After that convention I feal sorry for the Republican Party!

Found the speech uneventful. lacked any real substance and promises are the same as we always hear. Every presidental canidate since the 70's has promised energy independence, investments to solve our problems and balancing the budget. Mitt is not it.

I guess we will wait for Obama's speech and see what he says that has any substance.
Obama made a lot or promises and for the most part has failed to deliver.

I think last night was Fantastic!! Clint Eastwood, Rubio was excellent. Mitt Romney is the one who will turn this country around and create jobs. Do people really want another term with a president who hasn't done one thing! People are out of jobs, do you want to continue to be out of a job. People please wake up and do the right thing when voting on November 6th. You will be glad that you voted for Romney/Ryan! GO ROMNEY!

If you were a Republican, the speech was a grand-slam - it hit all the right points with the right tone ... the Republicans are more than energized.

I also think the speech did well to attract independents which is what Romney will need to win (i.e. he's not a monster, he means well, and he's competent).

If your a Progressive, I'm sure you disagree with everything he said.

Great insight George! Exactly what I would expect from a Dumbocrat - no substance. It's funny Dennis that Obama is the only one who hasn't attempted to balance a budget since taking office. He doesn't need to because he just keeps printing money. The substance will come when the debates begin and Obama's record is exposed to all Americans. Romney Ryan 2012!

Mitt Romney didn't discuss any plans for keeping us safe and secure...he doesn't really have any foreign policy knowledge or experience...he is running on the economy only...and that is good for the 99%...but the rest of us won't be any better off. What about the situation re Afganistan and other countries that are simmering problems for the US???

MLS,

Dont' you mean the 1%. If something is good for the 99% of the population. By the way, Obama has leaned on Hilary for foreign policy, who will he listen to now, Biden.

What a great speech last night by Mitt Romney. Did you know Mitt Romney NEVER took a salary as the governor of Massachusetts? The biggest complaint I've heard is that all Mitt Romney cares about is money...yet he skipped out on hundreds of thousands in PUBLIC MONEY he could've had. He is the guy who's given millions to charity. Is he rich? Absolutely, but it's self made. He could've taken his father's money but what did he do? He gave it away. The tax returns? It's a red herring. I hope he pays 5%...because I HOPE TO PAY 5%. The system is broken, and I don't have any problem with anyone who's smart enough to keep as much money out of the government's hands as possible. Mitt Romney is a good, and decent man. Last night, Mitt showed the country that not only can he be chairman of the board, but leader of the free world. It's time to give him the chance.

Mitt is a shape shifting Camelion who has shifted his views as readily as the sand on the capes dunes...republicans are a party for selfish white men and bible thumpers leaving minorities and women historically on the sidelines

Romney's speech hit it put of the ballpark.
Yes, I will vote for the Romney/Ryan ticket on November 6th to return this country to its greatness.

Hi Diane
Why did you pick 5% as the tax rate? Why not 7% or 3% how about ZERO?
I wouldn't call Mitt charitable when he is required by the MORMON CHURCH TO DONATE 10% and that is all he donated. If he were really charitable he should have given at least 11 !
And please he is no self made man. He was born with a silve spoon in his mouth.
The money he inhereted from his father that "he gave away" probably became a tax writeoff for years and years.
I would call OBAMA a self made man - started with nothing and became the leader of the most powerful country in the world.
Steve Jobs was a self made man - started with nothing and amassed a fortune.
Romney was no self made man!

I DVR'd most of the convention speeches and I haven't been able to watch them all as yet. I will DVR the Democratic convention as well. I truly enjoy a good poltical speech, from a member of ANY poilitical party, and that includes the Libertarians. :-)

Based upon the speeches I have watched so far, I thought the speeches by Marco Rubio, Condolessa Rice and Chris Christie were all very well done....they were substantive, sincere, and strong. They all would be very interesting and exciting candidates in 2016 or 2020, though I don't think Condolessa Rice would ever run for President.

I'm looking forward to Democratic speeches this week as well. I hope the Patch asks for comments after their convention later this week.

I'm lukewarm on Mr. Romney because a one term governor and loss in Senate race to Kennedy weakens his chances. Nothing wrong with wealth or personal investment, but the assets in foreign banks, avoiding taxes disturbs me. Moral issues like abortion have shifted and been turned over...I guess a guy can change his mind? No GOP war on women, that's hypebole. We need to bring Federal budget into balance like our checkbooks-there's NO MONEY to fund anything: war, social programs, roads, space, our defense, solar/windmills, health care, NOTHING. WE ARE BROKE, OVERDRAWN. The Dems think well we gotta keep throwing money at all the problems, but it's fake money like Monopoly money-not real. So we keep piling up the national debt. Foriegn policy: Mr Obama ran against Iraq and Afghanistan committments because his, the Dems and the media blamed America for going to war. The new rookie-in-chief soon found out that maybe Guantanamo would have to remain open, and it all wasnt as simple as he thought it would be. Yep, his people, and CIA, special ops did get bin Laden and drones have been VERY EFFECTIVE in Pakistan and Yemen against our enemies. Questions in my mind remain, why capitulate to Russia and withdraw missile defense in Poland to defend Europe from Iran? Blame Israel? Iran very dangerous and will use nuclear weapons, requiring more than talk to counter them. Energy policy: oil companies have the dough to employ millions, let's go to work! Debt or direction?

Loved, loved, loved the empty chair. Thank you RNC and Clint. You've given me the means to go many miles before I sleep. So much inspiration.

Hi Chris
From what I read, I think the proven oil reserves in the US is about enough for 20 years if we use all our oil for self consumption. That's why we import most of our oil. We don't have enough! So unless we create new sources of energy we will always have a deficit in spending!

I think he has lost touch with everyone except the very wealthy. A vote for him is the demise of America. JCA

Think about this....If you hired a plumber and after 3 1/2 years the toilet still full of doo doo, would you hire him for another four?? I think not.....

I agree with you George L. Also, I would hire the plumber too, if the competitor plumber kept putting obstacles and work stops in the way...to prevent my plumber from completing the job...I'd hope he'd get more help from other plumbers so he could complete the job he started.

Hi folks, foul language violates our terms of service, even abbreviations of foul language. Please keep it PG-13. Thanks.

How can anyone trust the Republican Candidate for VP- Paul Ryan when he can't seem to get his facts straight. Everything from accusing Obama of the plant closing in Wisconsin 2008 to his marathon abilities, Couple that with spending 12 years in Congress and not accomplishing anything worthwhile. He is one of those politicians that should be fired - wasting taxpayers money!

Hi Vincent
You should do some reading yourself. If you check out Wikipedia," proven oil reserves" the United States has only a 10 year supply. It takes at least 30 years for a new technology to ramp up to a level that is viable. Nuclear energy took 30 years to be able to supply only 20% of our electricity.

“Obama’s great political talent has been his knack for granting his admirers permission to think highly of themselves for thinking highly of him.” Romney’s great political challenge is to wean them away by making them faintly embarrassed about their former infatuation"

So sad that this is what the political discourse has become. With so many serious problems facing the nations of the world, we have political parties jousting over ideological positions and beholden to special interests who don't care about anyone else's interests.
Imagine the horror, agony, and rage resulting from being raped, then imagine the horror of having to convince your congressman that the rape was a "legitimate" one even though your body failed to "shut that whole thing down."
Imagine reaching the retirement you'd worked a lifetime for, settled into living on a fixed income, only to be told that your healthcare has being replaced by a voucher that you can use to purchase your healthcare on your own... does anyone think the cost of that insurance will NOT exceed the value of those vouchers on the day the republicans slam home their version of national healthcare?
As governor, Mitt Romney rammed "Romney-care" through the MA legislature, and signed it into law in spite of it's flaws. Now "Obama-care", drawn heavily on the MA law that Romney signed, is no good and has to be completely discarded. What?
And we're told by the republican party that we need to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest few percent of the country so they'll create more jobs. Well, we've had the tax cuts ffor how many years now? Where are all the jobs?
Energy independence? Sure, when we all go back to burning wood and riding horses. What planet are these guys from?

Hmmm, a war against men?

http://news.yahoo.com/ice-chief-staff-resigns-amid-misconduct-claims-202628559.html

Hi Vincent
If you have numbers from a more reliable source than Wikipedia showing that the proven oil sources are more than 10 years worth please let me know?
I believe I also saw similar numbers from the CIA site! If these numbers are true
the US could never have energy independence from oil! You could drill up the entire US and there still will not be enough oil.
With respect to wind and solar - they may not be proven to you but to China, Germany and many other countries they certainly are!
What could be more economical then putting a solar pannel out in the desert and having it generate electricity - service free. Just sits there year after year generating electricity! Please tell me how that is uneconomical! If it costs $20 to build and install a solar pannel and I get $1000 worth of electricity over its usefull life that sounds economical to me. If you have numbers to prove otherwise let me know?
You speak of gas and coal, but when was the last time you saw a coal fired jet plane
or for that matter a Stanley Steamer (J Leno has one or two).
Also you forget that many of our products are OIL based!

Hi Jeff
Ryan's been in congress for 12 years and no legislation to his credit!
Sorry guys- He's a do nothing Congressman and should be fired!
Instead of exercising all day in the Congressional workout room he should be doing some real work and not wasting my tax dollars.

By the way, what did he do to prevent the closing of the plant in his own district in 2008 while George Bush was president. I see he had a lot of influence for his 12 years in Congress!
And if you would check out the dates the plant closed before OBAMA was president!

Vincent
Why do you refer to OBAMA as "messiah"? Should I be referring to Romney as "the Cardinal" or "the Bishop" since he is an official of the Mormon Church

Hi Paulie
Check out the web site from the CIA Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2178rank.html
US has 20 Billion Barrels of Proven Oil Reserves. We use 20 Million barrels a day-
You do the math! Not enough oil to last 10years! You can drill, drill and waste more money drilling and we will still need to import and increase our deficite!

The article asked about Romney's speech. Very wooden and fabricated. the walk down the aisle was robotic and phoney. Romney did not talk about HIS upbringing- wealth, country clubs, private schools, blue blazzers, ticket to elite schools, his military service during Vietnam, never missed a meal, maid service and chauffers- He talked about his father's upbringing , not Mitt's trust fund. His father is not running for President. Nothing about Bain Capital- I wounder why.
To divert- Clinton Eastrwood was a delusional nightmare for the RNC- check the audience cringing. Lackluster convention all around.

The same warnings Clinton ignored
??

The very well done !! Above referred to the statement by the "Concerned Resident"

Hi Nancy
I would rather invest my money with OBAMA and Mitt Romney should thank him profusely !! The stock market is up 100% since it tanked under George Bush.
That means Romney at least doubled his investments since OBAMA took office!
With respect to leadership Rice and Romney should take a lesson from OBAMA.
He got rid of Bin Ladin- Mitt said we shouldn't waste money looking for him.
Obama made a decisive call in the Somali Pirate stand off!
How many presidents do you know that received a Nobel Prize?
He's tough on terrioriests- We havenen't had any real attacks under his leadership.
The stock market is up. Corporations are making record profits!
He got Obama Care Passed- a major piece of legislation!
He's done quite a bit in three short years!!
I look forward to him doing much more in the next four!

Bob & Vincent
I like your statistics -right from the Republican storyboard.Can't you guys be original?
As you know even Paul Ryan said that it takes time for employment to pick up after the econoimy starts moving forward. He said that during Bushes era!
With Corporations making record profits and having trillions in the bank it's about time they do something useful for our country. Business has dropped the ball and not picked up the slack. GE and Bain Capital sending jobs to China does not help our country.
What did Paul Ryan do to help prevent GE from moving jobs from Wisconsin to China? Why did Romney outsource jobs to India?
We live in a High Tech World where you need to be well educated to compete!
Many of the statistics you talk about are from people that are less economically endowed. What is MItt Romney doing to help provide for better education and job training for these people? In Massachusetts he cut funding for education and many teachers were laid off - that is really conducive to creating an educated workforce. What is Mitt Romney proposing to do to get us an educated workforce so we can still lead the world in the 21st Century. Cut more funding for Education? Increase Student Loan Fees? Eliminate Pell Grants?

Bob & Vincent
One of the big problems with jobs is the DO NOTHING REPUBLICAN CONGRESS
holding up OBAMA's job bills and Budget. Time to get rid of these freeloaders holding America Hostage to their idiology!

Mitt Romney:
Worst Job Creation as Governor of Massachusetts
Substantially increased fees while Govenor
Decreased Services and Education Funding
Businessman who doesn't know where his money is invested (Blind Trusts)
Tax Shelters in Bermuda, Camen Islands, Switzerland
Refuses to make transparent his taxes
Used over a Billion $$ in Taxpayer dollars to run 2002 Olympics
Weak on Terrorism.
No Plan for Oil Independence
Did not want to bail out Auto Industry
No plan for Iraq, Afganstan or Iran
No plan for competing in 21st Century
etc.etc

Paul Ryan Record:
12 Years in congress with no legislation to his credit
Didn't do anything to prevent closing of Janesville Plant
Didn't do anything to prevent GE frome shipping Wisconsin Jobs to CHINA

Romney
Outsourcing jobs to India
Bain Capital closing plants in ILL and making workers train Chinease replacements

Hi Vincent
Just saw you retort about proven oil resources. Someone mentioned that solar and wind were unproven energy sources so I stuck with the proven sources of oil!
As such with these proven sources there is only a 10 year supply.
I take it you want to drill, drill, drill looking for unproven sources with the consumer picking up the tab for futile exploration!!

Clintons take on Bin Laden http://crooksandliars.com/2006/09/24/fox-clinton-interview-part-1-osama-bin-laden

D As long as I can remember, "proven oil reserves" numbers have sent people into a panic. So, I did a quick search and found this: http://www.radford.edu/wkovarik/oil/5oilreservehistory.html. Actually I had a nice discussion while visiting the Mineral Management Service (got renamed in some government re-org) some years ago during one of the previous "oil reserves panics".
It was explained to me that the press usually does not bother to explain what that number is and how it is determined. Apparently it is a very conservative number and only counts what is known with 100% certainty. It does not count the effect of technology on oil recovery, what is "known" enough to justify large amounts of investment, or existing fields that are bigger that what is an absolute certainty. So, the " proven reserves" numbers are always proven hugely wrong and used as a political weapon for both pro and anti drilling groups.
According to the folks I talked to, the best estimates is that the US alone has enough oil to last us over 100 years. Coal is even bigger.
Yes, drilling and mining carry risks and environmental damages. There is no free lunch with any energy source.
Cheap, clean energy is what we should be focusing on. Unfortunatly, that eliminates wind, solar, tidal, and fairy dust at this time. The only reason those technologies are use are huge taxpayer funded or government mandated energy user subsidies. Much more than the fossil fuel subsidies.

Delete
Dan D.
10:05 am on Monday, September 3, 2012
George, read the report carefully. Proven oil reserves numbers are bunk.
Coal is used to generate electricity...you know, that magic thing that powers electric cars, heaters, appliances, lights, etc.
Solar power is great...if you want to wait a very long time to break even for powering your house. Plus, it doesn't scale. Any idea how much land has to be covered by solar panels to power a small town? After over 50 years of investment, solar still does not work economically. All the wishing in the world won't change that. So, in the never ending vote pandering quest, our elected officials sometimes opt for forcing everyone to pay for an unsustainable solar policy and selling it as "green". PT Barnum had it right.
You paint with an absurdly wide and misleading brush when you state that Republicans do not understand the need for investment. It is much more completely true that many people do not believe that the government, at any level, is capable of making good investment decisions in the private sector or even should attempt it.
Organizations turn to the government for investment when they cannot make the case to investment professionals in the private sector. We should ask ourselves why they are coming to the government for money, whether Solyndra or Schillings company. Why won't private investors jump in?

Reply

Hi Dan D
A couple other points about energy that you should be aware of: GE and Siemens are a couple of companies that are building the generators for what you call "unproven technology", wind mills. As you know they are a couple of the largest corporations in the world. Also many semiconductror companies are investing into circuitry to sense and regulate these new sources oif energy! Also, CHINA is taking wind technology to a new level by designing turbo-fan generators right into sky scrapers.I believe you thinking is a little behind times. Time to come up to speed!

Hi Dan
Did a quick calculation on the India's Solar Project. In 10 years they are going from 40 MWatts (which is more power than Hoover Dam) to 20 Billion MegaWatts. That's enough power to run over 1 million homes that use electric heat. Do you still think Solar Energy is Unpoven?
Also, just saw an advertisement from Toshiba for their wind Turbines - You still think wind power is Unproven even with major international companies in the field?

The Point is you have to get people and corporations to pay their fair share!
Without the stimulus and bailout of the auto industry we would have had more unemployment and more borrowing and it would have cost the taxpayer more!
We need more jobs that create products for export that bring income and revenue
into the US. Building the next generation of energy source (solar panels) was a way to create added revenue!
Where were you when Bush was running up the deficit and giving tax breaks to corporations? I hope you were out there at that time complaining about the spending !! How many Trillions did we waste in Iraq as well as lives.
At least OBAMA saved us $$$ by getting us out of there, and shortly Afghanistan.

Question to all
What is the big hype about the debt?
Personally I haven't seen any effects from the deficite !!

Hi Vincennt
So were you out there complaining about the debt when Bush was running up the tab? Probably Not!
Remember that it was OBAMA that got the Iraq MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
And I expect OBAMA to get the debt MISSION under control in his next term as Democrats replace those Do Nothing Republican Obstructionists!
The American people had enough of their nonsense!!!

Too bad Mr DiRico has to use such disrespectful terms as "Messiah" & others when referring to President Obama & VP Joe Biden....others are much more respectful when referring to Mr Romney and his chosen VP nominee. Just shows ignorance and foolishness. I would rather see some practical and a little more classy
comments. We all have our opinions and discussion is good...but sarcasm and nasty comments are just silly and childish. We'll all have to see what the outcome is in November. Calm down, Vincent...We all have our own opinions and you won't change my mind or anyone else's either.

I agree, support him or not, calling the POTUS silly disrespectful names (Messiah or otherwise) not cool, Debate and different positions cool, name calling stopped being cool in 2nd grade. I love the threads that generate lots of comments BUT I dont care for the fact that some people routinely are nasty and sarcastic towards other posters and their views. Andrew should have to 'baby sit' because adults cant debate topics, once in awhile we get animated and maybe go to far but I am talking about the folks to constantly disrespect others views with their comments.

Hi Vincennt
Personally, I think Romney should get down on his knees and thank the "Massiah" profusely for the 100% increase in the Stock market during the last 3.5 years.
Mitt probably doubled his investment wealth thanks to OBAMA!

Look at the facts: Oil and gas companies have directly given the Romney campaign more than $1.4 million, http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/indus.php?id=N00000286
and Oil CEOs are dumping millions and millions more into Pro-Romney Super PACs to attack President Obama and push their reckless agenda. http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=49&articleid=20120523_49_0_WASHIN5244
http://news.yahoo.com/every-presidential-hopeful-1-million-donor-075714763.html
Candidate Romney, meanwhile, has named an Oil CEO (and campaign donor) as his top energy adviser and parroted big polluter talking points by attacking clean energy at every turn and pushing for policy that will ensure the largest oil companies still get billions in tax handouts every year.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/29/politics/oil-subsidies/index.html
Now, one day after Shell has been named the WORLD's largest corporation, Big Oil is being given free rein to speak for the Romney campaign without even having to change uniforms.

Reckless Agenda, hello?? Does the BP oil spill ring a bell?? Exxon Valdez. I suppose it wasn't in your backyard so .....

so I say block the most dangerous oil projects and revoke the oil industry's license to operate above the law and interfere with our nation's transition to a clean-energy future. With conventional oil sources running dry, the industry is pursuing "extreme" sources of oil that are even more polluting.

I say fight the expansion of tar sands, oil shale, deep-water drilling, and other high-carbon, high-risk fuels and protect our coasts, our air, and water. I suppose you haven't heard of the effects that fracking has on water, never mind the fact that it uses and extreme amount of water. Does the word "drought" ring a bell??
I say oppose dangerous pipelines, refinery expansions, and other unnecessary oil infrastructure and ensure that existing oil infrastructure operates only with adequate safeguards and protection for workers, the public, and the environment. Did you hear about the recent happenings at the oil refineries in CA or TX??

I say work to level the playing field by eliminating the shortcuts and subsidies that are the only reason that high-carbon, highly polluting forms of oil appear competitive with cleaner alternative-energy sources.

Big Oil uses its enormous influence to twist policy -- forcing the public to underwrite extreme oil operations, extreme profits, and extreme politics.

Those are my facts. I don't need your "stats"
BTW who said anything about Brown?
Remind me, who is chasing who again?
It seems to me that you are more than willing to back up the rigs right up on your neighbors backyard. How would you feel about it then? All the trucks in and out, noise pollution of the constant drilling, the smells, the contamination of your well water, the declining value of your property. Tell the people of WV, PA, OH and NY that you are all for drilling in their backyard to satisfy your thirst for a dirty oil supply that will only last about 1 year (3.65 billion barrels per year).

News Flash:
No matter who wins the election, the days of $1.85 price per gallon of gasoline are gone. BIG OIL knows that can make the American people pay that amount because we are dependent on it!

priceless!

Original Obamaphone Lady
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpAOwJvTOio

SEIU Paid Protesters at Romney Cleveland Ohio Rally
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5DTqvX74O4

That level is where a large percentage of Obama's voters comes from.

Do you think that when Romney is asked about his foreign policy experience that his response will be " the close proximity of Canada to my home state of Massachusetts gives me foreign policy experience"? Or wait is his home state NH or maybe it is Utah? In any event, he can almost see Canada from his house.

Whip it Out Wednesday Mr V! Glad to see you keep up with current radio lingo.
Who asked about the President? I want to know what foreign policy experience Romney has? You must have been too sleepy to answer.