Put In Your Zip Code. I Dare You.
My beloved hometown of St. George, UT,
which voted 88% for McCain in 2008. Ironic.
One of my best conservative friends recently asserted that he votes for candidates who best represent his interests regardless of the party with which he is associated. Let's put that to the test.
Researchers from Stanford, Berkeley, and MIT created POLITIFY. It calculates Obama's and Romney's policies based on the information included on their websites. Let's see how their policies will affect your community financially.
Which candidate is truly committed to the middle class?
Researchers from Stanford, Berkeley, and MIT created POLITIFY. It calculates Obama's and Romney's policies based on the information included on their websites. Let's see how their policies will affect your community financially.
Which candidate is truly committed to the middle class?
The Bush LegacyPlease forgive my blunt remark, but if you still think George W. Bush was a good president, perhaps you should take the initiative do some research. He was, without question, one of the worst presidents in American history. There is a reason he and Dick Cheney were not invited to speak at the Republican National Convention.
Bush's Economic Mistakes
45 million Americans without health care $455 billion deficit for fiscal year 2008; estimated to reach up to $1 trillion in 2009 148,000 troops not enough to secure Iraq, enabling insurgency to take root 2,145 troops killed and 21,000 injured in Iraq from March 2003 through November 1, 2008, by IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and other explosives — many while awaiting body armor. Additionally, tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in the conflict $100 billion in federal tax revenues lost annually to corporations using off-shore tax shelters 275 largest U.S. corporations paid, on average, about 17 percent in taxes in 2007, half the standard corporate tax rate $45 trillion in credit-default swaps, without federal oversight, in 2007 2,640 days Osama bin Laden at large since September 11, 2001 (as of December 10, 2008) |
Let's CompareI want to be clear that I do not disagree with all of Romney's positions, but in general, his approach to the larger issues reflect those of the Bush Administration, of which I am adamantly opposed.
Romney's advice on the foreclosure crisis: "Don't try and stop the foreclosure process." [Mother Jones, 10/18/2011] Mitt Romney's plan for a "middle class tax cut" would provide zero benefits to 73.9 percent of the middle class. [ThinkProgress, 10/14/2011] The former Bain Capital managing director said of Mitt Romney's tenure: "We had a scheme where the rich got richer." [Los Angeles Times, 12/16/2007] Mitt Romney admits he couldn't reduce Massachusetts' multi-billion dollar budget deficit without new revenue. [The Boston Globe, 04/6/2003] Mitt Romney would repeal the Dodd-Frank bill, which regulates the risky practices that led to the 2008 crisis. [ThinkProgress, 08/25/2011] Mitt Romney said that catching bin Laden would be "insignificant" and it's "not worth moving heaven and earth." [New York Times, 05/3/2007] Mitt Romney wanted "bombardment" of Iran. [New York Times, 10/26/2007] Many of Mitt Romney's foreign policy advisers helped push the U.S. into war with Iraq. [ThinkProgress, 10/6/2011] Asked if Iraq was a mistake, Mitt Romney said "Well, the question is kind of a nonsequitur." [Media Matters, 06/6/2007] Mitt Romney in 2008: I "love" George W. Bush. [ThinkProgress, 01/3/2008] |
Perception vs. RealityIt's not about being a victim. It's about equal opportunity, priorities, and values. Since 1979, income for the top 1% rose 281% and income for the middle class rose just 35%. Republicans in Congress refuse to remove a single tax loophole or subsidy for the country's most profitable corporations, but yet they propose cutting funding for Pell grants and other important funding for education. Romney says he paid 14% in taxes. I have never paid less than 20% in my adult life. There is something fundamentally wrong with that. Economists note that his tax proposal (as vague as it is) would essentially lower his rate from 14% to 1%, and potentially raise our rate. I don't consider myself a "victim" because I have a fairly comfortable life, but yes, the game is absolutely rigged.
Illustration courtesy of Connect the Dots USA. Commentary is my own |
Who Benefits From Republican Policies?For a little perspective, let’s look at some historical trends on what’s actually happened to wages and middle class income to see if we can connect the dots to the dwindling demand in our economy. As we can see here from 1980 to 2007, after-tax income for the Top 1% went up a whopping 281% (from $347,000 to $1.3 million on average). And productivity went up 75%. But wages were flat at an average of $17/hour for production workers, and middle class household income went up a paltry 25% in 28 years (from $44,100 to 55,300). This despite the rise of two-income families and folks working longer hours. Think about it. 150 million people worked and produced more profit than ever before, and the Top 1% got most of the benefit. Does this seem fair to you? Does it seem like the prosperity is trickling down?
Illustration and commentary courtesy of Connect the Dots USA |
Is This Really Your Attitude?It's not about "punishing success," or taking money from wealthy people and giving it to "lazy" poor people. What a dreadful attitude to have. Yes, I acknowledge there are people who take advantage of the system, but if you hold this attitude, perhaps, like Mitt Romney, there is something you do not understand about responsibility. Based on the charts above, weren't wealthy people taking money from us? Were they not also taking advantage of the system? "Why is it that if you take advantage of a tax break and you're a corporation you're a smart businessman, but if you take advantage of something that you need to not be hungry, you're a moocher?" -- Jon Stewart Let's get something straight, liberals have never been interested in giving away "free stuff" to "lazy people." This is an egregious assumption. Assumptions only expose the failure to think critically about a subject. It's about fairness, values, priorities, and providing access to resources. If you are a white bloke from a homogenous western town and you cannot understand this, I admonish you to take an urban anthropology course in New York City. You will, in fact, be the minority in the room, and it will be impossible for you to hold this view by the end of the course. |
Or Is This Your Attitude?Book of Mormon, Mosiah 4: 16- 17, 19, 22:
16 And also, ye yourselves will a succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. 17 Perhaps thou shalt a say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just-- 19 For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind? 22 And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done. LDS hymns I've sung my whole life: A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief - #29 Because I Have Been Given Much (I too must give)- #219 |
A Perfect Example Of Progressive Priorities and Values.
I Love Charts.
What do the phrases, "I like to fire people" and "You didn't build that" have in common?"
They are statements made by Mitt Romney and Barack Obama that were taken completely out of context and used with frequency with the intention of smearing the other for votes.
Now, how are they different?
The Republicans used "We Built It" as the Republican Convention mantra. This was quite puzzling and telling.
The Romney campaign recently remarked, "We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers." This statement is also confusing and telling. This is not to say that Obama and Democrats have not fibbed and exaggerated the truth from time to time.
I acknowledge that both Democrats and Republicans are constantly accusing each other of lying, which only adds to the current political dissonance. In order to achieve some clarity of thought, I try to get a sense of the full picture of a statement or claim by consulting multiple non-partisan fact-checking and research organizations, such as Politifact, FactCheck.org, and the Washington Post Fact Checker. I tend to look for trends and percentages in terms of the severity and frequency of falsehoods. I can admit when Obama or other Democrats stretch the truth, but I'm looking for the larger picture on both sides.
I love charts. You cannot argue with well-sourced math and data, so I try to use charts and historical data to help inform my positions.
They are statements made by Mitt Romney and Barack Obama that were taken completely out of context and used with frequency with the intention of smearing the other for votes.
Now, how are they different?
The Republicans used "We Built It" as the Republican Convention mantra. This was quite puzzling and telling.
The Romney campaign recently remarked, "We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers." This statement is also confusing and telling. This is not to say that Obama and Democrats have not fibbed and exaggerated the truth from time to time.
I acknowledge that both Democrats and Republicans are constantly accusing each other of lying, which only adds to the current political dissonance. In order to achieve some clarity of thought, I try to get a sense of the full picture of a statement or claim by consulting multiple non-partisan fact-checking and research organizations, such as Politifact, FactCheck.org, and the Washington Post Fact Checker. I tend to look for trends and percentages in terms of the severity and frequency of falsehoods. I can admit when Obama or other Democrats stretch the truth, but I'm looking for the larger picture on both sides.
I love charts. You cannot argue with well-sourced math and data, so I try to use charts and historical data to help inform my positions.