Biggest Waste of Time, Effort and US Tax Dollars...

It is time that the Republican-led congress tries to do something that is constructive!! Wasting time and money to vote on repealing the healthcare law, when it should be obvious that they would be unsuccessful is ridiculous! The House might vote to repeal it, but the Senate will not take it up, and President Obama would veto... It is a known fact that the Republicans do not like the law... they don't have to waste our money and their time to prove it!! Do something to help your constituents.... many of whom are probably already benefiting from parts of the healthcare law... and when it is fully implemented, will benefit more!

hypocrisy in action...

The Romney Rabbit Hole...

The HuffPost Religion article, "Obama Birth Control Mandate: Catholic Bishops Divided On Legal Battle" includes the following quote:

"Blaire, a leading spokesman on social justice issues as head of the domestic policy committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, worried that the confrontational approach taken by the bishops was being exploited by political groups 'very far to the right' who are trying to use the conflict with the White House as 'an anti-Obama campaign.'"

Of course the far right-wing Republicans are exploiting this move by the Roman Catholic Church!  Is this really a surprise to anyone??  Republican strategists are using every scare tactic possible to try to get people to vote for Mitt Romney... and to be able to suggest that The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act interferes with religious beliefs, as they would say is evidenced by the lawsuit brought by the Catholic Bishops, is just one more ploy in their attempts to trick and maneuver people into casting a vote for Mr. Romney without really looking carefully at his positions on the economy, education, healthcare, or foreign policy, just to name a few of the issues the President of the United States has to deal with as he governs our country.  

Oh, wait a minute… we don't need to look too closely at Mr. Romney’s ideas for governing the United States…  because he has already given us a pretty good idea where he stands… 

On the economy:  He’s going “fix it”!  He knows how to do this based on his years of making money for venture capitalists at Bain…  But I wonder for whom he will be trying to make money as the President of the United States…  Who or what will he try to divide up and sell off?  And to whom will he sell?

On education:  He has stated that he will get rid of the US Department of Education, or at least merge it with other departments in the government…  I mean who really needs a Department of (Public) Education when everyone knows that Charter Schools (privately funded, for profit schools) are the best way to go… right?  Hmmm… privately funded, for profit schools… Does that mean that in the future those people in our country who won’t be able to afford it, will then no longer get an education?  Not even a basic one?  I can just see the US literacy rates plummeting now…  That ought to be really good for the United States…

On healthcare:  He will get rid of “Obama-care” (also known as The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act)!!       The piece of legislation that allows young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance until the age of 26, saving them a great deal of money…       The piece of legislation that will not allow insurance companies to charge more for women's coverage than men's coverage...       The piece of legislation that (now) does not allow insurance companies to limit or refuse children insurance based on pre-existing illnesses, and that (by the year 2014) will benefit all people in the same way…       The piece of legislation that does not allow insurance companies to drop someone from coverage at will…or because they actually needed and used their health coverage…       The piece of legislation that will help more Americans be able to get affordable health coverage  (it is called "The...Affordable Care Act" for a reason)…     And Mr. Romney would get rid of it.  Thousands (millions?) of people in the United States cannot afford health care now.  Does this mean that Mr. Romney does not want Americans (all Americans, not just the more affluent ones) to have access to affordable health care?  Sounds like it to me…

On foreign policy:  Well perhaps we don’t really need to worry too much about Mr. Romney’s knowledge of foreign policy…after all, he is up on all the latest news…  Why, just a couple of weeks back, he reminded us just who the United States’ greatest enemy was…  Did you not catch the news that day?  I’ll fill you in…  according to Mr. Romney, America’s greatest enemy and threat is… Russia…  Well, at least he didn’t say it was the now non-existent USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republic), of which Russia was a part…  But then, for so many years Russia was synonymous with the USSR…  Maybe I do need to be a little concerned about Mr. Romney’s ability to lead the United States in the area of foreign policy after all…maybe we all do…

Ahhh…   I am sorry…  I did get a little off topic.  I started out this post to say that the Roman Catholic Church is being used by the far right wing of the Republican Party to attempt to gain political momentum and scare people into voting for Mr. Romney.

I guess I went down a Romney rabbit hole…  I’m glad I’m back out of it… it is a little scary to consider what the “Romney States of America” might be like in the future.

2012 Republican Presidential Candidates...

I heard this today as I was watching "Morning Joe" on MSNBC:


"The Republican primary race has really been a choice between the unlikeable and the insufferable."
     ~ Tina Brown, Editor-in-Chief, Newsweek Magazine


This is a very interesting summation of the Republican candidates for President in 2012.  Who are the individuals who would have been more likable, sufferable or even desirable to the Republican Party as candidates for President?  Do such individuals actually exist?  And why didn't they run???

Maybe the question really needs to be: What is considered likable, sufferable or desirable for a presidential candidate in the Republican Party?  Maybe if that question were answered, then the more preferred presidential candidates could be found...

But I suspect that this close to the presidential election, even if that question were able to be answered and the more preferred candidate found, that it is too late... and Republicans will be stuck with either Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich or Ron Paul... none of whom have been endorsed wholeheartedly and without any type of reservation by leading Republicans, and all of whom are still running for nomination as the Republican candidate for President in the 2012 campaign.

no... he didn't really say that... did he?

Record flooding of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.  Killer tornadoes through Joplin Missouri, Tuscaloosa Alabama, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and numerous other states wreaking havoc and horrendous destruction, death, and financial loss to citizens of the United States.  Always, at least before today, in these situations, the federal government has done what it could to send aid, in the form of experienced disaster personnel and money, in order to augment state and local emergency personnel, secure damaged areas, save lives, and help in the rebuilding of what "Mother Nature" has destroyed.

But maybe, this will no longer be the case...  Eric Cantor, Republican Majority Leader in the United States House of Representatives, announced that emergency funding to help those devastated by the recent tornadoes and storms, should certainly be sent, but only as long as there is an equal corresponding reduction of monetary assets taken away from other federal programs...  in the interest of deficit reduction, of course.

When, oh when, will Republicans quit holding the American people hostage in the guise of deficit reduction?!!  And when will they quit trying to "reduce the deficit" on the backs of those who are least able to bear the burden - the poor, the needy and those who are "powerless" and have little voice in our society?!!

Shame!!!  Shame on you, Eric Cantor, for trying to use the sufferings and the hardships of thousands,  sufferings that have resulted from "Mother Nature's" destructive forces... shame on you for trying to use them for political ends!!!  In making a statement, you had a chance to give an encouraging word, to show some compassion for the people who will now be trying to pick up the pieces of their lives after the utter devastation they have been blessed enough to survive...  but no, you had to make it into a political point, at their expense....  Shame on you!!!   I have no doubt that your mother tried to teach you better, but you must not have listened to her lessons very well...  I will say it again... Shame on you!!!

a little political humor...

I confess...   A friend sent this to me through email and I could not resist re-posting it to this blog site, although I do not know the original author, in order to give him or her credit...  so here goes with a little bit of political humor... one has to lighten up once in a while, right?  Anyway, here goes...  


A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am." 

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude." 

She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be an Obama Democrat." 

"I am,"replied the man. "How did you know?" 

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me." 

The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Republican." 

"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?" 

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You've risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air.  You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault."

damn the torpedoes...

It has been interesting listening to comments made by our politicians and our soon to be politicians since the "shellackin" that the Democratic Party received in the elections less than a week ago.  The "whys", the "wherefores", the "what-nots", and the "what's next" have all been spoken on...  by those of all political parties and persuasions...  and the Republicans and Tea Party-ers would have us believe that they are now going to come in and "save the day"!!

As I listened to election returns, one thing seemed to stand out...  Democrats and Republicans and Tea Party-ers who spoke that night focused on the fact that people in our country were angry that not enough had been done to create more jobs for those who have been and continue to struggle with unemployment.  And perhaps I heard it wrong, but it sounded to me as if those who had been re-elected and newly elected were making promises to take up the challenges of unemployment and job creation that are plaguing our economy as a top priority...

It sounded as though they were saying they would be coming to Washington to work to reduce unemployment and grow our economy...   granted, that was not the only thing they were saying, but at least on election night it seemed as though that was going to be their top priority, because they said, "that was what the American People wanted"...  "that was why the American People had so soundly defeated the Democrats"...   "that was why the American People had handed the Democrats the largest defeat in history since the 1930's"...    And from both Republicans and Democrats I heard that they [our elected and newly elected officials] were now going to work to fulfill the "people's mandate" [although the word "mandate" may not have actually been used, it was certainly implied]...

I wonder how they are going to do that?

I know, I know!!!!    I heard it from the mouth of Mitch McConnell himself!!!   He is going to focus on making sure that President Obama does not get elected in 2012, so that a Republican nominee can be elected as president, so that they can then repeal "Obama-care"...

Now that's a plan if I ever heard one...  that will certainly fulfill the American People's "mandate" to create more jobs and bring the unemployment numbers down...

Yessiree!!  Let's have two more years of Republicans and Tea Party-ers saying, "No, we won't!" to anything that is suggested or proposed, so that in the 2012 elections, the Democrats can be blamed, President Obama can be defeated, and Republicans can "take over"...  and "Obama-care" can be repealed!!!

But wait...  what about those unemployment numbers and those people in our country who are losing their homes and struggling to make ends meet?  What about the American People's "mandate" that you promised to make top priority?  Or at least that you appeared to promise to make top priority...

I guess in the short time span of just a few days, everything is suddenly ok with the job/unemployment situation, and attention can now be focused on the more important things...   that of making sure that Democrats and President Obama are defeated in the 2012 elections...   damn the needs of the American People...  damn the anger in this country over job loss, mortgage foreclosures, unemployment and Wall Street excesses that brought us to this point...

What's that saying?  "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead"?

Be warned....   we Americans now live in an "instant society" of "fast foods" and instant access to anything we want over the internet...  and we apparently also expect "instant answers" to problems for which there are none...   the "torpedoes" that sunk the Democrats in the 2010 elections may also sink Republicans and Tea Party-ers in the 2012 elections...

It is time that political posturing, political power-plays, and election rhetoric be put aside for the more important job of working together to find ways of reducing unemployment and encouraging the creation of more jobs...   Whether Democrat or Republican or Tea Party or Independent, this is the reason you were elected...  this is what the American People are screaming for...  this is your "mandate"!!

We, the American People, are looking to you, our elected officials, for leadership, not partisanship!!  And I think, that although we would like our problems to be solved instantaneously, that deep down, we know that will not happen...  but it would be nice to see some progress being made...  without having to wait another two years before any of you legislators even begins to get to work...