WHY MITT ROMNEY IS NOT OUR MAN FOR PRESIDENT! (III)

By Jack Jodell, Jam. 19, 2012   Final segment.

By winning his third test in three attempts  among the shrinking number of Republicans seeking the presudency, it appears that Mitt Romney will be unstoppable in securing the GOP nomination for President. A win in the South Carolina primary will all but seal it for him. Only a few days ago, 16 of the nation’s largest hedge fund managers held an elaborate fundraiser for Romney in Manhattan, which he attended. Naturally, this was to be expected, because he was among buddies there, the filthy rich members of the 1%. These ultra-wealthy candidates see in Romney a presidential candidate who will look after their interests, and to hell with everyone else who is in the 99% below them. 

For Mitt Romney talks a good game, but in the end, you know he has no time for the working men and women of this country. They are but pawns in his game, to be fired or laid off as he and the other members of the 1% see fit. In his 59 points, for example, he is dismissive of labor unions. He says, “Unfortunately, some union CEOs are less concerned about an industry’s competitiveness than they are with how many of their union’s jobs they can protect, how much they can increase wages, and how they can impose even more favorable work rules.” WHAT, Romney? WHAT?! Should they be more concerned with finding ways to outsource and export jobs, as YOU  have done, and to find ways to LOWER wages, as YOU have also done? And what is this nonsense about IMPOSING more favorable work rules? Isn’t it within a union’s right to press for safer and better working conditions? YOU BET IT IS, ROMNEY, AND YOU HAD BEST NOT FORGET IT!!!

Romney claims to be the candidate who “best understands how our free enterprise system works” and touts this as an advantage. I disagree entirely. All Romney understands is maximum profit for greedy corporations, and outright exploitation of workers, and those attributes are a huge DISADVANTAGE to the 99% who work for a living! His warped, Friedman-esque view of economics tells him that American workers must compete with the lowest-paid workers in the world to keep their jobs, otherwise those jobs can and should be exported to cheap, slave labor markets just so ownership can reap the highest profit attainable. He has never come to understand the responsibility businesses have to their labor force and the communities in which they reside, and completely misses the point that good pay is a WORKER’S “profit”, and that with enough of this profit, more goods will be bought, leading to more production and greater overall profit for ownership! With Romney, all one will get is an economic dictatorship where workers have little or no say about working conditions, and wage rates must be controlled, to be kept as low as possible. At this time of record-low membership in private company unions, stagnant or declining wages for workers (even though productivity is at record high levels), and corporate boards of directors’ salaries at an ever-rising, astoundingly high level, Romney is actively calling for more “right-to-work” laws and what he views as a more even-handed approach to labor issues by the National Labor Relations Board. This, of course, means he would purge the NLRB of its union members and replace them with pro-corporate nonunionists. At this point in time, with unions under constant assault and with declining membership, that would be an absolute disaster for working Americans! Wisconsin’s notorious Scott Walker would enthusiastically support this one-sided effort. In his forced admission that he only pays “around 15%” in income taxes due to most of his income coming from capital gains on investments he has made over the years, and that he made “not that much” from speaking fees last year (the figure was actually $374,000), we are supposed to merely accept these figures without any further thought.  Of course, the thoroughly dishonest Romney doesn’t admit that he has invested many MILLIONS in offshore tax dodges, which means he pays actually LESS than his stated 15% on a good share of his investment income! And yet he is pressing for even further reductions in the capital gains tax. This swindler is unbelievable, and  these are only a few of the many good reasons why Romney should NEVER become President! 

Iran, being the hostile, unstable, anti-American nation it now is, poses great danger to us and our ally, Israel. Depending on its behavior concerning world oil supply, we may very well end up going to war with her. But if Mitt Romney enters the White House, war with Iran will be a certainty. For Mitt Romney has loaded up his foreign affairs advisory team with George W. Bush-era neocons, who have been itching for a military confrontation with Iran for many years. Romney himself has even intimated he would support a pre-emptive strike to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb. He has likewise been crowing about how he will again build up our military and has even leveled criticism at China. He has faulted the Obama administration’s reliance on cautious diplomacy and consensus-building and seems to favor a throwback to Bush’s disastrous go-it-alone unilateral recklessness. In short, if you enjoyed George W. Bush’s Iraq, you’ll love Mitt Romney’s Iran. And that is yet another in a long list of reasons Mitt Romney must NOT become President!

Romney has proven he is untrustworthy by flip-flopping constantly on major issues for many years. He has shown he is blatantly anti-worker and anti-labor union, and is in favor of expanding corporate influence and power for the richest 1% at the expense of the working 99% below them. He has also shown he is a reckless pro-military hawk at a time when most Americans have had their fill of constant, expensive military escapades in foreign lands. He seeks dangerous continued American military dominance rather than sensible multinational cooperation. This man is no moderate; he is as imperialistic and reckless as Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld ever dreamed of being! He won’t govern as a conservative, but rather as an activist reactionary. His SuperPAC is poised to drown us in lying TV and radio ads all spring, summer, and fall. So be ready for it, and make sure your remotes are freshly stocked with batteries – you’ll need them to mute the sound or switch channels any time you’ll see a Romney ad. I know I’ll have mine handy!

You’ll note that all throughout this series I have not made even one reference to Romney’s religion. The fact that he is a Mormon doesn’t concern me in the least. A person’s religion (or lack thereof) should NEVER have any bearing on their ability to hold high office!

 These other points, though, are precisely why hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets to #OCCUPY everywhere! They are also all strong and valid reasons as to why MITT ROMNEY IS NOT OUR MAN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2012!