Friday, February 26, 2010

Recession & Republicans...Peanut Butter & Jelly

I truly marvel at how conservative Republicans rant on and on about fiscal restraint - especially when out of power. They convince their base that Democratic economic policies hinder our economy and are nothing but entitlement handouts - which is code speak for they help minorities.

As a matter of fact, by now, their script is pretty predictable: Run to a conservative think tank; create a political manifesto - ala, Contract For America (what happen to term limits?); sell the American public on the virtues of conservatism.

Conservatism In Practice

Upon scanning the List of Recessions by Wikipedia.com, I confirmed what I suspected, since 1969 all of the major recessions in USA have occurred under Republican presidents.

And let's not forget our country's greatest economic catastrophe, The Great Depression, happened under the Republican economic policies of the late 1920's.

And for those that buy conservative - economic restraint - rhetoric, let us review the biggest economic and political scandals of the last 100 years:

Roll the Credits

1. Teapot Dome 1921 - avowed conservative, Warren G Harding.

2. Stock Market Crash 1929 - conservative, Herbert Hoover.

3. Watergate - conservative, Richard Nixon.

4. Irangate, Junk bond scandal, Stock Market Crash 1987 - iconic conservative, Ronald Reagan.

5. Savings and Loan corruption - conservative, George H. Bush.

6. Mortgage Scandal 2007 - conservative, George W. Bush.

The pattern: Republican conservative bait and switch, they preach one thing and practice another.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Donna's Tweet

Democratic strategist and political commentator for ABC and CNN, Donna Brazile, tweeted suggestive reading for the Health Care Reform (HCR) feint of heart Democrats.

In the article, Poll Tax
Why politicians don’t always know what’s good for them,
author, Neera Tanden, warns Dems, the ones a little weak at the knees, that running away from HCR because of polling fears (polling data misconstrued) would show them to be weak - and voters really hate weak.


Follow the link and read for yourself HCR

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Deja Vu All Over Again

In his 1964 seminal speech, Ballot or the Bullet, Malcolm X defines and describes the southern Dixiecrat. He calls them southern obstructionist who were determined to filibuster or block any and all civil rights legislation.

Malcolm even noted, that in 1964 the Dixiecrat were beginning to bolt away to join the Republicans.

Well..., mission accomplished. The neo-Dixiecrats are now all Republicans, but once again back to old tricks. They are determined to block anything President Obama proposes - even if prior they believed it would help the American people.

A rose by any name is still a rose; or, should we say a pig by any name, still smells like a pig...

Politics Makes For Strange Bedfellows

After Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown voted to end the GOP filibuster on the Job's bill in the senate, one has to wonder, is President Obama, strategically speaking, in a better position with moderate Republicans than with liberal Democrats?

First, with a super majority the Dems have to take all the responsibility for governing - the good, bad and ugly.

Second, with a few more moderate Republicans, this would create an environment for more bipartisanship. Remember, if the Republicans gain more seats it will most likely be in swing districts, hence, they would be apt to be more centrist than right-wing.

Third, a stronger presence of moderate Republicans would probably quell the extreme demands from the most liberal wing of the Dems.

Once again, Politics Makes For Strange Bedfellows.

Do you think Obama, Inc. has already surveyed this truism?

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Tale Of Two Africas

It is common knowledge that many countries in Africa are beset with crippling poverty, disease and corruption. The western media, as they should, reports this Africa night and day.

Whether reporting on Nigeria, Angola, Republic of Congo, Uganda, Ghana or South African the storyline remains the same - poor dysfuntional Africa. As one that never accepts the prevailing narrative of the western press on face value, I probed further and discovered, via alternative medias, that there is more to the African experience than is reported by western media. Read on and decide for yourself.

Among the world's 12 fastest growing economies five of them are African countries. As a matter of fact, Ghana is projected to be the world's fastest growing economy by 2012. See link...Africa

Read On(link):

China will overtake the US to become the world's largest construction market in 2018, a new report has predicted. The report launched today forecasts global construction trends over the next 10 years. Its key predictions include Nigeria becoming the world's fastest growing construction market by 2020, followed by India and then Poland. China will be the largest market by 2020, the research found, with the US being the second largest, followed by India.

The Global Construction 2020 report found that Nigeria's construction spending will grow by at least 9% every year over the next decade, driven by rapid urbanisation. China's construction market will be worth almost £2.5 trillion in 2020 and will represent an immense 19% of global construction output.

A spokesman for Oxford Economics, which produced the report, said: "Overall the report shows that over the next 10 years the busiest markets will be in emerging economies and the emphasis will be on infrastructure."New world orders: Construction's latest global hotspots
13 November 2009


Now what do you think?