Month: May 2011

The Twists, Turns, And Contortions Of Mitt Romney On Health Care!

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If one looks at the background of Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, it is clear that he is a moderate Republican, both in his statements from years past and his actions as Governor from 2003-2007.

He brought about the first mandated health care, and Massachusetts has benefited greatly from it, but yet Romney desperately wants the Republican nomination for President, which escaped his father’s grasp in 1968, so has decided to “sell his soul” to become President.

So as early as 2007, out of office, he was claiming he was a conservative, but it was clear he was a chameleon, willing to change his views to fit the audience, so he came across to many people in the past Presidential race as phony and self serving.

Now he has, in a speech at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in the state in which his father was Governor in the 1960s, repudiated his own Massachusetts “RomneyCare” as a plan unacceptable beyond the Bay state, without explaining why except to invoke states rights, a weird thing for a Northern Republican to use as an excuse.

He was basically apologizing for his own health care plan, and his body language showed how awkward the situation was, and it indicates that he senses that it is an albatross around his neck, which he is trying to overcome. But meanwhile, the conservative Wall Street Journal made it clear that any kind of health care plan along the lines of the Romney Massachusetts plan is totally unacceptable for the Republican Party nominee in 2012.

So Romney is between “the devil and the deep blue sea”, in the sense that by repudiating his own health care plan he looks inconsistent and self indulging, but even by doing this does not make his quest for the nomination any the easier in a race where his opponents can use that plan as a weapon against him!

The Torment Of John Boehner: Tea Party House Caucus Vs. His Catholic Faith

Ronald 2 Comments

Speaker of the House John Boehner is playing “hardball” in regards to budget cuts, trying to please the Tea Party Caucus in the House of Representatives.

At the same time, the Catholic practicing Boehner is facing severe, vehement opposition from Catholic scholars and activists, including clergy, who accuse him of working against the poor, the sick, the elderly, and therefore defying Church teachings.

So Boehner is between the proverbial “devil and the deep blue sea”!

No matter what he says or does, he engenders strong, insistent opposition that undermines his leadership. He does not seem to be a “happy camper”, as he attempts to negotiate the minefield of keeping the Republican Party on message, and yet not coming across as mean, nasty, hard hearted, uncaring, as that not only affects his relationship with fellow Catholics, but with the general public, which clearly does not want massive budget cuts in the trillions of dollars, as Boehner is advocating and demanding for a budget deal to avoid a debt limit crisis this summer.

The Irony Of Oil Industry Subsidies And Jay Rockefeller

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About a week ago, the five major oil company executives appeared before a Senate committee to defend their right to retain government tax breaks, despite all time profits in the industry, as oil and gasoline prices continue to rise.

There was outrage that the executives, or at least the Conoco Phillips CEO, said it was “UnAmerican” to take away the billions of dollars of subsidies, at a time of budget deficits and the nation on the brink of a showdown on raising the debt limit.

Particularly notable was the condemnation of the industry leaders by Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, whose great grandfather was the original oil baron, John D. Rockefeller, the so called “Robber Baron” of the late 19th and early 20th century!

It was a wonder to behold Senator Rockefeller being outraged at the abuses of the industry! It brought back memories of the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, which so much resembles what has been going on in America since the Age of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s!

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

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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?

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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!

A Clarification On Obama, The Libyan Civil War Intervention, And The War Powers Act

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A few days ago, the author wrote in criticism of a group of Republican conservatives who were making an issue of the fact that 60 days has passed since the Libyan intervention, and that a resolution was needed to continue the intervention, under the War Powers Act of 1973.

The author incorrectly stated that no such resolution was required, but made the point that the Congress could, but never had, demanded the withdrawal of troops within a 60-90 day period, and never, realistically, would.

Upon further investigation, it turns out that it is not just a group of extremely conservative Republicans who are making an issue of this matter, but instead a bipartisan group that is pushing for a resolution next week in the Senate to continue support of the intervention.

And it turns out that yesterday, President Obama called for such a resolution to continue support, which is assured, despite criticism of some Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the political spectrum.

The group pushing a resolution includes Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John McCain of Arizona, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, John Kerry of Massachusetts, Carl Levin of Michigan, and Diane Feinstein of California.

It turns out that Bill Clinton failed to get a resolution within 60 days when he intervened in Kosovo in 1999, with the intervention lasting 78 days, but with specific funding for it approved early on by Congress. In Obama’s case with Libya, no such specific funding has been authorized, and the mission has cost about $750 million already, and has angered forces on the left and the right, including intellectuals and constitutional law professors who contend that the War Powers Act has been further damaged by Obama’s failure to call for action sooner than yesterday.

The author hopes that the resolution will pass, so as to legitimize the intervention, and although the War Powers Act remains considered a “paper tiger” by many observers, it would be best NOT to have it declared totally ineffective, as the issue is not just Obama, but the balance of power between the executive branch and the legislative branch when it comes to war powers!

The Republican Party’s Effect Since 2001: Promotion Of Ignorance, Poverty, Shorter Life Span!

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Since the inauguration of President George W. Bush in January, 2001, the Republican Party has been going down the path of promoting hatred of government, a tone of mean spiritedness and lack of compassion, and extreme advocacy of the interests of the rich and powerful at the expense of the rest of American society!

Whether it is the national government, state governments, or local governments, the Republican Party philosophy has been in unison with the promotion of ignorance, by doing everything within their capability to undermine educational opportunity, the major way for an individual to advance in social mobility!

The Republican Party has also managed to destroy the American economy through lack of regulation of corporations and Wall Street, and through manipulation and incompetence, they have created the worst economic conditions since the 1930s. And any attempt by President Barack Obama and his Democratic Party to reverse course has been met by total obstructionism and refusal to deal with the jobs crisis, therefore creating a higher level of poverty in America than we have seen in many decades.

And now, with the refusal to recognize the humanity of promoting health care for ALL Americans, and instead doing everything to DENY health care, and to advocate the destruction of Medicare as we know it, the Republican Party is making clear its lack of concern for longevity of life of anyone who is poor or elderly.

How any decent human being could be a loyal Republican, with the total lack of humanity and compassion that the present party membership in politics has, is beyond comprehension!

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!

The Gallup Poll And Gay Marriage

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The latest Gallup Poll shows a growing support of gay marriage among Democrats and Independents, but stagnant among Republicans.

According to the poll, 69 percent of Democrats and 59 percent of Independents now support the right of gay men and lesbians to marrry, with both numbers growing rapidly over the past few months.

But Republicans in the poll remain frozen at 28 percent in support, with a lot of this based on evangelical Christian influence on the party, plus the fact that the GOP has NEVER stood for any major reform that promotes civil rights and equality since the 1920s, although they were ahead on reform in the Reconstruction period after the Civil War (Radical Republicans) and the Progressive Era (Progressive Republicans).

Among younger people, particularly, the opposition to gay marriage is small in number, although among older Americans, particularly the elderly who are Christian, the opposition is stronger.

What is clear is that gay marriage is eventually going to be seen as a norm, with the passage of time.

When one looks back 30-50 years from now, one will wonder why such strong opposition existed, similar to those who look back now to 1967, when finally the Supreme Court declared interracial marriage to be constitutional. One will wonder why such a big deal was made over it fifty years ago!

Barack Obama And Israel: Is He Abandoning Israel? NO!

Ronald 1 Comment

Listening to Republicans and Fox News Channel today, one would think that Barack Obama is ready to destroy Israel in his quest for good relations with the Islamic world.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

Obama, in his speech at the State Department yesterday, and in his meeting with right wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today at the White House, made it clear that the United States does not expect Israel to negotiate with Palestinian leadership which refuses to recognize the right of Israel to exist.

Obama also said that the Palestinian leadership cannot expect Israel to accept their dealing with and uniting with Hamas, the terrorist government in charge of the Gaza Strip.

Also, Obama said that the United States would back up Israel in the United Nations against any move to delegitimize or isolate it by vote in that body.

Also, Israel cannot be expected to endanger its own national security and safe borders, and that America would back its steadfast ally in its desire to remain a secular, democratic nation.

The controversial part of the Obama speech yesterday dealt with the proposal to return to pre 1967 borders with some mutually agreeable land swaps to stabilize the territorial boundaries of Israel and a Palestinian state. This is, Obama said, a beginning point for negotiations. Notice, the words are BEGINNING point for NEGOTIATIONS! It is NOT settling the final boundaries and terms of a settlement.

This idea of promoting negotiations and making concessions on both sides is nothing new! It was promoted by all of our Presidents since Israel was created in 1948, but always with the guarantee of protection of the security interests of Israel, our traditional ally!

To believe that President Obama is abandoning Israel is simply wrong thinking, and it must be recalled that earlier Israeli governments under other Prime Ministers were willing to make concessions for peace, but without handing over the security and sovereignty of Israel to Palestinians and terrorists.

The main point here is to help promote negotiations at a time of the so called “Arab Spring”, when so much turmoil and possible democratization is occurring in an area that has seen such harsh dictatorial regimes for so long.

It turns out that President George W. Bush had called for return to pre 1949 boundary lines when Israel was first created, as recently as a speech in 2008, while Obama referred to pre 1967, which in most respects is the same statement, but when Bush suggested it, his party endorsed it, but when Obama suggests it, he is bitterly condemned by Republicans.

What it comes down to is that the Republican party, as always, will simply come out against anything Obama says or does, even if it follows earlier Republican principles or stands.

So an appropriate term for this might be that the Republican Party has a disease–Obama Derangement Syndrome!