Paul Ryan

Bald Faced Lies Of Republican Presidential Candidates: Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney And All Others!

Ronald Leave a comment

Tim Pawlenty entered the race for the GOP Presidential nomination in Iowa, stating that we must face the truth about the future, and used the word “truth” 16 times in his declaration statement.

But then he was faced with the fact that he has not been telling the truth about his view of the role of government, as in 2006, while Governor of Minnesota, he said the era of small government was over and that the government needed to be aggressive in pursuit of the regulation of corporations and other special interests, while being interviewed by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

This made him sound “progressive” in his views then, but NOW he is competing for the conservative and Tea Party vote, and trying to make it out as if he was always of the view of limited government and deregulation. So the fact is that Tim Pawlenty is LYING, and has been caught in it!

But then, Mitt Romney has also been shown to be a liar, not only regarding his own Health Care Reform in Massachusetts, which he is actively backing away from, but also in his statement through a spokesman today that the fact that Chrysler and General Motors have become profitable and been able to repay their government loans, is due to the fact that he advocated government aid in 2009, taking credit for what President Obama authorized.

But actually, in 2009, in a newspaper article in the New York Times, he specifically said to let “Detroit fail”! So how can he now take credit for something he never supported, but now claims he endorsed?

Add to this even Jon Huntsman’s reversal on the Health Care law and climate change, and his endorsement of the Paul Ryan Medicare law, which after the disaster in NY 26 yesterday, don’t be surprised if he also reverses on that issue!

It could be argued that ALL politicians switch views and lie, but to have so many examples among the three leading candidates this early, is a sign of the problems the Republican party faces in 2012!

And don’t forget, this is not including the flawed candidacies of “also rans”, such as Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, and Sarah Palin.

And the hints are now emerging that Sarah Palin may actually decide to run, having, apparently, bought a home in Arizona with her millions in lecture fees and book royalties; the coming out this summer of a laudatory documentary about her, making her out to be a victim who has great virtues; and counterattack beginning with two new books which set out to destroy her reputation and competence, and show her to be a LIAR her whole political life, a total PHONY!

So instead of the old film entitled “Lies, Sex and Videotape”, for the Republican Party, the title should be “Lies, Republicans, and Videotape”!

A Sign Of 2012 Reversal Of 2010 Midterm Elections: NY 26 Congressional District Results Show Medicare Is Democratic Weapon Against Republicans!

Ronald Leave a comment

In what could be described as an upset, the Democratic nominee for the New York 26th Congressional District seat in the Buffalo area, vacated by Republican Chris Lee (involved in an embarrassing shirtless pic scandal), won in a district which had voted Republican on a regular basis since the Civil War!

The winning Democrat won about 48 percent of the vote, nearly twice the amount of the Democratic nominee against Chris Lee in the 2010 election six and a half months ago, and it was based on the issue of Medicare, where the GOP nominee said she would have supported the Paul Ryan plan to privatize Medicare over a ten year period!

Town Halls and polls have steadily indicated that Americans of ALL ages, not just senior citizens, do NOT want the privatization of Medicare, and there are also strong hints that the whole issue of Health Care reform may be moving in the direction of the Democrats, after they lost more seats (63) in a midterm election than since 1938, and more seats than ever before since 1948.

Health Care is a basic human right, and the issue has been brought to center stage again by what the 26th Congressional District has just done, and it will create many sleepless days and nights for the House majority led by Speaker John Boehner, the Senate minority led by Mitch McConnell, and all of the GOP Presidential candidates competing to replace Barack Obama in the White House!

The Internal Struggle In The Republican Party: Minnesota Vs. Mormonism!

Ronald Leave a comment

With the announcement today that Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels will not run for the Republican Presidential nomination, the race seems more than ever to be one of FOUR who are likely to dominate vote getting in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, the early primary and caucus states next winter!

As one looks at the field, it seems clear that Newt Gingrich has self destructed in his first week as an official candidate. Rick Santorum seems unlikely to take off as a candidate, based on his own past crazy statements and walloping defeat for re-election in Pennsylvania in 2006. Herman Cain, Gary Johnson, and even Ron Paul, will make noise, but are unlikely to poll many actual votes.

So unless someone such as Chris Christie or Jeb Bush suddenly enters the race belatedly, there seem to be four major contenders for actual popular vote support in the primaries and the caucuses early on–Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Jon Huntsman, and surprisingly, Michele Bachmann!

Bachmann is the favorite of the Tea Party people, more even than Ron Paul, who is seen as too old and flaky to be much of a vote getter. Even though she is outrageous in her statements and actions, Bachmann is likely to have a serious following in Iowa at the least, and could affect who of the other candidates benefits by her candidacy.

Bachmann, being from Minnesota, and therefore from the Midwest, poses a real challenge to former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who has been very careful to avoid outrageous statements and actions, and yet is competing for the Tea Party support and for the backing of Midwesterners. Iowa is a crucial state to both, so they are therefore at loggerheads as Bachmann could ruin Pawlenty’s chances. So expect the beginning soon of sustained attacks by each on the other, and increasingly so, as the campaign gets closer to the first vote test in Iowa, which has many evangelical Christians and Tea Party people, and will likely kill off either Bachmann or Pawlenty. So it is the battle of Minnesotan vs. Minnesotan!

But the 2012 race is also of Mormon vs. Mormon, as Jon Huntsman, former Governor of Utah, and seen as a moderate to some extent, is challenging Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, who is also often seen as a moderate. Both are working very hard to wipe such ideas out of voters’ minds, as both oppose health care and support Medicare reform along the lines of the Paul Ryan Budget plan. Both are much more electible on paper, but being Mormons and having the old image of moderation could harm both, and certainly, one will be hurt by the success of the other.

What is likely is that the nomination will come down to Pawlenty vs. one of the two Mormon politicians, with Huntsman being newer and fresher and more interesting a candidate.

So the final struggle is likely to be Pawlenty vs. Huntsman, and it would seem likely that Pawlenty would have the edge, but only if he can overcome the influence of Bachmann with Tea Party faithful.

For the election, Huntsman or even Romney would be a better bet to win than Pawlenty, but the Tea Party influence is such that the bet would be that Pawlenty will be the sacrificial lamb, with the likelihood that Barack Obama would win a major victory, possibly on the level of George H. W. Bush over Michael Dukakis in 1988!

Wisconsin Senate Seat Open With Herb Kohl’s Retirement: Will Russ Feingold Seek The Seat?

Ronald Leave a comment

With the announced retirement a week ago of Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, the possibility of the return of former Senator Russ Feingold, who was defeated by Tea Party favorite and businessman Ron Johnson, to the US Senate beckons.

Feingold, who has formed his own Political Action Committee, Progressives United, to fight for progressive causes, has not announced if he will seek the seat, but progressives all over America should insist he run, as his defeat in 2010 was the biggest loss for progressives and liberals, of all the lost members in the Republican tide of 2010.

Rumors had spread that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan would seek the seat, but with the outrage expressed nationally and in his home district against his Medicare plan to privatize the system over the next decade, he seems reluctant to give up his prestigious position to run for a junior role in the Senate as a new member.

Instead, former Governor Tommy Thompson, who was also Health and Human Services Secretary under President George W. Bush, is planning to run, making a possible top race between Feingold and Thompson.

The question will be whether Thompson, as former HHS Secretary, will endorse the Ryan plan on Medicare.

If he does, and Feingold runs, it will be a classic battle of progressivism against extreme right wing conservatism and Tea Party influence. It will be a battle for the future of the social safety net of the New Deal and Great Society, and it is unacceptable for Feingold to decide not to run, and to lose the race to Thompson or any other Republican, even if Thompson does not support the Ryan plan.

This is one of the key battles for the future of America!

Forget Jon Huntsman! His Disgraceful Surrender To The Far Right Of The Republican Party!

Ronald 2 Comments

When one thought about the upcoming Republican Presidential race, there was some hope that someone moderate might actually show principle and be an alternative to the extreme right wing of the party.

And this author had hope for Jon Huntsman, the former Governor Of Utah and President Obama’s Ambassador to China, as a possible alternative who, were he to win the nomination, could give the President a real race for the White House, and were he to win, would be acceptable as the occupant of the White House.

Well, such illusions have now been destroyed, by Jon Huntsman himself! And this is very upsetting!

Huntsman has now changed his view on climate change, on the economic stimulus, and the health care issue, and has told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News that were he in the House of Representatives, he would have voted for the Paul Ryan plan on Medicare, which would destroy Medicare as we know it in ten years.

The man may be charismatic, handsome, and appealing in an intellectual way, but he is a major disappointment by his abandonment of what he believed in.

His decision to move his unannounced campaign headquarters from Utah to Florida indicates he hopes to have an impact in the Sunshine State, but that indicates that he might even abandon his support of gay civil unions, as in Florida and many other states, the opposition to gay rights is still very strong in Republican primary voters, many of whom are evangelical Christians.

If Huntsman, who is Mormon, and must deal with that issue just as much as fellow Mormon Mitt Romney, hopes to gain evangelical backing, he will have to change his position on gay rights. Not that such a decision will guarantee evangelical support, but without such a switch, there is no hope at all of such backing!

So, disllusionment with Jon Huntsman just adds up to a sense of hopelessness that there is any chance of ANY Republican being mainstream in the traditions of the party in the age of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, and EVEN Ronald Reagan!

WIth Mitt Romney backing away from “Romneycare”, and Jon Huntsman surrendering to conservative extremist views, the GOP is a shell of its old self, and gives progressives no hope that there could be any sense of acceptance of ANY Republican Presidential winner in 2012!

Why Newt Gingrich Is A Horrible Candidate For The Presidency

Ronald Leave a comment

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has faced literal Hell this week from members of his own Republican Party for his MEET THE PRESS interview this past Sunday, where he criticized the Paul Ryan budget plan, including radical changes in Medicare, and called for the individual mandate, exactly what he believed in the 1990s, and which Barack Obama made part of his Health Care reform plans last year.

His chances to be the nominee of his party for the Presidency seem to have been destroyed by his statements, but actually there are better, more substantive reasons for him to be passed by for the Presidential nomination.

1. Gingrich is a “loose cannon”, who has no discipline and will say anything he thinks of immediately after thinking about it! As a result, he is often seen as a “firebomb thrower”, and that is no recommendation for the nation’s highest office.

2. Gingrich has a horrible moral record, in relation to the cheating he committed on TWO WIVES, and being married three times. He was condemning Bill Clinton while he was engaged in extramarital relations himself during the impeachment debacle of 1998-1999.

3. The fact that it has been discovered that he owes back taxes and is very loose with money and credit makes one state that is not a credential we want in a future President.

4. Gingrich has few friends in politics, even in his own party, with basically no one coming to his defense. He is seen as a supreme egotist, who has no loyalty to anything but his own aggrandizement and glory. He would be involved in constant conflict with his own party, as well as the Democrats, because he would be stubborn and inflexible.

5. In foreign policy, he would cause international crises and “bad blood”, as he does not have an ounce of diplomacy in his approach to those who disagree with him.

6. It is difficult to say that Gingrich has any basic principles or beliefs, as he has so often changed his views to fit the moment, and in any case, he is certainly not, by his historical record, a small national government man, which is the view of the present Republican Party and the Tea Party Movement.

7. Being a professor in his past, being an “ideas man” and an intellectual, may be seen by some as positives, but in the modern GOP, those are all disadvantages and turnoffs. He often seems to be lecturing, rather than speaking to his audiences.

So it is clear that the chances of Newt Gingrich being the Presidential nominee and even the winner of the Oval Office are as likely as the chances of Gary Johnson, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum.

It still comes down to the reality that the next Republican nominee is almost certainly going to be from Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, or Tim Pawlenty, with Pawlenty, despite his low public opinion ratings, seen as having the fewest negatives of the three.

And don’t expect Mitch Daniels of Indiana, Jeb Bush of Florida, Rick Perry of Texas, and Chris Christie of New Jersey to enter the race, one which looks more likely to be that of a losing cause for 2012!

The Suicide Of Newt Gingrich Equals The Suicide Of The Republican Party!

Ronald Leave a comment

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who just announced his candidacy six days ago, has already committed suicide in regards to his campaign for President, by what he said in his Sunday interview on Meet the Press.

Regarding Paul Ryan’s plan to wipe out Medicare as we know it in ten years, something all but four Republicans in the House of Representatives voted for, Gingrich said it was radical, and that a personal mandate for all, which he had supported, as most Republicans did in the 1990s, was essential.

In so stating, Gingrich was actually agreeing with the personal mandate aspect of Barack Obama’s Health Care plan, something which all Republicans have been railing against for the past two years.

By attacking the House GOP plan and backing a personal mandate, which actually makes total sense, Gingrich has destroyed his candidacy for President, not that he was seen as having a real chance, what with his constant controversial statements over the years and recently, and his private life, which certainly does not measure up to the family values enunciated by his party, no matter how hypocritical such assertions might be!

But the suicide of Newt Gingrich, and the insistence of the Republican Party that any candidate MUST be against the personal mandate and support the end of Medicare as we know it, is for sure the road to destruction of any chance the party has to win power in 2012!

The bitter reaction of voters in polls and at Town Halls against the Paul Ryan plan is causing an uproar that has shocked the party faithful, but the idea of supporting Gingrich in his statement that the personal mandate is being responsible–as much as having auto insurance–is totally unacceptable as party philosophy.

So the destruction of Gingrich will, ironically, cause the suicide of the Republican Party in the 2012 Presidential Election!

House Republicans Begin A Strategic Retreat On Medicare Portion Of Ryan Budget!

Ronald Leave a comment

The Republican Party may have committed a “Waterloo” on themselves by promoting the Paul Ryan plan to privatize Medicare over ten years, and taking a vote where all but four Republicans in the House of Representatives voted in favor of what has become a major controversy in House districts all over the nation during the Easter recess.

When Paul Ryan himself, Allan West in South Florida, and other GOP Congressmen witnessed massive assaults on them at Town Halls in their districts, it had a tremendous impact on them, putting some of them into panic mode.

So now House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia has indicated that the GOP will not push the change in the Medicare system until after the 2012 elections.

That is a warning sign of what can be expected if the American people are stupid or ignorant enough to elect a Republican House of Representatives and Senate and a Republican President in 2012.

The Republicans are biding their time, and hoping that corporate outlays in campaign spending and effective propaganda commercials can fool the people a second time!

The Democrats, led by Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, have made it clear that they will hammer home what the GOP wanted to do, and what it will certainly do if they gain complete control of the government. And one can be sure that Democratic National Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the South Florida Congresswoman, will be effective in pushing the issue as well!

There is no question of the need to reform Medicare, but not destroy it, as the GOP has wanted to do since it was first born over their opposition in 1965 under President Lyndon B. Johnson!

The Republican Sense Of Desperation As Fox News Channel Debate Occurs In Five Days!

Ronald Leave a comment

The Republican Party, the Grand Old Party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Reagan, is facing a sense of desperation as the first scheduled debate among GOP Presidential candidates is only five days away, due on May 5 on Fox News Channel.

No one has really emerged from the pack, and those who have been noticed–Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Donald Trump–have embarrassed themselves as well as the party. If this is the best the GOP can do, they may as well concede the election for President next year to President Obama!

Of course, no such thing will happen, but the mainstream candidates–Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Jon Huntsman–have not excited the party, and Mike Huckabee seems unlikely to run, and in any case, has put his foot in his mouth too many times already to be the ideal candidate.

With the decision of Haley Barbour to drop out of the race, attention is being drawn again to Mitch Daniels, Governor of Indiana, and former budget director under George W. Bush, but he has alienated social conservatives by emphasizing economic and budget issues, and suggesting there be a truce on social matters, such as gay rights, abortion, and school prayer. He also lacks charisma and presence, and since the budget debt doubled under George W. Bush, one wonders if his so called “magic” abilities with budgets, plus his strong anti labor stand in Indiana, ahead of Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Florida, is to be seen as a plus.

But once you go past Mitch Daniels, the others being promoted are even less thrilling!

To suggest “Bully” Governors, including Chris Christie of New Jersey and Scott Walker of Wisconsin seems suicidal, as neither has high public opinion ratings, has declared war on labor, and has an aggressive public personality that turns many people off!

And to suggest Texas Governor Rick Perry is really to promote desperation, as Perry is not too bright, and has advocated secession of his state in past political rhetoric! What the Democrats could do with that–wow!

But then, those who suggest Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the author of the GOP budget bill that wishes to make Medicare privatized in ten years, but admits no balanced budget for thirty years, are even more crazy. Not only is Ryan seen as a “wise guy” arrogant person, but also he has received many attacks at Town Halls in his own district, and his plan has been attacked bitterly by people of all age groups, and become cannon fodder for the Democrats, which they will be able to use next year in the Presidential Election of 2012.

The way things look, the best bet for the Republican Party is to turn toward Mitt Romney, as the most “mainstream” they can get to run against Barack Obama, but will the Tea Party activists and the evangelical Christians allow a Mormon, who was once a liberal to moderate in the party, to be its nominee? Stay tuned!

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Finally Throws Down The Gauntlet To Senate Republicans: Vote For The Paul Ryan Plan On Medicare!

Ronald Leave a comment

A moment of reckoning is coming for the 47 Senate Republicans, who have been railing against Barack Obama’s Health Care plan!

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has finally shown some “cajones”, by deciding that there should be a roll call vote on the Paul Ryan House plan to make Medicare a voucher system in ten years, which gained the backing of 235 House Republicans!

Ever since then, the House Republicans are discovering in Town Halls in their congressional districts that the citizens are furious with them, and Paul Ryan himself in his Wisconsin House district has been subjected to booing and jeers and verbal challenges to defend his plan!

It will be interesting to see if any of the Senate Republicans abandon the Ryan plan, but in any case, those who vote for it, including those who face re-election contests in 2012, will be taking a big gamble, as the tides are turning against them, as the American people realize that the GOP cares not a whit for the welfare of senior citizens, young people, the unemployed, the sick, the handicapped, minorities, or labor, but only for the advancement of unbridled capitalism and the welfare of the corporations and the elite wealthy, who have destroyed the middle class and have no limit in their greed and selfishness!

So go ahead, Senate Republicans, vote and show your true colors to the nation!