Mitt Sees Our Black Prez as Drug Dealer, Getting Us Addicted to Benefits

From “Let Them Eat Crab Cake,” Maureen Dowd, NYT:

“He seemed to have bought into the warped canard that some conservatives inside and outside of Congress have pushed, that the president and Nancy Pelosi were nefariously hooking people on unemployment benefits so they’d get addicted and vote Democratic to keep the unemployment benefits flowing like crack.

“It’s literally rich:  Willard, born on third base and acting self-made, whining to the rich about what a great deal in life the poor have.

“We thought Romney was secretly pragmatic, but turns out that he’s secretly cruel, a social Darwinist just like his running mate.

“You’d assume that it would be hard now for Romney to resume bashing President Obama for demonizing and pandering on class warfare, with lines like he’s been using on the trail:  ‘he and his allies are pushing us all even further apart by dividing us into groups.’

“But, even as Mitt was spitefully demonizing and dividing in Boca, he remained cardboard-cutout un-self aware, musing:  ‘The thing which I find most disappointing about this president is his attack of one America against another America.’  This is the absolute height of cluelessness.

 

Mitt Will Lose Because He Thinks He’s Better Than We Are

From “Pathos of the Plutocrat,” Paul Krugman, NYT:

“Anyway, what’s now apparent is that the [Romney] campaign was completely unprepared for the obvious questions, and it has reacted to the Obama campaign’s decision to ask those questions with a hysteria that surely must be coming from the top.  Clearly, Mr. Romney believed that he could run for president while remaining safe inside the plutocratic bubble and is both shocked and angry at the discovery that the rules that apply to others also apply to people like him.  [F. Scott] Fitzgerald again, about the very rich:  ‘They think, deep down, that they are better than we are.’

“There are plenty of very rich Americans who have a sense of perspective, who take pride in their achievements without believing that their success entitles them to live by different rules.

“But Mitt Romney, it seems, isn’t one of those people.  And that discovery may be an even bigger issue than whatever is hidden in those tax returns he won’t release.”

Krugman’s point here is why I believe it’s okay to dislike Mitt without engaging in class warfare.  I don’t hate rich people, I just really dislike this particular rich person.

Also, Krugman shows why Mitt is more un-American than anything the fevered brains of the far right can dream up about President Obama.  There is nothing more un-American, more antithetical to who we are as a people, than thinking you’re better than other people, and I agree with Krugman that Mitt (and Ann) believe that they are superior to those of us who don’t move in their charmed circles.  It’s hard to be down-to-earth when you’re atop a dressage horse or a car elevator.

 

It Matters Whether You Were Born on Third Base or You Hit a Triple

From “Why the battle over Mitt Romney’s ‘silver spoon’ upbringing matters,” Greg Sargent, WaPo:

“The upbringings of Obama and Romney — and the contrast between them — are relevant not just because presidential races are a clash of personalities and biographies. They also bear directly on the basic policy argument between the two men over how best to create opportunity and shared prosperity, a central dispute in this campaign.

“Obama argues that government needs to play a larger role in facilitating opportunity, via more investments in education, financial aid, and so forth. He cites himself as an example of someone who might not have been able to advance in life without such assistance.

“Romney, by contrast, argues that the government activism to combat inequality Obama advocates amounts to government-enforced “equal outcomes,” or worse, the politics of “envy” and “class warfare.” Romney insists that rolling back government and unshackling the private sector is the best way to combat inequality, by creating opportunity, shared prosperity and social mobility. Romney, too, has cited himself as proof of what the private sector can accomplish along these lines, if only we’ll let it. He has directly equated his own success with the benefits that “free enterprise” can shower on anyone.

“In other words, both men are citing themselves as walking emblems of their own policy visions. No one is claiming that Romney didn’t earn his money or that he isn’t a very hard worker. But if Romney is going to argue that his own success proves that unshackling the free market is the primary way to facilitate broadly shared prosperity and opportunities for those who currently don’t share in either — and that Obama’s call for more government efforts to promote both would be counter-productive — the early advantages Romney enjoyed are directly relevant to the debate.”  Emphasis added.

 

 

Class Warfare in Michigan

It’s interesting that while the GOP narrative falsely accuses the President of inciting class warfare, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are actually engaging in class warfare in their battle for blue collar Michigan.

Santorum is trying to appeal to voters with a two-pronged approach that is somewhat contradictory.  The first, and obvious, prong is that Mitt has been so rich and privileged his whole life that he doesn’t understand the problems of average working people.  The second prong is that Mitt somehow has adopted the views of Occupy Wall Street because his tax plan calls for eliminating certain taxes on those making $200,000 or less, without extending those benefits to richer Americans.

So Santorum is both waging class warfare against Mitt and accusing Mitt of waging it in a way unbecoming to a Republican.

Is Newtie Stealing Perry’s Meds?

In Iowa yesterday, Newt Gingrich spoke from the alternate universe he occupies (where there’s a Tiffany’s on every block), declaring that President Obama is “maniacally anti-jobs” and “a left-wing radical who believes in class warfare.”

Not just anti-jobs, but maniacally anti-jobs.  In what other context are we used to thinking of people as acting maniacally?  Oh, yes, Islamic terrorists!  So Newtie obviously wants us to associate President Obama with them.

As for being a left-wing radical, that’s news to the Democratic wing of the Democratic party, who keep wondering who’s this moderate, centrist guy they elected, the one who keeps trying to work with Republicans who are obsessed with defeating him.

As for class warfare, the 1% started it when they took away the modest paychecks and homes of the 99%.

Sick of This “Class Warfare” Crap? Thank Frank Luntz.

The GOP’s spinning of garden-variety progressive taxation as “class warfare” is nothing new.  Way back in March 2008, before President Obama was elected, back when the Tea Party referred to an 18th century event, evil genius Frank Luntz was accusing him of class warfare on evil moron Sean Hannity’s show on Fox.