The First Debate - Keep Calm and Carry On

Keep Calm and Carry On

In 1939 the British Government plastered this slogan on posters all over London to help keep the spirits of the British people high during some of the darkest days of WWII.

Attention liberals and other supporters of our President; to you I say "Keep Calm and Carry On"  "Stay Fired Up!"

There is no question that our President was clearly not the winner of the first debate and I suspect some money poured into the Romney campaign as a result and the Democrats are going to have focus a little harder on some of the swing states.  But, one debate is not a game changer especially since there was no smack down by Romney.  

The former Governor was simply more on his game than was the President.

Romney may have won the night but Barack Obama won the day after.

• The fact checkers were out in full force yesterday and to a person they debunked much of what Romney said
• Even conservatives noted that Romney positions Wednesday differed greatly from his positions he has taken over the last 18 months
• Romney was called rude, a bully and overbearing by many in the chattering class
• There was almost as much post debate discussion about the moderator as there was the debate itself 
• Romney was roundly mocked for wanting to fire Big Bird as an example of how he will solve our nation's massive debt problems.  For the record PBS receives no direct funding from the federal government.  The money goes directly to the local stations and the amount of the budget that will be saved by cutting this subsidy is 0.012%.  Not much of an impact is it?  Of all the things Romney could think of to cut spending the best he could do was PBS?
• The President was greeted by 30,000 people at his rally in Madison yesterday
• There are two more debates to come and this President is famous for his 4th quarter come back skills

If the President stood there Wednesday and just responded to Romney misstatements and lies would he have looked defensive?   Would he have looked angry?  Barack Obama has spent his entire political career trying not to be "the angry black man" because he knows that "the angry black man" will never be elected President  in this country.  So, his handlers chose to coach him to look calm, reserved and Presidential but, they over coached him and he looked bored, unfocused and ill prepared.

Keep Calm and Carry On people one debate will not win this race for Romney and one debate will not lose this race for Obama and one debate will not lose this race for the future of this country.

Listen To The Boss

The marriage-equality issue should be recognized for what it truly is-a civil rights issue that must be approved to assure that every citizen is treated equally under the law.

“I couldn’t agree more with that statement and urge those who support equal treatment for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to let their voices be heard now.”  Bruce Springsteen

Normally I don’t put a lot of weight behind what entertainers have to say about current events because a lot of it is pretty shallow, tends to be trendy and usually more about them than the issue they proclaim to care about.  The upside is that celebrities can bring attention to an issue but that attention often proves to be fleeting. 

But, this is Bruce freakin Springsteen when the boss talks you people should all listen.  I do. 

Reason Why I Am Voting To Re-Elect The President - Part 3

Some of the new government spending that the Republican’s complain about includes

• ·          $1.4 billion  to fund the improvement in services to veterans at the VA
• ·         $4.6 billion to pay for more mental health professionals within the VA
• ·         Supported and signed the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, which made more money available for veterans medical care
• ·         Ensured there was enough funding to provide active troops with better boy armor – Remember during the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld started wars when family members had to spend their own money to ensure their loved ones had proper body armor.

The First Lady and Dr. Biden have dedicated much of their activity to speaking out on behalf of the military families at home and ensuring the returning troops are treated as the they deserved to be treated; patriot’s and hero’s.

The President supported and was prepared to sign the Veteran’s Job Bill; it was fully paid for and had mostly bipartisan support.  This bill would have lowered unemployment among veterans, giving grants to federal, state and local agencies to hire veterans; giving priority to those who served on or after 9/11.  Sen. Mitch McConnell and his party of chicken hawks forced a cloture vote which means the Senate had to vote on whether they were going to vote on the bill.  This way the Republicans could not really be accused of voting against the bill they just voted against voting on the bill.  60 votes are needed in cloture votes and this failed to pass because on 58 Senators voted yes. Only in the American Senate does legislation get 58 yes votes and 40 no votes and still not pass. 

 Not very democratic if you ask me.

Reasons Why I Am Voting To Re-Elect The President - Part 2

• When President Obama took office this nation was in its worst recession in 75 years, during his first year in office economists declared the recession over.
• When he took office there were 13 straight months of private sector job loss, the private sector has been adding more jobs than it has been shedding every month since February 2010.  That is over 4.5 million new private sector jobs. 
• The unemployment rate has continued to drop (except for the first few months) every month since the President took office. The reason the jobs numbers are not showing this growth as clearly because Federal, State and Local governments have been laying off people as a result of economic constraints and Republican austerity programs.
• The Dow Jones Index was running around 8,000 when the Republican’s left the White House; the stock index is now hovering around 13,000.
• Under Republican spending we had a $1.4 trillion deficit and despite GOP claims to the contrary the federal deficit is now $1.3 trillion.
• In February of 2012 GM posted record profits only 2 years after the President wisely supported their bail out.  Chrysler soon followed and Ford is stronger today than it was in 2009.
• New spending programs under President Obama totals up to $1.44 trillion.  Under the last Republican administration new program spending totaled $5.07 trillion.  Who are the big spenders?  Congressman Ryan supported each one of these new GOP programs and referred to them as economic stimulus. So even if this President doubles the new government spending in his next term it will still be less the Republicans spending.

Things are not as good as any of us want them to be but when the Republican’s ask is the country better off than it was 4 years ago the answer is YES. 

Reasons Why I Am Voting To Re-Elect The President - Part 1

• Through his leadership DADT was repealed and he proudly signed the law.  He did not sign it off the radar he held a grand and elaborate ceremony.  He said he would and he kept his promise.  He did it the right way through an act of Congress.  Thank you sir.
• He has voiced support for Marriage Equality.  It has taken him awhile but he has voiced his support.  It's called evolving, it's called growth.  At the same time he has ordered the Justice Department to stop defending DOMA in the courts.  His reason...discrimination is wrong.  We are all American's and we all are entitled to equal rights and protection under the law 
• He supported hospital visitation rights for LGBT patients.  It is now the law. 
• He has spoken out forcefully against bullying 
• He created a "It gets Better" video and shared it on Youtube
• He supports work place protections for all citizens
• He is married to the very awesome Michelle!  (More on this later) 

Many more to come........Please feel free to share your reasons for re-electing our President.

Or your reasons why not - but remember please be polite and not offensive...I will blacklist your ass in a heartbeat if you are rude or disrespectful. 

If Paul Ryan Were An Action Figure He Would Be Called LIAR MAN

Paul Ryan - lies about "Obamacare" taking money away from Medicare
Paul Ryan - lies about the fact that his Medicare plan actually does take money away from the program and is a voucher plan.
Paul Ryan - lies about the negative impact his budget plans have on the poor and the middle class
Paul Ryan - lies about the benefits his budget plans have for the 1%
Paul Ryan - lies about his general economic plans - Trickle down has never worked and will never work
Paul Ryan - lies when he blames President Obama for the closing of the auto plant in his home town.  The plant closed a month before this President took the oath of office
Paul Ryan - lies when he blames The President for the lowering of the nation's S&P rating.  When shown a statement by S&P blaming the Republicans in Congress for the lower rating, he still denies the facts.
Paul Ryan - lies about the financial and social status of his family in his home town and pretends he pulled himself up by his boot straps.  His family was very financially comfortable and very prominent in the town.  It is a shame that his father died when he was a young man but as a result his college education was paid for via a benefit provided by Social Security.  A plan he would now like to end.

These are all pretty significant lies.

Paul Ryan - lies when he said he ran a marathon in 2 hours and 55 minutes when in fact it took him over 4 hours.

If Paul Ryan is willing to lie about something as silly as a marathon time imagine the lies he will tell us as Vice President

Responding To A Facebook Screed

So let me get this straight;

If you cross the North Korean border illegally, you get 12 years of hard labor.  If you cross the Afghanistan border illegally, you will get shot.  Two Americans just got eight years for crossing the Iranian border.  If you cross the U.S. border Illegally, who get a job, a driver's license, food stamps, a place to live, health care benefits, child benefits, education, and a tax free business for 7 years.  No wonder we are a country in debt.

Like and Share if you agree!!!

I came across this gem on Facebook a few times.  Not surprisingly I did not share nor did I agree.

Does the person who posted this think it is better to live in Afghanistan, North Korea or Iran?

I didn’t agree with this post because I believe we are a better country a better people than what this screed implies.  We are a kind and we are decent.  We are compassionate and we are generous.  We are the first to offer support when disaster strikes no matter where in the world it happens. We have gone to war to save humanity.  We have sacrificed our young men and women and our treasure to help people across the planet who are crying out for the freedoms we often take for granted.

People have always come here yearning for a better life, seeking protection from war and violence, seeking a way to protect their daughters from barbaric practices, fleeing a life impoverished because they are members of the wrong tribe or religion.  We profess to be the beacon of freedom; we have a statue in New York Harbor that defines us as a people.  What this Facebook post implies is that the Statue of Liberty is meaningless.

Let me point out that we are a nation of immigrants and many of our ancestors came here illegally. 

Also, the person who posted this and persons who re-posted it have their facts wrong, illegal immigrants receive none of these benefits automatically.