50 Major Similarities Between Obama and Romney

I found some new ones and added it to this amended list. I also added sources and elaborated more on the points.

1. Romneycare was the blueprint for Obamacare, including the insurance mandate. Dr. Jonathan Gruber, a professor of Economics at MIT, and one of the few individuals who worked on health care reform under both Romney and Obama, argued that Obamacare and Romneycare are "the same (*)(*)(*)(*)ing bill” [1]. Romney wants to repeal Obamacare, but not all of the health reforms in it, including taxpayer funding for insurance coverage [2]. He also claims to want to replace it with his own plan [3], the details of which are vague. It will likely be similar to Obamacare and Romneycare, and not a free market plan that would drive costs down and quality and availability up.

2. Both Romney and Obama supported the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 [4][5], which allows for the indefinite detention, without due process of law, of U.S. Citizens arrested on American soil [6], in blatant violation of the Constitution.

3. Both Romney and Obama support the Patriot Act [7][8] at the expense of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.

4. Both Romney and Obama will increase nominal federal spending. Romney’s economic plan calls to cap government spending at 20% of GDP by the end of his first term, that is, by FY-2017 [9]. Nominal GDP in FY-2017 is projected by the CBO to be $20.369 trillion [10], which means government spending in FY-2017 is estimated to be $4.0738 trillion under the Romney plan. That is a higher level of spending than Obama’s FY-2013 budget ($3.803 trillion) [10].

5. Both claim to want the budget to eventually be balanced [10][11][91], but neither have created real proposals do it. Obama's FY-2013 budget does not project a balanced budget within the next 10 years [12]. Romney's proposal does not indicate how he plans to increases the size of the tax base (outside of projected economic growth) [13], so revenue will decrease otherwise. Coupled with increased spending, this makes it mathematically impossible to balance the budget unless he increases the size of the tax base, or if we have a severe economic depression that would force a cut in nominal spending. Otherwise, both will cause the National Debt to increase.

6. Both support keeping the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, which allows for Congress to levy an income tax [13][14].

7. Both implicitly support using the income tax code as a method for encouraging government-approved morality. For example, neither has proposed to eliminate tax breaks for married couples, which shifts the tax burden from married individuals to single individuals. It’s unlikely that either one will discontinue the protection of the heterosexual marriage special interest lobby at the expense of single individuals.

7. Both supported federal economic stimulus during the 2008-2009 recession [15][16], which artificially re-allocated wealth from the private sector to generate growth during the present time at the expense of future growth.

8. Both are in bed with Big Oil lobbyists at the expense of the free market. After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, instead of advocating the free market solutions of bankruptcy and criminal prosecution, Obama implicitly assured that BP would not fail and would not be criminally prosecuted [29]. Romney advocates maintaining corporate tax breaks for oil companies [30], which includes maintaining a socialist tax credit that allowed BP to write off up to 35% of the cost of the oil spill [31]. This effectively shifts the costs of the spill onto taxpayers (rather than onto BP's shareholders and customers). In this way, both candidates support privatizing profits and socializing losses onto taxpayers.

9. Romney supported Obama bailing out General Motors and Chrysler [17] instead of relying on the more efficient free market solution of ultimate failure for businesses that cannot compete or be saved by bankruptcy. The bailouts have cost taxpayers $25 billion so far [102]. This is another example of both candidates supporting the socialist concept of privatizing profits and socializing losses onto taxpayers.

10. Both candidates are pro-choice. Although Romney has flip-flopped on abortion [18] to pander to his Republican base, Romneycare provided taxpayer funding of abortions on demand [19]. Romney has also admitted to being pro-choice in the past [101]. Obama supports pro-choice laws [20].

11. Both have self-identified as "Progressive" [21][22].

12. Both have made campaign rhetoric which frequently contradicts their past voting records. For example, Obama advocated allowing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest to expire [23] after he extended them [24]. Romney flip-flopped on abortion [18][19][101].

13. Romney claims to support free trade [25], but actually supports protectionism. For example, he supports NAFTA [25] (which claims to be a free trade agreement, but is really a protectionist agreement, because true free trade requires no such government regulations). Obama, on the other hand, openly supports protectionism [26] at the expense of the free market.
14. Both support the Environmental Protection Agency [27][28], despite the Constitution clearly indicating that such an issue should be left to the States.

15. Both support Cap and Trade. Although only Obama supports it at the national level [32], Romney supports it at the international level [33] despite his rhetoric against federal Cap and Trade laws.

16. Both support maintaining the Department of Energy for federal funding for research and development of alternative energies [34][35] rather than leaving it up to the free market to develop the technology. This despite the Constitution clearly indicating that such an issue should be left to the States.

17. Both support maintaining the Department of Agriculture and agricultural subsidies [36][37], despite the Constitution clearly indicating that such an issue should be left to the States.

18. Both support funding NASA for non-defense purposes [38][39].

19. Both support interventionist foreign policy. Specific instances include North Korea[59][60], and especially in Middle Eastern countries such as Syria[40][41][42], Iraq[42][43][50], Libya[44][45], Iran[46][47], Pakistan[48][49], Afghanistan[50][51][52], Israel[53], etc.)

20. Both support murdering innocent Pakistani civilians with drones in an unconstitutional act of war [48][49]; eliminating easily avoidable innocent civilian casualties in war is irrelevant to both candidates. These individuals are seen as expendable sacrifices that must be made for the “greater good” of the collective number. Ironically, it makes Americans as a collective less safe.

21. Both support maintaining foreign aid [54][55]. For example, Obama released $147B in aid to Palestinians [54], while the U.S. government simultaneously funds Israel [56], effectively enabling both sides to more efficiently kill each other. There is also evidence that the federal government is directly funding al Qaeda in Syria [107]. Romney has not indicated that he would reverse our foreign aid policy, and supports continuing foreign aid to Israel.

22. Both have supported increasing military spending from their predecessor [62][63] (theoretical predecessor in Romney’s case).

23. Both opposed fully auditing the Federal Reserve System [64][65], although Romney has recently flip-flopped on the issue and now claims to support it.

24. Both support the Federal Reserve System [65][66].

25. Neither has indicated any intent to repeal the current unconstitutional federal legal tender laws to legalize private currencies that would compete with the fiat Federal Reserve Note through a free banking system. Right now, any American who exercises his freedom to choose by creating a competing currency will go to jail [108].

 

26. Both support unconstitutionally overriding Congress to go to war [67][68], with the Obama Administration claiming that they would only seek international approval from the U.N. and inform Congress of their decision [68].

27. Both support eroding our national sovereignty by providing amnesty for illegal immigrants [69][70].

28. Both support the failed, unconstitutional War on Drugs, including prosecuting medical marijuana patients [71][72].

29. Both support maintaining the Department of Education [73][74], despite the Constitution clearly indicating that an issue such as education should be left to the States.

30. Neither has indicated any plans to abolish the Department of Interior or Department of Commerce.

31. Both support excessive gun control, including the Federal Assault Weapons Ban [75][76].

32. Both support the federal minimum wage law [77][78], despite the Constitution clearly indicating that such an issue should be left to the States.

33. Neither has indicated any intent to repeal the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which unconstitutionally prohibits private sector discrimination. However, Romney has indicated on several occasions his admiration for the Civil Rights work of his father, who strongly pushed to get the Act passed into law.

34. Both have been primarily financed by members of the same powerful Federal Reserve/Wall Street banks and corporations, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and General Electric [79][80][81][109].
35. Both support using the Revolving Door Technique to put corporate/banking cronies and lobbyists into powerful positions of government [82][83].

36. Both support U.S. participation in and funding of the IMF/World Bank[84][85], which is being set up to act as an international central bank in the framework of a world government, baling out foreign governments and banks.

37. Both support U.S. participation in and funding of the United Nations [86][87], which is pushing to have international taxing authority [88] to turn itself into a one world government.

38. Both support preventing individuals from having the freedom to choose to opt out of Social Security [89][90], despite the Constitution clearly indicating that such an issue should be left to the States.

39. Both support maintaining the Capital Gains Tax [91][92].

40. Both support maintaining Medicare [90][93], despite the Constitution clearly indicating that such an issue should be left to the States.

41. Both support maintaining federal welfare safety nets [94][95], despite the Constitution clearly indicating that such an issue should be left to the States.

42. Both supported the Bush $700 billion bailout package (Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 200 [57][61], instead of relying on the more efficient free market solution of ultimate failure for businesses that cannot compete or be saved by bankruptcy.

43. Both support maintaining Medicaid [3][58], despite the Constitution clearly indicating that such an issue should be left to the States.

44. Neither has indicated any plans to repeal the FDIC, which creates a moral hazard in the banking system that contributed to causing the Housing Bubble in the 2000s, as well as several other major bank failures in the mid-20th century. However, Romney did accept a $10 million FDIC bailout for Bain [96], and Senator Obama voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which increased FDIC account coverage up to $250,000 [97]. Support for the FDIC can be assumed to be implicit for both candidates.

45. Neither has indicated any plans to eliminate the FDA’s ability to ban potentially life-saving drugs from being put on the market. However, both have indicated that they support “preventative actions” in regard to food policy, which likely would amount to either maintaining the status quo, or giving the FDA even more freedom-grabbing power [98].

46. Both support the TSA [99][100].

47. Neither has indicated any support for reversing the FCC’s unconstitutional censorship of freedom of speech over federally regulated communication channels.

48. Both believe the government should be investing in technological development for economic growth [103][104], instead of allowing the free market to more efficiently allocate the resources for technological development and economic growth.

49. Both support the death penalty [105][106].

50. Both support federal Equal Pay laws [109][110], despite the Constitution clearly indicating that such an issue should be left to the States.

 

SOURCES:

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2. http://www.familiesusac4.org/2012-health-care-comparison/comparison-chart.pdf
3. http://www.mittromney.com/issues/health-care
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1yY3NCiMVQ
5. http://www.aclu.org/national-security/president-obama-signs-indefinite-detention-bill-law
6. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr1540enr/pdf/BILLS-112hr1540enr.pdf (See Title X, Subtitle D, Sections 1021 and 1022.)
7. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/27/patriot-act-extension-signed-obama-autopen_n_867851.html
8. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2007-07-20-3000222386_x.htm
9. http://www.mittromney.com/issues/spending
10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkrwUU_YApE (4:18 in the video)
11. http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/24/news/economy/romney-balanced-budget/index.html
12. http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2013/assets/tables.pdf (See Table S-1)
13. http://www.mittromney.com/issues/tax
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29. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jun2010/spil-j17.shtml
30. http://www.factcheck.org/2012/04/big-oil-backing-romney/
31. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/27/AR2010072704437.html
32. http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2009-03-04/obamas-cap-and-trade-plan
33. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAGpLOKtQDA
34. http://www.mittromney.com/issues/energy
35. http://cnsnews.com/news/article/9-b...d-projects-made-910-final-jobs-98-million-job
36. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57492235-503544/obama-takes-on-ryan-in-iowa/
37. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...l-programs-that-benefit-farmers-farm-safety/2
38. http://commerce.senate.gov/public/i...Group_id=6eaa2a03-6e69-4e43-8597-bb12f4f5aede
39. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4915397...ney-pledges-keep-us-leader-space-exploration/
40. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/world/middleeast/obama-threatens-force-against-syria.html?_r=0
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42. http://news.yahoo.com/romney-us-more-assertive-world-stage-040212309--election.html
43. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/w...-increase-in-persian-gulf.html?pagewanted=all
44. http://abcnews.go.com/International...orizes-covert-libyan-rebels/story?id=13259028
45. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/10/where-is-mitt-romney-on-libya/
46. http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...36e40e-1266-11e2-9a39-1f5a7f6fe945_story.html
47. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS...n-order/story?id=16589241&page=2#.UA_0bKA4SuI
48. http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/25/world/asia/pakistan-us-drone-strikes/index.html
49. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2gCv_nOvrI
50. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...-afghanistan/2012/02/07/gIQAFNJTxQ_story.html
51. http://www.examiner.com/article/obama-pulls-a-fast-one-afghanistan-extends-stay-for-10-years
52. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...stan_n_1716669.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012
53. http://www.policymic.com/articles/1...lution-why-both-must-pledge-to-make-it-happen
54. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57423714/obama-releases-$147m-in-aid-to-palestinians/
55. http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...d85840-071a-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_story.html

 

56. http://www.policyalmanac.org/world/archive/crs_israeli-us_relations.shtml
57. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/L...ote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00213
58. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/medicaid/index.html
59. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS...olutely-failure-white-house/story?id=16135112
60. http://www.mittromney.com/issues/china-east-asia
61. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-03-26/romney-TARP-bank-bailout/53794680/1
62. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PerCapitaInflationAdjustedDefenseSpending.PNG
63. http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/10/news/economy/romney-defense-spending/
64. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/panel-votes-to-audit-feds-balance-sheet-2009-11-19
65. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCcbkHKCdxI
66. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703722804575369072934590574.html
67. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obQHkWN0B4Y
68. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUJjXDjFYNo
69. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjo6GXSqIN8
70. http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/15/politics/immigration/index.html
71. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...ministration/2012/05/04/gIQA80GK2T_story.html
72. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY6UTnS6Z-A
73. http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/...policy-details-at-closed-door-fundraiser?lite
74. http://www.barackobama.com/education/
75. http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/07/20/romney-once-supported-assault-weapons-ban/
76. http://www.ontheissues.org/2012/Barack_Obama_Gun_Control.htm
77. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/outcry-mitt-romney-reverses-stance-minimum-wage-181557691.html
78. http://change.gov/agenda/poverty_agenda/
79. http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/contrib.php?id=N00000286
80. http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/contrib.php?id=N00009638
81. http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cid=N00009638
82. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/82415.html
83. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=8296591&page=1
84. http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/09/romney-to-europe-drop-dead/
85. http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/06/15/us-imf-usa-funds-idUSTRE55E6YN20090615
86. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/0...es-campaign-to-demand-un-reform-transparency/
87. http://www.mittromney.com/blogs/mit...mitt-romneys-strategy-ensure-american-century
88. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/0...session-it-is-already-thinking-up-new-global/
89. http://www.mittromney.com/issues/social-security
90. http://www.barackobama.com/seniors?source=primary-nav
91. http://www.mittromney.com/blogs/mitts-view/2012/02/mitt-romney-delivers-remarks-detroit-michigan
92. http://www.shreveporttimes.com/view...estors-?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s
93. http://www.mittromney.com/issues/medicare
94. http://www.ontheissues.org/2012/Mitt_Romney_Welfare_+_Poverty.htm
95. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.co...ttacks-addresses-controversial-priorities-ad/
96. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/pictures/mitt-romneys-federal-bailout-the-documents-20120829
97. http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2008/pr08093.html
98. http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/09/romney-and-obama-take-questions-on-food-policy/
99. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_b8hzgFImw
100. http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2012/02/lawmakers-object-to-obama-tsa-budget/628410/1
101. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_w9pquznG4
102. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...-tag-rises-to-25-billion-how-high-will-it-go/
103. http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-250_162-7314364.html
104. http://www.ontheissues.org/Archive/Man_Values_Vision_Technology.htm
105. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/obama-disagrees-with-supreme-court-decision/
106. http://news.yahoo.com/highlights-romneys-death-penalty-bill-mass-081259845.html
107. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_...ests-u-s-backing-al-qaeda-in-syria-civil-war/
108. http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/mar/19/local-liberty-dollar-architect-found-guilty/
109. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/10/romney-campaign-wavers-on-lilly-ledbetter-act/
110. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-4762222-503544.html

 

No comment?

 

Very well put together....good job...

 

What kind of comments would you want?
Partisans will avoid this like the plaque. It shows just how much alike the 2 party system really is and their agendas really mirror each other.
Only the surface stuff is where they disagree, you know, the fluff. So partisans in all their glory can point fingers at each other.

 

I want somebody to prove that these similarities are false.
I want them to provide me with major differences between Romney and Obama that will carry sufficient weight to offset the ones listed here.

By the way, I always thought your avatar was just a random cow but now I just realized that it's Atom Heart Mother.

 

Don't count on it. Those that are blind will hope that new threads are created and old ones bumped so that this one gets lost in the mix....

 

If you wanted people to read this thread you should have titled it something like this:

Black people hate Mitt Romney.

Obama worships Satan.

Gay Marriage is a Sham.

People on Welfare Are Lazy.

Catholics are going to Hell.

 

You're right. My position cannot be condensed into a 2 minute soundbyte full of dishonest half-truths and extreme baseless opinions, so it will obviously be ignored by the general public.

 

Either that or the general public knows it's bunk and more of just a whiny rant that people aren't voting for your guy than anything else.

 

You're more than welcome to show sources that debunk what he has posted...

 

This says it all right here:

25. Neither has indicated any intent to repeal the current unconstitutional federal legal tender laws to legalize private currencies that would compete with the fiat Federal Reserve Note through a free banking system. Right now, any American who exercises his freedom to choose by creating a competing currency will go to jail [108].


Seriously... this is like Flat Earth Society stuff, it's so out there.

 

If it was bunk, Mr. Cricket, you'd attempt to refute a few of them. You know it's not bunk, ergo you resort to snark. It's fairly obvious, hon.

 

Except that flat earth is not true and this is true. If you are that ill-informed that even local towns can't create a competing currency then why are you posting on a political forum?

 

Feel free to prove that it's bunk. Your baseless say-so is not good enough.

Care to enlighten me on your opinion of who exactly my "guy" is?

Thanks for sharing your opinion with all of us. But that's all that it is.

 

I guess saying "it's already been debunked" numerous times is apparently just as good as a source to some people...

 

I think it's more of a defense mechanism. Given that our conservative friends have made it quite clear that their number one agenda is getting Obama out of office, once you show them that they are throwing their weight behind somebody practically identical instead of somebody who will do what's best for the individual and for our country, they simply go into denial.

Nobody said that the Five Stages of Acceptance were quick. Unfortunately, they won't be quick enough to affect the election.

 

This is a very well-written, informative post, and I can't find the issue with all too many of these things. I will point out the few flaws I can find, however:

This is a lot like point 14, 24, 25, 39, and a few others: Duh. Here, let me add to your list:
- Both believe in evolution
- Both believe in general relativity
- Both believe that the sun will come up tomorrow

In fact, a politician being against those things would be frightening, because it means they're pretty much nuts.

That's not what the economist say... In fact, the general consensus on the Stimulus was that is was a real success.

Um... No. In fact, your citation to the idea that Romney supported it actively mocks the idea.

Romney has flip-flopped. So this is a difference; one candidate is pro-choice, the other is not. You don't get to ignore that as a difference just because, at one point, Romney held a different position. Same applies to 11, and probably more.

Do you remember why Obama extended them? I'll give you a hint: it has very little to do with him advocating the idea.

You say this as if it were a bad thing. Hey, here's a question for those who think the states can deal with it on their own. There's one Aquifer that runs under quite a few western states and which most of them rely on. What happens if the environmental standards for one of those states is so bad that it makes the Aquifer's water undrinkable? State-based solutions have no good way of resolving interstate issue.

This is actually a fairly considerable difference in policy if you look closely. Romney is saying, "I'll get on board if everyone else does", while Obama is trying to lead the way.

Two problems here. The first is that it's an unfounded assumption that the free market would be more efficient in dealing with the issue. The second is that had the "free market solution" have gone through, it would have cost the government far more (FDIC), or you would have an awful lot of people who just lost everything.

--

All in all, it's not a bad list, but there's certainly still enough to differentiate the candidates. For example, you didn't mention that Romney has changed his position on stimulus spending, and has instead pushed the (incredibly wrong-headed) idea of expansionary austerity. You didn't mention the differences in position on Medicare, Medicaid, FEMA, the EPA's role in controlling CO2 production, and Social Security - all of which are crucially important to the lives of actual people in the short term as well as the long term. Those are just a few that come to mind, but honestly, this is still one of the best, most well-thought-out OPs I've ever seen on this forum. Kudos!

 

Welcome to politics. I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry.

Yep. Cry. Definitely cry.

 

Are you suggesting that anyone who believes that the income tax should be abolished is "pretty much nuts"?

Lots of different economists say lots of different things. If economics was a hard science, there wouldn't be differing schools of thought at the most fundamental levels of economics.

I never said the stimulus wasn't a success. I said that it allocated resources to stimulate economic growth now, at the expense of future growth...which is an inefficient method of allocation of resources across infinite time.

The general public seems to have a lot of confusion with differentiating bankruptcy and bailouts. Romney wanted them to go bankrupt, but ultimately bail them out to prevent them from failing if it came down to it. Obama wanted to bypass the bankruptcy process and immediately bail them out. The end result is the same - both supported the socialist concept of bailing out Detroit to continue their privatization of profits while socializing their losses onto taxpayers.

And I hardly see how my source's opinion on the issue changes the fact that they accurately reported Romney's position on the issue.

Romney claimed to be pro-choice and he signed a law that provides taxpayer funding for abortions. That's an even MORE pro-choice stance than Obama has taken...at least Obamacare does not directly fund abortions. Romney's only claiming to be pro-life so he can pander to his base. He is lying, and it's painfully obvious if you look past 30 second establishment media soundbytes.

Sure, he conveniently placed the blame on Republicans in Congress holding unemployment benefits hostage. If he's elected President again, I'm sure he will come up with another convenient excuse for extending them too. But for now, he needs to continue his empty campaign rhetoric and keep up appearances so he can appeal to his left-wing Democratic base. He needs to make it look like he hasn't been bought by the same super-wealthy he is claiming to want to punish.

It is bad, because the federal government has proven itself to be the largest polluting entity in the country. I would never trust the largest polluting entity to be the regulator of the environment. Besides, the states can go to the Supreme Court to challenge it. But you did make a valid point - since governments have historically encouraged pollution, they cannot be trusted with ownership over our drinking water.

I disagree with your opinion. Cap and Trade is a corporatist environmental policy. It doesn't reduce pollution, it just creates a situation where large corporations will be able to pollute more than their smaller competitors.

It's no more unfounded than the assumption that the government was more efficient than the free market. But the inefficiency of government can easily be demonstrated with countless examples. I'm not going into the details of that here because it's beyond the scope of this thread. Others can research it and decide for themselves.

FDIC is not a free market solution. Your latter point is a free market solution, however. Folks fail to realize that fiat banking is not intended to serve a warehousing function for its depositors. Fiat banking is an investment that is generally considered low risk. The bank uses your money to make loans, which are an investment that both you and the bank are making. They split the profits (interest) with you. And like any investment you can make, there is risk of complete failure.

If you believe that depositors should be bailed out when their investments go sour, then you should also be willing to take this argument to its logical conclusion. Any time any investment goes sour, the investors should be bailed out completely by taxpayers. Every single corporation that sells stock should be insulated from failure. That means that the federal government should completely nationalize every business to protect its investors from failure.

Unless of course, you only want to specifically protect banking investments and other "too-big-to-fail" corporations, which means you are supporting nothing more than a particular corporate special interest lobby. So which one do you support? The corporatist solution that picks winners and losers...or the socialist solution that declares every corporation a winner? (Both of course are at the expense of taxpayers).

Of course he has. Romney has shown in this election that he will become whatever he needs to in order to get elected. He will lie and pander to his Republican base as much as possible. You know this is true.

Actually I did mention their practically identical stances on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and the EPA. But what about FEMA is different between them?

Thank you.

 

Yes, I noticed that this thread sank to the bottom while the 50millionth thread about gays and blacks has made it to the top.

Thanks a (*)(*)(*)(*)ing lot, Blackrook.

 

Wait...I thought that no matter what happens, it's all Obama's fault??

In light of this thread...I have to say I found another way to easily break down this argument...



Now...you have one group of people that will say all signs point to being female...

...and then you have another group of people that will demand they are a male...

And finally you have the people with common sense that say there's really not enough to go on that would clearly show the difference...

 

Yes.

"I am TedintheShed and I approve of your message."