Some Serious Omissions
If you were hoping to hear more about Mitt Romney’s plan for America, his big acceptance speech last night was a huge disappointment. While Romney had plenty of time to crack jokes about the president and recite several of his well-worn whoppers about the president’s record, Romney spent precious few — if any — words discussing some of the country’s most pressing problems and even less time explaining how a Romney-Ryan administration would solve them.
Here’s NINE serious omission from Romney’s speech:
– 0 mentions of Financial Reform: Even as millions of Americans struggle with the effects of the Great Recession caused by Wall Street malfeasance and scores of others continue to deal with the fallout of the foreclosure fraud scandal, Romney has said that he will repeal the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law, but has yet to detail what, if anything, he would put in its place.
— 0 mentions of Climate Change: “President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet,” Romney said to loud laughter. It’s too bad that he and most of the GOP delegates don’t believe in the very real threat of global warming.
– 0 mentions of Immigration: “We are a nation of immigrants,” Romney said, without explaining how he would help the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. Romney has not said if he would rescind Obama’s temporary directive permitting young undocumented immigrants to work in the country, though his advisers have suggested that he would.
– 0 mentions of Romneycare: The convention speakers didn’t tackle Romney’s greatest accomplishment as governor, the enactment of universal health care coverage in Massachusetts. Romney promised to repeal Obamacare, but did not say what he would replace it with.
– 0 mentions of Afghanistan or Syria: Romney did not mention how he planned to address the nation’s largest ongoing wars or one of the most important ongoing humanitarian crises on Earth. This may be because the Romney campaign has been unable to meaningfully distinguish its policies from those of the Obama administration on either of these crucial issues.
– 0 mentions of Social Security: Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, has proposed Social Security privatization schemes that would have cost retirees dearly if they had been in place during the financial crisis.
– 0 mentions of Veterans: Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Romney has ignored veterans issues. After he spoke to the Veterans of Foreign Wars last month, veteran advocates said they were “still waiting for Romney to spell out how he would do better than his opponent.” “We haven’t … heard any specific plans yet from Governor Romney or his campaign,” said Bob Wallace, executive director at the Washington office of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, echoing the sentiment of many advocates.”
– 1 mention of Medicare: Romney criticized Obama for cutting $716 billion from Medicare — reductions that are also included in Paul Ryan’s budget. But he did not explain his own controversial reforms or mention that the “premium support” plan would force seniors to spend significantly more for health care.
– 1 mention of Housing: Romney did say, “when the realtor told you that to sell your house you’d have to take a big loss” — but that’s all. The Federal Reserve bank of New York anticipates that millions of Americans will face foreclosure this year and next, but Romney has yet to release a housing plan, beyond telling homeowners in foreclosure-battered Las Vegas “don’t try and stop the foreclosure process,” just “let it run its course and hit the bottom.”
So much for the campaign of ideas Romney promised when picked Paul Ryan as his vice president.
Evening Brief: Important Stories That You May Have Missed
The highlights of last night’s Clint Eastwood meltdown at the Republican convention.
Romney staffers are throwing each other under the bus after the Clint Eastwood fiasco.
Ann Romney: “We’re used to” passing up multi-million dollar jobs.
What Karl Rove says inside his secret fundraisers.
Even David Koch says the government needs to consider tax increases.
Mitt Romney refers to the United States as a “company.”
Chart: Republican presidents’ depressing record on wage growth.
RNC delegate offended by “Mexican” at Epcot Center.
Eastwooding is now a thing.