Do Nothing Congress Takes A Break

Yesterday two commercial airliners passed within 800 feet of each other endangering the lives of several hundred people.  This “error” was caused in part by the fact that the radar technology we use to monitor these planes is the same technology we used in WWII.

If you travel across our nation you will come across tens of thousands of crumbling roadways, bridges and damns that were constructed in the 1950’s and 60’s.  They do not meet current safety standards and have not been attended to in decades.

The biggest single threat to our national security lies in our susceptibility to cyber attack.  While we have provided our military with the most advanced weaponry known to man we have all but ignored this gaping hole in our defense.

A large portion of our country’s heartland has been declared an agricultural disaster area.  Our farmers and ranchers are suffering from a year of drought and frost.  They are in desperate need of a comprehensive emergency farm bill to help them through this crisis.

The Bush Tax Cuts are due to expire at the end of this year.  As are the payroll tax cuts.  The debt ceiling needs to be raised to keep the country from defaulting on its obligations.  And $109 billion in sequestration budget cuts are scheduled for January 2nd unless a compromise can be found.    

These are just some of the issues left unresolved as the most inept and ineffective congress in the nation’s history leaves for summer recess. 

You might wonder why they are going on recess when so many important issues require their attention.  They are returning to their districts to do what they do best…campaign for re-election.  They are returning to their districts to explain to you why, in spite of their ineptitude and ineffective leadership, you should return them to Washington so they might “continue doing the people’s business.”

Republican Representative Tom Cole explained the unresolved issues to the New York Times this way:  “We are not going to be able to make a lot of decisions until the American people decide who the decision makers are going to be.”

Didn’t the American people decide that in 2010?

The legislative process in this country has been reduced to eighteen months of partisan gridlock followed by six months of re-election campaigns...interspersed with tax payer junkets and fund raising galas.  This farce will continue until we interject term limits into the equation.        

   

        

Occupy Chick Fil-A

Just when you thought that the political discord in this country could not get any more ridiculous a chicken franchise rears its ugly head.

Yes, you heard right, a chicken franchise!  Amidst all of the enormous problems that we have in this country a chicken franchise has grabbed center stage in our political debate.

You have probably heard the story by now. 

Chick Fil-A is national fast food chain whose owners hold a wildly publicized commitment to their Christian beliefs.  Their stores remain closed on Sunday’s to celebrate the Christian Sabbath.  Their mission statement reads in part:  “To glorify God by being a faithful steward to all that is entrusted to us.”

The Chick Fil-A firestorm was ignited by an interview published in the Baptist Press. In the interview Chick Fil-A Chief Operating Officer Dan Cathy expressed the company’s support for the traditional family unit as opposed to gay marriage.  The Baptist Press portrayed Cathy’s comments as “anti-gay.”  CNN, which picked up the story, did the same.  Pro gay protesters began to congregate at various Chick Fil-A stores encouraging the public to boycott. They were met in kind by an anti-gay crowd.   It wasn’t long before lines were drawn in the sand and host of elected officials were weighing in on both sides…including the mayors of Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and New York.  Boston Mayor Thomas Menino sent a letter to Cathy which read: “There is no place for discrimination on Boston’s Freedom Trail and no place for your company alongside it.” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel allegedly suggested Chick Fil-A should take its business elsewhere because the company does not share “Chicago’s values.” 

When we left the carnage, local officials were threatening to impede the company’s expansion through zoning restrictions and withholding permits.

This is truly a “Jump the shark” moment.

First of all Mr. Cathy has the right to express his religious beliefs.  He has the right to run his company in accordance with those beliefs as long as the company does not discriminate against gays in terms of in terms of whom they hire or who they serve.  People have a right to disagree with Mr. Cathy and peacefully boycott his stores if they so choose.  And government needs to make certain that the rights of both sides are protected. 

But when we allow government to use religious and political beliefs to decide who can and cannot do business within a community; we have crossed the Rubicon.                     

GOP Tactics Killing Romney In Key Swing States

Ohio Republican Congressman Steven Latourette announced that he would not seek a tenth congressional term. A close friend of House Speaker Boehner, Latourette cited the political gridlock in Washington as cause for his decision.  Latourette had already won his primary and was running unopposed in the general.

Congressman Latourette is just another in a long line of Republicans who have become disillusioned by the choke hold the conservative base has on the Republican Party.  He joins a list of moderate House members who have resigned in frustration over Washington’s inability to get anything done; each in their own way blaming Republican intransigence as the root cause of gridlock. 

The partisan stubbornness is not limited to the Republican controlled House.  Republican Senator Olympia Snow of Maine has tendered her resignation citing partisan gridlock.  Her frustration over Republican's use of the filabuster to block legislation is well documented.  Several Republican Senators have said off the record they would gladly vote for a piece of legislation “that gave me 60% of what I wanted” but they are prohibited from compromising by their base. 

So what happens if members defy the Tea Party led base?  In Texas, an incumbent Republican congressman was lampooned in REPUBLICAN sponsored television ads for being a “moderate.”  Latourette claimed he was being ostracized by party members and blocked from important committee assignments.

The Republican Party currently holds a miserable favorability rating of 36%; and recent polls show that that the electorate’s disapproval of Republican intransigence has spilled over onto their presidential candidate.  Quinnipiac, CBS NEWS and the New York Times just released polls of likely voters in the swing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida.  All show the President with a healthy lead:

PA:  Obama 53% Romney 42%  

OH: Obama 50% Romney 40%

FL:  Obama 51% Romney 45%

Given the sputtering economy and high unemployment you would expect the President to be barely treading water.  Yet he is polling strong in these key states.

There is no question that many of Romney’s difficulties are self inflicted.  He is a poor political athlete.  He is stiff and disconnected from 99% of the electorate.  But he is also the presumptive leader of a party with a 36% approval rating.  And these polls show that the negative feelings the electorate has toward the Republican Party are spilling over onto the candidate.

Mitt Romney needs all the help he can get.  But the Republican Party is just dragging him down.         

      

This & That!

ROMNEY - Tired of insulting the preparedness of the London Olympic Organizing Committee; the Mitt Romney “International Insult Tour” headed for the Holy Land.  While his campaign advisors were telling the Israel press that the candidate would back whatever actions Israel might take against Iran; Romney was insulting the Palestinians.  Romney addressed the stark economic differences between a modernized Israel and the much poorer Palestinians noting that “culture makes all the difference.”  He managed to botch the GDP numbers on both sides and ignore the fact that the World Bank and the International Monetary fund have repeatedly attributed Palestine’s poor economy to the stifling effect of Israel’s occupation and restriction on Palestinian trade.

As you might expect, Palestinian leaders were outraged.  “The statement reflects a clear racist spirit” said Palestinian Labor Minister Ahmed Majdalani.

Romney is in over his head.  He thinks a Cliff Notes briefing on the Middle East is all that is needed to become an authority on this most complicated of regions.  His performance once again proves that he is not ready for international prime time.

And so the gaffs continue.  Rahm Emanuel said it best:  “I don’t know how he’ll handle the head of state job.  He’s made a mess of being a tourist.”

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE – Lost in all the press coverage of the Queen parachuting into the Olympic Stadium was the prominent part National Health Service played in the Opening Ceremonies.  The British version of national health care is beloved by the British people…so much so that when asked what they thought were Great Britain’s two main contributions to the global community their emphatic response was children’s literature and National Health Service.  So overwhelming was the response that Opening Ceremony organizers felt it appropriate to include both prominently in their depiction of British history. How ironic it is to watch Great Britain, our closest and most trusted ally, celebrate national health insurance while we demonize the concept as socialism.          

        

 

                

Callin' In The Big Dawg

If you had any doubts about how close this presidential race really is…the Obama Campaign just acknowledged that it will go down to the wire.

We now know that the Obama Campaign has asked Bill Clinton to give a major prime time address at the Democratic Convention.  Sources are saying that it will be Clinton who formerly places the President’s name in nomination for a second term.  That ain’t nothin’ given the uneasy truce between these two political heavyweights

It wasn’t all that long ago that the rift between Clinton and the White House was Grand Canyon like in size and scope.  Then candidate Obama was more than a little rough on Hillary Clinton during the primaries; putting out a host of scathing ads and press releases.  We can still hear Hillary chastising Obama:  “Shame on you, Barak Obama.”

The former president was incensed. You might even recall some racial comments flying back and forth between Bill and Barak during the South Carolina primary.   And even though Obama asked Hillary to serve as his chief diplomat, it was months before he reached out to Bill; a point that irked the former president.  Clinton’s personality is enormous at times overshadowing even the president.  And Clinton’s tendency to go “off message” has caused White House staffers to pop a few Tums.

But the former president is wildly popular among Democrats and swing voters.  He has the ability to engage black, Hispanic and college students; all of whom are essential to the president’s re-election prospects.  Expecting little reprieve from the unemployment and economic growth numbers the Obama Campaign has decided to pull out all the stops.

So Bill Clinton will be handed the spotlight…and the White House will break out the Pepto.     

     

Romney In Lockstep With "W" On Fixing The Economy

You have no doubt heard about the flap over comments Mitt Romney made about the London Olympics during a recent NBC NEWS interview with Brian Williams. If you are unaware of Romney’s international incident scroll down to the blog posting immediately following this one.

The Brits are certainly justified in their anger over Romney’s comments.  But Romney made some other statements in this interview that should deeply concern Americans.

Williams asked Romney to explain to Americans how his economic policies differed from those of George W. Bush.  Romney responded by listing the five major components of his economic agenda:

 “One,take advantage of our economic resources, particularly natural gas, but also coal, oil and renewables…Number two, trade, I want to dramatically increase trade and particularly with Latin America…Number three, take action to get America on track to have a balanced budget…Number four, we’ve got to show better training and education opportunities for our current workers and for coming workers…And then finally what I call restoring our economic freedom.  That means keeping our taxes as low as possible, have regulations modern and up to date, get health care costs down.  These things will restore our economic freedom.  So my policies are very different than anything you have seen in the past.”

Not really!

In fact these are the same failed policies that George W. Bush implemented during his two terms as President; the same policies that drove us into the greatest recession since the 1930’s.

Want proof!  Take a look at the country’s economic growth over the last four decades.  The country’s worst period of economic growth occurred during Bush 43’s administration BEFORE the melt down in 2008.  Now Romney wants to resurrect those same failed policies.  This makes sense given that his economic team is composed of the same gaggle that advised “W.”

You may hate Obama’s Affordable Care Act, despise his bailouts of the auto and financial industries and see his stimulus program and Jobs Act as the second coming of Lenin; but at least this President is trying to correct today’s economic problems with a view toward the future rather than a return to a failed past.

The President understands that the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result.  Mr. Romney has yet to learn that lesson.     

         

The "Romneybot" At His Best

We were concerned that this might happen.  Just the other day we wrote warning him to be careful…that we didn’t need any more of his gaffs.

We thought he might stumble in Israel; lobby for more Palestinian control over Jerusalem.  We worried that he might go to Poland and marginalize the importance of worker’s “Solidarity.”

Never in our wildest dreams did we think that Mitt Romney would cause an international incident by pissing off the Brits.

Mitt Romney embarked on an overseas tour specifically designed to makes him appear more “presidential” on the international stage.  But barely 24 hours into the trip had he managed to call into question the competence of England’s Olympic Organizing Committee, reveal a secret meeting with the head of off limits MI6, forget the name of the leader of the Labour Party and brush off his own wife’s participation in the Olympic Games.

It all started off innocently enough with a scheduled interview with NBC’s Brien Williams.  At one point during the interview Williams calling on Romney’s experience as head of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games, asked the candidate for his impressions of the London Games…a big fat softball question if there ever was.  Most politicians would have responded something like this: “The venues look great!  The British people have been wonderful.  They have welcomed us with open arms.  Everything is FANTASTIC!  I’m sure the British people will put on a wonderful Olympics.”  Easy!

Not for the presumptive Republican nominee.  Romney fielded the question like a Saint Bernard chasing a beach ball.  Instead of complimenting his hosts he got all up in the weeds about their difficulties.  He said it was too early to tell if the games would be successful.  He brought up the lack of security personnel and the immigration and customs problems that had made the news and embarrassed the Brits. But, he condescendingly noted, once the focus switches to the athletes these difficulties will be forgotten.

The Brits were incensed.  The tabloids had a field day; lampooning Romney’s rudeness with banner headlines. London Mayor Boris Johnson used Romney as a punch line as he addressed thousands at a rally in Hyde Park. Prime Minister Cameron even fired a shot.  He said the London organizing committee was preparing to stage an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, biggest most bustling cities in the world; a task far more difficult than the one faced by Romney’s Salt Lake City  Committee who were staging their  games “in the middle of nowhere.”

Romney tried to walk back his comments during a series of public “pressers” staged throughout the day.  But he only kept digging the hole even deeper. 

Romney met with British Labour Leader Ed Miliband…and then stumbled trying to remember his name eventually referring to Miliband as “the Leader.”

Later, while thanking those who were gracious enough to meet with him, Romney let slip that he had secretly met with the leader of MI6…the British equivalent of the CIA.  The problem here is that the MI6 is never discussed openly in Britain.  The Brits didn’t even acknowledge that MI6 existed until the mid-1990s.  But here was Romney thanking them for their time.   

Then there was the strange way he handled an inquiry about his wife Ann’s participation in the Olympics. 

Ann owns a horse that is competing in the dressage competition.  Romney was very quick to point out that this was all Ann’s deal.  He didn’t know anything about the competition…didn’t know the name of the trainer…didn’t know when her horse would be competing…and had no plans to watch the competition.  Instead of expressing pride and happiness for his wife he seemed eager to distance himself from a sport frequently associated with the very rich.

The pro-Romney camp trotted out Romney surrogates to tamp down the damage.  Governors Jindal of Louisiana and McDonald of Virginia, both on Romney’s VP short list, said that all the kerfuffle was much ado about nothing.  “The American people don’t care about this…they don’t care what the Brits think.” 

But a host of Republicans disagreed shaking their heads over the candidate’s missteps. Even noted conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer said that he had “run out of adjectives” to describe how badly Romney had performed.

In spite of his supporters protestations to the contrary; this trip is an important for Romney.  It is an opportunity to give the world a glimpse into what a Romney presidency might look like.  Thus far he has demonstrated his inherent ability to be rude, forgetful and dismissive of his wife’s accomplishments.

Mitt Romney may be a wiz at crunching numbers and making money.  But he has shown once again how disconnected he can be as a human being. 

This was the easy part…now on to Israel and Poland.

Get your popcorn ready; it’s gonna’ be a show.