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NEVA
NEVA is the acronym for the New Employee Verification Act that was introduced into legislation in February, 2008, by two House Members, Democrat Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona and Republican Sam Johnson of Texas, and which is the potential replacement for E-Verify and done in order to prevent undocumented immigrants from acquiring jobs as new hires.
Since its inception as legislation, not much support has been garnered, but that is now about to change. In a study completed for Homeland Security, the results—somewhat specious from my perspective, has attained a tad of political gravitas due to the political connection between Giffords and Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano, also of Arizona
This study has determined that 93% of all citizens and legal workers are found to be acceptable. Yet, the remaining 7% appears to be of considerable concern since the system falsely rejects citizens and legal workers, in much too large numbers. And the argument is advanced that undocumented workers are utilizing a false set of documents. Consequently, these false documents lead to employers hiring new employees.
Yet, the study found that E-Verify does falsely reject citizens and legal workers but only at 0.70%. Therefore, one can surmise that something is wrong with the ‘system’, and it’s from this standpoint that a new system needs to be established on the premise of absolute accuracy. Not so, of course, from my perspective.
Regardless of my opinion, the second-tier functionality within NEVA is the establishment of a biometric system of a thumb print, is unnecessary and unwarranted intrusion. And again, from my perspective, a violation of existing law relative to Privacy is being established. To wit, any further encroachment by government into an individual’s right to privacy is abhorrent. The recent incarnation of the Patriot Act, had no public hearing in either scope or content. As such, mum was the word.
Moreover, it’s this 6.30% that seems to disturb the ‘security experts’ at the DHS and in Congress. And with President Obama announcing that immigration reform is the next item on his agenda and following Jobs. It's pretty much obvious to anyone with a few brain cells that immigration reform is important to the Democrats with the upcoming election. Without the Chicano vote, the make-up in Congress, would skew in favor to the Republicans, despite their obstructionism and which is just more of that inherent behavior towards President Obama and starting with his exotic name, and which makes him even less of a Democrat. As such, his name is neither Smith, Wesson nor Glock or Rot. And if I were to pay much if any attention to America’s Cable Cognoscenti, the usual and rigid argumentation from the “socialist” morphs into Godwin's Law. According to much seen "illumination" on the Right, it should become self-evident to a numbskull like me should I practice even the pretense for a tad of intellectual laziness. And that’s part and parcel to the Right’s Echo Chamber.
Now, Giffords and Johnson have a ready-made ‘entrance’ into the issue of immigration reform, provided they can ‘sell’ their “6.3% solution” to other like-minded House Members, and especially, among the Democratic Caucus. As to the Republicans, they will continue to oppose ‘anything’ that is posited by the White House and premised in the specious belief that America will fail and which permits them to recapture their lost political ascendance come this election in November. And yet, it’s apparent to me that this next election will be about ‘anti-incumbency’ and anti-Washington doggerel.
And in an interesting off-set, this NEVA, may also cause the Libertarian subset on the Right and the Left to join forces in their opposition to NEVA on the basis that citizens should not have to give up and further erode their Right to Privacy for the sake of a small number of undocumented immigrants obtaining jobs. Nonetheless, surrendering any more privacy is just another step on the road to creating a national ID, and which amounts to a greater degree of governmental intrusion in one’s private life. Another view on the Right is that NEVA is just another tactic or a nifty political maneuver for opposing immigration enforcement, as argued by the anti-immigrant/nativist.
Finally, should NEVA come about into our community-based reality, “outsourcing” this system for a data information check will go to private contractors, and in which both the government and the employers will be “held harmless” under the color of law.
Jaango--posted on March 8, 2010
Friday's Frivolity for This Week
It's tough keeping the Snark Shark at bay and far away from the keyboard, in this instance. And yet, someone has to do it. So, enjoy.
1. The incumbent Democratic Senator from Arkansas, Blanche Lincoln, is now facing a primary opponent in her bid for re-election. In response, she is using the word “liberal” as a pejorative incantation. Her Democratic opponent is far from “liberal” since he served in Clinton’s Office of Management and Budget before becoming Arkansas’ current and sitting Lieutenant Governor. Time will tell as to whether he is an "aggressive" Moderate or a "regressive" Moderate.
2. Senator John McCain says on Sunday Morning Talking Heads Circuit that he was lied to by the Executive Branch because the TARP monies were not to be made available and utilized by Wall Street. Obviously, McCain has been asleep all these many months. How sad it is that he cannot open his eyes to read the latest in newspaper headlines or ‘listen’ with his ears to his political acolytes. Pathetic, just doesn’t describe McCain anymore. Yet, if he were to lose this November after being the GOP’s Presidential nominee, the Republicans should be embarrassed. His opponent has an ad up in which McCain is the latest in avatar-mania for being a "conservative" actor.
3. The GOP in the House of Representatives has introduced legislation to take Ulysses Grant off the Fifty Dollar Bill and replace him with Ronald Reagan. In contrast, the Democrats should introduce legislation to put Chief Seattle or Chief Joseph on the paper currency, and done in deference to Native Americans. I know it's too much to ask!
4. It seems that Dick Cheney’s daughter Liz, has a love-hate relationship with lawyers. She has accused several attorneys for being the "Al Quada Seven" and which has morphed into the “Gitmo Nine” in which these attorneys have defended the detainees. She’s conveniently forgotten that the Bush-type attorneys also defended these detainees. However, her subtle and nuanced complaint is that these once private sector attorneys are now serving in various decision-making position within the Obama administration, and its just more of the Cheney-nonsense.
5. “Not getting caught!” It’s now public news that Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, has hired an anti-immigration-oriented attorney to “train” his Deputies in order not to break the law when it comes to immigration. Apparently, all that 287g training provided these past couple of years by Homeland Security “didn’t take”. Yet, the racial profiling cases are working their way up the ladder of Justice for an eventual jury decision, and which will cost the taxpayers millions of dollars if not more. Ah, the 'disappeared' emails have now surfaced and are the initial notes justifying these traffic stops for minor infractions.
6. U.S. Postal Service. It seems that an accounting rule that requires the Snail Mail Complex to prepay its financial obligations for retiree health benefits is not being taken into consideration when management presents its case to Congress, and thusly, the numbers appear to be astounding as well as a losing business proposition for taxpayers. Not so of course, if the business model is expanded wherein the Complex can sell other “goods and services” to the consumers. Perhaps a Joint Venture Model to sell internet access or even cell phones, and that’s just for starters.
7. NEVA. This is an acronym for Immigration’s presumed ‘test’ to determine whether one is a citizen or not when it comes to “new hires” for job openings. As such, this two tier system has in the second tier, a biometric stamp and which is, in and of itself, an intrusion into one’s Privacy. Consequently, this new systemic, if approved by Congress, will prove politically and highly contentious. Next week, we’ll have a more detailed analysis available for our Readers.
Jaango--posted on March 5, 2010
Ellsberg and Kissinger
Daniel Ellsberg was a panelist on Privacy at a recent conference, and he recounted a conversation he had with Henry Kissinger. This is back in 1968 when Ellsberg was a highly respected analyst at both the Pentagon and Rand, and prior to his release to the New York Times of what then became known as the Pentagon Papers. To wit, this is from Ellsberg’s book titled, “Secrets”. And by way of background, Kissinger had just entered government service and was having to address the Vietnam War. Of course, there was a dearth of information that was to come available for Kissinger’s consideration, both accurate and inaccurate, to contend with.
________
And here is what Ellsberg said to Kissinger:
“Henry, there’s something I would like to tell you, for what it’s worth, something I wish I had been told years ago. You’ve been a consultant for a long time, and you’ve dealt with top-secret information. But you’re about to receive a whole slew of special clearances, maybe fifteen or twenty of them, that are higher than top secret.
“I’ve had a number of these myself, and I’ve known other people who have just acquired them, and I have pretty good sense of what the effects of receiving these clearances are on a person who didn’t previously know they even existed. And the effects of reading the information that they will make available to you.
“First, you’ll be exhilarated by some of this new information, and having it all—so much! Incredible!—suddenly available to you. But second, almost as fast, you will feel like a fool for having studies, written, talked about these subjects, criticized, analyzed decisions made by presidents for years without having known the existence of all this information, which presidents had and you didn’t, and which must have influenced their decisions in ways you couldn’t even guess. In particular, you’ll feel foolish for having literally rubbed shoulders for over a decade with information you didn’t know about and didn’t know they had, and you’ll be stunned that they kept that secret from you so well.
“You’ll feel like a fool, and that will last for about two weeks. Then, after you’ve started reading all this daily intelligence input and become used to using what amounts to whole libraries of hidden information, which is more closely held than mere top secret data, you’ll forget their ever was a time when you didn’t have it, you’ll be aware only of the fact that you have it now and most others don’t…and that all those ‘other’ people are fools.
“Over a longer period of time—not too long, but a matter of two or three years—you’ll eventually become aware of the limitations of this information. There is a great deal that it doesn’t tell you, it’s often inaccurate, and it can lead you astray just as much as the New York Times can. But that takes a while to learn.
“In the meantime it will have become very hard to you to ‘learn’ from anybody who doesn’t have these clearances. Because you’ll be thinking as you listen to them: ‘What would this man be telling me if he knew what I know? Would he be giving me the same advice, or would it totally change his predictions and recommendations?’ And ‘that’ mental exercise is so torturous that after a while you give up and just stop listening. I’ve seen this in superiors, my colleagues…and with myself.
“You will deal with a person who doesn’t have these clearances only from the point of view of what you want him to believe and what impression you want him to go away with, since you’ll have to lie carefully to him about what you know. In effect, you will have to manipulate him. You’ll give up trying to assess what he may have to say. The danger is, you’ll become something of a moron. You’ll become incapable of learning from most people in the world, no matter how much experience they may have in their particular areas that may be much greater than yours.
“Kissinger hadn’t interrupted this long warning. As I’ve said, he could be a good listener, and he listened soberly. He seemed to understand that it was heartfelt, and he didn’t take is as patronizing, as I feared. But I know it was too soon for him to appreciate fully what I was saying. He didn’t have the clearances yet.”
Now, to my assessment!
This same ‘advice’ given to Kissinger back in 1968, could be utilized today and quite effectively since not much has changed in these intervening years. Moreover, the 'fictions' posited by Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, Tenet, Powell, and Rice among others, continues to this day, despite the ample access to all this information, both accurate and inaccurate. Obviously, Politics superseded the Rule of Law, and no one adhering to Common Sense, can dispute the "unassailable" facts that existed in 'real time'. And as Chicanos, we would be doing ourselves a disservice if we permit these folks to their revisionist skill set since their knowledge base was egregiously manipulated for seeking their political objectives and where the 'ends justify the means.'
Take, for example, much has been written regarding the detainees at Gitmo, and in which President Obama contemplates being closed by end of this year and in which the remaining detainees will be housed at a prison facility located in the Midwest.
When I take a hard-nosed look at the Rule of Law and in which Ethics is measured against Politics, it seems that Politics clearly prevails. And that’s a sad statement or predicament that our America finds it mired in. Historically, the Geneva Conventions is the Rule of Law just as any Treaty entered into by Congress, is.
Today, our politics have become so coarse that to advocate for upholding the Constitution and the Rule of Law is deemed unimportant by the many who hold to the notional that “terrorism” is to be “feared” and thusly, pounding on your chest is going to make the terrorists/criminals disappear in sheer terror from the fear of ‘tough talk’. Consequently, abridging the Bill of Rights cannot be easily accomplished, and if our fellow citizens speak out against such egregious behavior as have some attorneys defending the detainees, they are labeled the Al Queda Nine and thusly, their patriotism and citizenship is called into question. In any event, the characteristic for Decency has been tossed into the political gutter in order to advocate, as the Republicans do, that America needs to fail, and thereby the Conservative Republicans can regain their political ascendancy, and moreover, they will save us from ourselves. This of course, is a carefully crafted mythology and which is equivalent to the notional that "tax cuts create jobs".
And lastly, Common Sense dictates that all detainees should be given the opportunity for any self-defense in front of a Judge and Jury comprised of our fellow citizens. It seems that the Oval Office is now having a second doubt for civilian trials as has occurred for hundreds of terrorists/criminals to date. All have been prosecuted and convicted given the evidence. In contrast, military commissions do not permit “all” the evidence to be presented and delivered since it well understood that much of the ‘evidence’ might be tainted due to the oxymoron of an “enhanced interrogation” technique having been applied. A civilian trial would respect the Rule of Law and the results would coincide with our effective utilization for the Rule of Law. To wit, anything less, demonstrates the Rule of Morons.
Jaango--posted on March 5, 2010
The Black Hole Not Made of Common Sense
Karl Rove is coming out with his book in the next few weeks and according to advance excerpts, he appear somewhat contrite in that he didn’t do a “pushback” relative to the anti-war opposition, and thusly, he concludes that he didn’t serve President Bush very well.
And I write this post with the notional that I was in adamant in my opposition to Bush’s War of Choice. Moreover, what Karl Rove fails to realize is that his “pushback” would have had as his ‘targets’, our communities that consist of Native Americans, Chicanos, and African Americans. Consequently, we, in the “racial and ethnic” communities were the backbone of this anti-war opposition, given that we comprised the sole objective from the the perspective of the White House, to continue its ongoing efforts to “marginalize” minorities during these eight years of America's political nonsense in support of Bush's War of Choice.
And here are the statements that turn Karl Rove into a person best defined as “criminally stupid”. Of course, these are just a few of the statements, in real time, from both Bush and Cheney. And more can be found at the Mother Jones Magazine since they have compiled a lengthy timeline on Bush’s War of Choice. As such, Kudos to Mother Jones.
“Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us…We no know that Saddam has resumed his effort to acquire nuclear weapons.”---Cheney, 8/26/02
“Iraq has made several attempts to buy high-strength aluminum tubes use to enrich uranium for a nuclear weapon. Should Iraq acquire fissile material, it would be able to build a nuclear weapon within a year.” ---Bush, 9/12/02
“The Iraqi regime possesses biological and chemical weapons, is rebuilding the facilities to make more and, according to the British government, could launch a biological or chemical attack in as little as 45 minutes after the order is given.” ---Bush, 9/28/2002
“The Iraqi regime…possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons…We’ve also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas.”---Bush, 10/7/2002
“We know he’s got chemical weapons.”---Bush, 11/2/2002
“The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production.”---Bush, 1/29/2003
“We believe [Saddam] has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.”---Cheney, 3/16/2003
With these above statements in mind, Karl Rove—taking to the marketing circuit, will be piling an ugly fiction upon even more ugly fiction, with the intent to self-justify his failure to address the Truth, but only after the fact and done in a manner where the “unassailable” facts still have no value for him. As such, to call him ‘dishonest’ is to pay him an unwarranted compliment.
And which brings me to my next post on Daniel Ellsberg and which I will post, either later today or tomorrow.
Jaango--posted on March 4, 2010
The Trenches of Propaganda Run Deep
In our nation’s capitol, propaganda seems to emanate out of every crack and crevice, and which does not bring any benefit to the Chicano. Consequently, “listening” to this obvious propaganda does become boring. Unfortunately, it’s necessary to “listen” given that the usual “anonymous source” has a secret that must be coveted and yet shared, and that can only be done by going public. And which brings me to President Obama’s Chief of Staff, the comically Clouseau of American politics—Rahm Emanuel.
Given the dearth of new stories in which a person is quoted as an “anonymous source” I find that Rahm Emanuel is out and about with the Fourth Estate attempting to shift the blame of failure, as a pre-emptive device, onto someone else of senior rank in the White House for President Obama’s demonstrated lack of any consequential use of his spine and beyond the usual and to the beautiful rhetoric. Unfortunately, for the middle class, beautiful rhetoric doesn’t put meat and potatoes on the table at the end of a long day.
Now, I have suggested that Emanuel should seek another endeavor that doesn’t have to be political. But if it’s to be political, perhaps, he should finagle himself an appointment with the American Chamber of Commerce as its ‘new’ President. In this endeavor, Emanuel could and would rant on and out loud about how the liberals or “aggressive” Moderates have demonstrated no unalienable affection on his behalf and for his Clouseau-like shenanigans. And of course, the corrosive use of four letter words as part and parcel to his knowledge base and the attendant skill set, doesn’t engender much cooperation and leading to any substantive political assistance.
And this public relations efforts being conducted via the national news media outlets, is indeed offensive. And offensive to most Democrats. If Emanuel was “tough minded” and if he were to 'push' this behavior onto President Obama, we would have had—in keeping with the wealth of economists’ advocating $2 trillion, in the Stimulus Plan. Even Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers were advocating a minimalist $1.2 trillion, and we now know what we got was a pittance of an effort in order to address our economic collapse. And this pittance has only dragged the ‘economic rebound’ out to a couple of more years and if not longer.
Yet, at the instructions of President Obama, Emanuel has been “consulting” with Senators McCain and Graham on matters of importance, both large and small, and all done behind the wall where transparency is not available or until an “insider” speaks, again, anonymously to the Fourth Estate. To the politically astute, this lack of transparency demonstrates that there is far more transparency available in the Senate Cloak Room.
Thus, the “process” in Congress is not the “problem” for Democrats in either the House or the Senate. It’s that the leadership systemic that consists of Democrats only, is the “problem”. And having a political spine, would lead to the overriding construct that is featured by having a decent and tough spine for achieving a variety of successes that are deserved when you're in the majority. In last year’s elections, voters gave the Democrats control of the Executive and Legislative Branches, in a manner that made the Republican Presidential Aspirant, another equivalent of the Hoover Success Story.
Of course and not to be out done, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, is running free in his latest ‘trench’. His op-ed piece in the Washington Post, conveniently demonstrates his angst and anger at the Democrats' use of the filibuster and the ‘reconciliation’ process. As a sitting Senator of 33 years, his fabrication has the glaring omission that he pursued reconciliation during the Reagan, Bush One and Two Administrations, and which makes him safe to mock. However, he—Hatch, stands behind David Brooks of the New York Time for being America’s Mockery Champion, and Brooks beat him out within a fewer number of years.
Jaango—posted on March 2, 2010
Sign me up...
Of course, I am speaking of a Constitutional Amendment that would reign in campaign contributions and even actually prohibit these contributions that originate from out-of-state and out-of-district donors that are eventually utilized by the incumbent members of Congress. Keep in mind that members of Congress tend to spend half their time doing fundraising of one sort or another. Perhaps, this is my self-limiting libertarianism speaking to me?
Nonetheless, I am thinking that the Democratic Senator from Arkansas, Blanche Lincoln complaining that "outside groups" are going to debilitate her re-election effort, may be actually true. Take, for example, her Democratic challenger in the primary will be the current Lt. Governor, Bill Halter. Consequently, a "conservative" Democratic is facing off with a presumed "progressive" Democrat. And which makes politics all the more fun.
However, progressive activists and groups from outside of Arkansas are now in the process of generating campaign contributions via the internet and in sizable amounts that will aid the Halter Campaign. And today, the AFL-CIO has comitted three million dollars. This new effort commenced effective yesterday when Halter announced his candidacy and which is not pleasing Senator Lincoln one iota.
Moreover, Senator Lincoln's hypocrisy is a tad over the top, given that her largest contributors are from outside of Arkansas as well. The states of Texas and New York originate the bulk of the contributions. Perhaps, there are cantons and barrios located in Arkansas that I am unfamiliar with, and which she willl have to 'reach out' to or not?
Needless to say on my part, this political re-election effort being waged will be interesting to watch from afar. And as to the perceptive or even prescient advocates for a Constitutional Amendment, I would welcome any such effort. If so, how would this play out in Arkansas if applied to today's politics?
This contest would have three players and that being a Democratic Candidate versus a Republican Candidate versus the Chamber of Commerce-designated candidate (think Walmart and Tyson Foods). If so, our political dynamic would finally be out into the open for all to see. And the 'crazies' and the 'kooks' would be looking for a 'new' political home and not necessarily welcomed in the 'new' Republican Party, since the Chamber does not permit or even tolerate anything less that "business friendly" attitudes. Notwithstanding, these 'crazies', the Chamber would have a political feast when it comes to devouring these "confused" Conservatives and especially, in their latest incarnation, the terra tea baggers. And that's politics with brass knuckles.
Jaango--posted on March 2, 2010
"Tortuous" Thinking At the White House
I very seldom find it surprising what my fellow Democrats will do when they are under the “cone of silence”. And in interesting article written today and by one of Amerca’s “new and notables” relative to the Great Scribblers Society, the incomparable Adam Serwer over at the political blog for the American Prospect, writes of the following in which the Chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, Silvestre Reyes of Texas, attempted to accomplish a regimen for more accountability. Unfortunately, his fellow Democratic Committee members---at the behest of the Obama administration, stabbed him—Reyes, in the back and tanked his legislation.
Democratic Congressman Sylvestre Reyes, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, has proposed an amendment to the 2010 Intelligence Authorization Act that would hold any "officer or employee of the intelligence community" who "in the course of or in anticipation of a covered interrogation knowingly commits, or attempts to commit or conspire an act of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" would face criminal sanctions of up to 15 years, even life if it results in the death of a detainee.
The amendment, referred to as the "Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Interrogations Prohibition Act" of 2010, lists several prohibited acts, including waterboarding, "forcing the individual to be naked, perform sexual acts, or pose in a sexual manner", beatings, electric shocks, use of dogs, inducing hypothermia or heat injury, stress positions, deprivation of necessary "sleep, food or medical care" and conducting mock executions. Other prohibited acts include using the threat of force to "coerce an individual to desecrate that individual's religious artifacts," excessive cold or heat, cramped confinement, prolonged isolation, and use of hooding."
The amendment would also implement criminal sanctions for medical professionals who assist in such interrogations. According to the language of the amendment, "any medical professional who in the course of or in anticipation of a covered interrogation knowingly commits or attempts to commit an act medical malfeasance with the intent to enable an act of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" would also face criminal sanctions. And act of "medical malfeasance" adds five years to the orginal offense
And with the recent publication by the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility that laid waste to the accountability aspect and which moved the notion of “professional misconduct” to just a minor infraction or an “ooops” as being inconsistent with the Rule of Law. Consequently, the OPR’s publication delivered to the torture memo authors, a “get out of jail” free card that is premised on ‘rank stupidity’ by the folks at the DOJ. Of course, I am talking about the legal “experts” with such names as Yoo and Bybee, for starters. Consequently, the Bush administration conveniently tossed the UN Convention on Torture into the trashcan as part and parcel to America’s public policy regimen.
And because President Obama and his Department of Justice has turned its back on the criminality of the political operatives in the Bush administration, Congressman Reyes had his nosed rubbed in the White House crappola of their lousy politics. Of course, the “good” public policy that seems to emanate out into the public sphere and rendered by decent Democrats, is reduced to the equivalence of “let’s do what the Bush administration did” and nothing less, as espoused by President Obama and his yucklings, is coming home to roost and onto Obama’s shoulders.
Obviously, the Obama administration is either terrified of any Democrat who appears to be too aggressive in behavior toward prior criminality during the Bush administration, or is too terrified that should the Republicans regain control of the House during the next seven years, the Republicans will turn their headlights onto Obama’s acolytes, despite the existing Rule of Law. If the Obama administration was determined to be adept at being “pro-active”, they would have been out and about in high support for this Reyes legislation. That they weren’t, speaks volumes to us here in the Sonoran Desert and done in the guise of a sophisticated approach among Democrats “with Power” for marginalizing Democrats who don’t “hold, if any, Power”. Thus, both the Democrats and the Republicans are “experts” when it comes to this regimen for ‘marginalizing’ their lessers.
In the meantime, Congressman Reyes was given the political “body slam” and a tough reminder that Torture, as a political or legal issue, cannot be touched, other than by the Attorney General and at the expressed consent and direction of President Obama.
And here in the Sonoran Desert, we too can smell the political crappola that is continuing to emanate out of the White House and from these respective decision makers. In short, we are paying attention. Obama and his minions need our votes in 2010 and 2012. And if these political operatives, both Hispanic and Non-Hispanic in the White House and among his Minions, think that they can be assured of the Chicano vote in these next two election cycles, they must be smoking the usual funny cigarettes or for sucking down the ever-present toxic elixir of the Democratic ‘brand’ of snake oil.
Finally, it's easy to forget that the USA became a signatory to the Geneva Conventions on the sole premise for "protecting" our men and women in their wearing our nation's uniform. Consequently, when our political leaders and our Admirals and Generals do not strictly adhere to the Geneva Conventions, or combined in this behavior, they are 'abusing' our men and women in the armed forces. Furthermore, Congressman Silvestre Reyes is a Vietnam War Vet, and is reflecting, in his legislation for our being Brothers and Sisters of Shared Experiences. Obama and et. al., cannot, given their history and their lack of concern for lacing up the combat boots and for strapping on the body armor in our nation's defense.
Jaango—posted on February 26, 2010
Friday's Frailties and Foibles
1. Doing “crazy”. Don't ever let it be said that politics cannot be enjoyable. Arizona's Republican-led State Legislature has the Republican Caucus introducing legislation that any Candidate for the Oval Office--Read President Obama here, has to show his or her citizenship papers prior to being placed on the Arizona ballot.
2. Not much has changed or for understanding reality correctly. Yesterday’s healthcare summit between the Democrats and the Republicans, still did not get to the “truth”. When Clinton’s healthcare program collapsed in 1993, the Republican alternative in 1993, is now today’s Obama healthcare program. Thus, has any ‘progress’ been achieved, given that Obama is now “channeling” the late Senator John Chafee’s vision as he articulated it back in 1993?
3. What’s new with Rush Limbaugh? He is now off and onto another racist attack. Oh, well! No need to pay attention. He obviously has no intention of changing his schtick.
4. Is Glen Beck being ‘hammered’? Glen Beck is being chastised for propagating the notion that the ‘crazies’ should take to the political hustings and run as candidates for elective office and in doing so, challenge the Republican incumbents at the ballot box. Thus, the seminal thinkers in the Republican Party are not approving of Beck’s ‘attacks’ given that Beck is ‘dividing’ the Party. But then, no one on the Right appreciates being called out for the embarrassment of having advocated a lack of any deficit reduction plan and which would interfere with the continuing efforts to repeal the estate tax, massive government spending, especially the off-book type spending for two wars, and first and foremost, increasing the size and reach of the federal government.
5. Kudos to National Public Radio. They did their homework and ‘fact checked’ the news media by researching the modern history of ‘reconciliation’ in the Senate. Thus, reconciliation was used 21 times and the majority of these 21 times, was accomplished by the Republicans in the Senate. And which lays waste to the meme of the existing conventional wisdom posited by the Republican Caucus and as accepted as “fact” by the major news media outlets.
6. “highway hypocrites”. Yup, that’s the name that the Democrats are giving to Republicans for having opposed Stimulus Dollars with their votes in Congress, and while ungraciously expressing their appreciation that these same dollars are beneficial and a boon in their home districts for keeping the lights on in a school building and for keeping the employment rolls intact despite the existing economic morass.
7. Kudos to House Speaker Nancy "Nana" Pelosi. In her closing statement of yesterday at the HCR Summit, she gently reminded President Obama of his prior political support for the Public Option. And of note, here at the CVO, we affectionately accord Nancy Pelosi the moniker for "nana" since we are a reality-based community, and she is a grandmother.
Jaango--posted on February 26, 2010
The Two-Away Points on the Healthcare Summit
1. Any Republican Plan to cover over 30 million uninsured citizens, in a private sector scenario without subsidies, requires a tax increase.
2. Any Republican Plan within a private system that solves the current dilemma of pre-existing conditions requires a mandate and subsidies, and hence, a tax increase.
Both of these take-away points, are the death knell of any Republican Plan or the attendant political efforts. And the political elixir in some form of modern snake oil as a preventive cure does not have any affirming or salutary effect on the body politic. Thus, not helpful to the Republicans. Consequently, subsidies for the uninsured and the elimination of pre-existing conditions—popular with the general public, puts the onus on any Republican Plan and which adequately demonstrates their lack of any political gravitas on healthcare reform.
Jaango--posted on February 25, 2010
The Black Agenda
I find it interesting that the Reverend Al Sharpton and television personality Tavis Smiley are having a public tussle on any emphasis for a “black agenda”. To wit, Smiley argues for and Sharpton opposes the idea that President Obama must or should focus his considerable attention in order to address or even emphasize this “black agenda.”
And from this public tussle, both Sharpton and Smiley are being ridiculed for attempting to perform the archaic role of “racial spokesman”. Of course, it doesn’t elevate the importance of “the message” but this ridicule does attempt to destroy “the messenger”. So what we are getting is that ‘distracting’ and ‘deflecting’ this public tussle, for ‘answering’ the question that has been posed to the extent of an “unmet need” that inculcates the concerns in the African American community, is not being actually addressed, but is being ignored and readily dismissed. In other words, Sharpton is arguing that African American “concerns” should be subsumed in order for President Obama to address the “concerns” of a larger importance and that being white America since white Americans far outnumber African Americans.
Equally important is to understand is this political significance in which more voters for Obama will be located in white America than will be found among African Americans. Thus, this historic ‘marginalization’ is also a Democratic ‘feature’ even though criticizing the Republicans for their same and obtuse efforts at ‘marginalizing’ is a “bug” of historic proportions as well. Consequently, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, or so it seems when Sharpton’s logic is taken a step further than even he would like to see or even acknowledge.
Now, I take a somewhat far different view than that of the Reverend Al Sharpton and perhaps, I tend to side with Tavis Smiley on his advocacy for greater attention and effort to address the political, economic, and social concerns expressed by our national community of African Americans. And thus, I am far tougher on the Democrats, as reflected by what Rev. Sharpton and President Obama consider their level of ‘concern’ relative to the African Americans. To wit, their political success as articulated by Sharpton and Obama relative to white America is far more important to them than is my ‘concern’ from here in the hinterlands or as I affectionately call it, the Sonoran Desert.
The other day, I read an article in which three out of four persons in America over the age of 25 are non-high school graduates. If this perceived ‘fact’ is indeed a Fact, then, our America is in a big world of hurt when it comes to the “sharp elbows of competition”. If so, China and India will be eating our lunch in the coming years and there’s no doubt about that today, unless the technology gurus here in America come us with a vehicle that permits us all to “walk on water”. And because Sharpton is a self-designated “expert” on Education and as we are being told that Sharpton is advising President Obama on Education issues, can I expect to see any success on this “educational front”? Not likely, and I won’t be holding my breath.
So, when it comes to Education, permit me to become a self-designated substitute for Tavis Smiley on Education, and thereby argue my “big” idea versus Sharpton’s “non-big” idea.
Here in ChicanoLandia, one of two students do not graduate from high school, and as such, this horrendous drop out rate, is not being addressed either effectively or adequately. And it is for this reason that I advocate the implementation of an Academic-Military Draft that is readily made available to any person willing to “volunteer” to serve in our Armed Forces for a period of three years. Consequently, at the end of this time frame, each “volunteer” would have acquired both a GED and a two-year Associate of Arts Degree in General Studies. And in doing so, the military mission would not be hampered one iota.
Because, there is no yardstick on which to measure Ambition, personal achievement and success becomes of paramount importance when a decision-making moment occurs, either in the public or private sector. Thus, the completion of the Academic-Military draft, in and of itself, would generate a wealth of college recruiters and who would stand in line and a dozen deep, in order to recruit these highly successful “volunteers” to attend the college or university of their choice when it comes to the completion of their third and fourth year of academics for either engineering or business or perhaps, for medicine or the ‘hard’ sciences.
Needless to say, but I should and as a reminder to myself, perhaps, I need to “talk” to Tavis Smiley so that he may have a tad more ‘ammunition’ as he continues his public tussle with the esteemed Reverend Al Sharpton and his obvious wrongheadedness?
Jaango--posted on February 25, 2010
Cell Phone "tracking"
One of America’s more notable journalists and whom specialize in the arena of ‘national security’ is from Newsweek, and his name is Michael Isikoff. Earlier this month, he wrote an article and went into considerable detail in which law enforcement personnel can access a “portal” to secure information on an owner’s use of a cell phone.
Now, some Judges or Legal Magistrates are refusing to approve warrants and premised on “probable cause” because law enforcement officials could not provide sufficient justification of this “probable cause”. And more so, since a Magistrate refused to approve such applicable requests, she went on to organize her fellow Magistrates in support of her opposition. She was successful. And now, enters the Justice Department asking a court of appeals to overturn these magistrate decision.
Upon questioning by the Court of Appeals, one Judge asked the federal prosecutor if a group of people were attending a labor rally, and various people were using their cell phones, would or could law enforcement personnel be able to ‘scrutinize’ this activity in ‘real time’? The federal prosecutor attempted to deflect the question, but did readily admit that our government could ‘spy’ on the attendees of this hypothetical union-member rally. And all this can be apparently done without a court warrant. To date, the Court of Appeals has yet to render their decision to overturn the legal decision of this combined cadre of some of America’s legal magistrates.
And from therein, your “privacy” rights are being placed at risk.
To my way of thinking, “probable cause” should not be placed on the political altar for convenience sake. Yet, the Obama Administration has permitted a little known regulatory functionality to continue, despite the concerns being expressed by the more notable civil libertarians and with the mainstream media failing to focus their attention onto the disreputable behavior being practiced by the various law enforcement agencies. In short, a court warrant should and could be easily obtained, provided the leadership team among the law enforcement agencies wanted to ‘prefect’ the Rule of Law and done to the point, where even I wouldn’t have to read of all this egregious behavior.
Jaango--posted on February 23, 2010
Odds & Ends
1. According to the pundits, our federal government is broken, and into this morass, the Senator from Indiana, Evan Bayh walks away because he’s an “executive at heart”. Sure, and I have a deep hole in Arizona called the Grand Canyon for sale.
2. Senator Joe Lieberman would have endorsed a Democrat if any has asked him. Good luck with that propaganda. Moreover, the Senate Democratic Caucus should have taken away his Chair’s gavel over the Committee that provides oversight to the Department of Homeland Security. The only “out” that Lieberman had politically available to him was to stipulate that both he and McCain were “friends” of many long years, and he didn’t use this ‘excuse’. But then, Lieberman doesn’t have the moxie to admit that he is a Republican in sheep’s clothing. Nonetheless, Lieberman’s proclivity for any useful propaganda will be utilized to the extent possible since he is a media hound.
3. The Good News! Ken Starr would apologize to President Clinton for the role he played in the Republican’s overall impeachment trial. As such, he closes with the caveat that no one is above the law. Unfortunately, Starr could not contain himself and thusly, forgot to mention that he-Clinton should have used a low level functionary within the Department of Justice to absolve him of all crimes, past, present, and future, as did President Bush.
4. Obviously, Senator Evan Bayh woke up one day, looked in the mirror, and saw himself as president. Consequently, he took himself off the playing field in the Senate since he realized that in seeing himself, he is not the majority in America, otherwise, President Obama would not have been elevated to the Oval Office.
5. Sallie Mae is now in the forefront of an effort to kill a student loan reform bill that would enable more students to attend college while saving taxpayers millions of dollars.
6. In South Carolina, a Republican legislator has introduced a bill that would prohibit accepting U.S. currency. This is another manifestation of a ‘race to the bottom’.
7. “Fool Me Twice!” Now, the Right has found its gravitas. With the first anniversary of the Recovery Act, Congressman Pence is starting to argue that “no net jobs” were created. This means that the Recovery Act is proving itself successful despite the many critics that are saying otherwise and even despite the rising unemployment rate that now seems to have leveled off. If jobs creation picks up this Spring and Summer, the elections in November may not bode well for the Right, and these implacable pundits will have no place to hide for being wrongheaded again.
8. An embarrassing moment in America. It took Rachel Maddow to tell of the “Truth-in-Politics” for the obvious ‘packaging’ when she says the following: “The stimulus has been a gift-wrapped opportunity for Democrats to show how Republicans have denounced Democratic legislation in Washington for political effect, and then admitted in their home districts that the legislation works. It shows not only that Democratic policies work—and when push comes to shove, in their home districts, Republicans know it—it also shows that Republicans care so little about policy that they’re O.K. with holding totally nonsensically contradictory positions on important stuff.”
9. White, rich, and college educated. What does both the Tea Party Movement and the CPAC have in common? You guessed it correctly. White, rich, and college-educated! Of course, each year the CPAC has its convention and which, by the way, started yesterday. Moreover, seeing and hearing the extremists engaged in their political tantrum, is, indeed, a sight to behold and which adds more grist to the “old” Pico de Gallo, or as affectionately referred to here at the CVO, as our recipe for resolving our ‘heartburn’. Lest I forget, the co-organizer for this year’s bash is none other than the John Birch Society. And more on this later.
10. British Passports. Ten British citizens residing in Israel either "loaned" or had their passports "stolen" and thusly, a team of assassains killed a Hamas leader in Dubai. In the meantime, the British government has queried Israel on the availability of these presumptive passports. And the British intelligence community has denied 'giving' Israel these passports with the usual biometric photographs of the affected citizens. Now, Israel's reputation is in tatters internationally due to the Gladstone Report and which was authored by the United Nations, so the emphpasis has shifted in the direction of Israel and it is up to Israel to "explain" itself to the international community.
Jaango--posted on February 19, 2010
Do You Want "Bipartisanship" or "Promises Completed"?
Since political life is all about ‘tough’ choices, as a voter, you have yet to be asked as to whether you want “bipartisanship” or “promises completed” from the Democrats in the Senate.
And of course, this is my follow-on comment relative to “Pelosi speaks and we listen”.
Now, virtually all the pundits, and especially the “regressive” Moderate type of pundits, are pounding away at the computer keyboard to convince themselves that President Obama should privately “talk to” both the Senator Minority Leader and the his Deputy Minority Leader, Senators Mitch McConnell and Jon Kyl, respectively, and easily convince them to toss overboard their “obstructionism” and done in favor of moving America forward in order to address the many serious and varied problems facing our nation.
And I find the ‘framing’ of and from among these assorted pundits, is that President Obama has the “responsibility” to bring about this iconic ‘bipartisanship’. As such, no burden of responsibility is being visited on the Republicans and the leadership cabal. And furthermore, these numerous pundits cannot bring themselves to write that the Republican leadership has the duty and responsibility to visit the White House and “offer their assistance” in addressing these legitimate political demands being made from the general public relative to specific concerns and issues. Consequently, very little is being ‘accomplished’ in the Senate.
Therefore, when the new Senate is activated in January of next year, the Democrats can change the rules of operation, should they so desire, and if they do, the accomplishments will be numerous. But perhaps, I am much too cynical of these Democratic Senators, since their ‘game’ has been far too obvious and for far too long? Thus, “punching” the “aggressive” Moderates by the likes of Evan Bayh and others, has been their iconic behavior for practicing the “blue dog dance”. The “eight” Senators have been the actual obstructionists in contrast to the Republicans practicing their minority party status. And if the majority of the Democratic Senators don’t or won’t clean up their Senate in January, the American people will continue to lose, despite all the perceived victories of a temporary nature.
Moreover, should Democratic incumbents lose in November, they had advance notice that “promises made” was the easy part when measured against the yardstick for “promises kept”. And it’s this “promises kept” that will keep the Democratic Senators in charge of charting America’s course for the next generation’s benefit. Of course, if the next generation of Americans do not benefit, then, we should understand that America’s plutocracy, is still in charge and will not brook any constant or consistent opposition. And yet this repetition of a “Conservative Failure” will continue to recycle itself, and which started with Reagan and ended with Bush43. And why Reagan and not Nixon? Historically, Nixon was a 'different' type of conservative.
And fortunately, elections have consequences.
Jaango--posted on February 18, 2010
Pelosi speaks and we listen?
In an interview given to Roll Call and in which to access, requires one to have a subscription, so, permit me to summarize the more salient parts of her interview.
1. She states quite emphatically that a "constitutional majority" is only 51 votes in the Senate and not the presumed 60 votes. She expands this argument to suggest, perhaps, each member of Congress--House and Senate, should be elected at the local level of either the state or Congressional District, and thusly, 60 percentage points of the total vote would be required. And in taking this logic one step further, a filibuster in the Senate, is a "bug" and not a "feature". Any legislative action should not require a "super majority" of a vote consisting of 60 votes.
2. On "reconciliation", she cogently explained that five presidents have used reconiliation. And as to Bush's use, he used it five times, and all for legislation that was close to the heart of the Republican agenda, such as tax cuts for America's wealthiest.
3. She went on to explain that the House Democrats have 200 pieces of legislation and 70% of this overall legislation was passed with over 50 Re[publicans voting affirmatively alongside her Democrats.
4. She is supportive of a Bipartisan Summit to be held and televised on February 25th and furthermore, she is open to any new idea that the Republicans will bring to the discussion regarding HCR. However, she goes on to remind everyone that she has seen the Republican alternative submitted by the full House, and in that bill, 3 million uninsured would be covered. And in this instance, she made the comparison that the Democratic bill voted favorably on and sent to the Senate and for their approval, contained provisions that 30 million uninsured would be fully covered. Of course, 3 million covered versus 30 million covered, reflects that the Republican version of HCR, is a sham and a shame, at best.
Consequently, today's "debate" on HCR is premised on an expansive "good" self-governance as viewed from the Left. And from the perspective of the Right, this "debate" is all about the moral parameters of how much is enough when it comes to the notional for selfishness. Thus, the greater use of this "selfishness" syndrome delivers far less "medical care delivered".
Jaango--posted on February 16, 2010
Odds and Ends for This Week
1. The Pentagon’s Admirals and Generals are quietly talking among themselves as to how do “de-citizen-ize” our fellow citizens. What a bunch of bozos. First, they fall all over themselves in support of Bush’s War of Choice, then, they proceed to turn their backs on the Privates, the Corporals, and the Sergeants. And now, these bright “stars” expect us to “listen” to their political crappola, again. If Obama, Biden, and Gates, utilized some their smarts, a substantive RIF should be forthcoming shortly.
2. Keeping it in the family. One of the Diaz-Balart brothers from Florida is considering not running for re-election to the House of Representatives after 8 terms. If so, the second brother wants to run in his congressional district since it is more Republican dominant. And yet, if the first decides to not run again, he expects Governor Christ to appoint him to the Florida legislature. As in not “demand” but “expect”. Such arrogance is now visibly on public display and that’s our national Republican mindset.
3. California bankruptcy. The Republican primary candidate for the U.S. Senate is Carly Fiorina and she is suggesting that California should declare bankruptcy and then move on to greater things. Obviously, states do not have the ‘power’ to declare their own bankruptcy, she knows it, and still cannot contain herself. If she were determined to be more truthful, she would be blasting the current Republican Governor for having sold Califa a “due bill” that will continue to exist until the Democrats in the Legislature decide to “get serious” about their ability to provide political leadership. And at some point, the gimmicks will run out on these Democrats. And Carly “clarity” Fiorina is competing in the Republican primary to be held in June for the opportunity to challenge Senator Barbara Boxer in the general.
4. All Right! The Winter Olympics starts today! Much can be said on my part, but it’s best to go out and enjoy the skills on display. And for the stay-at-homes and the exercise challenged, FoxNews took Gore’s book and tossed it into the snow in order to suggest that climate change is not happening. And not at a loss for good deeds, comedian Stephen Colbert suggested that since its dark outside, the sun must have been destroyed due to climate change. Now it’s up to the fixated and forever-in-denial Senator from Oklahoma to explain to us this difference. Inquiring minds want to know.
5. Democratic Senator Menendez of New Jersey has a big heart. He and several of his fellow Senators were in Miami a week before the Super Bowl in order to extract campaign donations from the lobbyists representing the Big Donors. And next week, President Obama is doing the same thing to even bigger Big Donors. Meanwhile, ‘reconciliation’ on HRC and the Jobs Bill continue to languish in the Senate after having been passed by the Democrats in the House. So much for the ‘big heart of “acceptable” results. And as for ‘results” this is the lowered bar. And yet, this “acceptable results” is only one notch above the baseline for ‘results’. Regardless of my diminished expectations relative to the Obama administration, inevitably Obama’s legacy will result in an historical book written and titled, “The Chicago Crowd Cozied-Up to Corporate America and Obama Was Their ‘front’ Man.” Moreover, I am reminded that 43 Senators favored Single Payer and an additional 9 supported the Public Option. Therefore, there will be no kudos in this corner for these 52 Senators. History shows that Bush’s worst was done through “reconciliation” and these 52 Senators couldn’t bring themselves to do their “best” through reconciliation. Thus, ‘capitulation’ is today’s calling card. And here we remain, having to face the status quo that is indeed dysfunctional for ‘medical care delivered’.
6. The “new” Char-Boss of America’s ‘criminally stupid’? The ‘dean’ of the Washington press corps, David Broder, gushes all about Sarah Palin in his latest column. Unfortunately, the ‘dean’ forgot to put his hat on and look at the “unassailable facts” that have a life of their own. As such, Broder was unable to point to an idea, proposal, achievement or solution that could be reality-based in Palin’s latest speech in either Nashville or in Texas, and we are expected to take the ‘dean’s advice seriously? Her speech at the recent tea party convention in Nashville, contained not one is iota of “unassailable fact” and this lack of a fact filled speech still doesn’t bother the ‘dean’. Perhaps, he should retire to the good life and leave the opinionator-mechanics to another more deserving person who knows how to separate fact from fiction? And Tom Tancredo must be truly disappointed since he didn’t get any honorable mention or kudos in Broder’s column on his—Tancredo’s incomprehensible tirade for inflicting literacy tests upon voters.
7. The “snow bailout”? Leave it to the Heritage Foundation to add a political dimension to Obama’s behavior. He instructed FEMA to get involved in clearing the streets in our nation’s capital due to the recent and heavy snowstorm. And yet, the Heritage Foundation spirals down to its lowest level of political behavior ever. But rest assured, had a Republican president done the same, the Heritage Foundation would have been delivering a screaming defense on “national security” grounds that House and Senate members needed to be at their desks in order to render more war-making and associated spending decisions.
8. Corporate-Friendly? President Obama has been taken to task for defending his reaffirmation of the bonuses for the CEO of the Big Banks. And his rationale is that being criticized by the left for being corporate friendly, and Obama has sluffed-off these criticisms on the premise that the Left has nowhere else to go. Yet, being criticized for being anti-corporate by the Right, requires an immediate and public response, and he does this by saying that he’s a fierce advocate for the wealthy. To my way of thinking, this makes President Obama a blatant Neo-lib, and no amount of ‘course correction’ and no amount of public utterances, are going to change my view or at least and until he delivers a variety of actual “acceptable results” to my satisfaction. As such, I practice the notional that my vote is sacred and not to be sacrificed on behalf of a nonsensical leadership model.
9. The Jobs Bill. As of late yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took the Jobs Bill away from Senator Baucus of Montana and Chair of the Senate Budget Committee. And one of the not so well known provisions in this Jobs Bill was that a corporate entity that created a ‘new’ job would be exempted from paying the employer’s obligation into the Social Security Fund. Consequently, a back door tax cut of considerable importance and consequence was to be foisted on the American people.
And which brings me to suggest that Senator Al Franken from Minnesota should convert to being a Republican. Yup, in doing so, he--Franken would be entitled to four votes on the Jobs Bill. First, Franken could say that his conservative Icon, Ronald Reagan would have voted for any Jobs Bill, and as a Senator, he would’ve cast his first of four votes in this manner. His second vote would be that he is a comedian and thusly, he would be poking the Democrats in the ribs as his enjoyable fun. His third vote would be because he caused Senator Baucus to drop his skivvies and thusly, he ‘punked’ Baucus. And his fourth vote because he has faithfully convinced Senator Baucus that Baucus still remains or continues to be one of America’s “mental giants”. And yes, having fun at Baucus’ expense is appropriate due to Baucus’ craptacular fail on the Jobs Bill, and which is my way of utilizing, in lieu of ingesting a stress releaser, humor to drive home the point that Senator Reid is demonstrating that he still has a tad of cojones remaining despite his prior incarnation for his lackadaisical behavior.
Jaango—posted on February 12, 2010
Is a "course correction" needed?
With the contemplated White House Summit on Bipartisanship set to happen within the next two weeks and apparently agreed to by the Republicans, this healthcare reform shindig will be a big flop and seen as such, by the the Democrats out here in America's Hinterlands. Thus, the "insiders" in Washington think they have some political "magic" that will prove themselves correct on behalf of the general public.
And yet, the most overlooked aspect in all this is that the Democrats--had going into the healthcare debate, starting as early as last year--was the FACT that in the Senate, there were 43 votes in favor of Single Payer and an additional 9 votes affirming support for the Public Option. Conseequently, the question that needs to asked and answered is this: "Why is the White House and the Senate Leadership complicit in continuing to downsize healthcare reform and to the point where it's almost unrecognizable from the existing status quo?"
As such, it obvious that the White House sees "bipartisanship" not as a governance tool but as a political tactic for the sole purpose of embarrassment, and which does not bode well for those of us and who reside in these Hinterlands. And as this shouting match between the Democrats and the Republicans continue, we lose.
How do we lose?
Take, for example, the White House has lowered the 'bar' and to the extent that "results" will pacify the Democratic "base" and as suggested by the conventional wisdom. And yet, the higher 'bar' is to be supported by the desire for "acceptable" results and premised on Common Sense, and that is where we continue to lose, regardless of any public blandishments uttered by anyone on either side of the political aisle relative to "medical care delivered".
Now, I am not "anti-government" by any stretch of the imagination, but what distresses me to no end is that "power" is to be utilized, including the nuance and subtelty that is ingrained in politics--for the common good and not be wasted on the non-essential or on the useless trivia. And if this perceived "power" can not be utilized to meet America's "unmet needs", then, political malpractice by these inscrutable and perhaps wily Democratic Diva-asses, has finally arrived. Moreover, a constant and needy critique of the Right is a supremely waste of hot air or until we, as Democrats, take the time and effort to clean up the Senate.
In our Democracy, you are the judge and the jury and your decision will be forthcoming in November of this year.
Jaango--posted on February 11, 2010
The Four Pillars of the Tea Party Movement
Even I have to hold my nose when it comes to writing anything cogent relative to the tea party movement, and yet, knowing who these wing nuts are, requires that I do so, and thereby, you don’t have to lift a pen or pencil and simultaneously, hold your nose as well.
Thus, the Four Pillars of the Tea [party] Movement are:
1. Birtherism
2. Anti-immigrant
3. Homophobia
4. Christian fundamentalism.
Consequently, are the “regressive” Moderates and the Independent voters buying-into all this political crappola? Time will tell.
Jaango--posted on February 9, 2010
The Obama Agenda?
Actually, I much prefer to call it the Pelosi Agenda, and done from the standpoint of accuracy, of course.
Take, for example, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, has been doing the heavy lifting for the Democrats in Congress, and the Democratic Senators, have been playing the ‘caboose’ given their lack of serious effort when measured as to what Pelosi can do when she corralled her fellow House Members on a variety of serious legislative efforts. To wit, her successes include the following:
1. A financial reform package
2. Financial aid systemic for college students
3. Climate change legislation
4. Healthcare Reform
5. PAYGO
6. A Jobs bill
These six elements of legislative effort have all passed the House, and with the exception the Stimulus bill, continue to languish in the Senate, and the Senate Democrats are fearful of being called ‘incompetent’ by the Republicans. And this incompetence can only be transitioned into “competence” if the Republican Plan or any non-Democratic Plan, is adopted in the Senate. And this cringe-worthy behavior came to full fruition last week when Senator Shelby put a blanket-hold on all of President Obama’s nominees that are requiring senatorial approval as part of the “advise and consent” functionality. No notable Democrat senator uttered a peep in opposition to this blanket hold.
Therefore, should Speaker Pelosi continue to do a “good job”, I will not be surprised to see a “Draft Nancy Pelosi” Movement commencing somewhere in the latter part of calendar year 2011. If so, my ears will indeed “perk up”. Perhaps, the ‘threat’ of a ‘targeted’ primary by those disappointed in President Obama’s Hesitancy Agenda will cause him to move beyond the equivalence of a mea culpa, and for “doing something” that will surpass all the rhetorical flourishes that have currently failed to reinforce my mindset that President Obama prefers to be recognized as a “regressive” Moderate and for the equivalence of being a noted Neo-Liberal wearing the convenient camouflage paint.
And when Rahm Emanuel called the MoveOn folks “f***king retards”, we, as Chicanos, should be “listening” to Obama’s “inner circle” or the Chicago Crowd in order for us to understand the we, as Chicanos, will be the next sacrifice or metaphorical chicken to have our neck placed on his chopping block. And the “r” word won’t be in the White House’s lexicon for the ‘code talk’ should it come to this historical experience. I will expect it to be much worse.
But then, Trust also contains the wheels of reciprocity and which works in both directions. And as to my “listening” skills, I viewed Pelosi handing-off immigration reform to Senator Chuck Schumer in the Senate, and done at the request of the White House. Thus, Obama’s Chicago Crowd, intentionally slighted Congressman Luis Gutierrez and done with the sole purpose that he--Obama won’t need the Chicano vote until three years hence, or in 2012. Unfortunately, Congressman Gutierrez was not viewed as an able “opportunist” of ill repute, otherwise, he would become the Senator from Illinois, and would’ve served many years and well beyond the Obama presidency, or for a good 25 years in the Senate.
Jaango--posted on February 9, 2010
A "new" Epiphany for American Politics?
For the past ten years, I have been writing, and at times, even inarticulately, that Senator John McCain is just another, in a long line of traditional and predictable conservatives. However, he does his politics differently, and understanding this is required if one takes a close look at the political radar screen, and where history is found to be inescapable. And it’s this “differently” that McCain has historically hoodwinked virtually everyone in the national media. The truth be told, the national media bamboozled itself with its effervescence for articulating the corporate meme of America as a society for the ‘criminally stupid’.
Take, for example, Dana Milbank, the Washington Post reporter and perceived pundit on television’s Talking Head Circuit. He has this to say about McCain and advances his notional relative to McCain, he—Milbank, has achieved his political epiphany. And to wit,
“I was an original McCaniac, riding with him in his SUV through the back roads of New Hampshire in ’99. Even as other McCainiacs drifted away, I tried to find excuses for him. When he endorsed his former rival George W. Bush in 2004 and when he spoke at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University in 2006, I chalked it up to the exigencies of Republican politics. I convinced myself that his lurch to the right and his fear mongering in the 2008 presidential campaign was really the work of his Bush-trained handlers. When he continued on his hard-right course after the election, I figured he was bitter about the loss…
“Now, the most generous explanation is the McCain needs to protect his right flank because he’s facing a primary challenge in Arizona from a “birther” Republican, the radio broadcaster and former congressman J.D. Hayworth. But each time it gets harder to hold on to the hope that there’s still an iconoclast in there somewhere.”
So, today, we have Dana Milbank, a respected journalist, speaking publicly about his inability to do his “homework” and yet, he is still unwilling to admit that he’s been wrong since ’99. As such, Milbank can’t take that ‘final step’ required for understanding a reality that is required and that we, as Chicanos, know well since we have lived it for all these many years.
For those of us from here in the Sonoran Desert, the label for “maverick” was nothing more than pure political shtick wrapped in condescension and contempt for the working class. Moreover, McCain loves his earmarks/pork barrel, dearly. And this is his “differently”. For example, the traditional Republican takes his/her ideas and notes on a given subject area and has his legislative staffer draft the appropriate legislation, and which he will introduce at the appropriate and propitious time, and as such, moves the public debate accordingly. McCain, in contrast, takes his ideas and notes to the affected governmental agencies and requests that the agency honcho, writes the legislation, delivers this new legislation to the affected Oversight Committee for their consideration. Consequently, should the Oversight Committee include McCain’s ideas into actual legislation for an affirming Senate vote, McCain’s fingerprints are nowhere to be found. Thus, he can posit to the world that he is not a “pork barrel hound”. But here in the Sonoran Desert, we know differently.
Long story short, McCain, among the many of this past generation, had the greatest opportunity imaginable to “improve” America, since he could have been a giant in the Senate, despite the media’s love affair with McCain, and despite the high regard that the general public had for McCain. Thusly, he intentionally cultivated a “story” that any politician would kill for. And as for his love affair for the pure and unadulterated crassness, he threw it all away. As to his having been the late Barry Goldwater’s protégé, McCain went in a different direction, or as many would like to think, and yet, the Truth is far different. Regardless, he is still perceived by Chicanos, as just another carpet bagger of ill repute for being a prodigious “enabler” and for demonstrating his lack of character for failing to be the “stand-up guy” when the chips were down, as evidenced by his obvious collapse on immigration reform and his signature legislation.
Needless to say but I will, America’s historians are not going to be kind to McCain for his lack of a political legacy. He will eventually, join George W. Bush and Herbert Hoover attendant to America’s mal-governance and anti-government-storyline, an economic collapse, two wars and the marginalization of America’s ‘racial and ethnics’. Equally important to me, of course, is that McCain has never--to this day since I have yet to find evidence otherwise, spoken out forcefully in his opposition to ‘racially profiling’ of Chicanos, and done in a manner in which his oppositional statement was directed at his fellow Republican Elected Officials in Arizona.
And that’s our reality relative to Dana Milbank and Senator John McCain.
Jaango—posted on February 8, 2010
Friday's Foibles & Odds and Ends
1. There is now a national effort to encourage President Obama to enter into the Republican Den for what is being called Question Time. Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen again since the Republicans were on the losing end of this public dialogue, and this political fiasco being televised nationally, was painful to Fox News, and which caused them to disconnect.
2. Where do they get these guys for a Debate? The former Congressman from Tennessee and now presumptive primary Democratic candidate for the United States Senate from the State of New York, debated yesterday, with the current Chairman of the National Republican Committee, Michael Steele. Both are African Americans and the subject was the Future of America. The mainstream news media outlets loved this idea to the nth degree, so we will be hearing more of this in the days ahead since both participants are inside the beltway Rightistas. Thus, one of America’s preeminent “regressive” Moderates and a “confused” Conservative, attempted to convince white America, that the Right continues to have their failed political agenda reaffirmed and perpetuated.
3. Rahm Emanuel and President Obama’s Chief of Staff, overreached. The numbers are in and 900,000 Democrats and independents “stayed home” in the latest election in the State of Massachusetts and in which Scott Brown, the Republican candidate won. For calling the “aggressive” Moderates the “R” word, has not been helpful, but then Emanuel could offer an apology or respond affirmatively to the “demand” being made on the Internet that Emanuel do a public service announcement for the Special Olympics and prior to March Third for his due apology or mea culpa, would reduce the political friction.
4. “loose” words from Orin Hatch. In sheer frustration, his office put out a press release that he does not support DADT. So, all the political activists continue to fail to realize that the opposition to the repeal of DADT, is a generational thingy.
5. One step back. You may recall that Grover Norquist is famous for his desire to ‘drown government in the toilet’ and yet, Frank Luntz, the messaging guru for both Wall Street and the Republicans, has this to say: “This is your critical advantage. Washington’s incompetence is the common ground on which you can build support.” As such, Frank Luntz takes his one step back from the political abyss that illuminates Norquist’s leadership failure and less than stellar gravitas.
6. Senate filibuster of the Jobs Bill. With an expected first vote in a series of votes on a Democratic jobs bill, the spokesman for Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, expects a Republican filibuster once their 41st Republican is seated and that being Scott Brown from Massachusetts. Consequently, the now defunct supermajority enjoyed by the Democrats will require a lone Republican crossing the aisle and voting along side the Democratic majority. Now, how will the Republicans “explain” this filibuster to the middle class come November’s national election?
7. Daniel Pipes, a neo-conservative of less than stellar historical note has always advised that America should bomb Iran. Over the years, he has always forwarded a variety of rationales for doing so. And in this regard, the latest incarnation of another dumb rationale is that in doing so, President Obama can save his presidency. Obviously, his cookie-cutter version of another mind-numbingly stupid rationale will now to be discarded and ignored by me. And that’s a promise, or until another and worst rationale shows up on my radar screen. All together now, Pipes is fun to mock and satirize!
8. And now, on to more “mock”. House Republicans are producing a ‘shadow’ budget that will add to the poor person’s healthcare costs by reducing Medicare and Medicaid to a systemic for vouchers and while privatizing the Social Security System. And in doing this, the Republicans on the House Budget Committee will eliminate the deficit within the next 50 years. Of course, should they stumble over their own feet, given their historical behavior for advocating more tax cuts for the wealthy, they will eliminate the deficit within the next 200 years or so.
9. Here we go again. Getting our hopes up relative to two potential vacancies on the SCOTUS, is hard to imagine, especially, when the Right will not ‘reduce’ their judicial activism for the long term. Of course, the Grim Reaper is nowhere to be found and is not waiting in the wings, the last time I checked. And given our penchant for longevity, being carried out of the arena on our shield, is the only logical approach to understand and use, in this instance.
10. Delusional Democrats. It seems that several Senate Democrats have become enamored of the ‘carve outs’ within healthcare reform. The latest and of another potential political disaster with respect to the “Cadillac Tax” is the idea that a special exemption be created and implemented on behalf of federal employees. Not having learned anything from the election in Massachusetts or the Cornhusker Giveaway to Senator Ben Nelson, Democrats should just give up and melt away to the nether regions, or else, retire from elective office while their dignity is still intact.
11. Senator Shelby of Alabama places a “hold” on all of President Obama’s nominees for serving in the Obama administration because he feels he is entitled to funding for his various pork barrel projects. Of course, Shelby has strayed from the sole Senatorial Prerogative and which is ascribing to the functionality for its “constitutional obligation for protecting the wealthy”.
Jaango--posted on February 5, 2010
Are More Gun Laws Needed For Arizona?
Arizonans have been famous for continuing the meme or storyline for the "Wild West" since Arizona's largest revenue generator is found in tourism, and yet, with more gun laws adopted and made widely available, the folks contemplating Arizona as a future family destination, may begin to have second thoughts.
During her seven years of leadership as Governor, Janet Napolitano waged battle with the gun rights advocates, especially for taking a loaded weapon into establishments where alcohol was being served and consumed. She won several of these battles and as a last resort, used her veto pen.
However, a conservative Republican Governor is now at the political helm, and the floodgates are opening, consequently, gun advocates see a clear and convincing tidal wave at their back that may prove beneficial and leading to more gun ownership behavior. Thusly, where appropriate, existing gun laws can be either repealed or new legislation approved, and thereby, providing a greater opportunity to the individual to swagger into another without any due apology being forthcoming.
Clearly, the primary effort will be to advocate legislation that permits an Arizonan to carry a concealed weapon without having a gun permit, and to be followed by ending the prohibition that guns manufactured and kept in Arizona be registered. Additionally, college professors will be permitted to carry a gun into the classroom. Of course, laws regarding knives will be overturned as well, or this current thinking has begun and is being discussed in the public sphere that is the Republican-led legislature. As such, the quiet "code talk" of past years, need no longer apply. And I suppose that's the "good news".
Now, will there be more "good news"?
Will these respective state legislators and whom vote affirmatively for the gun and knife agenda, be willing to relinquish their immunity as Elected Officials and subject themselves to a legal provision that consists of an innocent bystander being either injured or killed due to a stray bullet, permit the family member of this injured or newly deceased person to sue the hell out of these state legislators, and to the point where a jury deems what is to be appropriate and of financial consequence?
In closing, lost in all the sturm und drang, will be that there are no new laws that will increase the threshold for gun violence, public safety, and the protecton of law enforcement personnel. And it seems apparent to me, at least, that the bigots, racists, and their enablers, are starting to feel the heat, as well, and possibly to the point where the presumed "legacy" is being jeoparized.
Jaango--posted on February 3, 2010
Deficit Factotums?
Given all the current hoopla regarding deficit reductions, the Common Sense View that I hold and cherish is that when it comes to lowering the already sky-high deficits that burden our national government, very few of the more ‘reasoned’ know-it-alls, fail to grasp that creating new jobs will lead to a considerable lessening of these deficit numbers. And Keynesian Logic requires that we spend monies to work our way out of this economic morass, given that the conservative approach of these past 30 years, hasn't worked all that well. Thus, repeating the conservative approach will only bring back the same results and reinvigorate our economic morass.
Take, for example, creating a job via the Comprehensive Employment Act of the mid-1970s and thru the mid 1980s, proved a boon to the economy. And prevalent research at the time, demonstrated that for every dollar invested in creating these jobs, the “payback” to the taxpayers occurred within 12 to 18 months, and done thru the new employees as they paid the various taxes (Federal/State/Local) required as well as from spending their newly acquired disposable income to purchase food, pay the rent or monthly mortgage payments, as well as such consumer items as a regrigerator and even a new or use automobile.
So, when I hear all the jibber and jabber from the self-appointed “deficit peacocks”, I realize that these peacocks have no visible understanding for both the reality and the numbers, as well as shirking their responsibility to consider the unassailable facts contained within our national history. To wit, these folks demonstrate the obvious behavior for the many loose lips that have attached themselves to many of the backsides of folks for their behavior of the wanton ill repute. In short, there is no desire “to inform and to teach” unless the crass political agenda is being postulated.
Given that we are now a socieity that endows our forgetfulness, a gentle reminder is that back in 1973, the wage-gap disparity commenced, and the Democrats should be arguing that in order to reduce this wage-gap disparity, only government created jobs will fill this void or until the private sector refuses or rejects its take for the ongoing cue from the Wall Street bankers, and if done properly, this means that the middle class can survive and prosper with greater government spending when it comes to creating jobs, especially in light of the fact that 30% of America’s population is now living under 200% of the federal poverty line.
Needless to say but I will, this approach to prosperity, can be easily accomplished if there is substantial political will among the Democrats given that they have the majority of the votes in both the House and the Senate. And yet, the "regressive" Moderates are determined to cater to their large campaign donors while ignoring their constituencies and the latest of this weekend from Miami is that these lobbyists will continue to hold sway over our public policies.
Jaango—posted on February 3, 2010
Privatizing Social Security?
The senior GOP members have announced that privatizing Social Security is relevant to the full faith and integrity for addressing deficit spending. Perhaps, the political right forgot that privatizing Social Security was the first issue on Bush’s agenda for his second term. Although Bush didn’t argue deficit spending, he argued that putting all this wealth into the hands of the private sector would create even more wealth. Not so of course, but that was his argument, and given the recent economic fiasco, not so smart when it came to public policy on Bush’s part. And now, the alternative budget delivered by the House GOP, includes privatizing both Medicare and Medicaid, as well.
More on DADT
The Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, goes before the Armed Services Committee in the Senate in order to support congressional repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. In addition, he will be asking for a one-year delay in order to bring the Admirals and General around to his and President Obama’s way of thinking. And if one looks to the ‘issues’ among the voting cohort of 18 to 29 year-olds, you will find that DADT poses no problems for them. Thus, DADT is generational issue that burdens the Admirals and Generals and the like-minded.
Pell Grants are “welfare”
Of course Pell Grants are public welfare just as our national highway system is a welfare program. And yet, if one listened to the pundits on the Sunday Morning Talking Show Circuit, and especially Fox News, “welfare” seems to a topic that resonates when married to the usual “anti-government” meme that is advocated by the tea baggers and nativists. Thus, propounding and perpetuating this anti-government meme, is advantageous to the Right. And yet, when one addresses the “general welfare” of the nation, these pundits discourage their sons and daughters from visiting an armed forces recruiting station. To wit, their behavior is to leave one subset of the “general welfare” to the poor and brown people for lacing up the combat boots and strapping on the body armor.
Oscar Nominations
Today, the traditional five movies have been expanded to include the Top Ten. As such, I have seen Avatar, Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, and District 9. My disappointment is that Crazy Heart did not make it into the Top Ten, but then, I have an affinity for redemption-type movies. And Crazy Heart is a story that has been told many times over. Regardless, these four movies were worth the price of admission. As to the remaining six movies, I will see these movies as well, time permitting.
Jaango--posted on February 2, 2010
From the British Newspaper, The Independent
Just released is a news item on Tony Blair's overall efforts to appease the United States, and which obviously commenced two years and prior to 9/11. And if the Clinton Administration was actively engaged in this effort, Bill Clinton has some explaining to do to the America people, and specificially , to America's "racial and ethnic" communities, given our historical opposition to Bush's War of Choice, and at the forefront of the Chicano's politics.
And this is one of the most, if not, more striking elements:
"Whitehall officials drafted the “contract with the Iraqi people” as a way of signaling to dissenters in Iraq that an overthrow of Saddam would be supported by Britain. It promised aid, oil contracts, debt cancellations and trade deals once the dictator had been removed. Tony Blair’s team saw it as a way of creating regime change in Iraq even before the 9/11 attack on New York...
The document, headed “confidential UK/US eyes”, was finalized on 11 June 2001 and approved by ministers. It has not been published by the Iraq Inquiry but a copy has been obtained by the Independent and can be revealed for the first time today. It states: “We want to work with an Iraq which respects the right of its people, lives at peace with its neighbors and which observes international laws."
Obviously, America had considerable "input" when it came to crafting this document, given that Tony Blair, possibly Bill Clinton, and both George W. Bush and Dick Cheney endorsed such behaviors as contained in this document.
Jaango--posted on February 1, 2010
President Obama's Budget
Let the hypocrisy begin, starting with the GOP and the Dems will, en masse, capitulate when the time becomes appropriate, and that's the conventional wisdom, but not necessarily, the Common Sense View. Regardless, for Fiscal Year 2010 and starting in October of this year, the total will be $3.8 trillion and with an expected shortfall in revenues totaling $2.2 trillion, leaving a deficit of $1.5 tillion. And given our history, many changes will occur, and yet, the Republicans will continue to remain obstructionists on the premise that November's election will return them to power.
Now, to the highlights:
1. $25 billion for state governments to meet Medicaid costs.
2. $33 billion in additional funds for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a budget of $159 billion for those conflicts in 2011. And the overall increase to the Pentagon, relative to the 2010 and 2011 budgets, is $44 billion.
3. $28 billion for elementary and secondary education programs, a $3 billion increase.
4. $17 billion more for Pell grants to the students in higher education.
5. $61.6 billion for civilian research and development, a $3 billion increase over this current years.
6. $43.6 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, a 2% increase. This will include $734 million for 1,000 advanced imaging machines to enhance airport security.
7. $100 billion for small business tax cuts.
8. $37 billion increase in taxes for oil and gas exploration over the next nine years.
9. $20 billion saved through cuts in some 120 programs.
10. A boost in the top two tax brackets from 33% and 35% and 35% and 39.6% respectively. And families that make $250,000 would see their capital gains and dividend tax rates increase from 15% to 20%. Hedge fund and private equity traders now pay capital gains on the fees would be taxed at higher income tax rates. Corporations would pay extra taxes on overseas earning, amounting to more than $120 billion over the next decade.
With the 2010 fiscal year just beginning relative to budgetary appropriations, the larger picture will bring about unexpected changes. And I find it interesting that should the Republicans anticipate regaining control of Congress, I will expect that investigative efforts advocated by the Republicans on the campaign trail will resonate among the general population and leading to calls for "impeaching" President Obama for having the 'audacity' for being born in Hawaii. This call for impeachment will come from the direction of the "birthers". And if so, the Democrats should start challenging the Republican candidates for office, by asking if these candidates, do in fact, support the 'birthers'. Of course, Obama has no explicit scandals on which to proclaim to the world as the basis for this advoacy among the Right, this message will still resonate. And here in ChicanLandia, we understand this nonsense well, and yet, it will resonate among white America, given that the Republicans anticpated the resurgence of the Democrats in 2006, and attempted to make the case that if the Democrats succeeded, they would conduct a rash of investigation and leading to the impeachment of both Bush and Cheney.
But with the far more important issues on the table, will come from the Democrats during this campaign season, especially on the merits of money. First, is the "tax on banks" for recapturing some of the gita from taxpayers, and secondly, will be on the decision by the SCOTU\S called "Citizens United". This decision on campaign spending ans which lifted these restictions, will benefit to the Democrats, if used correctly. Having Corporate America and the wealth of American subsidiaries of foreign-based corporations to participate in our elections, is a monumental decision. And of course, we conveniently forget that when the DubaiPorts insisted on managing and operating our sea ports, the Democrats argued no on the principle and national security. Bush and Cheney sided with Corporate America. Thus, our national security was deemed irrelevent when it came to a company making money, and that is the side that all Republicans have taken in this modern era of politics, and which for the most part, started back in 1973.
And yet, the quiet but out-of-sight negotiations on the Pentagon budget will be addressed relative to Obama and Biden's "exemption" And into the fray, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced that for her and her budgetary scapel, there will be no exemption for either the Pentagon or for the National Security apparatus. That's good news. And this weekend, House Republican Minority Leader Boehner is stipulating that the Pentagon is not "exempt" either from the Republican leadership in the House. What will happen in the Senate, remains to be seen.
Jaango--posted on February 1, 2010
A Generic Assessment of the State of the Union Speech
In last night’s State of the Union speech, President Obama made mention that the SCOTUS had reversed 100 years of legal precedent in Citizens United. This decision rendered from last week, will have the eventual impact of opening the floodgates of campaign contributions delivered into our political system and provided by foreign entities, and writ large. And no, it was not tacky that President Obama would rip the SCOTUS for this egregious behavior.
Interestingly, when done, the House Chamber stood up and applauded at this SCOTUS stupidity. As the third branch of government, the SCOTUS got it’s chops ripped and now these five Republicans will have to defend themselves for their infamous crappola and the historians will have their field day. The Roberts’ Court will have to contend with this ignominy for many years to come. And I might add, a well-deserved ignominy, at that.
And the more important part of his speech, was this historical reminder and to wit:
“So let me start the discussion on government spending by setting the record straight. At the beginning of the last decade, America had a surplus of over $200 billion. By the time I took office, we had a one year deficit of over $1 trillion and projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next decade. Most of this was the result of not paying for two wars, two tax cuts, and an expensive prescription drug program. On top of that, the effect of the recession put a $3 trillion hole in our budget. That was before I walked in the door.”
Needless to say but I will, Republicans have to be constantly reminded of their Decade of Conservative Failure. Otherwise, the conventional wisdom for history is inadvertently applied, and that means that anything that has transpired within the past two years will be forgotten and the Epoch of Revisionism commences.
Jaango--posted on January 28, 2010
Lifting the Seige in Gaza
Last week, 54 members of Congress sent a letter to President Obama encouraging him to talk to Israel for lifting the siege in Gaza. And what was the response among the members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus? First, here is the actual letter.
________________
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama,
Thank you for your ongoing work to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for your commitment of $300 million in U.S. aid to rebuild the Gaza Strip. We write to you with great concern about the ongoing crisis in Gaza.
The people of Gaza have suffered enormously since the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt following Hamas’ coup, and particularly following Operation Cast Lead. We also sympathize deeply with the people of southern Israel who have suffered from abhorrent rocket and mortar attacks. We recognize that the Israeli government has imposed restrictions on Gaza out of a legitimate and keenly felt fear of continued terrorist action by Hamas and other militant groups. This concern must be addressed without resulting in the de facto collective punishment of the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip. Truly, fulfilling the needs of civilians in Israel and Gaza are mutually reinforcing goals.
The unabated suffering of Gazan civilians highlights the urgency of reaching a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and we ask you to press for immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza as an urgent component of your broader Middle East peace efforts. The current blockade has severely impeded the ability of aid agencies to do their work to relieve suffering, and we ask that you advocate for immediate improvements for Gaza in the following areas:
* Movement of people, especially students, the ill, aid workers, journalists, and those with family concerns, into and out of Gaza;
* Access to clean water, including water infrastructure materials,
* Access to plentiful and varied food and agricultural materials;
* Access to medicine and health care products and suppliers;
* Access to sanitation supplies, including sanitation infrastructure materials;
* Access to construction materials for repairs and rebuilding;
* Access to fuel;
* Access to spare parts;
* Prompt passage into and out of Gaza for commercial and agricultural goods; and
* Publication and review of the list of items prohibited to the people of Gaza.
Winter is arriving and the needs of the people grow ever more pressing. For example, the ban on building materials is preventing the reconstruction of thousands of innocent families’ damaged homes. There is also a concern that unrepaired sewage treatment plants will overflow and damage surrounding property and water resources.
Despite ad hoc easing of the blockade, there has been no significant improvement in the quantity and scope of goods allowed into Gaza. Both the number of trucks entering Gaza per month and the number of days the crossings have been open have declined since March. This crisis has devastated livelihoods, entrenched a poverty rate of over 70%, increased dependence on erratic international aid, allowed the deterioration of public infrastructure, and led to the marked decline of the accessibility of essential services.
The humanitarian and political consequences of a continued near-blockade would be disastrous. Easing the blockade on Gaza will not only improve the conditions on the ground for Gaza’s civilian population, but will also undermine the tunnel economy which has strengthened Hamas. Under current conditions, our aid remains little more than an unrealized pledge. Most importantly, lifting these restrictions will give civilians in Gaza a tangible sense that diplomacy can be an effective tool for bettering their conditions.
Your Administration’s overarching Middle East peace efforts will benefit Israel, the Palestinians, and the entire region. The people of Gaza, along with all the peoples of the region, must see that the United States is dedicated to addressing the legitimate security needs of the State of Israel and to ensuring that the legitimate needs of the Palestinian population are met.
Sincerely,
Members of Congress
__________________
Of all the Hispanic Members in Congress, only Congressman Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez of California, had the courage to sign the letter sent to President Obama
Thus, all other Hispanic Members of Congress, were MIA. And such a sorry state of affairs, since our Hispanic Members cannot see the much that is in front of their noses for fear of pissing off their campaign donors. Moreover, political engagement requires of these Members to aggressively address Foreign Policy in the same manner that they address Domestic Policy. And if not, they should be seeking a job in the private sector, otherwise, they are doing a disservice to us as well as to themselves and their respective constituencies.
Jaango--posted on January 27, 2010
More "gimmicks" or Less Self-Enlightenment?
On this Sunday past, Senator Mitch McConnell said that his favored targets were “more tax cuts, addressing deficit spending, and a vibrant economy.” And now, the White House has come out in favor of a “discretionary freeze” and which blatantly exempts both the spending on the Pentagon and on national security. Of course, all this bamboozlement is just a smoke screen for another invaluable gimmick. And if so, then, all this gimmickry will lead to an increased voting nationally, that will, supposedly, benefit the Democrats in the next election cycle. That’s the conventional wisdom, but not necessarily so for the traditional use of Common Sense.
Now, this post is being accomplished for the sole purpose of crafting a Score Card viz a viz the Democrats, and thereby prove to ourselves that “aggressive” Moderates are hard to find or locate, other than when measured according to the votes taken in the United States Senate.
Thus, a tad of content and context of our History is that when Clinton left office, he left Bush with a surplus and no deficit, and a blue print, and if followed by Bush, America would have no foreign-owned debt beyond the year of 2013. However, with the onset of Bush and Cheney, the surplus disappeared and deficits became the norm for the next ten years. Today, President Obama’s challenge is to dig America out of its economic habits, despite our national economic collapse, and “new ideas” are not taken to too kindly, I might add.
And the Good People of Oregon voted on both Proposition 66 and Proposition 67. One was to raise individual income taxes and the other, was to raise taxes on business interests. As of this posting, I have not seen the results of the balloting, but it does take a great deal of Common Sense to raise taxes when everyone is demanding more from government in the form of “goods and services.” And Oregonians are to be congratulated for demonstrating this brand of Common Sense despite our Elected and Appointed Officials being off in the corner, cowering in fear that the electorate cannot be told the Truth and from the fear of offending their large campaign donors.
Now, to the Deficit Commission!
Yesterday, the Senate took a vote on establishing a Deficit Commission and in which the results and recommendations would be accomplished by a “third party of selectees” and for eventual delivery to the Senate for an up or down vote, and done in similarity to or analogous to a Base Closing Commission.
And as Chicanos, this list below informs us, and somewhat adequately that among the Democrats, very few are truly “aggressive” Moderates. And none of the actual “aggressive” Moderates voted in favor of this “deficit commission”. And so, here goes:
1. Bayh of Indiana
2. Begich of Arkansas
3. Bennet of Colorado
4. Bingaman of New Mexico
5. Boxer of California
6. Carper of Delaware
7. Conrad of North Dakota
8. Dorgan of North Dakota
9. Durbin of Illinois
10. Feingold of Wisconsin
11. Feinstein of California
12. Franken of Minnesota
13. Gillibrand of New York
14. Hagan of North Carolina
15. Johnson of South Dakota
16. Kaufman of Delaware
17. Kerry of Massachusetts
18. Klobuchar of Minnesota
19. Kohl of Wisconsin
20. Landrieu of Louisiana
21. Leahy of Vermont
22. Levin of Michigan
23. McCaskill of Missouri
24. Menendez of New Jersey
25. Nelson of Florida
26. Nelson of Nebraska
27. Pryor of Arkansas
28. Reid of Nevada
29. Schumer of New York
30. Shaheen of New Hampshire
31. Tester of Montana
32. Udall of Colorado
33. Webb of Virginia
34. Wyden of Oregan
35. And Lieberman of Connecticut and who caucus’ with the Democrats
In closing, it’s important for us as Chicanos to understand that the ‘gimmicks’ being employed by both the Senate and the White House, demonstrates to us that our Trust must be hard-earned and premised on actual accomplishments. Anything less, and we are “buying into” the assorted bamboozlement agenda and which is being personified with this vote in favor of a “deficit commission”.
Jaango—posted on January 27, 2010
The "gimmicks"of Obama's Failed Super Majority?
Recognizing that the effect from losing a Senate seat in Massachusetts has scrambled the brains of the Senate Leadership, or going from Freakout to Schitzoid, is truly unbelievable. Perhaps, the latest admonition by Vice President Biden to the Senate Democrats is to “chill” and yet, this will not revamp these synaptic charges among these elitist brain cells.
Take, for example, the Senate cannot pass healthcare reform without having the 60 votes or a Super Majority, and yet, when it comes to the nomination of Ben Bernanke for the Chairmanship of the Federal Reserve, only 51 votes will be required. As such, this “process” stinks to high heaven, and the Senate Democratic leadership, cannot even open up the windows in the building to bring in some fresh air, is a sight to behold. And this convoluted hypocrisy, has now become the “status quo” when it comes the America’s economy and the lead meme among the assorted political stories for who is up and who is down.
And for Chicanos thinking that the Senate Leadership, has its ducks in a row on healthcare reform, card check, immigration, and cap and trade climate legislation, will prove to be disheartening, when this consummate hypocrisy becomes the political “norm”. And said sadly on my part, the Senate Democrats are now speaking out both sides of their mouths, just goes to prove that the Democrats are embarrassed at being Democrats.
Yet, this “story” goes back to ten years ago, when the Democrats “enabled” Bush’s War of Choice, and thusly, the Democrats lost our Trust relative to War. And as to the second part of this equation for Peace and for our Domestic Tranquility, the Democrats have yet to prove that they deserve even a small amount of our Trust.
And yet, the Republicans had nothing to do with this behavior that is personified by the Senate Democrats. Therefore, what is President Obama going to have to say in his State of the Union speech that will bring forth a small amount of our Trust, despite our having to disregard his continued use for any high-flying rhetoric?
Of course, President Obama will have to "wise up" to his Chicago-style politics and which doesn't play well here in the hinterlands, and otherwise known as the Sonoran Desert, and realize that his Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, has taken him down a dead end alley. Consequently, Obama will have to start his search for a new Chief of Staff. And if not, Obama's Legacy, will not get off the ground, and especially among Chicanos and whom are looking at Obama with a jaunticed eye for having failed to seize his opportunity of a lifetime.
Jaango--posted on January 26, 2010
Public Polling on Healthcare Reform
I do not find it surprising that the Senate version on healthcare reform is languishing in
the House, since House incumbents find that their future political aspirations have been diminished considerably, given that the Senate bill is truly a fiasco of monumental proportions relative to public policy, and even when it comes to our national citizenry’s obvious concerns. In short, the Senate members have turned their backs to the electorate, and in contrast, these members have continued to extend their hands out to the special interest groups that can deliver a sizable treasure chest of campaign contributions.
Take, for example, the notional that all the “trade-offs” that are embedded within the Senate bill and exemplified by the White House, is the sum total of the wants and desires from these many special interest groups. From the prohibition on the re-importation of drugs from Canada and to the Cadillac tax. To wit, the Senate has done the work of the White House and without the White House having to come forth in any blatant manner in order to claim credit on behalf of these special interest groups.
Now, the House incumbents are facing their political demise in the next election cycle, should they capitulate to the White House and their preferred Senate bill. This slavish devotion to the various special interest groups as per this Senate bill, does not engender political courage of any sort to the House members. Thus, let us hope that the House members hang tough for their House version of the bill. And in doing so, this correct political behavior forces both the White House and the Senate members to ramp up their respective “agenda of excuses” that will not sit well with the electorate and especially among the “aggressive” moderates, like ourselves. And yet, the Senate has tossed out the gauntlet to the House members in the form of “our way or the highway.”
Of great consequence, the House members should pick up the gauntlet and toss it back to the Senate in the form of “get off your sorry ass and repair the bill as required”. And if the White House wants to continue to perfect its mantra “for being above the fray”, taking apart all the “arranged” agreements” between the White House and the special interest groups, would go a long ways toward taking a constructive and ‘real’ gander at the “transparency” that may not actually exist within the White House and its political direction for the future on issues of equal importance such as immigration, card check, and cap and trade climate legislation, to mention just three issues.
Our recommendation to the House members is to take a deep breath, return this legislation to the Senate and done with the instructions that if they—in the Senate, cannot do better, their political malfeasance should be recognized, and consequently, let the voters decide at the ballot box come this November. Perhaps, several Democratic Senators will no longer harbor any political aspirations for the long-term, and decide to listen to their respective constituencies, and vote accordingly, and thereby, lengthen their political careers for years to come. Regardless, we can Hope.
In closing, this egregious behavior by the Senate is disrespectful of the House, and thusly, a co-equal branch of government is being treatedas a a public spectacle and which equates to the House becoming America’s scion of the “riff-raff”. And the shame of it all, is that the White House has been complicit, and intentionally so.
Jaango--posted on January 25, 2010
More McCain
Here in the Sonoran Desert, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is now running his re-election campaign and his first radio ad invokes the notional that President Obama is an “extreme leftist” president. Of course he has no announced Republican opposition in the primary that is capable of coming from the Right.
However, the likeliest opposition would come from former Congressman J.D. Hayworth as a primary candidate from the Right and who is now making ‘noises’ about challenging McCain. Of course, Hayworth’s forte was for appointing himself as the Chairman of the American Indian Caucus, a one-man affair with Hayworth as the head honcho and no followers. Moreover, Hayworth is an anti-immigration minuteman and proud of it. But lost in all this jibber and jabber is that Hayworth is still facing considerable legal costs for having been caught up in the investigation that led to the Abramoff Scandal. And over the years, he has been paying down this legal tab, and with an upcoming challenge, Hayworth has the incentive to raise a considerable amount of cash and which seemingly could be used to bring down this legal tab to zero.
And along comes the newly elected Senator Scott Brown from Massachusetts and who has announced that Senator McCain is now his “role model”. Of course, reality intrudes.
Long story short, McCain has served in Congress for over 27 years, and a recap of his career is that he has not accomplished much if anything, other than he his name on the McCain-Feingold legislation pertaining to campaign finance reform. And last week, SCOTUS took this away from him with a legal edict that the prohibitions or restrictions on corporations relative to campaign financing, has now been lifted in its entirety.
And along comes Senate Minority Leader, Republican Mitch McConnell and whom this past weekend said he favors “tax cuts, deficit reductions and a vibrant economy”.
Against this template, McCain fails to add up given his history for all three issues. Thus, his history is that he lost his presidential campaign and which was an event equivalent to President Hoover’s loss; he’s not in the party leadership; he’s not into any negotiations of any importance; he’s offered no important legislation; and he’s not an influential legislator among his own colleagues, and even distrusted by some. But he does get invited to pontificate on the Sunday Morning Talking Heads Circuit. Consequently, his rhetoric outweighs his accomplishments, and that’s a Shaming Legacy when this opportunity for accomplishment has existed for well over 25 years.
Jaango—posted on January 25, 2010
The Fearful or the Fearless?
Now that the United States Supreme Court has announced its decision to unleash any restrictions on Corporate America when it comes to campaign financing, we can expect the ‘auctions’ to commence when it comes to our Elected Officials. Consequently, 100 years of law has been tossed into the trash bin of history, and which equates that legal precedent no longer applies. Thus, a former wealth of decision-makings done by Congress will no longer contain much if any value to consumers when it comes to advancing Corporate America’s playbook.
Now, will the Robber Barons of Yesteryear rule the Roost? Senator Feingold of McCain-Feingold seems to think so and that continues to make him Fearless.
And as to the Fearful, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California seems to think that moving in the ‘wrong direction’ is important to Democrats when it comes to healthcare reform as the evidenced in Massachusetts for their “going Mississippi”. She says the following:
“I think we do go slower on health care. People do not understand it. It is so big it is beyond their comprehension. And if you don’t understand it when somebody tells you this or it does that and it’s not true, you tend to believe it, even though it isn’t true. It’s hard to debunk all of the myths that are out there.”
Obviously, if she is making her preposition in order to back off of her approach to healthcare reform, she fearfully misunderstands that she was elected to vote accordingly since she is obligated to understand the difference between fact and fiction and vote accordingly and in favor of fact.
Otherwise, Californians know they wasted their vote on Feinstein during her last re-election effort. Or perhaps, she is seeking a way to justify her vote in favor of Corporate America’s overall agenda and contrary to her constituency’s best interest. So, if she wants to address the “non-controversial” aspects of health care, she is not providing much if any thing since all health care issues are “connected” and thusly, interdependent of each other, and which is critical to driving down health care costs. And she’s supposed to know this, as well. And of course, this too, pertains to all members of Congress.
Jaango-posted on January 21, 2010
The Brutally Partisan President?
The Democrats are now in a tizzy over whether the “process” or the “commitment” for healthcare reform should continue, and done in a manner where the Democrats should stop the “process” until after the State of the Union Speech, or have the House vote affirmatively on the Senate Legislation and with President Obama signing the House-passed Senate Legislation.
Regardless of how all this plays out, the House or Senate legislation will have to be improved over the coming years, and thusly, whether President Obama is “brutal” in his bipartisan approach to the Republicans, is pretty much irrelevant. And irrelevant in the sense that the Republicans do not want a seat at the decision-making table, or until after the elections in November since the Republicans firmly believe that America’s political will collapse at the hands of the Democrats. Thereby, America will turn to the Republicans out of desperation and done in order to repeat what has NOT been constructively accomplished for these past ten years, other than for more War and a continuing loss to the 401k’s of this investment world.
Moreover, in the next few months, the “regressive” Moderates and the “confused” Conservatives-the conjoined twins of American politics, will be telling the “aggressive” Moderates in America to STFU, sit down, and clap louder.
Now, my advice to the “angry” and “tired” Democrats is to “get over themselves” and do the work that Americans are expecting, and if its leadership cabal needs to be replaced, the elections in November, will be ready-made for this decision-making at the ballot box. Consequently, such pithy rhetoric for such words as “sacrifice”, “grand bargain”, and “sustainability”, are virtually meaningless. But what is “meaningful” is for the Democratic Party is to re-brand itself as the “Party of Equality”. And failing that, we, as Chicanos, should start taking a jaundice-eyed look at our Hispanic leadership in Congress, as well. They should be given no surcease to our “demands” for a better America, notwithstanding this past Republican Decade of Failure. Thus, the bar has been set low and raising it to a much higher level, should be no challenge whatsoever to our political friends and allies. So, where is the political will for the "better"?
Jaango—posted on January 21, 2010
The GOP Mantra to Repeal Healthcare Reform
I find it interesting that the Republicans are now determined to repeal healthcare reform should President Obama add his signature to this legislation for its final approval. And despite all this ruckus that is advocated by Dick Armey’s Freedom Works organization, their policy experts have conveniently forgotten that to repeal this signature legislation will take the requisite 60 votes in the Senate for this successful accomplishment. Of course, the high-flying rhetoric dismisses the fact that the Republicans have only 40 votes, at most, to complete their repeal, and which evinces a painful itch that attaches to anyone on the Right for, expecting or anticipating this success. Thus, the election in November of this year, is not going to rebound in favor of the Republicans and to the point that repeal can be successfully accomplished.
Needless to say but I will, this legislation is not going to be repealed until the Republicans gain control of the ‘trifecta’ and that being control of the House, Senate, and the Oval Office. So, when the rank and file on the Right, continue to parrot this ‘repeal’ nonsense, understanding this nonsense is being posited in order to gin up the enthusiasm for the next congressional election. Now, what are the alternative issues for the GOP in the next election cycle relative to their anticipated success?
How about deficit reduction? This issue is not going “to have legs” and for a number of reasons. However, the proverbial “back door” is always available. Thus, a “commission” to attack “entitlements” or Social Security and Medicare, will be the upfront issues. Unfortunately, there will be a few Democrats in the Senate will joining the Republicans in an overall attempt to “privatize” Social Security and eliminate Medicare for America’s seniors.
And how will all this play out if history is taken into consideration and with the appropriate context? You will recall that President Bush, after his re-election in 2004, began his first issue by attempting to privatize Social Security and with the diligent push back by the folks on the Internet, Bush was denied his victory.
Equally important and for ease of understanding, during Bush’s first term, utilizing the “reconciliation process”, Bush was successful in stripping out of the Social Security Systemic, of over one trillion dollars for his ten-year tax cut with the beneficiaries being primarily, some of America’s wealthiest political patrons to the Republican Party. As such, this actual cost to the Treasury was added to the deficit.
Moreover, when the Republicans passed Medicare Reform, this cost too, was added to the deficit. Consequently, Republican Senator Hatch of Utah was correct when he recently uttered and I paraphrase, “Wd didn’t have to pay for anything”. And yet, prior to the Bush administration, the Clinton administration operated on the basis of “pay-as-you go” or spending reductions that were required to offset any increased or spending on new programs. In shorthand, the Republicans and at the behest of the Bush administration, tossed the political playbook out the window.
Now, along comes the Cabal of Compromisers, or what I call the “hypocrisy meisters” in the form of the Pete Peterson Foundation/Institute in which their history has been to continue to attempt to ‘privatize’ to the maximum, the Social Security System in the guise of Wall Street money gurus. Of course, Wall Street’s history is a good indicator that in turning over any Social Security monies, they get to play the risk game with other people’s money and done with no personal penalty in play should they fail in their guise as the Masters of the Universe. As such, no one has went to jail due to our recent economic collapse but they did have access to the bailout manna made available by the taxpayers and with no apologies provided, and said sadly on my part, future generations of taxpayers will be having to step up when the eventual due bill arrives.
Jaango—posted on January 18, 2010
The Past Week in Askance
Here are a few items that may be of particular interest to some of our Readers.
1. Pat Robertson is at it again. Unfortunately, Robertson’s latest statement that the Haitians “swore a pact with the Devil” doesn’t enhance our public discourse. Of course, both Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh are beneath contempt.
2. “Cognitive regulatory capture” is a statement that doesn’t do America justice. Thus, Corporate America’s “push back” against higher taxes on an annual bonus that are accruing to the banksters, does not sit well among the Masters of the Universe at the Wall Street environs. Obviously, the idea that “populism” has invaded the halls of Congress, will have to be addressed by their lobbyists.
3. Senator Reid’s statement that Senator Olympia Snowe’s efforts to impede any healthcare bill in the Senate was a waste of time, is slowly coming around to the notion for acceptance, and articulated accurately by almost all of the political activists, is nice to see and hear, even if belatedly recognized by this good Senator.
4. Given the due diligence demonstrated by the political blogs on the internet, knowing that the AHIP, the proponents of health care reform in the private sector, were supportive of health care reform, are not happy. It seems that the major players in our health insurance industry, were playing the “two-faced game”, and have been “outed” for their egregious behavior. To wit, they were spending millions of dollars in opposition to HCR by funding the American Chamber of Commerce. As such, the ACC set up two astro turf groups to get out this message in opposition. Thus, the “denial” no longer exists or is available to the AHIP.
Jaango--posted on January 18, 2010
Is President Obama a "regressive" Moderate?
You be the judge!
And as for me, I have taken the decision to define President Obama as a “regressive” Moderate and in contrast to an “aggressive” Moderate. Thus, my further definition of President Obama as a “regressive” Moderate is that he continues to harbor the belief that maintaining and sustaining the status quo, is the politically hip thing to do. Not so of course, but that’s his clear political positioning and done intentionally for the long term or for the next 7 years.
However, from one of several favorite writers of mine in America is Linda Valdez. She is an editorial writer and sits on the Editorial Board of America’s premier conservative newspaper, The Arizona Republic, and which puts her outside the large box that is her journalistic brethren at the office. And she has this to say:
“After throwing progressive and women’s reproductive rights under the train to get health-care reform, will Obama decide to give the Blue Dogs another break by not pursuing immigration reform in an election year? If so, Latino voters ought to stay home in droves in November. As for Dem women: Why do we still support a party that lacks a spine?”
And yet, these are brutally cold words of comfort to the White House.
Now, let’s hope the White House is “listening”!
Jaango--posted on January 18, 2010
Litmus Test for the GOP
With the next election cycle soon starting to heat up for an eventual success or failue come this Novemeber, and if you’re a Republican incumbent or a potential candidate, beware of what the RNC has in store for you. This Schematic for having to pass muster requires of you, the sacramental observance of a doctrinal political Philosophy for Thought and Action, that only the Republican National Committee can determine and ultimately, as your sole and final arbiter. And if you come up short, you future is bleak in politics. Moreover, your genuine ability to genuflect at this political altar for kabuki theater, demonstrates that being wrong on “three” of the described elements from below, makes you a “loser” even is your standing tall at the starting gate and you are doing the self-funding for your candidacy for elective office.
And here are the Elements of sublime importance. And don’t laugh!
1. Smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by
opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill.
2. Market-based healthcare reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare.
3. Market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation.
4. Workers’ rights to secret ballot by opposing card check.
5. Legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants.
6. Victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military recommended surges.
7. Containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat.
8. Retention of the Defense of Marriage Act.
9. Protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion. AND
10. The right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership.
And there you have it! The GOP’s “litmus test” obviously has nothing to do with any successful Ideology Packet that can be delivered to the rank and file. But then, this traditional “top down” leadership of a modus vivendi has nothing of consequence when contrasted with an the aggressive “bottom up” leadership models, when it comes to achieving success. Thus, this decade been a failure for the “confused” Conservative and for which it Conservative is either an amnesiac or in denial of all “unassailable” facts.
Jaango--posted on January 18, 2010
Ahhh, More of the Same?
Imagine, if you can, a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate from the State of Massachusetts, campaigning on the political platform for the following:
- Supports torture,
- Opposes Wall Street accountability,
- Supports more tax cuts for the wealthy,
- Opposes modest health care reform efforts,
- Supports restrictions on abortion rights,
- Opposes economic recovery efforts,
- Doubts that global climate change is the result of human activity.
Not so for the Democratic candidate, but it is for the Republican Candidate. Needless to say, but I will, the Republican candidate is leading by a half-dozen points going into Tuesday's special election in this Blue State. And if this Republican candidate wins, "regressive" Moderates in Massachusetts, will have joined forces with the "confused" Conservatives, in order to torpedo President Obama's self-limiting Presidential Agenda.
Jaango--posted on January 15, 2010
Odds and Ends
Having a death in the family, has not permitted me the time to “contemplate” the latest in our political environment, so, with familial responsibilities and obligations addressed, here goes, for today.
1. The latest tempest in the teapot is “much ado about nothing.” Imagine Senator Reid “dissing” the President in a private conversation and which ultimately, rises to the level of public discourse? Then, along comes Senator Cornyn of Texas calling for Senator Reid’s resignation as Senate Majority Leader. And in his justification, Cornyn makes the comparison to Senator Lott of Mississippi. Long story short, “talking” about racism is far different than “endorsing” racism. And therein is the historical difference between the Republicans and the Democrats.
2. A “beer drinker’s” Alert. Okay, just kidding. And yet, Heineken, from Europe, is buying FEMSA, a beer maker from Mexico. FEMSA is the owner of Tecate, Dos Equis, and other assorted brands. And not to be churlish on my part, but the price of a bottle of beer is going to rise.
3. Defining the California “liberal”? If you are from California, thinking that a liberal would be in favor of such things as funding for excellent schools as well as a modified welfare state, would or should be disabused of this notion. Take, for example, Proposition 13—from many years ago, has rendered California a basket case, if one believed the propaganda emanating from the pundits of the Right. And quite effortlessly, these pundits cannot bring themselves forward to discuss the “impact” that Prop 13, and to the point of the “toll” on public behaviors and services delivered. Obviously, conservatives have resonance when it comes to reducing taxes, and liberals, in contrast, are not really liberals, but should be viewed closer to being “regressive” moderates.
4. Terrorism is a military tactic, and used to provoke the assorted and vast responses that are sure to be predicated on ‘fear’. That being the case, one must always be reminded that a terrorist hoping to be known as another “hot pants” is really just another criminal and should be prosecuted as such. In Afghanistan, the 100 or so members of Al Qaida a virtual criminal enterprise, and now Yemen is filling this “fear gap”. And if one looks to Israel, this fear is visual and virtual. A writer in one of Isreal’s mass circulation newspapers, is calling out the leaders and the general public for being mental ill. This being the case, Obama and Biden should not be attempting to provide the “counseling” given that both lack the credibility and certitude for the Near East. This should be left to the European Union.
5. Foxy Fox makes it official. The Fox Network has hired the half-term Governor Sarah Palin to be another of the official pundits. Sadly, former Governor Huckabee is crying in his beer since the Fox “platform” was to he his in order for him to launch his far right presidential campaign in 2012.
6. As to whether the Democratic or Republican candidates are either “up or down” as to viability, will come to fundraising for this election cycle that will culminate in November of this year.
7. The “gender gap” is being filled. With Hillary Clinton being our Secretary of State, over 25 nations are sending to our nation’s capitol, their respective women as Ambassadors. This behavior reinforces the notional that America’s future can be found in the political engagement done by women. And there will be more to come and the Guys of Legacy, will soon be found crying in the Heinekens.
Jaango--posted on January 11, 2010
Our Tenth Anniversary
This month, the Chicano Veterans Organization will celebrate its tenth year for being on the Internet.
Just a thought that our 'new" Readers would want to know some well know trivia.
Jaango--posted on January 11, 2010
The Next Decade
As prognostications go, I am, at times, an incomprehensible writer, and yet, I have my faults too. What has yet to register at the front of my noggin is that in this next decade, historians will be writing effusively, or for what started yesterday. To wit, this next decade will not be known as the Obama Decade.
And why?
Despite the loud voices among the many in the Obama Fan Club, I am not one of these adherents. Take, for example, had Obama and Biden started their frontal attack on the Status Quo, both would have engendered a simultaneous effort for success by advocating into legislation, Healthcare Reform, Immigration Reform and Card Check. Consequently, these three heavy-weight issues would have been addressed and thereby "connecting" each of us to one another, and sadly, Obama and Biden, hesitated. And this hesitation is the prime example that identifies the "regresive" Moderate for maintaining and sustaining the Status Quo. As such, it's not about Ideas but about the lack of political will.
Thus, the next seven years are going to be politically painful for my self-ascribed tendencies for being an "aggressive" Moderate. Consequently, greater political activism is called for and I encourage even greater civic engagement, not less, with this missive.
Jaango--Posted on January 2, 2010
The Majestic-Meisters
Unfortunately, when I look back at this decade of political obnoxiousness, I find that the Majestic-Meisters of propaganda, have been highly successful in their intemperate statements, and when it comes to the usual amount of lucre, success there has been accomplished, as well. Consequently, the most prevalent purveyors have been readily available for services relative to the Sunday morning Talking Head Circuit. To wit, more crappola is being sold and done by the obviously wrongheaded and accomplished without any factual accountability for Truth and the American Way.
Okay, I’m getting somewhat carried away with words, but words do sell and for these past ten years, the Fourth Estate has been in the forefront, and yet, the newspaper industry is facing its financial downside for less revenue as well as for less profit. Of course, not lost in all this jibber and jabber, the newspaper industry went on a consolidation binge by borrowing massive amounts of monies, and now the due bill has finally arrived. Not only in the repayment of this debt is the newspaper biz facing these tough times and the downsizing of staff, but subscribers have taken their diminishing disposable income and moved in a differing direction for acquiring the news and now to the point where the Internet provides more detail and delivery of such news. And this view is being reinforced with legislation working it way through Congress and in the form of a “shield law” that includes Internet bloggers and for those accomplished writers seeking future opportunities, are now being employed by the nascent news aggregators and which adds another important dimension to news analysis and punditry and where fact checking is required for maintaining the prior established credibility and certitude.
And again, to the Sunday morning shows. Mary Matalin, a Republican political operative, continues to castigate the Clinton administration for her boss’s incompetence for espousing a third-rate leadership model. Sadly, she demonstrates no level of embarrassment when she states the following:
"I was there [in the White House]. We inherited a recession from President Clinton and we inherited the most tragic attack on our own soil in our nation's history. And President Bush dealt with it. And within a year his presidency at this comparable time, unemployment was at five percent. And we were creating jobs."
And with his usual panache, the incomparable writer, Steve Benen, over at the political blog of the Atlantic Monthly Magazine, takes Mary Matalin to the wood shed and he does it qualitatively with these two paragraphs:
The underlying spin isn't exactly compelling. The Matalin pitch, in a nutshell, is, "Sure, Obama inherited the Great Recession, two wars, a job market in free fall, a huge deficit, a health care system in shambles, a clime crisis, an ineffective energy policy, an equally ineffective immigration policy, a housing crisis, a housing crisis, the collapse of the U.S. auto industry, a mess a Gitmo, and a severely tarnished global reputation. But what Bush got from Clinton wasn't exactly a walk in the park."
Except it was. After cleaning up H.W. Bush's mess, Clinton bequeathed a prosperous, peaceful country, held in high regard around the world, a shrinking debt, and surpluses far into the future. There was a burgeoning terrorist threat emerging, but Clinton's team provided Bush with the necessary tools and a warning necessary to keep the nation safe. Bush failed miserably, despite having been given an incredible opportunity to succeed."
Thus, this decade past will be described in various ways by the many--from the Oughts and Aughts, to the Naughts and Nasties. Or how about the Decade of Deceit or the Era of Delusion? Or the less than cheerful, “Decade From Hell” as defined by the Time Magazine?
Regardless, as we ring out this old year and think of the coming New Year, let us not forget to enjoy ourselves and bring some good cheer to a family member much in need of our cheer.
And as such, a Happy New Year To All!
Jaango--posted on December 28, 2009
Understanding the Political Shift?
Today, the healthcare reform bill in the Senate will make it to a final vote on the floor and which is expected to take place on Thursday of this week. Shortly thereafter, the bill will go to a conference committee with the House contingent, and thusly, merged, and returned to the House and Senate for a final vote. Once this process is completed, the merged bill will go to the Oval Office for President Obama’s signature of approval or his rejection via his veto vote.
Now, with this understanding out of the way, I want to focus on the philosophical/ideological background of this debate. And for starters, if one accepts the notional that the Republicans are the Party of Freedom and the Democrats are the Party of Justice, the sharp elbows of political competition, becomes clarity itself.
Thus, the Republicans—all 40 Senators, voted against the cloture vote, while the Democrats—all 60 of them, including an Independent and a Socialist, voted for the cloture vote. This lack of bipartisanship, defines the politics of today, in both the House and the Senate. Consequently, “bipartisanship” is only for those who desire to participate, but at the end of the political day, party discipline remains constant and consistent, give the philosophical/ideological constructs that both parties identify with.
And Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell reinforces this mindset. He said the following at the time of the cloture vote, and expands his statement to include America’s history for addressing the “unmet needs” of America:
"Social Security and Medicare, of course, were government-run programs paid for by straight tax increases. They were far more offensive to conservatives than the current legislation, which fund a mostly-private sector health-care expansion by trimming the budget of Medicare, America's largest single-payer health-care system...Medicare could not be passed today because there wold be no Republican votes, and too few Democratic votes. Social Security would be hapless...Tonight's vote was a moment of enormous progress for social justice, but evidence of enormous regression in our political system."
Now, I have long-argued that America’s mindset consists of 1) Confused Conservatives, 2) “regressive” Moderates, and 3) “aggressive” Moderates, and within this mindset, our political infrastructure has yet to catch-up with this existing mindset, but it will as more Chicanos become more politically active, given the need relative to our ever-increasing demographic trends. And if we add the anticipated results that will come to us due to immigration reform or 11 million more Latinos will join us in the column for being “aggressive” Moderates.
And yet, Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska—a “regressive” Moderate, protected his turf as he sought out and received assurance of more Medicare and Medicaid monies being spent in Nebraska. In contrast, the Republicans such as McCain and Graham called out the Democrats for their back room deals, and which I find ironic since each has done the same in the past, especially when it came to the latest and failed immigration reform effort in the Senate. But then, I have always considered that McCain to be unable and even unwilling at times, to be a “stand-up guy”.
Needless to say but I will, McConnell went on to posit that Medicare and Social Security, when passed, had bipartisan support. Thus, he was attempting to leave the impression that the Democrats were inherently wrong in their political beliefs and the attendant behaviors. Today, it’s pretty much obvious that if votes taken to establish either or both Medicare and Social Security, the 40 votes for a Republican filibuster would be the same votes that opposed healthcare reform. But listening to Senator McConnell, distracting the general public, is still his only choice since his advocacy has a history predominated in favor of the "moneyed interests" and disfavoring the Working Class in home state.
Otherwise, McConnell would’ve supported healthcare reform, or so he would like everyone to believe. Not so, of course, since Nixon’s Southern Strategy has come full circle to where the GOP is now a regionalized or Southern Party and said sadly on my part, lost in all this political dynamic, is that the traditional mindset for the Classical Conservative, has been kicked to the curb. And I am left wondering if the rank and file in the GOP will eventually get around to recognizing what Senator McConnell has wrought onto the GOP and for having advocated the mantra of the “confused Conservative”? Yet, Senator Kyl from Arizona and of the Chambers of Commerce--will achieve even more prominence, by replacing Senator McConnell. And that is the “change” that the GOP will do for America in terms of the “moneyed interests”.
As to the “moneyed interests” among the Democrats, the latest exemplars have to us in the form of Senators Landrieu, Nelson and Lincoln. These three have been most adamant in their willingness to defend the broken down status quo that is our healthcare system. However, party discipline was required on the cloture vote, but I anticipate all three will vote against healthcare reform in order to move healthcare into the conference between the House and the Senate. And it’s all the more likely that they will oppose the Conference Committee Report, as well, since only 51 Democratic votes are required to pass. Consequently, their “free pass” will offered and acted on and done accordingly in order to pacify another special interest group in their respective home states.
Now, from my perspective and advocacy, the current Democratic effort will encompass 33 million people being included in health care. My version would have included 47 million people currently not having healthcare. Consequently, my version for “open access” to the Indian Health Services, and Medicare, would have added “equality” to the Construct for Justice as reflected by the Democrats. And yet, with a successful effort at immigration reform, 12 million new citizens will have to fend for themselves. Under my version, “open access” would be available from Day One, and thusly, it would be far easier to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill. Unfortunately, my fellow Democrats were not thinking “long term” but thinking in terms of the next election.
In closing, when I see and hear David Gergen lament the fact that “bipartisanship” was not included in this year’s healthcare legislation, I am gently reminded as to why I consider myself as an “aggressive” Moderate and wanting to move America out of the political dark ages that America has endured for these past nine years and given to us by the “confused” Conservatives. There was nothing Classical about these years, and that’s only if you care about anything else, other than War itself.
Jaango--posted on December 21, 2009
Kudos to Digby For The Home Delivery Of A Knuckle Sandwich
Today, she has a post up on the inveterate and wrongheaded Chris Matthews, the “master” of ceremonies for America’s “insiders” or for what passes as a pontificator's “deep thinking” for those residing within our nation’s capitol, or inside Beltway. He has this to say about all of us here in the hinterlands, and to wit, we are nothing but shallow in our behavior relative to our use of intellectual vigor, especially when we disagree with his political pandering and at times, his outright nonsense.
As such, he consigns us to the trash heap for being America’s ‘free riders’. Not so of course, but I must say, he is constant and consistent in his criticisms of us, we, the mere mortals, and for our having spent 24/7 “on the wall” so that his sorry ass can enjoy a restful and peaceful sleep at night. And so he denigrates us and for seeing himself as seemingly immune from "our" critique of his ongoing behavior.
“I don’t consider them Democrats, I consider them netroots, and they’re different. And if I see that they vote in every election or most elections, I’ll be worried. But I’m not sure that they’re regular grown-up Democrats. I think a lot of those people are troublemakers who love to sit in the backseat and complain. They’re not interested in governing this country. They never ran for office, they’re not interested in working for somebody in public office. They get their giggles from sitting in the backseat and bitching.”
But then, Digby, in her forthright and transparent self, “nails him” with the following:
ActBlue
The online clearinghouse for Democratic action.
Want blue states?
$114,543,896
raised online since 2004
Now, do I need to say more about his "elitist" crappola?
Jaango—posted on December 18, 2009
Friday's Foibles and Frailties
1. Senator Lindsey Graham says he can convince his fellow Republicans on climate change in support of the Democrats, if climate change legislation also includes further use of oil and gas as well as nuclear energy. And yet, nothing changes with this guy!
2. In a television debate, former Clinton political operative Lanny Davis, and now turned insurance industry lobbyist, regrets challenging Jane Hamsher, breast cancer survivor and the senior political activist at the national web site of Fire Dog Lake. It’s apparent that she ‘took him down’ with one arm tied behind her back. This verbal fisticuff was a doozie and brutally embarrassing, and even for me, it was painful to watch. Jane Hamsher doesn’t have much patience with Democrats and for whom have no respect for intellectual vigor, and for Lanny Davis in particular and should've know better if he had done his homework when it comes to healthcare reform.
3. Senator Franken, the junior Senator, taking his turn at the gavel for being Senate President, talks down Senator Joe Lieberman for abusing his allotted time for speaking on the floor. Now, I find that Senator McCain was defending Lieberman again.
4. Chris Matthews of Hard Ball, accuses the internet bloggers of “bitching” for expressing themselves in their opposition to the elimination of the ‘public option’ within the healthcare reform debate. As such, the “insiders” do not like to get lectured at by the folks, like myself, here in the hinterlands. It's painfully obvious that jounalistic integrity tends to be lacking.
5. Sarah Palin took a felt tip pen and covered the name of McCain on her cap, initially denied doing so and now, she admits to attempting to remain “incognito”. Thus, the deep well of “frailty” is indeed deep.
6. The new “demand” from the anti-immigrationistas is a “moratorium” on immigration reform. Of course, this behavior is just another equivalence on being “obstructionists”. Perhaps, their next ‘step down’ is to find another way to express that President Obama is an illegitimate citizen and therefore, is prohibited for doing immigration reform.
7. Senator Dorgan, and who had his amendment for the importation of medical drugs, voted down given the requisite 60 affirming votes, is pointing the finger at the White House and its behavior for the quiet and subtle opposition to reducing costs to consumers.
Jaango--posted on December 18, 2009
Short Circuiting the Chicano "message"?
First and foremost, I have great respect for our former Governor of Arizona, Janet Napolitano, and now serving as our national Secretary for Homeland Security. That said and out of the way, last week she was “talking immigration” to our local and conservative-bent newspaper, and which I found this behavior to be somewhat odd at the time.
And this past Tuesday, Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Illinois announced his version of “immigration reform”. Now, I mention this given that Secretary Napolitano was attempting to “steal his thunder” and these are my words and by my choice. Of course this is a typical political behavior when you have the upper hand as Napolitano and Obama do have. They also have Senator Chuck Schumer of New York and who is crafting Obama’s immigration bill and which should be available for public presentation sometime in the latter part of January of 2010. Needless to say but I will, Schumer’s effort is dedicated to the overall effort to motivate the Democratic base, and in particular, Hispanics for their voting in November’s election.
The conventional wisdom being espoused by the White House and the Obama Fan Club is that the Gutierrez bill is too liberal to pass. And if you think so, you may be correct in your thinking. And for the sake of transparency, I have been carrying on email conversation with Dr. Max Blumenthal, the author of his recently released book and titled, “Republican Gomorrah” and in which he emphasizes the religious right, its leadership, and the shift from a penitent status to one of self-righteousness. And if the opportunity presents itself, read the book. It’s both good and the timing is perfect for this political talk.
And here is what he had to say earlier today, on President Obama and the attendant Obama Fan Club: [Hat Tip to Josh Marshall’s web site of Talking Points Memo.]
“In responding to my initial post, Sarah Posner, Todd Gitlin, and Fred Clarkson make some very important points about the appeal of the Christian right to ordinary Americans. I think their points dovetail with one another. Posner argues quite correctly that those who I described as giving up their individual freedom for the authoritarian structure of the right believe they are gaining new life in the Kingdom of God, along with a sense of community and belonging. She illustrates this trend in her excellent book on the rising trend of prosperity gospel theology in evangelical churches, God's Profits.
“Clarkson adds that the salvation narrative the movement offers to trauma-wracked individuals is one of its key draws. This narrative often takes an explicitly political form, promising the replacement of a culturally decadent secular government with a theocratically-inspired authoritarian system (see Newt Gingrich's remarks at David Horowitz's Renaissance Weekend for a recent example of this appeal). Or, as Gitlin said, the salvation narrative may promise eternal life in Heaven -- after the enemies of God are slaughtered en masse in a display of pornographic violence, as portrayed in Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' bestselling Left Behind Series.
“During a time of economic decline, persistent cultural strife, deepening American involvement in far-off military conflicts, and rapid environmental deterioration, is there any wonder that some have turned to apocalyptic salvation narratives promising both a transcendent, everlasting future and violent retribution against perceived evildoers? A 2002 CNN poll found that 59% of Americans believe that the prophecies in the Book of Revelations will come true. The startling number reflected the still-fresh trauma of the 9/11 attacks, but I suspect that it has held steady, if not risen. Indeed, mainstream American culture is permeated by apocalypticism; the blockbuster movie hit 2012 is but one recent example.
“I spend several chapters in my book following the Christian right's ascent to the mountain top with George W. Bush's re-election, detailing how the movement shrouded science and reason in the shadow of the cross, then observing as it swiftly imploded during the Terri Schiavo charade. Because I completed my book days after Barack Obama's inauguration, I was only able to foreshadow the right's plan to undermine the new president. Having watched the right attempt to delegitimize and literally overthrow Bill Clinton for eight years, I did not harbor any illusions about Obama transcending partisan division by becoming the "liberal Reagan who can reunite America," as many argued.
“What I did not include in my book was any sense of where the Democratic left was going, or how this movement had developed its own salvation narrative during the Bush era. Only a presidency as destructive and radical as Bush's could have produced such deep levels of anxiety and desperation among progressives. When the Democratic primary began, some progressives seemed to ache for a secular messiah to descend from the political heavens, reverse Bush's disastrous legacy and save the country from itself.
“In their quest for a savior, progressives discovered Barack Obama. "I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views," Obama proclaimed in his book, The Audacity of Hope. As Obama's primary battle against Hillary Clinton intensified, his rhetoric and the language of his supporters grew increasingly messianic. At a rally in South Carolina, Oprah Winfrey referred to Obama as "The One," a fusion of Jesus and Neo from The Matrix. When Obama defeated Clinton in Iowa, he quoted from a Hopi Indian End Times prophecy that had become popular among New Agers: "We are the ones we've been waiting for." Moved to the point of ecstasy by Obama's victory speech, Ezra Klein declared the candidate, "not the Word made flesh, but the triumph of the word over flesh... Obama is, at his best, able to call us back to our higher selves."
(“Though he is not a progressive by even the wildest stretch of the imagination, it is worth noting that Louis Farrakhan, who had consistently ordered his followers to boycott elections and who attacked black politicians from Harold Washington to Jesse Jackson as tools of the white power structure, declared in no uncertain terms that Obama was the Messiah.)
“Now that some of Obama's most zealous supporters are beginning to express grave doubts about his ability to deliver the transcendent change he promised, I think it is time for them to consider their role in contributing to the problems Obama faces with both his Democratic base and his opponents on the right. They embraced a secular salvation narrative that Obama cleverly channeled to excite them and distract from his lack of progressive accomplishments. In the end, Obama's messianization created false expectations while establishing political space for the right to undermine and delegitimize him.
“To be sure, Obama's salvation narrative was dramatically different than the dualistic, malignant version that prevails on the Christian right. Obama never, to my knowledge, played to his supporters' dark sides by promising them holy retribution against their perceived enemies. In fact, part of his appeal stemmed from his repudiation of partisan rancor -- there were no red states where people reject science, demonize gays and attack minority rights. Until he was inaugurated, Obama behaved like a secular Messiah in a world without a Devil.
“In my book, I detail a series of experiments by a group of political psychologists seeking to provide evidence that the fear of death inspires extreme conservative beliefs -- including apocalypticism. Their study was inspired by a theory of cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker: "The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is a mainspring of human activity - designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny of man." The professors discovered that time and again, their study subjects would register more conservative responses to questions if they were first reminded of their own deaths. (See John Judis' excellent article on the studies for more).
“The use of mortality reminders came in to play as soon as Obama was inaugurated. Almost immediately, the right attempted to delegitimize him by reversing the phenomenon he relied on to win: While he attempted to serve as a blank screen for Americans to project their aspirations upon, they projected their most fearsome inner demons onto him. During the October McCain-Palin rallies, Sarah Palin and far-right surrogates like Joe the Plumber attacked Obama as an Other, a strange outsider who did not share mainstream American values. Their intention was to make him as unfamiliar and frightening as possible, and in doing so, to scare off wavering independent voters. By this time, it was too late in the campaign for the tactic to take effect, so it extended into this year and peaked during the Fall Teabagger rallies and town hall disruptions.
“Teabagger activists transposed images of Stalin and Hitler onto Obama's face. (Their propaganda bore a disturbing resemblance to the signs waved by right-wing Jewish settlers during rallies against Yitzhak Rabin that depicted the soon to be assassinated Israeli PM in Nazi SS garb and as the collaborator Marshall Petain, two seemingly incongruous images). Obama was a Muslim; Obama was a commie; Obama was a cosmopolitan globalist; Obama was a black nationalist. It did not matter who Obama really was. The right simply wanted to convince America he was The Other. As cynical as their tactic is, it has damaged Obama in large part because he offered himself up as "a blank screen," defining himself as he thought different audiences wished to see him, and ultimately not establishing a very clear identity at all.
“The right has complemented its anti-Obama propaganda with false rumors designed to inject the language of death into the healthcare debate. The single most damaging rumor, adopted from the cult of Lyndon LaRouche, refined by healthcare industry lobbyist Betsy McCaughey, and popularized by Sarah Palin, was that Obama's healthcare reform proposal included a plan to implement "death panels." While the president pleaded for compromise and reason, the right repeated the baseless charge over and over that he planned to pull the plug on grandma, euthanize the severely handicapped, and kill the sick. Obama has not yet recovered from the damage the right's mortality reminders did to his political standing.
“Since Obama announced his plan to escalate the war in Afghanistan, and with the White House apparently poised to scrap the public option and Medicare buy-in proposals to mollify Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the progressive left is going into contortions. Turn on MSNBC or read any major progressive blog and you will see former Obama zealots proclaim, "Kill the bill!" while assailing the president as an empty suit.
“The liberal left has become so disgruntled that a leading conservative talk radio host asked me recently if progressives were considering a primary challenge to Obama. I laughed and stated my belief that despite his troubles, Obama would win a second term. Whether or not that happens, those former Obama fanatics experiencing a crisis in faith should look in the mirror. They demanded a secular salvation narrative and participated in the near-deification of the politician who so eloquently delivered it to them. They now know that Obama is just a politician. What they have refused to acknowledge is that he would not have fallen so hard had they not lifted him so high.”
Given that Congressman Gutierrez is from Illinois, my expectation for the White House and out of “political courtesy”, Gutierrez would have been assigned to “take point” on immigration, but that’s not been the case. As to the President Obama and Senator Reid in the Senate, Senator Schumer is taking the “point”. And from the House side, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has opted instead, to have the Senate take the lead on immigration reform. And thusly, I ask, “Where is the ‘Chicano Message’ and where is Senator Melendez of New Jersey?”
Consequently, the Obama administration is crafting a more moderate and bipartisan bill. And yet, among the provisions in the Gutierrez bill are these, but will not see the light of day in the Obama/Schumer bill:
1. Repeal the 287(g) program that lets local police and sheriff’s deputies enforce federal immigration law and allows jail and prison officials to screen crime suspects and convicted criminals for immigration violations so they can be deported.
2. All illegal immigrants to obtain legal status by paying a $500 fine and showing that they have made a contribution to the country through their work, education, military or community service.
3. Emphasize strong border security while calling for increased oversight of border agents to ensure that civil liberties are protected.
And yet, the anti-immigrant cabal of various sorts, continues to argue that undocumented immigrants are taking away jobs from those among us who have been here for many, many generations and long before the Great European Migration. And if I didn’t know better, I would almost be led to believe that they are speaking for me, but not so, of course. Not to be outdone, Arizona’s Congressman, Jeff Flake thinks that there’s a move-a-foot to water down the penalties for being “undocumented”. So, what has been an historic violation of civil law is being morphed into a violation of criminal law. And if the Righteous/Radical Right weighs into immigration as their prime issue, “treason” will become the mindset and which will be used to attack the advocates for Reason and Rationale for immigration reform.
But, Congressman Raul Grijalva from Tucson, Arizona, has it correct when he says, “Immigration policy must deal fairly and intelligently with the millions of hard-working, responsible, undocumented immigrants already in the country…Declaring war on the border is not an option.”
Need more be said?
Jaango--posted on December 17, 2009
Massaging the Public Discourse?
Matt Taibbi, a columnist writing for the Rolling Stone, and in his article titled, “Obama’s Big Sellout” and dated December 9, 2009, brings ample attention to and thusly, he is challenging the conventional wisdom that is prevalent in today’s assessment of American politics. Taibbi cogently argues that Obama’s economic team is overly sympathetic to Wall Street and far less so to Main Street. And as to regulatory reform, Team Obama is also not overtly courageous in its decision-making for consumer protection or even for a financial regulatory schematic and which could and should be attuned to a potential economic collapse in the future.
In contrast, Ezra “extra” Klein, writing for the Washington Post, takes a differing view, As such, he says of his perspective, the following:
“What unites not only Obama’s economic team, but his whole White House, is not its emphasis on rich people. It’s the emphasis on people accustomed to dealing with Congress…It’s rather difficult to say what these people do and don’t believe, as their whole world is finding the 218 in the House and 60 in the Senate, and every word, action and policy brief is squarely aimed at goal. That leaves two questions worth asking about them: First, are they more or less liberal than the 218 most liberal congressmen and the 60th most liberal senator. Second, are they good at their jobs? That is to say, are they good at bringing 218 congressmen and 60 senators into line behind reasonably good policy?”
Now, from my perspective, and which is my political triangulation for 1) the Confused Conservative, 2) the “regressive” Moderate and 3) the “aggressive” Moderate, Team Obama conveniently falls well within the category for the “regressive” Moderate.
Take, for example, I think that “Extra” Klein is far closer to the truth. Rounding up the needed votes for any public policy, conveniently neglects the history for achieving the solution that is required for any “unmet need”. And to wit, the “unmet need” is not the nexus on which to base the public policy that would embolden the White House. As such, the White House is responding to the Republican’s public policy mantra, and which is to maintain the status quo. And in contrast, should the Republicans regain the “levers of power” in the near term, the status quo will be downsized or degraded, and which can be seen in the healthcare debate. At the end of the political day, Team Obama will continue to downscale its political agenda despite the public rhetoric to the contrary. And if this behavior continues, Republicans will be determining our public policy from the default position, given that Democrats are scrambling to do anything that will co-opt anyone from the Right and with a meme for bipartisanship. Of course, my expecting the White House to forcefully advocate for seemingly complex issues such as immigration or for even Card Check, will come as a surprise to me.
Another notable example of this timid behavior, will be the successful accomplishment for having found over 22 million emails from the Bush and Cheney Regimen, and yet, these emails never see the light of day, or hence, 12 years into the future. Only then will a future administration determine if it should give historians much if any viable access and which permits them to tell of a more accurate history of American politics in the first decade of this century.
And one of my pet peeves is that “privacy” has been virtually lost, if one pays attention to what the Wired Magazine had to say about cell phones. It seems that a legal regimen has been established in which law enforcement officials can request and pay for with taxpayer dollars, the history of cell phone use and the attendant information on anyone owning a cell phone. Take, for example, at Sprint-Nextel, over 8 million of the 50 million subscribers had their cell phones evaluated in keeping with the many provisions of the Patriot Act. And the same can be said of all cell phone providers with the sole exception being that of Cricket. Consequently, “tracking” of our fellow citizens is easily accomplished, regardless of any emphasis on seeking out the presumptive terrorists and where “probable cause” had been downsized to “reasonable cause”. And expecting the White House to reverse such existing behavior that is being demonstrated by law enforcement officials and agencies on a daily basis, would be another surprise to me.
In closing, my litany of complaints relative to public policy is indeed lengthy. However, I would like to see Congress address my “unmet need” for passing legislation that prohibits political parties from accepting memberships from America’s large and bountiful body of bigots and racists. And if this legislation came to pass, my political triangulation would come fully into fruition, and thereby diminishing the existing political parties and their respective behaviors for egregiousness premised on a lack of intellectual vigor and political will.
Jaango--posted on December 16, 2009
No "victimization" Here!
As a Native American/Chicano, politics is a personal endeavor for me, and thusly, our healthcare debate as personified by Senators Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, has been a non-starter for me.
Take, for example, these four Senators have run out of ideas on which to defend their opposition to healthcare reform, and consequently, I have arrived at the conclusion that despite their opposition to the legislation being crafted in the Senate, my view has now morphed beyond the tradition of Democratic politics, and in which, collectively, these four Senators have determined that they are going to go down the road as "good soldiers for Corporate America" and are determined to “defend” the health insurance industry and their anticipated profits, nonetheless.
Healthcare reform has been a “core value” of almost all Democrats, and therefore, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, and as Majority Leader, should take the velvet gloves off and proceed to tell these four Senators to “join the team” or otherwise, look for a new job not having to do with our national political scene.
In closing, the only viable “argument” should be is that hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens have died in the past 60 years for want of an adequate systemic for "medical care delivered" while the Democrats have been husbanding their political skills in order not to provide a systemic for this “medical care delivered”. But times have changed and Americans are “demanding” healthcare reform, and the Democrats have to respond accordingly since the Republicans won't. Now, I much prefer “open access” to either the Indian Health Services or the VA’s medical systemic, since the status quo is blatantly dysfunctional. And yet, a “buy-in” of Medicare will provide for a temporary solution or until the bulk of the “aggressive” moderates can become more effective at legislating better “equality”.
And if healthcare reform fails, more Americans will die, and it’s this argument that should be leveled at these four Senators and with their attendant accountability moment. In the final tally of this healthcare reform debate, I will have no problem with dumping all the dead bodies on the respective doorsteps of these four Senators and done on the basis of "fair is fair!".
Jaango—posted on December 14, 2009
Pathological Indifference..."of a savage few"?
A political life lived in the public sphere is never boring, if one easily understands the 'platform' that must be advocated and perpetuated. Thus, Immigration and the activism that is attendant to the morass of the platform cannot be separated. Take, for example, our infamous Sheriff of the Pink Underwear and his SideKick, the County Attorney.
Here in the Sonoran Desert, when the Republican-led State Legislature took the decision to directly fund a county sheriff in order to penalize Brown People, they did not anticipate that the alligators would commence to eat their own political children. And today, racial profiling has expanded to the point where even the Republican elite and being "profiled" for any lack of public trust for supporting governmental entities and self-governance, is in jeopardy. And this jeopardy has nothing to do with immigration but has to do with the potential misuse of taxpayer dollars. The county attorney and the sheriff asked the county board of supervisors for over seven million dollars and delivered in advance to continuing waging their jihad against anyone who disagrees with their 'platform'
Today, the demise of the Republican Party in Arizona, is just around the next corner. Moreover, the Sheriff and the County Attorney of Central Arizona, or Maricopa County, have the collective view that a "conspiracy" is facing them of a political nature. Thus, this 'victimization' has morphed into a campaign of retribution, in which their targets are 1) all five members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, 2) the County Manager, 3) the Deputy County Manager, 4) four Maricopa County Superior Court judges, 5) the director of the county's civil litigation division, and 6) two attorneys and a law firm.
And not to be outdone, the local newspaper, does the traditional bank shot or deflection by publishing an editorial piece that the potential lack of trust in government may be pending.
Yet, among Chicanos, at the inception of this political regimen for "racial profiling" quickly demonstrated that there was a considerable loss of public trust in government within our Spanish-speaking community. And some of us have articulated much and to the many, but no one among the Republican Cabal seems or cares to listen to us. And for this egregious political behavior, I am reminded of the following:
From the late Judge Learned Hand (1872--1961), he gave voice to the adminition of "A society in which men recognize no check upon their freedom soon becomes a society where freedom is the possession of only a savage few".
If so, Arizona will one day wake-up to a new reality and find for itself that our self-governance has collapsed.
Jaango--December 14, 2009
So Much To Say And So Little Time?
Given my heavy schedule for this week and due to the pending Holiday Season, there is still much to say, but so little time to focus on what's important to our Community of Self-Interest. Thus, after reading the internet and British newspapers, I found a particular statement uttered by the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Tony Blair, and thusly, he has deemed himself to be of a 'small mind' as well as a lawbreaker.
“I would still have thought it right to remove him. I mean, obviously you would have to use and deploy different arguments about the nature of the threat.”
Consequently, the "unassailable facts" of Saddam Hussein not having weapons of mass destruction, was deem irrelevant. Interestingly, the now discredited evidence, was discredited well before the invasion of Iraq commenced, and which should give pause to the Parliament, that just perhaps, Tony Blair should be presented with the iron bracelets and a set of shackles and delivered to the Hague for some well-deserved Justice?
Of course, the more common sensical among us, would label Blair's behavior equivalent fo the historical adage for the "big ruse".
Jaango--posted on December 14, 2009
"Annual Limits"...or so it seems!
In my discourse on healthcare reform that is taking place, permit me to add the context of the “regressive” Democrats fighting the “aggressive” Moderates. And within this context, this fight becomes quite obvious, or so I believe.
In the run-up to the healthcare reform debate, quietly, the White House easily co-opted their willing co-optee, Big Pharma and which the price point was that Americans could not import their medical drugs from Canada. In doing so, the White took the position that any cost from three to five times the price, Americans could afford this additional cost. Of course, all this is not new, but in today’s political context, Obama’s White House, is working quietly again to protect “the Deal” and done in the manner that would even make Karl Rove proud. Thus accuse the other person of what this person is doing and has been doing. That is the “performa” that is being measured here..
Senator Bryan Dorgan of North Dakota offered up and amendment that permits Americans to import their drugs from Canada. In response, the White House has enlisted Senator Tom Carper of Delaware to put a “hold” on Dorgan’s amendment. And this hold means that the debate on healthcare reform legislation and the attendant debate will come to a standstill. Or until such time as this political maneuver of a senatorial “hold” is removed by Senator Carper, and this is accomplished according to the current Senate procedures. And what is Caper’s “price point” for his cooperation with the White House? This remains to see seen. Regardless, Senator Dorgan is the hero here.
However, healthcare insurance has always been about the “worst case scenario” so if you have cancer, for example, you insurance company will discontinue your insurance policy because you have reached and achieved the “cap”. Consequently, these “caps” range from anywhere between $1 million and $2 million. And if you achieved the ‘cap’, you will find yourself in Bankruptcy Court, notwithstanding, the notional that ‘any’ medical care will be delivered to you by Medicaid, provided the government accepts you into the program. Of course, your last resort is the emergency room and ultimately charity.
And not to be readily dismissed, Senator Reid’s “manager’s amendment” includes a further reinforcement of these ‘caps’ and which is in contrary to all the public utterances of the White House and the Democratically-affiliated members of the Senate, when they have historically claimed that there would be no lifetime or annual financial caps. Consequently, the “insiders” game is to “game” the general public with the expectation that the general public will not find the truth for themselves until the legislation is signed off by President Obama.
To wit, if President Obama signs off, he too is complicit in this “gaming” of the general public. And yet, our distrust of our Elected Officials is now coming into full view given that our Elected Officials are “protecting” the campaign donors and the medical industry, and not the general public.
Perhaps, now is the time to make the appropriate decisions to consider “throwing these rascals out”? Albeit, we know that the Republicans have no particular interest in maintaining the status quo, and yet, they too want to reform “down” our medical care delivered by protecting the profits of the health insurance industry. So, are we getting much if anything from the Democrats when compared to the Republicans?
Jaango--posted on December 11, 2009
Challenging the "conventional wisdom" espoused from the Right?
When it comes to understanding, the Right and the Left, respectively, both carry forward their differing realities, especially when it comes to spending monies in the national treasury.
Take, for example, here is what President Obama said earlier today relative to the Economy and Jobs:
“One of the central goals of this administration is restoring fiscal responsibility. Even as we have had to spend our way out of this recession in the near term, we have begun to make the hard choices necessary to get our country on a more stable fiscal footing in the long run.
“Despite what some have claimed, the cost of the Recovery Act is only a very small part of our current budget imbalance. In reality, the deficit had been building dramatically over the previous eight years. Folks passed tax cuts and expensive entitlement programs without paying for any of it—even as health care costs kept rising, year after year. As a result, the deficit had reached $1.3 trillion when we walked into the White House. And I’d note: these budget-busting tax cuts and spending programs were approved by many of the same people who are now waxing political about fiscal responsibility while opposing our efforts to reduce deficits by getting health care costs under control. It’s a sight to see.”
As to the House Republican leadership, Congressman John Boehner of Ohio and as the Minority Leader, called out the Obama administration for having the moxie to utilize the returned bailed-out-bank monies for Jobs as “repulsive”. To wit, these returned monies from the TARP program, “were never intended to be utilized to fund new programs” so says the House Minority Leader. Moreover, he has more to say:
“This makes me so angry! I was there – I know all about TARP. First it was never intended that all this money was going to be spent. But any money that wasn’t spent was going to go to the deficit. The idea of taking this money and spending it is repulsive.”
Now, as I assess these two statements from my perch here in the Sonoran Desert, , Congressman Boehner still comes up far short in 'conventional wisdom'. For example, he was happy that $200 billion was made available to bail out the “too big to fail” banks or Wall Street. He was happy that the $200 billion was available for the deficit and which he helped create. But he is unhappy that a portion of the $200 billion is available for “jobs creation” or available for the small business tax breaks in order to create new job growth. And he’s not happy that any additional aid will become available for the unemployed.
And yet, at the end of the political day, voters keep re-electing the Republicans in order to punish themselves for having elected them in the first place and which has led to our tremendous budget deficit, in the first place. So, I can envision that the voters will take a gander at the political philosophy espoused by Congressman Boehner and the likeminded, and vote somewhat differently and in favor of the Democrats in November of next year.
Jaango—posted on December 8, 2009
“Reframing” Sound Money
One of my favorite ‘stalking horses’ when it comes to political commentary, is writer Robert Robb of the Arizona Republic newspaper which is located here in the Sonoran Desert. He comes at his efforts from the mindset of the libertarian-conservative perspective, and which has proven itself to be inherently wrong for these past 30 years, at least, from the starting point of the Reagan Fiasco. And his latest effort is to encourage the conservative that ‘sound money’ is the idea that will prove to be a winner in the next and subsequent elections for the Right. And I say, “not so fast!”
For me, politics is a personal endeavor. So, when it comes to War and Peace or the old political adage of “guns and butter,” I have given up on white America relative to War since the love affair with the ‘military-industrial complex’ is not going to disappear over night or anytime soon, as evidenced by Obama’ speech on Afghanistan. Sadly, I have been proven correct when both Gates and Clinton suggested that there is no current exit strategy being considered for the near term or for the next three years.
As to the Peace, or domestic policy, I am heartened that white America will come of age or when I consider the demographic trends among the Hispanics, given that with the increasing vote levels, a new notional is being crafted that contains a series of a political subset and which is the reframing of political thinking and comes to us in the form of 1) the confused conservative, 2) the “regressive” Moderate and 3) the “aggressive” Moderate. Thus, the conjunction for determining the viability of the “independent” voter is a fiction, at best. And with this in mind, I posit the following when it comes to the Right.
During the Bush Era, conservatives lost the claim for being for ‘smaller government’ and consequently, any claim to taxes, spending, and governance, and collectively, was tossed into the political gutter. And when, adding the notional for no new taxes, more tax cuts, and an obvious love affair with a regressive flat tax, the idea that a conservative war tax, and which I agitated and aggravated for in the past(2002) will not meet with any success, much to my dismay for any tongue in cheek humor. And that’s life in our political slow lane.
However, “sound money” and the reappointment of Ben Benanke do not go hand-in-hand, but my fellow Democrats in the Senate will confirm his appointment for a term at the Federal Reserve. This decision-making it tantamount to recognizing Bernanke’s stellar knowledge on the Great Depression but conveniently lost is that he was the Honcho-Jefe of Bush’s Council on Economic Agitators. And in doing so, existing “progressives” are enthralled and will vote for affirming Obama’s nominee, thusly, nothing changes for the Democrats who are now in charge, or so it seems.
Given our national history, nothing will change for the short term, but at some point in the future, minimum wage workers will find their voice when they realize that the budget-deficit cutting states start having to cut the ‘goods and services’ delivered by the states to the local citizenry with education always being the foremost item on plate for heavy duty cuts. And for Native Americans/Chicanos, the higher than normal drop-out rates will become even more of a serious issue that will engender a political activism. And if education is married to immigration reform, all hell will break loose here in the Sonoran Desert, and perhaps, all across America, since Hispanics are now residing in the unlikeliest of places.
Obviously, Robb too, is not a fan of Bernanke when he writes the following:
“Bernanke is a key advocate of the loose money policies of the Greenspan Fed that contributed significantly to the real-estate bubble. He has been printing money like crazy to buy everyone’s debt—real estate, consumer loans and, most dangerous of all, monetizing the federal government’s red ink.”
And yet, if you’re a homeowner and your home is underwater, there is a Shame being visited on the homeowner, but none of this Shame is visited on the Lenders. Thus, being underwater on your mortgage means that the contract ‘value’ is far exceeds the current market ‘value’. And if this is happening to you, Corporate America has taken hostage of your ‘credit rating score’ and you, as the homeowner, have no recourse or alternative available to you since my fellow Democrats don’t perceive any ‘value’ to be attained by addressing your “held-hostage” credit rating. Thus, the Shame is all yours. Sadly, there are no co-optees in the political arena in which their “price point” can be determined or even measured. To wit, as a homeowner, you have been ‘ostracized’ by both the Republicans and the Democrats, and “regressive” Moderates have historically had this decision-making authority handed to them by the “aggressive” Moderates from the standpoint of an intentional ‘default’ within our political processes. And “how” to move these “regressive” Moderates into the camp of the “aggressive” Moderates, is our overriding challenge and our challenge for next year’s election.
Jaango--posted on December 7, 2009
“Liberal Power”?
Are our Elected Officials required to ‘listen’ to their respective constituencies and the voters? And that is the underlying premise of “liberal power” and this can be seen in the ongoing debate on the Public Option for healthcare reform. Or more precisely, in the ‘reform’ of the healthcare insurance industry. Consequently, “medical care delivered” is just an afterthought in this ongoing political debate since the ‘insiders’ are more comfortable addressing their concern, and notably, cost containment, to all else.
Now, the Public Option has become the ‘stand-in’ for this liberal power. And that is scaring the Elected Officials in Congress.
Why?
Since an approximate 50% of the time is spent on campaign fundraising, Members of Congress just don’t have the time to research all the technical elements and therefore, have to rely on their underpaid staffers or rely on the more experienced lobbyists. And the default position is to go with the well-paid lobbyists and whom have the credibility to advocate for their employers.
Thus, the respective constituencies tend to get left behind in the aftermath of all this decision-making. However, the Internet bloggers or “progressives” have picked up this burden and carried it forward in a manner that has been built on the platform of this new tradition for ‘transparency’ and which is bedeviling these members of Congress. To wit, they can no longer hide from the demands of their constituencies as evidenced by all the public opinion polling in which the majority of the respondents support the Public Option. And this support comes through in poll after poll for these past many months.
And yet, this “liberal power” will be felt in the months and years to come. Why? The general public sees all the myriad problems facing the nation and are not enamored of what has been addressed to date, as well, as what has not been addressed but been promised during the recent presidential campaign. Morover, the election of next year will take a toll on House members when each begins to craft their respective re-election campaigns, and this voting or ‘positioning’ can now be seen as to how each member utters their public statements. In the Senate, it’s a somewhat different story.
To date, the Public Option is no longer about “public policy” but it now all about “political power” and that dismays the members of the Senate and is leading to their fear of their respective Democrats. Perhaps, when the Democrats took control of the Senate in 2006, not accomplishing much of anything since, the general public became engaged and to the point of the speaking loudly would have a much greater impact. Consequently, this political vacuum has become filled by the loud voices of what has become the Tea Baggers on the Right. As such, they are driving the decibel level upwards without much to show for it, and much to the chagrin for the GOP. The GOP has been diminished in its control of their rank and file, and which has led to the ascendancy of such folks as Limbaugh, Beck and Palin.
As for the Democrats, the Internet is driving the conversation and these bloggers are making it much tougher for the Democratic leadership. For the Democrats, take, for example, and just to name two, DailyKos and Talking Points Memo. These sites are getting a million ‘hits’ daily, and readers are keeping up with the wealth of information being disseminated on a daily basis and done on a repetitive basis. And it also helps to have a stable of excellent writers that know how to “connect” with their avid readers. And Democratic women are holding their own when it comes to the public discourse. The web site for the Fire Dog Lake, has gotten its licks in as well. These women have taken the lead on such arcane stories as torture and the legal shenanigans that have captured the public’s imagination, and which is tarnishing the political realities facing the Department of Justice and the various lawsuits found in the federal courts. And this wealth of effort has not gone unnoticed in the White House.
Today, the nomenclature for the “veal pen” has taken hold in which it holds tightly to its support for all and any efforts by the White House, while the “others” are the independent political activists—although Democrats—are not enamored of the White House for not having delivered on the campaign promises made last year. This visceral identification is being played out on a daily basis and does not bode well for the White House. As such, the current nexus is focused on President Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, but that too will change in the coming months and will be visited on President Obama directly.
This lack of a ‘fighting spirit’ was evidenced this past weekend when Mary Matalin, a GOP operative was complaining on the Sunday’s Talking Head Circuit that Obama was simply filling in for President Bush, and was not being sufficiently supportive of the “troops” by sending even more of our men and women in uniform into Afghanistan. And this was just another ‘equivalent’ for Karl Rove advising the White House on War, after six years of his ample experience for failure. Of course, no Democrat could be found to refute this espoused nonsense, and this failure to stand-up to Matalin and her assorted voices, did not play well within the Democratic ‘base’.
When the political Right confronts this “liberal power”, the evidence is now in. The House Minority Whip, Congressman Eric Cantor went before the Heritage Foundation and espoused the GOP’s vision for greater employment by advocating for their traditional plate of ‘goodies’ and that being ‘cut taxes, cut regulations, freeze spending, and no new taxes.’ And all this under the rubric for “a no-cost jobs plan.” Yup, even I couldn’t make this crappola up sans the jobs. However, Republicans continue to ignore their well-known history for their advocacy of our national economic failure and delivered to us during the Bush Regimen. And they are putting their mouth where their money used to be, by doing it again, but expecting differing results or until the next election rolls around. Thus, repeat and rinse, again.
In closing, it’s taken this “liberal power” to come to the forefront after a long sixty-year debate in which our citizens recognize the extent of this implacability demonstrated by the Four Middlemen. In this instance, these middlemen are 1) the government, 2) the insurance industry, 3) the biologic conglomerates or Big Pharma, and 4) medical practitioners. Thus, who and how that taxpayers’ pocketbook is accessed, will drive this ‘outcome’ facing the Congress and the White House, in the years ahead as a ‘new’ and ‘improved’ product is crafted and accepted.
Jaango--posted on December 4, 2009
Another of the Big Cabronies
During this Holiday Season, the Santa with the Big Kettle standing outside one of America's big stores, will not be getting a financial donation from me, and sadly, the Salvation Army is not helping itself, in the least.
Reports now out have the Salvation Army staff checking the residency of a kid in search of a toy despite the fact that all needy kids should be able to receive and enjoy a toy, and done with no questions asked of these kids.
Moreover, our political exasperation is increasing due to the usual precept for political correctness as espoused by the Right.
To wit, the Salvation Army is publicly admitting that they have been asking the adults for their immigration status from those seeking to spend a night in one of the SA's shelters. Admittedly the SA is a right-wing religious organization, but this is taking the politics of immigration a step too far, and thusly, the SA is now shamelessly pandering to the general public, without the public being cognizant of what's going on behind the closed doors at the Salvation Army.
Jaango--posted on December 2, 2009
Our "devious" Christmas Card for Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez
Tomorrow is that infamous day in December in which Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez of California (Orange County) informs everyone what her Christmas Card for this year and sent to her constituents, will consist of. Regardless, she is sure to spend over $100,000 of her lobbyist friends' monies and that's not chump change by any stretch of the imagination, and especially from the perspective of any minimum wage worker.
And with my sense of humor working overtime, I thought I would remind our readers that I took off the week of Thanksgiving in order to chase down the chicken, and which I observe annually on my Penance Day. And I call it Penance Day for one sole reason. Thus, making fun of some of our not-so-bright Elected and Appointed Officials, can get tiring when done throughout the year. But when it comes to Loretta Sanchez, satirizing her is easy to do, since she, like many, have run out of "new" Ideas given her closeness to the inevitability of America's lobbyist community in our nation's capitol.
This past Summer, we began preparing a political pamphlet with the working title of the "Twelve Days of Christmas" and premised on the notional that 12 "new" Ideas were called for in order to reinvigorate our Hispanic Congressional Caucus. And yet, due to the press of ongoing business, the final editing has not been completed as we anticipated and with the expectation that the pamphlet would be ready for this Christmas Season. Consequently, this political pamphlet won't be ready until the first of next year. And with this in mind, follow me forward into Satire.
Perhaps, in retrospect, I will get myself in trouble with her office, and if that's the case, I will then know that she has lost her sense of humor. In this day of "celebrity", the idea that any 'cheap' airtime will suffice such as the variety found on cable shows, 'new' Ideas are not much appreciated unless the Idea leads to some notable self-degration, rules supreme, or so it seems. But not for me. I like 'solidity' for self-improvement or for the self-improvement of my fellow citizens. Consequently, I offer one "new" idea from our political pamphlet to Congressman Sanchez for her new political ascendance for this Christmas Season in which she can contemplate, cogitate, and perhaps, advocate for the Advancement of Progress in this Indigenous Hemisphere.
And I call this "new" Idea:
TransNational Technology Centers
It's well understood that our foreign policy objectives toward the Latin America Region have been less than stellar, and our history proves me correct. And Obama's Team and led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has not been stellar either. And with this in mind, Congressman Loretta Sanchez, has the unique platform and ability to influence our foreign policy should she take this opportunity to do so. Of course, should Santa brings her an Ambassadorship, then my notional here will fall flat.
As such, introducing legislation that assists local municipalities here in the States in order to "connect" with the municipalities in the Region, would go a long way in lifting the self-governance construct for having set the bar on a much higher plane. Thus, if Congress allocated $100 million annually for a three-year duration for this effort to "connect" and done on a competitive basis in which each municipality selects a municipality in the Region, training and technical assistance, would be engendered that is both transborder and fulfills the Human Dimension for Progess.
In doing so, during this three year period, municipality leadership would have a basis to assess each other's repective leadership models and assorted public policies. And even more so, when measured by these Elected and Appointed Officials and their staffs. Additionally, ongoing assessments would bring forth more ideas that can be considered and determined for implementation that brings the local populace into a closer relationship with their governmental functionaries. And who knows, government may be better able to deliver the requisite "goods and services" that is required and expected by the local citizenry and thereby minimizing migration patterns.
And perhaps, the private sector will recognize some of this eventual and stellar success, and take the decision to partake of this process by becoming an integral participant, and leading to a much-needed financial investment in which Ideas and Money, motivate transborder economic activity and which, if done correctly, supersedes our foreign policy venues for its historical inattention to the 'unmet needs' that cross our borders on a daily basis.
Therefore, Congresswoman Sanchez, can take this 'christmas present' and make a "best use" of it, and if so, much to our pleasure and the pleasure of the affected residents in the Region.
In closing, "vamping" on a motorcycle, won't get my engine started and that too has been tried in the past.
Jaango--posted on November 30, 2009
The Israeli Jews and the Israeli Palestinians in Conflict
Like most Americans, we here in the Sonoran Desert tend to dismiss this Conflict as being not part of our every day lives, and of course, we are wrong, and for starters, just on two levels is our predicate for our wrong-headedness.
First, our public policy relative to the I-P Conflict is of tantamount importance when our national security and defense is taken into account.
And secondly, supporting a Democracy such as Israel with its institutional bigotry and racism being rampant as hell due to proscribing a “second class citizenship” onto the Palestinians is beyond the pale, given our wealth of historical experiences here in the USA. Thus, if a “participatory” Democracy cannot be established and perpetuated, the United States has no basis for being Israel’s ally for self-governance. Consequently, America continues doing to what it has done for all these many years, and as such, America should not escape it accountability moment for perpetuating this bigotry and racism on both sides of the decision-making table.
And now, I will no longer be an enamored object of America’s Jewish political activists. Yet, agreeing to disagree is what makes politics a fun endeavor, despite the seriousness and consequence of this low-intensity conflict being waged in the Near East.
However, my political behavior does have its cost being visited on the “second class citizens” of Israel, and this I too know, and full well. Consequently, the challenge is in how to get President Obama to change our foreign policy objectives that run counter to our existing history for all these many years? And this change must also include the requisite attention paid to the evangelicals that seemingly populate their view with the notional that Armageddon must become an “unassailable” fact for the establishment of Revelation as embodied in Christianity.
To date, America’s elite for our foreign policy, or I should specifically, white America’s approach has been an absolute disaster since we have tied our caboose to the egregious train wreck that has become Israel. Now, can America’s “racial and ethnics” do any better? I think so and I know so. And how would this come about?
If one understands that President Obama’s political approach, and as signified by ‘health insurance reform’ then, Obama is working off of FDR’s playbook by manifesting the notional for “make me do it”. And that means an ‘aggressive’ outreach to all the ‘racial and ethnics’ and which worked quite effectively in the run-up to Bush and Cheney’s War of Choice.
Take, for example, Native Americans were opposed to this War of Choice and measured at 90%. African Americans were measured at 90% in their opposition. The Chicano Community came up far short or at 73% for holding the bar high when compared to our fellow citizens in our universal disregard for white America's “criminal stupidity” for having waged a war that posed no threat to our national security and defense. And this has proven itself within the wealth of the baseless or non-existent “unassailable” facts that were posited in real time.
Consequently, white America has come to realize that our political elites were all bluster and blather, and thus, the evidence speaks for itself to the charge for ‘criminal stupidity’ being quite accurate. And on occasion, I have challenged the Fourth Estate, as the Iconic Cheerleaders, in which each should serve two years at a federal prison of their choice, and the Paramours for this Organized Violence should have their tender moment assessed before a tribunal located at the Hague. And if the iron bracelets and shackles are a feature and not a bug, I will not shed a tear for their reprehensible behavior for failing to uphold the Rule of Law in keeping with the Constitution and the requisite Declaration of War. And I am reminded of the fact that both the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the AUMF Resolution were bogus artifices, notwithstanding all the bluster and the blather to the contrary from seemingly intelligent people and whom should have known better relative to our self-governance.
Therefore, the only solution that I can envision that will bring forth and accrue this Honor to my America of today, is to request that President Obama go to the United Nations and formally request that a United Nations Peace Keeping Force be established and sent to the Near East with the objective of implementing the Accommodations reached in keeping with the pre-1967 scramble for a two-state solution. Nothing less in terms of “intellectual vigor” will suffice in this instance.
Jaango--posted on November 29, 2009
Tradition Versus More Tradition?
For the past several weeks, I have been engaged in a dialogue with both of America's Jewish political activists and with Israeli political activists, and we sought to annuniciate our perspectives relative to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. And throughout this discourse, I have sought to deliver my Respect accordingly, and thusly, this Respect has been reciprocated and done with considerable kindness. Of course, for my part, this was an anticipated or expected behavior and done in a collegial manner. In contrast, the worst disagreement came in the form of a statement for my being a "liberal jackoff...with a visceral identification with 'underdogs' and losers.'" Consequently, my wading into this morass of a contentious subject matter with serious implications for both the Israeli Jews and the the Israeli Palestinians, was not lost on me. In short, this is a life and death struggle for land, life, and liberty, or even for survival of a society and leading to a two state solution, if possible.
So, when it comes to the I-P Conflict, the usual Argumentation, generically revolves around four "issues" as has been noted in the past. And understanding these prevalent features is indeed important, but for me, the notional that the Human Dimension tends to get lost amongst the jibber and jabber, or the bluster and blather espoused by the many special interest 'features' and the 'bugs' found in the historical record. And this record is replete when it comes to addressing these 'features' and which are, 1) Sovereignty, 2) Borders, 3) Immigration, and 4) Resources. As to the 'bugs' , it all generates down for the safety found in the political gutter and comes in the form of bigotry and racism, and from both sides, the Israeli Jews and the Israeli Palestinians. And more to the point, "white" versus "brown" and in this instance, has been exacerbated by Bush's War of Choice. And yet, neither perspective is correct, since both sides see themselves as 'white'.
Moreover, "tradition" tends to get lost as well, and when Bernie Avashai, brought forth the notional for tradition, and especially as to how it can be applied or for consideration among America's Jewish community, my ears perked up and caused me to assert myself a tad more, from the standpoint of history relative to my experiences that I deemed important to me.
As such, this post comes in Two Parts, Part One--Bernie Avashai, and Part Two, My Response. Combined, this post is somewhat lengthy, so pull up a chair, have a good cup of java handy, and enjoy.
Part One:
J Street And The Jewish Tradition
By Bernard Avishai - November 24, 2009, 1:51AM
The Jerusalem chapter of Search for Common Ground, along with the Washington Post's "On Faith" section, asked me to contribue 800 words on how Jewish values animated participants in J Street's October conference in Washington. So--not without hubris--I did.
During the first night of the J Street conference, when delegates were just getting settled, a half dozen speaker -- activists, rabbis and students -- unexpectedly poured their hearts out. The 1,500 people in the hall, the speakers insisted, were not only gathered to represent the majortity of American Jews who think U.S. polilcy should put its weight behind bringing about a two state solution. We were gathered also to redeem "Jewish values." You heard a good deal of the phrase of "Tikkun Olam," the repair of the world, that night. And I confess to cringing at times. Was social improvement a peculiarly Jewish desire? Could Tikkun Olam, a kabbalistic concept turned into a leftist chiche, cancel out the fact that the Occupation is advanced by zealots of Jewish law, or that rightist neoconservative ideas are particularly strong (so polls show) among the quarter of American Jews who attend synagogue ast least once a month?
And yet something in the claim of these J Street speakers seems vaguely true. After all, 78 percent of American Jews voted for Barack Obama. Why, as the neoconservative Commentary Magazine complained in 1969, do Jews not just vote Republican and advance their class "interests?" Wasn't McCain a more avid "supporter of Israel?" Sure people who have been pushed around as much as Jews might be expected to be for the underdog, including Palestinians under occupation. But suffering, though ingrained in Jewish literature, is not uniquely Jewish either; nor does it necessarily make you peaceful or empathic. Are we to believe then that this desire for social improvement springs from Jewish tradition and if so, can it be redeemed by, of all things, J Street's American liberalism?
Actually, this begs the question, not of who is a Jew, but what is a tradition.
Take the most solemn and widely observed Jewish practice, the Yom Kippur liturgy. Jews read the portion from Leviticus in which a stringent atonement fast is commanded. Right after, we read a portion from Isaiah in which people who afflict themselves with starvation are mocked: "No, this is the fast I desire: to ... untie the cords of the yoke," and so forth. In the afternoon, we chant the book of Jonah, in which God uses a parable to teach compassion to his own pro phet, a man who -- much like neoconservatives -- says he would rather die than accept a world in which sinful people are not identified and punished.
So what is the tradition? The law commanded by Torah? Or is it the prophet's gloss on the law? Or another prophet's sublime lesson in humility? (or the Talmud's commentaries on the limits to humility?) The point is: the texts are not monolithic and mere humans have made choices about what commandments to perform, in what spirit; what interpretations to bring, and what texts or melodies to juxtapose. Before "modernity," rival rabbinic councils were the ones to choose; their implicit foil was the dogmatic uniformity of the Church. But at least since Napoleon marched the enlightenment into Poland, there was a new question: who gets to make the choices for Jewish "citizens" of a republic? This is where the liberal impulses circulating at J Street come in.
The phrase "Jewish values," you see, makes sense only to people who assume a world of (what we used to call) "free will." You have to believe that, generally, people have intellectual personality, individual sovereignty, and moral erudition -- that more sacred than the Book is the right to interpret books. Incidentally, this enlightenment insight not only marked Jews for successful acculturation into America, but arguably launched Zionism, too. If every Jew was going to be his own rabbi, then Jewish civilization had best be held together by a common language and territory.
So if Jews can be said to have stood for anything traditionally, was it not this allergy to dogma -- this breaking of idols? Did we not see democratic rights as, well, commanded? And, tragically, have not the land of Israel and Jewish military power themselves become idols for American Jews since 1967 -- or at least for leaders who spoke for the "community," while liberals remained aloof from its parochialism? Anyway, J Street says, "No more." Occupation and settlements justified by isolated passages of scripture debases the way Jews justify anything. Jews are not, or not only, an interest group. It is now Palestinians who have a "yoke" to "untie."
In his 1934 preface to the Hebrew translation of Totem and Taboo, Freud asked: when you eliminate Hebrew, the "religion of one's fathers," and "nationalist ideals," what "is left that is Jewish?" He answered: "A very great deal, and probably its very essence." Perhaps.
____________________________
Part Two--A Corollary Perspective
Perhaps, I should add a "snark alert" to preface this post. However, I will leave it up each reader to determine this for himself or herself?
As a Native American/Chicano, my late father was Yaqui and my mother, now 92 years of age and still kicking butt or at least mine, is an Apache. And this combination, adds to my luster for being somewhat of a contrarian in my worldly view. To wit, I posit two items for your consideration.
First, is the notional that when I ask white America as to when I can have my "discovered" America returned to me with all its pristine condition, including clean water, clean air and clear dirt, invariably, the response is, "Kiss my ass and go to hell!" is the anticipated response. And in concert, the "rez" is another affirmation of this mindset.
Secondly, is the notional that when I ask white America as to when I can have my "royalty payment" delivered to me from Corporate America, "dead air" is the anticipated response. And to add to this economic dilemma, when I visit a local Taco Bell, and see that my food products from this Indigeneous America, such as the tomato, the onion, and the chocolate among the many that are utilized to 'turn a profit' my entitlement remains unfulfilled, as of yet. Thus, I invariably leave a "propina" or a tip, and then, I find that management has absconded with the tip jar, and the minimum-wage employees see nothing of this small-minded benefit delivered to them on my part. Aren't I nice guy?
Consequently, when I think of the difference between Faith and Institutionalized Religion, I am drawn to the analogy of "recycling". As such, the Euro-Centric person sees recycling as collecting the aluminum cans for redemption. In the Dineh Society or the Navajo, and which is a matriarchal society, sees 'recycling' as a Rebirth in similarity to the European or historical equivalent for transmutation and reincarnation.
Moreover, my 50,000 years of history is not viewed as either a 'feature' or a 'bug' but as the Advancement of Progress and espoused as the Construct that comes to me from the Orginals or the Gente Fina.
And how does my contrarian view square with the Near East? I leave this to your astute analysis. And if you do "get it!" then we are on the same page.
____________________
I have long argued that when it comes to our foreign policy initiatives, the demographic trends of America’s Spanish-speaking community, will arrive at the decision-making table in the future, and when this does occur, America will see its role for multi-polarity and for advancing Progress from the standpoint of the traditional “underdogs” and done in a manner that the bar has been set on “high” for Human Rights and Civil Rights. And equally important, where there is no room for the ‘criminally stupid’ to continue tilting at the windmills of history unless this history is amply recognized as the tablet for guide posts and markers for the next several generations, as they take into their consideration and determination to create their future for themselves. And this should be our Legacy delivered to our progeny, notwithstanding our minor transgressions.
And I have also long argued that a “participatory” Democracy brought to us by the Lyndon Johnson Era, and in our historical acceptance, we are inherently progressive in our Philosophy for Thought and Action, and from this nexus, viewing the anticipated result of a two-state solution, should infuse our political behavior and which causes our Elected and Appointed Officials to get on board our “participatory” Democracy. Doing so, demonstrates that it works given that in America’s “racial and ethnic” community, having over 25, 000 Elected and Appointed Officials, is the only pathway to success, short of organized violence.
When America’s foreign policy focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, will our political initiatives lead to creating more Elected and Appointed Officials among the Israelis and the Palestinians? If not, we have failed, regardless to the rationale that will embed our conventional wisdom that will come to us from the Grand School for Doing Nothing. And if we succeed, our additional attention and focus should be on the children born into a family in which one spouse is Israeli and the other spouse, is a Palestinian, means, at its essence, bigotry and racism, is no longer at the core of the human dimension that is the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. And for those of us in the Spanish-speaking community, since 1990, our community has doubled in population, and thusly, new ideas, need to be adapted to and advocated for, and in this overall effort, you will find me amongst this ‘new’ mindset relative to the Israeli-Palestinian mindset.
Jaango
Watching History Being Made
This evening, I will be watching cable television and in particular, CSPAN in which the Senate will be debating their "cloture vote" and which is a procedural function that permits any legislation to arrive onto the floor for further debate. Thus, the specious requirement that the Democrats have imposed on themselves and all done in order to avoid the potential implication from a Republican fillibuster that can only be overcome with 60 votes. As such, the Big Stumble for bipartisanship.
Consequently, do the Corporate Democrats have the requisite 60 votes? If so, some 'new' history will have been created by this contentious lot of America's political elite.
And yet, I am reminded our history of yesteryear or from the Lyndon Johnson Era, and compared to yesterday's history. Starting with yesterday's history, what is being debated later this evening at 5pm EST, is that the Corporate Dems are positing their view of Reform of the Medical Insurance Industry and not Medical Care Delivered. And therein is my distinction and advocacy for a "participatory" Democracy that hallmarked the Johnson Era.
Moreover, Senator McCaskill of Missiouri was complaining earlier this week that "health care reform" was difficult at best, and "going slow" was the better part of political valor. In contrast, during the Johnson Era, Congress passed 81 pieces of legislation within a six-month period that included the legislation that we all enjoy today. Thus, "insurance reform" to be added by "cap and trade" and "financial reform" is far too difficult to accomplish within a short time frame. Perhaps, she should take a long look at history, and jettison the GOP Mantra for "Delay" and "More Delay" as the salient "bug" of our ongoing national discourse for public policy. Or put more appropriately in context of Tomorrow's Palaver, is the "engineered obsolescence" for recurring campaing donations by dragging important legislation and which permits time and contacts to create an ever-ending flow of these campaign donations from Corporate America.
And in closing, I am reminded of what a former Chairman of the World Bank once said and which is still precient today and as was then: "Elites negotiates with the elites" and consequently, from my perspective, the "little guy" gets the "burden" for paying the due bill that will soon arrive for not having addressed intelligently our "medical care delivered".
Jaango--posted on November 21, 2009
Saturday Morning's "Odds and Ends"
1. "A monthly abortion fee". House GOP Leader Boehner is now saying that health care reform will contain a "monthly abortion premium will be charged of all enrollees in the government-run health plan" in the Senate bill. He's wrong and knows it, and he is still determined to remain wedded to his specious view despite the readily available and the 'unassailable" facts.
2. "It's going to be a holy war". So says, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah. Obviously, his God-of-Choice must be Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
3. Gerson and Rov—the Bush White House operatives, are still talking trash, which is Irony personified. So, I won’t bore you with the particulars since their grasp of facts still eludes them.
4. Fox News gets caught again splicing news footage in order to enable the Palinistas.
5. Revisionist history? House GOP member Virginia Foxx of North Carolina believes that the GOP is “progressive” given the GOP’s history in support of the Civil Rights Act of the 1960s. Suggesting she is “whacked out” is being too kind.
6. Public Polling does have its benefits. A recent poll indicates that the majority of the Republicans polled, affirmatively agree that ACORN stole the election for President Obama. GOP leaders should know better than to let the “loud voices” among the Right to “preach” this nonsense.
7. Transaction tax for Wall Street? It seems that the House is crafting a Jobs Bill and which it to be paid for with unused TARP funds or a transaction tax that will be imposed on Wall Street. Obviously, the Democrats are now seeing the lack of jobs all across America is continuing to jeopardize the spending patterns among consumers.
8. Sarah Palin confuses Iraq with Iran, and I can imagine what Senator McCain is not saying now. And this would not be pleasant to hear or read.
Jaango--posted on November 21, 2009
Just a few thoughts to interrupt your pleasant day.
1. Associated Press is proud that it assigned 11 fact checkers for Sarah Palin’s book, and yet, over time failed to fact check either Bush or Cheney and their War of Choice.
2. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has crafted an end-result and is now looking for an economist and who is willing to jeopardize one’s personal and professional reputation, in order to craft a thesis that meets the ‘demands’ of the Chamber. As such, facts don’t matter.
3. The Swiss drug giant Roche and it’s American subsidiary, Genentech, hired a major law firm in D.C., and wrote out the ‘talking points’ for 22 Republicans and 20 Democrats, in support of Genentech’s position. As such, these 42 members of the House went onto the floor, and advocated increased prices for medical prescriptions, despite their prior and public platitudes on behalf of consumers.
4. White House Counsel Gregory Craig was shown the door because President Obama made a promise to close Gitmo by year’s end. And because Obama wants to break this promise, Craig was tossed to the curb.
5. In the health care bill, an additional $25 billion will be made available to the states for Medicaid in order to help the states that are undergoing deficits dilemmas. These additional monies will permit the states to continue to help the economically disadvantaged, without having to face the budget knife.
6. Dick Cheney as the Republican candidate for the presidency in 2012? His daughter seems to think so. I can’t wait.
7. Grover Norquist, the political operative and author of the political and now infamous “pledge”, has spoken that presidential hopefuls for the GOP, must demonstrate their bonafides by elevating the GOP. In code talk, this means that potential candidates cannot continue to line their own pockets at the expense of the rank and file.
Jaango—posted on November 16, 2009
More Immigration Reform?
Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Friday that the Obama administration will do immigration reform next year, and the emphasis would be on a “three-legged stool” that encompasses, border security, greater penalties on employers who knowingly hire undocumented immigrants, as well as a “path to legalization”. Sounds wonderful, but to me, it sounds more of the same that Senator John McCain of Arizona wanted, or until he self-imploded and tossed “immigration reform” to the curb due to the vitriol he encountered and tossed his way by his fellow Republicans.
And of course, seeing the Obama administration fail due to their lack of intellectual vigor for immigration reform, will not come as a surprise to me.
Now, if Secretary Napolitano is indeed serious, I would like her to tell and explain to me what she and her administration is going to get around and addressing the construct of our “littlest citizens”. And that being the children born here in the USA and whom has since been repatriated with their undocumented immigrated parents to these nations of origin. Of course, she will keep mum, hoping that no one asks any of these tough questions that need to be asked and answered. Moreover, I will be expecting the Fourth Estate to ask these tough questions as well, since they know even far less about immigration than I do.
So, welcome to America and an America where the blind is leading the intentionally blind.
But there is Hope, or so I was told during last year’s Obama Campaign. And here’s hoping Barack Obama proves me wrong. Perhaps, he will pick up “bar for the Moral High Ground” from off the ground and raise it aloft for all to see?
And expecting the Republicans to support a strong "immigration reform" program, may not happen, given that the Republican history has amply demonstrated that "legalized" immigrants tend to vote with the Democrats. Thus, creating 11 million Democrats out of the expected 12 million to be naturalized, does not bode well for a Republican future.
Jaango--posted on November 14, 2009
Are We Undergoing the Non-Perfected Model for Health Care Reform?
One of the wonderful opportunities provided within the context of the Chicano Veterans Organization, is my ability to address virtually any “issue” that comes to my attention and done in a manner where there is no hindrance to pontificate, other than my self-restraint in the form of my applied self-censorship. Consequently, my going off the deep end, although yet to happen, to address a variety of issues, and done in a manner that is self-satisfying, is seen by me as an opportunity not to be lost, and of course, taken advantage of, and in this instance, I do so, again. And I will do so in the future as well. So, be advised.
Here in the Sonoran Desert, our local or statewide newspaper is conservative-oriented and quite successful from the standpoint of a profit-making enterprise, and if I may say so, one of the best at making money among the newspaper industry. Thus, earlier this week, it came out with an editorial in which it criticized President Obama for failing to take into account, the “cost containment” provision for health care reform. Needless to say, this is their purity for the bluster and the blather in political-speak. And yet, the Arizona Republic will remain undeterred for this behavior, or until they start losing subscribers and money.
The editorial piece conveniently criticizes the Oval Office for not making the distinction that spending a trillion dollars is not much more than spending $900 billion over a ten-year period. And yet, the newspaper makes no argumentation that the House bill differs from the Senate bill in that the Senate bill addresses the “doc fix” or the additional expenses incurred to reimburse medical doctors for the first year only, while the House bill factored in all ten years of cost for addressing this ‘doc fix’ and thusly, their arrival at the one trillion dollar figure. And with this political reasoning in mind, House Speaker Pelosi stripped out the anticipated nine years, and still, the CBO ‘measured’ the legislation at under $850 billion over this self-same ten-year period. And this lack of specificity of any attention to “cost containment” by the newspaper’s editorial board, demonstrates to me at least, that the journalists were imbibing in one too many cups of mezcal/pulque or Indigenously known as the Sangre de Cuahtemoc and therefore, relied on specious nonsense to make their argumentation, sans medical-liability costs.
And which brings me to my long-held view that “abortion” and “immigration” would become the stumbling blocks that face the Democrats. I have not been wrong to date. Last week, abortion became the focus with the Stupak Amendment that will prohibit the use of any taxpayer subsidies for inclusion into the “public option” or the “exchange”. And if finally signed into law, this Amendment will prohibit America’s women for having access to the appropriate medical procedure for terminating a pregnancy, and even in instances of “forcible rape”.
Should the mathematics that underpins the econometric models are anywhere near accurate, over 80 million people will be participating in this “exchange” mechanism for the purchase of the health care insurance policies. And if one adds the small business owners into this economic mix, the 80 million persons, will go up much higher than anticipated or expected and drives the ‘cost containment’ effort even further down the road, and may require the eventual implementation of a “Perfected Model” for health care reform, in the guise of a single-payer mechanism or some combination therefrom.
And lost in all this jibber and jabber, is Reality. Take, for example, taxpayers subsidize Employers to the tune of over $250 billion annually. By eliminating Employer-Provided health care purchased from insurance companies, could the “individual mandate” be far behind, in which such an institutionalized mechanism leads to even greater cost savings to the employee and the taxpayer? I can envision such a mechanism and done successfully where a women is NOT prohibited access to a medical procedure that eliminates the consequence from a “forcible rape”.
Today, in existing law, the Hyde Amendment, a Republican conception is driving the Medicare Systemic, and the Stupak Amendment expands this prohibition onto all women since I cannot see a health insurance company, offering two types of insurance, one for men and one for women, aside from being a sexist and discriminatory construct. Yet, the House version has been completed relative to the floor vote and the Stupak Amendment is in the legislation, and now ready for the Conference Committee. On the Senate side, the Majority Leader is awaiting the measurement that accompanies the legislation, and will be presented for a cloture vote. This cloture vote will require 60 votes in order to derail the expected Republican filibuster. If so, the successful cloture vote will then move the legislation to the Senate floor for an up or down vote. And if the cloture vote is not successful, the Majority Leader will have to face the possibility for utilizing the ‘reconciliation process’ relative to a budgetary behavior. And any legislation that survives a senate vote, will go immediately to a Conference Committee.
And it’s at this Conference Committee that the Stupak Amendment can be stripped out of the final Conference Bill. It’s somewhat complicated in terms of a process and yet, quite effective for an Administration that wants to deliver for all the American people, and done in contrast to pandering to a smaller special interest group or in this instance, the religious or evangelical community nationally.
Being ever mindful that there are a few Democrats that will appear weak-kneed and whom argue that “liberal” Democrats are the responsible party for causing Congressman Stupak of Michigan to offer his amendment, had the liberal Democrats genuflected at his altar, are to blame for this Amendment. In short, the traditional behavior is that “liberals” should understand that they are at fault and therefore, must submit to Stupak’s amendment since the “enemy of the good” must prevail and survive, otherwise, health care reform will fail due to the intransigence of the liberals.
As yet, “immigration” has not surfaced anywhere within the Senate, but I will be pleasantly surprised if the Republicans do not offer an immigration amendment that prohibits immigrants, either Documented or Undocumented to purchase health insurance with their own monies. In this day of toxic politics, perhaps, this immigration amendment will come forth and done by a conservative Democrat in the Senate as has the Stupak Amendment come forth in the House.
Stay tuned.
Jaango--posted on November 13, 2009
The Military Schism That Is Afghanistan?
After wading through a large volume of materials on Afghanistan, and for my waiting with bated breath, my anticipation that finally is the “military schism” for our engagement in Afghanistan, is coming to the forefront and for our public consideration and assessment. I have been anticipating that what I call the military schism in the upper echelons of the Pentagon is coming to the forefront and for all to see. Thus, President Obama’s “strategy” will determine which side of the schism is being perpetuated into national policy. Consequently, the “West Pointer” or the “Non-West Pointer” is that pivot point that is being assessed within the White House and the Executive Branch.
As such, General Stanley McChrystal’s view personifies the “west pointer” and Ambassador Karl Eikenberry typifies the “non-West Pointer” argument. And Ambassador Eikenberry is the retired General who was in charge of all military operations in Afghanistan for a period of two years and was McChrystal’s Commanding General. And after retiring, Karl Eikenberry became America’s Ambassador to Afghanistan. Moreover, Ambassador Eikenberry knows his history and experiences well and speaks with a high degree of certitude and credibility. Now, if the Ambassador, and he is not as yet--advocating for the complete withdrawal of our troops from Afghanistan, his views would indeed be the ‘game changer’ not expected by President Obama.
Consequently, Ambassador Eikenberry has two leaked memos out and in which he does discourage sending more troops in the amounts proposed by McChrystal, and done on the basis that Karzai’s government must be improved. Thusly, he is advocating that the State Department be encouraged to work on development and governance issues while the military presence should quietly fade into the background of this ongoing dilemma of several years in duration, facing the president.
Regardless of how this military schism is addressed, I can envision that no matter what President Obama decides, he will be pilloried by the political right for failing to send more than enough troops and far beyond what is a required for even a temporary “surge”. As such, the neo-cons and the few on right, especially in the Senate, will make political hay out of Afghanistan in next year’s election and beyond, and while they continue their attempt to demonstrate that America’s strategy is “illegitimate” when it comes to “protecting the troops”. And Senator McCain from Arizona will be leading this critique and with his sidekick, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, in hot pursuit in order to turn whatever Obama does decide, into a political hot potato for all the Democrats.
In closing, Ambassador Eikenberry’s emphasis on the civilian side be charged with the responsibility for our being in Afghanistan and linked to a ‘timetable for withdrawal’ of our military, is the important dynamic that is now moving the ‘conversation’ in the proper direction, as least from my perspective.
Jaango--posted on November 12, 2009
Happy Veterans Day!
Wishing a Happy Veterans Day to all our Brothers and Sisters of Shared Experiences. And lest we forget, let us remember our Fallen Comrades and whom made the Ultimate Sacrifice on our behalf.
Jaango--posted on November 11, 2009
“ethnic chauvinism” Versus “ethnic studies”?
In the latest episode of the long-running political battle between the Tucson Unified School District here in Arizona and represented by the Arizona Department of Education, the largest statwide and conservative-oriented newspaper, the Arizona Republic, has enter this political fray, and it's not pretty to see.
Thus, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne, and the former White House political operative and now columnist for this newspaper, have, collectively, moved this statewide political support into the public sphere, and done somewhat officially this past Friday. Their article comes to us in the form of an editiorial piece, and titled, "Race Studies Not What They Claim" and found in the Valley and State section, on page B4.
And yet, this public debate will now become a joy to watch as more people in the Spanish-speaking community become engaged in this debate. It's far too early to determine who will "win" but if I were a betting person, the Department of Education and the Arizona Republic will be on the losing end, and of course, the Constitution, will not stand in their way either. When you have "power" you use it. And if not used, this "power" does not exist, and that's been the prevalent political behavior in Arizona.
To wit, a few short years ago, the TUSD took the decision to create and implement its expansive Ethnic Studies Program, and in doing so, brought down upon their heads the political wrath of the conservative political operatives, and yet, it seems almost bizarre as to how this has been addressed and accomplished. Although it's easy to toss around the words "bigot" and "racist", it behooves all of us to take a gander at this reality, but done from a more discerning standpoint. If so, "bizarre" comes to mind. More so, when one thinks that anyone holding a "bizarre" perspective in the political arena would be determinative for a quick end to any political career, and regardless of political persuasion and affiliation. And still, this 'bizarre' does not seem to be applicable in this instance, especially for the State.
Long story short, the TUSD has implemented its Chicano Studies Program at four locations and the academic yardstick to determine its success or failure can be found in their "9 cohorts" for this analytic, given that the TUSD has determined the measurement index and the corresponding values to be measured and achieved. In constrast, the Department of Education went out and did their academic analysis as well, and focused on the presumptive curricula. They have concluded that the students in ethnic study classes perform no better than their peers. And more to their point, "in no case is the difference (in academic performance) significant either statistically or practically", so says Robert Franciosi, the Deputy Associate Superintendent of Arizona's Department of Education.
Now, I am not going to quibble with either the TUSD or the Education Department, and yet, I have a variety of questions that need to be asked and answered by both parties to this political dispute that has now entered the public debate. And by way of background, students in the TUSD come from backgrounds for Anglo, Apache, Latino, and Yaqui households, and before entering our public school environment, many can speak two languages, and possibly even a third language.
Now to my self-ascribed need or "questions" to be answered?
1. Are the Board Members of the TUSD either Elected or Appointed?
2. Are the monies derived and utlized locally or provided by the State Education Department and the Republican-led State Legislature?
3. Has the curricula been determined to be both viable and effective when measured against the short term and long term?
4. Are the parents of the affected students being given the choice relative to their son or daughter attending this expansive Ethnic Studies Program?
5. And are there any tangential impacts, either positive or negative, on the traditional classes being taught such as History or the Natural Sciences?
6. And is “integration” being enhanced in keeping with Brown v. Board of Education?
7. Is the extraneous public political debate among the adults impacting these students?
8. Does this Ethnic Studies Program lead to an increase or reduction in the ongoing student drop out rates in the local community?
9, Has a "Parent Satisfaction Questionnaire" been completed and madeavailable to the public?
These above 9 Questions should be seen as a “starting point” and where our intellectual vigor is the pre-dominant behavior in our public discourse. And if not, we all lose.
And in answering these questions for myself, by way of background, I am a “tri-lingualist” in that I advocate for English, Spanish, and Portuguese and which should be taught in all our primary and secondary schools in America. And I am informed of this, due to my extensive travels throughout this Indigenous Hemisphere. And these experiences were made wonderful for me since I did take my first “ethnic studies” class while in college, and which further empowered my perspective, despite my practical expertise, to understand the cultures, languages, and spiritual faiths that I encountered and enjoyed. And from this ease of understanding, my responses are provided accordingly:
1. The TUSD members are Elected Officials.
2. The monies utilized are locally derived and utilized.
3. Both parties agree that the minimalist level of academics is being delivered to the students for the short term. As to the long term, until these students enroll in either a community college or the local university, this measurement cannot be conducted adequately, given that this ethnic studies program is still in its infancy.
4. Only with the permission with the parent(s) can a student enroll and open enrollment is encouraged for all parents. As such, none are denied.
5. To early to tell by the responsible administrators and teachers since this institutional leadership easily fills the gap for any “leadership breach”.
6. The Department of Education calls it’s challenge as “ethnic chauvinism” and the TUSD suggests that the state officials are defending their behavior for bigotry and racism exercising a preemptive political attack on the school district. And this ‘argument’ is made all the more stark, given that the past history by the state. They—the state, did not step into a “leadership breach” in which the drop out rate was increasing by leaps and bounds, and no state monies were made available to the district, nor was any effort made to replace, the then old school board members. To wit, a new generation of school members are in charge and are challenging the status quo at the state level, and also, the TUSD are providing a possible ‘exemplar’ for other school districts.
7. No. But should it occur, these students will be encouraged to view this debate as a ‘learning experience’ and that too, is a ‘value' that should not get lost among all the jibber and jabber.
8. This answer is found in Element 6.
9. As to 'parent satisfaction' I have a call into the TUSD.
And my overall observations are as follows:
1. Any respectable observer would be cognizant that this ‘debate’ between the TUSD and the state education officials are two-fold. First, “local control” of education is the premise and fulcrum for this debate and to eliminate this feature, requires a constitutional amendment in which the Right does not want to attempt for fear of political retribution. And secondly, the much larger political debate is for the majority to continue to marginalize the minority, as has been Arizona’s history. And yet, the minority is determined to ensure that their language, culture, and history, is being included. And therein, a “progressive” approach for the future and consistent with a ‘feature’ and not a ‘bug’.
2. Consequently, understanding who you are as a person and equally important, a person within a distinctive society is the unifying theme. And yet, the mythology that the Chicano is from East Los Angeles, now living in Northern Mexico, drunk as a skunk, and complaining of America, is just that—a mythology that is continually being espoused by the political operatives on the Right.
3. And yet, I continue to wonder why the Right is determined ‘marginalize’ this minority population since the Tucson area is wholly Democratic in its political outlook. Obviously, the Right, is not playing to their political strength.
4. On a statewide basis, the Right is cognizant that the ongoing demographic trend will move Arizona into a “majority-minority” status that is equivalent to the existing five states in America, and soon to be followed by several other states, as well.
5. And the truth be told, the angry white guys are dying of old age, and this ‘newbie’ generation is determined not to follow in the footsteps of this generation of Oldsters. As such, the Oldsters are being “punk’d” when they see their grandchildren marrying the “others” and to wit, the School of Great Sex is continuing to come alive, albeit, slowly.
In closing, it’s nice to know that “local control” of education will continue for the foreseeable future despite the wealth of political operatives on either side of the political aisle. Now, if I could get the more wealthy and adjacent school districts to extend themselves forcefully to accept more economically disadvantaged students into their midst, there would be far less political friction in Arizona and in America, and which would make me a happy camper knowing that my tax dollars are being utilized in a more effective and efficient manner.
Note: I have updated this post for purpose of clarity.
Jaango-posted on November 8, 2009
Taking "incoming" is not a reason to become jaded!
After having posted on Wednesday or "The Chicano Meme for 'Honor Thyself", I have taken some "incoming" and yet, I am still standing and a glutton for punishment, and that's one of the major reasons among the many, and which tickles my heart.
Moreover, the "teabaggers" demonstration of yesterday in our nation's capitol, reaffirms my view of politics, and if our Elected And Appointed Officials intentionally remain oblivious to reality, they must infer that they do not have to "represent" their constituents, but can they pander willy nilly to the plethora of special interests outfits from the Chamber of Commerce and to the Insurance Industry, among others.. And yet, there is a "cost".
This "cost" came home yesterday when I saw the placards and large signs held aloft by the teabaggers in the crowd. And one in partcular "caught my eye" and which was focused on the Holocaust and for showing stacked-up bodies of dead people from WWII.
Now, I am wondering if ANY Member of the Hispanic Caucus will express directly their dismay or disgust to the Republican House Leadership Team and in which the respective members gave their speeches while denying that this "large sign" was not readily visibile despite it's being located 'front and center'?
Now, I am not trying to pick a fight with any Member of the Hispanic Caucus, but dammit, and to each Member, " ya' don't have to drag your 'nads in the dirt without having to bend your knees, just to prove how tough you are."
So, use some sophisticated English if that's your pre-supposed modus and speak loudly, so that we too may hear you here in the Sonoran Desert. And if ya' want to use some 'down and dirty' language, feel free to do so. This large sign was 'down and dirty' too.
Jaango--posted on November 6, 2009
The Big 2010 Question
Starting today, or sometime this weekend, you will want to ‘read’ what Tom Schaller has to say relative to the Democratic Opportunity in the mid-term election cycle of next year, and he begins his first post of a series in which Team Obama will have to contemplate and actually address. Moreover, in the comment thread, take a gander at some of the excellent comments and observations being made.
To wit, all this and more can be found at the web site of “FiveThirtyEight.com”.
Enjoy! And yes, I am ‘data’ junky.
Jaango—posted on November 6, 2009
Odd and Ends For This Week That Is
And how does all this ‘connect’ to our Spanish-speaking community?
You’re the Judge!
1. John Fund wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal and made the point that vote fraud would occur in New Jersey, and yet, done without any evidence. But then, he went on Glen Beck’s show and made another point in which Hispanics were going to perpetuate this non-existent vote fraud. And he’s not even grumpy!
2. And speaking of “grumpy” a researcher from Australia has found the grumpy people make for better decision-making. Hoorah for Grumpy!
3. Timid Democrats. Yup, timid Democrats do not understand Infallible Logic, and lose whatever capacity they have, especially when it comes to Undocumented Immigrants. Thus, the anti-immigrant provision in the Senate legislation for health care reform, is useless. Banning an Undocumented Immigrant from participating in the Insurance Exchange Component in order to buy a health insurance policy with his or her monies and for receiving no taxpayer subsidy, is beyond the pale for Logic. And such disastorous thinking is equivalent to banning an Undocumented Immigrant from utilizing our streets and highways for going to buy groceries, and thus, having to pay for the local, state, and federal taxes from which the benefits of this behavior accrues to all us.
4. A conservative political group is complaining that there is not enough diversity on the SCOTUS bench. Thus, more white and southern men need to be included on the Bench. Thus, affirmative action is not helpful in this instance, and are insisting that affirmative action for southern men, should be a consideration when President Obama has the opportunity to fill another vacancy on the SCOTUS.
5. The House GOP members offered out their Health Care Reform plan and which was scored by the CBO. It was not a good political day for the Republicans. Their plan would leave more uninsured behind.
6. One of the stories not showing up anywhere in the mainstream media is the ongoing negations on copyright law. Take time to check this issue out as it will certainly have an impact on your daily life.
7. Obviously, Italy finally got tired on the “war on terrorism” and sentenced 23 Americans for a “rendition”. Needless to say, the Italian officials assisting these Americans were let off on the premise that Italian law protected their intelligence gathering officials. And forgotten in all this, a couple of Americans were not convicted because of their claim for diplomatic immunity.
And it’s been a busy week.
Jaango---posted on November 6, 2009
The Chicano Meme for "Honor Thyself!"
One of the political sacraments in the Indigenous Community and more precisely, the Spanish-speaking community is that our Elected and Appointed Officials are expected to "Honor Thyself" and in doing so, this behavior accrues to all of us in our generic community, regardless of where each of us reside in the United States.
And with this in mind, our Spanish-speaking Members in the United States House of Representatives, dishonored our community, and did so intentionally, and thusly, egregiously so. Take, for example, the vote taken today in which the House condemned the Goldstone Report on a total vote count of 344 "ayes", 36 "nays" and 52 for 'taking-a-walk'.
Perhaps, if you don't know anything about the Goldstone Report, this Report was authored by Judge Goldstone, and whom is from South Africa and is an internationally-recognized jurist known for his fairness. Consequently, this Report was completed at the behest of the United Nations and which covers the denial of human rights perpetrated by the Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza.
And who were these reprehensible characters in Congress that voted "aye"?
- Baca
- Cardoza
- Cuellar
- Gonzalez
- Hinojosa
- Napolitano
- Ortiz
- Rodriguez
- Ros-Lehtinen
- Roybal--Allard
- Salazar
- Sanchez, Loretta
- Serrano
Now, who were the "Honored Thyselves" and our Community, writ whole, with their vote of "nay"?
- Grijalva
- Pastor
And who took the historical or provberbial "took-a-walk"?
- Becerra
- Lujan
- Gutierrez
- Nunes
- Sanchez, Linda
- Sires
- Velazquez
Judge Goldstone has come under a vociferous political attack and yet, he has defended himself admirably by stating that he compiled the "evidence" of these human rights abuses, and further, he has stated that it's the responsibility of the United Nations to determine if this evidence rises to the level fo human rights abuses to be considered by a tribunal within the United Nations.
And in this Congressional vote, this House vote is a risible attempt to 'influence' the United Nations and done from afar. And it is for this reason that we call out these members for their egregious behavior for vanity when they wrapped their arms around Shame and held on tight, hoping no one would notice. And yet, we have!
Jaango--posted on November 4, 2009
For the "wonks" among us
I enjoying reading public opinion polling. More so, when the data is readily available for inspection, and thusly, I can find for myself if the results resemble my reality.
And so, I went and visited the "science blog" of [ww.scienceblogs.com] and read an article titled "Casual Fridays: Is political wishy-washiness a general phenomenon?" Therefore, if you have a few minutes to spare in your busy schdule, do so, and also, read some of the commentaries. It's informative.
And in another related 'informative' is if you take Gallup seriously, and which I do, then, back in 1963, 55% of America was favorably disposed to racial integration. In their latest poll on racial integration, this 55% has been ramped up to a magnificent increase or to a level of 56%. (Okay, there is a little tad of snard!) And my question is, "Can this increase be attributed directly to the "naturalization" process that recent immigrants are undergoing?" Inquiring minds want to know.
Jaango--posted on November 2, 2009
The Clock's-a-Tickin' on Health Care
With the presser held this morning by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she announced and released the House's version of Health Care Reform and after being financially-assessed by the Congressional Budget Office.
Moreover, her Office also released a document that describes what will begin to occur on January 1, 2010. And here you have it below with all of it's 14 points.
1. BEGINS TO CLOSE THE MEDICARE PART D DONUT HOLE — Reduces the donut hole by $500 and institutes a 50%
discount on brand-name drugs, effective January 1, 2010.
2. IMMEDIATE HELP FOR THE UNINSURED UNTIL EXCHANGE IS AVAILABLE (INTERIM HIGH-RISK POOL) — Creates a temporary insurance program until the Exchange is available for individuals who have been uninsured for several months or have been denied a policy because of pre-existing conditions.
3. BANS LIFETIME LIMITS ON COVERAGE—Prohibits health insurance companies from placing lifetime caps on coverage.
4. ENDS RESCISSIONS—Prohibits insurers from nullifying or rescinding a patient’s policy when they file a claim for benefits, except in the case of fraud.
5. EXTENDS COVERAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE UP TO 27TH BIRTHDAY THROUGH PARENTS’ INSURANCE— Requires health
plans to allow young people through age 26 to remain on their parents’ insurance policy, at the parents’ choice.
6. ELIMINATES COST-SHARING FOR PREVENTIVE SERVICES IN MEDICARE—Eliminates co-payments for preventive services and exempts preventive services from deductibles under the Medicare program.
7. IMPROVES HELP FOR LOW-INCOME MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES—Improves the low-income protection programs in
Medicare to assure more individuals are able to access this vital help.
8. PROVIDES NEW CONSUMER PROTECTIONS IN MEDICARE ADVANTAGE— Prohibits Medicare Advantage plans from charging enrollees higher cost-sharing for services in their private plan than what is charged in traditional Medicare.
9. IMMEDIATE SUNSHINE ON PRICE GOUGING—Discourages excessive price increases by insurance companies through review and disclosure of insurance rate increases.
10. CONTINUITY FOR DISPLACED WORKERS—Allows Americans to keep their COBRA coverage until the Exchange is in
place and they can access affordable coverage.
11. CREATES NEW, VOLUNTARY, PUBLIC LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE PROGRAM—Creates a long-term care insurance
program to be financed by voluntary payroll deductions to provide benefits to adults who become functionally disabled.
12. HELP FOR EARLY RETIREES—Creates a $10 billon fund to finance a temporary reinsurance program to help offset the costs of expensive health claims for employers that provide health benefits for retirees age 55-64.
13. COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS—Increases funding for Community Health Centers to allow for a doubling of the number of patients seen by the centers over the next 5 years.
14. INCREASING NUMBER OF PRIMARY CARE DOCTORS — Provides new investment in training programs to increase the
number of primary care doctors, nurses, and public health professionals.
__________
Jaango--posted on October 29, 2009
A “game changer” in America’s Center-Left Politics?
If one carries forth the political perspective that emanates from within an Indigenous Hemisphere, then, one recognizes that the USA is safely ensconced in a cocoon within this Indigenous Hemisphere. And how so?
Perhaps, you will recall that military recruiters were showing up in the northern states of Mexico in search of Spanish-speaking recruits for our All Volunteer Army, and thusly, having a secondary source of troops for Bush and Cheney in their War of Choice. And how did this work out?
Today, a legal case is being put together in Southern California in which these successful recruits are arguing that they were promised “citizenship” for having served and worn our national uniform, as well as for having laced up the combat boots and strapped on the body armor while serving in either Afghanistan or Iraq, or both. Consequently, a “promise made” is a promise that must be kept. As to how a judge or jury decides, remains to be seen, but I would anticipate that this unilateral citizenship must be forthcoming. And if the courts decide on granting a “unilateral citizenship”, all the glitz and glamour espoused by President Obama will become a non-starter for the Spanish-speaking community. And equally important, circumventing the naturalization process, becomes ‘that’ game-charger’ within the Democratic Coalition and does not bode well for the American Jewish activists and their traditional support for Israel, since all political organizations in support of Israel, are seen as center-right entities, and that too, will be the destiny of the J-Street Organization, and which reinforces the Schema of the Neo-Liberal. Thus, transparency is of paramount importance and triangulation is just another of the many specious fictions in our political discourse. And immigration should not be treated as such.
And as to my “specious fictions?” As an aside, imagine if you will, and correctly, CNN is doing a four-hour Latino Series and yet, reality reflects that they have given Lou Dobbs access to over 250 hours of airtime to trash Latinos as their perceived management genius for catering to Chicano eyeballs. And this irony is obviously lost on CNN.
In closing, if you know of anyone from South of the Rio Grande and who has served in our Armed Forces and was promised citizenship as encouragement for his or her enlistment, please send us the person’s name and phone number and address if possible, and we will pass it along to make sure that “promises kept” is still the premise for sustaining and perpetuating Honor.
Jaango—posted on October 28, 2009
Kudos to PBS And the Lerher Report
Yesterday evening, I had the opportunity to watch the 'Jim Lerher Report' on my local affiliate of PBS, and it had on a segment of the "Chaga" disease. To wit, the syndrome for being out of sight and out-of-mind, kicked in. I found that immigrant women from South of the Rio Grande have the unfortunate experience for having to contend with Chaga. This is a disease that enters through the blood system and goes on to reduce the elasticity of the heart muscle and with the outcome that the heart undergoes and struggles with a lessening ability for the pumped blood.
And yet, medical doctors do not screen for this disease as they do for most diseases. Of course, this Chaga is not addressed in medical school and subsequently, the disease is being ignored. But thankfully and to the undaunting efforts by a medical doctor who has made it her mission to bring public attention to this disease, is also hoping that Big Pharma will invest a few of its dollars into the equivalent research and craft a drug that helps address this disease.
Therefore, more can be found on the internet by going to the website for PBS, and this starting point for understanding this little known disease called Chaga.
Jaango--posted on October 28, 2009
Odds and Ends...
1. With the start of the J-Street Conference this Sunday in our nation’s capitol, everyone will be advocating “pro-Israel” and “pro-Peace” and, thusly, America’s Jewish political activists are challenging the Old Establishment, as to who best reflects America’s political positioning in the Middle and Near East.
2. Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana stretches the logic beyond the breaking point when she advocates and questions, ‘Do you want a public option but it would force the government to go bankrupt,’ people would say ‘No’.
3. The big prank of the week comes to us from the Yes Men and during a fake press conference, announced that the Chamber of Commerce was backing off in its opposition to climate change. Several national newspapers got sucked in and had to recant their story.
4. This week’s international hooliganism has an American working for an Israeli aircraft company spying for the Indian Government. This remains to be seen since the innocent are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
5. In the third quarter, Hershey make a 30% profit and now, I am wondering if I am going to get my “royalty payment” due to the historical connotations that Indigenous America still cannot find it’s chocolate crops after all these many years?
6. And I am still waiting for a response from the staff in the City of Phoenix Mayor’s Office as to whether Mayor Phil Gordon will be attending the J-Street Conference, given that Mayor Gordon has been in forefront for challenging our infamous Sheriff of the Pink Skivvies and his “crime suppression sweeps” albeit, racial profiling that the Sheriff adamantly denies. To wit, Mayor Gordon is Jewish. Obviously, the Mayor’s Office doesn’t want to talk to military vets, and if that’s the case, he needs to re-think his behavior or that of his staff?
Jaango--posted on October 22, 2009
Where's My Taser?
I have never been enamored with the law enforcement's use of Taser's and thusly, any encouragement from the Federal Government in this regard is or should be wasted due to the miss-application of Justice.
Just the other day, if you reside in a state where Medical Marijuana is available, the Feds will no longer use their legalized Marriage-to-Juana tasers, to chase you down and humiliate you, as was the wont of the Bush Administration.
And in keeping with this approach for addressing thus usual "non-insanity", I found this a pleasant surprise and reported in and at our national news outlets:
"The Obama administration will not seek to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws, under new policy guidelines to be sent to federal prosecutors today....The policy is a significant departure from the Bush administration, which insisted it would continue to enforce federal anti-pot laws regardless of state codes. Fourteen states allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington."
Obviously, one of America's "better" Ideas, are now acquiring the requisite "gravitas" in the political and legal community, and which does impact our less-lhan-healthy citizens. Thus, Tolerance and Forebearance, is a always a commendable behavior.
Jaango--posted on October 19, 2009
To: Congressman Luis Gutierrez
From: The "gente fina" of America
First and foremost, you are to be widely commended for accepting the difficult challenge of addressing immigration reform, especially in this toxic political environment and for what passes today in terms of the Loyal Opposition or better known as the Party of No!
Here at the Chicano Veterans Organization, we reside in the Sonoran Desert and subsequently we have learned from our civic engagement of longstanding, that to succeed, our Argumentation must be premised on acquiring, maintaining and sustaining the Moral Mountain. And in peculiar instances, our perimeter must be defended as well, and thusly, we welcome this challenge too.
And for ease of understanding, anytime that we hear immigration being discussed, it soon becomes self-evident to anyone who deems to "listen" carefully, a gaping hole quickly manifests itself in the form of our "Littlest Citizens". To wit, our "littlest citizens" are the children born here in the United States of Undocumented Immigrant parents. And when these parents are repatriated to their respective nations of origin, our "littlest citizens" return with their parents. Thus, we are unable to learn if these citizens live in hovels, receive three squares-a-day in food, have access to medical care, or even have the tools and the opportunity to experience a quantitiative and qualitative educational outcome.
Consequently, asking an Elected or Appointed Official in either local or national government, is met with a blank stare. Thus, there are no "unassailable" facts on which we all can hang our hats on when done together. In short, we have demonstrated our national behavior for an easy dismissal, a ready rejection and an egregious neglect of our fellow citizens in the form of our "littlest citizens" and whom are incapable of defending themselves against adults and governments.
And yet, the taxpayers within these nations of origin pony-up the monies necessary and which they least can afford, and all done without nary a peep said, in either private or public discourse. Needless to say but I will, they are indeed the "gente fina" that we traditionally admire. Therefore, we too must address the status of our "littlest citizens" and begin to craft a political agenda that will achieve for us, the status of a "gente fina" as well. Otherwise, failing to do so, will not add to to our Honor.
Jaango--posted on October 15, 2009
New Immigration Reform
Earlier this week in his press conference in our nation's capitol, Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, announced that he will be introducing legislation in the House on the latest effort to establish immigration reform, and the following elements will or should become the 'hangar' on which we can all hang our hats on when done together. Consequently, our Kudos to Gongressman Gutierrez for providing the requisite leadership in this instance.
1. End policies that rely only on enforcement and deterrence as the sole means of regulating migration.
2. Address the root causes of immigration, and change US policy so that it doesn't foster and produce conditions that force hundreds of thousands of people each year to leave their countries of origin in order to simply survive.
3. Tie all current and future trade, military, and foreign aid agreements to not only worker protections both here and abroad, but also to their ability to foster economic progress and social justice for the working class and poor in sender nations.
4. Formulate a reasonable, humane, fair and practical method for determining the levels of immigration going forward. Establish an independent commission free from the pressures of political expediency and business interests to review all the pertinent data and set admission numbers based on labor, economic, social, and humanitarian needs.
5. Provide a path to legalization for all current undocumented immigrants living and working in the US, free of restrictions based on country of origin, economic status, education, length of residency, or any other “merit based” criteria.
6. Secure the borders by first ensuring that the vast majority of new immigrants have the ability and opportunity to legally enter the country through legal ports of entry by increasing the availability and equitable distribution of green cards. This would curtail the flow of migration through illegal channels. Only after that, should enforcement begin to ensure compliance, or any work to physically secure the border take place.
7. Increase the focus on enforcement of all labor and employment laws. Increase penalties on employers who engage in unfair or illegal labor practices. Increase funding for government oversight and inspection.
8. Opposition to a "temporary guest worker" program on the grounds that it provides no benefit to the American people or the immigrants themselves. It only provides big business with a disposable work force, and prevents immigrants from becoming a viable force in the workplace or full fledged members of society.
9. Foster an immigration policy that strengthens the middle and working class through encouraging unionization, increased naturalization, and immigrant participation in the electoral process.
10. Include the language of the DREAM Act that would allow children and young adults brought here as children, and raised in the US, a conditional path to citizenship in exchange for a mandatory two years in higher education or community service. Undocumented young people must also demonstrate good moral character to be eligible for and stay in conditional residency. At the end of the long process, the young person can have the chance to become an American citizen or legal residency by completing their educations and contributing to society.
11. Included the language of the Uniting American Families Act that would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow permanent partners of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, including same-sex partners, to obtain permanent residency.
12. Include the language of the AgJobs bill that seeks to relieve chronic farm labor shortages by supplying undocumented migrant agricultural workers a legal opportunity to enter the county and a path to legal status and eventual citizenship. It also bolsters labor rights and protects workers from exploitation.
13. Repeal the sections of the 1996 law that redefined vast numbers of crimes as deportable offense when committed by immigrants. Imposing harsh penalties--often permanent exile--on immigrants for minor criminal convictions like shoplifting or possession of marijuana.
14. End permanent detention of all migrants for immigration violations not related to violent crimes.
15. Simplify the immigration system by eliminating and condensing the hundreds of various visa classes into a smaller, more manageable, classification system that allows for not only easier navigation of the system, but better analysis of current immigration needs.
16. End policies and programs that rely upon state and local law enforcement agencies to usurp the role of the federal government and engage in the enforcement of federal immigrations codes.
17. Bring U.S. immigration law in line with international human rights law by reforming asylum and refugee law and strengthening protections for children, crime victims, and victims of human trafficking
18. Modernize and streamline the immigration process and eliminate the backlogs for those already in the queue. Simplify the paperwork process and utilize technology to cut wait times and bureaucratic delays.
19. Make family reunification simpler by expanding the “immediate family” classification to reflect the cultural realities of many non-western or traditional societies from which immigrants come.
20. Allow immigration judges the discretion to treat cases on an individual basis and make decisions based on the specific the circumstances and outcomes of the case.
21. Make punishments of immigration crimes commensurate with comparable crimes in other areas of the law. A misdemeanor or civil violation of immigration law should not carry with it a punishment that would be comparable to a felony in a criminal case.
22. End, or raise, the per-country cap that favors smaller nations with fewer immigrant applicants over larger developing nations and those countries that have long traditional ties to the US.
23. Update the Registry Date in Sec 249 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to reflect the historical pattern of periodic updating. Current date should be updated to 1996.
24. Eliminate 'crimes involving moral turpitude,' an amorphous legal holdover from Jim Crow
25. Recognize that immigration is a vital part of maintaining a healthy and vibrant America. It is what has set this nation apart from all others since its inspection. To close our borders to new immigrants is to cut off the lifeblood that has always made this nation grow and prosper.
Jaango--posted on October 15, 2009
Note: All prior posts have been archived off-site.
Sign me up...
For a Constitutional Amendment. Of course, I am speaking of an Amendment that would reign in campaign contributions. Perhaps, my self-limitiing libertarian side is speaking to me.
Nonetheless, I am referring to the political dynamics that are now in play in the State of Arkansas. It seems that the Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln is now facing an announced primary challenger for her re-election effort. The sitting Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter has announced that he is challenging her and the "progressive" groups and activists in the Democratic Party, are now raising monies on the internet for Halter. And she--Lincoln, is not taking kindly to this effort.
As such, these "outside groups" are not being welcomed for their fundraising prowess and which will prove debilitating to her re-election efforts. Unfortunately, the reality for hypocrisy usually raises it head and proves difficult to react to. Take, for example, Lincoln's fundraising prowess is measured in the campaign contributions she has managed to amass from "outside groups" that are located in the states of New York and Texas. And according to her hypocrisy, New York and Texas must be be either cantons or barrios located in Arkansas, and much to my amazement as you can imagine.
Therefore, in Arkansas, the Democratic voters will have their say in the upcoming primary in which a Conservative Democrat is being challenged by a Progressive Democrat. And campaign contributions will play a significant role as will Walmart and Tyson Foods. Now, politics will indeed be fun to watch from afar.
Consequently, sign me up for a Constitutional Amendment that prohibits campaign contribuitons from out-of-state and out-of-district. If so, the political battle would come out into the open in which the Democrats versus the Republicans versus the Chamber of Commerce, would "seize the day". And this, I would look forward to and with great anticipation. And needless to say, the existence of the "crazies" and the "kooks" would no longer have the attention of the mainstream media outlets. If so, brass knuckle politics would rule the day and the middle class would have their "demands" answered effectively.
Jaango--posted on March 2, 2010