The way I see it:
If the wacko responsible for the carnage at Ft. Hood used his religion in any way to justify his actions, then he's a terrorist who should be put to death without delay. If he didn't, he's a very sick, very disturbed individual who should be put to death without delay. Every other major news outlet besides Fox appears to be ignoring his ties to and/or sympathies with islamo-fascists. If this guy was Christian and he mentioned his belief that God wanted him to purify the unrighteous, the other news outlets would be leading with that fact and that fact alone. Jeanine Garafolo, Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman would be advocating the abolition of Christianity along with the immediate incarceration of all it's practitioners.
The way I see it:
President Obama, we elected you a year ago now. Quit your bitching about how bad things were when you moved in and start doing something. If I had moved into a house that was falling down around me, I don't think my friends would have much sympathy for me if I was still whining about it a year later. When does your presidency become yours? When does Afghanistan become yours? The economy? The debt? Eventually, even MSNBC is going to start calling you a cry baby if you don't ruck up and take some responsibility. It may take a couple of years but it will happen. I think.
The way I see it:
Those of you who have a problem with capitalism need to find another country to inhabit. I'm tired of hearing from elitists like Michael Moore on down to the average radical complain how capitalism is an exclusive club and only the super rich ever benefit from it. That's bullshit plain and simple. Capitalism is the foundation for a meritocracy, something our founding fathers believed in quite strongly. A simple idea that if you work hard and stretch beyond what you think you're capable of, you will succeed. You may not become Warren Buffet or even Michael Moore but you will reap the rewards of your labor. Greed and evil exists in business but that's not to say that it doesn't exist in every human endeavor. Most Liberals believe that big business should be shut down because a few greedy assholes are out there but see nothing wrong with greedy assholes like Charlie Rangel, corrupt Congressman from NY, under-reporting his net worth to the tune of almost a million dollars. Or Timothy "Turbo-Tax" Geithner for that matter.
The way I see it:
The government should not give one thin dime to any newspaper, TV broadcasting company or any media communications entity that can't manage to stay in business. That's not a free press no matter what you might believe. That money will have strings both visible and invisible that will crush the first amendment. If the NY Times can't manage to make a profit, then they go out of business. Period. The free market is the great equalizer even in the hallowed, albeit biased, halls of "journalism". If the NY Times had a product that was so compelling, so necessary, they would, by default, be making money. It's ok for the Internet to demolish the idea of books and libraries but let's save the NY Times? Nope, not one thin dime. Bye-bye Newspaper Of Record.
The way I see it:
Any politician that votes consistently against the mandate of the people who elected him or her, should be removed sooner than the customary 2, 4 or 6 years. There should be a quicker mechanism for the people to remove those politicians who forget why they're in DC in the first place. A representative republic is only as good as it's representatives and if they're not willing to take action against a fellow member then it should be left to the people. Radical, I know but I think it might send a message to all our politicians that if you don't do what we elected you to do, you will no longer have power over the people. Coupled with stricter rules on who gets a congressional pension, it would also serve to keep them at least working on our behalf. A one term Congressman or Senator doesn't deserve a pension that we pay for until they die. I'd have to spend 20-30 years working for my current employer to earn a pension but any jackleg who can manage to be elected once, do a terrible job and then be voted out STILL walks away with a paycheck for the rest of his or her life.
WRONG! I think it should take at least 5 consecutive terms for congressman and at least 3 for Senators to earn any sort of continuing compensation. That shows at least a minimum commitment to serve the people's will. They're called public servants, not public sponges.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Cramming for the Midterm
Those of you with a fondness for all things politic already know the inevitable truth about midterm elections. They're less a referendum on the newly elected President and more about wanting change in the Congress. Historically, every President in the last century has lost seats and more often than not, control of the Congress. In fact, only two Presidents in the last 100 years have gained or maintained seats during a midterm election, George W. Bush in 2002 and FDR in 1934. Most notable in recent years was the Republican landslide in '94 that swept Newt Gingrich and company to power with their "Contract For America" during Clinton's first term.
The pundits and the parties are already positioning themselves to look good or shunt blame as the case may be. Three of the races this year have already garnered national attention for their supposed importance to the White House. The gubernatorial races in NJ and VA and the NY 23 Congressional district were perhaps the most closely watched of all the races slated for November with the White House downplaying the significance of all three as to their relation to Obama.
The NY 23 race was more about the fracturing of the Republican party, with Scozzafava, the Republican, bowing out of the race last weekend "for the good of the party" and then a scant 48 hours later throwing her support to the Democrat, Bill Owens because "he best mirrors my own ideology.", she later claimed. This proves my point from a previous post that she is, at heart, a Liberal in a conservative district. This race says very little about Obama but quite a lot about the RNC machine's new penchant for appearing "mainstream" to woo the Independent voters. Much to the chagrin of the RNC, Independents seemed to like Doug Hoffman's message of fiscal conservatism so much so that they left Scozzafava in a distant third place once Hoffman entered the race.
The same is true for McDonnel in VA and Christie in NJ. Both ran as rock-ribbed, Reagan conservatives espousing lower taxes, more job creation and fiscal sanity where our national debt is concerned. One thing that must be said is that VA and NJ were solidly won by Obama in 2008, VA by 6 points and NJ by a whopping 15 points. Looking at it that way denotes a swing of 24 points in VA and 19 points in NJ. Most pundits agree that the big change is due in large part to the independent or unaffiliated voters who broke heavily for Obama in '08 and appeared to have changed their minds in short order, with the President in office for less than a year.
Historically, VA has always gone for the opposition party in the off year election but the right seems intent on assigning "Obama-fatigue" as the cause. Whether or not that's true remains to be seen. It looks more like the status quo on it's face but I think something must be said for Obama's inability to hold the state in his column. It would appear that the independents found enough wrong that they left him high and dry.
Not so easy to dismiss is the NJ race that left John Corzine out in the cold among voters who cited jobs, the economy and property taxes as their hot button issues this election year. Playing against the financial ruin the state appears to be in, Chris Christie swept into the state house with relative ease in a state that is notoriously blue at it's core. I guess when your taxes go up high enough, you become conservative after all. Either that or Corzine should have left out the fat jokes at Christie's expense.
Despite the spin the White House may put on this one, it hurts. Obama spent time and political capital on this race and to see it slip away does say something about his ability to keep the party faithful...faithful. Independent voters left him in droves and there were more than a few Democrat voters that jumped ship if exit polls are to be believed. Christie garnered 60% of the Independent vote and a staggering 8% of the Democrat vote, a number unheard of in recent times.
In a year when Obama has had little success in getting his agenda passed legislatively, a war in Afghanistan that seems to be slipping into chaos and an economy that shows few signs of improvement, losing NJ is yet another slap in the face to the boy king. It serves to highlight his personal approval numbers versus his agenda approval numbers.
People like him personally by a wide margin but his political agenda is leaving many independent voters cold. They voted for a centrist and got a wildly leftist ideologue instead. Call it sticker shock or buyers remorse but whatever the case, it does not bode well for the 2010 elections. It must be said that leading the country into a massive deficit expends political capital as well with the races in VA and NJ as hard, cold evidence of this truth.
Every red state Democrat must be doing some soul searching right now. In 2010, they'll have to choose between the President's agenda and their own political survival. Knowing his failure to enact health care reform with both houses of Congress in his pocket and allowing for the wild swing of independent voters, leaves them with a choice that few will make easily.
It's a foregone conclusion that Obama will lose seats in the midterm. Historical fact dictates this quite well. The real question is, will the results in VA and NJ sway the red state Democrats to distance themselves from his radical agenda to keep their jobs or will they fall on the sword to advance his legacy?
Only time, and independent voters can tell.
The pundits and the parties are already positioning themselves to look good or shunt blame as the case may be. Three of the races this year have already garnered national attention for their supposed importance to the White House. The gubernatorial races in NJ and VA and the NY 23 Congressional district were perhaps the most closely watched of all the races slated for November with the White House downplaying the significance of all three as to their relation to Obama.
The NY 23 race was more about the fracturing of the Republican party, with Scozzafava, the Republican, bowing out of the race last weekend "for the good of the party" and then a scant 48 hours later throwing her support to the Democrat, Bill Owens because "he best mirrors my own ideology.", she later claimed. This proves my point from a previous post that she is, at heart, a Liberal in a conservative district. This race says very little about Obama but quite a lot about the RNC machine's new penchant for appearing "mainstream" to woo the Independent voters. Much to the chagrin of the RNC, Independents seemed to like Doug Hoffman's message of fiscal conservatism so much so that they left Scozzafava in a distant third place once Hoffman entered the race.
The same is true for McDonnel in VA and Christie in NJ. Both ran as rock-ribbed, Reagan conservatives espousing lower taxes, more job creation and fiscal sanity where our national debt is concerned. One thing that must be said is that VA and NJ were solidly won by Obama in 2008, VA by 6 points and NJ by a whopping 15 points. Looking at it that way denotes a swing of 24 points in VA and 19 points in NJ. Most pundits agree that the big change is due in large part to the independent or unaffiliated voters who broke heavily for Obama in '08 and appeared to have changed their minds in short order, with the President in office for less than a year.
Historically, VA has always gone for the opposition party in the off year election but the right seems intent on assigning "Obama-fatigue" as the cause. Whether or not that's true remains to be seen. It looks more like the status quo on it's face but I think something must be said for Obama's inability to hold the state in his column. It would appear that the independents found enough wrong that they left him high and dry.
Not so easy to dismiss is the NJ race that left John Corzine out in the cold among voters who cited jobs, the economy and property taxes as their hot button issues this election year. Playing against the financial ruin the state appears to be in, Chris Christie swept into the state house with relative ease in a state that is notoriously blue at it's core. I guess when your taxes go up high enough, you become conservative after all. Either that or Corzine should have left out the fat jokes at Christie's expense.
Despite the spin the White House may put on this one, it hurts. Obama spent time and political capital on this race and to see it slip away does say something about his ability to keep the party faithful...faithful. Independent voters left him in droves and there were more than a few Democrat voters that jumped ship if exit polls are to be believed. Christie garnered 60% of the Independent vote and a staggering 8% of the Democrat vote, a number unheard of in recent times.
In a year when Obama has had little success in getting his agenda passed legislatively, a war in Afghanistan that seems to be slipping into chaos and an economy that shows few signs of improvement, losing NJ is yet another slap in the face to the boy king. It serves to highlight his personal approval numbers versus his agenda approval numbers.
People like him personally by a wide margin but his political agenda is leaving many independent voters cold. They voted for a centrist and got a wildly leftist ideologue instead. Call it sticker shock or buyers remorse but whatever the case, it does not bode well for the 2010 elections. It must be said that leading the country into a massive deficit expends political capital as well with the races in VA and NJ as hard, cold evidence of this truth.
Every red state Democrat must be doing some soul searching right now. In 2010, they'll have to choose between the President's agenda and their own political survival. Knowing his failure to enact health care reform with both houses of Congress in his pocket and allowing for the wild swing of independent voters, leaves them with a choice that few will make easily.
It's a foregone conclusion that Obama will lose seats in the midterm. Historical fact dictates this quite well. The real question is, will the results in VA and NJ sway the red state Democrats to distance themselves from his radical agenda to keep their jobs or will they fall on the sword to advance his legacy?
Only time, and independent voters can tell.
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