Rt 66 at The Last Manatee

I think I've finally figured out the politics of the new Right. Protect the unborn and worry about future generations' debt and not give a damn about living people. That's a winning formula.

On the debt, I've finally solved it. We fixed the social security problem with my rise the ceiling on the FICA tax. We solved the National Military/ Terrorist deficit by limiting national security costs to double that of the next largest country's expenditures. That saves us about $1 trillion a year. And the Medicare issue, which has bothered me, is now resolved. Think Howard Dean and the public option, which was not included in the healthcare bill. Progressives take note. Health costs rise for people 50 or over, with the largest expenditures of health costs at the end of life. By widening the risk pool, you lower the costs. So allow for all Americans to enroll in Medicare, which would bolster its revenues and lower long-term costs by spreading the risk to other demographic groups. Take our three proposals together, the national debt issue is solved.

Taxes. Republicans figured they would box Democrats in on the tax issue for the mid-terms as we saw yesterday, especially with the nonsense that tax cuts pay for themselves. The Democrats plan to make the Bush Middle Tax Cuts permanent this term with the exception of the brackets above $250,000. This puts Republicans in a monkey trap of their own doing. They are already moaning that it is the top brackets who stimulate the economy. Now Democrats have to point out that most small businesses don't make a profit of $200,000 a year and they should actually restore income-averaging, which got dropped years ago because of some special interest no one remembers. Add that and they have a winner.

Elizabeth Warren, American heroine. All the noise about Senate confirmation is nonsense. She doesn't have to be approved by the Senate so her "difficulties " are nonsense. Labor Unions and over 3 dozen members of the House have petitioned the White House to appoint her. The first leader of the new Consumer Agency will set the tone for its whole existence.

Bob Herbert had an interesting op-ed in the New York Times where he writes that Obama and the Democrats had an historic chance and blew it completely on generating jobs. Herbert claims that they should have focused on the issue of an economic recovery and the creation of jobs before anything, including healthcare reform. He suggested a large jobs program in clean energy. Interestingly, former Republican Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Ridge also had suggested at the time of the stimulus package a Manhattan-style project on energy to revitalize the economy. I share some of Herbert's thoughts but I still come back to the fact that President Obama came in office with only one major party operating in the country and the other using procedural tricks to stop and stall every new initiative. I also believed the stimulus was too small and that has turned out to be right but politically I can't see how it could have been different with the poison here in the Potomac.

My only comment on the faux scandal of the USDA employee is that her father had been lynched by the KKK, which might color her views on white folks, and still she saved the white couples farm, which shows she did rise above racism.

Sister Glenn Beck's sponsor Goldfine is now being investigated by the state of California and the U.S. Congress. Goldfine is peddled by conservative talk show hosts and makes its money by selling gold coins way above market prices.

A correction of a Huffington Post piece, Lindsey Graham's vote for Elena Kagan was necessary. The author said she had the Democrats' vote but didn't need Republicans. She needed at least one Republican to get her nomination to the floor. Never fear though, Frank Gaffney published a piece in the Washington Times saying once again that Elena Kagan supports Sharia Law. Why wouldn't conservatives support Sharia Law. If you hate women and want lower interest rates on credit cards, Sharia Law is the way to go.

The research wing ( you have to love it) of Focus on Your (Not My) Family produced a DVD urging Christians to vote or they will go to hell. What happens if you're sick?

Chet Traylor, a former State Supreme Court Judge" has entered the Republican primary race against Diaper Dave Vitter on the platform he is the "most moral candidate". The prostitute loving Louisiana Senator looks in trouble. But, wait, Judge Traylor has to explain his affairs with two married women. No wonder Charlie Cook downgraded the Republican chances in the race.

One surprise is Alex Sink, the Democrat, now leading for governor of Florida. I thought she was a particular weak candidate but the Republicans are self-destructing there. Charlie Crist has widened his lead recently over Marco Rubio. Florida voters are also calling for Crist to caucus with the democrats if he wins.

I happen to agree with progressive who thought the Democrats in West Virginia caved to the Republicans by allowing a sitting politicians to run for two seats at the same time. This would allow Shelly Capito, the Republican House member to run for Senate. She was the only viable candidate against Governor Manchin. This morning she announced she would not run for the seat, making it probable that the Democrats will not suffer another Scott Brown situation in Massachusetts.

Barbara Boxer, no hobo herself, is running ads against Carly Fiorina about Carly's two yachts. What's great was the response from Fiorina's spokeswoman, telling an economically depressed state that having two yachts was reasonable.

Part three of the Washington Post's investigative piece on Secret America appeared today. The whole series is a must read, detailing the Rube Goldberg machine of our intelligence community.

President Obama is signing the Wall Street Reform Bill into law today. Pundits claim that the series of great legislative accomplishments have not help President Obama and the Democrats. Well, they may have helped the country. Gallup, which is doing a boom business, has a new gimmick to pacify critics--they have shown quarterly reports of drops in Obama's approval rating to 47.5% for the last quarter. So this can be used to dominish a 49% average of the year.

Afternoon Coffee at the Last Manatee

Drudge reports that Obama only met with BP executives for 20 minutes today. Pretty productive meeting since he got them to fork over $20 billion for an escrow fund for the region's victims. With additonal fines of $4,300 per barrel, this is looking better than the original Louisiana Purchase.

Newt told his Fox audience that in this case it was alright for Obama to use religious language during his address to the nation.

Haley Barbour, Governor of Mississippi, one of the states affected by the spill worried that the escrow account would affect BP's profits.

Sarah Palin said the Dutch could clean up the spill. She was referring to their skimmer technology. A little late in the day, Dutch's skimmer machines have been in the Gulf for the last few days.

The House Republicans entered an amendment yesterday to strip the health reform bill of the individuals mandates. It was defeated. Look for this throughout the next few years.

The Senate Republicans managed to block the extension of unemployment and Cobra as well as the emergency $50 billion funds for the bailout of states.

Meg Whitman put another $20 million of her personal wealth into her campaign coffers. This means she has put in $90 million of her own dough. Apparently, Meg also has anger issues, having fought an employee in 2007. The poor woman was trying to prepare her for an interview. Should be interesting if she wins the California state house.

The Christian Right is back in all its lunacy, saying that the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell would mean that God would make us lose wars. In case anyone has been watching, the United States hasn't won a clearcut battlefield victory in a long time. There has been so many statements and pronouncements by the Christian Right, you're better off checking www.rightwingwatch.com on a daily basis.

I think I've finally figured out this fascination of the Hard Right for the American revolution. It's the last "good war" in their minds that America fought. You can't embrace Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War because he was for big government, the wrong side won and the slaves were freed. You can't embrace WWII because FDR was the President and, in some minds on the right, the wrong side won again. And Vietnam doesn't do it because we lost and that was the period of the civil rights movement. And we know George W and Dick Cheney have been airbrushed out of the small government conservatives' history. The Spanish-American war is a no-no because it involves Hispanics and we want them deported.

Bill McCollum, who is running for the Republican nomination in Florida, is being successfully challenged by a hospital mongol, who has been convicted of felonies and forced to pay millions of dollars in fines. I guess the appeal is that this person was a CEO.

The final arguments for the Prop 8 trial are wrapping up today. The anti-gay lawyers are moving on another front to get the 18,000 legal gay marriages reversed. In my mind, the legal arguments have been all on the pro-gay side with the anti-gays having to invoke sociological studies done in the 1950s. But I am skeptical that the final arguments can move the current Supreme Court. Conservative lawyer Ted Olson disagrees but I believe he's naive about where the current court stands.

Jim Inhofe is doubling down on his anti-DADT repeal position. He went on the floor of the Senate yesterday saying that our armed forces simply won't fight with open gays in the military. Sort of like how it happened in Sparta and Rome.

All the polls this week except the AP poll show Republicans set to make big gains in the Congressional races. The volatility of these polls showing rapid changes in the generic congressional races and the vast ups and downs of Democrartic enthusiasm make me highly skeptical that we know anything about the state of the electorate. With jobs, the deficit and terrorism ranking as the top issues. I personally can't see how Republicans can capitalize on the jobs and deficit issue, although they talk a good game on terrorism.

Republicans have not created a job since 1990 and they have never acted as deficit hawks since Eisenhower. I can't see where they gain any credibility here, especially among independents. Unless something dramatic happens, terrorism doesn't trump the economy. As we've seen, Republicans are now embracing CEOs as their star candidates. But look at Whitman and Fiorina in California. Both of them gained their reputation by either outsourcing jobs or eliminating massive numbers of jobs nationwide but also in the very state they seek to represent.

On Taxes, Republicans claim they own the franchise in tax reduction but they opposed during the stimulus debate the largest tax cut for the middle class in history. Now they are framing the tax debate as if the financial concerns of the very wealthy are those of the rest of us. They may well pull that off with their spin machine. Most Americans don't believe Obama cut their taxes.

The fate of the free world hinges on Jack Nicholson just as it did in Mars Attacks. If Jack cheers on the Lakers well in Game 7, we will be saved. While not my favorite Laker team--Kareem and Magic--the Lakers must crush the Celtics if there is any justice in the world. As President Obama said, "the arc of history bends toward justice."

We salute Ken Griffey, who retired this past month. Finishing his career with 630 hrs, Griffey could have surpassed all homer records--natural or steroid infuenced--if his career in Cincinnati hadn't been plagued with injuries.

Yankee statisticians claim that Derek Jeter surpassed the 3,000 hit mark this week--if you include his playoff and world series hits. Hey, that's cheating. Let him do it straight. It should take two more months.

Meanwhile Nick Johnson made it another year in which he made the Disabled List. That makes every year that I have been following his career.

Shame on Brazil for only beating North Korea 2-1 in the World Cup. The North Korean team was made up of all males in the country who are given daily meals. Double shame on Spain for losing to Switzerland.

Washington is abuzz with the Rookie pitcher Stephen Strassburg, who struck out 14 in his first start and 7 of his last 10 and at one point 7 in a row. So far, he's won his first two games in the big leagues and won every start at all levels of the minor leagues. Unfortunately, the Nationals still blow.

The German austerity package if passed will trigger another Great Depression. So far the euro is barely hanging on with defaults in Greece and upcoming defaults in Spain and Portugal. As European commentators have mentioned, austerity does not necessarily lead to prosperity. So far we have been insulated from this stage of the European crisis but we can't be for long. With deficit hawks in the ascendency in the United States and Britain, these austerity programs may be this century's equivalent of protectionism in the 1930s.

Saturday Night Special

You can thank Glenn Beck for bringing the churches together. Tonight 25 Catholic theologians and evangelical leaders endorsed the health reform bill. The Catholic Health Group and the organization of Catholic hospitals approved on the abortion language in the bill. The U.S. Conference of Bishops and the Catholic Alliance for the Public Good also endorsed it. Seems the "social gospel" has some teeth after all.

One beef with classic Christians on this Glenn Beck flap--they have requested a dialogue with him. How Christian. Maybe the strict Calvinists have the right idea--Burn him at the stake.

Paul Krugman does his own analysis of Glenn Beck on "Born to Run" with a view that the unemployed Vietnam vet in the song is frustrated about finding work is what annoys Beck. Clearly, he would have gotten a job if he really wanted one. Hence, the vet is unpatriotic.

The other great "American artists" Beck defamed were The Beatles! Is that great? Maybe he was thinking about John becoming an American citizen. At his Rally To Restore Honor, Beck should call for the burning of all Beatle albums because John said the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus." Apparently, it takes Beck that long to catch up with popular culture.

Our condolences to Keith Olbermann and his sister for the loss of his father today. Theodore Olbermann (1929-2010) was a self-taught architect, who at one time designed literally every one of the Baskin-Robbins stores around the country. During the prolonged illness, Keith Olbermann used his experience with our health care system to dramatize the need for its overhaul. He pointed out that he and his father were fortunate because he could afford to pay for his father's illness, while a childhood friend he met in the same hospital literally had to sell his farm to care for his sick relatives.

Later, as the illness progressed, he used the occasion to talk about living wills and families discussing the options for the last days. This information was valuable and should be heeded by everyone. As Keith pointed out, these medical directives are really "life panels" not the death panels discussed by Sarah Palin and others. Having had to executive two medical directives for both my parents, it is emotionally hard but at the same time one is carrying out their real last wishes. And the decision was made for you. It was not yours alone to make. These are decisions made by the living as they consciously reflect on what medical measures should or not be taken to artifically extend life.

Despite all the pundits claiming Nancy Pelosi doesn't have the votes to pass the healthcare bill--the Hill, Firedoglake,Politico among others--she told the AP today she is confident she has the votes. So the vote has been scheduled for next weekend-- as of now.

I wondered how Republicans are going to run in the 2010 campaign. First, like good film directors, you edit out the bad scenes. And you run on the present circumstances without reference to how we got here. For instance, I watched the new ad by Carly Fiorina against Barbara Boxer. "Carly" is running against a tired political hack who is more interested in herself. A Clever projection. Boxer as a liberal Democrat is characterized by her past behavior of raising taxes. There is no mention of voting for the largest middle class tax cut in history. The stimulus-- that was Boxer wanting more Federal Government spending, while California suffers from X percent unemployment. The stimulus is then linked to the Federal Government's $12 trillion deficit. So--raising taxes,no jobs, deficit and thinking of herself. Then while Terrorists plot to blow up airliners, Boxer thinks climate change is a threat to national security. She is for a climate change bill which The Wall Street Journal claims is the "biggest tax hike" in history. But, why don't we have A Change from the tired old career politician. Carly is a self-made women, who worked her way up and "only in America" could she run one of the world's largest corporations and she created tons of jobs. (Where she doesn't say and the Democrats should ask--since it wasn't in the United States.) So all the coded messages are there. Naturally, Carly doesn't say what she would actually do. A person who could make large profits for their company is a success and obviously will make government a success.

This seems to be the line of attack. Republicans are the premier marketing expert. Remember Making of a President by Joe McGinnis about Nixon's controlled media campaign. You have this controlled media campaign right now in Meg Whitman's run for Governor of California but in today's world there is Youtube. So, it's best not to throw a reporter out of a fake press conference or be caught turning a rally into an informercial without the audience's consent.

Today Scott Brown answered President Obama's morning radio address with an attack on the President "bitterly pushing healthcare reform while the country needs jobs." The line is he and the Democrats have wasted a year and a half doing nothing but working on healthcare reform while the rest of the country is unemployed, begging for jobs. This has been the refrain from John Boehner.

And, gentlemen, what would you do to create jobs? Given that you have opposed the stimulus package that has created 2.1 million jobs and the new jobs bill itself. Why, Cut taxes on corporations --those great job creators? And, they stress also tax breaks for small businesses. But here they are far behind the Obama Administration as more details about the President's program will come forth in the next few months. And, how do you reduce deficits? Why, adopt our man Ryan's plan to cut all entitlement spending.

After seeing the Carly ad, I'm convinced the pitch for new faces in Washington with private sector experience and the broad pitch without specifics can be effective. I expect you will see the same in the future from Mitt Romney.

Charles Cook, who believes the Democrats will lose the House this year, answered the DailyKos, who criticized his position. Cook recites all the negatives for Democrats and invokes his conversations with Beltway Democratic operatives. He accuses the Left of acting like The Right did in 2006 when he predicted heavy losses for the Republicans. His critics listed all the times he has gotten things wrong this century. To which he replies you have to compare that with predictions of others and he sniffs he makes a living at this. And we admittedly are all rank amateurs whatever your party.

But I'm still skeptical, even after seeing what I believe are the broad lines of the Republican attack. In 1994, when Republicans took the House for the first time in,I believe, forty years, there was a perception that the House had become one-party rule. There were a series of scandals for the Democrats that outweighed Republican scandals, which would come later. And there was one very important fact, which Democrats at the time would not admit, the Republican Party had become for the first time in my life the predominant party in American life. Party identification with the GOP surpassed identification with Democrats.

Today, Democrats far surpasss Republicans in party identification. The GOP is at the lowest levels since Goldwater lost in 1964. Also, the Republican Party is also the farthest right it has been in history. Having the House switch back after the Democrats have only been in control for four years and only had the Presidency for one seems pretty peculiar. Maybe recruiting people who were a success in the private sector is a way to proceed but I am very skeptical.

One thing you can be sure of--the Republicans will not campaign on what they truly believe or will do once in power. There will be no transparency about policy. It's all about power, not policy. And whatever policy there is, just watch who will financially profit.

An FYI--I have long held that business people are unsuited to politics. I don't believe they understand the woof and weave of politics and how to handle and persuade people. They have too much of a command-control mentality that quickly turns to disaster when they exercise political authority. They lend themselves to the authoritarian mind of the Republican Party but would be a disaster running a country. And recent private sector people lack all sense of proportion--witness the salaries that granted themselves. They didn't even consider the long term consequences for the well-being of their own corporations.

White Stripes new album next week.