Romneys tax plan "He wont say."

The Obama campaign has come out with a great new ad hitting Romney about his tax returns, as well as his lack of transparency regarding his tax plan.

This Obama ad, called "He wont say" is actually the kind of ammunition the Obama campaign should be using to defeat Romney's presidential bid. Obama has been running the kind of campaign that has pulling no punches, which is great.

Liberals have had a long history of trying to be the better man, but no where does it say that being the better man doesn't involve swinging the sledgehammer of truth. I don't think anyone can deny that Romney has been waging a really dirty campaign. With ads that blatantly lie, such as the famous Welfare ad which is a huge distortion of a law president Obama had signed granting waivers that allow states to come up with new ways to increase employment, but only if they have a 20% increase in employment.

But facts never get in the way of a good lie.

Even more brazen is the way in which the Romney campaign doubles down on lies. Even so far as to say that "We will not be dictated by fact-checkers"

So let's contrast a bit here. Obama releases ads that are honest, if not a little unfair sometimes.

But Romney, not only releases completely false attacks, but when fact checkers point out his hypocrisy, he yells Liberal media bias and then doubles down.

And then there's the issue of Romney's tax returns, which he still refuses to release. Just the fact that we know more about the Higgs Boson particle then Mitts taxes is a little bit disturbing. There's a reason that he is hiding his returns, or more than one.

I think that if you're running to be President, we should have transparency, we should know what he does with his money. If he really believes a businessman should be a president, then why not follow the same standards as a business does when hiring someone new. Releasing tax returns is like the presidential version of a credit check, or even a criminal background check. It's also a measure of patriotism, someone who doesn't even believe in America enough to store his money here is not a patriot in my opinion.

Which leads me to say that Mitt doesn't care about helping Americans, he only cares about himself. His tax plan, which doesn't even add up unless you completely decimate the poor and middle classes, is all about using his position to enrich himself further.

We can only speculate on his plans because just like his Tax returns he is simply not giving any details about which deductions he'll eliminate to give those massive tax cuts for himself.

Just like a vulture he plans to let the Paul Ryan budget kill the middle class and then feast on the corpse with tax cuts that shift the burden to everyone but the super rich.

The man makes me sick.

The 2012 RNC: Whitest Convention Ever

The Republican National Convention is now in full swing in Tampa, despite hurricane Isaac that threatened to drench the area.

Upon watching the coverage of the convention I was struck by quite a site. An elaborate stage fully equipped with a debt clock and adorned with a sign that says "We built that." A dig of course at our President and his statement that was taken out of context, spun by the right wing media, and thrown back in his face.

Charming.

Another thing that I noticed was in the crowd, it was a sea of white. There were also no black speakers, no black staff, just white...everywhere. Except a for a  poor camerawoman that was attacked.

There's a good explanation for that of course, the purpose of the convention being to formally nominate Mitt Romney who currently enjoys 0% of the black vote. That's right, zero percent. Nada, None.

So why attend a convention for a guy you obviously do not like?

There's a bigger problem here than just that. Romney wasn't even going for the black vote, automatically assuming that they will vote for Obama just because he is black. That's one reason African Americans are turned off by the Romney campaign and the Republican party in general, but there are many others.

The big part is the makeup of the party leadership. There are very few African Americans in leading roles. Yes I know about Michael Steele, who was former head of the RNC, and Herman Cain. There are actually a fair but small number of black Republicans, just not in leadership positions.

A good bet is because of the rhetoric we have been hearing, coming from the likes of Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and some of the dishonest racially charged ads from the Romney campaign and super-Pac ads.

Santorum's famed blah people gaffe, is a great example of Republican politicians being too honest about how they really feel. He says that he wasn't going to say black but what other word would he have been trying to say? When you really think it about there's really nothing within that context he could have been trying to say that caused him to get tripped up.

Newt Gingrich also attacks President Obama with a racially charged attack by dubbing him the "Food Stamp President." The motivation behind this attack fits into the narrative that food stamps go to mostly lazy black people, which simply isn't true. There are simply more white people on food stamps than blacks, and not because either of us are lazy mind you, but because of the whole recession that nearly destroyed our economy. According to a recent report  the need for food assistance has increased 76% since the start of the great recession. A byproduct of millions of people losing their jobs.

Then there's the welfare ad, an homage back to the Welfare queen attacks by Ronald Reagan back in the 80's. Which is of course has been proven a blatant lie by every fact checker out there. Nonetheless the red meat thrown out there by the Republican establishment this election is just a continuation of the southern strategy that has worked well for the last 40 years.

We also have to take into account Romney's religion of Mormonism. Mormons believe that being black is a curse from god for Cains defiance. That the "Lamanites" (Sons of Cain) are not equal to that of white people. So one has to wonder if Romney himself believes that or not.

Now after saying all these things I have to keep it real. I know that not all White Republicans (& Mormons) are racist, I know that there are African Americans that believe in small government conservatism. I'm just pointing out how the current Republican racial dynamic is slanted towards trying to secure the racist white vote. This strategy is not only detestable, but it excludes an ever growing part of the population that would otherwise vote Republican.

There's one last thing I want to point out. How the demographics of the nation are changing.Which means white people will begin to become a minority in this country. I for one welcome diversity. We're all human beings after all. But unless the Republican Party finally abandons its racist southern strategy and begins to bring more diversity into the party,  the Republican party will become a minority party.

The Bain Files: a look into Mitt Romney

Before I start, I want to give full credit to the guys at Gawker for digging up this story. It's an amazing piece that shows just how the wealthy shield their money from U.S. taxes so that they pay more, and we pay less.

For weeks the media has been asking to see Mitt Romney's tax returns, to see just where he stores his vast wealth from U.S. taxation and as a result of that, just how much he actually paid in taxes compared to those who would be voting for him.

Although the Romney's have consistently said no to "You people" when it comes to the state of their finances;  citing that whatever they release is so bad that it will just give the Obama campaign more ammunition to use against them, despite that fear, just the fact that they will not even provide transparency has led to many people into speculating about what Mitt is actually hiding; if anything.

Just so happens it seems to be worse for him than any of us realized.

There is so much information in those Bain files and I can admit that it is too much for me to sit down and read at one time, I am not a tax guy, but I know a fraud when I see it.

I also happen to know a little thing about hypocrisy.

But what really has struck me is the fact that his investments in the Caymans were strictly made to avoid U.S. taxes.

"The Partnership is a qualified intermediary and intends to conduct it operations so that it will not be engaged in a United States trade or business and, therefore, will not be subject to United States federal income or withholding tax on its income from United States sources.... Under the current laws of the Cayman Islands, there are no income, estate, transfer, sales, or other Cayman Islands taxes payable by the Partnership." 

How can Romney make the case that he wants to invest in America and help American business when his businesses are all based in shell corporations that go out of their way to avoid U.S. taxes?

Another way Mitt has avoided paying taxes is using something called an Equity Swap, essentially an agreement to transfer the losses and gains on a particular asset or set of assets without actually transferring ownership. These help offshore hedge funds avoid paying taxes by disguising who owns the stock in order to help clients avoid a withholding tax. 

Like I said, I don't quite get how it works, but it's already seems pretty sketchy. 

So how is all this stuff actually relevant? 

This shows the type of character that Mitt Romney is, a ruthless businessman that does everything in his power to make every last penny. He's calculating, cold and efficient. He's willing to invest in things that he publicly opposes, like cigarette companies and casinos, and even a company that disposes of aborted fetuses.

So much for Pro-life.

All of this shows that Mitt Romney is as moral as the corporations he owns, not intrinsically good, not completely bad, but amoral. As Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks always says. Corporations are amoral machines, their only purpose is to make as much money as possible. So to is Romney, only out to make the most money the best way he can, and the only thing left for him to do in order to maximize profit, is to become president and ensure taxes on himself and his businesses are the lowest possible. He is the embodiment of the corporation.

So when you think about the election and where Mitt Romney's real motives lie you have to realize two things. It's not about leadership, it's not about America. 

It's about money.

In case you missed it you can find the Gawker Article here.

GOP War on Women continues

If anything shows how little, old white guys know about the struggles of women in America, it's this asshole. Todd Akin.

Twitter has exploded today from Akins apparent "gaffe" where he said "“First of all, from what I understand from doctors, (pregnancy from rape) is really rare, If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Wow, how ignorant is this guy?

This little gem came from a discussion on KTVI-TV where Mr. Akin had been explaining his no exception policy on abortion. Yep, another one of these pro-family idiots who think that making women bear rape babies as well as banning contraception will help America become great again.

This is idiotic. The GOP says they are pro-life and pro-family, but they pass policies that hurt families, and demonize single mothers trying to raise the children they chose not to abort. Which is it GOP? Would you rather those single mothers abort their kids or support programs that prevent pregnancy, or in the event of it happening, aid for the child in the form of food stamps and welfare programs that keep those kids out of poverty.

Forcing a woman to have the rapists baby is a punishment for the woman, and for the unborn child too. I couldn't imagine growing up knowing my father was a monster, and that my mother never wanted me. It's such a complicated situation and it shouldn't be the choice of the state whether or not she should have that baby. This is big government at its worst.

How the people could have ever elect this Tea Party dick bag is something I cannot ever fathom.

It just seems like the GOP only cares about children while they're in the womb. Fertilized eggs are people, corporations are people, but women are not. What woman could ever vote for these misogynists?

Thankfully many women are taking notice, and even choosing president Obama over Mitt Romney in polls taken, they know what is at stake, their freedom of choice and control over their own bodies is on the line. I may not like abortion, hell I don't know any Liberal who does, but it is and should stay a legal, safe choice especially under the circumstances of rape and incest.

Because when you take a woman's right to make decisions for her own body, you take away her freedom, and her dignity. And that alone is worth fighting to protect.

*Addition*

So Akin immediately came out with a back-pedal of his legitimate rape comment, but I'm thinking the damage has already been done to this guys prospect for election. He'll be running against Claire McCaskill for the Missouri Senate seat in November, if he doesn't bow out that is. I'd actually like him for him to run, because he'll most likely lose, and lose hard, and if he somehow wins then well...Missouri apparently will deserve the misery this guy will bring. Sorry guys, but if you let these people in by staying home...

This is why it's so important to get out and vote, especially with so much on the line. We cannot let another year like 2010 happen where these TeaParty extremists can get in and bring our women back to 1850.

Another awesome fact about Akin is that apparently he's worked with now VP Paul Ryan to redefine rape, making this election even more crucial.

The thing is, that Akin is not a minority in the GOP, at least according to Democrat of California Jackie Speier. She's pretty sure that most Republicans think the same way as Todd Akin and Paul Ryan; that abortion should be illegal no matter the circumstance.

It's this anti-choice attitude in the Republican party that has led to extreme bills like the personhood bill, saying that a fertilized egg is a person with full constitutional rights, and that abortion is murder and so is emergency hormonal contraception. They also feel normal hormonal contraception should be banned as well as the IUD. The effects of these bills if passed would throw women back into the home as they would no longer have the freedom to choose when they want to have families, it throws up barriers to work and essentially puts them back into the home, "barefoot and pregnant", just what some of the good ol' boys want.

I cannot stress how important it will be to vote, even if you don't like the other person, just remember, it could be worse. You could end up with Todd Akin