Obama drinking Romney's milkshake on taxes is an UnMittigated disaster for the GOP

[ProSense]

Obama drinking Romney's milkshake on taxes is an UnMittigated disaster for the GOP

by MinistryOfTruth

Jamie Bouie over at The American Prospect points out what a disaster the Romney plan to cut taxes on the rich by raising them for everyone else can become now that Team Obama is holding on to this message and refusing to let it go. Simply stated "It’s hard to overstate the potential damage of this"

You want a disaster? How about the fact that President Obama now holds a lead on the issue of taxes. The GOP should be crushing the President on taxes if they hope to take back the Presidency, but they are not, and considering that their number one issue is taxes, how high they supposedly are and how deeply they should be cut, the fact that Obama has a lead over the GOP on taxes is nothing short of a truly unmittigated disaster for the Republican party.

In short, this is the price you pay for making tax cuts for the rich a priority over everything else and then running a clueless multi-millionaire for President.

Here's what Jamie wrote for some more depth, but I strongly urge you to read the whole article . .

But these implausibly optimistic assumptions aren’t enough to square the circle of Romney’s tax plan. The only way Romney can keep the Bush tax cuts, cut taxes by 20 percent on top of that, and keep revenue at its current level is to borrow huge sums of money or raise taxes on the vast majority of Americans. If he’s unwilling to take either route, then he’ll have to make huge cuts to existing social services—which, for many Americans, will amount to a tax hike.

It’s hard to overstate the potential damage of this. Obama’s attacks on Romney’s financial life—Bain Capital, his tax returns, his ostentatious wealth—are meant to present the former Massachusetts governor as an unscrupulous plutocrat, indifferent to the lives of ordinary Americans. But the goal of that is to soften Romney for the main event—an all-out attack on his economic plan. Had Romney stuck to a more moderate plan, similar to the one he initially unveiled, the absence of radicalism would have made this a tough sell for the Obama campaign.

As it stands, Romney has spent the last year pandering to the most extreme supply-siders in the Republican Party. He really does plan to raise taxes on the vast majority of Americans in order to lower taxes for the wealthiest people in the country. And because this has been confirmed by independent analysis, it’s much more difficult for Romney to deflect the charge. Obama has also taken a real advantage on the issue of taxes—46 percent of Americans trust the president to handle tax policy, as opposed 45 percent for Romney. When you consider that Republicans have built their entire brand on taxes and handling federal expenditures, it's not good that the Republican nominee—whose has made his business experience key to his campaign—is running even with the president.

Bold text added by the diarist

Despite years and years of making this the center of their party the GOP is losing to someone who they refer to as a socialist. Why? Because it is obvious to everyone who isn't a dittohead that Republicans only care about cutting taxes for the rich, whereas Obama has staked out the more popular position of ending the Bush Tax cuts for the rich. Romney wants to not only double-down on George W. Bush's Tax Policy, he wants to make everyone who isn't a millionaire foot the bill for it. The fact that President Obama is beating these guys on their number one issue despite being painted as an anti-business socialist for years is a total disaster for the GOP. One might call it an unmittigated disaster.

un·mit·i·gat·ed (n-mt-gtd)
adj.

1. Not diminished or moderated in intensity or severity; unrelieved: unmitigated suffering.
2. Without qualification or exception; absolute: an unmitigated lie.

Absolute. With no moderation. That could easily describe the intense far right pandering Romney and every other Republican must go through to energize the mouth-breathers in the GOP's far-right base. The problem for the GOP is they are losing everyone else...

Case in point, last night Mittens went on the Sean Hannity show on Fox to respond to mean-ole Harry Reid, and if you are diehard Hannity viewer that is great, but what about everyone else? This is the downside to communicating solely through kid glove friendly conservative media hacks, no one else can hear you. Obama is trying to communicate to all of America, whereas Romney refuses to answer questions from anyone who isn't at least as Conservative as Sean Hannity, and thus Obama can frame Romney to a wider audience than Romney can frame Obama in front of. Romney's campaign seems to solely consist of preaching to the choir.

- more -

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/03/1115673/-Obama-drinking-Romney-s-milkshake-on-taxes-is-an-UnMittigated-disaster-for-the-GOP

The Romney campaign knows the gaffes, the tax issue and inept handling of events have the potential to sink them:

Romney Press Aide Who Cursed Out Reporters ‘Taking Some Time Off The Trail’http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021067102

Romney campaign "is hoping the waters will recede, and looking for a safe mountaintop"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021066830

Mitt is also losing friends at lightening speed.

OFA's "Stretch" Ad gets rare Geppetto Checkmark from WaPo

by Jacoby Jonze

<...>

Now this is the guy that called the Bain attacks false simply because Romney claimed that no matter what the SEC papers said, that he left in 1999. As more and more proof came to contradict the Romney claims Mr. Kessler stood firm - but recently he relented and said it is a grey area that neither side could prove or disprove given the current information available (though I don't believe he went back to change his Pinocchio's awarded).

While we hated him for his complete inability to be rational and look at the facts in the Bain case, I believe a lot of that came from the position that he first raised the potential for Romney criminality if he did sign off on the SEC papers and didn't work there. So he sort of really painted himself into a corner and either had to stick to his guns in trusting the Romney campaign or would be calling Romney a liar and criminal. But this episode will also give him credibility with the true undecideds and indies. Which brings me to his findings in the "Stretch ad" -

You can read his deconstruction of the ad here - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/a-tough-new-obama-ad-that----surprise----is-accurate/2012/08/02/gJQAuigQSX_blog.html

But the jist of it is that Romney by failing to release specifics in his policy ideas leaves himself open to interpretation and given that Kessler holds the non-partisan Tax Policy Center is really high regard (consists of serious tax policy folks from both sides of the political spectrum with veterans of Dem and GOP administrations involved) until Romney Camp releases more details (which they refused when Kessler requested more) to counter the findings, the Tax Policy Center paper will be accepted as fact on this matter.

The Pinocchio Test

This ad is tough, but we cannot fault the accuracy of its key points. To some extent, the Romney campaign has been hoist with its own petard by refusing to provide sufficient detail that shows how the numbers add up in Romney’s tax and budget plans. So we are left with the judgment of a respected and independent third party.

We hold campaign ads to a high standard, particularly attack ads. If Romney releases the missing details, and a new analysis finds that Romney can meet the stated goals of his tax plan, then we can certainly revisit this analysis. But, until then, for the first time in this frequently nasty campaign, we award a rare Geppetto Checkmark for a campaign ad.

What is the Geppetto Checkmark?

Statements and claims that contain “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” will be recognized with our prized Geppetto checkmark.

- more -

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/03/1116417/-OFA-s-Stretch-Ad-gets-rare-Geppetto-Checkmark-from-WaPo

[Fozzledick]

1. I'm looking forward to an UnMittigated Democratic government come November.

Love that spelling!

[Kalidurga]

2. LOL

I thought it was always spelled that way...

[Kahuna]

4. DUzy!

[Scuba]

3. Romney plans to drown the truth in a sea of money.

Let's keep working to make sure he fails.

[JDPriestly]

5. Democrats are simply smarter than Republicans about politics.

The Republicans only win when they whine and cheat.

There are a couple like that in every class at school. They don't study. They don't work hard. Their parents do everything for them, so they never learn to work, but they want the grades to show off to their parents and so that they can get somewhere, -- but the only way they can do it is to whine to the teacher (the voters) about how everyone else is getting an unfair advantage and cheat.

We can't expect Republicans to suddenly change their stripes. They are not going to do it. We have to be smarter.

Harry Reid wisely called Romney out on his taxes. Good job, Harry Reid.

[David Zephyr]

6. Sweet!

"un·mit·i·gat·ed"