Mitt Romney wants a pen pal

Mitt Romney just wants a friend
(Rebecca Cook/Reuters) Willard writes a letter:

Dear Mr. President,

Welcome to Ohio.

I'm sure President Obama appreciates the sentiment, Mitt. But he doesn't arrive in Ohio until tomorrow. Plus, given that you were in Virginia and Illinois yesterday and are in Pennsylvania today, don't you think it's kind of weird to welcome him to someplace you're not?

Anyway, what else do you have to say, Mitt?

I have a simple question for you: Where are the jobs?

I have a simple answer for you: Ohio. But more on that later.

As we enter the fourth year of your term, unemployment is over 8 percent and has been for your entire term.

I'm glad you pointed that out, Mitt. You see, the last time Republicans were in charge, you guys presided over such a economic disaster that by the time President Obama entered office, unemployment was already nearly 8 percent and was skyrocketing. Soon, it hit 10 percent. But although it took some time to turn things around, we're on the right track now and unemployment is back down to 8.1 percent and falling.

I'm sure you've got more to say though, right?

Mr. President, forgive me for being blunt, but when it comes to economic affairs, you're out of your depth. Unlike you, I am not a career politician.

And also unlike President Obama, you're apparently an asshole. Perhaps that's the reason you weren't a career politician: voters didn't like you enough to vote for you. You were so unpopular as governor that you didn't even bother to run for reelection. And Rick Santorum almost beat you for the Republican nomination!

But anyway, you wanted to talk about jobs, Mitt.

If you have brought new ideas to Ohio for creating jobs, why have you waited three years to unveil them? Have you suddenly had a revelation, or is it because 2012 is an election year? Whatever the case, what you are offering Ohio now is too little, too late.

Well, Mitt, let's just review the facts. President Obama passed a stimulus plan, fought for middle-class tax cuts'including the payroll tax cut'and saved the auto industry. You opposed all of those things.

By the time Obama had signed the stimulus, unemployment in Ohio was already over 9 percent. Today it's dropped to 7.5 percent. More than 100,000 jobs have been created in Ohio since the start of 2010.

Let's compare that to the Bush-Republican record. When Bush took office, Ohio unemployment was 3.8 percent. Eight years later, it was 8.6 percent and rising. 170,000 jobs had been lost and the number was climbing.

I know you hate it when we point out what a fucking mess you guys left for President Obama to deal with, but those are the facts. It's your tough luck if you don't like them. Now, please, get the hell out of our way as we continue to clean things up and move forward.