WAR

I have written before that , if I had to summarize my life in one word, it would be WAR.  We used to have a break between wars: WW-I to WW-II, WW-II and Korea, Korea and Vietnam, Vietnam and 9/11..  But now it seems to be a continuum where there is a short period of a lowered war effort (like now) only to shortly have a resurgence, and we seem to be seeing the early stages of escalation now from a president who vowed to end our wars.  Both Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham are proposing we need to go back to major war in the Middle East to defeat ISIS.  Actually this is an odd view where there is a split in the Republican Party because Rand Paul and Donald Trump are agin' it.  I wonder what historians will eventually say about this period?  Perhaps it will be called the 30 Years War or maybe 50 Years War.  I don't know.  So how long can we stay at war when only about 1% of the population does the fighting, but the costs of the war are done on borrowed money.  Will it eventually lead to the destruction of America as a Great Power?

WHAT ARE REPUBLICANS LOOKING FOR?

(This is my 500th Post, an eclectic series that began in November of 2009 )

I'm confused about the Republicans who are upset about congress's inaction.  What is it they want?  Perhaps it is to bus illegal immigrants back to Mexico, repeal Obamacare or the ACA, build a wall on out southern border, repeal or circumvent the 14th Amendment, and outlaw abortion completely.  Do they like the constitution except for the parts they don't like and want to repeal? Actually they may think that congress has done too much and want to repeal of the few things congress has passed?

This morning on Morning Joe (09-08-2015), Joe Scarborough said that Donald Trump is appealing to the worker Republican base when he talks about increasing taxes on hedge fund manager who pay only 15% in taxes. From morning on Morning Joe (09-09-2015) perhaps a clue is that disaffected white workers are increasing in the Republican Party and may soon begin to have an affect.  These workers like Social Security, Medicare, and minimum wage, though they hate the illegal immigrants with a passion.  They also are for hedge fund managers not have a special tax break so Trump is on to something.  Perhaps we are beginning to see the success of Donald Trump.

Peggy Noonan came up with some things that Donald Trump supporters are mad about.  The big thing is illegal immigrants.*  She mentions in one article that no one even pretends that the border is secure.  Well, there are 21,000 agents down there with a fence, drones and towers so to say there nothing has been done is disingenuous.  Also we should remember that there was a bill that passed the Senate a couple years ago with votes to spare that was never even taken up by House.  In this bill was an increase of agents by 19,000 to bring the total up to 40,000!, quite an army, and there was the provision for more drones and to complete the double fence.  So it appears that the House didn't want to secure the border more.  I can believe Trump supporters are mad about this, but I suspect they are not that knowledgeable.

Supposedly the killer of the Senate bill in the House was a draconian path to citizenship that was so difficult that I doubt many would even try use it: learn English, pay a fine, and pay back taxes.  It is thought that if the House voted, the Senate bill would pass, alienating  the extreme right wing that seems to control the Republican Party these years  The fence goes only 700 mi, however, so there is a long way to go if we are to build it all the way across the Texas border, for example.  Besides, I have been told that even the double fence wouldn't slow the illegals much.  Besides, the reason they come is for low level jobs such as picking tomatoes (so called stoop labor) which Americans don't want to do.  Trump wants to build a wall, rather than the fence that he says would be impenetrable.  Can Trump spell "tunnel."  Perhaps the wall will be so high that a ladder would be impractical. For a way to build the wall, see: http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2015/09/how-to-build-wall.html

Many Republicans are still inflamed about Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act.  It wouldn't surprise me if many Republicans don't know they are the same thing.  The thing they hate even worse seems to be a single payer system which, so far as I know, all economists who study the matter say will really help control medical costs.  Peggy Noonan says "they" will accept expanding Medicare rather than continue with the ACA.*  Well, who wouldn't?  I suspect that Peggy Noonan is wrong on this and the many, many Republicans oppose "single Payer" as a Socialist system.  I'm sure Obama would accept it too as "single payer" is the Medicare system.  The problem is that the ACA was devised to get conservative votes in congress, but it only got DINO votes (Democrats In Name Only).  Obama wouldn't have even been able to expand Medicare and get the necessary votes in his own party.

On abortion, Trump is actually a bit more moderate than the "no exceptions" Republicans like Marco Rubio.  Trump would allow abortions for rape, incest, and to save the mother if faced with death.  Perhaps his supporters forgive him for this apostasy or maybe they agree with it?.

* http://www.wsj.com/articles/what-voters-see-in-donald-trump-1438301641

THREE REPUBLICANS WHO WON'T GET THE NOMINATION, BUT RICK SANTORUM?

Until at least the generation of Republicans typified by Donald Stering and Cliven Bundy dies out, there are three potential Republican candidates for president who will not make it: Ben Carson, Bobby Jingle, and Marco Rubio.  Marco Rudio was pretty popular until he lead a team that came up with a bill for comprehensive immigration reform that passed the Senate.  Though Rubio is a Cuban Republican and not Mexican, I doubt that most Republicans notice the difference.  There is no such thing as an illegal Cuban immigrant.  Any Cuban who can step onto our shoes is legal, although they are returned to Cuba if detained off shore.

I would like to believe that younger Republicans have a different view on immigration reform than their elders.   I am not sure of that, but maybe some decade before this century runs out, Republicans attitudes will change.

My most unfavorite Republican candidate - Rick Santorum* - has now come out with a book called the Blue Collar Conservative.  Remember he ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2012 and came in second and sounds like he plans to run again.  I have not read the book but have heard him on TV, and he comes across saying that the American laborer is paid too much.  If their reward package was reduced below the cost of automation (Government says you have to pay them this, you have to pay them that which is disincentivising.), there would be more jobs.**  Maybe, and more people starving in the streets  because they couldn't afford food.  In addition to being a member of the Religious Right that dominates the Republican Party in their War on Women, Santorum certainly obeys one of my favorite sayings: Politicians are skilled at the art of getting votes from those they intend to fleece.  Fortunately, some manufacturers are bringing their plants back to the U.S., supposedly because of the high cost of natural gas overseas.

Here is Santorum on Fox saying labor wants to "..balance the budget, cut taxes for higher income individuals, and cut benefits"*** Really!

* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2009/12/in-end-liberalism-wins.html; http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2012/04/chief-of-bedroom-police-drops-candidacy.html
** http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/santorum-republicans-need-blue-collar-voters-240769603685
*** http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/2014/04/29/rick-santorum-talks-new-book-blue-collar-conservatives

NO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM CUBA

Did you know that any Cuban that gets to our shores is a legal immigrant?  Thus when Marco Rubio, whose parents immigrated from Cuba, speaks you must remember that he speaks from a privileged group of immigrants?  Thus his experience is much different from your ordinary Hispanic illegal immigrant and he is not a good spokesman for them.

The wet foot, dry foot policy is the name given to a consequence of the 1995 revision of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 that says, essentially, that anyone who fled Cuba and got into the United States would be allowed to pursue residency a year later. After talks with the Cuban government, the Clinton administration came to an agreement with Cuba that it would stop admitting people found at sea. Since then, in what has become known as the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, a Cuban caught on the waters between the two nations (i.e., with "wet feet") would summarily be sent home or to a third country. One who makes it to shore ("dry feet") gets a chance to remain in the United States, and later would qualify for expedited "legal permanent resident" status and, eventually, U.S. citizenship. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet_feet,_dry_feet_policy

Thus when people are opposed to granting a path to citizenship for Hispanics from, say, Mexico, they should be aware that immigrants from Cuba are given a path and have been for decades.

This post is not intended to be about Marco Rubio but about the privileged status of Cuban immigrants.  He does have some contradictions, however, in that he is for smaller government yet for the space program.  For those who wish to read more about Marco Rubio, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Rubio.