Tag: Democratic Party

Biden Their Time

Or, “Oh no, say it ain’t Joe”

As I write it seems pretty clear that the Democratic Party is hell-bent on ramming Joe Biden down our collective throats as the “Be Reasonable” candidate. This would prove that they learned absolutely nothing from 2016. There are literally thousands of reasons for millions of people to vote against Joe, however much political experience he has.

Biden’s role in criminal “reform.” Joe was instrumental in passing the 1994 crime bill. You know, the one where the Clintons were refering to “Super-Predators”? It’s also the one that made the United States the leading producer of prison inmates. Even Joe himself is no longer proud of his role in that. At least one opponent calls for repealing it altogether.

Biden’s role in bankruptcy “reform.” Joe actually cast the deciding vote on this one, doing the bidding of his Delaware corporate masters well. This bill made it hard to discharge credit card bills in bankruptcy, and impossible to discharge student loan debt. We have millions of people buried under debt due to these changes. Think they’re lining up to vote for Joe? Think they’re lining up to vote for any status-quo “Be Reasonable” candidate?

Biden’s role in health insurance “reform.” No mistake, I knew that health insurance reform was largely doomed early on, when The Powers That Be decided that they didn’t need any help from the one guy that had seen health insurance from every possible angle and gotten universal health care for every kid under 18 in his home state. But Joe actively tried to undermine contraceptive coverage in Romneycare 2.0 Obamacare.

So yeah, anytime Biden and “reform” come up in one breath, it sure seems like something bad is coming.

Biden and women. Ok, fine let’s say you want to overlook the whole contraceptive thing. If a picture really does say a thousand words, then there are many thousands of words said about Joe Biden having his picture taken with uncomfortable looking women. Dude is so stuck in the past that he still thinks it’s a brother’s job to defend his sister’s honor, or at least “keep the guys away” from her. As if she can’t say “no thanks, not interested” or accept a date on her own. This is not a big step forward for women in America, and non-penis owning Americans know it.

Biden and race. Recently his Freudian slip was showing when he said that poor kids were as smart as “white kids.” Oops, he apologized for saying what he seems to actually believe.

Biden’s continuing Foot In Mouth disease. G7. Two characters, three syllables, he managed to mess that up. Heck, he’s even willing to crack jokes about how he messes stuff up. One progressive source has compiled a list of some of his more choice, uh, statements.

Even Obama says don’t do it. Really, enough said.

AOC and Trump

Wow, that’s a funny combo, right?

And yet, the Democratic Party needs to learn the same thing from the success of both of them. And they need to hustle, because 2020 is closer than those of us outside politics like.

Both of these politicians, and the Tea Party before them, rose to power on the frustration of the American People. Voters — the people who actually decide who wins elections — are tired of being told to pipe down, be reasonable, grown ups are talking, and eat what your mother made I don’t care if you’re allergic to it.

We’re tired of being told the economy is doing great because after all look at the DJIA, when many people are barely scraping by. We’re tired of being told that employment is low, when wages are stagnant, benefits are shrinking, and our net worth is going down. Sure, unemployment is down, but so is the ability to pay the rent and buy groceries.

If you want to win elections, you need votes. And that means you have to actually address the issues that are important to normal Americans. Don’t tell us everything is fine and be reasonable. The people who voted for Trump and the people who voted for AOC are both tired of being told to be reasonable.

Some Random Election Day Thoughts

 

In Nevada, we have early voting. A lot of votes are long since cast. In fact, 40% of our votes are already done. We have some races with national impact, so please indulge me.

Multiple candidates have ads running against them that basically say “Votes like Pelosi.” Hmm, maybe my thoughts that Pelosi is part of the problem with the modern Democratic party have some merit.

Let’s just talk about Dean Heller for a minute. Last year, the President said “He wants to remain a Senator, doesn’t he?” This implied that he would tow the party line or else. The ironic thing is that in kowtowing to the party, he alienated all the centrist and mostly-but-not-rabid Democrats that had voted for him in 2012, all the people who had said “well, he’s done a decent enough job for Nevada so far.” This race is a toss-up.

One candidate for Congress is Republican Danny Tarkanian. Notice the long list of times he’s tried to get elected — including twice in 2018. Now look at the long section on legal issues. As nearly as I can tell, the only good thing this guy has done in his entire life is be born the son of a popular basketball coach. Oddly enough, this race still appears to be a toss-up too.

And that brings me to the concept of The Perfect Candidate. I first noticed this problem in the 2016 elections, and it’s gotten worse. The New York Times encourages us to “vote anyway.” Democrats are already being warned to suck it up and vote for the chosen one whoever it is or else. Oh, for completeness, here’s the other version. Well, ya know, maybe if the Democrats didn’t insist that they had the right to rig primaries they could have had a better shot in 2016. And stop with that “most qualified candidate in history” nonsense. The so-called “most qualified candidate in history” forgot that only electoral votes win Presidential elections, a mistake that no high school government student with a passing grade would make.

So I guess what I’m saying is I don’t need a perfect candidate, but I do need a good enough one. I don’t want to hold my nose to vote. I don’t want to “Be reasonable and vote for who we tell you to.”

And let’s just not get started on the mud-fest that is our Governor’s race.

A Shorties Place

Hello everyone, and sorry for the delay in posting.

Good news: Hospital acquired infections are down.

Not so good news: things are not so great economically for the class of 2018.

Don’t ask questions you don’t want answered: Turns out people think a living wage is a good idea. I find a good argument to be “if you like eating a fast food lunch, somebody has to prepare it. And students should be in school, so it needs to be an adult.”

On Democrats: Ok, I get it. Not all candidates are viable. But the party can’t keep running corporate-owned candidates under a mantle of “be reasonable! Who else are you gonna vote for?” Gee I don’t know, Republicans? Maybe somebody who actually has the appearance of caring for voters? Maybe we could have something like a “primary” to determine who “viable” candidates are? I hate when an election boils down to “which one do I hate least”.

We could really use Fred Rogers: Seriously. I think I’d even vote for him. Oh but who am I kidding, I’d vote for Teddy Roosevelt if he were alive.

On Child Marriages: Thought they only happened overseas? Wrong.  But oddly enough they only seem to happen to girls….

Mandatory Insurance is not Universal Health Care: Nurses think Democrats could get a few votes out of the idea of true single-payer universal health insurance. But no, that idea has had no political traction since the administration of  Richard M. Nixon. Insert sarcasm here about leftists and socialists.

And last: Fun with Naval Tats.

 

The Shorties Cure

Hey folks, sorry for light posting. Life got in the way of writing. Hope to return to a more regular schedule Shortly.

Poor Chuck: Don’t get me wrong, I consider Chuck to be one of the problems with the modern Democratic Party — although it’s possible he’s just a symptom. Anyway, he sure is taking heat for this government shutdown ending. Like lots of source links? Enjoy.

More on kids: it ain’t easy being a poor kid in America.

An actual expert: An Obstetrician on the topic of late term abortion.

Rent: Unfortunately, the big institutions that brought us the housing crisis aren’t particularly interested in being nice landlords either. Hmm, maybe that’s why rental law is governed on the state level.

Go Vegas!: First, here’s some fun and free/cheap things to do in town. Oh yeah, and Go Golden Knights!

And finally,

Whiskey: turns out it kills germs.

I’ve had both right and left leaning links today. Turns out that when you return to the true center, you find both truth and untruth on virtually every point of the political spectrum.

Remember When

Think back to when you were a kid.

Didn’t have much control of your life, did you?

Dinner was what mom cooked. If you didn’t like it, you had the option of going hungry. That’s if you were lucky. Some of you lived in households where you were cleaning your plate whether you like it or not.

You didn’t have any say over whether mom and dad had money for the latest cool toy. Strictly speaking, you didn’t have any say over whether mom and dad had money for shoes that actually fit you.

And you sure as heck had no control over where you lived. You lived where mom and/or dad said you would live. Doesn’t matter if it’s a nice house, a cheap apartment, a rat infested tenement, or wherever.

So this is why I support a clean DACA bill to give a clear path to citizenship to kids whose parents decided they would live in a foreign land. Those kids did not ask to be brought here illegally. They certainly did not have any say in the decision, no opportunity to persuade their parents otherwise. I also still support comprehensive immigration reform that involves greatly simplifying the process, raising immigration caps, and stiff penalties for employers who don’t like following the law.

But while we’re on the topic of stuff kids can’t control, they also can’t control whether there’s enough money for health care. Unfortunately, Congress is continuing to drop the ball on renewing CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program. That’s despite the fact that it has bipartisan support. That’s despite the fact that no Congressman is brave enough to come out against health care for kids who can’t afford it. Imagine the campaign ads against him!

Remember this when your Senators and Representatives come up for re-election.

In Closing: Poverty in America; Joe Arpaio just won’t go away; they missed #6, Democrats can win if they actually run better candidates than the competition.

Wake-Up Call

Wake up call! Come home from the polls
With another one in my Senate!
Don’t you care about Ted anymore?
Care about Ted? I don’t think so!

No 60 votes, health care bill in trouble
So I had to shoot it dead.
Won’t come around here anymore.
Come around here… I don’t feel so bad!

Yesterday, everybody went crazy trying to figure out what went wrong and what was going to happen next. So what went wrong? You can’t blame it all on Coakley’s terrible and tone-deaf campaign as much as some people would like to. The party has to take some blame for not delivering on very darn much.

Very interesting that all of a sudden today, we are talking about financial services reform. The administration spent a year playing nice and begging the banks to do likewise, and now we’re playing hardball. Go figure! My theory is that it’s a combination of quid pro quo (they didn’t do their part towards making sure that seat went to a Democrat, any Democrat), and a desire to at least appear that they are finally going to protect the American people from the predatory financial services industry that has been robbing the economy blind.

So, let’s hope the Democratic party takes the situation in Massachusetts for what it is: a wake-up call. They have 10 months to get their act together! That means doing The People’s Work, and not just for show.

In closing: reasons profiling won’t catch terrorists go beyond Tim McVeigh; don’t feel too bad about your house’s value, even the White House lost value last year (hold the jokes about the President, please); better shoelace tying; and giant cattle.