Americans, beware of Romney's deceitful ways!

[Doug S.]

I watched with interest the interview with Ann Romney, the wife of the supposed Republican candidate for our next election for POTUS.

The issue of release of their unreleased income tax returns came up, of course, and I could have not been more displeased with her response.

It seems she doesn't like being "attacked"...and says that since they are being attacked on the issue of income and the minimum required by law has been met and there will be no further disclosures.

Can you say "scared"? She looked terrified that the average American citizen would find out how wealthy the Romneys are...or, perhaps, how much money they have hidden in offshore accounts (purpose--to evade taxes?????).

At any rate, this whole issue stinks of deceit to me.

I, for one, an not ready to return the the ethically bankrupt ways of Richard Nixon, who felt strongly that the American public needed to be kept in the dark regarding the actions of the White House. If the Romneys will withold information they think might result in being "attacked" during the campaign, they will surely withold any similar information from the public in the future, and I don't mean just family financial information, I mean information that the public is entitled to know regarding the manner in which decisions are made and how actions are initiated by our government. That would IMHO be a huge step backwards.

These people obviously have something to hide....if it were B.O., I would say the same thing, so don't bother.

Are we ready as a country to return to the days of deals made in dark, smoke filled rooms in the capital's back halls?

I, for one, am not...and although I do admit that B.O. has not necessarily been as "transparent" as I thought he was proposing during his candidacy, I am CERTAIN that this candidate will be every bit as secretive, if not more so, as he is being in this matter should he be elected.

Keep in mind...."the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior".

Think about it.......:idea:

I just don't trust the guy...and his wife seems to believe she has enough power to direct his actions. I've had enough of untrustworthy politicians, don't want to see us further hindered by this one for 4 years.

A very uncheerful Doug.....

 

[Randy V]

And what / who are the alternatives?

Keep in mind...."the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior".

A very uncheerful Doug.....

i seem to recall BO telling the world that if he did not cut the debt in half within 3 years, it would be a single term presidency.

The debt was 10 trillion dollars then.
The debt is now homing in on 16 trillion dollars.

He should withdraw and allow the Dems to come to the table with a viable candidate...

 

[DaveM]

Doug, couldn't agree with you more. He pulled the same trick when he ran for MA gov 10 years ago. Seems he was questioned over MA residency requirement. His campaign manager said 'you'll just have to trust us on this'. Turned out he retroactively amended 2 years of income tax returns to change his primary residency to MA after being questioned. Who knows what he's hiding? Bottom line is do you think this guy gives a rat's *ss about middle class people?

 

[Pat]

Doug, this is nothing but a DNC generated distraction. Romney would be crazy to disclose his records as that would captivate the news cycle and distract from the real issues of the campaign. This is nothing more than a trolling expedition to dig dirt and further the class envy tactics of the Axlerod campaign for Obama and avoiding the needed focus on jobs and the economy.
If you aren't put off by Mr. Obama's land dealings with convicted felon "Tony" Rezko, the utter secrecy of Mr. Obama's academic background, his abandonment of so many campaign promises or the way he's handled the economy, you should vote for him and expect similar results through 2016.
If you are basing your decision on Romney's wife's reluctance to placate the likes of Harry Reed then Romney's is definitely not your guy. As for her being frightened by the media, remember just a few weeks ago she was being openly mocked by the media as "never having a real job” and for owning a horse for her multiple sclerosis therapy. So come on, this is as silly as the right wing media going after Michelle Obama for her comments saying she's for the first time proud to be American upon Mr. Obama's election.
The president happens to control the IRS and if Mr. Romney has improperly evaded taxes, I have some certainty that we would have heard about it long ago.

 

[Michael]

Saw this recently...

Apparently I should care more about what Romney does with his money than what Obama does with mine.

Voting for the American in November.
(I didn't say US citizen, I said American. There's a big difference)

 

[Doug S.]

And what / who are the alternatives?

i seem to recall BO telling the world that if he did not cut the debt in half within 3 years, it would be a single term presidency.

The debt was 10 trillion dollars then.
The debt is now homing in on 16 trillion dollars.

He should withdraw and allow the Dems to come to the table with a viable candidate...

I'll agree that B.O. was a bit naive regarding his power to direct the country's debt management.

However, on the other hand, I do NOT believe the McCain platform offered anything to make me believe they were going to do so, and further they specifically wanted to lengthen and intensify our country's expensive war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan....surely that would have further deepened our national debt, too.

Debt management isn't just an American issue, Randy, look at Europe with the Greek and Italian governments. Austerity measures resulted in rather violent insurrection from a fairly peacable population. This is a worldwide issue, and B.O. cannot hold the rest of the world to his plan.

I, for one, give him credit for the many campaign promises he did keep, some of which I have listed before on similar threads. For his failure to control the country's debt, I forgive him, just as I would forgive a Republican candidate, for IMHO neither party can control the issue without gutting the country's infrastructure, which IMHO is quite necessary for our future survival as a society.

Sad as it is, I don't believe the Dems have a better candidate...but, at least, we do have one who made "heroic" efforts to answer reasonable questions regarding his American citizenship issue while he was a candidate, didn't just stonewall the public with refusals to answer the question as are the Romneys.

Will Romney answer what I believe are reasonable questions regarding his income taxes (regardless if they go beyone the "minimum" required by the law)? I think not....wish I had more confidence in him and his power-broker wife, but as I said, and as DaveM has revealed re: Romney's past actions in MA's race for governor, the two of them have demonstrated a proclivity for deceit...which will continue if they are placed in a position where they have nobody to answer to except an American public who cannot do anything about it for 4 years.

We REALLY need a viable 3rd party....and I don't mean the TEA party, they have kidnapped the Republicans and are holding them hostage to their unreasonable demands...IMHO, again.

Doug

 

[DaveM]

Anyone here under 55? Good luck on buying senior health insurance with a voucher. Don't think insurance co. won't refuse to sell you a policy for pre existing conditions or charge you exorbitant premiums due to your health history? If you've ever had to buy your own insurance and try to move between states you know this problem. Why do you think Medicare was instituted in 1966? There are better ways to fix Medicare than throwing seniors back to the greed of private health insurance co.

 

[Bob Fechter]

Kind of ironic that this thread was started by the Joe Biden of this website! :~)

 

[Doug S.]

Thankfully I am in the age group that will not be affected...or, so says Romney's staff!

I continue to see statements on various advertisements that "Medicare is not accepted at this time". I assume that is b/c of the "negotiated" payment schedule for various treatments....tongue firmly stuck in cheek again when I say "negotiated".

The voucher plan might allow some to obtain coverage that would not be excluded from the list of accepted plans as are many medical practitioners treating Medicare...but that is the only benefit I see to the Romney plan.

Just a couple of months ago there was an article in the newspapers stating that just now future retirees will receive less from S/S than they contributed...always before recipients had good reason to expect to collect more than they had contributed.

...regardless of who we elect, big changes are in store for us Americans. I just want to be able to believe what my leadership says, and with the deceitful practices of the Romney campaign, I have little faith that we will get honest and/or full disclosure from him should he be elected....:sad:

Doug

 

[Bob Fechter]

doug, please tell me that you already knew the Boomers weren't going to get as much as they put in for SS. Please don't tell me that you thought it was an Al Gore "lock box." Or did Bush raid "Al Gore's Lock Box" and spend it on the war? Is that what you're thinking? Of course, Bush did it. How silly of me!

The "Greatest Generation" wrote themselves a sweetheart retirement deal, knowing they made enough babies to finance it. You know, the Baby Boomer generation.

Then they convinced us that there were too many people in the world and that we should only have one, maybe two children, anything more was socially repulsive.

Then, they provided us with the pill and abortion on demand.

Of course we're not going to get as much as we put in. There are far more Boomers than any other generation that ever existed, doug! Of course! Did you need to read an article on it to figure that out???????????

 

[Pat]

...regardless of who we elect, big changes are in store for us Americans. I just want to be able to believe what my leadership says, and with the deceitful practices of the Romney campaign, I have little faith that we will get honest and/or full disclosure from him should he be elected....:sad:

So you support with the guy with the campaign that says Romney caused some woman to die from cancer and hasn't paid any taxes in 13 years?? That's the same campaign that says that the top 20 percent of households [by income] and pay 94 percent of federal income taxes unfairly don't pay enough when 50% pay nothing? It's same campaign that runs the only ad in history featuring an innocent person being murdered (Paul Ryan pushing granny off a cliff). That's especially hypocritical since President Obama's campaign staff has boasted about his "achievement" of cutting Medicare spending by over $700 billion.
It’s the same group that leaks the most sensitive of secrets, selectively enforces laws and seeks to forge a winning electorate with special interest pandering and give always. He establishes a commission to resolve the deficit (Simpson-Bowles). They come up with some hard choices and they are ignored completely. The administration hasn’t gotten a budget through the senate it controls in over three years. In spite of recurring reports of massive fraud and waste, not a dime has been offered up in meaningful cuts or to address the deficit.
But to me the biggest failure of this administration is the divisiveness and viciousness it has perpetuated in Washington. I'd certainly like to see a viable third party candidate (Alan Mulally would be my choice) but it is so nasty, who would want to put themselves and their families through that?
I’m not at all crazy about Mitt Romney. But what we have now is taking us off a cliff.

 

[Jim Craik]

i seem to recall BO telling the world that if he did not cut the debt in half within 3 years, it would be a single term presidency.

Randy, when President Obama said that he naively believed that the members of the Congress would work together, to do what was best for the Country.

Instead we have consevatives perfectly willing to fuck the country for short term personal gain. They would do nothing to help the economy, because that might make Obama look good.

****************

I seem to recall that Rush Limbaugh said that if Obamacare passed that he would move to Costa Rica.

Now that is something we can all agree would make our Country a better place!!!

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

Maybe we should all move to Costa Rica... beautiful beaches, beautiful girls, no army, sunny weather...... wait a bit. You all stay here and I'LL move to Costa Rica......

 

[Doug S.]

So you support with the guy with the campaign that says Romney caused some woman to die from cancer and hasn't paid any taxes in 13 years?? That's the same campaign that says that the top 20 percent of households [by income] and pay 94 percent of federal income taxes unfairly don't pay enough when 50% pay nothing?

I do not support Harry Reid's gaffe, Veek, but also I do not let that one little mistake define his politics, any more than I allowed myself to define Romney's politics when he said "I don't care about poor people..." or "I like to fire people....", all things Romney, himself, said, as opposed to a person in his political party who is in a power position.

As for the taxation issue, I support a wholesale revision of the tax codes. I prefer a "Fair Tax"...one in which taxes are paid on a percentage of gross income, no deductions, not even one red cent. I would support a 10% tax rate for that, have heard 9% bandied about from time to time. That would tax the poor, the middle class, and the obscenely rich at the same rate...but, considering that the obscenely rich have enough $$ to hire lobbyists and buy legislators to write the tax codes in their own favor, I am not about to expect any sort of fairness like that out of our current politicians. We need a viable 3rd party....said it before, will say it again.

But to me the biggest failure of this administration is the divisiveness and viciousness it has perpetuated in Washington. I'd certainly like to see a viable third party candidate (Alan Mulally would be my choice) but it is so nasty, who would want to put themselves and their families through that?
I’m not at all crazy about Mitt Romney. But what we have now is taking us off a cliff.

Veek, in my view the Dems have been willing to set aside the partisan politics a few times and have voted with the Republicans to pass some legislation...I don't recall the specific issues, don't care to, I remember making a mental note of it when it happened.

I don't have any mental notes about it happening the other way around, though. Boehner is to blame for that, IMHO...sometimes I wonder if he is just a puppet and Tom Delay is pulling the strings from behind the stage curtains somewhere, it is that bad. The Republicans have almost universally voted as a bloc against all Democratic legislation...Boehner and his henchemen ensure that.

I understand that a lot of the "conservative" population believes that B.O. is running us off a cliff....my concern, and certainly that of most of the people to whom I speak about the matter, is that Romney would THROW everyone except the obscenely rich off that very cliff and then host a big suare' for those who remain...serving Beluga caviar and Dom Perignon at the expense of the few destitute he so graciously allowed to exist.

The middle class really needs a break, here, guys...which party do you think really has the middle class at heart?

If you're gonna answer "Romney", I'd have to wonder if you've been sitting around the circle, smokin' who-knows-what with LB...:idea:

Doug

 

[Mark]

Saw this recently...

Apparently I should care more about what Romney does with his money than what Obama does with mine.

Voting for the American in November.
(I didn't say US citizen, I said American. There's a big difference)

From the outside, there shouldn't be a distinction between the two. You are all ex-pats!

 

[Mark]

Neither you guys over there, or us here, should vote for any party or candidate, unless they adopt a policy to have government audited. And by standing for election, they must be open to having their own books audited too. otherwise, they should slip back into the mirky depths of where they came from and keep their personal transactions as secret as possible. BUT, they should not be allowed to have it both ways.

 

[Jim Craik]

Neither you guys over there, or us here, should vote for any party or candidate, unless they adopt a policy to have government audited. And by standing for election, they must be open to having their own books audited too. otherwise, they should slip back into the mirky depths of where they came from and keep their personal transactions as secret as possible. BUT, they should not be allowed to have it both ways.

Mark,

I agree with you 100%.

 

[zollis]

I feel so much tension in the air . This " United " may split up and become singular states. Or groups of about 5 .

Is this thought to far fetched??







Z.C.

 

[Jim Craik]

Zollis,

I would not worry too much about a breakup of the USA. As a history major, and a lifetime love of history, I know this is nothing new. It has gone on almost from the begining.

It goes in cycles. Right now, the split between the left and right seems very large, and in out lifetime it is. We look back longingly at the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s where for the most part both sides worked together for a better America, be did big things, we did great things.

Now the cycle is going through a not so great time, lots of mistrust, lots of hate and very very little working together.

But this is nothing new. I recently read David McCulloughs book "The Great Bridge" , about the building of the Brooklin Bridge. My God, the hate and vitriol between the two political parties at that time is hard to believe. It makes todays problems seem like nothing.

Like I said, our politics go through cycles and this is a low period. Is this the bottom of this current cycle, I hope so, but probably not.

But will the Good Old USA come apart? Not a chance!

 

[DaveM]

I feel so much tension in the air . This " United " may split up and become singular states. Or groups of about 5 .

Is this thought to far fetched??
Z.C.

Zollis you've got a point. Ted Nugent made the comment that the South should have won the Civil War. Sadly there are times I would agree with him. That would cut off at least half the Republican base and let the rest of us work together to solve problems, not go backward 100 years. Don't mean to insult Doug or all Southerners, but the other 3/4 of the country is getting really tired of 'guns and bibles'. Zollis, NZ and UK have far more functional governments mostly due to the limits on campaign spending you have. The U.S. has an arrogance that we can't learn from other countries.