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Oct. 7, 2011 GOING ON PHUMES: Are Republican voters ever going to accept Mitt Romney as their best hope for 2012? I have mentioned earlier that the self-maiming of the GOP’s A-Team (Palin, Sanford, Pawlenty and Jindal), left the Republicans with a roster of B-teamers. Michelle Bachmann is the latest casualty of war and her dismal showing in Florida, some 36% points behind straw poll winner Herman Cain (that’s right, “the colored fellow”), her campaign is floating in the water and reeking. Just a month and a half ago she was the darling of the party and the winner of the Iowa straw poll. Then along came Rick Perry and the more he opens his mouth the more he makes Dan Quayle sound presidential. He has set fire to the hall where his coronation was being planned, by doing all he can to hand over the nomination to Romney. He has stumbled badly through two debates and controversies of his own making regarding immigration and his “Social Security is a Ponzi scheme” rap. Still the media and some allegedly GOP party execs are pushing Mitch Daniels and Chris Christie to jump in the race and “shake things up.” Hmmm, I thought that’s what Pewrry was supposed to do? Instead I’ve heard pundits speculate that there are some in the Republican Party trying to get Mike Huckabee to reconsider. Even Donald Trump is making noise again about reentering the race (and believe me, that’s all he is doing is making noise). Squirmin’ Herman is not going to be the GOP nominee. The KKK would name Al Sharpton as an Exalted Cyclops before that happens. Cain, however, is making headway with his 9-9-9 plan, and I’m sure his anti-Muslim leanings get some on the far-right revved up. But let’s face it, if America is going to have a choice between two black men for President….now you see why it can’t and won’t be Cain. Romney could do himself a favor by running as an independent. I know, its too late for that. The sad truth is, he’s not going to win the GOP nomination either. And another thing, whoever wipes out this time can forget about running next time, when Christie, Mitch Daniels and Jeb Bush will be champing at the bit, just to name a few. With President Obama’s poll numbers at record lows, a loss to him next fall would be just that for the GOP. A fall. A major, hip-breaking tumble. This would be made worse in the event they also lose the House. Now imagine if Obama and his Democrat-led Congress push through everything they want and the economy turns around? Who will want to run on the GOP side in 2016? ALL IS FAIR IN THIS “WAR”: According to CNN, 71% of voters want taxes raised on the richest one percent. Billionaires such as Warren Bufgfettm Bill Gates and Mark Cuban have come forward and said that taxes should indeed be raised. 57% of Republican voters think so. All the Dems are asking is to raise the tax rate from 36 to 39.6%, where it was when Bill Clinton was President. That is a far cry from the 1950’s, when the top tax rates were 50, 70 and 90%--with a mere 200 people paying the 90% rate. A plethora of economists are seen all over the news preaching the idea that budget cuts must be accompanied by tax increases to balance future budgets and reduce the deficit. Entitlement programs, the military budget and the number of federal employees all should be slashed. And this is “class warfare?” It sounds like certain lawmakers are trying to protect their own interests, rather than do as their constituents want them to. A hard fact that has come out in the debates and on various news programs: The top 400 moneymakers in America have a combined wealth greater than the bottom 150 million people. This is the equivalent of every citizen in Oakland, California placing all their wealth into one pile and then looking on as a single city dweller places his bigger pile next to theirs. Newt Gingrich said during the Florida debate that “Most people want to be rich.” I don’t think so. I think most people would be content with merely keeping a roof over their heads, food on the table and all of their bills paid—with a little left over for vacations and entertainment. This is by nio means being “rich.” But even that possibility is becoming harder to achieve. 1 of every citizens is on food stamps. 60% of U.S. citizens depend on the government either for food or income. The average retiree lives below the poverty rate. This is a sad indictment of the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. Wealth is being hoarded and the gap between rich and poor is growing. Black unemployment levels are a disgrace. There is a war on Mexicans who come to America seeking a better life, much like European immigrants did in an earlier time. Too many young people are being thrown into prisons at enormous costm while education budgets are being curt and [parents find it harder to borrow to send their children to college. The American dream is like money in the pocket of a crack addict: soon to be up in smoke… ------------ About the author: Timothy N. Stelly is a poet, essayist, novelist and screenwriter from northern California. His novel, HUMAN TRIAL 2: ADAM'S WAR, is available from Amazon.com, allthingsthatmatterpress.com. Is the HUMAN TRIAL trilogy far-fetched? Check out the article on alien encounters at www.stellyhumantrial.com. Would you like a FREE copy of HUMAN TRIAL 2: ADAM'S WAR? Be one of five people to request a copy and agree to post a review at amazon.com and/or goodreads.com. Email me for details.
See the You Tube trailer for HUMAN TRIAL here.
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