Stormy Cherry Grove

Thursday evening at about 6 PM it got real dark here in Cherry Grove. There were unusual cloud formations and high winds. This is not that unusual out here.

It's The Economy, Stupid! Redux

Photo: View of Copenhagen

The chorus of voices wailing about the sour economy from the president's own side of the political spectrum is deafening. Yet Obama & Co. continue to play in the Republican's deficit reduction ballpark. As has been his custom, Obama refuses to use the bully pulpit to present a counter narrative to the Republicans. What Obama should be hammering home is that in a time of high unemployment and poor growth, deficits are not job 1, rather getting Americans back to work and growing the economy should be the primary focus. Doesn't Obama want to be re-elected? The way he's going one of the nutty Republicans will be able to unseat him.

HOT Hot HOT!

Photo: centuries old tower and crane used to work on sailing ships rigging in Copenhagen

It's even hot out here in Cherry Grove, but there is an ocean breeze.

Come To Dan's Opening At The Lighthouse

Dan has been invited to participate in a juried art exhibit at the Fire Island Lighthouse. The opening reception will be on Thursday, June 23rd from 6 PM until 9 PM at the lighthouse. Come one, come all!

The Pragmatic Barak Obama

Photo: A pretty church in Copenhagen

Yale Professor David Bromwich writes about Obama's embrace of Bush-Cheney national security policies that have eroded our civil liberties over at Huffington:

...under the endlessly forgiving label of 'pragmatist', this president has devised a system of mental bookkeeping that is at once complex and simple. It is the belief of Barack Obama that his being the president of the United States is good for the world regardless of what he does.

It's as if Obama is asking his supporters to "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." He will do what he wants no matter what he promised during his campaign because that's the pragmatic thing to do. Principles? What principles? Principles don't matter because you have to be pragmatic. Progressives are really sunk with this president. But Obama's prospects for re-election may also founder without the enthusiastic support of those he has let down.

Obama's Failure On Immigration Reform

Photo: Twon Hall, Copenhagen

Just as in the case of GLBT rights, Obama could but has so far refused to use his executive authority as president to end certain unjust immigration policies. Why doesn't he act? What is he afraid of?

New York Times:

President Obama, who has spent two and a half years not delivering on his promise to fix immigration, gave a speech in El Paso last month and cloaked his failure in tough statistics — this many new border agents, that much fencing, these thousands of deportations... O.K., so maybe it isn’t. But there is a lot President Obama can and should do, using the discretion and authority granted to the executive branch and its agencies to make the system work better.

Obama's Tinmidity On The Economy May Cost Him Re-election

Economists Paul Krugman and Robert Reich have been warning that we are in danger of falling into a double dip recession. Today's job numbers are terrible. But it may be too late for Obama to take the steps necessary to halt our slide now.

Robert Reich:

The President cannot be reelected if the economy tanks. He may not even be reelected on an anemic recovery in which unemployment remains nearly this high. But all incumbents are endangered. Republican House members from swing districts are toast if they don’t show voters they’re actively working on the twin problems of jobs and wages.

Several steps need to be taken right away. Exempt the first $20,000 of income from payroll taxes for two years. Lend money to cash-starved state and local governments. Initiate a new WPA for the long-term unemployed. Amend bankruptcy laws to allow homeowners to include their prime residencies in personal bankruptcy (giving them more bargaining leverage with their lenders to renegotiate mortgage loans).

How To End The Debt Crisis WIth Fairness

Photo: Colorful Copenhagen

Senator Bernie Sanders has fair and humane solutions to the debt crisis:

Instead of ending Medicare as we know it and making savage cuts to community health centers and children's health care programs, we must ask the top 2 percent of income earners, who currently pay the lowest upper-income tax rate on record, to start paying their fair share of taxes. Instead of making it harder for working families to send their kids to college, we must end the foreign tax shelters that enable the wealthy and large corporations to avoid paying tens of billions in U.S. taxes. Instead of making major cuts in job creating programs in infrastructure, public transportation and sustainable energy we must do away with a wide variety of loopholes that allow Wall Street executives, whose profits and compensation packages are soaring, to have a lower tax rate than middle class workers.

Obama's Gay Pride Proclamation Rings Hollow

President Obama recently issued a gay pride proclamation for 2011...with no mention of marriage equality...a step backward from last year's proclamation. With these hollow words he expects our votes and our money? I don't think so.

From GetEqual:

How long must we wait for our young people to walk school hallways with pride, rather than suffering without federal safe schools legislation to make those hallways safe?

How long must we wait to hear the President of the United States value and respect ALL American families and relationships, rather than only the ones that the Religious Right embraces?

How long must our families continue to pay tens of thousands of dollars simply to assure that their children won't be ripped away from them by faulty adoption laws?

How long must we wait for our friends to feel safe at work, rather than suffering without even the most basic workplace protections that can alleviate stress and fear?

How long must we wait for our neighbors to be able to remain with their soulmates from other countries, rather than suffering without immigration policies that treat them as full American citizens?

How long must we wait for our undocumented queer youth to be able to live their American dream, rather than being deported from everything and everyone they know by a broken immigration system?

How long must we wait for our transgender siblings to serve their country with pride, rather than serving silently while fighting for the freedom of all of us?

How long must we wait to hear from the harbinger of hope elected in 2008, rather than the political cautious president we've come to know?

Medicare Reform WIll Eventually Lead To Single Payer

Photo: snake digesting lunch in our neighbor's front yard.

Andrew Sullivan paints the picture of the future of health care in the US:

Medicare needs more means-testing and more heavy-handed rationing. Private insurance companies will equally have to ration to remain affordable - until, one suspects, the logic of the crisis forces the US to move to single-payer. Even then, my Tory pessimism suggests we will need some major tax hikes, and defense cuts to boot. It's all gruel and no gravy. Is America capable of understanding that, let alone embracing it?