My Comments on Mitt Romney's 59 Points
Mitt Romney’s 59 Policy Proposals That Will Allegedly Get America Back To Work
Although I disagree with many of Mitt Romney's points, I think that it is EXCELLENT that he has put forward these proposals in writing! ALL candidates should be required to do this so that the voter can make a choice on something substantial. These points raise the campaign to a higher level, if everyone would agree to focus only on them (which, of course, they won't).
I have made comments on some of these proposals, in smaller font, but need to do more research to understand what many of the others are. He has explained many of these points in the brochure that comes with the points, which I haven't read.
1. Maintain current tax rates on personal income
2. Maintain current tax rates on interest, dividends, and capital gains
3. Eliminate taxes for taxpayers with AGI below $200,000 on interest, dividends, and capital gains.
Why just interest, dividends and capital gains? Why not cut taxes on their INCOME? Most people making under $200,000 a year are getting most of their income from WORK. Since Mitt Romney has $515,000,000, which yielded $20,000,000 last year (probably a BAD year), he gets all of his money from interest, dividends and capital gains, as do many of the 1%.
This is a nice way for Mitt Romney to give HIMSELF a much needed tax cut. Yes, poor Mitt Romney NEEDS a tax cut! How is a poor feller supposed to live on a mere $515,000,000? Life is tough for the super-rich!
My idea? Eliminate ALL taxes on the first $50,000 of ALL peoples’ income. This would include rich & poor alike, so it would be totally fair. I doubt if any Republicans would go along with THAT! Don’t want to help the peons too much. That might spoil them.
4. Eliminate the death tax
First of all, it is not a “death tax”, it is an inheritance tax. If Mitt is going to be President, he needs to start talking like a grown-up. As is, the vast majority of people inheriting money pay no taxes, since the first 600K is tax free. And I think they have all agreed to raise that to the first few million.
When a person receives a windfall inheritance of several million dollars or more, what is so HORRIBLE about their paying some taxes on it?
5. Pursue a conservative overhaul of the tax system over the long term that includes lower, flatter rates on a broader base What does THAT mean? Putting more taxes on poor people so that YOU can hang on to your $515,000,000 without having to pay taxes?
6. Reduce corporate income tax rate to 25 percent
7. Pursue transition from “worldwide” to “territorial” system for corporate taxation
8. Repeal Obamacare
Romney needs to differentiate good points from bad points in so-called Obamacare. And what alternatives does he offer? Obviously, when you have $515,000,000 in the bank, you don’t need to worry much about Health care insurance.
The Republicans seem to offer nothing in the way of Healthcare improvements.
9. Repeal Dodd-Frank and replace with streamlined, modern regulatory framework
10. Amend Sarbanes-Oxley to relieve mid-size companies from onerous requirements
11. Ensure that environmental laws properly account for cost in regulatory process
12 Provide multi-year lead times before companies must come into compliance with onerous new environmental regulations
13. Initiate review and elimination of all Obama-era regulations that unduly burden the economy
14. Impose a regulatory cap of zero dollars on all federal agencies
15. Require congressional approval of all new “major” regulations
16. Reform legal liability system to prevent spurious litigation
17. Implement agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea
Wasn’t this already done?
18. Reinstate the president’s Trade Promotion Authority
19. Complete negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership
20. Pursue new trade agreements with nations committed to free enterprise and open markets
And slave labor.
21. Create the Reagan Economic Zone
Where? And what does Reagan have to do with it? He’s dead.
22. Increase CBP resources to prevent the illegal entry of goods into our market
23. Increase USTR resources to pursue and support litigation against unfair trade practices
24. Use unilateral and multilateral punitive measures to deter unfair Chinese practices
Yeah, but then they might call in their loans, and we’re in deep doo-doo.
25. Designate China a currency manipulator and impose countervailing duties
26. Discontinue U.S. government procurement from China until China commits to GPA
WTF is GPA? Grade point average?
27. Establish fixed timetables for all resource development approvals
28. Create one-stop shop to streamline permitting process for approval of common activities
29. Implement fast-track procedures for companies with established safety records to conduct pre-approved activities in pre-approved areas
30. Amend Clean Air Act to exclude carbon dioxide from its purview
Why? Maybe Mitt is working on a photosynthesis machine. Or maybe he secretly has gills. Which he keeps hidden under his blue jeans.
31. Expand NRC capabilities for approval of additional nuclear reactor designs
32. Streamline NRC processes to ensure that licensing decisions for reactors on or adjacent to approved sites, using approved designs, are complete within two years
33. Conduct comprehensive survey of America’s energy reserves
34. Open America’s energy reserves for development
In other words, rather than working on developing new sources of energy based on renewable sources, continue to squander all of our existing resources so that greedy Republican pigs can increase their short-term profits while continuing to rape America.
35. Expand opportunities for U.S. resource developers to forge partnerships with neighboring countries
36 Support construction of pipelines to bring Canadian oil to the United States
Is there any guarantee that that oil will be sold to the USA at less than the going global price? If not, why bother?
Should we build pipelines no matter how badly it mangles the environment, when the USA might not even benefit from this new source of oil?
37. Prevent overregulation of shale gas development and extraction
38 Concentrate alternative energy funding on basic research
39. Utilize long-term, apolitical funding mechanisms like ARPA-E for basic research
40. Appoint to the NLRB experienced individuals with respect for the rule of law
So people currently in the NLRB are inexperienced individuals with no respect for the rule of law?
41. Amend NLRA to explicitly protect the right of business owners to allocate their capital as they see fit
42. Amend NLRA to guarantee the secret ballot in every union certification election
43. Amend NLRA to guarantee that all pre-election campaigns last at least one month
44. Support states in pursuing Right-to-Work laws
You mis-spelled that. They are Right-to-Work-at-Slave-Wage laws. Plus, Right-to-live-in-cardboard-boxes, and Right-to-eat-dogfood. Hey, Mitt, don’t want to let any of those 515,000,000 dollar bills fall from the table! Charity shmarity.
45. Prohibit the use for political purposes of funds automatically deducted from worker paychecks
46. Reverse executive orders issued by President Obama that tilt the playing field toward organized labor
How do you tilt the playing field?
47. Eliminate redundancy in federal retraining programs by consolidating programs and funding streams, centering as much activity as possible in a single agency
48. Give states authority to manage retraining programs by block granting federal funds
Why do the Republicans want so much to turn things back to the states? This is DUMB for strictly economic reasons. It DESTROYS size utility, and as a Harvard MBA, I’m sure that Mitt knows what size utility is.
In other words, how is it MORE efficient to have FIFTY (50) state burocracies doing the same thing that used to be done by ONE Federal burocracy? DUH! Only a Republican could come up with an idea THAT dumb!
Can you show me ONE large corporation that has a separate organization unit in every freeking state? NO! Large corporations generally have a couple of REGIONS rather than STATES, and they are based on POPULATION rather than area, in most cases.
The STATES are OBSOLETE and antiquated. They were designed by the Founding Fathers who not only did not have telephones, telegraphs, computers, airplanes and cars, but didn’t even have TRAINS! The states are FAR too small, but the Republicans cling to them for their powerbase.
49. Facilitate the creation of Personal Reemployment Accounts
50. Encourage greater private sector involvement in retraining programs
Back in the days before HB1 visas, big corporations would ALWAYS train their workers, and particularly train new employees fresh out of college. NOW, they just want to hire cheap foreign workers.
51. Raise visa caps for highly skilled workers
WTF for??? Mitt might not have noticed, with his $515,000,000 in the bank, but there are A LOT of highly skilled, highly trained AMERICAN workers, technicians and professionals who have been put out of work by highly skilled FOREIGN workers.
52. Grant permanent residency to eligible graduates with advanced degrees in math, science, and engineering
As soon as all AMERICANS with advanced degrees in math, science and engineering get jobs!!!
53. Immediately cut non-security discretionary spending by 5 percent
54. Reform and restructure Medicaid as block grant to states
WTF does THAT mean? That is TOTALLY DUMB, for the reasons that I outlined in point
48. How does it save money by having FIFTY (50) burocracies rather than ONE (1). DUH. Please explain why very slowly and thoroughly.
55. Align wages and benefits of government workers with market rates
56. Reduce federal workforce by 10 percent via attrition
57. Cap federal spending at 20 percent of GDP
58. Undertake fundamental restructuring of government programs and services
59. Pursue a Balanced Budget Amendment
OK. Will do.
Although I disagree with many of Mitt Romney's points, I think that it is EXCELLENT that he has put forward these proposals in writing! ALL candidates should be required to do this so that the voter can make a choice on something substantial. These points raise the campaign to a higher level, if everyone would agree to focus only on them (which, of course, they won't).
I have made comments on some of these proposals, in smaller font, but need to do more research to understand what many of the others are. He has explained many of these points in the brochure that comes with the points, which I haven't read.
1. Maintain current tax rates on personal income
2. Maintain current tax rates on interest, dividends, and capital gains
3. Eliminate taxes for taxpayers with AGI below $200,000 on interest, dividends, and capital gains.
Why just interest, dividends and capital gains? Why not cut taxes on their INCOME? Most people making under $200,000 a year are getting most of their income from WORK. Since Mitt Romney has $515,000,000, which yielded $20,000,000 last year (probably a BAD year), he gets all of his money from interest, dividends and capital gains, as do many of the 1%.
This is a nice way for Mitt Romney to give HIMSELF a much needed tax cut. Yes, poor Mitt Romney NEEDS a tax cut! How is a poor feller supposed to live on a mere $515,000,000? Life is tough for the super-rich!
My idea? Eliminate ALL taxes on the first $50,000 of ALL peoples’ income. This would include rich & poor alike, so it would be totally fair. I doubt if any Republicans would go along with THAT! Don’t want to help the peons too much. That might spoil them.
4. Eliminate the death tax
First of all, it is not a “death tax”, it is an inheritance tax. If Mitt is going to be President, he needs to start talking like a grown-up. As is, the vast majority of people inheriting money pay no taxes, since the first 600K is tax free. And I think they have all agreed to raise that to the first few million.
When a person receives a windfall inheritance of several million dollars or more, what is so HORRIBLE about their paying some taxes on it?
5. Pursue a conservative overhaul of the tax system over the long term that includes lower, flatter rates on a broader base What does THAT mean? Putting more taxes on poor people so that YOU can hang on to your $515,000,000 without having to pay taxes?
6. Reduce corporate income tax rate to 25 percent
7. Pursue transition from “worldwide” to “territorial” system for corporate taxation
8. Repeal Obamacare
Romney needs to differentiate good points from bad points in so-called Obamacare. And what alternatives does he offer? Obviously, when you have $515,000,000 in the bank, you don’t need to worry much about Health care insurance.
The Republicans seem to offer nothing in the way of Healthcare improvements.
9. Repeal Dodd-Frank and replace with streamlined, modern regulatory framework
10. Amend Sarbanes-Oxley to relieve mid-size companies from onerous requirements
11. Ensure that environmental laws properly account for cost in regulatory process
12 Provide multi-year lead times before companies must come into compliance with onerous new environmental regulations
13. Initiate review and elimination of all Obama-era regulations that unduly burden the economy
14. Impose a regulatory cap of zero dollars on all federal agencies
15. Require congressional approval of all new “major” regulations
16. Reform legal liability system to prevent spurious litigation
17. Implement agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea
Wasn’t this already done?
18. Reinstate the president’s Trade Promotion Authority
19. Complete negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership
20. Pursue new trade agreements with nations committed to free enterprise and open markets
And slave labor.
21. Create the Reagan Economic Zone
Where? And what does Reagan have to do with it? He’s dead.
22. Increase CBP resources to prevent the illegal entry of goods into our market
23. Increase USTR resources to pursue and support litigation against unfair trade practices
24. Use unilateral and multilateral punitive measures to deter unfair Chinese practices
Yeah, but then they might call in their loans, and we’re in deep doo-doo.
25. Designate China a currency manipulator and impose countervailing duties
26. Discontinue U.S. government procurement from China until China commits to GPA
WTF is GPA? Grade point average?
27. Establish fixed timetables for all resource development approvals
28. Create one-stop shop to streamline permitting process for approval of common activities
29. Implement fast-track procedures for companies with established safety records to conduct pre-approved activities in pre-approved areas
30. Amend Clean Air Act to exclude carbon dioxide from its purview
Why? Maybe Mitt is working on a photosynthesis machine. Or maybe he secretly has gills. Which he keeps hidden under his blue jeans.
31. Expand NRC capabilities for approval of additional nuclear reactor designs
32. Streamline NRC processes to ensure that licensing decisions for reactors on or adjacent to approved sites, using approved designs, are complete within two years
33. Conduct comprehensive survey of America’s energy reserves
34. Open America’s energy reserves for development
In other words, rather than working on developing new sources of energy based on renewable sources, continue to squander all of our existing resources so that greedy Republican pigs can increase their short-term profits while continuing to rape America.
35. Expand opportunities for U.S. resource developers to forge partnerships with neighboring countries
36 Support construction of pipelines to bring Canadian oil to the United States
Is there any guarantee that that oil will be sold to the USA at less than the going global price? If not, why bother?
Should we build pipelines no matter how badly it mangles the environment, when the USA might not even benefit from this new source of oil?
37. Prevent overregulation of shale gas development and extraction
38 Concentrate alternative energy funding on basic research
39. Utilize long-term, apolitical funding mechanisms like ARPA-E for basic research
40. Appoint to the NLRB experienced individuals with respect for the rule of law
So people currently in the NLRB are inexperienced individuals with no respect for the rule of law?
41. Amend NLRA to explicitly protect the right of business owners to allocate their capital as they see fit
42. Amend NLRA to guarantee the secret ballot in every union certification election
43. Amend NLRA to guarantee that all pre-election campaigns last at least one month
44. Support states in pursuing Right-to-Work laws
You mis-spelled that. They are Right-to-Work-at-Slave-Wage laws. Plus, Right-to-live-in-cardboard-boxes, and Right-to-eat-dogfood. Hey, Mitt, don’t want to let any of those 515,000,000 dollar bills fall from the table! Charity shmarity.
45. Prohibit the use for political purposes of funds automatically deducted from worker paychecks
46. Reverse executive orders issued by President Obama that tilt the playing field toward organized labor
How do you tilt the playing field?
47. Eliminate redundancy in federal retraining programs by consolidating programs and funding streams, centering as much activity as possible in a single agency
48. Give states authority to manage retraining programs by block granting federal funds
Why do the Republicans want so much to turn things back to the states? This is DUMB for strictly economic reasons. It DESTROYS size utility, and as a Harvard MBA, I’m sure that Mitt knows what size utility is.
In other words, how is it MORE efficient to have FIFTY (50) state burocracies doing the same thing that used to be done by ONE Federal burocracy? DUH! Only a Republican could come up with an idea THAT dumb!
Can you show me ONE large corporation that has a separate organization unit in every freeking state? NO! Large corporations generally have a couple of REGIONS rather than STATES, and they are based on POPULATION rather than area, in most cases.
The STATES are OBSOLETE and antiquated. They were designed by the Founding Fathers who not only did not have telephones, telegraphs, computers, airplanes and cars, but didn’t even have TRAINS! The states are FAR too small, but the Republicans cling to them for their powerbase.
49. Facilitate the creation of Personal Reemployment Accounts
50. Encourage greater private sector involvement in retraining programs
Back in the days before HB1 visas, big corporations would ALWAYS train their workers, and particularly train new employees fresh out of college. NOW, they just want to hire cheap foreign workers.
51. Raise visa caps for highly skilled workers
WTF for??? Mitt might not have noticed, with his $515,000,000 in the bank, but there are A LOT of highly skilled, highly trained AMERICAN workers, technicians and professionals who have been put out of work by highly skilled FOREIGN workers.
52. Grant permanent residency to eligible graduates with advanced degrees in math, science, and engineering
As soon as all AMERICANS with advanced degrees in math, science and engineering get jobs!!!
53. Immediately cut non-security discretionary spending by 5 percent
54. Reform and restructure Medicaid as block grant to states
WTF does THAT mean? That is TOTALLY DUMB, for the reasons that I outlined in point
48. How does it save money by having FIFTY (50) burocracies rather than ONE (1). DUH. Please explain why very slowly and thoroughly.
55. Align wages and benefits of government workers with market rates
56. Reduce federal workforce by 10 percent via attrition
57. Cap federal spending at 20 percent of GDP
58. Undertake fundamental restructuring of government programs and services
59. Pursue a Balanced Budget Amendment
OK. Will do.
posted by Jack W. Orf | 7:51 AM
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