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
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, August 07, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
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.
____
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.
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.
____
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.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
7.10.11: TIm Pawlenty Must Be Joking
We have to go right to the chase here for this week's program, which is the Tim Pawlenty interview. We'll get to Secretary Geithner in a minute as you could pretty much predict what he was going to say and how he was going to say it on the subject of the debt ceiling. However, he did explain the consequences in a comprehensible way, for which we have a clip, to pour over later.
Presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) must be joking. Beyond making news with his attack on fellow Minnesotan candidate Michelle Bachmann, what is more incredible is that he actually touted the fact that he set a record for the number of vetoes and shut down the Minnesota state government with his policies. It's insane that something so counterproductive is now seen as an accomplishment to his potential Republican constituents.
Where is the alternate universe, from where Tim Pawlenty gets this logic, because we're not seeing it. You're proud of the fact that the sum of your efforts brought down the ability for the state government to serve its people creating more hardship in the general society?
And the upside is?....
Mr. Pawlenty explained that he stuck to his conservative principles and showed courage in his actions. Conversely, and here's where the news was made, Mr. Pawlenty said that Michelle Bachmann's record in Congress of accomplishment is 'non-existent.' And just before that, in so many words, he believed that Mitt Romney could not be the nominee strictly on healthcare because Mr. Romney enacted a policy that is now considered the ultimate sacrilege amongst his party patrons.
But then he said that he distinguishes himself from the other because he is a successful leader, that it is not argument, it's fact (his words). Simply stated, a successful leader would not preside over the closure of his/her government. A successful leader gets two differing sides to come to reason, understand what the priorities of each side of the argument and then bring a compromise to everyone agrees upon. But we're in a climate where compromise is not an option for the Republicans and candidates have to play to that notion because they feel it strengthens their position with the base of the party. Given that, we still don't see how touting the fact that you shut down the government promotes good leadership qualities. Does that mean that Mr. Pawlenty will shut down the U.S. federal government if Democrats control the Congress?
He said that he breaks with his party in regard to the minimum wage, which Republicans would like to do away with. Mr. Pawlenty is all for defending the $7.25 per hour... thanks a lot. We said it before and we'll say it again... Tim Pawlenty's campaign for President of The United States is toast. He will not be the nominee. And when a Presidential candidates consistently repeats standard party talking points with no other in-depth explanation, people tune out, and in the case of Mr. Pawlenty, "Cut taxes, cut spending and lessen regulation." Blah Blah Blah...
The New York Times speculatively asked if Mr. Pawlenty will be the first one in and the first one out. This is a poor prediction given that Newt Gingrich is in the race. He'll be the first out, or should be. The Los Angeles Times said that Mr. Pawlenty is soft-spoken and bland. Mr. Pawlenty dismissed these assessments, but in the multimedia age don't underestimate the significance of these qualities, or lack thereof in the case of Tim Pawlenty. It just seems that Tim Pawlenty is trying to be someone he's not. He's like George Constanza in that everything he does seems counter-intuitive to everyone else.
He described himself as a hockey player, someone who is tough, but when questioned about Mitt Romney's healthcare plan at the debate, he didn't go for the kill and he repeated that same lame shying-away on today's program. The writer of this column played hockey, and a coach once said that if you're a nice person on the ice, you're in the wrong 'effing sport. Tim Pawlenty is in the wrong sport.
If all that wasn't enough, with regard to Libya, Mr. Pawlenty suggested that we send in special forces to target Khadafi, he cited the actions of Ronald Reagan in toppling governments. What the hell is Mr. Pawlenty talking about? Let's do something like Iran-Contra?! With all due respect, Mr. Reagan cut and run in Lebanon, bombed Libya from a far (like we're doing now), and Grenada... Please, was that really a war? And there is the aforementioned Nicaragua.
And lastly on Mr. Pawlenty, and here is where is really breaks with his party. With regard to homosexuality and whether or not it's genetic or a choice, Tim Pawlenty said that the science isn't clear on that. Yes, he mentioned science, an actual reference to science. There's a real break.
____
The one thing we know for sure about Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is that he would make a lousy politician, which makes one conclude that as Treasury Secretary he knows what he's talking about. What we mean by that is when the interview started, Mr. Geithner said that this is a great moment for the United States, but toward the end he used the word 'grave' to describe the situation.
And given that he is no politician, what would be the political motivation to lie to Congress and the American public about the severity of a default. His simple presence on the program itself, serves as a warning that we're playing with fire. He explains it in this clip which is the essence of why default (not raising the debt limit) is not an option.
Like substantial savings... defense. entitlements down the road
Republicans should not walk away now. Need both sides...
4 trillion - biggest deal possible. payroll tax cut - 1000, investi in future
revuneu increase? you have to have balnace.
which means yes
if no revenue, deep cuts in care for the edlerly...
nancy pelosi.. quote
balanced way
medicare cuts? will not debate it here.
Republicans special intest tax breakers
are uncomfortable raising revenues, even on the richest americans
smaller deal? very tough too.
August 2 - we're not going to default. everyone understands that. Boehner understands
more risky the more time we take
80 million checks a month.
effects our credit rating.
they will downgrade our credit rating.
failure is not an option.
This is catastrphic - hard deadline.
grave moment for the nation.
the economy has slowed - oil prices, terrible weather, japan,
predictions are it will get better in the second half.
twitter town hall
i think he's being too hard on himself there.
stimulus
healthcare
nothing has stemmed the tide...
congress - trade agreements, rebuild America, tax benefits for working families.
a long time still...
look at what reagan did to toppled a government.
not necessarily. what does that mean?
special forces... what the fuck is he talking about.
not for gay couples having the same rights as married couples.
science is in dispute - no current conclusion its genetic.
Eugene Robinson
Chuck Todd
chcuk - first time some one went hard at her.
gene - amazingly tough given commandment.
no republican candidate is cutting him any slack.
sarah palin?
chuck - wants to go out on her own terms...
stay on the margins
gene - unconventional.
gadfly
she can't get nominated.
rush limbaugh wouldn't get nominated.
going for the big deal.
speaker boehner couldn't get a deal on taxes within his own caucus.
eric cantor said no and it's no.
chuck - admin trying to be straight with the people.
Presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) must be joking. Beyond making news with his attack on fellow Minnesotan candidate Michelle Bachmann, what is more incredible is that he actually touted the fact that he set a record for the number of vetoes and shut down the Minnesota state government with his policies. It's insane that something so counterproductive is now seen as an accomplishment to his potential Republican constituents.
Where is the alternate universe, from where Tim Pawlenty gets this logic, because we're not seeing it. You're proud of the fact that the sum of your efforts brought down the ability for the state government to serve its people creating more hardship in the general society?
And the upside is?....
Mr. Pawlenty explained that he stuck to his conservative principles and showed courage in his actions. Conversely, and here's where the news was made, Mr. Pawlenty said that Michelle Bachmann's record in Congress of accomplishment is 'non-existent.' And just before that, in so many words, he believed that Mitt Romney could not be the nominee strictly on healthcare because Mr. Romney enacted a policy that is now considered the ultimate sacrilege amongst his party patrons.
But then he said that he distinguishes himself from the other because he is a successful leader, that it is not argument, it's fact (his words). Simply stated, a successful leader would not preside over the closure of his/her government. A successful leader gets two differing sides to come to reason, understand what the priorities of each side of the argument and then bring a compromise to everyone agrees upon. But we're in a climate where compromise is not an option for the Republicans and candidates have to play to that notion because they feel it strengthens their position with the base of the party. Given that, we still don't see how touting the fact that you shut down the government promotes good leadership qualities. Does that mean that Mr. Pawlenty will shut down the U.S. federal government if Democrats control the Congress?
He said that he breaks with his party in regard to the minimum wage, which Republicans would like to do away with. Mr. Pawlenty is all for defending the $7.25 per hour... thanks a lot. We said it before and we'll say it again... Tim Pawlenty's campaign for President of The United States is toast. He will not be the nominee. And when a Presidential candidates consistently repeats standard party talking points with no other in-depth explanation, people tune out, and in the case of Mr. Pawlenty, "Cut taxes, cut spending and lessen regulation." Blah Blah Blah...
The New York Times speculatively asked if Mr. Pawlenty will be the first one in and the first one out. This is a poor prediction given that Newt Gingrich is in the race. He'll be the first out, or should be. The Los Angeles Times said that Mr. Pawlenty is soft-spoken and bland. Mr. Pawlenty dismissed these assessments, but in the multimedia age don't underestimate the significance of these qualities, or lack thereof in the case of Tim Pawlenty. It just seems that Tim Pawlenty is trying to be someone he's not. He's like George Constanza in that everything he does seems counter-intuitive to everyone else.
He described himself as a hockey player, someone who is tough, but when questioned about Mitt Romney's healthcare plan at the debate, he didn't go for the kill and he repeated that same lame shying-away on today's program. The writer of this column played hockey, and a coach once said that if you're a nice person on the ice, you're in the wrong 'effing sport. Tim Pawlenty is in the wrong sport.
If all that wasn't enough, with regard to Libya, Mr. Pawlenty suggested that we send in special forces to target Khadafi, he cited the actions of Ronald Reagan in toppling governments. What the hell is Mr. Pawlenty talking about? Let's do something like Iran-Contra?! With all due respect, Mr. Reagan cut and run in Lebanon, bombed Libya from a far (like we're doing now), and Grenada... Please, was that really a war? And there is the aforementioned Nicaragua.
And lastly on Mr. Pawlenty, and here is where is really breaks with his party. With regard to homosexuality and whether or not it's genetic or a choice, Tim Pawlenty said that the science isn't clear on that. Yes, he mentioned science, an actual reference to science. There's a real break.
____
The one thing we know for sure about Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is that he would make a lousy politician, which makes one conclude that as Treasury Secretary he knows what he's talking about. What we mean by that is when the interview started, Mr. Geithner said that this is a great moment for the United States, but toward the end he used the word 'grave' to describe the situation.
And given that he is no politician, what would be the political motivation to lie to Congress and the American public about the severity of a default. His simple presence on the program itself, serves as a warning that we're playing with fire. He explains it in this clip which is the essence of why default (not raising the debt limit) is not an option.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Like substantial savings... defense. entitlements down the road
Republicans should not walk away now. Need both sides...
4 trillion - biggest deal possible. payroll tax cut - 1000, investi in future
revuneu increase? you have to have balnace.
which means yes
if no revenue, deep cuts in care for the edlerly...
nancy pelosi.. quote
balanced way
medicare cuts? will not debate it here.
Republicans special intest tax breakers
are uncomfortable raising revenues, even on the richest americans
smaller deal? very tough too.
August 2 - we're not going to default. everyone understands that. Boehner understands
more risky the more time we take
80 million checks a month.
effects our credit rating.
they will downgrade our credit rating.
failure is not an option.
This is catastrphic - hard deadline.
grave moment for the nation.
the economy has slowed - oil prices, terrible weather, japan,
predictions are it will get better in the second half.
twitter town hall
i think he's being too hard on himself there.
stimulus
healthcare
nothing has stemmed the tide...
congress - trade agreements, rebuild America, tax benefits for working families.
a long time still...
look at what reagan did to toppled a government.
not necessarily. what does that mean?
special forces... what the fuck is he talking about.
not for gay couples having the same rights as married couples.
science is in dispute - no current conclusion its genetic.
Eugene Robinson
Chuck Todd
chcuk - first time some one went hard at her.
gene - amazingly tough given commandment.
no republican candidate is cutting him any slack.
sarah palin?
chuck - wants to go out on her own terms...
stay on the margins
gene - unconventional.
gadfly
she can't get nominated.
rush limbaugh wouldn't get nominated.
going for the big deal.
speaker boehner couldn't get a deal on taxes within his own caucus.
eric cantor said no and it's no.
chuck - admin trying to be straight with the people.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
6.26.11: Bull in a Bull Shop
At first glance, this week's program seemed like your every Sunday, usual Meet The Press, but in actuality, this week was one of the more enlightening weeks, and it all points back to the Presidency of Barack Obama.
Today's program started with the antithesis of the President, and that is Republican Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey. Governor Christie is what we would call a bull in a bull shop. Even though he occupies a room full of like minded animals, political animals, he still manages to stand out, knocking things and lesser bulls over at every turn. This is why so many find Mr. Christie an attractive Presidential candidate because he's willing to make a few small messes along the way to solving a bigger problem. To be clear, that's a commentary on his methodology, and not about the agenda behind it.
But it's the methodology that needs to be examined in terms of what President Obama is not doing. As the head of a state, you can afford to be more hands on, which was the tact of the criticism that Mr. Christie leveled against the President, that he hasn't been involved enough in these budget deals. "He needs to lead and bring the legislature to the table," paraphrasing Mr. Christie. David Brooks later described the President as the 'convener in chief,' as Mr. Obama searches for consensus on issues, but having surrogates in his stead, not personally being there.
It's an unfair criticism because unlike Governor Christie, President Obama has 49 other states to consider, and he does have the Vice President conducting the meetings. If you take the above criticisms of the President to heart, then it's actually better if Joe Biden is leading in this instance. Mr. Christie said he is a straight talker and that's what people respect, whether they agree with it or not, and in this instance it's better to ride with Mr. Biden's reputation. And we do mean this to be constructive criticism for the President.
In this column back in April (April 23rd, Take A Stand - http://meetthepressopinion.blogspot.com/2011/04/42311.html), we featured a clip of President Obama speaking at a fund raiser in a tone that more reflects the style that Mr. Christie spoke about. The public responds to this tone and Mr. Obama should employ it more, as President he is granted the bully pulpit - the title of biggest bull in the bull shop. Mr. Christie, for his efforts, has bad timing. When a constitute asks you why you don't send your kids to public school, and he retorts that it's none of her business, you can answer that with much better tact that doesn't come off defensive, which is a big negative. Leave it at - it's a private decision that my wife and I made. And it is amusing that Mr. Christie in one of his answers to Mr. Gregory said that when negotiating he doesn't demagogue the other side, no... just throw insults at them, which is what he does.
With regard to Governor Christie's policies, he's an east coast Republican, who represents a more moderate brand of the party where the Iowa Caucus is a loser, shown by the fact that Michelle Bachmann is now running neck in neck with Mitt Romney in the latest poll. Matt Bai and David Brooks, during the panel, made the plea that there are more moderates than people think. Mr. Christie said that New Jersey has civil union, but not same-sex marriage - that's Jersey. Most of the people in New Jersey would say, "Fine, don't call it marriage, but let these people have something. Civil Union, yeah whatever, who cares really? Live and let live." Mr. Christie doesn't seem to have an agenda that strays from that attitude. However, he also said that New Jersey is overtaxed, but comparatively to other states that's not true. New Jersey have the most millionaires per capita of populace in the country, and taxes are high, but have you ever lived in New Jersey? With the exception of town Elizabeth that smells of foul chemicals, it's underrated and the standard of living is quite high. (There, there's your freakin' plug New Jersey.)
But back to the President. Mr. Obama does seem to have a pattern of doing things behind closed doors and then sharing the results once the negotiations or the mission are over instead of debating the issues out in and with the public more. Matt Bai, from the New York Times Magazine, gave a key concise analysis in that when negotiating without public scrutiny, it emboldens everyone's positions in the room, where they may not in fact have public support for that position.
The obvious case in point here is Libya, where by all measure of the media, it seems the Administration didn't consult with anyone before making these decisions, nor did they go to Congress after 60 days of involvement in line with the War Powers act. Senator Reed (D-RI) said as much during today's interview. Not what we expected from this Administration, but then again blame on this can only go so far as Congress recently voted against the President's actions but then voted to keep the funding going, which just proves that they can't make a decision.
Senator Webb said that the Administration went to the UN Security Council and they voted for the action, but Russian, China, and Germany we among the ones who abstained from the vote. But as we said before, Libya is a case of the good and bad that go along with treaties, namely the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. With that said, this column's opinion on ground troops is that they are not an option because what that leads to is some sort of permanent presence there, which is unjustified.
In Afghanistan, Senator Reed said that he felt the level and pace of the troop withdrawal was appropriate and something he supports. Senator Webb seemed to indicate that he wanted a faster withdrawal but wasn't definitive. With 99,000 troops in country at this moment, by this time next year, a third will be withdrawn. We would have liked to have seen at least half by next September, but if we're to acquiesce to the Administration's number, then there needs to be more public debate on how the political process in Afghanistan is shaping up - there needs to be a clear diplomatic plan in place along with the withdrawal.
__
One more thing - What we found worrisome was a comment made by Senator Webb, he said that by being over-engaged in Middle East affairs, we're "approaching a Munich moment with China." Honestly, we're not sure what that means exactly. '72 Munich? We'll get back to you on that one, but it didn't sound good. Unless he's referring to China gearing up its military for action with Taiwan, which could be truly catastrophic for America.
Round Table - BBC's Katty Kay, The New York Times Magazine's Matt Bai, and New York Times Columnist David Brooks.
Presidential Politics Update: Katty Kay said that Sarah Palin's position looks less strong for a Presidential run, so here's our quick take on Ms. Palin. If she enters the race at all, it will be late in the game, but that will be too late. It will cause the media storm that she'll want, but ultimately no nomination. And that's if it even gets to that, and we think that it won't. Sarah Palin will not run for President. Right now she's back in Alaska trying to figure out a way of staying relevant without having to do the heavy lifting of campaigning, let's not even presume governing at this point. She'll keep testing the waters, but Michelle Bachmann has taken all of Ms. Palin's thunder, filed down those Mama Grizzly claws a bit so we're predicting she's not in.
Today's program started with the antithesis of the President, and that is Republican Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey. Governor Christie is what we would call a bull in a bull shop. Even though he occupies a room full of like minded animals, political animals, he still manages to stand out, knocking things and lesser bulls over at every turn. This is why so many find Mr. Christie an attractive Presidential candidate because he's willing to make a few small messes along the way to solving a bigger problem. To be clear, that's a commentary on his methodology, and not about the agenda behind it.
But it's the methodology that needs to be examined in terms of what President Obama is not doing. As the head of a state, you can afford to be more hands on, which was the tact of the criticism that Mr. Christie leveled against the President, that he hasn't been involved enough in these budget deals. "He needs to lead and bring the legislature to the table," paraphrasing Mr. Christie. David Brooks later described the President as the 'convener in chief,' as Mr. Obama searches for consensus on issues, but having surrogates in his stead, not personally being there.
It's an unfair criticism because unlike Governor Christie, President Obama has 49 other states to consider, and he does have the Vice President conducting the meetings. If you take the above criticisms of the President to heart, then it's actually better if Joe Biden is leading in this instance. Mr. Christie said he is a straight talker and that's what people respect, whether they agree with it or not, and in this instance it's better to ride with Mr. Biden's reputation. And we do mean this to be constructive criticism for the President.
In this column back in April (April 23rd, Take A Stand - http://meetthepressopinion.blogspot.com/2011/04/42311.html), we featured a clip of President Obama speaking at a fund raiser in a tone that more reflects the style that Mr. Christie spoke about. The public responds to this tone and Mr. Obama should employ it more, as President he is granted the bully pulpit - the title of biggest bull in the bull shop. Mr. Christie, for his efforts, has bad timing. When a constitute asks you why you don't send your kids to public school, and he retorts that it's none of her business, you can answer that with much better tact that doesn't come off defensive, which is a big negative. Leave it at - it's a private decision that my wife and I made. And it is amusing that Mr. Christie in one of his answers to Mr. Gregory said that when negotiating he doesn't demagogue the other side, no... just throw insults at them, which is what he does.
With regard to Governor Christie's policies, he's an east coast Republican, who represents a more moderate brand of the party where the Iowa Caucus is a loser, shown by the fact that Michelle Bachmann is now running neck in neck with Mitt Romney in the latest poll. Matt Bai and David Brooks, during the panel, made the plea that there are more moderates than people think. Mr. Christie said that New Jersey has civil union, but not same-sex marriage - that's Jersey. Most of the people in New Jersey would say, "Fine, don't call it marriage, but let these people have something. Civil Union, yeah whatever, who cares really? Live and let live." Mr. Christie doesn't seem to have an agenda that strays from that attitude. However, he also said that New Jersey is overtaxed, but comparatively to other states that's not true. New Jersey have the most millionaires per capita of populace in the country, and taxes are high, but have you ever lived in New Jersey? With the exception of town Elizabeth that smells of foul chemicals, it's underrated and the standard of living is quite high. (There, there's your freakin' plug New Jersey.)
But back to the President. Mr. Obama does seem to have a pattern of doing things behind closed doors and then sharing the results once the negotiations or the mission are over instead of debating the issues out in and with the public more. Matt Bai, from the New York Times Magazine, gave a key concise analysis in that when negotiating without public scrutiny, it emboldens everyone's positions in the room, where they may not in fact have public support for that position.
The obvious case in point here is Libya, where by all measure of the media, it seems the Administration didn't consult with anyone before making these decisions, nor did they go to Congress after 60 days of involvement in line with the War Powers act. Senator Reed (D-RI) said as much during today's interview. Not what we expected from this Administration, but then again blame on this can only go so far as Congress recently voted against the President's actions but then voted to keep the funding going, which just proves that they can't make a decision.
Senator Webb said that the Administration went to the UN Security Council and they voted for the action, but Russian, China, and Germany we among the ones who abstained from the vote. But as we said before, Libya is a case of the good and bad that go along with treaties, namely the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. With that said, this column's opinion on ground troops is that they are not an option because what that leads to is some sort of permanent presence there, which is unjustified.
In Afghanistan, Senator Reed said that he felt the level and pace of the troop withdrawal was appropriate and something he supports. Senator Webb seemed to indicate that he wanted a faster withdrawal but wasn't definitive. With 99,000 troops in country at this moment, by this time next year, a third will be withdrawn. We would have liked to have seen at least half by next September, but if we're to acquiesce to the Administration's number, then there needs to be more public debate on how the political process in Afghanistan is shaping up - there needs to be a clear diplomatic plan in place along with the withdrawal.
__
One more thing - What we found worrisome was a comment made by Senator Webb, he said that by being over-engaged in Middle East affairs, we're "approaching a Munich moment with China." Honestly, we're not sure what that means exactly. '72 Munich? We'll get back to you on that one, but it didn't sound good. Unless he's referring to China gearing up its military for action with Taiwan, which could be truly catastrophic for America.
Round Table - BBC's Katty Kay, The New York Times Magazine's Matt Bai, and New York Times Columnist David Brooks.
Presidential Politics Update: Katty Kay said that Sarah Palin's position looks less strong for a Presidential run, so here's our quick take on Ms. Palin. If she enters the race at all, it will be late in the game, but that will be too late. It will cause the media storm that she'll want, but ultimately no nomination. And that's if it even gets to that, and we think that it won't. Sarah Palin will not run for President. Right now she's back in Alaska trying to figure out a way of staying relevant without having to do the heavy lifting of campaigning, let's not even presume governing at this point. She'll keep testing the waters, but Michelle Bachmann has taken all of Ms. Palin's thunder, filed down those Mama Grizzly claws a bit so we're predicting she's not in.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
6.19.11: So Are We Greece?
Chuck Todd, during today's round table, said that the American people just want to see the Congress do something on the economy replacing the endless gridlock we seem to be having. And everyone realizes that we have to do something and as Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) urged, we have to put everything on the table, to which his counterpart on the right, Senator Lindsey Graham, stated that Republicans are not going to vote on raising taxes. This means, in fact, that everything is not on the table.
Never raising taxes, as we've said in this column numerous times, is an unrealistic position if this country is to ever be genuinely serious about solving our budget problems. However, and there's a big however, Mr. Graham did say that we should end the oil subsidies being doled out by the government to the giant oil companies. In Grover Norquist's world, this is considered a tax hike and is unacceptable. In a reasonable person's world, it's a handout from the government to entities that don't need the assist.
By the way, the ending oil subsidies idea came from Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) standing up with common sense against Mr. Norquist's influence and since Mr. Coburn jumped this fence, we've seen other Republican politicians follow. If this is the way in which we have to tackle our country's revenue intake problem, then at least it's something and a start.
With regard to cuts, we side with Mr. Durbin in that Medicare is a basic promise that the U.S. Government (our politicians) have made to the American people. Medicare is something that by paying taxes we pay into. To cut the benefits later that we pay for now, it literally taking money from us for nothing in return.
At this point, Mr. Gregory asked both Senators if we were headed in the direction of Greece, whose government has made what he termed draconian cuts, which has sparked civil unrest in that country. Both politicians said no, and Mr. Graham pointed out that the 2010 mid-term election was a referendum on spending and the deficit, which was to say that the American people want severe cuts in spending of the Republican variety therefore no civil unrest. As we've previous discussed in this column, the Republicans have misinterpreted the result of this election since the results came in.
But as we know now, the Republicans have in most people's estimation, overreached with the Ryan budget and on local points of scale. For example, in Wisconsin, where Governor Walker stripped union collective bargaining rights. However, soon the people could view what's going on through this prism - the Democrats are ineffectual and the Republicans aren't considering the true human cost of their actions, and so where does that leave us?
Major shifts in spending have to happen for this country to become solvent, and Republicans haven't faced the truth of that. On the other hand, Democrats do not have the necessary unity within the party to fight with a solid voice to re-prioritize where the dollars go.
Right now, many members of Congress are deciding one place where they don't want the dollars to go and that place is to the military effort in Libya. And though this is a North African country, we're all over the map with this place. Politicians from both parties are calling for defunding the NATO effort, and cite the War Powers Act as the reason - the 60-day time limit for the President to act unilaterally has passed and Congress wants answers.
Today, Mr. Graham said that the War Powers Act isn't worth the paper it's print on and that the President should in fact step up his game in Libya. Chuck Todd, during the panel, said that the President did not do his due diligence in telling members of Congress his reasoning on our actions in that country, and that is definitely a mistake. But the conundrum with Libya is that this action is part of a NATO operation, and in that we may have to do things we don't necessarily want to, just as it was correctly pointed out during the panel that we asked our NATO ally Italy to participate in our was in Iraq, which that country did not want to do, but did.
[Aside: In the phrasing of that last sentence, we said "war in Iraq," not war with Iraq. We have three wars going on, and we're at war with no country, just in countries. In WWII we were at war with Germany and Japan, but how times have changed in a more disturbing direction. Using maximum war power force in countries who we're not technically at war with creates a climate of the U.S. at will going into sovereign countries and using military force. This is happening now and if the roles were reversed in some way, where a country arbitrarily came into this country and started shooting things up, how do you think people would react. A bad long-term trend is what we're on here.]
Now, Mr. Gregory pointed out that NATO isn't working in the case of Libya, about which he is correct, but that's most likely because the U.S. hasn't taken the lead and the President with two other wars on his plate, is hesitant to take the lead on this deferring to our NATO allies, who aren't doing a good job. This is probably because they are now so used to the United States doing the heavy lifting that now that they're asked to do it, they're not quite prepared.
Senator Graham continued by saying that he wanted to see U.S. air power back into the mix, a view that is shared by Senator John McCain (R-AZ). There is no question that Republican Senators would like to see Col. Quadafi out of the picture. As pointed out during the panel, Libya is not going well for NATO, but the United States will kill NATO if it doesn't support this action, which brings us to Robert Gates' citation that the Republicans in particular do not have consensus on the United States' role in the world. It makes us think of leading by example, which the United States certainly does not do, we're more like do as I say, not as I do, at least right now we are.
And the news maker for the day was when Senator Graham warned Republican candidates that if they try to go left of President Obama on Afghanistan, Libya, or Iraq, that that position will certainly be a loser because that's not a Republican position. But the Republican candidates seemed more in an isolationist stance collectively on Monday night's debate.
Former Governor Romney said that only the Afghanis can win their freedom, to which Richard Engel, making a rare stateside appearance said that if you're going to make decisions on foreign policy, you better know that the people are Afghans and the currency is Afghani. The fact is that the Republican candidates don't care about such details. But Mr. Romney has shown that he'll say anything as long as it is politically expedient and that's why people aren't really excited by his candidacy - this from the solid front runner as Mr. Todd termed him.
Getting back to the macro look for a moment, Richard Engel called Secretary Gates' statement on one of his reasons for retiring chilling. And if you think about it, it is in fact very disconcerting what Mr. Gates said, which was that because of our economy, we do not have the ability to lead the world and that he didn't want to be part of that. In other words, our longest tenured Secretary of Defense doesn't want to represent us, our military, around the world because we can not get our shit together here at home.
And speaking of which, it was very helpful to have Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa from Los Angeles on the program because he does have his finger on the pulse of what cities face, and it all starts with our cities. He posed the proposition that if we had the $126 billion that we spend on the war in Afghanistan for domestic purpose, think what we could do, given the local budget crises we have around the country. His perspective was grounding and should be noted - he said that when Washington is focused on scandal, it feels like that city is coming from another planet. He also pointed out that Washington politicians contemplating defaulting on our debt do not have any idea what that would do to the economy, where we interpreted as 'local economies and people's pocketbooks.'
Given the content above, are we Greece as we posed in the title of this week's column. The answer is no, but we're more going the way of Brasil. In Brasil, there are many nice houses and apartments and living standards for a segment of the population are quite good. But after the churrasco and capirinhas, take a walk to the edge of the lush property, look across the street and down the hill, and what do you see? Shanties for a mile. A little over-dramatization? We'll concede, but at least Brasil is trying to move away from this direction instead of moving toward it.
Round Table: President-elect of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Antonio Villaraigosa, The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page editor Paul Gigot, Presidential Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, NBC Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and NBC Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd
Presidential Politics:
On today's show as per usual, there was the discussion of Presidential candidates, most notably Former Governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, and current Texas Governor, Rick Perry. In terms of what was discussed today, here's our quick take.
Tim Pawlenty during Monday's debate backed away from his 'Obamneycare' when face to face with Governor Romney himself. Plain and simple, Mr. Pawlenty wimped out, and then admitted as much in the days following. Here it is - he's done, no shot at winning - contributing to his campaign is wasting your money. America doesn't elect wimps, period.
With regard to Rick Perry, it seems that pundit and media land are salivating for him to get in the race. If Mr. Perry does decide to get in the race, he would get a huge push and would look great for a longer period of time than the others running now, but Mr. Perry has too many flaws. One is beyond his control, which is Texas fatigue - social conservative politicians from Texas are not the desired flavor of the Buck Country wealthy Republicans of the northeast as Ms. Godwin pointed out. Secondly, Mr. Perry has his August 6th National Day of Prayer coming up. We find this notion of mixing religion and politics so closely as Mr. Perry is doing, is in direction contradiction to the United States Constitution and frankly, we find that a little scary. We point out Iran's religious dogmatic approach to world relations so why do we want to go there? One religion is better than the other? In the end, Mr. Perry has some extreme views that will cause a potential candidacy to be unsuccessful - such as suggesting at one point that Texas secede from the Union. To reference Bill Maher, you can't run the United States, if you don't believe in the 'united' part.
Never raising taxes, as we've said in this column numerous times, is an unrealistic position if this country is to ever be genuinely serious about solving our budget problems. However, and there's a big however, Mr. Graham did say that we should end the oil subsidies being doled out by the government to the giant oil companies. In Grover Norquist's world, this is considered a tax hike and is unacceptable. In a reasonable person's world, it's a handout from the government to entities that don't need the assist.
By the way, the ending oil subsidies idea came from Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) standing up with common sense against Mr. Norquist's influence and since Mr. Coburn jumped this fence, we've seen other Republican politicians follow. If this is the way in which we have to tackle our country's revenue intake problem, then at least it's something and a start.
With regard to cuts, we side with Mr. Durbin in that Medicare is a basic promise that the U.S. Government (our politicians) have made to the American people. Medicare is something that by paying taxes we pay into. To cut the benefits later that we pay for now, it literally taking money from us for nothing in return.
At this point, Mr. Gregory asked both Senators if we were headed in the direction of Greece, whose government has made what he termed draconian cuts, which has sparked civil unrest in that country. Both politicians said no, and Mr. Graham pointed out that the 2010 mid-term election was a referendum on spending and the deficit, which was to say that the American people want severe cuts in spending of the Republican variety therefore no civil unrest. As we've previous discussed in this column, the Republicans have misinterpreted the result of this election since the results came in.
But as we know now, the Republicans have in most people's estimation, overreached with the Ryan budget and on local points of scale. For example, in Wisconsin, where Governor Walker stripped union collective bargaining rights. However, soon the people could view what's going on through this prism - the Democrats are ineffectual and the Republicans aren't considering the true human cost of their actions, and so where does that leave us?
Major shifts in spending have to happen for this country to become solvent, and Republicans haven't faced the truth of that. On the other hand, Democrats do not have the necessary unity within the party to fight with a solid voice to re-prioritize where the dollars go.
Right now, many members of Congress are deciding one place where they don't want the dollars to go and that place is to the military effort in Libya. And though this is a North African country, we're all over the map with this place. Politicians from both parties are calling for defunding the NATO effort, and cite the War Powers Act as the reason - the 60-day time limit for the President to act unilaterally has passed and Congress wants answers.
Today, Mr. Graham said that the War Powers Act isn't worth the paper it's print on and that the President should in fact step up his game in Libya. Chuck Todd, during the panel, said that the President did not do his due diligence in telling members of Congress his reasoning on our actions in that country, and that is definitely a mistake. But the conundrum with Libya is that this action is part of a NATO operation, and in that we may have to do things we don't necessarily want to, just as it was correctly pointed out during the panel that we asked our NATO ally Italy to participate in our was in Iraq, which that country did not want to do, but did.
[Aside: In the phrasing of that last sentence, we said "war in Iraq," not war with Iraq. We have three wars going on, and we're at war with no country, just in countries. In WWII we were at war with Germany and Japan, but how times have changed in a more disturbing direction. Using maximum war power force in countries who we're not technically at war with creates a climate of the U.S. at will going into sovereign countries and using military force. This is happening now and if the roles were reversed in some way, where a country arbitrarily came into this country and started shooting things up, how do you think people would react. A bad long-term trend is what we're on here.]
Now, Mr. Gregory pointed out that NATO isn't working in the case of Libya, about which he is correct, but that's most likely because the U.S. hasn't taken the lead and the President with two other wars on his plate, is hesitant to take the lead on this deferring to our NATO allies, who aren't doing a good job. This is probably because they are now so used to the United States doing the heavy lifting that now that they're asked to do it, they're not quite prepared.
Senator Graham continued by saying that he wanted to see U.S. air power back into the mix, a view that is shared by Senator John McCain (R-AZ). There is no question that Republican Senators would like to see Col. Quadafi out of the picture. As pointed out during the panel, Libya is not going well for NATO, but the United States will kill NATO if it doesn't support this action, which brings us to Robert Gates' citation that the Republicans in particular do not have consensus on the United States' role in the world. It makes us think of leading by example, which the United States certainly does not do, we're more like do as I say, not as I do, at least right now we are.
And the news maker for the day was when Senator Graham warned Republican candidates that if they try to go left of President Obama on Afghanistan, Libya, or Iraq, that that position will certainly be a loser because that's not a Republican position. But the Republican candidates seemed more in an isolationist stance collectively on Monday night's debate.
Former Governor Romney said that only the Afghanis can win their freedom, to which Richard Engel, making a rare stateside appearance said that if you're going to make decisions on foreign policy, you better know that the people are Afghans and the currency is Afghani. The fact is that the Republican candidates don't care about such details. But Mr. Romney has shown that he'll say anything as long as it is politically expedient and that's why people aren't really excited by his candidacy - this from the solid front runner as Mr. Todd termed him.
Getting back to the macro look for a moment, Richard Engel called Secretary Gates' statement on one of his reasons for retiring chilling. And if you think about it, it is in fact very disconcerting what Mr. Gates said, which was that because of our economy, we do not have the ability to lead the world and that he didn't want to be part of that. In other words, our longest tenured Secretary of Defense doesn't want to represent us, our military, around the world because we can not get our shit together here at home.
And speaking of which, it was very helpful to have Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa from Los Angeles on the program because he does have his finger on the pulse of what cities face, and it all starts with our cities. He posed the proposition that if we had the $126 billion that we spend on the war in Afghanistan for domestic purpose, think what we could do, given the local budget crises we have around the country. His perspective was grounding and should be noted - he said that when Washington is focused on scandal, it feels like that city is coming from another planet. He also pointed out that Washington politicians contemplating defaulting on our debt do not have any idea what that would do to the economy, where we interpreted as 'local economies and people's pocketbooks.'
Given the content above, are we Greece as we posed in the title of this week's column. The answer is no, but we're more going the way of Brasil. In Brasil, there are many nice houses and apartments and living standards for a segment of the population are quite good. But after the churrasco and capirinhas, take a walk to the edge of the lush property, look across the street and down the hill, and what do you see? Shanties for a mile. A little over-dramatization? We'll concede, but at least Brasil is trying to move away from this direction instead of moving toward it.
Round Table: President-elect of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Antonio Villaraigosa, The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page editor Paul Gigot, Presidential Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, NBC Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and NBC Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd
Presidential Politics:
On today's show as per usual, there was the discussion of Presidential candidates, most notably Former Governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, and current Texas Governor, Rick Perry. In terms of what was discussed today, here's our quick take.
Tim Pawlenty during Monday's debate backed away from his 'Obamneycare' when face to face with Governor Romney himself. Plain and simple, Mr. Pawlenty wimped out, and then admitted as much in the days following. Here it is - he's done, no shot at winning - contributing to his campaign is wasting your money. America doesn't elect wimps, period.
With regard to Rick Perry, it seems that pundit and media land are salivating for him to get in the race. If Mr. Perry does decide to get in the race, he would get a huge push and would look great for a longer period of time than the others running now, but Mr. Perry has too many flaws. One is beyond his control, which is Texas fatigue - social conservative politicians from Texas are not the desired flavor of the Buck Country wealthy Republicans of the northeast as Ms. Godwin pointed out. Secondly, Mr. Perry has his August 6th National Day of Prayer coming up. We find this notion of mixing religion and politics so closely as Mr. Perry is doing, is in direction contradiction to the United States Constitution and frankly, we find that a little scary. We point out Iran's religious dogmatic approach to world relations so why do we want to go there? One religion is better than the other? In the end, Mr. Perry has some extreme views that will cause a potential candidacy to be unsuccessful - such as suggesting at one point that Texas secede from the Union. To reference Bill Maher, you can't run the United States, if you don't believe in the 'united' part.
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