Posts Tagged ‘republican’
Tuesday, December 11th, 2012
This post is going to be a big long frustrated rant. So if you aren’t into that sort of thing, please move on. Now I ask this question because as we watch the debate between the debt ceiling and the fiscal cliff I wonder why and how this happened. The fiscal cliff is basically a series of tax hikes and spending cuts, that in the long run, will benefit the economy in the long run, but in the short-term due to fear mostly will cause a recession. These spending cuts and tax hikes were put into place in 2011, this is a bill that was agreed upon to cut the national debt and to bring spending into control. Did these Senators not think that two years aren’t really that far away? Did these Senators assume, and I am speaking of Republicans now, assume that Obama would lose and that the Republicans would control everything and they could reverse the entire Obama presidency, not realizing that Obama would still be the president now win or lose. I feel as though politicians live in the land of ideology more than thinking about the average American and what he or she needs. I love discussing ideology all day long, but ideology doesn’t always equal action.
photo from the Christian Science Monitor
Tags: Barack Obama, fiscal cliff, Government debt, John Boehner, Obama, Presidency of Barack Obama, republican, United States, United States public debt
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Friday, December 7th, 2012
In the last roughly five years we have seen the misuse and mismanagement of corporate funds that has led to a near collapse of the US economy, and yet the majority of the Republican party does not want to see a raise in taxes or government intervention in these businesses, since they are the “job creators.” And to be fair in some cases this is true. As the minimum wage increases companies will either slow growth and not hire as many new people or lay off workers. The reason an increase in the minimum wage in a recession doesn’t make since is fear. People in general, as Maslow famously said, have basic needs, and one of these basic needs is a safe place to live, and the housing crisis isn’t over yet. I am not a huge fan in government intervention. Even if some business practices seem unfair, such as saying there isn’t enough money to hire new workers when CEOs buy themselves new fancy toys. I do believe that a person has a right to spend the wealth that he or she earns. But I do feel as though having higher earners pay an increased tax burden, while closing tax loopholes will be good for the economy.
I do find it funny that the Republicans are trying to portray themselves as working for the people, but in the media look uncompromising and as though they only support the rich and want to hurt senior citizens. Their way of not falling off the fiscal cliff would be to raise the age of medicare and Medicaid, which would raise the retirement age for many people, and to close tax loopholes and to end or cut other entitlements. The Republican party is adamant that raising the tax burden on the wealthy would only hurt the economy by slowing job creation. It stinks that the government needs an income tax, but the US doesn’t manufacture hardly anything anymore, and we cannot make enough money to run a government based on import and export duties anymore. The Republicans keep saying over and over that Democrats aren’t willing to compromise, when what it looks to me as though the Republicans aren’t willing to compromise either. Everyone in congress is trying to make everyone else look bad and nothing is getting done. The tax burden for the wealthy in the Clinton administration was 39% which is a lot, and yet we had an era of economic stability and job growth, which I know and can be argued began with the Reagan administration. But this shows that a high tax burden doesn’t necessarily mean low economic output. I know I’m not an economist but it just seems to me that our senators need to work together rather than just trying to see who is the best.
Tags: Clinton, Democrats, Medicaid, Presidency of Bill Clinton, republican, Tax, Tax incidence, United States
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Tuesday, November 13th, 2012
I am sure I have written something about this topic before but after this election I began thinking of this topic again. The Republican Party that Americans know today came in two parts. The first was as a reaction to the radical 1960s culture. There wasn’t the term “values voter” but the idea was still there. This is how Nixon came to power. After Nixon and Watergate there Whitehouse needed to be opened back to the American people, and that is where Ford and Carter came from. I know we didn’t elect Ford, but I feel as though President and Mrs Ford did more to heal the nation’s trust in the president that anyone else did. Carter came in as an outsider and in my opinion left the Whitehouse as an outsider. Then there is Regan. Ronald Regan did more for the Republican party than any other president in 40 years. He is the model of the Republican president that all other Republicans want to be. He was charismatic and was able to collect a majority of the Republican voices into one place and put them on the same path. No other president has been able to do such a thing. But Regan was president in a different time and a different age. In Regan’s day a majority of Americans were white, and could remember the troubled times of Watergate and some even the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s. There was a collective consciences and a collective memory. This day in age is very different.
I wonder if Regan would have tweeted, tumbled, or had a Facebook page? He would have but I wonder if he would have used them. I wonder how Regan’s presidency would have been different with the internet. Would it have taken him so long to mention AIDS? Would the social issues of the 80s and 90s have been placed in the back burner and been left on our doorsteps to deal with? I don’t know. But I see now that the Republican Party isn’t willing to deal with the fact that with instant communication comes a need for instant answers and a need to deal with more opinions. The US is not a nation of one race, religion or ethnicity, and that’s what makes this country great. There are so many ideas and backgrounds of people, and now with the internet their collective voices can be heard. I see the Tea Party as a reaction to this. And before the Republican party followed suit with the reactionary politics, but this time the moderates see this will not work. The majority of the country is moderate, and compared to the rest of the world very conservative. The Democrats are trying to move the US towards a European style of governance, and there are people who don’t like that. Republicans seem to be fighting the wrong battles and using petty arguments to forget the real point. We are a nation of 50 states, with diverse geographies and regions and social dichotomies. We need leaders who can deal with all of it, and not just what he or she wants to.
Tags: Conservatives, Democrats, Ford, liberals, politics, President of the United States, reactionary politics, Regan, republican, republicans, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, United States
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Friday, November 9th, 2012
We just re-elected a president and had a whole bunch of historical elections around the USA. Most would think, thank goodness election season is over for a bit. But alas I was wrong, I go to CNN.com, and what is on the breaking news page, “Looking Ahead to the 2016 Campaign” and ”Who will Run” and what I am guessing are other articles in that general nature. Seriously can’t we take a break from all this campaigning and run the freaking country? Can’t we all sit around the table and do something, anything that will put this country on a course that would be good for it? Nope, campaigns are good for tv news, print news, online news and most importantly companies. Who cares about the people and the country. I know this is just a rant, but I am frustrated with all this campaigning and would love to see some change happen.
Tags: 2012 election, Associated Press, CNN, election, government, news cycles, politics, republican, United States, USA
Posted in 2012 Election Coverage, Political, Rant | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 17th, 2012
Now before I get crap for this, especially since my previous post was about how I was frustrated with the internet memes and that this has become a great new internet meme, I think this is actually an issue. Now many have seen the “war on women” that was really kicked off with the Sandra Fluke birth control issue as an internet firestorm, and especially Republican women didn’t really see it as affecting them. This “binders full of women” comment shows otherwise. To sum up the statement when asked about female rights and equal protection Romney stated that he was surprised he wasn’t given more nominees for his cabinet that were women, so he asked for names and was given a “binder full of women.” Now there are two parts of this statement that is offensive, one that this never happened, and two that hiring women was an afterthought to him, and shows that he isn’t truly looking for real gender equality. The best person for any position could be a man or a woman, but no matter who it is he or she should get the same opportunity for the position and receive equal pay. This comment has definitely made man women take a second look at the war on women and I hope make them realize that this does affect them.
Tags: 2012 Elections, Big Bird, binders full of women, Facebook features, Internet meme, Mitt Romney, Obama, republican, Romney, twitter, United States, Women
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Sunday, July 15th, 2012
Ron Paul, that other candidate that people kept forgetting about was still in the race for president, until yesterday. Paul, who had been taking advantage of the delegate system of picking a candidate has officially been pushed out of the race. Paul had been using states that use caucus systems for picking candidates for president, because in most cases there isn’t the “winner take all” system that primary elections have. For Paul to officially be on the ballot and have the right to speak at the convention he would have needed a plurality of delegates in at least 5 states, he was only able to obtain 4. My question is this, is Paul not even being taken as a serious candidate by most a showing that one must have big money to run for president. I wonder about that. Paul has some great ideas that should be listened to, but because he doesn’t have big money backing him up, most will never hear him, or they will all believe he is some sort of “crack pot.” I wonder where this “liberating” force of the internet is, and when will it “liberate” us from corporate government sponsorship?
Tags: Candidate, caucus systems, d day, dc media, government sponsorship, Mitt Romney, Nebraska, Paul, Political, politico, politics, primary elections, republican, Republican National Convention, Ron Paul, Tampa Florida
Posted in 2012 Election Coverage, Political, Rant | No Comments »
Saturday, July 14th, 2012
Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State under President Bush is being touted as the front-runner for Vice President for Romney, is she a good idea. Well I think no. There are a few very good reasons for this. First of all Romney by most accounts isn’t conservative enough for most areas of the Republican party. Rice has gone on the record on more than one occasion to state she believes that a woman has the right to choose, although she believes in limiting the government’s ability to fund abortion and she believes in limiting late-term abortions. This issue alone would normally disqualify her from the ticket. Then there is the Bush/Iraq factor. With conservative independents up for grabs Romney doesn’t need to remind them why they voted for Obama in the first place. Rice would do that easily. Lastly she has no experience campaigning. She may have experience in Washington DC but that doesn’t give one experience the in the grind and attacks that come with campaigns. Romney cannot make the same mistake the McCain did and think, “woman good, women will vote for women.” There are plenty of conservative, even conservative black women in politics. There are definitely better choices, even better choices for women Mr Romney, look for them.
Tags: Barack Obama, Condoleezza Rice, current-events, George W Bush, late term abortions, Mitt Romney, new york daily news, Political, politics, republican, Rice, Romney, veep choice, Washington DC
Posted in 2012 Election Coverage, Political, Rant | No Comments »
Sunday, July 1st, 2012
Now, here’s the thing, I think that people like Fox News and Rush Limbaugh have it all wrong when it comes to the Obamacare Ruling. What Justice Roberts did was two-fold, one he said that bills ordering people what to do is unconstitutional, and two he said that the individual mandate was legal because it was a “tax.” What does this do, it gives the Republicans more firepower than they would have had if they had struck the law down. States mandate all of us to have car insurance, or we can face fines and I belive, I don’t feel like googling this, jail time. The Supreme Court says that the Federal Government cannot do this, but they can tax people who do not have health insurance for being a strain on our healthcare system. Now the Republicans have more ammunition, they can call Obama a person who raises taxes , which is horrible in an election year. Do Americans currently pay a tax for not doing something the federal government tells them to do, yes we do, if you don’t pay your taxes, you pay a tax. Sure the IRS wants to call it a “fine” but if it looks like a tax, and smells like a tax, it’s a tax. So Fox and Friends, quit trashing John Roberts for not striking down the “individual mandate” and thank him for giving you ammunition against Obama for the election. Democrats, time to get thinking about how the majority of individuals hate the individual mandate, figure out how to sell the American people on this idea better. Everyone knows this is an election year.
Tags: Individual mandate, John Roberts, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Political, politics, republican, Robert, Rush Limbaugh, Supreme Court, United States
Posted in 2012 Election Coverage, Political, Rant | No Comments »
Saturday, June 23rd, 2012
This is something I am wondering. Obama seems to be pandering to the Latino vote hard-core in recent weeks. Now in an election year that is a smart thing to do considering the large Latino population in America but it just seems so disingenuous. In 2008 he stated that immigration reform would be on his priority from day one, that didn’t happen, that didn’t even come close to happening. Immigration reform was a hot topic of discussion in 2006, 7 and 8, but it seems as though when that wall was being built nobody cared. Or was it the fact that the economy was going down the tubes and the news media and government didn’t have the time, money or resources to deal with a problem that the average American doesn’t see as a problem. What about the DREAM act, this act would help to pave the way for citizenship for those who came into this country illegally if they are willing to serve in the military or go to university, Congress is blocking this act. The president is using this as his corner block with the latino population. Is this a serious tactic, or election year politics? It’s hard to tell anymore.
Tags: Barack Obama, Congress, DREAM Act, Mitt Romney, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, Political, politics, Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, republican, United States
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Tuesday, June 19th, 2012
According to the Hill seven major senators have come out against the Democratic party position to let the Bush-era tax cuts expire at the end of the year. Their statement is during a recession raising anyone’s taxes would be irresponsible, and that if there is a tax increase it should come with a complete overhaul on the tax code. That would then put more confidence in the private sector. Ok, all well and good, but there are a few things we should look at. This is an election year, and most of these senators are up for reelection, and wealthy people, who benefit from the Bush-era tax cuts, finance campaigns. The truth is, the american tax code does need an overhaul, a complete overhaul. Why is our tax code so complicated when the idea is, that each person should pay their fair share for defense, healthcare, and other things of that nature. And that the percentage paid should be proportional to your income. That doesn’t seem too difficult. In this recession we hear so many “ideas” about jump starting the economy, but because one or two people believe that it won’t work there isn’t action. What we need to do as a country is make the tough choices, raise taxes on imports, encourage manufacturing in america, lower the minimum wage, lower prices in general. Americans need to figure out what they need in this world. I have been living in Bulgaria for the last two years. Bulgaria isn’t a rich country, but they weren’t hit by this recession as hard because: home ownership is at 97%, that’s not an exaggeration, and most people grow their own vegetables. Even if everyone looses their job, they have a house and they have food. I know that American society isn’t the same as Bulgarian society, but maybe Senators should be willing to make the tough choices, and not the easy choices, and Americans should be encouraged to be more self-sufficient. We don’t need more Senators out for big business, we need Senators willing to work for the good of the American people.
Tags: 2012 election, Bulgaria, Bush tax cuts, Democratic Party (United States), election year, election year politics, Hill, Political, politics, republican, Tax, Tax law, United States
Posted in 2012 Election Coverage, Political, Rant | No Comments »
