The Pendulum isn't swinging both ways these days

My bent is naturally leaning towards a progressive government. I'm fiscally conservative by nature, yet the arc leans toward progressive policies on social issues.

I've got to say lately I've become more and more resigned to the fact that I'm disappointed in all GOP candidates and elected office-holders. Not because I believe the Democratic candidates are so far morally superior. But the policies of the Republicans have pushed them out of the middle completely.

There should be common ground on many divisive issues. All Americans should have backed banking and finance reform and worked to carve out a strong bill. Instead the Dodd-Frank bill was rendered toothless in many respects because of GOP opposition and pressure from big banking interests. Campaign finance reform should be a national cause from both parties. Instead the Tea Party groups are sponsored again by big money interests and powerful lobbies.

It's not that Democratic candidates don't have these same problems. It's simply intensified in the Republican party. The idea they can win regionally but not nationally-meaning presidentially-has taken hold.

The pendulum usually swings both ways but the GOP Presidential candidates are leaning farther and farther away from the center.

The center backs immigration reform. Background checks for all gun purchases. The center backs clean air and water. All the things that denote freedom, not just speech and toting guns, are at stake in our elections. Our quality of life and how we choose to live. Invasion of privacy and wire-tapping, how we rein in big corporations-as influenced by the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.

Who sits on the Supreme Court, how we administer health care to our citizens, all these things matter. They should not all be partisan issues. That is the greatest disappointment I've found with the GOP. They have politicized everything, even Foreign Policy issues that always left partisanship at the waters edge in past times.

Now the only thing continually branded as Un-American by Republican lawmakers is the President himself. That's a major disappointment. The saying, "I vote for the man, not the Party" used to make sense at some levels. But no more.

I vote safe these days. I vote for freedom and liberty. It's a safe bet to vote against the GOP in this day and age. Here's hoping that will change in the decade to come.

Comments

Hillary and the Man in the Arena

From the standpoint of one who voted for and endorsed Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton, there seems to be a question hanging in the air. How could someone who opposed the Clintonian dynasty support Hillary’s bid for the Presidency? Isn’t it a bit hypocritical? Or at least inconsistent with the view previously taken? This is true for many supporters of Obama. Some on the left cannot support her bid for President.They see many of her acknowledged flaws and conclude she cannot be a viable option. My view comes from watching her over the course of the past eight years, four as the Secretary of State within this Administration. And having watched the two debate in 2008- Obama vs. Hillary- there can be little question that the divide that separates them on most issues is a small one. Theirs is a centrist left view of the world. On Foreign Policy, I daresay that Hillary would never have worked for Obama had she held wildly opposing views from his own world view. But the...

The Fifth Risk: A Chillingly Prophetic Narrative for our Time

For those who have never read this book, ,”The Fifth Risk” is a chillingly prophetic narrative that perfectly embodies the reasoning and set of circumstances that have led us to this point in the pandemic. Not only is there no plan for getting us out of the Pandemic-at least from the Trump Administration- there is instead a decisive narrative which Lewis lays out that allows you to understand why there is a pattern to the idea of simply ‘dropping off the cliff.’ The plan from the beginning, long before the Trump Administration even began to take power, was to break down the walls of governance that had surrounded the Washington agencies for decades prior. Of course, many of Trump’s supporters argue: That is the point! Steve Bannon proudly declared that government would be ‘de-constructed.’ And even those who ended up disagreeing with Trump heavily, such as John Kelly and Rex Tillerson, did help implement the policies that were laid out in the beginning of Trump’s tenur...

The Herculean Task of the Democratic House in 2019

Nancy Pelosi has finally said something about what Dems will do when and if they take control of the House. The laundry list should begin to get awfully long by now. The Ethics concerns should have begun to pile up from Day One of the Trump Presidency. At present, there is no mechanism of checks and balances on the insider trading, the cronyism, the government waste, fraud and abuse, the corruption and flagrant spending of taxpayer money for personal expenses within this corrupt administration. Steve Schmidt, former Republican strategist, is correct in saying the Democrats should have been better at hammering home this message. And frankly, the Dems have never been good at messaging and they aren’t getting any better now. But the Trump Administration is so bad, so corrupt and over-reaching, that they may win in spite of themselves. The list should include: · Hearings on ALL Trump Administration officials to restor...

Red State/Blue State

Search This Blog