No Help Needed

Mitt Romney is complaining because President Obama said that no successful person reached success all on their own. The GOP machine is quickly criticizing and shredding into tiny pieces our President for saying the truth. There is no business that succeeds all on its own. Someone built the roads for people to get there, someone installed the cabling necessary for phones to work, for electricity to reach the building. Someone built the building, desk, chair, paper, etc. And what is more important, someone was interested in whatever they were offering. Without us, the regular folks, no business would go very far, no matter how bright the businessman is or how good the product or service is; if there are no consumers, the business will go bankrupt. Romney knows this all too well; after all bankrupting companies and getting government help is what created most of his wealth.

Mitt Romney said in his 2002 Olympics inaugural speech something very similar to that said by President Obama and for which he is harshly being criticized for.   However, Romney's comment wasn’t aimed at businessmen. No, his comments were directed at the competing youth. He was clear to remind them that they didn’t get there on their own, that if they got to where they were was thanks to the help from others.  I guess that it is perfectly alright to say to a group of young athletes that their lifelong sacrifice as a child to reach the pinnacle of their sport is not a merit that they can claim as their own, but that they must be share the credit with others. As usual, it is a sin to suggest that a businessman needed help along the way to be successful. How dare President Obama even make such a suggestion?!  Doesn't President Obama know that "a businessmen should not be touched, not even with a rose petal?"

Romney wants us to believe that a businessman never asked for help. We are to believe that businessmen to make their dreams come true, built with their bare hands the buildings and did everything – absolutely everything – by themselves; they never needed a loan, a line of credit, secretaries, sales people.... consumers.

Without consumers, without us, businesses could be selling the cheapest and purest diamonds in the world that if no one buys them, they will just be sitting on a pile of polished coal!

President Obama - Transcript.

...But you know what? I’m not going to see us gut the investments that grow our economy to give tax breaks to me or Mr. Romney or folks who don’t need them. So I am going to reduce the deficit in a balanced way, we’ve already made a trillion dollars worth of cuts, we can make another trillion or two and what we then do is ask for the wealthy to pay a little bit more. And by the way, we’ve tried that before, a guy named Bill Clinton did it, we created twenty-three million new jobs, turned a deficit into a surplus and rich people did just fine.

We created a lot of millionaires; you know there are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with us ‘cause they want to give something back. They know they didn’t… If you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, “Well it must be because I was just so smart” There are a lot of smart people out there! “It must be because I worked harder than everybody else.” Let me tell you something, there’s a bunch of hard working people out there. If you were successful somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Someone invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, that… you didn’t build that! Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so then all the companies could make money off the Internet.

The point is that when we succeed, we succeed because of the individual initiative but also because we do things together. There are some things, like fighting fires; we don’t do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their fire service, that’d be a hard way to organize fighting fires. So we say to ourselves, ever since the founding of this country, you know what? There are some things we do better together. That’s how we founded the GI Bill, that’s how we created the middle class, that’s how we built the Golden Gate Bridge, the Hoover Dam, that’s how we invented the Internet, that’s how we sent a man to the moon. We raise or fall together as one nation and as one people and that’s the reason I’m running for President, because I still believe in that idea: You are not on your own; we’re on this together!

Mitt Romney - Transcript

Is this a great show or what?! And how about that volunteer cast, uh?

This show it’s being watched all over the world. Young Yem Kim is eleven years old; he’s watching us tonight from his home in Seoul, Korea. It’s his dream to skate in the Olympics. In Piamonte, Italy, a fourteen-year-old girl named Nicole Ibasso is also watching, her dream is to compete in the giant slab in the games of 2006. Children around the world are dreaming. Dreaming of daring performances, cheering friends and proud parents.

Tonight we cheer the Olympians who only yesterday were children themselves, as we watch them over the next sixteen days, they affirm that our aspirations and those of our children and grandchildren can become reality. We salute you Olympians, both because you dreamed and because you paid the price to make your dreams real. You guys pushed yourselves, drove yourselves, sacrificed, trained and competed time and again, winning and loosing. You Olympians know that you didn’t get here solely on your own power. For most of you, loving parents, sisters and brothers, encouraged your hopes; coaches guided, communities built venues and organized competitions. All Olympians stand on the shoulders of those who lifted them. We’ve already cheered the Olympians; lets also cheer the parents, coaches and communities.

After September, more than ever before our generation longs for a world where the dreams of all the children may come true, where aspirations can be nourished and homes with caring families and of nations which embrace peace and the rights of human kind. In such a world, the greatness of achievements would be measured by the greatness of dreams and by the fire and passion in the hearts of the dreamers. Olympians, the world watches you not just to see spectacular athletic performance, but also to be inspired by the spirit and fire which drives you. You skate and ski and our hearts quicken with your dream. We find ourselves hoping for you. Praying for you. I see the Olympic flame, which will soon enter the stadium, as a symbol of the fire that drives you to fulfill your dreams.

May the fire we see within you, light a fire within each of us. Thank you very much!
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It seems to me that Mitt Romney is not flip-flopping... I am beginning to suspect that Mr. Romney is senile - he colors his hair to look younger as Ronald Reagan did - and probably he is suffering from mild Alzheimer - again just like Ronald Reagan - which will automatically disqualify him to be president of the United States of America.

Stem Cell Research

The second of Romney’s “Values” that can be found on his site is Stem Cell Research. As most if not all of his “opinions,” it’s a carbon copy of one of the many mantras used by the GOP and Mitt is firm on those values until something shakes his internal etch a sketch and suddenly he changes his “opinion.” However, I doubt this time he will change his position on any of the issues on his website, he is not running on his own personal views and values – he is running on what the Koch brothers and Citizen’s United order him to “believe in.”

Mitt Romney, like many other people on the right and some on the left, is uncomfortable with the use of “embryos” for scientific research and specifically for the developing and advancing of stem cell research. On his page, Mitt repeats what we have heard over and over again about the “dignity” an embryo deserves. Mitt continues to say that it is “…our moral duty to protect human life in its most vulnerable form.” That is ridiculous! To begin with, what is typically used to conduct stem cell research is not an embryo; probably these words are used because these are the terms most commonly recognized by all of us. What it is used are blastocysts. A blastocyst is nothing more than a cell with a structure that contains the necessary environment for the embryo to develop but IT IS NOT an embryo. A blastocyst is.0079 inches (the size of a pinhead) or smaller and at that stage the cells have yet to create what later we will recognize, if only through a vivid imagination, as an embryo. 

Blastocyst

An infertile woman prior to the In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) procedure, must submit to a series of hormone treatments and injections to secure a high production of eggs at a controlled pace. this is an expensive procedure which not always is covered by insurance. When the woman is ready, a specialist will surgically remove all the eggs produced, inseminate them in a lab and place the fertilized eggs in an incubator. From 3 to 5 days after the insemination, a number of those eggs are implanted back into the woman’s womb where the blastocyst cells will attach to the walls of the uterus. Sometimes, there are no more fertilized eggs left and this is the end of the procedure and if unsuccessful, the process starts all over again. But there are times where the procedure was a success and there are fertilized eggs left. What happens to the remaining fertilized eggs (blastocysts)? They end up at either one of two places: A cryopreservation tank or in the Biohazards trash bin.

It is obvious that the couples that opt for cryopreservation are in most part wealthy, since this is a costly procedure. Those couples that are not wealthy, especially if the procedure was a success, don’t even think of the many other eggs that were fertilized and not used. It isn't common for the donors to request the zygotes or blastocysts to be returned to them to provide “them” with a proper burial. Simply they end up in the Biohazards bin. That is what I find so ironic about the “moral duty to protect human life”… as far as I know, if the parents don't claim the fertilized eggs, no one complains about they ending up in the trash; the complaining and morality comes from finding a useful way to dispose of these cells. The immorality comes from using these cells, which otherwise would end up in the garbage, for any scientific research; it is then and only then that the holier than thou will yell about protecting the unborn. Placing the cells in a garbage bag? It’s perfectly fine, even “dignified.” Ending up in a science lab where that cell could help thousands of real people have a better future? Immoral!!! This is the only instance where it is preferred to be thrown away than finding a meaning for the creation and termination of any form of life, even one as primitive as this one. Only a very close-minded person would prefer disposal to usefulness.

Mitt and many others are against creating life in a lab from an existing blastocyst for the sole purpose of replicating the cells for stem cell research in other words, cloning. I am torn about this one. Not because I think it is morally or theologically wrong, but because we were raised watching horror flicks where we watched a mad scientist create "monsters" that later ended up trying to eliminate us. The simple thought of it sends chills through my spine! But we are grownups and we should overcome our apprehensions. If scientists cannot use the “embryos” that are going to be destroyed then, scientists should be allowed to clone. What should not be allowed is allowing the clone to develop further than a necessary.

Romney supports adult stem cell research and alternative methods and I think that too should be pursued. I believe that neither he nor I are scientists and we should leave science to those that know best for the sake of humanity. I am sure Mitt would not dare to tell a cardiologist how he should perform open heart surgery. Not long ago many viewed having a heart transplant with horror and apprehension and today its common practice. Then why do politicians persist in telling scientists what to do in a lab?

Life is precious and no one is debating that, but a person that has been born and is living should always be more important than a cluster of cells. How can you defend the “dignity” of a cell and disregard the right for a dignified life to people with Parkinson, congenital diseases, or those who are paraplegic or even quadriplegic or the millions of people that suffer from other ailments? For the people and the families that might benefit from these research is a matter of life or death, the success of this research gives them the hope that they will have their life back and most importantly, their dignity.

There is no doubt in my mind that if we want to move forward economically, technically, financially, judicially and scientifically we must vote as many Republicans out of Congress.  We must vote Democratic from the State Representatives, Senate and most importantly for our President Barack H. Obama.

Useful links about conception:

Fetal Development


Stages of Development of the Fetus

Tonight... We try to take over the World!

Today I read that the GOP is accusing President Obama’s Administration for recent suspected leaks of highly classified information. That accusation should not come as a surprise to anyone. As usual the GOP, through their military make-believe hero John McCain, is claiming that the “leak” benefits Obama at the upcoming elections, how or why do they believe this beats me since the information leaked is not beneficial to our President but we all know they will say whatever they want and if repeated enough times, they will even believe their own lies and so will the members of their Party.

The GOP is demanding an independent investigation to find out who among President Obama’s administration is leaking the classified information. I find it extremely odd that, the majority of the Committee on Homeland Security members are Republicans and, they are the only ones that truly benefit from this allegedly leak. We know that Republicans are willing to take this country to hell and not necessarily back if by doing so they will get absolute power which is the only thing they care for. They don’t give a shit about the country, patriotism, American citizens, education, economy, jobs or anything else. All they care for is power; they are like Brain from “Pinky and the Brain”… probably Romney asks the Koch brothers “What do you want to do tonight Koch?” – “The same thing we do every night Romney – try to take over the world!” I am really offending Pinky here, I doubt Romney is as smart as this adorable mouse was.  I think I will start calling them Mitty and the Bain.

The Republican Party’s elected officials are a disgrace to this country, composed of people of little or no morals, no ethics, no values, no patriotism and no compassion even when they shout at the top of their lungs how moral they are and all that crap about family values, there is a saying that goes something like this: “He who shouts the loudest is the one who knows the least.” I’ve always been a democrat, a liberal and have not agreed with many of the ideals republicans had stood for in the past but there has been a common ground before, things where both parties would agree to but sadly, that is a thing of the past. Today, if President Obama says the sky is blue… I am sure that the GOP will stand up in anger shouting that the sky is not blue but gray. You don’t believe me?

President Obama bailed out the American automotive industry; we all remember the GOP comments where they criticized Obama for trying to save a “dinosaur.” I remember when the discussions were taking place in Congress and the GOP kept praising all these foreign companies such as Honda, Toyota and the South Korean Hyundai and how great they were doing in some of their states. That the American industry should follow the example of these companies which meant that the American automotive industry should have lowered the salary of the workers, their benefits and dismantle their unions. When the bailout worked, now they are trying to steal the thunder and claim that Obama did exactly what they suggested he would do… sure!!!

Child obesity is an epidemic that is seriously affecting our country where one fifth of our children are obese and 4 percent of the children population is morbidly obese. Our first lady has adopted “Let’s Move” as her personal project and she has been a formidable representative in this fight against child obesity. Leave it to the GOP to criticize and ridicule even this wonderful campaign and mock our First Lady for having an ass that can compete with that of Jennifer Lopez, our First Lady is fit, toned and has a very nice curvy body… I guess Republicans are not used to having a hot First Lady and President, after all, has anyone noticed how fat most of them are? Just think of Christie, need I say more?

I think President Obama should say that he wants to promote Citizens United, tax cuts for the rich, eliminate governmental jobs and try to ban same-sex marriage. You may think I am crazy and maybe I am, but I am sure that if President Obama would say anything of the above, the GOP would immediately say and push for the opposite maybe that way we will finally see Citizens United reversed, the tax cuts a thing of the past, micro-government stopped and our gay friends will be able to make their vows in matrimony.

The above is just a thought… everything else has failed except for the GOP to go against whatever is proposed by a Democrat. Perhaps is time to play reverse psychology!

Casualties of War

I am not in a good mood. Truth be told, I haven’t been in a good mood since the Wisconsin recall fiasco, it is so bad that I promised to take a few days off from politics, but it is easier said than done.

I encountered a person in Facebook that confronted me saying that I have to be less aggressive, more persuasive and basically to go with the flow, this person obviously doesn’t know me; otherwise that would have never been suggested. I can never hide or masquerade my ideals in order for others to like me. I can carry a debate, we can have a difference of opinion but I will not change my values and if I am wrong, I will be the first one to admit it. I will try my best to offer the other person all the facts I may know or have at hand, but I will never lie in order to make others happy or others to like me. No one pays my bills but me, I have to be honest with myself first before I can be honest to others, those that don’t agree can either accept me for what I am or leave, as most things it’s a matter of choice.

I keep hearing that President Obama might lose the elections because the unemployment rate went up by half a point. I can’t believe that people are so stupid! How can they be so blind and not realize that the private companies are purposely not hiring in order to get rid of our President? To me it is so obvious, so clear that makes it incomprehensible that people are so quick to flip… and Latinos, Latinos are beginning to flip because they think Mitt Romney will be more pro immigration than Obama! They will hit Mexico before they can say “Orale” and if they vote for Romney, it will serve them well… I hope they enjoy the ride.

For those Latinos that haven’t done their homework, I will provide them with this entry from Wikipedia about where Mitt Romney stands on Immigration, gay marriage and minimum wage from the time when he was the governor of Massachusetts, I truly don’t think his views have changed any and if they have, I can assure you they are now worse, not better.

Illegal immigration

Romney vetoed a bill in 2004 that would have allowed illegal immigrants to obtain in-state tuition rates at state colleges if they graduated from a Massachusetts high school after attending it for at least three years and signed an affidavit affirming that they intended to seek citizenship. Romney argued that the bill would cost the state government $15 million and that Massachusetts should not reward illegal immigration. A study by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation predicted that the legislation would generate over $5 million in state revenues; the Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform disputed this conclusion. In 2005, the bill was reintroduced to the House and brought to a vote on 11 January 2006. The legislation was defeated 96-57.

On December 2, 2006, it was reported that a landscaping company Romney contracted to perform yard work at his home had been suspected of employing illegal immigrants. Romney said that he was unaware of the immigration status of the company's employees. A year later it was reported that the same company was still using illegal immigrants to work on Romney's estate. After this second report, Romney fired the landscape company.

Later in December 2006, Romney signed an agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency that would have allowed Massachusetts State Police troopers to arrest and seek deportation of suspected illegal immigrants they encounter over the course of their normal duties Under the terms of the agreement, a group of 30 troopers would have received specialized training allowing them to question and detain suspected illegal immigrants, charge them with a violation of immigration law and place them in removal proceedings.

The executive order pertaining to state police was consistent with Section 287(g) of federal immigration law. Section 287(g) is a program of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 that deputizes state and local law enforcement personnel to enforce immigration matters.

The agreement was never implemented because governor-elect Deval Patrick, who had expressed strong opposition to the agreement before it was signed, revoked it a month later when he was sworn in.

Minimum wage

As a candidate for governor in 2002, Romney proposed indexing the minimum wage to inflation and raising the hourly pay for the state's lowest-paid workers from $6.75 an hour to $6.96 an hour starting January 2004, saying, "I do not believe that indexing the minimum wage will cost us jobs. I believe it will help us retain jobs.”

In July 2006, the legislature passed a bill increasing the minimum wage to $8.00 an hour, and he vetoed it. "I have spent hours reading a wide array of reviews on the minimum wage and its impact on the economy, and there's no question raising the minimum wage excessively causes a loss of jobs, and the loss of jobs is at the entry level," said Romney when he vetoed the bill. He proposed an increase to $7.00/hour (which represented a 25 cents an hour increase over the existing rate.) The legislature voted on July 31, 2006 to override his veto (unanimously in the Senate) thus setting the minimum wage at the higher amount.

Same-sex marriage

Romney strongly opposed same-sex marriage during his governorship. He emphasized his desire to "protect the institution of marriage" while denouncing discrimination against gays and lesbians. "Like me, the great majority of Americans wish both to preserve the traditional definition of marriage and to oppose bias and intolerance directed towards gays and lesbians," Romney said in 2004.

Romney attempted to block implementation of the decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that legalized same-sex marriage in 2003. Romney criticized the decision as harming the rights of children:

“They viewed marriage as an institution principally designed for adults. Adults are who they saw. Adults stood before them in the courtroom. And so they thought of adult rights, equal rights for adults…Marriage is also for children. In fact, marriage is principally for the nurturing and development of children. The children of America have the right to have a father and a mother.

Romney subsequently released a statement in support of a proposed amendment to the Massachusetts state constitution defining marriage as existing only between "one man and one woman" in order to overrule the court's decision. His statement said, "the people of Massachusetts should not be excluded from a decision as fundamental to our society as the definition of marriage."

While consistently rejected same-sex marriage, there was a rhetorical shift in other emphasis around this subject during his time as governor, culminating with Romney rarely talking about protecting gays from bias and instead characterizing himself as a conservative stalwart in the battle against same-sex marriage and in support of heterosexual families.

The above, according to Wikipedia, is Mitt Romney’s proven record. Don’t be a fool and believe that he has changed his mind about any of these so important subjects, keep in mind the “etch a sketch” analogy used by his campaign manager… nothing he says in his campaign is true, except that analogy.

Mitt Romney will be the worst thing that could happen not only to Latinos, minorities and the middle class but also to America as a whole. There is no question why the Koch brothers are backing Romney and most Republicans… they are trying to secure cheap labor and increase their already obscene wealth at whatever cost necessary. For them, you and I are just casualties of war.

We must vote in great numbers even greater numbers than in 2008. Those of us that are unemployed should volunteer to be an election’s worker – not only will you have something to do but you can use the time there to make sure nothing strange or corrupt takes place or go to the nursing homes and offer to help the elderly fill in their absentee ballots, be prepared, be informed and clarify any doubts they may have. Offer a ride to the voting sites to those that don’t have transportation. If they have a disability and can’t stand in line offer to stand in line for them, do whatever it’s necessary but move and vote, vote for the Democratic or Green Party… our way of life depends on it.