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Democrats and the GOP truly have two different visions for our country — one based in theory and ideology, the other in pragmatism and evidence.

Republicans have imbedded their theories deep in their souls, as almost a religion. This explains why they get so angry if they are questioned or challenged about their political positions, and why they refuse to compromise. If you have a religious belief that your political positions are THE TRUTH rather than an idea that would be pragmatic, then you cannot compromise. To do so would be selling out THE TRUTH.

In fact, just listening to the GOP candidates you can see that they have conflated their interpretation of the U.S. Constitution along with their political ideology, with their religious beliefs. A very dangerous blending of church and state that our founders warned us against.

Democrats want to move in a proven, fact-based direction — take the practical, pragmatic course of action. The Republicans want to be victorious in their crusade for THE TRUTH.

TWO DIFFERING VISIONS.

In a bizarre twist, the GOP is hanging the debt and deficit around Obama’s neck. “The President should have endorsed the Simpson Bowles Commission,” the GOP screams — without bothering to mention that the Republican Party does not endorse it because it calls for increasing taxes to help address the deficit.

They bemoan the lack of presidential leadership on the deficit without mentioning that President Obama tried mightily to reach a deal with Speaker Boehner, but couldn’t because Republicans walked away from it because it would raise taxes on millionaires.

“The President didn’t lead on this issue,” but they don’t mention that he endorsed the deficit plan that was developed in the Senate — which was very close to the Simpson Bowles plan.

While trying to saddle Obama with the deficit/debt they continue to offer solutions that would ADD to the deficit and debt … i.e. more and deeper tax cuts for the already-wealthy and spend, spend on Defense!

If you repeat a lie often enough …

We need to be skeptical when Mitt Romney tells us that HE has the answers to turning our economy around. For starters, there are forces from outside our nation — primarily in Europe, including Greece, Spain and Portugal … and also China — that are impacting our ability to bounce back quickly from this Great Recession. For better or for worse, America is a part of the global economy.

But polls are showing that, at this point anyway, America is buying the idea that Romney would be a better president for the economy. Some voters who are looking for easy answers seem to be attracted to the idea that Romney’s business background would make him a better choice for turning the economy around and creating jobs.

When he presided as Governor of Massachusetts his state was number 47 out of 50 in job creation. And his record as a “vulture capitalist,” as one of his opponents in his own GOP primary called him, does not support his claim of having created 100,000 jobs … not even close. Mitt Romney’s brand of capitalism is not illegal, but it is predatory … and it certainly is not in the business of creating jobs for Americans.

Eugene Robinson wrote for The Washington Post this morning a column titled, Romney is no economic savior. I highly recommend it, as it makes many of the same points I’ve made in this article. Eugene says, “Let’s have this discussion.”

To kick off the discussion, I offer the following question: Do businessmen actually make better presidents? Here’s a detailed, informative article on the history of businessmen/presidents: US News article, Sorry Mitt Romney, Good Businessmen Rarely Make Good Presidents.

But, even without the historic perspective of how well our nation fares under the leadership of a businessman, a quick perusal of Romney’s and the GOP economic plan for today’s America gives rise to plenty of eyebrow raising moments.

To begin with, it is agreed by everyone on both political sides that the most effective way to eliminate budget deficits is to start with creating more jobs. More jobs will result in more tax revenues and the budget deficits can come down, AND more jobs will mean more money in the economy and a higher GDP. A virtuous cycle will begin — you know, the way President Clinton did it!

Democrats have concrete plans to produce more jobs and get our economy moving — rebuilding our infrastructure, re-hiring fire fighters and school teachers, enacting tax cuts for small businesses to spur business growth, and letting the Bush Tax Cuts for the already-wealthy lapse to help close the budget gap — while the GOP’s jobs plan is the George W. Bush Plan.

That’s right: The GOP plan for the economy is still the same old plan as George W. Bush’s, i.e. cut taxes for the already-wealthy and cut government spending. We need to be clear that cutting government spending means cutting jobs. Cutting jobs means less money in the economy and a faltering recovery, followed by bigger deficits and a vicious cycle. Check out a previous CLN post for more detail on the subject HERE.

And yet, taking more money out of the economy and giving it to the already-wealthy is only one of the questionable points in Romney’s economic plan. He is also running on rolling back the minimal financial regulations that were enacted, following the financial meltdown, to protect the economy.

The news this week that J.P. Morgan Chase has recently lost $2B with risky investments tells us that the big banks have NOT learned the lesson of the Great Recession. If the financial regulations passed by Congress had been implemented, instead of watered down by lobbyists, this risky gambling by J.P. Morgan wouldn’t have happened. And yet, that’s their plan — roll back financial regulations and unleash the greed of Wall Street.

These re-hashed and failed GOP theories are what Romney and GOP candidates continue to run on. The evidence proves that cutting taxes for the rich only leads to devastating budget deficits for the country, and big fat Swiss bank accounts for the rich. And unfettered capitalism with minimal regulations leads to financial meltdown.

Democrats and the GOP truly have two different visions for our country; one is based in theory and ideology, the other in pragmatism and evidence.

The austerity economic plan that Romney is planning has already been tested in Great Britain. The results: They are slipping into another recession, deficits are soaring, and joblessness is going in the wrong direction. Real life laboratory: The US had a stimulus and the economy bounced up off of the bottom and continues to grow; England instituted an austerity plan and they’re in a 2nd recession.

The claim that if America votes Republicans into power once again that they will balance the budget and produce jobs is a fantasy and just plain false. They will do exactly what they did before when they were in control in D.C. They will wreck the economy, plunge what’s left of the middleclass into poverty and cut off government services, set the financial sector up to fail once again, and if all the Neocon advisors in the Romney campaign have anything to say about it we’ll surely invade Iran and Syria!

AND YET … THAT’S THEIR PLAN!

There’s a new definition of bi-partisanship in governance. Richard Mourdock, a two-term state treasurer who had the backing of the Tea Party and national anti-tax groups, just defeated 36-year GOP Senator in the Republican primary in Indiana. Mr. Mourdock recently said, “To achieve bi-artisanship in D.C. the Democrats have to come OUR way.”

I’m sorry, Mr. Mourdock, but Dems tried it your way. The President said in the last State of the Union speech that his administration has cracked down on border control and almost eliminated illegal crossings. Republicans had said that if we addressed the border issues FIRST, that we could do Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

AND then Lucy jerked the football away again! There will NOT be immigration reform. The administration and Democrats compromised and gave your side many concessions on Healthcare Reform; and after all these concessions not ONE Republican voted for it. There is example after example where the Dems conceded to GOP demands … and got NOTHING in return.

No, Mr. Mourdock, in the infamous words of W. “Fool me once, shame on ????, well it means you can’t get fooled again!”

Working together for the good of our country means always getting OUR OWN WAY, to the “new GOP.” And the word “compromise” is now a dirty word in the Republican Party.

Actually, dear fellow Americans, the ability to compromise is a mark of maturity. I fear this party has gone off the rails!

By Diane and David Sikes

Our visit to New Orleans kicked off with all our traditional touristy stops — great food and music — but, we were also interested on this trip to know just how our beloved New Orleans was faring since Hurricane Katrina.

The French Quarter looks just the same: charming! And downtown is beautiful. You’d never know there’d been a hurricane and flooding. So we took a 3 hour tour bus through the neighborhoods that experienced the worst of the devastation, to check on the status of restoration progress. The bus driver talked in a constant 3 hour narration, which informed us more than any reading we could have done. The driver lives in one of the neighborhoods that was severely damaged, and explained clearly what happened, and why, and where the city stands today.

Our take: HOPEFUL!

The first thing to note is that New Orleans was not torn apart by a natural disaster. The storm did little damage. What almost destroyed the city was a man-made disaster — the failure of the levees to hold back the rising waters. The levees are the responsibility of the Federal government, the Army Corps of Engineers, who are tasked with keeping the waterways of the Gulf open for commerce to the nation.

What happened to New Orleans was entirely preventable. And the concerning thing is that while the levees have been restored, they are still not built to withstand a hurricane the magnitude of Katrina. The wetlands that have been destroyed over the decades would have protected New Orleans from Katrina if they had been restored, as many have lobbied Congress for over the years. As far as we can tell there are still no plans to restore the precious wetlands. And, the damage to the wetlands by the BP oil spill is incalculable.

And yet … the city is booming with tourists and construction equipment. The damaged areas, including the Lower 9th Ward, are teeming with building cranes and construction workers. There are homes that remain boarded up, with the markings of the first responders still visibly painted on doors indicating that the home was inspected and how many people were found inside (and if any bodies were found). There are homes with patches on the roofs where first responders cut through to gain entry in order to check for people needing help. And yet, there are also gleaming brand-spanking-new homes built, with flower gardens out front — speaking to the spirit of the people.

Businesses are returning. As our driver remarked, Walmart has returned to the city, “but what took them so long?” Pizza parlors, banks, Home Depot and little strip malls are brand new in the damaged areas of the city, old businesses are returning and new businesses are springing up. There are beautiful new public housing apartments built for those needing help with shelter, and schools have rebuilt and serving their areas’ families.

One of the most fun construction sites was the modern/energy efficient homes being built by Brad Pitt in the Lower 9th Ward. These homes are incredible, with solar panels on the roofs, and built high off the ground to withstand flooding. With contemporary architecture and Easter egg colors they are a delight to behold! To see and learn more about Brad Pitt’s green energy homes being built in the Lower 9th Ward go to his website at Make It Right.

And it is inspiring to see that the super wealth of some celebrities like Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Katy Perry and Sean Penn can be put to use in the spirit of community to support our fellow Americans.

We’re so glad we had a chance to check in on N’awlins … it’s doin’ just fine, thank you!

Mitt Romney’s purported qualification for the presidency is that he is a job creator and knows how to jump start the economy. So, we’ll take a look at those claims.

Job Creator? During Romney’s governorship his state of Massachusetts was the 47th state in job creation. Maybe that’s why he chose not to run for reelection for governor after serving just one four year term — he was unpopular and could not have been reelected.

Knows how to jump start the economy? Romney adheres to the GOP line about tax cuts for the wealthy, and austerity for the rest of us. We’re fortunate that there are some ongoing, real-life, experiments being conducted right now that we can assess. The adjoining states of Illinois and Wisconsin are demonstrating the success and failure of austerity vs. stimulus and taxes vs. small government.

Wisconsin, led by GOP Scott Walker, slashed taxes for the rich and balanced the budget by cutting government expenses. The result? Wisconsin is dead last in job creation in the entire nation. Illinois, on the other hand, is led by Democrat Governor Pat Quinn , who raised taxes on the already rich, balanced the budget and invested in worker training and education. Illinois is the 3rd most successful state in job creation.

There’s also an international experiment going on. Great Britain’s Conservative Party has tried to meet the global recession with austerity measures and slashing government spending. The result? England just dropped into a double-dip recession. The US met the recession not with austerity measures, but with a stimulus package — and our economy has grown for 24 straight months.

Mitt Romney and the Republicans claim that austerity and small government will be good for the economy. But, we can see in real-life experiments — that just does not work.

One of the primary causes of upwardly spiraling college tuition costs is pretty simple: Supply and Demand. With the availability of college loans and scholarships from the government there are more and more young people seeking a higher education, so the demand for a college education is rising.

With the demand for college admission rising, the supply of slots open for them is diminished, and consequently the price of tuition is skyrocketing.

So, here’s a serious question for Americans to ponder: Does EVERY value we hold dear have to be ruled by capitalism? Is the need for a better educated workforce outweighed by the supply and demand value? What are the real world consequences of “just letting market forces” decide everything?

At some point, reasonable people need to put down ideology and look at the world realistically.

You saw the news: Mitt Romney is almost certainly the Republican nominee in this presidential election. That means voters are going to have a very clear choice this November. The President is rebuilding an economy meant to last and restoring economic security for the middle class by reclaiming the values that made America great: the simple idea that America prospers when we’re all in it together — when hard work pays off, responsibility is rewarded, and everybody does their fair share and plays by the same rules.

Our opponent thinks our economy will grow by returning to the same failed policies that created the crisis in the first place — an economy built on risky financial deals, outsourcing, and slashing taxes for millionaires like him, while paying for it by gutting programs that seniors and middle-class families rely on.

Before he gets any closer to the White House, each of us needs to know five key facts about Mitt Romney — and be ready to share them with everyone we know.

Forward this message — and if you’re ready for this fight, become the newest member of the Truth Team today and help get the facts out from now till Election Day.

1. Romney is the most radically anti-women candidate in a generation. He supports banning all abortions, backed a so-called “personhood” amendment that could make certain forms of birth control illegal, and says he would “get rid of” federal funding for Planned Parenthood that provides preventive services like cancer screenings for millions of women.

2. Romney would repeal Obamacare. Insurance companies would once again be allowed to run up premiums, unjustifiably deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, drop patients when they get sick, discriminate against women by charging them more for coverage than men, and spend more of your premium dollars on CEO profits and bonuses instead of your actual health care.

3. Romney doesn’t have what it takes to be Commander in Chief. He shifts positions on serious foreign policy and security questions for political reasons, and his only clear commitment is to endless wars: He has no plan to end the war in Afghanistan and would leave our troops there indefinitely. He called the President’s decision to bring our troops home from Iraq by last Christmas “tragic.”

4. Romney’s economic plans would take more money from the middle class and give it to corporations and millionaires like him who don’t need it. Under Romney, millionaires and billionaires would get a $250,000 tax cut, while families with kids making less than $40,000 a year would, on average, actually see their taxes go up. He also opposes the Buffett Rule so that millionaires can continue to take advantage of loopholes and special deals to pay a lower tax rate than the middle class. And he supports tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.

5. Romney would end Medicare as we know it — replacing it with a voucher scheme that would drive profits for insurance companies by forcing seniors to purchase private insurance, paying whatever costs a voucher wouldn’t cover out of their own limited budgets.

Romney and his special-interest allies are going to spend the next seven months trying to deny, downplay, or hide these facts from voters. It’s on us to speak the truth.

So print this out, post it on your fridge, and share on Facebook. Send this list around to friends who are on the fence.

When and if your mother-in-law, or cousin, or best friend claims that Romney is “moderate,” you need to know what to say.

Sign up to join the Truth Team today — help get the facts out every day, keep the other side honest, and make sure people know the truth about Mitt Romney’s and the President’s records:

http://my.barackobama.com/Join-the-Truth-Team

Eventually all of us will need the services of the healthcare system — how this gets paid for is the issue of the day. If this Supreme Court strikes down the Affordable Care Act, the next logical step is to repeal the existing law that mandates that hospitals must provide care to anyone presenting themselves at the emergency room and in need of health services. And this mandate gets paid for by ALL of us in the form of higher insurance rates and hospital/medical costs.

The system simply cannot continue to mandate that the rest of us have to provide emergency healthcare to people who refuse to purchase health insurance, because these free-riders (currently almost 50% of us are uninsured) are driving up the cost of healthcare in our nation to the point that only the top income Americans will be able to afford health insurance. This current system is not sustainable.

Justice Scalia even touched briefly on the idea that perhaps we should roll back the mandate that hospitals treat the uninsured when they show up at the emergency room after a car accident or when experiencing a heart attack.

If enough middleclass Americans are denied healthcare because of their inability to pay, it may spark the begining of the long overdue moral discussion about the role of healthcare for all of us as a country … and how we should pay for it.

What would be the nation’s conclusion to such a debate? Would America side with those Republicans who cheered when CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked in a debate if an uninsured person should be left to die? I can’t believe that’s who we are as a people.

That’s not my America.

Okay, I’ll say it: Republicans are wrong when they claim that our Constitution is forbidden to force any religion to go against their own teachings in order to abide by US law. Does the word POLYGAMY (a religiously held belief by the Morman church of old) ring a bell?

That’s a historical example. But, surely we could imagine other instances when we as a people would deny a religious organization certain rights that the country didn’t support: What if a religion believed in cannibalism or human sacrifice?

It is a ridiculous assertion that religious organizations have special rights that others do not! In fact, I think religious organizations should pay taxes like all other organizations do.

I’m okay with the President’s recent solution in the question of insurance coverage for contraceptives. But Catholic organizations like hospitals and universities have NO right to deny their employees the same contraceptive insurance coverage that all other American women will have.

The Separation of Church and State goes both ways, and we as a nation cannot allow one religious insitution to dictate American law to all the rest of us. If Catholics choose to only use the rhythm method in family planning, that’s their choice; the rest of us shoud have the choice to plan our families in our own way and with the same insurance benefits as the rest of the country.

Now, THAT’S FREEDOM OF RELIGION!