Mitt Romney: The Most Dangerous Candidate Since Barry Goldwater

Tags

abortion, barack obama, income inequality, mitt romney, poverty, presidential election, romney 47 percent, romney bush advisers, romney foreign policy, romney safety net, social darwinism

1964, 2 years after America’s brush with nuclear war in the Cuban Missile Crisis. The country was realizing of the terrifying possibilities of the Cold War, perhaps best represented in Stanley Kubrick’s fantastic film Dr. Strangelove and Sidney Lumet’s Fail-Safe. With this fear in the air, the Republicans nominated Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater. At his RNC acceptance speech, he embraced extremism, saying that “extremism in the face of liberty is no vice.” Goldwater was widely viewed as a hothead – an unstable man who could not be trusted with his finger on the button. Lyndon Johnson’s campaign capitalized on this fear with potentially the most famous political ad of all time, the Daisy ad. In the ad, a young child stands in a field counting pedals as she picks them off a flower. A voiceover then starts counting backwards, signifying a weapon launch. Then, an explosion. “These are the stakes,” the voiceover continues, “to make a world in which all of God’s children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die.”

Mitt Romney is not the ideologue that Goldwater was. Hard right conservatives 50 years from now will not look as fondly on Romney as the far right looks on Goldwater today. I argue, however, that Romney is nearly as dangerous for the country today as Goldwater was in 1964.

Changes to Chicago’s Pre-Kindergarten Funding

Tags

charter schools, chicago teachers union, early childhood education, education, karen lewis, pre-kindergarten, privatization, rahm emanuel, standardized testing

This article was published in the September/October edition of Chicago Union Teacher, the Union’s official magazine.

On August 3, Rahm Emanuel announced plans to reform Chicago’s pre-Kindergarten education system. Like other “reforms,” this one is likely to lead to privatization, lower-paid teachers, and test-driven pre-Kindergarten programs. The mayor’s plan fundamentally alters the funding structure for all early childhood education programs in Chicago, including Head Start (3-5 years old), Early Head Start (0-3), Preschool for All (3-5), and Prevention Initiative (0-3). His announcement was independent of CTU contract negotiations, and CTU was not consulted about this program.

By November 2, 2012, at 4:30pm, all CPS principals who wish to provide their neighborhood with pre-Kindergarten classes for the 2013-2014 school year must submit proposals. All schools wishing to provide these programs must apply, even if the institution currently receives funding for early childhood. Program administrators can find the applications, instructions, and evaluation rubrics on Chicago’s Ready to Learn! website.

Big Bird’s Last Stand: Analysis of the First Debate

Tags

2012 presidential election, auto bailout, barack obama, big bird, defund pbs, jim lehrer moderator, mitt romney, msnbc debate, obamacare, politics, presidential debate

Most pundits have declared that Governor Mitt Romney won the first presidential debate. Personally, I thought it was a rather boring debate with the biggest highlight being Jim Lehrer’s ineptitude. Lehrer made no attempt to moderate the debate, didn’t keep the candidates on topic, and never once challenged Romney or Obama on their responses or their records. I didn’t like the debate format itself. I favor a debate that gives the moderator more control, something like the Warren/Brown debate where David Gregory made the candidates answer for their previous comments and frequently interjected when Warren or Brown tried to go off topic and pander. Gregory was a bit too extreme and seemed to be a bit easier on Warren, but I liked the format and thought a less abrasive moderator would have made it a fantastic debate.

But let’s get to what the candidates said, and what they didn’t say, starting with President Obama. Clearly, the highlight for Obama is what he didn’t say. Obama never really attacked Romney; rather, he waited for Romney to attack him and then slung some mud back at the Massachusetts governor. When Obama did attack Romney, it came out like an snide remark from a person that had no interest in participating in this debate. Romney’s incredibly out-of-touch 47 percent comment was never mentioned. The Ryan budget was first mentioned late in the debate. Massachusetts being 47th in job creation under Romney was also never mentioned. The liberal pundits on MSNBC hammered Obama for not being tougher on his opponent and brutally attacking his mediocre record.

The Most Important Issue That No Candidate Is Talking About

Tags

charter schools, chicago public schools, chicago teachers strike, chicago teachers union, chicago tribune, education, michelle rhee, public education, school choice, stand for children, waiting for superman

Abortion, tax policy, budget deficits, foreign policy, and a host of other issues have gotten plenty of attention from President Obama and Governor Romney. There is one issue, however, that has received zero in-depth discussion by the candidates, the general public, or the media.

“The children are our future” is perhaps the most-used cliche in America. Despite this, education has, as it has in nearly all national elections, taken a back seat in the political arena. Politicians speak in generalities, exclaiming that they want to improve schools and ensure that all children get a quality education, but there are rarely any details on what that means in practice. Some mention “school choice,” but, again, what does this mean in practice?

The Proverbial Nail in the Coffin for the Romney Candidacy

Tags

2012 presidential election, class warfare, mitt romney, path to prosperity, paul ryan, paul ryan abortion, paul ryan deficit hawk, paul ryan fiscal conservative, paul ryan personhood, republican party, republican vice president, ryan budget

On Wednesday, I posted the benefits of Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate. I will now analyze the negatives of the Ryan pick.

The most discussed negative for Ryan politically is his “Path to Prosperity” budget. If you are taking the time to read this post, you already know the details of the budget, so I’m not going to spend too much time explaining it. In short, the budget ends Medicare as we know it, turning it into a voucher program. This does not happen immediately but will go into effect for those eligible for Medicare in ten years. Medicare funding would not keep up with the rising costs of healthcare, leading to less coverage for seniors in an attempt to close the deficit. The budget would also turn Medicaid into a block grant, drastically cut SNAP and TANF benefits for the poor, and reduce spending on infrastructure. Despite claiming that all of these cuts are to reduce the deficit, the Ryan budget also includes large tax cuts, – especially for the rich – and increases defense spending. It would also completely eliminate any tax on capital gains. The Atlantic calculated that Romney would pay have paid 0.82 percent tax rate under Ryan’s plan.

In Congressional elections, Republicans such as Scott Brown, Dean Heller, Linda McMahon, Denny Rehberg, and Chris Collins have run away from the toxic budget in their competitive races. Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Hochul’s victory in New York in 2011 is largely credited to voter displeasure with the Ryan budget. Americans like Medicare and social services, and they do not want to see these programs cut in order to give more tax breaks to the wealthy.

The Benefits of the Paul Ryan Pick

Tags

2012 presidential election, Benefits of the Paul Ryan Pick, mitt romney, path to prosperity, paul ryan, republican party, republican vice president, ryan budget

In my quick assessment of the selection of Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s running mate, I said that the pick may be one of the worst in modern history. I argued this using negatives the Ryan budget, which ends Medicare-as-we-know-it and slashes aid to the poor (including Medicaid, SNAP, and TANF) while giving even more tax breaks to the rich. I strongly oppose this budget – which the New York Times called the most radical to pass the House in modern history and “a blueprint of a government that will be absent when people need it the most”– and I believe that as more Americans find out about the so-called “Path to Prosperity,” they will universally reject it. With this post, however, I will play a bit of devil’s advocate and explain the benefits of the Ryan pick. On Friday (most likely), I will also post the negatives of Romney’s selection.

To put it bluntly, the Romney campaign wasn’t going well. Romney tried desperately to make this election a referendum on President Obama, but it quickly became clear that this strategy was not working. The Obama campaign quickly went on the attack again Romney, criticizing his record at Bain Capital (and hence Romney’s supposed credentials for being president) and his decision not to release more of his tax returns. Romney was immediately put on the defensive and forced to talk about himself when his campaign wanted to be constantly talking about Obama’s record.

The Impact of Romney’s VP Pick

Tags

2012 presidential election, bain capital, barack obama, electoral politics, medicare, mitt romney, paul ryan, republican vice presidential candidates, romney tax returns, romneycare, ryan budget

In July, I analyzed the contenders for the Republican vice presidential nomination. Please read that post here. I plan to make another post in the next few days giving my choice for who, after some additional reflection, I think Romney should have picked. Stay tuned.

Romney will be making his pick this morning in Norfolk, Virginia. Sources are saying that Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan will be Romney’s running mate. I dismissed Ryan in my original post because of his budget plan, which was poorly received by the electorate and framed by Democrats as radically conservative. The budget would end Medicare as we know it and create a voucher program in its place. This will obviously not play well with Florida’s senior citizens (or any senior citizens for that matter), and Romney will need to win the Sunshine State if he is going to defeat President Obama.

The timing of the announcement is interesting. Most pundits believed that Romney would wait until after the Olympics to make his pick, ensuring that the announcement would receive full media attention. After hearing that Romney would ignore this and announce before the Closing Ceremonies, I instantly believed that Congressman Ryan would be the pick (even before the news that sources were claiming Ryan would be the running mate).

The Search for Romney’s Running Mate

Tags

2012 presidential election, bob mcdonnell, bobby jindal, brian sandoval, chris christie, condoleezza rice, haley barbour, jeb bush, john thune, kelly ayotte, marco rubio, mary fallin, mike huckabee, mitt romney, nikiki haley, paul ryan, politics, rand paul, rick santorum, rob portman, romney vice president, sarah palin, susana martinez, tim pawlenty

It seems that pundits are all over the place when it comes to predictions for Mitt Romney’s running mate. In this post, I will analyze some of these candidates and make my prediction for who Governor Romney will choose – and whether that choice will help his chances against President Obama. First, I will present the candidates that Politico believes have a chance of being the VP nominee. (Remember, however, that no one had Sarah Palin on their radar in 2008, so the eventual nominee could not even be on this list.)

1. New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte
2. Former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour
3. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
4. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
5. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin
6. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
7. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee
8. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
9. New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez
10. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell
11. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul
12. Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty
13. Ohio Senator Rob Portman
14. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
15. Florida Senator Marco Rubio
16. Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan
17. Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval
18. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum
19. South Dakota Senator John Thune

More Republican Time Wasting in Congress

Tags

2012 election, boehner, darrell issa, dc abortion bill, dream act, eric holder contempt, fast and furious, government reform, immigration, obama, obama immigration executive order, politics, trent franks

While overshadowed by the ruling on the Affordable Care Act, the House of Representatives voted 255-67 to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions related to documents on the botched Fast and Furious operation. Many Democrats walked out in protest before the vote. Seventeen Democrats actually voted with the Republicans, one of which was Joe Donnelly, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Indiana. As an Indiana native, I am incredibly disappointed in Congressman Donnelly, but that’s a topic for another post.

I’m not really going to get into much of the investigation on Fast and Furious as there are plenty of places to find both sides of the issue. The Republican conspiracy theory about Fast and Furious is that Democrats intentionally botched the operation to provide evidence for stricter gun control laws in the United States, essentially letting a US Border Patrol officer die for political gain. There is, however, absolutely no evidence of this. [Aside: But now that you mention it…maybe we should use this as an example of how ridiculous our gun laws are.] The House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa himself recently admitted that there was no evidence linking the White House to the operation.

So what are the House Republicans doing? The contempt vote will obviously fail in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Congressman Issa essentially ordered a contempt vote – without any evidence – under the assumption that the withheld documents would make the White House and the Justice Department look bad. President Obama has already claimed Executive Privilege for these documents. Should the Congress really be using its time like this?

The Obsolete Nature of State Government

Tags

big government, federalism, local goverment, public transportation, scott walker, small government, state government, wisconsin recall

During the time of the founding, state government was viewed as essential to preserving our democracy. Different states had very different viewpoints on certain issues. Southern states like South Carolina and Northern ones like Massachusetts had radically different economies and lifestyles. There was also very little communication between these different regions. Therefore, the Framers created a system known as federalism – the federal government would hold the ultimate power, but state governments had the authority to pass laws that would affect those living within the state’s boundaries. At this time, most of the people living within those state’s boundaries were fairly homogeneous in both race, religion, and ideology.

This is no longer true. While South Carolina is certainly still different than Massachusetts in very important ways, the people in Columbia, South Carolina, have radically different needs and desires than those living in rural Western part of the state. The urban poor in Columbia are in need of a strong safety net, Medicaid, public housing, and public transportation. Those living in rural areas of the state, however, have a cheaper cost of living and are not as in need for these benefits that that are essential to the urban poor. Sure, cities existed in the 18th century, but they were not nearly as developed and complex as they are now. Today’s cities require special attention.