Boehner pushed back on tea party

After being blasted last fall of inept leadership Speaker John Boehner pushed back on the tea party and was determined to pass a budget bill to avert a government shutdown.  Its good to have principle but at the end of the day we need to govern.  This requires hard choices and compromises. The tea party has successfully elected candidates to office.  Now they must learn how to develop a coalition that can pass policy reform and fiscal responsibilty  We must also gain the White House or the US Senate if we want to have more leverage.. 

website works--will the policy?

As republicans have claimed that its not the just the website but the real problem is the policy. Why? There was a reason why certain people were not able to covered because certain conditions cost more money.The issue of pre-existing conditions should have been resolved under a separate funding mechanism.  The people who need to sign up to offset those who will need to use insurance are not likely to sign up.  This means that the people who need to sign to make the exchange financially viable wont.  Also there are young people who will just sign up on their parents plan who are 26 and under.  Also many who already have insurance through private market are being cancelled because it does not meet individual mandate requirements.  Now you have the potiential of more people being uninsured after the law than before the law. Also many insurance companies in the exchange are limmited their network of coverage so that you may be required to switch doctors who may now be out of network.  Also the premiums may be low for some but the deductibles are sometimes double or triple.

US and Iran agree to interim reduction of Iranian nuclear program

The US along with 6 allies have agreed to a interim deal with Iran regarding is nuclear program.  Some are still skeptical because Iran has a history of getting concessions while pretending to reduce its nuclear capability.  I guess time will tell if Iran is serious about reducing its capacity for nuclear weapons.

Obamacare fix or NOT

After the administration announced that they will allow policy holders of health insurance to be reinstated many states have announced that they will not be able to accomodate that fix. Why? It could be ideological but also a logistical issue.  States primarly goverrn insurance law not the federal government.  Many states say that complying with the new fix would destablize the insurance markets.
Many republicans opposed Obamacare because the goverment does not do a very good job of the logistics that this type of system requires. There should have been more time spent consulting with the OLC(Office of Legislative Counsel). The OLC is a non-partisan office of the United States congress that is responsible for providing legal and research services for members of congress in which they desire to see the feasibility of proposed legislation.
Sadly the real problem is not the website although the roll out of  the website has been a disaster.  The most unpopular and most important and costly parts of the law has yet to be realized.  I think it would be smart for republicans to allow this law to fail because it will be clear that it was the democrats who will have to defend the bill.  It will also allow the GOP to craft their own bill. I think that the other major problem is that the individual mandate is requring too many things that are part of the minimum coverage requirement.   

GOP establishment fighting back

Big business and establishment republicans are fighting back and trying to protect some incumbent republicans.  In the special election in Florida the establishment republicans backed an establishment republican against a tea party republican.  Many republicans have come under fire for some of their moderate positions but establishment republicans argue that we lost seats that we should have easily won such as the US senate race in New Hampshire a few years ago. 

Obamacare--another reason why liberal politics doesnt work

Obamacare is a prime example of why liberalism doesnt work. That is why you dont want the government running an organization where accountablity is required. We all agree that there needs to be reform of healthcare. Government control of healthcare is not the answer. We alreaady know this because there is rampant fraud and abuse in the government systems that provide care to our seniors, disabled and our veterans. Government is by necessity a monoply but that is what creates the ineffectivesness. If they dont do a good job they are generally not held accountable. The trouble is that even if a program is running poorly, the government will continue to fund it because typically there are jobs at stake and money for the government agency. Government can regulate but it should not control the economy. The track record for government running economies is terrible. So the next time a liberal tells you that they want more government control remind them of the former Soviet Union, China, North Korea and Cuba. Anybody want to live in these countries? History has proven that it works better when power is disbursed not centralized. Why? Because people are greedy and egotistical(evem your well meaning liberal friends). Incentive works. Capitalism has created a better quality of life for most people than any other system. Is it perfect, no, but it works. The wonderful aspect is that we can continue to improve on what we have. In a communist state there is no debate. In socialist countries its very difficult to start a business, heavy regulation and high unemployment.

A salute to VETERANS!

Christie wins NJ and Cucinnelli loses in VA--whats next?

New Jersey governor Chris Christie easily won a second term for governor. Christie who is a former US Attorney won his first election by a razor thin margin won handily this last Tuesday. In Virginia, the story was much different. Terry Mcauliffe, the democratic candidate, had support from Bill and Hilary Clinton. Also the goverment shutdown which effected cities in the northern Virginia area. Obamacare pushed the numbers cloer for the republican and made it closer than what the democrats whould have liked. New Jersy governor Christie showed us that republicans can make head way in to the minority community. As the demographics change we must be able to advocate our message to those who may have been disaffected in the past.

Obamacare on a rocky road

After refusing to delay the to delay the individual mandate the administration may have to anyways. Several senate democrats up for re-election in 2014 have asked the White House for a delay. The website is not the only problem with Obamacare. Many are being kicked off their current policies because they don't meet the minimum coverage requirements. The other problem is that young people need to sign up for the law to work but either they can be on their parents policy or they will pay the penalty for non compliance.  So by October 2014 we will find out if the policy works or not. I think that there are a lot of nervous democrats right now. 

Obama has tough sell

A reluctant warrior, a war exhausted public and a skeptical congress set the tone for tonight's presidential address. 

Obama attempted to convince congress and the public that it was in the national interest to threaten Syria with military action for using chemical weapons which is a violation of international law. Is the US willing to confront dictators who violate international law?  Apparently the rest of the world is unwilling to do so. We must be willing to use our resources when a dictator  decides to violate the most serious crimes against their own people. 

To decide or not?

As the administration was moving the US towards a limited strike and proclaiming that there was an urgent need to respond to Syria's use of chemical weapons the administration now decides it will seek congressional approval..

Obama does not need congressional approval. It will take longer for this to get through congress than the airstrike itself. It sends a message to doctors that America does not have strong leadership. 

I could understand if we were committing hundreds of thousands of troops but this is expected to take just a few days like Libya. This should give the opposition some breathing room and does not commit us to a long term stay. 

Saudi Arabia has expressed public support. 

Bachmann quits, Graves too?

Michele Bachmann's sudden announcement that she was bowing out of the 6th CD. She won a hotly contested but close race last time around. Here presidential campaign was also under investigation by the office of confessional ethics.  She definitely made an impact on MN politics. At least she was the one politicians name everybody knew considering most can't name their member of congress. 

Jim graves should have stayed in the race if he was serious about running for office. So was he not serious about representing the citizens of the 6the CD? 

GOP at crossroads at CPAC

GOP activists and politicians gathered at their annual retreat to discuss the future of the party.
The divide is either going back to our roots or rebranding our party.
The truth is we need to do both and we can. We desire to get back to the core that made this country great. However, we must recognize that there is a serious demographic shift taking place. We can no longer just simply rely on the white vote anymore.
Our values are consistent with most Americans. However some people do need some help from the government.
As Pawlenty once called it not limited government but effective government. We need to take the power back from the democrats. We will lose a generation of Americans if we are unable to convince them that we are for them. The good news is that the democrats can not continue to
sell welfare because there won't be any more money to spend. Look at Europe and how they thought that they could spend their way to a socialist utopia .
Both parties must confront their bases and tell them that we can't continue on the path we are are going without serious consequences.

GOP balks at bill

The GOP caucus continues to have heartburn over increased revenue with no serious commitment to spending cuts. Unfortunately regardless of the outcome of this bill, it would still not address serious issues regarding the structural and long term deficits considering that we are still having to increase the debt ceiling.
The media continues to blame the te part wing of the GOP for being so difficult but if we do not deal with the debt then we will have to take far more drastic measures and then how will the democrats sell this to their constituents?