++The House GOP,renown for wanting Jobs,Jobs,Jobs,proposes to introduce their first bill as limiting abortions to 20 weeks. Actual doctors say that birth defects appear slightly later than this and that the fetus doesn't feel pain for at least 30 weeks.
++Senator Cruz heads the Senate Committee on NASA and Science.
++Mitch McConnell is already pissed. He promised the Senate would work on Friday. It won't as no business is scheduled on Friday.
++John Boehner says that the House will fund Homeland Security and still oppose President Obama's immigration policy.
++There is only one women who is chairperson on the House committees. It is Virginia Comstock on Science and Technology.
++The President met with the Congressional leadership today and spoke about cooperation on trade,tax reform and jobs. He knows better.
++One of the plusses of a Jerry Brown presidential bid is that he is the average age of Bill O'Reilly's audience.
++Rinse Preibus said today that Bill Clinton is game if Hillary runs. I guess being one of the most admired men in America is a liability. Rinse admits that Monica story is a bit stale--but don't rule it out.
Showing posts with label Bill Clinton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill Clinton. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Friday, March 8, 2013
Let's Hear For the Old-Timers
++The great and classy Mariano Rivera will retire at the end of this season as the greatest reliever of all time. Five World Series rings and a playoff record the envy of all, Mariano said he would return after a rare injury cost him most of last season.
++Kobe Bryant promises us that the Lakers will make it to the playoffs and he has been playing that way.
++The late John MacDonald is back in print with his Travis McGee series with intros by Carl Hiassen. The latest paperback is "The Deep Blue Good-By" (but with an intro by Lee Child).
++Congrats to Grammy winner Jimmy Cliff for Best Reggae Album "Re-Birth". Most of us remember Cliff from "The Harder They Come,the Harder They Fall" which probably popularized Reggae before Bob Marley.
++David Bowie has returned after a ten year absence. You can access the album free at I-Tunes until it is released. Don't miss the videos. They are little films.
++The last studio album of Jimi Hendrix has appeared. "People, Hell and Angels" consists of 12 finished tracks from the Electric Ladyland studio in the Village. As my son would say, his playing on this album is "sweet". I have never understood why people defend Eric Clapton over Hendrix.
++Another old geezer showed up yesterday, President Bill Clinton, who urged that his own bill DOMA be declared unconstitutional. Andrew Sullivan welcomes him to the crowd but as with welfare reform was this necessary.
++And we close with a classy lady. "Old Yellow Moon" has been released by Emmylou Harris. Her voice is in fine form while the tunes are a bit stale.
++Kobe Bryant promises us that the Lakers will make it to the playoffs and he has been playing that way.
++The late John MacDonald is back in print with his Travis McGee series with intros by Carl Hiassen. The latest paperback is "The Deep Blue Good-By" (but with an intro by Lee Child).
++Congrats to Grammy winner Jimmy Cliff for Best Reggae Album "Re-Birth". Most of us remember Cliff from "The Harder They Come,the Harder They Fall" which probably popularized Reggae before Bob Marley.
++David Bowie has returned after a ten year absence. You can access the album free at I-Tunes until it is released. Don't miss the videos. They are little films.
++The last studio album of Jimi Hendrix has appeared. "People, Hell and Angels" consists of 12 finished tracks from the Electric Ladyland studio in the Village. As my son would say, his playing on this album is "sweet". I have never understood why people defend Eric Clapton over Hendrix.
++Another old geezer showed up yesterday, President Bill Clinton, who urged that his own bill DOMA be declared unconstitutional. Andrew Sullivan welcomes him to the crowd but as with welfare reform was this necessary.
++And we close with a classy lady. "Old Yellow Moon" has been released by Emmylou Harris. Her voice is in fine form while the tunes are a bit stale.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Good Things on July 4
I recommend E.J. Dionne's column about the meaning of this day and the emphasis the signers placed on the common good. As E.J. writes, the signers didn't hate government or laws,just the manner in which they were being enforced. While our independence day is July 2 or a month later when all the signers finished their work,it should be remembered that a good third of the signers lost all their property and wealth in standing up for independence. Another 9 were killed in the Revolution. Signing the document entailed real risks and many paid an enormous cost. I could do without the accusation against the King leaving the colonists to the threats of the wild Indian breeds.
Since the American Right would like to co-opt the whole American revolution, we should remember that the original tea party was a protest against the King granting the East India Company corporate tax breaks so they could wipe out the local American tea merchants. And,unlike revisionists who want to make them Christians, we should remember the gathering place for the make believe Indians were the Masonic Lodges in Boston.
For the future generations, I hope Greek Prime Minister Papandreau is wrong when he says,"The economic system is stronger than the will of the people."
The next few weeks--Obama's traditional bad season--should see some frightening occurences. Rand Paul, who would not know the common good if it hit him in the face, will filibuster the debt ceiling vote. This should make us remember that few gave America a chance to survive on the day of its birth. I find it ironic to have received an e-mail today from the Campaign for Liberty,Ron Paul's campaign, claiming that the situation today is similar to when Americans found against the King. This time we are supposed to fight our own government which I recall was democratically elected the last time I look--and perhaps the last democratically elected one will may have for a while.
While politics has become dreary recently, there are a few bright spots in our culture.
I recommend Steve Benen in his crusade against Mitt Romney's claims to being a job creator, If Steve keeps at it, his findings might find their way into the mainstream media, which has studiously ignored Willard's rather lame record on precisely what he thinks is his strength. Steve says that Romney is "leading with his chin" on this front.
Andrew Sullivan's website "Daily Dish" reminds us everyday that art,culture,science, religion and music may inform our lives more than the hackneyed debates in Washington. I especially love the website's use of poetry. The time-lapsed videos posted every few days reminds us of the beauty of planet earth. Beauty does matter. Andrew, a naturalized American, retains a fondness for the British Conservative Party and its strange austerity program. But to his credit, Andrew was aeons ahead in arguing the basic conservative nature of same-sex marriage and has lived to see the day when his lonely work has paid off.
Who would have ever thought that one of our leading ethical and moral leaders would turn out to be Dan Savage? I don't know whether that is a good or bad sign for our culture. Dan Savage has become immortal in our political life. Try to Google Santorum. When all the establishment gay organizations sat on their hands, Dan and his partner took the initiative to video, "It'll Get Better" to address the concerns of young gays, who were being bullied or afraid to come out of the closet. This simple campaign that has gone viral with celebrities, sports teams, even the White House taping messages is credited with saving hundreds of teenagers from committing suicide. While I miss reading about the furries in Savage Love, Dan shows that one person can make a real difference and is a reason for optimism in our troubled land. My political mentor, Bayard Rustin, would have loved Dan. Bravo for everything you do.
And thye digital generation keeps surprising us. Playing For Change reminds us that the relationship we have with music is global. If you've never heard them, check out the YouTubes or better yet buy the album with the DVD. Musicians from around the world collaborate long-distance on some of the world's best known songs.
For the geezer crowd, I recommend Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, a cinematic tribute to Paris and a fairy tale about the days in the 1920s of the "Lost Generation". Having walked the same streets less than a month ago,Woody Allen evokes the Paris I've known and loved--even if he's on the touristy side. And after all these years, he still maintains his grudge against California. And Carla Bruni was a nice touch as a tour guide at the Rodin Museum.
In Aspen. Bill Clinton resumed his role as elder statesmen and political analyst, which he is good at. Clinton likes Jon Huntsman as an authentic human being and a pretty good Governor, thinks Romney has picked up his game since last campaign and expressed surprise at Michelle Bachmann's prowess on the campaign trail even though he disagrees with her about everything. He concludes that President Obama will win re-election because he has a good story to tell and significant achievements to show. He says that the President's national security creds will be strong . He says this was true even before he got Bin Laden. He also warned Obama not to cave to the Republicans over the debt ceiling vote.
The Newt spent July 4th with his lovely bride Callista trying out his new niche issue campaign. Newt's new book on American Exceptionalism is out. Newt's problem in my view has been his courting the Religious Right with phony historian David Barton by his side and his funding of the anti-gay marriage efforts in many states. He decided to go hard right before he knew tha landscape and how his campaign would be depopulated. So correcting course to his more geeky side is going to be tough.
Joe Biden reminded me of Hubert Humphrey in his speech before the NEA, when he attracked the Republican assault on teachers and public employees as one of the "biggest scams" in American history. For his effort, NEA overwhelmingly endorsed Obama for a second term.
Maybe we should look more kindly on the Three Amigos--John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham--as sort of a nostalgia group, a reminder of the neocons. They can keep touring for the rest of their terms and remind us that we should never withdraw from a country we invaded and since we have such a large defense budget we should invade more countries. It's really best if McCain stays away from any discussion of tax issues because it reminds us all of the 2008 debacle when he suspended his campaign to set the country right.
These three on a tour to Afghanistan were horrified that President Obama would dare pull 12,000 troops out by the end of the year. The Left has widely criticized the President for not pulling out more since it's unclear what is to be gained by shoring up the Karzai regime, which seems to be endorsing the worse policy ideas of the Taliban daily. And, of course, why should we withdraw from Iraq at all. I mean Tim Pawlenty says it's a model for the region. Lieberman says that Iran is petrified by being surrounded by democracies. Does anyone listen to these guys anymore? That's why I think we should keep the Three Amigos around so that we never fall back into this kind of thinking again. At last count, the total costs for our liberation of Iraq and Afghanistan will total $4 trillion.
Karl Rove is still up to his mischief. Now he's picking up the theme of how the Obama Administration favors the Muslim Brotherhood. Some one should show him the photo of Ike meeting the head of the Muslim Brotherhood at the White House. I'm sorry, Karl, keep to producing the ads that the stumulus was a failure and that the Democrats want to cut Medicare benefits, while the GOP wants to eliminate it. Does anyone find it strange that the Swiftboat billionaires are bankrolling Rove's operation? Remember when the Bush White House swore this was an independent operation not connected to their campaign against Kerry?
Does anyone thiunk it's strange that Mitt Romney, a Mormon, says that marriage is between a man and a woman? How about a few women? Isn't that the tradition?
My challenge this July 4th is to avoid delving into all the nonsense being said by the GOP on the debt ceiling issue. I take the CBO view--Do nothing. Restore the Bush tax cuts and implement the cost-savings measures in the Affordable Care Act and the debt will be manageable. Better yet withdraw troops in a timely manner from Iraq and Afghanistan and cut defense spending where appropriate.
Another good thing about this country is Paul Krugman. While I don't agree with him calling Obama "Herbert Hoover", I do agree with him that we have instantly lost sense of any lessons that the 2008 financial crisis taught us. Here's hoping his predictions about the future are wrong. He got to be right once and let's leave it at that.
And who can neglect Rachel Maddow--the only fresh face on television who has both intellect and humor. Her reporting on DADT probably influenced the Obama Administration's decision more than we know. She has been ahead of the curve on reporting on the war against Americans in the states such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio. And we owe her a debt of gratitude for her constant reporting on the war against the uteri, the unnerving campaign to restrict reproductive rights in about two dozen states.
Enjoy the Fireworks!
Since the American Right would like to co-opt the whole American revolution, we should remember that the original tea party was a protest against the King granting the East India Company corporate tax breaks so they could wipe out the local American tea merchants. And,unlike revisionists who want to make them Christians, we should remember the gathering place for the make believe Indians were the Masonic Lodges in Boston.
For the future generations, I hope Greek Prime Minister Papandreau is wrong when he says,"The economic system is stronger than the will of the people."
The next few weeks--Obama's traditional bad season--should see some frightening occurences. Rand Paul, who would not know the common good if it hit him in the face, will filibuster the debt ceiling vote. This should make us remember that few gave America a chance to survive on the day of its birth. I find it ironic to have received an e-mail today from the Campaign for Liberty,Ron Paul's campaign, claiming that the situation today is similar to when Americans found against the King. This time we are supposed to fight our own government which I recall was democratically elected the last time I look--and perhaps the last democratically elected one will may have for a while.
While politics has become dreary recently, there are a few bright spots in our culture.
I recommend Steve Benen in his crusade against Mitt Romney's claims to being a job creator, If Steve keeps at it, his findings might find their way into the mainstream media, which has studiously ignored Willard's rather lame record on precisely what he thinks is his strength. Steve says that Romney is "leading with his chin" on this front.
Andrew Sullivan's website "Daily Dish" reminds us everyday that art,culture,science, religion and music may inform our lives more than the hackneyed debates in Washington. I especially love the website's use of poetry. The time-lapsed videos posted every few days reminds us of the beauty of planet earth. Beauty does matter. Andrew, a naturalized American, retains a fondness for the British Conservative Party and its strange austerity program. But to his credit, Andrew was aeons ahead in arguing the basic conservative nature of same-sex marriage and has lived to see the day when his lonely work has paid off.
Who would have ever thought that one of our leading ethical and moral leaders would turn out to be Dan Savage? I don't know whether that is a good or bad sign for our culture. Dan Savage has become immortal in our political life. Try to Google Santorum. When all the establishment gay organizations sat on their hands, Dan and his partner took the initiative to video, "It'll Get Better" to address the concerns of young gays, who were being bullied or afraid to come out of the closet. This simple campaign that has gone viral with celebrities, sports teams, even the White House taping messages is credited with saving hundreds of teenagers from committing suicide. While I miss reading about the furries in Savage Love, Dan shows that one person can make a real difference and is a reason for optimism in our troubled land. My political mentor, Bayard Rustin, would have loved Dan. Bravo for everything you do.
And thye digital generation keeps surprising us. Playing For Change reminds us that the relationship we have with music is global. If you've never heard them, check out the YouTubes or better yet buy the album with the DVD. Musicians from around the world collaborate long-distance on some of the world's best known songs.
For the geezer crowd, I recommend Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, a cinematic tribute to Paris and a fairy tale about the days in the 1920s of the "Lost Generation". Having walked the same streets less than a month ago,Woody Allen evokes the Paris I've known and loved--even if he's on the touristy side. And after all these years, he still maintains his grudge against California. And Carla Bruni was a nice touch as a tour guide at the Rodin Museum.
In Aspen. Bill Clinton resumed his role as elder statesmen and political analyst, which he is good at. Clinton likes Jon Huntsman as an authentic human being and a pretty good Governor, thinks Romney has picked up his game since last campaign and expressed surprise at Michelle Bachmann's prowess on the campaign trail even though he disagrees with her about everything. He concludes that President Obama will win re-election because he has a good story to tell and significant achievements to show. He says that the President's national security creds will be strong . He says this was true even before he got Bin Laden. He also warned Obama not to cave to the Republicans over the debt ceiling vote.
The Newt spent July 4th with his lovely bride Callista trying out his new niche issue campaign. Newt's new book on American Exceptionalism is out. Newt's problem in my view has been his courting the Religious Right with phony historian David Barton by his side and his funding of the anti-gay marriage efforts in many states. He decided to go hard right before he knew tha landscape and how his campaign would be depopulated. So correcting course to his more geeky side is going to be tough.
Joe Biden reminded me of Hubert Humphrey in his speech before the NEA, when he attracked the Republican assault on teachers and public employees as one of the "biggest scams" in American history. For his effort, NEA overwhelmingly endorsed Obama for a second term.
Maybe we should look more kindly on the Three Amigos--John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham--as sort of a nostalgia group, a reminder of the neocons. They can keep touring for the rest of their terms and remind us that we should never withdraw from a country we invaded and since we have such a large defense budget we should invade more countries. It's really best if McCain stays away from any discussion of tax issues because it reminds us all of the 2008 debacle when he suspended his campaign to set the country right.
These three on a tour to Afghanistan were horrified that President Obama would dare pull 12,000 troops out by the end of the year. The Left has widely criticized the President for not pulling out more since it's unclear what is to be gained by shoring up the Karzai regime, which seems to be endorsing the worse policy ideas of the Taliban daily. And, of course, why should we withdraw from Iraq at all. I mean Tim Pawlenty says it's a model for the region. Lieberman says that Iran is petrified by being surrounded by democracies. Does anyone listen to these guys anymore? That's why I think we should keep the Three Amigos around so that we never fall back into this kind of thinking again. At last count, the total costs for our liberation of Iraq and Afghanistan will total $4 trillion.
Karl Rove is still up to his mischief. Now he's picking up the theme of how the Obama Administration favors the Muslim Brotherhood. Some one should show him the photo of Ike meeting the head of the Muslim Brotherhood at the White House. I'm sorry, Karl, keep to producing the ads that the stumulus was a failure and that the Democrats want to cut Medicare benefits, while the GOP wants to eliminate it. Does anyone find it strange that the Swiftboat billionaires are bankrolling Rove's operation? Remember when the Bush White House swore this was an independent operation not connected to their campaign against Kerry?
Does anyone thiunk it's strange that Mitt Romney, a Mormon, says that marriage is between a man and a woman? How about a few women? Isn't that the tradition?
My challenge this July 4th is to avoid delving into all the nonsense being said by the GOP on the debt ceiling issue. I take the CBO view--Do nothing. Restore the Bush tax cuts and implement the cost-savings measures in the Affordable Care Act and the debt will be manageable. Better yet withdraw troops in a timely manner from Iraq and Afghanistan and cut defense spending where appropriate.
Another good thing about this country is Paul Krugman. While I don't agree with him calling Obama "Herbert Hoover", I do agree with him that we have instantly lost sense of any lessons that the 2008 financial crisis taught us. Here's hoping his predictions about the future are wrong. He got to be right once and let's leave it at that.
And who can neglect Rachel Maddow--the only fresh face on television who has both intellect and humor. Her reporting on DADT probably influenced the Obama Administration's decision more than we know. She has been ahead of the curve on reporting on the war against Americans in the states such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio. And we owe her a debt of gratitude for her constant reporting on the war against the uteri, the unnerving campaign to restrict reproductive rights in about two dozen states.
Enjoy the Fireworks!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
OMG! They Killed Elmo!
John the Ripper Boehner and his radical Right nihilists zeroed out public broadcasting as part of their blood revenge for Juan Williams. But they did keep the Pentagon's sponsorship of a NASCAR racing car.Democratic representative Barbara Lee's amendment to keep the Pentagon's budget at 2008 levels was defeated. Instead,Republicans opted to kill Elmo, Big Bird and the Cookie Monster.
The House budget is as crazy as you could get in a once developed country. Significant cuts in the Social Security Administration will affect several hundred thousand recipients of disability and first-time social security recipients. The GOP zeroed out funding for the Consumer Protection Agency, implementation of health care reform,severely cut SEC funding so more Madoffs can be created,and cut funding for the EPA so they can not monitor the pollution from Koch Industries. There were also deep cuts in all programs aimed at alleviating the situation of the poor. But they kept the $42 billion of tax credits for the oil and gas industries and all the farm subsidies. They did kill the spare jet engine project located in Ricky Cantor and John the Ripper's district.
A first glance at the budget says that the healthcare provsiion alone will deepen the deficit by another $280 million and some 1 million jobs will be lost. Foreign aid was drastically cut, particularly humanitarian aid. The State Department, which was just trying to comeback in foreign affairs, was cut by 19%.
The Planned Parenthood vote was predicated on the idea that PP receives federal funding for abortion--Apparently, none of its $334 million goes to abortions. But the number figure is interesting. I was watching Frontline's "Bush's War", a two-part series on the Iraq War. In it, military officers spoke on camera that the United States paid Muqtada al-Sadr $330 million in cash to get him and his militia to stop fighting.
Maybe our domestic spending should be linked to our foreign policy bribes. Our Highway Fund--which the GOP also zeroed out-- should be at least equal to the amount our military is spending on the Afghanistan infrastructure.Maybe PP's funding should be pegged to the largest bribe to a foreign personality--apparently it tracks pretty closely.
Everyone says that we are heading to a budget standoff and the government will shut down. Government bureaucracies are already preparing for this eventuality. Coupled with the need--almost as immediate to lift the debt ceiling--we are walking into a volatile time. The Beltway wisdom is that Democrats have wiggle room to compromise but the Republicans don't because they are held hostage by the teabaggers. But remember this could all be a charade. Rep. Ryan was given totalitarian control of the House Budget and maybe the sole arbiter of what actually gets proposed in counter to the almost certain Senate rejection of the looney-tune budget.
Just an aside--I would love one of the remaining conservatives in the Republican party to explain to me how a budget that actually increases the national debt and costs 1 million jobs be considered conservative.
BACK IN WISCONSIN. I have been waiting today for the arrival of the teabaggers who are being bussed into the state for free to hold their Stand By Walker Rally. I think they came because they thought it was Stand By Johnnie Walker Rally. Hermain Cain of Godfather Pizza fame is supposed to go,along with Andrew Breibart for more of his pimping videos. Special guest star is Joe the Plumber, who isn't named Joe and is not a Plumber. 1,100 signed up on Facebook and they expect 4,500 to arrive.
All of this is being paid for by the Koch Brothers. What is actually surprising is that not only are the Koch brothers directly the main contributors to Walker's campaign but they actually own most of the state. The Koch brothers own the gas and oil pipelines in the state as well as the paper mills. Last year they reduced their employees in order to increase their profit margin when demand actually had increased. The reason was that the Koch Brothers feared that President Obama would raise the tax on the top income earners and they wanted to suck $11 billion more out their businesses.
One interesting trivia point--The Koch Brothers are one of the few Americans to have financially benefited from the Molotov-Rippentrop pact between Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia. Fred Koch went to both countries after having his patents stolen in the United States and applied his oil technology in both countries, building the first stage of their massive fortune. Koch actually favored Mussolini at the time and grumbled later that Stalin purged all the engineers in Russia. Apologists have said the United States were allies with the Soviets at that time and therefore old man Koch did nothing dubious. False,this was the United States even considered entering WWII.
A Wisconsin judge refused to order the teachers back to work in Wisconsin. Democrats are now targeting 8 of the Republican senators for recall. Walker can be recalled next January. The law says the office holder must have served at least a year before recall. The teabaggers are planing to recall the democrats.
Two polls of Wisconsin reveal the majority of the state oppose the Budget Repair Bill.
Our media basically frames the issue as a budget crisis. Governor Walker even talked about the budget repair bill today without mentioning all its union-busting elements. Leave it to Pat Buchanan to say that the average teacher in Wisconsin earns $100,000. False--it's $42,000. Ed Schultz has done a superb job covering the demonstrations on the ground but I wish he would knock off the anti-Obama rhetoric. John the Ripper has already blasted Obama for sending his Organizing for America out to Wisconsin to help out. Rumors have Bill Clinton going out to speak to the demonstrators.
Fox and others are circulating rumors that the Governor's life is in danger. I notice they never report on the thousands of death threats to President Obama from their viewers. And the right-wing pundits are denouncing "labor goons". I guess they mean the bagpipe playing firefighters marching in their kilts into the capital and the fact that demonstrators unveiled a huge American Flag in the rotunda. Definitely scary people.
Leave it to Fox News,jr.--CNN--to give the teabaggers publicity for their misspelled signs. If the demonstrators are goons, then why can they spell and the teabaggers can't?
Fox news has reported that the White House is behind the demonstrators--meaning having organized the demonstrators. Their are no grass-roots except the astro-turf groups.
Oh, by the way, the AFL-CIO has offered to agree to the benefit cuts and other budget reducing measures but wants all the union busting stuff dropped from the law.
The House budget is as crazy as you could get in a once developed country. Significant cuts in the Social Security Administration will affect several hundred thousand recipients of disability and first-time social security recipients. The GOP zeroed out funding for the Consumer Protection Agency, implementation of health care reform,severely cut SEC funding so more Madoffs can be created,and cut funding for the EPA so they can not monitor the pollution from Koch Industries. There were also deep cuts in all programs aimed at alleviating the situation of the poor. But they kept the $42 billion of tax credits for the oil and gas industries and all the farm subsidies. They did kill the spare jet engine project located in Ricky Cantor and John the Ripper's district.
A first glance at the budget says that the healthcare provsiion alone will deepen the deficit by another $280 million and some 1 million jobs will be lost. Foreign aid was drastically cut, particularly humanitarian aid. The State Department, which was just trying to comeback in foreign affairs, was cut by 19%.
The Planned Parenthood vote was predicated on the idea that PP receives federal funding for abortion--Apparently, none of its $334 million goes to abortions. But the number figure is interesting. I was watching Frontline's "Bush's War", a two-part series on the Iraq War. In it, military officers spoke on camera that the United States paid Muqtada al-Sadr $330 million in cash to get him and his militia to stop fighting.
Maybe our domestic spending should be linked to our foreign policy bribes. Our Highway Fund--which the GOP also zeroed out-- should be at least equal to the amount our military is spending on the Afghanistan infrastructure.Maybe PP's funding should be pegged to the largest bribe to a foreign personality--apparently it tracks pretty closely.
Everyone says that we are heading to a budget standoff and the government will shut down. Government bureaucracies are already preparing for this eventuality. Coupled with the need--almost as immediate to lift the debt ceiling--we are walking into a volatile time. The Beltway wisdom is that Democrats have wiggle room to compromise but the Republicans don't because they are held hostage by the teabaggers. But remember this could all be a charade. Rep. Ryan was given totalitarian control of the House Budget and maybe the sole arbiter of what actually gets proposed in counter to the almost certain Senate rejection of the looney-tune budget.
Just an aside--I would love one of the remaining conservatives in the Republican party to explain to me how a budget that actually increases the national debt and costs 1 million jobs be considered conservative.
BACK IN WISCONSIN. I have been waiting today for the arrival of the teabaggers who are being bussed into the state for free to hold their Stand By Walker Rally. I think they came because they thought it was Stand By Johnnie Walker Rally. Hermain Cain of Godfather Pizza fame is supposed to go,along with Andrew Breibart for more of his pimping videos. Special guest star is Joe the Plumber, who isn't named Joe and is not a Plumber. 1,100 signed up on Facebook and they expect 4,500 to arrive.
All of this is being paid for by the Koch Brothers. What is actually surprising is that not only are the Koch brothers directly the main contributors to Walker's campaign but they actually own most of the state. The Koch brothers own the gas and oil pipelines in the state as well as the paper mills. Last year they reduced their employees in order to increase their profit margin when demand actually had increased. The reason was that the Koch Brothers feared that President Obama would raise the tax on the top income earners and they wanted to suck $11 billion more out their businesses.
One interesting trivia point--The Koch Brothers are one of the few Americans to have financially benefited from the Molotov-Rippentrop pact between Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia. Fred Koch went to both countries after having his patents stolen in the United States and applied his oil technology in both countries, building the first stage of their massive fortune. Koch actually favored Mussolini at the time and grumbled later that Stalin purged all the engineers in Russia. Apologists have said the United States were allies with the Soviets at that time and therefore old man Koch did nothing dubious. False,this was the United States even considered entering WWII.
A Wisconsin judge refused to order the teachers back to work in Wisconsin. Democrats are now targeting 8 of the Republican senators for recall. Walker can be recalled next January. The law says the office holder must have served at least a year before recall. The teabaggers are planing to recall the democrats.
Two polls of Wisconsin reveal the majority of the state oppose the Budget Repair Bill.
Our media basically frames the issue as a budget crisis. Governor Walker even talked about the budget repair bill today without mentioning all its union-busting elements. Leave it to Pat Buchanan to say that the average teacher in Wisconsin earns $100,000. False--it's $42,000. Ed Schultz has done a superb job covering the demonstrations on the ground but I wish he would knock off the anti-Obama rhetoric. John the Ripper has already blasted Obama for sending his Organizing for America out to Wisconsin to help out. Rumors have Bill Clinton going out to speak to the demonstrators.
Fox and others are circulating rumors that the Governor's life is in danger. I notice they never report on the thousands of death threats to President Obama from their viewers. And the right-wing pundits are denouncing "labor goons". I guess they mean the bagpipe playing firefighters marching in their kilts into the capital and the fact that demonstrators unveiled a huge American Flag in the rotunda. Definitely scary people.
Leave it to Fox News,jr.--CNN--to give the teabaggers publicity for their misspelled signs. If the demonstrators are goons, then why can they spell and the teabaggers can't?
Fox news has reported that the White House is behind the demonstrators--meaning having organized the demonstrators. Their are no grass-roots except the astro-turf groups.
Oh, by the way, the AFL-CIO has offered to agree to the benefit cuts and other budget reducing measures but wants all the union busting stuff dropped from the law.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Bravo Bernie Sanders!
Senator Bernie Sanders is having his Network moment by speaking for hours against the tax deal and ,more importantly, how the United States got to such a position where the top 1% have 23% of the national income, which is more than the entire bottom 50%. The Washington Post had an interactive poll on whether Sanders is wasting everyone's time or making a valid point. 87% of those responding said he was making a valid point. And, probably, most heroic of this lonely gesture is that he really is filibustering in the classic sense and not idly threatening as the republicans do. Alas, Bernie, great speech--which polifact has fact checked and found "true"--but the Big Dog spoke this afternoon and called the tax plan a great deal. The cloture vote will happen at 3pm on Monday. Big Dog referred to Krauthammer's column as showing it was a bonus for Democrats. And they even trotted Mark Penn out on television. But it was Bernie who captured our hearts and minds.
I still think it's a great deal even though the Obama Administration has gotten a bit ham-fisted in their sales pitch. First, Larry Sumners threatened a second Depression if it didn 't go through. Then, one wheels out Bill Clinton, the father of triangulation.
Bloomberg News has commissioned a Nation Poll on the federal budget deficit, which Americans believe is "dangerously out of control". The poll was commissioned shortly after the release of the Catfood Commission's findings.The public wants Congress to keep its hands off Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. They oppose cuts in most other domestic programs and defense. They want to maintain subsidies for farmers and tax breaks like the mortgage-interest deduction. And they are also against raising the gas tax. The poll did see concern over the debt fall from 53 in October to 48% now.
Americans claim they want to balance the budget over the next 20 years. They opposed more than a dozen possible spending cuts and tax increases. The majority backs raising the cap on earnings covered by the tax on Social Security to over $108,000. Two-thirds would means test Social Security and Medicare benefits. Six out of 10 would end tax cuts for the highest-earning Americans. Seven out of 10 favor a tax on Wall Street profits.
Republicans are split on eliminating tax cuts for the wealthy--50% opposed, 47% supporting. On the end of a cap on earnings, the Repubicans are evenly split. Half of Republicans want to see both Medicare and Social Security preserved. Only 35% of all respondents back a system in which government vouchers would help people pay for their health insurance. 82% opposed benefit cuts to the Medicare health-insurance system.
72% of those earning $100,000 or more are opposed to any reduction in the Medicare Health program for the poor.
The Tea Baggers want to see a dramatic overhaul of social security--49%, compared to 41% of Republicans. Teabaggers want an overhaul of Medicare by 52% over 43% Rwepublicans.
On a new sales tax to eliminate the deficit, 46% are in favor and 49% are opposed.
53% favor a freeze on nondefense discretionary spending. But cuts in defense are opposed by 51% versus 45% in favor.
In other words, Americans are really concerned about the national debt but don't want to make any sacrifices to deal with it. It's clear from the poll that any efforts to cut the national debt will be despite popular opinion and not with its support. But it is nice to see Americans actually support the social welfare net.
The Pete Peterson Foundation held townhall meetings around the country and tried to persuade people to accept cuts to social security and Medicare. Interestingly, no one was buying this either. They opted for 10% cuts in defense. The Foundation didn't offer an alternatives higher than that. Otherwise, these townhall meetings would have gone for more defense cuts. The result was not to the liking of the organizers.
With the taxcut program, President Obama is moving ahead with his tax code overhaul. Appearing on NPR this afternoon was the man who was a major force in the last tax reform project twenty-five years ago--Bill Bradley. Bill Bradley talked about how and why the tax rates were lowered in the 1980s and spoke about how they have to be flattened again and the loopholes closed as they were then. He said that it was the closing of loopholes rather than raising tax rates that made the difference. he said that the current loopholes cost the government a trillion dollars a year. He pointed to the fact that this coming year will mirror the situation in 1986--one party controlling the Presidency and the Senate and another the House. That the time is perfect to start the process, which Dollar Bill said will take a long time. He said no one believed it could have been done last time but he talked about the bipartisan nature of the give and take necessary.
I still think it's a great deal even though the Obama Administration has gotten a bit ham-fisted in their sales pitch. First, Larry Sumners threatened a second Depression if it didn 't go through. Then, one wheels out Bill Clinton, the father of triangulation.
Bloomberg News has commissioned a Nation Poll on the federal budget deficit, which Americans believe is "dangerously out of control". The poll was commissioned shortly after the release of the Catfood Commission's findings.The public wants Congress to keep its hands off Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. They oppose cuts in most other domestic programs and defense. They want to maintain subsidies for farmers and tax breaks like the mortgage-interest deduction. And they are also against raising the gas tax. The poll did see concern over the debt fall from 53 in October to 48% now.
Americans claim they want to balance the budget over the next 20 years. They opposed more than a dozen possible spending cuts and tax increases. The majority backs raising the cap on earnings covered by the tax on Social Security to over $108,000. Two-thirds would means test Social Security and Medicare benefits. Six out of 10 would end tax cuts for the highest-earning Americans. Seven out of 10 favor a tax on Wall Street profits.
Republicans are split on eliminating tax cuts for the wealthy--50% opposed, 47% supporting. On the end of a cap on earnings, the Repubicans are evenly split. Half of Republicans want to see both Medicare and Social Security preserved. Only 35% of all respondents back a system in which government vouchers would help people pay for their health insurance. 82% opposed benefit cuts to the Medicare health-insurance system.
72% of those earning $100,000 or more are opposed to any reduction in the Medicare Health program for the poor.
The Tea Baggers want to see a dramatic overhaul of social security--49%, compared to 41% of Republicans. Teabaggers want an overhaul of Medicare by 52% over 43% Rwepublicans.
On a new sales tax to eliminate the deficit, 46% are in favor and 49% are opposed.
53% favor a freeze on nondefense discretionary spending. But cuts in defense are opposed by 51% versus 45% in favor.
In other words, Americans are really concerned about the national debt but don't want to make any sacrifices to deal with it. It's clear from the poll that any efforts to cut the national debt will be despite popular opinion and not with its support. But it is nice to see Americans actually support the social welfare net.
The Pete Peterson Foundation held townhall meetings around the country and tried to persuade people to accept cuts to social security and Medicare. Interestingly, no one was buying this either. They opted for 10% cuts in defense. The Foundation didn't offer an alternatives higher than that. Otherwise, these townhall meetings would have gone for more defense cuts. The result was not to the liking of the organizers.
With the taxcut program, President Obama is moving ahead with his tax code overhaul. Appearing on NPR this afternoon was the man who was a major force in the last tax reform project twenty-five years ago--Bill Bradley. Bill Bradley talked about how and why the tax rates were lowered in the 1980s and spoke about how they have to be flattened again and the loopholes closed as they were then. He said that it was the closing of loopholes rather than raising tax rates that made the difference. he said that the current loopholes cost the government a trillion dollars a year. He pointed to the fact that this coming year will mirror the situation in 1986--one party controlling the Presidency and the Senate and another the House. That the time is perfect to start the process, which Dollar Bill said will take a long time. He said no one believed it could have been done last time but he talked about the bipartisan nature of the give and take necessary.
Monday, October 11, 2010
FAIR GAME
"Rick, I'm shocked, just shocked that gambling is going on here."
Karl Rove is squealing like a stuck pig with the new ads the Democrats are running against the anonymous donors of the Rove/Chamber of Commerce network. Ads linking him to efforts to steal the election are drawing blood and have become woven in the Democratic talking points at every stop.
President Obama is busy on the hustings to stop the Great White Male riot. So far this week, he is drawing paltry crowds of 18,000 with overflow in the parking lots. President Obama has ramped up his charges against the Chamber of Commerce and the threat of foreign money in the election. And it's beginning to work.
The Washington Post and the MSM are expressing concerns about the tone of the President's attacks. I guess he's not being polite enough. Karl Rove says that Obama has an enemy list of Nixon. I find it ironic he said this on Fox News, whose audience probably thinks Richard Nixon was great. As far as I remember, Richard Nixon didn't have any corporations or wealthy people on his enemies' list and was the past master at secret corporate funding.
For full public disclosure, Obama has outsourced his enemies' list. I'm compiling it. And ,yes, Karl, you are on it--more for your role in destroying the Republican Party than any attacks on the present Administration.
The Wall Street Journal tried to come to the defense of corporations by invoking the moral equivalence argument. They point out that Labor Unions are also "internationals" and we don't know how much foreign money they pump into the elections. Unfortunately, for them, unions openly disclose their contributions and they expenditures on elections. Right now, the Chamber and Karl Rove do not. Sorry, Charlie, bad cop, no donut.
Bob Schieffer challenged David Axelrod about whether he had evidence the Chamber was using foreign money. He pushed back by saying, "it's up to the Chamber to reveal where their money is coming from to assure the public." Quite right.
This is all fair game. The Rove/Chamber money nexus represents nearly 60% of all anonymous monies in the race, the rest being used for shadowy conservative front-groups, whom no one even knows their directors.
The American people really don't care how much money is spent on the elections. They want to know where it comes from. And here the Democrats have pushed a hot button and .I think, it will pay off.
The Wall Street Journal whined that the Administration was trying to silence America's corporations. How many billions did American corporations spend to lobby against everything the Administration has been trying to do? Did anyone do anything about that?
The New York Times ran a few editorials on the need for more campiagn disclosure but they are getting a little fussy. They are saying that China is now being used as a scapegoat by the Democrats and worry about the implications of this. The Democrats have quite yet gotten into the "Yellow Peril" territory. I think a more fruitful approach would be to accent theMiddle Eastern banks and oil companies.
The Chamber actually ran an ad posting a Democratic congresswoman's home phone. I think , depending on the results on the election, there should be an effort against sitting Republican congressmen to say,"Rep. Boehner wants to pass tax cuts for the very rich, Call his boss Tom Donoghue. " Then list the President of the Chamber's home phone. This should be the M.O. following the election for the One Nation crowd. Don't even bother calling congress, just the business lobby. Make them regret their foray into covert politics.
The Onion gave me a great idea. They ran a satirical piece that someone from Patton, Boggs, a Washington law firm, was registering as a lobbyist for the American people. The fictitious person said that he thought Americans should have input in the proceedings in Congress. Great idea, I think there should be a group formed to actually register as agents of the American people.
Bill Clinton has been campaigning around the country. I caught his speech on behalf of Jack Conway in Kentucky. While never my favorite, he is a great campaigner and probably has a clearer speech on everyday talking points than even Obama. He drew out the implications of this election for the audience and pointed to the utter nonsense about Republicans being fiscally responsible. He pointed out that from Day 1 of W's administration, Republicans opened the door to massive debt by repealing the Pay-Go rules. As Clinton pointed out, that we wom't have any debt if this had been observed. He even pointed out that his Administration had paid down the national debt by $600 billion during his administration and that we would have been debt-free by 2015--the first time since Andrew Jackson. He also pointed out the utter folly of extending the tax cuts for the wealthy. But he made a better case than Obama. He pointed out that the tax cuts for those earning over 3 million a year would range from $300,000 to 800,000 and add enormous amounts to the debt.
The other major point he made was that America does have the money to make the necessary changes to compete in the world and provide a decent living for everyone. He also pointed out to the students that they have a personal stake in this election because of the changes in the student loan programs, which caps the % you must pay your debt back to your annual salary. So you will be able to pay back your loans no matter what job you take. He also made the point that the low fixed rate loans were only possible because Obama cut out the banks from administering them. The intrusion of the private banks in this business only occurred during the last Administration.
Then Clinton went after Rand Paul and stated the obvious--he has no track record and all his ideas have been tried and been catastrophic failures so why would you vote for him. He urged voters not to be "had", don't be hoodwinked by the anonymous ads. Then he ramped up about the Repubican sponsored ad campaign.
The weekend has been basically positive for the Democrats. Finally, they have hit on points that make thier case--maybe too late-- but at least they are fighting back. They are not willing to be swift-boated and Willy Horton'ed again. For the first time in a while, I feel Democrats are not being defensive but going on the offense.
Republicans are stepping in dog-poop as Nancy Pelosi said. One of their candidates, who is given the term "Contender", the second tier after "Top Gun", was caught playing WWII enactment dressed in a Waffen SS uniform. A millionaire from Ohio, he likes to be a member of the Waffen unit that defended Hitler's bunker and his enactment group is connected to a European white supremacist group that honors Germany during WWII. He had the uncanny knack of playing Waffen SS on a campaign weekend. Nice timing. Nice uniform.
Democratic Governor Manchin is fighting back in spades against Raese's "hick" ads in West Virgina. He calls the Republican out on using Philadelphia actors for portraying West Virginians and says that Raese doesn't respect you. Maybe because he lives in Florida and his wife is registered in Florida and can't vote for him. "Why should we vote for him?" The second aid starts with Governor Manchin's NRA endorsement and shows him shooting a bulls-eye and reverting to a more Blue Dog stance, citing that he sued the Obama's EPA for his enforcement of clean air standards that affect the coal industry.
Observers are saying that Sharron Angle and Diaper Dave Vitter are running the most racist ads on the campaign. But in Nevada, this is backfiring. A poll released over the weekend seemed to back up John Ralston's claim that Harry Reid is walking away with the election. This runs counter to the media narrative.
Roxeanne Conlin in Iowa is running against Grassley, the Republican, and is not considered a competitive candidate, although she is a good one. However, she reports what observers are noticing that early voting in Iowa and the rest of the Midwest indicate large Democratic leads, which is a positive note. We are talking in terms of 2-3 to 1 leads in small states. This runs contrary to the larger East Coast media's stories. This may not help Conlin but it may be decisive in House races.
A Race which one should watch is Pennsylvania's Senate race between Joe Sestak and Pat Toomey. Joe Sestak is painting Toomey as identical to Rick Santorum, the ultra-right social conservative. But the thing to look for here is the stealth GOTV campaign by the Obama people among the black community. I have yet to read anything about how this was done during the 2008 campaign. Barack Obama, fighting the race card then, conducted a massive campaign among the black media and radio stations that never surfaced in the major media. From the rally yesterday in Philadelphia, I got a hint that this was revving up against.
Will the millenials vote? In the 2006 elections, only 25% of them voted, while 51% voted in 2008. Republican strategists have written them off this year, but even if they bump the 25 to 30%, this will make a difference in close elections.
The same is true with Hispanics. The Hispanic vote will become crucial in Nevada, Colorado, California and even in Illinois, where a sizable Hispanic community lives. It looks like anti-immigration positions by Republicans in Colorado, Nevada and California will hurt the GOP.
The Washington Post wrote about Lisa Murkowski's write-in campaign in Alaska. The portrait is of a Senate candidate finally freed from constraint and enjoying her campaign. The more Alaskans see Joe Miller they distrust him and fear that the state will lose out on all the federal goodies they received. Alaska is the most subsidized state in terms of Federal aid in the union. Murkowski is openly running on the earmarks she has brought in. The Washington Post has her tied or leading in polls but Mudflats website showed that the write-in process will make it hard for her to win. Receiving no coverage anywhere is the Democratic candidate, who was tied with Murkowski the polls.
One problem race for Democrats looks like the Patty Murray-Dino Rossi contest in Washington state. For reasons that are unknown--Dino Rossi has pulled in the lead. However, Murray is playing hard-hitting ads on Rossi's dubious business practices.
Alex Sink is ramping up her attack ads on Rick Scott for his role in Medicare fraud and his dubious business career. Lamentably she is only a few points in the lead, given the fact her opponent really should be in jail.
Some of the major networks are claiming the Democrats are being McCarthyite in their attacks on the business interests behind the Republicans. I thought the teabaggers liked Joe McCarthy. Certainly Fox News and Sarah Palin do.
For the next few weeks, it's going to be rock'em-sock'em. If the GOP manages to take back the House, don't expect them to have an easy time of it once the secret money theme sticks. I can't imagine Democratic and labor activists are going to stop hitting them when they try to repeal the legislation of the past 18 months.
Remember Vote Early and Often.
Karl Rove is squealing like a stuck pig with the new ads the Democrats are running against the anonymous donors of the Rove/Chamber of Commerce network. Ads linking him to efforts to steal the election are drawing blood and have become woven in the Democratic talking points at every stop.
President Obama is busy on the hustings to stop the Great White Male riot. So far this week, he is drawing paltry crowds of 18,000 with overflow in the parking lots. President Obama has ramped up his charges against the Chamber of Commerce and the threat of foreign money in the election. And it's beginning to work.
The Washington Post and the MSM are expressing concerns about the tone of the President's attacks. I guess he's not being polite enough. Karl Rove says that Obama has an enemy list of Nixon. I find it ironic he said this on Fox News, whose audience probably thinks Richard Nixon was great. As far as I remember, Richard Nixon didn't have any corporations or wealthy people on his enemies' list and was the past master at secret corporate funding.
For full public disclosure, Obama has outsourced his enemies' list. I'm compiling it. And ,yes, Karl, you are on it--more for your role in destroying the Republican Party than any attacks on the present Administration.
The Wall Street Journal tried to come to the defense of corporations by invoking the moral equivalence argument. They point out that Labor Unions are also "internationals" and we don't know how much foreign money they pump into the elections. Unfortunately, for them, unions openly disclose their contributions and they expenditures on elections. Right now, the Chamber and Karl Rove do not. Sorry, Charlie, bad cop, no donut.
Bob Schieffer challenged David Axelrod about whether he had evidence the Chamber was using foreign money. He pushed back by saying, "it's up to the Chamber to reveal where their money is coming from to assure the public." Quite right.
This is all fair game. The Rove/Chamber money nexus represents nearly 60% of all anonymous monies in the race, the rest being used for shadowy conservative front-groups, whom no one even knows their directors.
The American people really don't care how much money is spent on the elections. They want to know where it comes from. And here the Democrats have pushed a hot button and .I think, it will pay off.
The Wall Street Journal whined that the Administration was trying to silence America's corporations. How many billions did American corporations spend to lobby against everything the Administration has been trying to do? Did anyone do anything about that?
The New York Times ran a few editorials on the need for more campiagn disclosure but they are getting a little fussy. They are saying that China is now being used as a scapegoat by the Democrats and worry about the implications of this. The Democrats have quite yet gotten into the "Yellow Peril" territory. I think a more fruitful approach would be to accent theMiddle Eastern banks and oil companies.
The Chamber actually ran an ad posting a Democratic congresswoman's home phone. I think , depending on the results on the election, there should be an effort against sitting Republican congressmen to say,"Rep. Boehner wants to pass tax cuts for the very rich, Call his boss Tom Donoghue. " Then list the President of the Chamber's home phone. This should be the M.O. following the election for the One Nation crowd. Don't even bother calling congress, just the business lobby. Make them regret their foray into covert politics.
The Onion gave me a great idea. They ran a satirical piece that someone from Patton, Boggs, a Washington law firm, was registering as a lobbyist for the American people. The fictitious person said that he thought Americans should have input in the proceedings in Congress. Great idea, I think there should be a group formed to actually register as agents of the American people.
Bill Clinton has been campaigning around the country. I caught his speech on behalf of Jack Conway in Kentucky. While never my favorite, he is a great campaigner and probably has a clearer speech on everyday talking points than even Obama. He drew out the implications of this election for the audience and pointed to the utter nonsense about Republicans being fiscally responsible. He pointed out that from Day 1 of W's administration, Republicans opened the door to massive debt by repealing the Pay-Go rules. As Clinton pointed out, that we wom't have any debt if this had been observed. He even pointed out that his Administration had paid down the national debt by $600 billion during his administration and that we would have been debt-free by 2015--the first time since Andrew Jackson. He also pointed out the utter folly of extending the tax cuts for the wealthy. But he made a better case than Obama. He pointed out that the tax cuts for those earning over 3 million a year would range from $300,000 to 800,000 and add enormous amounts to the debt.
The other major point he made was that America does have the money to make the necessary changes to compete in the world and provide a decent living for everyone. He also pointed out to the students that they have a personal stake in this election because of the changes in the student loan programs, which caps the % you must pay your debt back to your annual salary. So you will be able to pay back your loans no matter what job you take. He also made the point that the low fixed rate loans were only possible because Obama cut out the banks from administering them. The intrusion of the private banks in this business only occurred during the last Administration.
Then Clinton went after Rand Paul and stated the obvious--he has no track record and all his ideas have been tried and been catastrophic failures so why would you vote for him. He urged voters not to be "had", don't be hoodwinked by the anonymous ads. Then he ramped up about the Repubican sponsored ad campaign.
The weekend has been basically positive for the Democrats. Finally, they have hit on points that make thier case--maybe too late-- but at least they are fighting back. They are not willing to be swift-boated and Willy Horton'ed again. For the first time in a while, I feel Democrats are not being defensive but going on the offense.
Republicans are stepping in dog-poop as Nancy Pelosi said. One of their candidates, who is given the term "Contender", the second tier after "Top Gun", was caught playing WWII enactment dressed in a Waffen SS uniform. A millionaire from Ohio, he likes to be a member of the Waffen unit that defended Hitler's bunker and his enactment group is connected to a European white supremacist group that honors Germany during WWII. He had the uncanny knack of playing Waffen SS on a campaign weekend. Nice timing. Nice uniform.
Democratic Governor Manchin is fighting back in spades against Raese's "hick" ads in West Virgina. He calls the Republican out on using Philadelphia actors for portraying West Virginians and says that Raese doesn't respect you. Maybe because he lives in Florida and his wife is registered in Florida and can't vote for him. "Why should we vote for him?" The second aid starts with Governor Manchin's NRA endorsement and shows him shooting a bulls-eye and reverting to a more Blue Dog stance, citing that he sued the Obama's EPA for his enforcement of clean air standards that affect the coal industry.
Observers are saying that Sharron Angle and Diaper Dave Vitter are running the most racist ads on the campaign. But in Nevada, this is backfiring. A poll released over the weekend seemed to back up John Ralston's claim that Harry Reid is walking away with the election. This runs counter to the media narrative.
Roxeanne Conlin in Iowa is running against Grassley, the Republican, and is not considered a competitive candidate, although she is a good one. However, she reports what observers are noticing that early voting in Iowa and the rest of the Midwest indicate large Democratic leads, which is a positive note. We are talking in terms of 2-3 to 1 leads in small states. This runs contrary to the larger East Coast media's stories. This may not help Conlin but it may be decisive in House races.
A Race which one should watch is Pennsylvania's Senate race between Joe Sestak and Pat Toomey. Joe Sestak is painting Toomey as identical to Rick Santorum, the ultra-right social conservative. But the thing to look for here is the stealth GOTV campaign by the Obama people among the black community. I have yet to read anything about how this was done during the 2008 campaign. Barack Obama, fighting the race card then, conducted a massive campaign among the black media and radio stations that never surfaced in the major media. From the rally yesterday in Philadelphia, I got a hint that this was revving up against.
Will the millenials vote? In the 2006 elections, only 25% of them voted, while 51% voted in 2008. Republican strategists have written them off this year, but even if they bump the 25 to 30%, this will make a difference in close elections.
The same is true with Hispanics. The Hispanic vote will become crucial in Nevada, Colorado, California and even in Illinois, where a sizable Hispanic community lives. It looks like anti-immigration positions by Republicans in Colorado, Nevada and California will hurt the GOP.
The Washington Post wrote about Lisa Murkowski's write-in campaign in Alaska. The portrait is of a Senate candidate finally freed from constraint and enjoying her campaign. The more Alaskans see Joe Miller they distrust him and fear that the state will lose out on all the federal goodies they received. Alaska is the most subsidized state in terms of Federal aid in the union. Murkowski is openly running on the earmarks she has brought in. The Washington Post has her tied or leading in polls but Mudflats website showed that the write-in process will make it hard for her to win. Receiving no coverage anywhere is the Democratic candidate, who was tied with Murkowski the polls.
One problem race for Democrats looks like the Patty Murray-Dino Rossi contest in Washington state. For reasons that are unknown--Dino Rossi has pulled in the lead. However, Murray is playing hard-hitting ads on Rossi's dubious business practices.
Alex Sink is ramping up her attack ads on Rick Scott for his role in Medicare fraud and his dubious business career. Lamentably she is only a few points in the lead, given the fact her opponent really should be in jail.
Some of the major networks are claiming the Democrats are being McCarthyite in their attacks on the business interests behind the Republicans. I thought the teabaggers liked Joe McCarthy. Certainly Fox News and Sarah Palin do.
For the next few weeks, it's going to be rock'em-sock'em. If the GOP manages to take back the House, don't expect them to have an easy time of it once the secret money theme sticks. I can't imagine Democratic and labor activists are going to stop hitting them when they try to repeal the legislation of the past 18 months.
Remember Vote Early and Often.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)