The Politics of Positive

I like to try and blog as often as I can. I have found that it helps clear my mind of the political issues that bother and in a small way allow my opinions to be voiced at least to a small audience. I feel most of my blogs have been somewhat negative or angry towards the new Democratic leadership in Washington, D.C.

I am a positive person and although President Obama was not my first choice and there are plenty of other problems to complain about, I am going to choose to be positive.

The economy is not in good shape in any way, there are two wars being fought overseas, and Washington almost looks just as partisan as it was before the election. The only difference in Washington now is that before it was Democrats and Republicans fighting now it is Democrats fighting the even more liberal wing of the Democratic party.

However, America has been tested before and has always made it through. There has and there always will be critics of our country but their skepticism does not mean we will not succeed.

Depending on what you listen to and what you read you can hear some comments about the decline of the US as a whole. There is a belief that every empire falls whether its the Roman, the British or the United States. I believe the problems in this world are big but not big enough that they are unsolvable or that will bring this country down.

There was a time in this world, back in the late 1700's, when people doubted the success of democracy in America. The world had never seen a fully functioning democracy before and surely it would not work in the former British colonies. The events of this past Tuesday didn't just show the world the inauguration of President Obama it showed the success of America vis-a-vis the success of American democracy.

As I said earlier, I didn't vote for President Obama, but I didn't riot in the streets in protest either. You saw a smooth transition of power and not President Bush trying to cling onto power or declare himself leader for life like in some countries. I have always been a fan of watching inaugurations and yes I watched far more TV on Tuesday then I did actual work. Inaugurations show us what's great about America. We can have disagreements, we can have elections, we can keep peace, and we can keep our democracy.

If the early states were able to survive on their own, if we could beat the British empire (at the time the world's best military), if we survived a brutal Civil War still early on in our nations life, if we survived the Great Depression, if we survived two world wars, if we survived presidential scandals and assassinations, if we survived discrimination and segregation, who is to say we can't and won't survive our current crisis?

You can't stick a fork in the United States, because we're not done. The economy is cyclical as history proves and we will recover. Our recovery might not come this quarter or this year but it will happen. Tomorrow will be a better day

I wanted to show everyone this story because I don't think it's getting enough press.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=30143

In summary what Speaker Pelosi is planning on doing is changing the way the House of Representatives have operated since 1995. They key reforms include:

-Ending a six year term limit for Committee chairs
-Restrict Republicans (or any minority party) from offering alternative legislation
-Restrict Republicans from attaching amendments to democratic bills

I personally believe that repealing this options is undemocratic. In fact I am surprised it look until 1995 to create rules like the one's above. I have not seen comments from Speaker Pelosi or other members of the Democratic Majority discussing why it is vital that these reforms be reversed. I do not believe that the House of Representatives should operate in this manner in which an alternative opinon is not allowed. I think that our founders created Congress to be the place where there is open debate about issues that effect America. I have many questions that come to my mind including:

How does the reversal of these reforms create any sort of open debate?
Is this something the American people would actually want?
Why aren't Democratic leaders openly talking about their plans?

I can answer the first two questions, I believe this squashes the opinon of the minority party and I believe most Americans would oppose this idea. I am not able to figure out why Democratic Leaders are not more public about their plans other then they know it would spark outrage across America.

I don't believe there is anytime in this country where we should shut down the minority opinion. There is going to be a large debate about how to spend trillions (that's right trillions) of dollars and Speaker Pelosi wants to have a debate in the back room with only her friends. That is shameful. That is change but not positive change.

I want to begin my first blog by apologizing for not posting anything sooner, sometimes life gets the best of us.

There is no doubt that the political world in 2009 will be an interesting one. Today we are 12 days away from the inauguration of the first African-American president. As President-elect Obama transitions into the oval office, it is hard not to notice the drama around some of his appointees and there is little doubt the drama will end anytime soon.

I am sure by now everyone has heard of the political and legal fight over the US Senate seat once held by President-elect Obama. On Tuesday (the day the 111th Congress took the oath of office) Roland Burris, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's pick to fill the vacant senate seat was denied his seat by the Secretary of the Senate. It now appears that Burris has come to some agreement with Democratic Senators, particularly Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and he will be seated. What Burris does need is Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White's certification on the official appointment papers for Burris to be seated. My guess is that Burris will take White to court and have the court force White to sign his certification papers. I will make my first of many bold predictions and say that Roland Burris will be Senator Roland Burris by next Friday.

The Democratic party has a large interest in seeing the drama surrounding Obama's senate seat end so that Obama and Congress can turn their attention to bigger things...like the economy. Although I should mention the Burris situation is not the only Illinois problem for Obama. This statement leads me to my next bold prediction: Governor Rod Blagojevich will still be Governor Rod Blagojevich by the end of this year. The Burris appointment is certainly a victory for Blagojevich and it does not appear the Illinois Legislature is willing or capable to impeach the Governor. I believe the only thing that will force the governor out of office is a guilty verdict and I doubt his trail and subsequent appeals will conclude by the end of the year.

Obama's headaches don't end with political issues from his home state, he is getting a pretty good amount of questions surrounding his pick of Leon Pannetta for CIA Director. For those of you who don't know, Pannetta is the former 8 term California Congressmen, Director of OMB, and White House Chief of Staff in the Clinton White House. The Pannetta pick is making a few heads turn because traditionally the head of the CIA is someone from the intelligence community and not a rather political person like Pannetta. Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein of California even expressed her concerns about Pannetta. I do predict that Pannetta will be the CIA Director but I can say that I don't think he will have the easiest time in that role.

My next bold prediction regards the potentially vacant New York Senate Seat of Hillary Rodham Clinton. I say potential because Senator Clinton will not resign her senate seat until she is officially confirmed by the Senate to be the next US Secretary of State. I undoubtedly belive Senator Clinton will be Secretary Clinton. The debate really is over what will happen with the vacant seat. New York Governor David Paterson has the sole power to appoint someone to the seat and as you probably heard Caroline Kennedy is interested in the seat. Another less nationally known candidate is New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. A recent poll taken by a New York news agency showed that New Yorkers prefer Cuomo over Kennedy by 20%. There are some National Democrats who would like to see Kennedy appointed because of her "star power" and her ability to fundraise so that she can keep the seat in Democratic hands in the 2010 election. I believe in the end Governor Paterson will select Andrew Cuomo to the seat. While Caroline Kennedy certainly has a national prescence, Cuomo's qualifications cannot be taken from him. Cuomo is certainly well known in New York and appointing him does not hurt Democrats chances in 2010 in keeping the seat. As a side note, Cuomo's father is the former Governor of New York. The 2010 Senate race will be interesting for sure with the possibility of two big name Republicans Rep. Peter King and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani vying for the spot.

The Obama camp must be thankful that the New York Senate spot is no where near as controversial as his own vacant senate seat. At this time. I cannot say that his transistion will be the easiest with the potential sticky nomination process of Pannetta and the withdrawal of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson as Secretary of Commerce. 2009 could (and thats a big could) be very damaging to Obama with the trial of Blagojevich and potential indictments of key advisors like future White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. I also believe whatever made Bill Richardson step away from the Commerce post is something that might not go away and at the very least not look good for Democrats.

I know I appear to be acting harshly towards Obama but I want to be clear I do wish him the best of luck for the sake our country.

I will close by making three bold predictions from the Lone Star State. My first predicition is probably not particularly bold for anyone who follows Texas politics but for the sake of consistency I will call it a bold prediction: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison will challenge incumbent Republican Governor Rick Perry to his current job. If KBH does decide to run she will have to resign her Senate seat and that creates a rather interesting Senate race. Rumors have a few members of congress interested in the Senate seat including: Rep. Jeb Hensarling, Rep. Joe Barton, Rep. Kay Granger, and state Railroad Commisioner L. Michael Williams. This leads me to to my final two predictions i) Rep. Kay Granger will not run for the Senate seat and ii) Texas will elect an African-American Republican to the Senate in L. Michael Williams. Williams is already known statewide and no one can deny his charisma that will play well all across the state.

Please stay tuned for future posts and of course to see the accuarcy of my predictions.

I want to begin my first blog post by saying "Welcome."

My goal for this blog is to share my thoughts on events as they happen both in Texas and on the national level. I feel creating an open dialogue is the best way to solve problems that we all have together.

I hope you find my opinions interesting and feel comfortable posting your opinions as well!