Bob Schieffer: Congress must stop making excuses and get down to work.

NaVloPoMo 2009 – Day 4: US election insight.

Viewpoint Extra - NY 23: Republican backs Democrat not Conservative

There has been a further fascinating development in the story of Congressional District NY-23's special election.  Ian Beaumont examines these and looks at the possibilities for US right wing politics in the future.

Obama’s address to Congress: The real keys.

Okay, here is the key points from President Barack Obama’s address to a special joint session of Congress.

1.  Obama proposes that his healthcare reform plan will be deficit-neutral.  In other words, it will not add one cent to the US national deficit.

2.  If you already have health insurance, you will NOT be forced to change your plan.  I repeat, you will NOT be forced to change your plan.

3.  Under Obama’s plan, it will be against the law for coverage to be denied because of a pre-existing condition.

4.  Under Obama’s plan, insurance companies will not be able to drop coverage or water it down when you get ill.

5.  A new insurance exchange will be created for those who change jobs, lose their jobs, and for small business owners.

6.  Tax credits will be provided to those who are most struggling to afford health insurance.

7.  All individuals will be required to have basic health insurance, in the same way that all drivers are required to have car insurance.

8.  The Public Insurance option must be self sufficient like any other business, and rely on the premiums they collect.

9.  Not one dollar of Medicare money will be used to pay for health reform.

10.  Medicare will be protected.

Those are the main points of an almost 60 minute long speech, interupted many times by standing ovations from the left and the right. 

I hate to say it, but knowing the Republican speech was actually written days in advance, long before we knew what was in President Obama’s speech, did seem to render it somewhat meaningless.  The fact that someone, we believe a Republican, shouted out “You lie!” at one point, obviously pointed out that some people in Congress have no intention of accepting any reform, even though the President said accepting the status quo is not an option.

This was a good speech, but I do wonder if the partisanship we have seen over the past month can be put to one side, and politicians actually do what they were elected to do, and that is to solve the real problems that America and the world faces.

Katie Couric: The Senate, Roland Burris, Al Franken and the economy.

In her latest notebook entry, Katie Couric talks about the distractions that Roland Burris from Illinois, and Al Franken from Minnesota are to the important work of stimulating the economy.



Yes, these two situations are distractions. The Democrats blocking Burris, the Republicans blocking Franken. I'm afraid it's business as usual in Washington DC, and both sides have lost their focus.

UK Viewpoint on the DNC meeting.

I have written my first Daily Kos diary entry, with the same title as you see here.  You can read the full piece here, but here is the introduction to the diary entry.

For those of you who do not know me from the Viewpoint blog, where I talk about Life, The Universe and other strangeness, I am a UK citizen, an observer of events, looking for truth and sense in a world, both regular and political, that often seems senseless.  Hence my viewpoint being a UK one.

Now, to someone who participates in a one member one vote system like the UK's, I find the whole US system of primaries and caucuses before we even get to the election itself to be far too long, cumbersome and difficult to understand.  But out of all the campaigns I have followed since 1984, this one has gone on far longer than any other, like watching all six Star Wars films in one sitting, or all 3 extended cuts of Lord Of The Rings in one go, with more holes and caveats than a badly-plotted B-movie.

So this weekend's DNC meeting to decide the fate of the delegates of Florida and Michigan, is just another one of those holes that, towards the end of the film, has to be filled.  But at the moment, there seems to be no solution that would satsify all parties.  Nothing unusual there then!  The question though, that will be on the minds of the DNC Rules Committee will be, Is there a solution to this whole issue of Florida and Michigan's Democratic Party primaries, and if not, what can be done to avoid this whole debacle happening again?

Obama is almost the nominee, so why is Clinton still running?

According to the figures on the MSNBC website, Barack Obama needs just 65 delegates to achieve the Democratic Party nomination.

Barack Obama	1,961 delegates
Hillary Clinton	1,784 delegates

The target is 2,026 delegates.  Obama is so close to the nomination.  There's only 3 Democratic primaries to go.  Puerto Rico on June 1 and both Montana and South Dakota on June 3.  Puerto Rico has 55 delegates available whilst Montana has 15 and South Dakota has 16.  That totals 87 delegates.  Whilst Obama is not expected to win 65 out of those 87 delegates, it does appear that the remaining Super Delegates will push Obama over the line.

Pollster.com reports that according to the polls, in Puerto Rico, Clinton holds a 13 point lead, 50% to 37%, with 13% undecided.  That poll however was released back in April, so we have no current polling to tell us what the current situation is.

The last poll done in Montana was pre-2008. and that showed Clinton in a 112 point lead, but only 29% to 17%.  We need more information.

In South Dakota, in a poll released back in April, Obama had the 12 point lead, 46% to 34%, with 10% claiming undecided.

Nationally, Obama has at least a 16 point lead over Hillary Clinton according to the two latest polls.  Gallup puts it at 55% to 39% whilst Zogby puts it at 59% to 33%, a massive 26 point lead.  It seems pretty certain to me.  Barack Obama will be the nominee, and it seems pointless for Hillary Clinton to even try to continue.

Yet, she shows no signs of coming close to admitting defeat.  She almost seems to be in denial.  The trouble is, when a Democratic Party candidate starts acting and sounding like a Republican candidate, then it's time to stop.  Hillary, you started sounding like a Republican about 2-3 weeks ago.  You started acting like a Republican, when you failed to deal with Geraldine Ferraro.

It's time you left the campaign trail behind for 2008, and throw your weight and political influence behind Obama.   Do it for the party, if you can't do it for yourself.

Senator Kennedy has a brain tumour.

CNN and MSNBC are amongst the news sites and networks covering the news that Senator Edward Kennedy (Democrat: Massachusetts) has a malignant brain tumour, according to doctors treating the senator at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

The news has overshadowed the primaries in Kentucky and Oregon today, where a total of 103 delegates are up for grabs.  If Barack Obama manages to win a majority of those delegates, he'll be so close to the winning line that Hillary Clinton will have to admit defeat.

But my thoughts and prayers are with the family of Senator Kennedy and the whole Kennedy clan.  I wish Senator Kennedy all the best.

Viewpoint Special: Is it time for Hillary to step aside?

And now, from Viewpoint, an extra special commentary on the Democratic nomination process.

On Tuesday 13th May, the continuing saga of the Democratic Party nomination process moves to West Virginia. A week later, Kentucky and Oregon. June 1st sees Puerto Rico voting before June 3rd ends the process in South Dakota and Montana. A total of 217 delegates up for grabs.

There are a total of 795 super delegates in this process and so far, 529 super delegates have declared. That leaves 266 super delegates to be declared. Overall, a total of 483 delegates available to Obama and Clinton. Obama only needs 181 delegates whilst Clinton needs 330.

Whilst the maths might say that Clinton can still win this, common sense must be kicking in soon. Clinton needs a combination of pledged delegates and super delegates. Obama mathematically can win the nomination without another super delegate, although in reality, he will need super delegates too. Obama is that much closer to the line and Clinton must realise that soon, the numbers will be against her and there will be no way for her to win.

Hillary Clinton, give up this fight now, you will lose it, without question. What's more, you will have almost single handedly destroyed the Clinton legacy by not knowing that now, IS the right time to bow out. Your chances of winning are slim and you risk doing more damage to the party than anything else. If you truly care about the fact that the Democrats MUST win in November, you should bow out now gracefully and give yourself a chance in 8 years time, to become the nominee again.

News Roundup: Tuesday 29th April 2008

BBC News: Austrian Police have revealed that DNA evidence has backed up the claims that an Autsrian man fathered 7 children with his own daughter.

Commentary: My viewpoint on this is already posted here, but I note the considerable international interest in this story. Most newspaper commentary on this has been predicatbly horrified, whether the paper is politically on the left or the right. The more horrifying thing to me, is not so much that it happened, more that it actually went undetected or untraced for so many years. I find it difficult to believe he handled this entirely on his own. I also find it difficult to believe that his wife knew nothing about it. I hate to say this, but I'm sure there is more to come in this story, and it will not make nice reading.

BBC News: New reseach suggests about half of all Polish and Eastern European migrants who have come to the UK since 2004 have returned home.

Commentary: In a related story, BBC News also reports that a farmer near Peterborough takes on lots of Eastern European migrants to pick fruit and veg at a wage of £7-an-hour. Locals didn't want the job with one person quoted as saying, "...I'd prefer to sign-on than do that." This is what gets me riled up. Some of these lazy people would rather do nothing for a week and earn just £60.50, rather than do 30 hours work, and earn over 3 times as much, before deductions. It's shameful that people are not willing to work for more money than most retail workers get.

MSNBC: US presidential candidate Barack Obama has denounced his former pastor over public comments Reverend Jeremiah Wright has made recently.

Commentary: As the race for the Democratic nomination stretches on towards the convention, you have to wonder if the current situation is hurting the Democrats or the Republicans more. Sure, John McCain may have the Republican nomination sewn up, but the Democratic candidates are dominating the headlines and as the old saying goes, there's no such thing as bad publicity.

Momentarily back to the 2006 Congressional Election

It was back in August 2006, on the eve of the Connecticut Primary to decide the Democratic Party candidate for Novermber 2006's upcoming Congressional Election, when Joe Lieberman's campaign announced that his site had suffered a "denial of service" attack and had been taken offline.

Lieberman blamed supporters of rival candidate Ned Lamont for organising the crash via denial of service attacks.

Well, Crooks & Liars reports today that the FBI office in New Haven, Connecticut has concluded that there was no denial of service attack, but that the server was "...overutilized and misconfigured..."

I doubt that Lieberman will remember any of this though. He's moved on to be "Chief Corrections Officer" on the John McCain Republican campaign!

NY Governor linked to Prostitution ring!

This is a pretty big story in New York, and to be honest, in my view, this is a pretty big story overall. New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is reported by the New York Times website to have been involved in a prostitution ring. According to the report, he was caught on a federal wiretap meeting up with a high-price prostitute at a hotel in Washington, in relation to a ring, the Emporer's Club VIP, that was broken up last week.

So far, Eliot Spitzer has not indicated that he intends to resign, but sources have told WCBS TV in New York that Spitzer could resign as early as Monday evening and was not expected to continue as Governor. If he does, until the state constitution, The Lieutenant Governor, David Paterson, would serve out the rest of the term, and the post of Lieutenant Governor would be vacant until the next election in 2010.

This is big news, and to be honest, if he doesn't resign, it will be very damaging for Democrats in New York in upcoming elections, not just the Governor's race but other elections including possibly the 2008 Presidential race. By geographic association, if nothing else, this might also damage Hilary Clinton's chances if she doesn't distance herself signifcantly from Spitzer.

A Democrat/Republican ticket?

The 2008 US presidential election just threw a curve, and it was a curve nobody was expecting.

The word is out that if Dennis Kucinich (Democrat) gets the Democratic Party's nomionation, he wants Ron Paul (Republican) as his running mate.

If a Kucinich/Paul ticket were to emerge, whether it was a Demcoratic or Republican nomination, or an independent ticket, it would be one of the more interesting events of this election so far.

There's been a lot of talk of an independent ticket from Michael Bloomberg or someone else, but this ticket has potential. You can bet this is one story I'll be following all the way.

Australia Votes 2007: Democrats out in Senate?

It wasn't long after Kevin Rudd's victory speech that some news came in from the Senate side of the federal election, and it wasn't good news for the Democrats who held 2 seats in the Senate. Both of their senators were contesting their seats, and both seemed very likely to lose out.

Lou Dobbs and the November Surprise!

The Lou Dobbs Commentary that he writes weekly for CNN.com contains something that has been taken across the blogosphere as code for him saying he will announce candidacy for the presidential race, probably as an independent.

I'm more skeptical though about the real meaning behind the commentary. The following is a short excerpt...

"...the arrogance of our political leaders now threatens the future of our nation, and their elitist sense of entitlement has reached such heights that our leaders are now openly dismissive of the will of the people. Working men and women and their families are simply not being represented in Washington.

One year from now, we will have elected a new president. As eager as I am for that reality, I can't imagine any one of the current candidates for their party's nomination being chosen by the American people to lead this nation for the next four years. I believe the person elected a year from now will be an Independent populist, a man or woman who understands the genius of this country lies in the hearts and minds of its people and not in the prerogatives and power of its elites.

As I travel around the country, my feeling about the lack of true candidates is validated by those I talk with: They are not excited about the candidates seeking their party's nomination. The Democratic and Republican Parties have become merely opposite wings of the same bird, and it's the American people who are getting the bird as our elected officials serve their corporate masters and the special interest groups that dominate both parties."

Hmmm... Does he really want to enter, or is he just properly judging the growing mood that I myself have seen from friends on the other side of the Atlantic?

I tend to believe the latter.

The Democratic and Republican parties have retreated to their base 20%, leaving the middle 60% of the political spectrum in the centre relatively clear. It's down the centre highway that I choose to travel, and it's so empty down this way that I can travel as fast as I please, whilst those in the left and right highways are stuck in permanent traffic jams, as the parties and their supporters have retreated away from the centre.

I will on this blog highlight some of the other parties that form part of the US political system, but for some reason or another, have yet to come forward and claim the centre ground that is currently unoccupied by either party.

9/11 +6.

And now, from Viewpoint, an extra special commentary on September 11th.

You know every time this date comes round, it seems to be more and more infamous every time. There is no doubt that what happened at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was the kind of event that you do not ever forget if you witnessed it. I happened to be in front of the TV that afternoon UK time, and I did witness the live video footage of the second plane crashing into the other tower of the World Trade Center.

Looking back at the in depth sections of BBC News and CNN reminds me just what a mind numbing event it was, how at the time, we had no immediate idea what had really gone on. Even now, we know a bit about what happened, but we really don't know it all. What has happened since has been the great politicising of 9/11, and the increased divisiveness of politics in the USA, which since Reagan has always been somewhat divided, but the 1994 congressional elections saw it stepped up a level and 9/11 has seen it stepped up to yet another level of intensity.

Patriotism became the new watchword. If you criticised the Bush administration's policies, you were called unpatriotic, or even treasonous. It became almost like the new McCarthyism, where those back in the mid 50s who disagreed with the policies of time were branded as Communists. This was at the time when Stalin ruled the Communist regime of the Soviet Union, and was the "enemy du jour" for the Republican administration of Dwight D Eisenhower.

Now, 6 years on, the world has never seen a more unpopular US president, nor a more divided political landscape, helped in no small part by a so-called news channel, whose real aim is to spread anti-Democrat and pro-Republican propoganda. A channel which blurs the line between news and opinion and not only presents it as fact, but as "Fair and Balanced" news, rather than what it truly is. It is the ultimate in spin-meistering, and it used 9/11 to make itself the most popular news channel in the ratings for years to come.

Now, as unpopular as President Bush has become, Fox News Channel is slowly headed the same way, albeit nowhere nearly as unpopular as the president and his Republican party. But as viewers slowly realise that they are being fed propoganda by Fox News, they are moving away from the channel. Last Friday, Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC was the most popular programme in the key 25-54 advertising demo, according to the Live + Same Day DVR ratings, beating Bill O'Reilly for the first time ever.

All of this is a result of the wasted opportunity that was basically handed to President Bush in the wake of 9/11. An opportunity to create a truly bi-partisan politics, where both Democrats and Republicans could go forward together in unison, finding common ground. What happened was not that. What happened was Republicans decided how things were going to be and expected everybody to follow like sheep into the pen of warmongering and fearmongering. It happened for a while, but there is an old political saying which Republicans would do well to remember. ""You can fool some of the people all the time, and all the people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time."

Big Surprise! Another Republican under investigation.

ABC News is reporting that Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska is under investigation by both the FBI and IRS.

Another story of Republican political corruption that Fox News will probably gloss over. But you can guarantee that they wouldn't do that if it was a Democrat being investigated. It would be all over every programme they could.

A moment of history.

Some say it is possible to overstate this day. But in political terms, this is truly an historic day. The re-establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly, and sharing of power, between Unionists and Republicans, between the Democratic Unionists, lead by the Rev Ian Paisley, and Sinn Fein, lead by Gerry Adams.

Today shows that people on political extremes CAN get together and come to an agreement, a partnership. Ian Paisley is now Northern Ireland's First Minister. Sinn Fein's deputy leader, Martin McGuinness, is now Deputy First Minister. No mistaking, this is huge.

Now, can we see something similar happen between Republicans and Democrats in the US? I'd like to think so, but somehow, I doubt it very much.