Month: May 2010

Are Public Opinion Polls Reliable? Obama Versus Democrats In Congress

Ronald Leave a comment

There has always been the question of how reliable are public opinion polls in judging the true feelings of the American people.

New evidence adds to the doubt on the reliability of polls, as it is clear, to the fury of conservative opponents, that President Barack Obama remains personally popular, with most polls finding him in the mid to high 50s range.

And yet, only 36 percent of Democrats in a recent poll are enthused about the upcoming midterm elections, as compared to 56 percent of Republicans!

There has been a constant criticism of Congress as an institution, with the “ins” always suffering a lack of confidence by the American people, who seem impatient with the slow processes that exist on Capitol Hill.

There is certainly always an anti incumbent feeling, with it being much more powerful this year, based upon polls, than is normally seen. But this includes Republicans who are incumbents, as well as Democrats!

A lot of the dichotomy is due to the tremendous economic suffering going on in the nation in the midst of the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression! People want simple and easy answers, or as some suggested when President Obama visited Buffalo yesterday, “I need a freaking job!”

So Democrats hope that as the months go by, and the impact of what Obama has done continues to promote expansion of the economy, that the enthusiasm among Democrats and independents to vote Democratic will become stronger, and that the results in November will be far better than they seemingly appear to be.

But it could also be that possibly many of the American people actually may prefer a divided government, with a Democratic President and a Republican Congress. The argument among many people that a government works better when power is divided is very popular!

One could argue historically that times seemed to be better when we had Republican Presidents (Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush I) and Democratic Congresses; or Democratic Presidents and Republican Congresses (Clinton after 1994)! A lot of this is based upon faded memories and false history!

Closer examination belies this fact, as for instance the great steps forward under Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson with Democratic Congresses in the 1930s and 1960s!

What is clear is that the political situation is in flux, and the turns and twists between now and November will be many, and anyone wanting to bet money on the results six months from now, does so at his or her detriment! 🙁

If We Can Fund The Wars In Afghanistan And Iraq, We Must Fund Education, Police And Firefighters!

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Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa is promoting a supplemental funding bill for $23 billion to save the jobs of educators all over the country.

Also, $1 billion each is being set aside for police and firefighters, and an additional $1 billion for early childhood education.

The Obama Administration and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are fully backing this move, and Obama has reminded people that if we had listened to the opposition, we would be in a much deeper economic downturn than we have been!

Critics are saying we cannot afford these expenditures to save jobs and provide a decent education, and promote public safety!

Well, if we can afford to spend billions upon billions on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq–nearly $1 trillion combined since the wars began in 2001 and 2003–then we simply MUST find a way to save jobs and promote a quality of life domestically!

This is NOT frivolous spending on unimportant matters! It is the lifeblood of communities all over the country, and will prevent more unemployment, which would help to provoke an economic downturn just as we are emerging from the deep recession we have been in for the past two and a half years!

Further federal stimulus is ESSENTIAL, not optional! And if conservatives and Republicans don’t like it, well, tough it out, gentlemen! 🙁

The Military And Adaptation To Change: Not Easy, But Essential!

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The American military is facing demand for change in many different ways, more than in a long time!

Among the changes about to occur soon are:

1. The likelihood of the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, therefore allowing openly gay men and women in the military.

2. The banning of smoking on submarines.

3. The introduction of women to submarines, the last vestige of gender discrimination falling by the wayside by 2012.

4. The growing number of air force pilots who work out of Nevada with robotic drones in Afghanistan that are computer controlled, with these pilots working long shifts and then going home to their families!

The technology issue is probably the easiest to adapt to, although many Air Force pilots probably look down at those of their group who are not literally in the combat zone, facing possible death.

Smoking bans have been growing all over the country, but forcing it on submarines will be a cultural problem for many, but essential for promotion of good health.

Having openly gay people in the military and women on submarines will be the most difficult to adjust to, for many culturally conservative military types.

But life IS change, and overall, these steps forward are good for the military and for American society as a whole!

Public Opinion Polls And Arizona’s Illegal Immigration Law

Ronald 3 Comments

The Arizona illegal immigration legislation has become the topic of conversation all over America, and many Americans are blaming illegal immigration as the major reason for the problems this country faces.

This is, of course, tremendous exaggeration and scapegoating, and has no basis! Most people in this country illegally are law abiding citizens who work hard, pay their taxes, and stay away from the legal authorities, and just want a better life! A small percentage are involved in crime or drugs or gangs, and of course, must be pursued and dealt with to the full extent of the law!

But to scapegoat all Hispanics and Latinos, whether legal or illegal, is unacceptable in our democracy! And that is why the fact that many public opinion polls indicate that a vast majority of Americans support the Arizona law and want it expanded, it cannot be allowed to be pursued on the basis of those biased, emotional feelings promoted by fear and hysteria! 🙁

Let’s face the facts: If we were to ask Americans if they would prefer that African Americans NOT have equality, that there be no civil rights laws, that women be treated again as second class citizens, that gays be subject to prosecution for being what they are, that Catholics and Jews be the subject of persecution as in the past, and that labor be returned to harsh working conditions, it is very possible that many, if not a majority, would support such reversion! 🙁

But we cannot allow prejudice, discrimination, racism, narrow mindedness, ignorance, hysteria, panic and emotionalism to become the basis of denying ANYONE human rights! We are NOT going back to the past when many groups in America were mistreated and denied equality! Those days are over forever! 🙁

Florida Republican Gubernatorial Race: Is Florida To Go The Way Of Arizona? :(

Ronald Leave a comment

The Arizona illegal immigration law is having reverberations elsewhere, and is now affecting the race for the gubernatorial nomination of the Republican Party in Florida! 🙁

Republican Senate nominee Marco Rubio, himself a Cuban American, has denounced the legislation, as has former Governor Jeb Bush (whose wife is Mexican American), and Independent Governor Charlie Crist, who is running for the Senate. Democratic gubernatorial front runner Alex Sink and Democratic Senatorial front runner Kendrick Meek have also come out against it!

But now Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who had no significant opposition until a few weeks ago, when wealthy entrepreneur Rick Scott started a television barrage against McCollum after announcing his last minute entry into the race, has come out in support of the Arizona law, due obviously to the fact that Scott had earlier endorsed the legislation!

Imagine this: The Republicans can certainly be seen as having the advantage in the Governorship race, based on Florida becoming more Republican steadily since the 1990s. Does this state with so many Hispanic and Latino residents, a large percentage of them illegal, really want to go down the same road as Arizona? And do we really want a possible future Governor who pushed for the payment to George Rekers of substantial payments to argue against gay adoption, in the only state that does not allow that, realizing that Rekers has now become involved in a gay sex scandal that was big news a few days ago? 🙁

Is Bill McCollum the man we want to represent Florida, to become the chief executive of the fourth largest state? Are we not entitled to a more open minded, tolerant chief executive?

Under the circumstances, let us hope that this man, who has a despicable record in public office, and has been defeated numerous times in seeking the governorship or senatorial nomination, be once again defeated by a multimillionaire, who has unlimited pockets of money to spend! Then, hopefully, this upstart, who thinks he can “buy” the job of Governor, can be shown as a man without experience who does not deserve the highest executive office in the state, and that it belongs with the state’s Chief Financial Officer, Alex Sink, a woman of principle and convictions!

Major League Baseball And The 2011 All Star Game In Arizona: Move It!

Ronald Leave a comment

Thirty percent of major league baseball players are of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and with many of the other players being African American, it is time for major league baseball commissioner Bud Selig to listen to the growing demands that the 2011 Baseball All Star Game be moved from Phoenix, in protest of the discriminatory, racist, illegal immigration law signed into law a few weeks ago in the Grand Canyon State!

It is time for the players union also to announce that should Selig refuse to do the right thing, that all of the baseball players will boycott the game, forcing his hand!

This weekend, in Cincinnati, the second Civil Rights game is being held, with the St. Louis Cardinals playing the Cincinnati Reds, in celebration of diversity and recognition of the long struggle for equality in this country! The players will wear uniforms reminiscent of what was the attire in 1947, when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball. Just down the street from the stadium is the National Underground Railroad Museum and Freedom Center, which honors the struggle against slavery in the 19th century.

This is the right time and situation for Bud Selig and Major League Baseball to refuse to endorse racial and ethnic discrimination and prejudice, and punish Arizona for its outrageous violation of civil liberties and civil rights!

The Coming “War” Against Incumbents In Congress: Is It Good For America?

Ronald 1 Comment

The anger among the American people is strong, based upon recent polls, and the indications are that we are about to see more incumbents, those already in office, losing their seats than possibly at any time in American history! This, along with retirements, portends more turnover than is customary!

Already, Republican Senator Bob Bennett of Utah, and Democratic Congressman Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, have lost their seats, and the evidence is strong that Senate Democrats Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas are in deep trouble in their primary contests coming up on May 18, as well as Republican John McCain of Arizona in his primary in August!

Other Democrats are in trouble in November including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, and those Republicans who are not facing election in the fall are getting hints that they will be fought against when they come up for reelection in the future–including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Orrin Hatch of Utah, and even Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky!

While this is an attack particularly, it seems, on Democrats, even Republicans who have been on Capitol Hill for too long and are seen as not conservative enough, are therefore at risk! Kentucky is seeing Rand Paul, favored by outgoing Senator Jim Bunning as his replacement, attacking Senator McConnell as if he were his opponent! This could be because McConnell is favoring Trey Grayson, seen by many as the “establishment” candidate, while Rand Paul, the son of Ron Paul, libertarian Congressman from Texas, is seen as the hero of the Tea Party Movement!

So with the decision of many Republicans and Democrats to retire, and many others facing defeat, there will be a lot of new members of Congress come next January, probably at least close to 50-60, meaning more than ten percent of Congress!

This is not necessarily better, as although new blood can be a good thing, the problem is that the likelihood is that we will see much more gridlock and stalemate, and more refusal to “cross the aisle” to cooperate on legislation, than we have now! The John McCain and Orrin Hatch style of bipartisanship at times may be gone for good, and the country will suffer as a result, as the chasm between the parties, and between the Congress and the President will only grow!

So the American people will continue to be angry, and the likelihood is further defeat of incumbents in future elections! Flux and chaos is likely in the halls of Congress, in a way not seen since the era leading up to the Civil War in the mid 19th century!

Is this good for America–the housecleaning? In the short run, it may satisfy, but in the long run, it is detrimental to the smooth functioning of American democracy! 🙁

The Need For Ethnic Studies Courses As Electives In Schools!

Ronald Leave a comment

Arizona’s Governor Jan Brewer has just signed a bill that bans ethnic studies classes in public schools and charter schools, with specific attention being paid to the Tucson public schools, which have a Chicano Studies course, that many claim has promoted discontent and anger among students who have taken the course.

The law actually bans ANY ethnic studies courses, meaning including African American, Asian American, Native American–and by extension–Jewish and Women and Gay Studies courses, which would also be covered under the ban by extension! 🙁

If all of the above groups were covered fairly and comprehensively in American History courses below the college level, then one could possibly understand the reasoning behind the legislation, although it is still censorship!

But as it is, the public school curriculum around the nation lacks the ability to even cover the basic facts and concepts of American history! It is, therefore, outrageous to promote the banning of coverage of the various groups in American society who have been denied equality and justice throughout most of the nation’s history!

This is clearly a right wing attempt to promote distortion, and it now makes Arizona similar to Texas, where the entire history curriculum is being politicized and distorted to teach a conservative oriented, narrow minded view of our national history!

The biggest loser in both Texas and Arizona are Mexican Americans and other Latinos, and yet, as stated many times, the future of the nation is the reality that people of Spanish descent will become, more and more, the largest minority group in America, as in fact, they already are!

Of all ethnic groups that have made up the American nation, only those of German ethnicity have rivaled the numbers who are of Mexican heritage. So the future is here, and the nation needs to learn to deal with it! People of Latino heritage, whether Mexican or other Spanish speaking nations, will not sit back and allow continued discrimination and denial of their history!

All that this outrageous legislation does is promote racism, hatred, and ignorance! It must be appealed by law suits, and Arizona should be ashamed of itself, as it continues down the road of being the inheritor of the racism of Mississippi and Alabama in the 1960s!

In the present, it represents more a state, such as South Carolina or Texas, in its disgraceful state government actions! This demonstrates the danger of states rights, which many conservatives still claim to be existent, although in reality states rights as a legitimate concept was settled by the Civil War, like it or not! 🙁

Republican Congressional Candidate Proposes “Hunting Liberals”! :(

Ronald 1 Comment

A Republican candidate for a Congressional seat in the San Francisco Bay area of California has published a statement on his website promoting an “open season” on “hunting liberals” between now and Election Day, November 2!

This man is named Brad Goehring, of all names! LOL The similarity to Nazi leader Herman Goering is stark! 🙂

He said on his Facebook site that his purpose was to “thin the herd” of liberals and he had no limit on taking them out, which sounds like a veiled threat to promote assassination of liberal candidates and office holders!

Goehring said he was joking, but immediately took down the statement from his Facebook account. But this is not a joke, but rather is insanity and borders on seditious speech, which is not covered by the Constitution! 🙁

When a candidate proposes violence by implication, if not direct statement, he only fosters the nuts out there to follow through on action! This is free speech gone amuck, and is unacceptable speech, and just apologizing is not enough, as the damage has been done!

The one thing that MUST be done is that the GOP repudiate this man, and knock him off the ballot as an unacceptable representative of their party! If they do not, it means they are endorsing him! 🙁

Arizona And Utah: The Republicans Reject Both For The National Convention In 2012: Its Meaning

Ronald Leave a comment

Arizona is rapidly becoming a pariah because of its passage of an illegal immigration law last month!

Now it has reverberated on Arizona, as the Republican National Committee chose Tampa over Phoenix and Salt Lake City as the site of the 2012 Republican National Convention!

The author predicted this a couple of months ago, as Arizona and Utah were guaranteed GOP states, so why hold the convention in either location? Florida made a lot more sense, as the state which has the most electoral votes of the three contending states, and a state in play in the upcoming Presidential election of 2012!

Now, however, with Arizona going “off the deep end” with several laws on guns, and now banning ethnic studies being taught in public schools, along with the illegal immigration law, and with economic boycotts developing that will certainly hurt a state already having foreclosure problems in housing, the Republicans had good reason to go to Tampa.

And Utah, with its anti democratic way of eliminating a sitting Senator in a convention, and not permitting Senator Bennett the option of being on the primary ballot so that the voters could ultimately decide his fate, also gains a bad name and reputation! Both states seem to have become the most right wing states outside of a few Southern states, and that is not meant to be a compliment! 🙁

But ironically, Florida, the center of the contested 2000 Presidential election, will now host the convention, but the question arises whether the GOP will allow the sitting Governor Charlie Crist, who has just broken with the party and is running as an Independent, to show up at the convention to welcome the delegates, a normal routine for the Governor of any state!

So the Republicans have a very interesting situation caused by their final list of state candidates as hosts for their national convention! 🙂