Month: December 2010

Barack Obama: The New “Comeback” Kid!

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It is hard to believe that just a month ago, Barack Obama had suffered a major “shellacking” as he termed it, with the loss of 63 seats in the House of Representatives and 6 in the Senate.

But by the success of his “compromise” deal with the Republicans, Obama is a “comeback” kid, much like Bill Clinton was in 1995, but ahead of schedule as compared to Clinton.

Obama was able to get unemployment compensation extension, a tax cut by lowering the Social Security tax temporarily, various business tax cuts as well, and a continuation of the tax cuts to 98 percent of the population, all guaranteed to please the average American.

Of course, Obama had to swallow the tax cut continuation for the wealthy, and puts the Social Security system theoretically in some danger by cutting the contributions temporarily to that program.

But he still has the veto power and a Democratic Senate, and is seen by many as having “won” over his GOP opponents overall.

And he has likely improved his chances to win re-election in 2012, as even Charles Krauthammer of the Weekly Standard and Fox New Channel asserts.

In comparisons to every possible GOP opponent, Obama wins, and leads Sarah Palin in a theoretical matchup by 22 points!

Obama has placed himself squarely in the center, and that is the way to win Presidential elections in America.

So Obama has truly, and very quickly, become the “Comeback” Kid!

Barack Obama, A President Always Seeking Dialogue: Business Executives And The Tribal Nations Conference

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No matter what one may think about the performance and accomplishments of President Obama, no one can deny his constant involvement in multiple activities, and his desire to seek dialogue with all kinds of groups across the spectrum of America.

Evidence of this is his four hour meeting yesterday with 20 business executives, and his attendance and speech at a White House Tribal Nations Conference today.

Is there any combination of such activities more different than these two? The answer is highly doubtful! 🙂

Obama made an appeal to Wall Street and corporate executives yesterday to hire and invest, and discussed trade, taxes, and education with a wide variety of different company executives. He made it clear that he understood the importance of private enterprise in the expansion and success of the American economy. This was a good, and necessary, move by the President after a difficult year in the relations between the business community and the White House.

At the same time, Obama has clearly become the major advocate of a different and more involved approach toward the tribal nations, that are after all, the original Americans, but have never been treated well by states and the national government. Obama is on the path to become the most sympathetic and active President on Indian affairs in American history, a step long overdue and justifiable because of past wrongs.

So Barack Obama is always on the road to solving problems and keeping the lines of communication open, and for this, we should all be appreciative!

The Boston Tea Party Anniversary: Time To Reflect On The Tea Party Extremists Who Want To Destroy The Constitution They Say They Revere! :(

Ronald 1 Comment

Today, December 16, 237 years ago (1773), the event revered since then, the Boston Tea Party, took place, and galvanized the American colonists into the eventual movement for independence.

But one must remember that it still took two and a half years before the “Founding Fathers” agreed to move toward independence, as the Boston Tea Party crowd were considered radicals who were reckless and uncontrollable and irrational by many.

It is ironic, therefore, that many intelligent, thoughtful people consider today’s so called Tea Party Movement to be similarly radical, reckless, uncontrollable and irrational, and for good reasons!

Tea Party spokesmen in the differing movements that call themselves that title have called for radical actions, while claiming they revere the Constitution. But advocacy of measures such as the following belie what they claim to be their beliefs and goals.

These extremist statements and views include the following:

1. Modifying the 14th Amendment guarantee of citizenship to all born in the United States or its territories.
2. Repealing of the 16th Amendment which provides for a progressive federal income tax.
3. Repealing of the 17th Amendment, which provides for direct election of the United States Senate by popular vote, and returning the election to the state legislatures.
4.Repealing of legislation long established by federal law as an entitlement, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Unemployment Compensation.
5. Elimination of the Departments of Education and Energy.
6. Wiping out of the legislation passed under the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
7. Elimination of the Federal Reserve System set up under the New Freedom of Woodrow Wilson.
8. Ending of the numerous reforms passed under the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson.
9. Termination of the agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Commission, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration signed into law by President Richard Nixon.
10. Promotion of “Nativism” by reviving fear of immigrants, and trying to ban immigration from “undesirable” parts of the world.
11. Promoting States Rights and Secession 150 years after Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War was supposed to have settled that issue for all time.
12. Advocating Christianity as a national religion, and a church and state alliance, while the Founding Fathers specifically avoided that idea, instead promoting separation of church and state.

The Tea Party Movement is not a reform group designed to improve this nation, but instead to take it back to the reactionary realities of the past, which were overcome by a growth in power and influence by the national government, including the Presidency, the Congress, and the Supreme Court, to make the country truly a nation “of, by, and for the people”.

The Tea Party Movement does not offer “change”, but rather negativism and a return to the Gilded Age and the 19th century, before this nation became the great country that it is, a beacon of freedom, progress, and opportunity for the world!

Texas Tea Party And Conservative Republican Dominance Today, But Long Range, Democrats Have Advantage

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Texas has become a solid Tea Party-Conservative Republican state, arguably the most right wing state, although with strong competition from Florida, South Carolina, Idaho, Utah, Oklahoma, Arizona and Kansas.

It has the longest serving Governor in the nation, Rick Perry, who has endorsed the idea of state secession, even though that was supposedly resolved 150 years ago!

It is the home of Senator John Cornyn, and Congressmen Louie Gohmert, Joe Barton,  Randy Neugebauer, Jeb Hensarling, Pete Olson, Ted Poe, Pete Sessions,  Lamar Smith, and of course, the best known of all, libertarian Ron Paul!

It is also a state in which two Democrats just switched parties and gave the GOP a two thirds plus one margin in the State House, making it a veto proof legislative body.

This is a state which has promoted secession and states rights; propagandized in the History curriculum so as to distort and omit large portions of history and de-emphasize historical personalities and events; worked to undermine the study of evolution in favor of Christianity on the state level; became the leader of anti abortion and anti gay rights crusades; and has an oligarchy of powerful financial interests who aim to keep Hispanic, Latino and African American populations in a dependent state and deny them bilingual education, equal job opportunity, and even the ability to study their own heritage, as it may lead to immigration raids to arrest illegal immigrants.

It is hard to believe that Texas was the state that gave us Sam Houston,Lyndon Johnson, Sam Rayburn, and many others who made the state renowned!

The problem for the GOP is that while now they have a tremendous edge, there could be a complete collapse of the Republican dominance within a generation in the state.

This is due to the fact that there are so many Hispanics in Texas, along with African Americans, that as time goes by and as the modern Republican Party manages to turn off most minority people, the likelihood of Democrats regaining majority status in the House of Representatives and in state government grows greater, particularly due to the present economic downtown, in which there are inadequate efforts to provide jobs and educational opportunities as government cuts back social services.  So although the GOP is more dominant than ever, Texas is going into turmoil which bodes for a change of the leadership statewide as Hispanic and Latino population become citizens and go in droves to the Democratic Party!  So Texas is likely to go “blue” in the near future, meaning by 2025-2030!

Vice President Joe Biden On Way To Becoming Most Influential Vice Presidency In History! :)

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The Vice Presidency has been growing in authority and influence since the days of Richard Nixon in that office, the first Vice President to have a great impact on a Presidency.

After Nixon, Nelson Rockefeller, Walter Mondale, George H W Bush, Al Gore, and Dick Cheney added to the office in so many ways.

But it looks likely now that Joe Biden may eventually be seen as the most influential and powerful Vice President, even surpassing the role of Dick Cheney under President George W. Bush.

Originally a rival of Barack Obama for the Presidency, Biden is rapidly becoming more significant, particularly now that the Congress will be divided for the first time since 1987.

Biden, with his contacts on Capitol Hill, and good relations with members and leaders of both political parties, is the perfect person to negotiate for the administration, and comes across as a more “affable fellow” than Rahm Emanuel was, or really, any other person around President Obama.

Biden has been involved in the negotiations over the tax package, and also is working hard on the START Treaty that is soon coming up for a vote, and requires GOP support to pass with a two thirds vote.

Biden and Obama have truly bonded over time, and while Biden might not win every battle, as with Afghanistan policy, who can say that Obama will not eventually go Biden’s direction and lower our involvement in that forsaken nation?

Biden is totally loyal to Obama and a great team player, and he is proving to be a tremendous asset in so many ways.

And his big plus is everyone likes Joe, while many detested Dick Cheney.

Personality can get one far in politics, and Joe Biden has always been a “nice guy” who can get things done, and proves that it is not always true that “nice guys finish last”.

Republicans Gone Mad: Jan Brewer And Mitt Romney Go Neanderthal! :(

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It is very obvious that the next two years of Republican control of the House of Representatives is going to be a literal “nightmare” for the country, and the attempt to promote “compromise” or “common ground” as Speaker to be John Boehner terms it, is almost certain to fail, and not because Barack Obama is causing it.

But it is not just Congress that will be a center of conflict. It is already showing up in other ways that are very alarming! 🙁

We have Arizona Governor Jan Brewer denying transplants to about 100 very sick people, and saying they should ask the federal government for more stimulus money, something the GOP has been totally against until now! 🙁

But the cost involved for these approximately 100 patients is only 5 million dollars! So Republican Governor Jan Brewer does not believe in the “right to life” for transplant candidates, but insists that every fetus must come to term! And this is the party of Sarah Palin who talked about Obama’s health care plan promoting “death panels”! And what is this going on in Arizona, and probably soon in other states? Have we lost all our humanity? 🙁

Then, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, seen by many intelligent, rational people as probably the best potential nominee for President in his party, including the author, suddenly starts to appeal to the extreme right wing of his party by proposing that unemployment compensation be privatized, a shocking idea that people should open up accounts for the threat of unemployment in the future, with their own investments in the stock market, similar to what George W. Bush proposed for Social Security in 2005, which if it had been done, would have totally destroyed Social Security in 2008 when the stock market crashed! 🙁

If Romney is trying to appeal to the hard right of his party, heaven help us! Who is there out there that we can call a sane, civilized candidate who this nation could live with? Has Mitt Romney gone mad in his quest to be President, that now he backs away from his own state health care plan in Massachusetts, and obviously will now promote privatizing of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid? How will he differentiate himself from the “loonies’ in his party if he is to adopt every demagogic concept they advocate? 🙁

This is not just being partisan, what Brewer and Romney are advocating, it is TOTAL INSANITY! 🙁

It is attempting to take all morality, all decency, out of American politics!

It is aiming to destroy the New Deal and Great Society which has humanized this nation over the past 75 years!

It is saying everyone is in this world just for himself, and to hell with anyone who is suffering from illness, unemployment, poverty, deprivation!

The message being sent is that this is a country of, by, and for the wealthy, and the “American dream” is to take as much as one can gain, no matter how it is acquired, as basic common decency no longer applies! To hell with those less fortunate or needy, as this is unadulterated laissez faire capitalism at its best! 🙁

The GOP is declaring war on common decency and morality and ethics, and the fight must begin to overcome this threat to our principles! The future of this nation as a beacon of freedom and opportunity is at stake! 🙁

Interview on Real Talk with Ray Baker

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Yesterday, I spoke with Ray Baker, host of Real Talk with Ray Baker about the recent tax deal struck between President Obama and Republicans. We also discussed the legislative accomplishments of President Obama and whether or not the President has let his Democratic base down.  Click below to listen to my interview, or visit Real Talk with Ray Baker.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli And The Health Care Legislation

Ronald 1 Comment

Yesterday, a Virginia District Court judge appointed by President George W. Bush ruled that the Health Care reform law passed by Congress was unconstitutional, because it would require citizens, who could afford it, to buy health care insurance by 2014.

This decision was the first by the opponents of Health Care reform, after two other district court judges, one in Virginia and one in Michigan, declared the law constitutional.

This decision yesterday was hailed by conservatives and Republicans who want the Health Care reform repealed by Congress.

It was also a victory for Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli who led the fight to bring about this result.

Cuccinelli’s contention is that the federal government cannot force anyone to buy health care insurance, and compared it to requiring that a person buy a particular car. 🙁

This is totally preposterous as a comparison, and forgets that if one does not purchase health insurance, then when such an individual suddenly has health care issues, WE THE PEOPLE pay for them, adding to everyone’s tax burden! 🙁

Is that responsible, Mr. Cuccinelli, that all of us have to pay for the irresponsibility of others to avoid being concerned with their own health? What is more important in a person’s life than his or her own health care? 🙁

Going by Mr. Cuccinelli’s reasoning, why should anyone pay taxes? Why should anyone in the time of a military draft have to serve? Why should anyone have to pay auto insurance, which most states require, and in the cases of those states which don’t demand auto insurance coverage, all of the rest of the population sees their insurance rates go sky high to cover for the irresponsibility of those who will not buy such coverage? 🙁

Part of the responsibility of every individual is to take on the understanding that necessities come before pleasure, a hard concept for many in this society! 🙁

If one can afford ipods, iphones, ipads, fancy cars, smoking, drinking, etc, one must understand that one MUST pay for health care coverage so as to take the burden off the rest of us! 🙁

And why is it Ken Cuccinelli and other conservatives are only too willing to control our social existence, as with abortion, gay rights, etc, but refuse to see that economic regulation is also necessary in the public interest? 🙁

And also, Mr. Cuccinelli, are you really wishing to promote “welfare”, where we all have to pay for others? Is that a conservative belief? You would say OF COURSE NOT, but yet that is the effect of what you are advocating, along with denying other aspects of the health care law that might also be ruled unconstitutional by the courts, including pre-existing conditions no longer being covered, which seems not to bother you! 🙁

Is this a government of WE THE PEOPLE, or only WE THE RICH PEOPLE who shall have health care , Mr. Cuccinelli? 🙁

Tragic Passing Of Richard Holbrooke, Premier Diplomat And Peace Maker! :(

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The death last night of Richard Holbrooke, one of the greatest diplomats in American history, after the occurrence of an aortic tear while visiting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the State Department last Friday, is a tremendous loss to American diplomacy. 🙁

A career diplomat since the late 1960s, Holbrooke worked on the problems of Vietnam, Bosnia, Cyprus, Afghanistan and Pakistan.   He was also Ambassador to Germany, and also was Ambassador to the United Nations under President Bill Clinton.

Holbrooke was often considered a potential Secretary of State, and many thought he should have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for having negotiated the Dayton Accords in 1995, which brought peace to the Balkans and ended the Serbian war on Bosnia.

Also having prevented a war between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus in 1996, Holbrooke was known as a tough negotiator who would not let anyone intimidate him, and he was known for not suffering fools or villains, staring down Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic.

It will not be easy to replace Holbrooke, so American diplomacy has suffered a major loss hard to measure!

The Battle Over The Democratic National Convention Site For 2012

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Very soon, there will be an announcement as to where the Democratic National Convention will be held in September 2012.

The author has written about this earlier, and correctly predicted that the Republican National Convention would be held in late August 2012 in Tampa, Florida.

As stated earlier, the author predicts the convention will be held in St. Louis, Missouri, winning over the cities of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Cleveland, Ohio; and Charlotte, North Carolina.

St. Louis has hosted the Democratic National Convention before, with Woodrow Wilson nominated for his second term in that Mississippi River city in 1916.

St. Louis has the Gateway Arch, an iconic symbol of the nation, and is the major city in a state that is a very clear predictor of the presidential election results, as since 1900, only twice–1956 and 2008–did the Presidential winner lose Missouri. And in both losing cases, Adlai Stevenson and John McCain just barely defeated Dwight D. Eisenhower and Barack Obama.

Missouri will be difficult to win for the Democrats, but it is a crucial state, and holding the convention there would be a boost to the chances of winning the state.

However, having said that, the records show that the Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party has won the state in which the national convention was held a total of 23 times, and lost it 22 times!

So there is obviously no guarantee of what will happen in the Presidential election, whether the convention is held in Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, or Minnesota. All three of the other states were won by the Democrats in 2008, but all three, along with Missouri, are in play for 2012 at this stage of the campaign, nearly two years out.

Still, it seems to the author that Missouri and St. Louis are the most likely choice, and it will be interesting to see if he is correct on the Democratic convention location, as he was on the Republican convention location. 🙂