Day: March 9, 2011

Now Federal Workers Are Facing Attack By Conservative Interests!

Ronald 1 Comment

The country has been witnessing attacks on public employees in state government and local government, including teachers, police officers, firefighters, nurses, prison guards, social workers, sanitation workers and others, by conservative and business interests who have been working to turn the American people against these public servants, and to claim they are overcompensated.

Now the attack is also beginning against federal employees, so called “bureaucrats” who have regularly been trashed over the years by citizens, as if they are the evil force in government!

The argument is that they are overpaid and have too many benefits, with the attack being led by the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation, two conservative think tanks.

The fact that federal workers are more highly educated and work more highly skilled jobs than private sector employees is conveniently ignored.

Also, the fact that there is a two year freeze on cost of living increases for all federal workers through next year, is overlooked, as the attack on government workers at all levels continues.

The Death Of Political Journalist David Broder Of The Washington Post A Major Loss!

Ronald Leave a comment

News has just come that David Broder, one of the giants of political journalism for the past four decades, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama, has passed away at age 81.

This is a major loss to the Washington Post, the general journalism community, and to political junkies who relied on him for sound, sensible reporting and analysis of American politics and Presidents.

Broder won the Pulitzer Prize, a richly deserved honor for his coverage and analysis of Watergate, and was highly respected by all who believe in a balanced approach to covering politics and public affairs.

This is the kind of reporter and analyst who cannot be replaced, and who always promoted rationality and reason, and was critical of the highly partisan rhetoric so often displayed in recent years on talk radio, cable television, and even by print journalism.

Ultimately, David Broder was always a scholar and a gentleman, the best tribute that can be paid to anyone out to promote public knowledge and insight!

From One US Ambassador To China To Another: Jon Huntsman To Gary Locke

Ronald Leave a comment

President Obama announced today the appointment of Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to be the next US Ambassador to China, succeeding former Republican Governor of Utah Jon Huntsman, who has resigned to run for the Republican nomination for President.

Obama thanked Huntsman for his service, and did not joke, as he has done before, about Huntsman’s plan to challenge him for the White House. Huntsman, who speaks Mandarin Chinese, was seen as performing excellently in China, but has now demonstrated presidential ambitions, and on paper, is one of the best choices that the Republicans have, if only they used common sense, which is not seen as likely!

Locke, meanwhile, Chinese American himself, was County Executive of King County, Washington, which includes Seattle, and also served two four year terms as Governor of Washington, and now has served for more than two years as Secretary of Commerce. His experience in the Commerce Department will be an aid to promotion of more equalized trade between the US and China, and he will be the first Chinese ethnic to be ambassador to the nation of his ancestors.

This appointment is one of the most important ambassadorial positions, with the rising role of China economically and in foreign policy and defense, and the nation is fortunate that Obama has made two excellent appointments to this position in his short time as President!

The States That Will Matter The Most In 2012 Presidential Election

Ronald 1 Comment

When one looks ahead to the 2012 Presidential Election, it is clear what the major battlegrounds will be.

As stated earlier, the Midwest is the major area of the country that will decide who is inaugurated President on January 20, 2013!

President Obama won all of the Midwest except for Missouri, but he is unlikely to win Indiana and Iowa in 2012, and Ohio and Missouri will be difficult, but he will win Illinois and seems likely to win the upper Midwest of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan, particularly after the reaction against Scott Walker in Wisconsin spurred public opinion in favor of the rights of labor to collective bargaining.

North Carolina will be hard to hold on to in the South, but Virginia, with its northern areas bordering on the nation’s capital, and Florida, with South Florida a strong Democratic stronghold and growing anger against Rick Scott’s agenda in the Sunshine State, is also likely to stay Democratic.

In the Far West, it seems likely that Colorado and Nevada will stay Democratic, along with New Mexico, and that Arizona, a center of turmoil similar to Wisconsin and Florida, could go to the Democrats in a close finish.

Pennsylvania also seems likely to stay with the Democrats, as well as the Atlantic and Pacific Coast states.

In summary, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa may be lost, but Florida, Virginia, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada will likely stay with the Democrats, and Arizona and Missouri may switch, with Pennsylvania and Ohio seen likely to be a good possibility as well in a close race, with Ohio less likely to stay Democratic.

With the fact that Obama won 365 electoral votes in 2008, even the loss of a few states, but with a chance to gain other states, and with the reality that unemployment is now expected to dip to close to 7 percent by the fall of 2012, it seems clear that any Republican will have a rough time being elected President!