dagblog - Comments for "What Kind of Senator Would Mitt Romney Be?"

Has Trump's full support and

artappraiser — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 04:12:24 +0000

In reply to What Kind of Senator Would Mitt Romney Be?

Has Trump's full support and endorsement ( I suspect until he opens his mouth again, that is)

Next Senator from Utah.

artappraiser — Sat, 17 Feb 2018 12:46:49 +0000

In reply to What Kind of Senator Would Mitt Romney Be?

Next Senator from Utah. A Mormon PLUS EXTRA BONUS now appears to have learned a thing or two about picking up viral memes and catchphrases from running unsuccessfully for president:

Romney as Senate candidate promises not to ‘sit and wait’ on school shootings

By Alicia Kohn @ TheHill.com- 02/17/18 07:06 AM EST

[....] “I think we can’t just sit and wait and hope for things to get better,” the former GOP presidential candidate said, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. “It is wrong and unacceptable for children in our schools to fear for their lives.”

“We must take action to prevent this again,” he said. He suggested he would support improving a federal database for firearms background checks, according to the Tribune.

However, he said most reform should happen at the state and local level rather than federal. As possible solutions, he named increased law enforcement resources and better facility security, according to the Tribune.

Romney also signaled that as a senator he would not be an automatic vote for President Trump’s agenda.

“Utah welcomes legal immigrants from around the world. Washington sends immigrants a message of exclusion,” he said, according to Reuters. [....]

He's BAAAACK, running,

artappraiser — Fri, 16 Feb 2018 02:35:54 +0000

In reply to What Kind of Senator Would Mitt Romney Be?

He's BAAAACK, running, delayed rollout today because of FL shooting, going with the "Not a Narcissist" and "Don't Feed the Troll" memes:

Why Romney plans to lay off Trump

The GOP heavyweight wants to avoid looking like he’s just using Utah’s Senate seat as a platform for himself.

By ALEX ISENSTADT @ Politico.com, 02/15/2018

Somewhere in the list of non

moat — Thu, 11 Jan 2018 01:38:15 +0000

In reply to Yes, that roomful of people,

Somewhere in the list of non-contributors of taxes are all the businesses that do not earn a profit (or much of one) in a given year. I have looked for statistics that reflect this negative number but haven't found it yet.
It is germane to the discussion because marginally viable businesses are a big part of the money exchange. Even if they don't "keep" the money themselves.

Buffett chart is pretty silly

PeraclesPlease — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 22:12:00 +0000

In reply to Yes, that roomful of people,

Buffett chart is pretty silly. Try this one:

Well, his numbers of 47% as a

PeraclesPlease — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 21:59:21 +0000

In reply to I'm reacting to your comment,

Well, his numbers of 47% as a cohesive block wanting free stuff is off. But the 47% includes Republican retirees who have no problem cashing their government check & getting their Medicare but still complaining about government. And it includes a fair number of Bernie fans looking for free tuition and other free stuff. It's certainly more complex than that. But yes, I see a lot on the left looking for free stuff & a lot on the right looking for free stuff. And then there are even those who want to go back to the out-of-control heavy welfare days. Oddly enough, I don't think we'd even be complaining as much about the Republican tax cuts if it wasn't on top of all the bank bailouts and useless wars and other ways to blow what was for a second a surplus.

Yes, that roomful of people,

AmericanDreamer — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 21:24:33 +0000

In reply to Everyone says everyone else

Yes, that roomful of people, and their class alone, pay for everyone else aka known as our society's moochers. Well, no, not so much:

"The Case for the Buffet Rule in One Chart": https://www.cbpp.org/blog/the-case-for-the-buffett-rule-in-one-chart

Also on point:

Claims that people who don’t owe federal income tax are “freeloaders” who don’t have a “stake in the system” are incorrect. Roughly 70 percent of people who owe no federal income tax in a given year are low-income working households. As noted above, these people pay payroll taxes, as well as federal excise taxes and state and local taxes. Most of these households also pay federal income tax in other years, when their incomes are higher. For example, recipients of the Earned Income Tax Credit pay much more in federal income taxes over time than they receive in EITC benefits — $473 billion more over an 18-year period covered by a leading study.The remaining 30 percent of people who owe no federal income tax in a given year consists of seniors, students, people with disabilities, the long-term unemployed, and others with very low taxable incomes (see chart). from: https://www.cbpp.org/blog/reality-check-on-who-pays-taxes

And besides, Romney was talking to a room full of people "who pay for this stuff". He has no agency, amiright? He might have shown some leadership and moral courage instead of pandering by, say, challenging them to consider taking a $1 a year job for a year for the federal government helping it work better while learning about how government actually functions, as some executives helping with procurement did during World War II. Or to form a lobby group Billionaires for Social Responsibility to lobby for expanding funding for pre- and post-natal maternal health care, early childhood and preschool programs, or afterschool programs or summer learning and recreation programs, or well-informed financial sector regulation.

But if he did any of those things, he wouldn't be Mitt Romney, would he?

I'm reacting to your comment,

ocean-kat — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 21:23:35 +0000

In reply to You seem to think that just

I'm reacting to your comment, "What was wrong with his 47% comment besides being inartful? It was true." You didn't claim it was an artful or politically astute lie. You claimed it was true. If your argument is democrats need to come up with good lies and more artful spin I wouldn't have responded. I have absolutely no skill at coming up with clever lies to appeal to voters with no knowledge of facts or politics. I haven't a clue how people who don't understand policy or even know the policies the candidates advocate vote. I responded because I took your comment at face value, "It was true."

You seem to think that just

PeraclesPlease — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 21:07:28 +0000

In reply to Come on PP this is silly. The

You seem to think that just because you're versed in the stats, everyone else is.

And I think you miss the people willing (not forced) to sell their birthright for a pot of porridge. Yes, of course he's entitled, but I'm also interested in how we sell our message. Everyone on the internetz is so goddam clever these days, but we're still losing elections, sometimes even with more votes. It takes pedophilia to push us over the line. Will we manage against old racist convicted Sheriff Joe? still a tossup.

Come on PP this is silly. The

ocean-kat — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 20:52:23 +0000

In reply to What was wrong with his 47%

Come on PP this is silly. The only part of Romney's statement that was true was the one sentence that stated that 47% of people pay no federal income tax. The other @10 sentences were negative and insulting comments about those people all of which are debatable and which I think are false characterizations. We could argue every sentence including why more and more poor people don't pay federal income tax.

One reason is the republican tax cut scam where they give massive tax breaks to the rich while claiming everybody gets a tax cut. Even the poor get a tax cut by increasing the standard deduction which moves more people off the tax rolls. The Trump tax cuts doubled the standard deductions which will move even more working poor people off the federal tax rolls. So this year they'll sell their tax cuts for the rich by claiming everybody gets a tax cut but in a few years they'll bitch about the number of people who don't pay any federal taxes. Which will be even greater than Romney's 47% claim due to the Trump Tax cuts. Then they'll claim it shows how they lack personal responsibility, have a sense of entitlement, and they expect the government to take care of them.

It may be politically clever to play that game but I didn't expect you to buy into it.