Mitt Romney's Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Day in London

 Yo, Mitt-- how do you screw up a trip to LONDON? Jon Stewart wants to know and so does all of America.   I mean, familiar culture, no foreign language, special relationship and all that... special buddy bonding during WWII included.  How did you go up against all that to insult and alienate the Brits on a trip designed to show off your foreign affairs expertise to potential voters in America?

Way to go, buddy.  This Obama mama  is enjoying the gift.  Take a look at what Jon Stewart had to say on The Daily Show-- hilarious.

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cartoon source:ghnewsroom.com

The " Bain" of Romney's Existance

 I'm getting a little tired of the bruhaha about Bain and I bet you are too.  Does it really matter how long Romney worked there and when he left?  The Romney folks say that Romney " retroactively retired from Bain in 1999.  The Obama campaign says:

"Mitt Romney is trying to insist that he is not responsible for his buyout firm after 1999, even though he remained the CEO, Chairman, and sole sharholder through 2001. Rushing to his aid, the Romney campaign said that Romney was not responsible because he “retroactively retired.”

 And what about those millions in personal money transferred offshore to the Caymen Islands, or that Swiss bank account?  What's up with that, Mitt? 

I don't know about you-- but I think truth does matter and I think Romney ought to release all the documentation necessary to clear up this matter.  There may not be anything illegal about a rich man  transferring his fortune offshore to avoid personal income taxes.  And there may not be anything illegal about  remaining CEO, chairman and chief shareholder of a  corporate entity charged with destroying American jobs-- but what about morality?  That is the real question.

Mitt can clear this up by revealing his tax returns and financial records regarding Bain.  I wonder why he won't do it?  Don't you?

This Is The Face of Obamacare

26 year old Erica would not be here today were it not for one part of President Obama's Affordable Care Act that has already gone into effect-- that is the part about insurance companies not being able to deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions.  

You never think, when you are 26 years old and healthy, that you are going to get a brain tumor, but that is what happened to Erika.  Watch the video.  It will help you understand that the un-insured are not faceless, syncophants looking to leech off of those who have insurance.  They are ordinary people, just like YOU. And if they could be denied medical care in our system because of lack of money, so could you.

Obamacare is better than a system that lets insurance companies make life and death decisions for people on the basis of what is best for corporations......and permits people to go without medical care so shareholders will get dividends.  Something is very wrong when an insured 94 year old can get a pacemaker and chemotherapy for terminal cancer, while an uninsured 26 year old cannot get  brain surgery for a curable brain tumer...... not in MY America.

Four more years for President Obama.  Please.... it's a matter of life and death.

Thanks to BarackObama.com on YouTube for the video.

Wall Street or Washington, Which is Worse?

One Ed Stein Cartoon is worth thousands of words, so I am not even going to try and comment on this new take on an old chestnut. I'll just say that  government is not a dirty word and markets are not perfect. I may not trust government totally, but I REALLY don't trust Wall Street and the high flying banksters who brought us world financial disaster in 2007

 Like Ed, I think that a Republican party that has been trying to undermine government for the past three years has made a rather odd choice in Mitt Romney, owner of Swiss bank accounts and former Massachusetts Governor.  But then, these are the folks who wanted Sarah Palin for veep last time around. There is just no accounting or taste:-)

I agree that we need help, but  I'm thinking Obama is a better bet than Wall Street. Four more years for me.

Vanity Fair Gets the Goods on Mitt Romney and His Offshore Money

The  Vanity Fair Article by Nicolas Shaxson that hit the internet the other day dropped a real bomb into the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney.  It kind of torpedos any thoughts Mitt had of continuing to portray himself as Mr. Middle America.

Not that there is much of a financial breadcrumb trail when it comes to Mitt's money.  He's pretty secretive about that sort of thing.  Here are a few highlights from the Vanity Fair article to whet your appetite.

• There is a Bermuda-based entity called Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors Ltd., which has been described in securities filings as “a Bermuda corporation wholly owned by W. Mitt Romney."The director and president of this entity is R. Bradford Malt, the trustee of the blind trust and Romney’s personal lawyer.

•  Though he left Bain Capital in 1999, Romney has continued to receive large payments from it—in early June he revealed more than $2 million in new Bain income. The firm today has at least 138 funds organized in the Cayman Islands, and Romney himself has personal interests in at least 12, worth as much as $30 million

• In 2010 and 2011, Mitt and Ann paid $6.2 million in federal tax on $42.5 million in income, for an average tax rate just shy of 15 percent, substantially less than what most middle-income Americans pay. Romney manages this low rate because he takes his payments from Bain Capital as investment income, which is taxed at a maximum 15 percent, instead of the 35 percent he would pay on “ordinary” income, such as salaries and wages. 

Oh, did I mention that Mitt has a  $3 million dollar Swiss bank account ?  It's a little tacky to be looking for tax loopholes when you are running for President and trying to identify with ordinary Americans.  Don't you agree?

Shaxson has done a great job of investigative reporting.   It just gets juicier and juicier.  You really ought to go on over to the Vanity Fair Website and read the whole thing for yourself.


H/T selfdeprecate.com for the graphic

Happy Birthday America from the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the United States gave America a wonderful birthday present just in time for our annual July 4th celebration.  As you take off for the beach or chomp down on a hamburger or  watch the fireworks this year, think about what  a gift the Supreme Court gave us by upholding the Affordable Care Act.

The bankruptcy figures alone, quoted by Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, at the Health Care Summit  in 2010 should give you enough to cheer about.  In addition, think of the infants who won't die or be left with debilitating handicaps because their mothers can now afford pre-natal care.  Think of the people who will not longer have to use hospital Emergency Rooms for Primary Care and think of the people who won't die because they can't afford to see a doctor. On top of that, think of all the money we taxpayers will save in the long run.

  For more info and to sign a petition thanking President Obama for passing the Affordable Care Act, go on over to Moveon.org

Happy Birthday America and thank you SCOTUS  for a birthday gift of life and health for millions of Americans.

Fact Checking Mitt Romney on Obamacare

cartoon source About.com

MItt Romney is not a happy camper in the wake of the Supreme Court Decision on Obamacare.  On the eve of America's Independence day celebrations,  Mitt and the GOP are telling some real whoppers in order to scare the pants off the American public.   It's all fabricated doom and gloom about how the founding fathers are spinning in their graves( they're not) and  Americans will lose their freedoms (they won't)  and creeping socialism will ruin the country (for the last time, Obama is NOT a socialist).

These guys keep trying the same lies over and over again.  It all reminds me of Sarah Palin and her " Death Panels"  back in 2009 during the original  debates. Makes me wish they would come up with a new approach.

 According to Politifact.com's Truth o'Meter, here's  the whopper Mitt was telling on the trail  over the week-end.  It got lots of attention and was totally debunked, but I am sure the faithful base still believes it anyway.

.  Right after the Supreme Court decision came down, Mitt said:

"Obamacare raises taxes on the American people by approximately $500 billion. Obamacare cuts Medicare -- cuts Medicare by approximately $500 billion," Romney said. "And even with those cuts and tax increases, Obamacare adds trillions to our deficits and to our national debt, and pushes those obligations on to coming generations."

The fact is that, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, Obamacare will  actually lower the deficit by about $124 billion over 10 years.  Read the entire article here.

As for cutting Medicare-- according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, benefits over the next decade will not be cut for recipients nor will spending. what will happen is that growth will be slowed.ABC News did a very complete rundown on this. Check it out

Playing games with numbers is one thing-- but outright lies are something else.  Mitt must be getting desperate.  I think I see his nose growing longer, don't you?