True to what was threatened prior to the election, some corporate CEOs and business people are following through with their threats to either cut hours or fire some of their employees if Obama was reelected. Many cite the provisions of ObamaCare as their justification. However, anyone who understands ACA (Affordable Care Act) and economic history realizes that there are other factors involved. Partisan politics, racism, or the fact the companies involved were already in trouble comes to mind. First, let us look at the current headlines:

CEO Keeps Promise to Lay Off Workers If Obama Elected:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/49764441

Robert Murray, the CEO of Murray energy keeps his promise. This is the guy who staged a Mitt Romney event in which he required his employees to act as backdrop for Mitt without pay. He says that Obama is destroying the coal industry. He appears ignorant to the fact that Mitt Romney once pointed to a coal plant in Massachusetts and said they were killing people. He also appears ignorant to the fact that nationwide, 80,000 people are employed in the Coal Industry, more than when the recession started. He also seems ignorant to the fact that the Coal Industry has been losing ground to Natural Gas under provisions enacted by the Bush Administration. You would think there are different factors involved here.

Las Vegas CEO Reportedly Fired 22 Workers Because Of Obama’s Reelection:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/08/david-las-vegas-ceo-fired-workers_n_2093369.html

“David” wouldn’t give his full name or the company in which he fired 22 of his 114 employees because he needed to save the company from the “taxation” that was coming. Who knows if he was legitimate; however, taxes for small businesses have gone down under Obama and he wishes to keep them down if only Congress would agree. If he was a big business and rich guy like Sheldon Adelson, he can expect his personal taxes to go up. However, it has been proven that lower tax rates for large corporations and the 1% have no positive impact on the community or business. It only helps those at top. So, you would think there are different factors involved here.

Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter Says Company Will Reduce Workers’ Hours In Response To ObamaCare:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/09/papa-johns-obamacare-john-schnatter_n_2104202.html

John Schnatter made it clear long before the election that under the guidelines of ObamaCare, his pizzas would increase in price by .11 to .14 cents. Dear Lord! Of course he failed to present the calculations that backed up that claim. But no matter, this early backer of Mitt Romney now says that to avoid having to increase his price of pizzas by less than a quarter, he’ll reduce the hours of his employees so they don’t qualify for healthcare. What a wonderful man working to save late night stoners an extra quarter to buy a lousy pizza by making the lives of those desperate enough to work for him get even less. Even prior to this decision, Papa John’s had bad reviews as a place to work at.

From Jobbite:

http://www.jobbite.com/reviews/papa-johns-pizza/

You would think there are different factors involved here.

People on Social Media are starting to gather the names of other companies planning to or have already laid off employees or cut their benefits in alleged response to Obama’s reelection. This list would be useful, but what to do with it?

Although we avoided a major depression and our economy has improved significantly with a stock market doubled since Obama took control and corporate profits at all time highs, the economy is still fragile. Those working for these people need their jobs and benefits, as meager as they may be. We can call on a boycott, but I would suspect that move would hurt the employees we’re trying to help out more than those CEOs; who are doing better than ever, thank you. Union influence is at record lows for the country following generations of federal and state laws designed to make them ineffectual. Many states are now “Right to Work (for less)” states. This leaves employees little remedy from the Courts when their employers take things out on them en masse.

The best way to address this issue is to take it directly to the CEOs involved. We need to go to the various stockholders and Board of Directors to educate them as to what poor decisions their CEOs are making and how it can seriously impact the profit margin of the corporations involved, and the future dividend checks to the stockholders.

What’s the argument for sticking with Obama and the Democrats? Well that’s simple. An analysis of national economies throughout history clearly indicates that Democratic Presidents and Administrations have always been better for the Stock Market, business and business people than Republicans.

Democrats better for Wall Street than Republicans, research shows:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/economics-blog/2012/aug/29/democrats-better-wall-street-republicans

YouTube Presentation of the above:

Here’s the Stock Market under President Obama:

Although traditionally the Republicans would appear to be more business friendly with less regulations and more pro-business agenda, in reality, the Democrats have always done better for the business community and stock market since 1900. This actually makes perfect sense with the Democrats focusing more on the people, with regulations on business and assisting the working and middle-class, making them a larger and more robust consumer base. The more people with disposable income, the more they are willing to go shopping at the businesses out there. More spending, more money generating in the economy, more economic growth. Supply side never worked because people don’t buy anything because it’s out there, they buy because they can afford to buy. So the focus needs to be on people, not business.

By CEOs laying their employees off, they are in a way, hurting their own businesses. If fewer people have jobs and/or money to buy, they won’t. If no one buys, businesses have nothing to sell and everyone suffers. Henry Ford knew this in the early 20th Century by paying his employees enough money to buy the cars they were manufacturing.

Though the middle-class is doing better than during the Bush administration, they aren’t doing as well as they could be. However, the CEOs who are complaining are doing much better than in any time in history under the Obama administration. Schnatter is certainly doing well.

Here Now, the Utterly Bonkers Manse That Papa John’s Built:

http://curbed.com/archives/2012/08/10/here-now-the-utterly-bonkers-manse-that-papa-johns-built.php

Papa John’s Can’t Afford ObamaCare for his employees, but…:

http://www.politicolnews.com/papa-johns-ceo-cant-afford-obamacare-for-employees-wow/

Nice how underpaying your employees so they can’t even afford the pizzas they make can make you filthy rich.

When you focus on all the money going to a few, everyone suffers including the stockholders. The more business, the better the business environment and profit margins. It’s true that the most expensive aspect of any company is payroll. Employers only hire if they need to in order to maintain production for business. So logically, if there is no business, there is even less need for employees. Of course, then there is no money coming in at all for the stockholders or Board of Directors or CEOs. Hire who you need, but pay them and compensate them fairly so business can continue in a thriving economy.

Colbert comments on Papa John’s and gets it absolutely right:

http://eater.com/archives/2012/08/09/colbert-on-what-americans-will-pay-for-papa-johns.php

As a former Republican and a helper, I’m going to do something on this post that you wouldn’t expect from me if you’ve read my tweets on Twitter. I’m going to explain to the Republican Party what they need to do to avoid the fate of the dinosaurs in 2016. Now this advice doesn’t come free and is not without pain, it involves actually stepping outside their “bubbles” and facing reality and fact (which actually do have a liberal bias). They also have to accept there is nothing wrong with a liberal bias.

First a little about myself that some of you may already know about. I’m a fourth generation Arizonan. When I turned 18 in 1979, I registered as a Republican. I was a member of the Young Republicans while a student at Arizona State University. I met Barry Goldwater and heard him speak. I saw myself as a fiscal conservative and a believer that government should only be big enough to assist the people in those things that neither they nor the private sector could provide. At the same time, I was a social liberal. It’s actually was a perfectly reasonable combination for Republicans at that time. Government shouldn’t involve themselves in the personal lives of individual Americans. As the conservative movement took hold of the Republican party, Goldwater warned them to be careful not to get in bed with the extreme right-wing, religious moral “conservatives” (who he doubt were truly conservative) saying that they would be the death of the party.

Goldwater on Falwell and Moral Majority:

“I’m probably the most conservative member of Congress and I don’t like to be kicked around by people who call themselves conservatives on a non-conservative matter.” Barry M. Goldwater

It started with the Religious Right’s take-over of the party, followed by more corporate influence and finally the complete take-over of the GOP by the Koch Brothers sponsored and paid for Tea Party Movement that caused me to finish evolving. I ended up leaving the Republican Party; but my core beliefs never changed, they only became more refined.

As the election results were coming in on Tuesday night, Bill O’Reilly opined what was happening with the “American Establishment becoming a minority” to explain why Obama could win:

Now Bill’s explanation wasn’t quite factual, but he came close. He was wrong that 20 years ago President Obama couldn’t beat an “establishment” Republican Candidate. He forgets that 20 years ago was 1992, when Bill Clinton, a centrist Democrat similar to Barack Obama today, ran against establishment GOP Candidate George H. W. Bush. Further, it’s not a matter that the “establishment” is becoming a minority, it’s a matter that the American people are evolving and what the Republican Party offers isn’t what the majority want or expect. Although the GOP remain in their bubble, and many of the rank and file remain in that same bubble, Americans are actually noticing that there is a real world outside of that bubble. The country is changing, it’s evolving. To focus only on what they THINK old white people want (a dying constituency by the way) and ignoring everybody else, is a recipe for extinction.

Republican David Frum Goes Nuclear: Leaders = “Cowards,” Says Republicans “Fleeced, Exploited & Lied To”:

Because Mitt Romney, Reince Priebus, Karl Rove, et al, wouldn’t venture outside of their bubble (possibly out of fear as David Frum says), they did nothing to counter the bad messaging from Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and various Governors and Republican Legislators sponsored by the Koch Brothers and ALEC, when they went after Women, Latinos, LGBTs, Blacks, anyone outside of their bubble. They refused to acknowledge that all of these people are an ever growing and powerful demographic, who are taking control of the political narrative in this nation. Their numbers are increasing and their views are unlikely to change because “establishment” Republicans tell them that they are wrong. They wouldn’t work with them or acknowledge their beliefs. So where else were they to go. The exit polling bears this out.

Obama win shows demographic shifts working against Republicans:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/08/us-usa-campaign-diversity-new-idUSBRE8A70QK20121108

And of course the big elephant in the room maintaining the GOP bubble and destroying the Republican Party, Fox News:

http://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-is-killing-the-republican-party-2012-11?0=politics-contributor

Now those in the Republican bubble are not allowed to accept science, they cannot accept Climate Change and certainly cannot accept evolution. However, both do exist and the lessons of both apply to the Republican Party. The political environment of this nation, as well as the climatic environment is changing. The change to some extent can be altered, but not stopped. Too many factors beyond anyone’s control is involved. If an organism cannot adapt to the change in their environment, that organism dies off.

The Republican Party to date refused to adapt to the changing political environment of the nation. They can try to stop the change, but have been unsuccessful.

Voter suppression failed, it only made people more determined to vote.

Millions spent by the SuperPacs in propaganda and lies failed because people were able to find the truth for themselves and questioned the source of the ads.

The change is here; however, the GOP isn’t adapting and they are dying.

Today, Speaker Boehner and Mitch McConnell have implied they will stand firm with no tax increases for the wealthiest of Americans. They ignore that the majority of Americans, including a majority of Republicans agree that those making over $250,000.00 a year should pay more in taxes, which is what President Obama want. Though some of them are now saying that they are “evolving” regarding immigration and women’s rights, they stand firm on the same rhetoric from the extreme fringe right that rising taxes is a non starter. It’s the same rhetoric spoken in 1993 with Bill Clinton imposed a tax hike on the wealthiest. Not a single Republican voted for it saying it would destroy the economy. Instead, we had the greatest and longest peace time expansion of the economy in history.

They hide their own studies that prove that tax cuts to the wealthy do nothing to improve the economy.

They hold on to the same “bubble” talking points of “job creators” despite 30 years of evidence against them.

They won’t budge, they won’t adapt, they are willing to go over the fiscal cliff and raise taxes on all Americans and impose sequestration that would have massive cuts in domestic and military spending because they won’t adapt.

The majority of the American people see this. This is why, if they don’t begin to adapt, begin to negotiate, begin to compromise, begin to get out of the fringe Koch paid for and FOX orchestrated bubble, the party will suffer another major loss in 2014 and will cease to exist in 2016. The GOP will go the way of the Whigs.

It’s simple, adapt or die. The choice is theirs.

President Obama Discusses the Fiscal Cliff and Reaches out to GOP:

November 6th, 2012 was a great day for democracy in this nation. Despite Citizen’s United, despite billions spent to convince the people of the nation that “trickle-down” works, that reality was an illusion, that a man and party clearly in the pockets of the one percent and corporate America, would be better for you by making you give up more so that those one percent and corporate America can have more, had their collective clocks cleaned.

The cancer known as the Tea Party was decimated. None of them took seats that should have gone Republican in the Senate. Many of the most right-wing, hard-core and vocal Tea Party Congressmen in the House; Joe Walsh, Alan West were removed. Michele Bachmann’s win was so narrow there could be a recount. Although the Republican Party still controls the House, the margin was narrowed, while Democratic control of the Senate increased.

Despite the billions spent, the American people wouldn’t have any of it and voted what they knew was true and in their best interests. President Obama won a second term. He won with a greater Electoral College and Popular Vote margin that George W Bush did in 2004 when he claimed to had won with a mandate. Last night was great, but the work must continue.

Though they lost, the Republican Party and those who remain in power, who are influenced by the extreme right-wing corporate-controlled Tea Party are not defeated, not yet. As Ed Schultz pointed out this morning on his radio show, expect the next Congress to begin where they begun after the 2010 mid-terms, the House will work to de-fund ObamaCare. They will work to give more tax breaks to the richest Americans by slashing services to those in need. They will continue their propaganda, they never learn because they will remain in the Fox News propaganda bubble. They are wounded, that makes them more dangerous.

They have already said that they will be working to get ready for the 2014 mid-terms. Interesting thing is that these people have no capability of learning, of listening, of coming up with better ideas. It will be a carbon copy of what happened between 2008 and 2010. We can and must prepare for it. We cannot rest on our laurels because the counter-attack has already begun.

What can we do?

First of all, stay on social media, Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, etc to keep the people motivated to let their representatives know we demand they work in our best interests, not the interests of the one percent and corporate America. Remind them that we know that trickle-down doesn’t work, that only building the middle-class will improve the economic strength of this nation.

We must push Congress to amend the Constitution to overturn Citizen’s United and make voting a true Constitutional Right for all Americans. The vast majority of Americans are fed up with the money wasted on this campaign from both sides and the unnecessary long lines that mostly Democrats, but many Republicans, Libertarians, Greens, Independents etc had to contend with. As the President pointed out in his victory speech, “We got to fix that.” Voter suppression must become a federal crime supported by a Constitutional Amendment. Now is the time to begin pushing this while memories are fresh.

We must demand action on Global Climate Change. The flat-earthers in power must be marginalized because this is only going to get worse. Besides, investing in industries and infrastructure that would counter the devastation climate change can cause to shorelines and farmlands would actually improve the economy. Investment in clean energy and eliminating reliance on big oil would only hurt big oil while the others energy sources become economic giants creating jobs and expanding our economy. It’s basic economics.

The nation needs to explore new regulations governing “News” organizations from being more of a corporate propaganda wing and more of actual news without commentary. Too many uninformed people out there which is counter-productive to a nation designed for self-rule of the people.

We must work to eliminate the Electoral College. There should be no “swing states” to determine who will be our President. The founders wanted individual states to determine who would sit as President, that concept no longer works. A President is president for all the people, not just Ohio and Florida. Candidates must work to convince the majority of the entire nation to support them because of policies that impact the entire nation. Let House and Senate members represent their own states and congressional districts, the President must work for the entire nation. Seems fair to me.

We must prepare ourselves for the 2014 mid-terms. We must make sure there is as high, if not higher turnout as we had yesterday. Low turn-out has dire consequences. Never let anyone forget 2010.

This is only the beginning. My rants will continue because there is so much more we need to do to build on what we already have and to keep those only concerned for their own ideology to take away from us. We all must remain active. The work of creating a “more perfect union” never ends. Citizenship is hard work and everyone must be involved.

The President summed it up best:

Another important message from @Liberalease. “If You Like Having Sex”

No sane, rational and intelligent person can argue with her logic and truth in this matter.

When voting for President and your representation in the House and Senate, consider this message:

Those of you who follow Twitter already know @Liberalease. Here’s a video she posted some time back that’s very informational and well worth the time to watch.

Early voting has already begun across the nation, and as I posted a while back, “True the Vote” are already out to intimidate likely Democratic leaning voters from exercising their right to vote. This is the Houston based, Tea Party and Koch brothers affiliated Right Wing group that works under the facade that they are keeping those “illegal” voters from throwing the election. They are trying to mobilize one million “poll watchers” for November 6th. However, let’s look at their agenda:

They will target polling places in districts that lean more Democratic.

They will target minority voters.

They will insinuate that not having the “proper identification” or “not being properly registered” etc is a criminal offense and those who in fact try to vote will be arrested and imprisoned.

They leave out the fact that many of the laws they have cited have in-fact been either ruled unconstitutional in Federal Court already, or have been stayed pending further court action.

They are known to simply be there, all white, angry and stern towards those who couldn’t possibly be willing to vote for their people in the Republican Tea Party.

People are already fighting back at Early Voting Polling places. Now for the biggest joke I’ve heard from these cherubs. They are now reporting that the voters are “intimidating” them. That’s like the Nazis complaining that the Jews were harassing and intimidating them.

I stand by that analogy. Considering the hard right-wing agenda shared by this group and the Nazis are both based on race and intimidation, it couldn’t be more apt.

As I posted earlier, we need to confront these people if we spot them at polling places. Maybe from their complaints to the media, it’s already started. Good for you. Remember, make sure you have already voted before confronting anyone you see intimidating any voters. I for one have already voted and plan to patrol various polling places in Phoenix and Scottsdale to see if they are present. Here’s how to arm yourself:

Have you cell-phones and/or cameras ready and start filming. Let them see you film them. Have this little bit of information handy:

Federal Statute 18 USC § 594 – Intimidation of voters:

Whoever intimidates, threatens, coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce, any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose, or of causing such other person to vote for, or not to vote for, any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, at any election held solely or in part for the purpose of electing such candidate, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

This actually is the law. Call the police and demand they be charged. Get your eye-witness accounts ready and show your pictures and movie clips. Most likely they’ll back down and leave. But they’ll come back. Stay on them. It could get ugly and it’s conceivable that due to the nature of where you live, you may find yourself detained too. It’s a sacrifice, but it is worth it. Besides, while the cops are there dealing with the situation, others can then vote without being intimidated by these idiots.

This election is important. This is where those who honor those, who gave their lives so all Americans can vote regardless of race, gender, religion or political affiliation can do so, will stand up to right-wing tyranny. Bullies hate being confronted and usually fold very quickly. We are on the right side of history. Not only is fighting back correct, it’s necessary.

Good luck on November 6th!

Voter Suppression by True the Vote:

http://politic365.com/2012/10/25/voter-suppression-rep-elijah-cummings-demands-that-true-the-vote-reveal-plans/

Are True the Vote Activities Illegal?:

http://www.thenation.com/blog/170415/are-true-votes-poll-watching-activities-illegal#

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vacuous as space and as endless as eternity. It is the far right ground between truth and lies, between science and religious ideology, and it lies to the right between the pit of man’s fear and the summit of his knowledge. This is a dimension of dire consequences. It is an area which we call “The Romney Zone.”

Submitted for your consideration, despite the long history of documented and verified flip flopping on the key issues of the day, despite the obvious pandering for support while lacking any true core convictions to anything outside his egocentric view of reality, the people of the United States elected Willard Mitt Romney President of the United States on November 6, 2012, as well as a Republican Senate and House, despite key Tea Party support for misogynistic policies, and unraveling of generations of the social safety net. What was the result of this choice?

Mitt was frustrated on the first day of his administration. Despite telling the people what he would do, he came to realize that everything actually took legislative acts from Congress first before he could actually do anything of significance. No one explained to him that he couldn’t repeal anything on his own as president. Though he was fortunate to have both a Republican House and Senate, the Democrats tried to block their signature legislations to repeal the Affordable Health Act, Dodd-Frank, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. But with the new rules Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell implemented eliminating the filibuster; all of these acts were passed within weeks and were signed by President Romney.

The one thing he was able to do on “day one” was to declare China a “Currency Manipulator” which resulted in China suing the United States in the World Trade Organization for violations of regulations imposed for all members. The WTO ruled in favor of China and sanctioned the United States. However, it didn’t matter. Per the declaration, a 40% tariff was placed on Chinese goods coming to the United States. As a result, Wal-Mart had to increase the prices of almost everything they sold by 10 to 15 percent. The Chinese retaliated by placing a 40% tariff on U.S. goods being exported there. As a result, they stopped purchasing the cars Detroit was manufacturing and the Auto Industry began to go bankrupt.

Since the automobile sensors built by Sensata were now manufactured in China, as well as other key parts, the cost of vehicles assembled in the United States sky-rocketed. People purchased from Japanese, Korean and German automobile manufacturers. Millions of jobs in the mid-west were lost as the result of the complete failure and bankruptcy of our domestic automobile industry. Banks did not offer funding for a structured bankruptcy because their resources were frozen due to the risky trade deals that would have been prevented by Dodd-Frank. The government wouldn’t bail the industry out either. As Mitt demanded earlier, Detroit finally did go bankrupt. Not only the auto industry, but the City, State and region that were all depended on the auto industry.

Social Security was finally privatized and the $3 trillion in the trust fund went to Wall Street speculators, who quickly gambled most of it away (again thanks to repeal of Dodd-Frank). When the depression hit, following the collapse of the banking and automobile industry, the safety net for seniors to keep them from falling into poverty was gone. Sure enough, the seniors and disabled went into poverty. There was no government assistance available to aid them and their families were too financially strapped to support even themselves. Further, the vouchers provided for the elderly under the Ryan plan were insufficient to cover medical costs. With the elimination of Medicaid funding, senior nursing homes all went under. Many seniors ended up living with their children or on the streets. They didn’t have to live on the streets for long; because their mortality rate sky-rocketed due to lack of access to healthcare.

Wounded veterans returning from the Syrian and Iranian wars came home to find that again, under the Ryan plan, the Veteran’s Administration had been privatized and they could no longer afford healthcare that was once guaranteed by the government. Further, the veteran’s job bills had all been repealed and signed by President Romney so he could remind everyone of his famous boast at the end of the third debate “Government doesn’t create jobs.”

He went further by cutting all federal government subsidies to fund teachers and first responders around the country. States, bound by balanced budget amendments and unwillingness in their Republican Control Legislatures to raise taxes to fund these positions resulted in them all being terminated. With the loss of public sector employment and the depression brought on by the failure of the Auto Industry and banking failure, unemployment in the country rose to well over 40%, as it was during the Great Depression. However this time, the federal government was not going to borrow to fund recovery acts. Besides, China stopped buying our bonds after we declared them a “currency manipulator.”

To balance the budget while raising military spending and giving the upper 5% a 20% tax cut, on top of what they already had from the now permanent Bush tax cuts, the middle-class (what was left of them) and the working poor lost all of their tax deductions. Personal and family member deductions, charitable contributions and mortgages were eliminated. Capital Gains were slashed to zero as Romney promised and the upper 5% ended up with average federal income taxes of less than 10% while everyone else had their effective tax rates rise to over 50% to cover them. Further, programs like unemployment, food stamps, free health clinics, road maintenance, and infrastructure were all cut, along with the jobs they funded.

The birth rate skyrocketed under the Romney Administration. This occurred because abortion was outlawed following the installation of two more Supreme Court Justices selected by Romney upon advice from Robert Bork, and the subsequent overturning of Roe v Wade. Access to birth control was also eliminated. As the birth rate sky-rocketed, so did infant mortality. Problem was with the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid and defunding of Planned Parenthood no one could afford prenatal and postnatal care. Infant mortality not seen in this country since the 19^th century came back.

The illegal immigration problem was finally resolved. Undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central and South America stopped crossing the border looking for jobs. Because there weren’t any. However, Canada and Mexico beefed up their border security to keep undocumented Americans from flooding their countries looking for jobs, healthcare and food.

The Keystone Pipeline was finally built. However, due to the elimination of the Environmental Protection Agency and federal safety inspectors at the demand of the Koch Brothers, the pipeline constantly leaked the oil meant for China and India from Canada, into the Ogallala Aquifer, which watered almost the entirety of the plain states and our crops.

With the drought conditions brought on by the hoax of climate change and now lack of water from the aquifer, our crops failed and for the first time we became dependant on other nations for grain. We approached Russia, but as our most notorious geo-political foe, they were unwilling to sell grain without major concessions to them. India and China sued the United States for not delivering the oil promised them and Canada sued us for not properly maintaining their oil pipeline, using provisions in NAFTA.

With the crop failure due to drought and poisoned water in the Ogallala Aquifer, cattle began to die off too. Starvation and famine unheard of hit the North American continent. President Romney did make a request for foreign aid disaster relief. However, he requests were rejected becasue he maintained a military presence in Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and Iraq. He placed troops back there on demand of his PNAC advisers. Further, upon leaving the United Nations and NATO, again on advice of the PNAC advisers, the United States had few international options available to them. We were also removed from the World Trade Organization for failure to abide by their rules.

Although Mitt Romney agreed with President Obama on almost every topic of foreign policy during that third debate, the fact remained that he always intended to leave foreign policy up to the NeoCon and PNAC folks who advised Bush during his administration and he did. As a result, the United States was isolated from the rest of the world. However, the world was also in the midst of the new Great Depression following the collapse of the U.S. economy and international trade wars that ensued following Romney’s failure to recognize that it was a global economy, not an America rules economy.

Because voter suppression laws were enacted and given force of federal laws, Romney actually won a second term as president. Only certain people were allowed to cast ballots and Romney and the Republicans had control over those people. So in the end, democracy died in the United States, and war loomed ever nearer because Mitt and the Republicans wouldn’t work in the international arena. Meanwhile, our people starved and died due to lack of the social safety net every ethical and Christian society requires.

However, there was a silver lining in Mitt’s administration, wealth disparity grew exponentially. The upper 5% went from controlling 40% of the national wealth to over 60% while their contribution in federal taxes went from 40% to less than 20%. For the few corporations that survived the Depression, profit margins increased with the elimination of minimum wage laws, repeal of Lilly Ledbetter, deregulation of workplace safety, elimination of OSHA, FDA and the EPA, and tort reform that eliminated victims of these corporations from being able to sue for damages. It was an Ayn Rand Oligarch paradise. Income redistribution upwards was never better. The $3 trillion taken from the Social Security Trust Fund was thoroughly enjoyed by those in the 1% who never had it better. Not only was it proven that corporations are people, deserving of equal rights, they became the only people and some were far more equal than others.

Epilogue:

It was a majority of middle and working class people who elected Mitt Romney President on November 6^th, 2012 because they thought the richest deserved the most and it would all trickle down to them. It hadn’t worked in over 30 years so it was due to happen. Sadly, it was those who voted against their better interests for Mitt Romney and the Republicans that suffered the most. They created heaven for the wealthiest that in turn, created hell for them. This is Republican Utopia in…. “The Romney Zone.”

This was of course an exaggerated story of a Romney Presidency. However, much of what is portrayed here follows what Mitt is on record wanting to do. Some of this could very well happen if he were to be elected. A check of his history, his taped statements, his failure as governor of Massachusetts with his 800 vetoes (over 740 overridden) his dependence on the most extreme right elements of his party and the billionaires who fund him makes him a very dangerous man to be allowed to sit in the oval office.

Mitt is a panderer to low information voters while being weak willed and beholden to his financial supporters and fellow 1 percenters. The moderate centrist man he portrayed himself to be during the debates was a lie, as all the fact checkers have verified. As noted above, one has only to read up on his governorship to see what kind of president he would be.

Since Bush left office and the mess he created, every key indicator has shown than the country has been on the right path. It is moving slow, but what can you expect after four years of blatant Republican obstruction. Common sense applies. Mitt will bring back the Bush policies with a vengeance. 2008 would be looked back as just a bump in the road if Mitt Romney is allowed to not only control our government and economics, but our foreign policy too. The recovery is fragile; don’t let a maniacal candidate and party destroy what progress has been done.

Mitt Romney’s true positions about what he wants to do as President that will harm the nation:

Most of the buz from the debate last night was Mitt’s “Gerald Ford” moment when he said that “Syria is Iran’s only ally in the Arab world. It’s their route to the sea.” It was a humorous gaffe, and it’s not the first time he has made this gaffe. He made this same claim multiple times in February and March of this year and despite being corrected, continued to make it last night. For those who don’t understand, Syria and Iran do not share a border and both countries have their own access to the seas. Remember how Iran threatened to cut off Iraq’s and Kuwait’s access to the sea? However, that is not the most serious blunder of the Romney presentation at the debate.

I was waiting to hear his previous talking points from his NeoCon and PNAC foreign policy advisors calling Russia our most serious “geo-political threat” and/or initiating more “nation building” by bombing Syria, Iran, as John Bolton would advise. Trillions of dollars more by committing U.S. troops in the region, but instead Mitt simply agreed with almost everything the President has already done in and for the region. He threw in his lies about the “apology tour” and not being a friend to Israel (all of which is easily disproven by a 5-minute search on the internet). But for the most part, Mitt debated Obama by agreeing and mimicking Obama current foreign policy.

He should have continued to mimic the Obama foreign policy and not disagree or place his own enhancements on it. Instead, he brought up his intention to “on day one” to declare China a “Currency Manipulator” to deal with those who also happen to be holding a lot of our debt, (thanks to the previous Republican Administration) by placing two wars, Medicare Part D, and Bush Tax Cuts on the Chinese Credit Card.

First of all, what is “Currency Manipulation”?

Currency Manipulation is when a country artificially keeps the value of their currency low, allowing it to move freely in foreign exchange markets and thus cheapening the price of that country’s exports.

In November, 2010 before the G-20 gathering in Seoul, there was speculation that the United States was going to declare China a Currency Manipulator under the Omnibus Trade and Competiveness Act of 1988. We had accused China of keeping its currency, the Yuan, artificially low by hoarding foreign reserves (including ours) in order to give Chinese exports an advantage over all competitors.

We have been “accusing” China of Currency Manipulation for years. Bush did it and so did President Obama. In February 2009, U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner indicated that President Obama “believes that China is manipulating its currency.” There was speculation that Obama would make the formal declaration per U.S. Law on the April 15, 2009 report to Congress. However, after due consideration, the declaration was not made.

What a Trade War with China Would Look Like (Forbes 2-2-2009)

http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/31/trade-wto-china-opinions-contributors_0202_james_bacchus.html

The reason the Obama administration did not make the declaration in 2009 as pointed out by former Congressman and trade negotiator for the U.S., James Bacchus in the Forbes article above was that doing so would merely trigger a requirement for negotiations. If the negotiations failed, since both the U.S. and China are members of the World Trade Organization, under its treaty, China could sue the U.S. within the WTO alleging U.S. laws were inconsistent with WTO obligations. Had they sued and we had lost, it would have resulted in expensive economic sanctions harmful to U.S. exports to China. It could have cost us billions of dollars annually in lost trade concessions from China and thousands of American jobs. The potential unintended consequences of such an act could have created such a powerful economic backlash against us, at a time of a fragile economic recovery; we and the world could have slipped into another Great Depression. These are things intelligent and thoughtful Chief Executives of great nations must consider before taking any acts. Diplomacy and worldwide economics are much more complicated and nuanced than people realize.

So Obama took a different approach. He negotiated with the Chinese and since that time, though problems still exist, the trade balance has improved between the two nations and they haven’t called in the note for the money we owe them.

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20120526000076&cid=1102&MainCatID=11

In May 2012, the U.S. Treasury declared that China currently does not meet the currency manipulator definition, but that they would continue to monitor the pace of appreciation of the Chinese Yuan. Their conclusion is based on the fact of the Yuan’s appreciation against the U.S. Dollar since June 2010 (when Obama was considering making the declaration and didn’t) and the decline in China’s current account surplus. China has committed itself to moving rapidly to a more market-determined exchange rate system.

Mitt Romney and Sensata:

Mitt Romney and Chinese Slave Laoor:

Now it is interesting that the man who pioneered job outsourcing to China, the man who marveled about the slave labor conditions in China, the man who personally netted over $15 million in Bain’s shipping of Sensata to China would now declare that he would be tough on China and declare them a currency manipulator on day one of his administration. He would spark a trade war with China as president instead of working within the State Department, WTO to curb the slave labor conditions in China and go after U.S. companies like Bain who get rich outsourcing jobs to China. Even those in his party are opposed to this action.

On October 21, 2012 Senator Marco Rubio on Face the Nation said he feared this would lead to a trade war. “I agree with Mitt Romney that China’s a currency manipulator, I believe that a trade war is not the right way to approach it and I think that if you label them a currency manipulator, that’s what it may result in. It would hurt American businesses.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/stephen-roach-us-china-trade-war-2012-8

China is our third largest export market. Our exports to China have surged 542% from 2000 to 2011 and Obama’s goal is to double it by 2014. Per Business Insider citing Stephen Roach, (Yale professor and former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia) if Romney were to be President:

If Romney were to take office and dub China a currency manipulator, the charge would necessarily under the Omnibus Trade and Competiveness Act of 1988, kick off “immediate high-level negotiations between U.S. Treasury officials and their Chinese counterparts at the Ministry of Finance. Not surprisingly, the negotiations stall and both parties blame the other in vitriolic press releases.

In early February after the first State of the Union address, The Defend America Act of 2013 (DATA) will be signed into law on President’s Day. The act will be “modeled after the currency manipulation “remedies” of countervailing tariffs first proposed by Senators Charles Schumer and Lindsey Graham in 2005” and China will be seen in violation of the new statute.

Negotiations between President Romney and Chinese president Xi Jinping and premiere Li Keqiang will fail and the U.S. will impose a 20% tariff on all Chinese exports to the U.S.

This would cause plant shutdowns in China and Beijing would declare this “to be and act of economic war” and would file a complaint with the WTO.

China would in turn impose 20% tariffs on U.S. exports to China, which would “hit growth starved America right between the eyes”. And Wal-Mart would increase average price increases of 5% and attribute that price hike to increase in tariffs on imports, other retailers would do the same and the American consumer would “hunker down further in response”.

“The stock market is hit by trifecta of a perfect storm—pressures on profit margins and expectations of lower growth and higher inflation. The bond market is clobbered by the sharp deterioration in inflationary expectations and by the realization that the Federal Reserve, with its zero interest rate policy, is seriously behind the curve.”

In response Washington “passes an amendment to DATA – upping the just-imposed countervailing tariffs on China by another 10%”.

China, the biggest holder of U.S. debt, retaliates by not buying any more U.S. debt. “Long-term interest rates spike, and within two weeks yields on 10-year Treasuries pierce the 7% threshold. At the same time, the dollar plunges and the U.S. stock market, which had already corrected by 20% in the first half of 2013, falls another 10% by the end of August.”

China also says it might consider selling U.S. treasuries if it has to.

The U.S. turns to foreign producers that are more expensive than China, delivering a blow to the country’s middle-class and by the fall of 2013 there is “little doubt of the severity of renewed recession”. Meanwhile, Chinese economic growth slips to below 6% and the country prepares for another massive stimulus.

This scenario would make 2008 look like a minor bump in the road. Further, this is very conceivable. This is why Obama hasn’t declared China a monetary manipulator and no one in the Treasury, no economist, and no one who sees and understands the numbers and potential consequences support such an act. They know this could happen.

One would think that Romney would understand this too. After all, he’s an international businessman. Problem is, he’s also a politician who’s playing to the lowest instincts of the low-information voters who make up his base in the Tea Party. Is what he is saying pure bluster for just the low-information voters? I doubt it considering that almost his entire foreign policy team is made up of PNAC, the same people who advise George W. Bush. They are famous for reckless foreign policy and Mitt is famous for doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons. He tried to show people last night that he was able, as governor of Massachusetts to work across the aisle. What he failed to mention was that as governor for four years, he vetoed over 800 pieces of legislation, over 740 of which were overridden by the Massachusetts legislature. Mitt didn’t work across the aisle; he was an ideological impediment to governance taking his cues from his social and political class. He would bring the same weakness to the White House.

This is 2012, Iran is contained, Russia is our trading partner (and nuclear power), China is a problem, but our hand in dealing with them is compromised due to years of borrowing from them and sending them our jobs via Bain. The worst problem is that of allowing them to continue to use slave labor. That should be the focus of our trade negotiations.

Mitt must be a lousy poker player. He plays bad hands and is incapable of effectively bluffing. He wants to play poker with our foreign policy with a pair of deuces and is betting the house. This country cannot afford this risk.

In anticipation of the much awaited final presidential debate I thought I would throw this out for Mitt Romney because I’m a helper. Also for the others who may not be fully aware of what is at stake regarding which man takes the reigns of Foreign Policy for this country for the next four years.

The United States Constitution divides the foreign policy powers between the President and Congress so that both share in the making of foreign policy. They both play important roles that overlap.

There are 12 basic ways to make U.S. foreign policy. The Executive branch via the President and State Department can make policy through:

1)    Response to foreign events.

2)    Proposals for Legislation.

3)    Negotiation of International Agreements.

4)    Policy Statements.

5)    Policy Implementation

6)    Independent Action.

In nearly all of these circumstances, Congress can either support the President’s approach or seek to change it. For instance, all legislative policies and foreign treaties must pass Congress before implementation. Congress can make foreign policy through:

1)    Resolutions and Policy Statements.

2)    Legislative directives.

3)    Legislative pressure.

4)    Legislative restrictions/funding denials.

5)    Informal advice.

6)    Congressional Oversight.

According to Edward S. Corwin, “What the Constitution does, and all that is does is to confer on the President certain powers capable of affecting our foreign relations, and certain other powers of the same general kind on the Senate, and still other such powers on Congress; but which of these organs shall have the decisive and final voice in determining the course of the American nation is left for events to resolve.”

“…actual practice under the Constitution has shown that, while the President is usually in a position to propose, the Senate and the Congress are often in a technical position at least to dispose. The verdict of history, in short, is that the power to determine the substantive content of American foreign policy is a divided power, with the lion’s share falling usually, though by no means always, to the President.”

So even though the President selects a person to become Secretary of State, it’s up to the Senate to affirm that appointment. Even if the Secretary of State and the President negotiates a trade agreement or treaty with a foreign power, it’s up to the Senate to affirm that treaty or trade agreement.

If the Senate is of the mind to block or filibuster the policies of the President and/or Congress refuses to fund the requests of the State Department to enhance the security of Embassies or Consulates on foreign soil, there is very little the President can do about it.

From “The Hill”:

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/250237-gop-embassy-security-cuts-draw-democrats-scrutiny

A partisan House and Senate hell-bent to make sure a President is limited to only one term can certainly do things to block or sabotage foreign policy to make that President seem inept. But what kind of American would even contemplate saying or doing that? (Insert your own sarcastic tone here)

From The Ed Show 2010:

Currently, there are 195 Independent States (to include Vatican City and Kosovo) in the World. Of them we have diplomatic relations with 191 (Cuba, Iran, and North Korea excluded). There are 193 member states of the United Nations (Vatican City and Kosovo excluded).

As a common sense point of sociology and psychology. Most of the people in these nations have the same pride of their nation states as we do with ours. All have a sense of national sovereignty. None of them are in any way required to look upon the United States with awe and allegiance, nor should they.

With 195 separate Independent States, it’s important to understand that diplomacy, in order to keep the peace, has a high priority for all concerned. That diplomacy can translate to:

1) Financial and material aid or threat of withholding that aid

2) Military alliances or threats.

3) Or simply talking.

Citizens of the United States supposedly have sovereignty over ourselves, but not the world. We can be concerned about our own national security, as the other countries are with theirs, but to impose any undue intrusion into their national borders or influence their self-determination is by definition of international law, an act of War.

The United States is one of 195 Independent States;

Our population represents 4.52% of the World’s Population.

We are the third largest country (behind Russia and China), making up 6.15% of the world’s total land mass (Visualizing maps and globes can be deceptive).

However;

We consume 30% of the World’s resources.

We consume 24% of the World’s energy supplies.

Despite the current recession, this country remains one of the wealthiest nations in history. The only problem is that most of that wealth is held by the 1% and corporations and banks.

You can understand why the remaining 95% of the World’s population might have issues with our country controlling and using most of the world’s resources and energy while only having a fraction of the population and land mass.

We also have the most expensive and deadliest military in the World. We have the largest nuclear arsenal in the World. However, we are not alone in military might and nuclear deterrent. We are one of nine nations who have nuclear weapons and only one of five who have ICBM capabilities (United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France and China). India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel round off the remaining “known” nuclear states.

So in this kind of world, what makes the best kind of diplomat?

According to Sir Harold Nicholson, Diplomacy “is not the art of amicable conversation but the technique of exchanging documents in ratifiable form…an agreement which is committed to writing is likely to prove more dependable in future than any agreement which rests upon the variable interpretation of spoken assent.” Breaking down its definition, a diplomat represents the state while harmonizing relations with other nations through effective, clear and persuasive communication. However the ability to communicate effectively must be married with diplomats acute sense of analysis and observation, which can make a difference between success and failure or even life and death in hostile environments. Diplomacy is a process therefore those who negotiate cannot expect to control every element of the process. Flexibility is crucial and when Plan A fails, the diplomat must have already prepared Plan B, C and D in the nature of failure within a given framework.

Another way to look at this is to simply look at our own nation. We are composed of 50 States. It remains true that people in each of those states have their own pride and their own sense of entitlement to resources, especially when dealing with the federal government. I’m a fourth generation native-born citizen of the State of Arizona, a “Zonie,” and despite our state’s leadership (most of whom are not native Zonies) I’m very proud of my state and her people. I think our state is better than most. Arizona is battling California, Nevada and Colorado for water rights from the Colorado River. State governments actually do have to deal with each other on a diplomatic sense.

Now multiply that situation exponentially and add in the factors of generational hostilities between ethnic groups, religions, rights to resources, politics, racism and religion and then try to figure out what a professional diplomat, or leader of a nation has to convey to effectively deal with foreign policy on the world stage.

In the 20th Century, we had three Presidents almost universally praised as the most effective “Foreign Policy” presidents.

The best was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He helped create and maintain the largest coalition of nations to deal with the threat of the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) during World War II and helped draw the post war world.

Then there is Dwight David Eisenhower who using his experience as Supreme Allied Commander during World War II knew already how to effectively work with other nations and nationalities.

Finally, and this may be a surprise to many of you, is George Herbert Walker Bush. He was a former ambassador to China and had an excellent understanding of foreign affairs and did build a coalition of nations to deal with Saddam Hussein in the first Iraq War.

Sadly, his son did not start the 21st Century for U.S. Diplomacy in a good way. Despite having the sympathy and anger of nearly the entire world after 9-11, he squandered it because he allowed NeoCons, who through Project for A New American Century (PNAC) convinced him to push for American superiority around the world and not to give a damn what other nations may think. They pushed for military interventions to secure resources for our nation with little regard for those who live there. They pushed for nation building.

They see the planet as ours, and all other nations must pay homage to us because we deserve it. Well, that’s when American popularity around the world began to seriously wane and lo and behold, we started to have problems with other nations, long time allies, being willing to work with us for our national interests. European favorability for the United States hit an all time low, as it did elsewhere in the world.

Now President Obama has been working on repairing that relationship and rebuild the trust generations of previous presidents helped create prior to Bush Jr. With Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, our credibility has been significantly improving. People are more willing to work with us as opposed to being forced to work for us as PNAC would have.

Mitt Romney’s foreign policy advisers come from the Bush administration. Many of them are from the same PNAC group who destroyed our reputation and ability to work with other nations for everyone’s best interests. Further, Mitt Romney has shown himself not to be so adept with others when he’s out of the country:

Mitt Romney European Misadventure:

Mitt Romney National Lampoon’s European Vacation:

Europe Does Not Want Mitt to Win:

Mitt Romney Insults Russia:

Mitt Romney on Iran and Israel at secret fundraiser:

Mitt Romney and Benghazi at the Debate:

Being President of the most powerful nation in the world requires tact, intelligence, empathy and understanding of how anything said at any time can impact others thousands of miles away. Every word counts. Gaffes can balloon to international incidents. It’s a job for diplomats, not CEOs who expect to have everything their way.