For an examination of what Mitt Romney actually did to make his fortune, you might check out Rolling Stone's current expose:
Greed and Debt: The True Story of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital.
It's not easy reading for anyone hoping his success did not come at the expense of many hard-working Americans. Nor is it easy reading for anyone hoping his success did not come as a result of government bailouts and tax loopholes.
Finally, it is not easy reading for anyone hoping the only reason for his extreme secrecy about how he made his money and how much he paid in taxes were due to anything other than sheer embarrassment.
In fact, its embarrassing that one of the major parties could end up nominating someone with his record of plunder and greed, but then again, maybe not so surprising. As the author points out, Romney represents the divide between the amoral rich, who are from "nowhere" and have loyalty to no place vs. the rest of us, who most definitely comes from communities we care about -- communities the Romneys of the world are tearing apart.
This election should not devolve down to political rhetoric thrown back and forth, like big government, cut taxes, the crushing debt, etc. There's much more at stake here than scoring political points.
The super rich have destroyed much of what was special about this country. Ambitious politicians in both parties have masqueraded while allowing them their plunder. It doesn't matter if Romney is generous to people less fortunate he knows personally, and that he loves his family.
What does he intend to do for (or to) the rest of us? That is the question.
-30-
Friday, August 31, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Political Seasons and Hurricane Seasons
Hurricane Issac bearing down on New Orleans brings back memories of this blog's origins, which came in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and my friend's decision to move permanently to the Gulf Coast.
From her home in the area, she assures me this storm shouldn't be anything to worry about too much; I hope she's right.
The GOP convention got underway once the storm decided to move away from the Tampa area and head for New Orleans instead. Hurricanes twist and churn like buzz saws, and they chop their way onto landfall, often hurling a wall of water ahead of them.
Will the rebuilt levees hold this time?
The Republicans are inside their giant echo chamber this week; next week will be the Democrats' turn. I'm paying only marginal attention to the convention so far; not out of lack of interest, but due to other priorities.
This is Mitt Romney's best chance to introduce himself in a deeper way to voters who don't know all that much about him. That he is a Morman, extremely wealthy, and secretive about some things are among his negatives.
That he is a man of faith, extremely wealthy, and somewhat discreet about personal matters are among his strengths.
In that way, the same characteristics of a candidate can play our quite differently, depending how he is perceived. Romney isn't a great orator, which some politicians (like Barack Obama) are; but I'm not sure how many voters make decisions based on speeches in the end.
Incumbent Presidents are hard to beat, unless the economy is bad, and our economy is very bad; thus Obama's difficulties this fall, should the popular vote turn out to be as close as it presently appears likely to be.
But the popular vote, in the U.S. system, doesn't matter; it's the electoral vote, assigned on a state-by-state basis, that determines the winner, as Al Gore experienced in the 2000 election.
The problem when political parties debate economics is the level of sophistication of the conversation tends to remain quite low. It's assumed that voters do not understand the complex forces at work that drive growth, recession, jobs, unemployment, deficits and debts.
The national conversation revolves around whether government is too big or small, when it should be focused on whether it is effective at improving the economy, and indeed how much of a role government can play in that at all.
Indeed, governments can and do stimulate national economies all the time with smart programs that incentivize job-growth and the creation of new businesses. So a reasonable debate would be over what kinds of programs can accomplish these goals. The "size matters" argument is fairly irrelevant.
The rhetoric over tax rates is similarly specious much of the time. One side favors cutting taxes no matter what; the other would probably raise them on the rich, but neither side is likely to emerge from the election with enough clout to implement its agenda.
That's because we are almost certain to once again have a power split between the White House and at least one house of Congress.
Journalists like to make a big deal about momentum from election cycle to election cycle.
Under that approach, the GOP gains in 2010 would seem either likely to be interpreted as continuing or as having reached their end point come this November's results.
I'm less convinced that these sorts of swings represent anything more than short-term trends. Larger forces are at work, such as globalization and technological changes. These forces will compel political and economic changes, whether we welcome them or not.
Covering entrepreneurs closely as I do, I see the advantages of lean government regulations, low taxes, and other measures to promote the growth of small businesses.
But, as an environmentalist and a citizen, I see the concentrated power of large companies that threaten our health, environmental quality and individual freedoms in substantial ways.
We need government to defend our rights from these large, powerful institutions that reside among us, legally, as "individuals."
An informed voter would want to listen carefully to all the political speeches for clues as to what these would-be leaders will do if elected.
The experienced voter knows that politicians rarely do what they said they would do, partly because the circumstances have a way of changing, partly because the political realty of shared power makes some moves impossible, and partly because politicians will essentially promise whatever they think it takes to get elected.
You'll hear a lot of talk about "character," "values," and "family." I happen to think both Obama and Romney are men of character, strong families, and good values. None of this should be any area of concern for any voter -- right, left or center.
That said, they are human beings, with frailties and failures, as we all have -- why should we expect anything else?
Therefore, to me at least, it is pointless to focus on things that may have happened years ago, like when Romney allegedly bullied someone at school.
Yet many voters do respond to the candidates' personal qualities, and this may be where Romney has the most work to do, and Obama has the edge. I'm sure by the end of this week, millions of people will be assured that Romney is indeed a decent man.
Just like Obama.
But decency will not fix the economy. For that matter, no one as President can fix an economy as large and complex and globalized as ours.
All he can do is implement policies and initiatives that push a little here, pull a little there, raise this and cut that, balance out the consequences of taking actions against letting market forces old the sway.
As I watch Issac bear down on the Gulf Coast, and filter through the political signals, that's what I think about this year's election for now.
-30-
From her home in the area, she assures me this storm shouldn't be anything to worry about too much; I hope she's right.
The GOP convention got underway once the storm decided to move away from the Tampa area and head for New Orleans instead. Hurricanes twist and churn like buzz saws, and they chop their way onto landfall, often hurling a wall of water ahead of them.
Will the rebuilt levees hold this time?
The Republicans are inside their giant echo chamber this week; next week will be the Democrats' turn. I'm paying only marginal attention to the convention so far; not out of lack of interest, but due to other priorities.
This is Mitt Romney's best chance to introduce himself in a deeper way to voters who don't know all that much about him. That he is a Morman, extremely wealthy, and secretive about some things are among his negatives.
That he is a man of faith, extremely wealthy, and somewhat discreet about personal matters are among his strengths.
In that way, the same characteristics of a candidate can play our quite differently, depending how he is perceived. Romney isn't a great orator, which some politicians (like Barack Obama) are; but I'm not sure how many voters make decisions based on speeches in the end.
Incumbent Presidents are hard to beat, unless the economy is bad, and our economy is very bad; thus Obama's difficulties this fall, should the popular vote turn out to be as close as it presently appears likely to be.
But the popular vote, in the U.S. system, doesn't matter; it's the electoral vote, assigned on a state-by-state basis, that determines the winner, as Al Gore experienced in the 2000 election.
The problem when political parties debate economics is the level of sophistication of the conversation tends to remain quite low. It's assumed that voters do not understand the complex forces at work that drive growth, recession, jobs, unemployment, deficits and debts.
The national conversation revolves around whether government is too big or small, when it should be focused on whether it is effective at improving the economy, and indeed how much of a role government can play in that at all.
Indeed, governments can and do stimulate national economies all the time with smart programs that incentivize job-growth and the creation of new businesses. So a reasonable debate would be over what kinds of programs can accomplish these goals. The "size matters" argument is fairly irrelevant.
The rhetoric over tax rates is similarly specious much of the time. One side favors cutting taxes no matter what; the other would probably raise them on the rich, but neither side is likely to emerge from the election with enough clout to implement its agenda.
That's because we are almost certain to once again have a power split between the White House and at least one house of Congress.
Journalists like to make a big deal about momentum from election cycle to election cycle.
Under that approach, the GOP gains in 2010 would seem either likely to be interpreted as continuing or as having reached their end point come this November's results.
I'm less convinced that these sorts of swings represent anything more than short-term trends. Larger forces are at work, such as globalization and technological changes. These forces will compel political and economic changes, whether we welcome them or not.
Covering entrepreneurs closely as I do, I see the advantages of lean government regulations, low taxes, and other measures to promote the growth of small businesses.
But, as an environmentalist and a citizen, I see the concentrated power of large companies that threaten our health, environmental quality and individual freedoms in substantial ways.
We need government to defend our rights from these large, powerful institutions that reside among us, legally, as "individuals."
An informed voter would want to listen carefully to all the political speeches for clues as to what these would-be leaders will do if elected.
The experienced voter knows that politicians rarely do what they said they would do, partly because the circumstances have a way of changing, partly because the political realty of shared power makes some moves impossible, and partly because politicians will essentially promise whatever they think it takes to get elected.
You'll hear a lot of talk about "character," "values," and "family." I happen to think both Obama and Romney are men of character, strong families, and good values. None of this should be any area of concern for any voter -- right, left or center.
That said, they are human beings, with frailties and failures, as we all have -- why should we expect anything else?
Therefore, to me at least, it is pointless to focus on things that may have happened years ago, like when Romney allegedly bullied someone at school.
Yet many voters do respond to the candidates' personal qualities, and this may be where Romney has the most work to do, and Obama has the edge. I'm sure by the end of this week, millions of people will be assured that Romney is indeed a decent man.
Just like Obama.
But decency will not fix the economy. For that matter, no one as President can fix an economy as large and complex and globalized as ours.
All he can do is implement policies and initiatives that push a little here, pull a little there, raise this and cut that, balance out the consequences of taking actions against letting market forces old the sway.
As I watch Issac bear down on the Gulf Coast, and filter through the political signals, that's what I think about this year's election for now.
-30-
Sunday, August 26, 2012
The Best Place on Earth
This morning, my youngest daughter and I were up by 5:30 to drive down Highway 101 to the outskirts of San Jose. It was a cool and overcast morning, perfect for soccer.
Club level soccer is a demanding game; only a small portion of the kids who play soccer move on to this level, and in most places, far fewer girls than boys.
It has not been seen as a feminine option, in our culture, although that started changing in the 90s with the success of the U.S. Women's Olympic team.
From my perspective, it is an ultimate testament to femininity in the sense that a woman can be an athlete and use every ounce of her strength and speed and energy with every bit as much of beauty as any male.
What's good for the body is good for the mind and the soul.
In yesterday's games, the girls seemed tentative, holding back. Today they held back nothing. They came out to play and they played well. Though they lost, they contested the ball at every moment of confrontation, which in soccer is a constant stream of moments.
I was proud of my defender (#43 on the far right above) for her spirited play. Today she showed off the kinds of skills that got her to this level, standing strikers up, stripping the ball, running in spurts, and kicking accurate, long hard passes down field to set up scoring chances for her teammates.
She was at center back today, where her brother plays, and she looked a bit like him out there, at least from where I was sitting.
As I get to know a new set of parents along the sidelines, and cheer for new girls even before I learn their names, I again appreciate the value of team sports like this.
Parents have to make sacrifices -- it's costly, you drive a lot, and you cannot really have any kind of personal agenda for your weekends, but often I think that the very best moments of my life have been there on the sidelines, cheering my kids on, win or lose.
In these moments, time sometimes seems suspended, as if nothing else in life matters all that much. Watching these beautiful young people work together, play hard, and try to succeed makes me forget about the painful job losses, breakups, financial pressures, IRS audits, sad losses of friends who have passed, and many other depressing matters.
During a good game, when the outcome hangs in the balance, the world seems to slow down and come into a particular type of sharp focus. It's your child fighting for something beyond herself -- her team -- against other children fighting just as hard on behalf of their team.
Someone is going to lose and someone is going to win.
The air has a certain freshness; you can almost smell the ocean even when you are far inland. The sounds of the game -- the kids communicating with one another, the referee's whistle, the ball hitting the turf, the parents cheering them on, blur into a kind of poetry of motion.
The smells of fresh-cut grass, steaming coffee, perspiration, and sunscreen permeate your consciousness from time to time.
Sometimes you forget who you are, where you are, or why you are even there. At these times, you float like a being suspended up and down the line, engaged with the action as if you were connected to it by an invisible thread --an invisible thread of caring.
Of course, you want your kid and her team to win, but some part of you remembers the other parents of the other kids of the other team, and you empathize with them (as long as you are ahead!)
Mostly you at one with your child in this experience.
As I dropped her at her Mom's house after today's contest, my daughter flashed her lovely smile at me and said, "Thanks, Dad, for driving me and always being at my games. Some kids don't have that in their lives."
"You don't have to thank me," I replied, "because there is nowhere else on the planet I would rather be."
-30-
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