Senator Jim Bunning Holds Breath

Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) is throwing yet another tantrum in the US Senate. In the last few days he has literally told his colleagues in the Senate “Tough Shit” on his blocking of extensions for unemployment and COBRA payments, chucked the bird at the media when they asked to speak to him about it, and kicked people off of an elevator claiming it was for Senators only. (See the previous post here) His latest stunt is to hold his breath even when the Senate President, Harry Reid, agreed to his demands. The man is acting like a two year old throwing a tantrum to get his way and not even remotely close to what should be the behavior of a United States Senate member.

Again, I can’t make this stuff up…

Bunning is still insisting that the 30-day extension be paid for from stimulus funds before he allows a quick vote on the House-passed measure. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has offered to hold a vote on a Bunning amendment to offset the bill, but Bunning refused on the basis that his proposal would likely fail. – Roll Call 3/02/2010

Can I hear a chorus from everyone of “WTF”? He got what he wants but he still isn’t going to let the vote take place to extend benefits for thirty days? Once more from the chorus, “WTF”.

Even his fellow Republican Senate members can not manage to talk any sense into Jim Bunning. Senators Collins and McConnell have both given it their best shot and good old Jimmy Bunning is still holding his breath simply because he can.

I find myself shaking my head in utter disbelief thinking that this one Senator has the ultimate power to hold up unemployment insurance benefit extensions for over one million people just because he wants to be an ass. Forget about COBRA and all the federal projects and layoffs that started Monday of this week thanks to Bunning holding his breath. Even forget about the Medicaid payments to doctors because Bunning is holding his breath. That of course leads me to wondering why the hell the Senate President hasn’t grown a pair and found a way to go around the idiot Jim Bunning? Republicans in times past have never had a problem with ramming bills through so what is up with Harry Reid? If Harry Reid doesn’t know how to put Senator Bunning out to pasture or ram the legislation through then what the hell is he doing in the Senate President chair? Especially, at a time when many Republicans actually agree that Senator Jim Bunning is being an ASS with his filibuster tactics! Or could this actually be more of the same old politics in Washington where everyone is pointing the finger at the other political party to win bonus points in some mythical popularity contest?

Right now, Jim Bunning is a blessing in disguise to the Democrats and the evil troll brother that Republicans don’t want to admit to being related too. Either way, we the people still get the worst of both parties no matter who wins the idiot of the week contest.

Papamoka

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Obama Message on Unemployment

Politics aside, we all need to look to one leader to get us all out of this economic crisis and free fall. Jobs are being lost at record numbers and we need to come together to stop the free fall. Where do we all stop being Liberal and Conservative when it comes to record job losses. America and her people need consensus and somebody to follow other than the message of politicians and talking heads in the main stream media of whom to blame. We have a President, like him, love him, or hate him, he is our President.

George Washington, our first President, he alone faced many trials during the Revolutionary War but one thing was certain, he was the leader of men willing to sacrifice life and liberty for what they and he believed in. Washington put his foot down in the time of crisis in his Presidency for a reason and it was to prove the point that this nation can not survive based on one or two or three political points of view. Leadership comes from being firm, showing confidence, and moving forward regardless of your many detractors. Our President must act as his gut tells him and thus history is made. President Obama needs to do the same and thus he is acting on the best of the American people…

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While the Bush year millionaires are contemplating how much of a donation they should send to his Presidential Library Fund, I wonder if any of them know what it feels like to get a pink slip or told that the company they have worked for loyally can no longer afford their services? The clock is ticking if your state believes in unemployment payments to support your family. If your state doesn’t provide unemployment compensation then you need to find a job where paper or plastic is a common phrase during the work day.

Papamoka

Handle with Care

In these foreboding times in our nation it is up to all of us to handle our economy with care. While we have all been beat up and shot down our reputation and place in the world is to lead with confidence and to some degree arrogance and yet with some form of humility. Our future as a people and nation has not been robbed from us but simply misplaced. It is up to each one of us to lean on one another to find the path out of this mess and we can clean it up together. Our nations government and its reputation is on the line with the bailout packages that they are proposing but that is just a drop in the bucket of what this nation really needs. We need to join together, stop being fooled and listen to one another and act accordingly with one another. Stop acting as if the next great depression is upon us and listen to the traffic outside your window and that my friends is America alive and well and working. Non stop fear mongering by the media is driving the mentality that we should all tighten our belts and forget that we are the economic engine of the world. That is bull and we all know it deep down.

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Everybody has a part to play in this economy and everyone can excel at their part in fixing it by simply not acting out of fear. Give the time needed for change to happen and by all means, if you can hire one person to do a job in your small business, then do so. If you can take the time out of your life to volunteer at your local police or fire department, parks department, schools, or wherever your service to the community you live in will help, then just do it!

One thing is certain, when any group of people acts like a bed of clams and closes their shells tightly out of fear, eventually the entire bed will die off from lack of oxygen. The same scenario is true when the American people stop using their overall purchasing power that does in fact run the world economy.

Make no doubt about it, fear is the main driving force that is running the American economy right now and the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself. A wise man once said that to his people in a similar situation. Who was it that said that? His name is on the tip of my tongue but I'm drawing a blank... Help me out here.

If you are waiting for better times to replace the things you need to replace just in case then the fear is in your heart. Let it go and let God. Replace that old car or truck with a new one, replace that television or fridge or washer and dryer with a new one, replace that living room set that you hate anyway. Not because you have to, but because you want too! That my friends is the key to the American way of life. We do things simply because we want to and that got us to the moon with the inspiration of a President some four decades ago. So what is stopping you from replacing or upgrading the stuff you already have? Is it fear? Now ask yourself who sold you that fear in a wrapped package?

Papamoka

Let's Focus on Fixing What They Broke

Hello Papamoka Bloggers - Well, it looks like George W. Bush is leaving office having eliminated nearly 4 million jobs and leaving us in a nightmare of a recession. He didn't quite wipe out the gains of the nineties, but he came close. WOW! That is amazing, and sad.

The official unemployment rate is now at 7.2% and when you throw in the under-employed and those who simply fell out the system, economists say it's more like 14%. Of course the far right is already saying that it's the Democrat's or Obama's fault, but the rest of us know better. They were in charge - despite their ignorant belief we were after the 2006 election, filibusters be damned - and they destroyed our system. Now we need to tune them out and pick up the pieces.

So, despite the bad news, I chose to rave this morning. Why? Because I choose to remain optimistic. One way to remain optimistic and start the healing process is to reflect on success in the past. In 1992, when Bill Clinton was elected President, the American economy was barely creating jobs, wages were stagnant, and the unemployment rate was 7.5 percent. Sound familiar? That was under another Republican, and a Bush. I guess the Republicans loved those days so much they elected his son to do it all over again.

Obama's new economic plan is similar to Clinton’s at that time, however, whereas Clinton focused heavily on fiscal responsibility and debt reduction, Obama is forced to to renew parts of Roosevelt's New Deal. His bold economic strategy is focused on: government spending designed to spur growth, investing in education, and health care reform.

Once the bleeding has stopped, he also wants to focus on investing in green energy and other new industries. It's sill unclear what he'll do about Clinton's love of trade deals, so I guess we'll have to wait and see. I only hope he cares more about FAIR TRADE at the expense of free trade.

Still, if you consider what Clinton achieved, the strategy helped create over 22.4 million jobs and contributed to the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. WOW! Despite the idiotic opposition that always tries to take credit for the good while passing the buck on the bad, Democrats should be confident that we have what it takes to fix what George Bush and the Republicans broke.

So, let's try to be optimistic. Obama is not just a new beginning, he's a brilliant man, well suited to fixing the mess we're in now. He's working on creative solutions, perhaps taking the best of Clinton while adding his own bit of ingenuity.

That's what is so cool about the American system. Over the past eight years we Americans, or at least Democrats, have been envious of other countries with Parliamentary systems. We all know Bush would have suffered a vote of no confidence years ago. Our system is flawed, but the abusive presidents like Bush are few, while the number of very good, creative presidents, who accomplished great things, are clearly the majority.

So, we should be happy. We sustained a great deal of damage, the unemployment rate continues to skyrocket, but the ship of state is still afloat, and we have a captain who understands what must be done to repair her. It's not going to be easy, but then again, tough times aren't meant to be easy. They're meant to challenge, test men of good character, weed out the bad ones, and create new solutions. It's time for a fresh start, and soon we will have it.

Michael Boh
Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor
from Our Rants & Raves Blog

President Elect Obama’s First News Conference

Thankfully, President elect Barack Obama’s first news conference was not like an Emmy Award ceremony. We did not have to here all the people that he had to thank for winning the Presidency. What he did have to say was right on task for the next President of the United States. After meeting with a slew of people knowledgeable about the economy and how to fix it he entered the room confidant and determined to hit the ground running for the American people. The economy is his first priority and will be a continuous priority till our nation gets out of this weak period of time in the economic engine that is America. Matter of fact he threw the gauntlet down to George Bush to act or he will as soon as he is President in January. Check it out over at the New York Times and what Jeff Zeleny has to say…

“I do not underestimate the enormity of the task that lies ahead,” Mr. Obama said, his voice slow and controlled. “Some of the choices that we make are going to be difficult. And I have said before and I will repeat again: It is not going to be quick and it is not going to be easy for us to dig ourselves out of the hole that we are in.”

Mr. Obama called on Congress and the Bush administration to pass an economic stimulus package. If an agreement cannot be reached this month in the lame-duck Congressional session, he said, it will be his chief goal when he takes office on Jan. 20.

He said it was an “urgent priority” to extend unemployment insurance benefits for workers who could not find jobs in the bleak economy. He also said he would give aid to states, create new jobs and move forward with his tax-cut plans for middle-class families. - New York Times

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If you missed the news today, another 250,000 Americans lost their jobs in October which bumped the unemployment rate to 6.5%. The highest unemployment rate in almost twenty years. Lame duck session my ass! Congress and the current President need to act quickly to stem this crisis as soon a possible. When it comes to jobs being lost there is no such thing as a red job or a blue job. It’s an American job!

To sum up, President elect Obama has put the word out to all, you are either with us or against us when it comes to restoring the economy of America. What say you President Bush?

Papamoka