BluegrassBulletin.com

Obama Takes It To McConnell At Home

Don't think for one minute that Barack Obama wouldn't like to have complete control of the government.  He said as much in his speech last night vowing to take action with or without Congress.  But to make the point even more emphatically he gave a shout out to Democrat Steve Beshear in Mitch McConnell's home state.

Mitch has been the single most effective check on a runaway Obama administration and anything the president can do to elevate Kentucky democrats in his effort to defeat McConnell and replace him with Alison Lundergan Grimes, who the FLOTUS has already dubbed "a reliable vote" for their plans to fundamentally transform America, he's going to do.

I mean come on, you don't really think that patting Beshear on the head was a sincere gesture of accomplishment now do you?  Beshear did fall in line right behind Obama on the socialized medicine plan, but spreading favor to Kentucky has much more to do with helping clear the field for his next three years than raising the political capital of a lame duck governor.

Pay attention folks.  The president wants complete control and he won't get it as long as we have Mitch in office.  Like it or not, no one else on the R side or the D side of the ticket can possibly be as effective, and that's just a fact.

McConnell's New Ad: Strong Voice

Mitch McConnell is up with his newest ad, and it's a "Strong Voice".

Now let's see how long it takes his opponents to criticize him for it.

Thank You Barack For Slapping The Hillbilly Sticker On Eastern Kentucky Again

I am aghast.  Barack Obama announces a big federally funded program to help the po' folks around the country and on any other day, in this political climate, Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell would be railing against runaway spending, "great society" programs and creating greater dependence on government.

But, because a chunk of the money is coming to Eastern Kentucky they stand up and cheer, along side the president, in the White House.  It's not that I have any personal position on the program it's just that my exposure to politics over such a long time has once again confirmed my belief that little of what politicians say they stand against they wouldn't lie down for at the right price. (Yes, that association was intentional)

So what did the Obama cash for Kentucky do in the media?  Re-awakened LBJ's photo op on the front porch of Tom Fletcher's cabin in Martin County and start the discussion of how poor and impoverished the people of Kentucky are.  Just take a look at some of the words written in response to this newly announced program published in the National Review:

"There are lots of diversions in the Big White Ghetto, the vast moribund matrix of Wonder Bread–hued Appalachian towns and villages stretching from northern Mississippi to southern New York, a slowly dissipating nebula of poverty and misery with its heart in eastern Kentucky, the last redoubt of the Scots-Irish working class that picked up where African slave labor left off, mining and cropping and sawing the raw materials for a modern American economy that would soon run out of profitable uses for the class of people who 500 years ago would have been known, without any derogation, as peasants. Thinking about the future here and its bleak prospects is not much fun at all, so instead of too much black-minded introspection you have the pills and the dope, the morning beers, the endless scratch-off lotto cards, healing meetings up on the hill, the federally funded ritual of trading cases of food-stamp Pepsi for packs of Kentucky’s Best cigarettes and good old hard currency, tall piles of gas-station nachos, the occasional blast of meth, Narcotics Anonymous meetings, petty crime, the draw, the recreational making and surgical unmaking of teenaged mothers, and death: Life expectancies are short — the typical man here dies well over a decade earlier than does a man in Fairfax County, Va. — and they are getting shorter, women’s life expectancy having declined by nearly 1.1 percent from 1987 to 2007.

If the people here weren’t 98.5 percent white, we’d call it a reservation."

Great.

We finally achieved some serious clout in Washington DC with the power of Mitch McConnell.  We finally proved that we are capable of thinking outside the box with the ascendancy of Rand Paul and his brand of "new think".  And we finally captured back to back basketball championships in the NCAA and look what Barack Obama has done with the stroke of a pen.

It's back to possum holler.

Oh, and for you Republicans who can still think, don't let this one slip past you.  There is a US Senate race in Kentucky this year and the lady challenging the republican just might need some more votes out of the mountains than the hands of the republican power brokers in that part of the Commonwealth would ever deliver to her. 

Think, think, think.  Her buddy Barack just opened the door for her there.

McConnell Stands Up To Dictatorship

Time and time again Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Congressional leaders have made it very clear.  They will ram their plans down America's throat if that's what it takes.

Nancy Pelosi said as much with her "Pole vault" comments over Obamacare.  Barack Obama has sidestepped the people's will every time he faces resistance by abusing "Executive Orders".  Harry Reid changed the rules of the Senate to give his slim majority control over passing legislation by the "nuclear option."

And now, in the early days of 2014, Reid is "dictating" to the republicans in the Senate when and how they will get a vote on legislation.  Mitch McConnell has had enough.

McConnell took a broadside to the majority leader on Tuesday for stifling Republicans from offering amendments to legislation reviving jobless benefits.

The Kentucky senator warned that Senate Democrats’ proposal to extend unemployment insurance for three months cannot be viewed seriously unless Republicans are allowed to get votes on their proposals for job creation and to pay for the legislation.

“We’d be happy to offer amendments just as soon as the guy who’s dictating what the amendments ought to be will let us offer them,” McConnell said. “If you’re not serious about passing it, you prevent amendments and harden the opposition of the minority. Because then that means you’re only interested in a show vote, not an outcome.”

“The Senate hasn’t been run this way in its history,” McConnell said Tuesday. “It’s really not the responsibility of the majority leader to tell the minority whether they can have votes. That’s not his job to dictate to us whether we can have votes or to decide for himself whether our amendments are appropriate to be considered.”

McConnell concluded that the state of a Senate routinely described as dysfunctional by both parties is “almost entirely the responsibility of the majority leader.” [POLITICO]

Imagine that.  A Senator who is willing to consider passing legislation but only if the government finds a way to pay for it without increasing our debt is being shouted down by Harry Reid and the Democrats in Kentucky think it would be a good idea to get rid of the guy who is really our only bulwark against a complete dictatorship and replace him with a "yes-woman".

Let me put a different spin on Candy Crowley's words (quoted earlier).

You'd have to be a fool to vote democrat this year.

Pandering, Profiting And Politicizing On The Back's Of Kentucky's Unemployed

The U.S. Senate democrats led by the words of Barack Obama and now many democrats in Kentucky have begun trying to build a voter block on the backs of the unemployed.  In a nation which at one time stood for unbridled opportunity and the land of prosperity, this is a shameful display of inhumanity.

Let's face facts.  The agenda, the decisions and the actions of Barack Obama, aided by a complicit U.S. Senate, have all combined to worsen the living conditions of millions of Americans since he took office in 2009.

There Are 7.7 Million Americans Who Are Currently Working Part-Time Because They Can’t Find Full-Time Employment. 

27 Percent Of Unemployed Americans Have Been Unemployed For A Year Or More – Up From 11 Percent When Obama Took Office In 2009.

The “Real” Unemployment Rate, Including Those Who Have Given Up Looking For Work Or Are Involuntarily Working Part-Time, Is 14.6 Percent In Kentucky. The Real Unemployment Rate In Kentucky Was 12.6 Percent When Obama Took Office In 2009.

The Labor Force Participation Rate Is 63 Percent – Down From 65.7 Percent When President Obama Took Office In 2009. [Bureau Of Labor Statistics]

In other words, the Obama administration, pursuing his policy agenda for America, with the help of the U.S. Senate democrats have made matters far worse for America's workers since he took office in 2009 and now they want to paint the picture as if "they" are out to help the unemployed by extending benefits.

Look, get the teat out of your mouth and think for a minute.  If they really wanted to help they would stop bankrupting the country and playing politics with the future of Americas middle class, get off the backs of businesses and working people and let this economy flourish creating REAL jobs, not made up government paychecks sent to potential voters.

You don't think that the democrats are essentially buying votes with this behavior?  Well, Candy Crowley at CNN has virtually admitted that they are.

CANDY CROWLEY: If I am an unemployed American and I hear from Republicans that, “Yeah, you know, we should go ahead and do that provided we do the following three things,” and it’s a caveat approval of extending those [unemployment] benefits, or if I am a minimum wage worker and I find, I see Republicans who say, “You know what? It's artificial, it messes with the marketplace, it might mean some teens can't get into the job market,” why would I become a Republican? How do you message that in any way to reach out to those who are disinclined to sign up for the Republican Party?

Doesn’t Crowley know that she indicted the Democratic Party as one that is basically buying votes?

So folks that are currently unemployed or on minimum wage must support politicians that promote policies that hurt the very job creation that might lead to them having better lives?

And if Republicans aren’t willing to support such failed policies, it behooves such people to be Democrats thereby potentially condemning themselves to mediocrity and possibly lifetime government dependence?

Clearly, Crowley has forgotten that in 1980, a great deal of unemployed and minimum wage workers voted for Ronald Reagan because they realized Democratic policies weren't helping them. [Newsbusters]

It is time for the people of America to wake up.

The stated "need" to continue extending these benefits is a symptom of the Democrats economic failures under Harry Reid and Barack Obama and their biggest failure is the fact that they’ve failed to create jobs. 

So of course the people of Kentucky are being bamboozled into thinking that all we need to do to make things better is to shift the balance of power in the Senate by getting rid of Mitch McConnell, the most powerful counter force to this failed agenda, and replace him with another reliable vote for Harry Reid and Barack Obama.

Ignorance is the offense which condemns those guilty of it to the consequences of their inaction.  Remember the words of Patrick Henry:

"There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come....

Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!"

Today It Begins : McConnell Expected To File And Launch New Video

[VIA: POLITICO]

TEA Party Liberals To Face Battles On Multiple Fronts In 2014

Ron Paul lovers take credit for the TEA party movement based upon a 2007 money bomb event on the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.  Those involved in the modern larger TEA party movement deny Paul's paternity and say that they began Feb. 19, 2009 when CNBC’s Rick Santelli gave what is now known as the “rant heard around the world".

But there can be no doubt that between 2007 and 2009 there was nothing like the modern day TEA party movement anywhere on the radar screens of current events.  Today however things are much different.

Those who got there feet wet in politics as a part of the new and larger TEA party for the most part got involved due to the crashing economy, anger over the government bailouts and in reaction to many of the worrisome ideas being advanced by Barack Obama.  Over time the Ron Paul folks, the Libertarians, the anarchists and smart democrats changed the dynamics of the TEA party to their own ends.

What was once considered to be a movement designed to move the GOP back to its fiscally conservative platform has morphed into a protest movement which seems more devoted to altruistic ideals than pragmatic solutions.  Fixing problems in a real world sense is far less appealing to the TEA party than crashing the system entirely by removing anybody with any experience under the banner that everybody except their candidates are corrupt.

Straying from their original goal of being more conservative republicans into being the party of disruption has caused them to face a number of new challenges in 2014.

The US Chamber of Commerce and the business community in general have joined forces and declared war on the TEA party.

Now it appears that the social conservatives are about to gear up in the battle for the heart and soul of the GOP.

It shouldn't be assumed that the second front in the battle for republican votes will be fought alone by the TEA party.  Granted it has become more of a de-facto Libertarian organization when it comes to social issues, but Social Conservatives led by groups like The American Principles Project, Gary Bauer’s American Values outfit, James Dobson’s Focus on the Family, Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition, Americans United for Life, the Family Research Council and the National Organization for Marriage are now plotting to raise and spend mega-millions to move the GOP back on the track it took during the Bush years. [POLITICO]

How will this new dynamic affect TEA party efforts?  It may be too soon to tell, but the libertarian influences in the direction the movement has taken could prove problematic in the face of pressure from social conservatives.

For example, the idea that abortion should be a state's right to decide sounds a lot like the argument that abortion should be a woman's right to decide, a position which social conservatives will likely find unacceptable.

And neither is the Ron Paul position on prostitution and legalizing drugs likely to set well with the Family Values folks.

What might this battle on two fronts do to the TEA party movement?

On one hand the fiscal conservatives could take charge and return the movement to its original position making it a representative group for the "cut taxes, cut spending" republican ideology.

On the other hand, the Ron Paul libertarians might already have taken such control of the movement that it will have no choice but to act solely as a spoiler, unwittingly helping democrats and along the way losing members who don't want anymore democratic votes controlling the House and Senate agendas.

Or there could be a rising wave of libertarian thought in the nation that, through the TEA party, could change the direction of the country and cause tremendous social upheaval, much like the protests of the sixties did which of course were followed by years of liberal governments and devastating international blunders.

But one thing is clear.  The liberals in the TEA party movement will face a very big hurdle this year fighting their battles on multiple fronts in 2014.

Related articles

Has TEA Party Won The Battle Of Ideas In Washington?

Told Jah: TEA Party Leader Avowed Democrat

Social conservatives' big money plans

Has TEA Party Won The Battle Of Ideas In Washington?

POLITICO has a piece up on top of its website today that starts like this:

If this was a dud year in Washington, get ready for 2014 — the year to “go small.”

Lawmakers had already lost their appetite to “go big” this year, letting reforms of immigration, guns and the Tax Code slip away in the face of gridlock and dysfunction.

And now there’s a new problem. Lawmakers are reluctant to rely on the federal government to get anything done — a guilt-by-association consequence of Obamacare’s botched rollout. Republicans have called it an indictment of more than a website, but of Big Government itself.

While Democrats argue the problem is obstructionism — not ideology — the result will be the same: As Washington laments the end of a do-nothing year, lawmakers are fully prepared to do as little — or even less — in the new year.

“I think anything that has a significant expansion or role for the federal government is going to be problematic,” South Dakota Sen. John Thune, a top Republican message strategist, told POLITICO. “Because I just think there’s going to be such a cynicism and skepticism attached to any promises made with regard to the federal government’s role.”

Ron Paul, the Grand Poobah of the smaller is better ideology has been saying that the Republicans and Democrats are all the same, even saying on some occassions that they are all part of the same party.

Does this mean that his brand of governance which has usurped the TEA party movement has finally caught on?  The answer is no.

The reaction that POLITICO is predicting for 2014 is more a response to the ineffectiveness of the Obama administration and a growing uneasiness with what many used to dismiss, but now fear, are his nefarious plans for America.  In fact most of the anger and angst of the TEA party was born in reaction to Obama, has fed off of Obama's agenda and is still a reactionary movement rather than a pro-active one.

I saw this meme on Facebook sent out by a local TEA party group:

 

You have to ask yourself, what does this really say to people?  Is it some sort of rallying cry to keep the flames of discontent burning hotter than ever?

The phrase "More Constitution" means what exactly?  Lower taxes?  Taxes are undesirable no doubt, but they are certainly constitutional.  Does it mean more civil liberty?  We certainly have suffered in this area lately and numerous cases are working their way through the court system which ultimately decides, as the arbiter of these debates, what is and what is not constitutional.

How does this meme fit into the reality of political life?  What, no republican who wants more civil liberty and lower taxes can be trusted, and neither can any democrat?  Then who?  What other party is out there?  Aren't most of the TEA party candidates running as republicans?  And isn't it a fact that in places where they do, for the most part, they give democrats an added advantage of being able to run on their liberal agenda while republicans eat each other alive in primaries?

So just what does the observation of the POLITICO piece mean.  Has the TEA party won the battle of ideas in Washington?  Is there really some meaning to the concept of "More Constitution" that is controlling how elected officials act?

No, and no.

The fact is that even the proper role of government, as seen even by TEA party types, is considered dangerous territory.  Standing up in favor of building bridges and fixing roads, and repairing a half century or older infrastructure lights a match under the "big spender" accusers who have found a way, much like the protesters of the sixties did, to get attention in front of cameras and try to steer the policy of the nation.

Spend no money, collect no taxes, go to Washington, do nothing, dismantle the federal government, weaken our military, and withdraw into a kind of isolation that fools people into believing that the world will just leave us alone and allow us to prosper so long as we don't intervene in anybody else's business.

Foolhardy, reckless, ignorant thinking like this makes America vulnerable to the evil forces at work in the world.  If the worst happens it will be on the shoulders of those who failed to take charge in difficult times.  The blame will be squarely upon the heads of those who would give Israel over to the Palestinians, chemical weapons to Assad, control of Afghanistan to the drug cartels, who would remove border security and issue terms of engagement to our military that told them to stand up and take the first shot before firing back.

War is, as the saying goes, hell.  And hell is at our doorstep.  The last thing we need is a nation of bong hugging gamers driving the ship of state.

If the TEA party really wishes for an America that used to be, maybe they ought to be asking things like, where are the real men, the John Wayne's of our time, instead of asking that old time policy be implement by a bunch of impotent 'fraidy cats. 

Think about it.  America was strong, and stood up for itself in the days the Ron Paul folks wish they could return us to.  To get there might take a much tougher, rougher approach than the rally attending, flag-shirt wearing, malcontents and protesters can deliver on their own.

If a do nothing Congress is the result of a TEA party victory, then I think Merle might have asked the right question a long time ago: Are the good times really over for good?

 

McConnell: "I Stand With Rand"

Wow!  It used to be that having your name associated with Mitch McConnell was the kind of affiliation you hoped would be a big political plus.  But judging by the big spend about to be launched in the Commonwealth by Kentucky Opportunity Coalition, McConnell is getting cozy with Rand Paul.

Just one more example of the shifting political powers in the Commonwealth.

McConnell Slams Bevin Again

Matt Bevin gave an interview in which he claims that republican voters are ready to sweep McConnell out of office because he hasn't fought hard enough against Obamacare.  He also claims that there is a tidal wave of support building for him.  McConnell sees things quite differently and issued this reply:

“Mitch McConnell was leading the fight against Obamacare while Matt Bevin was lying on his bailout application and pretending to be an MIT alum,” McConnell spokeswoman Allison Moore said. [Joe Gerth via NKY.com]

Let's look at this.

First, Bevin is emboldened by a small group of disgruntled fanatics who act out on their hatred of anybody already in office, particularly republicans in office, by falling for the first guy to come along and pander to their seething discontent.  They do not represent the larger republican community.

Second, Bevin cannot compete financially with McConnell, although he can be enough of a nusiance to make McConnell spend money which though it might seem like a waste of November resources really isn't.  In fact, Bevin will make McConnell do only one thing that Mitch doesn't like to do, spend money early.  Then again, for Mitch's sake this could be a good thing.  The early he reminds folks what he has done for Kentucky, the less likely they will be to give money to the democrat.

Third, Bevin is running statewide, not just in a few Northern Kentucky counties where the TEA party has out worked the rank and file GOP and has a foothold of power.

Fourth, Bevin is virtually unknown, which makes all "interviews" with him by the liberal media so revealing.  The liberal media in Kentucky (and the United States for that matter) would like nothing more than to see the end of McConnell. Bevin is one more liberal weapon in that battle.

Fifth, does anybody with a lick of sense really think that Bevin or Grimes have any chance at being more successful in navigating the complicated mine field of the United States Senate than Mitch McConnell?  If so it might be time for you to put down the bong and step away from the Chee-tos.

The tag team of Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul have brought great pride to Kentucky.  Neither of Mitch's opponents can hold a candle to these guys and neither will likely win.  In fact, the appearance of 90 year old Gurley Martin in the race is a far more interesting development than Bevin's blustery claim that he is riding a wave of angered support.

Put your money on McConnell.  The others are just a distraction.