I don't claim to have a deep understanding of Bain Capitol and leveraged buyouts. However, from what I do comprehend, it seems as though the following analogy would be logical: what Mitt Romney and Bain Capitol are to corporations, will be President Mitt Romney (with the help of Republicans) to the United States of America. Former President Bush/Cheney and crew already began the process with passing tax cuts for the wealthy, starting two wars, and passing Medicare Part D without paying for any of it and the Republicans in Congress have already continued the process of bankrupting America by opposing every proposal President Obama and the Democrats have put forth.
The Bush Administration with the assistance of a Republican led Congress, ran up the credit card. As soon as President Obama took office, he was blamed for the deficit, simply because he used more honest accounting practices. Who benefitted from those Bush policies? Bush's cronies, Bush's base. Who suffered from those policies? Everyone else.
The combination of propaganda, corporately funded lies, racism and Republican obstructionism has led us to a place where a President Romney is possible.
While President Obama was trying to reach across the aisle to solve our nation's problems, Republicans waged a multi-front campaign of obstructionism in Congress and in states with Republican Governors and Assemblies with assists from the Supreme Court (Citizens United). Democrats are putting out fires and refighting battles that were already won. The Republicans have money and connections, Democrats have the numbers but without an obvious coordinated plan or coalition.
Too many Americans feel the pain, but don't understand who is inflicting it. The onslaught of ads all over America for the benefit of Republican candidates will take the lies and distortions to an unprecedented level. Our message will have to be simple and clear. And we'll have to communicate what's at stake wherever and whenever we can. We have to work together. It does matter who's President. It does matter who our Representative and Senators are in Washington, in the Governor's Mansions and at the State Capitals. And it's up to us to do it.
It's Social Darwinism vs. The Golden Rule
The Republicans promised "Jobs, jobs, jobs but delivered attacks on women's, worker's, civil and voting rights".
It's "Buyer Beware", truth in advertising.
The Too-Good-to-Be-True Product Hall of Fame
By TIME.com | October 6, 2011 |
Reebok was ordered to refund $25 million to customers because its advertising promised — without adequate evidence — that the company’s EasyTone shoes could firm users’ butts and legs with every step. But of course, that’s only the latest multimillion-dollar settlement in a long line of misleading or unfounded marketing claims. Over the past century, Americans have been sold countless too-good-to-be-true products, including cancer-fighting electronic zappers, “sugar” that’s not sugar and “purifiers” that add chemicals to water. Here, we highlight 14 of the most notorious examples.
Read more:
http://moneyland.time.com/...
Remember cigarette [http://en.wikipedia.org/...]commercials?
Campaigns
[edit] 1950-1960
Before the 1970s, most tobacco advertising was legal in the United States and most European nations. In the United States, in the 1950s and 1960s, cigarette brands frequently sponsored television shows—most notably To Tell the Truth and I've Got a Secret.
One of the most famous television jingles of the era came from an advertisement for Winston cigarettes. The slogan "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should!" proved to be catchy, and is still quoted today. When used to introduce Gunsmoke (gun = smoke), two gun shots were heard in the middle of the jingle just when listeners were expecting to hear the word "cigarette". Other popular slogans from the 1960s were "Us Tareyton smokers would rather fight than switch!," which was used to advertise Tareyton cigarettes, and "I'd Walk a Mile for a Camel".
In 1954, tobacco companies ran the ad "A Frank Statement." The ad was the first in a campaign to dispute reports that smoking cigarettes could cause lung cancer and had other dangerous health effects.[3]
In the 1950s, manufacturers began adding filter tips to cigarettes to remove some of the tar and nicotine as they were smoked. "Safer," "less potent" cigarette brands were also introduced. Light cigarettes became so popular that, as of 2004, half of American smokers preferred them over regular cigarettes,.[4] According to The Federal Government’s National Cancer Institute (NCI), light cigarettes provide no benefit to smokers' health.[5][6]
In 1964, Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States was published. It was based on over 7000 scientific articles that linked tobacco use with cancer and other diseases. This report led to laws requiring warning labels on tobacco products and to restrictions on tobacco advertisements. As these began to come into force, tobacco marketing became more subtle, with sweets shaped like cigarettes put on the market, and a number of advertisements designed to appeal to children, particularly those featuring Joe Camel resulting in increased awareness and uptake of smoking among children.[7] However, restrictions did have an effect on adult quit rates, with its use declining to the point that by 2004, nearly half of all Americans who had ever smoked had quit.[8]
With this election more than ever,
"let the buyer beware" = let the voter beware. Before Americans "buy" or vote for the people who have the slick ads saturating tv, radio, internet and newspapers, we need to remind them of how much money they wasted on empty promises in glossy packaging.
Speaking of truth in advertising, Barack Obama never said "Yes I Can", he said, "Yes We Can". If we want to prevent the leveraged buy-out of America, then, it's up to all of us.