Here's an idea: The next time the Detroit Lions play, they should be able to decide exactly where they would like the ball placed on the field at the start of every first down. "Ref, could you please place the ball on their one yard line?" That would be the dream of every team, to decide where the ball is. (In the case of the Lions, they would still lose).
John Boehner, with his "Igor" Eric Cantor at his side, in the basement of the Capitol the other day, declared essentially that the ball was now in the court of the President and the Congressional Democrats before wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and sending them home for the holidays. Really John? Who told you and your impotent cronies get to decide where the ball is placed? Nice try, sir, but no, the ball is still now more than ever in your court. To send everyone home in the midst of all this was not only misguided but irresponsible. And Mr. Boehner you know it.
John Boehner realizes that he does not have the upper hand here and he seems to be sincerely willing to strike a deal. He knows how to politic. He gets how it works. But his beloved GOP has not caught on yet. He gave up on his power plan A and went to a compromising Plan B. This plan required a tax increase for zillionaires but in exchange it demanded a $3.00 decrease in spending for every new dollar of revenue. Did the President or the Democrats have a chance to shoot this one down? No. Boehner could not even muster enough votes among Republicans to pass Plan B. We should have known. Back when raising the debt ceiling talks were going on a plan was offered to cut $10 in spending for every dollar of increased revenue, and the Repubs turned their noses up at it, costing the USA an A-1 credit rating. Once again, the legitimate Republican party is being held hostage by the Tea Baggers who are scared to death to be viewed as having helped to raise taxes.
And can I just say a word about taxes for a minute? Folks, it costs money to live in the greatest country on Earth. Why do the ultimate welfare moms.... aka Republicans.... want to have the best of everything and not want to pay for it?
But I digress. The point is, Boehner and the others have to be willing to do more, and yes give up some of their Norquist ideology to keep this mess from happening. Because ultimately they are going to lose this one anyway. Unless they figure out a way of graceful concession, they could come out looking like villians. They are also very mindful of the fact the the President was re-elected by some fairly substantial numbers.
Here, Republican friends, is another thing to consider. Let's say we go over this "cliff". On January 2nd the President enters a bill to give the middle class the tax break he wants right now, and offers no spending cuts. Sure Boehner and the boys could stop it in the House, but then what? Vote against lowering taxes? How will that play to the voters?
The Republicans have a chance to avoid all that. They should make a deal now. They should take the $3 in spending cuts, and be able to walk away from the table with something they can brag to their constituencies about.
Tick-tock Repubs. The ball is very much in your court.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Let's Make the Repubs a Deal.
You guys get rid of Lindsey Graham, and we'll get rid of Diane Feinstein. Each seem equally obnoxious. Seems like a fair deal. Please give this serious consideration. Thank you.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Congratulating Themselves For Their Loss
So the latest is that the Romney camp are all slapping fives because they "won" the specific demographics that they set out to win. Are any of them letting that ugly "but we lost" elephant into the room? Apparently not.
A recent ariticle in Slate.com points out at how ecstatic the Romney folks are about capturing the selected targets they set out to win. This is a bit like Doctors congratulating themselves over how successful the operation was even though the patient's dead.
The Romney folks are thrilled because they won the over $50 K a year crowd, White Women, Whites Under 30, and Independents. But I could make an argument that none of that is necessarily true. But even so, when are these folks gonna realize that their perspective of America is a warped perspective and they are so out of touch that unless the GOP seriously re-tools, they may never win another Presidential election. (In the not too distant future, a wealthy old white guy will never have a chance. You are going to be seeing the last of white Presidents in your life-time. And just for the way Obama's been treated, I hope I never see another white President.) See, even though they might have (doubtful) won in these categories, these categories can't win you the election. I have said it before and I'll say it again: Romney ran a masterful, perfect campaign......if it was 1959.
Let's look at this stuff.
1. Incomes Over $50K.
The Romney folks claim they won the $50K-$100K crowd by 6 points. Romney's chief strategist Stuart Stevens actually bragged that "to get middle class America we must be doing something right." If they would actually bother to check (US Census Data) they'd discover that 49.8% of Americans have less than $50K a year in household income. So, to me, that doesn't necessarily mean they wooed the the middle class, but that they really don't know who the middle class is.
2. Whites Under 30.
Stevens brags "While John McCain lost white voters younger than 30 by 10 points, Romney won those voters by 7 points - a 17 point shift." However, joint national exit polling showed that President Obama beat Romney 60% to 36% among voters under 30. So where does the Romney camp get the brass to claim a victory? Simple. Don't count minorities. Those pesky brown and black folks sure can be a pain in the side to old white guys who are only concerned about protecting the wealthy. Almost 40% of voters under 30 were black or latino.
3. White Women.
Glen Bolger (of Public Opinion Strategies- the ones who polled for the Romney Super PAC) didn't think the Republicans had any problem with women. "The first thing I want to point out about the exit polls is that Mitt Romney won among white women by 14 points - 56% to 42%....so next time you hear Republicans are struggling with 'women', push back with that. Yes, the GOP is getting killed with minority women - 4% with black women, 23% with latino women - but the whole "war on women cost Romney the election" is simply not true."
Oh yeah? Let's look at those pesky exit polls again. Among white women Romney was 6 points worse than among white men. Latino women 10 points worse than latino men. Romney won by 7 points among men. So it seems like there's some kind of disconnect between women and the GOP. And it appears not to be exclusively a minorities problem.
4. Independents
Romney did well with independents. He won the battle but lost the war. He captured independents by 5 points, giving him a 1.5% advantage in the overall vote - but that wasn't enough to overcome the fact that most people are Democrats and when everybody votes, Democrats win. Dems outnumbered Repubs 38% - 32% at the polls.
So although the Romney camp won all of the groups they targeted to win, and are bragging about it, they still haven't realized that the groups they felt were key, weren't really key at all. Not enough to win the election anyhow. The Republicans went after the vote of white women. Why white women? Because you know, white women are the only ones that count. Keep thinking like that GOP and the struggles are only beginning. As I have said before, the Republicans can disenfranchise blacks, latinos, surplus Democrats, gays, people that earn less than $50K a year, all they want. But they won't win the big ones doing that. America is changing. The GOP is still staggering in a "what happened?" stupor. But sooner or later they will have to realize that we are all Americans and we all count.
And Mitt, this wasn't about "gifts". You played the same game as the President. He just chose to have more folks on his team.
And finally I have to end with a quote from the astute and wise William Murgan who posted on Facebook: "I've been away for awhile....How did that whole 'take back our country' thing work out?"
A recent ariticle in Slate.com points out at how ecstatic the Romney folks are about capturing the selected targets they set out to win. This is a bit like Doctors congratulating themselves over how successful the operation was even though the patient's dead.
The Romney folks are thrilled because they won the over $50 K a year crowd, White Women, Whites Under 30, and Independents. But I could make an argument that none of that is necessarily true. But even so, when are these folks gonna realize that their perspective of America is a warped perspective and they are so out of touch that unless the GOP seriously re-tools, they may never win another Presidential election. (In the not too distant future, a wealthy old white guy will never have a chance. You are going to be seeing the last of white Presidents in your life-time. And just for the way Obama's been treated, I hope I never see another white President.) See, even though they might have (doubtful) won in these categories, these categories can't win you the election. I have said it before and I'll say it again: Romney ran a masterful, perfect campaign......if it was 1959.
Let's look at this stuff.
1. Incomes Over $50K.
The Romney folks claim they won the $50K-$100K crowd by 6 points. Romney's chief strategist Stuart Stevens actually bragged that "to get middle class America we must be doing something right." If they would actually bother to check (US Census Data) they'd discover that 49.8% of Americans have less than $50K a year in household income. So, to me, that doesn't necessarily mean they wooed the the middle class, but that they really don't know who the middle class is.
2. Whites Under 30.
Stevens brags "While John McCain lost white voters younger than 30 by 10 points, Romney won those voters by 7 points - a 17 point shift." However, joint national exit polling showed that President Obama beat Romney 60% to 36% among voters under 30. So where does the Romney camp get the brass to claim a victory? Simple. Don't count minorities. Those pesky brown and black folks sure can be a pain in the side to old white guys who are only concerned about protecting the wealthy. Almost 40% of voters under 30 were black or latino.
3. White Women.
Glen Bolger (of Public Opinion Strategies- the ones who polled for the Romney Super PAC) didn't think the Republicans had any problem with women. "The first thing I want to point out about the exit polls is that Mitt Romney won among white women by 14 points - 56% to 42%....so next time you hear Republicans are struggling with 'women', push back with that. Yes, the GOP is getting killed with minority women - 4% with black women, 23% with latino women - but the whole "war on women cost Romney the election" is simply not true."
Oh yeah? Let's look at those pesky exit polls again. Among white women Romney was 6 points worse than among white men. Latino women 10 points worse than latino men. Romney won by 7 points among men. So it seems like there's some kind of disconnect between women and the GOP. And it appears not to be exclusively a minorities problem.
4. Independents
Romney did well with independents. He won the battle but lost the war. He captured independents by 5 points, giving him a 1.5% advantage in the overall vote - but that wasn't enough to overcome the fact that most people are Democrats and when everybody votes, Democrats win. Dems outnumbered Repubs 38% - 32% at the polls.
So although the Romney camp won all of the groups they targeted to win, and are bragging about it, they still haven't realized that the groups they felt were key, weren't really key at all. Not enough to win the election anyhow. The Republicans went after the vote of white women. Why white women? Because you know, white women are the only ones that count. Keep thinking like that GOP and the struggles are only beginning. As I have said before, the Republicans can disenfranchise blacks, latinos, surplus Democrats, gays, people that earn less than $50K a year, all they want. But they won't win the big ones doing that. America is changing. The GOP is still staggering in a "what happened?" stupor. But sooner or later they will have to realize that we are all Americans and we all count.
And Mitt, this wasn't about "gifts". You played the same game as the President. He just chose to have more folks on his team.
And finally I have to end with a quote from the astute and wise William Murgan who posted on Facebook: "I've been away for awhile....How did that whole 'take back our country' thing work out?"
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