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It has been a while since I have done anything productive, ripped, bitched, moaned, made fun of anything in more then just a Facebook status, so here we go. A week or so of pent up shenanigans, got a little time on my hands, so I might as well let shit fly. For those of ya reading over at Progressive Electorate.com, I am Jeff, a simple guy, can't write worth a lick (dropped out of Journalism school) and can't keep a straight thought to save my life, but if you will manage to hang with me, I will try to make it worth your while. To Facebookers, thanks for letting me be me.
On Scott Brown and Massachusetts. - Seems this whole Scott Brown thing was spun as America somehow rejecting President Obama and the Democrats initiatives. Of course, us realists would see this as the people of Massachusetts rejecting a candidate that was so out of touch with the people of her state, that Ted Kennedy or not, they wanted nothing to do with her. I don't blame them. We on the Left got to complacent. We just figured we could waltz our ways into any public office we wanted and spin the same 2008 crap and it would win with the people. It will not win. This is our watch now, the people want results from us for them. If you put out a crap candidate that in no way wants to interact with the people and can not even remember state heroes that played right there in your own backyard, then you do not deserve to win. Its a pretty simple view, I know, but really, we in Missouri would not vote for a candidate that says Stan Musial was a fantastic Cub. Seriously. I would throw a 5 year old, pissy pants temper tantrum. Fact of the matter is, Scott Brown and his campaign out worked the Coakley campaign. While Martha Coakley was on vacation, Scott Brown was shaking hands in McDonald's drive throughs as people passed through to get they're morning coffee. A voter wants to see that. A connection was made and it made an impression. I would have a hard time not voting for a person, standing in freezing temperatures, in a Carhartt jacket, shaking hands, drinking a hot cup of Joe with folks as they head off to work. We all want the same thing, a politician, a person in Washington that you can relate to. Scott Brown did that, Martha Coakley did not. Now whether Scott Brown continues that or not is yet to be seen. Yes, I fully believe that he is another Republican ass wad that will vote in favor of the corporations, the health insurance companies, and will think that the key to prosperity will come with less regulation in any industry and providing tax cuts to wealthy individuals and big corporations that will send countless jobs overseas to save a few bucks. But as of now, he out worked, out campaigned, just flat out got with it, made a connection and won. Now we on the Left need to realize the errors in our ways, get out, shake a few hands, stop typing so damn much and start reconnecting like we did in 2008. Scott Brown is a pebble in the Atlantic, lets not let them become mountains.
On The State Of The Union - I was pretty nervous heading into The State Of The Union, partially because I was in South Missouri at the time, a very conservative region, and just in passing, I heard many comments regarding The President and the upcoming State Of The Union, so I immediately knew the man had to knock it out of the park. Not really a new theme considering the amount of pressure this man is under and has been under from Day 1. For most of us, we have the ability to look past the black-white, weird name thing. He is a man, he is just like us, and he is the man we sent there to do the job. For many, it is still a black-white thing, and they are willing to hang anything on this mans head because they are unable to look past that. That is frustrating. South Missouri made that more relevant to me. Somehow, I managed to keep it zipped and just go about my way. I wasn't real sure how the President was going to connect with the American people. But he did, and in a big way. It's funny, I am pretty Left on the issues, and as most of you know, I am a big supporter of this man, have been since his announcement to run for President. For all the flack this man gets about being extremely Liberal or radical Left, he has been anything but. He has been Left, but not extreme Left. State Of the Union night, he became really Centered, and honestly, I couldn't have been any happier. It seemed it had sunk in to a degree, much like I said above with Scott Brown, honeymoon is over, were in power now, time to put up or shut up. I loved how he painted Republicans into a corner on NO voting EVERYTHING, saying basically throwing a partisan temper tantrum is not the leadership you was sent her to do. I like how he outlined a plan for Energy Independence, showcasing different initiatives that drew applause from Republicans every time, only to sucker them in by saying and all this will be possible with the passing of a Clean Energy Bill, which as you can imagine, drew no applause from Republicans. I like how he basically dared Republicans to oppose a Jobs Bill he is pushing Congress to pass, which would be a bill, with 10% unemployment in this nation, what is at the top of everyone's worries, would be political suicide for any Republican to oppose. I like how he finally is putting repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell on his list of priorities. A person, all well qualified persons should be fully entitled to serve this nation regardless of sexual orientation. The Republicans being glued to they're seats when topics like taxing corporations that send jobs overseas and Health Care painted a pretty broad picture for the American public. The Republicans can say they have provided options all they want, fact is, they haven't. They option is to delay, stall, and just downright NO vote everything that Obama wants to achieve. Look, its ok to oppose something, but you better have a reason and solution as to why. They do not. Obama made that clear, the Republicans sitting on they're hands made that clear. Obama's policies that night were still enough to make us here on the Left happy, but where I think he really connected, he became more Centered on how he talked to the American people. As someone said this past week to me on Facebook, we get it, your smart (on Obama, not me). Spot on comment. We all know he is a articulate, well spoken man, very intelligent, I guess we just needed him to dumb it up a bit to make a real connection. Somehow, someway, it worked. Next day, still in South Missouri, Conservative America was actually buzzing somewhat on what The President had to talk about. Jokes and hateful remarks turned into, "I think he did a pretty good job" and "I hope he makes it happen". I was stunned. I was happy. I think we may have somewhat turned the corner, albeit, a small turn. There is hope. This doesn't mean we get complacent again. WORK. RESEARCH. TALK.
So, since The State Of The Union went well, can we finally bury this as our future and The Tea Partiers with it?
That is exactly what it will be like if we on the Left do not start outworking The Tea Partiers and debunking they're bullshit sooner. Anyways, off of that, I could spend all night talking about those embarrassments to the human race.
On Obama meeting with entire Republican leadership - This was impressive. Going into the lions den, swords somewhat put away, getting fired upon from all directions. No other President has ever done this. This was good. The Republicans invited, Obama accepted. Gonna have a hard time telling people that The President doesn't want to communicate with you and work with you when he accepted an invitation you sent, to meet with your entire elected leadership, in a setting you chose, and answering non pre-screened questions that you ask. The Republicans are making they're own bed. I think it was 1 in 4 people that typically vote Republican do not even admit to being a Republican. That is embarrassing when people that vote for you, do not even want to admit to being one of you. Out of touch and running out of time.
Just a few quick hits here. Robin Carnahan is a secret Republican I think. She is going to be what I call a "Thermometer Politician". Shes really not quite a Democrat I think. I think she just takes the temperature of the public and goes with that. Today, she called out President Obama on his budget, saying he is showing a lack of "fiscal discipline". My outrage with her has become more apparent of late with her offices handling of some closer to home issues with a close friend. Like I said, I am looking at her as a temperature taker and not sticking strong with an issue. I will at the moment, not be supporting her in November, pretty bad for a head strong Democrat like myself. Of course, I will not be supporting ass clown Roy Blunt either. Here's the link to the story over at Huffington Post.
December consumer spending and personal income numbers both rose, a great sign for a struggling economy. January manufacturing numbers increased for a 6th straight month I believe it was, and our economy grew in the 4th Quarter of 2009 at a rate of 5.2%, the highest rate of growth in almost 6 years I believe it was. Here is the story on spending, income, and manufacturing provided by Yahoo! Finance.
What does the above tell me, and the past few months of positive economic data? Without the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which can be tracked at Recovery.org), we would be at 15% unemployment and our economy will still be shrinking instead of showing growth. Long term, this is good. As for the markets go, I said a month or so ago, I though the markets had priced in the recovery already, which was evidence of there being more bullish investors then bearish, which mean, run for the hills. Good economic data has not really helped the markets the past few weeks, it says it wants to head lower. I am not a buyer of anything right now, I am stock piling cash, waiting for a decent jobs report to send us lower, then I will be buying. As famed Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says, "Be greedy when others are fearful", but reverse that, so Be fearful when others are greedy. Set cash aside, and wait for a pullback.
Thanks for reading.
"I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell" - Harry Truman.
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