Minority Leader Mitch McConnell actually sounding constructive instead of obstructive here in talking about expanding educational and job training opportunities for unemployed workers as part of a deal that would extend Unemployment Insurance for these long-term workers. Who definitely need that income right now and is something that Senate Democrats should at least allow for a vote on. It is relevant to the legislation and would get these workers additional skills that would make to easier for them to find a good job and finally get off of Unemployment Insurance. If you’re unemployed right now, but already have a good education, but are having a hard time finding another job in your profession, the, the more you can improve your skills, the better your chances of finding a good full-time job.
Nixon is one of my favorite movies purely for entertainment value. And I believe Anthony Hopkins did a great job of playing Richard Nixon and Joan Allen did a great job portraying Pat Nixon. But I don’t believe the movie is very accurate as far as other things movies and books that I’ve seen about the man. I mean the movie constantly has Dick Nixon drinking some type of scotch or alcoholic beverage. And although Nixon was Irish, (ha, ha) people close to him said that he couldn’t hold his liquor. He would have maybe one drink after work and another with dinner. But wasn’t drinking throughout the day and during meetings and so-forth.
Also the movie I believe over-portrays Dick Nixon’s negative aspects. And again if you are familiar with the man you know he’s one of the most fascinating complicated politicians whose ever lived. And a big reason for that had to do with the fact that he wasn’t just good or just bad. That he had many aspects that were good and bad that people who worked for the man who have broad respect, like David Gergen or his second Attorney General Elliot Richardson, said that the man had some awful character flaws like not being able to trust people, to use as an example. But that he did a lot of great things as president like as they related to China and Russia.
Nixon is a very good movie from an entertainment value and as far as the aspects of Dick Nixon’s life that they covered. And was very well written with a great cast that also included Paul Sorvino, James Woods and Ed Harris to name a few others. But they left a lot out or didn’t cover some of the other aspects of the man’s life. Like his time in Congress or as vice president and some of his big accomplishments as president.
The GOP’s one horse race is ObamaCare even though that is not the only issue Americans are interested in. And if you look at the weak December jobs report and millions of people losing their Unemployment Insurance without having any other way to pay their bills. But the GOP especially the Senate GOP believes their best and perhaps only shot at winning back the Senate in 2014 and giving Republicans a united Republican Congress is talk about what they do not like about the Affordable Care Act and we’ll see how it works for them. Because the Senate GOP at least has no agenda of their own. Nothing positive to run on tell Americans why Mitch McConnell should be Leader of the Senate in the next Congress.
I’ve sort of been sensing this since the 2006 mid-term elections that Americans have moved Left. Not far-left, but certainly in the liberal left direction after experiencing five years of the neoconservative Bush Administration with the pre-emptive War in Iraq and another unpaid for War in Afghanistan. With the 2002 Patriot Act, the Bush Administration having four years of unchecked power basically with a united Republican Congress that the country was moving away from this and wanted a check on the Bush Administration and weren’t happy with the Republican Congress.
And as a result the American voters spoke in 2006 and gave Democrats Congress back, both the House and Senate. Seven years later Democrats still hold the majority in the Senate with a 55-45 margin. Americans weren’t saying that they want to go from the neoconservative right and the religious-right, to a more socialist direction on the far-left. But that unchecked power when it goes to far is bad for the country. If I had to testify under oath whether America is a center-left or center-right country, I wouldn’t be able to answer that because I do not know for sure.
But I do know we are a country that likes our personal and economic freedoms and do not want a heavy-handed big centralized government trying to manage our lives for us. But we aren’t anti-government either. We just tend to have a skepticism for big government and only want government to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves and based on this you could make a very good case we are a center-left country. If you look at where the country is now on marijuana and the broader War on Drugs.
Or look at where America is now on privacy, gay rights and so-forth and that we aren’t calling for a big expansion of government in our economic affairs either. That Americans tend to be mainstream with their politics, but so is liberalism in its classical form. This is good news for Democrats, but is also a reminder for the Democratic Leadership when it comes to recruiting, that if you are going to recruit and back the more progressive or socialist even minded candidates, to run for office it better be in areas where they can actually win.
Lets say more far-leftist areas of the country, at least when it comes to the country as a whole, where even big government economics, where a large percentage of the population is even looking for a bigger government even at the federal level in their lives. And that will mostly be in the Northeast, Northwest and the San Francisco Bay Area. But for the rest of the country where the Democratic Party is strong, you want to have center-left Liberal Democrats representing you instead.
I have no issues with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine going into the Hall of Fame today. No doubt they are two of the best pitchers of their generation. Frank Thomas a great hitter, but a below average first baseman and a long-term designated hitter. But my main problem with the 2014 Hall of Fame Class were the great players who still haven’t made it. Especially former Detroit Tigers great pitcher Jack Morris the all-time winningest pitcher of the 1980s and one of the best big game pitchers of all-time. And Mike Piazza the greatest hitting catcher of all-time. Who should’ve been a first ballot Hall of Famer.
There have been several posts about the War on Poverty already this week on this blog. And that is because and not to sound repetitive, but 2014 is the 50th Anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson declaring War on Poverty this week. And with poverty still be such a big issue in this country still having roughly twice as much people as compared with the rest of the developed world, now is the perfect time look at what works and what doesn’t when addressing poverty in this country today.
The information, evidence and facts are already in how to address poverty in this country. If the goal is simply to move people out of poverty and into the middle class. Having achieved economic freedom with the tools and income to be able to take care of themselves. Instead of saying that "we have a population in the country with practically nothing and what we are going to do is give these people very little in helping them pay their bills". And then make the claim they no longer live in poverty because if you add up all of their public cash assistance, they no longer are officially in poverty.
Again we know what works in addressing poverty in America. Yes cash assistance, but short-term so people on poverty know they need to get their acts together so to speak. And improve their employment outlook by finishing their education. And prepare themselves to enter and stay in the workforce with a good full-time job. If you are actually talking about moving people out of poverty and into the middle class.
What doesn’t work as far as moving people out of poverty which is indefinite cash assistance. Coming with no opportunities for these workers to finish their education. Nothing be expected of them as far as improving themselves so they can take care of themselves. Giving them more money if they have additional kids while still on Welfare. Or giving them more money not working than what they could make working. Even if it is a low-skilled low-income job.
The New Deal and Great Society were designed for the most part with some exceptions, to give the less-fortunate some cash assistance to help them pay some of their bills. But without a lot of resources and encouragement or requirements for these people to improve themselves. And look for work or go back to work. And yes we have had some bad economic times over the last fifty years. But in good economic times you still need good skills to get a good job that you are qualified for. Which is why education and job training are two of the big keys in defeating poverty in this country.
All the evidence you need to know that Liberals are winning the culture war and paternalists on the Left and Right are losing the culture, just look at these personal freedom issues and civil liberties. And the so-called War on Drugs is a perfect example of that with all these states either having legalized marijuana or decriminalized marijuana and legalizing medical marijuana. But if that is not enough for you go to one of the generals of the Culture War coming from the Far-Right in Patrick Buchanan essentially admitting that marijuana is just more evidence of the moral decline of America.
As Pat Buchanan said on his blog today and I have his link up, it started with alcohol prohibition, then it went to the War on Drugs and outlawing other so-called narcotics that were popular especially with the Baby Boom Generation of the 1960s, to making it more difficult to smoke tobacco in America. And I actually agree with some of the tobacco restrictions. I’m not in favor of tobacco prohibition either, but the idea that someone should be able to force others to breathe in their tobacco in tight spaces, you are violating the person who doesn’t smoke the right to breathe clean air.
But as a country we are moving from an era where Americans believed government knows best about a lot of key areas of Americans lives both personally and economically, to an era where Americans saying, “no thanks Uncle Sam, we can manage our own lives. Thanks anyway.” I rarely agree with Pat Buchanan on anything. If he told me it was hot and sunny in Miami, Florida in July, I would get a second weather report from South Florida to make sure. But he’s right on the Culture War that it is almost to the point that the Right no longer wants to fight it. I already knew this, but to hear it from the other side is just more evidence that this is actually happening.
