Rombama means more of the same
Following his victory in the Texas primary last week, Mitt Romney is now effectively the candidate for the Republican Party (putting aside the issue of unbound delegates). Therefore, we can all look forward to an Obama vs. Romney showdown this November. Unfortunately, both candidates appear to agree with each other on all issues of importance.
On foreign policy, neither are concerned about following the Constitution and getting a declaration of war from Congress. Meanwhile, neither are willing to rule out a war with Iran. So whatever the outcome of the November election, America's foreign policy will be unchanged until at least 2016.
On social issues it’s difficult to compare the two, because both are prone to changing their minds. Whilst Senator Obama appeared to be quite ‘progressive’ on the issue of drugs, President Obama has been all too willing to keep the same drug laws in place that would have led to his own incarceration had he been caught smoking marijuana or using ‘a little blow’ earlier in his life. Indeed he hasn’t even been willing to defend the rights of states to allow patients to use medical marijuana.
Meanwhile, Romney’s flip-flopping on the issue of abortion is well documented. Having been pro-choice in Massachusetts, he then became pro-life during the Republican primary. Who knows what he would actually do as President? I don’t think it’s likely that he would repeal Roe v. Wade, and if not, the differences in their rhetoric on abortion means very little.
Nor is there much disagreement when it comes to anti-terror legislation. Both support The ‘Patriot’ Act (or as Ron Paul calls it, the Repeal the Fourth Amendment Act). They also both support the National Defence Authorization Act, which effectively throws the presumption of innocence out of the window, as it allows suspects to be detained indefinitely without a trial.
Both Obama and Romney supported the TARP bailouts - the biggest single transfer of wealth from the poor to the wealthy in human history. Mitt Romney is also committed to stimulus packages and quantitative easing being used to boost economic growth and employment, which are the same policies that Obama has pursued (which have failed to create growth or employment). Neither are even paying lip service to the idea of sound money or reigning in the corrupt Federal Reserve system. In short: both are corporatists, not capitalists. This is obvious to anybody who has looked at the top contributors to both campaigns – the same investment banks and other corporate interests are funding them both. The winner of the 2012 election has already been decided: it’s Goldman Sachs. Sorry taxpayers, you lose either way.
