By Brent Daggett

Contributing writer for End the Lie

In the classic tome Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, the slogan of “The Party” is, WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.

And over the past several years, it seems as though the traditional-two party system (democrats and republicans) have adopted this mantra, which, in essence, has allowed the surrendering of much of our Constitutional rights.

Unless the delegates and unbound delegates for Ron Paul at the Republican National Convention in August pull off a miracle, it appears as though former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney will become the nominee.

So with the aforementioned in mind, let’s take a look at President Barack Obama’s term and what a Romney presidency might look like.

Obama’s Tenure

In the article Obama’s Accomplishments, by David Boaz, the executive vice president of the Cato Institute, which appeared in the Huffington Post on July 6, Boaz evaluates Obama’s first term.

Here is some of what Boaz addresses.

Most deportations. While Obama supports the DREAM Act, he has been deporting about 400,000 illegal immigrants a year.

Most troops in Afghanistan.  In the last year of President Bush’s term, The United States had approximately 30,000 troops in Afghanistan.  By the end of 2010, President Obama had the number increased to roughly 100,000.  Currently, there are around 88,000, which this might come as a shock, given his antiwar stance while campaigning in 2008.

Most medical marijuana raids.  Despite how Attorney General Eric Holder in March 2009 said the Justice Department would end the previous administrations agenda on raiding medical marijuana distributors, if distributors were in compliance with state laws (even though state laws violate federal statutes), no such thing has occurred. Similarly, attempts in the legislature have been a failure as well.

Lucia Graves reported for The Huffington Post,

“The administration has unleashed an interagency cannabis crackdown that goes beyond anything seen under the Bush administration, with more than 100 raids, primarily on California pot dispensaries, many of them operating in full compliance with state laws. Since October 2009, the Justice Department has conducted more than 170 aggressive SWAT-style raids in 9 medical marijuana states, resulting in at least 61 federal indictments.”

Most drone strikes.  During Obama’s tenure, the administration has carried out 308 covert drone strikes in Pakistan.

While Boaz put together a decent list, Obama also signed the extension of the PATRIOT Act, signed the National Defense Authorization Act (with the indefinite detention provisions) into law, while his administration also supports the Arms Trade Treaty, has left Guantanamo Bay open with no signs of closing down soon and has even ordered raids on establishments selling raw milk.

Lastly, in March, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in front of the Armed Services Committee basically said we seek international permission to go to war instead of going to Congress as the U.S. Constitution demands.

The clip of this disturbing exchange can be seen above.

Knowing that Obama has been evaluated, we shall turn our focus on what a Romney presidency might bring.

Mitt Romney Presidency

First and foremost, we must realize Romney supports the PATRIOT Act, Guantanamo Bay (and wanted to actually enlarge it when he was running in 2008), as well as the NDAA (with the indefinite detention provisions of course) and the so-called War on Terror.

Also, Romney supports the Hyde Amendment, which would end federal funding of abortions and basically eliminate Planned Parenthood.

Romney also has advocated for a Federal Marriage Amendment (which would be a Constitutional Amendment), which would define marriage as one man and one women.

In regards to Syria, the New York Times reported in May that Romney supports arming Syrian rebels.

While his stance on civil liberties is really nothing to brag about, his economic record probably leaves a little bit to be desired.

While Romney’s economic policies have been called into question by Obama through his television ads, Michael Tomasky of Newsweek and the Daily Beast compared the two candidates on this issue in the article, Mitt Romney’s Economic Failure in Massachusetts.

Tomasky points out that by using a method developed by political scientist Larry Bartels in his work Unequal Democracy, one would find, “Obama has created a net 3.635 million jobs. Applying the same rules to Romney’s numbers through the same time period—that is, through April of his fourth year in office, 2006—we credit Romney with 64,500 jobs. So he grew jobs by 1.9 percent. Obama’s job-growth rate is 2.35 percent.”

For more of Romney’s flip-flops and unconstitutional stances, I encourage all to do their own research. This is one subject where documentation really is not difficult to find.

Contributors

We should now take a look at some of the main contributors to the Obama and Romney campaigns for this election cycle, according to Open Secrets.

Obama’s top contributors include: Microsoft Corp ($387,395), University of California ($330,258), DLA Piper ($306,727), Google Inc. ($271,300) and Sidley Austin LLP ($257,296).

Romney’s main supporters include: Goldman Sachs ($593,080), JPMorgan Chase & Co ($467,089), Bank of America ($425,100) and Morgan Stanley ($399,850).

Also, it is important to realize Obama’s major donors in the 2008 elections were Goldman Sachs, Microsoft Corp, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Time Warner and Morgan Stanley.

Do we really want major corporations and bankers determining the outcome of the election and thus putting more politicians in power who cater to those institutions?

As Thomas Jefferson once opined, “I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.  If the American people ever allow private banks to control their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, then banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up on the continent their fathers conquered.  The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”

The axiom, “the lesser of two evils is still evil” only applies if relativity is taken out of the equation, since one person’s evil maybe another person’s alleged savior.

Whether Obama will be reelected or Romney getting a victory remains uncertain.  But a recent HuffPost Pollster charts and analysis projects Obama receiving 268 electoral votes with Romney gathering 191.

In an article, appearing in U.S. News and World Report, “Libertarians Unite: Gary Johnson Courting Ron Paul Supporters” Johnson said, “Take as many votes as possible away from the people in both parties keeping us in a state of perpetual war, increasing unsustainable debt, record joblessness, and a bipartisan economic death wish ruining America for 330 million of us.”

Did I forget anything or miss any errors? Would you like to make me aware of a story or subject to cover? Or perhaps you want to bring your writing to a wider audience? Feel free to contact me at [email protected] with your concerns, tips, questions, original writings, insults or just about anything that may strike your fancy.

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