A Billion Dollar Presidential Campaign?

It’s been said that Obama will have the first billion dollar campaign for 2012.    What do you think about this staggering amount of money? 

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/04/04/am-obama-announces-reelection-campaign/

That Tide – She is a Turning….

The New and Improved Republicans, led by their Evangelical Tea Party Darlings, may have won this battle in Wisconsin but have they fired the shot heard throughout Middle Class America? 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/10/wisconsin-poll-republican_n_834252.html

President Obama has highest legislative success rate in 5 decades

To Republicans who joke Obama has done nothing, and to Obama’s liberal critics who vent about the same, a study done by Congressional Quarterly suggests they are both wrong. CQ rates Obama higher than any president in the last five decades in working his will on Capitol Hill, surpassing even the fabled Lyndon Johnson. Obama’s success rate in the House and Senate on votes where he staked out a clear position was 96.7 percent, beating previous record-holder Johnson’s 93 percent in 1965.

Read it here at Newsweek.

The New Party of Hell No!

For the past two years, I have TRIED hard to be a reasonable observer of the national political scene. Politics are politics and sometimes you need to take it with a grain of salt. Sometimes, it takes a truckload of salt to get through the day. Republicans = good, Democrats = bad seems to be the minority party’s mantra, regardless of facts and logic.

After today’s lack of vote in the Senate, I am seriously pissed off. The majority of Americans want to see DADT repealed, despite an ongoing dismissive attitude towards gays and lesbians. By any logical reasoning, gays should be allowed to serve in our all-volunteer Armed Services without having to lie about their orientation.

Today’s non-vote was the last straw for the Republican’s “Party of No!” agenda. Granted, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is a political idiot and he handled the repeal vote very poorly, as he has with many procedural and political issues.. That is hardly an excuse for not dealing with a fundamental right for gays and lesbians in a manner that would discard an antiquated and unnecessary statute.

The Democrats are going to be the minority party in at least one of the Houses of Congress come January. The first order of business for the Democrats must be to replace Reid with someone who can play the game of politics with an equal measure of skill that the Republicans have done.

The next on the agenda is to obtain a spine – either grow one, steal one or pick up one on eBay. The time for playing nice ended long ago, but the Democrats have never shown the nerve to fight fire with fire. The Republicans have no compulsions about taking an obviously partisan stance, defying logic and fairness.

The Democrats need to become the “New Party of No!” despite any misgivings about appearances. Largely, the Republicans have not suffered ill effects from their obstructionist policies. When the Republicans are in charge, the Democrats must take a page from the Republican playbook.

When the Republicans push their right-wing agenda, every Democrat must stand united, as the GOP has, and resist any and all attempts to push through a new version of the same old platform that got us into this mess in the first place.

After all, if it is fair for the Republicans, it is fair for the Democrats.

William Stephenson Clark

Football, Politics and Life

 

Autumn is my favorite time of year. The days get cooler as we approach winter, the leaves change color, kids are back in school and life just seems to be more invigorating. That, and the football season begins on college campuses and pro stadiums.

Metaphorically, football is much like politics and life in general. The “good guys” don’t always win, sometimes it isn’t even very fair and the “right team” can be easily upset, even when they have the  lead. In football, it seems that any team can knock off another on any given day.

In life, the same is true. Life is rarely fair, and the bad guys seem to win more often than the good guys.

Four years ago, the Democratic Party seized control of the House and Senate from the Republicans. Two years ago, Barack Obama was elected president in an Electoral College landslide. It looked like the “good guys” were finally in control and a progressive agenda would be realized. Everything seemed to be in place for a bright future for the Party of “evil liberals.”

Everything except the economy – the Great Recession changed all the rules.

Like the winless football team that rises up and smites the champions, the recession handcuffed the progressive agenda. The Republicans seized the initiative from the Democrats and backed the “good guys” up to their own goal line. Republicans have a unique ability to shamelessly ignore their past failures and pass off their “new” agenda as somehow being different from their “old” agenda. Unfortunately, the voters are incapable of seeing through the deceit.

In 2010, the Democrats are likely to lose both the House and Senate. President Obama may well be  one term president. The progressive agenda appears to be dead and a return to a far right philosophy seems inevitable. In football parlance, we had a big lead at half time and blew it all in the second half.

Now what?

Well, in football, the schemes of championship teams are frequently copied by the lesser teams. The Democrats need to take the playbook of the Republicans and recognize that there is more than one way to cross the goal line.

The Democrats have to learn to play the game with the Republicans. They have failed miserably, especially over the past two years. Now is the time for a new game plan.

 

William Stephenson Clark 

 

All Evangelicals Are Not Alike

This article from Mother Jones suggests there is a difference of opinion  between Evangelicals when it comes to giving illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship.  And to think there is a man from Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University that is joining this group.  This could become very interesting.  How will this play in the structure of the GOP?  Will these opposing Evangelicals bring more moderates back to the GOP or will the Radical Evangelicals still  flex their muscle and keep their control?

Indypendent

http://herjones.com/politics/2010/05/right-wing-clash-over-immigration-reform

GOP Losing Another One?

From this article, it sounds like the GOP has picked yet another losing stategy of pushing for repeal of the health care reform bill.  With all the noise coming from the Party of NO, do you think they can survive another losing point like this one?  This group seems determined to bring down Obama.   Perhaps the majority of Americans are getting tired of all their gnashing of teeth when they are yelling NO?

Indypendent

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/01/health-care-repeal-losing_n_595726.html

The Outer Limits……. and Bears…….

“For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to… The Outer Limits.”

“The Outer Limits” was a respected, but short-lived, science fiction television program from the early Sixties.  Most episodes featured a “bear,” a monster of some sort, that provided the focal point for the show.

Our current political/social landscape has it’s own elements of “the Outer Limits.” Both sides, Right and Left, create their own “bears” to drive their ideological agendas. For the GOP, Tea Baggers and Libertarians the “bear” is the Federal Government. For Democrats and progressives, the “bear” is largely Corporations and Christian-driven social agendas.

Granted, the previous statement is a gross over-simplification, but the point is made.  There are elements on all sides that push the limits by demonizing the institution or ideology that fuels their ire.

Currently, their is a war within the Republican Party that threatens to purge even slightly moderate members and to be seen even in the least bit willing to work with Democrats is a virtual death warrant.

To their credit, Democrats are much less ideologically driven, but we have our own “lunatic fringe” that can’t support any semblance of compromise. To be sure, some issues, Gay Rights for example, have no room for compromise, but not all issues are quite so clearly defined.

“Politics is a process by which groups of people make  collective decisions.”

The above is the definition of politics from Wiki.

Well, do you see room for compromise on some issues, if so, what are they? Do you have your own personal “bear” or “bears” and what are they?

William Stephenson Clark

Health-care reform

On the eve of passing a national health-care reform bill, I’ve been thinking about Senator Edward Kennedy.  He would no doubt have helped make the argument that when you get this close, there are some things more important than reelection.  Speaker Pelosi, who often cites Senator Kennedy’s call for comprehensive health care, made that case recently on ABC’s This Week when she said “Why are we here? We’re not here just to self-perpetuate our service in Congress. We’re here to do the job for the American people.”

Back in the good old days after the Senate passed its bill and before the Democrats lost their filibuster-resistant majority, negotiators had planned to name the legislation for Ted Kennedy and Michigan Congressman John D. Dingell, Jr., the senior House Democrat who had been advocating universal coverage since he arrived in 1955. That won’t happen; there are just too many other matters to worry about now.

Senator Kennedy’s son, Patrick Kennedy, when asked what his Dad would say: “This was never for him,” he said. “The greatest honor for him would be getting more people covered, any which way or how.”

House Democrats May Ban Earmarks

In a possible strategic move to regain the “ethical high ground,” House Democratic leaders are floating the idea of a party-wide ban on earmarks for the remainder of the year. The idea was mentioned by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but would most likely face resistance from those who use earmarks as a way to send placating pork back home in a tough year for incumbents. But scrapping them now might be a strategic coup, as gridlock in the Senate means House spending bills could get tied up there, and their earmarks could get cut anyway. The decision to proceed with this strategy would have to come soon as earmark requests are due to the Appropriations panel by March 19. Nearly 9,500 earmarks worth $15.9 billion have already been secured by both parties in this fiscal year alone.

Read it at Roll Call.

Intraparty battles between Democrats?

It’s been open season on the right for primary challengers, with bids to unseat incumbents like John McCain and establishment favorites for open seats like Charlie Crist. But despite heightened tensions on the left between progressive and conservative Democrats, there has been little to no corresponding electoral pressure from the base to keep members in line—until now.

A major primary battle is developing in Arkansas between one of the Senate’s most prominent conservative Democrats, Blanche Lincoln, and progressive-backed Bill Halter, the state’s lieutenant governor.

continue reading here.

Barack Obama as the 2nd Bill Clinton…

E.J. Dionne, Jr.

E.J. Dionne is one of my favorite editorial writers and I like hearing him on NPR.  In the WashPo he wrote an editorial about how much Obama could learn from Bill, commented on their similarities, and the challenges they have respectively faced.

On the shared challenges, Dionne says:  “And they share a major weakness: Both believe so devoutly in their capacity to convert adversaries and to get lions and lambs to lie down together that they spend more energy trying to win over their enemies than rallying their friends. This leaves them helpless when the lions continue to devour the lambs.”

I can’t recall where I read it, but my understanding is that the Obama group has been loathe to accept Bill into their camp because they don’t trust him and fear he will have an undue influence.  Hillary they trust implicitly and she is one of theirs.

If what I’ve read is true, it is unrealistic to think  that Obama will accept, or get, any tutoring from Bill Clinton.

iggydonnelly

Public Square 1-27-10

The State of the Union Address.  Time to reflect on what we have done and what needs to be done.  Will anyone be listening with an open mind or has partisan politics already spread its cancer on Obama’s presidency?

The Threat of Bioterrorism

Bioterrorism – the next phase of the War on Terror?  Where will the billions for this war come from?    We’ve been at risk for a long time but we are still too busy debating the merits of the wars we have already spent billions on (and currently spending) trying to kill all radical Muslims – and that has not done much good, has it?

Will Bioterrorism be the next political football that gets kicked down the road for someone else to promise to fix?

Lilac

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/26/us-unprepared-for-bioterr_n_436785.html

Blessing in Disguise?

While Republicans are dancing with glee over Scott Brown’s election to the Senate, what does it mean if by his winning this battle, they lose the war?   Will Obama now promising to get tough on Wall Street really bring about the change the Democrats promised?  Will Rush and other Republicans continue to defend those huge salaries and bonuses of the Wall Street Gang?  Is Scott Brown really the independent vote that he promised to the people in Massachussets or is he going to fall into the lockstepping Party of No and just obstruct everything  Obama – including the call for the end of the greed on Wall Street?    Interesting times, aren’t they?

Lilac

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/feature/2010/01/22/obama_banks_open2010/index.html