This Day in American Politics – 8 February
I’ve been doing research into the Washington administration recently, including making a timeline of the administration. This inspired the idea of doing a day-by-day segment for this blog to share my history geekiness with all. Enjoy!
1790 – The House of Representatives began to debate Alexander Hamilton’s Report on Public Credit; James Iredell was appointed as an Associate Justice to the Supreme Court
1791 – The House of Representatives passes the bill to charter the Bank of the United States
1865 – Delaware voters reject the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution
1922 – The first radio is introduced to the White House during the Harding administration
1978 – First radio broadcast of US Senate proceedings
News Round-Up for 25 January 2010
Huffington Post: Geithner Warns That Markets Could Dive If Bernanke Is Not Reconfirmed
Wall Street Journal: Ask Obama About Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Politics Daily: The Mayors’ Message to Washington – Funnel Aid Through the Cities
Politico: Dems’ Bush-bashing goes bust
Politics Daily: Another Democrat Bows Out – Arkansas Rep. Marion Berry Will Retire
What Mass. means for us
The results are in, and now the blame game begins. For Democrats, the focus isn’t that Scott Brown won. It’s that Martha Coakley lost, and that focus is with good reason. The Democrats just lost by five percentage points a seat that has been Democratic since 1953 in a state that hasn’t elected a Republican to the Senate since 1979 and that hasn’t had a Republican in a House seat since 1997. All of Massachusetts’ counties voted for Barack Obama in 2008. Yet even with the sitting President, the last Democratic President, and the Kennedys campaigning for her, Martha Coakley lost. She’s not the only one that lost, though, and Scott Brown isn’t the only one that won. Yes, in essence, this was a Senate race just like any other Senate race, but it illustrated a basic principle that both parties have forgotten. Five simple words: There is no safe seat.
This seat in the Senate was occupied by Ted Kennedy since November of 1962, but it is the property of the commonwealth of Massachusetts and its citizens. No matter how long one person or one party holds on to a seat, they still have to earn it again in each election cycle. Martha Coakley made the mistake of assuming that she was a shoo-in after winning the Democratic primary. It was the Democrats’ seat, she assumed. Not so. No one wins or loses an election until the votes are cast and counted. We as citizens must remember that we hold this power. The way things are now are not the way they have to be. We can have change, but we have to see the change through each election, every election. Those in power have to prove themselves to us, or we have the power to toss them out on their asses. Martha Coakley didn’t prove herself. Scott Brown proved enough to the people of Massachusetts that they voted him in.
However, we’d make a mistake if we didn’t look into what this said about the Democratic Party as a whole. While the Democrats want to blame Coakley for the loss, the national Democratic leaders got involved, got invested, and got rejected as well. Pollster Celinda Lake told the Huffington Post before the votes closed that “Voters are still voting for the change they voted for in 2008, but they want to see it. And right now they think they’ve got economic policies for Washington that are delivering more for banks than Main Street.” [1] When national Democrats got involved in the election, they pushed the point that a vote for Scott Brown was a vote against health insurance reform or a vote against the policies of the current administration. However, now that the votes are in, they are saying that it is just about Scott Brown. It is and it isn’t. People are frustrated. People want change. What we’ve seen in the past year is not change. Health care reform should lower the cost of health care for the consumer, not require everyone to have health insurance or else have to pay a penalty. Too big to fail companies should not be allowed to be too big to fail, but instead, ‘too big to fail’ is being codified and condoned. An economic recovery should occur that fixes the problems which lead to the recession in the first place instead of trying to build up the same old bubbles all over again. Change means change, real change, not a fresh coat of paint on a broken house. There are things about society and the current system that are broken, but there are also things that are working. We have to identify the positives and build from there, not throw out the baby with the bathwater. It seems like every politician comes in nowadays with “sweeping new change” where they say that everything’s broken, but instead of fixing what’s broken, they just break some new stuff and leave it for someone else to fix. It’s time that the American people take all of our seats back and sweep out the problems, be they fiscal regulations, bureaucratic red tape, or political figures. All parties should take Massachusetts as notice to actually do something instead of giving us lip service or be prepared to lose ‘your’ seats. It’s time for Americans to reclaim what is rightfully ours. We own 535 voting seats in the Congress and a big chair in the White House. The people that we elect to them work for us, not the other way around. In short, what happened in Massachusetts can best be summarized as, “either do the work or make room for someone who will.”
News Round-Up for 15 Jan 2010
CQPolitics: Banking Fee Proposal Faces Trouble From More Than One Direction
Bloomberg: Dodd Said to Weigh Dropping Consumer Agency From Overhaul Plan
Politico: FDIC chair – Checks were missed
BBC News: Iraqi election commission bans 500 candidates
BBC News: Sudan’s SPLM leader Salva Kiir snubs national election
BBC News: Russia MPs back human rights reform
BBC News: Expelled Tory MEP may sue party in Brussels row
ABC News: Obama Gives Speeches, Interviews But Few Press Conferences
AP: Secret Senate digs proliferate
San Jose Mercury News: Fiorina slams Boxer as ‘a failed senator’
Thoughts and prayers with the people of Haiti
For anyone interested in donating to the Haiti relief effort, I wanted to provide this link to a list on MSNBC’s website of organizations involved in the relief effort. My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti who have already suffered much over the years and hope that, as former President Clinton said on All Things Considered yesterday, this can be approached as a regeneration to help the people of Haiti rebuild their country into a better place and to rectify the various circumstances (poor building standards, overcrowding in poor living conditions, extreme poverty, etc.) that contributed to this being such a devastating tragedy.
News Round-Up for 14 January 2010
AP: Obama wants record $708 billion for wars next year
Huffington Post: Military Lawyers Advise Delay Of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Repeal
BBC News: Emergency talks for Guinea junta in Burkina Faso
BBC News: Mongolia leader calls for end to death penalty
NY Times: Harry Reid Faces Battles in Washington and at Home
News & Observer: GOP’s Reeves to challenge Miller
CQPolitics: Thurmond’s Son Just One Familiar Name in S.C. Race
News Round-Up for 13 Jan 2010
AP: Obama likes national health exchange
Reuters: Fed paid record $46.1 billion to Treasury in 2009
Bloomberg: Issa Says Someone Must Be Held Accountable for AIG
AP: White House changes job-count rule
BBC News: Uganda President Museveni wary of anti-gay bill
Reuters: Obama to meet with House Republicans
Wall Street Journal: White House Picks Favorites in 2010 Races
Politics Daily: Massachusetts Senate – The Winner Will Be No Adams, Webster, or Kennedy
CQPolitics: Money, Clout and Texas Politics
Questions of the Day – 12 Jan 2010
So I’ve been thinking about this for a bit and thought I’d give it a shot. I’m going to try a new segment in which I post some stories and throw out some points/questions that come to mind about stories.
First up: New Jersey Legislature Pass Medical Marijuana Bill
Why is it that state legislatures and voters in fourteen states can vote in medical marijuana till the cows come home, yet same-sex marriage has only passed in the NH and VT legislatures and the DC city council (well, the ME legislature too, but then was defeated by the people) and was also defeated in 31 states where it was put to a vote?
White House Opposes Harold Ford’s Challenge to Gillibrand
Why has the White House spent so much time and effort over the past few months to shut down anyone who thinks about challenging Gillibrand in the primary? Are they so afraid that Gillibrand will lose the primary that, while we’re dealing with numerous national and international situations/near crises that should get the full attention of the White House, they’ve got to take time to worry about a Senate primary? Also, shouldn’t the voters of New York be the ones who choose whether they’re “quite happy with the leadership and the representation of Senator Gillibrand” or not?
States Lower Test Standards for a High School Diploma
Yes, this is obviously the way to fix the long-ailing American public school system. Let’s require students to learn even less so that college and universities get passed the buck to teach students what they should’ve learned in middle and high school if the students even make it that far. Why should students be expected to care about the value of education when it’s obvious that no one else does anymore?
And finally: Senators Propose Commission To Explore Deficit
Thank you for finally, after nine years of out of control spending, realizing that the deficit needs to be handled. But seriously, your solution is to make it even more difficult to do anything because you’re requiring a supermajority and thus much more unlikely that anything will actually happen to get the deficit under control? Is anyone else tired of lip service proposals coming from Washington, or is it just me?
News Round-Up for 12 Jan 2010
Bloomberg: Federal Reserve Seeks to Protect U.S. Bailout Secrets
AP: Obama weighing new levy on banks
AP: Pelosi, LaHood laud US investment in autos
AP: Clinton seeks answer to sticky dispute with Japan
AP: Labor angry over Obama-backed insurance tax
Huffington Post: Trumka – Democrats Are Inviting A Repeat of 1994
News Round-Up for 11 Jan 2010
NY Times: For Wall St., Question on Top Bonuses Is 7 Figures or 8
AP: Road projects don’t help unemployment
AP: US grants $187M for fuel efficiency research
AFP: Gay marriage goes on trial in US federal court
News & Observer: Republicans fight same-sex marriage in D.C.
NY Times: Ballot Issues Attest to Anger in California
BBC News: Israel to construct barrier along Egyptian border
Politico: Dems launch defense to save Reid
Politico: How long will Rahm remain?
Politics Daily: North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven to Announce Senate Bid
