Month: October 2009

Time For Use Of “Reconciliation” To Enact Health Care Reform

Ronald 2 Comments

The tactic of “reconciliation”, requiring only 50 votes if the Vice President breaks the tie, or 51 votes majority in the Senate to enact legislation, is ready to be utilized if the conservative Democrats, including Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and Max Baucus of Montana, refuse to be loyal to their party and complicate the passage by not cooperating to overcome a filibuster.

The “reconciliation” tactic has been used before, as for instance to enact the two Bush tax cuts, so there is no reason why it cannot be used now to bring about the most important legislation in at least a generation.

Statements by Senator Nelson and Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma that such a tactic would be wrong is pure hypocrisy, and it is time to make it clear to both the GOP and the conservative Democrats that the party will ignore them and pass legislation over their heads if they refuse to cooperate!

Eight Years Of An Interminable War In Afghanistan: Enough!

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Today marks eight years since the invasion of Afghanistan after the attack on September 11, 2001.

For a brief while, President Bush’s decision to invade united the American people, and it seemed as if we would find Osama Bin Laden and overcome Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Then we messed up big time and were further diverted by deciding to go to war against Saddam Hussein and Iraq, and that war dragged on and took our eye off the ball.

Now after eight years, longer than any war in US History a month from now, we have had 865 Americans killed and 570 of our NATO allies, and we are no closer to victory, whatever that is.

The belief is that the war will drag on for years, with heavier losses and with mounting national debt, and without any guarantee or likelihood of victory. Can we continue to throw our money and our youth down the chute in what is basically an impossible terrain with a corrupt government which has never been able to unite the tribesmen of the area, a country which Alexander the Great, the British, and the Russians could not conquer?

The answer is NO, that it it time to cut our losses, simply use aerial bombing and drones and intelligence gathering to keep Al Qaeda and the Taliban at bay, but we cannot be the world’s savior, and at this time, many NATO allies are planning to scale back, and that is what this nation needs to do.

We can promote the defense of our nation without sacrificing courageous young men and women in a hell hole that no one can possibly expect to win. In fact, we have to ask: What would be a win anyway? Enough is enough! President Obama: Have the courage to say NO MORE and bring our troops home!

Illegal Immigration And Health Care

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The movement toward health care reform specifically eliminates any illegal or undocumented immigrant from coverage, and this is one of the most politically incendiary principles brought up by opponents of any legislation.

President Obama has also made it clear that no such illegals will be covered, and no one is openly willing to face the issue that presents itself daily. What is to be done if an illegal or undocumented alien is taken ill or injured in an accident?

Are we to refuse medical treatment and let such an individual die? Are we to turn our backs on such people, and treat them as less significant than a pet?

This is the quandary we are in. The fact that someone is illegal is a major problem, but can we just dump such people on the street and let them die, particularly when many of the illegals are young people? If denial of care is seen as desirable, what if such a person has a communicable disease?

This is an issue that torments people of religious faith, and anyone who believes in human decency and dignity. The cost of such care is estimated to be about one billion dollars. Are we to allow money to take away our responsibility to fellow human beings, even if they are “illegal”?

This is a question of conscience, not easily addressed or answered!

Health Insurance Company Abuse Supported By Several States Regarding “Domestic Violence”

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As part of the health care reform being considered by Congress, the push is on to ban “domestic violence” against women as a “preexisting condition” that prevents battered women from being eligible to be covered.

Is there anything more venal and disgusting than this? And to think that several states still allow that to be a factor in limiting health care coverage! The guilty states, which should be ashamed of themselves, include Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Idaho, plus, unbelievably, the District of Columbia! How in the world can any state or jurisdiction allow this? How can we, in good conscience, allow in the past, present or future that any health insurance company is permitted to justify this in the name of decency?

This is another reason why, despite great fears by many people and most conservatives and Republicans, that we cannot continue to allow health care to be totally controlled by private corporations and backward states that have no concern for human dignity!

The federal government option MUST be offered so that everyone in this country is allowed to have dignity when it comes to health care!

Five Prominent Republicans Back Obama Push For Health Care

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It is great news to see that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has joined former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson in calling for an overhaul of the health care system through support of President Obama’s push for reform. Also, as reported earlier, Bob Dole and Howard Baker, two other GOP Senate Majority Leaders from earlier times, have backed the need for change.

Only one Republican senator, Olympia Snowe of Maine, seems willing to move in that direction, and the fact that four significant Republicans from the past and the governor of our largest state are breaking ranks with the “just say No” Republicans in Congress is therefore an encouraging move.

Obama has also met with a group of doctors from the the fifty states, as he is becoming more intimately involved in pushing for what a majority of Americans say is essential–to change the nature of our health care system so that we finally bring almost all Americans under the umbrella of protection, a step that should have occurred long ago!

Midterm Elections No Barometer Of Presidential Election Results

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After nine months in office, with the economy still seeing negative figures on unemployment and foreclosures, it is tempting for the opposition Republicans to believe that the midterm election is a time of major gains, and a forerunner of success in the next Presidential election. However, history tells us otherwise.

Ronald Reagan was President during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression in the early 1980s, and his party lost seats in Congress in 1982, but then the economy turned around in 1983 and 1984, and he won easy reelection in 1984, winning all states except Minnesota and Washington, DC

Also, realize that even though Bill Clinton lost control of both houses of Congress in 1994, he still went on to victory and a second term in 1996. Also, despite a similar GOP takeover in 1946, Harry Truman went on to a surprise election victory in 1948.

So therefore, historical reality is that midterm elections cannot be considered barometers of presidential elections, and it will still be difficult for the GOP to defeat President Obama IF the economy revives in 2011 and 2012, even if it does not improve short term in 2010.

Saturday Night Live Unfair To Obama After Only Nine Months

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Saturday Night Live, which has often had a great impact on public viewpoints about politics, was unfair to President Obama this past weekend, when the show made it out that Obama has accomplished NOTHING–NADA in his nine months in office.

Obama came into office in the most difficult circumstances since Franklin D. Roosevelt, and to expect major results in the short period of nine months, and with total refusal by the opposition party to cooperate on anything, is unjust and unrealistic.

On many issues, Obama has taken the lead and is working on trying to bring positive results, but the website Politifact has pointed out that many policies are in process and more time is needed before one can say that nothing or little has been accomplished. But meanwhile, the right and the left are on the attack, and Obama is having to deal with the kind of negativity that has occurred in other times, including the era of FDR.

So my answer is to ignore the criticism and humor of Saturday Night Live and to charge ahead with purpose, as the President is moving in the right direction, but patience and fortitude are required.

The General Stanley McChrystal Problem For President Obama

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Unfortunately, General Stanley McChrystal is complicating the problem for President Obama on Afghanistan policy.

The General has been extremely vocal publicly regarding what he sees as the essential need for 40,000 more troops in Afghanistan as soon as possible.

The Obama Administration is in the midst of what may be the most important decision making of this Presidency. Should the President get this country more deeply involved in a country where the war is being lost, and historically, no one has ever been able to win control?

Retired General James Jones, the National Security Adviser, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates have both roundly criticized McChrystal for such public advocacy, and there are rumors that Obama is furious with the Afghanistan commander for making this such a public issue. In many ways, it reminds one of General Douglas MacArthur challenging President Harry Truman in public about Korean War strategy, leading to his dismissal by Truman in 1951.

Under our system of constitutional government, the President, whether we agree with his strategy on military policy, is the final determinant of our military strategy. So McChrystal is wrong, but this major public flap could lead to Obama firing McChrystal, or the general resigning, in either case creating a massive political problem for Obama.

This just adds to the growing sense that Obama has definitely lost his honeymoon and is being besieged on all sides, after nine months in office.

Will 2010 Be Another 1994? Unlikely!

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With the bitter debate over health care still raging, the thought develops that next year’s midterm election could end up similar to 1994, after Bill Clinton had lost the battle for health care reform, and the Republican party seized the majority in both the House and the Senate for the first time in 40 years.

The odds of this happening again are slight, however, as no matter what the GOP may have accomplished in 1994, the situation is different now, as the mess we are in in both domestic and foreign policy is due to a Republican President who lost all credibility, and the Republicans today offer no alternative in any important way except to be negative, and their leadership in both houses is uninspiring.

Also, Obama won a solid victory and Clinton had only won 43 percent of the vote in 1992. With the country in much worse shape and with the GOP NOT offering real alternatives and having the image of extremism surrounding them, it is highly unlikely that those who go and vote are going to be persuaded to change their view, as long as they see Obama trying to improve our economic situation and international image.

Will the GOP gain seats? Likely for sure in the House, but unlikely or not by much in the Senate, but in any case, not enough of a change to be imagining a GOP takeover in either house or even all that much change in the party balance.

There may be a 30-35 percent minority strongly against the Obama Presidency, but the “base” is not going to be enough to have a dramatic effect on Congress next year or to mount a major challenge to Obama in 2012, UNLESS some dramatic development or new political face comes along to change the political climate. While that is certainly possible, it is highly doubtful!

How Far The Republican Party Has Fallen As Compared To Past Leadership!

Ronald 3 Comments

News has emerged that THREE former Republican Majority Leaders of the Senate would, if they were in the Senate now, vote for a health care reform plan, instead of Mitch McConnell and just about all Senate Republicans in today’s Senate who are totally negative and lacking in any new ideas.

I am speaking of Bob Dole of Kansas, Howard Baker of Tennessee, and Bill Frist of Tennessee.

This just is further evidence of how far the GOP has fallen as compared to the party in the age of Nixon and even Reagan. Then the GOP had some principles, as compared to now when they have no real alternative ideas and have allowed their party to be co-opted or hijacked by whacko talk show hosts.

Not only should the Republican party of today be ashamed, but I contend that if Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt or Dwight D. Eisenhower were alive today, they would refuse to remain Republicans, and I would add to that list, even Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

The Republican party had a significant role in the past, but now all they are able to be is negative. What a disgrace!