Romney Claims Government Kills Jobs.

PHOTO CREDIT: "Money" by Salvatore Vuono for Free Digital Photos.net

So, Mitt Romney pulled out a narrow victory last night in Michigan. He should have won by a larger margin considering it was his home state and long seen by the Romney campaign as a "safe state" for them. He's been running for president for the last 5-6 years and in 2008 Romney won his home state Michigan by 10 points!! However, Santorum ended up nearly beating Romney on his home turf. As it turned out, Romney won percentage wise but only by 3 points this time. And Santorum split the delegates 15 to 15. So, at best, the Michigan primary was a wash for Romney. And, this year, he outspent Santorum by a lot and still barely won in Michigan. Then it's onto Ohio where Santorum is ahead by a lot. All I have to say to Ohioans is that if you're tired of the children squabbling in the Republican party then vote for a level-headed leader, President Obama.

Last night, Mitt Romney claimed he knows how government can create jobs. Well, then why did he oppose the bridge loans that President Obama rolled-out to save the auto industry in Michigan, Ohio and elsewhere in the Midwest? He said, "Let Detroit go bankrupt." He should know all about bankruptcy having worked at the predatory, leveraged buy-out company, Bain Capital. "The firm had made a lot of money while closing factories, eliminating jobs, using tax-sheltered offshore accounts, and, in some cases, driving the companies it had bought into bankruptcy."

In fact, nearly a full quarter of those companies went bankrupt. But Bain Capital made out like bandits. "Of the 10 businesses on which Bain investors scored their biggest gains, four later landed in bankruptcy court." He doesn't have a record of creating jobs and keeping companies from bankruptcy. He has a record of making money off of jobs losses, bankruptcies and weakened companies. He's right that he was successful, but the success wasn't for the workers at these companies that Bain bought-out. The success was for the big money investors at Bain.

Mitt Romney's NASCAR Fail.

(PHOTO CREDIT: "Mclaren F1" by  Pete Keen for Free Digital Photos.net)

Mitt Romney has no idea how you and I live yet he thinks he can lead a country he doesn't understand? So, why would a person like Romney want to lead people that he's known for firing, more than inspiring? His lack of passion underlines my thesis that Romney is running for president because he's a bored millionaire who thinks it would really round out his "bucket list." So, he attends a NASCAR event, but NASCAR fans are known for their proud, middle-class background, not elitism. Yet, Romney was too clueless to relate to their culture and way of life.

Instead of just saying he's a fan of NASCAR and shut his mouth, he said he's not an ardent fan but he knows a couple guys who own NASCAR teams!! And Republicans think this is the guy who's going to replace the inspirational Barack Obama during a period when a president needs to understand the plight of the people. President Obama is a leader who has deep roots in mainstream America. His mother raised him on food stamps and he relied upon loans to get through college. That's why his popularity is high even among those who criticize his record. He's been there on food stamps and thus better understands what it takes to lead his fellow Americans back to high ground. Mitt Romney's version of struggling is having to settle for last year's Cadillac instead of the pimped-out new model.

Romney "Cadillac" Comment Fail. Falls Behind Obama by Ten Points.

Poor Mitt Romney. It seems money can't buy him love. Or, at least votes. While in Michigan, he keeps trying to convince anyone who will listen that he's an regular guy who likes cars, but since he can't relate he ends up over-doing it. So, what is his version of relating to the average driver? Telling voters he owns a "couple of Cadillacs." The average American could never afford one luxury car, but owning two is laughable. Especially given how tight finances are for most people. It's beyond "tone-deaf" to the struggles of Americans. It's a pattern of dissonance that underlines a big problem for Romney. How can he be a good leader if he can't even understand the very people he wants to lead?

Say what you want about President Obama but that man understands struggle. He was the product of a single mother who barely had enough money to feed the family and yet she still was able to find the time to make sure young Barack studied hard and grew up with solid values. It was this compass that guided Obama to serve the community after graduating with a law degree from Harvard. President Obama could have cashed in after law school like Mitt Romney, but instead went to work organizing the poor communities to better themselves. It would light a fire for community service that would ultimately lead him to the White House. That is a noble reason for wanting to be president of the United States of America. However, with Mitt Romney, it seems from his outward awkwardness with the voters that he's running for president because he's bored with his money and the American presidency is on his "bucket list."

Speaking of Mitt Romney and President Obama, a new poll shows President Obama with a double-digit lead against Romney in a hypothetical match up in a general election campaign. "A Politico/George Washington University Battleground Poll released Monday indicates Obama topping former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney 53% to 43% in a hypothetical general election matchup, with the president leading former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania 53% to 42%."

Romney's Bankruptcy Plan for Auto Industry was Not an Option.

(PHOTO CREDIT: "American Style II" by Busja for Free Digital Photos.net)

Mitt Romney infamously stated that it would have been better for the Detroit auto companies to go through what he calls a "managed bankruptcy." But, as usual, Romney is being disingenuous because outside capital is necessary for a company to emerge from the bankruptcy restructuring process successfully. If you remember those bleak days, no one (bank or otherwise) was willing to invest or extend the capital needed to save the auto industry. 

In late 2008 and early 2009, when G.M. and Chrysler had exhausted their liquidity, every scrap of private capital had fled to the sidelines. I know this because the administration’s auto task force, for which I was the lead adviser, spoke diligently to all conceivable providers of funds, and not one had the slightest interest in financing those companies on any terms. If Mr. Romney disagrees, he should come forward with specific names of willing investors in place of empty rhetoric. I predict that he won’t be able to, because there aren’t any.

That is why President Obama's administration acted swiftly and extended the loans to save an industry that is the heart of the Midwestern economy. Those loans are currently being paid back to the taxpayer. For Obama to turn his back on the auto industry would have meant turning his back on the people who make up the backbone of the middle-class -- the "blue collar" workers. President Obama has shown time and time again that he stands firmly with the working person.

How can Romney claim to be a Michigander after being so willing to trash the domestic auto industry? Don't believe the propaganda coming out of this used car salesman. President Obama did the right thing by the auto workers of America and the proof is in the numbers showing the auto industry roaring back to life.

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Mitt Romney is an Extremist on Immigration and Opposes the Dream Act.

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THE FACTS: President Obama on Oil and Gas Prices.

The Republican presidential candidates are getting desperate. The longer their primary process continues the further they are exposed as radicals and inauthentic charlatans. Thus, rather than defend their weaknesses they are trying to deflect the public's attention away from them and onto the president over gas and oil.

They are trying to say that the recent rise in gas prices is President Obama's fault. Well, if that's true, then why has President Obama expanded more offshore drilling in America? And why have we drilled as much under Obama as Bush? Republican President George W. Bush? Don't believe me? Then maybe you'll believe an oil and gas insider:

According to the rolling oil rig count by industry services giant Baker Hughes, the oil and gas industry is drilling as much under the first two years of President Barack Obama as it did under the first two years of George W. Bush.

TPJ: And if that's not enough, the Obama policy on drilling has made the United States an industry leader. "Including those in natural gas fields, the United States now has more rigs at work than the entire rest of the world." That from a Houston Chronicle article by Simone Sebastian.

PHOTO CREDIT: "Oil Well Silhouetted Against Evening Sunset by Victor Habbick for Free Digital Photos.net

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Romney Bet Against Michigan and Michigan Won.

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That attitude seems widespread according to an article for "The Huffington Post" by Sharon Silke Carty:

Anyone still debating whether or not the bailout was worth it is "crazy," said Kenny Akinwale, owner of The Detroit Seafood Market, a restaurant downtown. Business at the restaurant was really slow until the end of 2010, when lunch time traffic started picking up. By the end of 2011, Akinwale had doubled sales compared with 2010."You can clearly see all of the company executives who come in here," he said, referring to executives from General Motors, Quicken Loans, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Detroit's energy provider DTE who are back spending money. "You can see a shift in the city."

TPJ: In addition, according to a MSN article by Jeff Reeves, GM has just posted it's largest profit EVER!! I wish all those who said that the government loans to the auto industry is "socialism" would apologize to the hard working, blue collar employees of GM and Chrysler. Leading that apology tour should be Willard Mitt Romney. Romney claims to be from Michigan, but what true Michigander would slam the door on the auto workers of the mid-west? No, Romney is no Michigander, he's an opportunist who will smile one minute and throw you under the bus the next minute, if it suits his callous greed. Michigan, we all know that you have too much common sense to vote for a fraud like Romney.

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Why Does Mitt Romney Hate Michigan so Much?

Mitt Romney has taken Michigan for granted way too long. He thinks he can swoop into the state with his buckets of money, remind Michiganders that his father is George Romney and expect people to line-up for him at the voting booth.

But, what has Mitt Romney ever done for Michigan? Besides writing off the very auto industry that his father built up!! His exact words were, "Let Detroit go bankrupt." And we all know by now how much Romney loves firing workers!!

When Wall Street collapsed, President George W. Bush had no problems saving Wall Street for his white collar, bank tycoon buddies. However, it took a true man of the people, President Obama, to see that the blue collar workers deserved help, too. Thus, Obama didn't listen to the crony capitalists shouting "wasteful spending" when he bailed out the auto industry, and he certainly didn't listen to "Let Detroit go bankrupt" Romney!!

In a recent opinion piece in the Detroit News, Mitt Romney doubled-down on trashing the auto industry by essentially calling the workers themselves, greedy. "Chrysler's "secured creditors," who in the normal course of affairs should have been first in line for compensation, were given short shrift, while at the same time, the UAWs' union-boss-controlled trust fund received a 55 percent stake in the firm."

In other words, for Romney, the big bankers should win and the workers lose. This from Justin Hyde with "Yahoo! Autos":

Chrysler's secured creditors were a group of Wall Street banks — including J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs — and investment firms, some of whom had bought the company's secured bonds in the months ahead of bankruptcy hoping to cash in. They could have rejected the government's offer of 28 cents on the dollar in cash for their $6.7 billion in bonds and paid to liquidate Chrysler themselves, but decided that not only would they come out even further behind, they'd also be blamed for destroying an American automaker. (GM's secured creditors − also mostly Wall Street banks — were paid in full, and endorsed the Obama bankruptcy plan.)

As for the "union-boss-controlled trust fund," that's what's known as a VEBA trust that now pays the health care of 426,409 retirees from GM, Ford and Chrysler — and in return, owns all future health-care obligations from the companies for those retirees. With this, Romney appears to argue that before hundreds of thousands of UAW retirees got health care, Wall Street should have been made whole.

So, you have to ask yourself, "Would Mitt Romney be the kind of president who would be favorable toward middle-class workers?" Ask the auto industry workers who nearly lost their jobs because of Romney. Ask those who lost their job because of Romney's Bain Capital -- a company that would buy up distressed companies and make them profitable again by slashing employees and the benefits of the employees left. Michigan won't fall for your sweet talk any longer, Mitt. They are smarter than you and are going to need something more than a hand-shake, and an t.v. spot saying, "Hi!! I'm George Romney's son" to get their vote.

Mitt Romney isn't even leading in Michigan!! Rick Santorum has a healthy lead on Mitt Romney. One poll has him up 39% to Romney's 24%. If the Massachusetts governor can't win Michigan, how can he expect to win the Mid-West over President Obama?

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Job Growth Continues for 23rd Straight Month. Unemployment Rate Lowest in 3 Years.

PHOTO CREDIT: Business Graph by Apple's Eyes Studio for Free Digital Photos

Reporting from Washington— 

The U.S. job market strengthened at the start of the year as employers added an unexpectedly large number of new jobs and the unemployment rate in January dropped for the fifth straight month to 8.3%--the lowest in nearly three years. -By Don Lee for The L.A. Times.

That's 23 straight months of job creation in America. A large part of which has been added recently in manufacturing. Such as the auto industry saved by President Obama. Manufacturing has been an area hit hardest by the Great Recession. The job increase in this last month doubled economist's expectations!! We still have to get the unemployment rate down further but considering it use to be 10%, we're heading in the right direction. The trend has been consistently toward getting out of this economic hole. Good on ya, President Obama!!

If Obama's polices have made things worse, as Mitt Romney loves to say, then why have we had consistent positive job growth for over a year? The numbers don't lie. President Obama keeps working at job creation and proposing plan after plan to increase jobs and it's paying off. All you hear from the Republicans though is how bad things will be. They are mostly negative and I hear little in terms of economic proposals that are different from the already failed economic policies of the Bush years.

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Romney "Honored" by Donald Trump's Endorsement.

By now, most of you know that Mitt Romney bowed before Donald Trump yesterday to accept his endorsement. Mr. Romney said he was "honored" to receive Trump's "seal of approval." Honored, huh? Donald Trump is the same man who offensively suggested that President Obama, isn't a citizen of these United States, which insinuates that he's a fraud!! 

He smeared President Obama's integrity by wildly suggesting he forged his birth certificate to qualify to be highest leader of America. That's accusing a democratically elected president of being a criminal, and Mitt Romney feels honored to have the support of such a sleazy guy as Donald Trump???

It underlines the narrative that Romney will say anything and befriend anyone to become president. It's callous, calculating, shallow politics and it assumes the American people are idiots, but we see through your cheesy smiles, Mitt. We know who you really are, a charlatan of the first order. You make P.T. Barnum look like a saint. America still has a heart, and we aren't about to crown a robber baron like you as our leader.

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"Birther" Donald Trump Endorses Mitt Romney.

There are reports this morning that Donald Trump will endorse fellow multi-millionaire, Mitt Romney, which is about as relevant to struggling Americans as a Kim Kardashian wedding. I think it's safe to say that Romney had the obscenely rich vote locked down, so I see nothing but harm for Mitt coming from this endorsement. Remember, Donald Trump's big issue was trying in vain to prove that President Obama isn't an American citizen and thus not qualified to be president.

Does Romney really think this endorsement is helpful to his campaign that has already suffered from an image problem? Does he really want to be seen with a paranoid conspiracy theorist like Trump? It doesn't look good for Romney to get an endorsement from someone who loves saying, "you're fired!!" Especially after Romney's gaffe stating he likes firing people. Romney looks like he's better qualified to be "the apprentice" working for Trump than being president of all the people (including the very poor he's not very concerned about).

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Romney Blows off Poor Voters.

PHOTO CREDIT: "Money"by Salvatore Vuono for Free Digital Photos.

By now you have probably heard Mitt Romney's comment that he's not very concerned with the very poor. If you haven't read about the original story, click here to read about it. Romney is doing "damage control" today saying he meant he isn't very concerned by the poor because they already qualify for programs that assist them. However, the reason such a comment is outrageous is because Romney proposes cuts to the very programs he says are available for the very poor!! 

His comment presents a wider problem for Mitt Romney. It builds upon the already well established narrative that Romney is an aloof and sometimes callous multi-millionaire. All those years buying distressed companies only to hand out mass firings to make those companies profitable again. He is one who doesn't understand the struggles and fears of the "lower classes." The narrative includes infamous classics such as: "I like firing people," "Corporations are people," "Let Detroit go bankrupt" and challenging Governor Rick Perry to a whopping "$10,000" bet. I'd venture to guess that most people would never be able to make such a substantial bet. These are all comments made at a time when money is scarce for a very large segment of American society.

They beg the question, "How can Mitt Romney lead the poor and weakened middle-class back to prosperity when he doesn't even understand them?" At the very least, his comments betray a dismissal of poor voters. Why would a poor person vote for a candidate like Romney who essentially dismisses their importance in a presidential election?!! I don't think he realizes just how many people have slipped from the middle class into the very poor during this Great Recession. If he did, he wouldn't speak so dismissively about them. By the way, even though they get help from social programs, many of them still work!! They are the "working poor." They have jobs but can't get good enough ones to give them insurance and adequate pay to feed their families.

A person can over-look one or two "out of touch with the masses" statements during a presidential race but when the list goes on and on it becomes clear that a pattern is being established. Add in a set of policies that favors the wealthy and the information that he only pays 15% in taxes and you have a candidate who looks less like a "leader of the people" and more like the millionaire guy from the board game, "Monopoly!!" I still think the best description of Mitt Romney is that he looks less like the guy who's going to hire you and more like the guy who last fired you!!

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Mitt Romney: "I'm Not Concerned About the Very Poor."

PHOTO CREDIT: Stewart Miles for Free Digital Photos.net

I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it," the Republican front-runner [Mitt Romney] said Wednesday on CNN, following his victory in the Florida primary.

He says we have a social safety net of programs for the poor, but his own plans call for deep cuts to those very programs!!(including social security). His version of "fixing it" sounds less like bolstering these programs and more like cutting them. Once again he's trying to have it both ways on an issue. This guy is such an "empty suit." Being an empty suit means being someone puffed up with his own importance but really having little effect on the lives of others. He or she is ineffectual, perhaps a phony, and is about as relevant or helpful as a suit hanging on a rack.

A lot of families on these programs today are those who were in the middle-class before the Great Recession hit just as President Obama took office. Romney says he wants to help the middle-class first, but there isn't much of a middle-class left!! A lot of them slipped into the category of "working poor." You see whole families showing up at food kitchens and food banks. Thus, part of helping the middle-class is helping the "working poor" get back to work, and thus back into the middle-class. There aren't many left in the middle right now, and that's something Romney doesn't seem to understand.

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