Month: December 2011

The Trump Debate Collapses: What It Means For 2012!

Ronald Leave a comment

The smack in the face and ego of Donald Trump, as his NewsMax debate has collapsed, with only two out of seven candidates agreeing to participate, is going to reverberate in American politics in 2012.

It can be certain that Trump is furious and humiliated by the series of events, and it is also clear that he will endorse Newt Gingrich after the two way debate with Rick Santorum.

And, assuming that the mainstream conservative wing of the party is able to stop Gingrich from being the nominee, it is certain that Donald Trump will run as an Independent candidate out of pique, and desire for constant attention, and his own extreme narcissism.

Such a move against the Republican Party will only help President Barack Obama, and lead to victories for the Democrats in Congress as well, certainly more than if Trump did not run!

And with Ron Paul likely to run as a Libertarian candidate as well, we are likely to have a four way race, all to the benefit of President Obama!

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Republicans And Wall Street Bankers Attempt To Destroy It!

Ronald Leave a comment

The Republican Party is in full attack on the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau passed by the Democrats into law after a long battle, in which Elizabeth Warren became the number one target of the opposition party, and was unable to be named head of the new agency she helped create.

Instead, Elizabeth Warren is running for the US Senate, and in her place, former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray was nominated to head the new agency.

But instead of Barack Obama appeasing the opposition by Warren’s withdrawal, the Republicans have now gone ahead and prevented a vote on Cordray’s nomination, which would get a majority if the 60 vote filibuster requirement for a vote was possible, but instead the vote was 53-45.

Interestingly, the one Republican vote for Cordray was from Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, who faces Warren in his Senate reelection battle next year, and obviously wanted to cover his rear end, particularly with some polls now showing Warren leading Brown, who has been called the “darling” of the Wall Street bankers in regards to campaign contributions!

President Obama denounced the Senate vote, and is considering a recess appointment to get Cordray into the position. Meanwhile, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch claims the bill is harming the banks, as if they do not make enough profit, and have not done great harm to millions of homeowners and those who use their credit cards, with illegal, unethical, and immoral actions!

Obama needs to declare greater war on the banks, as they are the greatest evil that exists in America, and the most responsible for the economic collapse we are involved in, and some of these Chief Executive Officers and their underlings need to be prosecuted and go to prison for a long time for their reprehensible white collar crimes that have destroyed so many people!

Newt Gingrich: Vitriol, Hatred, Confrontation, Tumult, Division, Distortion–The New Joseph McCarthy!

Ronald 2 Comments

As former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich continues to surge in the polls for the Republican Presidential nomination, it becomes more obvious that the Republican Party “establishment” is horrified at his rise.

Former Congresswoman Susan Molinari of New York, Congressman Peter King of New York, former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu (who worked as Chief of Staff to the first President Bush), former Florida Congressman and MNSBC talk show host Joe Scarborough, and innumerable others are ringing the alarm bell about the dangers of Newt Gingrich as the GOP nominee.

They and those who know politics best see Gingrich as a disaster for the party, similar to Barry Goldwater in 1964, but in many worse worse than Goldwater.

Goldwater did not have the ethical and moral problems of Gingrich. Goldwater did not set out to be another Joseph McCarthy, as Gingrich has done in modern terms.

Why call Gingrich another Joseph McCarthy? Gingrich, similar to McCarthy, levels ridiculous charges and accusations; utilizes virtriol and promotion of hatred; promotes confrontation and tumult and division and distortion with a great relish; does not care how many corpses he leaves behind in his lust for power; and would make the stalemate and gridlock that exists in Washington even worse than it is now!

Newt Gingrich cannot unite the country; cannot solve any of the major problems we are facing; and likely would take us into more foreign wars; promote more wild spending leading to a greater national debt; cause more corruption and scandals (both in government and personally); create more centralization of the powers of the Presidency in dangerous, abusive ways; and would make us wish for the times of Richard Nixon, the most divisive President of the 20th century!

This man is reckless, dangerous, and does not work well with others of his own party, let alone the opposition and the news media. He is a danger to the nation’s future, and one would hope that he would lose massively to Barack Obama, and cause a reassessment of the right wing madness of the Republican Party!

Mitt Romney’s Attack On The “Entitlement” Society Speech Of Barack Obama

Ronald Leave a comment

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, in trouble in the public opinion polls in the Republican Presidential race in Iowa, South Carolina, and Florida, states in which former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich leads by growing margins, is obviously very desperate!

So he lashed into President Obama today for his Osawatomie, Kansas speech, in which Obama invoked the New Nationalism and Square Deal concepts of Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, who made progressivism fashionable at the beginning of the 20th century.

Romney, who was born to wealth, and is estimated to be worth at least $250 million dollars, certainly feels “entitled” to use his wealth and privilege to run for President, even though he has never had to struggle for anything in his life!

Not everyone is so fortunate to be born into such good circumstances, and one would think that Romney would feel like many other wealthy people, that he needs to “give back” to those less fortunate, rather than take a hard hearted attitude toward those who don’t have the advantages that he and his wife and five sons have!

For a man of religion, who is proud of his Mormon faith, he seems unconcerned about the struggles of those on the lower end of the social scale, which is ironic, because Christianity broadly teaches that we must come to the aid of others, and Romney says he is a “good Christian”, even though many consider the Mormons to be a religious cult.

The point is that with his good fortune since birth, and his supposedly strong religious convictions, Romney should wish to help others get some of the “entitlement” that he was born to, but NO, instead, he appeals to the selfish, self centered nature of someone who is arrogant and looks down on the poor, all for political advantage in a party which has sold out completely to religious hypocrites and wealthy people and corporations!

What are all Americans entitled to?

1. A decent educational opportunity to achieve all that one can in pursuit of a better life and job career.
2. A decent health care system which allows everyone to get appropriate, quality attention from doctors, nurses, and hospitals.
3. A decent housing situation, which promotes a sense of security and safety from harm.
4. A government which treats everyone on an equal basis, not victimizing those who are different in race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation.
5. Respect for the elderly, and proper treatment of them in their twilight years.
6. Protection of the childhood of the younger generation, and encouragement of the accomplishment of their goals to grow up happy, secure, and pursue their dreams.
7. Respect for and protection of the disabled among us, giving them maximum opportunity for as normal a life as possible.
8. Protection of the environment, and promotion of consumer rights to avoid harm to the population.
9. Enforcement of the civil liberties of all Americans, preventing an oppressive government over our private lives and our public activities.
10. Protection of our nation from the abuse of corporations who are more concerned about profit than people.

These points above are “entitlements” that should come with being an American, not just based on how much money one has or inherits! Equality and justice are essential to keep the “American Dream” alive!

Reflections On The Pearl Harbor Anniversary

Ronald Leave a comment

The History Channel tonight presented an exceptional two hour program on the 24 hours after Pearl Harbor, and how Franklin D. Roosevelt learned about and handled the matter up to the declaration of war on Japan precisely a day after the attack.

It made this author wonder about how much is taught about Pearl Harbor in the schools of America. This is such a path breaking event, a turning point in our history, unmatched since the attack on Fort Sumter which stared the Civil War, and only matched since by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

How many students would know what Pearl Harbor represents, and would know that Japan was the nation which attacked us? How many would realize the importance of World War II, and know all the “players” in that war, including FDR, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Emperor Hirohito?

It is horrifying to think of the historical ignorance of America, not only of this event, but of all of the events and facts of American history and government which are needed for citizens to be knowledgeable enough to be good citizens and intelligent voters!

Education MUST be the prime way for this country to prosper and advance into the future, but instead, we are seeing educational cutbacks all over the nation!

This is, therefore, a time to mourn, not just for the victims of Pearl Harbor, but for ourselves as a nation which is poorly informed, which affects our politics and our hopes for a better America in the future!

70th Anniversary Of Japanese Attack On Pearl Harbor!

Ronald Leave a comment

On this day in 1941, the world changed forever for the United States, when Japan attacked our naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing about 2,400 military personnel and sinking eight battleships, and committing other major damage.

The attack took America out of its isolationist slumber, and brought us full scale into World War II. Looking at it then, it seemed close to impossible that the United States could defeat the forces of Fascism and Nazism represented by Imperial Japan, Fascist Italy, and Nazi Germany.

America had to adjust its economy, build up a war footing very quickly, and adjust to the reality that the war would take young and middle aged American men to overseas battle, with about a quarter of a million killed in the conflict that roared on for the next, nearly four years.

The war was a challenge to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and he faced tremendous pressure only matched, possibly, by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.

Today, the veterans of Pearl Harbor, and of the war itself, are diminishing rapidly, with the average living veteran being in his 90s, and the youngest probably 86 or 87, for those underage who looked mature and lied their way into the military services.

This was the GREATEST GENERATION as journalist Tom Brokaw has termed them, and we owe our freedom and liberty to their courage, their sacrifice, and their commitment to their country!

We can honor them by visiting the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, and other memorials all over the nation, including the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Hawaii.

The war showed what could be done if only the nation was united, as it most certainly was, after Japan attacked.

Only the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, can be regarded as an equal moment of shock, and as a turning point in our history, in the sense of changing our view of the world forever.

So on this day, we should all express thanks for what was done by the generation of our grandparents and great grandparents, allowing us to have the blessings of liberty and freedom in 2011!

The Attack On The Food Stamp Program

Ronald Leave a comment

The Food Stamp program of the Agriculture Department has been the lifeline for millions of Americans, more so now than ever before, with the terrible economic conditions since the Wall Street crisis of 2008 and the Great Recession!

And yet, conservatives and Republicans condemn the Food Stamp program, and Newt Gingrich calls Barack Obama the “Food Stamp” President derisively.

One would think the Food Stamp program is abused, which is an urban myth!

No one becomes rich on the Food Stamp Program! It is only $130 a month per person on it, far from enough for anyone to eat for a full month. A person to be eligible must make under $11,000 per year, or under $22,000 per family.

It is also interesting to point out that half the recipients of food stamps are children, and ten percent are elderly. And 68 percent of the recipients are white, while most of the rest are African American, with only small numbers of Hispanic, Asian American, or native American participation in the program.

The Food Stamp program issues credit cards that can only be used for certain food items, not liquor and cigarettes, for instance!

It is no fun for anyone to be on food stamps, and it does not mean that anyone is gaining full nutrition monthly on $130 per person for the month.

The conclusion is that there are conservatives and Republicans who would rather have people starve, than feed children and adults who are living in squalid conditions in poverty.

This is Scrooge to the extreme, and disgraceful behavior!

The Hypocrisy Of Mitt Romney: Champion “Flip Flopper” Criticized John Kerry In 2004 For Massive “Flip Flopping”!

Ronald Leave a comment

It has been uncovered that Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts openly criticized Senator John Kerry of his home state, the 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee, in that year’s campaign for “massive flip flopping”, a charge leveled by the campaign of President George W. Bush, but actually far from being accurate!

Kerry did “flip flop” on some issues, but nowhere near the number and depth of “flip flopping” of Romney in the present Presidential campaign, and nowhere near as much as former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has been shown to have done over the course of time!

Romney is a major hypocrite in so saying what he did in 2004, and then pursuing a much greater level of such switches!

Meanwhile, Senator Kerry has continued his distinguished career in the US Senate, and presently is Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee!

The “Trump” Debate Becomes Marginal! And Establishment, Libertarian, And Tea Party Republicans Are In Revolt!

Ronald Leave a comment

The “Trump” Republican Presidential Debate, cosponsored by NewsMax, a conservative news link, was a joke from the beginning, with the concept that Donald Trump, a braggart, an egotist, a narcissistic billionaire, who inherited his wealth, and has gone bankrupt several times, should have the right to get involved in a presidential campaign as a sponsor of a debate, when he, even now, threatens that if the chosen candidate he endorses after the debate does not win the nomination, he may return to the race himself as an Independent candidate!

Well, now with the refusal of Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, and today, Mitt Romney, to be involved in the charade, the circus, Trump is left with Newt Gingrich (who it seems, assuredly, he will endorse), Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, and Michele Bachmann, although Bachmann’s camp has only said she is considering whether to participate.

This “Trump” debate is infuriating the Establishment (Bush) conservatives, who fear that the party is going down the drain, and do not like Gingrich and his ethical and moral violations; and also the libertarian Ron Paul and Tea Party wing, who feel Gingrich is a BIG GOVERNMENT conservative, just what they hate!

So the “Trump” debate only further exacerbates the Republican Party blood letting that is going on, all to the benefit of Barack Obama!

Barack Obama Invokes Teddy Roosevelt And The “New Nationalism” Of The Progressive Party Of 1912

Ronald Leave a comment

President Obama invoked Teddy Roosevelt and the “New Nationalism” program of the Progressive Party of 1912 in a speech today at Osawatomie, Kansas, the site of a speech by the former President in 1910, setting the standard for his later third party run for President in 1912.

Called a socialist, a radical, and even a Communist by many conservatives a century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt promoted a very advanced series of ideas out of office, more than when he was in, including the end of child labor, equal pay for women, a minimum wage, a social insurance program including social security and health care, a progressive federal income tax, and reforming the political system.

His program, known as the “New Nationalism” became the forerunner of much of the “New Freedom” of Woodrow Wilson, the “New Deal” of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the “Fair Deal” of Harry Truman, the “New Frontier” of John F. Kennedy, and the “Great Society” of Lyndon B. Johnson.

Obama talked of the need for a strong middle class and a raised standard of living, and the need to regulate corporations and to raise taxes as other Presidents have done, in order to promote a “fair shake” for everyone, giving everyone “equal opportunity” to succeed.

Obama emphasized that major tax cuts for the rich had led to greater inequality, lower creation of jobs, growing deficits, and the collapse of the American economy in the past ten years. He declared that “trickle down economics” had never worked in the past successfully, and that assertive actions by government were necessary to promote a bright future for all Americans.

He called for more investment in education, research, technology, infrastructure, and manufacturing, rather than in banking and finance which leads to phony manipulation of financial figures and causes financial “bubbles”!

His speech, as usual, was well delivered, and was designed to inspire the American people to take on the struggle that was fought during the Progressive Era by Theodore Roosevelt to promote a bright future for America!

And remember that Theodore Roosevelt was a Republican who believed in the role of government to make a better society, something regrettably not the viewpoint of the transformed Republican Party of today, which speaks only for the wealthy and the corporations, and spends time dividing people and gaining support based on social conservatism issues, including gay rights, abortion rights, gun rights, illegal immigration and affirmative action. Meanwhile, the lives of the masses of Americans who vote on their emotions, rather than their reason, for the GOP, does not lead to better lives for those people!