Washington Post “Poll” Dems’ at 51% of Senate Control – Wishful Thinking

From The Washington Post, Fix Blog, reveals that there is a slight chance that the Democrats may retain control of the Senate, however, the poll, such as it is, relies on data sets from the Post’s Internal Lab.

The Washington Posts Election Lab suggests the following criteria using New Hampshire as an example: the State of New Hampshire has a 99% chance of remaining Democrat due to the following statistics: Jean Shaheen has raised over $9 million dollars and her share of vote the last election (2012) was at 53%, while Scott Brown has a measly 3 million, and to boot, Obama won reelection in that state by – 53%. (Washington Post Senate Map Interactive click here and have fun.)

One might suggest that although Shaheen safely sailed on the 2012 election coattails and Obama was popular in the state at the time, that no matter how much cash on hand one might have, it may not be enough to push one to say, a win.

One might also suggest that the other seats noted “safe” using these criteria, may be in more jeopardy than the Post would hope. Thus one might also suggest this “lab”, or “poll” is utter nonsense. Although not prone to predicting the future with much accuracy – there are certain models that maybe more reliable, such as actual polls, with at least a modicum of accuracy when using land lines and a decent sample of the electorate.

Justice Department Blocks Harry Reid Investigation

A corruption probe begun by Utah State Prosecutors against Harry Reid (D) and Mike Lee (R), Senators from the State of Utah, has come under some scrutiny since efforts by the FBI have been thwarted by the Justice Department. In the case of Lee, there is some question into the validity of a sale of a home, in which losses were incurred, the investigation, was brought by a State Democrat.

Concerning both men

Spokesmen for both senators denied their bosses engaged in any wrongdoing and said the lawmakers were unaware of the investigations. Mass recusal The investigative efforts have been further complicated by the fact that Mr. Reid worked to get Mr. Lee’s chief counsel, David Barlow, confirmed in 2011 as the U.S. attorney in Salt Lake City. That action — a Democratic Senate leader letting a Republican be named to a key prosecutor’s position in the Obama administration — raised many eyebrows and angered some Democrats. Subsequently, the entire office of federal prosecutors in Utah was forced to recuse itself from the corruption case after questions surfaced about a conflict of interest involving one prosecutor and a subject of the probe. After the recusal, state prosecutors secured a court order transferring the federal evidence gathered up to that point to their possession. The process has left FBI agents in the unusual position of trying to help two local prosecutors make a case in state court without the ability to use the federal court system to determine whether accusations against two powerful members of Congress are true.

(Washington Times)

Considering Harry Reid, the spokesman for Obama Care, and architect of the Nuclear Option in the Senate, one would think that the administration would do anything to protect their lapdog – including blocking an investigation. It would be justice to give both men the opportunity to prove no wrong-doing in either allegation. What is suspicious is the fact that Justice as intervened in this issue, in particular, as the players are diametrically opposed, and Harry Reid, is seen as the lap dog of the administration. One might have to throw the baby out with the proverbial bathwater, in these cases, Lee being unable to disprove the allegations, while saving Reid. Of course, 2014 may make this a moot point.

Club for Growth Scorecard – Where the Senate and the Congress Fall when it comes to Pro-Growth legislation – A 2014 Voters Guide

The Club for Growth has released it’s scorecard for the 2013 legislative body – the ranks from 1(high) to N/A – (insufficient votes to register) can be found here at www.clubforgrowth.org/progjects/scorecard.

Not surprisingly, the top members who are not likely to legislate the nation further into debt and promote economic growth are Cruz (R-TX), Lee (R-UT), Paul (R-KY), Enzi (R-WY), Risch (R-ID), Scott, (R-SC), Inhofe (R. OK), Corurn (R-OK) (The Waste Book Author), Cornyn (R-TX and Toomey (R-PA) round out the top 10 in the Senate. The House has Frank Trent (AZ-8-R) at the top, and Peters (MI-18-D) rounding out the bottom – scores 100% perfect to the single digits (Club for Growth).

Poltico was quick to point out that two Democrats did fairly well on the list, holding at 40% were “Retiring House Democratic Reps. Jim Matheson of Utah and Mike McIntyre of North Carolina. (This was followed by:) The GOP lawmakers that the Club ranked below Matheson and McIntyre are: Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida (38 percent), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida (37 percent), Michael Grimm of New York (37 percent) and Chris Gibson of New York (37 percent). Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) tied the two conservative Democrats at 40 percent. (Politico)

What this tells us is that normally split fairly evenly along party lines (with pro-growth meaning fewer taxes and incentives for businesses to hire, (simple version), there are variances in each party, and according to the state or district one represents.

One might however, be more inclined, in this economy that, although improving, is nowhere near where it needs to be in order restore significant j job growth, to check the other name on the ballot in 2014 when every single one of those Representatives are up for reelection and elect a new citizen representative.

Black Friday – President on the Stump – Democrats for Reelection Running in Opposition Direction – Child with Cancer looses Health Insurance - Affordable Health Care Act (Obama Care) the Remake of 2006.

It is the shopping day known as Black Friday – as one might expect, in an economy with a reduced workforce, retailers have suffered and millions are heading to stores earlier (With Massachusetts one of the few exceptions to the Thursday sale start due to blue laws.) The days have become darker, less optimist for a political party whose leadership has followed a familiar path, one that was doomed to fail before they set foot on their ideological path. The primary cause of the disaster – arrogance and an unwillingness to bend on the side of the Democrats, have caused the health care reform act, known first as Obama Care and now as the Affordable Health Care Act, to bring the party to its knees, reminiscent of the Iraq War under George W. Bush.

The Washington Post speaks to the the President as turning introspective as he campaigns across the country –presumably for the Democrats who are up for reelection in 2014 – all Congressional Representatives as well as a rather serious chunk of the Senate. His focus – blame the Republicans.

The constantly used tactic by the President to play partisan and blame the “other guy” so to speak (not that the other guy is blameless in some cases), when the Health Care Reform Act (Obama Care – Affordable Health Care), is, in a word, causing a disaster in the economy, and in the homes where millions of people are being adversely affected. One recent situation was reported out of Texas, where a family with two children with a rare form of cancer, happy with previous insurance, were told they were out of luck – one child is in serious need of immediate care –

Krista says an insurance agent told her that Hunter's information got lost when they made changes under the new Affordable Care Act. Now, Krista is on a mission to re-gain that insurance, but they're running out of time before his next chemo treatment, and the agent says they can't expedite. "The lady's like, the only way we can expedite is if your son was pregnant and in labor, or if he was an illegal," Krista said.

(KXII – Gainesville, TX)

This is not an isolated case, as millions have lost their coverage, and think tanks suggest up to 90 million insured will be forced into these exchanges, which are, at best inept. – The administration was well aware this would happen, so were the Congressmen and Senators on both sides of the aisle who read the bill.

As much as one might not care for Senator Ted Cruz or Mike Lee, (especially the Republican side of the aisle) as they desperately tried to stop Obama care from being funded and shutting down the government to do so ), they deserve credit for trying to save millions of Americans heartache and frustration.

As a strategy for the Republican’s however, allowing Obama Care to go on as usual was, in a word, Machiavellian. They knew what was in the law, so did the Administration, and they knew loss of coverage was going to mean huge drops in poll numbers for the President and by extension the Presidents party. – Formerly known as the Democrats.

It’s to the point, where there is so much fallout from this legislation that Democrats running for reelection are trying to distance themselves from the President (Denver Post) – Shades of George W. Bush – and if one recalls, that mid-term saw the return of the Democrats – Nancy Pelosi took the reigns as Speaker of the House and Harry Reid, become the Senate Majority Leader. – It was a political route, and one can anticipate another.

If the President could see the forest through his ideological trees, and wish to help out those in his party, and the rest of the nation (if this were remotely possible), the following would have to happen – it would upend the Republicans to boot.

The President would call an emergency session of both congresses – He would use the national bully pulpit and make an immediate announcement that there would need to be changes made immediately to insure the nation was back on track both economically and medically. Obama Care was going to be more than fixed; it would be new – before the next Congress convened.

He would look at the auto insurance industry in Massachusetts, and equate that with the Romney Care fiasco – and use the Auto Insurance option as a model for the Health Care Mandate. In brief.

Open all borders to all insurers, all types of coverage, make mandatory coverage for all carriers basic – preventative services, excluding $3.00 monthly birth control – plans could be al-la-carte, allowing individuals and families to purchase those “riders “allowing them to choose coverage that might be applicable or give peace of mind. – It would be personable responsibility. Those who could not afford insurance at all would be offered either Medicaid or the same coverage that Federal Employees have, again with multiple options.

That website would be turned into an information center, listing what was available to whom. The employer mandates would be gone, and so would the wind from the sails of the opposition.

His bounce among independents and grateful American of all parties would be significant and those Democrats would be begging him to help them campaign.

Totally unlikely but, if one considers the course of Carter’s presidency, and one is a student of history and has access to the information, one would understand that there is still time to turn it around.

One last thing – the President would have to suggest that perhaps the Republican’s were right on the health care option, and reach out publicly to that Party as well as in person, to seal the deal. Blaming the other guy is akin to crying wolf – after a while, the Wolf looks mighty attractive.

Nancy Pelosi – Is Up for Reelection in 2014 – #1 Reason Obamacare In Place Today

Nancy Pelosi, the U.S. Representative from California 12th District - who got a "gig on 30-Rock" (TV Show) - Image from and article here at Reuters.com

Nancy Pelosi is up for reelection in 2014, in fact she, along with every single Congressional Representative in the U.S. is up for reelection every two years. Congressional Representatives are elected during Mid-Term elections and again during the General Election (when the U.S. votes for a new President).

Nancy Pelosi, in 2009, was the Speaker of the House of Representatives (one Chamber of Congress), as such she was the one individual who pushed Obamacare through stating the infamous words: We have to pass the bill, so you can find out what’s in it” (YouTube) – She is still a cheerleader for the Democrat team, rather than the United States citizens - On NBC news, Ms. Pelosi suggested that all Democrats would stand tall in 2014 in support of Obamacare”. This might not set well with other Democrats, who are facing reelection in both the House of Representatives or the Senate (Both Houses of Congress), as the problems with the Bill, including the rollout fiasco, the high insurance premiums, the loss of policies for millions of people, the part-time status of most workers whose employers don’t want to pay the price for Obamacare, et al., who will have to face constituents who are not enamored of the plan as it was put together by, voted on, and passed and supported by the – Democrats, specifically Nancy Pelosi.

Nancy Pelosi is the U.S. Representative of the 12th District, which includes the City of San Francisco - that’s it; one City delivered upon the nation the most badly crafted legislation in history.

If Ms. Pelosi had said there was a mistake made and we need to fix it, or offered to work with Republican’s who had some reasonable ideas, instead of sticking to the Democrat Party Line rather than throwing the American Public a life-line, then she would be suitable for reelection. As it now stands it behooves those who vote in San Francisco to take a hard look at any other candidate and choose an alternative U.S. Representative.

A few suggestions as to fixes for “Obamacare” or The Affordable Health Care Act: remove the mandate on individuals and corporations – offer Medicare, with no to limited premiums to those who cannot afford private health insurance-Medicare is already in place. Open state borders, all of them to competition. When a state has only 3 insurance carriers, there is no incentive for those insurers to lower premiums. However, when there is ample competition, the insurers do lower premiums and fast. One shining example is Massachusetts auto insurance changes. Several years ago, Massachusetts only allowed certain carriers to offer auto insurance in the state – Massachusetts had some of the highest auto insurance rates in the nation, until the State opened up the borders allowing competition – there were no changes in the quality of the plans, there was an instant reduction in pricing on premiums however. This made buying car insurance affordable.

The same would be true for health insurance. Only an idiot would think otherwise. This brings up the point that any Representative or Senator who supported Obamacare in any way, shape or form, or did not vote to stop Obamacare when they had the chance so it could be revised –should be shown the proverbial door. This is regardless of whether or not that individual is a Democrat or Republican. It is time to put the Party aside and put the people first. If a representative, such as the CA 12th District’s, Nancy Pelosi, is not smart enough to do the job, or is making additional cash from lobbyists who will make money off the suffering of the Citizens, then, that individual should be replaced – get out and vote.

National GOP Looks Towards “Moderates” – Again – Obama Approval Falling – the Partisan Fight for the Soul of America.

They are at it again, conservative members or those who identify with the Republican Party, may be, once again, sadly disappointed at the Beltway’s choices for the 2016 Nomination. In a recent interview former 2012 Presidential GOP candidate, Mitt Romney, laid out some “suitable “names as candidates for the GOP –including Jeb Bush, but especially New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie (Huffington Post). Understanding that Gov. Romney knows how to run a business, and get elected to an extremely liberal minded state, does not make him eligible to name candidates that would be acceptable to run for the Presidency – there are obvious reasons. For more obvious reasons, he did not mention the name of Ted Cruz as one of those contenders (Huffington Post) – perhaps it was an oversight or more probably due to the fact that Cruz is an actual – conservative (or otherwise known as the hard-right-tea-party type). Romney it appears, is now the front man for the National GOP – slamming the President for Obama care this past week – which would have all been fine, had it not been for the kettle calling the pot black system, considering Romney Care leaves lot to be desired. Perhaps the roll out went smoothly enough – but there are unreported families not enjoying health care and paying the penalty to the Mass DOR, limited choice for doctors and yes, high insurance premiums. –

To the Nation – Welcome to Massachusetts.

On the theme of “denial”, Gallup is showing the President’s approval ratings taking the plunge as daily tracking shows it had fell to 40% approval in the period ending November 2, 2013. Perhaps it was that nagging question of whether or not he either lied about, or just was not aware of the fact that individuals (93,000,000 of them – that’s 93 Million) would lose their health insurance and might not be able to keep their doctors. The Wall Street Journal interview with one man who is trying to stay alive (gall bladder cancer), and has lost health insurance as well as access to his doctors speaks to the matter quite eloquently (Wall Street Journal).

Therefore, the President either lied or is clearly clueless, and that goes for any number of instances that have caused the proverbial poop to hit the fan in recent years. Either scenario is not appealing to the general public, but, the public is increasingly aware.

White the media scrambles to excuse, they still have to have a connection with what’s left of their subscribers and/or viewers – a perfect example is the USA Today editorial where they headlineObamacare's critics justified: Our view”.

Even the Kingmaker, otherwise known as Advisor and Campaign Manager to the President (and other Progressives, with little time in government that either hold or may hold a political office) got a round of “tough” questions as he Faced semi-hostile journalist on “Meet the Press. (Politico) The question of whether the President knew or not that the American Public would lose their health insurance. The key word not for plans of choice by the Public that are being cancelled and revamped to meet Obama Care standards is – substandard. Apparently, the substandard plans may not have all the mandates attached to the law by the carrier. Some may attach them and one will see increases of 400% or, they may just drop them entirely and take the first road out of Dodge.

The entire bill is a house of cards for the Democrats, as well as those moderate GOP members who supported it and slammed those who did not. It is – in essence a disaster, that is bringing attention to other disasters that had previously been swept under the rug – Benghazi, Fast & Furious, IRS Targeting, et al.

It does not bode well for those who have that stamp of moderate or Progressive as the nation heads into the 2014 election – So bent out of shape are the General Public, the chances of those who hold office, from any party, maintaining that office is growing slimmer by the day. Watch local elections to see how incumbents fare.

Lastly, one get’s the final impression that Justice Roberts, in allowing the “tax” ruling on the program, which allowed the program to go forward, has the disaster in mind from the get-go. If he had struck the bill down, the Democrats would have had a leg to stand and campaign on – by letting it live and then die a grizzly death (along with American’s who critically need coverage), he insured the demise of those less than Conservative law makers. That’s hypothesis mind you, but it underscores the premise of hyper-partisanship that is – DC.

How this all plays out in the coming months – going into the November elections and the 2014 mid-terms, is going to be of grand interest to those who watch political ideologies change in the minds of the general public.