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Subscribe to RSSUpdated at 7:50 pm ET Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney campaigned once again Thursday in the battleground state of Virginia, where he has been running television ads warning voters about the dire effects of the automatic spending cuts which President Barack Obama signed into law last summer.
Nicholas Kamm / AFP - Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney greets supporters after speaking at a campaign rally in Fairfax, Virginia, on September 13, 2012.
For decades the commonwealth had been a reliably Republican state in presidential politics, but that all changed in 2008 when Obama became the first Democrat to carry it since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.
Once again this year, Virginia is hotly contested: an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist survey released Thursday showed that among 996 likely voters in Virginia, 49 percent would choose Obama if the election were held today, while 44 percent would vote for Romney, and 5 percent were undecided.
“His defense cuts will weaken national security and threaten over 130,000 jobs” in Virginia, contends one of Romney’s latest ads, referring to Obama. And it makes perfect sense for Romney to be running this ad in Virginia – because it’s the state that would likely be the hardest hit by defense spending cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act.
Under that law, which Obama signed as the culmination of a deal with Republican congressional leaders to get them to agree to raise the government’s borrowing limit, the cuts in spending – not only defense outlays, but non-defense outlays as well – will start in January. In congressional jargon these cuts are called “sequestration.”
Related: Romney attempts to put softer edge on Libya criticism
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the law will reduce outlays by $65 billion during fiscal year 2013.
The Budget Control Act was designed to make these cuts so harsh and politically unpalatable, that it would force Obama and congressional leaders to devise an alternative solution, like some combination of tax increases, tax reforms, and more selective reductions in spending.
But Obama and GOP leaders couldn’t agree on any alternative, so for now the automatic across-the-board cuts – with most, but not all, entitlement spending exempted – will start in January, unless Congress votes to postpone them, which it may well do in the post-election lame duck session.
If the cuts do take place, one estimate prepared by Stephen Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University in Virginia, finds that they will cost the economy more than 2 million jobs and will decrease personal income by more than $100 billion in 2013.
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney campaigns at a rally in Fairfax, Virginia.
It was Fuller’s study, which was prepared for the Aerospace Industries Association , that the Romney campaign cited as the source for its ad’s claim that “his defense cuts will weaken national security and threaten over 130,000 jobs” in Virginia.
Fuller did a state-by-state estimate of the job losses that the defense cuts in the Budget Control Act would cause.
For Virginia, his estimate is 136,191 defense-related job losses, which would rank the state first in the nation in the number of defense-related jobs at risk.
Compared to states that are roughly comparable to Virginia in their population size, such as New Jersey and Washington, Virginia’s economy is far more defense reliant.
The state is home to major defense contractors such as General Dynamics and DynCorp, both of which have their corporate headquarters in Falls Church. It is also home to major Navy bases at Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Army bases such as Fort Belvoir, and the Marine Corps base at Quantico.
The Republican presidential nominee defends the absence of remarks on Afghanistan from his convention speech and his capacity to lead the nation's defense and international relations.
Will Congress be able to put aside its grudges and postpone the automatic cuts before year end? “The leadership in both the House and the Senate that I've talked to say it will get done, but most say not before some ugliness happens,” DynCorp CEO Steven Gaffney told investors in a conference call last month.
And General Dynamics CEO Jay Johnson said in July in a letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee, “While precise outcomes are impossible to predict at this juncture, we can be assured that the disruption and confusion that will result (from the automatic spending cuts) and its impact on national defense would be profound. The toll that this uncertainty would have on the skilled people of General Dynamics and our suppliers should not be underestimated.”
Fuller’s job loss estimate for Virginia includes: direct layoffs by defense contractors and federal agencies, indirect job losses at suppliers and vendors that depend on the Defense Department’s primary contractors, and “induced job losses” among workers whose jobs depend on the dollars spent by those with defense-related employment, for example, the chef or cashier at a restaurant that has a large clientele of defense industry workers.
Fuller said in an interview on Thursday that no federal agency has yet specified how it would cut back if the Budget Control Act mandate takes effect in January. “I don’t know if they know that at this point, and they’re all hoping they don’t have to,” he said.
So without specific guidance from each agency, Fuller assumed that the cutbacks would be proportional to the amount of federal payroll and procurement spending that occurred in each state in 2010, the last year for which that data is available.
“Virginia ranks number one in the country in DOD spending, just passes California,” Fuller said. Although his estimate can’t be exact, it does strongly suggest that “Virginia is more vulnerable because it has more.”
Fuller used an econometric model called the IMPLAN Pro model – which uses standard techniques to quantify spending effects on states and metropolitan areas. The CBO uses similar methods to quantify the effects of the 2009 stimulus law.
One quibble a viewer might make about the Romney ad is the phrase “his (Obama’s) defense cuts.”
Yes, Obama did sign the bill into a law. So it surely this is his law and these are his cuts.
But it is also true that 174 House Republicans (including Romney’s running mate Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin) and 95 House Democrats (including Democratic leaders Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California and Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland) voted for it. In the Senate it also won overwhelming bipartisan support, with 46 Democrats and 28 Republicans voting for it.
But in his interview on NBC’s Meet the Press last Sunday, Romney said, “This sequestration idea of the White House, which is cutting our defense, I think is an extraordinary miscalculation.”
When he was reminded that GOP leaders supported it, he added, “I thought it was a mistake on the part of the White House to propose it. I think it was a mistake for Republicans to go along with it.”
In an interview on FOX News Wednesday night, Ryan said, “We passed the legislation in the House – I authored it – to prevent it (sequestration) from happening by cutting government spending elsewhere.” He blamed what he called “these reckless defense cuts coming down the pike” on “President Obama’s lack of leadership.”
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Wasn't it the Republican House of Representatives that Demand the cuts in order to get them to vote for the budget?
Yes.
Yes! And it was the weeper of the House that said He got 98% of what he wanted. You wanted it, You got it. Now live with it or do something about it.
Romney is such a pig. Here's why
Yes, Obama did sign the bill into a law. So it surely this is his law and these are his cuts.
But it is also true that 174 House Republicans (including Romney’s running mate Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin) and 95 House Democrats (including Democratic leaders Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California and Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland) voted for it. In the Senate it also won overwhelming bipartisan support, with 46 Democrats and 28 Republicans voting for it.
clearly Romney should aim before he shoots, again.
...Just more of Romney's fuzzy truths. The man wouldn't know a fact if it came along and bit him on the A$$! What's their next approach? Yes, we voted on it, BUT Obama didn't HAVE TO sign it?
Yeah but dont you no?? they never do anything wrong so it has to be the other guys fault!
Many people need to retrain for the job force. We can't continue with the "old" policies of giving jobs that are not necessary.
If we reinstall the draft, may jobs will not be needed, and the politicians will think twice before they throw stupid rhetoric about going to war.
Mitt Romney also said that he was going to "focus' on the economy, and not on personal attacks. EVERY SINGLE THING THAT THIS MORON HAS BEEN SAYING SINCE HE STARTED "RUNNING" IS ATTACKING THE PRESIDENT.
This was a terrible debt deal, and Republicans knew full well that if they opposed it the Democrats would blame them for the fallout. Earlier there was a deal on the table that Boehner agreed too, but Obama moved the goalpost. A fact that is even well discussed in Woodwards new book. The real problem is that the Democrats have no intention of avoiding sequester, even Obama missed the deadline he signed into law for reporting cuts to Congress. This whole budget deal is a joke to everyone in Washington, and in the meantime the nation continues to rack up debt at a record pace. You can take to the bank that all the Democrats plan to do is blame Republicans while they sit idly by.
I totally support the Democrats decision to let the sequester fall. The GOP will not compromise otherwise.
Anyone remember the Tea Party Downgrade?
Why it's called the Tea Party Downgrade?
Because these talks failed, fell apart, and these auto cuts because they refused to negotiate, in good faith, on anything.
Get ready for the T-bagger Downgrade part2.
Rick-3416939
hey Rick, Republicans had no problem saying NO to everything else so why not to this if they thought it was such a terrible deal?
Hypocrite Romney should have picked a different VP because Hypocrite Ryan voted for the cuts.
Yeah hypocrite Ryan, or do you mean stupid Ryan? After all he could have spent his time in the Senate voting present like Obama did. That way he could claim to be on every side of every issue like Obama, our panderer in chief does with every campaign speech.
Oh dear, there he goes again. Everything is Obama's fault to this guy.
Republicans had no hand in this legislation whatsoever, right? Is that what he wants us to believe? For crying out loud, Ryan ADMITS he authored it ..."to prevent it (sequestration) from happening by cutting government spending elsewhere", per the article.
I mean seriously, I've never in my life heard so much blame heaped on one person, especially when the blame comes from those who share in the blame.
If the GOP is so worried about spending, why cry over sequestration they wrote into law? We have the best funded military in the world. Our DOD budget is more than Russia, China, India, Pakistan, UK, and many other countries COMBINED.
Many of us have had to go back to school and retrain for new jobs; it's time that those on the defense contractor gravy train do the same.
Obama was prepared to accept some cuts to social programs, including raising the age medicare eligibility, but wanted concessions from the Republicans; such as allowing tax cuts for the wealthy to expire. The GOP were the ones that twice walked out of meetings at the Oval Office, refusing to break their pledge to Grover Norquist.
The Republicans painted themselves into the corner and now Mitt Robme comes along and wants to renege on the REPUTLICANS' portion on the agreement because they got the Teagaggers in there who Republicans know will refuse to compromise. And here we thought a "deal is a deal."
So, instead of doing anything even remotely "honorable" Mitt Robme goes to the voters with a BIG LIE created by Robme's half-truths and outright lies! Republicans need to get in there and get their job done, instead of trying to CHEAT the American people!!!
Obama/Biden 2012
silly wabbit, Defense Spending the gravy train for corporate america AKA the 1%. They sell it everything from soup ladles to body armor.
Anyone ever worked for one of these military contractors whinging in the this article? I have. Let's put it this way, they make Banks look efficient and cost conscious.
You talk about teachers and public unions... if anyone really took a look into these military suppliers they wouldn't believe what they saw.
At any rate, I digress. The Republicans will never agree to cut funding to the military and they will use every sleazy trick in the book, from lost jobs to apple pie and motherhood.
Why? Because of Haliburton and Blackwater and a dozen other greedy secret organizations just like them. Cronyism at it's best.
Boehner at the time of the vote: "I got 98% of what I wanted"
romney is the most pathetic,unworthy hypocrite EVER...I hope that his " bad character and no values"come thru in the debates; OBAMA is gonna kick his ass!
little lyin ryan is gonna get his butt handed hope he also loses his seat in congress too..
Obama/Biden 2012 robme/ryan 1040
Ryan calls it, "Obama's lack of leadership." which caused Ryan to vote for the law?
WTF??? *rubs eyes, reads again, rubs eyes some more*
Wow, what a freaken slimeball. He voted yes and blames Obama for his actions. Slimeball!
Virginia get used to it! Romoney will be offshoring your defense jobs to China. Where are those tax forms Mitzy?
It's like a Sow-na in here!
No mas pantelones!
Obama/Biden 2012
The defense budget should be cut at least by 50% - and that cut would only bring it to the already bloated pre-9/11 level. Russia is spending on defense less than 10% of what we are spending.

I have been studying this election with a great deal of interest. I have scrutinized all of the key points from both candidates. I have researched all of the materials presented by the fact checkers. I have become fluent in all of the new ways of misleading and lying to the public. I think the ideological standpoints between the two parties are insurmountable. Finally, after all of the diligent reading I have done, I have had an epiphany on the current candidate:
Mitt Romney is dum.
Fuller’s job loss estimate for Virginia includes: direct layoffs by defense contractors and federal agencies, indirect job losses at suppliers and vendors that depend on the Defense Department’s primary contractors, and “induced job losses” among workers whose jobs depend on the dollars spent by those with defense-related employment, for example, the chef or cashier at a restaurant that has a large clientele of defense industry workers.
Well duh.... that is exactly what would have happened to this country is GM and Chrysler were allowed to liquidate as the Republicans including Romney would have allowed.
I believe what you're saying indirectly is that the bill had the power to override a veto since both houses of congress passed the bill by over 2/3rds vote. Yet Romney says it's Obama's fault. Romney is such an idiot liar. Doesn't he know that people are checking his statements for truth and finding little?
@Skeptical-3501406
You have summed it up correctly. Mitt Romney IS dum!
He's so arrogant that he thinks he's smart when he's oh-so-greatly stupid. He has absolutely no common sense. Not only does he attack the Democrats but lately, like today, he's even attacking HIS fellow Republicans. He takes no responsibility for his actions.
Watch out Ann, you're next!
Yesterday, in Virginia, a protester spoke out about Romney politicizing the attack on our embassy in Libya, which is true.
Romney's response:
“I would offer a moment of silence but one gentleman doesn’t want to be silent, so we’re going to keep on going,” Romney said at the very beginning of a rally in Virginia this morning. [The man had been escorted away.]
So now if we speak out, against a "candidate" we get punished? Sure don't want to find out what would happen if we did so and he was president. Not very constitutional!
His brain is like an Magic Eight Ball, every time you turn it over you get a different response and not even an intelligent one at that.
Romney/Ryan - We Didn't Do It! [ Even If "You "CAN" Prove It!" ]
Obama/Biden 2012
---abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/protester-accuses-romney-of-politicizing-libya-attacks-candidate-unable-to-hold-moment-of-silence/
To clarify, the "punished" was ONLY in reference to Romney not doing the moment of silence.
Everytime I see one of his ads come on the TV - I turn the channel. Total waste of money - Also everytime they call the house I just let them talk - let them waste their man power and other resources trying to get me to change my voet. Romeny and Ryan - not ready from prime time or any other time for that matter. Can not and will not trust a man that will not give me details of his plans or share his tax returns with the same American people whose taxes will be directly effected by his policies "God forebid he is elected".
Really can't believe that over 40% of Americans are ignorant enough to vote against their best interest - still amazes me that they voted twice for President Bush as well. That is what scares the hell out of me.
So out of touch with reality is Mitt!!!!!!! Today he said he thought that Middle calls began with an income of $200,000. DA! The median income is $50,000 Mitt. Show your ignorance and vote for this man who with his millionaires represents only the top!% with his thinking! One screwed up dude!
So just remember folks; the GOP has no problem reneging on promises they make. I'll never play poker with a republican. I expect them to pay their debts.
JanLynn-2276098.........not the budget, the debt ceiling, but you are correct in essence, the Republicans forced this on the White House to get the debt ceiling raised, something that had always been done as a simple housekeeping matter dozens of times before, no matter which party was in control of congress or the White House. Debt ceiling is authority to pay the bills that the budget authorizes. So now the Tea Party is trying to twist this around so that it looks bad for the White House, but most Americans are a bit smarter than that and will not be fooled.
The @!$%#ed up thing is, they'd probably be happy cutting 100,000 teachers from the payroll to save a few billion. But defense contractors? Oh no, they deserve that cash.
How the hell can we ever reduce the budget if we can't even shave 65 billion from a nearly 1 trillion dollar defense budget?
Capt Tripps... A quote from a pretty observant guy:
"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom." Martin Luther King Jr.
And who was that guy who warned us about "The Military Industrial Complex?" Oh, right, a five star general and a Republican President... Dwight David Eisenhower. My, how things have changed!
democracywhatdemocracy
I think that the (1%) create stories to distract the rest of us. What about the Stanford victims and TD Bank fraud?? 17 billion dollars stolen from 25000 families and the CIVIL COURTS AND CANADIAN GOVERNMENT COVERING IT UP!! And the Canadian Prime Minister’s family’s connection to internet pornography - THAT’S REAL NEWS
its high time we cut off Cheney's private defense company buddies from the budget. We spend 10 times what we need to, and too boot lowering taxes on the rich even more WILL NOT create jobs. The "trickle down" theory has been tried and proven to NOT work..they just move the jobs overseas
After that let's cut off his energy buddies and spend the money on something that makes sense for regular people.
Romney's running mate, Lyin Paul Ryan voted for the very cuts Romney is whining about. Flip-Flop Mitt will say anything to win a vote. He's replaced Newt as the number 1 scumbag in the US politics.
How do the republicans honestly sleep at night? They lie so much about EVERYTHING it is mind boggling. Get rid of the lot of them! Flush the tea this November. Can't wait to see the FL, OH, and VA polls coming any minute!
Mitt is a Nitt Witt.
Mitt just doesn't get it. Mitt the People trust President Obama. There are more people that trust him than people who hate him. Isn't that a strange "either or"? Mitt you are a leader of haters. And your own stupidity made you put your big stupid silver foot in your mouth the other day. Why on earth didn't you find out the facts before you opened that big entitled yap or yours. At the very least you should apologize but I know you cannot man up in that way.
Ryan didn't merely vote for a slower escalation of military funding. HE AUTHORED IT. Now he says he “wanted to ensure cuts weren't made elsewhere." Oddly, pretty much all that's left are entitlements (primarily EARNED programs folks have paid into all their working lives)--which he wants to slash and burn, privatizing Social Security and turning Medicare into "couponcare." It’s becoming clear Republicans never had any intention of keeping this bargain they forced on us.
Romney and Ryan both speak with forked tongues --mightily capable only in the art of self-contradiction, often in the same sentence.
I just cannot forgive Romney for stepping into an emerging international crisis; no other candidate has ever done that. Worse, he announced that Ambassador Chris Stevens was dead before any of the families involved had been notified—that’s absolutely inexcusable. He’s a threat to national security.
American taxpayers are tired of footing the bill for private defense contractors, and tired of endless war. Cheney was CEO of Halliburton before he became vice president. Who knows how many billions he got, allowing Halliburton to win contracts over and over, illegally, without any bidding from other corporations despite federal laws requiring open bids. Yes, soup ladles for $200, spud-peeling at $35/hr. (which our military can do for about $12/hr) Now we have 600,000 injured soldiers who need medical care and support to get back into our communities and jobs back home, and many who will need serious medical care for the rest of their lives--and Romney/Ryan want to cut deeply into their benefits, which should be increased and sacrosanct.
People criticize our president for overspending when all he did was make sure Bush's wars were put into the federal budget for the first time (after 7 years)--yet they want us to be at war with a third of the world! They seem blind to the fact we won nothing in Iraq—and not much will have been won in Afghanistan. Like R&R--masters in the art of self-contradiction
Republicans, what are your goals for war? The average age in the Middle East is 15. The more we kill, the more adults seeking vengeance we create.
Like the toxic filmmaker and the rabid pastor, you war hawks are also responsible for the outrage we’re seeing. Don’t you know that for Islam, any representation of a human being is a sacrilege? There is no art depicting the human form. So a film showing Mohammed is repugnant even before he’s depicted as a whoring pedophile. It’s vastly different from making fun of Christians. It’s even much worse than making Holocaust jokes at the expense of Jews—although that’s awfully bad, their culture is more tolerant, their population older, hopefully wiser, although Israel is doing to Palestinians what the world did to them for almost two thousand years, which lacks wisdom.
You cannot eliminate Islam; one third of the world is Muslim. More than two billion people are Muslim! By lumping them all in one heap, you reveal a lack of tolerance inimical to this nation’s very foundations. Would you slaughter innocents? Peaceful American Muslims here live in abject fear—is this what you want for America? So I ask again, what are your goals for war? I’m not judging here—I really want to know. I’m begging for genuine communication.
Actually, the most effective strategy we’ve had to date has been Obama’s laser-like implementation of drones, which just this week killed Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command in Yemen—and keeps our soldiers out of harm’s way.
Let’s bring back the draft and make sure the next war hawk’s kids don’t get deferments, and we’ll see how quickly the drums of war quit beating!
We could consider what Israel does, with a bit of Americana added; we could have everybody graduating from high school serve two years in national service to get, say, half off the cost of a 4-year college degree. They could choose their service: military, hospital, senior care, hospice care, teaching assist, child care, Habitats for Humanity, service to the poor, community organizing, co-op farming, government office work, the Peace Corps, the list of possibilities is endless. Their experience could lead to careers in their path of choice; certainly they would be far more capable and serious about further education. Their help would make life easier for every American and aid in bringing peace to foreign shores.
War is great for business, and corporations see our voluntary military as completely expendable, merely another cost of business—except what a sweet deal for them!—we taxpayers foot the bill. And bury our boys, or spend the rest of our lives as their caregivers, endlessly battling the V.A. for benefits, fretting about lagging treatments, prosthetics, drugs, money, and how long we can last to be there for them.
When Bush was president; I thought we were all quite daring just calling him Dubya! The name-calling of President Obama is puerile, but also profoundly distasteful--and racist. There is no other logical explanation. In 2012, hate and racism flow through the American body like red and white blood cells.
I care for my Republican friends, but these days I hesitate to feel American. I miss that pride in country, but I don't recognize these gun-toting, hate-mongering folk who want only to kill, kill, kill, who cannot begin to discuss issues rationally. Their goals have no path to peace, but only endless violence over there, but more critically over here, as well. The vitriol serves only to diminish the office of the Presidency, and subsequently disrespect for all authority. Do they speak like this in front of their children? They won’t respect them, either. The venomous rancor I read here diminishes the writers themselves.
I think taxes should all have tiered rates according to wealth, similar to income tax rates--for persons and corporations as well--and capital gains must be taxed at the same rates as income tax. The more wealth, the higher the tax rate. Why should people be taxed less for raking in money without working??
Trickle-down is voodoo economics; the wealthy have extracted 40% of America’s wealth and is holding more than the equivalent of our national economy—some $30 trillions—in offshore accounts to evade taxation. THAT’S NOT JOB CREATION OR TRICKLE-DOWN ANYTHING. IT’S ROBBERY. The average CEO takes home $4.6 million a year. Who believes anyone is worth fully 383 times what the next person is worth?
The home mortgage interest deduction should remain, as it serves our national interest to promote stability and lasting relationships within families and communities. Tax subsidies for businesses, however, should remain only for 1) corporations that INsource jobs and bring back manufacturing machinery previously outsourced, 2) for struggling small businesses, and 3) for developing clean energy technology. And those subsidies should be inverse to tax rates, that is, the more wealth, the fewer and smaller the subsidies.
If the wealthy paid as much as my family does--currently 31%, as compared to Romney's 13% (looks exactly backward, doesn't it?)--and if corporations actually paid their taxes (most pay no taxes at all because of existing loopholes), we could actually bring down tax rates significantly for all. We could consider following China's example and devote some percent of corporate taxes towards rebuilding or creating new infrastructure to help individual corporations. (Example: Corporation A pays at current tax rate 25%, and in return, say, 10% will go towards creating public transportation or roads specifically to their location, or towards building homes close to their plant/offices, for employees who could then easily bike or walk to work.)
We're America. We used to be the inventive think-tank of the world. There are many paths to real solutions. But we'll only find them if we quit allowing ourselves to be forced into fear for our security and families--and divided by hatred so corporate crooks can continue to hijack our government (remember, corporations own TV; we only see what they want us to see).
I ask everyone here: do you want a government dictated by a handful of mega-millionaires who will have bought this election, or can you find it in yourself to trust a government with maximum input from the greatest possible number of Americans?
There's a very old saying that goes like this: behind every great fortune lies a secret great crime. Think about it.
Instead of pitching couch potato criticism at government, why not BE GOVERNMENT? Get involved. Become a community organizer instead of bitching about one. It would open your eyes. That’s what “of the people, by the people, for the people,” means.
Let’s give Obama/Biden a democratic Congress, so we can move forward and get the American Jobs bill and the Transportation bill passed and get people back to meaningful work—and paying for these wars and medical care/community support for our vets.
Mitt the Twit and Lyin Ryan - they just couldn't tell the truth is their lives depended on it. Do they really think that anyone, other than tea baggers, really buy their lies. No on trusts a liar!!!
Obama/Biden 2012
Awesome post Dee Turner. If politics wasn't such a cess pool I would encourage you to run for office. Civility is going down the tubes in America. Everyone is so angry and our political environment is the fuel. Politicians play us against each other all for the prize, control of the government purse strings. Some of them (Politicians) I think really want to help, or at least they have me convinced they do, some of them not so much.
Freddy, we are with you on this. Dee, that post was much better and far more informative than the article upon which it was posted. Thank you!
As Ryan noted he authored this bill he didn't just vote for it, as such it's actually his not Obama's.
Dee... Phew! Excellent post and every word of it true. The Romney/Ryan slogan should read: "If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bull$hit. And one of my favorite Menken quotes: "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." H.L. Menken
Where is Romney's tax increase proposal to pay for his tax cuts and spending?
He doesn't have one and never did.
From Mitt Twit, and Paul Lyin: It's called smoke and mirrors! Except there ain't no smoke (which would indicate 'fire') and there ain't no mirrors (which require 'light'). So all we are left with, is what these two A-holes are: Cheap imitations of an extremest group of 'Tea-Partiers' (who don't represent the majority of Partiers.. YMMV
Romney and Ryan are both hyperbolic, hypocritical, arrogant scumbags. Both of them are spineless elitests who don't care in the slightest about anyone but theselves and their weathy friends.
If they are elected they will cause a Depression.
I totally agree with you that if they get elected we will see the great depression. Now lets say the Republicans continue to keep the house and President Obama is re-elected. What we have to do is pound those Republicans with phone calls, e-mails-letters etc and demand they move our President's job bill forward. We pound them like they have never been pounded before and the wealthy will pay their fair share of taxes etc, end of story.
Obama/Biden 2012 for all of us.
Michael... Right on the money. However, we still have to get the Democrats to get off their arses and tell them to grow a pair (for a change). I'm also for term limits for ALL politicians. Our founders never meant for this to be a lifetime career. Serve your two terms then go back home and get a real job.
These defense cuts are based on war time spending levels
Not to mention that his own Vice-Presidental running mate was one of the primary authors of the defense cuts portion of the bill. Plus the Republican speaker of the house claimed after it was signed into law: "We got 98% of what we wanted" and it was the Republicans in the house who voted overwhelming for it so that it passed.
It's almost getting surreal. It's one thing to put a favorable spin on something or maybe omit a few details that aren't so favorable to your cause. But to out right mislead or even lie is a whole 'nother thing. I'm not sure if Republicans figure that if they do enough of it that eventually people will stop believing all political ads or what but it seems to be becoming the norm rather than the exception.
I'm an independent. I used to vote Republican as often as not. I even caucused for McCain in Iowa in 2000 (he lost because he wouldn't compromise on ethanol). Now that McCain appears to have had a meltdown over what's going on in the Middle East I can't name more than a handful of Republican politicians or commentators that still have any credibility left. It's just sad.
And a little scary.
Does Romney know that his VP pick called these cuts a "victory" and was part writer of these cuts?
"Does Romney know that his VP pick called these cuts a "victory" and was part writer of these cuts?
Flip-Flop will figure that out in a day or so. Then -- as usual he will have to backtrack, spin, change, and restate what he said. It's not different from his 3 positions on Obama-care from Saturday through Monday. Saturday he was going to scrap ALL of Obama-care, Sunday he was FOR part of it and by Monday (actually Sunday evening) he was back to scraping all of it. The clown has no core, no convictions, no spine. He will say or do anything as long as he things it will gain him one more vote than it will cost him.
I have this crazy picture in my head where Romster's head is spinning about it axis and then every day it gets this wobble in the motion caused by his nose growing larger from all the idiotic spew coming from his mouth.
Class A Buffoon
Earn_my_vote. I wasn't aware of that and had to research it. Ryan not only called passing the budget control act a victory but never mentioned defense cuts that were included. Apparently he wasn't concerned about those cuts until they decided bashing Obama with them might win them some votes in Virginia. I doubt it. Ryans comments on passage are below.
I see Ryan's grasp of how the debt ceiling works is in question as well. How do we elect people to vote on things that don't understand what they are voting on?
Mr. Ryan, the money has already been spent by the time you get to the voting on the debt ceiling portion. It's just a vote to say you agree to pay for what you spent.
All of the curtailing of the debt ceiling in the world will not undo what you and you colleagues gave away. It's still there even if you don't agree to bay the bill.
his campaign pollster famously said we dont let facts interfere with our campaign so why are we surprised?
He knows he is dealing with low information voters- isnt that why they are teapugs or republiCONS?
Once AGAIN, NO SOLID FACTS to back up His attack claims against Obama. Romney wants to raise Military funding by 2 TRILLION and give a 5 TRILLION Dollar tax cut to BILLIONAIRES?(where do we get this money, THIN AIR?) Look at the "RYAN Budget" that Romney supports. It's WELFARE for the Rich while taking the boots to the Middle Class, Less Fortunate and the Enviornment. Let's hear your plans in detail Mittens
WhereR,
What I don't understand is why the press isn't calling Romney/Ryan on these very issues when they so blatantly utter these lies! Where the heck are the real journalist, are they that afraid to point out these lies? It just amazes me that Romney/Ryan throw this garbage out and they never show the president's reply. One way here. Something is wrong with our "news" and reporters today for sure.
well that's not to hard to answer. The news outlets are owned by Big Business. No matter who wins Big Business is in like Flynn. They just get MORE if the Right wins.
They own the government lock stock and barrel and while we fight over trivialities like whether the Pledge of Allegiance should contain the word "god" they are raping the planet.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. YOU COULD WIN THE LOTTERY OR HAVE SO MANY KIDS YOU HAVE YOUR OWN FREAK SHOW ON REALITY TEEVEE!!!!!!
more kool aid! more kool aid!
mj Maybe your watching the wrong channel Ezra Klein on MSNBC has pointed out all of these issues time and time again
And Little Ryan has been called out by Al Sharpton, Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell
And on the week-ends by Chris Hayes with his wonderful panels of College Professors - so what more do you want - even Tweetie has challenged this BS
I understand that the Pentagon even told them there were things like TANKS that they did not need but the Robme and his cohorts want to buy all kinds of unnecessary stuff the military does not need!! Leave it to the ReplubiCONS to beef up the military to make us look big and mighty to the world....all they want is to keep us at war at any cost!!
I unfortunately live in the ass-backward state of Virginia (not by choice) and they will eat up an ad like this as if it was actually part of the bible. They do not let facts get in the way. Northern Virginia is generally liberal but the rest of the state believes it is the cornerstone of the "south" and are uneducated, supposedly christian, gun-loving repubs. He knows who is audience is and they can't see that he is using their lack of individual thought processing to reel them in even tighter. Makes living in this state an absolute nightmare!
Please Virginia, don't let Mitt/Ryan destroy the middle class. Don't let them destroy Medicare, Social Security, give more money to the rich. Please support President Obama big time this fall.
Obama/Biden 2012
"So now if we speak out, against a "candidate" we get punished? Sure don't want to find out what would happen if we did so and he was president. Not very constitutional!" This is just business-as-usual for the GOP. Don't you remember what was happening in 2004 with Bush? He made sure that only that the GOP vetted made it into their "public" events and also ensured that protesters were kept as far away from Bush as possible. They made sure that no one that had a difference of opinion with Bush got anywhere near him!
mj... Here's what "the man" said: "An oligarchy of private capital… cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society (because) under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main source of information."Albert Einstein
In other words... people who don't read the news are uninformed and those who do read it are misinformed.
It's all lies. Romney is a much bigger threat to Virginia.
I think that the (1%) create stories to distract the rest of us. What about the Stanford victims and TD Bank fraud?? 17 billion dollars stolen from 25000 families and the CIVIL COURTS AND CANADIAN GOVERNMENT COVERING IT UP!! THAT’S REAL NEWS
Even the Pentagon has said the military structure is too bloated, has too much duplication, and needs to trim down.
The military is bloated because military spending is based on number of jobs it creates in congressman's districts instead of what the military says's it needs. Why do people like Romney think spending government money on firemen or police is pork but the military is critical regardless of what military leaders say? Without the stimulus plan estimates are over 1.5 million police, firemen and other public servants would have lost their jobs at the state level and Romney called it reckless spending. We need to cut spending but you can hire a lot more fire or policemen for every million spent than you can expensive defense contractors. Maybe that's the reason. Big corporations keep a healthy percentage of government money selling them $500 hammers and money going to public servants doesn't enrich his cronies.
By cutting back on the number of weapons and some unnecessary tanks and equipment the cuts would be covered without hurting anyones jobs. This is all spin to scare people. Romney is such a liar. The military is always spending for stuff we dont need..not to mention the unnecessary project like Cheneys pet army in Iraq and their "no bid" contracts. Its time to cut them off. We dont need to keep rebuilding countries that can rebuild their own stuff. Iraq has oil..let them pay to rebuild the rest of their own country. They got enough from us. Its time we start rebuilding our own country. We cant keep rebuilding everywhere but here. Our roads and bridges are falling apart and we need to shift our priorities back to our own house.
We dont need to keep replacing tanks that are not broken with newer ones when the old ones are just as good. The military spends too much and is hurting the rest of the country...but its easy to spend when its not your money now isnt it?
What Mittwit really needs to say:
"These are the defense cuts Obama signed into law and that my own VP candidate voted for as well."
That would be the truth
OMG, the truth Mittwit??? Noooooooo
Rob99... "Mitt" wouldn't recognize the truth if it crawled up his arse and died. From one of my favorite people:
"If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor." Albert Einstein
"What's behind Romney's ad claim in Virginia"
Answer: Willard Romney Lies.
I'm from Virginia
Recently, retired from the military after 22+ years and still work for the pentagon as a civilian
As one, in DOD, for a long time I have seen a lot of waste and the last 10 years have been a model of wasteful spending in the name of national security
We do need to effective and strong in our true needs for defense, but DOD needs to be part of the cuts to get the budget back in a sustainable balance along with all the rest and we need to raise revenue appropriate to all our "wants"
The DOD took about 8% cut in base budget in the cuts in the BCA that went into effect last summer. The sequester brings about another 8% cut. These cuts do not effect the supplements for the wars and special things related to war related programs.
The DOD base budget double in last that 10 years from 2002 to near the present
There is room to contribute to cuts and folks should be wary of the "hawk" pandering to DOD and scares of a national security crisis given the modest level of these cuts in a era we spend nearly 1.4 trillion or all such security related activities
Also look at special favorites of congress for there areas that benefit from defense program that may not be needed or in the quantity stated to spend money at home
Lots of padded pocket in defense spending
Stoney: I agree. Also defense money goes to where congressmen want to increase jobs in their districts instead of where military leaders say theres need. That's wrong. The number or location of jobs being created should never be a factor.
Since you work for the Pentagon as a civilian, I assume you are civil service and are aware of course that 100% of the Repuglicans in the House of Representative voted twice in one month to cut federal pay and benefits, first to prop up the student loan program and keep interest rates low and second to keep from cutting military spending by the 10% agreed to.
I agree too. I'm all for having the best QUALITY and not necessarily the best QUANTITY of defense possible. The latter does not alwas guarentee success.
And Poor General Dynamics should never have to share the brundt of a recession. We'll just keep paying them exorbitanat amounts of money to make stuff we don't need or can buy at Home Depot for a fraction of GD's cost.
We are all in this together and they are part of the 1%.
Man, you've got to hand it to Right, they may be blatant liars but they never even blush when doing an about face on an issue that they had been proponents of. Isn't this the very same GOP whose mantra for decades has been "Government never created a single job" and yet now they are whining about defense cuts to a grossly bloated budget. They didn't seem to have any problem with laying off hundreds of thousands of State and Federal workers because non of these are "real" jobs but manufacturing a weapons system that even the Pentagon says it does not need, is considered essential work for national defense.
How nice it is that Romney can run yet another disingeonous Obama ad about issues that can only be solved by Congress.
Of course pointing out the reality (i.e. Speaker Boehner should actually DO HIS JOB and work toward a compromise spending agreement ) would not jive well with the Romney message.
They'll have a hard time getting inaccurate claims or out and out lies past the moderators at the debates. If he tries he'll look foolish when they call him on them. They'll be worth watching.
democracywhatdemocracy.wordpress.com
I think that the (1%) create stories to distract the rest of us. What about the Stanford victims and TD Bank fraud?? 17 billion dollars stolen from 25000 families and the CIVIL COURTS AND CANADIAN GOVERNMENT COVERING IT UP!! THAT’S REAL NEWS
Once again, the republicans want to cut spending to eliminate the debt. But then they discover -- lo and behold! -- spending cuts cost jobs. But then that's ok because they can blame that on the President.
The ground is always shifting under their straw-man arguments. Scary people these.
Don't you know that "GOVERNMENT HAS NEVER CREATED A SINGLE JOB"???
Unless you count all the trucking jobs created by the Interstate highway System pushed by Ike or the Barge shipping jobs and the material created that gets shipped by barge that the Corps of Engineers is responsible for keeping the shipping lane channels open on the Mississippi River or the numerous jobs save in New Orleans by the levee system during the last hurricane. Also I don't think it was the federal government that cost all those fishermen jobs in the Gulf, I think that was BP.
State Department corrects Obama, says Egypt is an ally YES, NO, MAYBE, I DON'T KNOW.....DOES HE KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. !
STAY, why don't you go ask Willard since he's the clear choice when it comes to expertise in international affairs. He's already pissed off half of our allies perhaps now he can go to work on nations which are somewhat less friendly to us. With a bit luck, he'll have us in a nice little shooting war within a month. Why should he care? He's never served and gone into harm's way, neither did this father and certainly not his 5 trust fund baby sons. They can't sign up cause they're all worth way too much money. How about we send some farm kid from Arkansas or a minority kid from the inner city. Their lives don't really count, now do they?
An ally is someone you work with to achieve similar goals, A friend will help you even when it benefits you and doesn't help them at all. Obama never said they weren't allies just that they were neither a friend or an enemy and time would tell. The Egypt that was a friend under Mubarak no longer exists. England is a friend. Countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are not even close. We talk nice and give them money because we want their cooperation not because they like us or us them.
Stay - The Egyptian Government is untested - we have no idea where they stand right now - and our President was right is saying they are neither a friend or an enemy
And as far as Obama knowing what's going on I trust him more than you or Willard
People are idiots. What Obama said about Egypt is exactly true. You don't invite the folk you just met to dinner; but, on the other hand you wait to see how they will respond to you before deciding to never speak to them again.
I love the Romney Campaign, these CLOWNS are GIVING Obama a second term and Their supporters can't do ANYTHING but SQUIRM. "Google" CRUSHES EVERYTHING that Romney/Ryan SPEW and the WORLD is watching. Obama/Biden in ANOTHER LANDSLIDE.
My vote is for President Obama!
Obama/Biden 2012
If we had a leader in the White House we would not have automatic spending cuts.
JOHN, and I thought you folks wanted to reduce the budget? And please explain why so many Republicans voted for this thing? Whatever you do, don't let facts get in the way.
This country wouldn't in in half the horses-hit condition it is today if the asinine Bush tax cuts for the rich had never gone into effect.
The guy was a brainless moron and now ALL of us are paying the price!
Romney plans to increase military spending 260 billion a year and cut taxes on the rich 500 billion a year and pay down the deficit. What would Bush senior call that? Voodoo economics.
John,
It's happened because it's what your party wanted! Remember "I got 98% of what I wanted". And you have the brass to blame this on President Obama only. Have trouble telling the truth or thinking for yourself?
John... "If we had a leader in the White House?" Well, why don't you run for the job, John? Here, this aught to put a skid mark in your shorts:
"Corporations are people." The U.S. Supreme Court
"Corporations are people, my friend." Willard "Mitt" Romney
"Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power."-Benito Mussolini
Watch what you wish for, my friend.
Yep, you've got me with this one. The very partisan not so Super Committee was a really bad idea. We should have just gone over the fiscal cliff last year and taken our lumps then.
Actually, what really galls me in all this is that they make it sound like the the cuts to defense are the only thing that are going to happen. Zero talk about the entitlement programs that were put on the chopping block to try and get the Democrats to work with the Republicans.
The problem with heading this fiasco off is that both parties are going to waste time trying to save their sacred cows while trying to get the other parties cows slaughtered. Stalemated again and the best we can hope for is another Super Committee last second Hail Mary kick the can down the road move like the last time.
To pay down the debt there shouldn't be any sacred cows. I'd suggest accross the board cuts on everything funded by income taxes both social programs and military. I exclude self funded programs such as social security and medicare as they pay their way.
NOT that any Grover Norquist enslaved Republican would ever admit that about social security and medicare, Larry. I honestly do not understand why Norquist is not guilty of racketeering in tying politicians to a given position in advance to their being able to inform themselves about it.
Larry... Their "Sacred Cows" are their jobs! One more good reason, as if we need one, for term limits.
"The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office." H.L. Menken