The Armenian Genocide

Dear Friends,

As we approach the day of international recognition of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, I continue to be ashamed of the United States for its failure to officially recognize this atrocity as genocide.  There is, of course, the condemnation of Turkey's persistent refusal to acknowledge this terrible part of its history, which is very appropriate.  However, it is the failure of the United States to call this crime against humanity what is was, a genocide of huge proportions that makes me ashamed.

When then Senator Obama was running for the Presidency, he said,

the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. The facts are undeniable... as President, I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.

President Obama has never fulfilled that promise. It is outrageous that we have permitted him to break this promise and place the United States in the position of continuing to be a fact denier on the international stage.  

I have decried and made fun of many Republicans because of their refusal to accept evolution and climate change, but this failure by President Obama and the United States is worse than both of those examples.  Please join me in urging President Obama to take advantage of this anniversary of the Armenian Genocide to fulfill his promise and include the United States among the nations of the world who recognize the Armenian Genocide.  You can contact him here.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal

When hedging just isn't enough.

Dear Friends,

Hillary Clinton has been very busy during the first few days of her formal campaign to become President.  As I wrote here, much of what she has said has been very encouraging to me as a liberal.  Now she has made a move that gives me more hope.  She hired Gary Gensler as the chief financial officer for her campaign.

Mr. Gensler is a former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and a former Goldman Sachs banker.  While that sounds like the typical revolving door story between the government and Wall Street.  Mr. Gensler is seen by many as a tough regulator who frequently clashed with Tim Geitner and Larry Summers (two terrible former members of the Obama administration).  The fact that he is in the good graces of Hillary Clinton is a very good sign.  Here is one conclusion from an article on Vox (here):

This is, for Wall Street skeptics, a huge deal: Gensler is the kind of regulator a President Elizabeth Warren would be expected to pick, not a President Clinton. But if Clinton is going to pick the kinds of regulators Warren was going to pick, then the difference between them isn't as large as many thought.

Unfortunately, Secretary Clinton's position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership is one of hedging.  When Secretary Clinton was First Lady, she wholeheartedly supported NAFTA.  When she ran for President in 2008 both she and then Senator Barack Obama were anti-trade agreement.  Once Senator Obama became President Obama and Senator Clinton became Secretary of State Clinton, they both changed their tunes and became strong advocates for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Her support for the TPP is now posing some problems for her as she seeks to woo liberal voters.

The International Business Times has a good article addressing Secretary Clinton's dilemma and current hedging on the TPP (here).   The article quotes an aide to Secretary Clinton as saying:

She will be watching closely to see what is being done to crack down on currency manipulation, improve labor rights, protect the environment and health, promote transparency and open new opportunities for our small businesses to export overseas.

The article goes on to quote an opponent of the TPP who voices the exact concern that I have:

“We’re glad that Secretary Clinton is voicing concerns about the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” said Murshed Zaheed, deputy political director at Credo. “But to stop secret trade deals like the TPP,  Secretary Clinton must speak out forcefully against Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority now while the debate is playing out in Congress.”

This case is clearly one where hedging is not enough.  Hillary Clinton must come out strongly against the Trans-Pacific Partnership and fast track for it.  Senator Bernie Sanders has urged Secretary Clinton to do so.  We should all do the same.  You can email her at website@hillaryclinton.com.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Trans-Pacific Partnership

Dear Friends,

Congress is moving forward to give President Obama fast track authority with respect to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.  The New York Times (here) just reported that a deal had been reached by the tax writing committees in the House and Senate on a bill to grant President Obama fast track authority.  As I have written before (here and here), the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a complete disaster for normal Americans.  It is written by and for big business.  While it appears that the bill will include some restrictions and while it requires that it be made public before it is approved (as opposed to keeping the provisions secret for two years after enactment), it is still a bad deal for Americans.

Please write your Representative and Senators as well as the President and anybody else in government that you have time to write.  Below some links to comment.

President Obama    https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments
Senator Klobuchar  http://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/email-amy
Senator Franken     https://www.franken.senate.gov/?p=email_al

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Moving Hillary to the left

Dear Friends,

I am doing my best to keep an open mind about Hillary Clinton, and so far in her campaign she is clearly moving to the left.  She is beginning to sound like a cross between Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.  She has tweeted and spoken out about many issues already and the changes and priorities show a definite movement to the left.  Just a few examples -

She has firmly come out in support of marriage equality.  Here is a quote from a CNN article (here):

As recently as a year ago, Hillary Clinton was sparring with a public radio host about her position on same-sex marriage, defending her past reticence to discuss the issue and falling well short of full-throated support. Now, in a markedly new position, Clinton is offering just that, calling gay marriage a right afforded by the Constitution.

She has come out in favor of overturning Citizen's United.  It was one of the four things that she said we needed to focus on.  Here is a quote from her statement in Iowa:

We need to fix our dysfunctional political system, and get unaccountable money out of it once and for all, even if it takes a constitutional amendment

She has also spoken out not just about equal pay but for a living wage.  Here is her tweet on the issue:

 Every American deserves a fair shot at success. Fast food & child care workers shouldn't have to march in streets for living wages. -H

Here is a tweet by Hillary sounding like Elizabeth Warren:

 It's fair to say the deck is still stacked in favor of those already at the top. There's something wrong with that.

She is also talking about budgets reflecting our priorities, affordability of college, availability of healthcare and others that are essential parts of a true liberal agenda.  Our politicians' positions reflect the people that they are trying to win over.  We need to keep the pressure on Hillary to move to the left and become a candidate who we can actively and enthusiastically support.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal