Month: May 2014

A Fact That Cannot Be Denied: With Creation of 120,000 More Jobs, All Jobs Lost In Great Recession Are Recovered!

Ronald Leave a comment

A plain fact that Republicans and conservatives wish to deny is that the entire loss of jobs from the Great Recession under their President George W. Bush, the worst since the Great Depression, and actually in pure numbers, far worse, is nearing an end!

With next month’s report of job gains, the negative will finally have ended, six years after the total collapse!

Only 120,000 jobs need to be created, and every job created after that is additional, and the job growth will continue over the remainder of the Obama Presidency!

Yes, the author is well aware that this is not in itself something to rejoice, while we have so many people unable to make a decent living, and millions having to survive on the minimum wage or just above, and others further impoverished by the refusal of Republicans to extend unemployment compensation.

And manufacturing jobs, while reviving to some extent, are still losing to overseas competition, and too many jobs that are created are service jobs, traditionally low paid.

The fact of the recovery of the millions of jobs is to be saluted, but the need to create millions of new, high paying jobs is still the daunting task of Obama and the next President of the United States, but with GOP obstructionism, that will continue to be difficult.

The fact of the recovery of jobs, however, should be bragged about by Democrats, and should be a major factor in avoiding major loss of seats in the House and Senate, as if the Republicans had cooperated in the past four years, our economic revival could have been swifter and more focused on creation of good jobs, rather than just minimum wage jobs, which are in pay, 25 percent behind what they were in economic value in 1968!

Texas And Florida: Two States With Two Competing Presidential Candidates For The GOP!

Ronald 1 Comment

Texas is the second largest state in population, and Florida is soon to be the third largest state.

Texas is “red”, but seen as turning “purple” and eventually “blue” by 2020 or after.

Florida is “purple”, strongly Republican, but won by Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.

Both are extremely important battlegrounds for the future of the Presidency, with a total population of about 45 million combined, and becoming more Hispanic and Latino annually.

And both have two competing Presidential candidates for the Republican nomination for President in 2016.

Texas has outgoing Governor Rick Perry and freshman Senator Ted Cruz, while Florida has former Governor Jeb Bush (whose brother and father were elected to public office from Texas), and freshman Senator Marco Rubio.

Cruz and Rubio are the new generation, while Perry is the longest serving Governor of Texas, and one of the longest serving Governors in American history, and Jeb Bush was last in public office eight years ago, and last competed in an election 12 years ago.

Bush and Perry both have ties to George W. Bush, one his brother, and the other his Lieutenant Governor, who succeeded him when he was elected President.

One would have to say that Bush and Rubio seem far more likely contenders than Perry and Cruz, with both ranked higher on lists by political prognosticators.

It seems clear that Rubio is unlikely to run if Bush does, while Perry and Cruz will both compete, neither one wishing to give in to the other.

As far as becoming President, it will be very difficult for any Republican, but the best betting money is on Jeb Bush if he announces, as his overall image, despite his last name, puts him near the top of the potential list of nominees for the White House!

The Obscenity Of “Religious Freedom” And Bullying Of Gays In Tennessee And Mississippi!

Ronald Leave a comment

It is amazing how the most Right Wing religious groups argue for “religious freedom”, as if there is any denial of the rights of people to have their own religious beliefs!

For a nation where the vast majority are Christian of one sect or another, it is preposterous to argue there is an attack on religious freedom, when, if anything, it is Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, and agnostics who are endangered in their right to religious freedom.

But devout right wingers in Tennessee have now managed to push through the state legislature a bill to allow bullying of gay boys and girls, a particular growing problem all over America, in schools, and that those who bully them cannot be prosecuted due to “religious” freedom!

The number of suicides of young gay boys and girls, and barely legal adult men and women, has grown by leaps and bounds, and it is essential to fight such bullying as a crime that is prosecutable!

No one should be allowed to use the veil of “religious freedom” to discriminate against anyone at any age, based on sexual orientation.

Hopefully, the law, if signed by the governor, Bill Haslam, will be appealed and lead to revocation of a hideous law! Even if Haslam vetoes, however, the bill is likely to become law with a Tennessee Senate vote of 32-0 and a House vote of 90-2!

It makes one wonder what has happened in Tennessee, a Southern state rapidly deteriorating into being similar to Mississippi, which has also passed an anti gay discrimination bill based on “religious freedom, and Governor Phil Bryant has signed it.

Federal challenge of these laws must move ahead expeditiously!

Florida The Ultimate Battleground For 2016

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The state of Florida is the ultimate battleground for 2016, as it was in 2000, 2008, and 2012, and Hillary Clinton, at this point, the presumed Democratic nominee, is clearly ahead in polls, even over Florida Senator Marco Rubio and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the two leading Republicans in the state, other than Governor Rick Scott.

The argument for either Rubio or Bush is that they can win the Sunshine State in 2016, but that is far from certain.

Bush has not run for office in Florida since his second term election in 2002, and Rubio won his seat in a midterm election, and may face primary opposition, as well as strong Democratic challenge in the next Presidential election and or his Senate reelection campaign.

The fact that more than one million Floridians have signed up for ObamaCare, despite the opposition of Florida Governor Rick Scott and Senator Marco Rubio, and much of the Republican dominated state legislature, is an indication that Florida is up for grabs, and former Florida Governor Charlie Crist, now a Democrat, is running ahead of Scott in the polls, and is a strong supporter of ObamaCare.

Ironically, if Crist wins the Governorship a second time, now as a Democrat, he could, in theory, challenge Rubio for his seat, a race that he lost to Rubio in 2010, but could run for without losing his Governorship if he lost, and would probably love to try to unseat Rubio and become a national figure in the Senate, delayed six years, but never too late!

Hillary and Bill Clinton are well regarded in Florida, and the Cuban community, particularly the younger generation, is no longer a guaranteed GOP vote, even as it might have been in 2010, when Rubio beat out Crist and Congressman Kendrick Meek.

So Florida, the third largest state any day now, and with 29 electoral votes, is very much a likely Democratic win, which would insure that Hillary Clinton, or arguably, any other Democratic nominee, victory in 2016 for the White House!

What If Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, And Jeb Bush Do Not Run For President?

Ronald 4 Comments

So much attention has been paid to the concept that Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Jeb Bush will run for President, but what if none of these three career politicians choose to run?

There are some hints that Hillary will not run, and there has been concern about her health, her age, and whether she wants to go through the “hell” of running for President, knowing that she is soon to be a grandmother, and will be in her 70s nine months into her Presidency. There seems to be the belief that she wants to be President, but does not relish running for the job. The vicious attacks have begun anew, as when she was First Lady, and she could have more leisure time, and make more money by writing more books, doing more lectures, and being a “statesman”, instead of being a politician.

The problems to be faced by the next President in domestic and foreign affairs are overwhelming, and cannot make her feel that there will be any sense of peace or tranquility, with the total chasm between the Democratic and Republican Parties. And despite lack of criticism openly by the Left in the Democratic Party, many would rather see Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, or Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland, running as fresh faces. Some even imagine Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont as an alternative, although both he and Warren are not good on the age factor, with Sanders in his 70s, and Warren entering it late in the next term of the Presidency.

Vice President Joe Biden faces the same situation–age and health issues, and the desire to spend more time with his family, with him reaching the age of 74 shortly after the next Presidential election. Biden loves his job, but is he, maybe, having second thoughts as well about the challenges ahead, and after 44 years of public service, it would not be surprising if he decided not to run.

Jeb Bush is being promoted by his brother, George W. Bush, and his dad, George H. W. Bush, while his mother, Barbara Bush, advises against his running for President. Jeb has a quandary, as the “establishment” in the party wants him, as Chris Christie flounders with his scandal in New Jersey, but it is clear that he has strong doubts, as to the wisdom of running, and facing vehement opposition from the Tea Party Movement and others in the right wing dominated GOP, that it would be a tough battle to win the nomination, and he is behind, even in Florida, to Hillary Clinton. Also, remember that Jeb has not been public office for ten years by 2016, and will not have faced a campaign since 2002, by 2016, and his experience does not come anywhere near that of Hillary and Joe.

But the question arises, what happens if these three “leaders” do not run for President? Who would benefit, come out of the shadows, and become the new John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, or Barack Obama for the Democrats (all not considered front runners in the second year of the Presidential term before they were elected)? And who would become the man able to demonstrate the experience and ability of Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, Bob Dole, and John McCain, which led the GOP to pick people with foreign policy expertise as their candidates (even if Dole and McCain did not win the White House)?

Would another woman be likely to run if Hillary did not run, and to have a real chance to win–such as Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, or Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota? Or would a Northeastern Governor, such as Martin O’Malley of Maryland or Andrew Cuomo of New York be the best bet? Or would another African American Senator, Cory Booker, be the way to go? Or would the Democratic Party go to the moderate center, and pick Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, or go out to the Mountain West and pick former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer? Or could Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont really have a chance to be the nominee?

For the Republicans, would former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, easily the most qualified in foreign policy and effective in domestic matters while governing Utah, be able to gain “establishment” support, and overcome the Right Wing extremism of the Tea Party Movement? Or would the party go to a Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, or John Kasich of Ohio, or Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, or Rick Perry of Texas? Or would they go for the newcomers in the Senate–Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Marco Rubio of Florida, or go for 2012 Vice Presidential nominee, Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin?

The reality is that IF Hillary, Joe, and Jeb were to choose not to run, the 2016 Presidential campaign would be wide open, and probably chaotic, path breaking, and historic, and no one could possibly predict the ultimate outcome!

America’s Defense Budget More Than 13 Other Nations Combined!

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America’s defense budget is over $600 billion per year, more than the next 13 nations combined, and one can be sure that the intelligence agencies, all 16 of them, are not included in this total, as their budgets, and in many cases their actual existence, are a deep dark secret!

China, by comparison spends one sixth of our defense budget annually, about $100 billion, for a nation with four times the population of the United States.

The other countries on the list include Russia, Great Britain, Japan, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, India, Brazil, South Korea, Australia, Iran, and Italy.

The military budget is far higher than it was during the Cold War, and too much is being spent on nuclear weapons, and weapons systems that will never, in reality, be used.

But the Pentagon budget has long been one of massive cost overruns, and corruption by corporations that produce our war goods, and meanwhile the one half of one percent spent on “welfare” is being targeted for massive cuts by the Paul Ryan GOP Budget!

It is time for smart spending on defense, not massive waste at the cost of basic decency for our poorest citizens in a country that likes to think it is the most advanced in the world, but yet is too ready to sacrifice “social spending” in the name of mindless defense spending!

Republican Senators And The Minimum Wage Law

Ronald Leave a comment

The Republican Party has effectively written off those workers who are paid the minimum wage, not caring about how they are to survive in an economy with the situation stacked against them.

It has been nearly a decade since the minimum wage was raised, and people forget that the minimum wage was never raised during the 1980’s, and so the cost of living is way beyond what the minimum wage should be.

Originally established at 25 cents an hour in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. the minimum wage should now be about $15 an hour based on inflation, but instead is, nationally at $7.25 an hour for nearly a decade, although some states have raised the limit.

The bill that failed to get to a vote in the Senate, due to the filibuster tactic, would have raised the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour in stages until 2016, but NOT one GOP Senator, not even Senator Susan Collins of Maine, or Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, or a few others thought to have some “moderate” tendencies, voted for the rise in the minimum wage.

Many of the minimum wage workers are breadwinners for their families, and the stress of having too little income also affects their physical and mental health, but obviously Republicans and conservatives do not give a damn about those realities!

Today’s minimum wage is 25 percent below what it was in 1968, an absolute atrocity! Putting extra money in the hands of the working poor would make life easier, add to business profits, and would certainly all be put back into the economy, but the Republicans are determined to punish the poor for being poor, and in so doing, harm children and women, even more than men.

If this is not the new “Gilded Age”, what is it, not only for the poor, but for the dwindling middle class?

This is Scrooge at its best!