Tea Party Group Calls On Bachmann To Leave Presidential Race

October 27, 2011 — Ron Chusid

While the Tea Party supporters show an astounding degree of ignorance regarding public policy matters, they are not total fools regarding politics. They realize that Michele Bachmann is an embarrassment to their cause and some want her to drop out of the presidential race. Following is from a statement posted at Liberty Rising (a poorly named site from a group with so many members who support the agenda of the authoritarian right, but is expected from the Tea Party movement which takes a symbol of the American Revolution while opposing the principles promoted by that revolution):

It’s time for Michele Bachmann to go.  For the last two years, I’ve been cautioning about the dangers of individuals or organizations trying to present themselves as leaders of the Tea Party movement.  An individual personality or organization purporting to be a “leader” of what is truly a grassroots movement can hurt the tea party brand by creating false impressions about its core beliefs.  Bachmann, the leader of the so-called tea party caucus in the House and the most vocal about her affiliation with the Tea Party than any other Presidential candidate, has consistently presented herself as a champion of the movement and its values.  Bachmann has ridden her tea party credentials from obscurity to a national platform like no other.

Reading further, I find their attempt to distance themselves from the religious right to be somewhat admirable, but also quite disingenuous considering the views held by a majority of Tea Party supporters. To say that the Tea Party is purely about matters such as fiscal responsibility and ignore all their other baggage is like saying Fascism was only about getting the trains to run on time.  (Not to mention that their bizarre concept of fiscal responsibility was advocate default on bills previously run up by Republicans, leading S&P to lower the nation’s credit rating.)

CNN reported further comments from the Executive Director of the misnamed American Majority:

“I think it’s pretty obvious that Michele Bachmann is about Michele Bachmann,” American Majority Executive Director Matt Robbins said.

“Anyone who knows the congresswoman, and knows her record, we appreciate a national figure standing up for the tea party types,” Robbins added.

Robbins said the statement is not about the group favoring one candidate over Bachmann.

“We are equal opportunity hecklers.” Robbins said. “We point out the foibles and the flaws in each one of the candidates. And we don’t care which one of the personalities wins, as long as they’re conservative.”

“Let’s face it: she’s a back-bencher and has been a back bencher congressperson for years,” Robbins added. “This is not a serious presidential campaign.”

Despite all my other disagreements, I do agree with this last line from Robbins.

Posted in Economy, Michele Bachmann, Social Issues. Tags: , , , , , . 1 Comment »

Another Conservative Talking Point On The Economy Debunked: Government Regulations Under Economy Have Had Minimial Cost

October 26, 2011 — Ron Chusid

Once again reality clashes with right wing claims about Obama and Democrats. While the right wing claims Obama is a socialist who has increased their taxes and increased the deficit, the reality is that Obama is protecting capitalism against the anti-capitalism, pro-oligarchy policies of the Republicans, Obama has cut taxes, and the bulk of the deficit was caused by the policies of George Bush with the consent of Republicans. It has been ignorant and irresponsible actions by the uninformed sheep who make up the Tea Party movement which have undermined our economy, causing a downgrading in our credit rating. Today Bloomberg shot down another myth spread by the right that Obama is responsible for a huge expansion in government regulations:

Obama’s White House has approved fewer regulations than his predecessor George W. Bush at this same point in their tenures, and the estimated costs of those rules haven’t reached the annual peak set in fiscal 1992 under Bush’s father, according to government data reviewed by Bloomberg News.

The average annual cost to businesses under Obama is higher than under his predecessors, the Bloomberg review shows. The increase is estimated to total as little as $100 million or as much as $4.1 billion, or at most three one-hundredths of a percent of the total economy…

Republicans say that the number of high-cost regulations are up, damaging an already weak economy, and more rules are on the way. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released a report on Sept. 14 alleging a “tsunami” of new federal rules.

“I don’t think there is a measure by which there has been a regulatory tsunami,” Cass Sunstein, the head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the White House, said in an interview Oct. 19. “The costs are not out of line by historical standards.”

Those numbers, which do not include independent agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, encompass the expense of new regulations, and do not take into account the economic benefits of healthier children, safer roads or fewer industrial accidents, which Sunstein argues can dwarf the initial costs.

Considering the problems created by relaxing of regulations in many areas under Bush, we might have expected a far greater number of regulations under Obama compared to Bush. The data in the full report showing how minimal the cost of Obama’s regulations have been debunk any claims that government regulations under Obama are in any way responsible for the poor performance of the economy and the persistence of the Bush Recession.

Posted in Barack Obama, Economy, George Bush. Tags: , , , , . 7 Comments »

A Comparison of Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party

October 21, 2011 — Ron Chusid

What a contrast between the Occupy Wall Street protestors, as seen in their signs, and the Tea Party people who carried signs like “Keep Govt Out Of My Medicare.”

There is a rather major difference in intelligence and understanding of the issues between the two groups. Of course opposition to intellectuals, as well as to facts and logic, is a widely held position in the conservative movement, especially among the Tea Party crowd.

Another example of how right wingers are unable to defend their irrational and morally bankrupt ideas can be seen in how Eric Cantor was afraid to make his arguments before the public, as opposed to before a “selected audience.”

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has abruptly canceled a speech planned for this afternoon at the University of Pennsylvania that was meant to lay out the GOP’s plans to address income inequality. While the university gave no reason for the cancellation, CNN is reporting that Cantor canceled after the university decided to make the speech open to the public. Cantor had signed up for a “selected audience.” The speech was seen as a response to the 99 Percent movement, and Occupy Philadelphia had organized a march from City Hall to the school. The march will still go on, as one of the the messages was that he refused to meet with his constituents to talk about jobs.

Matthew Yglesias has commented on the irrationality of Cantor’s argument.

Posted in Economy. Tags: , , . 8 Comments »

Two Polls Show Americans Prefer Occupy Wall Street Over Tea Party Two to One

October 13, 2011 — Ron Chusid

With polls showing growing public opposition to the Tea Party movement, I had questions as to whether the Occupy Wall Street movement would receive public support. I initially suspected that most people might not pay attention to the views promoted by OSW and might be turned off by what might come across as another extremist group, especially with a word such as “occupy” in their name. Americans deserve more credit, both seeing through the misnamed Tea Party movement and showing support for the actual goals of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Two recent polls show a considerable difference between public opinion regarding the two groups.

Greg Sargent reported on one poll from Time Magazine:

Despite nonstop GOP and conservative disparagement of the Wall Street protests, the most detailed polling yet on Occupy Wall Street suggests that the public holds a broadly favorable view of the movement — and, crucially, the positions it holds.

Time released a new poll this morning finding that 54 percent view the Wall Street protests favorably, versus only 23 percent who think the opposite. Interestingly, only 23 percent say they don’t have an opinion, suggesting the protests have succeeded in punching through to the mainstream. Also: The most populist positions espoused by Occupy Wall Street — that the gap between rich and poor has grown too large; that taxes should be raised on the rich; that execs responsible for the meltdown should be prosecuted — all have strong support.

Meanwhile, the poll found that only 27 percent have a favorable view of the Tea Party. My handy Plum Line calculator tells me that this amounts to half the number of those who view Occupy Wall Street favorably.

Think Progress reported on this poll as well as another poll with similar results:

The new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows that Americans support the Occupy Wall Street protests by a two-to-one margin (37 percent in favor, 18 percent opposed) while more Americans view the Tea Party negatively (28 percent in favor, 41 percent opposed). This means the Occupy Wall Street protests have a net favorability of +19 percent while the Tea Party has a net favorability of -13 percent…

Posted in Economy, Polls. Tags: , , , . 8 Comments »

ABC Promoting Bloomberg Story On Koch Illegal Activities

October 8, 2011 — Ron Chusid

Conservatives in general, and especially the extraordinarily ignorant people who make up the Tea Party movement, are among the most gullible people who have ever lived. If you need sheep to promote your interests who will believe that cigarettes pose no danger to one’s health or that climate change poses no danger to the environment, there are plenty of conservatives who can easily be fooled into promoting your cause. Conservatives and libertarians are also the most dangerous threat to freedom and a working capitalist system in the world–presenting a far greater threat to free market economies than the socialists ever did. Conservatives promote a world view based upon false historical and economic facts which leads the right wing sheep to promote government policies which enrich the ultra-wealthy and eliminate the regulations which are essential for a market economy to function fairly. Of course the leaders of the conservative movement are well aware that the principles they preach are false, as can be seen in their actions.

The Koch brothers have been long-time heroes to libertarians and conservatives who have been unaware of how they have used government to enrich themselves. Their brand of libertarianism also appears to mean that they feel free to ignore the law. Bloomberg published a recent report on the activities of the Koch brothers, which has now been picked up by ABC News:

In a recent documentary, David Koch can be seen addressing Tea Party leaders and espousing American values, saying, “The American dream of free enterprise, capitalism is alive and well.”

But now questions are being raised about the American values of the source of the Koch brothers’ wealth.

This week’s edition of Bloomberg Markets reveals that one Koch Industries subsidiary was trading with Iran and that another subsidiary in France was paying bribes to get business in six different countries.

In one previously undisclosed document from a French labor court case, Koch Industries admits the payments are “violations of criminal law.” A company spokesperson told ABC News that the letter relates only to the conduct of the employee fired in the bribery case and “does not discuss or concern United States law or the company’s potential liability.”

“It’s a document right there in the court record, out of the lips of Koch Industries,” said David Evans, one of the co-authors of the Bloomberg Markets article.

 

Posted in Economy, International, Libertarianism. Tags: , , , , . 3 Comments »

Movie Viewing Habits Of Conservatives and Pornography

October 7, 2011 — Ron Chusid

The  major issues separating left and right are largely cultural, with liberals generally supporting individual liberty and diversity of thought  while conservatives, with all their phoney talk of supporting limited government, tend to want to impose their views and values upon others. It comes as no surprise that liberals and conservatives have different opinions of movies. Politico summarizes some of the major differences discussed in poll conducted for The Hollywood Reporter:

Also looking at the general moviegoing tendencies of both parties, the poll found that Democrats go to the movies more often, like their movies with an edge and think that Hollywood portrays America well. Republicans are more likely to wait for the home movie release, prefer family films and are more likely to “tsk-tsk sex, violence and cursing.”

The Hollywood Reporter  pointed out that Republicans and Tea Party supporters are likely to base their movie going decisions on the political views of celebrities, pointing out how Morgan Freeman’s recent comments about the Tea Party and racism affected their view of Dolphin Tale. They found that ” 35 percent of Republicans and 45 percent of Tea Partiers consider a celebrity’s political position before paying to see their films, compared with 20 percent of Democrats.’” It comes as no surprise that liberals are more likely to be willing to view the work of those they don’t agree with.

The poll also found that conservatives are less likely to go to the movie theater due to Hollywood’s reputation for promoting liberal views. Republicans are less likely to want to pay to see a movie in the theater which might assault their views, and therefore they will wait to watch at home.

While this poll shows conservatives as objecting to sex in movies, consistent with their desire to regulate the lives of others, there might be another aspect to their preference to watch movies at home. Back in 2009 a study of credit card receipts showed that Republican areas are higher consumers of pornography. Such hypocrisy from conservatives hardly comes as a surprise.

Posted in Entertainment & Leisure, Republicans. Tags: , , . 3 Comments »

Obama and Reality Versus The Republicans

September 26, 2011 — Ron Chusid

Now that Barack Obama has decided that there is no point in negotiating with terrorists, we are seeing a more effective advocate for the reality-based community.  After all, you cannot negotiate with Republicans whose primary goal is to prevent Obama from having any successes, regardless of how badly this hurts the country. As for the erroneously-named Tea Party movement,  you certainly cannot reason with a group which lacks the basic background knowledge or ability to think rationally about the issues and which sees ignorance as a virtue. Obama directly took on the Republicans in a trip to the west coast:

At a fundraiser in San Jose, Calif., Obama said that some in the audience might be former Republicans “but are puzzled by what’s happening to that party,” and voters should back him if they believe in a “fact-based” America.

“I mean has anybody been watching the debates lately?” Obama said. “You’ve got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change.

“It’s true. You’ve got audiences cheering at the prospect of somebody dying because they don’t have healthcare. And booing a service member in Iraq because they’re gay.”

The remarks represent some of the most direct and combative for Obama so far as he has struck out on the campaign trail in earnest following the July debt-ceiling debate and the August break.

Obama continued his critique of Republicans, saying of the boos in the audience at recent GOP debates: “That’s not reflective of who we are.”

“This is a choice about the fundamental direction of our country,” the president said. “2008 was an important direction. 2012 is a more important election.

It is important that over the next year Obama provides a clear message as to what his actual policies are as opposed to continuing to allow Republicans to define him and spread misinformation as to what Democrats believe. Today we say another in a long string of people calling for a third party due to the failure of the Democrats or Republicans to solve our problems. Matt Miller called for a third party, but as many bloggers have already pointed out today, Miller’s proposed solutions come very close to what the Democrats support. Miller does have a point that the Democrats are somewhat limited by the need to please the groups which support them, but this would be true of any party which raises the money needed to campaign nationally.

Miller spreads the false impression that the two parties are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, sort of mirror images of each other. In reality, we have one centrist party, the Democrats, and one far right extremist party. The best way to advance  center-left, pragmatic solutions to our problems at this point in time is to vote Democratic next year.  The other alternatives, the far-right Republicans or  the imaginary solution of a third party, will lead to failure.

Posted in Barack Obama, Independents, Republicans, Rick Perry. Tags: , , , , . 3 Comments »

Barack Obama Has Finally Stopped Negotiating With Terrorists

September 20, 2011 — Ron Chusid

Let’s say you had a plan based upon noble ideals but after a while, due to reasons beyond your control, this noble plan just was not working out as you thought it would. Would you stick to the plan, or change to something which looks more likely to succeed? The answer should be pretty simple to most people, not counting a self-described sap such as David Brooks. Brooks is all upset because Obama is now taking on the Republicans as opposed to concentrating on finding a compromise with them:

Yes, I’m a sap. I believed Obama when he said he wanted to move beyond the stale ideological debates that have paralyzed this country. I always believe that Obama is on the verge of breaking out of the conventional categories and embracing one of the many bipartisan reform packages that are floating around.

But remember, I’m a sap. The White House has clearly decided that in a town of intransigent Republicans and mean ideologues, it has to be mean and intransigent too. The president was stung by the liberal charge that he was outmaneuvered during the debt-ceiling fight. So the White House has moved away from the Reasonable Man approach or the centrist Clinton approach.

Obama campaigned on a post-partisanship which was noble. It contributed to the decision of many of us to support him. Over the last few years it became clear that it isn’t working.  Republican leaders have made it clear that their primary goal has been to  prevent  Obama from succeeding. They have done this, even if it meant extending the recession and harming the country. You cannot  negotiate with terrorists who are willing to shut down the government before making a reasonable compromise.  From time to time Brooks has recognized the craziness of the Republican leadership in his columns, but now appears to be suffering from a selective amnesia. Obama has repeatedly attempted to promote bipartisan compromises but the Republicans have refused to consider any compromise if it might give Obama a political victory. Republican are far more concerned over whether passing a compromise will help Obama politically than they are concerned with how Obama’s proposals might help the country.

At least Brooks is more realistic than some on the left who say they prefer candidate Obama to President Obama. This attempt at moving beyond the old political and ideological battles, even if unsuccessful, is exactly what candidate Obama said he would do. Brooks is correct in seeing that President Obama has now broken with candidate Obama as well as his previous strategy. Brooks is just wrong in failing to understanding that the extremists dominating the GOP have given him no choice.

For a while I accepted the fact that Obama would have little, if any, success in negotiating with Republican leaders. After eight years of seeing George Bush govern from the extremes, I saw some benefit in a more centrist approach, even if it meant policies I have not always agreed with.  I  saw the real benefit of Obama’s efforts to compromise being to win over more support from independents and Republicans who might not agree with GOP’s move to the extreme right. This hasn’t worked either. Polls show that independents support policies far closer to Obama’s than those of the Republicans but the Republicans have been successful in distorting Obama’s record and demonizing him. Absurd right wing claims that Obama is a socialist have had more effect than Obama promoting centrist policies, including many which in the past were supported by Republicans. Negotiating with right wing terrorists during the debt crisis made Obama look weak and lose support, despite simultaneous public opposition to the Tea Party for precipitating the crisis and causing the downgrading of the nation’s credit rating.

Falling poll numbers and the losses in the special Congressional elections have convinced Obama that it is time to change course politically. This might not be what Obama wants, but this had been forced upon him by the realities in Washington. There has already been a tremendous amount of hype  talk that Obama’s deficit reduction plans were proposed to improve Obama’s support from the Democratic base. While true, Obama is also going after the independents.  Numerous polls have shown that most Americans support higher taxes on the wealthy to help balance the budget in poll after poll.

Obama might still turn things around, and receive some benefit for his past efforts. His past attempts place him in a far better position to attack the Republican leadership for their extremism and unwillingness to consider the type of compromise which is needed to govern effectively. Obama now needs to make it clear why policies to improve the economy have been blocked by the Republicans and campaign against Republican obstructionism. I’m sure we will see that when Republicans block Obama’s current proposals.

There are additional factors which may help Obama and the Democrats turn things around over the next year. Disapproval of Obama is exceeded by disapproval of Republicans and their policies. Pressure from the Tea Party extremists could force Republicans into taking positions which are even more insane and which will foster  greater public opposition.

Democrats should wind up with upper hand in campaigning against a party which opposes both Medicare and Social Security, but they failed to take advantage of this in the recent special elections. They should be able to benefit from campaigning against a party which wants to restore the ability of insurance companies to deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions and drop people’s coverage when they get sick, but so far have also done a poor job in campaigning on this issue.   It will be an uphill battle, but if they spend the next year promoting a consistent message it might not be too late to win back voters by explaining how Republican policies caused this recession, and how the actions of Congressional Republicans have prolonged it. While it might not pick up votes in many areas of the country, I would love to see the Democrats directly campaign against Republicans for their opposition to science.

Democrats have done a poorer job than the Republicans in the spin wars since well before Obama took office. Republicans have advantages in dominating the cable and broadcast news media and in not being tied to reality in their claims. Obama showed he was an effective communicator while running for president. His change in attitude  towards negotiating with the Republican and Tea Party terrorists provides hope that he might be able to come back.

Posted in Barack Obama, Economy, Op-eds, Politics, Republicans. Tags: , , , , . 3 Comments »

Quote of the Day

September 17, 2011 — Ron Chusid

“Based on their applause for abolishing healthcare and ordering executions, Tea Party voters are solidly pro-dying” –Andy Borowitz

Posted in Health Care, Humor and Satire, Republicans. Tags: , , , . No Comments »

Obama Versus The Do-Nothing Republicans

September 8, 2011 — Ron Chusid

Tonight’s speech was an opening round in a new phase of Obama’s struggle to save  the economy as well as his presidency. Going into the speech, I wondered whether he would concentrate on gaining support from the  Democratic base or independents. Obama has concentrated on independents during much of his presidency, and far too often has seen independents swayed by misinformation of the right as centrist policies were called socialist.  Often going towards the center has often left Obama in an unfortunate position of losing the left  without receiving political benefit from the middle for this. It was beginning to look like perhaps Karl Rove was right and the way win most elections these days is to get out the base and ignore the middle. The problem is that the Democratic base is not large enough to win without independents.

Obama won by uniting the left and middle in 2008.  He may have now found a formula for doing this again, not accepting the choice of restoring relations with the left versus the center. He managed to come up with an approach which should both regain support from the center while also restoring support from liberals (excluding those portions of the left who have been so out of touch all along that they could not distinguish between the policies of Barack Obama and George Bush).

There is one group who Obama received little applause from–Republicans. Hasn’t Obama learned anything from the GOP debate? If he wants applause from Republicans, he must promise executions.

Obama once again directly took on the Republican idea that government should do nothing, a far better frame for the 2012 election than the short-term state of the economy. Obama remains too conciliatory to openly say in an address before Congress that Republican policies caused the recession, and in the past year Republican (along with Tea Party) actions have hindered recovery. It is clear from today’s speech that if Congress does not pass his jobs act they will pay for this next year. Not only is  Obama getting ready to go to the Harry Truman playbook and campaign against a do-nothing Congress, he is willing to take on the whole do-nothing philosophy of the right wing.

Give ‘em hell, Barry

The full text of the speech is under the fold.

(more…)

Posted in Barack Obama, Congress, Economy, Politics. Tags: , , , . 16 Comments »

The Rich Get Richer And The Middle Class Gets Poorer

September 7, 2011 — Ron Chusid

Back in February I had a post opposing redistribution of wealth–that is redistribution from the middle class to the wealthy due to conservative economic policies. I was reminded of this post when a self-described tea party supporter added a comment recently, seeing this as liberal hatred of the rich. Although the proposed remedy of abolishing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy would leave tax rates below those under Ronald Reagan, he also saw this as soaking the rich and punitive income taxation. There is no doubt that these are commonly held misconceptions on the far right. Despite their belief that higher marginal tax rates on the rich is the equivalent to socialism, we never hear right wingers complain about Ronald Reagan for soaking the rich when tax rates under him were higher.

The reason to oppose redistribution of wealth to the rich is not to be vindictive, but to get our economy back on track. Tax rates which are low by both American historical and by international standards prevent us from providing benefits of government which most in this country desire, and from stimulating the economy in ways which would benefit everyone, including the rich. Of course many on the far right have fallen for claims that there is nothing beneficial which can be done by government, while ignoring all evidence to the contrary. If smaller government is really the economic panacea, how come it is not China which is in debt to us? It is no coincidence that those who fall for unfounded economic myths of the far right are often the same who fall for the anti-scientific claims of creationists and deniers of climate change.

The downside to redistribution of wealth to the rich is that inevitably the middle class must get hurt. This is seen in a study from Pew Charitable Trusts which shows that nearly one-third who grew up in the middle class have slipped down. I how much of this decline of the middle class is responsible for some of the frustrations of the tea party supporters, who have been easily manipulated by those who support plutocracy and further transfer of wealth to support policies contrary to their own interests. There is no doubt that this decline of the middle class is responsible for the continued poor performance of the economy. Despite fantasies of trickle down economics, most of us who own businesses do better when the middle class has money in their pockets, now when the rich get richer. In the long run, destruction of the middle class is not even beneficial for the wealthy.

Posted in Economy. Tags: , , . 4 Comments »

The Good News In The Polls

September 6, 2011 — Ron Chusid

While recent polls do have been bad for those of us who care about preserving rationality and support for the principles this country was founded upon beyond the 2012 election, there has actually been some good news for Obama, if he can capitalize on it. Ben Smith points out that voters do like Obama:

Obama receives particularly low marks for his economic stewardship, with only 39 percent saying they approve and 59 percent saying they disapprove.
And yet, in a seeming contradiction, voters still really like Obama.

Putting aside how they feel about his job performance, 74 percent of voters said they either strongly or somewhat approve of Obama as a person, his highest rating in the past year. His solid personal popularity remains a source of pride — and hope — for top advisers who spent 2008 trying to get voters to identify with Obama, an African-American with roots in Hawaii, Indonesia and Chicago.

I would not downplay either the benefits of being liked by voters or the risks of being an incumbent when the economy is not doing well, even if it is the opposing party’s ideas which have created and prolonged this mess. There is some good news in the polls even 0n the economy. Many times in the past we have seen Republicans lead in polls despite voters preferring Democratic policies. We are seeing a phenomenon along these lines as voters in the same poll are expressing dissatisfaction over Obama on the economy while supporting his actual polices. Greg Sargent writes:

Here’s a striking disconnect that speaks volumes about Obama’s political problem right now: In the new NBC/WSJ poll, Americans express strong disapproval of Obama’s performance on the economy, and express low confidence that Obama has the right set of ideas to improve it.

And then, later in the very same poll, Americans are asked whether they support a range of Obama’s actual fiscal and economic policies. In every case, a majority or plurality supports them.

It’s true. The poll finds that only 37 percent approve of Obama’s handling of the economy, versus 59 percent who disapprove. It also finds that only 31 percent are “extremely confident” or “quite confident” that the President has the right goals and policies to improve the economy, versus a whopping 68 percent who are only somewhat or not at all confident.

But then the pollsters ask about the policies themselves. And here’s what they find:

— A solid majority (60 percent) supports reducing the deficit by ending the Bush tax cuts for the rich.

— A solid majority (56 percent) supports reducing the deficit through a combination of tax increases and spending cuts.

— Only 37 percent support the GOP’s solution to the deficit, i.e., reducing it only through spending cuts with no tax hikes on the rich or corporations.

— A plurality supports a federally funded roads construction bill to create jobs, 47-26, which is similar to what Obama is expected to propose in his jobs speech.

— A plurality supports continuing to extend unemployment benefits, 44-39.

— A plurality supports an extension of the payroll tax cut, 40-20.

As Steve Benen notes, this bodes well for public acceptance of Obama’s jobs speech on Thursday. After all, it would appear possible that disapproval of Obama on the economy is a referendum on the actual state of the economy, rather than on Obama’s suggested current policies for fixing it. While it’s true that the public remains skeptical of Obama’s number one solution to the economy — the stimulus — the public is clearly receptive to the current, unimplemented solutions Obama is championing, even though the same public generally disapproves of Obama’s economic performance.

This both suggests that Obama might be able to withstand a poor economy and outlines what Obama must do, not only on Thursday, but over the next fourteen months. Obama must make it clear to voters that the policies he supports are those which they have indicated they want, as well as demonstrating that Republican policies would again be disastrous for the country. A president who is liked, as the polls indicate Obama is, should have a much better shot of making this case. The mindset of the voters might better be seen not in Obama’s current poll numbers, but in the poll numbers of his opponents, including rapidly growing public distaste for the ideas of the so-called Tea Party. This is a battle of ideas which Obama still stands a reasonable chance of winning.

Posted in Democrats, Economy, Politics, Polls. Tags: , , , . 4 Comments »

A Libertarian View of Ron Paul’s Non-Libertarian Thought

September 2, 2011 — Ron Chusid

Ron Paul has a strange assortment of followers, ranging from naive younger voters who mistakenly think that Ron Paul’s brand of conservatism promotes liberty to neo-Nazis who recognize the more likely result of a Paul government which ignores the structures of government needed to preserve liberty. Many of the libertarians who did support Paul in the past abandoned him when his old racist and ant-Semitic writings were exposed  as having been published with Paul’s approval. Libertarian writer Will Wilkinson is bothered by the fact that Paul is associated with libertarianism:

Yet it irks me that, as far as most Americans are concerned, Ron Paul is the alpha and omega of the libertarian creed. If you were an evil genius determined to promote the idea that libertarianism is a morally dubious ideology of privilege poorly disguised as a doctrine of liberation, you’d be hard pressed to improve on Ron Paul.

Much of Paul’s appeal comes from the impression he conveys of principled ideological coherence. Other Republican presidential aspirants are transparently pandering grab-bags of incoherent compromise. Ron Paul presents himself as a man of conviction devoted to liberty, plain and simple, who follows logic’s lead and tells it plain. The problem is, often he’s not.

Wilkinson’s arguments against Paul’s views are too long to quote here and I would refer readers to his full article. He concludes:

Thanks to Ron Paul, libertarianism of a certain stripe may be more popular than ever, and its influence on the Tea Party and the broader conservative movement is not hard to see. All the same, this brand of libertarianism is never going to “cross the chasm,” as the marketing folks like to say. It’s destined to remain a minority creed, and that’s not because most Americans are stupid or immoral. It’s because libertarians have done a terrible job countering the widespread suspicion that theirs is a uselessly abstract ideology of privilege for socially obtuse adolescent white guys. Ron Paul sure isn’t helping.

Posted in Libertarianism, Ron Paul. Tags: , , , . 4 Comments »

Obama And The End Of The Post-Partisan Era

August 31, 2011 — Ron Chusid

Barack Obama attracted many independents in 2008 with his “post-partisan” approach to politics, but this turned out to be far more effective for campaigning against an unpopular incumbent as opposed to governing. Regardless of how much Obama wanted to compromise, the Republicans made opposing everything Obama supported their major goal. Obama’s support of moderate economic policies and a moderate health care reform plan did not prevent bogus claims that Obama is a socialist who supported a government take-over of health care.

As long as Obama’s popularity was soaring far above that of Congress, it was difficult to criticize Obama for maintaining this approach despite my fears that he would eventually suffer in the polls if the economy remained bad. In recent weeks his popularity has dropped, even if it remains well above that of Congress and of Republicans. A recent Pew Research Center survey showed that “Currently, 57% of Democrats say Obama should challenge the Republicans more often, while 32% say he is handling relations with the GOP about right. ” This is up from 37% in April who said Obama should challenge the Republicans more. The number of Independents who want Obama to stand up more to the Republicans has increased from 30% to 36% since April.

The importance of doing this extends beyond these poll numbers. Considering that public opinion regarding the economy typically lags actual improvement by several months, it is likely that a poor economy could cause an incumbent president to lose votes in 2012. It is essential that Obama make the case that it was Republican policies which caused the recession, actions of Congressional Republicans which have hindered recovery, and that further Republican polices will make matters worse.

Perhaps I am overly concerned, considering Obama’s other advantages as an incumbent. Allan Lichtman, an American University professor who has a formula which predicted every presidential race correctly since 1984, has predicted Obama will win reelection. However there really have not been many presidential elections which were very difficult to predict since then, and I also think there is wisdom to the old Clinton mantra that, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

Of course the Obama political team which beat Hillary Clinton and then went on to an easy victory in the general election is not stupid either. Presumably they were continuing the same strategy as long as Obama was doing well in the polls, and  now realize that they must change their message. I have seen a number of indicators that they plan to take a harder line against the Republicans, including today’s article in The Hill:

President Obama is preparing to fight a political war this fall on two fronts — the first against Republicans who want his job and the second against Republicans who want to make his job more difficult.

Obama is taking dead-aim at the latter group, targeting Congress in a fall offensive that the president’s reelection campaign hopes will bruise the overall GOP image beyond repair…

When GOP lawmakers return, the president and his team are ready to deliver a flurry of attacks, castigating Congress for inaction on jobs, being on the wrong side of taxes and eager to destroy social safety net programs. If Obama and his team have their way, Americans will come to see every Republican as a Tea Party extremist.

The president previewed this effort when he started throwing jabs while on the road in August.

At a stop in Michigan and repeatedly during his Midwest bus tour, Obama lashed out at Congress for imperiling the economic recovery and playing politics that caused the country’s credit rating to be reduced at a time when he was working for a grand compromise.

The president is still talking about compromise, but his tone and posture indicate he is more — or at least as — interested in combat…

And there’s a bonus to beating Congress to a pulp that officials think will pay off next year.

By forcing the GOP to take positions on such key economic issues as the payroll tax cut and tax cuts for the rich, Obama and his team are hoping to draw out and lock down the president’s 2012 challengers.

Example: If the debate turns on Republicans trying to gut Social Security, then expect the Democratic National Committee to connect the dots from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the new GOP presidential front-runner, who once wrote that Social Security was “a Ponzi scheme.”

Posted in Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Congress, Economy, Hillary Clinton, Independents, Paul Ryan, Politics, Polls, Republicans, Rick Perry. Tags: , , , , , , . 1 Comment »

Will The Economy Alone Decide The 2012 Election?

August 21, 2011 — Ron Chusid

Barack Obama said in a recent interview that he will be judged by the state of the economy and whether things are getting better. Normally that would be expected, but we need voters to look at far more than just the state of the economy. Unfortunately, both for Obama’s reelection prospects and for the country, Republicans made such a mess of things that nobody could have fixed them in just four years. Towards the end of the Bush administration, I was predicting it could take a whole generation to undo all the damage that was done.

In order to win, Obama needs voters to remember who it was that made a mess of the economy, and question whether a return to similar policies is a good idea. Voters need to look at how the Republicans in Congress used their power to increase unemployment (the inevitable result of their spending cuts), prolong the recession, and caused Standard and Poor’s to reduce the credit rating of the United States, triggering a crash in the stock market. Of course to benefit from this Obama must reduce his emphasis on compromise with Republicans and stress their differences (which there are signs he plans to do).

While, baring some other unexpected event, the economy will dominate the election, Obama must also try to expand this playing field. While the economy generally impacts voters more than social issues, it is a different ball game when the Republicans are promoting the extremist views of the religious right, and have become the party of outright opposition to science and reason. In 2008 a handful of candidates outright admitted that they do not believe in evolution. Belief in creationism is increasingly becoming the norm for the GOP. While such scientific ignorance remains far too high in the United States, over the last decade belief in creationism in the overall population has fallen.

Going by past measures of incumbents running for reelection when the economy is doing poorly, we would expect Obama to lose. However, never before has a major political party had so many leading candidates who are outright bat-shit crazy. No matter how bad the economy is, it is hard to conceive of serious people voting for candidates such as Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann.

Posted in Barack Obama, Economy, George Bush, Michele Bachmann, Politics, Polls, Republicans, Rick Perry, Science. Tags: , , , , . 4 Comments »
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