*Rock classic co-written by --surprise--Carole King.
Just few brief notes on a 100degree Saturday. This is Jim Inhofe's idea of a cold spell.
Yesterday President Obama looked almost bedraggled as he called an impomptu news conference to recite the accomplishments of the last week--Wall Street Reform, Unemployment Extension and a small bill, which would end the Government from paying phony bills and people. The latter will actually save the Government $38 billion a year. No small potatoes. But President Obama clearly felt he had to do this press opportunity because the last several news cycles had been focused on the firing, rehiring and smearing of Ms. Sherrod. So here's the President of the United States begging for recognition of some major accomplishments. I felt bad for him.
By late afternoon, Senator Landrieu threw a tantrum and shamed the Senate into finally passing the bill to provide small businesses loans, claiming these loans are likely to create 1 million jobs and make the Government money. This seems to be a hidden theme for some of the Democratic accomplishments this year--making money for the taxpayers. The TARP program made money, the auto bailout made money, the small business loans make money, the healthcare bill makes money and even the BP disaster made money. When was the last time this ever happened?
Last night I watched Van Jones address the Netroots meeting in Las Vegas. Van Jones chastised liberals and progressives for criticizing President Obama. "This guy volunteered to be the Captain of the Titantic after it hit the iceberg." Nice line. Van Jones made the best presentation yet by an Obama person on the clean energy strategy for transforming our economy. If you get a chance, review the video because it synthesizes the various aspects of energy policy and how it impacts the society at large. You'll also get some idea why Glenn Beck felt he needed to smear him. He is a very inspirational and effective speaker.
This morning President Obama seemed to have his mojo back with his weekly address to the Nation. Here he recounted the essence of the Wall Street Reform bill but added talking points of all the tax cuts this Administration have given the American taxpayer and small businesses. Then he zeroed in on John Boehner's alleged plan, pointing out that all the laws Boehner and the Republicans want to repeal contain all these tax cuts and will even deepen the deficit. In short, he called out the Republicans on actually wanting to increase taxes and the deficit. He is beginning to sharpen the Demmocrats' approach to the mid-terms.
In mid-morning Nancy Pelosi gave a strong defense of the House Democrats' record, which, in my opinion, has passed more "progressive" legislation in a short time than any other Congress. So Speaker Pelosi was in good shape before the Netroots. Then she switched and introduced a video feed from President Obama, which was considered a surprise. The nice part of the feed was when he hit the line about accomplishments, he cut to a video insert of Rachel Maddow just listing act after act after act, and then he concluded his address. As Rachel Maddow said, no one has done so much for the country since the days when alcohol was illegal. While he admitted change has not come as fast as he would even have liked, he promised more and warned that the country can not be allowed to go backward.
One small fact that no one has been mentioning and I completely forget. The bulk of American forces will really be gone from Iraq in August as President Obama promised in his campaign. Only he has mentioned this while no one in the press has even made a peep about it.
Another little note in the money-making territory. Nancy Pelosi mentioned in her speech a manufacturing and raw resource bill--in typical congressional fashion. Not to make it complicated, this little bill creates over 100,000 jobs and the GOP had tried to block it. It's this type of thing the Democrats have to make plain in words that the average citizen can understand.
The real bad news is that unemployment will remain at 9% through 2012, which makes the President vulnerable to demagoguery. The Bookings Institute this past week released a report on why unemployment will remain at these levels for the foreseeable future unless we transform the basis of our economy. Here I again urge you to listen to Van Jones, who outlines how that transformation is envisioned by President Obama. If the Democrats could speak as plainly about this as he, it would serve them well.
As Joe Biden told a fund-raiser in South Carolina, the heavy lifting is done and the Big Building Blocks are in place. Now is the time to explain this to the American voter.
There is a sense that the Democrats are more organized and getting their acts together just in time for the election. The question for Republicans is whether they peaked too soon and whether they have anything to offer other than a protest vote against the President. Charlie Cook , who has been beating the drums for a Republican takeover of the House, today ran a piece called "Adding Up The Democratic Math". Cook decided that he owed equal time to the Democrats.
He says that Democrats feel they will pick up 4 Republicans seats, with a chance at 8. Cook gives them the 4, which would mean the Republicans would need 43 just to get to a 218-217 control of the House. Of the 16 most vulnerable Democrats, the Democrats believe they would lose 8, which means they are down only 4 at that point. Now 35 Democrats would have to lose. Several dozen threatened incumbents have a massive financial edge over the Republicans, who can't make up the difference in time for the elections. The vulnerable incumbents can count on television and radio ads where the opponents can't. He cites several cases where Republicans are broke. In terms of organization, the DCCC is 14-3 in special elections, which Cook says demonstrates they are professionals. This tracks with what I wrote on Republicans yesterday. Their organization is fractured and ineffective and their finances are scattered and so far under the Democrats. The New York Times wrote today that the Democrats have already made a $25 million television buy for near election day.
You get the sense that even though he has been battered and bruised, President Obama has grit and still has energy. From the recent forays into the campaign mode, you also have a sense that Democrats have a sense about what they are doing. On the other side, you really sense alot of lazy bowhards, repeating the same lines about Democrats we have heard since 1980. Mark Pence tried to convince everyone that we are about to have the largest tax increase in history. Only if the Republicans filibuster tax cuts for the middle class. I got the sense the Democrats are not going to allow this nonsense to happen. The real sense I get from the Republicans is that they are truly brain dead and so intellectually lazy they don't recognize it. They are totally dependent now on the hate groups and the Right-wing echochamber for their electoral success. Given the recent polls showing independents basically splitting their vote, compared to earlier this year, this strategy seems to be backfiring. Then you have to wonder how Michele Bachman saying that all Republicans are going to do after the election is investigate the Obama administration will play with the average voter. Do people have fond memories of the circus surrounding the Clinton investigations? I would think and hope not.
Tom Tancredo provided the comic relief yesterday when he penned an op-ed for the Washington Times calling for President Obama's impeachment because he is more dangerous to this country than Al Qaeda. Even Fox News in their interview with him said, "You have to be kidding." But then the woman interviewer hadn't watched Glenn Beck declare the day Wall Street Reform passed, "was the day the American Republic died." Beck obviously watches Keith Olbermann because he now has taken to throwing papers at the camera--this time they were blank papers, which he pretended were the text of the bill. And this morning I received a new article from an extreme rightwing person calling for Obama's resignation yet again for taking the country to progressive socialism. I guess that's different from regressive socialism.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Goodnight Vienna*
*belated Happy Birthday to Ringo.
A fun political video is at www.FightTheRight.com , apparently made by the Democratic Governors' Association for the netroots conference in Las Vegas.
Andrew Breitbart claims he is "public enemy number 1 of the Democratic Party, the progressive movement and the Obama Administration" for his journalist successes. I guess this video and the whole ACORN scam. I didn't know he had been an assistant to Drudge and says that he was addicted to crack cocaine and been in rehab. Maybe he met Lindsey Lohan there. ( Could someone tell me what Lindsey Lohan ever did?) I guess he wants to be the Drudge of the YouTube age.
President Obama gave an interview to ABC and said that his Administration had erred and jumped the gun because of the media. His explanation as usual made alot of sense but doesn't end the bad taste left by this episode.
And speaking of bad taste, Rep. King , the Christianist from Iowa, wants to investigate how Shirley Sherrod was hired by the Ag Department in the first place. So put that on your list of investigations for next year. Darrell Issa wants to investigate the Obama Administration's connections to Google.
And also, add the whole Blag the Governor episode. That hasn't worked out so well for the Right. The Gov. complained about Obama just wanting to thank him if Ms. Jarrett was going to be appointed senator. He had bigger fish to fry. Unfortunately, the Governor let us down by refusing to take the stand in his defense.
Someone who should step down is our old friend Charlie Rangel, who faces a number of ethics charges in the House. Sorry Charlie, you've had a good run. Now hang it up.
FED Chair Bernanke told the House today that Congress has to keep on spending so the economy can recover. He said that the United States must produce plans to reduce the deficit and the national debt but recovery must take the first priority.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi slammed the door on continuing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy but did emphasize the Democrats' desire to help the middle class. Geitner himself weighed in to say the tax cuts for the wealthy would expire as planned. So the fat is in the proverbial fire.
Remember when Drudge criticized President Obama for not vacationing in the Gulf when he went to Maine. Now President Obama is vacationing in the Gulf. No doubt we'll hear about how many times he played golf. He becoming a regular Ike or maybe even John Boehner.
Meanwhile Vishnu Jindal says we don't need no stinkin' BP money. Even his full statement didn't make any sense.
Tom Tancredo, the friend of all illegal immigrants and a birther, has asked the Republicans running for Governor of Colorado to step aside so he can run. Sounds good to me.
Barbara Boxer has an 11-1 cash on hand advantage against Carly Fiorina. The problem is that Carly intends to write herself a seven figure check to make up the difference. That's what having two yachts can do for you.
Elaine Marshall has jumped out into the lead against Burr in North Carolina. She leads 37-35% with 23% undecided in a race people had automatically put into the Republican column.
Lt. Dan Choi has been discharged from the military for his gayness. Dan Choi drew attention to the cause of gay soldiers through acts of civil disobedience such as chaining himself to the White House fence. Dan has been an articulate spokesperson for repealing DADT. What I can't understand is why discharge him now when you are reviewing the whole policy. Surely, that could have waited.
Oliver North has made a video about DADT, warning Americans that NAMBLA members will now be allowed to enlist in the military and that the home schooled children we are recruiting for the military will quit. The last raises several interesting questions about who exactly are we recruiting into the military. Ollie also raises questions whether chaplains will have to perform same sex marriages and will same sex couples serve in the same units. Another soldier claimed that all the Christians would quit from the military if DADT was repealed. Are we opening a window here on a Christian army waging holy wars against Muslims?
If you're interested in the whole issue of whether Trig is really the son of Sarah Palin, check out Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish where this seems to be an obsessive topic. There is now a whole hermaneutics on what this would mean or does mean for her future.
Pastor Warren of Silent Cone Fame has blinded himself through an accident. No comment.
The Washington Post printed a fascinating piece today about how the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has spent nearly $3 million a week in opposition to President Obama's major agenda items, breaking all lobbying records and losing big-time. They vow to spend $75 million or more on November's midterm election cycle and have even backed their own candidates in the Republican primaries. So far more than 6 of their hand-picked candidates have gone down to defeat. They claimed to have blocked the union "card check" bill, cap-and-trade climate legislation and the proposed public option. Frankly, in my opinion, they claim credit where nothing was proposed in the first place. They remind me of the NRA who claims to have blocked all sorts of anti-gun moves by the Obama Administration that never existed. The Chamber is simply bilking its members.
And speaking of the public option, the CBO number is out--it would save the country about $68 billion.
John Boehner may have been hitting the sauce because he admitted that the teabaggers "are anarchists who would kill all of us in office." Letting his hair down for the guys.
A fun political video is at www.FightTheRight.com , apparently made by the Democratic Governors' Association for the netroots conference in Las Vegas.
Andrew Breitbart claims he is "public enemy number 1 of the Democratic Party, the progressive movement and the Obama Administration" for his journalist successes. I guess this video and the whole ACORN scam. I didn't know he had been an assistant to Drudge and says that he was addicted to crack cocaine and been in rehab. Maybe he met Lindsey Lohan there. ( Could someone tell me what Lindsey Lohan ever did?) I guess he wants to be the Drudge of the YouTube age.
President Obama gave an interview to ABC and said that his Administration had erred and jumped the gun because of the media. His explanation as usual made alot of sense but doesn't end the bad taste left by this episode.
And speaking of bad taste, Rep. King , the Christianist from Iowa, wants to investigate how Shirley Sherrod was hired by the Ag Department in the first place. So put that on your list of investigations for next year. Darrell Issa wants to investigate the Obama Administration's connections to Google.
And also, add the whole Blag the Governor episode. That hasn't worked out so well for the Right. The Gov. complained about Obama just wanting to thank him if Ms. Jarrett was going to be appointed senator. He had bigger fish to fry. Unfortunately, the Governor let us down by refusing to take the stand in his defense.
Someone who should step down is our old friend Charlie Rangel, who faces a number of ethics charges in the House. Sorry Charlie, you've had a good run. Now hang it up.
FED Chair Bernanke told the House today that Congress has to keep on spending so the economy can recover. He said that the United States must produce plans to reduce the deficit and the national debt but recovery must take the first priority.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi slammed the door on continuing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy but did emphasize the Democrats' desire to help the middle class. Geitner himself weighed in to say the tax cuts for the wealthy would expire as planned. So the fat is in the proverbial fire.
Remember when Drudge criticized President Obama for not vacationing in the Gulf when he went to Maine. Now President Obama is vacationing in the Gulf. No doubt we'll hear about how many times he played golf. He becoming a regular Ike or maybe even John Boehner.
Meanwhile Vishnu Jindal says we don't need no stinkin' BP money. Even his full statement didn't make any sense.
Tom Tancredo, the friend of all illegal immigrants and a birther, has asked the Republicans running for Governor of Colorado to step aside so he can run. Sounds good to me.
Barbara Boxer has an 11-1 cash on hand advantage against Carly Fiorina. The problem is that Carly intends to write herself a seven figure check to make up the difference. That's what having two yachts can do for you.
Elaine Marshall has jumped out into the lead against Burr in North Carolina. She leads 37-35% with 23% undecided in a race people had automatically put into the Republican column.
Lt. Dan Choi has been discharged from the military for his gayness. Dan Choi drew attention to the cause of gay soldiers through acts of civil disobedience such as chaining himself to the White House fence. Dan has been an articulate spokesperson for repealing DADT. What I can't understand is why discharge him now when you are reviewing the whole policy. Surely, that could have waited.
Oliver North has made a video about DADT, warning Americans that NAMBLA members will now be allowed to enlist in the military and that the home schooled children we are recruiting for the military will quit. The last raises several interesting questions about who exactly are we recruiting into the military. Ollie also raises questions whether chaplains will have to perform same sex marriages and will same sex couples serve in the same units. Another soldier claimed that all the Christians would quit from the military if DADT was repealed. Are we opening a window here on a Christian army waging holy wars against Muslims?
If you're interested in the whole issue of whether Trig is really the son of Sarah Palin, check out Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish where this seems to be an obsessive topic. There is now a whole hermaneutics on what this would mean or does mean for her future.
Pastor Warren of Silent Cone Fame has blinded himself through an accident. No comment.
The Washington Post printed a fascinating piece today about how the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has spent nearly $3 million a week in opposition to President Obama's major agenda items, breaking all lobbying records and losing big-time. They vow to spend $75 million or more on November's midterm election cycle and have even backed their own candidates in the Republican primaries. So far more than 6 of their hand-picked candidates have gone down to defeat. They claimed to have blocked the union "card check" bill, cap-and-trade climate legislation and the proposed public option. Frankly, in my opinion, they claim credit where nothing was proposed in the first place. They remind me of the NRA who claims to have blocked all sorts of anti-gun moves by the Obama Administration that never existed. The Chamber is simply bilking its members.
And speaking of the public option, the CBO number is out--it would save the country about $68 billion.
John Boehner may have been hitting the sauce because he admitted that the teabaggers "are anarchists who would kill all of us in office." Letting his hair down for the guys.
Heat Wave at the Last Manatee
*Let's see whether my eyes can get through this without the grammatical mess of the last post.
Most interesting post I've read this afternoon is by a member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission who argues Shirley Sherrod should sue Breibart and Fox for slander. She doesn't meet the legal standard of a public figure and the author argues that she has an open and shut case, which would be beneficial to everyone fighting racism. Perhaps, the right picked this up. Ann Coulter is arguing that Breibart was set up by his source. Glenn Beck said today Shirley Sherrod is part of Obama's plot to discredit Fox. Well, I'm sure he has enough sense not to do it on his big Wall Street Reform day. Sue Shirley! Fired up! Ready to Go!
Sensing the tide has turned, the GOP whipped out their new revolutionary agenda. Senator Cornyn told NPR that he will do everything in his power to prevent 'bad laws" from passing until after elections. Senator Corker and Tan Man Boehner want the Obama Administration to pledge there would be no major legislation in the lame duck session after the elections. So this means the Republican legislative strategy is to prevent all laws until after the new Congress comes back in 2011. If you remember 2006, one of the key reasons the Democrats took power was that the Republican House was only in session six months of the year. So here we go again. Tan Man Boehner even said he would not author any legislation for the first year the GOP runs the House. Is that cool?
Instead, Michele Bachmann said today that the GOP should focus all of its attention on issuing subpoenas and holding hearings investigating the Obama Administration and Democrats. "I think that's all we should do," she told a GOP Youth Convention in Washington. "I think all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another and expose all the nonsense that has gone on." She said that Republicans have all their chips on the table. "This is the year--this is it," she said.
If Republicans won the House, they would take control of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. We know that Rep. Darrell Issa of California is interviewing now and preparing to hire two dozen heavy weight lawyers for the staff if the Republicans win. We also remember that Nancy Pelosi took the impeachment of George W. Bush off the table before the 2006 election. This was especially important considering the case was a strong one. I guess turnabout is not fair play.
Oh ,about those small business loans. The Republican Senator from Florida is a co-sponsor and Ben Nelson supports it. What was strange was the Republican Senator telling NPR that the bill was "deficit neutral so I can't tell why my other colleagues won't support it." Utah's Bob Bennett responded that it was because Republicans didn't write the law and were not allow to submit amendments. Still it might actually get the 60 votes for cloture so a vote could really be done.
President Obama did talk to Shirley Sherrod, probably thanking her for discrediting Fox News. He also issued a statement that he wanted the tax cuts for the rich to expire. So I guess the game is on for preserving middle class tax cuts and ending the tax cuts for the upper income brackets. The political point is to draw the line in the sand prior to the mid-terms, not after. You have to make the larger political point about where the Republicans are before you make the deal. This is different from the larger legislative issues, which actually needed time to formulate. This is one of those short two page bills the Republicans like so much.
Marc Ambinder rained on the GOP parade today with his Atlantic piece "RNC Chaos Threatens GOP Chances for House Takeover". Ambinder reports Republican strategists fear that the chaos at the RNC threatens to cost Republicans the chance to take the House. The RNC serves as a bank account to shore up House races and it coordinates the party's field operations and funds "Victory" committees with state parties. Observers complain the RNC barely is fulfilling the second function and has less than $10 million on hand and probably will not be able to help by the time of the elections. The report of the failure to report a deficit to the FEC has hindered further fund-raising. Apparently, the political director, Gentry Collins, has seen his budget slashed and the state parties are complaining about the condition of the party's Voter Vault datamart.
What does that mean in terms of practical politics. It means that state parties have to outsource their voter mobilization efforts. This is inefficient, costly and probably ineffective. The deficit issue means the party can not regain its financial footing in time for the election. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has twice as much cash on hand as the National Republican Campaign Committee. Charles Cook rates 73 House races as competitive . To win the House republicans have to pick up 44 seats. Even if Republicans win most of the tossup seats and those that lean Republican , they'd still have to win about half the seats that lean Democrat right now. Without a solid field operation and facing financial disadvantage, the edge Republicans now feel will be lost.
Apparently the fights within the RNC have become downright nasty. Michael Steele hypes his recruitment of candidates, especially an unprecedented number of blacks and women, and wants his legacy to be the reform of the presidential primary rules. But the professional political operatives see the deterioration of the much-vaunted GOTV apparatus, which proved to be the prime Republican weapon of choice in the past.
That's why the Democrats retooling David Plouffe's Obama operation is so important. Once President Obama addressed Democrats a few months ago, asking blacks, Latinos and women to mobilize for the mid-terms, you saw the right-wing echo chamber rev up the anti-Latino and anti-black rhetoric. Even if the Obama surge voters do not materialize in the same numbers they did in 2008, just a fraction can mean the difference in several House seats. And, in terms of GOTV operations, the Obama operation has the superior technology and voter targeting data.
Most interesting post I've read this afternoon is by a member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission who argues Shirley Sherrod should sue Breibart and Fox for slander. She doesn't meet the legal standard of a public figure and the author argues that she has an open and shut case, which would be beneficial to everyone fighting racism. Perhaps, the right picked this up. Ann Coulter is arguing that Breibart was set up by his source. Glenn Beck said today Shirley Sherrod is part of Obama's plot to discredit Fox. Well, I'm sure he has enough sense not to do it on his big Wall Street Reform day. Sue Shirley! Fired up! Ready to Go!
Sensing the tide has turned, the GOP whipped out their new revolutionary agenda. Senator Cornyn told NPR that he will do everything in his power to prevent 'bad laws" from passing until after elections. Senator Corker and Tan Man Boehner want the Obama Administration to pledge there would be no major legislation in the lame duck session after the elections. So this means the Republican legislative strategy is to prevent all laws until after the new Congress comes back in 2011. If you remember 2006, one of the key reasons the Democrats took power was that the Republican House was only in session six months of the year. So here we go again. Tan Man Boehner even said he would not author any legislation for the first year the GOP runs the House. Is that cool?
Instead, Michele Bachmann said today that the GOP should focus all of its attention on issuing subpoenas and holding hearings investigating the Obama Administration and Democrats. "I think that's all we should do," she told a GOP Youth Convention in Washington. "I think all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another and expose all the nonsense that has gone on." She said that Republicans have all their chips on the table. "This is the year--this is it," she said.
If Republicans won the House, they would take control of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. We know that Rep. Darrell Issa of California is interviewing now and preparing to hire two dozen heavy weight lawyers for the staff if the Republicans win. We also remember that Nancy Pelosi took the impeachment of George W. Bush off the table before the 2006 election. This was especially important considering the case was a strong one. I guess turnabout is not fair play.
Oh ,about those small business loans. The Republican Senator from Florida is a co-sponsor and Ben Nelson supports it. What was strange was the Republican Senator telling NPR that the bill was "deficit neutral so I can't tell why my other colleagues won't support it." Utah's Bob Bennett responded that it was because Republicans didn't write the law and were not allow to submit amendments. Still it might actually get the 60 votes for cloture so a vote could really be done.
President Obama did talk to Shirley Sherrod, probably thanking her for discrediting Fox News. He also issued a statement that he wanted the tax cuts for the rich to expire. So I guess the game is on for preserving middle class tax cuts and ending the tax cuts for the upper income brackets. The political point is to draw the line in the sand prior to the mid-terms, not after. You have to make the larger political point about where the Republicans are before you make the deal. This is different from the larger legislative issues, which actually needed time to formulate. This is one of those short two page bills the Republicans like so much.
Marc Ambinder rained on the GOP parade today with his Atlantic piece "RNC Chaos Threatens GOP Chances for House Takeover". Ambinder reports Republican strategists fear that the chaos at the RNC threatens to cost Republicans the chance to take the House. The RNC serves as a bank account to shore up House races and it coordinates the party's field operations and funds "Victory" committees with state parties. Observers complain the RNC barely is fulfilling the second function and has less than $10 million on hand and probably will not be able to help by the time of the elections. The report of the failure to report a deficit to the FEC has hindered further fund-raising. Apparently, the political director, Gentry Collins, has seen his budget slashed and the state parties are complaining about the condition of the party's Voter Vault datamart.
What does that mean in terms of practical politics. It means that state parties have to outsource their voter mobilization efforts. This is inefficient, costly and probably ineffective. The deficit issue means the party can not regain its financial footing in time for the election. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has twice as much cash on hand as the National Republican Campaign Committee. Charles Cook rates 73 House races as competitive . To win the House republicans have to pick up 44 seats. Even if Republicans win most of the tossup seats and those that lean Republican , they'd still have to win about half the seats that lean Democrat right now. Without a solid field operation and facing financial disadvantage, the edge Republicans now feel will be lost.
Apparently the fights within the RNC have become downright nasty. Michael Steele hypes his recruitment of candidates, especially an unprecedented number of blacks and women, and wants his legacy to be the reform of the presidential primary rules. But the professional political operatives see the deterioration of the much-vaunted GOTV apparatus, which proved to be the prime Republican weapon of choice in the past.
That's why the Democrats retooling David Plouffe's Obama operation is so important. Once President Obama addressed Democrats a few months ago, asking blacks, Latinos and women to mobilize for the mid-terms, you saw the right-wing echo chamber rev up the anti-Latino and anti-black rhetoric. Even if the Obama surge voters do not materialize in the same numbers they did in 2008, just a fraction can mean the difference in several House seats. And, in terms of GOTV operations, the Obama operation has the superior technology and voter targeting data.
If the Hippies Cut Off Their Hair, I Don't Care*
* Jimi Hendrix. My music brainworms increase with age. I'll have to consult Oliver Sacks about this.
Wow, the Democrats can really step on their message. If the last few weeks didn't make the stark choice in this year's election any clearer, then let the Democrats shoot themselves in the feet. Yesterday was a gift day for both President Obama and the Democrats. In the morning at the Reagan Building, President Obama signed the most far-reaching change in our financial system since the Great Depression and the cherry on top was the Consumer Protection Aghency. Then the Senate finally managed to pass the extension of unemployment benefits. Third, the Pew Foundation issued its report about the tangible benefits consumers are seeing from the Credit Card bill passed previously by the Democrats. Coupled with a week of Republicans openly proclaiming a return to George W, you would think the Democrats finally had momentum.
But No! This has happened repeatedly during the Obama years when the Administration needs lift and has a right to reach it. Instead, we are treated to a 24-hour news cycle that obliterated these achievements by focusing on the firing and re-hiring of Shirley Sherrod, a USDA employee who had spent decades working with both black and white farmers. The administration was set up by conservative internet prankster Andrew Briebart, the man who brought you the ACORN pranks, and Fox News, which needed a new race story after the New Black Panthers started to fade after 80 shows. Not only did the administration react poorly and try to limit damage control by firing Ms. Sherrod without even thinking about it, but the rehiring was handled so poorly.
Almost as a parody of liberalism, Tom Vilsack rehired her for a post on racial relations. As Willie Nelson wrote yesterday on Huffington Post, this woman was key during the FARM AID years for saving hundreds of farms in the South. Instead, a correction of the situation really called for her to be in charge of a program on rural poverty. That was her expertise to which she devoted several decades of work. Instead, she gets to be a black women, not an expert. But the damage to the larger events of the day have been done and actually vindicates Roger Ailes constant playing of the race card against the Administration.
Rachel Maddow did an excellent job on her show by putting all these racial eruptions during the Obama years in perspective and concentrating on the political strategy behind them. She obviously struck a raw nerve because Joe Scarborough this morning blasted her for bringing up the old Republican Southern strategy as if it were relevant. But, Joe, you know it is. Eugene Robinson on Rachel's show made the age-old point that you stand up the bullies, not kowtow to them. Conservatives hunt in packs and not alone. He did say that the whole Breibart episode revealed the whole race-baiting card more fully and that the Administration should push back and exploit it.
The whole Sherrod scandal was manufactured for several reasons. First, the news media had finally begun to examine the racism of the tea baggers. Ths provoked public internal fights among teabaggers. The President himself forcefully started criticizing Republicans on unemployment extension and the message started to gain traction. The Republicans started self-destructing with their calls to return to George W. The right's message was being seen as the Emperor's New Clothes. So a return to the politics of racial fear was called for and Andrew Breibart specializes in this.
There is an actual concrete reason for the Sherrod scandal that actually involves the USDA. The USDA has settled claims under the Obama Administration made by black farmers, who have been deprived of their land over the years. The settlement has riled up southern Whites and none of the pundits would have a clue as to what this issue was about.
Anyone who lived through the various Clinton Scandals would see the old pattern. Drudge used to put his siren on and make some allegation. The conservatives would rage about this new injustice. Then to be "balanced" the mainstream media would have to cover it as a real story. Then one had to have congressional action. Here with Fox News, you have a commercial incentive for the other networks to make these things real. Fox News with its right-wing stringers like Breibart and the ACORN kid gin up a story and can run it on all their shows for as long as it takes for the other networks to cover it. First the other networks don't want to be scooped and second they have to look like they consider "conservative" points of view because they view this demographic as essential to their ratings. So from the extreme, you legitimize basically bogus news. It's no wonder white supremacists find it comfortable now to not only express their opinions but also even write legislation on immigration.
The Obama Administration has to find a way to develop a strategy to either circumvent this process or to ride over it. The optics of their political management is awful. Almost the entire George W administration was spin--all hat, no cattle. The Obama Administration is no hat, lots of cattle but they seem unable to capitalize on it.
Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on this subject drew great praise from the progressives and it should. But Olbermann doesn't seem to get the fact that President Obama can't come out firing because he would fall into the ultimate race trap. He would then be seen as an angry black man. Other people can and certainly Administration officials should take the initiative to fire back at the right's campaign to make Barack Obama the next Willie Horton. The administration played small ball--first wrongfully ,as Olbermann pointed out,engaging in immediate damage control, and then righting their own wrong, which they did clumsily at best. The broader image was that the Administration made mistake and unlike the last one immediately apologized and corrected it. But Olbermann's larger point was correct--why does the Administration keep allowing Fox and the Right's echochamber write the script and compose the score.
I have yet to read a single comment on Rush Limbaugh's racist rants on this episode. He went so far as to link Ms. Sherrod to Obama's Healthcare reform. Ms. Sherrod is seen as typical of the incompetent radicals who have insinuated themselves into the administration to advance their radical agenda. And ,white people, she would be one of those types of people in charge of your healthcare. This is not the first racist tirade from Limbaugh. This is just a continuation of his rants against the Obama Administration since the first day. At first, observers felt that his racist rants were his effort to block the inroads Glenn Beck was making into the Right Wing World. But as time moves on, it's just simply that Limbaugh is a racist.
So can the Democrats recoup? Well, they're going to have to hand out Karl Rove talking points. After the Republicans spent the last two weeks ranting about the deficit and unemployment benefits, then demanding the tax cuts for the wealthy remain in tact, the Democrats, who had been behaving as mature adults, decided this morning to blow out their brains. Senators Kent Conrad, Bayh and Nelson came out this morning in favor of preserving the tax cuts for the wealthy because the economy hasn't recovered sufficiently. And naturally, they claimed they would not offset the deficit created by them. These three guys just blew a massive hole in the major Democratic talking point since the Recession began. Tax Cuts and unpaid for entitlements like Medicaid D as well as two wars generated the massive deficts we have.
As I wrote yesterday, the House was going to preserve the Middle Class tax cuts and eliminate the wealthy so as to politically box the Republicans in. This would be shrewd politics forcing the Republicans to be overtly for the rich and corporations. Stay tuned because if the Democrats capitulate on this tax rates for the wealthy, they may lose the whole ballgame.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House-To-Be The Tan Man John Boehner said he had empathy for the unemployed because he has three brothers who have lost their jobs during the Recession. Although he admitted, he hadn't checked to see how they were doing. I guess he was too busy playing golf. What would he do for job creation? Nothing. Cool.
Senate Democrats have a chance to redeem themselves if they push for the jobs bill that provides for small business loans. While Elizabeth Warren doesn't know whether these loans will create the number of jobs promised, some say that it will generate millions of jobs. The Republicans oppose it--which should be another nail in their electoral coffin. It's now a matter whether the Republican Long War strategy has worn the Democrats down that they can't push for anything substantive anymore.
Since we eliminated the debt yesterday, I want to fine tune the McColm Social Security Plan. As I wrote, by raising the limit on the FICA tax, we fund Social Security to infinity and beyond. But a blogger points out that what we can do is modify the McColm Plan and cut the FICA tax rate in half because the wealthy--say $1 million a year--only pay .066% now. The elimination of the limit will generate massive surpluses like the 1983 Reagan Social Security change but with a change in the tax rate to 3% this will stimulate the economy because the middle class will bring home more in their paycheck. Clever, Hey?
Representative Lynn Woolsey, the co-chair of the progressive caucus, is sponsoring a strong public option bill for the healthcare reform. If she could put this in terms of enlarging Medicare for All, the Howard Dean solution, then we are on our way to fiscal sanity.
Wow, the Democrats can really step on their message. If the last few weeks didn't make the stark choice in this year's election any clearer, then let the Democrats shoot themselves in the feet. Yesterday was a gift day for both President Obama and the Democrats. In the morning at the Reagan Building, President Obama signed the most far-reaching change in our financial system since the Great Depression and the cherry on top was the Consumer Protection Aghency. Then the Senate finally managed to pass the extension of unemployment benefits. Third, the Pew Foundation issued its report about the tangible benefits consumers are seeing from the Credit Card bill passed previously by the Democrats. Coupled with a week of Republicans openly proclaiming a return to George W, you would think the Democrats finally had momentum.
But No! This has happened repeatedly during the Obama years when the Administration needs lift and has a right to reach it. Instead, we are treated to a 24-hour news cycle that obliterated these achievements by focusing on the firing and re-hiring of Shirley Sherrod, a USDA employee who had spent decades working with both black and white farmers. The administration was set up by conservative internet prankster Andrew Briebart, the man who brought you the ACORN pranks, and Fox News, which needed a new race story after the New Black Panthers started to fade after 80 shows. Not only did the administration react poorly and try to limit damage control by firing Ms. Sherrod without even thinking about it, but the rehiring was handled so poorly.
Almost as a parody of liberalism, Tom Vilsack rehired her for a post on racial relations. As Willie Nelson wrote yesterday on Huffington Post, this woman was key during the FARM AID years for saving hundreds of farms in the South. Instead, a correction of the situation really called for her to be in charge of a program on rural poverty. That was her expertise to which she devoted several decades of work. Instead, she gets to be a black women, not an expert. But the damage to the larger events of the day have been done and actually vindicates Roger Ailes constant playing of the race card against the Administration.
Rachel Maddow did an excellent job on her show by putting all these racial eruptions during the Obama years in perspective and concentrating on the political strategy behind them. She obviously struck a raw nerve because Joe Scarborough this morning blasted her for bringing up the old Republican Southern strategy as if it were relevant. But, Joe, you know it is. Eugene Robinson on Rachel's show made the age-old point that you stand up the bullies, not kowtow to them. Conservatives hunt in packs and not alone. He did say that the whole Breibart episode revealed the whole race-baiting card more fully and that the Administration should push back and exploit it.
The whole Sherrod scandal was manufactured for several reasons. First, the news media had finally begun to examine the racism of the tea baggers. Ths provoked public internal fights among teabaggers. The President himself forcefully started criticizing Republicans on unemployment extension and the message started to gain traction. The Republicans started self-destructing with their calls to return to George W. The right's message was being seen as the Emperor's New Clothes. So a return to the politics of racial fear was called for and Andrew Breibart specializes in this.
There is an actual concrete reason for the Sherrod scandal that actually involves the USDA. The USDA has settled claims under the Obama Administration made by black farmers, who have been deprived of their land over the years. The settlement has riled up southern Whites and none of the pundits would have a clue as to what this issue was about.
Anyone who lived through the various Clinton Scandals would see the old pattern. Drudge used to put his siren on and make some allegation. The conservatives would rage about this new injustice. Then to be "balanced" the mainstream media would have to cover it as a real story. Then one had to have congressional action. Here with Fox News, you have a commercial incentive for the other networks to make these things real. Fox News with its right-wing stringers like Breibart and the ACORN kid gin up a story and can run it on all their shows for as long as it takes for the other networks to cover it. First the other networks don't want to be scooped and second they have to look like they consider "conservative" points of view because they view this demographic as essential to their ratings. So from the extreme, you legitimize basically bogus news. It's no wonder white supremacists find it comfortable now to not only express their opinions but also even write legislation on immigration.
The Obama Administration has to find a way to develop a strategy to either circumvent this process or to ride over it. The optics of their political management is awful. Almost the entire George W administration was spin--all hat, no cattle. The Obama Administration is no hat, lots of cattle but they seem unable to capitalize on it.
Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on this subject drew great praise from the progressives and it should. But Olbermann doesn't seem to get the fact that President Obama can't come out firing because he would fall into the ultimate race trap. He would then be seen as an angry black man. Other people can and certainly Administration officials should take the initiative to fire back at the right's campaign to make Barack Obama the next Willie Horton. The administration played small ball--first wrongfully ,as Olbermann pointed out,engaging in immediate damage control, and then righting their own wrong, which they did clumsily at best. The broader image was that the Administration made mistake and unlike the last one immediately apologized and corrected it. But Olbermann's larger point was correct--why does the Administration keep allowing Fox and the Right's echochamber write the script and compose the score.
I have yet to read a single comment on Rush Limbaugh's racist rants on this episode. He went so far as to link Ms. Sherrod to Obama's Healthcare reform. Ms. Sherrod is seen as typical of the incompetent radicals who have insinuated themselves into the administration to advance their radical agenda. And ,white people, she would be one of those types of people in charge of your healthcare. This is not the first racist tirade from Limbaugh. This is just a continuation of his rants against the Obama Administration since the first day. At first, observers felt that his racist rants were his effort to block the inroads Glenn Beck was making into the Right Wing World. But as time moves on, it's just simply that Limbaugh is a racist.
So can the Democrats recoup? Well, they're going to have to hand out Karl Rove talking points. After the Republicans spent the last two weeks ranting about the deficit and unemployment benefits, then demanding the tax cuts for the wealthy remain in tact, the Democrats, who had been behaving as mature adults, decided this morning to blow out their brains. Senators Kent Conrad, Bayh and Nelson came out this morning in favor of preserving the tax cuts for the wealthy because the economy hasn't recovered sufficiently. And naturally, they claimed they would not offset the deficit created by them. These three guys just blew a massive hole in the major Democratic talking point since the Recession began. Tax Cuts and unpaid for entitlements like Medicaid D as well as two wars generated the massive deficts we have.
As I wrote yesterday, the House was going to preserve the Middle Class tax cuts and eliminate the wealthy so as to politically box the Republicans in. This would be shrewd politics forcing the Republicans to be overtly for the rich and corporations. Stay tuned because if the Democrats capitulate on this tax rates for the wealthy, they may lose the whole ballgame.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House-To-Be The Tan Man John Boehner said he had empathy for the unemployed because he has three brothers who have lost their jobs during the Recession. Although he admitted, he hadn't checked to see how they were doing. I guess he was too busy playing golf. What would he do for job creation? Nothing. Cool.
Senate Democrats have a chance to redeem themselves if they push for the jobs bill that provides for small business loans. While Elizabeth Warren doesn't know whether these loans will create the number of jobs promised, some say that it will generate millions of jobs. The Republicans oppose it--which should be another nail in their electoral coffin. It's now a matter whether the Republican Long War strategy has worn the Democrats down that they can't push for anything substantive anymore.
Since we eliminated the debt yesterday, I want to fine tune the McColm Social Security Plan. As I wrote, by raising the limit on the FICA tax, we fund Social Security to infinity and beyond. But a blogger points out that what we can do is modify the McColm Plan and cut the FICA tax rate in half because the wealthy--say $1 million a year--only pay .066% now. The elimination of the limit will generate massive surpluses like the 1983 Reagan Social Security change but with a change in the tax rate to 3% this will stimulate the economy because the middle class will bring home more in their paycheck. Clever, Hey?
Representative Lynn Woolsey, the co-chair of the progressive caucus, is sponsoring a strong public option bill for the healthcare reform. If she could put this in terms of enlarging Medicare for All, the Howard Dean solution, then we are on our way to fiscal sanity.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Taxes, We Don't Need No Stinkin' Taxes
President Obama slam yesterday at the Republicans put them on the defensive. All of a sudden they claimed they were for unemployment extension but they just wanted it paid for. I know take it out of stimulus funding for Boehner's district and McConnell's state. Even so, the Democrats had to muster 60 votes to move the bill in the Senate. Almost all Republicans have voted against unemployment extension seven times during this Administration. Since 1952, unemployment extensions were always approved on a bipartisan basis and never denied until now.
There is an element here that has escaped everyone's attention. The Republicans act like they won the last election, which is why they obstruct everything. Now they are basically forcing the Obama Administration to exert its political capital over chicken shit, making it almost impossible for any heavy lifting in the future. The reason is simply that they know the old paradigm, where they dictated the terms of the political debate is over.
Democrats are thrilled by Republicans fully embracing George W.'s economic policies. It has been an astonishing last two days where the full-blown Republican talking points are now being circulated through the countries. It can't be a coincidence that everyone from Marco Rubio, Senator Barraso, Carly Fiorina and Sharron Angle have embraced the same economic ideas. Rachel Maddow in her show ran Marco Rubio's commercial where he hyped his "ideas for the economy" by saying that Rachel Maddow was against them. Maddow was very funny running a counter-ad of her own explaining why the ideas are really a disaster.
But these ideas are now shared. Make the Bush tax cuts permanent. Grover Norquist, Jihadist, Log Cabin Republican and friend of Jane Hamster of FireDogLake, sent around a memo yesterday alerting conservatives to "prepare for the largest tax increases in history". All of course linked to President Obama. And of course every tax bracket gets increased if you use the logic that the Democrats are just going to let the tax cuts expire in 2010 without any modification. And, of course, if all you want to do is preserve the tax cuts for the wealthiest. Then there should be no estate tax. This also expires in 2010. Democrats are trying to modify this to a situation where estates of 5-7 million would be tax-free and then higher would be subject to a tax. There should be no corporate taxes. This would encourage companies sitting on the $2 trillion in cash reserves to create jobs. Healthcare or Obamacare should be repealed. Even though according to the CBO the healthcare bill is deficit neutral. Social Security should be privatized. Government spending should be cut because of the deficit. As Rachel Maddow pointed out, this really is voodoo economics since all the above would dramatically increase the deficit.
Most people thought Senator Kyl made a gaffe when he advocated maintaining the tax cuts for the wealthy and stopping extensions to unemployment. Even Chris Wallace said that the tax cuts for the wealthiest would lead to greater deficits. Kyl's gaffe was a premature unveiling of the Republican economic program. His statement that tax cuts are paid for became the litany of congressional Republicans the last few days. Mark Pence, who has joined the Teabagger Caucus, used the old supply-siders argument that JFK cut the top marginal tax rate and that stimulated the economy. We are supposed to skip the history of the Republican years.
When I started this blog, I pointed out the Republican politics of deficits. Reagan's were aimed at bankrupting the Soviet Union and restraining Democratic spending in the follow-up years. George W.'s deficit spending was to set the stage for the final dismantling of the social welfare system. The problem was that the disintegration of the global economy and the lack of tools at the FED's disposal forced a situation where old Keynesian economics had to return. Instead of recalibrating their economic approach, the Republicans have now doubled down on W's economics because it was all based on ideology and not practicality.
The overt embrace of George W, at this time in the electoral season is madness. A moderate Democratic group, the Third Way, polled voters about approaches to the economy. 49% preferred someone who supported Obama's economic policies; while 34% aligned themselves with Bush. However, if you excluded Bush's name. The polls revealed that 51% would vote for someone who believed Obama's policies were not working and only 42% for those who supported Obama's policies. In other words, Republicans should have just shut up if they wanted the election to be a referendum on the Democrats.
The United States now has about the same inequality of income distribution as the days before the Great Depression. 1% of the country now holds 26% of the wealth. This is in the realm of being a banana republics. As a comparison in the heydays of John Boehner's America, which he claims Obama is destroying, 1% owned 6% of our national wealth and America was at the zenith of its power and the economy dominated the world.
Everyone knows that small businesses generate the most jobs in America. Since Ronald Reagan, the Republican Party has stressed job creation through small businesses and the middle class. Go back to the 2008 Republican Convention. I never heard the term "middle class" or "small business" mentioned. As we have seen throughout the stimulus debate, healthcare debate and the Wall Street Reform debate, today's Republican party has aligned itself with the largest multinational corporations and with the wealthiest classes. The bone they throw the masses is "family values". To be so overtly large corporation and the wealthy puts the Republican Party back in the late 19th century and early 20th. Herbert Hoover would not be allowed as a member because he was too progressive.
What stung Republicans when Obama spoke was his description that Republicans "lack faith in the American people." Republicans thought they could embrace the faux populist movement of the teabaggers and continue to wrap the flag around themselves without anyone shooting at them. But this constant embrace of the status quo is getting to be old and revealing the extreme ideological morass they have found themselves in.
Last night I watched a spectacular display of religious libertarianism with Glenn Beck lecturing his audience about what an evil idea the "common good" is. It was an awesome display of insulting the American public. He claimed if you embraced the common good then death camps would be next. He said that the individual is the primary good. Ayn Rand meets the Wealth Gospel. But at least Beck was honest--his position is where the Republicans are today. There is no common good. And government should not be used to alleviate the economic distress of the American people.
That's why the tea baggers are caught all in knots over the charges from the NAACP about racism. Racism and nativism are the tools if you're going to persuade people to embrace a corporatist economic ideology. Obama did us a favor by having alongside him unemployed Americans who have been looking for jobs. In one photo opportunity , he drilled home that the 'welfare queen" language coming from congressional Republicans about the unemployed is simply not true and that compassion and empathy are not values that should be removed from governance.
But in New Hampshire,we have our first GOP candidate for the state assembly having been endorsed by the new American Third Position group. The candidate is running on a platform of preserving our white racial identity and claiming that white people should have a home land of their own. So far no Republican has denounced his candidacy. Down in Arizona, the sheriff who appeared in John McCain's "Danged Fence" commercial went on the air on a white supremacist radio show and asked for all the white militias to come on down to help him out.
We forget and most Americans don't know that in September 2008, when the economy melted down, President George W. Bush informed congress that if they didn't approve the bank bailout he would declare martial law. In fact troops had been brought home from Iraq for the occasion. We were just moments away from the complete suspension of our Constitution. Can you imagine today if America actually starts toward a Great Depression , what the threat of fascism would be? All these posters and billboards about Obama as Hitler are simply projections of those who aspire to that ideology taking over the country.
There is an element here that has escaped everyone's attention. The Republicans act like they won the last election, which is why they obstruct everything. Now they are basically forcing the Obama Administration to exert its political capital over chicken shit, making it almost impossible for any heavy lifting in the future. The reason is simply that they know the old paradigm, where they dictated the terms of the political debate is over.
Democrats are thrilled by Republicans fully embracing George W.'s economic policies. It has been an astonishing last two days where the full-blown Republican talking points are now being circulated through the countries. It can't be a coincidence that everyone from Marco Rubio, Senator Barraso, Carly Fiorina and Sharron Angle have embraced the same economic ideas. Rachel Maddow in her show ran Marco Rubio's commercial where he hyped his "ideas for the economy" by saying that Rachel Maddow was against them. Maddow was very funny running a counter-ad of her own explaining why the ideas are really a disaster.
But these ideas are now shared. Make the Bush tax cuts permanent. Grover Norquist, Jihadist, Log Cabin Republican and friend of Jane Hamster of FireDogLake, sent around a memo yesterday alerting conservatives to "prepare for the largest tax increases in history". All of course linked to President Obama. And of course every tax bracket gets increased if you use the logic that the Democrats are just going to let the tax cuts expire in 2010 without any modification. And, of course, if all you want to do is preserve the tax cuts for the wealthiest. Then there should be no estate tax. This also expires in 2010. Democrats are trying to modify this to a situation where estates of 5-7 million would be tax-free and then higher would be subject to a tax. There should be no corporate taxes. This would encourage companies sitting on the $2 trillion in cash reserves to create jobs. Healthcare or Obamacare should be repealed. Even though according to the CBO the healthcare bill is deficit neutral. Social Security should be privatized. Government spending should be cut because of the deficit. As Rachel Maddow pointed out, this really is voodoo economics since all the above would dramatically increase the deficit.
Most people thought Senator Kyl made a gaffe when he advocated maintaining the tax cuts for the wealthy and stopping extensions to unemployment. Even Chris Wallace said that the tax cuts for the wealthiest would lead to greater deficits. Kyl's gaffe was a premature unveiling of the Republican economic program. His statement that tax cuts are paid for became the litany of congressional Republicans the last few days. Mark Pence, who has joined the Teabagger Caucus, used the old supply-siders argument that JFK cut the top marginal tax rate and that stimulated the economy. We are supposed to skip the history of the Republican years.
When I started this blog, I pointed out the Republican politics of deficits. Reagan's were aimed at bankrupting the Soviet Union and restraining Democratic spending in the follow-up years. George W.'s deficit spending was to set the stage for the final dismantling of the social welfare system. The problem was that the disintegration of the global economy and the lack of tools at the FED's disposal forced a situation where old Keynesian economics had to return. Instead of recalibrating their economic approach, the Republicans have now doubled down on W's economics because it was all based on ideology and not practicality.
The overt embrace of George W, at this time in the electoral season is madness. A moderate Democratic group, the Third Way, polled voters about approaches to the economy. 49% preferred someone who supported Obama's economic policies; while 34% aligned themselves with Bush. However, if you excluded Bush's name. The polls revealed that 51% would vote for someone who believed Obama's policies were not working and only 42% for those who supported Obama's policies. In other words, Republicans should have just shut up if they wanted the election to be a referendum on the Democrats.
The United States now has about the same inequality of income distribution as the days before the Great Depression. 1% of the country now holds 26% of the wealth. This is in the realm of being a banana republics. As a comparison in the heydays of John Boehner's America, which he claims Obama is destroying, 1% owned 6% of our national wealth and America was at the zenith of its power and the economy dominated the world.
Everyone knows that small businesses generate the most jobs in America. Since Ronald Reagan, the Republican Party has stressed job creation through small businesses and the middle class. Go back to the 2008 Republican Convention. I never heard the term "middle class" or "small business" mentioned. As we have seen throughout the stimulus debate, healthcare debate and the Wall Street Reform debate, today's Republican party has aligned itself with the largest multinational corporations and with the wealthiest classes. The bone they throw the masses is "family values". To be so overtly large corporation and the wealthy puts the Republican Party back in the late 19th century and early 20th. Herbert Hoover would not be allowed as a member because he was too progressive.
What stung Republicans when Obama spoke was his description that Republicans "lack faith in the American people." Republicans thought they could embrace the faux populist movement of the teabaggers and continue to wrap the flag around themselves without anyone shooting at them. But this constant embrace of the status quo is getting to be old and revealing the extreme ideological morass they have found themselves in.
Last night I watched a spectacular display of religious libertarianism with Glenn Beck lecturing his audience about what an evil idea the "common good" is. It was an awesome display of insulting the American public. He claimed if you embraced the common good then death camps would be next. He said that the individual is the primary good. Ayn Rand meets the Wealth Gospel. But at least Beck was honest--his position is where the Republicans are today. There is no common good. And government should not be used to alleviate the economic distress of the American people.
That's why the tea baggers are caught all in knots over the charges from the NAACP about racism. Racism and nativism are the tools if you're going to persuade people to embrace a corporatist economic ideology. Obama did us a favor by having alongside him unemployed Americans who have been looking for jobs. In one photo opportunity , he drilled home that the 'welfare queen" language coming from congressional Republicans about the unemployed is simply not true and that compassion and empathy are not values that should be removed from governance.
But in New Hampshire,we have our first GOP candidate for the state assembly having been endorsed by the new American Third Position group. The candidate is running on a platform of preserving our white racial identity and claiming that white people should have a home land of their own. So far no Republican has denounced his candidacy. Down in Arizona, the sheriff who appeared in John McCain's "Danged Fence" commercial went on the air on a white supremacist radio show and asked for all the white militias to come on down to help him out.
We forget and most Americans don't know that in September 2008, when the economy melted down, President George W. Bush informed congress that if they didn't approve the bank bailout he would declare martial law. In fact troops had been brought home from Iraq for the occasion. We were just moments away from the complete suspension of our Constitution. Can you imagine today if America actually starts toward a Great Depression , what the threat of fascism would be? All these posters and billboards about Obama as Hitler are simply projections of those who aspire to that ideology taking over the country.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Gallup Congressional Poll
Since 1950, Gallup has polled congressional races. According to the company, Republican turnout in midterms usually means a 5% advantage over Democratic turnouts. Today's generic poll shows the preference 49% Democrats to 43% Republicans. Democrats have not scored this high for the last six months and only reached 49% twice since Obama's election. As Gallup moves towards the elections, there will be polling likely voters for a more precise reading. But what is interesting to me is this wide of margin at this date, when Democrats have previously only lead by 1-2 points in reputable polls. As Gallup concludes, the party results will be close with a slight advantage to the Democrats. Gallup claims that their polling historically has come close to predicting the ultimate outcome in Congress.
But what is also glaring is the wide enthusiasm gap of voters. 51% of Republicans are wildly enthused about voting. Only 28% of Democrats. I have no idea how you square the generic spread with the enthusiasm gap.
What is also interesting is the narrowing of support for the two parties by independents. Now the lead is Republicans 43 to 39% over Democrats. They may be that the independents are beginning to settle down to the natural split between the two parties. The difference is the in the past 18 months Republican identification has stabilized somewhat from the massive defection in 2008, therefore producing a sample of independents who really are unidentified with either party. But the media narrative that independents have totally jumped ship on Obama and the Democrats appears to be wrong.
Why the sudden bounce for Democrats? Gallup proposes that it was the passage of the Wall Street Reform Bill. 55% of Americans support the bill--72% of Democrats and 56% of Independents. It was clearly a more popular bill going in than the healthcare reform bill, which was subjected to a massive campaign of misinformation.
From my previous post about the Obama approval ratings in 50 states, it's very hard to take both polls and derive a winning formula from the GOP's strategy of wanting the mid-term election as a referendum on Obama. The host of polls I have posted in the last week simply don't reveal to me that great Tsunami election pundits are talking about. If anything, the electorate seems to be stablizing along normal lines.
Op-ed writers are now speculating on 2012 as if the Democrats already lost the House. I guess that's fun because remember the old poll that showed Dole beating Clinton by a wide margin. Mark Halperin wrote today that the Democrats are panicking over November. Some one should give Mark a new memo.
But what is also glaring is the wide enthusiasm gap of voters. 51% of Republicans are wildly enthused about voting. Only 28% of Democrats. I have no idea how you square the generic spread with the enthusiasm gap.
What is also interesting is the narrowing of support for the two parties by independents. Now the lead is Republicans 43 to 39% over Democrats. They may be that the independents are beginning to settle down to the natural split between the two parties. The difference is the in the past 18 months Republican identification has stabilized somewhat from the massive defection in 2008, therefore producing a sample of independents who really are unidentified with either party. But the media narrative that independents have totally jumped ship on Obama and the Democrats appears to be wrong.
Why the sudden bounce for Democrats? Gallup proposes that it was the passage of the Wall Street Reform Bill. 55% of Americans support the bill--72% of Democrats and 56% of Independents. It was clearly a more popular bill going in than the healthcare reform bill, which was subjected to a massive campaign of misinformation.
From my previous post about the Obama approval ratings in 50 states, it's very hard to take both polls and derive a winning formula from the GOP's strategy of wanting the mid-term election as a referendum on Obama. The host of polls I have posted in the last week simply don't reveal to me that great Tsunami election pundits are talking about. If anything, the electorate seems to be stablizing along normal lines.
Op-ed writers are now speculating on 2012 as if the Democrats already lost the House. I guess that's fun because remember the old poll that showed Dole beating Clinton by a wide margin. Mark Halperin wrote today that the Democrats are panicking over November. Some one should give Mark a new memo.
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