Daschle’s Dance Is Over

February 4, 2009

in Politics

A Great Dancer - A Master Of The Side-StepAll of the talking heads are telling us what a great guy Tom Daschle is. I guess it depends on your perspective.

I think Obama was generally being honest (at least as honest as can be expected in Washington) when he told us of his desire to keep lobbyists out of his administration. There are other considerations, however. As the former Senate leader of the Democrats he was crucial in getting more of his colleagues to support Obama than Hillary. In certain circumstances loyalty is a virtue – but not in this one.

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The GOP Congressional Lemmings Never Learn

Do something. If it doesn’t work, do something else. No idea is too crazy.
Jim Hightower

There are social conservatives. There are national security conservatives. There are fiscal conservatives. There are ideologues who call themselves conservative but are really either lemmings or traitors.

For those who might not remember everything they learned in their ninth-grade biology class, or grew up where science was declared to be the exclusive bailiwick of Lucifer, the HMS Beagle was the boat that bore Charles Darwin on his famous voyage to the Galapagos Islands.

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And There Is Still Room For A Dunce CapOkay, boys and girls. The lesson for today is that, as former VP Dan Quayle reminded us, a head is a terrible thing to lose.

Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan may be personally nice people. They may be more or less intelligent. They are not well informed. On a recent edition of the MSNBC show Morning Joe they brought out a commentary from the Wall Street Journal. They were in total agreement with it.

The thrust of the commentary was that FDR’s stimulus package during the Great Depression did nothing to help. They agreed that WWII was what ended the economic problems. Ignorance of the facts is wide spread. To hold such a position is to exhibit a lack of knowledge of that period.

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Loco Motive

January 15, 2009

in Politics

It Was The People Who Were Tacky, Not The Choo Choo.

Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.
Benito Mussolini

Once upon a time I was in politics. That was long ago, when I was young. Well, younger. I was one of four councilmen but also Mayor Pro tem and, for a period, Acting Mayor. It was a suburb of a major city.

An active railroad track ran through the very center of the town. It was a nuisance having to wait for a train to pass just to get to the other side. It was a problem we could not fix but there was another problem that was within our power to correct.

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Wall Street Traitors Hiding Behind The Flag

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. – Samuel Johnson

Saving America is decidedly not a priority of Wall Street. That sentence has an intentional ambiguity.

America is widely famous for having the lowest savings rate in the developed world. Why? The reason is shoved in our face with some regularity. The problem is that we fail to recognize it as such. We periodically hear in the news that the Fed is going to manipulate the interest rate. So? The Fed doesn’t deserve all of the blame. The entire financial system works in tandem to screw the country.

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One For All

January 5, 2009

in Economics,Health,Politics

They Might Be a Little Out of Date, But No More Than Our Healthcare System.Go ahead. Everyone who doesn’t really know the meaning of the word, shout the word socialism at the top of your lungs. Come on, get it over with because, whatever the untutored may think, the subject of this post has nothing whatsoever to do with that awful word.

Anyone thinking that national healthcare is somehow related to socialism needs to read some earlier posts on this site. Anyone who thinks that national healthcare is bad must think it’s quite alright for the United States to rank lower than Cuba in health.

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Get Rich, Not

December 30, 2008

in Economics,Politics

Bet Your Bottom and Your DollarSo, you want to get rich. Surprise, surprise. The question is how do you get there.

How much are you willing to gamble on your retirement? Everything? Half of everything? How lucky do you feel putting your children’s college funds at risk? Come on now. Be honest.

How do you get rich? How do you get to retire in a manner to which you want to become accustomed? How can you afford to send all of your kids to Harvard? The government has the answer. Gamble.

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Ripping Off the Geezers

December 18, 2008

in Health

Another Rip Off by the Health Insurance IndustryOnce again lobbyists for the health insurance industry have gotten their way.

It is impossible to miss or ignore all of the commercials on television touting the Medicare plus plans. They go by many different names but are basically plans that claim to offer seniors more services than traditional Medicare plans. They usually offer some dental coverage and perhaps coverage for eyeglasses for the same cost as Medicare alone. That sounds like a winner.

What do they really offer?

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Bury Reagan

December 15, 2008

in Economics,Politics,Religion

Reaganism Is PreposterousMany will consider this post sacrilegious. They are merely the deluded, the Kool-Aid drinkers. Reaganism has become a religion. Let me be the bearer of bad news. Reagan is dead.

Every Republican candidate for president in the recent campaign tried to outdo his rivals in their claims to the mantle of St. Ronny. Now congressmen are falling all over themselves to explain that the cause of the economic meltdown is due to a failure to follow the political Pied Piper. Only the one you are listening to at the moment is sufficiently devoted to the Oracle.

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Is There a Ford in Your Future? Is There a Future for Ford?I‘ve heard all of the arguments for the Big 3 going the bankruptcy route. They seem to be ignoring a few facts.

First, let’s ignore all of those to whom ideological purity is more important than the economic health of the country. Our economic health has a direct effect on our national security, our perceived leadership position and other important national and international concerns. More immediately, it can have a devastating impact on the lives of millions of our fellow citizens.

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