Chris Christie

Sniping Back And Forth Among Republicans: Wonderful To Witness!

Ronald 8 Comments

It is very clear that the Republican Party is bitterly divided on strategy toward President Obama, and on the issue of foreign policy and national security.

So we are witnessing sniping back and forth, and this is a hint of what is to come, as the Presidential rivalries heat up in the coming months!

Examples of the sniping are that between Arizona Senator John McCain and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, with it being clear that the two Senators have no love lost for each other.

At the same time, we see Governor Chris Christie supportive of the gathering of intelligence by the National Security Agency and Central Intelligence Agency, due to the reality that New Jersey suffered the second most losses on September 11, 2001, and being critical of those who are libertarian, such as Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky!

Also, New York Congressman Peter King of Long Island has attacked the Tea Party Movement Republicans who were against aid to New York and New Jersey after Super Storm Sandy last fall!

And Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee of Utah, and Marco Rubio of Florida have been criticized for their threat to shut the government down if ObamaCare is not defunded, with major critics being John McCain, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Roy Blunt of Missouri, and Richard Burr of North Carolina!

And Establishment Republicans such as former Governor Jeb Bush of Florida, former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, former Republican National Chairman Michael Steele, and George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove are shaking their heads at the splintering of the party, and the recklessness of many of the younger members of the party in the House of Representatives and Senate, as they well know that the future of the party is in tatters, if this extremist wing is allowed to become the face and image of the party! Finally,

Finally, Iowa Congressman Steve King’s ranting against immigrants has led to condemnation by Speaker of the House John Boehner and others in the Republican Party.

It looks more than ever as if the GOP is on the way to the worst Presidential defeat for their party since the demise of Barry Goldwater in 1964, nearly fifty years ago, and even Goldwater now looks “moderate” by comparison, and far less reckless!

The Beginnings Of The Republican Field For The Presidency In 2016 Start To Emerge: More Circus Like Than 2012!

Ronald 11 Comments

Anyone who is clear headed knows that the GOP Presidential field of 2012 was a circus, with such horrible, embarrassing candidates as Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, and Newt Gingrich, all having the effect of making Mitt Romney the LEAST horrible candidate for the White House!

But already, in July 2013, we can see the likely Republican field for the Presidency in 2016 emerging, and if anything, it is more circus like than 2012!

It begins with the two “Ricks”, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry, both true embarrassments to themselves and to others, but both believing that God is behind them, and that they will emerge as the next President of the United States, despite the reality that they both represent regressive, mean spirited, and reactionary views out of tune with the changing American electorate!

Then, there are the following potential candidates, all of whom have major flaws and shortcomings that insure they will have a rough time becoming the nominee of the Republican Party for President:

Ted Cruz
Rand Paul
John Thune
Paul Ryan
Scott Walker
Bob McDonnell
John Kasich
Bobby Jindal

Then, there are the potential candidates who would have some appeal to the mainstream, but likely will self destruct due to their catering to the Tea Party Movement, or their refusal to do just that, including:

Marco Rubio
Jeb Bush
Chris Christie
Jon Huntsman

Also, do not dismiss the concept of a Senator Liz Cheney, daughter of the former Vice President, running for President if she wins the Wyoming Senate seat coming up in 2014!

But in the end, the Republican battle for the Presidency is a lost cause, as it is clear that Hillary Clinton, or any other Democrat, will have the Electoral College edge for the Presidency, along with the popular vote edge in a nation moving away on a long term basis from the Right Wing message that the Republican Party seems bent on perpetuating, at its own destruction!

21 States Are Refusing Federal Funding To Expand Medicaid Coverage To The Needy In 2014!

Ronald 2 Comments

21 states, all “red” Republican states, and governed by Republican Governors and legislatures, are refusing to expand Medicaid coverage for the the needy in their states for 2014, even though the federal government is covering the cost 100 percent for the first three years, starting next year, and 90 percent after that until 2020!

So millions of needy people will have no ability to have health care coverage under ObamaCare, as the Supreme Court gave the states the authority to decide if they wished to accept the Medicaid coverage expansion from the federal government.

Republicans, who claim to be “pro life” are willing to risk the lives of those less fortunate, including children, the elderly, and the poor, and yet they all claim to be “religious”, but are not acting with the compassion of Jesus Christ, particularly when the states have no cost for three years, and very little cost after!

So the following states have rejected this coverage:

Virginia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Florida
Alabama
Mississippi
Louisiana
Texas
Oklahoma
Kansas
Nebraska
South Dakota
Idaho
Montana
Wyoming
Utah
Missouri
Wisconsin
Maine
Alaska

These states are governed by such “Bully” Governors as Bob McDonnell of Virginia; Nikki Haley of South Carolina, Rick Scott of Florida, Rick Perry of Texas, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Scott Walker of Wisconsin, and Paul LePage of Maine–all totally despicable in their lack of concern for their less fortunate constituents!

Additionally, six other states are still debating whether to accept Medicaid expansion paid by the federal government, including the following:

New Hampshire
Ohio
Indiana
Michigan
Pennsylvania
Tennessee

This means Republican Governors, including John Kasich in Ohio, Rick Snyder in Michigan, and Tom Corbett in Pennsylvania, are actively working to deny coverage to their poorer populations!

Only 23 states, including Republican Governors Chris Christie in New Jersey, Brian Sandoval of Nevada, Susana Martinez of New Mexico, and Jan Brewer or Arizona are following through on commitment to the needs of their less fortunate, and those four Governors are to be commended, particularly Brewer in Arizona, who had a complete reversal in her view!

What a terrible state of affairs when conservatives and Republicans have no concern about those who are living but deprived, while at the same time, fighting to prevent abortions and force women to undergo ultrasound testing if they wish to end an abortion in the 24 weeks period allowed in the Roe V. Wade case. Additionally, North Dakota, Arkansas, Ohio and Texas, among other states, are trying to cut back, or have already done so, the amount of weeks of pregnancy in which a woman can have an abortion, and doing so in legislative sessions that are more run like a dictatorship, than a democratic means of passing legislation!

First Effort To Expand Gay Marriage Should Be To Promote It In Other “Blue” States!

Ronald 4 Comments

Now that gay marriage has been declared constitutional, and that gay Americans are entitled to the same benefits and privileges of straight couples, the next step should be to work to promote passage of gay marriage in the other 13 “Blue” states, states that voted for Barack Obama in 2012.

So far, the six New England states (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island); three Middle Atlantic states (New York, Maryland, Delaware); two Midwestern states (Iowa, Minnesota); and two Pacific Coast states (Washington, California) have accepted gay marriage as legal.

So 13 states have moved to adopt gay marriage, leaving 13 other states which voted Democratic in 2012. The list includes the following:

Middle Atlantic states–New Jersey, Pennsylvania
Southern states–Virginia, Florida
Midwestern states–Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois
Mountain States–Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado
Pacific Coast states–Oregon, Hawaii

Some of these states should be fairly easy to prod in the direction of gay marriage, including New Jersey, Illinois, Colorado, Oregon, and Hawaii.

Other states will be more difficult, but are possible, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, and New Mexico.

The toughest states to accomplish this goal are Virginia and Florida.

Republican Governors will fight to prevent gay marriage in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin, but if they can be defeated for reelection, if their horrible, anti women, anti labor, anti immigrant policies are made the issue.

Chris Christie is a greater barrier, but do not be surprised if after reelection in New Jersey, he moves in the direction of acceptance of gay marriage!

Northern Virginia and South Florida give a long range hope for those states to accept gay marriage down the road, but not anytime soon.

The struggle for acceptance of gay marriage in more states is a battle worth fighting! Already, about one third of the American people, more than 100 million, live in states that accept gay marriage. It is essential to make that percentage more than two thirds of all Americans, over the next decade!

Of course, there is always the possibility that the Supreme Court might move in the direction of a Loving V. Virginia wide scope decision, as with interracial marriage in 1967. But the state by state battle must, meanwhile, go on!

The Coming Battle For The GOP Presidential Nomination: Marco Rubio Vs. Ted Cruz, With Rand Paul As Wild Card!

Ronald 86 Comments

It is becoming increasingly clear that the battle for the GOP Presidential nomination in 2016 is going to be between Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, with Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky being a “wild card”!

The possibility of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, or Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan to be the nominee seems very distant.

So it will be two Hispanic (Cuban) Senators battling one another, one trying to work with Democrats on an immigration reform bill, and the other on the warpath against all Democrats, as well as Rubio himself, unwilling to make any deals or promote any cooperation with the “enemy” And hoping to benefit from the battle between Rubio and Cruz is Rand Paul, who with his libertarian bent, will have a major problem attracting many conservatives, including the neoconservatives and the Establishment Republicans of Wall Street.

In the end, it will not matter, as no Republican can overcome the Electoral College advantage of the Democrats, as outlined yesterday in a blog entry.

And the concept that Cuban American Senators, who represent three and a half percent of Hispanics and Latinos, will be able to convince large numbers of Mexican Americans, who are 65 percent of all those with Spanish heritage, to vote Republican, is laughable.

So it will be an interesting sideshow, the battle among Rubio, Cruz and Paul, but at the end, we are likely to have Hillary Clinton as our next President!

Barbara Bush Is Correct, But That Is Negative For The Republican Party Future!

Ronald 1 Comment

Former First Lady Barbara Bush is disarmingly frank and outspoken, and her statement that her son Jeb Bush, the former Florida Governor, was very well qualified to run for President, but should not, as there have been enough Bushes in the Presidency, is an assertion which will reverberate through the Republican Party, and not for the good of the party’s future!

The fact that the former First Lady said this on the day of her older son’s opening of his Presidential library, with just about everyone knowing that his administration was a near total disaster, is telling.

It is clear that Jeb Bush is smarter, more competent, and would have made a better President than George W, but that is water over the dam!

The fact is that she is correct that a family should not have a monopoly of the Presidency, and that we should not have dynasties, and the reality that the Bushes took up twelve years in the White House, plus eight years in the Vice Presidency, is certainly enough for any family, more than any other family in history!

But when one looks at the potential Republican field of Presidential candidates for 2016, one has to say that, in many ways, Jeb Bush MIGHT be the best candidate the party could field, other than Jon Huntsman, former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China, but it is clear Huntsman has ZERO chance to be the GOP nominee for 2016, because he is too smart, too qualified, too mainstream, too sane, to be chosen by this disaster of a party in 2013!

What is left is Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Paul Ryan, Chris Christe, Scott Walker and a few other also rans, and when one looks at this list, it is clearly pitiful for a great political party with a dignified and distinguished history of great Governors, Senators, and even a few Presidents!

So if a sane, competent guy, who can also appeal to Hispanics and Latinos, but sadly has the wrong last name, and a mother telling him not to run, decides to stay out of the Presidential race, then ANY chance of a real Presidential competition in 2016 is totally over, and the GOP might as well concede to Hillary Clinton or any other Democrat who might be the alternative!

The Conservative Political Action Conference: A Bunch Of Retreads And Future Losers!

Ronald 10 Comments

Conservatives are in the third of four days of their annual Conservative Political Action Conference, and it is quite an event, a circus of retreads and future losers, who fail to see that the nation has rejected their ideology when it is presented to them in Senate races, and only holding on to power in the House of Representatives because of gerrymandered districts created by the Tea Party uprising of 2010, which led to a large number of Republican governors and state legislatures at the precisely correct time to affect the shaping of House districts for the ten year cycle following the census figures.

The Tea Party movement has had its heyday, and there are already signs of its future demise, although they will persist in some rural districts in the House, and have their Senators, including Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul, all ambitious to be President of the United States, but none of them should be delusional that they will actually be the next President, while they are all fighting to outdo each other three years ahead of 2016!

Attention at this conference is given to such retreads as Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Donald Trump, Paul Ryan, and Newt Gingrich.

Also, such losers as Wayne La Pierre, Grover Norquist and the usual right wing talk show hosts, including Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, are part of the “distinguished” speakers spewing forth their divisiveness.

And the conservatives are making clear that they will not budge in any form on the issue of gay rights, immigration reform,their “traditional” view of women being submissive to men, and refusal to separate science from the influence of religion!

There are differences on foreign policy between the libertarians and the neoconservatives, however, and any suggestion of moderation on ANY issue has led to Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell being denied an invitation to speak.

The ultimate reality is that it does not matter what happens at the CPAC, as it is like Don Quixote battling the windmill! The American people are NOT going to elect any of these “clowns”, even those who seem more “moderate”, such as Christie, to the White House in 2016. The Republicans are fighting a civil war, primarily over who shall represent them in 2016, but it is all for naught!

The next President will, assuredly, be a Democrat—whether Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Martin O’Malley, Andrew Cuomo, Elizabeth Warren, Mark Warner, Amy Klobuchar or someone else not yet known!

Early Presidential Poll Shows Hillary Clinton Way Ahead Of Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, And Marco Rubio

Ronald 3 Comments

Hillary Clinton, former First Lady, New York Senator, and Secretary of State, is quietly mulling the possibility of seeking the Presidency in 2016.

At this point, in an early poll, Clinton is way ahead of three leading potential Republican opponents according to the latest Quinnipiac poll:

Against New Jersey Governor Chris Christie—8 points

Against Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan—12 points

Against Florida Senator Marco Rubio—16 points

And the indications are that Hillary Clinton could turn Texas, the second largest state in population and electoral votes, “blue” by 2016, with about 900,000 new Latino population growth, and only less than 200,00 Anglo white population growth.

And different polls show Clinton winning Wisconsin against Ryan and Governor Scott Walker, and winning Florida against Rubio and former Governor Jeb Bush.

Of course, it is much too early to have a definitive conclusion, but right now Hillary is in great shape. However, in 2006, she was also in “great shape” in polls, but still lost the nomination to Barack Obama in 2008!

Republican Party Destroys Itself In Mad Dash To The Far Right, In Repudiation Of Chris Christie!

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The Republican Party is destroying itself in its mad dash to the Far Right!

It convinced Maine Senator Olympia Snowe to retire, and defeated Indiana Senator Richard Lugar in his quest for another term,

It put former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel through hell, before he finally, with only four Republicans supporting him, won the Senate confirmation to be Secretary of Defense.

Now the party has declared war on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, because he worked alongside President Obama after Hurricane Sandy; criticized House Republicans and Speaker John Boehner; and showed his independent streak, which is anathema to the far Right!

Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and other right wing talk show hosts have also attacked Christie, as if he is a liberal, despite his very conservative record as Governor, but showing a willingness to work across the aisle with the state legislature and the President.

Christie should be applauded as a man who has managed a massive public opinion rating in a strong “blue” state, but instead, he has been slighted, by NOT being invited to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference next month, while all kinds of characters, including Sarah Palin and Herman Cain and numerous others who are an embarrassment to intelligent people, were invited.

So Chris Christie, as unacceptable as he is to anyone on the left, is not good enough to be invited to a right wing conference!

Actually, it helps Christie in his reelection battle for Governor this fall, and makes him able to stand out as NOT being owned by the Far Right of the GOP, and it might just help him in future endeavors for public office, including being a sane alternative for the Republicans in 2016, if he can get past the Tea Party loonies!

Glenn Beck On Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie

Ronald 1 Comment

Right wing radio talk show host Glenn Beck, arguably the most dangerous of all talk show hosts, due to his totally loony rants, told Bill O’Reilly on Fox News Channel last night the following about three potential Republican Presidential nominees in 2016:

He is impressed with Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.

He is skeptical about Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

He dislikes New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Nothing else is necessary to say–the reader can figure it all out for himself or herself!