The Romney Administration

[Pericles]

Interesting developments. Unsure if the TPP passes at this stage but it'll be cool to see where you take this!

[OSR stands with Israel]

Interesting developments. Unsure if the TPP passes at this stage but it'll be cool to see where you take this!

Well there are only 3 Republicans who are considering voting against it : Sessions, Shelby and Collins, so that would mean the TPP will only need 3 Democrats to vote for it to be guaranteed to pass.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Breaking News: Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote , rules that all 50 states will be required to allow Same-Sex Marriages and issue licenses to same-sex couples



Anderson Cooper: We have breaking news to share , and that is the Supreme Court has ruled that all 50 states will be required to allow Same-Sex Marriages and issue licenses to same-sex couples meaning that Same-Sex Marriages will now be allowed Nation Wide. The reasoning behind the decision is that the right to marry for same-sex couples is guaranteed by the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses in the constitution. The judges who voted in the majority were Justices Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan . The justices who dissented were Justices John Roberts, Antonin Scalia , Clarence Thomas, and Sam Alito.

The President also released a statement about the ruling today


Romney's Statement:

Romney: While I may believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, the Supreme Court has ruled that Same-Sex couples have a right to marry and while I may personally disagree with them, we must abide by their decision since their decision now is the law.The reason it is the law is simple, the Constitution is the ultimate law of the land, and the Supreme Court is given the power by it to strike down laws which violate the constitution , and since they ruled that any laws banning same-sex marriage are unconstitutional, it is now the law that same-sex marriages be permitted.    As President, it is my duty to enforce all laws whether I agree with them or not, thus I have ordered the justice department to not permit any states or counties to continue to refuse giving marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

[Cold War Liberal]

Romney: While I may believe that marriage is between a man and women

[OSR stands with Israel]

Romney: While I may believe that marriage is between a man and women

thanks for catching that

[OBD]

Romney: While I may believe that marriage is between a man and women

thanks for catching that

lmao mormons

[erſatz-york]

Romney: While I may believe that marriage is between a man and women

thanks for catching that

lmao mormons

[America Needs R'hllor]

Romney: While I may believe that marriage is between a man and women

thanks for catching that

lmao mormons

Also: YAY! Go SCOTUS!

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Interesting developments. Unsure if the TPP passes at this stage but it'll be cool to see where you take this!

Well there are only 3 Republicans who are considering voting against it : Sessions, Shelby and Collins, so that would mean the TPP will only need 3 Democrats to vote for it to be guaranteed to pass.

Yeah, I don't see it failing to pass in light of these numbers.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

Why are all of my updates being ignored?

Because you were posting them on someone elses timeline without their permission.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Why are all of my updates being ignored?

um are you talking about your timeline or this :

If its yours than its because you havent really posted anything that has been different from OTL yet. I would suggest you skip to Gore say winning Florida and start from there as that will be the beginning point where things change from OTL.


If its this timeline,  its because I didnt give you permission to write any updates on it .

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

Why are all of my updates being ignored?

um are you talking about your timeline or this :

If its yours than its because you havent really posted anything that has been different from OTL yet. I would suggest you skip to Gore say winning Florida and start from there as that will be the beginning point where things change from OTL.


If its this timeline,  its because I didnt give you permission to write any updates on it .

I have been reporting all of his posts like that on this thread to the moderators whenever I see them by the way.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Why are all of my updates being ignored?

um are you talking about your timeline or this :

If its yours than its because you havent really posted anything that has been different from OTL yet. I would suggest you skip to Gore say winning Florida and start from there as that will be the beginning point where things change from OTL.


If its this timeline,  its because I didnt give you permission to write any updates on it .

I have been reporting all of his posts like that on this thread to the moderators whenever I see them by the way.

Thanks Solid I really appreciate that

[OSR stands with Israel]

Breaking News: 9 people Murdered in an African American Charleston Church due to a mass shooting. The suspect who committed this terrorist attack is a White Supremacist.




Anderson Cooper: We have some very tragic news to report to you and that is that 9 people were murdered in their church they were attending in Charleston,South Carolina. The victims of this terrorist attack were African Americans and the motive of this terrible attack was racism. Police currently are on a manhunt for the suspect and we hope they can catch him before any more innocent people get hurt by this White Supremacist. Governor Nikki Haley released a statement about the shooting and here's a short clip of it .


Nikki Haley: Today was a very tragic day in South Carolina, and I can promise the families of the victims that the White Supremacist will be brought to justice for his terrible crimes .


Anderson Cooper: This terrorist attack was a sharp reminder to us the terrible legacy of slavery and jim crow remains with us today .  I want to bring in Van Jones who will give his thoughts about how we can make sure such acts dont happen again.


Van Jones: First I want to give my heart out to the families of the victims and let them know we all are with you today. In my opinion, some ways we can make sure this type of attack this doesn't happen is by truly educating the children of South Carolina about the horrors of the Confederacy and Jim Crow instead of glamorizing it. Also racist feelings should be discouraged from when people are very young because nobody is born racist , but they become so because its viewed as acceptable , they are more likely to be ones.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Breaking News: Dylan Roof has been captured and arrested by the police and the President is giving a press conference about the attack right now.




Romney: Yesterday it was a tragic day for our country. 9 innocent African Americans attending church were murdered by a White Supremacist in a horrific terrorist attack and I want to let the families of the victims now that I am with you and everyone good American is with you today. The person responsible for this terrible attack has been thankfully arrested and I am very confident he will be brought to justice and will spend the rest of his days in prison for his terrible crimes.

Media Member 1: What is your opinion about how we can stop this from happening again


Romney: By letting our kids now that being racist is not remotely acceptable and you must treat everyone no matter what their skin color is equally because we are all human being above anything else. As President, I will also make it clear that we will do all in our power to discredit every single racist and White Supremacist organization there is as they are evil

Media member 2: The Confederate Flag is still flying on the state grounds of South Carolina, what is your opinion of it.


Romney: My personal opinion , or what I will do about it because I really cant do anything about it since the federal government doesn't have the power to tell which flag a  state can fly.

Media Member 2: Personal opinion

Romney: Well, in my opinion, the Confederate flag represents a group of traitors who fought a war with our great nation of ours just because they wanted to own slaves. Thats why in my personal opinion it should be brought down but I cant do anything about it

[Pericles]

Interesting that the Tories won a bigger majority in the UK. Not sure what'll happen with Brexit but think this prevents Theresa May calling the snap election.

[OSR stands with Israel]

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley Signs Bill which Brings Down the Confederate Flag

[OSR stands with Israel]

Senate Overwhelmingly Approves TPP as only 3 Republicans vote no while a 11 Democrats vote Yes. Romney Officially Signs TPP at Ceremony

Republicans who voted No: Jeff Sessions, Richard Shelby, Susan Collins

Democrats who vote Yes: Mark Begich, Dianne Feinstein, Tom Carper, Ben Cardin , Michelle Nunn, Mary Landrieu, John Kerry , Ron Wyden , Mark Warner, Maria Cantwell, Patty Murray

Official Senate vote: 68-32




Romney Signs TPP

[President Johnson]

Nice to see that TPP passed and Democrats became the party of free trade. That should roll back China's influence in the region.

Is there also a Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement (TTIP) underway? IRL, Obama supported it in second term but some Europeans were skeptical. I think Romney would also like to see this happen.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Nice to see that TPP passed and Democrats became the party of free trade. That should roll back China's influence in the region.

Is there also a Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement (TTIP) underway? IRL, Obama supported it in second term but some Europeans were skeptical. I think Romney would also like to see this happen.

More Democrats still voted No than yes(29 Voted No, 11 Voted Yes) but nevertheless a significant amount to establish a bipartisan consensus on free trade.


Right now TTIP is not underway due to Administration currently working on negotiating a trade agreement with India.

The reason the Administration wants that is for two reasons:

 1. Along with TPP and LAFTA, a trade agreement with India would greatly reduce US dependency on trade with China

2. If India can become economically strong it could be a counterbalance to China in the Region and that could greatly reduce China's influence in the region altogether.

[Sadader]

Secretary of State Richard Lugar answers questions to Senate Finance Committe about TPP:


Lugar: Senator Cornyn, the reason our trade defict with China is very high is we are currently overreliant on trade with them. What this trade agreement will do , along with the Latin American Trade Agreement we passed last year is reduce that reliance as these trade agreements will open up more trading partners with the US. Also the Pacific countries can sell many different types of products to us at a similar price as China , and due to that it will reduce reliance on trade with China and thus reduce the trade defict.

I love this timeline, but this quote is silly. The trade deficit isn’t an issue to be solved, which is a common misconception.I have a trade deficit with the grocery store for example, but that doesn’t mean that suddenly starting a farm in my backyard would make me better off. A trade deficit isn’t a loss of welfare, it’s a gain for both parties.

free trade Republican party of my dreams

They are only talking about the trade deficit with China, they are not talking the overall trade deficit in general. 

One of the goal of the Romney Administration is to reduce the reliance on trade with China , so Secretary Lugar just tied both those things together by saying how TPP will help us reduce reliance on trade with China and lower the trade deficit (or at least slow down the growth of it) with China.

my bad, I got confused by the line “it will reduce reliance on trade with China and thus reduce the trade deficit”. I thought you were referring to total trade deficit at the end, not the deficit with China again.

But great timeline

[OSR stands with Israel]

Professor Larry Lessig Announces Presidential Run on ABC's This Week:




George Stephanopoulos: It's nice to have you on Professor Lessig, I have heard you have a major announcement to make

Lessig: Yes I do , and it is I have decided to run for President of the United States .

Stephanopoulos: On which platform

Lessig: On a platform of fixing our broken electoral process. To do that I believe we need to do 3 things: One is that we must get big money out of politics and establish strict campaign finance reform laws to make sure that no one person can influence elections more than another , get rid of gerrymandering , make it easy as possible so any citizen in our nation can vote , and ranked choice voting so voters arent stuck with having to vote for the lesser of two evils. Other than emergencies my presidency will focus on getting these 3 things passed and once I do I will resign .


Stephanopoulos: Why not serve out whole term

Lessig: Because my goal is to return power to the people and once that is done I will resign.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Breaking News: Biden announces Presidential Run 




Biden: I want to thank all of you for your personal support in this tough time. As a father, it was heartbreaking for me to have to bury my own son especially one as loving and honorable of a person as he was. So I want to once again thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers and I am sure Beau is too .

While this was a very difficult time period for me, many fathers and mothers in our country go through the same thing every say, and unlike Beau got one of the best possible treatment possible , their sons and daughters pass away because they werent able to afford the treatment they needed to stay alive. Despite the fact that their is a treatment or surgery out there that could save their lives , they are unable to get it due to not having health insurance. This, in my opinion, is unacceptable and our country as a whole should make sure that everyone no matter their income can get the healthcare they need to stay healthy. This is one reason why I am running for President because I believe with my experience I can get a public option passed so everyone in America can have health insurance, along with creating an economy which benefits everyone and not just the very few at the top.


Thank you again for all the  personal support you gave me , god bless you and may God Bless America

[Pericles]

Oh wow interesting.

[OSR stands with Israel]

First Democratic Debate Highlights:



Chuck Todd: Welcome to the Wells Fargo Center where one year from now will host the Democratic Convention and officially select the next Democratic Nominee for President. Lets get right to it , and Chris Matthews will ask the first question

First Question:

Matthews: As you may all know , the Democratic Party is currently in its worst shape since the early 1920s , and it doesnt look like its anywhere close to coming out of the political wilderness as the President of the United States is expected to win in maybe the largest popular vote landslide since 1972, and the Republicans still have a double-digit lead in the house generic ballot. If any of you are the nominees how will you lead the party out of the wilderness so the party can win next November and in the future?I want everyone on this stage to ask this question so we will go left to right.

Brad Henry: Well as Governor of Wyoming I worked bipartisanly with both Republicans and Democrats to make our state better, and if you know the American people are neither right wing or left wing , they are moderates and my belief is what they want is competence. I will bring that to the oval office and help the Democratic Party become the party of competence.

Jim Webb: The first step in solving any problem is knowing why we have a problem in the first place. The reason we have a problem is that our party has stopped being the party of the working class, and instead has become the party of liberal elites which has resulted in our party losing the vote of white working-class voters all across the country and now is starting to result in Minority Voters turning Republican as well, and due to that we saw Republicans win big in 2010 , 2012 and 2014. If I was the Democratic Nominee and hopefully a Democratic President I would make the Democratic Party the party of the working class again and if we do that we will rewin the Midwest, Appalachia and become the majority party again.

Mike Beebe: I agree with both what Governor Henry and Senator Webb said but I would add that I best know about the fact that many traditional democratic states are turning Republican. In 2010 the GOP won every state wide election in our state many for the first time since reconstruction with the exception of my seat and the reason they didnt win it is that as Governor we cut taxes for the middle class, increased funding to our schools and did , supported the medicaid expansion and supported doing infrastructure projects. As you know these are issues which are popular among Democratic Voters, Independent Voters and even Republican Voters, and fighting for those issues instead of fighting for divisive cultural issues helped us win across the board. I believe if we do the same thing nationally we can help rebuild the old New Deal Coalition .

Howard Dean: We must have a 50 state strategy if we want to win elections in the future. Yes we may have Democrats who disagree on issues such as guns , or other social issues but that is alright because then elections will be fought on issues such as Healthcare, Income Inequality, Education and the American people whether they are conservative or liberal agree with our party on those issues , not the Republicans and their corporate friends.

Hillary Clinton: Well first thing is polls this early are useless and if you remember in the Summer of 1991 , a Democrat named Bill Clinton was losing every state with the exception of his home state of Arkansas , and even in June of 1992 he was in 3rd place in the polls behind President Bush and Ross Perot and guess what on election day he won by 6 points and 370 electoral votes. So I believe that similarly now once the President and I are on the debate stage the American people will vote for me because the American people are on our side and the general election will make prove it. As President I will fight for everyone no matter and I believe we will rebuild the Democratic Party by the time the 2020 elections come around.

Joe Biden: I agree with everyone on stage , but the problem is we must understand that we need someone who knows the in and outs of congress to really get our agenda passed. The reason we are in so much trouble is the Republicans obstruct the Democrats in Congress and I believe that I can help get our agenda passed and if we do so we can rebuild our party.

Matthews: As VP of the Adminstration in which is blamed for the Democratic party collapsing , why should people think you would be different

Biden: Well the problem then was we were faced with a huge economic crises and the Republicans obstructed obstructed along with a couple Democrats as well and due to that there was lots of gridlock and things didnt get much better and that allowed the GOP to blame us for the economic mess even though they caused it and stopped it from getting better and won big like any party does during tough economic times.

Sanders: Well the fact is we must explain to the American people all the different issues which have hurt the working class. We must fight for a Living Wage , Universal Healthcare , Free College, Making our Unions strong again and if we do that the American people will vote for us because then they will understand that it is the top 1%  and a lack of a social safety net why our middle class is in deep trouble and it is not due to a boogeyman the Republicans use of Big Government.

O Maley: We must fight for a values and tell the truth to the American people. The fact is the President has neglected issues such as Criminal  Justice Reform, and rebuilidng the middle class in General and if we fight for those issues during election time and when we are in office the people will reward us. I am sure we can win because our ideas our better but we must fight for them and implement them once we are in office.

Lessig: We must understand what the elephent in the room is which is the corporate influene in our elections. Unless we change that our party and Liberalism in General will not win because the Republicans will get more money from the corporations than we will and the Democrats they give to will be Democrats who are weak and bend over . The fact is we must fight to remove money from politics because if we dont we will have Corporate Rule of our nation get worse not better.


2 biggest moments from debate outside of Hillary and Biden:


Moment 1:

Jim Webb: Governor Beebe repeatedly claims if you elect him he is best-qualified candidate to pass an infrastructure project, increase in education spending or increase in Medicaid but the fact is almost all of Governor Beebe accomplishments came in his first term when Democrats controlled every statewide office in the Senate and easily controlled both houses of the state legislature, while any of us who will get elected this November  will likely have to work with at least a Republican Senate and Governor Beebe really didnt have that many accomplishments after the Republicans took over in 2010 .


Mike Beebe: Actually in my 2nd term we got Medicaid Expansion passed , and even though until 2010 Democrats had controlled the state legislature , remember many were very conservative Democrats, the type who helped Reagan pass his agenda in the 1980s and throughout my years in the State Legislature I was known as someone who could pass mean full reforms and get support from both sides of the isle. Also as Governor, I increased funding for education, cut taxes for the middle class , got Medicaid expansion passed a Republican legislature and worked with both sides to reform our crimnal justice system for minor crimes.While you Mr.Webb did not get major legislation which already didnt have biapartisian support before hand into law, I did.


Webb: Republicans have now come on board of crimnal justice reform due to my efforts

Beebe: Yes but it still hasn't happened while the things we did in my term did. We passed a pro Working Families Agenda even in my 2nd term and I will do it again as President(Applause).



Second Big Moment:


Chuck Todd: Polls show Senator Sanders , that most of country are Conservatives not Liberals , yet how do you think you will get your poliicies through.


Sanders: Because they are the common sense positions. Do you know the UK has a conservative Goverment which suports Universal Healthcare so the idea that conservatives cant support Universal Healthcare is ludicrous. Republican congressman may not but the fact is I will use the bullpy pulit to ally ordinary Liberals Moderates and Conservatives in a grand coalition just like FDR did to pass a pro working class agenda. The fact is the American people like a fighter and I will be one , and we will gt our agenda passed