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Olympia Snowe a courageous senator

Lady Kathleen — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 02:00:21 +0000

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When the history of Olympia Snowe’s time on the political stage is written, it’s a good bet that she will be seen as the linear successor to Margaret Chase Smith, not Mike Castle.

Castle, the nine-term moderate Republican congressman, was defeated by Christine O’Donnell last year in his bid for Delaware’s GOP Senate nomination. O’Donnell was backed by the Tea Party movement, which pilloried Castle for his willingness to work with congressional Democrats to win passage of legislation. O’Donnell was soundly beaten by Democrat Chris Coons in the general election.

Snowe, a moderate GOP senator from Maine, also has tried to bring some sanity to the political divide between congressional Democrats and Republicans during her three terms in the Senate. For her efforts she, too, has drawn the wrath of the Tea Party.

Now, Andrew Ian Dodge, the head of Maine’s Tea Party organization, says he’ll challenge Snowe in the Republican primary.

Snowe refuses to be a GOP pawn in its ideological tug of war with Democrats. When Republicans and Democrats were locked in a standoff over the health care bill, Snowe joined the Gang of Six (a group of centrist and moderate Republicans and Democrats) and tried to produce a compromise. She’s also a leader of the Centrist Coalition, moderate members of the two parties who seek compromise on issues which too often reduce the Senate to a squabbling, ineffective chamber.

The Tea Party treats compromise as political heresy.

“What works in South Carolina and Delaware may not work in Maine,” Snowe said last year of the group’s ideological litmus test. “We all have different views. We’re independent. I can’t go back to the people of my state and say, ‘Excuse me, I have to be 100 percent ideologically pure because someone has dictated that from another state.’ It just wouldn’t wash.”

That’s the kind of independent streak that Margaret Chase Smith showed when she became the first member of the Senate to speak out against the abuses of Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist crusade.

Snowe was equally courageous in bucking Republican leaders by working for compromise in the Senate.

I think Maine’s GOP voters will reward Snowe for her brand of New England Republicanism.

I don’t think they’ll repeat the mistake that was made in Delaware.

DeWayne Wickham is a columnist for USA Today. Contact him at DeWayneWickham@aol.com.

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Article source: Bing Polictics

Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Crazy Times

RodZ — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 16:43:44 +0000

I have been watching the events of late and I can say that in my lifetime I have never seen our nation in such a confused state. I was very active during the health care bill process and much to my dismay it passed. We are now finding out what the impact of that bill is going to be. The financial reform act was also passed, so quickly I didn’t really have time to post much on what it was doing, again we are slowly finding out the impact of this bill.

I am watching with great dismay, the racial component that has once again become a mainstay of the political conversation. This is very discouraging to me because I believe it is a distraction, designed to sway public opinion away from the issues facing out nation.

The current administration and democratic controlled Congress are spending money at an alarming rate. This theory is based on something called “Keynesian economics”. I looked at this theory and what really struck me was the fact that it states that you should spend and lower taxes during an economic crises and reduce spending and raise taxes during good times. What I noticed is that the Progressives want to raise taxes and spend during this crises. Wow! Seems to me they can even get this right.

I am very confused as far as our borders are concerned. What is the problem with stopping the invasion of foreign nationals coming into our country ILLEGALLY? Why is it tied to “comprehensive immigration reform”? Why are many Hispanics upset with those of us who want to stop this invasion? Our government is one of the largest promoters of racial profiling I have ever seen. Have you ever filled out a government form that did not ask you your race? What is the point of this practice? If you don’t know you really are missing the point. It is all about control and dollars. It is that simple. I believe that until we as a country stop dividing everyone into sub-groups, we will always have a cultural divide. All of this makes me wonder why second or beyond generation Hispanics are so emphatic about allowing this invasion to continue. I really just don’t get it, if you are an american citizen and you have lived here all your life, why aren’t you concerned with what this practice is costing Americans? The political “spin” is that the illegals do jobs Americans won’t do and our economy will be negatively impacted, tell that to the union construction worker who can’t work because he has been undercut by illegals and cheap pay. They other side says it’s a cheap labor thing, hmmm may be a little truth to both sides, but the argument should not even be happing because the illegals should not be here.

Our economy is in shambles and the stimulus did not work, PERIOD. I really don’t believe what this administration is selling. The market is so up and down it is a joke, unemployment is still very high and no new jobs are being created by the private sector. This is because they cannot get a clear picture of the tax increase that are coming or what impact all the new legislation is going to have on them. You can spin the stimulus results anyway you want but the facts are that the money has been spent on worthless BS that produced no new jobs. Don’t give me the political line that many teachers, cops and firemen are still working because of the stimulus money. They could have done that with a specific bill that spent much less and accomplished the same thing.

I guess in closing I will say that I am very confused. The President is saying we cannot return to the failed policies of the Bush administration. I contend we cannot move forward with the failed policies of the the Obama administration.

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Obama’s Fundamental Transformation

RodZ — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:18:40 +0000

This is the flow chart of how our President has circumvented the normal processes of a representative government. Flow chart is from Glennbeck.com. This is not leadership and it is not the normal way things should be done in our form of government. In my previous post, Bridgid, a friend of the site, thought I was only referencing the health care bill reconciliation, but as you can see I was talking about many of the processes and procedures used by this administration to implement policies that should have gone through the Congress.

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Health Care & Student Loan Reform?

RodZ — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:47:24 +0000

I wonder why with all the controversy about the health care reform bill are they attaching student loan reform/government takeover to this health care bill. It seems to me that our politicians never miss a chance to get the extra mile/dollar out of us. I wonder what this education reform is going to cost us. Why do the politicians, in this case the Democrats insist on sneaking legislation through on the back of other legislation? Why does the student loan program need reformed? Why does the government need to run it? Aren’t the guarantees enough? Seems to me that the liberal/progressives just cannot help themselves, they have to shove every social program down our throats that they can think of.

I think the constant chant of we won the election from the extreme left of the party is not a valid reason to implement all the social programs on their agenda. Yes, you won based on folks being mad at Bush and the Republicans. The constant chant of fundamental transformation does not mean the same thing to the average American as it does to the progressives.

Let’s look at some definitions:

Transform: To change in form, appearance, or structure; metamorphose. To change in condition, nature, or character; convert.

Change: To make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone

Fundamental: Serving as, or being an essential part of, a foundation or basis; basic; underlying: fundamental principles; the fundamental structure.

My opinion is that the progressives in Washington want to “fundamentally change” this country from a free society, based on a constitutional representative government into a society in which the collective is more important than individual freedoms. I believe the current people in charge, Obama, Pelosi and Reid and a large number of House and Senate Democrats do want to change this country into something that will no longer represent individual rights and freedoms and will enlarge government control over the people of this country.

I believe the average American voter thought that Obama meant he was going to change Washington into a transparent and ethical entity with the American people’s needs and safety first. What I think we have found is what I suspected all along, Obama is very liberal and his definition of fundamental transformation is far different than that of the average American.

The way the Democrats are moving the health care reform bill towards becoming law is clear evidence of their total disregard for the American people’s desires. We want a straight up or down vote on the floor in front of us, we want all the arm twisting, and threatening to stop. If your bill had our support and had not been written in secret you probably would not have to be whipping up you own house Democrats to support it. I find it is interesting that those in charge who are fairly secure in retaining their seats are willing to throw the rest of the representatives under the bus.

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Joe Biden, Best Comment At The Summit

RodZ — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:30:22 +0000

I watched the entire health care bill summit yesterday. It was entertaining political theater at best. Joe Biden actually made the most intelligent statement of the day when he was giving his opening remarks. Our VP said he had no idea what the American people were thinking. This is a very telling statement that I think could be said of almost every politician in that room. I think the Democrats have no clue what the American people want and in the case of the health care bill I don’t think they care. The Republicans claimed to know and reduced what they think to, “scrap the bill and start over.”

I don’t know what the rest of America wants but I agree that they need to scrap that 2700 page monstrosity and look at true reform and cost reduction. I listened to both sides and could find valid arguments coming from both sides. It is evident that reform and cost reduction is really needed in this industry. One would think, with the resources available to the Congress, they could identify the cost drivers, government law and regulations that are driving the cost increases up and fix the problem. First they would have to set aside their ideological differences and work together. I think this is no longer possible in Washington.

The talking heads were interesting to watch as they analyzed they event. I watched Fox News and MSNBC. Chris Matthews was beside his self on how well the President and the Democrats controlled the meeting and seemed convinced that the bill will be passed. Fox folks seemed sure it was a set up to get public opinion on their side so they can take the reconciliation route and not get hammered in the 2010 mid-terms.

I don’t know what to think except that with a bill this size one has to know that a one day meeting after a year of contentious debate was not going to provide consensus. There is a big ideological difference between the two parties on this subject. I do know that we, the American people, will not have reform that will do what we need and it looks to me that we will have a bill that increases our costs, taxes and is mandatory. America is in trouble when the government tells us we have to buy something at prices they determine.

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Health Care Bill Still Looming

RodZ — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:23:32 +0000

119 Congressmen have signed a petition to promote and pass a public option, the Democratic leadership is still pushing for reconciliation to move the bill to the Presidents desk for signature, the proposed bipartisan meeting scheduled by the President to discuss health care reform appears to be more of an ambush than a true productive meeting.
I suggest to you that the lesson of Massachusetts has been discount by the Democrats and they think the American people will “get over it” once the bill is passed and we see how wonderful it is to pay more for our coverage and get less for it. (For those of you who don’t recognize it, that was sarcasm.) I subscribe that this is just another Washington slap in the face to the American people. We are concerned with the unbelievable debt this Administration and Congress is amassing. We are concerned with the coming crash of our economy because of that debt. We are concerned that a government that cannot manage their current health care programs wants to expand and control more heath care programs. Do they care, hell no!
I am also concerned that there is a Cap and Trade bill still waiting for the same process to completion. This bill will put this country at a serious disadvantage in the world economy and is base on questionable science.
I don’t think there is a way out. I don’t think that a shift in power in Washington will fix these problems. It seems to me that power still corrupts and absolute power still absolutely corrupts. These folks cannot relate to the common man nor do they want to. One cannot live the lifestyle they live and understand what middle Americans want or need.
The purpose of our government is to protect us not care for us. The purpose of our government is to govern not rule.

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Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda; Super Majority Fails

RodZ — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:04:27 +0000

It is striking to me that our government is in such a dysfunctional state. This is what happens when people become so opposed in their views that they cannot reasonably arrive at a solutions to problems. They Democrats had a super majority, in theory they should have been able to pass any legislation they wanted to pass. They could not achieve one single super vote. Why was this?
I maintain we have lost our moral compass, we cannot seem to look at any problem without a “what’s in for me” point of view. Our government is a prime example of this. The leadership of the United States has an obligation to the people to protect us not provide for us. Our leadership has been told this by the reaction of the people to the latest rounds of legislation being put forward by the Democrats. They are still not listening to us or the more reasonable legislators in their own party. They Pelosi, Reed and Obama camp are still trying to pass the health care bill, cap and trade and more stimulus. I don’t see any chance of them backing off and looking at what would really benefit the American people.
Our debt is staggering, our spending is staggering, our ability to pay this debt is not a reality. If the government doesn’t cut spending across the board and introduce a balanced budget law we will continue towards bankruptcy. The Pay-Go bill is a good start but will not solve the problem until substantial cuts are made to the spending side.
I wonder why so many Democratic legislators are deciding not to run for re-election. I wonder what they know that we don’t. I wonder if many of them are just plain tired of the constant left movement of their party.
The constant chant of the left that the Republicans are the “party of no” is just so much crap, you guys had a super majority, shoulda, coulda, woulda. The constant blaming of the previous administration is getting tiring, when the debt quadruples in one year and you start taking credit for accomplishments set in place by the previous administration. The new push towards jobs legislation and bipartisanship is laughable. It is a political show designed to once again blame the party of no. I say god bless the party of no, and the American people, they are the only thing that will stop the insanity.

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Washington Is dysfunctional, State of the Union, Chaos

RodZ — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:57:15 +0000

I think we have a dysfunctional legislative body. They are unable to put aside ideological agendas and sit down and negotiate legislation that works for the American people. It has become very clear that they are so disconnected from middle America that they cannot understand what we want or need. Their economic status is simply so much better than the average American that they cannot relate to what it means to have more month than money. I actually heard a Senator say that health insurance through the proposed exchange would only be about $600 per month. That statement would have been laughable if the situation wasn’t so serious. Only $600 per month to someone making $30K or less a year is not really doable. I use this as an example to illustrate the mind set of our Congressional leaders.
They are now polling and trying to find the meaning of the Massachusetts elections results. From what I am hearing from them on the news and the Presidents State of the Union speech is clearly demonstrating that they still don’t get it. I believe that Washington has no regard for out tax dollars or our needs. I believe they are driven by Ideological agendas, desire to stay in power and special interest groups providing money for their re-election.
They health care bill is now dead because they could not and would not work together to implement even the small issues they could agree on. I still think that the anti-trust exemption the insurance companies enjoy should be repealed. I also believe that pre-existing conditions and several items like that could be managed if not for the, all or nothing, mindset of our legislators.
What happened to the waste, fraud and abuse issues with Medicare? Are they no longer important? Will they no longer save the American taxpayer billions of dollars? Why are they not fixing Medicare? All you hear is that it is a great and popular program and yet it is going broke and many doctors and health care providers are not accepting it any longer.
The new message is “we get it, focus on jobs and the economy” so now all the work health care reform will just go away while we implement a spending freeze create a new stimulus jobs program. How can you have a freeze and put $200 billion new dollars towards a new stimulus? What happened to $500 plus billion left unspent in the first stimulus? It is obvious that the first stimulus was really not designed to create jobs but put forward many ideological ideals from the liberal Democrats. I suggest they revisit that bill and not spend the remaining money. The Tarp money was originally supposed to be repaid and returned to the treasury for repayment towards reducing our debt, not reallocated for additional social programs under the guise of jobs stimulus.
Stop the “pork spending” it is not appropriate to load any bill will non related spending items that do not benefit the country as a whole. I just cannot understand the mindset of our legislative body during a recession that would increase cost to the nation to build a library in any state.
A spending freeze at the new spending levels is just ridiculous, the spending rate is said to be 28% higher than that of the Bush administration and growing. Cut spending, review all the programs and start cutting your spending. Reduce income taxes across the board, along with capital gains and payroll taxes. Regan accomplished an excellent environment for business to flourish using this principle as did Clinton, even though Clinton raise taxes slightly his spending polices were in check.
I am to a point where I see not relief for the American people, the system is geared to work against us unless we really become active as voters and stay in communication with our representatives. I urge all of you to write your representatives and clearly state what you want. Do not let the polls and the limited thinking of Washington advisors dictate what we get. Let them know that we do not want the Czars and commissions of unelected officials driving policy. In fact lets start the spending cuts with firing these guys and saving the money spent on their salaries and staff salaries.

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Massachusetts Message: Listen To Us!

RodZ — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:49:44 +0000

Massachusetts sent a message to Washington yesterday. It was simple, LISTEN, hear our voice, we are tired of the sell-outs, side deals, special interests, gridlock and all the BS.
Obama and his side kicks are still not listening, they promise to continue forward with their agenda. Get ready for more deals and shady tricks as they move forward with a very bad health care bill. I wonder if the Representatives are listening, I wonder if the Senators are listening. If they are not they will be gone.
They liberal media is spinning the Scott Brown victory as white America’s fault, we are “racist,” Olbermann and Schultz are foaming at the mouth at the loss of the super majority. As for me, let me quote James Brown. “I feel good…like I knew I would now”. I hope Cap and Trade, Card Check and the current Health Care Reform bill die!
The Liberals continue to compartmentalize Americans by race, gender, sexual preference and other things. They continue to believe we are ignorant and don’t know what is best for ourselves. They believe we are incapable of fending for ourselves. To those who think this, your are so wrong.
I hope all the politicians in this country were hearing what was spoken in Massachusetts and not the spin they are putting forward. This election was not a mandate to the Republicans nor was it a lucky win over a bad campaign by the Democratic candidate. It is simply America saying enough, listen to us.

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Health Care Bill Controversy Continues

RodZ — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:19:28 +0000

HealthCare and the Capitol

This is a comment from Mike, one of our readers. It is simply too well presented to appear in the comment section so I have decided to post it. This response is to comments made by another reader Bridgid. Bridgid is a regular reader of this blog and presents very well researched and intelligent comments from the left. The entire post and comment exchange can be read at this blog under House Health Care Bill Breakdown: Letter From Stephen E. Fraser, MD.
Dear Bridgid (and others),
I’m a conservative republican. I’m not rich; in fact, I work hard and make enough to get by. I firmly believe that the free-market system of capitalism, while flawed, has proven to be the best socio-economic system on the planet, bar none. It’s what our country was founded on, and what made it such a powerful and financially secure nation. It is the best country in the world in which to live. Some may entirely disagree with that, but then let them ask the millions trying to get here. Every other socio-economic structure throughout history, particularly those operated wholly by federal governments, have failed and eventually become the downfall of the bureaucratic nation. Even communist China has reverted to capitalism to some degree, because they know it works. Some try to tell me that socialized Europe works, but it’s evident that it doesn’t if evaluated closely.
Our government is a republic that protects the rights of the minority (the individual), not a democracy where the majority rules. As I understand it, a republican believes that a person’s individual rights are paramount and should be protected, provided his or her actions do not impose on the rights of another individual. These rights are protected and governed by smaller localized entities, such as states, counties, or cities. A democrat believes in the welfare of the society as a whole (i.e. socialism), and is willing to sacrifice the rights of the individual if the majority believes it will benefit the community (i.e. communism). This is controlled and/or operated by larger governmental bodies at the national level. This may be a simplified definition, but essentially correct.
Therefore, as a republican I don’t advocate the government mandating that individuals pay for social programs. I do believe in charitible efforts on one’s own cognizance through private programs (and there are many). I realize there are many poor citizens in this country, and we need to have more awareness and concern for the needs of others. I pray that God will be merciful to them and bring them peace and prosperity through the assistance of others. However, among the “inalienable rights” of man are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Never among them is “prosperity”. Prosperity is NOT an individual right. Regardless of what the liberals will say, redistribution of wealth is neither ethical nor moral, that is, to take away from someone who has, and give to someone who has not, simply because the majority says it should be done. That’s what is not fair.
Bridgid, you said in your November 27th comment, “But Republicans need to step up and provide alternatives. So far, they haven’t.” That’s what many people believe, but this is simply not the case. Please take a look at the GOP website for the alternatives to this and many other issues we face today;

http://www.gop.gov/solutions/healthcare

Here is the alternative bill:

http://rules-republicans.house.gov/Media/PDF/RepublicanAlternative3962_9.pdf

Here is the impact summary:

http://gopleader.gov/UploadedFiles/Summary_of_Republican_Alternative_Health_Care_plan_Updated_11-04-09.pdf

So, as you can see, there are other well-planned options, but they are not very well known for reasons we can expound on later.
I know liberals see the world through completely different eyes, and while I may never agree with their point of view, I recognize it exists. I try to at least look at something from their perspective before summarily dismissing it.
Regardless of your particular viewpoint, here’s wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Mike

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