As has been a common theme of the Mitt Romney campaign,
seemingly sound political moves have turned into unequivocal political
nightmares . In a new political ad that will run in swing states Virginia and
Ohio, Team Romney pulled video footage from a recent Ohio rally that shows Ohio
coal miners flanking the presidential candidate as the ad goes on to blast
President Obama for “ruining the coal industry.”
Not only do many of the coal miners look unenthused about
participating in the rally, they apparently had little reason to be. According
to Politico, “they [the coal miners
in the ad] were pulled out of the mine to join the Republican candidate” (i.e.
forced to take the day off without pay). Do you mean to say that Romney forced
workers out of a job (snark!)?[1]
Of course, the free market has ruined the coal industry, not
President Obama[2].
Given Mitt Romney’s supposedly free market beliefs, one would think that the
former Bain Capital CEO would have few qualms about the cheap flood of natural
gas that has pushed coal to second-class status as a source of energy.
Wait, what’s that you say, Romney has taken advantage of federal
subsides too? Yes, and here’s one instance out of many. As CEO of the 2002 Salt
Lake City Olympics, Romney “built it” with a little help from Uncle Sam. “What
Romney doesn’t talk about [in TV ads his campaign ran during the 2012 summer
Olympics] is how he succeeded in Utah with government help—lots of it—and how
millions in assistance that he priced out of the feds ended up bankrolling
subsidies, sweetheart deals, and giveaways for land developers and other
well-connected Utahns.”[3]
Thus, when it comes to attacking President Obama on his coal
policies, and implicitly his economic policies, Mitt Romney is hardly the man
to be pointing the finger. In fact, Mitt Romney is just as hooked on the
government kool-aid as the 47% percent that he recently disparaged in the now
viral footage of his comments at a Florida fundraiser.[4]
Mitt Romney: a liar, a hypocrite, a coal-industry connected
fat cat, and a foreign policy dunce, among other things. Does that sound like
an attractive presidential candidate?
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