WHAT DO PAWLENTY AND BACHMANN HAVE TO INDICATE COMPETENCE FOR THE PRESIDENCY?

Tim Pawlenty's governance of Minnesota was thrust under a microscope as the government of Minnesota has just been shut down.  The move throws, as one minor example of the catastrophic results to residents of the state, 23,000 state workers out of jobs.  Even with the Democrat currently as governor, the state is in the control now o9f a decided Republican majority in both houses.  They seem to be totally without heart about the citizens who voted them in.

Taken from an article in The Wall Street Journal by Patrick O'Connor and Neil King, Jr.:
"Mr. Pawlenty presided over the state's last government shutdown in 2005. He frequently highlights that impasse on the campaign trail as evidence of his dedication to cutting spending. The former governor eventually resolved that fight partly by offering to raise a fee on cigarette sales, a measure he still declines to refer to as a tax."  To read the entire article, click here. 

While Mr. Pawlenty doesn't believe it will impact on his bid for Presidency, it shocks me how ridiculously low the Republican candidates hold preparedness and competence for the Office of US Presidency and its complex problems.

The Minnesota shutdown puts Bachmann also in the limelight.  ABC News in an article by Matthew Jaffe writes:  "The other candidate, Rep. Michele Bachmann, solidified her standing as Tea Party darling when earlier this year she urged Republicans in Congress not to fear a federal government shutdown -- or "slowdown," as she called it -- in their own funding fight in Washington."   Click here for the whole article.  I, for one, would never vote for either of them who reflect a total disconnect with the way their actions impact their constituencies.

May the 'Force Be With Us' because, clearly, trust in God isn't working!

A FEW HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR DAYS

Sarah Palin has a book, followed by a movie, about her called UNDEFEATED.  It is not clear what that has to do with Palin since she was defeated in the last presidential election.  Nevertheless, she seems to pop up wherever there is likely to be some publicity for her, regardless about whomever the area is about.  She was NOT in Iowa to steal Bachmann's thunder.  It was just TOTALLY a coincidence that she was there as it was that she was in NH when Romney was campaigning there.

Mark Halpern, usually a highly regarded journalist, called Obama a 'dick'.  Years ago, especially around WW2, no one in their right mind would have stooped so low as to be profane on the air about a sitting president .


The Republicans have gotten pretty bizarre in lock step with Norquist who makes Rove look impotent he is so evil. 

What does Kansas think they are doing with their new regulations on abortion clinics?  Is common sense and adherence to Federal laws really so irrelevant these days?  Regulations requiring reconstruction cannot be done in two days?  Does that surprise us that they think they have found a sneaky way to rid the state totally of abortions?

THE REPUBLICAN KAMAKAZE MISSION OVER OBAMA

Too many people have bought the TeaPartiers lie that government is too big.  The site what it was 20 years ago and how it has grown with no comparison as to how the population has also grown.  However, there is no doubt that in the past, when the budget was balanced, people didn't need to worry about the corruption that was going on in so many area because they thought they worked hard and got paid adequately with hopes alive that life would even get better.

The chrystal ball today shows a much bleaker picture..  Nova had a show this evening on how the brain works.  Apparently we all see things differently (no shock there...all you have to do is talk to a republican who is talking to a democrat or a priest who is talking to an Atheist).  It is one thing to view the world through eyes that see things differently; it is another thing to refuse to listen to a majority of economists who say we MUST raise the debt ceiling.  That McConnell is so bent on making Obama fail, he seems on a suicide mission to do so.

We desperately need legislators whose mission is to better the country, not seek revenge and show their biases simply because they have sold their soul to Grover Norquist and believe he will perhaps be more powerful than all the American citizens banding together as they are fractured/.

THE UPLIFTING EFFECT OF HAPPY MUSIC

Last night I saw and heard  Lost in the Sauce. play.   Piano, Richie Giordano; Trumpet and Flugelhorn, Jeff Hughes; Clarinet and Alto Sax, Craig Ball; String Bass, Ken Steiner; Drums, Dave Brandon; and Jack Alessi on vocals. Click on the Lost in the Sauce link to hear them on YouTube. I had seen and heard them live about a month ago and was so impressed with them, trying to figure why they were so much more enjoyable than listening to a CD.  Unfortunately, YouTube cannot bring the life felt in the hall to the viewer here.

There is no doubt in my mind that nothing can replace or reproduce live sound and the projection of enthusiasm and sheer joy as players who love performing on their instrument give their audience.  It is uplifting and I challenge anyone listening to this group to leave depressed.  Even the poor quality of the sound on YouTube in that huge poor-acoustics hall was more alive than anything recorded.

Even Boogie Woogie (never one of my favorite genres) can bring life to the party.   Click here.. 
Played by Richie Giordano.

WHEN REPUBLICAN LEGISLATORS MAKE THEIR PARTY GOAL THE ANNIHILATION OF OBAMA

Monday night on MSNBC, Rachel Maddow treated us to a long list of things the Republicans had co-sponsored and filed bills on, things for which they had been in favor under Bush but we now against as soon as Obama said he agreed with them.  Things like Cap and Trade, Health Care, discontinuing subsidies, and other common sense acts no longer win favor as Obama gives them the kiss of death when the Democrats support it.

Right now, the most critical danger the Republicans represent to this country is whether they fight raising the debt ceiling.  Their position is similar to their hypocrisy about making government smaller by trying (from their governmental positions) try to make personal decisions for all our citizens as with abortion, right to death with dignity, making the tax burdens more even between classes and so many more proposals that contradict their stated goals before their elections..

The majority of Republicans continue to foster lies about Obama, conspiracy theories, and most importantly, are not fighting in a manner that can leave people feeling respect for them. Very few of their votes in more than a year indicate they have the best idea for job creation and balancing the budget at the heart of their work.

PART 2 AGENDAS: HIDDEN AND OTHERWISE

Even Dr. Seuss had a hidden political agenda.  See here   Grover Norquist comes to mind with his agenda of maintaining a tax free environment for the very rich and for large corporations. .To read about his Americans for Tax Reform, click here.

When G W Bush was president, the world wondered what his real agenda might be.  Was it to get revenge for his father?  Was it Bush getting talked into it for Cheney's hidden agenda for Haliburton.  Six billion dollars is still not accounted for out of Iraq.  While American lives were being lost, others were shamelessly raking in huge amounts of money, over-charging for services rendered to keep the war functioning.

What is the real agenda of Roger Ayles and Fox News?.  It certainly cannot be seen by intelligent persons as being fair and balanced news presentation.. What is Mitch McConnell's agenda?  Does he truly believe that saying 'no' to everything Obama tries to do for the country will make Obama fail and the Republicans get re-elected?

In order to keep agendas hidden, one must learn to keep the focus on other than themselves.  Obfuscation then is practiced by the media who falls prey to being led away from the real focus.
There is strength in numbers only when those numbers have the same agenda.  That is some of why unions were started.  Today, unions are vulnerable targets because many became too powerful and stopped serving their members as much as they served their corrupt leaders.

There will always be corruption and corrupt leaders.  Despite this, it is imperative that we look towards our leaders for their agendas and vote out those who clearly do not have the betterment for our people, especially in the middle and poor classes, as their agenda.  Anyone who has pledged to Grover Norquist must fall in that category.

AGENDAS: HIDDEN OR OTHERWISE UNNOTICED

unnoticed [ʌnˈnəʊtɪst] adj  not perceived or observed

It would be rare for someone to run for political office without an agenda of some sort.  The agenda ties person to party.  However, since even within a party, people do not always agree on everything which is why votes are difficult to predict in the House and Senate...at least until the Bush eras which produced a lock step vote for Republicans.  It is gratifying when only recently Sen. Coburn defied a pledge to someone outside the governmental system, Grover Norquist.  It made me wonder what the agenda of those Republicans willing to sign that pledge might be.  Undoubtedly it was hidden since no one could sign a pledge predicting they would never allow taxes to be raised without even knowing what the fiscal situation of the country might be in the future of their having signed the pledge.

In June, CAGW (Citizens Against Government Waste) requested that peanut subsidies be stopped.  If the legislators in those states had seen to stop the subsidies earlier, they might not have been re-elected by their constituents.  Is that worth the cost to the Nation?  Mary Landrieu stood out like a sore thumb when she fought against taking away oil company subsidies.  Can it be that her loyalties are greater to the Oil companies than to the middle class tax dollars?.The California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA)  On June 7, 2011, Tim Cavanaugh wrote: "The CCPOA has played a significant role in advocating pro-incarceration policies and opposing pro-rehabilitative policies in California. In 1980, CCPOA’s 5,600 members earned about $21,000 a year and paid dues of about $35 a month. After the rapid expansion of the prison population beginning in the 1980s, CCPOA’s 33,000 members today earn approximately $73,000 and pay monthly dues of about $80. These dues raise approximately $23 million each year, of which the CCPOA allocates approximately $8 million to lobbying. As [author Joan] Petersilia explains, “The formula is simple: more prisoners lead to more prisons; more prisons require more guards; more guards means more dues-paying members and fund-raising capability; and fund-raising, of course, translates into political influence.”"  For the complete article, click here.

It is commendable that legislators want to help their constituencies but they should also have the integrity to put the greater number who would benefit first.  Greed has allowed pork added to fill their own agenda.  Would we expect the Defense contractors to want to stop wars?  Only if we believe in the good of man, a view I have had to give up in our legislators and those who lobby them and vote them into office..