Willard 'Mitt' Romney: The New Robber Baron
Most people no longer realize the historical significance of the term "robber baron," but chances are your grandfather or great-grandfather would. If your ancestors worked in their mills, garment factories, docks, or coal mines they not only knew the Robber Barons; they reviled them.
While working in the sweat shops and mines of the Robber Barons they also lived in their company houses and bought their food and clothing at inflated prices at their company store. They worked until they died in those sweatshops of the pampered elite, slaving their lives away in those crowded, dangerous and low-paying jobs, with no job security, no chance of retirement, and no way to a better life for their families; sound familiar? Today’s Robber Barons like Willard “Mitt” Romney operate and treat workers much the same way as the Robber Barons of yesteryear.
It was scarcely a century ago that hard working Americans, recent immigrants from Italy, Ireland and Poland worked in those sweatshops and mines. They lived in one-room tenements where the front stoop provided the only source of fresh air for themselves and their children.
While our workers struggled to survive in the crowded, unhealthy tenements the Robber Barons were building their grand, ocean front, summer palaces in Newport, Rhode Island. American royalty like the Astors and Vanderbilts constructed their 70 room mansions with carriage houses and horse stables but only lived in them a few weeks a year, but there they stand today, like the castles of European royalty.
Willard Romney, like the Robber Barons of old, has his own palatial mansions, three to be exact. Romney’s weekend vacation home is a 10 million dollar estate in Wolfeboro, N.H., all 5400 square feet with an additional guest house. Now you can better understand Mitts response to a question about our foreclosure crisis posed to him in an interview with the Los Vegas Review, Mitt said: “Don’t try to stop the foreclosure process. Allow investors to buy homes and put renters in them." In Mitt's way of thinking common Americans don’t need to own their own homes they should go back to renting company houses.
The difference between the old Robber Barons and the new version is that the new version produces nothing. They just make their millions by scattering the bones of the companies built with the blood, sweat, and tears of hard-working Americans.
When American workers protest the injustice of corporations like Bain Capital, today’s Robber Barons don’t retaliate by kicking them out of their company houses anymore but rather they just outsource their jobs to India or China with the same end result. Hard working Americans lose their jobs and eventually their homes and no one bails them out.
The Robber Barons would have us believe that their accumulated billions is the result of their superior knowledge in the use of skilled and unskilled workers or their ingenious ability to satisfy technology driven demand, but that is a lie. The key to the concentration of billions in wealth is a “political” phenomenon rather than an economic one.
Today’s Robber Barons like their predecessors utilize their inherited wealth and political power to avoid paying taxes. As Billionaire Princess Leona Helmsley said, “only little people pay taxes” and that approach plays out as Romney uses his offshore tax havens to avoid paying taxes like those same little people. As today’s Robber Barons are avoiding taxes on their accumulated billions it is becoming clear that their wealth is by no means of their own creation, but is rather like a tax levied upon productive workers of the American economy.
Good, hard-working Americans do not pay their taxes so that billionaires can write off their tax responsibility for private jets and country club memberships for their CEO’s.
The choice for voters in November has become crystal clear, if you want the Robber Barons like Willard Romney to continue their assault on workers’ rights, public education, Social Security and Medicare, then go ahead, vote for the Republicans. But if you still believe in equal opportunity to reach the American Dream, if you still see public education and not private education as the path to equal opportunity, if you believe that Americans should not be forced to work until they die and need Social Security intact, then the Democratic Party is your only hope.
Note: I invite those with an opposing view to write their own rebuttal.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/romney-housing-crisis_b_1742797.html
http://www.examiner.com/article/romney-ryan-may-resurrect-robber-baron-america
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendell-potter/path-to-prosperity-for-ma_b_1767573.html
Editor's note: The opinions expressed by Local Voices contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Patch. Blogging is open to any interested residents; click here to apply.
MS2012
8:30 am on Wednesday, August 15, 2012
This could be the worst waste of two minutes of my life ever.
MS2012
8:30 am on Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Sorry I cannot help myself. So because he took money he had made and invested it, money which had already been taxed at the highest tax bracket, and than he takes money he makes out of his investments, which than taxed again as a cap gain, he does not pay taxes. He was taxed twice on his money. Do some research before you write another another article, your next one should be about yourself the little boy who cried wolf.
bayboat
9:43 am on Sunday, August 19, 2012
Don't confuse bob with facts.
Joe Cool
4:20 pm on Wednesday, August 15, 2012
So I post a comment that is not pro Bob Griffiths and it is removed...typical nonsense from Democrats
J
7:58 pm on Wednesday, August 15, 2012
The author can't remove it; only the Patch admins can do that. You must have said something very naughty.
John Hayes
4:20 pm on Wednesday, August 15, 2012
I'm heartened to hear that Mr. Griffiths opposes the continued gimmicks foisted on American taxpayers by President Obama. Nice to know someone else is SICK AND TIRED of the complexity and gimmicks foisted on the American taxpayer by this President and his predecessors.
The solution, of course, is the simpler, flatter tax system proposed by Gov. Romney. Lower the marginal rates, and eliminate most deductions and credits, including deductions for mortgage interest, charitable giving, health insurance, as well as refundable credits such as the EITC. Let me do my taxes on a simple, one-page form. Let's have more Americans participate in their patriotic duty by paying their fare share of income taxes. I'm tired of being part of a tiny group who pay 90% of all income taxes.
While we're at it, Mr. Griffiths, let's flatten corporate rates, which will increase revenue and transparency. Our rates should be low enough to encourage international companies to being their profits here instead of keeping it overseas.
So Mr. Griffiths, I applaud you for your frustration with the current system and, like you, look forward to electing a President and Congress that will have the leadership and determination to get rid of the current tax code and improve the lives of all Americans.
Sure, we HOPEd things would CHANGE, but it's been more of the same. Time for Romney & Ryan in 2012!!
J
4:20 pm on Wednesday, August 15, 2012
If only we could somehow settle this argument...I know! Romney could release his last 10 years of tax returns! So his refusal to do so means there must be something truly awful in there, maybe even worse than paying no income taxes for 10 years. Look at it this way: Romney provided some 20 years of returns to the McCain campaign in '08 when he was auditioning for the VP slot. The McCain people looked at these and promptly selected Palin. If whatever's in your tax returns causes people to think Caribou Barbie is preferable, you've got a big problem.
John Whatson
4:03 pm on Thursday, September 6, 2012
and where are Obamas records using your rationale?
to quote you, "If whatever's in your tax returns causes people to think Caribou Barbie is preferable, you've got a big problem."
Obviously Obama has many more problems to hide. Transparency as promised, right?
jerseyswamps
7:58 pm on Wednesday, August 15, 2012
This author reminds me of Eugene Robinson. He doesn't bring anything new to the discussion. Too predictable. Neither is worth the time and effort it takes to read their comments.
Stan Walker
9:38 am on Thursday, August 16, 2012
Romney Ryan 2012
Tired of the lies
8:56 am on Friday, August 17, 2012
I read Bobby boys(one good Willard deserves another) comments for light hearted humor. He is a passive aggressive liberal. And bobby boy(one good Willard deserves another)I don't want your invitation to rebut your comments why won't patch have another columnist with an opposing point of view writing. They won't trust me.
Have some respect. Your comments are are YOUR opinion not fact.
Oh and its nice that BARRY(one good Willard deserves another) never made any of his own money and is so willing to spend everyone elses. You see he is an elistist of the worst kind. Spends other peoples money to fuel his lifestyle. FACT not opinion.
So How about it PATCH OWNER ADMIN or Whatever you call yourself how about a column that brings out the other point of view or are you afraid of real debate?
BTW bobby boy(one good Willard desrves another) you do not impress me with you supposed research of liberal hack websites. Please do so real research. Read the obama care bill, read Barry's(one good Willard deservers another) Budget and read Rep. Ryan's budget and Medicare Plan. No do not read the liberal INTREPRETATIONS of them read the real documents.
You are not interested in the truth, just spreading lies, its too bad a website that has Howell new and events on it will not have an opposing view points. Too bad that will turn off enough people and they will look for there howell information elsewhere.
Nicholas Loffredo
8:59 am on Friday, August 17, 2012
As alluded to in the editor's note above, Local Voices bloggers do not work for Patch, are not paid by Patch and do not receive assignments from Patch. It's their space to express their views. That opportunity is open to all: http://manchester-nj.patch.com/blog/apply.
Tired of the lies
6:00 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
NO J thats not correct. Romney is not going to be Black mailed into making disclosures he is not required to by law because some senile Senator makes garbage comments.
Ask yourself this. If Romney cheated on his taxes don't you think the authorities controlled by the Obama administration would have taken the steps to have him investigated. This is garbage smoke and mirrors and the American people are falling for this.
I think we should see BARRYS financials for the last ten years and also see the accounting of all the vacations and expenditures he and his family took in the last 3 plus years on the taxpayer. Like the trip to Spain. FACT not FICTION
J
1:00 pm on Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Obama has already released his tax returns for the last 12 years. Rest assured the GOP had some very talented lawyers and accountants poring over them to find anything they could use against him. Apparently, they found nothing. And how often did you complain about GWB's more frequent, longer vacations?
Also, federal law has long prohibited the President (or any other gov't official) from initiating or demanding a tax audit of any person, politician or not.
And still you don't see anything odd about a Presidential candidate who says his success in business is his primary qualification for office refusing to disclose any details about his finances? Not even how he managed to amass $100 million in an IRA account when you and I are llimited to contributing a few thousand per year?
Finally, "blackmail" is one word and is not capitalized. I suspect you know this. So what were you implying with your intentional misspelling?
Melissa
9:43 am on Sunday, August 19, 2012
Here is what Romney stands for Rmoney... President Rmoney will quickly do the following if elected:
Rmoney: promises to continue to pay an 8% to 0% tax rate, and write more laws so all those "job creators" can continue to do the same. Just like GE, let's see they have shuffled their money through Ireland using the tax cheat technique called the "Double Dutch" for years now paying 0% taxes, while shifting all the tax burden to the middle class and seniors.
Rmoney: will continue to cheat our children out of a public education, why not just homeschool them or just un-school them so we can make America into China more quickly
Rmoney: promises to take all benefits including social security away and institute a worthless medicare voucher program, you know the Republican health plan is officially "if you get sick, die quickly"
Rmoney: promises to fire every worker possible and send their job to China and then bring it back at less than a livable wage with no benefits
Rmoney: promises to continue to let the banks rob the American people blind and take their homes without proper paperwork
Rmoney: promises to deregulate Wall Street, so they can continue to bet against the American people and sell off the scraps
Rmoney: promises to give veterans less medical care and pay, after all, the rich don't have to fight our wars anymore as the military is 'volunteer'
Rmoney: promises to keep the US dependent on foreign oil from hostile nations
Rmoney: promises to ruin the environment
OldCoolBlues
8:03 am on Monday, August 20, 2012
Damn...you're as off-base as Mr Griffiths. Sweet Melissa, don't make a fool of yourself by espousing vitriloe that is in no way founded in facts! Your statements are classic false statements made by Obama zombies. Educate yourself to the truth, then compare them to your ridiculous claims above. So, so sad.
Bob Griffiths
12:15 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
Melissa: First, thank you for your thoughtful comment related to my blog on Republican Robber Barons. Secondly, remember that a little knowledge in the hands of a little mind is simply worthless conservative drivel, don’t pay them any mind. I believe that in the end, good wins out over greed and people will realize that Republican policies do not have the best interest of our children or future generations in mind. It is a national disgrace to witness the Republican attacks on Medicare and middle class families while Republicans gravel at the feet of the Wall Street Robber Barons.
bayboat
9:43 am on Sunday, August 19, 2012
ANOTHER article, VERY short on facts, LOOOOONG on innuendo, hyperbole and imagination.
I agree with jerseyswamps, nothing new has been added to the national conversation.
Rachel Maddow is a man, and his name is Bob.
John Whatson
4:03 pm on Thursday, September 6, 2012
LMFAO!!!!!!
NBew Jersey Art
8:03 am on Monday, August 20, 2012
During the period after the Civil War the "Robber Barons" built the industrial base which became the foundation of American prosperity. If Mr. Griffiths had read the definitive test on the Robber Barons by Matthew Josephson, he would know that. Here's a list of a few of the Robber Barons:
John Jacob Astor (real estate, fur), Andrew Carnegie (steel), Jay Cooke (finance), Daniel Drew (finance), James Duke (tobacco), Henry Frick (steel), Jay Gould (railroads), Edward Harriman (railroads), Mark Hopkins (railroads), Andrew Mellon (finance, oil), J. P. Morgan (finance, industrial consolidation), John D. Rockefeller (oil), Cornelius Vanderbilt (water transport, railroads).
You may recognize a few of these names if for no other reason than their philanthropic and educational commitments to society, similar to Mitt Romney's tithing of ten percent of his income every year versus Obama’s letting his brother live in poverty and Biden’s miniscule charitably contributions. The picture of oppression portrayed by Mr. Griffiths is grossly exaggerated and the attempt to somehow correlate Mitt Romney’s business career with it is frankly laughable. Prosperous companies such as Domino’s Pizza and Staples would not exist today without Bain Capital and Romney’s business acumen. Of course none of that counts when one is simply reciting Obama campaign talking points.
Bob Griffiths
12:48 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
This is a good example of a little knowledge being a bad thing; you will need to research more than just what you read on Wikipedia to go head to head with me. As Patton said about Rommel, “I read your book”, in this case the book is your superficial reference to Josephson’s book on Robber Barons. If you had actually read the book, as I have, you would know that the book represents an indictment of the Robber Barons for blatant corruption, indifference toward the health and very lives of American workers, and total disregard for the environment. Here, why don’t you start actually reading the book with this excerpt from The Robber Barons: The Great American Capitalist 1861-1901:
“It is a common opinion in the district that some employers of labor give the Slavs and Italians preference because of their docility, their habit of silent submission . . . and their willingness to work long hours and overtime without a murmur. . . .
Many work in intense heat, the din of machinery and the noise of escaping steam. The congested condition of most of the plants in Pittsburgh adds to the physical discomforts . . . while their ignorance of the language and of modern machinery increases the risk. How many of the Slavs, Lithuanians and Italians are injured in Pittsburgh in one year is unknown. No reliable statistics are compiled . . . When I mentioned a plant that had a bad reputation to a priest he said: “Oh, that is the slaughter-house; they kill them there every day.”
NBew Jersey Art
1:23 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
Bob - Your posts are proof positive that no knowledge is a dangerous thing. It's so easy to post on sites like this as if you actually read the book. Likewise, I also claim to have read it although neither of us can prove it here. Neither can I prove that my undergraduate degree is in History, as the subject was called in the '60s. Frankly I don't give a hoot whether you believe me or not since your judgment is totally irrelevant. That statement is not based on my opinion but on a reading of your posts which contain one absurdity after another and which display a total lack of understanding of history and the nature of our species.
You will, if capable, understand that my post did not claim that there were no examples of employers taking advantage of their employees during the period after the Civil War. I stated, quite accurately, that you grossly exagerated the problem.
Your quote from Josephson's book, if it is a quote, is taken completely out of context and on its face does not represent the views of the author but is a statement that "it is a common opinion in the district." Whose thought is that? Certainly not the author's. I wish I could go to my copy of the book that I kept since graduating from college in 1965 but unfortunately it was lost in a flood last year. So you do have me at a disadvantage. However, your opinions matter so little to me that it is not worth a minute of my time to venture out to the library.
Spooner
1:22 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
...their philanthropic and educational commitments. . .Please! The damage had been done... and later on in their life feeling guilty, especially Carnegie & Rockefeller...as to their inhumanity. . .did they attempt to make amends??
Bob Griffiths
2:09 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
For your own benefit, not mine, you should make that trip to the "library" or at the least find new resources on the web; brush up on your history.
Da Poppa
11:45 am on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Griffiths ... If ignorance is blissful, you must be one happy fellow. Your blogs posts are so full of ignorant half truths and flat out left leaning lies, it would take a week of Mondays to post a comment long enough to set you straight. I'm glad there are a number of people that have taken the time to refute your writings. To let such nonsense go unchallenged is more dangerous than to spout off the nonsense in the fist place, because then opinions become truths in the mind of a liberal.
"You are entitled to your own opinion, you are not entitled to your own facts."
When did committing yourself to the American dream, believing that given an equal oppurtunity you could, with hard work and dedication, become successful, change to "you didn't make that?"
Every article you cite is from a far left leaning web site, or a "news" organization (the HuffPost) whose writings have been ridiculed across all parts of the Main Stream Media (MSM) for their lack of objectivity. And that's saying a lot considering the sad state of objectivity displayed in MSM.
Spooner
1:00 pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Da Poppa;
...all those books about the "robber barons" were false, and what the authors reported never really happened. . .just like what Charles Dicken's wrote never happen in England and his "Tale of Two Cities" was a work of fiction...not depicting the French Revolution. And I suppose Sir Edmind Burke's political writings describing the realm of terror there. . .that never occurred either. What bubble have you been living in?
OldCoolBlues
8:03 am on Monday, August 20, 2012
A new low, even for Mr Griffiths. Hey, maybe he could get a job on the Obama campaign!
Melissa
8:03 am on Monday, August 20, 2012
Bayboat: you are short on facts, go blow your boat horn. Rachel Maddow is a Rhodes Scholar in Political Science and Law and you are a boat captain in the revival of 'Peter Pan' in your own head. Any comment that mentions the unpaid writer by name should be OFF LIMITS ON THIS BOARD. Where is the editor? Any mention of this man's first or last name in a negative comment with no facts needs to be removed. I have had enough of this board, you are going to start losing readers. If these commenters have any facts, they are welcome to submit a rebuttal. Other than that, go blow your boat horn.
Frank Rizzo
2:42 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
bob they are a funny bunch arent they? they hate all things having to do with history even if its recent history like 2001 to 2009. i,m sitting here laughing at how so many middle and lower class not only do everything they can to defend a guy like mittens who has hundreds of millions as he is propped up by sheldon addelson who is worth 24 billion. because of course uber rich guys like these who buy mansions like most people buy tires for their cars are so looking out for the common folk. if romney wins they deserve what they get. let them get vouchers for medicare and lose their homes if they actually get seriously ill.let them get the $2,000 a yr tax hike on the middle class while romney gives his rich buddies yet another tax break. let romney do like he promised de regulate the banks even more than now because 2008 did nothing to wake up teabaggers like marc,bainboat,joe fool and no brains jersey art.sometimes you have to let children learn for themselves the art of learning from their own mistakes. they have been brainwashed by fox and unless a van comes and grabs them off the street and removes the brainwashing like they do with every other cult they are only going to learn the hard way as they take us all with them. as for me if i wanted to vote the wrong people in simply because i was in the same party as them destroying whats left of this country i would be a republican.
Frank Rizzo
2:42 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
listen to old stool fool "bob thats a new low for you" . yes because actually bringing up american history is such a lowly thing to do. lol theres no chance our country can survive with scholars like that running around.
OldCoolBlues
11:45 am on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Perhaps if the analogy made sense I'd agree with it; but it does not. Mr Griffiths is absolutely entitled to his opinion...but to compare Mr Romney to a robber baron, in the derogatory sense, is in no way "scholarly" and reveals a blatant attempt to smear a candidate whose vision for the country is not the same as his. We can all have our own beliefs and ideas, and should be able to espouse them without being called names. If one wants to cite american history, at least correctly understand it before using it to visciously attack another person...makes the attacker look foolish.
Berkeley Lifer
2:42 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
How about you look at your boy GEORGE SOROS Bob?
Frank Rizzo
2:42 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
bob if you send them to the library the only thing they will bring home are dvds of "the jersey shore" and " real housewives of atlanta" . lol
Frank Rizzo
5:26 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
listen to "tired of the flies" who says "romney isnt going to be blackmailed by disclosing his tax returns". funny the average middle class person has no fear of being "blackmailed" by revealing how much tax and where they earn their money. but to romney its blackmail. if romney ever releases his 98 to 2001 records stick a fork in him he's done. a week ago romney sat next to ryan on the 60 minutes show while ryan explained the first thing he will do is eliminate these offshore tax shelters. well he doesnt have to go too far he can start with the guy sitting next to him pulling his money out of his swiss bank accounts and cayman shelters . yeah romney actually not hiding his money and putting it in american banks like the rest of us do. you would have better odds of winning the mega lotto before you see that ever happen.
Spooner
6:15 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
FR- you think Romney has his money in American banks. . .I don't think so! It is my belief that Romney saw the financial tsunami coming...probably in 2006. . .and begin deleveraging and moving his investments out of US financial institutions. . .which those tax returns will verify. . .As Romney said: "I Believe In American Enterprise"
Bob Griffiths
3:52 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
LOL, to quote the great American philosopher, Thomas Hanks, "stupid
is as stupid does".
Don
5:26 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
Bob Griffiths, grow up already.
Frank Rizzo
5:26 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
shhh dont tell them that bob they thought forest gump was the first to say that. lol
Melissa
8:45 am on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
The rich are still indirectly or DIRECTLY involved in monies collected via child labor. Child labor is the most vile and disgusting of all the riches 'philanthropic' activities. Here is a description of child labor during the US industrial revolution: "the children, sometimes as young as 5, were chained and cuffed by the ankles, it was hard to tell their age due to the coal dust and open wounds all over their bodies as they were forced to pull coal through shafts, by the end of each day the dead children in the line were discarded" Ok, now compare that historical account to what UNICEF still finds:
One in six children 5 to 14 years old — about 16 percent of all children in this age group — is involved in child labor in developing countries.
In the least developed countries, 30 percent of all children are engaged in child labor.
Worldwide, 126 million children work in hazardous conditions, often enduring beatings, humiliation and sexual violence by their employers.
An estimated 1.2 million children — both boys and girls — are trafficked each year into exploitative work in agriculture, mining, factories, armed conflict or commercial sex work.
The highest proportion of child laborers is in sub-Saharan Africa, where 26 percent of children (49 million) are involved in work. UNICEF finds direct money trials, especially from childhood labor gained via factory work, back to US investment firms. DISGUSTING!!! Then they give money to the American Ballet.
OldCoolBlues
11:45 am on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
(Then they give money to the American Ballet)...and the Red Cross, their churches, cancer research, muscular dystrophy research, orphanages, visiting nurse associations, alzheimers research, UNICEF, scholarship funds, Childrens Aid Foundation, St Judes, the Hope Program, Meals On Wheels, Seeds of Peace, Michael J Fox Foundation, Christopher & Dana Reeves Paralysis Foundation, Mentoring USA, Literacy Partners, Operation Smile, Make-A-Wish Foundation, United Way, Wounded Warrior Project, Humane Society of the US, USO, National Wildlife Federation, Redeem-Her, Build Tuleeni A Home, Autism Spectrum, National Academy Foundation...need I go on?
Da Poppa
3:58 pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Melissa - you're so in tune with slandering, how does any of this have anything to do with Romney? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Yet, here's the tired old liberal trick of throwing feces on the wall and see what stink sticks. If you have an issue with child labor laws in counties where products sold in the US are made, then take it up with those countries, our maybe your Senator (both democrats) or your representative, probably a democrat. Or maybe boycot goods from those countries. So then you CNA put away your JDTV, iPod, iPad, iPhone, clothes bought from WalMart, KMart, or Target, or any other goods produced inChina. And next time you need telephone support, hang up when you're transferred to India or the Philippines. Hypocrite.
Bob Griffiths
4:43 pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Yo poppa, listen, get with the program and learn the agenda of your own political party before you open your mouth and attack someone with more accurate information than you will find in a decade of watching Fox News. The Republicans are walking backward on so many of their ridiculous policies that I am surprised if they remember how to walk forward. Republicans in New York, Utah, Kentucky, Missouri, and Maine, to name a few have attacked Child Labor Laws as “unconstitutional”. Newt Gingrich wants to replace school janitors with child labor, this Idiot actually said that. Republicans have no idea what they are talking about, Child Labor Laws were already tested when the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 and the Republicans opposed Child Labor Laws then too. Republicans are not only trying to walk away from their own stupidity when it comes to Child Labor Laws, but also their past support for TARP, health care mandates, the Dream Act, the bail out of the Auto industry, deficit spending, Medicare, Social Security and the minimum wage. You brought up feces, well Republicans are experts at all types of BS and they expect the American people to forget their past, well don’t bet on it.
Joe P
8:45 am on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Can't help yourself from defending the rich at your own expense, huh? If you're like me, you earn a salary, which is taxed, and then you buy for a soda, which is taxed, and then you buy some food, which is taxed, and then you buy some clothes, which are taxed, then you buy gas, which is taxed and you bought a house, which is taxed every single year. And you and I pay FAR MORE taxes as a percentage of income, then Romney and his rich ilk do.
Of course, what you don't seem to realize is the less the rich are taxed, the more you and I and the rest of us working stiffs have to pay. It's amazing that the conservative media has managed to get working stiffs like you to defend the idle rich who just move money around with a keystroke or two on the computer, but people who actually do the productive work for the idle rich are suffering and losing their homed, but the rich get to keep their, 3, 4 or 5 mansions.
Boy, it must be great to be rich in this country when the workers you're robbing blind root for you.
OldCoolBlues
11:45 am on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
I'm far from rich, Joe...I'm in the 18% bracket. I do realize, however, when over 50% of the people in the country pay NO federal income taxes, then it means the other half are paying not only their fair share, but the share of those who pay nothing. It's not convoluted, it's straight-up math. Most of them also pay capital gain taxes on their investments, which adds up to billions per year. Mr Romney donates 10% of his earnings to charity, which has added up to millions more over the years. He has chosen to help his fellow man as his heart leads him. How much has Mr Obama donated? He is NOT a middle classer by any means, but has given very, very little to charity. Romney chooses to help others by tithing his own earnings and supporting charities that help people worldwide. Mr Obama hasn't even helped his Aunt (in the country illegally by the way) in a Boston ghetto, or his brother who lives in a hut in Kenya, but he wants those who have worked hard to be successful to be forced to give unfair amounts to the federal government, so they can decide where it goes (like the study of mermaids, the purchase of $800 toilet seats, etc.). It's a matter of different ideologies, that of american capitalism and the opportunity for prosperity if you want to pursue it, or the european socialist nanny state, where you rely on the government and your neighbors to take care of you.
Spooner
1:00 pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
OCB- according to the Obamas' 2011 tax filing, they contributed roughly $172,000 to charity on a taxable income of just under $500,000. So what's that about 35% of their income?
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/president_obama_complete_return_2011.pdf
OldCoolBlues
6:54 pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
@ Spooner: Thanks for the info on Obama's charitable giving...I stand corrected. His 2011 was actually 21.8% (very commendable...$172,000 of just under $800,000 AGI). Other recent years have improved (since he realized he was going to run for president):
2000 = 1.0%
2001 = 0.5%
2002 = 0.4%
2003 = 1.4%
2004 = 1.2% (he addresses democrat national convention this year)
2005 = 4.7%
2006 = 6.1%
2007 = 5.8%
2008 = 6.5%
2009 = 6.4%
2010 = 14.2%
2011 = 21.8%
OldCoolBlues
8:45 am on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Well, it didn't take long for Melissa, Frank & Bob to start scraping the bottom of the barrel with name calling & nasty slurs...not surprising, considering their obvious far-left rants. With the far-left it always degrades to personal attacks...they know no other way...so sad.
Bob Griffiths
9:39 am on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Making reference to American History and its direct relationship to current events, including child labor and the Un-American activities of Robber Barons are in no way a “slur”. The truth is often a bitter pill to swallow for conservative Republicans after a steady diet of Fox News lies. Remember, MSN might lean to the left but Fox News lies to the right.
What is an ugly slur is when a coward like Republican Todd Akin, a candidate for the United States Senate, says women do not get pregnant from “legitimate rape” or when a Republican lawmaker in Georgia wants to change the wording of a rape law replacing the word “victim” with the word “accuser”. The Republicans are not just at war with women in America, they are assaulting women by proposing laws that trample on the rights of women, which is a slur of the greatest magnitude.
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-02-07/us/georgia.rape.law_1_fraud-victims-word-victim-burglary-victims?_s=PM:US
Laura
11:46 pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
it's the only thing the knuckle-draggers understand. There are a lot of Alley-Oops on here. so sad...
Da Poppa
11:46 pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Griff, if we're going to delve back into history and dredge up past indiscretions. Let's look back on the democrats ... Slavery, Jim Crowe, segregation, mass murder of unborn children. Just the support of abortion puts them up in the kill column by approximately 55 million. congrats ... You have a winner.
So Much to Say
11:45 am on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
The most wasted 2 minuites of my life. Obviously this man has a vivid imagination. What a waste of time, energy and bandwidth.
jerseyswamps
11:45 am on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
I see Eugene Robinson wrote another piece. No, not this Eugene, the other one. Something about Akin. Of course I don't waste my time reading someone who dutifully parrots the party line. But I did read the first few comments. It seems Mr. Robinson is trying to make the case that all Republicans are like that jerk, Akin. Someone responded, that is like saying all Democrats are perverts because Dem. Rep. Anthony Weiner sent nude photos of himself. Both men are jerks. Neither represents their party.
Frank Rizzo
6:54 pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
too much to say just change the channel then. by the way romney donated millions to the mormon church to pay for those two castles in utah and san diego. when the wealthy make tax free deductions its we who pay the difference.
Frank Rizzo
6:54 pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
really jersey swamps ?the current vp candidate with the ronnie reagan haircut co sponsored a bill with that nitwit akin redefining the meaning of rape. because of course there must be good rape and bad rape. ryan wants to make it a crime if a girl is raped by her father and tries to get an abortion. another dolt republican steve king believes the same thing as well as dogfighting should be legalized. the gop are constantly pumping new nitwits out like the playdoh factory. obama paid a 26% tax rate while romney barely admitted to paying 13% . romney claims he can be blackmailed if he releases his taxes because of course every honest american citizen worries about being blackmailed over their taxes. let romney release his taxes . then stick a fork in him he's done.
Frank Rizzo
6:54 pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
oh and old stool blues if you dont want govt in your life then dont bother calling the fire dept when your house is on fire or a cop when you drive into a pole.
OldCoolBlues
11:12 am on Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Hey Rizzo...try being civil in your posts & maybe someone will take you seriously. Name calling & insults...no place for it...unless, of course, you are truly as ignorant as you come off.
John Jay
7:43 pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Democrats CREATED the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and Jim Crow laws (thanks Woodrow Wilson). How dare the so-called "Democrats" accuse Republicans of ANYTHING when they are responsible for sowing the seeds of racial hatred in this nation. Remember folks: Lincoln was a REPUBLICAN -- and ended slavery. The REPUBLICANS of the the 1860s-70s were responsible for ensuring the passage of the 14th Amendment. REPUBLICANS took the LEAD and helped passed the Civil Righs Act of 1964 -- something AL GORE SR. OPPOSED.
jerseyswamps
11:46 pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Frankie, So Obama gave back 26% of what he took from taxpayers. Did he EVER get a paycheck from anyone other than government? He would have contributed more to the economy if he had a cool aid stand. Romney's 13% back in taxes from millions earned in the private sector is a much better deal for us than what Obama "earned" via the taxpayers.
Laura
4:37 pm on Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Jerseyswamps (so appropriate)
Do you mean the paycheck from the law firm that he became a partner of and worked a for 10 or 12 years? Turn off Faux news and you might learn something. Didn't know law firms were government entities. So glad the swamp can teach me something.
Try investigating and reading instead of just typing ignorant statements. It took him till about 8 years ago to pay off college loans. I guess he couldn't borrow the money from his mommy and daddy as mitwit suggested.
jerseyswamps
7:30 pm on Wednesday, August 22, 2012
I have no idea what you are talking about. I was responding to the 4th. comment above mine. Frank Rizzo's. Hint, I start off by addressing it to Frank. He was all over the place but one part was Obama paid 26% income tax and Romney paid 13%. His point I assume was that Obama paid more taxes than Romney. My point was Obama just gave back to the taxpayers 26% of what he took from the taxpayers since he has never had anything but a paycheck from us. That is all he has ever done. Romney earned real money from the private sector and gave probably millions of HIS money to the IRS while Obama gave a few thousand of our money back to us.
What was that about ignorant statements?
John Jay
1:00 pm on Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Obama did work with/for (unconvicted) terrorist William Ayers. Ayers and his (terrorist) wife were fugitives for murder and terrorism.
Spooner
4:37 pm on Wednesday, August 22, 2012
...aren't you kind of over doing the Ayers connection. Ayers had lukewarm feelings about Obama's politics. Ayers was a left wing radical. . .whereas Obama was described as a gradualist. He was hooked up with Ayers by Alice Palmer, when he went to his home, her planning for him to make his candidate announcement as her successor, while meeting Chicago's community political activists there to get their support . He was just one of the guess, believe or not. A doctor by the name of Quentin Young came there as another guess and gave a speech promoting single payer health care system, along with other guess there. . .True Ayers got Obama appointed to the Board of the Annenberg Challenge foundation. But that had more to do with education, which Ayers was a professor in...not politics?
Frank Rizzo
2:06 pm on Wednesday, August 22, 2012
old stool blues look up hypocrisy in the dictionary i,m sure your photo will be next to it. you tell people to be civil and then in the next sentence call them ignorant. youre just another right wing nut like the westboro baptist church and just as confused. by the way speaking of living off the govt tit looking at the time stamps of old stool, johnny jay , jerseyswamp youre all sitting at home collecting govt checks in your boxer shorts. which is it old stool welfare, unemployment with a little side job? i,m retired what are your excuses?
OldCoolBlues
4:37 pm on Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Sorry Frank, if you thought the ignorant comment was a slur, it wasn't meant that way...it was just an observation. By the way, I have my own business...that I built.
jerseyswamps
7:30 pm on Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Ditto. I helped start a small business with the help of family, not government, and I am often up and out of the house by 4 a.m. BTW, I created more jobs than Obama.
Frank Rizzo
8:40 pm on Wednesday, August 22, 2012
oh i changed my mind i too built a huge business without obama's help. lol . i didnt use any roads or bridges or communication grid or power grid or any other thing the govt does to help make businesses work. i would believe jersey swamps and old stool created the willy wonka factory before i believe they created any jobs. if they arent punching a timeclock theyre waiting on the mailman for that gubmint check.
Frank Rizzo
8:40 pm on Wednesday, August 22, 2012
by the way old stool can you list any more random numbers and percentages with no source named from whence they came. how much you wanna bet its a fox news link?
Frank Rizzo
8:40 pm on Wednesday, August 22, 2012
look at the timestamps on comments by old stool and jersey swamp on this and other threads. for people leaving the house at 4 am to run businesses they are on the patch every hour even on this thread 8 am , 11 am , 4 pm . either they have the kind of business where the people running it can spend all day long on the patch or it must be the easiest businesses you could ever imagine running. and why do you wear mc donalds uniforms when youre driving there? scratch that mc donalds would never put up with a manager who spends all day on an internet blog.
jerseyswamps
9:13 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
6:10 a.m. Slept late today. Really Rizzo, Ever hear of smart phones, iPads, lap tops? People on the go can stay connected. You knock a business like McDonalds? A person needs upwards of a million dollars to buy a franchise and no bank will will give it to you. So you use life savings and loans from family and then you don't trust the business to just anybody. You go there everyday all day. Perhaps you have a few minutes during the day post comments. After a few years of 80 hour work weeks maybe you get another one. Then you get to be bashed by takers who say you are greedy and don't give enough back to the government.
No I do not own a McDonalds but I hope you get the idea.
Colonel
9:13 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
How do these guys like Griffith continue to earn a living rehashing their trite, Democratic Party line? He must be a castoff from the Philadelphia Inquirer and thinks he still lives in Philly. Romney and Ryan are finally two outstanding candidates who seem to display something that has sorely been missing in DC for years-----Integrity. Who cares how much Romney makes. The point is it was all made honestly. Can the same be said for the multi-millionair Community Organizer, aka, "the Amateur" from Chicago. How does a community organizer become a multi-millionaire? Why don't you write about that, Griffith? Get off your duff and try doing a little investigative journalism. Why haven't you yet uncovered this guy's history at Princeton. Why haven't his grades been released? Why was there a need for his records at Princeton to be locked up? Remember how they raked George Bush over the coals regarding his grades when he was running for President while commenting about how dumb he was? When they finally got his grades, it was discovered they were higher than John Kerry's. Try doing a little work. You are nothing more than a Democratic hack doing the work of Bob Brady in Ocean City.
Laura
11:39 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Colonel,
As opposed to your trite Republican diatribes?
Ryan, Romney integrity? That's rich. Ryan had to redue his financial statements. He forgot about the several million in a trust.
How does a community organizer become a multi-millionaire? He makes partner in his law firm. He authors a book. If Romney won't release his tax returns why, in the world, would you want to see Obama's grades? Oh, that's right it's called hypocrisy and machiavellian. 2 things the Republicans have an innate aptitude for.
Uncle Moe
1:53 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Bob, you are so brainwashed, along with the Romney supporter zombies. THEY ARE THE SAME CANDIDATE. They are both slaves to the privately owned for profit federal reserve and the globalist eugenicist offshore bankers that run the world! RON PAUL 2012!
Frank Rizzo
10:12 am on Sunday, August 26, 2012
colonel how did romney and ryan get to be millionaires? the easy way just be born to rich parents. speaking of republican diatribes ryan co sponsored a bill with that nitwit todd akin on the definition of rape because of course theres bad and good rape . ryan believes if a 12 yr old girl is raped by her father she should under penalty of law be forced to have that baby. yeah so much for integrity.