Democracy for New Mexico

News Flash: Republicans Care about Them

What a joke. Like republicans care about you and me. When was the last time a republican did anything selfless for the people or for the planet? Romney is their leader, they just finished voting for him in a very large way. According to Politico, the popular vote was 62,611,250 for Obama to 59,134,475 for Romney. So now all of the leaders of the 59 mil Romney voters are saying they did not agree with his policies he would engage in if elected. What hypocrites, pitiful liars.

Romney in May 2012"

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. ... My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives." -Mitt Romney, in leaked comments from a fundraiser in May 2012

Romney a few days after the above came out:

"My campaign is about the 100 percent in America," he said Wednesday evening at a Univision forum, according to the Los Angeles Times, just a few days after the secretly taped video of his speech in front of wealthy donors in Boca Raton, Fla., went public. "And I am concerned about them. I am concerned about the fact that over the past four years, life has become harder for Americans."

Romney one week after losing election:

“What the president’s campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, give them extraordinary gifts from the government, and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote,” Romney said. Read more: Romney says Obama won by giving voters “gifts” from the government.

Gov. Susana Martinez today:

From Politico: New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, another GOP rising star, is the latest to denounce Mitt Romney's comments — and called for a change in approach and language to immigration reform, in an interview with POLITICO's James Hohmann:

“We need to embrace them not just at election time,” she added. “We visit them, and they don’t appreciate that. And I don’t blame them for not appreciating that. We should not visit them when we need their vote and then walk away. And then four years go by and we go visit them again. We have to make them part of the solution, and the way you do that is by listening to them.” She expressed disdain for Romney’s claim this week on a conference call that President Barack Obama won reelection because he offered “gifts” to minorities and younger voters. “That unfortunately is what sets us back as a party — our comments that are not thought through carefully,” she said... ...“Republicans need to stop making assumptions,” she added, “and they need to start talking to younger people, people of color, and ask them — not talk to them — ask them, ‘What is it that we can do better? How do we earn your vote? How do we earn the ability for you to see that we can be the party that will make your life better and that of your children?’ But we can’t be the ones that come and tell them how things are going to be and how we have all the solutions.”

Let's recap Susana: "We visit them" Martinez says. Them like they are some subspecies. Them, them, them, obviously not us but for sure them, no way us.

And this quote too from Susana: “that unfortunately is what sets us back as a party — our comments that are not thought through carefully.” Note no complaint about what Romney is saying is wrong but just that it is not thought through. That maybe be the most honest statement.

The Republicans do not care about us. We are the them.

Let's watch as the 2013 Leg session gets into action how much our own NM republicans believe what Romney is saying is wrong. Let's hold the Republican feet to the fire of "We all do better when we all do better." Or teh Republican favorite to use these days "that a rising tide lifts all boats."

New Mexico Got Bain’d, too: Romney took $2.5M in NM Taxpayer Funds to Outsource 1,100 NM Jobs

From ProgressNow New Mexico:

Mitt Romney's Bain Capital duped New Mexico more than a decade ago when it set up a Silver City call center, promising more than 1,000 local jobs, only to have it close just two and half years later in a wave of off-shore outsourcing, laying off almost 800 middle-class workers and taking New Mexico taxpayers for more than $2.5 million in the process.

ProgressNow New Mexico recently reviewed the record of Bain Capital in New Mexico and discovered that Romney’s Bain Capital bought Stream International, a Chicago business services company, just as the company was in the midst of a large US-based expansion. One of those expansion sites was Silver City where Stream promised to create more than 1,100 full-benefits career track local jobs in Grant County.

Among the findings:

• New Mexico taxpayers provided Bain with more than $2.5 million in free rent and job training to lure the company to Silver City
• The company promised to create more than 1,100 career track jobs for Silver City
• As Bain was telling New Mexico it was creating long-term jobs, it simultaneously stopped US expansion and rapidly expanded overseas with new facilities in Spain, Canada, Ireland and France.
• When Bain sold Stream and its Silver City facility just over two years later, the company was positioned for the new buyer to transfer all of its jobs overseas.
• Just two years later, the new buyer suddenly closed Streams two large US call centers, laying off more than 800 in New Mexico, and told a newspaper the jobs were likely going overseas.

In their short tenure in New Mexico, Bain Capital took more than $2.5M in free rent and taxpayer-funded subsidies to fund the building of foreign call centers which would house the jobs those funds were supposed to create in New Mexico.

“In Silver City, Bain created almost a thousand American jobs just to siphon the profits from that work to build overseas facilities where our jobs would go to die,” says Pat Davis of ProgressNow New Mexico.

“What Mitt Romney and Bain did to Grant County is unconscionable. They told those people that they were building life-long careers, all the while knowing they were taking their taxpayer-subsidized profits to move our jobs overseas.”

State Rep. Rick Miera on Romney's Secret Plan to Cut Education in New Mexico

Photo above from Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton.org

At a high dollar fundraiser on Sunday night in Florida, Governor Romney revealed that he’s got a secret plan to make deep cuts in programs essential to the middle class, like education, in order to fund his $5 trillion tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.  From his policy positions to his taxes, this recent revelation continues a long-standing pattern of secrecy from the Romney campaign.

While presidential candidates of both parties have for decades disclosed many years’ worth of tax returns, Romney will not share with the American people the returns he gave to Senator McCain as he was being considered for Vice President.  Romney has failed to explain why he opened a Swiss bank account, established a corporation offshore in Bermuda or provide tax returns that could shed light on those actions.  The Romney campaign continues to refuse to disclose his major fundraisers, although President Obama, President Bush, and Senator McCain all did.  These inactions further a pattern of secrecy that began as he exited the Governor’s office, when his staff walked out the door with records that will now never be shared with voters.

“Throughout this campaign, Mitt Romney has tried to play by a different set of rules,” said State Representative Rick Miera, a longtime champion on education issues.  “Americans have always expected to be able to review a presidential candidate’s records and plans, and be given the chance to lift up the hood and kick the tires.  It’s time for Governor Romney to come clean.”

 

In New Mexico, Romney’s secret plan to “gut” the Department of Education will have a significant impact on thousands of children and families.  New Mexicans rely on the Education Department to help provide a quality public education, including help for thousands of special education students and Pell Grants and student loans to help thousands students receive the critical support they need to access and afford college.

“Every child in New Mexico deserves a quality education and Romney needs to be honest with students and families,” said Miera. “When President Obama took office, he made education a national priority, working to make college more affordable so students can access the education they need to compete in the global economy.  If Mitt Romney has a different plan for education, Americans deserve to know what it is.”

New Ad Released Exposing MittyMitt's Lack of Consistency on Core Issues

From the Democratic Party of New Mexico; Albuquerque N.M. one of six markets where “Trapped” television ad is airing  

On November 28, 2011the Democratic National Committee released a hard-hitting web video highlighting Mitt Romney’s stunning inability to maintain a single position or establish core principles on a range of issues for any reasonable period of time.  In conjunction with the release of the web video, the DNC also released a new television spot “Trapped," further highlighting Mitt's willingness to say or do anything to win the Presidency.

The ad is airing in 6 key markets, including New Mexico: 

The TV ad is a trailer for the longer, must-see video: “ .” Both can be found on the DNC'S new website,   - Giving the public an in-depth view of Mitt Romney's ideological struggle against himself on issues from the economy and immigration to a woman's right to choose and workers' rights.

“The new ad makes a strong point: Mitt Romney is a chronic waffler who lacks the strong principles and ethical compass that is required of candidates for the highest office in the land. No matter how hard he tries to deceive and mislead New Mexicans on his positions, we will continue to hold him accountable to his own record.” said Democratic Party of New Mexico Chairman Javier M. Gonzales.

"Mitt Romney has literally reversed himself - sometimes within the same day - on immigration, TARP, abortion, the stimulus, healthcare reform and more, but New Mexicans aren't buying Romney 2.0 anymore than they were before."

The ad also launches in Raleigh-Durham, NC; Columbus, OH; Pittsburgh, PA; Washington, DC; and Milwaukee, WI on a mix of broadcast and cable. 

Please visit the website at  .

Keller, Maestas Criticize Romney for Calling Middle Class Tax Breaks 'Band-Aids'

Famous photo of money-bags Romney when he and his cronies were buying up companies and laying off workers for profit

On Friday, New Mexico State Senator Tim Keller and State Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas held a press conference call to discuss Mitt Romney’s comments at the GOP debate in New Hampshire that tax cuts for the middle class were nothing more than “little band-aids” that he doesn’t support. Romney has long made noise about opposing tax cuts for the middle class, but his latest statement exposes just how out of touch Mitt really is with the lives of ordinary Americans.

Earth to Mitt: tax cuts in the thousand-dollar-plus range and beyond can make the difference in whether there's adequate food on the table or whether needed medical prescriptions are filled for working class families. A thousand dollars more or less probably doesn't mean much in the elite financial world of Romney and the other one per centers, where greens fees for golf outings can cost that much. But in the real world of working for a paycheck to make a living, it's not exacty chicken feed.

After the conference call, Sen. Keller and Rep. Maestas released the following statements pointing out the arrogance and ignorance demonstrated by Romney's statement.

“Romney and his Republican colleagues in Washington who voted against the American Jobs Act claim they are for tax breaks, but would let the payroll tax cut expire and take money out of the pockets of working Americans," said Sen. Tim Keller. "Mitt Romney doesn’t get what economists and the American people are saying: Middle-class tax cuts make sense for the economy and for our families. Instead, Romney continues to push more tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and corporations while doing nothing for the middle class.”

Rep. Antonio "Moe" Maestas said, “Mitt Romney may claim he isn’t ‘running to support the rich,’ but his economic proposals support more tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and corporations while doing nothing for the middle class. When asked about extending a payroll tax credit that averages more than $1,360 for the typical American family, Romney said he doesn’t support little ‘band aids.’ That’s just wrong."

"For the wealthiest Americans and corporations that Mitt is running for, $1,360 is not much, but for middle class families trying to make ends meet here in New Mexico it would make all the difference in the world," Rep. Maestas continued. "It can be four months of groceries or months of rent –- not to mention that middle-class tax cuts make sense for the economy. It’s clear that Mitt Romney has no plan to provide relief to the middle class and no plan to immediately create jobs.”

Wealthy elitist Republicans are like that.

The DNC has pointed out that at the same time Romney is belittling middle class tax cuts as “little band-aids,” he seems quite proud of the fact that he's leading the money race for . Considering that Romney has promised Wall Street’s big banks that if he’s elected he'll allow them to write their own rules again -- just as they were doing when the economy nearly collapsed just three short years ago -- perhaps no one should be surprised that he’s raking in big bucks from the banks for his campaign. Or that he seems to have the interests of the moneyed classes as his sole concern.

You can watch the Republican presidential candidates debate again tonight at 6:00 PM mountain time.