Bipartisanship

The Strange Feeling About Mitt Romney Leaving The Senate: Regret!

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The surprising news that Utah Senator Mitt Romney is retiring at the end of his term in 2024 leaves this blogger and author feeling regret.

While a major critic of Romney when he ran for President in 2012 against Barack Obama, Romney redeemed himself in the Senate since 2019, including being the only Republican Senator to vote to convict Donald Trump in both impeachment trials.

Romney also acted in a bipartisan manner with Joe Biden, although their differences are still quite clear on many issues.

But Romney was really one of a very few Republican Senators who engendered respect as decent, competent, and principled.

It has now been revealed about his strong criticism of Senators Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and J D Vance, and his disappointment with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and this redeems his reputation mightily!

With his retirement, only Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski is really the old style Republican, as even Maine Senator Susan Collins has been totally unreliable.

And whoever replaces Romney in the Senate from Utah is unlikely to have the distinction and dignity that Mitt Romney represents!

Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips Considering Challenge Of Joe Biden!

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Minnesota Democratic Congressman Dean Phillips, a moderate centrist Democrat, is considering a challenge of President Biden for the Democratic Presidential nomination, as long a shot as that is.

Phillips is the representative of the western suburbs of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St Paul, and has voted with the President on almost every issue, but is seen as the 27th most bipartisan House member, and is a member of the Problem Solvers Caucus, made up of members of both parties who promote bipartisanship; and also a member of the New Democrat Coalition, a group of liberal and moderate Democrats who promote centrist views.

Phillips has some distinctions of interest, including that his paternal grandmother was “Dear Abby”–Abigail Van Buren, real name Pauline Phillips.

Also, Phillips owned Talenti Gelato until he sold the company, and he is one of the wealthiest members of Congress.

Also, Phillips happens to be Jewish, and his birthday is January 20, which means were he to be elected President at any time, he would be inaugurated on his birthday, and would be 56 on January 20, 2025.

Age 55 and 105 days is the average age of all Presidents if all their ages upon inauguration are compiled, and averaged out, and is considered the “ideal” age for any President!

However, the reaction among Democrats is that the thought of Phillips challenging Biden and being able to win the White House is that it is a fantasy, although less so than the looney Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is backed by Trump supporters to cause trouble for Biden!

Joe Biden Makes Clear In Philadelphia Speech The Dangers Presented By “MAGA” Republicans!

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President Joe Biden delivered a blistering attack last night in Philadelphia, the “Cradle of Liberty” against former President Donald Trump and the threat of “MAGA” Republicans to American democracy and the rule of law!

Biden pulled no punches, abandoning the idea of bipartisanship, which he had promoted for so many years in the US Senate, as the vast majority of the Republican Party has become, as Biden calls it, “Semi Fascist”.

The speech reminded this author of similar speeches by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in defending his “New Deal” in the time of the Great Depression, and FDR’s strong rebuttals of “isolationists”, who opposed his foreign policy in the lead up to World War II!

It also reminded this author of Harry Truman challenging the Republican Party in 1948, the famous “Give Them Hell Harry” campaign for reelection, which seemed hopeless, but with the result of a stunning election victory against all public opinion polls at the time!

17 Republicans Join 50 Democrats In First Senate Vote On Physical Infrastructure Legislation

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In a surprising development, 17 Republican Senators joined the 50 Democratic Senators to vote for a version of the Physical Infrastructure legislation, a promising sign of bipartisanship.

The 17 Republicans who voted in favor include:

Roy Blunt Missouri
Richard Burr North Carolina
Shelley Moore Capito West Virginia
Bill Cassidy Louisiana
Susan Collins Maine
Kevin Cramer North Dakota
Mike Crapo Idaho
Lindsey Graham South Carolina
Chuck Grassley Iowa
John Hoeven North Dakota
Mitch McConnell Kentucky
Lisa Murkowski Alaska
Rob Portman Ohio
James Risch Idaho
Mitt Romney Utah
Thom Tillis North Carolina
Todd Young Indiana

This list includes moderates Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Mitt Romney, but also leading figures in the party, including Lindsey Graham, Chuck Grassley, Mitch McConnell, and Rob Portman. It also includes both Republican Senators from North Carolina, North Dakota, and Idaho, an unlikely scenario!

And yet, Donald Trump has condemned this move in the Senate, and particularly attacked Mitt Romney, terming him a RINO (Republican In Name Only), and it is all jealousy that he was unable to accomplish any infrastructure legislation during his Presidency, despite saying it was an important goal!

It is good to see that Republicans are ignoring Donald Trump on this matter, and hopefully, the party will wrest its freedom from the danger that Donald Trump represents!

Joe Biden And Infrastructure: Showing Proof Of Bipartisanship, But Also “Reconciliation” Tactic Being Used

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This is a defining moment on the issue of infrastructure, as it appears that enough Republican Senators have agreed to back a $1 trillion plan on roads, bridges, railways, and broadband.

Clearly, the disaster in Surfside, Florida, where a condominium building collapsed, causing a major loss of life, and demonstrating the danger of global warming on buildings near waterways and coast lines, makes infrastructure projects, long needed, an urgent matter.

But additionally, there is a need for spending on “human infrastructure”, including child care, education, and health care, part of Joe Biden’s American Families Plan, which few if any Republicans will support.

So clearly Budget “Reconciliation”, where the 50 Democratic Senators plus Vice President Kamala Harris together will be enough to pass such larger spending priorities.

Certainly, the bipartisan deal is essential, but the Human “Infrastructure” in some form of legislation, is essential.

Political maneuvering and some compromises will be unavoidable to keep all Democrats in support of the broader legislation in some form.

Republicans In Congress Defying Their Own Voters In Refusal To Work With President Joe Biden!

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The Republicans in Congress are committing political suicide by refusing en masse to support President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill, as well as the earlier COVID 19 legislation, and apparently, every other initiative, just as they did with Barack Obama during his Presidency.

The difference is that polls show a vast majority of Americans, including many Republican voters, actually like what Joe Biden is doing, and that they understand the need for bipartisanship in a time of the worst health crisis in a century, and the worst economic crisis in 90 years.

The rate of vaccinations is being accomplished much faster than Joe Biden had projected, nearing 200 million shots, twice what he forecast for the first 100 days of his Presidency.

And the economy is reviving, with nearly one million new jobs in March.

All this and more insures Joe Biden and the Democrats will have public backing for gun regulations, rise in the minimum wage, and so much more, and the Republicans will be left in the dust of history, due to their intransigence!

The Destructive Impact Of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Needs To End In Georgia Senate Runoffs!

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is the most powerful Republican in Congress, having a leadership position for 18 years, as Senate Majority Whip from 2003-2007; Senate Minority Leader from 2007-2015, and Senate Majority Leader from 2015-2021, with his future as either Majority Leader or Minority Leader depending on the two Georgia Senate runoffs taking place next week.

McConnell has been much vilified for his obstructionism tactics under President Barack Obama, and his refusal to allow hearings for Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland in 2016. Also, he focused on adding over 200 judges to the federal judiciary, including three Supreme Court nominees, under President Donald Trump.

McConnell will be 79 in February 2021, nine months older than Joe Biden, and the two men have worked together over the years in the Senate and the Vice Presidency years of Biden, so it is hoped there might be some cooperation and bipartisanship, but one cannot count on that.

And the Georgia Senate runoff elections next week will decide the exact role of McConnell.

McConnell has the distinction of being the longest serving US Senator in Kentucky history; and the longest serving leader of Senate Republicans in US History, and now starting his seventh term.

So within the next few months, McConnell will go from being presently 23rd longest serving Senator in American history to being 16th longest, as seven Senators ahead of him include not only Joe Biden, but also others he will pass between January 3 and the end of March. And if he stays in the Senate until the end of his seventh term in January 2027, just less than two months short of age 85, he will have passed all but six Senators, or possibly seven, if Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa wins reelection in 2022 at the age of 89.

While in many ways McConnell is despicable and horrendous, his longevity is amazing, and he will go down in history as a major “player” in the history of the US Senate and the Republican Party!

Three Profiles In Courage: John McCain Of Arizona, Lisa Murkowski Of Alaska, Susan Collins Of Maine

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It is appropriate to salute three Republican Senators who stopped the destruction of ObamaCare, due to their feeling that despite the shortcomings of the program, that to just repeal it and leave millions of Americans with no health coverage was intolerable.

Senator John McCain of Arizona, a true independent and maverick, has often exasperated many political observers, and this blogger was upset earlier last week when McCain voted to promote votes on various alternatives, including repeal without replacement, but then voted to kill the idea once there was the opportunity to do so.

We now learn that former Vice President Joe Biden, a good friend, and former Senator Joe Lieberman, the Vice Presidential running mate of Al Gore in 2000, contacted McCain and convinced him that this was the right thing to do.

This kind of bipartisanship is precisely what is needed, and is missing from today’s political scence.

The courage of the two women Senators, who could not have alone stopped the Republican plan to destroy ObamaCare, must also be acknowledged, and sadly, some misogyny was utilized against them by the right wing, but Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska showed how principled and decent they were, and deserve great credit.

Both Collins and Murkowksi are tough, and they are not intimidated, with Collins having always been independent oriented, and Murkowski losing the party primary in 2010, running as a write in Independent candidate, and winning over her Republican and Democratic opponents, and then winning in 2016.

The outrage that the Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke, at Donald Trump’s orders, threatened Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, the other Alaska Senator, with cuts in funding for Alaska in the Department budget did not intimidate Murkowski, as she postponed committee hearings and votes in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which she heads. She knows how to play Hardball, and Trump has met his match in her, as well as Collins.

Disappointing, however, was the third woman Senator thought united with them, Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, but caving in to pressure from Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, quite shocking since West Virginia has more people on Medicaid and in poverty than almost all states in America.

The Undermining Of Civility In America Long Lasting Damage, Setting Us Back From Progress Which Had Been Made In The 1950s, 1960s And 1970s

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Civility is a lost art in America, with the two major political parties no longer able to work cooperatively for American advancement.

We now live in a society in which most people only read, watch, and listen to those who profess their religious and political beliefs.

A dialogue in which both sides respect their opponents is no longer conceivable, and one wonders what event will unite the American people and allow a return to reasonable discourse.

Will we ever have a President who is able to appeal across party lines and party beliefs?

In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, there was a lot more bipartisanship on many issues, and much more “crossing the aisle”, rather than straight party line votes.

Members of Congress used to spend weekends with “friends” and their families despite different party labels.

That sense of camaraderie and shared commitment to do what is good for the nation is totally gone in 2017.

“Bad Blood” is now the norm, with little interaction, and even basic courtesies and manners are no longer utilized.

After Seven Years, Republicans Seem Ready To Accept Reforms Of ObamaCare Through BiPartisan Deal With Democrats!

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After seven years of constant and vehement opposition of Republicans to Barack Obama’s signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act of 2010, it now seems as if the Republican Party in Congress is about ready to “throw in the towel”, and accept the continuation of ObamaCare with reforms and changes brought about by bipartisan cooperation with Democrats.

The statement of Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader, conceding the likelihood of giving up the fight to obliterate ObamaCare, was a stunning moment of concession, and shows how the Republican Party is well aware of the impact of trying to end health care coverage for 20-30 million under ObamaCare and Medicaid expansion.

The fury of constituents at town halls is very clear, and is a sign that if enough reaction on any injustice can be promoted by those who want to prevent destructive action, it can actually lead to concessions.

But this also makes clear the total panic of the GOP about the upcoming midterm elections in 16 months, which could lead to a Democratic controlled House of Representatives.

There is even concern that the Republicans could lose the Senate, although that still seems a real long shot, as only 8 Republicans, compared to 25 Democrats, face election in 2018.

The only way possible for a Democratic controlled Senate in 2019-2020 would be if all 25 Democrats or their successors retained those seats, highly unlikely, and to win three of the eight GOP seats, but that would mean winning not only Dean Heller’s seat in Nevada and Jeff Flake’s seat in Arizona, but also Ted Cruz’s seat in Texas.

To kick the obnoxious, egotistical, and arrogant Ted Cruz out of the Senate would be a major coup, but to expect it to occur is highly doubtful at this point.

All of the Senate seats will be discussed at the proper time over the next 16 months on this blog, but right now, the emphasis must be on the gaining of the House of Representatives, by winning 24 or more seats, and immediately, the retention of ObamaCare, with necessary reforms!