Written by David Starr   

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney a part of the 99%? He has at least implied it, feigning an association using terms like the “middle class” and “American workers.” On his website, Romney’s positions on the issues are summarized; along with each one, there’s a summary on “Obama’s Failure.” But as many critics, including of course the Obama camp, have asserted, Romney’s proposals are vague, more vague, and even more vague…and unworkable.

But Romney’s feigned attempts at sounding like the “common man” are perhaps the biggest insult to the “commoners,” themselves. In Bushite fashion, Romney’s contradictions have amounted to doublespeak.

One of the issues on Romney’s site is regulation; his translation, “cutting the red tape.” Obama is of course blamed for “excessive regulation,” which includes the Dodd-Frank bill and “Obamacare.” “Mitt’s Plan” proposes repealing the latter two “excesses” and “replace it with streamlined, modern, regulatory framework.” And end all “Obama-era regulations that unduly burdened the economy.” Also, “Adopt Structural Reforms,” to [i]mpose a regulatory cap of zero dollars [!?] on all federal agencies” and “[r]eform legal liability system to prevent spurious litigation,” i.e., making it even harder to sue behemoth corporations.

Romney’s proposals are themselves spurious to the interests of the 99%. Ralph Nader used the term “dittohead assertions,” alluding to Romney’s proposed handiwork. Says Nader, “Mr. Romney will be the first to tell you that government doesn’t create jobs. In the same breath he’ll brag about creating thousands of jobs in Massachusetts.” Nader rebuts Romney’s “Republican-speak,” in that, “government can both create jobs and cost jobs. Public works programs by state and federal government have created jobs in America for 200 years.” (“Romney’s Inane Campaign, [6/15-17/2012] by Ralph Nader; Counterpunch.)

Under Gov. Romney, Massachusetts created twice as much public-sector jobs than private-sector jobs. While condemning Obama for increasing federal employment by “almost “7%,” Romney’s Massachusetts ranked 47th in job creation. (“Massachusetts Government Employment Grew Twice as Fast…” [9/06/2011 by Travis Waldron; ThinkProgress – Economy.) Gov. Romney also vetoed a minimum wage bill that the Massachusetts legislature overwhelmingly approved. (Boston Globe – Notes, 7/29/2006.)

Romney further showed his “solidarity” with the 99% by condemning the Occupy Movement as “…dangerous, this class warfare.” Since Occupy is a symbol of the “common man,” Romney’s condemning the very people he says he stands for. And Wall Street was encouraged. More in connection to Romney, his parasitical legacy at Bain Capital, Sensata Technologies-a Bain subservient-was being shut down to outsource jobs. Workers responded with “Bainport,” a protest camp. When asking them about the “Bain-brainer,” responses were unanimous. For example, Tom Gaulrapp, 33 years at Sensata, called the pretending commoner, “…the perfect example of a job destroyer, doing his normal thing, which is lying.” Romney’s site includes his “Jobs Plan Introduction,” in which this “middleman,” with his plan, “…would end the middle class squeeze of declining incomes and rising prices, bring back prosperity and create 12 million jobs during his first term.” Former Sensata workers could translate that as middle class struggles, still rising prices, economic inequality, and outsourcing more jobs in his first term. (“Romney on Wall Street Protests…,” [10/04/2011] by Pat Garofalo, ThinkProgress – Economy; “’Master of Lies’…,” [10/04/2012] by John Wojcik, peoplesworld.org)

Romney has even invited in N. Gregory Mankiw, Bush Jr.’s former chief economist, into his would-be cabinet to “create” more jobs. Mankiw is infamous for publically stating in 2004 that “[o]utsourcing is a new way of doing international trade. More things are tradable [including workers] than were tradable in the past and that’s a good thing.” (“Bush Adviser Assailed…,” [2/11/2004] by Jonathan Weisman, washingtonpost.com)

In his campaign as a pretentious presidential candidate for the “downtrodden,” Romney almost aped Bush Jr. when he declared, “ I’m also unemployed,” implying he felt the pain of unemployed workers in a “meet-the-people” stop in Tampa, Florida. Romney’s “down-on –his-luck” façade wasn’t evident when he poured $42 million of his wealth into the 2008 presidential race, money that would be more appropriate to create over 1,000 jobs. (“Romney Feels Your Pain,” [6/16/2011] by Scott Keyes, ThinkProgress Newsflash.)

An avalanche of criticism still continues to dog the GOP “proletarian.” More examples: “…plausible scenarios suggest the large amount of pain that would be caused by the combination of $11.1 trillion in tax increases [the working class mainly carrying the burden] and [necessary] spending reductions over the next decade for the Romney budget blueprint.” (“Romney’s $9 trillion Dilemma,” [10/12/2012] by Fieldhouse and Shapiro, Counterpunch.) In a CNN interview, Romney again talked Republican-speak in saying, “I’m not concerned about the very poor…,” citing an ample safety net, but also added, “I’m concerned about the heart of America, the 95% of Americans who are now struggling [Don’t you mean the 99%, Mitt?].” (Romney Not Concerned…,” by Tami Luhby, CNN Money.)

Contrary to his fuzzy math, simple arithmetic sums up Romney’s “concern”: Romney = Corporate Interests ≠ Peoples’ Interests = disaster capitalism.