The Politics Thread

[Roman]

http://www.republicansforobama.org/

Something else the "liberal media" is not telling the people.

[Wales2004]

Once again we learn that Barack Obama was born in the foreign nation of Hawaii where he was smoking stuff and he's gasp un-American. John Sununu, on the other hand, was born in the great American state of Havana.

Mitt Romney is already not very likeable. He should lay off the coded "un-American" label. He's really going to help turn Barack Obama into a sympathetic figure.

Insanity seems to have taken a bigger hold on the Republicans lately.

[JaneAusten]

I can understand many feeling Obama got hand held by the media in 2008. I kind of felt this way during the primaries somewhat when Hilary seemed to get lambasted by everyone. But he was a new face people knew little about so he didn't have a lot of baggage to dredge up. So I kind of got it. But then came the demands for his lineage and his religious faith (no he's not a Muslim not that that should matter), and worst of all having to produce his birth certificate AFTER he became president. I want to see one republican who's run in the past so many years who was required to prove they were a citizen other than the normal protocols.

Edited July 18, 2012 by JaneAusten

[Wales2004]

It's kind of sad that the Republicans choose to go this route.

I can't count how many times I've heard that George Romney released 12 years of returns when he ran for President. I found it puzzling that he ran considering he was born in Mexico. He subsequently dropped out, possibly to avoid that as an issue.

The Romneys are pretty good at making criticism of them all inclusive. When Hilary Rosen correctly pointed out that Ann Romney had never had a 9-5 job (and I consider motherhood real work but not a job), Ann Romney claimed it was an attack on all mothers and people went along with it. Now, Mitt Romney claims that Barack Obama was attacking Steve Jobs and all these other men who are not Mitt Romney and had nothing to do with what was said. They're both awfully whiney. Maybe they should watch how many party members are swiping and Mitt Romney and making it clear that they really don't like him either. All that's missing from this show would be a mutiny at the RNC.

[Roman]

http://dailycaller.com/2012/07/18/romney-campaign-quietly-promised-vigorous-porn-crackdown-reagan-prosecutor-says/

Romney has just lost the election.

[DRW50]

If he does get elected and starts the porn crackdowns, the media will probably just say it was people Obama appointed.

For all the talk of this being about the economy, Romney's people are focusing on everything else. Porn, Muslim Brotherhood, you name it.

[Max]

Given that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner got into legal trouble for failing to pay his taxes on time, I do find it to be extremely hypocritical for Obama's supporters to be hammering Governor Romney on his personal tax issues. That being said, I am all for transparency, and Romney should release many more years of his tax returns to the public. Aside from partisans (who are speculating that he cheated on his taxes), others have raised more plausible speculations that Romney (legally) did not pay any taxes for the year 2009 because he offset his investment losses against the large amount of income he earned. Should this be true (or something else along those lines, such as him paying a "low" effective tax rate), I think that the governor is doing far more harm to his campaign by not releasing further tax returns as opposed to just releasing them and trying to do damage control. So long as he didn't do anything illegal, any other "injustice" involving his taxes will upset Democrats far more than it will upset independents. And, if he was a smart campaigner (which he most definitely is not), he would--after releasing more of his tax returns--turn the tables on the Democrats' outrage and remind voters about Geithner.

But, because he was such a new face, don't you think that suggested that perhaps he wasn't ready to be president?

And, the most honorable Senator McCain has proven once again that he is an absolute American treasure. Here he is denouncing Michelle Bachmann's vile comments against Huma Abedin:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-IROi6UREjg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Edited July 23, 2012 by Max

[DRW50]

No one cares about Geitner.

[Max]

With all due respect, does that make it alright to have a tax fraud as Obama's Treasury Secretary? How can Obama supporters attack Romney on his own tax returns with a straight face?

Edited July 23, 2012 by Max

[DRW50]

Geitner isn't running for President. While Romney saying "gotcha", Sarah Palin style, and the media lapping it up, would not surprise me, I don't think it would do Romney any favors with the public who wouldn't know why it's OK to not release tax returns because someone in Obama's Cabinet didn't.

[Max]

I just wanted to clarify that Romney should not go after Geithner (and Obama, for choosing him) until after he releases more of his own tax returns. Then, (assuming that Romney himself didn't cheat on his taxes) he can bring up Geithner's legal troubles as a way of blunting Democratic criticism that Romney paid a low effective tax rate or didn't legally pay any income taxes one year.

Edited July 23, 2012 by Max

[DRW50]

He could do that, but then, he's made such a fuss of the foot-dragging that this will be what people are more likely to remember. Romney always gives the impression that he's making a huge sacrifice running for President and that he's about ten seconds away from "let them eat cake."

[Max]

He should have done this from the beginning, but--because he has been dragging this out for so long--so much irreversible damage has been done to the campaign. His advisers have been giving him horrendous advice, and he's too dumb to realize that and fire them.

Edited July 23, 2012 by Max

[Wales2004]

Unless Timothy Geithner did not pay his taxes at all then I don't see the point of bringing him up. It's irresponsible of him, especially in his position but it's nothing to which a segment of the voting population won't be able to relate.

A significant number of the voting population cannot relate to Mitt Romney in terms of his wealth. He'd seem ridiculous whining about the IRS having to go after TG when it's not going to change the fact that he's got foreign tax shelters. It looks terrible someone to claim he loves America so much that he wants to be the President, yet he's trying to minimize the amount of taxes he pays by sending his money outside of America.

If he does end up releasing more tax returns then he'd be better off not trying to drag anyone else into it. How did it work out for him when he tried to drag John Kerry's wife into it? Last I checked, she wasn't running for President and had no obligation to release her tax returns. No one should say a word about his precious Ann but John Kerry's wife is fair game. John Kerry's not even his opponent. His response to those who bring up his dad releasing 12 years of returns is to be a big baby.

I'm not a fan of the Democrats but the Republicans do a good job of making the Democrats look reasonable and sane. It's great that John McCain stands up against some of the insanity but the fact that it persists is not a good look for the Republicans. The Democrats have their spaced out Nancy Pelosi but the Republicans have weeping John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, crazy Michelle Bachman, Alan West and the list goes on.

Right now I'm guessing that Mitt Romney is the problem and not his advisers. Maybe he gets some bad advice but the tax return business seems to be his decision. They can't make him produce them if he doesn't want to do it. He seems to think that everyone is so dumb that he can ease on into the White House but he's underestimating appeal and he lacks that big time. He's patronizing in a way that's costly to him.

[Max]

Geithner failed to pay his taxes on time, and that was illegal. We don't know if it is Romney is doing something illegal by holding some of his funds in offshore accounts (though we should be able to find out because he needs to release his tax returns). Unless you want to demand Geithner's resignation, it's hypocritical to trash Romney while letting Obama off the hook for having a tax fraud in one of the most important cabinet posts. (I'll say right now that there's no double standard on my part: Romney should drop out ASAP if he did anything illegal.)

http://www.forbes.co...reign-accounts/

(Sorry for posting an old article, but it makes some relevant points.)

We have no proof that Romney is doing anything illegal, but that isn't stopping Obama supporters from making accusations. Though I have remained silent, Obama bashers have been throwing out charges that Eric Holder acted illegally, when there is no proof (as he is refusing to turn over important documents relating to the Fast and Furious investigation). In both cases, it hurts their cases that full disclosure isn't being made, but nobody can conclusively say that one is breaking the law while the other is not. (I know that there is a higher ethical standard for a president than a cabinet secretary, but I am bringing up the cases of both Geithner and Holder to show that Obama supporters need to clean out their own closets when it comes to tax ethics and issues relating to full disclosure.)

Edited July 23, 2012 by Max