Month: August 2012

The Rise Of Paul Ryan: Threat To Republican House Leadership If He Loses Vice Presidency!

Ronald 2 Comments

A side effect of Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan’s Vice Presidential candidacy if he and Mitt Romney lose the election to Barack Obama, but the Republican Party keeps control of the House of Representatives, is a challenge to the House leadership as it now stands!

That would likely lead to a move by Ryan, who can run for his Congressional seat while on the ballot for Vice President, to wish to be Speaker of the House, second in line to be President, and to challenge Barack Obama on his agenda much more than Speaker John Boehner!

It would also be a challenge to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who very much wishes to be Speaker, and would try to stop Ryan from reaching that office, but having run for Vice President and become a national figure as a result, Ryan would have the edge to overcome both Boehner and Cantor!

So the future of House leadership, if the GOP keeps control, will be very fascinating to watch!

Paul Ryan Always To Be National Figure In Future No Matter What Happens In November!

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Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan will NEVER be a minor, forgettable public figure ever again!

He will now have Secret Service protection during the upcoming campaign, and will still need some protection after, due to the controversial nature of running for national office.

Every Vice Presidential loser remains a national figure, and is often thought of as a future Presidential candidate.

Witness Sarah Palin, John Edwards, Joe Lieberman, and the earlier Presidential candidacies of Jack Kemp, Lloyd Bentsen, and Bob Dole as evidence, and also the later candidacies for President of Sargent Shriver and Edmund Muskie as further proof!

And being only 42, and even rumored to have thought of running for President from the House of Representatives in this year’s race, face the facts—Paul Ryan will be a major player in the future of American politics!

And finally, Franklin D. Roosevelt lost the Vice Presidency in 1920 and became President in 1932!

Odd And Interesting Points About Paul Ryan, And The Presidential Election Of 2012

Ronald 4 Comments

There are many odd and interesting points about Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan that have been gathered, and here are some of them!

Paul Ryan, like Mitt Romney, is handsome, and they look good together photogenically.

Paul Ryan looks as if he could be one of Mitt Romney’s sons, and actually is only 12 days older than Romney’s oldest son, Tagg!

Paul Ryan has spent his whole adult life in government, with no experience in the private sector.

Paul Ryan was affected by the narrow minded, selfish teachings of Ayn Rand, and he was involved in work with former Congressman Jack Kemp, one of the authors of what became known as Reaganomics, which started tripling the national debt in the 1980s, due to the theory of Supply Side Economics. Now, Ryan wishes to multiply what Reaganomics in the 1980s and Bushonomics in the 2000s brought about, most of the increased national debt, $7 trillion of the total $10.5 trillion debt that existed when George W. Bush left the Presidency in January, 2009!

Paul Ryan’s dad died when he was in high school, and he was supported by the social safety net of Social Security with survivors benefits while in college.

Paul Ryan has lived off the American taxpayer his entire life, and will receive better health care and pension benefits as part of the federal payroll, that he wishes to cut for everyone else in the middle and lower classes!

Paul Ryan alienated Catholic nuns when he came out for cuts in food stamps and other benefits to poor children, and called for privatizing of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, while wanting greater tax cuts for the top two percent!

Paul Ryan was booed in his own congressional district for the Ryan plan which passed the House of Representatives earlier this year, but with no Democratic support and ten Republicans voting against, as well.

Paul Ryan comes across as articulate, handsome, and charming personally, the latter much more than Mitt Romney, but he also comes across to many as arrogant, nasty, mean spirited, uncaring, hypocritical , uncompromising, and loved by the Tea Party and the right wing media which have declared war on women, senior citizens, the middle class, minorities, and the poor!

Paul Ryan has no foreign policy experience, and being only a Congressman, can be seen as not qualified to be Commander in Chief on Day One!

This is the 5th time in the past half century that a member of the House of Representatives has been selected as a Vice Presidential running mate—William E. Miller of New York with Barry Goldwater in 1964; Geraldine Ferraro of New York with Walter Mondale in 1984; Jack Kemp of New York with Bob Dole in 1996; Dick Cheney of Wyoming with George W. Bush in 2000; and now Paul Ryan of Wisconsin with Mitt Romney in 2012. Notice all four of the earlier choices LOST the election that followed, with the exception of Cheney with Bush, but remember that Al Gore actually won the popular vote in 2000 by 540,000 votes, and the Supreme Court decided the election, intervening for the first time in American history!

And as said in an earlier post, finally, this marks the fourth time in the past 60 years that the Vice Presidential nominee has been more than 20 years younger than the Presidential nominee—Richard Nixon with Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952; Dan Quayle with George H. W. Bush in 1988; Sarah Palin with John McCain in 2008; and now Paul Ryan with Mitt Romney in 2012.

Additionally, we have no one on either ticket for this upcoming election who is from the Sun Belt states, the growing part of the nation. Instead, we have a Midwesterner and an Easterner on each ticket–Barack Obama and Paul Ryan from the Midwest, and Joe Biden and Mitt Romney from the Northeast!

Also, there is no candidate with military experience on either Presidential ticket, the first time since the 1940s!

And we also have no mainline Protestant on the Republican ticket, a mainstay of the GOP, and instead have a Mormon and a Catholic.

If anything, the only true “Protestant” is Barack Obama, as Joe Biden is Catholic!

More oddities and trivia will probably arise as the campaign develops further!

Paul Ryan Vice Presidential Pick Creates Most Ideological Election Since 1964!

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The decision of Mitt Romney to select Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, head of the House Budget Committee, as his Vice Presidential running mate, throws down the gauntlet clearly for all voters!

This election will be the most ideological election since the Lyndon B. Johnson-Barry Goldwater race of 1964!

It is a clear cut attempt of the right wing—-the Tea Party Movement, the social conservatives, and the economic conservatism of Fox News Channel, The Wall Street Journal, The National Review, and The Weekly Standard—to destroy the New Deal and Great Society!

It is a war on senior citizens, minorities, women, the poor, the middle class, in favor of the elite wealthy two percent, the corporations, the privileged, who want to destroy the social safety net of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid!

It is the triumph of Ayn Rand, who promoted selfishness, greed, and lack of concern for our fellow citizens, in the mad dash to only promote one’s own interests!

It is an attempt to bring back the Gospel of Wealth of industrialist Andrew Carnegie in the Gilded Age!

It is the promotion of arrogance, selfishness, greed, a mean spirited nature, and false claims of promoting the so called message of Jesus Christ as not caring about the sick, the poor, the disadvantaged! Catholic nuns and open minded Protestant groups have condemned Ryan’s call for ending food stamps and other assistance to poor children, and his push to privatize Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, while wishing to give more tax cuts to the elite wealthy!

So the battle is on, and the election, which seemed to have no focus, has become very focused, and it is a battle for the middle and lower classes, and it is a battle that cannot afford to be lost, because if President Barack Obama loses, the “American Dream” will be destroyed, as we allow an oligarchy, which already has too much power and concentration of wealth, to seize control of all wealth and property, and make us closer to Fascism than at any time since the defeat of Fascism in World War II!

166th Anniversary Of Smithsonian Institution!

Ronald 3 Comments

James Smithson, an Englishman, became the benefactor of a grant to start the institution named in his honor on this day in 1846.

Promoting the development and diffusion of knowledge of all kinds, Smithson, whose body is buried in the Smithsonian Castle in Washington, DC, could never have imagined how great the Smithsonian Institution has become, as it is now a complex of 19 museums and galleries plus the National Zoo, locations that provide enlightenment, enjoyment, and learning to millions of tourists in Washington DC and elsewhere at no cost to the public, other than taxpayer support.

The author, having just this summer visited four of the museums under its aegis–The Museum of American History, The Museum of Natural History, The Museum of Air and Space, and the Museum of the American Indian—was overwhelmed by the experience, and in 2015, there will be a Museum of African American History and Culture, and two years ago, the National Museum of American Jewish History opened in Philadelphia.

Any visitor to Washington DC or Philadelphia needs to make sure that he or she visits the various museums, as it is a memorable experience!

The Right Wing Push For Congressman Paul Ryan As Vice Presidential Nominee

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Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan is being pushed by right wing forces, including the Wall Street Journal and the National Review, as Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential running mate, as the time nears for the announcement of who will be the former Massachusetts Governor’s Number Two!

Ryan is very young (42), handsome, articulate, and willing to get into the fray, as he is an ideologist, out to privatize Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, therefore dramatically changing American economic and social policy. His budget plan, drawn up as House Budget Committee Chairman, is highly controversial.

But for a man like Romney who emphasizes the private sector, Ryan is just the opposite, as his entire career has been in government, a contradiction of what Romney thinks is his own advantage over other politicians.

If Ryan is picked, he would be the fourth Vice Presidential nominee of the GOP who would be extremely young, as compared to the Presidential candidate, an interesting scenario, as Richard Nixon was 40, more than 22 years younger than Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952, and Dan Quayle was 41, more than 22 years younger than George H. W. Bush in 1988. Ryan at 42 is also more than 22 years younger than Mitt Romney. Of course, Sarah Palin was 28 years younger than John McCain in 2008 at age 44, the all time difference in age.

Of course Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida are almost a year and a half younger than Ryan, at age 41, so would be actually 24 years younger than Romney, were they to be chosen.

The question that also arises is whether Romney really wants a strong willed, outspoken man to be his running mate, since he loves to be in charge of everything he runs, without question. Who would he be most comfortable with is certainly a factor in who he chooses.

The gut feeling is that either he goes with Ryan as a bold pick, an ideological pick, hoping to benefit from the clear cut alternative to what Barack Obama represents, or surprises everyone by selecting a woman, such as Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, a swing state and a pitch to women, similar to what John McCain did with Sarah Palin in 2008. Ayotte, while certainly better than Palin, would still be a controversial pick, as her total experience in government is extremely limited.

Picking Senator Rob Portman of Ohio or former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty would make more sense long term, but would be boring, and would not please the ideological right!

We will learn a lot about Mitt Romney when he picks his running mate in the next few days, already a long time overdue!

38 Years Since Gerald Ford Became President: The Last Moderate, Mainstream Republican Before Conservatism Took Hold Of The GOP!

Ronald 8 Comments

On this day in 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned, and Gerald Ford, who never sought the Presidency, became President, serving out the term of two years, five and a half months, losing a full term to Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Ford had his problems and opponents, and his administration will never be ranked among the best, but as Ted Kennedy said in 1999, awarding special honors to President Ford, 25 years after he pardoned President Nixon, Ford had indeed done the right thing regarding Nixon, and had demonstrated both courage and decisiveness in office.

In so doing, Ford gained the respect of the American people, maybe somewhat belatedly, but when on looks back almost four decades ago, one realizes that Gerald Ford was a decent man, a compassionate man, a moderate conservative who worked in the mainstream, but was weakened by the beginning of the right wing takeover of the GOP by Ronald Reagan, which also affected the Presidency of George H. W. Bush and that of his son, George W. Bush.

Ford looks better all of the time, particularly at a time when the GOP is so far to the right that it is literally scary what they wish to do–abolish the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson!

And his wife, Betty, is also an inspiring figure, much beloved and respected.

So in retrospect, Gerald and Betty Ford look a lot better than what we have been offered since by the party that once had as leaders such luminaries as Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Dwight D. Eisenhower!

“Pitchfork Carrying, Torch Bearing Mobs” Running Republican Party In Florida: Former GOP State Chairman Jim Greer

Ronald 1 Comment

Florida is the fourth largest state in population, and will probably be number three by the end of this decade.

Florida has been populated by many Northerners and Midwesterners, many of them senior citizens, and many who have been in the military, and they come to Florida with a conservative bent.

Florida, a state infamous for racial segregation and discrimination, has now become the center of what Jim Greer, the former state Republican chairman under former Governor Charlie Crist, calls “pitchfork carrying, torch bearing mobs”, who have set out to deny African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, poor, and young voters the right to vote, by claiming voter fraud, when there is no evidence of such abuses.

The leader of this is Florida Governor Rick Scott, who should be in prison for Medicare and Medicaid fraud when head of a hospital chain, which was assessed the largest fine ever imposed on a health care company and executive!

Scott and the extreme right wing of the GOP in Florida made it clear at meetings that Jim Greer attended, that they would claim voter fraud publicly, but had the intention of denying minorities the right to vote, effectively bringing back the days before the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and in so doing, insuring a Republican victory in 2012, rather than another Barack Obama victory in the state, as in 2008!

For this author and blogger, the reality of this is an embarrassment and a disgrace, and it means that unless something is done immediately to stop this plot against potential voters, Florida will become the equivalent of Texas as a state with totally corrupt politics, in each case led by a “Rick”, Rick Perry in Texas, and Rick Scott in Florida!

Bryan Fischer Of The American Family Association Suggests “Underground Railroad” To Kidnap Children Of Gay Parents!

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Bryan Fischer of the extremist American Family Association has outraged any reasonable person by his public advocacy that children of gay parents be abducted, kidnapped, in order to “save” them from the “lifestyle” of their parents!

This is further proof of just how extreme, radical, and dangerous this organization is, with its title being extremely misleading, as they are actually promoting lawlessness, violence, and terrorism, as they declare “war” on gay and lesbian parents!

There is absolutely no evidence that gay parents are unfit for being parents, and much evidence that many straight parents are horrible parents, particularly when some of them abuse their own children, and reject their children if they turn out to be gay!

This is the true sin of a supposedly “religious” group that promotes breaking up families, with many children adopted by gay parents who would not easily be adopted by straight parents, and are just as loving and supportive, if not more so, than straight parents often are!

Bryan Fischer and his disgraceful organization is on the brink of facing possible prosecution if any evidence develops that shows what Fischer advocates is done, rather than simply stated!

If this ever occurs, the man needs to be locked up for the rest of his life as a domestic terrorist and hatemonger!

Papa John’s CEO Complains That ObamaCare Will Raise Pizza Prices By 11-14 Cents! So What?

Ronald 2 Comments

The CEO of Papa John’s, John Schnatter, has made a public complaint that “ObamaCare”, requiring him to give health insurance to all uninsured, full time employees by 2014, will raise pizza prices by 11 to 14 cents.

There is doubt as to whether that is really the case, but even if it is, is it not worth it for customers to be willing to pay such a measly amount extra for their pizza?

Is anyone going to decide not to buy pizza because of having to pay a dime and four pennies more as a maximum?

Actually, deciding not to buy Papa John’s would probably, long term, be better for one’s health, as it certainly is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a superior pizza that everyone must have!

If the price is to pay a bit more for those who consume Papa John’s, so be it, for the good of the full time employees of the company, who deserve consideration by their employer, instead of public complaints!