Tag: leaders

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Politics

Hillary Clinton and Rand Paul Tops The List for 2016

Sen. Rand Paul leads the GOP 2016 pack, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is more likely to be perceived as capable of handling crises than is President Barack Obama, according to new survey data released Sunday.

A CNN/ORC International survey found Paul the slight favorite for his party’s nomination, with 16 percent of those polled on the question tapping the Kentucky Republican as their choice for the 2016 GOP nod. He was closely followed, within the margin of error, by 2012 vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who pulled in 15 percent; and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, with 11 percent.

Perry, whose unsuccessful 2012 bid was characterized by a series of high-profile missteps, made a big splash at the Conservative Political Action conference earlier this month. Like Paul, he has signaled he is weighing a 2016 presidential bid.

On the other side of the aisle, Clinton was the prohibitive Democratic favorite according to the survey, clocking in with 63 percent support for the 2016 presidential nod. She was followed by Vice President Joe Biden at 13 percent.

The March 7-9 survey of 801 adults across the country — including 367 Republicans and voters who lean Republican; and 372 Democrats and voters who lean Democratic — hase a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Other data from CNN/ORC indicated that 64 percent of Americans surveyed perceived Clinton as “tough enough to handle a crisis” and the same percentage of people called her a “strong leader,” while only half called Obama a “strong leader” and 53 percent said he is “tough.” Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed considered her likable, the poll said. However, the survey also found that only 50 percent of those polled would be “proud” to have her as president.

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Politics

The Republican Party – Where the Tail Wags The Dog

Thanks to massive internal disarray, Republicans are unable to agree on any kind of immigration reform plan. They can’t say that, though, so they’re blaming it on the fact that President Obama is a rogue despot who can’t be trusted to enforce the law no matter what it is. He’ll implement the parts he likes and ignore the rest, just as he’s been doing for years with his sun-king presidency. So no immigration reform.

Also thanks to massive internal disarray, Republicans are unable to agree on a plan to raise the debt limit. Plan A was to demand the end of risk corridors in Obamacare (aka the “insurer bailout”), but that went nowhere. Plan B was to repeal the benefit cut for veterans that was enacted last month, which might have gone somewhere since Democrats are probably willing to go along with that in any case. But that didn’t make the cut either because it would have made it tough for tea partiers to vote against the bill. Plan C is to “wrap several popular, must-pass items around a provision to extend the federal government’s borrowing authority beyond the November midterm elections.” But even this plan is look shaky.

The common thread here is that the Republican Party is unable to get its act together enough to look beyond next week. Both immigration reform and a quiet debt limit increase would benefit the GOP in the long term. But both would also infuriate the yahoo wing of the party in the short term. So far, the yahoo wing is winning.

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Domestic Policies Healthcare News Politics young people

Lose the Young, Lose the Future

It shouldn’t have taken a report like this to uncover what’s wrong with the Republican Party, but now that it’s been released, it would be great if the power brokers on the right will heed its call. The problem is that this is the other major American political party and their dysfunction is having a profound effect on our political life. Their obstruction has robbed us of a robust economic recovery from a downturn that they planted the seeds for, with Democratic help in many cases, and their lack of identifiable, fair, economically feasible ideas caused the sequester and downgrade of United States’ securities.

But there’s more. Here’s a summary of how young people see the Republican Party on some of the issues of the day.

Gay marriage: “On the ‘open-minded’ issue … [w]e will face serious difficulty so long as the issue of gay marriage remains on the table.”

Hispanics: “Latino voters … tend to think the GOP couldn’t care less about them.”

Perception of the party’s economic stance: “We’ve become the party that will pat you on your back when you make it, but won’t offer you a hand to help you get there.”

Big reason for the image problem: The “outrageous statements made by errant Republican voices.”

Words that up-for-grabs voters associate with the GOP: “The responses were brutal: closed-minded, racist, rigid, old-fashioned.”

How many national elections do you think the right can win with perceptions like these? We can ask President Hillary after 2025.

The truth is that most people in this country are trending leftward. Not in overwhelming numbers and not by leaps and bounds, but it is happening. Marriage equality will be the law in significantly more states over the next ten years and the health care law will result in broader insurance coverage, technological improvements in health delivery, and a system that encourages and rewards innovation and cost-cutting.

If you were a young adult in 1985, you know how much the country has changed since then politically, economically and culturally. Imagine what the United States will be like in 2035 after an era of expanded equality, more access for more people to the nation’s wealth, less expensive higher education opportunities and a fairer tax code.

Yes, we will have our problems and we could become enmeshed in any number of foreign conflicts (we will get involved in Syria somehow. Mark my words.) and will have our share of domestic disturbances. But if the GOP can reform itself and make the party more responsive to what we need to improve the country, then we will all benefit.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest

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Politics

Human Seasons

As the enlivening energy of the Spring Season approaches, we as well as our loved ones and….. not so loved ones will be under the subtle influences of the season’s energetic and enlivening urgings. The Wall Streeters will be affected as will the Occupiers.The Tea Partiers and Gun Enthusiasts as well as the Progressives and Freedom Fighters, everyone in the mental and spiritual wilderness of North America will be under the effects of our nearest Star.

The return to strength of the life affirming effects of our Sun will bless the Oligarchs and the Neo-Cons, the Liberals and the Plutocrats, the Fox Newsers and the MSNBC heads alike, including those of us like Yours truly who appreciates the fact that the left wing and the right wing are simply extensions of the same dirty, dirty bird.

All will be touched by the same planetary rhythm shift.

As the Sun of the Solar system shares light, so shall the ‘Son of Man’. The earths elements, minerals, water and atmospheric ingredients are ours, literally. The physical composition of the planet upon which we reside is our material composition. She is our mother. Physically speaking she is the macrocosm to our microcosm.

As our planet makes her way around the Sun, the 23 degree tilt of the earths axis allows us to experience varying degrees of warmth and cold throughout our calendar year which are our seasons. So there is a time to plant, a time to pick what we’ve planted, a time to sew and a time to reap what you have sown…. these are immutable laws easily observable in the cycles of time.

To make it plain, what goes around comes around.

Once again it’s the time of year for the abundance of life that the spring season brings, as our planet awakens from the hibernation of Winter and life bursts from the earth, so does a new energy and life burst forth from us.

The jewel in this for She/He that cares to observe, is this… The new energy found in the new season is youthful, it is impulsive and childlike. If the more experienced and centered life and energy does not stabilize and guide the youthful, inexperienced new life, then the new energy can lead us to trouble.

‘The ‘Son of Man’ reminds us to seek peace in stillness until the new level of energy is incorporated into our conscious awareness. A new season is also dawning in a bigger arena… the the human consciousness. The thirst for justice and equality is beginning to make its presence felt in the hearts and minds of the people of the world. There are signs all over the world that the human psyche has had its fill of the cold, one sided and unjust rule of the uber-wealthy with all her tricks and lies.

A new energy is engulfing the earth. So to the youth who will inevitably lead the way into a new day, let the lessons of Spring time be learned and be incorporated in your battle plans. You are facing an old, experienced, cunning and wise beast. The new energy of a new day MUST be expressed with consciousness. To She/He who has an ear, let them hear.

SON OF MAN

Categories
Politics Republican Slut

Republican George Will Calls Republican Leadership Cowards

“Republican leaders want to bomb Iran, but they’re afraid of Rush Limbaugh.” So says George Will… a Republican, who said that the Republican leadership dropped the ball with their non-response to the Rush Limbaugh debacle. Mr. Will called their non-response “depressing.”

So good (and true), we had to post the video. Here is the very well-respected Republican, George Will.

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