June has proven to be a strong month for the Obama campaign. The president’s support for same sex marriage, his executive order on immigration reform and the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Obamacare has put Team Romney on the defense as evidenced by Romney’s flip-flop on whether the individual mandate in Obamacare is a penalty or a tax.
Be advised that this is no small issue since Romney desperately wants to keep his resume free of any so-called tax increases while he was a one-term governor of Massachusetts. Though Republican-appointee John Roberts, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, chose to call the fee a tax in his opinion versus a penalty, Team Romney has called it both a penalty and a tax in the last few days. It appears that Mr. Silver Spoon wants it both ways.
Now it appears that some of his most prominent supporters are questioning his prospects for winning. News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch and former General Electric CEO Jack Welch have questioned the experience and seasoning of the Romney campaign staff and, frankly, whether Romney has those qualities necessary to defeat an incumbent president in the fall. Murdoch tweeted in the last couple of days that Romney would fail in his attempt to win. In fact, his exact words were: “Met Romney last week. Tough O Chicago pros will be hard to beat unless he drops old friends from team and hires some real pros. Doubtful.”
He added: “US election is referendum on Obama, all else pretty minor.”
This is just the latest in a series of anti-Romney tweets. Last week, the News Corp CEO wrote that Romney “seems to play everything safe, make no news except burn off Hispanics.”
It didn’t help Romney any to have pictures of him vacationing on jet skis at his lakeside estate in Wolfeboro, N.H. go viral on the Internet while the Obamas canceled their summer vacation plan. Makes one wonder how important winning the election is to Romney versus winning the nomination. A lot of sports teams have this problem. They focus all their attention and energy on winning the playoffs and then fail miserably in the finals. Time will tell whether June was the month in which Romney dropped the ball.
I see no Romney path to electoral victory that doesn’t include him winning Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. At the moment, Romney leads in none of them with Ohio being the only “toss-up” state. Ironically, Obama kicked off his bus tour of Ohio and Pennsylvania this morning. It is called “Betting on America.” I call it “Taking the Game to Romney.” So what was Team Romney’s response? Send in the “B” team including former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and Lousianna Governor Bobby Jindal to “shadow” the president’s bus tour. So where’s Romney? You got it. He is still on vacation at the lake in New Hampshire ... an Obama state this fall. Probably doing a little “off-shore” banking.
If Romney and his minor league staff continue to play defense, the Obama margin of victory on election night may get ugly. Right now it’s not whether Obama wins but by how much.
Yeah ... June was a good month for Obama. Think about it. Summer has just begun and the tough old Chicago pros have just begun to take Romney apart. Stay tuned.
Jon Beydler is a 34-year Valley resident and the former Mayor of Fountain Hills who lives in south Chandler.
chuckles3 posted at 8:14 am on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
Yes, that jobs report sealed the deal for Obama. He told us himself it was 'a step in the right direction.' What a pro.
mnjcpa posted at 8:23 am on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
Yeah Jon I'll give you June was a good month for Obama. Considering he's got every major media outlet writing his script and propagandizing the sheeple it would be easy to think that Obama's Chicago thug politics will slide through November.
How you can possibly make fun of Romney spending a week with his family as compared to the wasteful lavish vacations the Obama family has taken ON OUR DIME or the multitude of golf games he plays? You're still smoking that great weed.
But wait a minute. November 2010 must be a distant memory for you. With unemployment at staggering levels, him being a rock star rather than a leader, and policies that have us quickly becoming a country that is no longer about freedom there's powerful constituents that feel quite otherwise. I recall the poll numbers were exactly like they are now when Carter was up for reelection. And Reagan was bombasted by the same stenographers.
Mike McClellan posted at 8:52 am on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
Calling the election 4 months beforehand is a little premature, especially given the volatility of Europe's economy. If something dramatically bad happens there, we'll feel it here. And so will Obama.
No, Jon, you're ahead of the game. Get back to us in September, after the first debate. In a close election like this, with the die hards on both sides already locked in, the on the fence independents will decide this race. And they won't break until they see a debate or two.
Neither one of these guys is particularly adept at debates, so it'll be an interesting time watching those three debates in September and October.
Cerulean posted at 9:09 am on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
I understand that while Mitt is headed to Europe to campaign this month, Bobby Jindal is ‘shadowing’ (a term I read online) President Obama. Jindal is trying to shoo away, down play Mitts offshore (tax evasive) investments as a reflection of business success and shrewdness.
That Mitt, such a great American!
chatmandu002 posted at 9:25 am on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
Keep drinking your liberal/progressive coolaide Jon, it will your only sustenance during the dark days of November.
mnjcpa posted at 9:26 am on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
It's astounding that there are people out there that fall for that Obama is a `man of the people`. The guy that holds dinners with Hollywood stars at $40k a plate and Vogue editors. I'm frankly scared for this country if Obama gets reelected.
Has the education system so dumbed down thinking that you would actually reward this performance for another term? Real unemployment is actually 15% and every policy is either too costly for our monetary system or tramples on the private sector. How can anybody reelect this guy with his performance?
My business will be phenomenal if he does, so it's not about me personally. The economic and cultural decline is gradual and it's not accompanied by any shock value. Do people believe that this is all America can be? More people are going on disability than getting jobs - 8 million worth. 43% of America pay ZERO income tax. They're all eating and they all have cell phones and there's no longer a stigma for being on welfare or taking handouts.
What in the world would possess someone to think that this is okay?
CSalafia posted at 11:46 am on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
"The guy that holds dinners with Hollywood stars at $40k a plate and Vogue editors."
I'm sure you hold the same contempt for Romney's $50k a plate fundraiser he held at the Koch's this weekend, right?
mnjcpa posted at 11:58 am on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
The debate is whether Obama is a man of the people. It's not about Romney.
Accuracy posted at 12:04 pm on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
Jon Beydler glorifying how President Obama's campaign hit the road during his bus tour traveled through Ohio – That is, as Obama boasts of spending a "billion dollars" on his upcoming re-election campaign.
Today, in a speech at the White House, Obama gave a push to Congress to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class making less than $250,000 a year. It’s the Republicans that have been pushing for an extension of tax cuts – to keep Bush-era tax cuts from expiring at the end of the year.
And House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said the House will vote in the last week of July to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for everybody.
Bush-era tax cuts . . . another thing Obama can blame George Bush for.
VofReason posted at 1:01 pm on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
Yes, getting that gay vote of 3% of the country is really going to turn the tide. Though the illegal alien vote probably will be a stronger impact- as most Democrats know. Oh wait, 70% of the country is and has been against Obamacare. Yup, he sure is knocking it out of the ballpark, to steel Jon's metaphore. Now if he can just make America forget about the last 3 years, he will be a shuwin........
CSalafia posted at 1:19 pm on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
"The debate is whether Obama is a man of the people. It's not about Romney."
Oh, ok. So when Obama raises money, it's bad. But "leave Romney alone!"
If we had some actual campaign finance reform, perhaps we could focus on actual issues. Until then, picking on Obama fundraising in the era of Citizens United just makes you look petty.
mnjcpa posted at 1:57 pm on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
Typecasting yourself as `a man of the people - when in reality you're in the pockets of every institution you criticize is a hypocrite in my world.
He doesn't keep promises, lies when convenient, and arrogantly ignores the constitution. He would have been fired three years ago in the business world.
Romney's crime is of making a success out of himself. In Obamaworld we're taught to hold it against people who take risks and make a success of themselves. Punish them - penalize them.
The Hope & Change he sold you? More like divisive, racial hate, socialism. That's not a leader in my world.
And on the campaign finance reform front - let's include the backdoor way money gets funneled to the Democrats through labor unions.
The primary reason you're seeing the amount of money go Romney's way is how businesses see the direction this country is going. It must be stopped in November and if you don't want to open your eyes and learn about it - then be my guest.
CSalafia posted at 2:14 pm on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
"Typecasting yourself as `a man of the people - when in reality you're in the pockets of every institution you criticize is a hypocrite in my world."
Hence, the need to get money out of our auctions.. I mean elections. Yes, it's disgusting. To criticize one but not the other is hypocritical.
"He doesn't keep promises, lies when convenient, and arrogantly ignores the constitution. He would have been fired three years ago in the business world."
Let's see, no, no, and no. Running a nation isn't a business. Never has been, never will be.
"Romney's crime is of making a success out of himself. In Obamaworld we're taught to hold it against people who take risks and make a success of themselves. Punish them - penalize them."
What form letter did you get that from? I'm glad you support someone who loves this country so much, he ships his cash overseas to avoid paying taxes.
"The Hope & Change he sold you? More like divisive, racial hate, socialism. That's not a leader in my world."
I love how "socialism" is new "communism".. a word thrown around to engender fear, but usually thrown around by those who have no clue what they're talking about.
"The primary reason you're seeing the amount of money go Romney's way is how businesses see the direction this country is going."
Partial credit here. Yes, businesses will no longer have free reign to suck up as much money as possible from us, collapse the economy, and then do it again because there's no rules that say they can't.
What the right's big problem is, is that their default value is economic. Everything comes down to money. Everything. That tosses any sort of morals or ethics right out the window.
So, bow down to the golden calf.. plutocracy is right around the corner.
mnjcpa posted at 3:24 pm on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
Wow this is a perfect example of why America is headed to economic destruction.
1. It's not just about the elections CSalafia. Obama has benefited as much and more than Romney from Wall Street.
2. Running a nation isn't a business - are you serious? So what is it then - a child's playground? The same principles that help businesses succeed work in the government. The trouble is in Obamaworld the new normal is government
mnjcpa posted at 3:28 pm on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
Just realized that I hit the wrong key, but I"m not even going to go on - you're too far gone.
Mike McClellan posted at 4:51 pm on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
Look, both Obama and Romney inhabit the 1%er world, though the Mittster is in even more rarified air. So let's cut the argument about the Mittster's wealth.
But we can look at their proposals: Mitt has embraced the Ryan budget, which calls for extreme tax cuts for the wealthy paid for in part by huge cuts in social programs used by the middle and working class, and in part paid for by as yet unnamed cuts in tax loopholes. We're supposed to "trust" Romney and Ryan to cut those loopholes. Any bets on that happening?
And for the elderly, the Ryan budget gives them a Medicare voucher, a voucher that once it's spent, leaves the elderly on their own for health care costs.
Finally, he opposes Obama's proposal to roll back the tax cut for the wealthiest, which would leave their tax rate at a level lower than the average highest tax rate during St. Ronnie's term. What would Reagan do? Be pragmatic, much more so than the ideologues running Romney and the Republican party right now.
mnjcpa posted at 5:25 pm on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
First I want to say I really like debating you Mike. Our politics differ, but you do have an open mind. You're right - the money controls the game. They're both in the big money pockets. Personally I'm a Ron Paul fan because he's a true believer and principled in freedom and self reliance.
This is what happens every single time anyone gets anywhere serious about taking measures to stop this train wreck. First we hear about the old people, next we hear that `only the wealthiest` get trophies. So allow me to counter. How is wealthy defined? What gets batted around most is $200-$250k a year. Guess who those people are that are earning $250-$500k a year? Small business owners that's who. With a caveat: those earnings have vanished under the Obama administration. Fear and uncertainty have paralyzed small business under this administration. These people don't have lifetime guaranteed pensions and are overtaxed, over-regulated, over vilified. I support Romney because he `gets this` - Obama doesn't. I think he's on a personal mission to destroy the private sector.
Until America gets smart enough, turn off the liberal news networks and study this stuff we're headed to an economic cliff. The ONLY way it will be accomplished is serious spending reform. When 43% of the country pay no tax and the top 20% pay virtually all of the tax - at what point do you think the achievers will say why try anymore? When the return no longer makes sense to take the risk - the tide will turn. Classic Ann Rand stuff.
Mike McClellan posted at 7:24 pm on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
I'm all for more certainty and less fear. So how do you propose getting each with Europe in the turmoil it's in? And speaking of creating fear and uncertainty, one of the factors at play here comes from the Tea Party House Republicans, who were ready to default last summer and who appear ready to play chicken once again.
How do you think small business people feel about that uncertainty?
And if Obama was "on a personal mission to destroy the private sector," explain the bank and car industry bailouts. You wanna see the private sector go in the hopper, follow the Romney Formula for the car industry: Let the corporations declare bankruptcy and manage them with private investments. One problem: No one had the moolah then to do so.
But here's where we DO agree: we need to curb the spending on entitlements. Which is one reason I favored the Simpson Bowles plan. Three big mistakes by Obama in his first term: Not focusing on jobs early on; not focusing on controlling health care costs; not using Simpson Bowles as a basis for budget discussions.
But Ayn Rand? Please. A phony. Read the biographies of her and you find that she was about as closed-minded as she claimed she wasn't.
mnjcpa posted at 8:04 pm on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
The bank bailouts were due to the Dodd/Frank/Clinton everybody should own a home liberal monstrosity.
I'm in complete alignment with what the tea party house republicans did and are doing. Glad someone is doing what they said they were going to do when they got there.
Romney's right about the car industry. You don't save a dying business by throwing money at it. You let it go in to bankruptcy, weed out the spending in weak areas, and it comes back stronger. All the bailouts did was buyout the unfunded labor union pensions on the books. Those out of touch, lucrative union pensions where people retire in their early 50's.
In my work I talk to hundreds of small business owners every year so I think I've got the pulse of what many are thinking and they think what I just described - that Obama is on a personal mission to destroy the private sector.
I was describing Rand's book Mike - not her individually. The story of Atlas Shrugged is exactly what's happening right now. Like her or not, that's my take.
Abstract01 posted at 10:24 pm on Mon, Jul 9, 2012.
I didn't waste my time reading Jon's tripe, but I sure have enjoyed the give and take in the comments!
wdgnas posted at 5:44 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
mnjcpa: a couple of questions:
what about the 60% of corporations that pay no federal income tax?
why should the tea party republicans be able to dine and dash on the meal they just ate?
why are pensions, both union and non-union allowed to go unfunded?
i guess the corporations are needing more taxpayer help. if it was such a bad deal it should not have been made in the first place.
what are the corporations going to do when there is no one left to buy their products?
CSalafia posted at 7:38 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
"1. It's not just about the elections CSalafia. Obama has benefited as much and more than Romney from Wall Street. "
As of mid-June, here's the totals from the financial sector:
Romney: $37.1M
Obama: $4.8M
mnjcpa posted at 8:03 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
Not that I think you would CSalafia, but if you would like to learn more about it I could recommend a few books which detail the money trail in the stimulus packages - who got paid and what. Even a die hard liberal would believe the corruption in the Obama administration.
The business money is with Romney now for glaring obvious reasons. The biggest business Obama ran before taking over the responsible job in the world was the Resco scandal. Romney's a proven business man.
Great questions wdgnas but I don't follow a few of them. Here you go:
1. not sure where you're getting your statistics on the corporations because it's simply not true. Smaller businesses aren''t paying any tax right now, because like most in the private sector their profits have been wiped out during the Obama depression.
2. the type of pensions that labor unions have are called `defined benefit` plans. The same type that allows government employees to retire in their early 50's with life long benefits. The benefit is `defined`, but the funding of those pensions is actuarially calculated based on interest rate factors. GM, states, and federal governments exaggerate the rate of return that they can expect on the money, so it creates a whopping liability on their books that can't be paid from earnings or tax revenue.I know this is confusing - but I hope I've explained it.
3. That's the point about the corporations. Businesses are accountable to their shareholders. How happy do you think those shareholders will be when their dividend checks are taxed under Obamacare and are reduced due to lower earnings. Obama doesn't get this because he doesn't understand nor want to understand the free market.
StrongChristian posted at 8:12 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
What's wrong with Romney jetskiing? Obama has gone on more vacations in three years than Bush did in eight!
On most of Bush's "vacations" he spent his time at his ranch in Texas. He did a lot of ranch work. I don't consider that to be a real vacation. Obama has now done at least 100 rounds of golf while he's been president. That's definitely more, by far, than the number of golf rounds that Bush did.
CSalafia posted at 8:25 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
"What's wrong with Romney jetskiing?"
What was wrong with Kerry windsurfing?
"Obama has gone on more vacations in three years than Bush did in eight!"
No.
mnjcpa posted at 9:21 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
StrongChristian welcome! Some unsolicited advice is logic doesn't work with the liberals in this column.
We both know all the side shows - the faux war on women, Romney's bank accounts, birth control are ALL to take everyone's eye off the real problems:
1. the economy & jobs
2. the overwhelming majority of people who understand we can't afford Obamacare and want it repealed.
When you understand the `side shows` you see it for what it is.
CSalafia posted at 9:54 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
mnj - I'm always open to new sources of info. What do ya got?
mnjcpa posted at 10:24 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
Good for you for asking. First thing you need to do is turn off the major news networks. You're getting a very biased presentation of ideas - all with the purpose of getting Obama reelected.
Tom Woods - Meltdown
Peter Schiff - The Real Crash & How An Economy Crashes
Murray Rothbard - America's Great Depression
Ron Paul - End the Fed
All great books and many more that will open your eyes to the real Obama administration.
Engaged Voter posted at 10:51 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
"Obama has gone on more vacations in three years than Bush did in eight! "
http://www.factcheck.org/2010/01/president-obamas-vacation-days/
"Of the 77 total vacation trips President George W. Bush made to his Texas ranch while in office, nine of them — all or part of 69 days — came during his first year as president in 2001,"
"President Obama has spent all or part of 26 days on vacation during his first year as president"
Darn those pesky facts! StrongChristian, are you getting tired of getting caught in lies yet?
Engaged Voter posted at 10:55 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
"StrongChristian welcome! Some unsolicited advice is logic doesn't work with the liberals in this column. "
mnjcpa, you might want to check some of StrongChristian's other comments...I don't think he even has a grasp as to what logic is, given his fallacies, lies, and unsupported claims. ;)
Oh, and it took me all of five minutes to discover another FACT:
Bush spent 1,020 days of his presidency on vacation.
mnjcpa posted at 11:07 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
Those are silly, unimportant points Engaged to things that don't matter. So if it makes you feel good great, but irrelevant to the real topic of the model of destruction that Obama has perpetuated on America.
Accuracy posted at 11:10 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
mnjcpa posted: "the overwhelming majority of people who understand we can't afford Obamacare and want it repealed."
And according to the Doctor Patient Medical Association survey: 83% of American doctors have considered quitting because of President Obama’s new healthcare law – and 72% say the ObamaCare individual mandate will not result in better access to health care.
Meanwhile, House Republicans are gearing up a vote to repeal ObamaCare again. House of Representatives introduced Repeal ObamaCare Act (H.R. 6079) . . . and the five hours of debate are set to take place today and Wednesday.
Engaged Voter posted at 11:20 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
"So far, President Obama has taken 61 vacation days after 31 months in office. At this point in their presidencies, George W. Bush had spent 180 days at his ranch, and Ronald Reagan had taken 112 vacation days at his ranch."
So I guess all the whining is because Obama doesn't have a ranch?
It couldn't have ANYTHING to do with his "curse of Ham", could it? ;)
Engaged Voter posted at 11:25 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
"Those are silly, unimportant points Engaged to things that don't matter."
I agree! You may have noticed that I didn't bring them up, I just corrected the falsehoods in the original comment. ;)
CSalafia posted at 11:35 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
The Doctor Patient Medical Association is part of the National Tea Party Federation and actively lobbies to repeal health care reform, which is hardly an unbiased source.
Yet, if there's one nugget to glean from this questionable survey, it's this:
Ninety-five percent say medicine is becoming too controlled by large corporations, including giant hospital systems, large hospital-controlled groups and what they view as collusion of corporate medicine and insurance.
“The power of hospitals is huge and has destroyed physician's autonomy and his ability to demand improvements in health care,” write a general surgeon in North Carolina. And from a family practitioner: “When the airlines were taken over by business instead of being run by pilots, the industry went to hell. Same thing has happened to ‘healthcare’-- doctors used to run hospitals and their practices. Now they are ‘providers.’
The less than 700 doctors who responded to this survey overwhelmingly said that insurance companies and the corporate for-profit health system is what's killing medicine.
CSalafia posted at 11:38 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
Addtionally, nowhere in the question that elicited the 83% response was the ACA mentioned:
1. How do current changes in the medical system affect your desire to practice medicine?
I'm re-energized - 4.6%
Makes me think about quitting - 82.6%
Unsure/no opinion - 12.8%
mnjcpa posted at 11:43 am on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
So the answer is to add a catastrophic government system that is NEVER run efficiently on top of a private sector business? Welcome to substandard medicine.
I just read a study of doctors that over 83% of the them surveyed indicated they will leave medicine due to Obamacare. There is simply no reason for someone to take the risk and time of medical school and ambulance chasing lawyers to be told what they can earn.
The only way to solve the healthcare system is to keep the government out of it - not in it. It's not free and anybody that thinks it is is deluded.
Arizona Willie posted at 12:52 pm on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
mnjcpa --- how can you say " a catostrophic governmnet system that is NEVER run efficiently "?
Medicare pays out 92% of premiums in benefits.
Private insurance companies ( before Bohnercare ) paid out between 60 - 70% of premiums in benefits.
Under Bohnercare the insurance companies are required to pay out at least 80% which makes them still LESS EFFICIENT than Medicare.
That's the main reason the Republicant politicians are screaming ... their masters ( the insurance companies ) are taking a hit in profits which results in a hit in executive bonuses.
Insurance company executives are NOT happy because the new law cuts into their graft.
mnjcpa posted at 2:10 pm on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
Easy to answer your question AZ Willie. You think Medicare is a grand example of a business model? Let me show the flaw in that thinking.
I've read the solvency report by Medicare - have you? The actuaries report that it is expected to remain solvent until 2024, the same as 2011's estimate. What is very misleading in the report is that tax increases and spending cuts were counted towards the ability for Medicare to remain solvent. Otherwise it’s due to be bankrupt in 2016. Many financial analysts are predicting it will be sooner than that.
I know you've got a grudge against anyone being successful - it oozes from your comments. But put aside your petty differences between Republican and Democrats. The free market ALWAYS creates a better more efficient system than the government.
The biggest problem with healthcare is when people started believing that health `insurance` was somehow `free healthcare`.
StrongChristian posted at 10:43 pm on Tue, Jul 10, 2012.
Jon, in 119 days . . . .
2,847 hours . . .
170,820 minutes . . .
10,249,200 seconds . . .
Take your pick - we will (hopefully) have a new president.
(Note: These numbers are approximately the same amount of time - not exact. Make your choice.)
VofReason posted at 12:45 pm on Wed, Jul 11, 2012.
The big difference is that some people feel that they are responsible for themselves and hold others to the same standard. That does not mean not helping people when they are down, but it does mean not taking from some so others do not have to work hard. Those who belive that the Government needs to drive everything believe that some people are weak minded and just cannot or will not do the basic things for themselves or their families. They believe that the people who are responsible should give portions of their money to the Government for it to inefficiently dole it out to the weakminded. Pretty simple really. Which side are you on?
mnjcpa posted at 5:52 pm on Wed, Jul 11, 2012.
Couldn't say it any better VofReason.