Patterico's Pontifications

7/5/2012

Wall Street Journal Advises Romney to Get in Gear

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:31 am



Their jumping off point is justifiable upset over Romney’s mixed messages concerning whether the mandate is a tax:

Perhaps Mr. Romney is slowly figuring this out, because in a July 4 interview he stated himself that the penalty now is a “tax” after all. But he offered no elaboration, and so the campaign looks confused in addition to being politically dumb.

This latest mistake is of a piece with the campaign’s insular staff and strategy that are slowly squandering an historic opportunity. Mr. Obama is being hurt by an economic recovery that is weakening for the third time in three years. But Mr. Romney hasn’t been able to take advantage, and if anything he is losing ground.

The Romney campaign thinks it can play it safe and coast to the White House by saying the economy stinks and it’s Mr. Obama’s fault. We’re on its email list and the main daily message from the campaign is that “Obama isn’t working.” Thanks, guys, but Americans already know that. What they want to hear from the challenger is some understanding of why the President’s policies aren’t working and how Mr. Romney’s policies will do better.

They’re right. Romney can’t “coast” in this election. Time to get with it.

139 Responses to “Wall Street Journal Advises Romney to Get in Gear”

  1. Glenn Reynolds points out that the Obama campaign is using violent rhetoric that shows that all that “civility” crap a year or two back was BS.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  2. That’s right, SPQR. All of the Obama campaign’s punches are going to land below the belt. Now, since the referee in this case — the average American voter — is NOT necessarily gonna react by crying ‘foul’ and giving the decision to the other guy, the question becomes “What is the other guy gonna do about it?”

    Icy (0eb7f2)

  3. Cmon, I don’t know WTF it is? Ask Obama, then ask his lawyers that argued the case in front of the Supreme Court. He says not a tax. They say tax. I’m not President, he is.

    Mitt Romney (27f28b)

  4. I like Andrea Saul’s take that Patterico quoted a few days back. “The federal individual mandate in Obamacare is either a constitutional tax or an unconstitutional penalty. Governor Romney thinks it is an unconstitutional penalty. What is President Obama’s position?”

    But Mitt take that one step further. I think it should be said that the Supreme Court has said that Obama’s “penalty” view is unconstitutional, and that enforcing the mandate while continuing to argue that it is a penalty is a violation of Obama’s oath of office.

    Komissar Vladimir (33cc56)

  5. ___________________________________________

    Romney can’t “coast” in this election. Time to get with it.

    One problem is that Romney doesn’t lean way over on the conservative side of the divide the way that Obama leans way over in the direction of ultra-liberalism. So from a purely ideological standpoint, Romney isn’t as emotionally wedded to fighting for rightism the way that Obama is innately wedded to fighting for leftism.

    Moreover, a lack of shame — common among many liberals (since their supposed compassion and love for the common man allows for the belief that the ends justify the means) — and a greater glee in being a trickster fuels a politician with the deep dogmatic roots of Obama, a lack of those same qualities tends to influence Romney.

    Mark (d27584)

  6. Mr. Governor Romney is working very hard to get a mandate to not be Obama and do president stuff, some of which will involve like the economy and whatever

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  7. hey Cap’n Ed is guzzling the kool-aid stop it Cap’n Ed there won’t be any left for the rest of us mom says we have to share and if we drink it all up that’s too bad cause we’re out of food stamps for the month already

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  8. Even if President Obama will not model his campaign on that President Harry S Truman in 1948, Mitt Romney seems determined to model his campaign on that of Thomas E. Dewey.

    Sammy Finkelman (c08134)

  9. The Romney campaign thinks it can play it safe and coast to the White House by saying the economy stinks and it’s Mr. Obama’s fault.

    I suspect part of the problem is that Romney will have to distance himself from his record to do that. Especially in the case of RomneyCare, he’s done a horrible job of explaining (any) reason why it would make sense but writ large it doesn’t.

    In one way, this makes perfect sense – Obama and crew can’t nitpick and attack (dare we say, “dog him”) illogically. They’re already using his words out of context and deceptively.

    I think this is what we’re going to see – they’re hitting hard back at Obama, but they’re going to let him set the stage and then go and play there.

    Still, surprisingly enough, it’s a far more agile and responsive campaign than McCain stumbled through at this point.

    Unix-Jedi (e0ef98)

  10. There’s a wrinkle in what Romney said about the mandate being or not being a tax that we missed, but the New York Times caught.

    Romney said that that Obama did is a tax, but what he did in Massachusetts is still a penalty, because a state has plenary powers!!

    (well, he didn’t use such educated words)

    Romney Now Says Health Mandate by Obama is a Tax by Jeremy W. Peters, (article on the front page of the New York Times of July 5, 2012)

    Paragraphs 14 and 15:

    In the CBS interview, he insisted that he had not imposed a tax and sought to draw an academic distinction between taxes and penalties.

    ” The chief justice in his opinion made it very clear that at the state level, states have the power to put in place mandates,” he said. “And as a result, Massachusetts’s mandate was a mandate, was a penalty, was described that way the legislature and by me, and so it stays as it was.

    This is truly going deep into the forbidden land of the sophists. What Roberts did is legitimate, because for some purposes things can have a different LEGAL meaning than for others. Financial accounting (for the SEC) can be different than tax accounting and both can be different from cost accounting.

    But when we argue over whether something is a tax or not we are talking politically, or perhaps economically, and what it is considered legally doesn’t make a difference. Actually even the mandate is a tax, although not paid to the government.

    Sammy Finkelman (c08134)

  11. I agree, Sammy, that’s not the best route to take.

    This is simply a sticky issue and it’s not clear to me how Romney’s supposed to navigate it perfectly. I think his saying he didn’t agree with the majority, but now they’ve ruled it’s a tax so it’s a tax, is perfect in that no one has ruled Romneycare that way. I don’t think it’s necessary to go farther down that road, though.

    Dustin (330eed)

  12. Romney’s frankly blowing it. Jeez, the most epic clusterf-k so far this campaign.

    Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) (c33a1d)

  13. ABR

    mg (44de53)

  14. ABO

    Dustin (330eed)

  15. “Romney can’t “coast” in this election. “

    But he can sure can try. And don’t think he won’t. This is a man who delights and spares no expense in attacking Republicans but gets all squirrely with fear around the media and the Left.

    Still hoping for a brokered convention.

    rrpjr (626fe6)

  16. ________________________________________

    Romney’s frankly blowing it.

    This upcoming election is a minefield, because I see potential upsides or downsides to the strategies that he and Obama will be pursuing.

    My main concern is that lazy liberalism has grown quite pervasive in modern society, in the Western world in particular, and so that has to be kept in mind. Therefore, in a way if Romney were perceived as being too staunchly pro-status-quo (which I myself would prefer) when it came to reforming healthcare, that could turn off X percentage of squishes (or “centrists”) and non-leftists. But if he’s deemed as too spineless and wishy-washy by staunch conservatives (which they pretty much already sense is the case with him), they may now be so disgusted, that they’ll take on a survivalist, hide-in-the-bunker approach and believe that the country will implode no matter what. They’ll be analogous to the tiny percentage of conservatives trying to make a go of it in the swamps of Detroit, Michigan, or San Francisco, or Venezuela.

    Based on the following, I’d say it’s now more important than ever before to get the leftists out of the White House and hope that people with at least a bit of common sense can lop and chop Obamacare, if only by doing things such as granting waivers and exceptions up the yin-yang.

    csmonitor.com, July 2, 2012:

    The federal Affordable Care Act is set to kick in fully by 2014, now that the US Supreme Court has affirmed that it is constitutional. The Massachusetts reforms upon which the ACA is based took effect in 2006, under then-Gov. Mitt Romney. So, what does the record show in Massachusetts – did jobs evaporate and is the state bankrupt, as critics portended? Or is the Bay State rather an example of health-care nirvana, as supporters predicted?

    Neither extreme is true, and the lessons of Massachusetts may not all apply in the broader national context. But overall, the state is doing pretty well under its reform law, say those who have studied its effects upon residents, businesses, and state coffers.

    For one, about 400,000 additional people are newly covered by health insurance, bringing down the share of uninsured residents from 7.4 percent in 2004 to 1.9 percent by 2010, according to the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy…. Costs to the state are also within original estimates, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, contrary to claims by former Sen. Rick Santorum (R) of Pennsylvania that health-care reform was “bankrupting Massachusetts.”

    But the state isn’t a perfect demonstration lab for national reform. The Massachusetts law is funded differently from the federal one. The state didn’t need to increase income taxes to pay for it – most funding for the new law came from the federal government as part of Medicaid, and from shifting around state funds, says John McDonough, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health.

    Critics say that although Massachusetts residents didn’t have to pick up much of the tab for reform, the ACA will have more of a negative impact due to tax increases. “The cost that Massachusetts was able to push off onto the federal government will go to taxpayers [under the ACA],” says David Tuerck, an economics professor and executive director of the Beacon Hill Institute, a fiscally conservative think tank.

    In Massachusetts, if you don’t buy health insurance, you pay a fine – as will happen under the ACA. When the law first passed, noncompliers lost the personal exemption on state income taxes. In 2008, the state started charging a fine of half the cost of the cheapest plan that could be found under the Massachusetts Health Connector, the state’s version of the insurance exchanges intended to help consumers shop and compare plans.

    Though a penalty can now run to $1,200 or more, “it has been remarkably noncontroversial,” says Professor McDonough. That may be because the state has been lenient in applying those penalties. People who make too much money to be eligible for subsidized coverage but say they still can’t afford insurance can apply for a waiver, which is also available for those who don’t want coverage because of religious beliefs.

    In 2010, Massachusetts granted 55 percent of waiver requests for a premium or copay reduction, according to data from the Connector annual report to the legislature.

    Mark (d27584)

  17. Romney and his handlers after all these years are still rookies.
    DeMint/West because mass hole republicans are more or less progressive.

    mg (44de53)

  18. Mitt Romney could have skillfully avoided having the MassCare albatross around his neck, but he foolishly let that opportunity slip away and with it quite possibly his best chance to beat Obama.

    Opportunity came knocking shortly after Romney announced his candidacy. He could have repudiated MassCare legislation by explaining as Governor his opposition would quickly have been overridden by an overwhelmingly Democrat legislature. So, faced with a no-win situation he negotiated the best free market provisions he could in exchange for not imposing his veto.

    Simple, straight forward and convincing enough to put the issue in his rear view mirror and get on with the task of exposing Obama’s duplicity.

    But, instead, Mitt Romney squandered the opportunity to distance himself from the stigma of socialized medicine and choose to brag about what a wonderful program MassCare was “for the people of Massachusetts” and what a great job he did in rolling over and playing dead.

    ropelight (f10feb)

  19. Romney needs more than a gear, he needs a spine transplant. A crankshaft from a 401 AMC V-8 would do nicely.

    PCD (1d8b6d)

  20. He could have repudiated MassCare legislation by explaining as Governor his opposition would quickly have been overridden by an overwhelmingly Democrat legislature. So, faced with a no-win situation he negotiated the best free market provisions he could in exchange for not imposing his veto.

    That would have been nice. Also nice would have been his saying, in 2009, he tried it and it just doesn’t work.

    However, this isn’t his view on the topic. This is something that many of us simply disagree with Romney on. That’s why he’s not saying what we want to hear.

    Dustin (330eed)

  21. Yes, Dustin, he’s not saying what the people he needs to propel him into the Oval Office want to hear. Now, isn’t that a kick in the face?

    And, doesn’t that remind you of the last GOP establishment candidate who just couldn’t quite bring himself to roll up his sleeves and throw a few punches?

    ropelight (f10feb)

  22. This all is beginning to feel like 90s recalls of RINO reps in the CA legislature like Doris Allen. For those who don’t know, Allen was a RINO who made a deal with Willie Brown and the Democrats to become Assembly Speaker as long as she did as she was told.

    PCD (1d8b6d)

  23. ==And, doesn’t that remind you of the last GOP establishment candidate ==

    Well at least he doesn’t have any embarrassing dippy big-mouthed daughters. That’s a plus in my book.

    elissa (472d0f)

  24. Yes, Dustin, he’s not saying what the people he needs to propel him into the Oval Office want to hear.

    It’s unfortunate, but what’s done is done and he’s our nominee. He’s not on the same page as I am on a few things, but I really hope he beats Obama.

    doesn’t that remind you of the last GOP establishment candidate

    They have some similarities for sure, but I think Romney wants to win more and I think he’s far more skilled at politics.

    Dustin (330eed)

  25. Dustin-Can you name one single example of his accomplished political skill during the last month?

    mg (44de53)

  26. I wouldn’t mistake a bit of late June, early July “coasting” as setting the pace for his entire campaign. I believe he is taking a little R&R while he can.

    The campaign will crank up into full campaign mode later this month, I think, when the second quarter GDP figures are released. That will be the death knell for the Obama campaign because I believe they will be lower than Q1 numbers and a bad Q2 number will mean there will be no recovery happening in time to save Mr. Obama.

    The day those numbers are released is when I believe the campaign really starts. He will have a month from that date until the convention to prepare the ground.

    Remember that Romney just about hit the wall of exhaustion during the primary. There were times when he would be in a different state every day. He went from Pennsylvania to Texas to North Carolina to California back to the East coast all in the space of a week. I think he’s taking a break.

    crosspatch (6adcc9)

  27. Romney could pick the pumpkin of jersey to be his attack dog.

    mg (44de53)

  28. I wonder if Mr. pumpkin knows about Pam cooking spray it has just seven calories and less than one gram of fat per serving

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  29. i heart the pumpkin of jersey.

    elissa (472d0f)

  30. I get the feeling if in the debates Brian Williams or someone asks Romney, “Should the compensation of Wall Street be limited?” or some other Wall Street question, with the obvious intent of getting the debate focused on Bain, he’ll be totally unprepared. I get the feeling his strategists aren’t anticipating this type of question either.

    Gerald A (e4f300)

  31. I know that Rico can hardly be called a fan of Mitt, but this return to wishing Willard would take a risk beyond character assassination of conservatives is vanity.

    Like hoping Dannon Vanilla yogurt will get a clue and taste more like Hagen Daz Belgian chocolate.

    He’d alienate some self-despised fatties who demand every one believe they are destined to be svelte.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  32. Why on earth do you think that, Gerald? Camp Axelrod has not laid down enough clues?

    elissa (472d0f)

  33. The correct answer to “Should the compensation of Wall Street be limited” is probably somewhere along the lines of “it already is”. The market decides what these companies will pay people. Just because some people do not like or are envious of that limit doesn’t mean it is the role of government to set salaries and other compensation.

    crosspatch (6adcc9)

  34. We are currently in two major separation of powers crises, one between the executive and the judiciary and the other between the executive and the legislature. To use this to maximum effect, neither of them can be resolved prior to November. When people start filling in their absentee ballots and all the way through in person voting day, they need to have a focused understanding that Obama has provoked two major crises, either of which could wreck the republic. If they bring things to a full boil right now, the Romney campaign could provoke Obama to solving these things and thus denying him the votes he will get because of these scandals.

    The first crisis is that the executive is denying the US Supreme Court gets to interpret whether the individual mandate is a tax or a penalty. This is unprecedented for the winning side in a major case. Up to now it’s always been the losers who have vowed defiance. Not so with President Obama.

    The second crisis is in stiffing the investigation of how it came to be that the Department of Justice lied to Congress. That it lied is not in dispute. That Congress has a right to find out the details in order to write further legislation in order to improve the situation is not in dispute. What is in dispute is whether Congress gets to have access to any of the tens of thousands of documents that it knows are there but are being withheld by the Attorney General.

    It is unprecedented for one of these tiffs to get to the phase of a contempt order against a sitting cabinet member. It is unprecedented that the sitting chief law enforcement officer of the country will now have to negotiate an immunity deal prior to testifying before Congress from now to his departure from office for fear of being arrested by the Congress.

    TMLutas (0876a3)

  35. The fact he’s reportedly favoring the wealthy Sen. Porter as his running mate is another example of cluelessness IMO. On a purely mechanical level it makes sense because he’s from a battleground state but if he picks him it would show a lack of awareness of one of the Democrats’ main lines of attack.

    But Romney’s probably smarter than me so maybe he really knows what he’s doing.

    Gerald A (e4f300)

  36. It’s early July. The voters who are persuadable aren’t even paying attention yet.


    All this time, it had been quite plain to Hare that the others knew nothing about spectacles. And as for all their tempting ideas well, Hare… didn’t care.

    The lost spectacles were his own affair.
    And after all, Hare did have a spare pair.

    Estragon (13e813)

  37. Why on earth do you think that, Gerald? Camp Axelrod has not laid down enough clues?

    Comment by elissa — 7/5/2012 @ 1:03 pm

    Yes and Romney has made some public statements about how it should be okay for people to get rich. I figure that would be his answer in the debate as well. Is that really the most effective answer?

    Plus my point is that this would be from the media person, not Obama. I’m not sure Romney’s people would anticipate that. They seem somewhat caught off guard by the comparison between Romney’s mandate and Obama’s in the aftermath of the SCOTUS ruling.

    Gerald A (e4f300)

  38. Barry mentioned that Trayvon “looked like” him. Since we’re playing that game during the campaign here’s food for political thought: prolly more Americans “look like” the pumpkin than “look like” either Mitt or Barry. So regardless of his current role in the Romney campaign or ultimately what it might be in a Romney administration, mocking Christie’s weight seems like a sorta stupid counterproductive thing to do.

    elissa (472d0f)

  39. One is tempted to reply with, I don’t know Mr, President, should be a limit on profiting from one’s efforts, like book royalties,

    narciso (ee31f1)

  40. I like Mr. Senator Portman fine he’s inoffensive and would make a decent president one day plus he’s not a big weirdo like the last vp nominee person so that right there helps America a lot in terms of starting up a trend line away from having big old weirdos on the ticket

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  41. You mean the one that was right on every issue, as opposed to the numbskull we currently have at the Naval Observatory, pikachu, yes W’s budget chief
    won’t be an albatross on this campaign, no sirree
    bob.

    narciso (ee31f1)

  42. W’s budget chief might would be an albatross *if* food stamp had ever actually signed an actual budget even one actual time

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  43. Klein points up the Romany dilemma leading to the mandate/tax kerfuffle. He was a crappy choice and every one knew why 6 months ago.

    http://washingtonexaminer.com/republicans-shouldnt-get-dragged-into-romneys-mandate-mess/article/2501370

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  44. Romney is running like Dole in 1996.

    DN (322684)

  45. 27- Pumpkin knows butter.

    mg (44de53)

  46. #43

    I see no resemblance between Romney and Dole in 96. The economy was strong in 96 so Dole wasn’t making an issue of it and Clinton didn’t really have a specific policy Dole could effectively attack either. He was hoping the scandals would get him elected. Romney OTOH is hoping the economy and Obamacare gets him elected.

    Gerald A (e4f300)

  47. Dole falled off a stage

    done and done

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  48. He was a work horse not a show horse. I was there at a rally when Elizabeth said so. She was wearing a pretty blue dress.

    elissa (472d0f)

  49. Complaining that a politician is “wealthy”, is like complaining that hurricanes bring rain: Duh!
    If they’ve been in office for any appreciable time, they’ve gamed everything to ensure that their kids won’t have to take out any Student Loans.
    The secret is for us to practice “stock rotation” with a vengeance.

    AD-RtR/OS! (b8ab92)

  50. BTW, didn’t I see mention in the news that the Romney family sort of took this week off for some R&R?
    Of course, it might have helped if some of the less-than-stellar “rocket scientists” running his campaign could decide on a unified message that the candidate and others agreed with, and could live with.
    The Journal is right, and they’re not the first ones to bring this to Mitt’s attention.
    It’s time that Mitt recognized that he has a correctable problem, and dealt with it – or he will be another Bob Dole/John McCain.

    AD-RtR/OS! (b8ab92)

  51. Romney is out of touch with conservatives, we are a disease to his appeasement strategy. I wonder if mittens was a cheerleader at some point in his life?

    mg (44de53)

  52. No, GWB and Gov. Perry, were the cheerleaders.
    Most pols are out of touch with those outside their little solar-system.

    AD-RtR/OS! (b8ab92)

  53. the one constant is the droning of gulrud.

    Colonel Haiku (9beecc)

  54. Romney says he will work toward repealing 0bamaCare. What do people find fault with? Who cares about what was done in Massachusetts? It’s one state, not all of 0bama’s 57 states.

    too much fussiness… eyes on teh prize!

    Colonel Haiku (9beecc)

  55. mg, in November of this year, either Romney will be elected President or Obama will be reelected President.

    You need to figure out which it is that you prefer between those two.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  56. 51- Obama actually worked in his community.

    tye (a1a31b)

  57. This is the super slow dim thick version of the regularly stupid dishonest “tye”

    JD (dfaa6e)

  58. tye, no, he didn’t.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  59. 54- I have said I will vote for mittens, but I will not close my eyes to his progressive tendencies or stop stating my displeasure of them.
    Keep cheering Colonel, I hope he makes it to the finish line first.

    mg (44de53)

  60. SPQR – how is that community doing today? Another Obama success story?

    JD (dfaa6e)

  61. =Obama actually worked in his community=

    I’m pretty sure he was “working it”. That’s not the same as “worked” –nor does it have the same positive connotation as “work”.

    elissa (b5155e)

  62. Altgeld Gardens, that was where they had a major disturbance, right around the time that Chicago
    was being considered for an Olympic selection, that
    in itself, is a strikes 13 type statement.

    narciso (ee31f1)

  63. Obama actually worked in his community.

    Comment by tye

    c’mon tyena!
    Barry’s allergic to work
    like Maynard G. Krebs

    Colonel Haiku (9beecc)

  64. 57- yeah he did. Romney “helped” the community by ensuring that people would be free from their jobs to roam around looking for house cleaning jobs for the rich.

    tye (a1a31b)

  65. Like it or not, the campaign began last Thursday. That the Governor failed to grasp this speaks to his deaf ear to the common sense and motivated Right.

    He had weeks and weeks to prepare for SCOTUS and BHO. He refused to fire. A senior advisor gives cover to the opposition and he remains on the team.

    Romney, and the elephant’s establishment, demonstrate an assiduous avoidance of righteous and patriotic politics. If they keep this up, they will wonder how a historic, and epic, opportunity went begging.

    Ed from SFV (943b25)

  66. Captain Barry Ch00m
    dug stupefying blasts of
    intoxication

    Colonel Haiku (9beecc)

  67. tye is now repeating Obama campaign lies that even the Wash Post found to be falsehoods. Like all of tye’s statements.

    SPQR (78d7f4)

  68. 66- no they didn’t.

    tye (a1a31b)

  69. Basically your claim is that no person who worked at a company acquired by Bain lost his/her job? If not then I’m right and you’re a liar.

    tye (a1a31b)

  70. SPQR – “tye” is a brazen liar, and aggressively ignorant.

    JD (dfaa6e)

  71. Basically …. everything that followed was douchiness.

    JD (dfaa6e)

  72. How many people lost their jobs at Solyndra, tye? At the post office, tye? At General Motors, tye? (I’m sure you had a point there somewhere. Do you want to reframe it, or better yet just drop it as yet another failed meme?)

    elissa (b5155e)

  73. Basically your claim is that no person who worked at a company acquired by Bain lost his/her job? If not then I’m riBasically your claim is that no person who worked at a company acquired by Bain lost his/her job? If not then I’m right and you’re a liar.

    Comment by tye — 7/5/2012 @ 5:54 pm

    EPIC FAIL

    JD (dfaa6e)

  74. Romney has no balls and is afraid to challenge Obama on almost any issue. He should have severely criticized Robertts’ decision as it was decided on spurious legal grounds and Robert’s was no longer supportive of conservative positions. Consequently, we have heard zilch from Romney on the decision, excepting to become involved in the non-issue of “tax vs. penalty”. Romney is a big bust and scared of the liberals.

    Bill Dollar (274735)

  75. Kessler at the Wash Post says:

    Yet the campaign clearly seized on this report because their interpretation fit with a long-term “outsourcing” attack they have waged against Romney. One of their outsourcing ads before the article ran, in fact, earned Four Pinocchios. These new ads would not fare much better; there is little in the Post article that backs up the Obama campaign’s spin.

    (Our colleagues at FactCheck.org have also offered their own analysis of the Obama outsourcing ads and the issues raised in The Post’s article, saying “some of the claims in the ads are untrue, and others are thinly supported.” The Obama campaign did not dispute the details of their analysis, except to once again claim that Romney had an active role in Bain after he left to run the Salt Lake City Olympics in 1999–a claim that FactCheck.org quickly debunked. We came to the same conclusion in January. There is no evidence that Romney played a role in Bain decisions after he left to run the Olympics.)

    Once again, tye, you are the incompetent / liar.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  76. At this stage in 1996, people were saying the same thing about Dole they say about Romney now. The Weekly Standard said, “When is Dole going to do something?”

    The tactical situation in 2012 is different from 1996 but the Wall Street Journal “Advises Romney to Get in Gear.”

    DN (5030ad)

  77. GM’s price today, $20, is effectively what it was before TARP addenda.

    Tens of thousands lost their job, GM’s only profitable market is China, stockholders were jobbed and their ownership handed to unions, hundreds of dealers were shuttered and Obama supporters coddled, etc.

    GM today is counting over 700K vehicles on dealer’s lots as sales bolstering fraudulent manufacturing numbers that are none the less in contraction territory.

    Who cares about Bain and a lousy few billion dollars? The Manchurian and the DOE have blown $100 Billion on Green Shoots and have nothing to show except laundered donations.

    We’ve lost hundreds of billions funding Arabia, Al Qaeda, the Paleos, French and Russian corruptocrats and UN pedophiles and a dead guy named Sadam.

    Farm animals are more formidable debaters than tye.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  78. the hypo re: exec compensation is one that definitely needs to be prepared for. It’s coming, in the debates, on the campaign trail and everywhere in between.

    Why not turn it around on the media?

    Governor Romney, do you think it’s fair that WS exec’s make X amount? shouldn’t WS comp be capped?

    the response upthread about their comp being capped by the market is a good start but that can’t be the end of the response.

    best to use that as a jumping off point to describe the way the present admin has effectively capped prosperity by stifling the private sector with taxes, regulations, exec orders etc.

    Chris (eafa5f)

  79. Glenn Reynolds labeled this story “President Thinskin”.

    Obama certainly is thin skinned. Democrats need to grow up on the Fox News issue.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  80. gary–I think tye’s intent is to get under our skins, but instead the result is that we get some unintended comedic release at his expense and reminders of the many issues at stake– which only strengthens our resolve to unseat King Barack and his court jester Harry.

    elissa (b5155e)

  81. elissa, Bwaahaaahaa. tye probably does think he gets under our skins. Not realizing that I’ve been troll-plinking for three decades. He’s not even a warmup.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  82. ____________________________________________

    That the Governor failed to grasp this speaks to his deaf ear to the common sense and motivated Right.

    He reminds me too much of the Ned Flanders character in “The Simpsons.” Even so, if Romney has to struggle against a clown with the ultra-liberal “goddamn America” background of Obama, that unfortunately says a lot more about a large portion of the electorate than it says anything about Romney. In effect, X percentage of the populace is going to do to the US what a majority of French people have recently done to their country.

    If I despised America, I’d be licking my chops and snickering at such a possibility.

    Mark (c417dc)

  83. Again, your’re overstating it, Mark, it took something this side of a civil insurrection, forthe PRI to retake the Presidency in Mexico, and my understanding is he doesn’t have a majority,

    narciso (ee31f1)

  84. Dustin-Can you name one single example of his accomplished political skill during the last month?

    Comment by mg

    Well, I think we’ve given away the plot by limiting this to just the past month. A month that is of little consequence. He won the primary for a reason. I wasn’t a fan, as most recall I’m quite sure, but it was a hard, hard fought primary and Romney won because he can fight hard. And I do think his hesitance to jump in the Obamacare issue is itself actually skilled. This is an issue Obama loses on, but it also is perilous for Romney. I think he should walk on eggshells on this and look for ways to focus on other issues. Those who are angry about Obamacare already know why.

    Dustin (330eed)

  85. I said nothing about the commercials or outsourcing spqr.

    tye (5490ef)

  86. Meanwhile, none of the “green” stimulus funds’ receiving companies are solvent. Not one.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  87. Obama’s “job creation” ? Utter failure. By his own standards, after all. The unemployment rate is still higher than it was supposed to be two years ago, using White House’s own claims.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  88. 87-Romney’s job creation record : 47th in the country. Beautiful.

    tye (5490ef)

  89. __________________________________________

    for the PRI to retake the Presidency in Mexico

    Narciso, you zipped through my post so quickly you didn’t notice I was actually referring to the election of Francois Hollande to the presidency of France.

    If anyone perceives the US as collapsing under liberalism, you ain’t seen nothing compared with France. People there are such lazy leftists they think that raising the retirement age from 60 to 62 was a cruel and controversial bit of legislation. Hollande also does what I bet Obama has wet dreams about. In France, there are laws that make it very difficult for companies to lay off employees, including even those who are incompetent, dishonest or disruptive.

    I will be very surprised if France in the next few years doesn’t become Greece Part 2.

    Mark (c417dc)

  90. Yes, although one might argue, that the last domino is Sarkozy’s fall, was the Merah affair, and crony
    Geant in it, besides leftwing regimes are not so out of the question, Mitterand, Jospin, to cite two examples.

    narciso (ee31f1)

  91. 87-Romney’s job creation record : 47th in the country. Beautiful.

    Nothing like beating 10 other states, of course. Better than Obama’s record of killing jobs nationwide.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  92. In addition, the crisis in Greece, didn’t it manifest itself, during the New Democracy period, though was exacerbated by Papandreou

    narciso (ee31f1)

  93. Actually, Romney left with a 4.6% unemployment rate. It is tough to create jobs when the rate is that low, especially when most economists consider 3-3.5% full employment.

    Gazzer (ff3da6)

  94. ==Better than Obama’s record of killing jobs nationwide==
    I don’t recall Romney as governor wasting untold billions of porkulus dollars and adding mightily to the national debt either.

    elissa (b5155e)

  95. 91- not a friend of the auto industry I suppose. I guess you wouldn’t be… as a republican it must make you sick to share your country with people who sweat at their jobs.

    tye (5490ef)

  96. “tye” is manic again.

    JD (dfaa6e)

  97. Hmmm, what was the last count for jobs lost in the automobile industry under the Obama administration, tens of thousands of jobs according to Barofsky.

    In fact, that included several friends of mine who lost their jobs when the dealership they worked at was closed at Obama administration orders.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  98. tye, I was “sweating” for a living long before you quit shitting your own diapers.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  99. Have your friends who formerly worked in the closed auto dealerships mentioned who they plan to vote for in Nov., SPQR?

    elissa (b5155e)

  100. they sweat all over the seats and it’s not so much cause the GM factory is hot it’s cause they’re so disgustingly obese from eating velveeta bacon casseroles

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  101. 97- could have been worse…. without the stimulus the auto industry would be dead… more servants for Romney!

    tye (5490ef)

  102. Hi Ford! Oh, are you still here?

    elissa (b5155e)

  103. without the stimulus the auto industry would be dead…

    Complete unadulterated BS

    JD (dfaa6e)

  104. Without the stimulus, GM would have been forced into bankruptcy.

    JD (dfaa6e)

  105. 99- ah there it is…good to see that the way republicans feel about the working class hasn’t changed.

    tye (5490ef)

  106. who you calling a republican god bless america

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  107. Actually didn’t GM and Chrysler still have to go into bankruptcy subsequently, only the bondholders
    were stiffed, and the unions and FIAT split the board seats.

    narciso (ee31f1)

  108. if piggy piggy united autoworker whores are “working class” I’m a Formula One driver with really expensive leather gloves and a vaguely scandinavian hoochie mama on my couch pouring me a tasty scotch right now

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  109. Tye must be tired from the constant trolling. It’s never correct but at least it is usually somewhat entertaining if only for its inanity.

    Gazzer (ff3da6)

  110. Happy, good luck in the British GP on Sunday.

    Gazzer (ff3da6)

  111. 107-Drunk conservatives are almost as funny as the gay gay-bashing ones.

    tye (5490ef)

  112. Mr Feets–I got a letter from John McCain in the mail today. It’s sitting on the credenza now. Should I open it?

    elissa (b5155e)

  113. Narcisco – I was joking

    JD (dfaa6e)

  114. Feets ain’t drunk

    JD (dfaa6e)

  115. I know, but it’s good to remind for those without a copy of the home game,

    narciso (ee31f1)

  116. Should I open it?

    goodness no in fact you should probably move and don’t tell the post office

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  117. no I’m not drunk there’s actually nobody on my couch pouring me a scotch Mr. tye believe me I would know

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  118. the trolls, are only marginally dimmer than the nutroots and the policy makers;

    http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/304823/dream-command-economics-yuval-levin

    narciso (ee31f1)

  119. When we talk to the death panel people do you think they will be afscme operators or jessicas in Bangladore?

    elissa (b5155e)

  120. #77… interesting info and take, Gary.

    Colonel Haiku (9beecc)

  121. Hey tye, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp is still open. Why don’t you go pester those people for awhile? Here’s a link: http://www.whitehouse.gov

    Ag80 (b2c81f)

  122. As of the end of April there had been 1954 U.S. soldiers killed so far in the Afghanistan war according to icasualties.

    1324 of those Deaths occurred in less than 3 1/2 years under Obama while 630 of those deaths occurred in 8 years under George W. Bush. For tye’s benefit– note that’s more than twice as many deaths on Obama’s watch.

    elissa (b5155e)

  123. National Soros Radio used to love ticking off death stats for soldiers and such

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  124. Tye must have toddles off to HQ for some better talking points.

    Gazzer (ff3da6)

  125. ____________________________________________

    the trolls, are only marginally dimmer than the nutroots and the policy makers;

    But when they’re poked, they do appear to become quite aroused. I guess it’s a cheap thrill for them.

    note that’s more than twice as many deaths on Obama’s watch

    But his heart is in the right place. And he’s generous and tolerant too. So the following is posted in his honor:

    townhall.com, Lurita Doan, April 2011:

    The Obama Administration’s call for greater taxes and “shared sacrifice” is hollow and morally bankrupt. President Obama wants to convince the nation that many Americans, most of them small business owners, must pay more tax as “their fair share” of huge, annual deficits. What Mr. Obama never mentions is that he has surrounded himself with key advisors and selected key members of his Administration that are tax cheats.

    Never before has an Administration been so wholly composed of senior officials that push so stridently for increasing taxes on Americans, while they avoid any personal responsibility for paying their own personal taxes.

    First some numbers. Some 41 different Senior Obama Administration Officials have been identified as tax cheats, owing over $840 million in back taxes. The most notable of these is Timmy Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury and nominal head of the IRS, who utilized the “INTUIT TurboTax-is-not intuitive-I didn’t-realize-I was-supposed-to-pay-taxes” defense.

    Once exposed, Obama dismissed Geithner’s tax cheating, and had no problem with him heading the Treasury/IRS. In fact, Mr. Obama continued to stock his Administration with tax cheats and tax avoiders, seeing no contradiction in a advocating policies that call for ever greater taxes on other Americans, while so many of his own cabinet and key economic advisors have failed to pay.

    Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor, used the “I’m-just-a-wife-how-can-I-be-held-responsible-for-knowing-what-my-husband-is-doing” defense, and after paying back taxes on the few years for which they were fingered, now heads the team shaping Obama’s labor taxes policies. Ron Kirk, Obama’s Trade representative, had tax problems, as did Kathleen Sibelius, current HHS Secretary, who leads the push for the Obamacare atrocity, and unabashedly calls for greater taxes and burdens on honest Americans to fund the dodgy scheme.

    There are also tax problems with the appointees at levels below the cabinet, such as Capricia Marshall (Chief of Protocol), with the “post-office-ate-my-tax return” defense or Lael Brainerd (Treasury Undersecretary). In addition to the individual tax cheats currently serving in the Obama administration, there have been a startling number of nominees who have withdrawn their nomination after being publicly exposed as having tax and other issues. A quick review includes Tom Daschle (HHS Nominee), Nancy Killefer (OMB nominee), Bill Richardson, and Caroline Atkinson (Treasury-International Affairs), just to name a few.

    Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric was selected by Obama to lead his Counsel on Jobs and Competitiveness this past January. Immelt has boasted of GE’s staggering $14.2 billion in profits and that it paid no taxes. Yet, Immelt feels right at home pushing the Obama line that other Americans need to pay more in taxes to fund the bloated government that Obama has added.

    [R]ecent reports estimate the full amount of taxes owed by all members of the Obama Administration is over $3 billion.

    ^ Whether Obamacare is a tax or penalty, it deserves about all the respect that Obama’s various appointees and staffers have given to the IRS. Namely, not much.

    Mark (c417dc)

  126. 51- Obama actually worked in his community.
    Comment by tye — 7/5/2012 @ 4:59 pm

    — New Rule: voting “present” is the same as ‘working’.

    57- yeah he did. Romney “helped” the community by ensuring that people would be free from their jobs to roam around looking for house cleaning jobs for the rich.
    Comment by tye — 7/5/2012 @ 5:21 pm

    — So, not only did he fire them, he also turned them into gypsy maids? Man, is there NOTHING the Latter Day Saints cannot do?!

    Basically your claim is that no person who worked at a company acquired by Bain lost his/her job? If not then I’m right and you’re a liar.
    Comment by tye — 7/5/2012 @ 5:54 pm

    — NOBODY is claiming that “no person who worked at a company acquired by Bain lost his/her job,” so basically YOU are the liar for saying that someone made that claim.

    87-Romney’s job creation record : 47th in the country. Beautiful.
    Comment by tye — 7/5/2012 @ 7:41 pm

    — Really? You have legitimate stats that show Bain to be 47th among capital investment firms in job creation? Quick! Type up your article for HuffPo!!!

    91- not a friend of the auto industry I suppose. I guess you wouldn’t be… as a republican it must make you sick to share your country with people who sweat at their jobs.
    Comment by tye — 7/5/2012 @ 8:00 pm

    — Excellent work, Sherlock! You found us out. Each and every one of us is a rich elitist, just like Mitt. We’ve been a-trickin’ you . . . We feel shame.

    97- could have been worse…. without the stimulus the auto industry would be dead… more servants for Romney!
    Comment by tye — 7/5/2012 @ 8:11 pm

    — If he’s lying he’s tyeing!

    99- ah there it is…good to see that the way republicans feel about the working class hasn’t changed.
    Comment by tye — 7/5/2012 @ 8:19 pm

    — I say, Chumley, perhaps we should take a closer look at the workers. Perhaps they may be of some use to us, someday.

    107-Drunk conservatives are almost as funny as the gay gay-bashing ones.
    Comment by tye — 7/5/2012 @ 8:26 pm

    — Dontcha just love this kid! Now he’s got his magnifying glass pointed at slurred typing. He’s a genius!

    Icy (0eb7f2)

  127. My firearms permit went up from $25-$100 under the fees of mittens. Very progressive. Idiots of the gop unite to stab conservatism in the back. Again.
    Finding middle ground is the mittens way. No fight , no guts, no service. Time for mittens and his followers to man up.
    Dustin- The last time I recall mittens doing something correct was when he answered quickly after obama said the private sector is fine. Anything else?

    mg (44de53)

  128. mg, I guess you really haven’t made up your mind between Romney and Obama.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  129. Meanwhile, Obama’s destructive policies have resulted in yet another disasterous month in the economy. 80,000 new jobs is a tiny fraction of the number of jobs that should be added every month at this stage of a recovery.

    Its a tiny fraction of the number of jobs that are needed to be added each month just to stay even in employment.

    http://news.investors.com/article/617140/201207060851/10-reasons-jobs-market-worse-than-june-report.htm

    SPQR (26be8b)

  130. From that IBD piece I linked above:

    The jobless rate actually makes the labor market look better than it actually is. The rate only counts people who want a job but don’t have one. But the labor force participation rate was 63.8% in June, just above near modern-era lows. (It was 66.2% in January 2008 and 67.3% in April 2000). Otherwise, unemployment would be around 11%.

    The only way that Obama has been “lowering” the unemployment rate is by discouraging the unemployed so much that they quit looking entirely.

    11% unemployment is actually being kind. the U6 (all those who would “like” to work plus those working parttime that want full time) unemployment rate is almost 15% currently.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  131. SPQR- I’ve never voted for a democrat in 40 plus years of voting, and would never vote for a commie. I am fed up with cosmopolitan politics, We need a large amount of progressive republicans to get with it. Compromise is bad business.

    mg (44de53)

  132. The media’s embrace of Obama is so complete that all authority figures in commercials must be black males of his age.

    Unattorney (ab7da1)

  133. You already know thus significantly with regards to this subject, produced me in my opinion imagine it from a lot of varied angles. Its like women and men are not interested except it is something to accomplish with Woman gaga! Your individual stuffs nice. All the time handle it up!

    desi jokes (8fc7d0)

  134. The spammer makes as much sense as tye.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  135. “The media’s embrace of Obama is so complete that all authority figures in commercials must be black males of his age.”

    The paranoia is strong in this one.

    spointer (01dabf)

  136. And it’s not a regular commenter name here either, spointer. How very convenient that you just happened to drop by to notice that it dropped its turd.

    elissa (17d5c0)

  137. “And it’s not a regular commenter name here either, spointer. How very convenient that you just happened to drop by to notice that it dropped its turd.”

    Paranoia strong in this one too.

    spointer (01dabf)

  138. Teh stupidity is strong in this one ^^^

    Icy (534d91)


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