Month: September 2010

The Complexity Facing The Republican Hopes For A Majority in Congress

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It has been much stated that the Republican Party is favored now to win a majority of the House of Representatives in November’s elections, with some chance of gaining control of the Senate as well!

The numbers always quoted are 39 in the House and 10 in the Senate, but it is not quite that simple!

To gain 39 seats in the House and 10 in the Senate also means that the Republicans cannot afford to lose any seats, and if they do, then the number of new Republicans needed in both chambers grows!

To believe that EVERY Republican in both houses running for re-election, and that every open seat that is Republican, will stay Republican is truly a dream beyond reality!

Remember there is a lot of anger and frustration with INCUMBENTS, but in both parties! The Tea Party Movement has been active in trying to defeat Republican incumbents where they can (as for instance Bob Bennett in Utah and Lisa Murkowski in Alaska), and are not automatically willing to back the Republicans when it comes to getting legislation through, if the GOP gains the majority!

So it is not going to be easy for the Republicans to gain enough seats, although it is acknowledged that the Democrats will certainly lose seats! But if by some chance the Republicans do gain enough seats, there will likely be paralysis as far as action is concerned to deal with the economic crisis, as the Tea Party activists who are elected will refuse to back spending and will insist on budget cuts, despite the reality that there is little that can be cut from the major parts of the budget–defense, interest on the national debt, Social Security, and Medicare!

In the light of day, the Republicans might very well regret their majority, as the Democrats will be able to claim by 2012 that they have been a reactionary, do nothing Congress, and the anger and frustration of the people will likely lead to a return of the Democrats to control of Congress, and the victory, probably by a wider margin, of President Barack Obama to a second term as President of the United States!

Alarming Rise In Poverty: Back To The 1960s Level! :(

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An Associated Press investigation demonstrates that the Great Recession, that America is suffering through since its beginning in December 2007, has led to a growing level of poverty unseen since the mid 1960s, which at that time led to the Great Society War On Poverty under President Lyndon B. Johnson! 🙁

This is not an issue of the chronically poor lower class that has always been a problem for America! It is the issue of millions of people, once considered middle class, who have, through loss of employment and loss of homes, become the “new poor” in America! 🙁

The statistics on poverty will be released soon, and might add to the growing burden of the Obama Administration in the upcoming midterm Congressional elections!

The poverty rate has been about 13.2 percent, but is expected to rise to near 15 percent, meaning one out of every seven Americans will be perceived as being in poverty, a total of about 45 million people, of all races, nationalities, and geographic sections of the nation! 🙁

It is forecast that the increase in poverty in one year will be the greatest since records were first tallied in 1959!

The working age population 18-64 is expected to see a rise from 11.7 to 12.4 percent, the highest since 1965 when the War on Poverty began under Johnson!

Tragically, the child poverty rate will be over 20 percent, meaning one out of every five children under 18 will be in poverty, not a good thing for the emotional and physical health of younger people, who are poor without any ability to change the situation! 🙁

The question will be how a GOP Congress would deal with the rising poverty rate, since their basic viewpoint is that people tend to be poor because they fail to try to improve themselves through education and job training because of “handouts” given to them by Democratic Congresses and Presidents! 🙁

Once the Republicans gain control, if they do, of Congress, they will have the burden and responsibility to decide how to handle the highest poverty rate, and the worst economic conditions since the 1930s, and will no longer have the option of just opposing!

So ironically, as some project, if the Republicans gain control and President Obama fights them on the need to help the poor and the unemployed, their newly gained majority could lead to a big turnover for the Democrats in 2012 and a re-election victory for the President!

In other words, a “wave” against the Democrats now could lead to a “wave” against the Republicans two years from now, as the American people express their impatience and anger by the chant of “throw the rascals out!”

Flight 93 And Shanksville, Pennsylvania Heroism And Unity: Why Can’t We Emulate Them Nine Years Later?

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Today, September 11, is not only the 9th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but also the heroic action of strangers who united together in courage and conviction to overcome terrorists on Flight 93, who intended to crash into the White House or Capitol Hill!

These people–heroes and heroines–came from different parts of the nation, different backgrounds, different traditions–but they all united in a cause they knew they would not survive, the overcoming of the terrorists on board!

Their plane smashed into the ground at Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all aboard, but saving the country from an even worse tragedy, and an appropriate memorial is being planned to honor these decent people who sacrificed themselves for the betterment of their nation!

Why, oh why, can we not today, as a nation, show the same level of sacrifice and commitment to our nation, that these courageous passengers on Flight 93 demonstrated nine years ago today? 🙁

A true honoring of these courageous, brave citizens would be to rededicate ourselves to emulate their behavior, as that would be for the benefit of ALL of us, rather than the self serving, selfish, narrow minded exploitation of September 11, that has become endemic as the years have gone by! 🙁

We owe it to them to reconsider whether making September 11 something to politicize is moral and ethical, and rather to see it as something to be respected and honored and to unite us!

A Fitting Tribute To September 11 Victims: Finally, Congress Must Pass First Responders Health Coverage Legislation!

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As a fitting tribute to the victims of September 11, and because it is the right thing to do in addition, it is the appropriate moment for the Congress to stop the politics, and claims that we cannot afford to come to the aid of first responders, while cutting taxes for two percent of the population that already has much of the total income of the nation! It is time to pass into law the First Responders Health Coverage legislation that the Republican party has been blocking in the House of Representatives and the Senate! 🙁

No matter what, it is time to hold accountable every last Republican and conservative Democrat who refuses to support appropriate government coverage of all of the first responders of September 11 who have suffered from the effects of the toxic air, who have become victims of cancer and other maladies, and compensate the families of those who have died from the effects of their first responder heroism!

No one should be elected or re-elected who is willing to use the issue of deficits and national debt to deny our heroes and heroines their just due, as they sacrificed their lives and health to help those in need on that tragic day!

No more delays, no more propaganda, no more bull–PASS THE LEGISLATION TO HONOR FIRST RESPONDERS, and find other ways to cut the budget, including NOT continuing to give the rich more wealth at the expense of the rest of the nation! 🙁

Ted Koppel On How September 11 Has Divided, Rather Than United Us! :(

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Former ABC News Night Line host Ted Koppel is now an analyst for BBC World News America, but his 25 years on Night Line set his sterling reputation for clear, incisive evaluation of events!

In an Op Ed article for the Washington Post to be published tomorrow to commemorate the 9th anniversary of September 11, he makes it clear that we have given Osama Bin Laden a tremendous victory beyond even his expectations, as this nation has become bitterly divided over how to react to the Islamic faith, and how to deal with the issue of national security! 🙁

Instead of uniting and cooperating, the two political parties have badly broken the sense of one nation after the tragic events nine years ago, and the whole issue of dealing with a religion of one billion people in many nations around the world has been manipulated in such a way that, instead of weakening Islamic radicalism, it is actually helping to spread hate and fear among young Muslims in America and around the world to our detriment! 🙁

The result is political chaos and opportunism in America, which leads to rejoicing for Bin Laden and his ilk! The reality is that Bin Laden continues to triumph over this nation and the Western world nearly a decade after his dastardly deed! 🙁

When, oh when, will our political and religious leaders see what is occurring, and unite to promote tolerance and diversity? Instead of fighting each other, when will we unify around a common purpose to overcome the terrorism that has poisoned us? 🙁

The Congressional Budget Office: Growing Inequality Of Wealth Since 1979!

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The Congressional Budget Office has released research that shows the tremendous inequality of wealth that has occurred since 1979, coinciding with the Reagan tax cuts of the 1980s and the Bush II tax cuts of the 2000s!

38.7 percent of the income growth went to the top one percent, with 15.6 percent going to the next four percent, and 9.4 percent to the next five percent! That means that 64 percent of the income growth went to the top ten percent of the American population, based upon income! 🙁

The bottom 90 percent received the remaining 36 percent of the income growth, with the 80-90 percentile gaining 11.5 percent, meaning a grand total of 75 percent of all income growth was among the top 20 percent of earners! 🙁

Is there any way that, in a country which promotes “equality of opportunity” and a so called “level playing field”, we can justify such outrageous inequities, and feel that it is wrong to expect those most successful to contribute more to the betterment of American society through higher taxation rates? 🙁

How much wealth and materialism is too much, and how much lack of concern for those less fortunate can a democracy sustain, without wondering about the so called “American Dream” being phony and just a myth? 🙁

If the average American, particularly those in the bottom 80 percent fully understood what has been going on in the past 30 years, they would refuse to back a party which promotes MORE inequity and MORE greed and MORE materialism for the wealthy! 🙁

The problem again is ignorance is NOT bliss, but rather destructive of the social order and the future economic stability of the United States! 🙁

Tax Cuts For The Wealthy NOT Favored, According To Gallup Poll! So Why Are Republicans Favored To Gain Control In Midterm Elections?

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It is odd that the Gallup polls indicate a likely advantage in the midterm elections toward the Republican Party, at the same time that their polls demonstrate that Americans do NOT want the Bush tax cuts, which include big cuts for the wealthy, to continue beyond their expiration date in December 2010!

44 percent agree with President Barack Obama and the Democrats that the top two percent of the population, who make more than $250,000 should pay more taxes, that they do not pay enough, and that major social programs, including Social Security, need the extra tax collection from the wealthy to make them function!

Only 37 percent agree with the GOP view on taxes, which would raise the deficit by another $700 billion at a time when the Republican Party calls for cutting spending dramatically in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s!

So the GOP is saying give more money back to the rich, even though that will not promote financial stability, will cause a great increase in the national debt which the GOP condemns, and will further cause a stratification of the social classes in America, already more stratified than Great Britain! 🙁

The issue hard to understand in the Gallup polls is how could more Americans want to see taxes increased on the wealthy, and yet seem to be ready to elect Republicans to control of Congress, or at least the House of Representatives! 🙁

It seems to defy common sense that the American people could support the Obama and Democratic view on taxes, and yet wish to elect Republicans! It indicates lack of enthusiasm on the part of Democrats, and very possibly, total ignorance of what political parties are all about by many Americans! 🙁

It would indeed be a sad state of affairs if the American people, at least by a plurality, want Democratic ideas and end up with a GOP majority in Congress through ignorance and a lack of participation in the electoral process! 🙁

It is a strong indication of the dire need to educate the American people on the facts and the realities of political debates and issues, instead of utilizing fear and prejudice and myths to manipulate the voters! 🙁

The Republican And Conservative Exploitation Of September 11 :(

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On the eve of the 9th anniversary of the most horrific day in American history since Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, it is shocking to recognize how the Republican leadership and conservative talk show hosts have utilized September 11 to divide this country by promoting hate, hysteria, and panic on a level WORSE than Joseph McCarthy and his Republican and conservative backers stirred anti Communist “witch hunts” during the late 1940s and early 1950s!

There is nothing that these despicable public figures will not do to promote their agenda, including comparing Pastor Terry Jones’s threat to burn Korans with the Islamic interfaith center that is planned for two blocks from Ground Zero in New York City! The former is designed to promote hate and bloodshed, while the latter’s purpose is to promote interfaith understanding and dialogue!

It is not too much for Newt Gingrich, John Boehner, and Sarah Palin, among others, to exploit this comparison, but also Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck find no problem in exploiting September 11 for financial gain, by holding a gathering in Anchorage, Alaska with highly expensive tickets to be bought on Ticketmaster, and selling liquor as well, to commemorate that fateful day! Any such event should not have a ticket charge, and liquor being served is totally against the somber nature of the event!

But Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck have no shame and no limits to their hypocrisy, as also John Boehner, Newt Gingrich, and many others, including the many Republican leaders who chose to remain silent and avoid taking a stand for principle, on the evil of Pastor Terry Jones and the principle of religious freedom and diversity represented by the interfaith plans near Ground Zero!

Interesting Coincidence: Rush Limbaugh And Pastor Terry Jones Were Missouri High School Classmates And Graduates Of Class Of 1969!

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What an amazing occurrence to discover that talk show host Rush Limbaugh and Pastor Terry Jones of Gainesville, Florida, who has created a stir with his threat to burn Korans on September 11, are classmates and graduates of the same high school in Missouri in the year 1969!

Both are a menace to America, and in many ways, Limbaugh has, by his rhetoric, encouraged wing nuts like Pastor Jones, who has managed by his behavior to hold American foreign policy and its war effort as hostages in his insane need to draw attention to himself! 🙁

Anyone who is sane can see that Jones is a hateful, sick charlatan, the worst image possible of a Christian pastor! This man was involved in scandal and financial irregularity in a church in Germany that he headed in the 1980s!

Is it really a surprise that he is an obvious crook and certainly went into a career of being a pastor to avoid taxes, a favorite tactic of so called “religious” people who peddle hate and division by becoming pastors without any, or limited, religious training, gain ignorant followers, and meanwhile manage to gain a tax advantage because of their creation of churches, which are often just storefront businesses to raise money! 🙁

This man not only has no concern for the damage he is doing to America, but also peddles hate of gays, another favored method of some so called “pastors” who claim to be following Jesus Christ, but totally distort his message of peace and tolerance and harmony!

The right wing talk show hosts and Fox News Channel helped to create this monster by their hateful rhetoric against Muslims, and they have made our national security much more a problem for the President, because they preach a war against Islam, instead of against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, who are the enemy, not one billion Muslims around the world!

The Tea Party, Sarah Palin, And The Delaware GOP Senatorial Primary: Suicidal Tendencies Grow! :(

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Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Movement seem out to prevent any moderate Republicans from being elected to the US Senate, thus giving the Republicans a more extremist image, which is likely to lead to defeat, but even if it does not, marginalizes the long term future of the party! 🙁

Alaska’s Senate primary saw moderate Lisa Murkowski defeated by Joe Miller, an extremist Tea Party favorite, which at least makes that state a more competitive one for Democrats! Sarah Palin used her influence to help defeat the Murkowski family again, as she had when she defeated the father who was Governor in 2006!

Now Delaware, a state sure to elect a moderate Republican with a 20 year record in the US House, Mike Castle, suddenly has the possibility, due to Sarah Palin and the Tea Party extremists, of electing a completely unqualified woman, Christine O’Donnell, who happens to be attractive as her only virtue, as the Senate nominee next Tuesday, September 14!

The odds of O’Donnell defeating Democrat Chris Coons are seen as unlikely, but the desire to move the GOP to the far right seems to outweigh the reality that the GOP cannot survive intact as an extremist right wing party long term! 🙁

We already have right wingers named Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, Joe Miller, Ken Buck and Mike Lee, who make a bad image for the party, and hopefully most will be defeated, an advantage to the Democrats!

But if they win, and Christine O’Donnell wins, the Republican party is killing its long term future, as to govern the country we require a mainstream centrist set of parties, and the GOP is fast losing any possibility of being perceived as such!