Dear Dems… Thank You

It’s around 1900 hours, or 7:00 pm.  About the time that everyone sits down to eat dinner after a long day, and many people will have the news on while eating and get caught up on the day’s events.  Well, there is something that I wanted to break to any fellow conservative Republicans on this website:

Nancy Pelosi won Minority Leader today.

Yes, the woman that ruined the democratic control of the House, and took Congressional approval to levels where the members need a snorkel to breath (that’s 17% approval folks) has been placed back in charge of the Democrats in the House.  Ya can’t fix stupid!

Dear Democrats,

THANK YOU.

Sincerely,

-rj

God Help Me. I Agree With Kennedy…

…now granted, there are myriad ways I agreed with John F. Kennedy (and many where we disagreed); there were not very many instances where I agreed with the old “Liberal Lion” though and let’s face it, his son Patrick is a bit of a tool.  Let’s just say, if he asked me to go for a joy ride in his Mustang Convertible, I would kindly take a rain-check. 

But Patrick Kennedy did something yesterday, that I believe deserves bi-partisan support.  He went after the media for turning our Federal government into a circus show, 24/7, and perpetuating the belief that Congress is nothing more than an episode of Maury in expensive suits.  And the media is guilty of the charges that were levied against them.

He’s right.  How many of our nation’s bravest men and women have laid down their lives in far away places, only to have their memories passed over because the press finds sexual harassment and “world’s ugliest dog” far more interesting?  And this is by no means, a liberal or conservative issue: news organizations with a favorable sway towards either ideological camp are guilty of this, even though I find FoxNews and MSNBC to be the worst offenders. 

Congressman Kennedy and I may part ways on every political issue under the sun, and we even disagree with what the objective of the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  However, I believe the impassioned monologue he delivered yesterday should speak to all Americans and remind them that the most important issues are those that have to do with our security and the security of our men and women overseas.  So what Massa might be gay (a topic unworthy of discussion, as I cannot imagine someone going on Larry King Live and having the Crypt Keeper on that show hammering them on whether or not that guest is straight … hard hitting indeed) and he may be a nutjob for lack of a better term; there are more important things out there to be talking about.  But many people in the news media wouldn’t know, because they are just as seperated from everyday Americans as politicians are. 

-rj

Iran, Nuclear Weapons, & Sanctions

A few days ago, secret documents detailing Iranian efforts to build a nuclear weapon surfaced. (SURPRISE!)

Then, on December 16, Iran launched its most sophisticated missile yet.

What was the House of Representatives’ response? 412-12, our Members of Congress voted to impose sanctions on Iran.

I’ll reiterate what I’ve said before- sanctions don’t work. They didn’t work with Iraq, they didn’t work with Cuba and they won’t do anything to stop Iran’s terrible treatment of its people. In fact, they’ll only make things worse, as they have in countless countries including Myanmar and North Korea. Instead, we should support the protesters who are still opposing their government’s murderous tendencies, support Israel’s right to defend itself and prepare for a military assault should America or one of our allies be attacked by the country.

I know there are other ways to eliminate the threat Iran’s leadership is to the rest of the world, but I must express ignorance as to what they are (plus, I didn’t sleep well last night and can’t really think very hard right now). Any ideas?

Update: Iranian-backed insurgents in Iraq have hacked U.S. Predator drones- perhaps we should back Israel’s approach to negotiation with Iran.

What the “Buck” McKeon?

?

General McChrystal faced one of the most difficult panels he may have ever faced as a military officer.? He sat in front of the House Armed Services Committee, forced to play the political game in the real-life portrayal of Leonidas’ going before the Council of Elders.? Watching his testimony reminded me of Dr. Mansfield’s remarks during the Iran Contra hearings (this is secondary, as I was not as much into C-SPAN then in the days of my youth) in wich he referred to Oliver North as a loquacious Lacedaemonian, or a talkative Spartan.? In General McChrystal’s case, the latter is true, but the Special Operations soldier’s excessive gabbing is not done verbally but rather his steely look.

The soldier, the leader of our troops in Afghanistan, the General sat facing Representatives who had, for the moment, privied themselves as defense policy experts.? During this masquerade, Representatives ask their ‘prescient’ questions and echo their one-liners to be perpetuated by mass media sources.? During the question and answer section, Ranking HASC Republican “Buck” McKeon from California used his pedestal to try and get the?General to fall into the trap of making a sound-bite that could be carried by the evening news tonight.? Instead, we watched as Representative McKeon bordered making a mockery of his post as Ranking member of HASC in politically motivated attempt to pit the commanding general of armed forces in Afghanistan against his commander-in-chief on semantics.? We won’t mention the time when General McChrystal has to inform the Congressman that the document from which Rep. McKeon?is drawing his questions is still?Classified. ?

Representative McKeon is generally an alright statesmen, from my understanding.? However, he threw his fellow Republicans under the bus during the whole National Defense Authorization Act when he railed against the addition of the Matthew Shephard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act to the military budget, before voting for it in the end.? I found his actions today on the level of distasteful.? There is a time to campaign and score political points.? Today was not it.?

-rj

Don’t Panick Yet- Healthcare Reform Still Needs Senate Passage

One of my friends sent me a text early Sunday morning (1:15 a.m. EST) saying that a trillion dollar House bill had been foisted on America. While it is true that a more-than-trillion dollar bill was passed by the House of Representatives 220-215, this should not yet be a cause for panick.

No, the bill is not good news. However, as Hot Air points out, “Take heart, righties…the likelihood of 60 votes in the Senate, especially after a vote this narrow, [is] very slim indeed.” (Also, see my piece?here on how I think Reid could very well fail in his goal to pass health care reform.)?Furthermore, the upcoming Senate bill (which is still being scored by the Congressional Budget Office) is certainly going to be more moderate than the House one, given the influence of moderate Democratic senators such as Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Independent Joe Lieberman (D-CT). Democrats need 60 out of 100 votes in the Senate, not the 50%+1 (or 218) necessary in the House of Representatives, and assuming all Republicans oppose the bill, even just one of the three Senators listed above voting with Republicans to not close debate on the bill would kill it. Therefore, Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) must keep the bill more moderate. (Unfortunately, of course, liberals will kill it if it’s too moderate, so he can’t make it an actual good bill, just a less-worse one.) This balance of power is what gives Americans reason to hope that this disastrous Democratic form of health care reform does not work. Allow me to briefly explain.

After spending over 14 months in D.C., both at The Heritage Foundation and in health care lobbying, I’m certainly not an expert on the political process, but I know it fairly well, and any number of things could happen that would derail health care reform. The first is getting a Senate bill passed. The second is to get the House and Senate bills to conference and make one combined bill. The third is to then vote on that combined bill in both chambers. However, a number of things along the way could derail the process. A few examples: a Senate bill could be killed in the inital chamber vote; the conference bill could be killed in either the House or the Senate (remember, many liberals are declaring they won’t vote for a bill without a public option, and some won’t vote for a bill that’s pro-life); and, lastly,?the bill could pass in its conference-created form in one chamber but?be modified slightly in the other and therefore have to be voted on again in the chamber that passed the conference bill. This latter course could make the bill unpassable, as the changes could be very minor or very large.

We should all be actively involved in contacting our representatives in Congress, becoming active through organizations such as The Heritage Foundation?or Americans for Prosperity?and generally following the debate so when voting comes around next year we know who to vote out of office. One example of a Republican who?perhaps should be?gone: Representative Joseph Cao (R-LA), who represents a Democratic district and voted in favor of the House bill.