Ron Paul

The Debate Audience In Tampa: What Are We Becoming? Shame Over Their Behavior!

Ronald 2 Comments

In watching the CNN-Tea Party debate in Tampa, Florida, last night, beyond the points made by the potential GOP Presidential candidates, one characteristic stood out, a very ugly characteristic!

The audience at the debate demonstrated just how nasty, mean spirited, self centered, and lacking in humanity the Tea Party crowd have become!

It has become a disease in America, if one wants to believe that the Tea Party movement is spreading far and wide, which the author hopes is NOT the case!

Witness the following:

1. When Rick Perry brought up the idea of Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke being treasonous, the crowd cheered wildly.
2. When the subject of a 30 year old male who chose not to have health insurance coverage and then is in the hospital for six months, the reaction of the audience is to applaud the idea that he should not be put into intensive care to save his life, that he should die, that there is no responsibility for others in medical crisis.
3. The hatred of the audience toward illegal immigration, and readiness to destroy Social Security and Medicare was obvious.
4. The refusal of the audience to consider that Ron Paul had some good points about our foreign policy causing a lot of our woes financially, and instead booing him, was disturbing.
5. There were many other moments of poor behavior by the crowd, too numerous to list here.

But beyond all this, the fact that the audience at the Reagan Library debate last week cheered and applauded the fact that Rick Perry had been responsible for the execution of more prisoners than any governor in history, was also very disconcerting, as if the death penalty is the answer, when it is well known that mistakes ARE made and have been made in Texas and elsewhere, with denial of new evidence, refusal to recognize that some testimony against some defendants is unreliable, and that the death penalty is unevenly utilized against minorities as compared to whites!

If this is the country we are becoming, the equivalent of the Tea Party mentality, this nation is in deep trouble, and we have lost our common decency and humanity!

But the thought is that this is a minority view, which demands full commitment to fight and defeat this poison, this cancer, in our society, before it becomes endemic!

First Impressions Of CNN-Tea Party Express Debate In Tampa, Florida

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It will take some time to analyze and interpret the CNN-Tea Party Express debate just completed in Tampa, Florida, this evening.

But first impressions include the following thoughts:

1. The debate was much more vigorous and challenging than any earlier debate, with excellent questions asked by all who had the opportunity, including the moderator, Wolf Blitzer of The Situation Room on CNN.
2. The reactions of the Tea Party audience were quite horrifying and scary, and to imagine a majority of the nation having these views and voting them into the White House is enough to encourage nightmares! These people as a group are very reactionary, mean spirited, self centered people, well dressed and making it clear that they do not want to feel any responsibility to society, but only to their own selfish interests. This is a guarantee of anarchy ahead as America faces a future quite different than the overwhelmingly white, older age, comfortable upper middle and wealthy class of citizens.that showed up at this debate!
3. Rick Perry came under sustained attack, held his own quite well, making very few concessions, but still can no longer be seen as a guaranteed front runner in the Presidential race.
4. Mitt Romney was also under attack, and held his own better than Perry, and remains a serious challenger for the duration, but not well liked by the Tea Party crowd.
5. Jon Huntsman again performed very well, but faced, as Romney did, a unsympathetic audience, but his answers were solid and mostly good in content, even if one did not agree with all of them.
6. Ron Paul gave some great responses if one was a libertarian, and received some applause, but also some strong boos when he condemned US foreign policy.
7. Michele Bachmann recovered from a lackadaisical performance in the last debate, strongly criticizing Rick Perry,and must be seen in a more serious light with her recovery in this debate.
8.Rick Santorum also improved, going on the offensive against Rick Perry, and must be seen in a more serious light than before.
9. Newt Gingrich gave some strong condemnations of Barack Obama, and showed his usual intelligence, but it is doubtful that he gained much overall in this debate.
10. Herman Cain was the least impressive of the eight candidates, and cannot be seen in any way as someone to watch, and his lack of government experience is a major negative.

So overall, Huntsman, Bachmann, and Santorum probably gained the most, while Perry and Romney held their lead. Paul got some sympathy support, but it is bound to go nowhere, and the same for Gingrich and no real gain for Cain.

It will be interesting to see how polls look at these eight candidates later this week, but to say it is strictly a Perry-Romney race is almost certainly incorrect.

Finally, if this debate does not convince Democrats, progressives, liberals, and Obama supporters, of the need to contribute to the campaign and work for Barack Obama with great devotion over the next 14 months, then nothing will!

This is a crisis for the nation, with a nightmarish alternative that must be seen as unacceptable! More will be said about this debate in future posts on this blog!

The “Science” Republicans Vs. The “Faith” Republicans

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Part of the struggle for the Republican Presidential nomination is between those who believe in the validity of science, relating to global warming, evolution, and stem cell research, and those who believe in the literal interpretation of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

On one side are Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney; on the other side are Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and sometimes, in an inconsistent way, Newt Gingrich, who is intelligent enough to know better!

Are we to have a possible future President who repudiates science and wishes to lead a holy crusade for Christianity in a world in which we must somehow coexist with Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and other religious faiths that look at the world differently from us?

In a country founded on separation of church and state, to avoid religious conflict, we are now faced with the real possibility of a “Crusade” mentality which will undermine our national security!

Falsehoods At GOP Debate Abound! So What Else Is New?

Ronald 3 Comments

The Republican Presidential debate last night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California abounded with falsehoods!

Rick Perry claimed that there is a crisis at the border with Mexico, and Michele Bachmann seconded that idea, but that is NOT the case! In fact, records of the federal government agencies show that crime is far lower in cities close to Mexico than they are in the rest of the country’s cities. The cities that have low crime rates include El Paso and Austin, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; and San Diego, California. But it is part of the plan of the GOP to exploit the illegal immigration issue, and instill fear in the American people!

Michele Bachmann said, regarding immigration, that we need to make citizenship difficult as it was in the 1950s and early 1960s, when literacy in English was required; knowledge of American history and politics was mandated; taxes had to be paid on time and accurately; a criminal record would eliminate the chance for citizenship; and having a communicable disease was also ground for refusal of citizenship. The problem with what Bachmann cited is that these are the SAME requirement now, as they were then!

Mitt Romney claimed to create more jobs in four years in Massachusetts than Barack Obama has in two and a half years! Wow, what a whopper that was, as he only created 48,000 jobs, while Obama has created or saved at least TWO million jobs over the past 30 months!

Herman Cain called for a 9-9-9 tax structure, which means 9 percent income tax rate 9 percent corporate tax rate, and 9 percent national sales tax, claiming that would raise enough money and be totally fair to everyone! Really, what a whopper, as a national sales tax would hurt the poor and the middle class much more because they spend almost all of their income on things, while wealthy people save a lot of their income. And Cain wants no estate tax and no capital gains tax, which means more distortion of national income in favor of the rich!

Ron Paul shocked many by openly criticizing Ronald Reagan on much that he did, and calling for cutbacks on federal regulation and enforcement in areas that almost everyone recognizes need federal involvement, including education, health, natural disasters, and corporate practices!

Only Jon Huntsman avoided any inaccuracies or ridiculous statements, seeming very statesmanlike, reasonable, and sensible. Despite this, just about everyone in the news media seem to be ignoring him, seeing him as not a major factor in the race.

This is folly, as John Kerry and John McCain proved in 2004 and 2008 that making judgments in September, and going by fluctuating public opinion polls, is a major mistake.

Some observers are saying that if Huntsman fails to gain in the next polls over the weekend, that he will be dropped from future debates, although he is scheduled for the CNN debate next Monday. It would be ironic if the Fox News Channel debate a week later saw editorializing by that channel, and led to Huntsman being eliminated from that debate. But if that happened, the answer would be: What else is new?

First Impressions Of GOP NBC-Politico Debate: Big Winners Are Huntsman And Romney; Big Losers Are Perry, Bachmann, And Paul!

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The debate over the debate tonight at the Reagan Library has begun, and there will be many different views of how the eight Republican candidates for President performed. What follows is this blogger’s view of events in ranked order:

BIG WINNERS–Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney
BIG LOSERS–Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul
NO IMPROVEMENT–Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain

Already, the author has heard Rachel Maddow say that Jon Huntsman lost an opportunity and is now thrown to the wayside. He could NOT disagree more! Huntsman was, in my view, very solid and substantial in his answers, seemed very Presidential more than anyone, and since he is lowest in the polls, has gained the most, and it should reflect itself in the polls over the next few days. If it does not, then it condemns the Republican Party to certain defeat, as Independents and moderates should be very impressed with his performance!

Mitt Romney also did very well, refuting Rick Perry in a solid and effective way, and showed a calm demeanor, as he demonstrated that being a moderate conservative, as Huntsman is, is the best road to victory for the GOP! The question, as with Huntsman, is whether Republicans will feel the same, and if they do not, then the party is doomed to a terrible defeat in 2012, instead of a good chance for victory with either Huntsman or Romney!

Rick Perry, the frontrunner in the polls the past two weeks, came across as defiantly extremist in his stated views, not bending at all, and yet having trouble defending the horrible record of governance in Texas in so many different ways! If there is any common sense, Perry should lose his front runner status, but we shall see, as a Perry candidacy would move the GOP so far to the RIght that they would lose in a massive way in November 2012!

Michele Bachmann slid further in performance, and was not at all inspiring or convincing, and is now obviously in rapid decline as a serious factor!

Ron Paul may have his followers, but he came across as totally extreme in his libertarian views, and way outside the mainstream. His suggestion that air conditioning be removed from troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, and that would cause their rapid return home, is one of the whackiest and craziest statements ever made in a Presidential debate at any time!

Newt Gingrich came across as very bright and knowledgeable, but did not improve his status as a person from the past, out of office for 13 years, and not to be seen as a serious candidate for the White House!

Rick Santorum may have improved slightly in his performance, but still cannot be regarded as a serious candidate. The fact that he is the only candidate to have served in the US Senate, as well as the US House of Representatives, is certainly a plus, but still there are too many negatives and shortcomings in his candidacy to take him as a likely nominee!

Herman Cain came across as what he has always been–a BLAH candidate, unimpressive, and having no clue as to how to run a government, so his performance was lackadaisical!

So the big winners in my mind are Huntsman and Romney, but I welcome commentary by those who read this blog, as the debate continues over who the GOP nominee for President might be!

Why The Best Presidential Race In 2012 Would Be Barack Obama Vs. Jon Huntsman

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A person reading this blog might wonder why the author would write an entry with the above title!

After all, it is clear the the author prefers the reelection of Barack Obama over any Republican opponent!

However, in the tough economic times we have now in this country, it is also important that IF, by some bad luck, Barack Obama does not win reelection, that we have the absolutely best opponent winning the White House, for the good of the nation!

There is no question that former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman is easily the BEST candidate in the GOP race, and would be best for the nation!

Why is this so? In no special order, the factors to consider are :

1. Huntsman is the most moderate conservative in the race for the Presidential nomination in the Republican Party, with the most potential to win over Independents and centrists, and even some Democrats, all necessary if the Republicans are to have a good chance of winning.

2. Huntsman comes across as genuine, which fellow moderate conservative Mitt Romney does not, but rather as a person who will say what his audience wants to hear.

3. Huntsman has the best record on job creation, while Governor of Utah, far better than Mitt Romney, who was 47th in job creation, and Rick Perry, creating mostly minimum wage jobs in larger numbers, who trail way behind.

4. Huntsman has come up with a jobs plan hailed by the conservative Wall Street Journal, which has criticized Mitt Romney’s plan, and no one else in the race has even attempted a jobs plan.

5. Huntsman has an enviable foreign policy record as Ambassador to Singapore, US Trade Representative, and Ambassador to China, the only Republican with real experience in foreign affairs.

6. Huntsman was more popular as Governor of Utah, with up to 80 percent support, far outdistancing any of his opponents, meaning Romney and Perry, in that regard.

7. Huntsman has never pandered to anyone, unlike Romney, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, and even Ron Paul. He does not insult anyone’s intelligence with ridiculous, unsubstantiated statements!

8. Huntsman, with his foreign language ability, and in so many other ways, comes across as extremely intelligent and knowledgeable, someone anyone could respect intellectually in the White House. We don’t need someone in office who comes across as reckless, irresponsible, or even someone you could have a beer with, as for instance, George W. Bush! We need someone totally rational and reasonable, and Huntsman fills the bill.

9. Debates between Obama and Huntsman would be a great experience, and we could feel comfortable that if Huntsman won the election, the country would be in good hands, and not go off on a right wing tangent!

This nation cannot afford anyone but the best as our President, and both Barack Obama and Jon Huntsman fill the bill!

This would be, arguably, the BEST combination of candidates for the Presidency since the Presidential Election of 1916, with President Woodrow Wilson opposed by Supreme Court Associate Justice Charles Evan Hughes, with the race barely won by Wilson!

The “Career Politician” Argument: Who Can Use It Against Opponents In The Republican Presidential Race?

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With eight candidates in the race for the Republican Presidential nomination, we have been hearing the argument that a “career politician” is the wrong kind of person to select to oppose President Barack Obama.

If such an argument is to be used, who does it hurt?

Governor Rick Perry Of Texas
Congressman Ron Paul of Texas
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich of Georgia
Former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota

All of the above have served in ELECTED office on the state or national level for ten years of more, with Perry having the most years, a few years ahead of Ron Paul. The list above is a descending order of years in public office.

So the candidates who can use the “career politician”: argument effectively against their opponents are:

Herman Cain of Georgia–no elected years in office
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney–4 years in elected office
Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman–5 years in elected office

And the only one of the above three who has had other government experience in APPOINTED office, in foreign affairs, is Jon Huntsman as Ambassador to Singapore, Ambassador to China, and US Trade Representative, all of which makes his candidacy FAR superior to Cain or Romney!

But again, as stated at other times, will the Republican Party use their brains and common sense, or their emotions and extremism of the Tea Party crowd, when selecting their nominee?

Tonight, in the first debate for Rick Perry, we shall see the dynamics and the public opinion poll reactions!

The Week Of Reckoning For GOP Candidates–Three Challenges

Ronald 2 Comments

The week from today, Labor Day, through next Monday, will have a dramatic effect on the Republican race for President.

Today, in South Carolina, six of the candidates (all but Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman) will participate in a Palmetto Freedom Forum, in which each candidate will sit on the stage for 21 minutes, and have questions shot at them by South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, Iowa Congressman Steve King, and conservative constitutional scholar Robert George of Princeton University.

DeMint will ask questions on how to make government smaller, while King will challenge the candidates on the subject of immigration. George will touch on the hot button social issues: abortion, gay marriage, and affirmative action. He is also likely to ask questions about federalism, the idea that some government agencies on the national level are not needed or allowed under the Constitution, such as the Education Department.

This is the kind of challenge that could make or break candidates, and then on top of that, there are two debates by next Monday night–one sponsored by MSNBC on Wednesday and the other by CNN next Monday, and it gives Rick Perry his first time on the national stage debate; but also allows Jon Huntsman his last real chance to start gaining notice and move up in the national polls; Michele Bachmann the chance to outshine Perry; Mitt Romney the chance to come back from second place in the polls after seeing Perry rise above him; the opportunity for Ron Paul to look like more than a fringe candidate; and the last chance for Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain and Rick Santorum to look as if it is worth going on as candidates.

So this next week is one in which Sarah Palin will be watching, and probably being thankful she has not entered the Presidential race, and solidifying her decision to stay out of it, as running for President is for those who are unafraid of challenge, which Sarah obviously is, having quit as Alaska Governor in the middle of her one term!

FEMA And Natural Disaster Funding: Political “Football” For The Republicans?

Ronald 6 Comments

The Federal Emergency Management Agency faces a daunting task dealing with all of the natural disasters that have hit America in 2011!

Hurricane Irene was the TENTH natural disaster of this year costing at least $1 billion, and there are four months to go!

The total natural disaster cost is reaching into the 40s and 50s in billions, with Irene estimated to be one of top ten all time natural disasters!

And this is on top of the tornadoes, floods, droughts, wildfires that have plagued us this year, and not including the Atlantic Earthquake or the new menace of Tropical Storm Lee menacing Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the panhandle of Florida!

The hurricane season is in full swing, and it looks as if there will be more tropical storms or hurricanes named than any year since 2005!

In the midst of this series of natural disasters, we are seeing Congressional Republicans playing politics with human suffering, protesting that FEMA is reaching its budget limit, and there is debate about whether they will gain additional needed funds to match the problems at hand.

Congressman Ron Paul has said FEMA is not necessary at all, and others are acting as if it is another financial boondoggle, when it is performing far better under Barack Obama than it did under George W. Bush.

Will there have to be a battle between President Obama and John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and Tea Party Republicans over such a basic need as government coming to the aid of victims of nature?

Is there any common decency left in the opposition party, or shall many unfortunate Americans become the victims of their narrow mindedness and pettiness?

We will see next week when Congress comes back from its month long vacation to deal with the many problems they just dropped, so as to go on vacation for a month, while many Americans could not afford a vacation!

The True Nature Of Republican Anarchism Reveals Itself!

Ronald 4 Comments

The Republican Party has moved so far to the Right that the list of outrageous views and statements that can be compiled gets worse all of the time! There seems to be no limit to their nastiness, selfishness, mean spiritedness, and anarchistic statements against government!

Witness the following in no special order:

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, in a speech at the Ronald Reagan Library in California, condemns the entire New Deal and Great Society, saying Social Security and Medicare have been a total failure! He seems to suggest that such parts of the social safety net should be phased out, and demonstrates no recognition of how these programs have made old age much more dignified over the past 50-80 years, plus offering assistance to widows, children, and the disabled!

Virginia Congressman and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Wisconsin Congressman and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan say that earthquake and hurricane relief will be dealt with, but that equivalent budget cuts will have to be arranged to cover those costs! This will affect average Americans and cause more joblessness, and shows absolutely no concern about the economic effect on the long range future of the nation!

Texas Congressman Ron Paul, running for President, says that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) should not exist and is unnecessary, as the states and local governments can handle natural disaster, describing that as the response in past storms in Texas decades ago! He conveniently forgets or is ignorant of the fact that the worst hurricane in history, in Galveston, Texas, part of his district, experienced 6,000-12,000 dead in the year 1900, because of lack of awareness and response to that hurricane! Paul wants to go back a century, and what he is calling for is anarchism of the worst kind, such hatred of national government that he would leave recovery to states, particularly in the Gulf area, which historically have had just about the worst concern and commitment to their citizens, particularly the poor who are always more often the victims of natural disasters!

There will be more outrageous statements and criticisms of the federal government on the role they should play regarding the social safety net, and the reaction to natural disasters. We are living through a time of lunacy and insanity, of anarchism just as dangerous as any Islamic terrorist could ever present to our nation!

And sadly, it is also some Christian “terrorists”, just as dangerous to our nation, who are claiming that these natural disasters visiting the Atlantic Coast are due to gay marriage and abortion and having a black President! And the hatred prevalent at some church services conducted by these lunatic pastors against Barack Obama is terrifying! Jesus Christ has been totally distorted in his message of compassion and love by these reckless, hate mongering pastors who manipulate gullible followers in a dangerous, inciting manner!

We are in a very dangerous political climate that makes one wonder about the stability of the American republic!