18 | October | 2012 | Micheline's Blog

Tags

Barack Obama, List of Posts on US, Michelle Obama, Mitt Romney, Republicans, United States

Fruit still life with shells, by Balthasar van der Ast, 1620

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been working on a blog, now nearly finished. However, it is difficult for me to concentrate on a subject other than current events in the United States. We are nearing the elections and I cannot even send my five dollars to help the Obama/Biden campaign. I am not an American citizen. My grandfather was, but that does not count.

However, I share the distress expressed by various individuals (President Obama, President Clinton, Michelle Obama, etc.). The Republicans have the money to buy their way into the presidency of the United States, but President Obama is not in that position.

Obstructionism and Scapegoating

Since July 2011, I have been watching the United States. One of the phenomena I noticed is considerable obstructionism. Please read the Daily Complaint‘s article. Since the 2010 mid-term election, Tea Party members have sat in Congress saying no to all that President Obama was advocating. And they did so systematically.

This is a game and a nasty one. Individuals, in this case extremists in the Republican Party—such as Tea Party members—prevented (obstructionism) President Obama from bringing remedial action to a severe problem and now, come election time, they are blaming (scapegoating) President Obama for not having taken action which they prevented him from carrying out. I am speaking of the stimulus package.

The Debate

During the debate that took place on October 16th, 2012, Mr Romney found so many faults in the manner the President had managed the economy that it sounded as if the Democrats had fought two useless wars and brought the United States to the brink of a financial collapsed. As my nieces would say: gross!

In the early fall of 2008, I lost a third of my pension fund. I have now recovered that money, but at the time, I considered stepping off the planet. I could not afford to lose that money because I could not go back to work. TARP saved me as it saved many citizens of the United States and the citizens of its financial partners. Now my losses occurred at the end of a Republican administration, not during the presidency of Mr Obama.

So Mitt Romney…

So Mitt Romney cannot possibly attack President Obama where the economy is concerned. President Obama was not allowed the stimulus package he requested and there have nevertheless been improvements. My pension fund has climbed back to its August 2008 amount, but I cannot trust the Republicans.

In my view, Mr Romney and other rich Americans who are deposit their money in offshore accounts are harming the United States. One has to pay one’s taxes: that is the “freedom we surrender” (Thomas Hobbes). So, given that he hasn’t paid his dues as a citizen of the United States, I wonder if Mr Romney should be seeking the Presidency of the United States. Mr Romney was part of the problem. As matters stand in the United States, he has not been paying his fair share of taxes.

Regulation

I perceive a need for robust regulation in many areas, one of which is taxation. Just how much money can one keep under the table. Moreover, there should also be a limit to the number of jobs the rich can export. Deregulation can hurt and it has.

Here is a list of the articles I have posted on the US. It may not be complete, but I have difficulty making such lists, so I would ask for your indulgence. I will try to collect the missing posts and will listen to the Debate once again. I didn’t like President Obama’s “you’re lying,” but there are times when provocation invites a fiery response.