Bobby Jindal

Republican “Beards”: Tim Scott, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal, Nikki Haley

Ronald Leave a comment

The Republican Party is using its “beards” to try to convince voters of minority groups (African American, Hispanic and Latino, Asian American), which voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party, that the party of heavily white, rural, and older voters is really concerned about equal opportunity and justice for them, a total lie!

So therefore, Tim Scott, the right wing African American Congressman from South Carolina, is being touted as a replacement for Senator Jim DeMint, who is leaving to head the Heritage Foundation. Scott is so extremist that he could be seen as the equivalent of Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, who is despised by a vast majority of the African American population, and even if Scott is appointed to the Senate to replace DeMint, the chance of him convincing the black community, which voted for Barack Obama by about 95 percent, that he is legitimately interested in their welfare and advancement, is miniscule!

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas may be Cuban American, but even their ethnic group voted about 52 percent for Obama, and 71 percent of all Hispanics and Latinos (with only 3 percent being Cuban, as compared to 65 percent being Mexican), voted for the President. So the odds that either Rubio or Cruz is going to be able to convince those of Spanish speaking descent to become Republican, after the anti immigrant campaign of Mitt Romney, and the Republican heritage of standing against immigration reform (with the exception of George W. Bush and John McCain), is really a stretch of one’s delusional thinking!

And the fact that two Asian (from India heritage) Republicans, Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina, are nationally known figures, does not mean that those of any Asian heritage, including from the Far East, are going to vote Republican, when 73 percent of Asian Americans voted for Obama. This is another example of total hallucination by the Republican leadership!

All that Scott, Rubio, Cruz, Jindal, and Haley represent are politicians of specific ethnic backgrounds who have spent their adult lives resisting the needs, wants, and views of the vast majority of their own groups! They are “traitors” to the best interests of groups that have long been ignored and ridiculed by Republican power figures!

So they are acting as “beards”, spreading false propaganda that the Republican Party is the party that people of their heritage should support in the future, but as long as they promote the hateful, divisive rhetoric and philosophies of the extremist right wing, they might continue in office as oddities, but they will not succeed in transforming people of minority heritage to large percentages becoming loyal to the Republican heritage of nativism and exclusionary behavior!

Forget It: Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Bob McDonnell, Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Scott Walker, Rick Perry, Ted Cruz, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee! The White House Is NOT Your Future!

Ronald Leave a comment

Many Republican officeholders are hinting that they may seek the Presidency, but for a whole bunch of them, the best advice is to simply FORGET IT! There is no chance in the world that any of the following will be the next President of the United States:

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey
Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin
Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia
Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana
Former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania
Governor John Kasich of Ohio
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky
Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin
Governor Rick Perry of Texas
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee

In reality, any Republican nominee will have a great deal of trouble being elected President in 2016.

However, the following have some chance to be the nominee and to compete for the Presidency:

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida
Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman
Senator John Thune of South Dakota

Good luck, Gentleman, but the Democrats have a tremendous demographic edge for the long term future in the Presidency!

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson, Out Of $150 Million Lost Supporting Alternatives To Barack Obama, Plans For 2016 With Hard Line Right Governors, Another Lost Investment!

Ronald Leave a comment

Billionaire Las Vegas casino owner Sheldon Adelson, who wasted $150 million trying to defeat Barack Obama, by supporting Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney in 2012, is starting early in his quest to find a Republican Governor who can be elected President in 2016.

So, as a result, we had three Republican Governors, all certain to be similar disasters as Mitt Romney was in 2012, being supplicants to this crooked billionaire, who is being investigated by the government for corruption. We have seen Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, and Ohio Governor John Kasich meeting with this man, without the embarrassment that they are being “bought” by a man who is despicable in his desire to control the government by hook or by crook. Rather than utilize his massive $21 billion fortune to promote education in urban ghetto communities; or contribute to medical research on cancer or heart disease or other diseases; or environmental preservation projects; or poverty projects to make life better for children; or any of numerous other useful commitments to the broad American community, Adelson only has the motive to fix the election with his money, but it will fail as in 2012!

NO, instead, the purpose is to “own” politicians to do his bidding, with these nasty, mean spirited, but of course “religious” Governors, not being embarrassed to meet with a multi billionaire who is only out to protect himself and his wealth.

Any flirtation of these characters with Adelson will fail in 2016, and none of these three will end up as the GOP nominee in any case, but if by some fluke one of them ends up as the Presidential nominee of the Republican Party, he will suffer a similar defeat to a superior Democratic opponent, no matter who it ends up being!

Eight Poor, Backward States Reject Expansion Of Medicaid For Their Poor, Sick, Disabled And Elderly Citizens: Reprehensible!

Ronald Leave a comment

Eight states, among the poorest in the nation, and mostly in the South, have now seen their Governors and Republican legislatures reject an expansion of the Medicaid program, which is so desperately needed by their poor, sick, disabled, and elderly citizens, an absolutely reprehensible development!

The states are Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma and Maine.

2.8 million people will suffer, with half of them being in Texas. So this means that Governors ranging from Rick Perry, Nikki Haley, Paul LePage to Bobby Jindal, all except LePage having shown interest in running for President, have taken a hard stand against those less fortunate!

It is unbelievable that in 21st century America that we could have such backward leaders of states, who show contempt for their own citizens, and yet are likely to be reelected by an ignorant, uncaring population, and in states where, with the exception of Maine, the population claims to be “religious” and “good Christians”, but defy the message of their faith, to care for the poor and disadvantaged!

Bobby Jindal Tells Republicans To Stop Being “Stupid” Party! But Is That Possible?

Ronald Leave a comment

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has declared that the Republican Party has to stop acting “stupid”, and must stop backing no increase in taxes on the wealthy, and insulting the intelligence of voters by crazy statements and viewpoints.

This all sounds very good in theory, but is what Jindal suggests really possible?

The answer is NO, as the following evidence demonstrates:

1, The Republican Party insulted their own history by having loony, nutty, whacky candidates in the race for the Presidency, including Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, and Rick Santorum. And Santorum made it clear that the Republican Party would never get the backing of intelligent, educated, smart people, which is absolutely the case right now

2. The Republicans settled on Mitt Romney, who looked reasonable in 2011, but in order to win the nomination of his party, totally transformed himself into a mean, nasty, hard hearted candidate who was willing to lie, to deceive, to change his views daily, deny his whole political heritage, and came across ultimately as totally insincere and untrustworthy. Many people found Mitt Romney obnoxious, feeling privileged and entitled, extremely phony to the core, and just wanting the campaign to end so that they no longer had to see his face and hear his voice!

3. Mitt Romney proceeded to pick an absolutely horrible Vice Presidential running mate, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, who came across as totally ideological, and alienated senior citizens and others with his call for privatizing Medicare and Social Security, and his extreme right wing agenda to cut the budget ruthlessly, without ever raising any taxes on the wealthy, who have had a ten year break from reasonable taxation, because of the Bush tax cuts. Ryan helped Romney to lose the “battleground” states, and his appointment showed poor judgment by Romney.

4. The Republican Party declared “war” on women, Hispanics and Latinos, young people wanting to get an education, senior citizens concerned about Social Security and Medicare, the disabled concerned about Medicaid, those who cared about the environment and consumer rights, those who support labor rights, African Americans who saw racism in the GOP message, and many others who were totally turned off to the party message.

5. The conservative media are like poison to the Republican Party, as are the social conservatives who want to interfere with people’s private lives based on promoting theocracy in America, and the Grover Norquist promotion of never, under any circumstances, raising taxes—all of this makes the Republican Party totally toxic to most voters. And of course, the decision to repudiate science in favor of religion shows how backward the party has become.

6. To believe that the Republican Party will change under these circumstances is to be naive, and any change would seem to be phony and just looking for votes, not a sincere reform or conversion.

Speculation Seriously Begins On 2016 Presidential Competition

Ronald 2 Comments

Eight weeks away from the Presidential Election of 2012, but with the obvious trend toward Barack Obama emerging, political pundits are starting to speculate on who might compete for the Democratic and Republican Presidential nominations in 2016, when if Barack Obama is reelected in 2012, we will be certain to have a new President.

The field of potential nominees is long in both parties. Among those being discussed are the following:

Democrats

Vice President Joe Biden from Delaware
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from New York
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar
Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill
Virginia Senator Mark Warner
Newark New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker
Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren

Republicans

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
Florida Senator Marco Rubio
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul
Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum
Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham
South Dakota Senator John Thune

So there are, theoretically, 12 Democrats and 14 Republicans who can be seen now as possible competitors for the Presidential nominations, but of course, some of these conceivable candidacies are based on election results yet to occur, including whether Senators Claire McCaskill, Scott Brown, and Lindsay Graham are reelected, the first two this year, and Graham in 2014; whether Cory Booker runs for New Jersey Governor and defeats Chris Christie, with the result eliminating one of those two candidacies; whether Elizabeth Warren can defeat Scott Brown, which would eliminate one or the other of those two candidacies; and whether the “old timers”—Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Jeb Bush—decide to run or stay out of the race, leaving the battle for the nominations to the “new generation” of leadership that is emerging in both political parties.

As of now, there is plenty of diversity in the potential race, with the following statistics:

7 women in the race–Hillary Clinton, Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand, Claire McCaskill, Elizabeth Warren for the Democrats, and Nikki Haley and Kelly Ayotte for the Republicans.
2 African Americans in the race—Deval Patrick and Cory Booker for the Democrats.
1 Hispanic-Latino in the race—Marco Rubio for the Republicans.
2 Asian Americans in the race (both of India heritage)—Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley for the Republicans.

On the Democratic side, there are three potential candidates from New York—Hillary Clinton, Andrew Cuomo, Kirsten Gillibrand; one from New Jersey (Cory Booker); one from Delaware (Joe Biden); one from Maryland (Martin O’Malley); two from Massachusetts (Deval Patrick and Elizabeth Warren)–a total of eight of the 12 potential candidates from the Northeast, with one from the South (Mark Warner of Virginia); two from the Midwest (Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Claire McCaskill of Missouri); and one from the West (Brian Schweitzer of Montana).

On the Republican side, there are four potential candidates from the Northeast—Chris Christie of New Jersey, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, and Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania; seven from the South and border states—Bob McDonnell of Virginia, Nikki Haley and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio of Florida, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and Rand Paul of Kentucky; and three from the Midwest—Paul Ryan and Scott Walker of Wisconsin and John Thune of South Dakota.

Additionally, there are many Catholics running, startling when one considers that this nation has only had one Catholic President (John F. Kennedy), and one Catholic Vice President (Joe Biden).

Also, the Democrats have four Governors, one Mayor, and seven former or sitting or potential Senators on their list; while the Republicans have six Governors or former Governors, seven Senators, and one Congressman on their list.

Speculation starting already makes the 2016 Presidential race seem ever closer even though it will not begin in earnest until mid to late 2014, and particularly so after the midterm elections of 2014!

The Right Wing Push For Congressman Paul Ryan As Vice Presidential Nominee

Ronald Leave a comment

Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan is being pushed by right wing forces, including the Wall Street Journal and the National Review, as Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential running mate, as the time nears for the announcement of who will be the former Massachusetts Governor’s Number Two!

Ryan is very young (42), handsome, articulate, and willing to get into the fray, as he is an ideologist, out to privatize Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, therefore dramatically changing American economic and social policy. His budget plan, drawn up as House Budget Committee Chairman, is highly controversial.

But for a man like Romney who emphasizes the private sector, Ryan is just the opposite, as his entire career has been in government, a contradiction of what Romney thinks is his own advantage over other politicians.

If Ryan is picked, he would be the fourth Vice Presidential nominee of the GOP who would be extremely young, as compared to the Presidential candidate, an interesting scenario, as Richard Nixon was 40, more than 22 years younger than Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952, and Dan Quayle was 41, more than 22 years younger than George H. W. Bush in 1988. Ryan at 42 is also more than 22 years younger than Mitt Romney. Of course, Sarah Palin was 28 years younger than John McCain in 2008 at age 44, the all time difference in age.

Of course Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida are almost a year and a half younger than Ryan, at age 41, so would be actually 24 years younger than Romney, were they to be chosen.

The question that also arises is whether Romney really wants a strong willed, outspoken man to be his running mate, since he loves to be in charge of everything he runs, without question. Who would he be most comfortable with is certainly a factor in who he chooses.

The gut feeling is that either he goes with Ryan as a bold pick, an ideological pick, hoping to benefit from the clear cut alternative to what Barack Obama represents, or surprises everyone by selecting a woman, such as Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, a swing state and a pitch to women, similar to what John McCain did with Sarah Palin in 2008. Ayotte, while certainly better than Palin, would still be a controversial pick, as her total experience in government is extremely limited.

Picking Senator Rob Portman of Ohio or former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty would make more sense long term, but would be boring, and would not please the ideological right!

We will learn a lot about Mitt Romney when he picks his running mate in the next few days, already a long time overdue!

The Vice Presidential Selection: More Important Than Many People Realize!

Ronald Leave a comment

The office of the Vice Presidency has often been ridiculed, and some have argued for its abolition by a constitutional amendment, but that is a wrong headed idea.

The Vice Presidency has become an important office since the 1950s, when Richard Nixon transformed the office, both by his own ambitions, and the willingness of President Dwight D. Eisenhower to allow the office to expand.

While Lyndon B. Johnson under John F. Kennedy and Hubert H. Humphrey under Johnson were not used effectively by their Presidents, and while Spiro Agnew under Richard Nixon and Dan Quayle under George H. W. Bush could be seen as disasters in office, still the office has grown in stature and accomplishments otherwise.

So Gerald Ford, in his brief Vice Presidency under Richard Nixon, Nelson Rockefeller under Gerald Ford, Walter Mondale under Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush under Ronald Reagan, Al Gore under Bill Clinton, Dick Cheney under George W. Bush, and Joe Biden under Barack Obama have had a great impact on the office, and made it an office of real power and influence!

When one realizes that Ford and the first Bush ended up in the White House, as did Nixon and Lyndon Johnson; and that Humphrey, Mondale, and Gore were Presidential nominees; and that Rockefeller and Biden both sought the Presidential nomination, one realizes that choosing a Vice Presidential nominee is not to be regarded as insignificant to the nation!

But can we afford another Agnew, Quayle, Geraldine Ferraro, or Sarah Palin to be a possible heartbeat away from the Presidency?

The answer clearly is NO, so Mitt Romney, by taking his time to choose a running mate, hopefully is carefully considering who could really contribute to the office, and help Romney if the two of them end up in the White House!

If one decides to forget everything but experience and competence, and ability to add to Romney’s candidacy, then the choice must be one of the following: Condoleezza Rice, Rob Portman, or Tim Pawlenty.

Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Bob McDonnell, John Thune, and Kelly Ayotte all have issues and problems if they are chosen, and one could argue that some of them could not match the list of Vice Presidents who have served, as not being on their competency level.

But if one had to predict what now seems likely, don’t be surprised that Mitt Romney selects Paul Ryan, which would be an unmitigated disaster, as the controversy surrounding him and his economic plans would reverberate against Mitt Romney.

The gut feeling is that Ryan is on the top of the list, followed by Kelly Ayotte, who is simply not qualified to be President, and would not be much better than Sarah Palin was in the 2008 election cycle.

So bet on Ryan or Ayotte, but if Romney does the best for the nation, it would be Rice, Portman, or Pawlenty!

One Month To The Republican Convention: Time To Reconsider Mitt Romney Being The GOP Presidential Nominee, Before It Is Too Late!

Ronald Leave a comment

The Republican National Convention begins one month from today, and the party is in deep trouble.

It has a presumed nominee who is a total disaster, an embarrassment to the party in so many ways, it cannot be calculated.

With all of his faults and shortcomings, it was thought that Mitt Romney would conduct himself properly at the Olympic Games in Great Britain, but instead he managed to alienate, totally, our closest ally with his stupid, inane comments, and his blunders and forgetfulness–mentioning the secret intelligence service, and forgetting the name of the opposition leader, after claiming there were problems with holding the Olympics in London, as compared to Salt Lake City. The Mayor of London was incensed, along with Prime Minister David Cameron, and rightfully!

This man is now being compared by the British press to George W. Bush and Sarah Palin!

It is clearly time for the GOP to consider nominating someone else,and the answer might be to have Romney pick a running mate, who would then be nominated for President, and the best choice clearly would be former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who dropped out of the race after the straw vote of the Iowa Caucuses, but to many seemed an acceptable candidate, somewhat boring, but still pleasant and competent!

Picking Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Bobby Jindal or Chris Christie would be far worse, with only Rob Portman, Senator from Ohio, being acceptable as an alternative to Pawlenty.

Would Pawlenty or Portman win over Barack Obama? Highly unlikely, but at least neither would be an embarrassment to the party or the nation!

It is time for Mitt Romney to have the courage to back down from the nomination, but he will not do so, so he must be forced by the GOP delegates to do so!

Anyone who now still thinks Mitt Romney will be the next President needs to have his head examained!

Medicaid Expansion And State Governors: Reaction Based On Party Affiliation!

Ronald Leave a comment

The federal government has offered to cover Medicaid expansion for the poor and uninsured in 2014 and after, because otherwise, millions of Americans will have no health care coverage, and that will increase the number of serious illnesses and deaths long term.

But predictably, and sadly, we find most Republican Governors refusing to expand their Medicaid system, including Bob McDonnell of Virginia, Nikki Haley of South Carolina, Rick Scott of Florida, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Rick Perry of Texas, Jan Brewer of Arizona, Paul LePage of Maine, and Scott Walker of Wisconsin, among others.

Meanwhile, most Democratic Governors, including Andrew Cuomo of New York, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Dan Malloy of Connecticut, Martin O’Malley of Maryland , Jack Markell of Delaware, Mark Dayton Of Minnesota, Pat Quinn Illinois, and Jerry Brown of California, among others, have made it clear they will expand the Medicaid coverage.

The contrast is startling, as GOP Governors, following in tune with the Republican House and Senate minority members, are in lockstep, making it clear they will not support expanded medical coverage, as part of their plan to wipe out ObamaCare, despite the Supreme Court decision last month!

The fact that the federal government would pay most of the costs, an estimated $931 billion through 2022, with the states only having to pay $73 billion, has had no effect on the Republican Governors!