Month: September 2010

The GOP “Pledge To America”! A Ponzi Scheme! :(

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The Republican Party has just come out with a “Pledge To America”, similar in concept to the “Contract With America” introduced by Newt Gingrich in the 1994 election cycle, when they won control of both houses of Congress!

The emphasis is on repeal of the health care law, cutting of taxes, cutting of spending, and legislation to outlaw all abortions!

The GOP has no solution to the issue of balancing the budget or dealing with the deficit, and it wishes to take away the concept of children being on their parents’ medical plan to age 26, coverage of preexisting conditions for sick children, and no limit on lifetime care, among other points of the health care law!

The GOP is using the abortion issue to draw religious voters into their coalition, but are offering no new ideas on the economy, but instead the same old failed policies that led to a doubling of the national debt under George W. Bush!

They are bankrupt of new ideas, and are counting on amnesia to convince voters that the Republicans are a better choice than the most productive two year Congress since 1965-1966!

What a sad state of affairs, and hopefully, the American people will not be bamboozled to go backwards! 🙁 No more Ponzi schemes, please! 🙁

The Need For A New “Emancipation Proclamation” For Gay Americans And Undocumented Immigrant Children!

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On this day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, despite opposition within his cabinet, and then issued the final official document on New Year’s Day, 1863! This was one of the greatest moments in American history, promoting the human rights of African Americans!

Here we are, 148 years later, and we need the “emancipation” of two groups, both denied their human rights, because of opposition with the party of Lincoln, a reality that the 16th President would be embarrassed by! He would be angry with those who refuse to carry on the open minded, reform beliefs of the original Republican party! 🙁

Those groups are gay Americans in the military, and the children of undocumented immigrants who came to this country, remember nowhere else, and now are denied the same opportunities for a future as young adults that others are given! 🙁

The adoption of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the military, and the passage of the DREAM Act, giving young immigrants children the chance for citizenship if they have stayed out of trouble, graduated high school, gone to college, and in some cases, served in the military, should not be challenged!

Why should those who are willing to serve their country in the military be treated as second class citizens, regarding their sexuality? Why should these immigrant children be treated so shabbily when they had no control over being brought by their parents to America, and now in many cases, face deportation to a country they have no memory of or connection to? 🙁

Why is that the GOP has no compassion for the violation of human rights of these two groups? Why is it that they have no conscience as they ignore the traditions represented by Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, plus the many moderate Republicans in Congress over the 156 year history of the Republican party? 🙁

Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich And The Attack On Health Care! :(

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Two leading Republican contenders for the Presidential nomination have shown themselves to be disgraceful in their attacks on health care legislation, which the GOP is dedicated to repealing if they win control of Congress this November!

Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas Governor, had the gall to compare the issue of pre-existing conditions in children now having to be covered as of tomorrow, to a property insurance company having to insure a house that has burned down! 🙁 How heartless a statement that is for a ordained Baptist preacher, who claims to be a “good” Christian! 🙁 What hypocrisy! 🙁

Newt Gingrich, former House Speaker from Georgia, has been on a tear lately with outrageous statements about President Obama, about Islam, and so many other controversies, showing he has no decency and is willing to promote hate, division, and turmoil in his mad dash for power, despite his own numerous personal moral failings! 🙁

Now he says that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius should be fired by the new Congress for advocating and promoting the new health care law! Imagine, the secretary of HHS is not supposed to advocate her department’s programs? And since when can Congress fire cabinet members of the President? Is this a sign of intention to impeach Sebelius for doing her job? This is ABSOLUTELY DESPICABLE drivel being promoted by a person with no ethics, morals, or scruples at all! 🙁

Meanwhile, several health insurance companies are getting out of the market of children’s health care just two days before the health care legislation goes into effect, which demonstrates the problem of leaving all health care to private corporations who only care about profits, not about health of children or anyone who is sick! This is further evidence of the dire need for stronger health care legislation with a public option, so that the 50 million Americans without health care can gain what every American should be entitled to–coverage for health care, and the promotion of the right to a decent life!

The Money Battle For Congress Favors Democrats!

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The public opinion polls may show major Republican gains for Congress this November, but the money battles favor the Democrats!

New statistics show that the national committees of the two major parties are very uneven in fund raising and money on hand, with the Democrats having over $13 million on hand, to the GOP’s almost $5 million!

In the House campaign coffers, the Democrats have $39 million to the Republican total of $26 million!

Only in the Senate campaign fund raising do the Republicans have a slight edge with $24.5 million as compared to the Democrats with $23 million!

Meanwhile, state party fund raising demonstrates that the Democrats are ahead in Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Washington, Illinois and Iowa, while the Republicans are ahead in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Colorado!

So based on money raised, the Democrats are, overall, more competitive than the polls suggest!

It all comes down to voter turnout, and that means the Democratic message over the next 41 days will be crucial, requiring active campaigning by President Obama, Vice President Biden, former President Bill Clinton, and others, to convince the country that the Democrats are going in the proper direction, but that unfortunately, patience is required, and that slow progress is being made!

As Bill Clinton said yesterday to Wolf Blitzer on CNN, give the Democrats a whole term in office, rather than prejudging in less than two years, and consider what the opposition party offers as an alternative, which is NO POLICY, just attacks!

The point is, the election is far from over! Or as the former Yankee catcher Yogi Berra once said: “It ain’t over till it’s over!” 🙂

Disgraceful Refusal of US Senate To End “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” And Approve DREAM Act! :(

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The US Senate had the opportunity today to do what was right: finally pass the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in the military, which the top military leaders support; and approve the DREAM Act, giving children of illegal immigrants who have become adults, to move toward citizenship by finishing high school and either going to college for two years or joining the military! The purpose is to give these young people the opportunity to serve their country, and be treated as equals, since the fact that their parents may be illegal should not be used to discriminate against them and their future!

But the motion failed 56-43, with not one single Republican–not Olympia Snowe nor Susan Collins of Maine, George Voinovich of Ohio, Richard Lugar of Indiana, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. or any others who are not totally right wing extremists–including John McCain of Arizona–willing to be fair and reasoned on these issues, but instead playing politics and continuing the total refusal of Republicans to do what is right! 🙁

There is now the possibility that neither of these significant reforms will make it through Congress this year, although they might at the “lame duck” session after the midterm elections in November!

But assuming major GOP gains, it might NOT happen, and might have a gloomy future on both counts in the next Congress!

What a sad day this is for America–further evidence of no sense of righteousness and fair justice! 🙁

Economic Policies Under Review As Advisers Leave Obama Administration!

Ronald 1 Comment

It seems likely that major economic policy changes are coming soon, partially as a result of the upcoming midterm elections, and partially over the inability so far for the Obama Administration to deal with the constant unemployment numbers, now 9.6 percent, and possibly going up to over 10 percent! 🙁

Yesterday, economic experts said the Great Recession is over, and that it ended in June 2009, after 18 months, starting in December 2007! This is the longest recession since World War II, with the 1973-75 and 1982-83 recessions officially lasting 16 months!

But it is very hard to believe that the recession is over, with so little job growth and the horrible housing market, so it is time to change people and policy!

Nevada, Michigan and California have between 12-14 percent unemployment, and Florida is close to 12 percent, and this is what is killing the Obama popularity in the public opinion polls!

So Larry Summers is leaving, joining earlier departures of Peter Orszag and Christina Romer. This means only Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner remains from the original economic team, and one would not be surprised if he left sooner, rather than later!

It is clear that unless the economy starts to turn around in 2011, no matter whether the Democrats retain or lose Congressional control, Barack Obama will be in deep trouble for re-election in 2012! The forecast is not promising! 🙁

Jimmy Carter Diary Becomes Public: Center Of Controversy!

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Former President Jimmy Carter, now nearly 30 years out of office, only behind Herbert Hoover in years of retirement, has decided to reveal his diary entries from his years in the White House, rather than wait till his passing!

Carter was interviewed on Sixty Minutes on CBS last night and will do the book tour for the next few weeks, including on Larry King Live on CNN tonight.

Carter certainly is not avoiding controversy now, any more than he did while in office!

Often considered a “failed” President, despite many accomplishments, a lot of the reputation due to his defeat by Ronald Reagan in 1980, Carter makes the assertion that he accomplished more of his agenda in four years than any other one term or two term President who followed him, and including Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon before him!

In other words, he had the highest rate of success in his agenda than anyone since Lyndon Johnson!

That assertion seems hard to prove, and actually very startling, and will require scholars to examine the Carter record in greater detail as to the validity of his assertion, which the author finds hard to believe!

Carter also shows an ugly streak of resentment and bitterness by attacking Senator Ted Kennedy, who died last year, accusing him of not wanting Carter to accomplish health care reform, which Carter claims could have been done thirty years ago!

Again, it is hard to imagine such a scenario as being possible in the late 1970s, with a growing conservative movement by 1978, which would have made such an accomplishment impossible!

Jimmy Carter has loved being controversial in his post Presidential years, and his newly published Diary only will add to that image he seems to pursue!

If nothing else, it will provoke historians and other scholars to focus on Carter, who has not been as much investigated as his successor, Ronald Reagan, and certainly deserves more analysis!

Carter’s longevity may have delayed much research, but it is likely much more will be published sooner, rather than later, due to this publication of his Diary!

The Historical Reality On Midterm Elections!

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There are many predictions that the Republican Party may win either or both houses of Congress on November 2, the day of the midterm elections!

Historical reality is that whenever the party in power has lost one chamber of Congress, it also has lost the other house! Also, on the average since the beginning of the 20th century and the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, the party in power loses an average of 28 seats in the House of Representatives, and an average of 4 seats in the Senate!

Although some prognosticators seem to think that the Democrats will lose enough seats (10) to give up control of the Senate, it still seems a long shot to most! And since the Republicans would have to gain 39 seats to win the House of Representatives, that seems a tall order too, considering that if any seats are lost by the GOP in either house, that makes it all the more difficult for them to gain either chamber! To consider that the GOP will not lose any seats in either house of Congress, at a time when there is an anti incumbent attitude out there, seems an unlikely event!

It seems likely that the Democrats will lose close to the average of seats in both houses, but doubtful they will lose much more, if any, when the dust settles! But we shall see soon enough!

The Values Voters Summit: Mike Pence Of Indiana The Winner Of The Presidential Straw Poll!

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The 5th Values Voters Summit was held in Washington, DC over this weekend, sponsored by the Family Research Council, a socially conservative organization linked with the Republican party!

As in past years, all of the ambitious Presidential possibilities usually give a speech at the conference, and the highlight of the gathering is the straw poll as to who is favored for the Presidency in 2012!

Since there are so many competitors, the winner of the straw poll usually wins only 20-25 percent of the total votes, and that was the case again!

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee won this straw poll twice in the past, but yesterday, in a bit of a surprise, Indiana Congressman Mike Pence won over Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Sarah Palin!

Pence, being a Congressman, has not been paid much attention to by observers, but he is a very attractive person in his appearance and his rhetoric, and has backed the Tea Party Movement, so should not be seen as a fluke, but rather as a serious Presidential possibility, although he denied any interest when asked about that! But is not that par for the course at this point of the Presidential cycle to deny interest? 🙂

IF Pence was to become a serious contender for the Presidential nomination, and IF by some chance he won the nomination and defeated President Obama, he would be only the SECOND Congressman to be elected President!

Unfortunately, the history of the first Congressman to go directly to the Presidency is not a good one! 🙁 Republican James Garfield of Ohio was elected in 1880, took the oath of office on March 4, 1881, faced the issue of patronage and the spoils system which overwhelmed his time in office, and was assassinated by an office seeker, Charles Guiteau!

Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881, at the Union Railroad Station in Washington, DC! Doctors probed for the bullet with unsanitary equipment, were unable to locate it, and he suffered through 79 days of pain and discomfort, and finally passed away on this day, September 19, 1881, at the age of 49, the youngest President at his death, except for the later tragic assassination of John F. Kennedy at the age of 46 in 1963! 🙁

So the possible future story of Mike Pence would, hopefully, not be as sad as that of Congressman James Garfield was in 1880-1881! 🙁

John Boehner And Mitch McConnell: Watch Out For Challenges To Your Leadership In Congress!

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The Republican establishment, particularly the leaders of the party in both houses of Congress, had better watch out if the party gains control of either or both houses of Congress! You might be regretful that your party gained power, as you are under threat and are in the cross hairs of Tea Party types and sympathizers, who are very likely to try to seize control of the party leadership from you before you even realize it! 🙁

I am referring here to so called “Speaker of the House” John Boehner of Ohio, and so called “Senate Majority Leader” Mitch McConnell of Kentucky! Both of you gentlemen are an “endangered species”, with the word “gentle” soon to be not in vogue in Washington DC! 🙁

Who are the threats to the leadership of John Boehner? There are four names that stick out, with two in particular–Mike Pence of Indiana, who just won the straw vote at the so called Values Summit, and is considered likely to seek the Presidency on a very socially conservative platform, but has worked at wooing the Tea Party Movement activists; and Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House Minority Whip, who often has had tough relations with Boehner, and has now published a book, YOUNG GUNS, with two other conservatives who, like him, are politically ambitious and flirt with the Tea Party Movement–Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, and Kevin McCarthy of California! Does Boehner really think he will be able to sleep at night with these four colleagues, and particularly Pence and Cantor, hot on his heels? 🙁

And who is the threat to Mitch McConnell, that should have him worried? The answer is a whole slew of potential Senators–Tea Party Favorites–including Rand Paul of Kentucky, Sharron Angle of Nevada, Mike Lee of Utah, Ken Buck of Colorado, Joe Miller of Alaska, Linda McMahon of Connecticut, Marco Rubio of Florida, and Christine O’Donnell of Delaware–all of whom were not supported by the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee and its head, Senator John Cornyn of Texas–but won the nominations against candidates endorsed by that committee! 🙁

And who would they, or many of them, be likely to back for Senate Majority Leader? The answer is Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who has declared himself the leader of the Tea Party revolt, and is supported by such as James Inhofe of Oklahoma, who might wish to be Senate Majority Whip! 🙁

This is a horrifying scenario in both houses, IF the GOP gains the majority! And even if they don’t, the present leaders could still face the axe by disappointed rebels who would desire to “purge” the party leadership and move it to the extreme right!

So there will be an interesting next few months for the GOP, whether they actually gain the majority in either house of Congress, or just come close!

As stated many times earlier in this blog, the future of the Republican Party hangs in the balance, as to whether it will be a legitimate opposition party with any future after the attempted takeover by the Tea Party Movement! 🙁