Congressional Elections Of 2012

The Tea Party Succeeds In The Emasculation Of Speaker John Boehner: The War Within The Republican Party!

Ronald 1 Comment

The House of Representatives has just passed a debt limit bill that is dead on arrival in the US Senate, and in the process have shown just how destructive and anti American the Tea Party radicals in the House are, and they have succeeded in the emasculation of Speaker John Boehner!

Boehner’s Speakership will NEVER be the same, after three long days of wrangling, pleading, pressuring, etc and yet, while winning a symbolic vote, lost 22 of the hardline right membership, who would not show loyalty and respect for their own Speaker!

This whole mess was a tremendous embarrassment to Boehner, and has destroyed any chance of him being effective, and it is predictable that, in the unlikely situation of a GOP House majority in 2013, that he will be pushed aside for Eric Cantor or Kevin McCarthy or Paul Ryan, the so called “Young Guns”, who can be blamed more than even the Tea Party radicals for undermining their own leader!

Since the Democrats only need 25 seats to regain the House majority, it now seems predictable that such an eventuality will occur. It is essential for every good person in this nation to get off his or her rear end, get out there and campaign for progressive change, contribute to the Democratic Party, and volunteer his time to convince the American people to overcome the corporate influence promoted by the Supreme Court Citizens United case, and save the nation from total disaster, the plan of the GOP to take away from the poor, the elderly, the sick and disabled, and other vulnerable groups, and redistribute income to the top two percent, who have had an unfair advantage since the administration of Ronald Reagan, but getting far worse under George W. Bush!

This is our country to save, and if the hard Right wins control of both houses of Congress and the White House in 2013 because of laziness, ignorance,or refusal to take the responsibility of voting seriously, then unfortunately we will get what we deserve–a plutocracy with fascist tendencies and no concern for the middle or lower classes in America!

Thankfully, the events in the House make it clear that the Republican Party is involved in an internal conflict which will, hopefully, rip them apart and save the country from these economic terrorists who are a threat to all of us in the name of profit and wealth!

The Choice Is Clear: The McConnell Plan OR Barack Obama Takes Independent Action And Risks Impeachment!

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The Debt Ceiling Crisis is down to less than a week, and Standard and Poors and Moody’s are warning of dire consequences for the American economy, with the lowering of the rating of America as credit worthy, if something is not done quickly.

It is clear that John Boehner, the Speaker of the House, cannot control the Tea Party radicals in his midst, and is in real danger of losing his Speakership in the future, whether or not his party retains control of the House of Representatives.

These reckless anarchists should be soundly defeated in the next election in 2012 to restore sanity to Washington, DC, but in the interim, something must be done to overcome the crisis.

The choice is clear! Follow the earlier suggestion of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky to adopt a bill giving the President three opportunities to raise the debt level, separate from budget cuts–now, and twice next year–to go beyond Inauguration Day 2013, but with Congress able to vote on the extensions.

Most, if not all Republicans would vote no, while most Democrats would vote yes on each extension, but the President would veto each time, and as long as one third plus one of each house of Congress voted to sustain the President, the debt ceiling would be raised successfully, and end this crisis.

It would put the burden on the Democratic Party and President Obama, who theoretically would be blamed for the extensions, and it might hurt some Democrats running for re-election, but as long as 34 Democrats in the Senate and 145 in the House backed the President, it might allow those Democrats who felt endangered to vote with the Republicans against the extensions.

The thought, however, that voting for the extensions would automatically hurt the Democrats is likely to turn out incorrect, as the image of the Republicans as a reckless, extremist party that is ready to destroy Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and refuse to tax the rich, and support corporations unwilling to create jobs as they sit on $2 trillion of money, with a lot of it due to the federal government bailout in 2008-2009 and initiated by George W. Bush and his party–this is very likely to boomerang on the GOP and push them out of the majority in the House of Representatives, and help Barack Obama be re-elected President of the United States!

This McConnell plan, while far from ideal, would be better than Obama simply using the 14th Amendment, Section 4, to extend the debt, as it would cause more controversy and could lead to the impeachment process being used against him.

With a certainty, Obama would survive, and the GOP would be harmed, but if we could, somehow, avoid the turmoil of another impeachment mess, it would certainly be preferable!

So Mitch McConnell and his plan could be the savior of the moment and resolve this horrible crisis, created by the radical Tea Party anarchists,who need to be roundly defeated and removed from their position of holding America hostage!

Time For Action On Debt Ceiling By Barack Obama: Invoke 14th Amendment, Section 4 Immediately!

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The Debt Ceiling Crisis, which has been building for weeks, is reaching a dangerous stage, with only 12 days left until the US government defaults, but Moody’s and other credit rating agencies are threatening action to lower the rating on government bonds before that date!

It is clear that the Tea Party conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives have no concern about the default threat and the downgrading of government bonds by rating agencies!

The Republican Party is being criticized in polls for their intransigence, but seem unwilling to negotiate or compromise, even though the debt ceiling has been raised more than 100 times since 1917, and nearly ten times under George W. Bush!

They seem unable to understand that raising the debt ceiling is simply recognizing the need to pay OLD DEBT, just as much as all citizens must do the same to keep a credit rating, and have any ability to borrow money in the future!

The recklessness and irresponsibility being demonstrated is reaching a stage where Barack Obama MUST take action under his emergency powers, even if it endangers his Presidency and his reputation!

Obama needs to invoke the 14th Amendment, Section 4, and unilaterally raise the debt ceiling, no matter what conservatives and Republicans advocate, as they have lost all rights to respect and being treated as a fair partner in negotiations!

The danger, of course, is that right wing whackos in the House will use such action as an excuse to impeach Barack Obama!

That would be tragic, but not fatal, as there is no way that two thirds of the Senate would convict and remove Obama from office, any more than that would happen with the unjustified impeachment trial of Bill Clinton in 1999!

Such a move toward impeachment would only give further evidence of how extremist and irresponsible the party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Reagan has become, and the American people would repudiate it in the Presidential Election of 2012 and the Congressional elections that would decide control of both houses of Congress for 2013-2014!

So Obama, by next Monday, with just a little over a week to go, and before Moody’s and other credit agencies take action, MUST assert his executive authority and let what happens to him occur, knowing the American people will be behind him all the way, and reward him with a second term, no matter what the Republicans do to counteract him!