Well there was no doubt that former President Bill Clinton's nomination speech of President Obama on Wednesday would be a highlight of the night - but he exceeded our highest expectations.
Given where we were sitting, the Wisconsin delegation has a unique perspective - literally! We are not only right next to the stage, but we also have a great view into the entire Time Warner Arena, including the large teleprompter screen. It is very interesting to see how incredibly some of the speakers (including President Clinton and Missouri Congressman and United Methodist pastor Emanuel Cleaver, who is the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus) are able to take their written words and extend what they are saying based upon the audience and what is moving them. It truly is something to see, and hear.
Beyond President Clinton's rousing speech (and a surprise appearance by President Obama!), Wednesday's events included passionate speeches by the 12 women currently in the Senate, (soon to be joined by our own female Senate candidate, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin), led by the first Democratic female elected to the Senate, Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski. She made a great point about the diversity of the Democratic women elected to the Senate, stating that among coming from different states and backgrounds, like the U.S. Olympic team, they come in all sizes, too (Senator Mikulski is 4'11).
Elizabeth Warren, running for Senate against Scott Brown in Massachusetts, spoke about the need for a stronger middle class and ensuring that Wall Street needed reforms to prevent another financial disaster.
Sister Simone Campbell, the head of the Nuns on the Bus movement against Paul Ryan's disastrous budget, spoke to delegates about the need to create policies that help people, not hurt them.
But, at the end of the day, we all knew President Clinton would be the draw, and he certainly didn't disappoint. It was incredible to hear him talk about what we need to get back to the financial successes we had during his terms. President Clinton argued that no president - including himself - "could have fully repaired all the damage that he [President Obama] found in just four years." He also outlined the GOP's central argument of electing Mitt Romney into one single thought: "We left him a total mess. He hasn't cleaned it up fast enough. So fire him and put us back in."
President Clinton also outlined his groundbreaking approach to balancing his budget and turning deficits into surpluses: arithmetic.
After President Clinton's speech (and President Obama's surprise visit), we proceeded with more official business of the night: the roll call. On Tuesday, delegates officially pledged their support for President Obama by signing the nomination form, and on Wednesday, each state and territory entered their official delegate count in support of President Barack Obama.
First, this was done via entering the delegate count into a computer at each state/territory's seating area during the proceedings, and it officially ends with the roll call, where each delegation publicly announces their support for their nominee. Our delegation, Mike Tate, did the public announcement for Wisconsin, surrounded by delegates and elected officials representing the true diversity of unity of our state's delegation. Given that Wisconsin is second-to-last (Wyoming having the honor of the very last spot alphabetically), we, as a united delegation, stood close together and cheered on the other delegations as they pledged their delegates to President Obama. It was a very, very humbling and amazing experience, and one I'm sure every delegate from each state and territory will never forget.
Thursday morning's breakfast speakers are set to include 1st congressional district delegate, and opponent to Paul Ryan, Rob Zerban, Congresswoman and Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin (look for us wearing her shirt tonight during her speech!), and retiring Senator Herb Kohl. Also joining the delegation was White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett. I know our delegation is looking forward to our next Senator Tammy Baldwin representing us as she always does during her speech tonight during prime time, and of course the nomination speeches by Vice-President Joe Biden and President Obama!
Funny. Prez Reagan was handed a crap sandwich from Carter and got things fixed in three years. Obama needs eight? Epic failure! We'll pick someone else, thank you.
Just what have you achieved in life that you can feel superior to them?
As far as I'm concerned, the most obvious con ever perpetrated on the American public was that being nice to rich folks and letting them keep more of their money would lead to more prosperity for the rest of us. Thirty years of trickle-down have proved just the opposite. Now Mitt and Paul want to pull a U-turn and finish the job of sucking the country's wealth to the top.
Last Hoffa checked, the cuts in the marginal income tax rates affected everyone equally, not just the uber wealthy. It was a 20% across the board slash in the marginal rates. Obama's tax plan: Let the 20% cut in marginal income tax rates (Bush) expire for everyone December 31 of this year, thus your income taxes will increase by 20%. Increase the short term cap gains/dividends/interest tax rate to 45% and the long term rate to 35% for all income levels. Increase the corporate income tax rate, even though we're already one of the highest in the industrialized world. Romney's tax plan: Re-institute the Bush income tax cuts and make them permanent, with no sunset provision, thus effectively cutting your post December 31 marginal tax rate by 20%. Close loopholes for higher income earners. Eliminate the distinction between short and long term cap gains/dividends/interest, setting a universal rate of 15% and completely eliminating the federal tax on such income for everyone making less than $200k in AGI. Lower the corporate income tax rate to 15%, thus making us more competitive so that businesses stay here and employ people here instead of off-shoring to more business friendly countries. Honestly, which tax plan do you think would work better for the economic prosperity of all Americans?
Here are numbers they are NOT telling you: 1) 368,000 people STOPPED looking for work in August. Meaning they CANNOT be counted as unemployed. These people have no more unemployment benefits to claim and have realized there are zero jobs out there for them. If you were to re-calculate those numbers and include the people who are no longer looking for work, the unemployment rate would be 12%. This number does not include the UNDEREMPLOYED, or the people who have stopped looking for work over the past 3 years; that number would be an astonishing 23%. 2) 69% of men are working. Meaning 31% are not. The lowest % of working men since the 1940's. 3) The number of employed Americans is at the lowest number in the past 31 years. An incredible number considering there are more people now in the USA than there were in 1981. 4) A record high of 88,921,000 Americans whom are not in the civilian labor force. 5) The supposed "job growth" each month is LESS THAN the number of people LEAVING the workforce every month. People leaving the work force CANNOT be counted as unemployed. Obama is not working out for America. We need Romney/ Ryan to fix this country.