Myth of the econoRomney

New jobs — 12 million, to be precise — has become the battle cry of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign.

Like Oprah, Romney would gesticulate wildly at America, shouting, “You get a job, and you get a job. Everybody gets a job.”

Cheers ring from sea to shining sea. Chants of “Mitt. Mitt.” echo across the purple mountain majesties. Amber waves of grain do the wave.

The economy is what really matters, and Romney is a job creating machine.

Elect him, and let him do what he was made to do. But here’s an awkward secret: it is predicted that regardless of who is president, 12 million jobs will be created by 2016.
Either candidate will create jobs. A lot of jobs.

Romney is running on the idea that he is good for the economy, and your pocketbook, but it seems Obama would be just as good. With Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, R-Wis., as his running mate, Romney was supposed to be the quarterback of the economy. He was going to lead us to victory and make out with the hot cheerleader at Homecoming.

As far as taxes, the Romney camp wants to cut taxes for everyone by 20 percent, which, with no further details, would shrink projected government revenue in 2015 by an estimated $900 billion.

I know the government is supposed to be bad and everything, but it kind of needs that money to pay for things.

Everyone keeps harping about the deficit, but cutting government revenue, especially by a projected 24 percent, does the opposite of assuaging that problem. We all know Romney wants to cut spending for certain programs, like NPR and PBS, which amount to a whopping 0.014 percent of the federal budget. Supposedly, there are other spending cuts he would like to make, though these remain shrouded in mystery.

He wants to increase defense funding, which is the largest single category of federal spending. For some reason, fiscally minded businessman Romney really does want to spend $2 trillion the military never asked for.

For those of you who have yet to vote, are still undecided, or forgot Election Day is next Tuesday, think about what Romney is really offering.

He has failed to show compelling evidence that his presidency would be better for the jobs or economy than a second Obama term. His views on important social issues have been anything but consistent. He has chosen one of the most socially regressive politicians in the known universe as his running mate. His dealings with foreign leaders so far have been clumsy and embarrassing. His foreign policy seems to be “follow Obama’s lead.” He would never in a million years decriminalize marijuana.

Need I say more?

­— casefarr@indiana.edu