Month: September 2012

The “Bandwagon” Effect Begins To Take Hold: Republicans On The Run, Including Paul Ryan!

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We are now seeing polls showing Barack Obama with a double digit lead in several states–Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida— and leads widening in Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa and New Hampshire.

The “bandwagon” effect has begun to take effect, and Republicans are on the run, backing away ever more from Mitt Romney and his clearly failing campaign for President.

And all that Romney and his supporters can say is that the polls are wrong, and that the media are against them, even though even Fox News Channel polls show Obama’s lead widening.

So in other words, trust Romney, even though he constantly lies and deceives, and believe that he can win the election.

Gamblers are not taking bets that Romney will win, and instead the odds of Obama winning are about 80 percent, to 20 percent for Romney.

So Senate and House candidates are running scared, and many will likely go down in a massive Romney defeat six weeks from today!

And it turns out, even Paul Ryan, the Vice Presidential running mate, has come to recognition that he must save himself and his future, which looks a lot more cloudy now than it did before he accepted the Vice Presidential nomination.

Now, Ryan is in danger of losing his Congressional seat in an Obama landslide in Wisconsin, along with presiding over the US Senate and having illusions of being a future President!

So it has been reported by Politico that he is “going rogue”, as Sarah Palin did in 2008, doing what he wants at campaign rallies, saying what he wishes to say, ignoring direction from Romney aides, so as to make himself stand out and save his own skin.

One can sense that the relationship between Romney and Ryan is not what it was, and the body language shows it when they appear together, with Romney seemingly jealous that Ryan gains more applause than he does.

The possibility of a Democratic House and Senate seem more likely by the day, with the rapid implosion of Mitt Romney in evidence!

Bill Clinton Reveals Something Not Generally Known: Only Chile And Mexico Among OECD Nations Taxes Capital Gains Lower Than US!

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OECD, the Organization For Economic Cooperation And Development, consists of 34 nations, that promote democracy and the market economy, and consists of nations in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and Canada and Australia and New Zealand.

Their goal is to promote economic growth, and they hold regular meetings of delegations to accomplish that goal.

But former President Bill Clinton, arguing today at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City, made the point in interviews, that wealthy people in America are indeed very privileged, and his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also made that point in a speech.

The reason for both Clintons stating this is the statistic on Capital Gains on the wealthy, and the stunning reality that our 15 percent Capital Gains tax on investments in this nation, brought about by Republican action in Congress in the past decade, and helping to cause the budget crisis we face now, is the THIRD lowest of all the 34 nations in OECD, with only Chile and Mexico being lower!

So wealthy people are getting a real advantage on capital gains, as for instance Mitt Romney has had in the past decade, but also with income tax cuts for the wealthy in the past ten years, one could say that the wealthy are “making out like bandits”, as the saying goes, which is much too accurate!

The US Senate Balance At Stake In 2012 Elections

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Presently, there are 51 Democrats, two Independents, and 47 Republicans In the US Senate.

There are 33 races for the Senate this year, with 23 being Democratic or Independent seats, and just 10 being Republican.

So the odds would seem to be in favor of the Republicans gaining seats, and possibly the majority of the Senate, if they can gain four seats, or three seats if Paul Ryan becomes Vice President.

Eleven Senators are retiring, 6 Democrats, one Independent (Joe Lieberman of Connecticut), and 4 Republicans.

Sixteen Democrats are seeking reelection, while six Republicans are seeking another term.

Many of these seats are seen as “safe”, with 11 Democrats out of the 16 seemingly safe, and four out of six Republicans considered to be assured reelection.

So the real struggle for the US Senate is for five seats held by Democrats, plus seven seats being vacated, for a total of 12 seats—plus three seats of retired Republicans, and two seats of Republicans running for reelection, for a total of 5 seats.

So 17 seats are up for grabs, and the maximum number of seats that could be gained by the Democrats would be five, making a possible total of 58, including two Independents, and for the Republicans, the maximum number of seats that could be gained is 12, for a possible total of 59 seats.

Will the Democrats have 58 seats, or the Republicans have 59 seats, in reality? The answer is NO, but it leaves the future of the Senate very much in play.

These races will be examined in the upcoming weeks until the election six weeks from now!

Gary Johnson And Virgil Goode Could Siphon Support For Mitt Romney In Several “Swing” States

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Gary Johnson is the former Republican New Mexico Governor, and Libertarian Party candidate for President. He is also on the ballot in 47 states.

Virgil Goode is a former Republican Congressman from a district in Virginia, and Constitution Party candidate for President. He is also on the ballot in two dozen states.

Johnson is believed to have support in New Mexico, Montana, Nevada and Colorado, while Goode is thought to have support in Virginia.

Notice that these are all considered “swing” states, although New Mexico has been seen as less so than it once was, and is generally not included in recent months as being in that category. And Montana is one of those few states thought to be Republican, but with some possibility of switching to the Democrats.

But also notice that all of these states are now considered to be in favor of Barack Obama, except Montana.

So the question arises, will these former Republicans hurt Romney enough that he loses these “swing” states and even Montana, or will Obama win even with some support for Johnson and Goode in these states?

In other words, can Johnson and Goode end up for Romney as Ralph Nader was for Al Gore in 2000, the difference in votes that caused Gore’s defeat for President?

It will be interesting to see if either or both third party candidates have a significant impact on the results of the election!

Early Voting Begins In Half Of The States, BEFORE Presidential Debates!

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Early voting has begun in 25 states, a week BEFORE the Presidential debates begin. And five more states will begin early voting by the end of September.

This includes the “swing” states of Virginia, North Carolina, New Hampshire and Wisconsin, so for many voters, it is already too late for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to change people’s minds, particularly after recent gaffes by the Republican team!

It is expected that one third of all votes will be cast before Election Day, a growing number every Presidential year, and therefore a “wild card” that will affect the election results!

A Republican President, Race, And Great Courage And Principle: Little Rock, Arkansas In 1957!

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55 years ago today, we had a courageous, principled Republican President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, do what was right–intervene with federal troops in Little Rock, Arkansas, to protect nine black students at Little Rock Central High School, who were being spat upon and threatened by racist men and women, who did not want to allow racial integration. This was a leading moment in the civil rights movement!

Eisenhower was berated in the South for what he did, and states rights advocates called him a Communist for his intervention, but he knew that racial discrimination was something that had to be dealt with by the federal government, and it was a very important step in Presidential leadership, and was utilized also by President John F. Kennedy at the University of Mississippi in 1962 and the University of Alabama in 1963.

Here we are more than a half century later, and we cannot count on the Republican Party of 2012 taking the same or equivalent stand, as now the Republicans’ strongest base of support is among southern working class whites, the children and grandchildren of the bigots of fifty five years ago.

It is hoped that the younger generations look at things differently, but the indications are clear that those who felt the way they did about race back then, now have been succeeded by descendants who choose to back the Republican Party, and are horrified that now we have an African American President, Barack Obama!

The Growing Arrogance, Cockiness, And Delusional Nature Of Mitt Romney!

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Despite the fact that all of the polls show a widening lead for President Barack Obama over Mitt Romney, the Republican Presidential nominee has demonstrated a belief that he has nothing to worry about regarding the election.

Dismissing Republican and conservative criticism, Romney says he does not need to change his staff and advisers, or change strategy in any form, as he knows he is going to win the Presidency six weeks from now!

Despite his many gaffes, and his statement about the “47 percent”, and his manipulated 2011 tax return, Romney is being extremely arrogant and cocky, and showing signs of delusion of grandeur!

This man is so accustomed to getting what he wants, and having everyone serve him, that he cannot comprehend reality, and is clueless to the fact that he is antagonizing women, Hispanics and Latinos, senior citizens, young people, and even white working class people in the Midwest, who are angry over his willingness to abandon the auto industry in 2008-2009, while Barack Obama saved this important industry and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that, had they not been saved, unemployment would be so much higher today!

Some would argue that white working class men, in particular, might not be thrilled about voting for an African American President, but are more irritated that a rich white guy, such as Mitt Romney, who has no conception of what their lives are like, was ready to abandon the Midwest to depression conditions!

So, as stated recently, Romney looks more than ever like Thomas Dewey, the GOP Presidential nominee in 1948, who thought he was going to defeat President Harry Truman.

However, the difference is that the polls showed Dewey constantly in the lead until the election, so it is understandable that Dewey might have that delusion.

Romney has not been ahead, and is falling further behind, a totally different circumstance, so Romney may very well need a mental examination as to his sanity, if he can be so overly confident that he is going to win!

Either that, or Romney is lying to us and himself, something he has been doing ever since he first decided to run for President in 2007!

The Environmentally Oriented Presidents: A Poll, And Commentary On The Poll

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Last week, CorporateKnights.com, which advertises itself as “The Company For Clean Capitalism”, and publishes a magazine, asked twelve environmental oriented organizations to rank our 43 Presidents on the issue of their “greenness”, a fascinating ranking!

They also held a press conference, which was shown on C Span, and Ralph Nader, the well known environmentalist and leader of Public Citizen, was on the panel discussing the results.

The conclusion was that eight Presidents deserved recognition, with three being way ahead of the other five on the issue of the environment.

The easy winner was Republican Theodore Roosevelt, followed by Republican Richard Nixon, and Democrat Jimmy Carter.

The other five in order were Democrat Barack Obama , Democratic -Republican Thomas Jefferson, Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt and Republican Gerald Ford tied for sixth, and Democrat Bill Clinton in last place among the eight.

While some might be surprised at Richard Nixon being second, actually the author of this blog well recognizes his leadership on the environment, and has pointed it out when teaching students about recent American history.

This author also fully agrees on TR as first, and Jimmy Carter as certainly the best one term President on the environment, and when one realizes that he was succeeded by a President, Republican Ronald Reagan, often judged the absolute worst on the environment,, it makes him feel very depressed!

Also, since Republican George W. Bush is rated the second worst to Reagan, and worst by some observers, it makes one wish that Ralph Nader had not run as a Green Party candidate in 2000, and taking almost 100,000 votes away from Al Gore, who would certainly have been a great environmental President, and had a major role in making Bill Clinton, who had a terrible record on the environment in Arkansas, able to make the present list as one of the better environmental Presidents.

It is pleasing to see Barack Obama as high as fourth on this list, with the potential to be more accomplished in a second term, and the record of Mitt Romney in action and words makes one concerned that he might be President, as every indication is that he would not put the environment high on his list of priorities, were he to win the White House.

Also, however, it must be said that it seems to this author that other Presidents should be commended for their environmental interests, including:

John Quincy Adams, who first promoted the idea of a cabinet office, the Department of the Interior, in the 1820s, but created a year after his death, in 1849.

Rutherford B. Hayes, who appointed one of the best Interior Secretaries in history, Carl Schurz, who did what he could on the environment, in the late 1870s.

Woodrow Wilson, who made major advances on the subject, in the second decade of the 20th century.

Harry Truman, who promoted environmental advancements in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, who in the 1960s, promoted environmental concerns, with their Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, appointed by Kennedy but kept on and given support by Johnson.

Also, the record clearly shows that It was Republican Presidents such as William Howard Taft, Warren G. Harding, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and George H. W. Bush, who took steps to harm the environment, on a lesser scale than Reagan and the second Bush, but still damaging.

So, not suprisingly, Democrata have been better than Republicans on the environment, but with the major exceptions of Theodore Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Rutherford B. Hayes.

Presidents Taken By Surprise By Foreign Events From Franklin D. Roosevelt To Barack Obama

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It has often been said that American Presidents have much greater power in foreign affairs, than in domestic affairs, since they have to work with Congress to accomplish domestic goals.

But in actuality, Presidents are subject to the actions of other nations and their leaders, and are often taken aback by stunning, surprising events that transform the course of history.

Examples from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Barack Obama abound:

FDR and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1941
Harry Truman and the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950
Dwight D. Eisenhower and the U-2 Spy Plane Incident 1960
John F. Kennedy and the Berlin Wall 1961
John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
Lyndon B. Johnson and the Six Day Middle East War 1967
Richard Nixon and the Yom Kippur Middle East War 1973
Gerald Ford and the Mayaguez Affair with Cambodia 1975
Jimmy Carter and the Iranian Hostage Seizure 1979
Ronald Reagan and the Beirut, Lebanon Marine Barracks Bombing 1983
George H. W. Bush and the Iraq Invasion of Kuwait 1990
Bill Clinton and the World Trade Center Bombing 1993
George W. Bush and the World Trade Center and Pentagon Attacks 2001
Barack Obama and the Libyan Consulate Attack 2012

Sadly, politics come into play, and the opposition party always blames the President for the shocking event, as if he has control over factors outside his control.

But that is part of the reality of American politics and history!

Five Major Targets Of Democrats In House Races: Allen West, Joe Walsh, Michele Bachmann, Steve King, And Paul Ryan!

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The battle for control of the next House of Representatives is in full swing, with the Democrats needing to win at least 25 seats to gain control, and therefore remove Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor from their positions of power.

Among the Republicans who are on the hit list of most important to remove, are:

Allen West of Florida
Joe Walsh of Illinois
Michele Bachmann of Minnesota
Steve King of Iowa
Paul Ryan of Wisconsin

These five, all Tea Party supporters, and extremist in their views and voting patterns, are facing strong opposition, and it would be a contribution if some, or all, were removed from the halls of Congress!

They have all “distinguished” themselves in their outrageous statements and actions, and have embarrassed themselves and the institution of Congress by their behavior!

And of course, Paul Ryan is trying to become Vice President under Mitt Romney, and it would be great if he could be defeated for both that office and his Congressional seat, since he has done nothing for his district in Wisconsin, and instead gained infamy and financial support from billionaires and millionaires for his plan to gut Medicare and Medicaid, while promoting more tax cuts for the wealthy!

This election year would be a great opportunity to clean up some of the damage done by the election of new House members West and Walsh, and rid the House of longer term members Bachmann, King, and Ryan!