Who is Grover Norquist and why is he so powerful?

Posted on May 24, 2011 by 40andover

Check this guy out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Norquist.

Why is this man more powerful than the rest of us voters? Why does he get to trump the one-man, one-vote rule of our democracy?

If you think I am joking, read this: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-24/norquist-emerges-as-barrier-to-u-s-debt-deal.html.

Most of the GOP lawmakers have signed a pledge prepared by his organization that there will be no new taxes or increases in taxes. According to the Bloomberg article, Norquist, President of “Americans for Tax Reform, says he has secured written pledges from 40 of the 47 Republicans in the Senate and 233 of 240 party members in the House. More than 1,300 state-level legislators, governors and even auditors have also signed, Norquist said. That includes Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, Texas Governor Rick Perry and Ohio Governor John Kasich, all Republicans, he said.”

Of course he was lobbying for Fannie and Freddie before he was against them as emblematic of government waste and overreach. (He may not be wrong, but he says it with unclean hands.) “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac brought us this collapse … This was criminal negligence on the part of Barney Frank and Dodd.” Really? Really?

Oh, yeah, his partner in his lobbying venture was convicted in the Abramoff scandal.

I guess it begs the question: how stupid are WE? After all, we as a country elected representatives that promised to be doctrinaire no matter what happens, no matter what they find when they get to Washington, no matter what they learn on the job. If these representatives took that pledge after we elected them, that would be treason, because they would be beholden to someone not “the people” or the “nation”. Yes, treason. TREASON.

Grover Norquist is made possible through the ignorance of us all.

Hitting the roof

Posted on May 16, 2011 by 40andover

Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok, even the Republicans, Boehner himself, have acknowledged the catastrophic nature of our nation’s defaulting on its obligations. Yet, lawmakers are trying to leverage our need to raise the debt ceiling to exact political points.

Yes, lawmakers think they can play brinksmanship with our future. The mere fact that our politicians would keep the world — and us — in suspense until August will erode our creditworthiness abroad and the global confidence in our economy. We think of us as a society where our word is our bond. Well, look in the mirror. It isn’t pretty.

Imagine how you would view a country so divided in their “parliament” that one side is willing to risk ruin to have its way — slash and burn tactics. So, just because we are the United States of America, you think we can mess with this stuff, without ramifications? If you do, you are arrogant AND crazy.

Am I good with so much debt? No way. I pay my credit cards on time. I can afford my mortgage and could pay it off tomorrow. I believe that a person, a family, a country must live within its means. If we need to spend more, then someone needs a second (part-time) job. We didn’t do that and fought two wars and gave tax cuts to people like me who never asked for one, didn’t need one and didn’t want one. So, now we have to live with the consequences. And I am willing to pay more in taxes to clean up George Bush’s and Trent Lott’s and Bill Frist’s nightmare.

It is important to note that the GOP — under whose governance drove us into this debt hole — is the party that is playing it to the bone. Not because they are arrogant; but because they are hypocrites. And the hypocrisy is so galling that it makes me want to go to the Congress and shout: “WORRY ABOUT US AND NOT YOUR POLL NUMBERS, YOUR JOBS AND YOUR POWER!!!!!!! FIX IT NOW.” If there is a report of a middle-aged lunatic screaming in the House of Representatives, you’ll know that I may be off-line for a while, in federal custody.

I think we have to raise the debt ceiling, not only because the credit of our great nation is at stake, but because it makes sense. And, although I am an unabashed and unapologetic liberal, I am conservative in my investments and my rationale for raising the debt ceiling is, to my mind, steeped in the rudiments of getting out of debt and on a sustainable course.

It is, perhaps, counter-intuitive that a shirt-maker in bankruptcy should be allowed to borrow MORE in order to pay workers to stitch together the pieces of cloth so that they become shirts. Scraps of cloth are worthless; however, a completed shirt sells for something. That differential is presumably more than the amount borrowed. The net effect is that there is a meaningful exit from bankruptcy where the assets of the company are maximized to pay off debts and re-emerge on sounder footing.

We have many fights ahead about just how we re-emerge from this mess a stronger nation, indivisible, with liberty, FAIRNESS and justice for all. Let’s give ourselves some breathing room, for our sakes and the future of our country.

You may disagree with me on principle (IFOB (Italian friend of blogger) and JR (old friend from Camp Wingate/Camp Kirkland): go at me) but you can’t disagree with the necessity and exigencies of the circumstances — with a no-win choice, you must choose to raise the roof.

At the shores of Tripoli

Posted on March 3, 2011 by 40andover

Nero, Caligula, Hitler, King George, Idi Amin. These are the names of some leaders who were raving lunatics. They were vicious, evil and certifiably coo-coo.

But Moamar Qadafi really takes the madman bloodlust to a new level.

Does anyone else think he talks like Charlie Sheen and looks eerily like Michael Jackson (odd skin tone and propensity toward make-up).

Except that we mechanisms to deal with a psychotic Hollywood star or a dead and alleged pedophile pop-star.

Qadafi will not leave voluntarily. He will savage his people to stay in power.

A no-fly zone cannot be a unilateral US action. It is hard to enforce and, if we engage, we have to be in for the long haul. Forget what Dick and Rummy told us about easy-win, easy-out strategies in Iraq. Stupid then; stupid now.

President Obama is pursuing the right strategy to make the military re-think killing fellow Libyans. John Wayne McCain is being contrarian. How many wars can we fight? If the US steps in overtly, it gives Qadafi leverage as a revolutionary against imperialist powers.

We have a moral obligation not to allow the slaughter. But we have to be intelligent about it. We have to look before we leap.

May Allah bless and save the Libyan people.

WTF?

Posted on January 27, 2011 by 40andover

This is now our national discourse? WTF? How about if you don’t like what you hear, instead of tearing it down, Build It, Tough CHick.

Ugh, I have stooped to her level. Soon I’ll be sending my son to appear on Dancing With Famous People’s Children who should be home taking care of their love children.

But the person who out-Sarahs Sarah is Michele Bachmann. Our founding fathers fought to end slavery? Ever hear of the 3/5th Compromise in the Constitution that effectively legitimized slavery and kicked the issue down the road for a century?

Everyone has a right to an opinion. And I have a right to determine that someone’s opinion is stupid, ill-informed and baseless. And I have the right to believe that a scholar’s view has more weight than someone’s who has not studied the topic and relies on talking heads (on any network) for opinions.

WTF, indeed. As in: “Sarah Palin??? WTF is that Grizzly Mama saying?”

Politics, Politics

Posted on January 25, 2011 by 40andover

Ok, the rant is building, building, building . . . here it comes!!

I liked the State of the Union address. The President could have touted that he saved the car industry, that he kept the country from economic free-fall, that the US and Israel disrupted Iran’s nuclear capabilities, but he didn’t. I think he should have because America needs to remember all that he has accomplished. But that is because I am partisan. I think he struck the right tone as willing to make principled compromises. Besides, he had one hour to say all things to all people. Hey, now that’s a reasonable expectation.

The sign that he did a good job was that he was being pilloried by MSNBC, CNN and, even without watching it, FOX.

Oh, and, apropos of nothing, Speaker Boehner has a bad body colorist.

In the GOP retort, Paul Ryan said investment is a code-word for spending. It is not. There is no code. Investment is spending. When I invest in real estate, stocks, etc., I am spending money, with an eye toward making a good return on my investment.

So, the three things that distinguish the GOP and the Democrats is who should do the spending, on what and how much.

I believe in spending on education and innovation. I believe that these will provide a good return on the money invested. The GOP believes that investment should be made by private enterprise. How private enterprise would have developed the Internet and GPS or will develop high speed railways and clean energy without government grants is beyond me. And should we abolish public education? No, but the GOP wants to starve it so that the little money spent on it would be a waste.

We pay the least amount of taxes of the industrialized nations. Before WWII, tax rates had some people paying 80%. So everyone, chill out on taxes. Remember the GOP spent willy-nilly (not a usual phrase for me) on two wars and kept it outside the budget so that the American people wouldn’t know. So, now, NOW, we have to worry about taxing the top 2%? Did you ask me? If you did, I would tell you to keep my tax cut and buy some muzzles for the Tea Party legislators. Now, that is a good investment. Do you think it is really tea? It is a dry weed-like substance. We should try rolling that “tea” and seeing if smoking it give us delusions of intelligent impact on the national discourse, too.

Paul Ryan seems like a lovely guy but I was distracted by his perfect hair and a little freaked out by his Biblical references. And why is your part half way between the middle and one side? Isn’t that radical?

Rep. Ryan said something like our regulations were fine, it was just the corporate and governmental evil-doers that stole our prosperity. But, wait, that happened BEFORE President Obama was president. Remember, that Decider guy? Yeah, that one. He was running the show. And, wait for it . . . he is a Republican!!! Omigod, how embarrassing, Paul. Still, with that gaffe extraordinaire, your hair did not move.

And, will you stop about small government? There are 300 million of us. We need hordes just to pave roads and administer social security and Medicare, run the military and veterans benefits. You don’t mean to scrimp on these things, do you Paul? You even referred to the days of Lincoln as an example of small government. Those crazy, high energy, innovative days when were no fair labor laws, children worked 14-hour days, no food or product safety laws and, oh, yes, no truth in advertising or disclosure by companies. So we could die in the factory, die from rotten food or poisonous products or lose our life savings to corporate con men. And, as a student of history, you know that our nation went through boom and bust cycles every decade because of the inability to regulate the unbridled greed of speculators and market makers.

Oh, yes, sign me up, Paul, for your vision of America. Or I guess I could just go to a third world nation for the same experience.

President, pundits and Palin

Posted on January 13, 2011 by 40andover

I watched the President’s speech last night. He spoke as our nation’s leader, as a parent, as a person and as a professor. He clearly choked up when talking about the young girl who was killed. In that moment, he was a father who couldn’t imagine losing one of his daughters.

It is something that is remarkable about this President. He has young children and he often talks about the world he wants to pass down to them and their generation. They are our future. Last night, as President and father, he asked us to live up to the ideals of that young girl who was killed. Let’s move beyond the cynicism and the vitriol. Let’s make our kids proud. This wasn’t fake rhetoric or soaring oratory; this has been his message and his example since the campaign days.

(And yes, he is professorial, so sometimes you have to struggle through the abstract and long-winded parts.)

I noticed how naturally his and Mrs. Obama’s hands intertwined when he was seated. Theirs seems a relaxed affection that belies his stoic and Mr. Spock-like reputation. That comforted me although I am not yet sure why.

It was startling that it was a rolicking good time at the auditorium. I think those tuning in expected something more somber. But, having been in mourning more than once, I know it is the start of a personal journey and not something to be judged by outsiders.

Then I watched portions of Sarah Palin’s podcast. I am not sure what I would do if people blamed me for the deaths of innocent people. She is who she is: an agitator but not a leader.

The conservative, liberal and middle-of-the-road pundits were out-doing themselves last night. They must get paid by the word and get bonus dollars for picking things apart in ways that become senseless. And I think there is an even bigger bonus if you say something really inane and it gets repeated by another pundit on another show.

All in all, I think we and our democracy are best served when we, as citizens, go to sources — reading the books and listening to the speeches and debates — and making the decisions, rather than relying on talking heads to tell us what we ought to think. They get paid to incite controversy. If we just listened to each other, maybe the tone of the rhetoric would naturally tone down.

Tragedy on so many levels

Posted on January 9, 2011 by 40andover

In Tucson, many are dead and injured as a result of a deranged man with a deranged message.

Let’s put aside the left blaming the right and whether it is foreseeable that a lunatic would do this. That conversation will get us nowhere and misses the point.

I think it is more worthwhile to wonder why politics is a bloodsport these days in a way that we haven’t seen since in perhaps a century.

Let’s think instead about how our politician are so invested in being right that they vilify the oppositional view and the integrity of its proponents. In 2008, when Michele Bachmann said that then candidate Barack Obama and Michele Obama were “anti-American” because they hold views different from hers, that is a code that our country is being infiltrated by enemies. Think about it, she said that the likely 44th President was the Manchurian Candidate of the movies. And in the movies, a lone gunman (the good guy) kills the Manchurian Candidate.

Then Sarah Palin has a website that has a target on Rep. Giffords’ district (“in the cross-hairs”) for some reason or other. Or the famous, Palinism: “don’t back down, just reload” or something like that. Words have meaning, even if you try afterward to refudiate them.

This is war-speak. And in war, enemies are killed, and our soldiers come home to heroes’ welcomes (ideally). But war produces body-bags, brutality, starvation, desperation and carnage.

Is that the fevered pitch we want in our national discourse? So, let us speak gently and with respect when we debate. Even if we have to fake it.

Let’s set some ground rules:

A socialist and tea-party member can love this country and protect the very institutions of government that make us strong.
It isn’t about being right; it is about building a consensus and keeping this country great.
Political defeat is hard to take but you can’t take your marbles and go home or start threatening people.
The media does more to stoke the divisions than provide any useful information.
If our nation tacks to the left or right, some people will not be pleased, but they must always remain the loyal opposition. (It is hard; I know. I had to endure the policies of George Bush and Dick Cheney and even some of President Obama’s policies I don’t like).
Exemplifying and practicing the principles of this nation are essential for this country to move forward in one piece and in peace.

A Quiet Morning

Posted on January 8, 2011 by 40andover

I can’t wait until our son becomes a sleep-until-noon teenager. Until then, as part of our Saturday ritual, he comes barreling in at the crack of 9am to watch cartoons.

POB (partner of blogger) gives him the paper to bring in, and she follows with coffee (and yes, I am spoiled and I am grateful every day). Our son does remember to give me a kiss before he says “controls” with his hand held out expectantly, like a Grey’s Anatomy surgeon says “Metzenbaum scissors”.

Every other Saturday, POB and our son trek off to Hebrew School downtown and leave me to putter or go to the gym or read the paper with more leisure than usual.

As much as I love my family, I am reveling in the quiet. I am focused on not letting the political mayhem, global suffering and warring intrude on these moments of personal calm.

I wish everyone, everywhere, could have a moment of calm and recalibration of priorities. It won’t turn Ahmadinejad or other tyrant into a dove, but it might ratchet down the fervor of his followers. It might even act like a balm over the “Progressives” (on my side of the political spectrum) whose high-pitched whining is indistinguishable from their counterparts on the right.

Ok, maybe those people — the mean, the evil, the obstructionists, the liars and the screamers of every nation and political viewpoint — need a month-long medically-induced coma. Then everyone else could spring into action: air-lift food and medicine and doctors and teachers to areas in need. And, we can show them that we achieved more for humanity while they were asleep than in all the years they were awake.

A month is not long enough. Maybe the calm of this morning is sending my brain into “kumbaya” mode with psychedelic rhythms.

Still, everything good starts with a dream and ends with a “kumbaya”.

No pulse

Posted on January 7, 2011 by 40andover

Dick Cheney has no pulse. Another fact that points to his being Satan.

He had a new procedure (read about it in the Huffington Post — Dick Cheney’s procedure) that inserted a pump that essentially overrides the heart. As if he had one to begin with.

Let’s set aside whether he should be eligible for a heart transplant at his age and physical condition and whether it is right of the living to go hunting and shoot his friends.

Who in America can afford this procedure without insurance? He had a pre-existing condition. Luckily, he is wealthy and has a government health plan that will pay for him. What about a 69 year-old factory worker?

The health care overhaul is designed so that we don’t have to choose whose life is more valuable. So, health care reform is the exact opposite of the “death panel” lies and propaganda.

In fact, those who oppose health care reform don’t want to kill the Grandpa who is rich like Dick Cheney but they will let the Grandpa who is a retired factory worker die.

Zero sum game.

Posted on December 23, 2010 by 40andover

The lame-duck Congress finished a busy month that had me on the edge of my seat. Really. I believe in New START, DREAM Act, 9/11 First Responders Bill, and the repeal of DADT. I was glad for the middle class tax cuts, but enraged over the need for tax cuts for high-income earners (and I am a high-income earner) because it contributes to the deficit that faces a fast-approaching day of reckoning.

Think what you will about these initiatives and deals, but one thing upon which I hope people of good will can agree is that the passage or defeat of any legislation is not a “win for Obama” or “win for the Tea Party” or win for [fill in the blank]”. It is about us, our country and our future.

Someone told me something transformative years ago. In a loving relationship, it should not be about who is right, but rather about whether both people are happy (or okay) with the outcome and remain committed to each other. A loving relationship is not a zero-sum game.

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Sens. Reid and McConnell, please consider our national interest ahead of ideology, what is best for our country rather than best for your political futures. It is okay to have an “evolving” view; I promise I won’t call you a “flip-flopper”. Stagnant views are short-sighted and doomed to defeat.

Most of us learned not to throw mud in the sandbox when we were five. Time you all learned, too.

40 — oh wait, yikes!! 50 — andoverblog

Aging and living in urban US

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