Month: December 2013

Ronald Reagan Myth Of “Welfare Queen” Being Revived By Republicans And Conservatives: Still A Massive Lie!

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Before he became President, Ronald Reagan kept perpetuating a massive lie, far more than Barack Obama and ObamaCare, despite claims that Obama is the most massive liar of any President!

NO, it is a tie between Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, with Reagan simply more charming and charismatic, so Nixon tends to be regarded as the greater liar because of Watergate!

But Reagan lied about Iran-Contra in 1986, claiming he had “no recollection”, and able to get away with it due to his charm, and the thought that, as an aging President, he would be given a pass, although some thought he should be impeached for that scandal, as well as others, making his administration one of the most scandal ridden Presidencies, right behind Nixon, Warren G. Harding, and Ulysses S. Grant.

But even before the scandals of his Presidency, Reagan developed in his mind, and came to believe, that there was a “Welfare Queen”, of course an African American in Chicago, who was collecting dozens of checks monthly, and scamming the “welfare” system.

This was a lie from day one, but it resonated, and was used by conservatives to condemn the poor, implying that they were all too lazy to work, and were just drinking and taking drugs and living off hard working whites.

The fact that most people on “welfare”, meaning food stamps and Medicaid and unemployment compensation are white, are single mothers with children, and many work, but make inadequate income working for minimum wage (such as at Walmart and McDonalds and such places like them), is ignored, and it has become an attack on the poor, as if they wish to be poor, and also provoke working class whites against minorities.

Meanwhile, as the move is on to cut food stamps and unemployment compensation, and in red states deny expansion of Medicaid, and also deny an increase in the minimum wage, the vast majority who are being harmed are white working class people who continue to vote Republican, not understanding that it is them who are being condemned by the term “Welfare Queen”.

The term “Welfare Queen” is a massive lie, and was a massive lie when Ronald Reagan used it to attain the Presidency! Reagan either knew it was a lie, or was too incompetent mentally to know that he was telling a lie that he had convinced himself was the truth. And this is a President to admire and emulate, as a great President, when he set out to harm those who were down and out for his own advancement? Give me a break!

Sandy Hook Elementary School One Year Later

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It has been one year since the massacre of 20 children and six teachers and administrators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut,

Just yesterday we had another tragedy, with a student in a high school in Colorado wounding two students before killing himself.

The threat to schools, theaters, shopping malls, churches and all other public places continues, and the country seems paralyzed by inability to do anything about the mounting number of gun deaths, and the reality that many mentally disturbed people have access to guns.

America is the most dangerous nation in the civilized world, and we are looked upon in Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan as a nation out of control when it comes to violence.

And every day, President Obama is subjected to rhetorical and real threats to his life, in a nation where the right wing will not stop in its quest to poison the atmosphere with hate and division, and fears that the government is coming to get one’s guns.

The question is what future tragedy will finally move the Congress and the state governments to face the threat to civil order represented by the gun culture, with the sad feeling that nothing will change the national illness we have amidst us!

13 Years Since “President” Al Gore Failed To Be Elected!

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It is hard to believe that it is now 13 years since Vice President Al Gore, who won the national popular vote by over half a million vote margin, failed to be elected, due to the intervention by the Supreme Court, the vast majority selected by Republican Presidents, who chose to intervene, defying the idea that the judicial branch of the federal government had no authority to decide who wins the Presidency.

Therefore, a precedent was set that could reverberate and lead to another election in which the wishes of the people of the United States could be ignored, and we could end up with a President who represented special interests, a reality becoming more evident with the growing power and influence of right wing elites, who are having great success in undermining the desire of the American people to prevent the destruction of the middle class, and the degradation yet further of the working poor, the disabled, the elderly, and children.

When one realizes that a Gore Presidency would likely NOT have started a war in Iraq; and would have promoted domestic reforms that would have avoided the greater maldistribution of wealth to the extreme it has become, due to the economic policies of George W. Bush, it is hard not to mourn what occurred 13 years ago, which has certainly harmed the long term future of the nation!

John Boehner And Paul Ryan Vs. The Tea Party Radicals!

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The Speaker of the House and the Budget Committee Chairman have thrown down the gauntlet to the right wing Tea Party Movement members of its Republican caucus, and to the pressure groups and talk radio and Fox News Channel critics.

And the good news that 169 members of the GOP caucus backed John Boehner and Paul Ryan, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a bit of a surprise since Cantor tends to hobnob with the radicals a good deal of the time, is welcome!

While this means the budget bill will stabilize the economy, and allow some progress next year on some items on the agenda, it is almost certain that IF the Tea Party challenge succeeds in 2014 House and Senate races, challenging incumbents, then Boehner will no longer be Speaker of the House, and Ryan may be ousted as Budget Committee chairman.

One would think that Boehner and Ryan are moderates. which is extremely far from the truth, but they are at least responsible legislators, who realize that with divided government, some negotiation and compromise is essential, in order to get anything done.

The hope is that the tumult in the GOP will enhance chances of the Democrats winning back control of the House, and with a Senate where the filibuster is rarely used due to the new 51 vote majority requirement, hopefully the next Congress in 2015 will make us forget what a disaster the 113th Congress has been, the worst in modern American history!

Bipartisan Budget Bill First In 15 Years, And Tea Party Radicals Are Outraged!

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The Paul Ryan-Patty Murray bipartisan budget deal, while far from perfect, is the first cooperation on formulation of the budget in the past 15 years.

Liberal Democrats are furious that unemployment compensation has not been extended, and that food stamps seem to be about to have a major budget cut, totally unacceptable on moral grounds.

But the deal also prevents a government shutdown and constant budget crises every few months, a reality which infuriates the Tea Party radicals.

So there is a live rebellion in both parties, but the greater one is between House leaders, including Speaker John Boehner and Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, against large elements of their own party, and strong opposition from Tea Party Senators, including Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio,along with Tom Coburn, and reportedly, Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, who is facing a Tea Party primary for his seat in Kentucky next year.

No one can be happy that those most needy are going to be ignored by the Scrooges of the Republican Party, but to see Boehner and Ryan being attacked by fellow Republicans, and the Presidential race playing into it, is an amazing event to watch.

Paul Ryan, IF he wishes to be President, will be attacked by Paul, Cruz, Rubio and others for his willingness to make a bipartisan deal, far from ideal, but just the fact of BIPARTISANSHIP drives the right wing and its advocacy groups and its talk show hosts bonkers!

The Barack Obama–Raul Castro Handshake: Much Ado Over Nothing!

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While at the Nelson Mandela commemoration in South Africa, Barack Obama had an opportunity to meet dozens of world leaders, some of them from democracies, and some from dictatorships.

Unfortunately, dictatorships are much more common historically and in contemporary times, than are democracies.

Richard Nixon went to China and met Mao Tse Tung.

Dwight D. Eisenhower met Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev at Camp David, and John F. Kennedy met Khrushchev in Vienna.

Ronald Reagan met Afghan freedom fighters, who later became involved in promoting terrorism, including September 11.

John McCain met Moammar Gaddafi of Libya, and shook his hand.

Donald Rumsfeld met Saddam Hussein of Iraq as a emissary from Ronald Reagan.

Also, many Presidents have bowed to royal leaders, including George W. Bush with the King of Saudi Arabia, and many Presidents with the Emperor of Japan and the Queen of England.

Never was such a big deal made of these handshakes or discussions, and even summits, until suddenly, Barack Obama became President!

When he met Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, it was the worst crime of the century to the right wing whackos!

Now, Obama shook the hand of Raul Castro, who has made it clear that he is leaving power in 2018, when he will be 87, and his brother Fidel Castro, will be 92, if either is still alive.

There will be a successor government in Cuba within a few years, and there is always the chance that Cuba could undergo change and reform, and in fact, already has developed capitalism and private property, as China, for instance, has done.

Has our government, under Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, refused to deal with “evil” governments? NO in the modern era, and we are talking with Iran and North Korea at times, so why not Cuba?

After 55 years, has the embargo on Cuba changed anything in that island nation? NO, as it unites the government with its population, who are the true victims of the American blockade!

Do we blockade trade and contact with other nations of much greater importance? The answer is NO, but apparently, we must cater to three million Cuban Americans, and their leadership in the Republican Party, when it benefits no one, and is a failed policy!

It is time for rapprochement with Cuba, so that we can have an effect on its future. This is the time to start such development of relations, and forget the lobbying of right wing groups and Marco Rubio, who have no interest in planning for the future without a Castro in power!

Republican Infighting Rising!

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It is now clear that the Republican Party is imploding rapidly!

Witness the condemnation by right wing groups of the budget deal arranged by Congressman Paul Ryan and Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington, which helps to avoid another government shutdown, and attempts to provide a stable economic environment for the next two years. As Ryan said it, it is essential for some compromise, while not giving up one’s core principles. The deal is far from great, and will require payment of some retirement contributions by people in the military, and higher airline fees for passengers, but it is a step forward to avoid more economic chaos.

But various right wing groups have opposed the deal, and it is likely that Speaker John Boehner will have to count on Democratic votes to get the package approved later this week, before Congress takes a holiday break, possessing the worst record for performance of modern Congressional history! Boehner has already expressed his annoyance at conservative groups, and so the the infighting continues, as Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Tom Coburn have already denounced the agreement.

One outcome of this agreement is likely the death knell of a Paul Ryan campaign for President, because after all, he was willing to “compromise”!

But this is not the only infighting going on, as Newt Gingrich and Ted Cruz had the “gall” to issue statements complimentary of Nelson Mandela, infuring the far Right, as if Gingrich and Cruz are not part of that group. It is the crazy loonies attacking the mere crazies.

For progressives, it is a fun time, and all that one needs is some soda and popcorn, and sit and enjoy the lunatic fringe acting more looney by the moment!

Right Wing Heads About To Explode: Good News On Colin Powell And Pope Francis!

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The right wing talking heads and the hate mongers who are always negative about any kind of progress or reform, are symbolically having their heads explode with the news that:

General Colin Powell supports a single payer health care system as the ultimate answer to the problem of health coverage.

Pope Francis has been named as the PERSON OF THE YEAR by Time Magazine, a richly deserved honor, and a hope for reform of the Catholic Church from its backward, regressive nature!

These are two pieces of news that brighten the day, and both men are great figures in world affairs.

But it will cause Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and the other right wing extremists, along with most of the Republican Party in Congress and in state governments, to be furious beyond belief, raising their blood pressure!

Anytime the right wing suffers a defeat or a loss, is a moment to celebrate, and it reminds us of the poison they spew against our courageous, principled President, who takes the attacks with equanimity, and goes about his business of doing what must be done to advance the nation for all of us, not just the elite wealthy!

This is a day to celebrate! Hallelujah!

The Field Is Opening For Hillary Clinton, As Other Democrats Seem To Step Aside

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It seems now more than ever that the Democratic Party is stepping aside for Hillary Clinton to be its nominee.

It may be that it simply seems like a “fait accompli”, an inevitable situation that makes possible rivals unwilling to enter the field, hesitant to challenge her.

The point is that Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo have made it clear that they are not in the field, unwilling to promote any action that indicates a challenge to the giant shadow of the former Secretary of State, Senator, and First Lady.

No discussion is going on for anyone else, other than possibly Joe Biden and former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, and it is really possible at the end that we will have the first uncontested nomination ever seen in modern American history, almost as if Hillary Clinton is President running unopposed for a second term in the White House, rather than as an outsider seeking the office of the Presidency.

Since Hillary resided in the White House for eight years, it is a scenario unseen in American history, and would strengthen her as the Republican Party, with its nightmarish group of candidates, fights it out on the far right, alienating the great center of the American population.

Senator Rand Paul And The Unemployed

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Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has never experienced what it is to be poor, unemployed, deprived in any form, is advocating that those millions who have been unable to find work should be punished for that fact, and be cut off unemployment compensation, despite the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Paul points out that employers are more likely to hire people out of work for four weeks than 99 weeks! That in itself is disgraceful discrimination, blaming the unemployed for what the wealthy on Wall Street did to us, in cooperation with the administration of a Republican Congress and President in the early 2000s, leading to the Great Recession.

So these unfortunate souls should lose their last lifeline, and go homeless and starve, as “tough love” is the so called “answer” for those down and out.

And of course, the dropping of unemployment compensation is teamed with massive cuts in food stamps, and refusal to consider an increase in the minimum wage, which, if it had kept up with the cost of living since 1968, would now be over $21 an hour.

So kick the disadvantaged when they are down, Rand Paul, heh? And this is the “Christian’ spirit? What is wrong with you and your disgraceful colleagues?