Egocentric Government - It Has Nothing To Do With Us

I've been thinking about why politicians, from the President on down are so bull headed and nasty.  They are a totally egocentric bunch and we are left out of the equation.

I won't say that all members of Congress are stupid though they certainly act that way more often than not. Those who do, do it for survival. This last debacle is the perfect example of how and why.

Ted Cruz has presidential ambitions.  That's a given.  To succeed he has to gain an edge on his would be competitors so he gambled  by tying Obamacare defunding to the budget and default debate.  He lost.  It isn't that he wasn't forewarned that it was a suicide march.  Everyone from more experienced colleagues to constituents  to pundits told him so but he did it anyway.  Why?

He'll be the first to tell us it was for us.  I don't think so.  It was for his own future.  Not because he didn't know better but because the 31 year old President of Heritage Action, the one who orchestrated the whole ordeal, used his position to threaten sitting officials with primary challenges.

So who is this power monger, Michael Needham?  He's president of Heritage Action, the lobbying arm of the Heritage Foundation, probably the best known of the conservative think tanks.  To me, advanced in years as I am, I question the wisdom of a 31 year old. As with Obama, he lacks the real world experience to be dictating policy.  But dictate he did.

Now he admits, after the damage has been done, that Obamacare won't be repealed until at least 2016 if at all but is proud as punch of the uproar he caused.  He figured we wouldn't get how bad this legislation has been constructed by ourselves.  No one is so obtuse as to not have noticed the roll out thus far has been a disaster.

I'm tired of the influence these think tanks hold over our politicians.  And tired of how our politicians bow to them. If they were truly serving their constituents they wouldn't be following Pied Pipers of the special interest groups.  It is, however, all about the money that will flow to their future campaigns if the bidding is done.

Consider the Heritage Foundation for just a minute.  It's current President is former Senator Jim DeMint, R-SC.  He is an ideologue happy being surrounded with fellow ideologues even if it means losing. No political party can survive with this type of governing philosophy.

This is but one example of many.  All parties fall prey to the such movements.  They distort truth to the point it's difficult to decipher.  We lose.

I had a brief moment of hope when I saw four people introduced to debate the budget issues before the next go round.  It lasted until I read that the entire committee will consist of 29 members. People with agendas made that decision.  Twenty nine ideologues in one room.  What do you get?  Nothing. we've been there and done that how many times?

One more time.  We lose.  Special interests and outside influences other than constituents be damned!

Buying Time But Little Else

I get a kick out of the fact that everyone is hailing huge success because the Republicans are offering the President a short term increase in the debt ceiling, which he might sign (or might not), in return hoping to get more time to discuss spending and the debt.

I for one am not clapping and cheering.  This could have been done in a timely manner if Ted Cruz hadn't gotten on his quixotic campaign to defund Obamacare.  By the way, where is he?  Has anyone seen him lately?

So what are we gaining other than six weeks to catch our collective breaths before we go through it again?

To make any progress a few things need to happen.  The President has to understand that in his role as leader he is expected to do just that to get the sides to come to an agreement even if not perfect.

Harry Reid has to bring legislation submitted by the House to a vote.  We need names on record as to what they vote for and against.  It's the only way we can hold individual Senators responsible.  I see Mr. Reid is planning to run again.  The people of Nevada will have to decide whether they want to continue with an obstructionist or opt for someone who might actually care about the country.

The Republicans have to control the Tea Party mavericks.  They aren't about to change themselves.  They obviously don't have the intellect to know which battles they can win and which they cannot, not to mention which ones they should even challenge. In their way they are as bad as Reid and the President.

And the President.  You all know how I like to rag on him.  A lot of this could have been avoided if he had talked with both sides and told them to get their act together rather than preaching to his select audiences and disparaging Republicans. That does not make for cooperation.  I'd rather see him win his battles with well thought out suggestions, a willingness to admit he isn't always right and compromises accepted with grace.

I realize why he's doing it the way he does.  He wants so much to regain the House in 2014 but even as bad as the Republicans are it's anything but sure. I also don't think he has a clue as to how to lead.  He's never had to do it and I don't see that he has an appetite for learning be it domestic policy or foreign.  His way is to threaten and punish and he does that well from the little old couple in the corner house to the small business man to the military and the media.

It's no way to run a country.  Any country.  But especially the United States of America.  If government doesn't soon change it's ways we'll become merely the States of America.  United will be a word as foreign to us as civility.

A Few Thoughts On The Stalemate

Obamacare.  How many people realize the bill being fought over is not the one passed by the Democratic House and Senate?  This is thanks to Presidential meddling where he took it upon himself to grant waivers without Congressional approval.

This smacks of dictatorship and in my opinion should negate the law.  It isn't how we make nor amend them.  I don't buy that executive privilege gives that right.

That being said and since no one else is saying it I'll move on.  The Tea Party Republicans, as any sane person will agree, had no chance of winning the defunding issue nor should it.  One doesn't defund to fix.  You either repeal or repair.  The issue shouldn't be tied to the CR but then we shouldn't be having CR's in the first place.

Though too late at this point because of ego and pride on both sides, this might have been a reasonable fix for the mess that didn't have to be.  The President could quit giving speeches and actually sit down with the Republicans.  Let's say Boehner for the sake of discussion.  "I will admit over reach in giving the waivers to Congressional members and staff. I will rescind all waivers I have given in return for the CR." Boehner accepts and promises to get it past his obstructionists by showing some leadership himself. Obama tells Harry Reid to get it done.

For now even forget the tax on medical devices.  That can be done in Congress in time. So can everything else that needs fixed and a lot does.

What they seem to forget is at the moment they don't have the votes and unless they win in 2014 they won't. Obamacare is the law.  If it's as bad as we're to believe it will collapse from within.  If it can be fixed, give fixing it in incrementals a chance.

We're stuck with the bunch we have now but we won't be forever.  The lesson we should take from this is to make our voices heard more quickly when something displeases us.  Waiting until Washington  takes the rumblings and makes them it's own defeats all of us.

The Hypocrisy Of It All

Ron Fournier wrote an interesting piece in the National Journal wondering if we're seeing the beginning of the end of Washington as we know it. His thought is that the Millennials will get to the point that I have; they'll be so disgusted with government as it is they'll take the bull by the horns and change it.

The Millennials and a whole lot of we old timers feel much the same way.  We've gone from dysfunctional to non-functional and everyone shares a piece of the blame. Take Michele Bachmann telling Greta last night that Congress deserves the subsidies! And I read today where John Boehner spent weeks trying to cook up language with Harry Reid to make them possible without drawing much attention. Fortunately for Boehner the President took care of it for him.  What hypocrites!

So what do we have here?  Five parties, maybe six?  On the Democratic side we have the progressives and the moderates, such as they are.  On the Republican side we have the conservatives, the tea party conservatives, the social conservatives and the moderates, such as they are.

Throw into the mix the independents that tend to be a combination of the parts with a dash of Libertarian thrown in for the heck of it.

So there is no cohesive group in either party.  Plus, they've all become little more than self righteous name callers no matter how much they try to tell us its all for us.

What's needed is an outsider and that just may be the old thorn in the side, Chris Christy.  He has his own ideas on how to fix the disconnect in Washington.  If it sounds familiar it's because it's how it used to work and how it's supposed to work. He'd call leadership into a room and not let them out until the problem was solved - with him leading the discussion.  Not dictating; leading.

He also suggested he'd make off limits the places congressional members rush to after confrontations to lambaste one another.  No media until a real meeting has been held producing real results.  That would be a shock to all sides and a refreshing change for those of us who listen to them.

I hope the Millennials do get angry enough to motivate themselves.  Even though Christie is a bit older, maybe his approach would be one they'd like.  To them it may seem to be reinventing government.  To those of my generation it may seem more like returning to our roots.  I can live with either.

What I can't live with is what we have now.

There's Something Fundamentally Wrong

The Greatest Obstructionist

There is something fundamentally wrong when Congress can approve legislation without first having read it.

There is something fundamentally wrong when it passes that legislation with the support of only one party and one house.

There is something fundamentally wrong when the minority of a party totally disregards the opinions of the majority and holds them hostage to a singular way of thinking.

There is something fundamentally wrong with leadership who cannot or will not lead.  If it costs a career in politics so be it.  There are others. Do it for the country who elected them and in which they too live.

There is something fundamentally wrong with a government that exempts itself from the laws forced upon its people.

There is something fundamentally wrong when neither party is willing to negotiate in good faith.

There is something fundamentally wrong when the Senate majority leader single handedly can prevent legislation from going to the floor for debate.  It's not his government; it's ours.

There is something fundamentally wrong with a President who will negotiate with know terrorist states for dubious ends yet will not negotiate with the opposition party. He is a mere mortal, not God nor King.

There is something fundamentally wrong with a President is so enamoured by his own ego and self-righteous sense that rather than lead a debate opts to do nothing.

There is something fundamentally wrong with a people who allow themselves to be run roughshod over because they are too apathetic to become informed.

There is something fundamentally wrong with a people who elect the people who do this to them what's more allow them to remain in office.

I am so thoroughly disgusted with government as a whole I put a Dogwalk pox on it's entirety.

A Man Of God Says It All

With the entire administration, including the President, having reduced themselves to little more than infantile, name calling hellions leave it to a man of God, the Senate Chaplin, to state it correctly.  "Lord, deliver us from governing by crisis."

This is one time you really want to understand church and state is different from God and state.  Being a mostly Christian nation we invoke that notion in nearly everything, thus Barry Black is the Senate Chaplin who spoke volumes in his opening prayer this morning. He brought the point of the current exercise in bad behavior home, focusing on how Congress is supposed to function rather than how they are by using drama and sound bite governance rather than 'judicious compromise'.

Chaplin Berry's offering:

Keep us from shackling ourselves with the chains of dysfunction. Use our senators today to serve your purposes for this generation, making them ever mindful of their accountability to you. Lord, deliver us from governing by crisis, empowering us to be responsible stewards of your bounty. Using judicious compromise for the mutual progress of all. Provide this land we love with your gracious protection and may we never cease to be grateful for the numberless blessings we receive each day from your hands. We pray, in your merciful name, Amen."

Where he goes astray is asking the Senate to be responsible stewards of God's bounty without including we the people.  After all the Senate as well as the House are beholden to us for all that they have.  I'm sure the good Chaplin would be happy to remind them that what the Lord giveth He can taketh away.

They'd be wise to remember that we the people can do the same.

The Young Turks Vs. The Old Turkeys

Can you Republicans name these men?  They are your leadership in the Senate.  When was the last time you saw any of them making the rounds of the talk shows? Can you even name them?

I'll bet you can identify Rand Paul and Ted Cruz without any problem.  Every once in awhile when I stop ranting long enough to think things through, I realize that the future of the Republican Party is with men like Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. I sometimes don't agree with them on their policy ideas nor their approach but at least they are out there forging the way. Often, too, we see them tweaking their thinking as they learn. That's a good thing.  Seeing a better way is positive.

When was the last time you saw the leadership out there forging anything?  Okay, McConnell has a challenge for his seat coming up.  I hope he shows more enthusiasm to his constituents than he does to his TV audiences.  And John Thune, in the upper left corner, is he asleep while the minority leader speaks or is he merely resting his eyes? At one time I thought he might be Presidential material but who is he?

Could any of them filibuster like Rand Paul did?  Do any of them have the passion? I'm not seeing it.

There was a time that the Presidential nominee, win or lose, was considered the head of the party at least for a time.  Mitt Romney has been missing in action almost since the day after the polls closed.

While the House Republicans are divided at least their fighting for what they believe.  You hear them.  You see them.  Jason Chaffetz, Darrell Issa, Trey Gowdy, Kevin McCarthy to name a few.  They have the easier job of it because they hold the majority. The Pauls, Cruz, Mike Lees and Marco Rubios have it tougher fighting the entrenched Democrats.

They're going to make errors in judgement.  Over play their hands.  In the Senate who do they have to guide them?  McCain and Graham, two old war horses who are pretty good at over playing their own hands and they should know better.  The leadership is no where to be seen.

The difference may well be generational, time served or a combination of the two.  I see McCain and Graham as trying desperately to remain relevant.  I see the others with a passion for what they believe their constituents are telling them and a passion to do right for them.

I'm pretty sure I can say the future is in the hands of the young turks.  As for the old turkeys - well  maybe  by Thanksgiving 2014 a lot of those tough old birds will have gobbled their last in elected office.

Ted Cruz, You're Bleeding The Republicans Dry!

Scratch the surface and all politicians are the same.  Take Ted Cruz for example.  He's just like Obama in many ways.  It's his way or the highway and no one will suffer more than the American people and his party.  For what?  His opinion. His opinion that is so superior to all others.

Defund Obamacare or shut down the government.  You know, that's not a fair trade.  Just like so many of Obama's dictates.  But lets look at it.  In truth, not as many are against Obamacare as a whole as Cruz and his ilk would have us believe.  What most object too is that it's being shoved down their throats even though there is much that needs to be reconfigured and the blatant miscalculations that were represented as truths.

Politicians seem predisposed to making a big splash to fix what's wrong rather than taking baby steps.  It is the law of the land.  And yes, Obama has tweaked it under dubious legality.  But why not amend it.  Amend it so there are no carve outs for anyone.  Not the unions, not the largest of corporations and especially not the Congress and their staffs.

Why not amend it so the work week goes back to being 40 hours instead of 30 which is putting so many into financial straits.  Why not amend it to delay the individual mandates along with the corporate ones that Obama has already delayed. You get the idea.

This would make the Republicans look like the paragon of reason, a willingness to compromise and heroes to those who will be most affected.

Why must these politicians tilt at windmills?  Ego.  Ambition.  Both, when misguided lead to oblivion.  Mr. Cruz fancies himself President one day.  He's a rock star in Iowa at the moment.  How many of those Iowa rock stars went on to become President?  Palin?  Bachmann?  Santorum? Caine? Perry? Who?

If he had a Republican Senate behind him and the numbers to over ride a veto I could understand his fervor, but he doesn't.  The Senate will take out the defunding and send the bill back to the House.  Will they put it back in and return it to the Senate in another game of chicken?  Time will tell, but I wish Speaker Boehner would get tough with the Tea Party types who are holding the Republicans, the House and the Country hostage. Deprive them of committee chiarmanships or whatever House discipline measures are available.  Party politics is a team sport and the quarterback calls the plays.  That would be Boehner.  Your not a team player then the prize passes don't come your way.

We all know that if the roles were reversed the Republicans would be screaming bloody murder. This isn't the way government is supposed to work.  In fact it doesn't work this way.

Shutting down the government is Republican suicide.  Those who can't understand this should not be re-elected.  We complain about other countries who have petty dictators as heads of state.  We're not so very different except we have a lot of them.  Each and every member of the governing bodies who refuses to listen and negotiate is just that.  A petty dictator.  That includes the President.

No wonder the rest of the world finds us laughable. We don't even know how to make it work!

Government As Soap Opera - When Will The Other Shoe Fall?

The deal that has been made with Syria is so rife with "what ifs" I can't begin to count them.  On that issue I'll say little today other than it was far too easy and the one player who basically has been seldom heard is Syria itself.  As I watch the next episode unfold it will be to see who double crosses who and when.

Meanwhile back at the White House Obama is getting ready to go to Asia.  The pivot that he's been hyping off and on.  Shifting our attention to the next area of the world in which to impose ourselves.  That's a secondary story line. Do you feel the resentment building?  I do.  Especially in those predominantly Muslim countries.

While the cat is away the mice in Congress will parallel it with the upcoming battle for one more continuing resolution to fund the government.  It is like a soap isn't it?  Thirty years running you have the same main characters unless they die from old age and the same story lines.  It's amazing.

Back to the drama.  I'd like to see a change in the story line but fear I won't.  It isn't the time for the Republicans to remain being stupid but I fear they will.  The issue is defunding Obamacare or shut down the government.  Please.  Don't do this.  Get creative.  Yes, Obamacare is a mess. And the President should have learned from the Syria debacle he really needs Congress with him.  But he doesn't learn either.  The problem here is no foreign entity can bail him out of this one. No one will bail us out either if the government shuts down.

The military will be left without pay.  We seniors will be left without our social security checks and the poor without welfare and food stamps. That doesn't even scratch the surface of the total impact it would have on the country.  Remember, the bigger the government, the bigger the impact and we have a doozy.

The President, if he could be realistic for a brief moment, should delay implementation of the entire bill until it's sorted out.  He won't.  Harry Reid and the Democratic obstructionists like Chris van Hollen should resign.  The Tea Party purists should also resign.  Of course they won't.  It's the formula. Same story, 200th episode!

Shutting down the government won't solve anything but will succeed in making the people even more angry than they already are.  Maybe we need to contact our congressional delegations with the verve we did in opposing a military strike in Syria.  This time tell them to grow up, work together and get this budget mess straightened out.

While they're at it they should consider changing a few rules about how they do business.  It is flat out wrong when one individual be it John Boehner, Harry Reid or Barack Obama can prevent legislation from being debated or moved forward or enforced on personal whim.

If they find dictatorship so attractive I'm sure Syria or Russia would indulge them.

Congress On Syria - What I Hope To See

Parsing words seems to becoming a required skill for politicians.  That Obama is going to seek Congressional approval for military action is good. When his surrogates go to lay out his proposal I hope they hold his feet to the fire. Don't accept parsed rhetoric.

It's a given that chemical weapons  have been used in spite of international agreements banning that use.  It's also true that red line had been crossed several times before Obama felt forced to take action to save face.  I do not accept his rationale that this time is because of the scope of it.  Use of chemical weapons is just that - large or small.  But this President has a penchant for picking and choosing to his own liking.

I've already made clear that I think token action is a waste of time and to the world, laughable.  Some Senators say we need to do more.  We all know what that means.  The US will be involved in escalating an already untenable situation.

That's the big thing to remember.  This isn't about the misuse of the Presidential bully pulpit.  It's about whether or not we should involve ourselves in a fight that isn't ours, with but one reluctant ally, France, who won't act without us.  It's fair to ask our allies why the lack of support.  I've yet to hear that, but I'd guess at least partially they're as war weary, especially since we don't tend to win them these days, as we are. Why isn't the chemical weapon use as egregious to them?

If the administration briefings to Congress as to the complete strategy is better given in private, I can live with it.  But it must be a complete strategy including what exactly our national interest is in all this, how we will extricate ourselves and what we'll do if the action doesn't deter Assad.  They should also ask what we'll do if Israel is attacked in retaliation for our actions and what we'll do if Russia decides to jump in on the side of the Syrians and also why our allies have all but rejected this tack.

I'm sure, given time, I'll think of more, but you get the idea.  It must be detailed and thorough, doable and meaningful.  So far I've seen none of the above.  What I have seem is impassioned rhetoric about the need for some action because of horrors of war that we are no part of and an opinion that no one seems to share, in an attempt to make us feel guilty for not being willing to bail out the President.

Gamesmanship Versus Fair Play - There Is A Big Difference

We have a problem in this country which I don't think the founding fathers anticipated. The President as renegade.  It is what happens when the President is accountable to no one and when he chooses to flout the law there is no recourse.

It seems to be emerging as common practice with Obamacare.  The latest has Congress complicit right along with him.  Just when I thought Congress may finally be getting it, they prove me wrong once again.  You see Obamacare was written so that Congress would have to buy into it just as the rest of us. Lots of us have been calling for that for a very long time - you pass it, it applies to you as well as the rest of us.  No matter what the content.

Some of the worry about Obamacare is the cost.  How it's going to be unaffordable for many or their premiums will increase dramatically rather than decrease.  Congress would have to give up their Cadillac plans and participate side by side with us.

But if you can imagine, they are whining that they can't afford the premiums and need an exemption.  Not only they themselves but also their better paid staffers.  Consider the Congressional salary of $174,000.  And many staffers making $100,000 +/-.  Also bear in mind that this is written into the law the President signed.  But of course we know no one had read it.

So rather than telling them to learn how to budget, he promises to fix it.  And he did. He made arrangements for  the Office of Personnel Management to write regulations allowing for the financial relief for members of Congress and their staffers - all government employees.

This type of shenanigan requires passage by Congress.  Obama didn't fear the Republicans would object but rather that they'd want to add more.  Of course he is right.  Republicans want that sweetener just as much as the Democrats.

Laws are becoming what they are at the pleasure of the President, not because Congress passed them and he signed them. Strange bedfellows they may be but bedfellows never-the-less. This goes way beyond class warfare.  This is a war between those in politics and the people.

I can't help but  think even those politicians I look on with a smidgen of hope aren't doing anything for my benefit.  Even though the reason may not be readily apparent, be sure it's for them.  I'd guess re-election so the game can continue.

Do they even know their approval rating is 14%.  If they know it, do they care?  More importantly how many of us know it and even more, do we care?  I don't care that it is so low, but I really care about why!

The Hypocrisy Of Immigration Reform

Does Congress really wonder why the voters have such a low opinion of them?  Just look at the Immigration Bill. It's at 1200 pages and counting.

Remember Obamacare? The legislation no one read in it's entirety before voting on it?  Remember the special exemptions that were made to get crucial votes?  Fortunately many were backtracked, but never-the-less, the offers were made and initially accepted.  Forcing many into legislation they didn't want any part of while those lucky enough to have a Senator who resisted were exempted.  Bah!

You'd think there would be a few in leadership who understand that these comprehensive bills just don't work.  Better no bill than a bad one, especially when the President threatens to veto anything but the bad one.

This is a bill being formulated for a host of wrong reasons.  It shouldn't be about getting the Hispanic vote nor  cheap labor.  It should be about fixing the incredible holes in our current system along with ways to attract the most able of people who wish to come to this country.

The way it's being presented by the media is that it's a fight with the illegal migrant workers trying to sneak into the country. So build more fence, hire more border patrol and incorporate more electronic devices and drones.  At the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security.  Rubio says he would take this out.  He hasn't.  And Madam Secretary thinks the border is already secure.

You'd think the idea that people come into this country perfectly legally and over stay their visas never occurred to them.  What kind of system has one way tracking? Well, ours does. Do these people give a whit about becoming citizens?  Probably not. The bigger question then would be what do they want?   And where have they gone.

 And that employers that don't use e-verify can be punished.  What's the point of having it if employers who don't abide by it go scott free?

Perhaps the most irritating of all is the hypocrisy of some of the "bipartisan" gang of eight who have added pork to favor their constituents,  Big names.  Lindsey Graham, R-SC, more visas for the meat industry in his state.  Marco Rubio, R-FL, of all people, added additional visas for cruise ship workers in his state.  Not to leave out the Democrats there is Chuck Schummer, D-NY, adding visas for Irish workers.  Irish workers??  Because NY has a lot of them?  Please!

Then too, others that have jumped on the pork mobile include Harry Reid, D-NV, we all know him, allowing the Secretary of the Treasury to  flood the travel industry with up to $100 million to promote travel in certain areas of the country with no cut off date.  You don't suppose that includes Las Vegas and Reno do you?

And to woo Alaska's Murkowski, D,  the bill has deemed seafood processing jobs to be shortage occupations allowing for low skilled cheap labor to be brought in.  Alaska will be the only state to have this privilege.

I won't even get into idiocy like genius visas that allow the likes of Piers Morgan entry.

Every time I see a glimmer of hope, these bone heads slip right back into their wayward mode.  They see nothing on the outside.  They hear nothing they don't want to hear. And they speak with forked tongues.  It's absolutely pathetic.

Out With The Old, In With The New

It has been said the United States Senate is the world's greatest deliberative body. That's out.  You can't deliberate an issue if it isn't presented.  That's in.

Washington's game of 'survival of the fittest' has had the rules changed.  I was thinking it was age related but then decided that was wrong.  Neither Harry Reid nor Nancy Pelosi are exactly spring chickens.  Neither is Mitch McConnell. What it boils down to is the ability to change with the times.  The Democrats have mastered it.  The Republicans have failed miserably and don't seem to get it.

We have a President who was unprepared for the job and has yet to develop what we elderly seem to think are the necessary skills.  So much for our not adapting!  He has instead decided to ignore those niceties and do what suits his own skill set best.  He doesn't know how to negotiate and as long as he's able to bully the opposition into bending to his will he feels the effort to learn would be wasted. So far it has worked wonderfully well for him.

I'm beginning to get it.  Within the Tea Party most members, Obama's age group rather than mine, share the skill of bullying.  So do those who support them.  Compromise?  How old school! Thus the fracture within the Republican Party.

So what are they to do with the next round of fiscal talks?  I know what I'd like to see.  I'd like the House to write their own legislation laying out the trade offs between cutting spending, more taxes and raising the debt ceiling.  No new taxes without a complete tax code overhaul.  They offered closing the loopholes.  Obama said no so that's it.  You want them closed now?  Tax code overhaul. Write it up, send it to the Senate and broadcast that you've done it and the details at the top of your lungs.

Debt ceiling?  This is what we will raise it to and this is what will be cut to make it at least cost neutral. Period.  Write it up.  Send it to the Senate and broadcast it to the people at the top of your lungs.  If the Tea Party continues to defect let it be known the consequences of doing so.  At the top of your lungs. No matter they are fellow Republicans. One of you is wrong and the one who will be deemed wrong is the quiet one.

That's the new way of doing things.  In your face and none too polite to boot. It's not the way I was taught to do things, but it's how they are done today.  I was fairly young when I realized my Mother was uncomfortable with confrontation.  I'm not particularly proud of it but I did learn how to manipulate that bit of knowledge to my advantage on more than one occasion.

The Democrats have done just that to the Republicans.  They are uncomfortable taking a hard nosed stand on anything.  So the Democrats take full advantage of it and win and win and win.  They are anything but likable when they take this stance.  They do, however, get things done their way.

The Republicans haven't learned how to counter.  Fight apples with apples, not oranges.  Because fight you must. Deliberations and compromise are the old way.  Not that it wouldn't still work but trying when the deck is stacked against you is the real waste of energy.

Maybe it is time for new leadership.  It's time to place people in those position that have scrapped for advancement rather than those who have gone along to get along hoping the promotions would come by that virtue alone.  Those who can take on the sacred cows and win.

Nope.  Being 'nice' and 'sensible' no longer cuts it. Israel knows that having our finger poked in their eye means they're on their own.  Obama knows that Chuck Hagel isn't the most popular choice for Secretary of Defense. The end?  Israel will do what it feels it must.  Obama will do what he wants no matter the wisdom of it. It's how things are these days. We either adapt and make the best of the hand we dealt ourselves or retire to the rocking chair with a good book.

Books.  They are so old school!

They Really Don't Get It!

I had mixed feelings when the Republicans balked at passing "Plan B".  On one hand, it was as close to hard ball as the Republicans have come by giving the President a tax increase even though it wasn't anywhere near what he wanted.

On the other hand I can't help but admire them for balking because they were to get nothing in the way of spending cuts in return.  Empty promises don't count.

So many are quick to blame the Republicans for all our financial woes, but it simply isn't true. When it comes to spending, both parties can't help but to go hog wild ~ with pork and bureaucracy.

Take the $60 billion aid bill promised by the President for victims of Hurricane Sandy.  Bear in mind, many are still without shelter.  Many are living in unheated and unsanitary shells of what used to be their homes.  FEMA funds for hotels are running out and people are being turned out.  Some are living in their cars while FEMA trailers remain undelivered.  It's winter.  It's cold and it's wet.

So where is that $60 million?  Apparently some is being held up until after Christmas so they can determine what spending is appropriate.  It's winter.  It's cold and it's wet. This, by the way, is the Republicans.

Then there is the pork.  Eight million has been tagged to buy cars for homeland security and justice department personnel.  While Sandy victims sleep in what's left of theirs.

Thirteen billion is slated for tree plantings and such in preparation for future storms.  While trees still remain protruding from crushed roofs.

One hundred fifty million has been slotted for NOAA to dole out to Alaskan fisheries. Let them eat fish?  Don't they wish! Untold millions are going to other government entities for sprucing up - like a new roof for the Smithsonian and spiffying up National Cemeteries.

Not that these projects don't have some merit, but they should be voted up or down on their own merit and not attached to an aid bill for people who can do little more than scratch their heads and wonder where their President's promised help is.

People are helping one another as best they can.  We have a friend who is a volunteer fireman whose home is in an involved community.  The firemen take turns taking one of their trucks to keep watch in communities which no longer have their own.  This is what we as Americans do.  We help each other, our neighbors, people in far reaches of the country from our own.

But what does our government do?  They posture.  They promise.  They preach.  Then they disappear.  Americans remind me of my Big Dog sweatshirt that reads "Lead, follow or get out of the way."

The government reminds me of another that reads, "If you aren't the lead dog, the view never changes."  No matter who is in charge, no matter who holds the houses of congress, the view never changes.  I'd wonder how they can live with themselves if I thought they were even aware, but I don't think they are.  They lose their sight and  their vision in the smog of deceit while the rest of us stand outside looking in.  And you wonder why Ron Paul and his Libertarians have such a foothold.

Cavemen In Congress

 Picture the caveman dragging a woman by her hair with one hand and wielding his club with the other.  How often have you see that caricature?  Don't you wish that's all it was?  A caricature? Don't you wish we didn't have any such caricatures in Congress?

But we do.  This time it's Representative Todd Akin, Republican from Missouri.  He's anti-abortion.  No matter the circumstances which might have caused a pregnancy - like rape.  After all, he tells us, he understands from doctors that pregnancy resulting from rape is really rare and that if it's a 'legitimate' rape a woman's body can sense it and halt the pregnancy.

I'm not going to get into the breast beating about the horrors of rape and how demeaning this is to women.  Enough others are handling that.  What I wonder is how a grown man, regardless of his occupation, can be so ill informed this day and age!  What's worse is that he actually seems to believe it!  Whew!

I'll be generous and assume he misunderstood the doctors with whom he spoke.  If I weren't being generous I'd assume he spoke to no one, what's more a doctor, because this is what he wants to believe for what ever reason. Apparently it doesn't have to be based on fact, but then politicians have trouble with facts all the time.

He even supported rewording circumstances for federally funded programs to provide abortions only for  cases of  'forcible' rape versus 'ordinary' (my word) rape such as statutory rape.  I don't blame women for being upset.  I don't blame every one who is upset for being upset.  And I fully support every one who is calling for him to step down from the senatorial race against Claire McCaskill.  He should step down from office, period.

What apalls me most though is that he is a congressman in the first place.  He helps make the laws we live with.  I've often complained that too many in congress are totally ignorant of the subject matter and blind to the potential unintended consequences of the legislation they write and pass.

There is no better example of ignorance than this.  Yet he resists stepping down.  He is either monumentally stupid, monumentally arrogant or both. This affront to intellect has no party boundaries.  Both sides have members of an equal level.  It's just that Akin is the most recent to put his foot in it.  Don't accept the apology.  He doesn't mean it.

Don't reward him with any more time in office.  He doesn't deserve it.  And we can't afford him or any more like him.

Pelosi To The Rescue!

The current debt ceiling/deficit debate going on is important to be sure.  I've been doing a lot of ranting and raving about it for days now.  I must thank the former speaker, however, for adding some much needed levity with the comment,

"What we’re trying to do is save the world from the Republican budget . . . We’re trying to save life on this planet as we know it today."

Oh, don't I wish!  I wonder if she has a clue how idiotic that sounds.  It's right up there with her comment when health care passed; she said we could then all read it and find out what was in it!  To think this woman is one of the most powerful in the country.

Oh well, a good belly laugh now and then is good for the soul.  Forget the flaws in the Republican plan - and the Democratic plan.  Or that neither side trusts the other to keep their word. The problem is where both parties have taken us with their unlimited spending spree.

Somehow I just don't see Nancy saving us from what she herself and others like her have done to the country.  Life as it is today isn't so great when you consider the unemployment rate, the housing crunch,  the cost of gas and food and the humility thrust upon us by the TSA to mention a few.

Do us a favor Ms. Pelosi.  Don't bother.  As for the rest of the world?  Do it a favor and leave it alone.  They've managed to muck things up for themselves just as well, if not better, than we have, but the last thing they need is our help.  It would be like someone with a face full of Botox being asked to furrow their brow!

Republicans Beware

In learning that the President is summoning both sides of Congress to a televised discussion of his health care initiative, I suspect the Republicans are being set up.

One, the people have spoken. They don't want the reform that is now on the back burner. Yet the President will not start with a clean and more simple slate. Yesterday, when I wrote of the Palin appeal, this is an example of why she has it. She doesn't give the impression that she thinks she knows it all and that the rest of us are just too stupid to "get it". The President gives exactly that impression.

The Republicans do have some good suggestions as do some Democrats that their own party ignored. That's the worrisome part. Nancy Pelosi has her mind set and no amount of political theater is going to change it. Obama can prod and cajole to his heart's content but it's Pelosi who gloves the iron fist!

The Republicans need to lay out their ideas as clearly, concisely and thoroughly as possible. They also need to have the fortitude to point out the weaknesses in the current plan as they see them and doable alternatives - along with how they intend to pay for everything.

The Democrats are going to fight tort reform because they are in the pocket of the lawyers. They will fight pre-existing conditions and selling across state lines because of the insurance industry. There is a lot more that needs to happen, like addressing medicare reimbursements. When the Mayo Clinic says no more medicare patients we seniors all need to worry.

So. The only way for the Republicans to avoid being accused of having no ideas or being no more than obstructionists is to shift it to the Democrats on live television.

I'd like to think Pelosi and her pals would clean up their act on television but, frankly, I don't see that happening. It isn't that they haven't heard us. If their media enablers can make fun of Palin for having notes scribbled on her hand, you know nothing is missed. Not even the irony of Obama using teleprompters in front of a sixth grade class!

They just don't care.

Whatever Happened to Moderates?

Why do we have to have to have a piece of bad legislation shoved down our throats just because the Democrats feel obligated to pass something?

For a short time I was delusional enough to think some members of Congress had actually come to their senses and realized the Health Care reform bill now open for debate is just that.A bad piece of legislation. Not just the government option part of it, but the lack of tort reform, the lack of ability to buy across state lines, the medicare reimbursement cutbacks, just to mention a few. Then came Mary Landrieu.

She is one I had hope for then came the $300 million bribe. She even had the gall to point out that the originally reported $100 million was incorrect. No cheap date this Senator! The price has been set for the buying of votes. Granted, these figures aren't going to add to the cost, just shift money around. Being in the Republican state of Idaho, I'm somewhat miffed. Some of that pocket change that will be fattening Louisiana's coffers may well be coming out of ours! How fair is that?

Why is this happening? Because no one has any convictions any more. Oh, I know, this is politics as usual. Bribing members of Congress for their votes. I don't have to like it. And I don't have to vote for the incumbents next go round. The trouble is, no matter who runs, once in Washington, it will all be the same. If the freshmen don't play the game they'll get none of the spoils!

What about the Blue Dogs? They only have clout if they stick together. It isn't going to happen. They are about as close to the center as anyone we have right now and there aren't enough of them.

Moderates don't seem to be able to gain a foothold any more. We're being manhandled by the far left at the moment and the vocal opposition is coming from the far right.

Well, who are the moderates? On the Democratic side can you name one? On the Republican side? Those who are no longer welcome under the big tent? Name one who might be a contender in 2012. Not Palin. Not Huckabee. Who?

Come out, come out wherever you are! We need to see you're still among the living. More than that we need to hear from you! Or are you like the dinosaurs that came before you? Eternally mired in the tar pits.

They Just Don't Get It Do They!

It has become known today that we seniors will not get an increase in Social Security this year but instead will get a bonus of $250. Whoopee. That won't cover a month's prescriptions for many of us! Where do these guys get their economic bona fides? Or better yet, how do we become one of their pet projects? Then we'd get all the funding we need!

Let's look at the war - again. The President hasn't yet decided if, or how many, troops he's going to send to Afghanistan yet the Senate has striped the funding of fuel, ammunition and training and diverted it to 778 pet projects of their own!

Earmarks, they're called. I thought Obama was going to eliminate at best, or cut down on them at worst. Oh well.

How much are the troops being short changed here? According to The Washington Times $2.6 Billion. With a capital B !

Where is it going? Well, $25 million to a World War II Museum. Fitting isn't it? A museum dedicated to war long past with funds diverted from the one we are currently fighting.

Then there is $20 million for an "educational institute" to be named after Ted Kennedy in recognition for the years he spent on the Armed Services Committee where he fought to see that our troops received top notch equipment such as body armor and Humvees. How much body armor would that $20 million buy for our troops right now?

One Senator had 35 earmarks totalling more than $206 million while yet another had 48 worth $216 million. And we get $250.

Is there something wrong with this picture? What is the matter with these people? They huff and puff and try to justify these expenditures, which the military did not ask for nor want. Meanwhile combat pilots training to deploy are getting half the flying hours they got during the Vietnam war and tank crews get less training than during the Clinton administration when we were not at war!

If you honestly think these people are capable of reforming health care, overseeing climate change and reviving our economy, we'll never be on the same page.

Instead of hoping, week in and week out to no avail, that we might win the lottery, maybe I could just worm my way into a Senator's brain and chant 'fund medicare', 'fund the troops' or 'take a pay cut' until it becomes a pet project. Then we'd all be in fine shape.

In my dreams.

Is This The Hope We've Been Waiting For?

It was announced today that President Obama is going to address a joint session of Congress on what he wants to have included and excluded in health reform legislation. After those plans had been announced Senate Majority Leader Reid and House Speaker Pelosi sent the President a formal invitation to do just that.

Is it just me or does that seem like putting the cart before the horse in both instances? If Obama had made his plans clear to Congress in the first place rather than turning it over to them at the get go, a lot of anger and anxiety could have been avoided. As for the formal invitation, well, everything has to be well orchestrated.

Is the President finally going to become engaged in governing? One can only hope! Is he going to set Congress, especially the House straight on what is and is not acceptable in health care reform? One can only hope! Is it going to be a plan that makes sense for all Americans rather than merely satisfying a political base and agenda? One can only hope though I won't hold my breath on that one.

Whatever the outcome, it would appear the people have indeed been heard and at such a volume, it's being realized they mean business when threatening congressional representatives from both houses with their seats if they don't listen.

That is certainly change. The people being heard and listened to. Will it last through the next piece of legislation we question? One can only hope! Wow. Talk of hope and change all in one short post.

I should feel elated, but quite frankly, I'm skeptical. I fear it will be just another well staged illusion.