Excerpt: "Expensive emergency room care for those who have no health insurance."

Juan Cole; blogger, essayist and professor of history. (photo: Informed Comment)

Top Ten Mitt Romney Solutions to Our Problems

By Juan Cole, Informed Comment

26 September 12

Expensive emergency room care for those who have no health insurance.

Higher taxes on the middle class.

Lower taxes on millionaires.

War with Iran.

Intervention in Syria.

Make Egypt understand what the rules are.

Annoy both Russia and China. Brand the Russian Federation no. 1 enemy of the United States for no known reason.

Free skin dye kit for every American who wants to enjoy the tremendous advantages of becoming Latino in America - including the chance to join the ranks of all our past Latino presidents (who had this unfair advantage).

Cold fusion.

Airplane windows that can easily be opened in flight whenever there is a fire on board at 30,000 feet. Also, free parachutes for all the passengers who will be sucked through the open window.

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+49 # pernsey 2012-09-26 09:04

"The Stench" that is Mitt Romney by Paul Ryan.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45755883/vp/49173345#49173345

+32 # X Dane 2012-09-26 14:39

pernsey.
That STENCH got even worse when I heard that Romney had invested in a Chinese oil company,
TWICE. A company that does business with IRAN, in spite of the EMBARGO against Iran. Romney likes to come off so angry with China. AGAIN LIES.

He divested himself from the company, just before starting his run for the Presidency.

+48 # mayordoug 2012-09-26 09:23

Actually, one is blown out of a window at 30,000 ft. Which is interesting, since it would really blow for all of us is this mental midget wins.

+3 # portiz 2012-09-26 11:05

Quoting mayordoug:

Actually, one is blown out of a window at 30,000 ft. Which is interesting, since it would really blow for all of us is this mental midget wins.

I dislike Romney as much as anyone, but in fairness it should be noted that he made that comment about opening windows on airplanes in JEST. HE WAS ONLY KIDDING.

This has been confirmed by the reporter who originally wrote the story.

+29 # in deo veritas 2012-09-26 11:52

So you are saying Rummy is NOT as stupid as Bush? HA HA HA!

+35 # wwway 2012-09-26 11:52

Romney has no room to "jest" and that's not how myself and millions of Americans heard it when he said it. That was a "jest" a thinking man would avoid.

+28 # bluesapphire48 2012-09-26 16:40

People always say they were "just joking" when they get caught in something stupid or embarrassing. And, while it might be okay for somebody who is a private citizen or the CEO of a company, Romney needs to learn what he can and cannot say as President of the United States, and this sort of thing is exactly why he should NOT be President, in case nothing else he has said has not already established that.

+4 # NOMINAE 2012-09-27 16:57

Quoting portiz:

I dislike Romney as much as anyone, but in fairness it should be noted that he made that comment about opening windows on airplanes in JEST. HE WAS ONLY KIDDING.

Yeah ? Then, as with most human endeavors, he's not very good at it. If he was kidding we should all be laughing.

+29 # NOMINAE 2012-09-26 11:23

Quoting mayordoug:

Actually, one is blown out of a window at 30,000 ft. Which is interesting, since it would really blow for all of us is this mental midget wins.

Yeah .... the technical term for what takes place when a hole develops in the fuselage (window included) with an aircraft at altitude is: "explosive decompression".

It means exactly what it sounds like it would mean. The fuselage quickly develops huge holes much larger than the windows.

Explosive decompression is the reason that Sky Marshals carry ammo that cannot penetrate the bulkheads (walls) of an aircraft, but can penetrate a human body.

This clown Romney wants to *fix* things when he has no clue how "things" work.

+9 # Majikman 2012-09-26 14:44

Years ago, a flight attendant friend of mine encountered an elderly passenger that was a first time flyer. The pax asked if the windows opened. Smart mouth pal replied "No, we don't have screens yet".
The elderly pax didn't deserve that...Romney did.

+19 # margpark 2012-09-26 09:42

Gee, you made me LOL.

+10 # lisamoskow 2012-09-26 09:50

Very hilarious if it wasn't the truth....

-87 # brux 2012-09-26 09:59

It's really time, or way past time to call BS on Juan Cole.

His articles present nothing except pandering to a certain crowd that he does not inform or energize, and beyond that small crowd is message is alienating to Progressivism.

He has all the hallmarks of a CIA, or right-wing Think Tank stooge! He takes many excessive or radical left-wing ideas and presents them in ways that discredit the left.

For example he routinely publishes these articles about the Middle East falsely focusing on Israel's excessive in a very small area, while ignoring the huge global trend of Islamic radicalism. Like, today, when a Coptic Christian is arrested and on trial for his freedom for talking about his atheism - charged with insulting religion.

This is the problem with Islam, Muslims and a big chunk of the people in the world who live under oppression, it is not Israel, or the USA and every time Cole writes another article it tars the whole progressive movement with his backward traitorous ... to the left .... to progressivism's ... to the idea of freedom and justice, with negativity and discredit.

+23 # Third_stone 2012-09-26 10:51

You are joking, right?

+16 # pernsey 2012-09-26 13:59

Quoting Third_stone:

You are joking, right?

Thats the sad part...hes not.

-86 # edge 2012-09-26 10:51

Racism and the Straw Man is all the left has. Same pathetic lies spewed by all of the Obama minions!

+18 # in deo veritas 2012-09-26 11:32

Ifd you deny rscismedsists in this country then you too are out of trouch or maybe just part of it.

+20 # Reductio Ad Absurdum 2012-09-26 19:58

Obama minions? Every true blue liberal in America is critical of Obama for some reason or another, so did you just wake from a coma or are you reflexively puking out the same ol' same ol' because you've got nothing of substance to say?

+13 # tahoevalleylines 2012-09-26 11:36

For Juan Cole: Please share with Noam Chomsky...

"The Blood Of The Moon" by George Grant

"The Return To Mecca" by Avi Lipkin

---

For the smug minority supporting the Mitt:

"Under The Prophet In Utah" by Frank J. Cannon

"The Kingdom Of The Cults" by Dr. Walter Martin

---

EVERY President learns on the job. History shall liken Barack Obama to Abraham Lincoln. One says this with trepidation, for America faces exceptional challenges to the integrity of the Union from within & without, from man made and natural events. Likely in 2013 there will be a motor fuel emergency, and it gets worse from there.

Timing is indeterminate, but events in motion geopolitical and geophysical pose extraordinary challenges to the Societal & Commercial Cohesion to the Union Of States.

Mitt Romney has been weighed in the balance, and found wanting... Character tells, prep school hazing revealed much. He and his family will soon enough be very glad the election does not go his way! Mr. Romney's crucial challenge after the election shall be
what he does with Jesus Christ and a belief system without foundation.

+8 # FarMor 2012-09-26 16:49

Huh?? The guy is a "Coptic Christian" but is arrested for "talking about his atheism?" A little bit of cognitive dissonence there, just like the rest of your post.

+2 # kelly 2012-09-27 05:16

Thank you. I was wondering how he was going to explain the thread binding those two.

+4 # bluesapphire48 2012-09-26 16:54

I'm sure the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza will be interested in your analysis of their situation. Perhaps when you can speak Arabic as well as Dr. Cole, you can explain your POV to them. If they don't then ride tar and feather you and ride you out of town on a rail, it will be because they have no tar, feathers, or rails, those items having been confiscated by the Israelis along with food and toiletries as possible implements of terror. (see, for example, http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177929 or http://gisha.org/UserFiles/File/HiddenMessages/ItemsGazaStrip060510.pdf, if you don't believe me).

+41 # LeeBlack 2012-09-26 10:02

It seems it is people who don't believe in science who make the unrealistic remarks about what science does.

+27 # robniel 2012-09-26 12:10

People have a hard time believing certain subject mattter when they are illiterate in that subject matter; it's estimated that well over 50% of the U.S. population is scientifically illiterate. In Congress the percentage is probably much higher.

+4 # bluesapphire48 2012-09-26 16:59

You notice they don't live in caves or log cabins, propagate their nonsense by carrier pigeon or smoke signals or eat food they've raised themselves. As far as one can tell, they will go to a doctor who practices modern medicine when they get sick and they wear clothes manufactured in factories that use electricity, and are trucked to them with equipment that employs the internal combustion engine.
They don't seem to notice the disconnect or HYPOCRISY in any of this, which is why they are not to be trusted with their analysis of the color of the sky, or anything else.

+48 # Barbara K 2012-09-26 10:24

Geez, he's not only out of touch with the rest of us, but out of touch with reality too. Guess you don't need to be smart to be a multi-millionai re as long as one can find enough people and companies to screw out of their money. We just cannot let them buy this election, it is just an example of what we would be facing. Shudder at the thought.

+7 # Lennie 2012-09-26 10:30

Ha Ha Ha. Just kidding. This is really not very funny. Black humor.

+46 # Sensible1 2012-09-26 10:40

We do not need to hear any more. Romney is a cold hearted business man who treats people like blue chip stocks and pork belly futures, while visions of Ebenezer Scrooge and big banks hang over his head. He would indeed like the chance to run America like one giant conglomerate, and by his own admission, he sees no difference. America is made up of real people, and they cannot be timed (like a market), nor can they be deposited and withdrawn as with securities; they are human beings with feelings and needs, whose existence is is guaranteed by our creator, not by a spread sheet's bottom line. Its time to foreclose on this bankrupt excuse for a human and send him back to the vault where he can spend eternity with his beloved fortune.

-79 # RightForAReason 2012-09-26 11:23

1. Already have that. Your precious "Affordabel Care Act" does NOTHING to lower costs.
2. You mean hte 47% that pay NOTHING?
3. The ones who actually HIRE people? Never got a job from a poor person.
4. The ones ready to nuke anything not Islamic?
5. The ones killing poeple in job lots?
6. Great idea!
7. Study history, read, lots of reasons if you pull you head out of the sand.
8. Now you are just getting silly.
9. Sillier.
10. Only on flights full of RSN believers.

+7 # Ray Kondrasuk 2012-09-26 13:03

RFAR, you're probably right about the 47% of our population who pay no federal income tax, because the first 34.4%, newborn to age 24, (or bassinet to baccalaureate) don't even reach the lowest IRS tax brackets.

Here, from the last census:

under age 5...... 6.9% of the 2010 population
5 to 9 6.6%
10 to 14 6.8%
15 to 19 7.1%
20 to 24 7.0%

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2009_5YR_G00_S0101&-ds_name=ACS_2009_5YR_G00_

+8 # kelly 2012-09-27 05:33

Maybe they never did get a job from a poor person BUT, because I had enough(and I am on a fixed income) left over this year due to the AHA, I hired another poor person who had even less than I to watch my house and cat while I went away to see my sick grandmother for a week. That makes me more of a job creator than They ever were. You see, this helps to stimulate the economy in ways you people never even dreamed of. It allows us to give back to the community too. But you don't see things like that because if it doesn't immediately go into your pockets it isn't your profit.
Let me give you a little hint. Eventually it will get into your greedy hands. If you don't get it immediately, you will get it third party from someone who will buy your products. It will take a litlle longer. Someone has to buy you products...some one will buy your products--but only if they CAN. No money=no consumers. No consumers=no money inyour pocket. Or you could go to the great enemy Russia or maybe the hated China(if they don't devalue their money again.

0 # Cassandra2012 2012-10-20 12:36

The kind, knowledgeable health insurance INDUSTRY that takes 50% in PROFITS/ADMINIS TRATIVE COSTS (vs. Meidcare's 8% in administrative costs??) is better?

-72 # RightForAReason 2012-09-26 11:28

The "cold hearted business man" who probably gives more to charity in a single year than you will make in your entire lifetime? And does it year after year?

The "bankrupt excuse for a human" who left a sure track to being a billionaire to save the Olympics and go into public service?

Your ignorance of the man is astonishing.

+33 # robniel 2012-09-26 12:14

Romney's charity is said to be highly concentrated on the Mormon organization and probably does not benefit 99% of the U.S. population.

+20 # charlemaign 2012-09-26 14:34

Romney made his money using no morals. Is that the way to run the most powerful nation in the world? He scares me! Hides from the nuns on the bus. Insults other world leaders. Wants to take away my food stamps also.

You can run a corporation using morals and make money. If you do not have morals please stay out of politics and positions of power for the sake of those that have far less that I.

+22 # Doll 2012-09-26 15:02

[quote name="RightForA Reason"]The "cold hearted business man" who probably gives more to charity in a single year than you will make in your entire lifetime? And does it year after year?

The "bankrupt excuse for a human" who left a sure track to being a billionaire to save the Olympics and go into public service?

Your ignorance of the man is astonishing.[/quote

And exactly how many of us (you included) have ever made anyway near that kind of money - in our lifetime!

I think I might have made maybe .0001% of that in my lifetime.

And you are wrong about the real givers too. They are usually found in low to middle income brackets. They give, more as a percentage of their income way more than the wealthy.

+11 # unocelestial 2012-09-27 00:27

Plus, he got big bucks from the government to 'save' the Olympics. People carry on like he did it single handedly.

+27 # Lennie 2012-09-26 15:35

Giving money to an organization which REQUIRES that you give to it is not charity. Can Mr. Romney please tell us who he has given money to simple out of the goodness of his heart? That's what charity is.

+15 # pietheyn 2012-09-26 16:20

Mostly given to Mormon charities for Mormons.

+8 # unocelestial 2012-09-27 00:22

Mormon help Mormons. That's it!

+2 # Maxwell 2012-09-29 12:31

Quoting RightForAReason:

The "cold hearted business man" who probably gives more to charity in a single year than you will make in your entire lifetime? And does it year after year?

The "bankrupt excuse for a human" who left a sure track to being a billionaire to save the Olympics and go into public service?

Your ignorance of the man is astonishing.

The Uber-rich of this country do give millions to charity each year. They set up foundations, with their names on them, to fund right-wing think tanks.

OK, let's be charitable. Let's say some of their millions actually go to help people, because probably at least some do. "Millions" sounds like a lot of money, doesn't it? But the rich fleece billions and trillions from the American people, then donate millions to charities.

It's kind of like Dracula sucking you nearly dry of your blood, letting you keep just enough to leave you barely alive -- then giving you a Vitamin C shot.

We don't want billionaires giving us charity. We want to have good jobs, financial security, and a fair shake.

0 # Cassandra2012 2012-10-20 12:37

The ONLY charities Willard the twit donates anything to are MORMON!!

0 # Cassandra2012 2012-10-20 12:34

Did anyone notice that the dinner where he dissed 47% of the population as lazy or wanting to be victims, cost $50,000 a plate? (Or that most experienced mid-level teachers (and others) make $50,000 A YEAR???????
IF A MIDDLE CLASS OR WORKING PERSON VOTES FOR THE LIKES OF HEARTLESS CORPORATE MANIPULATOR ROMNEY, S/HE IS VOTING AGAINST HER/HIS OWN INTERESTS and for the CRYPTO-FASCIST CORPORATE AGENDA of these billionaires!!

+35 # Regina 2012-09-26 10:41

Ryan thinks Romney stinks -- but doesn't smell his own stench. The total sewer that the Republican Party has morphed into is an unbearable stench. We'll need a big supply of Drano for this election.

+37 # Third_stone 2012-09-26 10:49

Today's news shows us why he wants war with Russia. The Russians have turned on Monsanto, making them the enemy of the entire corporate world. Today it is reported that Russia has banned GM corn due to reports it causes cancer.

+35 # in deo veritas 2012-09-26 11:33

if our "government" gave a rat's derriere about us it would ban Monsanto too> LOL.

+33 # karlarove 2012-09-26 10:54

I was hoping he could teach me how to make $42 Million in two years while being "unemployed".

+31 # DennisFletcher 2012-09-26 10:58

The more Mittens talks, the closer Obama/Biden are to a great second term.

+22 # Mattv 2012-09-26 11:09

I can't believe that Magic Underpants wasn't on the list. I'm sure every citizen could use a pair. That should solve all the problems we are experiencing.

+26 # Citizen Mike 2012-09-26 11:18

Am I the only one who has noticed that Romney is RUNNING TO LOSE, designated to take the fall for strategic reasons,same as Kerry and Dole did? Romney's job is to sort of look like he is running and to be a placeholder to set up for the 2016 campaign season, which will probably feature Ryan.

The Republican plan is to prevent Obama from accomplishing anything over the next four years to make everything worse, so that the public will turn to them in desperation.

+34 # in deo veritas 2012-09-26 11:39

A very astute observation. The only hope is that the fools in this country will come to their senses and get rid of the damned teabaggers. TYhey are the worst enemies this country has-a real threat. Iran is not. When the truth is known they have done us more damage to more people than the 9/11 attack or anything else the bogey man (Islam) has done or is capable of doing. They have blocked everything that has been proposed to ease if not solve our problems and if they are allowed to hold office asny longer your prediction will indeed bne a reality. It is our future or our demise-we the people must do whatever it takes to derail the Rethuglican express to hell that we are riding.

+21 # Citizen Mike 2012-09-26 11:49

Will the fools come to their senses? Maybe. The Republican plan assumes holding onto the majority in the House and maybe winning the Senate. But Romney is alienating so many voting blocs that his coat-tails will have a negative effect, and if the House goes Democratic, then we all have a chance to see things get better. Obama is a better campaigner than a leader but maybe there will arise some real leadership within Congress. If we are lucky.

+30 # in deo veritas 2012-09-26 11:50

Romney's statement that class size makes no difference is pure bull****! Having never been in public school as a kid and I doubt if he has ever been in one since, he is exposing just how out of touch with reality he is. I spent 36 years in the classroom and I guarantee yoju it DOES make a big difference. The limited amount of time you have with each class makes it more difficult to give each child the attention they deserve and obviously as numbers increase the share of time decreases. This does not even take into account the time spent in maintaining order and safety concerns. I was fortunate to have very few discipline problems and wasn't in an inner city school with gangs but I handled things myself without having to dedpend on administrators who were business managers more than educators. All Romney wants to dop is throw the educational system under the bus and reserve education for those who can afgford it. You CANNOT have democracy without an educated electorate.Thom as Jefferson told that to those willing to listen. The goal seems to be to create a generation of voters more ignorant than the present one. If Rummy gets elected and the teabaggers control the government they will make sure that this becomes a reality! They will destroy the country the way the Nazis destroyed Germany and take us all with them into the looming abyss before us. Be warned!

+27 # fredboy 2012-09-26 11:46

Mitt wants war.

Will his sons again refuse to serve--just like dad?

+19 # wwway 2012-09-26 11:55

Three Cheers, Juan Cole!

+8 # seeuingoa 2012-09-26 12:09

you need to change politicians and diapers frequently, for all the
same reasons.

+5 # pb83 2012-09-26 12:16

Thanks for the cold fusion quote--hadn't heard that one!

-4 # robniel 2012-09-26 21:15

About as divorced from reality as the magic underwear.

-30 # MidwestTom 2012-09-26 12:32

I am with one of the earlier commenters, I think that you should have censored this article by Juan Cole, most of his stuff s not informative, and we do not need his imaginative thoughts.

-4 # Smokey 2012-09-26 15:20

There are moments when I wonder about Juan Cole... Some of his stuff is helpful but there are times when he comes across as "the King of Vitriol."
Example: "Free skin dye tests." Is that something that Romney promised?

+7 # JCM 2012-09-26 17:36

This is what the wealthiest is doing with their money, http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jul/21/offshore-wealth-global-economy-tax-havens
So much for the "job creators".

+1 # Corvette-Bob 2012-10-02 13:14

I really think that Mitt Romney has a mental problem. For example, he tells a woman who just told him that she had losted everything in New Orleans and he said to go home (she does have a home it was destroyed) and to call for emergency help. Or the student who said he was too poor to go to college and he told him to borrow the tuition money from his parents. The poor man, Mitt Romney, has no idea who he is talking to when speaks.
He needs professional help.

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