It’s easy to see who Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is. He’s a fat cat. He’s a rich kid born sucking on a silver spoon. As a former executive for Bain & Co., he’s a tool of big business.
President Barack Obama Jr., a Democrat, is nowhere near as transparent.
Often accused of being a “socialist,” Obama clearly has leftist leanings nurtured in Hawaii by an early tutor, crackpot unionist Frank Davis Marshall and continued by Saul Alinsky, a Chicago-based community organizer who wrote “Rules for Radicals.”
On the surface, Obama looks like a licentious liberal, but take a gander at his campaign contributors, and you’ll see a president beholden not to the little people but to big bucks.
Of the top 10 companies with employees donating money to Obama’s campaign, three are big banks: JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The president’s other major contributors include employees from big companies such as Microsoft and Google.
Obama clearly favors Wall Street over Main Street.
Fraud goes unpunished
After Obama was elected in 2008, vanquished Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader pointed out that big businesses invested in Obama because he supported nuclear power, coal plants, offshore oil drilling and corporate subsidies. Nader predicted the administration would neglect to crack down on corporate crime and would allow the multi-billion-dollar military budget to grow.
Sadly, Nader’s foresight was right on.
Prosecution for financial fraud reached a 20-year low during Obama’s four years in the White House. In fact, the Wall Street banks whose malfeasance callously threw our country into its worst depression since the 1930s have gotten off scot free on Obama’s watch. And, instead of investigating Timothy Geithner’s criminal culpability in that whole mess, Obama appointed the former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as — can you believe it? — Secretary of the Treasury!
So there’s your choice when you go to the polls on Nov. 6. Either vote for the fat cat Republican or vote for the false-face Democrat. Either way, big banks and corporations win again.
Chicago Hot Six
They may be named the Chicago Hot Six, but the band’s style is sheer New Orleans.
“We aim for a very old New Orleans sound,” says bandleader/trombonist Roy Rubinstein. “That’s the music I most enjoy playing and listening to and it’s really the most authentic jazz.”
The Chicago Hot Six will perform from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, at Pensabene’s Casa Grande, 135 State Fair Blvd., in Syracuse. The concert is hosted by the Jazz Appreciation Society of Syracuse, said JASS President Bobby Morris, who lives in Liverpool.
Admission costs $10 for JASS members or $12 for non-members. For information, call Bobby at 652-0547.
Om Boys goes bye-bye
Om Boys Juice and Smoothie Café has abandoned its Liverpool location at 137 First St., in favor of Syracuse’s trendy Armory Square.
Operated by Todd and Michelle Brundage, Om Boys brought its wheat grass shots and Buddha bowls to First Street in October 2011. In August of this year, however, the Brundages moved the operation to 214 Walton St. down city. After a month of relative success there, they decided to close the Liverpool shop.
Just what we need — another darkened storefront.
Craft beers at Fastrac!
The Fastrac gas station and convenience store on Route 57 recently underwent interior renovations. The new look is wide open and attractive but, even better, the shop now offers tasty craft beers on draught sold in glass growlers.
The colorfully named brands on tap last weekend were Woodchuck Fall Cider, Arrogant Bastard Ale, Dogfish Head 60-minute IPA, Autumn Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale, Founders’ Dirty Bastard Ale and Sam Adams Octoberfest.
Prosit!
Fastrac is located just north of the Thruway at 7189 Oswego Road; 457-0199.
