The Grit in the Gears

I like your highway and railroad examples of how wealthy people use federal programs to enrich themselves. This is most clearly exemplified in today's defense and agricultural budgets.

I was genuinely shocked - this is not hyperbole even though I'm a liberal - a few years ago when I heard Mitch McConnell defend some part of the defense budget by saying that it created jobs. In other words, the program he was defending had no defense-related justification at all. We all know that Congress is constantly spending money on weapons that the military doesn't even want or need. There are far more effective jobs programs than that!

How about agricultural subsidies? Raise your hand if you think they're going to the family farmers for which subsidies were originally intended: I know who you're voting for.

So let's have the debate. But let's debate all the ways in which the government is plundered, and not just assume that only elderly and sick citizens are doing the plundering.

Given Americans’ limited knowledge about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, let’s begin with an introduction to Mormon mores, where sin-wise “ unchastity is next to murder in seriousness .” The Mormon Church forbids any and all sex outside of heterosexual marriage , including “ necking and petting ”; masturbation; pornography; homosexuality; and abortion in almost all circumstances. Gays who act on their “ inclinations” are banned from entering Mormon temples, where many of the most important family events and sacred rituals—marriage, funerals, baptism of the dead—are celebrated. Traditional gender roles are encouraged , and often enforced. Mormonism bars women from the priesthood, enjoins them to have many children, and frowns on mothers working outside the home. In a nation of declining middle-class incomes, there’s not much the hierarchy can do to force mothers back into full-time motherhood and wifedom. Still, the LDS Church doesn’t employ Mormon women with young children or cover birth control for its employees .
In Mormonism, mothers may be exalted, but women sure aren’t equal.
To be sure, the LDS church isn’t impervious to change. It did, after all, end polygamy and eventually allow African American men into the priesthood. Yet when it comes to stepping into the 21st century on women’s equality, gay civil rights and sex—as many ordinary Mormons would prefer-- the Mormon Church has dug in its heels.
And this is where Romney comes in.
In 1981, the 34-year-old Romney was already a fabulously successful consultant at Bain & Company when the LDS hierarchy tasked him to be a lay bishop. The Belmont ward, where Romney’s family worshipped, was a hotbed of Mormon feminism —a sign, from Salt Lake City’s perspective, that the congregation needed a Mr. Turnaround. Romney ultimately spent nearly 14 years as a Mormon clergyman, becoming the highest Mormon Church leader in the Boston region. He resigned in 1994 to run for the U.S. Senate against Ted Kennedy. Article alternet.org. nancy l. cohen

The above comment is Romney's equivalent of the "closet socialist" cross Obama has always had to bear. You can certainly build the case, based on past associations, statements, and actions, that Romney really believes in all the peculiar aspects of Mormanism, ranging from the unsavory to the ridiculous (and there's plenty of both there), just as you can build a case for Obama being a card-carrying Marxist based on his history. The real question for voters, however, is what would these guys do once elected? We already know the answer in Obama's case--he would fumble around pointlessly for four years trying to cajole the economy into action with higher taxes, more anti-business regulation, and massive deficit spending--a program that seems to confirm people's worst fears about his core philosophy. We just don't know yet about Romney. But the debates will give voters an idea.