democrats

As anyone who reads this blog somewhat regularly knows, I feel there is a big risk of a President Bachmann in 2013. I have given plenty of reasons previously, but the biggest one that scares me is the enthusiasm gap on the left. A new Public Policy Polling poll verifies that fear:

There's been plenty of bad news for Barack Obama this month in the form of his approval numbers, but our polling finds that his problems go deeper than that. Democratic enthusiasm about voting in next year's election has hit a record low this month. 

Only 48% of Democrats on our most recent national survey said they were 'very excited' about voting in 2012. On the survey before that the figure was 49%. Those last two polls are the only times all year the 'very excited' number has dipped below 50%. 

In 13 polls before August the average level of Democrats 'very excited' about voting next year had averaged 57%. It had been as high as 65% and only twice had the number even dipped below 55%. 

Face it - the left is getting fed up. The President has constantly caved to the demands of the right, yet the right and the media makes it sound like everything sound like a victory for the left. Team Obama is also doing nothing to soothe over the disconnect between him and the base. That can easily lead to disaster next month.

With Bachmann in the top three in the Republican field and barring any last minute entries by some golden child, the fear of President Bachmann continues to grow. Just consider the two leading Bachmann - Romney and Perry. Both have parts of the base that absolutely doesn't like them. Bachmann is somewhat back burner now, so most people don't have much of an opinion of her, except that she has an R by her name. 

People who believe the Republicans want to turn this economy around are sadly mistaken:

The concern arises as numerous top Republicans react coldly to the prospect of temporarily reducing the payroll tax burden on employers and employees -- to juice the economy before federal spending draws down in the years ahead.

Traditionally, and particularly in tough economic times, this and a handful of other stimulative policies have enjoyed bipartisan support. But with the outcome of the 2012 election likely to hinge on the nation's economic trajectory, the GOP is mysteriously rethinking those positions. And Democrats are starting to note of the suspicious timing.

Got that? The Republicans are opposing tax cuts because it might hurt their chances in the elections next year. This is another case of "party before country" and anyone supporting Republicans should be ashamed of that fact.

Of course the Republicans don't deserve all the blame on this. What they are doing is just playing the new system of politics that has been created in this country. Politics has become a multi-billion dollar entertainment industry and by default any politician isn't a good sportsman. They will lie, cheat and steal to come out on top. The biggest failure this highlights is that of the free market, especially when it filters down into our elections.

Want to know why Democrats keep having problems? Because on every single issue they play this game of “kick the can”. It’s the procrastination party!. Here’s the latest example:

Democrats want to take the offensive and propose higher tax rates for millionaires, companies that move factories overseas and wealthy people who make charitable contributions.

But here’s the problem – they want to do this in 2012! So while companies like G.E. and Bank of America continue to rake in record profits and pay $0 in taxes, we will continue to see things that matter to a majority of American’s cut.

Does this seem like DejaVu? Well it should. Think back to the healthcare debate, when Democrats kept kicking the can on getting American’s better coverage. After constant caving, we were told that it “would be fixed later”. I knew as soon as I heard that that later meant never. I had some bloggers tell me I was wrong on this, but here we are a year later and nothing has even been attempted to fix it.

This is total failure of leadership on the part of Democrats. We control the White House and one chamber of Congress, yet they sit there and act like the Republicans control everything. When we did control everything, they acted like the Republicans control everything. Do the brains in the Democratic Party really thing this is a way to increase voter enthusiasm? It sure as hell didn’t work last year and it won’t work again in 2012.

I don’t know about you, but I am sick and tired of the “oh well, maybe later” attitude of the Democratic Party, all the way up to the Oval Office.

Is Scott Walker even all there mentally?

At a press conference Monday afternoon, Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) fired back at state Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller (D), the leader of the 14 Democrats who have fled the state in order to block budget quorum on Walker's anti-public employee union proposals, who this morning sent Walker a letter calling for a meeting at the Illinois state line. And in his attacks on Miller, Walker suggested - with no apparent irony - that perhaps Miller has been having secret phone calls with special interest backers in organized labor.

This from the guy, who just two weeks ago got duped by a prank phone call, thinking it was David Koch - a major special interest. Either Walker is going crazy, or he is a big member of the IOKIYAR crowd.

According to Mike Stark the National Enquirer is set to release a story tomorrow about John Boehner and an affair he has been having with a lobbyist. The National Enquirer contacted Mike about reporting he did on the story last year.

This story will really hit home:

I wonder how well Boehner's zero-tolerance pledge regarding corruption will hold up when it comes out that several hundred paper-making jobs were lost in his district and he refused to do anything about it at the same time he was sleeping with a lobbyist for the printing industry that was very happy to get their cheap paper from China.

I live in the town that lost all those paper-making jobs. It has been devastating on this area and John Boehner didn’t do a thing to try and stop it. Now when it comes out that Boehner’s inaction might have been due to his action in bed, well that could cause serious problems.

Of course the biggest question will be how much merit this article gets. The right and the media only seem to believe the National Enquirer when it comes to stories about Democrats. When a story exposes the wrong doings of someone from the GOP, well then the Enquirer is just a tabloid again.

There has been a lot of talk that President Obama might be open to some sort of deal to cut Social Security benefits. Well that is a very bad idea:

President Barack Obama's apparent willingness to consider cuts in Social Security benefits may be winning him points with Washington elites, but it's killing him with voters, who see the program as inviolate and may start to wonder what the Democratic Party stands for, if not for Social Security.

That's the conclusion of three top progressive pollsters who spoke to reporters Wednesday at a briefing sponsored by the Economic Policy Institute, the Century Foundation and Demos.

Even more interesting is that the poll is finding the public not trusting the Democrats on Social Security as much as they did before, while the trust in Republicans is on the rise. During that time frame we saw Republicans going out to the angry town halls and saying that they would not touch Social Security. Of course those of us who really follow politics know that is far from the truth. This was just another example of “snake oil salesman” tactics by the GOP.

So hopefully we won’t hear the President talk about Social Security at the SOTU next week. If he does then he should lay out a plan to restore all the borrowed money to the system and legislation that will prevent lawmakers from using the money for anything they want. That is our money and it should be kept as such.

This week the House will vote on repealing healthcare reform, the first big legislative move of the new Congress. Perhaps the GOP leadership in the House wants to rethink this, since they are “listening to the people” and all:

As for repeal, only about one in four say they want to do away with the law completely. Among Republicans support for repeal has dropped sharply, from 61 percent after the elections to 49 percent now.

But what people need to realize is that they were sold a big lie from the GOP. The talking point of the last election cycle was “repeal and replace”. Well they are trying to do the first one, but the second is non-existent. The Republicans have absolutely nothing to replace it with, meaning we will go back to the same old broken system. That’s something else the people don’t want:

Also, 43 percent say they want the law changed so it does more to re-engineer the health care system. Fewer than one in five say it should be left as it is.

So what should the GOP do? For starters, scrap the vote this week. Instead of repealing everything, work to fix it. Let’s start with getting rid of the mandate, which seems like a very popular idea:

Nearly six in 10 oppose the law's requirement that people carry health insurance except in cases of financial hardship. Starting in 2014, people will have to show that they're covered either through an employer, a government program, or under their own plan.

Again – anyone that voted for these people under the assumption that they would “cut government waste” was suckered in big time:

Members of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus may tout their commitment to cutting government spending now, but they used the 111th Congress to request hundreds of earmarks that, taken cumulatively, added more than $1 billion to the federal budget.

According to a Hotline review of records compiled by Citizens Against Government Waste, the 52 members of the caucus, which pledges to cut spending and reduce the size of government, requested a total of 764 earmarks valued at $1,049,783,150 during Fiscal Year 2010, the last year for which records are available.

"It's disturbing to see the Tea Party Caucus requested that much in earmarks. This is their time to put up or shut up, to be blunt," said David Williams, vice president for policy at Citizens Against Government Waste. "There's going to be a huge backlash if they continue to request earmarks."

In founding the caucus in July, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said she was giving voice to Americans who were sick of government over-spending.

At least the Democrats have the balls to admit they like earmarks. Michele Bachmann and her Tea Bagging ilk can’t even do that. Instead they chose to be the top hypocrites on the Hill.