Forecast Favorable For Second Term

 Like a confluence of two powerful atmospheric forces, ala Superstorm Sandy, Mitt Romney's last minute desperate lies about President Barack Obama's Jeep jobs record and the President's own high profile, proactive response to Sandy's devastation, forecast favorable conditions for a second term.

 While Romney can do nothing but pose, smile weakly and attack, the President is busy being the president -- and doing a good job. So much so that even one of his biggest critics, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is embracing him. This should be the turning point in the election. Just watch the poles.

  

"Past Four Years" of Betrayal

  As far as the "past four years" go, this really is all you need to know.

  The night of newly-elected president Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 20, 2009, amidst a devastating recession at the hands of Wall Street recklessness, a group of 15 key Republican Party players were summoned to urgent business at a pricey restaurant in Washington D.C.

  The mission? Betrayal.

  The cozy cluster, made up of Republican lawmakers like the eventual vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan and old time connivers like Newt Gingrich, needed to map out a plan for the next four years.

  And man, did this country need a plan. Some 750,000 Americans were losing their jobs each month. Millions had lost their homes, millions more would follow suit. Personal savings vanished into thin air.

  But, turns out, this group of conservatives wasn’t so concerned with all that. They long ago had conveniently tuned out the desperate cries of Main Street to heed the demands of Wall Street.

 After three hours of strategizing at that secret meeting, Republicans had resolved a simple goal: Make President Barack Obama a one term president.

  And the rest is – almost history. At every turn, the Republicans (mostly House Republicans) agreed they would conspire to obstruct President Obama at every turn – even as it meant further penalizing the people at a time their constituents needed them most.

 Then, with the economy still struggling to recover from the devastation – largely endorsed, even orchestrated, by the corporate-controlled right – Athe Republican leadership would corruptly and childishly point a finger at the president, laying all the blame for any failures on him.

 The seedy details of that private dinner convened at the Caucus Room in Washington the same day President Obama was sworn in, were revealed in Robert Draper’s book, “Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives” released this past April.

  Amidst all the partisan vitriol and blatant fabrications, some of us may have missed that pertinent news. Many of us need to be reminded of that dastardly scheme borne out of sheer, power-hungry partisanship while our country teetered at cliff’s edge.

  So here’s your reminder. It’s the height of hypocrisy for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to stand before the American people and blame any lack of bi-partisanship on the President over the “past four years.”

 For the "past four years" House Republicans haven't seen their main duty as serving the people. Stemming the rise of foreclosures or passing job creating legislation or giving folks a helping hand took a back seat to tripping up the President whenever they got the chance.

 Take the President's American Jobs Act -- meant to create infrastructure jobs, offer tax credits for working Americans and employers and provide aid to state and local governments so they can avoid further layoffs of teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public safety officials.

The American Jobs Act still awaits approval along with the American Veterans Corps Act, Farm Act, Violence Against Women Act among other bills, while House Republicans are taking a rare two month vacation that won't end until after the election. Surprised?

 For more than a year, House Republicans have consistently blocked President Obama's job legislation. Hey, partisanship is nothing new. But the extent the Right has pushed its agenda in these dire times encroaches on the side of criminal.

 It should be crystal clear to anyone paying attention that the unprecedented obstructionist House Republicans played an intricate role in any stagnation in Washington over the “past four years.”

 President Obama time and time gain over the “past four years” tried to reach across the aisle, only to get his hand smacked away by Speaker of The House John Boehner and his pals. Even the strongest of swimmers can get only so far with a ball and chain clasped around his ankle. 

  

 Americans are on the verge of being grifted again. The same crooks that robbed tens of millions of Americans of their homes, jobs and savings are now promising us the moon and the stars.

 

 Just because the Massachusetts Governor has made millions for himself and a privileged few as a big time investor, doesn’t make him fit to be president of the United States. Quite to the contrary. He’s got “Wall Street” written all over him.

 So, as you vote, keep in mind that privileged private meeting among Republicans “four years” ago and realize that for the “past four years” they’ve been working against progress just so they can insert a Big Money man in the White House.

 Realize that the Republicans not only have betrayed the President. They’ve betrayed the American people.

Winner and Still President ...

Same old lines. Same old lies. Same old underhanded tactics. Of course, "Past four years" is Mitt Romney's and the Republicans' catch phrase battle cry. Conservatives like to talk about the turbulent past four years as if they weren't intrinsically linked to them.

Like the first two presidential debates, Governor Mitt Romney in the third and final presidential debate Monday night may have put on a good show, but that's about it. 

 President Barack Obama was in control. He appeared informed, sincere and resolute. He looked like the president. Romney, on the other hand, didn't. The Governor simply came off as a poser -- a guy trying to attack and trip up the president in the same way the unprecedented House Republicans have made that their goal over the "past four years."

 The more Romney harped about "peace" and "strength" for America Monday night, the more he sounded like George W. Bush in his first debate with John Kerry in the Fall of 2003 -- when Bush kept repeating how the presidency was "hard work."

 To boot, Romney's persistent mention of peace in discussions of foreign policy matters seemed forced and hence, brought to mind another Bush moment in the spring of 2002 when the then president declared to the American people: "I have no war plans on my desk."

  No, they were in the desk drawer. We later learned, thanks to the Downing Street Memo, that just two months later Bush had decided to invade Iraq. The only hitch was -- he needed a good reason.

  But, more than any barbs over foreign or domestic policy, what was most revealing Monday night, and what really spoke volumes, was the clear difference between Romney's and the president's presence, if you will. Obama simply looked like the real commander in chief.

Biden's Righteous Anger Wins Out

Sometimes righteous anger is feisty and relentless in its defense of the truth, and in expression of complete and utter intolerance of puffed up, disingenuous, phony fabrications designed to fool the American people and ultimately destroy their democracy.

 Last night, in the first and only vice presidential debate in Kentucky with the younger self-important right wing windbag Raul Ryan, vice president Joe Biden represented that righteous anger. And we best see more it next week in the second presidential debate.

Goldman Shuns Obama, Says Much

 The powerful and greedy Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs' abandonment of Barack Obama should tell you all you need to know when it comes to casting your vote this November.

  If you're one of the rich, greedy and powerful, then perhaps you'll want to cast your vote for Obama's challenger, corporate crusader Mitt Romney. But if you live among the rest of us, Obama hands down is the clear choice.

 In 2008, Goldman executives and employees were the largest backer of the president. But they aren't so pleased with some of the new regulations the president put in place in hopes of curbing the wheeling and dealing with the people's investments that led to the 2008 crisis.

 While this country still needs even more restraints put on our big banks and mortgage companies, the folks at Goldman don't think that's such a good idea. 

 So they are working on getting one of their own, Mitt Romney, elected. So far, Goldman as a whole has dumped $900,000 into Romney's Super-pacs and another $900,000 directly into Romney's campaign coffers.

 Meanwhile, Obama who got $1 million from Goldman in 2008, so far has received only $136,000 in Goldman support for his re-election campaign.

 The power that Goldman wields is truly scary. Former Goldman Sachs CEO, Henry Paulson, was named Bush's Treasury Secretary towards the end of Bush's term -- just in time to down play the crushing impact of the looming economic crisis. And Obama still has a number of Goldman execs in his administration.

 The prevailing logic should be, if Goldman or any Wall Street giant deems something a bad idea, then it's likely in the best interest of the people.

Just Round One; Two More To Go

 The first presidential debate was reminiscent of a heavyweight boxing title match.

 Like any smart title holder in a heavyweight championship bout, President Barack Obama and his handlers decidedly settled on a defensive strategy for round one.

 Challenger, Mitt "Roundhouse" Romney predictably came out desperate and swinging -- as if it were the last round of a title fight and he needed a knockout to win.

 Chances were Romney would end up stumbling over his own shoelaces. That didn't happen. Just the same, Obama was aware -- and most seasoned fight fans would realize -- that when it comes right down to it, Romney has got nothing. He's all show. 
  
 Sure, the Massachusetts's Governor may have impressed the ringsiders with his empty baseless taunts. He may have even wowed the judges by throwing more punches than the President in the first round.

 But he landed nothing of any consequence because he has nothing of any consequence. 

 Let's face it -- both the Republican and Democratic parties are unsteady on their feet as far as standing up for Americans. But if one party by far doesn't have the people's interest's at heart. That's Romney's Conservatives, led by the obstructionist House Republicans.

 That's what makes Romney's meaningless flurries and phony taunts absurd -- as if he really gave a damn about the middle and lower class. He's stands with a party that really encouraged lawlessness on Wall Street -- through deregulation -- during George W. Bush's War of Terror against the American people.

  Those devastating eight years under the Bush administration made the Mafia's meddling in professional boxing look like child's play. The resulting 2008 crisis, was only the most tangible evidence of an endless list of damaging policy decisions that crippled this country and left much of the middle and lower class broke.

 Knowing all that, coupled with Romney's Wall Street-like record at Bain Capital -- where he made millions for a few close pals while bankrupting scores of Americans -- should give the president all the firepower he needs to lay out Romney flat on his back.

 In the meantime, Obama's appears to have been earnestly trying to pick up the pieces ever since he took office. While he hasn't been faultless, there's no fail safe blueprint for reassembling all the parts and fixing this mess in just a few short years -- a mess that took so much longer to create.

 Of course, the obstructionist House Republicans over the past two years did all they could to stonewall the president, keeping their guards up and their chins tucked in to their chests -- but never fully engaging him like the professionals they are paid to be.

 The president's reserved, but focused approach in the first presidential debate, was akin to that of legendary middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins, who was known for his overly cautious, defensive approach in the early rounds.

 Hopkins' early rounds were reserved for studying his opponent, spying openings to exploit in the later rounds. And it should be noted, that inevitably Hopkins punctuated those later rounds with a classic knockout punch or at least, a clear victory. 

 But the president should keep the corporate crusader off balance by consistently jabbing Romney's Bain Capital days in his face. Maybe then, Obama will set up a jarring straight right cross -- asking the corporate crusader directly: What makes him any different than the Wall Street robber barons that nearly destroyed this country?

 Predictably and absurdly, professional loudmouth ringsiders like Rush Limbaugh are insisting that the battle for the oval office is over already and victory belongs to Romney. That would be laughable if it weren't so pathetic.

 Obama does have to be on guard for an "October Surprise," surely still to
come. And while the president can't underestimate the desperation of the greedy and the power hungry, the truth is we may have already seen the best Romney has to offer.

 And, as long as we Americans are watching closely, it will never be enough to win the fight.