Simple Man Politics

It most certainly is the end of an era particularly on the Senate side of Congress. Earlier this morning in a hospital in Fairfax, VA, Senator Robert Byrd (D) WV passed away. You heard me right the pork king, former KKK member, and ultimate senatorial power player has finally passed away after becoming the longest serving and eldest member of the Senate body. However, I cannot just say negative things about Bob I have to say something good about the man too, because I am sure, he had to have done some good, or why else would he be undefeated in every election he ran in.

One good thing I can say about Mr. Byrd is the fact the he was a stalwart defender of the U.S. Constitution and recognized as the foremost authority on matters of constitution within the U.S. Senate. Another good thing I can say about Senator Byrd is the fact that he fiercely defended the right of both the Senate and the House of Representatives to keep any Presidential administration from usurping any Congressional powers. That is right it did not matter whether the President was a Republican or a Democrat he kept their hand out of the cookie jar.

Make no mistake though Robert Byrd is most certainly a Democrat although at one time he was considered the most conservative of that party. What does the loss of Byrd mean politically though? I do not think it means much since the Governor of West Virginia will appoint a person to replace Byrd until the 2012 election and the Governor is a Democrat. However, it does lose a critical vote for the ruling Democratic Party in the Senate for a bit, and it also puts on hold legislation that both the administration as well as the majority party in both houses of Congress consider necessary to advance their agenda.

My personal opinion is that now that Robert Byrd has passed away that the U.S. Senate will lose some of its prestige. However considering the current political climate after the mid-term elections this year I do not think that either Byrd’s Senate seat and vote would have mattered anyway. What does matter with regard to the passing of the Senates greatest orator is that both houses of Congress have lost their greatest and toughest defender. I think that not only will the administration now attempt to gain control even more, but also I think that the Democrats in the Senate will further slip into mediocrity.

That is all for now form Simple Man Politics, but I will be back again soon. Have a marvelous Monday my friends, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

P.S. Rest in Peace Mr. Byrd.

Welcome back to Simple Man Politics my friends I know it has been a while since I have written anything and I am sorry. However life has a habit of getting in the way sometimes and you have to take care of business so you can do what you like to do. That has definitely been true in my case recently, but I am well on my way to a full political rant recovery, so please bear with me.

Today I am going to write a little bit about a guy I have been listening to for quite a while on the radio and who has recently gotten himself his own show on Fox News. The guy I am talking about is none other than The Stormin Mormon Glenn Beck. To say the least this guy is a human lightning rod and fireplug that seems to thrive on political controversy, and I think both political parties are scared of him, but the left most of all.

However the thing I would like to talk about today is an interview that he gave to Katie Couric recently. In this interview he discusses the 2008 Presidential Election and makes a startling public statement that I think really floored the Republican Party as well as the Democratic Party. He not only said that he would not have voted for Obama, but that he may have even supported Hillary Clinton over John McCain.

Now I will tell you that I was really surprised by this statement, but after hearing his explanation I understand why he said what he did. Yes Glenn Beck does agree with John McCain on foreign policy and national defense issues, but he seriously disagrees with McCain on some domestic policies. The most notable of these domestic policy issues are John McCain’s support of Cap and Trade, Amnesty for Illegal’s, and Campaign Finance Reform.

What Beck basically says is that we as a nation would be no better off and maybe even worse off with McCain than with Obama. He cites that with McCain supporting those domestic policies that our economy would be in just as bad a shape and that there would more than likely have been no opposition from conservative independents or Republicans. I think that Mr. Beck may be right about this.

While I am a conservative who had voted for John McCain in 2008 I am also an independent voter with no party affiliation. With hindsight being 20/20 I have to agree that John McCain would quite possibly have been a bad choice for America to make. Unfortunately I am not a great fan of Hillary Clinton either and I would have had a hard time to vote for her even though she is a hawk on defense and foreign policy as am I.

For now though it appears that Glenn Beck has the spotlight, the soapbox, and the microphone. He also has his own organization known as the 9/12 project, which is designed with getting the grass roots conservative movement motivated. While I don’t support all of Becks views I have to agree with him that we need to strictly adhere to our nation’s constitution if we are to get out of this economic mess and remain strong as well.

I for one will be keeping an eye on Glenn Beck to see if he winds up being just like all of the other media personalities out there who are floating their own agendas and telling the American people a bunch of lies. For now though it seems to appear that we are safe from this where he is concerned. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and I will be back again soon my friends, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Well it appears that the democratic leadership in the House of Representatives has reached a deal with the moderate/conservative Bluedog arm of their party on the healthcare bill. Unfortunately for them there will be no vote on the bill before September of this year, which may kill the momentum they have already generated to pass this bill. However in my opinion this is not a bad thing for the country.

Just because there has been a deal to vote on the healthcare issue after the congressional summer break doesn’t guarantee passage of healthcare bill either. Not only are the Bluedog Democrats very unhappy and uneasy about key provisions in the bill, but almost to a man the GOP in both houses are apparently not going to support the bill at all. The cost of this proposal seems to be a problem for the GOP as well as the Bluedog’s too.

The result of all of this opposition to Obamacare has lead liberal Democrats in both houses to say that there can be no healthcare bill without Bluedog as well as GOP support. The reason for this sentiment is that when the bill fails miserably and no Republicans have voted for it as well as conservative Democrats the Democratic Party will be held solely responsible for the bills failure.

I also believe that the success of this bill or the lack thereof will have a direct response on the 2010 mid-term elections also. For the Dem’s this could be extremely catastrophic. The lower house has already pushed through it’s version of cap and trade and that bill is stuck in the Senate with no action on it. As a result the Dem’s in the lower house are worried that the same thing could happen to their healthcare proposal as well.

If the healthcare bill is stalled in the Senate like the cap and trade along with a failing economy and rising unemployment that the stimulus bill was supposed to fix then there could be a considerable shift of seats in both houses of congress to the right. The only good news for the Democrats on this subject is that the Republican brand is not yet been renovated and their approval rating is at about 28% currently, but that can change.

The only thing that could be more catastrophic for the Democratic Party than both cap and trade and healthcare being stalled is if both of those bills fail big time and the outlook becomes even direr to the American people before the mid-terms. Add to that the negative views of Democratic Party members such as Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, and NJ Governor Jon Corzine and it looks bleak for the Dem’s already.

As you all know though it will still be bad for the American people even if the Dem’s lose power in both houses in 2010. The reason being is that we will still be stuck with two more years of an Obama administration and its socialist agenda, along with the impossibly large government and deficits it has already created. Considering the current state of both parties I can only hope that the independent vote changes the balance of power in congress in 2010.

That is all for today from Simple Man Politics. I hope you all have a wonderful evening and a great Thursday. I will be back again soon my friends CIAO4NOW!!!!!