The Infidelity Train Rolls On

Man, we must be headed for some sort of infidelity record in the political arena. We have had two major players go down in the past few weeks, each in their own agonizing manner. Gone are the days of illicit meet ups at a hotel, now we have international intrigue, with Governors jetting off to to other countries just to cheat. It is an exciting time to be a scandal watcher in politics.

First was a senator from Nevada, John Ensign, who while being a staunch proponent of "Family Values" and belonging the the Christian Promise Keepers Organization, somehow found time to cheat on his wife. This was an individual who called on everyone to impeach president Clinton for doing the exact same thing he has just admitted to doing. Just to make sure he did not appear partisan in his crusade against adulterers, he was one of the strongest critics of former Senator Larry Craig, the infamous bathroom bandit, calling on him to resign. In fact here is a quote Mr. Ensign gave regarding the incident: “I wouldn’t put myself, hopefully, in that kind of position, but if I was in a position like that, that’s what I would do (resign).” Of course...he is not resigning, but instead is going ahead as a Senator, because the "people's work" must be done.

Just a few days ago, the Governor of South Carolina, Mr. Mark Staford, suddenly reappeared after hiking the Appalachian Trail...er...writing...er, oh yeah, he was in Argentina with his lover. Whoops....don't know how that one would ever get out. If only he has not gone to another country for 5 days, he might have kept his secret. He is another one who voted for Clinton's impeachment, but cannot seem to muscle up the guts to resign. Seems righteous morality standards only apply to the OTHER guy.

What I find absolutely appalling is these two's unwillingness to live up to the standards they so readily applied to everyone else. It is easy to sit in your high chair and call on everyone else to resign, suddenly it you and it is a different story. The hypocrisy is amazing.

I know some of you, rightfully so, will point out that I only used Republican references here. You are correct, but that is only because of the fact that both these stories are the most recent. The last high profile Democrat to go down in flames due was Eliot Spitzer.....and HE RESIGNED! I did write a short entry about him, with a great quote...find that here. I think ANYONE who commits adultery should resign from public life. If you cannot keep your marriage vows, how are you supposed to keep your vows to the public.

Lost in the Wilderness

A new poll by USA Today/Gallup finds that the majority of respondents, when asked to name a person who speaks for the Republican party, could not. They could not pick a person who leads roughly half the countries population in their political views. So, that begs the question, of the 48% who were able to name names, who came in first place? Maybe Sarah Palin, Michael Steele or Bobby Jindal? Nope, number one, with 13% of respondents votes was Rush Limbaugh. Second place on the list goes to our esteemed ex Vice-President Dick Cheney. The top 5 are all old white guys with McCain, Gingrich and Bush rounding out the top 5. As one conservative activist from the article mentioned "We cannot be the party of balding white guys and hope to win anything."

I look at the political scene right now for the Republicans, and I see a whole lot of old, and a whole lot of the next big thing, but not anyone right here right now. They truly are lost in the wilderness. Now many of my friends are conservative (much to my chagrin), and they should not lose heart. I know in the past I have talked about the "Death Knell of the Conservative Movement," but I know that American politics works like a finely tuned pendulum, and conservatives will one day again have their moment in the sun. Hopefully, it will be a new kind of conservativism, one not so focused on gays and abortion, and one more focused on the historical roots of the movement. Here are three things conservatives can focus on to help swing the pendulum back in their favor.

1. Coming off the drunken sailor spending of the Bush/Obama days, fiscal restraint can be a rallying point for the conservative movement. Push a indefinite law for balanced budgets, with exclusions for time of war or economic crisis. Tell people it is going to be hard, but BE SERIOUS about doing this. Realize that you will HAVE to cut some military spending to do this. You cannot just cut medicaid and call it good. Along with this comes serious reforms of social security and medicare. I swear that whoever grasps this issue and wrestles it to the ground will earn serious votes from Americans for years.

2. Tax cuts do not equate an economic policy (don't worry, I would turn around and tell Democrats that unmitigated spending does not equal an economic policy). We need someone to tackle the long term economic conundrum. Propose long standing reforms to both the tax code (simpler,lower,fairer) and to spending (no earmarks, see remarks above). Also, and this is critical, advocate for ENFORCEABLE free trade. Right now it does no good to allow every country access to our markets when we are not allowed the same in kind. I am NOT advocating trade restrictions be used, just that barriers to free trade and currency manipulations be ended under the threat of returning the favor.

3. Steal the energy independence issue back from the left. Honestly, the Drill Baby Drill thing made you guys look pretty shortsighted. Push an effective agenda including price floor for gasoline, efficiency, development of alternative energy sources and most importantly, nuclear energy. By looking long term, and not pushing an agenda that seems to line right up with oil companies wishes, you can take this issue back from the left. The focus is not cuddly environmentalism, but rather serious national security concerns. The fight over energy/water resources IS the most important area of concern for the future.

Good Luck.....your going to need it.

The General Gets Demoted

General Motors, or as some people are calling to nowadays...Government Motors has declared bankruptcy. My new favorite nickname is Major Motors, as the company is literally being demoted. I do not mean for this post to talk about the politics involved in GM declaring bankruptcy, but more the human toll on my home state and the entire country.

Few people completely understand how BIG of a deal this is, literally. The General is so large, so much a part of every part of the economy, that it's bankruptcy is going to have ramifications far beyond it's headquarters here in Detroit. Just in the bankruptcy filing alone GM has detailed 20,000 jobs being cut, and is cutting 2000 dealerships, resulting in about 100,000 job losses there. Lets try to put that in perspective. Cities with equivalent populations include: Ann Arbor, MI, Albuquerque, NM, Stamford, CN and Abilene, TX. It is as if someone came into one of those towns and told everyone that they would no longer have a job. More fun statistics -- 43% of GM's factory jobs in Michigan are being eliminated, 650,000 retirees have no idea what the future will hold for their pensions, the city of Pontiac will lose 20% of its General Fund when Pontiac Assembly closes.

All of this, of course, has very human ramifications; it is not just numbers on a page. A local radio show put together a great example of how these decisions are affecting everyday people by creating a 100ft banner using pictures of people affected by the auto industry. Check out some pictures here as they took it to Washington, DC. So for the time being, the result will be: more unemployment, more crime, more abandoned industrial infrastructure, less American's making things American's buy. I think we will look back on this day in either one of two ways. First, we could look back at this as the jump start the Detroit region, and the country needed to head in a different direction, creating an industrial policy that reclaims America's manufacturing supremacy. This path leads to more jobs, more technical innovation, and of course to a greener transportation system. Secondly, we could look back and say this is the day American manufacturing died. We will make and innovate here no more. We will rely on foreign concerns to engineer and develop what we drive, and if we are lucky enough, they will let us put the cars together when the exchange rate is right.

I personally pray for the first path, and I especially pray for the families of all who are affected by this bankruptcy. This will not be an easy road, but we are a resilient people. Time to volunteer at a local soup kitchen, give a little more to the food bank, and above all, give a helping hand to your neighbor, because chances are someone you know is going to be affected by this.

Specter the Defector

Arlen Specter has bailed on the Republican Party. I want to approach this news from three different directions:

1. Swine Flu made the man go crazy
2. Republican's are battling an increasingly conservative party structure that does not leave room for moderates like Specter.
3. Specter is just out to save his political life, this is just a pragmatic switch to stay a senator.

Ok, so the swine flu probably has nothing to do with this, but you cannot count it out, because apparently every news story in the country must include swine flu to be relevant and important. The real debate here is between the last two choices. The real problem for the republican party is that both are bad. In one case, as has been pointed out by many people smarter then me, they are on their way to becoming a regional party with a VERY conservative bent. In the other case, they are so despised at the moment that people feel they cannot get reelected if they have that (R) after their name.

Personally I think both of those answers are at work here. At the base of the matter is Arlen's desire to keep his job. Basic politics at work here. See next paragraph for me ripping him a new one on this front. Intertwined with that is the sad fact that the party that Sen Specter belongs to has been drifting ever more to the right. Arlen was never a uber-conservative, he was a moderate in the Reagan mold. Here is a quote from him regarding his switch: “Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan big tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.” Clearly he is seeing the winds blow more to the Dems favor and wants to keep his job, still the fact that over 200,000 people switched affiliation should indicate where the Republican party is at right now in Industrial Midwest states like PA.

So this is where I slap Sen. Specter around for switching parties. As a Democrat in a vacuum, I applaud this move; as an non-partisan political observer, this is shameful. People who switch parties just to remain elected are the worst kind of politician. The value their own job so far above any policy priorities that they are willing to sacrifice their values just to stay in Washington. At least with Lieberman, he went independent, Specter just wants the (D) after his name. If he was being true to his roots he would have gone independent. Even with the steady right march of the Republican Party, I am sure that Sen Specter's values are more closely aligned with his old party then his new one. Unfortunately for the Republicans, those values are now associated with not getting elected.

So Arlen....welcome aboard, and shame on you.

Apparently, Texas IS A Whole Other Country

So, I am reading my usual daily dose of Politico, and I come across a blog article by Glenn Thrush talking about how Ron Paul is backing up the Texas governor in saying that succeeding from the USA is an American thing to do. He talks about how the original 13 colonies succeeded from England and all that jazz. Here is the Paul's direct quote: "it is very American to talk about secession. That's how we came in being. Thirteen colonies seceded from the British and established a new country. So secession is a very much American principle.

While I am not going to go down the road of it being treasonous to talk about succeeding from the Union, I really think this is just political posturing. In the infamous words of George W. Bush, "That is the last time I will be out Texaned." In Texas there has always been a healthy independent spirit, and I don't think either the governor or Mr. Paul have anything to lose by bringing this topic up. Quite simply it scores serious points with the base of the party and everyone else just kind scratches their head and moves on.

What I am truly interested in is the results of Texas succeeding from the Union. It sounds cool and all, but has anyone thought through the actual ramifications of this? From the US side, you would lose a major chuck of your economy, and given that Texas is a donor state, giving more to the federal government then was returned, the US would also take a fiscal hit there. It is often stated that Austin, which is the capital of Texas, is a blue patch in a sea of red, would they just go along? Could the new Republic of Texas face an immediate internal threat from Austin?

From the Texas perspective, you have to think about what would be lost. First and foremost, all military protection would cease. All assets would be pulled out, so there goes Fort Hood, Fort Bliss and the 8 Air Force bases in TX. Several areas of TX would be economically devastated by the closing of these bases. Of course with little homegrown military and scant technology, Texas would make a big, fat, juicy target for Mexico. I imagine it would take them all of a few months to mount a serious attack. Other things that would be lost if Texas succeeded include: all NASA facilities, major funding for the public universities, ANY border protection, transportation funding, social security, medicare and any other government program support. My guess is that to get some semblance of military up and running, even for just basic defense, there would immediately have to be compulsory military service and about 50-60% tax rates. Sounds worth leaving the USA to me.

So, all stupid political rhetoric aside, good luck with that. I won't plan on seeing an independent Texas ANYTIME in my life.