Not Your Parent's Republican Party

I have not been around to experience that many election cycles, but I have been around enough to know this one is unique.

In 2008, we experienced a grassroots movement of ordinary people who were inspired by the simple idea that they could change their country. It was fueled by a positive belief that we can move this country forward by lifting its people up and solving problems our leaders have put off for decades.

In 2010, we are witnessing a different kind of movement – the Tea Party movement - filled with candidates who are proudly pursuing an agenda, fueled by anger, which would put a halt to progress, not just made over the past 2 years, but progress made over the past 50 years. Not only is their agenda frightening, as I will later explain, but their personal views are particularly disturbing.

These are the same folks that the pundits and the polls suggest are going to win in this year’s midterm elections, and win big.

In Delaware, the Republican Senate candidate, Christine O’Donnell, thinks our Constitution does not include anything dealing with the separation of church; and she can’t name a single Senator in the Democratic Party.

In Kentucky, Republican Senate candidate, Rand Paul (son of former Congressman and Presidential hopeful, Ron Paul), says he may have not voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed major forms of discrimination and ended segregation.

The Republican Senate candidate from Nevada, Sharon Angle, thinks that autism is a socialist conspiracy that aims to give undeserving children free health care – and this might be the least extreme thing she has said.

In South Carolina, the Republican Senator, Jim DeMint, believes gay people should not only be restricted of the right to marry but also restricted of the right to be a school teacher.

Alaska’s Republican Senate candidate, Joe Miller, thinks the 17^th Amendment that gives American citizens the right to elect Senators should be repealed; not to mention how he believes we should build a 21^st century version of the Berlin Wall on our borders.

I could go on all day describing the troubling views of Tea Party candidates running for office all across this country (and I didn’t even mention some of their opposition to the federal minimum wage or their support of privatizing Social Security). According to the New York Times, there are 138 candidates affiliated with Tea Party movement running in races all across America this year with the letter ‘R’ next to their names.

But make no mistake; this is not your parent’s Republican Party. This is a Republican Party that has been hijacked by the loudest voices with the most extreme views, and this year we need to make sure we don’t let this Republican Party and the intolerance and extremism they promote take over any branch of our government.

If you think some of their extreme views aren’t enough to disqualify them, then take a look at their agenda.

The Republican Party’s line of attack is that the Democrats in Congress and the President in the White House love to recklessly spend money. Unfortunately, for them, the numbers just don’t add up.

Not only has the deficit been reduced by 8% in President Obama’s first fiscal year, but taxes have been cut, the auto industry has been saved, health care has been reformed, the markets have been stabilized, and we have seen nine straight months of private sector job growth. These are facts.

The Republican Party’s 2010 agenda which they titled, “The Pledge to America” is an effort to turn back the clock and erase the progress we have been making over the past two years.

I know numbers and statistics bore the heck out of people and Tea Party candidates do their best to avoid dealing in facts, but I think it is extremely important that we take the time to inform ourselves before we go to the polls on November 2^nd.

This Republican agenda claims it will cut spending, cut taxes, and put the country on a course to balancing the budget by 2020. Sounds good, right?

Well, here are the facts:

Their tax plan is projected to cost about $4 trillion; that’s $700 billion more expensive than the Obama administration’s plan. Keep in mind, that $700 billion extra (which will have to be borrowed) will go to tax cuts for millionaire and billionaires – people who are least likely to put it back into the economy.

Balancing the budget over the next ten years sounds good too, right? Well, the only way we could even come close to balancing the budget under “The Pledge to America” is if we essentially abolish the federal government, Congress included; just not practical. Aside from that, their agenda will result in a drop in the Gross Domestic Product which translates to a net loss of 1.1 million jobs according to the Economic Policy Institute.

I hope you’re still with me here because the next part is extremely important, particularly for college students.

In addition to the forty-eight page Republican proposal, the Republican leader in the house, Congressman John Boehner of Ohio, released a proposal that would cut education funding by about 20% which will lead to approximately 8 million students being slashed from student loan programs (according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities).

This is the choice we all face this year. Anger may lead us to believe that we must vote out the same people we elected two years ago because progress has not come fast enough. But when have you ever made a decision out of anger that you are satisfied with?

Progress is never easy. It takes time – especially when we have just gone through such a devastating recession. But giving up because progress is not always quick is not the right course of action – not now.

The Republican Party is banking on fear and anger to turn these elections in their favor. Prove them wrong and score a victory for sanity.

Vote.

Register to Vote!

The deadline to register to vote in the November 2, 2010 General Election is October 4th, 2010, so any registration form must be returned either in person to your Board of Elections, Secretary of State’s office, office of the registrar or any deputy registrar of motor vehicles, a public high school or vocational school, a public library, the office of a county treasurer, or a state or local office of a designated agency or postmarked no later than October 4, 2010.

If you haven’t registered to vote, do it today! And don’t forget to vote!

Downloadable Registration Form!
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/upload/publications/election/VRform.pdf

More Republican Hypocrisy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I was reading about this the other day and I turned on MSNBC last night to see The Rachel Maddow Show explaining in a pretty straightforward way that it's the Republican Party who is more of a threat to our deficit. Want to cut taxes for the top two percent of income earners AND bring down the debt in this country? Good luck.

Oil Spill Opportunity

We have all seen the coverage of the oil spill over the past three months. The devastation in the gulf and the images coming out of that region have been heart breaking. Not only have the images of wild life covered in oil been the source of disappointment but the notion that so many of those living in that area will have to spend the coming months and years putting their lives back together because of how this spill has impacted them is also unsettling.

This is why I was extremely pleased that the Obama administration secured a $20 billion clean-up fund from BP last month after the President met with top executives from the oil company. They should pay whatever their circus show in the gulf costs.

I don’t claim to be the smartest person in the world and I definitely don’t claim to have all the answers but when the fate of the gulf coast rests in the hands of Kevin Costner (no offense to Mr. Costner, but seriously?), you have to begin to wonder if the best and brightest working down there to “fix” this are really the best and brightest.

But we, as citizens, and those serving us in Washington and across the country cannot let our frustration cloud our view of what is important. This oil spill gives our country a great opportunity to do something about our energy policy.

I have never been a strong supporter of drilling off-shore for oil, no matter how much I enjoyed hearing Sarah Palin and her followers shout “Drill, baby, drill!” (More like Spill, baby, spill!) throughout the 2008 presidential campaign (funny, I don’t hear those same people shouting that once-popular campaign slogan anymore). It’s an outdated, and – as we are seeing in the gulf recently – a sometimes dangerous process.

It is up to all of us to make sure that this oil spill is the last reminder that our energy policy must change and it must change now. There are simple ways we can all take advantage of the great opportunity this tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico has given us.

Call or write to your Congressmen and tell them that now is the time to stop talking about our outdated energy policy and actually start doing something about it. More specifically, call those Republican congressmen and tell them consistently voting ‘no’ in what is clearly a political decision does not count as an energy policy. Election year or not, we cannot wait.

My generation should be concerned about the future of our country and our climate more than anyone. It will be that generation that must deal with the consequences if no action is taken today.

Action in Washington D.C. may be slow but that doesn’t mean we can’t do our part in the mean time to help our environment. Reconsider how you get from place to place (take a bus, ride a bike, car-pool, etc.). Plant trees in your yard or your community. Recycle. Use fluorescent bulbs. And turn out the lights if you don’t need them or aren’t using them (right now I’m sitting in a dark cellar with a candle writing this on recycled paper). These are just some simple, common sense ways we can all help out our environment.

Our country may be divided and those serving us in Washington may be more concerned about what is politically popular than what is the right thing to do. But the images we see coming out of the gulf should give all of us a reminder of what needs to be done.

The time to do something about America’s energy future is now.

It is a challenge that must be faced and it won’t be easy. But, I will ask what many leaders from many generations have asked in the face of difficult challenges and great opportunities: If not us, who? If not now, when?

Should We Have To Pay?

This will be brief but I think it is necessary.

The federal government is doing their best to figure out how to demand BP to cover the costs of this disastrous oil spill in the Gulf. It is common sense that the American people should not have to pay for a mess that is the fault of BP. Some believe otherwise.

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce headed by Tom Donahue, the American people should have to pick up part of the costs. And today House Minority Leader and frequent TNT Tanning Patron, John Boehner made a comment at a press conference that suggests he fully or partly agrees with Donahue.

No explanation is needed here. The American people should not have to pay a dime to clean this mess up. Americans are already being adversely affected by this circus in the gult. The idea that Mr. Donahue and Mr. Boehner are even hinting at the fact that perhaps we should have to pick up part of these costs is simply ridiculous.

South Carolina's Sad Legacy

I have been interested in politics and history since the 2000 farce between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor, George W. Bush. At the time, I didn't quite grasp the idea that the Supreme Court of these United States could overrule the voice of the people and I still don't really get it. Either way, it was that day which made me want to understand our history and our politics.

In getting to know that history, one thing has become very clear: If there is one state that takes pride in looking at progress and shouting "stop (or 'You Lie!)," it has been South Carolina. It is an unsettling history that should shame those responsible for it.

All that knowledge makes the news in the South Carolina gubernatorial race seem like a normal day in politics for those living in the Palmetto State. South Carolina State Senator and Gubernatorial candidate, Jake Knotts made the following statement about his Tea Party-backed Republican primary opponent, Nikki Haley, who is a Christian of Indian Sikh descent:

"We already got one raghead in Washington; we don't need another raghead in the governor's mansion."

Knotts also says he believed Haley has been set up by a network of Sikhs and was programmed to run for governor of South Carolina by outside influences in foreign countries. He claims she is hiding her religion and he wants the voters to know about it.

It would be extremely shameful if it weren't so disturbingly common for South Carolina politicians to say things of this nature and to constantly incite this kind of hatred like Mr. Knotts has just decided to do. And no matter what party Mrs. Haley is part of or how far out of mainstream her views may be, someone like State Senator Knotts doesn't deserve to even hold the door for her, much less the President of the United States who he verbally slurred as well with this comment.

Alone, this comment is uncalled for. But when thrown into the history this state has, it is simply shameful; not just because it is often racially charged, but because in every instance, it involves a politician who cares more about politics than about working to get things done. This all, of course, is true without even having to mention the infidelity of the man these two candidates are running to replace, Governor Mark Sanford.

It can all be dated back to George H. W. Bush's 1988 campaign for the Presidency when South Carolina native Lee Atwater masterminded the famous "Willie Horton" television ad which led to the collapse of the Michael Dukakis campaign for President. It was not until Atwater was on his deathbed that he regretted the brutality of his career. But it is doubtful that even a deathbed conversion would lead him to believe that South Carolina would live up to his legacy in unimaginable ways.

In 1990, a Republican political consultant Rod Shealy decided to pander to the 'anti-black' white voters which surely exist in a state like South Carolina by recruiting a black candidate to run against his candidate in the primary. This, as Shealy had anticipated, paid off and benefited his own candidate.

During the 2000 Presidential Republican Primary in South Carolina between John McCain and George W. Bush, rumors trying to bring down the McCain campaign circulated that John McCain fathered an illegitimate black child. It was one of the dirtiest primary contests in our history.

Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina decided to shout at the President during his State of the Union address this year. Obviously Southern manners weren't being implemented that night.

Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina proves almost on a weekly basis that his job isn't to serve his country, but instead it is to serve his political interests and his Republican Party; the party that has been taken over by extremists with no regard for reality or problem-solving. His fight to destroy Obama in the healthcare debate because it would've been "Obama's Waterloo" shows that he had no intention of solving what was our broken healthcare system, but instead his goal was to take down the man in the White House for political purposes.

And so with Jake Knotts, the sad legacy of South Carolina continues. If you want to know what is wrong with our politics just take a look at the 'leaders' from the Palmetto state and you should have a pretty good understanding of what is wrong with it. It is sad that in 2010 in the United States of America, a country that has come so far, South Carolina continues to produce leaders that talk and conduct themselves as if it were still the 1960's.

It is with that legacy that we can come to a single conclusion: South Carolina is quickly becoming the stain of American politics.

(Sources: Yahoo! News, wltx.com)

Obama's Katrina?

I haven't talked too much about the oil spill because I don't really know why there should be two sides to something like this. It's obvious BP should be responsible for being irresponsible and they should finance the clean-up effort. This is the result of a situation where proper precautions weren't taken and emergencies weren't prepared for.

The reason I am now bringing this up after almost two months of this being an issue is because recently some on the right have called this "Obama's Katrina." That comparison is obviously far off and isn't true. But there are some things the President needs to start doing to ensure he doesn't come close to holding the same title the former President rightly earned.

We know that an oil spill really can't be fixed by the President of the United States. But we do know who is responsible and I think the American people would like to see their President articulate that anger that Americans are feeling right now and also start taking a tougher stance against BP.

The 'No Drama Obama' title he has rightfully earned can go both ways. Sure it makes him look as though he has a steady hand through shaky times. But sometimes it makes him seem a little disconnected when Americans feel he should be knocking skulls together. This is a good moment for our President to show us that he is ticked off as well.

When it comes to policy, him and his administration should, in a way, hit the 'pause' button on drilling and make sure that this cannot happen anywhere else. Aside from that, they should make sure oil companies like BP have a plan in place so that when something like this does happen, we are prepared.

Finally, this damage and devastation down in the Gulf of Mexico should be cleaned up using the wallet of BP, no one else. And a law should be passed making sure that, no matter how high it is, the clean up cost should be left with the oil companies - period.

So we don't expect our President to fix this himself; he can't. But we do like to see a little emotion when a company like BP screws up this badly.