Republicans

President Obama And The Deficit Reduction Commission

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President Obama has signed an executive order creating a bipartisan commission to address the issue of deficit reduction.

This is a major initiative at a difficult time, when the country is in the midst of the Great Recession, and the budget is out of balance by an estimate of $1.6 Trillion dollars for the coming fiscal year.

We cannot forget that this deficit mess was caused by the Bush Administration fighting two wars and initiating a Medicare Part D prescription plan while lowering taxes for the upper class and failing to make the country realize that we must all make a commitment to our security and pay more taxes.

The irresponsible policies of George W. Bush have pushed us into this emergency, including the lack of regulation of corporations, banks, and insurance companies, and now we are faced with a major crisis in the midst of hard times.

But the President is smart to assert himself on this issue, as the Senate, after earlier indications that there would be a bipartisan effort, refused to overcome the filibuster with 60 votes, only gaining a few Republican votes and a total of 53 votes in total.

If the Senate is unable to be responsible, then the President is proper in intervening and overruling the Senate, which is becoming more and more an obstruction of major embarrassment!

Education Funding And Lending Being Held Up By GOP In Senate

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The Republicans in the Senate are at it again, blocking funding and lending legislation for education, with their ability to demand a super majority of 60 votes for any legislation to be considered.

The Obama Administration is attempting to have the Education Department take over student lending from private banks, which they estimate would save over $80 billion over the next ten years, with that money being utilized for community college expansion, early childhood education, more student lending, and other programs.

A decision is needed in time for the new academic year lending, which starts July 1, but the Republicans are insisting that the private banks be kept in the program, even though it costs students a lot more interest on their loans.

This is another example of how the threat of the filibuster is stifling action in the Senate, and is being utilized in an irresponsible way by the minority party. Reconciliation, requiring only 51 votes, may have to be attempted on this, as well as the health care legislation to stop the bottleneck of a minority party determined to prevent any action or accomplishments by the President of the other party. It is indeed an infuriating situation! 🙁

High Speed Rail System Investments A Worthwhile Venture

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President Obama’s administration is making a major commitment to high speed rail systems in different parts of the country, a good investment in the future, and also a method to help create job growth in a way that benefits everyone.

These high speed rail systems will be built between Tampa, Orlando and probably Miami; Chicago to St. Louis; Sacramento to Los Angeles and San Diego; Boston to New York; and New York to Washington, DC–all of these major centers of population and large scale automobile traffic.

It should be obvious that local and state officials should fully back these investments, but an example of the continued partisanship and pettiness that goes on is the fact that when President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden appeared in Tampa, no Republican state or local officials showed up, even though this investment is good for the state’s future and many Republicans had been supportive of such a venture in the past. This is an example of total hypocrisy that turns the average American off to the whole political game in Washington, DC!

Brisk Economic Growth In 4th Quarter Good Sign!

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Great news has been announced by the government this morning, indicating that we have witnessed the fastest growth quarter in six years in the last three months of 2009.

The economy grew by an annualized 5.7 percent, way above what was expected, and far better than the annualized 2.2 percent in the third quarter of 2009.

The biggest fear, however, is that we could be in the midst of what economists call a “jobless” economic recovery, so there is a great need for an aggressive job creation program this year, but one wonders if the opposition Republican party will work to undermine such an event by lack of legislative support, particularly in the Senate. 🙁 Let’s hope they do what is right for the American people!

The Stimulus Bill: The Truth Be Told!

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A year after the economic stimulus bill, we are hearing lies from the opposition that nothing has been accomplished by the Obama Administration.

Nothing could be further from the truth. A lot of the stimulus is scheduled to occur this year and next, as no recovery plan can be expected to work immediately. There is always a time delay between what government legislates and the actual delivery of the services.

Having said that, what has the stimulus accomplished so far?
1. It has saved thousands of public jobs, affecting communities all over the country. This includes teachers, fire fighters and police officers. Many states, counties and city governments have benefited.

2. It has met the needs of many poor and disabled people on Medicaid. It has improved their quality of life.

3. It has set up over 11,500 transportation projects across the country, shovel ready and employing people.

4. 95 percent of the population received a tax cut, which is giving many people a lower tax bill in April if they had proper withholding.

Of course, there is a need to do much more, to say the least. But to claim that nothing has been accomplished and that the whole concept of economic stimulus was a waste of public dollars is a total lie, promoted by conservatives and Republicans who have no interest in helping right the economy, but rather just to obstruct and prevent success for political reasons!

Obama’s Target Groups To Work On For Support: Independents, Senior Citizens, Suburbanites

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Recent polls make it clear that Barack Obama has three major target groups he will need to work on, as they are becoming more disillusioned with him, when compared to their support for him in 2008.

These groups are Independents, senior citizens, and suburbanites. Independents are unhappy that the Congress has been unable to accomplish very much, while seniors worry about how their health care might be affected by a national health care reform, and suburbanites are suffering through heavy job losses and foreclosures.

Ironically, many people in these target groups seem to think a Republican Congress working with Obama would be better, comparing it to cooperation at times that developed between Bill Clinton and the GOP Congress after 1994. Actually, this concept of divided government as better really is not to be preferred, as much more than not, it causes fireworks and gridlock. The memory of the American people about a split government being preferred is based on false premises and a clouded image of reality! The same Congress that at times worked with Bill Clinton also impeached him and caused tremendous fireworks that impeded the ability to deal with many problems of the 1990s.

The way to regain support of these target groups for the President is to have the Congress accomplish the goal of health care reform, and aggressively bring about a jobs program and a foreclosure initiative that makes average Americans feel that their government is concerned about them, not just Wall Street and the banks!

New Poll On Who Is To Blame For Stalemate In Government: The Republicans In Congress!

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A new NBC-Wall Street Journal poll assesses who is responsible for lack of progress on legislation during the Great Recession we are in, including health care reform and economic revival.

A surprise to some, I suppose, is that the Republicans in Congress are assigned the greatest blame (48 percent), followed by the Democrats in Congress (41 percent) and President Obama (27 percent).

71 percent feel Obama cannot be blamed and his public opinion rating remains positive at 50 percent, with an unfavorability rating of 44 percent.

So despite the Republican victories in New Jersey and Virginia in November and in Massachusetts last week, Obama still retains a reservoir of good will, and remains personally popular, as most Americans like him on a personal level and do not blame him for the lack of action by the government this past year.

So the news today that the Democrats in Congress seem ready to scale back the health care reform is disturbing, as the lack of action by the Democrats is seen as more likely to cause a backlash by Democrats who might very well stay home on Election Day in November because of their feeling that the Democrats promise and then don’t carry through.

As Barack Obama has said, although many Americans are afraid of the health care bill’s complexity, the belief is once it would pass, the majority would realize it was all for the good, and the Democrats would be in better shape for public support than if they sit on their hands and kill the legislation.

So with this new poll evidence, it is essential that President Obama come out fighting during the State of the Union speech for what he believes in, and show the courage of his convictions. He can offer a bridge to the recalcitrant Republicans, but make it clear he will not tolerate their obstructionism, and will do what must be done to make life better for the American people!

Jon Stewart Perspective On Massachusetts Senate Race

Ronald 4 Comments

Jon Stewart is a brilliant comedian who rings truth so often! 🙂

His comment on the Massachusetts Senate race is that even without that seat in Democratic hands, still the Democrats have an 18 vote margin, which is larger than ever existed for the GOP under George W. Bush.

In fact, the last time a Republican President had that big a margin in the Senate was 1923, when Warren G. Harding was President!

In other words, it has been 87 years since the Republicans had such an edge, so it is time for the Democrats to stop feeling sorry for themselves and to go out and promote their agenda!

They need to stop the blame game and act assertively, as the Republicans always do, even in opposition!

Something Forgotten After Massachusetts Election: The Democrats Still Have A Vast Majority!

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As the nation and the political parties adjust and react to the reality of Scott Brown’s victory for the Senate seat in Massachusetts formerly held by Ted Kennedy, it is easy for Democrats to panic and forget the reality that exists today!

That is, the Democrats have a tremendous majority in both houses of Congress–79 seats in the House (257-178) and 18 seats in the Senate (59-41).

You would think from the political commentary and rhetoric going on today that somehow the Democrats have lost control of Congress and any chance to accomplish any part of their agenda.

That is not so, as while there may have to be compromises made on health care, it does not mean that nothing can be accomplished on this issue.

It does not mean that the President should drop his other plans for domestic reform on energy and the environment and regulatory reform.

How easily many forget that even in the Senate, it is not essential to have to gain 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, because there is another tactic that has been used plenty by the GOP when they controlled Congress from 1994-2006. That is the method called RECONCILIATION, which only requires a 51 vote margin in the Senate, a bare majority, to accomplish action.

President George W. Bush used it to promote his economic plans in 2001, 2003, and 2005, and even had to utilize Vice President Dick Cheney’s tie breaking vote twice to pass his agenda into law.

Imagine that: 51-50 votes twice, and now somehow, it is claimed we cannot have that happen on Obama’s health care plans, but indeed, it CAN be done and MUST be pursued!

It is, of course, preferable to promote bipartisanship and cooperation when possible, but it is clear that the GOP has no desire to do anything of the sort, so with some minor concessions, the Democrats and President Obama CAN accomplish many of their goals and overcome the effect of the election of Senator Scott Brown and the loss of the so called “filibuster proof” majority of 60 votes!

The Halo Around Scott Brown: A Need For Realism!

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Scott Brown, the newly elected Senator from Massachusetts, has a halo around him today, as he is the man of the hour and could in theory kill health care reform in the Senate, now that the Republicans have 41 votes in the Senate and could, if they remain united, filibuster any legislation on the subject and many others.

Some are even suggesting that Scott Brown, with his good looks and charisma and beautiful family, could be a potential candidate for President in 2012!

But before we go awry on this concept, realize something that Scott Brown has to know in his heart. That is that he faces election for a full term in the Senate in 34 months, and while he won a convincing victory by five points last night in a special election, he certainly knows that the Democrats will be targeting him for 2012, a Presidential election year, and he will have the battle of his life to keep the seat he has gained for now.

With the conservative record he possesses, can one really think that Massachusetts, still a “blue” state more than most in a section of the country known to be more “liberal” than the rest of the country, will actually reelect him to a full term, if he votes and speaks as a right winger? He has shown in the past that he has reactionary views on race and gender and has no interest in social or economic reform. Even the Republican senators who served in the last century from Massachusetts–including Edward Brooke (the first African American elected Senator), Leverett Saltonstall, and Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. were moderate to liberal, rather than conservative!

Has Massachusetts by this vote suddenly become “red” (Republican) and will repudiate its past of such moderates as the above, plus the contributions of the Kennedys, John Kerry, Paul Tsongas, and all of its ten liberal Democratic congressmen? I would have to say that to imagine that is to be hallucinatory! 🙂

So the career of Scott Brown in the US Senate is bound to be very short lived indeed!