Battle to Save the GOP

The United States system of government requires compromise if it is to function. The two major poltical parties differ in so many way that it difficult to believe they are even from the same country. There are many reasons for this situation. Urban versus rural is the most obvious.

President Ronald Reagan “stood tough and strong against our — and humanity’s — enemies abroad, at home Reagan showed a congeniality to his political opponents. And he stood for and evinced a sunny optimism about both America and the American people. To him it was always “morning in America.”” From http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/02/04/bennett.reagan.optimism/ He compromised with Tip O’Neill, Democratic Speaker of the House.

Americans want a well managed functioning government. President Obama ran for election on the theme that he would be the man who would lead a government that would bring all Americans together. The president’s words, “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America – there is the United States of America.” It didn’t happen. His intent was in the right place but his ability to deliver has fallen far short.

It is obvious that Americans yearn for a president who can lead all the people regardless of their political party.

During the Obama presidency the GOP has NOT been the party of new ideas. It has been the party of NO. That has to change if the party is to survive.

That brings us to the group of potential candidates for the 2016 primaries. Who among the many can convince Americans that they can lead a divided nation?

Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan clearly is a well known participant who wants to prove to Americans that he could lead our politically divided nation. So even though he is an avowed conservative, who has been reported to be an admirer of Ayn Rand, he wants to convey the idea that he could lead the nation even if the Democrats controlled one house of Congress and the Republicans controlled the other. Thus, Mr. Ryan has forged a budget agreement compromise with Democrats. It’s not something like President Ronald Reagan reaching an agreement with Democratic leader Thomas (Tip) O’Neill despite what Chris Matthews tries to imagine but at least they were talking to each other.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is another possibility along with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. After all both of them are holding office in states that are typically Democratic.

That leaves out Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, Texas Governor Rick Perry, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz. All have been strong conservatives. None has shown any inclination for compromise.

Still the budget agreement is an indicator that Republicans are beginning to understand the path to their success is their willingness to reach agreement. That ought to translate into agreement on the debt ceiling and immigration reform.

If the GOP says NO to those issues they can say goodbye to winning national elections.

The American Skills Gap

The skills gap in U.S. manufacturing has hit a vast array of industries that are having trouble filling their workforce needs with properly trained workers who can step right in and help companies.

As an example, across the jobs spectrum in the laser industry, from designing equipment, to finding workers to install and repair laser machinery, to manufacturers that need skilled employees on the plant floor, the lack of workers with the necessary skills has become a major problem.

To believe an exhaustive new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the skill level of the American labor force is not merely slipping in comparison to that of its peers around the world, it has fallen dangerously behind. A new OECD study finds that the US is well behind its global competitors in math, reading, and computer skills.

The highly skilled in the United States earn a much larger wage premium over unskilled workers than in most, if not all, other advanced nations, where regulations, unions and taxes tend to temper inequality. So if the rewards for skills are so high, why is the supply of skilled workers so sluggish? The answer is not clear.

Socioeconomic status is a barrier. Not only is inequality particularly steep, little is done to redress the opportunity deficit of poorer students. Public investment in the early education of disadvantaged children is meager. Teachers are not paid very well, compared with other countries. And the best teachers tend to end up teaching in affluent schools.

To speed growth, we must close the widening skills gap that exists in all of our industries. Washington lawmakers do not appear to be inclined to take the proactive lead that is necessary. This means that large companies and industry organizations will have to take the lead. That can be accomplished through lobbyists in the capitol or sponsoring training programs. The question is will private industry take the lead when labor costs are so much lower in other nations?

Sources for this article is news.thomasnet.com/IMT/2013/12/10, The New York Times,OECD

Spend Today – Let Tomorrow be Someone Else’s Problem

I am exhausted by government mismanagement. It’s not about Obamacare. It’s about foolish spending at the state and local levels.

Here in California the EDD (Employment Development Department), that is the department that pays unemployment insurance, they decided to implement a new computerized check paying system. California paid Deloitte Consulting $62 million to develop EDD’s new computer system. An estimated 148,000 people have experienced delays of up to four weeks in receiving their payments due to computer glitches.

The Los Angeles DWP implemented a new billing system in October of this year. Thousands of people received bills that were double their normal charges. Some received bills one half their normal charges. When those receiving incorrect overcharges refused to pay they were threatened with shutoff notices.

A retired DWP construction worker volunteered his retirement benefit to me, $6,000 per month. Stunned, I said nothing. The DWP has a powerful union.

Meanwhile Chicago officials, as they often do, turned to borrowing to relieve the financial pressure. This time they used taxable bonds with high interest rates, making the ultimate price tag even bigger. A $12 million bill related to disabled parking will be paid off in 2039 for at least $30 million. The Chicago Tribune found that the mayor’s boasting of tough choices amounts to selling taxable bonds to cover day-to-day expenses. Long after he is gone the bill for retirement benefits will come due. With a declining population (in the 1950s it was 3.5 million people, today the population is 2.5 million) this city may be the next Detroit.

Majority Should Rule

Although the rule allowing a filibuster in the United States Senate was created in 1789, the first Senate filibuster occurred in 1837. Clearly the intent is to stop the Senate from conducting its business. Since 1917, the minority has enjoyed the right to unlimited debate on legislation and nominations until the majority can amass a super-majority. In recent years, that has meant 60 votes.

One senator can impact the wishes of the majority. It is clearly an undemocratic procedure.

There continues to be a debate about the rights of the minority in a democracy. It revolves around the argument that even minorities have rights. While that may have some validity, the opportunity to vote should not be denied. The results of any election, whether in an elected body or the total electorate should determine a course of action. Flibusters deny that opportunity.

I celebrate the Senate’s vote (52-48) to change the filibuster rule to change proceedings so that only a simple majority was required to clear the way for a final vote on all appointments except Supreme Court nominations.

In California there are regulations that require a two-thirds majority to change tax laws. That too is undemocratic. Thus we have tax laws that are almost impossible to change.

This rule change should not only apply to all senate business, it should apply to all elections and all representative bodies. “Majority rule” is what democracy is all about.

545 People Responsible For All Of U.S. Woes

Written by Charley Reese, a conservative, in the Orlando Sentinel in 1985. He is now deceased. Everything remains the same.

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why if all politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don’t have Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don’t write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don’t set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don’t control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices — 545 human beings out of 235 million — are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excused the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered by private central bank.

I exclude all of the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it.

No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislators’ responsibility to determine how he votes.

Don’t you see the con game that is played on the people by the politicians? Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of Tip O’Neill, who stood up and criticized Ronald Reagan for creating deficits.

The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating appropriations and taxes.

Those 545 people and they alone are responsible. They and they alone should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses — provided they have the gumption to manage their own employees.

What happened in Benghazi?

The 60 Minutes report and apology was of no import. I do not care what Dylan Davies told them or what was written in his book. It did not answer the primary questions.

Why was there such poor security at Benghazi?
Who was the person outside of Libya who made the decision to not reinforce the security?
How long did the attack last?
Was there time to send aid?
Who made the decision not to send aid to Benghazi while the attack was occurring?
Who makes the decisions on security at our embassies and consulates?

Congress is entitled to know the answers.

Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S.

As we all watch the repeated government shutdowns and the up to the edge debate over the debt ceiling, ObamaCare, taxation and a variety of other topics it has become clear that the United States is severely divided. Others around the world see the end of our great experiment.

Perhaps the only thing Mr. Igor Panarin was incorrect about is the timing.

By Andrew Osborn in The Wall Street Journal

Updated Dec. 29, 2008

MOSCOW — For a decade, Russian academic Igor Panarin has been predicting the U.S. will fall apart in 2010. For most of that time, he admits, few took his argument — that an economic and moral collapse will trigger a civil war and the eventual breakup of the U.S. — very seriously. Now he’s found an eager audience: Russian state media.

More here >> http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB123051100709638419

America’s Standing is at Stake

I wrote I would not spend time listening to all the talk about government shut down and debt ceiling but the talk and news reports are everywhere.

I am really becoming frightened by the threatened default of the U.S. government. You see reneging on its debt obligations would make the U.S. the first major Western government to default since Nazi Germany 80 years ago.

Germany unilaterally ceased payments on long-term borrowings on May 6, 1933, three months after Adolf Hitler was installed as Chancellor. The default helped cement Hitler’s power base following years of political instability as the WeimarRepublic struggled with its crushing debts. We all know where that led.

Today we are faced with have similar situation. A small group of congressmen (the Tea Party) have taken control of the Republican Party and consequently are holding the government hostage. They want to stop government borrowing and paying out only from the revenue received. The Tea Party members do not believe that there will be any consequences to a default. If only I could get away without not paying back my loans and meeting my commitments.

Will we see chaos in America that leads to a dictator in the name of stability? Dictators frequently need a scapegoat. Will it be the Jews? Perhaps they will blame Hispanics and specifically Mexicans as the result of the influx of illegal aliens.

I predict that a default on America’s commitments will reduce this country’s credibility. The world is on a de facto dollar standard, similar in some respects to the British pound sterling standard of the 19th and early 20th century. The U.S. dollar will not be the world’s reserve currency if there is a default.

The United States Existence is Based Upon Compromise

I have reduced my listening to the never ending debate over the government shut down and the debt ceiling limit. Both of our political parties are to blame.

The president won’t negotiate and the Republicans won’t “surrender”. That makes the nation the loser.

The price that will be paid will be higher interest rates. All Americans will be paying higher taxes as a consequence.

While dancing along the edge of a financial cliff the political parties are putting our nation at risk. It is a game of Russian Roulette.

I am sorry to say that Americans are to blame. We have encouraged the congressional behaviour we are witnessing.

Respect for a form of government that is over 200 years old is appropriate.

From Encyclopedia Britannica

The Great Compromise, as it came to be known, created a bicameral legislature with a Senate, in which all states would be equally represented, and a House of Representatives, in which representation would be apportioned on the basis of a state’s free population plus three-fifths of its slave population. (The inclusion of the slave population was known separately as the three-fifths compromise.) A further compromise on slavery prohibited Congress from banning the importation of slaves until 1808 (Article I, Section 9). After all the disagreements were bridged, the new Constitution was submitted for ratification to the 13 states on September 28, 1787.

Tea Party Vision for the United States

There is no end to Tea Party demands. With each win they go on to make more demands. That is the behavior of an extortionist. Their real intent is to reduce the United States Federal government to a very limited bureaucracy that cedes most functions to the individual states. The result will be the end of the United States as a consequential power in the world. They appear to be winning.

America’s enemies couldn’t be happier.

From the National Tea Party Federation

The Tea Party movement’s objectives:

Fiscal Responsibility
Constitutionally Limited Government
Free Markets

So Fiscal Responsibility means no borrowing at all. That would reduce the federal budget. The debt ceiling is currently $16.4 Trillion. In August of 2011 the ceiling was $15.2 Trillion. Current deficit spending amounts to about 1/3 of the money spent each year. What does that mean in terms of impact on society? Reports say that the current government shutdown has resulted in reducing the government payroll by 15%. That number does not include planned layoffs of contractors who say they will begin layoffs next week at Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky Helicopter and the thousands of smaller businesses that supply government with a variety of goods.

Constitutionally Limited Government means limiting the federal government to only those responsibilities specifically defined in the Constitution. Translate that to mean no subsidies for any business or industry, no welfare grants or other aid to any business or individual, no agriculture department, no FAA, no FTC, no FDA, no SEC, no government departments for any function that is part of the 21^st century. Medicare, Social Security, and other social programs would have to be eliminated. Of course the individual states could run those programs.

Free Markets really means no government interference with any private enterprise even if that means monopolies. Drug manufacturers could make and sell anything they want regardless of its effectiveness or safety. Food inspections would not occur because they would interfere with free markets.

Would these programs reduce the impact of the United States in the world? I say the United States would be reduced in every way in the 21^st century. Our impact – well we would not have any impact.