12.11.11: Bain Capital Moments

It's very attractive to Americans, the notion of this country being more neutral and withdrawn when it comes to foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East specifically with the Israelis and the Palestinians as Congressman Ron Paul would like. There is some wisdom there in his notions on foreign policy. However, with many of Ron Paul's ideas, they do not address the practicality of the situation. For a multitude of reasons, both practical and political, the United States can not withdrawal from the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians such as the aid that we give and the lobbyists who fight for it to security on the ground meaning our presence in the region as a strategic deterrent to Iran. On the question of whether we should reduce on military presence around the world, we would agree with the Congressman, as we've stated before, but that's as far as it goes.

Congressman Paul not only wants an isolationist government in regard to foreign policy but also on domestic policy with the elimination of agencies such as education, energy, and the EPA. His overall proposition does play well with a devoted following but in a general election, how well does he do? Not very well.

Yet, there is something to be said for consistent positions. Six months ago we agreed and disagreed respectively with the same positions held by Congressman Paul's as we do today. This is unlike, as Mr. Paul accurately pointed out, Governor Mitt Romney and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich who Ron Paul characterized as being from the same mold in terms of policy and the inconsistency of their respective positions. It's all in the nuance for these two.

There's an evident callousness on the part of both men for those who have less. On the part of Mr. Gingrich who believes that it's a good idea to put children in inner-city schools to work as the janitors of those schools, or when he said that the Palestinians were essentially an invented people. In the case of Mr. Romney, the $10,000 bet he attempted to make with Rick Perry during the debate last night. In fact, in the case of Mitt Romney, we'll call that a Bain Capital Moment. These moments are the reason, beside sadly his religious faith, that Republican primary voters have a distaste for the former Massachusetts Governor.

Try to disregard alone that fact of how odd it was that one of the candidates tried to make a wager with another during a debate. What really strikes a reaction is the amount. Another Bain Capital Moment would be when Mr. Romney called the pay roll tax cut a little band aid. "Corporations are people" would be another excellent candidate. And of course, there is the flattering photo of him and his associates at the firm.



On being from the same mold, Mr. Paul also explained that both these candidates are constantly on the defensive, which is true and doesn't bode well for either. Defensive positions are reactions and it will be difficult for either candidate to mount an ultimately successful campaign when in that position.

And before we get into the joint interview with Senators Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), we'd like to comment on another politician who appeared on the program, Governor Terry Branstad (R-IA). Governor Branstad has appeared on Meet The Press before and he's a particular politician, from our perspective, that we'd like to forget. When Governors, in particular, consistently speak with such partisan rhetoric, it's disappointing whether it be from a Republican or Democrat. It gives a sense that this 'domestic general on the ground' isn't understanding or caring about the reality of the condition of the state. For Governor Branstad's part, he invoked Ronald Reagan as his conservative role model and inspiration, yet Ronald Reagan's positions when presented today are flatly rejected by today's conservative base of which the governor is a part. And as we've seen in Ohio and Wisconsin, when this one-sided partisan rhetoric is actually employed, it doesn't go well. It's a lack of seeing the totality of the situation.

This is something Senators have the opportunity to do as well - look at a problem from all sides and come up with a reasonable compromise that all sides can live with. However, it takes all of thirty seconds to realize that one will not see a compromise between the two players. Mr. Graham immediately blamed a failed presidency that has divided the nation, and held back economic growth. For his part, Senator Durbin spent his air time defending the President's policies in rote. Granted, given the amount of time, it may be difficult to get to an issue where the parties agree, but jeez...

The Consumer Protection Agency exists, and it needs a commissioner. Republican Senators should not block hearings because they simply don't want the agency and are just taking the ball and going home. Mr. Graham misspoke when he said that the commissioner's policies would have no oversight. Mr. Cordray, if he were commissioner, would not be able to make policy, just enforce the laws that Congress passes. To say this seems like an abdication of responsibility, just as when Mr. Graham said that to achieve economic equality, we need to just grow, which is essentially the message that the market should take care of itself.

Senator Durbin called the payroll tax cut a 'make or break' moment for the middle class. If Republicans don't vote for it, it shows that they will cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans and not for the middle class. Republicans require that it be paid for but not by a millionaire surtax imposed on money after the first million dollars as the Democrats want. If the sides can not come together, they have to find another place from which to take the money. This is where the Senate could excel, but they are unable. There are so many ways in which to do it, but the janitors shouldn't be fired and replaced with their kids.

11.20.11: The No-So Supers…

The not so super Congressional Super Committee has a deadline of tomorrow morning to put its proposal for deficit reduction in front of Congress, and the initial question is if the respective Republicans and Democrats will come to an agreement. Senator Kyl’s answer is that hope spring eternal, but this is no consolation or even acceptable as an answer in discussing the committee’s goals. The committee has neither achieved tax reform nor entitlement reform, and went on to explain that we would need to grow our way out of deficit spending and not tax ourselves out of deficit spending. This is in response to David Gregory’s assertion that the Bush Tax Cuts are going to add $3.7 Trillion dollars to the national debt and that most economists – Republican and Democrat recommend that they expire. Mr. Kyl was unfazed by this and went on to explain that we would increase revenue to the government by reforming the tax code. The problem with this is that Republicans want to reform the tax code by eliminating loops holes for corporations, but then also lower the overall tax rate, which becomes a wash – the lower rate offsets any gains that closing the loopholes offered. What he didn’t mention is that the lower tax rate would apply to everyone, “broadening the base,” which would levy taxes on families and individuals who have just enough income to meet monthly obligations, in other words the working poor.

For this opening segment, Senators Kyl and Kerry were introduced together but Mr. Gregory interviewed Mr. Kyl first while Mr. Kerry sat by. Then when Mr. Gregory interviewed Mr. Kerry, Mr. Kyl had left the set. Who set that parameter? The public needs to see and hear some of this debate, which was denied by this format. There was exchange at all, and this seems the typical way of Washington – deny listening opportunities. I’ll say what I have to and then you do the say and neither have to listen to the other.

Mr. Kerry explained in his segment that there are two things holding up any agreement that would cut $1.7 trillion dollars from the budget. One is that Republicans want to wait for the 2012 election so that they can take control and then implement their full agenda without Democratic opposition. Secondly, they will not let the Bush tax cuts expire and are subservient to Grover Norquist’s pledge to never raise taxes.

The entire point of the super committee was so that both sides would have to share in some sacrifice, and that if the committee could not come to an agreement automatic spending cuts would be implemented. For the Republicans, those cuts would effect defense spending. On this point, Secretary Panetta was cited that the cuts to defense would effect our national security. When Mr. Gregory confronted Mr. Kyl with this reality, The Arizona Senator eluded that they would try to work around it. Later in the segment, Senator Kerry took exception to this. This should have been a major point of the discussion, but today’s interview format did not allow for it – a mistake by the producers and the moderator.

Where we stand is that the Republicans won’t give in on the most major one demand that the Democrats have, which is to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire and given this, it has become all too easy for Democrats to blame Republicans of intransience. The end result is nothing will get done. To watch these two individuals just makes one bubble with frustration. The inability of the Senators of Rome caused its demise. We, the United States, are no better than Greece or Italy at this moment. The only difference is that we know the cash exists in the United States where it is nonexistent in these countries.

One last note on this dual interview and it’s something that Senator Kyl said that we take exception to. With regard to the Occupy Wall Street movement, Mr. Kyl said that these people didn’t understand the free market and how it works. This is clearly not true, but it does illustrate how out of touch Mr. Kyl and many of his party colleagues are in understanding the hardships of a shrinking middle class. With that said, we have to admit that after two months, the movement doesn’t have a clear message and they only have themselves to blame.

Speaking of only having yourself to blame, this is the Republican electorate given that their frontrunner for the nomination this week is Former Speaker Newt Gingrich, described by Dee Dee Meyers during today’s panel as a political sociopath – something that no one else on the panel could really dispute. Mr. Gingrich has clearly shown that he will take any position that is politically expedient. Republican strategist Mike Murphy demurred simply saying that he would be surprised if Mr. Gingrich is the nominee.

It’s simply another illustration of how the Republican party is completely dissatisfied with their respective candidates. Herman Cain can not answer a questions on foreign policy then claimed his is there to “lead and not to read.” After that statement, there is no way to take him seriously. Governor Rick Perry, who Eugene Robinson thought still has a shot to unseat Mitt Romney as the favorite, is consistent, but consistently nonsensical in his answers. And as for Mr. Romney, conservatives just don’t believe in him. They would be right to say he’s not a true conservative. In a way, he’s like Newt Gingrich in that he’ll say what ever is most politically expedient, what ever answer it takes to get elected, Mitt Romney can be counted on for that answer.

Round Table: Democratic Strategist Dee Dee Meyers, Republican Strategist Mike Murphy, Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, and former RNC Chairman, Ed Gillespie

Last thought: Statistic of Note (from today’s program) – Over the past thirty years, the richest 1%’s income has gone up 300 percent, while the middle class’ income has only increased 18 percent. Trickle down economics has worked if a trickle is all you’re trying to achieve.

11.13.11: The Bystander Effect

David Brooks talked about the "Bystander Effect" in reference to the Penn State tragedy, and make no mistake, it is a tragedy. Mr. Brooks explained that study after study has shown that most people would just as soon as walk away or ignore criminality than do something to intervene. E.J. Dionne begged to differ with his colleague, but unfortunately David Brooks is correct and most would do nothing.

It is in an instant where the bystander effect appears. However, it is also that instant that produces heroes. In the case of Penn State, Mike McQuery - the assistant coach who witnessed and didn't stop Jerry Sandusky from sodomizing a boy in the shower - is no hero. In that moment, he could have done the right thing, he had the means. Mr. McQuery is a former Penn State quarterback - 6'5"/220. He's not a criminal, but he's no hero, something that has been sorely missed through out this entire investigation. And Mr. Paterno isn't one either, deserved to be fired and is too senile to understand that in trying to protect his legacy and his job, every moral fortitude he said he tried to instill in his players was never a factor in his own conduct. Many victims and no heroes define a tragedy. Today's first guest, Governor Tom Corbett (R-PA), didn't know if there were more victims, but there most certainly are - how could there not be when considering loved ones and family members.

Speaking of a bystander, Michele Bachmann was the latest on the "Meet The Candidate" series, and the reason for this designator is her answer on torture. She would reinstate it by allowing interrogators to use water boarding, which is in fact torture.

Congresswoman Bachmann said that the Penn State tragedy should start a national dialogue. On what? Morality? It's difficult to have that discussion with someone who has no moral dilemma when it comes to torturing people. Also, in being another candidate who would 'listen to the generals on the ground" when it comes to foreign policy, she won't listen to them when it comes to their collective opposition to water boarding.

Ms. Bachmann went on to explain to the key to winning the 'war on terror' comes in the form of interrogation, and that Mr. President is almost trying to lose the battle because of his lack of use of this torturing. It is exactly why we may be winning the war on Al Qaeda - because we're not using water boarding. What Michele Bachmann doesn't understand is that by not using torture, our moral compass in the view of the world has a better perception while we are in the midst of sending out more predator drones.

She then switched to the real right-wing fear mongering and pandering rhetoric, saying the the A.C.L.U. is running CIA, and that we have no prison for Al Qaeda terrorists refusing to acknowledge Mr. Gregory's reminder of the Guantanamo Bay Prison. She said that President Obama is 'losing the peace' in Iraq and that the Iraqis should pay back the United States the $800 billion it spend on the war and should also pay back the families of fallen soldiers.

But how about the 10's of thousands of Iraqi citizens killed in the war? What amount the millions who were displaced to other countries because of the war? What about the $9 billion dollars in cash the Secretary Rumsfeld lost, yes lost, in Baghdad?

Lastly, Mr. Gregory asked the Congresswoman if it were a disqualifier for Herman Cain as a candidate if the sexual assault allegations turn out to be true, and her response was telling. She said it is up to the voters. Well, if those allegations are proven, then it's not up to the voters, it's up to the law, and in fact is a disqualifier. In this moment, Ms. Bachmann could have stood up in the face of a popular candidate (Mr. Cain), as she does when it comes to Mitt Romney's flip-flopping, and taken the right stand. By not doing it, she is suffering from the bystander effect.



Guests: Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, GOP candidate Representative Michele Bachmann, DNC Chair Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, roundtable with David Brooks and E.J. Dionne.


Post Script:

During the interview with Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), the congresswoman had a tough time defending President Obama's economic policy. And remember she is also the DNC chairperson. She pleaded the case that it's Republican obstruction that it causing the economy stagnate, outlined the job growth for the last 20 months versus the massive job losses prior.

So why do we say that she had a tough time - two reasons. One, the congresswoman did not possess a compelling answer for the mother of all political questions, are we better off than we were four years ago. She said the 'President's fighting,' Well everyone's 'fighting' right now literally and figuratively in this country so if the President wants to cut through the clutter, his DNC chair needs a list of accomplishments because Americans really like it when they see the government getting something done.

Secondly, the debt is blowing up and we're still at 41% deficit spending during this administration year over year with employment figures at 9%. Her rebuttal was that the debt needs to be reduced in a responsible way, but it would be more responsible to always have your budget in line, which frankly the Obama Administration does not.

One More Thing...

E.J. Dionne used the great word 'bellicose' in describing Mitt Romney's rhetoric on Iran's nuclear ambitions. Mr. Romney said during the second of two Republican debates this week that under President Obama's leadership, Iran will acquire nuclear weapons, while under a Romney Administration they would not. We get it, it's a sexy Republican position to be rhetorically hard on Iran's nukes and threaten military action - a bad idea by the way. Another word should be added which was noted in the first debate - pandering. Jon Huntsmann said that Mitt Romney's economic stance on China was pandering, and with regard to Iran, his comments are just more of the same. It's not like when he's sitting in the White House and then Iran does indeed get nukes, he can just say, "Oops."

11.6.11: A Bridge Too Far

Today’s blog title doesn’t come from the show directly but from a clip of Representative Darrel Issa (R-CA) that Mr. Gregory highlighted. In the clip, Mr. Issa explained that when he first ran for office, his challenge was going from the business world to Congress. He went on to say that in the case of Mr. Herman Cain and his candidacy for President, going from business man to the Presidency is a ‘bridge too far.”

However, as Chris Matthews pointed out, Mr. Cain is exactly what conservatives are looking for – a southern business man. This is where Republicans have government horribly wrong – the United States government should not, repeat should not, be run like a business. A government is not in the business of profit, it is in the business of the general welfare of its people. Should we be running huge deficits? Of course not, but Republicans seem to conveniently forget that it was Vice President Dick Cheney who said that deficits don’t matter.

Mr. Cain, with all due respect to his business acumen, is not Presidential material. The sexual harassment allegations swirling around his campaign aside for a moment, in an interview this week Mr. Cain talked about China aspiring to have nuclear weapons. The layman that writes this column has known that China has had nuclear weapons since 1964 so how could a Presidential candidate not know this. To quote Mr. Matthews, “it’s like he hasn’t read newspapers for the last 50 years.” To use a Hillary Clinton metaphor, if Mr. Cain were the President, that 3am phone call would go to voicemail. Mr. Cain as President is a bridge too far.

Also, that he would scold the news media, attempting to put the blame on them, for these sexual assault allegations is cowardice and irresponsible. Is this man not willing to take responsibility for his actions. Governor Haley Barbour on today’s program said that this smelled of what Judge Clarence Thomas went through with his confirmation hearing, explaining that if Herman Cain weren’t running for President, these allegations wouldn’t matter. But the fact is that he is running for President, and he needs to be vetted like everyone else. Because Mr. Cain doesn’t want to answer such questions, doesn’t mean they will stop coming. The long he delays in getting the facts out, the more amount of people will start digging, and dig deep they will, and should. Mr. Matthews described Herman Cain as the most confident man he’s ever seen in politics. We would amend that to be the most arrogant, evidenced by his campaign staff e-mailing the journalism code of ethics to Politico as pointed out by senior reporter Maggie Haberman.

Also a bridge too far is the personhood amendment being pushed by the extreme right wing of the Republican Party. Never in the forty years since the Roe vs. Wade decision, has women’s rights in this country been under such assault – life beginning at fertilization is a ridiculous notion. Mr. Barbour said he’s not a physician and not a theologian, but… and that’s where he should stop. It implies that theology, counter to what it says in the First Amendment of the Constitution, should be taken into consideration when making law in this country. Forget about health care mandates for a moment, these actions by Republicans, if based on the majority of the party’s faith is unconstitutional. Governor Bill Richardson is correct that this is dangerous action.

Presidential candidate who appear on the program as part of the "Meet the Candidate" series, said that fertilization goes too far, though he is pro-life with, as he explained, a few exceptions in the case of rape or incest. Throughout the interview, this column couldn't help thinking that if the Republican Party weren't so far to the right, Jon Huntsman could be the nominee. He has the approach that would draw in independent voters, especially when he says that we can not run away from mainstream science in particular on climate change.

However, Mr. Huntsman has his flaws as well, specifically on health care, which Mr. Gregory pointed out that previously the candidate said that mandates had to be worked in some way as part of the solution of reforming health care, but now he is firmly against them. We can not really hold Jon Huntsman's feet too hard to the fire on health care as every candidate and the President have had changing views on health care. It's the most complex issue that we have domestically and unless the two sides can meet in the middle, there will be no solution - too far left or too far right won't work.

With that said, the one person who is disqualified on this issue is Mitt Romney because he implemented a policy as governor of Massachusetts that works, and instead of defending the policy and explaining it thoroughly, he ran away from his original position. This has become a bad trend on many issues for the candidate. And in relation to Mr. Romney, David Gregory asked Mr. Huntsman about his Mormon and if America was ready for a Mormon President. Mr. Huntsman said that America has moved beyond religion in this election cycle.

This is naivete reminiscent of President Obama on race. There are those in the Republican party who will fight with everything they have to make sure the Republican nominee is of Christian faith, where the base of the party is firmly entrenched. One could say that the ever-changing positions of Mitt Romney are the cause for his poll numbers never really rising above 30% amongst Republican voters, but make no mistake, his Mormon faith plays a big role. It's why he won't win the Iowa Caucus. It doesn't draw confidence from the base, and it sours any potential conservative allies.

Speaking of friends, apparently President Obama doesn't have any, and it's hurting his chances for reelection. Some of the time, we look at this Republican field and think that President Obama's chances for reelection are great, but then we here a panel discussion such as this and then we think, maybe not so much. In particular, Chris Matthews pointed out that the President hasn't formed the close bonds that help a President muscle through tough legislative situations, people who willing to drop everything else to fight for him. He has many endorsers/advocates but not political warriors. Mr. Matthews cited his new book on President Kennedy as a key example of a President who could commandere such loyalty. Everyone on the panel agreed that since President Obama has been taking his American Jobs Act to the American people, there haven't been any Democratic politicians willing to stand with him. "There are more Clinton people out there then there are Obama people," Mr. Matthews said. In essence, Mr. Obama hasn't instilled fear in his opponents, he hasn't in fact bridged the apparent gap between his stand and where the others are standing.

Round Table: Republican strategist Alex Castellanos, columnist for the Wall Street Journal, Kim Strassel, Senior Political Reporter for Politico, Maggie Haberman and author of the new book "Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero," and host of MSNBC’s Hardball, Chris Matthews.

Last Note: This Sunday was Meet The Press's 67th Anniversary - the longest running television program in history. The genius to make this the first show - putting our leaders on the spot and having them be accountable for their actions - is the reason why this column exists.

Happy Anniversary.

10.23.11: Iraq and Beyond War

Secretary Clinton said that Iraq is taking care of it's own security and that President Obama is following a withdrawal timetable that was set by the Bush administration. That timetable for withdrawal concludes at the end of this year. She also said that President Obama has passed the '3 am phone call test' with flying colors, but Republicans are not convinced and have criticized the administration saying that security in country and Iranian influence still pose a great threat.

The reality is that there is still the prospect of sectarian violence in Iraq and as any laymen knows, Iran's influence in Iraq is real in history, the present, and will be in the future. Neighboring countries have relationships and it will always be that way, whether the United States government approves of those relationships or not. It's denying a reality that will be present whether the United States military is in country for the next two months or the next two decades. It's also silly to think that the United States will ultimately determine the relationship between the different sects inside Iraq or the relationship between the Shia of Iraq and their religious brethren in Iran.

The Republican candidates throughout the debates and their respective campaign stops have advocated that government should get out of the way in people's lives - let people help themselves and to determine their own success. Why shouldn't that apply to the rest of the world? There's a large amount of naivete in that question, and you could dismiss it because there remains the grave threat to the security of the United States. However, as Secretary Clinton pointed out, the United States still maintains a significant presence in the region, and at some point we must the United States must move beyond Iraq and perpetual war.

Cynically, our military industrial complex will remain in tact as we are training and supporting the Iraqi military as they are buying our military equipment. Our role as the biggest arms dealer in the world remains in tact as we pull troops out of country. On the other hand, as the Madam Secretary pointed out, we've paid too high a price to not let Iraq go forward with democracy - their own democracy. And that price - 823 billion dollars and 4,500 American lives lost, over 35,000 injured.

You just can't have it both ways. Democracy on our terms isn't democracy and as Iraq decides its own fate, we have live with the consequences of our actions and their decisions. It's time to get out. Actually, the time to get out has passed as we should have been out sooner.

Mrs. Clinton said that she is out of politics, is not talking about it and doesn't want to look back. All of this was in response to Mr. Gregory's question as to whether or not she regretted her vote on the Iraq war. What is always painfully obvious, and this time was no exception, was that by avoiding the question, the answer was obviously yes. She does regret her vote and she can not admit that, which in essence makes it a political answer.

Mr. Gregory's more important question was if the Iraq war was worth it? Secretary Clinton stated that we'll have to wait a long time to find out. As nebulous as this answer is, it's correct, but the time that we have to wait can only begin when we leave the country.

Now according to Presidential candidate Ron Paul, who appeared on the program today, 15,000 troops at the U.S. embassy in Iraq, the largest embassy we've ever built, is not an exit, and he would be right. These days, unfortunately, leaving 15,000 troops in country constitutes a withdrawal. Dr. Paul's ideal of the role of the U.S. military is where most Americans would like to see the United States, not bogged down in perpetual troop presence in every corner of the world serving as the world's policeman.

However, where most would agree with Dr. Paul's assessment of government withdrawal from people's lives abroad, his views on the student loans, Fannie and Freddie, the Fed, and entitlement programs simply isn't realistic. The draconian cuts that got us out of the great depression that he mentioned is an inaccurate statement. The cuts that Republicans made after Roosevelt instituted the New Deal set the country back on a course of recession, not prosperity. He failed to mention the role of WWII that ultimately forced the United States government to employ the country which in turn lifted the country out of the depression. He went on to explain that taxation is immoral and that tax policy was amended in 1913 because the Founding Fathers didn't like taxation.

With this last statement, can you not see how problematic it is? First, the Founding Fathers did not dislike taxation, more accurately taxation without representation. The Founding Fathers understood that taxes were necessary. More over, we amended the law in 1913 because the Founding Fathers didn't like it? That's about 130 years after the fact. He statement absolutely made no sense. Dr. Paul said there aren't any real differences between the Republican candidates and President Obama when it comes to major policy issues, social issues yes, but not the things that would change the trajectory of the country. This may be true but Ron Paul refuses to recognize that his libertarian ideal would not only leave millions out in the cold, disenfranchised, but also without the means to help themselves.

In his assessments, he separates himself from the other Republican candidates, but as far as providing solutions for all of American, he's just one in the same.


Round Table

NYT’s David Brooks; former Congressman Harold Ford, Jr.; former Chairman and CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch; and Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent for NBC News, Andrea Mitchell.

10.16.11: The Herman Cain Interview

The message is well constructed and it's simple, and the messenger stays on point with it, and that goes a long way. That's why Herman Cain is at the top of the polls for the Republican nomination for President. Many people are taking the line that at least Mr. Cain has a plan, more than can be said for Rick Perry, the governor of Texas.

In today's interview, Mr. Cain's simplistic '9-9-9' tax plan was front and center, and the news is that he admitted that in fact some people would pay more in taxes, while acknowledging that some would certainly pay less. This does go against the grain of what is now standard Republican doctrine in that it raises taxes on people. Grover Norquist is not an advocate for the plan, not because the raised taxes will be on the poor, but because the sales taxes on goods that are not taxed now would be raised.

The inequity of the 9-9-9 plan is easily evident. There are a few echoing complaints about how there are so many people do not pay federal taxes. These complaints remain echoes due to the reason, which is that many people do not make enough money to pay - the working poor. It's precisely this group of the electorate that is hit the hardest by Mr. Cain's plan while the wealthiest Americans will see another overall tax reduction. When the candidates speak of 'broadening the base' in terms of taxes, this is one of those approaches. Broadening the base means having the poorest Americans pay more in taxes.

Speaker John Boehner, quoted by Mr. Gregory, said that tax reform in this political climate would be difficult. To which, Mr. Cain countered that public support and simplicity would cut through the difficulties and his plan will go through. The unfortunate reality for Mr. Cain is that he will need powerful advocates within the beltway to champion his plan. Whether we like it or not, that's how our system works now, and there is just not that support. The Wall Street journal points out that the 9 percent federal sales tax combined with a state sales tax will in effect put a 17% levy on consumption. That number, no matter how you try to wring it out through explanation, becomes a simplistic 'no' in the minds of voters.

Finally, Mr. Cain's tax plan takes so much revenue out of the federal government, that it is a mathematical reality that cuts will have to be made in government programs. Mr. Cain has not outlined those cuts, which will not be in defense as Mr. Cain stated.

He stood by his statement that liberals in the United States have the objective of destroying this nation. It's a notion that he believes, which is certainly not a way to lead, automatically alienating a large part of the electorate. He explained that because of liberal economic policy, we need to cut defense, which is something he will not do as President.

When speaking about foreign policy, Mr. Cain invoked Ronald Reagan in as much as to achieve peace, we must do it through strength and clarity, strength through a robust military and clarity by clearly outlining who our friends and enemies are respectively. He went on to say that many positive things have come out of our war in Iraq and he would not reduce troops. However, that is as far as that answer went. Mr. Cain said that he would listen to the generals on the ground as to the best way to proceed in regard to military matters. This is distinct substance that Mr. Cain lacks in his approach to foreign policy. We are left to glean how he would act by the sources he looks to for his foreign policy philosophy, which include John Bolton and Henry Kissinger. Given these two references, we would have to conclude that Mr. Cain, as President, would be inclined to take preemptive military action. The type of action that Mr. Bolton advocated in Iraq and the kind that Mr. Kissinger proposed in Cambodia.

With regard to Afghanistan, Mr. Cain outlined victory as when the Afghan people can defend themselves. To extrapolate this out, we presume he means that the central government of Afghanistan under President Karzai has a military large enough to keep the peace in country with the ability to quash any resistance from the Taliban, for example. This definition is the conventional thinking, but if there is one aspect in which we need a difficult line of thought it is with regard to Afghanistan. Within that different line of thinking should be a way to get U.S. troops out of country as quickly as possible.

This column just finds it generally troublesome that prospective leaders in this country automatically defer to the 'generals on the ground' for their military advice. This notion assumes that we consistently have generals on the ground, which is an unsustainable approach to foreign policy, both in man power and money. When the generals aren't on the ground, what would you do as President?

Mr. Cain said he's a 'Main Street' executive as opposed to Mr. Romney being a 'Wall Street' executive, implying that he's more in tune with the American populace as a whole. He stated the President Obama is outside the mainstream in an experiential sense [read: no business experience]. Keeping these two views in mind, Mr. Cain will first have to explain what programs he is going to cut that will directly effect the middle class. And why would we ever want to discount state experience and the knowledge of foreign policy as Mr. Cain does? The market is so volatile right now because of what is happening in Europe and their euro debt crisis. It's the curiosity to understand something like this and make decisions accordingly that vets the best Presidential candidate.

Herman Cain is not that candidate.


Quick Note: The back third of the program featured Governor Bobby Jindal and former Governor and Presidential Candidate Tim Pawlenty advocating for their prospective nominees; Mr. Jindal for Rick Perry and Mr. Pawlenty for Mitt Romney.

Tim Pawlenty, when played the MTP clip of himself from July in which he said the Mr. Romney couldn't be the nominee because of the Massachusetts health care law, said that he believes Mr. Romney when he said that he would repeal 'Obamacare.' Mr. Pawlenty said he looked into Mr. Romney's eyes. Yeah, just like George Bush looked into Mr. Putin's soul and knew what kind of man he was. Mr. Pawlenty said, in reference to Mr. Romney's Mormon faith, that there should be no religious litmus test, it's prohibited by the constitution. This is a statement of expediency as religious attacks from the right have bombarded President Obama throughout his entire term in office. No a very good surrogate for Mr. Romney.

And as for Mr. Perry, he'll certainly need a more convincing advocate than Bobby Jindal. Hard stop.

9.18.11: Conflict and Cooperation

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is a political operative, not a legislator. We'd like to be able to say differently, but when sifting through his statements, there's nothing we can find that's helpful to moving this country forward. President Clinton talked about cooperation and conflict, in which conflict makes for good politics, and that is Mr. McConnell's forte, creating conflict. It's unfortunate because Americans obviously need a lot more 'leadership' from their leaders right now and the creation of conflict is unhelpful. Mr. McConnell reminded us that the election is not this year, but next year and there are steps that legislators can take to help the economy before then.

To remove the 'wet blanket,' as the Senator termed it, over the economy, Mr. McConnell focused on tax and entitlement reform, but there's so much more that needs to be done to get the economy back on track. When you pair these two reforms together it is simply a money shuffle, eventually transferring from one group to another. The goal for tax reform, in Republican terms,
is to lower the tax rate, not necessarily make it more fair. As we've seen for the past thirty years, lowering the tax rate has not increased middle-America's earnings. Simply doing tax reform will not put people back to work. Entitlement reform is a euphemism for decreasing benefits. These aren't notions that people don't understand, they're quite banal, but for whatever reason the general public looks beyond these truths.

Mr. Gregory wanted to get the Senator's reaction to a clip from earlier this week in which John Boehner in a speech first said that the 'my way or the highway' approach to politics is not good for the country and then later said that tax increases were 'off the table,' talking 'out of two side of his mouth.' Mr. McConnell parried on the question and went back into tax reform. But later in the interview, Mr. McConnell said this,

"...I would simply go back to what the President said last December and signing a two-year extension of the current tax rates is a bad thing to do in the middle of an economic downturn. and of course the economy somewhat argues even worse now than it was when the President signed the extension of the current tax rates back in December."

That's a direct quote and it makes no sense, it's 'talking out of the two sides of your mouth.' The President said that signing this tax extension is bad for the economy, something that Republicans wanted. Then Mr. McConnell turns around then says that because of this tax extension, the indication from the economy, is that they made it worse and he blamed the President?

The Republicans will get these two reforms out of the President in negotiations. The other reality is that the President will not get the concessions that he is seeking from Republicans, and this is why the President's reelection is tenuous.

Even President Clinton, the answer man, couldn't really come up with any additional solutions, as per his usual, in terms of the other side of the equation - cooperation. He did endorse President Obama's job plan, but didn't seem convinced that the President could sell it. Mr. Clinton could sell it, because his presentation of the facts breathes authority. He explained that an economic downturn such as we had usually takes 5 years to recover from, but also that a broad range of economists say that we'll have growth of 1.4 to 2 percent if we enact the President's proposals. Sadly, Mr. Obama could say that same thing and no one would believe it.

Mr. Clinton also said that for the President to be reelected, he has to win the argument to the American people that his plan is sound, and that it is Republicans who have done nothing but obstruct. (This is given the 9.1% unemployment rate.) Cooperation was certainly not part of the answer on how Mr. President Obama could win.

New York Times White Correspondent Helene Cooper said that the voters will not tolerate doing nothing, and that falls squarely on the President. Even if he does successfully make the argument, as Mr. Clinton advised, the public will go with the person that they believe can get something done with regard to the economy. As it stands, they don't believe that that person is Barack Obama. Whom ever the Republican nominee given the current field, that individual instantly has the advantage over the President even if his or her 'do something' doesn't do anything. Just making the claim may be good enough.

Round Table: Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-MI), Republican strategist Alex Castellanos, Senior political analyst for TIME Magazine, Mark Halperin and NY Times White House Correspondent Helene Cooper. The Buffett Rule

9.4.11: The Role of Government Discussion

On this last Sunday of the summer, today's discussion was big picture - where the country is going, how we're adapting to the ever-evolving global market and workplace, and the role of government in this country going forward.

To boil it down, here are the two competing philosophies. Democrats believe in a bottom up structure to achieve economic success, which means starting with the middle class and programs that are centered on that group to facilitate overall growth - this requires more government. Conversely, the Republicans approach it top down, by focuses on growth in the corporate sector first, which will in turn in theory filter down to the middle class and build it that way - this way advocates for less government.

So you have to choose, while considering what government means to you. It's easy to go cynical in both directions. The Democrats want socialism and the Republicans want corporatism, but regardless, there are some issues that transcend politics that are crucial to the future success of the United States and one in particular discussed today is education.

New York Times columnist Thom Friedman described high imagination countries and low imagination countries, and though this column agrees with his overall premise that the high imagination countries will win out, it's problematic to call the United States a low imagination country. As a country, yes, we are definitely low imagination, but as individuals, Americans perhaps the most imaginative in the world. Mr. Friedman mentioned Twitter, Facebook, Skype, apps (think Apple)... All of those are American innovations.

Education starts with how we set the priorities as a society and we've failed in stressing the importance of it. Then you think of South Korea, China, and India all being ahead of the United States in math and science. To innovatively educate of youth in this country, we have to invest so much more than we do now, with a necessity of having a robust and strong public education system. Frankly, a school system of this sort is what launched this country into the technology age, leading the world in the 50's and 60's. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) said that many cities and states are going are cutting education to a four-day school week. This is exactly what we should not be doing, and in fact, we should have more schooling, more after-school programs everything from the chess club to the school newspaper to the debate team to football to field hockey. With a four-school week, kids will get part time jobs on the other three days, then probably putting the priority on working and making money instead of educating themselves to a high level. So what could be the result? A very large uneducated workforce earning minimum wage.

Investing tremendously in public education - that would be going big, politically fraught but big. Which brings us to the upcoming speech by President Obama on Thursday. [By the way, the Administration should not have requested to address Congress on the same day as the Republican debate. They knew what they were doing and it was not politically shrewd. Our two cents.] The talk is whether the President's job plan will be big or more modest, i.e. supposedly politically feasible.

Congresswoman Waters insisted the President be bold and call for a trillion-dollar jobs program. Conservative columnist Paul Gigot, understanding that the officials in the Administration are advocating for an FDR type approach, said that the President should go more into Republican territory, 'changing the debate,' and start with tax reform.

Politically, a trillion-dollar jobs investment won't fly. The Republicans would never go for it, called it more stimulus and you know the rest. From the Democratic point of view, we agree with the number, but Democrats should do like Republicans. When negotiating, start with a huge number that the other side would never go for but start from there. In a tug of war, you actually want to be on your heels. We do believe that there has to be some type of investment regardless.

Simply doing tax reform won't jump start job growth quickly enough not taking hold fast enough, would be a slow process in legislating, and wouldn't as beneficial to the middle class as it should be. Tax reform in necessary but is just a part of the answer, not the answer. Mr. Friedman also stated that we do, in fact, need a 'shock to the system.' What that shock would be is anyone's guess, but we're afraid it might not be one that has a positive result.

We can right ourselves economically if we could only right ourselves politically and the two political parties are fighting it out on the role of government. This is the core argument. However, if you think of government in terms of how Presidential historian Doris Kearns-Goodwin did, that government not only includes Washington but also our local teachers, policemen, and firemen, then government will always have a large role in our lives, it's unavoidable. So when Rick Perry says that he wants to make government as inconsequential as possible in the lives of Americans he just not being realistic. It sounds good on the stump but it's not at all practical. Ms. Goodwin also blurted out that it didn't make any sense to her why people who hate government are involved in government. It doesn't make sense to us either but if the motivation is money and individual power then it makes perfect sense.

The panel discussed five pillars for our success - education, infrastructure, the rules for capital investment, government funded research, and immigration. Also, it is the private sector-government partnership that can stabilize these five pillars. These require two things - compromise and regulations (otherwise known as rules) for the chance of successful implementation, but the two words have some badly been taboo'ed in Washington that we're set in a debilitating political paralysis. The debt ceiling debate's negative consequences are still rippling through people's minds, ensuring a no-confidence vote.

It's a big political week coming up, with both the Republican candidates, highlighted by Mr. Perry's first national appearance, getting their big stage on Wednesday followed by the President and his spotlight on Thursday. We hope that it will be an essential informative way for Americans to decide as to which path they want to take.



Tom Friedman; editorial page editor for the Wall Street Journal, Paul Gigot; congresswoman from California, Maxine Waters (D); co-founder of No Labels, Mark McKinnon; and Presidential Historian, Doris Kearns Goodwin.

8.28.11: Don't Get Katrina'ed

Most of today's coverage as should be the case was focused on the tracking of Hurricane Irene and Meet The Press appropriately checked in with the top state and city officials, getting governors and mayors on the line.

Natural disasters should be the one area in which we do not play politics, but when asking politicians it's unavoidable. Mr. Christie clearly, and sensibly we might add, stated that the number one task is saving human life and that everything else is secondary. When asked about the damage, he anticipated costs being in the billions, if not 10s of billions of dollars. Governor Martin O'Malley (D-MD) said that the Obama Administration has been great in their response and support. Governor O'Donnell in Virginia said that state officials have been working closely with FEMA and taking all the necessary precautions. So it's good to know that FEMA is on the case with a timely response. Lastly, mayor Cory Booker (D-Newark, NJ) stressed that it is these natural emergencies that make it all the more important to invest in our infrastructure to make it better and more prepared for such occurrences.

With regard to preparedness, David Brooks seems to think that the public will tune out if officials make too much of warnings in these cases. There may be a spec of truth to that, but when it comes to homes and lives, people heed hard warnings when it comes to natural disasters. Plus as Ms. Gangel said, which gave us this week's title, is that no politician wants to get Katrina'ed. And since then, politicians are on notice for these things as Michael Eric Dyson pointed out.

So where is the politics? Curiously, this was not mentioned or discussed on the program, but earlier this week House Majority leader Eric Cantor said that if there is federal money that has to serve disaster relief, there would have to be spending cuts someplace else. Mr. Cantor is the worst of what has become of the American politic.

In the aforementioned assessments from top officials, not one Democrat or Republican alike mentioned 'expense' in dealing with these problems. And yet, a Washington politician can make a callous statement like that with no consequence. One reason for this, and why it wasn't mentioned today, could be that people are beginning to take what Eric Cantor says not seriously. The statement was simply irresponsible because it doesn't even vaguely consider the human condition and potential hardship for people.

Slipping into Presidential politics, also earlier this week Congressman Ron Paul said that the Federal Government has no reason to be involve with relief efforts and that it should solely fall upon the states to deal with. Mr. Paul's dogmatic philosophy to the role of the Federal Government is distressing because it leaves people with the feeling that if something like a natural disaster happens, there would be serious limits to what can be done to help and leaves people with an empty feeling of insecurity. It's not a President would respond and that's why he'll only ever get a small percentage of the vote.

And to join the chorus and extend the metaphor, it was Mitt Romney who was hit with a hurricane in the form of Rick Perry's candidacy. Mr. Perry is now the Republican front-runner with 29% of the vote. So how would a President Romney respond in a time of crisis. Well, he was laying low on the campaign trail this summer and he saw a Rick Perry entrance into the race for weeks. Yet, he did nothing except for proclaiming that corporations are people too, and he's instantly been overtaken. David Brooks summarized that the Republican electorate has been waiting for Perry because of Romney's shaky stance on issues.

There was also mention of Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman's statement that he's a center-right candidate and that's where the country is, not to the extreme right like some of his primary opponents and not too far left like President Obama. Mr. Huntsman had also stated that he believes in climate change and the science that shows it as well as evolution. That the theory of evolution is now equaled in importance to intelligent design in Mr. Perry's book, let alone anyone's, is truly befuddling to the writer of this column. However, here is what's really scary.

David Brooks said that 15% of the Republican electorate is in line with the statements of Mr. Huntsman, leaving the other 85% to be far-right in the Perry, Bachmann, Santorum camp. The reason that it is scary is because for Mr. Perry and Ms. Bachmann it all comes down to one thing: money. In the case, for example, of Mr. Santorum, it is much more about the social issues and that's actually why he lost his Senate seat. He wants government out of people's lives but wants to dictate how women conduct their own personal health.

Look at it, Follow it, and take note of the consequences; it's the money, especially for Mr. Perry given his record in Texas where he'll say he's created a third of the new jobs in this country. However, Texas is 47th in the country in average wages earned, the biggest employer in the state is the Federal Government, and the education efficiency ranks in the bottom 5 of states as well. Those low wages and minimum wage paying jobs are the result of the leverage and influence that large corporations have with Mr. Perry to create conditions that do not improve our labor force and suppresses it. It's not so much of an indictment of Mr. Perry as it is common knowledge if you follow politics.

Lastly, there's the gift that keeps on giving, Dick Cheney. "Heads exploding all over Washington," is the only true takeaway quote, and from what was previewed on today's program, Mr. Cheney spares no one. Colin Powell's resignation was for the best; Condoleezza Rice was a train wreck; CIA Director George Tenet couldn't hack it. Who was the one correct in all cases - VP Dick Cheney. But remember that George Bush awarded George Tenet the Medal of Freedom, the highest award a civilian can receive. The Bush Administration (Mr. Cheney) sent Colin Powell to the United Nations General Assembly to make the case for a war that he didn't believe in and disagreed vehemently with Mr. Cheney on Iraq. And Ms. Rice was the foil to Mr. Cheney on advising the President, and was closer to the President than the Vice President. We look forward to reading about Mr. Cheney's own reality.


New York Times Columnist, David Brooks; Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson; Washington Correspondent for the BBC, Katty Kay; and National Correspondent for NBC'S TODAY, Jamie Gangel

8.14.11: Some Perspective Please / Meet The Candidate: Michele Bachmann

Oh boy, where to start?

Well, let's start with this. This column owes Congresswoman Bachmann an apology for in previous columns, we've most probably spelled her first name incorrectly, using two 'l's' instead of one. Sorry about that... but, that's as far as that goes.

And we'll say this for Mrs. Bachmann, which is that she is a disciplined candidate, but when a question comes her way that she can't handle, she directly faces it down and she's "I'm running for President of the United States." Today was no exception on today's program, and we just don't see how this will be successful in a general election or beneficial for the country if she's says one thing on a radio show and then won't own up to it when asked face to face. So we agree with Republican Strategist Mike Murphy when he confirmed his previous statement that Michele Bachmann has as much chance of landing on Jupiter as she does to become the Republican Presidential nominee.

With Texas Governor Rick Perry getting into the race and former Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) getting out of the race, that's a net loss in the challenge quotient for the Congresswoman. Mr. Perry is a much harder challenge for her in terms of getting the conservative Tea Party vote. And as for Tim Pawlenty, by the way, who didn't see that coming that he was going to fold. Even we called that over a month ago. Mrs. Bachmann said that she would be calling Mr. Pawlenty and that she welcomes anyone into the race - strictly lip-service.

However, on more important points brought up by Mr. Gregory, the 3rd-term Congresswoman's answers were fraught with incorrect facts or hollow talking points or conflicting statements or non-answers.

On the debt ceiling vote, she is on the opposite side of conventional Republican opinion and outside expert opinion on advocating not to raise the debt ceiling. She would not have voted to raise it under any circumstances, saying that the American people didn't want it raised and I listened to the people of this country. However, if just looking at polls and asking a small sampling of like-minded people, framing the question in a particular way, isn't sound judgment for a serious Presidential candidate. How many of those people also understand that the debt ceiling has to be raised for money we've already spent. To which, people may say, yes, money that President Obama has already spent. But do those people know that it is because President Obama put the two wars we're in on the books along with Medicare Part D, both of which we're never factored into Bush Administration spending. The wars were done on emergency supplemental allocations. Mrs. Bachmann knows these things but chooses not to acknowledge these facts. Americans, unfortunately, are not fully informed (not implying that we are).

She began to say that the President said to the troops that he didn't know if they would be paid, to which Mr. Gregory immediately corrected her saying that it was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Either way, she called it irresponsible. And when confronted by Standard & Poor's statement as to why they downgraded U.S. credit, because of political brinksmanship on the part of the Republicans, she blamed the President on threatening our full faith and credit, imploring not to blame her. It seems like she hears something but is not listening just simply ignoring what is not agreeable to her. As President, you just can not ignore inconvenient reality, which is what the Congresswoman seems to be doing. And this goes toward her own statements.

"Did the Republicans use the debt ceiling vote as a bargaining chip?" Mr. Gregory asked. She never answered the question, which in political interviews means that the real answer is yes, in this case, but that's an unforgivable answer for a Republican. When asked about her religious beliefs, which influence her decisions and especially with regard to rights for gays and lesbians (though she denies this), she refused to even acknowledge her previous statements from a radio that gays are in bondage, have sexual dysfunction, and live a life of despair. Well, maybe we understand that she wouldn't acknowledge that statement, it's just weird, not to mention offensive.

David Gregory asked her if she would appoint an openly gay person to her cabinet, administration, et al., and she said that she wouldn't judge.

"You did judge," Mr. Gregory exclaimed. Then she just kept repeating "I'm not anyone's judge," until the question went away. It's obvious that she does by not even answering whether or not she thinks a gay couple with a child is a family.

Mrs. Bachmann has explained that God spoke to her through her husband to become a tax attorney (for the IRS - Thanks Mr. Eugene Robinson for the reminder), which you have to judge for yourself what you think of that. All we know is that if God tells us that we have to do something, we hope it's not that! But she cites this an one of her qualifications to be President.

Let's keep some perspective here. Despite what Michele Bachmann says about there being a number of Democrats and Independents at the Ames, Iowa Straw Poll, this was strictly a small sampling of Republicans who participated. And don't believe Iowa's Governor, Terry Branstad (R), when he says that Iowa is the key to the nomination, in this case on the Republican side. Only approximately 17,000 people participated in the poll, of which Mrs. Bachmann got a little over 4,800 votes in a particularly far-right Republican caucus. The Governor cited that fact that Rudy Giuliani didn't get the nomination because he didn't compete in Iowa. No, Mr. Giuliani didn't get the nomination because the man he recommended to head the Department of Homeland Security was arrested for tax fraud (among other things).

In fact, all we heard from Governor Branstad were standard Republican talking points in his criticism of the President's fiscal policy and pointed out that we're losing jobs to Canada. Eugene Robinson pointed out that Canada recently discovered huge reserves of oil. The Governor said that we have too but the President won't let us use it. He was laughed at by the entire panel, but his limited understanding of the issue. He had no unique answers that echoed Mrs. Bachmann's which were to repeal 'Obamacare' and repeal financial regulation (The Dodd-Frank Act).

[As a side note, Congresswoman Bachmann is against extending an unemployment benefits, "We can't afford it." Again, there's a larger picture that she's not acknowledging. For every dollar of unemployment insurance that goes out, $1.70 comes back into the economy. And what happens to those people? They go homeless, and if that is the case, it will cost the government even more money to build shelters, soup kitchens, and the like. Just saying.]

Mr. Murphy's disdain for extreme-right evangelical Republicans always comes into distinct focus on Meet The Press and this week it made the Iowan Governor clearly uncomfortable. Mr. Murphy quipped that he could get a 1,000 signatures this week to ban algebra, not speaking well of the Straw Poll. On Texas Governor Rick Perry getting into the Presidential race, he said that he has a great first sentence - I've created a third of the jobs since the recession hit. But Mr. Murphy then said that his second sentence is that those jobs are at Burger King or for the government.

He did acknowledge that Mr. Perry changes everyone's strategy and is now a part of what Chuck Todd outlined as the top tier of Republican candidates - Romney, Bachmann, and now Perry.

Since Michele Bachmann will not get the nomination, that leaves Mr. Romney and Mr. Perry. Jonathan Martin, during the roundtable, beside putting out the requisite question, "Is Palin getting in the race?" he asked can Rick Perry appeal to Republicans like the ones in suburban Philadelphia or suburban Columbus. We don't know about Columbus, but as for suburb Philadelphia, the answer is no. Strictly having the 'Tea-vangelical' vote, as was quoted today, will not win the general election.

With that, we agree with the consensus on today's panel that Rick Perry could turn conventional Republican wisdom on its head and take the nomination from Mr. 'Next-in-Line' Romney has a better chance in the general. A barracuda is how Mike Murphy described Rick Perry as a candidate. He cited Mr. Perry's race with Kay Bailey Hutchinson for Texas Governor where he smeared her relentlessly. What he didn't mention that we're bringing up now is if it comes down to Perry and Romney, Mr. Perry's campaign will indirectly (through surrogates) wage a heavy continual attack on Mr. Romney's Mormon faith, no question about it.



Iowa’s Governor Terry Branstad (R); GOP strategist Mike Murphy; the Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson; senior political reporter for Politico, Jonathan Martin; and NBC News Political Director, Chuck Todd.

8.7.11: Downgrading America and Its Greatness

If these two interviews serve as any indication of where this country is headed then we're most assuredly headed for another downgrade of some sort. Unfortunately, to put these discussions in context, we have to quote a few first worsts that occurred this week, actually in one day - Friday August 5th, 2011. On this day, Standard & Poor's, the credit rating agency, downgraded the United States of America's credit rating for the first time in its history. We were first rated back in 1941. Secondly, we suffered the single deadliest day in the Afghanistan war losing 33 soldiers, which included 22 navy seals. It seemed like the official day that officially ended America's greatness.

You have to basically ignore Senator McCain's criticisms of the President due to his bitterness of losing the election, he begins every answer with a jab, and in this case it was the President's decision on the timetable for the troop draw down in country and that he did not consult the military. This, we have to point out, is not the case as the President clearly took the advice of David Petraeus, or he would have done with the previous President would have down, follow the order or be fired. President Obama promoted General Petraeus to CIA head.

With that, the two Senators, Kerry and McCain, basically agree on most points in relation to this conflict, which is that Pakistan is a major player in the problems we have in Afghanistan. The Taliban also needs to be quelled, lest it harbor sanctuary for Al Qaeda again. Lastly, they both agree on the fact that several factions in the country are struggling to gain control.

On the draw down timetable, McCain thinks its too soon, and Kerry really didn't say because he won't publicly criticism the Administration on this front. Now, we're not military experts, but for our two cents, we disagree with both senators, and here's something to give thought to given the two differing perspectives.

First, the timetable for troop draw downs is fine, but what should the adjusted force look like, and what should be its function? We believe that it has a lot to do with how the Taliban think and what they respond to, and frankly, it's two things - uncertainty and ruthlessness. Draw down the troops so that Bagram Airbase is our huge center of operation - almost a city-state unto itself with 30,000 troops - fortified. Then run operations out of there and have troops at the ready stationed in other nearby country bases and on aircraft carriers at the edge of the region. This way, if any surge is needed, it can be accomplished quickly.

Also, how we run these operations is crucial. First, the tasks they wouldn't be responsible for would nation-building, having forward outposts in remote areas, and fighting the opium trade. However, it should support the central government by extension of the Administration's policies. The Taliban respond to the fear of the unknown. Having a large number of troops in one location, especially with the amount of fire power the U.S. military has, centralizes things and could make us more unpredictable in where we strike the Taliban, consistent covert missions with maximum strike force (a bit of the Powell Doctrine in there). Instill fear in the enemy that you will be unpredictable and mercilessly powerful, and you will see the Taliban shrink, while the central government can do more to build itself up. It may seem hawkish, but not really because look how everyone viewed the operation to kill Osama Bin Laden. We were all pretty impressed. Use reconnaissance to spot Taliban strong holds, and then instill some real feature, if you know what we mean.

Senator Kerry said that we need to get the other countries in the region involved - China, Russian, the other Stans (as he put it), Iran, even India. However, these countries don't want to have anything to do with Afghanistan. Russia's going to help us in Afghanistan? Really?

As it stands, this is a serious blow to the moral of the military. Speaking of being down of course, there was Standard & Poor's downgrading of the United States' credit rating, and this brings us back to the contrasting answers by the two aforementioned Senators.

When asked what we could do to revive the economy, Senator McCain said that we should cut corporate tax rates, put a moratorium on new fiscal regulations, and discuss the big elephant in the room - the entitlements of Medicare and Social Security. By contrast, Senator Kerry talked about a Senate bi-partisan highway bill, an infrastructure bank, regulatory reform, patent reform, cuts in waste to Medicare and Social Security, and revenue increases which of course translates higher taxes in some segment of the population. (We'll just leave that last one at that.)

What we hear from Senator Kerry are solutions that both parties can agree on, something that Austin Goolsbee and David Gregory jousted about during the round table. Mr. Gregory pointed out that Congress never gets to the start and these things never see any light. More bills, specifically in the House, need to have bi-partisan authorship, two people - one from each party. Why isn't that a rule? If you can't make nice on your own, then you have to impose it. Anyone who has gone to any school for one day knows this. Also, if instant citing and knowledge of the facts and details are any indication to the level that one grasps the issue makes a difference, we'd have to give that to Senator Kerry. Pointing out that China spends 9% of GDP on infrastructure, Europe 5%, and the United States only 2%, Mr. Kerry seems to have a better grasp of the whole.

With that said, he did start off the interview calling the credit downgrade a Tea-Party Downgrade. Senator McCain called it a failure of leadership on the part of the President. Taking these two statements together and factor in that Mr. Goolsbee and Ms. Maddow during the roundtable made discrediting remarks about Standard & Poor's, the $2 trillion math error and that S&P will give a triple-A rating to anyone respectively, here's what we can glean from all this.

The leadership failure, as stated by Senator McCain, was that the President's party controlled two-thirds of the government and couldn't get (we're presuming) his agenda through and hence a downgrade. It's pure rhetoric, but let's distill it for a moment. Consider that it takes 60 votes in the Senate (this is a Senate rule, not a law) to pass anything in the Senate, a simple majority (under 60 seats) doesn't do anything for the majority party so it's in fact an even split so the 'control' is limited. It was a moment that required compromise, which the President did offer, but it was rejected by Republicans.

Senator McCain mentioned that we shouldn't blame the Tea Party because the House had a mandate. That's debatable, but if they carried out their mandate then how can he say that the President failed in his leadership. Speaker John Boehner in an interview said that he got 98% of what he wanted and therefore he was happy. While he was getting 98%, some in his caucus were openly calling for the U.S. to default on its debt.

Alex Castellanos, the Republican strategist said that there was intransience on the part of both parties - the Republicans for their tax stance and the Democrats for the spending stance. Ms. Maddow, citing the S&P report in front of her, slammed Mr. Castellanos, said the downgrade was particularly because of the political uncertainty on the debt ceiling crisis. The crisis was, let's be honest, by Republicans and was purely political in nature. Also when Ms. Maddow asked Mr. Castellanos what tax loopholes or subsidies would the Republicans eliminate, he couldn't name one.

So was it a Tea-Party downgrade? Well, Republicans got most of what they wanted because of the Tea-Party caucus, and now we got downgraded... Hmm..... What's really sad is that if you do conclude that it is a downgrade sparked by the Tea-Party's willingness to default, now you see the Democratic Administration defending these actions on behalf of the country. This is the difficult part of governing that frankly, the Republicans won't take responsibility for, they can sit back and blame the President.

Lastly, for his wisdom, Alan Greenspan clearly didn't want to make news. He said that if the Israeli market, which is open today, is any indication that we can look for the downgrade to have a big effect, but then instantly backed off of that. He was even less committal on how to get the U.S. economy going again. He said that tax cuts don't slow the economy as much as spending cuts, which means... what? The one thing that we did finding informative was with regard to a double dip recession, which we feel is coming, is that, as Mr. Greenspan explain, it depend on Europe. Italy is in trouble and it's too big to be bailed out, he said.

Mr. Kerry's last statement was that 'we need to be statesmen here.' We need them badly right now, but sadly, Mr. Kerry was wrong in assuming that Senator McCain could be one of them. All his answers revolved around empty rhetoric so we're officially downgrading John McCain's credit.



Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Dr. Alan Greenspan, outgoing White House Economic Adviser, Austan Goolsbee, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, and Republican strategist, Alex Castellanos.

7.31.11: Code-Red Day

At the top of today's program, Mr. Gregory reported that we are 'very close' to a deal to avoid default. The deal would consist of about $3 trillion in cuts over 10 years, no revenue increases, and a raising of the debt ceiling through 2012. There will also be the formation of a bipartisan super-committee that would make recommendations for further cutting of spending.

What is not in the agreement is a balanced budget amendment provision, which may be the sticking point for the Republican controlled House of Representatives and cause a collapse in any agreement because it is the House that has not been willing to compromise, even with its leader, John Boehner. Mr. Boehner to pass a bill in the House this week had to put in a balance budget amendment to placate Tea Party Republicans to get it passed.

During today's program, there was a lot of talk about leadership. David Plouffe, Senior Advisor to the President, has said that this debt crisis has harmed our economy, certainly an understatement and there really was much more that he could say. President Obama, for his leadership, has made concessions at every level to get the debt ceiling raised so when conservatives say that he's failed to lead, it's ridiculous because he's given Republicans more than he's given Democrats in these negotiations. It's Democrats who should be complaining that he hasn't lead because of these concessions, many of which go against the Democratic Party's core beliefs - such as cuts in Social Security and Medicare without raising any revenue.

During the round table, Congressman Raul Labrador (R-ID) commented that the media played a big part in this crisis, to which financial analyst Jim Cramer of CNBC took exception to this statement and explained that it was the President that caused the crisis saying that things may not get paid if we don't raise the debt ceiling. During the complete discussion, both of these individuals showed that they have little perspective on the various, realistic considerations that need to be taken into account when trying to solve the budget problems we face. Representative Labrador doesn't see any need for compromise as he believes that the 2010 mid-term election was a mandate for Republicans to enact legislation without it. As Repubican freshman should have learned, this is not the case. Mr. Cramer, for his two cents, is only loyal to the stock market. On his program leading up to the great recession of 2008, Mr. Cramer continually advocated the buying of toxic assets - he was never so wrong so frankly, his opinion carries little weight with this column. His comments about the President were spiteful and certainly not insightful. And when he says that if we don't act to resolve this, we'll (The U.S.) will lose huge. That's not insightful, it's banal.

Even with those huge concessions, there's no confidence that the House will vote and pass the bill that comes back from the Senate. When asked about invoking the 14th Amendment, which could be interpreted that the President can override all this and just raise the debt ceiling to get the bills paid, David Plouffe said that the Administration has looked at that and it will not go down that road. And he shouldn't because the language is vague enough that it could be interpreted in a number of ways. Some could argue that it would be an impeachable act, on which most certainly Republicans would start proceedings. Going into an election year under impeachment would be a heavy weight around the neck of his re-election campaign.

The credit rating is about confidence, confidence that the United States will pay it's bills. One way or another, the U.S. will pay it's bills but confidence has evaporated, no more clearly exemplified of the latest example that was noted on today's program (and before) that when asked by a soldier if the military would be paid on time, Admiral Mullen said that he didn't know. The reason that confidence is gone is because frankly, with one party unwilling to compromise on anything, a slash and burn approach, the American public has to wait until the very last minute for things to move forward. This debt ceiling debate is just the latest... Remember when there was a last minute deal to avoid a government shutdown? All of this last minute legislation has decimated the public's confidence in its government. Congress thinks they have until Tuesday to get this worked out, but the reality is that the market is dictating that today is, as Mr. Gregory said, the code-red day (before the markets open).

Given all this, and now with the repeated theme that government is broken, Mr. Gregory frivolously asked Mr. Plouffe if there would be a third political party, to which he couldn't comment. Presumably that third party would be the Tea Party so how would Mr. Plouffe know about that? A silly question by Mr. Gregory in that he asked the wrong person, who wouldn't be able to answer that.

In the joint interview with Senators Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and John Thune (R-SD), Mr. Thune said that he wasn't a fan of the super-committee idea, and we have to agree with him. For us, it creates a slippery slope to go down. Here's why. If for every crisis, fiscal or otherwise, you create a small super-committee (super meaning that it can not be questioned or that it's conclusions are fast-tracked) important decisions, it could theoretically do so without considering a differing majority view and then there's nothing you can do about it. That's the scary extreme, but in the mild reality, the idea of the super-committee shows everyone that Congress can not legislate properly. It's sad.

Mr. Thune, whose demeanor we appreciate, reinforced his party's standard talking points that, 'we spend too much, we need entitlement reform, broaden the tax base, etc.' As we've previously stated in this column, is that, yes maybe we spend too much, but we spend too much money on the wrong things. And broadening the tax base, making the tax system 'fair for everyone,' to use Congressman Labrador's words from today, means that people in this country who now make so little that they are unable to pay taxes, will have to pay taxes on what ever they make, "broadening the base." The basic takeaway from this is that it will, as with much of this economic policy, put more burden on the people who are least equipped to handle it.

Ms. McCaskill, on the other hand, reiterated the argument that we shouldn't give subsidies to oil corporations and then change Medicare in a voucher system. We would agree with this, but the problem with the Democrats isn't the more prudent position they take, it's the lack of political will and discipline to get their caucus on the same page in its entirety.

Overall, as long as we politically deny the fact that we need more tax revenue coming in to balance the budget, we'll never turn this around. Whether it be eliminating subsidies, broadening the base, increasing the rate for the top 1%, what ever it is - none of it is happening and something has to give. There is no way to cut enough money out of the budget to balance it. The compromise of spending cuts coupled with some increases in tax revenue is the essence of being American. If it seems reasonable, there's a pretty good chance that it is. Everyone can't eat all the steak, but we have to finish all the spinach.


Round Table: Former Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm (D), Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID), the host of CNBC's "Mad Money" Jim Cramer, and NBC's Tom Brokaw.

7.24.11: Is Government Broken? If Yes, Who Broke It?

Simply as a practical matter in these debt talks, entitlement reform should be taken off the table, not the discretionary spending but definitely Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. These latter three should be tackled separately so when Senator Coburn (R-OK) in today's interview keeps talking about entitlements, they should not be tied to the debt ceiling vote.

Two more important notions to keep in mind before we go any further, which are: 1) Social Security and Medicare are not entitlements. These are programs that as American individuals we pay into for all of our working lives and entitlements suggests that these are just 'given' to us, which they are not. Secondly, raising the debt ceiling accounts for money that the United States has already spent. We can argue about who spent what, but the fact remains that for all practical purposes, it must be raised.

In this debt debate, it has been pretty well clear that it has been President Obama who has been more willing to make concessions [read: compromises] to get a deal done. Also, we believe that Speaker Boehner has been willing, be it less so, to compromise as well. However, Speaker Boehner is completely beholden to the Tea Party Republican caucus in the house, and we agree with Doris Kearns-Goodwin when in today's panel she said that he is a different kind of leader, but completely disagree with freshman Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) that he's been a good one. As Ms. Goodwin stated, he is unwilling to demand followers, leveraging his power as the Speaker to get his part in line. That he can not get House Republicans to see a way to compromise is not leading.

Ultra business-friendly White House Chief of Staff, Bill Daley, stated that one of the keys is to take the uncertainty out of the market and the uncertainty that he is referring to, in the immediate sense, is whether or not the United States is going to default on its debts for the first time in its history. As we have stated before, we're not sure what will happen if the debt ceiling isn't raised (We're not one of those columns to think it knows everything about everything as former Senator Chuck Hagel mentioned during today's round table.), but any unprecedented act, especially one that is perceived negative, will have an adverse effect on the economy.

Last reported was that Speaker Boehner walked out of negotiations because the President 'moved the goal posts,' going from asking for $800 billion in revenue to $1.2 trillion in revenue. By the way, all of this revenue would be by closing corporate tax loopholes now, and then having the Bush Era Tax Cuts sunset for the richest 1% of the country in 2012. Mr. Daley, emphatically said that it wasn't true what Mr. Boehner said, 'he was in the room.' Even if the President did 'move the goal posts,' you're talking $40 billion a year more in revenue increases, which really isn't that much. When Speaker Boehner says that we can not raise taxes on job creators, it rings so hollow that it echoes to every corner of the country. The job creators to which he's referring are corporations who are sitting on cash with the lowest tax rate they've had in the past 50 years and are not investing the money that hence creates jobs. That statement means nothing.

Mr. Daily called a raising of the debt ceiling for the next six month a 'short-term gimmick,' which it is because it puts a beaten debt-ceiling argument back into play during the Presidential election, something that the President clearly doesn't want so it makes sense that he flatly rejects that.

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) said in the next segment that it was a ridiculous position to hold because that is what the compromise vote is going to look like. Even though we disagree with most all of Mr. Coburn's political positions, he is worthy of our respect because he has shown that he understands that to lead in this country, compromise is needed. He does see room for getting rid of some tax subsidies for ethanol and wind. Mr. Coburn is the Senator that made news for saying that he would not be beholden to Grover Norquist's tax pledge, to which Andrea Mitchell asked a most sensible question - how do 236 members of Congress sign a pledge before even coming into the chamber? Congress Adam Kinzinger should have had to answer that, but it probably would have been a rote answer - 'We can not raise taxes on job creators...etc.'

However, Congressman Kinzinger does believe we can reach a compromise. That is the general consensus - everyone says that - but where is the compromise to go with it? What the Tea Party Republican caucus doesn't understand that in a large, diverse country such as ours (As Ms. Goodwin reminded us), compromise is essential - democracy can not survive without it.

One example that was touched on by Chief Daley and then rebutted by Senator Coburn was the impass over the FAA, which as Mr. Daley said resulted in the layoff of 4000 airport workers on Friday. Democrats and Republicans couldn't come to an agreement. Mr. Coburn said, for the Republicans part, that there were subsidies and duplication of payments that were a complete waste of federal dollars. What went unmentioned was that Republicans wanted the stripping of collective bargaining rights on behalf of the workers. Because Democrats would not give in to that demand, a deal didn't get done, hence the aforementioned result.

So when it comes to the debt deal, Mr. Daley described an 'our way or the highway' approach when it comes to revenue on the part of the Republicans. That's a problem that both the Paul Ryan budget plan has and the Cut, Cap, and Balance bill both have. When those bills go over to the Senate, controlled by Democrats, there's no chance of them going back to the House because the House will reject them because of compromises edited in by Senate Democrats.

Mayor Corey Booker said that he agrees with Republicans in that we have a spending problem, and we do, but it's where the spending is going that is the problem. Tax cuts can not be the only answer - it is not a panacea because if it were, the economy would be booming by now. What creates economic growth is a solvent federal government and for that to happen, it needs to take in more money, not just cut spending. Bringing that down to a familial level, mothers and fathers get more than one job to sustain a level of existence for their kids. To feed them, they not only say to themselves, 'We have to lower our expenses," but also say, "We have to find a way to get more money coming in." It's a two-way street.

And actually, there's a third important notion that you need to keep in mind. Former Congressman Dick Armey's FreedomWorks that started the Tea Party movement has no interest in having the economy stabilize. His motivations are purely to drive Democrats out of control of any part of government for the long term and put forth a radically right agenda. Hence, compromise on the part of Tea Party Republicans is not an option. With any problem, it's always very helpful to identify that cause so when you say that governing is compromising, you now know what the cause is. Is our government broken? Ms. Goodwin said that there's no question it's broken. So who broke it? Tea Party Republicans did. Hopefully, for all of us, a default on our debt and the downgrading of the United States' credit rating will not be their legacy.


Round Table: Former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel (R); Illinois tea party freshman Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R); Mayor of Newark, Cory Booker (D); Presidential Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin; and NBC's Andrea Mitchell.

7.17.11: Cut, Cap, and Balance, Catchy but Unrealistic

At the very top of today's program White House Budget Director Jack Lew said that the leaders in Congress all agree that we can not default on our debts. Hence, the disagreement lies within how to do it. Compromise, as CNBC's David Faber said during the round table, would be received very positively by our creditors and the market in general. However, compromise is not where we are politically, which arrives to the sum of what Honeywell CEO David Cote said that if we can not get together to get our fiscal house in order, it's just sad. Frankly, Republicans are not on the compromise page and Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) said as much today.

First, Senator DeMint (R-SC) is not a credible voice in economic matters given his state's economic and educational record, near or at the bottom of both categories amongst the fifty states. What he did say was that their concession was to raise the debt ceiling - simply, with no closing of tax loopholes, a Democratic demand, to go along with the spending cuts that Republicans want.

The President has received a lot of criticism for not leading but he has been the sole individual to compromise the most giving into major concessions that Democrats do not want to see. The other reason that this agreement on the debt ceiling is looking more grim is that you have Republican Presidential candidates such as Michelle Bachmann who said that the debt ceiling doesn't matter and it's a political sales jobs by the President and the Treasury Secretary. Mr. Lew in his interview today said that she is selling a misnomer, and that if the United States defaults we will not be able to pay our bills. The facts are facts he said. Mr. Lew concluded with saying that leadership needs a partner. We believe that the President has one in House Speaker John Boehner, but doesn't have one in Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader who is speaking for the Republican Tea Party caucus in the chamber. The result is that Mr. Boehner can not get the votes within his own caucus - that's where the hold up is.

What Senator DeMint kept on about is the new Republican tact of cut, cap, and balance which is their focus now. It's catchy but completely unrealistic. This plan is to cut spending now, cap it for the next ten years, and then enact a balanced budget amendment over that period. This sounds real nice but like many of these snappily titled plans, it's simply not practical and does not take into the reality the needs of the American people.

Marc Morial, during today's panel, stated that there are $1 trillion in tax loopholes that could be closed, that's over a ten-year period. If that is indeed the case, if you cut spending, which means cutting an innumerable amount of programs that Americans rely on, Pell grants for example, without tapping into that $1 trillion hanging out there, there is no way to balance the budget without decimating the economy.

And here's another question, if Republicans are going to bring this cut, cap, and balance approach to a vote in the House, what about the Ryan budget that they voted on? In that plan, raising the debt ceiling several times to reach its goals. So which one is it? The House under Republican control seems to be voting against bills that they once passed. Whether or not you think the Democrats' plan is right or wrong, they have been the more consistent in their approach, no doubt.

For the idea of a balanced budget amendment, consider this: All the Republicans touting this idea cite the fact that the states have balanced budget amendments so why can't the federal government have one? Well, when floods occur in Missouri or a hurricane in Florida or an oil spill in the Gulf or an earthquake in California, who do they call? The federal government because the states do not have the resources (i.e. the money) to deal with the problem. Where do we go when the Federal government needs the money in an emergency? Do we pass an emergency measure.. ok, then we keep renewing because the emergency continues and then the whole point of a balanced budget amendment is lost.. and now we're breaking our own law. All that, and not to forget, it won't pass in the Senate.

Last thing on the Senators - when Mr. Gregory asked about whether there should be congressional hearings on the scandal going on with News Corp., which owns Fox News here in the U.S., Senator Durbin said yes. Senator DeMint said that we should let law enforcement do its job. Actually, both answers are wrong. Mr. Durbin by saying yes, is already implying some sort of guilt on behalf of Rupert Murdoch's network here. Mr. Murdoch is not our favorite person, but due process is in order. Mr. DeMint's answer is only partly correct that we should, in fact, let law enforcement do it's job, but by instantly deflecting the answer, it wreaks of favoritism on his part in that he's not going to say anything bad about the news organization that backs his cause and gives Republicans an unfettered platform for their opinions. It panders and is cowardly.

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Round table: Ohio Governor John Kasich (R); Chairman and CEO of Honeywell, David Cote; former mayor of New Orleans, now president of the National Urban League, Marc Morial; Chief Economist for Mesirow Financial Diane Swonk; and CNBC’s David Faber.

David Farber articulated the best point about the News Corp. scandal, which was for the first time Rupert Murdoch wasn't in front of the story. He was not able to put his spin on it in Britain, which he will try to reverse here in the United States. Mr. Kasich said that officials at Fox News here have told him that they are not touched by this scandal.

To the economic points, the panel seemed to come to the consensus that it is the 'uncertainty of demand' that has business leaders on the sideline as it were, Mr. Cote's main premise. But there isn't uncertainty of demand, we can tell you that people don't have enough money to buy more of the stuff that they already have. And why don't have that money, because business hasn't helped Americans on the back end. They haven't employed them enough to make these things for people in our countries who don't have them. They haven't created jobs here in this country, just elsewhere. We're pretty certain about this.

Mr. Kasich said that they cut out tax loopholes when he was in Congress in 1997 (Clinton years), to which Mr. Farber noted that all those loopholes are back. What he didn't clarify was that those loopholes were put back in place during the Bush years.

Where Mr. Cote is more correct is that it's scary as a business man because he looks at Congress and he doesn't know what to do because there is no consensus or compromise of any ideas that would essentially dictate how he would go about his business. Congress needs to put a plan forward, and then business will deal with it.

And one last note, something we caught in the conversation that just went by without comment. Mr. Kasich said that one of the ways to create jobs in this country is to educate our kids more specifically to the jobs that are needed. Realize that this is the rationale for educational cuts, especially in things such as art, music, and fitness, but it does not mean reinvestment in more math and science education. And teaching specifically to the job is not a good plan in the context of an overall education and the reason is that who is to say what the job of the future is. One could say that it was creativity matched with mathematical ability that created Google or Facebook.

Here's a suggestion, in grades 6 through 8, you evaluate students' aptitude and as they area about to reach high school, each student declares a focus area, but not to the exclusion of taking other subjects because they are all interconnected - sort of like college but less binding. They are high-schoolers after all. This way, it gives the student focus, perhaps a practical skill if say he/she wants to focus on more of a trade subject, welding for example because math isn't the strongest subject. Just a quick thought, but for Mr. Kasich on education, his rhetoric doesn't match his agenda.