Category Archives: President Obama

Are We Willing To Settle For This America?

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There are those, particularly on the political right, who are satisfied with the way things are in the US. They truly believe that everything about the US is better than any other country in the world. And they believe it’s unpatriotic to criticize our faults.

But can we really settle for the way things are in the US?

Can we accept a nation where freedom and opportunity are still not shared equally? Are we willing to allow large, multinational corporations to buy elections, dictate government policy and send our jobs off-shore? Can we afford to watch our nation fall farther behind in education and technology?

Can we afford to allow our infrastructure to continue to crumble? Can we afford to have corporations devastate our environment in search of ever-larger profits? Are we content to allow military-style weapons to fall into the hands of the paranoid and the criminally insane? Can we watch more Aurora and Newtown-style massacres and do nothing?

Can we afford to be perpetually at war? Are we willing to accept that more of our soldiers now die from suicides than firefights? Can we settle for being the only advanced nation in the world that doesn’t provide healthcare to all of its citizens?

Can we accept ever-higher education costs and ever-lower salaries for our youth? Are we willing to cut pensions and retirement plans for our elderly in order for large corporations to avoid taxes? Are we content to put drug users and petty thieves in prison and let the bankers who stole trillions continue to walk free?

Can we any longer listen to those who demand “a return to Christian values” then turn their backs on the starving, the wounded and the infirm?

At his inauguration, President Obama spoke passionately of his vision for America. An America at peace. An America with freedom and equality for everyone. An America based on a growing and prosperous middle class. An America that provides opportunity for everyone. An America that is, once again, a true leader in the world.

It’s time to for all Americans to follow our president’s vision and stop settling.

The Worse-Than-Do-Nothing Congress.

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In 1948, President Harry Truman labeled the 80th Congress the “Do Nothing” Congress since it refused to pass most of the bills of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration and the Truman administration. Instead, it focused on passing a few bills to benefit big business.

Believe it or not, the recently ended 112th Congress was worse!

Not only was the 112th unproductive. It was counter-productive. At several points in the last two years, its approval rating among voters was 10 percent. That’s right, 10 percent! That makes it even more unpopular than communism which has an approval rating of 11 percent in the US.

Among the 112th’s few accomplishments was lowering the credit rating of the US government for the first time in history. By blustering and balking at raising the debt ceiling and threatening to pay debts that Congress had already spent, it nearly collapsed the world economy. And instead of focusing on creating jobs and improving the US economy, it spent most of its time trying to discredit President Obama.

It passed no bills to build infrastructure, to increase exports, to bring jobs back home from overseas, to reform immigration, to regulate the type of military-style weapons used in the Newtown massacre, or to bring fairness to our tax codes.

Indeed, the 112th passed the fewest bills ever.

The 112th rabidly talked of lowering the deficit and reducing the national debt, but it succeeded only in kicking the can down the road for 11 months. In doing so, it created an artificial “fiscal cliff” that nearly dragged us back into recession. Teapublicans in the 112th bragged that they didn’t know the meaning of compromise. Dominated by a rabid Tea Party caucus led by likely escaped mental patient Michele Bachmann, the 112th even refused to follow its own leadership.

Incredulously, it even refused to vote for financial aid for the victims of Hurricane Sandy! An inaction that prompted several of its national leaders to say that if you donate to GOP campaigns, you must be “out of your mind.”

So goodbye, 112th! You will be forgotten, but not missed.

UPDATE: Following its failure to negotiate a long-term solution for the “fiscal cliff,” Congress’ approval rate is now in the single digits. Understandably, Congress is less popular than head lice and cockroaches! 

Who’s Really Behind Gun Violence?

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Certainly the NRA and other gun rights groups deserve a lot of the blame. Over the past 30 years, they’ve evolved from organizations intended to preserve hunting and to promote gun safety into lobbyists for gun manufacturers.

But the real blame for increased violence belongs to those who have fostered paranoia. Paranoia about crime. Paranoia about minorities and immigrants. Paranoia about a potential financial crisis. Paranoia about non-Christians. Paranoia about a world catastrophe. Even paranoia about our own government.

The loudmouths on Fox News Channel and right wing radio have convinced the weak-minded that non-white, welfare-abusing “takers” are out to get them and the fruits of their labor. In their little minds, Democrats and liberals are destroying the United States. They believe that our nation is headed toward bankruptcy and socialism or worse.

The result has been a dramatic spike in sales of “tactical” weapons (aka military-style assault rifles and shotguns) and semi-automatic handguns since 2009. There has also been a six-fold increase in non-Islamic domestic terrorist groups since 2009. And we now have thousands (maybe tens of thousands) of “preppers” who are stashing food, water, weapons and ammunition in preparation for what they consider the inevitable failure of our nation.

Moreover, the vast majority of gun sales and paranoid activity has taken place in the Southern US, mostly since the election of our first black president.

Coincidence? I think not.

GOP Keeps Getting Crazier.

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Embittered by their presidential candidate losing the election to President Obama, Teapublicans are having a snit.

They refuse to believe that they lost because of their wacko ideas. Instead, they claim that Obama won only because he promised “to give stuff away” to voters. Adding to the insanity, polls show that 25 percent of Teapublicans now want their states to secede from the Union so they won’t have to be governed by President Obama. Another 19 percent of Teapublicans say that secession would be acceptable to them.

That’s 44 percent of these so-called “patriots” who claim no allegiance to the United States of America!

Another poll shows that 49 percent of Teapublicans believe the election was stolen by ACORN…an organization that no longer exists! (In case you need a refresher, ACORN was blamed for the results of the 2008 election. In 2009, a fraudulent video was played endlessly by Fox News Channel until enough elected officials decided to withdraw funding from the organization causing it to cease operations.)

Here’s my message to these nitwits: Keep blaming everyone else for your failures – the 47 percent, the mainstream media, ACORN, the new Black Panther, minorities, immigrants, women, retirees, imagined voter fraud, misguided GOP campaign strategists, etc., etc., etc.

Keep promoting mental outpatients, such as Michele Bachmann, for president. Keep pushing the ethically challenged, such as Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and Newt Gingrich. Keep praising intolerant religious zealots such as Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee. And, by all means, keep prioritizing the goals of the wealthy and large multinational corporations over the needs of working people.

If you continue to do all of these things, your party will soon end up in the dustbin of history alongside the Whigs.

Believe me, America will be better for it.

Some Elephants Have Short Memories.

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The symbol for the GOP is the elephant; rather ironic when you consider how short Republican memories seem to be.

When George W. Bush was named president in 2000 after Al Gore won the popular vote and the GOP was found to have committed massive voter fraud and voter suppression in Florida giving the electoral vote to Bush, what did Democrats do?

Did Gore give speeches to supporters telling them that the election was stolen (which, in fact, it was)? Did large numbers of Democrats threaten to leave the country? Did the Democrats in Congress block every Bush appointment and initiative? Did they arm themselves with assault weapons and begin planning to defend themselves from the GOP agenda?

No. They chose to work with the new administration for the good of the country.

Now consider events of the past 4 years. After President Obama and Democrats won in a landslide in 2008, Republicans claimed voter fraud. They raised questions about Obama’s birthplace, implying he does not qualify to be president. They called him un-American and worse. They blocked presidential appointments and exercised the filibuster hundreds of times.

Now, after President Obama has been overwhelmingly re-elected despite GOP attempts to suppress minority votes, they claim that he won only because he “gave stuff to voters.” More than 850,000 conservatives have signed petitions asking their states secede from the Union. And gun sales are soaring.

It’s time these so-called “patriots” take the lead from Democrats. They need to finally start acting like adults and stop making excuses. They need to recognize that most voters agree with President Obama’s solutions for the economy and the “fiscal cliff.” They need to work with President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Senate to improve the nation.

The Party Of Lincoln?

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Republicans are fond of calling themselves the “party of Lincoln.”

Of course, it is true. At least it used to be.

But if you watch the Steven Spielberg movie, Lincoln, you discover how far the party has strayed from the principles of its most revered member.

Lincoln saved the Union. Today’s Republicans are trying to tear it apart. Lincoln abolished slavery. Today’s Republicans are trying to abolish the right of the slaves’ descendants to vote. Lincoln was a liberal. Today’s Republicans hate liberals. And Lincoln was horrified by war. Today’s Republicans glorify it.

But there still could be hope for the party. If today’s Republicans attend the movie this holiday season, they just might realize how far they’ve strayed from the past. They might realize that President Obama has more in common with Lincoln than their home state of Illinois.

Of course that would require that they are willing to be open-minded and to check their hatred at the theater door. Oh, never mind.

The Real Makers And Takers.

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Teapublican rhetoric aside, the real makers are in the bluest of states and the vast majority of takers are in the reddest of states.

Washington DC, Delaware, Connecticut, Minnesota and New Jersey contribute the most per capita in income taxes to the federal government.  On the other hand, West Virginia, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Montana pay the least.

Overall, the states that contribute the most total revenue are California, New York, Texas, Florida and Illinois.

So if the government-hating red states of the old Confederacy really want to follow through with their threats to secede after President Obama’s re-election, they may want to consider how they’re going to pay for the federally-financed benefits they now enjoy.  Without subsidies from the blue states, they can expect their benefits to plummet and their taxes to skyrocket.

As for the Union, the blue states will be just fine.  In fact, by eliminating most of the “taker” states, taxpayers in the blue states will likely enjoy lower tax rates while rebuilding their infrastructure, improving education and strengthening safety nets.

My message is this:  All of you so-called “patriots” should do a little research to determine who’s really paying for your military, your border patrol, your prisons, your welfare, food stamps, healthcare, schools, highways, etc.  If afterwards, you still want to secede, go for it.  Don’t trip over your racist anti-Obama signs, your “Don’t Tread On Me” flags, your Federalist papers, Bibles and assault weapons on the way out.

He’s Not Known As McNasty For Nothing.

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Senator John McCain is often referred to as an independent-minded maverick and national hero.

The reality is that he’s a self-centered plutocrat who has a very distant relationship with the truth.  Indeed, when you see McNasty up close as one of his constituents, you realize the man will say and do anything to be elected and to gain power.  The most recent example is his unwarranted attack on UN Ambassador Susan Rice. Ignoring the facts, he belittled her, saying that she’s not very bright.  He unfairly blamed her for misleading Americans on the cause of the attack on the US consulate in Libya.  And he threatened to filibuster if she is nominated for the position of Secretary of State.

Why would he make such unwarranted statements about someone who has loyally and capably served her nation?  Two words:  Personal gain.

Fact is, since Mitch McConnell and the other Senate Republicans settled upon their scorched earth policy of blocking and filibustering virtually every Democratic initiative, McCain has become irrelevant.  There have been no opportunities to be the maverick and cast the decisive vote.  Indeed, few people now pay attention to him.  Not even his Arizona constituents.  He simply has little to offer.

Moreover, McCain is about to be term-limited out of his leadership role on the important Senate Armed Services Committee, a move that will make him even less important.

What to do?  What to do?

In true McNasty style, the senator decided to throw Rice under the bus in order to offer himself up as the leader of a Watergate-style select committee that would allow him to conduct a wide-ranging witch hunt into every nook and cranny of the Obama administration.  Of course, it would also allow him to, once again, sit in the limelight.

Instead of being given such power, McCain should be shown the door.

Another “Scandal” Blows Up In GOP Faces.

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Determined to find a scandal worthy of impeachment (or at the very least, a scandal that would cause great embarrassment to the Obama administration), GOP leaders first seized on Solyndra only to discover that the process for the government-backed loan first began during the Bush administration.

Frustrated, they then turned to Fast and Furious only to find that responsibility for the operation focused on the Phoenix office of the ATF.

Now GOP hopes revolve around the deaths of four diplomats in Benghazi.

Because Susan Rice stated on several talk shows that the deaths were likely due to a spontaneous attack by Muslims angry over a despicable video, the GOP sensed an opportunity.  They used Rice’s statements to “prove” that the administration lied and is now in full cover-up mode.  Senator John McNasty even has called for a full Watergate-style commission to investigate the “cover-up.”

There’s just one fly in the ointment.

Former CIA director, General David Petraeus testified before Congress that there was no attempt by the White House to mislead.  He stated that the report on which Rice based her statements, was drafted through an interagency process, not a political process.  According to Rep. Adam Schiff who sat in on the hearings, “The general was adamant there was no politicization of the process, no White House interference or political agenda; that Rice’s comments in television interviews “reflected the best intelligence at the time that could be released publicly.”

Oops!  Instead of a scandal it would seem that GOP leaders only have another layer of egg on their faces.

GOP Racing Toward Oblivion.

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According to Fox News Channel and conservative hate radio, President Obama only won a second term because the majority of Americans wanted free stuff and they believe Democrats will give it to them.

(In other words, they’re assigning blame to the 47 percent as described by Mitt Romney.)

In a remarkable show of cluelessness, Teapublican pundits ignore the fact that their party did everything in its power to deny minorities the right to vote; that they want to deny millions access to healthcare; that they want to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the middle class; that they want to eliminate safety nets such as Medicare and Social Security; that they want to eliminate taxes for the rich; that they want to impose their religious values on everyone; and that they want to deny civil rights to minorities, women, gays and lesbians.

It’s a surefire winning strategy…for Democrats.

Let’s hope Teapublicans continue to pursue this strategy. Wouldn’t it be great if all future political contests were between Democrats and the Green Party?