Always Listen To Mitch McConnell

Those of us who spend our lives following politics are always looking for a “tell.” We are always trying to find that one honest piece of information that will tell us which way the political winds are really blowing.  Politicians being the chameleons that they are, make this a difficult task at best.  So it is a really big deal when someone uncovers a way to predict in some fashion ebbs and flows of our political discourse.

Just a few days ago Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein provided us with the key to predicting the path of our politics.  So simplistic was Klein’s approach that we thought we would pass this little nugget on to those of you that follow this blog. 

According to Klein, the most accurate way to predict the direction of our politics is…to listen to what Mitch McConnell says. 

That’s it! 

That’s it?

That is it!

You all know Mitch McConnell…right?  Kind of frumpy…plastered down hair…wears those little Himmler glasses…pasty complexion…jowly.  He serves as the Republican Minority Leader in the Senate.  According to Klein, McConnell has been quite transparent in telling us the direction our politics will trend over the foreseeable future.

For example, in 2010 when voters swept Republicans into control of the Congress, you would have expected the victors to be preaching freedom, liberty, bi-partisanship, co-operation, compromise, working together to get things done for the American people…blah…blah…blah.  Not McConnell.  He said that the Republicans’ “number one priority was to make President Obama a one term president.”  Then he and his fellow Republicans spent the next 18 months blocking every initiative the president put before Congress.

A few months ago McConnell announced that the Senate would not be approving any further presidential appointments until after the election.  Later, he told reporters not to expect any major legislation to be passed until after the election.  Check the records and you will find that McConnell has been true to his word.

As recently as this past weekend he was pressed three times by a FOXNEWS reporter as to what he would say to the 30 million Americans who would be left without health care if McConnell made good on his promise to repeal Obamacare.  Every other Republican, when asked the same question said that they had an alternative plan…but refused to go into specifics.  Not McConnell.  “That (providing coverage for 30 million uninsured) is NOT the issue.  We are not going to turn the greatest health care system in the world into a European socialist system.”  Leave it to McConnell to tell the uncomfortable truth…covering the uninsured is NOT the Republican goal.  Repealing Obamacare is.  Republicans have no alternative plan and have no interest in universal health care.  McConnell was the only one willing to tell the truth.

So if you really want to know what’s going on in American politics…we suggest you take Ezra Klein’s advise when he says:

“I always listen to what Mitch McConnell says.”

            

   

Republicans Keeping Their Eyes On The Goal

The ridiculous partisan food fight over the Supreme Court’s affirmative ruling on “Obamacare” continues to dominate the political landscape.  Yesterday Republican leaders Boehner, Cantor, McConnell and Ryan reiterated their displeasure over the court’s ruling and promised to repeal the law in its entirety.  Each parroted the Republican Party’s latest talking points saying: “We need to repeal this law and start over with a patient centered approach.”  When pressed for the details of their “patient centered approach” they offered nothing.  In fact Republicans appear more concerned about repealing the law than helping Americans acquire the access they need.  Fox News asked McConnell if he were successful in repealing the law what he would say to the 30 million people who cannot afford health insurance.  “That’s not the issue” McConnell said.  “We are not going to turn this into a European socialist health care system.”

We have stated previously that we do not believe that Republicans have any interest in following a path that would lead to health care coverage for all Americans.  Their political history is void of any attempt to fix our health care problems.  Even in the years when they controlled both the White House and the Congress they remained silent.  Today they are obsessed with repealing the law but offer no alternative solution to the problem.  As public servants who are suppose to be working for the good of the people; their behavior is inexcusable.  The Affordable Care Act is law.  It has been affirmed by the Supreme Court.  Congress should be working on ways to implement the law and improve it…not “rip it out at the roots” as Boehner has suggested.

This law will be modified.  And there are thoughtful conservative alternatives out there that deserve consideration.  In today’s New York Times David Brooks cites the details of an alternative outlined in a “National Affairs” essay authored by James C. Capretta and Robert E. Moffit.  While we do not agree with some of their analysis and conclusions, they present aspects that could achieve bi-partisan support.  At least they bring an alternative to the conversation.  And as Brooks points out: “Democracy is a contest between alternatives.”

While Republicans are wasting time fighting over Obamacare they are failing to work on the number one issue in the eyes of most Americans…jobs.  The Wall Street Journal reports that the economic slowdown has finally caught up with American manufacturers.  WSJ is reporting that the US factory sector shrank for the first time since July of 2009 and that exports and new orders dropped at their fastest pace since October of 2001.

But creating jobs for Americans is not goal #1 for Republicans.  “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one term president.” Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell; October 24, 2110.  That is the goal.  Obfuscation, obstruction, filibuster and repeal are the tools.

McConnell has made it clear that they will do whatever it takes to achieve their goal; even if they destroy millions of American families in the process.

                 

   

GOP Not Interested In Affordable Health Care For Everyone

The Supreme Court decision to affirm the constitutionality of the Affordable Health Care Act is clearly a big win for the President.  But the win will come with a political price. The declaration by the court that the despised mandate is a “tax” will only serve to galvanize the President’s opponents.  Speaker Boehner and Majority Whip Cantor have already announced that they will bring a vote to repeal the law onto the House floor as early as next week.  Mitt Romney has made it clear that if elected, repealing the law is one of the one million things he will do on what promises to be the longest first day in office in our history.  

Here is where the Republicans have a problem.  They don’t have an alternative solution.  Time and time again Republican leaders go on talk shows and blast “Obamacare” as socialized medicine and another example of government over reach.  But when pressed for their solution to the rising cost of health care, they respond with a jumble of vague generalizations.  The best they can do is say that they will allow insurance companies to sell across state lines.  This they argue that will increase competition and therefore lower premiums.  The problem here is that insurance companies can already sell across state lines.  All they have to do is agree to follow the laws established by the individual states in which they choose to market their products.  But many state laws are so restrictive that most insurance companies do not feel they can go there and make money. So the insurance companies stay away leaving local citizens with too few choices and no competition to drive down premiums. 

It is true that when asked, a majority of Americans say they do not like “Obamacare.”  But when asked about specifics like” free preventative care, no lifetime limits on coverage, no cancellations for pre-existing conditions, the ability for kids under 26 to stay on their parents’ policy until they can find a job with benefits, the ability to keep your coverage even if you lose your job…an overwhelming majority of people approve.

It is true that most people do not like the idea of a government mandate.  Calling it a tax makes the concept even that much more reviled.  But when you explain that 1% of the population can afford to buy health insurance but chooses not to; preferring to save their money and pass the cost of their emergency room visits onto the rest of us…you get folks’ attention.  And when you explain that the mandate/tax is simply a vehicle to force these freeloaders to pay for their own health care instead of expecting the rest of us to pay it for them…the naysayers suddenly see the light.     

It is also true that a majority of the people do not want the government to re-litigate an issue that has not only been debated for three years but has been affirmed by the highest court in the land.  They rightly feel that Congress should be focusing on other issues…like jobs.

But none of this will deter Republicans from doing their best to repeal the law in its entirety.

One would think that if conservatives wanted to rid themselves of “Obamacare” they would present a clearly defined, detailed solution to the country’s health care needs.  But they won’t. 

They won’t because the truth of the matter is that Republicans really don’t care about making affordable healthcare available to everyone.  To them healthcare is nothing more than a cumbersome millstone hanging around the neck of their bottom line profits; and the Affordable Health Care Act only adds more weight to that millstone.   

The Republican goal is to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act.  They are tilting at windmills.  But if they should somehow succeed…don’t waste your time looking for them to present an alternative.      

           

Republicans Can't Have It Both Ways

This is just too funny!

Multiple sources are reporting that the Romney Campaign has reached out to Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott and asked him to tone down his trumpeting of Florida’s improving economy and job growth...because it clashes with the gloom and doom sky is falling economic message that Romney is trying to sell.  Apparently Romney wants Scott to either shut up or lie about the fact that his state is doing well under Obama’s policies.

Scott is not alone.  Republican governors in key swing states: Ohio, Michigan and Virginia are rushing to the microphones to take credit for the improved economic conditions in their states.  Kasich in Ohio and Snyder in Michigan like to talk about their job growth and improving unemployment numbers.  Neither is willing to admit that most of that job growth came from manufacturing jobs created by Obama’s bailout of the auto industry.  Scott likes to tout Florida’s success but is loath to admit that the stimulus money and the steps Obama took to stop runaway foreclosures were instrumental in righting Florida’s ship.  Only Virginia Governor Bob McDonald has been willing to admit that the stimulus money played an important role in fueling Virginia’s recovery.

You can’t blame these governors for wanting to take credit for the growth and recovery that their constituents are experiencing.  After all they ARE politicians.  The problem they face is that as they blow their own horn they are directly contradicting Romney’s message that everyone is suffering and it’s all Obama’s fault.

Try as they might…Republicans can’t have it both ways.      

"Fast And Furious" Moves To A Whole New Level

The investigation into the botched “Fast and Furious” sting operation moved to a whole new level on Wednesday.  A committee vote along partisan lines to cite the Attorney General for contempt of Congress and the President invoking “executive privilege” to protect his cabinet officer raised the heat on an already smoldering situation.

The committee is investigating the details of a botched federal sting operation run by the ATF.  The plan was to set up the sale of some 2,000 weapons to known drug gang connections…follow the guns across the Mexican border…and arrest not only the gun purchaser but nab the ultimate buyer as well.  Somehow the ATF lost track of the guns and several of them were found at a crime scene where a border patrol agent was shot and killed.     

The Republican led Oversight and Government Reform Committee had advised Attorney General Eric Holder that his failure to provide certain subpoenaed documents by Wednesday would result in his being cited for contempt of Congress.  Holder said that he was legally prohibited from providing the specific documents that the committee had requested but was willing to find other means of getting the committee the information they were seeking.  That was not good enough for the committee.  The President suddenly weighed in saying  that the requested documents were privileged personal conversations within the executive branch and therefore off limits to congressional oversight.  The Presidents invoking executive privilege did not stop the committee from voting Holder in contempt of Congress.  The vote went straight down party lines: 23-17.

As we stated yesterday, this is not about a botched gun walking operation.  This is about committee chairman Darrel Issa and his Republican committee members attempting to embarrass the Attorney General personally and the Obama administration politically.

The Fast and Furious sting operation originated by the ATF under the Bush administration and continued by the ATF under the Obama Administration.  Yet the committee has not found it necessary to subpoena any members of the Bush administration to testify.  ATF officials testified they did not notify their superiors of the sting operation; and specifically that the Attorney General had no knowledge of the operation.  When the border agent was killed and details of Fast and Furious began to surface it was Holder who shut down the operation.  He has provided the committee with over 7,000 documents and appeared before them nine times to testify under oath.  As recently as yesterday he offered to provide unprecedented access to the information the committee is seeking without revealing any privileged, personal conversations of members of the executive branch.

Not good enough for Chairman Issa.

The Republicans have wanted to rid themselves of Holder for quite some time.  He has been a thorn in their on many issues.  He has blocked individual states from suppressing voter rights.  He has challenged states anti-immigration laws.  And he has refused to defend the Defense of Marriage Act.  As a result the attacks by Republicans have come from a wide range of sources.  Republican Senator John Cornyn slipped while calling for Holder’s resignation.  As he commented on the oversight committee’s investigation he curiously included Holder’s “blocking of state attempts to combat voter fraud…you leave me with no alternative but to join others who call upon you to resign from office.” The NRA issued a statement saying that they would be scoring the vote for Holder’s contempt citation; making it clear that they would hold any Republican voting against the citation accountable.  House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who originally told Issa to ease up on the contempt rhetoric, issued a joint statement in  support of the committee’s actions.

So what do voter fraud and the NRA have to do with an ATF sting operation?  The answer is nothing...nothing but politics.

Darrel Issa and the right wing of the party are forcing the committee to take this action.  Naturally the President entering the fray only serves to exacerbate the situation; raising questions about what he may be hiding.  Issa is already asking: “what did the President know and when did he know it.”

Lost in all the political noise is the fact that ATF agent Brian Terry is dead and his grieving family members want answers.

While this is just another sad example of how broken our government is, it is at the same time a good day for the President.  Because every day the press is talking about ATF sting operations and conspiracy theories… they are not talking about the economy. 

                    

        

This & That...

ABC News has reported that popular Republican Senator Marco Rubio is not being vetted by the Romney Campaign as a possible running mate.  Mitt Romney say’s that’s not true.  ABC is sticking by its story.  Given Romney’s less than stellar reputation for speaking the truth…we’ll go with the guys at ABC News. 

The Romney boys have totally blown this opportunity to woo the Hispanic/Latino community.  Rubio is a rising star in the party.  He obviously connects with Hispanics and Latinos.  Common sense dictates that you do your due diligence and you leak to the press that you are vetting him.  You watch him deliver his version of the Dream Act and you enthusiastically support it.  You do these things even if you have no intention of picking him for a running mate because it helps you with the Hispanic/Latino community.  The Romney campaign should have gotten out in front of the whole immigration issue.  But they were too busy pandering to the right.  Their harsh anti-immigrant record gave the President an opening and he took it.  The Romney Campaign blew it…and it will cost them dearly in November.

The House Oversight Committee is expected to vote today on whether to find Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.  This all stems from a food fight between Holder and Republican Committee Chairman, Darrell Issa over Holder’s unwillingness to provide subpoenaed documents regarding “Operation Fast and Furious.”  Operation Fast and Furious was a botched federal sting operation that allowed 1,000 weapons to fall into the hands of drug gangs in Mexico.  Some of the lost weapons were later found at violent crime scenes.  Holder argues that the Justice Department has provided the committee with unprecedented access to documents not even included in the subpoenas and that they are willing to comply if given assurances that this will be the end of the fishing expedition.  Issa has said that holder has failed to provide the required documents and wants him found in contempt.

This is nothing more than a political witch hunt for the express purpose of embarrassing a member of the President’s Cabinet and through him the President himself.  Issa simply wants to politicize this failed sting operation and is using the President’s personal friend, Holder, as a scapegoat.  All you have to do is refer back to Issa’s own statement when he assumed the Oversight Committee Chairmanship in 2010.  He made clear his intentions to use his power to examine every Democratic policy and turn over every Democratic rock when he said:  “I intend to hold seven hearings a week…for forty weeks.”  When asked under what jurisdiction he would hold these hearings he said “We own everything.”  Holder has given Issa everything Issa has demanded.  Yet that isn’t enough to stem the witch hunt.  This is vengeance politics at its worst.

The Muslim Brotherhood is claiming that their candidate, Mohamed Morsi has defeated former Hosni Mubarak ally, Ahmed Shafik, in a presidential runoff election.  The Muslim Brotherhood is known for their intense hatred of Israel and its anti west leanings.  It advocates imposing Islamic law into the government.  Nothing like the US advocating free democratic elections in the largest Muslim country in the Middle East only to have the guy who wins want nothing but US death and destruction.  So at least we’ll stop giving the billions in aid we’ve been handing Mubarak all these years…right.  Nope!  Apparently the US believes that it is still in our best interests to continue providing billionsin aid to the new government…even though six in ten Egyptians believe that it has a negative effect.

Just so we’re clear…we gave $1.5 billion/yr. to Mubarak because he helped to keep a lid on Middle Eastern hostilities and he was helpful in promoting the Israel/Palestinian peace process.  Mubarak is gone and the only thing the new government hates more than us is Israel. So we are going to continue to borrow money from China in order to give billions in aid to a new government that hates us and to a population that says they don’t the money.  Only in America! 

Jamie Dimon was hauled before the House Financial Reforms Committee yesterday.  The purpose was another public flogging of Dimon just so the House, like the Senate several days ago, could say the did.  The results were the same.  Dimon was far better prepared and far smarter than anyone sitting on the committee.  In the end this is all much ado about nothing.  It has been years since the collapse of the financial industry and we have yet to see Congress implement any substantive banking reforms.  Yesterday's kabuki theater brought us no closer to that end.                

                    

Immigration Order Key To Obama Victory

On Friday the President signed an executive clearing a path to citizenship for one million illegal immigrants.  He may have simultaneously cleared a path to his re-election.  Here’s why.

According to the latest NBC News Poll the President leads among Hispanic voters 61%-27%.  Gallup has the President leading 67%-26%.  According to every single pundit and political historian, Romney needs to get his support among Hispanics into the mid-high 30’s if he has any chance of winning the election.  The President’s announcement goes a long way to virtually guaranteeing that won’t happen.

Florida Senator and Republican favorite Marco Rubio planned to announce his version of the Dream Act later this week.  Rubio is well liked in the Hispanic community.  The Romney campaign had intended to support Rubio’s plan as a means of increasing Romney’s support among Hispanics.  Rubio announced yesterday that he will NOT be making any announcements thereby killing Romney’s plans to ride on Rubio’s coattails.  Clearly this knee jerk change in strategy is a direct result the President’s announcement.

The Romney Campaign planned on attacking the President from the left; pointing out that the Obama Administration has deported more illegal immigrants than any other administration in history.  “Obama is no friend to Hispanics” was the planned message.  The President’s executive order effectively mute’s that argument.

Romney’s immigration position during the Republican primaries was simple: “round them up and send them home.”  Now Romney is being asked if he supports the President’s position.  Anyone with any common sense would say:  “Yes, this is a good temporary solution.  But we need a long term immigration plan.”  But if Romney makes that statement he alienates his base.  If he criticizes the President he alienates Hispanics.  As we saw on Sunday’s Face the Nation, Romney has chosen to dodge the question.  The President has boxed him in a corner.

Republican’s have responded to the President’s decision by saying that he is usurping his powers and violating the Constitution.  This reaction opens the door for the Obama Campaign to point out the numerous times that previous Republican administrations exercised their executive powers and sidestepped Congress….the proverbial pot calling the kettle black strategy.

Voters are tired of the gridlock in Washington.  They are tired of being told that nothing is getting done on their behalf.  By taking this action the President shows that in spite of gridlock in Congress he is trying to move the country forward.  That’s leadership…and that’s what voters want to see. 

The President has several paths toward acquiring the 270 electoral votes he needs to win re-election.  One of those is the “Western Path” through Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona…a path populated with a large Hispanic community.  This executive order widens that path to victory. 

The press has spent the past five days focused on the President’s action and Romney’s response.  Any day that the press is NOT talking about the economy is a good day for the President.

Obama Campaign officials say they have a very specific strategy to defeat Mitt Romney.  They have cards they intend to play and know when they intend to play them.     

POLITCO reports: “President Obama’s Campaign wants to turn Mitt Romney into the candidate of old, straight white men.  The Obama Campaign spent weeks playing up the contraceptive fight and pushing legislation to guarantee women equal pay for equal work…Obama got pushed into backing gay marriage more quickly than he wanted; but once he did he milked it for days to make Romney look like a throw back. The drumbeat on more affordable student loans has been constant.  And now the President is trying to drive a wedge between Romney and Hispanic voters with a sustained push to soften US deportation policy…Obama for America has a sophisticated campaign-within-the campaign, Operation Vote, focusing on specific swing and Democratic base groups, including women, African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, youth, seniors, gays and lesbians, along with veterans and military families.  There are separate structures for each of these groups in key states to amp up turnout and persuasion.”  Politico sites voter registration drives at pride festivals, Spanish ads in Colorado, Florida and Nevada and dorm captains focused on registering college students as examples.

The Obama Campaign is following a “micro-strategy’ designed to specifically target key groups.  The Romney Campaign is following a “macro-strategy” focused on one thing…the economy.  “The economy stinks…Obama’s plan didn’t work…vote for me.”

According to Obama Campaign officials, the President’s immigration announcement is just one piece of their planned strategy to defeat Mitt Romney.  We may look back in November and see that it was in fact the pivotal point in the campaign.

So for all the nay-sayers (like us) who feel like the Obama Campaign has lost its “mojo”…stay tuned. Apparently there is much more to come.