Musings at Lunch

++Tomorrow on the Corporate media Sunday Shows we will be treated to reactions to the week with a focus on the failings of the VA by Republicans who have failed for years to fund the VA system adequately. For all the criticism of General Shinseki this week he was the first to computerize the VA and he did significantly cut down waiting lists and dealt almost heroically with the homeless problem of Vets.Senator Bernie Sanders has been trying to pass necessary legislation to beef up America's response to  the veteran's problem. Remember since the two wars,an additional 2 million people have entered the VA system, which was antiquated in the first place. Does anyone remember the big legislative fight over the new GI bill, which President Obama passed? Does anyone remember the long tortuous road of the First Responders Bill? The GOP is running ads against vulnerable Democrats with VA ads but their record is dismal, filibustering the Sanders' bill. Does anyone remember John McCain's claims during his 2008 campaign? His record was and is terrible on veterans' affairs.

++Which brings me to the issue of what does the GOP believe? This past week saw the GOP meet in Louisiana with Dynasty Duck Man as their celebrity. Republican political operatives have urged the party to issue a Contract for America type promise for the mid-terms. Mitch McConnell doesn't want to commit on what their governing style will be. A group issued a manifesto about "reform conservatism", which is not a branch of Judaism. The American Enterprise Institute criticized the program as being retrograde, using economic policies from the 1980s or 1990s that do not apply. AEI impolitely pointed out that the conditions do not exist that enabled Reagan to cut taxes and even suggested they didn't exist really when Bush did the same thing. 

++So what's the poor party to do? Michael Gerson believes they should go after the middle class, which they have neglected the last several cycles. However,they are entrapped by the Koch Donor Network of billionaires like Art Pope who push policies that eviscerate the safety net,give a free ride to the oil and gas industries, and further cut taxes for the wealthy. The party is stuck in an ideological cul-de-sac.

++Look at the past wedge issues. In 2004,they effectively used same-sex marriage to their advantage. Today,all 50 states face court challenges to such laws and the majority of Americans favor same sex marriage. They have used guns, while gun ownership is at an historical low and repeated massacres have turned the tide toward more gun regulation. In the war on drugs, several states have legalized marijuana and the House passed a bill this past week to prohibit the DOJ from conducting raids against facilities that support medical marijuana. Their "God" issue is being challenged by the demographics of the millennial generation and the erosion of evangelicals in the United States. Their hostility to climate change is being attacked by the National Catholic Bishops Conference and key evangelicals. Their antagonism against raising the minimum wage has put them on the defense in states like Michigan, where they tried to neutralize it by raising it somewhat. 

++The GOP's advantage this cycle is money and voter suppression. But there is nothing that would mean something positive to the American people. If the GOP doesn't re-think their policies,they will be forced to fighting rearguard actions for the foreseeable future.

++This is what the GOP has opposed this year--first the first time in history the extension of unemployment insurance--this affects over 2 million people,the replenishing of the Highway Trust Fund,something created by the GOP,immigration reform, which even Reagan approved. And the list goes on. No matter what the Beltway media says,the Party's sole raison d'être is to oppose President Obama and to repeal everything he has done. There is no constructive proposals being offered to any one of the problems affecting this country.

++In the last two years of his Presidency, President Obama will face strong headwinds. The only thing he might get passed is immigration reform because without it the GOP is doomed. That is why he postponed his new deportation guidelines for two months so that the GOP might see reason. I don't believe it.

++The GOP is trying to mute criticism of Obamacare but they will continue to campaign against it. This week they postponed again a vote on a replacement plan because they simply don't agree on it. This is a Party now that denies healthcare to over 5 million people because they will not extend Medicaid. Here in Virginia,they propose shutting down the government so that Terry McAuliffe doesn't get his way.

++If you look at Foreign Policy,the GOP is beyond nowhere. As in the 2012 election,there is no Africa, no Latin America,no India, no China policy. There is only Israel, Iran, Central Europe and Russia. The world has made seismic changes since then. The same goes for energy policy. The GOP is against all alternative fuel sources,do not believe we are more than 84% independent in energy sources and are still "Drill, Baby, Drill". They are unaware that we are now an energy exporter. The world has turned upside down on energy since the W days.

++What has bothered me for the last 8 years is that the GOP doesn't know math. They just passed a bill in the House which would give the equivalent to $350 billion in tax breaks with no countervailing income. They are committed to an ever more draconian budget than Paul Ryan's, which will balloon the national debt further without any benefit to the American people.

++I find the GOP totally bizarre. Remember I was once a Republican and I am supposed to be their base, married white protestant man over 60. So you want to privatize Social Security, voucherize Medicare,just as I am heading to it,eliminate everything decent in the ACA, and give more tax cuts to people who earn several times I do, and raise my taxes. Not only that you think school massacres are an expression of Second Amendment rights and endless campaign funds are an extension of First Amendment rights. So why am I supposed to vote for you--because I fear the Gay,the Latino,women,the African-American? The bottom-line is that the GOP is against their base and their base vote against their best interests both economically and culturally. Ideology is not policy and can't be substituted for that which works. 

++Will the GOP do OK this year? Better than they deserve but not as good as they believe. Obama still has an approval rating three times GOP congress critters. Gerrymandering and second-term blues assure the GOP control of the House. Control of the Senate is still up for grabs because vulnerable Democrats are actually fighting good campaigns. Despite the Beltway pundits, the "establishment" GOP has not won over the tea party. Instead they have fused.

++The Democrats are blowing it at the state level. We are talking about GOP governors with atrocious economic records--Chris Christie,Vishnu Jindal,Walker, Scott, Le Page. We are talking collectively the last ten states in job growth.That should be a wake-up call to the GOP on domestic economic policy. But it won't be because from an ideological point of view these are successes.Liberal Democrats are frustrated that Democrats are too moderate. The issue is that Democrats have to fill the center, no one else is doing it. They are becoming the new normal.

++So if the GOP were honest about their policies,they would have to acknowledge that they have not generated any ideas for 21st Century America. This spells doom for 2016. The problem as I see it will be Obama will end pretty much where Clinton did on the budget deficit and the GOP will say now is the time for more tax breaks because deficits don't matter again. They will not get off their privatization kick,which has produced atrocious results in prisons and schools. They simply will try and retract the world to ignore Asia, Latin America,and Africa. They will revert to the remnants of the neo-cons with a slightly changed version of Romney's view to do whatever Bibi wants. Rather than Reagan's optimism,they will be all about "saving the country" from Them--namely you and I. 

++A liberal Democrat opined to me the other week that he thought once Obama is gone the GOP won't obstruct Hillary as much. I disagree. I think you already see the tone being set as she starts appearing once again in public. The one thing I do think Hillary Clinton will give the GOP is another war to keep them happy. But on domestic policy, forget about it.