Reflections On America

This past 4th of July I had some time to reflect on the state of America, and sadly was not surprised at what I found. On the Left, I find politicians who won't stand up for what they believe in, even after they get what they want. They are so inherently crippled by public opinion, that finding those willing to take a stand in what is right, is attuned to farmer herding cats. On the Right, we have a party captured by its extremes, who believe compromise means making the other side come to their point of view. They have disconnected from the people, to serve big money interests, both corporate and individual.

On Independence day we like to pat ourselves on the back, and tout how we are the greatest nation on earth. The Right would have you wrap yourself in the flag, embraced in the warm cocoon of our "freedom." The Left, embrace our diversity and perseverance despite ourselves. However, we do not have a monopoly on freedom, of the 208 some countries of the world about 180 of them have freedom. We also (particularly conservatives) think we have the exclusive blessings of God. God Bless America! You see it on bumper stickers, most high ranking politicians can't end a speech without saying it, but who said we have the exclusive blessings of the divine power? What makes us so special?

People Left and Right say we are the number one country in the world, but are we? were we ever? Yes, I think there was a time in history when we could say this with a straight face, but we have lost our way. In literacy, math, science, life expectancy, infant mortality, median household income, labor, exports, in none of these are we ranked #1, NONE. We are first in military spending. In fact we spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of which are allies. Many say we have the best health care in the world, but many are screaming bloody murder against expanding coverage to most of our citizens. As long as we have people coming to line up for days to get into free health care clinics being offered all across this country, we cannot say we have the best health care, we just can't.

There was a time in the not so distant past, when we didn't sweat the small stuff. When civility wasn't just essential to governing, it was demanded. When we planted our flag on the moral high ground, not a cross. When we had wars on poverty, not the poor. When we dreamed big, built big things, were on the forefront of technology, and disease, and the universe. When intelligence was something we aspired too, not demeaned. A time when we weren't afraid of our own shadow.

If it is comforting for you to proclaim our greatness, by all means, it is the IN thing to do. However, in my estimation we have lost our way. Powerful, big money interests are increasingly eroding the "American Dream". The promise that no matter what your background, your success story is possible because of American exceptionalism. Only with our voice, our vote, can we rekindle all that we once were, and can be again. This task is ours to promote together, to shed the narrow ideologies that bring only gridlock, and find the common ground that both political parties once knew, but have abandoned. To work for the common welfare, and strive toward domestic tranquility. All we have to do is find the kind of people who aspire to this end. Unfortunately for all of us, they are few and far between, and that doesn't bode well for our future, and that of the United States of America.

Electoral Update And An Angry Right

The latest electoral map has a few changes, again with no toss-ups. Dark Red Romney has a lead above 5%, Pink Romney has a lead below 5%, Dark Blue Obama has a lead over 5%, Light Blue Obama has a lead below 5%.  The changes this post are Obama's lead in Michigan dropping below 5%, Arizona going above 5% for Romney, and Florida has gone from pink for Romney, to light blue for Obama.

The 270 mark remains the number to win. The updated map puts President Obama's lead a bit higher.

Barack Obama                    Mitt Romney

319                                       219

After a hard month for the President, Romney still can't seem to catch on and make any headway. If anything he has lost ground in the so called "battleground" states. His lack of specifics on ANYTHING has people scratching their head as to what exactly he stands for, except of course that he's not Barack Obama. His favorability rating remains low, and he continues to struggle in the states where it counts.

In the meantime, Republicans in general are seething at the recent Supreme Court ruling to uphold The Affordable Care Act of 2010. Cheif Justice Roberts in paricular has been singled out as a "traitor" and a "coward" from right wing nutjobs who thought they had Obamacare's demise in the bag. They have yet to outline details for replacement legislation, and even before the court's ruling, GOP officials said they had no plans to do so until after the election or perhaps 2013. Nor has Romney detailed what he would like to see included in a substitute law.

Here is a taste of what crazy sounds like after the ruling:

Sarah Palin: "Obama lied to the American people. Again. He said it wasn't a tax. Obama lies; freedom dies."
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY): “Just because a couple people on the Supreme Court declare something to be ‘constitutional’ does not make it so. The whole thing remains unconstitutional,”
Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN): likened upholding of the Affordable Care Act to the events of 9/11.
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA): With Obamacare ruling, I feel like I just lost two great friends, America and John Roberts.”
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH):  "Todays ruling by the Supreme Court underscores the urgency of a full repeal of Obamacare."
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus: "Today's Supreme Court decision sets the stakes for the November election. Now, the only way to save the country from ObamaCare's budget-busting government takeover of health care is to elect a new president."
Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT): "I will continue to fight this assualt on individual liberty and limited government."
Rep. Allen West (R-FL): "... Today, individual sovereignty in America has been defeated."

Listen to these nut jobs, Freedom is dead? The ruling is equal to 9/11? I've lost my friend America? Individual liberty and soveriegnty have been defeated? We must act now to save the country? Are you kidding me? You would think the Supreme Court ripped up the Constitution and then went outside and burned it. The only way to avoid this national disaster is to elect Republicans! Did I miss something? I thought the Mayans said the world blows up in Decemeber, not November? There is a giant asteroid called Obamacare hurtling toward the United States and the only way to stop it is to elect the guy who came up with the idea in the first place? REALLY?

Look at the quotes above, are these the people you want running the government? “Just because a couple people on the Supreme Court declare something to be ‘constitutional’ does not make it so." Well yeah bumpkin it kinda does?! Next time the thought of voting Republican enters your mind, think of these quotes and ask yourself, "What am I on Crack!"

Sometimes We Get It Right

Today in a 5-4 vote that was expected to go the other way, The Supreme Court upheald the provisions of the Affordable Care Act of 2010, a.k.a. Obamacare.  Usually conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, joined with the courts four liberals to uphold the law, and the all important individual mandate. Roberts reasoned Congresses power to tax, not the commerce clause, allowed the bill the right to be declared constitutional.

In a court that has become blatantly partisan in recent years, Chief Justice Roberts showed incredible courage in bucking a conservative smeer campaign that has demonized the bill for over two years. It is a testiment to this courage that led him to uphold the law, and not bow to the millions of dollars spent in an attempt to destroy health care reform. The landmark decision will maybe, just maybe, prove the money from the Right can't buy every outcome they want. Today's historic ruling is a blow against the special interests, and a victory for American democracy.

It goes without saying, this is a massive victory for President Obama. This was his first terms signature acheivement, and to have it knocked down would have been a hard shot to the President. To Mitt Romney and all the of the congressional Republicans who voted against this bill, the people have spoken, and the highest court in the land has heard them. So go home and tell your illiterate, lemming, rube, constituants, that your idea of health care has been repealled, and come November all you right wing water carriers should be replaced.

So all you conservative wingnuts can go shit in your hat! Sometimes when the chips are down, we get it right, today was one of those days. As for Mitt Romney, looks like the grenade went off before he could throw it. After a tough month for the President, he is still holding fast where it counts, and in some places gaining ground. Governor Romney continues to dodge and weave his run to the White House by not answering questions, and blaming everything from the economy, to burnt toast, on the President's lack of leadership. He wants to concentrate on the economy, but he won't talk about his time as Governor of Massachusetts, his time at Bain Capital, he thinks the Ryan Budget Plan is "marvelous", he won't address immigration reform, he talks about eliminating tax loop-holes, but won't say which ones? He will repeal Obamacare, but won't say what he would replace it with? If your message is I'm better than the other guy, but don't ask me why? He is nothing more than the anti-Obama candidate, and if thats the best he can do, then I can't wait for the debates because Obama is going to eat his lunch. So for all you rich big money corporations, and individuals, who poured millions into killing health care reform, better luck next time!

Holder Witch Hunt Is Pure Power Politics

Yesterday the House Oversight Committee voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. It is something that has never happened before in our history. Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) led the charge with a melodramitic diatribe worthy of an academy award. The vote, which ran along party lines, 23 Republicans in favor, 17 Democrats opposed, only served to emphasize the partisan head hunt. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said a vote by the full House will take place next week.

Attorney General Holder has released over 7,500 documents regarding the "Fast and Furious" program that is being investigated. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives launched Operation Fast and Furious out of Arizona to track weapon purchases by Mexican drug cartels. However, it lost track of more than 1,000 firearms that the agency had allowed straw buyers to carry across the border, and two of the lost weapons turned up at the scene of the 2010 killing of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

I take nothing away from the seriousness of agent Terry's death, but these outcomes, in these type of conditions, are hardly irregular. People are dying on our southern border everyday, agent Terry has simply become the tragic strawman, in an attempt by the Right, to somehow legitimize their attacks against Holder. In the meantime, Holder, said his ongoing offer still stands to turn over some of the documents sought by House Republicans. However, Chairman Issa said Holder put unreasonable conditions on his offer. Which only furthur proves this is not about the Attorney General, its about attacking President Obama in an election year.

The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), accused Issa of setting an "impossible standard" for Holder by initially demanding documents the attorney general is legally prohibited from providing. Now Issa has "no interest in resolving" the dispute with Holder, Cummings said.  At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney called the Republican investigation a "politically motivated, taxpayer funded, election year fishing expedition." "It is this approach, I think, that explains at least in part why this Congress has the lowest public approval ratings of any in memory, if not history," Carney said. Despite this House Speaker Boehner said, "The House will vote next week on a contempt measure unless these documents are released"

So what is this really all about? Eric Holder has been a giant thorn in the side of Republican Governors, as well as, Congressional Republicans. Why?  He has been President Obama's muscle in a battle that has been raging since Obama took office. He was the administrations agent to stop enforcing the Defense of Mariage Act (DOMA). He has challenged harsh attempts at immigration reform by some states, and more recently has tried to put the hammer down on a growing number of state Republican initiatives to suppress voter turn-out. The most recent effort by Florida to purge its voter rolls. He has been the administrations attack dog on all these issues, and therefore who better to smack down than the man who has done his best to stop the national Republican agenda?

Before the vote yesterday, President Obama invoked executive privledge on the documents in question. In a move that argueably could have had better timing, it only served as meat for the Republican feeding frenzy that is now spewing terms like conspiracy and cover-up. So while they start every sentence with "This is about justice for agent Terry..." nothing could be furthur from the truth. The fact is, agent Terry is just a convenient tool to put the hammer down on Attorney General Holder, and by default President Obama.

It is pure power politics, and quite frankly I think the American people are sick and tired of this kind of dead end governance. There are transportation bills, jobs bills, student loan bills, rotting on the desks in Congress, and THIS is what Republicans want to concentrate on? Showboating and political theater, they just can't help it. They can't pass up an opportunity to litigate imaginary scandals, it's like catnip, they can't resist. So while the Republicans play games, Washington remains in gridlock, and the American people continue to suffer.

Obama's Achilles Heal

Most people agree that the popular vote in the coming Presidential election is going to be very close. However, in the electoral college where Presidential decisions are made, the President continues to hold an edge. It is generally a given these days that the northeast and pacific west go Democratic, while the south, excluding Florida, and the interior west go Republican. This leaves a few "battleground states" to pick the winner. While some pundits have as many as a dozen "battlegrounds", I have just a few, they are Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia. If Obama can hold the standard Democratic states, and just 2 of these 4, he wins. In past years the major battlegrounds have been Florida and Ohio, and while they are still very important, Obama can loose both of them and still win the election. Romney really needs to win both, to have any chance at beating Obama. At present I have them splitting, Florida to Romney, Ohio to Obama. Even though Romney is currently winning Florida by less than 0.5%, and Obama is winning Ohio with less than 2.0%, if Obama can take just one of these states, it will serve as a nice buffer for any gains Romney can muster.... Unless?

The one area of the country that we have not talked about, fractures. It has been a Democratic stronghold of late, but shows signs it may not be able to be taken for granted. I'm talking about the upper mid-west, specifically Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio.

In Iowa: Obama is leading here by only 1.8%*. Iowa has 6 electoral votes, and in 2008 went big for Obama by 10 points. It has voted Democratic 4 out of the last 5 elections.

In Wisconsin: Obama is leading here by 3.4%*. Wisconsin has 10 electoral votes, and in 2008 also went big for Obama by 14 points. It has voted Democratic 5 out of the last 5 elections.

In Michigan: Obama is leading here by 4.7%*. Michigan has 16 electoral votes, and in 2008 went for Obama by 16 points. It has voted Democratic 5 out of the last 5 elections.

In Ohio: Obama is leading here by 1.8%*. Ohio has 18 electoral votes, and in 2008 went for Obama by 5 points. It has voted Democratic 3 out of the last 5 elections.

While Obama won all these states in 2008, the current margins have them very much in question? In Iowa he's down 8.2%, in Wisconsin down 10.6%, in Michigan down 11.3%, and in Ohio down 3.2%.

This is Mitt Romney's back door. If he can take 2, or even 3 of these states, the President's foundation begins to crumble. However, if he did loose Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan, but won both Florida and Ohio he still wins. As you begin to go through all the potential scenarios one universal truth remains, and that is that Romney's path to the White House is much more difficult than Obama's.

The 4 states I mention here are currently light blue, the question is will they stay that way? The margins are weak, and with Scott Walker's win in Wisconsin, there is renewed hope by Republicans that the Badger State may be up for grabs. Iowa and Ohio are almost dead even, and Michigan Romney's main home state, is drifting right. A poll released just yesterday, had Obama up in the Wolverine State by just one point. The poll before that had Romney up by one.

All this stands as a reminder that right now Obama is winning where it counts, but his leads are tenuous and it won't take much to turn the tide in Romney's favor. As economic news remains bleak, and Europe continues to implode, there are a lot of intangibles out there that the President has no control over, that may tip things Romney's way. It's a roll of the dice and Obama has the house advantage, but with the stakes this high Romney has plenty of money to play with, and a lucky streak is not out of the question.


* SOURCE: Real Clear Politics

Choice, Freedom, And A Few Select Phrases: A Republican Primer

We have all heard them by now, those gold standards repeated again and again by conservatives to emphasize their talking points. I have talked about some of these before, but lets review some of the major touch tones that Republicans just love to throw around, and examine what they REALLY mean. The first one I've touched on before, but it is consistently tossed around in the vernacular of the Right, probably more than any other.

FREEDOM: Now the dictionary defines freedom as follows:
1. The stateof being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.

2. exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.

3. the power to determine action without restraint.

4. political or national independence

5. personal liberty, as  opposed to bondage or slavery.

Now this goes hand in hand with another Right wing favorite, in fact they are almost inseparable.

CHOICE: Again the dictionary defines choice as follows:

1. an act or instance of choosing, a selection.

2. the right, power, or opportunity to choose, an option. 

3. the person or thing chosen or eligible to be chosen. 

4. an alternative.

5. an abundance or variety from which to choose.

EXPAND

6. something that is preferred or preferable to others; the best part of something.

7. a carefully selected supply.

It is rare that you not hear one of these without the other. Lets see how they work? They will tell you, Obama wants to take away our freedom. Well that's kind of broad, don't you think? What freedom exactly is coming for? Then you get, our freedom of choice. The government shouldn't be telling us what to do!

Now this argument is most often applied to the Health Care Act of 2010, a.k.a Obama Care. The government shouldn't be able to force me to buy insurance! Now once you maneuver past all the death panel, bureaucrats deciding what your doctor can and can't do, hands off my Medicare non-sense, what is the core of this argument? In this case no health care mandate, fine. They want you to have the freedom to be indigent. They want you to be able to choose to go to an emergency room and let other people pick up the tab. The freedom to get free health care, I'd choose that, wouldn't you? So they cry again, no government run health care, hands off our Medicare!

Now look at the brainiacs in the picture above. NEWS FLASH Tea Party Patriots, Medicare IS government run health care! OK, OK, lets step back a minute, maybe they mean the government is forcing you to buy government run health care, like Medicare for all? That (as you can see above is Socialism!) God help us! Wrong again wing nuts. The mandate forces you to buy PRIVATE insurance, from PRIVATE insurance companies, free market capitalism shoved right up your keester! But the death panels? the bureaucrats? My freedom, my choice? The government can't make me do anything! The government makes you buy car insurance? The government says what you can take on a plane? The government tells you how fast to drive, where you can and can't park, and on and on... and if you CHOOSE NOT to follow these government mandates you face a penalty, or worse. 

What does the Health Care Act of 2010 do????

Forces insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions, TRUE. Prevents insurances companies from imposing limits on health care costs, TRUE. Allows parents to keep their children on their policies until age 26, TRUE. Prevents women from paying more for insurance just because they're women, TRUE. Supplements senior citizen drug coverage in the "doughnut hole", TRUE. Provides Medicare recipients with free wellness care, some tests, and cancer screenings, TRUE.

So if you CHOOSE NOT to participate, you face a penalty. sound familiar?

So what the hell are Republicans talking about? Your freedom to be denied emergency treatment? Your choice to go bankrupt because you can't pay your medical bills? The freedom to be told it was your choice not to get health insurance, TOUGH SHIT DEAL WITH IT! Please try to bleed somewhere else, it looks bad for our paying customers! (Remeber the Republican debate?)

But we're going to replace Obama Care! Oh really! with what?!  cue (crickets chirping). Its all a lot of crap. Just because the Republicans are experts at demonizing all the things they don't like, doesn't mean they are telling you the truth, and certainly doesn't mean they're right!

Lets stay with health care, this time specifically for women. Now you would think a group that likes to advocate choice would be part of the PRO CHOICE movement? Nope, wrong again, in fact it's way to hypocritical to be ANTI-CHOICE, so instead they are PRO-LIFE, Ironic don't you think? Unfortunately the Republican definition of freedom and choice is strictly limited, particularly when it comes to individual choice and freedoms.

Remember our dictionary definitions of freedom:

2. exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.

3. the power to determine action without restraint.

and choice:

3. the person or thing chosen or eligible to be chosen. 

Republicans believe women SHOULD NOT have freedom of choice when it comes to their bodies. When it comes to equal pay for equal work. When it comes to unnecessary invasive medical procedures that serve no medical purpose, except to influence a woman's freedom of choice regarding what is going to be done to her body. In fact, they have passed laws that make it legal to lie to women in order to influence their choice, while at the same time protecting the liers who tell them.

If you are homosexual in America, Republicans reject your freedom to love who you want. To get married if you choose to do so, and have the same 1000 plus federal protections granted to heterosexual unions. They would call these special rights, not civil rights. If we could stay locked in the 1950's which is the conservatives "American Dream" this wouldn't even be an issue. Women, minorities, gays, all knew their place. However, abortion is now legal, integration is the norm, and like so many other groups before them, gays are tired of being second class citizens because Republicans want to deny them their choice, and their freedoms.

Look at the definitions again. Freedom and choice are not predicated on the narrow ideologies of the few. They are universal concepts born of democracy. They should be embraced, advanced, and protected. The Constitution starts "We the People..." not we the privileged, we the corporations, we the wealthy. If you are one of these select entities the Right will bathe you in all the freedom's and choice's you can handle, but as an individual not so much. It is a dichotomy they cannot escape, and for a group that consistently cries out for strict adherence to the Constitution, much like the bible, they only want to apply it when and where it's convenient for them.

So if you have the temerity to somehow want to tax, regulate, or limit these groups, that can only flourish in an environment of choices free from the restraint of government, then you are a socialist. It makes perfect sense to them, why can't you see it? Which brings me to my next phrase, one of my personal favorites.

JOB CREATORS: Any corporation or individual that is flush with cash, and can only thrive in an unregulated, minimal or tax free environment in order to create jobs. Translation:

In Energy, from the fine people who brought you the gulf oil spill disaster, the oxy-moron of clean coal, and flaming water straight from your tap. There should be no regulation on where or how oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy should be used or harnessed. Energy and profits always come first. Trash the environment, pollute freely, and run your operations unencumbered by annoying agencies like the EPA. All while collectively making 40 billion + dollars a quarter, and thanks to Republicans, still receiving government subsidies.

In Banking, from the good people who brought us the housing bubble, to big to fail, and the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. Nothing to see here, thanks for the bailouts, but we've learned our lesson. We are bigger than ever before, sitting on 2 trillion dollars in capital, but we just don't want to lend right now. They also find consumer protections, and bills like Dodd-Frank really inconvenient.

Millionaires and billionaires, the people most important to Republicans. You see if they have low taxes, and little or no regulation, and eliminate the role of government to control any of this, and the economy will flourish. Really a simple idea if you think about it, there is only one problem, IT DOESN'T WORK! Republicans have been trying this magic formula for over 30 years, somebody send them the memo PLEASE!

You want to talk about JOB CREATORS, lets go there. In President Clinton's tenure as President, (a Democrat), in 8 years he created 23 million jobs and 4 national budgets with a surplus. He did this with a corporate tax rate just 4% higher than what it is today. Now lets look at George W. Bush (a Republican). In his 8 years he created 3 million jobs, gave 1 Trillion dollars in tax breaks to the rich, (which are still in place), and raised the national debt to 10 Trillion dollars. Add in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a prescription drug benefit for Medicare, none of which were paid for, and he left office handing Obama the biggest financial disaster in decades. The month Obama was elected, November 2008, we lost 728, 000 jobs. This last week Republicans shredded Obama for creating only 69,000 jobs. Obama has created more jobs in 3 years than Bush did in 8. All with a banking crisis, an economic meltdown both here and in Europe, and a Republican congress who wouldn't concede the sky is blue if Obama said so. So all these short term memory conservatives want to blame Obama, if you disagree with any of the Rights lame explanations for our economic woe you get my next favorite phrase.

CLASS WARFARE: It's not fair to blame the success of the corporations and the rich, that only serves to divide us not unite us. Look at the chart below:

Who's being divided, and who's being united? Wall street is overwhelming Main street, the 1% are squeezing the 99%. The middle class in this country is dying people! We are suppose to be the greatest country on earth? Then why are we 5th in the WORLD in income disparity, 5TH! That's more like a statistic for some totalitarian backwater in Asia or Africa. After all, your a high school graduate making $11 dollars an hour at the food barn, if you work hard you to could be a millionaire, one of us, all you have to do is reach for it. Republicans, PLEASE stop blowing smoke up my ass, your going to ruin my autopsy when I die with no health insurance. There are millions of Americans in that very situation and believe that dream is possible. The American Dream has been hijacked by corporations and the rich, who play that tune while millions of Americans follow only to be drowned in the ocean.

You want to talk CLASS WARFARE. Mitt Romney and Scott Walker have showed us that if you have enough money, the prize can be yours. Unfortunately that means our government, our politicians, our rights, and yes our freedoms and our choice. What happens to your body, to your environment, your vote, your love, is all for sale to the highest bidder. It's not just a cliche anymore, its a fact. A very sobering, scary, and quite real fact.

Will Wisconsin Become A Missed Opportunity?

Today the 18 month battle to recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker will finally be decided. While most polls had Walker ahead of his Democratic challenger Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Walker has never gone above 50%, and the latest poll has the race a statistical dead heat. The recall juggernaut was prompted by Walker's "Divide and Conquer" strategy to destroy the states unions, collective bargaining power, and ultimately make Wisconsin a "right to work" state. Don't just take my word for it, see for yourself straight from Walker's own mouth.

After a long battle by Democratic state legislators who left the state to prevent Walker's agenda from being put in place, when they finally returned, Republicans in the state assembly rammed the bill home, in what some would call a cowardly procedural farce. Again, see for yourself.



The result, an immediate cry for Walker and several other Republican state legislators to go. In an earlier recall measure,  3 out of 3 state Democrats held their seats, while 2 out of 6 Republicans lost theirs. More Republican legislators are potentially on the chopping block today, as well as, Walker's Lieutenant Governor.

In what many are calling a watershed moment for labor in this country, has 2 basic outcomes. 1) The further destruction of organized labor, not just as a hit for unions in general, but more importantly to diminish a major money stream for Democrats, including the President. 2) A red light for a nationwide Republican effort to undermine organized labor, and a message that this kind of political over reach will not be tolerated my the middle class, who continues to get squeezed under Republican policies.

Republicans know how high the stakes are in Wisconsin, and have poured millions of dollars into the Walker campaign in order to keep their national agenda alive. Walker has outspent Barrett 7 to 1 in advertising and attack ads. 30 million dollars of Walker's war chest coming from donors out of the state. Walker's biggest donors include Texas homebuilding king and Swift Boat for Veterans backer Bob Perry, Las Vegas casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson, and Richard DeVos, heir to Amway fortune. A little more than $1 of every $10 given to Barrett was out-of-state campaign cash.

Where are the Presidential Candidates? No where to be found? Both President Obama who sent an 11th hour tweet last night endorsing Barrett, and Mitt Romney have steered clear of Wisconsin, each no doubt awaiting the outcome, so they can ride in and support which ever mandate prevails. The crime here is once again through money, and lots of it, Republicans are on their way to buying what they hope will be one in a long line of elections. If Barrett goes down tonight, the Democratic leadership who avoided this race like the plague, will take a long hard look in the mirror and have no one to blame but themselves. Walker rallied Governors from all over the country, big money donors and corporations hostile to labor, and was backed by the party apparatus to drive it all home. If Democrat Tom Barrett loses tonight, it will be a mandate to other Republican Governors to keep the trend going. If he wins, Democrats will have drawn a line in the sand that says go no farther. So will it become a squandered opportunity, or a first step in curbing Republican plans for the nation? In 24 hours we should know the answer. 

Political Update

The latest electoral map has little change since last time. As you know, my electoral prediction maps have done away with the so called "battleground states" Dark Red Romney has a lead above 5%, Pink Romney has a lead below 5%, Dark Blue Obama has a lead over 5%, Light Blue Obama has a lead below 5%. So lets take a look. The only change this post is Obama's lead in Colorado dropping below 5%

If the current model holds, and with 270 votes needed to win, the breakdown remains unchanged since our last report.

Barack Obama     Mitt Romney

303                         235

While this may look good for the President, how quickly the political winds can change. Today's first rise in unemployment in 11 months to 8.2%, with the economy creating only 69,000 jobs, is bad news that couldn't come at a worse time. While 300,000 long term unemployed did re-enter the work force, this positive gets lost in the bad news headline. The President continues to hold leads in those demographics he dominated just a month ago, but has lost, in many cases,  double digit advantages across the board.

In what is shaping up as a brutal campaign, fueled by individual billionaires taking full advantage of our post "Citizens United" election cycle, both campaigns are hitting hard and often. The major problem as I see it is that neither campaign is painting a vision for the future. The President and Democrats don't even bother in most cases, because they know Tea Party idealogs make any effort from the Left dead on arrival. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has no control over his caucus, so he couldn't make a deal on anything if he wanted to. The abuse of the filibuster, mainly on the Right, has maintained the gridlock Washington has come to expect. Since 2007 the Republicans have used the filibuster 370 times, that translates to about 1 every 5 days. Thus nothing gets done, while the Right hopes Obama gets the blame.

As for Mitt Romney, all he wants to be is the "alternative". His privileged upbringing and disconnect with the middle class? Doesn't want to talk about it.

His faith which many consider outside the mainstream of Christianity and is vital to evangelicals.  Doesn't want to talk about it.

His record as Governor of Massachusetts, where he left the state in massive debt, and was 47th out of 50 in job creation, and brainchild of Obama Care. Doesn't want to talk about it.

The hallmark he touts as his brightest credential, his business experience, spotlights his vulture capitalism under Bain Capital that basically was a model to make money, not create jobs. Dive into the details, and you guessed it,  doesn't want to talk about it.

He wants to eliminate tax loop holes, but won't tell us which ones?

He wants to repeal Obama Care, but doesn't tell us what he'll replace it with?

He keeps the press at arms length as much as he can, unless he runs to FOX to whack a few softballs.

As for the President, saying we can't go back to George W. Bush's economic policy sounds good, but what is your vision for the future? Think about it, aren't we still under the economic policies of the Bush Administration now? Republicans have blocked any attempt to change this policy, they even got an extension to the Bush Tax cuts, which after 10 years I think is safe to say don't work.

After a decade of wars, tax cuts for the rich, a Medicare prescription drug plan, all that went unpaid for on the nations credit card under Bush. Add an obstructionist Republican Congress that torpedo's any effort the President advances to attack these problems, and you have the situation we find ourselves in. Republicans consistently move to cut education, cut regulation, cut taxes for corporations and the rich, and cut environmental protections. They have declared war on women, gays, and voters, and all with a smile. In the meantime, our roads are crumbling, our bridges are falling down, our electrical grid is overloaded, our transportation system is antiquated and inefficient. The billions we have spent in a decade of conflicts and breaks for the rich, all came at the expense of our nations infrastructure, educational institutions, and middle class in general. 

Think people, where does the majority of these problems lie? The public welfare has been undermined by a dogmatic battle cry from the Right to make President Obama a one term President at all costs, and sadly "we the people" are the ones who are suffering for it. As moderates continue to be run out of Washington on a rail, and Republicans who think compromise means bringing Democrats over to their point of view, brace yourself for more of the same no matter who wins the Presidency in November. Until we start throwing out these narrow minded dogmatic wing nuts who think its better to be right in their cause, than it is to work together to find solutions to all the problems this country faces, NOTHING is going to change.

Electoral College Update Holds Mixed Results

Alrighty, my latest electoral map has some changes worth noting. Contrary to most electoral prediction maps I have done away with the so called "battleground states" Dark Red Romney has a lead above 5%, Pink Romney has a lead below 5%, Dark Blue Obama has a lead over 5%, Light Blue Obama has a lead below 5%. So lets take a look.

If the current model holds, and with 270 votes needed to win, the breakdown would go like this.

Barack Obama     Mitt Romney

 303                         235

In the past few elections the key battleground states that have been the primary focus have been Florida, and Ohio. Now while this still holds true, I think Virginia is going to be the key state the President must carry to be re-elected, followed by Ohio as insurance. The fact is President Obama can still win while loosing both Ohio and Florida, but he must carry Virginia. There are two new states under scrutiny that have generally been considered solid blue, and solid red respectively, they are Wisconsin and Arizona.

In Wisconsin, where the recall effort against current Governor Scott Walker is just days away, polling just a week ago had the embattled Governor up by 6 points. I suspect in large part to the millions in outside cash that has been bankrolled by right wing groups to save his neck. Meanwhile, the DNC refuses to help counter Walker's edge by supporting his Democratic challenger Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. I can only attribute the unchallenged wave of negative ads against Barrett to Obama's big drop in the polls there, the President is holding the state with less than 2%. 

In Arizona, the rise in the immigrant population, the fury over anti-immigration legislation, the stone age bills passed regarding abortion and women's rights, and the assault on voting rights, all have the Democrats within striking distance. Romney's lead here is just 4%.

Romney has made some gains in recent polling with regard to the economy, and economic news has taken a downturn. All the gains made in the stock market since January are gone.  People are unhappy with the Presidents handling of the economy, and 2/3rds thing we are going in the wrong direction. An equal number think their children will be worse off that they are, all bad news for Obama. Despite the economic news, Romney is still being hounded by his Bain Capital days. The Presidents support for gay marriage seems to be a wash for the moment, and independents are lining up to choose between the devil they know, and the devil they don't.

Romney's biggest problem is he has a much more difficult road to travel in order to get to the 270 electoral votes he needs to win. Looking at the states Obama carried in 2008, he can afford to lose Ohio, Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin, and still beat Romney. National polling has the Presidential contest a dead heat, but Obama is winning where it counts. In a side note: there are a freakishly odd number of scenarios that could end in a 269 - 269 tie, and that would seem to be Romney's best chance, since it would then go to the Republican controlled House to be decided.

Romney, Ricketts, And The Right

In what I can only attribute to excellent reporting by the NY Times, a plan to re litigate President Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright, among other things, was thwarted when the Republican proposal was made public. The add was the brain child of Fred Davis a Los Angeles-based strategist who is known as "Hollywood Fred" among his friends and colleagues and has been credited with coming up with some of the most creative and downright bizarre political ads in recent campaigns. His latest offering was to be financed by Chicago Cubs owner, an T.D. Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts. ( Another Wall Street billionaire working behind the scenes for Romney, what a shocker.)

The proposal which Republicans, including Romney now repudiate, has been suggested as an after thought that had no real consideration. Really? Lets look at the facts. The proposal created by Davis called, The Defeat of Barack Hussein Obama - The Ricketts Plan to End His Spending for Good. was a 54 page after thought that included plans to spend millions on inflammatory TV ads using everything from Rev. Jeremiah Wright to images of the September 11th attacks to show the truth about Obama's alleged secret plan to destroy America.

In response to the proposal Obama campaign manager Jim Messina pointed out in the words of one of these guys, they want to "do exactly what John McCain would not let us do" in the last election. and the plan was to be financed by a single billionaire. Of course once the plan was uncovered, Romney, Ricketts, and Davis ran for cover. Dan Baker head of the super PAC Ending Spending Action Fund, which was going to promote the Ricketts proposal was indignant, “We run an organization based on fiscal responsibility. They know we asked for a document based on ending spending, fiscal responsibility and jobs in the economy. This is far afield from that.”  Baker said it was “deeply troubling and unfair” for their organization – and Ricketts, who funds the super PAC – to be associated with the proposal, since they had never approved anything in it, and didn’t commission such a proposal. “The world is full of bad ideas. This is one of them,” the super PAC president said. “This wasn’t a proposal we requested at all. We never funded it.”

The fact of the matter is, off the cuff proposals don't get 54 page color presentations created for the review of the man who is going to foot the bill. Clearly this is just another example of the depths to which Mitt Romney will stoop to become President. It is a classic behind the scenes snap shot that was stopped before it could be put in motion. This is the post "Citizens United" political system in which we operate. A system where a choice few can spend unlimited funds hidden in the undisclosed shadows behind the curtain of a super PAC.

So Romney and the rest of his cronies cry repudiation, like a murderer who gets caught and says he's sorry. Then in classic Romney form claims the President is running a campaign of "character assassination",this is a bigger disconnect than him claiming credit for the auto bailout! Are you kidding me? He became the Republican nominee during the primaries by carpet bombing his opponents into submission with over $30 million dollars of ads that (you guessed it!) were pure character assassination. It's no wonder this man won't talk to anybody but FOX, how many sides of his mouth can Romney talk out of? It's much more than what it takes to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop I promise you. Romney is a shifty political chameleon funded by an American plutocracy designed to keep them rich, and rest of us content with the status quo. He is so out of touch with the majority of Americans, yet he stays competitive in the polls? Which only goes to show you that outright hate for one man, will make you vote for any boob just because he's the other choice available. It is madness on a national scale, and yet another indictment of who really runs America.

Who Is Mitt Romney?

That really has become the question hasn't it? He loves to define President Obama, but shies away from giving any kind of definitive definition to himself? So he opens himself up to being defined by the media, and the only time he directly tries to refute these definitions, he runs to FOX News where he can hit as many softballs as he wants. He is the product of sound bites from his wife, and the campaign shills he deploys to say what he can't. He has a long reputation for being on the politically expedient side of every issue, after all, he has been running for office since 1994. So he can't hide from 18 years of videotape that proves this to be true. So who is he really? For lack of a better image from his own campaign, the picture is not a pretty one.

He is a man of privilege born with a silver spoon in his mouth. A prep school prig who physically attacked those that he deemed as different. A corporate raider that put profits before people. He has morphed from a Governor who was a moderate, to a "severely conservative" presidential nominee. He has multiple homes, some with car elevators. He wrote an editorial called "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt" then has the gall to take credit for the auto industry turnaround. He is a product of Wall Street that wants to repeal the Dodd-Frank banking regulations. This in light of the latest Wall Street nightmare where J.P. Morgan Chase lost 2 billion dollars and counting, on risky investments. Jaime Dimond the company CEO, was rewarded for the massive loss with a 23 million dollar pay package, and an overwhelming vote of confidence from the shareholders. These are Romney's people.

Are you an auto-worker? He owns several cars in fact, his wife drives a couple of Cadillacs. Do you like football or NASCAR? He knows a few team owners. Struggling to make ends meet? He's not, he has $250 million dollars. As a matter of fact, I bet he will wager $10 thousand dollars this is all true. The man has done everything short of lighting a cigar with a hundred dollar bill as he approaches the podium.

The question becomes, is this "class warfare" as Republicans would have us believe? or has Romney become a symbol of the 1% in this country. a club that gets smaller with each passing year. Can Mitt Romney really understand the day to day struggles of the average American? Do we want the next president to come from the very environment that almost destroyed our economy? We know this, he will throw his own health care measure under the bus to get elected president. He will keep his mouth shut when people say President Obama should be tried for treason, or a gay soldier asks if he will reaffirm "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", or when his own foreign policy consultant pick, an openly gay man, is opposed by the hard right. On all of these, crickets. A disingenuous laugh or smile, an awkward chuckle followed by "I don't recall that...but I'm sorry" If you don't remember what you did why would you apologize for it? Answer: Because he does remember what he did, and he can't afford to alienate anyone. He has proven time and again, he will do anything, say anything, support or reject anything, that he thinks will help make him President.

Such the cautious candidate, deploying his surrogates to do the heavy lifting while he tries to figure out what he should say next. A man who wants you to reject President Obama, while what we know of him is less than flattering. He can't even get enthusiastic endorsements from his own party? Last week in an e-mail put out at 11pm, former rival Rick Santorum finally gave his luke warm endorsement in the 13th paragraph of a 16 paragraph message. Yesterday, President George W. Bush endorsed Romney with just four words while the doors were closing on an elevator. He said "I'm for Mitt Romney" Strong praise for the man who wants to pick up where George W. Bush left off. Is this really who you want running the White House?  He is the same old song from the Right, less regulation, less education, low taxes for the rich, Big Oil subsides, limiting women's rights, gay rights, voting rights, anti-union, weaken environmental safeguards on what we eat, the water we drink , and the air we breath, and do it all with a straight face in the name of "Freedom". Sends a chill down your spine doesn't it.... and not a good one.

President Obama Endorses Same Sex Marriage, Good Or Bad?

In light of the Presidents very bold position embracing same sex marriage in this country, I have some thoughts on this very important, and very divisive issue. Many of those who read me on Facebook may not know this, but I am a 46 year old openly gay man, who has been in a long term committed relationship with my partner Jay for almost 17 years. I applaud the Presidents historic and ground breaking announcement as one more step in his administrations support for not just marriage equality, but gay civil rights on the whole. However, when the champagne stops flowing, and the LGBT community starts cleaning up from its celebrations, there are some hard facts to face. Look at the map below:

40 out of 50 States have Constitutional or State Law bans on same sex marriage, 40! Now national polling may be trending in support of same sex marriage, but this chart is a sobering fact. The Democratic National Convention is going to be held in North Carolina this year. Considered a major new swing state that Obama carried by the narrowest of margins in 2008. On Tuesday North Carolinian's voted to Constitutionally ban gay marriage by 61%... 61%! Think North Carolina is a swing state now? My guess is a resounding No!

Yes this is an astounding moment in American history, and while liberals and progressives may be over the moon, somebody needs to make a reality check here. It took great courage for President Obama to announce his support for same sex marriage, but the political fallout could be devastating. Lets look at this pragmatically. Some of you may say "well the people who don't support marriage equality weren't going to vote for Obama anyway." and that may be true, but here are some things I'm concerned about:

1. This isn't just going to effect the President's re-election bid, but those Democrats in very close races trying to hold the Senate and re-take the House. Namely the razor thin Senate races in Montana, Missouri, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Indiana.
2. This very issue is what cost John Kerry his shot at the Presidency in 2004. Gay rights initiatives in several states that year, helped galvanized conservatives to get out the vote.
3. This plays well with younger people, there is only one problem? Young people don't vote!
4. This doesn't just galvanize conservative in states with gay referendums, but in the country as a whole.
5. The Presidency is decided by independents. For many people sitting the fence, this could become the deal breaker that pushes them to Romney, especially in the bumpkin and bible belt.

Now I could be wrong, the initial Republican response has been to ignore the issue and focus on the economy. However, don't think for one minute Karl Rove and his ilk won't be jumping all over this for the next 6 months. I hope I'm wrong, I hope the Republicans think this is no longer an issue they can win with?, but I doubt it. MSNBC's Chris Matthews has been coining a phrase all week that I find very appropriate. "Don't get so far out in front of the band you can't hear the music". I hope in 6 months he not only hears it, but that it plays all the way up to his re-election. The President has made a courageous move, and taken a tremendous gamble. This will be a true test of the better angels of our nature as a people. Will it prove we are as evolved as some polls would suggest? or do we in fact, still have a lot of work to do, to make an America that embraces all its citizens.

Another One Bites The Dust

Last night in Indiana, the longest serving Republican in the Senate was shown the door in a big way. State Treasurer and Tea Party favorite Richard Mourdock, put an end to Richard Lugar's almost four decades of service to the Hoosier state. The Mourdock win was a resounding defeat for the long time Republican moderate, who clobbered Lugar by 21 points 61% to 39%.  So yet again another Republican moderate gets kicked to the curb by a hard right conservative idea log. Mourdock will face Indiana's Democratic 2nd District Representative Joe Donnelly in the general election. Donnelly who is known as a Democratic moderate, may now put what would have been a Republican Senate lock under Lugar, up for grabs in November.

Richard Mourdoch vs. Richard Lugar

Conservatives had long targeted Lugar for defeat, arguing he represented a Republican establishment in Congress that has acquiesced to the Democratic party. They singled out Lugar's votes for the bailouts, in support of the president's stimulus and votes to confirm U.S. Supreme Court nominees Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor as evidence of his "RINO" (Republican in name only) status. Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum were among the high-profile politicians who offered public support for Mourdock's campaign.

In a speech to supporters last night Lugar said he was “optimistic about the future of Indiana and the United States” and said the deep partisan divides exemplified by conservatives like Mourdock “are not insurmountable.” In a second statement he issed later, Lugar went on to say “If Mr. Mourdock is elected, I want him to be a good Senator...  but that will require him to revise his stated goal of bringing more partisanship to Washington.” Lugar elaborated by continuing,  "He and I share many positions, but his embrace of an unrelenting partisan mindset is irreconcilable with my philosophy of governance and my experience of what brings results for Hoosiers in the Senate. In effect, what he has promised in this campaign is reflexive votes for a rejectionist orthodoxy and rigid opposition to the actions and proposals of the other party. His answer to the inevitable roadblocks he will encounter in Congress is merely to campaign for more Republicans who embrace the same partisan outlook. He has pledged his support to groups whose prime mission is to cleanse the Republican party of those who stray from orthodoxy as they see it. Mourdock himself said this morning on The Daily Rundown with Chuck Todd, his definition of bi-partisanship is to get Democrats to support more conservative ideals.

FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe said in a statement Tuesday night. "This is just one more example of the hostile takeover of the Republican Party that we've been working on since 2009." Translation: another die hard member for the party of "No". So once again the Republicans have put in play a sure thing, by bowing to Tea Party types, and hard line conservatives. President Obama carried Indiana by less than 1% in 2008. Current polling has Mitt Romney up 9 points in the Hoosier state. If that trend continues, Donnelly is going to have his hands full trying to defeat Mourdock in the fall. The question now is Mourdock is obviously the pick for Republicans. However, can he translate his hard line conservative message into an appealing tone for independents, and moderates of both parties? I guess we'll find out in November.

The GOP Continues To Amaze

For a political party that has so many serious issues with the American electorate, you would think they would at least try to tone down the divisive policies and campaign blunders. Fortunately for Democrats they just can't help themselves. In the ongoing Stalinist purge of moderates from the party, the latest Senator on that hit list is Richard Lugar (R-IN). Fueled by Tea Party radicals who think Lugar is to close to the center, his challenger Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock currently holds a 10 point lead over the incumbent 48% to 38%. One more example of a Republican party that continues careening to the hard right.

In the ongoing "war on women" that Republicans call a "fantasy", here are two more current examples of that fantasy at work. A battle is raging in Congress to keep student loan interest rates from doubling. The current rate of 3.4% would go to 6.8%. Student loan debt recently surpassed credit card debt as the largest burden on our current and future work force. Democrats want to get the money from payroll taxes and by slashing tax breaks for oil and gas drilling. Republicans want to take the money out of a fund in Obama's health care law that funds cancer screening for women.

In Arizona, Governor Jan Brewer just signed into law the Whole Woman's Health Funding Priority Act.  The act cuts off funding for family planning and health services delivered by Planned Parenthood clinics and other organizations offering abortions. "By signing this measure into law I stand with the majority of Americans who oppose the use of taxpayer funds for abortion," Brewer said in a statement. However, Arizona does not provide tax dollars for abortion, but backers said the law is needed to make sure that no indirect monies are funneled to organizations like Planned Parenthood that provide abortion and other health services. Officials at Planned Parenthood Arizona, the state's largest abortion provider, said the law means that thousands of women in the state may now go without life-saving cancer screenings, birth control and basic health care. Arizona joins six other Republican controlled states who have enacted similar legislation. Three of them Kansas, Indiana, and North Carolina are facing legal challenges.

As for Republican Nominee Mitt Romney, Richard Grenell is resigning from Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign less than two weeks after being hired as a foriegn policy consultant. Grenell’s reputation as a quick-witted and sometimes confrontational spokesman, was hoping to bring a different component to the Romney operation. So why the quick departure? Grenell is openly gay. He took so much heat from the ever increasingly intolerant Right, he was forced to resign. He said that while his sexuality “was a non-issue” for Romney’s team, he struggled in the face of a ”hyperpartisan discussion of personal issues.” tactful if not a load of crap! Here are some of those "discussions".

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, took issue with Grenell over his criticism of the Bush administration’s failure to sign a December 2008 U.N. resolution that called for decriminalizing homosexuality across the globe. “It’s concerning that you would have somebody tapped to be potentially in an administration that would continue the policies that we’re seeing in the Obama administration,” Perkins said. Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association shared his disappointment with the Grenell pick on Twitter: “Romney picks out & loud gay as a spokesman. If personnel is policy, his message to the pro-family community: drop dead.” “We are disappointed that Ric decided to resign from the campaign for his own personal reasons,” said Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades. “We wanted him to stay because he had superior qualifications for the position he was hired to fill.”

In a nutshell, no room in that massive Republican tent for an openly gay man. The man was forced out by hard line conservative wingnuts, and if Romney really wanted Grenell to stay, he would have had the balls to stand up and say " I'm sorry some people feel that way, but Richard Genell is the man I want for the job." However, Romney is being killed in so many demographics right now, he can't affords to piss off the few groups that are with him. Which is a poor commentary on his character as someone who will not stand behind the people he picks, but rather the people he bows to. On a lighter note, what gay people in America see in the Republican party is beyond me? It's like Jews for Hitler, whatever people in the gay community see there, just boggles the imagination?

Renewing Our Lease In Afghanistan

For years the Republican party has claimed the mantle as masters of foreign policy and defense, well not any more. Increased counter terrorist efforts, coupled with a major rise in predator drone strikes, have most of the al Qaeda leadership looking over their shoulders, while trying to operate a very diminished organization.. The war in Iraq is over, and 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden is dead. This week, on the one year anniversary of Bin Laden's death, President Obama went to Afghanistan to sign an agreement with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The agreement was a blueprint for the long-term U.S. role in Afghanistan, including aid and advisers. The deal provides Afghans with reassurances that they will not be abandoned when most NATO combat troops leave in 2014. For Obama, it was an opportunity to draw a line under an unpopular war that was started by his predecessor.

I have been critical of the war in Afghanistan. For its years of lacking a strategy, for its financial cost, and the most importantly, the cost in lives that have been sacrificed and to what end? The President reaffirmed that conventional U.S. combat forces would still leave the country at the end of 2014. No permanent bases would be installed, and the U.S. role would continue with the training of Afghan troops, as well as, special forces contingents to be used for counter insurgency. The agreement leaves an American military footprint in Afghanistan for 10 more years after regular forces are pulled out. We will remain in country until 2024.

I have mixed feelings about this move. First, I applaud the fact that conventional combat troops are still coming out. I further agree that special forces, and drone strikes need to be the primary counter-terrorist tools. In fact I have always said this. As for renewing our lease in the country for 10 more years, I am a bit skeptical. This continues the financial drain of billions in aide, and military intelligence, to an Afghan government that is corrupt, and often unbalanced. Hamid Karzai has been proven to be mentally unstable on several occasions, not to mention the man is a crook. To continue to see billions of are taxpayer dollars flow down the rat hole of corruption that is the Karzai government, is disturbing at best.

However, it is clear the main motivation behind this move is Afghanistan's position on the map. The country sits right between two of the most troubled nations in Asia, Iran and Pakistan. Just like other countries before them, Afghanistan is going to try and become a deterrent to its neighbors of doing or attempting. The question then becomes is it worth it? After signing the agreement President Karzai said, "By signing this document, we close the last 10 years and open a new season of equal relations." Equal for who? I understand the reasoning for the strategy, but 11 years of war leaves a bad taste in your mouth. The billions we have already spent, doesn't help either. Then of course you have the thousands who have been killed or wounded in the conflict, that for a lot of years, took a back seat to the debacle in Iraq. Now we've signed up for 10 more years? I understand it, but I don't have to like it. As for the money we will continue to pour over there... I just think it would be better served at home. It's like paying robbers to stay away from your house, while it's being eaten by termites.

One Good Speech Does Not A President Make

In my last post I pointed out the above average effort delivered last week by former Governor Mitt Romney. In a speech he called "A Better America Begins Tonight". It was a departure from the usual discomfort you get from a Romney speech. However, after the dust settles the fact is he can say what he thinks people want to hear, but he can't run from his record, or that of the political party he stands to represent.

He and his friends on the Right would have you believe there is no assault on women and women's health, but the over 1000 pieces of legislation put forward by Republicans on the state and federal level speaks for itself. They can call it fabricated, a distraction from the real issues, a way to divide America, but that doesn't change the facts. If you follow me, you know what they are, if not, check my previous blogs about women's issues. They say the election is about jobs and the economy. Ok, lets run with that, Romney consistently says the stimulus was a failure, and the current recovery to slow. This was answered brilliantly this morning by White House campaign aide Robert Gibbs on NBC's Meet The Press, when he observed the Romney campaign is basically complaining that President Obama didn't clean up George W. Bush's mess fast enough.

There are so many obstacles Romney has to overcome. So even if his new message resonates with some people, the facts weigh like an anchor around his neck.  He has double digit shortfalls with women, young people, independents, and Latinos. Yet, you will see a lot of polls out there that say this contest is a dead heat. Well they said the same thing in 2008 and President Obama won with 364 electoral votes, over double what John McCain received. In the popular vote he won with 53%, which in today's electorate is big.

The major difference is Obama's appeal in the big money states, places where Mitt Romney is struggling. Remember the political pundits want to keep you on the edge of your seat, tuning in tomorrow for the latest poll numbers, and yes the popular vote is probably going to be decided by 2 or 3 percentage points. Regardless, the election is going to be settled by that handful of swing states, and Romney is weak in most if not all of them. His own party leaders endorse him like some kind of political leper. "He won the process", or "he is the peoples choice", how's that for high praise. There are even some people like former Governor Rick Perry who says he wants to run for President again in 2016, which presumes Romney doesn't have a prayer in 2012, way to rally the troops Rick!

What it boils down to is this. In a recent poll of Republican voters 2 people were voting against Obama vs, the 1 that were voting for Romney. This speaks volumes about their presumptive nominee. If the man can't connect with his own political party, how is he going to connect with the American people? That my friends is his biggest hurdle of all, and right now he doesn't have a poll long enough to get over it.