An American Nightmare? And How We can Avoid It
When I was young I was an activist in the conservative wing of the Republican party. My ideological descendants have taken an iron-grip control of the Republican party. However, I have moderated my views with life experience, but I have always remained and voted as a Republican. However, I like to think of myself as an American first and a patriot.
I have also discovered what is important, is not what a man will say he will do, what is important is the nature of the man. Those who now control the Republican party seem to have forgotten Goldwater said "it is time to put conscience back in government. And by good example, put it back in all walks of American life." In their desire to win, my party seems to have chosen a man with no conscience. I ask all my fellow moderate Republicans, and Republican leaning independents, and even Democrats to consider what I am about to write.
Our Republican candidate for President, Mitt Romney, does and says many strange things. He always seems to change his stance on issues depending upon who he running against. Does he believe in anything, or is he only seeking power? This is a man who says that if he paid more taxes than were required, he wouldn't be qualified to be president. As Lee Sheppard, a contributing editor at the trade publication "Tax Notes" said, “when you are running for president, you might want to err on the side of overpaying your taxes, and not chase every tax gimmick that comes down the pike.”
I quote Mitt Romney: “I pay all the taxes that are legally required, not a dollar more”; "I'm not familiar precisely with what I said, but I'll stand by what I said, whatever it was"; "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt"; "I'm not concerned about the very poor"; "I like being able to fire people"; "Corporations are people". Mitt would brag that he was a great businessman and we should vote for him because of this; he could turn around the economy. Yet, when it was shown his company outsourced jobs to other countries, fired employees and drove companies into bankruptcy, he stated he was not responsible for these things because they happened after he left the company in 1999. However, official SEC documents, which he signed, indicate he was CEO of his company until 2002. Either he lied to the SEC, which is perjury, or he is lying to us, we the people he wants to vote for him.
He has secret bank accounts in the offshore tax havens of Switzerland, Luxembourg, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands. Mitt's father, George, released 12 years of tax returns when he ran for President, saying "One year could be a fluke, perhaps done for show, and what mattered in personal finance was how a man conducted himself over the long haul." When Mitt's campaign was asked to release more then two years of returns, it responded “We’ve given all YOU PEOPLE need to know" and has refused to give out additional information.
Does Mitt sound like a man of the people, a patriot, who would brave the freezing and starvation of Valley Forge, charge up Omaha Beach during the Invasion of Normandy (D-Day), or slog through the mosquito infested jungles of Viet Nam? Or does Mitt sound like he owes us nothing, and he deserves the presidency as if anointed thru the divine right of kings? After all, he says we should vote for him, yet refuses to tell us how he got enough money to live like a king? His attitude is: he owes "We, the people" nothing. YOU PEOPLE, just trust me, I am not a crook. We can question all we want about his taxes, if for no other reason then to be educated as to how our tax system really works, but we will get no answers. What does this say about whose interests Mitt will be looking out for, if he is elected president?
Yet, it is not Mitt Romney, the man, who is so much a threat to democracy, but rather the processes he uses to get elected. I am a Republican, but I am an American first. I love this country, but I watched in despair as democracy in the Republican primaries was desecrated by the power of money. In state after state, Mitt and his affiliated PAC's outspent his opponents by 6, 7, 10 times, using negative ads to grind them to a bloody pulp so that they could not be recognized for who they really were. Adolf Hitler said "The victor will never be asked if he told the truth"..."Success is the sole earthly judge of right and wrong." Does Mitt also believe this?
Remember, Richard Nixon was impeached for actions he took trying to hide a secret $100,000 political slush fund; now Mitt's campaign regularly reports receiving a 100 million dollars per month officially. This does not include the support he gets from the PAC's, super PAC's, and 501(c)(4) organizations. Some of these groups are not limited in the size and source of contributions nor required to disclose their donors publicly. Does anyone think a person or corporation will give more the a million dollars to support a candidate, and not expect something in return. This is legalized bribery; am I the only one outraged?
However, the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC said money is just a form of free speech, so anybody can give whatever amount they want to a super-PAC to buy 1000's of 30 and 60 second television commercials. These ads will be repeated over and over again with catchy slogans, jingles, and images, lots of accusations and lies, but little discussion of the details of policies enacted if elected. That is because these ads are meant to evoke emotion, not understanding. As Adolf Hitler said: "It is not truth that matters, but victory."... "Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it." ... "I use emotion for the many and reserve reason for the few."
If this is the form future elections take, wouldn't we have lost that which makes us exceptional? Our democracy and equality in the political process. I would venture to say that the man who has a million dollars to give to a political campaign, has a lot more influence on its outcome, then the man who can only give his one vote. I do not believe this is what Thomas Jefferson had in mind when he wrote, "all men are created equal." While being able to give unlimited money to influence the political process may only be the exercise of free speech in theory, in practicality, it undermines the very foundation on which this nation was built.
We often take the exceptional nature of our nation for granted. For most of us, except for the two months before an election, we ignore what goes on in the world of government and politics. We are low information voters; we vote based on the way we feel about a candidate. Make no mistake, every 30 and 60 second television ad is a piece of propaganda, intended not to inform, but only to manipulate how a person feels about a candidate. As Adolf Hitler stated: "All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach."... "If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed." Based on current projections and trends, it looks like Mitt Romney will have in excess of 100 million dollars more for television advertising then Barack Obama, and who know how much additional money will be spent by the PAC's supporting Mitt and attacking Obama.
For a month before the election, the airwaves will be endlessly filled with focus-group tested ads saying Obama is a nice guy who is ineffective and incompetent; and ads with images of Mitt sitting at a desk, looking "presidential," or feel-good images of Mitt's family, along with flags, and sunrises. These ads will be selling a candidate instead of fast foods or beer, and contain just as much real information. No matter what the polls say, in the weeks people are finalizing their vote, President Obama is at a severe disadvantage; more then 100 million dollars worth.
However, before I continue, I would like to add a personal note. There are those who question if I am a Republican because of what I write. They ask why I did not identify myself in my last post? (Link at bottom of page.) I will give some details of my Republican background latter in this letter, but now I will explain why I prefer to remain anonymous. I can only assume those who ask why I do not identify myself do not remember, or are not aware of, President Nixon's "ENEMIES LIST". This was a list which was used to harass ordinary American citizens who Nixon felt were his enemy. This was one of the reasons he was impeached in what is now known as the "Watergate" scandal. The official purpose, as described by the White House Counsel John Dean was "how we can maximize the fact of our incumbency in dealing with persons known to be active in their opposition to our Administration; stated a bit more bluntly—how we can use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies." I fear Richard Nixon and Mitt Romney are cut from the same cloth.
Remember, the only negative things we knew about Nixon before he was elected president were: he worked as an aide to Senator Joe McCarthy; he gave a maudlin speech about his dog "Checkers" and his wife's cloth coat; and he did not shave very well. My fear about Mitt Romney may be baseless, for no man can see into another's man heart. But his actions in the primaries; his secrecy and attitude when questioned about his finances; the lack of compassion and empathy indicated by his teen-age bullying and tying his dog to the roof of his car for 12 hours; and his seeming lack of core values in an endless chase for political power; these all add up in a very troubling way. I know I will seem to be a traitor to my fellow Republicans (including some of my friends) if they knew my name, but feeling the way I do, I would rather be a traitor to my party, then a traitor to my country.
I fear a NIGHTMARE scenario for the United States if Mitt Romney is elected President. I assume he will implement the Ryan budget plan, which will cut taxes for the "investor class" (aka the rich), while reducing government spending by cutting programs that benefit the poor, working and middle class families. Since money knows no nationality, and owes no loyalty but to itself, most of the tax cut the rich receive will be invested in emerging market countries, where it will get the greatest return, or deposited in the secret bank accounts of "offshore tax havens", or hidden away in gold. This money will not circulate through the American economy, create demand, and help the economy grow.
Meanwhile, since Romney promised not to increase the deficit, the budgets would be slashed for programs like: crop insurance for farmers, natural disaster relief, food inspection, interstate highway repair and maintenance, school nutrition programs, unemployment insurance, student financial aid, food stamps, employment training, "Head Start", "aid for dependent children", etc. Cuts in federal grants to local and state governments would mean the layoff of policemen, firemen, and teachers. Of course, all these things and people consume "goods and services" which employ people to meet this demand. To the extent demand is now lessened, employers will cut back and factories may close, jobs will be lost, and the unemployment rate will rise. Rather then the agonizingly slow but steady economic growth we presently have, the economy will begin to shrink, we will be in a "double dip" recession.
As the economy shrinks and people lose jobs, their ability to make their mortgage payments will decrease, and bank foreclosures will increase. They will lose their homes. They will be looking for help, but they will get none from Mitt Romney, since he believes "don't try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom." But we must always remember the statistics we read about unemployment and foreclosures are not just numbers. They represent real men, women, and children, who, maybe for the first time in their lives question: “Will I eat tonight and where will I sleep?” They are more afraid then they have ever been before in their lives. Without any government help, what will those families be forced to do in order to survive? Prostitute themselves, steal, become criminals in order to put a roof over their head and food on the table for themselves and their children. Is this what Mitt wants, because in some cases, this is what he will get.
But the nightmare continues: Mitt Romney has said, "I have indicated, day one, I will issue an executive order identifying China as a currency manipulator. We'll bring an action against them in front of the WTO (World Trade Organization) for manipulating their currency, and we will go after them." Sounds good until you read what that same WTO states on their Website "The short-sighted protectionist view is that defending particular sectors against imports is beneficial. But that view ignores how other countries are going to respond. The longer term reality is that one protectionist step by one country can easily lead to retaliation from other countries. (For example), the trade war of the 1930s when countries competed to raise trade barriers in order to protect domestic producers and retaliate against each others’ barriers. This worsened the Great Depression."
Will Mitt Romney's actions towards China, if elected president, ignite a fire he may not be able to control? Europe is economically frail, already many countries are in a recession because they adopted the equivalent of the Romney/Ryan budget. Austerity in those countries has only caused the financial condition of the people to worsen, and created political instability and rioting in the streets. At this point, the possible starting a trade war between the world's two largest economies would be a unwarranted risk. A trade war, when combined with Europe's fragile economy, and the downturn in the American economy caused by the Romney/Ryan budget, would result in another economic depression, not just a severe recession.
While the preceding facets of my nightmare are based on facts, what follows is INFORMED SPECULATION. The Romney/Ryan budget has increased economic inequality, in that, it gave significant tax cuts to the rich while cutting benefits such as unemployment insurance, student financial aid, food stamps, "Head Start", school nutrition programs, etc, mostly used by the poor. This will revive and reinvigorate the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, perhaps to the extent where the size of its demonstrations will match those against the war in Vietnam. Because of the economic downturn, and Romney's policies which are seen as causing it (unlike Obama who was seen as inheriting it from the Bush administration), the demonstrators will be angrier then they were in the first wave of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. Some of the demonstrations may deteriorate into riots, as they have done in London, Greece, and Spain. These will only be splinter groups but media reports, especially Fox News, will focus on them.
President Obama was "hands off" regarding the first wave of "Occupy Wall Street" (OWS) movement and appeased them by using a more populist tone in his speeches. However Romney will not do that, since he will be pressured by his "hard right" supporters, including Rush Limbaugh, into declaring the "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrators are terrorist, because of the riots, and evoking the "Patriot Act." (As an aside, many of the illegal actions in regards to the anti-war movement for which Nixon was impeached in Watergate, would today be perfectly legal under the "Patriot Act."
The "Occupy Wall Street" encampments would then be swept clear and destroyed by soldiers, like what happened under President Hoover, to the encampment of the "Bonus Marchers" in 1932. At that time soldiers with fixed bayonets and hurling tear gas destroyed an encampment of 10,000 people. Two babies died and nearby hospitals were overwhelmed with casualties.
America would be bitterly divided, especially if any demonstrators were killed by soldiers, as they were at "Kent State" during an anti-Vietnam War protest. And as president, we would have a man who is closely tied to Wall Street and corporate financiers, in fact he was one; he was ruthless in the way he handled his business (Bain) and political campaigns; he has no problem being deceptive, to either us or the SEC (as to when he left Bain), along with for many years not disclosing a Swiss bank account on government financial disclosure forms; and he is completely opaque and secretive in whatever he does. With this combination no one could know what would happen next.
As Martin Luther King Jr reminded us, "We must never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal." Hitler in a time of political and economic distress, in a sloppy and flawed political process, achieved office democratically. We say it could never happen here, but as the little known "plot against FDR" shows, it is not unthinkable. The economic system of the United States has already changed, we have gone from capitalism to corporatism; stealthily, without notice. A Wal-mart store, because of the size of the corporate chain, get a special low prices from manufacturers available to no one else; it comes to town and how many stores on main street go out of business. Banking corporations get too big to fail, they take reckless risks to increase profits, they get in trouble, and the taxpayer has to bail them out; while their executives, the same ones who took the risks, get huge bonuses. This is because as Mitt said, "The TARP (bank bailout) program was designed to keep the financial system going," and as a CEO of a private equity firm, he was a part of this financial system and previously had been a partner in transactions with many of these banks. In the past, we would say this could never happen here, but it did. Thus my nightmare ends.
You may think I'm paranoid, and I can only hope you're right. However, many economist believe that if Romney does what he says he wants to, in regards to the budget and China, the economic portion of my nightmare will become a reality. As far as the political portion of my nightmare, the very fact that I can make a coherent, cogent and credible scenario, is scary enough.
It is these factors that caused a life-long Republican,to decide he could not only not vote for Romney, but also campaign against him by writing my first letter (see link at bottom of page). The only reason that letter was posted at a Democratic blog was that it kept on being taken down at Republican blogs. Its main purpose had been to encourage moderates to take back the Republican party. As I said, the extreme right has a iron-grip control of the Republican party.
I had supported Mitt in the early primaries as a moderate Republican. I thought if he had been the governor of Massachusetts as a Republican, this meant he had to be a moderate. It was only after Bain was brought up in the Republican primaries did I really start to examine the man I planned to be voting for. I was your typical low-information voter. It is because of voters like me that the money to buy 30 and 60 second commercials is so important.
However, when I was young I was very active in the Republican party. I have been a Republican my whole life, and have a voters registration card dated in 1993 indicating that fact. However now politically, I am a nobody. Other then being an activist in College Republicans 40 years ago, there is no public record of me. I am one citizen, one voter who happened to vote Republican my whole life, and decided to vote for the other guy this time around. There is nothing extraordinary about that, it happens in every election, in both directions. I just happen to write well, and took the time to document why I made this decision in my first letter. I reveled nothing new, I just took what is already in the public record and wove it into a coherent tapestry. Watergate ruined political activism for me, while I was working my heart out for a candidate (Nixon) who I believed in, he was abusing and shredding the Constitution. I decided that I had better things to do with my life, so I became "Joe Private Citizen." A voter, but not an actor in the great drama of American democracy. What I found out about Mitt Romney changed that. While my previous post indicates why America should vote for Obama, this post indicates why I, and every other American citizen, MUST VOTE AGAINST Mitt Romney.
This election is about more then what Mitt wants to do to Medicare or Social Security, or any other issue; it is about what will be the character of our nation in the future. Wall Street, Corporate Financiers, all the big money interests, and the wealthiest people in America have already invested over one BILLION DOLLARS in support of Mitt Romney's bid to be our president. If money could dictate the results of the election, Obama wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of winning. But it does not, we, the people, yeah YOU PEOPLE still have a say in the matter. But make no mistake in the matter, if Mitt wins, this election campaign will become the template for all future elections in the United States. For it will be proven that enough money can dictate the results of an election. Our democracy will be fundamentally transformed, we will be a government of the money, by the money, for the money. But if Mitt lost, well let us just say, one billion dollars will have gotten no return on investment, and it is unlikely that their investment in the future will be as great. So in effect we are fighting for that which makes the United States exceptional, this is our battle, one that must be won by each of us individually.
Republican Presidents Lincoln, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Reagan, Ford were Americans first and only secondly were they Republicans. They would work with Democrats and compromise for the good of the country. They would be shocked and loudly denounce any other Republican like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who said "The single most important thing we (Republicans in Congress) want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." We were in the middle of the greatest economic crisis since the 1930's and my Republican party has as its main goal trying to make sure the president fails — even if the country fails right along with him. Shame on him and others like him.
We Republicans used to be a big tent party, but now moderates are chased out and called a RINO (Republican In Name Only). I hope this letter gives moderates the courage to help take back my party. We need a center-left and center-right political parties, not parties on the extremes. I believe Obama is center-left, but my party is now right-wing crazies, that will comprise on nothing. Since I do not have millions of dollars to get my message out, I must rely on democrats. They have friends who are also republicans. For the good of the country, we must all work together for the good of the country. Please, please as you take the actions below do not distinguish between Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, we are all Americans. There are moderate Republicans out there we are just as upset at what has happened to our party as I am; there are Tea Party members who are directing their anger in the wrong direction, at the government rather then the huge financial institutions and corporations that behind the scenes control so much of their lives. They have not made the connection that voting for Mitt Romney is like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse. Although there is some overlap, both my letters are important, this one dealt with the man Mitt Romney and my nightmare, the other with policy vis-à-vis Obama.
Everyone must be engaged in this battle, make sure your friends, neighbors, and family are registered to vote; if your state has special ID requirements, make sure you are aware of them and you and your friends meet those requirements. You don't want to wait on a line, and then not be able to vote because you don't have the proper ID. The democratic process is always a social process. Rent the 1940 Academy Award winning movie about the effects of the Great Depression on a family "The Grapes of Wrath", and view it with friends, neighbors, and family (including Republicans). No overt politics need take place, the movie itself will have an impact. You were probably told never talk about politics or religion, but the choice we face in this election is too important not to talk about it, in a non-aggressive manner, every chance you get; coffee klatches, card games, casual conversations of all types. Since my first letter received such a positive response I created website with an easy to remember name CommonSenseFor.US (.US not .Com) which you can refer people to. I could use some help to add the social networking capabilities and buttons (Twitter, FaceBook, eMail this, etc).
If you a student and you don't have a political club in school, start one, your history teacher will help you. I believe, this will be the most important election in my lifetime, and will shape what is America's future. If you feel my letters have any value, and you would like to share them with others, you have my permission to do so. In whole or in part. In fact, please share them with at least 5 others and ask them to share it also. Give it a small personal introduction. We may not have millions of dollars to spread a message, but we all have at least 5 friends and acquaintances. Ask your recipients to also send it to 5 more people, chain-letter style. I encourage you to spread it as far as you can, eMails to friends, Facebook, Tweets, Blogs, op-ed pieces and letters to the editor in your local paper. If you have eMail lists use them. Send it to Anchors at all the TV stations, and columnists, both local and national; if they receive one letter they may ignore it, if they receive 10 they will pay attention. If you have a good speaking voice and know how to do it, post a video on "You Tube." If the subject matter of the letter is not deemed worthy of coverage, the way the message is being spread may well be. If you have any contacts at the DNC or the Obama campaign, bring both these letters to their attention. Finally send it to your congressional representatives and senators, (Democrat and Republican), and national, state and local party organs, they might as well know what the people are thinking. This is the only time they listen to the people more then the organized special interests. The only thing that can beat the power of money is people power.
To preserve and protect this exceptional nation over the years, many good and brave men and women have given their lives. Now it is our turn to preserve and protect this exceptional nation. Not by giving up our lives, or carrying a gun, but rather by picking up a pen. "It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
My first letter: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021135316 or http://CommonSenseFor.US
You can contact me at: [email protected]
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