louis c
louis c's JournalMitt Romney Will Fix the American Economy
Yes, you heard me correctly, Mitt Romney will fix the U.S. economy in the same way Arnold Rothstein fixed the 1919 World Series.
Romney will set the rules and his appointees will make regulatory decisions that favor Sheldon Adleson, the Koch Brothers and the rest of the well-to-do at the expense of the average American worker.
Romney will fix this economy the way a bully excliams "I'll fix your ass".
Any average American worker who votes against President Obama is playing into the hands of those who are out to "fix our asses".
I'm with the President who has stood by us. He may not be perfect, but remember, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Barack Obama is a good man and a good President. That's why I'm proud to stand with him.
Vote on Romney's Speech
The Boston Globe is running a survey on how you liked Mitt Romney's RNC Speech tonight.
I voted that I "hated it". Let his home town know how you feel.
Link;
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/specials/romney_speech_survey/
Why Everyone Should Be in a Union
I represent IBEW workers at a racetrack in Boston. We needed legislation to expand gambling in Massachusetts in order to survive. The company and the union joined forces in this effort to secure legislation. It took nearly 10 years to accomplish. It was in both parties best interest. The legislation passed last year in a Democratic controlled legislature and was signed into law by a Democratic Governor and one of President Obama's strongest supporters, Deval Patrick. On Labor Day, the best contract we ever bargained goes into affect. Pay raises, over 3 years, (2012 is retroactive) that range from 10% to 22%. Increases in employer contribution to health and dental care, extra vacation and sick days and time and half on holidays for not only full-time workers, but also for part-time workers. There's much more, but you get the point. I have been asked to speak about this success at a union forum in Vermont at the end of the month. Here's what I intend to say:
When people watch Sean Hannity on TV, listen to Rush limbaugh on the radio, or read Howie Carr in the newspaper, here's what you have to keep in mind. Not one of them would work a single day without a contract. A contract that spells out their responsibilities and their wages. Their benefits, their working conditions. Not one of them, or people like them, would work a single day without that written agreement. Yet each of them will rail against labor unions. I represent Mutuel Clerks, Bartenders, Waitresses and Waiters. Dishwashers and cooks, laborers and racing personnel. If one of us walked into a place to get a job in our professions and asked for a contract, on our own, we would be laughed at and shown the door. The only way we can negotiate a contract is collectively. By pooling our limited resources and banding together, we can accomplish what we would be unable to accomplish separately. None of us, individually, can provide a service, or withhold it, with any leverage. After all, we are just average workers. But united, we can accomplish a great deal, both for ourselves and for the company we work for. I, and the people I represent, have no particular special talent. We are just your everyday service employees. We are not great celebrities or exceptional athletes. We are not well known public figures. We are just workers. We, and all those like us, are the backbone of America and we deserve the same rights as all those I have mentioned. We need to bargain collectively in order to accomplish the receiving of a living wage and to provide health care to our families.
I personally take being called a "union boss" as an insult when those that I have mentioned use that phrase so readily and with such disdain. Each one of them has an agent, who finds them work, represents them in negotiations, works with a lawyer to finalize a contract and advocates for them as a client. I do the same thing. I am not a "boss" but a business agent, representing the workers who chose me by free and fair election, to speak in their behalf. So when we hear these windbags denigrate our institution that provides a voice for workers in the workplace, the same voice that they themselves demand for themselves, they should be called out for exactly what they are, self-serving hypocrites with no interest in the hard working members of the middle-class.
Are the Little American Flags at Mitt Romney's Rallies Made in America ??????????
I'm just asking. I have no idea one way or another.
However, it struck me yesterday that all those flags being waved by the Republican zealots in Norfolk Va. could very well be manufactured overseas.
When I try to purchase American flags (I'm a union guy, so we also use them at rallies. It's just not Republican's who are patriotic), it's not easy to find American made flags in such quantities. When I need just fifty of them, I need to search them out. Actually, I've found Stop and Shop (UFCW in Mass.) to be the easiest get for American made flags at short notice.
But then again, I'm just thinking. Republicans have no allegiance to American workers. Cheaper labor is something that helps their bottom lines. There would be no on field organizer with that passion, as there would be at a union sponsored rally.
If they had American made flags, they should and it wouldn't amount to an issue. But in the off chance that, just maybe, the Flags were made elsewhere, that would be a big, big deal.
Just asking.
Are Conservative Republican's Really Pro-Life?
Too often Conservative Republicans like to describe themselves as "Pro-Life", when in fact, they're "Pro-Birth".
I thought of this when Paul Ryan was described as a "Pro-Life" Republican.
You see, I like to think of myself as Pro-Choice and Pro-Life. Being Pro-Choice is not, as characterized by our Right Wing fiends, the same as Pro-Abortion. When I say I'm Pro-choice, I mean it. If a woman chooses to terminate a pregnancy, she should have a medically safe and supportive way to to fulfill that choice. After all, it's her body. If she chooses to go to full term and give birth, that choice should also be supported. Adoption is an option, but again, it's her choice. To love and raise her child, in what-ever life circumstance she is in, or chooses to be in, should also be supported. Food, Shelter, Medical attention and Education should be supported by all of us who claim to be children of God. That's the Pro-Life part of my philosophy on this subject.
Too many "Evangelical Christians" say that they are Pro-Life, when in fact they are Pro-Birth, and after that, you're on your own. That's not Pro-Life. They will say that you should give the child up for adoption, but what if the Mother chooses a different path. Are we there to provide twenty years of assistance? I believe we should.
People like Paul Ryan are hypocrites on the subject of life. I read the Bible. Jesus spoke hundreds of times about helping the poor, but rarely, if ever, about abortion.
"You Hypocrite, first remove the log from your own eye, before you notice the speck in your neighbor's eye." Mathew 7:5
"It is easier for a camel to pass through an eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Mathew 19:24
Do You Want to End Unnecessary American Wars? Reinstate the Draft
That's right, bring back the Draft. No deferments. Everybody in. Pick by lottery.
I grew up during the Viet Nam conflict. I protested against the war and wrote about ending it in my College paper in 1970. I mistakenly thought then that ending the draft would end unnecessary American military intervention. I was 104 in the lottery in one of those last years. Look it up. 104 was September 18 in 1970 when I turned 18. I thought, "who would join if they didn't have to"? History has proven me wrong.
Let Mitt's 5 sons and so many others like the Romney family enter the draft. Let's see how gung-ho they are when their flesh and blood is involved. Let's see if they're willing to risk those they love and cherish in a war they know is built on a lie.
If we choose again to go to war, to put boots on the ground, then it should be "everybody in". I now believe that the war protests in the late 60's and early 70's were fueled by the fact that anybody could go. You had to lie or defect to stay out of the war. The only way you could remain an American and in good conscience not go to a war you knew was wrong was to try to end it. That's what's missing today. If everybody's kid is at risk, everybody would bloody well be informed about the conflict and the lies would be more closely examined by the general public.
Anyway, that's my thought for today.
How is it that Mitt Romney can talk of his father being "born in Mexico"
Yet no one asks the obvious follow-up question?
"If, as you say, your father was born in Mexico, how could he have attempted to gain the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 1968? Didn't your father understand the Constitution?"
Finally, Chris Mathews Exposes Burma Manufactured U.S. Olympic Uniforms in 2002 Romney Run Olympics
During Hardball on MSNBC Chris Mathews just exposed the 2002 U.S. Olympic Uniforms that were manufactured in Burma under Romney's watch.
Thank You, Chris Mathews.
I thought no one would ever give this story any play.
link to DU post from yesterday:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002955818
2002 Romney Run Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City Bought Uniforms from Burma....Where's the Story?
I talk to white male blue collar workers Over 50 years old every day. They are "knee jerk" in their hatred for Obama. This is Obama's toughest demographic.
They are outraged at the 2012 Olympics buying uniforms for our athletes from China.
Here's how my conversation goes. "What do you think of the Olympic uniforms being manufactured in China". Their answer is invariably "disgusting". They, unknowingly, think the government has something to do with the Olympics. I then say, "you know that the Olympic committee is privately funded through donations from American citizens and is independently and privately run. The government has nothing to do with it." They say they knew that (whether or not they did).
It's like fishing. They have the "hook". "Now that you find it awful and un-American to buy Olympic uniforms from China in the Summer of 2012, do you know where the Olympic committee bought the athletes uniforms in the Winter of 2002 when Romney was running the Olympics? Burma. Now what do you think of your guy?"
It's a winner with a demographic that would cinch the election if we can move white males over 50 years old by just 5 points. This issue can do it. With the olympics coming up in England, the attention will be heightened on the subject. Let's get it out there.
I beg the Obama team. Please use it.
Link to Burma Story in 2002:
http://www.monitor.net/monitor/0202a/copyright/olympicsweatshop.html
Viet-Nam Era Romney---The Seeds of a Hypocrite
Not serving in Viet-Nam (or Southeast Asia) during that conflict is not something that deserves condemnation.
Serving in Viet-Nam (or Southeast Asia) during that conflict does deserve to be honored.
However, to be in favor of that conflict when you were of age to fight and seeking deferments (while able bodied) to avoid that conflict does deserve condemnation as the height of hypocrisy.
Mitt Romney (like Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bush) deserve to be called out for being the jingoistic hypocrites that they are. Mitt Romney supported that war in college while others dissented. He had that right. But when it came time to put "his money where his mouth was" he showed himself to be the chicken hawk he truly is. He hid behind his religion as a Mormon missionary. The poor little rich kid avoided service while he supported the war where others died (or were maimed). To add insult to injury, he performed his missionary service by attempting to convert the French to be Mormons. Yeh, he really had it tough preaching in Paris. I wonder how many Parisians he converted to Mormonism.
What a scam artist.
Link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/05/mitt-romney-vietnam-war-draft_n_1571288.html
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Gender: MaleHometown: Boston
Home country: USA
Current location: Boston
Member since: Fri May 14, 2004, 05:52 PM
Number of posts: 8,652
