US House Of Representatives

The Tea Party Movement And The Republican Party: Clear And Present Danger! :(

Ronald 1 Comment

The Republican Party has had a long history, and has given the United States some very outstanding leaders in the Presidency, in the halls of Congress, and in the state governorships!

Like any political party, it has had its bright, as well as gloomy moments, but it is now seriously threatened with being taken over by some of the most loony, arrogant or unqualified candidates for public office that anyone can ever remember! 🙁

Witness the following:

1. Many, if not all, of these candidates are for privatization of Social Security, Medicare, and veterans benefits, the end of unemployment compensation, the shutdown of the US Department of Education, the repeal of health care legislation, the reversal of Wall Street reform, the end of credit card and student loan reform and any economic stimulus, and overall, support the return to failed policies of the Bush administration and the Newt Gingrich “Contract With America”! They also do not “believe” in evolution, climate change, or science in any form, but advocate religion and oppose immigration reform, gay rights, and any other ideas that are part of what they call the “socialist” agenda! 🙁
2. Delaware Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell has lied about her education, has advocated that evolution is a myth, has admitted that she was involved with witchcraft, has used campaign money to pay for personal expenses, and has advocated that any form of sex before marriage, including masturbation, is to be avoided!
3. Florida Gubernatorial nominee Rick Scott was involved in Medicare fraud in the 1990s, but has no shame in running for chief executive of the fourth largest state!
4. Nevada Senate nominee Sharon Angle has been making inconsistent statements on many issues, constantly contradicting herself! She also believes that if the elections this November do not lead to the desired results, that there should be Second Amendment remedies!
5. New York Gubernatorial nominee Carl Palladino has sent out campaign literature with a smelly garbage scent, has accused his Democratic opponent of having scandals in his private life without any evidence of such, has threatened journalists with personal harm, and has fathered a child outside of wedlock while married! He has also made it clear that he will not cooperate with the state legislature if he is elected Governor of the third largest state!
6. Many GOP nominees have used obscene amounts of their personal fortune to attempt to “buy” the political office they seek, including Rick Scott in Florida, Carl Palladino in New York, Gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman in California, Senatorial nominee Carly Fiorina in California, and Senatorial nominee Linda McMahon in Connecticut!
7. There is so much more that could be said here about other nominees, including Mike Lee of Utah, Ken Buck of Colorado, Joe Miller of Alaska, Marco Rubio of Florida, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, and last, but certainly not least, Rand Paul of Kentucky, all GOP Senate candidates! 🙁

Many traditional Republicans have been unwilling to support the nominees after they have been defeated, including Rick Lazio in New York, Bill McCollum in Florida, Mike Castle in Delaware, Rob Simmons in Connecticut, Lisa Murkowski in Alaska and Trey Greyson in Kentucky!

In a time as difficult as we are facing now in this country, we have a group of candidates who threaten the stability of state governments, the US Senate, and also the US House of Representatives (which has numerous Tea Party Movement candidates with crazy, dangerous platforms)!

If most of these candidates are elected, the country will suffer from office holders who endanger the future of the nation, and soon there will be “buyers’ remorse”, and the GOP will be threatened by total chaos, as we will have people in power who will refuse to negotiate or compromise, which is part of the nature of successful politics!

And as the author has stated elsewhere, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell had better watch out, as they will likely face a nightmare, which could include their being deposed as Republican leaders–or if they survive, they might at some point WISH they had not been leaders of their party in Congress! 🙁

What a terrible scenario could be in the offing! 🙁

What A GOP Victory In November Would Mean For America! :(

Ronald Leave a comment

Let’s just imagine a scenario where the Republican Party gains 40 or more seats in the House of Representatives and 10 in the Senate, and therefore wins control of both houses of Congress! 🙁

What would this mean? Many things, indeed, none of them good for America! 🙁 There is no special order to the following list!

1. John Boehner would become Speaker of the House, and Eric Cantor would become House Majority Leader–neither of whom have yet come up with any concept of leadership other than total opposition to anything but helping corporations avoid regulation!
2. Mitch McConnell would become Senate Majority Leader, and presides over a chaotic Senate in which Tea Party Movement senators such as Mike Lee, Ken Buck, Marco Rubio, and Linda McMahon join Rand Paul and Sharron Angle, and make one feel that Tom Coburn, James Inhofe and Jim DeMint are comparatively “mainstream”!
3. The House would begin probes of the Obama Administration, with Darrell Issa of California having the power to issue subpoenas and promote a “witch hunt” against the President and his staff!
4. Any attempt to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the military, if not accomplished already, will fail to be enacted by Congress!
5. Attempts to repeal the Health Care legislation will be an early order of business!
6. Attempts to repeal Financial Reform legislation will be urgently pursued!
7. Tax cuts for the wealthy will proliferate, and the estate tax will permanently come to an end!
8. Defense spending will rise astronomically, and there will be talk of war against the Islamic world!
9. There will be attempts to privatize Social Security and Medicare, and get the government out of the business of controlling the “safety net”!
10. There will be no environmental legislation, as Senator James Inhofe will continue to block any action against global warming and climate change!
11. The new Consumer Financial Protection Agency will be scaled back, and possibly face repeal, as unnecessary bureaucracy!
12. Any judicial appointments, including the Supreme Court, will be blocked or delayed!
13. No more economic stimulus of any kind will be offered, despite the fact of growing unemployment and higher levels of mortgage foreclosures!
14. Attempts will be made to bring charges of impeachment against President Obama, based on McCarthy type innuendos!
15. Education and all other social programs will be dramatically cut!
16. States rights will be emphasized, with the government only there for defense and promotion of corporate privilege!
17. Severe anti immigrant legislation will come to a vote, and the racism and nativism that exists will multiply!
18. Anti Islamic violence will be encouraged by GOP rhetoric, worsening our relations with the Islamic world!
19. The Republicans will attempt to block foreign policy initiatives by the Obama Administration worldwide, and treaties will be fought against as foreign conspiracies!
20. The country will be far worse off in both domestic and foreign policy by 2012, in ways not even mentioned above!

There are certainly many other points that could be made, but this is a solid sampling of the reality that America faces if it allows fear and hate and anger to rule the day on Election Day!

The one virtue if a GOP takeover occurs is, thankfully, the ability of President Obama to veto most legislation that calls for the wrong policies or for repeal, with no chance of a two thirds override in the Congress!

Ironically, this crisis of a Republican takeover, were it to happen, might bring out a different side of the President! It might make Obama finally stop trying to be a “nice guy” and fight in the way Harry Truman fought the Republicans in 1948!

In other words, Obama might, under these circumstances, become “Give Them Hell Barack!”

It is certainly time that the President, in this fall campaign, does everything humanly possible to get the message out to the voters: We have made fundamental changes that are for the good of the American people! There is much to do, but do not set back progress and make life worse for this nation! Give us the chance to continue our work of reforming America for the benefit of all, not just the wealthy and the corporate interests! Let us continue the expansion represented by the New Deal and the Great Society! Make America once again the land of opportunity and the beacon for oppressed people around the globe! Make us proud, instead of promoting a negative attitude about the future! In so doing, we will be continuing the true message of the Founding Fathers, who saw this nation as a unique one in world history!

The Connection Of Charlie Rangel, Dan Rostenkowski And Ted Stevens! :(

Ronald Leave a comment

Three veterans of Congress have been in the news in the past two days, none of them in a happy situation! 🙁

First, former Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens died in a plane crash at the age of 86! After 40 years in the Senate, he was convicted of corruption charges, although later the conviction was reversed, and the Justice Department decided to drop the charges, but only after Stevens had lost his Senate reelection contest. Stevens, the longest serving GOP Senator in history, left office under a cloud! 🙁

Then, New York Congressman Charlie Rangel mounted an awkward defense of himself in the House of Representatives yesterday, interrupting a vote on funding of teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public servants, by a party line vote. His defense was an embarrassment, and made many fellow Democrats angry and frustrated, as his upcoming ethics trial will certainly hurt the image of the Democratic party, but Rangel, age 80 and 40 years in the House, made it clear that he was not going to disappear and admit any wrongdoing or resign, therefore burdening his party at a time when there are thirteen charges against him, and the tone of corruption is clear and evident. Rangel has given up his leadership of the Ways and Means Committee, the most powerful committee in the House, but his refusal to admit any wrongdoing is a sad likely ending to a career which will probably hurt his party! 🙁

Now today, former Democratic Congressman Dan Rostenkowski of Chicago, Illinois, who served 36 years in the House from 1959-1995, and was for 16 years Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, passed away at the age of 82.
He had been convicted and sentenced to prison for corruption after losing his seat in the 1994 Republican wave into power, which was helped by the controversy over Rostenkowski’s corrupt leadership. Bill Clinton later pardoned him, but still the corruption and conviction and imprisonment are part of the historical record! 🙁

So Stevens, Rostenkowski and now Rangel all had a lot in common: long term service in Congress, leaving Congress at advanced ages, all becoming involved in corruption that sullied their reputations, but all having made major contributions to the Congress before going over to the “evil” side!

All three can be seen as sad commentaries on the problem of longevity in public office! People can come to Congress with great idealism and decent motivations, but somehow longevity and gaining of powerful positions over time seems to lead to temptations and greed, part of the human condition! 🙁

While there is no way to enforce term limits, there is a growing argument for turnover and change so as to prevent temptation and greed taking over! No constitutional amendment is possible, but it becomes clear that the American people must take responsibility for promoting turnover so that power does not continue to lie in the hands of older, overly arrogant legislators!

Should anyone be the head of a committee in Congress for endless number of years? NO!

Should members of Congress serve more than the 30 years that marks most people’s careers in one employment position before retirement? NO!

It is up to us, the people, to enforce these changes, and argue that seniority and longevity have their limits, by their close attention to politics, and their votes! 🙁

Essential Action Needed For “99er” Unemployment Compensation Extension!

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We have reached a stage unseen since the Great Depression, having a few million people who have been unemployed through no fault of their own for 99 weeks, nearly two years, and without much hope any time soon for employment opportunities!

These people are heavily middle class, who have been suffering financially and emotionally in a way none of us wish to experience!

To wake up for nearly two years without much hope, particularly with the millions of people unemployed in late 2008 and the first half of 2009, and to face the reality that each job out there has between 5-6 competitors on average, requires immediate action by our government to prevent these people from becoming homeless, living on the streets or out of their cars if they still have one, and going hungry and without medical care!

Many of these people had never experienced unemployment before, and many are highly educated and trained, and many are family people, with wives, husbands, and children!

To tell these people, sorry, you have gained 99 weeks of unemployment, and now you are on your own, is to tell them basically that they can “go to hell”, and that this nation does not give a damn about them and their future!

Here, it is appropriate to bring a religious statement into this discussion: “There but for the grace of God go I!” To say that this misfortune could never happen to us is a sign of cockiness, arrogance, and lack of care for other human beings!

When we have many people taking better care of their pets than we deal with misfortune of human beings, it is time for what Senator Debbie Stebanow of Michigan and others are sponsoring right now! Give small business tax credits to hire workers for a guaranteed 52 weeks of employment, and meanwhile give these unfortunate workers an extension of 20 more weeks of unemployment compensation!

This can be done before the Senate and House go on break, and with only a few Republican votes, and it is essential that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi keep the Congress in session until and when this legislation is approved!

The Tea Party Caucus: Likely The Republican Party’s Worse Nightmare! :(

Ronald Leave a comment

The Tea Party Movement may have success this year in the midterm elections, and some Republican officeholders may feel comfortable to ally themselves with the movement, but the likelihood is that if they become influential, they will be the Republican party’s worse nightmare–uncontrollable, radical, alienating many voters, and causing GOP losses in 2012, both for the Presidency and Congress and the state governments! 🙁

Imagine the worst scenario!

Rand Paul becomes Senator from Kentucky!
Sharron Angle becomes Senator from Nevada!
Mike Lee becomes Senator from Utah!
Marco Rubio becomes Senator from Florida!
Pat Toomey becomes Senator from Pennsylvania!
Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint and James Inhofe endorse the Tea Party activists and join in a caucus with them!
Michele Bachmann keeps her Congressional seat, and organizes a Tea Party caucus in the House of Representatives with Tea Party activists who win House seats!

Imagine this and how it will affect John Boehner and Eric Cantor and Mitch McConnell and Jon Kyl and other establishment Republicans!

In fact, a conservative website, REDSTATE, projects the “ideal” leadership for the Senate, including Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn and lesser leadership roles for Marco Rubio and Pat Toomey! 🙁

It is clear that Republican establishment leaders are fearful of the effects of the Tea Party activists, who will certainly be hard to manage and will be “unruly insurgents”, as the Washington Post terms it! 🙁

So the Republicans might gain seats, and even, possibly control, but then their worse nightmare will occur, and they could turn off the nation completely by 2012, if they do not come up with magical solutions to make the American people want to vote them in again in 2012! 🙁

And the Republican presidential candidate list discussed in an earlier blog entry will rue the day that the Tea Party Movement gained such an impact, as they might do this fall! 🙁

Rick Barber, GOP Congressional Candidate In Alabama, A Total Embarrassment! :(

Ronald Leave a comment

This has been an unusual year, what with all of the Tea Party Movement activities, and the candidacies of such luminaries as Rand Paul in Kentucky, Sharron Angle in Nevada, and others! 🙁

But it is possible that the author has just witnessed the absolutely worst, looniest candidate who could be imagined to exist in the “real” world! 🙁

I am referring to the interview, just a short time ago on Chris Matthews’ show on MSNBC, of Republican Congressional candidate Rick Barber in the 2nd District race in Alabama, who is facing a runoff for the GOP nomination! 🙁

Barber has been calling for revolution against the national government, and utilizing the Founding Fathers (in the form of actors) in his campaign commercials! 🙁

He agreed to an interview with Matthews, and advocated getting rid of the 16th Amendment (Income Tax), and promoting instead a national sales tax of 23 percent! 🙁

Barber came across as totally asinine, stupid, moronic, dense, irrational, and any other insulting adjective one could conjure up! 🙁

He makes Rand Paul and Sharron Angle look like geniuses, and yet as a Congressional candidate in Alabama, which has become very GOP oriented, he has a good shot at being elected to the House, replacing a Democrat, and joining such luminaries as Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, Steve King of Iowa, and other nutcakes who embarrass themselves and the House of Representatives every time they utter a statement to the media or on the floor of the chamber! 🙁

Why is it that in a country of 300 plus million people, that we cannot get intelligent, sensible people in the Republican party to run for public office? These loony candidates and office holders do a great injustice to the historic traditions and reputation of the Republican party! 🙁

The GOP, now 156 years old, deserves far better than it is receiving, as a major political party which has traditions to honor and respect! 🙁