Bain, Romney and China: Haier

“China has opened its once-rigidly controlled economy in a way that has allowed both domestic Chinese and foreign nationals to flourish, deftly handling the conflict between communism and capitalism by brushing economic ideology aside.”  Bain Capital.

WHY did BAIN give Chinese appliance maker Haier the capital to BUY American appliance maker Maytag so Haier could make cheaper appliances in China to COMPETE with American appliance maker Whirlpool?

Should we not also learn to do THAT here in America, Mr. Romney – brush economic ideology aside? The economic ideology of Tax Cuts, the economic ideology of policy making, the economic ideology of regulation? But Republicans AND Democrats would have to work TOGETHER!!!

It’s more politically advancing to be hypocritical and pretend you’re going to bite the hand that feeds you! Like China – a country that Venture Capital firms including Bain Capital are flocking to like vultures to a carcass.

Romney is pledging that should he become President, the FIRST thing he will do, on DAY ONE in the Oval Office is haul China before the World Trade Organization because of China’s Trade Practices. (Well isn’t THAT the most important issue?)

And the Tea Party THINKS Romney’s FIRST act will be to repeal Health Care Reform, the one based on his “Romneycare” in Massachusetts. Dream on!

Anyway, with Romney SO AGAINST unfair trade with China, so against the very idea of China benefitting to the detriment of America and American businesses, you should probably ASK him WHY Bain (the company he makes his millions from) has offices in three Chinese cities: Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing?

Bain cartoon

I guess those are to handle the fall-out after Romney clamps down on China? Guess Romney thinks the Chinese will be pleased with Bain when Romney goes after them? I’m also sure Bain is encouraging Romney to “go on, get the Chinese. Even though they close our offices we don’t care about profit – we care about fair trade!”

Imagine a parent saying: “The moment I take over the PTA I’m going to see to it that we stop buying our textbooks from X Publishing because they are too expensive” then you find out his money comes from a Public Relations company that sends its authors to X Publishing!

How would that play with you? 

Well Bain Capital, the same Private Equity/Venture Capital/Financial Services company that Romney touts as the backbone, foundation and underwriter of his “Private sector experience”…the same Bain Capital he credits with creating so many “jobs upon jobs” THAT unless you’re a graduate of Bain Capital Life University you cannot understand the complexity of trade and commerce –  yes THAT Bain Capital was backing a Chinese company to buy an America Company and export jobs to China!

Chinese brand HAIER has a plant in Camden, South Carolina.

In 2005, Bain Capital provided some of the money (that’s what Bain does, PROVIDE CAPITAL) so Chinese home-appliance company Haier could BUY U.S appliance maker, Maytag.

You may have seen the Haier brand in stores. Didn’t know it’s Chinese? Well soon as Romney becomes President he will SLAP HAIER AROUND…or so he’s telling us.

Haier is a Chinese multinational consumer electronics and home appliances company, a global leader in consumer electronics. The company employs more than 70-thousand people world-wide, distributes products in more than 165 countries and regions and had global revenues of $23-billion in 2011.

China is aggressively looking to BUY or invest in assets – companies, real estate and natural resources – around the world. Haier saw buying a U.S. company as a quick and easy way to break into the U.S market. (It’s like marrying a U.S. citizen as the fastest/easiest way to work in America.)

According to a report in Bloomberg: Haier would be able to produce Maytag appliances in China at lower costs and compete with America’s Number One appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. Haier was planning to buy Iowa-based Maytag so the Chinese company COULD MAKE THE APPLIANCES IN CHINA AT LOWER COSTS! You got that, Right?

Whirlpool stepped in, bought Maytag and Bain pulled out…

Romney’s BAIN CAPITAL and another Private Equity firm, Blackstone Group, offered Haier the MONEY to buy Maytag. Yes, the same Romney who wants to haul China before the World Trade Organization for it’s shameful trade practices, HIS Bain Capital:

• Was offering a Chinese appliance maker the money to BUY a U.S. appliance maker
• So the Chinese firm could make the dishwashers and dryers cheaper in China
• SO THE CHINESE APPLIANCE MAKER COULD COMPETE WITH AMERICA’S NUMBER TWO APPLIANCE MAKER (after GE) WHIRLPOOL!!!

Well that did NOT happen, Bain Capital. No thanks to you or Romney! Whirlpool saw the light and BOUGHT Maytag!

Michigan-based Whirlpool had annual sales of more than 19 billion in 2011, 68-thousand employees and 66 manufacturing and technology centers around the world. Whirlpool brands include: Whirlpool, Maytag, Kitchen-Aid, Amana, Brastemp and Consul.

OK, let’s see some newspapers excerpts about that Bain/Haier deal:

June 21 (Bloomberg) — Haier Group, China’s largest refrigerator maker, and two buyout firms offered $1.28 billion for Maytag Corp., opening a bidding war for the No. 3 U.S. appliance manufacturer.

Maytag said in a statement late yesterday it will consider the $16 a share bid from closely held Haier, Bain Capital LLC and Blackstone Group LP.

June 21 (Bloomberg) – Haier’s factories in China would be able to lower Maytag’s costs and help it compete with Whirlpool, which has six factories in Asia.

Haier’s bid follows the $1.25 billion purchase of International Business Machines Corp.’s PC unit this year by China’s Lenovo Holdings Ltd. Haier is based in the Shandong city of Qingdao.

“It is very difficult for Chinese appliance makers to establish a brand and sales network in the U.S.,” said Sun Shengquan, a Shanghai-based analyst at Shenyin Wanguo Securities Co. “The shortcut is to buy an existing American brand. Quite a few Chinese companies may also follow this pattern.”

Haier … would be able to take advantage of its low-cost manufacturing in China in buying Maytag. In China, Haier has built five industrial parks in Qingdao and five other production bases in other cities. China’s wages for unskilled labor are about 4 percent of the standard rate in the U.S., the Asian Development Bank said in an April report.

The company, which has 13 overseas factories, has invested at least $30 million in a factory in Camden, South Carolina, where it makes a half million refrigerators a year. Haier plans to make air-conditioners and washing machines in the U.S. in the future, according to the company’s Web site.

Bain Capital, founded by Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and based in Boston,has invested in more than 30 industrial and manufacturing companies since it was founded in 1984, including Alliance Laundry, a manufacturer of commercial laundry equipment.

Maytag “Repairman” – remember him?

Tribune news services | July 18, 2005: Whirlpool tops offer for buyout of Maytag.

Whirlpool Corp. announced Sunday an offer to acquire fellow appliance maker Maytag Corp. for $2.3 billion…Whirlpool said its offer of $17 per share for Maytag, which is based in Newton, Iowa, includes cash and stock and is based on assumed debt of $969 million.

Haier, partners drop bid to buy Maytag. 2005-07-20 11:08

NEW YORK – Haier Group, China’s largest appliance maker, and its two private equity partners have dropped out of the $1 billion-plus bidding race for Maytag Corp., Maytag said on Tuesday.

Haier and two private equity firms — Bain Capital and The Blackstone Group — were exploring a $16 a share bid for the company.

Then Whirlpool launched a surprise offer on Sunday for more than $1.3 billion, or $17 a share. Whirlpool, which also has the Roper and KitchenAid brands, said it would pay at least 50 percent in cash and the balance in shares.

The prospect of a Haier takeover helped stir anti-Chinese sentiment in the U.S. over Asian companies gobbling up U.S. businesses. That concern has been stoked by a bid by China oil company CNOOC Ltd. to buy California-based Unocal Corp. for $18.5 billion.

That speculation ended on Tuesday, when Haier, Bain and Blackstone submitted a formal letter to Maytag, saying that the group has decided not to pursue an offer.

China’s Lenovo bought IBM. Lenovo is the world’s second-largest PC vendor (by 2011 market share) after America’s Hewlett-Packard, HP. Lenovo makes ThinkPad line of notebook computers and the ThinkCentre desktop line.

Washington Post/Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Haier Group Co., China’s largest home-appliance maker and primary aspirant to becoming the country’s first global brand, has withdrawn from the bidding for Maytag Corp., according to a statement released by Maytag.

Haier, along with U.S. private equity firms Blackstone Group LP and Bain Capital LLC, had expressed interest in buying the Iowa appliance maker for about $1.3 billion.

Haier’s decision to drop out amounts to a rare sign of caution from China as its companies aggressively pursue foreign takeovers and new markets in what Beijing has termed the “go out strategy.” Analysts said it indicates that the country’s largest companies — despite their ownership by the Communist Party-led government — have matured into legitimate commercial enterprises, undermining the notion they can tap the unlimited largesse of the state.

Analysts saw Haier’s interests in Maytag as a continuation of that trend, a deal that would have used the venerable U.S. brand name to sell machines that could be made in the Chinese company’s existing factories.

July 18, 2005/Bloomberg News: Whirlpool Makes Unsolicited Bid for Maytag, Creating 3-Way Race

Whirlpool’s bid for Maytag comes amid recent anxiety on Capitol Hill and in executive suites about the increasing willingness of Chinese companies to flex their financial muscles in trying to acquire American firms.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) headquarters – Beijing, China. Made a bid to buy now defunct Union Oil Company of California (Unocal ). Unocal merged with Chevron.

The China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s $18.5 billion bid for Unocal last month, which came just two days after Haier’s bid for Maytag, has drawn the most scrutiny. Last December, I.B.M announced plans to sell its personal computing business to China’s biggest personal computer maker, Lenovo.

Asia times: Haier Group bids US$1.3bn for Maytag

“Haier is looking for a new way to achieve its globalization,” said Lu Renbo, an industry expert from the Development Research Center of the State Council. Previously, Haier expanded overseas through product exports and establishing manufacturing bases abroad. “The purchasing of a local, big name company may be the best and the fastest way for Chinese home appliance makers [to expand globally],” Lu said.

With its established brand name and, especially, well-developed marketing and sales networks, the purchase of Maytag would give Haier an edge in the US market. Haier considers the US a key market and started local production in the US in 2000, producing 500,000 refrigerators a year at a South Carolina production facility.

Romney’s Bain Capital has ADVICE for Chinese companies that want to take on the Global market: Innovation!

Now what advice does Bain have for Chinese companies? (Yes, those companies Mitt Romney plans to DECIMATE when it hauls China before the World Trade Organization).

• When Fortune China and Bain & Company recently surveyed more than 600 Chinese executives across a range of industries, we found that nearly 80 percent readily conceded that they are less innovative than multinationals.
• Innovation comes in many forms. It can be a new business model, a re-invented sales force, or a transformed operating process. For one thing, Chinese companies’ capabilities and their strategic competitive positions against multinationals are well suited for generating incremental, customer-led innovations.
• When we asked them to rank their performance against a specific set of criteria, the senior managers came up short in several categories.
• Appliance maker Haier made itself a global competitor thanks to a carefully constructed innovation strategy…the company’s strategic plan included relying on imported technology innovations (from where, Bain?) to improve local products…by building this firm innovation foundation, Haier was able to aggressively enter-and win in-the global appliance market,
• Chinese companies might have some great ideas, but they often lack the talent to turn them into profitable ventures. More than half the Chinese companies surveyed said they have less than 25 people dedicated to an innovation team. This dearth of talent is a major handicap when going up against multinationals like innovation titan Procter & Gamble.

IF Bain Capital had won, today Maytag would be OWNED by China. The very same China that Bain founder Mitt Romney wants to clamp down on over unfair trade practices…

IF Whirlpool had NOT stepped in, Bain Capital and Haier would have sent those Maytag jobs to China.

IF Haier had bought Maytag, Maytag would now be a CHINESE brand.

Still believe Romney will clamp down on China…?

Still believe he cares about jobs — or just profits for HIM — and other executives like him?

Yeah – just wait!!!

“The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than commonly understood. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.” John Maynard Keynes.

Romney, Trump play Bridge: 2 Clubs! Overbid…?

Overbid (in card game – Bridge):

Bridge hand – 2 clubs! Looks strong?

• (Noun) A  bid that overstates a hand’s strength.
• (Verb) To bid voluntarily to a contract that the partnership cannot make.
• (Verb) To bid too high, irrespective of the result.

WHAT does it say about Donald Trump – when the SUPPOSEDLY SANE AND SAVVY “business magnate” who deals with empirical evidence like balance sheets and occupancy figures — continues to believe, INSIST that there is a conspiracy surrounding President Obama’s birth certificate…and keeps pushing the conspiracy theory that President Obama was NOT born in Hawaii…?

By now you may have heard of that idiotic Secretary of State in Arizona who threatened to keep President Obama off Arizona’s ballot in November IF he does not get a copy of the president’s birth certificate. Ken Bennett has now changed his mind (got a little visit from Republican aliens?) but earlier this month Bennett RIGHTLY rejected the fake copy the White House released in 2011 in pursuit of the REAL one – the ORIGINAL that aliens are holding in an undetectable underground spaceship bunker hidden under the volcano in Kilauea, Hawaii!

Trump.

According to The Donald: Questioning the authenticity of the president’s birth certificate or “birtherism” is the “most important thing” and questions about Obama’s birthplace have not been adequately answered. Trump is NOT satisfied that Obama has proven his U.S. citizenship.

Trump told NBC in 2011 that HE Trump had sent researchers to Hawaii to investigate Obama’s citizenship status and “they cannot believe what they’re finding.”

Do you know that:

• In March 1990, Trump threatened to sue a stock brokerage house after a broker made negative comments about the finances of Trump’s Taj Mahal Casino. The company told the analyst: You’re fired. Taj Mahal declared bankruptcy for the first time in November 1990…and the analyst got $750,000 from his firm for his termination…and settled out of court on a 2-million-dolllar defamation lawsuit against Trump?
•  Trump declared corporate bankruptcy 4 times - 1991, 1992, 2004 and 2009 and was nearly bankrupt personally?
• In 2002, the Securities Exchange Commission brought a financial-reporting case against Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts alleging several “misleading statements in the company’s third-quarter 1999 earnings release.”
• In 2004, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts announced a restructuring of its debt. Trump’s individual ownership to be reduced to 25 percent, now 5-percent and since then, Trump Hotels has been forced to seek voluntary bankruptcy protection to stay afloat. Trump gave up his CEO position but remained as Chairman of the Board?
• Married 3 times, divorced twice? When asked if his marriage to first wife Ivana was monogamous, Trump replied: “I don’t have to answer that.”
• Trump’s been criticized for his recurring pattern of filing for bankruptcy to dodge creditors. He defends the bankruptcies as a smart business practice?

Romney, the savvy businessman can find a better mentor, don’t you think? I remember when Romney refused to attend a Republican presidential debate (Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum accepted) with Trump as moderator in December 2011. But that’s politics. Now Trump is raising money for Romney and writing Romney’s script?

Trump also believes that China should be treated as an adversarial competitor, and that America should slap heavy import tariffs on China in response to that Asian country’s currency manipulation.

Do you understand now why Jon Huntsman, a former U.S. Ambassador to China, said: “I don’t subscribe to the Don Trump or Mitt Romney School of International Trade…don’t want to find ourselves in a trade war…with China.” Huntsman, the rational, is dismissing Trump… 

And WHY Mitt Romney said: “I will issue an Executive Order identifying China as a currency manipulator. We’ll bring an action against them in front of the WTO (World Trade Organization) for manipulating their currency and we will go after them…if you’re not willing to stand up to China you’ll get run over by China.” Romney is taking his cues from Trump!

Trump is also re-stoking “birther” theories and warning his new BFF (best friends forever) Mitt Romney that if Romney dismisses the birther movement, he could possibly lose the election.

Mitt Romney has NOT distanced himself from Trump’s birther conspiracy OR repudiated Trump’s remarks. He possibly thinks that John McCain lost to Obama in 2008 because McCain dissed birthers by refusing to subscribe to their delusional nonsense. And Romney will DO anything, say ANYTHING to win!

Here’s my contribution to the Arizona Birther Conspiracy. (ABC. So simple, duh!)

Those of us, who live outside peyote induced psychonautics…those of us moronic, misguided, hopeless, gullible, brainwashed idiots who would vote for Chewbacca (Star Wars) if he waved a Hawaiian birth certificate – yes, those of us! We’ve been royally brainwashed by the CIA, the FBI, the NSA and whatever other deep-cover covert operations our government is running a la Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum and Alistair McLean…plus Russia’s KGB, Israel’s Mossad, NATO and China’s Ministry of State Security too!

Imagine the depth and scope of THAT conspiracy…and the Cover Up involved.

Men In Black – 3!

The CIA has got to be IN on it. This cannot happen without the CIA being complicit. It is impossible for an impostor, a foreigner, an alien to become President of America without the CIA knowing, isn’t it? Isn’t it! Well, maybe not!

If I was Boss of the Birthers, I’d demand that heads roll at the CIA. Or wait – maybe THEY are part of the conspiracy? What if aliens (yeah, you can laugh – just wait until I’m proven right) have infiltrated the CIA with one agenda: Install Obama as president and weaken America? Would it not then be easier for them to invade America, take the country over and hand it to (gasp) Liberals?

And what if — what IF the FBI is also part of that conspiracy? They would have to be. Why has nobody figured this out yet? A conspiracy of this magnitude and the FBI does not know? Impossible – or is it? What have the Birthers found out about the FBI that they are too scared to share with us? Why has no journalist filed requests under the Freedom of Information Act? Are we just going to let the FBI play us? Unless of course the FBI too are under the control of aliens? Heaven help us! The FBI ARE the men in Black!!! Do you really THINK it’s coincidence that the movie “Men in Black 3″ was released 23 weeks before the Presidential Election?

Do you know that some people link the number 23 to the unholy gods of the Cthulhu Mythos. A shared fictional universe…ancient, powerful gods from space who once ruled the Earth but are now in a death-like sleep? Ah, but are they? What do we really KNOW about Obama? Could he be Ob’mbu, the Cthulhu Mythos deity known as The Shatterer?

NSA is in it too, of course and Homeland Security. Yeah, Homeland Security baloney! They’re running around trying to bamboozle US by intercepting illegal aliens. Yeah right, we’re stupid. Like we don’t KNOW the real illegal aliens are running the White House…

And what about Congress, huh? I can understand Democrats being IN on the conspiracy, but what about those Republicans eh? John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, Michele Bachman and the rest. Why are they allowing this great conspiracy? Are the aliens contributing to their campaigns?

That line in the Star Spangled Banner: “half conceals, half discloses?”  WHAT does it really mean? What if you remove the flag analogy and substitute a spaceship instead. See, then it begins to make sense doesn’t it – especially when you add Oliver Wendell Holmes’s fifth stanza:

When our land is illumined with liberty’s smile,
If a foe from within strikes a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor that tries to defile
The flag of the stars, and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained,
Who their birthright have gained
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained;
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.

Now tell me that “birthers” don’t KNOW what they’re talking about and see who’s cuckoo! This verse (in the LONG FORM of the Anthem) clearly identifies a foe from within who will try to defile America…

Why is congress doing NOTHING while our Intelligence Agencies fall under the control of these alien Hawaiians?

Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii: “Sacred Protector” of the President’s Birth Certificate…

Seems to me that ALL of Washington is compromised. Is Rupert Murdoch really Rupert Murdoch – why is Fox News NOT pursuing this? Are they in the conspiracy too…?

Listen to me America…I am warning you…time is running out…

(Somebody’s at the door…)

“Help…help…somebody help me. I don’t know anything, help…no…heeelllp…I like Obama. I’m NOT a birther…please…noooo!”

 Photos: Google

New Post coming Friday, 6/01: Bain Capital: Hypocrisy Continues…

Private Sector Experience – Means WHAT, Exactly?

“Bain invested in approximately 100 companies, many of them are big brand names that you’re familiar with…some of them were struggling and some of them could not be saved. That’s the nature of our free enterprise system.” Eric Fehrnstrom, senior adviser to the Romney campaign.

Mitt Romney probably has this sign outside his campaign headquarters: And based on HIS criteria, MOST of us CANNOT proceed!

Mitt Romney loves to tout his private sector experience by saying that “someone who’s never spent a day in the private sector, like President Obama, simply doesn’t understand”.

That’s MOST of us in America. We are just too stupid to understand. Just like HE thinks young people are too stupid to understand banking… Remember when he said the people protesting at the Bank of America shareholders meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina in May 2012 are too young “to really understand how the economy works.” Oh yeah. Only Romney can understand how the economy works. And that’s through Leveraged Buyouts!

There is not ONE economist, one journalist, one investor, one politician out there who can UNDERSTAND how the economy works as well as Mitt Romney.

How much time did Bill Gates spend in the private sector before he started Microsoft? Yet even with Mitt Romney’s 25-years of private sector experience Gates is wildly more successful than Romney. How much time did Bill Clinton spend in the private sector? Zip! Yet here’s what Clinton achieved:

• Average economic growth of 4-percent per year, compared to average growth of 2.8-percent in previous years.
• The economy grew for 116 consecutive months, the most in history.
• More than 22.5 million jobs created, the most jobs ever created under a single administration (more than the previous 12 years). 92-percent of those jobs were in the private sector. Shall I repeat that:  92-PERCENT of those jobs WERE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR.
• Real median family income increased by 6-thousand-dollars from about $43,000.00 in 1993 to 49,000.00 in 1999.
• Overall unemployment dropped to the lowest level in more than 30 years
• Inflation averaged 2.5-percent, dropping to its lowest rate since the Kennedy Administration.
• The homeownership rate reached 67.7% – the highest rate on record.
• The poverty rate fell from 15-percent in 1993 to nearly 12-percent in 1999, the largest six-year drop in poverty in about 30 years.
• The surplus in fiscal year 2000 was $237 billion, the third consecutive surplus and the largest surplus ever.

THE bane of Republicans – Bill Clinton: Under his term, overall unemployment dropped to the lowest level in more than 30 years! Clinton had NO private sector experience. Romney can be more successful?

Again? HOW MUCH TIME DID BILL CLINTON SPEND IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR? Zip. 

Forty-thousand Romneys could not with all his quantity of ‘private Sector Experience’ make up that sum! (Shakespeare. Hamlet Act 5/Scene One: I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum.)

How much time did George Bush spend in the private sector? Yeah, he worked in oil and co-owned a baseball team – and see how successful HE was!

GOVERNMENT IS NOT THE PRIVATE SECTOR…

THAT is why people compare the two and find them so DIFFERENT.

A CEO has only to please himself if it’s his private company – what he says goes!

Or please himself and his family if it’s family owned!

Or about 12 directors and a couple thousand shareholders – a million shareholders, depending?

The government has to please 300-million Americans, foreign governments and populations around the world. (I know Republicans believe they don’t HAVE to worry about other nations and what the rest of the word thinks, that they can thumb their nose at a billion Chinese and millions of Muslims and all those black people in Africa, but THOSE are Republicans! The 13th Tribe of Israel that God mandated to rule America!) The rest of us Gentiles think dfifferently.

It takes TWO parties to make the government work EVERY DAY and the Supreme Court is not a high priced lawyer that you can call in to clean up the mess. There are times the Supreme Court will NOT agree with the CEO…

So Mr. Romney…in case you do NOT know this, the GOVERNMENT is NOT the Private Sector!

The private sector is geared to make a PROFIT! Unless of course YOU wish the government to MAKE a profit? We can rent our army out to foreign governments, for example. We can hold a Pentagon yard sale and sell surplus weapons? Hawk Health Care Insurance? Make people PAY for Food Stamps?

HIMARS: High-mobility Artillery Rocket System, used in Iran/Afghanistan. (One Lockheed contract cost 100-million). Pentagon Yard Sale…?

Now don’t get me wrong. The government CAN take a page from the private sector and run more efficiently… and having private sector experience is a GOOD thing. But basing your raison d’etre for becoming president solely on your private sector creds…especially as you’re NO Carlos Slim (Mexican billionaire, richest man in the world)seems sadly limiting and lacking.  You seem to be using a lot of wool to weave glasses for US, Mr. Romney.

When somebody, anybody, Republican, Democrat, Independent tells you: I have private sector experience so I can run the government…you buy that?

I guess you ALSO buy that House of Representatives leaders John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi can run Apple? Guess you’ll see their names put forward for CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase…because they have government experience. They know ALL the rules, regulations and loopholes…

If private sector experience is so crucial for running the government – then conversely, government experience should be equally crucial to running the private sector? Think Jon Corzine. New Jersey’s former governor, former U.S. Senator, former head of Investment Bank Goldman Sachs (Corzine made 400-million-dollars when Goldman Sachs went public – after he left as CEO.) Corzine was CEO of MF Global (Man Financial) when the financial services (exchange traded derivates) company folded last year after nearly 2-billion-dollars disappeared from clients accounts.

Jon Corzine. Democrat with both public/private sector experience!

Now THAT was an unhappy marriage of public AND private sector experience!

So to say that just because I understand how capitalism works – just because I understand how Wal-Mart works – just because I understand how the job market works (does Romney, really?) I’ll make a good president is a nonsensical argument. How about somebody who understands how GOVERNMENT works? Well duhh!

When workers on Verizon go on strike, we can switch to Sprint. When the police go on strike we switch to what  – or whom? George Zimmerman? You can close a money-losing factory but what do you do with the Post Office? You can export jobs to China…and keep your labor costs down…what do you do with the firemen making x-dollars an hour? You close the fire station and reopen it where…in Mexico?

Oh give me a break!

There’s also Private Sector and private sector. Not all private sector is considered equal! General Electric (GE) is Private Sector, with capitals. Running GE is like running a small country. You’re CEO of GE, you wanna make a case for running America – OK, I’ll listen.

You’re running Bain Capital you wanna run America? Really? How many of you want the wolves on Wall Street running the henhouse? You want the guy who made those risky investments, those swaps and leveraged buyouts and sold exchange traded derivates — running the government? Do you want ousted Wall Street CEO Jamie Dimon (J.P. Morgan Chase) running the government, when his company just lost 2 billion-dollars due to risky trading on credit derivatives? NO you don’t!

Federal Deficit/Surplus under President Bill Clinton (blue) 1993-2001.

BAIN is into ASSET MANAGEMENT. It’s product is Profit – unlike Ford who sells products TO MAKE A PROFIT! Consumers are Ford’s customers – INVESTORS are Bain’s customers. There is a difference – just like there’s a difference between a dining room chair and a recliner. Yes they’re both chairs but their purposes are different…

So when Romney says: I have private sector experience – tell him fine! Great Mr. Romney, that’s good. BUT we’re NOT buying a Wall Street CEO, we’re looking for a Commander-in-Chief. So, Mr. Romney – this part about the private sector looks nice on your resume but tell us about your experience with THE JOB YOU’RE APPLYING FOR. You were governor of Massachusetts – but you DO NOT include that on your resume. WHY?

WHY doesn’t Governor Romney TALK about his great achievements as Commander-in Chief of Massachusetts? Being governor is like an internship for President, isn’t it? So how did you do? DID YOU NOT HAVE PRIVATE SECTOR EXPERIENCE WHEN YOU WERE GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS? How did that work for you in this tiny state? Guess there were too FEW people for Romney to find jobs for – he needs a wider stage!

Governor and Mrs. Romney leave Massachusetts state house (2003-2007)

The records are there for anyone to find – especially as it’s probably another ONE of the things Romney has forgotten — in his long list of the forgotten…

You’d think Romney would be BRAGGING  about his achievements in a state with a Democrat-controlled House and Senate to show how he worked with the Opposition…to show how he CAN get things done. Wonder why he’s running away from his record in Massachusetts? Running from the 212 days he spent in office IN 2006 (his last year in office) during his 4-years as a ONE-TERM absentee governor while he devoted much of his time to travelling in and outside the U.S. drumming up support for his presidential campaigns…

And what good will Private Sector experience do if you have an uncooperative Congress?

Gridlocked Congress! Private Sector experience does not matter – with an uncooperative Congress! What you need experience in is Hostage Negotiation!

Even if you come in brimming with ideas (like I’m sure Obama did) and the Democrats decide to make YOU a One-Term President? Do you think Republicans hold a monopoly on creating One-Term presidents. Be careful what you wish for, Mr. Romney. One-Term President has become the latest catch-word – just like One-Term governor!

So when you become the private sector president –  Mr. Romney…I can’t wait to see the “jobs” you’re going to create in Iraq and Afghanistan and in Immigration Reform and appeasing the Iaraelis/Palestinians and in Education Reform and by repealing Health Care Reform and in strong-arming China and in reworking America’s Tax Code…and in negotiating with Russia…

Private sector experience does not help with ALL those? Who cares. If you’ve got private sector experience the presidency is a dream…a breeze…piece of cake! Go Private Sector Experience!!!

Oh yes – former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling (who donated to/campaigned for John McCain and Schilling’s fellow Alaskan, Sarah Palin) has Private Sector experience, too — now that his company has gone bankrupt. Let’s vote for him too! (See my post: Solyndra and Schilling…)

WHY a G8 Summit?

NATO 2012 Meeting, Chicago

Can someone who knows about these things explain the point of the G8 Summit? Why do these leaders insist on meeting so they can attract anarchists and protestors?

What DO these Summits achieve? Do these protests even have an effect on the G8 Summit discussions? Are any of the leaders saying: “I’d like more logging but I’m worried the protesters won’t like it?” Do these leaders even SEE the protests except on TV? Do the protests actually CHANGE the outcomes at all? ARE there outcomes?

NO? Then WHY hold a G8 Summit? Heck, why PROTEST…?

I’ve watched these meetings around the globe and the only thing I remember from them is violence: Burning cars – and police looking scary in riot gear!

Has a G8 Summit ever produced any major course of action? For instance, did these leaders ever issue a communiqué saying they have chosen ONE currency that all G8 countries will now use? OR that any national of a G8 country can run for President in any G8 country? Now that would be Summit-worthy!

I don’t need four days of protests so you can tell me forests are being denuded! Make it BIG! Crown George Bush emperor of the G8. Now we’re talking Summit-lese!

According to Wikipedia: Each calendar year, the responsibility of hosting the G8 rotates through the member states in the following order: France, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada.

The holder of the presidency sets the agenda, hosts the summit for that year, and determines which ministerial meetings will take place. Lately, France and the United Kingdom have expressed a desire to expand the group to include five developing countries, referred to as the Outreach Five (O5) or the Plus Five.

These countries: Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa…have participated as guests in previous meetings, which are sometimes called G8+5.

I wanted to see if I could find an important, world-shaking declaration from the G8 Summit. So I looked up some past Summits and this is what I found…

• In 1997 (Denver/Colorado) Summit leaders agreed “on the need for appropriate domestic measures and close international cooperation to prohibit the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer to create a child”.
• In 2005 (Gleneagles/Scotland) leaders agreed to write off some 40 billion in third world debt. America refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol aimed at tackling Global Warming.
• In 2008 (Tokyo/Japan) G8 leaders agreed on the need for the world to cut carbon emissions blamed for global warming by at least 50 percent by 2050, urge nations with sufficient food stocks to release some of their reserves to help others cope with soaring prices urged the Iranian government to end its uranium enrichment program in line with UN Security Council resolutions.
• In 2010 (Ontario/Canada) leaders looked at the global Recession, European Debt and proposed a tax on banking institutions which could be used to bail out banks that failed.

Maybe they did BETTER in Chicago. So what did we get out of Chicago…?

–Riots!!!

–Germany did not budge on its austerity hard-line.

–Protestors force the G8 Summit from Chicago to Camp David.

–Mrs. Obama visited the south side of Chicago.

Mrs. Obama and the wife of Turkey’s president visits Chicago’s South Side – meet with Youth Urban Agriculture Program participants.

–Marchers head toward McCormick Place (must be somewhere in Chicago).

–President Obama could not go home to spend the night at his house.

–Thousands gather in Grant Park … (another place in Chicago?)

–The G8 made another commitment to end world hunger.*

–Police, protesters clash after NATO rally.

–G8 leaders back calls by France’s new president Francois Hollande for more economic stimulus in Europe.

–Peaceful march on the headquarters of U.S. defense contractor Boeing in Chicago.

–British Prime Minister David Cameron says G8 summit helped crystallize the thinking of Euro Zone members. That’s clear… 

British Prime Minister David Cameron

(* The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition – a partnership between G8 nations, African countries, and private sector leaders. The partnership is promising to raise 50 million people out of poverty over the next ten years by investing in agriculture and nutrition.)

I missed the other earth-shattering pronouncements.

The eight countries making up the G8 have about 14% of the world’s population AND about 60% of the world’s Gross domestic Product.

Which causes me to ask: “How is it that James Bond can find an isolated island, an underground bunker, a secluded mountain hideaway and the G8, with ALL their resources, cannot?”

Go somewhere where protestors can’t find you and have your couple days vacation away from your high-stress offices in peaceful seclusion…

Why go through the expense of riots and police overtime and the resulting destruction of property year after year?

I hope these two words: Conference Call is taken seriously by the G8. Otherwise friend those Bond villains on Facebook, ’cause they sure know how to be inaccessible!

Please Boston, NO G8 Summits – please. We’re too small, too liberal, too elitist…let Austin, Texas host or Anchorage, Alaska…please….

I hope Boston is NOT planning on hosting a G8 Summit – ever.

By the way, the G8 might soon be the G20. The Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from the world’s 20 major economies now account for more than 80 percent of the global Gross National Product (GNP), 80 percent of world trade and two-thirds of the world’s population.

The best thing I can say is: “Welcome new countries. Let YOUR newly emerging cities get trashed for a change. By the time 20 countries get their turn and Boston becomes a likely candidate in 2032, I’ll probably be dead – or hopefully, able by then to afford to leave town for that weekend!”

List of G20 Nations:

1. Germany
2. European Union
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Argentina
5. Brazil
6. China
7. South Korea
8. United States
9. Mexico
10. South Africa

11. Russia
12. Indonesia
13. France
14. Italy
15. India
16. Japan
17. Canada
18. Turkey
19. United Kingdom
20. Australia

Hello Sydney – here comes trouble!

Politics of Point – Counterpoint

Notice how easily it is to refute Republican’s claims…Mitt Romney’s claims…point by point?

You batter me – I batter you. May the least bloody win…

Republicans point out that: Gas Prices are high under Obama.

I COUNTERPOINT by reminding Republicans and Romney that gas prices were just as high or HIGHER under President George Bush – and Republicans NEVER complained about the price of gas prices. In fact, they defended the high prices…and have to date done NOTHING to seek alternative fuel sources – OR crafted an alternative fuel strategy.

That is the politics of Point/Counterpoint!

It gets you nowhere…as both sides stick to their scripts – and try to paint the other side as the bad one, the silly one, the misguided one….

How different would it be if you heard a Republican say: “OK. Gas Prices were high under Obama. But it’s NOT all his fault. Yes, I can admit that. Republicans have done nothing either to put America on a sound energy pathway…and yes, gas prices were high under George Bush too. So here’s what we need to do. We need to stop fooling around and get down to the business of nation building…and here’s HOW I propose we do that!”

Now see HOW the conversation goes in a different direction? We have the beginnings of a real dialog.

But the way our politicians speak now, it’s: When I was in power the skies were blue all day…not even birds pooped! But when YOU were in power, it was a constant barrage of category 5 storms with buckets of s— raining down on us EVERY DAY!!!

And that’s why we get nowhere.

Because the other side feels compelled to respond to that attack. And politicians don’t speak the TRUTH anymore. They are too busy rushing to demonize the other side and make their opponents look incompetent…like morons, the bad guys, anti-American, unpatriotic, no values, liars, no good communists, nasty liberals, crazy conservatives, elitists! Somehow, Carl Rove taught us that this is the way to win…and like Charlie Sheen, we’re winning…

Mitt Romney wants you to believe that he created jobs upon jobs at Bain. Which is true. He did create jobs. But he won’t say that he also lost jobs upon jobs. In fact, he REFUSES to even talk about that side of it. Half a truth? Ostriches with their heads in the sand but with ONE eye peeping out!

Head in the Sand – See only what I WANT to see!

If I cut off the good half of an apple that is over-ripe, beginning to spoil and offer it to you…and ask: “Want some apple?” I’m only offering you HALF of the truth. If I say: “I cut off the rotten half of this apple but this part is fine.” NOW I’m giving you the whole truth.

It allows YOU to make an INFORMED  decision. Is it not time that politicians FROM BOTH SIDES acknowledge The TRUTH…whatever it may be?

No one party is going to get it right all the time. The economy will likely tank in cycles, regardless of one’s best intentions. The government cannot control ALL the factors that make an economy tick ALL the time. In Macro Economics the government’s input is limited largely to manipulating interest rates…in our Capitalist System.

One man’s greed somewhere can unravel the system. One government’s irresponsibility in this intertwined world can send the global economy into a free fall. One act of terror can jolt the economy. No government can stop everything…but politicians make you believe that everything happening around the world is within America’s ability to fix or control.

Some politicians want you to believe that America is in a bubble, cushioned from the rest of the world! Yeah, like your home is not part of your neighborhood and if there’s a huge fire, your home won’t get burned. Or if it does not burn, then the other burned homes around it will not affect you at all. Why not just blame YOU for the fire.

China’s Tiananmen Square.

China is the third LARGEST U.S. export market after Canada and Mexico. When trade with China came up during the Republican Primary debates here’s what Mitt Romney had to say:

“I’ve indicated day one I will issue an Executive Order identifying China as a currency manipulator. We’ll bring an action against them in front of the WTO (World Trade Organization) for manipulating their currency and we will go after them…if you’re not willing to stand up to China you’ll get run over by China…”

Here’s what Jon Huntsman, former U.S. Ambassador to China, had to say: “I don’t subscribe to the Don (Donald) Trump or Mitt Romney School of International Trade…don’t want to find ourselves in a trade war…with China…we have no choice, we have to find common ground.” Mitt Romney is telling you that he will strong-arm China! That is a nice applause line. But, WHAT will Romney DO if the Chinese don’t play ball? Take on their army?

According to an article (April 21/2012) in the Examiner, U.S Secretary of Commerce John Bryson told a group of Chinese American business leaders in Pasadena, CA:

“It’s clear that the world’s two largest economies are becoming more intertwined each day,” Bryson said. “Your mission ‘to bring a Chinese-American perspective to ‘issues concerning Asian Americans and US-China relations’ relates directly to that,” he added. Bryson was referring to the increasing trade between the two countries especially exports from the U.S.

The United State’s relationship with China is becoming increasingly more complex. As an emerging world power they are a military rival. China owns a huge percentage of our national debt; it supplies most of the consumer goods we buy; and now they are now becoming one of our largest customers. Exports to China are on the rise.

http://www.examiner.com/article/u-s-exports-to-china-increasing-rapidly

Apple Headquarters, California

Mr. Romney, please polish off your diplomacy skills.  I’m waiting to see the Chinese kowtow to you. Of course the Republican creed is to ride roughshod over others. No negotiations. No apologies. I’m always right. I’m strong. You bad. Me Tarzan. Bang bang!

Still have NOT learnt from Iraq.

China’s Prime Minister Hu Jintao. Boy is Romney is going to tell him!!!

Apple’s fiscal second-quarter profits nearly doubled based in large part on strong sales in Asia. For the quarter that ended March 31, Apple reported net income of nearly $12-billion. According to Apple: “We continue to see tremendous momentum in greater China where I-phone sales were five times the level of the year-ago quarter, aided by the launch of the I-Phone 4S in China in January and the addition of China Telecom as a carrier in March.” 

Go ahead and irritate China, Mr. Romney. But make sure first you have enough money in the empty treasury to pay off American debt held by China and that you are prepared to explain to Apple why YOU, the business guru, is willing to mess up their lucrative billion-person market.

DO NOT be swayed by words and promises. Yes We Can – No We Can’t.

Let your new slogan be:

 ”How? Show Me… Tell Me… Now!”

A vote for Romney means MORE, Worse Gridlock!!!

I address this to the “Independents” including the Republicans who ran away from their own party and are STILL running – because the GOP is getting more and MORE X-treme!

If you believe that electing an opinion-shifting, finger-in-the-wind testing etch-a-sketcher will make America or the economy  better…raise your hackles?

YOU do? Well you probably thought too that America could rise from a Recession in 2 years!

Do YOU think that electing Mitt Romney will make anything better? WHAT? What is the “IT” that Romney’s going to make better? 

The economy? Jobs?

So Romney is going to create jobs? HOW? With WHICH Congress? House Speaker John Boehner cannot even keep his Tea Party members in line…but YOU think Romney will, especially as the Tea Party does not even LIKE Mitt Romney? They see Romney as their best bet to win the White House. To them he’s a means to an end, an “IN”. He knows it…and the Romney who was governor of Massachusetts will NOT stand being dictated to, like Santorum hinted in his “endorsement”:

“I intend to keep lines of communication open with him and his campaign. I hope to ensure that the values that made America that shining city on the hill are illuminated brightly by our party and our candidates thus ensuring not just a victory, but a mandate for conservative governance.”

The Republicans have ONLY ONE solution: Tax Cuts for the wealthy! THAT’S IT…

Has Romney TOLD you – explained HOW he will create jobs? Ask him? And if it’s similar to George Bush’s policies that failed and got us into this mess – then say NO thanks. If it’s new and innovative – say Yes! We can try something new…why not? More Tax Cuts? Is that ALL they have? Is that their ONLY answer? Why? Where are the forward thinkers…?

Oh, so YOU think Romney will call in his old company Bain…and Bain will take HUD and dismantle it. Bain will dismantle Health and Human Services and Bain will dismantle Education (so kids will all be home-schooled, including kids whose parents can’t read!). And then Bain will DO what…?

How do you think Obama or any president creates jobs? It’s not a PERSONAL thing. Looking for a president who can “create” jobs? Vote for Bill Gates. HE can CREATE jobs by opening a new factory, launching a new PRODUCT! If you want a president who can “create an ENVIRONMENT for job growth and stimulation” (I hope religious conservatives forgive me for using a morally improper word like stimulation?) then you have two choices. It boils down to: Whose methods DO YOU prefer?

Presidents CAN’T create jobs – unless he/she hires additional maids in the personal quarters at the White House. Do not let politicians fool you, sidetrack you with their language and rhetoric. Presidents DO NOT create jobs!!!

PRESIDENTS WORK WITH CONGRESS TO CREATE AN ATMOSPHERE THAT GENERATES JOBS!!! With Congress…! Think where we’d be IF Obama had the support of Republicans behind him…support they will NEVER give him!

• YOU think Democrats are going to support MORE Tax Cuts, especially FOR the wealthy?
• YOU think Democrats are going to sit back and let Republicans roll back Health Care?
• YOU think Democrats are going to SUPPORT bombing Iran?
• YOU think Democrats are going to allow Republicans to roll back Women’s Rights, Gay Rights?
• You think Democrats are going to let Republicans CLAMP DOWN on Unions?
• Really, what DO YOU think? Need I go on…

Let Detroit go Bankrupt: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/opinion/19romney.html?_r=1

You ever stop to think that if Romney was president today, Detroit would NOT be making a profit now. It is thanks to Obama that America’s Auto Industry is gearing up. Left to Romney there would have been NO bailout. The auto industry would have crashed. Think what THAT would have done to the economy when ALL the workers were laid off, all the plants closed, all the suppliers/parts makers idling, all the banks taking hits, all the cafeterias, stores, TOWNS impacted? DO YOU STOP TO THINK ABOUT THAT? The very same Romney who claims to be so astute a businessman? Bad call on his part. Makes you wonder that he would fail on something so significant…AND NOW TRYING TO TAKE THE CREDIT FOR IT!

There were two paths before us: SPEND and DON’T SPEND.

1. Republicans said “Don’t Spend”: You will expand the deficit – pushing us further into debt. DO NOT BAIL OUT THE BANKS! DO NOT BAIL OUT THE AUTO INDUSTRY! LET THEM FAIL TO TEACH THEM A LESSON! IT IS THE CAPITALIST WAY!
2. Obama and Democrats said: We HAVE to spend! We NEED to spend! Yes it will make the deficit bigger, but IF WE DON’T SPEND, IF WE DON’T PUMP MONEY INTO THE ECONOMY, even if it’s to give people jobs to paint roses on bushes, THEN THE ECONOMY WILL CRASH AND WE WILL BE WORSE OFF, MUCH worse off!

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis figures show: Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — increased at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012 (that is, from the fourth quarter to the first quarter), according to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter of 2011, real GDP increased 3.0 percent. http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm#gdp

“Socialist leader Francois Hollande beat incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy with 51.62 percent of the vote (April 2012)…as French voters expressed displeasure with Sarkozy’s austerity plan budget cuts at the voting booth despite the perception that Sarkozy was as a stronger leader…”

And Europe? You follow the news don’t you? Forget Greece. Look at France.

According to Reuters: Gross domestic product in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, rose by 0.5 percent on the quarter, bouncing back from a 0.2 percent slide in the last three months of 2011. France’s economy stagnated, although it grew slightly at the end of last year.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/15/us-eurozone-economy-idUSBRE84E0A420120515

France just threw out the AUSTERITY Belt-Tightener. Who would have thought? And voted in a spender – a BIG spender! Obama is meeting Heads of Europe’s biggest economies at Camp David before heading to Chicago for the NATO Summit – and they’re discussing what?

President Obama is likely to clash with German leader Angela Merkel at the G8 summit. Obama supports French calls for pro-growth policies in Europe. Merkel says AUSTERITY first. A worsening economy in Europe can have a negative impact on the U.S. economy…which Republicans will BLAME Obama for!

If an economically weakened, debt-laden Europe should go the German Way: continue down the road of austerity favored by German Chancellor Angela Merkel or the Obama Way: focus more on economic stimulus to help the continent grow its way out of the current crisis.

TWO DISTINCT CHOICES…

Republicans say: No Epidural! Democrats say: Nitrous Oxide, ha ha! WHICH do YOU prefer? 

If you want change, HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO. You need to REMOVE THE OBSTRUCTIONISTS in Congress (from BOTH parties). You need to elect a crop of politicians who love America MORE than they love the party machine – MORE than they adhere to ideology – MORE than they want to destroy, nay - annihilate the opposition.

If you want change, you need to repudiate the Tea Party hard-line extremists who are being elected with their NO COMPROMISE slogans – MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY attitudes. DO NOT elect Tea Party blockaders to Congress who will fight BOTH Republicans and Democrats! Send people who appreciate compromise…who will represent/embrace ALL.

You either have Democrats pushing the country in the direction they want it to go – OR Republicans pushing the country in the direction they want it to go. Unfortunately, the two parties are going in OPPOSITE directions. SO LOOK AT WHAT THE PARTIES STAND FOR – AND CHOOSE THE ONE YOU CAN LIVE WITH. But don’t expect compromise…unless you elect compromisers!

Congressional Gridlock!!!

Oh you’ll make a DIFFERENCE voting for Romney, just not a GOOD difference!

The two parties are so far apart on EVERYTHING  that unless strong, level-headed MAINSTREAM personalities emerge and wrestle a return to common sense and integrity, the result will always either be “my way” or “the high way”.

I blame Independents for digging us deeper into this deadlocked morass by voting for Republicans in 2010. 

In 2008, the nation rises up against Republicans. Americans are appalled and fed up with Republican Tax Cuts from hell, Republican war-mongering (remember how if a fly landed on some country, Republicans were pushing for an invasion?), their out of control SPENDING leading to today’s massive deficit, the negative image of America overseas, Republican hostility against people who didn’t agree with their warped assessment of “patriotism” and their arrogance and stifling of individual rights….plus a long list of scandals.

Spend baby Spend…was OK for George Bush’s wars!

Obama takes over. He inherits a ravaged economy and a RECESSION. Obama is NOT God. Republicans know he’s not God because they think Obama is a Muslim and Muslims are the anti-God in their eyes. Obama has a hostile opposition that decides on DAY ONE that ITS SOLE FOCUS IS TO STYMIE the new president AND  TO INTENTIONALLY OPPOSE HIM WITH THE AIM OF ENSURING THAT HE FAILS AND BECOMES A ONE-TERM PRESIDENT.

No matter what Obama does – Republicans OPPOSE it. But they present NO solutions of their own.

Yet still, after 2 years, with NO help from Republicans despite Obama’s wooing and dinners and White House visits and rounds of golf – Obama manages to stem the economic bleeding. Yet Independents are not satisfied. They wanted a God – or at least a Moses who would part Wall Street and send a tsunami of jobs crashing over America. So when this did not happen, especially IMMEDIATLEY, they cut the legs off Obama and gave him an even MORE hostile opposition. So NOW, we are going to get things done!!! Right…

Vote Romney and you get Romney AND his Republican baggage. 

Yep!

• The Tea Party, Tea Party politics, Tea Party face offs and government shut downs
• More Bush Tax cuts
• Keeping troops in Iraq
• Starting wars at the drop of a hat
• Suppressing Women’s Reproductive Rights
• Anti-Immigrant fervor
• Conservative Supreme Court Judges
• Protecting Big Business at all costs
• Environmental degradation
• Shoving religion into your life
• Gutting programs for the poor
• Denigrating Science
• Political/Racial divisions 
• And more…

Tax, Defense biggest slices of Deficit Pie – NOT entitlements. Republicans don’t care about truth or facts!!!

THAT’S WHAT YOU VOTE FOR — WHEN YOU VOTE FOR MITT ROMNEY….

In 2010, Americans expected that in 2 years Obama could fix an economy that the Government Accounting Office (GAO) said would take at least a decade to recover…but you wanted it to recover in 18 MONTHS? The economy is NOT a burger or a latte…you can’t drive up, place an order for jobs and pick one up at the back window in 30 seconds!

You want a world where you can control interest rates, the price of oil, the geo-political balance, the labor market, the price of raw materials…when you can’t even control your spouse and kids? Good luck. When you find the Republican who can do that, crown him emperor! Just make sure that (a) he/she has clothes (b) you are satisfied that he/she has explained HOW he/she intends to do this! And that before you drink that cool-aid, you (c) check with Russia and China! And Brazil and India…

Be SURE the Emperor has clothes!!!

Did you really expect that an economy that lost millions of jobs (that Obama did not cause, by the way) would just start humming along in 2 years? 

The Titanic sunk 100 years ago – people still have not recovered!

The U.S economy will not fully recover this year or next year either…BECAUSE THERE ARE STILL WEAKNESSES, LIKE A NEW WAVE OF FORECLOSURES. Economist said so…LISTEN! Listen to the people who KNOW what they’re talking about – not to the politicians, especially this stupid, partisan, self-serving bunch we now have.

DO NOT EXPECT America’s economy to rebound…without terrible adjustments, PAINFUL adjustments that you are NOT willing to make…but expect OTHERS to make! We could be like Greece now – but thanks to Obama, we seem to have dodged that bullet. 

Republicans forget that during the Great Depression, President Hoover, a Republican refused to act until it was too late. Hoover abhorred interference in the economy so he sat back while banks failed and closed by the thousands, millions of farms went under, hundreds of thousands of businesses failed and bread lines formed in the streets.

Republican President Herbert Hoover (1929-1933). Succeeded by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt

So says my son’s 10th grade history book. Did you know that during the Great Depression: “hundreds of teenager boys and girls ‘the wild boys’ hopped on freight trains to zig-zag the country looking for work, adventure and escape? From 1929-1939 25 thousand trespassers were killed and 27-thousand injured on railway property”.

Hoover finally caved in to pressure and signed the Federal Home Loan Act in 1932. It lowered mortgage rates for homeowners and let farmers refinance, thereby avoiding foreclosure. Does that remind you of anything Obama did…?

Hoover also set up the Reconstruction Finance Co-operation in 1932. It authorized up to 2 Billion dollars for emergency financing for banks, insurance companies, railroads and other large businesses. Does that too sound familiar – as in Stimulus?

Great Depression Breadline

Yet Republicans, either ignorant of their history or displaying a deliberate maliciousness or political amnesia - all of which are equally off-putting - castigated Obama for the “bail-out”. It’s no wonder Republicans don’t like history and seek to change it by re-writing text books. Not even History is on their side!!!

Sometimes I get so frustrated with American politics that I wish I could go to Mars. But I guess I’d meet Republicans up there too. Who else but the GOP could have caused the kind of environmental devastation on that planet?

What..? Should I care about Scientific Fact now…or TRUTH?

Desolate Mars. Yeah, Republicans caused that!

My Arizona Conspiracy: President is Alien!

 Did you see that story from Arizona where the Secretary of State is trying to appease “Birthers” in his state?

He’s petitioning Hawaii to confirm the existence of President Barack Obama’s long-form birth certificate.  

The White House released the President’s birth certificate last year, but Arizona seems determined to start a war with the planet Pluton (I’ll explain).

Arizona has been a hotbed for Obama eligibility conspiracy theories…and Ken Bennett says he ‘will consider keeping the president off the ballot if Hawaii does not answer his request’. 

 I guess in Arizona they also believe:

Obama is descended from a race of people who are part alien, part African.

UFO from Planet Pluton?

The breeding program started after the U.S. government captured a crashed UFO in the Arizona desert…and smuggled a surviving female to a top secret lab in Hawaii!

That’s why Arizonans in the know – just KNOW the President is not American! And that’s why due to national security concerns Hawaii can NEVER publish the president’s Birth Certificate. The aliens would KNOW!

The president’s real name is not Barack Hussein Obama. It is: Ba ra ckHusseinob Ama.

ckHusseinob Ama is a very common last name in the galaxy Pluton. Ama denotes royal blood.  

President Obama’s Birth Certificate. Of ALL the issues we need to talk about, should talk about…really?

Does Arizona really want to start a war with Pluton? Want them to know a royal prince is hiding here on Earth? They’re very technologically advanced…

A few of us have been there – and trust me. YOU don’t want a war with them! No bombs, no guns, no IED’s – just Zap! And you’re vapor!

If I was Bennett, I’d watch Star Wars again. THE TRUTH IS HIDDEN IN THERE!

Washington Post Story

More Republican Hypocrisy: Solindra and Schilling…

Does the name Solyndra - mean anything to you?

Solar panels

It’s the California Solar Company that got huge government subsidies (a 535 million-dollar loan guarantee) from Stimulus Funds in 2009. Solyndra went bankrupt in 2011 and laid off about 11-hundred employees.

President Obama praised the solar panel maker as a model of Green Energy and when it failed, “The Party of NO” started thumping their chests!

Republicans roared:

Florida Representative Cliff Stearns, head of the subcommittee on oversight and investigations for the Energy and Commerce committee said: “In an apparent rush to push stimulus dollars out the door, the Obama Administration wasted $535 million in taxpayer funds in guaranteeing a loan to a firm that has proven to be unviable in the global market.”*

Republican members of the committee churned out a subpoena to get documents from the Office of Management and Budget over the Department of Energy loan.

According to a Forbes article, only this week, Republicans tried to create another Solyndra-type furor over two other solar companies: Bright source Energy (apparently used insiders to get its loan guarantees) and First Solar (whose CEO cashed nearly half-a-million-dollars of his shares while taking public money).

Ohio Republican, Jim Jordan. OUTRAGED over solar companies mismanagement…

Republicans scheduled a hearing of a subcommittee of the Committee on Government Oversight and Reform that oversees the stimulus program. Subcommittee chair, Republican Jim Jordan of Ohio opened the hearing with a withering attack on clean tech companies that seek government assistance.

Republicans DON’T like Clean Energy. The very same subsidies they decry for Solar companies they champion and embrace for big oil, gas and coal companies! Maybe solar companies don’t have deep enough pockets – or lobbyists – or PAC’s – who can fund GOP campaigns and travel?

Fast Forward to this week…

To Curt Schilling.

Name mean anything to you?

He’s a former ace pitcher for the Boston Red Sox who helped the team break its cursed losing streak…in 2004.

Schilling, whom many consider to be a jerk, developed near cult status in Boston. Until he moved from sports icon to political champion – and started campaigning for John McCain! Before you know it, people are speculating about “Curt Schilling for Senate” to fill Ted Kennedy’s vacant seat…

We escaped a Senator Schilling, thank goodness!

Curt Schilling: Pitcher, politician, entrepreneur….

Mr. Schilling started a Video Game company: 38 Studios in 2006. Being a Republican, and seeing that they’re ALL born holding a copy of NAFTA rules and regulations (they being natural businessmen) His 38-ness declared: “I understand one thing, that’s big business, and big business is what we’ve allowed to take over in far too many places and in far too many areas that the people need to take back” and he proceeded to do that by establishing a small business.

Mr. Schilling then decided that he needed government subsidies – taxpayer subsidies (like those the department of Energy gave to Solyndra) for his company and decided to play a game of  “my ego or yours” with lawmakers.

President Obama…with best buddy, MA Governor Deval Patrick (Democrat)

In 2010, he threatened to move his 4-year-old company to neighboring Rhode Island. The Ocean State was offering Schilling’s company $75 million in loan guarantees. Schilling pledged to bring 450 new jobs to Rhode Island over the next three years. He of course preferred to STAY in liberal Massachusetts but would Massachusetts play ball?

Schilling loaded the bases, confident in his ability to throw a strike. Massachusetts lawmakers told him to: walk!

Have I mentioned that our governor Deval Patrick is a loyal Obama friend and colleague, who, like the president, is also from Chicago?

• Did I say that Curt Schilling supported Republican Charlie Baker (against Deval Patrick) for governor in 2010?
• And that Schilling contributed to Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin in their 2008 presidential bid against Obama?

Naturally none of that factored into any decisions…of course.

Greg Bialecki, Massachusetts secretary of housing and economic development, said: Schilling apparently hoped his discussions with Rhode Island officials would goad Massachusetts into making him a better offer. Although Bialecki said he had discussed possible tax breaks with Schilling earlier this year, in the end Massachusetts was unwilling to offer such a big incentive package to one company.

Schilling took off, went to Rhode Island…with the following conditions:

• 38 Studios must pay $8 million in annual fees to the economic development agency over the 10-year life of the loan.
• The company must create 450 new jobs in stages over three years
• 38 Studios pays a penalty of $7,500 per year for each job it fails to create on schedule.
• The company must pay Rhode Island an annual ‘guaranty fee’ each May.

In addition:

• Loan comes from lending institutions, not the state, BUT Rhode Island taxpayers are stuck with the unpaid balance of the loan if 38 Studios fails.
• The state gets first rights to all of the company’s collateral, including intellectual property rights to any 38 Studios games. (The company unveiled its much-anticipated first game: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning in February.)
• Rhode Island can use that to recover money if the company can’t repay the loans.

Rick Gorka, a spokesman for the campaign of Massachusetts Republican Charles D. Baker, said Schilling’s departure was an example of a “toxic business climate’’ created by Democratic incumbent Governor Deval Patrick. (No wonder Baker lost, with advice like that!)

Free from the weight of Mr. Schilling’s ego, Massachusetts bounced back. The latest unemployment figures (May 17) put the Bay State’s unemployment rate at 6.3 percent last month (April 2012).

And Schilling? Well, this week his company was unable to pay workers Thursday (May 17/2012) and the check for this year’s 1.25 million-dollar guaranty payment to Rhode Island, due this month, bounced.

Bureau of labor Statistics figures put Rhode Island’s unemployment rate in March 2012 at: 11.1 percent. Massachusetts was: 6.5 percent.

• In 2009: Rhode Island’s unemployment rate (civilian non-institutional population) was at: 10.8 percent. In 2010 it was: 11.6 percent. Massachusetts was: 8.2 and 8.5 percent.

Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee. (Republican turned Independent in 2007)

Back then when Schilling decided to move his company to Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee – running for governor of Rhode Island as an independent – described Curt Schilling as: “I just remember his own teammates didn’t like him…they thought he was a bit of a salesman…”

Chafee said more, but I am first and foremost a Red Sox fan. Yes. Still!

So where are the Republicans?

Any calls for an investigation?

Any subpoena here to examine the agreement with a “firm that has proven to be unviable in the global market”?*

Solyndra’s loan is much bigger and worthy of investigation…

But Schilling?

Like he said back then: “Any responsible entrepreneur exhausts every avenue of potential funding when running a start-up company; we’re no different.’’ He had a responsibility to his 180 employees to explore every option to make 38 Studios a success.

Listen up, Solyndra – when the Department of Energy dangled those millions in front of you, you did what? Exhausted an avenue of potential funding! Exhaust indeed…

In February 2011, Mr. Schilling said: “There can be no question our country is in the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. I also think there can be no question that it falls on us, the individuals, to find a way out of our own personal crisis.”

Well now – find your way, Mr. Schilling – or maybe it’s easier to TALK, huh, especially when we have NO idea what the heck we’re talking about – as in the usual Republican style!

Background Boston Globe.

Mitt Romney Debt Speech Ignores Key Facts

He can’t divide either!

Romney says: “The people of Iowa and America have watched President Obama for nearly four years, much of that time with Congress controlled by his own party.”

NO, No, no…Senator Romney (oops, he was never senator – Ted Kennedy beat him, but I forget things too!) your party (that would be the GOP, Mr. Romney!) took over the House in 2008.

The Republican Party gained 63 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, recapturing the majority…during the mid-term elections.

4 years divided by midterm (2 years) = 2 years of REPUBLICAN control of the House. That is WHY John Boehner is Speaker, Mr. Romney.

2 Years controlled by Democrats and 2 years controlled by Republicans. A Democrat Senate and A Republican ‘nay-saying’ House do not make for “control of Congress!”

When two things are equally equal, Mr. Romney, neither one is “more”.

Just so you know!
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Politics, Perception and John Edwards…

By now everybody who reads my blog should know that I’s in love with President Obama…and won’t even date Mitt Romney.

But while I use sarcasm to tear into republicans like Romney and Speaker John Boehner, I hope I never cross the line with the language I use to describe them personally. I don’t like Romney and republicans from a philosophical point of view. I don’t like their positions, I don’t like their ideology – so that colors the way I see them (much like the way the Right’s views of Obama color THEIR opinions about him).

But the language some people, on BOTH sides, use to discuss the other side makes me cringe…

Do you ever read the Comments Section where readers respond to a story? You should. Some of us appear to have little grasp of reality, are ruled/blinded by ideology and reuse to accept any other point of view but our own – even if the premise it’s built on is false.

The comments section will give you an idea how some people in this country think and how ill-informed some of us are, thinking that because we believe something IT IS TRUE. Nothing is more pathetic – to believe a lie because we are either too ideological or too ignorant to believe the TRUTH, especially if it is a truth that does not fit into our acceptance of what we want the truth to be.

Obama haters see NO good in him. He’s as black as his skin color…blacker!

Romney’s haters see ONLY bad in him. No amount of white can wash away his sins…

What are we doing? How do we see one person as “do no wrong” and the other as “be all wrong?”.

When we have this mindset determining and/or influencing the direction of a country – we’re all doomed!

I don’t agree with most Republican’s solutions to the problems facing America or the direction that America needs to go. I don’t believe TAX CUTS are the only answer or MORE WARS are the answer or TORTURE is the answer or DESTROYING THE ENVIRONMENT to benefit capitalism is the answer or that THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD LEGISLATE/CONTROL MY REPRODUCTIVE OR SEXUAL CHOICES, etc. But that does not mean that because someone takes those positions or rejects them, HE/SHE is bad.

I have NO personal attacks to make against politicians. I know little of these men’s/women’s personal lives. I guess they are abusing their families about the same as we are. I guess some of them are having affairs, forgetting important dates, probably can’t stand each other but are putting on public faces; some are very happy, some are not so happy; some are satisfied with their lives, some are not so satisfied; some have great kids, some have kids with issues.

Candidate John Edwards, with wife Elizabeth Edwards (red coat, now deceased) and kids during 2008 campaign for president.

Some like me probably think sometimes: “the only thing preventing me from pushing that child through the window is DSS!” (Department of Social Services). I’m not looking for a perfect candidate – there is NO such thing. The president is the Commander-in-chief NOT the Pastor-in-Chief! If I want a cleric as my political leader, issuing fatwas and telling me how to dress – I guess I can always move to Saudi Arabia or Iran.

Take John Edwards. He is merely opening a window and giving us a peek into the politics of ambition. Even as you read this, there are millions of male and female “John Edwards” plotting, scheming and campaigning to advance themselves and their political or OTHER careers. People planning to release information that will destroy an opponent, people planning to sleep their way to the top – regardless of whether the person they plan to sleep with is married or not – and they don’t give a hoot whom they trample on or destroy in the process…

Former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. Ambition paid off for THEM! Hilary Clinton is the most popular woman in America, possibly the world! Love them/her!

I see parallels with the Clinton’s. John Edwards AND HIS WIFE (we keep forgetting or intentionally omitting that Elizabeth Edwards was equally as ambitious and as vested in her husband’s AMBITION and possibly MORE so. Where is the media?)  except his wife had cancer and his wife died. If Elizabeth Edwards was alive, hale and well this would be a different story.

Newt Gingrich reportedly asked his first wife (he is on his third wife) for a divorce while she was recuperating in hospital from cancer treatments – and he was running for president while Edwards is being dismembered in court. Adultery is NOT a state/federal crime. Well, not yet…but as soon as we get a religious government, it will!

At least Mrs. Edwards had a beautiful home, the resources to get the best care and to make her life easier. There are millions of women whose husbands cheat and DO NOT TRY TO HIDE IT. They rub it in their wives faces, treat the wives like dirt and many of those wives have no car, no big house, no money, no support system and not even enough self-esteem to escape. Those wives are going through hell. Does anybody care? Or do we think that ONLY Elizabeth had to deal with a cheating spouse who had a baby with another woman – only Mrs. Edwards can lay claim to emotional outbursts? You want baby drama? Watch Jerry Springer (don’t really!). Oh yes, there are lots and lots of poor Elizabeth Edwards – and some rich ones too!

SO THE ONLY THING I’M INTERESTED IN IS THIS: Did John Edwards KNOWINGLY shift CAMPAIGN money around to COVER his affair? Whether it was to keep it from his wife or to keep it from America or to keep it from both is irrelevant to me (except protecting his wife comes off as more caring). The rest of it? Just another day in the life of an ambitious whatever…

So therefore, when this morning a pro-Obama PAC’s anti-Romney ad featuring Romney’s old company Boston-based Bain Capital came on, I switched channels. I don’t like this ad. Something about it makes me cringe. Part of Bain Capital deals with Private Equity and Leverage Buyouts. THAT IS WHAT THESE COMPANIES DO. Call Leverage Buyouts the IMF of Wall Street, the Raiders of the Lost Ark. They move in, restructure, reorganize, pick the meat and leave the bones and many times there is blood. And the blood usually pools at the bottom…

These companies I guess are like vultures – ugly, unloved birds but necessary perhaps (I guess. I don’t know much about Wall Street dealings) to keep capitalism in balance. My issue with Romney over Bain is NOT Bain per se – it’s Romney’s refusal to say that he also LOST jobs while touting that he CREATED  jobs. Bain is just a vessel. Any big company CEO is in the same boat. You open a new factory – you create jobs. You close another factory, you lose jobs. Don’t only say: I opened a new factory so I created jobs in Iowa – when you just closed a factory in Wisconsin!

Psst…president Obama!!!

If I was advising president Obama I’d tell him:

• Pull this ad. Right church, wrong pew. Rework it to reflect on Romney’s truthfulness. I’ve had enough with the fright…
• You had 4 years to win this election. This reminds me of the Red Sox. Spend the entire season eating chicken in the dugout – and then making a bid in the last inning with the bases loaded and one more strike. Sometimes you get the strike! Sometimes you get a walk! How lucky are you?…’Cause it’s almost too late to play ball!
• Go after Romney’s record. It’s SO shabby even Scott Brown, the Massachusetts republican wonder-by who won Ted Kennedy’s seat is running so far away from Romney (who used to be governor of Brown’s sate when Brown was in the Massachusetts senate) that the Boston Globe ran a story about it in their May 13 Sunday issue: “Between Brown, Romney, support but little chemistry: As senator tacked to center ex-governor wooed the right”
• Should you win again, President Obama, surround yourself with a DIFFERENT cast.
• LISTEN to Michelle. And Sasha and Malia too, for out of the mouth of babes…
• Wall Street types are not the only arbiters of truisms or wisdom there are! Some economists are investors, I’m sure – but not all investors are economists!

I’m just sayin’. I know you won’t listen to ordinary people like me! What do we know, we the ordinary people who DO NOT pay less taxes than our secretaries? Heck, we don’t have SECRETARIES! Matter of fact WE are the Secretaries. Did I ask what do secretaries know?

Secretaries, Mr. President, know EVERYTHING about their bosses. Who calls them, who they’re messing with, who’s blackmailing them, when they travel, where they go, whom they talk too. Oh yes, Mr. President, secretaries know! They may not have 20-million to buy shares in Google, but secretaries aint stupid!

By the way – I’m sitting here watching the President stroll onto “The View” (ABC) and soppy idiot that I am…I’m smiling from ear to ear. The audience likes him too! That man is likable. Stayed home deliberately to watch…

Photos: Google

PS: I post new articles Monday, Wednesday and Friday – unless there’s a major breaking story! It takes a lot of time/effort because I research, research, research!