The word is trickling out that the Senate has reached a healthcare agreement that does not include a public option. In lieu of the public option, it is suggested that medicare be opened up to those 55 and over - they would have to pay a premium - and medicare would be increased to cover those making up to 130% (or thereabouts) of the federal poverty rate. While this option would help those who currently have no health insurance, it does nothing to help those of us covered by increasingly expensive employer plans. Without a public option to provide competition to private insurers, how will they ever have any incentive to lower prices?
Healthcare is not just about providing coverage to those who do not have it, it is also about the rest of us who are paying through the nose for it; employers and employees alike. What is truly sad is that the general consensus is that a bad bill is better than no bill? Of this, I am very afraid. If healthcare costs increase over the next 5 years at the same rate as the last 5, we are doomed. How much more of our paychecks will be lost to premiums and taxes?
Though we have known for quite some time that the special interests were winning, it is pretty clear to me now that they have won; they have completely hijacked the will of the people. After all, there has been very little legislation coming out of Congress that has been good for the average citizen for quite some time. As one letter writer to the Times Editorial page put it, "Maybe we should elect the lobbyists directly to Congress and skip the charade." (11/29/09)
Showing posts with label 2009 political spectacle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2009 political spectacle. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Bowing is Customary and Necessary
There has been much furor over President Obama's visit to Asia, in particular his deep bow before the Japanese emperor. Sometimes you have to bow when you travel to Asia to thank them for continuing to buy much of our debt. What else is this diplomatic mission for anyway? We are borrowing like fiends to save the country and China and Japan own close to 50% of that debt.
Throughout this economic crisis, economists have continually compared America to Japan. Japan's lost decade and prolonged recession are held up as an example for why we needed more government stimulus; the claim is that Japan's government did not invest enough internally to prop up the country and avert a deep recession. So the logic has been that we must do the opposite and so we are plowing in trillions to save ourselves. But, we should be frightfully aware of the difference, they own nearly a quarter of our debt so they are still solvent.
China is considered the successor to our throne and not only are they weathering this global recession well, they own nearly a quarter of our debt also. We must keep in mind that neither of these countries is spending a third of their budget on their military and another third on entitlements like Social Security and Medicare. Hello! Obama had better follow cultural custom and bow, in fact, he technically needs to get down on his knees.
Only in America do we think that we are all that and a bag of chips and rightly so for up until the last few years, we were the envy of the rest of the world. However, due t0 our most recent and disastrous foreign policy, we absolutely need to fix our mystique, something that Obama has nearly accomplished in less than a year. But, people over here have forgotten why that is important, they still think that America is the center of the Universe. I'm sure the people of Rome felt that way too before it fell.
I don't think the end of the world is around the corner, history unfolds much more slowly than it seems. All of the empires that previously fell like the Ottoman, Roman & British are still thriving. They are not number one but they are quite robust. America is not falling tomorrow, it may be in decline but it will still take a while. And while we may lose #1 status, we will remain close behind and may even reclaim it. America has iron balls and vast wealth and the combination thereof may, in fact, save it.
Throughout this economic crisis, economists have continually compared America to Japan. Japan's lost decade and prolonged recession are held up as an example for why we needed more government stimulus; the claim is that Japan's government did not invest enough internally to prop up the country and avert a deep recession. So the logic has been that we must do the opposite and so we are plowing in trillions to save ourselves. But, we should be frightfully aware of the difference, they own nearly a quarter of our debt so they are still solvent.
China is considered the successor to our throne and not only are they weathering this global recession well, they own nearly a quarter of our debt also. We must keep in mind that neither of these countries is spending a third of their budget on their military and another third on entitlements like Social Security and Medicare. Hello! Obama had better follow cultural custom and bow, in fact, he technically needs to get down on his knees.
Only in America do we think that we are all that and a bag of chips and rightly so for up until the last few years, we were the envy of the rest of the world. However, due t0 our most recent and disastrous foreign policy, we absolutely need to fix our mystique, something that Obama has nearly accomplished in less than a year. But, people over here have forgotten why that is important, they still think that America is the center of the Universe. I'm sure the people of Rome felt that way too before it fell.
I don't think the end of the world is around the corner, history unfolds much more slowly than it seems. All of the empires that previously fell like the Ottoman, Roman & British are still thriving. They are not number one but they are quite robust. America is not falling tomorrow, it may be in decline but it will still take a while. And while we may lose #1 status, we will remain close behind and may even reclaim it. America has iron balls and vast wealth and the combination thereof may, in fact, save it.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Where is the Substance?
Where is the substance and when are we going to get it back? I am tired of the political drama swirling around us. Can we get down to the business of serious solutions? I am tired of the Republicans being the party of no and I'm tired of the Democrats fixing the economy with a subsidy to everyone. We have real problems to solve but instead all we get from the cable news channels these days is negativity and bickering depending on their political leaning. Cable news channels, if they ever did, no longer report the news impartially, they preach to their respective choirs. Conservatives go to Fox, Liberals go to MSNBC and the rest go to CNN which is dead last in the ratings right now.
While we are glowingly covering all the knock down drag fights between the political parties and soaking up each morsel of their infighting, nothing is being done in government except what is dictated by the lobbyists and campaign contributors. The elected officials are just pawns in the giant game of whose money speaks loudest and catering to those monies in the hopes that it secures their re-election. Apparently being an elected official is so downright fantastic that once a person is in, their sole purpose in life is to sustain their tenure.
Americans love drama but they don't realize that the drama that we are witnessing is very destructive. We arbitrarily blame incumbents for issues not of their making and elect contenders who have no real strategy to improve the status quo. We throw out Democrats for trying to help too many and elect Republicans who want to help no one but themselves. Back and forth like a yo-yo while the country continues to sink.
We are quickly throwing Republicans back into office forgetting the destruction created under eight years of Bush and yet the Democrats are only in power because of the destruction created under eight years of Bush. We show our disgust by not showing up for elections while we expend our troops and billions of dollars to guarantee the elections of other nations. We are so far off from what we can accomplish as a country, it is a shame. We need to stop treating our politics like a reality show and start demanding some substance.
While we are glowingly covering all the knock down drag fights between the political parties and soaking up each morsel of their infighting, nothing is being done in government except what is dictated by the lobbyists and campaign contributors. The elected officials are just pawns in the giant game of whose money speaks loudest and catering to those monies in the hopes that it secures their re-election. Apparently being an elected official is so downright fantastic that once a person is in, their sole purpose in life is to sustain their tenure.
Americans love drama but they don't realize that the drama that we are witnessing is very destructive. We arbitrarily blame incumbents for issues not of their making and elect contenders who have no real strategy to improve the status quo. We throw out Democrats for trying to help too many and elect Republicans who want to help no one but themselves. Back and forth like a yo-yo while the country continues to sink.
We are quickly throwing Republicans back into office forgetting the destruction created under eight years of Bush and yet the Democrats are only in power because of the destruction created under eight years of Bush. We show our disgust by not showing up for elections while we expend our troops and billions of dollars to guarantee the elections of other nations. We are so far off from what we can accomplish as a country, it is a shame. We need to stop treating our politics like a reality show and start demanding some substance.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Another Election Day: Another Round of False Promises
Republican candidates have won in New Jersey and Virginia signaling to the GOP that the tide has turned; Americans are done with President Obama and the Democrats and the Republicans will return home to roost. Since all politics is local, I doubt Obama is really much of a factor in these races but in those where Democrats lost this evening, the Republicans will cheer these victories as a resurgence.
From the looks of it, 2010 will be daunting for many of the newly elected, especially those who are untested. In the last decade, politicians have not had to really fix much, they merely needed to promise that they would reduce taxes and cut spending to be elected. But mostly popularity was the order of the day as both taxes and spending increased monumentally. With the aura of rising prosperity, we ignored that the mountaintop that we were joyfully standing upon was a solid mass of debt and so did our governments and municipalities.
Now that the economy has crashed, we want everything fixed right away but we don't want to cut any spending even though we want lower taxes. Sadly, the most beneficial spending cut is a reduction in personnel just like every major corporation has already done to balance the bottom line. However, few of these government workers/voters recognize that they comprise a major cost center of the budget and they have no plans to vote themselves out. Any one seeking office promises the spending cuts but they are difficult to attain. I wish them all luck.
From the looks of it, 2010 will be daunting for many of the newly elected, especially those who are untested. In the last decade, politicians have not had to really fix much, they merely needed to promise that they would reduce taxes and cut spending to be elected. But mostly popularity was the order of the day as both taxes and spending increased monumentally. With the aura of rising prosperity, we ignored that the mountaintop that we were joyfully standing upon was a solid mass of debt and so did our governments and municipalities.
Now that the economy has crashed, we want everything fixed right away but we don't want to cut any spending even though we want lower taxes. Sadly, the most beneficial spending cut is a reduction in personnel just like every major corporation has already done to balance the bottom line. However, few of these government workers/voters recognize that they comprise a major cost center of the budget and they have no plans to vote themselves out. Any one seeking office promises the spending cuts but they are difficult to attain. I wish them all luck.
Monday, November 2, 2009
The Republican Party Should Just Split Already: Part Two
Back in my July 8 post, The Republican Party Should Just Split Already, I suggested that the Republican Party should split in two because it was fairly obvious that "the conservatism that is supposed to define the current Republican Party has different meanings to different people. Fiscal conservatives may have nothing in common with religious conservatives other than the term conservative" and it has become increasingly clear that the two groups have differing agendas. I concluded that "The Republicans should get on it with it but first they would have to decide who keeps the Republican Party name and who becomes the newly chartered Conservative Party, a fine name I believe."
Well, it looks like the Conservative Party is taking shape as witnessed by the battle in NY's 23rd district between the "Conservative" (Republican) candidate, Doug Hoffman and the "Republican" candidate, Dede Scozzafava. Sarah Palin and Dick Armey have jumped in on the side of Hoffman, soundly criticizing Scozzafava, the GOP sanctioned candidate, as not being conservative enough, and have expedited an armload of outlander cash Hoffman's way. In this fairly unremarkable district that has been solidly Republican since the 1800s, the schism within the Republican party took center stage. Scozzafava decided to drop out before tomorrow's vote due to a big slide in her poll numbers but she did something remarkable and endorsed the Democratic candidate, Bill Owens, clearly demonstrating that the schism is widening.
Since Reagan, when I first became cognitively aware of the party politics, it never seemed right to me that religious conservatives from the heartland and corporate Republicans shared the same party. Somehow they managed to keep this all cobbled together until last year when the base of the base whipped up by Palin, Joe the Plumber and the like could no longer go unnoticed by the big money folks on K Street and Wall Street. I don't know how much longer they indeed to sit on the fence and watch the gutting of the Party.
I'm sure there is plenty more to come whatever the outcome tomorrow. But the Peter Principle lurks and one of these narrow-minded hypocrites could make a serious run for President. This is, after all, America.
Well, it looks like the Conservative Party is taking shape as witnessed by the battle in NY's 23rd district between the "Conservative" (Republican) candidate, Doug Hoffman and the "Republican" candidate, Dede Scozzafava. Sarah Palin and Dick Armey have jumped in on the side of Hoffman, soundly criticizing Scozzafava, the GOP sanctioned candidate, as not being conservative enough, and have expedited an armload of outlander cash Hoffman's way. In this fairly unremarkable district that has been solidly Republican since the 1800s, the schism within the Republican party took center stage. Scozzafava decided to drop out before tomorrow's vote due to a big slide in her poll numbers but she did something remarkable and endorsed the Democratic candidate, Bill Owens, clearly demonstrating that the schism is widening.
Since Reagan, when I first became cognitively aware of the party politics, it never seemed right to me that religious conservatives from the heartland and corporate Republicans shared the same party. Somehow they managed to keep this all cobbled together until last year when the base of the base whipped up by Palin, Joe the Plumber and the like could no longer go unnoticed by the big money folks on K Street and Wall Street. I don't know how much longer they indeed to sit on the fence and watch the gutting of the Party.
I'm sure there is plenty more to come whatever the outcome tomorrow. But the Peter Principle lurks and one of these narrow-minded hypocrites could make a serious run for President. This is, after all, America.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Republican Sickness
We are all familiar with the Republican party's flagrant opposition to the current Democratic-controlled government. This has been well documented and manifested via an almost unilateral blanket of "no" when it comes to any policy changes proposed by congressional Democrats. In fact, their almost unanimous opposition, now hijacked and irrationally perpetuated by the Fox Opinion Machine (nee News) has already led to such a deep muddling of the healthcare overhaul that I fear we will not recover from it. Is it possible that they can get even more egregious than this? Yes they can, 30 of them did:
"Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) introduced an amendment to a defense appropriations bill that would prevent the federal government from funding contractors whose employee contracts prevent workers from pursuing allegations of rape against co-workers.
The measure passed the Senate by a vote of 68 to 30, with all 30 'no' votes being cast by Republicans. Notably, 10 Senate Republicans voted for the measure, including all four female Republican senators.
Franken was inspired to push the amendment by the story of Jamie Leigh Jones, who was an employee of KBR -- at the time a subsidiary of Halliburton -- working in Baghdad's Green Zone when she was allegedly gang-raped by other KBR workers." (excerpt from rawstory.com 10/7/09).
There is no other way to describe this as downright sickness. If you are against the ruling party, come up with your own plausible solutions and, by rationally opposing, win the respect of the people you represent but more importantly, sway some of the people from the other side. But to flagrantly vote against a provision that seeks to curb and punish downright deviant behavior just to prolong an already irrational opposition is a sickness of the mind that no political party should sanction. This is the party of morality and family values? With this one, these 30 Republicans have really crossed the line from mere opposition to pure and utter lunacy (and hatred in my opinion). How else can you characterize it?
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Dirty Politics
Sometimes, you come across an article that sums up very well the seriousness of the current political discourse. Though many of us have been concerned about the escalating diatribes against the President, we believe that it is only a fringe group (read the Fox Crowd) that can and should be ultimately dismissed. However, there is much to consider when dirty politics begins to cross the line from ranting and raving into downright hatred. The following excerpt from Thomas Friedman's Op Ed column,"Where Did 'We Go? in the New York Times, September 29, 2009 certainly gives us all food for thought.
"I hate to write about this, but I have actually been to this play before and it is really disturbing.
I was in Israel interviewing Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin just before he was assassinated in 1995. We had a beer in his office. He needed one. I remember the ugly mood in Israel then — a mood in which extreme right-wing settlers and politicians were doing all they could to delegitimize Rabin, who was committed to trading land for peace as part of the Oslo accords. They questioned his authority. They accused him of treason. They created pictures depicting him as a Nazi SS officer, and they shouted death threats at rallies. His political opponents winked at it all.
And in so doing they created a poisonous political environment that was interpreted by one right-wing Jewish nationalist as a license to kill Rabin — he must have heard, “God will be on your side” — and so he did.
Others have already remarked on this analogy, but I want to add my voice because the parallels to Israel then and America today turn my stomach: I have no problem with any of the substantive criticism of President Obama from the right or left. But something very dangerous is happening. Criticism from the far right has begun tipping over into delegitimation and creating the same kind of climate here that existed in Israel on the eve of the Rabin assassination.What kind of madness is it that someone would create a poll on Facebook asking respondents, “Should Obama be killed?” The choices were: “No, Maybe, Yes, and Yes if he cuts my health care...
Even if you are not worried that someone might draw from these vitriolic attacks a license to try to hurt the president, you have to be worried about what is happening to American politics more broadly."
Maybe the rest of us have to stage an intervention.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The State of New York: Part Two
Governor Paterson is talking budget again. Today he revealed in a public meeting with state legislators that the deficit has reached $3,000,000,000, some $900,000,000 more than was initially projected. Though he urged legislators to find spending cuts to help balance the budget, no date was set for them to return to Albany to do so. Reporters were much more concerned about Paterson's election bid rather than issues with the state deficit. Typical. I guess we have all been so deluged with budget deficit numbers and projections that this is simply not news?
Meanwhile, hundreds of MTA employees protested outside of MTA headquarters today against the MTA's decision not to accept a binding arbitration ruling that granted them an 11% raise over the next 3 years. The MTA is appealing this decision because they claim that they simply cannot afford it. In fact, New York State definitely cannot afford it. It is interesting that an arbitrator could grant such a generous raise given the financial woes of the state. But, even if the state has no money, all of the various unions still expect to get their just desserts as usual.
Today Paterson stated that he was not going to offer any suggestions for budget cuts because he did not want to hear any flack from the unions until the legislators meet again. In the most budget showdown, the unions won out and the budget actually went up several billion dollars despite the fact that tax revenues would continue to decline. Attempting to roll back what has been granted to the various unions is going to get nasty again. But, none of this will really be big news now, will it?
Meanwhile, hundreds of MTA employees protested outside of MTA headquarters today against the MTA's decision not to accept a binding arbitration ruling that granted them an 11% raise over the next 3 years. The MTA is appealing this decision because they claim that they simply cannot afford it. In fact, New York State definitely cannot afford it. It is interesting that an arbitrator could grant such a generous raise given the financial woes of the state. But, even if the state has no money, all of the various unions still expect to get their just desserts as usual.
Today Paterson stated that he was not going to offer any suggestions for budget cuts because he did not want to hear any flack from the unions until the legislators meet again. In the most budget showdown, the unions won out and the budget actually went up several billion dollars despite the fact that tax revenues would continue to decline. Attempting to roll back what has been granted to the various unions is going to get nasty again. But, none of this will really be big news now, will it?
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
One Hundred Dollar Pill, Y'all
What if you were about to be released from the hospital after major surgery and complications due to a major abdominal infection and they tell you that the only antibiotic that you are responding to costs $200 a day for two pills? In fact this not so good news is prefaced by the platitude, "I hope you have good insurance." Thankfully, the insurance company did agree to cover this medicine for seven days because it was better than the alternative, paying for an additional week of hospital stay so that this medicine could be administered intravenously. This is a true story. It happened to a family member today.
Of course the real travesty here is the cost of the medicine. One hundred dollars for one pill is an outrage. There is nothing to stop pharmaceutical companies from charging whatever they want for certain drugs. Drug prices are one part of the healthcare equation, and as we know with Medicare Part D, affordable medicine is a necessity. Too bad it is costing the taxpayer a fortune because there is no provision to negotiate drug prices. We should be demanding drug price negotiation as part of this healthcare reform for it would be a key step in helping to control Medicare costs, savings from which are supposed to help defray the costs of reform in the first place.
Rational minds agree that without a public insurer to compete with private insurers, the cost of healthcare coverage will continue to escalate. Without a public option, there will be an enforced 46,000,000 more customers for the private insurers to gouge. Yeah! So, in effect the Republicans are fighting against a public option that would help to bring down coverage costs in the same way that they fought against a provision to include drug price negotiation when they and President Bush passed Medicare Part D. With the Republicans and the fringe protesters shouting so loud as to effectively cloud our judgment, we are on our way to healthcare reform that will further enrich private insurers and pharmaceutical companies.
Everybody has an expensive healthcare story, that alone should tell us all something.
Of course the real travesty here is the cost of the medicine. One hundred dollars for one pill is an outrage. There is nothing to stop pharmaceutical companies from charging whatever they want for certain drugs. Drug prices are one part of the healthcare equation, and as we know with Medicare Part D, affordable medicine is a necessity. Too bad it is costing the taxpayer a fortune because there is no provision to negotiate drug prices. We should be demanding drug price negotiation as part of this healthcare reform for it would be a key step in helping to control Medicare costs, savings from which are supposed to help defray the costs of reform in the first place.
Rational minds agree that without a public insurer to compete with private insurers, the cost of healthcare coverage will continue to escalate. Without a public option, there will be an enforced 46,000,000 more customers for the private insurers to gouge. Yeah! So, in effect the Republicans are fighting against a public option that would help to bring down coverage costs in the same way that they fought against a provision to include drug price negotiation when they and President Bush passed Medicare Part D. With the Republicans and the fringe protesters shouting so loud as to effectively cloud our judgment, we are on our way to healthcare reform that will further enrich private insurers and pharmaceutical companies.
Everybody has an expensive healthcare story, that alone should tell us all something.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
The Republican Party Should Just Split Already
Why doesn't the Republican Party just split already? It seems pretty clear to me that the conservatism that is supposed to define the current Republican Party has different meanings to different people. Fiscal conservatives may have nothing in common with religious conservatives other than the term conservative which means favoring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change.
A split would not be a bad way to go considering that there are a lot of conservative Democrats who want out of their party as well. Fiscal conservatism linking smaller government, lower taxes, deficit reduction, balanced budgets and rational money-management carries a lot of bootstrap appeal, especially for today's middle class. This platform is worthy without being tied up with religious conservatism and the guise of family values.
The mere speculation that Sarah Palin would run for President, effectively becoming the new face of the Republican Party, even had Karl Rove shaking in his shoes. Party Leaders liked it when she was wing-woman to McCain riling up the "rest of the base" for the sake of winning an election. Unfortunately, the short-sighted fear-mongering that appealed to this base has been continued in earnest by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and other conservative media pundits. The "other" Republicans, the big business, small government, fiscal conservative, white and suited gentlemen who finance the Party have been very quiet lately. Perhaps they cannot admit to us yet that "the base" that has been rallying is no longer a base they wish to defend. Maybe they are still working it out.
The Republicans should get on it with it but first they would have to decide who keeps the Republican Party name and who becomes the newly chartered Conservative Party, a fine name I believe.
A split would not be a bad way to go considering that there are a lot of conservative Democrats who want out of their party as well. Fiscal conservatism linking smaller government, lower taxes, deficit reduction, balanced budgets and rational money-management carries a lot of bootstrap appeal, especially for today's middle class. This platform is worthy without being tied up with religious conservatism and the guise of family values.
The mere speculation that Sarah Palin would run for President, effectively becoming the new face of the Republican Party, even had Karl Rove shaking in his shoes. Party Leaders liked it when she was wing-woman to McCain riling up the "rest of the base" for the sake of winning an election. Unfortunately, the short-sighted fear-mongering that appealed to this base has been continued in earnest by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and other conservative media pundits. The "other" Republicans, the big business, small government, fiscal conservative, white and suited gentlemen who finance the Party have been very quiet lately. Perhaps they cannot admit to us yet that "the base" that has been rallying is no longer a base they wish to defend. Maybe they are still working it out.
The Republicans should get on it with it but first they would have to decide who keeps the Republican Party name and who becomes the newly chartered Conservative Party, a fine name I believe.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Live From Wasilla, Palin Quits
Tomorrow, thousands are set to descend upon downtown Los Angeles for the memorial ceremony for Michael Jackson to be held at the Staples Center, where he was recently rehearsing for his world tour. Last Friday, Sarah Palin hoped not to ascend to anything by attempting to quietly quit the governorship of Alaska on the eve of July 4th and under the shield of Michael Jackson media saturation. She was unable to outfox CNN who temporarily diverted from their "all Jackson all the time" coverage to capture her surprise news conference live from her Wasilla backyard. Fox resorted to getting Hannity and Greta on the phone for mislaid commentary.
The hurried nature of Palin's resignation complete with a near incoherent speech about saving Alaska from herself has led to speculation about her desire to earn some real cash to help to combat her mounting legal fees now topping $500,000 due to countless ethics charges or to hit the Republican fundraising circuit in preparation for a 2012 Presidential bid. Since she has not made her intentions clear, the first order of business is to convince her fellow Alaskans and "lower 48" Americans that she is not a quitter having served only 2 1/2 years of her first 4 year term as Governor.
Perhaps Alaska was too small for her ambition, after all she is only the star of the equivalent of a TV Show. It is time for her to do what other TV stars do, leave the show at the height of their fame for a career in the big leagues, it is movie star time. I'm sure she will make lots of money and I pray this is the route she is choosing for I truly hope that she doesn't plan to put us through another incomprehensible run for higher office.
The hurried nature of Palin's resignation complete with a near incoherent speech about saving Alaska from herself has led to speculation about her desire to earn some real cash to help to combat her mounting legal fees now topping $500,000 due to countless ethics charges or to hit the Republican fundraising circuit in preparation for a 2012 Presidential bid. Since she has not made her intentions clear, the first order of business is to convince her fellow Alaskans and "lower 48" Americans that she is not a quitter having served only 2 1/2 years of her first 4 year term as Governor.
Perhaps Alaska was too small for her ambition, after all she is only the star of the equivalent of a TV Show. It is time for her to do what other TV stars do, leave the show at the height of their fame for a career in the big leagues, it is movie star time. I'm sure she will make lots of money and I pray this is the route she is choosing for I truly hope that she doesn't plan to put us through another incomprehensible run for higher office.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Al Franken Wins...
...8 months after he was elected U.S. Senator from Minnesota. Today, the Minnesota State Supreme Court ruled that he did so by a margin of 312 votes and finally, excruciatingly so, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman, otherwise known as sore loser, conceded defeat after countless recounts. Now the U.S. Senate can legitimately undertake the business of the nation.
We in New York State, however, continue to wait for our Senate to resolve a similar power struggle between Republicans and Democrats. Even though the Republicans have controlled the NY Senate for 40 years, yes 40 years, they could not accept their defeat last November. They staged a coup this spring to regain leadership by appending two, but then losing one, Democratic rope jumpers, unfortunately and inadvertently creating a 31-31 tie.
Power-sharing resolutions are expected but have failed to materialize. And, despite orders from the Governor to return to the business of the state, the Senate having first engaged in separate but equal attendance have failed to maintain even these feeble attempts at conducting business. The only successful action has been separate but ratifiable orders to ensure that they get paid. Sad but true but, I digress.
Al Franken's win delivers a 60 vote Democratic quorum to the United States Senate. Hopefully this leads to something good but the rising and inescapable bad sportsmanship of the GOP is starting to reach indefatigable proportions. Must the rich and powerful make mockery of everything we thought we had a stake in? The saga continues...
We in New York State, however, continue to wait for our Senate to resolve a similar power struggle between Republicans and Democrats. Even though the Republicans have controlled the NY Senate for 40 years, yes 40 years, they could not accept their defeat last November. They staged a coup this spring to regain leadership by appending two, but then losing one, Democratic rope jumpers, unfortunately and inadvertently creating a 31-31 tie.
Power-sharing resolutions are expected but have failed to materialize. And, despite orders from the Governor to return to the business of the state, the Senate having first engaged in separate but equal attendance have failed to maintain even these feeble attempts at conducting business. The only successful action has been separate but ratifiable orders to ensure that they get paid. Sad but true but, I digress.
Al Franken's win delivers a 60 vote Democratic quorum to the United States Senate. Hopefully this leads to something good but the rising and inescapable bad sportsmanship of the GOP is starting to reach indefatigable proportions. Must the rich and powerful make mockery of everything we thought we had a stake in? The saga continues...
Monday, June 1, 2009
GM Bankruptcy: Par for the Course
So GM is dead-ish and the market did not raise an eyebrow. One of the largest manufacturing companies in the United States is being shepherded through a structured bankruptcy on the taxpayer's dime to the tune of $50,000,000,000, not including the $19,000,000,000 it has already received, and the market rallied several hundred points apparently overjoyed over other unrelated positive, though flimsy, economic data. Apparently investors felt that the GM thing was expected and already priced in so no big deal. Par for the course.
In the course of less than a year, another industry giant has been transferred to the taxpayer dole, let us not forget AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the dizzying array of financial firms that are now majority owned or significantly owned by the American Government. Smacks of that "S" word, doesn't it. Yech! Actually, I don't see any problem with socialism, we are trying to save America in this global economy, aren't we? Though it does look bad that the government of the country that is/was the economic powerhouse of the world is bailing out the firms that underwrote its superiority. Furthermore, this government is as bankrupt as they come. If the American government was a company, it would have sought chapter 11 a long time a go.
Why is the financial sanctity of this country so reputable when it has not been able to balance its books in nearly a decade? Now this government sits on the brink of skyrocketing legacy costs and it cannot negotiate any settlement. Sounds a lot like GM. The perceived strength of the US government lays upon its solid revenue source - the American taxpayer - but it cannot sell the prospect of higher taxes or reduction in services to the representative body of this bunch; it is considered political suicide. It has the largest military in the world and so cocoons its weakening financial condition with weapons. We are democratic, we are free, we are safe, we are broke.
But, we are saving GM and the rest of the funky bunch but the amount given to GM and Chrysler, which I still cannot understand why Chrysler is being sold to a foreign automaker but whatever, is still a drop in the bucket compared to what has been given to AIG and the financials. Now Wall Street is happy and the market is rallying while they criticize the President for spending too much money. How can anyone even mention free market in the same breath?
The government can save GM but at some point we will need to save the government. We will all have to pay a lot more taxes. Is there any other way?
In the course of less than a year, another industry giant has been transferred to the taxpayer dole, let us not forget AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the dizzying array of financial firms that are now majority owned or significantly owned by the American Government. Smacks of that "S" word, doesn't it. Yech! Actually, I don't see any problem with socialism, we are trying to save America in this global economy, aren't we? Though it does look bad that the government of the country that is/was the economic powerhouse of the world is bailing out the firms that underwrote its superiority. Furthermore, this government is as bankrupt as they come. If the American government was a company, it would have sought chapter 11 a long time a go.
Why is the financial sanctity of this country so reputable when it has not been able to balance its books in nearly a decade? Now this government sits on the brink of skyrocketing legacy costs and it cannot negotiate any settlement. Sounds a lot like GM. The perceived strength of the US government lays upon its solid revenue source - the American taxpayer - but it cannot sell the prospect of higher taxes or reduction in services to the representative body of this bunch; it is considered political suicide. It has the largest military in the world and so cocoons its weakening financial condition with weapons. We are democratic, we are free, we are safe, we are broke.
But, we are saving GM and the rest of the funky bunch but the amount given to GM and Chrysler, which I still cannot understand why Chrysler is being sold to a foreign automaker but whatever, is still a drop in the bucket compared to what has been given to AIG and the financials. Now Wall Street is happy and the market is rallying while they criticize the President for spending too much money. How can anyone even mention free market in the same breath?
The government can save GM but at some point we will need to save the government. We will all have to pay a lot more taxes. Is there any other way?
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
A Different Vision of Productivity
It is President's week vacation and while most of the world went back to work today, almost the entire school population is on vacation this week. My husband's company was not off on Monday as it is just as much a regular business day for many private companies though the stock market and the banks are closed.
Today, President Obama signed the $787 stimulus package so it is a go. The Dow went down nearly 300 points when just last week it kept jumping on even a whiff of a bailout package. Today, there is a signed, sealed and delivered package and it drops like a rock. Also, the auto companies are back, hat in hand as we knew they would be, begging for another $39 billion to remain afloat. In addition, the deadline is upon them to submit their corporate sustainability plans. The numbers so far have been dreadful so I don't think much will change for them in the short term though it seems that the UAW has consented to a few concessions which may help the bottom line. How long will it take the Unions to realize that no one is immune from this Recession? Teachers, Government Workers, Carpenters, Electricians, Plumbers and everyone else belonging to similar organizations, you all need to pitch in, to help yourselves and ourselves because there is no good timeline for getting out of this Recession.
As much as the President tries to emphasize that there is no easy fix and a turnaround will not be immediate, we want those 8 years of George Bush to turn around; we certainly do not want to suffer for our excesses too long, right about now or at least upcoming in the Spring there should be a tidy picture of turnarounds; feel good stories about how the stimulus package is helping many families keep their homes. How the money will be apportioned will be of grave importance. How do we structure ourselves for opportunity in the next few years?
What side of the fence will we all be on when we emerge from this Recession? It is hard to look it in the eye, recession. It is hard to accept that it does not seem to be slowing. Everyone is being advised to work as hard as they can and stand out in order to save their job or themselves from layoff. Everyone who has a job is working as hard as they can because they fear losing their job. Those of us who lost their jobs feel like they have to prove productivity while they are home daily clicking resumes into a blank world; an auto-reply notice thanking you for submitting your resume. One time I did hear back that I was not the type of candidate they were seeking - it was a job on Long Island so I was rooting for it a little bit. Now, I am sending resumes to NYC and NJ wryly wondering how in the heck I would swing it; it is hard for both parents to commute to NYC from Suffolk County.
President Obama's plan was supposed to save us and it landed as flatly when the TARP was signed back in the fall. How much more Government spending will be necessary? I think most poeple know that the well has run dry but we are all in denial about that part. 8 whole years of destruction can't be turned around in a month but we want Obama to have fixed it today and we want our lives to be freed from our own monetary sins.
Today, President Obama signed the $787 stimulus package so it is a go. The Dow went down nearly 300 points when just last week it kept jumping on even a whiff of a bailout package. Today, there is a signed, sealed and delivered package and it drops like a rock. Also, the auto companies are back, hat in hand as we knew they would be, begging for another $39 billion to remain afloat. In addition, the deadline is upon them to submit their corporate sustainability plans. The numbers so far have been dreadful so I don't think much will change for them in the short term though it seems that the UAW has consented to a few concessions which may help the bottom line. How long will it take the Unions to realize that no one is immune from this Recession? Teachers, Government Workers, Carpenters, Electricians, Plumbers and everyone else belonging to similar organizations, you all need to pitch in, to help yourselves and ourselves because there is no good timeline for getting out of this Recession.
As much as the President tries to emphasize that there is no easy fix and a turnaround will not be immediate, we want those 8 years of George Bush to turn around; we certainly do not want to suffer for our excesses too long, right about now or at least upcoming in the Spring there should be a tidy picture of turnarounds; feel good stories about how the stimulus package is helping many families keep their homes. How the money will be apportioned will be of grave importance. How do we structure ourselves for opportunity in the next few years?
What side of the fence will we all be on when we emerge from this Recession? It is hard to look it in the eye, recession. It is hard to accept that it does not seem to be slowing. Everyone is being advised to work as hard as they can and stand out in order to save their job or themselves from layoff. Everyone who has a job is working as hard as they can because they fear losing their job. Those of us who lost their jobs feel like they have to prove productivity while they are home daily clicking resumes into a blank world; an auto-reply notice thanking you for submitting your resume. One time I did hear back that I was not the type of candidate they were seeking - it was a job on Long Island so I was rooting for it a little bit. Now, I am sending resumes to NYC and NJ wryly wondering how in the heck I would swing it; it is hard for both parents to commute to NYC from Suffolk County.
President Obama's plan was supposed to save us and it landed as flatly when the TARP was signed back in the fall. How much more Government spending will be necessary? I think most poeple know that the well has run dry but we are all in denial about that part. 8 whole years of destruction can't be turned around in a month but we want Obama to have fixed it today and we want our lives to be freed from our own monetary sins.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Congressional Drama - C-Span Never Had It So Good
Who needs a reality TV show when we have the heights of Congressional drama to entertain? Ever since the drama with McCain and the bailout and Paulson and Bernanke and the rest of that daisy chain, it has been one ridiculous showcase of ineptitude, self-importance and arrogance culminating in what we thought was the peak of foolishness with the song and dance required of the Big 3 auto executives.
Now we have the Senate refusing to seat an appointed Senator because they believe that a Governor facing indictment on corruption charges should be stripped of his ability to nominate a replacement. What happened to innocent until proven guilty and why does the appointee have to seek legal counsel to ascertain his rights as the appointee of such a despicable but still unindicted Governor? He appointed me so I am the man and now give me my office and my seat. How about that? The Senate embraces their new President-elect, who just happened to be the only sitting black Senator, while refusing to allow the black man who has been appointed to replace him because they don't like the potentially criminal actions of the Governor who appointed him. What a mess. I have to look into this further because I really believe I must be missing something here; what laws did Blagojevich break exactly and on what authority does the Senate have to refuse an appointee?
As if this wasn't enough we still have the matter to settle of who will be the Senator from Minnesota. 62 days of nastiness and sore-losership later, Al Franken has been declared the winner by some 250 votes but the loser, incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman is still fighting. Oh well, at least the House is moving forward and has held the election for Speaker, too bad they re-elected Nancy Pelosi. I am still trying to figure out what she has done to be an effective leader. It's nice that she is a woman and all but I see no stunning accomplishment here. Again, I could be missing something. Probably that last person left from the Clinton years who has not been nominated for some postion in Obama's cabinet.
Not to be rude but is there really not enough "qualified" persons out there to serve in the upper eschelons of Government such that so many Senators and Governors have to be dragged out of their elected positions leaving states like New York scrambling to appoint a Congressional seat-filler and actually having to consider the likes of Caroline Kennedy as a possible Senator for sheer reason of being a member of a politcal dynasty. Oh what's to worry we already did that with the Bushes. If not her, I've seen the name Chelsea Clinton thrown up there as a potential replacement for her mother. Yeah yeah. 6 degrees of separation, who do I know? hmm.
Next up will be the confirmation hearings of Obama's cabinet. I am laughing already, I have no reason to believe that they will go smoothly at all especially with the undercurrent of culpability rising; already Bill Richardson has dropped out. Sanjay Gupta better start burying those skeletons in his closet if he has any hopes of making it to Surgeon General. Look, if you can go from Chief of Staff to head of the CIA, oh Leon we hardly knew you, then anything is possible.
Now we have the Senate refusing to seat an appointed Senator because they believe that a Governor facing indictment on corruption charges should be stripped of his ability to nominate a replacement. What happened to innocent until proven guilty and why does the appointee have to seek legal counsel to ascertain his rights as the appointee of such a despicable but still unindicted Governor? He appointed me so I am the man and now give me my office and my seat. How about that? The Senate embraces their new President-elect, who just happened to be the only sitting black Senator, while refusing to allow the black man who has been appointed to replace him because they don't like the potentially criminal actions of the Governor who appointed him. What a mess. I have to look into this further because I really believe I must be missing something here; what laws did Blagojevich break exactly and on what authority does the Senate have to refuse an appointee?
As if this wasn't enough we still have the matter to settle of who will be the Senator from Minnesota. 62 days of nastiness and sore-losership later, Al Franken has been declared the winner by some 250 votes but the loser, incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman is still fighting. Oh well, at least the House is moving forward and has held the election for Speaker, too bad they re-elected Nancy Pelosi. I am still trying to figure out what she has done to be an effective leader. It's nice that she is a woman and all but I see no stunning accomplishment here. Again, I could be missing something. Probably that last person left from the Clinton years who has not been nominated for some postion in Obama's cabinet.
Not to be rude but is there really not enough "qualified" persons out there to serve in the upper eschelons of Government such that so many Senators and Governors have to be dragged out of their elected positions leaving states like New York scrambling to appoint a Congressional seat-filler and actually having to consider the likes of Caroline Kennedy as a possible Senator for sheer reason of being a member of a politcal dynasty. Oh what's to worry we already did that with the Bushes. If not her, I've seen the name Chelsea Clinton thrown up there as a potential replacement for her mother. Yeah yeah. 6 degrees of separation, who do I know? hmm.
Next up will be the confirmation hearings of Obama's cabinet. I am laughing already, I have no reason to believe that they will go smoothly at all especially with the undercurrent of culpability rising; already Bill Richardson has dropped out. Sanjay Gupta better start burying those skeletons in his closet if he has any hopes of making it to Surgeon General. Look, if you can go from Chief of Staff to head of the CIA, oh Leon we hardly knew you, then anything is possible.
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