Month: February 2009

This country is in a financial crisis unmatched since the Great Depression.  Just about every state, most notably California, has tremendous budget deficits and faces cutting education funding in  a drastic way.  Additionally, with so many people losing their jobs every month, a total of 3.6 million in the past year, and 600,000 just in December alone, health care coverage that came with employment is lost.

The Democrats wish to provide funding for education cuts faced in the states, and also to cover partially the COBRA costs faced by unemployed workers and families.  This is an education and health care crisis of massive proportions, that needs to be addressed by the federal government.   There is nothing more that offers hope and a future to millions of Americans than providing necessary aid for education and health care.  There is no way for those less fortunate to improve their situation than a massive federal stimulus.  Tax cuts are simply not enough and would likely go primarily to the upper class, which has benefited unjustly from the Bush tax cuts of the past eight years. 

In the midst of this dire situation, the GOP is proving again its lack of concern for the middle and lower classes in America.  Not one Republican in the House came to support of the House version of the economic stimulus bill, and only a few seem at the moment to be backing the Senate version, which is NOT as good as the House version.  There will be troubles reconciling the two bills in a conference committee to reflect the real needs of the country.  One can certainly applaud the few GOP senators who seem to be willing to cross party lines.  Kudos to Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.  They are demonstrating statesmanlike behavior and this should be copied by other senators and at least some congressmen in the party of Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. 

One has to wonder what Lincoln and TR would think of the modern Republicans who have brought us to this state of financial collapse and now refuse, except for a few, to recognize that they are in Washington DC to represent ALL of their constituents, not just the elite upper and business classes!

Mitt Romney, former Republican governor of Massachusetts and Presidential candidate, has chimed in with his opinion of Barack Obama’s first two weeks, declaring that Obama has had a "rocky start", and that he wishes he had won the election last year.

This sounds to me like sour grapes and a lot of envy on Romney’s part, as the thought of him in the White House right now is enough to deepen a person’s sense of depression, as well as the real life depression that many Americans are facing, as we confront the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. 

Romney has no real answers or solutions, just criticism, and he, like most congressional Republicans, are playing politics and not showing support for a new President at a time when he and we really need that.  There is plenty of time for criticism and political attacks, but the time is not at the beginning of a term.  Why not let Obama have what he wants, and if it does not succeed, then attack, but don’t kill the program before it is enacted.

This is the problem with both Romney and his party–unwillingness to take responsibility for much of what has happened and to offer unity behind the new President and his program, to allow him a honeymoon of support UNTIL we can see if the programs and ideas work.

It seems as if we cannot be free for long without news of Sarah Palin, the Alaska Governor and 2008 Republican Vice Presidential candidate.

Palin has become the center of attention again due to her media campaign and also to Ashley Judd’s denunciation of her promotion of wolf killing from airplanes in Alaska.  It is perfectly understandable that anyone with any sense of environmentalism and respect for wildlife would think of aerial killing of wolves as barbaric and unacceptable.  Hunting is one thing; aerial hunting sounds like something Dick Cheney would do !  🙂

Meanwhile, Palin tells us that everything one needs to know one can learn from sports, and she reveals that she had a long time ambition to be an ESPN sportscaster until she learned she would have to live in or near Bristol, Connecticut, had she worked for that station, too far from Alaska, so instead she named her oldest daughter Bristol.  One has to wonder is Sarah Palin joking, but on second thought we realize she is not!

One has to say again and again:  Why, oh why did John McCain have to unleash on us a running mate who, upon further thought, makes former Vice President Dan Quayle seem like a genius, which he certainly was not?  :)  What can be done to convince Sarah Palin to stay in Alaska and do her job and stop pursuing the national media spotlight?  Someone needs to tell her to give up her fantasy of being President, as she has no chance and, were somehow the people of this nation to elect her, it would mean the downfall of intelligent civilization!

President Obama is to be applauded for promoting access to the news media so readily and frequently already after only two weeks in office.

He has held interviews with many television and cable correspondents already, including five just today, as part of his attempt to promote public support of his economic stimulus package.  He has presented a relaxed image and has admitted mistakes and taken responsibility for "messing up" on some of his appointees who have withdrawn.  He has come across as a "regular" fellow and reminds one of the media approach of John F. Kennedy.  What  a total difference from the lack of accessibility and openness of George W. Bush!

My thought is that IF he continues this approach to the media, Barack Obama will be able to gain the backing of the American people in most of his endeavors and his public opinion rating will therefore remain high.  He has the ability to use the media contact as a "bully pulpit", much like Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy utilized it  in the last century. Bravo to the President for a great start in this regard!

It is time for the Republicans in Congress to stop playing politics and support the Economic Stimulus package proposed by President Obama and backed by many GOP governors in a public statement today.

Governors Charlie Crist of Florida, Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, and Jim Douglas of Vermont are among the Republican governors who have made clear that they want to see the success of President Obama, despite their party affiliations, as a necessary part of the economic recovery that is needed to benefit the whole nation.  They are not taking the negative, obstructionist attitude of Rush Limbaugh, the House Republicans and many Senate Republicans.  So the governors, who have to deal with reality on the ground in their states, are appealing for bi-partisan support, which we can hope will resonate with their congressional colleagues.  The economic situation is desperate and getting worse by the day, so how about it for once, Republicans, do what is right for the masses instead of only what is good for the elite upper class!

President Obama and the nation suffered a loss today when Tom Daschle, the former Senate Majority Leader, and nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary in the President’s cabinet, decided to withdraw his name because of a tax problem that embarrassed him and would have made his confirmation hearings more contestable, although it was clear he would have been confirmed.

Daschle was considered the right person to promote a national health care plan after more than sixty years of constant failure to bring about such a program, dating back originally to the Truman Presidency.  Therefore, it is a significant blow to the ongoing plans for national health care legislation.  Obama set such a high standard for ethics that the result is he has faced problems with several nominees and some have withdrawn in addition to Daschle, the most significant being Bill Richardson.

Obama must quickly find a replacement for Daschle, as the issue of health care is one of the most important goals of his Presidency, and he must seek out the best possible candidate to fill this position sooner rather than later.  I would like to suggest Dr. Howard Dean, the former Vermont Governor, presidential contender in 2004, and recent head of the Democratic National Committee who brought about the 50 state strategy that led to the Democratic victory in the 2008 Presidential election.  No position has yet been offered to Dean, and it seems to me his nomination would be an excellent choice for this cabinet post!