Obama's Signiture Move: Unsealing Private Records

[kmiller1610]

I view it this way: If a presidential candidate is under suspicion of using tax heavens, then we, as the people he wants to govern, have the right to know if this is true.

So an opposing politician can dream up any accusation they like and the one being accused must reveal all?

 

[AdamT]

How about not demanding transparency when dems dont provide it either and have no intention to do so. Its a two way street. Romney is running against Obama and his speeches have been about the country's economic situation, what have Obama's been about again? This is all part of Obama's class warfare distraction, problem is, its starting to backfire. Deep down people understand that personal success in business owners translates into stability and lesser success to those around them that they hire to fuel even more success.

What a joke. Romney's economic plan is so vague it can't be scored. He's calling for $4 trillion in tax cuts, which he claims will be paid for, but he refuses to say how he would pay for them. An independent analysis concluded that there is no way to make Romney's claims add up, even if you make wildly unrealistic assumptions in Romney's favor. Romney says that he would consolidate federal agencies but he refuses to say which ones. He's about as transparent as a concrete wall.

 

[washunut]

What a joke. Romney's economic plan is so vague it can't be scored. He's calling for $4 trillion in tax cuts, which he claims will be paid for, but he refuses to say how he would pay for them. An independent analysis concluded that there is no way to make Romney's claims add up, even if you make wildly unrealistic assumptions in Romney's favor. Romney says that he would consolidate federal agencies but he refuses to say which ones. He's about as transparent as a concrete wall.

You know the game, but take issue with it when it comes from the other side. We all know that whatever deductions (or loopholes for Obama and team) would be talked about have a constituency, thus no one will talk specifics. That includes Obama. Heck he has not laid out the specifics of what he would do to fix the broken tax system and has been in office for more than 3 years. His solution is to tax the "millionaires and billionaires" making 200K (for an individual) not told the American public anything he would take away. Maybe he should whisper to us like he did to the Russian President, I need cover until after the elections.

The only transparent aspect of this administration seems to be leaking secret intelligence reports to try and get him elected, but may well get him impeached if he gets a second term.

 

[LowDown]

I certainly don't have to do any research to know that Obama's win over McCain and Palin had nothing to do with any "dirt" anyone dug up on them, as the OP claimed. I don't have to do any research to know that he hasn't attempted to spread any dirt about Romney.

So, you were asleep for the entire 2008 campaign, then?

The [Wall Street] Journal (2008) reports Obama 'air-dropped a mini-army of 30 lawyers, investigators and opposition researchers' into Alaska to dig dirt on Governor Palin.

The Obama Campaign denied this at the time. No, they had not "air lifted" operatives to Alaska. They already had plenty of them in the state!

...He adds that the DNC has used "local volunteers" to research Palin's background as well as "help from people who have run against her in the past." Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor says that the Obama campaign has not sent anybody to Alaska to research Palin's background, and refuses to comment on the activities of campaign staffers and volunteers already in the state.

Dirt proffered by the DNC and the Obama campaign, or developed by the news media and pushed by the Obama campaign (I think we can all agree that there is no separation between the Obama campaign and the mainstream media. Certainly there wasn't one in 2008) include the charge that Palin belonged to a secessionist group and had radical anti-American views, that Trig was not her child, that she had strange religious views and disrespected Catholics, that she offered to have sex with a beauty pageant judge (Oh, wait, that was a spoof. It's so hard to tell mainstream media reports from a spoof.)

Sampling from among hundreds and hundreds of such stories:

Pastor: GOP may be downplaying Palin's religious beliefs - CNN.com

In Palin’s Life and Politics, Goal to Follow God’s Will

The Trig Palin Hoax Theory All Hinges On One Telling Photo - Business Insider

Palin's secession flirtation - Los Angeles Times

Palin’s pastor (and witches) problem - Salon.com

There's no question that all of this nonsense had a profound effect on the public perception of the McCain-Palin ticket.

If Obama hasn't dug any dirt on Romney so far I doubt it's from a lack of trying. They tried the Mormonism = Cult angle, if you recall, but it backfired on them. They also tried the Romney is cruel to dogs meme until it came out that Obama used to eat dogs.

 

[AdamT]

So, you were asleep for the entire 2008 campaign, then?



The Obama Campaign denied this at the time. No, they had not "air lifted" operatives to Alaska. They already had plenty of them in the state!



Dirt proffered by the DNC and the Obama campaign, or developed by the news media and pushed by the Obama campaign (I think we can all agree that there is no separation between the Obama campaign and the mainstream media. Certainly there wasn't one in 2008) include the charge that Palin belonged to a secessionist group and had radical anti-American views, that Trig was not her child, that she had strange religious views and disrespected Catholics, that she offered to have sex with a beauty pageant judge (Oh, wait, that was a spoof. It's so hard to tell mainstream media reports from a spoof.)

Sampling from among hundreds and hundreds of such stories:

Pastor: GOP may be downplaying Palin's religious beliefs - CNN.com

In Palin’s Life and Politics, Goal to Follow God’s Will

The Trig Palin Hoax Theory All Hinges On One Telling Photo - Business Insider

Palin's secession flirtation - Los Angeles Times

Palin’s pastor (and witches) problem - Salon.com

There's no question that all of this nonsense had a profound effect on the public perception of the McCain-Palin ticket.

If Obama hasn't dug any dirt on Romney so far I doubt it's from a lack of trying. They tried the Mormonism = Cult angle, if you recall, but it backfired on them. They also tried the Romney is cruel to dogs meme until it came out that Obama used to eat dogs.

Um, these are all media stories -- like you have about every candidate in every election. You want me to post about 500 links to slanderous stories about Obama and Biden? :roll:

Obama beat McCain because he inspired his supporters, beat McCain in the debates, and because McCain was like a deer in headlights when the financial crisis hit ... and because he utterly botched his VP selection.

 

[Dittohead not!]

What a joke. Romney's economic plan is so vague it can't be scored. He's calling for $4 trillion in tax cuts, which he claims will be paid for, but he refuses to say how he would pay for them. An independent analysis concluded that there is no way to make Romney's claims add up, even if you make wildly unrealistic assumptions in Romney's favor. Romney says that he would consolidate federal agencies but he refuses to say which ones. He's about as transparent as a concrete wall.

Windows don't get elected.
Concrete walls do.

 

[kmiller1610]

What a joke. Romney's economic plan is so vague it can't be scored. He's calling for $4 trillion in tax cuts, which he claims will be paid for, but he refuses to say how he would pay for them. An independent analysis concluded that there is no way to make Romney's claims add up, even if you make wildly unrealistic assumptions in Romney's favor. Romney says that he would consolidate federal agencies but he refuses to say which ones. He's about as transparent as a concrete wall.

The real trick about the Romney "plan" is that Romney is not Obama and people are sitting on their money because they don't trust Obama.

 

[AdamT]

The real trick about the Romney "plan" is that Romney is not Obama and people are sitting on their money because they don't trust Obama.

People are sitting on their money because of unemployment and because of the uncertainty surrounding the sequester and Bush tax cuts. It has nothing to do with trusting or not trusting Obama.

 

[washunut]

People are sitting on their money because of unemployment and because of the uncertainty surrounding the sequester and Bush tax cuts. It has nothing to do with trusting or not trusting Obama.

Amazing the spin that Axelrod and the boys comes up with. The sequester and Obama tax cut uncertainty has everything to do with the left wing extremists Obama and Reid. They want to tie up congress so Obama can run on a do nothing congress.

 

[Born Free]

]People are sitting on their money because of unemployment [/B]and because of the uncertainty surrounding the sequester and Bush tax cuts. It has nothing to do with trusting or not trusting Obama.

And that is because of Obama!

 

[Born Free]

People are sitting on their money because of unemployment and because of the uncertainty surrounding the sequester and Bush tax cuts. It has nothing to do with trusting or not trusting Obama.

And that is because of Obama!

 

[nota bene]

Senator McCain in his own words:

"Look, I respect the vice president. He and I had strong disagreements as to whether we should torture people or not. I don't think we should have," he said. "But the fact is, I am proud of Sarah Palin, I am proud of the job she did, I am proud of the job she continues to do. So, everybody has their own views, and I respect those views, but I am proud of what we did."

John McCain defends Sarah Palin choice after Dick Cheney's criticisms - Los Angeles Times

 

[washunut]

Senator McCain in his own words:

"Look, I respect the vice president. He and I had strong disagreements as to whether we should torture people or not. I don't think we should have," he said. "But the fact is, I am proud of Sarah Palin, I am proud of the job she did, I am proud of the job she continues to do. So, everybody has their own views, and I respect those views, but I am proud of what we did."

John McCain defends Sarah Palin choice after Dick Cheney's criticisms - Los Angeles Times

While I do not think much of Palin, but I am not sure her IQ is lower than Biden's.

 

[a351]

The real trick about the Romney "plan" is that Romney is not Obama and people are sitting on their money because they don't trust Obama.

You'll find that most individuals of a sound state of mind don't base everyday financial decisions on whether or not they personally care for the current president.

 

[Dittohead not!]

You'll find that most individuals of a sound state of mind don't base everyday financial decisions on whether or not they personally care for the current president.

But, no doubt, those other people are sitting on their money because they don't trust the POTUS.

 

[Mustachio]

Hey, negative advertising works. Mud slinging works.

I am bothered by enormous and coordinated smear campaigns that are designed to trick Americans into believing something that isn't true. The Swift Boat campaign was the worst I've seen in my lifetime. But the John Kerry "flip-flopper" ads were generally ok, that's at least a legitimate complaint one could have about a candidate, and there were actual instances used to back up the complaint. I know that these attack campaigns didn't come straight from Bush, but I'm sure you could find a lot of the same money in the pockets of the Swift Boat Veterans and the Bush campaign.

Anyway, the Obama attacks thus far have been permissible in my opinion. They raise a question, address the source of the question, and while you might argue that the question is disingenuous, it doesn't qualify as deception and therefore isn't unfair. And "unsealing records" is so absurd. What are they doing, hiring Anonymous to hack into a database containing useful information?

Look at all the garbage going around out there. The debate over gay marriage now somehow involves chicken sandwiches, and during the last presidential election we were infatuated with some random plumber. Attack ads and "unsealing records," whatever that means, are nowhere close to the worst thing out there, and if you're really that upset with them, start complaining about your fellow citizens. Because if your fellow citizens weren't most responsive to negative ads, politicians wouldn't use them. But we are most responsive to negative ads and attacks, so why wouldn't Obama go that way too?

 

[VanceMack]

I think it is sort of amazing that this is pretty much Romney's main line on all of this. He is basically saying that the U.S. public isn't capable of deciding what is or isn't important about his taxes and that they are too dumb to distinguish between a real and manufactured gaffe. This may or may not be true, but it is amazing to see that Romney is openly making major decisions based on how the media, and not the public, will react.

Even the illusion that elections are a respectable and representative event is fading.

More amazing that you care more about a gaffe than the facts and turmoil facing the country.

 

[AdamT]

And that is because of Obama!

As a matter of fact, the vast majority of jobs were lost in 2008. If Republicans have offered anything that wouldn't have made the recovery worse rather than better I have yet to hear it.

 

[Bobcat]

As a matter of fact, the vast majority of jobs were lost in 2008. If Republicans have offered anything that wouldn't have made the recovery worse rather than better I have yet to hear it.

Obama had both houses of congress and the whitehouse for two years---------and did nothing but ram obamacare through in the dead of night on a partisan vote. He had all the power to fix the job problem--------and did nothing but shove a socialized medicine plan up our collective butts.

 

[Bobcat]

And that is because of Obama!

in a word--Yes

 

[AdamT]

Obama had both houses of congress and the whitehouse for two years---------and did nothing but ram obamacare through in the dead of night on a partisan vote. He had all the power to fix the job problem--------and did nothing but shove a socialized medicine plan up our collective butts.

He got ACA passed, which was a monumental achievement, and he also got the stimulus bill passed and saved GM and Chrysler. Without those measures the economy would be much worse.

 

[PeteEU]

Obama had both houses of congress and the whitehouse for two years---------and did nothing but ram obamacare through in the dead of night on a partisan vote. He had all the power to fix the job problem--------and did nothing but shove a socialized medicine plan up our collective butts.

To be fair, healthcare costs are a huge part of the problem in the American economy. The fact is that Chinese, German, French, Spanish, Japanese companies are not burdened by direct healthcare costs is a huge competitive advantage.

 

[Bobcat]

He got ACA passed, which was a monumental achievement, and he also got the stimulus bill passed and saved GM and Chrysler. Without those measures the economy would be much worse.

the GM and Chrysler bailouts saved the UAW, not the companies. the companies would have reorganized under bankruptsy and then would have had workers vote on union representation-----the UAW was scared of that, and obama bailed them out.

BTW, check into where Cadilacs are now made---------hint, its not Detroit.

 

[Bobcat]

To be fair, healthcare costs are a huge part of the problem in the American economy. The fact is that Chinese, German, French, Spanish, Japanese companies are not burdened by direct healthcare costs is a huge competitive advantage.

who do you think is paying for healthcare in those countries?

 

[Bronson]

He got ACA passed, which was a monumental achievement, and he also got the stimulus bill passed and saved GM and Chrysler. Without those measures the economy would be much worse.

Obama's "stimulus" was a monumental failure that has extended the Great Recession into a Depression

GM profits just dropped 41% and they still owe taxpayers 24 billion