Businesses ask the wrong question

In the Business Section of the Kansas City Star, a question was asked recently: Is Entitlement Spending squeezing out Federal Investments? And I must say, I was surprised that most of the letters replying didn't just agree, but the answers were varied and well thought out, bringing up many other factors. So, I think the question, one the business side of the GOP asks all the time, is very limiting and completely the wrong question to ask. My question would be: Do you want to increase federal investments, and if so, should entitlements and/or defense be curtailed, should taxes be raised, or a combination of all the above?
Yes, it is a much more involved question, but one that takes the entire budget (other than interest on the debt) into account. Why does the business section think that people wouldn't accept a tax hike on anyone or any business? Federal Income Taxes on the richest Americans are lowest they've been in years, possibly since the advent of the Federal Income Tax. And under the Romney tax plan, they'd be even lower (under the Ryan House budget, they'd be even lower). And why is the Defense Budget off limits? It is almost 50% more now than at the end of the Cold War. Right now, the United States defense budget is almost 41% of the world's defense budget. Russia and China together spend just 30% of what the United States spends on defense. And if you think that we'd be alone if attacked, the next 3 counties in defense spending is the United Kingdom, France, and Japan. Not enemies in any way, and their spending together is almost 80% of what Russia and China spend together. Why are we spending so much? I don't know, but under either the Romney or the House Ryan plan, defense spending increases.
So, ask your narrow question, businesses. But don't be surprised if, by not seeing other options, we think you're part of the problem.      

Akin is a bad spokesperson, not an outlier

While many people are calling for Todd Akin to resign, I would prefer he didn't. Not because I want to see him get trounced, although I do, but because in the GOP of this day and age, he's not an outlier, but one of millions who inhabit the GOP now. And I'm sure most of the people who will vote for the GOP this year don't know this. No, not their local Representative. I'm sure they know their beliefs. But I talking about everyone on the GOP ticket this year. Think this is harsh? Well think again.
Under this group of GOP leaders, they have tried to pass a bill that would say that life begins at the moment of conception, the Personhood Amendment. This would make illegal not only any abortion, but a miscarriage (If it's a life at conception, then it's a form of killing anytime afterwards), some birth controls used by women, and several forms out-of-body fertilization. Think this is extreme? Well, the sponsor of the bill was Paul Ryan, the GOP Vice-Presidential candidate. So yes, taking away a woman's medical decisions is a plank of the mainstream GOP.
Think this is just an unusually dumb and stupid man running for the Senate, a first-time fringe candidate? No, he is already a member of Congress, a Representative from Missouri. And think his views have been totally renounced? No, Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Center and the leader of the social right of the GOP, has said that Rep. Akin was correct and is saying he shouldn't step down or resign.
So why are so many GOPers asking him to step down and let someone elser run for the Senate in Missouri, because they disagree with him or they know almost all Americans find his view repulsive and all those who agree unworthy of holding office? Well, I have my thoughts, but I'll let you make up your own mind. Think he just mis-spoke, GOPers? Well, I'll say the same thing to you that you said about Biden's "chains" comment: A politician's gaffe is that person saying what they belief is really the truth.

Where's your leaders, GOP?

The latest singer to sing a song against the President is Hank Williams Jr., who says that the President is a Muslim and a Kenyan. This is after the lead singer for Megadeth stated that the President had staged the recent shootings in Colorado and the Sikh mosque. So where is the condemnation from the leaders of the GOP? Is it that they they are just entertainers? Now imagine that a Hollywood actor said that the GOP legislators that had enacted laws that stifled votes and took away women's rights were this century's version of the KKK. That just like them, these legislators wanted to put certain people in their place, take away their rights, and enforce their religious views through legislation and intimidation. Then when asked, President Obama, or Vice-President Biden, or Senator Reid, or Representative Pelosi said that while they disagreed with the actor's feelings, it wasn't their place to correct him or her. Think Fox News and all the radio pundits like Rush wouldn't rip them apart? Think it wouldn't lead most of the newscasts on all the stations? So where are the GOP leaders on this? Oh, that's right, they won't even admonish their own people in Congress like Rep. Bachmann and West who spout such lies. And to top it off, the actor would be telling more of the truth than the right-wing singers.      

Would you hire this person?

Imagine you ran a company and wanted to hire a new person to run the shipping department. When you interview this person, he agrees that his last job was as the head of a shipping department at a smaller company, but he wouldn't do anything like he did at that job. When asked for details, he says it doesn't matter, and refuses to answer. When asked what changes he'd make in his job with you, he says he'd slash the budget. When asked how, he states that he won't tell you until he's hired. Would you hire this person? Of course you wouldn't. But isn't this identical to Romney running for President? His last job was as Governor, but he won't do anything like he did there. He wants to slash the federal budget, but refuses to say exactly what programs he'd cut back on, and which ones he'd eliminate, saying he'll discuss this with Congress after he's elected. So, why would you hire him to run the country?

GOP balances the budget by when?

Paul Ryan has stated that under the Romney budget, expenditures would drop to 20% of GDP by 2016. When asked when the budget would be balanced, the leading GOP budget wonk said he hadn't looked into it that close. Really? While most people haven't read the Romney budget, and when asked he refuses to give details, a non-partisan think tank has run the numbers and found that the budget would be balanced in the year: 2040. What? So Romney, who wants to increase the budget for the Defense Department but decrease all other departmental budgets, would lower taxes so far that children under the age of 10 wouldn't see a balanced budget until their kids started high school? Is this the fairness that the GOP touts for our kids and grand kids when complaining about the current debt? Yes, to them it is.

GOP asks the question, but do they want the REAL answer?

While on MSNBC this morning, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said that voters in November should ask themselves if they are better off now than they were 3 or 4 years ago. Chairman, are you sure you want voters to ask that question? Four years ago, the economy was losing almost 800,00 jobs a month, and the financial system was close to ruin. Even three years ago, although the economy was starting to pick up steam, unemployment was over 10%, almost 2 points higher than it is now. So yes, things aren't great in the country right now. But do you really want voters to ask if things are better now than they were back 3 or 4 years ago? And if you do, are you ready for the REAL answer?

What does the Ryan pick say about Romney?

I took time off during the Olympics to watch outstanding athletes from all over the globe, just as Romney seemed to do (How else do you explain his foreign affairs trip where he made the British mad, irritated moderate Israelis and all Palestinians, and had  a spokesman upset several reporters). But in naming Paul Ryan as his running mate, Mitt Romney re-revved his candidacy for President, exciting the right wing in the GOP almost as much as his pick excites the Democrats. But what does the pick say about Mitt Romney? In my view, it can actually mean one of two things. One is that Romney agrees with Ryan on most of the important points, and really believes in what the Tea Party and the religious conservative branches of the GOP (Are there any other branches, anymore?. That's a question for another column) If this is true, independent voters can forget about his time governor, which Romney through his actions and his speeches it looks like he has actually done already. And this should be a true warning to all Independent voters of where he'd take the country if elected. But the second possible reason is that Romney, after many gaffes and missteps in his campaign, needed to shore up the far right, which was getting nervous about several recent things said by his spokespeople. And if that is the reason, then all Americans should worry that Romney feels the need pander and cave to the Tea Party on such an important decision. If Romney will cave on this, what wouldn't he give the Tea Party, and others, after the election? Yes, that would be the worse of two reasons. But neither reason shows that Romney will be a moderate or compromises. That may be great for the Tea Party, but it's horrible for the country.