'Liberal' vs. 'Conservative'

'Today’s Republicans cast the federal government as an oppressive force, a drag on the economy and an enemy of private initiative…. The GOP is engaged in a wholesale effort to redefine the government help that Americans take for granted as an effort to create a radically new, statist society'.

'Republicans are increasingly inclined to argue that any redistribution (and Social Security, Medicare, student loans, veterans benefits and food stamps are all redistributive) is but a step down the road to some radically egalitarian dystopia'.

'Given all of this, Dionne concludes that it’s Obama who’ll be “the conservative” candidate, not in the sense of a left vs. right construct, but in the sense that the president wants to conserve the foundations of the American government that have served the nation well over the last eight decades'.

We all use words like “liberal” and “conservative” in describing contemporary political disputes, but the words have lost their traditional meanings'.

'There is, after all, nothing Burkean about the Republican presidential field — these are, in a literal sense, radical candidates with no real interest in conserving much of anything'.

'For example, Mitt Romney is supposed to be, in David Brooks’ terms, “the serious one” in the GOP field'.

'But Romney also wants to privatize Social Security, eliminate Medicare, repeal all Wall Street reform safeguards, and attack Iran'.

'When it comes to debt reduction, Romney believes a 10-to-1 ratio for spending cuts to tax revenue is too liberal, and he considers asking the wealthy to pay Clinton-era tax rates to be on par with communism'.

'And to many, Romney is seen as the moderate'.
From : http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/index.php

The 'Promise' of Mitt Romney

During the upcoming General Election, the fringe freaks are going to be screaming about all the 'Obama lies'.

'On Friday, a college student in New Hampshire reminded Mitt Romney that “many” of those in her generation “find it especially hard to relate” to the former governor as a candidate. She asked why those in her age group should “mobilize” for the Romney campaign, instead of President Obama'.

'His response was rather mind-numbing'.

“What I can promise you is this — when you get out of college, if I’m president you’ll have a job. If President Obama is reelected, you will not be able to get a job. That’s the reason I will hopefully get young people who are in college is to say, ‘You know what, I understand what it takes to get jobs in America.’”
From : http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_12/romneys_promise_to_college_gra034320.php

'In an interview with TIME Magazine’s Mark Halperin, Romney said, "25 million people are out of work because of Barack Obama. And so I’ll compare my experience in the private sector where, net-net, we created over 100,000 jobs.”

“I’ll compare that record with his record, where he has not created any new jobs.”

'During his one term as governor of Massachusetts Romney's record on job creation was “one of the worst in the country,” ranking 47th out of 50 states in job growth'.
From : http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_12/romneys_limited_understanding034285.php

Romney - What to look forward to

'Romney was governor from 2003 to 2007, and as Edward Mason and Tom Mashberg explained the other day, Romney failed to impress much of anyone'.

'Romney entered the Massachusetts State House in January 2003 with a flashy favorability rating of 61 percent…'.

'By November 2004, voters were souring, and a Suffolk poll found his favorable rating had dropped to 47 percent'.

'A year later, that rating sank another 14 points. Just 33 percent of Bay State voters had a favorable opinion of Romney in 2005, according to Suffolk'.

'By November 2006, as he closed out his increasingly absentee term, his overall job approval rating had cratered to 36 percent'.

* From 61% to 36% in just 4 years.

'Maybe it’s because he was a GOP governor in a reliably “blue” state? No, Massachusetts has had plenty of modern Republican governors — Weld, Cellucci, Swift — and all were more popular with their Bay State constituents than Romney'.

'Here’s the sample question reporters can ask Romney: why were you so woefully unpopular with your own constituents when voters gave you a chance to lead'?
From : http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_12/those_who_saw_romneys_leadersh034044.php

'Representing' us to 'get the money out of politics'

Getting the money out of politics is a wonderful concept. In fact it is something that should be natural and certainly not considered a radical or unique idea.

After all our Nation was founded on 'We The People'.

Yet................

'Between 1984 and 2009, the median net worth of a member of the House more than doubled, according to the analysis of financial disclosures, from $280,000 to $725,000 in inflation-adjusted 2009 dollars'.
From : http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/growing-wealth-widens-distance-between-lawmakers-and-constituents/2011/12/05/gIQAR7D6IP_story.html

The very people we elect to represent us have become if not our political elites, our economic and by extension, our social elites.

And we pay them well and with benefits and allow them perks that no private sector employer would even consider - except for their 'elite; upper management.

So are our elected Representatives or 'elite upper management' over us, or are they 'fellow citizens'?

The very people that would need to change the laws and codes to take and keep money out of politics are the very ones benefiting the most.

And that is why America is and will fail.

Empowering an elite that tell us what we want to hear - 'I'm working hard for you' while in fact they they are working hardest for themselves.

ROTFLMAO!!!! Mr 'smart guy' Newt

'3:09 a.m. | Updated Newt Gingrich will not appear on the Virginia presidential primary ballot, state Republican Party officials announced Saturday, after he failed to submit the required number of valid signatures to qualify'.

'Ten thousand signatures are needed to get on the ballot for the Virginia primary, which is March 6, known as Super Tuesday'.

'Mr. Gingrich submitted 11,050 signatures, but after verification, the state party said it determined that he had not submitted enough signatures'.

'The deadline for signatures was 5 p.m. Thursday. Mitt Romney and Ron Paul obtained the needed signatures to qualify'.
From : http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/23/rick-perry-fails-to-qualify-for-virginia-primary-ballot/

And.......................

'After not making the ballot in Virginia, Newt Gingrich's spokesman said he would "work with the Republican Party of Virginia to pursue an aggressive write-in campaign to make sure that all the voters of Virginia are able to vote for the candidate of their choice'."

'But there's a problem, CNN notes: "Virginia state law specifically prohibits voters from writing in candidates not on the ballot in primary elections."
From : http://politicalwire.com/archives/2011/12/24/gingrich_write-in_campaign_hopes_dashed.html

Thank You teabaggers

'In what could be a new high water mark of anti-Washington sentiment, the city of Troy, Mich., is rejecting a long-planned transportation center whose construction would have been fully financed with federal stimulus money'.

'The terminal, which would help Troy become a transportation node on an upgraded Detroit-to-Chicago Amtrak line, was hailed by supporters as a way to create jobs and to spur economic development. But federal money is federal money, so with the urging of the new mayor, who helped found the local Tea Party chapter, the City Council cast a 4-to-3 vote this week against granting a crucial contract, sending the project into limbo'.

'The Troy transit center’s construction, by comparison, required no local contribution, and its predicted annual maintenance cost of $31,000 was, in the context of the city’s $50 million budget, “de minimis,” said Mark Miller, the assistant city manager'.

'Taking Tea Party reasoning to the local level has outraged supporters of the transit center, which has been in the works for a decade. Michele Hodges, the president of the Troy Chamber of Commerce, which supports the transit project, said that her organization “will be a pit bull for what’s best for this community'.”

'David A. Kotwicki, a local lawyer, noted that members of Congress might talk tough on spending, but that they still bring projects home to their districts. The vote against the transit center, he said, looks like “cutting off your nose to spite your face'.”

'The transit fight is not Mayor Daniels’s first brush with controversy. Earlier this month, it was revealed that she posted a message to her Facebook page last June, after New York State approved same-sex marriage, stating, “I think I am going to throw away my I Love New York carrying bag now that queers can get married there'.”

'On Tuesday, an official of Magna International, a global automotive supplier based in Canada whose American headquarters are in Troy, expressed frustration with the City Council vote in a private e-mail to Ms. Hodges and others that was posted to a blog that favors the transit center'.

“I am drafting a memo to all Magna group presidents and our Magna corporate executives strongly recommending that Magna International no longer consider the City of Troy for future site considerations, expansions or new job creation,” wrote Frank W. Ervin III, the company’s manager of government affairs. “I have also recommended that where ever and when ever possible we reduce our footprint and employment level in Troy” in favor of communities that act in the best interests of residents and business and that do “not simply use their public position to advance their own private agenda.”

'Ed Myles, the president of a local manufacturing company, J.E. Myles & Co., said that the area, like the rest of the country, had been hurt by the recession and that it could use the economic boost that the transit center could provide. He said he worried about what companies like Magna would do. The council’s vote “put the kibosh on any other companies moving here'.”

“It’s all politics,” he said. “In the meantime, people are suffering.”
From : http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/23/us/michigan-city-of-troy-led-by-tea-party-mayor-rejects-federal-dollars.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

 

“Not left. Not right. Forward”

Imagine. Not telling someone what the answer is - but showing one way to get answers.

Imagine a political organization not telling us what the direction our Country should take but showing a framework that may help us.

Imagine. Here's a way to talk to each other vs. here's what you're going to do.

One small problem. The very people that we elect to represent us to govern, are the very ones that would have to adopt these changes.

The influence of money in our politics has destroyed any chance of that ever happening.

“No Labels.” Even the name is annoying. For one thing, it’s a label. There’s no branding quite like anti-branding, which in this case is even perched atop a slogan: “Not left. Not right. Forward.”

'Kang’s stump speech from “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror VII”: “My fellow Americans. As a young boy, I dreamed of being a baseball, but tonight I say, we must move forward not backward, upward not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling toward freedom.”

'The problem, of course, is that Americans disagree about which direction is forward. Is it toward universal health care? Or away from it? Toward policies to curb climate change? Or away from them? Toward more rights for gay and lesbian couples? Or toward a constitutional amendment enshrining the primacy of traditional marriage'?

'Political reform groups tend to buy into the most pernicious myth in politics: that the answers are easy and obvious, and that all the political system needs is a firmer commitment to common sense, bipartisanship or “the American people.”

'These groups don’t just deny the very real arguments that divide our politics, they take themselves out of the game of offering solutions. They leave everyone else to do the hard work while they collect accolades for offering a future beyond division and bickering and ugliness — and reality'.

'But last week, No Labels surprised me. They released an agenda that did the impossible: proposed a plausible path for moving in that most elusive direction: forward. They did it, unexpectedly, by refusing to suggest that they themselves knew which direction ultimately is forward'.
From : http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/ten-miles-square/2011/12/no_labels_stops_whining034274.php

No Labels - http://nolabels.org/work

1. No Budget, No Pay

2. Up or Down Vote on Presidential Appointments

3. Fix the Filibuster

4. Empower the Sensible Majority

5. Make Members Come to Work

6. Question Time for the President

7. Fiscal Report to Congress: Hear it. Read it. Sign it.

8. Fiscal Report to Congress: Hear it. Read it. Sign it.

9. Monthly Bipartisan Gatherings

10. Bipartisan Seating

11. Bipartisan Leadership Committee

12. No Negative Campaigns Against Incumbents