Tag Archives: Romney

27 September 2012

The Debates: S/S & Medicare Off The Table?

By Rick Ladd
Social Security Cards

Truly a Lifesaver for My Family

I am 65 years old. An old fart. A geezer. An alta cocker. Two years ago I accepted an early severance package from the company I was working for, in part because of my eligibility to receive Social Security and Medicare. They played a big role in my decision to accept the package, which wasn’t mandatory. There were other reasons, but I did the math and decided not to pass it up.

I have worked since I was sixteen years old (I’m one of those whose first job was at a McDonald’s) and, save for a couple of years I spent screwing around, I’ve been putting money into both these retirement programs most of my life. How, and in what manner, they get screwed with by either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama is of paramount importance to me, not just because of how my family and I will be affected, but how it will affect those who come after me.

I just learned that the questions to be asked in the first debate have been announced and neither of these programs are currently planned to be discussed. WTF? Virtually everyone in the country will be affected by any changes to them. Whether it’s making what those of us currently receive more difficult to obtain or diminished in value or changing the entire structure for those who have yet to reach a certain age, it’s important to know what the candidates plan on doing.

My concern is with both candidates. We all know what Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to do. However, The Huffington Post three days ago ran an article entitled “Obama May Do Social Security Reform During Lame Duck Session, Senate Democrats Worry”

Well, you can make a difference by telling Jim Lehrer to include Medicare and Social Security in the debates. Thanks to AARP, all you have to do is Go Here and fill out the form. You’re a leftie. You know the drill. I did it. I also tweeted about it, posted about it on FB, and sent an email message to about 50 of my closest friends, a half dozen of whom have already done the same.

This is an exceptionally important issue for all of us, even those Tea Bagging dipshits who don’t know which side of their toast the butter’s on. Do you want your retirement to be left to the vagaries of the market, especially when you know it’s crooked as hell and likely will steal much of your savings from you? Maybe we can fix it in the next decade, but I sure as hell wouldn’t be holding my breath. Hell, before I was 30 (that’s more than three and a half decades ago) I thought there was going to be a revolution in this country. Actually, there kind of was, but it went in the opposite direction from where I thought it would.

Think about it; then do something about it. Send a message. We want Romney and Obama to talk about how they plan to deal with Medicare and Social Security. Act like your future depended on it. Until we achieve a more just economy (hint: Socialism), this is the best thing we’ve got. Here’s the link again. Take it from me. These two programs are extremely valuable and important.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Politics, Retirement

9 September 2012

Let Me Wipe This Egg Off My Face

By Rick Ladd
Egg on my Face

Taking my Punishment for Being Hasty

Two day ago I came across a graphic that was shared on Facebook and decided it was worthy of writing a blog post. Not so much because of the graphic, but because it gave me the opportunity to test out explaining an observation I have been making lately. Unfortunately, the graphic I chose to illustrate the theory turned out be photo-shopped and wasn’t real. I am sorry I chose to perpetuate it. I should have been more careful and for that I am deeply regretful. Not because the photo did any harm to the Romney campaign; inasmuch as it quite easily (based on past experience) could have been true, the damage is minimal, but because it served to compromise my integrity, which is something I work very hard to not do.

Exhibit B

Exhibit B

Exhibit A

Exhibit A

So . . . I wish to be very clear here. I am sorry I published it. It’s not real. For those reading this who are uncertain of the controversy, I herewith submit the photo I was bamboozled by, which I have labeled Exhibit A, alongside the photo from Zazzle, labeled Exhibit B, which was the main piece of evidence that convinced me I had been mistaken. There were a couple of people who pointed me to the official Romney website store, which stated the following, “All Products are Made in the USA”. However, these are politicians we’re talking about here and, as far as I’m concerned (whether it’s the Romney campaign or the Obama campaign), the only thing that proves is it says “All Products are Made in the USA”. ¡Punto, final, y redondo!

The ironic thing about this particular post is that, until two days ago the busiest single day I had experienced on this blog was slightly over two years ago. It was from a post I wrote thanking the gentleman who found my iPad after I had left it behind during a medical crisis involving my youngest daughter. I’ve had days that came close, but my post of two days ago more than doubled the number of readers I’ve had in a single day. A Pyrrhic and bitter accomplishment at this point.

I doubt any apology will be accepted by some and that’s OK. I could have just let it go. In fact, I apologized immediately on Facebook and even pointed out the fallacious button on a local Facebook group devoted to discussing local politics and business but, partly because the most active people tend to be politically active as well, sees its fair share of discussion on national issues. Now I’d like to offer a little explanation.

I wanted it to be true! Yes, I admit it. To be honest, I think electing Mitt Romney as our next President would be disastrous. I can find a lot of things to be pissed off at Barack Obama (and the Democratic Party, for that matter) about, but at least there has been a reasonable amount of social progress during his administration. As well, he inherited an economy strapped by two unfunded wars, a giant Medicare pharmacy giveaway, and some of the stupidest tax policies designed to benefit the wealthiest of all Americans at the expense of most ordinary Americans. So, I won’t, at this point, go into much detail as that isn’t my purpose in this post. I just want to point out a few things that made it easy for me to believe the Romney campaign would have their buttons made in China.

  1. More than 10,000 torch-bearers during the 2002 Winter Olympics, which Romney holds up as one of his crowning business achievements, were contracted out to a brutal dictatorship in Myanmar (Burma). Read about it here.
  2. Senate Bill 3364, the “Bring Jobs Home Act”, which provides up to a 20% tax credit for bringing businesses back to the U.S. and denies tax deductions for outsourcing expenses incurred in relocating a business outside the U.S., was blocked by Republican Senators. More here.
  3. Romney has not only been labeled by his former Republican primary opponents as a “Vulture” Capitalist, the National Venture Capital Association has specifically disowned him as one of them (though it’s killing them to do it). His company, Bain Capital, is well-known for its role in shipping jobs overseas.

Let me sum up. I published a photo of a Romney-Ryan campaign button that was inauthentic. I used it to make a point about what I see as more evidence that Republicans “project” their own shortcomings and insecurities on others. I wanted to believe the button was authentic. There is substantial reason for me to have believed that. I have a bit of egg on my face. I am sorry. Mitt is still a jerk. Don’t vote for him. I trust I’ve made virtually everyone happy now. 🙂

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Personal, Politics

7 September 2012

What Is Romney’s Campaign Thinking?

By Rick Ladd
Romney Button "Made in China"

Don’t these people vet anything?

I am now fully aware this picture is not real. Please see my apology and explanation here.

I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to blog about politics, but it seems I just can’t keep my mind off the election. It’s easy to say, as I probably have many times before, this is the most important election of my life. I’m not sure it’s true. There is nothing, in my opinion, Romney and Ryan can do that will stop the inevitable. The arc of history has always bent toward the increasing prevalence of peace, justice, and freedom – even if it doesn’t seem that way in various parts of the world.

Much like the existence of cooler temperatures in one small area of the planet does not prove global warming isn’t occurring, you can’t generalize from regional strife and even setbacks like our current economic conditions that our society is devolving. I have said more than once I almost thought it would be good for Michelle Bachmann to become our President because it would surely bring about the next – quite likely necessary – American revolution. I say “almost” because I really would prefer we evolve peacefully. Violence doesn’t generally do much for the species, although it may temporarily benefit one group over another.

Now . . . having said that, let me offer that this probably is the most important election of my life :). We have just barely come through the worst economic collapse in several generations and we’re not out of the woods yet. In my opinion the Policies espoused by the Romney-Ryan ticket are destined to turn the United States of America into what Arianna Huffington has referred to as Third World America. As Bill Clinton said the other night, in his speech to the Democratic National Convention, the Republican position is “we left him a total mess, he hasn’t cleaned it up fast enough, so fire him and put us back in.” I’m pretty sure that’s not a good idea. I will have more to say about this in the next couple of months. There’s plenty of material out there. I just need to move it from Facebook to here.

At any rate, this graphic is both sad and hilarious. I keep saying that the Republican Party leadership projects all of their worst traits onto others. To me, this is a perfect example of it. One can reasonably assume, if it actually crossed their mind it was important, they would have been willing to spend a little more money getting their buttons made here in the USA. That they don’t care seems pretty evident. Where the projecting comes in is I’m reasonably certain they think we don’t care either and won’t be paying any attention? Am I crazy? What’s your interpretation of why this would happen?

PS – If it’s unclear in the picture I snatched from my Facebook news feed, the arrow is pointing to the words, “Made in China” . . . but you knew that, right?

11 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Politics, Systems Thinking

23 January 2012

Atlas Slugged

By Rick Ladd
The Republican Candidates

Republican Primary Candidates Pose

This is a wonderful analysis of the competing approaches and philosophies of Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. You can read the entire article, but I find the final paragraph says volumes about what this year’s election means, and the direction our country is going in. Click on the link at the bottom for the entire article. Here’s that final paragraph:

“We’ll find out this election whether the Republican vision of an unfettered capitalism—one that redefines ‘socialism’ as not state ownership of the means of mass production but any government involvement whatsoever in the social and economic life of the country (including saving the auto industry)—is one that the public accepts anymore. Pundits have argued that the central question of the campaign is how much government we want. It’s more profound than that. The question of this election is what it means to be a country—whether we’re 300 million free agents who happen to be roaming the same piece of real estate or if any of us is ever bound by a social compact.”

via Atlas Slugged.

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