Month: July 2010

Lincoln Chafee’s Courage: Speak Reality To Rhode Island Voters In Difficult Times!

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Former Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, who served in the Senate for seven years as an independent minded Republican, and then became an Independent after losing his Senate seat, is presently running for Governor, and offering voters reality and truth, and leaving it to the voters to decide!

Chafee, always very principled, and often unwilling to back the Republican view on many issues, remains popular in his home state, despite his loss in 2006, and is now telling voters that they will need to pay more taxes in order not to have budget cuts which would be damaging and unacceptable!

He has told the public in his campaign appearances that more taxation is essential, unless they are willing to let murderers out of prison early; expel old parents from nursing homes; or close state parks!

In other words, there are real world consequences if people are not willing to pay somewhat more taxes in the form of sales taxes! There is no free ride, and public services will suffer if the tax base is not supplemented by moderate tax increases!

That sounds like a suicidal mission, to suggest that people come to grips with reality! It will be interesting to see if Chafee can convince voters of the absolute need to raise taxes in a recession year!

The one factor in his favor is that he is running in a three way race, where he does not need a majority, but instead a plurality, to win the Governorship!

But, of course, then the question is whether the legislature would follow his lead and adopt the Governor’s program, as he would not be allied with either party! So this is a story worth following, both for the race itself, and but also for the aftermath if Chafee wins!

The Growing Impact Of Florida As A Microcosm Of The American Political Scene For 2010!

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Chuck Todd on MSNBC this morning referred to the state of Florida as a microcosm of the American political scene for 2010!

The Florida political scene includes the role of independent candidacies (Governor Charlie Crist); the impact of “outsiders” becoming factors (Rick Scott and Jeff Greene); the battle within the major party structures (Bill McCollum vs. Rick Scott in the Republican party and Kendrick Meek vs. Jeff Greene in the Democratic Party); the impact of the Tea Party Movement (Marco Rubio); the effects of the Great Recession (mortgage foreclosures and effects of the BP Oil Spill on the economy); and the constant change in the Florida electorate due to immigration and population growth and migration!

As the late Tim Russert once said, Florida has become the center of American politics in so many ways, as it has become the fourth largest state, on its way to number three, although delayed a bit by the Great Recession in its population boom!

So the primaries on August 24 and the elections on November 2 will be closely watched as barometers of the American political future in so many ways!

America’s Crisis With Institutions And Centers Of Authority: The Reality Of Class Conflict!

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It is becoming increasingly evident that America is facing a crisis over institutions and authority!

The average American is disillusioned and angry with all major institutions and centers of authority, the feeling that the interests and viewpoints of the average American are being ignored, and that they are victims of the corruption and malfeasance that exists in all of these institutions and centers of authority!

The institutions are big business corporations, banking and finance, auto companies, insurance companies, but also organized religion, the news media, labor unions, major league sports, the most prestigious universities, and most disconcerting of all–our own local, state and national governments! 🙁

All of these institutions and centers of authority have witnessed corruption and scandals, and many have them have shocked average Americans who feel a need to believe that our major institutions work! But, along with corruption and scandals, we have also witnessed incompetence and a level of arrogance that has totally alienated millions of Americans, who feel as if they have no anchor to latch onto, no institution that can assure them of stability and reliability! 🙁

A lot of this feeling is due to the horrific economic situation that millions of Americans have suffered through in the past two and a half years as the economy has gone through the biggest meltdown since the Great Depression of the 1930s!

But the difference is that the average American has been accustomed to more materialism and prosperity prior to the Great Recession, than was true before the Great Depression!

Having become accustomed to more, the loss of economic status now is far worse psychologically and in real life situations than it was in the 1930s! This is a loss of economic status that affects not just those who are racial minorities (although they are comparatively suffering to a greater extent based on statistics), but also the white majority which also sees minority advancement and immigration as major threats to their own status, which has been rapidly declining as well! 🙁

So while there are racial tensions, and accusations back and forth this week between the Tea Party Movement and the National Association For The Advancement Of Colored People, the real crisis is not race itself, but rather CLASS! The middle class is being rapidly destroyed, the poor are worse off than ever, and the upper class is becoming more stratified and narrowly based!

The dangers of violence and radical action, while certainly always possible between racial, ethnic and nationality groups, is much greater on the issue of class! Basically, the “American Dream” concept is being destroyed, although many would say it has always been a myth, that anyone can go from “rags to riches”!

This disillusionment and tension in America explains why millions have no faith in their national government under President Barack Obama, or even in the state and local governments!

This complicates the issue of how to deal with the economic crisis we face, if citizens complain about the power of corrupt economic interests, but also remain angry at government attempting to resolve the issue!

The danger is that the lack of faith in government could lead to anarchy in America, which is NOT acceptable as a solution! So the crisis of confidence in America’s future, and how to deal with it and resolve it, is the major crisis the country faces as we move into the campaign season for the midterm elections of 2010! 🙁

Senator Scott Brown: “Most Valuable Senator” To Likely Retirement In 2012!

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Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts rocketed to stardom and attention by winning the special election to succeed Senator Ted Kennedy through the end of the unexpired term to 2012!

He has proceeded to become, at least in Democratic minds, the “Most Valuable Senator”, as he has now caused the Democrats to win a few victories on legislation by providing the crucial “60th vote” to overcome the filibuster of his Republican colleagues!

Brown has played the politics game very well, playing hard to get his vote, and gaining major concessions from the Obama Administration on his most recent vote allowing passage of the Financial Reform legislation!

So Brown is a celebrity and a center of attention, but does that mean that he has a “free ride” or even “easy sailing” for the full Senate term in 2012, less than three years after winning the seat?

NO WAY would have to be the answer, as the Democrats, who control all the Congressional seats in Massachusetts, and dominate the state legislature, are not about to cede the “Kennedy Seat” to Scott Brown!

It is likely that a Kennedy family member, now rumored to be the Senator’s son, Ted Kennedy, Jr, who looks and speaks like his dad–totally the opposite of brother and former Congressman Patrick Kennedy–will run for the seat! He had never shown interest in electoral politics before, but he made a great impression at the funeral of his dad, and with the name “Ted Kennedy”, how could he lose to Scott Brown?

So, Senator Scott Brown, enjoy your fame and attention, but don’t count on being around after the end of 2012! It would be a major miracle for you to overcome the Kennedy dynasty!

1935 And 2010: Big Business Declares “War” On The American President! :(

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In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was starting the third year of the New Deal programs to tackle the Great Depression. His party, the Democrats, had gained a resounding mandate in the midterm elections, winning 9 seats in the House of Representatives and 9 seats in the Senate, the best performance ever for a sitting President in the first midterm election after being elected!

1935 also saw a major attack by big business corporations, declaring “war” on the New Deal as socialistic, and dangerous to American freedoms and liberty. They formed the American Liberty League and allied with right wing groups to attempt to stop the New Deal in its tracks! The nerve of the President to promote regulation and want to tax wealthy people was their rallying cry!

Now we are in the year 2010, and big business is early in beginning its attack on President Obama on the same grounds and using the same propaganda! The fact that financial regulation has just passed the Senate infuriates big business and conservative interests, which have now been responsible for having created the economic conditions that caused the Great Depression and the Great Recession! 🙁

Now the Supreme Court has made it easier for big business to get involved in political action designed to undermine the Obama Administration, and these interests are, therefore, not waiting until past the midterm elections, as they want to influence those results, and insure that nothing like 1934 occurs!

Big Business has made profits even in these difficult times, but refuses to spend to hire people and promote the economy, and it makes one wonder if the purpose is to insure that economic conditions are so bad four months from now as a method to insure the failure of the Obama agenda in the next two years!

Just as FDR faced an antagonistic Supreme Court in the 1930s, Obama has a Court determined to promote big business now during his time in office. The common themes of FDR’s time and Obama’s time are a reality, but the battle for Obama to maintain enough support to gain passage of the rest of his agenda goes on! 🙁

Should There Be A Giant Mosque Near Ground Zero? NO! :(

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A major controversy developing in New York City is whether a giant mosque should be constructed a short distance from Ground Zero, where the Trade Center Twin Towers once stood!

There is discussion of replacing an historic building, going back to the 19th century, to make way for this Islamic house of worship. But is this site the proper one? The answer is NO! 🙁

This is not, and should not, be seen as anti Islamic, although it will be seen as such by many Muslims in America and elsewhere. There is no issue that mosques can be built, as much as churches and synagogues anywhere in America. But NOT at an historic site that includes the ashes of many who died on September 11!

This is too sensitive a matter, and the feelings of New Yorkers and Americans must be the prime consideration in this matter. The Landmark Preservation Commission must rule in favor of making the present building protected from demolition!

It is not the point of promoting Islamic phobia, which must be worked against. But this is a sacred location, and must be left as hallowed ground, as a memory of those nearly 3,000 people of all nationalities and religions who died there because of the dastardly deed done by 19 Islamic terrorists!

Build mosques in other locations, as happens all the time, but NOT at or near Ground Zero! This is sacrosanct territory, and must remain as a memorial to remind future generations of the greatest tragedy ever to hit US territory on the mainland of our nation!

Obama And Democratic Discontent With Press Secretary Robert Gibbs!

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President Obama’s Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, has created a firestorm among Congressional Democrats by his assertion that it is possible that the Democrats could lose control of the House of Representatives in the midterm election! The Senate would be much more difficult to lose since the GOP would need ten seats gain, a tall order! Having said that, however, never in the past has one house switched control without the other doing the same!

Gibbs’ statement rings true, but it puts the Democrats on the defensive, and it makes some of them wonder if maybe, in some weird fashion, the President might prefer a GOP House so he can use them as a “whipping boy” when he comes up for reelection in 2012!

The argument, historically, could be that three Presidents in their first term, after seeing their party lose control of Congress, was able to use that fact politically to benefit his own reelection, as it made a convenient enemy to attack in the campaign that followed!

This refers to Harry Truman in 1948, after the Republicans gained control of Congress in 1946; Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, after the Democrats took over Congress in 1954; and Bill Clinton in 1996, after the Republicans seized control of Congress in 1994!

In an odd way, it might, actually, be easier for Obama if such were to happen, but to believe that he or his press secretary was trying to set up such a scenario, is ridiculous on its face!

The Extreme Right Gone Berserk: The Tea Party And Michele Bachmann! :(

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The extreme right wing in America is going totally berserk in their hatred of President Barack Obama! 🙁

In Northern Iowa, the local Tea Party Movement put up a billboard, which has now been removed, which depicts President Obama as a “Democratic Socialist”, in between Adolf Hitler as a “National Socialist” and Vladimir Lenin as a “Marxist Socialist”! The implication is that Obama has pursued the same policies as the Nazi and Soviet leaders! Of course, this shows total ignorance of what Nazism and Communism were all about! 🙁

Also, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, long a wingnut, has lost two staff members on her office and committee staffs, after her assertion that Barack Obama is trying to “enslave” the American people! These staff people felt they were no longer able to work for a woman who is so divisive and reckless in her statements! The race between Bachmann and Tarryl Clark for the congressional seat is showing a growing narrowing of Bachmann’s lead, making it a real horse race!

These whacko statements and depictions of the President are, of course, covered under the First Amendment, but it is about time that Republican leaders and talk show hosts on radio and Fox News Channel deplore and condemn such irresponsible and reckless statements and actions!

But based on everything we have seen in the past 18 months, don’t count on that! 🙁

Public Opinion Polls And President Obama: What Do They Forecast For 2012?

Ronald 1 Comment

As the midterm elections come upon us, there is contradictory evidence on the popularity of President Obama!

The Washington Post-ABC News poll reports that only 43 percent approve of the job President Obama is doing. Nearly 60 percent do not trust him to have solutions to the problems the nation faces!

But the President is not running for reelection this year, so the question is this: Even if Obama is slipping in popularity, does that truly mean that the country is ready to kick his party out of control of the Congress, and put in a party that has had no ideas or agenda, except to oppose the President in difficult economic times?

The CNN Poll of Polls, a combination of the aforementioned Washington Post-ABC News poll, the CBS poll, and the Gallup poll shows a bit better situation for Obama, with 47 percent in favor and 46 percent against his leadership!

So is this contradictory evidence, which still makes clear that Obama has slipped at least somewhat in popularity, mean he is in trouble for reelection?

The odds are NO, as he is at a higher level of popularity with 47 percent, as compared to Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, at the same point of their first terms (both 42 percent)! And guess what? Both went on to reelection by substantial margins!

At the same point, George H. W. Bush was at 60 percent, and lost reelection! His son, George W. Bush, was the highest with 76 percent, less than a year after September 11, and won reelection handily!

The odds are still heavy that Obama will win reelection, but he may lose control of Congress as Harry Truman did in 1946, Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954, and Bill Clinton in 1994 in their first terms; and as Woodrow Wilson, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush lost control in the midpoint of their second term in the White House in 1918, 1986 and 2006!

Newt Gingrich For President? Not Good For America! :(

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Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who left electoral politics in 1998 after four years as the most controversial Speaker since Joseph Cannon at the beginning of the 20th century, is making clear his interest in running for the GOP Presidential nomination in 2012!

While not declaring his candidacy, he is traveling in the first caucus and primary states, and while in Iowa, he spoke openly about his planning to run, and the fact that he will decide by the early months of 2011!

It is true that it is already time for presidential candidates to travel to the first states that are part of the marathon race for the White House, and many have been in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. But none have gone as far as Gingrich in openly promoting the idea that he plans to run!

Gingrich is, obviously, a very intelligent man of deep thoughts and ideas, and were he to be the nominee against President Barack Obama, it would be a very intellectual race, probably only matched by John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960, and Woodrow Wilson and Charles Evans Hughes in 1916, in the past century!

But Gingrich is also a “flamethrower” who utilizes outrageous, irresponsible statements, and throughout his career in the House, he was more interested in being controversial than in promoting unity or compromise!

If “politics is the art of compromise”, then Gingrich is clearly the wrong kind of person to lead the nation in a difficult time economically, socially, and internationally! His Presidency would be far more divisive, and make the political split that exists in Washington, DC far worse than it is now! 🙁

It is odd how sometimes Gingrich seems to be very reasonable and sane, but at other times, he is totally whacko in his statements and beliefs! His problem is that he is not believable that he has any strong convictions other than his own desire for power, influence, and constant media attention! 🙁

And in a time of fervent morality on the part of many Republicans, do they really want a person who, while condemning the sexual misbehavior of President Bill Clinton, was himself engaged in an extramarital affair behind the back of his second wife, and has been married now three times? Yes, people make mistakes and have moral lapses, but three wives, two divorces, and a reputation of a tone of corruption while he was Speaker? Is this a winning combination for a person who also presided over the loss of seats while Speaker, in 1996 and 1998?

The best advice that could be given to Newt Gingrich is to reconsider the idea of running, as he would not contribute one iota to the solution of our problems, and would instead simply create even more division and turmoil in a nation that does not need it at such a difficult time in our history! 🙁