Month: May 2010

The Growing Influence Of Chuck Schumer: The First Jewish Senate Majority Leader?

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Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, elected in 1998, after 18 years in the House of Representatives, has become a major player in the Senate, and is on the brink of becoming the highest elected Jewish official in US history, if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada loses his very competitive Senate reelection race this fall.

Schumer, always an aggressive and egotistical figure in the Senate, was the Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and helped bring about the Democratic control of the Senate, and its upgrading to 59 senators in the past four years.

A truly brilliant politician, Schumer is seen as likely to succeed Reid, although he must compete with his townhouse roommate, Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, if Reid leaves the Senate. It is interesting how they have a rivalry, and yet they are good friends. Schumer has an image of being able to cross the aisle for support, and to gain backing from his own Democratic colleagues for various initiatives.

If Schumer ends up as Majority Leader, it can be imagined that he would rival Lyndon Johnson and Bob Dole in getting things done, and he could be a major advocate of new initiatives by President Obama over the last two years of his term.

Schumer will win easy reelection this fall to a third term, and is likely to help Senator Kirsten Gillibrand stay in office as well. And with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Cuomo likely to have a tremendous edge over GOP opponents, the Democrats are likely to have complete control of state matters, despite the many problems New York State faces.

Schumer will become one of the most important Senators ever to represent New York, on the level of Robert F. Wagner, Sr. (1927-1949), Jacob Javits (1957-1981), and Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1977-2001)! And none of the above ever were Senate Majority Leader!

The Contrast Between Rand Paul And Joe Sestak

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This past week, two names became large factors in politics.

In Kentucky, libertarian Rand Paul, the son of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, upended the Republican establishment by soundly defeating Trey Greyson, the establishment Republicans’ favorite, backed by Kentuckian and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

In Pennsylvania, Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak defeated the administration backed candidate, Senator Arlen Specter, for the Democratic nomination.

Paul, a newcomer to politics backed by the Tea Party Movement, proceeded to self destruct when he made controversial statements about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 on various interview shows. He then blamed the “liberal” news media, complained about not having a “honeymoon”, claimed “exhaustion”, and canceled an appearance for today on Meet the Press, becoming only the third person in the 62 year history of that news show to cancel after accepting an invitation to appear!

One has to say that if he has “exhaustion” from just having to defend his libertarian views after winning the nomination, and if he cannot handle the stress involved in running for office, then you have to wonder if he stable enough to be a United States Senator or, imagine this, become a candidate for President of the United States! 🙁 As Harry Truman once said, “if you can’t stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen!”

Paul is obviously a gift that keeps giving to Jack Conway, his Democratic opponent, and the likelihood of Paul “crashing” may very well take the Tea Party Movement and the libertarian view of government down with him!

At the same time, Joe Sestak, who had a 30 year career in the US Navy and reached the level of two star Rear Admiral, and is the highest ranking former military office currently serving in Congress, proved he was able to overcome the Democratic “establishment” and the Obama Administration, which favored Specter and gave no aid to Sestak.

Sestak has reveled in his victory and is constantly seeking publicity and interviews, and with his naval background, he seems on paper to be an excellent choice to defeat former Congressman Pat Toomey, a favorite of the Tea Party Movement, for the Senate seat.

The contrast between these two victors last Tuesday could not be more different, and indicates the likely future of both in the fall campaign! It will certainly be interesting to follow these two Senate races!

Andrew Cuomo Announces For NY Governorship: Harbinger Of The Future?

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New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the older son of three term Governor Mario Cuomo (1983-1995), announced his candidacy this morning for Governor at a time of great trouble and turmoil for the Empire State!

Cuomo has no opposition for his party’s nomination, but faces, if he wins, a daunting challenge financially, as the New York budgetary situation is one of the worst in the nation, and the state legislature is in stalemated condition, particularly in the State Senate, which has been an embarrassment to the state’s image.

But so has been the disaster represented by Eliot Spitzer, elected Governor from the position of Attorney General in 2006 by a landslide, and throwing it all away in a sex scandal within 15 months. Then, the Lieutenant Governor, David Paterson, succeeded and became embroiled in scandal and controversy of his own, and was forced out of consideration to run for a full term.

Meanwhile, Cuomo, formerly Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the second term of President Bill Clinton, made a distinguished record for himself as Attorney General, aggressively pursuing scandals on Wall Street and otherwise during this four year term. And he has indicated great plans to reorganize the state government bureaucracy in a way not seen since the Governorship of Alfred E. Smith in 1919!

Cuomo will face one of three opponents on the Republican line–former Suffolk Congressman Rick Lazio (who ran against Hillary Clinton for the Senate in 2000); Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy (who just switched parties to announce his candidacy); and Carl Paladino (a Buffalo property developer who advocates very conservative ideas after also switching parties a few years ago but has no political experience).

Cuomo is the heavy favorite to become the next Governor of New York, and IF he does a good job in a difficult time, and is reelected in 2014, he will likely be a possible candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2016, although, of course, he would not now entertain such ideas! 🙂

So the 2010 New York Governorship race could be a harbinger of the future!

One Third Of Obama’s Term Is Completed: What The Record Shows!

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Here we are exactly 16 months after Barack Obama became President, and it has certainly been a very active, busy, complicated one year and four months! There has been much turmoil and conflict, but a lot has been accomplished nevertheless!

Six months from now, after the midterm Congressional elections, the Presidential campaign will begin, with numerous Republicans announcing their candidacy in the last month of 2010 and the first six months of 2011. Anyone waiting longer to announce will have no realistic chance to be the GOP nominee for President in 2012.

Barack Obama will hold off announcing, but he will be ready to campaign on the record he has accomplished. The question is, so far, how is he doing?

In the most difficult times for any President domestically since Franklin D. Roosevelt, a neutral analysis (if that is truly possible), would show that Obama has led an activist government to match that of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society as a “progressive” era! Those two, and Ronald Reagan’s shift to conservatism in the 1980s, stand out as the most significant changes in American life in the past century, and Obama has a real opportunity to match the influence and the generational effect that Roosevelt, Johnson and Reagan had in the 1930s, 1960s, and 1980s!

Obama was able to achieve an Economic Stimulus bill in the first month, followed by a long battle for Health Care reform, and now he is on the verge of major financial reform, with the passage by both houses of the Wall Street regulation legislation, which still needs reconciliation between the House and Senate bills, which will, hopefully be accomplished in the next month or so. All of these major pieces of legislation to revive the American economy, and promote necessary reform and regulation, have been passed with very few Republicans in support, and only those from the Northeastern part of the nation, a regrettable situation!

Obama has also brought about initiatives in science,technology and education, all designed to promote economic growth. He has also brought about new ideas in social reform and in foreign policy, a lot of it still in process.

Obama is trying to promote action against inequality, while working against discrimination, and for environmental reforms, and dealing with the need for diversity in energy supplies for the long term.

As the NY Times reports, this period matches three periods of extensive change since the Great Depression. The years of Truman and Eisenhower saw the GI educational bill, housing subsidies, the beginnings of health insurance offered by employers, and the interstate highway system. The years of Johnson and Richard Nixon saw civil rights laws, Medicare, Medicaid and environmental regulation laws. The Reagan years witnessed tax cuts, less regulation, and promotion of economic competition and expansion.

The ultimate effect of Obama will be determined by how much more is accomplished in the first term; the success of his accomplishments; and whether he serves two full terms instead of one.

There is no question about the historic significance of Barack Obama so far, and his imprint on America is likely to be greater as time goes on, despite the bitter, nasty attacks of the right wing propagandists! The more he is attacked, it seems as if he is more emboldened, in the same way that Franklin D. Roosevelt was inspired by his critics on the fringes of American politics in the 1930s! And all these years later, somehow, the fringe movements are a footnote in history, and FDR is seen as having had a massive impact! In the same way, Barack Obama is going down that path!

The Silence Of Republican Leaders Speaks Legions!

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The Republican party, being the party “out of power” in Congress and the White House, supposedly has the advantage to gain a large number of seats in Congress and in the governorships this November, but this is not a good time for the Republicans!

The issue of illegal immigration has been stirred into a major controversy by the Arizona law scheduled to go into effect in July; the refusal of the Republicans, except for a few Northeasterners (Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Scott Brown), to back financial reform at a time when so many Americans want strict regulation is a major shortcoming; the libertarian candidacy of Kentucky Senate nominee Rand Paul makes many Republicans speechless, trying to figure out how to deal with him in a public relations sense; and the “family values” party having to deal with so many members who have ethical and moral problems is an embarrassment! All of these issues make being a Republican in the age of Barack Obama very difficult!

Can the party allow the Tea Party mentality best represented by Rand Paul to take over their party agenda, which is, in many ways, so different? Even Rand Paul now trying to back BP Oil in the Gulf of Mexico disaster further complicates how the GOP is to react to this “loose cannon”, who will provide more “cannon fodder” for the media and the Democratic Party!

Can you imagine a week where House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Republican National Chairman Michael Steele are strangely silent? When has a week gone by when the top GOP leaders have avoided the news media?

This is a clear sign of the bind that the Republican party is in, as it should be a year of great gains in the states and the Congress, and yet so many problems and burdens exist, and there is no easy answer as to how they handle these various “hot potatoes”! 🙂

The Outrageous Campaigns Of Rick Scott And Jeff Greene In Florida! :(

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As if the state of Florida did not have enough trouble with corruption and bad government, we now see the recent entrance of a multimillionaire and a billionaire into the races for Governor and Senator!

Rick Scott is challenging Attorney General Bill McCollum for the Republican nomination for Governor. With his ability to flood the state with commercials in an intense manner over a short period of time, Scott has suddenly become a real threat to McCollum becoming the gubernatorial nominee of the GOP, something a few weeks ago thought of as automatic!

Without trying to make McCollum appear to be the “good guy”, which he is not, Scott has absolutely no political experience, and was the head of a corporation involved in the most massive Medicare fraud case in American history during the 1990s! This man has the gall to think he should be the Governor of the fourth largest state, and is seen as extremely right wing, so much so that McCollum, who had expressed opposition to the Arizona illegal immigration law, changed gears after Scott came out endorsing such legislation for Florida! 🙁

As if that was not enough, we also see Congressman Kendrick Meek, assumed to be easily on the way to the Democratic nomination for Senator, suddenly on the last day possible to enter the race, faced with the candidacy of billionaire Jeff Greene, who has never held political office either! And this man benefited from manipulation of the real estate market in 2008, and has had friendships with Heidi Fleiss, the famous madam, and Mike Tyson, the boxer–all of which makes him highly controversial and objectionable to many observers! 🙁

Both Scott and Greene are using their ill-earned, extreme amounts of wealth to attempt to defeat candidates who have been office holders, taking advantage of the anti government and anti incumbent resentment that exists across the country, and therefore grab power!

But with their shady, unethical, and immoral backgrounds, is this what Florida will want? Will the average citizen be won over by a barrage of slick political commercials to vote for these crooks who have no shame, and show a high level of arrogance? 🙁 The thought is terrifying to the extreme! 🙁

The Republican “Revolution” of 1994: The Scandals And Hypocrisy Mount!

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In 1994, the Republican party came to power in both houses, with the House going Republican for the first time since 1954.

Newt Gingrich became the House Speaker and promoted the idea that a different “atmosphere” was being created, after the 40 straight years of Democratic control.

So what is the record of the Republicans who were in charge, and those who came in as freshmen, dedicated to change?

Well, Newt Gingrich came under attack for ethics violations, and was shown to have cheated on his wife, while condemning President Bill Clinton for his sexual escapades! The same situation was true for Bob Livingston, who was supposed to succeed Gingrich as Speaker, until his love affairs were exposed! Tom Delay was another leading figure who was “ethically challenged” and still faces trial for his transgressions involving influence peddling! Congressman Henry Hyde also was shown to be involved in romantic escapades which sullied his name!

But not only leaders, but the “new” members of the GOP who came to the House, became involved in scandal including Mark Foley, Mark Sanford, John Ensign, and Bob Ney. Others became involved in divorce proceedings, including Jim Bunn, James Longley, Jon Christensen, Enid Greene, Joe Scarborough, Steve LaTourette, and Helen Chenoweth. Others involved in trouble included J D Hayworth and David Funderburk.

Now added to the list is Mark Souder of Indiana, who was cheating with a woman staffer who was involved in an “abstinence” video with Souder, a member who, llke many others in the Republican group of 1994, loved to emphasize “family values”! Amazingly, Souder, in his resignation statement, blamed the “poisonous environment” of Washington, DC for his blunders, an example of a refusal to take full responsibility, and instead to blame the national capital for his transgressions! 🙁

What an outrage, as if the millions of people who live in the DC area are all involved in adulterous relationships! 🙁 This shows the total hypocrisy of the Republican leadership and Republican freshman class of 1994, which at this point shows at least 15 of the 73 new freshmen disgracing themselves in some form or other!

This is not to say that Democrats have not been involved in scandal, as certainly many have, including Eliot Spitzer, John Edwards, James McGreevey, and Eric Massa among others! But it is not the Democrats, but rather the Republicans, who have been constantly promoting “family values” and “Christian values” as their appeal. So the hypocrisy runs very deep indeed! 🙁

Is Rand Paul The Future Of The Republican Party?

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The stunning victory of Rand Paul, the son of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, for the GOP Senate nomination in Kentucky on Tuesday, has brought a tremendous amount of attention to this man who claims a direct connection to the Tea Party Movement, and is seen as their first significant victory in changing the future of the Republican party!

But Rand Paul has already become the center of controversy with his belief that private businesses should not come under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and that therefore if a business owner does not wish to deal with African Americans or gays, he or she should have that privilege!

But this is just the tip of the iceberg, as Rand Paul has advocated the following ideas as part of his libertarian beliefs:

1. Close down the Department of Education.
2. End the Federal Reserve Banking System.
3. Repeal the Americans With Disabilities Act.
4. Slash spending deep enough to balance the budget every year while still cutting taxes.
5. Raise the retirement age on Social Security and Medicare.
6. Cut taxes on corporations and capital gains.
7. Opposes most of the New Deal and Great Society programs as violations of the Constitution.
8. Opposed the government “bailout” of Wall Street and the auto companies.

There are many other issues that will be brought up, either by Rand Paul himself, or his Democratic opponent, Jack Conway. The area of foreign policy will become another area of debate, as well, as Rand Paul holds many of the views of his father, who has called for America to withdraw from world responsibilities, which may sound appealing upon first thought, until one investigates and analyzes what the father has advocated–in many ways, an outdated isolationism!

Certainly, Rand Paul will be one of the most interesting candidates running for the Senate this fall, and the Kentucky Senate race now comes to the forefront as one of the most important races to watch in this midterm election year!

The question is whether Rand Paul will be of benefit, or be a detriment, to the Republican party in this campaign, and if he wins, in the future fortunes of a party that has never felt comfortable with his father! Can a Tea Party personality such as Rand Paul find a home in the GOP, or will the GOP repudiate him as they have already, many times, rejected and ridiculed his father when he ran for the Presidency in 2008?

A Sad Milestone: 1,000 Military Killed In Afghanistan! :(

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A sad milestone has been reached in Afghanistan, with the announcement yesterday that the total of American soldiers killed in that forbidden nation has reached 1,000!

The war has seen a growing number of killed and wounded, since President Obama increased American involvement, and yet there are no clear cut signs that the war is being won! 🙁

It is indeed tragic that we are losing our young, dedicated men and women in a country that NO other nation has ever been able to succeed in militarily!

This includes the British Empire and the Soviet Union, and one would think that it would be clear that committing more troops to that horrific location is an exercise in futility! 🙁

One can only hope that our involvement will be cut down dramatically in the summer of 2011, the supposedly beginning date of withdrawal from Afghanistan, which was set by Obama when he announced the troop increase late last year!

But the loss of life up to now, and over the next year or more, is still a tremendous, wrong headed tragedy!

We mourn the death of these young people who are so patriotic, but are being sent to a battlefield that has no solution! 🙁

The Unfortunate Life Of Mitch McConnell! From Jim Bunning To Rand Paul!

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Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell has been the Minority Leader of the Senate since 2007, and is serving his fifth term, the longest serving Kentucky senator in American history!

A strong conservative, but part of the “establishment”, he has been cursed having to serve alongside a Senator considered by many to be part of the “lunatic fringe”–Senator Jim Bunning, the former baseball player and Hall of Famer, who is usually regarded as one of the absolutely worst senators in American history!

Bunning was a constant critic of McConnell right up to the end, when he finally decided not to run for a third Senate term! He was an embarrassment in so many ways, in his actions and statements! McConnell was certainly relieved when Bunning finally bowed out of the race!

McConnell backed Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Greyson to succeed Bunning, but Rand Paul, the son of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, and like his father, a libertarian and Tea Party activist, was endorsed by Bunning!

Yesterday, Paul soundly defeated Greyson, a real slap in the face to McConnell, and based on Rand Paul’s past statements, McConnell might almost wish Bunning had stayed in the Senate! 🙂

Rand Paul has called for the abolition of the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Department of Education, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Federal Reserve, and supports a balanced budget amendment, term limits, and repeal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964! He promotes constant tax cuts and smaller government, and is a critic of the government “bailout” of Wall Street and the Obama Health Care reform! He also is against abortion rights, including in cases of rape and incest!

Besides being an extremist in so many ways, which will be fully exposed by Democratic nominee Jack Conway in the fall campaign, Rand Paul has made it clear that he has no intention of being friendly with McConnell, even with the fact that McConnell is the Republican leader in the Senate!

So even those who are not fans of Mitch McConnell must have some sympathy for him, as it is a shame that he has weird, extremist colleagues from his home state that he has to, somehow, coexist with and tolerate! 🙁