Mitt's new friend had to show his taxes.

I hate to keep "beating a dead horse", but, once again, I have to ask Mitt about those tax returns. This questions becomes even more important because of what Mitt demanded of his potential running mate for vice president.

"CHARLOTTE - Mitt Romney requested "several" years of tax returns from his potential running mates, a senior adviser to the candidate said Saturday, suggesting that those considered for the ticket may have been required to reveal more financial documents that the candidate himself.

In a briefing with reporters in Virginia Saturday, senior adviser Beth Myers, who was charged with headed the vice president selection process, declined to specify exactly how many years of tax returns were required, saying only that "several" were requested.

Several, by definition, implies more than two years." [Source] 

I can't say that I blame Mitt for wanting to know how his potential running mate has handled his taxes over the past few years, and Mitt should understand why we, the American people, want the same from him. To say that seeing how an individual has handled this important aspect of his life over the past few years is not important for the person running for president is ludicrous. Of course it's important. And I suspect that Mitt and his supporters know that it is. However, for the sake of political one- upmanship they pretend not to.

Speaking of running mates, Mitt had his on the stump with him today in North Carolina. They had bigger crowds and more enthusiasm coming from those crowds. Ryan, right on cue, lashed into Obama for attacking Mitt instead of offering real hope and change. Yes, he attacked Obama for attacking. This is politics in America.

Anyway, it seems that Obama and his peeps have some attacks of their own. Apparently they have been expecting Mr. Ryan.

 "..Team Obama's response to the House Budget Committee Chairman's elevation to potential VP made clear that the Democrat's campaign won't overhaul so much as go into overdrive. Aides argue that Ryan amplifies rather than challenges their core message with just 88 days until the election.

The early attacks are telling: Obama's website repeatedly refers to Ryan's "extreme budget plan" as favoring the rich over the middle class (the president's core argument against Romney). The first line of its biographical sketch reads "Paul Ryan is a career Washington D.C. insider." (Obama has been running in large part against inside-the-Beltway political stalemate, casting the blame on Republicans.)

In an attack everyone in politics saw coming, the site warns Ryan's budget "would turn Medicare into a voucher program, increasing seniors' costs by up to $6,350 per year"—an unusually precise figure seemingly tailored to shock elderly voters in pivotal battlegrounds like Florida, even though his proposal would not affect people currently over 55. [Source]

Ryan is 42 years old and has spent 20 years in Washington. So yes, he qualifies as an inside the beltway guy. (Isn't that the antithesis of what the new republican party is supposed to represent? Tea Party types who want to throw the bums out and give government back to the people?)

Another thing, is Paul Ryan really a blue collar guy? I know that he represents a blue collar district, (even though he seemed to shun them for a more well to do County when he appeared today with his wealthy new friend) but blue collar? Hardly.

He is a fourth generation Wisconsin native, his dad is a lawyer, his great- grand father owned a hugely successful construction business, his grandfather was appointed US Attorney for Western Wisconsin by Calvin Coolidge, and his family liked to go on ski trips when he was a kid. Yep, a real everyman background. I can just see him and his dad pounding back Pabst Blue Ribbon beers and swapping jokes about the mill in their overalls. Not.

Still, the imagery is there, and right wingers -from the republican wonks in Washington to the Tea Party faithful down at the local Wal Mart- are all on board.

Now if they can just keep those minorities, old people, and single women home come November, they will be in business.    

*Pic from the Paul Ryan Watch





  

Mitt's pick.

I saw Mitt announcing his VP pick in Virginia this morning. (A battleship, Mitt? Going door to door in Paris with the Book of Mormon is not battle.)  I must say that his timing couldn't have been better. His campaign was tanking fast. This is a good way to stop the bleeding; introduce your vice presidential running mate to the country and get us talking about something else besides Bain Capital and a lack of personal income tax returns for awhile. (Mitt, we still want to see those returns.) 

That running mate happens to be Paul Ryan. He is white, male, and has a lot of hair. All the things needed if you want to be on a winning GOP ticket. (Sorry Sarah)

Anyway, I have some bad news for my fellow progressives who thought I was going to rip Paul Ryan with crass Eddie Munster jokes. I am not. Ryan seems like a decent enough fellow, folks I know who have met the guy all seem to confirm that. Anyway, I actually think that this is a good choice for Mitt. I think that we will finally be able to argue substantive issues and the American voters will have an opportunity to make a choice between two different economic visions for America.

I have been fortunate in life, so when I stop working and start spending my days enjoying my retirement, I will not have to depend on a social security check to keep me going. Medicare? Well I plan to be still playing a mean game of tennis long after I am 65, so I am not even thinking about long term health care right about now. Sadly, however, for those of you who are, the choice of Paul Ryan to be your potential VP might be a little problematic.

The Ryan Plan in a nutshell:

"By selecting Ryan, Romney closely associates himself with the author of a controversial budget plan which would dramatically overhaul the federal government. Ryan, as head of the House Budget Committee, has called for big reductions in taxes for both wealthy individuals and corporations and turning Medicare into a program in which each senior citizen gets a voucher of several thousand dollars to purchase their own plan, instead of the current, government-operated program. He would make Medicaid a block grant program where each state could set its own rules.

Under Ryan, corporate taxes would be 25 percent instead of 35 percent, and the highest tax bracket for individuals would also be 25 percent instead of 35 percent. He would also cut trillions in government spending, likely reducing funds for education, health care and transportation at a much faster rate than Democrats have proposed in order to balance the federal budget.

The Ryan vision is a dramatic departure from what the president is proposing. In his second term, Obama wants to raise taxes on wealthy individuals to fund increased spending in some areas of education and infrastructure and continue implementing “Obamacare,” which expands Medicaid and sets strict rules for states on how they use the program."

Democrats, including President Obama, argue Ryan’s proposals constitute “social Darwinism” and would benefit the rich at the expense of people who rely on Medicare, Medicaid and other programs. [Source]

Speaking in strictly political terms, some of you will say that this is a risky pick. That it's just another Hail Mary by the GOP. Romney was feeling heat from the right, and this is the guy that the so called thinkers in the party wanted. (Sorry Mitt, no more Etch A Sketch.) This is a a guy with some real meat on his economic plan and his vision for the future of America. Now, maybe, we can talk issues.

"The case for Mr. Ryan is that he best exemplifies the nature and stakes of this election. More than any other politician, the House Budget Chairman has defined those stakes well as a generational choice about the role of government and whether America will once again become a growth economy or sink into interest-group dominated decline.

Against the advice of every Beltway bedwetter, he has put entitlement reform at the center of the public agenda—before it becomes a crisis that requires savage cuts. And he has done so as part of a larger vision that stresses tax reform for faster growth, spending restraint to prevent a Greek-like budget fate, and a Jack Kemp-like belief in opportunity for all."

So there you have it. The case for Ryan from the right.

Of course, at the end of the day, Mitt is still the man at the top of the ticket, and....well, I love what Jed Lewison wrote:

"The case they are making for Ryan has nothing to do of demographics or geographical considerations. Nor does it have to do with checking some sort of box—like foreign policy experience—on the GOP ticket's joint resume. Instead, they are saying that without Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney is nothing more than an empty suit, someone at any given moment will say whatever he thinks is most politically expedient. In their view, Mitt Romney is just a guy who's running for office, for Pete's sake.

If they didn't believe that, they wouldn't be getting so excited for Paul Ryan. After all, Mitt Romney has repeatedly and enthusiastically supported Ryan's plan. He's already on record supporting it. If conservatives thought Mitt Romney was a man they could trust, that would be enough for them. But they do not trust him—and with good reason.

But here's the thing: even if Mitt Romney does pick Paul Ryan, he'll still be as untrustworthy as he is today. Picking Ryan might make the conservatives feel good. But if Romney does it, the only reason will be that he decided Ryan was the most expedient decision—the best tactical pick. Because that's just how Romney rolls. [Source]

That's exactly how Mitt rolls; "tactics" not substance.




  









 








 

"I LOVE LUCY".... I THINK

"SO SAMBO BEAT THE BITCH"

Maybe that line shouldn't be in quotations as it relates to the beauty queen; because, let's be honest, as much as I despise the beauty queen, I am not even sure if this story is true. But it has been coming at me from all over the place, lately. Here, and here, and here. I mean honestly, I know none of us would be surprised if it is true, but is it?

"...According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat’s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively..."

Well, since I am not a real journalist, and this is my own personal blog, which I happen to share with a few of my field Negro and honorary field Negro friends, I am going to go ahead and assume that this story is true. But field, it's pure hearsay, you are a trial lawyer, you should know better than to believe unsourced stories, that can hurt a person's reputation and their good name. Yes, that is all true, but I am still NOT going to give the beauty queen the benefit of the doubt. Personally, I believe the story! So now it's up to the beauty queen to prove me wrong. I am going to do something that is not tolerated in the law. I am going to ask the beauty queen to prove something that she says didn't happen.

Hey, as long as we are asking these anonymous sources to come forward, let's ask the beauty queen about that alleged day, and ask her to bring the folks who were with her to come forward and say it didn't happen as well. We see the alleged accounting of these events from the eyes of this so called "Lucille". Everyone is asking "Lucille" to come forward, how about one of the six people who were with the beauty queen coming forward and saying that "Lucille" is a lying piece of shit? I mean honestly, could someone in the main stream media at least ask the damn question? I guess not. I mean god forbid that we seem like we are coming down too hard on our girl Sarah. Can't afford to do that now can we? We don't want to piss off all those hockey moms and small town voters out there.....Yeah right, like why do we even care?

So for now, as far as the field is concerned; not only is this woman a raving jesus freak lunatic. She is a racist, intransigent, self hating, creep as well. Oh field, that is so wrong to assume that this woman thinks this way just because she is a republican. Yep, that would be correct, because as far as I am concerned, when it comes to matters of racial sensitivity, being a republican already puts her way behind the fucking eight ball. She does not get the benefit of the doubt.

Oh well, this latest little news from the last frontier is just the latest in the Palin water torture that has been hitting us since she was picked to run as VP. Drip, drip, drip. When will it end?

Hopefully, it will be soon. But knowing A-merry-ca like I do, I have a feeling it will be dripping for the next four years.

Why?

I have never been to Alaska, and I am sure it's a beautiful state with wonderful people. But Mr. Morton, WTF? Sarah Palin? Here I was, ready to keep my clothes on come November and stay the hell off Broad Street, when you go and pull a stunt like this. You must really want me to lose my bet don't you? I am sorry, I must be missing something; if you are up in a football game with time running out, don't you call conservative plays and hold the ball? Why would you throw a hail Mary pass and risk giving the other team the ball? Mr. Morton, Sarah Palin is a fucking hail Mary pass, plain and simple.

I know I know, she is only 44, she is a woman, and she is a social conservative. So she has youth, gender, and conservative cred. All traits that I am sure you thought would help you. But being 44 and a two year Governor of a state that is closer to Moscow than New York, and less people than a Philly housing project isn't going to make the experience rap against his "O" nes fly. Being a woman isn't going to get her the Hillary vote (the one hundred or so folks at PUMA not withstanding), because the last time I checked the Hillaryites wanted to keep their right to do what they want to with their own bodies. And they sure as hell loved that their girl had a ton of experience; and they would have some serious issues with the former mayor of a town of 9,000 people just two years ago, rising to the second highest office in the country. The fact that she is a gun toting, gay hating lunatic, doesn't help her either. Yeah the stories of her background is cute, and I feel for her with the disabled child, but come on now....VP?

Hey, maybe Mr. Morton wanted his ticket to be able to beat the "O" man's ticket in B-ball. I hear that girlfriend actually hit the winning shot to win her high school team the Alaska state championship. ---I have seen your game "O" man, you can't go to your right, if girlfriend can shoot the jay you might have some problems. ---But seriously, Mr. Morton has really shuffled the deck here, and as someone who thinks he was a lock to win, I don't like it. He is forcing me into the gym more often than I want to go now (I will not be embarrassed running my naked middle aged ass down Broad street), and that's a problem.

I still can't figure this shit out. Why rock the boat and take chances when you didn't have to? Why not Tim, or Mitt, or Joe? Are the rethuglican ranks that thin? Hell, why not Elizabeth or Condi?

I don't know Mr. Morton, I always heard you were a little touched, but this confirms it. The thing is, A-merry-ca will still take a white woman over a black man every time, so this might not end up hurting you so much. Might not. But damn it man, did you have to make it any closer any needed than it needed to be?

Oh well folks, just in case, I am off to the gym. If anyone has the number of a really good personal trainer in the Philly area, please give the kid a call.

The field would like to pick a running mate.

Now that the "O" man has pretty much wrapped up the dumbocratic nomination to run for president of these divided states, the field would like to help him pick his running mate.

This is very important for a presidential candidate to have . A second fiddle who knows his or her place, but still can get their shine on if they have to. Think Robin to Batman, or The Pips to Gladys Knight.

So I was thinking.... who should the "O" man select? Forget Hillary, she is history, and the rethuglican base will be fired up enough at having the "O" man run. So let's see now; how about Indiana Senator, Evan Bayh? He seems to have the youth thing down pat, he is from the Midwest, and he is a white male. All good qualities to help the "O" man lock up a block of voters that he has been struggling with. But then, if he is going to go the white male route, he might as well go all the way and select a Southern white male as his number two man. Jim Webb for instance. Great military credentials, Southern, and certainly middle of the road. And while we are in that neighborhood, I thought of the highly respected Sam Nunn as well. Talk about gravitas. Still, I don't know, something seems to be missing....

Of course lots of women will be pissed at the "O" man for beating their girl, so he might want to go hard after the female vote. If he goes that route, he should consider Claire McCaskill, Senator from Missouri. And hey, if he really wants to be the unity candidate, he could reach across the isle and choose rethuglican Chuck Hagel as his number two man. The guy also has strong military credentials, (gotta have those military credentials) and he is a white male. (I know I keep going back to that white male vote, but let's be honest...the "O" man needs all the help he can get with this group) And speaking of white males, the "O" man got a major endorsement from John Edwards today, and this has quite a few people hinting at a "O" man Edwards ticket. Interesting but not a sure fire formula for an "O" man victory.

Folks, allow me to give you the secret weapon that will win it for the "O" man: His name is Uno. (The one word name thing is cool. Think Bono and Prince) Yes Uno. Don't laugh I am being dead serious. The "O" man wants to be ground breaking this election season, and what better way to break totally out of the box than to select Uno.

Think about it. He is extremely popular with a certain demographic, so he would help the "O" man with that very important group. Who could resist voting for the "O" man if he has the very cute and cuddly Uno on the ticket? And please don't give me the he is not smart enough speech, just because he is a dog. Hell how smart do you need to be to do this job? I give you two names: Dan Quayle and Dick Cheney, that's all you need to know.

Uno is also fairly young, even in dog years, so I think he would last for the length of the "O" man's terms. And think of the inauguration. You could finance the entire thing by reaching out to sponsors like like Kibbles n Bits, and Pet Smart.

Folks, let's be honest, politics has already gone to the dogs, so why not get an actual dog involved with the process?

"O" man, I say go for it. They are already calling you a monkey, so you might as well stay with the animal theme. Just think of all the cute T-shirts A-merry-cans will have to wear.

Weapons Of Multiple Directions

There was the frat boy and great "Decider" announcing yet another new plan for his war in Iraq. Flanked by the bad perm lady, and the human hunter himself, our favorite frat boy was explaining once again, his plan for a "new direction" in Iraq. Gee, I can't even begin to imagine what this "new direction" will look like. Let's just hope it's better than the last directions we took. Let's see now, almost 3,000 of our brave young men killed (4 more today), a half a trillion dollars and counting in our tax dollars, not to mention a region in absolute chaos. So yeah, I would say that it just might be time for a "new direction".

But do you want to know what's really scary? The fact that according to a new AP Ipsos poll, a little over 28% of our fellow American believe that we are heading in the right direction in Iraq. Gee, I wish I know where those people were. Rrrrrring: "Hello", "Yes is this Mrs. Jones?" " Yes this is her, how may I help you?" "Yes Mrs. Jones, this is the Field-Negro, and I have this wonderful idea to cure cancer, would you like to invest your life savings with me?" "Sure Mr. Field Negro where do I send the check?" Seriously, who the f*&% are these people, and why are they even living among us, and not locked away in an asylum some damn where? I mean, do these people really believe that the frat boy's plan for a stable democracy in the Middle East can work? My question to them would be this: Just how much f*****g longer would you have us stay there, and will that vat of Kool Aide ever dry up?

"Like most Americans this administration wants to succeed in Iraq because we understand success in Iraq would help protect the U.S. in the long run". This was our President today, still lying to the American people, and still spinning this travesty of a war. "...because we understand that success in Iraq would help protect the U.S. in the long run"? No it wouldn't, success in Iraq has absolutely nothing to do with protecting us here in the U.S. All success in Iraq would do is protect your sorry ass legacy Mr. President, so stop it already. I mean really now George, this has gone on long enough. For the 71% of us in this country who realize just how absurd this sounds and how absurd this war is, this kind of rhetoric makes us all want to...well, move to Canada or some damn place. I mean to follow your insane logic to its conclusion, this would be like someone raping a woman and after she gets pregnant saying: "gee I sure hope this pregnancy goes well, because if there are complications it could jeopardize her life and that of the child."

As I watched the bad perm lady and the VP standing there today, I couldn't help but think to myself just how pathetic a bunch these clowns are, and for a minute there, I almost felt sorry for them. Almost. Let's face it, these guys are in way over their heads, and now they are calling in Tom, Dick, and Harry, or, should I say, James, Lee, and Vernon, to bail them out. And this was Tony Snowjob today, talking about the President's ...ahhh "new direction": "It's important that the American people (Boy they love that line don't they? 'The American people') be aware both of his consultation and his level of concern about getting it right". Well Tony Snow Job, this will be the first time he cares about getting it right, cause he sure didn't care for these past few years. A little late for some 2,800 Americans and an untold number of Iraqis don't you think?

The frat boy meets tomorrow with Tariq al-Hashemi (Doesn't he play wide receiver for the Bengals?) the Iraqi Vice President. Lets hope he has more luck with this Sunni than he did with the Shiite con artist he propped up as President. Somehow, I get the feeling that my man is going to say to the frat boy: " Look, you f****d up our country, things weren't too bad under Saddam, especially for me, (A Sunni remember?) so the least you could do is hang around until we get this democracy thing right". To which I am sure the frat boy will reply:"Don't worry Tariq, the American people are behind you 100%, don't you watch FOX NEWS?"