Well, it's football season again, but in reality it is always football season when it comes to politicians using political footballs and intellectual dishonesty toward issues for their own political gain. One of the worst culprits of this appeared on today's Meet The Press, Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. With regard to the essential two topics discussion, the building of the Islamic Community Center in lower Manhattan and the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the top 2% in this country.
Senator McConnell said that we are to take the President 'on his word' that he is a Christian and not a Muslim, he can't explain why one in four republicans think the President is NOT a Christian. This is the worst kind of political shiftiness, knowing that people who represent Republican interests are out there spreading this kind of false information to further their own agenda and then turning around and saying, "I don't know where this comes from."
Senator McConnell additional stated that the President is ignoring public opinion of this 'issue' in not condemning the construction of this facility at this particular location. Then later in the interview, the senator quips that the President shouldn't be weighing in on a local zoning decision. This basically says that no matter what the President had said or didn't say would be used against him.
Mr. Gregory, to his credit, called out Mr. McConnell on this, pointing out that up until this very moment, it was a much bigger topic (not an issue really) than a zoning decision. And with regard to the extension of the Bush tax cuts, we finally got answer!
The answer is that Mr. McConnell is either being intellectually dishonest with regard to these taxes to serve his own political agenda or he that he simply doesn't understand how the finances of the government works. We're beginning to believe the latter because of his answer.
When asked how the tax cuts extension would be paid for, Senator McConnell said that they are existing tax cuts and there is no paying for them. It's a matter of reeling in spending, but in typical style, he never bothers to explain what cuts Republicans would be inclined to make. He seems to not understand that by giving these tax breaks there is a loss in governmental revenue and then hence, the government needs to borrow more money to compensate for the shortfall.
Again, what's sad is that he doesn't understand this, that he can be totally oblivious to the statements by Alan Greenspan from August 1st's program, and then sit and blame the President and his policies for what is happening in the country right now.
Politically, it is pretty obvious what the Republicans will do if they score some luck and come out ahead in the midterm election. What's dangerous is they are not saying what they would do, and in the meantime, only contributing negatively to the general political discourse - assigning blame.
What is out there is Congressman Paul Ryan's (R-WI) platform for economic reforms, a bill which only has 13 co-sponsors at the moment. Mr. McConnell, when asked, didn't really answer why there were so few. We suspect it is because contained within Mr. Ryan's roadmap are radical cuts to Social Security and Medicare, practically to the point of eliminating those programs as we know them.
These cuts are politically unpopular, but they are in line with the Republican agenda to dismantle all social safety nets. So the question is: If the Republicans gain control of the House and/or Senate, will there then be more sponsors of Mr. Ryan's ideas.
Dick Armey appeared on today's Meet The Press alongside Jennifer Granholm, the Governor of Michigan, to discuss the economy, and the former Republican Congressman from Texas said that Mr. Ryan is the most creative thinker in Washington right now. He also emphatically stated that standing alongside of Mr. Ryan and his platform is determined by courage.
Mr. Armey is no longer a politician, but in reality he is far worse. He is the example of politics beholden to corporate interest. With a new book out, Give Us Liberty (A Tea Party Manifesto), Mr. Armey uses proxies to further his corporatist agenda and enjoy wide influence over the political landscape without ever being beholden to the public. Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich are feeling quite empowered from being private politicians, but it is Mr. Armey who rallied the corporate donors to fund his organization, Freedomworks, that spawned the Tea Party movement. Hence, now we have his, excuse us - 'their' manifesto, which calls for limited government in matters of social safety nets. Mr. Armey uses the example of the Christian Scientist...
"Let, let me ask you a simple question. If you happen to be a Christian Scientist and have never seen a doctor in your life and never intend to go to a doctor in your life and never bought insurance in your life, is it right to, to be told at the age of 65 if you don't buy--sign up for Medicare, we'll take away your Social Security? That's not in the law. "
Hmmm... then one could ask... if there is a shaman in the deepest rainforests of Borneo who had never heard of Christianity, the Bible, of Jesus, and he is approached one day by a Christian preacher and told of Jesus, but still doesn't believe in Christianity, is the shaman now condemned to hell? The Christian preacher would say yes. This is simply presenting contrarian logic.
However, here's the real rub with Mr. Armey's example. He said that he agrees with Congressman Ryan that Medicare should be optional, and that you can elect to pay into it at 65 instead of mandating. However, at 65, if you have never paid into the system. Can that individual afford to them buy into Medicare. The answer is most likely no, and then at the time when an individual most needs health care and has no income to pay for a doctor's visit, they end up with nothing. It's all a ruse to funnel more money into private corporate hands.
As Governor Granholm pointed out, 85% percent of Americans do not want Social Security drastically cut to reduce the deficit. Mr. Armey rebutted that politicians who don't cut it drastically lack courage. Also, we like the fact that Governor Granholm accidentally called Mr. Armey "Mitch," but she may as well have been talking to the Senate Minority leader and the views of the two men fall in line with one another.
Lastly, with regard to the proposed community center/mosque in lower Manhattan, it really comes down to this: In The United States of America we have religious freedom and that freedom gives the right to a group to build a religious facility on private property.
Now, if we uphold this right, even if it's tough to swallow, and we understand that point of view completely, the light of this country's ideals still glows brilliantly. When we start selectively employing our Constitution, that is when our institution is broken.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
8.15.2010: Gerneral David Petraeus
We'd prefer that today's program didn't start as if it were an episode of 60 Minutes and we'd like to think that viewers of Meet The Press would not need the contextual primer before the actual interview, but at least Mr. Gregory didn't over do it. Throughout the program, we gleaned a few important statements from General Petraeus, but most of the program kept repeatedly reiterating one big fact: The success of the U.S. mission there is in complete doubt and no one seems to know how this, the longest war in our history, will turn out.
Politically, troops are scheduled to start rotating back home in July of next year, but the general made it clear that that would depend on the situation on the ground, in which he is seeing 'small pockets of progress.' For a war going into its tenth year, small pockets of progress mean almost nothing. General Petraeus consistently tried to keep the context within a timeframe of the last 18 months, which is interesting because though he says that his decisions have nothing to do with politics, he focuses on from when the new Administration came into office.
Conditions on the ground will dictate the timetable for a responsible drawn... well, that's at least the idea. Then again General Petraeus said that it will take a substantial, enduring commitment. The beginning of a troop withdrawal by next July seems unlikely, but the general did say that approximately 2,000 troops would be going home. 2,000? There are 100,000 in country so that 2% number is simply a token.
From where we sit, the one somewhat positive conclusion we can glean is that Al Qaeda and the Taliban elements supporting them are being disrupted in a major way in the region. Whether the Pakistani government is doing enough is anyone's guess, but the conflict has been pretty much regionalized. Al Qaeda is pretty much gone and has taken off for the mountains of Yemen - the next front and a conversation for a different time.
The other significant topic during the program today is the state of the Karzai Government in Afghanistan. We've heard tales of corruption in the press and to confirm it, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry said it's running rampant. Ironically, General Petraeus has to take the more diplomatic route saying that the U.S. and President Karzai have a strong relationship in that the two parties can have a frank discussion and don't necesssarily always agree. calling him a 'strong partner.' Despite disagreements, the dialogue remains open. We believe that President Karzai, who says that Afghanistan could be the new silk road with all it's mineral deposits, is playing the same waiting game that the Taliban are but for different reasons. Without an American presence, the Karzai Government would not be a democratic one, this much is for certain. They would leverage the mineral wealth to control the country, and would probably be content not controlling all of it, just the land masses that matter money-wise.
One thing is for sure, at the end of the hour we still simply know one thing: we don't know how long the longest campaign will be in the long war.
Politically, troops are scheduled to start rotating back home in July of next year, but the general made it clear that that would depend on the situation on the ground, in which he is seeing 'small pockets of progress.' For a war going into its tenth year, small pockets of progress mean almost nothing. General Petraeus consistently tried to keep the context within a timeframe of the last 18 months, which is interesting because though he says that his decisions have nothing to do with politics, he focuses on from when the new Administration came into office.
Conditions on the ground will dictate the timetable for a responsible drawn... well, that's at least the idea. Then again General Petraeus said that it will take a substantial, enduring commitment. The beginning of a troop withdrawal by next July seems unlikely, but the general did say that approximately 2,000 troops would be going home. 2,000? There are 100,000 in country so that 2% number is simply a token.
From where we sit, the one somewhat positive conclusion we can glean is that Al Qaeda and the Taliban elements supporting them are being disrupted in a major way in the region. Whether the Pakistani government is doing enough is anyone's guess, but the conflict has been pretty much regionalized. Al Qaeda is pretty much gone and has taken off for the mountains of Yemen - the next front and a conversation for a different time.
The other significant topic during the program today is the state of the Karzai Government in Afghanistan. We've heard tales of corruption in the press and to confirm it, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry said it's running rampant. Ironically, General Petraeus has to take the more diplomatic route saying that the U.S. and President Karzai have a strong relationship in that the two parties can have a frank discussion and don't necesssarily always agree. calling him a 'strong partner.' Despite disagreements, the dialogue remains open. We believe that President Karzai, who says that Afghanistan could be the new silk road with all it's mineral deposits, is playing the same waiting game that the Taliban are but for different reasons. Without an American presence, the Karzai Government would not be a democratic one, this much is for certain. They would leverage the mineral wealth to control the country, and would probably be content not controlling all of it, just the land masses that matter money-wise.
One thing is for sure, at the end of the hour we still simply know one thing: we don't know how long the longest campaign will be in the long war.
Sunday, August 08, 2010
8.8.10: No End Game
We just have a brief word about today's first guest, President Obama's Energy Adviser, Carol Browner, and the discussion about the Gulf oil crisis. And it continues to be a crisis even though the static kill (pouring tons of mud down the well) has seemed to have stopped most all the oil spouting from the well. That's the good news. The not so great news is that it's obvious that the administration has as much information as the rest of us, seeming to be observers as well. At this point, we're all getting the same information and our fear is that we'll never get the full story from BP. As a matter of fact, we'll never get the full story.
Where the government needs to step in big is to restore the Gulf Coast, environmentally and economically because BP sure as hell isn't going to do it. Why the big news outlets don't have teams of scientists and scientific reports down there getting the full story is irresponsible at the least. The story's that BP are blocking access should be made into huge front page story, simply for the fact that a corporation is now dictating the terms of what we're, the American people, are to know about their own country? This is a travesty on a 206 million gallon scale. Ms. Browner did make a very good point on the moratorium on drilling during the crisis, which was the moratorium on drilling during the crisis was the right thing to do because if there had been another accident while this was going on, we wouldn't have had the resources to combat both. Logical. What's not logical is that Republicans got the concessions they wanted on a clean energy bill, most notably the removal of cap-and-trade, and they still voted against it.
This brings us to today's second guest, House Minority Leader, John Boehner (R-OH), who said that the moratorium should be lifted because "a mistake was made with this well." He also said that BP has stepped up and should return the Gulf Coast to where it was before the spill. It is the right thing to say, but there is no utter way that BP has the will, the wear-with-all, or the inclination to do any such thing. And it was a 'mistake' as Mr. Boehner put it, it was negligence on the part of BP, plain and simply. They bypassed safety concerns on the rig for the sake of profit, and unfortunately it bit us all in the ass. Not them.
What kind of leader can not give a straight answer? You can quite clearly see the impatience on Mr. Gregory's face, and for good reason. Mr. Boehner could not answer the key question of the interview, which was if he agreed with Alan Greenspan (from last week's Meet The Press) that an extension of the Bush Tax Cuts would pay for themselves. All Mr. Boehner can utter is the mantra of how the Obama Administration wants more mandates, higher taxes, which lead to higher costs.
What Mr. Boehner and other Republicans don't realize is that simply cutting taxes will not levee our economic troubles. What's the end game with this play? Is it that we'll eliminate taxes all together? In some cases we actually have, with corporations like G.E. and Exxon Mobil not paying any taxes due to off-shore tax loopholes. And these companies who don't pay their fair share of taxes aren't creating more jobs for Americans. Yet, we can not raise taxes in this economy, not even selectively according to Mr. Boehner.
Something's got to give, there has to be another answer out there beside 'tax cuts.' Contrary to what Republicans would tell you, those two words are not a panacea. They're actually two words that keep our spending addiction going... keeping the withdrawal chills away.
Where the government needs to step in big is to restore the Gulf Coast, environmentally and economically because BP sure as hell isn't going to do it. Why the big news outlets don't have teams of scientists and scientific reports down there getting the full story is irresponsible at the least. The story's that BP are blocking access should be made into huge front page story, simply for the fact that a corporation is now dictating the terms of what we're, the American people, are to know about their own country? This is a travesty on a 206 million gallon scale. Ms. Browner did make a very good point on the moratorium on drilling during the crisis, which was the moratorium on drilling during the crisis was the right thing to do because if there had been another accident while this was going on, we wouldn't have had the resources to combat both. Logical. What's not logical is that Republicans got the concessions they wanted on a clean energy bill, most notably the removal of cap-and-trade, and they still voted against it.
This brings us to today's second guest, House Minority Leader, John Boehner (R-OH), who said that the moratorium should be lifted because "a mistake was made with this well." He also said that BP has stepped up and should return the Gulf Coast to where it was before the spill. It is the right thing to say, but there is no utter way that BP has the will, the wear-with-all, or the inclination to do any such thing. And it was a 'mistake' as Mr. Boehner put it, it was negligence on the part of BP, plain and simply. They bypassed safety concerns on the rig for the sake of profit, and unfortunately it bit us all in the ass. Not them.
What kind of leader can not give a straight answer? You can quite clearly see the impatience on Mr. Gregory's face, and for good reason. Mr. Boehner could not answer the key question of the interview, which was if he agreed with Alan Greenspan (from last week's Meet The Press) that an extension of the Bush Tax Cuts would pay for themselves. All Mr. Boehner can utter is the mantra of how the Obama Administration wants more mandates, higher taxes, which lead to higher costs.
What Mr. Boehner and other Republicans don't realize is that simply cutting taxes will not levee our economic troubles. What's the end game with this play? Is it that we'll eliminate taxes all together? In some cases we actually have, with corporations like G.E. and Exxon Mobil not paying any taxes due to off-shore tax loopholes. And these companies who don't pay their fair share of taxes aren't creating more jobs for Americans. Yet, we can not raise taxes in this economy, not even selectively according to Mr. Boehner.
Something's got to give, there has to be another answer out there beside 'tax cuts.' Contrary to what Republicans would tell you, those two words are not a panacea. They're actually two words that keep our spending addiction going... keeping the withdrawal chills away.
Sunday, August 01, 2010
8.1.2010: Agreeing with Greenspan
The case of Wikileaks disclosing some 92,000 pages of classified documents with regard to the Afghan War will lead to some positive developments and some negative ones, but we feel that the positives will outweigh the negatives. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen addressed the leaks on today's MTP and he did explain that the Taliban and our adversaries would know what our tactics are and the kinds of things that the Allied Forces are doing. What he failed to mention are the uglier instances reported in the paper that can only motivate the Taliban and cause even more feelings of long-term animosity toward the United States.
However, Mr. Gregory asked about the larger point being is the strategy in Afghanistan working? Is the war a lost cause, keeping in mind that the Taliban is at its strongest right now. Admiral Mullen did point out that we're sending more troops in despite July being the deadliest month in Afghanistan since the war started - 66 soldiers died. His answer indicates that he does not feel the war is a lost cause. This is where we feel the leaks can be more of a positive. First, it keeps people's collective attention on the war, which has the massive ripple effect of the government putting it in the fore with the media and then hence the people. Secondly, it's important that war atrocities are vetted out into the open. These acts are committed in the name of the American people and we do have a right to know. Again, this will lead to a change in tactics by our military.
Still, we continue to ask - What is the goal at this point in Afghanistan? To crush the Taliban? It's not going to happen. To secure the government and the people so that Taliban elements are marginalized to the point where they can not be a threat? Highly unlikely.
And then there is Pakistan, the place where our troubles most solidly reside. Admiral Mullen explained that our relationship with Pakistan is continually evolving. There's an understatement for you. The statistic from today's program that bears importance - 59% of the Pakistani people feel the U.S. is an enemy. Did Admiral Mullen say 'evolving' or 'dissolving?'
The bottom line there is that the U.S. is going to be in Afghanistan for a very long time if we plan to seriously achieve these goals.
From there, Mr. Gregory turned the conversation to Iran and their nuclear capabilities, but what he should have asked about is, in fact, Iraq. When will we see our final withdrawal from there. The Obama Administration should get on this message a little bit. It would say that we're, as a whole, trying to draw down the fighting an our troops abroad. Also, given that the public is tired of hearing about two wars, it's more appropriate for Admiral Mullen to comment on Iraq rather than Iran, which is more of a political challenge right now.
Lastly, they talked about the rate of suicide among U.S. servicemen. It's up in all the services and the Admiral admitted that they don't have the answers. Again, the two wars, the atrocities, the lack of public support in both countries (having to reason with the public after Blackwater mercenaries shoot up the place), and of course the multi-deployments. It's truly sad what were doing to these elite Americans, asking so much from them and giving back so little.
___
[New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I); the man who served as Chairman on the Federal Reserve for 19 years, Alan Greenspan; and the Governor of the state with the 6th largest economy in the U.S., Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA).]
It's completely insane what is happening right now in American business, that corporations are totally flush with cash but aren't hiring. Alan Greenspan said he has never in his life seen this level of animosity between government and business. Actually, it was Mr. Greenspan who made today's most provocative statements, starting first with letting the Bush Tax Cuts lapse. Mr. Greenspan, by saying so, is once again embracing the economics of the Clinton era, and at this point, who wouldn't... except Republicans? The other side of the coin is that Mr. Greenspan opined that he sees nothing in the near future that will effect the jobless rate in this country. And given the mindset of the corporations, maximizing profits and continuing to lower respective workforces, we can see his point. Usually we don't. Mr. Bloomberg, typically, feels that we should extend the tax cuts a couple more years, lowering this said animosity. This is ridiculous because someone has to pay to increase the government's revenue. It's key to turning around confidence by lowering the deficit and hence the debt.
"Tax cuts do not pay for themselves," Mr. Greenspan stated today. And Governor Rendell, also on this panel, stated the hard fact that there have to be some tax increases and given all the tax shelters corporations take advantage of, the Bush tax cuts have to lapse for the top 2% of the population. He also pointed out, what we all know, is that the gridlock being caused by Republicans is stifling relief for the unemployed and impeding recovery.
President Obama this week was in Detroit touting a new auto plant with re-hired workers, and that for the first time since 2004, the big three automakers are turning a profit. This is the soapbox in which he should stand.
Presidential Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin gave him the best advice possible: Use the bully pulpit! We say, yes, use it and throw it at people who stand in your way to get things done. The last administration never hesitated.
However, Mr. Gregory asked about the larger point being is the strategy in Afghanistan working? Is the war a lost cause, keeping in mind that the Taliban is at its strongest right now. Admiral Mullen did point out that we're sending more troops in despite July being the deadliest month in Afghanistan since the war started - 66 soldiers died. His answer indicates that he does not feel the war is a lost cause. This is where we feel the leaks can be more of a positive. First, it keeps people's collective attention on the war, which has the massive ripple effect of the government putting it in the fore with the media and then hence the people. Secondly, it's important that war atrocities are vetted out into the open. These acts are committed in the name of the American people and we do have a right to know. Again, this will lead to a change in tactics by our military.
Still, we continue to ask - What is the goal at this point in Afghanistan? To crush the Taliban? It's not going to happen. To secure the government and the people so that Taliban elements are marginalized to the point where they can not be a threat? Highly unlikely.
And then there is Pakistan, the place where our troubles most solidly reside. Admiral Mullen explained that our relationship with Pakistan is continually evolving. There's an understatement for you. The statistic from today's program that bears importance - 59% of the Pakistani people feel the U.S. is an enemy. Did Admiral Mullen say 'evolving' or 'dissolving?'
The bottom line there is that the U.S. is going to be in Afghanistan for a very long time if we plan to seriously achieve these goals.
From there, Mr. Gregory turned the conversation to Iran and their nuclear capabilities, but what he should have asked about is, in fact, Iraq. When will we see our final withdrawal from there. The Obama Administration should get on this message a little bit. It would say that we're, as a whole, trying to draw down the fighting an our troops abroad. Also, given that the public is tired of hearing about two wars, it's more appropriate for Admiral Mullen to comment on Iraq rather than Iran, which is more of a political challenge right now.
Lastly, they talked about the rate of suicide among U.S. servicemen. It's up in all the services and the Admiral admitted that they don't have the answers. Again, the two wars, the atrocities, the lack of public support in both countries (having to reason with the public after Blackwater mercenaries shoot up the place), and of course the multi-deployments. It's truly sad what were doing to these elite Americans, asking so much from them and giving back so little.
___
[New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I); the man who served as Chairman on the Federal Reserve for 19 years, Alan Greenspan; and the Governor of the state with the 6th largest economy in the U.S., Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA).]
It's completely insane what is happening right now in American business, that corporations are totally flush with cash but aren't hiring. Alan Greenspan said he has never in his life seen this level of animosity between government and business. Actually, it was Mr. Greenspan who made today's most provocative statements, starting first with letting the Bush Tax Cuts lapse. Mr. Greenspan, by saying so, is once again embracing the economics of the Clinton era, and at this point, who wouldn't... except Republicans? The other side of the coin is that Mr. Greenspan opined that he sees nothing in the near future that will effect the jobless rate in this country. And given the mindset of the corporations, maximizing profits and continuing to lower respective workforces, we can see his point. Usually we don't. Mr. Bloomberg, typically, feels that we should extend the tax cuts a couple more years, lowering this said animosity. This is ridiculous because someone has to pay to increase the government's revenue. It's key to turning around confidence by lowering the deficit and hence the debt.
"Tax cuts do not pay for themselves," Mr. Greenspan stated today. And Governor Rendell, also on this panel, stated the hard fact that there have to be some tax increases and given all the tax shelters corporations take advantage of, the Bush tax cuts have to lapse for the top 2% of the population. He also pointed out, what we all know, is that the gridlock being caused by Republicans is stifling relief for the unemployed and impeding recovery.
President Obama this week was in Detroit touting a new auto plant with re-hired workers, and that for the first time since 2004, the big three automakers are turning a profit. This is the soapbox in which he should stand.
Presidential Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin gave him the best advice possible: Use the bully pulpit! We say, yes, use it and throw it at people who stand in your way to get things done. The last administration never hesitated.
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