The Continuing Guantanamo Mess

It is now almost two years after President Obama announced he would close the Guantanamo detention center within one year.  As we enter 2011, Gitmo is still going strong and frankly shows no signs of being close to an end.  So much for the shallow thinkers of the Bush Administration. Guantanamo represented a genuine effort [...]

Please Explain

Here’s something I do not understand.  Why do Americans who do not pay anywhere close to the actual cost of their health insurance want to deny others coverage?  Why will these people not look to other modern countries in the world and at least consider how their “universal coverage” systems work? I do observe this [...]

Government Spending

Governments (local, State, or Federal) spend money for all sorts of purposes.  Since they are composed of people, a large part of government spending is simply for salaries, benefits, and pensions.  But why should governments spend anyways? The answer should be that governments spend (pass out money) if the money has been “pre-accumulated” or the [...]

The Games Resume

Thanksgiving weekend is the final pause this year where the airwaves are essentially noise free,  Congress will come back into session on Monday and the final days of a lame duck Congress will begin.  The question is whether we will see adults or instead see children trying to legislate. The New Start treaty is worthy [...]

Leadership Primer

Our Congressional leaders as well as our Presidential hopefuls are strutting about and talking about taking the country back to its people.  Regardless of whether you cringe at that thought, the slogan has been appealing to a population that has lost confidence that government can be a part of a solution to what ails the [...]

It Ain’t Easy

The “New Start” treaty is currently stalled in the Senate because Texas Senator John Kyl has put a hold on the treaty and has said he will keep the hold until next January.  A long list of past Secretary of States and experts on Russia (including current Defense Secretary Robert Gates) have urge Republicans to [...]

The Third Rail

Michael Bloomberg is often talked about as a potential third party candidate in the next Presidential election.  The word is that if the Republicans field someone like Sarah Palin or anyone equally hugging the right side of the party, and the Democrats nominate a weak Barark Obama, Bloomberg might mount a self financed and organized [...]

Is It Time?

Unless President Obama comes back to earth and puts some common sense emotion back into his messages to the American people, he will be a one term President.  I fault him not one bit for the job he is doing as President.  I fault him completely for the job he is doing as a leader. [...]

Where is the Ship Heading?

Cutting taxes is the Republican, Tea Party, Libertarian, and conservative mantra.  And who would not like to pay less in taxes?  Given the current magnitude of government spending and debt, cutting taxes is an impossibility.   Rearranging the deck chairs might give the appearance of tax cuts but the modern world demands certain government services [...]

Direction and the Bridge

As the Washington political scene plays on before us, one cannot be faulted for getting dizzy. What did that Senator just say? Or, what did that Representative mean? I have concluded that the reason we get dizzy is that our Congress members (and all the other faceless people who influence them) hardly ever speak of [...]