Obama

October 16th Talking Points For President Obama; http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/10/12/october_16th_talking_points_for_president_obama

Romney: Conservative Trojan Horse or Political Chameleon?

Romney: Conservative Trojan Horse or Political Chameleon?


http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/10/10/romney_conservative_trojan_horse_or_political_chameleon

Mitt Romney's Lehman Moment?

Mitt Romney's Lehman Moment?; http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/09/14/mitt_romneys_lehman_moment

The G.O.P. and a Platform Built for the Past‏

The G.O.P. and a Platform Built for the Past‏

http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/09/12/the_gop_and_a_platform_built_for_the_past

Paul Ryan Whistling Past Reality

I just finished watching Paul Ryan's convention speech and I was dumbstruck by this supposed policy wonk's complete and obvious ability to craft a speech that was so at variance to the facts and then expect the voters to take him seriously. Let's take a look at some of what Ryan claimed.

Ryan talks about how Barack Obama has been in office for four years and even though he inherited a jobs crisis and a housing crisis he's been unable to correct these problems. Ryan accuses President Obama of failing to focus on job creation in particular yet he never stopped to acknowledge the fact that at the depths of the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression the Republican leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, said that the single most important goal of the G.O.P. was "to make Barack Obama a one term president." Looking back at the past three years I don't recall any great effort on the part of the Republican Party to create jobs other than to continue to advocate for more tax cuts for the rich, the supposed "job creators", who being the beneficiaries of the most liberal tax treatment since Ronald Reagan, don't seem to have created all that many jobs anyway. And who were McConnell's allies in this endeavor, the House Republicans, Paul Ryan, foremost among them. Thus at a time when the vast majority of Americans were suffering through the Great Recession the leaders of this country's conservative movement put partisan politics above the common good and now we're being asked to return these same people to power. What, pray tell, would lead anyone to believe that these same leaders, who put the American people on hold while they pursued partisan politics, will now address the needs of the rank and file American via a renewed attempt at trickle down economics?

With regard to fiscal matters, Ryan lectured the audience on the great damage done to the country by the Obama Administration saying that the president had run up an additional $5 Trillion dollars in debt since taking office. Odd but Ryan failed to address the fact that it was his party under George W. Bush that took us from surplus to deficit by starting two unfunded wars, cutting taxes for those who didn't need one and the increased costs of Medicare resulting from a new prescription drug plan that was never adequately paid for. The great irony of Ryan's whole diatribe is that he himself never stood against any of the aforementioned when they were up for a vote during the Bush administration. He railed against the auto bailout yet he voted for it. He spoke of a General Motors factory in Janesville that closed after candidate Obama promised that the plant would remain open and did so by ignoring the fact that that plant closed in December of 2008, before Obama even took office. He derided Obama for his efforts to fight the Great Recession yet Ryan himself voted in favor of the Wall Street TARP bailout and gladly accepted stimulus funds for his home district. He accuses Obama of walking away from the Simpson-Bowles debt reduction commission yet he himself voted against it. Oh and just one more thing, he was for earmarks before it became fashionable to be against them as his track record of procuring federal monies for his home district shows.

Ryan raised the old "Socialist" boogeyman when he spoke about "central planning" but then he went on to say that he and Romney would put the government "back on the side of those who create jobs." Pardon me but the Republicans have been carrying on for the past four years that the government should get out of the way of the "job creators" and not "pick winners and losers." And as was to be expected, Ryan again raised the misconception that Barack Obama doesn't believe that people build their own businesses. Of course Obama never said anything to that effect, what he did say was that private businesses benefit from public spending on infrastructure and education and to that there is no argument as the history of this country shows. Since the birth of the American Republic public spending on infrastructure improvement has gone hand in hand with economic progress. Funny that a guy who's supposed to be so well grounded in economic theory and history would miss an obvious fact like that one. Ryan reiterated the fable that Obama believes that we can grow the economy via entitlements, again a claim that can't be substantiated in reality.

In speaking of his running mate's record of public service Ryan alludes to Mitt Romney's record as Governor of Massachusetts while ignoring the fact that the state ranked 47th in job creation, that Romney governed as a moderate, that he crafted a healthcare plan that is the template of Obamacare, individual mandate and all, and, he ignored Romney's flip flop on abortion. Ryan praises Romney's turnaround of the 2002 Olympics while ignoring the fact that Romney received between $400 to $600 million dollars directly from the federal government and approximately $1.1 billion dollars of indirect funding for transportation infrastructure improvements.

Paul Ryan would end his speech with an appeal to the American people to put partisanship aside and: "Let's come together for the sake of our country." Is he really serious in thinking that after his own party said that its goal was "to make Barack Obama a one term president" that his opponents will now, as if by magic, put the vitriol and the divisiveness of the past four years behind them and follow him, a guy who on the occasion of the most important speech in his political life would produce a soliloquy that only a politically ignorant listener could love.

Steven J. Gulitti

8/30/12

Who's Beholden to Foreign Ideas?

Who's Beholden to Foreign Ideas?; http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/08/21/whos_beholden_to_foreign_ideas

Romney Rolled by the Far Right?

Romney Rolled by the Far Right?; http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/08/13/romney_rolled_by_the_far_right

Romney Worrying About Millions but not Billions

Mitt Romney's supposed essential selling point to the American electorate is that his experience in the private sector uniquely qualify him to replace Barack Obama in the White House next January. Romney and his supporters have repeatedly said that Romney's business acumen stand in stark contrast to Obama's lack of experience in anything outside of community organizing or academia. In response to Obama's attack on Romney's time at Bain Capital, the Romney's campaign has zeroed in on the money lost on the green energy firm called Solyndra and other federal investments: "Republicans’ use of Solyndra to counter Democratic claims that Bain Capital was a predatory shop that killed jobs dates back months. But the Bain-Solyndra tussle burst into wide view on Tuesday. Romney’s campaign released a Web video that went after Solyndra and financial woes of other federally backed companies."

No one would argue that losing $500 plus million at Solyndra is mere chump change or something to be casually dismissed. However, as is often the case, government investment in new technologies is fraught with risk from start and that is to some degree unavoidable. Others would make the argument that the government shouldn't be involved in investing in industry and commerce or those activities related thereto, but those people are fundamentally making an argument that is ahistorical and contrary to the economic history of the American Republic.

But when it comes to Romney's business sense, I for one, find it interesting that he seems, conveniently, to have overlooked or is unaware of the fact that $60 Billion in American taxpayer dollars has gone missing as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. To wit:"As much as $60 billion in U.S. funds has been lost to waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade through lax oversight of contractors, poor planning and payoffs to warlords and insurgents, an independent panel investigating U.S. wartime spending estimates. In its final report to Congress, the Commission on Wartime Contracting said the figure could grow as U.S. support for reconstruction projects and programs wanes, leaving both countries to bear the long-term costs of sustaining the schools, medical clinics, barracks, roads and power plants already built with American tax dollars. Much of the waste and fraud could have been avoided with better planning and more aggressive oversight, the commission said. To avoid repeating the mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan, government agencies should overhaul the way they award and manage contracts in war zones, the commission recommended."

Okay so the aforementioned begs the question: "If Romney is such a sharp business mind how is it he has focused so precisely on the Solyndra loss while at the same time failing to address or even acknowledge the loss of a far greater sum of taxpayer money that is estimated to be in the billions? I'm a lowly blogger yet I'm aware of this missing sixty billion some odd dollars so how can a guy who's running for president on the basis of his business experience, fiscal prowess and situational awareness of economic issues failed to have accounted for this much lost taxpayer money? In reviewing the public ledger how could a seasoned business professional, who would have had to take at least a few courses in accounting, fail to account for a mere $60 billion dollars in missing funds? I suspect that politics has something to do with it as the bulk of the missing war funds most likely disappeared under the Republican administration of George Bush, someone who today's G.O.P. has conveniently sought to air brush off of the political stage. But if Romney is to be the guy who is supposed to bring us all together after the allegedly divisive age of Obama wouldn't he too want to address these missing billions along with the millions that the Obama administration is charged with squandering? After all wouldn't that be the hallmark of a competent business professional turned public servant? Like Mitt Romney's now famously forgetting his stint as a school yard bully it may very well be that he has he suffered another lapse of memory in recalling this story of missing / purloined war funding that broke a mere nine ten months ago.

As a voter who is being asked to assess the qualifications of two men vying for the American presidency and who is being proffered a sales pitch that Mitt Romney's time in private business is supposed to make him stand up head and shoulders above Barack Obama, I remain thus far unimpressed. Needless to say when it comes to Romney's qualification to be president I am more than a little skeptical. To date, evaluating Romney's campaign message as evidenced by what he chooses to focus on in addressing our economic problems amounts to old conservative wine in new bottles that may not address the root causes of the current economic crisis. His unwillingness to grant interviews as to his time and track record at Bain, his unwillingness to appear on political talk shows other than Fox News, his running to resurrect Solyndra while ignoring misused war funding and his recent failure to distance himself from Donald Trump and the long discredited issue of Obama's birth certificate, all to my mind, reveal a man who is far from being forthcoming about himself. Are we dealing with someone who may not believe all that he's telling the rest of us and who is just hoping that we'll pick him as a bland alternative to the sitting president in much the same way that he offered himself as a bland alternative to his more radical opponents in the Republican primaries?



Steven J. Gulitti

6/2/12



Sources:

Bain, Solyndra now center stage in Romney, Obama economic fight; http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/230031-obama-campaign-white-house-counterpunch-on-solyndra-bain-comparison

Military Spending Waste: Up To $60 Billion In Iraq, Afghanistan War Funds Lost To Poor Planning, Oversight, Fraud; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/30/military-spending-waste_n_942723.html

US Wasting Billions While Tripling No-Bid Contracts After Decade of Afghan, Iraq Wars; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l35Dscn5OEg

Mitt Romney's Disturbing Selective Amnesia

Mitt Romney's Disturbing Selective Amnesia; http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/05/11/mitt_romneys_disturbing_selective_amnesia

The Worst Jobs Record Of Any Governor In America‏

The Worst Jobs Record Of Any Governor In America‏; http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/05/09/the_worst_jobs_record_of_any_governor_in_america_4

Desperately Denying Reality

Desperately Denying Reality  ;http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/05/01/desperately_denying_reality_1

True Republican Mavericks

True Republican Mavericks; http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/04/26/true_republican_mavericks

Mr. Fiscal Responsibility

Mr. Fiscal Responsibility; http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/04/22/mr_fiscal_responsibility

Tea Party Turncoats

Tea Party Turncoats:

http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/04/01/tea_party_turncoats_2

Have Libertarians Forgotten the Republican Primaries?

Have Libertarians Forgotten the Republican Primaries?http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/03/23/have_libertarians_forgotten_the_republican_primaries

An Ominous Comment For Conservatives?

An Ominous Comment For Conservatives?; http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/03/21/an_ominous_comment_for_conservatives

A Continuing Problem With Hate Groups‏

A Continuing Problem With Hate Groups‏; http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/03/18/a_continuing_problem_with_hate_groups

Senator McCain Condems Citizens United

Senator McCain Condems Citizens United ; http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/03/18/senator_mccain_condems_citizens_united

Veteran's Group Wants Rush Banned

Veteran's Group Wants Rush Banned;
http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/03/06/veterans_group_wants_rush_banned

Did the Republicans Already Lose Michigan and Ohio?

Did the Republicans Already Lose Michigan and Ohio?;
http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/03/06/did_the_republicans_already_lose_michigan_and_ohio_1

The Keystone Pipeline Redux

The Keystone Pipeline Redux; http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/03/01/the_keystone_pipeline_redux

Bittersweet Taste of Exploitation: The Aftermath

Bittersweet Taste of Exploitation: The Aftermath;
http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/02/26/bittersweet_taste_of_exploitation_the_aftermath

The Plutocrats Versus the People

The Plutocrats Versus the People
http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/02/11/the_plutocrats_versus_the_people

Census Findings: Bad News For Those Rooting Against America

Census Findings: Bad News For Those Rooting Against America
http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/02/04/census_findings_bad_news_for_those_rooting_against_america

Does the G.O.P. Need to Doctor Up Mitt Romney?

http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/02/04/does_the_gop_need_to_doctor_up_mitt_romney

Will Republicans End Higher Deficits, Not Likely‏

http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/02/04/will_republicans_end_higher_deficits_not_likely_1

The Alinsky Obsession

http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/01/28/the_alinsky_obsession

Keystone, China and Access to Canadian Oil

http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/01/26/keystone_china_and_access_to_canadian_oil

Why Can't Conservatives Be Honest About Keystone?

http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/01/24/why_cant_conservatives_be_honest_about_keystone

The Tea Party’s Empty Dance Card

http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/01/20/the_tea_partys_empty_dance_card_1

The Unintended Consequences of Citizens United?

http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/01/17/the_unintended_consequences_of_citizens_united_1

For the Radical Right, a Defeat in New Hampshire

For the Radical Right, a Defeat in New Hampshire
http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti/2012/01/10/for_the_radical_right_a_defeat_in_new_hampshire

The Bachmann Flameout Finale

MN Progressive Project:: The Bachmann Flameout Finale

MN Progressive Project:: Will Iowa's Conservatives Outsmart Themselves?

MN Progressive Project:: Will Iowa's Conservatives Outsmart Themselves?