If There is No Will There is No Way

I was an avid supporter of a California constitutional convention to bring sanity to this state. Such an effort requires significant financial backing. Unfortunately not enough people were willing to come to the aid of this endeavor. The Los Angeles Times editorial for this day says what I have been telling everyone. No one running for governor can change our dysfunctional government. Can California Forward accomplish the necessary changes we need? I am dubious. Below is the first paragraph from the Times editorial. It summarizes the situation.

Yes We Can!

The party of “no” provides no solutions to America’s problems. Mike Pence, congressman from Indiana, appeared at the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) conference in Washington D.C. where he said, “Sometimes no is just what this town needs to hear. When it comes to more borrowing, the answer is no. When it comes to more spending, the answer is no. When it comes to more bailouts, the answer is no.” We need the party of “yes we can.”

It’s all about compromise. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gov. Edward Rendell appearing on This Week today displayed that kind of behavior. Of course both political parties have to step up to the plate to make this happen. If too many moderate congress people decide drop out then we will have many years of gridlock.

Growing Idea of Third Party President

Gridlock in Washington D.C. is nothing new. Many first term presidents have seen their party loose control of congress two years after they were elected to office. Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton are the two most discussed presidents that faced this situation. The system seems more broken than ever to me. Now many in government and at least one commentator are seeing the same conditions too.

This is the text from Meet the Press with commentator David Brooks on February 14, 2010

MR. GREGORY: Thirty, 30–David Brooks, 30 seconds, the outlook.

MR. BROOKS: Well, it’s going to be a good year for Republicans. I’m actually beginning to think, for the first time in my life, there’s a prospect for a third party at some point in the future. I just don’t see how we get out of the fiscal hole if Republicans are not willing to raise taxes, Democrats not willing to cut spending. I just don’t see how we get out of that, and that is the predicate. For the first time in my life I’ve thought maybe somebody could run a third party for president, not for Congress this year.

MR. GREGORY: Modern day Ross Perot.

MR. BROOKS: Hopefully a little saner, but, yeah.

George Stephanopoulos of ABC reported today that Senator Evan Bayh, after announcing his decision not to run for re-election, indicated to him he thought the nation may be ready for a third party candidate for president.

The Tea Party group is not yet an organized political party but that could change if Tea Party Nation leaders were to start organizing themselves in that direction. Sarah Palin would be their obvious candidate for president. Isn’t she too divisive?

Could “blue dog” Democrats and “moderate” Republicans come together as a new third party? There have been many political parties but after John Adams only Democrats, Whigs, and Republicans won the office. George Washington and John Adams were Federalists which was a party that stood for the creation of the United States as a free and separate nation. Every revolutionary was Federalist.

In Team of Rivals, author Doris Kearns Goodwin describes the Know Nothing Party (feared the immigration of immigrants from Germany) and the Whig Party (supported new industry and the encouragement of trade and infrastructure improvements).

Unfortunately the United States has not been a fertile ground for new political parties.

Lacking The Art of Compromise

We all know that Washington is broken. The Everett Dirksen’s and Tip O’Neill’s of the past are nowhere to be seen. The last major social legislation put into law was 1965 (Medicare and Voting Rights Act). Instead we have the Democrats saying, “we have the majority and to hell with you” and the Republicans “no” to everything proposed. Our form of government requires compromise. After all how could the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution been written and ratified if there had been no compromise?

As Steven Pearlstein wrote in his Washington Post column dated February 5, 2010, “The only way a democratic system like ours can work is if the majority party acknowledges that winning an election means winning the right to set the agenda and put the first proposal on the table, though not the right to get everything it wants.”

Senators John McCain (Republican from AZ and Russ Feingold (Democrat from WI) are two of the few who have worked together on some compromise legislation. Now they have become very quiet, fearing challenges from their party or their opponents. Clearly they have put their jobs above the needs of the nation. That appears to be the attitude of most members of congress.

It appears that Tea Party advocates and other Independents, like myself, do not support either party view. This could spell trouble for all incumbents. Perhaps new people in congress will bring a new perspective. That would be a good thing. Then again there are the lobbyists and that could mean more gridlock. Is this what our founding fathers wanted?

Fox News Is The Clear Cable Leader

If there’s any doubt about the mood and interest of the electorate, take a look at the cable television rankings. The recent election night of January 19, 2010 comparison of viewers of FOX programming, which generally takes a right of center position to extreme right to MSNBC programming which generally takes a liberal point of view to CNN that tries to stay neutral but tends to be center to left of center. These numbers definitely say Americans are more to the right of center. Then again there are 300 million people in the United States. Perhaps we need more information like what are the ages of this viewing audience?

FOXNEWS HANNITY 6,809,000

FOXNEWS GRETA 6,399,000

FOXNEWS O’REILLY 5,228,000

FOXNEWS BECK 3,446,000

FOXNEWS BAIER 3,338,000

FOXNEWS SHEP 3,241,000

CNN KING 1,681,000

CNN COOPER 1,508,000

CNN BROWN 1,308,000

MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,274,000

MSNBC MADDOW 1,236,000

CNN BLITZER 1,135,000

CNNHN BEHAR 845,000

MSNBC HARDBALL 798,000

What Would Teddy Do?

Martha Coakley has been a dud of a candidate for the senatorial seat that was held by Teddy Kennedy. Reports indicate that she concluded that by winning the primary, her election was guaranteed simply because of the two to one Democratic Party majority registration in Massachusetts. Her campaign efforts have been poor at best. Perhaps this situation will be an indicator of things to come in California (a wake up call?).

Would Teddy Kennedy approve of the health care bill awaiting reconciliation? After all, the bill is too long and complicated. In all honesty it will probably cost money not save money. Medicare will be impacted by this law’s passage. So the election of Massachusetts State Senator Scott Brown may hurt the Democrats but might save our nation from a bureaucratic and financial nightmare.

America Wants Accomplishments Not Words

“Words! Words! I’m so sick of words!” from My Fair Lady.

President Barack Obama is a fabulous speaker. His Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo only reinforces that fact. He told us all his views of America in a well worded presentation. Many outspoken Republicans have said complimentary things about the speech. None the less, Rush Limbaugh may have his hopes fulfilled. President Obama is struggling to find some success.

It has been reported that President Obama wants to spend $200 Billion of TARP money on a second round of government sponsored stimulus. The first $$787 Billion has not been spent. It’s obvious that the money spent to date was not used for “shovel ready” projects. “There are plenty of ways to stimulate small businesses, including three-quarters of the stimulus money we have not spent yet without adding billions and billions in debt through TARP, which is basically a line of credit,” Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, Obama’s opponent in the 2008 presidential election, said at a news conference.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are viewed inconsistently by Obama. In his desire to please anti-war Democrats and please moderate Americans his position is a moving target. When the war in Iraq was going poorly he stressed his opposition to the 2007 troop surge but later when the surge was successful he grudgingly acknowledged success. Just last week, in a speech at West Point, the plan to stop the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan will be accomplished using a 30,000 man troop surge but without using the word “surge.” To please those opposing the war he says that troop withdrawals will begin in July 2011 but the secretaries of defense and state say that we will only review our commitment on that date.

Health care for all Americans has been a cornerstone of Obama’s vision. He says he wants it to be deficit neutral, cut costs, and improve quality. The reality is that he has never outlined his vision of how to achieve these goals. There is nothing in the plans proposed by either the House of Representatives or the Senate that addresses these objectives. Instead there is a Democratic Party objective to pass a law for the president’s signature even if no objectives are met.

Few of us fully understand climate change issues. Politicians are trying to impose more control everywhere in the world to save humanity. It’s a nice goal as long as it doesn’t cost me any money is the view of most people. Neither Al Gore nor Barack Obama have made the case in ways that most Americans will understand. I understand air and water pollution but I do not understand the need to control CO2. Cap and trade? I do not understand this idea at all. I oppose things I do not understand.

Unless the president delivers some real accomplishments he will have a difficult time being re-elected in 2012.

No New Troops for Afghanistan

Most people in Afghanistan are still in a 12^th century world. For the most part minimal infrastructure is nonexistent in that country. Illiteracy is a major problem. Dr. Sanjay Gupta reported on CNN that there are 11 doctors for every 100,000 population.

President Obama has told us in his own words that he is not a “war president.” If he was he would follow the George W. Bush format. That would mean using words saying “We are going to win this war.”

He is in a tough position because there has been no Pearl Harbor or 9-11 while he has been president. Instead it’s a “What do we do now?” moment. We are all tired of this battle and see no end game. I do not see any way to change Afghanistan in one year (winter is coming and most new troops won’t be deployed until spring 2010).

Many conservative and libertarian people of considerable consequence are questioning this 30,000 man surge. Two most prominent are Ron Paul and George Wills. The president’s commentary about the impact on Pakistan does not connect sufficiently. I know they have nuclear weapons. I understand the administration’s concerns. I just question the strategy.

The president knows that many of us see the similarities between Vietnam and Afghanistan. He did not convince me that the United States is not going down that same path.

Obama is trying to do the politically correct thing. That is a choice that makes no one happy. There is no military draft so most of us are not directly impacted by this fight. Besides the $1million per man cost there is a loss of brave lives for a questionable goal. Congress should say no to this idea and tell the president to find another path to stopping al-queda. Sadly Congress will probably vote yes.