Tag Archives: Politics

The Economist was extremely unforgiving of Mitt Romney’s gaffes on his most recent trip abroad and the first as the presumptive Republican Presidential candidate.  No doubt this was intended to give Romney credibility with regards to foreign affairs (something generally very important to the Republican Party), but Romney’s trip was more like a string of blunders that were embarrassing. Is he really this ill prepared?  I’ve included an excerpt from the post on The Economist.

“After spending several days getting flayed by the British press handling of the Olympic games, he moved on to Israel, where his campaign promptly involved itself in a diplomatic scandal (this time with actual consequences) over whether it had said that Mr Romney would back a unilateral Israeli strike on Iran. 

Mr Romney went on to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel, a position no American administration has ever taken because discussions over the final status of the city are the most explosive subject in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Then this morning, at a fund-raising breakfast largely populated by ultra-rich Jewish Americans, Mr Romney managed to suggest that Palestinians are poor because their culture is inferior to that of Jews.”

Read the entire article in the Economist, Mitt Romney abroad: Like Bush, but without the cosmopolitan flair.

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis
Credit: Lam Thuy Vo/NPR

Whenever I watch or read the news the topic most discussed is always either the US or global economy (esp. with regards to Europe).

I’m not an economist and after a certain point I start to tune out all this out, but I do love pictures and charts so I found this interesting.  The graphic below details how Americans spent their money last quarter.

If this was a personal consumption chart I think I’d need a separate breakout for Ptown and for wine. What category (ies) would you need added?

Want to read more? Check out the article on NPR here.

“There is nobody in this country who got rich on their own. Nobody. You built a factory out there – good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory. Now look … You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea – God bless! Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”   — Elizabeth Warren

Warren’s comments will undoubtably rile those from the Right who believe this country is a wonderful place, but find her logic and comments flawed.  I understand this perspective; coming from a conservative family but I disagree and wholeheartedly agree with Elizabeth Warren.

Thanks David over at WGB

“The Defense of Marriage Act is a discriminatory and unconstitutional law that harms thousands of families in Massachusetts and takes away our state’s right to extend marriage equality to all couples. It is our firm conviction that in order to truly achieve marriage equality all couples must enjoy the same rights and protection under both state and federal law.”

“If the Supreme Court chooses to examine this case, we will look forward to once again making clear that DOMA and its pervasive discrimination is unconstitutional and should be ended.”

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley comments yesterday when she petitioned the US Supreme Court to strike part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).  You can read more here.

Thank you for sharing WickedGayBlog.

I’ve swiped the title from an interesting article on NPR’s website.  If you are like me you love charts that show information rather than listing content simply in text.  The chart just below provides an interesting look at what American households earn.  Just to be clear, a “household” consists of all the people who live in one house or apartment; including families, roommates, etc…These numbers come from the more than 114 million households in the 2010 Census. What this shows us is that the median household in the US makes approximately $50,000 in income and benefits per year; meaning 50% made more and 50% made less.

The article overlays that information with geographical data.  This is where I know I’m a marketing geek, because I just loved this bit. You’ll see that many of the wealthiest states are ironically what would be classified as “blue” states (more progressive) or in the case of states like Colorado, New Hampshire and Virginia trending that way. Read into this what you will.  If you like you may read the article on the NPR website by linking here.

I’ve decided the “A” at the end of this fast food restaurant chain stands for a word that’s not nice to say.  Can you guess the word?