Spring Cleaning

Wow. It's been a long time, hasn't it? Well, you know how it is: life is what happens when you make other plans. I've been surely preoccupied with "life". As it is, most of my "legion" of fans here also manage to keep up with me offline so they haven't missed much. As for the rest of you, now that the political dust has mostly cleared, it will be easier to share my thoughts.

In some ways, I am not surprised that Mitt Romney has emerged as the unofficial but presumptive nominee...but in other ways I am. On the one hand, he was the rare choice that would attract the center-right and independents that those chasing the Tea Party or other hard line conservatives would eschew during primary season. Considering he's gone from establishing universal health care as Governor of Massachusetts to proposing to dramatically downscale if not shutter HUD and the Department of Education as President, he has shown to me that he is adaptable to any situation. Whether that is good or bad, I'll leave that up to you. On the other hand, I have to give credit to the Republican Party, with its considerable base of Southern Baptists and Evangelicals for narrowing the field down to not only a Mormon but two Catholics (oh, and Ron Paul, I guess.) Or perhaps I should just credit the fiscal conservatives on that one.

At this point, I should issue an apology of sorts. There was a discussion I once posted - although darn if I can find it - about the prospect of voting a Mormon into Presidential office. My thought then was that because what I saw as overwhelmingly conservative principles were contrary to my generally center-left views, I would not be able to find enough common ground to support a Mormon President. But then I was reminded of Harry Reid, a Mormon Democrat....and he's far from the only one . Not only that, I've read more about Mormons who are on a sliding scale of accepting some articles of faith while questioning others. So basically, people are still people and there are more nuances than I was aware of.

That said, I'm still not voting for Mitt. I might have been able to grit my teeth through four years of seemingly centrist and fellow Mormon John Huntsman.

As for President Barack Obama, I'm still somewhat underwhelmed with his record but, as clearly stated above, the alternative doesn't inspire me. Depending on who one talks to, either the President refused to create or honor various compromise opportunities with the GOP-controlled House and the barely Democratic Senate...or vice versa. In essence, it appears that my prediction of the return of gridlock reminiscent of Bush's last two years has unfortunately come true. Signs seem to point towards more of the same in the near future.

The judiciary branch may not necessarily be of help, either. At the risk of sounding like a parody of the President, let me be clear: Corporations are not people...or at least not all of its people. If you're talking about a small business of perhaps one hundred or less, then I could see how  each manager and subordinate could have a vested interest in their mutual success. But when you are talking about the typical larger corporation, where downsizing and outsourcing have become key components in "strategy" and the lines between permanent and temporary employees become ever blurrier, perhaps the only people that a corporation represents are its top executives and those that aspire to join or replace them. I don't think George Soros or George Clooney should have any more control over politicians than the Koch Brothers or the Walton Family. The (Corporate) Citizens United decision needs to be overturned. I'm hopeful that swing-voter Justice Anthony Kennedy will agree.

It's Like He Read My Mind...

I would share my thoughts on the leaders in the GOP Presidential nomination race...but this article sums it up better than I could.

A Little Spring Cleaning

As I’ve been busy with other online and offline ventures, I apologize to the millions upon millions of you who have undoubtedly checked in daily with this blog daily hoping for an update on my musings. Your “patience” has finally been rewarded! LOL Needless to say, while my own world has been busier these last few months, so has the geopolitical world been even more hectic. I’m going to try to distill my thoughts down so I don’t end up creating a novel.


We Got Him. And of course by “him”, I mean Osama bin Laden. While I don’t celebrate his death, I do recognize the initially symbolic victory – and eventually, a very significant coup of information – our country achieved in finding him. Certainly this is not the end of terrorism; but beyond demoralizing al-Qaeda, the US has gained a treasure trove of information that could benefit our efforts tremendously. Back inside the Beltway, those who accused of Obama of being “soft” on terrorism were proven otherwise.

You’re Fired! I used to have a fair amount of respect for Donald Trump, despite his outlandish bravado and shameless self-promotion. I have enjoyed watching “The Apprentice” series – the original not the “celebrity” version - and as a fan of both Atlantic City and Las Vegas, I hoped his ventures in each of those towns there would be successful. I also looked on with curiosity to see how he would present himself as a potential Presidential candidate. While I expected him to be a fiscal conservative, I thought he might surprise people with a moderate social message. Never would I have imagined that the surprise would be that Trump would take the “birther” issue and make it a centerpiece of his quasi-campaign. As a result of that action, I have lost all respect for him. I seriously doubt that I will ever again watch any of his programming - including Miss America - or patronize any of his properties.

Paul Ryan. I will give Congressman Ryan credit for coming up with a relatively comprehensive, if still somewhat vague plan on how to address the budget. I don’t agree with the premise of turning Medicare into a voucher program as I doubt that health insurance companies will hold their inevitable rate hikes to a level equal to that of an increase in voucher funds (assuming the latter would even be supported by Ryan and Company). I also don’t trust that state government would use the Medicaid block grants for the use that they were intended. Just look at the results of the 1998 tobacco settlement. This is another case where I don’t believe charity would be able to make up the difference. And asking the disabled and elderly to pull on their proverbial bootstraps is unrealistic, to say the least.

I do give Rep. Ryan more credit for suggesting the closure of corporate tax loopholes. If his concurrent suggestion to also lower the corporate tax rate would result in the country receiving at least the same amount of revenue we are receiving now, I might be convinced to support it. However, I sense an effective permanent tax cut. Ultimately, I believe the country needs to both reign in spending and increase the share of taxes that higher net-worth individuals and higher-profit companies contribute. How to minimize the impact on middle-class households and smaller businesses is the trillion-dollar question.

Gingrich “Newtered”.While the thrice-married, former House Speaker shot himself in (or tasted) his foot on "Meet the Press" by suggesting that Congressman Ryan’s budget was “conservative social engineering” not unlike what he felt Obama and the Democrats were proposing, I give him credit for speaking the truth as he saw it. It’s unfortunate that he didn’t have an alternative to share or else he may not have found himself backpedaling almost as soon as he left the stage. Gingrich won’t win, but at least, unlike Trump who has also tested the Presidential waters frequently, Newt finally had the guts to dive in the pool…even if he apparently hit his head on the diving board.

Romneycare. Not unlike fellow Massachusetts resident Senator John Kerry’s infamous flip-flop with  his vote to fund the second Iraq war, former Governor Mitt Romney supported a version of universal health care in his state before expected Presidential candidate Mitt Romney expressed regret of his decision. I do think Romney is a smart businessperson with more humility (and better hair) than Donald Trump. I think he would be excellent in a Cabinet position. However, I don’t think enough religious conservatives will be able to look beyond their anti-Mormon prejudice to vote him in as President. It’s  really a shame since, as the GOP playing field currently stands, I believe that Romney has the best shot of attracting moderates.

President Obama. He’s not perfect. I still wish the economic stimulus package supported a New Deal-type plan that would have focused on revitalizing struggling inner cities and rural communities. He’s had to create or maintain uneasy alliances with countries whose human rights records are far from exemplary. Many of his ambitions are now being held in check by the majority Republican Congress. However, notwithstanding my comments about Romney, I don’t think there is a strong enough challenger to beat him in the upcoming elections. As many conservatives said circa 2004, “you don’t change presidents in a time of war”. And we are indeed still at war; in fact, we are now in (at least) three wars including our secondary albeit significant role in the Libyan civil war. Following his leadership in the demise of bin Laden, it will be difficult for any of the present and presumed Presidential candidates in the GOP to convince enough Americans that it is time to change course. A better strategy would be to figure out how to win back the Senate. That's not to say that I hope for that to happen any more than I wish Obama to lose the election…but there’s my free advice to Karl Rove and Friends.

Playing Catch-Up

Hello to everyone out there in Bloggerville!

I just realized that it has been exactly three months since I posted my last blog. Of course, my most loyal readers (ha!) already know behind the scenes that I had quite a busy time preparing for, enjoying, then recovering from a rather busy summer season. But now that I have the time and wherewithall, I wanted to share a few thoughts before what could potentially be a busy fall on the local front. I'll be touching on a number of things, some of which I may expound on later.

First: the Summer of Love tour. That's what Cathy and I called our 37-day, 6550-mile cross-country trip with a not-so-subtle nod to the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. One big difference between that event and ours is the only time we got "high" was in the mountains of the "four corners" states. We even managed to survive both of our family reunions located on opposite ends of the country, hers being in Jackson, MS, mine being in Los Angeles. The logistics of attending those events as well as the Vegas BBW Bash spurred us to hit the road instead of the runway. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be able to spending that amount of time traveling through 27 states. While I figure that we'll be making pilgrimages to visit family in Dallas - or at least as far as Jackson - I don't think we'll be planning anything that extravagant again in the foreseeable future. I especially won't need to relive spending two weeks in Vegas. I'm grateful to Cathy for letting me indulge in my sightseeing for the first few days while she mostly enjoyed having her feet up and off the brake and pedal. I still think I'll need to leave the Bash property every so often, but I think I'm more likely to repeat my favorite things to see and do in Vegas than to find anything new there. I do suspect that we will be expanding our social circle which I feel would be a plus.

Wow... is 2009 The Year of the Grim Reaper or what? They say "death comes in threes" but this year, it's more like the dozens! Some of the more poignant passings for me include: Farrah Fawcett, with whom Cathy shared a common bond of an unfortunate illness; John Hughes, the "Judd Apatow" of my teenage years; and, Michael Jackson, if only for the surreal coincidence of staying in a hotel in Hollywood on the night before his memorial service. And of course, my most loyal readers would think me remiss if I didn't mention the loss of two members of the Kennedy clan.

The domestic agenda of President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress seems to be mixed in public opinion if not also in its effectiveness. As much as I dislike the idea of corporate welfare, I believe that simply letting the banks and auto makers fail would have had a ripple effect of millions in job losses that would have cost taxpayers more in the end than the stimulus package. And while necessity may well be the mother of invention, not everyone has the entrepreneurial skill and spirit to rely on themselves instead of an employer.

Regarding health care, I consider it to be the right of every American citizen and legal resident. I believe the status quo is not working, unless you're either an upper-income employee who is happy with their coverage... or the insurance company CEO who is happy with their bonus. While I think a government-funded "public option" should be in the mix, I'm not opposed to state health co-ops as a compromise, despite the unflinching views of both staunch Republicans and Democrats in Congress. I do think that GOP proposals like capping doctor malpractice judgments and opening up insurer competition to all fifty states would have potentially detrimental results for most citizens. One of the best models to build on, ironically, would the one that Republican Mitt Romney implemented while Governor of Massachusetts; it makes sense that everyone should pay into it, just as long as everyone is covered. I am surprised he hasn't received more news coverage these days. Or if he has, it must be on news media that I don't frequent.

Peace.