The Empire is Back?

A few weeks ago Tea Party Republicans took the country to the precipice of debt default and shut down the government to the costly tune of $24 billion in lost productivity.  At that time we warned that if the Republican Party establishment continued to allow the radicals in their ranks to lead them down this destructive path,  it would mark the end of the GOP’s influence on the national political stage.  It appears that the Party leadership has gotten the message.

In what can only be billed as a very bad night for the Tea Party, moderate Republicans, conservative special interest groups and the voters finally said “enough is enough.”

In the highly publicized New Jersey Governor’s race, incumbent Republican Chris Christie won a decisive 22 point victory over his Democrat challenger Barbara Buono.  Christie is a squishy moderate in the eyes of the Tea Party.  But he has demonstrated that a Republican can win in a very blue state if he is willing to work with Democrats to forge compromise and get things done.  Chris Christie is a big man with an even bigger personality.  He can be abrupt and abrasive when challenged.  People in this liberal state often find themselves at odds with his politics.  But they appreciate the fact that he is willing to work toward finding common ground to get things done for the people.  His much publicized embrace of the president during the Sandy tragedy is a case in point.  His actions drew scorn from the Tea Party but endeared him to New Jersey citizens desperate to put politics aside in order to get the federal assistance they needed.  Christie’s willingness to find common ground even when faced with withering criticism from the Tea Party will hold him in good stead as he runs for president in 2016…a candidacy he all but announced during last night’s victory speech.

In the Virginia governor’s race, Democrat Terry McAuliffe defeated Tea Party Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.  Republicans had bowed to Tea Party pressure by agreeing to select their candidate by means of a state convention vote rather than the traditional open primary where the voters decide.  The Tea Party wanted to make sure that their nominee in this key battle ground state was a “pure conservative” and they understood that state convention attendees tend to be the more ultra conservative of the party faithful.  Cuccinelli was chosen and he did not disappoint; taking his anti- Obama, anti-birth control, pro-life, homophobic small government message across the state.  McAuliffe was a flawed candidate who had never won a political campaign.  His lone claim to fame was his personal relationship with Bill and Hillary Clinton; something which only fanned the furor of the Tea party caucus.  In the end the Republican establishment refused to back Cuccinelli’s radical agenda.  They refused to open the party’s war chest.  Cuccinelli received only 1/3 of the financial support that the party gave to current governor Bob McDonald four years ago.  Republicans lost a governor’s race they could have won had that put forth a more reasonable, more electable candidate.  For the first time in 75 years Virginians elected a candidate to the governors’ mansion that belonged to the same party as the sitting president.

But the race that is most disconcerting for the Tea Party is the Republican primary battle that occurred in the Alabama first district. Former state senator and Republican establishment candidate Bradley Byrne defeated Tea Party Republican candidate Dean Young in a runoff election.  Byrne’s victory was fueled by contributions from the business community, Chamber of Commerce and even the NRA; all joining together to send a clear message to the Tea Party:  “Enough is enough.”  The Alabama 1^st is a very, very red district in the very deep south.  Republicans have held the district for almost 50 years.  Byrne’s victory sends a clear message to the Tea Party…that the Republican Party is interested in winning and governing.  Radical ideologs need not apply.

Smart Republicans are beginning to realize that the road to winning and governing does not run through the Tea Party caucus.  Last nights’ results would indicate that there is a movement afoot on the part of the establishment Republicans to retake control of the Party from the Tea Party radicals.

We’ll see!

                     

No "Profiles in Courage" Here!

Today is Election Day in many local districts.  Perhaps as you scan your ballot you will find a “Profile in Courage,” a candidate or two that will have the political courage to make the tough decisions necessary to get things done.

You certainly won’t find any of those in Washington D.C.  One need only look back on the past twenty four hours to prove the point.

You are all familiar with the much publicized disaster that is the rollout of the Affordable Care Act.  We have now learned that this train wreck goes much deeper than a website that simply doesn’t work.  We have learned that in spite of the president’s assertions to the contrary, millions of people are not able to keep the health care coverage that they currently have.  We have learned that the technology company hired to implement the project had little understanding of the massive scope of the startup and had been recently fired by the Canadian government for performance issues.  And we have learned that no one in the administration charged with overseeing the rollout had any previous business experience or any experience whatsoever in implementing a startup.  In fact the administration dismissed recommendations from outside advisors to bring in an experienced “overseer” choosing instead to assign the task to its more trusted yet woefully inexperienced inner circle.

Yesterday the White House pivoted into full on damage control.  And as we have seen so many times before, the cover up is always worse than the act itself.

There is video proof that on 26 separate occasions over the past three years the president has said: “If you like your current health care plan, you can keep it.”  No “ifs” “ands” or “buts”!  “You can keep it.”  Period!  Now we hear him saying that the law has always stated that the “junk” policies in the “individual market” were grandfathered unless “you or your insurance company changes the plan.” 

While that is true…that’s not what the president said…on 26 separate occasions.  “If you like your current health care plan, you can keep it.”

The president now tells us that if the insurance company cancels your plan you can go the exchange and get a better plan for less money. 

But you can’t…because the website doesn’t work.

The president now tells us that you don’t have to go to the website.  “You can apply by phone, or in the mail, or in person.”   

But you can’t because those applications must pass through the same screening portal that has jammed up the website.

The president needs to stop trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.  He needs to own his administrations’ mistakes and put forth his detailed plan to fix the problems…even if it means taking the political hit and suspending the rollout for six months or a year. 

We have said all along that the ACA is a flawed attempt to provided health care for everyone through the current free market insurance system.  But it is the law and the administration has to make it work. Health care is far too important to all Americans to be subjected to the whims of politics. 

The President needs to find the courage to do his job.

The other example of the “spine free zone” that encompasses all of Washington involves the LGBT community.

Yesterday the senate passed a cloture vote on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, a bill that if passed would make it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of their sexual orientation.  The reason for the bill is that it is legal in twenty states to fire someone on the basis of their sexual orientation. 

The bill is expected to pass the senate with bi-partisan approval.

The bill will then move to the House where it is already finding opposition.  Speaker Boehner’s office has issued a statement that the Speaker is hesitant allow a vote on the bill.  “The Speaker believes that this legislation will increase frivolous litigation and cost American jobs, especially small business jobs.”

Translation…the Speaker does not want the members of his caucus to be forced to go on the record on this issue.  Any Republican that votes “Yea” will incur the wrath of the Tea Party and face a primary challenge come Election Day.  Any Republican that votes “Nay” will get hammered by the LGBT community.  So even though passing the bill is the right thing to do for the country, Boehner will take the coward’s way out and pretend the senate vote didn’t happen.

We would pose this question to the Speaker.  “Mr. Speaker, please explain why we should expect members of the LGBT community to pay the same taxes as straight individuals when they are not given the same rights and protections under our laws?  Why not bring a vote to the floor and allow the people’s representatives to vote their conscience?” 

The Speaker needs to find the courage to do his job.

No “Profiles in Courage” here.       

          

Do Republicans Practice What They Preach?

“And the Lord will say unto them: For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I was naked and you clothed me.  I was sick and you looked after me.   I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

“Then the righteous will reply: Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you?  When did we see you thirsty and give your something to drink?  When did we see you as a stranger and invite you in? When did we see you naked and clothe you?  When did we see you sick and care for you?  When did we visit you in prison?”

“And the Lord will say unto them:  Amen I say to you, whatever you did for the least of my brethren that you did unto me.”      

                                                                                                                              Matthew 25: 35-40

The Republican Party likes to portray itself as the party of “Christian family values.”  Many of its members have been known to proclaim that the constitution itself is based on these very same Christian values.  Setting aside for a moment the factual inaccuracy of the latter not to mention the insensitivity toward patriotic American Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and a host of other religious sects of the former; these self aggrandizing proclamations ring hollow when exposed to the light of current events.

We believe that this quote from Matthew’s gospel forms the very foundation of how we should act, not as a Christian, but as one human being to another; that we should treat others…even the most disenfranchised…as we would like to be treated. 

Since the Republican Party has branded these as “Christian values” and has presented itself as a pillar of these beliefs; let’s take a look at how they put their words into action.

When I was hungry you cut my food stamps.

When I was thirsty you polluted my water.

When I was a stranger you refused my marital rights.

When I was naked you shut down my government services.

When I was sick you refused me access to health care.

When I was in prison you gave me mandatory minimums.

It is one thing to proclaim ones’ “Christian beliefs.”

It far more difficult…and far more important…to practice what one preaches.

  

Cutting Through The Nonsense

Over the past few days we have voiced our frustration over the “glitches” that continue to plague the roll out of the Affordable Care Act.

In hindsight perhaps we focused too much of our attention on the difficulties occurring within the website while failing to point out some of the more positive aspects of the law. 

After all, like FOXNEWS we like to be “Fair and Balanced.”

We decided that one of the things that might be helpful to our readers would be to put to rest some of what we will charitably call “misinformed statements” made by those who would like to see the legislation fail.

One of the most egregious misstatements made about the ACA is that it is killing jobs in America.  The law requires that employers with over 50 employees must provide health care for their full time employees or face a stiff fine.  A full time employee is defined as anyone working 30 hours or more. Republicans are saying that as a result of this mandate millions of employers across the country are being forced to reduce their employees’ hours because they can’t afford to make health care available.  They say that the ACA is turning us into a nation of part-time workers. 

That is simply a lie. The mandate for employers does not go into effect until 2015.  Any employer using that for an excuse to reduce its payroll is being disingenuous.

Part- time employment nationwide has been consistently higher than before the 2008 recession.  But that trend started long before Obamacare was signed into law in 2010.  Part –time employment has consistently decreased over the past three years while full-time employment has increased. 

The latest federal jobs report released Tuesday shows more of the same:  691,000 full-time jobs were added to the economy in September while 594,000 part time jobs were eliminated.  Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest employer announced that it will be moving 35,000 part-time workers to full-time hours shortly.

There are an estimated 150 million people in the job force.  Economists estimate that less than 100,000 will be forced into involuntary part-time employment over the next 12 months.

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the Wall Street Journal, ADP, Moody’s, Business Insider and a host of other business journals echo the same message…”there is no evidence the ACA has had any impact on part-time employment.”

In addition to killing jobs, Republicans have charged that the entire law is a failure and that the ACA is having negative impact on our economy.  They assert that not only is the website a mess but once you manage to get thru you found “limited options and high prices.”

We stipulate that the website is a mess.  But the rest is nonsense.  Pull up any social media site or news outlet other than FOX and you will find glowing testimonials to the quality of the products and competitiveness of the pricing.  One woman in New York said that it took her several attempts over five days to finally get into the website.  But once she got in she found 50 plans to choose from.  She cut her deductible by 50%, eliminated her $2M annual cap and saved $5000 in annual premium.

While the federal site is going through its problems the state run exchanges are doing quite well.  There are 25 states plus the District of Columbia that have agreed to expand Medicaid under the ACA, making coverage available to millions of previously uninsured Americans.  Early reports show over 400,000 accounts created and 319,000 applications submitted.

On Monday the State of Ohio voted to accept $2.5 billion in federal funds to expand Medicaid.  According to the Kaiser Foundation, over 330,000 low income adults who do not currently qualify for Medicaid will now be eligible.  This will improve the economic and health condition of poor residents while cutting the losses for hospitals that are not compensated for the care they provide to the uninsured.

According to an Ohio State University study, the program is expected to inject $1.4 billion into Ohio’s economy of the next nine years.

Ohio’s Republican Governor Kasich is the 8^th Republican governor to accept the Medicaid expansion.  He dismissed criticism from his party saying: “The morality of a human being, who is blessed, helping a human being who has challenges, is just a moral imperative in our lives.  It just is.”

There are provisions in the ACA that we believe are really good for the country.  There are things we would change. It will be 3-5 years before we truly know the impact of the ACA on our economy and our quality of life.

Meanwhile turn down the noise and check it out for yourself.         

 

They're Workin' On it!

As we expected, the president went into damage control mode yesterday over the roll out of the Affordable Care Act.

Rose garden setting…backdrop of smiling satisfied supporters…blah, blah, blah…

Anger expressed over the failed website… assurances that everything possible was being done to rectify the situation as quickly as possible….blah, blah, blah…   

With great confidence he provided a phone number that applicants could use to by-pass the website and apply online:

1-800-318-2596.

He repeated it: 

1-800-318-2596.

Problem:  reporters who called the number said they either received a busy signal or were greeted by automated voice that referred them to the faltering website.

Not good!

Here’s the thing…

We went online at 7:45 eastern this morning.  

We got right into the site…created an account and shopped around.  It took less than 5 minutes.

Then we called the 800 number provided by the president.  We were immediately greeted by an automated voice they gave us several options.  We chose to talk to a representative and were put right through to a real person.  That took less than 2 minutes.

Conclusion:  They’re workin’ on it.    

This & That

I SEE BETTER THAN I HEAR – The president is scheduled to address the nation today from the Rose Garden.    His purpose…to address the trials and tribulations of the health care roll out. 

We are told that he will term the current difficulties experienced by those trying to access the program as “unacceptable.”  Indeed!  We expect that he will give us assurances that everything possible is being done to correct the “glitches” in the system.  We expect that he will enlighten us on all the benefits that millions of Americans are already experiencing as a result of this important piece of legislation.  “Keep calm and carry on” will be his message…no doubt delivered in front of a backdrop of middle class individuals and small business owners; all nodding their heads in agreement with the president’s message.  Stagecraft 101!

Unfortunately the reports that we are hearing do not paint the same rosy picture.  There are reports that the website was never beta tested.  There are reports that over 5,000,000 lines of code need to be re-written; a process that will take months to complete.  There are reports that the contractor in charge of developing the website was fired by the Canadian government before being hired by the US.  There are reports that he patch work repair job being done today will only make a long term fix take even longer and that the project is now 100% over budget.

Are any of these reports true?  We don’t know!  We don’t know because the government isn’t talking.  We find the government’s silence a damning affirmation that all is not going as well as the president would have us believe.

With all due respect Mr. President…enough!   Actions speak louder than words.  Get the thing fixed! 

Or take the political hit and delay the roll out until the program is ready for prime time.

BOUGHT AND PAID FOR – If you follow politics you are no doubt familiar with the term “influence peddling.”  Money is donated with the unspoken understanding that certain votes on certain issues will go a certain way.  Wink, wink…nod, nod!  That’s Washington politics.

But did you know that our elected officials can legally use monies contributed to their so called “Leadership PACs” for personal gain?

In a segment aired last night, “60 Minutes” unveils how lawmakers are funding their lifestyles through the legal use of campaign funds.  That’s right…it’s legal.  Apparently there is a loophole in the campaign finance reform legislation that allows lawmakers to set up “Leadership PACs” and use the monies deposited for their personal gratification.  Meetings at 5 star international resorts, golf outings at the country’s most elite and expensive clubs even hiring family members, qualified or not, to staff positions.  All legal…all paid for out of campaign donations.

Senator David Vitter, best known for engaging the services of a prostitute, has sponsored legislation to close this unseemly loophole.  Surprisingly, he cannot seem to find one co-sponsor among his self righteous colleagues.  Not one!

This report gives us a much better understanding why guys like Ted Cruz are willing to withstand withering criticism over their support of extremely unpopular issues. 

It’s not their ideology that they are clinging to…it’s their lifestyle.                  

A New Chapter Begins

Now that the government is open and its bills are being paid it is only natural to give a deep collective sigh of relief that the worst has passed.  Unfortunately what we have witnessed over the past few weeks is but the latest chapter in a book yet to be completed.

Ted Cruz has vowed that he is undeterred by his latest defeat.  He says that he will continue to do everything in his power to defund Obamacare.  He will have yet another bite of that apple in the very near future.

Members of both parties will begin budget talks in the next couple of weeks.  They have until December 13 to produce a budget compromise that has eluded congress for over five years.  You can be assured that the subject of defunding Obamacare will be at the center of those debates.

Meanwhile the rollout of the Affordable Care Act continues to be an embarrassment to the administration.  Word today is that the program is horrendously over budget.  There are reports that the core of the problems stems from the use of ten year old technology incapable of handling the requirements of the program.  Regardless of the cause, every day that the program fails to operate efficiently only serves to embolden Ted Cruz and his supporters.

We have only but turned the page on this story.  There is much yet to be written.