LSJ Blogs: People's Politics

Are all of them corrupt?

With the new revelations about Tom Daschle and the approximately $128,000 federal tax bill he tried to skate on (I don’t know the amount of his state tax liability), I’m wondering if all of the politicians are crooks.  This group is making W’s administration look pure as the driven snow; course I’m not sure honest and incompetent is much better than dishonest and incompetent.

The troubles have started

Obama made a lot of nice sounding (to the left) promises during the campaign and after he was elected.  By some counts there are over just over 500 promises that he has made, some very important and some that are pretty much just words.  While he has not apparently broken any promises yet, a couple of key ones seem to have run into difficulty recently.

I voted against the war

The recent news about afghanistan is all bad, as far as I can see. We seem to want to send in more troops...don't we need some idea what we're trying to accomplish? More disturbing is the fact that are willing to kill civilians to get at suspected terrorists, what next, do we start shooting hostage holders in this country, disregarding the hostages?

Republicans vs Science

The big business branch of the Republican Party has some people well trained in believing the supposed “debunking” of global warming.  We’re supposed to believe that global warming is a fraud and that there is no consensus in the scientific community that it is real.   Neither of these statements is true and there is no debate among reputable scientists as to the reality of global warming.  The facts are actually quite simple- increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere cause the earth’s temperature to rise.  The carbon dioxide levels are increasing due to man’s used of fossil fuels in the past 300 years as well as deforestation.  More carbon going in the atmosphere and fewer trees to absorb the carbon equals a net increase in carbon dioxide levels.

Stimulus Idea – Eliminate the Federal Income Tax

Our political leaders are struggling with various ideas to reverse our current financial maladies here in the USA. Currently, the President has tentatively proposed a “stimulus” program amounting to something over 800 Billion dollars of government spending on public projects throughout the land. Previously, in the past couple of months, the Bush Administration and Congress have doled out over 350 Billion dollars to Wall Street financial institutions and have promised another 350 Billion as the “need” arises.

Scorecard so far

Obama has had his ups and downs in the first couple of days.  Some of it was to be expected, but some fly directly in the face of his campaign promises.

The case of William Lynn, who was nominated to be the Department of Defense’s number two guy, seemingly directly violates Obama’s pledge keep lobbyists away from government in the areas within which they worked.  As a senior vice president and registered lobbyist for Raytheon, I believe he is exactly the type person Obama said he wanted to keep out of his administration.  I guess campaign promises don’t count once elected and you have a compliant press.

Celebrating Freedom of Choice

January 22 was the 36th anniversary of the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v Wade decision, which made abortion legal.  For me and many others, this is a day of celebration.

Good people may differ in their views about abortion.  Good people may disagree in their beliefs about when life begins.  But when a woman is faced with an unwanted pregnancy, it must be her life situation, values and beliefs, and her assessment of her health risks, that guide her in deciding what to do.  Only the woman herself can make the best choice for her - not the government, not strangers  who have strong views of what a woman "should" do - only the woman herself.

Reagan was right

Ronald Reagan, who was the best President of my lifetime, was exactly right when he said in his first inaugural address “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”  While we have gotten used to partisan bickering, mendacity and downright lying, today was a special case.

Was it a Conspiracy by John Roberts?

The Constitution of the United States at Article II, Section 1, Clause 8 specifies the oath or affirmation of office of the President of the United States that is required to be recited by  the new President upon the beginning of a term of office.  This is what the Constitution specifies;

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Wish Obama well?

First, congratulations to President Obama.  But in an interesting conversation last night, someone asked me what my hope was for the Obama Presidency?  My immediate reaction was “I wish him well.”  After thinking about it for a while though, I’m not sure my initial reaction was correct.  I do wish him well, if…