Democratic Insider » Opinion

Naked Republican Power

Paul Siegel — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:59:25 +0000

Richard Shelby of Alabama has demonstrated how a single Republican senator, though a member of the minority party, can prevent the president of the U.S. from doing his job. Shelby used a hold to prevent the confirmation of not 1 but of 70 executive appointees merely to gain some pork for Alabama. An excellent example of the exercise of naked Republican power through obstructionism.

The Huffington Post says:

Sen. Richard Shelby's (R-Ala.) decision to place a "blanket hold" on all presidential nominations until a pair of billion-dollar earmarks for his home state are fast-tracked has reignited the debate over the parliamentary tactics being deployed by the Republican Party. It also has thrust into the spotlight the clout that major defense contractors often yield on the political process. . . The Senator confirmed that he launched the hold, in part, because he is upset with a tanker contract worth $35 billion that remains unresolved between Northrop Grumman/EADs and Boeing. Shelby favors the Northrop Grummann-EADS bid largely because it would result in tankers being assembled in his home state. The two contractors, in turn, have donated to Shelby's campaign committees, hoping ostensibly to secure favor or at least an audience with the Alabama Republican.

EADS stands for Airbus. So, Shelby is stopping all government activity to make sure that a foreign company - Airbus - beats an American company - Boeing - and gets an American defense contract because it would provide some manufacturing jobs for Mobile, Alabama. This is more than obstructionism; it is extortion.

The Whitehouse is furious. Gibbs said:

I guess if you needed one example of what's wrong with this town, it might be that one senator can hold up 70 qualified individuals to make government work better because he didn't get his earmarks, If that's not the poster child for how this town needs to change the way it works, I fear there won't be a greater example of silliness throughout the entire year of 2010.

This is not the first time Republicans have used holds to frustrate Obama and the Democrats. What makes the hold so powerful is that it comes with the promise to filibuster. And filibustering is the primary goal of Republicans in today's senate. With the filibuster, Republicans are preventing Congress from dealing with healthcare, with the economy and with other important problems facing the nation. With the filibuster they plan to bring all executive activity to a halt. With the filibuster Republicans plan to "win" in November.

Don't call them Republicans. Call them Filibusterers. Filibustering leads to naked power and naked Power is all Republicans want.

Republicans Fighting for Financial Bums

Paul Siegel — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:41:26 +0000

There are 2 major parties in the U.S.: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The Democrats, under the leadership of President Obama, are doing their utmost to solve the Depression the financial bums in Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and other financial powerhouses have plunged us into. At every turn, the Republicans are stymying the Democratic efforts. They are fighting FOR the financial bums and against the American people.

Read this article published in the conservative Wall Street Journal:

Last week, House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio made a pitch to Democratic contributor James Dimon, the chairman and chief executive of J.P. Morgan, over drinks at a Capitol Hill restaurant, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Boehner told Mr. Dimon congressional Republicans had stood up to Mr. Obama's efforts to curb pay and impose new regulations. The Republican leader also said he was disappointed many on Wall Street continue to donate their money to Democrats, according to the people familiar with the matter.

Boehner is telling Dimon that Republicans are friends of Wall Street and Democrats are not. Why are you giving money to Democrats who want to restrict your activities? Give it to Republicans because we work hard for you.

This incident makes it extremely obvious on which side Republicans are. They favor financial bums that caused our economic misery over the rest of us who are suffering from this economic misery. Republicans are disappointed they are not getting paid for their services to the financial community. They believe, however, if they keep it up, they will eventually be rewarded by the financial bums.

If Republicans manage to prevent the Democrats from producing legislation regulating the financial industry, they no doubt will get more money from the financial bums. But who will suffer as a result? You and I. America will remain with a high percentage of us jobless for far longer than necessary.

Whose side are YOU on? Are you with the financial bums and Republicans who fight for them or with the jobless Americans and Democrats who are trying to help all of us?

Sold, Sold, Sold to the Corporations

Paul Siegel — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:06:11 +0000

We have a Supreme Court that is supposed to interpret the Constitution and the laws of the land in a way that increases the democratic voice of all our people. What the Court has done in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case is nullify the voice of real people and amplify the voice of ersatz people: corporations. The Supreme Court sold our democracy to the corporations.

In a 5-4 decision, the conservatives on the Court found that there are no limits to campaign funding by corporations. Corporations can spend what they want and at any time before, during or after a campaign.

They call themselves originalists and strict interpreters of the Constitution. Imagine that? Court originalists Scalia and Thomas found a new interpretation for the Constitution. Although the rest of us can't see it, they concluded that the founders believed that a corporation is a person entitled to free speech. Futhermore, the more money you have the more free speech you deserve.

Forget about voting. As a person, you have only one vote. As a corporation you have millions of votes. After all, Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, Alito and Kennedy say that money is free speech. Most of the free speech in the country belongs to the corporations because they have the vast majority of the money.

The U.S. Supreme Court sold our democracy to the corporations. Viva The United Corporate States of America.

Weak or Strong, Mr. President?

Michael Falino — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:07:34 +0000

The loss of Ted Kennedy’s former seat, a seat solidly Democratic for as long as anyone can remember, is the only chance President Obama may have of showing conviction in his beliefs. While many pundits will promote the notion that the loss of this long standing Democratic bastion signals a shift away from the Democrats, it is too early to jump to conclusions. While health care was a major contributing factor in the loss of the late Kennedy’s seat, I believe it is a sign that the President has been too weak, and people are starting to get fed up.

President Obama talks the good talk, but so far his actions haven’t spoken any louder than his words. His words, it turns out, are empty hot air. There have been several opportunities for the president to show America that he indeed has the courage to stand up for his convictions, but the utter dissection and sell-out of health care reform has exposed him terribly. If he does indeed want true change then he certainly hasn’t shown himself capable of getting it done. Rather, he stood by and allowed our so-called representatives to consult with the insurance industry on what best would suit our corporate masters, not help the American people and make their lives better.

And to be fair, perhaps this is a symptom of the President’s naiveté. He ran for office with an admirable goal of bridging the gap between the party divide, but this has proven to be an impossible challenge to meet. Partisanship is so engrained in the American political psyche that I am fairly certain there is no way back from the dark path it has been leading us down. We are lost. America is a cesspool of ideologues from two opposing sides, and it seems the President really believed the horrendous state of our country would be enough to get these sand-box-bully partisans to set aside their differences and work together. That is his most tragic mistake to date.

There is no way to bring America’s extreme poles closer, ideologically, policy-wise, or even civilly in the same room. It is a vicious dogfight where neither side cares the least for the suffering of those involved. President Obama had a noble goal of trying to rally our government around the pursuit of fixing the country, but he sorely underestimated the vice grip strangling all opportunities for progress.

He has had a full year to acclimate to his office. He still has three years left, three years in which he can make great strides, but only if he has the gumption to enact real change in spite of the forces profiting from the status quo. Until he shows some willingness to throw our problems back in the face of those who created them America will continue to deteriorate, and President Obama will go down as one of the most lily-livered presidents in America history. Sorry Carter…