A very unelectable "most electable"

I hate to break the news to South Carolina Republicans, but the winner of their primary was President Obama.

Newt Gingrich has much too much baggage. He probably is best suited to win the Conservative and Tea
Party crowd, but they will not elect anyone and many of them are disturbed by his high-paid consulting work for Freddie Mac. Even Democrats who are unhappy with President Obama would come out to vote against Newt.

Newt will bring out more Democrats who hate him for his hypocritical attack on President Clinton's affair when he was having one of his own. He will bring out more Independents who hate him because they feel he is mostly responsible for the deep divisions in our country. They point to his "Contract On America" which was erroneously called "The Contract for America," as
the turning point. There will probably be a vast number of Republican women who will probably sit on their hands rather than vote for this serial philanderer.

None of the GOP candidates have as many negatives or have built up as much animosity as Newt.

Even Glenn Beck has said he's the one Republican candidate he couldn't vote for.

Who are the "moderate" Republicans?

While watching the New Hampshire primary results a few weeks back, I saw a commentator with a district map show the purported breakdown of votes from conservative, moderate, and liberal Republicans.

Moderate Republicans? Liberal Republican?

I thought the moderates were an endangered species and the liberals were extinct.

So, if anyone who reads this blog can come up with the names of some moderate or liberal Republicans, please send them my way.

The Keystone Pipeline

I think I have a solution to the Keystone Pipeline problem.

President Obama should tell Congress he will approve of any bill that they pass with these provisos.

1. Five billion dollars must be left in escrow with FEMA to cover the costs of any illnesses to workers or people in the pipeline territory who get sick from the pipeline.

2. The oil cannot be sold outside of Canada and the United States.

3. All the members of the Board of Directors of Keystone must live in homes within 10 miles of the pipeline.

GOP Qualifications for Office

One of the most important thing that has come out of the Republican presidential debates is what the candidates see as their primary qualification for office.

What is it?

Vote for me because I'm the most conservative.

I have no program. I will learn on the job - and I I will learn to be even more conservative.

I will cut entitlement programs, because the rich do not want to pay for deadbeats.

I am also the most religious so I can be trusted.

If someone running for office told me I should vote for them because they are the most liberal and that was their main qualification they would not get my vote. I want to know what they stand for. What will they do to make my life better.

Besides cutting everything.

As they like to say in the business world, "You can't shrink your way to prosperity."

Candidates so keen on borrowing from the private sector may want to remember that.

End of Year Wish

In this season of PEACE+GOOD WILL {BIPARTISANSHIP} maybe the legislature could put eight days of good legislation together so that Democrats, Republicans, Independents and all people can celebrate the coming year.

Personally, I would settle for one good day. Even that would be a blessing.

Immigration - A Solvable Problem

At the present time there are two opposing factions.

The first believes that all illegal immigrants should be deported.

The second believes in giving illegals amnesty.

Neither idea is the solution but neither side really wants to assume the responsibility of solving it.

I offer a start.

We go by time in our country. We take those who have been here the longest - those who have a job here, worked here and contributed taxes to the city, state and country, and put them in line with legal immigrants. Obviously if they have contributed to the good and welfare of their community for a length of time they have proved that they can and want to be citizens. This way we prove to the illegal immigrants that we do want to solve the problem and get their cooperation.

We owe nothing to those who have never contributed to the country they want citizenship in - they have proved that they only want to return to their own country. If they can prove that they have contributed in other ways such as volunteer work it should be entered into the equation.

This is just a start. There are probably many ways to solve the problem, but you have to start somewhere.

The GOP and the 'free' market

Last night's GOP presidential debate had two mantras.

1. The problem with Obama is he refuses to let the market work. It
seems to me that President Bush allowed the market to work and all that did was make for the malaise we are in now. Deregulation has been a GOP idea since Ronald Reagan sang its praises. Unfortunately, letting the market work - without any checks - took away the things that might have protected the middle class. (Disaster).

2. The Federal Government does not allow the market to work. It seems
to me they leave out the part that the Legislative branch and the Judicial branch are also part of the problem. Some of the people running for the office of the President created many of the problems.

The market only works when the people responsible for overseeing the markets give everyone a fair chance in the market. When legislators make special deals on behalf of certain corporations or industries at the expense of others, or the
middle class, the market is great for some (those with lobbyists) but not for others. We have to go back to the days when monopolies were against the law. Monopolies destroy by their power.