Good evening and welcome to the Daily Strike. This will be our last entry until Monday. I will be escaping politics this weekend skiing in the Poconos with Lady Strike.
DEFICIT COMMISSION: The President today announced the creation of a bipartisan commission to address the federal deficit. As we mentioned the other day, the President tapped former Clinton Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican Senator Alan Simpson (WY). The commission will function as follows:
-The President will appoint 6 panelists, with no more than 4 from one political party. Basically that means there will be 4 Democrats and 2 Republicans. Obviously, the White House has already chosen two of the panelists.
-The other 12 panelists will be chosen by Congressional leaders. House Democrats, House Republicans, Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans will each appoint 3 members.
-14 of the 18 commissioners must agree to the plan for it to move forward. That means that probably 4 Republicans will have to endorse the commission's recommendations.
-The plan must be submitted by December 1st of this year, when it would presumably be presented to Congress for a vote.
I'm very skeptical that this commission will solve our deficit problems. At some point, Congress will have to vote on a package that inevitably will contain massive tax increases (probably including some on the middle class), huge discretionary spending cuts, and decreased entitlements. Congress can't even pass a modest decrease in Medicare as part of a larger health care bill. I just have such little confidence that Congress will ever be able to make tough choices.
I've been adamant that we should not freak out about the deficit during this recession. The best way to cut the deficit is to create jobs, and thus increase tax revenue. Politically, I think people wouldn't worry so much about the deficit if the jobs situation improved. Therefore, I wish the President would create a job-creation commission instead of this commission. At least he should have created both.
CPAC: It's that time of the year, the time when conservatives descend on our nation's capital for the CPAC conference. Today was the first day of the conference, and it featured a star-studded lineup of angry, motivated conservative leaders. Dick Cheney spoke, saying that President Obama is going to be a one-termer. Mitt Romney was there with new Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown. Conservative darling Marco Rubio, the former Republican House Speaker running against moderate Republican Governor Charlie Crist for the United States Senate, gave a generic Republican manifesto speech about cutting taxes and killing terrorists. The conference makes very clear: Republicans are enthusiastic, optimistic and energized now. House Minority Leader John Boehner even started talking about what he would do as House Speaker.
Democrats have no chance of changing the minds of people like those at CPAC. Nor is it likely that they'll do well with independents this year. Their only possible saving grace is to motivate their base. They will have to do that two ways: actually accomplish something legislatively and draw sharp distinctions between ourselves and the Republicans. So far Democrats, from President Obama on down, seem reluctant to take either of these steps.
That's it for tonight. I'll see you on Monday. Congress will come back in session, and we'll have more to talk about.
Showing posts with label CPAC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CPAC. Show all posts
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Saturday, February 28, 2009
The Daily Strike-2/28/09-Sebelius
Good evening once again from Montreal. Bad night for The Strike, as the Sharks fall to the Canadiens. But I will still perform my solemn duty and report on the day in politics.
SEBELIUS: The biggest news of the day is that Obama will reportedly tap Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. Sebelius had indicated during the transition that she wanted to remain Governor, but she has apparently changed her mind. Sebelius was seen as the most likely choice to fill the position since former Senator Tom Daschle withdrew his name early this month because of tax issues. Sebelius, if confirmed, will be at the center of the fight for Obama's effort at comprehensive health reform. However, she will not have the dual role of health czar, as was planned for Daschle. That position will be filled separately in the coming days. Should she and Gary Locke both be confirmed, the cabinet selection process will finally come to an end.
There are a couple of interesting political consequences of this decision. First, the Kansas Senate seat held by retiring Republican Sam Brownback will almost certainly remain in the GOP column. Sebelius was considered the only Democrat to have any shot at winning a Senate seat in a reliably Republican state.
The current Lieutenant Governor is Mark Parkinson, a former Republican who switched parties to run with Sebelius in 2006. He has indicated that he will not seek reelection as governor in 2010. Therefore, it's likely that the next governor of Kansas will be Sam Brownback. Hello creationism!
FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT: Today at CPAC, two great Americans, Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh inspired a generation of blue sports jacket and khakis-wearing right-wingers. Using the time-tested political strategy of completely belittling vast swaths of the American population, and mocking an enormously popular President, these fine individuals brought the crowd to their feet with some of these remarkable words:
-Ann Coulter rejected Obama's comparison to Lincoln because "Lincoln wouldn't have texted with Scarlett Johannsen and wouldn't vote present." (seriously Ann, you're still on that voting present thing? That was so...last May).
-Rush Limbaugh, in a speech that went an hour longer than scheduled, said that the Republican party should not try to have better policy ideas, but instead, should try to slow down the legislative process to highlight differences in philosophy. He also claimed that liberals have psychosis, that Obama wants the country to be fearful so he can implement his radically socialist policies. He also called us out on our true objectives: "They (liberals) see these inequalities, these inequities that capitalism produces. How do they try to fix it? Do they try to elevate those at the bottom? No, they try to tear down the people at the top." Got it.
Ladies and gentleman, your 2009 Republican party.
SEBELIUS: The biggest news of the day is that Obama will reportedly tap Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. Sebelius had indicated during the transition that she wanted to remain Governor, but she has apparently changed her mind. Sebelius was seen as the most likely choice to fill the position since former Senator Tom Daschle withdrew his name early this month because of tax issues. Sebelius, if confirmed, will be at the center of the fight for Obama's effort at comprehensive health reform. However, she will not have the dual role of health czar, as was planned for Daschle. That position will be filled separately in the coming days. Should she and Gary Locke both be confirmed, the cabinet selection process will finally come to an end.
There are a couple of interesting political consequences of this decision. First, the Kansas Senate seat held by retiring Republican Sam Brownback will almost certainly remain in the GOP column. Sebelius was considered the only Democrat to have any shot at winning a Senate seat in a reliably Republican state.
The current Lieutenant Governor is Mark Parkinson, a former Republican who switched parties to run with Sebelius in 2006. He has indicated that he will not seek reelection as governor in 2010. Therefore, it's likely that the next governor of Kansas will be Sam Brownback. Hello creationism!
FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT: Today at CPAC, two great Americans, Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh inspired a generation of blue sports jacket and khakis-wearing right-wingers. Using the time-tested political strategy of completely belittling vast swaths of the American population, and mocking an enormously popular President, these fine individuals brought the crowd to their feet with some of these remarkable words:
-Ann Coulter rejected Obama's comparison to Lincoln because "Lincoln wouldn't have texted with Scarlett Johannsen and wouldn't vote present." (seriously Ann, you're still on that voting present thing? That was so...last May).
-Rush Limbaugh, in a speech that went an hour longer than scheduled, said that the Republican party should not try to have better policy ideas, but instead, should try to slow down the legislative process to highlight differences in philosophy. He also claimed that liberals have psychosis, that Obama wants the country to be fearful so he can implement his radically socialist policies. He also called us out on our true objectives: "They (liberals) see these inequalities, these inequities that capitalism produces. How do they try to fix it? Do they try to elevate those at the bottom? No, they try to tear down the people at the top." Got it.
Ladies and gentleman, your 2009 Republican party.
Friday, February 27, 2009
The Daily Strike-Iraq and CPAC
Bon Sois from Montreal, where The Strike and Father Strike are traveling to watch the Sharks take on the Canadiens. The posts will be a bit shorter this weekend as a result.
IRAQ: Today President Obama announced a plan to draw down troops from Iraq. In the next 19 months, all but 50,000 troops will leave the region or be redeployed to Afghanistan. All troops will be out of Iraq by the end of 2011 according to the Status of Forces agreement made last year between President Bush and Iraqi President Maliki.
This plan comes as a bit of a disappointment to some of us who were expecting swifter action on this front. Obama made it clear on the campaign trail that he favored a 16th month withdrawal, with only some residual forces to protect the U.S. embassy and train Iraqis. 50,000 seems like a lot of troops to perform those duties. Apparently, this agreement is the result of a compromise between Obama and the Bush-appointed military brass. They may have a good idea of "conditions on the ground," but Obama must remember that he is protecting the broader strategic interests. That's why we have civilian control of the military. Hopefully Obama isn't intimidated when he's in a room with Generals.
CPAC: On a far, far less serious note, conservatives are gathered this weekend for the "Conservative Political Action Conference" in Washington DC. This is a bizzarro valhalla if I've ever seen one. In the past two days, various speakers have suggested that:
-Obama is not a natural born citizen of the United States (to wild cheers!)
-Chicago could be a target of a nuclear bomb from Iran (Thanks, John Bolton)
-the best way to get out of our economic crisis would be to eliminate corporate taxes
-Sarah Palin would have beaten Barack Obama in the last election
-That Obama is a socialist (pretty much every speaker) and a communist (Mike Huckabee)
-That the only reason they've lost in recent elections is that they weren't conservative enough and were blindsided by the "liberal" media.
Ladies and Gentleman, your 2009 Republican Party. If they keep acting like this, they may be looking at extinction in the relatively near future. The more they talk like this, the more they alienate large swaths of the American public. But on the other hand, if they don't say incredibly ludicrous things, the Rush Limbaugh's of the world will criticize them for not being conservative enough.
Either way, great news for us liberals!!
That's it for tonight. See you tomorrow!
IRAQ: Today President Obama announced a plan to draw down troops from Iraq. In the next 19 months, all but 50,000 troops will leave the region or be redeployed to Afghanistan. All troops will be out of Iraq by the end of 2011 according to the Status of Forces agreement made last year between President Bush and Iraqi President Maliki.
This plan comes as a bit of a disappointment to some of us who were expecting swifter action on this front. Obama made it clear on the campaign trail that he favored a 16th month withdrawal, with only some residual forces to protect the U.S. embassy and train Iraqis. 50,000 seems like a lot of troops to perform those duties. Apparently, this agreement is the result of a compromise between Obama and the Bush-appointed military brass. They may have a good idea of "conditions on the ground," but Obama must remember that he is protecting the broader strategic interests. That's why we have civilian control of the military. Hopefully Obama isn't intimidated when he's in a room with Generals.
CPAC: On a far, far less serious note, conservatives are gathered this weekend for the "Conservative Political Action Conference" in Washington DC. This is a bizzarro valhalla if I've ever seen one. In the past two days, various speakers have suggested that:
-Obama is not a natural born citizen of the United States (to wild cheers!)
-Chicago could be a target of a nuclear bomb from Iran (Thanks, John Bolton)
-the best way to get out of our economic crisis would be to eliminate corporate taxes
-Sarah Palin would have beaten Barack Obama in the last election
-That Obama is a socialist (pretty much every speaker) and a communist (Mike Huckabee)
-That the only reason they've lost in recent elections is that they weren't conservative enough and were blindsided by the "liberal" media.
Ladies and Gentleman, your 2009 Republican Party. If they keep acting like this, they may be looking at extinction in the relatively near future. The more they talk like this, the more they alienate large swaths of the American public. But on the other hand, if they don't say incredibly ludicrous things, the Rush Limbaugh's of the world will criticize them for not being conservative enough.
Either way, great news for us liberals!!
That's it for tonight. See you tomorrow!
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