GOP Presidential candidates channeling Occupy Wall Street

What's that?  Did I hear what I think I heard?  Could it be a change of heart within the field of GOP Presidential candidate about "class warfare".  After months of belittling and bashing the Occupy Wall Street movement for bringing attention to concentrated wealth and income inequity, Newt Gengrich, John Hunstman, Rick Santorum, and Rick Perry are all channeling some form of populist outrage towards Mitt Romney.  

According to Harold Meyerson's Op-ed in the Washington Post, it appears the GOP field has finally become aware of "the economy that most people experience."  Almost to a person, with the exception of Ron Paul - who's coming to Romney's defense for his affinity to fire people and companies for poor performance - all are jumping on the front runner for his work at Bain Capital, a venture capital firm that Romney lead, which seems to have killed rather than created jobs. 

But this seems too simple of an explanation.  A story in Wednesday's Politico cites a Pew Research Center Poll that show nearly two-thirds of Americans see very strong or strong class conflict in society.  (To view the complete Pew Research Center Poll report, click here.)  While this field of GOP Presidential hopefuls are battling for the support of Republican voters, its likely they are seeing the same thing in their polling.  If not, they're not asking the right questions. 

While John Huntsman is a multi-millionaire in his own right, Mitt Romney is the obvious target and most importantly the "frontrunner" heading into South Carolina.  Also, contrary to his self-promotion that he knows how to create jobs - having done so to the tune of over 100,000 while at the helm of Bain Capital, Romney's presidential rivals are painting him as the embodiment of everything that's wrong with American Capitalism. 

Not to worry, Newt and the gang still have plenty to say about Obama's handling of the economy and unemployment.  Doesn't matter that the economy was well on its way into a virtual death spiral before he even took the oath of office, they're still going to try and deflect as much attention from their embrace of failed Supply-side economic policies as possible, and in the same breath call for less regulation which is what got us to this point in the first place.  But when you're the frontrunner for the GOP nomination, to hell with Reagan's 11th Commandment - Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican. 

Image found at:  http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120108081441-gop-candidates-at-saturday-new-hampshire-debate-story-top.jpg 

The name of this GOP natural disaster: STUPIDITY

How many different ways can the GOP shoot themselves in the foot?  Here are a few examples from just this past week:

• In response to the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that rattled Virginia and states up and down the eastern seaboard, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor commented that in order to assist those people affected, “those monies” need to be “offset with appropriate savings or cost-cutting elsewhere.”

• As Hurricane Irene approached, Tea Party darling and GOP Presidential hopeful, Congressman Ron Paul renewed his call for the elimination of FEMA, stating that funding FEMA contributes to the “deficit financing” of the Federal Budget.

• This past week Republicans actually came out in support of a TAX INCREASE. Would the proposed tax increase come from letting the Bush Era Tax Cuts for the wealthy expire? Oh no. It would come from letting the Payroll Tax Holiday expire on those that earn less than $107,000 of earned income. That translates into a tax increase of $1,000 on those earning $50,000 per year, and $2,000 for those that make $100,000 per year.

If you're keeping a running tally, add all the above plus the bill that Speaker Boehner was pushing just prior to the August 2nd deadline to raise the Debt Ceiling, which was held hostage by Republican Congressman Bob Goodlatte, until the Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) was added to the bill.  Should I mention that Boehner's bill was DOA without the BBA?  Or that virtually every credentialed economist, to a one, has concluded that a BBA is one of the dumbest public policy ideas ever conceived?  

It seems as if the GOP is going out of its way to say “screw the working poor and middle class in this country. They don’t pay their fair share anyway. And you can clean up your own mess, figure out how to restore your own power, get clean drinking water, bandage your own wounds, search and recover your own dead bodies from the aftermath of an earthquake and hurricane.” 

WOW!  And this group want to lead our nation?  Thanks but no thanks.  I'll take my chances with another natural disaster over leadership like this, ANYTIME. 

How in the world can this political party say they care about America, they love this country, but if you don't do as they say, they'll destroy the nation unless their political agenda and policies are adopted?  How can any American support people like this?  

Image found at:  http://www.carolinalifestyles.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/hurricane-warning-flag.jpg 

DOW DROPS OVER 400 PTS: GOP & Tea Party cure worse than the disease

Just when people were catching their collective breath from the drama that was the Debt Ceiling Crisis, the Dow has dropped over 400 points. 

This hasn't happened since December 1, 2008.  The day's not over yet, and stocks could claw their way back, but this is a bad day on Wall Street. 

I sure hope holding the nation hostage over no tax increases for the wealthy and the Balanced Budget Amendment was worth it?  Consumer demand is the problem, not Government spending. 



Image found at:  https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxt5IpC-Uzg3RyWf0idxyYD_k0cV9l_03ztodDvBOyUk6GQ7qQHluD01WglrnpeevRKpQttjh9lAo_RRF_SVQuHdYCP3bGOekmebc_1etyZMIGtCqxQp1MhO2-I3W-Bb8CmJyb2gos2-E/s1600/ask+Dr_Mom%252C+taking+medicine%252C+children%2527s+health.jpg 

Hold your nose!

There's no other way to say it, but this vote stinks!  While I'm sure that there are plenty of Republicans that held their noses or had one hand over their eyes, this one didn't sit well with the Democrats either. 

There's still the vote in the Senate, and they have to get 60 to cut off debate to even have a vote.  But it will likely just be a process matter. 

What else can be said about this particular vote.  No one was a winner, the losers were the American people, and we still kicked the can down the road to deal with on yet another day. 


Here's the Roll Call for the Virginia delegation: 

Yeas – Cantor (R), Connolly (D), Goodlatte (R), Hurt (R), Rigell (R), Wolf (R)

Nays – Forbes (R), Griffith (R), Moran (D), Scott (D), Whitman (R)

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll690.xml#Y 

Correction: 

Yeas – Cantor (R), Connolly (D), Goodlatte (R), Hurt (R), Rigell (R), Wittman (R), Wolf (R)


Nays – Forbes (R), Griffith (R), Moran (D), Scott (D)

Krugman is right!

No matter how many ways you slice it, President Obama has bent over backwards to work with the GOP and their Tea Party leadership to address: 1) raising the Debt Ceiling, and 2) making painful cuts to entitlements. 

Even when the GOP gets what they want, which is massive, massive cuts in entitlements and other government programs, they are still not willing to concede the other part to the problem - Revenues. 

Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul Krugman, lays it out in his column this morning, how if the GOP and the Tea Party really cared about governing and what's best for the people of the United States, they would have agreed to the President's and Democrats' conditions on revenues by closing tax loopholes and eliminating some very popular exemptions in order to pay down the national debt and start bringing cost under control. 

As further evidence of the willingness of Democrats to do what's best for the financial stability of the nation, and the world, they even proposed taking out most of their demands on the revenue side of the ledger by pointing out that with both Iraq and Afghanistan winding down, we would be able to count that funding towards reductions in spending. 

But yet again, the GOP and Tea Party deny that the money spent on both wars counts towards our deficit spending.  Are they really that departed from reality that they thought the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were freebies?  That Iraq and Afghanistan didn't cost this nation a dime?  Come on! 

So Paul Krugman is absolutely right.  Even when the GOP and Tea Party gets everything they want, and more, they care more about what's best for their own political base than what's best for the nation. 

Even if Obama agreed with them that the world was flat and that the planet was actually cooling rather than heating up, it still wouldn't be good enough for them. 

Don't look, but the GOP and the Tea Party are about to off all the hostages.  In case you're wondering who the hostages are - they're US. 

Image found at:  https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNS9y0WzUJ3cOzBoJiqqZlMVOk1jAUMji1tFUKtsRY7x3pLpEkODX82LlDU7VGkhGWs1yoYeA2v6prAclkS5cmF3WnP4yFbwTvOH4XRfaclC6xX62YYxzMEI11rAKpuJevFZ7MLm-gmyX/s1600/hostage.jpg 

GOP playing "Chicken" with the Debt Ceiling

On Tuesday, May 31st, the GOP controlled House of Representatives voted down a "clean" bill to increase the Federal Government's Debt Limit by $2.4 trillion.  By a vote of 97 - 318, the symbolic vote on the "clean" bill went down to defeat as expected.  All House Republicans voted against it and were joined by 82 Democrats. 

The current debt limit is set at $14.3 trillion and if the bill had passes, would have gone to $16.7 trillion.  Now you might say that teaching the Federal Government a lesson, like credit card companies do by not increasing a person's credit limit when they have maxed out their credit card, seems reasonable and the Federal Government should live within their budget.  Fair enough except for one thing,...the Federal Government is not the average consumer. 

Tied to the debt ceiling is our credit rating, which as it stands now is still very, very good.  Just for comparison sake, Greece was recently downgraded, again, from B1 to Caa1.  As one international business analyst on CNBC described it, this is almost Junk Bond level and very close to a point where the nation of Greece could default on its debt payments.  The United States is still in the AAA rating level, but if we can't pay our bills it affects the rest of the world in really bad ways. 

The simple fact is that the Republicans are more scared of the anti-tax, anti-government Tea Party wing of their caucus than they are of an even worse, shall we say nightmare scenario, of the U.S. government possibly defaulting on its debt obligations.  Heck, the GOP won't even consider raising taxes on the wealthy.  Their solution, only balance the budget and reduce our national debt by cutting the Federal Budget.  Tied to that faulty logic is cutting Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security which are paid for separately and aren't even the reason for our national debt.  That's it.  That's their path to prosperity. 

The Democrats on the other hand, don't want to cut any more from the budget and see their best opportunity to drive home the point that while tax payers don't want to pay anymore in taxes, they don't want to see any cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security.  If it means tax payers have to pay a little more in taxes to continue these programs, as well as other popular social programs, they'll do it. 

This sentiment has been aided by Congressman Paul Ryan's budget proposal that turns Medicare into a voucher program and shifts more of the health care costs away from the Federal Government and onto seniors.  Simply put, this idea has gone over like a lead balloon. 

It seems like the GOP would clue in and be more fearful of the American Voter than the fringe elements of their Tea Party caucus.  During the 2010 Mid-Term elections, Republicans did a masterful job in scaring seniors and others that depend on the very programs they now propose gutting in order to balance the Federal Budget.  They were just as adept at painting Democrats as out of the mainstream and tagging them with the bad guy lable.  It's clear now, the tables have turned. 

It's not an overreach, or a stretch, to label what the GOP and their Tea Party caucus are trying to do as outside of the mainstream of America, or shall we say extreme or FRINGE.  This is a very dangerous game the Teapublicans are playing with the Debt Ceiling, and if they don't stop the losers will not only be their House Majority or chances at regaining the Senate or the White House, but the American people.

Is Trump the second coming of Jesse Ventura?

Some would liken Donald Trumps second flirtation with a Presidential run to that of Ross Perot.  But then again, Trump has taken several steps that indicate he is more serious this time than in the past.   There's no question that Donald Trump is a media darling, but the conventional wisdom from the "eye rolling" political establishment is that he's not a serious candidate.  Or is he? 

According to Politico, Trump has reached out to conservative faith leaders and groups, has contacted several high level Republican consultants and media firms, started looking at potential campaign managers, and is preparing FEC paperwork that would provide more concrete details about his vast financial holdings.  All this seems to be adding up to running in the GOP Presidential Primary.  Then again, the possibility of an independent run is not out of the question. 

With an American electorate that is weary of the overexposed hyper-partisanship, an independent run by Trump would parallel that of former Navy SEAL, former Pro-Wrestling star, and former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura.  No one took Ventura serious from either side (Democrats or Republicans).  Because of this he was able to tap into frustration with establishment party politics and mobilize a block of non-traditional voters (WWF/WCW/WWE) that propelled Ventura to the Governorship.

Now, we're talking about a Presidential run here and not something small like a Governor's race.  But the reason why any one should even entertain the thought---The Donald has deep, deep pockets and is one of the few people that could even come close to competing with Obama, dollar for dollar.  Nice to speculate but is it really that inconceivable?  We will see... 

Images found at:  http://nymag.com/daily/intel/30_trumpconcern_lgl.jpg and http://www.prisonplanet.com/images/july2005/010705ventura.jpg

Speaker Boehner: "so be it" if Federal workers lose their jobs

President Obama's proposed budget doesn't cut deep enough for the GOP.  If the GOP gets their way with the austerity ax, the jobs of the Federal workforce are on the chopping block.  According to CNN, during a news conference today, Speaker of the House John Boehner said that,

"Over the last two years since President Obama has taken office, the federal government has added 200,000 new federal jobs and if some of those jobs are lost in this, so be it."

It would seem that Speaker Boehner and the GOP have declared war on Federal Workers.  Now this 200,000 new federal jobs number cited by Boehner seems like a lot and would lead you to believe that the Federal workforce is growing faster than the private sector.  But not so fast.  The folks over at Political Correction, a project of Media Matters, did some fact checking and found that Speaker Boehner's numbers don't jive.

Since President Obama took office, the Federal workforce has grown by 58,000.  Since Obama's economic policies have taken effect, it has only grown by 25,000 jobs.  This is all according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. 

Now to provide a little context, from December 2007 to July 2009 (the end of Bush's second term and the first six months of Obama's first term) the private sector lost 7,796,000 jobs.  The private sector went from 115,574,000 people in the workforce to 107,778,000 during that same period.  What this means is that during that same period government spending remained the same and tax revenue (income taxes, federal gas tax, etc.) fell as well.  When that happens, what do you get...?  Not just a Budget Deficit, but an exacerbated budget deficit.  This all gets added to the National Debt. 

In July of 2009, there were 107,649,000.  As of January 2011, there were 108,030,000 people in the private sector workforce.  That's an increase of 381,000 private sector jobs.  In the whole scheme of things, relatively flat job growth but still positive.  Keep in mind that the Federal Government added and shed thousands of temporary Census Worker jobs and still, there was only an increase of 25,000 federal jobs. 

In short, Mr. Speaker, you need to get your facts straight.  Also, don't be so quick to take the ax to the budget in the rush to austerity.  Take a look at how well taking the ax to the budget has worked in Britain.  According to an article on Salon.com by Andrew Leonard,

"Wasting no time, the new coalition U.K. government led by Prime Minister David Cameron, made a dramatic package of government spending cuts its first order of business. Many U.S. conservatives have looked with great longing at the austerity surge. The numbers are staggering -- an average 19 percent cut for all government departments, resulting in half a million public sector layoffs.

And look! Just as the Keynesians predicted, the economy immediately slumped, apparently proving that the last thing a government should do in a weak economic climate is suddenly kick the legs out of the demand side of the economy. It could happen here, Obama should argue! It's still too soon, and the U.S. economy is too fragile, to make austerity the watchword of the day."

This anit-worker, anti-government worker (at any level of government) attitude coming from the Speaker of the House is reckless, but more importantly its just disappointing.  Sure, there are lots of stories out there about government employees, at any level, that are caught in the act of being lazy or waisting tax payer dollars, but for the most part these are people that do their jobs and are good stewards of our tax monies.  I would wager to say that there's more waist from private sector employees than public sector.  The only difference is the public sector is under a much bigger microscope. 

Its a fact that the U.S. Federal government is the largest employer in the country.  You start cutting thousands, hundreds of thousands of government jobs it just might be a cut too deep.  The only saving grace is that Democrats control the Senate and the White House.  Does this mean a government shutdown is inevitable?  Not necessarily.  At this point, they're just a bunch of turkeys struttin' around, puffing up their chest to see who's the biggest, baddest turkey.  Oh well,...

GO HOKIES!

GOP stuck in campaign mode, signalling they haven't learned anything

If the Sunday morning Talk Shows are any indication of the GOP's plan for governing (at least from the U.S. House of Representatives), they haven't learned a thing.  Time after time Sunday morning, GOP House Leaders were pushed to provide specifics on what their plan was for balancing the budget and cutting the deficit.  All they could say was "repeal Obamacare and cut spending."  But what exactly? 

Then there's this bit from the likely incoming House Finance Chair, Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL), warning of a potential "mass exodus" from U.S. Banks if the Volcker Rule is fully implemented. 

According to the letter Bachus sent to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as reported by CNN,...

"If the Volcker Rule's prohibitions are expansively interpreted and rigidly implemented against U.S. institutions while other nations refuse to adopt them, the damage to U.S. competitiveness and job creation could be substantial."

So, in other words we need to keep the Banks at the pre-2008 Great Recession regulatory status, which is more or less UNREGULATED with no separation between Commercial and Traditional banks. 

All this could just be placating to the incoming Tea Party "Caucus", but then again it could mean they have learned nothing from the economic and regulatory history they heavily shaped over the last 30 years. 

Michele Bachmann is knock, knock, kockin' on the GOP Leadership door

In all due deference and respect to Guns 'n Roses classic, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", the first real test of the Tea Party's influence is Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's bid to move up into the GOP Leadership.  Click here for the story from Politico. 

If there's a poster child for demagoguery and evangelical nationalism, Michele Bachmann fills that role perfectly.  Let's see if the Speaker-in-waiting, John Boehner, and the Majority Leader-in-waiting, Eric Cantor, will answer the Tea Party darling's call. 

Will fiscal discipline mean longer Bread Lines?

Despite the demagoguery of TARP and the Stimulus by establishment Republicans, and the Tea Party movement that is being co-oped by the GOP, one of the things that is keeping people fed is TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). 

So, with Tea Party candidates poised to have a better than noticeable presence in both the House and Senate, banging the drum of "No Compromise" with Democrats or the White House, what does this bode for the nation's strained social safety net? 

In today's Roanoke Times, there's an article on the modern-day version of Depression Era Bread Lines.  Despite the so-called waist and failure of the Stimulus, TANF funding, along with Unemployment and a whole host of other programs, have been a life line to millions directly impacted by the Great Recession.  These programs are in the cross hairs of the Tea Party Movement and the GOP Establishment. 

The reality is that contemporary Bread Lines exist.  But what if the Stimulus had not passed?  How much longer would they be? 

TODAY IS ELECTION DAY. 

VOTE YOUR FOR YOUR PRINCIPLES AND YOUR HUMANITY. 

GO VOTE! 

Healthcare Reform Poll: 81% believe new health care law will add to national debt

All than can be said is that the GOP's efforts to distort and misinform the public about the overhauls to the nation's health care system and Health Insurance Industry, have worked.  As reported by the Associated Press, in a poll commissioned by AP and conducted by Stanford University and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 

People were asked whether the Congressional Budget Office had ruled that the legislation would probably increase the government's debt, or whether the nonpartisan budget analysts found that the health law would reduce red ink. (Correct answer: CBO found it would reduce the federal deficit over time.)

But 81 percent in the survey got the wrong answer, including a majorities of both supporters and opponents - even though Obama seldom misses a chance to remind audiences of CBO's favorable report.

The long and short of it, most Americans don't understand what's in and what's out or if it's going to cost them more or less.  The health care reforms that were signed into law six months ago tomorrow, haven't even come close to being fully implemented.   So why are most Americans opposed to the new health care reforms?

As reported in Politico today,

“The expectation or hope that as the memory of the debate faded, public opinion would turn has simply not worked out,” said William Galston, a former Clinton adviser who is now at the Brookings Institution. “Even with the front-loaded benefits having just begun to kick in, they have not begun to register." 

One other reason why people are uneasy about the health care overhaul, in March the Congressional Budget Office revised their previous estimates of the reforms and the cost rose to over $1 Trillion over the next 10 years.  But, it still reduced the overall national debt by $100 Billion over that same period.  And the most contentious part of the reforms was the mandate to purchase health insurance by 2014. 

If the Republicans are able to gain the majority in the House of Representatives, there will be a big push to repeal or replace, or to defund major parts of the law.  If this happens, Health Care will cost more. 

Related links:  http://www.cbo.gov/publications/collections/health.cfm 

FINALLY, a common sense Conservative,... too bad he's on his way out

Republican Congressman Bob Inglis of South Carolina, who is as conservative as they come, was defeated for re-election in the Republican Primary.  No chance that seat was going Democratic, but he just wasn't conservative enough.  Why?  Listen to the interview by CNN's John Roberts: 



This hard, hard turn to the right in the GOP is going to devastate this party, if not relegate it to permanent minority party status after this election.  The damage to the GOP brand, the party of Lincoln, is so bad that whatever remains will be a shell of its former self. 

I'm not sure how Moderate Republicans will be able to stay in the GOP?  While I will disagree a whole lot with Conservatives like Congressman Inglis, there is a place for people like him in Congress.  Not a bunch of folks who will only intensify the white-hot rhetoric and push outright lies, misinformation, and distortions as absolute truth. 

Ex-Aides paint O'Donnell as someone not grounded in reality

In a year where any type of candidate with a pulse laying claim to the Republican mantle has a chance, former campaign aides to Christine O'Donnell during her 2008 trouncing are coming forward with more damaging insights into the Tea Party phenom. 

According to Politico, campaign staffers during here second stab at statewide office remember Christine O'Donnell as,

"a candidate who was less interested in conservative causes than scoring a television deal, one who suggested dodging campaign vendors, believed she could give the keynote speech at the Republican National Convention and fixated on a harebrained idea to distribute tens of thousands of two-ounce suntan lotion packets to voters."

For the full story, click here. 

I wish I could say that Progressives are immune from candidates like this, but I've worked with and been around more than my fair share.  But it's good for a change to see Conservatives flailing to figure out how close they stand to their newly minted Senate nominee.  At this point, it doesn't seem to be stopping South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint from raising money to just throw away on a lost cause.  Fine by me. 

Image found at:  http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/0916-wires-odonnell/8647196-1-eng-US/0916-wires-odonnell_full_380.jpg 

Extreme Right-Wing Conservatives snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory?

The 2010 Primary Season is officially over and victories by Tea Party back candidates have rocked the GOP establishment to their foundation.  Look no further than Delaware and Christine O'Donnell's victory over Congressman Mike Castle.  Up to this point, Republican Mike Castle had never lost a political contest in this deep, dark blue of blue Democratic strongholds.  This is a span of more than 20 years. 

While the Tea Party continues to demonstrate they're a force of conservative nature that the GOP establishment cannot contend with, the implications of their primary successes are just beginning to be felt.  Democrats, having been pummeled since the start of the Great Recession and throughout this lack-luster economic recovery, are feeling a stiff gust of wind in their sails with O'Donnell's win in Delaware.  Why? 

For starters, Christine O'Donnell is a perennial candidate with a personal credibility problem, has significant personal financial issues, has sued a former employer for discrimination and wrongful termination, and as the head of an "Abstinence Only" group made controversial statements regarding masturbation.  In a nutshell, O'Donnell is the GOP's worst nightmare come true.  Click here for the CNN report on her background. 

There seems to be widespread consensus that Delaware is off the target list for the NRSC, virtually assuring Democratic retention of the Senate.  But will O'Donnell's victory affect other GOP targets?  Possibly. 

Democrats now have a chance to turn the tables and make the case for them to retain control by nationalizing the Tea Party candidates as too extreme.  What kind of message can the Democrats cobble together with less than two months to go until November 2nd, that will hold the line for them to retain control? 

Just like Republicans were handed a gift by Democrats overreaching with their legislative agenda and not focusing on the economy first and then everything else, Democrats have been handed the gift of the Tea Party and the circular firing squad within the GOP.  Republicans had the Democrats on the ropes and the Tea Party threw a banana peal on the mat hoping Democrats would step on it and fall.  Whoops! 

So here's the picture Democrats have to paint for the General Election voters:  Message Received.  We hear you America and we'll do better.  But if you didn't like what the Republicans did when they had control, just wait and see if you give the keys back to this group.  Too extreme to govern and make rational decisions.  The GOP and the Tea Party will be the end of us all.  The GOP created this problem (The Tea Party) and now they can't put the crazy kid back in Juvee. 

Here's a short list of statewide GOP nominees that are supported by the Tea Party: 

Delaware U.S. Senate - Christine O'Donnell 
New York Governor - Carl Paladino 
South Carolina Governor - Nikki Haley 
South Carolina U.S. Senate - Senator Jim Demint 
Florida Governor - Rick Scott 
Florida U.S. Senate - Marco Rubio 
Kentucky U.S. Senate - Rand Paul 
Texas Governor - Governor Rick Perry
Utah U.S. Senate - Mike Lee 
Nevada U.S. Senate - Sharron Angle 
Alaska U.S. Senate - Joe Miller 

If you know of more, please add to the list.  But with just this list, the window of opportunity is there for Democrats to take advantage of the extremist candidates running on the GOP slate and put them under the magnifying glass.  Christine O'Donnell's victory might be the proverbial straw that breaks the camels back for the GOP to run the table.  Then again, the American public might just be that fed up with business as usual in Washington, D.C. to elect this group and their supporting cast. 

Image found at:  http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/09/14/0914_tread2_460x276.jpg 

Illegal immigration way down, but still a Hot Button issue for Goodlatte and the GOP

Several revealing reports came out last week debunking GOP claims that illegal immigration is up.  Most notable of those reports was the Pew Hispanic Center's showing an overall 8% drop in illegal immigrants living in the United States.  More significantly the annual inflow of new illegal immigrants dropped sharply, from a peak of 850,000 in 2005 to around 300,000 in 2009.

The Pew Hispanic Center report attributes the drop of inflow and unauthorized immigrants living in the United States to a corresponding decline in the economy and increased enforcement of immigration laws.  When compared to the years of GOP control of the White House and both chambers of Congress (2001 to 2007) where illegal immigration increased every year, Democratic control of the Executive and Legislative branches of government shows a reversal of that trend.

Sensing a growing tide of opposition to Democratic control, Republicans continue to beat the drum of illegal immigration as one of their signature wedge issues heading into the final two months of the 2010 Mid-Term elections. This despite the most recent evidence in the Pew Hispanic Center's September 1, 2010 report and data collected by ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) showing under Democratic control, enforcement of current immigration laws have increased significantly and deportations are way up. 

The focus of the Obama Administration's illegal immigration law enforcement efforts has been on those that have felony or misdemeanor convictions, non-compliance with deportation orders, and audits of employers who knowingly hire illegal workers.  But this doesn't seem to matter to Republicans, despite the contradictory data and evidence. 

In Town Hall meetings around Virginia's 6th Congressional District, sponsored by Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-Roanoke), outdated or inaccurate information continues to be used to underscore the GOP's position to illegal immigration.  Here is part of my interview with Congressman Goodlatte regarding immigration:



According to a July 26, 2010 article by Washington Post Staff Writer, Peter Slevin,

The Obama administration has been moving away from using work-site raids to target employers. Just 765 undocumented workers have been arrested at their jobs this fiscal year, compared with 5,100 in 2008, according to Department of Homeland Security figures. Instead, officers have increased employer audits, studying the employee documentation of 2,875 companies suspected of hiring illegal workers and assessing $6.4 million in fines.

By Congressman Goodlatte's own admission, he didn't know what the penalty was but he thinks its significant. When $6.4 million in fines is divided by the 2,875 companies the Obama Administration has audited, it comes out to $2,226.09 per company. By any standard, a $2,200 penalty for domestic companies and businesses breaking U.S. Immigration Law, for knowingly hiring illegal workers is comparable to a slap on the wrist. At this point, the benefits to hiring someone who is not eligible to work in this country outweigh the costs.  Also, no indication if any of these employers have gone to jail for breaking the law?

So the question becomes are Republicans, like Congressman Goodlatte, intentionally misleading voters and their constituents with inaccurate information on illegal immigration for the sole purpose of regaining control of congress after November 2nd or are their Congressional Staffs really that bad at getting updated information from Homeland Security and ICE?  In some places, they refer to spreading misinformation as lying.  But in our country today, its called POLITICS. 

Links relating to this post: 

Center for Investigative Reporting Blog 
Homeland Security Newswire 
ICE Removal Statistics  
Fines/Penalties for hiring illegal workers  

Former Bush Campaign Manager and RNC Chair Kennith Mehlman comes out

What else can be said, except WOW?!  Click here and here for the related stories. 

GOP establishment gets mixed results on Primary Night

What appeared to be a ho-hum line-up late season Primaries turned out to be quite dramatic in several.  Here's a quick look at some of them: 
Florida

The Republican Primary for US Senate went as expected with Marc Rubio winning by a wide margin.  In the Republican Primary for Governor, Rick Scott (former head of Columbia/HCA hospitals that paid a $1.7 billion fine for Medicare and Medicaid fraud) looked like he was fading fast heading into Tuesday, but pulled off the upset of GOP establishment candidate and Attorney General Bill McCollum. 

On the Democratic side, Florida state CFO Alex Sink won easily.  Some polls had McCollum ahead of Sink by 10 points, but with Scott the nominee, this is a totally different race and possibly a Democratic pick-up. 

The Democratic Primary for US Senate had Congressman Kendrick Meek beating out billionaire real estate investor Jeff Greene.  This sets up the anticipated three way Senate Race between Republican Marc Rubio, (former Republican turned Independent) Governor Charlie Crist, and Meek.  An interesting alternative story line to this race, this is the second Democratic Billionaire to go down to defeat during the 2010 Primary Season (Ned Lamont lost earlier in Connecticut). 

Arizona 

Arguably the most watched race of the evening was the Republican Senate Primary between John McCain and former Congressman J.D. Hayworth.  Hayworth was counting on low turnout and Tea Party anger to propel him to the upset, instead McCain pounded him.  

In Arizona's 3rd Congressional District, Ben Quayle (son of former Vice President Dan Quayle) won a crowded (10 candidates) and contentious Republican Primary.  The district is heavily Republican, but Ben Quayle hasn't exactly shown he's got the maturity to be in Congress (then again, he might fit in just fine). 

Alaska 

What appears to be the shocker of all the races, current Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski is trailing Tea Party favorite and Sarah Palin endorsed candidate Joe Miller.  Miller is leading by just a few thousand votes, with absentee ballots still to be counted, which could take a couple of weeks. 

Sarah Palin 

Just when you thought she was gone, done, out for the count, Palin's streak of primary endorsement duds came to and end on Tuesday.  Everyone of her endorsed candidates won (or is leading). 

What does this mean? 

This was a mixed bag for Republicans and heading into November with the collection conservative and ultra-conservative candidates they now have, who knows.  The GOP will still make gains, but how many seats they pick up is still the question. 

GOP incumbents spent tens of millions of dollars to just get out of their primaries, like John McCain and Lisa Murkowski.  Others, like Rick Scott, spent heavily out of their own personal fortunes to get the nomination.  The questions here are will they be able to dig back into their own wallets and can they mend the fences they need with their GOP establishment to win in the General Election? 

John Boehner, GOP going ALL IN with a recycled Agenda of Failure

I would really like to see the polling that GOP House Minority Leader John Boehner is seeing that indicates Americans have totally forgotten that their social and economic agenda drove this nation into a ditch.  Click here for Politico's coverage. 

What's even better, he is calling on the President to fire Treasury Secretary Geithner and Economic Advisor Larry Summers.  Two people, who have strong personalities and a measure of culpability for the 2007-2008 economic collapse, who know a whole lot more about economic policy than Boehner and Eric Cantor. 

The best line from Boehner's speech this morning: 

“It’s time to put grown-ups in charge,... I’ve also told my girls how I was raised to never accept the next best thing for myself or my country.”

Words to live by and good advice.  I'm just wondering who are the grown-ups Boehner's talking about?  If Boehner thinks the recycled GOP Economy Wrecking Agenda (that killed millions of American jobs) is better than the emergency measures the Obama Administration (lets not forget, with Republican support) and Democrats implemented, then he needs to check his cigarettes to see if someone switched his brand for something more exotic. 

Image found at:  http://www.usnews.com/dbimages/master/11483/FS_DA_090617boehner300.jpg

How may minority constituencies can the GOP alienate?

While President made the right call regarding the construction of the mosque and Islamic Cultural Center a few blocks away from Ground Zero (citing that if it conforms to the local building codes, ordinances, and laws, there is no reason why it shouldn't be built), his retreat from his statement, that he didn't say it was a wise decision for it to be build there, has opened the door for the GOP demagoguery once again. 

The Muslim population is not very large in the United States, but it does make up a sizable part of several communities in places like New York, Detroit, New Jersey, and Minneapolis.  The GOP was very conscience of reprisal and bigotry directed towards Muslims right after 9/11, and went to great lengths to embrace the Muslim community and show support for those that peacefully live in the United States.  Heading into the final months of an election year, you can add Muslims to the long list of minorities that the GOP proudly alienates. 

African Americans haven't been supporters of the GOP since passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts.  Hispanics were once a major part of the GOP's conservative faith base and for it's position on Cuba.  This has now changed with their hard line, if not militant position, on boarder security and illegal immigration.  Now Muslim, who for all intents and purposes share many conservative positions with the GOP, are not from the right faith and are all painted with the same brush as the extremists who attacked the United States on 9/11. 

The potential benefit of introducing another wedge issue into an already contentious election season, that of radical Islam bent on destroying America, may very well come back to haunt them.  One of the few voices of reason in the GOP, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, is warning the rest of his fellow Republicans (and Democrats), stop using the mosque as a "political football" which is casting a pox on both political parties. 

At some point, distressed Americans will take stock of the cost of all the racial and identity politics and stop pointing the finger of blame.  When the dust settles, and if Republicans are back in control of Congress, the damage will be done and the short term gains made by GOP politics of divisiveness will further confine them to the place they've been heading for 20 years.  A regional party located in the Deep South.