Month: February 2010

The Tea Party Supporters: Not A Winning Group, More A Threat To Republicans

Ronald 3 Comments

A CNN survey of followers of the Tea Party movement makes it very clear that their ascendancy would be a much greater threat to the Republican party than the Democratic party.

The poll demonstrates that the average Tea Party supporter is white, male, conservative, rural, more educated and higher income.

About a third of the people in the poll are attracted to the Tea Party movement, but most would support a Republican if there was no Tea Party candidate. This means, however, that if there were a Tea Party candidate competing with the Republicans and Democrats, the odds are that the Democratic nominee would benefit, as there would be a clear cut split that would cause the deterioration of the Republican nominee’s chances of success.

The Tea Party membership is not representative of America; rather it is evidence of the anger and hysteria appearing among those who used to be the dominant class in America, and don’t appreciate the fact of the changing demographics of America in relation to age, ethnicity, and race, as well as the growing role of women.

The Tea Party members wish for a return to the past, when their class controlled and benefited from an unequal society, and they have trouble handling the reality that America is changing.

The Tea Party people want a smaller federal government and less government intervention, as the opposite of what they want threatens their status. They are promoters only of what is good for themselves, not what is good for the future of America.

If the Republican party allows themselves to become the captives of the Tea Party crowd, they will regret it. The GOP, instead, needs to return to the moderate centrist values that made them a party that relates to the FUTURE of America, rather than the PAST and the elite classes that have no concern about those less fortunate!

The Tea Party movement is a problem, but realistically it has no chance to bring about fundamental change. If that were, somehow, to happen, it would be a backwards step for the nation!

Nostalgia for the past is not a winning combination, as we are now a nation of over 300 million people, and must live in the 21st century reality, not the 18th century state of thought!

A Rare Agreement With Sarah Palin: Stop Ridiculing Handicapped People! :(

Ronald 2 Comments

In a rare case where I agree with Sarah Palin, I am also outraged that the Fox Channel series, “Family Guy”, felt a need to make fun of a person with Downs Syndrome, and to have that person claim to be related to Sarah Palin.

This is not only ridiculing Sarah Palin’s child Trig, but all people who have mental handicaps.

Palin was outraged so much, that she decided to allow her daughter Bristol to speak for her instead, and what Bristol expressed about her brother and all handicapped children and adults is something any decent human being can agree with!

It is time to stop humor about those among us who are indeed, as Bristol expressed, wonderful, gentle, good people, who make those of us who are “normal” and make fun of them look really disgraceful and despicable.

Whether one has a relative or friend who is mentally handicapped or not, a judgment can be made about your character in a negative way if you feel a need to laugh at or ridicule those among us who are born with handicaps outside their control.

I agree with Sarah Palin and Bristol Palin: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Let’s promote decency and compassion for those among us who are not as fortunate in how they were born 🙁

Anti Incumbent Fever At All Time High In History Of Polling

Ronald 4 Comments

It is very obvious that the American people are frustrated, angry, and furious at public officials as the economic downturn continues to affect millions of Americans.

Two thirds in a recent poll claim they want to kick out their public officials, but face the facts: It is simply emotional, not rational, to have that feeling, as having two thirds or even a majority of the Congress being new would not improve the Congress one iota.

In fact, the lack of experience and institutional knowledge would guarantee WORSE performance in public office, as being in public service is not just a job–it is a profession, and expertise and skill is needed to operate a government efficiently, and get the many responsibilities of government accomplished.

There may well be a larger amount of turnover than is traditional, but don’t expect more than ten percent of either the House or Senate to change by throwing out the incumbent, as he or she still has a great advantage in most cases.

The few incumbents who actually lose will get a lot of attention, but particularly with a large number of incumbents choosing to retire, the actual number thrown out of office by their constituents will be lower than now seems the case, based on the polls.

There is the old saying: Better the devil you know, than the devil you don’t know!

The Republican Hypocrisy: Is It Not An Embarrassment?

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The Republican party in Congress is showing itself to be totally hypocritical to the extreme!

The GOP refused to support the economic stimulus bill, but is now taking credit for any projects that are taking place in their districts.

The Republicans in the Senate, at least some of them including John McCain, supported originally the idea of a deficit commission to deal with the national debt, and then voted against their own proposal!

The Republicans in both houses complained that they were not being consulted by President Obama on the health care bill, and they insisted that such negotiations must be televised on C Span. Now they seem to be trying to avoid the upcoming White House conference on health care, and feel that televising it will be promoting political theater!

These are among the many examples of total Republican hypocrisy, even by such senators, besides John McCain, as Kay Bailey Hutchison, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins. A lot of it is due to pure politics, to win races such as Hutchison for Governor in Texas and McCain for Senator in Arizona.

What is more important than anything apparently is politics and winning races or keeping their seats, than principle and doing what is best for the country.

It is ironic that the Tea Party people seem more angry at Democrats than Republicans, even though Democrats are attempting to bring change and reform to the nation, while Republicans, who messed up the economy when they controlled Congress, are still demonstrating no interest in doing anything to cooperate in the midst of an economic crisis.

Senator Evan Bayh Leaving Congress, Condemning Its Paralysis

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It was a sad moment today when Indiana Democratic Senator Evan Bayh, a moderate liberal, announced he would not seek re-election after twelve years in the Senate, out of frustration and anger at the intransigence and paralysis that Congress has developed into during the past few years, and its basic inability to get anything done for the country.

Bayh may yet run for Governor again in Indiana, as he was in that office in the 1990s before going to the Senate. He indicated his desire to do public service for the people, but sees the legislative branch as in total disarray and gridlock, which disgusts him.

While claiming that the extreme left and the extreme right were both responsible for the disaster that Congress has become, Bayh did make clear that the final straw was when seven members (Republicans), who had agreed to work toward creation of a commission to deal with deficit spending and the national debt, ended up voting against the legislation they had co-sponsored!

This forced President Obama’s hand, making him create such a commission by executive order.

It is therefore clear that it is the far right, and really the Republican party, which has destroyed any camaraderie in the Senate, as they prefer the failure of the Obama Presidency over what is good for the country.

When a party wins control, they are entitled to operate the government by their ideas, but with the occasional cooperation and support of opposition party members, but that is not the case now, and the Senate filibuster has become totally destructive, with more use or threat of use of the filibuster in the past 14 months than in any past period, including the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s.

So we are losing top people like Evan Bayh, and one has to wonder will we be fortunate enough to have new senators on the level of quality that Bayh represented.

This is a low moment in Senate history, with good people deciding to bow out, and mediocrity reigning supreme! 🙁

The Growing Number Of Independent Voters: Not A Smart Move!

Ronald 11 Comments

Disillusionment with the economic conditions of America have led growing numbers of Americans to abandon their party loyalty and registration in the Democratic and Republican parties, and to register instead as Independents.

This is supposed to be a good thing, as it indicates separation from the two major parties. But in actuality, it is NOT a good thing, as it decreases a voter’s opportunity to affect political change.

This concept going around that an “Independent” or third party can somehow win over enough support and revolutionize the party system we have had since 1854, when the Republican party was created, is a fallacy, as our political system has never allowed for such a concept, certainly not for the White House, and only very rarely for a seat in Congress or a Governorship.

One can count on the fingers of both hands the number of independent candidates for office that have been elected. We can think of Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent Socialist who managed to be elected to the House of Representatives and the Senate as a true independent.

We can think of Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who most recently beat out a Democrat and Republican to retain his seat.

We can remember Governors Angus King of Maine, Lowell Weicker of Connecticut, and Jesse Ventura of Minnesota, but all were actually party members who broke with the party and won a three way race.

There are a handful of other people who at some point were elected on an independent or third party line, but after being identified as a Republican or a Democrat in earlier elections. These include three senators who were part of the group that I wrote about in my book TWILIGHT OF PROGRESSIVISM: Senators George Norris of Nebraska, Robert La Follette, Jr. of Wisconsin, and Henrik Shipstead of Minnesota–all during the New Deal era of the 1930s.

As far as the White House, the closest any third party or independent candidate has gone is Theodore Roosevelt, former Republican President running as a Progressive in the 1912 election, winning six states, 88 electoral votes, and 27.5 percent of the vote.

So the thought that an “Independent” party or candidate is the future of American politics is just a dream. It will not happen, and by people abandoning the major parties in their registration, they actually are cutting down their voting power by half, as in most states, they cannot vote on Primary Day, and therefore only can vote for the choices made by Democrats and Republicans who have stayed with the party and tried to bring change from within.

So, truthfully, the move toward independent voters is actually based on ignorance of the realities of our political system. How it will play itself out on Election Day 2010 and 2012 is anyone’s guess!

Democrats’ New Strategy: Force Votes That Will Show Republican Support Or Intransigence

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The Obama Administration and the Democratic leadership in Congress are adopting a strategy to force the opposition Republicans to make a decision: support legislation on various matters, or be recorded as against the legislation and make it a case against the party in the upcoming Fall elections.

While there is hope that bipartisanship will occur, particularly at the scheduled White House summit on health care on February 25, the plan is to promote legislation on some aspects of health care, a job creation bill, legislation to lift the anti trust exemption for insurance companies, action to help small businesses and extend unemployment compensation, and a measure to levy fees on Wall Street banks that received bailout money.

There are hints that some GOP senators might join the Democrats on some legislation, including Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, and Utah Senator Orrin Hatch.

At the same time, the Democrats in the House of Representatives face the fact that there are now two vacancies of members who supported the health care bill, when it passed 220-215 last fall. Robert Wexler left in January and John Murtha died last week, and neither seat will be filled until the spring. And Joseph Cao, the one Republican who voted for the health care bill, now indicates he will not support the bill on later passage if it comes up for a vote, so the House probably does not have a majority for the bill at this point.

So the Democrats are trying to figure out a strategy to gain action in both houses, but the road ahead is still very complex and difficult. It is hard to see any great prospect for action anytime soon! 🙁

Republican Hypocrisy On Medicare: Time For the President And His Party To Act!

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As Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman declares yesterday in the NY Times, the Republican party is extremely hypocritical on Medicare.

After spreading distortions on the Obama Health Care plan, including the concept of “death panels” and the idea of the plan cutting Medicare funding dramatically, it turns out that the budget plan released by Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, often seen as a leader of the future in the Republican party, calls for even bigger Medicare cuts over the next decade, if the GOP ever gains control of Congress in the next few years.

The Ryan proposal would end Medicare for those under 55, creating privatization, and would cut future coverage benefits for those about to go on Medicare or already on Medicare.

The American people fail to study history or have a collective memory. The GOP opposed Medicare in 1965, and the party worked to undermine Medicare under Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1995, but was stopped by the opposition of President Bill Clinton.

These realities should be enough for the Democrats to move ahead on their health care reform plan and use “reconciliation” to accomplish it. Better to push through a program under a web of controversy than to do nothing at all, which will convince the American people that the Democrats are unable or unwilling with a nearly 60 percent majority in both houses to accomplish their major goal.

A failure to take action on health care will doom the American people, including those on Medicare, to a future of Republican efforts to dismantle federal programs on Medicare, a crime against humanity at a time when health insurance companies are jacking up rates on health insurance faster than ever.

The health care crisis will only grow if the Democrats allow the Republicans to have a victory. The planned health care summit at the White House should be the last attempt at bipartisanship, extremely unlikely to work. Then, it is time for Barack Obama and the Democrats to act like a combination of “Give Them Hell Harry” (Truman) and “Wheeler Dealer” (Lyndon Johnson) to get things done!

The Kennedys Leave Congress

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An era is ending as Patrick Kennedy, Democratic Congressman from Rhode Island and son of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, announced his retirement at the end of this Congress.

There will be no Kennedy family member in Congress in 2011, after having had one or more Kennedys since 1947, with the exception of two years in the early 1960s.

John F. Kennedy served in Congress from 1947-1961 when he was inaugurated President. After a brief two year hiatus, Ted Kennedy was elected to his brother’s Senate seat and served from 1963 to last August, nearly 47 years. In addition, Robert Kennedy served from 1965-1968, and Joe Kennedy, Robert’s son served in the House from 1987-1999, and Patrick from 1995 to the end of this Congress.

This is in many ways a sad moment as the Kennedy Family served well and honorably overall, although of course any politician can be criticized in some way. Still, we owe our gratitude for their public service, as they could have chosen other pursuits but chose to do what they did, and in a way that overall we can admire and salute!

The Growing Number Of Members Of Congress Retiring A Bad Sign

Ronald 4 Comments

It seems like every day, we hear the news of another one or two Congressmen or Senators deciding to retire at the end of this Congress, in larger numbers than ever before.

The announced retirements are from both parties, and include members who have often served for many terms, and in many cases state the reason for leaving as wanting to spend more time with their families.

This is a cover for the reality that serving in public office is becoming a more undesirable position as the years pass. The stress level from being a public servant elected by the people is such that after some time in office, the feeling develops that it just is not worth it to deal with the constant pressures that present themselves in the modern era, with the constant public scrutiny and ideological attacks from the left and the right, that over time wear down even the strongest personalities, and makes them decide that their commitment to serve has become faced with the reality of a barrage of constant criticism which can sour anyone, no matter how idealistic he or she may have once been.

Think about it: What other profession requires as much constant scrutiny and second guessing as being a politician? And despite the fact that politicians make four to five times the average salary of a typical American, they can all earn a lot more compensation in other fields, with far less scrutiny on a daily basis, and much less criticism.

So while certainly the American people have the right to attack and criticize their politicians, in the process they may very well be causing the most talented and committed to quit, leaving us with self servers who just want to advance their career, have no idealism or true commitment, and are likely to produce far worse results in their performance than we now are complaining about.

So expecting too much from politicians may lead to greater mediocrity in the long run. Is that what we want? 🙁