Paul Ryan Rides Off Into The Sunset

Paul Ryan, 54th Speaker of the House Of Representatives, is throwing in the towel at the end of this Congressional term. He cites spending more time with his family as his reason for leaving. His departure is accompanied by similar announcements from more than 30 other Republicans in both the House and Senate.  Ryan told reporters that he was "proud of what this Congress has achieved".

Trump twitted that Ryan was "a truly good man" who "would leave a legacy of achievement that nobody could question". Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told us that Ryan was "a good man who is always true to his word" and said he'd "always found him to be smart, thoughtful and straightforward". Others praised Ryan the man and most didn't speculate on why Ryan might be leaving at what E. J. Dionne, Washington Post opinion writer calls "a low, dishonest political moment".

Since the Washington establishment has worked together for many years and I've never been inside that well known group, they probably see Ryan's departure far differently from many outsiders, including myself. I tend to believe that the toxic environment in Washington created by the Trump Administration is part of the reason so many politicians are leaving at this particular time. Ryan's belief in Ayn Rand's philosophy makes him identify with society's winners and regard ordinary citizens as moochers and burdens on the creative and the entrepreneurial class. Thus, he lead the effort to slash taxes for the rich as a conservative Congress and Administration left the nation with a trillion dollar annual budget.

Ryan leaves mourning the Senate's failure to approve his plans to cut "entitlements", i.e. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and food stamps. He bemoans these elements of our nation's safety net which he claims "might become a hammock that lulls able-bodied citizens into lives of complacency and dependency". Oddly enough, after the death of his father, the Speaker received Social Security Survivors benefits from the age of 16 to 18. These benefits funded his college education. No doubt treatment of his grandmother's Alzheimer's condition relied on "entitlements".

While he bitterly fought to repeal the Affordable Care Act, commonly know as Obamacare. Ryan uses the passage of the new budget revisions as his most significant contribution to his country. He believes that current policy changes enacted by the Trump Administration is "the path to reducing government's impositions on the managers and owners of capital to the good of society".

Paul Ryan went to Congress in 1999 representing Wisconsin's First Congressional District. He served as Chairman of the House Budget Committee from 2011 to 2015 and Chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee before assuming the duties of Speaker of the House. He was running mate to MA Governor Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential campaign.

We'll see if Ryan, leaving politics at the age of 48, has presidential ambitions as he looks forward to the future. Think about it, in 2024, he'll just be 54 years old.

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Water Contamination Crisis in Flint:Republicans' Fiscal Problem

For almost two years, residents have suffered through a water contamination problem, an impossible situation. I heard about the lead poisoned water problems in Flint initially on Rachel Maddow’s nightly show, but heard nothing on the mainstream media. (I guess they were to busy covering the minute to minute antics of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump). Now, while poisonous water is still piping into homes in Flint, state officials minimize their culpability and attempt to pass blame to the Federal government. At the same time, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder says he needs $767 million dollars to repair and replace Flint’s water infrastructure which was destroyed in his attempt to save $5 million dollars..

Therein lies the rub for Republican legislators at every level of government. Republicans control the Michigan legislature and the GOP also controls both the House and Senate at the national level. Republicans disparage the federal government every chance they get. The portray the federal government as intrusive, too involved, and determined to fiscally irresponsible. It hard to imagine a Republican Congress approving Gov. Snyder’s request for any parts of  $767 million.

The racial politics are reminiscent of the failure of the federal government to respond in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I can still hear Kanye West saying “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people". In 2013, an increasingly debt conscious Congress and the GOP’s non-diverse base were reluctant to provide necessary assistance to victims of Hurricane Sandy. With a Democratic controlled Senate, the funding was passed with only 9 Republicans voting for it. I wonder what will be said about the government’s response to Flint’s crisis.

It’s interesting to note that Governor Snyder also requests expansion of Medicaid for the youngsters impacted by the poisoning lead in the water they’ve been drinking. Yet Michigan refused to expand Medicaid for it’s eligible citizens.

At least 6 civil lawsuits have been filed seeking compensatory and punitive damages for 30,000 customers who paid for or was billed for Flint’s water. The FBI is investigating the contamination of Flint’s water and Congress has called a hearing and “requested” the Governor to testify. As public awareness increases, the outcry for action continues to swell.

It's interesting that the presidential candidates haven't weighed in on the current crisis in Flint, Michigan. I guess this poor, hard-working city doesn't warrant their attention.

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Eye on Republican 2016 Politics

The Republican Party continues to use the “Southern Strategy” it’s embraced for more than 40 years.  This strategy has been somewhat successful for them, but convinces some voters to support their policies. Over the years, the party has reinvented racism, using a series of coded appeals which are inaudible at one level, but clearly heard and understood at another. President Ronald Reagan, called the Great Communicator by his loyal supporters, often remarked about “Cadillac driving welfare queens” and “strapping young bucks” buying T-bone steaks with food stamps. Similar rhetoric is found in the language used by former President Richard Nixon and former presidential candidate George Wallace. You’ll see this strategy repeated by many in the current field of GOP presidential candidates

Racial polarization among Republican voters appears to generate enthusiasm for political candidates who promise to crack down on crime, curb undocumented immigration, and wage war against Gays, Lesbians, and Muslims.  Short sighted politicians disregard the interest of minorities and the disadvantaged and embrace regressive policies that promised “trickle-down” benefits for whites. Current presidential candidates offer pie-in-the-sky optimism and misplaced certitude. It’s interesting that their primary appeal to the Republican base is that they have no past experience with most of the issues facing the country today. This coupled with the bitterness of the base against the failure of elected officials to deliver on past campaign promises makes interesting reality television, but offers America and the entire world little hope for the future.

The appeal of some Republican candidates seems contrary to our stated national values which support equality and oppose racism. The inaudible call for racial solidarity to combat “welfare cheats”, “illegal aliens”, and perceived racial victimization presents an enormous problem for the country and particularly for the struggling middle class. The liberal media seems to believe that the GOP appeals to a small shrinking “silver” population. In an increasingly diverse society, if you’re not careful, you might feel that racial polarization will be solved when this group literally dies out. However, among whites, race appears to be more important than gender, age, or geographical location. Race may well drive how individuals vote, resulting in white support for the Republican Party. A quick look at the data tells the story. In the 2012 election, 88% of voters for the GOP were white. State level GOP elected officials nationwide received 98% of the white vote. White men favored Romney by 62%, white women by 56% and white youth by 56%. Race is a central feature in American Democracy today.

 

The policies of the Republican Party favor the extremely wealthy and for decades governmental policies have created an unequal economy that has wrecked the middle class. They blame the 2008 financial crisis on homeowners who bought homes they could not afford.  They fail to support the Civil Rights Act of 1964, casting it as an “over reach” of government power. They focus on the “undeserving poor” who abuse government help, thereby robbing hard-working tax payers. They cast whites as victims of an activist government that passes out gifts to grasping minorities.  You’ve heard it said that African Americans, Hispanics and young people “want to get free stuff” from the government. Accordingly, the GOP offers plans to control voting among these groups as a way to counteract their support for democratic positions.

The second Republican presidential candidates’ debate tonight will spotlight their strategies.   See if there’s a lack of emphasis on support for upward mobility through good schooling and affordable higher education. Take note if there appears to be a lack of interest in rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure or controlling abuse in the market place through regulation. Watch for discussions on jobs, healthcare and the economy, marked by a lack of specificity. It may help you decide where your vote will do the most good in serving those issues that you care about.

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Sen. Rand Paul and the "Southern Avenger"

 

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul says he’s standing by longtime aide Jack Hunter whom he appointed as his Media Director.

 

“Sen. Paul holds his staff to a standard that includes treating every individual with equal protection and respect, without exception,” spokeswoman Moira Bagley said in a statement.

 

Jack Hunter has for years been a provocative talk radio host who called himself the “Southern Avenger.” Before that, he was a member of the League of the South, a group that advocates Southern secession.

For years, Hunter wore a Mexican wrestling mask made out of the Confederate flag. “The whole idea of the Southern Avenger was to be an anonymous superhero,” he explained in a 2011 article in the Charleston City Paper, where he writes a column. Hunter ditched the mask in 2007, when he moved from being a guest on a local music station to talk radio.

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"Border Surge": Boon For Defense Contractors

The border security plan the Senate approved last week includes unusual language mandating the purchase of specific models of helicopters and radar equipment for deployment along the U.S.-Mexican border, providing a potential windfall worth tens of millions of dollars to top defense contractors.

The legislation would require the U.S. Border Patrol to acquire, among other items, six Northrop Grumman airborne radar systems that cost $9.3 million each, 15 Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters that average more than $17 million apiece, and eight light enforcement helicopters made by American Eurocopter that sell for about $3 million each. The legislation also calls for 17 UH-1N helicopters made by Bell Helicopter, an older model that the company no longer manufactures.

The Black Hawk helicopters required under the plan include five of the latest high-tech models with digital cockpits. As for the American Eurocopter aircraft, the patrol would be required to add eight AS-350 models to the 85 it already has in its fleet.

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Stuck on Stupid: Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-SC)

There are serious issues that need Congressional action-unemployment, immigration, gun violence, national security, equal pay for women and others. Somehow the Republican Party can't focus on improving the lives of the American people. Sadly, the GOP won't take on these problems, but they continue to take 40 useless votes to repeal Obamacare, introduce legislation to challenge Roe v. Wade, and even to still dabble in Birtherism.

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E. W. Jackson Fans the Fires in VA Race

E. Earl Walker Jackson, Sr. is an American politician, Christian minister and lawyer in Virginia. On May 18, 2013, he was nominated as the Republican Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.

 His thoughtless comments about abortion, homosexuality and the Democratic party as well as his ridiculous positions i.e., comparing Planned Parenthood to the Ku Klux Klan and referred to gays in the military as “sexually twisted” have generated controversy ever since he began to receive national attention as his party’s nominee for that position.  He's in the process of walking back his most recent blunder, claiming that practicing yoga could lead to Satanism.

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The Fight is On: President Obama Struggles to Fill Judicial Vacancies

Not long ago, the Republicans announced their most important goal-stop Obama from winning a second term as President. To that end, nothing was more important to the G.O.P. They forgot about the economy, put no effort in reducing unemployment, and just said no to anything and everything the President tried to accomplish.

When the President stunned Mitt Romney and his crew by winning the 2012 Presidential Election,the Republicans decided to continue to say no...any way and every way they could. One of their key strategies is slow walking the Senate's advise and consent responsibility and failing to make decisions on the President's nominations for his administration and federal judgeship vacancies.

Republican senators have blocked President Obama's nominations slated to head the Environmental Protection Agency (Gina McCarthy), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Richard Cordray), Securities and Exchange Commission (Mary Jo White), and Labor Department (Thomas Perez). In the case of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 43 Republicans (all but 2 of the total Republicans in the Senate) are opposed to approving anyone to head the Bureau. They don't want the Bureau to function or exist, so they are refusing to confirm the President's nominee, Richard Cordray. Elizabeth Warren was frozen out of consideration for the seat as head of the agency she helped create and consequently ran for Senator in Masschuettes, defeating incumbent GOP Senator Scott Brown.

There are 24 Obama nominees to Federal judgeships pending Senate confirmation. Now, the U. S. Court of Appeals, D. C. Circuit (aka the D.C. Circuit) judicial vacancies are at the center of a struggle between Obama and Senate Republicans.

Issuing a forceful challenge to Senate Republicans, President Barack Obama nominated three judges to the influential federal appeals court in Washington, declaring that the GOP has “cynically used Senate rules and procedures” to delay and block past nominees.

“What I’m doing today is my job; I need the Senate to do its job,” he said as he announced his nomination of Patricia Ann Millett, Cornelia Pillard and Robert Leon Wilkins on Tuesday in the White House Rose Garden.

In simultaneously naming three nominees to the understaffed federal appeals court in Washington, Obama set up an aggressive push against Senate Republicans who are trying to keep him from naming any more judges to the influential circuit.

Just take a look at judicial appointments under past presidents: Carter (262), Regan (384),G. H. W. Bush (194- one term), Clinton (379) and G. W. Bush (328). President has been able to appoint only 172 during his term in office and Republicans continue to obstruct his ablity to do his job and name his team. Republican have even introduced the Court Efficiency Act which would eliminate the 3 vacancies in the D. C.  Circuit Court, the second highest court in the land and the natural feeder court to fill vacancies in the Supreme Court. Even the New York Times supports retaining the 11 seats for this key court.


While the Republicans are working diligently to deny President Obama a lasting legacy, they are also letting the country's business go astray and are forgetting the needs of the American people in the process. They are saying forget the results of the election and the public's clear choice of Barack Obama to lead the country. For them, it's their way or no way and damn whether the country can progress. They just say "no".

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Utah's Mia Love : G.O.P. Candidate for Congress

Mia Love, Mayor of Saratoga Spring, Utah spoke at the National Republican Convention in support of the Romney-Ryan presidential ticket. Her theme was "The America I know".

“My parents immigrated to this country with $10 in their pockets and the hope that the America they learned about really did exist. When tough times came, they didn’t look to Washington. They looked within,” she said. She described the America she knew growing up as “centered on self-reliance, filled with all of the possibilities of living the American dream”.

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Voter Supression: Applewhite Wins, but America Loses

Democrats who have been leading a campaign against voter ID laws had their sights set on Pennsylvania, where they felt they had a good chance to have legislation passed last year thrown out by the courts. Liberal activists held rallies in Philadelphia and have been asserting that the bill approved by the Republican-controlled legislature is nothing more than a recycled “Jim Crow” law. But the attempt to trash the Keystone State’s voter ID requirement failed today when a Commonwealth Court judge in the state capital threw out the challenge. Judge Robert E. Simpson, Jr. issued a 70-page decision this morning in Harrisburg that stated the plaintiffs failed to prove their case that asking voters to identify themselves with a government-issued photo card would mean disenfranchisement and therefore denied an injunction that would have meant the law could not be enforced this year.

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Romney's New Campaign Targeting African Americans

The Romney campaign has released a new campaign commercial targeting African-American voters. It includes footage from Romney’s polarizing appearance at the NAACP’s annual convention in Houston. Perhaps not surprisingly, the boos the presumptive GOP nominee for president received are edited out. The overarching theme of the commercial is job creation and “getting the economy back on track.” Watch the video below and let me know if you buy the hype.

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YO-YO: Women and Minorities Going Backward

Comic Jimmie "JJ" Walker slamming President Obama and implying that Blacks vote based on race raises my blood pressure. He must agree with the folks in the Hamptons who paid $30,000 per person to attend a fundraiser for Mitt Romney and managed to get media attention to their views that Blacks are less educated, don't understand our (political) system and therefore don't know how to vote on the issues. Resegregation, racial profiling, increasing crime rates, in adequate public schooling, voter suppression, increasing incarceration- so many issues tell me that unless we make good decisions in Election 2012, women and minorities are going backward and YO-YO (you're on your own).

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Will Romney Win the White Working Class Vote?

What's up with the white working class vote? It was for him, his wife, and his family that New Deal Democrats taxed the rich, invented Social Security and supported militant labor unions. Now, seeing the Democrats as pro black and poor, white non-college educated voters are a mainstay for the Republican coalition.

Many people don’t understand how the white working class can support a Republican party which clearly favors the rich and would continue to vote against their own interest. But, that depends on how you define their interest. Anti-abortion and anti-gay religious beliefs coupled with NRA gun-toting sentiments may well see this group waiting for economic interest to “trickle down” to them while “getting their country back” with a white guy in the White House.

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Meet Ron Christie: Republican Strategist and Apologist

There are some folks that never cease to amaze me and Ron Christie is one of those mind boggling people. Christie, the Black Republican apologist and strategist is forever trying to convince us that White right-wing reactionary Republicans like Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney and Russ Limbaugh always mean just the opposite or something other than what they've stated or written or that they are badly misquoted, misunderstood, or misinterpreted. He sees history quite differently than I remember it, especially the Bush II White House years.

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Minorities and the GOP: Time to "Pivot"

The Republican Primary and Presidential Debates highlight the GOP point of view as it concerns America's domestic policy on social welfare and the 2012 Election..

Historically, Republican attacks on "the welfare state" after the civil rights protests of the 60s and 70s were propagated by their leadership from Barry Goldwater to Richard Nixon to Ronald Regan. The white majority's perception of expanding social welfare programs is mirrored in today's undercurrent of racist dialogue led by Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.

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Grover Norquist: A Power Behind the Throne

Who is Grover Norquist? Why should you care? Simple answer-Grover is a power broker in the Republican Party and he will influence the tax policies of the presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney.

Meet Grover Norquist:
He's a Washington legend who single-handedly defined the GOP's brand as the "No Tax Party". His idea for the "No Tax Pledge" began when he was in high school. He successfully garnered signatures for this pledge from Republicans in the House of Representatives and in the U. S. Senate. At the present time 336 members of the House of Representatives, 41 Senators, 13 Governors and 1,247 State Legislatures have signed the Taxpayer Protection Plan. Thanks to his far reaching influence, no congressional Republican has voted for a major tax increase since 1991. He represents the oligarchy of the super rich. Accordingly, economic conservative Grover Norquist is one of the most powerful non-elected leaders in American political history.

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The Buzz on Possible Republican VP Nominee

When I watched the HBO Movie based on the best seller "Game Change", I gained new respect for the importance of the presidential candidate's running mate, the Vice Presidential choice. I won't go into John McCain's choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, since the movie is available for viewing and the fact that most of us saw the drama unfold first hand in the 2008 Presidential Election. But, reviewing that significant event and its impact on the race makes me look forward to the RepublicanVP selection in the 2012 election.

Here's a list of those most often touted as potentials for the position, although, as in the case of Sarah Palin's selection, unmentioned candidate are always flying just under the political radar.

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Big Bad Joe Arpaio-Sheriff from Hell

Will Joe Arpaio buckle under the pressure of the U. S. Justice Department investigation? Absolutely not! Rather, Joe takes the offensive with the spotlight by revisiting the "Birthier issue".  Along with his cold-case posse, Joe "found probable cause" to believe that the long form birth certificate released by President Obama last April "is a computer-generated forgery". They found the same conclusion about the President's selective-service card from 1980. Surprise, surprise.


Arpaio, Sheriff of Maricopa County, is a staunch advocate of Arizona's tough immigration law which many believed is unconstitutional. Despite the Justice Dept. law suit and civil rights investigation, the G.O.P. presidential candidates sought Joe's endorsement while campaigning in AZ. He endorsed Rick Perry who eventually dropped out of the race.

Staying in the public eye seems to work for Joe.  It's kept him in office since 1992 and allows him to maintain his political clout in Republican circles. It'll be interesting to see how big, bad Joe comes out when the Justice Dept. investigations and law suits are completed.

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President Appoints Cordray to Head CFPB

President Obama in Shaker Heights, Ohio, with Richard Cordray, whom he appointed Wednesday to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Here's the story of the Senate's rejection of the President's nominee before the recess apointment:

The Senate rejected Richard Cordray, President Obama's nominee to head the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). There was little mystery to the vote -- 44 Republicans pledged in May to block his nomination. The final tally was 53-45, with Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine voting "present." Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, facing the bureau's inventor Elizabeth Warren, was the lone dissenting GOP vote.

Republicans don't like the agency, so they've fought to hamper it by refusing to approve any one as its Director. Once again, they've made new rules and confirm they'll do anything to protect the rich and stick it to the middle class.

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Political Games: Same Song - Different Day

The country’s facing serious difficulties. Unemployment is at 9 per cent, the housing market is tanking and Americans have lost confidence in the future. The President is fighting back and his Republican opponents are climbing over one another to grab the brass ring.

The GOP candidates take every opportunity to criticize President Obama, promising to make him a “one term president”. Romney went to Nevada where foreclosures are highest in the nation and promised to let the “normal market process” force owners out of their homes and allow the properties to be rented. The candidates have presented their financial proposals, including Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan and Rick Perry’s “flat tax” plan. The rich will get richer and the middle class and the poor will be adversely affected. Bachman and her fellows vow to repeal “Obamacare”, but offer nothing to replace it to solve healthcare issues.

Voters agree with the President and the Democrats on major issues such as ending the Bush tax cutas for the wealthy and preserving Social Security and Medicare. They agree with Republicans that the government should spend less, but seem to doubt that any of the GOP candidates would trim the budget in an intelligent and compassionate way.
Simply not being Obama is not enough. Calls to make Obama a “one term president” aren’t getting the same big response. Many voters realize that Republican candidates are selling the same old policies-trickle-down economics and tax cuts for the rich. Funny, they don’t even try to change their rhetoric. I wonder if they know voters aren’t buying it.

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