All the talk of the upcoming South Carolina primary aside, the one thing that is sticking with us from this week's program is the fact that when Mr. Gregory asked Senator Reid how to overcome at 66% disapproval rating, the Senate Majority couldn't come up with any solutions. He had nothing. He couldn't even cite a single piece of legislation going through Congress that has bi-partisan support. This is a big obvious problem that our government faces, and no one can come up with solutions?
Senator Reid squarely blames the Republican Tea Party caucus for this problem and said that he hopes that their influence will wane in the next year. You can tell that the mention of the Republican Tea Party makes Mr. Reid blood curl, a wince on his face. This column has no love for the Republican Tea Party caucus either. Contrary to what the Tea Party heads would say, it does not also consist of 'many Democrats and Independents.' It's a Republican movement and the minions of this movement do not understand that they vote against their own best interest. It's simply difficult to take that seriously. That, coupled with the extreme, uncompromising views of its representatives in Congress who continually put the government on the brink of shutting down is so counter productive for the whole of the populace.
Fortunately for us, we don't have to work with them - it's not our job. But Senator Reid needs to find a way to get things done with these people in the room, it is his job. Another part of his job for the Democrats is maintaining their majority in the Senate. With 23 Democratic seats up for re-election and 10 for the Republicans, Senator Reid said he felt pretty good about the Democrats holding. We would not be as optimistic about that or about Mr. Bob Kerry's chances of winning re-election in Nebraska if he decides to run again.
We agree with Mr. Reid in terms of the tax policy he discussed issuing a surtax of one half of one percent on the additional millions that people earn. Comparatively it's a small amount that could pay for a lot, even it goes directly to paying down the debt. We appreciate Mr. Reid pugilist heritage and hence his style, but he has to come up with more solutions.
On the South Carolina primary, Newt Gingrich seems pretty confident he can make a splash in the state hammering on the theme that he is a real conservative and that Governor Mitt Romney is a Massachusetts moderate. What we still find interesting about that is that Mr. Gingrich wants you to vote for him of course, but the way he phrases it, "do you want a real conservative or...," clearly denotes the 'anybody but Romney (and Ron Paul)' notion. It's so obvious, it's kind of hysterical. He further explained that the candidate that can craft a bold, clear distinction between himself and President Obama has a better chance of winning, a Reagan conservative, as he put it. The person whose policies have best reflected President Reagan's has been Barack Obama so there goes that argument. Of course the problem with Mr. Romney is that his of late extremely conservative rhetoric scares Reagan Democrats and Independents, and Republicans like it but don't believe it. So how's he in the lead? Money and organization.
To the second part of that - organization - everyone agrees, Mr. Gingrich, Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC), and Representative Tim Scott (R-SC) that the splintering of the evangelical vote amongst the other candidates benefits Romney, and his organization capitalizes on that. We, like other commentators, hope that Romney doesn't win in South Carolina because we'd just like to see the other primaries matter, but alas it will not be. Unless something big happens this week to negatively effect Romney's chances, he'll be hard to beat. And according to Lindsay Graham, South Carolina picks Presidents, referring to the fact that since 1980, every primary candidate who has won the state has also won the nomination. What he didn't say is who he endorses, and for that matter neither did Mr. Scott. Mr. Graham added that he might not even vote. We guess that they'll both just take the tact that the people of South Carolina have spoken and we'll endorse their choice. Frankly, that's... well... lame. The people of South Carolina look to these people for their insight and to abdicate the voice that people have bestowed on you does not speak well. Stand up for someone.
Mr. Gingrich mentioned that in selecting a candidate, it's about value, character, and behavior. None of today's guests unfortunately lived up to that measure in the answers. Mr. Gingrich with respect to attacks occupies no high ground than his primary opponents. That Mr. Reid repeated the phrase 'obstructionism on steroids' to make any point is disappointing. The South Carolina delegation essentially stating that they'll both respectively vote for anyone as long as they can beat Barack Obama says nothing for political conviction.
Lastly, Mr. Gregory and Mr. Reid discussed the recess appointment, technically proforma appointment, of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Congressional Republicans are saying that the appointment isn't valid because Congress never technically recessed, hence proforma. It's like being on call, but in this case there's no intention of returning even if the call comes, effectively a recess. Republicans simply do not like the newly formed Bureau in and of itself so they of course do not want to hold hearings. But the fact remains that the agency does exist, it was voted into being and now someone must head it. The void has existed for too long and now that the nominee is Richard Cordray, a Republican from Ohio, and not Elizabeth Warren, it's puts Senate Republicans in the awkward position of having to grill one of its own. Even thought, there seems to be no problem with that in the Republican presidential primaries. Shouldn't there be a procedure that when an agency, bureau, or cabinet position needs to be filled and the President nominates someone, there must be mandatory hearings held within a certain time frame? The appointment needed to be made.
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