Barack Obama has been a disappointment. He spoke so well. We expected so much more from his first term. But he was dealt a double whammy: A horrendous economy (a recession second only to the Great Depression) and a recalcitrant Congress. Still, though he is no Lyndon Johnson, he managed many accomplishments — from universal health-care to new financial legislation, to immigration reform for youth, to getting rid of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to getting us out of Iraq and reducing our presence in Afghanistan.
I love that Romney’s a businessman with serious business accomplishments. But I understand so little of what his real beliefs are, or even what his plans are (except to reduce my taxes). What little I do understand frighten me. The crackpot right wing of his Party freaks me out. Whatever happened to the moderate Reagan Republican? I cannot risk the slightest chance that Romney will appoint someone to the Supreme Court who will reverse legalized abortion, driving it underground once again, destroying women’s lives and our society’s safety. Since Roe v. Wade, crime in our cities has dropped dramatically. The reason? The absence of unwanted children — a direct result of Roe v. Wade.
I worry too much about Romney. I worry too much about his plans for unfettered energy development — from fracking to a pipeline from Canada.I’m worried about his repealing Dodd-Frank. I worry about his plans for illegal immigrants.Because he doesn’t explain what he’s planning, I worry.
I’m a moderate businessman who loves his adopted country and who has paid over $60 million in taxes to the Federal Government. I’m not a nut case upper west side screaming liberal on the dole, part of the 47%.
In early life I worked on the assumption that all people were honest and did the right thing. I no longer do. When I sold the business and moved into my new business of searching for investments, I encountered dens of thieves that blew my mind. I remember the elegant Swiss banker telling Michael and me to lie, cheat and steal from the U.S. Government. I’ve met people throughout Wall Street who profess to acting in my interests and clearly don’t. They steal from me. And I’ve seen Wall Street sell securities that they bet against. I’ve seen rating agencies giving junk securities AAA ratings. I’ve seen horrendous stories of fracking ruining communities’ drinking water.
I no longer believe in the ubiquity of the honest man. I do believe in progress. And I believe in setting logical rules and regulations which can protect us all, and make our society a cleaner, safer place — given that we’re not all honest.
Reluctantly, we have two flawed politicians running for president. For now, I’ll take the one less flawed — Barack Obama.
There’s a wonderful piece by my favorite author, Michael Lewis, in the latest issue of Vanity Fair. One excerpt — this is Obama speaking:
But if you happen to be president just now, what you are faced with, mainly, is not a public-relations problem but an endless string of decisions. Putting it the way George W. Bush did sounded silly but he was right: the president is a decider. Many if not most of his decisions are thrust upon the president, out of the blue, by events beyond his control: oil spills, financial panics, pandemics, earthquakes, fires, coups, invasions, underwear bombers, movie-theater shooters, and on and on and on. They don’t order themselves neatly for his consideration but come in waves, jumbled on top of each other. “Nothing comes to my desk that is perfectly solvable,” Obama said at one point. “Otherwise, someone else would have solved it. So you wind up dealing with probabilities. Any given decision you make you’ll wind up with a 30 to 40 percent chance that it isn’t going to work. You have to own that and feel comfortable with the way you made the decision. You can’t be paralyzed by the fact that it might not work out.” On top of all of this, after you have made your decision, you need to feign total certainty about it. People being led do not want to think probabilistically
This is Michael Lewis and President Barack Obama in the Colonnade of the White House, heading toward the Oval Office.
Michael Lewis’ excellent Vanity Fair article is here.
Apple and/or Google AdSense Developer? Both Apple and Google have changed the way they send their developers money. Unless you fill in their ridiculous paperwork and follow their insane procedures they won’t send any more money. Apple removed my Dictionary from their App store because of paperwork and still haven’t replaced it despite promises of “It’ll be back up in 24-hours.” Apple is changing for the worse since Steve died.
Major lesson from New York’s flood: Check your generator. Check that you have one. Check it’s located somewhere protected from a flood and other nasties. Check that it has fuel. Check that it works. Our emergency generator runs off the house’s propane tank and runs itself every week for a few minutes. We also get it serviced regularly.
Jon Stewart called southern Manhattan “Little North Korea.” Here’s this week’s New York Magazine cover photo:
Make sure you have flood insurance. A friend’s tennis Club got flooded. His insurance broker didn’t think he needed flood insurance. The Club is 50 yards from the Long Island Sound. Check.Check. Check.
I don’t make this stuff up. I logged online onto my bank account last night. They won’t offer me a decent interest rate I can live on, but they are offering a deal on ….. pillows.
Harry Newton who is impressed (?) that many Wall Street analysts are, once again, pushing mortgage REITs. The analysts all work for the companies that recently underwrote secondaries of the mortgage REITs. Just a coincidence? What do you think?
And so, in the end, you were not able to overcome your environment. Well, sadly, I guess it is that way for most people.
Both parties have scary radical wings. This country needs to be governed by someone finding middle ground. What I can’t understand is why you fear that Romney will embrace the radical wing of his party when his track record is to govern from the middle. When he is called flip flopper it is usually over a position that straddles the middle. I believe your fear comes from living in NY where this attitude is all around you. You are a creature of your environment.
What is clear is that Obama has shown that he is going Forward towards the liberal end of the party and away from compromise. There will be no middle governing for him or he would have made the move after the mid-term elections like Clinton did part way through his first term. He decided to turn away. I’d love to have seen that move to the middle. Frankly I’d love to have that Clinton back. As a disappointed Obama 2008 voter, I have to go with the candidate that will bring the conversation back to center. That is Romney. I’m sorry but I believe your unfounded fear is driving a bad decision but I respect your right to make it.
the center is where corporate rule lives.
An intelligent and eloquently put endorsement Harry. I agree that Obama is a major disappointment, but the alternative would be far worse.
I also fear that until special interest money is removed from politics, our politicians from both major parties will be working for the highest bidder, not for the best interest of America.
The negative comments on Obama range from sensible to silly, but what gets me is those who actually see Romney as a viable choice when the truth is he will say anything to get elected. But the worse thing is that he would bring in with him a cult masquerading as a political party. The root problem is not the low quality of both parties but the ignorance and low level of awareness of the population in general. “We” are due for a cultural/educational/spiritual (NOT “religious”) rebooting around here.
Harry, Please consider that Obama inherited the economy in 2009 that the democratically controlled senate and congress created in 2007 and 2008. It is convienent to blame Bush, but congress created the budget not the president and the senate (including Obama) approved them.
When Obama got in to office he added to that spending all the while blaming bush but not the democratic senate or congress that created the mess.
If O wins four more years! OMG Good luck!……..Last one out turn off the lights!
The American people will get what they vote for, even if they blame others, like that Bush character.
Harry you’ve lost it………..your reasoning is beyond reality…..but it is what it is….!! Romney can and will make a decision….Obama in nearly four years into the abysis that he brought on himself and his party and unfortunately America….God help us…Go Romney…!!
It’s spelled abyss, but more importantly- … whaaat? I am not a fan of Obama, but were you alive and conscious and breathing before 2008? Does not sound like it.
Harry, You seem to adjust the facts to suit what you see thru the prism of your leftist ideology.
I’m sure you also voted not for Reagan (that right wing nutcase) but for Carter’s 2nd term. Romney is a pragmatist, a realist, a man who understands a balance sheet. Obama has divided this nation like no president in history.
The Party of No has divided this nation. Obama just about bent over backward trying to appease all sides during his first two years. Republicans did everything in their power to block Obama from accomplishing anything.
Not that I’m particularly impressed with Obama. He just happens to be the least worst in this race.
WILLARD IS EVIL, DISHONEST AND TOXIC. HE MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO APPOINT SUPREME COURT JUSTICES. He will hurt the country for 20, 30, 40 years — not just 4 or 8 years.
Send Willard home to the Cayman Islands. Do not let him near Washington.
Willard will be the worst thing that happened to Washington since the English burned it in 1814.
Hey, What’s up with the browser limitations? Many places still run Win-XP and can’t use Explorerer 9. Nor install another browser.
Hi Harry,
I understand you live on the East Coast, but as a business man, I am stunned that you would endorse Obama again. Almost everything he has done has been a smack in the face of business. This first time it might be excusable, but given his track record, I think we want the devil we don’t know because we know the lengths that this devil will do to further his agenda, not America’s. Obama’s vision for this country is not the people’s vision for America. In 2008, Obama talked good and you could make him out to be anything you wanted. This time he has a history and a record, but he can’t run on his record, so all he can do is to make Romney look like a right wing radical and scare you, further divide us with class warfare and “big business is bad”.
Do you honestly believe that Obama has any plans to bring the deficit down? What will bring this country down is the unsustainable debt that Obama has pushed. I shiver to think what he will do if re-elected and has no voters to woo for the next election.
Well said! Carter and Obama have been so good for our economy. Ha! Those who like them are either on the dole or above it economically so the impacts hits others below. And I’m always amazed at those moving to our great country who then want to change it in most negative counter-productive ways, so different from what got us here,
And how would Romney bring the deficit down while at the same time cutting tax revenues by 20%???
The man’s math just doesn’t add up, what little specifics he gives that is.
I wonder where all you deficit hawks were when your boy ‘Dubya was spending money like a drunken sailor on shore leave.
if tax cuts raise GDP , then overall revenue rises over the long term and the deficit goes down as long as spending doesn’t increase. The math doesn’t add up IF you assume revenue can only go down in absolute terms. To simplify, what is higher – 35% of $100 or 30% of $150?
tax cuts don’t raise GDP is the problem. look at the Clinton years vs the Bush Jr years. Bush sr. even raised taxes. Tax increases increase GDP
If I remember correctly we had mid-term elections in 2010. Does anyone remember the outcome of that? Well, if you don’t then let me tell you that tomorrows election is going to make that landslide look like a “Tea Party”…….What is the liberal media going to say when Romney wins Illinois?…….. I may actually watch the opening few minutes of the Jon Stewart show on Wednesday……
I appreciate your comments and reasons. As can be seen by many of the posts, the GOP has been seized by a bunch of radicals who preach and practice hate in the name of politics, religion and patriotism. They are against those issues that are in the best interests of ordinary citizens: Social Security, health care, equal rights for all, church-state separation, consumer issues, public education, reproductive freedom, the environment, and tax fairness, but champion corporate interests, and absolutist religious groups and belong to the Fox News Fan Club. Religiosity prevents free thinking and fosters mythical fabrication.
Harry – I gather you will probably get the most comments on your blog today because you have touched on a hot-button issue. I mostly agree with you on your reasoning. Today’s elections have become about “what will advance my party’s agenda” instead of “what is best for America and her people”. Watching the movie ARGO this weekend (which I thought was good) I saw a trailer for an upcoming movie about Abe Lincoln and couldn’t help wonder about change and how drastic it can be. The Republican party was commonly referred to as the “anti-slavery party” during Lincoln’s presidency while the Democrats pushed for slavery and segregation. Now, it looks like we have the most hateful and exclusive messages coming out of the Republican party while the Democrats promote what makes America, America. Add to that the fact that Romney’s lack of firm positions on most issues (or frequently changing positions) makes him come across someone who will say anything that he thinks will get him elected. It was not lost on most people how he described himself as “severely conservative” earlier during the campaign and all of a sudden started getting himself comfortable in a more liberal position much closer to what Newt used to call him – “a Massachusetts liberal”. Here is what I know – America is not defined by one individual but the 300+ million of her citizens. America will come out of the recession and remain the shining beacon of freedom, democracy, and success throughout the world. I say “remain” despite most fear mongers’ claim that America as we know it his history – which cannot be any further from the truth.
Cheers!
Another way to put it, better than I could say….WSJ today, opinion by Sheldon G. Adelson ” I didn’t leave the Democrats, They Left Me”
Harry, I appreciate your honest commentary. That is what makes visiting your site each day enjoyable. I may not agree with everything you believe, but appreciate your expressing your beliefs as it gives me another opinion to evaluate. You get to abortion and religion and you get attacked every time. It’s sad really. My guess is that those who are praying for your soul have never stepped foot in an orphanage, or volunteered to be a foster home to take care of those unwanted children. It’s funny that these people are all about saving a life, but have no inclination to assist these poor unwanted children once they are born. I think the real disappointment is that we only have really two choices when we go to vote for president. We live in the land of choice and we are relegated to two people. Until we have real change in our number of choices for president we will continue this cycle every four years. Thank you for your honest opinions!
This bothers me also, although I didn’t include it in my comments above. But, given the nature of many of the Comments, I felt it made sense to include it in the record:
The most significant statement this season came from Mitt Romney’s pollster Neil Newhouse, who said “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers.” “Romney’s chief numbers guy was issuing
a manifesto: This campaign is about saying whatever needs to be said to win, reality and facts be damned.” And indeed, from “you didn’t build that” to saying Chrysler moved jobs to China, the Romney campaign has been based in lies.
Very interesting… I always appreciate your candor. I am a regular reader of your blog and realize you have been very frustrated with President Obama, even early in his administration. I actually trust your rendering of the man. On the one hand, it seems obsurd that you would vote him back for more. On the other hand, I appreciate your courage. I don’t agree with your reasoning… To much fear involved in the analysis. I pray that people will vote according to their own conscience (and instinct).
It is interesting to me I’ve had similar fact challenged experiences with quite a number of PR and publishing people…
Harry, I respect your right to vote for whoever you think will lead you and the country the best. There will always be differences of opinion. It is not up to me to comment on your stated choice. Whom ever wins will not have an agenda, the agenda for the next few years is right down the street from you in Little North Korea. LNK is erupting, The networks are not reporting this, When the gangs turn into armies and march toward the lighted areas you may want to make an early trip to California. This has nothing to do with who is our leader, survival and anger will supersede logic and faith. I don’t think will will know who wins for several days
Romney in a landslide…….simple as that. On election night I’ll be smoking a cigar while sipping on some fine brandy as I watch the liberal media scream at each other……….it’s going to be priceless.
Oh, how I’d love to see your expression and reaction when you find out that Obama will get a second term. I’d hate to be Willard “Mittens” Romney as the likes of you will turn all your vile hate filled rhetoric on him. Fortunately for him, it will not matter.
Watching you liberals at each others throats tomorrow is going to be one for the books. And then I’ll be able to wake up on Wednesday morning and watch “Morning Joe”…….I won’t be happy unless Mika actually has tears running down her face. Then as the following months unfold you liberals will begin to understand just who the real Obama is as facts about his and his wife’s enormously secret lives begin to unfold……..all Obama, maybe I should say Barry Santoro backers will be forever trashed including you…..Indie.
Hey Ronny Babie: How’s the brandy? What about the cigar? Please do tell! Hee hee hee!
This is the most polarizing election in my lifetime. I vehemently disagree with your support of Obama. But I respect you opinion and your thoughtful comments. This is what makes this country so special. Thank God you reside in New York so your vote is meaningless (LOL).
So you’ll chose a certain disappointment over a successful moderate republican because you don’t wan’t R v W overturned???? You sir are exactly the “nut case upper west side screaming liberal” you profess to not be. Stop watching all the liberal shows you enjoy so much and you won’t be so scared of the big bad evil republicans. Look at Romney’s record as Governor of MA to see what you would be getting.
Exactly. And why does Harry use the standard, distorted liberal narrative to advance his argument. I thought you were smarter than than.
If you looked at Romney’s record in Mass and voted on that, then no Republican voter would vote for him. He was pro life. He socialized medicine. He signed the assault weapons ban(and the NRA is endorsing him over the guy who has done nothing on guns for 4 years even in light of mass shootings?)….
Obama is no savior/saint(kill lists/patriot act/mess with social security and all), but you know what you are buying.
since I don’t live in a swing state…. Go Jill Stein! or any third party for that matter
sorry I meant pro-choice…
Wow Harry I didnt know what an unbelievable heathen you are, chosen of God, or not. Abortion is murder and needs to be driven back underground. I would rather have unwanted children in society than murdered ones. Israel was judged for passing children through fire to Molech.
You call Obamacare an ‘accomplishment’ when no one read it before the Democrats passed it?
Worse your boy obama hates the jewish state. He would see it destroyed. Your boy obama gave us
NDAA.
I misjudged you. So close to death you are to be such a heathen. Seek God.
How a Jew could vote for a man who has, is, and will sell all Jews down the river is beyond flawed..it is complete stupidity.
Unfortunately, I agree and am left dumbfounded.
Harry, I reluctantly agree with you. I long for the party of Lincoln. The Republican party should split into two parties: the common financial sense party and the extremely polarizing social views party. Then people could make a better choice….
Harry, Classic case of ‘the devil you know, vs. the devil you don’t know?’
I made my decision based on one of your previous articles. BO is one of the least accomplished people in office. Deciding has to be complemented by execution. The combination of integrity and competency is the foundation of trust, hence decision to endorse. Instead, I believe we have someone who is ‘learning on the job’. Doesn’t work in a startup and shouldn’t work in the highest office in the land.