Monthly Archives: November 2014

national news

No regrets over Obama votes

The question came to me from a social media acquaintance.

He asked: “… just for the record are you sorry you voted for this incompetent community organizer?”

My answer to him: No.

I now shall elaborate.

The “incompetent community organizer,” of course, is Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States, who’s finding himself engaged in yet another struggle of wills with the folks in Congress who would oppose virtually anything he proposed at any level.

I’ve voted in every presidential election since 1972 and have never regretted a single vote I’ve cast for the candidate of my choice — win or lose.

Why should I regret my votes for Barack Obama in 2008 and again in 2012?

For starters, the 2008 campaign amid the worst economic crisis to hit the United States since the Great Depression. It occurred on George W. Bush’s watch and Sen. Obama pledged to take swift action to stop the free fall in our job rolls, our retirement account, the stock market, the housing market, the banking industry and the automobile industry. I trusted him then to do all of the above.

You know what? He delivered. The economic stimulus package, which the GOP opposed, contributed to improving the economic condition at many levels.

I did not hear Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain, the GOP presidential nominee, offer a solid solution to what was ailing our economy. And when he stopped campaigning to return to Washington when the stock market all but imploded, well, that told me — and apparently millions of other Americans — that Sen. McCain didn’t have a clue what to do.

Four years later, the economy had improved significantly, but Republicans kept insisting it was in the tank. The numbers told a different story.

Let’s not forget: Millions of Americans now have health insurance who didn’t have it before.

Yes, the country faced foreign policy crises on Obama’s watch. But as the 2012 campaign developed and the GOP nominated Mitt Romney to run against the president, it became clear — at least to me — that the Republicans didn’t have any clear answers on how to deal with those crises short of going back to war.

I had grown tired of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The Iraq War is over. The Afghanistan War is about to end. Yes, the Islamic State has risen in Iraq and Syria. However, is it the president’s fault entirely that we’re fighting another bloodthirsty terrorist organization? Hardly. We all knew the “Global War on Terror” well could be a war without end.

So, I voted once again for Barack Obama.

He’s now facing yet another challenge from the “loyal opposition,” which frankly doesn’t appear to be all that loyal.

History is going to judge the community organizer a lot more kindly than his critics are doing so today.

Therefore, I stand by my support of Barack Obama.

 

national news, political news

'I' word returns to Capitol Hill

So many pejorative terms to lay on this, so little time or space to count them all.

Let’s start with disgusting, revolting, sickening, reprehensible and colossally stupid.

That’s where I come down on this notion of impeaching President Obama for exercising his constitutional executive authority.

http://news.yahoo.com/could-obama-impeached-over-immigration-order-173840884.html

The impeachment babble has begun boiling again on Capitol Hill. Some Democratic lawmakers say it’s possible, which is no surprise. What is a surprise is that now a Republican or three is talking openly about impeaching the president if he goes ahead with plans to issue an executive order that delays deportation of some 5 million undocumented immigrants.

On what basis would they impeach Barack Obama? They think he’s overreaching.

I’ve looked up the impeachment provision in the U.S. Constitution. Article II, Section 4 says the president or vice president can be removed from office if they are convicted of “Treason, Bribery or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

I’ve yet to know what “high crime or misdemeanor” the president would commit if he is acting in accordance with his legal and constitutional authority.

And, gosh, do you think the president’s legal team is going to turn him loose without first understanding what he can or cannot do? I doubt it.

Yet the “I” word has returned to the debate if the president acts.

For the record, I hope he doesn’t execute those orders during the duck session of Congress. I want him to wait for the new Congress to take its seat. I want him to push forward the legislation he favors, demand quick action on it after thorough debate and then let Congress vote it up or down.

If it goes down, or if he gets a bill he cannot sign, then the president can take the action he deems necessary.

This impeachment talk — in the simplest term possible — is pure crap.

 

local news, State news

Texting ban needs to occur

So, I ran into state Rep. Four Price’s mother-in-law this week.

She told me Price, R-Amarillo, is in Austin “prefiling legislation” in advance of the next Texas Legislature, which convenes in January.

“I hope he files that ban on texting while driving,” I said, adding that the state needs to get tough with those who put others in danger on our public roadways. “I agree,” she said, chiming in with a comment supporting laws that ban smoking indoors.

http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/opinions/editorials/article/EDITORIAL-Texas-needs-ban-on-texting-while-5889014.php

My hunch is that we’re going to find out — quickly, I hope — what kind of governor Greg Abbott is going to be if he gets a texting ban bill on his desk.

He should sign the bill the moment it plops on his desk.

As my former newspaper, the Beaumont Enterprise, noted in an editorial, Texas wouldn’t be the first to ban texting while driving. Indeed, it would be one of the last states to do what it should have done already.  Forty-five states have such laws on the books.

Texas could have joined them, but Gov. Rick Perry vetoed a law in 2011, declaring that it “micromanaged” people’s lives.

Nuts!

The 2013 Legislature didn’t even pass a bill, knowing Perry would veto it again.

Now we get a new governor. It is my fervent hope he resists the pressure from the right wing of his Republican Party — which well could be led by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — and approves a bill that Rep. Price and others throughout the Legislature say they support.

Do the right thing, ladies and gentlemen of the Texas Legislature.

 

 

local news, political news

Don't pick a place-setter, Mr. Mayor

Amarillo’s mayor has been given an actual task to perform with the death of City Councilman Jim Simms.

Paul Harpole will go through his grief over the loss of Simms, who cast a far larger shadow over this city than his short physical stature would suggest.

Then he’ll get to select the next councilman to sit at Place 4.

Here’s some advice, Mr. Mayor, from one of your constituents — me: Don’t pick a place-setter, someone who’ll just serve the remainder of Simms’s term and then walk away. Find someone who’ll run for election next year when the entire council faces voters.

The city has some key decisions coming up regarding downtown revitalization. There will be, for example, a proposal for an extreme makeover of the Civic Center, which likely will require a citywide vote. The city needs five council members with a serious commitment to standing behind whatever vote they cast on that notion.

The city charter doesn’t give the mayor a lot of actual power, given that he or she is just one of five council members representing the same citywide constituency as the rest of the council. All of them select the city manager, who does virtually all the heavy lifting at City Hall.

This time the mayor gets to make the call all by himself — I presume after consulting with constituent groups, his colleagues on the council and with potential candidates for the post.

One more thing, Mr. Mayor: You might think about concentrating your search in the areas of the city where residents have complained about “underrepresentation” on the City Council. The North Heights comes to mind.

Good luck, Mr. Mayor. You’ve got a big job ahead.

 

medical news, national news, political news

Affordable Care Act sabatoged from within

Who is this clown Jonathan Gruber?

We know he’s got a big mouth and that he’s careless beyond belief about what he says to whom.

Gruber’s name has surfaced front and center over remarks he made regarding the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/224072-gruber-in-fourth-video-says-public-doesnt-actually-care-about-uninsured

He was recorded saying in 2013 that he considered Americans too stupid to understand the complexities of the landmark health care legislation pushed forward by President Obama. Now we hear him saying in 2010 that Americans “don’t actually care that much about the uninsured.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi supposedly said she didn’t know about Gruber until this firestorm erupted. Then we hear from other sources that she isn’t being truthful about who she knew and when she knew him.

Good grief!

Republicans naturally are up in arms over these revelations about a former White House insider popping off as he has done. Some critics say Gruber’s big mouth gives them ammunition to finally — finally! — muster up the votes to dismantle the president’s signature legislative accomplishment.

Let’s hold on.

The ACA is working. Americans who didn’t have insurance have it now. The law has been upheld by the highest court in America. Key Republicans have joined Democrats in declaring that the ACA is going to stay on the books.

So now some clown shoots off his mouth and that turns a law that’s working into one that’s not?

I think not.

 

national news, political news

You go, old friend

My former colleague and still-friend Jon Talton has issued a blistering rebuke of the rebuke.

That is he’s taken to task the Republicans who have opposed Barack Obama since Day One of his presidency for the trashing they orchestrated in winning a Senate majority and strengthening their majority in the House of Representatives.

http://www.roguecolumnist.com/rogue_columnist/2014/11/democrats-are-stupid.html

I cannot really add to his excellent analysis of the current political climate and the context in which it continues to exist — strange as it seems, according to Talton.

I’ll note just a couple of points.

First is that presidents never deserve all the credit they seek nor the blame they receive. We have this element in our government called “balance of power.” We split the power among the three branches — executive, legislative and judicial. Take the federal courts out of this argument and we still have two branches of government with co-equal power.

Last time I checked, governing remains a team sport. So, to whatever extent the president deserves the blame for when things go south, then he should take it. But the Congress is supposed to be a player in this game as well.

Second is that Barack Obama is not radical leftist. As Talton noted: “Obama is … a Jerry Ford. With the ‘center’ pushed so far to the right, he accepted the radical fiscal ‘austerity’ that is such a drag on recovery and average Americans. (Reagan kept spending, and not merely on the military).”

The “new center” now seems to exist somewhere to the right of where traditional conservatives used to navigate. We can thank the tea party caucus for that. What’s more, they’ve done a great job of demonizing the president, ascribing all kinds of evil intent at so many levels I cannot even begin to keep track.

I’ll stop now and refer you to Jon’s essay attached to this blog post.

It’s a good read and worth your time.

 

International news

Good job, Philae lander

As an American baby boomer who came of age during the Space Race, I am in absolute awe of the picture I saw this morning.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/photo/philae-probe-sends-back-first-photo-surface-comet-n247586

The European Space Agency’s comet lander, Philae, has sent back the first image from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Holy cow!

That a mechanical device could be launched from Earth, travel 10 years through deep space and then land on a comet, for crying out loud, is enough of a scientific marvel all by itself.

Now we’re getting pictures that are being sent more than 300 million miles from Earth. What’s more, the clarity is astounding beyond measure.

I saw the news report earlier this week when Philae landed on the comet and watched space agency engineers cheering, back-slapping and hugging each other. It reminded me of the reaction at NASA when, for instance, the late Neil Armstrong told the world: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”

Oh, those were the days.

I’m glad the ESA has accomplished this monumental feat. I’m delighted to see the pictures. A part of me, though, is a bit envious of the spectacular success that someone else has just achieved.

 

 

Uncategorized

Confiscate cell phones before giving thanks?

A conversation occurred this morning that has gotten my wheels to start spinning.

Some readers of this blog likely won’t endorse this idea, but a friend of ours told us of a possible plan to confiscate the cell phones of everyone who’s coming to her home for Thanksgiving dinner.

She’s planning to have a houseful over for a day of fellowship and food. So are we.

Should the fellowship include folks sitting throughout the house sending text messages to friends in other places? I think not.

Dare I set up a drop box or a wicker basket at the front door when everyone arrives for the Thanksgiving holiday? I’m not saying I’ll do so, but the idea does intrigue me.

Can I exercise my own self-control with my very own cellular telephone? My wife thinks I’m as guilty as the teenager who cannot put his or her device away.

As we were talking to our friend, my wife recalled our recent visit to Oklahoma City, where we attended a Friday night concert at a mega-church at the north end of the city. “It was a gospel concert,” my wife said to our friend, “so many of the folks there were our age — or older.” She noted how, during an intermission, she peered from the balcony where we were sitting and noticed “everyone” looking down at cell phones or texting devices. “You could tell because they were all lit up,” my wife said.

Is this the way to spend a Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family?

Probably not.

Will I demand that everyone turn in their cell phones when they arrive?

It’s highly doubtful. Heck, I’m not at all confident of being able to curb my own cell phone habit.

 

 

 

national news, political news

Slow down just a bit on immigration

Immigration policy needs to be reformed.

Democrats favor reform, as do reasonable Republicans. The outliers appear to be the tea party wing of the GOP, which appears to be calling the shots within the Republican caucus.

The question now is whether President Obama will take executive action to institute reforms during the lame-duck session of Congress. As much as the tea party — aka nut case — wing of the GOP angers me, I think the president should wait just a while longer before taking unilateral action.

Obama ‘nearing a final decision’ on immigration

Fox News reports Obama might take action next week.

It is sure to enrage Republicans, who already are loaded for bear in the wake of their stunning election victories on Nov. 4.

Obama is said to be considering a 10-point plan that includes deferment of deportation for 4.5 million illegal immigrants; it also includes a pay increase for Immigration and Naturalization Service employees.

Here’s a thought: Wait for the new Congress to take office; enlist some congressional allies to put forward your legislative proposals; debate it with Congress; let the Republicans have their say along with Democrats.

Then, if nothing gets done, drop the executive action hammer.

This is a fight worth waging … but when the time is right.

 

local news, medical news

R.I.P., Jim Simms

Sad news broke today in Amarillo.

Jim Simms has died at the age of 73. He’d suffered from a degenerative lung disease that, as I understood it, was similar to cystic fibrosis. He struggled with an oxygen tank over the past several years.

The sadness comes because the city has lost a serious public servant, someone who fought hard on behalf of what he thought was right the city he loved.

Jim was a friend. He was as energetic a public servant as any I’ve ever known over more than three decades as a journalist. His enthusiasm was boundless.

I made his acquaintance during my first year in Amarillo. I arrived in early 1995 and a serious debate was ginning up about the potential sale of Northwest Texas Hospital, which was owned by Amarillo taxpayers and managed by the Amarillo Hospital District; Jim Simms served on that hospital board.

The AHD put the hospital up for sale and then accepted sealed bids from companies seeking to run the hospital. The district eventually accepted a bid from Universal Health Systems and then put a non-binding referendum up for a vote in 1996 that asked: Should the city sell NWTH? The vote came in decisively in favor of the sale.

Simms became one of the key voices promoting the sale.  That’s when I got to know about his tenacity and vigor.

He’d served on the Amarillo school district board of trustees and since 2005 had served on the Amarillo City Council.

Jim enjoyed a successful business career and then sought to give back to the community. The city’s newspaper named him its Man of the Year.

Simms wasn’t always genteel in his approach to debating public policy, but he surely meant what he said.

You knew where he stood and that, I submit, is a testament to this man’s honesty.

The city has suffered a big loss.