Tag Archives: GOP

Mr. Obama aka Mr. Fantastic

Mr Fantastic

I am a Marvel fan, go figure. Iron Man, X-Men, The Avengers, The Fantastic Four… If I had to liken Mr. Obama to any superhero it would be Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic. Mr. Fantastic’s powers include amazing elasticity and superior intellect. In my view Mr. Obama qualifies in both areas and should be deemed a superhero as the first black man to win the presidency twice, and for demonstrating great flexibility in enduring the shenanigans of the Republicans and the Tea Party.

Tonight (Wednesday), Mr. Obama met with select Senate Republicans as a result of Sequestration. Is this Mr. Fantastic’s attempt to quell his foes and disarm them of their bogus arguments that he does not reach across the aisle? This meeting with members of the GOP, hand-picked by Senator Lindsey Graham, is a clever move by Mr. Obama, I mean Mr. Fantastic. Early feedback from GOP members who attended tonight’s dinner with the President are relatively positive. By the way, it is reported that Mr Obama picked up the tab for the dinner out of his own pocket.

Mitch McConnell did not attend the President’s dinner with Republican Senators this evening. Not a surprise. I am convinced that Senator McConnell will never socialize with Mr. Obama, publicly or privately, especially now since he is up for re-election in 2014. Strangely enough, it is being reported that the President’s willingness to compromise has not been effectively communicated to GOP membership from its leadership. Wow! Really? Regardless, I think these Republicans just wanted their egos stroked. I did note that President Obama was not photographed with the Republican Senators who went to dinner. Republicans still can’t be seen as playing nice with Mr. Obama.

I contend that no one can say that Mr. Fantastic has not repeatedly bent over backward and reached, and reached, and stretched, and stretched across the aisle. Not only has the President reached and stretched, but he has even twisted and contorted as it pertains to what spending cuts he has offered. Maybe tonight’s dinner between Mr. Obama and the GOP is a first step toward curbing the impact of the infamous Sequestration. We’ll see.

The White House: A Balanced Plan to Avert the Sequester and Reduce the Deficit

White House

I thought I would post President Barack Obama’s plan to avert the sequester cuts, because I am tired of listening to lying Republicans like Boehner and McConnell who say that they are waiting on a plan from the White House. The GOP is still the Party of “NO”; no conscience, no sense and no help for the American people. Republicans are raging because of the results of the re-election of President Barack Obama, the results of the fiscal cliff and their hatred for the first black President. Republicans are clearly looking to score points with their bigoted, extreme right-wing fringe by simply refusing to cooperate with the President. The GOP are willing to tank the American economy with their irresponsible and seditious behavior.

Kudos to President Obama for traveling to key areas in the country that will be affected by the sequester. He is telling the truth about the impact of these cuts, and the GOP can’t bear the truth.

Only Congress can avoid this self-inflicted wound to our economy and middle class families, and the only thing standing in the way of a solution today is Congressional Republicans’ refusal to even consider closing tax loopholes that benefit wealthy Americans and well-connected corporations.

The New Republic: Original Sin

Failed GOP

Sam Tanenhaus writes a compelling article in The New Republic about the inevitable decline of the GOP if it remains the party of just white people, which is its current trend. The GOP not only needs to change its messengers, it needs to change its message. The Republican Party of the present day is certainly not the party of Lincoln, but, more apparently, the party of John C. Calhoun. Conservatism has become the code word for bigotry with many Republicans channeling Jim Crow Dixiecrats. I’m happy to say that the Southern Strategy is exposed and failing.

…the GOP is in jeopardy, the gravest since 1964, of ceasing to be a national party.

The article offers a great history lesson of conservatism and the GOP in America. During the 20th century, liberalism is equated to communism. Sound familiar?  But Tanenhaus details that John C. Calhoun, pro-slavery politician and author of “nullification” (also known as state’s rights) influenced countless conservatives for more than a century, including William F. Buckley, Jim Crow proponent and the founder of National Review magazine, Barry Goldwater and the GOP icon, Ronald Reagan.

The politics of “nullification” is nothing new yet it is veiled in the rhetoric and claims of “big government”. It is simply the desire of some conservatives, to no longer be a part of our democratic collective. Tax avoidance is the ploy used to “starve the beast” or make sure that certain groups or factions that are deemed undesirable by the extreme right-wing do not benefit from taxpayer dollars.

We hear the echoes of nullification in the venting of anti-government passions and also in campaigns to “starve government,” curtail voter registration, repeal legislation, delegitimize presidents. There is a strong sectionalist bias in these efforts.

As Tanenhaus asserts, the GOP strategy is a losing strategy stuck in a bygone era of white supremacy. The country has changed both philosophically and demographically, but I surmise the GOP will be the last to acknowledge that fact.

The GOP Deficit Game

The GOP are lying about deficits and they’ve got a lot of their right-wingers duped. They didn’t care one bit about deficit spending for eight years during the George W. Bush administration. In fact, Republican administrations have a pattern of deficit spending. As you  can see from the graphic below, Republicans ran up deficits under Reagan and both Bush administrations, and at a higher rate than either Clinton or Obama. Wasn’t it Dick Cheney who said, “deficits don’t matter”?

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The GOP claims that President Obama’s 2009 stimulus spending increased the deficit, but it was actually the recession, the free fall in the economy and the loss of tax revenue due to massive jobs lost that contributed to the deficit between 2008 and 2009. During 2010 and 2011, as the economy began to show signs of recovery the deficit began to shrink. But, Republicans don’t want you to know that.

Paul Krugman, Op-Ed Columnist for The New York Times, explains why deficit hawks should not be taken seriously. They cry austerity, but their real objective is to “starve the beast”. The GOP long-standing strategy is to cut taxes, run deficits that would require spending cuts to entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, which they hate. Bottom line is the Republicans have thrown up the smoke screen of the deficit. Republicans don’t hate the deficit, they love it. They will leverage it as a tool to gain political points in their quest to oppose President Obama on just about everything, and in an attempt to shrink, what they call, “big” government.

Obama’s Cabinet Diversity

I agree with Alan Colmes Liberaland blog that the issue of diversity in Obama’s second term is no issue at all. It has been trumped up by Republican haters and pie-in-the-sky Progressive liberals. Let’s not forget that President Obama is a black man and must always be included when considering the diversity issue in his cabinet. I’m growing very weary of the far right and far left these days. The far right demonizes and the far left deifies Obama. He is neither devil nor God. Cut the brotha’ some slack. If Republicans like Lindsey Graham and John McCain had not politically lynched Susan Rice, we would not be having this conversation. Besides, women are not the only people that elected Barack Obama, but are quite vocal right now. African Americans voted for Obama at a rate of 93% in the 2012 Presidential election. I, for one, an African American woman, will be most satisfied when I see another African American woman appointed to a noteable cabinet-level position or its politically visible equivalent. In fact, if the opportunity presents itself, I would advocate that President Obama appoint an African American woman to the Supreme Court. To criticize Obama for a lack of diversity is totally ridiculous. His record on issues pertaining to diversity stands on its own. Better yet, criticize the GOP club of white men who constantly block the first black POTUS in every way, shape and form. Criticize the dubious attacks against Eric Holder by the GOP. Criticize the GOP for Van Jones departure. And here’s another forgotten African American victim of Obama haters, Desiree Rogers, former White House Social Secretary. I have heard enough on this fake issue.