Republican Deaf Ears

Much of the country kicked off the New Year with heavy snowstorms followed by a blast of frigid cold temperatures.   But for 1.3 million Americans, whose unemployment checks have been cut off, this may be the coldest winter of all.

Congress returns on Monday, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he will schedule a vote on extending unemployment benefits.  But the outcome is uncertain.  Many Republicans in both houses of Congress are opposed to extending benefits; especially those in the GOP controlled House of Representatives.   One administration official predicted Wednesday that failure to extend emergency unemployment insurance through 2014 will have a negative impact on 14 million Americans.   It will also have an adverse effect on the nation's slowly recovering economy because those affected will not be able to buy food and supplies.

Republicans, led by their Tea Party wing, have staked out a series of positions that, when viewed on whole, may leave them vulnerable in future elections.  The president has proposed raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10, which one recent study says will lift 5 million people out of poverty.  Republicans argue against such a move because they believe it is inflationary and it will end up costing jobs.

Congressional Republicans are also sparring with Democrats over their desire to reign in food stamps, citing cost, fraud and abuse.  But a recent statistical report released by the Department of Agriculture shows that the amount of food stamps given out in error is at an all time low, about 3%.  In 2000 the error rate was nearly 9%.

On Tuesday, a federal judge struck down a Florida law that required welfare applicants to undergo mandatory drug testing.  Republican Governor Rick Scott campaigned on the issue, and got the law enacted, arguing that it would ensure tax money was not going to illegal drugs.  A subsequent state study found that only 108 out of 4,086 people tested, 2.6%, were using narcotics.  The state records show that the program was costing more than it was saving.  Yet several other Republican dominated states have enacted a similar law, and Governor Scott has said the state will appeal the ruling.

The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, has been under attack from Republicans since it before it became law.  House Republicans have voted nearly 50 times to repeal the law.  The ACA, which got off to a terrible start due to problems with the federal website, provides many benefits.  It requires insurers to cover people with preexisting conditions, it ends lifetime or yearly caps on coverage, it makes it illegal for insurers to drop someone because they get sick, and it extends coverage to children under 26.   Most importantly, it gives 40 million uninsured Americans access to health care coverage, and it has already reduced the soaring growth of health care costs.  Yet Republicans do not have a plan to replace any of these benefits should their repeal efforts actually become successful.

Conservative Republicans are opposed to meaningful immigration reform.   There are now more than 11 million immigrants living illegally in the United States.  Hispanics and other minorities, who largely vote for Democrats, have been pushing for legislation to no avail.  Meanwhile, many Republican controlled states have enacted tough voter identification laws, citing massive voter fraud.   But the reported incidents of voter fraud in these states are actually minuscule.  Yet these laws fall disproportionately hard on minorities and the elderly, groups that vote for Democrats.

Following President Barack Obama's reelection and important Republican Congressional loses in the 2012 national elections, GOP Chairman Reince Priebus released an autopsy report assessing the reasons for the party's poor performance.  The findings were blunt.  At one point the report says the voters believe that "the GOP does not care about them and is doing great harm."  

It appears that the report has fallen on deaf ears.

 

Cleo and Cassie's Christmas Story

This is Cleo, an eight-year-old maltese that has been a key member of our family since 2005.  She is generally quiet, shy and docile.  She derives great pleasure from eating, she is a bit overweight, and having her backside scratched.  

Cleo is a warrior.  This past September doctors discovered a "stage three" mast cell tumor on her back, near her tail.  The news shook our household, and an operation was quickly scheduled.  Two doctors worked for three hours to remove the tumor and surrounding tissue.  Cleo has been on chemotherapy since, and all of her subsequent check ups have shown no recurrence of the cancer.

So mild mannered Cleo was excited when we decided to take her to Colorado for her annual Christmas vacation.  The second she sees her white travel case her heartbeat quickens as she crawls into it with great enthusiasm.  

The airport routine was the same as it has been for eight years.  Just before we board the plane, I take Cleo into the men's room and drop a wee-wee pad on the floor of a stall.  Cleo gets out of her case and relieves herself.  She then hops back into the bag.

On the airplane, Cleo rests on the floor in her case for the five-hour flight.  She doesn't make a sound.  Occasionally, she repositions herself in the bag, allowing her head to pop out of the opening.  When we arrive in Denver, I carry her to the nearest men's room, place a pad on the floor of a stall, and watch her relieve herself.  She then jumps back into the case.  

We always stay at the same hotel in Ft. Collins.  Cleo knows it so well that she frequently leads our family through the automatic doors, up the hall and onto the elevator.  Many of the staff members have come to know Cleo and welcome her with scratches on her back.  Cleo feels at home.  Neither snow nor cold bothers her, although she does not like walking on the salt.  

Because her white hair blends in with the snow, we wrap her in a dark coat so we don't lose sight of her.  It also keeps her warm.  But she often sits inside my brother's house, and tends to hang out near the Christmas tree.  When the family gathers to open gifts, Cleo watches with great interest.  

Cleo is a wonderful traveler, which is more than can be said for her younger sister Cassie.  Cassie is an eighteen-month-old pomeranian.  She is endlessly curious, totally self-assured, and a whirling dervish of energy, therefore, not able to travel on an airplane.   At first, the two dogs were like fire and water: two totally opposite temperaments.  It appeared that they would never get along with each other.  But, over time, they have become very close.

Cassie stayed with a friend while we were away.  But when we returned to our New York City home, she was excited to see us.  But she was even more excited to be with her sister, Cleo, and, no doubt, the two spent time exchanging stories of their Christmas adventures!  

Thank You Mike Bloomberg

There is no better place in the world to celebrate the holiday season than New York City.  The stores along Madison and Fifth Avenues are stuffed with shoppers, perhaps lured in by the beautifully decorated windows or early sales.  From Brooklyn to Queens, or from Staten Island to The Bronx, New York City is a colorful, diverse, vibrant and energetic metropolis.

But New Yorkers face an uncertain future.  With the New Year comes a new mayor, the first new mayor in more than a decade.  And this new mayor, Bill de Blasio, has many promises to keep and many supporters to take care of.  New York City is a huge, complex, and impatient metropolis filled with larger than life personalities, big egos, powerful interest groups with competing agendas, and the pulsating beat of an unrelenting 27/7 news cycle.  

After a dozen years in office, polls show that New Yorkers are tired of their current mayor, Michael Bloomberg.  A majority of those who voted in this year's mayoral election want a more progressive agenda, and someone who will focus on closing the huge income disparity between the city's rich and poor.  They want universal pre-K and expanded after school programs, and an end to abusive police tactics.  And many want the freedom to drink big sugary sodas and smoke--initiatives that have earned Bloomberg the nickname Nanny Mike.  

But the fact is that New York has been an extremely well-run city for more than a decade due to Bloomberg's considerable management skills.  And, while there is room for criticism, Bloomberg has done an enormous amount of good for the city while taking home only $1 in salary each year. 

For instance, according to current projections, New York City will have a $2.4 billion budget surplus for fiscal 2014, and a $1.9 billion budget surplus for fiscal 2015.  However, these projections will be affected by upcoming labor negotiations. 

The city population has increased by 300,000 since 2001, and New York now has 3 million immigrants living in its boroughs.  More than 54 million tourists came to the city in 2013, that's up 54% since 2001.  And it is no wonder, as the city's crime rate is down 35% in that same period, while murders have declined significantly as well.  New York is a safe place to visit and live.

Since Bloomberg first took office there has been a 23% decline in infant mortality, and the average life expectancy of a New Yorker is up 3 years, to 80.9.  That may be partially due to the mayor's crackdown on smoking in restaurants and other public areas.  For instance, there has been a 50% decline in teen smoking since 2002, and today only 14% of the city population smokes. 

New York is now a healthier city.  Bloomberg has put in 450 miles of bike lanes, and he has partnered with CitiBank to make bikes easily available throughout the city.  In fact, there will be about 5.5 million CitiBike trips in 2013.  The mayor has also expanded city parkland by 2% since he took office, and 800,000 have been planted in the past five years.  

The mayor won control of the city's public schools early in his mayoralty.  While there are still complex issues with the city's education system, including the expansion of charter schools, New York's four-year graduation rate is nearly 65%, up from about 50% in 2001.  Meanwhile, the city's welfare roles have been reduced by nearly a quarter since Bloomberg first took office.  

The mayor has encouraged investment, corporate development and new businesses.  Being a successful entrepreneur himself, he has created an atmosphere that has attracted many start-ups and new enterprises.  New York is a great place for the next generation.  

New York is a far better place today than it was when Michael Bloomberg first took office.  Some of the changes he has made have drawn, well, the Bronx cheer from many citizens.  Earlier this week, I asked the mayor what he thought of the criticism he has received.  He was accepting, "Change is hard, and people don't like it." 

Come January 1, New Yorkers will face a big change when the 6'5" de Blasio takes over from the 5'7" Bloomberg.  De Blasio will move quickly to raise taxes on the rich to pay for his education initiatives.  Unions will demand a quick resolution from him on pending contract and pension issues that will be costly.  His new police commissioner will take over and bring new community based tactics to keep the streets safe.  And these new challenges are just the tip of the iceberg.

Meanwhile, Michael Bloomberg leaves behind a stronger city and a powerful legacy.   

White House Press Access

Limited press access to the President and White House events is an important issue that goes right to the heart of America's democratic principles.  President Barack Obama's White House is not the first administration to try to limit press access, but they have been more restrictive than most of their predecessors.

Last month, the White House Correspondents' Association and dozens of news organizations sent White House Press Secretary Jay Carney a letter protesting the limited access.  "Journalists are routinely being denied the right to photograph or videotape the President while he is performing his official duties," the WHCA wrote.  "As surely as if they were placing a hand over a journalist’s camera lens, officials in this administration are blocking the public from having an independent view of important functions of the Executive Branch of government."

Instead, the White House has routinely given Pete Souza, the official White House photographer, sole access to the President, then distributed his pictures on the Internet and social media.  In its letter, the WHCA said, "You are, in effect, replacing independent photojournalism with visual press releases."  The White House is bypassing the press corps to give the public an unfiltered view of newsworthy events, often deemed "private," provided by one of its own paid employees.

Frustration boiled up at Thursday's White House press briefing as reporters demanded more access.  Carney, a former reporter, seemed to struggle with his answers, explaining that the problem was the Internet.  “In the past when White House photos were developed and handed out here, news organizations could decide whether their readers would ever see those photos. Now, the White House posts some pictures on the Internet identified as official White House photographs."  

But Carney's explanation misses the point.  This is not a distribution problem; rather, this is an access problem.  And President Obama campaigned on the principles of transparency and openness.   It is critical for journalists to cover and report newsworthy events in order to provide the public with an independent account.  Previous presidents frequently allowed a small pool of reporters and photographers to cover a portion their meetings and events. That practice should be the rule today, not the exception.  

The White House press is right to complain about its limited access to this President.  The practices that are used today by the White House press office will become a precedent for the presidents who follow.   This is such an important issue that news organizations should avoid using White House photos of events that they are barred from covering. 

NBC News' Chuck Todd observed Friday, “Look we’re at fault here because we put (the White House photos) up.” He said, “We basically give out these visual press releases and that’s what they are. And we don’t fight this enough.”  David Gregory, a former White House correspondent and now anchor of NBC's Meet the Press, complained that President George W. Bush often restricted photo-ops only to photojournalists.  This is because he feared being asked questions by reporters in these brief encounters.  But these photo-ops are often the only time a reporter can ask a president an important and newsworthy question.  

According to political scientist Martha Joynt Kumar, of Towson University, President Obama has had significantly fewer brief question-and-answer sessions in the White House than the last two presidents.  This is a disturbing trend.  Other presidents have realized that, like them or not, it is important to have a good relationship with the White House press corps.  

There was no better example than that set by President Ronald Reagan, who spoke of the ongoing friction with the White House press.  He once said,  "Every President will try to use the press to his best advantage and to avoid those situations that aren't to his advantage.  To do so results in a diminution of his leadership powers.  The press is not a weak sister that needs bracing.  It has more freedom, more influence, than ever in history.  The press can take care of itself quite nicely.  And a president should be able to take care of himself as well."  

In May 2010, President Obama signed legislation that promotes free press around the world, and discourages government control.   Mr. Obama, actions speak louder than words.

Promises, Obama Promises

President Barack Obama may be a rare exception for a politician because he has actually kept most of his campaign promises. And he has done so in spite of the most partisan and dishonest opposition tactics an American president has ever faced.

The president announced this past weekend that the U.S. and its allies had reached a short-term agreement with Iran on its nuclear enrichment program, opponents flew into a furor, even before they had specific details.  Some Republican members of Congress even accused the president of manufacturing the agreement as a diversion from his problems with the Obamacare rollout.

Understandably, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the agreement a "Historic mistake," and said, "The world became a more dangerous place."  Saudi Arabia at first expressed concern, but later reversed itself saying, "The government of the kingdom sees that if there was goodwill, this agreement could represent a preliminary step towards a comprehensive solution to the Iranian nuclear program."

The president addressed the controversy in San Francisco Monday, saying the United States "cannot close the door on diplomacy."  Of his critics, he said, "Tough talk and bluster may be the easy thing to do politically, but it's not the right thing for our security."

The president first signaled his intention to pursue diplomacy with Iran during the 2008 Presidential Campaign when he said he would be willing to meet with America's enemies without preconditions.  At the time he was considered naive, and even radical.  Also in 2008, President Obama promised he would end the war in Iraq, wind down war in Afghanistan, and he would bring terrorist Osama bin Laden to justice.  He has delivered on all those promises.

This agreement gives Iran a six month window in which to reach an agreement that would ban it from building a nuclear weapon.  Iran was brought to the table by crippling sanctions that have cratered its economy.  Under the agreement, most of those sanctions remain in place, and can be instantly ramped up should Iran be found in violation during the next six months.

The point is that, for very little cost, the United States has opened a peaceful path to a verifiable and enduring nuclear agreement with Iran that would make the world safer.  It has also given Iran's new more "moderate" leadership something with which to strengthen its tenuous grip on power.  Realistically, reaching a long-term agreement will be a huge challenge for all sides.   But, for now, the president has done all he can to keep the U.S. out of another war. 

The president could use some good news given the shaky rollout of Obamacare.  He had promised in 2008 to make affordable health care available to all Americans, including the 40 million citizens who do not have coverage.  He and his allies had fought hard against long odds to make the ACA the law of the land.  Republicans have done all they can to defund or repeal the law, to no avail, even though they have no replacement to offer Americans. 

But now, in spite of a failed website, the Affordable Care Act is beginning to gain traction.  In fact, in California, where the state runs its own program, enrollment results are ahead of projections.  California is a test case that proves Obamacare can work if states are willing to give it a fair shot.  Most states that have Republican governors have opted out, but they are likely to opt in once the program gains momentum.

The president was elected twice by the American people.  Of President Obama, Shakespeare might have said, "He was ever precise in promise-making."   But the reality is, as the old saying goes, "A politician is known by the promises he keeps."

 

President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

Today it is regarded as the most famous speech in American history. Yet, in the news coverage of the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, President Abraham Lincoln's brief two-minute address was overshadowed by the two-hour speech given by Edward Everett, one of America's great orators. 

As we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, we can reflect on how deeply divided our nation was at the time. Seven hundred and fifty thousand people died in the Civil War, according to revised estimates. That most horrendous war inflicted severe wounds on the country, from Gettysburg to Vicksburg, that still have not fully healed.

The Civil War was a tremendous personal burden for the president, whose determination to right a wrong resulted in so much death and destruction. As he rode on the train with his staff to the dedication at Gettysburg, he was ashen and weak. As Everett spoke, Lincoln stood for two hours waiting to give his remarks, looking out upon a vast sea of blue uniforms worn by soldiers, some of whom had served in the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863.

The Bachrach photo. Source: Library of Congress

The dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery received front page coverage in many newspapers. Here is the headline from the New York Times:

THE HEROES OF JULY.; A Solemn and Imposing Event. Dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburgh. IMMENSE NUMBERS OF VISITORS. Oration by Hon. Edward Everett--Speeches of President Lincoln, Mr. Seward and Governor Seymour. THE PROGRAMME SUCCESSFULLY CARRIED OUT.

And buried deep within that New York Times article was a text of President Lincoln's speech, even noting where the crowd applauded:

Fourscore and seven years ago our Fathers brought forth upon this Continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. [Applause.] Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting-place of those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate. We cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. [Applause.] The world will little note nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. [Applause.] It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the refinished work that they have thus so far nobly carried on. [Applause.] It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain; [applause] that the Nation shall under God have a new birth of freedom, and that Governments of the people, by the people and for the people, shall not perish from the earth, [Long continued applause.]
Three cheers were then given for the President and the Governors of the States.

Later, Everett reportedly told the president, “I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.”

Mr. Lincoln, the world did note and long remembered. Happy anniversary.

Obamacare: Don't Stop Believing

President Barack Obama has been rightly criticized for the launch of the    Affordable Care Act. But the fact is that the president did do something historic and morally right by giving almost all Americans access to health insurance.  Yes, the ACA website has been a disaster. Yes, some people are getting cancellation notices from their insurance company despite the president's campaign pledge that, "If you like your current plan you can keep it." However, the website will be fixed at some point. And the cancellations are largely due to the fact that those policies did not meet minimum standards. In fact, many people were being ripped off and didn't know it. But these problems have given Republicans another reason to attack healthcare. They have tried everything to repeal, defund and denounce the president's signature program. Republicans have lied about the program, "death panels" anyone? They claim it's a job killer (wrong) and it will add to the deficit (wrong). The Republican controlled House of Representatives has voted 46 times along party lines to defund Obamacare to no avail. The Supreme Court has upheld the law, and President Obama ran, in part, on the health care law and got reelected in 2012. So computer problems, while embarrassing, are just another hurdle to implementation. But change is not easy. When Medicare Part D was launched in 2005, its website was not available for months. Few patients who had signed up received prescription insurance cards, which caused huge problems for pharmacists filling prescriptions. No one is complaining about President George Bush's program now, even though it has added billions of dollars to the deficit. And the Massachusetts health care law, Romneycare, which the ACA is modeled after, was enacted in 2006, had technical problems, has been amended twice, but is successful today.  While many Americans may be frustrated with the problems encountered by Obamacare, at least the president did something about the growing healthcare nightmare. Republicans don't have a real alternative; they just talk. Take Senator Ted Cruz, who told NBC's Jay Leno that he's a "big believer in health care reform." Sure, and the Calgary Stampeder has got a plan! "I think we ought to reform health care so it's personal, it's portable, it's affordable. We ought to empower patients rather than government bureaucrats getting between you and your doctor," he told Leno.  Perhaps in a more truthful moment, just last August Cruz criticized the president and Obamacare to a Texas Tea Party group, "His strategy is to get as many Americans as possible hooked on the subsidies, addicted to the sugar." He warned, "If we get to January 1, this thing is here forever." Of course, Texas has the highest number of uninsured residents in the nation. That is why the president was in Dallas last week promising Texans access to affordable health care, vowing, "to get this done." But the president was also busy last week apologizing to those Americans who have seen their current plans cancelled. "I am sorry that they, you know, are finding themselves in this situation, based on assurances they received from me," he told NBC News. "We've got to work hard to make sure that they know we hear them and that we're going to do everything we can to deal with folks who find themselves in a tough position as a consequence of this." The apology seemed genuine, and there is no reason to believe the president misled the country in order to get Obamacare passed, even in the face of all the Republican lies about the ACA.  The healthcare train has left the station, albeit with some struggles. And there will be other hurdles ahead for the law. But, as more Americans see the options that are available to them, they will understand the true significance of Obamacare. And then they will be "addicted to the sugar!"