There are just a few months left before the November presidential elections. The choice has been made for many by voting in simple terms — Democrat or Republican and Obama or Romney. However, what has been obscure to most, is that these two individuals actually are more alike than they are different. We know about the basics: they both like “Star Trek,” they attended Harvard Law School and the and they enjoy the television situational comedy “Modern Family,” but they are also alike from a policy perspective. Here are ten examples in which they are more alike than different.
1. The signature legislative accomplishment of Obama which Romney has said he will repeal and replace “ObamaCare” was “RomneyCare,” which was the model for The Affordable Care Act.
2. Both want to expand federal spending on Medicaid to help states cover residents who cannot afford health insurance.
3. The big Wall Street Banks who received TARP bailout money were top Obama donors in 2008, and the same are top Romney donors in 2012.
4. The Obama Administration has yet to prosecute a single Wall Street executive for malfeasance related to the 2007–2008 financial crash. Wall Street’s aforementioned donation patterns makes for a compelling conclusion: A Romney Administration would be no different.
5. Both oppose a full, annual, transparent, audit of the Federal Reserve’s finances and activities, suggesting the need for “Fed independence” from Congress.
6. Both would like a Value Added Tax as a potential fiscal policy solution and support international cap and trade policies via global carbon regulatory treaty and are both supporters of strict gun control measures.
7. Both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney prioritize “reducing our dependence on foreign oil,” pursuing alternative energy sources, and setting regulatory efficiency standards as part of federal energy policy.
8. Mitt Romney also supports the continued raids and prosecution of medical marijuana dispensaries (and even patients) that have characterized Obama Administration as well as Bush-era policy on medical marijuana.
9. Neither Obama nor Romney has military experience and both support the Bush era doctrine of preemptive war.
10. Neither Romney, nor Obama have offered a plan of detailed, substantive spending cuts to the out-of-control federal budget.
These are just ten ways. I could go on and speak of how they both support executive line item vetoes, support continuing drug prohibition and the forty-year-old, Nixon-era War on Drugs, the legitimate power of the president to execute American citizens by “targeted killing” done in secret without charges or trial, support the controversial practice of extraordinary rendition, and their mutual support for support the warrantless wiretapping of the Bush-era USA Patriot Act. The truth is outside of ethnicity, religious faith and party, they are the same
