Month: August 2011

George McGovern’s Advice To President Obama: Worth Considering And Pursuing!

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Former Senator and 1972 Democratic Presidential nominee George McGovern, now 89, has just published a “Letter To President Obama” in the September issue of Harper’s Magazine, and what he wrote deserves our and the President’s attention.

McGovern, much loved by those who supported him 40 years ago, including this author, said that President Obama has faced greater economic challenge but also greater attacks from the opposing party than anyone since Franklin D. Roosevelt.

McGovern said Obama should pursue the following ideas:

1. Withdraw from Afghanistan over the next year, as no one has ever been able to overcome that nation in war, and it would save a trillion dollars or more over time.

2. Withdraw most of our troops from overseas commitments, as it is no longer necessary in the modern world to have so many troops overseas, and it would save trillions of dollars.

3. Withdraw our troops from the Islamic nations, as they see our military presence as a sign of American and Christian imperialism over their holy lands and territories.

4. Find ways to cut the defense budget over time, by getting rid of unnecessary missile systems and the returning of troops to America, with the amount on defense being cut from the present $700 billion to $500 billion and eventually to $200 billion through the use of intelligence utilized by the Department of Homeland Security.

5. Tax the wealthy the way they used to be assessed, bringing in large amounts of additional revenue to the nation.

6. Spend money on health care through nationalizing Medicare for all; providing government supported educational opportunity for all at the college level; and building high speed rail systems that will lower the energy drain and the power of oil over our lives.

While it might be argued that there is no way to pursue all of these goals in the short run, it certainly is worth consideration, although in reality the accomplishment of much of this is hard to conceive in the present political climate.

However, there is a growing feeling in this country, and even in the Republican Party, that our overseas commitments MUST be cut as we can no longer afford the kind of financial burden that we are dealing with at this time in our history.

Much of our focus must be on improving our own country which is in dire need of domestic investment at this time, and cutting of foreign commitments as long as we have good intelligence gathering, excellent military special forces, and the ability to use drones and other technology to fight the enemies we have in this world!

The Middle Class Alarm Bell: Declining Rapidly In America and Multiplying In Brazil, India, China, Russia!

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In the midst of the greatest economic crisis for America since the 1930s, the alarming reality is that the middle class, the backbone of America, is rapidly declining, as stratification of wealth has grown to be the greatest it has ever been in American history.

At the same time, we are witnessing the multiplication of the middle class in Brazil, India, China and Russia, and that is an alarm bell that this nation is in danger of a declining role economically on the world scene, in competition with these rapidly growing nations’ prosperity!

Who would have thought after World War II, that within two thirds of a century later, the concept of an American Empire that would be the world’s leader would come to a crashing halt, as the statistics now indicate is happening before our eyes?

This is not a time for accusations and for political points to be gained! Rather it is a time for all Americans to unite behind an economic program that promotes economic growth, rather than stagnation. Sadly, the likelihood of Congress working with the President when they come back after Labor Day is considered quite remote, and the losers will be all of us in this nation that deserves better!

Early Speculation On The Vice Presidency: Marco Rubio And Bob McDonnell

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As the battle for the Republican Presidential nomination heats up, speculation is beginning as to who the nominee’s running mate might be, and most of the attention is focusing on two Southerners, one in the US Senate, and one who is Governor.

Many are saying that newly elected Senator Marco Rubio of Florida is the front runner, with his good looks, his youth (40), Tea Party support, Hispanic heritage (Cuban), his speaking ability, and his representing the fourth largest state in population and electoral votes. Rubio, although only in the Senate for seven and a half months, had a distinguished career in the Florida House of Representatives, including being its Speaker, and knows how to raise money, and to appeal to Hispanic voters, a key voting bloc in Florida and elsewhere.

At the same time, Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia appeals to many as a conservative who avoids controversy and direct connection to the Tea Party Movement, but saying and doing the right things to avoid antagonizing them or conservatives in general, and no one doubts his conservative credentials. He is handsome, well spoken, and represents a swing state, much like Florida, which is crucial to the Republican Party’s chances to win in 2012. McDonnell is also the present Chair of the Republican Governors Association, and is term limited to one term by Virginia state law, to the end of 2013, so would certainly be looking for a role beyond then, and the Vice Presidency would be very enticing!

Both Florida and Virginia went to Barack Obama in 2008, making both of them battlegrounds in 2012. So the odds seem good that either Rubio or McDonnell are the most likely VP nominees for whoever is the GOP nominee for President in 2012.

Rick Perry And Michele Bachmann Both Claim They Hate The Federal Government They Want To Lead, But Both Have Benefited From Federal Money While In Office!

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Governor Rick Perry of Texas and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann both are favorites of the Tea Party crowd, and like that radical, anarchistic group, they both rail against the “evil” federal government that they wish to lead!

At the same time they are condemning, both have benefited from the federal government they despise!

Rick Perry has been very willing to take economic stimulus money, while claiming earlier that he would refuse to take it, and that money has helped Texas to be able to create more jobs than any other state! Of course, population growth, and the fact that Texas has the second largest population, fueled a lot of the economic expansion, with much of it being from military expenditures, the space program, and the stimulus money. But even with all that, the unemployment rate is not low, being 26th in the nation, at 8.4 percent and rising, and many of the new non government jobs are minimum wage! But without these advantages, Texas would not be able to brag falsely that it is a great success story of private enterprise!

Meanwhile, Michele Bachmann, who worked for the Internal Revenue Service for years, and works now in a federal job in the House of Representatives, has been able to get federal funding for her family farm, federal Medicare money for her husband’s psychological counseling center for gays, and a federally guaranteed loan for a home purchase, even though she condemns federal housing loans!

So both are totally hypocrites and liars, just sowing distrust of a federal government which has benefited them, as it does millions upon millions of Americans every day, and which is essential in the modern 21st century world!

Reality: The Bush Economic Collapse Of 2008 Will Be With Us, No Matter What Policy Is Pursued, Until The End Of This Decade!

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Politics abound as the Presidential Election of 2012 beckons, with the Republican Party claiming that the floundering recovery is due to Barack Obama, which is the furthest thing from the truth!

This economic disaster, which is called the Great Recession and is supposedly over, is really the second Great Depression and is far from over, and it would be no different if John McCain had been in the White House, and in fact, probably would be worse!

Economists almost unanimously agree that the Economic Stimulus legislation pushed through by the Obama Administration in 2009 saved the country from a worse situation, and a clear second Great Depression!

And now the end of stimulus funds, and the mad dash to cut spending, most economists agree, will cause a double dip recession, which will effectively bring about what everyone fears–a second Great Depression, which will drag on into at least 2019-2020!

So it means even if the GOP wins the Presidency this time or in 2016, we are not going to be returning to pre–2008 economic figures and unemployment levels for effectively an entire decade!

Economists are saying this economic recovery will be one of the longest, and most difficult in American history, and remind us of the Great Depression from 1929-1939, only ultimately resolved by World War II spending!

This severe recession, if you want to call it that, is worse because of the housing collapse, the taxation policy, and the lack of regulation of banks and corporations, all due to the terrible policies of the Bush Administration over eight years, and we are going to pay the price for the greed and selfishness of the Congress and the White House for a long, long time!

The social disruption that is likely as people realize there is no quick fix , but that the Republicans have learned nothing from their blunders and short sightedness in the first decade of the 21st century, is scary to accept as likely!

Instead of uniting to revive the economy and cut social suffering, they would rather just protect the rich and the corporations and preach religion as the answer, which is most certainly NOT the answer to our plight!

Finally, An Important Change On Deportation Of Illegal Immigrants!

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Three months ago, this author wrote of the need for President Obama to stop the mass deportations of illegal immigrants and their children, and work to gain the passage of the DREAM Act, allowing young immigrants to go into the military or attend college, and work toward a path to citizenship.

The point was that the emphasis on deportation of illegal immigrants should be on those who are involved in illegal, criminal activities that undermine the nation, while the vast majority are going about their business, and should not be targeted for deportation.

Finally, the Obama Administration has determined to do what was promoted by many groups and this author, and therefore, this is a time for celebration, as many of these illegal immigrants are contributing daily to this nation, and their youths wish to become American citizens and be assets to this country in a positive way for the long term future!

Obama has promoted more deportations than George W. Bush, angering progressives, but he finally has gotten the message, and it is therefore to be applauded as a major step!

So the Department of Homeland Security will focus on high priority cases, and limit action against children, military families, individuals brought to this nation at a young age, same sex couples, amd sole bread winners. Security risks or criminal elements are the only illegal, undocumented immigrants who should be expelled from the country!

And police officers should not be given the responsibility to deal with illegal immigrants, as that is a federal matter, not a state and local issue, despite what Arizona has attempted to do, now being challenged in the federal courts!

Bill Clinton Becomes 65: A Former President Who Continues To Have Impact!

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Former President Bill Clinton hits 65 years old today, and in many ways, although out of the White House now for eleven years, he still has a major impact on America!

Considering that he had open heart surgery in 2004 due to bad eating habits, Clinton has slimmed down and become a vegan, and he has been active with his Clinton Initiative and Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Presidential Library.

The former President has been engaged at times in diplomacy, along with fundraising for disasters such as the Haitian earthquake, and also been a spokesman on human rights.

Clinton has great respect internationally, and has become the most active former President along with former President Jimmy Carter. Both have given back to their nation and the world after the honor of serving in the White House!

While controversial for his past actions and statements, and still debated as to his effectiveness as President, today is a day to celebrate and say: Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

Jon Huntsman Separates Himself From The Republican Pack, Therefore Making Him Legitimate As Alternative To Barack Obama!

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Jon Huntsman, former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China, is quietly separating himself from the Republican pack of presidential candidates, legitimizing himself as the most credible candidate the GOP could offer, if they have any common sense, which they almost certainly don’t have!

Huntsman has made some strong statements that make sense, including:

1. He believes in evolution, rather than the religious based theory of creationism or intelligent design.
2. He accepts scientists on global warming, that it is a real problem.
3. He backed John Boehner on the Debt Ceiling legislation, which no other GOP candidate did.
4. He supported the DREAM Act, to give a path to citizenship to young immigrant children who might otherwise be deported, and instead allow them to go into the military or get a college education, and obtain a path to citizenship.

On the other hand, he has also, possibly obligatory, said:

1. He opposes the Obama Health Care legislation.
2. He opposes the Economic Stimulus legislation passed by the Democratic majority in Congress in 2009.
3. He suggested that possibly Obama could be impeached for his intervention in Libya.
4. He joined all the other GOP candidates in the most recent debate in raising his hand opposing a deal, theoretically, with ten dollars in budget cuts for each dollar in tax increases.

So Jon Huntsman is playing the political game, taking stands he almost certainly would change if in the White House, but even with that, he shows some statesmanship, some potential, that were Barack Obama to lose to him in 2012, the country would be in the best hands it can be, considering the state of the Republican Party in the present time period.

But of course, the question is will the GOP go for a comparatively moderate, reasonable, rational, sane candidate such as Jon Huntsman, who also has real credentials in foreign policy?

The answer is: Don’t hold your breath!

The Republican Assault On The Environment!

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The Republican Party has a heritage of Presidents who promoted the environment, but now it is being totally abandoned by the GOP House of Representatives and the Republican Presidential candidates, in their mad dash to support the oil and coal industries and others which pollute the environment and undermine Americans’ health and well being!

Theodore Roosevelt, while President from 1901-1909, became the supreme conservationist and environmentalist, promoting a quadrupling of national parks, calling conservation conferences at the White House, and working to cut industrial damage to the environment. The historian Douglas Brinkley has written a massive work hailing the environmental commitment of this second greatest Republican President, only ranking behind Abraham Lincoln in historical reputation!

Sixty years after Theodore Roosevelt left office, President Richard Nixon (1969-1974) became a major advocate of the environment, through the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, and his appointment of former Alaska Governor Walter Hickel as his Secretary of the Interior.

Twenty years after Nixon entered office, President George H. W. Bush (1989-1993) was able to get through the Clean Air Act of 1990, recognizing the great problem that had been created by industry and needing more federal intervention.

And now twenty years after Bush I became President, the party they led is backing away from any concern with the environment. It is not just Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann, but even Mitt Romney, who had earlier backed environmental protection as Governor of Massachusetts, has given up his principles in the pursuit to win the GOP Presidential nomination and appeal to Tea Party looniness! Legislation has been proposed to allow uranium mining in the Grand Canyon, a most reckless action, which thankfully can be prevented by the Democratic controlled Senate and a Democratic President using his veto.

This is a tragedy of massive proportions, and TR and Nixon must be turning over in their graves, and Bush I certainly must be very disturbed privately at the abandonment of the most important heritage America can offer to the future–clean air, clean water, clean soil!

Michele Bachmann Pledges $2 Gasoline If She Is President: Yeh, Sure!

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Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has been making a total fool of herself to anyone who has any brains or common sense!

She has made the most stupid, idiotic, statements imaginable about all kinds of subject and topics, making intelligent people’s eyes roll!

But now she has REALLY accomplished her all time greatest blunder ever: a campaign pledge that when she is President, gasoline will be below $2 a gallon!

Michele Bachmann apparently thinks that she can control the world’s oil prices, the oil cartel and the oil companies! She has no understanding of basic economics, and yet she is going to produce miracles! This woman is a raving maniac, hallucinating to the extreme, in her belief apparently that her so called connection to God is going to bring back $2 gasoline, which will NEVER occur!

This is a greater pledge than Herbert Hoover promising in 1928 to end poverty in America, and that every American would have two chickens in every pot, two cars in every garage! It is greater than Ronald Reagan saying he would balance the budget by the end of his first term, 1984! It is greater than Richard Nixon promising a return of law and order and bring us together when he first won the Presidency in 1968!

There is more chance that we will land on Mars in the next decade than that we are going to have $2 gasoline return!

This woman, Michele Bachmann, has lost all credibility, and needs to be drummed out of the race as a fool and a danger, because she can only incite mindless people who have no clue to how government works, and she promotes division, not unity, in the midst of major economic crisis, when wisdom, not stupidity and hallucination, needs to be present to deal with our problems as a nation!