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Death Of Senator Frank Lautenberg A Sad Moment: Cared Deeply About Jewish Issues And Middle Class And The Poor

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The death of Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey this morning at age 89 is a loss for the Jewish community worldwide, and reminds us that a wealthy person (the person who began ADP, the payroll system), can really care for the middle class and the poor, rather than for his own class!

Lautenberg served nearly five terms, and was a critic of the alcohol and tobacco industries, and worked to support the AMTRAK transportation system that became so important for the Northeast Corridor in particular.

He was a crusader for good ideas, and a man who spoke his mind, and he will be missed.

The question now is who will replace him, and will it be by appointment, or by election, and it opens up the possibility that Newark Mayor Cory Booker might be able to gain a Senate seat sooner than he had planned, which would have been the 2014 elections, when Lautenberg had decided to retire.

Mitt Romney Declares “War” On PBS, NPR, NEH, NEA, And Amtrak

Ronald 1 Comment

Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney has declared “war” on knowledge and learning, by his statements that he will, if elected President, move to eliminate funding for PBS, National Public Radio, the National Endowment For The Humanities, and the National Endowment For The Arts.

He also would eliminate Amtrak, a transportation system that benefits the “hated” Northeast part of the country, the most educated part of the nation!

All of this together would save a pittance, just a total of $2 billion, a “drop in the bucket”, with a multiple trillion dollar budget annually, while at the same time wishing to give massive tax cuts to the wealthy, even though that has not created new jobs, as conservatives have said would be the result!

So, Romney is promoting “Know Nothingism”, a war on knowledge and learning, attacking the arts, history, public media, and even public access to a decent transportation system in the crowded Northeast corridor.

It is a mean spirited, ideological attack on what Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon, Presidents of different parties, did to promote programs and ideas seen as advancing America to more than just serving the elite classes among us!

But education and knowledge and the Northeast corridor are seen as evil, and this shows just how far Mitt Romney has moved to the far Right, that he is willing to eliminate programs that no earlier Republican President, including Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, dared to work to end!

The “compassionate” conservatism of George W. Bush and earlier Republican Presidents is gone, and ignorance and narrow mindedness are in!

Joe Biden, Obama’s Greatest Asset And Emissary To Blue Collar Working Class, Comes Out Fighting In Toledo, Ohio

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Vice President Joe Biden, who has been a great asset to President Obama in so many ways, started the national campaign in Toledo, Ohio, today with a speech before a labor group extolling the record of President Obama in saving the auto industry, and attacking the Republican Presidential candidates by name for the first time, since it is still not certain who the GOP nominee against Obama will be in November.

Joe Biden represents the blue collar working class of Scranton, Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Delaware, where he grew up. And being a commuter on Amtrak to work for 36 years of service in the US Senate, Biden has come across as an average guy, who cares about his neighbors and his country, and as sincere and dedicated to help those in the struggling middle class that was the story of much of his childhood.

Biden knows how to deliver a fiery speech and how to excite a crowd, and he will take the fight for the Obama Presidency all over America in the next eight months.

His rhetoric will be very supportive, and he will use all of the energy he possesses to advance a second term for President Obama. The President is very lucky to have him there by his side! Biden will help carry Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and other states in a tough battle against those who would use religion and resentment (as for instance Rick Santorum) against Obama. And if Mitt Romney is the nominee, Biden will attack him mercilessly for his refusal to back the bailout of Chrysler and General Motors.

The Transportation Infrastructure Crisis In America’s Future

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The United States became the nation it is today because of the development of transportation infrastructure, highlighted by the transcontinental railroad system in the middle and late 19th century, and the interstate highway system of the middle and late 20th century, along with the growth of cities and mass transit.

Now, a century and more later, with growing population and the aging of the infrastructure, there is a dire need for renovation and rehabilitation of our transportation network, but the cost will be substantial, and the trend is toward delay and avoidance of the responsibility of our government at all levels to deal with the essential rebuilding and expansion of our transportation network.

With the Republicans in control in the House, it seems as if there will be major cuts in spending on infrastructure, estimated to be a one third cut on interstate highways and mass transit, and attempting to end federal support of the Amtrak train system in the Northeastern United States.

It is estimated by experts that $1 trillion needs to be spent on maintenance and growing demand with increased population, and this does not include the estimated $2 trillion necessary to rebuild roads, bridges, water lines, sewage systems, and dams that have reached the normal level of longevity. These estimates do not even include the cost of air transportation investments for the long term future.

The US is way behind investment in the area of infrastructure, as compared to Russia, China, India, and Brazil, and the economic competition of the future will be shaped by decisions made now, often in a short sighted momentary way, to our tremendous need for investment in large amounts.

Are we again to wait until there is a literal short term crisis to react to the reality of what needs to be done? Is the answer just to patch up with band aids, rather than to face the responsibility of dealing with the future now, rather than later, when it will be more expensive?

The reality is that lack of action will cause state and local governments to raise sales and property taxes to deal with what the federal government has reneged on, and it will also lead to more privatization of services, which will also cause much higher taxation down the road, no pun intended!

There is an old saying that applies here: “Penny wise, Pound foolish”!

The Republicans And The State Of The Union: Not The Time For Obama To Cave In To GOP Threats! :(

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The Republicans have declared war on the federal budget, and the House membership of the party today unanimously backed a resolution giving Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, the Chairman of the Budget Committee, total control over the House budget bill for the remainder of the fiscal year 2010-2011.

This is fascinating for a party that is against centralized power and for states rights, that now they are willing to hand over total control to one Congressman over the federal budget. This makes Ryan a “Czar”, a title that Republicans are very willing to assign to advisers to President Obama who deal with different issues, but suddenly it is alright to have a financial “Czar”! 🙁

But Ryan, who will give the GOP response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address tonight, has already made clear that he wants to privatize Social Security, gut Medicare and Medicaid, and dramatically lower taxes on the wealthy, even more than they have already by deals between President Obama and the GOP leadership last month.

And the Republican Study Group, a group of Congressional Republicans even MORE conservative than Speaker of the House John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and Paul Ryan, wants more draconian cuts in the federal budget immediately and long term, including gutting Amtrak, PBS, NPR, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and funding for research on many diseases, including cancer, AIDS, and heart disease. And also the goal is the wiping out of the Department of Commerce, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Education, and the Department of Energy! 🙁

And to add insult to injury, Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, the Tea Party favorite, will give her own response to the President’s State of the Union address, after Congressman Paul Ryan gives the official response!

And Eric Cantor, House Majority Leader, has made it clear that the Congress will NOT give any aid to any state or city to avoid layoffs of police, firefighters, teachers, and other public servants, therefore guaranteeing massive losses of jobs, and adding to the unemployment rate!

Rather than working to create jobs, the GOP is warring on the job market as it is, and has only destructive intentions as part of a war, not only on Barack Obama’s health care plan and other reforms, but also with the express purpose of destroying the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson and the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt! 🙁

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said today that if President Obama offers a message that includes all of what the GOP wants, they will be glad to support him!

What gall and nerve, without any indication that the Republicans in Congress are willing to make any concessions, but just expect Obama to cave in ! 🙁

The answer is that the President needs to make clear that he is willing to work and negotiate with the opposition party, but will not surrender the right to disagree and use his Presidential powers to protect government programs and the historic accomplishments of Roosevelt, Johnson and even Richard Nixon!

The President and the Democratic Party and progressives and liberals everywhere MUST understand that this is a battle for the heart and soul of the American nation, and they cannot cave in to the destructive tendencies of the Republican party, and must stand and fight to the bitter end, and stop worrying about those who say they are unwilling to negotiate and compromise, and tell them to look in the mirror at themselves! 🙁

Gun Insanity: Liquor And Guns As Dangerous As Liquor And Driving!

Ronald 2 Comments

Arizona has just put into effect a law that allows gun owners to bring their concealed guns into bars!

What could be more crazy than that? Liquor and guns are just as dangerous, if not more so, than liquor and driving an automobile.

It is a guarantee that there will be drunks in bars who will lose their temper and pull out their guns and cause mass loss of life.

Arizona has to be insane to allow this! America is already the most violent society in America, and the Supreme Court has already permitted the end of gun control laws in the District of Columbia, and has now agreed to consider the constitutionality of similar state and local laws around the country. On top of this, AMTRAK is about to lose federal funding if it does not permit concealed guns in luggage on its trains in the Northeast Corridor.

It looks likely that there will soon be no gun control laws, and that the National Rifle Association will be controlling a majority of Congress, along with the Supreme Court majority.

This is a terrifying thought, and does not bode well for the future tranquility of the United States, particularly at a time when there is so much stress and so many problems that divide America. At a time of turmoil, this is the absolutely worse message for the long term stability of the American experiment in democracy!