More Election 2012

I don't want to say that I enjoyed  This blog post from October 29th on The Huffington Post, in the sense that it's not entertainment; but for me it really hits the nail on the head. I don't for a second believe that Mitt Romney really gives a rip about most Americans, and in making our lives any better, I think he just wants to be President for the power.

Mike Luckovich, October 31, 2012

 The B.S. that has come out of his mouth, along with Paul Ryan is astounding. I'm going to try and articulate it as best I can; it dawned on me this past week that to hear them talk, most of the Republican candidates and pundits act like the sky is falling, ALL THE TIME. They act is if the world is going to come to an end for every single decision that President Obama makes. The level of fear that they seem to be operating under would cause so much stress you would think it would shorten their lifespan. It would be a lot more comical, if you they weren't serious, but they are.
President Obama has not accomplished everything he intended in his first term, and not as much as I hoped he would personally, but I know that his intentions are good, and that he will continue to try. And he did try, but has been demonized by Republicans from the beginning. If Obama gets re-elected, are they going to continue to fight him every step of the way? It's become the new normal to just slap a label on your opponent, and then react to everything they say or do as if it is actually fitting that stereotype, even when it's not. For me, the most offensive was to compare Obama to Hitler. Really? Hitler was responsible for the deaths of millions of people. Yeah, he and Obama have so much in common, I don't know how I could have missed that.

Mike Luckovich, November 1, 2012

Then they even threw Chris Christie under the bus for praising President Obama's handling of the clean-up for Hurricane Sandy. How dare he not continue the party line of criticizing every single thing Obama does?
This would be a perfect time for Romney to put his money where his mouth is and donate billions of dollars to help out the victims of Hurricane Sandy since he thinks it's not the government's job.
You know who is helping out? It's neighbors helping neighbors. Every single major natural disaster it's the folks that don't have much that give the most. The rich stay that way, because they all think they don't have enough money, and therefore hang on to it for dear life.

Today's Parade magazine had a cover article on the election, and this was a side feature that I thought was pretty good food for thought:

Illustration by Yarek Waszul

Fixing Government
GOP strategist Mark McKinnon
• Pass “No Budget, No Pay” legislation that would dock legislators every day they fail to pass a budget on time.
• Require an up or down vote on presidential appointments within 90 days or the nominee is confirmed by default.
• End the use of filibusters to prevent a bill from reaching the Senate floor for debate.
• Allow members the ability, if they have a majority, to anonymously override a leader or committee chair’s refusal to bring a bill to the floor. The names would be made public after the bill passes.
• Make members come to work five days a week in session. Sync House and Senate schedules, with three weeks in D.C., one week at home.
• Introduce a “Question Time” for the president; on a rotating basis, the House and Senate would host televised sessions. And schedule monthly news conferences for the president.
• Have the comptroller general present an annual televised fiscal report to a joint session of Congress.
• Allow no pledges but the Oath of Office.
• Introduce monthly bipartisan gatherings, bipartisan seating, and a bipartisan leadership committee.
• Expand presidential power to reorganize or eliminate redundant parts of the federal government.

Mark McKinnon is a co-founder of No Labels, a movement dedicated to ending partisan gridlock.
http://www.parade.com/news/