Category Archives: Politics

Senator Kyl’s Legacy

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This year, Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona announced that he would not run for his seat in the Senate in 2012.  Following his announcement, the Arizona media was filled with people (Republicans, teabaggers and other conservatives) extolling Senator Kyl’s mostly forgettable accomplishments.

As the conservative mouthpiece in the Senate, Kyl was given lots of attention by the media.  And he was very good at capitalizing on it.  During the Bush administration, he became one of the administration’s most visible apologists.  And during the Obama administration, he has railed against virtually every administration initiative.

But those actions won’t serve as his lasting legacy.  Instead, he’ll be remembered for two events that took place on the Senate floor.  The first was his objections to approximately 80 appointments by President Obama.  As Senate Democrats called the names of individuals who had been appointed as judges, Kyl stood at the microphone and repeated the words “I object” for each and every one.

More recently, in arguing against the funding of Planned Parenthood, Kyl stated that abortion is “more than 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does.”  Of course, he was wrong.  The actual percentage of abortions provided by Planned Parenthood represents less than 3 percent of its budget.  When confronted with this discrepency, Kyl’s office announced that his statement “wasn’t intended to be factual!”  Of course, that came as no surprise to those of us who have been following Senator Kyl for some time.  He has seldom told the truth about anything regarding Democratic proposals or Democratic-supported initiatives.

Thanks to public ridicule led by Stephen Colbert and other comedians, Senator Kyl has since amended the Congressional Record to remove the inaccurate percentage.  The Record has been changed to read, “… you go to Planned Parenthood for abortions because that’s what Planned Parenthood does.”

So now Kyl’s statement in the Congressional Record implies that abortion is the only service provided by Planned Parenthood.  Apparently Kyl really doesn’t intend for his statements to be factual.  Even when he has an opportunity to correct them.

The Deficit Scam.

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In a Tea Party-based stupor, Republicans are locked in a battle with President Obama and Senate Democrats over cuts to the sizeable deficit.  Of course, rather than look at the real causes of the deficit, they continue to attack Democratic-supported institutions such as labor unions, Public Broadcasting, the Department of Education, Planned Parenthood, the health care reform bill and the so-called “entitlements” of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.  And, of course, they place most of the blame for the deficit on President Obama.Once again, the Republicans are dead wrong.

According to a report by the non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “…the economic downturn, the Bush tax cuts and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq explain virtually the entire deficit over the next ten years.”

Even the costs of the stimulus bill and financial rescues have had relatively little impact on the deficit.  Again, according to the CBPP, “those costs pale next to other policies enacted since 2001 that have swollen the defict.”  The CBPP report continues, “Just two policies dating from the Bush Administration – tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – accounted for over $500 billion of the deficit in 2009 and will account for almost $7 trillion in deficits … through 2019, including the associated debt-service costs.”

The truth is that the current Republican initiatives to cut the deficit are a ruse.  They are merely driven by ideology in an attempt to strengthen their hold on public office.  There are only three ways to cut the deficit without harming the middle class and the most vulnerable people in our society:  Cut our bloated defense budget designed, not just to protect us, but to force our will on the rest of the world.  End corporate welfare such as the obscene subsidies for Big Oil.  And raise taxes on those who can most afford it, such as the 400 Americans who control 50 percent of the nation’s wealth.

If you’d like to read the entire CBPP report for yourself, follow this link: http://www.cbpp.org/files/12-16-09bud.pdf

Homeless in the good ol’ USA.

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A couple of weeks ago, CBS’ 60 Minutes ran an incredibly touching segment on homeless families.  Scott Pelley assembled a diverse group of homeless children and asked them a series of questions about their circumstances.  They responded by talking about going to bed hungry, the effects of homelessness and hunger on their studies, the shame of feeling different than “normal” kids and their sense of guilt from feeling as though they are a hardship on their parents.

The impact of the segment was both heart-wrenching and utterly maddening.  Despite our current economic problems, we are the richest nation on Earth.  Yet we not only seem to accept the reality that a large segment of our population is struggling to get through each day without proper food, health care or a home.  Some of our right-wing politicians and media pundits even seem determined to blame them for their problems.

They’ve blamed homebuyers for being tricked into unaffordable home loans.  They’ve tried to block unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed.  They have called the unemployed lazy.  And they’re trying to repeal (or at least de-fund) the health care bill that will make affordable health care accessible to all Americans.

If these politicians can watch a few of the 16 million impoverished children in America talk about their struggles and still continue to attack programs that could make the lives of these kids better, it’s time for these politicians to go.

Yesterday couldn’t be soon enough.

A Political Quiz:

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Would you vote for a candidate who promised to gut public education?  Would you vote for a candidate who promised to make the rich richer at the expense of the middle class?  A candidate who promised to steal billions from individual retirement accounts and give it to greedy Wall Street bankers?  A candidate who promised to send millions of jobs overseas and reward corporations for doing it?

Would you vote for a candidate who promised to take health care away from millions?  A candidate who promised to eliminate Social Security?  To cut taxes on corporations while raising sales taxes on necessities?  To eliminate collective bargaining for workers?  To eliminate safety nets for the poor?

Would you vote for a candidate who promised to prioritize firearms over children?  To prioritize corporate profits over our environment?  To torture political enemies?  To start wars without an attack, or even a threat of attack?  To bankrupt local, state and federal governments in pursuit of his/her ideological agenda?

Would you vote for a candidate who promised to tell any lie necessary to be re-elected?

No?  Then why would you ever vote for a Republican again?

The Radicalization of Christianity in America.

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This Thursday, Rep. Peter King will convene a Congressional committee to examine the radicalization of Islam in America.  But why stop there?  If Republicans insist on holding hearings on the radicalization of religions in America, shouldn’t they also look into those who attend churches and synagogues as well as mosques?

Shouldn’t we investigate the church that Timothy McVeigh attended?  How about the Columbine shooters? Maybe we should look into their family churches. Or how about the fundamentalist televangilists who actually prayed for the deaths of Supreme Court Justices so that they could be replaced by Justices who would overturn Roe V. Wade?

Shouldn’t we form a Congressional committee to look into the Westboro Baptist Church, the Kansas-based organization that so plainly demonstrates hatred toward gays and our military?  Does that not qualify as a radical group? What about the “Christian” white supremicist groups and the “Christian” organizations that actively promote the murders of abortion providers?  Are they not just as responsible for violence and terrorism as radical Muslims? 

And don’t forget the Catholic Church, of which Congressman King is presumably a member. The Vatican was responsible for the Inquisition and the slaughter of untold thousands of alleged “heretics.” If it happened once, could it happen again?

As the old saying goes, people in glass houses (or churches) shouldn’t throw stones.

The beginning of the end of Democracy in the U.S.

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Yes, I know that probably sounds alarmist.  But consider the following:

1- The Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court gave corporations the free speech rights of individuals.  The effect is to make them super-citizens allowing them to inject tens of millions of dollars into our political campaigns with virtually no oversight.  This, of course, greatly benefits the Republican Party which represents the interests of large corporations.

2- Ohio, Wisconsin and other states which are now controlled by Republican governors and Republican-led legislatures have attacked labor unions in order to limit their bargaining rights.  Of course, it’s only coincidence that labor unions are the last remaining large contributors to Democratic Party election campaigns.

3- Republicans at all levels of government are pushing legislation that would de-fund Planned Parenthood, another traditional contributor to Democratic campaigns.

4- Republicans are pushing to de-fund Public Broadcasting which they see as liberal-leaning media that ask too many difficult questions.

5- Finally, many of the states controlled by Republican governors and Republican legislatures are now pushing legislation that would require state-issued IDs in order to vote.  While seemingly innocuous, these IDs would prevent many college students and minorities from voting in their states.  Again, it’s merely coincidence that college students and minorities most often vote for Democratic candidates.The impact of all of this is to greatly increase campaign funds for Republican candidates and to decrease available funding for Democratic candidates.  These tactics would also serve to disenfranchise Democratic-leaning voters and to quiet independent media that refuse to adhere to Republican talking points.

This is a serious threat, folks!  We can’t allow Republicans and their corporate masters to continue to stack the deck against working citizens.  Speak up!  Ask your Republican friends why, if their political ideas are so great, do they have to resort to trickery and bullying tactics in order to push them on ordinary people?

GOP Asks You To Sacrifice On Behalf Of The Wealthy.

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The new crop of Republican deficit hawks are seeking billions of dollars in cuts to education, health care, public broadcasting, environmental protection and pension funds.  “It’s necessary for everyone to sacrifice in order to reduce the deficit,” they say.

Funny that they’re not asking the wealthy or large corporations to do the same.

Indeed, $70 billion of the deficit consists of the Bush era tax cuts for the wealthy.  And large corporations?  In addition to their ever-lower taxes (Cutting taxes on corporations creates jobs, don’t you know?), they enjoy a raft of tax loopholes, tax incentives and outright subsidies.  For example, the world’s most profitable companies (Big Oil) are actually paid to search for oil.  And we provide grants to universities to create new and better pharamceuticals.  Then we allow the large pharamceutical companies to patent the new drugs and sell them to our population at obscene prices.

So when you hear Republicans talk about sacrifices, ask them what sacrifices they’re willing to make.  Are they going to opt out of their government paid health care?  Are they going to cut their salaries?  Are they going to raise taxes on the large corporations that contribute to their political campaigns?

You know the answer.

Self-Inflicted Pain.

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Beginning with the Reagan administration, the U.S. has, in effect, taken out its very large supply of guns, taken careful aim and shot itself in the foot.  Of course, I’m speaking metaphorically, but the damage to our nation is very real.

The Reagan administration’s notion that you could dramatically increase defense spending, increase corporate welfare, demonize unions and cut taxes has had a devastating and lasting impact on our country.  It’s because of Reaganomics that our deficits and national debt began to spiral out of control.  Even Reagan’s own budget director has since labeled Reagan’s economic policies a failure.

Of course, the Repugnants, aka right-wing Republicans, are fond of blaming our deficits on Democrats.  But that’s revisionist history.  Under Reagan and Bush The Elder, the deficits reached new heights.  Clinton and, in fairness, a Republican-led Congress, turned those deficits into surpluses.  Then Bush The Junior turned the entire economy upside down by pursuing two unfunded wars, lowering taxes and deregulating Wall Street.  In order to save us from a world-wide economic collapse, President Obama had to increase spending by providing loans to banks and automakers.  He also, for the first time, included the cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in his budget.

Republicans have seized on those actions to unfairly blame Obama for the deficits.  Now they want to use the deficits to undo all of the nation’s safety nets for children, the poor, the ill and the elderly.  At the same time, they continue to call for further tax cuts for the wealthy.  (Never mind that our taxes are now the lowest in 60 years.)

There is, of course, an alternative to what Bush The Elder once referred to as “voodoo economics.”  As the economy continues to improve, we could raise taxes back to pre-George W. Bush levels and close the enormous tax loopholes that have been exploited by large corporations.  At the same time, we could reduce the out-of-control defense budget and use a portion of the savings to create jobs by rebuilding our factories and infrastructure.

But if that makes sense to you, don’t hold your breath.  As long as those large corporations and defense contractors are allowed to fund the campaigns of Congressional Representatives and Senators, it’s not likely to happen.

The Great miStake Of Arizona.

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There are now 15 states considering an immigrant-bashing bill similar to Arizona’s.  Some are also considering legislation similar to a bill currently in the Arizona legislature that challenges the 14th amendment.  And many states are trying to match Arizona’s insane gun laws.

Living in Arizona, all I can say is that other states should be more careful in selecting role models.Since President Obama selected Arizona’s Governor Napolitano to lead the Homeland Security Department, the state has gone bonkers.  After turning our citizens against each other by passing SB 1070, Republican legislators passed a bill that allows anyone to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.  Faced with an enormous budget crisis, Republicans have continued to cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy.  And having labeled public education as another form of socialism, they have made draconian cuts to education budgets.

Now these same geniuses have turned their wrath on the federal government.

They plan to challenge the Medicaid program by denying health care access to nearly 300,000 Arizona citizens.  They are in the process of suing the federal government over the health care mandate.  They have passed a “birther” bill that requires federal candidates to produce their original long-form birth certificate in order to be listed on the ballot in Arizona.  (Never mind that, although most of us can easily obtain a copy of our birth certificate, we would find it virtually impossible to get our hands on the original.)  They are in the midst of passing a bill that denies any future cooperation with the EPA.  Now Arizona Republicans are sponsoring a bill that would allow a state legislative panel to ignore any federal laws or mandates it deems unconsitutional.  (In other words, they would usurp the power of the U.S. Supreme Court!)  And the Arizona legislative session is just getting started.

What’s next?  Secession?

If so, Arizona is certain to be the next third world country.

What’s Wrong With Calling For Civility?

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Following the Tucson shooting, Pima County Sheriff Dupnik stirred up the proverbial hornet’s nest by suggesting that our rancorous political climate may have contributed to the violence.  And his statements about Arizona’s insane gun laws fueled even more anger from the right.

How dare the good Sheriff ask for more civility in our public discourse!  How dare he try to keep guns away from the mentally unstable or even the deranged!

Never once did he point fingers at a particular party or individual politicians and radio hosts.  Yet following his statements on national TV, right wing radio hosts and right wing politicians went on the attack.

Certainly the right wingers were not responsible for the shooting.  Still, Sheriff Dupnik made some valid points.  Statements such as Sharron Angle’s threat of “2nd Amendment remedies” and “taking out” Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid most definitely could inspire another unblanced individual to act.  Tea Party members carrying guns to Presidential appearances can only be viewed as a threat of violence to President Obama.  Tea Party  signs reading “Next time, we’ll come armed” can only be seen as a threat to elected officials.  And maps of Congressional districts in the crosshairs of a gunsight most certainly present a violent image.

But right wingers claim that the violent implication of these statements and images is a misinterpretation of their intent; a fabrication by the left.  For example, Rush Limbaugh said that liberals were the ones truly responsible for the Tucson shooting.  Half-term Governor Palin defended her Mama Grizzly approach to politics by claiming she and other right wingers are the victims of “blood libel.”  Even The Arizona Republic got into the act by printing an editorial calling for Sheriff Dupnik to “remember his duty” and “to recall that he is elected to be a lawman.”

In other words, right wingers have the right to state opinions in any manner they please.  But if someone on the left takes issue with those opinions, they should remember their place and shut up.

Meanwhile, how have political commentators on the left responded?  Have they displayed similar angst at the suggestion their discourse may have contributed to the shooting (despite the fact that they’ve never encouraged violence)?  No.  Instead of defending themselves, they seem to have taken the Sheriff’s suggestion to heart.  Indeed, Keith Olbermann has announced that he will be acutely aware of language from now on.  He’s even stated that he is dropping his show’s segment “World’s Worst Persons.”

The difference in reaction couldn’t be more revealing.  Either the right is feeling some sense of shame and guilt over the Sheriff’s comments.  Or they are so determined to win at all costs, they simply don’t care if their actions and words lead to more senseless violence.

Personally, I’m betting both of those motives are true.