by Walter Allen Bennett, Jr. on March 28, 2010
It was called the Grand Old Party. That’s what G-O-P used to stand for. Some may say it still does, but for all intents and purposes one can honestly say, there is nothing grand about the current edition of the Republican Party and it has disappeared when it’s most needed. No, I don’t mean to save the country from a liberal President or even a Democratic House and Senate. It is as simple as Ying and Yang. The honest to goodness push back of the left not by simply saying “No” but with legitimate alternative ideas to bring to the table. The left needs you, not to substitute your ideas for theirs but more so to test their ideas against yours. But where are the legitimate new ideas, ideas that were not woefully followed during the Bush Administration?
Michael Steele has become the poster child for the party’s idiosyncrasies. It is no secret that as qualified as he may be for the position, he was and clearly is a GOP push back to Obama’s candidacy and Presidency. The GOP played a not so subtle race card the same way McCain played with gender when he selected Sarah Palin for his running mate in the 2008 Presidential Election. Subsequently, both Steele and Palin made for great photo ops and the appearance that the GOP had a progressive bone in its body politic, however, at the end of the day they became thin veils inadequately masking the GOP’s internal and philosophical dysfunction. Read more... (1164 words, 1 image, estimated 4:39 mins reading time)
by Walter Allen Bennett, Jr. on March 24, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010, the United States House of Representatives voted to pass the Health Care Reform Bill which was sent back from the United States Senate for final passage. It was in effect where the rubber met the road in this long and arduous political and emotional journey to the first form of health reform since Medicare was taken on by both chambers and was signed into law on July 30, 1965, by President Lyndon B. Johnson as amendments to Social Security legislation. After Medicare’s passage, then president, Lyndon B. Johnson, enrolled former president Harry S. Truman as Medicare’s first participant. Below is a short ten minute look as to just how emotional and passionate the house debate became, before the historic vote eventually passed the bill.
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by Walter Allen Bennett, Jr. on October 15, 2009
In order for the United States to retain the world value and position of the dollar it must consider an across the board devaluation of private and public real estate investments and properties. The devaluation must happen there or it will happen to the dollar itself and impact it in a manner which will be irreversible to its global value.
The financial market crash or extreme recession, as most would like to consider it, was primarily caused by bank investments in poor sub prime loans and the acceptance of inflated property values as part of their bottom line value and profits reported to share holders. As we know now, these were not fringe investments, to the contrary, banks were all in. The definition of “all in” being that bad real estate investments and inflated property appraisals attracted stock purchases, portfolio managers that controlled pension assets, Union investments, Insurance Company investments, small mom and pop investors and of course, the Bernie Madoffs of the world. Even the federal government began using numbers based on the inflated real estate market when making their own economic forecasts. It is the very reason former President George W. Bush triumphantly declared the U.S. economy was “economically sound”, only to see the country and the world financially shaken to its knees in a matter of months following his statement. Read more... (833 words, 1 image, estimated 3:20 mins reading time)
by Walter Allen Bennett, Jr. on August 30, 2009
The other day, I happened upon a friend of mine’s Facebook page and found that they were in the midst of going back and forth with another one of their friends posting commentary about the issue of health care reform. Intrigued, I joined in. At first it was only to make a simple comment, but after the third party responded to my comment, I found I had more to say with regard to their response to me. There was no hostility, no signs, no shouting matches, and not one hundred percent agreement on the issues either. It was an exchange of thoughtful ideas about our individual perceptions on health care reform. It was what is commonly known as and referred to as a “debate”.
As short lived as this exchange was it made it clear to me that what has been going on in Washington and at Town Hall meetings have been the furthest thing from a debate. Of course, we’ve heard some opinion, however the majority has been posturing, shouting matches and orchestrated behavior meant only to control the day’s or week’s news cycle. And why not, demonstrations and unbridled emotional controversy, whether staged and manufactured or real have always been good for misdirection and the clouding of the issues. They make for good TV too. All sides are guilty. Washington, Congress and folks at home need to debate this issue and somewhere there needs to be a forum where those who disagree can do so in a manner that they can hear and listen to the other’s disagreement and agreements. It’s not happening in Washington. Not happening at town meetings. Read more... (2190 words, 2 images, estimated 8:46 mins reading time)
