Tag: barack obama

Mitt Romney Only Wants to be President

Just today alone we all have come to understand that Mitt Romney will say anything or not say something as long as it will help him obtain the office of President of the United States.  It is the words of a flip-flopper who will do almost anything to gain the office.

In an interview he said he does not care what others say about Barack Obama as long as they support him for the office.  Thus Donald Trump’s birther nonsense is now back in the news.

Romney gave a speech in San Diego promising to maintain an American military “with no comparable power anywhere in the world.”  That just happens to be the situation now.  The U.S. defense budget exceeds the total of the military budgets of the next six nations in the world.

This election will be a test of American intelligence.  Will Americans understand the battle for the highest office will be a campaign of lies and deceit?  We have made terrible mistakes before.  I am not optimistic.

Political Party In Power Makes No Difference

It was the late 1960s.  I really didn’t start paying attention to politics until I joined the Beverly Hills Young Democrats.  I didn’t join because of a party loyalty.  I joined because it was a singles group with lots of attractive young women.  Despite my wish to stay non-partisan that club did impact my views on a host of subjects.

 In all the ensuing years from LBJ to Barack Obama the one thing that has been consistent is the promises by the candidates that things would be better for Americans if they won the office.  The reality is that nothing did get better.  The cost of living went sky-high from those early days, most women had to go back to work after having children to sustain their life style, and the rich became ever more wealthy.  Even worse, factory jobs were sent overseas making the fight for the remaining decent jobs even harder.

 So why should I care who is elected in November?  We have two wealthy people who will be protecting the system we have.  Ross Perot was correct when he predicted “the sucking sound” of lost jobs if NAFTA becomes law.  Today most of the products you buy were made elsewhere.  Today when you call for service from some of America’s biggest companies you find yourself speaking to someone in India, the Philippines, or elsewhere in the Far East.

I don’t hear either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama saying he has a plan to return those “ordinary jobs” to America.  No, they simply tell us how they will make things better using generalities about how bad the opponent is and how that opponent will only make things worse.

So whether it’s Barack Obama or Mitt Romney who wins, nothing will really change.

Barack Obama’s Failed Recovery

It seems the president’s likeability has remained high even though his success leading the country leaves a lot to be desired.  The number one issue facing him at his inauguration was the growing number of unemployed Americans.

It is accurate to say that the continuing increase in the number of unemployed has been stopped. The worst of the unemployment crises has passed.  However, the number of unemployed Americans has remained basically unchanged.  The apparent improved unemployment picture is the result of people giving up in searching for a job.  Those giving up aren’t counted.  It takes 150,000 new jobs a month to keep up with our growing population.  (The number of new jobs added in April was a horribly disappointing 115,000.)  Once you deduct that leveling number of 150,000 you see that real job growth has been small.

The one significant exception to this situation is the re-employment of people in the manufacture of automobiles.

Every country has something to sell to its own people and the rest of the world.  The United States has one major export, agricultural products.   Brazil has five. Oil, iron ore, soybeans, coffee, and steel. Brazil now holds 45% of the world’s steel production.

Meanwhile the U.S.A.has a $15 trillion economy but only has $1.5 trillion in exports.  Worse we import $2.4 trillion in goods.

Thanks to the ever growing number of free trade agreements most of the things we buy were manufactured in another country.  The auto industry and agricultural products are the only major industries that have not been entirely exported.  Here in Southern California Costco now has a variety of fruits and vegetables imported from Latin America.

Not only are there no plans to change this situation, but Obama has signed free trade agreements with Columbia and South Korea.

Retraining programs for the unemployed?  To do what?

You notice that Barack Obama never talks about the unemployed.  No wonder, his “hope and change” have brought hope there is enough food stamps to buy next week’s food and his change never happened at all unless adding to the federal debt is counted as change.

As bad a Mitt Romney may be is he as bad as four more years of Obama?  Isn’t it time for a change?  Democrats and independents hold your nose.

Politics Above Jobs

Today’s Associated Press headline reads “Obama rejects Canada-Texas oil pipeline -for now.” It’s all about politics not about what is the right thing to do.

Barack Obama has made the environmentalists happy but not the country.  Those environmentalists are viewed as an important support group for re-election.  So the gamble is we will all forget about this issue by next November.

However, if the number of unemployed Americans is still high in November the GOP won’t let us forget.  Those supporting the pipeline are furious and they should be.

 A $7 billion pipeline from Canada to our gulf coast will result in thousands of jobs.  That pipeline will help reduce our dependency on Arab oil.  Concerns about water pollution can be over come with some re-routing of the pipe.

This project was originally proposed when George W. Bush was president.  To contend now that the government has not had sufficient time to review possible side effects is ludicrous. Barack Obama is on the wrong side of an important issue.  He deserves to be attacked for this decision.