The Republican controlled House and Senate have released the details of their respective budgets for the fiscal year beginning in October 2015. As you might expect both plans offer a long term approach to balancing the budget and cutting the debt and deficit without calling for any increase in tax revenue. Both plans promise to produce a surplus by 2015.
Republicans say their approach is a “sensible and sustainable” approach that empowers states while securing our economic future.
I say that their approach is yet another example of voodoo economics that places the burden of the county’s economic future squarely on the shoulders of the impoverished and the working poor. Simply put…the Republican proposals want to achieve a balanced budget and economic stability by gutting the safety net that is essential for tens of millions of Americans.
Both plans offer virtually the same path to economic stability. The first order of business is to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Verified numbers form both state and federal governments show that 16 million Americans have acquired health care coverage through the ACA. Republicans offer no alternative solution for these people. However, they DO include in their budgets the $2 trillion in tax revenues produced by the ACA…even after the plan is repealed?
The Republican proposals claim to find $4.3 trillion in savings by introducing changes to Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps. However they provide no details. We do know that part of that savings would come from turning the administration of Medicaid and food stamps over to the states in the form of block grants. We also know that between the repeal of the ACA and the cuts to Medicaid, 37 million people would lose their health insurance. Again, no alternative is offered.
As with previous Republican budgetary proposals, the wealthiest Americans are left untouched by their austerity programs. Tax loopholes, subsidies…all the perks that big corporations and the wealthiest Americans have come to expect remain in place.
Remember all the clamoring Speaker Boehner use to do about jobs? “Where are the job?” There’s nothing in these proposals to address the Speaker’s question. Nothing to create jobs. No plans to rebuild our infrastructure. Nothing for education, investment or research.
The Republican approach to fiscal responsibility is always quite simple…gut the safety net and damned the consequences.
Nothing new here.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
GOP Replaces "Obstruction" With "Obstruction"
Remember Mitch McConnell’s post-election promise that the GOP would end partisan gridlock and go about the business of governing? Here is what “governing” looks like under the GOP led congress.
Last September Attorney General Eric Holder announced his resignation. He agreed to stay on until his replacement was confirmed. Four months ago President Obama nominated the highly qualified Loretta Lynch to be the country’s new Attorney General. Ms. Lynch sailed through the confirmation hearings without a peep of objection or controversy. The only thing standing in her way was the formality of a confirmation vote by the Senate. That vote is still pending.
Why?
Because Mitch McConnell refuses to bring her confirmation to the floor for a vote.The Majority Leader has managed to bring several other matters to the floor while Ms. Lynch waits on the sideline, including the confirmation vote of the president’s candidate for Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter. Mr. Carter was nominated for his post BEFORE Ms. Lynch was presented for hers. For some reason Senator McConnell decided to move Mr. Carter to the head of the line.
Why?
When pressed, Senator McConnell said: “We can’t pass the trafficking bill right now. And I wanted to hold the vote on the attorney general but if I can’t get this bill through then I’m going to have to delay the confirmation vote…We need to finish it. It’s on the floor now. Then we have the budget.”
The trafficking bill that McConnell is referring to is the Justice of Victims of Trafficking Act. The bill would increase penalties for sex and child labor smugglers. The bill passed through committee with bi-partisan support. But the Democrats blocked a vote on the bill when they discovered that Republicans had inserted ant-abortion language into the proposal. The language would effectively ban using tax payer money for abortion purposes under the newly formed Domestic Trafficking Fund.
McConnell blames the Democrats for holding up the trafficking bill and subsequently the attorney general confirmation vote. “We have to finish the human trafficking vote first. Then we’ll turn to the attorney general.” McConnell’s assertion that the confirmation vote cannot take place until the trafficking bill is resolved is simply not true. McConnell could have taken up Lynch’s confirmation vote on any number of occasions but he chose not to. He can pull the trafficking bill and return it to committee. He simply chooses not to.
Why?
Because McConnell is once again playing to the base. And there is nothing the GOP base wants more than to block anything this president wants to move forward.
The level of contempt and animosity that the far right has for this president has been well documented. While the president tops the list of left wing liberals that Republicans love to hate…Eric holder is a close second.
Why?
Eric Holder has taken on the mantle of the president’s proxy…willing walk go where the president cannot dare to tread. Holder has been blunt in discussing matters of race where the president must remain politically correct. Holder has openly expressed contempt for Republicans where the president must remain cool and polite. Whenever Holder has found himself testifying before a congressional committee he has made no attempt to hide his contempt for the Republicans questioning his activities. As Dara Lind wrote in “Vox”: “The man responsible for carrying out some of the Obama policies they hate most is also a personal proxy for the president…not just because they’re both black men, but because they are personal friends.”
Eric Holder wants out of Washington but has committed to stay until his replacement id confirmed. What better way to screw Eric Holder and roadblock one more piece of the president’s agenda than to slow walk Loretta Lynch’s confirmation.
Republicans could rid themselves of the one administration official that they despise more than any other save the president. They could rid themselves of the man who in their eyes embodies all that is wrong with the left wing government that is destroying the country. But in the convoluted world Republican Party politics, rather than send him packing they would keep him in office just to screw with his head and toss yet another roadblock in the president’s path.
This is what governing looks like in the GOP led congress.
Last September Attorney General Eric Holder announced his resignation. He agreed to stay on until his replacement was confirmed. Four months ago President Obama nominated the highly qualified Loretta Lynch to be the country’s new Attorney General. Ms. Lynch sailed through the confirmation hearings without a peep of objection or controversy. The only thing standing in her way was the formality of a confirmation vote by the Senate. That vote is still pending.
Why?
Because Mitch McConnell refuses to bring her confirmation to the floor for a vote.The Majority Leader has managed to bring several other matters to the floor while Ms. Lynch waits on the sideline, including the confirmation vote of the president’s candidate for Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter. Mr. Carter was nominated for his post BEFORE Ms. Lynch was presented for hers. For some reason Senator McConnell decided to move Mr. Carter to the head of the line.
Why?
When pressed, Senator McConnell said: “We can’t pass the trafficking bill right now. And I wanted to hold the vote on the attorney general but if I can’t get this bill through then I’m going to have to delay the confirmation vote…We need to finish it. It’s on the floor now. Then we have the budget.”
The trafficking bill that McConnell is referring to is the Justice of Victims of Trafficking Act. The bill would increase penalties for sex and child labor smugglers. The bill passed through committee with bi-partisan support. But the Democrats blocked a vote on the bill when they discovered that Republicans had inserted ant-abortion language into the proposal. The language would effectively ban using tax payer money for abortion purposes under the newly formed Domestic Trafficking Fund.
McConnell blames the Democrats for holding up the trafficking bill and subsequently the attorney general confirmation vote. “We have to finish the human trafficking vote first. Then we’ll turn to the attorney general.” McConnell’s assertion that the confirmation vote cannot take place until the trafficking bill is resolved is simply not true. McConnell could have taken up Lynch’s confirmation vote on any number of occasions but he chose not to. He can pull the trafficking bill and return it to committee. He simply chooses not to.
Why?
Because McConnell is once again playing to the base. And there is nothing the GOP base wants more than to block anything this president wants to move forward.
The level of contempt and animosity that the far right has for this president has been well documented. While the president tops the list of left wing liberals that Republicans love to hate…Eric holder is a close second.
Why?
Eric Holder has taken on the mantle of the president’s proxy…willing walk go where the president cannot dare to tread. Holder has been blunt in discussing matters of race where the president must remain politically correct. Holder has openly expressed contempt for Republicans where the president must remain cool and polite. Whenever Holder has found himself testifying before a congressional committee he has made no attempt to hide his contempt for the Republicans questioning his activities. As Dara Lind wrote in “Vox”: “The man responsible for carrying out some of the Obama policies they hate most is also a personal proxy for the president…not just because they’re both black men, but because they are personal friends.”
Eric Holder wants out of Washington but has committed to stay until his replacement id confirmed. What better way to screw Eric Holder and roadblock one more piece of the president’s agenda than to slow walk Loretta Lynch’s confirmation.
Republicans could rid themselves of the one administration official that they despise more than any other save the president. They could rid themselves of the man who in their eyes embodies all that is wrong with the left wing government that is destroying the country. But in the convoluted world Republican Party politics, rather than send him packing they would keep him in office just to screw with his head and toss yet another roadblock in the president’s path.
This is what governing looks like in the GOP led congress.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Yet Another Battle Over America's Debt?
America has maxed out its credit card once again.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew informed congress on Friday that he will once again have to use “extraordinary measures” to keep the government under the legal debt ceiling after a suspension of the limit expires today.
Translation…beginning on Monday the government will have to rob Peter to pay Paul if congress doesn’t extend the government’s credit card limit. Without an extension the government will default on its obligations. Estimates are that the Treasury Department can play its little shell game until sometime in October; after which the government will shut down dragging the US and world economies down the tubes.
Raising the debt ceiling should be a no brainer. It is simply an authorization by congress to allow the government to borrow the money necessary to pay for the goods and services it has already acquired and consumed. But this is Washington and nothing is ever easy. Partisan politics have a way of making even the simplest of matters difficult. There is already talk of Republicans agreeing to raise the debt limit only if Democrats agree to changes in the Affordable Care Act.
We’ve seen this movie before.
In 2013 Tea Party Republicans refused to allow an increase in the debt ceiling unless Democrats agreed to a number of spending cuts. Democrats refused; repeating the logical argument that raising the debt limit was to secure payment for past expenses not future spending. The deadline past…the government shut down…hundreds of thousands of government workers were furloughed…Standard and Poors downgraded our credit rating…and the GDP took a $26 billion dollar hit. All for a 17 day political stunt.
On March 8, 2015 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation where he repeated a point that he has made several times since his party took control of congress:
“I made it very clear after the November election that we are certainly not going to shut down the government or default on the national debt.”
We’ll see!
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew informed congress on Friday that he will once again have to use “extraordinary measures” to keep the government under the legal debt ceiling after a suspension of the limit expires today.
Translation…beginning on Monday the government will have to rob Peter to pay Paul if congress doesn’t extend the government’s credit card limit. Without an extension the government will default on its obligations. Estimates are that the Treasury Department can play its little shell game until sometime in October; after which the government will shut down dragging the US and world economies down the tubes.
Raising the debt ceiling should be a no brainer. It is simply an authorization by congress to allow the government to borrow the money necessary to pay for the goods and services it has already acquired and consumed. But this is Washington and nothing is ever easy. Partisan politics have a way of making even the simplest of matters difficult. There is already talk of Republicans agreeing to raise the debt limit only if Democrats agree to changes in the Affordable Care Act.
We’ve seen this movie before.
In 2013 Tea Party Republicans refused to allow an increase in the debt ceiling unless Democrats agreed to a number of spending cuts. Democrats refused; repeating the logical argument that raising the debt limit was to secure payment for past expenses not future spending. The deadline past…the government shut down…hundreds of thousands of government workers were furloughed…Standard and Poors downgraded our credit rating…and the GDP took a $26 billion dollar hit. All for a 17 day political stunt.
On March 8, 2015 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation where he repeated a point that he has made several times since his party took control of congress:
“I made it very clear after the November election that we are certainly not going to shut down the government or default on the national debt.”
We’ll see!
Friday, March 13, 2015
"America's Mayor" Weighs In
“America’s Mayor” is at it again.
This past Tuesday the smoldering embers of racial unrest in Ferguson, Missouri burst into flames when two police officers were shot and wounded by an unknown assailant. Tensions were high as law enforcement officers began a massive manhunt to find the shooter. It would not take much to return an already heated situation to the violent conflagration that erupted in the aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson. Yet here was Rudy Giuliani pouring gasoline onto the flames.
“What happened in Ferguson is that a man committed a robbery, attempted to assault a police officer, and the police officer--to save his life--shot him. The police officer did his duty. The officer should be commended for what he did.”
The circumstances surrounding Officer Darren Wilson’s shooting of Michael Brown have been adjudicated. Our justice system acquitted Officer Wilson of any wrong doing. In a subsequent report the system also found a “pattern of racial bias within the Ferguson Police Department, with officers routinely discriminating against blacks by using excessive force, issuing petty citations and making baseless traffic stops.” The report has led to the firing or resignation of several high ranking Ferguson officials including the Chief of Police.
Naturally, Mr. Giuliani disagrees with the report: “It’s an allegation. There’s no proof yet.” No surprise here. Mr. Giuliani has been outspoken in his support of law enforcement; placing the blame for aggressive police tactics on the violence within black communities.
I’ve never been to Ferguson, Missouri. My guess is that neither has Mr. Giuliani. I don’t know what it feels like to live as a black man in this country. My guess is neither does Mr. Giuliani. I don’t know with any specificity what happened the day Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown because I wasn’t there. Neither was Mr. Giuliani.
I am smart enough to know that there are two America’s; and the racial divide between the two is very real. I am also smart enough to know that if you continue to poke a bear with a stick long enough you are liable to get hurt. Apparently Mr. Giuliani is unfamiliar with the concept.
Rudy Giuliani has a long and distinguished career as a prosecutor and mayor of our country’s largest city. His actions in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks have been described by many as heroic. His supporters describe his style as “straight forward” and “edgy.”
The Rudy Giuliani we see today is not THAT Rudy Giuliani. The man who helped unite the country is now a divider. The commentary that may once have been “edgy” is now laced with racism and bigotry. The mayor of our largest city has been replaced by a sad and pitiful politician searching desperately to bask once again in the spotlight.
Rudy Giuliani relishes the moniker of “America’s Mayor.” If he truly wants to live up to that title then perhaps he should work towards healing rather than fomenting the racial unrest that simmers within this country.
“America’s Mayor” must serve ALL the people…not just the privileged few.
This past Tuesday the smoldering embers of racial unrest in Ferguson, Missouri burst into flames when two police officers were shot and wounded by an unknown assailant. Tensions were high as law enforcement officers began a massive manhunt to find the shooter. It would not take much to return an already heated situation to the violent conflagration that erupted in the aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson. Yet here was Rudy Giuliani pouring gasoline onto the flames.
“What happened in Ferguson is that a man committed a robbery, attempted to assault a police officer, and the police officer--to save his life--shot him. The police officer did his duty. The officer should be commended for what he did.”
The circumstances surrounding Officer Darren Wilson’s shooting of Michael Brown have been adjudicated. Our justice system acquitted Officer Wilson of any wrong doing. In a subsequent report the system also found a “pattern of racial bias within the Ferguson Police Department, with officers routinely discriminating against blacks by using excessive force, issuing petty citations and making baseless traffic stops.” The report has led to the firing or resignation of several high ranking Ferguson officials including the Chief of Police.
Naturally, Mr. Giuliani disagrees with the report: “It’s an allegation. There’s no proof yet.” No surprise here. Mr. Giuliani has been outspoken in his support of law enforcement; placing the blame for aggressive police tactics on the violence within black communities.
I’ve never been to Ferguson, Missouri. My guess is that neither has Mr. Giuliani. I don’t know what it feels like to live as a black man in this country. My guess is neither does Mr. Giuliani. I don’t know with any specificity what happened the day Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown because I wasn’t there. Neither was Mr. Giuliani.
I am smart enough to know that there are two America’s; and the racial divide between the two is very real. I am also smart enough to know that if you continue to poke a bear with a stick long enough you are liable to get hurt. Apparently Mr. Giuliani is unfamiliar with the concept.
Rudy Giuliani has a long and distinguished career as a prosecutor and mayor of our country’s largest city. His actions in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks have been described by many as heroic. His supporters describe his style as “straight forward” and “edgy.”
The Rudy Giuliani we see today is not THAT Rudy Giuliani. The man who helped unite the country is now a divider. The commentary that may once have been “edgy” is now laced with racism and bigotry. The mayor of our largest city has been replaced by a sad and pitiful politician searching desperately to bask once again in the spotlight.
Rudy Giuliani relishes the moniker of “America’s Mayor.” If he truly wants to live up to that title then perhaps he should work towards healing rather than fomenting the racial unrest that simmers within this country.
“America’s Mayor” must serve ALL the people…not just the privileged few.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
It Feels Like The 1990's...Let The Conspiracy Theories Begin!
It feels like the 1990’s.
Hillary Clinton unofficially kicked off her 2016 presidential campaign yesterday, fielding seven questions on the subject of her controversial use of a personal email account while serving as Secretary of State. If Secretary Clinton thought that by taking a few questions she could put the media firestorm to rest, she was sadly mistaken. As I expected the brief press conference raised more questions than it answered.
Here is what she told us.
She elected to use only her personal email account to conduct official government business because she felt it would be more “convenient” than maintaining both a government account and a personal account.
All of her emails were stored on a personal server which was located in her home. The server had been set up for President Clinton’s use. There had not been any security breaches of the server. The server would remain private.
At the request of the State Department she and her staff had vetted all of her 62,320 emails and had turned over the work related emails (30,490) to the government. She said that the government had already received most of the work related emails (approx. 27,500) because they were communications with state department officials and therefore already archived on government servers. The remaining 31,830 emails were deemed to be of a personal nature and deleted.
She had gone “above and beyond” that which she was required to do as respects the preservation of her emails.
Vintage Clinton! Here are the facts! Nothing to see here! Let’s move on.
As a government official you are allowed to use your own personal email account for your communications provided you archive them on a secured government server. There is only one reason to store all of your emails on a private server in your own home…and it’s not convenience. It’s because you want sole control over the content and to the parties made privy to that content. Secretary Clinton made herself the sole arbiter of what would and would not be released to the government. That doesn’t speak toward convenience…that speaks to transparency and playing by one’s own set of rules.
The average Joe in Whoville, Kansas probably doesn’t give a dam about the content of Secretary Clinton’s emails. But when he goes to the voting booth he will take into consideration the character of those asking for his vote. This goes to character and a method of doing business. And if you are at this moment the odds on favorite to be the next President of the United States then character and transparency are reasonable topics for discussion.
Watching yesterday’s press briefing I could not help but harken back to the Clinton years of the 90’s…to Whitewater and “Tradegate” and “Travelgate” and Lewinsky. To the days when you were certain that Clinton’s were being less than forthcoming…and you were just as certain that they would get away with it. So as I watched I kept asking myself: “Do we really want to go through this again…do we want to spend the next two to ten years doing this again?”
It feels like the 1990’s. Let the conspiracy theories begin.
Hillary Clinton unofficially kicked off her 2016 presidential campaign yesterday, fielding seven questions on the subject of her controversial use of a personal email account while serving as Secretary of State. If Secretary Clinton thought that by taking a few questions she could put the media firestorm to rest, she was sadly mistaken. As I expected the brief press conference raised more questions than it answered.
Here is what she told us.
She elected to use only her personal email account to conduct official government business because she felt it would be more “convenient” than maintaining both a government account and a personal account.
All of her emails were stored on a personal server which was located in her home. The server had been set up for President Clinton’s use. There had not been any security breaches of the server. The server would remain private.
At the request of the State Department she and her staff had vetted all of her 62,320 emails and had turned over the work related emails (30,490) to the government. She said that the government had already received most of the work related emails (approx. 27,500) because they were communications with state department officials and therefore already archived on government servers. The remaining 31,830 emails were deemed to be of a personal nature and deleted.
She had gone “above and beyond” that which she was required to do as respects the preservation of her emails.
Vintage Clinton! Here are the facts! Nothing to see here! Let’s move on.
As a government official you are allowed to use your own personal email account for your communications provided you archive them on a secured government server. There is only one reason to store all of your emails on a private server in your own home…and it’s not convenience. It’s because you want sole control over the content and to the parties made privy to that content. Secretary Clinton made herself the sole arbiter of what would and would not be released to the government. That doesn’t speak toward convenience…that speaks to transparency and playing by one’s own set of rules.
The average Joe in Whoville, Kansas probably doesn’t give a dam about the content of Secretary Clinton’s emails. But when he goes to the voting booth he will take into consideration the character of those asking for his vote. This goes to character and a method of doing business. And if you are at this moment the odds on favorite to be the next President of the United States then character and transparency are reasonable topics for discussion.
Watching yesterday’s press briefing I could not help but harken back to the Clinton years of the 90’s…to Whitewater and “Tradegate” and “Travelgate” and Lewinsky. To the days when you were certain that Clinton’s were being less than forthcoming…and you were just as certain that they would get away with it. So as I watched I kept asking myself: “Do we really want to go through this again…do we want to spend the next two to ten years doing this again?”
It feels like the 1990’s. Let the conspiracy theories begin.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
GOP Takes Its Clown Show Overseas
Just when you thought the rancor in Washington could not get any worse…
In yet another partisan effort to undermine and embarrass the president, 47 Republican senators, including four presidential candidates, signed an open letter to “The Leaders of the Republic of Iran” which in essence says that any agreement reached with this president may not be worth the paper on which it is written.
The senators begin with what I perceive to be a condescending lesson on our Constitution and the powers of the president to conduct business on behalf of the country:
“…you may not fully understand our constitutional system. Thus we are writing to bring to your attention two features of our Constitution…the power to make binding international agreements and the different character of federal offices…which you should seriously consider as negotiations progress.”
The letter goes on to say that while the president negotiates international agreements it is the Congress that must ratify the agreement to make it binding. “Anything not approved by congress is a mere executive agreement.”
Having schooled the assumedly clueless Iranians on an abbreviated version of Civics 101 the signers take a crack at undermining the staying power of any agreement by delving into the always riveting subject of term limits:
‘Second…the offices of our Constitution have different characteristics. For example, the president may serve only two 4-year terms, whereas senators may serve an unlimited number of 6-year terms. As applied today, for instance, President Obama will leave office in January of 2017, while most of us will remain in office well beyond then - perhaps decades.”
The letter closes by informing the Iranians that without congressional approval any agreement reached with this president has a short term shelf life:
“What these two constitutional provisions mean is that that we will consider any agreement regarding your nuclear-weapons program that is not approved by the Congress as nothing more than an executive agreement between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei. The next president could revoke such executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms at any time.”
Freshman Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK), the author and initiator of this reckless tactic, said that the signers were concerned that the Iranian negotiators may not have been familiar with our system of government and they wanted to make clear that Congress would have to weigh in for any deal to be binding long term. Senator Cotton is being disingenuous. His reasoning strains credulity and is an insult to the intelligence of the American people.
It is really difficult to put into words my reaction to this unprecedented effort to damage a sitting president on the international stage.
Reckless is the first word that comes to mind. Iran is the number one sponsor of terrorism in the world. A nuclear armed Iran would be our worst nightmare. These sensitive negotiations and possible treaty may be the only thing standing between us and a third world war. Not only does this letter jeopardize the president’s ability to come up with a peaceful diplomatic solution it sends a message to our enemies that the president’s word is meaningless.
Not only is this missive reckless it is thoughtless. The letter sends a bad message to our allies. Does America have their back? Can America be trusted to stand behind its agreements?
This letter is shortsighted as well. A dangerous precedent has now been set. Will future congressional leaders feel embolden to circumvent or demean their president on the international stage? Can you imagine the reaction from “Tea Party Patriots” if a Democratic congress were ever to pull such a stunt on a sitting Republican president? I can see them marching down Pennsylvania Avenue…wrapped in their patriotism…waving their flags…shouting “hang the traitors from the highest tree.”
The Republican Party’s hatred of this president knows no bounds. It is divisive, destructive, dangerous, short sighted and to some degree racist. It strains the very democratic tenants and moral fiber on which this country was founded. There is no place for it in our society.
The Republicans have taken their clown show overseas; and we are all the worse for it.
In yet another partisan effort to undermine and embarrass the president, 47 Republican senators, including four presidential candidates, signed an open letter to “The Leaders of the Republic of Iran” which in essence says that any agreement reached with this president may not be worth the paper on which it is written.
The senators begin with what I perceive to be a condescending lesson on our Constitution and the powers of the president to conduct business on behalf of the country:
“…you may not fully understand our constitutional system. Thus we are writing to bring to your attention two features of our Constitution…the power to make binding international agreements and the different character of federal offices…which you should seriously consider as negotiations progress.”
The letter goes on to say that while the president negotiates international agreements it is the Congress that must ratify the agreement to make it binding. “Anything not approved by congress is a mere executive agreement.”
Having schooled the assumedly clueless Iranians on an abbreviated version of Civics 101 the signers take a crack at undermining the staying power of any agreement by delving into the always riveting subject of term limits:
‘Second…the offices of our Constitution have different characteristics. For example, the president may serve only two 4-year terms, whereas senators may serve an unlimited number of 6-year terms. As applied today, for instance, President Obama will leave office in January of 2017, while most of us will remain in office well beyond then - perhaps decades.”
The letter closes by informing the Iranians that without congressional approval any agreement reached with this president has a short term shelf life:
“What these two constitutional provisions mean is that that we will consider any agreement regarding your nuclear-weapons program that is not approved by the Congress as nothing more than an executive agreement between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei. The next president could revoke such executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms at any time.”
Freshman Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK), the author and initiator of this reckless tactic, said that the signers were concerned that the Iranian negotiators may not have been familiar with our system of government and they wanted to make clear that Congress would have to weigh in for any deal to be binding long term. Senator Cotton is being disingenuous. His reasoning strains credulity and is an insult to the intelligence of the American people.
It is really difficult to put into words my reaction to this unprecedented effort to damage a sitting president on the international stage.
Reckless is the first word that comes to mind. Iran is the number one sponsor of terrorism in the world. A nuclear armed Iran would be our worst nightmare. These sensitive negotiations and possible treaty may be the only thing standing between us and a third world war. Not only does this letter jeopardize the president’s ability to come up with a peaceful diplomatic solution it sends a message to our enemies that the president’s word is meaningless.
Not only is this missive reckless it is thoughtless. The letter sends a bad message to our allies. Does America have their back? Can America be trusted to stand behind its agreements?
This letter is shortsighted as well. A dangerous precedent has now been set. Will future congressional leaders feel embolden to circumvent or demean their president on the international stage? Can you imagine the reaction from “Tea Party Patriots” if a Democratic congress were ever to pull such a stunt on a sitting Republican president? I can see them marching down Pennsylvania Avenue…wrapped in their patriotism…waving their flags…shouting “hang the traitors from the highest tree.”
The Republican Party’s hatred of this president knows no bounds. It is divisive, destructive, dangerous, short sighted and to some degree racist. It strains the very democratic tenants and moral fiber on which this country was founded. There is no place for it in our society.
The Republicans have taken their clown show overseas; and we are all the worse for it.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Hillary Hurting Hillary
On Friday we learned that the economy had produced 295,000 new private sector jobs in February. The event marked the 12th straight month of 200,000+ job growth; five straight years of positive numbers. We should be celebrating this remarkable economic recovery and figuring out ways to build on this momentum.
Instead we are talking about Hillary Clinton’s emails.
The stock market has been consistently producing record numbers. Corporations are making record profits. We should be debating how we can help the middle class share in this bounty.
Instead we are debating Hillary Clinton’s emails.
This past weekend thousands of Americans went to Selma, Alabama to remember, mourn and celebrate Bloody Sunday. We should all be taking this time to remember one of the most historic moments in our nation’s history and discussing how we can bridge the racial divide that still exists.
Instead we are discussing Hillary Clinton’s emails.
We should be finding ways to create jobs, debating the plight of the middle class, resolving immigration reform, fixing the ACA, reducing our debt, improving our education system, repairing our bridges and roadways, securing Medicare and Medicaid, and passing a budget to fund the government.
But instead we are transfixed by the hype over Hillary Clinton’s emails. Watch any interview with any government official and one of the first questions you will hear concerns Hillary Clinton’s emails.
If you don’t think this is a big deal check out the White House response to the Hillary frenzy. The White House knows that everything they have worked for over the past six years will be torn apart if a Republican takes over the White House. Hillary Clinton is their best chance to keep that from happening. But when fielding the obligatory questions about the secretary’s actions you find nothing remotely resembling a word of support.
Check out the president’s manner and response when hit with the same subject. He is clearly pissed. The last thing the president wants to be the centerpiece of his last two years in office is a scandal over Hillary’s emails. He has a legacy that the wants to secure. Hillary is not part of it.
My concern is not about Hillary’s emails. My concern is what happens if Hillary becomes president. I mean, is this what a Hillary Clinton presidency looks like? Progress held hostage by scandal? Transparency clouded by secrecy? Obfuscation in congress replaced by conspiracy theories emanating from the White House? Does the country stall in a ditch while Mrs. Clinton battles to fight her demons and repair her self-inflicted wounds?
Consider this… Hillary Clinton becomes Secretary of State. She sets up a private server in her own home for her to use/store her personal and government related emails. She later advises all state department employees that they are to conform to a White House directive requiring ALL administration employees them to establish and use a secured government email account for all government email correspondence. At one point she even fires one of her ambassadors in part for failing to comply with this directive. Once again proving that in Clintonville the rules are but suggestions and secrecy is key.
Key members of the Democratic Party have urged Secretary Clinton to come forward and address the issue. The word from the Clinton camp is that she will finally do so this week. But will anybody believe her? After decades of playing fast and loose with the truth her reputation would seem to be baked in the cake.
It seems to me that the only way that she can change the narrative and put this behind her is to turn her private server over to the government. Let the public see it all…the good and the bad. The photos of the doting grandmother…and the United States Secretary of State using her position to leverage donations from foreign governments for the Clinton Foundation. She will either be vindicated and her reputation going forward enhanced; or she will crash and burn like so many politicians before her that thought they were somehow above the law.
Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic nominee for the presidency. There is no one to challenge her. Recent polls show that if the general election were held today she would trounce any of the possible Republican challengers by a wide margin. The only person that can keep Hillary Clinton form becoming our nation’s first female president…is Hillary Clinton. Over the past several days she has been doing just that.
Maybe that’s a good thing.
Instead we are talking about Hillary Clinton’s emails.
The stock market has been consistently producing record numbers. Corporations are making record profits. We should be debating how we can help the middle class share in this bounty.
Instead we are debating Hillary Clinton’s emails.
This past weekend thousands of Americans went to Selma, Alabama to remember, mourn and celebrate Bloody Sunday. We should all be taking this time to remember one of the most historic moments in our nation’s history and discussing how we can bridge the racial divide that still exists.
Instead we are discussing Hillary Clinton’s emails.
We should be finding ways to create jobs, debating the plight of the middle class, resolving immigration reform, fixing the ACA, reducing our debt, improving our education system, repairing our bridges and roadways, securing Medicare and Medicaid, and passing a budget to fund the government.
But instead we are transfixed by the hype over Hillary Clinton’s emails. Watch any interview with any government official and one of the first questions you will hear concerns Hillary Clinton’s emails.
If you don’t think this is a big deal check out the White House response to the Hillary frenzy. The White House knows that everything they have worked for over the past six years will be torn apart if a Republican takes over the White House. Hillary Clinton is their best chance to keep that from happening. But when fielding the obligatory questions about the secretary’s actions you find nothing remotely resembling a word of support.
Check out the president’s manner and response when hit with the same subject. He is clearly pissed. The last thing the president wants to be the centerpiece of his last two years in office is a scandal over Hillary’s emails. He has a legacy that the wants to secure. Hillary is not part of it.
My concern is not about Hillary’s emails. My concern is what happens if Hillary becomes president. I mean, is this what a Hillary Clinton presidency looks like? Progress held hostage by scandal? Transparency clouded by secrecy? Obfuscation in congress replaced by conspiracy theories emanating from the White House? Does the country stall in a ditch while Mrs. Clinton battles to fight her demons and repair her self-inflicted wounds?
Consider this… Hillary Clinton becomes Secretary of State. She sets up a private server in her own home for her to use/store her personal and government related emails. She later advises all state department employees that they are to conform to a White House directive requiring ALL administration employees them to establish and use a secured government email account for all government email correspondence. At one point she even fires one of her ambassadors in part for failing to comply with this directive. Once again proving that in Clintonville the rules are but suggestions and secrecy is key.
Key members of the Democratic Party have urged Secretary Clinton to come forward and address the issue. The word from the Clinton camp is that she will finally do so this week. But will anybody believe her? After decades of playing fast and loose with the truth her reputation would seem to be baked in the cake.
It seems to me that the only way that she can change the narrative and put this behind her is to turn her private server over to the government. Let the public see it all…the good and the bad. The photos of the doting grandmother…and the United States Secretary of State using her position to leverage donations from foreign governments for the Clinton Foundation. She will either be vindicated and her reputation going forward enhanced; or she will crash and burn like so many politicians before her that thought they were somehow above the law.
Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic nominee for the presidency. There is no one to challenge her. Recent polls show that if the general election were held today she would trounce any of the possible Republican challengers by a wide margin. The only person that can keep Hillary Clinton form becoming our nation’s first female president…is Hillary Clinton. Over the past several days she has been doing just that.
Maybe that’s a good thing.
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