Political Rip Rap

43% of Americans in a CBS News Poll say that jobs should be the number 1 priority for government. With 12 straight months of private sector job growth, 9 out of 10 economists believe the recovery has become self-propelled and increasing. They've changed their predictions now to a 3.2-3.4% growth rate for each upcoming quarter. In the last year, the private sector has added 1.3 million jobs, topping the total private sector job creation record of 8 years of the George W. Bush Administration.

So while President Obama is going to speak about various aspects of getting the economy going and making a transition for a prosperous future,what is the GOP policy for the same? No program. No problem. The House GOP just issued a press release claiming credit for all job creation since the 2010 mid-terms. They said, "we created jobs." How? Don't ask. It's stunning but not unexpected.

The next great legislative feat the House GOP plans is to repeal public campaign finance--that's the little box on your income tax form to check if you want a couple of bucks to go to political campaigns. And if you don't get where this is going, yesterday the Tea Party announced a nation-wide campaign against voter fraud. As I've written the Tea Party and the Wisconsin GOP teamed up for a voter suppression effort against students and minorities in the mid-terms and can claim the defeat of Russ Feingold.

Voters have been fast to register buyers' remorse. John Kasich, the new Governor of Ohio, has a whopping 30% approval rate, only couple of weeks into his term. Kasich used the Wayback machine to produce the first all-white cabinet in Ohio since the 1960s. He also won the hearts and minds of voters by refusing the federal funding for high speed rail ,which would have linked major cities in his state and been a major connection between the Northeast and the Illinois part of the new system. The same rapid downfall happened with New Jersey's Chris Chrissie, who dreams of the White House with his own approval rating in the dumpster.

In 1994, with the Gingrich Revolution, 37% of Americans believed the GOP would bring the right kind of change. Today, only 25% say the same for the Boehner Revolution, according to NBC polls. The GOP honeymoon seems about over--CBS reports that the GOP now has a 49% disapproval rating.

While taking credit for the economic recovery in the country, the new GOP House plans to pass a budget cut bill soon, which would call for a 15% reduction in all agencies dealing with domestic services. While businesses do this to maximize their profit margin, what happens to government? Do these 15% soon count as unemployed? Will they be considered lazy counch potatoes when the unemployment runs out?

One of their class act cuts will be to Head Start, throwing some 389,000 children out of the program.

You have to love Colin Powell, he still doesn't get how wacky the GOP has become. He said that cutting funding for PBS would not cut the deficit. Of course, not. You do that because they fired Juan Williams. It's about revenge not about the deficit. Poor Colin suggested cutting the military.

The NYTIMES/CBS poll shows that 55% of Americans want cuts to the military; 21% Medicare; and 13% to Social Security.

For some reason, the House GOP wants to cut 4,000 FBI agents. Probably because they are under the Department of Justice, which is run by Eric Holder. Sorry, it's as simple as that.

Peggy Noonan is on the sauce again. She seemed to have discovered Obama was an eloquent man during the Tucson speech but now moans why when the country is in crisis does it elect people like Jimm Carter or Barack Obama.

That poll I wanted about Palin versus Obama in Texas is in. Palin beats Obama by 46-45. He ties the Governor Rick Perry and is behind the other GOP contenders by about 5 points.

Ben Stein isn't impressed with the GOP field for 2012 and suggests that Barack Obama show run as a Republican. Maybe that's what's behind Rasmussen having Obama at 52% approval rating. It probably means it really is about 70% given Rasmussen's business links to Fox News.

Mitt Romney won the first official strawpoll in New Hampshire. But then again, the dirty secret is that Mitt's operatives are known to pay voters in straw polls. It's part of the strategy for maintaining a presence.

Will Mitt Romney being a Mormon hurt him now that America has been exposed to Glenn Beck? Before we only knew Mormons from Orrin Hatch and Brent Scowcroft. If they are as crazy as Beck, can you really trust them in power? Another question is whether Glenn and his wife wear the Mormon magic underwear when they have sex? Romney said he doesn't because they itch.

Michelle Bachmann, the Queen of the Tea Party, denies that Tony Scalia is talking to the tea party members behind closed doors. Instead, she insists all of the House is invited. Meanwhile Chuckles Thomas continues to make news by neglecting to report his wife's income.

While our President will urge spending on modernizing our infrastructure, Mitch McConnell vows that Senate Republicans will block any further government spending. One of the great laughters in the last few days is that Ricky Cantor says he will compromise if President Obama wants Republican help in getting out of the mess. Notice the implication that the GOP never had anything to do with creating the mess.Rocky was gracious by acknowledging that the President really is a citizen of the United States --as opposed to Upper Volta.

After my post a couple of days ago about the reasons President Obama would win re-election in 2012, several mainstream journalists have also chimed in to reinforce that opinion. But a few warnings, we saw that people with negatives over 50% actually won in the 2010 elections. Yes, it's true that the GOP came to power in the House with only 22% of the vote, mostly white people over 55. But while redistricting will not seriously hamper Obama's re-election campaign, it should be noted that voter suppression efforts will be in high gear, especially against Hispanics, blacks, single women and students, key Obama constituencies. In the last election, Obama had a number of Democratic attorney-generals in the states who protected the vote. This time he does not.

Why Obama is not FDR and the Stealth Mormon

Progressives have complained that President Obama has not acted as forcefully as FDR in handling the nation's economic crisis. Economists like Paul Krugman and Bruce Barlett complained that the stimulus package was too small and that more needs to be done to create jobs to spur an economic recovery. One post at Democratic Underground yesterday put this in perspective. In the 74th Congress, the second one of FDR's first term, the Democrats had 69 Senators and in the following Congress, they had 76 Senators, making the New Deal basically filibuster proof. Likewise, for LBJ's Great Society, which passed Medicare and the major civil rights legislation, Democrats held 66 Senate seats in the 88th Congress and 67 in the 89th. While Republicans backed civil rights legislation, they opposed Medicare. Likewise, Republicans opposed the New Deal, the creation of Social Security and unemployment insurance. And, during the Obama administration, they seem to have reverted to this negativity on social and economic policy.

Hidden from view these days as all the so-called GOP presidential contenders have moved off on the Muslim Center in lower Manhattan is Mitt Romney, whose spokesperson criticized it in a short press handout. Instead, Mitt has surfaced with an attack on Obama's economic policies. Mitt wants corporate tax rates to match others in the developed world. This would be great if American corporations actually paid taxes. He wants to preserve Bush's tax cuts for everyone. A majority of Americans don't, according to the latest CNN poll. He wants to allow businesses to write off capital investments in 2010 and 2010. He argues we should eliminate all capital gains taxes and bank interest for families earning less than $250,000. And he wants to balance the budget. Oh, and he says, cough, he would "restructure entitlement programs", which he doesn;t list.

Mitt earned his vast wealth by specializing in corporate takeovers, which ended up eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs. Mitt is the corporate favorite in 2012 and he has positioned himself with his operatives in the Republican Party to "game" the primary schedule now that it has been changed from the winner-take-all policies of the past. Mitt has also gotten rid of his many homes because he saw how devastating it was to McCain being linked to 14 residences. While teabaggers claim the credit for Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts, it was the result of Mitt's operatives.

As I have posted many time, I believe Sarah Palin and the Christian Right are now the base of the Republican Party. I don't think Palin can have the nomination just by asking because of her recent performance leading up to the 2010 elections. I still don't think she has the discipline to wage a long campaign, which the new rules demand. Aware of how sensitive evangelicals have been to his Mormonism, Mitt Romney last year created a committee to coordinate activities with the Christian Right and to dampen concerns about his own religion, which they view as a cult.

Mitt Romney has been working quietly to raise funds and let all the other minor candidates to get out in front on Obama bashing. Mitt's vulnerability is on the health mandates and the Massachusetts health plan he enacted and Obama took ideas from. By 2012 some of these issues will have been decided on the healthcare bill.

Why should Mitt be optimistic about his chances for the nomination in 2012? During this election, Republicans will probably win the following state houses: Iowa, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and maybe Minnesota. During my radio commentaries last campaign, I said the election would be determined from a line from Minnesota through Pennsylvania. Luckily for President Obama, the Democrats held Ohio and most importantly the position of Attorney-General so Republicans could not suppress the minority vote as they did in 2004. Next time the whole situation will look differently. Republican governors will control the whole Midwest and that area is allergic to Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin. Palin's addition to the ticket doomed McCain in Iowa, Michigan and eventually Pennsylvania. For the Republicans to have a shot at 2012, they need to win some of these states.

Romney has historic ties to Michigan through his father, who was Governor and earlier a president of a major car company. On paper, it looks like he could compete in the Midwest better than any other candidate. He owns the Morman empire in Utah, Idaho, parts of Colorado and Nevada. And he has the money support from Texas. Romney's problem area is the base region of Republican support--the South. That's why he was so quick to financially back to next Governor of South Carolina.

When the dust settles, Romney can win because in Republican circles his family's name is golden and he has already competed once before, a GOP habit. He also seems to be part Nixon with a hiatus from politics and part Reagan with his black hair and economic policies. He also doesn't appear threatening and is soothing. He will still have to pacify the religious Right. Despite all the blather about Momma Grizzlies and Republican women, Republicans long for white authoritarian men as leaders and Romney would be forced to shore up the South and the evangelicals. Here in August, 2010, I think he would pick former Governor Mike Huckabee as his Vice President for a warm and fuzzy appeal.

President Obama road to re-election will be a little more difficult because he will have the liability of the office and will not be energizing the population as he did during the Democratic primaries. He may be forced to run a more traditional campaign. Over 73% of Democrats want to re-nominate him so the viability of a challenge seems remote. This means that Democratic turnout in primaries will be less, voter intensity less, and the great leaps in voter registration made by Democrats in 2008 neutralized. While the young, Latinos, African-Americans, women and labor will be his base and give him enormous advantages, the arithmetic for getting to the winning number in the electoral college might be different than 2008. This will be interesting to watch. One thing is sure is that the commentators will miss a new pattern just as they missed the last one.