Tim Kaine not interested in open U.S. Senate seat

According to a story on the Virginian Pilot's website, former Governor and current Democratic National Committee Chairman, Tim Kaine, has indicated that he is not interested in running for the now open U.S. Senate seat in Virginia.  Perceived by many on the left to be the strongest candidate to run against either of the declared GOP candidates, Kaine's announcement will keep the speculation going as to who will run for the Democrats in a seat that is now considered by several to be a possible to likely GOP pick-up. 

So far there have only been two announced GOP candidates, the GOP establishment favorite former Governor and U.S. Senator, George Allen (who Jim Webb defeated in 2006), and Tea Party activist Jamie Radtke.  Whoever emerges for the Democrats will face a political landscape that is currently not favorable for them. 

Some other names that have been mentioned are former 5th District Congressman Tom Perriello, former 9th District Congressman Rick Boucher, former DNC Chair and Democratic Candidate for Governor in 2009 Terry McAulliffe, State Senator "Chap" Petersen, and so on and so forth...

Masterstroke!

Critique and analysis are coming in on the "Lame Duck" session of the 111th Congress and the consensus seems to be saying is that it was anything but lame.  Whether it be a campaign promise kept to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", or the deal with the devil that was struck between the President and Senate Republican Leadership to extend the Bush Era Tax Cuts for everyone (including the wealthy) while also getting an extension of Unemployment Benefits and a few others Democrats wanted, the winners of the final round of the 111th Congress are the Democrats and President Obama. 

If Republicans are wondering what the heck just happened, Ezra Kline's column in the Washington Post sums it up best with a quote from Senator Lindsey Graham (R) SC, saying that "When its all going to be said done, Harry Reid has eaten our lunch."  Included in this assessment was a major Foreign Policy victory for President Obama with the passage of the new START Treaty. 

If you are feeling a little perplexed, a little in aw of this political mastery, and wondering how the ingredients came together for the President and the Democrats, the always pragmatic and wise David Gergen offers his assessment of the situation by stating,

"What happened?  One answer, I would submit, is that the president and his team found a better approach to governing:  Instead of relying on the Democratic Caucus in each chamber to deliver, they built up coalitions of their own that swayed public opinion in their direction and gave the leverage in Congress." 

So how did these coalitions get cobbled together?  It wasn't just the two moderate Republican Senators from Maine (Olympia Snow and Susan Collins), or Scott Brown from Massachusetts.  It was other, more conservative Republicans, that came together with the President and the Democrats on the way out. 

Retiring Ohio Senator, George Voinovich, the now independent (dare we say Rogue) Senator from Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, newly minted Senator from Illinois, Mark Kirk, and then we have the ethically challenge John Ensign of Nevada, Richard Burr of North Carolina, ranking Republican on Senate Foreign Relations, Richard Lugar and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who is in the Republican Leadership.  Of note, Lisa Murkowski voted with the President and Democrats on DATA repeal, START, the compromise on extension of tax cuts and unemployment benefits, and of all things voting with Democrats to end debate on the Dream Act. 

Then there's the Food Safety Bill, the DoD reauthorization, and a few others, that if it were not for Republican support, would have died on the vine.  So then, why did all this pressing legislation that was so important, finally get passed?  There are several thoughts on that.  One being from Ezra Kline, where he observes: 

"The answer, I think, is that there are plenty of Senate Republicans who aren't too comfortable with the class of conservatives who got elected in 2010. These legislators knew they had to stick with McConnell before the election, as you can't win back the majority by handing the president lots of legislative accomplishments. But now that the election was over, the bills that had piled up were, in many cases, good bills, and if they didn't pass now, it wasn't clear that they'd be able to pass later. 

The incumbent -- and the outgoing -- Republicans know that the fact that Republicans will have more power in 2011 doesn't necessarily mean that they'll use that power to pass sensible legislation. So those of them who wanted to pass sensible legislation decided to get it all done now, even if that meant handing Reid and Obama a slew of apparent victories in the lame-duck session." 

For me, its a combination of several factors with a big part of it in line with what Ezra Kline states above.  The opinion polls since the November elections have been loud and clear that voters are tired of the hyper-partisanship and want things to get done.  Congress responded.  Also, it seems that there is a realization from establishment Republicans that the new crop coming in, of which 70-80% of them have never held public office before, are going to be a political nightmare and a major liability if they can't harness the energy in a strategic direction.  Just like Democrats misread the results of 2008, this new group of Republicans seem to be over-reaching and reading too much into the results and projecting a mandate that just isn't there. 

Did the President and Democrats run the table?  Not even close.  They fell short on the omnibus spending bill, Dream Act, and they were unable to exclude the wealthy from the Bush Era Tax Cut extension.  But coming off the "shellacking" of the November 2nd debacle, this was nothing short of clutch, a Masterstroke! 

Image found at:  http://hiphopandpolitics.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/obama-pointing.jpg 

If this were any other year...

There are relatively normal years when "partisan bickering" meant the back and forth between Democrats and Republicans boiled down to tax cuts, social programs, and national defense.  But, if this were any other year..., we wouldn't be talking about "nullification," repeal of certain parts of the 14th Amendment, prosecuting academics for research that doesn't jive with a particular ideology, or secession from elected officials. 

If this were any other year..., the public debate wouldn't be over the rights of Americans to build a place of worship, if towns across America were being overtaken by Islamic Sharia Law, or if every brown skinned Spanish speaking person was illegally in this country. 

If this were any other year..., the thought of terminating Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and Unemployment Insurance would be laughed out of the room.  Or, the same medical care and coverage that members of our Armed Forces receive would be classified as "Socialized Medicine." 

But, this is not any other year.  This is the year of hyper-partisanship and extremist rhetoric.  This year, the people who are the most energized to get out and vote are the ones who finally have candidates to vote for that share these ultra-nationalistic, extremist ideologies.  These are the people that despite proof positive, a person's place of birth, citizenship, or religious affiliation isn't good enough to qualify them as a red, white, and blue American. 

Birthers, nativists, xenophobes, climate deniers, nullifiers, repeal-and-replace(ers), pro-balanced budget amendment, budget cutters, anti-tax, anti-social safety net, lock'em up advocates.  This is what's on the ballot for November 2nd.  Will Americans hold their collective noses and pull the lever, fill in the bubble, touch the screen for an ultra-conservative, nationalist agenda?  Stay tuned...

Healthcare: Repeal and Replace? GOP might be misreading the Tea (Party) leaves

Time, after time, after time, Republicans hammer away at the "fact" that most Americans didn't want the health care reforms that are now law.  It's clear, the polling done over the last six to eight months has been pretty consistent in the opposition to the new health care law that began to go into effect in earnest just a few days ago.  But when you dig deeper, opposition to health care reform mainly rest on the Republican side. 

According to another AP-GfK poll, those that think the new reforms don't go far enough out number those who don't want government involved in health care at all by 2 to 1.  Yes, that's right.  Twice as many people feel the reforms don't go far enough. 

Bottom line, most Americans wanted Healthcare Reform.  They just wanted much bigger reforms.

Democrats punt on Tax Vote, GOP no new ideas with recycled Contract, Massey Energy blames mine disaster on Gas

It's Duck-n-Cover for Democrats on Tax Vote

It seems that Democrats are so shell shocked from the legislative and policy battles of the last two years, they're even afraid to pull the trigger on an issue that works for them.  Democrats decided to take a pass on a vote to extend the Bush Tax Cuts for everyone except the rich. 

All the recent polling points to massive support for letting the Bush Tax Cuts expire at the end of the year for the rich and extending them for the rest.  But even this isn't enough to assuage the Democrats bunker mentality as they head home to campaign.  With a stagnant economy and stubbornly high unemployment weighing them down in the polls, the last thing Democrats want to be accused of is raising taxes in a bad economy. 

Click here for the full story from Politico. 

Republicans recycle their "Contract" of failure for their final campaign push 

Republicans are calling Democrats arrogant.  With their new "Pledge to America" Democrats could make a strong argument that Republicans are deaf.  In 1994 the GOP used the steps of the Capitol as the backdrop for their "Contract with America."  Yesterday, they used a Northern Virginia Hardware Store to release their latest reincarnation of a governing agenda that saw incomes stay flat or retreated, deregulation that created the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, promise to repeal and replace Health Care Affordability Act, and extend all the Bush Tax Cuts which will increase the national debt by $4 Trillion.  OK (wink, wink). 

Now, if a large number of the Tea Party candidates do win their races they promise to privatize Social Security, privatize or end Medicaid and Medicare, and end Unemployment Insurance.  They too have a contract.  Theirs is called the "Contract from America."  Just like the establishment GOP's "Pledge to America", the "Contract from America" offers a lot of what they want to do, but very few specifics about how to do it and what their plan will replace or improve. 

There's one other problem for the GOP.  An AP-GfK poll released this month found that the only thing that voters dislike as much, or more than, Democrats,... Republicans.  The difference is that anger on the GOP side is much, much more intense than Democrats.  Oh, Americans still blame Bush and the Republicans for the economy than Obama and the Democrats. 

Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship blaming mine explosion on methane gas leak 

In what is being described as a theory, Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship is claiming that methane gas was the cause of the explosion.  Citing pictures that show equipment inside the mine was shut off, manually, Blankenship is claiming that the miners knew methane gas was present and turned off the equipment. 

Regardless, this still doesn't excuse all the other mine safety violations and blatant and brazen disregard for MSHA regulations.  Federal investigators are still working to find the cause, but it would seem this could be one possibility among many others. 




Tax pic image found at:  http://www.intheiropinion.com/uploads/image/tax.jpg 
Boehner pic image found at:  http://www.usnews.com/dbimages/master/11483/FS_DA_090617boehner300.jpg 

New AP-GfK Poll: Definitive shift of Independent support away from Democrats

Independents that delivered the overwhelming Democratic victory in November of 2008 to the tune of 52 percent, propelling them to control of the White House and both the House of Representatives and the Senate, only a third are supporting Democrats now.  This according to the latest Associated Press-GfK poll, where 32 percent of Independents support Democrats to keep control of Congress heading into the November Mid-Term elections.

The reason is clear.  Nine out of every ten independent voters surveyed saying that the economy is their number one issue.  The pain and frustration of a stagnating to faltering economic recovery and 9.5 percent unemployment (with the real number of unemployed and those who have given up on finding work much higher) is fueling the exodus of Democratic support.  The only bright spots in the survey are Healthcare, a 44 to 41 percent overall support of Democrats over Republicans, and the fact that this was a random national poll and not at a Congressional District level.

This means that the 2010 Mid-Term elections will come down to how each Republican matches up to each Democrats, how well they run their individual races, and the level of partisan intensity that will be the key to retention or defeat on Election Day.  Republican-Conservative intensity is way up this year.  Democrats are have to figure a way to change the narrative that refocuses the argument in favor of their continued control of Congress.  The only other thing that is helping Democrats, establishment Republicans have suffered more from insurgent Tea Party candidates who are much farther to the right of the conservative establishment Republicans and less politically savvy. 

AP-GfK Polls 

The Great Recession: It could have been far worse

Conservatives can say what they want, and we will continue to haggle over what the real unemployment rate is (9.5% or at high as 16.5%), but the consensus among leading economists and financial experts continues to support the actions taken by both the Bush and Obama Administrations to prevent Great Depression 2.0.

In a report released on Wednesday, July 27, 2010, Mark Zandi (Chief Economist for Moody's Analytics) and  Alan Blinder (Gordon S. Rentschler Memorial Professor of Economics at Princeton University) state that while there are good questions about the need for TARP, extending Unemployment Insurance, the Stimulus Package, Cash for Clunkers, Home Buyer Tax Credit, etc..., "it is clear that laissez faire was not an option; policymakers had to act."  Zandi and Blinder go on further to conclude: 

"When all is said and done, the financial and fiscal policies will have cost taxpayers a substantial sum, but not nearly as much as most had feared and not nearly as much as if policymakers had not acted at all. If the comprehensive policy responses saved the economy from another depression, as we estimate, they were well worth their cost."

Which brings me to another point.  Why haven't some of these Bankers and Hedge Fund Managers gone to jail?!!!  Why hasn't there been universal, bi-partisan support for Wall Street Reform like there was back in 1934? 

I think we all know the reason why.  Just in case you don't here is a great article in Vanity Fair about the (Ferdinand) Pecora Commission and how it lead to the formation of the Securities and Exchange Commission and passage of the Glass-Steagall Act (strict separation of Commercial & Investment Banks).  

When you totally repeal the laws that were suppose to prevent our economy from coming close to another Great Depression, and you weaken the SEC's enforcement powers, you shouldn't be surprised that we are in the shape we are in right now.  So, when did all this happen?  The total repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act happened in 1999 and the SEC saw it's enforcement powers steadily stripped from 2001 - 2007.  In case you are wondering who was in control of Congress during those times, Republicans. 

As the 2010 Mid-Term Elections get closer, you need look no further than the full-court press that Conservatives are putting on K Street donors in anticipation of the GOP taking back control of either the House or the Senate, or both.  No wonder Senate Republicans refused to lift the filibuster on the most recent revision of Campaign Finance Reform. 

If the GOP can overcome the Tea Party takeover and they do win control of Congress back from the Democrats, does this mean that K Street Lobbyist will be writing their legislation (again)?  Does an elephant have a trunk? 

Image found at:  http://riverdaughter.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/great-depression-unemployment-line.jpg 

The politics of personal destruction: Not even Michael Jackson can escape it, alive or dead

I was really hopping that I wouldn’t have to post anything about Michael Jackson, but it seems the political world really has no shame. Case in point, New York Congressman Peter King (R-Long Island) just couldn’t keep his mouth shut about how much he doesn’t like Michael Jackson and the obscene amount of media coverage that Jackson’s death, memorial, and funeral have attracted. Not only does he make a video and put it up on YouTube, but just for good measure to make sure that his feelings about Michael Jackson were clear and to unambiguously state his opposition to a postage stamp of the Pop Icon as suggested by the Reverend Al Sharpton. Here is the YouTube video and below, Congressman King’s latest statement:

"I will certainly oppose a stamp for Michael Jackson," King told PIX News."I tapped into something that many people have been thinking about but were afraid to say," King said in explaining his decision to make his views on the extensive coverage of Jackson's death public via the YouTube video.

"I think that those of us in public life have an obligation to try and stop something when we have something that is going so far in the wrong direction." King went on to say "I just had enough and I felt there are too many good people in this country who do good work and are not acknowledged and that we should not be canonizing someone like Michael Jackson."King also discussed the scandals that often followed Michael Jackson, "Whatever talent he had he also behaved totally inappropriately with young boys. It is a horrible message to send to the country and the world."

First point I want to make, there are lots of people out there (elected officials and faith leaders are no exception) that have strange and odd behavior. While there are lots of things that make the United States and its unique American Culture attractive to billions of people around the world, there are just as many that think our attitudes and behaviors around sexuality and the fascination with personal gun ownership is strange and odd. This man was admired and loved by millions, if not billions, of people around the world. Congressman King only has the support of 50% plus one in his Long Island Congressional District. A far cry from the fan base of Michael Jackson, on a global scale.

Secondly, whether you think Michael Jackson is a pedophile, child molester, or he makes you uncomfortable regarding his behavior towards young boys, the man was put on trial in the courtroom and the court of public opinion and was acquitted! The law isn’t about the truth, it’s about who has the best lawyer (I think I saw this in a Delegate’s District Office somewhere). When you are a public figure with the global status like Michael Jackson, people are going to try and take advantage of that status in a variety of ways. Guilty or not, in the eyes of the law, Michael Jackson was found not guilty. Period. End of discussion. Let’s move on.

Lastly, I don’t recall Congressman King casting stones at is former colleague Mark Foley for his lewd behavior, or former Senator Larry Craig. Reaching way back, probably before Congressman King was a member, is former Oregon Senator Bob Packwood who wrote in his personal diary that it was his “Christian duty” to make love to a woman who had not been intimate with a man for a while. Right now, it seems that most of the ‘low life’s” are among the members of the GOP, a list that now includes Nevada Senator John Ensign and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. It’s clear that Congressman King doesn’t know which glass house he lives.

Delegate Morgan Griffith and the traveling Seal Show!!!

While at the Salem Fair this weekend, I came across this scene. I'm not quite sure what Delegate Griffith (R-Salem) had in mind by hanging his campaign banners at a traveling Seal Show, but there they are. There's gotta be an appropriate metaphor that fits this image. Regardless, if the Republican Majority Leader for the House of Delegates is looking for applause from the crowd for being one of the leaders in the House that voted down extension of Unemployment Benefits to struggling Virginia workers, the only ones clapping are the seals.

Traveling carnivals are notorious for rigged games, lame sideshows (Bearded Lady, Smallest Horse in the World, Monkey Boy), shaky rides and P. T. Barnum. I guess the message here from Delegate Griffith is "There's a sucker born every minute." In stead of throwing him a fish, maybe voters in the 8th House District should just throw him out of office.

If you want to suggest a good, bad, witty, or lame label for this picture, feel free to comment. Who knows, we can make a contest out of this and see where it goes.

4th of July Open Thread

Happy 4th of July to everyone. This 4th of July marks some key events and turning points for our nation. The United States has pulled out of the major cities in Iraq and turned over those responsibilities to the Iraqis. The largest military operation in many years is going on in southern Afghanistan with 4,000 Marines in their efforts to root out Al Qaeda.

Iran is still grappling with a disputed election, and in the United States we have resolved a disputed election (finally) in the Minnesota U.S. Senate Race between Democrat Al Franken and now former Senator Norm Coleman.

North Korea continues to threaten the world with war if the international community does anything to reign-in it's nuclear threat.

We have a surprise resignation by Alaska Republican Governor, Sarah Palin, and another Republican Governor, Mark Sanford of South Carolina, that is being called on to resign because of his Argentinian Mistress, by his own party. U. S. Senator John Ensign has resigned as Chair of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee over the revelation of his infidelity, as well.

Many other things going on in the entertainment world as well. Most notable is the death of Michael Jackson. A lot has been going on, so feel free to openly discuss these and any other topics.

Picture found on: http://www.norcalblogs.com/post_scripts/archives/DC%20Fireworks.jpg

BREAKING NEWS: Sarah Palin QUITS as Governor of Alaska

This is no joke. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has just announced that she will not be seeking re-election and that she will be resigning as Governor in a few short weeks. Here is the report from Fox News:





More to follow...

Where in the world was South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford: 38 times in 2008 and 39 times in 2009 whereabouts UNKNOWN, so far...

As the calls for South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's resignation grow louder, The State Newspaper has obtained the travel records for Governor Sanford that show his whereabouts was unknown 38 times during 2008 and 39 times for the first six months of 2009. It has been reported that Mark Sanford was being considered for the VP slot on the ticket with Senator John McCain during the 2008 Presidential Race and he was also considering making his own run for President in 2012.

It is safe to say that those aspirations are officially gone. It remains to be scene if Sanford can make the case to remain South Carolina's Governor given that key members of the South Carolina GOP leadership are also calling for his ouster. The Mark Sanford political death watch continues...

Some "Steamy" reads from Governor Mark Sanford

It just goes to show you that being a human with "needs" has no party affiliation, but it sure seems of late that infidelity and scandal are closely tied to the Republican Party. At first, when the reports started coming out that Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina goes off, unaccounted for, for days at a time a scene from Band of Brothers came to mind. The one where Lt. Dyke is walking alone in the Ardennes Forest during a lull in the fighting around Bastogne. Nobody in Easy Company likes the guy and no one knows where he is. He's aloofe and disconnected with reality. Well, the real story about Governor Sanford is much juicier than this.

The State Newspaper out of Columbia has obtained the emails between Republican Governor Mark Sanford and his Mistress. I'm not a smoker, but I needed something after reading this stuff. Men, don't let the ladies see these letters. Ladies, don't let the men know you've read them. WOW! So much for traditional marriage and family values.

The rumor out of Alaska is that Republican Governor Sarah Palin is thinking of not running for re-election next year. First it was Nevada Republican Senator, and NRSC Chairman John Ensign caught steppin' out on his wife and family. Now, Mark Sanford. Does Sarah Palin know something that we don't or is this her way of clearing the field. Who's next, Mississippi Republican Governor Hailey Barbour (sorry I had to put that image in people's minds)?

Sanford Family Picture by: http://www.chapinsc.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7BEF8AA2D5-1360-485D-9E20-FABA38A80A1D%7D

Healthcare Reform debate ramps up amid charges of “Socialized Medicine”

The Healthcare Debate has been percolating since President Obama was elected. Now the fight to change our national healthcare system has begun. It is clear to everyone, without sounding repetitive or cliché, the system is broken and doing nothing is not an option. The goal of having quality, affordable healthcare for everyone is going to be a very tough fight.

The devil is in the details and the detail that the President has put out there is how much this thing is going to cost Americans. $1 trillion over 10 years. Senator Ted Kennedy’s version is estimated to be over $1 trillion and Senator Max Baucus’ plan is estimated to be around $1.7 trillion over 10 years. All of these versions have a public plan option as part of the package, allowing citizens a choice of staying with or purchasing private health insurance or a public option.

Recent healthcare reform plans put forward by the Republicans suggest a co-op exchange system that looks interesting, but no direct government competition with private insurers. Several of the proposed plans the Republicans have put forth would require people to purchase private health insurance. (No option or choice) The bottom line, someone is going to lose and lose big. Will corporate health insurers take the hit or will the 47 million uninsured Americans, projected estimates rising to 51 million Americans, be the victims again of healthcare reform that favors corporations? As a reference, the Kaiser Family Foundation has a side-by-side comparison of all the current Healthcare Reform proposals.

Republicans, beholden to corporate health insurance, continue to parrot the commercials and talking point of groups like Conservatives for Patients Rights. They want healthcare reform that is based on “the four pillars of Patient’s Rights,” which are choice, competition, accountability, and personal responsibility. This sound perfectly fine and acceptable, but what do they really mean by competition, accountability, and personal responsibility? Rick Scott, founder of Columbia Hospital Corporation and Solantic Corporation, is the face and the driving force behind Conservatives for Patient’s Rights. While admirable and a compelling life story of perseverance, drive, and ambition, there is nothing in his materials that takes private health insurers out of the decision making tree between the patient and doctor.

The fight for Healthcare Reform comes down to private insurers continuing to exert their influence or the Federal Government expanding its roll. I for one don’t like anyone having a say as to what treatment will or will not be accepted or covered. My doctor and I have to make that decision, not a government bureaucracy or some corporate stooge crunching numbers behind a desk. In my opinion, one thing that is certainly unacceptable are private insurance companies denying treatment to people based on “pre-existing conditions.”

There are lots of supporters for a Single-Payer style of health insurance, but the majority of the public is wary of anything that looks like government controlled healthcare that gives them no choices of doctors or treatment, which is a misconception. The proposal that President Obama and many Democrats are pushing isn’t necessarily universal healthcare, but would make health insurance more affordable with the public plan option and would not deny treatment because of a pre-existing condition. Again, the Republicans are offering their versions, none of which (that I have read or come across) takes private health insurers out of the decision making tree or addresses the issue of denying treatment due to pre-existing conditions. At this point, the Democrats can’t agree on a plan and Republicans continue to scream “socialized medicine” while offering warmed over and recycled private health insurance proposals that don’t address the skyrocketing costs or expanding coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions.

Economic Recovery: Democrats vindicated on their handling of the economy or is the jury still out?

With the Republican Party being relegated to backbencher status since the 2008 General Election, there has been heavy snipping from free market conservatives that with Democrats in control of the White House and both chambers of Congress the economy will fall off the cliff. According to a piece on CNNMoney.com, the Blue Chip stocks have moved into positive territory for the first time since January. While the market has been mixed over the last few weeks and there have been modest gains, the Dow Jones Industrial has been in positive territory for 12 out of the last 14 weeks of this year, an increase of 33%. This is the best stretch since March of 1975.

While I don’t see this a total vindication for Democratic Party economic policy, the Republicans and free market conservatives are finding it harder to point to examples of where the Obama Administration and the Democratic controlled Congress are making thing worse than what was handed over to them. Indications of a turnaround are starting to increase, with first-time unemployment claims falling sharply and a slight uptick in consumer sales showing that some confidence is starting to creep back into the overall economy. There is still a long way to go, but we have to keep in mind that the current Congress and the Obama Administration has only been in control since January and the economy started its collapse back in August/September of 2008. Housing sales started to tail-off in 2007. There is still a glut of houses still on the market and new home construction, while there has been a small increase, is nowhere near the level it was prior to 2007.

What does all this mean? It means that when free market conservatives removed barriers and did away with financial regulations that allowed Adjustable Rate Mortgages, Interest Only Mortgages, allowing traditional Banks to operate as Brokerage Houses and Brokerage Houses operate like traditional Banks (Derivatives), the stage was set for the economic situation we are in now. This happened during a Republican Administration and during the bulk of time that Republicans were in control of Congress up to the 2006 mid-term Congressional Elections. The voting public is showing signs that the turnaround isn’t happening fast enough and there are still millions of people out of work, with unemployment hitting 9.4%. President Obama’s approval of how he is handling the economy has now slipped under 50% for the first time since his inauguration. Republicans, like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, see this as their opportunity to get back on track, charging that the President’s economic plan and handling of the budget deficit isn’t working.

One thing that we need to keep in mind, back before President Roosevelt came into office in 1933, Free Market Conservatives had won another four years of control of the White House and Congress. The 1929 Stock Market crashed and they made the decision to just let the market work itself out. Those moves and decisions helped to move the economy from a deep recession to mild depression to the Great Depression. The Roosevelt Administration tried lots of things to get the economy moving and put people back to work. The same charges that Republicans like Mitch McConnell are leveling where also thrown at President Roosevelt. The difference now, a lot of the moves to address the crisis where started by the Bush Administration and have been either carried over or modified by the Obama Administration. Cleaning up a mess like this, that can effectively be argued started back during the deficit spending of the Regan Administration, is going to take a long time. There are signs that things are turning around, but we still have a long way to go.