A sociopath is usually defined as a person who lies incessantly to get their way and related to a compulsive liar who lies out of habit. For compulsive liars and sociopaths, lying is the normal way of responding to questions because telling the truth is extremely awkward and uncomfortable while lying just feels right. There is nothing quite as pathetic as watching a sociopathic liar stand straight-faced and spout drivel that the audience knows without a doubt is false, but that is the peril of listening to Willard Romney.
On Wednesday, Romney addressed a group of media professionals at a Newspaper Association of America conference luncheon and, true to form, he lashed out at President Obama with his typical formula of lying about the President’s record. Romney’s entire speech was rife with fallacious statements, but one in particular stood out and it calls into question whether or not he is aware of recent history and current events, or is so delusional that he expects everyone to believe what they know are lies. Willard was attempting to make a point that President Obama did not want to “share his real plans” with Americans and that he was attempting to “distract us from his record because he doesn’t want to run on his record.” Romney emphatically stated that the President did not cause America’s economic crisis, “but he made it worse,” and that Obama failed to “turn around the economy and to lead us back to full employment.”
If Romney thinks the economy is worse today than when President Obama took office, he is lying because the Great Recession’s duration is acknowledged to be from late 2007 to the middle of 2009, and although growth is slower than desired, Romney knows the economy has improved. Only a fool, or a liar, would assert that today’s economy is worse than during the midst of the recession, but that is Willard; a fool and a liar. In fact, in a report released Wednesday, new figures showed unemployment claims fell to their lowest level since 2008 just prior to the Great Recession’s massive job losses. According to experts, when jobless claims drop below 400,000 it signals an improving jobs landscape, but March’s figures were below 370,000 that suggest jobs are being created at a rapid pace. The downward trend in unemployment claims coincides precisely with when the President’s Recovery Act (stimulus) began spending money early in 2009 which, by the way, was still during the Great Recession. Romney cannot possibly be unaware of the improving economy, but his penchant for lying prevents him from acknowledging any good news attributed to the President’s policies.
The most interesting point of Willard’s speech was his assertion that Americans “looked to him (President Obama) to turn around the economy and to lead us back to full employment.” Americans are pleased then, because the economy has turned around, but this notion of full employment within two years of a major recession informs that Romney’s alleged business acumen, like his statements, is a lie; but then again, he is a compulsive liar and cannot help himself.
According to a McKinsey Global Institute report from June 2011, the mythical “full employment” will not occur until 2020, and it means creating 21 million new jobs in McKinsey’s “most optimistic job-growth scenario.” McKinsey notes that under current trends, many workers will not possess the right skills for available jobs because of technological changes such as virtual work, jobs being disaggregated into tasks, and that companies are relying on contract and temporary labor. Romney claims the President is not sharing his plans with the American people, but the President has outlined areas of focus to spur job growth and manufacturing here in America. McKinsey cited “four dimensions that will be essential for reviving the U.S job-creating machine” that are reiterations of President Obama’s expressed plans for the economy. McKinsey’s four dimensions are; develop the U.S. workforce’s skill to better match what employers are looking for, expand US workers’ share of global economic growth and spur exports, support emerging industries and ensure they scale up in America, and revive new business start-ups. Now, if any of those “dimensions” sound familiar, it is because the President has hammered on those factors as necessary for substantial job growth since he took office, and Republicans have blocked or obstructed Democrats’ efforts to pass legislation to expedite them since January 2009. Romney’s claim that the President is hiding his plans for the economy is fallacious and he, and anyone with a pulse, knows it.
The most crucial aspect to job creation is education, and the Ryan/Romney budget plans rape funding out of education at every level from elementary school to university Pell Grants. Both Republicans also plan to slash infrastructure spending, investments in clean energy, and scientific and medical research funding which will cost jobs, affect the future, and discourage businesses from investing here in America. Romney has shared his plan to create jobs, but it entails more “trickle-down” tax cuts for the wealthy and repealing the Wall Street Reform law that, by the way, does not offer any budget savings, but gives banks and Wall Street free reign to demolish the economy again with impunity. Romney said the President “doesn’t want to run on his record,” but the President’s record has positive results for the economy and job creation unlike Romney’s trickle-down theory that has never worked under any administration.
Americans have two distinct records to compare and contrast to determine whether Romney or President Obama’s economic plans are successful, and the President is not running and hiding from his record. Conversely, Romney has been running and hiding from his record from the second he entered the Republican sweepstakes for the presidential nomination and it will cost him dearly in the general election. His most damaging record though, is not the jobs he eliminated in America or created in China, but his propensity for lying. Romney is a sociopath and a compulsive liar, but he is also incredibly stupid if he thinks President Obama’s campaign team will not use myriad video clips and recorded statements Romney made that contradict the facts and his own false assertions.
President Obama turned the economy around in spite of GOP attempts to sabotage job creation and economic growth and it must drive Republicans like Romney crazy. Romney’s lie that the economy is worse than during the midst of the Great Recess does not ring true to most Americans, and even some Republicans agree that job numbers and economic growth are improving, but not fast enough. The job numbers would be significantly better if Republicans had not obstructed job creation and eliminated millions of public-sector jobs with their Draconian spending cuts that Romney intends to increase to pay for a fraction of the $6.5 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations that outsource American jobs.
Romney’s entire campaign is wrought with lies and misinformation that brand him as a compulsive liar that are made worse because he knows what the facts are, but the sociopath in him forces him to lie to get his way. He makes a grave error, though, by lying about President Obama’s economic record because although the economy is not growing at a breakneck pace, it is improving and the downward trend in jobless claims is encouraging to all but Republicans and liars like Willard Romney which brings up an important point. If Romney lies about the state of the economy and jobs to an audience that knows the truth, what manner of lies will he tell the American people to enrich his wealthy corporate friends and incite a war with Iran?
Born in the South, raised in the Mid-West and California for a well-rounded view of America; it doesn't look good.
Former minister, lifelong musician, Mahayana Zen-Buddhist.
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