[jeffkrol]

Mitt Romney’s campaign insults voters

How, other than an assumption that voters are too dim to remember what Mr. Romney has said across the years and months, to account for his breathtaking ideological shifts? He was a friend of immigrants, then a scourge of immigrants, then again a friend. He was a Kissingerian foreign policy realist, then a McCain-like hawk, then a purveyor of peace. He pioneered Obamacare, he detested Obamacare, then he found elements in it to cherish. Assault weapons were bad, then good. Abortion was okay, then bad. Climate change was an urgent problem; then, not so much. Hurricane cleanup was a job for the states, until it was once again a job for the feds.

The same presumption of gullibility has infused his misleading commercials (see: Jeep jobs to China) and his refusal to lay out an agenda. Mr. Romney promised to replace the Affordable Care Act but never said with what. He promised an alternative to President Obama’s lifeline to young undocumented immigrants but never deigned to describe it.

And then there has been his chronic, baldly dishonest defense of mathematically impossible budget proposals. He promised to cut income tax rates without exploding the deficit or tilting the tax code toward the rich — but he refused to say how he could bring that off. When challenged, he cited “studies” that he maintained proved him right. But the studies were a mix of rhetoric, unrealistic growth projections and more serious economics that actually proved him wrong.

This last is important — maybe the crux of the next four years. History has shown that it’s a lot easier to cut taxes than to reduce spending. Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush promised to do both, managed to do only the first and (with plenty of help from Congress) greatly increased the national debt.

Now Mr. Romney promises to reduce income tax rates by one-fifth — for the rich, that means from 35 percent to 28 percent — and to raise defense spending while balancing the budget. To do so, he would reduce other spending — unspecified — and take away deductions — unspecified. One of the studies he cited, by Harvard economist Martin Feldstein, said Mr. Romney could make the tax math work by depriving every household earning $100,000 or more of all of its charitable deductions, mortgage-interest deductions and deductions for state and local income taxes.

Mr. Romney, by contrast, seems to be betting that voters have no memories, poor arithmetic skills and a general inability to look behind the curtain. We hope the results Tuesday prove him wrong.

Mitt Romney’s election campaign insults voters - The Washington Post

[Nesster]

Ah, but here's an argument that may work: Vote me in or the Republicans will wreck the economy!

Romney: Elect Me Or House GOP Will Wreck The Economy - Yahoo! News

In what his campaign billed as his "closing argument," Mitt Romney warned Americans that a second term for President Obama would have apocalyptic consequences for the economy in part because his own party would force a debt ceiling disaster.

"Unless we change course, we may well be looking at another recession," Romney told a crowd in West Allis, Wisconsin.

Romney said that Obama "promised to be a post-partisan president, but he became the most partisan" and that his bitter relations with the House GOP could threaten the economy. As his chief example, he pointed to a crisis created entirely by his own party's choice -- Republican lawmakers' ongoing threat to reject a debt ceiling increase. Economists warn that a failure to pass such a measure would have immediate and catastrophic consequences for the recovery.

"You know that if the President is re-elected, he will still be unable to work with the people in Congress," Romney said. "He has ignored them, attacked them, blamed them. The debt ceiling will come up again, and shutdown and default will be threatened, chilling the economy."

[jeffkrol]

On the line of "behind th curtain"..................

“Unbeknownst to me,” Romney said, “he had a hidden camera on the console, so this then popped up on the Internet.”

Mickelson, in an interview, called Romney’s subsequent comments surprising.

“There were two cameras mounted on tripods,” the talk show host recalled. “This was not at a bar, it was a radio talk show in front of cameras. What did he think was going to happen?”

Horowitz reported from Salt Lake City.

Video revives debate over Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith - The Washington Post

[reeftool]

Ah, but here's an argument that may work: Vote me in or the Republicans will wreck the economy!

Romney: Elect Me Or House GOP Will Wreck The Economy - Yahoo! News

All the more reason why who you vote in to Congress is probably more important than who lives in the White House. I will also predict that Romney won't get along with Congress any better than Obama and maybe even worse if the Republicans still control the house. They will try to dictate their agenda on him and Romney is no conservative and the gridlock will continue.

BTW, the Republicans already wrecked the economy back in 08. Since Romney prides himself on his willingness to compromise and work out solutions, them maybe the best thing would be Romney in the White House and a Democratic controlled Congress. Just a goofy thought.

[GeneV]

Ah, but here's an argument that may work: Vote me in or the Republicans will wreck the economy!

Romney: Elect Me Or House GOP Will Wreck The Economy - Yahoo! News

I've heard more than one interview of voters from swing states which indicate that argument is in fact working. Amazing.