Welcome to the Club

Knoxville News Sentinel ^ | 1/15/12 | Charlie Daniel

[SmithL]

News Sentinel Political Cartoon:

[org.whodat]

I always loved that cartoon sign, the old lion always said what club and then he got hit on the head, LOL

[Carry_Okie]

Mr. Reagan was a skilled politician. He knew when to play "big tent" and when to take off the gloves.

"We don't intend to turn the Republican Party over to the traitors in the battle just ended. We will have no more of those candidates who are pledged to the same goals of our opposition and who seek our support. Turning the party over to the so-called moderates wouldn't make any sense at all." - Ronald Reagan

Reagan played "big tent," but only when it was HIS tent.

[rellimpank]

—another of my favorite Reagan quotes—which I fear is prophetic—”When you go over a cliff with all flags flying, you are still going over a cliff”-—

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Attacking Romney for being a “capitalist” is idiocy, regardless of what else you think about him. On the economy, I trust Romney far more than Gingerich or Perry. On social issues, I’d go with Santorum. If I could pick the President out of all the hopefuls, I’d probably take Santorum, with Romney as my second choice.

[JediJones]

Who attacked Romney for being a capitalist? I know that none of the Republican presidential candidates did, so please explain your strawman.

If you are looking for a candidate to rig the tax code and government largesse to make it easier for Wall Street billionaires to succeed, then Romney is your man. If you elect him, we can be assured that “private equity” firms will continue to be able to acquire companies and drive them deeply into debt solely to transfer that borrowed money to themselves such that even if those companies subsequently fail, PE firms like Bain Capital take no risk, incur no losses and make huge profits on the unpaid loans.

[cripplecreek]

I have to agree. Santorum has gone from my 3rd to 1st choice as Bachmann and Cain dropped out.

The way I look at Romney is that he knows we have a problem with him and is trying to appease us. That makes him malleable and a conservative house and senate could actually make him a fine president whether he likes it or not.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Since Gingerich has already apoligized for his attacks, his name might be considered. Also, Perry has shown himself to be a lightweight, a personable enough lightweight, but still not up to the job.

Romney actually engaged in real economic activity, not rent seeking and regulatory manipulation so favored by “Wall Street”, who make most of their donations to Democrats, because they know who can be bought (cf. Dodd-Frank) and whom to fear (cf. Dodd-Frank).

[JediJones]

I’m sure Romney and his fellow “conservatives” will do their best to keep the corporate welfare spigot flowing.

[pacpam]

I’ll get behind the candidate that proclaims the era of Reagan alive and well. Last election with all the disavowing of him really, really hacked me off.

[JediJones]

LOL, you’re describing Bain Capital, who make most of their donations to Democrats. Romney’s successes come from gaming the system, not real economic activity. Private equity firms don’t make money by making companies healthy for the long-term. They make money by loading them up with debt, paying themselves the borrowed money as dividends, taking tax deductions on the debt interest and successfully socializing the losses onto banks and government pension insurance if those companies go bankrupt. They don’t invest in companies for the long-term. If their acquisitions don’t go bankrupt, they sell the companies off after their pump-and-dump and scheme is finished.

The successes Romney cites like staples are from Bain’s handful of venture capital investments. Venture capital is a genuinely high-risk, high-reward business and a wonderful contributor to the economy. Private equity acquisitions are a non-risky, easy way to game the system and socialize the losses onto everybody else.

[JediJones]

Newt’s been describing himself as a Reaganite or invoking Reagan in almost every other sentence he speaks. He’s been endorsed my Michael Reagan as well as Reagan’s economist and speechwriter.

[smokingfrog]

No wonder you’re lonesome.

[cripplecreek]

You mean like St Newt and his incentives for green energy and flex fuel vehicles under his "Environmental Solutions Agency"?

Gingrich’s list of energy policies includes providing incentives for flex fuel vehicles that can use corn-based ethanol rather than gasoline — a key issue for Iowa’s farm economy.

Newt Gingrich proposes abolishing EPA (and replacing it with another federal agency)

If we aren't willing to face facts about Newt Gingrich, there's no reason to believe we'll see much opposition when he heads leftward.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

People far more knowledgeable than me, and, I suspect, you disagree about Bain Capital and Romney’s role. Let's agree to disagree.

[Carry_Okie]

Attacking Romney for being a “capitalist” is idiocy, regardless of what else you think about him.

Attacking him for buying companies to raid their pension funds is another thing altogether.

On the economy, I trust Romney far more than Gingerich or Perry.

All three are whores.

I’d go with Santorum.

I'm already there. Morality matters. Romney would be my third choice after Newt. Perry is too stupid to be more than an empty suit, a front for a shadow government.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I agree, I’d prefer Santorum as a president, I’m just not sure he’s that electable. We are picking a candidate. I have a lot of reservations about Romney, too, but Reagan is not on offer this season.

[patriotUSA]

[cripplecreek]

I think we underestimate Santorum’s abilities. Nice guys can surprise you when they tear you to pieces out of the blue.

[adorno]

On the economy, I trust Romney far more than Gingerich or Perry. On social issues, I’d go with Santorum.

Agree completely.

However, if the number one issue is the economy, then any of our candidates (except Paul), would be more than adequate. On the other issues, we'd have to make sure that the president, whoever he ends up being, is controlled by public opinion and by congresspeople and senators who best represent the wishes of the people.