Romney falling star made Atlas weep

I just have to ask: What the hell is the deal with Republicans and their 15-minute Hall of Famers who embody the opposite of the snake oil they're trying to sell?
 
Last election cycle, the GOP candidates spammed us with Joe "Not a Licensed Plumber and Whose Name Isn't Even Joe" Wurzelbacher and anticipated that rational Americans would buy his schtick. He was crafted into a Conservative icon based on the fact that he was able to wake up one morning, walk his neighborhood and form a cogent (if fact-free) question.

Hi comma I'm Mitt Romney comma

Mitt Romney speech to the NAACP in Houston, July 11, 2012.

End of post. (Headline: h/t KagroX)

Romney's Bermuda Triangle

As reported by web site Crooks & Liars, Romney told an Iowa radio host that his finances are above-board and his assets held in a blind trust managed by a trustee.

"I don’t manage them. I don’t even know where they are. That trustee follows all U.S. laws. All the taxes are paid, as appropriate. All of them have been reported to the government. There’s nothing hidden there. If, for instance, you own shares in Renault or Fiat, you still have to disclose that in the United States,” Romney said. “So, you know, I understand the president’s going to try to do anything he can to divert attention from the fact that his jobs record is weak and he has no plan to make things better."

Conveniently, and indeed most fortunately, the Romney clan was able to scour the planet and locate their Caribbean stash just in time to trickle some down on son Tagg.

“The blind trust that the Romney camp cites to deflect questions about potential conflicts of interest? It invested $10 million in a hedge fund [called Solamere] co-founded by Tagg Romney. The trustee, Romney’s personal lawyer R. Bradford Malt (yes, that’s his actual name), explains his investing philosophy by saying that he ‘liked Solamere because of its diversified approach and because he knew the founders.’”

 Having dodged an ethics scandal by riding out the six year statute of limitations for failing to list the Sankaty holding on his Massachusetts disclosure form, Romney swiftly did some ass-covering by throwing it on his 2012 report. The account, picturesquely named for an historic Nantucket lighthouse, remains a mystery due to the campaign's lack of transparency.

Let me tell you, I know one guy who knows this whole "blind trust" charade is a fraud and is quite upset by it. Let him tell you in his own words ...

Willard's filthy mitts

As Slick Mitt slithers his way down the presidential path, one constant marks his trail of lies and deceit -- his abject refusal to release his tax returns.

Turns out, the candidate himself calls such obfuscation a dirty proposition.

In 2002, the would-be Bay State governor sicced his attack dogs on opponent Shannon O'Brien, screeching, "Her hands aren't clean!" because she disclosed her personal tax returns but not those of her husband. The stunning sanctimony of the proclamation was reported at the time, as it came one day after Romney refused to release his own taxes.

His 2002 campaign manager Eric "Etch-a-sketch" Fehrnstrom whined, "Her hands aren't clean. She can't claim to be disclosing anything until she discloses the returns of her husband, the Enron lobbyist. Under Shannon O'Brien, the state Pension Board lost millions by buying Enron stock when it was collapsing -- what is she hiding?"

Great question, considering this nugget from the same campaign:

Romney, who has pumped nearly $ 5 million of his own money into the campaign, has refused repeated requests by O’Brien’s campaign to follow her lead and make his income tax returns public. [Salt Lake Tribune, 11/4/02]

So we fast-forward a decade and where do we find ourselves?

Ron Paul camp properly savages Willard

Who better to deliver a healthy dose of truthiness about a candidate than his primary challenger who openly developed a full-on bromance with the rich kid? Take it away Paul campaign:



Ouch. Ron better have sent Willard a shitload of roses after that one.

Why Romney lies about Obamacare

So, why would a politician who crafted an identical healthcare law for his state lie about one modeled after the one crafted by The Heritage Foundation as the Conservative response to Universal Health Care?

 Here's what Wiley Willard doesn't want you to know about Obamacare and why he's desperately lying to hide the facts lest they tank his personal presidential ambitions:

• Obamacare protects you from being denied insurance due to a pre-existing condition.
• Obamacare protects you when your insurance company tries to deny you coverage.
• Obamacare protects you from lifetime caps on your benefits.
• Obamacare protects you from being dropped by your insurance carrier when you or your family gets sick.
• Obamacare protects you from losing your health care should you lose your job
• .Obamacare makes sure you'll never go bankrupt and lose your home because of medical bills

It doesn't get any more patient-centered than that! And this is what Romney and his Ship of Fools want to take away from you.

BONUS BENEFIT: Obamacare Is About To Put $1.3 BILLION Back In Consumers' Pocket

(h/t Jill W Klausen)

While Colorado was burning