Connecticut

The Hypocrisy Of Mitch McConnell And Rand Paul! :(

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Rand Paul, both from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, represent one of the poorest states in the Union, and yet both are believers in limited government and talk about balancing the budget no matter how much it hurts their own constituents.

But in actual fact, despite their rhetoric, Kentucky is a leading “welfare” state!

According to the conservative Tax Foundation, Kentucky gains back $1.51 for every dollar they send to the US government! Other so called “conservative” states also receive much more back than they contribute.

Imagine this: it is the “blue” states, that are accused of reckless budgets, who actually are cheated by the US government!

For instance, California gets back only 81 cents for every dollar sent to the national government, while Illinois gets 75 cents, New York gets 79 cents, and Connecticut even less with only 69 cents!

So the ‘blue” states are cheated in favor of the “red” states, even though they claim to be against welfare and handouts!

If it was not for the wealthier states contributing to Kentucky and other Southern and Western states that are poorer, those “red” states would be even worse off than they are!

But at the least, could we not expect Senators McConnell and Paul to be more honest and admit that they do truly believe in welfare and handouts, as long as their residents are not paying for it?

Anything less is HYPOCRISY! So what is new? 🙁

The Strange Relationship Of Joe Lieberman And John McCain

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The story of the strange, odd relationship between Independent Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona continues to amaze.

Lieberman was the Vice Presidential running mate of Al Gore in the 2000 Presidential election.

After September 11, Lieberman became very fixated on national security, including giving full support to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, joining McCain and many Republicans in that view, including Vice President Dick Cheney.

By 2006, Lieberman had alienated many Democrats, lost the Democratic Senatorial primary for another term, and ran as an independent Democrat, winning back his seat.

By 2008, he had antagonized the Democratic Party further by refusing to support Barack Obama, and endorsing John McCain for President.

He was on the short list of McCain to run for Vice President, which would have been a path breaking bi-partisan ticket.

There was some consideration by the Democratic Party to deny him a chairmanship because of his disloyalty, but Obama made clear that he did not support such an action.

Lieberman and McCain have continued to be the best of friends, and on national security and defense, they are united.

But as McCain turned further right in order to win back his Senate seat, Lieberman continued to be a liberal on domestic issues, other than homeland security.

So Lieberman is working very hard to end “don’t ask, don’t tell” in the military, while McCain is leading the charge to keep it the policy of the defense establishment. Lieberman has even said that he is working on McCain but is having no success in changing his mind.

The two men are on opposite ends of the abortion issue as well, along with all other domestic issues, and yet they remain good friends and socialize a great deal with each other.

A book will be written someday analyzing the strange, odd friendship and alliance of Lieberman and McCain–of how a basically liberal Democrat and conservative Republican could become such strong allies on things they believe in common, and strong opponents of each other, in a very civil way, on issues that they totally disagree on.

This may be the greatest, but oddest relationship of two opposing Senators since the famous one of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy and Utah Senator Orrin Hatch!

Multi Millionaire Business Executives Likely To Be Defeated In November: An Important Message From Voters!

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The Republican Party is trying to convince the nation that multimillionaire businessmen and women, who have never had any political experience, but are willing to spend tens of millions of their own money, should be rewarded with public office, either the Senate or Governorships!

The likelihood is that most, if not all, will be defeated in their attempt to “buy” the office with their own wealth!

None of these people give a damn about average Americans, and are just trying to stroke their own egos, and think personal fortunes alone should be enough to satisfy their need for power and influence! Their level of arrogance is amazing, and should NOT be rewarded! 🙁

I am referring to the following:

Meg Whitman, running for California Governor
Carly Fiorina, running for California Senator
Linda McMahon, running for Connecticut Senator
Carl Paladino, running for New York Governor
Rick Scott, running for Florida Governor
John Raese, running for West Virginia Senator
Ron Johnson, running for Wisconsin Senator

The alternatives are, respectively:

Former Governor Jerry Brown of California
Senator Barbara Boxer of California
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo of New York
Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink of Florida
Governor Joe Manchin of West Virginia
Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin

Anyone who seriously analyzes these seven races would come to the conclusion that the Democrats stand for solid backgrounds, loads of experience, concern for those NOT rich, and strong principles–all reasons to support their election or re-election to public office!

Female Vs. Female Political Races And More Women Running Against Men: A Record Breaking Year?

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A fascinating part of the 2010 election cycle is the fact that there will be more female vs. female races than we have seen before in American history!

For the Senate, the only such race will be Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer against former Hewlett Packard CEO and Republican Carly Fiorina in California!

For the office of Governor, there will be two all female races–in New Mexico, where Republican Susana Martinez will run against Democrat Diane Denish; and Oklahoma, where Democrat Jari Askins will compete against Republican Mary Fallin! Both Democrats, by the way, have been Lieutenant Governor of their states and still are!

In Congressional races, the most notable is Republican Congresswomen Michele Bachmann of Minnesota against Democratic state legislator Tarryl Clark!

But also running in South Dakota for the state wide Congressional seat are Democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin against Republican state representative Kristi Noem!

Of course, there are other women running for high office, but against men! Among them are gubernatorial candidates in California (Republican Meg Whitman), South Carolina (Republican Nikki Haley), and Florida (Democrat Alex Sink). For the Senate, we see Sharron Angle (Republican of Nevada) and Linda McMahon (Republican of Connecticut). Additionally, there are numerous Congresswomen running for reelection, and many women who are opposing men in and outside of the House of Representatives for House seats.

Will this be a major “Year of the Woman” in American politics? Maybe it will not be a record breaker, but certainly women are playing a growing role in American politics, and of course we are not talking here about the numerous women who sit in state legislatures, city councils, boards of education, and other elected bodies, or who are running to be part of these government structures!

Connecticut Still A Blue State Despite Christopher Dodd’s Decision To Retire

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Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd has come under fire in the past two years for bad decisions as head of the Banking Committee, and his activism for health care reform, as well as his attempt to run for President in 2008.

Despite that, Dodd overall has an admirable record in his 30 years in the Senate and six years in the House of Representatives.

But the time has come for change, and the death of his good friend Ted Kennedy made him reconsider whether at age 65, he needed to go through a tough reelection race. He also had his own battle with prostate cancer, and lost a sister to cancer this past summer.

Fortunately, his state will remain “blue”, as long time Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who has wanted to go for a Senate seat but was stymied by the long service of Dodd and Joe Lieberman, has already announced for the Senate, and has sky high ratings. He is considered one of the very best state Attorney Generals in the nation, so the seat will remain Democratic.

The loss of Byron Dorgan and Christopher Dodd is a loss, as both contributed much to the history of the nation and the Senate. We should wish them both well!

Time To Vote Joe Lieberman Out Of The Democratic Senate Caucus

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Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut has really changed since he ran for Vice President with Al Gore in the Presidential election of 2000.

As a major backer of George W. Bush’s intervention in Iraq in 2003, and unwilling to back off in his support as his party turned against the war, Lieberman was challenged for reelection in the Democratic Senate primary in his home state in 2006, lost the nomination, formed an independent candidacy, and ended up winning reelection over his Democratic and Republican opponents.

He then proceeded to be very negative toward his party’s Presidential nominee, Barack Obama, and to cross party lines and support wholeheartedly the candidacy of Republican Senator John McCain, a close personal friend, who flirted with the idea of choosing Lieberman as his Vice Presidential running mate before selecting Sarah Palin.

By backing McCain, Lieberman was in danger of being read out of the Democratic party caucus and of losing chairmanship of a Senate committee. But the party decided to allow him to remain in the Democratic Senate caucus despite his official independent status, and let him be the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.

Lieberman went so far as to speak positively of President Obama in the early months of the administration, therefore making many Democrats feel satisfied.

But lately, Lieberman has been his old ornery independent self, critical of Obama on foreign policy and now unwilling to support a public option on health care. So the idea that the Democrats would have 60 votes, enough to prevent a filibuster, has now dissipated.

Therefore, there is some discussion of repudiating Lieberman, and reading him out of the Democratic Senate caucus, as simply a politician unwilling to show loyalty on such an important issue as health care.

It is my view that Lieberman has been treated too well by Democrats, and does not deserve to have their support and respect,including committee leadership. I hope that he will be voted out of the Democratic caucus for lack of loyalty by the end of this year. The way he has been acting makes it seem that he may very well be better as a true independent or even maybe as a Republican.