GOP race

If you have read any of my previous political posts, you are aware of my liberal points of view. But I feel that I need to chime in on the current GOP primary season. Tens of millions of dollars are being spent in this primary. By the time the GOP actually picks a candidate, we will be talking in terms of hundreds of millions of dollars that will be spent. Up to two billion dollars may be spent this year by both sides!These special interest Super PACs are a joke. Money is certainly going to buy votes in this election cycle.

It is a travesty that we, the American people, must endure almost 2 years of political posturing by candidates. The primary season just started and I am already sick of the news. Pretty soon, when it is our state's time to elect primary candidates, all we will see on television is political advertisements. Now, because of the Super PACs, they will all be attack ads.

The heir-apparent (maybe), Romney is the only candidate I see that could take down Obama in a General Election. If that doesn't happen, the GOP is in trouble. Because of the splintering of this party (I'm looking in your direction Tea Party), the GOP is struggling to find its identity. Bouncing around between Gingrich, Santorum, and Romney, the party has no clear direction. I think Ron Paul, even though he has great ideology and a strong following, will not make it past Super Tuesday.

Santorum's social conservative views may allow him to win Primaries, but will not be received well with Democrats and Independents. To win General Elections, Presidents must slide towards the middle to get the votes needed. Santorum will never do that. He believes in his principles. He will live by the sword and die by the sword. Thank goodness for that!

Gingrich is to disorganized and panders to all audiences, which will not play well, especially in our "always on" culture. Up to the past decade, candidates could promise the world to the different groups that they were courting because these messages were never disseminated as easily to everyone. Now, as soon  as a sentence is muttered, it is sent to everyone and that message is analyzed and scrutinized before it is even printed in a newspaper. 90's politics doesn't work in today's politics. We'll see if Newt can change his ways. I am doubtful.

That leaves Romney. Even though he isn't getting the ultra-Conservative and Evangelical  votes, I still think he has the best shot to beat Obama. However, he does have a long way to go yet. He needs to prove to his base that he is different from Obama. At the same time, he needs to prove to Independents and Democrats that he is a better alternative.

What it will come down to though is money. Who spent the most money to get the most ads out? Who's Super PAC discredited the other opponent better? It is sad. When all is said and done, it sounds like both parties, including Super PACs, are on the path on spending over a billion dollars each for this year's Presidential election.

Think about this. What can two billion dollars buy? This is what UNICEF can do with that money! Do they need to spend that much money? Really!?

Here's a good PBS analysis of the Super PACs.  Pay attention to these non-profit Super PACs as well. Donors do not have to provide disclosure. This means they can put millions of dollars into these groups and they don't have to worry about telling anyone. Pretty sneaky politics is about to play out this year.

Unfortunately, the best candidate, especially now, rarely wins. It is about skating the issues, making promises, and seeing if you can discredit your opponent better than they can. The train wreck that is the Presidential election cycle has begun is fun to watch, but when it comes to a grinding halt, let's see what pieces are left to salvage!

10 years and counting......

10 years ago we invaded Afghanistan. We are still there with a supposed end in sight in 2014. What was the cost? We spent trillions on the two wars and Homeland Security. Thousands of lives were lost. We through the countries we invaded into civil wars. We have angered the Middle East more just by occupying these areas. At what point are we going to say maybe we went at this wrong?

We are safer now than before, but for how long? Once we leave it looks like Iran is just waiting to go into Afghan again. We have not won over the hearts and minds of these countries. We brought death and destruction to these people. I will not argue the fact that we got rid of some very bad people that were trying to harm us. But the way we did it is leaving scars on the bystanders in these places.

No matter how much money we spend over there to rebuild, their beliefs won’t change towards us. We need to cut our losses now. We should have taken a scalpel, not a machete. We are the strongest, best trained and funded military in the world, but we don’t learn from our mistakes. We went into Vietnam to change them. That didn’t work. It is not working with the extreme Muslim community. In fact, it has deepened their resolve.

One of the biggest reasons of our nation’s debt is because of the wars. We conducted 2 years in ten years, plus are trying to liberate Libya. We don't need to cut domestic spending anymore. We need to end these wars. We need to bring our troops home. Defend our country in our country.

Our military budget is even bigger than everyone else combined! That is insane. We need a strong military, I agree. But that is just too bloated! We need to stop being the world’s police and just concentrate on us, on our well-being, our economy, our jobs! Why do we have to be everywhere, all the time? We can’t afford it.   

Safe Harbor

According to this article in the Express-Times, Easton, and its community, is going to really struggle to try and keep this shelter running. CACLV will no longer run the shelter or provide assistance. As was evident last year at our church, the homeless population is growing. We have mental health programs being cut which in turn serves less people or stretches the services so much that they become ineffective. That is why so many people are chronically homeless.

In the not to distant past, severely disabled mental health patients, like the psychotics, were cared for in log-term facilities like State Hospitals. Now they are assimilated into community programs that are not capable of handling them. The times that these people get into a really bad mental state, we can get them some temporary assistance via a mental health commitment, but that usually only lasts 48 hours. More and more get kicked out of the programs that aren't capable of handling them. Thus they become homeless.

I agree, to a certain extent, with Alan Jennings as stated in the article, about the steps that is needed to keep Safe Harbor Viable,  “The good people of Easton, in order to make a difference in the lives of people who need help, need to make sure there’s substantive programs that allows people to solve their problem, not give them a place to postpone dealing with them,” Jennings said. 

But we need to work on the causes just as much as the effects of homelessness. People are homeless, remain homeless, and will not abide by programs because of the lack of oversight on the mental health issues they are dealing with. I am not saying that the people that work in this field are incompetent, just incapable of handling all of the issues that they are dealt. A systematic approach to continual care is just not possible in this environment. If I was schizophrenic, I would probably be homeless.

We, as a society, need to address this issue. We need to take care of our sick, including the ones with mental health issues. We also need to support more programs that help the homeless. Now, like the deficit cutting plans, is the wrong time to pull back. These problems will get worse before they get better.

Contemplate this scenario. If I had severe mental health issues and became homeless, the way the system is set up, I would probably be seen in the Emergency Room of a hospital on a regular basis. I would probably also become dependent on alcohol or other drugs that aren't of the prescription variety. It would cost thousands upon thousand of dollars per year just to maintain me in the homeless environment. Statistics estimate that, in about a 10 year time frame, to maintain my status quo on the streets, with addressing my addictions, mental health issues, and other ailments related to untreated health concerns from being homeless, it could cost the public about $1 million in medical bills.

Wouldn't we be able to at least half or quarter that cost by treating the illness instead of  treating just the symptoms and bandaging me up & sending me back out on the streets? Don't believe me? Read this article from Malcolm Gladwell that provides a Reno Nevada case study.

In the short-term, we all need to look at supporting Safe Harbor. They are a stop-gap for the homeless issues in the region, not just Easton. Not a church going folk at one of the churches mentioned in the article? You can still contribute to support this mission. Work with your church to support this agency. Or contact the shelter directly @ (610) 258-5540 to help.

Right time for a Third Party Candidate!?!

It wasn't too long ago that we thought a big change was going to occur. In 2008, we breathed a collective sigh of relief. We wanted a President that was not as narrow-minded, seemingly inept, and conservative as GW Bush, right? Then we voted in Barack Obama. We wanted the change he wanted to bring. The thing about change though is that for us to accept change, it must be evolutionary, not revolutionary.

When Democrats took charge, they pushed their partisan agenda. They pushed healthcare through. They pushed a consumer protection agency through. They really upset the apple cart. That truly made us angry. So the pendulum swung back to the other side. Now we are stuck with dysfunction. The Tea Partiers  think that if they can't get their agenda through, nothing will get through. Then Obama caved. He gave in to appease the Tea Party. Now we can't go back.

So now we have 2012 to look forward to. We have a limp Democratic President that can't lead his party, let alone the nation's politics. On the GOP side, we have candidates that must align themselves with the Tea Party movement or risk being branded against them. So we can either vote for a Democrat that can't seem to make a stand. He wants to please all and ends up pleasing no one. Or you have the Cut Government, Cut taxes platform. Neither seems appetizing at the moment.

So is now a ripe time to pick a Third Party Candidate? Can't a President be right in the middle? Right along the Moderate line? We used to think that traditional Presidents could do it. They actually used to. Clinton, fiscally, had more conservative stances than the GOP at the time. GW provided that partisan was the way to go and has been since then.

Now is the time for someone to stand up and say hey we can balance the budget through tax cuts and raise taxes. We can develop governmental policies that protect our people and environment while not putting too much restriction on business. We need someone to say we have or will have far more seniors that will be using Medicare and Social Security. These pots are going to shrink no matter what, so we need to make changes.

I truly hate the politics of politics. No one will say what needs to be said, just what they need to say to get elected. I hope that someone like a Ross Perot would run. I'd actually vote for someone like him this time around. Before you comment though, I am not interested in these fringe third party candidates, like the Green Party. I want a candidate that cuts the b.s. and tells the truth. Unfortunately that will not happen. 

Right time for a Third Party Candidate!?!

It wasn't too long ago that we thought a big change was going to occur. In 2008, we breathed a collective sigh of relief. We wanted a President that was not as narrow-minded, seemingly inept, and conservative as GW Bush, right? Then we voted in Barack Obama. We wanted the change he wanted to bring. The thing about change though is that for us to accept change, it must be evolutionary, not revolutionary.

When Democrats took charge, they pushed their partisan agenda. They pushed healthcare through. They pushed a consumer protection agency through. They really upset the apple cart. That truly made us angry. So the pendulum swung back to the other side. Now we are stuck with dysfunction. The Tea Partiers  think that if they can't get their agenda through, nothing will get through. Then Obama caved. He gave in to appease the Tea Party. Now we can't go back.

So now we have 2012 to look forward to. We have a limp Democratic President that can't lead his party, let alone the nation's politics. On the GOP side, we have candidates that must align themselves with the Tea Party movement or risk being branded against them. So we are can either vote for a Democrat that can't seem to make a stand. He wants to please all and ends up pleasing no one. Or you have the Cut Government, Cut taxes platform. Neither seems appetizing at the moment.

So is now a ripe time to pick a Third Party Candidate? Can't a President be right in the middle? Right along the Moderate line? We used to think that traditional Presidents could do it. They actually used to. Clinton, fiscally, had more conservative stances than the GOP at the time. GW provided that partisan was the way to go and has been since then.

Now is the time for someone to stand up and say hey we can balance the budget through tax cuts and raise taxes. We can develop governmental policies that protect our people and environment while not putting too much restriction on business. We need someone to say we have or will have far more seniors that will be using Medicare and Social Security. These pots are going to shrink no matter what, so we need to make changes.

I truly hate the politics of politics. No one will say what needs to be said, just what they need to say to get elected. I hope that someone like a Ross Perot would run. I'd actually vote for someone like him this time around. Before you comment though, I am not interested in these fringe third party candidates, like the Green Party. I want a candidate that cuts the b.s. and tells the truth. Unfortunately that will not happen.  

Bi-county health bureau's demise?

What's is going to happen next month at Northampton County Council? They are planning to vote on an issue that I think is flying under the radar. You probably know already that all three cities in the Lehigh Valley have health inspectors that serve those cities. They inspect all food establishments in those cities along with training the restaurant staff on food safety. They also provide public health clinics like the immunization clinics or health fairs. They also work on catastrophic planning like if we would get a large foodborne disease outbreak or worse yet biological outbreak.

Outside of these cities, we have nothing. In many instances, it is up to the state to inspect food establishments. I've worked in these areas and we were lucky if we saw a state inspector once a year, if that. By creating this bureau, we can get oversight and coverage for everyone. Please tell the council to vote yes.

Check here for the Morning Call's article about health inspections:
Mcall.com's article on health inspections.

Check here for the Morning Call's article on the Bi-county health vote:
Bi-county health bureau's demise?

Armageddon coming?!

So we are in the final hour. Supposedly, if a Debt Ceiling deal is not done by this time next week, the US will default on our loans. It is just amazing to me how we got here. Both sides are to blame for this, but neither side wants to take responsibility. GW Bush inherited a relative balance budget from Clinton. Then 9/11 occurred. Bush and the GOP decided to start writing blank checks for the wars and Homeland Security. Now almost ten years later and trillions of dollars spent on these programs, we wonder why we are in debt! 


Yes Democrats are to blame for this as well. They signed off on all the same programs. But I think it is unfair to blame the Democrats for these problems. Make this clear, debt cutting is job cutting. The more we restrict now, the worse our recovery will take. 


We should not be here doing this now. We should be creating a system that invests in the country. Create new jobs, get people to work. Then more taxes will come in to pay for these programs. Everyone in Washington playing chicken with America should be voted out. If you can't come together to get the job done, we will vote someone who can.