Alex Henderson

The Political Zone

Mitt Romney’s Contradictions: A Romney Administration Won’t Really Reduce the Federal Deficit 

By Alex Henderson
RealmNoir, August 31, 2012

There’s a sucker born every minute, and there were plenty of them in Tampa, Florida during Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention on August 30. Romney’s vow to reduce the United States’ gigantic federal deficit drew major rounds of applause from Republicans in attendance, but in reality, he will only add to it if elected president.

On one hand, Romney tried to paint President Barack Obama as the stereotypical tax-and-spend liberal. On the other hand, Romney played the neocon imperialist card by accusing Obama of being soft on national defense (which is laughable in light of all the military spending that has taken place under the Obama Administration) and vowed to increase the military budget substantially if elected. But Romney is being disingenuous at best; if a Romney Administration is even half as jingoistic as Romney made himself out to be in Tampa, we can forget about having a balanced budget anytime soon.

Of course, Romney and running mate Paul Ryan would no doubt try to express their “fiscal conservatism” by attacking social programs (including food stamps) and doing everything imaginable to make the lives of the poor and America’s collapsing middle class even worse. But in other areas, Romney and other Republicans are far from “fiscal conservatives.”

If Romney pursues the “neoconservative” (more like neo-fascist) doctrine of imperialistic nation building, expect to spend a lot of federal tax dollars.

If Romney pursues aggressive federal obscenity prosecutions of porn companies in order to pander to the Christian Right, expect to spend a lot of federal tax dollars.

If Romney continues the United States’ failed War on Drugs, expect to spend a lot of federal tax dollars.

If Romney wants more bailouts for banks—and it’s only a matter of time until the large banks and the White Shoe Boys, as trends forecaster Gerald Celente calls them, have their hands out again—expect to spend a lot of federal tax dollars. 

The reality is that so much of the GOP agenda—from corporate welfare to invading foreign countries to federal obscenity prosecutions of porn companies—costs  a fortune. No matter how much Romney and the Republicans in Congress declare war on America’s poor, their neocon Christian Right agenda is hardly conducive to deficit reduction. Of course, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas doesn’t hesitate to call Romney out on his hypocrisy, which is why he was treated like an outcast during the Republican Convention.

The math simply doesn’t add up. If you support the War on Drugs, federal obscenity prosecutions of porn companies, neocon imperialism and corporate welfare—all the while opposing tax hikes for the richest 1% of taxpayers—you’re no deficit hawk. You’re a big government Republican. And all the poor-bashing in the world will not change that.

Alex Henderson is a veteran journalist whose work has appeared in The L.A. Weekly, AlterNet, Billboard, Spin, XBIZ, Creem, Skin Two, The Pasadena Weekly, JazzTimes, Cash Box and a long list of other well-known publications. He can be followed on Twitter @alexvhenderson.