Another look at the First Presidential Debate, a Short Story from the Archives and an UNEDITED Listing of Candidate Romney's Positions

Fabricator or Schizophrenic?

When Barack Obama went into the first debate, he was prepared to debate domestic issues in a gentlemanly Presidential manner.  He was not prepared to get down in the gutter with a smiling Mitt Romney and call him a liar, and contrast what Mitt was saying at the debate with what he had been saying up to then throughout the campaign.  Romney deserved to be called an outright fraud and a liar, but the President was too much a gentleman to call him one, so he made his points and in effect, ceased participating in the debate with his dishonest opponent. 

He reminded me, and I am sure he reminded the President, of that car salesman who makes claims about the vehicle he is selling that are so preposterous that you walk out of the showroom, something the President couldn’t do at the debate.

                                       










                                                      Joe the Salesman Selling Isuzus in the Eighties      


     Mitt the Salesman Today                                               
Or could it be that Romney was not lying at the debate?  Could it be that this was the true middle-of-the road Mitt Romney, supporter of woman’s rights and RomneyCare who was elected Governor of otherwise Democratic Massachusetts?                       
                                                 
Could it be that all of his lying was done to secure the nomination and his kow-towing to the right wing Tea Party folks in the G.O.P. was the real lie … and now, a month before the election, they can do nothing about it?  It is rumored that his "family" has moved in, shooing away the troglodyte Republican Obama-haters.  Has Ann replaced the believers in Rush and Sean?

Or could it be that Governor Romney has a split personality, one when he is talking to the Republican faithful and another when he is talking to the people of the United States, who will elect a President on November 6?  Who knows? I for one do not like such uncertainty.

Jack Lippman 

                                                                                                           

True Love 

(written about eight years ago in a writing program I was involved in.)

Jack Lippman

The search had ended.  The Prince, on one knee before her, looked up into Cinderella's warm brown eyes and smiled.  "I knew you were the one whom the slipper would fit.  Thank God I've found you and I never want to lose you."

And you know the rest of the story.  Cinderella married her Prince, her step-sisters became reconciled to the situation and eventually, the Prince found a couple of noblemen who were down on their luck and who were more than happy to marry the sisters considering that it made them in-laws of the Prince, who, ultimately would become the monarch.  Cindy’s step-mother ended up turning her house into a bed-and-breakfast where tourists were willing to pay big bucks to spend the night in the garret that Cinderella had slept in, and eat in the kitchen she had scrubbed each day.

One evening, after the Royal couple had gone to bed, the Prince, having difficulty falling asleep, quietly sat up, and propped up on one elbow on a royal pillow, stared lovingly down at his beautiful wife.

“Darling, I see you’re still awake,” Cinderella, opening her eyes, whispered to the Prince.  “Is there anything wrong?  Is something bothering you, dear?”

“Cindy, I hate to bring this up in the middle of the night, but one thing has been nagging me since we met last year.  I’d like to talk about it, but if you want to wait until morning, that will be all right too.”

Now fully awake, Cinderella looked at her husband, and seeing a look of concern on his face, replied, “No, go ahead now.  Exactly what is bothering you?”

“Darling,” the Prince began.  “I know the story well by now; how your Fairy Godmother turned a pumpkin into a silver coach, turned the mice from your kitchen into four white stallions pulling it, and turned your ragged apron and tunic into the magnificent jewel-studded gown you wore at the ball, and how at midnight, the coach became become a pumpkin once again, the horses mice once again, and the gown turned back into the threadbare garments you usually wore.”

“That’s right,” Cinderella replied.  “But we’ve been over that a hundred times.  What exactly is bothering you, dear?”

“It’s the slippers.  I know your Fairy Godmother turned the worn-out sandals you were wearing into glass slippers, and when you ran from the palace at a minute before midnight, one slipped from your foot, and thank God, that enabled me to eventually find you.  But what is puzzling me is why, at midnight, that slipper didn’t turn into a ragged sandal?  Everything else reverted to what it originally was when the clock struck twelve.” 

“You know, you’re right!  I never thought about it that way.  When I finally got home, all I was wearing was one ragged sandal, and nothing on the other foot, at all.  I remember, I even hopped on one foot when I had to get through a rocky place in the road.  I suppose the slipper that fell off my foot when I ran down the palace steps should have turned back into a sandal too,” Cinderella said now with a tone of puzzlement in her voice.

“Exactly, and that’s what’s bothering me now!” exclaimed the Prince, as the window flew open with a crash and a gust of wind, although it was a perfectly calm evening outside, filled the room,  scenting the air with a fragrant perfume, somewhere between the aroma of gardenias and roses.   And there, where no one had been a second earlier, sat Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, perched on the elaborately carved footboard of the royal bed.

“Hi, kids,” she said smiling at the astounded couple. “I couldn’t help hearing what you were talking about, and I had to come down and join in the conversation.  You know, darn it, that’s been bothering the hell out of me too!  You’ve both been so happy, I didn’t want to get involved with you any more, but now that you have raised the question, I think we should deal with it.”

By then having regained her composure, Cinderella turned to the Fairy Godmother, saying, “M’am, it’s so good to see you again.  I never had a chance to thank you for all that you did.  But can I get you something to drink, or to eat?  Would you like a more comfortable place to sit?”

“No, No,” the Fairy Godmother replied.  “I just want to get to the bottom of that slipper thing!  You, see, no matter what you think, Cinderella, I am a relatively low-level Fairy Godmother. That’s why I was assigned to help out a mistreated step-daughter which turned out to be you.  Technically, as soon as the Prince here became involved, they should have pulled me from the mission and assigned one of the big-time Fairy Godmothers to the project.  But they didn’t, so I have to wrap it up for what you might call mission control, and that includes getting to the bottom of the slipper mystery.”

The Prince snickered. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

Cinderella grasped his hand.  “Please keep quiet, dear.”

The Fairy Godmother, undeterred, continued.  “The magic spell I used, our standard package for situations like yours, should have turned everything back into what it had been before, exactly at the last stroke of midnight.  And that happened, except for that one damn slipper.  And, now that you have raised the question, I have to be able to tell my bosses how it was that the glass slipper you lost didn’t turn back into a beat-up old sandal at midnight, or God knows what my next assignment will be.  Do you understand the problem?  See if you can come up with a good believable explanation for me.  Okay?”

Both Cinderella and the Prince nodded as another gust of wind blew in out of the calm night, and in an instant, the Fairy Godmother was gone.

“Dear,” Cinderella said to her husband, as they crawled back under the covers.  “Let’s deal with it in the morning.”

“That’s fine with me,” the Prince added, putting his arms around Cinderella and drawing her closer to him.

Nine months later, Cinderella gave birth to the most beautiful set of twins ever seen in the kingdom.  Years later, both ruled as joint monarchs and one of them established the royal line which still rules that land.  And up, beyond the clouds, in that distant place where Fairy Godmothers come from, a report was being filed explaining that Cinderella’s glass slipper had not been turned back into a ragged sandal, thereby enabling the Prince to find her, because a greater magic had been at work that night, a magic far stronger than the Fairy Godmother’s spell, the magic of true love.

 

                                                       

Mitt Romney's Positions - Where He Stands

Okay, guys and gals!  Here is where Mitt Romney stands on the issues in the Presidential election.  He does have positions!  And here they are for you to study.

This is UNEDITED by me and taken from the Fox News web site, word for word,  as it appeared there on October 10.  Of course, like an “EcktaSketch,” this may be shaken up and revised as necessary by its originators, so if you go to that web site tomorrow, this stuff may be changed by then.  Check it out at www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2012/mitt-romney/issues

There’s a lot in here that many, including the President, will agree with.  I even agree with some of Mitt’s positions.  I have highlighted certain passages with which I take some issue, however, and ask you to compare them with what Governor Romney’s position is today, tomorrow or the next day on some of them.

Jack Lippman

                                                                  *   *   *   *   * 

Mitt Romney On the Issues

·       Education

Romney believes in order to improve education:

• Teachers must get evaluated in order to make evident to schools which teachers are exceeding and which are failing, ultimately removing the unsuccessful teachers from classrooms
• Equally educate the minority populations
• Increase parental involvement in school choice
• Issue better pay for better teachers
• Create higher standards, scholarships for the best kids, and English immersion
• Support No Child Left Behind

·       Energy and Environment

Romney proposes to eliminate regulations issued in pursuit of the Obama administration's costly and ineffective anti-carbon agenda. He proposes to press Congress to reform our environmental laws, ensuring they allow for the proper assessment of costs.

Romney developed an order to boost domestic energy production by:

• Directing the Department of the Interior to implement a process for the rapid issuance of drilling permits to developers seeking to use pre-approved techniques in pre-approved areas
• Implementing significant regulatory reform by streamlining the fast-track approval of processes and amending the Clean Air Act to exclude the regulation of carbon
• Increasing production by conducting a comprehensive survey of the nation's reserves and opening those reserves to exploration
• Investing in basic research while utilizing DARPA-like funding mechanisms

·       Federal Spending, Debt & Taxes

Romney plans to pursue a fairer, flatter, simpler tax structure. He advocates a fundamental redesign of our tax system, recognizing its need to be simplified, with tax rates lowered and the tax base broadened. Romney believes taxes should be collected in a way that remains fair to citizens while causing the least disruption to the economy. He believes this can be achieved with individual tax rates if:

• Lower marginal rates are maintained
• Taxes on savings and investments are reduced by eliminating taxation on capital gains, dividends, and interest for taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of under $200,000

Romney believes this can be achieved with the corporate tax system if:

• The corporate tax rate is lowered in order to level the playing field for American companies
• A transition to a territorial tax system is made to alter tax laws encouraging American multinational companies to keep their profits permanently overseas

·       Foreign Relations

Romney believes in safeguarding America by securing our country's interests and most cherished ideals. Romney proposes eight actions he believes to be most urgent:

1.                   Restoring America's naval credibility by increasing the shipbuilding rate in order to restore our presence at sea

2. Strengthening and repairing relationships with steadfast allies
3. Reaffirming that it is unacceptable for Iran to possess a nuclear weapon and ordering the regular presence of a carrier task force in the Eastern Mediterranean and Persian Gulf regions
4. Committing to a National Missile Defense System
5. Establishing a single point of responsibility for all soft power resources in the Middle East by working with Congress and Executive branches to organize diplomatic and assistance efforts, under one director, with unified budgetary and authority
6. Launching a campaign for economic opportunity in Latin America
7. Conducting a full review of our transition in Afghanistan, including discussions with generals on the ground, and basing the withdrawal of U.S. forces on the best recommendations from our military commanders
8. Ordering interagency initiative on cyber security to formulate a unified national strategy to defend against threats of militarized cyber-attacks, cyber-terrorism, cyber-espionage, and private-sector intellectual property theft

·       Global Economy

If new markets are opened to what U.S. workers produce, Romney believes America can create an environment for rapid economic growth and job creation. He believes in open markets and global commerce if U.S. entrepreneurs selling high-quality products and services can be guaranteed access. He advocates agreements protecting intellectual property from those violating the rules of free enterprise. He wants to implement free trade agreements, pursue additional agreements, and conclude Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. He also wants to confront China and increase the enforcement of existing law while imposing punitive measures if unfair trade practices continue.

·       Government Regulation

Romney's proposed regulatory policy includes:

• Repealing and replacing both Obamacare and Dodd-Frank
• Reviewing and eliminating Obama-era regulations
• Requiring Congress to approve all major regulations
• Capping new regulatory costs at zero dollars, forcing agencies to limit the costs imposed on society
• Reforming the legal liability system to ensure the federal-state balance of power in courts is respected while creating a legal environment for economic growth

·       Gun Rights

Romney supports the second amendment and promises to:

• Protect and defend the right of every law-abiding American to keep and use firearms
• Focus on enforcing current laws rather than implementing new laws limiting guns
• Distinguish between law-abiding gun owners and criminals who use guns
• Severely punish those who use a firearm during the commission of a crime
• Provide law enforcement with the resources they need to punish criminals without burdening lawful gun owners

·       Health Care

Romney believes Obamacare must be repealed and replaced with market-based reforms, reducing healthcare costs and returning power to the states and private markets. Romney's healthcare policy includes:

• Giving states responsibility, , flexibility and resources to act, experiment with, and settle on health care solutions best suiting their residents
• Block-granting funds for Medicaid and the uninsured to expand health care access to low-income Americans
• Expanding the tax deduction to include those who buy their own health insurance, empowering individuals to purchase their own insurance
• Focusing health care on making markets work by using limited federal regulation to correct failures in insurance markets, while eliminating counterproductive federal rules
• Reforming the broken medical liability system by capping non-economic damages in medical malpractice litigation and providing innovation grants to states for additional medical liability reforms
• Strengthening health savings accounts aimed at helping consumers choose cost-effective insurance and save for health expenses, in order to make health care more like a market than a government program

·       Illegal Immigration

Romney does not support an amnesty system that allows people who came here illegally to be given any advantage over immigrants who are following the law and he believes we must stop providing incentives that promote illegal immigration.

·       Jobs & Economy

Romney calls for a fundamental change in how economic growth and prosperity are achieved, how jobs are created, and how the government can support these endeavors. He promises to rebuild our country's economy on the principles of free enterprise, hard work, and innovation. His plans include:

• Reducing taxes, spending, regulation, and government programs
• Increasing trade, energy production, human capital, and labor flexibility
• Cutting spending and streamlining regulation rather than increasing the size of the federal budget or bureaucracy

Romney believes in the right of workers to join a union or to not join a union under the following policies:

• Workers must have access to relevant facts needed to make an informed decision
• Workers must hear from the union about the potential benefits and from management about potential costs
• Workers must be guaranteed the use of a secret ballot during all union elections

Romney believes in free enterprise, free choice, and free speech in the workplace.

·       National Security

Romney believes our country's defense forces are too small and has developed plans for building an additional six Navy ships per year and adding 100,000 active-duty personnel.

·       Social Issues

Romney is a pro-life advocate who believes abortions should be limited to cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. He does not support the use of federal funds for abortions.

·       Social Security & Medicare

Romney supports Rep. Paul Ryan's belief that Medicare should become a premium support system where future senior citizens have the option to use vouchers to buy private insurance instead of using Medicare.

Candidate positions inferred via Project Vote Smart: votesmart.org


                                                                                                                  

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