Huntsman May Be the Guy

Republican Presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman says that he will formerly enter the presidential race next week.  His entry into the Republican fray will add further intrigue into what is already a very fluid situation. 

Make no mistake Romney is the frontrunner.  But Romney has his flaws.  His robotic personality and penchant for flip flopping on core issues is a turnoff for many of the party faithful.  But he has been here before and he knows how to play in this arena.

Michelle Bachman plays well among the Tea Party faithful.  Unlike Sarah Palin, Bachman has hired some serious campaign strategists and has listened to their counsel.  The results were evident in her strong performance in Monday’s New Hampshire debates. 

Governor Tim Pawlenty stumbled Monday night by showing an unwillingness to attack his opponents even when handed several opportunities to do so.  He came off as weak and indecisive and was deemed the biggest loser in the debate.  Anointed as Romney’s prime competition he will be out of the race if he fails to win Iowa….a scenario that at this juncture seems likely.

Now enters Jon Huntsman.  Huntsman is a very, very smart guy that has an ease about him that Romney lacks.  Like Romney he is a successful businessman that knows his way around a corporate boardroom.  The Tea Partiers will like that fact that he is a small government conservative who speaks their language without setting his hair on fire.  What sets Huntsman apart is that he has spent the past two years as Obama’s ambassador to America’s most feared economic foe…China.  Huntsman has lived with the Chinese and has an understanding of how they think that is unmatched by the other candidates.  His first hand experience is seen by many as invaluable as the US struggles to compete with the ever growing Chinese economy.  Huntsman is unknown to most of America.  That will change quickly over the next few months.

Republicans are seeking a serious candidate that won’t make them hold their breath in fear every time the candidate opens his/her mouth.  They want a candidate who believes in their core values and can express them in a civil manner.  And they want a candidate who has the intellect and political savvy to adjust to this ever changing political landscape.  Jon Huntsman just may be their guy.    

Romney wins Round One

Mitt Romney was the clear winner last night as the Republican presidential candidates took the stage in New Hampshire for their first Presidential debate.  The former Massachusetts governor appeared relaxed, confident and very Presidential as he fielded a variety of questions from CNN moderator John King.  He was particularly effective in defending his position on “Obamacare” explaining the differences between the President’s health care plan and the plan he legislated in Massachusetts.  Romney had an easy ride as his fellow candidates chose to attack the President and allow the Republican frontrunner to go unchallenged.

Romney’s strong performance stood in sharp contrast to the weak effort offered by his chief rival, Tim Pawlenty.  Pawlenty refused to look at Romney much less challenge him.  King went at Pawlenty several times trying to get him to address his “Obamnecare” comments on Sunday’s Meet the Press.  Time and time again Pawlenty refused to take King’s challenge choosing to avoid the confrontation.

The surprise of the night was Michelle Bachman.  Bachman gave a surprisingly charismatic effort.  Gone were the crazy talk and the wild threats to motivate congress with assault rifles.  Bachman was focused and likeable; and her performance only served to further highlight Pawlenty’s poor performance.

We were disappointed that none of the candidates offered anything new.  The tried and true Republican talking points of lower taxes and less regulation were repeated over and over again.  But while they were more than willing to criticize the President’s record on the economy and unemployment they offered no specifics on how they would create jobs and fix the country’s problems.

We are reminded that this is but the first debate in a very long campaign.  There are seventeen grueling months to go.  Romney was the clear winner last night.  If the other Republican candidates continue to shy away from attacking Romney’s flip flopping record they might just as well hand him the nomination right now.          

A "Stupid" Weekend

There were a number of ridiculous exchanges over the weekend, far too many to detail in their entirety.  Most are notable only for their stupidity.  Here are the highlights:

The Republican leadership took to the Sunday talk shows to rain down on Anthony Weiner’s parade.  It wasn’t enough for the Republicans that the Democratic Leadership was already calling for Weiner to step down; the Republicans had to get in their digs.  Most notable was Republican Chairman Reince Priebus’ pompous appearance on “Meet the Press”.  Apparently Mr. Priebus has forgotten how a long list of his party’s members had to be dragged kicking and screaming from office after being found ethically challenged.  Mr. Priebus’ hypocrisy is typical of Republicans who are always eager to pile on when their Democratic opponents are caught with their pants down; but seem to disappear when one of their own is found in the same compromising position.

Speaking of Weiner…he has to go.  We do not take any joy in taking this position.  Weiner has been one of the strongest proponents of the progressive agenda.  He has been media savvy and just fun to cover.  But he has a serious personal problem.  His refusal to resign and his seeking a temporary leave of absence indicate that he has yet to grasp the seriousness of his problem.  From a political perspective he cannot be effective.  It would be hard for him to be taken seriously by his peers.  One can only imagine the chamber watching Weiner give one of his impassioned pleas while visions of his erect penis dance in their heads.

Tim Pawlenty took a shot at both the President and fellow Republican candidate Mitt Romney.  Criticizing the President’s health care plan and comparing it to the plan then governor Romney implemented in Massachusetts, Pawlenty coined the phrase “Obamnecare”.  That’s it.  That his big policy statement.  That’s all he’s got.  Clever!  Pawlenty will be appearing tonight in the CNN sponsored Republican Presidential Debates…debates nobody will  watch.

Did you catch the media feeding frenzy over the release of former governor Sarah Palin’s emails?  24,000 of Palin’s emails were released in paper form.  The cost to fly these media losers all the way to Alaska so they could read the emails boggles the mind.  And what was the major story mined from these must see documents?  “Emails Reveal a Focused Palin Hard at Work”.  Brilliant!

Newt Gingrich spent the weekend trying to plug up the holes in his sinking campaign.  Newt has vowed to continue on even after watching his executive staff walk out en masse.  It is still hard to believe that a veteran politician like Gingrich could roll out such a disfunctional campaign.  But Newt has been out of the political loop for quite some time.  Since he left Congress to cheat on his wives Newt has been making a living scamming the public.  He must figure one more scam couldn't hurt.  Newt is in it to win it...at least until the next cruise ship sails.

Speaking of vultures...  Newt's political loss was Texas Governor Rick Perry's gain.  Most of the executive staff that bailed on Newt are now working for Governor Perry; raising the prospect that Perry may run for the White House.  It will be interesting to see how the Governor melds a run for the White House with his self-proclaimed desire for Texas to secede from the union.   

Senator Lindsey Graham was at it once again reaffirming that he has never met a war he didn’t like.  When asked about the US response to the violence in Syria and Yemen, where thousands of protestors have been killed by government forces, Graham said: “all options are on the table.”  Apparently Senator Graham believes that our financially strapped economy and woefully thin military can easily step into the fray in Syria and Yemen…and Afghanistan and Iraq and Libya.  Someone needs to put a helmet on his little pin head and put him on the first chopper to Syria.  His comments are stupid…and there is no other way to say it.    

      

97%

Over the past ten years the United States has poured over $19 billion dollars in aid into Afghanistan.  A recent congressional report tells us that this amounts to 97% of that country’s GDP.

97%!

The report further states that by infusing these huge sums of money into humanitarian aid, inflated salaries and expansion projects…none of which can possibly be sustained without our help… we are guaranteeing the economic collapse of the country once we leave.

Lastly, the report points out that our failure to effectively address the greed and corruption in the Afghan government as well as the strong influences of the narcotics trade dictates that a large percentage of our benevolence has been wasted.        

What in the hell are we doing?

Is there a doubt in anyone’s mind what is going to happen once we leave and the $19 billion dollar slush fund dries up?  Violence, anarchy and corruption will escalate as the tribal warlords fight over the remaining 3% of the country’s GDP.   The Taliban’s hold on the country will become even stronger.  Al Qaida’s footprint will become larger; and Iran and Pakistan will have more influence.  The flexing of Pakistani muscle will cause a reflexive reaction from their arch enemy, India.  The possible confrontation between these two hostile nuclear powers will raise the hackles of their neighbors, China and Russia.

And all of this will happen whether we leave now or 10 years from now.

So why are we still there?  Why are we spending hundreds of millions to build roads and bridges in Afghanistan when our own infrastructure is crumbling?  Why are we spending hundreds of millions to build schools in Afghanistan when our own schools are failing?  Why are we building hospitals in Afghanistan when 50 million of our own citizens cannot get affordable health care?

And then to add insult to injury… why are we ordering our troops to serve two and three deployments in Afghanistan only to return home to a nation unable or unwilling to care for their needs.  As we write this 8200 homeless veterans are living in alleys and under bridges in Los Angeles County alone.  Non-profit organizations like Operation Mend are pleading for donations to help put back together the bodies and minds of our wounded veterans.

The President says we have “turned the corner in Afghanistan.”  We are not sure where he is looking.  He says he will announce “a significant withdrawal of our troops in July.”  This is a good thing.  From our prospective the only consideration to be given to the number of troops withdrawn is force protection…ensuing the safety of those troops left behind while the withdrawal is underway.

This should be a lesson learned; a lesson that unfortunately we did not learn in Iraq or Vietnam.  If you are going to invade a country you had best be prepared for the resulting consequences when you leave. We need to leave and we need to leave now.  But be prepared as the repercussions of our departure will not be pretty.             

Wanted: A Few Good Men

USA Today reports that the federal government added $5.3 trillion in new financial obligations in 2010 bringing the total of unpaid for financial promises to a staggering $61.6 trillion dollars.  That amounts to $534,000 of debt per American household. 

USA Today breaks down the country’s unfunded financial obligations as follows:

$24.8 trillion for Medicare

$21.4 Trillion for Social Security

$9.4 trillion for the Federal Debt

$3.6 trillion for Military Retirement Benefits

$2.0 trillion for Employee Retirement Benefits

$0.4 trillion for Other Misc. Payments

These numbers are mind blowing and they are only going to get worse.  With the baby boomers reaching retirement age and trying to collect on those promised benefits these numbers will skyrocket over the next 20 years.

So what are we doing about it?  So far… not much.  The politicians babble on about “the complexity of the problem” and “the difficult decisions that need to be made.”  The truth is the financial problems we face are painfully obvious and the solutions really quite simple.  The difficult part is facing the voters once you have made the hard but necessary decisions. 

Like any other failing business or household, we need to cut our runaway spending AND increase our revenue.  Everyone not running for reelection knows this; and when faced with the alternatives is more than willing to do it.

So what are the obvious solutions?  Here they are in no particular order of importance:

We need to cut military spending.  As hard as it may be to accept, we can no longer afford to be the world’s policeman.  Our military budget is larger than the economies of most other countries.  The world has changed.  Gone are the days of massive armies and armadas.  Wars are fought with Black Ops and drones.  Bin Laden changed our lives with three airplanes and some box cutters.  He was brought down by CIA intelligence and a small group of Navy seals; not a Normandy type invasion.  We can start by pulling out of Afghanistan…now.  We cannot afford to continue to spend $2 billion per week to rebuild their country when our own country is deteriorating.  Yes, Al Qaeda will probably move back in when we leave.  But they are going to return if we leave in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years or tomorrow.  We went in there to disrupt al Qaida and kill the people who attacked us on 911.  Al Qaeda has been driven from Afghanistan and bin Laden is dead.  Declare “Mission Accomplished” and bring the troops home.

We need to increase the retirement age.  When Social Security was started the retirement age was 65 and the life expectancy 62.  Now people are living much longer while the retirement age has remained relatively stagnant.  The baby boomers are now reaching retirement age which will only exacerbate the problem.  The status quo is unsustainable.  Everyone knows that for the program to remain viable in the long term these deficiencies must be addressed now.

Medicare is more of a problem than Social Security.  But pushing Medicare off the federal ledger onto the states is not the answer.  The problem is the cost of health care and the inefficiencies in the delivery system.  Obama’s plan did not go far enough.  We favor a single payer solution.  But if you don’t want to follow every other industrialized country down the single payer path then you have to either reduce benefits or reduce the cost.  It is hard to consider reducing the benefits for our elderly.  So that leaves the cost.  Paying $20 for an aspirin or $835 per night for a semi-private room is ridiculous.  If you are going to leave the system as is then the government needs to step in and regulate the amount of money that can be charged for services rendered.

The debt ceiling needs to be increased.  To consider anything different is disingenuous and reckless.  If you think our economy is heading over the cliff now see what happens if the government has to start borrowing at 3% or 4% instead for the current rate of almost 0%.  The Republicans need to stop the charade and get on with the serious business of fixing the items noted above.

Last but not least, we need to increase revenue.  Yes, we need to amend the tax code.  General Electric and Exxon can no longer be allowed to get by without paying taxes.  Amending the tax code will result in some revenue increase…but not enough.  We need to increase taxes.  If taxing the wealthiest 2% does not generate the necessary funds then all of the Bush tax cuts need to be repealed.  Will increasing taxes hurt the economy?  No!  Clinton raised taxes and the country prospered.  Bush lowered them and the results are plain to see.  Corporations are not investing in America now, even at these low tax rates.  Where are the jobs that will supposedly be lost if taxes are increased?   If businesses won’t generate tax revenue through their own efforts than the government must do it for them.

This is what needs to be done.  If you put a few folks not seeking reelection into a room they will come up with the same solutions.  The problems are obvious…the remedies equally so.  All that is needed is the leadership to make it happen.

     

        

  

It's About The Economy, Stupid...and JOBS, JOBS...JOBS!!!

There is a rumor going around that the President would like to reside in the White House for another four years.  If indeed the President has such aspirations then he had better take a long hard look at last month’s Jobs number and find a way to improve it…now.

In case you missed it the country generated a whopping 54,000 new jobs in the month of May.  That stinks.  The White House tells us not to be concerned.  They tell us that we need to focus on the improving trend in the job numbers rather than the specifics of last month’s paltry figures.  They are whistling past the grave yard.  They are correct that the economy as a whole is improving and the disappointing May job figure is probably a minor soft spot in the trend.  Probably!  Be that as it may the Republicans will be sure to point out that that the President’s policies have failed to return the country to the robust growth of years gone by.  They will point to the May figures as proof of the President’s failures.  The 16 million unemployed folks sitting at home will take notice.

The White House had it all going their way just a few short weeks ago.  Paul Ryan had just offered his Medicare killing budget proposal; a concept that was met with all of the enthusiasm of a trip to the dentist.  The Republicans had yet to find someone to run against Obama that could walk and chew gum at the same time.  The front runner, Mitt Romney, made his candidacy official only to have his thunder stolen by Sarah Palin…who just happened to be in the neighborhood.  Ms. Palin, who generates a crowd wherever she goes, has refused to confirm whether or not she is running.  She was however able to state with great certainty that Paul Revere warned the British that the Americans were coming#*!?  The Republicans were in disarray and the President had just silenced bin Laden once and for all.

And then the jobs number came in. 

Suddenly it appears that if the Republicans can find a candidate who can run two cogent sentences together they have a chance.

The elections in 2012 will be about the economy and jobs, jobs… jobs.  That was the case when Obama took office and it is the same today.

The President needs to propose a jobs bill…and the means to pay for it.  He needs to do it for the sake of the country and for his political future.  Every non-partisan economist has said that the President’s stimulus plan worked.  It just wasn’t big enough nor was it focused on providing jobs.  The President cannot propose another stimulus plan now.  The country cannot afford it and the Republicans won’t support it.  But he can propose a jobs bill focused on improving our disintegrating infrastructure.  The Republicans will spit and sputter but they will have to support it.  Nothing says political suicide like voting no on new jobs for Americans.

The question then becomes: "how do you pay for it."  May we suggest rolling back the Bush tax cuts for the rich?              

Another Example of Limited Government

You have probably read about Florida Governor Rick Scott’s plan to mandate drug testing for adult welfare recipients.  The Governor believes that the money his state pays in welfare assistance goes toward feeding the drug habits of the disadvantaged who need assistance in supporting themselves and their families.  “We shouldn’t be subsidizing people’s addiction” the Governor stated while defending his legislation.  He is right of course.  Hard working families who are already struggling to make ends meet should not see their hard earned tax dollars go toward helping those who would rather put drugs up their noses than food on their tables. 

The problem is that is not what this legislation is all about. 

The state of Florida, like so many other states, is in a financial crisis.  And like so many of his Republican governor counterparts, Governor Scott is trying cure Florida’s financial woes by placing the burden on those that society cares about the least.  Far be it for Governor Scott to consider a tax increase on the wealthy or an estate tax on those lounging in their luxury condos on Miami Beach.  Try to pass that type of legislation and you won’t be living in the governor’s mansion very long.  But cutting costs by squeezing welfare benefits from folks nobody gives a damn about…now there is a winning ticket.

Governor Scott’s tactics in Florida are just another example of the “Big Government” policies being levied by the supposedly “Limited Government “Republican Party.  From taking away the right to bargain collectively in Wisconsin and Ohio to firing duly elected local officials in Michigan to mandating drug tests for welfare recipients in Florida, Republican Governors are weighing in with sweeping reforms that are massive in scope and burdensome to the poor and middle class.

As the campaign season gets underway voters should take heed.  When you hear Republican candidates talk about the evils of big government believe not what they say but watch what they do.