Mitt Romney announces his run for the Presidency today. Bravo!

Mitt Romney announced today that he was running for President and made his announcement in New Hampshire. Many here know that I tend to be a social liberal and a fiscal conservative, although at times I have been more liberal recently on fiscal matters, like agreeing with the bailout of GM.

Having said that, I need to make a comment about Mitt Romney. When he is in a room with any group of people, he tends to be the smartest person in the room. He is a very likable person if you spend any time with him and his background makes him an excellent candidate for fixing our economy.

You're wondering I expect by now, what about President Obama? Sure I like President Obama, not only as a person, but also as a leader. However, regarding smarts, Mitt Romney has almost no equal. I say this as someone who met Mitt Romney, when he was the head of Bain Capital, and I was at a meeting with him. He asked excellent questions, was compassionate, and was solution-minded based upon his comments and questions.

Normally I would have to pause before voting to decide whether I would vote for President Obama or Mitt Romney. Mitt's appeal is much more central than the other candidates in the race. But Mitt has allowed the crazies in his Party to pull him off his game. In my humble opinion, Mitt should NOT cater to them, but be himself. If he stopped worrying about how the "base" feel or reacted to what he was saying, he will not lose the nomination. But if Mitt can't be Mitt, he doesn't have a chance from "normal" Reagan Republicans to get the nomination. I have said here before, I voted for Reagan. I know this is a difficult problem for Mitt, because some of his "handlers/advisors" in the past, got him to flip flop, which he should never have done. Mitt should be proud he was able to implement a healthcare solution he could get passed in Massachusetts, a very Democratic State. Bravo!

So don't dismiss this guy. Get to know him. Really listen to what he has to say versus the crazies who have no chance to win the general election in 2012. The Independents will be deciding who is going to be President in 2012. Mitt does have a a very good chance to win the Republican nomination! And this would be a good step for our country as it would mean a more centrist race with less nastiness. Good luck Mitt!

Bad economy, jobs lost, huge government debt: Do you want this to change? Then wake up and pay attention to what has happened!

Ok, I am on a rant and while I am at it I wanted to comment again about why we are in trouble as a country and how each political Party over the past 25 years has advanced or tried to eliminate some of the problems. As I said in my last post, Republicans say they are against big government. I don't think any Republican out there would argue against that claim. But as you can see from the chart above, (and please click on it to enlarge it and take a real good look at it), it is much worse than even this chart has shown, the Republicans have created most of the debt of this country. This is indisputable and based on the facts. Now they tell him to "Reduce the burden on our children and grandchildren (which they created). It makes sense they would do this from a values perspective when you think about it. What better way to shrink the size of all government than borrowing money for things like tax cuts and wars of choice (Iraq) and putting the government into a debt so large that the only thing anyone can do is either raise taxes, which Republicans are so much against, or shrink the size of government. That has been their strategy for the past 25 years. The Republicans have deliberately raised the debt so there isn't any money available to solve problems like healthcare for all or paying teachers a decent wage based on how important it is to be able to compete in the world with a first rate education.

President Obama and the Fed are trying to do everything they can to help get us out of the most recent mess, which by the way wasn't created by most Americans. It was created by the Free Enterprise program run amuck by a relatively small number of greedy individuals through a push for deregulation in both Banking and Insurance. It is those same greedy people who want as many tax breaks as they can get, some not even willing to pay their fair share of taxes. For them, it's all about me philosophy. Most of the social change that has happened in this country has been the result of the Democratic Party, like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

So I guess I am more of a Democrat these days than a Republican. I am more left than right leaning and I voted for Reagan when he ran for President. But the Republican party of the past 25 years is nothing like the Republican Party of 25-50 years ago. They were more rational, tried to do the right thing for Americans and were more willing to work in the middle of the spectrum with Democrats. Those days are over as is the former Republican Party. We became a debtor nation under Republican leadership. I am totally behind our President for the changes we had hoped for. He will succeed if we get behind him as this is still our country. The voices against him are the ones who created all of our mess. Get behind him or you will lose your country for good. There, now I have said it!

A new and unique reaction to the Financial crisis of 2008: Class Warfare.

Past election issues, say from 1980-2004, have often been based upon ideological differences. The election of 2004 was based upon Security and who was going to make the Country safer, Bush or Kerry. In 2000, it was about proposed reforms of Social Security and Medicare and whether there was going to be a "lock box" for Social Security as Gore proposed or whether it was better to allow individuals invest their own retirement in the stock market, as Bush supported. (It's a good thing that idea never made it!) The other issue was, who was going to restore integrity and honor to the Presidency, after the Lewinsky matter and the impeachment of the President Clinton for lying turned the Country upside down and divided us into Red and Blue States. Another issue was weather we were going to use the U.S. Military fro "Nation Building". The Clinton Administration did send troops to the Balkans and this was supported by Gore. Bush wanted no Nation Building (in contrast to his desires the last 6 years in Iraq!). Gays in the Military were an issue and the Clinton Don't ask, Don't Tell policy was the policy of the Clinton Administration. Again, ideological issues around morality.

In the 1992 election between George Bush Sr. and a newcomer, Bill Clinton, Bush 1 had a very high approval rating of 89% after the first Gulf War. But that approval rating started dropping, as a mild recession encouraged Democrats there was a chance to win the election and take it away from Bush. Bush emphasized Clinton's lack of Military experience and ensured rumors of Clinton's infidelity took hold in the media. This campaign was as much about Clinton's character as anything else.

The 1988 election between Bush Sr and Dukakis had Bush casting Dukakis as a "proud liberal" that didn't have any Military experience, hence the famous photo of Dukakis in a tank with a helmut on and looking foolish according to the Bush attacks. There were a number of ideological differences between the 2 candidates. Dukakis tried to tie Bush to the scandals of the Reagan Administration, such as Iran Contra. During one of the Presidential debates Dukakis was asked by the Moderator if he supported the Death Penalty and gave Dukakis the situation for him to have as a context, which was that he was to pretend his wife was raped and murdered. Dukakis's answer discussed the statistical ineffectiveness of capital punishment. Rumors were spread that Dukakis's wife burned a Flag in protest of the Vietnam war.

In all of these examples the push for ideological differences is evident. For the first time in my memory, the fundamental difference in this election, is that it is about Class Warfare. There are no more Red States versus Blue States, Liberal versus Conservative. As a result of this unprecedented financial crisis, it's all about the Wealthy versus the Middle Class. Europe's elections have had this debate many times, but this is the first time in this country. Unions in France now have the power as they do in other European countries and in countries in South America as well. It is about empowering the Middle and Lower Class at the expense of the Wealthiest who have enjoyed an unprecedented run of about 30-50 years. Those who are wealthy are are split about this issue. Some believe the wealthiest are reaping the excesses of their failures to ensure all boats should have risen. They are willing to pay more in taxes and think it is fair and often wondered why the Republican Party under Bush 2 was pushing for so many tax breaks they really didn't need. It is a fact, that the gap between CEO's pay and average workers has increased many times fold over the past 20 years. This excess is giving rise to the highest voter participation rate in history. It has mobilized the youth of the country. With an election victory comes a more empowered electorate, just as the Founding Fathers had hoped would happen.

It has been a consequence of the actions and decisions of Presidents like Reagan, Bush 1, Bush 2 and all their supporters, including Corporate leaders who took abusive Salaries, Bonuses and company Stock Options. Those leaders got their Boards stacked with supporters who would approve these excesses and there was a quid pro quo for those serving on multiple Boards. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. It is only those Corporations that truly have independent Board members that have a chance to limit excesses.

Even Healthcare companies, who have gone from Non Profit to For Profit Corporations are guilty of these excesses and are responsible for contributing to the high cost of healthcare. Greed drove these leaders to excesses. It might be a way to help reduce healthcare costs if we can get a handle on these excesses, and possibly return them from For Profit to Non Profit once again.

Lou Dobbs made his fame over the issues about jobs being outsourced abroad, illegal immigration ruining Middle Class jobs. War and Peace are still issues in this election as they have been since Vietnam. But because Iraq wants us to leave with in an agreed upon timetable, it is less of an issue than it could have been this time.

The focus the next 4-8 years will be about restoring a Middle Class in America, reigning in excessive CEO compensation, a better safety net for the less fortunate, a focus on real improvement in the education of our youth, and a world that works together because it has to in order to survive. Collaboration and cooperation will be the tools used. Everyone will be asked to sacrifice something for the betterment of all. After this election, the times they are a changing!!! It's now up to you to vote and start this chain reaction for the better! Turn away from the failed policies of the past. Vote for real change this time. Vote your interests not your favorite personality. Vote with courage of the unknown, not the fear that binds us to the past.