Renovating Mitt Romney

By GAIL COLLINS
TAMPA, Fla.

So, about Mitt Romney.

The Republicans have been holding a convention to nominate him for
president! I am telling you this on the off chance that you haven't been
paying attention. Perhaps you feel as if you've already met Mitt Romney and
don't require another introduction. Perhaps you feel as if you've met him a
lot. But this is entirely different because the party's mission this week is
to construct an entirely new, improved, warmer, more lovable version.

They built this Romney!

"We built it" is one of the themes here, at the government-underwritten
convention in a government-subsidized convention center in a city that rose
on the sturdy foundation of government-subsidized flood insurance. But no
taxpayer dollars were expended in the attempt to put together a New Mitt.

None. Really, it was just private corporations and rich people.

Even before the speeches began, before Tim Pawlenty compared the president
to a tattoo or the governor of Ohio, John Kasich, accused Joe Biden of being
a bad golfer, the magnitude of the Romney renovation challenge was clear.
This wasn't going to be one of those quickie home makeovers you see on TV,
where a couple goes away for the weekend and comes back to discover that
they have a large, new picture window and a totally open kitchen floor plan.

The folks who spoke during the first two days of the three-day convention
were supposed to do foundation work, preparing the public to regard the
presidential candidate who emerged on Thursday night as a kindly dad or a
favored sibling who's always such great company when you're feeling down.

They failed completely. It was as if, instead of fixing up the targeted
house, the renovators decided to do some engine work on a recreational
vehicle parked three blocks down the road.

Some of the speakers tried to divert the crowd with fancy rhetoric. Who will
ever forget the way Paul Ryan said America was getting the runaround and
needs a turnaround?

Some tried being counterintuitive. Mike Huckabee, in an interview before his
speech, compared Mitt to a nasty doctor. "If you've just been diagnosed with
a brain tumor, you honestly don't care if your neurosurgeon is a jerk," he
told Howard Kurtz of The Daily Beast.

The challenge of giving their presidential candidate a heartwarming back
story was apparently too much for many of the speakers, who decided to
describe their own humble roots instead. Gov. Chris Christie talked about
his mother. Ryan brought up his father, mother and grandmother. Rick
Santorum told the story about his coal miner grandfather's hands again.
Huckabee dropped the names of his grandchildren.

We may never figure out the inner life of the Republican presidential
candidate. But we are going into the fall campaign knowing a whole lot more
about the relatives of major Republican office holders.

Ann Romney, poor woman, was left stuck with the entire burden of the
convention's yearning for a candidate remake. It turns out that her
grandfather was a coal miner, too! It is possible that the only person in
the entire city of Tampa this week who does not have a coal miner in the
family tree is Mitt.

"Tonight I want to talk to you about love," she said. The critical point was
that Ann loves Mitt and Mitt loves America. What could be better than that?
Then, half an hour later, Governor Christie decreed that respect trumps
love. If these people can't even decide where love ranks on their to-do
list, you can appreciate why they found it impossible to get together to
build a new presidential candidate.

Although she was assigned to paint a picture of the Mitt Romney we have
never seen and suspect does not exist, his wife's remarks were remarkably
short on specifics. She did have a story about their humble early married
life, which involved a brief period in college when they were forced to
consume "a lot of pasta and tuna fish."

Ann assured the crowd that her husband had spent "countless hours helping
others," and although that was pretty vague, we do have other accounts of
his good deeds, mainly for fellow parishioners at church. She also seemed
intent on telling us that he's a fun guy, full of Mittwit, but she failed to
provide any examples of fun that were actually funny. The take-away image of
Mitt Romney, Neighbor, was less George Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life"
than Ned Flanders in "The Simpsons."

The best humanizing story about a robotic presidential candidate I can
remember was the one John Kerry's daughters told about how Kerry had saved
their hamster Licorice from a "watery doom" by diving off a dock, retrieving
the animal and administering CPR. And, actually, that didn't work out so
well.

They'll make do with what they've got. One thing's for sure: nobody in Tampa
is all that interested in talking about Mitt Romney interacting with pets.

--

"We've given all you people need to know."
What is Romney hiding?
Anne Romney's arrogance?

I love watching progressives bad-mouthing rich people...

--
I do not want a President who is really rich. The rich are
out of touch...Unless their last name is Kennedy, Obama or
Kerry, or they run as a Democrat.

Morgan Korn | Daily Ticker 3 hours ago

Income inequality has become a familiar theme in this presidential election
and the majority of Americans believe the growing wealth divide is "a bad
thing" for the country, according to a new report by the Pew Research
Center.
Kim Parker, an associate director at the Center and lead author of the
report, polled more than 2,500 Americans last month about tax rates, social
class and partisan biases. She found that wealthy Americans may be vilified
by their societal peers but they're also viewed as more intelligent and
hardworking. Parker joined The Daily Ticker to discuss the findings and what
they imply about the state of America today.

America's View of The Rich

The Pew report found that many Americans view the rich differently than
other people. An overwhelming majority of Americans (those who describe
themselves as either middle-or-lower income) say that they admire people who
get rich by working hard but they also view the rich as greedier and less
honest, according to the survey.
Most Americans defined "wealthy" as an annual income of at least $100,000
for a family of four. The median amount was $150,000 for all respondents and
the higher number could be attributed to one's demographic region, current
lifestyle and income, according to the report. Forty-nine percent of
respondents described themselves as middle class; 32 percent labeled
themselves as lower-middle to lower-income class and 17 percent
characterized themselves as upper or upper-middle class.

America's View on Taxes

Fifty-eight percent of poll respondents say the rich pay too little in
taxes. That number reflects the same attitude as 52 percent of upper or
upper-middle class Americans polled. Thirty-seven percent of respondents say
lower-income Americans pay too much in taxes and 34 percent believe
lower-income Americans pay their fair share. Twenty percent of adults in the
survey say lower-income individuals pay too little in taxes.
America's View on Democrats vs. Republicans

The U.S. tax system has been one of the most controversial and polarizing
themes in the election cycle and both presidential candidates have offered
their own solutions for reforming the byzantine tax code.
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's plan would cut taxes across
all income classes and President Barack Obama's proposal aims to increase
taxes on rich Americans. The Pew survey found that 63 percent of respondents
say that the GOP favors the wealthy over the middle class and the poor and
71 percent believe Romney, if elected president, would "be good" for wealthy
people. Sixty percent of respondents said Obama's policies would help the
poor and 37 percent believe the wealthy would gain an advantage under Obama.

When the responses were tallied based on political affiliation, 55 percent
of Republicans say the GOP favors the middle class compared to 26 percent
who say their party caters to the rich. Fifty-nine percent of Democrats
believe their party tilts toward the middle class and just six percent say
it favors the rich.

===============================================

August 29, 2012

Renovating Mitt Romney

By GAIL COLLINS
TAMPA, Fla.

So, about Mitt Romney.

The Republicans have been holding a convention to nominate him for
president! I am telling you this on the off chance that you haven't been
paying attention. Perhaps you feel as if you've already met Mitt Romney and
don't require another introduction. Perhaps you feel as if you've met him a
lot. But this is entirely different because the party's mission this week is
to construct an entirely new, improved, warmer, more lovable version.

They built this Romney!

"We built it" is one of the themes here, at the government-underwritten
convention in a government-subsidized convention center in a city that rose
on the sturdy foundation of government-subsidized flood insurance. But no
taxpayer dollars were expended in the attempt to put together a New Mitt.

None. Really, it was just private corporations and rich people.

Even before the speeches began, before Tim Pawlenty compared the president
to a tattoo or the governor of Ohio, John Kasich, accused Joe Biden of being
a bad golfer, the magnitude of the Romney renovation challenge was clear.
This wasn't going to be one of those quickie home makeovers you see on TV,
where a couple goes away for the weekend and comes back to discover that
they have a large, new picture window and a totally open kitchen floor plan.

The folks who spoke during the first two days of the three-day convention
were supposed to do foundation work, preparing the public to regard the
presidential candidate who emerged on Thursday night as a kindly dad or a
favored sibling who's always such great company when you're feeling down.

They failed completely. It was as if, instead of fixing up the targeted
house, the renovators decided to do some engine work on a recreational
vehicle parked three blocks down the road.

Some of the speakers tried to divert the crowd with fancy rhetoric. Who will
ever forget the way Paul Ryan said America was getting the runaround and
needs a turnaround?

Some tried being counterintuitive. Mike Huckabee, in an interview before his
speech, compared Mitt to a nasty doctor. "If you've just been diagnosed with
a brain tumor, you honestly don't care if your neurosurgeon is a jerk," he
told Howard Kurtz of The Daily Beast.

The challenge of giving their presidential candidate a heartwarming back
story was apparently too much for many of the speakers, who decided to
describe their own humble roots instead. Gov. Chris Christie talked about
his mother. Ryan brought up his father, mother and grandmother. Rick
Santorum told the story about his coal miner grandfather's hands again.
Huckabee dropped the names of his grandchildren.

We may never figure out the inner life of the Republican presidential
candidate. But we are going into the fall campaign knowing a whole lot more
about the relatives of major Republican office holders.

Ann Romney, poor woman, was left stuck with the entire burden of the
convention's yearning for a candidate remake. It turns out that her
grandfather was a coal miner, too! It is possible that the only person in
the entire city of Tampa this week who does not have a coal miner in the
family tree is Mitt.

"Tonight I want to talk to you about love," she said. The critical point was
that Ann loves Mitt and Mitt loves America. What could be better than that?
Then, half an hour later, Governor Christie decreed that respect trumps
love. If these people can't even decide where love ranks on their to-do
list, you can appreciate why they found it impossible to get together to
build a new presidential candidate.

Although she was assigned to paint a picture of the Mitt Romney we have
never seen and suspect does not exist, his wife's remarks were remarkably
short on specifics. She did have a story about their humble early married
life, which involved a brief period in college when they were forced to
consume "a lot of pasta and tuna fish."

Ann assured the crowd that her husband had spent "countless hours helping
others," and although that was pretty vague, we do have other accounts of
his good deeds, mainly for fellow parishioners at church. She also seemed
intent on telling us that he's a fun guy, full of Mittwit, but she failed to
provide any examples of fun that were actually funny. The take-away image of
Mitt Romney, Neighbor, was less George Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life"
than Ned Flanders in "The Simpsons."

The best humanizing story about a robotic presidential candidate I can
remember was the one John Kerry's daughters told about how Kerry had saved
their hamster Licorice from a "watery doom" by diving off a dock, retrieving
the animal and administering CPR. And, actually, that didn't work out so
well.

They'll make do with what they've got. One thing's for sure: nobody in Tampa
is all that interested in talking about Mitt Romney interacting with pets.

--

"We've given all you people need to know."
What is Romney hiding?
Anne Romney's arrogance?

Sid, if you want to convince rational people that the wealthy are evil,
greedy bastards, then provide credible evidence to support that claim. A
poll of people's opinions proves nothing.

Tell me again how you are so much smarter than the average conservative.

Jeesh David, have you been eating out of the stupidity
garden all summer?

--
"[The] debt explosion has resulted not from big spending
by the Democrats, but instead the Republican Party's
embrace, about three decades ago, of the insidious
doctrine that deficits don't matter if they result from
tax cuts."  
-Reagan budget chief David Stockman

Thank the Federal government for your survival today.
Mississippi could not have dome it alone

--
I do not want a President who is really rich. The rich are
out of touch...Unless their last name is Kennedy, Obama or
Kerry, or they run as a Democrat.

      Your problem is trying to lump everybody
you don't like in one group, and that is always
wrong, it is the way a deceitful politico does
things no matter their station in life.

Let's review the bidding, shall we, Comrade Jo?

1. You made this statement: "Majority of Americans Say the Rich Are Greedy
and Dishonest: Pew Research Poll"

2. Barack Obama is a multi-millionaire.

3. Therefore a majority of Americans Say President Obama is greedy and
dishonest.

Thank you for granting me the opportunity to restate your point.

--
If you offer a progressive a penny for his thoughts, don't
forget to ask for change.

"Kuwait had a treaty with the USA which required
us to come to their defense."
David Hartung, 12/30/06. No such treaty ever existed.

"I think it safe to say that I am not the only ignorant
individual in this newsgroup."
David Hartung, 2/10/08.

Bret Cahill

http://www.intrade.com/v4/markets/contract/?contractId=743474

Bret Cahill