Obama campaign attacks Romney using GST Steel, post 1
President Obama’s re-election campaign launched a negative campaign attacking Mitt Romney (Bain Capital) over a company called GST Steel located in Kansas City, Missouri. Basically the Obama campaign is alleging that Bain Capital purchased GST Steel in 1993 and made a lot of money and then drove the company into bankruptcy in 2001.
From 1989 - 1995 I was on active duty in the USN. In the USN I was an electronics technician who worked in the nuclear power plant of the USS Pintado, SSN 672. I got out of the US Navy in March of 1995 and got married. We moved to Omaha, NE and I worked at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant. At Fort Calhoun we went from working rotating eight hour shifts to rotating twelve hour shifts. I did not sleep well for two and a half years and decided to change careers. I sent out a couple of hundred resumes. Once of the companies that contacted me was GST Steel.
I accepted a job with GST Steel in September of 1997. We moved to Kansas City in November of 1997 and I started work at GST Steel at that time.
I worked at GST Steel as a Combined Craft Electronic Repairman/Industrial Electrician. I worked there from Nov of 1997 through Sep of 1999. My father died in 1998 and we moved back to Fort Wayne in Sep of 1999. The plant closed a few months after we moved back to Fort Wayne.
I was an hourly employee at GST Steel. I was a member of the union at GST Steel.
The Obama Campaign is accusing Bain Capital (Romney) of destroying a vibrant and successful company (GST Steel) in order to turn a profit.
This series of posts will discuss my observations at GST Steel from 1997 - 1999.
Most of my friends and many of the people I attended college classes with at IPFW over the last few years have heard MANY stories about my experiences at GST Steel as a union maintenance worker. Most of the stories discuss how destructive the union was to the company. A few of the stories discuss inept management decisions at GST Steel.
I will tell some of these stories in this series of blog posts so you can determine whether or not President Obama’s Campaign is telling the truth or not…
Mike Sylvester
President Obama “evolves” on gay marriage
President Obama does not do anything without considering the political implications of it. President Obama did not “evolve” on gay marriage; instead, he decided it would help his re-election chances to change his views on gay marriage. Period.
That being said my views on gay marriage have “evolved” over my life. The older I have gotten the less gay marriage has bothered me.
I think this issue should largely be left up to the fifty states.
If civil unions where put on the ballot in Indiana I would vote in favor of them. There is no doubt in my mind that gay marriage nor civil unions would win; however, I often vote for the losing side…
Mike Sylvester
Idiots in Washington DC, Democrats and Republicans
I am sick and tired of both Democrats and Republicans in Washington DC. They are more interested in fighting with each other and trying to get re-elected than actually accomplishing anything.
The unemployment insurance system in this country is broken and needs to be fixed. First off the Federal Government has NO BUSINESS being involved and needs to get out of this system entirely.
Next each of the fifty states needs to start from scratch and make their own system. I would think a few states would abolish the program entirely, most would have a system similar to what they have now, and a few might have an even more generous system. That is how it should be. Each state should establish the unemployment system the majority of their citizens want. The idiots in Washington DC should not be involved at all…
In 2006 and 2008 the Democrats did everything they could to tell the American people how bad the economy was in order to get elected. In 2010 and 2012 the Republicans are doing everything they can to tell the American how bad the economy is so they can get elected. I am sick of this…
Why don’t the Democrats and Republicans in DC work together to fix some of the problems in this country. I think there are a lot of glaring problems that a strong majority of Americans could get behind including:
- Slightly downsizing the US military and closing at least 1/3 of our bases overseas.
- Eliminating all refundable tax credits. No American should be subsidized through the tax code. Many families in American pay no Federal income tax and in fact are paid by the IRS $5000 or more per year.
- 49.5% of the population listed on a Federal income tax return paid nothing in Federal income taxes or worse were paid money through refundable tax credits. Please realize than many of the poor do not even file income tax returns. We are at the point where a little more than half of the country pays no Federal income tax. Historically speaking the bottom 20% have paid no Federal income tax; this has now increased to 50%. So lets change the tax code so the bottom 20% pay zero and the rest pay something.
- The tax loopholes the wealthy use to pay lower tax rates that the working upper middle class need to be abolished. They are absurd.
- Large corporations pay significantly lower taxes than small corporations pay. This needs to change so the playing field is level.
- The Federal Government has spent TRILLIONS of dollars to ensure everyone has access to affordable housing. They helped create a bubble that was almost big enough to put the world into a recession. The Government “Projects” are dangerous places were no one wants to live. HUD is an absolute failure. Fannie and Freddie are horrible and inefficient organizations. The Federal Government needs to get entirely out of the housing business.
- The Federal Government is broke. A majority of Americans believe we should not be giving foreign government aid while we are broke. We should stop ALL foreign aid until the National Debt is paid off.
Republican foolishness
President Obama has finally released his next budget proposal. He missed the required deadline; however, he finally did unveil it. The Democratic Senate still has not proposed a budget in three years…
The proposed budget continues the fiscal train wreck that George W. Bush started and President Obama accelerated. The truth of the matter is that all this budget does is SLIGHTLY limit the continual growth of the US Government.
The Pentagon will spend 530 billion dollars this year. This is an absurd amount of money and every veteran I have ever talked to agrees that we could cut military spending significantly with no reduction in military capability.
Our combat involvement in Iraq has ended. We are slowly (supposedly) drawing down in Afghanistan. Considering these two things the truth of the matter is that the Pentagon budget is still growing since some of its operations have ended or are being limited.
The United States of America is going broke. The last honestly balanced Federal Budget was in 1958. There is no proposal on the table right now that would EVER balance the Federal Budget. There is no doubt in my mind that we could easily cut military spending to maybe 400 billion dollars per year over the next five years with little real reduction in military might. We could get to 400 billion dollars by:
- Pulling all troops out of Afghanistan over the next six months. The government is corrupt and is not salvageable.
- Stop using drones to kill a few supposed terrorists and a larger number of innocent civilians. We should stop using our military overseas unless Congress declares an actual war.
- Cutting the nuclear submarine fleet in half. I served on a nuclear submarine and they are cool weapons. That being said they serve little purpose today. They were a product of the Cold War.
- Down size the military to the number of troops Panetta already proposed. This is a small and reasonable reduction.
- We should close most of our overseas military bases. We should keep the few that are truly needed. The rest should be closed unless the host country agrees to foot HALF of the costs. We are defending the rest of the world and the rest of the world damn well should pay us to defend it.
- We should hire a large number of auditors and we should aggressively audit the defense contractors. All that are found guilty of fraud should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
I could go on and on.
What REALLY gripes me is the Republicans who are whining and claiming that we are “hallowing out” the military. I am not sure what illegal drugs these Republicans are utilizing; however, they do not have a clue…
Mike
Newt Gingrich and the Republican Presidential Primary
The Republican Presidential Primary of 2012 has been vibrant and erratic to say the least. Three different candidates have won the first three states. Four candidates remain in the race.
I think the race has been so erratic because all of the candidates have some relatively major flaws and the Republican electorate really wanted a candidate who was less flawed. The Republican primary voters are changing who they are voting for on a regular basis as they get discouraged with one candidate after another.
Currently it looks like either Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich will get the nomination. Rick Santorum and Ron Paul realistically have little and no chance respectively; however, they do not feel that way and with the chaos that has ensued to date they may be right. Santorum has a minute chance and it would take a miracle for Ron Paul to win.
The more I watch this race the more discouraged I have become. There is a growing chance that President Obama could get re-elected and that would be a disaster. I cannot imagine how much harm he might do to the country as a lame duck President.
In this post I will just discuss Gingrich and Romney since they are the two with by far the best chances of winning the primary.
I am not a fan of Romney; however, if push comes to shove I could vote for him in a General Election. The good about Romney includes: He does understand Wall Street, he did turn around the Olympics, he does understand the private sector at least somewhat, he does not seem to have lots of personal baggage, he “looks” presidential, and he does OK in a debate. His weaknesses include the fact that he has flip flopped on many issues, he comes across as being rich and out of touch, and he does not seem genuine.
I truly do not like Newt Gingrich and I would not vote for him in the General Election if he is the nominee; I would likely vote third party or leave it blank. His strengths include: He is an excellent debater, he has a strong grasp on history and politics, and he knows how to appeal to the Republican base. His weaknesses include: He has an immense amount of personal baggage, he is a serial adulterer, he has flip flopped on a large number of issues, he is a progressive, and he is not like-able.
When I decide who to vote for character matters. It matters a lot to me. I am honestly surprised and disappointed that it does not seem to matter to many Republican Primary voters.
I think Romney and Gingrich are both flip floppers. I think this reflects negatively on both of them. I want a candidate who sticks to his or her convictions rather than say what is politically expedient.
Newt Gingrich really fails as far as his personal character and morals are concerned. He has admitted that while married to his 1st wife he had a long term affair with a woman who became his second wife. He further admitted that while married to his second wife he had a long term affair with a woman who became his third wife. This is a deal breaker for me. I think I MIGHT (but probably could not) be able to look past one affair. I certainly cannot and will not look past two. Newt Gingrich got married and committed adultery multiple times. That is not what I am looking for in a person I would vote for to be the President of The United States because character matters to me.
I truly do not understand how so many evangelical Christians support a serial adulterer. I do NOT get it…
I am not at all religious. I am an Agnostic. Many evangelicals seem to believe that Newt Gingrich has realized that he has sinned and repented and embraced God. For that reason they have decided they can support him.
Once again I am not religious so please keep that in mind. I think character matters and I do not trust the character of Newt Gingrich. I think he will say and do anything to further himself.
Mike Sylvester
US Marines and three Afghan corpses
Pretty much everyone has seen a video that supposedly (and likely) shows four US marines in combat gear unzipping their pants and “relieving themselves” on the Afghan three corpses. The video was likely taken by a fifth marine.
War is Hell. Young men do stupid things when people have been trying to kill them. That is the way things work. There is nothing pretty about war and the toll it takes on those involved.
The marines involved should not have done what they did. It was flat out inappropriate. Even dumber was taking a video of their actions.
That being said this is not a heinous act that will stain the US military. It is a stupid action done by a few US marines in a war zone. They are fighting in a country that is often hostile to them and combat is very stressful.
Mike
Republican Presidential Primary
The Republican primary has been a roller coaster. I truly think the rise and fall of so many candidates is historic.
I think there are only four candidates who really have any chance of winning: Romney (Most likely), Santorum (Unlikely), Gingrich (would take a miracle), and Paul (would take a miracle).
Out of those four I would vote for Paul. Paul is not perfect; however, his views align best with mine out of these four. My order of preference is: Paul, Romney, Santorum, and last Gingrich.
I can vote for Paul or Romney in 2012. If the Republicans candidate is Santorum or Gingrich I am not sure what I will do; I would likely vote third party.
Gingrich is way too liberal for me. His personal life is a mess and I do not want a serial womanizer as President of the United States.
Santorum is a big government Republican on fiscal matters. He seems to want to enlarge the US military and use it oven more often.
Where do you stand?
Mike
Payroll Tax Cut and the idiots in Washington DC
I generally like gridlock in DC because that means the idiots in Washington DC are not passing laws that will damage our country. The problem is now that our country is deeply in debt and has a large number of problems that truly need addressed gridlock is not working out so well.
And I have news for Democrats and Republicans alike; each major Political Party is AT LEAST 40% responsible for these problems.
The Reps and Dems agreed to a stupid plan last December to “TEMPORARILY” reduce the amount of social security taxes that employees pay into the system for 2011 only. This lowered the employee portion of the tax from 6.2% of wages to 4.2% of wages up to the annual cap. This was stupid for many reasons including:
- Social Security is already on an unsustainable fiscal path. The Federal Government dropped another IOU into the system that will have to be paid back by A Federal Government that is already over 15 trillion dollars in the red.
- This change was enacted in December and so the affected Government agencies all had to scramble to deal with this last minute change to the laws. The same is true for the private sector and employers and their payroll providers.
- The change was of course temporary…
- The main problem is it creates new rules that there is not enough time left to implement. This new change to the law will not be implemented properly by many employers and many Government agencies IF it is even enacted into law by the Republicans in the House which I doubt.
- The House Republicans do not want to pass it this way.
- It is temporary and kicks the problem down the road.
President 2012
Who do you currently support for President in 2012 and why?
I am unimpressed with the field. I obviously will note vote for President Obama; he has been a disaster.
On the Republican side my current thoughts are:
- Huntsman is too moderate for me.
- I have always liked Ron Paul and he will likely get my vote.
- Mitt Romney flip flops too much for me and is too moderate as well.
- Bachmann just does not trip my trigger.
- Santorum is a conservative; however, he is just not an impressive figure.
- Gingrich is the smartest guy on the stage; however, I dislike his personal baggage nor do I trust him.
- Perry has truly embarrassed himself.
- Herman Cain is not ready for prime time and he may well be a liar.
More Congressional idiocy is coming…
One of the dumbest things that Democrats and Republicans alike have done is they have made much of the tax code temporary. They do this because it allows them to act like future budget deficits are lower than they actually are. It is basically dishonest accounting…
Since the “Super Committee” failed; Congress will have to deal with several of the temporary aspects of the current tax code. The truth of the matter is Congress was hoping the “Super Committee” would handle some of this for them… Unfortunately for everyone Congress keeps doing this in December of the year before the tax changes will take place.
THIS IS ABSURD.
The political grandstanding and partisan fighting will be immense in the next four weeks. Congress has failed to pass a lot of required legislation (again) and will struggle to get it all done. Lets look at some of the items that are to be resolved this year; please realize there will be even more to deal with NEXT year due to the supposed expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts.
Congress passed the Alternative Minimum Tax in 1969 to ensure less than 50 families (The very rich) paid more in income taxes. Congress failed to index the AMT with inflation and so more and more Americans are effected by it every year. Every year Congress decides to “patch” the AMT because they do not want it to effect as many Americans as it otherwise would. In 1970 the AMT effected 20,000 tax returns. In 2011 (And it was “patched” in 2011) it effected four million Americans. If it is NOT patched in the next few weeks it will cause about 34 million American households to pay higher taxes due to the AMT in 2012. This tax will engulf both the middle classed and the rich. The one year cost to “patch” the AMT for 2012 is 85 billion dollars.
In difficult economic times Congress has enacted an extension of unemployment benefits to states with high unemployment. The current extension expires at the end of January of 2012. If this extension does not occur about three million Americans (mainly the long term unemployed) will lose benefits in February. The cost of a one year extension is 49 billion dollars.
In 2011 President Obama with cooperation from both Parties passed an ill advised employee payroll tax cut. This payroll tax cut caused Americans to pay 112 billion less in Social Security taxes than they otherwise would. The Federal Government then put an IOU in the Social Security system and promised to pay it back to Social Security in the future. President Obama now wants to increase the size of the employee payroll tax cut. The 2011 version decreased the payroll tax from 6.2% to 4.2%. President Obama now wants to further lower it to 3.1% for 2012. This will put more money in the pockets of payroll workers; however, the Federal Government has to drop another IOU into the Social Security Trust Fund. This will cost 175 billion dollars for 2012.
President Obama now wants to forgive half of the portion the employers match towards social security and medicare on the first five million in payroll. This will save employers money and again the Federal Government will drop another IOU into the Social Security Trust Fund. This will cost 58 billion for 2012.
There are a lot of tax provisions that expire on 12/31/11. This package is called the “tax extenders” package. The cost of this is about 83 billion for 2012 alone.
Congress has promised to cut Medicare payments to doctors by 30% for the last several years. Then in December they panic and decide not to do it for another year. The cost of the “Doc Fix” is 22 billion for 2012 alone.
Congress keeps allowing businesses to depreciate equipment faster. They mistakenly think this causes businesses to buy more equipment. It may have caused this effect the first year or two; however, it has been going on for well over a decade now and businesses expect it. The cost of this is 21 Billion for 2012 alone.
Luckily the Bush tax cuts do not expire next month; otherwise the fighting would be far worse…
In summary here are the temporary provisions the Reps and Dems need to agree upon:
- AMT, 85 billion (BOTH parties want to patch this)
- Extended Unemployment, 49 billion (Democrats want this big time; Republicans kind of want it)
- Expanded Employee Payroll tax cut, 175 billion (President Obama and Democrats want this, Republicans have been less interested in this which is surprising with their ant-tax mania)
- Employer payroll tax cut, 59 billion (President Obama wants this and I think both sides will want this)
- Tax extenders, 83 billion (Both sides want this)
- Doc Fix, 22 billion (Both sides want this)
- Accelerated Depreciation, 21 billion (Republicans want this big time; Democrats pretty much want it to).
