Washington Extra – Star power
It was a bit of a shock to learn on the Internet that a wobbly Earth has put the old Zodiac out of whack, and even added a 13th astrological sign – Ophiuchus (I’m changing my birthday if I end up landing in that one).
Speaking of star power… President Barack Obama showed his last night at the memorial service for the Arizona shooting victims. He connected. The more somber and emotional his speech, the more the audience reacted with approval.
“It’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds,” Obama said.
Can Washington actually change the polarized discourse that Obama talked about? Well, next week will be a good test. The House of Representatives will resume debate on legislation to repeal Obama’s landmark healthcare overhaul.
The House had intended to act this week on the repeal bill, but the vote was postponed following the Arizona shooting spree. The tragedy led to a national debate on whether political rhetoric has gone too far.
One star from Texas, Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, the only woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate from the “Lone Star” state, has decided not to seek another term.
The stars will probably still be aligned in favor of a Republican for that seat.
2012 may be an open door for Palin, but first comes 2010
Sarah Palin’s right. It would be absurd for her not to consider a White House bid in 2012, especially while Tea Partiers are chanting, “Run, Sarah, run!” But first come this November’s elections, which could help build Palin’s credibility if her high-profile public appearances (and repeated attacks on President Barack Obama) actually help conservative candidates get elected to Congress and important state offices around the country. If.
Some political experts say Palin’s weekend keynote speech at the big Tea party in Nashville was her best since the 2008 GOP convention — detailed, focused and high on energy. Lucrative, too, given the $100,000 speaker’s fee, though the on-stage interview seemed a bit scripted, especially the part about what she’d do if she were president. The appearance also kicked off a busy travel schedule to help candidates in this year’s campaign. On Super Bowl Sunday, she was in Texas helping Republican Gov. Rick Perry with his March gubernatorial primary contest against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Polling results show Hutchison trailing the incumbent by 15 percentage points and losing ground to a third candidate, Tea Party activist Debra Medina.
Palin spent much of her time in the Lone Star State assailing Washington, and by implication, Hutchison. She raised a huge cheer by pointing out in non-establishment fashion that Texans might like to secede. But moving the national political applause needle to the right in 2010 could be much more difficult than rallying friendly audiences or using a talking hand to bash that “charismatic guy with a TelePrompTer.” A state-by-state analysis of Obama’s job approval ratings by Gallup may offer a glimpse of the voter sentiment challenge that Palin and her conservative allies face this year.
The data show the president’s average approval for 2009 above 50 percent in 40 states including Gov. Perry’s Texas and the Tea Party conventioneers’ Tennessee. In fact, his ratings were substantially above 50 percent in more than 30 states including many in the Southeast, the Midwest and the Southwest, regions where Palin might hope to do well on behalf of conservative Republicans.
Whether Obama’s numbers can translate into good news for Democrats in November is an open question. And the doubts are palpable. In Massachusetts, where his 2009 approval rating was 66.8 percent, Tea Partiers helped Republican Scott Brown capture Teddy Kennedy’s Senate seat.
Photo credits: Reuters/Josh Anderson (Palin); Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (U.S. Capitol); Reuters/Jason Reed (Candidate Obama and Youngster)
The First Draft: US healthcare reform as a tale of two cities
“…it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way…” Charles Dickens never met U.S. senators Chuck Schumer of New York and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas. But he may have inadvertently captured the partisan spirit of the U.S. healthcare reform debate when he published his novel, “A Tale of Two Cities,” with its famous introduction, 150 years ago. Democrat Chuck and Republican Kay made clear on NBC’s Today show how many in their respective parties see the sweeping overhaul legislation that reached the U.S. Senate floor over the weekend. And by the sound of things, Washington could be two different cities. Chuck seemed to present healthcare reform as a vehicle for economic salvation: “The future of the country depends on getting something done or the government will go broke, private businesses will go broke and people will go broke.”
Or could reform lead in that other direction?
Here’s Kay: “We are in a jobless situation in our country, an economic crisis. You are going to put taxes and mandates on business that are going to make that situation even worse. One in 10 people in America today do not have a job. Now you’re putting mandates and taxes on every individual who doesn’t have healthcare and every business that we want to ask to hire people. And yet you’re putting taxes and mandates on them that makes this unaffordable. This is a terrible idea at this time.” Of course, partisan differences will mean little if Democrats can retain the same 60-vote, Republican-filibuster-proof sense of community that got the bill to the floor in the first place. Chuck seems confident: “We will come together for this reason. The healthcare system is broken in this sense: Medicare will be broke in seven years, private insurance doubles every six years (and) tens of millions will lose it. If we don’t do anything, that is the worst situation. And we have a good bill that cuts costs, reduces the deficit and covers more people.” Either way, it’s bound to be one dickens of a debate.
Photo credits: Reuters/Chip East (Schumer); Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (Hutchison)
Im a Hard working tax payer I demand the same (Socialized) HEALTH CARE coverage as all Honorable Senator & congress person has, which i pay with my Taxes.So If i have to pay 40% of my wages for Health insurance you should too.Beside How can I give my children and Grand children any inheritance if The insurance company takes it Even before i die.Think about it and look it our children future.Respectfully.Michael Kovacs
Republican senators call for ending era of ‘permanent politicians’
Don’t expect the U.S. Congress — packed with old men and women who have been in office for decades — to embrace a proposal to term limit themselves.
Republican senators Jim DeMint, Tom Coburn, Kay Bailey Hutchison and Sam Brownback offered such a measure on Tuesday, saying it would be good to get fresh blood on Capitol Hill.
“Americans know real change in Washington will never happen until we end the era of permanent politicians,” DeMint said.
“Over the last 20 years, Washington politicians have been re-elected about 90 percent of the time because the system is heavily tilted in favor of incumbents.”
Coburn says the best way to ensure a government of the people “is to replace the career politicians in Washington with citizen legislators who care more about the next generation than their next election.”
The four Republican senators proposed a constitutional amendment that would limit members of the House of Representatives to three, two-year terms — and members of the Senate to two, six-year terms. Easier said than done.
Previous efforts, dating back to the birth of the nation, have come up short and this one will likely fail as well.
Mufaso,
Brilliant, one sentence and you’re right on the money.
Robert Smith,
Our gov’t is very similar to Iran’s. Our country isn’t really democratic, it’s mostly run by corporate elites who are born into their position mostly and by the federal reserve which is elected by no one. In Iran they have elections but their country is mostly run by the shah and his inner circle.
Term limits would be a nice start in trying to find a way to limit the power of gov’t. I think this is just posturing though, these particular politicians know this has zero chance of passing so they make it sound like it’s what they really want.
I put my trust in a man who voluntarily returns a large chunk of his pay to the US treasury every year, and does so everytime without anyone needing to ask him, Dr. Ron Paul.
