GOP Has A Path: But…This Is What You Can’t Do
If the GOP wants to win in 2016, what you are planning to do, you just can’t do. There is a path for a national victory, but on this current trajectory, you will surely step on your on feet as usual. So I put together a short list of all the things you just can’t do if you hope to know what its like to win a national election again. You do remember what a national election is right?
What You Can’t Do Is: Run on Benghazi – I know you want too and you honestly think its a good thing to keep talking about. Its going on three weeks now after the story has resurfaced for no apparent reason other than its a good retread story that makes good hearing photos. Nothing new under the sun has come to light on this horrific incident and yet you guys drive it like Ken Starr of the 90′s investigating Whitewater and Lewinsky. You have to know that this dog won’t hunt so why keep it out there?
1. Fundraising: Sure it helps raise much needed cash from your base, but unless you ever plan to discuss something else, $1 billion dollars won’t be enough, just ask Romney. Mr. Romney actually got 2 million less votes than John McCain received in 2008 against Obama. So for $1 billion dollars invested in Romney, conservatives got a lot less on their return.
2. Ignite the GOP base: Yeah, I guess you could use Benghazi for that too, but I mean really, one of the key miscalculations of the Team Romney in 2012 was underestimating the Democrats turnout operation. Instead of less, more African Americans turned out in Virginia, Colorado, Florida and Pennsylvania than anyone had ever imagined and this was know by the early exit polls on the afternoon of Election Day. It would only get worse as the day wore on.
If we include Hispanics, Women and Asians, and The Obama Rule, what initially looked like an upset for conservatives, quickly became a walk in the park for the President. Here is the fact, less republicans actually turned out to vote than democrats. Why? Romney wasn’t providing a coherent message to the base.
Another fact, Ryan easily won re-election in his Congressional district to return to Congress, but those same voters who willfully and easily returned him to Washington D.C. as their Representative were not willing to send him as their Vice President. He lost his home state for Romney which has not been done since Al Gore lost his home state of Tennessee in 2000.
What You Can’t Do Is: Run on the IRS – Again, albeit tempting, how much can you extract from this…even with more of this story still unfolding? Unless you can put the phone to Obama’s ear or the email on his desk, this will only do the two things we just identified above. Words not to use…“47 Percent”. Raising money doesn’t seem to be the issue for conservatives as long as their is a democrat in The White House so no need to chase the donors, they will come.
Republicans looking for a story should continue to investigate worthwhile leads and follow them where ever they take you. But keep in mind, Obama is not on the ballot in 2016, so running against Obama will be a futile exercise. Republicans must decide now which path they will adopt as the party leaders and wanna-be leaders fight for control internally. Democrats will actually relish the third Obama election in theory considering republicans lost the last two he actually ran in.
Chasing the IRS-big brother-anti ideology while President Obama stands next to Hillary and Bill Clinton with clasped hands raised, the proverbial “crowning” of his successor is really what you shouldn’t spend your time and donations doing.
With that said, unless you can put the phone in Hillary’s hand or the email regarding the IRS illegally pursuing conservative groups, tell me and the rest of America, precisely how you plan to ride this to victory in two and a half years? Most Americans don’t care today, exactly how are you going to make them care in two and a half years? Take a moment and get back to me on that.
What You Can’t Do Is: Run on states rights when it comes to social issues – States rights ought to be a thing of the past. Now, I know how you guys are really bent on keeping this as a part of your election platform and there is just no way to get you all to remove that, but just a word to the wise, democrats don’t hear “states rights” or “let the states decide” when their is an unpopular Governor in that state, i.e. Rick Scott of Florida, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and Jan Brewer of Arizona.
Each of those state’s Governors are currently on the wrong side, according to their own state’s polling on key issues. Jindal refuses to expand Medicaid even when his citizen’s could benefit from it the most. His own presidential hopes keeps him from doing what is right for the people of Louisiana. Rick Scott changed his mind and will now accept the expansion which will include millions of his residents but stands in the way of his state’s election overhaul and blocks real immigration reforms. Jan Brewer in Arizona rose to the headlines with her immigration stance but seems to be a ‘one trick pony’.
States deciding is no longer a winning strategy at the national level. Sure, it will work for state races, but thats it. Words not to use…“Food Stamps” and “President” in the same sentence. You will need to develop a new response when you don’t like a particular piece of legislation or figure out another way to deflect answering it. Rick Scott will lose his next election to a guy who was once a Republican Governor in Florida, who then became an Independent to run for the Senate but lost and is now a bonafide Democrat running again for Governor…do you really want the state’s decision? You know what, think on that too and get back to us.
Decide today if you want to be a principled conservative, pushing the party platform who only campaigns to his peril or you’d rather redefine the party platform. Republicans have a path to victory but their fringe keeps them from it. Virginia just launched it Tea Party favorite as their nominee for Governor, as if the republicans needed any more trouble in the purple state. All they need is more extreme views that will make it easy for democrats to show up in the polls.
Virginia has become more moderate in recent years, so promoting an extreme candidate doesn’t seem to be the way to go…time will tell if this time around will be different. What you can’t do is expect something different when you’re doing the same things.
What You Can’t Do Is: Run against Hillary Clinton – This will be a bit tricky for you guys because she too will help your Political Action Committees raise tons of pre-election cash, but tread lightly. Run against her as a continuation of the Obama policies, but avoid women’s issues. Words not to use…”Rape”. She is the Women’s vote and the country for the most part wants to reward her for playing the good soldier for the Obama Administration. Remember those 18 million shattering pieces of glass she referred too? There are at least three times that amount now.
Now here is what seems to be the obvious things you simply just can’t do. You can’t run against Immigration reforms. In fact, if there is no new immigration policy in effect at the time of the election that your party [the republicans] have overwhelmingly supported and sponsored, this will be an albatross around your political necks. It will be viewed as an obstructionist move to prevent granting undocumented workers a path to legalization.
You can’t run against family equality although this is not in your platform, you just can’t do it if you expect to win nationally. With the majority of Americans now in support of legislation granting same sex rights, making this a part of your “not negotiable” stance won’t benefit your campaigns. Words not to use…”Family Values”. Where there is no science to support your position, stay away.
You can’t run against ObamaCare. Not because its bad politics, to the contrary. Run against the public polling because many are just not sure of what it is, run against the new bureaucracy of government and the roll it will play, but running against what is now the law of the land seems a bit stupid. Congress voted for it, the Supreme Court upheld it, and, well, its official. To not fund this law, when you say you’re a law abiding citizen just is dumb and looks petty.
You can’t continue to ignore New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Begin accepting the fact that the most popular republican Governor in the United States is the Executive of a liberal state in the north east with the highest approval rating than most democratic Governors in liberal states. Accept that you will need a photo of Mitt Romney, your previous standard bearer standing next to Christie showing a sign of unity. Today, he is your best shot and you know it. Get behind him with your dollars and you will change the conversation. His reelection in ’14 as Governor will change your mind, of this I am certain.
Hopefully some of you will take this time to further develop your policy approach on these issues considering every professional talking head, every political consultant and strategist, every pundit and columnist, every elected republican in national office over the past two years got it wrong. These guys have been taken to the woodshed in the last two national election cycles first by a rookie Senator and then by an endangered incumbent who you said was only good at giving speeches. Mitt Romney changed his position on every issue he was ever asked about, but that wasn’t the problem; the issue was he had come out hard against that position in the beginning, he became his own worst caricature. If you are still listening to these people…is something wrong with them or is something wrong with you? Thats my story and um sticking to it.
PoliticianNextDoor.com
Antron Johnson
ObamaCare: The Fundraising Non-Scandal
Republicans have been searching for an issue to clobber The White House with and in the past week or so, they’ve been enjoying Christmas In May with the emergence of both manufactured scandals as well as problematic connections throughout the Administration with poor decisions, troubling responses from democrats and inexcusable actions and damage control.
They have been successful at blurring the lines of factual discovery and nonsensical congressional hearings. This week we were focusing on healthcare and just as we were just about taken off message as was The White House, ta-da!, there it was, another fabricated push; a clarion call by the GOP to initiate hearings to investigate ObamaCare.
Nearly two months ago, the newly elected GOP Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz said this:
“Therefore, when the Senate votes on the Continuing Resolution, I intend to offer a “Restore Growth First” amendment which will delay funding of Obamacare. I believe we should continue to delay such funding at least until economic growth returns to historic averages, and I intend to object to consideration of any Continuing Resolution that does not include a vote to delay funding of Obamacare”.
Senator Cruz has been pushed to the forefront to carry the party’s water because quite frankly, he doesn’t have to run for re-election for another six years so his political capital from his recent election can stand the immediate hit, unlike many in leadership. Republican’s believe every problem in this country is simply because of ObamaCare. Mr. Cruz went on to say in March, “In my view, Obamacare should be fully repealed”.
If you have seen any of my posts this week, you’ll find that this behavior is not because they dislike ObamaCare, they can be credited for “Designing ObamaCare” but instead, they can’t stand to think its success may tip the electorate for generations toward democrats. At any rate, that was Mr. Cruz in March.
As of yesterday, Sen. Cruz said, “I think it’s the right position for Republicans to be taking,” Cruz said. “And I think it would be exactly the right decision to then send it back to Harry Reid and President Obama and ask if Harry Reid and President Obama are willing to try to shut the government down in order to insist that Obamacare be fully funded now even though it could well push us into a recession”.
With that said, we clearly know republicans have no intention providing funds to ensure ObamaCare is fully funded for next year. The goal was to cut off the funding and sabotage the healthcare rollout so it would kill whatever support it currently have, damaging the prospects of the legislation ever fully taking root. You see, if you can stifle the law by refusing to ensure it receives the money it should receive, that, in the view of republicans is just as good and actually repealing ObamaCare altogether.
As Mr. Cruz said, he would rather the whole country be shutdown just to prevent paying for what Congress has voted for and what the Supreme Court has ruled is the law of the land. So Mr. Cruz would prefer the “land” be torn apart instead of implementing the law. So, what does all this have to do with a manufactured scandal?
President Obama’s Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, reached out to Insurance providers, private companies and groups for help in raising funds to help fill in the cash void. Her task, to get states fully prepared for the healthcare rollout in October of this year, not January of next year. Problem, the republicans know this and are making it extremely difficult for her and the Obama Administration to get this done. Why October?
Knowing this, the President gave the okay for Secretary Sebelius to basically find the money and get this done. The Secretary said over and over that Congress was intentionally not increasing the budget to use the funds allocated to implement the law. The Secretary and the Obama Administration all know that the republicans won’t rest until the law is gutted so the Secretary went outside to find the money on her own.
What is it precisely that the republicans are accusing Secretary Sebelius of doing? She contacted outside groups to get them to contribute a nonprofit organization, Enroll America, which was created in 2011 to promote the healthcare law and encourage people to enroll in its new coverage options. This organization was always an outside group designed to publicize ObamaCare and inform Americans about the plans and the rollout. Congress was supposed to approve funds and send those funds to Enroll America, but legislators like Sen. Cruz and Orrin Hatch of Utah have made sure that didn’t happen. So the Sebelius went out to get the funding on her own and had it directed to Enroll America.
What else did she do? Absolutely nothing. So is any of this illegal? Absolutely not. Why not? According to Mrs. Sebelius’ spokesperson at HHS, Jason Young, “the secretary has been working with a wide range of stakeholders who share in the mission of getting Americans the help they need and deserve”. Mr. Young went on to say, “We have always worked with outside groups, and the efforts now ramping up are just one more part of that work.
Mr. Young mentioned a section of the Public Health Service Act that addresses the secretary’s leeway in working with nonprofit groups. According to Young, the provision says: “The Secretary is authorized to support by grant or contract (and to encourage others to support) private nonprofit entities working in health information and health promotion, preventive health services, and education in the appropriate use of health care”.
Thats from the HHS spokesman, but what are republicans saying?
1. Sen. Orrin Hatch, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, and 10 other senators fired off a letter to Sebelius on Tuesday which stated, “Our initial reaction is that this appears at best to be an inherent conflict of interest and at worst a potentially illegal augmentation of appropriation”.
2. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said, “If the Department of Health and Human Services closely coordinates with Enroll America and other entities, then the analogy with Iran-Contra is strong”. Mr. Alexander’s spokesperson later said, <em“The fact that Congress won’t appropriate more money for Obamacare isn’t a defense”.
So if what the Secretary didn’t do anything wrong, if she hasn’t broken any laws and if there is truthfully nothing going to come of it, why are we wasting time drumming up a fake scandal? For the same reason Orrin Hatch has already said, “Moving forward, I will be seeking more information from the Administration about these actions to help better understand whether there are conflicts of interest and if it violated federal law”. The idea is to ride every issue as a way to bog down the Administration with providing “information”.
Tonight, the President will be holding a briefing on the IRS “scandal”. Earlier today, the White House released Benghazi emails while Sebelius is defending her actions to get healthcare for the millions who have been without.
Republicans are put out because they thought they had every “t” crossed and all “I’s” dotted however, Obama had another trick up his sleeves. Lets not get lost in the weeds here, Republicans will, as they have stated, stop at nothing to ensure ObamaCare does not move forward, but if it does, they will ensure it only hobbles to a full stop. This is not about providing healthcare, but instead, its about preventing Obama from getting his legislation in the hands of Americans. To create a distraction, the GOP will discuss permitting the country to shut down. Thats my story and um sticking to it.
As of this post, No illegal actions have been identified with regards to the performance of Secretary Sebelius.
As of this post, the Senate has not voted in favor of Senator Cruz’s bill to defund ObamaCare at the behest of a government shutdown.
PoliticianNextDoor.com
Antron Johnson
The Origins Of Healthcare Opposition
In order to understand the healthcare quick-sand of the present, you most certainly have to return to the beginning; the Clintonian 1990′s. The problems facing this president are the same that faced that one, the last democratic president, Bill Clinton. He wanted to change the way Americans received healthcare and discovered a way to get it done, but it would be painful. The 90′s were known as a time renewed following the late 80′s under George Herbert Walker Bush.
Financially, a large swath of Americans were feeling better about where they were, consumer confidence was off the charts and it was period of non-military action so people were getting on about their own lives. Then comes what was perceived by the Right to be this sweeping healthcare proposal to insure all Americans and therefore required more money to pay for it. Republicans erupted, Clinton sent Hillary to the Hill to defend the plan that ultimately was killed.
Back in 2009, Bill Kristol took that approach when discussing what we now know as Obamacare. He said “kill it and start over” when discussing the path republicans should encourage President Obama and his Administration to take if they wanted support from House Republicans to engage in drafting the legislation. For fear of being seen in the same room with Obama, let alone, discussing how to overhaul the healthcare issues, republicans did whatever they could to exact Kristol’s advice.
On his Weekly Standard blog back in 2009, Mr. Kristol began his post with “With Obamacare on the ropes”, I mean, where else can you go from there but downward? But he continued with his methodical republican strategy, “So this is not the time to let them off the ropes. This is the week to highlight every problem, every terrible provision, in the Democratic bills: from taxes and spending to government control and rationing to federal funding for abortion and government-required death-with-dignity counseling sessions for the elderly. Throw the kitchen sink at the legislation now on the table, drive a stake through its heart (I apologize for the mixed metaphors), and kill it”.
“Kill it” was the plan from the beginning but of course we already knew that. What we didn’t know was why. The reason may shock you initially because it has nothing to do with Obamacare being “bad policy” as many have claimed, but instead they were afraid it might actually work and if it did, it would alter elections for generations. I have taken the time include these links because I want to keep you on the path that got us here.
This tactic of Kristol’s wasn’t a new one, you see it had worked back once before against Clinton. It had worked so well, it helped establish Kristol as a conservative voice to listen to for electoral and procedural strategy. Kristol bragged back in 2009 about how well his strategy had worked on President Clinton and if republicans wanted to win national elections and control the electorate, they had better follow his lead.
His plan was to simply attack Obama’s economic stimulus package of ’2009; force the President to push his economic agenda through Congress (if he [Kristol] couldn’t stall it altogether), force Obama to use all his political capital for the stimulus so that by the time healthcare came up, Obama would have no place to go; all his muscle and “creditability“ would have been loss on the hill and among the voters. This strategy is precisely what worked on Clinton. Clinton got his tax increases, but democrats were so beat up after that, healthcare got delegated to Hillary for a fresh face but it failed.
It didn’t matter that the Affordable Care Act included most of the things republicans wanted, it didn’t matter that it had been done before by a republican who would later go on to run for president; Willard Mitt Romney, and it surely didn’t matter that millions were without healthcare coverage for reasons beyond their control, yet, republicans fought hard against the very things they liked. Why? Well I’ll get to that in a minute, but lets first look at what Republicans thought the President’s healthcare plan should include:
A. Permit Families to purchase coverage across state lines
This idea actually is a pretty good one. I’ve taken this information from here, provided by Ezra Klein of the Washington Post, (I love Ezra for his wonkiness, but for the sake of everyone being able to understand, I broke it down even further). The basic back and forth here is democrats have argued that “letting states decide” often creates more cracks in the system than its worth because each state adopts a variation of the law and interprets provisions differently making those who are looking to purchase insurance at the best rate, for the insurer more complicated if not , just down-right impossible. Dems feel that the states are way too lenient on insurance providers at the expense of the insurer.
As you might imagine, republicans believe just the opposite. They feel that too much regulation is thrown at the insurance companies. They feel the insurance company shouldn’t have to be in the state, but instead operate out of the state with the least regulation, but simply offer policies to every state, kind of like how credit card companies gather in Delaware, but provide credit to every person who qualifies regardless of the state.
But what Ezra found was that “To the surprise and dismay of many liberals, the Senate health-care bill included a compromise with the conservative vision for insurance regulation. The relevant policy is in Section 1333, which allows the formation of interstate compacts. Under this provision, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and Idaho (for instance) could agree to allow insurers based in any of those states to sell plans in all of them. This prevents a race to the bottom, as Idaho has to be comfortable with Arizona’s regulations, and the policies have to have a minimum level of benefits (something that even Rep. Paul Ryan believes), but it’s a lot closer to the conservative ideal”. In other words, what the republicans want regarding this provision of the healthcare plan, its already there. NEXT!
B. Give Small businesses, Individuals and trade groups the right to form their own “health group” as a way to reduce costs like larger employers
Long story short, this too is already included in ObamaCare. Barack Obama addressed this concern when he instructed each state to create and establish a healthcare exchange by January 2014. I spoke about this in the previous post, The Healthcare Debate: What’s The Point?. Each is required to create an exchange whereby that state’s residents can pool their buying power for the purpose of obtaining better insurance rates, kind of like a huge plan, but there will be more than one; one that may fit your needs specifically. DISPATCHED.
C. Give the states the ability to opt out of ObamaCare
In the bill passed by the U.S. Senate, go to Section 1302 and you will find something called the “Waiver for State Innovation”. What this waiver does is grants the state to throw out the entire plan…the whole thing, “if” the state can prove they can do it better than what Mr. Obama has done. So, for those Governors who rejected expanding Medicaid and building healthcare exchanges by January 2014…do it yourself. Not one has even hinted at that option.
There are many more provisions built directly into the bill specifically to address every concern republicans had and yet they still fight the passage of the bill. Now that its the law, they still fight to have it repealed, but only to a base that actually believe thats even possible. Its not-it is now the law of the land. So knowing that, conservatives have then fought “defund” or keep from allocating money and resources to the programs now scheduled to roll out. Why would they do that? DONE.
If you can get doctor and insurace providers to offer services but then make it to where they can’t get paid for the services rendered, you create a failed program. If you can create a failed program, then no one would want or use the healthcare plan. Republicans want to ensure this plan fails. How do we know that as a fact? Just take a look what former S.C. Senator, now head of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank said, “if Republicans can defeat health care reform it would be President Obama’s “Waterloo” because it would “break him”.
Terms like “kill”, regarding Obama’s legislation, “break him” regarding Obama’s political will, “creditability”, regarding Obama’s agenda and potential legacy speaks to the ferocity by which the opposing party have fought to keep their hopes for a winnable strategy; “if I can’t-then you won’t either”.
No longer does it matter how good a bill is or whether at some point you supported it, if that position makes you look better than me, I’ll oppose you and make you look bad. No longer does it appear to matter how American’s feel about an issue unless it affirms your wayward thought. When 94% of Americans support background checks gun purchases, that was ignore and republicans voted in the opposite direction, 94%. But when on 65% of Americans support healthcare reform, many view that 35% variance as enough to oppose the legislation? You cant have it both ways guys. There’s gotta be a better way. Thats my story and um sticking to it.
PoliticianNextDoor.com
Antron Johnson
The HealthCare Debate: What’s The Point?
There’s an infinite number of articles and blogs as well as books that come across my desk everyday. All can’t be used immediately, but some of them, as you read them, you can just tell, “you will see this again”. Its just the nature of politics; sometimes things are drip-drip-drip on purpose and others are simply the moisture prior to the crack in the damn.
That happened this week as I read up on the progress of the health care exchange, the first in the nation, currently underway in Colorado. As many may already know, the state run exchanges will operate as a health care pool from which residents of that state will select the best plan for their needs. Per the President’s signature legislation, every state must have their exchange or HIX in place by January 2014.
Well, Colorado has been busy at work, as they should, working to ensure that states citizens are ready and fully informed. Well that last part is kinda what I want to talk to you about today. Some members on Colorado’s HIX board have complained aloud about the resources (cash) that is needed to “publicize” and make those who will likely require its services, aware that they exist.
The President and the Congress made the law to ensure every state was ready at the same time, no hold outs, no exceptions. And by doing so, they allotted federal grants that will pay the whole bill of the transition to keep states from having to come up with this cash on their own; killing their budgets. This would prevent an opposing state Governor from using any fiscal claims for not being prepared as an option.
So back to Colorado, the conservative board members are angry that they needed to request “awareness money” as I like to call it. They question the fact that any money should be spent to let anyone know anything about the services provided by a program they lead. The nation’s first health care exchange used $61 million in federal grants to get set up, pretty cheap considering the scope of their responsibilities. But an additional $125 million was found to be needed to help get the word out of what was to come beginning January ’14.
Keep in mind, the state in not responsible for this money and there is no hoops to jump through to get it, federal grants are standing by, they just need to ask and they did, but the concern became, why is this the best way to spend money? So you would rather, spend $61 million on a program and then tell no one about the program? If you’re a republican, the answer to that question is yes. There is a reason for that. I learned through all of this research, this battle over healthcare is not a practical one, but an ideological one.
This week, I intend to explore every facet of the healthcare debate to best explain why we are here and trust, there will be enough blood on the floor from all parties involved. What you will come to see and understand is that the issues being discussed today are a retread of what was already discussed regarding universal coverage for nearly 3 decades.
Because of that, you will hear the frustration I have with the Obama Administration regarding why they are precisely where they are right now…still publicizing. You will also see the real reason why republicans, have been against this law and another one just like it back in the 90′s from former President Bill Clinton. None of this is new other than the fact that Obama actually got the bill passed out of Congress and stamped by the Supreme Court. There was a lot that Obama did right, but there is much more that he has stumbled into, which should not have occurred.
You will see that some of the republicans’ claims of being fiscally sound, deficit busting, taking over liberties and American’s freedoms are all baseless, but instead a means to own the electoral process. With this foundation, we will then delve into the law itself to explain what is actually in the bill, but more importantly, tell you what your healthcare will look like in 2014, you may be positively shocked. You will also find that republican leaders in both houses feared that you would be happy with it.
No opinions this week, we’re only dealing with the facts guys so everything on healthcare will be backed up with links, facts and data. As former Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice once so perfectly stated, “I welcome your opinions, but not your uninformed ones”. As I stated earlier, this battle over healthcare doesn’t make since to average Americans because we view things like this through a prism of logic; how does this make sense. Well, this battle is not logical, but ideological and unless you share that ideology, it will never make sense to you. That’s my story and um sticking to it.
PoliticianNextDoor.com
Antron Johnson
Are We Shouting At The Wall?
A few weeks ago, the Congressman from Virginia’s 7th District, the Majority Leader in the U.S. House of Representatives launched an effort to rebrand the Republican Party’s image with the purpose of approaching the ’14 midterms with new talking points. Cantor has been for practical purposes, a one man brand.
Following the last November’s election, where the GOP gained at the state levels but lost across the national political spectrum, the Republican National Committee (RNC) released some recommendations to change the image of the party as well its message trajectory. Well, it seems the only GOP Leader to get into lock step with this initiative was Leader Cantor.
Directly speaking, the question I raised today is, are we as Americans wasting our time, shouting to the wall of political opposition? Cantor, no fan of President Obama by any means, was looking to pass a bill recently, (April 13) that would add money to a health care program which was proposed by the President in the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) that would help those living with pre-existing conditions. He wanted to take money from one part of ObamaCare by repealing it and then take that money and put it in the pre-existing conditions portion.
What seemed like something his fellow House Republicans could support, repealing one portion of ObamaCare was not met with enthusiasm. The Majority Leader couldn’t convince his colleagues to then support adding money to another part of the healthcare plan they fought years to prevent from becoming law. Cantor continued to press for the bill’s passage, until…
A wall was erected. Since 2010, the wall has simply gotten higher, longer and has become more of an eyesore to hard working Americans; they can’t seem to see a trending pattern of progressive governance from their elected leadership. That wall appeared before Congressman Cantor in the form of a key vote alert, put out by the conservative group, The Club for Growth, to encourage republicans to vote “No”, against Leader Cantor, himself a conservative.
The Vote Alert, which went out to all elected republicans and all the members of the organization said two things, one more alarming the other. First the alert stated, “the fact that this bill is offset with the repeal of another ObamaCare program is irrelevant. ObamaCare as a whole was financed in part with borrowed money, so this bill will only contribute to more debt. Fiscal conservatives should be squarely focused on repealing ObamaCare, not strengthening it by supporting the parts that are politically attractive”.
Secondly and most alarming is the fact that the Vote Alert mentioned three times, “the vote will be included in our 2013 congressional scorecard”. That is code for, if you vote in line with your party leadership, Mr. Cantor, ‘we will make you pay-we will support someone else to run against you next time’. Wall.
Well, what do you think happened? Take a guess; Cantor pulled the bill from the schedule to be voted on. He just couldn’t get the votes. What this says is, common sense legislation for Americans can’t pass the House because these guys are clearly more concerned about keeping their jobs than working for the people who sent them.
Cantor has more than once ran into this wall of opposition. Again, just before November, the Majority Leader was not for any of these measures either, but this time, after getting his folks behind closed doors, “He argued that “helping the sick people” was a worthy conservative cause. “This is the right thing to do,” Cantor said. “We’re trying to find solutions here” according many accounts. But the wall.
When a republican leader can’t convince his own people as to why they should help “sick people” and why this was a “worthy cause”. The republican party is fighting more with itself that it is with Obama. When that leader has to stress why “this is the right thing to do”, he, Mr. Cantor has acknowledged the wall that he cannot climb. Thats my story and um sticking to it.
PoliticianNextDoor.com
Antron Johnson
Sick Of Hearing About “UnDecideds”?
This election cycle is struggling to identify and define the undecided voters still perched on the fence. I found it quite difficult myself to gather an inkling of understanding as to what are these folks waiting to hear? Do you just enjoy being indifferent? Like many others last night, I poured a drink and placed it in the chiller with the hope of returning for it when the Vice Presidential debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan got a bit too policy wonkish and boring, but that point in the never came.
Like many, I couldn’t turn my eyes away from the screen or my twitter page as they both were struggling to maintain the data and capture the highly anticipated moments. For a minute I thought, “the differences are stark…whatever is not being said, it should be considered intentional”.
For months the democrats have levied heavy attacks on the republicans regarding the GOP’s intentional campaign course of “say nothing”. The United States Congress is currently sitting on a 7% approval rating as the “do nothing” congress and democrats have dubbed the GOP ticket as the “say nothing” ticket.
Congress has actually done something believe it or not, probably not. Democrats have thrown sand in the eyes of republicans by pushing every bit of its liberal agenda as a tactic for job creation and helping those in poverty climb into the middle class, not sure how funding abortions overseas accomplishes that, but hey…that’s what they said.
Republicans have done a lot too. They have spent the last four years on defense as if it were a game of football and The White House was the end zone. They have earned the “do nothing” moniker because in the absence of a true goal post, all have been pleased to just punt it away deep in the opposite direction only to watch them scramble once again for more yardage. Currently the field is bloody, the players battered and the game tied at zero.
It looks as if that strategy has worked by and large for both sides. They both can argue that they have “fought” for their principles and stood their ground, and that they did. Because it has proved effective, the Romney campaign has adopted the strategy for their presidential ambitions as well. By becoming the “say nothing” ticket, Romney defended his lack of specificity several weeks ago on Meet The Press with David Gregory by saying, “…if we release more details of what we plan to do they will only use it to attack us. We are building a framework and we will work with the Congress in a bipartisan way”…blah blah blah.
The strategy worked for Romney with his taxes, he declined to release them for fear that the democrats would dig through them and paint every investment and deduction in a negative light. For all practical purposes, he was successful; it worked. Democrats believe the Romney-Ryan ticket will say just about anything to get elected other than what they really plan to do once elected. Even still, the strategy is working.
Obama spent his four years effectively going through his checklist like Santa Clause of 2008, attempting to deliver all he had campaigned on. Many now wish Obama had taken more from the Rham Emmanuel play book of bloody-knuckles and did damage to the republicans immediately out of the gates and not waste time on what some have considered a winless battle so soon (…considering ObamaCare will only survive if Obama is re-elected even though the Supreme Court has already ruled in favor of the new law; Republicans will just make sure the law never gets funded if Romney wins).
With that said, whatever Undecideds are waiting for…it ain’t coming! Romney tax records? He already said he’s not showing anymore. Specifics about his Tax Plan for America? He’s already said “…the framework” is on his website. What about his view on abortion and reversing Roe V. Wade?, he’s said a lot of things, albeit they are all contradictions of each other.
Obama believes in Same Sex marriage, gays in the military and Universal healthcare for everyone. He also thinks you should pay for it the same way you pay Social Security and Medicare; you are not using it now, but you are paying every payday. Romney thinks the children of immigrants who came here illegally should self deport themselves and go back “home” to a place they have likely never been and apply for a visa to return; all 11 million of them or face deportation- that’s his immigration policy. Obama believes we need less defense spending, Romney thinks we need more, just to project the image of strength even if we go in debt doing it.
Well, I finally made it to the chiller to retrieve that much needed drink, but only after the debate had ended and the networks all began their renditions of response tracking and seeing what each undecided voter felt about what they had heard. Click after click, networks one after another were showing these undecideds as unmovable. I gulped it down just as Paul Ryan drank from his never-ending glass of water during the entire debate.
Undecideds are not swing voters; swing voters vote the issues…they know the issues and do not subscribe to any one party for affiliation. Just as the campaigns have moved away from courting the undecided voters and turned their focus to independent voters (swing), its about time the networks do the same because there are always going to be people who are just simply indecisive…about everything.
So there you have it Mr. and Mrs. Undecided Voter! These political positions are not going to change, unless you’re only talking about Mitt Romney- he’s likely to morph yet again somehow before Election Day. Maybe you should just keep waiting, maybe he will finally say something you actually like and help you decide. Good luck with that! That’s my story and um sticking to it.
PoliticianNextDoor.com
Antron Johnson
Revisionist History: What is Medicare?
It’s was signed into law in1956 with then democrat President Lyndon B. Johnson. It was not only completely disliked by republicans back then but it has been disliked by and large by the GOP ever since. To think each election cycle has offered a glimpse to conservatives inching their way closer to doing away with Medicare, the social insurance program; the 2012 election being no different.
With all the talk of entitlements and specifically Medicare and Medicaid, I want to explain exactly what Medicare is and why this huge effort was made in the first place. You hear politicians speak of it in such complex terms, much of it by design to force you to simply tune out and push away from the table. The Medicare argument is as simple as this:
1- It guarantees health insurance for Americans 65 and older and younger people with disabilities.
As a social insurance program, Medicare spreads the financial risk associated with illness across society to protect everyone. Insurance companies manage their risk to ensure at the end of the day, they earn the maximums in profits.
2- Hospital care is covered under Part A and outpatient medical services are covered under Part B.
Part A and B, which is where most seniors (76%) are enrolled is just an open network of physicians. There is another option, Part C is when the federal government pays for the health plan network which includes (Medicare Advantage, used by (24%) of seniors. Finally Medicare Part D covers outpatient prescription drugs exclusively through private plans, either standalone prescription drug plans or through Medicare Advantage plans that offer prescription drugs.
What does Medicare do? It pays nearly half of the healthcare costs for over 48 million seniors and children with disabilities. These folks are older, sicker and poorer than most and simply cannot afford the most basic of medical attention. The other half must be covered by the recipient.
President Johnson did this because in 1965, only half of older adults had medical insurance, employers just didn’t offer this as a job perk and the rest of working adults either couldn’t afford coverage or none was available. This was never billed as an entitlement, but also as a basic right to medical coverage.
3- 30% of enrollees visit the emergency room in a given year, 21% have an inpatient stay.
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Contrary to what politicians tend to say or imply, those enrolled in Medicare are largely white women, second, white men.
Many of these folks are currently living in poverty so Medicare is there only source of medical attention. It is important to note that nearly 87% of Medicare recipients live with at least one chronic condition and 50% have two, three or more.
Now to the politics: democrats want to expand the program through the Affordable Care Act, ObamaCare to ensure every American receives this basic medical necessity. Republicans believe only parts of the plan should be enforced but with cuts across the board to reduce the cost of the governments portion.
What republicans didn’t like 50 years ago when Johnson signed it into law was the way he paid for it. President Johnson decided a portion of everyone’s pay check in the form an automatic deduction would ensure this basic principle was around for generations. So when Mitt Romney talks about cutting the pay roll tax, what does that mean? When he and VP nominee and Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan talk about making program cuts, what does that mean?
It is true, Obama’s plan will cut $716 billion from Medicare, but his cuts are from the “anticipated increases the physicians and hospitals were expecting to gain over the ext 10 years” and not out of their current budgets or services provided. Republicans, more so Mr. Ryan’s plan would cut the same $716 billion from the benefits received by those enrolled in the program who actually need care. This is literally the difference in both candidates’ healthcare plan…besides how it’s paid for.
Republicans would like to act on one hand as if the government never paid for healthcare for americans. They would like to insinuate, Obama is some form of socialist for trying to ensure every american can visit the doctor. But what they really want to do is finally undo Johnson’s Medicare plan.
President George W. Bush tried this with an attempt to privatize Social Security. What that means is, he wanted to let Americans invest the Social Security earnings into the stock market, taking their own risks with their retirement. Had that plan worked, although most republicans did not support it, the economic meltdown of 2008, would have bankrupted most Americans as well as sent their only source of retirement income down the Lehman Brothers and AIG drains of too big to fail.
4- Medicare needs work.
There are too many people in this country who were considered over 50 years ago are about to swindled into believing they are lazy or victims of a system that provides healthcare for the sick and disabled. This program is not depended upon by those who don’t need it but those who do. There is an argument to be made about reforms, so lets have that debate.
If President Obama has his way: Insurance companies will become wealthier than ever in the history of this country because everyone will have to have insurance, whether through private means or public. So the insurance companies are not against this.
In November, should the republicans win The White House and the Senate majority, that coupled with their current House majority will permit them to repeal the President’s Affordable Care Act and make cuts to Medicare. If Obama wins, what you can almost certainly anticipate is the refusal to allocate the appropriate funding to the necessary programs, their only back door approach. In other words, if they refuse to send money to the program, it will slow up the healthcare’s benefits to most Americans and then republicans can drag it out to 2016 and scream about how ObamaCare hasn’t worked.
Finally, it’s important to note, republicans are looking to extend the life of the Medicare program by simply making cuts to each individual in the program, thereby it will take longer for the current funds to run out. However, Mr. Obama is looking to extend Medicare by adding funding to the program, cutting the costs physicians and hospitals charge to the program and expand the benefits through ObamaCare.
I hope this was helpful. You need to understand the issues in order to understand the political jargon and read between the lines. Everyone likes the Medicare programs, regardless of your politics. What we seem to have differences about is how to continue to pay for it. Lets have that debate fairly. That’s my story and um sticking to it.
PoliticianNextDoor.com
Antron Johnson
9 Days/9 Ways: Battleground Virginia
As we continue to plot out our ways each candidate can win The White House in November, there are several ways or paths this may be accomplished. But there nine battleground states they’ve got to get through first and the state of Virginia is one of those states. Formerly a republican stronghold for years, the demographic shift has moved the electorate into the “purple”, from a solid red.
Indicative of the shift, most of the races down the ballot are showing the same tightness in the polls which gives some indication that all eyes will be attempting to read the tea leaves late into the evening on election night as it will determine a few key major pivots.
The race to watch is not necessarily the presidential contest with the GOP nominee Mitt Romney against President Obama, but instead it’s the highly contested U.S. Senate race with former Governors of Virginia, Kaine (D) and Allen (R). Voters are fans of them both, and the polls show a razor thin down to the wire turnout election. The candidate that gets their base to the polls on election is the one who wins.
The fact that is a presidential contest as well will only drive the turnout down the ballot and push the state into a “too close to call” until late in the evening. Virginia, hardly as affected by the nation’s economic woes as most other states have less that divides them. Romney’s unemployment economic message does not resonate the same way here as it does in Michigan so healthcare, the President’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) or “ObamaCare” is what’s driving this race.
Governor Allen is towing the GOP party line and is for repealing ACA while Governor Kaine, a long time friend and supporter/surrogate for the President’s plan would pretty much keep it in place with some adjustments for small businesses and a few others.
Obama carried the state in 2008 by expanding the the electorate and driving turnout right down to it last few days of campaigning during that election cycle. His coat-tails were long down the ballot but this cycle is different. This time around, Mr. Obama has a record, he has a stagnated economy and bad jobs numbers each month which has kept the national unemployment rate above 8% for most of his presidency. But this time around, Mr. Obama also has the weight of The White House and the bully pulpit.
The Senate race will only be aided by the presidential contest and not the other way around. Dems are looking to grow their Senate majority under Majority Leader Reid, the Senator from Nevada, while at worst hold off the republicans so the Kaine-Allen senate race is an important one.
The Roanoke-Lynchburg area as well as the Richmond area are huge concentrated areas which are currently under siege with political advertising to the point of nausea, but do not expect less before a great deal more. A key demographic for Team Obama will be the up in the Norfolk, Newport News and Virginia Beach areas which will drive the African-American vote as well as the strong military support from that portion of the state.
The Northern Virginia areas of Chantilly, Sterling and Dulles will be depended upon for the conservatives due to the suburban votes that will deliver for Kaine and Romney, more so for Kaine. A true test of sheer numbers and turnout, Virginia will not be a referendum on ideas but instead a mobilization effort. That’s my story and um sticking to it.
PoliticianNextDoor.com
Antron Johnson
GOP Urges Romney To Offer No Tax Details
If you ever wanted to know how to you could gage whether the next Congress would be working for you or for themselves, just look at how they currently are governing themselves. After one flank of the party initially became angry that Mitt Romney offered too few details and specifics endangering the conservative ticket up against the incumbent, a group of republicans have found a silver lining to Romney’s vagueness.
They have found that the less detailed Romney is with regard to the campaign for tax reform, the easier it may be for them next year to write their own policy without having to include promises made on the campaign trail during the general election.
Here’s the catch: if Romney discloses the tax loop holes he’d like to close, he will likely upset those voters and donors who personally benefit from them further hurting his chances and path to victory. But by not providing more specifics, he could very well never make it to the Oval. Yet, is that a catch at all?
Regardless of whether ascends upward after November’s election, the congressional republicans will still be right where they want to be; in position to frame their own plan for reform and not be beholden to the promises of a failed Romney ticket.
Romney, the GOP nominee for president, has his own reasons for making a sweeping argument for a tax overhaul, since specifying which tax breaks he would like to eliminate could anger voters that benefit from them.
We took an in depth into Romney’s Tax Plan proposal and it calls for an across-the-board 20 percent cut in individual tax rates, which would bring the top rate down from 35 percent to 28 percent. Let’s keep it simple, there’s going to be a 7% reduction in the government’s revenue; income, for this one cut alone. In order to not create a bigger deficit, programs or entitlements will need to be cut to balance the check book.
Democrats have railed against the conservative for targeting entitlement programs and education and a viable source for the expected budget items. Romney and Ryan have pushed aside questions over what tax breaks they would like to rein in to reach their reform goals which has now been lauded by some of their colleagues.
“Mitt Romney and I, based on our experience, think the best way to do this is to show the framework, show the outlines of these plans, and then to work with Congress to do this…What we don’t want is a secret plan. What we don’t want to do is cut some backroom deal like Obamacare.”
Clearly, not everyone believes that. Democrats such as Rep. Sandy Levin (Mich.), the ranking member on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, say the GOP nominees are simply hiding their real plans from voters. “They don’t want to spell it out because they’re afraid it will help them lose. That’s the main motivation”.
Republicans in all fairness don’t want to get locked into a corner without the ability of walking back assertions when they finally sit across from Senate Majority Leader Reid. It’s hard to see nothing less than a major gamble on the side of the GOP. They have convinced themselves that this is the correct course, “When you approach things conservatively, it isn’t like you have to have too many details on your plans other than advocating more economic freedom,” said Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.).
Romney and Ryan both have focused just about every argument they have on freedoms for the american people. Although that is not polling well, anywhere, conservatives are doubling down on the approach for less of everything. That’s my story and um sticking to it.
PoliticianNextDoor.com
Antron Johnson
Romney: Repeal ObamaCare on Day 1…BUT!
So let’s see if I can get this right, Mitt Romney will repeal the President’s healthcare law on Day one of his presidency, and yet he will as he said today on Meet The Press, “…keep the popular pieces…”. No disrespect intended to David Gregory of the NBC show, however my next question to Mr. Romney would be, how specifically do you define the word popular? Popular to whom?
The very fact that Mr. Romney will now keep the most important parts says a lot and that was his intention. The Romney camp sees this race moving away from them when they dig deep into the polling numbers and before those trends surface, they hope to have it under control. The polling shows most Americans are not for the President’s plan as they currently see it as a Hugh government over reach. However, when you dig further, you find Americans love the benefits of the plan and how they personally gain and the insurance industry loses.
Americans are tired of being second place citizens to the corporate entities delving out medical coverage to those they choose, so although the plan as a whole is a bit too much to swallow, most Americans appreciate what Obama has intended to do by keeping them at the big table. Romney sees his chances defending the insurance industry as a losing one. Defending physicians and pushing vouchers is not a good place to be when Americans are counting change in these tough times.
Romney also shot another subliminal tone across the bow this morning when he said “the term compromise is not a negative word”. Well Mr. Romney obviously has not met with any Tea Partiers lately because that is exactly what they believe they were elected to do; prevent compromise. This would be a great time for Romney to huddle in a corner with his GOP leadership, especially Speaker Boehner in the House. Boehner could have told him that compromise has not worked well in the last congress. Just ask those who have been pushed into retirement for thinking the very same thing.
With that being said, Republicans will begin to circle the Romney wagons in short order at the very notion of what has occurred just this morning. VP candidate Ryan suggested that he would be open to additional revenues, (fancy talk for raising taxes to help balance the budget and bring the deficit under control and presidential candidate Romney has made clear he will keep portions of Obamacare although he has said he will repeal it in its entirety and now he is willing to compromise with democrats.
None of these are bad, to the contrary, these steps are required to lead this country, however the republicans have campaigned so far to the right, that they have made the path back toward the center a monumental task nearing implausible. Every step back toward the center will be ridiculed and determined a flip. This is only one reason both men have continued their efforts to remain non-specific on all matters pertaining to their way of governing.
That’s my story and um sticking to it.
PoliticianNextDoor.com
Antron Johnson
