Republicans Have no Interest in Solving America’s Problems

For months Republicans have been whining that health care negotiations were being held in secret and that none of their ideas were being included. Over the weekend the White House announced that President Obama wanted to convene a health care summit with leaders of both parties at the end of the month. The white House went on to say that the entire summit would be broadcast on television. In response, Republicans have stated that they will not participate unless President Obama scraps the entire packages adopted by the House and Senate.

As usual, Republicans have no interest in participating in discussions designed to solve our nation’s problems; instead, they are committed to continuing their strategy of obstructing progress at any turn. Republicans do not care about the future of our nation—they are more concerned with doing their best to make sure President Obama and the Democrats have nothing to take credit for in the mid-term elections scheduled for November.

As long as Americans continues supporting a political system that revolves around political parties Americans should get use to the reality that America is unable and unwilling to solve its problems. The only chance we have to solve our problems is if the future of all elected official’s is determined by their ability to work towards solutions. Currently, our officials are rewarded not for solving our problems, but for making sure the opposing party gets no credit.

If you are Interested in Equality Boycott the Super Bowl on CBS

Yesterday, CBS decided not to sell advertising space to ManCrunch.com (a gay dating website during the Super Bowl.) The network said it refused the ad, in part, because it was not sure the owners of the site could pay for the airtime. But the website owners offered to pay for the airtime in cash. So, there was no question that CBS would have been paid.

In response to this outrageous act of censorship and discrimination I have launched a movement on Facebook to boycott CBS’s coverage of the Super Bowl. I look forward to joining you in standing up for equality.

If you are interested in seeing the commercial or finding a date visit the ManCrunch site.

President Obama is Growing on Me

Readers of this blog know that I have disagreed with President Obama on many occasions. Lately, however, I have found myself really sympathizing for the president and all he is dealing with. My feelings of sympathy for him are slowly becoming feelings of optimism for the kind of president he can become. I thought his State of the Union address was one of the most effective I have ever seen. I do not know if it succeeded in changing any minds, but I do think it demonstrated President Obama’s growth into his job.

Yesterday, I watched him answer questions from House Republicans. In my opinion, that was President Obama’s best and most forceful defense of his agenda. But what I liked most about his interactions with the House Republicans was his willingness to confront them when they distorted his record, lied or invented alternate realities. Anyone who is interested in feeling better about the Obama presidency or simply wants to see an unscripted version of President Obama should watch the video. After seeing it I am convinced that President Obama could gain control of the debate again if he would trade in his teleprompter for some old fashioned discussion.

Do Hatians Deserve Tainted Trailers?

Do you remember the trailers FIMA purchased for residents of the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina? Do you remember that those trailers were found to contain high levels of formaldehyde (a chemical used in building construction)? Do you remember that some Americans died from being exposed to the air in those trailers and that others became very ill?

Well, some lawmakers, and the corporate masters who rule them, have come up with a plan for disposing of the thousands of trailers that remain. They believe it would be a good idea to send the possibly tainted trailers to Haiti.

Right about now you might be asking why business interests would care whether or not America sends Haiti potentially deadly trailers? The answer is very simple. The government is poised to begin selling these trailers at auction for deeply discounted prices. Trailers that might ordinarily sell for 20 thousand dollars are going to be sold for as little as 500 dollars. Even though the government is telling people not to live in the trailers some may choose to take the risk. Others are expected to use them as storage units. Either way, all the people who purchase the government-owned trailers will not be purchasing much more expensive trailers from American companies.

It is true that the people of Haiti need shelter. But suggesting we send them trailers we have determined to be unsafe for our own people to inhabit is about as crude as one can get. The people of Haiti need help—they do not need us to stick them with potentially deadly dwellings simply because American companies will suffer from the current plan. Personally, I think the trailers should be destroyed and the manufacturers sued, but that’s me.

Obama Deserves Credit for Considering Ideas to Move Mohammed’s Trial

It appears that the Obama administration will soon agree to move the scheduled trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11th attacks, to a new venue. Currently Mohammed and four other members of al-Qaeda are scheduled to face justice at the federal courthouse in Manhattan—blocks from the scene of the attack in New York City. Reports indicate that the administration, after hearing from the mayor of New York City, is considering moving the trial to a military base or some other secure location in the state.

Personally, I think this would be a fine compromise. While I believe New York City would be safe if the trials were held there I can understand why the people might be uncomfortable with having them. Holding the trials at another location would also greatly reduce the cost associated with trying such dangerous people. As long as the rules of civilian court are followed and federal judicial personnel work the cases we should not get hung up on the physical locations of the trials.

Additionally, I do not even care if the trials are open to the public. But if they are closed to the public the portions of the trials that do not deal with classified information should be broadcast on television. The public has a right to follow what goes on, but its right does not have to be as unfettered as it is under normal circumstances.

Republicans will try and paint this decision as a setback for President Obama and the notion that extreme terrorists can be tried within the United States and its civilian court system; however, I think a correct interpretation of any decision to move the trials is that the administration listened to valid concerns and moved to address them. If someone is really interested in being fair to the president they would see it this way. As we know, the Republicans care more about politics than fairness so I do not see Mr. Obama getting much credit for listening, reacting and still working within the ideals we pay lip service to.

Osama Bin Laden: Environmental Soldier

Osama Bin Laden, obviously feeling the heat from America’s intensifying efforts on the Afghanistan Pakistan border, has released his second audio tape this week. In this recording Bin Laden the Muslim warrior has become Bin Laden the environmental soldier.

Throughout the tape Bin Laden criticizes America’s decision not to sign the Kyoto climate agreement. It is true that Bin Laden takes a swing at all industrialized nations, but he believes the US deserves special condemnation since the US would not ratify Kyoto. In response, Bin Laden suggests that the world move off of the dollar standard in an effort to bring the US economy to its knees.

The Judiciary is Political–Get Over it

I have no idea why President Obama’s decision to mention the Supreme Court’s ruling that allows corporations to spend limitless amounts of money on elections and Justice Alito’s reaction to Obama’s comments have become a political storm. The last time I checked most Americans seemed to like the idea that Americans are free to share their thoughts. So, what is wrong with President Obama offering his opinion on a ruling of the Supreme Court? What is wrong with Justice Alito demonstrating his disagreement with President Obama’s comments? Whether you agree with the sentiment voiced by Obama or you prefer the majority opinion backed by Alito you should strongly support the notion that both men have a right to their opinion.

It seems that much of the anger towards both men results from the quaint, antiquated idea that the judiciary is not political. History provides us no evidence that the court has ever really been above politics. For at least the last four decades the Court has been very politically active. Unfortunately, when it comes to high-profile, politically-charged issues the law has become little more than an irritant that the Court must overcome to reach the outcome it desires. I wish the Court was above politics, but that would require a break from human nature from its membership that seems almost impossible to achieve.

Moving forward, we should accept the reality that the Court is political and no longer allow justices to ssserve until they die. This way, the political ideology of the court can better reflect our ever evolving society.

If you Want More Jobs You Should Want More Stimulus

There has been much discussion about our nation’s economic recovery. Obviously, things are getting better for the economy as a whole, but the benefits are currently limited to a select few. Today, the government announced that our economy grew by 7.5 percent during the fourth quarter of 2009. That was the second consecutive quarter of growth following four quarters of loss. Of course, the numbers for third-quarter growth were revised down twice so it would not be surprising to see the 7.5 percent number decreased when all of the final numbers have been gathered. Analysts believe the fourth-quarter growth resulted from the efforts of business to restock inventories and government spending. Consumer spending, which normally leads our economy, is still lagging.

To highlight the class-driven problems in today’s economy, the government has announced that wages and benefits rose 1.5 percent in 2009. This represented the smallest increase since records started being kept in 1982. Since consumer spending normally comprises 70 percent of our economy it is easy to see why most economists expect the growth of our economy to slow once business inventories are settled and government spending slows.

The take home message from all of this should be that we all need to suck it up and allow the government to spend ambitiously for at least the rest of the year. Unfortunately, the government is the spender of last resort. If no one else can or will spend the government must in order to keep our fragile recovery going. So, if you are worried about unemployment and you would like to see wages and benefits increase you should support another round of stimulus. If you do not then realize that you, not the Obama administration, is to blame for what will at best be a lackluster recovery and at worst will be another recession. Recovering from disasters requires painful choices—get use to it.

Stimulus Helped All Americans–Even if They Don’t Know it did

Normally, I do not write or discuss polls. But there is so much credible evidence to support the conclusions drawn by this one that it is worth a discussion.

In this CNN poll only one-quarter of Americans believe the stimulus bill has helped middle-class Americans. Only one-third of Americans believe the stimulus bill has helped low-income Americans. But 54 percent of Americans believe the stimulus bill has helped Wall Street executives and big banks.

In politics perception becomes reality. So, the Obama administration must aggressively confront the false notion that the stimulus bill has not helped average Americans. Convincing a majority of Americans to see the stimulus bill as a solid part of our slow economic recovery will be difficult because Democrats have allowed Republicans to paint the stimulus bill with a toxic brush. Having said that, most reputable economists and the Congressional Budget Office believe that the stimulus bill deserves some credit for helping turn the economy in the right direction. It is also largely accepted, by those without a political agenda, that without the stimulus bill our economy would be much weaker than it is today.

The challenge for the Obama administration, then, is to try and reframe the discussion. A majority of Americans must be convinced that without the billions poured into the economy by the stimulus bill things would be much worse for most Americans. Successfully making this argument will be tough, because it is always much more difficult to convince an angry public that things are better than they would have been than it is to simply scream about the existing problems—as Republicans are free to do. Personally, I am not sure that Obama, or anyone, could pull off this important feat. If he fails efforts to add much-needed additional funds to the economy through a second stimulus package that targets only job creation will be very hard. Republicans have noticed that their best way to become the majority again is to actively work to sink our economy and oppose everything else. Unfortunately, the average voter fails to recognize how easily they are being manipulated.

The man who Took Down ACORN has Been Arrested

Yesterday, four young conservatives were arrested for tampering with the phone system in the New Orleans office of Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu. Two of the men entered the office wearing tool belts, hardhats and florescent vests. Upon entering they told staffers they needed to make repairs to the phone system. As they entered a third man began recording their actions on his cell phone. The fourth man was arrested outside the building with a listening device.

Normally, any attempt to bug the phone system of a Senator would draw a great deal of scrutiny. But this case is even more interesting than it might be expected to be under normal conditions. The man who was videotaping the event is James O’Keefe. As you may remember, O’Keefe gained acclaim in Republican circles when he posed as a pimp and videotaped the efforts of ACORN employees to assist the theoretical pimp and his theoretical prostitute in finding housing, possibly opening a brothel and using children for sex.

It is being reported that O’Keefe and his collaborators were angry with Landrieu because of the special Medicaid-related deal she got in exchange for her vote in favor of health care reform. To be sure, Landrieu’s deal, and all the others made to secure passage of the Senate’s health care bill, were disgusting. But illegally taping the conversations of anyone—even if you believe you are going to be able to use those recordings to show corruption is illegal and wrong. Mr. O’Keefe and his friends might be popular in conservative circles, but they are not law enforcement officers. Let’s hope they have a few years in jail to think about what they have done.