Why Lie?

Why lie?

Why lie, really I cannot believe the lies coming out of Mitt Romney's campaign.

Whoever is strategizing this (I suspect Karl Rove) has decided on every "hot button" issue that will stick, to de-legitimize the President.

One whopper is that the Affordable Care Act cuts over 7 billion dollars out of Medicare. This implies, that 7 billion dollars will be cut from Medicare benefits. The truth is 7 billion or so, it depends on how the efficiencies work, of savings are built into the Affordable Care Act. These savings do NOT come from benefits to Medicare recipients, but streamline reimbursements to insurance companies, cut over payments to insurance companies; in short, bring much needed savings to Medicare operations. The President pledged this during the Affordable Care debate, remember. He told us Medicare efficiencies had to occur, as PART of the new law.

Not ONE word was ever said about cuts in benefits, during the raging debate over the Affordable Care Act. Not one! In fact, I recall some Republicans saying that savings to Medicare were the ONLY responsible factor in the Act. And, Ryan's nefarious "budget" in fact includes these savings in his blueprint for Medicare "reform"; along with a whopping decrease in benefits!

So, the Rove school of political cheating, took advantage of what is an effort to actually shore up Medicare, a provision that Ryan himself has in his "budget", and proclaim it as a benefit cut. In a right world, there would immediate revulsion to this lying.

But this is an election year.

The next whopper is that the President has changed the welfare to work rules, allowing welfare to be paid to people who refuse to work. This is also completely false. The only modification made was years ago, giving states more flexibility in applying workfare rules. The Clinton welfare to work law is substantially the same; even Clinton has said so.

Again, nothing was said, until the election, in what is any out and out lie. Romney knows Americans hate "welfare cheats", Reagan was elected on this racist urban myth. It was a myth then, and a myth now, but is effective in appealing to white males, who hate African Americans and think they are all welfare cheats. The facts that the great majority of people on welfare are white, children, and adults now have to work to get it, are covered up by Romney's lies.

So, Romney continues his disingenuous path of campaigning, that so troubled his opponents in the last primary. Romney is being counseled, obviously, to stretch the truth or outright lie to win.

Finally there are those taxes. Romney has a record of tax dodging that goes back decades. He has a Swiss Bank Account, money in the Cayman Islands (a notorious tax avoidance vehicle), and when confronted about it, he LIES. He says he has always paid taxes, he panders, he pivots.

And, unlike every Presidential candidate before him, he refuses to release his income tax information for more than a paltry two years. He has been running for President for the past two years; and has obviously "cooked the books" to make his income tax record look acceptable.

There is something to hide, that is why he is not divulging his tax records. He is a rich man who cheats on his taxes, because he can afford to hire an army of accountants who work to find every loophole, every dodge, so he pays far less (maybe zero) of what he should pay. I have never been able to understand why multi-millionaires, who have more money than they know what to do with, spend millions to dodge taxes.

Now taking ordinary exemptions, or tax credits that work to improve the economy to encourage investment in the United States are not bad. But the Cayman islands? Switzerland? Really Mitt...300 million is not enough I guess.

What is really hard to understand, is why lie anyway. Romney has plenty of ammunition regarding the sluggish economy; even though the President inherited the mess from George W. But, there are a considerable number of Americans, including the President's supporters, who are frustrated with the tepid economic recovery.

Regardless, Romney lies anyway. He would have us believe that another round of tax cuts for the rich, permanently reducing revenue to the Federal Government, while increasing defense spending will somehow reduce the deficit. That is the same Whopper George W. did, cutting taxes while increasing spending and telling us it will all "trickle down" and somehow work.

2007/2008 proved conclusively, once again IT DOES NOT WORK!!!!

This is the problem with lying to win. Once in office, the practice continues. George W., is a great example. He lied to get elected (he actually didn't get elected, he cheated there too) telling whoppers about being a "compassionate conservative", wanting to "save social security"; etc.

Once in office, when confronted with his own bungling during 9/11, he lied constantly, drawing the nation into two wars. Then he lied about the budget, pushing through a senseless tax cut. He lied about Katrina. He lied about Iraq.

Editorial writers mused about the "alternative reality" that the Bush Administration fabricated to cover everything. This blew up big time, when the "ownership society" (another pack of lies) led to the housing bubble economic catastrophe, that plunged us into a depression in 2008.

You see, reality is still reality. No matter how much lying you do, the facts are the facts. Romney is trying the same tricks as Bush did, telling huge lies to get elected, which leads to then more lies to stay elected. Once lying is rewarded, it becomes compulsive.

When nations follow this path, see Germany 1932 to 1945, the results can be catastrophic.

President Obama has told us the truth, he has never promised what he could not deliver. He told us right off the bat, that the economic recovery would be hard. He counseled that there was no easy way out. He has told us about the energy problems, the educational challenges. He did bring unemployment down, just not enough. He did stop what was a plunge into a depression.

He also promised a medical insurance reform, which he delivered. He promised to get Bin Laden, which he did. He promised to withdraw from Iraq, which he did. He promised to change our approach to terrorism, which he did with positive results; his leadership has killed more terrorists that Bush ever did.

There is an old saying, "Never promise a rose garden". Romney is doing that now, promising and lying for effect. The President is telling it straight.

You choose.