Month: July 2011

Barack Obama And Medicare: Raising The Age Of Eligibility Is Wrong!

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In the midst of the debate and negotiations over the Debt Ceiling Crisis being raised, President Obama has reportedly suggested the idea of raising the Medicare eligibility age at some unknown point in the future to age 67 from age 65!

Hopefully, this is all a bluff, and will go nowhere, or is being reported incorrectly, as raising the Medicare age would be absolutely wrong!

For people over 55 now, it absolutely should not be considered as they are close to retirement age.

But even for those under 55, it would be wrong, as one forgets that not everyone has a low stress, or mental oriented job that they go to daily.

Many have physically challenging jobs of high stress, and the human body can start having all kinds of problems by the mid to late 50s, and even more so in those people who do not sit behind a desk or primarily use their minds at their workplace.

For a person 65-67 to attempt, if retired or not receiving health care coverage at work, to find adequate health care coverage at a delicate age such as the mid 60s, is nearly impossible, and an unnecessary stress on such individuals.

As we are trying to provide health care to millions more people through the Obama Health Care plan, this is not the time to make the gaining of health care for people 65-67 more stressful and difficult!

America’s workers have enough trouble staying above water economically, and if anything, what we really need is Medicare for all, instead of the more limited health care plan passed by Congress in 2010, and now being challenged all the way up to the Supreme Court!

The Torment Of John Boehner: Being Pressured By Tea Party Crazies And Eric Cantor!

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Speaker of the House John Boehner is under the greatest pressure he has ever faced in public life.

Having attained his goal of being Speaker, Boehner has been surrounded by Tea Party crazies, a group of 87 House Republican freshmen, most of whom came to the chamber with an attitude of hating government and wishing to destroy it in their quest to prevent ANY tax increases EVER, and to tear down the social safety net of the New Deal and Great Society, epitomized by Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid!

Surrounded by overly ambitious House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, and Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, all being at least a decade younger than Boehner, they have made it clear that they back the looney freshmen, and are making Boehner’s ability to lead, and at the same time be responsible, nearly impossible!

Boehner used to say that the raising of the debt ceiling was not essential by a certain date, but now he is agreeing with President Obama on the importance of raising the debt limit by August 2, realizing the long term economic damage that would occur if the Congress were so reckless as to refuse to raise the debt ceiling, something that has been done without controversy numerous times over many years!

Obama is winning the public relations battle, while Boehner is mightily squirming, as to how to get his caucus of loonies to do what MUST be done!

If he fails to get them to do what MUST be done, he will go down in history as responsible for a very damaging economic collapse!

But IF he does, somehow, get the mission accomplished in some form, he will most certainly face a rebellion within his party ranks, led by Eric Cantor, and will lose his Speakership!

Which is more important, the national economy or the Speakership of John Boehner? These next few weeks are the true test of courage and leadership, and if Boehner is a good patriot, if need be, he should sacrifice his future leadership for the greater good of doing what is right about the American economy and future!

Death Of Alexander Hamilton On This Day In 1804: What Would He Think Of The Debt Ceiling Crisis?

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On this day, 207 years ago, in 1804, former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton was killed in a gun duel with Vice President Aaron Burr!

The tragedy of this bright, intelligent, brilliant man, who made such a dramatic difference in our history, dying at the young age of 47, still reverberates through our nation, as we desperately need a financial genius such as Hamilton to resolve our financial difficulties, where we are on the brink of default of our debt payments by August 2, unless cooler heads prevail and a compromise is reached!

Would Hamilton be proud of the Republican Party refusal to consider any tax adjustments, reforms, or increases, when the tax rate is the lowest it has been since the 1940s, and our greatest prosperity came during the Eisenhower and Kennedy Administrations, when the tax rates were as high as 91 percent under Eisenhower, and were dropped to 70 percent under JFK?

Hamilton, who believed in the power of the federal government, would be appalled at the states rights emphasis reviving today, as if there was no Civil War to resolve that matter!

He would be shocked at the ignorance of Republican leaders and supporters who feel no loyalty to the country, but only to their own selfish, greedy personal desires!

Hamilton revived the American economy 220 years ago when it was in desperate circumstances, making certain that all debts were paid!

It would be ironic if now we saw our nation declare bankruptcy, which will damage the nation and its citizens for generations to come, all over refusal to promote what the definition of politics is, that it is “the art of compromise”!

The False Promise Of The “Balanced Budget” Constitutional Amendment

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Tea Party activists and conservative Republicans, led by Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, are touting the idea of a constitutional amendment to force a balanced budget on the nation in the future.

This is nothing new, as it was proposed in the past by Republicans in the 1980s and 1990s, and never went anywhere.

These political leaders seem to forget that a constitutional amendment requires a two thirds vote of the House of Representatives and a two thirds vote of the Senate, and then would need 38 states (three fourths) out of 50 to put it into the Constitution.

If this had been easy to do years ago, it would have been accomplished.

The fact is that the idea of such an amendment is preposterous, and will NEVER happen!

Who can see 290 House members and 67 Senators agreeing to such an amendment, and no more than 12 states rejecting such an idea?

Who cannot understand that a one vote margin of defeat in one of the two houses of the state legislatures in no more than 13 states will kill such an amendment, if it ever made it through Congress?

This is a political ploy which will go nowhere, and were it to become part of the Constitution, it would create many crises whenever an emergency arose, whether war, natural disaster, or another economic downturn.

There is no way for anyone or any government to plan precisely on what emergencies will arise, so the amendment would cripple a government’s ability to respond.

So chalk the discussion up to political posturing, and nothing else!

Tim Pawlenty Rejects Return To “Rockefeller Republicanism”: Just What Is Needed For America’s Future!

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Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, on Meet The Press this morning, has made the statement that this is not the time for the return of “Rockefeller Republicanism”, referring to the former “Liberal” wing of the Republican Party led by former NY Governor, Vice President, and perennial Presidential candidate Nelson Rockefeller.

Nelson Rockefeller, even if one could find fault with him personally or on specific issues, represented a viewpoint shared by many Republicans in the 1960s, 1970s, and into the 1980s–of being “mainstream” on economic, social, and foreign policy issues.

It used to be that the Republican Party offered an alternative which one could “live” with, even if one were a Democrat.

The Republican party was seen as center Right, but the emphasis was on CENTER.

A whole generation of Republican Governors and Senators fit this image–among them George Romney, William Scranton, Charles Percy, Clifford Case, Lowell Weicker, Jacob Javits, Charles Mathias, Mark Hatfield, Tom Kuchel, and Bob Packwood.

The Republican Party today represents an extremist group which offers no possibility of restoring confidence in the future of American politics, as they have allowed themselves to be “hijacked” by social conservatives and Tea Party Movement radicals who see no problem in allowing the government to default on its debts, and destroying the social safety net built up by the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson.

Were the Republican Party to return to the views of the “Rockefeller” wing of past decades, the future of the party and of the nation would be vastly improved, but that is highly unlikely, something sad to say!

American “Exceptionalism”: Life Expectancy In America Decreasing In Many Sections, And What It Says About America

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A new study by the Institute For Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington demonstrates that life expectancy in America varies widely by region, and is decreasing in some locations in the country.

Eighty percent of American counties fell behind in standing as against the average of the ten nations with the best life expectancies in the world.

The US is only 36th in life expectancy overall, with an average of 78.3 years, with overall increase in expectancy by about two years for men to 75.6 in 2007, and one year increase in expectancy for women to 80.8 in the same year.

But areas of life expectancy that are declining or lower than the average are most common in West Virginia, through the Southern Appalachian Mountains, and west through the Deep South into North Texas.

The oddity is that certain states have areas of growth in life expectancy in sections near others that are in decline, as in Virginia, Colorado, Minnesota, Utah, California, Washington State, and Florida.

Factors involved in differences in life expectancy seem to be obesity and smoking, along with poorly controlled blood pressure and a lack of primary care physicians.

The state, overall, with the worst life expectancy is Mississippi, not all that surprising, whether white or African American population. Mississippi falls behind such countries as Honduras, El Salvador, Peru, Brazil, Latvia, and the Philippines.

This study makes it clear that we have a long way to go as a nation to improve the health care of our citizens, particularly those who are poor, whether white or minority background. But instead, the emphasis is on cutting back on health care, because of the claim that America is “exceptional”, and that we have the best health care system in the world, a totally inaccurate statement, as that is only true for those who are rich and fortunate, not for wide swaths of American society!

Betty Ford: One Of The Greatest First Ladies In American History, Dead at 93!

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First Lady Betty Ford, widow of President Gerald R. Ford, who died four and a half years ago at 93, tonight passed away at the same age of 93!

With her death, the nation has lost one of its greatest First Ladies, and one who never sought the title or the position!

Betty Ford was a shy person who never looked for the limelight, and was far from thrilled when her husband suddenly became President on August 9, 1974, upon the resignation of President Richard Nixon due to the Watergate scandal.

But she was a loyal wife who took it upon herself to speak up in a modern way not seen since Eleanor Roosevelt was First Lady in the administration of her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Betty Ford spoke up for the Equal Rights Amendment for women; supported abortion rights; was courageous to expose and champion the issue of breast cancer after she had surgery as First Lady because of having that medical problem; and made public as well her addiction to pain pills due to depression, and promoted the Betty Ford Center in California for people who had drug or alcohol problems as she had.

Betty Ford was a woman of courage and conviction; a feminist when it was not popular in many circles, particularly Republican, to be so; and in every sense a MODERN lady, who helped to humanize her husband, who while considered a conservative at the time of his Presidency, today would come across as a moderate to liberal Republican, probably likely to be read out of the party with its right wing extremist trend in recent years!

The author always admired Betty Ford, and the nation will mourn the death of this elegant, classy lady, who added to the office of First Lady of the United States, as one of its greatest representatives!

Barack Obama, The Democratic Party, And The American People: On The Way To Separation Or Divorce?

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President Obama is alienating his progressive base, due to indications that he is willing to negotiate cuts in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, as part of a deal with the Congressional Republicans to avoid a default of the government, as we face the August 2 deadline of the need to raise the debt ceiling.

Various groups, including labor unions, the National Organization For Women, The Alliance For Retired Americans, and Moveon.Org are furious with the President. Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have all made it clear that such concessions are totally unacceptable.

The question is whether President Obama has the courage to stand up to the Republicans and possibly help to cause a default on the national debt, or instead is willing to antagonize his base and sacrifice the support of the Democratic Party’s heritage–the New Deal and Great Society programs that have become our safety net!

It means that either President Obama will cause a “separation” or “divorce” from the American people 16 months from now, or cause a similar “separation” or “divorce” from his party loyalists as he enters the campaign for re-election in November 2012!

One could say that Obama has the choice between the “devil and deep blue sea”, and what he ultimately chooses to do will reverberate in the long run for the nation and his historical reputation!

The Conservative Majority Supreme Court And Texas Governor Rick Perry Message To American Tourists Overseas, Particularly In Mexico: Travel At Your Own Risk!

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Last night, a Mexican national who had committed a heinous murder in Texas was executed, which in itself is nothing unusual, and no one is mourning the individual involved.

But what is to be mourned is the fact that the Supreme Court and Texas Governor Rick Perry have just made safety for American tourists overseas, particularly in Mexico, far less certain.

One might ask: how is that so? The answer is that the International Court of Justice in the Hague had ruled in 2004 that at least 50 Mexican citizens on death row in the United States had been denied their rights under the Vienna Convention, which requires that foreign citizens be informed of their right to assistance from the consular officials of their nation in their legal defense.

Nothing had been done by Congress regarding this, and Rick Perry refused to listen to the appeal of President Obama to delay the execution, allow action by Congress, and prevent the danger that American citizens in Mexico could similarly be treated as Texas was dealing with this inmate.

It is troubling that for political reasons, the conservative majority of the Court and the Texas Governor took action that interfered with the foreign policy authority of the Presidency.

And the biggest loser could be American citizens, who now must expect retribution, and the actions of the Supreme Court and Rick Perry, for political gain, make the warning clear: You are on your own if you get into any kind of legal trouble in Mexico, and maybe, anywhere, in theory.

From An Economic Crisis To A Constitutional Crisis: The Insanity Of Tea Party Conservative Republicans In The House Of Representatives!

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With Tea Party and conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives holding firmly against any raising of the debt ceiling by raising revenue through tax reform and the ending of tax loopholes, it seems more likely that we may reach a situation where the good faith and credit of the United States could be lost by August 2, leading to a worldwide economic collapse that would put our nation into another Great Depression!

What could be done to prevent this scenario if no agreement is reached between the White House and Congressional Republicans?

As Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner had suggested in May, the 14th Amendment, Section 4, would be a solution, as it guarantees all government debts must be paid, so the debt ceiling would automatically go up without a congressional vote under such a situation.

But now, there are threats of impeachment of the President, first suggested by black Republican conservative Congressman Tim Scott of South Carolina, a member just as looney as Congressman Allen West of Florida in his irrationality!

Of course, there have been threats of impeachment before over ending support of the Defense of Marriage Act; illegal immigration policy; and the “Birther” controversy by other nutty Republicans, and Obama will not let such threats deter him from doing the responsible thing!

But it means we may be moving soon from an economic crisis to a constitutional crisis, and if that is the case, bring it on, as there is no way that Obama would ever be removed from office by a two thirds vote of the US Senate!

The economic survival of the nation is more important than the fruitless move to impeach another President, bringing back memories of the abuse of impeachment by the Republicans against President Bill Clinton in 1998-1999!