Government Socialism... I'm shocked, shocked I tell ya...

When is Socialism bad? Apparently when it’s the other guys Socialism. Here’s what I mean. Since the day he was elected, President Obama has been pilloried by center right partisans as hell-bent on making America a socialistic third world country, as opposed to the free market capitalistic juggernaut our founding fathers supposedly envisioned. Obama the logic goes, wants to see everyone dependent on government so that the government can control them and save them from their inability to make good and right decisions.  It is his desire, unsaid, but certainly evident as some claim, to crush the rugged individualistic spirit that has defined America for many years and replace it with a governmental “nanny state.” We have been told that if government gets too involved in the lives of the people, freedom will evaporate, we will cease to work hard and then we’ll just take up a chair on the front porch waiting for the next subsidy check to come via the US Mail. When government intervenes fiscally on behalf of the people, instead of the people accepting responsibility for their own lives, this is socialism.  Or so we have been told by many on the conservative right.  We should, at every turn, reject this socialism, because it is bad. But let me ask this… if government aid for the individual, who can just get a job and work hard is socialism, what is government aid to corporations that are reaping record profits at a time when America’s deficit is bursting? If a government handout to an individual causes him or her to not accept the reality of bad decisions in life, don’t corporate subsidies shield businesses across America from the same responsibilities of bad decisions? Why is it that when it comes to defining who is the evil socialist in the room, seemingly only President Barack Obama is guilty? Is it because he, along with President George Bush ordered the US government to intervene on behalf of two corporations, Chrysler and GM, saving them from near certain bankruptcy? Because if subsidizing poorly run corporations is evidence of evil socialism, then surely all of the politicians and Americans decrying the potential end of US Government subsidies for the dairy, farm and petroleum industries would qualify too, wouldn’t they? You see, Americans love socialism, when it benefits them, or more accurately, us. In the recently past Presidential elections, candidate Romney was partially derailed by his famous 47% comments that implied a high percentage of Americans had become takers. My fear is that the percentage is closer to 100% than we care to admit.  To demonize one politician or another, or one class of people over another with the charge of socialism, is just our discomfort with admitting that reality and blatant partisanship, devoid of an attitude that is truly seeking solutions.

GOP Whiffs... is the conservative movement in collapse?

The last month or so has not been kind to the Republican Party. Starting with an election they could have won, the GOP has had as much political competence as Barney Fife did with his one bullet in the fictional setting of Mayberry USA. All they had to do to defeat President Barack Obama was nominate a candidate who could seem at ease with common folk and was not afraid to be critical of some of the ways the party has treated minorities in the past. Instead, they put forth an auto-matron who was about as comfortable in his own skin as one of those guys in Disney’s Hall of Presidents.  Come to think of, most of those robots seem more life like than did Mitt Romney. This, along with some less than stellar Senate and Congressional candidates got them spanked pretty hard on November 6. Elections.  Strike 1. As we inched closer to the so-called fiscal cliff, essentially a self-imposed deadline to come up with a plan to address a growing federal deficit, they dropped the ball again. Mitch McConnell, trying to embarrass the Dems, as opposed to actually trying to legislate, decided to hold a vote on the pending debt ceiling.  This was a naked political stunt, and everybody knew it, but that did not dissuade McConnell, who is forever looking for ways to legislate gotchas, instead of actual policy. But a funny thing happened on the way to the vote.  Apparently Senator Mitch missed an episode of School House Rock.  If he had seen it, he would have known you needed a majority to get a bill passed.  Seemingly unfazed, or unaware of this little requirement, he forged ahead, only to find out late he did not have the votes. So what does Senator Mitch do?  Does he admit defeat?  No. He filibusters [a polite way of saying thanks, but no thanks to a bill] his own bill.  That’s right, he uses a stall tactic to essentially kill his own bill because he cannot get it passed. But Senator McConnell is small potatoes compared to the debacle Republican House Speaker John Boehner presided over last night.  Boehner you might recall has been “locked” in negotiations with President Obama over this fiscal cliff issue.  At some point he got frustrated and decided he, and the House of Representatives needed a backup plan, should those negotiations fail.  A sort of Plan B, if you will. Sadly, it appears our Speaker was with Senator McConnell when they ditched the showing of that School House Rock video, because he too forgot that you need a majority of votes to pass a bill. And so last night, Speaker Boehner, after his Plan B failed in his own party, turned out the lights on Congress and sent everyone home for the holidays, because the GOP would not support raising taxes on a few, to benefit the great majority of Americans. Legislating. Strike 2. Which brings us to this morning and the amazing press conference by NRA President and spokesman Wayne LaPierre. Mr. LaPierre said earlier this week, after the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut that the NRA was ready to offer “meaning contributions” to the ongoing dialogue about gun control and gun access in the United States. After numerous other shootings around the country, the NRA has typically followed a strategic formula that called for lying low a few days and then issuing a statement that said essentially that “now was not the time for any type of discussion.” But this was different.  Because most of the victims were children, many in the country are calling for something to be done to limit assault type weapons and over sized ammo clips.  The NRA heard this and signaled a few days ago that they were ready to respond. We were all waiting as the NRA President stepped up for his moment and then it happened.  Not only did he not offer any meaningful contributions, he essentially called on the federal government to fund armed guards at every school in America. Understand what he was saying.  A conservative leader in America was calling for more federal spending so that we could have a retired police office or an ex-war vet with a gun at every school in America. I’m not sure this could have gone worse for the gun lobby, the conservative movement, or the GOP.  It was breathtakingly bad. In essence, the conservative movement, and by extension the GOP, had a week to study for an open book test and failed... epically. Politics.  Strike 3. And with that, just like Mighty Casey, the Grand Old Party struck out.  Frequent Democratic critic and conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post says the Republican Party is incapable of governing. Sadly, at this point, I would have to agree.  What we are seeing is the schoolyard equivalent of a bully getting upset that everything is not going his way.  Rather than try to get along, he decides to just take his marbles and go home. That’s too bad because we need a strong two party system.  America functions better when both parties are serious and capable of governing.  It keeps the other guys honest. Too bad the GOP can’t seem to figure out how they can do that these days.

America lost before the voting began...

A quick reading of the results of yesterdays election would say that Barack Obama won and Mitt Romney lost. But the truth is that the American people lost and the results were in far before anyone voted and sat down last night in anticipation of seeing their candidate elected to the presidency. In the famous words of Bernie Mac, listen up America, we lost.  But not for the reasons you might think. We lost because money won.  That’s right America, money won! Let me explain. The cost for this years presidential contest was over 2 billion, not million, dollars.  70 million dollars was spent to win a Senate seat in Massachusetts, 55 million for a seat in Texas, 30 million for the Wisconsin seat and over 40 million dollars was spent by the candidates for the Senate seat in Montana.  Montana?  There are less than a million people living in the state and you need 40 mil to campaign there? How about over 21 million to win a seat in congress for candidates from Florida or 20 million for the Speaker of the House to be reelected in Ohio. The influence of big money from individuals and corporations on both sides of the political spectrum has damaged our system perhaps, beyond repair. The question is whether America will rise up and demand the kind of change necessary to return the political system to the people. I am not encouraged. All recent attempts by politicians, individuals and even state governments to limit the amounts of money spent on races have been met by a chorus of naysayers screaming about first amendment rights of free speech.   When a group gets a law passed limiting spending, the lawsuits begin almost immediately.  Think Citizens United, McCain-Feingold or the still being litigated campaign finance law from Montana. Ideas for publicly funded elections have been derided as European hoighty-toightyness. Calls for public openness of political donors in real time have routinely been met with derision by the recipients, and donors, of these exorbitant large sums. As you and I, the John Q. Public people, express our open disdain almost daily during these campaigns, we are totally ignored.   Have you taken a look at your Facebook page today?  There are so many people thanking God that the commercials are over, it’s incredible. The little girl crying on You Tube who was sick of Bronc Obama and Mitt Romney was just expressing what most of us have felt everyday the last few months.  Monday I went to my mail box and it took me 10 minutes to sort through all political ads just to find my two pieces of actual mail. Yet in spite of this disgust and the total corruption of our political system, we the people refuse to demand change and hold our political representatives feet to the fire. America, we did not lose last night when Barack Obama was elected and we would not have lost had Mitt Romney prevailed. We had already lost when we willfully refused to put any limits on the amount of money that could be spent to win an election in this great country. Somehow I doubt this is what our founders envisioned when they penned the First Amendment giving us the right of free speech. What say you?

Let's go to the Map... the elections and electors...

Our presidential elections are all going to come down to one thing... the map! That's right, after all is said and done, after all of the debates, speeches, charges and counter charges, lies and dirty tricks, all that is going to matter will be the map. And 270 electoral votes. Because here in these United States of America, you can lose the popular vote and still be president if you can amass the magic number of 270 electoral votes. So, here's my question. Being realistic, what states will Mr. Romney be able to pick off from the list that President Obama carried in 2008? Here's a link to a nifty interactive map... take a look, give it a try, and leave your ideas...

Immigration, Health Care and the Supremes... dancing around the real world issues...

I'm not a lawyer. I don't claim to fully understand all the nuances of even a traffic stop, much less the legalese that many are seeming to enjoy parsing after this weeks Supreme Court rulings. I know the US has an enormous deficit and that there are limits to what a society will turn over to a central government in both taxes and control. But I also know that people with no hope in the future get discouraged, give up and can easily be cast aside by a system that fails to take into account the personal side of political and legal decisions. That is part of what Justice Antonin Scalia was saying in his dissent Monday regarding SB 1070, popularly known as the Arizona Immigration Bill. He was trying to speak for the ranchers and farmers in Arizona who are feeling overwhelmed by what they see as rampant illegal immigration into their state. Many of those farmer and ranchers are at ground zero in the immigration wars.  With isolated plots of land, they have been surprised upon many a night to see someone using their out buildings as a camp, or makeshift home. Why they ask, has the federal government, across many administrations seemingly turned a blind eye to their struggle to feel safe and secure in their own homes? It is a good question... but it's not the only question worth pondering as we close out one of the most watched Supreme Court sessions in years. We should also ask if government has a role in making sure all Americans have access, not theoretical, but real access to quality health care in this country. Seemingly, both Presidential contenders agree.  Even though he disagrees with the route President Obama took, Mitt Romney's plan is to repeal and replace.  Clearly that says he too sees some role for the federal government in this area. There are millions of us who would love to buy health insurance.  And I say us because, like many, my family is uninsured. Because of a doctor approved procedure done 25 years ago, my wife is unable to get insurance in the private market.  She has a preexisting condition.  And with that, few, if any companies will offer her insurance at a rate we can afford. The current health care act gives people like us hope.  Hope that we will not have to forever lie awake at night wondering if we are just a little achy, or if something is seriously wrong inside the wonderful bodies that God gave us. We have hope that one day soon, when the entire law takes effect, that we will finally be able to gain real access to some of the best health care in the world.  At a cost that will not bankrupt us. Justice Scalia said the citizens of Arizona were feeling "under seige" against the effects of illegal immigration. Many of us have also felt under siege against the effects of having to live with a health care system that seems built to do everything possible to maximize profits and minimize access to all but the approved. The Supreme Court has given us lots to think about this week.  I hope we can move past the political rhetoric and seek some real solutions that are designed to both protect and serve the all of the American people.

Primaries, Caucuses, and the GOP...

As many of you know, I am in working to get a well on line for our farm in Tlacolula, Oaxaca. I got here in mid-January and will not return to the states until well after the Nevada Caucus dates. That means I will not be getting a chance to participate in, or read all of the breathless blather that will try and tell folks that anyone else other than Mitt Romney has a shot at the Republican nomination. Folks, here is what the GOP needs to understand. The nomination is going to Mitt Romney barring an 11th hour move by the party big-wigs to choose a different type of candidate. No matter what their supporters think, the reality is that Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul have absolutely no chance to actually capture the nomination. Santorum has no money and is too far to the right on social issues for the average GOP voter. Paul is too old and not enough of a military hawk to appeal to the military industrial wing of the party. And Gingrich, well he’s Newt. In spite of all of the money Las Vegas zillionaire Sheldon Adelson is pumping into his campaign, Newt can’t out run the facts... he makes Bill Clinton look like a paragon of moral virtue. And so that leaves Mitt. And a bunch of questions as we move achingly slow to the Republican Convention in Tampa later this year. Why are these folks still in the race? In 2008, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama battled all the way through June. Why? Because there was a conceivable path to victory for both of them. Not a single partisan supporter of the three GOP losers can give a reasonable explanation of how their candidate will get the nomination. So I ask again, why are they still in the race? It must be because while they believe Mitt will be wrong for America if he wins and that he cannot beat President Obama, they are hoping to get something out of staying. Is it a nice book deal? Is it the Vice Presidency? Is it a cabinet spot? Or is it front runner status in the 2016 presidential elections after Obama wins reelection this year? There has got to be reason, or maybe these guys are all just folks with oversized egos who can’t understand that they have already lost the election to a man named Mitt. You tell me. PS... the postcard is in honor of Dmarks, a big post card guy and another blogger who occasionally checks in here at the mission...