Dear Friends,
Shortly, President Obama is going to have to face two issues that he has been avoiding.
The New York Times reported today (here) that President Obama will speak out about guns in relation to the massacre in Tucson. The sources are not talking about what he will say just that he plans to speak on the subject. We should all put pressure on him to, at a minimum, throw his full throated support behind the bills introduced by Representative McCarthy and Senator Lautenberg in their respective houses of Congress. If he cannot even do that, it will be time to give up on him as any kind of a leader on this issue. Banning extended magazines, prohibiting people on the no-fly list from buying guns and closing the gun show loophole that permits guns to be purchased without any background check should be easy for any normal person to support.
The second issue is that two lawsuits are going to force President Obama to finally take a stand on gay marriage. The New York Times article today (here) explains the situation very well, but it goes like this. There are two cases which challenge the constitutionality of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act. In previous challenges the Obama Administration has defended the constitutionality based in part on precedent in the circuits in which those cases arose. These two cases are in the Second Circuit that has no precedent so the Obama Administration should be telling the court how they think the court should approach the issue. There is clearly an opportunity for the Obama Administration to help the court rule that the Federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. It will take an amount of courage that President Obama has been only summoned on a very few occasions. The oath of office that President Obama took was to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. We should all encourage him to take a firm stand in favor of the Constitution and against bigotry and discrimination.
You can send emails to President Obama here. Do it!!
Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Business as usual in the Senate
Dear Friends,
I am afraid that it is business as usual in the United States Senate. Yesterday, the group of mostly newer Democrats in the Senate dropped their effort to minimally reform the filibuster rules. The New York Times article (here) reported that they did so because they did not have the support necessary to change the rules. That means that even though all the Democrats in the Senate signed a letter saying that the filibuster rules needed to be changed, they were apparently unwilling to vote to change them. Any changes are now left to some hoped for compromise by the leadership of the two parties. I hope I am wrong, but the idea of Senators McConnell and Reid coming up with meaningful filibuster reform does not seem likely.
What is almost worse is that last night Senator Merkley (D-OR) appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show and gave some incomprehensible explanation about some rules that had never been used before that were blocking the effort. It sounded like a cover up, and if reporting in The New York Times is correct, it was a cover up. See for yourself.
When will politicians actually tell us the truth and when will the change that we all supported and voted for actually happen?
Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal
I am afraid that it is business as usual in the United States Senate. Yesterday, the group of mostly newer Democrats in the Senate dropped their effort to minimally reform the filibuster rules. The New York Times article (here) reported that they did so because they did not have the support necessary to change the rules. That means that even though all the Democrats in the Senate signed a letter saying that the filibuster rules needed to be changed, they were apparently unwilling to vote to change them. Any changes are now left to some hoped for compromise by the leadership of the two parties. I hope I am wrong, but the idea of Senators McConnell and Reid coming up with meaningful filibuster reform does not seem likely.
What is almost worse is that last night Senator Merkley (D-OR) appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show and gave some incomprehensible explanation about some rules that had never been used before that were blocking the effort. It sounded like a cover up, and if reporting in The New York Times is correct, it was a cover up. See for yourself.
Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal
Gun Control
Dear Friends,
As I pointed out yesterday, I was disappointed that President Obama did not mention anything about gun control in his State of the Union address. We need strong leadership from President Obama and others on this issue, if we are to make even baby steps of progress. Three items of interest about gun control from today's news.
First, on the good side, Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ) has introduced three gun control measures in the Senate (here). Make sure to tell your Senators to join as co-sponsors. If they don't, make sure they are forced to explain why not. These are not radical measures. They are common sense measures: limit the size of ammunition magazines, deny people on the terrorist watch list the right to buy guns and close the loophole that permits people to buy guns at gun shows without a background check.
Second, on the bad side, the Minnesota House of Representative which is controlled by Republicans is starting a move to repeal the state's system of gun permits and background checks. Here is the article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Since the Republicans now control both the Minnesota House and Senate, they are likely to be successful, our only hope is that Governor Mark Dayton, a Democrat, will veto the legislation if it gets to him.
Third, Gail Collins in her column this morning in The New York Times (here) highlighted the fact that the Utah Legislature is considering a bill to make the Browning M1911 pistol the state firearm. What can I say?
Apparently, politicians have very short memories and have already forgotten about the massacre in Tucson. Make sure to remind both your state and federal elected officials that gun control is critical to the safety of the American people.
Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal
As I pointed out yesterday, I was disappointed that President Obama did not mention anything about gun control in his State of the Union address. We need strong leadership from President Obama and others on this issue, if we are to make even baby steps of progress. Three items of interest about gun control from today's news.
First, on the good side, Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ) has introduced three gun control measures in the Senate (here). Make sure to tell your Senators to join as co-sponsors. If they don't, make sure they are forced to explain why not. These are not radical measures. They are common sense measures: limit the size of ammunition magazines, deny people on the terrorist watch list the right to buy guns and close the loophole that permits people to buy guns at gun shows without a background check.
Second, on the bad side, the Minnesota House of Representative which is controlled by Republicans is starting a move to repeal the state's system of gun permits and background checks. Here is the article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Since the Republicans now control both the Minnesota House and Senate, they are likely to be successful, our only hope is that Governor Mark Dayton, a Democrat, will veto the legislation if it gets to him.
Third, Gail Collins in her column this morning in The New York Times (here) highlighted the fact that the Utah Legislature is considering a bill to make the Browning M1911 pistol the state firearm. What can I say?
Apparently, politicians have very short memories and have already forgotten about the massacre in Tucson. Make sure to remind both your state and federal elected officials that gun control is critical to the safety of the American people.
Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal
Will we ever learn?
Dear Friends,
This morning I decided that I needed to learn more about what was going on in Egypt. It wasn't difficult as there were two articles on the front page of The New York Times today (here) and (here). It seems that Egypt is a nation of moderate people who want a true democracy instead of the dictatorship that the United States has supported for 30 years. President Mubarak has maintained the United States' support by claiming that the only alternative to his dictatorship is a group called the Muslim Brotherhood. The current demonstrations are not being conducted or supported by the Muslim Brotherhood, it is the youth of Egypt longing for freedom. The youth once again, with their knowledge and use of social networking, are creating a movement that hopefully will be sustained.
Unfortunately, the United States has not learned from its many past mistakes of choosing the stability of a friendly dictator over democracy. The first article cited above closes with this:
We have not learned. We must remind Secretary Clinton (here) and President Obama (here) that supporting dictators against the popular will of the people has been a disaster for the United States in the past and will be in the future if we do not learn from the past.
Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal
This morning I decided that I needed to learn more about what was going on in Egypt. It wasn't difficult as there were two articles on the front page of The New York Times today (here) and (here). It seems that Egypt is a nation of moderate people who want a true democracy instead of the dictatorship that the United States has supported for 30 years. President Mubarak has maintained the United States' support by claiming that the only alternative to his dictatorship is a group called the Muslim Brotherhood. The current demonstrations are not being conducted or supported by the Muslim Brotherhood, it is the youth of Egypt longing for freedom. The youth once again, with their knowledge and use of social networking, are creating a movement that hopefully will be sustained.
Unfortunately, the United States has not learned from its many past mistakes of choosing the stability of a friendly dictator over democracy. The first article cited above closes with this:
In a statement after Tuesday’s clashes, she urged restraint but described the Egyptian government as “stable” and “looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people.”Our government should be supporting democracy not dictators. Stability is not the goal. President Obama called us a beacon of justice in the world. Clearly that is what we should be, but unfortunately, it is not what we are.
We have not learned. We must remind Secretary Clinton (here) and President Obama (here) that supporting dictators against the popular will of the people has been a disaster for the United States in the past and will be in the future if we do not learn from the past.
Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
State of the Union
Dear Friends,
Last night's State of the Union speech proved once again what a great speaker President Obama is and what a great speech he and his aides can write. He demonstrated those areas where he is willing to fight and left out or glossed over those areas where, I am afraid, he is unwilling to fight.
He made great and passionate arguments for his healthcare legislation and for eliminating the tax breaks for the richest 2% and subsidies to oil companies. He also seemed to prioritize and be willing to fight for the Dream Act and education reform. I am not sure that I buy his focus on winning a global competition for jobs, but if that approach is his way of politically ensuring that the government actually funds the much needed infrastructure projects, green technology and education then I will be pleased.
I was disappointed in several things:
He did not even mention the increasing poverty in the country or the devastating gap between the richest and the rest.
He did not argue for Social Security. The most that he would say was that he would not "slash" benefits. That leaves a lot of room for destroying an incredibly valuable safety net.
About the only mention of Medicare that he made was to refer to it as the largest cause of our budget deficit. He failed to defend it as the best and most efficient medical insurance program that we have and that it is essential for the health and well being of millions of people.
There was no mention of gun control.
He spoke about the United States being a beacon of justice in the world but did not indicate that he would in any way bring to justice those who tortured in our name nor did he indicate that he would actually give current or future prisoners the due process rights that our Constitution and international law guarantees to all.
He spoke about the success in Iraq, but he really said that we are gone. Fortunately, he did not speak of "mission accomplished". He also spoke about defeating al-Qaeda, but it sounded like it would be a military defeat. Apparently, he has not yet learned that you cannot win over the hearts and minds of people by killing them particularly when you kill lots of innocents at the same time. He also employed the now obvious trick of starting to talk about al-Qaeda and then quickly morph to the Taliban when talking about Afghanistan as if al-Qaeda and the Taliban are the same and pose the same risk to the United States and its interests.
Every time he mentioned education, he focused on science and math both of which are critical but so are the arts and language skills and creative thinking.
I am aware that he cannot mention everything in the State of the Union speech and that it is probably more a political speech than a policy speech. So I am willing to wait and see what his actions are. We can only hope that the speech was part of a strategy to put the issues before the American people and propose reasonable approaches to many of the issues that we face in a way that Republicans could not object and still look reasonable.
I will give the President time. He is our best hope that we can get this country out of the current economic woes, put people back to work, educate our children, restore our infrastructure, save our environment and develop green technology, be able to compete in the global economy, effectively regulate our capitalist system, provide a safety net for all people that need it, provide for those among us that are least able to help themselves, and give all an opportunity to succeed.
Our job is to keep ourselves informed, hold the President accountable and be heard.
Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal
Last night's State of the Union speech proved once again what a great speaker President Obama is and what a great speech he and his aides can write. He demonstrated those areas where he is willing to fight and left out or glossed over those areas where, I am afraid, he is unwilling to fight.
He made great and passionate arguments for his healthcare legislation and for eliminating the tax breaks for the richest 2% and subsidies to oil companies. He also seemed to prioritize and be willing to fight for the Dream Act and education reform. I am not sure that I buy his focus on winning a global competition for jobs, but if that approach is his way of politically ensuring that the government actually funds the much needed infrastructure projects, green technology and education then I will be pleased.
I was disappointed in several things:
He did not even mention the increasing poverty in the country or the devastating gap between the richest and the rest.
He did not argue for Social Security. The most that he would say was that he would not "slash" benefits. That leaves a lot of room for destroying an incredibly valuable safety net.
About the only mention of Medicare that he made was to refer to it as the largest cause of our budget deficit. He failed to defend it as the best and most efficient medical insurance program that we have and that it is essential for the health and well being of millions of people.
There was no mention of gun control.
He spoke about the United States being a beacon of justice in the world but did not indicate that he would in any way bring to justice those who tortured in our name nor did he indicate that he would actually give current or future prisoners the due process rights that our Constitution and international law guarantees to all.
He spoke about the success in Iraq, but he really said that we are gone. Fortunately, he did not speak of "mission accomplished". He also spoke about defeating al-Qaeda, but it sounded like it would be a military defeat. Apparently, he has not yet learned that you cannot win over the hearts and minds of people by killing them particularly when you kill lots of innocents at the same time. He also employed the now obvious trick of starting to talk about al-Qaeda and then quickly morph to the Taliban when talking about Afghanistan as if al-Qaeda and the Taliban are the same and pose the same risk to the United States and its interests.
Every time he mentioned education, he focused on science and math both of which are critical but so are the arts and language skills and creative thinking.
I am aware that he cannot mention everything in the State of the Union speech and that it is probably more a political speech than a policy speech. So I am willing to wait and see what his actions are. We can only hope that the speech was part of a strategy to put the issues before the American people and propose reasonable approaches to many of the issues that we face in a way that Republicans could not object and still look reasonable.
I will give the President time. He is our best hope that we can get this country out of the current economic woes, put people back to work, educate our children, restore our infrastructure, save our environment and develop green technology, be able to compete in the global economy, effectively regulate our capitalist system, provide a safety net for all people that need it, provide for those among us that are least able to help themselves, and give all an opportunity to succeed.
Our job is to keep ourselves informed, hold the President accountable and be heard.
Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal
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