*Written by Rob Rimes.

Introduction:

I don’t hate Mitt Romney but I am certainly not a fan, which should be obvious at this point. I do hate the goddamned media for giving him an unfair advantage over the other candidates but truthfully, that isn’t his fault. Romney isn’t the absolute worst presidential choice out there, which many of my colleagues and readers may disagree with vehemently, but he is still a progressive statist bastard that is hellbent on controlling the lives of all of us in an effort to keep the giant wheel of the establishment machine rolling. I have been nasty to the guy many times in my countless diatribes about the 2012 election but my distaste and malcontent has been for a very good reason. Point being, I know that Romney can’t save this country and I feel that this is painstakingly obvious even though I find myself completely befuddled over the fanfare and support that this guy gets, not just form the media – their support is understandable, but from the conservative voting public who are all pretty much in unison behind this guy’s idea of smaller government, less taxes and squashing the budding police state. This guy will not solve any of those problems. In fact, he will only magnify them and dig our giant pit of legislative bullshit deeper and deeper. Hell, the pit is practically bottomless at this point but electing Mitt Romney will only solidify that fact even further.

I’m certainly not saying that Obama is a better choice out of the two. Realistically, I don’t think there is much difference between one or the other. This is a prime example of there being just one big government party with two wings: one that wears blue shirts with donkeys on them and one that wears red shirts with elephants on them. The worst part about this is that most “conservatives” are following Romney, as well as Gingrich and Santorum, believing in the hypocritical rhetoric that they’ve got a small government guy on their side who will fight for them. Realistically, those who support these guys are ignorant in economics and foreign policy. It is incredibly unfortunate but as Ron Paul said in a recent debate, “Conservatives have lost their way.”

Now I can’t completely cover every negative thing on Romney’s record, as there is a lot, but I am going to talk about a few points. In the end, it is really your decision as to where you want to put your vote but you really need to think this through and ask yourself where you want to be in four years. Do you want to be climbing out of the hole or do you want to be yelling at the guys that are still digging and digging?

Smaller Government:

The first thing worth getting into is definitely the issue of Mitt claiming that he’ll work towards making government smaller. Mitt Romney, who has preached for this over the course of all these debates, has a really shitty record of practicing what he’s been preaching. In reality, Mitt has been feeding into the desires of the voter base and has been stringing them along with his version of the popular rhetoric of the day. The sad thing is that many of the people who support this douchenugget are taking all this bullshit at face value and not looking at reality. Truthfully, maybe Romney actually believes his empty words and his supporters might not be adept enough to see through the Orwellian doublespeak. Let me rundown his track record of big government bullshit by ripping the fucking band-aid off: exposing the man’s economic sores.

I could write a whole damn article about the monstrosity that is Romneycare but I won’t bore you or myself with the details that have already been recycled a million times and beaten into the ground with Thor’s hammer by every critic for several years now. I’m over the Romneycare issue personally. I don’t like it, I think it’s shit, it was the blueprint for what became Obamacare but it was done at the state level, not the federal level and most Bay Staters still approve of it, so that is their economic cross to bear.

One thing that many Romney supporters don’t know or just choose to ignore is the fact that he significantly raised taxes in Massachusetts while he was governor. While preaching fiscal conservatism and pimping himself out as friendly to business, Governor Romney increased the tax bill on businesses by $300 million! He and his cronies also approved hundreds of millions of dollars worth of higher fees and fines on businesses in just four years! Many business owners were incredibly dissatisfied with Romney as governor. Essentially, corporate taxes under Romney almost doubled in just his one term.

I guess the tax hikes were necessary though, as Romney drastically increased spending in Massachusetts. In 2006, Ol’ Mittens increased spending in just that year by 7.6 percent. In 2007, he increased spending again, this time all the way up to 10.2 percent. During just his four years in office, he increased state spending by a total of 20.7 percent! That’s a lot of debt thrown on the taxpayer but at least those hefty tax hikes on corporations absorbed some of the burden. Maybe this tax burden accounts for the fact that Mitt Romney managed the 47th ranked state, out of 50, in the realm of job creation. That brings me to my next point.

Romney has been touting his job creation success while working at Bain Capital. He proudly boasts about creating corporations like Staples, Sports Authority and Steel Dynamics, all of which have created hundreds of thousands of jobs. However, as governor, unemployment was a real problem in Massachusetts. Sure, he did great in the private sector and as Romney himself has said, “Jobs are created in the private sector.” However, all of his job creation skills didn’t translate to success when he reached office. So what makes the public think that this job magician’s magic wand will suddenly work this time? Yes he is a self-professed business master but he couldn’t tap into that while running Massachusetts so essentially his trial run at it was a failure. On the issue of Romney’s job creation woes, Boston Herald business reporter Bret Arends wrote:

During the four years Mitt Romney was governor of Massachusetts, it had the second worst jobs record of any state in America…it wasn’t a regional issue. The rest of New England created nearly 200,000 jobs.

The question no one ever seems to ask Governor Romney is how many jobs were destroyed in an effort to build his monstrous corporations. Now I am not attacking him for building giant successful businesses, as that is the nature of the beast – good or bad. I am just trying to point out how skewed these sorts of statistical claims are because if you created say 300,000 jobs but your new businesses eliminated the jobs of say 250,000 people whose businesses you closed down through competition, well then you’ve only really created 50,000 jobs. This is a simple ballpark example but it should show you how some statistical claims can be made when you only tell one side of the story. Hell, government has been using these sorts of statistical tactics for years when releasing inaccurate numbers to sway public opinion for a candidate, a bill or whatever else they have needed public approval on.

Another issue that shows how non-small government this ass clown is, is the TARP bailouts. Mittens hates when people bring the subject up and has gone as far as lying and completely denying that he ever supported it but there is tons and tons of evidence that says otherwise. In fact, Romney was incredibly passionate about poorly run banks getting a massive taxpayer funded bonus for sucking at business. On CNN, a few years back during the bailouts, Romney said:

I think there is a need for economic stimulus. Americans have lost about $11 trillion dollars in net worth. That translates into about $400 billion dollars a year less spending that they’ll be doing, and that’s net of additional government programs like Medicaid and unemployment insurance. And government can help make that up in a very difficult time. And that’s one of the reasons why I think a stimulus program is needed.

Sounds like small government to me! So why would he be so pro-big bank? Well, let’s look at his top campaign contributors from a recent list. His top contributor is Goldman Sachs who gave $354,700. Next up is Credit Suisse Group at $195,250 and Morgan Stanley at $185,800. Every other contributor in the six figures is also in the banking industry. You’ve got HIG Capital, Barclays, Kirkland & Ellis, Bank of America, PricewaterhouseCoopers, EMC Corp. & JPMorgan Chase. His top ten contributors are all fucking banks! Occupying Wall Street should start on Mitt’s front lawn! This shows a sharp contrast from Ron Paul whose top three campaign contributors are the Air Force, the Army and the Navy. Paul’s biggest contributor is also a lot less than six figures. So who really understands the plight of the average person? Romney is so far up on the Wall Street crony capitalist ladder than he can’t remember how to get down – not that he wants to.

People that call Barack Obama the Wall Street president haven’t seen anything yet. On campaign contributions from the big banks, Obama has made significantly less than Romney. Goldman Sachs gave Obama $49,124, Morgan Stanley coughed up $28,225, Bank of America gave $46,699, JPMorgan Chase came in at $38,038 and Citigroup was at $36,887. You do the math but it is obvious who the bailed out banking industry supports.

Another thing worth noting is that Romney has gotten more money from lobbyists than all other Republican candidates combined. I guess you need all that special interest money to work towards smaller government. Damn it! That Mitt Romney doublethink is taking over my brain!

The fact of the matter is, love it or hate it, Mitt Romney has a proven track record of being nothing less than one of the heads on the big government hydra. He is an economic nightmare but because people take him at his word and don’t look at his record, he can continue to dupe the masses into thinking that he’s on their side.

Mitt Romney will say anything to get elected.

Continued in Part II: Foreign Entanglements..

*Written by Rob Rimes.

Let me start by saying that even though I’ve referred to other debates as the worst, this one definitely took the cake and showed us just how godawful these things can be. This debate came to us from Tampa, Florida and was hosted by NBC. Brian Williams was the moderator and he was a shitty one at that. To start, there were no intros and the audience was not allowed to participate in any way. This means that the crowd could not applaud, boo or get fired up like they have in most previous debates. While I understand that this is done to speed up the process and fit in more quality time with the candidates, it creates bad television and boring debates, especially when the candidates argue incessantly for long periods of time and the moderator is too chicken shit to break it up and stick to his own rules regarding time. My biggest regret about watching this goddamned thing is that I only had one beer in the whole fucking house. I was also too lethargic from a 20 oz. New York strip to get up and mix a stronger drink. At least the ecstasy I got from my giant piece of premium American red meat kept me from losing my shit and going completely insane throughout this episode of ‘Three Statists and a Constitutionalist’.

So we start with Newt Gingrich being asked to respond to Mitt Romney recently calling him “erratic” and a “failed leader”. Woohoo! Here we go already starting with the personal attacks over policy issues. Gingrich immediately dropped several Reagan references and was shocked that he didn’t get any applause. Oh yes, the crowd must stay silent or be forced to stare into the droopy eyes of Brian Williams who has been known to turn people into hipster liberals with just a quick glare. This didn’t bode well for Newt as he was waiting for the crowd to react to his empty one-liners. Gingrich said he was like Reagan, who ignored Carter and went on to win the election. Really Newt? You’re ignoring the attacks against you? Funny, because every show I’ve seen you on, you’ve just gone on and on about all the attacks against you.

Gingrich is immediately given a second question, as Williams asks him how he has changed since being Speaker of the House. Gingrich says that as Speaker he had four consecutive balanced budgets, which he says is unheard of. He also brags about how many jobs he created and how he reformed welfare. This is also funny because in a recent interview he took the Romney approach and said government doesn’t create jobs the private sector does. So which is it Newt?

Brian Williams then directs his attention to Mitt and I can already tell that Paul and Santorum are probably going to get the shaft on time this round. Romney is asked if he is electable, which is a dumb fucking question. It’s a dumb question when anyone is asked this, really. Romney talks about how he saved the Olympics and created tons of businesses. He doesn’t actually answer the question he just runs through his already well-known yet well-rehersed talking points. He then switches to attacks on Gingrich and disses him for talking bad about the Paul Ryan Plan and for aligning with Nancy Pelosi on several occasions.

Newt Gingrich says that he isn’t going to spend the entire evening “chasing Mitt’s misinformation.” Yes he will, just keep reading. Gingrich says that the American people need a discussion on how the candidates are going to beat Obama and that they need to move passed the bullshit. Romney jumps in and points out that 88 percent of the Republicans in the House of Representatives voted against Newt, which caused him to resign from his position in disgrace. Mitt also points out that Newt’s approval rating when he left Congress was 18 percent. Romney then takes a stiff shot at Gingrich when he says that we can’t retake the White House if the person leading the fight was in the pocket of Freddie Mac. This fight then goes on forever and Brian Williams just lets them duke it out regardless of time restraints and the fact that there are other candidates who haven’t even talked yet. Gingrich tries to explain how he left Congress, which is all bullshit and just leads to him arguing with Romney over who has the most inaccurate attack ads. I thought you were ignoring the attacks and weren’t going to spend the evening “chasing Mitt’s misinformation”? Can we please discuss the real issues?!

Rick Santorum finally gets asked a question and as much as I loathe the guy, I’m glad to see him at this point. Of course he is asked to comment on the Romney-Gingrich spat because Brian Williams wants the two feuding idiots to be front and center to help discredit the GOP as a whole. Santorum rambles some nonsense about painting a positive vision for the country and adds that he creates a real contrast to Mitt and Newt. Um, not really homeboy unless you’re referring to the religio-fascist part. Santorum then claims to “..have a track record of being a strong conservative.” Well that depends on what your definition of a conservative is, as it varies greatly from candidate to candidate.

Brian Williams then takes a shot at Santorum and says that he lost his seat in the Senate by 18 percent. This was of course after Santorum bragged about winning the seat in a liberal state. Santorum responds to the criticism by saying that the Republican governor in Pennsylvania lost worse than he did that same year. What the fuck does that have to do with anything? Santorum also physically crouched down when he was rambling incoherently and actually said the word “crouch down”. Thanks for the visual buddy.

Finally Ron Paul gets brought into this thing! Williams reminds us that Paul once said that he never visualized himself as winning the nomination so why does he think he can win now. Paul says that he doesn’t sit around and dream about being in the White House like everyone else on stage. He points out that, according to polls, when he is put head-to-head with Obama he has a better chance at beating him than anyone else in the GOP. Paul also clues the masses into the fact that Iowa was just a straw poll and the real winner hasn’t yet been decided, as it will be the person who acquires the most delegates. He’s asked if he will run third party because every goddamned moderator has to seemingly ask this question. Once again, Ron Paul says that he has no intentions to do so. He is then asked if he would ever support Newt. Paul gives Gingrich props on his stance with the Federal Reserve and the gold standard but adds that he needs to change his stance on foreign policy. Newt responds by giving Paul some props on economic issues.

They then get into the boring topic of Mitt Romney’s tax returns which just shifts all the attention back to Tweedledum and Tweedledumber – that being Romney and Gingrich, you can choose which is which. Romney says that his income tax info will show how he made profits and rewards. He then goes on to claim that he’ll drop corporate tax rates while reshaping the entire tax code in an effort to simplify it. Gingrich jumps in and channels Mitt’s dad, who released a dozen years worth of tax information. Newt then says something about a Hong Kong tax model. This guy’s always pulling obscure shit from other countries. Romney jumps back in and says he and his father disagreed on many things and unlike his dad, he will only release a few years worth of his personal tax data. Romney then goes on to say that he inherited nothing and made his own mark in the world. He name drops Staples, Sports Authority and Steel Dynamics as ten minutes have passed without mentioning them. Truthfully, I think everything Mitt says is a pre-recorded statement and he just moves his lips to the words.

The mic in this rap battle is then passed back over to Santorum. He takes a shot at Newt and Mitt when he says that they claim to support capitalism but how can they make that claim when they supported the bailouts. Santorum says that we should have allowed these moronic financial institutions go through bankruptcy. What some people might not know though is that Rick Santorum wasn’t in office at the time of the bailouts so he couldn’t vote on TARP; so it is easy for him to say he didn’t support it. When looking a little deeper however, Rick Santorum did support the bailout of the airline industry. So would he have really rejected TARP? Based off of the $15 billion dollar airline bailout and his past voting record with other things, Santorum looks to be a pro-TARP motherfucker. Lucky for him he lost his seat in the Senate and didn’t get stuck with TARP on his record.

Newt is asked about more criticism from Mitt, who apparently claimed Gingrich “peddled influence” with Freddie Mac. Why couldn’t this be addressed the first time in this very same debate when Newt was asked to comment on Mitt’s criticisms? Time wasting bullshit! Newt said he never “peddled influence” and added that Romney’s approach about the Freddie Mac situation is nasty. Gingrich claims that he never lobbied for them and actually says that he brought in experts to teach his staff how to not lobby. Sorry, I just find that laughable. Romney quickly lashes back at Gingrich saying that Freddie Mac doesn’t pay “historians” as much as they paid Newt. Romney also points out that Gingrich was pushing GSEs every chance he got, which is a form of lobbying. Newt said he only made $35,000 per year, which is a lie. Why do people like either of these shady bastards? Aren’t Americans sick of criminals in power?

The Mitt-Newt show goes on for a long time as these two duke it out with no buzzer going off and Brian Williams sitting quiet – wasting our precious fucking time on this bitch fight. Williams, after minutes of this nonsense finally cuts in to stop it but only because NBC has to go to commercial break. Brian Williams has the spine of a squid.

After the commercial break, the issue of the housing crisis comes up. Santorum is the first person asked to address it. He claims that he saw the crisis on the horizon and tried to stop it. Yep asshole but you were about a decade behind Ron Paul on seeing it. Santorum, while explaining his fallacious knowledge on the subject, actually utters the phrase: “Let capitalism work.” Hilarious! This guy doesn’t know what capitalism is! Santorum immediately follows up his pro-capitalism line by saying that the government needs to step in and help the people who have lost their houses. Here we go with the doublespeak! Santorum continues by saying that people need the freedom to get out from under these houses and get relief. Really dude? Just “let capitalism work”?

On the same issue, Paul is asked if the government owes the people anything. Paul says that they owe the people a free market and sound money. He says that the interest rates were kept too low for far too long. Ron Paul says that he introduced legislation to help prevent the housing bubble from bursting years before it actually did. He declares that the bubble and the consequences of these actions were easy to spot but no one in Washington did. Paul says that the government needs to get out of the way. He then closes by saying that the Federal Reserve dumped so much debt on the taxpayers after wiping the slate clean with banks and corporations they bailed out.

Brian Williams, who apparently wants to suck Mitt’s dick, gives us another Mitt-Newt session when he brings them in on the housing issue. Romney says that the government has to help the people they fucked but immediately after that says that the government has to get out of it. Which is it bro? Gingrich says we need to repeal Dodd-Frank as it would improve the economy overnight. He says that the bill led big banks to get bigger. Newt is asked if the financial system is overregulated, which just proves how stupid Brian Williams is. Romney jumps back in to monopolize more time and says that the markets need regulation to work. What? What happened to capitalism? He then adds that we need up-to-date regulation not that old shitty regulation.

Williams, who wants to keep Romney in the spotlight, switches the subject and asks him about opening up Cuba. Mitt actually says that he’d be glad if Fidel Castro died and went to see his maker.. WTF?! Romney says we can’t talk about opening up Cuba but we need to support those in the country who want freedom. Okay, so how are we supporting them by contributing to making their economy shit? Why do you think that it is so easy for Castro to convince his people that America is bad? This is why! Romney wants to help Cubans by punishing them and not “giving in”.

Gingrich adds to Romney’s “glad when Castro’s dead” comment by saying that he won’t meet his maker but that he’ll essentially go to Hell. Newt starts talking about a “Cuban Spring”. He says that we need to reach out to younger Cubans who want freedom. Of course he, like Mitt, wants to do this without working with them in a productive and positive way. These guys must believe in magic.

When the discussion shifts back over to Ron Paul, he says that he has a lot to teach these guys on foreign policy. Ron Paul calls Newt and Mitt’s tactics “isolationist”. Funny watching Ron flip the script when every idiot out there calls him an “isolationist” as the idiots don’t really get what it means. Paul points out that the Cold War is over and the Cuban Missile Crisis was 50 years ago. He adds that we prop up Castro with our sanctions and embargo as it helps him stay in power by gaining support through pointing the finger of blame at the United States. Paul reminds the candidates that we used to talk to the Soviets and currently talk to the Chinese while we’ve had major problems with both. He even adds that we went in and talked to the Vietnamese after the disastrous Vietnam War. He says that we are living in the dark age if we are going to refuse to talk to Cuba.

Santorum, who apparently ignored Paul’s great insight, calls for us to use sanctions against Cuba until the Castro brothers die. He says that for right now we have to keep the current policy active and we shouldn’t embrace Cuba until the dictators are dead. Santorum then goes on a dumb tangent about how Cuba works directly with jihadists. Here we go with the fear mongering!

On Iran, Romney says we need to build a super strong military to scare the fuck out of everyone. Gingirch says that we are a country that likes peace and stability. Apparently he means between all the wars he wants to bring forth. Gingrich adds that he feels that we should defend the freedom of the sea. He then shares his thoughts on Obama, saying that Iran keeps testing us because our president is weak. Ron Paul gets in the Iran talk and says that our blockade of Iran’s strait is an act of war and tells us to imagine if the roles were reversed. Paul points out that Iran needs the Strait of Hormuz as much as we do. He warns us all that we have too many wars and the thought of invading Iran is ridiculous as we don’t have any money.

Santorum is asked how he would attack Iran when they have such a large target list. Santorum doesn’t answer that, he immediately goes right into the fear mongering he is so good at. He says that if Iran gets a nuke, the whole world will change. He then says that Obama’s Iran policy is a failure and feels that no one in power is serious about the Iranian threat. He then claims that Iran’s leadership is the equivalent to having a country ran by Al-Qaeda. He hammers the point that it is reckless to not try and stop Iran from building a nuke. He then flips the script and starts rambling about manufacturing and energy in Florida.

The candidates are then asked why it is okay for them to court voters in Spanish while they are all in favor of English as a national language. Gingrich says that the common bond that unites a country is one language. He says that there will be 300-400 languages used in the U.S. very soon so we need to unify the people with just one. Romney agrees with Newt before rambling about Massachusetts teachers teaching in other languages. Ron Paul steps in and says that we need to have one language at the national level but adds that if states want ballots in Spanish, such as Florida, it is their right to do so. Paul says that you can make English the official federal language without interfering in what the states want to do.

On illegal immigration, Newt says that the children of illegals should be allowed to join the military so they can go off and die for his senseless wars. Romney says he would not sign the DREAM Act in its current form but he would if it included military service. Romney then goes on a weird rant that illegals should “self-deport” themselves, go back to their country of origin and apply for legal citizenship. Santorum, who didn’t think the “self-deportation” comments were obscure, says that people have been self-deporting for awhile now due to our shitty economy. Santorum keeps referring to illegal immigrants as “they” as if they are something other than individuals.

Newt is asked about sugar and goes on to ramble about sugar types. Romney, who gets a bunch of money from Florida sugar farmers, says that we need to kill sugar subsidies. He then goes on a rant about homes in Florida, diverting his attention away from sugar. Romney says that too many homes in Florida are underwater. OMG! Global warming is drowning us! Oh.. wait.. that was a figure of speech.

Ron Paul is asked some dumb question about saving the Everglades and then we go to a commercial break. Why couldn’t they ask that dummy Santorum about the Everglades? He’s a snake, he’d have more invested in the issue. We also get Williams asking abut the Terry Schiavo case, which happened years ago and has nothing to do with anything that is going on right now. Gingrich and Paul address it but it is just a time-waster.

Romney is asked if space is a priority. He says “yes” but adds that Obama doesn’t have a real vision for NASA and because of that, Florida is suffering. Actually dude, I live in Florida and I’m doing okay, so don’t speak for me. Mitt says that the right mission for NASA needs to be determined by the president. Um.. I thought you were a capitalist guy? Romney then adds that NASA shouldn’t be solely funded by the government but that it should be funded by a collaborative effort of the military and companies that have ties and can benefit from the institutions work.

Keeping with Romney, he is asked what he’s done to promote conservatism. Mitt gives the stupidest answer when he says that he has created a family and worked in the private sector. Really, that’s your answer? Gingrich is then brought in and asked to comment on Mitt and replies with, “I don’t want to spend my time commenting on Mitt.” Well what the fuck was he doing the first half of this goddamned debate?! Santorum jumps in and rants and whines about a bunch of shit regarding Gingrich and Romney not being as conservative as he is.

Brian Williams then asks Ron Paul if Gingrich and Romney are insufficiently conservative. Why didn’t Williams ask if Santorum was? Ron Paul says that it all depends on what your definition of conservative is. He points out that conservatives have lost their way completely and asks how can a person be conservative when they’ll cut food stamps but won’t stop wasteful spending overseas. He adds that you can’t have smaller government if you keep creating all these wars. He also adds that you can’t promote personal liberty and then try to legislate all the crap that the GOP wants.

Mittens says that he has a solid conservative record, just look at it. Okay dickbag. He then diverts and brags about how Ted Kennedy had to take a loan out on his house to beat him in the governor’s race back in the 90′s. Yeah, he still beat you dude. He finishes his soulless rambling by saying he will repeal Obamacare and leave health care up to the states.

Gingrich is asked about his numbers being on the rise and what scares him the most about possibly becoming president. He just says that the next president will face enormous problems. No shit cuntpickle! He then warns that there are too many huge special interest groups working against the country and only for their own benefit. Somehow he expects to defeat that. This ends the debate, twenty minutes early and Brian Williams introduces NBC’s crack staff to analyze the debate for the remainder of the time. I turn off the TV.

God this shit was awful.

Grading Scale:
Grade B: Ron Paul
Grade D+: Newt Gingrich
Grade D: Rick Santorum
Grade D-: Mitt Romney

“It is time to check and reverse the growth of government.” – Ronald Reagan There is no doubt about it, Ronald Reagan was a fucking statesman through and through and a great leader who helped conquer communism abroad and who helped unite a nation after it was torn apart for two decades by multiple assassinations, war in Vietnam, the Nixon-Watergate scandal and the ultralame shitty bullshit politics of James Earl “Jimmy” Carter. Reagan, the first … Read More

via TheSwash.com

*Written by Rob Rimes.

1. Introduction:

Lucky for me, Colonel Allen West does not represent my district. I’m lucky enough to be within the boundaries of one of the very few GOP congressmen who is pretty much awesome. My congressman is Connie Mack, a guy who is actually trying to develop an effective plan to cut spending and get us out of this fiscal insanity (look up and read about his ‘Penny Plan’). Without getting off topic, this article isn’t about how dope my rep has been, it is a critique of the rep that borders my district. A rep that represents the core values and ideals of the Tea Party.. or so we thought.

Allen West is a Florida guy just like Marco Rubio, the last Tea Party hypocrite I wrote about in this ongoing series (here). Col. West is another one of the infamous Tea Party candidates that won an important election and now holds office. Obviously he is not living up to the hype of the Tea Party platform because I am writing about him. I did put him on blast already with the first installment of this series (here) but that obviously just scratched the surface and he’s done a few more questionable things since then in his short time as a congressman.

In my first article, I covered his support of the PATRIOT Act. Unfortunately for us, his non-Tea Party tendencies don’t end there. You see, Col. West is nothing more than an establishment cock who duped the voters into backing him. Apparently, just like with all these other two-faced fraudulent Tea Party fucksacks, West doesn’t understand that the public is paying attention like never before and there will be a time when the office he holds will be up for grabs again. He’s got time to turn this shit around but as far as I am concerned, this fucking turkey needs a serious chin check from his constituents.

2. The Issue of the Debt Ceiling:

When it comes to the issue of the debt ceiling, Allen West let us all down. Granted, most Republicans voted for the Boehner deal but as it was proven by the Cato Institute and many other sources for economic awesomeness the plan was complete bullshit. In fact, it was as useless as a rabbit without a dick. What the debt deal doesn’t do is it doesn’t cut spending, it doesn’t fix the deficit and in the long run it just gives the Beltway Suits more power to waste more of our hard-earned money. West obviously didn’t do his homework or he just went with the majority of the establishment and took the safer road.

Ron Paul, Michele Bachman, Justin Amash and my congressman Connie Mack all voted the right way, as did a dozen or more other Republicans. By aligning himself with the “politics as usual” crowd, West may have bought us some time but ultimately he just contributed to digging the hole a lot deeper. Eventually we will all have to face the music. But really, isn’t this what the Tea Party was trying to prevent? Isn’t the main purpose of the Tea Party to cut spending, balance the budget and get things to a place where they are fiscally stable? Well, if Allen West truly represents the Tea Party, I would have to say “no”.

Now I am perfectly aware that there are groups out there that are trying to push West into challenging Senator Bill Nelson for his seat and there are even some who are pushing for him to run for president in 2012 but c’mon people! This is just crazy as the guy has barely had a queef of a political career. These are like the “Rubio for President” people, they just don’t get it and they obviously don’t pay attention to a goddamned thing. Those people are the cancer that plagues the Republican Party and they are why it can’t move forward and change even with the Tea Party injection.

However, there are a lot of people who aren’t standing for this madness. In fact, one of the major Tea Party groups called out Col. Allen West and all the other “Tea Party” candidates that stood beside Boehner during this economic shit show. So how does West respond to being put on blast by the Tea party? Well, here’s something he said about it on the Laura Ingraham Show:

I think what we have to ask ourselves is, If you’re telling me that I need to vote ‘no’ against the Boehner plan, then what am I voting for? I’m going to stand with this Boehner plan and, once again, if the folks who one minute they’re saying that I’m their ‘Tea Party hero’ and what, three or four days later ‘I’m a Tea Party defector’ — that kind of schizophrenia I’m not going to get involved in.

That’s a pretty shitty statement as far as I am concerned. The Tea Party isn’t being schizophrenic on the issue, Col. West is being schizophrenic on what he supposedly represented before he was voted into office. I guess it’s easier to throw the shit right back and deflect it than to really explain yourself and to try and stand with those who put you in power, regardless of the challenging road ahead. But whatever, I’m sure he sleeps just fine at night.

3. The Issue of the Runaway Runway:

The debt ceiling issue isn’t the only area where Col. Allen West strays away from a Tea Party platform. Another issue that people need to be made aware of is that he is a big fan of pork, especially when it is a hearty helping of pork just for him! Massive feasts on pork should not be in any principled Tea Partiers diet but Allen West doesn’t seem to care. He’s like one of those people that says that they are vegetarian but they still eat chicken and fish. You’re not vegetarian people, just say you don’t eat beef and pork just like West should say that he is fiscally responsible except when it comes to a big ass plate of greasy fat bacon just for him!

You see, Allen West, who expresses that we have to stop all this spending and then points to all these other wasteful programs and projects, has just gotten $21 million dollars from the federal government to build a new runway at the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport! West himself said:

This runway is long awaited and much anticipated. At this crucial time for our economy, it is imperative that we encourage this kind of development, which will bring thousands of jobs with it and boost tourism – South Florida’s number one economic engine.

M’kay.. that sounds like something a big government puppet would say from either party. If he truly represented the Tea Party he wouldn’t have taken the money. Instead, he would’ve understood that government meddling and involvement in such matters stifles capitalism and economic freedom. In the end, we all lose in this sort of scenario. However, because it is HIS project, he can justify such actions. He can try and explain it away as a job creator and a way to boost the Florida economy but at the end of the day he employed a big government solution to a practical problem that an unregulated free market could’ve straightened out real quick.

I guess it is too much to assume that this Tea Party monster hasn’t watched Milton Friedman’s ‘Free To Choose’ or read Ludwig von Mises, F.A. Hayek, Murray Rothbard, Henry Hazlitt or any of the other economic greats. Maybe instead of just taking these Tea Party candidates at their word when they express the rhetoric, the Tea Party members should hold them to a higher standard and check their credentials. Just a thought.

4. The Issues of Everything Else:

Now I don’t want to just bash Allen West here; I am barely being as harsh as I’ve been known to be with others. I did write about his support of the PATRIOT Act in the first part of this series of articles. I’ve also written about how it is a monstrous law that strips away our freedoms, costs us a shitload of money via taxation and is downright evil and tyrannical unlike anything else the American people have been forced to live with by their elected officials (except maybe Lincoln’s insane ego-driven power grabs). The reason I am revisiting it is because Col. Allen West voted against it recently. He spoke out about how he really studied it, looked into it and decided that he could no longer support it. That’s pretty awesome coming from an ex-military leader. For that, my hat goes off to him because there are still far too many politicians on the right and the left that are supporting this abhorrent violation of our constitutional rights. This also allows me to have some hope. Hope that as he moves on in his career he will learn from his mistakes, analyze the facts more carefully and reassess some of his decisions. Well, one can only hope. So far the outlook is still grim.

As far as his voting record goes, I wasn’t crazy with the fact that he voted for H.R. 2715 which “..provides the Consumer Product Safety Commission with greater authority and discretion in enforcing the consumer product safety laws, and for other purposes.” Again, dude needs to learn what Friedman, Rothbard and others have to say on the subject. Also, what’s with the “other purposes” part? That’s pretty goddamned vague isn’t it? This is nothing more than a bill that gives increased power to a government agency and power that isn’t even clearly defined for that matter. Do we need a product safety commission? I’m not against the idea but I am against the government handling it. The private sector is more capable of handling these things but big government stooges would rather you think differently and apparently this Tea Party “smaller government – less spending” freshman does. If only there were a way to quantify the fiscal waste here.

Another major thing that Allen West did, that is seemingly under the radar, is that he broke away from the GOP on their strategy to pull apart Obamacare. Essentially, West claims that it is pointless to fight the health care leviathan as he already voted to repeal it and the Democrat-led Senate immediately thwarted the efforts of the House Republicans. So instead of voting against Obamacare again and again, he has given up and accepted defeat essentially. I mean, the methods the House is using to combat this thing might not be the best per se but at least they aren’t easing up on it and their message is clear. Tea Partiers as well want this parasitic legislation defeated. It must not be that important to Col. Allen West or maybe the fact that he has two applicants for federally-funded school-based health centers in his district has him walking on eggshells. Point is, I understand that he feels that his votes are wasted. However, the choice is simple, you either check the ‘yes’ box or you check the ‘no’ box. There is a right decision and there is a wrong decision. To just check the ‘no’ box takes the same amount of energy and effort as checking the ‘yes’ box. The message he needs to send is to his constituents not his party. If he, as their leader, gives up on it, then what’s the point of him even being there. At this early into his career he’s pretty much turned his back on one of the key Tea Party issues. This may note bode well for his future plans.

5. Conclusion:

Allen West is still new, he’s still working through the kinks but as I have said in previous articles, we don’t have time for him to figure this all out. We need leaders who have a clear cut agenda and who stick to it. Guys like Ron Paul who have always voted the same way and who have been completely transparent and unfaltering in their decisions are the kind of leaders we need. Sadly, Ron Pauls are very far and few between. However, Dr. Paul’s son Rand Paul is also a freshman Tea Party candidate and he has spoken loud, made an impact and hasn’t backed down from the platforms and ideals he represented in his campaign. At this point, he is the measuring stick for all other Tea Party freshman. Maybe that’s not fair but is it really that hard to just go to Washington and do what you said you were going to do? It’s not for Rand Paul but apparently it is for guys like Allen West and Marco Rubio. So if they can’t handle it, maybe someone else needs to do the job?

I wish we had time for these guys to figure out their shit but we don’t. The problem is that most of these Tea Party Republicans were just pandering to the movement to get elected. Now that they are in they know that it is hard to remove an incumbent. Maybe these guys are banking on the possibility that the Tea Party was just a fad and that by the time the next election rolls around, they’ll be free and clear to just coast on through their career without any real GOP primary challengers to give them a run for their money. I really hope not.

My Two Cents: Interesting thought. End Two Cents.

*Taken from NY Mag.

In 2006, long before costume shops first began selling tri-corner hats to early adopters of the tea party movement, professors David E. Campbell and Robert D. Putnam “interviewed a representative sample of 3,000 Americans” about their “political attitudes.” By re-interviewing many of the same people this summer, they were able to determine what type of person eventually became a tea partier. Some of what they found is about as shocking as an episode of Full House: Current tea-party supporters were likely to have been “highly partisan Republicans,” and “even compared to other white Republicans, they had a low regard for immigrants and blacks long before Barack Obama was president.” One finding that is actually revealing, though:

Next to being a Republican, the strongest predictor of being a Tea Party supporter today was a desire, back in 2006, to see religion play a prominent role in politics. And Tea Partiers continue to hold these views: they seek “deeply religious” elected officials, approve of religious leaders’ engaging in politics and want religion brought into political debates. The Tea Party’s generals may say their overriding concern is a smaller government, but not their rank and file, who are more concerned about putting God in government.

It’s no coincidence that Rick “I’ll Have God Fix All of Our Problems” Perry and Michele “I’ll Have God Pick My Campaign Staff” Bachmann combined captured 60 percent of the tea party movement’s support in the latest GOP primary poll. Of course, “more God” and “less government” are hardly mutually exclusive — in fact, some tea partiers, like Jim DeMint, see them as one in the same. Whoa, wait, we just had a thought: Would it be possible for God to make a government so small that even he couldn’t fit inside of it? Sorry for blowing your minds.

My Two Cents: I had to repost this article just on principle as everyone around me, as of late, is pimping out Marco Rubio as some great messiah who believes in liberty. People are going as far as saying that this barely a freshman unproven, although looking like a tyrant already, dynamo should be in the White House. C’mon people.. you’re just as bad as the douchers drinking the Trump juice. End Two Cents.

*Written by Rob Rimes. 1. Introduction: Nothing in politics as of late has been as disappointing and disheartening as the performance of Senator Marco Rubio. Being a Floridian, I paid close attention to Marco while he was on the campaign trail last year. He made big promises and ran on several issues I truly agreed with. However, as is always the case with Republican candidates, something about him just didn’t sit right with me. I didn’t vote for … Read More

via TheSwash.com

“It is time to check and reverse the growth of government.” – Ronald Reagan There is no doubt about it, Ronald Reagan was a fucking statesman through and through and a great leader who helped conquer communism abroad and who helped unite a nation after it was torn apart for two decades by multiple assassinations, war in Vietnam, the Nixon-Watergate scandal and the ultralame shitty bullshit politics of James Earl “Jimmy” Carter. Reagan, the first … Read More

via TheSwash.com

*Written by Rob Rimes.

1. Introduction:

Nothing in politics as of late has been as disappointing and disheartening as the performance of Senator Marco Rubio. Being a Floridian, I paid close attention to Marco while he was on the campaign trail last year. He made big promises and ran on several issues I truly agreed with. However, as is always the case with Republican candidates, something about him just didn’t sit right with me.

I didn’t vote for Rubio, even though he was seemingly the best of the big three candidates, the other two being Charlie “Carrot Cake” Crist and Kendrick Meek. I voted for the guy under the radar, a representative of my political party, Alexander Snitker of the Libertarian Party. I knew, with Snitker, I was truly going to get a guy who pushed for smaller government, fiscal responsibility, free markets and the FairTax. Too bad he wasn’t invited to the debates. At least then a real pro-liberty candidate could’ve challenged Rubio face-to-face.

Rubio ran on many of the same key issues as Snitker. However, Rubio is a Republican and if history is any indicator, that means he is just saying what he needs to say to get elected. Rubio is an establishment guy, no matter how badly the conservatives and Tea Partiers want to think differently. His actions thus far have been deplorable in my opinion and I cannot wait till the day I can vote against him again.

2. Revisiting the Issue of the FairTax:

Marco Rubio has not lived up to his promises. He has abandoned the FairTax issue, which I talked about in the predecessor to this article: “Tea Flavored Kool-Aid, Part I: The Beginning of the Revolution“. Since writing that, I have learned that due to Marco Rubio’s involvement with the Tea Party group FreedomWorks, ran by Dick Armey and Matt Kibbe, he has dropped the idea of the FairTax in favor of the Flat Tax, or so it would seem. Although he hasn’t publicly announced his support to the lesser of the two tax solutions, he is strongly aligned with the Flat Tax pimps.

See, FreedomWorks is a huge Flat Tax supporter and since they have contributed heavily to Rubio’s 2010 senatorial campaign and were instrumental in getting him elected, Mr. Rubio has backtracked on the tax solution he was once incredibly passionate about. You can hear his knowledge on the subject of the FairTax in a video I made. The video has an audio clip from a radio interview from February of 2010 where Rubio states that he supports the FairTax and by his description of it, truly understands it. It’s on YouTube on TheSwashTV channel (or watch it here).

With Rubio’s abandonment of the issue, it clearly shows that he has been bought and paid for by the FreedomWorks group. What else is one supposed to think? I know dozens of people that have contacted his office, myself included – multiple times, and have asked why he has not co-sponsored the bill, as promised. These inquiries have been met with annoying interns trying to skirt around giving a real answer. That alone tells anyone with their wits together, that Rubio is no longer onboard. If he has lied about this, which was a large part of his platform, what else has he or will he lie about or switch on?

3. The Issue of the Libyan War:

Yes, I call it the Libyan War because that is what it is: a fucking war. To kid yourself that it is anything else is ludicrous. The liberal hacks are of course blindly supporting President Obama because that’s what they do. Never mind the fact that they were incredibly outspoken against Bush for years. Hell, the anti-war movement was massive. Then the anti-war POTUS was elected and the anti-war movement died. Even when Obama hypocritically started this Libyan war, the anti-war movement didn’t really resurface. The left supported the war. The right however, at least the media portion, were now suddenly against war. Well, not really since they were still claiming that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are justified. However, in their eyes, this lefty-led war was tyrannical and unconstitutional. Ah, the hypocrisy.

One man on the Republican side did not have a problem with Obama’s war however. That man was Marco Rubio. In fact, Rubio completely supports the war! That shouldn’t be too much of a surprise since the Right loves the military industrial complex, so maybe Rubio is a Republican in the truest sense and the conservative media is just comprised of partisan hacks like the anti-war movement of the Bush era.

I don’t even care what Rubio’s reason is for supporting Obama’s war. The fact that he does support it proves one major thing: that he isn’t truly the constitutional conservative that he has made himself out to be. What do I mean by that? It’s pretty simple; according to the Constitution, it is Congress and Congress alone that has the power to declare war. Congress wasn’t even consulted about the Libyan war. Therefore, if Rubio supports it, he doesn’t support the Constitution.

What else about this makes Rubio not a constitutional conservative? Well, the military’s only purpose is for defense. What exactly are we defending by intervening in Libya? I know there is no real answer for that question. Well, at least not an answer that makes a lick of sense. If the excuse is that we are “defending” the Libyan rebels from a tyrant, I must remind you of the fact the the authors of the Constitution warned against the United States getting wrapped up in foreign entanglements. Through free trade and a non-interventionist foreign policy, we would achieve and maintain peace with all other nations. Through this formula, we would create a symbiotic relationship with the rest of the world. Apparently, Marco Rubio is unable to wrap his little brain around this idea.

Not only does his support of this war call into question his constitutional principles but it also goes against his promise to strive for fiscal responsibility. The Tea Party claims that they are all for cutting spending, limiting taxes and being fiscally efficient. However, war is expensive. I understand the conservatives love of the War on Terror (a battle for another article) but a war that has been created that we should have never been involved in, makes one have to wonder exactly how Marco Rubio is a fiscally responsible politician. Truth is, he’s not. He can’t be when he is supporting this massive waste of funds that have nothing to do with our own defense. Once again, he has proven that Senator Rubio is not candidate Rubio.

4. The Issue of the First Amendment:

Nothing about Marco Rubio is more shocking than his attack on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. What? Really? Yes, really. You see, self-proclaimed constitutional conservative Senator Rubio has it out for the First Amendment. For those of you not sure which one that is, it’s the one that gives us freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Marco Rubio, is attacking free speech. That certainly doesn’t sound like a constitutional conservative or a Tea Partier, does it? No, it sounds an awful lot like a fucking liberal or a neocon. Is that what we are dealing with? Is that who we got as a candidate? It would seem so.

The specific example I am talking about here has to do with Rubio’s co-sponsorship of a new “bipartisan” bill, the Serve Act (video here). An act that limits the use of free speech at the funerals of soldiers. The bill specifically attacks the fucksack parasite assholes the Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka, Kansas. Yes, these people are shittier than shit but creating a law that limits their free speech is a horrible attack against freedom and liberty! Remember, laws create force against those who do not abide by them. Apparently Marco Rubio doesn’t see this as an attack against the Constitution. Because of that, many of you may not see a problem with this either, as many of you are drinking the Rubio juice like fiends.

The problem is, if you limit free speech in this case, against these people, what’s to stop you from limiting it against another group, and then another, and then another, etc. etc. et-fucking-cetera? Everyone knows that once you give politicians an inch, they’ll take 5,000 miles. To implement this, will cause the First Amendment to decay and wither away, leaving us with a crooked police state run by hip young bright-eyed fancy-haired tyrants like Senator Rubio. I guess, tyranny is okay when it is your agenda that exercises it.

While Rubio is seemingly painting himself as a savior to the families of deceased soldiers, he should really be their hero and speak out against our new war. Fuck it, he should man up and speak up against all of our goddamned unconstitutional wars. He will never do that though, it’s not the type of man he is.

5. Conclusion:

Maybe I’m being hard on the new guy. Maybe I should give him time? Fuck that, time is of the essence and this country is in a place where the more time we give, the more long-term damage we will have to try and fix. Besides, in his short time, there are already three issues where Rubio has faltered from the image he sold us. Unfortunately, there are way too many people still riding the Rubio train.

There is a big group of Republicans and a slew of Facebook fan pages that are entertaining the idea that Marco Rubio should run for president in 2012. Are you fucking kidding me? Are you people even aware of the political landscape and how things work. You want to back a guy who hasn’t even had time to prove himself yet? And the time he has had, he’s gone against his projected principles. Between the supporters of Rubio and Trump for the highest office in the land, I have to wonder if the Tea Partiers and GOPers themselves are just full of shit and not as principled as they have claimed to be. Shit like this is why I could never be a Republican. Supporting guys like this and being blind to their bullshit is also why I can no longer take Mark Levin serious.

Maybe Marco Rubio can turn this around. I doubt that that will happen though, just as I doubt that the vast majority of these Tea Party candidates aren’t establishment neocons wearing whatever coat best fits at the moment. We’ve got a bunch of McCain and Boehner clones running around out there and apparently, Rubio is leading the pack. Well, I guess he’s got to be good at something. Too bad that something is comprised of complete and utter hypocrisy.

.

My Two Cents: They damn well better bring an era of limited government or it’s on motherfuckers! End Two Cents.

*Taken from Yahoo News.

WASHINGTON – Emboldened by a commanding House majority and Senate gains, Republican leaders vowed Wednesday to deliver on their “golden opportunity” to roll back the size of government and President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.

“Change course we will,” said Ohio Rep. John Boehner, the speaker-in-waiting, describing Tuesday’s midterm elections as a mandate to shrink the government. That echoed the unrelenting demand of tea party activists whose energy and votes helped to fuel the largest turnover in the House in more than 70 years.

The capital awoke — if it ever slept — to a new political order. With their lopsided win, Republicans are ushering in a new era of divided government and dethroning Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a prime target of their campaign.

Repealing the health care law, with its mandates and subsidies to extend health insurance to nearly all Americans, has been a Republican rallying cry for months but Obama, with his veto power, and the Democrats still in control of the Senate stand in the way. Several Republicans indicated their challenge to the law won’t happen overnight when they take power.

“I think it is important for us to lay the groundwork before we begin to repeal this monstrosity,” Boehner said. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who survived a tea party challenge in Nevada, said “I’m ready for some tweaking” on the health care law but would fight its repeal.

In the heady election aftermath, some Republicans cautioned their own that they have work to do in building public trust when many Americans are fed up with both parties.

“We’ve been given a second chance and a golden opportunity,” said Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, No. 2 Republican in the House. But, he added, “People want to see results.”

Sizing up the power shift, Reid said he wants to preserve Obama’s sweeping health care law and let taxes rise on upper income Americans, but “I’m not bullheaded.”

“If we need to work something out with the people who are really rich, I’ll have to look at that,” he said. “If there’s some tweaking we need to do with the health care bill, I’m ready for some tweaking. But I’m not going to in any way denigrate the great work we did as a country, and saving America from bankruptcy because of the insurance industry bankrupting us.”

The Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, sounded anything but humble in declaring “we are indeed humbled and ready to listen.” At a news conference with Boehner, McConnell said Republicans will cooperate with the other side to the extent Democrats “pivot in a different direction.” He predicted enough Democrats may support the GOP on spending and debt matters to achieve action on that front.

Obama planned a 1 p.m. EDT news conference and the White House suggested he would strike a cooperative, not defiant, tone and assume some responsibility for voters’ frustrations.

Obama called Boehner to congratulate him late Tuesday. He also spoke with McConnell and top Democrats in a series of conversations that reflected the shifting balance of power. Boehner said Pelosi called and “left me a very nice voice mail” when she missed him, and they will speak later.

Incomplete returns showed the GOP picked up at least 60 House seats and led for four more, far in excess of what was needed for a majority. About two dozen races remained too close to call.

Republicans gained at least six Senate seats, and tea party favorites Paul in Kentucky, Mike Lee in Utah and Marco Rubio in Florida were among their winners. Their comeback was aided by independents, who backed GOP candidates for the first time since 1998.

Not all the tea party insurgents won. Christine O’Donnell lost badly in Delaware, for a seat that Republican strategists once calculated would be theirs with ease until her stunning upset victory in the primary.

In Nevada, Reid dispatched Sharron Angle in an especially costly and contentious campaign in a year filled with them.

The GOP also wrested 11 governorships from the Democrats, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maine among them, and gave two back, California and Hawaii.

The biggest win by far was the House, a victory made all the more remarkable given the drubbing Republicans absorbed at the hands of Democrats in the past two elections.