http://news.yahoo.com/romney-parks-millions-offshore-tax-haven-160547876–abc-news.html It seems to this writer that the biggest danger for the Republican party is its self-destruction. At first, all of the debates and the interchanges were hum drum and boring. As time went on, the debates became interesting and there was a hearty and good interchange of thoughts. However, the Iowa vote lead to destructive criticism between the candidates. Now, this has evolved into a full shooting war of personal criticism against the Republican front-runner. The criticism includes his success as a venture capitalist.–Is success as a businessman and creator of jobs considered a deficit? Well, the media pundits including conservatives seem to think it is! The attacks continue against Romney’s generosity to his religion. It seems that the pundits want to uncover some nefarious Mormon conspiracy by their use of innuendo. Additionally, we see the Anti Romney forces unleashing a smear attack like OWS against Romney’s intelligent use of the USA tax code to preserve his money. The idea here is that millionaires like Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, NJ Senator Frank Lautenberg, Congressman Daryl Issa are all OK but millionaire Mitt Romney is some kind of Darth Vader figure to be considered dangerous to the American political system. Add to all of this the obvious disdain of conservative talk show hosts who only vaguely cover their anti Romney bias, and one wonders WHY? a man like Mitt Romney, a person of such obviously admirable accomplishments -why? he would want to subject himself to such burn and pillage tactics from his rivals!!? I guess he believes he is the right man for the job of President of the USA. The others do too. However, their collective self-destruction is being played out on the TV daily. The only beneficiary is Obama. It can be hoped that the Republicans can right the ship but like the Captain of the Concordia they may be more interested in waving to relatives onshore than protecting the safety of the Republican party.
Tag: Federal Budget
Hedge Fund Manager Thinks We Should Spend
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/breakout/barton-biggs-austerity-big-mistake-124734101.html
I note that he is a manager of a hedge fund. A Hedge Fund manger is Bernie Maddoff, or the guy who just got 11 years in prison for shady dealing, or his accomplish who is also under indictment. What makes the media people think that a gambler, even an informed gambler is credible for national monetary policy? Geither was from Wall Strret,(remember he didn’t pay his taxes?)so was Paulson and Volcher. What did they get us but a lot of bailout, a lot of national debt and deeper into financial turmoil. Yes, the hedge fund managers make mistakes and then they ask the taxpayer, and I mean the middle class taxpayer to bail them out. Hedge fund managers are gambling that they are better at guessing then the rest of the pack and that they can cash out as soon as the water is boiling. The Fed, the USA, and you and I don’t have that “big boy” “insider” luxury. Maybe a solution to our problems is more federal regulation of hedge funds, a vehicle for the wealthy and super rich anyway, yes, maybe abolish the hedge fund gamble all together.
Romney Experienced Businessman
The key point and it was really a big one was made about Romney. He has been and is a successful businessman. Now many people want to bash the businessman. Obama wants to make them all equal to the worker and “level the playing field” plus Obama is setting up a class warfare based on money earned which is destructive of business in America. Romney has business experience, he has a good respect for and strong support among the business community. He is pro business. That means he is in favor of creating American jobs. The government’s hiring is like the Transportation Security Administration. They are “thousands standing around”…what in the world did these people do before they were hired by the taxpayer to search travelers?… actually they do not search they merely watch you…Anyway, TSA employees, citizens all, and assuredly good and fine citizens, but they do not produce anything. They provide a service, which is to watch me as I pass thru the metal detector…but they have no product…nothing is created…and what we need is business jobs that consume resources like metal and rubber and food and turn it into something else like a boat or a plane or a hot dog…Romney understands government because he was the governor of a populous Eastern State, and he understands business, and this combination of executive experience plus government service and his detailed jobs creation plan, makes him the nominee in my book
Should we Keep the Post Office
http://news.yahoo.com/postal-looks-cut-220-000-jobs-175217611.html
Some call it snail mail, some call it part of our national heritage. Some say we can do without it, some say it is part of our overall national defense system. What do you think? Is the American Postal system a model of democracy, a vehicle for even the least powerful and least wealthy of the citizenship to express itself. Or it an embarrassment of giant fiscal irresponsibility and very poor management? Should we build one less fighter jet, buy five less cruise missiles, or just stop the multi billion dollar attacks against Libya and funnel that money to “save” the US Postal System? Write and tell us what you think> We sure want to know.
Who Pays for Air Force One?
How much does it cost the Federal Budget each time President Obama uses Air Force One to attend a political fundraiser? I do not want to be petty. I do understand that the President has every right to use Air Force One and Marine One for Government and even some personal business, like going on vacation. However, do we really need to pay for the President’s constant use of Air Force One as his personal private jet? This is especially an issue when the President criticizes all the Corporation heads who use Private Jets. At least with them such use creates jobs at American private airports, American Jet manufacturing plants like Gulfstream, and employs American mechanics, etc. But what does the President’s use of Air Force One produce when he uses it for a local metropolitan fundraiser? Gridlock and shutdown. And, of course, overtime pay for State uniformed employees, who are paid with our tax dollars!
Obama not Helping
The President is constantly saying we need to work, but does he work? It seems he is playing golf, having parties, going on vacation and attending political fund-raisers. When does he study, hear briefings, attend update sessions of each cabinet member and just take the needed time to write down his actual agenda?
The President says we need to cooperate. But then he blames the opposition party for everything. What do you think of a person who says on Monday that it is all your fault, that he takes no blame and that you and your backers are the devil and then turns right around and says, “What we need is more cooperation.”? I think of the President as the Whiner and Divider in chief! Then there is the issue of the so-called Tea Party. What is the Tea Party? According to the President and his administration, including the entire Democrat party, the Tea Party members are the major, if not the sole, cause of all of our problems. Sounds a lot like the Nazi’s who blamed the Gypsies, the Gays and the Jews for all of Germany’s problems. Will the Czars of the Obama administration demand that all citizens affiliated with the Tea Party Movement register as “terrorists?” or be required to wear a yellow tea bag sewn onto their clothing? Will the children of Tea Party affiliated Americans be vilified and mocked in the public school system and be ostracized in the publicly supported colleges? The Obama administration is a seething pot of anger that spews forth boiling condemnations of swaths of American citizens as though these American citizens are the enemy. Maybe they are the enemy of the Obama Administration, but Hey, this is America, after all, and such political opposition is our inherent and constitutional right. I remember that during the Presidential campaign Candidate Obama said that he would not visit West Virginia because they were not his people. I think that avoiding a State you are slated to lose is standard practice, but to actually say that the people of that State are not your people betrays your values. It says that you consider yourself to be President of “your” people, namely those who agree with you, and the others are the enemy! Sad really! A good thing and maybe the finest thing for President Obama to do would be not to run for a second term. It would save a lot of trouble.
Debt Crisis says that America is Alive and Well
http://news.yahoo.com/stab-debt-limit-deal-avert-us-default-204034740.html
Hooray, this article is not about dysfunction, it is not about childish games, it is not even about mere politics…rather it is about America and the indicators signal that the USA is very much alive and very healthy…yes, very healthy indeed!
All of this activity indicates that our people and our legislators and our leaders really do care about America. However, this writer still wonders about President Obama, since I see that his posturing and pontificating has left Mitch Mc Connell saying that Obama needs to finally indicate what he WILL sign and we are in the game. That is cynical on the President’s part and leaves him with just too, yes, too much power.
But today is a glorious day for America. It is because our legislators actually DO care about America. All of the political theater is a good thing. It means people are willing not to shout each other down but to demonstrate according to LAW that one side is not able to bully and cripple the other side. That is good for America.
Today is a glorious day for America because (as I address in a previous blog) The House Republicans were not betrayed by their Speaker. Instead, they were given their fair chance to thrown a legal punch at the other side. hooray for Politics because if one side feels helpless and disenfranchised then all is lost.
It may seem that all of this political theater is meaningless. But, I encourage you to see it as the most meaningful thing that we could ever be doing. How is that? It is because both sides are passionate. That is a good thing. Both sides believe they are right for America. That is a good thing. Both sides have ways to destroy the other side. And although they do a lot of dodging and weaving and feinting and jabbing, yet, they ULTIMATELY do not really want to destroy each other. And that is a very good thing!!
But there is another. He sits in a house called white and he wags his finger, and he preaches and he pontificates but has shown himself to be vacuous and duplicitous. And while the earnest partisans fight, he schemes and maneuvers and plans his next nefarious move. He does not love the game. He does not love the nation, He cares only about his own agenda and that agenda, surprisingly, may be to destroy the very nation over which he presides. Why destroy it? Because he does not love it.
Why Bother Trying When Obama and Reid are Going to kill it.
“The Republican legislation, sharply criticized by President Barack Obama, faces certain death in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where all Democrats have vowed to vote against it later on Friday.” This is a quote from a longer article by Associated Press on the Internet
Again and again this writer is amazed that the American people blame the Republicans for our debt problems. They are the only ones working very hard to solve the problems. And if my readers will be even a little fair minded, I am sure that you would agree that it seems meaningless to work hard to propose a solution in the face of withering criticism from President Obama with a promise of a veto and confronted by the constant refrain of “dead on arrival” by Senator Reid.
It is especially galling when both Obama and Reid keep getting on TV and saying compromise, compromise, compromise. But then go on to tell the press that they will do everything they can to destroy whatever it is that the Republicans propose. Actually, although I don’t like to say it, it seems to me that President Obama and Harry Reid are plain liars. They do not care about a solution, they care about their own particular solution. They don’t care what the House of Representatives want they only care about what the Democrats want.
How many Democrats in the house even tried to help pass the Boehner bill? And Harry Reid has already said that every single Democrat Senator will vote to kill the Boehner bill as soon as it is presented in the Senate. And then we read that it is all the fault of the Republicans!! Come on, Harriet!! At least the freshmen Republicans and Conservatives stood up for their principles and did not abandon their election promises. It seems that every single one of the Democrat Senators campaigned on one issue and it is the big issue for them, namely, defeat and destroy the Republicans- to hell with the nation. Shame on them.
What went wrong with Boehner and how to fix it.
A good American and a fine Speaker made a serious but not fatal mistake yesterday. John Boehner forget his own principles. He strong armed and brow beat his fellow Representatives just like Nancy Pelosi did. These freshmen Congress members campaigned on the platform of a New and Fresh Change in the way business is conducted in the Capitol. They are people of philosophical and political conviction who believe what they say. They are not phonies who talk one way and act another way. They are sincere members of Congress who intend to stand upon their principles and to work very hard at making those principles serve the good health of the nation. Either John Boehner, and Eric Cantor forgot that or they simply got caught up in the frenzy of the political moment. Either way, that it happened is a little sad, but not too much. Rather, it is a bold indicator that politics as usual in Washington has ended and that a new and more enlightened time has come to our Capitol.
The so-called “Tea Party” backed freshmen Representatives are not to be bought. They remember the episodes with Mary Landrue and the so-called “Louisiana purchase. (When Congressperson Landrue accepted what was basically a 300 million dollars earmark for her State in return for her vote in favor of the Obama care.) The conservative members of Congress remember that the 60th vote in the Senate came from Ben Nelson of Nebraska when he too accepted a mega earmark of money for his state in return for his vote. People were appalled by the purchase of votes by the Obama/Pelosi people and they promised the voter’s back home that they would not do that. Well, the freshmen and other Congresspersons kept their word and would not be threatened, bullied or bought into voting for a Bill that they did not want.
This is a great day for America and a day for which we should be thankful. The cynical opinion of the population is that Washington can never be changed. Many had began to abandon all hope for integrity among our leadership. Last night’s stand up refusal by the members of the House of Representatives is an affirmation that America is still strong, still brave and still free. Freedom was heralded last night in the halls of the House of Representatives. Integrity was affirmed last night in the office of the Majority whip and the Speaker. The people we elected to represent us and not themselves, did so and did it with courage.
This is not grid lock. This is not dysfunction. This is democracy at work. I know that a lot of people talk about democracy but they do not like the effort involved in making it work. But “freedom is not free”. That slogan is often used regarding our military and the need to defend freedom in Iraq or Afghanistan or Libya. But we need freedom at home, in the USA. The stance of the Republican conservatives last night was a Patriotic act by sensible, intelligent, responsible, Representatives and they should be applauded and not vilified.
So what to do today? This writer believes in Speaker Boehner. He did his best to do what he thought was best. He was mistaken. His true stature will be decided today as he meets again with his fellow Representatives. People whom he has declared and I know he believes are fully and completely his equals. It will be his respect for this equality that will win the day. I believe the Speaker should acknowledge that he was not reflective of the will of the Congress. I believe that he should admit that he too like others was caught up in the frenzy created by Timothy Geithner and Barrack Obama. He should then ask his fellow congress persons to work diligently with him, yet again, to craft a workable compromise bill that will serve the nation. For myself, I think that he should acknowledge to those members who we believe he tried to bully that he was sorry about that and ask them for their understanding of his zealous and well-intentioned patriotism because he wanted to do the “right thing.”
Then I believe that Calm and Reasonable Reflection should be mandated. We already know that August 2nd is a false deadline. The Treasury has admitted that they have enough money already on hand to pay our debts. The Social Security Administration has admitted that they have enough Treasury Bonds in the Vaults that will cover payments to Social Security recipients for more than a decade (not counting yearly revenue) ! So we need to stop, regroup, reflect and renew our efforts to create significant legislation that honestly and realistically tackles the short term need and the long-term problem of our national debt. For this writer this period of calm should include a day off of work and for those inclined, a day at their respective house of worship.
Do we need a new Speaker? No. Not over a tactical error. Generals make tactical errors all the time. Will we need a new Speaker in the future? Maybe, if Speaker Boehner continues a strategy that stereotypes duly elected members of Congress as Teapartiers! If the Majority Whip continues to use the strategy of “Arm Twisting” instead of persuasion using rational and philosophically and politically reasonable argument. The new climate among the newly elected members of Congress is a volcanic shift in thinking and in practice. They are not interested in power. They are interested in reasoned and practical solutions to our national problems starting today and not in ten years.
My hope is that the Speaker and the Majority whip and other old line Representatives will Get it straight, and they may yet save the day.
One last thought. “The one who makes the rules, wins the game.” Realistically, it is still the House and the Senate that make the rules. Obama has not played by the rules but forced new rules on the Congress. Last night said to the President, who has himself repeatedly name called, criticized and vilified the members of the House of Representatives, “No, Mr. President. It is not our job to do your job for you. And you will not scare us and bully us and threaten us from the White House. “
Harry Reid is Stopping Progress
the house passed the Cut spending, Cap future spending, and balance the Budget Constitutional amendment bill. As is ALWAYS the case Senator Harry Reid, Democrat, said that the Bill was dead on arrival in the Senate. How is that compromising Harry? Anyway, There was great public call in and email and write in to give the Cut, Cap and Balance bill a hearing. Instead Senate Democrats decided to “table” the bill in the Senate which means that the Democrats decided not to even read, discuss, debate or attempt to amend the House passed bill. The House tries to solve the debt problem and the Senate says, “dead on arrival” and then the President says that even if the Senate passes it, he will veto it. How is that compromise? But then President Obama gets on TV and tells the nation that the problem is that the “other guys”( Republicans) will not compromise!! So it looks like we have some really game playing here. First, it is the President who is supposed to propose the budget. But Obama says that “ain’t my job , man!” Instead he throws his responsibility upon the House Republicans and takes the role of scolder, demander and whiner in Chief. So the Republicans take the responsibility because it is obvious the Democrats will not. The propose the Ryan Plan. Not perfect but a very reasonable plan. But Harry Reid, Democrat of the Sem=nate says, ” Dead on Arrival” But Reid then goes on TV and says that the Republicans will not compromise. The Obama says that any plan that does not meet t=his criteria will be vetoed. But after that Obama goes on Radio and complains that the Republicans will not compromise. So the House passes the Cut Cap and Balance Bill and Reid refused to compromise…instead he shouts, “Dead on arrival” and goes to the cameras and complains that the Republicans will not compromise. Now the Republicans try again with the Boehner Bill but already Reid says, “Dead on Arrival”nd Obama says “I’ll veto it” and then both go on TV and say, ” it’s the Republicans fault because they will not compromise.” I believe the American people are a fair-minded people and although they may be calling the Republicans with the message, “Fix this mess.” I think they can now see that they need to replace the not compromising Democrats at the nest election so that we can get back to functioning government. It is obvious that the Democrats do not care about functioning government, all they care about is making sure that anything the Republicans do is eith “Dead on Arrival” or Vetoed.
Progressive Politics 