Presidential Polls: 6 Simple Charts That Debunk The Romney Campaign Strategy

Impact

Consider the core attacks that the Romney campaign and Republicans have made against President Obama and Democrats. Then, take a moment and consider the credibility of the source. The Republican presidential ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan has been known to bend the truth with the American people. Many of their statements further show they are completely out of touch with the rest of America.

Obama has made the case that America is best when we focus on all efforts that strengthen the middle class. Romney and Republicans want to slash taxes for the wealthiest Americans and hope the "invisible hand," will lead to money trickeling down. These are two distinctly opposing views for how to manage the economy. If one approach works better than the other, then we should be able to see results when comparing "red states," to "blue states."

If Romney is right and broad-based prosperity emerges from top-down approaches and Republican governors and state legislatures then that is where we should see results, right? If we do see results then it should add to Republican credibility. If we don't then we should not listen to a word they say and we must conclude that their theories are proven inaccurate.

The now-viral video of Romney at a fundraiser shows that he believes 47% of people who are dependant upon governmnent will vote for Obama. Romney is talking about dependency on government for food, health care, housing ... etc. 

Well, if Republican states lead with the top-down approach and it works, then surely, these social problems should not exist in said Republican states. Their economic policies would clearly have fixed government dependency issues because enough "trickle down," will have lifted all boats right?      

It is time for you to do a little detective work to see if Republican solutions have got these problems fixed. I start the process here. However, next time you hear a Republican or Democrat make a claim that they are better on an issue, go look at states led by that party and by those ideas. Be a detective.  Ask the question: Are those ideas working elsewhere?

First, let's examine Romney's credibility on the issue that all the people who don't pay taxes will vote for Obama. He's assuming those voters would impact the outcome of the elections and swing it in the favor of Obama. 

Where are the people who don't pay taxes?

The states with the top 10 highest quantity of citizens that pay no taxes are in traditionally red, conservative states. Romney is basically talking about his own base here.

So, what about dependency on government food programs. Surely this must be most heavy in Democrats states right? The Republican trickle-down theory works right? If that assertion is true, then results should be visible ... citizens in Republican states must be better off.

Take a look at usage of the food assistance program that Republicans mention most: food stamps.  Where does food stamp usage occur? 

 

The highest concentration of people using the very program they disparage the most is in traditionally Republican-run states. Does this show they have credibility on the issues? Are their trickle down theories working? Is the rising tide of the wealthy raising all boats? 

What about dependency on government run health care? Or, how about the issue overall. Republicans have attacked Obama ad nauseum since the president was brave enough to take on and negotiate an issue that was ripping business apart. Yes, one of business leaders' chief concerns with regards to hiring before to the Affordable Care Act was that health care costs were spiraling upwards. Coverage was being dropped left and right. Obama negotiated a fix for the issue, which Republicans attack.  

This must mean that Republicans are doing exceptionally well solving the problems of the uninsured and prehaps even broad health issues like the obesity epidemic, and that they have all the credibility and we should listen to them.  

Well, take a look at levels of insurance coverage by state. Does it show that Republicans approach to health care, or trickle down economics has credibility? Does their approach get more people insured?  Does it get more people healthy?

Well, the highest concentration of the uninsured are in Republican states. Many of the core Democrat-led states have half, or one quarter the numbers of uninsured as Republicans. Of course there are exceptions to that, but if Republicans ideas are so good then states following their leadership should have achieved the pinacle of success in health care coverage. They have not, so do Republicans have credibility on the health care issue?

Check out a map of the adult obesity issue. This should lend credibility to the Republican approach.

Well, no. No it doesn't. It shows that the heaviest portion of the population is in traditionally conservative states. Do Republicans have credibility when they attack Obama on health care? Are their solutions working so well to solve the core issues that we should implicity trust everything we hear Republicans say about health care?

 

Now, I don't propose universal government run health care, but Republicans are vehemently against it.  Check out a comparison between the results on the obesity issue within Canada where there is government run health care.

Curious. Republicans attack government-run health care so much, but the nearest country to us, which has 100% government run health care, achieves better results than many Republican-led states.  Not only that, repealing the Affordable Care Act, "Obamacare," increases socialism as I point out here.

Also, where Republican plans have failed to solve any of the core health care problems, take a look at the text of one section of the Affordable Care Act "Prevention of Chronic Disease and Improving Public Health." The costs of long term chronic disease care is one of the primary reasons why health care costs skyrocket. Read parts of Title IV on healthcare.gov. Title IV addresses prevention of the most costly diseases that show up most heavily in Republican states as seen above. In the next decade we may save a trillion dollars from people who never get sick in the first place. One of the most knowledgeable Republican leaders now supports "Obamacare."

Republican and Former Majority Leader in the Senate Bill Frist, who happens to be a surgeon, is now a vocal supporter of the Affordable Care Act. Now, he even partners with Tom Daschle, his former arch rival, in promoting the Affordable Care Act. Read the explanation why this powerful Republican and health care expert believes so strongly in the Affordable Care Act.

So, income inequality is highest in Republican states by the main measure that covers this. Does this mean Republicans trickle down economics approach is working for everyone? 

Take a look at some more information that explains the "GINI" index and shows you a breakdown of inequality by county here.

Democrats propose doing everything possible to raise standards for the middle class. Republicans propose tax cuts for the wealthy and slashing programs that help the poor. Republicans' biggest complaints seem to be the number of people who don't pay taxes, people on government food assistance, and health care issues. Now you've seen some maps of where the highest intensity of food stamp usage is, the highest levels of adult obesity are, and the highest levels of uninsured.  Republicans cannot win on the strength of their ideas and the results of their policies in Republican run states. On the national level, after Republicans held the Congress and White House with Bush for two terms the entire country imploded. We lost 839,000 jobs in December 2008 in the last month of the Bush presidency.  

Obama and the Democrats ask that we go forward with them, rather than backwords towards the failed Republican policies we just tried. Democrats propose strengthening the middle class, while Republicans propose more tax cuts for the wealthy. By looking at results nationally and in Republican led states we need to get as far away from those ideas as possible. Democrats' ideas go directly to the heart of the problems and will move us forwards. Even if some of the ideas fail, Republicans have shown that they have zero credibility on the core issues they are most vocal about.