Thread: Mitt Romney

if you liked GWB's foreign policy, you're going to love romney's.

here is a list of willard's foreign policy team:

Special Advisers

Cofer Black
Christopher Burnham
Michael Chertoff
Eliot Cohen
Norm Coleman
John Danilovich
Paula J. Dobriansky
Eric Edelman
Michael Hayden
Kerry Healey
Kim Holmes
Robert Joseph
Robert Kagan
John Lehman
Andrew Natsios
Meghan O’Sullivan
Walid Phares
Pierre Prosper
Mitchell Reiss
Daniel Senor
Jim Talent
Vin Weber
Richard Williamson
Dov Zakheim

Mitt Romney Announces Foreign Policy and National Security Advisory Team


you might be saying to yourself.....hmmmm....some of the those names seem awfully familiar.....and you'd be right......17 out of the 24 were part of W's foreign policy team.

yeah, let's go back to that crowd because they did such a great job.

^
As opposed to B. Hussien's failures:

The Hildebeast, Susan Rice et. al?

Originally Posted by S Landreth

No wonder you don't want to mention his name.

did you see that clip from the other day when romney repeatedly kept saying "predecessor"? he just couldn't bring himself to say W's name.


hold on....here it is:

Originally Posted by barbaro

Originally Posted by raycarey

you might be saying to yourself.....hmmmm....some of the those names seem awfully familiar.....and you'd be right......17 out of the 24 were part of W's foreign policy team.

Ray,

Honest questions.

1. Do you think Romney will be as heavily influenced by the Neo-Cons (former PNAC that is now the FDD)?

2. Or, do we know/can we know?

Having only been a Governor, perhaps we do not know his true foreign policy beliefs and/or intentions.

you're asking about a candidate who has no true core, so who knows?
pick practically any issue, and romney's been on both (or more) sides of it.

to quote gertrude stein, "there's no there there".

below are actual quotes from willard's advisers on his (lack of) foreign policy positions:

On Afghanistan, one adviser told David Sanger of The New York Times, “None of us could quite figure out what he was advocating.” Another acknowledged that when it comes to Iran, “I’m not sure that anyone knows if the candidate has a strong view of his own.” A third admitted that “Romney doesn’t want to really engage these issues until he is in office.”

Mitt Romney

voters should be aware of the very real possibility that romney doesn't care about foreign policy at all...full stop. and if that's the case, of course those 17 bush advisers will have a profound influence. just take a look at how they manipulated their last 'boss' who was so cavalier with US foreign policy decisions.

the job creator (romney) will feel your pain (while he sits back counting his 230 plus million),...........

The Republican contender was the governor of Massachusetts from January 2003 to January 2007. And during that time, according to the U.S. Labor Department, the state ranked 47th in the entire country in jobs growth. Fourth from last.

The only ones that did worse? Ohio, Michigan and Louisiana. In other words, two rustbelt states and another that lost its biggest city to a hurricane.

The Massachusetts jobs growth over that period, a pitiful 0.9%, badly lagged other high-skill, high-wage, knowledge economy states like New York (2.7%), California (4.7%) and North Carolina (7.6%).

The national average: More than 5%.

This was after four years. So far Obama has been in office for just one year. How was Romney's performance by his first anniversary?

Fiftieth out of fifty.

That's right. In Romney's first year in charge, Massachusetts ranked dead last in America in jobs growth.

What makes this worse for Romney is that he actually ran on a jobs platform. Romney -- who made his fortune building Bain Capital into one of the biggest venture capital firms in the world -- promised the voters of Massachusetts that as governor he'd use his business savvy and connections to bring new jobs to the state.

"I don't have to wait in the lobby to see middle management," he pointedly said during one campaign event. It was a shot at his opponent, state politico Shannon O'Brien.

Romney went on: "There's virtually not a chief executive officer in the country that won't let me in to sit down with them in their office to pitch Massachusetts. And that is what I'll do, inside Massachusetts, outside Massachusetts, outside of our country, to encourage businesses to come grow and thrive in the most robust portion of the economy, Massachusetts."

Net result: 50th out of 50 after one year, 47th after four.

the best the GOP has to offer: Mitt Romney tries to play the jobs card - Brett Arends' ROI - MarketWatch

^ & ^^ Both good reads, BM. Txs. Especially like Anderson Cooper viz the obama campaign mgr & Politico read. Hey, is Chris "shiver up my leg" Matthews back on MSNBC Hardball? Just saw a clip of his on Youtube about the Cory comment on Bain...Desperation?

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

Eek. The prik took Michigan.

the 'prik' in question is romney......quite the change of heart since 2008, when the above post was made on this thread

but loads of republicans HATED romney in '08, but they don't want to talk about that now. i remember reading an anecdote in a magazine article about the '08 primaries....nearly all of the candidates were using the lavatory before (or perhaps it was after) a debate, and they were all (mccain, guiliani, huckabee, etc...) talking smack and joking about how much they disliked romney, when suddenly romney walked into the bathroom and the room fell stone silent and everyone washed their hands filed out. i'll take a look for that article later, but i think it really does say something about the candidate they're putting up in '12......they really don't like him or trust him, but they think he's got the best chance to win.

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

After reading this you will know more about this candidate than you do
about the current occupant of the White House, and it's only one paragraph long.

Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney from his Mitt Romney 2012 Site: After going to both Harvard
Business School and Harvard Law School simultaneously, he passed the
Michigan bar, but never worked as an attorney. As a venture-capitalist,
Romney's first major business deal involved investing in a start-up office
supply company with one store in Massachusetts that sold office supplies.
That company, called Staples, now has over 2,000 stores and employs over
90,000 people. Romney or his company Bain Capital (using what became known as the "Bain Way") would go on to perform the same kinds of business
miracles again and again, with companies like Domino's, Sealy, Brookstone,
Weather Channel, Burger King, Warner Music Group, Dollarama, Home Depot
Supply, and many others. Got your calculators handy? Let's recap. Volunteer
campaign worker for his dad's gubernatorial campaign 1 year. Unpaid intern
in Governor's office 8 years. Mormon missionary in Paris 2 years. Unpaid
bishop and stake president for his church 10 years. No salary as president
of the Olympics 3 years. No salary as MA governor 4 years. That's a grand
total of 28 years of unpaid service to his country, his community and his
church.

Source

Heh...what's the Chicago Jesus done but ruin America, eh?

...back to you

very nice resume compared to the do nothing guy that is in there now......

Vote Romney!!!!

Here is a snippet from realclear I read today.

I like it because it breaks down certain states in what these political scientists are calling PVI. It talks about Romney facing a blue wall....but of course....this all depends.

this ceiling is an outgrowth of demography and changing coalitions, and is largely etched into our electoral map. This has created a “blue wall” consisting of “the 11 states from Maryland to Maine (except New Hampshire); the three West Coast states; and Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Hawaii (plus the District of Columbia).”

While Republicans fared well in these states from 1968 through 1988, since 1992 the increase in the minority population and the movement of Northern suburbs toward the Democrats has, according to Brownstein, placed these states out of reach for the party of Lincoln.

So which is it -- bad luck in the overall playing field, or have a substantial number of states moved irrevocably toward Democrats?

As it turns out, we can test these hypotheses fairly easily. And, as it also turns out, the truth is “a bit of both.”

What we can do is control for any “national effects” by looking at the states’ Partisan Voting Index, or PVI, over the past few elections (I’ve chosen 1980 through 2008 in order to capture trends that started pre-1992).

Entire that is worth a browse: RealClearPolitics - Romney Faces a "Blue Wall" -- But Is It Solid?

Originally Posted by raycarey

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

Eek. The prik took Michigan.

the 'prik' in question is romney......

SUMMARY TABLE: http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Se...NBCWSJpoll.pdf

Barack Obama, Total positive 49 – Total negative 41

Mitt Romney, Total positive 34 – Total negative 38

Bain Capital, Total positive 9 – Total negative 19

The Republican Party, Total positive 32 – Total negative 43


5. (IF SUPPORT OBAMA OR ROMNEY) Would you say you are very enthusiastic about supporting (Obama/Romney) somewhat enthusiastic, not so enthusiastic, or not enthusiastic at all?: Washington Post-ABC News Poll (washingtonpost.com)


Obama, Net Not enthusiastic – 9%

Romney, Net Not enthusiastic – 25%



Most still don’t like the prick Romney, but it’s all they got and some don’t seem too happy about it.

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Most still don’t like the prick Romney, but it’s all they got and some don’t seem too happy about it.

Doesn't matter.

What does is he's not the Chicago Jesus...

Romney ... is not a job creator ... might be worse than a Pentecostal when it comes to his religion ... would be more of a tool than Obama and probably end up ordering the military to bomb Iran ... but he did choose to go hang out in France during the Vietnam War even though he supposedly supported the military.

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

That company, called Staples, now has over 2,000 stores and employs over
90,000 people.

So you put the small businessman out of business and then you claim to create jobs ? Hmmm ... interesting how you work things out Booner.

The small businessman had to build his business on his own shoulders with loans from the old hometown bank while places like "Staples" come in and offer a community to put up a store as long as the community builds it for them and defers their taxes 20-30 years down the road.


Then they hold communities hostage by wrangling other tax deals or threaten to move up the road to another community ...

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

No salary as president of the Olympics 3 years.

Have you even researched this just a little bit ? Talk about serious cost over-runs and needing a bail-out from the federal government !!!!! Talk about some serious culture of corruption ... the Olympic Games were rife with cronyism ... and Romney walked a fine line of illegal interference in the judicial process.

If not for 9/11 and the federal government becoming heavily involved in the process ... all signs indicated Romney's Olympics were on a path to ... BLAH !!!

And by the way ... how in the hell was he able to run for Governor of MA when he was officially a resident of Utah ? Had even filed taxes indicating he considered himself a resident of Utah ... Oh, just change your mind and re-file when it's politically convenient I guess.

^ It's unfortunate that people with great ideas and biz savvy make businesses that prosper and expand into huge national entities. Pity, they employ thousands of people, offer competitive prices so people can shop for less, and support surrounding shops and restaurants, etc, by being anchor stores. Yep, just get rid of them. Send them overseas.

Well, it's one thing to ask "just who is Mitt Romney"- but just who are the GOP?? They are openly contradicting each other now.


Romney Argues Big Spending Cuts Would Cause 'Depression,' Contrary To Tea Party Activists

Boehner, carrying the Tea Party line on spending, recently said that he would insist that the deficit be cut by a dollar for every dollar increase in the debt limit, or else he would refuse to raise it, helping drive the country toward default.

"When the time comes, I will again insist on my simple principle of cuts and reforms greater than the debt limit increase," Boehner said.

"Dealing with our deficit and our debt would help create more economic growth in the United States," Boehner told George Stephanopolous Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "The issue is the debt."

Romney, however, said that pushing drastic spending cuts during shaky economic times is a prescription for "recession or depression."

Any spending cuts, Romney said, should come down the road, after the economy has improved.

"I don't want to have us go into a recession in order to balance the budget," he said. "I'd like to have us have high rates of growth at the same time we bring down federal spending, on, if you will, a ramp that’s affordable, but that does not cause us to enter into a economic decline."

Romney Argues Big Spending Cuts Would Cause 'Depression,' Contrary To Tea Party Activists

That is probably good news for middle America, and for Romneys election prospects-but anathema to the right wing of the GOP and the teabaggers. Tbh, Romney & Obama don't sound that substantially different- both relative centrists, tussling with the more extreme elements in the now dominant right wing of the GOP. The same article linked above reveals that government spending under Obama has increased at the lowest rate since Eisenhower- in fact, adjusted for inflation it has shrunk slightly. I'd like to know a bit more about how they account for gov't spending before commenting on that, but what inane claptrap this teabag type rhetoric is about Obama being Socialist. Otoh, Democrat politicking will probably portray Romney as more right wing than he is, or pick on the more extreme GOP right wing positions, and general obstructionism in Congress.

Common sense still says Obama will win though.

Originally Posted by sabang

"I don't want to have us go into a recession in order to balance the budget," he said. "I'd like to have us have high rates of growth at the same time we bring down federal spending, on, if you will, a ramp that’s affordable, but that does not cause us to enter into a economic decline." Romney Argues Big Spending Cuts Would Cause 'Depression,' Contrary To Tea Party Activists

I wonder how that quote will go at the GOP Convention where teabaggers will have a voice.
I wonder how it will square with Romney's endorsment of the Ryan budget..."a marvelous plan..." says Romney.

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

No salary as MA governor 4 years.

As the saying goes ... You get what you pay for I guess. And from what I've read he was out of the state of MA over 200 days during his last year in office.

Here are some interesting Romney tidbits during his time as Governor:

** Increased fees for permits, licenses and services by 45 % raising $331,000,000 in new revenue.

** Raised an additional $300,000,000 in additional revenue by close tax loop holes for businesses.

** 1 % job growth in MA during his four year term as Governor of MA ... 4th worst of all the states.

** Perhaps his greatest achievement you already know about ... I won't remind you what it was other than to say Obama basically copied it at the national level. And by the way ... without Sen Kennedy he wouldn't even been able to claim this crowning achievement.

** Handed out jobs based on merit and not patronage.

** Had always supported gay marriage until he began to "evolve" ... Oops I mean move towards needing the far right wingers in his planned bid for the Presidency.

Most of this is from notes I took while reading the book "The Real Romney" ...

Romney was also the most unpopular Governor in the nation when he finished his term. His tenure marked the end of a series of consecutive GOP Governors of Massachusetts- his chosen GOP successor was thrashed in the gubernatorial elections, and replaced by a Democrat and a friend of Obama's to boot.

So, hardly surprising-

UPDATE 2-Obama campaign targeting Romney's record as governor | Reuters

Originally Posted by sabang

Romney was also the most unpopular Governor in the nation when he finished his term. His tenure marked the end of a series of consecutive GOP Governors of Massachusetts- his chosen GOP successor was thrashed in the gubernatorial elections, and replaced by a Democrat and a friend of Obama's to boot.

So, hardly surprising-

UPDATE 2-Obama campaign targeting Romney's record as governor | Reuters

Yet the record does indeed show a move towards fiscal responsibility, unlike GWB and BHO.
Apparently trying to balance a budget doesn't win many friends.

Apparently during the 2008 presidential campaign McCain and his crew discovered that good ole Romney had hired a landscaping crew for his private mansion which was entirely comprised of illegal immigrants. (From "The Real Romney" book) ... kinda reminds me of people like Nancy Pelosi and that fat dude who liked to make documentaries bashing Bush.

Edit ... Fat dude = Michael Moore.

Originally Posted by Mr Earl

Yet the record does indeed show a move towards fiscal responsibility, unlike GWB and BHO. Apparently trying to balance a budget doesn't win many friends.

Mitt Romney was elected governor of Massachusetts and took office in January of 2003. He did not seek re-election, and left office in January of 2007.


What happened to the Massachusetts debt? Mitt Romney happened!

No apologies for the facts, especially if some can't apologize for talking shite.