Mitt in his own words.

Reasons why Mitt Romney cannot be trusted to be president in his own words:

"President Barack Obama has stood watch over the greatest job loss in modern American history. And that, my friends, is one inconvenient truth that will haunt this President throughout history."   Mitt Romney

Reason 1: He's a liar.  Reason 2: He apparently has no sense of history

        The "greatest job loss in American history" would certainly not be at any time during the Obama Administration. The worst year during that period (2009-2013) was 2009, the first year of President Obama's  first term when job losses increased unemployment by 3.5% to 9.6% unemployment.  All conditions leading upo to this were in place even before the 2008 campaign!

        In 1928, Herbert Hoover, a Republican (inconvenient truth spoiler alert), took office with a national unemployment rate of 4.2%. By 1930, it was 8.7% , up by 4.5%, more than in Obama's worst year, but wait, it gets better! by 1932, unemployment had increased to 23.6%, which means without even adjusting for population growth, that Hoover stood watch over more job loss then President Obama, and adjusted for population growth lost a whopping 19%  of the workforce. Yet Mitt says President Obama was the worst?  Now, in the interest of fairness, presidents don't create or lose jobs, the economy  does, and in both Hoover's and Bush's case, lack of regulation of the market(s)  and other factors, especially in 1928, bear the burden of blame. In Hoover's case, he did relatively little on the federal level, and  the result was the Great Depression. It was ten years and the start of WWII until unemployment dropped back below 10%!   

        President Bush  took action in 2008 , signing the huge bailout, criticized by many of his own party, and President  Obama continued stimulating the economy in much the same way. By 2013, unemployment was back under 7% and by late 2014, under 6%.  In other words, the actions of Presidents Bush and Obama curbed the recession. what Mitt also overlooked is the fact that in 1982, (Reagan was president and had been for a year) unemployment was 9.7% - higher than at any time in the Obama years, and had risen 2.3% since Reagan took office! In truth, during the first 5 years of the Reagan years, the unemployment rate was higher than it currently is under President  Obama. Anyway you cut it Mitt Romney is either a liar or slept through history class!

Reason 3: He is apparently oblivious to reality

"Ronald Reagan was a president of strength. His philosophy was a philosophy of strength - a strong military, a strong economy and strong families."    Mitt Romney

       Really, Mitt? Reagan family values?  Of the Reagan children, two have been divorced, two have lived with unmarried partners, and all went through extended periods of strained relations with their parents. They disagreed outspokenly with their father on crucial issues in the 1980 campaign—nuclear power, the Equal Rights Amendment, abortion—and they are in some respects unforgiving with each other. Patti refused to use dad's last name, and lived unmarried with Eagles' guitarist Bernie Leadon for some years. Eldest daughter Maureen was effectively shunned by Reagan handlers during the campaign, as they were afraid of what she might say or reveal on the stump.  As for Ron, he was the Gipper's  darling until he  wanted to study ballet, after which he was never mentioned. And Nancy - running "Ronnie's" daily calendar on the predictions of her personal astrologer? Puleeze - these people put the fun in dysfunctional, Mitt. 

       And, Mitt, by the way,  the divorce rate in America was higher throughout the entire eight Reagan years than at any time during the Clinton years and the Obama administration to date! Delusional much, Mitt?

"In the richest country in the history of the world, this Obama economy has crushed the middle class. Family income has fallen by $4,000, but health insurance premiums are higher, food prices are higher, utility bills are higher, and gasoline prices have doubled. Today more Americans wake up in poverty than ever before."  Mitt Romney

Reason 4:  He's bad at math

        The number of Americans in poverty is a large number, but so is the number of Americans, therefore the percentage of families in poverty is the only statistically meaningful way to address the issue. Mitt apparently fails to grasp this, because if he did, he'd realize that as a percentage of the population, there are fewer Americans in poverty today than there were from 1959-to 1965, 1981, and 1992, those last two Reagan and G.H.W.Bush  years by the way! 

        When it comes to household income, my blog regarding minimum wage explains the lie inherent in Romney's statement. He blames Obama for the decline in average family income, but overlooks two hugely significant factors. First,  the numbers include unemployed families, higher during the first Obama years due to recession, and also overlooks the static minimum wage, raises of which have steadily been opposed by Romney and most other Republicans.   Romney would have you believe that somehow President Obama's economic policies have caused this decline, rather than attempted to staunch the bleeding.

        Health Insurance premiums are higher? Of course they are, they have been so every year for decades. What Mitt fails to admit (and this is a quote from before the Affordable Care Act, so it's really not his fault) is that in 2013, and again in 2014 for the first time in years, the rate of increase is lower than before! The ACA, another Romney bugaboo, is working! So contrary to Romney speak  health care costs are decreasing adjusted for inflation, but not by much, as much remains to be done. In any event, Obama bashing over health care costs is dead in the water.  

        Of course the "blame the black guy for fuel costs" part of this is ludicrous in light of current events, but the pity is Romney knows , and knew when he said it that the president has no control over fuel costs, that federal gasoline tax ha remained constant over the last 22 years at 18 cents per gallon.

      So why say it at all, knowing it's a lie by implication? Well, maybe he's stupid, or maybe he's a lying asshole, or maybe he's just another Republican empty shirt. You choose, I'm going to lunch.