Liberalism

The Likelihood Of Joe Biden Succeeding Barack Obama: Less Than 50%

Ronald 2 Comments

With the second term of President Barack Obama beginning, already the news media is speculating on the likelihood of Vice President Joe Biden running for President, and the odds that he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party in 2016, and become our next President.

Biden is certainly encouraging speculation, while saying he has not made up his mind. It is clear that he would like to run, but even he admits that the success or lack of success of the first two years of the second term of Obama, on top of his first term, will have a dramatic effect on his decision to run, and the odds of his having a good chance to become the 45th President of the United States.

Biden has a long record in public office, actually greater in number of years than any President of the United States having come to the Senate at the minimum age of 30, serving six terms (36 years), and now on his second term as Vice President, which, when he completes it, will mean he has served 44 years in national office.

Biden knows Washington DC like few know it. He also knows how to work with the opposition Republican Party in a manner unseen since Lyndon B. Johnson, although Johnson had a much more unorthodox approach to bargaining, and “wheeler dealing”, than the much more proper and mannerly Joe Biden.

But he also has a long list of gaffes, most not harmful, except to those who oppose him, and his liberal views have alienated major groups, as he has worked on issues highly controversial, including gun rights, women’s rights, gay rights, civil rights, foreign policy, Supreme Court nominees, and protection of the Great Society and New Deal programs, including the so called “entitlements”.

And his age, now 70, meaning he would be 74-78 in a first term, and 78-82 in a second term, is not a plus, as we only had one President beyond the age of 70, Ronald Reagan, who seemed to be in decline in his second term of office, finishing it at age 77 and about 49 weeks,

And there is the challenge of Hillary Clinton, whose public opinion ratings are higher than Biden’s, although there is much doubt that she will, ultimately, run for the Presidency. This author and blogger has already theorized, at the beginning of January, that Hillary will decide not to run. Her performance in testifying today at the Benghazi, Libya hearings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be crucial in any plans she might have, after a good rest and recovery period, to run for President in 2016.

And of course, there is the “younger” or “newer” generation of political leaders who have interest in running—including Governors Andrew Cuomo of New York and Martin O’Malley of Maryland, both taking strong leadership on gay marriage and gun regulations in their states; plus others, including Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and even possibly others, including Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado.

So the likelihood of Joe Biden running, while good, is not, automatically going to give him an edge in a field of many likely challengers. And of course, even if many Republicans like Joe Biden personally, it is certain, and obvious, that they are building up a long list of issues to use against the Vice President, should he end up as the Democratic nominee for President in 2016.

Obama Inauguration Speech Evokes New Nationalism Of TR, New Deal Of FDR, New Frontier Of JFK, And Great Society Of LBJ!

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Four 20th century Presidents are looking down kindly and proudly on President Barack Obama, as a result of his Second Inaugural Address yesterday.

Theodore Roosevelt would be proud of Obama bringing up his progressive goals and ideals, following the traditions of the New Nationalism.

Franklin D. Roosevelt would be proud of Obama for having followed the trend of his own Second Inaugural Address in 1937, and the visions of his New Deal.

John F. Kennedy would be proud of Obama for following his lead on idealism, and commitment to a future advancement of those left behind., part of his New Frontier.

Lyndon B. Johnson would be proud that Obama is picking up the mantle of reform of his Great Society in many areas, which has not been addressed by anyone since LBJ, including Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, both of whom backed away from major commitments in the line of the four earlier Presidents.

Obama is a continuation of modern day liberalism, and a successor to the progressive traditions of these four earlier Presidents, all of whom are rated in the top quarter of our Presidents, even with each having his shortcoming and faults. In the C Span poll of 2009, FDR is rated third, TR fourth, JFK sixth, and LBJ eleventh out of our 42 Presidents before Barack Obama.

It has been a long time coming since LBJ left office, and today, the 40th anniversary of his death, Obama’s speech is a salute to his exceptional leadership in so many areas of domestic reform.

Barack Obama’s speech will go down as one of the outstanding Inaugural Addresses of our history!

Progressive Victories In 2012

Ronald 2 Comments

As the year 2012 comes to an end in the next few days, it is worth looking back to what progressive victories there have been in 2012.

The clear cut victory of Barack Obama is an event still reverberating in the emotions of this blogger, and the strong belief that the Obama coalition is solid, and will carry beyond him and affect politics over the next one to two generations! Any Democrat who is nominated for President in 2016 would be the favorite to win the White House, as the nation becomes more “blue” in states such as Arizona, Georgia and Texas.

The likelihood of the US Senate staying Democratic is also a conclusion from the events of 2012, as it was truly miraculous that every seat was retained, three gained, and only Nebraska lost to the Republicans in 2012. While 2014 again will see more Democratic seats (21) up than Republican seats (14), the odds of the Democrats losing a net total of six seats and losing control is extremely unlikely, and the possibility of gaining more seats is also very likely with the Republican party turning ever further to the Right politically, and further alienating the rapidly changing demographics of the country.

The biggest surprise of the year was the decision of Chief Justice John Roberts, a Bush II appointee, to back ObamaCare, guaranteeing its survival and success despite many barriers past, present and future. This was the most important decision of the Supreme Court in a long time, in the sense of its long range impact on the nation!

The great progress of gay rights and gay marriage was a wonderful event, with the likelihood of gay marriage being upheld by the Supreme Court, at least in some limited fashion, by June of next year.

The rise of the prominence and numbers of women in politics was exciting, and the true star of the year in that regard was Elizabeth Warren, the newly elected Senator from Massachusetts, who could become a Presidential possibility very quickly.

The massive contributions of Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton make them the two best decisions on personnel that President Obama made four years ago, and they have had an extremely positive effect on the historical record and reputation of Barack Obama.

The power of wealthy millionaires and billionaires to control the politics of America suffered a smashing defeat, an event thought unlikely after the Citizens United decision of the Supreme Court in 2010.

The reactionary and hateful agenda of the far Right, both politically and religiously, also suffered a great repudiation, and proved once again that optimism and progress win out over fear and regression, as long as the American people become engaged and involved in the agenda, and realize the threat to the great progress made in the past 80 years by the New Deal, Great Society, and the many political, social and economic reforms brought about by forward looking Democrats and Republicans in Congress, and by the leadership of Presidents of both parties who saw the need for more government intervention and regulation–including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Notice that Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush are not included in this list, as they both set back the concept of fairness and equity that all of the other Presidents, including some Republicans, made part of their agenda, to the dismay of the right wing forces in America!

So 2012 has been a triumph in many ways for progressivism, liberalism, and the goals of the Left in American politics to make a society of justice, equity, and compassion!

Plutocracy Vs Representative Government: 1896 And 2012 Presidential Elections

Ronald 2 Comments

In the last election of the 19th century, the Presidential Election Of 1896, the corporate plutocrats of the time period—John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J P Morgan—gave financial support to the Republican Presidential nominee, William McKinley, to defeat Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan, and threatened their workers with lost jobs and closed down industries if Bryan won. They succeeded in electing McKinley, but fortunately within five years, with the assassination of McKinley in 1901, they met their match in the new President, Theodore Roosevelt, who ushered in the Progressive Era, setting the standard for progressives and the later evolution of liberalism among members of Congress and numerous Presidents of both parties, who would work to copy TR’s vision of leadership for the people against the special interests, the powerful corporations. TR also made sure that corporations were unable, ever again, to wield the spending power in campaigns as they had done in 1896.

116 years later, the corporate plutocrats of 2012—including the Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson, Donald Trump and a small group of others led by Karl Rove—emboldened by a Supreme Court decision (Citizens United Case) allowing corporations unchecked power to do what was done in 1896, unlimited spending in political campaigns, set out to buy an election, as had occurred in 1896.

So corporate leaders threatened to lay off people if Barack Obama won, and they fully supported the ultimate plutocrat, Mitt Romney, a man who made his fortune destroying jobs and companies, a true Robber Baron, who did not contribute anything to American economic growth, but only his own economic growth!

And despite their massive spending and intrusion into the political process, these plutocrats FAILED MISERABLY!

Democracy won out with the second term victory of Barack Obama, who by winning a second majority popular vote victory, insured the legacy of what he had done on national health care, as well as all of the ideas and visions of TR and every progressive President and program ever since the time of TR, including the New Deal and Great Society.

So TR, belatedly, a century ago, and particularly in 1912, as well as Barack Obama in 2012, reaffirmed the massive victory of progressive ideas and programs, and sent a warning to the corporate plutocrats—YOUR DAYS OF ABSOLUTE CONTROL AND LAWLESSNESS ARE OVER! More government regulation and oversight is on the horizon! The people have won over special interests!

Senior Citizens And The Romney-Ryan Threat To Social Security, Medicare, And Medicaid

Ronald 2 Comments

For a long time, it has been believed that senior citizens have been more likely to vote Republican than any other age group in the 2012 Presidential campaign!

Senior citizens as a group are seen as less likely to support abortion, gay rights and gay marriage, and sadly, some have a problem with having an African American President as well. Also, religious beliefs are often more important to many senior citizens, so that makes a majority of them likely to be conservative and vote Republican.

But forgotten is that these senior citizens have greatly benefited from “liberal” Democratic programs such as Social Security under Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, and Medicare and Medicaid under Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society,, and with their longevity, they are really gaining a lot more than probably future generations will benefit from these prograrms.

And many senior citizens sense that what Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan represent is a threat to them, even though there are claims that it will not affect anyone on these programs, or within ten years of going on these programs.

But then, many of these senior citizens also are concerned that their children under 55 will be forced onto a voucher program under the Paul Ryan plan on Medicare, and that Medicaid will be cut, and that Social Security could be privatized as well for the future, endangering what they and their children have contributed to for generations.

So now, the belief is developing that it is possible that senior citizens may be reconsidering their support of Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, as, after all, they are a combination of an extremely wealthy former Governor, who has never had to struggle, and a young Congressman who has inherited millions from his in laws, and has done very well on his own for a man of 42 years of age!

In other words, are these candidates able to understand the hopes and fears of average people, both senior citizens and their children who are under 55, but have paid into Medicare and Social Security for decades?

The answer is clearly NO!

The Middle Class Reacting To Romney-Ryan, And Their Promotion Of The Oligarchy

Ronald 17 Comments

Both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are being besieged by demonstrators at campaign events, who reject their attack on the middle class, and their promotion of the oligarchy, the top two percent, who already have more concentration of wealth than at any time in American history, including the Gilded Age and the 1920s.

It is clear that nearly 80 percent of the American people, based upon polls, do not want Medicare turned into a voucher system. It is also clear that women are not going to accept the limits on their rights that Republicans are promoting in Congress and in many Republican controlled state legislatures.

The growing feeling is that this Romney-Ryan team could be the most radical right wing combination we have seen in Republican Party history, with the exception of Barry Goldwater in 1964, and even he came out for an attack on social conservatism and the power of religion in the GOP, backing gay rights and abortion rights, in his older years.

It is not promising when Paul Ryan is revealed to have agreed with radio talk show host Glenn Beck that progressivism and liberalism was a “cancer”, in a radio interview in 2010.

In other words, what this author said over the weekend about the inflexibility and ideological extremism of Paul Ryan is not just theory, but based on evidence, not only in that radio interview, but in the dealings of the House Budget Committee majority under Paul Ryan’s leadership, adopting a budget with massive tax cuts for the wealthy, while cutting Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Pell Grants, Food Stamps, and many other programs!

Notice that the popularity rating of the Congress, particularly of the House and its leadership, is at an all time low, hovering around 12 percent.

If Mitt Romney thought selection of Paul Ryan was going to invigorate his campaign, he was right in a certain sense. It has caused the beginning of the outrage of middle class Americans who are not going to allow the GOP team to destroy America as a land of opportunity, and the last great hope of mankind, and instead just promote the elite wealthy!

The Tea Party Movement had its opportunity to confront and challenge Barack Obama and his health care plan in 2009-2010, in a very vigorous and disruptive manner at political rallies and town halls.

Now, those who are opposed to the narrow mindedness of the Tea Party Movement are getting their opportunity to express their anger, as if we allow one side to be outspoken, the other side has the same opportunity. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press still exist, even for those who disagree with Glenn Beck and Paul Ryan! This is a democracy, not a dictatorship of the RIght!

Triumph Of Progressivism: A Turning Point Challenge Fifty Years Apart: 1912, 1964, 2012!

Ronald 6 Comments

The battle between conservatism and progressivism/liberalism has been an never ending struggle throughout American history, going back to the time of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, and the creation of the first political party system in the Federalist Era of the 1790s.

After a half century of conservatism in charge in the Gilded Age and early Progressive Era, in 1912, we finally had the triumph of progressivism with the election of Woodrow Wilson, and the stellar second place finish of Theodore Roosevelt on the Progressive Party line. Wilson proceeded to promote economic and social reforms, partly based on Roosevelt’s ideas, and partly his own, and much of what was accomplished in the second decade of the 20th century remains with us today.

Reversion to Gilded Age mentality occurred under GOP Presidents in the 1920s and early 1930s, and the Great Depression led to a smashing landslide for Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s and 1940s, with the New Deal expanding much of what TR and Wilson had advocated, and additional ideas growing out of the economic crisis.

Harry Truman attempted more reforms in the late 1940s and early 1950s, but most were stymied by a conservative resurgence, and a similar situation existed in the Eisenhower years, and the Kennedy Presidency.

But when Lyndon B. Johnson came in after the assassination of President Kennedy, he dedicated himself to accomplishment of what FDR, Truman, and Kennedy could not achieve, and to expand beyond the New Deal of FDR with the Great Society.

The Republican Party and conservatives saw an opportunity to negate all of the economic and social changes of TR, Wilson and FDR, and Barry Goldwater, the 1964 right wing opponent of Johnson, declared war on the New Deal, and the result was a landslide defeat, and the greatest expansion of progressivism yet in our history.

By the time that Ronald Reagan won a victory for conservatives in 1980, and continuing through George W. Bush leaving in 2009, Republicans and the right wing set out to reverse the Great Society and New Deal, one program at a time, with Democrats being able to stop complete destruction, but Republicans and conservatives nipping away at one area of policy after another, and in the process increasing our national debt from $1 trillion when Reagan became President to $10.5 trillion when George W. Bush left office.

Barack Obama came in with the intention of solidifying the New Deal and Great Society, and also bringing a new Progressive Era. And now Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are declaring war on everything that has been done by the federal government in the past century—from TR, to Wilson, to FDR, to Truman, even to Ike, to JFK, LBJ, even Nixon, Carter, even George H. W. Bush, to Clinton, to Obama–in their desire to make America ever more an oligarchy, a corporate dominated nation, and to destroy the middle class and the poor, and return us to the Gilded Age that began in the 1870s!

So 2012 is the most ideological election since 1964, as that election was the most ideological election since 1912!

The future of every social and economic reform of the past century is at stake in this election, and progressives and liberals cannot afford to sit on the sidelines, as this is as Theodore Roosevelt dramatically called it a century ago, an ultimate battle of Armageddon for the future of America!

The Calm Before The Storm

Ronald 1 Comment

If one is a proud progressive or liberal, as this blogger is, it is hard not to be squirming today as one contemplates the likelihood of two major setbacks for the progressive movement in America this week from the United States Supreme Court.

The majority of experts and prognosticators forecast a 5-4 vote against the Affordable Care Act and for the Arizona immigration law restrictions.

Both such events would be terrible setbacks, and hard to overcome in the short run for sure, and probably in the long run as well.

Some say a defeat on the Obama Health Care law would lead ultimately to Medicare for all within a couple of years, and that defeat on the Arizona SB 1070 would lead to comprehensive immigration reform within two years, as well.

But all that only seems possible IF the Democrats win both houses of Congress and the Presidency again in November.

The theory is that two defeats administered by the right wing Supreme Court by 5-4 margins, on top of the Citizens United case and the Bush V. Gore case of twelve years ago would so galvanize the American people, who are progressives, to organize, unify, vote en masse to promote the necessary changes.

But when one considers the great edge financially that the right wing has with billionaires ready to spend hundreds of millions of dollars individually to back Mitt Romney and the Republican Party in Congress, including the Koch Brothers and Sheldon Adelson among others, one has to wonder if even such organization and unity and discipline by progressives will be enough, particularly when added to the active campaigns of Republican Governors to purge the voting rolls, and defy the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

One can hope for the best on all fronts, but it is hard not to be pessimistic and a bit depressed on this Sunday before the storm likely to erupt this week, by a one vote margin created by the outrage of George W. Bush being selected President over Al Gore a dozen years ago, and still reverberating in 2012 and, likely, beyond!

The Ten Most Important Presidential Elections In American History

Ronald 6 Comments

With Presidents Day coming on Monday, this is a good time to reflect on the 56 Presidential elections that this country has had, and to judge which ten are the most significant, path breaking elections.

Of course, there can be debate and disputes as to the judgment of this author and blogger, but here goes, in chronological order.

Presidential Election of 1789–the selection by the Electoral College of our first President, George Washington, the absolutely right choice for the beginning of our nation under the Constitution, as Washington set important precedents for the future, and had no ambition to grab power long term.

Presidential Election Of 1800–the first time we had an opposition party come to power with grace, and without violence, setting a standard for the future, as Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams, and the dispute between him and Vice President Aaron Burr, who claimed a tie in the Electoral College, was settled peacefully as well, and caused a modifying of the Electoral College process.

The Presidential Election of 1828–the first one decided by popular vote synchronizing with the electoral vote, and giving the country a so called “Common Man” in the Presidency, Andrew Jackson, representing city workers and frontiersmen alike.

Presidential Election of 1860–leading to the election of Abraham Lincoln, who set out to preserve the Union at all costs, and wielded power in a controversial, but thoughtfully considered way, through four years of the Civil War.

Presidential Election Of 1912–the triumph of progressivism, the recognition that government’s role had been changed irrevocably in a country that had been transformed from an agricultural to an industrial nation, had tripled in population since the Civil War, had become a multi ethnic nation, and had recognized the need for the regulation of capitalism in the public good, as well as political reforms and social justice. And it was the most exciting election, as three Presidents, past (Teddy Roosevelt), present (William Howard Taft), and future (Woodrow Wilson) competed against each other.

Presidential Election Of 1932–the triumph of Franklin D. Roosevelt at the worst moments of the Great Depression, offering hope and action (the New Deal) to revive the spirits of the nation, and have the American people believe in the future. Without his victory, there might have been social revolution and bloodshed on a large scale.

Presidential Election of 1960–witnessing the first Catholic President elected (John F. Kennedy) and the promotion of idealism and a new beginning in the advancement of social justice and political reform.

Presidential Election Of 1964–the victory of liberalism with the election of Lyndon B. Johnson, and the defeat of Barry Goldwater and conservatism, therefore insuring the continuation of the New Deal, and the evolution of the Great Society.

Presidential Election Of 1980–seeing the triumph of conservatism under Ronald Reagan, with some modifications of the New Deal and Great Society, and great speeches, but not the conservative “heaven” that many imagine it was, but making Reagan a national icon like Washington, Lincoln and FDR.

Presidential Election Of 2008–witnessing the first African American President (Barack Obama), and his work to provide health care reform, preserve the New Deal and Great Society, and overcome the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

The author welcomes discussion and debate on this post!

Defense Of Liberalism And Progressivism: All Major Reforms Brought About By The Political Left!

Ronald 2 Comments

Lawrence O’Donnell on THE LAST WORD on MSNBC this evening utilized an episode of the old series, THE WEST WING, to defend liberalism and progressivism, demonstrating what all people of those persuasions know, but sometimes forget to use in defense against conservatives: that ALL major reforms in this country have come about due to those defined as on the political left!

Liberals and Progressives, (interchangeable names) brought about the following, whether Democrats or Republicans:

Anti Slavery Movement
Woman Suffrage
Social Justice Reforms
Labor Reforms
Voting Rights
Civil Rights Laws
Social Security
Medicare and Medicaid
Environmental Reforms
Consumer Reforms
Women’s Rights Movement
Gay Rights Movement
Disability Rights Movement
Immigration Reform
Anti Vietnam War Movement

What can conservatives claim, except to help the rich get richer; help corporations monopolize; undermine labor; exploit and condemn the poor; support religious groups that wish to restrict human rights; work against consumer rights and environmental regulation; deny voting rights; support slavery and segregation of blacks; deny woman equality in all ways; exploit immigrants and deny them equality; deny the “safety net”; work against equal rights for gays and the disabled; and support military adventures overseas that enrich corporations.

Would any conservative wish to deny the above? If so, write and comment on this post!