Month: November 2009

Delay On Health Care Likely, Despite Bill Clinton’s Plea To Senators

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Former President Bill Clinton addressed the Senate Democrats in a private meeting today, but that did not change the reality, as Illinois Senator Dick Durbin made it clear that the most that can be hoped for by Christmas is that the Senate might pass its own health care bill.

But, of course, the conference committee must then reconcile the bills from the House and Senate, and that will not be an easy task. It might just be impossible, in reality.

Both Clinton and President Obama have made clear that the Democrats will suffer in next year’s midterm elections if no bill is passed into law, that even if the bill is not perfect, lack of action will be worse.

I tend to agree with this assessment, but the likelihood is that IF a bill finally does pass over many hurdles and obstacles, it will be in the spring of 2010, not Christmas! 🙁

The Scandal About Veterans As Veterans Day Approaches: Homelessness!

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A new report reveals that, on the average on any given day, 131,000 veterans are homeless, and over a year, double that number are homeless at any point of time.

This information was revealed by the Veterans Affairs Department and Senator Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey.

This news just adds to the traditional view that we have dedicated men and women who offer their service, and often their lives, to their country’s security, and yet, our country has been remiss in its treatment of our soldiers when they return wounded physically or mentally, and when they have trouble finding work, and when they need our help as thanks for their service.

It is so much easier to send troops to war than take responsibility for them after they have done their service! This is a national scandal, and it is time to change the way government deals with our heroes.

The fact that the Obama Administration has brought attention to this crisis is an encouraging sign that we may finally have a Presidency dedicated to real commitment to those people who keep us safe and secure from harm!

Congressional Term Limits Amendment Arises Again: Terrible Idea!

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A group of conservative Republicans is reviving an idea that failed years ago: Congressional term limits. This is, of course, as likely to happen as men landing on Mars in the next decade! LOL There is no way that Congress will vote to limit its own terms!

This proposal by Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, arguably two of the worst members of the Senate in its history, makes sense if you look at the authors of the proposal, but is pure demagoguery for political purposes and would not be a good development were it to happen in reality!

Their idea is that Senate service should be twelve years or two terms, and House service should be just six years, or three two year terms.

The first question that arises is why the difference in term limits for the two houses, which automatically will make it dead upon arrival. What makes the Senate think it is more important, that therefore it should have twice as much time for service than the House?

Secondly, it fails to hold accountable the average American voter who needs to be held responsible for who is in office, by paying attention to the issues and the incumbents’s records while serving. If the people are informed and unhappy at the performance of their public officials, then they have the option every two years to throw out a Congressman, and every six years to dismiss a Senator to retirement.

Third, if we were to limit officeholders to such short terms of service, then it would mean experience and competence would be thrown out the window, and we would lose many competent, outstanding senators and representatives and have them replaced by political hacks who see the position of serving in Congress as a temporary honor with no commitment to doing good service, but rather favoring special interests to promote their own aggrandizement once they leave the brief public service. It would also give congressional staff members ultimate power because of experience having dealt with the issues of government longer than the actual congressional membership.

Public service should be seen as a commitment and welcome the best among us in society, not to banish them after a preset amount of time. Would we want anyone in any field of work who can contribute good service, such as doctors, lawyers, professors, journalists, engineers, etc, to be told they cannot make a career for which they have major ability to contribute, because of the narrow mindedness of some inferior legislators who do not see public service as a calling, but rather an opportunity to promote an ideological agenda?

Do we really want to lose future Henry Clays, Daniel Websters, Robert LaFollettes, Hubert Humphreys, Robert Tafts, Arthur Vandenbergs, Robert Doles, Ted Kennedys, Sam Rayburns, Thomas O’Neills, and many other distinguished public servants?

I say NO, that the answer is not term limits, but imposing real limits on fundraising by pressure groups on political campaigns, and the need to impose real ethics reforms so that Congress will truly represent the viewpoints of the American people, and not the corrupt intentions of corporate interests that make us mistrust our government leaders.

Executive term limits are one thing–on Presidents, governors and mayors–who individually have real ability to abuse power by unlimited terms. But legislators, not having the same individual power as executives, are best left to the term limits established by the American people at the election booths!

Rush Limbaugh And The Fort Hood Tragedy : Blame Obama?

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Rush Limbaugh is becoming more and more irrational and irresponsible in his utterances on his radio talk show.

Rush feels no need to be accurate or informed. He promotes prejudice and bias in his audience when he comes up with accusations and statements that have no basis.

Instead of calling his program “talk radio”, it is more accurate to call it “hate radio”, designed to divide and encourage dangerous emotions in ill informed people.

His latest outrage is trying to blame President Obama for the Fort Hood Massacre, which shows how loony and out of control he is.

The problem is that so many listeners believe everything he says, just as is true of Glenn Beck and other hate mongers. That is the real danger of his notoriety, that it poisons the political atmosphere in an unhealthy way dangerous to public discourse.

The New Problem For Health Care Reform: The Abortion Controversy

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As if Joe Lieberman’s threat to filibuster the health care bill in the Senate if the “public option” is included was not enough, now Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska threatens to filibuster and fight against the legislation if abortion is allowed under the bill in final passage.

Many of the liberal Democrats who backed the House bill and allowed it to pass by 220-215 on Saturday night have made it clear that they would not support the final legislation IF abortion limitations are not taken out of the bill, and Senator Barbara Boxer of California has made it clear that she and other women senators in the Democratic party are working to prevent abortion restrictions in the final Senate bill.

So the abortion debate that has raged since Roe v. Wade in 1973 still simmers, and is a new obstruction to fundamental health care reform. It is looking as if the barriers to health care legislation are becoming so massive that it will not be possible to gain passage of legislation unless “reconciliation”, use of the 50 or 51 vote majority, is invoked to overcome any filibuster on abortion or on “public option”.

Since “reconciliation” has been used before by the Republicans under George W. Bush, it is reaching the stage where the Democrats MUST use it or face failure and dissolution of their mandate for change. If that happens, then the Democrats are doomed. If they use it, there will be anger, but the accomplishment of health care reform, despite controversy, will eventually assist the Democrats and President Obama, as the vast majority of Americans want such reform, so what must be done to accomplish it should be pursued.

Forget bipartisanship and catering to conservatives: It is time to play hardball and do what MUST be done!

A Different Way Of Analyzing Tuesday’s Election Results

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While the Republicans are celebrating their gubernatorial victories in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday, if one looks at special elections in House districts since the election of 2008, things look quite differently.

Not only did the Democrats win NY 23 for the first time since the Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant in the 1870s, but also they have won a vacancy in a California seat, and also earlier in Louisiana, Mississippi and Illinois, since Barack Obama became President.

The fact that they won open seats in New York and California on Tuesday allowed their margin of victory on the health care legislation last night to be 220-215, rather than 218-217, the absolutely bare margin needed for passage.

In the long run, winning the House vacancies is more significant for national politics than the losing of governorships in states that have recently demonstrated that they have gone for the party out of the White House a year after the presidential election for 20 straight years in both states, and actually 32 straight years in Virginia.

The difficult economy is bound to affect governors of both parties, as higher unemployment and greater numbers of foreclosures, leading to budget cuts in public services, naturally creates a political nightmare for governors, who bear the brunt of the blame for the downturn.

So while the Republicans celebrate their triumphs, the Democrats also have a lot to celebrate–five Democratic wins in the past year in special House elections!

The House Passage Of Health Care: What It Means

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Late last evening, the House of Representatives passed the health care reform legislation by a vote of 220-215, with one Republican vote, a Vietnamese representative from New Orleans, but with 39 Democrats voting with 176 Republicans in opposition.

Winning by only two extra votes than a bare majority, the House leadership celebrated the victory, but it is no guarantee that any health care legislation will pass this year.

Now the Senate will consider its own version of health care reform, but with likely only 57 Democrats supporting it, and Joe Lieberman, the independent, planning to take part in a filibuster with the 40 Republicans, which would prevent any action, unless “reconciliation”, requiring only 50 or 51 Democrats is invoked, which would alienate moderate Democrats and lead to bad blood in the Senate.

Even if legislation was passed in the Senate, it would then have to go to a conference committee to be reconciled with the House bill, and there are many contentious areas of the legislation, including the amended bill in the House banning abortion coverage except for the life of the mother, rape or incest, something bound to be controversial with liberals in both houses and with many women voters and liberal activists who would be against any such amending of the final legislation.

So the Democrats could splinter and their liberal backers could abandon them, but at the same time, if the Republicans continue to stand on the sidelines in total opposition, it could have a negative effect on their fortunes if the bill passes into law, with the likelihood of popular support once it is actually the law of the land.

So both parties are playing with a delicate issue which could affect their fortunes in 2010 and beyond! The long term future of President Obama is also at stake! Never a dull moment!

Florida Criminal Justice System For Juveniles Needs To Be Reformed!

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Florida has a distinction no one living in the state should be proud of!

This state has 77 juvenile offenders who did not commit murder serving life without parole, out of 100 such cases nationally.

This came about because of overreaction in the past two decades to the high level of crime in the Sunshine state–that is, how it would affect tourism, and the very high level of senior citizens who obviously felt threatened by the crime wave that reached its peak in the 1990s.

But to sentence a person 12-17 to life without parole for rape or armed burglary seems unacceptable. And even the fact that nationally, over 2,500 juveniles have been sentenced to life without parole for crimes including murder, does seem to be counterproductive, as the possibility of reform, while unlikely, should be available after long periods of imprisonment, especially considering there is no other country which treats juveniles this way!

There is now a case before the Supreme Court regarding the lifetime imprisonment of someone for rape or armed burglary. It could be the equivalent of a “Brown V Board of Education” case for juvenile law, and therefore is a case that should be watched closely.

Comparing GOP House Women To Democratic House Women

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The debate going on in the House of Representatives today, demonstrating the outrageous Republican women in that legislative body, motivated me to do some research comparing the record of leading women in both parties in the House.

Just looking at present membership, not the past ones, we come up with five examples on both sides, and the difference is dramatic.

The five women that stick out as most disgraceful on the GOP side are Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Virginia Foxx and Sue Myrick of North Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Jean Schmidt of Ohio.

On the Democratic side, we have such luminaries as Louise Slaughter of New York, Marcia Kaptur of Ohio, Nita Lowey of New York, Jane Harman of California, and Carolyn Maloney of New York.

Why is it that GOP women are so different than Democratic women? That would be an interesting scholarly study! 🙂

Republican House Women : A Disgrace To Their Gender And Congress!

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I am watching the House debate on the health care bill, and I am ashamed for the women of this country!

The Republican women are on C Span making fools of themselves, looking like total morons! They are so mean spirited and self centered, not giving a damn for their own gender or the American people! Where did the GOP scrape up these women who show so little concern and compassion for those less fortunate in this country, who need health care? These women are being totally dishonest in their propaganda attacks on the legislation being considered!

The fact that Ileana Ros Lehtinen of Miami could be stupid enough to join this group of Republican women would be condemned by her predecessor in her district, the distinguished Claude Pepper!

And the ultimate example of the stupidity and mean spirited nature of these Republican women is Michele Bachmann, who tells us the bill would be destructive of the “economic economy”! Huh? What a moron and embarrassment this religious zealot is, joining Sarah Palin as examples of why women like them should not have any power in our political system, since they have absolutely no brains or compassion and are a disgrace to the American political system!

At the same time, I wish now to applaud Democratic Congresswoman Louise Slaughter of New York, who is presently making a fantastic statement in support of health care and applauding the efforts of Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon (Yes, a Republican President) to promote better health care, setting a standard for what is now long overdue–true health care reform for all Americans!

There is no way I can see that the majority of intelligent, compassionate women in America will vote Republican after this disgraceful display of stupidity, selfishness, self centeredness and meanspiritedness being displayed by the Republican women members of the House of Representatives!