THE REPUBLICAN FIVE-POINT PLAN

Aside from the obvious characters who put "Let’s put WHITE back in the White House" bumper stickers on their cars, or the billionaires who seem to have nothing better to do than write million dollar checks to the Romney/Ryan campaign, I really cannot understand why a rational person would even consider voting for them.

Governor Romney has stated that he has an economic plan to create 12 million new jobs. But this "Five-Point Plan" completely lacks any specifics, except cutting funding for the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) which Romney announced in the first debate. This plan simply repackages the same old republican rhetoric in new clothes.

Many Americans may not have even seen this plan, so here it is in brief:
Point one says "…by 2020, North America will be energy independent by taking full advantage of oil, coal, gas, nuclear, and renewables." What this means is scrapping environmental protection so that they can drill, baby, drill.

Point two says… "When it comes to the school your child will attend, every parent should have a choice, and every child should have a chance." Point two actually means school vouchers and defunding public schools.

In point three they talk about " …forging new trade agreements. And when nations cheat in trade, there will be unmistakable consequences." Trade agreements per se aren’t big job creators — they increase exports, but they also increase imports. And while a confrontation with China is the implicit subtext, Romney is apparently unwilling to get explicit.

In point four Romney states he will "…cut the deficit and put America on track to a balanced budget." This claim rests on the assertion that he will offset huge tax cuts by closing loopholes — but he refuses to name a single example, because tax breaks are popular. Also, Medicaid — once his biggest single spending target — turns out to have substantial public support so he has stopped talking so loudly about turning power over to the states and making it a voucher system.

And finally in point five he says he will "…champion small businesses by reducing taxes, simplifying and modernizing the regulations that hurt small business, and by repealing and replacing Obamacare." His tax cuts for small businesses, actually means tax cuts for rich people; the hedge funds, not mom-and-pop stores.

This five point plan panders to people’s frustrations in a poor economy while at the same time offering no tangible specifics or realistic policy plans for how it will get us the 12 million more jobs it promises. In their debates, both Romney and Ryan have avoided the facts, insisted their plan won’t cost the public anything, and contradicted their own previous claims.

jt