Romney's Wife, The Economy, and the President

Alright, I'm done ranting about how I will hate voting for Romney.  He's been given a gift in this attack on his wife that that can generate some real followers, if he's willing to use it.  As  a stay-at-home-mom, Ann Romney can speak with some authority about micro-economics.  I offer these suggestions from my own experience as a part-time adjunct instructor at a local university, as a home-schooling mom, as a care-giver for a disabled adult, as a wife, as a mother...  As what Simcha Fischer today calls an a-typical mom.

Because I only work part-time, I need child care for my son about 4 hours, one day a week.  Rather pay for him to go to a daycare where he would be surrounded by children much younger than he, he goes to the home of another home-school family.  She teaches him art, and I make them dinner that day.  Her side job is making home spun and died yarns, and the knitted items that come from them, as well as home made jewelry.  She has home-schooled her five children for years.    Ann Romney could talk about how this woman is clearly not lazy.

Ann Romney could talk about the effect of inflation on women and mothers in the last 3 years.  In the good old days of 2008, I could find a fair variety of meats on sale at the grocery store for under $2 a pound.  Now I'm lucky if I can find ground beef under $3.  In the salad days of '08, I could buy romaine lettuce or collard greens for under $1 a bunch.  Now it's closer to $2.  Butter, milk, cheese, flour, yeast, (yeah, I bake my own bread) have seen similar rises.  Canned tomatoes, frozen veggies, even dried beans and rice have almost doubled in price.  Mrs. Obama says we need to eat fresh and buy local, organic...  at the current prices, my family can't afford it.  Mrs. Romney could talk about Mrs. Obama's unrealistic expectations for us.

Filling our tank cost about $35 in '08.  This week it cost about $65.  In '08 I could buy two pairs of work jeans on sale for my husband for under $30.  Yesterday I paid $65 for the same style of jeans after the multiple discounts Kohls provides.

From a micro-economic perspective, inflation has gone up at an alarming rate.  Our basic necessities have about doubled in price.  But national inflation rates appear static. I don't know enough to be sure, but I think someone's playing with the way inflation is calculated in order to make stats look a lot better than my grocery bill.

I'm no economist, although I play one in the grocery store, but should Ann Romney talk about her experiences, and those of other stay-at-home-moms trying to manage a home?  Maybe her husband made enough money that she wouldn't feel the same about the economic pinch as I do.

But even among the wealthy, choices have been made.  Clean your house yourself, rather than provide employment to someone.  Drop the club membership, and someone else loses a job.  Eat at home more frequently, and restaurants close.  So while the wealthy lose some cushion, those they employ get hit hard.  These are real trickle-down consequences to inflation.  Ann and Mitt Romney could both talk about that.

The point is, everyone feels the pinch in a different way.  But moms, who stay home and manage the home, can see the real effects.  Everyday.  Economist can lie to themselves.  They can't lie to us.

Romney??? Really???

Simcha Fischer has a few laughs about the apparent GOP presidential nominee.

I would laugh if I could.  I'm not happy, and I can't believe we are being fed this milk-toast pseudo-republican rich guy who can laugh about his father closing a factory.  If the RINOs are in charge, then they are every bit as out of touch as they have been accused of being.  This is the dumbest choice for a candidate in a  time of crisis as I can imagine. And given republican candidates, that's saying something. 

Have another single-malt scotch and go hang out with Arlan Specter in the hot tub for a while, guys.  Maybe he can convince you he's the real face of the republican party.  Only after praising you for your lanky good looks of course.  And don't cut in line at the massage tables.

What is Romney promising that has donors flocking to him like dirty downtown pigeons on a stale hot-dog bun?  He lacks conviction, depth, sincerity,  and charisma.  He has a family history that reads like one of those prepaid entries in a Who's Who book. 

I can't believe that he is going against the anointed son-of-a-jackal that currently holds the office.  Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews could blow Mitt away with two questions about cars and income.  And of course, I chose them as the questioners because they are the dimmest bulbs on T.V.  Oh wait, I forgot about The View.  Well it could be a toss-up.

Will I vote for Romney if he gets the nomination?  Yes, but I'll need  long shower after.

What is wrong with politics in our country that this is our choice:  The deceptive, traitorous, race-bating lunatic who is spending us into oblivion, or the white guy who promises different, but on every cultural issue has a similar record?

Maybe I'm stupid and I just don't see it.  Maybe the real movers and shakers just think I am.  Maybe they think we all are.

Tales from a Colorado Caucus

My sister Meg lives in Colorado.  She is probably the least likely of all of my siblings to go to a caucus or political meeting of any kind.  I'll wave signs on street corners, wear a Rick Santorum vest to work, argue in the grocery check-out lane with total strangers...  But Meg has to be pretty motivated to go to a caucus.

After praying about it, she decided this was a year when it really mattered.  Her account of the caucus and what she heard is significant.  It pairs well with the stunningly unenthusiastic reporting of the first candidate to sweep three contests in a single night.

Meg said there were 57 people at her caucus site.  Most of them, about 45, were well over 65.  The smallest group was in our 40-60 age group.

Among the speakers, two younger people spoke, both Mormons.  One was a Ron Paul supporter, who Meg said seemed kind of nutty.  One was a young man who cautioned those in attendance that Mitt Romney has a full wardrobe of skeletons in his closet.  She said that, within the rather large Mormon community in Colorado, there is serious concern that Romney is being promoted because the Democrats know he can be easily taken down in the general election.

I know, one lone voice at a caucus is not a landslide.  But it is significant.  The older voters are more likely to be accustomed to receiving their news from the old guard liberal press and network television.  They are also more likely to stick with a candidate they've known from other races.  That is why Romney won her caucus.

Now the day after, the Omaha World Herald doesn't even mention any of these election results on the front page.  Rick Santorum was denied a clear victory in Iowa because of miscounts and lost results.  The reporting on his victories is tepid.  He has won 4 states on a shoe-string budget, Romney won 3 with a leviathan machine of money and media supported structure, and Gingrich  has 1 state with a fair bit of money and a mouth made for creating controversy.  I know the delegate counts keep Romney in front, but it seems to me that it is time for voters to examine the bigger picture.

If Rick Santorum is doing so well with so little, why is that?  He doesn't get media coverage like the others.  He won Iowa while being relegated to stand in the half-light of a corner of the stage at debates where he had to raise his hand to be able to answer a question.  As the field dwindles, he moves closer to the center, but notice how his picture in any coverage of the presidential field is almost always third or fourth.  He can't pay to advertise like the others, so his message must be delivered in smaller forums, face to face.  And yet, he won 3 states last night.

If more people knew more about Rick Santorum, he could win the nomination.  Give him your time.  Read about him.  Storm the news outlets for some equal time.

I am as afraid of another candidate chosen for us by the media as I am of another Obama win.  Remember how the media chose him for us? 

Hopeless and Hopeful

As I saw the brief clip from ABC's interview with Newt Gingrich's ex-wife,  I thought, "This is hopeless.  How can this man be rising in the polls?"  His fuzzy, to be kind, math about wins, losses and electability is really a PR ploy that we have seen many times before; say it often and loudly and people will believe it is true.  Remember the one about Obama being a Constitutional Scholar?  Or how about the one where Obama wanted an open dialogue with Catholics about freedom of conscience issues?  And then there was the one about no federal funds to Planned Parenthood being used for abortion...

Integrity matters.  Newt is not young enough to make this all sound like wild oats.  He is the one who should drop out.  If he's slimy enough to speak for family values while conducting a 6-year affair and calling his wife to ask for an open marriage while in bed with his soon-to-be third wife, why should we believe anything he says in public?!?!?!?!?

Rick Santorum has won Iowa.  Romney, who Jonah Goldberg described as "Spock reading love poetry," won New Hampshire.  Huntsman, Perry, Cain, Pawlenty, and McCotter are all gone.  Paul remains the crazy coot in the room.  Tonight CNN hosts another debate, with the last four standing.

I'm begging Rick Santorum to stick to his guns and fight for the presidency.  I've given him all I can afford now, and will give more in the future, God willing.  He is the only consistent man of integrity left in the race.

Romney can talk all he wants about losing to a Democratic legislature while he was governor of Massachusetts.  The fact is, he is not powerful or persuasive enough to win against a liberal legislature.  He's cold, pretty and weak.  We cannot risk that in the presidency.

Come on people, put your money, prayers and votes behind the truly good man in the race.  Vote for Rick Santorum!!!

Last Thoughts before First Primary (Probably) 12/15/2011

I started out as a Thaddeus McCotter supporter, with the yard signs to prove it.  When he dropped out,  I never really got behind anyone, but didn't think the media-types were fair to Herman Cain, and I still don't believe his accusers.  I believe he suspended his campaign knowing he could protect his family from the slander and resulting pain.  Even so, Cain had a real issue with the foreign affairs learning curve.

So now what to do?  Rick Santorum is now my first choice.  "Foolish," you may say.  He has been hanging in the 5% or less column so long, no sane person thinks he is viable.