Tag Archives: Democrat

Geithner: No Double Dip

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 08:39

Timothy Geithner at the United States Departme...

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When he appeared on ABC News‘s This Week on February 7, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was quizzed about the risk of the United States losing its triple-A credit rating, the chances that foreign investors might start shunning US debt, and whether the economy would suffer a double dip recession.

Last week the credit rating agency Moody’s warned that weak economic growth and increasing debt burdens could “put pressure on the country’s triple-A status.” When asked to respond, Geithner said, “Absolutely not. That will never happen to this country.” One remembers the speaker’s rule to be very careful about using absolutes, such as “absolutely”, and “never happen.” History books are filled with examples of events that could “absolutely never happen.”

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A Closer Look at the GOP Litmus Test

Friday, 29 January 2010 16:08

Senator Arlen Specter while he was being inter...

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Now that the GOP has all but shelved the litmus test for candidates to receive money and support for their mid-term election campaigns, a closer look at that “test” reveals a tepid attempt to reinvigorate “conservative” principles into the big tent GOP.

The Republican National Committee, meeting in Hawaii to hammer out their platform, briefly considered a resolution from James Bopp, an RNC vice-chairman from Indiana and general counsel for National Right to Life, requiring candidates to state publicly their agreement with at least eight of ten listed “conservative” positions. Bopp said that his resolution was “designed to bring conservatives, some of whom have gravitated to the independent ‘tea party’ movement, into the GOP fold.” He expressed concern that “disaffected conservatives” would back third-party candidates and take support away from Republicans running in the same race. He added:

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What Part of “No” Doesn’t He Understand?

Wednesday, 27 January 2010 09:01

Pelosi Showing Obama Health Care

Image by Truthout.org via Flickr

This change allegedly reflects the impact the Brown win in Massachusetts last week had on politics in general, but also that it had not been anticipated by Obama or the Democrats.

“The entire political community was caught a little bit unawares on that one,” said David Axelrod, White House senior advisor. The impact of Brown’s win on Obama’s healthcare bill was significant in that it deprived the Democrats of the opportunity to push the bill through the Senate without a Republican vote.

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Lessons from Massachusetts

Friday, 22 January 2010 08:17

Coakley Senate Sign

Image by Mark Sardella via Flickr

Yesterday the New York Times concluded that Scott Brown’s victory over Martha Coakley for Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat resulted from Democrat complacency, Republican tentativeness, and Tea Party activism. Based upon interviews with more than 30 individuals involved in the race, the Times traced the rise of Brown from relative obscurity over the past month to victor on Monday.

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Democrat Options in Massachusetts Senate Race: Delay, Dither, and Litigate

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 17:16

01-15-10_Ted-Kennedy-Scott-Brown

Image by Truthout.org via Flickr

With polls predicting a clear win by Scott Brown in the Massachusetts special election for the Senate seat vacated as a result of Senator Ted Kennedy’s death last summer, and the Democrats determined to pass Obama’s healthcare bill, the White House and Democratic congressional leaders are scrambling to put together Plan B.

As noted here, there are several options under consideration.

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Will Obama’s Effort to Rescue Coakley Be Enough?

Monday, 18 January 2010 18:39

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley ...

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Despite President Obama’s quick flight to Boston on Sunday to try to rescue Martha Coakley’s faltering bid for the Senate seat vacated last summer, polls and others think his efforts just may be too late.

Speaking at Boston’s Northeastern University, Obama said: “Understand what’s at stake here, Massachusetts. Where we don’t want to go is backwards. I need leaders like Martha by my side so we can kick [passage of healthcare] into high gear, so we can finish what we’ve started.”

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Turning REpublicans into TEApublicans

Monday, 18 January 2010 08:35

WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 2: Tea Party Patriots c...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Tea Party activists are trying to take over the Republican Party from the ground up, according to the New York Times.

There are many pieces to the Tea Party puzzle, described as a “diverse, rambunctious and Internet-connected network of groups.” This includes Tea Party Nation which describes itself as a “user-driven group of like-minded people who desire our God-given Individual Freedoms which were written out by the Founding Fathers, [who] believe in Limited Government, Free Speech, the 2nd Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country.”

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Mass. Senate Race: It’s Going to be Close!

Friday, 15 January 2010 08:55

01-15-10_Ted-Kennedy-Scott-Brown

Image by Truthout.org via Flickr

From obscurity to prominence to possible victory, Massachusetts State Senator Scott Brown’s campaign for Teddy Kennedy’s seat in a special election on Tuesday, January 19, is receiving national attention. From a 30-point underdog, Brown has campaigned for the seat—which he says “With all due respect, it’s not the Kennedys’ seat, it’s not the Democrats’ seat, it’s the people’s seat” — with his pledge: “I will send this [Obama healthcare] bill back.” And in so doing he has closed the gap so that several prominent pollsters are saying the race is too close to call.

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Rubio: The First Tea Party Senator?

Wednesday, 13 January 2010 09:25

Photo of Marco Rubio taken on April 14, 2008 i...

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The Republican primary in Florida, which pits Governor Charlie Crist against Marco Rubio, is being watched carefully as a harbinger for the impact the Tea Party may have on the midterm elections. Six months ago Crist was leading all challengers, according to Rasmussen Reports, but now Crist is tied with former state House Speaker Marco Rubio.

On social issues, Crist takes traditional conservative positions including support for gun rights and capital punishment, and opposition to elective abortion and same-sex marriage. He supported John McCain’s candidacy for President in 2008, but got in trouble by supporting Obama’s stimulus bill.

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Democrat Retirements a Trend or a Tsunami?

Tuesday, 12 January 2010 08:10

Christopher Dodd, U.S. Senator.

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The announcements by Democrat Senators Chris Dodd (Conn.) and Byron Dorgan (N.D.) last week that they will not be running for reelection in 2010 raised both concerns by Democrats and hopes of Republicans.

Senator Dodd’s announcement has been examined thoroughly elsewhere on this site, but Senator Dorgan’s announcement was an unexpected bombshell that followed announcements by Alabama Representative Parker Griffith that he was switching parties from Democrat to Republican, along with the retirement announcements from two Democrats from Tennessee and another one from Kansas. The battles that are currently raging in Nevada for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s seat and in Pennsylvania for Democrat Senator Arlen Specter’s seat, along with the battles in Illinois and Delaware to fill the Senate seats formerly held by Democrats Barack Obama’s and Joe Biden, indicate more than just a midterm election shift.

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Bernanke: Lax Oversight Recession’s Cause

Wednesday, 06 January 2010 09:26

FRANKFURT, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 14: Ben Bernank...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Regulatory failures and not low interest rates were responsible for the housing bubble, implosion and current recession, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke asserted on Sunday.

“Stronger regulation and supervision aimed at problems with underwriting practices and lender’s risk management would have been…more effective [in] constraining the housing bubble [rather] than a general increase in interest rates,” Bernanke told the American Economic Association. Bernanke, while awaiting Senate confirmation for another term as Fed Chairman, defended recent and continuing charges that the Fed contributed significantly to the current financial crisis by keeping interest rates too low for too long.

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Rep. Parker Griffith Changes From Democrat to Republican

Thursday, 31 December 2009 09:00

Parker Griffith

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Alabama Representative Parker Griffith announced on Tuesday that he is changing his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican.

Griffith, a member of the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, previously asked to be called just a Blue Dog, and now prefers to be called Republican, after changing party affiliations last week. He says he made the change because he can no longer align himself “with a party that continues to pursue legislation that is bad for our country, hurts our economy and drives us further into debt.”

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Will Obama Nominate Napolitano for the Supreme Court?

Monday, 28 December 2009 21:25

Official portrait of United States Secretary o...

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Evidence is mounting that Obama will have another opportunity to appoint a justice to the Supreme Court when Justice Stevens retires next summer.

Justice John Paul Stevens, age 89, raised some eyebrows when he hired just one law clerk to his staff for the current term. Full-time Justices can hire as many as six clerks, and retired Justices usually hire two.

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Frank Luntz Filters Gun Owners

Tuesday, 22 December 2009 09:22

In Monday’s editorial, the New York Times reported the results of a Frank Luntz poll indicating that NRA members are much softer on key issues than the National Rifle Association itself.

Unfortunately, the editorial was rife with filters in the form of hot labels and emotionally-laden words and phrases that immediately impugned the validity of the results of the study.

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Obama, Dems Slip Sharply in Polls

Sunday, 20 December 2009 09:51

Nearing the end of his first year in office, President Obama and his Democratic Party are taking a beating in polls by NBC News/Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post/ABC.

After defying the laws of political gravity for much of his first term, Obama and his party’s poll numbers are starting to reflect increasing public unhappiness over the economy, healthcare, and Afghanistan.

For the first time in his presidency, Obama’s overall approval rating has fallen below 50% to 47%. More of those polled also see the Democrat party in a negative light, and believe the country is “on the wrong track”, with a negative 55% rating, the highest since inauguration.

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Amtrack, Guns, and Sausage

Friday, 11 December 2009 15:17

When congressional negotiators agreed to a final version of a transportation bill, it included an amendment to allow Amtrak passengers to take their guns with them—unloaded, locked, and only in their checked baggage.

While only a small skirmish in the long war against the right of citizens to “keep and bear arms” under the Second Amendment, the process by which this amendment was added is worth examining as a microcosm of “representative government” in action.

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