This past week's republican primaries across the nation dealt a very serious blow to the Republican party as the rank-and-file voted for tea party candidates in New York's gubernatorial race and Delaware's US senate seat once held by vice president Joseph Biden.
Clearly, Americans see the need for political change as they've grown tired of the same aged politicians who've been in Washington for decades providing the same old gibberish. Americans are yearning for freshness. For something bold and out of the ordinary (which they thought, mistakenly, they'd get from President Obama). And, they are out for blood, too.
In several letters to friends, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "God forbid we should ever be twenty years without a such a rebellion." Well, Jefferson would be proud to see Americans standing up in defense of their nation and their liberty from corrupt politicians who think their cherished seats in the House and in the Senate belongs to them and not the people.
The 1994 Contract with America brought about changes in Congress under former Speaker Newt Gingrinch such as welfare reform and a balanced budget. But, that revolution was short-lived after Gingrinch resigned in 1999.
Fed up with the increasing cycle of spending, the republicans were booted in the 2006 mid-term election, and replaced by Nancy Pelosi as House speaker and Harry Reid as the senate majority leader. Nothing changed, really, as spending still increased under Bush's last two years in office. However, those increases paled in comparison to the $2T increased federal expenditure under Obama's 20-month presidency thanks to the Stimulus and the healthcare reform. Two programs Americans totally opposed.
"The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occassions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will always be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the atmosphere," wrote Jefferson to his wife Abigail in 1787.
The GOP status quo in New York, which, if you haven't noticed, has been on life support for the past decade, sought to crown Rick Lazio as its gubernatorial candidate. Far from it, thought the rank-and-file, who then went on to support the winner, Carl Paladino of Buffalo.
Now, the state party is looking at quietly supporting the Democrat Andrew Cuomo, as has former NY senator Alphonse D'Amato done. What gives? The bottom line is power and money. The state GOP does not truly like or appreciate its rank-and-file. It thinks it owns them and their vote just because these registered voters don't like the Democrat party. After all, where else will such voters go to on primary day or in the general election? Staying home is an option, but then that will leave the party stalwarts to be the decider.
Money is the other part of this equation, and D'Amato, for example, has a lucrative lobbying business that survives on tax dollars being doled out to him by state and city agencies who routinely call Big Al to place a five-figure call to so-and-so for this-and-that. Don't believe me, google it and you'll find plenty of NY Post articles about it.
In Delaware, the same GOP establishment sought to snooker the voters by tarring the eventual winner and tea party favored candidate, Christine O'Donnell, as a candidate who was destined to lose in the general election. Sorry, but the folks aren't buying it anymore.
What the tea party has done to the Republican party is that it has shaken the GOP's foundation to the core. But, it's not finished yet. This is but the beginning of a long political revolution to take back this nation and its government from the ruling cabal who have woefully led us into near bankruptcy and financial ruin in their quest to expand both the government and their corrupt pockets at the expense of the American people and their liberty.
The tea party has done what neither party has been able to do for a long time. It has listened and united a large cross-section of the American people who feel they've been abandoned by both parties to network for a common goal. To cleanse Washington and the state legislatures.
Some are saying the tea party will fizzle out after November. Love to say it but 2010 is but a quiz for the real change will come in 2012.
Governor Sarah Palin is taking her sweet time assessing the maelstrom, organizing, strategizing, listening and talking the talk voters want to hear.
"I hold it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms are in the physical," wrote Jefferson to James Madison in 1787.
Truer words said over 200 years ago are still having an impact in American politics today. If only Jefferson could be alive to witness it all over again and to provide counsel.
Showing posts with label republican. Show all posts
Showing posts with label republican. Show all posts
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
A Pyrrhic Victory On Healthcare
President Obama and congressional Democrats won a political victory Sunday evening by passing healthcare reform legislation by a vote of 219 - 212. As they say in politics, it's all about winning, whether the win is done via a bipartisan manner or not, as long as legislation is passed on a majority vote, then it's a win.
Congratulations to the Democrats! They won without a single republican vote and 34 Democrats voting against their own party's measure.
That said, this win is, in reality, a Pyrrhic victory for the Democrats for several reasons.
One, the simple House majority vote was not that large. They won by four votes, or a bare minimum. Four votes! What does that say about this legislation? That it's pretty much a bad bill that an entire opposition party could not support, unlike, say, the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s where republicans joined non-Southern Democrats to say, hey, enough!
Two, the federal taxation that is going to have to be collected from all those who work will increase. There is no free lunch folks. Somebody has to pay for Congress's mess!
Three, the Democrats say this reform will pay for itself, but let's be real. When President Bush lobbied the congress in 2003 to pass the Prescription Drug bill, he told us the bill would cost over $400B over ten years. The figure more than doubled three years after passage, and will continue to increase.
Think the real cost Speaker Pelosi mentioned, of $940B, is the actual cost to insure the 30 million uninsured beginning in 2014? This is not taking into account the "Cornhusker" deals offered to members for their votes. It also does not take into account future amendments to put back the cuts into Medicare/Medicaid that Pelosi put in, in order to get the Congressional Budget Office's thumbs up as a deficit reducer.
Four, if anyone thinks this is the end of the healthcare reform debate, guess again. What the Democrats did Sunday evening was merely the beginning of the end of private healthcare insurance as we know it.
For liberal Democrats, a true healthcare victory is one in which the federal government provides universal healthcare coverage for all Americans modelled after the European nationalized healthcare system.
As Cong. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) explained on National Public Radio shortly after his "yes" vote, the passage opens the door for further government expansion into healthcare, and ultimately, universal healthcare.
This legislation, it is said, will cover 30 million uninsured Americans. However, as I recall during the Bush years, Democrats were lamenting the 47 million uninsured. What's happened to the 17 million uninsured? Who are they, and why weren't they covered by this Democrat-led bill?
The answer is simple.
Thinking well into the future, the Democrats' game plan is to launch another endeavor to Insure Those Left Behind. This new political effort will allow the Democrats to use this new uninsured group (perhaps a collection of illegal aliens) as a battle-cry against, to use Pelosi's language, the mean-spirited and evil GOP in 2012.
For millions of Americans who were let down the night of March 21, 2010, November cannot come any sooner.
Congratulations to the Democrats! They won without a single republican vote and 34 Democrats voting against their own party's measure.
That said, this win is, in reality, a Pyrrhic victory for the Democrats for several reasons.
One, the simple House majority vote was not that large. They won by four votes, or a bare minimum. Four votes! What does that say about this legislation? That it's pretty much a bad bill that an entire opposition party could not support, unlike, say, the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s where republicans joined non-Southern Democrats to say, hey, enough!
Two, the federal taxation that is going to have to be collected from all those who work will increase. There is no free lunch folks. Somebody has to pay for Congress's mess!
Three, the Democrats say this reform will pay for itself, but let's be real. When President Bush lobbied the congress in 2003 to pass the Prescription Drug bill, he told us the bill would cost over $400B over ten years. The figure more than doubled three years after passage, and will continue to increase.
Think the real cost Speaker Pelosi mentioned, of $940B, is the actual cost to insure the 30 million uninsured beginning in 2014? This is not taking into account the "Cornhusker" deals offered to members for their votes. It also does not take into account future amendments to put back the cuts into Medicare/Medicaid that Pelosi put in, in order to get the Congressional Budget Office's thumbs up as a deficit reducer.
Four, if anyone thinks this is the end of the healthcare reform debate, guess again. What the Democrats did Sunday evening was merely the beginning of the end of private healthcare insurance as we know it.
For liberal Democrats, a true healthcare victory is one in which the federal government provides universal healthcare coverage for all Americans modelled after the European nationalized healthcare system.
As Cong. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) explained on National Public Radio shortly after his "yes" vote, the passage opens the door for further government expansion into healthcare, and ultimately, universal healthcare.
This legislation, it is said, will cover 30 million uninsured Americans. However, as I recall during the Bush years, Democrats were lamenting the 47 million uninsured. What's happened to the 17 million uninsured? Who are they, and why weren't they covered by this Democrat-led bill?
The answer is simple.
Thinking well into the future, the Democrats' game plan is to launch another endeavor to Insure Those Left Behind. This new political effort will allow the Democrats to use this new uninsured group (perhaps a collection of illegal aliens) as a battle-cry against, to use Pelosi's language, the mean-spirited and evil GOP in 2012.
For millions of Americans who were let down the night of March 21, 2010, November cannot come any sooner.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Mopping Up the Democrat Mess
As the loss in Massachusetts begins to sink in for the Democrats in Washington, it's time for Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to apologize to the nation for playing gutter patisan politics over healthcare. Not that it's going to do Reid any good since he's clearly facing an uphill battle to keep his seat this year, but he ought to save face before it's too late.
Forget party politics. It's time the Congress face reality. The American people are disgusted with the tactics displayed over the past ten years by both parties. The voters are clamoring for change. Real change. Not verbal gimmicks.
The United States is yearning for a statesman or stateswoman to guide this ship onto its rightful course. It wants a leader willing to buck the establishmentarians and speak to the commoners as if he or she is one of them. A Joe the Plummer type willing to ask the right questions and provide the right answers. No political double-speak.
Last October, at a fundraiser in California, President Obama ordered the republicans to grab a mop and clean up the mess left by the previous administration. If last night's election of republican Scott Brown is any indication of mass discontent, in a Blue state of all places, it tells the Democrats in control of Washington the voters want them to grab a mop as well and clean up after their rancid legislative mess of 2009.
Forget party politics. It's time the Congress face reality. The American people are disgusted with the tactics displayed over the past ten years by both parties. The voters are clamoring for change. Real change. Not verbal gimmicks.
The United States is yearning for a statesman or stateswoman to guide this ship onto its rightful course. It wants a leader willing to buck the establishmentarians and speak to the commoners as if he or she is one of them. A Joe the Plummer type willing to ask the right questions and provide the right answers. No political double-speak.
Last October, at a fundraiser in California, President Obama ordered the republicans to grab a mop and clean up the mess left by the previous administration. If last night's election of republican Scott Brown is any indication of mass discontent, in a Blue state of all places, it tells the Democrats in control of Washington the voters want them to grab a mop as well and clean up after their rancid legislative mess of 2009.
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