OBAMA A LYING DISGRACED PRESIDENT - WHY?

The Republicans have hit pay dirt. Their only issue – attack Obamacare is close to hitting the jackpot or so they pray, hope and believe. Their 500 to 1 shot is leading in the homeward stretch and they have Obama on the ropes – just to mix a couple of metaphors. (Blogs: Obamacare and Obamascare Explained, 11/28/13. Obamacare, Elections and Women, 11/7/13 and Obamacare: Politics, Hypocrisy, Lies and Facts 10/24/13). One of Obama’s key messages that you can keep your old insurance if you so desire has not materialized for many. Millions of Americans have received letters from their insurance companies terminating their current insurance.  The politicians and the media, without any thought as to why this occurred have unleashed unprecedented vitriol on Obama. They are calling him a liar and disgraced.

The Republicans are calling Obama an unashamed liar. This is really heavy stuff in American politics. America is a secular country, but as the former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, Jonathon Sacks, has observed that every American President has mentioned G-D in one of his inauguration speeches. So while there is disrespect and even hatred for Obama the convention is that the Office of President is respected with almost a divine reverence. So much so that just a few years ago when a Republican, Joe Wilson, screamed out during an Obama State of the Union speech, “You are lying”, he was censored by all and sundry including his own Party. So while the President is not quite the Pope, in terms of reverence it is almost a photo finish. -just to sling in yet another metaphor.

That was then and this is now.

OBAMA THE LIAR

No lesser luminary than Dick Cheney, former Vice President and purveyor of the misinformation that led the USA to go to war on Iraq, as he swore that the latter definitely had weapons of mass destruction, (reverence forbids Jay H Ell to call this a lie), is leading the choir that Obama is a liar. Conferring on Cheney, Vice Papal status, Jay H. Ell has to believe that the fact that his daughter is running as a Tea Party candidate for the Senate has nothing to do with the immediate past Vice President’s unprecedented behavior towards the sitting President, Obama.  Anne Romney, who incidentally has neglected to comment on her husband’s lie that he never recommended Romneycare for the whole country, has echoed Cheney’s claim.

Then of course there are there is the slew of legislators that either label Obama a liar or claim that he deliberately and knowingly mislead the electorate. This band, as one might expect is lead by Ted Cruz.

As usual the unelected megalomaniacs in the media are shouting the odds. One would expect rants from Rush Limbaugh but when a “respected” intellect such as Charles Krauthammer joins the party you have to know this is developing into a free for all. He accuses Obama of “mendacity, paternalism and subterfuge”. He is paternalistic because he does not give people what they want. Rather Obama decides their insurance i.e. the Affordable Health Care Act, (AHCA)! Krauthammer seems to forget elections, votes in Congress and Supreme Court decisions that have endorsed the AHCA.

But Obama is more than a liar he is also washed up, disgraced and discredited.

OBAMA WRITTEN OFF AS A DISASTER AND A DISGRACE

In this day and age of 24/7 media hysteria and a bloggosphere, that knows no bounds, the Obamacare insurance mishaps are being blown up to catastrophic levels. This is Obama’s Katrina. This is Obama’s Iraq.  Watergate and the Iran Contra scandal are also comparisons. A media consensus is that Obamacare is part of the curse that afflicts Presidents who win a second term. The 44^th President has also been declared a lame duck.

How one can compare Bush’s indifference on Katrina where nearly 2000 people died or Bush and Cheney’s misleading the USA into a war where tens of thousands died and are still dying with a failed website and an unintended consequence of the sloppily written AHCA, heaven only knows? To liken Obama’s actions to a Watergate, where there was a Presidential cover up of burglaries of political opponents and where several members of his Administration went to jail, is political hyperbole beyond the imagination. The Iran Contra scandal, where, on the Republican icon Reagan’s watch, arms were sold to Iran to get hostages released and then the money obtained used to illegally fund rebels in Nicaragua, is now compared to Obama’s failure to see that in his 2000 page AHCA he did not legally preclude insurance companies from terminating policies.

All of the above travesties are thus compared to glitches that Obama is experiencing in trying to get healthcare for everyone! The mob behavior is obscene and an indicator as to the depths that political discourse has sunk to in the USA.

The Media

The media must take plenty of responsibility for feeding into this pig fest and reinforcing these comparisons and embellishing them without putting them in any perspective. CNN, that paragon of journalistic virtue, daily, runs stories on television and on its web page of second term presidents who were sunk by scandals and disgraceful behavior such as Katrina, Iran Contra and Obamacare. CNN are just one of many media outlets that are using this hyperbole. For some in the mass media there is only one standard and that is readership or viewer ship. Generally speaking, they have abandoned their role as the valued fourth estate in favor of selling soap.

The frenzy has even spread to some Democrats who were ready to abandon Obama if the “mess” had not been resolved by Obama’s executive order. Bill Clinton, who should have known better but was running cover for Hillary, said Obama must keep his promise and change the law if necessary – knowing that, that was impossible at the time. Some Senate Democrats have drafted a bill to change the law and if they succeed it will compound the problem.

ANATOMY OF AHCA’S INSURANCE MESS – A FAIRY TALE

Once upon a time, there was a President named Obama who lied to a nation and perpetrated one of the dastardliest acts by throwing people off medical insurance while pretending to help them. It is a fact that the AHCA is merely a subterfuge for entrenching big government and socialism.   Read below of the spin of the socialists.

The Story

Introduction

Obama, correctly, took the ultimate responsibility for the insurance problems associated with the application of the AHCA. Indeed he should have seen to it in the first place, that insurance companies could not have terminated plans for anyone. It is inexcusable that he didn’t.

 However there is evidence in mitigation and exculpatory information that would negate that this lapse defines him as a liar and a rogue. (Jay H. Ell discussed some of these factors in his blogs referred to above).

How to Pass a Bill in Washington

Anyone will tell you that in Washington to pass a Bill, as expansive as the AHCA, especially in the field of medicine where one in every six dollars in the USA is spent, you need allies. - allies with deep pockets. There are so many vested interests in this goldmine of medical care that it is a question of recruiting allies that interfere least with your objectives and have enough resources to help you fight off the other sharks. This has proved an impossible task as for over a century American Presidents have tried and failed - failed that is until Obama came along. The most recent failure was under the Clintons whose comprehensive plan was kyboshed by the whole cabal including the American Medical Association, (AMA) opposing it

Obama recruited two powerful lobbies, the medical insurance lobby and the AMA. By doing this he could turn this into a joint government and private industry venture with the doctors in toe. The insurance companies would benefit by more enrollees, the doctors would benefit by having more paying patients and Obama would benefit by using a Republican model. (He also hoped by using the Republican Heritage Foundation’s model, Romneycare, he would garner Republican support!).

The AHCA

First of all it must be made quite clear that the AHCA states, “Nothing in this Act shall be construed that an individual terminate coverage. …in which such an individual was enrolled on the date of the enactment of this Act.”

Thus in the AHCA it was explicit that you need not change your insurance if you were happy with your present one. Obama consequently reassured again and again that that was the case. The assumption was that the only variable was the rights of the consumer. No provision was made, in the sloppily written AHCA, to stop insurance companies from terminating a plan that consumers were on that was initiated after 2010. The problem was that there was a three-year delay after the enactment of the AHCA so insurance companies could legally terminate plans put into place after 2010. The act should have stated what was intended, namely that the no one could be kicked off any existing insurance plan, period. There is not one jot of evidence that Obama foresaw this mess. His subsequent repeated promises could have not been made to set himself up and reinforce that fact that he was a liar. Rather his promises are more in sync with what he believed the AHCA intended.

That he should have covered every base is another matter.

Obama delayed to correct the mistake in the AHCA

Obama should have immediately corrected the situation when the news of the expulsions was announced as he finally did with an executive order to attempt to enforce the insurance companies to comply with the spirit of the Act. However he hoped to ride the storm without annoying his key partner - insurance companies. So a strangely tentative Obama, first half apologized, then fully apologized and finally issued the executive order.

Does the mistake matter?

In the final analysis it does not really matter as the AHCA is set up to provide better care at a cheaper and sometimes subsidized cost. If the insurance company does not reinstate his or her policy the consumer will rush to the site, which still has 4 months to run and really test the system. The Governors of Washington, Kentucky and Connecticut have just issued a report on the success of Obamacare in their States. They accepted full subsidy to increase Medicaid and they have recruited large numbers of uninsured. They state that the real reason they have been so successful is that all parties and institutions have pulled together to make this work. Presumably those States have patients who have been thrown off insurance schemes too. Recruitment is picking up especially in the States that have cooperated with the Obamacare provisions.

Ultimately, the jury is still out on whether acceptable recruitment will occur or not but already certain insurance companies are putting tentative adverts for the business. What is crucial for this whole exercise is whether the website will be functional on November 31^st as scheduled.

End of Story.

And that children is how that nasty lying Obama became the worst President in living memory with an act so dastardly that Watergate, the Iraq war deception, Iran Contra and Katrina pale by comparison. The underlying moral dear little ones is don’t mess with the status quo and let 45,000 people die as they chose not to have insurance. Also children we need to keep the bankruptcy court busy with their main business -medical bankruptcies or otherwise several jobs will be lost. As you read above some grown-ups just don’t understand!

AT THE END OF THE DAY 

Obama 

Obama needs to take the situation by the scruff of the neck and show some leadership. He needs to tell the Congress, Democrats included, that they must stop wasting their time debating Obamacare, as it is a fact of life. If any Act should come along to his desk modifying it he will veto it. He needs to send a message to the insurance companies that they need to get with the spirit of the law and honor his executive order.  If he is not in the web room every morning demanding that Sibelius show progress, he should be, as most importantly he needs to get his website working. Then he can spend his energy doing what he does best – campaign on the virtues of Obamacare. After all he won two elections on the strength of it.

This is crunch time for Obama. While history will never link him with Nixon, George W, Cheney and Reagan, he will have to answer as to why he had the audacity to run against Hillary if he did not have the stomach to follow through. There is a chasm between being an activist and being a politician. He chose to be the latter and in so doing axed a real politician, Hillary, who would not have his heartache and dilemmas. He owes it to those who had faith in him to deliver and not wimp away into oblivion.

Republicans

 This is crunch time too for the Republicans. They have risked all on destroying Obamacare. With their windfall they doubled down. They are simply the anti Obamacare party. The advantage of this approach is that they keep the party united. The Republicans can postpone their internal fight for another day. All their financial resources, which at the end of the day are far more than those of the Democrats, will be used to attack Obamacare, in an attempt to win the November midterm elections. The New York Times ran a story of the Republican “play book” how to suppress Obamacare and use it to retake the Senate and hold the House. 

What if Obamacare even half delivers?

What if Obamacare does not fail or does reasonably well? Do they carry on ad nauseam attacking the website and the insurance “betrayal”? Also there maybe a backlash in States where the Governors boycotted and obstructed Obamacare and millions remain uninsured. There are three States with Democratic Governors, Kentucky, Washington and Connecticut that have had spectacular responses. Also the 14 States that accepted Obamacare have had more than expected recruitment these past two weeks.

How does Obamacare attacks recruit the groups that oppose the GOP.

Also how does this focused policy of just attacking Obamacare help the Republicans with the youth, women, Hispanics, the Gays and African American demographic groups? Other than voter suppression they are doing nothing about this growing demographic threat to their future. Voter suppression of these groups is only going to alienate them further and make it almost impossible to win them back.

Obamacare is not the only string to the Democratic bow. They are promoting the issues of the aforementioned groups as well as promoting the well being of the ninety - nine percent. The economy is improving, the stock market is going gangbusters and the job numbers are generally better.

Jay H. Ell believes that the Republican preoccupation with Obamacare will, ultimately do them more harm them good. But not to worry in 50 years time they will be claiming it as their own as they do now with Social Security and Medicare.

OBAMA, ROUHANI, NETANYAHU AND NUCLEAR NEGOTIATIONS

OBAMA, ROUHANI, NETANYAHU AND NUCLEAR NEGOTIATIONS

Iran has burst its way back onto the international landscape. As a result of a complete reversal of policy by the incoming President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, there are currently negotiations going on between the Security Council five and Germany on the one hand and Iran on the other, on the cessation of Iran’s nuclear program Ostensibly the Iranian position represents an incredible change of heart brought about by Rouhani’s election.

Just a year earlier Iran’s Ahmadinejad had repeated his belligerent no compromise position at the United Nations coupled with threats to wipe Israel of the face of the earth. (Blog: Israel’s Netanyahu, Iran’s Ahmadinejad and America’s Obama, September, 2012). Now there is just sweetness and light emanating from Iran. Rouhani is even prepared to concede that the holocaust may just have been real!  Rouhani’s volte-face led to the current negotiations.

All this activity has resulted in speculation and conspiracy theories that Obama is about to sell out Israel and legitimize Iran’s nuclear weapon program.

THE FACTS ON IRAN

·      Iran are involved in a nuclear program that any reasonable person could infer was leading to the making of nuclear weaponry.

·      To date they have been defiant in proceeding with this process and this has lead to the imposition of devastating international sanctions.

·      In tandem with this program, they have sponsored international terrorism, been the paymasters of two terrorist organizations, Hamas and Hezbollah, backed Syria in its genocide of its own peoples and threatened to eliminate the State of Israel.

·      President Rouhani is an insider and a former negotiator for the Nuclear Program, who has boasted in print, that while conducting nuclear talks on a previous occasion, he used the opportunity to advance Iran's nuclear program.

·      Rouhani and Ahmadinejad are both the mouthpieces of the Khomeini’s, Mullahs and military and merely reflective of the latter’s’ policies.

·      So if there is a total about face it is not between Rouhani and Ahmadinejad it is at the highest possible level and sanctioned by the Ayatollah Khomeini himself

·      It is thus not unreasonable to view Rouhani’s initiative with the deepest skeptism.

·      At the same time it would have been impossible to reject, out of hand, the offer made by Rouhani, without fully pursuing it. Hence for the first time in ages you have the Security Council ad idem.

 POSSIBLE RATIONALE FOR IRAN’S INITIATIVE

Financial.

Sanctions are biting deep and the Iranian economy is in an unimaginable shambles. According to a New York Times report of September 20, 2013 their currency situation is in dire straits and is bringing the Country to its knees. Oil sales that account for 80% of revenue are cut in half. What money reserves they have are tied up in banks and are unobtainable. They cannot repatriate money that is theirs or owing to them. The Government owes billions to contactors, municipalities and banks.

Also the currency has taken a dive. It has lost two thirds of its value towards the dollar. Inflation is said to be close to 30% and unemployment high. A large amount of transactions are taking place in illegal markets and at unfavorable terms to the Iranians.  The situation has noticeably worsened since July when the USA initiated even tougher sanctions against the rial.  White House Press Secretary Carney stated that the USA would be targeting foreign institutions that conduct or facilitate financial transactions with Iran. The US Treasury Department added that the aim was to make the rial unusable in international finance. Obama issued the Executive order that put all this into effect and in addition he gave financial institutions a month to dump their rials.

Political.

Political opposition in Iran is almost completely squashed.   Two major opposition parties were banned in 1983 and again 2010 two parties were banned and their leaders were imprisoned. This followed street protests at Ahmadinejad’s election where close on a 100 citizens were killed.  Protests have continued ever since. Several of these protests have been as a result of economic conditions and the fall of the rial. In 2012 hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to be met by riot police. Popular support has rallied around two leaders, Hussein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi, who were put under House arrest. 

So it is fair to say the “natives are restless”. The Iranians have been emboldened by the Arab Spring and communication is aided by the Internet. There are websites and social media. While much is officially censored most have their own Internet connection and communicate.

So in addition to the financial instability there is political instability.

NETANYAHU’S POSITION.

Netanyahu has made it clear that any settlement with Iran is totally unacceptable. He has verbally abused all and sundry. He has maintained that the deal that is being negotiated between the six nations and Iran is “the best deal in the world for Iran”. Kerry has advised him that he should stick around and wait and see what the deal is. Kerry also told a Sunday Talk Show that the negotiators are “not stupid” and they “know” Rouhani’s record of negotiating while proceeding with nuclear advancement. The latter behavior of Rouhani is the reason Netanyahu argues that he should not be negotiated with at all.

Netanyahu’s own judgment is in question. A year ago he was ready to “take out” Iran’s nuclear capabilities when his own Security and Military establishment publicly repudiated him. While he has the support of the hawks, the Israeli opposition has criticized Netanyahu. An editorial in Haaertz attacked the Prime Minister for his handling of the Iran negotiation issue. His premature statements and his threats that he would not be bound by any agreement are not winning any friends. Granted Netanyahu has right-wingers, Avigdor Lieberman and Moshe Feiglin, to worry about but most of Israel’s premiers have had to be statesmen or women in order to navigate their survival in a hostile world. Netanyahu, to date, is in no danger of joining them.

There cannot be many that do not recognize Israel’s precarious position.  Israel is in the direct firing line of Iran and they are not going to be persuaded that Rouhani, a self confessed conman, is acting in good faith. However, Israel is not the only country with skin in this game. Besides USA, the European countries, especially France and Germany regard Iran as a real threat and more than half the Arab world lead by Saudi Arabia would like to take them out a well.

Can Netanyahu list the countries in the world that would comfortable knowing that Iran has a nuclear capability?

CHANCES OF AN AMERICAN SELL OUT

The chance of America selling out on Israel is zero. Not only is Israel their number one ally, the USA has led the sanctions battle against Iran. Then in case it is forgotten America and Iran have been at loggerheads since the hostage crisis in the 1970’s. America backed and helped Saddam Hussein’s Iraq against Iran in a long and bitter war.

Obama has made it quite clear, again and again, that this isn’t going to happen and other than the drivel from the right wing bloggers on the Internet there has been absolutely nothing to suggest anything else. (This commitment does not extend to doing Netanyahu’s bidding). If it was necessary, and obviously it was, Kerry issued yet another reassurance that Israel’s interests will be protected.

Even if the crazies, who have been warning that Obama is a Muslim plant waiting for a chance like this to destroy America and Israel, were right, Congress and the country would not let him.  Only Congress can lift the sanctions on Iran and support of Israel is about the only issue Congress agrees on. In this regard Kerry has his work cut out to persuade the Senate not to introduce new sanctions let alone relieve a few of those in place.

Finally, the International Atomic Agency has confirmed that they will verify any future deal with Iran.

CHANCES OF A SETTLEMENT

There are two sets of negotiations. One is between the “six” and the other is between the “six” and Iran. The six are not exactly ad idem.  As their composition might suggest some might be less stringent in their demands then others. France appears to be unrelenting.

Their negotiations do not really matter if Rouhani sticks to what he has said that he has drawn a line in the sand – Iran must be allowed to continue to enrich uranium. There has to be no possibility of that happening as this process is central to the production of nuclear weapons. If this report is accurate Rouhani cannot be serious! Kerry maintains that the delay in negotiations is to allow the Iranians to consult with their “leaders” and there is no split among the six negotiators. Contrary reports have identified France as being the hardliner.

They all meet again in a few days. Maybe Rouhani’s masters will realize that you cannot bluff with a pair of twos forever. Also the International Atomic Agency is due to make a report on Iran soon.

Either Rouhani ‘s masters change their stance or this whole exercise is dead in the water and the action will move back to Iran where the populace will continue to pay the price of their theocratic dictators’ prejudices and ambitions. The internal situation in Iran is what precipitated the new “accommodating” image of the theocracy in the first place.  The CNN correspondent reported that the failure to reach a deal produced anger and frustration in Teheran some of which was directed against France. However, it will boil down to a choice between Iran’s nuclear ambitions or their leaders’ decision to return to normalcy. Jay H. Ell’s guess is that the average Iranian is really not interested in whether Iran is a nuclear power or not.

One has to imagine that life in Iran will only get worse if there is no lifting of the sanctions but it is likewise difficult to imagine exactly how all this is going to play out in the next few months. However it plays out Iran have to settle eventually. Their very presence at the negotiating table and their abrupt change to their current conciliatory tone is indicative of the seriousness of the predicament they find themselves in.

ADVICE:

Jay H. Ell rarely has the temerity to offer these powerful operators advice. The negotiating six have to realize that they are not dealing with a sudden epiphany by Khomeini of what is right and good. Rather it is an act of desperate necessity and even survival. The six need not budge an inch.

OBAMACARE, ELECTIONS AND WOMEN

The Republicans have not retreated one inch from their main political thrust – namely “Attack Obamacare”. In fact the GOP is bereft of any positive initiative. Following upon an Obamacare 24 billion dollar closing down of the Government and nearly wrecking the Country’s credit rating they have now launched, a full pressure attack on the “disaster” that was the launch of Obamacare. With impressive false indignation, in endless congressional hearings, they are berating all and sundry, from technicians to the Health Care Secretary, and of course Obama, for the Administration’s failure to put into place the very project that they have spent 5 years trying to kill. (Blogs: Obamacare and Obamascare explained, September 28, 2013 and Obamacare: Hypocrisy. Lies and Facts, October 24, 2013).

The GOP obviously must believe that this is a winning strategy.

TWIN STATEGIES OF OBAMARE AND VOTER SUPPRESION

Perhaps it is a bit unfair to say the Republicans were doing nothing else. They were very busy on what has been interpreted as voter suppression legislation in State legislatures that they control.  It is incontrovertible that this legislation will make it more difficult to vote in elections. The poor, the minorities, the elderly and the full time students, who just also happen to be predominantly Democratic, will be impacted disproportionately.

The one advantage of the twin strategies of attack Obamacare and make it difficult for Democrats to vote, is that they are about the only issues that the Republican and the insurgent Tea Party agree on. Also the stumbles on the Obamacare launch and the Republican successful campaign of terrifying the electorate, that Obamacare will take away their health insurance has helped reinforce the Republicans’ denial that they can ignore all else So let Obama bleat about a comprehensive immigration bill and exhort a bipartisan consensus on the budget and debt ceiling they will not be sidetracked. Let Harry Reid focus on the civil rights of the LGBT and women but the Republicans are going to stick to scaring on Obamacare.

WELL ARE THE STRATEGIES WORKING?

At the moment what metrics can be used to measure the Republican tactics? Obama and his plan have a 40% acceptance rate. This could be encouraging to the GOP but that is where they have been throughout. The Republican approval rate is at 22% and that has decidedly dropped during the process. What encourages apparently are the daily reports of some insurance companies dropping their current plans and leaving patients to find new insurance. This scenario strikes fear into the hearts of any American since prior to Obamacare they need not have been accepted in any other plan, Sooner or later those “dropped” are going to find out that they now have to be accepted by law so this tactic will backfire.

Bur the Republicans still have to believe that this strategy is going to bring electoral success. So they soldier on although all the polls show that there has been a major shift to the Democrats bringing the seemingly impregnable Republican House of Representatives into play in 2014. In addition the Republican advantage in the Senate, as a result of the distribution of the midterm Senate races, according to the polls no longer is evident.

RECENT ELECTIONS

New Jersey – Booker and Chrisite

Well polls are polls but it’s the elections that count and there have only been a few of those of any national significance. The first resulted in the overwhelming victory, in the New Jersey Senate race by Democrat Corrie Booker. But Booker replaced a former Democratic Senator. Still this result can hardly been encouraging, as one would have for some movement towards the GOP if their strategy was working.

Also New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie was fearful enough to schedule the Senate election months ahead of his gubernatorial election lest the Democratic turn out for Booker would compromise him.  So Christie spent $25,000,000 of New Jersey’s money to hold his election on a different day to Booker.

That decision speaks volumes because Christie is the only Republican with any general appeal yet he was fearful of the Democratic base that would come out to vote for Booker and against him in the gubernatorial race. The Democrats took a tactical decision to give Christie a pass. Let him stick around and heighten the rift between the two wings of the GOP

Christie overwhelmingly won with bipartisan support and officially stamped himself as the Republican Establishment Candidate for 2016. However his veto on increasing the minimum wage in New Jersey was soundly beaten in a referendum. He also had to back down on his opposition to same sex marriage. So Christie is ultimately is betwixt and between and that is where the Democrats want him.

Virginia State Elections

Virginia would have to be the acid test of what the Republicans are gaining by this strategy. If the Republicans are serious of winning a national election they have to win States like Virginia. Three positions were contested in Virginia – Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. The Republicans currently held all of these positions. Much was at stake here. Not the least the fate of Obamacare at a state level. The outgoing Republican Governor had not accepted Federally funded Medicaid extension to the poor nor had he set up a State exchange for its citizens to enlist in Obamacare.

 The Republican candidates’ central slogan was that a vote for the Democrats was a vote for Obamacare. Thus it could not be argued that all politics are “local” when the Republican slate is vowing to continue, on the State level, the national Republican do or die position on Obamacare. Also the Democrat slate had plenty of other issues to talk about such as immigration, women’s rights, government shutdowns and bipartainship and the like.

In truth this election was a mirror image of the national debate and the rhetoric used by both sides. The high profile politicians that found their way to support the various candidates reinforced the importance of Virginia.

Candidates in Virginia

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Terry McCaulliff, collected tons of money and had Bill Clinton, Obama and Biden in toe. However, McCauliffe was extremely disliked in Virginia with a disapproval rating well above his approval rating. The Republicans had a Tea Party candidate, Ken Cuccinelli, who had Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, Marc Rubio and Rand Paul in attendance.  (No Bush’s or Christie’s were in evidence).

If the differences between the gubernatorial candidates were stark they reached Saturday Night Live proportions in the Lieutenant Governor’s race. Republican E. W. Jackson believes inter alia that Obama’s Christianity is laughable, gays are perverted and non-Christians are “engaged in some sort of false religion”. Democrat Northam just stuck to the moderate bipartainship mantra of Obama so as to get “things done”.

The Republican in the race for the Attorney General’s office was Scott Obenshain. He had a “positive message” and family connections and plenty of money. He received support from Republicans who had crossed over the floor to support McCauliff according to the Washington Post. Obenshain was “realistic” and the guy that the Republicans hoped to salvage some credibility on - the establishment Republican that is.

Taking all factors into account the Republicans have naught for their comfort. McCauliffe delivered, Jackson was slaughtered and Obenshain scraped in by 500 votes and that election will be subject to a recount.

WOMAN VOTER SUPPRESSION

However, there was one fascinating piece of demographic data in the Virginian races. The democrats were ahead in all the demographics expected excepting for women and women’s issues vote where the point spread was higher than expected, especially among the unmarried. (The outgoing Virginian Republican Governor had backed a compulsory intravaginal ultrasound probe, in every case of abortion, regardless of the circumstances). The perception that the Republicans pay lip service to women’s rights is obviously more than just a perception.

Besides the usual issues of women’s health concerns, contraception and abortion another discriminatory problem cropped up - at the time of the election a major scandal relating to women voter suppression broke out in Texas.

The Texas legislature passed a voter suppression law. Essentially you now must have a governmental identification to vote. In addition that voter identity must correspond to the exact name you have on the Voter’s role. Now women as they get married and divorced have more differences on their documents than other demographic. Also women tend to alternate between using their maiden names as their middle or their last names. In two well-publicized incidents, a Judge and the Democratic candidate for Texas Governor were not allowed to cast ballots in a local election. Fully one third of women voters in Texas face this problem. Thus far the Republicans have been mum on this issue. They obviously believe that their voter suppression legislation is their only hope regardless of these unintended consequences.

If Virginia is anything to go by the female vote is going to become more and central in defining the future of the political landscape.

AT THE END OF THE DAY

The Republicans seem too far-gone to back off now even though their strategy is obviously not working. They are relying on their Hail Mary pass and just hoping against hope that Obamacare collapses by its own weight. So Obama better see to it that he does not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. A concerted campaigning effort is on the way by Obama to educate on the obvious advantages of Obamacare, but all that will come to naught if the website does not work. If the website works are the Republicans ready for the backlash?  What is their plan B?

Also women’s rights are front and central and played a big part in the Virginia elections. The latter issue gets scant attention from the Republicans and Jay H. Ell believes this is going to become more and more central to the political debate.

Just one final thought and you heard it first here. Texas has added women to their list of those discriminated against. Texas has the highest percentage of uninsured, in the USA - 24%. Nearly 40% of Texans are Latinos and of those nearly 40% have no medical insurance.

Seems that the messages on Obamacare and women’s rights needs to get out. If it does Texas will go Democrat – that is if they do not secede from the USA first. 

MANDELA – A LETTER FROM PRISON and POSTSCRIPT

Nelson Mandela who was discharged from hospital, on September 1, after a three months stay, is still reported to be critical and unstable in his home Intensive Care Unit. While Mandela is still “hanging on” the world around him does not stop. On July 18 on his 95^th birthday, at the United Nations, once again Nelson Mandela Day was celebrated.  In October he added the Republican Leader Bob Dole Institute’s leadership’s prize to his unbelievable list of honors. Also swirling around this icon’s aura is the sad negativity of those who have continually exploited his image. Now the South African police are investigating fraud in one of his charities and South Africa is being treated to an unseemly battle, involving different members of his family, over his funeral and where he should be buried.

MANDELA  PRISON LETTER UP FOR AUCTION

The above achievements are not the only reason why Jay H. Ell is following up his all encompassing tribute to him a year ago, ( Blog: Mandela, The British Golf Open and Immortality, August  4, 2012).  The reason is that for the first time he has seen a letter written by him go on public auction. The letter is not about any earth shattering deliberations, nationally or internationally. It illustrates what Bill Clinton has described as, “… a heart so big and a humility so great….”.

The letter was written from the Victor Verster prison and dated August 21, 1989 from 1335/88, (his prison number), Nelson Mandela.  To orientate readers to that date, he had already spent 26 of his 27 years behind bars. The referral to his prison number was just to facilitate easier communication with him as at that stage he was no longer a prisoner in the true sense of the word. He was living in the vacated Warder’s home with a cook in attendance.

Mandela had been conducting high power negotiations that would lead to a peaceful transition from apartheid to a non - racial society. He was at peace and in total control. He was juggling many balls because on his release he would begin the really tough negotiations to set up a transition to a peaceful non racial South Africa. There was still a long way to go in his “Long Walk To Freedom”. He was also in contact with the oversea ANC leader Oliver Tambo.

In fact Mandela could have been released up to a decade earlier but release was not was it was all about. He had started this journey over a half a century earlier to create a society free for all its members. So when Mandela wrote this letter he had achieved the necessary breakthroughs to allow him to accept release 5 months later. He was well on his way to one of the most monumentous non - violent change of control of power in the world’s history. The bloodbaths all had predicted in South Africa with change were not going to occur.

THE LETTER

So in this heady environment, at a time when he was on track to achieve a life -time ideal that few visionaries have ever achieved, he responds, in length, to a letter from a nurse who had looked after him during his stay in a clinic in Cape Town for the treatment of tuberculosis. Firstly, he reassures her that he had not slighted her as he had not received a previous letter from her. He states that, “.. he would never fail to directly thank you for all that you did for me, nor would I ever  fail to respond to any of your letters, even when they say nothing about the champagne.” (The latter apparently is a reference to a party Mandela gave on leaving the clinic).

He then enquires about the health of the nurse’s children and refers, by name to 10 clinic employees who had sent letters to him for his birthday. Implicitly, he had answered all these letters. He asks about the health of a sick health provider and implores the nurse writer not to tell him that she did not return to work.

Mandela ends by telling the nurse he looks forward to seeing her soon and that she is very much in his thoughts. He signs as “Ex Patient M”.

So the man, who could arguably be the figure of the twentieth century is as concerned with the day to day activities of at least 12 of those that cared for him in an illness as he is with negotiations that are going to change South Africa and set an example for the world.

THE FEARS OF WHITE SOUTH AFRICA.

One of the issues swirling around Mandela’s imminent death is the fear of many whites of instability. A white extremist group, the Suidlanders, believe that there will be genocide of the whites. There is no rational basis for this fear. However it is fair to say that the refrain in South Africa has long been, “What is going to happen when Mandela goes?’’. (Blog: Exit Mandela: Cry the Beloved Country Part 2, December 20, 2012.)

Jay H Ell believes that Mandela by “hanging on” has prepared all for his departure. South Africa will be “ready” for his passing and that it will not create instability as his death has already been accepted. However this does not guarantee that the values of a non –racial, democratic, just and non -corrupt society will follow. 

POSTSCRIPT TO LEGACY

There is a responsibility to those who have been bequeathed the Mandela legacy that has been ignored by some. Not only are there are continued instances of corruption, thugs have also taken to the streets of Cape Town smashing and looting in an attempt to destabilise the Cape Province politically . 

These hooligans were incited by an ANC Youth Councillor Loyisa Nkhola and have been condemned by the ANC Youth Leader in the Western Cape. That is frankly not good enough as the issue of hundreds of miscreants looting and damaging property needs condemnation from the highest levels in the ANC. This particularly so that the Cape is the one Province that votes for Helen Zillie's Democratic Front and not for the ANC.  These violent actions were designed to hobble her administration. ANC Premier Zuma, recently, missed a golden opportunity to castigate ANC supporters by merely looking on. The ANC has to wake up to whom they are supposed to be and where they came from. The self same mileu that ushered them in can usher them out. They need to be reminded that there is a Constitutional Court that has been put in place to protect those very rights that Mandela fought for.

Perhaps all these "Counter - Revolutionaries" could all club together and purchase the letter that is being auctioned and learn the values that are needed to meet the daunting continuing challenges that South Africa’s “Rainbow Society” face and in so doing continue provide an example for the world.

The letter is expected to fetch several thousand dollars.

OBAMACARE: POLITICS, HYPOCRISY, LIES AND FACTS.

As Jay H. Ell has blogged on several occasions that the attacks on Obamacare has more to do with Obama and his Democratic Administration’s policies than Healthcare as such. (Blogs: Obamacare and Obamascare Explained, September 9, 2013 and Washington’s Fiscal Chaos Explained, October 16, 2013). The issues concern GOP internal politics as well. (Blog: The GOP Fight - The Gloves are Off, October 20, 2013). As will be explained the debate reached  new lows as the opponents to Obamacare became more and more desperate with reality being replaced by fantasy and hypocrisy. 

THE POLITICS

The Republicans have seized on what they consider a golden opportunity to continue to attack the Affordable Health Care Act, (AHCA) - this just when it looked as if they had exhausted every possible avenue to oppose it. The AHCA website, where the 40 million uninsured Americans were to enroll, has experienced some major technical problems. This situation is serving as the basis for continuing the four-year attack on the legislation.

The Republican argument that Obama had three and a half years to perfect the program is hollow when they have placed obstacles in the way throughout. These include a Presidential election, 10 months ago, where they made Obamacare the defining issue, 40 legislative attempts to reverse the act, multiple legal assaults culminating in a 5-4 Supreme Court decision that the AHCA was constitutional and the most recent disastrous tactic - closing the government and threatening the country’s financial foundations – all just to derail Obamacare. All these attacks focus on the ideological argument against the introduction of the AHCA. The sucking up of all the media attention with this debate meant that the dissemination of information of what the act actually entailed was neglected.

The attacks on Obamacare were used as the mantra to claim that Obama was a foreigner who wanted to introduce Socialism into the United States. It was also the only glue that held the Republican Party and its dominant Tea Party faction together. So rather than face the reality that there was a major philosophical split within the Party the establishment soldiered on and bought into the extremism that led to their humiliating defeat in the fiscal crisis. (Blog: Washington’s Fiscal Chaos Explained, October 16, 2013)

THE HYPOCRISY

Obama compromised on what finally became the AHCA. There were options such as a single payor or one Federally managed program for the uninsured. Instead he adopted a plan that had its genesis in the Heritage Foundation. - the very same Foundation that has masterminded the current anti Obamacare campaign with the appointed choirmaster being, Ted Cruz. When the then Republican Governor Romney introduced the plan in Massachusetts, the Heritage Foundation applauded the introduction of their free enterprise plan. The Heritage CEO, Tea Party Godfather, Joe DeMint, when endorsing Romney as the Republican Presidential Candidate, stated that one of his reasons for doing so was his adoption of Romneycare. 

When it became absolutely obvious that the Republicans financial brinkmanship for the defunding of Obamacare would fail they switched to postponing its introduction for a year so that citizenry "could become more acquainted with the details". 

Having failed with all these attempts they have now taken up their constituents’ woes that they could not register for the plan as the website was a farce!

The nation is now going to be exposed to Republican crocodile tears in endless hearings about the failure of the website. These same people, after nearly throwing the country into fiscal chaos in their desire to end Obamacare and had vowed to continue to fight to remove it, are now ostensibly worried about its mechanism to enroll members!

THE LIES

There were repeated assertions that the AHCA was socialized medicine and that the government was taking over “your” health care. - this in the teeth of the fact that the plans would be provided by competing private insurance companies and that those who presently had insurance coverage, if satisfied, could continue with it.

Michelle Bachmann maintained that AHCA " - would literally kill seniors, women and children"! Further she and others maintained that the Act contained Death Panels that would decide whether patients would live or die. This was an “interpretation” of the provision in the Act for the establishment of an independent committee of medical experts to establish “standards of care”.

Another common lie is that the Act has resulted in the raising of  insurance premiums of everyone else.
No meaningful evidence of this is provided and in fact is patently untrue. This latter lie is usually accompanied by the lie that employees have been let go as a result of Obamacare. In addition employees have had their hours reduced so that they are “part – time” and not entitled to benefits. Over the past year part – time employees have decreased and for the past 43 months there has been an increase in the number of jobs and the unemployment rate presently is at lowest since the recession at 7.2%,

One of the largest lies relate to the experience of other bureaucratic governmental health care systems being total failures and “nightmares”. Every comparative health care system whether it is in Europe, Scandinavia or Canada has central governmental control. All of them cover all their citizens and have higher positive health care indicators than the USA. Yet the percentage of Gross National Product spent on health care in these countries is half or less than the USA.  Even in the USA the government run Medicare and Veterans Medical system has far greater inclusive coverage and less administrative cost than the private insurance companies.

THE FACTS.

         *The website of Obamacare has major systemic problems. The administration needs to tell it as it is and if necessary delay the cut off date for registration. This may cause problems with insurance companies but surely these can be met as a successful enrolement benefits insurance companies as well.

·      The fact that the website is experiencing these problems is because the Republican controlled states have behaved in a fashion no reasonable person could have predicted. The AHCA allows each State to set up its own health care exchange. In return for so doing the Federal Government would pay for the expansion of the Medicaid program in that State thereby paying the premiums for those who could not afford to pay for insurance in the AHCA.  This involves a total of eight million souls. In addition each state would receive a payment for setting up its own exchange.

* Of the 50 states, 26 Republican Governors refused to set up their own exchanges. Fourteen states set up their own exchanges and 10 set up combined exchanges with the government.  This meant that the Government had to have a website that had to deal with 36 exchanges. It also meant that near on 8 million citizens would be left without Medicaid insurance so that their Republican controlled States could continue to use Obamacare as a weapon to fight the Obama administration.

Ironically, Texans whom Ted Cruz claims to represent has a total of 22.5% of its population uninsured. To make a political point he would be happy to keep them that way.

To date there have been 20 million “hits” to the Federal website and nearly a million “applications”. The latter have not necessarily bought insurance. The Administration has a goal of recruiting 7 million citizens to the AHCA by March 31, 2014. That means they have to sign 37,000 patients a day.

The most successful exchanges, not surprisingly, are State exchanges that have a limited number of citizens. Interestingly the most triumphant State in recruiting citizens is Kentucky that is profoundly Republican with their Senators being Rand Paul and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. The Republican Governor of Ohio is also one of the Republican Governors who bucked the line by maintaining that he could not face his maker if he failed in his responsibility to the 275,000 poor in Ohio who would now get Medicaid.

However, the most efficient State to date to insure its whole population is Massachusetts where Romneycare started. Romneycare is the same as Obamacare or the AHCA. Nearly a 100% of the State of Massachusetts citizens have insurance.

Crucial to the success of this plan is that young people sign up. There is no education of the latter as to the advantages of having insurance. Do they know that if they have any assets they will loose them all if they get injured and break a bone or have to have their appendix out? Do they know they can run into a debts of the order of $20,000 multiples? 

If they are unlucky and have an accident in a boat and have a multi system injury the bill can run into the $100,000’s. If they have premature twins and are not to poor to be on Medicaid they need to find $250,000 or go bankrupt. Remind the young that the most common cause to go bankrupt in the USA is health care costs.

Some Republicans have been actively arguing against the merits of the youth signing up.

AT THE END OF THE DAY.

·      Republicans have to realize that this issue for Obama is also intensely personal. He writes when his mother got cancer it pretty much drained all her resources. Obama maintains that his mother was the dominant figure in his formative years. She also taught him the values about the way he goes in the world of politics. His mother by the way was white.

·      Establishment Republicans should avoid the temptation to focus on the lost cause of Obamacare . Their real issue should be to take on the Tea Party who is destroying their Party.

·      Expect Democrats to join in Obama’s anger at the Website’s woes. Obviously they will be doing so for different reasons than the Republicans. They will be tearing their hair out this has happened after over a century of trying to get universal care for Americans.

·      If Republicans somehow manage to stop Obamacare thereby    preventing 40,000,000 persons from obtaining Health Insurance, do they believe that, they, finally, have achieved something?

·      For what it is worth Jay H. Ell believes that Obamacare is here to stay come hell or high water.

GOP FIGHT - THE GLOVES ARE OFF.

For the Republican establishment the merits of the tactic of holding the Government to ransom over ideological issues has been resolved. They followed the Tea Party approach in the recent fiscal battle and the result was a disaster. They reason the Tea Party approach has failed and the Establishment is going to go ahead with the traditional approach of the Republican Party - business centered free market enterprise with decreased regulation and unbridled capitalism. 

However, this assumption is based on the premise that the Tea Party is “fighting fair” and will allow themselves to be subject to Party Discipline and allow the Republican Party to send a clear focussed message.  The Tea Party does not accept the basic value system that Washington operates under. (Blog: Washington’s Fiscal Chaos Explained, October 16, 2013 ). The Tea Party will be more focussed in consolidating its take over of the Republican Party then sending a unified message in the fight against the Democrats. 

TEA PARTY DECLARE VICTORY

The Tea Party deny that the shut down, that cost at least 24 billion dollars, has shaken the faith in world markets about American financial leadership and stability and brought the Republican Party ratings to a record low of 25%, was an unmitigated calamity. They believe that their shutdown was a screaming success and that the Republican establishment abandoned them.  In addition they fail to realize that an opportunity was lost over those three weeks to attack the launching of Obamacare that was ridden with glitches.

In yet another unprecedented harangue, on the Senate floor, Ted Cruz attacked his fellow Republicans for selling out. “Just think how this might have ended if the Senate Republicans had stood behind their House colleagues”. Cruz maintained that Washington once again had failed to listen to the American People.

The Tea Party is in this for the long haul. Their supporters are ecstatic over Cruz who now has national recognition. The Tea Party supporters represent close on half the Republicans that vote in the Primaries and the demoralized establishment are in no state to take them on. They also have large financial resources behind them.

Ted Cruz has to be the Tea Party frontrunner for the Republican Presidential nomination and as things stand at the moment it is very difficult not to see him as the Republican nominee.

It is fair to say that the Tea Party’s assessment of the value of creating financial chaos as a political weapon differs markedly form the Republican establishment.

ESTABLISHMENT REPUBLICAN WAKE UP TO REALITY

The Republican establishment went to the brink in attempting to appease their Tea Party faction. Now in this “take no prisoners” fight the Tea Party is still going to mount Primary challenges to all those who, after 16 days of wilting attack, finally voted to open the Government. Mitch McConnell, Republican leader in the Senate, who has filibustered over 400 times to prove his right wing metal, already faces a Primary challenge. Sarah Palin has rejoined the fray and has reinforced the threat to mount destructive Primary challenges.

Possible establishment Republican contenders to be the Presidential candidate have distanced themselves from the latest confrontation. Chris Christie, who has to be the establishment’s only hope, has more than intimated that the behavior of his Tea Party Republican colleagues is unacceptable. Jed Bush was even less subtle in his criticism; they follow veteran establishment figures such as Bob Dole who stated that Nixon and Reagan would not get the Republican nomination in today’s Republican Party.

Senator McCain has led the current establishment opposition to his Tea Party colleagues. He stated that the Senate and the American people had been subjected to the most shameful and agonizing odyssey by this fiscal showdown.

Some of those unelected institutions that control the GOP are having second thoughts about the Tea Party. Grover Norquist’s of the Americans for Tax Reform that makes every Republican legislator sign a pledge that they will not increase taxes stated that Cruz “slashed and burned and dragged Republicans across broken glass for no purpose”. 

The traditional business institutions, which support the Republicans, such as the Chamber of Commerce are wringing their hands in horror. The Tea party is not remotely geared to their interests. - In fact far less so than the Democratic Party.

The Republican Party always played the game according to the Washington rules and stuck to their ideology of supporting big business over “the workers”.  For decades the give and take between them and the Democrats allowed America to prosper and generally provide the highest standard of living in the world. This is no longer. The Tea Party has complicated the issue even more as all they support is “little” government that at the end of the day will help nobody.

So the Republicans and all their supporting institutions have to stop pandering to the right otherwise the Tea Party takeover will become total.

WHAT NOW?

Rapprochement between the different factions of the Republican Party seems out of the question. Ted Cruz announced that he does not work for the “Washington Party Bosses – he works for 26 million Texans”. This statement is barely accurate as his bosses are now the unelected institutions such as the Heritage Foundation and their unelected megalomaniac bosses like Joe DeMint.

The Primaries for the 2014 mid term elections assume a major importance for the Republicans. Also the behavior in Congress of the Republican establishment and leadership is pivotal. Jay H. Ell does not rate the establishment’s chances highly. In fact on June 18, 2013 he blogged, “The Republican Party is Dead”.

The Democrats have a chance to win the House of Representatives against all original expectations, as they have to get several million more votes than the Republicans to do so. It now seems possible.

If the Obama administration does not sort out their glitches in the launching of Obamacare that just might ameliorate the Republican pain and minimize the damage that the Republicans have inflicted on themselves.

Obama is less and less likely to be challenged by the Democratic Party left who are not at all happy with his middle of the road policies. The party is united, as they smell blood.

One piece of gratuitous advice for the Establishment Republicans – stop fighting Obamacare – it is a done deal. Concentrate on trying to at least being a strong presence in your Party so that when the diehards finally tire of the "do nothing" Tea Party shibboleths and smears they have something to return to. 

WASHINGTON’S FISCAL CHAOS EXPLAINED

Citizens who are still able to go to work everyday have to be bewildered by what is happening in Washington.

Ostensibly the issues appear to be pretty mundane. Congress has to pass a budget bill that involves paying for all the activities Congress has agreed upon. In addition in this stage of America’s history it has debts. The world’s financial powerhouse is currently paying interest on these debts. In fact it is a very low percentage as a result of America’s strength and stability.

So in the real world these procedural motions should be passed and allow America to proceed with its business internally and externally. This especially so in that the American Constitution is designed for compromise. But this is not the real world a whole new politics has descended upon Washington…...

So to explain the fiscal crises one has to realize that it has nothing to do with money and everything to do with changing the ideological direction of the Country by the minority that is controlling the Republican Party. (Blog: America at the Crossroads, 9/22/13).

THE GENESIS OF THIS DEBACLE AND THE NEW ORDER

In the beginning

While the roots of this ideological change have really been there since the 1960’s the impetus for a new order really began in earnest with the election of an African American as President. (To pretend that there is not a racial element to this thrust is to just to deny reality). The loss of the Presidential election was traumatic to all Republicans as that is where they perceive the real power to be.

Sometime back an earnest attempt, by unelected Republican institutions and unelected individuals with the assistance of vast sums of money, was made to change the political landscape. Their desire was first to control State legislatures. The latter would serve two functions: they would introduce social and fiscal legislation in opposition to the general trend in national Federal politics and they would gerrymander the electoral constituencies so that the Republicans would be all but be ensured a majority in the House of Representatives.

In the beginning all the megalomaniac unelected Republican institutions and megalomaniac individuals were in on it. Karl Rove of the establishment, “Bush’s Brain”, unashamedly exploited social issues that he was not remotely interested in to get the base to come out and vote for the “compassionate” conservative Bush.

The Republicans developed the above strategy to an art form. In addition, having taken cognizance of the changing demographics of the American electorate, the State legislatures have been turning out legislation that has the effect of making it harder for minorities to vote

In all of these endeavors they have had the sympathy of the Supreme Court who have ruled, thus far that unlimited money can be spent on elections and political activities, that there has been no voter suppression in the States and that the States are within their rights to delineate constituencies.

Now

So with Obama elected and reelected they had a crisis on their hands. Purist groups had emerged within the Republican Party. They were for radical social as well as fiscal change. They became known as the Tea Party. With safe Republican constituencies to deal with they could get their nominees elected as candidates. They could be as radical as they liked as their constituencies would not allow for a serious challenge from the Democrats.

Obamacare was a total enigma to this group. It was perceived as an extension of the socialist direction that the country was going. It was the epitome of all that was evil and satanic. It was attacked mercilessly and with great resources. It became the central focus that they would attack the established order.

So the procedural financial motions, that legitimized the spending and financing of the country in an orderly manner were to be held to ransom – either they defunded or neutered Obamacare or the country would grind to a financial halt and even financial ruin.

In order effect this policy two factors were needed. They had to change the way politics worked in Washington and they needed a leader to see that this change came about. They succeeded in the change as they found a leader, Ted Cruz, to direct it.

THE NEW POLITICS

*This whole episode thus heralded a new era in the way this country is governed.  While posturing, grandstanding and even filibustering have been part of the political process, this has always taken place in the belief that at the end of the day compromise between the legislative branches and the President would occur when it mattered. Chris Matthews has just published a book on two iconic figures of American politics – Democrat Speaker of the House Tipp O’Neill and Ron Reagan Republican President. The book is a timeous reminder of how the greatest protagonists of liberalism and conservatism managed to compromise and pass acceptable legislation to keep the government running. Reagan even agreed to tax increases, (as did Bush senior), when these were essential to the country.

Now anything goes and you stick to your guns. Forget about compromise. Forget about the outcomes of obstrctionism. 

(In the final analysis it was the poll numbers that drove the Republican establishment to defy the Tea party faction and seek compromise in the Senate. (Blogs; Ted’s Cruzade – The Political Outcome, 10/4/13 and Update: Cruz’s Coup D’etat, 10/8/13).

*The other major change is that the Republican Party for sometime has been controlled by unelected megalomaniacs and unelected institutions. At the forefront now is the Heritage Foundation who is calling the shots for the Tea Party. Their hand has been strengthened as they have found a charismatic elected megalomaniac, Ted Cruz, to act as the enforcer in Congress.  He will threaten those who do not toe the Heritage’s line that they will face a Primary fight.

CARRY ON CRUZ

Ted Cruz is a credible leader who has scant regard for the rules. Cruz filibustered; he broke from the caucus, and caucused against both Republican Congressional leaders. He started this whole raucous by linking payment of the Government’s bills to defunding Obamacare. Now with that concept thrashed it was just anything that could cause chaos and draw attention to his worldview. More significantly he ran around with the likes of Sarah Palin holding meetings with Confederate flags at War Memorials and even in font of the Whitehouse. At the latter meeting Cruz also stood by as the speaker made veiled threats of insurrection and told Obama to get off his knees and stop reading the Koran.  Cruz hurled more invective at a Tea Party Values forum and for his efforts was voted as the gathering’s nominee as Republican Presidential Candidate for 2016.

WHAT NOW?

The Tea Party cannot ultimately win. The demographics just won’t allow it. For the moment these antics are not helping them at all. While the Republican Party ratings are at the lowest ever so are the Tea Party’s.

However, regardless of the outcome of this fiscal fight, they are in this for the long haul. Joe DeMint the CEO of the Heritage Foundation and the architect of the latest strategy said he would rather have 30 Republicans in the Senate who believe in something than 50 who believe in nothing. Perhaps he sees himself as the Barry Goldwater of the 60’s that resulted in the Reagan in the 80’s.

Jay H. Ell believes that they live in a fantasy world and that the Republican establishment better get their act together before they are obliterated. They need to take them on as Obama and whoever follows will be only happy to run against them.