I didn't get to see anything but the last few seconds. What did you think of Ann Romney's speech? Did she make progress towards convincing women voters to vote for her husband? Just curious...

Loved Ann Romney's speech. Love Ann Romney. Nobody can tell me that someone who raises 5 boys, has NOT done a day's work in their life. She's a strong lady and physical struggles appear to have added to those strengths. I'm not going to go on because I know how some of you feel about the election. Don't want to get off on a tangent. Prayers and blessings...

I really don't think any of the political wives make that much difference. If you like Romney, you're likely to like his wife. If you like Obama, same thing. Let's face it: the women aren't running for anything and, not surprisingly, are pretty biased toward their own husbands. And that's as it should be.

Ann Romney is obviously a lovely person and a wonderful wife and mother. I thought she did fine -- I read the text of the speech -- but maybe laid it a little heavy on the mom thing. Women are valuable whether they are mothers or not; so are men. What I'd think we'd be looking for are adults who are hard-working and pay their taxes.


No, I don't think either of the Romnneys have a clue what ordinary people are like. As terrible as Ann's MS is, she has never had to worry about being able to afford the best treatments, never had to worry about losing her house or her job -- or both. That doesn't make her a bad person, of course. She is who she is.

I suspect that people made up their minds about the candidates long ago. If you tend to see Romney as Richie Rich, well, his wife is the same. If you see Obama as a shady, socialist lightweight, you see his wife the same way.

I disagree. The older generation used to say, you're known by the company you keep. I suspect respect and truthfulness and likability are attributes contributing to building a lasting love. The President did a lot of damage to himself telling small business owners they didn't build their own enterprise. That's a highly resentful statement to folks' toiling day-in and day-out to turn their ideas into successful ventures.

Well, Obama's "you didn't build that" quote is taken out of context, of course. It's the second half of a point he was making.

Hopefully most people realize that. But the Republicans sure are trying to make the most of it.

Here's an article from the Wall Street Journal taht discusses it in more depth.

IMHO both sides are spewing lies. People the world over get help on their way to maturity. That goes without saying. But we've all seen folks' working their tails off to make homespun ventures succeed. Wonder what the DEMS are gonna pull out of the hat and/or take out of context????

Anne, I know you like The President; and, of course, that's your
choice. I respect and admire everybody's right to chose. Thank God for a free society!!!! It'll be an interesting election. That's for sure!!!!

Thanks for your thoughts, Jabber,

Keep in mind, I was speaking not so much as a supporter of Obama -- I'm really an independent, not a Republican OR Democrat -- but as a small business owner myself. I have owned my own business and been self-supporting for about 17 years now. And I grew up in an entrepreneurial family. My father and both grandfathers were also business owners.

The concept of making a living by carving something out of nothing more than an idea you bring to life is in my blood. I don't think I could any longer work for an employer. And I respect everyone who births an idea and nurtures it into a livlihood.

And as a business owner, I also recognize that I could not enjoy the success I have had, if I were operating totally on my own.

My business DOES manage to exist because the roads are in reasonably good shape, the postal service works, I can count on my electricity being there for me each morning when I get up, I know there will be food to buy when I go to the grocery store, just as I am confident that my pharmacist will dispense trustworthy, safe and reliable drugs and that there will be gas in the pipeline when I go fill up my car.

I make my living online, but I did not invent the Internet -- someone did that for me; I don't have to worry about my Internet connection staying up all the time -- someone else's service does that for me; I don't host the NABBW websites personally -- I rely on a hosting company to manage that.

IF I or any other business owner or entrepreneur had to manage all those things along with running a business, life would be a lot more challenging -- and I'd have to give up on the development of the business, so that I could spend all my time managing my and my family's mere existence.

I think that is what Obama meant to express in that line from his speech that has become so much quoted.

Thus, as a business owner, I wasn't offended by that speech -- though it does sound bad in the snippet of quote that the Republicans have seized upon...

I think the whole speech is online, and if anyone wants to hear the line in its full context, where I don't think it sounds offensive to business owners -- just Google the phrase "You didn't build that."

Beyond that, I totally agree wit you: Neither party is blameless. Neither party is perfect. But, that is the nature of politics, IMHO...

Front page of this evening's paper "TRUTH TORN TO SHREDS BY ADS"
"Both political parties will stretch the truth if they believe it will advance their political interests," noted Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post's fact-checker. This report lists 4 claims made by the Dems and then lists the truth beneath them. The bottom line is politicians of both parties are treating the truth like a stranger, and are ignoring the issues that really matter. Politifact and FactCheck.org are referrenced.

In the back of section A, "Everybody's Column" mentions a
new documentary titled: "2016: Obama's America." My SIL went to see this with a Congresswoman friend of hers. Here's a snipet,
"Make no mistake about it, Obama represents the greatest threat to current and future generations of liberty-loving Americans."

The postal service is going bankrupt and considering cutting back with no Saturday deliveries. You can't always count on the electricity; it fails often. And pharmacists don't always dispense trustworthy meds. Look at the lawsuits because the FDA should not have approved certain drugs for the marketplace. Side affects alone can make you sick.

This movie, "2016: Obama's America," delineates Obama's anti-capitalism belief and reveals his agenda to reduce America's influence around the world, beginning with his systematic dismantling of our economy and military defenses.

Please don't get bummed at me; this information is from the Evening Newspaper!

Well, I agree: that quote sounded absolutely awful and I can understand why people were offended. Even though I suspect he meant that no one toils entirely alone, he'll have to live with his poor choice of words ---

Just as Mitt Romney has to deal with "I like firing people." That one didn't sound any too good, either, especially to people who are struggling with jobs or who have already been let go.

By the way, one of biggest reasons the Post Office is having so much trouble is because of a 2006 law requiring them to make annual payments to fund 75 years' worth of future retiree health benefits in 10 years. So far, they have paid more than $21 billion into a special fund, but are having trouble.

That's the biggest drain on them, but they are also having to deal with lowered volumes and a need to become more efficient. I can think of plenty of things to criticize the president for, but am not sure how a law passed before he became president shows how he's bringing down the country.

Whoever is elected in November is going to have to deal with some new financial realities that are a threat to all of us, for example, continuing fallout from the LIBOR scandal. This from wikipedia:

The scandal arose when it was discovered that banks were falsely inflating or deflating their rates so as to profit from trades, or to give the impression that they were more creditworthy than they were. Libor underpins approximately $350 trillion in derivatives. It is controlled by the British Bankers' Association (BBA).

The banks are supposed to submit the actual interest rates they are paying for borrowing from other banks. ...Because Libor is used in U.S. derivatives markets, an attempt to manipulate Libor is an attempt to manipulate U.S. derivatives markets, and thus a violation of American law.

Since mortgages, student loans, financial derivatives, and other financial products often rely on Libor as a reference rate, the manipulation of submissions used to calculate those rates can have significant negative effects on consumers and financial markets worldwide.

On July 27th, 2012, the Financial Times published an article by a former trader which said that Libor manipulation has been common since at least 1991.

I'm not going to pretend that I understand this stuff, but I do get that people like you and me have been jerked around for false profits. (Real profits to me being selling goods and being paid for them, not manipulating money).

This is not the Democrats or the Republicans; this is big, international trade that includes us. But, you know, if we can all get to blaming each other, we might not notice the thieves sneaking out the back door.....

Good points, as usual, Ellemm.