No.
The answer is no.
There should be no compromise over the Affordable Care Act. It is a duly passed law of the land that will make positive changes in the lives of millions of Americans. It will give them financial and wellness security. It will change, for the better, the way in which health care is delivered in this country. It's already led to far-reaching changes in the way that hospitals, health care organizations, doctors and pharmaceutical companies operate.
Checkups and physicals are now free.
Children can stay on thei parents' policies until age 26.
You cannot be denied insurance if you have a preexisting condition.
And for all of this, a minority in the government and in states where the greatest number of uninsured citizens live, who have convinced themselves that this law will lead to the untimely, government-sponsored deaths of grandmothers throughout the country, want to tie it to a devastating shutdown of the federal government.
No.
The answer has to be no.
They tried to kill the bill altogether last week, using parliamentary shenanigans that went nowhere and incurred the wrath of Republicans who normally would go along with whatever the party wanted. Now all they want is to delay the Medical Devices tax, which supposedly Democrats fear will lead to higher costs and more backlash.
No.
Because it's clear that the Republican extremists will not stop there. They tried a full kill. Now they want a delay? Does anybody think that they'll stop at the Medical Devices tax? Is that the endgame? Will John Boehner, Ted Cruz and Eric Cantor stand side-by-side on a podium in triumphal mode because the Medical Device tax will be delayed? Oh, that's in addition to approving the XL Pipeline and defunding the Consumer Protection Board and lowering taxes on the wealthy and everything else the Republican Party ran on and LOST in 2012? Will this make the GOP happy and go away?
No.
They want to whole thing gone, and if the Democrats fold on this they will rue that day because the rest of the bill will get flushed away later in October when the GOP decides to throw it in as a condition for raising the debt ceiling. That's the danger.
So my message to the president and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and Dick Durban is to borrow another Republican idea from the halcyon days of bipartisanship of the 1980s:
Just say no.
If you don't, you will have lost me and millions of others who feel the same way that I do.
You have been warned.
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Cruz Missal
It's not enough for Ted Cruz to be wrong, because he is. It's not enough that he's offensive, because he is. And it's not enough that he's a hypocrite, because he is. The worst part is that he has the whole package, and he's terribly difficult to listen to. But Ted Cruz represents much more in our era of divided, extremist, conservative government: It's the end of the line. When people like Ted Cruz make speeches that reference Nazi Germany and compare the present administration to it, you know that the GOP has gone gonzo overboard. This is not a governing party anymore--it's a collection of conspiracy theorists who happened to win votes in gerrymandered districts and in states where the majority of uninsured people in the United States live, but who have convinced themselves that getting health insurance amounts to treason.
The conservative movement has reached its apogee and is now in its slow, painful, destructive decline. It will bring a good part of the country down with it, but the good news is that at its worst, it only controls the House of Representatives. If it shuts down the government next week, it will lose that in 2014 and if it runs an ultra-conservative in 2016, it will lose that election too.
I've heard many pundits and political science professors say that we live in a center-right leaning country, and at this time I'm inclined to believe it. The problem for the Republicans is that they are not center-right: They are far right and represent a minority of the country. Most people don't want radical change of the sort that the far right is promoting. Many people oppose the health care law for good reason, but to say that it will drag down the economy and that it's the death knell of our way of life is irresponsible and hyperbolic.
But I guess Ted Cruz had to happen. Even members of his own party are abandoning him. If the shutdown is to be avoided, Democrats in the House will need a bill to support. This is not good for John Boehner or any of the farther rightists.
But it's the best thing to happen to the country in a while. Perhaps things are finally looking up.
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest
The conservative movement has reached its apogee and is now in its slow, painful, destructive decline. It will bring a good part of the country down with it, but the good news is that at its worst, it only controls the House of Representatives. If it shuts down the government next week, it will lose that in 2014 and if it runs an ultra-conservative in 2016, it will lose that election too.
I've heard many pundits and political science professors say that we live in a center-right leaning country, and at this time I'm inclined to believe it. The problem for the Republicans is that they are not center-right: They are far right and represent a minority of the country. Most people don't want radical change of the sort that the far right is promoting. Many people oppose the health care law for good reason, but to say that it will drag down the economy and that it's the death knell of our way of life is irresponsible and hyperbolic.
But I guess Ted Cruz had to happen. Even members of his own party are abandoning him. If the shutdown is to be avoided, Democrats in the House will need a bill to support. This is not good for John Boehner or any of the farther rightists.
But it's the best thing to happen to the country in a while. Perhaps things are finally looking up.
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Governor Disaster: Why Christie Could Lose Now and Will Lose in 2016
In case you missed it, there's a terrific piece on Governor Christie in the New Jersey media. Written by columnist Tom Moran, it lays bare the basic fact that although Christie has benefited from disaster, he's actually been a disaster as governor.
The basics:
Essentially, New Jersey has experienced failure at almost every level by which a politician is measured. And the one area where Christie got help from Democrats, on a pension and benefits bill that weakened collective bargaining and will eventually force public workers from their jobs, the economic effects will be devastating. In fact, many teachers will be bringing home less money three years from now than they are today. I've done the calculations: My take-home income will be going down over the next three years despite my actually getting a small raise. If you're a teacher and you want very bad news, input your salary and insurance premiums on this site. Do not have anything breakable nearby when you do.
But the issues go beyond the eventual devastation of a few hundred thousand people. There are millions of people in this state who cannot find jobs because of the governor's lack of leadership and the property taxes he promised to lower have actually gone up. Why? In the leafy suburbs where I live and work (for now), the governor slashed aid to schools and municipalities. More money has come from Trenton in the past two years, but the rest of the missing money had to be made up by a rise in local property taxes. For this past year, the district in which I work received one dollar ($1) more in state aid than last year. Meanwhile, salaries, supplies, state mandated testing, public safety and public accommodations still had to be paid for, not to mention basic municipal services.
The net effect of all of this is that people are making less money, costs are rising, jobs are not forthcoming and the governor is against common sense items such as raising the minimum wage, recognizing marriage equality, but he is in favor of protecting the wealthy by not asking them to contribute a little more to alleviate the pain.
And for this, Christie has a 20 point lead in the polls.
That's because many Democrats in New Jersey have sold their souls for the primary reason that they see Christie as their gravy train. Not for state money, mind you, but for personal gain and power. How else to measure the utter lack of support for Democratic candidate, Senator Barbara Buono?
Here is a terrific, personable, dynamic, focused, humanistic candidate who is on the right side of the issues that New Jersey cares about. She stands up for women's health in the face of Christie's cuts to Planned Parenthood, supports marriage equality and has a plan to get the economy moving again. I saw Buono and her running mate, Milly Silva, speak at an event last week and I can say from personal experience that these are two highly intelligent, articulate people who act the opposite of the volatile, bullying, inappropriate antics of the present occupant in Trenton.
But the Democrats are split and President Obama is nowhere to be found. Still, Christie is only polling at 50%. Yes, he's ahead, but if the left can get its act together and highlight what Moran has written, this race could get closer.
Which then brings us to Christie's dream of a 2016 presidential run. If he wins with close to 50% of the vote, he can't claim a mandate as a crossover candidate. Further, he won't get much anything else done with a Democratic legislature. Where does that leave him? To bloviate and fuss about what he would do if he had the means, and that will force him to move farther to the right. The problem is that any right wing opponent will only have to play the video of Obama and Christie at the shore after Sandy and the magic will seep out of his campaign. Along the way, he'll also hurt himself by saying things that sound great to his supporters when you see them on YouTube, but will not play well at all with those who want a responsible adult as their leader.
Mark my words: Chris Christie will never be President of the United States. Let's also try to make sure he isn't reelected. We can't afford even two more years of his misrule.
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest
The basics:
Essentially, New Jersey has experienced failure at almost every level by which a politician is measured. And the one area where Christie got help from Democrats, on a pension and benefits bill that weakened collective bargaining and will eventually force public workers from their jobs, the economic effects will be devastating. In fact, many teachers will be bringing home less money three years from now than they are today. I've done the calculations: My take-home income will be going down over the next three years despite my actually getting a small raise. If you're a teacher and you want very bad news, input your salary and insurance premiums on this site. Do not have anything breakable nearby when you do.
But the issues go beyond the eventual devastation of a few hundred thousand people. There are millions of people in this state who cannot find jobs because of the governor's lack of leadership and the property taxes he promised to lower have actually gone up. Why? In the leafy suburbs where I live and work (for now), the governor slashed aid to schools and municipalities. More money has come from Trenton in the past two years, but the rest of the missing money had to be made up by a rise in local property taxes. For this past year, the district in which I work received one dollar ($1) more in state aid than last year. Meanwhile, salaries, supplies, state mandated testing, public safety and public accommodations still had to be paid for, not to mention basic municipal services.
The net effect of all of this is that people are making less money, costs are rising, jobs are not forthcoming and the governor is against common sense items such as raising the minimum wage, recognizing marriage equality, but he is in favor of protecting the wealthy by not asking them to contribute a little more to alleviate the pain.
And for this, Christie has a 20 point lead in the polls.
That's because many Democrats in New Jersey have sold their souls for the primary reason that they see Christie as their gravy train. Not for state money, mind you, but for personal gain and power. How else to measure the utter lack of support for Democratic candidate, Senator Barbara Buono?
Here is a terrific, personable, dynamic, focused, humanistic candidate who is on the right side of the issues that New Jersey cares about. She stands up for women's health in the face of Christie's cuts to Planned Parenthood, supports marriage equality and has a plan to get the economy moving again. I saw Buono and her running mate, Milly Silva, speak at an event last week and I can say from personal experience that these are two highly intelligent, articulate people who act the opposite of the volatile, bullying, inappropriate antics of the present occupant in Trenton.
But the Democrats are split and President Obama is nowhere to be found. Still, Christie is only polling at 50%. Yes, he's ahead, but if the left can get its act together and highlight what Moran has written, this race could get closer.
Which then brings us to Christie's dream of a 2016 presidential run. If he wins with close to 50% of the vote, he can't claim a mandate as a crossover candidate. Further, he won't get much anything else done with a Democratic legislature. Where does that leave him? To bloviate and fuss about what he would do if he had the means, and that will force him to move farther to the right. The problem is that any right wing opponent will only have to play the video of Obama and Christie at the shore after Sandy and the magic will seep out of his campaign. Along the way, he'll also hurt himself by saying things that sound great to his supporters when you see them on YouTube, but will not play well at all with those who want a responsible adult as their leader.
Mark my words: Chris Christie will never be President of the United States. Let's also try to make sure he isn't reelected. We can't afford even two more years of his misrule.
For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest
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