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The Republicans Do NOT Understand Their Destructive Public Image!

Ronald 12 Comments

The Republican Party clearly does not get how horrible their public image is, and that the only way they can gain control of the Senate and keep the House of Representatives is to promote fear, hatred, hysteria, and encourage ignorance among those groups which are harmed by their rhetoric and policies!

The GOP stands now for voter suppression, of African Americans, Latinos, young people, the elderly, poor people, making it harder for all these groups to be able to vote, with all kinds of methods and manipulation, reminiscent of the old Southern Democrats, but now not only in the South but nationwide. They know that they cannot win unless they prevent people from voting, and the Republican Governors have no shame as they work to undermine the 15th Amendment to the Constitution!

Also, there is no shame in Republican Governors and other Republicans in Washington, willing to work with billionaires, such as the Koch Brothers and Sheldon Adelson, to undermine American democracy by kowtowing to these wealthy, privileged oligarchs and autocrats, and working to harm women, labor, the environment, gays and lesbians, racial minorities, and poor people in their quest for absolute dominance over our government for their own selfish purposes!

One would think that the Koch Brothers and Sheldon Adelson and others have much more in assets and fortune than anyone could ever need in a lifetime, or even give to their heirs, but their selfishness, greed, obsession with money, is so deep that they have no sense of propriety, no sense of ethics, no sense of morality, and do not even feel ashamed of their behavior!

How can Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Scott Walker, John Kasich and other Republican Governors or former Governors, along with Senate and House Republicans, considering the idea of running for President, not be embarrassed by their open begging for financial support from these corrupt billionaires? They are ready to sell their souls for power, in such an open and outrageous manner, that one wonders how any thinking, intelligent American could possibly vote for and believe in them as a potential President of the United States!

The Republicans, by their own behavior and public image, are self destructing, and they seem unable to, or unaware of, the damage they are doing, which will be part of the story in the future of how the GOP disappeared as a legitimate alternative, representing the dinosaur of a declining white population, coupled with a younger generation becoming much more Democratic than many observers are willing to acknowledge!

Four Years Of ObamaCare: Over 5 Million SIgned Up, And Now Irreversible Law!

Ronald 8 Comments

It is now four years since ObamaCare, the Affordable Care Act, became law, and over 5 million people have signed up since October 1 of last year, despite the flawed beginnings of the website.

ObamaCare is here to stay, but will certainly need adjustments and tweaking as it grows further, just like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicare Part D needed to make such changes.

The Republican Party has attempted to end ObamaCare by over 50 votes in the House of Representatives, but it has been for naught, since the Senate is presently Democratic.

But even if the Republicans were to win the Senate and keep the House in the 2014 midterm elections, ObamaCare will not end, as President Obama has the power of the veto, and there is no chance that a two thirds override of a Presidential veto could ever occur.

So the GOP is looking ahead to their vision of winning both houses of Congress AND the Presidency in 2016, but their chances of that occurring are miniscule to zero, as ONLY if they were to nominate Jon Huntsman, would there be even a chance of defeating Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden or any other Democrat, with the Electoral College heavily tilted in favor of the Democratic nominee, with the Republicans refusing to change their tune in their attitudes towards women, Latinos, African Americans, labor, the poor, the young, and the elderly.

The GOP is self destructive, and to imagine that they would be willing to repeal all aspects of ObamaCare, taking away health care from millions, and denying senior citizens the closing of the “donut hole” on prescriptions; the end of children being covered under their parents’ plans until age 26; the end of coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and no more lifetime coverage; and many other benefits that have already helped many people who never had health care coverage before ObamaCare, is truly a sign that they do not give a damn about the health of the American people.

This is particularly so with the fact that ObamaCare is far less advanced than Hillary Care was in the 1990s, when Republicans fought it and defeated it in 1994, with the Heritage Foundation–Bob Dole-Newt Gingrich Republican plan which, in many details, became RomneyCare in Massachusetts in 2006, and then was suddenly no longer acceptable once Barack Obama moved to adopt it as a compromise from the concept of Medicare For All or the “public option”, both more “radical”, while ObamaCare allows private health care companies to control the market place.

The GOP has lost all credibility, and in the long run, if not the short run, when the American people finally “get it”, what that party is doing, they will suffer electorally in a massive way!

CPAC Convention: The Lunatic Right Displays Itself!

Ronald 39 Comments

Watching, listening, and reading about the Conservative Political Action Conference makes anyone with a stable mind roll his eyes in wonderment at what conservatism has become!

All the losers of the past were there and ranting and raving their insanity, including Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Paul Ryan, and Mike Huckabee. The “newcomers”,” people not yet defeated but soon to be, including Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal and Chris Christie, also appeared, and made fools of themselves. Of course, the ultimate lunatic and embarrassment, Donald Trump, also spewed his sick mind and constant need for attention. And to top it off, Sarah Palin is making an appearance, as if any sane, intelligent person cares! And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, desperately trying to keep his seat, showed up brandishing a rifle, a horrible image for a Senate leader to display just a year after the Sandy Hook Massacre!

Jeb Bush and Scott Walker stayed away, for both a smart move, and Jon Huntsman was also not there, and at least for Bush and Huntsman, who are the most mainstream of this group of characters, it made sense NOT to be there!

Speaker of the House John Boehner was not invited, which should really be seen as a blessing, as he has upset right wingers by being exasperated with the Tea Party Movement, for making his job absolutely impossible in the lower chamber.

It is still reality that ONLY Jeb Bush and Jon Huntsman would have ANY chance to be elected over Hillary Clinton in the Presidential Election of 2016, but not very good odds for either of them. And again, let this author repeat, that the Electoral College strongly favors ANY Democrat to win the White House, and as long as the GOP alienates African Americans, Latinos, women, and many young voters, it will not win the White House. And as long as it fights the idea of national health care coverage for all; acceptance of gay rights and same sex marriage; opposition to immigration reforms; favors the energy industry over the environment; and continues to fight against a living wage for the poor and middle class, it will lose for the long term future! And if it continues to promote religion and theocracy, it will NEVER win the White House ever again, in a nation that believes in separation of church and state!

So those of us who care about our fellow Americans can sit and observe the CPAC Conference, and feel good that the potential candidates and the Republican party are sealing their doom for 2016 and beyond!

John Kasich For Republican Presidential Nomination? Not To Be Overlooked!

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As the Republican Party seeks a potential Presidential nominee for 2016, one that is starting to come to mind is Ohio Governor John Kasich, elected in 2010.

Kasich is a very engaging person, who served 18 years in Congress, including heading the House Budget Committee in the mid 1990s, and working for gun regulations against the wishes of the National Rifle Association. Kasich has always shown an independent streak, and also was a substitute on Fox News Channel talk shows for Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly, and briefly, had his own show, often making more sense than the typical right wing hosts on that cable channel.

Kasich has made mistakes as Governor, including the attempt to curb collective bargaining rights for labor, soundly defeated in a referendum; and rejecting funding for a high speed rail project; and his 2010 gubernatorial victory over Governor Ted Strickland was won by only 77,000 votes statewide. Like any politician, one can find weaknesses in his record and background, but he could give any Democratic Presidential nominee a good challenge, although the Democrat would still be heavily favored, ultimately, in the Electoral College.

Kasich had a business career in the first decade of the 21st century after leaving Congress, so he has had Congressional experience, business experience, and state government experience, and has decided, unlike most Republican governors, to allow expansion of Medicaid. He has also refused to align himself with the Tea Party Movement, which is in his favor.

Considering that Ohio is a true “swing ” state that could go either way in future Presidential elections, Kasich would have a good chance to perform better than many other potential GOP candidates, and considering that Ohio had six Republican Presidents from the 1870s to the 1920s, the “Buckeye” state cannot be ignored, so should Kasich win another term as Governor, he would have to be considered seriously for President, which he briefly sought in 1999 before dropping out.

Since personality and communication abilities really matter, Kasich should be in the front of the pack. Even if one does not agree with Kasich, it is hard not to like him personally, something one cannot say about many of the potential GOP Presidential candidates!

Dr. Benjamin Carson: Stick To Neurology, Not A Warped View Of Politics!

Ronald 8 Comments

Dr. Benjamin Carson is a renowned, and now retired, neurosurgeon, applauded for his great work with children, particularly for his accomplishment of separating conjoined twins joined at the head. Everyone should applaud his achievements, and his obvious genius, in the medical profession.

However, Carson has become the center of controversy ever since he decided to get involved in politics, and showed an extremist view of reality and public affairs.

Rumored to be thinking of running for President, the African American surgeon has taken stands for the past few years, which put him on the far right of the Republican Party, often sounding like the conservative talk show hosts that have undermined the historic, mainstream GOP.

The Tea Party finds Carson fascinating, and that alone should alarm any sensible thinking person.

Carson now says that progressivism, the Progressive Era, and everything that progressives and liberals believe, is similar to Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler! He also says ObamaCare is the worst thing since slavery!

This has been said before by right wing ideologues, but has no basis in truth and reality!

What Carson and his extremist believers are promoting is that the advancement of women, racial minorities, immigrants, labor, and the environment are a conspiracy against the American people, when in reality, this is simply code language for the exploitation by corporations and the top one percent, in the name of unbridled capitalism.

So the battles of the Progressives, New Dealers, and Great Society advocates of the 20th century against the backwardness and exploitation of the Gilded Age, is back in full swing with Benjamin Carson and others who speak for the ruling class, including the Koch Brothers, and many other multibillionaires, who could not care less about the middle class and the poor, and the oppressed groups among us!

The Wealthy Fear Of The “Trifecta”: Obama, Pope Francis, And Bill De Blasio!

Ronald 7 Comments

Imagine what it is like to be extremely wealthy, part of the top one percent, such as the Walmart heirs and the Koch Brothers!

You would think they have a perfect life–more than they could ever spend, no worries as 99 percent of Americans have daily, able to wield power and corrupt the American political system!

And yet, apparently, they are having nightmares over the so called “Trifecta” of public leaders who demand some compassion, some empathy, some willingness to pay their fair share of taxes, some understanding that the world does not revolve around them!

All of a sudden, instead of most political and religious leaders kowtowing to them, kissing their feet, worshiping their wealth, we are seeing true principle and conviction among some courageous leaders, that it is time for the top one percent to be held accountable! They have destroyed labor and the environment, and have worked to buy a government that favors them, and victimizes the middle class and the poor!

Kudos therefore to President Barack Obama, Pope Francis, and New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio, as they terrify the elite into understanding that they have met their match!

The wealthy top one percent must be forced to be good citizens, whether they like it or not, or else the American democratic system is doomed for the future!

The Potential For A Massive Hillary Clinton Landslide Of Historic Proportions In 2016!

Ronald 7 Comments

The Republican Party is managing, by its rhetoric, including most recently, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, to insult women about their libidos, and that only helps the Democratic Party and its likely Presidential nominee in 2016, Hillary Clinton.

Between the issue of women, and also alienation of African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, gays and lesbians, labor, environmentalists, the struggling middle class, the poor, those who believe in science’s validity over religious dogma, and those who have an open mind on social issues, the GOP is continuing to promote its own suicide, and the potential is there for a massive Hillary Clinton landslide of historic proportions, particularly for a Democrat!

The assumption is that Hillary Clinton can count on the 26 states and the District of Columbia which voted for Barack Obama in 2012.

Additionally, the potential for Indiana and North Carolina, which voted for Obama in 2008 but then turned “Red””, to go back to the Democrats, is seen as highly likely.

Then, the states of South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas in the South, along with Arizona and Montana in the West, and Missouri in the Midwest, (usually a bellwether state but not so in 2008 and 2012) to go Democratic in 2016, particularly with the growing Hispanic and Latino population, is seen as possible, or if not in 2020 for sure.

That would make 34 states, and then there is the issue of five other states which went for Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, but then turned “Red”, so the question is could the wife of Bill Clinton, because of the Clinton brand 20-25 years ago, by 2016, be able to convince those five states (West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana) to switch over to the Democrats, with those states also having growing numbers of Hispanics and Latinos? After all, Arkansas is the Clintons’ “home” state, and Tennessee was Vice President Al Gore”s “home” state, while the other three states, all extremely poor and deprived, were Democratic in the 1990s!

So the maximum number of states could be 39, plus the District of Columbia, leaving only eleven states which were solidly Republican in the 1990s, and have remained “Red” ever since—Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Alaska.

So were those eleven states to vote predictably, which is extremely likely, the GOP nominee for President would have ONLY 55 electoral votes, meaning Hillary Clinton would have won a grand total of 483 electoral votes! Imagine an election of 483-55 for the Democratic Party, which would certainly make for a Democratic dominance in the Senate and a majority in the House of Representatives, as well, as such an electoral vote landslide would insure a “coattail” effect!

The Presidential Election Of 2016–257 Democrats, 206 Republicans, Five States (75) Swing States!

Ronald 38 Comments

With Chris Christie, the New Jersey Governor, starting to lose public support due to the multiple scandals emerging in the past two weeks, the Republican Party is in crisis mode, as Christie was thought to have the best chance to defeat Hillary Clinton, or any other Democrat in the Presidential Election of 2016.

In actual fact, Christie had no real chance to win, and it was highly unlikely that he could have emerged from the primaries and caucuses as the nominee of his party, in the first place.

The facts have been there all along: the Democrats are a lock to win the Presidency in 2016 and beyond, with their support from Hispanics-Latinos, African Americans, women, labor, young people, educated people who believe in science, and those who believe in the promotion of gay rights, including marriage, whether they are gay or lesbian or straight in their sexual orientation!

The Electoral College is a “fait accompli” for the Democrats, with a guaranteed 257 electoral votes to 206 for the Republicans! Only five states are truly in play, and the Democrats won all five in 2008 and 2012, and are likely to win most, if not all of these five states, in 2016!

These states are:

Florida 29 electoral votes
Ohio 18 electoral votes
Virginia 13 electoral votes
Colorado 9 electoral vote
Nevada 6 electoral votes

This is a grand total of 75 electoral votes in dispute!

So If the Democrats win Florida, or Ohio, or Virginia, they win the Presidency!

If they win Colorado and Nevada together, with none of the other three, they win the Presidency!

To believe that the Democratic nominee will not win the small number of 13 electoral votes needed to win the required number of 270, requires one to be in hallucination!

Face the facts: The Democrats will win the White House in 2016, no matter who is their nominee, and since any likely candidate will be white, not African American as Barack Obama is, just makes the job of winning somewhat easier!

Of course, if the Democratic nominee wins all five of the above states in contention, then that person wins 332 electoral votes to 206 for the Republican nominee.

This is precisely the electoral vote in 2012!

And realize that Texas (38), Georgia (16). and North Carolina (15) all are moving toward the likelihood of Democrats winning their electoral vote by 2020, if not 2016, and North Carolina having gone for Barack Obama in 2008, if not in 2012!

So were these states to switch, not likely but possible in 2016, the electoral vote in 2016 could be as high as 401-137!

Five Years Of President Barack Obama, And Three Years To Go!

Ronald 4 Comments

Today is Inauguration Day, if an inauguration was to take place, as it did in 2009 and 2013, for President Barack Obama. It is also, this year, the commemoration of the birth of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was actually born on January 15, but whose birthday is celebrated on the third Monday of January every year since 1986.

If Martin Luther King, Jr. were here today at age 85, he would be very proud of the performance of a man who has seen as much racial hatred and venom, if not more totally, than King faced in his short 39 years of life.

Obama has suffered an average of 30 death threats per day, over 10,000 a year, and 50,000 in five years, more than any President in American history, even likely Abraham Lincoln, who suffered the most vicious hate of any other American President.

Obama has been called a Socialist, a Communist, a radical, all terms used against King five decades ago. It was also used against Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s. He has been accused of being “unAmerican”, because he has a mission to provide equal access and opportunity, and the protection of human rights of all minority groups, women, immigrants, labor, as well as protect the environment and promote economic and social justice for the vast middle class and the poor.

If Obama were white, he would be attacked by the right wing, but not with the viciousness that he faces because he has an African American appearance, due to the genetics that made him look more black like his Kenyan father, than white, despite his white mother and the greater impact of her and her parents on his upbringing.

Barack Obama has proved to be a man of calmness, coolness, strength, confidence, class, dignity, and he has accomplished a lot more than his critics are willing to give him credit for, since they consider the fact that he breathes to be a fault in itself.

History will look kind on Barack Obama, while acknowledging his mistakes and shortcomings. which every President and every human being possesses.

Obama’s critics will look terrible, horrible, short sighted, hateful, and wrong in the long run of history, and future Americans will be appalled at the racism, nastiness, viciousness, and wishes to harm him, so common among the right wing talk shows on radio, Fox News Channel, conservative organizations, and the Republican Party of the second decade of the 21st century, an embarrassment to the long and proud history of Republicans in the past, who often were correct and contributory to the nation’s history.

Obama will outdo his critics, and go down as an above average President, maybe even near great, who was a path breaking President who made a dramatic difference in American history for the better!

Proper Move For Obama, Mrs. Obama, And Biden To Boycott Sochi Winter Olympics!

Ronald 1 Comment

It is the proper moral and strategic move for President Obama, Michelle Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden to boycott personal attendance at the Sochi, Russia Winter Olympics in February.

The move of the Russian authorities to deny basic rights to their gay population is an outrage which endangers gays individually and in families, and it is the new civil rights movement, and the United Stares rightfully must do everything required to take the proper stand on this violation of human rights.

The abuse of gays and lesbians goes on in many nations, but America must not sit on the sidelines, as it did for a long time on the issue of race, and as it did on the issue of anti semitism, which led to the Holocaust of World War II.

Just as we must speak up on the rights of women, labor, the elderly, children, and the poor, we must not allow any government or religion to think they can win the day as we ignore their violations of basic human rights.

If we only had the ability to decide not to compete in the Olympics as a protest, but Obama has decided that it would penalize athletes, both straight and gay, if we did what Jimmy Carter did regarding the Moscow Olympics in 1980, which was boycotted by the US over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

So instead, the official delegation to the Sochi Olympics will include well known gay athletes as the response to the abuses of human rights by Vladamir Putin. And if it worsens the relationship between Russia and the United States, so be it, as Russia is backing the mass slaughter in Syria, another outrage that we must oppose vehemently and with vigor!

Let us hope that gay athletes win a lot of the medals at the Sochi Winter Olympics, as that would be the ultimate triumph!