You Just Don’t Understand!

From wannabe-President Mitt Romney today:

“I just don’t think the president, by his comments, suggests an understanding of what it is that makes America such a unique nation,” Romney said. “Why people have come here for hundreds of years. It’s because this is the land of opportunity. We welcome people here with dreams and say to them, ‘Come build it.’ Not, ‘Come here because government will give it to you.’” 

Because, after all, why would the son of an African man from a small village who managed to get a graduate degree in economics from Harvard, understand what makes America such a unique nation.

Because, after all, why would the son who watched his single mother obtain a PhD, understand what makes America such a unique nation.

Because, after all, why would that same son (of that same single mother) who succeeded in getting one of the best educations this country could offer, understand what makes America such a unique nation. 

Because, after all, why would this country's first African-American president, understand what makes America such a unique nation.

Because, after all, fill-in-the blank…

Happy Birthday, Woody Guthrie!

This week, famed American folk singer Woody Guthrie would have turned 100 years old.

And this week, a number of famed Republican lawmakers gave us a very, very good idea of where they think the country should be headed. In reality, it’s not that they don’t have solutions to America’s problems. It’s just that they think American has, well – very few problems.

California Republican House member David Dreier does not think being diagnosed with a tumor while uninsured is a problem America needs to deal with.

"While I don't think that someone who is diagnosed with a massive tumor should the next day be able to have millions and millions and millions of dollars of health care provided, I do believe there can be a structure to deal with the issue of pre-existing conditions," Dreier said. 

Some schmuck’s problem, yes. American’s problem? No.

If you had any questions about what real Americans do, they dodge taxes. South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham:

Mitt Romney shouldn’t be criticized for using off-shore tax havens because “it’s really American to avoid paying taxes, legally,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Tuesday. [...] 

Graham argued that Congress is responsible for tax avoidance because it has crafted such convoluted rules and said he was fine with Romney’s taking advantage of the loopholes. 

“As long as it was legal, I’m OK with it,” Graham said. “I don’t blame anybody for using the tax code to their advantage. I blame us for having it so complicated and confused. Pick a rate and make people pay it.”

Now let’s see him try to do something about the loopholes.

And if you can get into Harvard but can’t afford it, it’s not the country’s problem. What are the chances it’s the poor, Ivy League graduate who is going to find the cure for cancer, anyway?

On the campaign trail Wednesday night in Virginia, Mitt Romney took on the topic of education. While extolling the virtues of America as “the land of opportunity for every single person,” Romney said that he believes students should only be able to get as much education “as they can afford”: 

I think this is a land of opportunity for every single person, every single citizen of this great nation. And I want to make sure that we keep America a place of opportunity, where everyone has a fair shot. They get as much education as they can afford and with their time they’re able to get and if they have a willingness to work hard and the right values, they ought to be able to provide for their family and have a shot of realizing their dreams.

Not sure who this land was, is – or will be made for. To that end, happy birthday, Woody Guthrie. Seemingly, we hardly knew you.

Crossing State Lines

A few days ago, Florida Republican Senator (and maybe wannabe-Republican-Vice-Presidential-candidate) Marco Rubio said “RomneyCare” was not nearly as bad as the Affordable Care Act because if you didn’t like the individual mandate in Massachusetts, at least you could leave the state. The only option now – if you disagree with last week’s Supreme Court decision, is to leave the country.


Yeah, right. Leave your home state. Leave your job. Your home. Your family.

Today, Republican Florida Governor Rick Scott said his state will opt out of parts of the Affordable Care Act:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Gov. Rick Scott has decided to opt out of parts of the Affordable Care Act that are optional for states. 

That means Florida will not expand its Medicaid program to cover an extra one million Floridians. Plus, the state will not create an insurance exchange to help people find health coverage.  

Gov. Scott believes those parts of the health care law will raise the cost of living for Floridians and hurt the private sector's ability to create jobs.   

"We're trying to do things that help the state grow jobs. We're trying to help Floridians who don't want their cost of living to go up and these pieces of legislation from Obamacare don't help those goals at all. In fact, they probably hurt those goals," said Scott's spokesman, Lane Wright. 

Just waiting for Sen. Rubio to tell the good citizens of Florida to leave the state, if they disagree with Gov. Scott’s decision…