Gerrymandering

The Do Nothing 113th Congress Worse Than 112th Congress, And Far Worse Than Truman’s 80th Congress In 1947-1948!

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History tells us that President Harry Truman ran against the Republican controlled 80th Congress in his election campaign of 1948, calling it a “Do Nothing” Congress.

What he meant was that they were passing laws that he considered counterproductive, including the anti labor Taft Hartley Act, which he vetoed, but passed over his veto by a two thirds vote in both houses of Congress.

But in actuality, that 80th Congress passed over 900 laws, and cooperated with Truman on funding for the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, and also agreed to creation of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council and the Defense Department.

By comparison, the 112th Congress of 2011-2012 became the least productive Congress in history, passing fewer than 300 laws, but now the 113th Congress has passed fewer than 150 laws, making them half as accomplished as the previous Congress.

There is a total refusal of Republicans to cooperate at all with Barack Obama, and they have had the shortest work calendar of any Congress, including the previous one!

Now they are taking a five week break, despite so many crucial issues to deal with, and their public opinion rating is the lowest it has ever been!

But will the American people, with the reality of gerrymandering ruling the House of Representatives, be able to unite and give the Democrats back control of the House? Not likely, and the US Senate is also dangerously in play!

So two more years of stalemate and gridlock are likely!

The Republican Party 2014–Anti Immigrant, Anti Women, Anti Gay, Anti Labor, Anti Science

Ronald 2 Comments

The Republican Party of 2014 has put itself into a box it cannot get out of, and it is doomed to lose the nation short term and long term, as a result!

Yes, the Republicans can win gerrymandered Congressional districts in the “hinterland” of the nation, but they cannot win the African American vote, the Hispanic-Latino vote, the women’s vote, the gay and lesbian vote, the labor vote, or the science and environmental vote!

Without those, they cannot EVER become a serious threat to the Democrats for the White House or the US Senate long term, even if somehow they are able to gain six Senate seats and the majority in the Midterm Elections of 2014!

In 2016, with two thirds of the Senate seats being Republican seats, and with Tea Party activists leaving behind a record of total rejection of government, and total lack of concern for their fellow citizens, the Senate will have a major Democratic majority, and the House has a good chance of being take back by the Democrats!

And with the states of Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina turning “Purple” toward “Blue”, with growing numbers of Hispanics and Latinos, and also the growing Asian vote there and elsewhere; and with Florida and Virginia also more “Blue” than ever in Presidential races, the Republican Party will be “toast” as a serious political opposition!

There would have to be a major realignment of the GOP for this pessimistic assessment of its future to change, but the spokesmen for the party, and the candidates jockeying for position for 2016, shows otherwise.

The Republican Party is deaf, dumb, and blind at their own self destruction, and their reward will be total repudiation by all but the ignorant and biased of the “hinterland”, who want an America which is no longer there, the America of the 1950s, when we favored the traditional immigrant groups from Northern and Western Europe; when women “knew their place” as housewives and mothers, and not workers and educated; when those who were gay or lesbian “stayed in the closet”: when the labor movement offered tons of blue collar jobs that no longer exist, due to the greed and selfishness of American corporations looking for “cheap” labor overseas; and when we abused the environment, and yet woke up to the importance of science after the Soviet orbiting of the first space satellite, Sputnik I!

Those days are gone forever, but the GOP is like an ostrich with its “head in the sand”, denying reality, and for that, they are, and will be, punished and repudiated!

Republican “Retreads” Emerge, Demonstrating The Sad State Of Their Presidential Race For 2016!

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The Republican Party has a long list of potential Presidential candidates for 2016, many of them “new,” including Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal, Chris Christie, and even Paul Ryan and Jeb Bush, who have never run before for President.

Then, they have the “retreads”, including Rick Perry, Mike Huckabee, and Rick Santorum, those three being a sorry lot as alternatives.

All three are way out of the mainstream of American politics, with Rick Perry making a total fool of himself in 2012; Mike Huckabee, once seen as fairly “moderate” in 2008, having converted into a right wing extremist due to his Fox News Channel weekly show; and Rick Santorum, well just a total embarrassment to himself and everyone around him!

The Republican Party is a sorry lot, with lots of candidates on the bench, but none having the slightest chance to become President!

Instead, the GOP looks completely past former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman (also former Ambassador to China and Singapore), the only solid, foreign policy experienced, sensible, mainstream candidate, who could attract support across the aisle, and make Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, or any other Democratic nominee squirm, as he did for awhile in the Barack Obama campaign in 2012, with them considering Huntsman a real threat.

Huntsman is sitting on the sidelines, and considering an independent run on a “No Labels” campaign, and reminding people that the Republican Party of the pre Ronald Reagan era is the only hope for a revival of GOP fortunes, as the country has passed by the anti immigrant, anti gay, anti women, anti labor, anti environment mentality of the Tea Party Movement, which may be able to win gerrymandered Congressional seats, but cannot win the US Senate majority or the White House anytime soon!

The Crucial Importance Of A Democratic Senate And President For The Future

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The battle for Democratic control of the House of Representatives, the need to gain 17 seats, is a bitter one, with right wing groups spending millions to make sure that the Republicans keep control, and prevent any furthering of the Barack Obama agenda.

Due to the reality of gerrymandered districts, created by Republican legislatures and governors, as a result of the 2010 midterm elections, the concept of majority rule has been distorted, with Democrats winning more total votes nationally in Congressional races, but Republicans able to win a majority of seats, and oppose everything Obama wants, and cause a shutdown of the government in October.

Due to the extremism of the Republican House as a result of the “hostage” situation created by the Tea Party Movement, the 2013 session of the Congress has been the worst since records were kept in 1947, but now the “establishment” Republicans are declaring war on the Tea Party right wingers, and trying to insure that the mainstream conservatives, led by Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, will be able to control the future.

At the same time, right wing pressure groups are trying to defeat a group of conservatives in House and Senate primaries, so the civil war may give Democrats the opportunity to gain enough seats to make Nancy Pelosi Speaker again in the 114th Congress of 2015-2016. That would allow the budgetary power of the House Ways and Means Committee to be back in Democratic hands, giving them the opportunity to reverse regressive policies perpetrated by Republicans since 2011.

But even more important is the keeping of a Democratic Senate majority, with the ability to get appointments of the President confirmed by a majority, rather than needing 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. This is particularly important for federal district and circuit court nominees, and for the eventual approval of Supreme Court nominees on the aging Court.

Part of this is also the need to have a Democratic President after 2016, as that reality, plus a Democratic Senate, would guarantee that social conservatism would lose out on such issues, as abortion, gay marriage, civil liberties, civil rights, and so many other issues that are crucial to the long range future of making America a nation of fairness, justice, equality, and tolerance!

113th Congress Far Worse Than Least Productive Congress In American History, 112th Congress!

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The 112th Congress of 2011-2012 produced the fewest laws in modern history, a total of 283. It was thought that was a low that could not be surpassed.

But the present 113th Congress is reaching a new low that is hard to conceptualize, as it has passed only 36 laws, and the public opinion rating of Congress is at an all time low, about 10 percent, with a poll showing that a majority of Americans believe that a random group of people chosen to replace the present Congress could do a better job!

Both parties are suffering in public opinion, but the Republican Party brand is in free fall, as a result of shutting down the government for 16 days and threatening rejection of the raising of the debt ceiling. The GOP is involved in a civil war between the establishment and the libertarians and Tea Party Movement, and Wall Street is working to support establishment, mainstream conservatives over the Tea Party brand in Congressional races for 2014, with the distinct possibility that the Democrats have a chance to gain control of the House of Representatives, and keep control of the US Senate.

The gerrymandering of House districts, however, makes taking over the House a major problem for Democrats for the remainder of the decade, but since only 17 seats are needed to gain the majority, the potential is there, if the public opinion ratings of the Republicans continue their collapse that is going on at the moment.

The problem is that a year is a long time in American politics, and anything can happen, as people have short memories!

Disgust With Federal Government At All Time High: What Can Be Done About It?

Ronald 4 Comments

Polls this past week demonstrate how a majority of Americans are totally disgusted with the stalemate and gridlock in the federal government, which has become a norm of American politics.

Sixty percent in a poll would want to replace every member of Congress, and only eleven percent have a positive view of Congress, an all time low.

The Republican Party brand has suffered heavily, although the Democrats are not exactly looked upon as a paragon of virtue either by the American people.

Of course, there is no way that all members of Congress could be defeated due to the fact that the US Senate has only one third of its seats up for election every two years.

Additionally, while the House of Representatives faces election of all of its members every two years, the reality of gerrymandering makes replacement of incumbents highly unlikely, with maybe ten percent of the seats truly competitive, if that much.

And of course, were it possible to defeat all members, it would be unwise, because that would leave us with new members with total lack of experience and expertise, and this is the the problem with the Tea Party Republicans, who mostly come into government without any knowledge or understanding of what is possible in government, and the role of compromise in making a political system work.

All that a new Congress would accomplish is the growing power of unelected staff, which would be the only continuity in American government, and that would not be a good situation.

What can be done is to have higher turnout for midterm elections, with the hope that it might lead to the party of whoever is President having a real mandate to accomplish the goals that any President has been elected on two years earlier. The tradition has been that the party in the White House loses seats, with a lower turnout by party faithful.

Of course, if somehow, gerrymandering could be overcome, and the filibuster in the Senate modified, real progress and continuity and compromise would be more likely, but that is, at this time, a utopian dream, sad to say!

The Republican Party Assault On The Institution Of The American Presidency: Battle For The Past And The Future!

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The Republican Party brought about the evils of the Imperial Presidency under Richard Nixon.

The Republican Party expanded the American Presidency further under Ronald Reagan after weakening the office with their conservative attacks on Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter in the White House.

Under Reagan, and the two Bush Presidencies, they expanded their power and influence over the Courts, particularly the Supreme Court, but also lower federal courts.

In the process, however, they forgot the middle class; alienated women; attacked the environment; undermined education; utilized racism and hate against African Americans and Hispanics and Latinos, and even Asian Americans; showed less concern than ever before for children, the elderly, the disabled, and the poor (often including these precise groups); leagued themselves with hate mongers on talk radio, and allied with powerful elite wealthy people to promote right wing propaganda that influenced many who were hurt by their policies and views, but did not realize it. And they set out to destroy Bill Clinton first , and now Barack Obama, including the boldness to attack a federal program (ObamaCare) that was backed by a majority in Congress, the Supreme Court majority, and the second term victory of Barack Obama!

The decision was to bring down the government by promoting economic chaos and anarchy, doing whatever had to be done!

And today, the Republican Party has 70 percent of the American people alienated by their tactics, aims, and practices, and sees the only way to survive is to assault the American Presidency, an office they have not won in the popular vote for five of the past six national elections, and have little hope of winning anytime soon in future Presidential elections!

So their goal is to continue to win state legislatures and congressional districts through gerrymandering, and weaken the Presidency, and stalemate the US Senate, which they also have little hope of winning in the future, with their agenda exposed for all to see through coverage provided by major national newspapers and liberal and progressive media that keep us informed as to the truth of what is going on!

The ultimate goal of the modern Republican Party is to wipe out, eliminate, destroy the great advancements under Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, even Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama!

This is a war for the future and the past of the American Presidency, and we cannot allow the systematic destruction of that office which has made for so much good in America in the past century!

The Growing Democratic Party Suburbs: The Death Knell Of The Republican Party!

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Traditional views of American politics tell us that the cities, the urban areas, are overwhelmingly Democratic in loyalty; that the suburbs, which blossomed after World War II, are Republican, as people escape the city and urban problems, and are heavily white; and that the exurbs, those areas much further away from the cities, are Republican, along with the widespread land we consider rural areas.

So as long as the Republican Party wins the suburbs, the exurbs, and the rural areas,a they can be competitive and win national elections.

But it is now apparent by statistics that the suburbs are rapidly turning Democratic, as they have become no longer white “flight” havens, but instead have become a mix of Americans of all races and religions and cultures, and sadly, poverty has come to the suburbs, in some ways almost as badly as in the cities, due to the Great Recession.

The Republican refusal to accept that poverty is not the fault of citizens, but of circumstance, and rejection of the concept that everyone should be entitled to health care, is having a long range effect on Americans living in the suburbs.

It is not just economic factors, but also social factors, such as the issues of gay marriage, abortion rights, labor rights, concern about the environment, education, and the recognition of the need to adjust to a changing American society, which is also helping the Democrats, as the Republicans come across as mean spirited, biased, prejudiced, uncaring about anyone except the wealthy, and refusing to recognize the demographic changes that have developed in suburbs, as well as the cities.

So a political party that thinks it can survive and prosper on the basis of winning the exurbs and the rural areas is a party in total denial, as while there are massive land areas where these people live, the percentages of population living in those areas is miniscule, compared to the larger population numbers in the suburbs, as well as the cities.

While many Congressional districts can be gerrymandered and give the Republicans greater influence than they should rightfully have in the House of Representatives, their agenda and public persona of their leadership insures that the cities and the suburbs will be majority Democratic for a long time, giving the Presidency and the Senate to the Democrats. In the long run, this guarantees that the future Supreme Court , and even the lower courts, will be heavily influenced by Democratic Presidential appointments, which are considered and approved by the Senate, where Democrats need to fight to keep control so that they can promote the agenda of Democratic Presidents, and resist a Republican House majority based on artificial conditions, that can eventually be turned over to a Democratic Party majority over time.

Republican Party Discipline Is Gone: Looking Back At The Days Of Speaker Newt Gingrich And Speaker Dennis Hastert!

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The Republican Party from 1995-2007 was headed by Speaker Newt Gingrich for four years and Speaker Dennis Hastert for eight years.

With all of their faults and shortcomings as Speakers of the House of Representatives, there was a sense of loyalty and obedience to the House leadership when it came to floor votes on legislation.

But that is now a dim memory, as Speaker John Boehner is unable to control his own caucus, and was embarrassed yesterday to lose on a vote on the Farm bill, due to the Tea Party radicals who are determined to wipe out the Food Stamp program completely, and have no concern if children, the elderly, and the disabled are starving!

When one listens to the debate and the lack of concern and human compassion that the Tea Party wing nuts have, one would think that Boehner should make a dramatic announcement that he is resigning as Speaker, since the job has become impossible to manage!

Boehner is being destroyed from within, including undermining by his own House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor of Virginia, who is the evil genius behind the Tea Party movement in the House.

Cantor is only concerned about his dream to become Speaker of the House, and is willing to ride roughshod over Boehner, as Cantor has no ethics, morals or scruples, and is a monstrous example of power grabbing gone mad!

The poor GOP performance should lead to repudiation by their constituents in 2014, but with gerrymandering and an old Confederate mentality still existing in much of the South and the border states, and anti government militia mentality in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain areas of the nation, more of this incompetence, stalemate, and gridlock are likely, whether or not John Boehner sees the handwriting on the wall, and resigns, allowing turncoat Eric Cantor to accomplish his dream of turning America backward to the years before the New Deal and Great Society!

Public Opinion Supports Gay Marriage, Path To Citizenship, And Responsible Gun Measures, But Right Wing Does Not Care!

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It is clear that public opinion polls, along with the results of the Presidential and Congressional Elections of 2012, indicate a desire to move ahead on many issues, but the Republican Party, which only won the majority of the House of Representatives by gerrymandering (losing the popular vote nationally for Congressional seats), refuses to budge!

The majority of Americans support:

Gay Marriage Rights

A path to citizenship for illegal immigrants over time and with penalties

Responsible Gun Measures, including universal background checks, and restrictions on some kind of weapons and size of magazines–particularly after realization that at Sandy Hook Elementary School, over 140 bullets were fired in just five minutes, killing 20 children and six teachers and administrators.

The Republican Party in Congress and nationally has less than 30 percent public opinion support, the lowest in modern times, but it has no effect on party leaders or members, and there are still examples of gay bashing and immigrant bashing, only worsening the image of a party out of tune with the American people!