Month: August 2011

CNN And CBS Polls Show Republican Party The Loser In Debt Ceiling Debacle!

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CNN and CBS polls demonstrate that the Republican Party is looked at unfavorably by nearly six out of ten of those polled; that only 3 out of 10 look at the Tea Party Movement favorably, and that Barack Obama continues to have a much higher favorable image than anyone in Congress.

There is a tremendous anger against Congress, making the institution lower ranked than ever in polls, as low as 14 percent, while Obama rates in the low to mid 40s on performance, but higher on personal likability.

While there is disillusionment about all politicians in Congress, it is very clear that the Republican Party is reaping the harvest of their destructive, suicidal behavior in the Debt Ceiling Crisis. They are being blamed for the downgrading of the Triple A credit rating of the US by Standard and Poor’s, and they are seen, more than ever, as taking unpopular stands on labor rights, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education, the environment, and taxation of the wealthy and powerful corporations, among other issues.

While the credit downgrading is a terrible development, it already seems as if the Democrats will come out stronger from the debacle, and that the Republican Party will pay the price electorally in the next round of voting!

The Blame For The Standard And Poor’s Downgrading Of America’s Credit Rating: The Recklessness Of The Tea Party Movement And The Republican Party!

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The downgrading of America’s credit rating by the credit agency Standard and Poor’s last Friday evening was totally a reaction to the refusal of the Republican Party and the Tea Party Movement to negotiate and understand the need for new tax revenue, and also its carrying out a threat, all the way to the brink, to allow the government to go bankrupt, rather than agree to a clean one sentence bill raising the debt limit!

The recklessness of the Tea Party radicals demonstrates just how dangerous they are, as they had no concern before, and now hail the downgrading of credit as a victory for their cause! Just how much more irresponsible can any group be, when it will undermine the economic recovery, likely lead to a double dip recession, and make the economic collapse continue for many more years!

It is also clear that Standard and Poor’s made its decision to lower the credit rating based on incorrect information, and they failed to keep accurate track of past economic activity, which helped to lead to the greatest economic disaster in 70 years, when their ineptness helped to cause the Great Recession of 2008 and since!

Does this mean that the Democrats and Barack Obama are faultless? NO, as it is clear that Barack Obama failed to rally the American people against the opposition, refused to use the “bully pulpit”, seemed unable to understand the importance of clear communication, and has to understand that the American people will have his back if only he will show aggressiveness, make the economic future an issue of the people against the special interests, not worry about personal attacks since they will never stop anyway, and show the country that he is serious in following the example of Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson in pursuing their goals, come hell or high water!

The President needs to take leadership, present a strong jobs program, and put the GOP on the spot! Even if nothing gets passed, as long as he makes the pitch for action, he will convince the nation that he is serious about jobs, and willing to put his neck out, rather than continue the “compromiser” image which fails to win Republican respect, and at the same time, alienates much of his progressive base for being too timid!

The Progressive Professor On Vacation In Cleveland, Ohio Through August 8: Why Cleveland?

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The author will be on vacation in Cleveland, Ohio, from later today through August 8, and will resume writing on this blog on August 9.

The question that may arise is why Cleveland? It may be a bit of a hidden secret to many readers!

Cleveland and the surrounding area are the home of: The Pro Football Hall of Fame; The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; the homes and libraries of Presidents Rutherford Hayes, James Garfield, and William McKinley; and the site of the First Ladies Library and Museum!

So therefore, there is a mix of sports, music, politics and history, and what can possibly be better than that combination?

So with his two sons, the author will be exploring and enjoying these significant tourist sites, and will be back commenting on events beginning next Tuesday! See you then!

Barack Obama Celebrates His 50th Birthday: Time To Make A Commitment To His Re-Election Campaign!

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President Obama is 50 years old today, and can look back on two and a half years of many successes, but also many challenges and disappointments.

Obama has been there for the American people, but the opposition Republicans have refused to make any compromises, or give him a break in any form. The vicious attacks against him are ugly and far greater than any made against any President since Richard Nixon.

In the midst of all this, Obama has been dignified and demonstrated grace and willingness to negotiate, but it is clear that whatever he has accomplished and will achieve in the future will be due to his own non stop efforts and persistence, rather than a shared sense of patriotism by the opposition.

It is clearly time for all who understand that Barack Obama has been there for us, and despite everything, has an impressive list of achievements, to join forces and commit themselves to his re-election campaign.

This is not the time to fight and divide by progressive forces who are upset that Obama has not accomplished all of his goals, but rather the time to realize and understand the obstacles in his way, and face the truth that NO Republican, declared or undeclared for the Presidency, would make a better President for the masses of the population than Barack Obama!

So the battle for his re-election must begin in earnest with contributions, and willingness to work and support his campaign in any way possible over the next year and three months!

Cheers To Actor Matt Damon For Strong, Inspired Defense Of The Teaching Profession!

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Actor Matt Damon, one of our leading figures in film for the past decade and more, has come out in strong support of the teaching profession, delivering a masterful speech at a gathering of educators held in Washington, DC on Saturday.

At a Save Our Schools March in the capital, Damon denounced those who say that giving tenure to teachers promotes laziness, and said teachers are what they are because they LOVE teaching, certainly not for the low pay and terrible conditions of work that many face, with little backing by administrators, parents, and the politicians in many states who abuse teachers and show lack of respect for their profession!

Damon’s own mother is a teacher, and the actor made it clear that what he became and his level of success is due to the dedication of teachers who inspire their students and have often a greater effect on them than their own parents!

Damon criticized standardized testing as stifling originality, creativity, and curiosity in students, and bringing unnecessary stress and tension to young people, instead of encouraging them. The job security of teachers should not be based on such tests, which unfortunately, is now the case in many states, particularly those governed by Republicans!

Damon also endorsed PUBLIC schools, which were his experience, and said millions of Americans support their teachers and will always have their back.

As a lifelong educator, this strong statement thrills me, and reinforces why I have been an educator, preferring to educate the young, than just make tons of money backing evil corporations who have no concern for their workers and the American people, and only worship money and things, not the rights of people to a dignified life and decent treatment at work!

The Ideological Extremes In The House Of Representatives: Forecast Of More Conflict And Turmoil To Come!

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When one looks at the recent developments in the House of Representatives, it is clear that the forecast is one of more conflict to come over the next 17 months of the 112th Congress!

87 Republicans are freshmen, and most of them are self declared Tea Party Movement activists, who plan on no compromise on anything with the Democrats. Additionally, there are Republicans in the chamber who claim to be sympathetic to the same cause. meaning between one fifth and one fourth of the House is extreme ideological Right!

At the same time, there are over 80 members of the Democratic Party in the House that are declared members of the Progressive Caucus, dedicated to the progressive agenda considered by some as the ideological Left.

So between 40-45 percent of the House is very unwilling to compromise, and that means deadlock and turmoil for the next two years, brought about by the creation of a divided Congress, but for the first time with a Republican House and a Democratic Senate, rather than the past experiences of the opposite control of the two chambers of Congress!

The Symbolic Decline Of Labor: Thirty Years Ago Today, Ronald Reagan Fired The Air Traffic Controllers For Going On Strike

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On this day in 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired the air traffic controllers for going on strike, and this marked the symbolic decline of labor unions in America ever since, with Republican governors now having declared war on public workers in labor unions in 2011!

Ironic that a former labor leader as head of the Screen Actors Guild became the image of an anti labor President, and even more ironic that tens of thousands of workers working for the Federal Aviation Administration are now out of work over a funding dispute between the Republicans in the House and the Democrats in the Senate. There is absolutely no concern by the Republicans over workers not getting paid, losing their homes, and disrupting the economy, as long as they win the point that only big business matters, as under Calvin Coolidge in the 1920s.

The coming to power of Calvin Coolidge to the Presidency on this day, a leader who thought big business corporations were not “special interests”, but that labor and farmer and small business were such, and did not deserve any government favoritism, demonstrates that the Republican Party has not changed its image despite it being nearly a century later!

Back To The Era Of Calvin Coolidge On The 88th Anniversary Of His Ascendancy To The Presidency!

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On August 3, 1923, Calvin Coolidge became the 30th President of the United States upon the death of President Warren G. Harding.

While everyone who studies the era of the 1920s sees Coolidge as an improvement on Harding (regarded the worst President of the 20th century and one of the bottom two or three in all of American history), the fact is that the Coolidge Administration ushered in a full return to the mentality of the Gilded Age, leading to a revival of monopoly capitalism, exploitation of labor, a growing maldistribution of wealth,and the lowest level of taxation of the rich and the corporations in the entire 20th century!

And we all know what that led to: the Great Depression, which lasted ten years, and was only overcome by World War II and the highest level of taxation of the rich and corporations in the century, followed by very high levels of taxation under Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s, and lower but substantial rates even under Republicans Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan and Democrat Bill Clinton, among others.

And the country prospered even when Bill Clinton RAISED taxes in the early 1990s, and we had a balanced budget in the last years of the Clinton Presidency.

But then, we moved in the opposite direction under George W. Bush, the lowest taxation levels of the rich and corporations since 1928, the last full year of Calvin Coolidge in office and the year before the Great Depression occurred under Herbert Hoover.

Now we are faced with the strong likelihood of a revival of the Great Recession, but the Republicans have made low taxation a religion that is ultimately going to destroy the social fabric of this nation, and endangers all of us with the possibility of violence and bloodshed as conditions deteriorate to the worst since the 1930s!

This is a terrifying time, and one has to ask, what happened to patriotism, the idea that we sacrifice for each other, and that the rich and corporations pay their fair share of taxation to sustain the country’s economy! Apparently, greed and selfishness rule as they did in the Gilded Age and the 1920s, as if we have made no progress in the 80 plus years since the beginning of the Great Depression!

Twenty One Years Ago Today, The World Changed For The Worst!

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On August 2, 1990, Iraq’s dictator Saddam Hussein attacked and occupied the oil nation of Kuwait, presenting a threat to Saudi Arabia and all of the Middle East, and to the world’s petroleum supply.

President George H. W. Bush created an international coalition centered around the United Nations to demand that Iraq withdraw, but when that failed, in January 1991, the Persian Gulf War ensued, with it being won in six weeks, successfully removing Iraq from Kuwait, but failing to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

Saudi Arabia agreed to allow US forces into their nation, angering Muslim nationalists throughout the Middle East, who hated the thought of Christian troops in the holy land of Mecca and Medina, and Islamic terrorism now became a major threat to the United States and the Western world, with the development of various groups, including Al Qaeda under Osama Bin Laden.

This intervention led long term to September 11, to the invasion of Afghanistan to overcome Al Qaeda, and the later intervention in Iraq, overthrowing Saddam Hussein, but leading to a long bloody civil war engulfing American forces, and taking attention off Afghanistan.

Here we are today, with American troops in Iraq, although not in combat, and war continuing in Afghanistan, our two longest wars in American history, and effectively bankrupting our economy, causing massive expenditures in fighting terrorism and defending US interests in the Middle East, and promoting the loss of civil liberties through the Patriot Act, and the inability to deal with the many domestic problems our country faces.

So on this 21st anniversary of Iraq going into Kuwait, one can see the long range deleterious effects of this short lived war, with damaging impact that threatens the supremacy of the United States domestically and in foreign affairs in 2011!

The Heights And The Depths Of The Presidency: From Bin Laden Assassination To The Debt Ceiling Crisis!

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The American Presidency is a glorious office, and also a burden beyond belief!

It has aged its occupants dramatically, often undermined their health, and made them know the greatest heights and the lowest depths of emotions!

A President can be a hero one day, and in a short time, be regarded by many Americans as a loser and bum!

Witness the travails of Barack Obama, who, exactly three months ago, was being hailed for having accomplished the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, the greatest strike yet against the terrorism that led to September 11.

But witness now the great anger and loss of support, to the lowest point so far of his Presidency, over the Debt Ceiling Crisis, although Obama does rate higher than either the Democrats or Republicans in Congress.

Three months ago, it seemed as if Obama was unbeatable for a second term in the White House, but today, he is seen as extremely vulnerable and has alienated much of the progressive base of his own party.

So a President must enjoy the high moments, as he will certainly suffer through the low periods of his Presidency. And Barack Obama has shown great evidence of how the job has worn at him, as his hair has turned noticeably grey in 30 months in office.

One has to wonder why anyone would want to be President, considering the burdens of the job, and yet, there is always a mad dash by those who wish to hold that high office!