the Rich Don't Need to Play the Lottery - They have the Republicans!!

The rich don't need to play the lottery, they have the Republicans. The Paul Ryan budget proposal, endorsed by the now Republican Presidential Candidate, Mitt Romney is a $3 trillion giveaway to the rich - millionaires and corporations - over a three year period. To pay for the giveaway, Ryan will take away benefits that go to lower and middle class Americans.

There is a cost to the rich, of course; as they will be expected to ante up some campaign contributions. But, let's say they each give the individual maximum of $10,000; the profit margin is tremendous as anyone with a $1million annual income will get something like a $150,000 tax break.

And, the odds are terrific. They have a 50/50 chance of winning which is not bad odds considering that if they do nothing, they could take a hit as President Obama would then have a chance to put in his Buffet tax on millionaires which would ensure that they hve to pay something like a fair share of taxes like most of us.

So, what's the problem? The problem is that such a budget will ruin the economy which is driven by consumption by middle and lower class income people. The rich don't produce, they manage, mostly their own money and now ours too. The end result of the last tax break for the rich (the Bush one) was a devastated economy and a stock market in the toilet. The stock market in the toilet actually also affects more the middle class than the 1% as the 1% can ride out the storm until a good Democrat gets back in office to restore the value of all our investments, while the middle class, especially the seniors who are retired take a hit that makes life difficult as the margin between their base need and their real income moves to nill or below.

Here's the kicker... a good number of people who will be robbed by the Romney/Ryan budget will vote for the Republicans. I have to hand it to them. They believe and are successful in getting, if not a majority, then something close to it to believe a lie - that the rich drive the economy and so to give them money creates jobs for all the rest of us.

I can only say: you get what you vote for. Don't be stupid!!!

The Order of Finish: Romney, Gingrich, Paul, Santorum

This is how the Republican primaries will end, in terms of delegates pledged for the National Convention: Romney, Gingrich, Paul and finally Santorum. Despite the rhetoric from Gingrich and Santorum about the "long haul", their haul will end when the money ends and that will happen first for Santorum and then for Gingrich. Ron Paul will finish third and will stay the distance as he never had and never depended upon the Super PACS for his financing. In truth, Paul is the only real alternative to Romney in this race with his more radical economic notions (which are not so good for the nation) and his more reasoned and sane approach to military spending and war.

There will be woman named by Romney for Vice-President (as he is trailing Obama with women all over the world). Then, President Obama will win the general election.

Why will Obama win? In the first place because he has done a reasonably good job: passed health care, ended two wars and put the economy back on a pattern of growth. And, because not enough people will really believe that Romney is in the race for the sake of building up the middle class. He is so far removed from the middle class that he has no idea of it means to be middle class or struggling to stay there. He doesn't care about the poor, doesn't know what it means to be middle class and his best friends are corporations (they are "people" too, you know...at least according to Mitt). I would add that one other deficit for Romney is that he doesn't really have a sense of humor as Obama does.

Mark my words. I put it down in writing on this 3rd day of February so that, later, it cannot be claimed that it is easy to say that this is what I predicted but how does anyone really know it was what I predicted.

Getting on the Record

Just for the record I want to make my US presidential election in 2012. Romney will win the Republican nomination. Obama will win the general election. There still are not enough stupid people in the United States to hand the reins of the government back to the Republicans. And, in fact, it is the economy, stupid. The last time the economy was in the hands of a Republican president it went south, big time (not to mention the debt piled up by two wars we did not need to fight). Obama has overseen the process of addressing the problems created by his predecessors and the initial stages of the economy coming back; plus, he managed to get health care passed which no other president has been able to do. Did he perform the way I wanted him too. No! I wanted singl-payer health care and immigration reform that allowd for amnesty, both of which would make this country healthier.

By the way, speaking of stupidity, our local U.S. Congressman was recently quoted as saying that we cannot remove the tax cuts from the rich because it is their money that drives the economy. Really, And, where did they drive it? Right, you got it - exactly in their direction. If they are the drivers then they should be arrested on several violatons of the law and common sense. So, a few days later, this same Congressman was on the floor of the house denouncing how Obama had mismanged the economy. So, which is it...is Obama driving or the rich? You have to wonder sometimes if the politicians think we don't listen or it doesn't matter that what they say has some level of consistency (or lack of demagogery).

But, given the conditions of the economy and the wars when he inherited the office and the Republican House, I would say that he has performed admirably. If he can manage to get the absolutely logical and advisable agreement to remove Bush tax cuts for the rich, we will do even better in this year and the years to come.