Romney Retired Retroactively From Bain

July 15, 2012 — Ron Chusid

The biggest problem for Mitt Romney is that every time he or his surrogates open their mouths it only digs the hole a little deeper. An “explanation” of the discrepancy in date in which Romney left Bain Capital based upon a claim that he “retired retroactively” his did not help Romney:

“There may have been a thought at the time that it could be part time, but it was not part time,” Gillespie said.

“He took a leave of absence and in fact he ended up not going back at all, and retired retroactively to 1999 as a result,” he added. “He left a life he loved to go to Salt Lake City and help a country he loves more, and somehow Chicago… is trying to make it something sinister.”

I believe that retiring retroactively is something like shaking away his position at Bain on an Etch-A-Sketch. Retiring retroactively probably does make sense to someone like Romney who has practiced baptizing the dead.

George Bush is kicking himself for never thinking to say he quit the Air National Guard retroactively.

In other bad news for Romney, numerous conservative politicians and pundits (including Bill Kristol, George Will and Matthew Dowd) are calling on him to release his income tax returns. There is speculation that John McCain might have chosen Sarah Palin after seeing what is in Romney’s tax returns. We don’t know if there is anything criminal in those old returns. My bet is that, at very least, they will show a pattern of tax avoidance which resulted in a tax rate far closer to zero than the 15 percent he has admitted to.

Barack Obama continues to refuse to a apologize to Mitt Romney for telling the truth about him.

Posted in Barack Obama, George Bush, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin. Tags: , , , , . No Comments »

Question of the Day

July 14, 2012 — Ron Chusid

Is Barack Obama being unfair to Mitt Romney by refusing to apologize for telling the truth?

Posted in Barack Obama, Mitt Romney. Tags: , . 1 Comment »

Team Obama Playing “Whack A Mitt” With Video Responses To Romney Lies and Whining

July 14, 2012 — Ron Chusid

Although Mitt Romney is whining about attacks from Obama and appearing all over television (unfortunately without any more tax returns), the Obama team is hitting Romney hard this weekend. There’s the ad above, The ad hits Romney hard on his out-sourcing and tax shelters, but I think the background message is just as strong: Romney’s a goofy guy who sees a point in singing the America the Beautiful and other patriotic songs out of tune at campaign rallies.

This ad hits Romney for his Bain Capital lies.

And here is Obama’s response to Romney asking for an apology–a video showing what a dishonest hypocrite Romney really is. Even Newt Gingrich agrees. It is a great video, but it might have been better if it briefly debunked the long string of lies about Obama which make up Romney’s stump speech. I imagine that its producers believe that Romney’s lies are so outrageous nobody who has not been brainwashed by Fox will believe them. Ending with Newt pointing out what a liar Romney is makes the point.

Posted in Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich. Tags: , , . 2 Comments »

Question of the Day

July 13, 2012 — Ron Chusid

Which is more absurd–pathological liar Mitt Romney accusing Obama of lying for raising confirmed facts about Romney’s record at Bain, or Sarah Palin calling Nancy Pelosi (or anyone else) a dingbat earlier this month?

Posted in Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin. Tags: , . 3 Comments »

Mitt Romney on Blind Trusts

July 12, 2012 — Ron Chusid

“The blind trust is an age-old ruse.” –Mitt Romney, 1994

Posted in Mitt Romney. Tags: . 2 Comments »

Romney Again Caught Lying On Day He Falsely Accused Obama Of Lying

July 12, 2012 — Ron Chusid

Mitt Romney is running a new ad accusing Barack Obama of lying about out-sourcing. For Mitt Romney these are the worst sort of “lies” about him–statements which are actually true. Ironically it is a day in which yet more evidence on Romney’s dishonesty about his past came out. We already had ample evidence that Mitt Romney not only was involved in out-sourcing, but was a pioneer in the practice. While Mitt Romney’s ad claims, “There was no ‘evidence’ that Mitt Romney shipped jobs overseas,” David Corn added to the massive body of evidence against Romney, posting a story on how Romney Invested Millions in Chinese Firm That Profited on US Outsourcing. This seems to be a rather foolish ad for Romney to run as any of the known examples of Romney out-sourcing jobs would show that he is the one lying in this ad.

Beyond buying ads with false claims about himself and falsely accusing Obama of lying, Romney tries to avoid responsibility for his acts at Bain by claiming he left the company in 1999, before many of the actions which Bain has been criticized for took place. Romney’s credibility was further destroyed today when The Boston Globe ran a story showing that Romney remained in charge of Bain for an additional three years:

Government documents filed by Mitt Romney and Bain Capital say Romney remained chief executive and chairman of the firm three years beyond the date he said he ceded control, even creating five new investment partnerships during that time.

Romney has said he left Bain in 1999 to lead the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, ending his role in the company. But public Securities and Exchange Commission documents filed later by Bain Capital state he remained the firm’s “sole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president.”

Also, a Massachusetts financial disclosure form Romney filed in 2003 states that he still owned 100 percent of Bain Capital in 2002. And Romney’s state financial disclosure forms indicate he earned at least $100,000 as a Bain “executive” in 2001 and 2002, separate from investment earnings.

The timing of Romney’s departure from Bain is a key point of contention because he has said his resignation in February 1999 meant he was not responsible for Bain Capital companies that went bankrupt or laid off workers after that date.

As a writer at  Business Insider wrote, “Sorry, Mitt Romney, You Can’t Be Chairman, CEO, And President Of A Company And Not Be Responsible For What It Does…”

If we accept what is in the information submitted to the SEC, then Romney has been lying about when he left Bain, and as chairman, CEO, and President of Bain he was ultimately responsible for its actions. Claims he was chairman, CEO and President but unaware of Bane’s actions would raise serious questions about Romney’s competence as a businessman, his main argument to vote for him. On the other hand, if the information in the SEC filings was not correct, then Mitt Romney may have committed a felony.

Posted in Mitt Romney. Tags: . 14 Comments »

Taxes Fall To Thirty Year Low Under Obama

July 11, 2012 — Ron Chusid

The right wing has been spreading many falsehoods about Obama, such as that he is a Muslim, he was born outside the United States, he is responsible for huge increases in the deficit, and that he has been raising taxes. All of these are false. The first two are outright lies, the increase in the deficit is a consequence of policies during the Bush years, and Obama has cut taxes since taking office. The Washington Post reports on the decreased tax burden under Obama:

Americans paid the lowest tax rates in 30 years to the federal government in 2009, in part because of tax cuts President Obama sought to combat the Great Recession, congressional budget analysts said Tuesday.

A sharp decline in income — especially among the wealthiest Americans, who pay the highest tax rates — also played a role, according to the report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Household income fell 12 percent on average from 2007 to 2009, with income among the top 1 percent of earners decreasing by more than a third.

Still, at the very moment anti-tax protesters were emerging as the most powerful force in American politics, handing Republicans landslide control of the U.S. House, the data show that people were sending the smallest portion of their income to the federal government since 1979.

During Obama’s first year in office, the average tax rate paid by all households fell to 17.4 percent, down from 19.9 percent in 2007, according to the CBO. The 2009 rate was significantly lower than the previous low of 19.4 percent in 2003 and well below the 30-year average of 21 percent.

The tax burden — which includes all forms of federal levies, including income, payroll and corporate taxes — lightened for households across the board, the result in part of Obama’s signature “Making Work Pay” tax credit and other tax cuts passed as part of the 2009 economic stimulus package, the CBO said.

The lowest fifth of earners benefited the most, sending just 1 percent of their before-tax income to the federal government in 2009, compared with 5.1 percent in 2007. The top fifth of earners paid 23.2 percent, compared with 24.7 percent in 2007.

The average federal income tax rate also reached a new low, settling at 7.2 percent in 2009 — two points lower than in 2007, the CBO said. Although detailed data are available only through 2009, the CBO said more recent estimates suggest that effective tax rates remained at historically low levels in 2010 and 2011.

“However much Republicans try to perpetuate false claims, the facts speak for themselves: Tax rates have never been lower than under President Obama,” said Rep. Sander M. Levin (Mich.), the senior Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over taxes.

Even with Obama’s proposal to repeal the Bush tax cut on taxable income over $250,000 per year, only about two percent of the country will face higher taxes (and this will be a very small tax increase for most). Republican claims of higher taxes under the Affordable Care Act are also false. In contrast, the Republican plan supported by Mitt Romney will result in higher taxes for the middle class.

 

Posted in Barack Obama, Economy, Mitt Romney. Tags: , , . 2 Comments »

Quote of the Day

July 7, 2012 — Ron Chusid

“A group of gay Republicans called GOProud has endorsed Mitt Romney. There was some confusion. When they heard Romney had a reputation for going either way, they didn’t know that meant flip-flopping.” –Jay Leno

Posted in Humor and Satire, Mitt Romney, Television. Tags: , . No Comments »

Picture of the Day: Romney Factory Tour

July 6, 2012 — Ron Chusid

Posted in Economy, Humor and Satire, Mitt Romney. Tags: . 1 Comment »

Despite GOP Scare Tactics, Most People Will Not Pay More In Taxes Under Affordable Care Act

July 5, 2012 — Ron Chusid

Mitt Romney might not be able to decide if the mandate is a tax or penalty, but for the most part Republicans are resorting to false claims about taxes in the Affordable Care Act to continue to scare and mislead voters.  The tax penalty in the mandate only affects two percent of the population, and overall the ACA is certainly not the largest tax increase in history as conservatives claim. It is far less than the Reagan tax increase of 1982, and few will actually wind up paying more in taxes.

Overall, Obama’s health-care law will increase federal revenues as a portion of gross domestic product. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the law will reduce federal deficits by a relatively small amount—$210 billion, by 2021.

Here’s a nice chart from Ezra Klein which breaks down how the tax increases in Obamacare stack up against tax hikes passed by previous administrations. You can see that Obama’s tax increase will bring in less revenue as a portion of GDP than the tax increases put in place by presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, or Ronald Reagan.

Lots of different tax hikes are tucked into the Affordable Care Act. If you’re a tanning salon, a medical device maker, a pharmaceutical company, a small business owner who doesn’t want to provide health insurance coverage to your employees, or an individual who refuses coverage, you’re going to have to cough up more money to the IRS in the form of penalties, fees, and yes, taxes. Individuals earning $200,000 or above and couples earning at least $250,000 will pay a 0.9% Medicare surtax and a 3.8% surtax on investment income. Some of these taxes—such as the 2.3 percent excise tax on the sale of medical devices—could be passed along to consumers.

If you’re just about anyone else, the health-care law is likely to be a net plus. People who earn up to 133 percent of the poverty line will become eligible for Medicaid. Families earning up to 400 percent of the poverty line—about $100,000—also get lots of subsidies for insurance on state-run exchanges whose goal is to bring down the cost of care.

Republicans such as House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) have been particularly keen on bringing up small business, arguing that Obamacare amounts to a tax hike for them. If you’re a business with up to 25 employees, you’re also going to get a big tax credit to help with your employees’ health-care bill. After 2014, that credit will cover up to 50 percent of employer contributions.

Taken together, claims that Obamacare amounts to the largest tax hike in the entire history of humanity—or even the last 20 years—don’t add up.

The Affordable Care Act is especially beneficial in promoting small business. A small percentage of small business owners make enough to be subject to the higher taxes while many will receive tax breaks to provide coverage for employees. This will help small businesses compete for employees, being able to offer coverage comparable to larger companies, along with helping business owners. Having health insurance become portable will also allow more people to leave larger companies to either work for small businesses or start businesses of their own.

Posted in Economy, Health Care, Mitt Romney. Tags: , , , . 12 Comments »

Obama and Affordable Care Act Up In Polls

July 3, 2012 — Ron Chusid

It is a long way to the election and current polls are of limited meaning, but I wonder if Mitt Romney was unable to improve in the polls the last couple of months if he will ever be able to move ahead of Obama. The latest Gallup tracking poll shows Obama to now be leading by five points. Obama continues to lead in the battle ground states.

Despite the claims of some pundits that the Supreme Court decision would be win-win for Romney, we are not seeing any evidence that people will turn to Romney because they want to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Those who strongly opposed it all along (even if supporting the specifics measures within the law) will still vote for Romney. Overall a win helped Obama, with a Kaiser poll showing “a majority of Americans (56 percent) now say they would like to see the law’s detractors stop their efforts to block its implementation and move on to other national problems.”

Posted in Barack Obama, Health Care, Mitt Romney, Politics, Polls. Tags: , , , . 2 Comments »

Quote of the Day

July 2, 2012 — Ron Chusid

“President Obama has a new ad that hits Mitt Romney’s business career by calling him an ‘outsourcer-in-chief.’ Romney responded with an ad of his own — made by an excellent company in India.” –Jimmy Fallon

Posted in Humor and Satire, Mitt Romney, Television. Tags: , . No Comments »

AMA Backs Decision On Affordable Care Act While Conservatives Remain Irrational

June 30, 2012 — Ron Chusid

Right wingers remain furious over the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act, such as one Tea Party leader hoping that those who upheld the law get colon cancer. If they are this upset about the Affordable Care Act, imagine how their heads will explode in November when Obama is reelected.

Conservatives are now making noise falsely claiming that the Affordable Care Act represents a major tax increase. McClatchy found that only about two percent of the country would be at risk of paying the penalty under the individual mandate.  Those worked up about this tax which only affects a tiny percent of the country are also ignoring all of Obama’s tax cuts for individuals and small business. In contrast, the Republican tax plan supported by Mitt Romney would increase taxes on the middle class in order to pay for even greater tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. Republicans also ignore the fact that most Republican leaders supported the individual mandate until it became part of Obama’s health care plan (which is essentially the Republican alternative to Hillary Clinton’s health care plan).

Medical News Today reports that the American Medical Association is pleased that the Affordable Care Act was upheld by the Supreme Court:

Jeremy A. Lazarus, MD, President of the American Medical Association (AMA), said that the AMA is pleased with the ruling by the Supreme Court to uphold health reform. Dr. Lazarus added that the AMA has always supported health insurance coverage for all US citizens. The decision means that millions of Americans who currently do not have coverage may now look forward to it to either “get healthy” or “stay healthy”.

President Barack Obama’s healthcare law was upheld by the US Supreme Court on 28th June 2012 by a majority of 5 to 4. According to political commentators in the US media, the result is a triumph for the Democrats in this election year and a setback for the Republicans.

Dr. Lazarus reiterated the AMA’s position on its commitment to working on behalf of the country’s doctors and patients to make sure the law carries on being implemented in ways that both encourage and incentivize improved health outcomes and an optimized health care system.

Dr. Lazarus said:

“The AMA remains committed to working on behalf of America’s physicians and patients to ensure the law continues to be implemented in ways that support and incentivize better health outcomes and improve the nation’s health care system.

This decision protects important improvements, such as ending coverage denials due to pre-existing conditions and lifetime caps on insurance, and allowing the 2.5 million young adults up to age 26 who gained coverage under the law to stay on their parents’ health insurance policies. The expanded health care coverage upheld by the Supreme Court will allow patients to see their doctors earlier rather than waiting for treatment until they are sicker and care is more expensive.

Affordable Care Act has already helped 54 million people

He added that the Supreme Court decision ensures continued funding for vital research on the effectiveness of drugs and therapies and improves the chances for millions of Americans to receive coverage for prevention and wellness care. The new law has already helped approximately 54 million patients.

Less paperwork for healthcare professionals today, says AMA

The Affordable Care Act has helped simplify administrative burdens, Dr. Lazarus added. It has streamlined insurance claims so that doctors and their staff can dedicate more of their time to patient care, and less on paperwork.

The AMA says that the new law protects Medicare patients stuck in the “donut hole”. In 2010 and 2011 a considerable number of patients saved money on prescription drug costs.

Dr. Lazarus said “These important changes have been made while maintaining our American system with both private and public insurers.”

Posted in Barack Obama, Courts, Health Care, Mitt Romney, Republicans. Tags: , , . 3 Comments »

Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act Giving Obama A Major Victory

June 28, 2012 — Ron Chusid

This has been a  really embarrassing day for Republicans, between the Supreme Court ruling against them on the Affordable Care Act and Congress holding Holder in contempt. Conservative Constitutional objections to the Affordable Care Act were so off the wall that they couldn’t even get the conservative Supreme Court to go along with their arguments. The one Republican who did have a good day was Chief Justice John Roberts. While the conservative activist judges have largely been acting as if the Supreme Court is a Senate with life terms for members, Roberts most likely did place the long term reputation of the court over winning this particular  partisan political battle.

There has been a lot of talk recently about who would win and lose with each possible outcome. As I’ve said before, this was important for Obama to win. It would be a serious blow to have his major accomplishment ruled unconstitutional. Yes, he could have run against the court or placed more pressure on the Republicans to come up with a solution, but for the most part those aligned with either political party already have their views regarding the Affordable Care Act. A ruling against the ACA would not suddenly convince lots of liberals to go out and vote for Obama if they hadn’t already planned to.  Besides, if Obama wants to convince leftists who are disatsified with him for his centrist positions to turn out to vote, there’s already Citizen’s United and the fear of overturning Roe v Wade in the future. Even today’s decision, in which the supposedly centrist Justice Kennedy wanted to completely throw out the Affordable Care Act, should convince progressives of the need to have Obama as opposed to Romney pick the next few justices.We certainly cannot count on Roberts to side with the liberals in the future.

If there are any political points to be won over this decision, it will be among those in the middle who haven’t already taken a firm stand on health care reform. A ruling that the law is Constitutional does take the wind out of the conservative opposition among those who are open-mined and not brainwashed by Fox. Some might now be willing to take another look at the law, which would be helpful for Obama. Multiple polls have clearly shown that a strong majority supports the actual provisions of the Affordable Care Act. They just oppose the imaginary version of the plan which is described by conservatives.

There is also speculation that this could help Mitt Romney by keeping conservatives angry at Obama. Those people are angry enough, and Romney does not need the Affordable Care Act to get them to vote against Obama. There are strong negatives for  Romney if he continues to make a major issue of health care reform. More talk on the issue will highlight the aspects which people do support, and Romney’s lack of a viable alternative would not help him appear fit to be president. Those already receiving benefits under the Affordable Care Act would be unhappy to have them taken away. Romney’s inconsistencies in attacking “Obamacare” would be highlighted by the similarities to his own health care plan in Massachusetts, and his support for the individual mandate until quite recently, including at the national level. If Republicans really want to campaign on their desire to eliminate both Obamacare and Medicare, this is a battle which Democrats can win

Conservatives,, who are squealing about everything from death panels to impeaching Roberts, are also upset about the mandate now being considered a tax. (Rush Limbaugh is even calling the Supreme Court a death panel).  Despite public antipathy towards taxes, I think that the Democrats could have done better selling the plan as a tax on those who refuse to buy insurance as opposed to a mandate. People don’t like government telling them what to do any more than they like taxes. The mandate feels like something being imposed upon everyone. Even people who have insurance might not like the fact that they are being told by the government that the must buy insurance. A tax on those who can afford to buy insurance but refuse to do so can be sold as a reasonable consequence in light of how such people increase cost of private insurance and are a cost to taxpayers.  Conservatives could argue that this is a case of Obama taxing the middle tax, even if the tax is selective. Obama could easily counter by pointing out his tax cuts for the middle class, and the increase in taxes which Romney ‘s plan would impose on the middle class in order to cut taxes on the ultra-wealthy.

Posted in Barack Obama, Courts, Health Care, Mitt Romney. Tags: , , , . No Comments »

Obama Ad and Joe Biden Hit Romney On Outsourcing

June 26, 2012 — Ron Chusid

The Obama campaign is taking advantage of the recent story in The Washington Post which called Bain Capital under Mitt Romney a pioneer in outs0urcing jobs. Here is the text of the above ad. I especially like the last line:

“Day One. President Romney stands up to China.”

But would he?

The Washington Post has just revealed that Romney’s companies were pioneers in shipping US jobs overseas.

Investing in firms that ‘specialized in relocating jobs done by American workers to new facilities in low-wage countries like China.’

Romney’s never stood up to China. All he’s ever done is send them our jobs.

Joe Biden repeated this message in Iowa: “You got to give Romney credit,” Biden said. “He’s a job creator – in Singapore, China, India. He’s been very good at creating jobs, overseas.” Video above. More on Biden’s criticism of Romney:

Biden also used Romney’s own words against him.

Citing recent speeches in the Ohio cities of Cincinnati and Toledo, Biden said: “He said his experience as a businessman is what gives him a great understanding of what it takes to bring jobs back to the United States of America. That’s his premise.”

Biden continued: “[Romney] said, that outsourcers have, quote, ‘Been able to put American businesses out of business and kill American jobs.’ He went on to say if he were president, he was going to end that outsourcing. That’s what he tells you.”

“There’s a huge disconnect between what he says, and what he means, and what he’s done.”

Posted in Barack Obama, Economy, Joe Biden, Mitt Romney. Tags: , , . 1 Comment »
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