Mitt Romney is spending $1.3 million to run an ad in key swing states, explaining what he would do on “day one” as president:
President Romney immediately approves the Keystone pipeline, creating thousands of jobs that Obama blocked. President Romney introduces tax cuts and reforms that reward job creators, not punish them. President Romney issues order to begin replacing Obamacare with commonsense health care reform.
Let’s ignore for a moment that most of these would require Congressional action, so it is highly doubtful they could be accomplished by Romney at all, let alone in one day. And let’s also ignore that there is no mention of cutting the deficit (while his promised tax cuts would almost certainly add to the deficit). And ignore that Obama’s block on the pipeline is only temporary while they find a route through Nebraska that complies with existing environmental laws.
I guess I should be happy that Romney is actually listing some concrete things he would do that are different from Obama. But opposing Obama is all he is doing. Does he have any actual ideas of his own?
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I’m just guessing, having no experience in either position, but isn’t being a CEO very different than being President.
Seems to me that when you’re THE CEO, everyone “beneath” you does exactly what you tell them to do. No questions, if that’s your M.O.
When you’re POTUS, you have to tread very carefully to make your position clear so that those ‘beneath’ you will want to work together to make your policy decisions work.
(You may even get push-back from every direction at the mere utterance of a plan!)
Am I wrong?
If not, then Mitt has no experience of the sort required to be POTUS… his every whim has been presented to him by those that worked under him.
And if his way didn’t work out… meh… he just walked away leaving the peons to fend for themselves.
Actually, you’re half right. Yes, running a business is very different from being president, and business leaders often do not make good politicians. See http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/27/us-usa-campaign-business-idUSTRE79Q6PA20111027
On the other hand, Romney has been the governor of Massachusetts, so he does have political experience. And he wasn’t bad as a governor — heck, he got Romneycare passed, which was the model for Obamacare. So it is not true that Romney has no experience of the sort required to be POTUS.
(But I still think he would be a terrible president.)
Spent the last couple of days in beautiful Klamath Falls, Oregon. Breakfast this morning at a little cafe on Main Street was illuminating. Four good ole guy regulars were at the counter just behind me and they entertained me for over a half hour or so with their “witty” political banter (I thanked them as I left for the great start to my morning that they gave me).
Guy closest to me was what to me is the classic tea party conservative – big on buzz words and lines with little to back it up. Guy next to him was a Democrat that started out apologizing for Obama and expressing his disenlightenment with his first three years (actually he said “four”, but who’s counting). The third fellow didn’t appear to really want to get serious at all and kept slinging one liners at either of the previous guys. The fourth guy wanted to talk about trucks. Like I said, entertaining banter.
Spent the daylight hours hanging with a bunch of motorcycle dudes and dudettes (politically correct in their circle – dudette, that is) and heard the same charming banter several times. Those who most likely vote for Obama were apologetic, usually prefaced anything they said with, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not too impressed with Obama, either,” and rarely had any counter statements to the hot air coming from the anti-Obama folks.
The thing that struck home through these encounters, though, was how poorly Obama is seen in the eyes of the small town/rural folks – at least in this neck of the woods – even those who will most likely vote for him. My personal feeling is that Obama has accomplished some good things while disappointing me in other areas. He’s certainly not a failed president, though. I can’t help but think that the attitude that I was hearing has a lot to do with the unflinching campaign on the part of the right to demonize Obama. It has worked and I am concerned that the Publicans will make a bunch more hay in the November elections than will be good for this country. I continually heard folks talk about how much worse off they are under Obama than they were before he was elected. No one seems willing to talk about how bad off they’d be if the gubmint hadn’t taken the steps we have to prop things up. Folks seem to think their taxes have gone up, yet, for most folks, this is just not true.
I got a chuckle the other day over a headline on The Huffington Post. It went something like “Republicans want to make propaganda to the American people legal.” Damn, that’s a knee slapper. Although both parties ply us with their propaganda, the Publicans have perfected the art.
Back to the original intent of this thread: Romney may have experience in running both a state and a company or two, but I look at his body English, listen to how he talks, and find confusion in him all too often and I wonder if he has what it takes to be a leader in what is an incredibly complex job. Does the executive have the power to do the things claimed in the ad? Nope. Just a plain and simple nope. If the executive had that power, we could just get rid of Congress and elect a dictator every four years (is Admiral General Aladeen available?). The pipeline needs to continue slogging through the regulatory process and Romney can’t change that (this isn’t executive order territory, here). Tax changes originate in Congress, the the White House, and, although the Executive can forward requests for legislation, it can’t introduce it unilaterally. Health care? He could probably seriously screw up the regulatory process we’re currently going through to enact the health care act. I’m thinking what the propagators of the ad are counting on is the lack of knowledge the average American has with regards to how the government functions.
You hit the nail on the head. The demonizing campaign against Obama has worked so well, that even liberals apologize for Obama. I think that’s why the GOP is threatening to default again — they think they will be able to blame Obama and get away with it.
The few *real* liberals I know would never ever “apologize for Obama”, nor would I. He’s not one of ours, he’s a Constitution-rapist. There I said it. When it comes to that, the guy is like Junior Bush on steroids.
I have never been less of a Democratic than I am now.
Always direct people pro and con on Obama to the “obamameter” on Politifact. Tell his accomplishments in the last few years. http://www.politifact.com/ compare the Obamameter to what the GOP has done in three years.
Reagan did as he was told to do. I think Baby Bush did pretty much as the neocons told him to do. Romney will do as his minders tell him. Obama works for the people of the US not the upper 1%.