Obama offers clear choice against Romney plan

President Obama laid out a clear choice between what Democrats and Republicans believe in at the DNC on Thursday night in Charlotte, N.C.

In making the case for a second term, President Obama focused on how the government can help create opportunities for all Americans to climb the economic ladder. He also said he does not believe that giving the wealthy bigger tax cuts will grow anything but the deficit.

Obama said:

“Our friends at the Republican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with America, but they didn't have much to say about how they'd make it right. They want your vote, but they don't want you to know their plan. And that's because all they have to offer is the same prescription they've had for the last thirty years:

Have a surplus? Try a tax cut. Deficit too high? Try another.

Feel a cold coming on? Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning!...But I don't believe that another round of tax breaks for millionaires will bring good jobs to our shores, or pay down our deficit.”

The Romney plan

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have consistently said they want to bring down the deficit, but it’s unclear exactly how they would do that, while adding $10 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy.

Both Romney and Ryan support deep cuts in government spending through drastic reductions in education, environmental protection, Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, student loans, infrastructure, transportation, and entitlement programs.

But data shows that the numbers still don’t add up. In fact, the Romney tax reform plan is mathematically impossible.

So why is Romney trying to sell voters what appears to be an extremely misleading economic plan?

Romney seems to be trying to market a concept, not a genuinely workable plan. It’s based on the Bush era, supply-side economics that were put into place in 2001 and 2003, where about $4 trillion in tax breaks were given to the wealthiest Americans, in hopes that the extra money would be put back into the economy. However, that never happened. And since Wall Street collapsed the financial markets in 2008 by selling fraudulent securities, the Bush tax cuts are pure deficit spending.

Looking strictly at the math, and contrary to the spin, statistics show that Republicans are the tax-and-spend party - not the Democrats.

Therefore, in order to convince voters that the Republican plan is better, even if it makes absolutely no sense mathematically, Mitt Romney must make it sound like it’s the answer to just about every issue that plagues America.

Much like the tone at the RNC last week, Romney’s plans for the country are fear-based and negative. Like bad-tasting medicine, he wants voters to believe that if they don’t swallow it, they’ll die.

The Choices

The DNC painted a very different picture. It was one of inclusion for all the Americans Republicans do not want, including same-sex couples, immigrants, poor people who need food stamps, health care, or a college education, women who want to control their own bodies without government intervention, and the members of the military in Afghanistan who went unacknowledged at the RNC.

Romney, Ryan and the Republican Party want less of everything: Less revenue through upper income tax cuts, less spending, less environmental protection, less immigration, less education, less voting, and fewer choices for women.

President Obama wants the opposite. At the DNC he said, “I don't believe that firing teachers or kicking students off financial aid will grow the economy, or help us compete with the scientists and engineers coming out of China. After all that we've been through, I don't believe that rolling back regulations on Wall Street will help the small businesswoman expand, or the laid-off construction worker keep his home. We've been there, we've tried that, and we're not going back. We're moving forward.”

So voting in 2012 should be easy.

If you want the government to play a role in creating a level playing field, a safe environment, and opportunities for the middle class and poor to better themselves for the collective good of the nation, you will probably vote for Obama and Democrats.

If you think the government should play a role in using tax reform to distribute additional wealth to corporate interests, influence women’s reproductive rights, privatize the national health care and retirement systems, and are willing to trade a clean environment for any job, then you will probably vote for Romney and Republicans.

Americans tend to vote for whichever political party they think will help them most – personally.

But there is a wild card in this years election because of Citizens United.

At this point, no one really knows how a billion dollars in advertising from people like the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson will influence the outcome of the election.

Full transcript for Obama’s DNC speech: ABC News

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