The Republican war on the middle class

The Republicans in the House of Representatives are making war on the middle class by denying them a tax break they so desperately need. Failure to extend the payroll tax relief will cost a million jobs according to some economists. Do the Republicans care? Evidently not.
The quote below was taken from a New York Times article. Yes, we all know that the New York Times a Liberal newspaper. The statement below, is not a value judgment on someone's position. Rather it states positions clearly enunciated by both parties.

"the looming question remains unresolved — how to pay for the extension. House Republicans want to cut middle-class programs, Democrats want to raise taxes on millionaires, and neither seems inclined to give ground."

On television tonight, the latest polls showed an approval rating for the Republican Party of 20% and the president's approval rating was 49%. The people can clearly see where the fault lies.  Everyone knows that the conservative wing of the conservative party is blocking passage of a law that would extend the tax cut.  Eric Cantor, not John Boehner, is is in control of the House of Representatives. For all intensive purposes he and his cohorts are in control of this country's economic fate. That is one scary notion.I believe Mr. Canter to be an honorable man. However, this is not about honor, it is about an a rigid mindset that will not give an inch.

Addressing the country's deficit is an important issue.,but it is not the only issue. If the government fails to act in ways to maximize economic stability, the impending economic crash a number of experts are predicting will become an inevitability.  The blood will be on the economic hands of the Republican Party.

The Impeachable Republican Party Impeaching Republicans

The Republican Party appears to the developing a case of impeachmentitis. While Newt Gingrich fired off a salvo calling for Nancy Pelosi to resign, other efforts by Republicans were underway to impeach elective officials. In this instance, the targets of the impeachment progress were other Republicans. According to the Huffington Post, "One of the members in the spotlight is Assemblyman Anthony Adams, whose alleged indiscretion was simple: the budget he supported called for a statewide vote on raising income and sales taxes and car registration fees. In other words, in the eyes of his fellow party members, he had voted for a tax increase."


Even Governor Schwarzenegger has been the target of a recall effort launched to replace him. However, because of the number of signatures needed to oust the governor there is a likelihood of this happening. This process has left Republican operatives and insiders shaking their head in wonderment. The Huffington Post quoted Karen Henretty, a prominent Republican strategist, as saying, "What's happening with Republicans in California is the very definition of a circular firing scored."

With Republicans losing seats in the Senate, the House of Representatives, and governorships throughout the nation, it would seem the GOP can ill afford to kill off its own. However, it would be foolish to make any assumptions about what the Republicans will do next. Fortunately for the Republican Party, Senator Specter left on his own in a drumroll court-martial wasn't necessary.

Obama Speaking in Code to Taliban (and Republicans)

During view on MSNBC's hardball, Frank Gaffney, the director of the conservative think tank the Center for Security Policy, accused President Barack Obama of speaking in code, and telling the Middle East that America will submit to them. When challenged to explain this Gaffney said, "when he (Obama) uses the term of respect in the context of a waste bow to the king of Saudi Arabia, for example, and talks about respectful language which is code for those who adhere to Shari'a that we will submit to Shari'a."

In further conversation Gaffney went on to point how important it is for us to be able to understand this code. The question is whether anybody but Gaffney understands this code. Perhaps when you're the president of a right wing Center for Security Policy organization you get secret code books. If so, Gaffney has a moral and legal obligation to share this with the president and the national Security Council. Oh, excuse me. I guess Gaffney assumes that President Obama doesn't need a code book because he knows the gestures of submission.

The Republican right (doesn't that include all Republicans?) was obviously going to jump all over, if you'll pardon the metaphor, everything resident Obama did and said during his recent trip to Europe, and now to the Middle East. The Republicans, as former Vice President Cheney would assure you, are experts on Middle Eastern policy. After all, look what they accomplished in eight years with Iran and Iraq. I ran is still moving towards building nuclear weapons and Iraq after nearly being leveled by internal strife, has a fragile our government that may or may not make it to democracy. Let's not forget about Afghanistan, where Republican policies made it possible for the Taliban to be in a position to threaten

Republicans against Obama and America

When no Republican member of the House voted for the "Stimulus Plan" President Obama and the rest of the country had more than a hint that bipartisanship wasn't in the air. The Senate response to the plan wasn't much better, and the necessary three Republicans to get 60 votes so that legislation could be passed were able to extract significant concessions from the Democrats. In the meantime Republican leaders went on weekend television, and talked to any media that was willing to listen, about the deficiencies and pork in the Democratic plan. To be certain there is more pork in the plan then the president would like, but for the first six years of the Bush administration an all out pig roast was held in Washington.

What's at stake? The economy and the next 10 or 20 years of the life of this country. What's the Republican response to the economic crisis? The Republican stimulus proposal focuses mainly on tax cuts and tax incentives. There is little, if anything, in the plan to address the fact that the major banks of this country are on the verge of collapse. There is also little in the plan to address the issue of a still mostly frozen lending system. How do the Republicans address the fact that major companies are on the verge of bankruptcy? Economic Darwinism.

The mantra of preserving the free market system lost any meaning when the major banks and financial institutions of this country created trillions of dollars of toxic assets instead of profits. It's amazing how they blame this on Barney Frank. It's as if the Republicans are living on another planet, or see the world so differently that they just don't get it. It's the economy stupid! The Republicans are also busy rewriting the history of the Great Depression. The Republicans are saying that everything Franklin D. Roosevelt did to get the country out of the Great Depression failed. There isn't time or space to get into a debate on this issue, but a lot of books are going to need rewriting to match the new Republican version of history.

The Republicans left in Congress are ideologues who have a particular view of the way society and the economy often function. Their lack of pragmatism hinders their ability to see a variety of alternatives as well as the true nature of the problem. President Obama should quietly bury his bipartisan plans for the present time and get on with the business of trying to prevent a severe recession from becoming a depression.

Republicans Batting Zero

Not one single Republican voted for the bailout measure approved by the House Of Representatives. To be sure, there were portions of the bill which were objectionable to the Republicans, particularly since approximately $200 billion of the bill is likely to become a permanent part of the budget. But the funding for the birth-control information was deleted, which was a main sticking point in the craw of most Republicans. But not one, even one, Republican was able to vote for the bill? Sounds like a solid party line stance. To what purpose?

Congressman Boehner recently said that the Republicans can't be the party of, "No." The Republicans did come up with some counterproposals, mainly in the area of tax cuts. "Instead of a tax credit for individuals making $75,000 or less or families making less than $150,000, Republicans would like to reduce the tax rate by 5 percent on those Americans in the lowest tax brackets, from 15 percent to 10 percent and 10 percent to 5 percent." It's nice to see the Republicans focusing on tax cuts for people making moderate to low levels of income. This is certainly a change from the Bush administration era when Republican tax cuts were targeted for the wealthy. Well maybe the Republicans aren't batting zero, but they certainly aren't scoring any runs. Reducing taxes will help people, but it certainly won't turn the economy around. Nor is it certain that the Democratic sponsored legislation will either.

One potentially hopeful sign was that several Republicans had less than nice things to say about Rush Limbaugh. These comments came about the same time that President Obama told Republicans in Washington to stop listening to the right-wing talk show host. Rush Limbaugh then went on to say that "The president wants him (Limbaugh) to fail." This is all grist for Rush Limbaugh's mill because there is nothing he likes more than controversy, especially when it's about him. Rush Limbaugh is entirely about himself and gives new meaning to the words "self-absorbed."

There is some expectation that a few Republicans senators will vote for the bailout legislation. Heaven forbid! Recently Mitch McConnell, a key Republican leader in Congress, pointed out that the Republicans run the risk of becoming a regional party if they continue as they have during the Bush administration. Republicans are reputed to stand for less spending and smaller government. That's an interesting concept, because even Ronald Reagan, who said that "government is the problem not the solution" ended up with a larger bureaucracy at the end of eight years than he started with.

Bailout Battle over Birth Control

Recent reports indicate that President Obama will not support the inclusion of birth control funding in the bailout legislation. He is reported to have talked to Representative Henry Waxman, chairman of the energy and commerce committee, about having this provision removed. The Republicans assert that birth control funding has nothing to do with the bailout. While this is undoubtedly true, the inter-party wars over birth control have reared their ugly head. The connection between conservativism and birth control is tenuous at best, since the majority of Republicans are not Catholic, even though the majority of Catholics use birth control. Oh yes, the majority of Evangelicals are opposed to birth control. Is the country to be governed by the beliefs of the Evangelicals? Did Nancy Pelosi actually say that birth control funding would be stimulating? Did Boehner actually say it wouldn't be?

With so much at stake it is amazing how the both parties have gotten themselves tied up over long-standing unresolved issues. Bush is in, birth control is out; Obama is in, birth control is in. Birth control funding will happen whether or not the Republicans like it, just not in the bailout legislation. Representative Boehner recently said that the Republicans can't be the party of, "No." Well, they appear to be that on both counts. Against birth control, and against the bailout. There also appears to be a prevailing belief among the Republicans the bailout won't work and the Democrats will be left holding the bag in the 2010 elections. If the bailout doesn't work, there will be little left of the economy of the country for either party to fight over in 2010.

So much for bipartisanship. Why is it necessary for the Democrats to put things in the bill that they know will anger the Republicans and why is it necessary for the Republicans to react in a Pavlovian manner? Whether or not the bailout will work remains to be seen. At least the Obama team is coming up with an overarching plan that will address the short-term and long-term economic issues through a diverse array of legislation and other activities. This is a significant improvement over former secretary of treasury Paulson "winging it" as he went along.

In these perilous economic times we need more grown-ups. As the president said in his inaugural speech, "Now is the time to put away childish things." How many from both parties will join the president in being a grown-up is yet to be seen.

McCain Pins Obama to the Wall

The presidential election was all but decided when Senator McCain uttered the magical Republican incantation. What is this magical incantation? Whenever a Republican presidential candidate wants to assure his victory he states that the Democratic candidate will raise people's taxes and the Republicans will not. Thus when McCain said that Obama will raise taxes the race became essentially over. It doesn't matter whether this is true or not, because this accusation sticks like wonder glue to the Democratic candidate.

Senator Obama naturally refuted Senator McCain's statement. His campaign political team worked overtime in showing that this was not true and how Senator Obama's tax plan would be beneficial to most of the middle class. The newspapers even challenged Senator McCain's assertion. None of this will matter because as long as you are defending yourself you are climbing uphill. It's a little like responding to the infamous question that has now become a terrible cliché, "When did you stop beating your wife?" All the other issues in the campaign will fade into the background. What about Iraq? Doesn't matter. What about the economy? Doesn't matter. What about the price of gasoline? Doesn't matter.

Senator McCain will now repeat the following refrain endlessly until his victory on Election Day.

Senator Obama will raise your taxes I will not.
Senator Obama will raise your taxes I will not
Senator Obama will raise your taxes I will not.

The Presidential Campaign: Hyperbole and Invective

At a time when the nation faces an energy crisis, a housing crisis, and the strong possibility of the economy slipping into recession, America needs a political dialogue from the presidential candidates that focuses on these issues and how they plan to solve them. Unfortunately what we get from most of the media is a never-ending flow of hyperbole and invective. Anytime either candidate says anything that can be taken out of context it is immediately done, so that the media has an eye or ear catching headline to attract its audience. When Senator McCain says something that can be interpreted as him misunderstanding what's going on, the "age issue" is frequently brought up. Republicans shout that "Obama is the most liberal person ever to run for the presidency." The implication being he will turn us into a quai-socialist state. News: we are one already. Obama is accused of having a plan for Iraq that will lead to a disastrous defeat for this nation and catastrophe for the Middle East. If Obama is elected, there will be US bases in Iraq for some time to come. None of this addresses the key issues that we need to hear about.

In an article in the Chicago Tribune, Mark Silva was stated the following:

“It's probably time to stipulate that John McCain and Barack Obama are good
Americans. It may also be time to acknowledge that McCain is not "confusing
the basic facts and reality'' in Iraq, as Obama's chief foreign policy adviser
has suggested, and that Obama is not "wedded to defeat'' in Iraq, as McCain's
chief foreign policy adviser has suggested. And McCain's campaign may be a lot
of things, but it's hard to believe, as Democratic National Committee Chairman
Howard Dean said on cable news TV this week, that it's "sleazy.''

Yet, in the over-the-top environment of an over-heated presidential campaign, still in the early stages of a five-month marathon, hyperbole is the stuff of headlines.
And misconceptions run so deep, and are so readily misconstrued by
opponents and sheer mischief-makers, that now the Obama campaign has launched a rumor-control Web-site which finds itself addressing the rumors that the
on-again, off-again, flag-pin wearing senator from Illinois refuses to say the
Pledge of Allegiance. See Obama pledge - from that day in June 2007 when he
presided over the Senate. “

Silva goes on to address what I believe is one of the major roots of the problem “All this is worth remembering as the surrogates of the presidential campaign step forward to say things that the candidates themselves are loath to say - and there is a reason they let other people do this sort of talking for them.”

Between the media's thirst for sensational headlines and the presidential surrogates misquoting, misstating, and generally twisting the opponent's words into a political pretzel, we end up with a lot of words with little useful meaning. All too often political campaigns end up being to quote Shakespeare "full of sound and fury; signifying nothing."

McCain and His Merry Men

Unlike the fictional Robin Hood of yore, Senator McCain intends to continue the tradition started by President Bush, of making the rich richer. While no one has accused the Republican Party of stealing from the poor to give to the rich, neither has anyone ever accused the Republican Party of taking anything from the rich and giving it to the poor. Even though he initially opposed the Bush tax cuts, Senator McCain now supports them. This will certainly help Senator McCain in his efforts to reach out to the working men and women of America who can barely make ends meet and don't have adequate health insurance or any health insurance at all. No doubt he can explain this in the 500 words or more.

Robin Hood, as depicted by Hollywood, wore green tights and hung out with a band of "Merry Men." An actor by the name of Errol Flynn, set the standard for portraying Robin Hood in the movies, and also set other standards with women of all ages. Excuse me, back to the Republican Party. It is against conservative Republican principles for men to wear green tights, and you hardly ever see a group of high-ranking Republicans with their arms around each other with smiling faces. Perhaps if we could get a group shot of them on a visit to Guantánamo we could see them in a more festive mood. Cheap shot? Hardly! Those that live by the sword tend to get skewered by the sword.