Miscellaneous Reflexions Incisive thoughts on government, society, and some deeper thoughts. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 86 2820

Articles from Miscellaneous Reflexions

Building a Strong Organization 2008-02-11 18:17:17 Since the news media has failed to question the Presidential candidates about what type of people will be in their administration, we are only left to look at the campaign organizations to get some kind of an idea. It would be nice to hear that they will surround themselves with competent and quality people, not owed favors and cronies. No President can think of everything, so it is important that he or she be surrounded by people who will ensure that nothing is missed. The current administration has shown the consequences of having a weak organization. We must give serious consideration as to which candidate is most likely to put together a top notch team of advisers.It's hard to get a read on the strength of John McCain's campaign organization. In the beginning he was considered a front runner. Before long he was falling behind in the polls and fired some of his staff. After being seen carrying his own bags and taking commercial flights, he was w ...

Pimpin' Out Chelsea 2008-02-10 17:07:16 Last week on MSNBC, in a discussion about the Presidential primaries and the use of Chelsea in the Clinton campaign, David Shuster asked the following question,"Doesn't it seem as if Chelsea is sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" The Clintons are outraged and appear as if they want him fired. David Shuster did issue an apology, but it doesn't seem as if this is good enough for the mighty Clintons. First let me say, I don't find the comments as horrific as described by the media or the Clintons. They certainly can be considered stupid, but as with most stupid comments everyone fails to look at intent. Did David Shuster intend to insult any of the Clintons, or did he just say something stupid that ended up insulting them?(Of course we haven't heard a peep from Chelsea, so we can't be sure if she was insulted.) I seriously doubt that this was his intention. Every time we go through this game of political correctness, there never seems t ...

Voting Records 2008-02-07 18:01:20 Throughout this Presidential campaign there have been occasional references to the voting records of the Senators. Since it looks like both the Democratic and Republican candidates will be Senators, it seems like a good time to talk about voting records. Instead of looking at how they cast their votes, I'd like to look at the whole liberal versus conservative aspect. I heard a talk show host comment that by looking at a Senator's voting record you can tell whether they are liberal or conservative. After spending some time thinking about this, I realized that something of great importance was being overlooked. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought we had a representative form of government. The elected representatives are supposed to be voting the voice of their constituents. So a candidate's voting record should reflect the will of the people that he or she represents.This is what I want to hear about, did the Senators actually vote the voice of their consti ...

Gauging Obama's Success 2008-02-07 04:11:39 After what I believe was a very good Super Tuesday for Barack Obama, it is somewhat shocking to hear the media talk as if his momentum has been slowed. One of Barack's strengths is his ability to earn votes once people get a chance to know him. With 22 states in play and only 10 days, Barack was left little time to take advantage of this strength. Hillary has much higher name recognition, which gives her a big advantage. If we look back to earlier last year, it was said that February 5 was the day where Hillary would clinch the nomination. She was given the title of the inevitable candidate and most people believed Barack had little chance. The fact that they are virtually even at this point is a huge victory. I think going up against the Clinton political machine and holding his own gives Obama plenty of momentum.Behind this question of momentum is more inaccurate polling. The media sees a poll, gets all excited and starts hyping it. I can't say I blame them, they are hum ...

The Power of Words 2008-02-06 03:26:36 After Super Tuesday Barack Obama gave another incredibly inspiring speech. Even those who don't believe he can be President can't deny Barack's ability to inspire and lift people up with his words. Some say he is a great speaker, but dismiss the importance of this attribute. In a country where there is deep and wide division, we shouldn't discount the ability to unite with the power of words. The only way we will be able to overcome the challenges ahead is with a united America. If we look at the potential Presidential candidates, nobody even comes close to Barack Obama's ability to unite. Even the best ideas for moving our country forward will be useless if the people aren't motivated to come together and stand behind them. Over the years we have seen many politicians use words that have torn our nation apart. To heal this division we are going to need a President who is able to inspire and bring people together. The power of words, like it or not, is an absolute necessity ...

Less Jobs, Lower Unemployment? 2008-02-03 18:00:25 It has been reported that 17,000 jobs were lost for the month of January. It was also reported that unemployment fell for the same month. Maybe I'm missing something, but how can unemployment go down if the number of jobs were also reduced? It would stand to reason that if there was a reduction in the number of jobs, there would be an increase in unemployment. Less jobs equals higher unemployment. I have become very suspicious of economic statistics. It just so happens that FactCheck.org just answered a question on unemployment statistics. We hear these statistics all the time, but their accuracy is never questioned. I was surprised to find out that unemployment statistics are determined through a poll of about 60,000 households. Although this number is higher than most national polls, it still represents a small segment of the workforce. I'm not sure of the size of our workforce, but if there were only 100 million workers this survey would represent just .06 percent. I be ...

NJ Voting Machine Ballot Designed to Favor Clinton 2008-01-30 18:11:55 Yesterday I received my official Presidential Primary Election sample voting machine ballot. I was somewhat excited as I will be voting in my first Primary. Less than one minute after opening it, I found myself questioning the layout and design. My first thought was, why is Hillary Clinton listed first? It couldn't be alphabetical order as that would put Joe Biden first.(He is listed in column 6) Even if you consider that he already dropped out, then John Edwards should come after Hillary. Maybe there is logical explanation or it is just coincidence, but with the current state of politics it's hard not to be suspicious. If it was just this issue by itself it would probably be no big deal, but coupled with the next item it is reasonable to suspect foul play.The image below is a copy of the voting machine ballot for New Jersey. Notice how the button for Hillary Clinton is placed right next to Barack Obama. It is actually closer to Barack then it is to Hillary. In a perfect world ...

Considering the Clintons 2008-01-29 18:34:27 I should be writing about considering Hillary Clinton, but it is apparent that if you are considering voting for her, it is a vote for both Hillary and Bill. The reality is that Hillary wouldn't be a candidate if she were not married to Bill. There are a handful of women who have served in the Senate twice as long as Hillary. Would any of them be considered legitimate candidates for President? I'd be willing to bet that just about all of her support comes from people who like Bill Clinton and virtually none of it from people who did not like him. I feel Hillary's candidacy would be more legitimate if she was able to gain support from people other than those who are Bill Clinton fans.If you are hoping for Hillary to become President, take a good look at the political atmosphere we see today. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the Clintons in the last several weeks; if she were elected President it will become much worse. Even if you believe some of the controversy ...

Who Liked the Speech? 2008-01-28 19:32:07 President Bush's last State of the Union speech is complete; now it's time for the critics. Chances are if you are a Republican you thought the speech was great, likewise, if you're a Democrat you thought the speech was lousy. Being unaffiliated with either party, I found the speech uneventful. Ironically, I just read last year's speech for yesterday's entry, so I was disappointed to hear some of the same lines being repeated. Being his last State of the Union speech I expected something more. Of course there are very few accomplishments that he can point to which could have added that something more. The speech was definitely far from inspiring.It would take too long to fully critique the speech, but there were a few things that bothered me. He talked about cutting a list of programs that would save 18 billion dollars, even if this was accomplished in one year it would hardly impact the federal deficit which is reported to be 250 to 350 billion dollars. And without kno ...

The State of the State of the Union Speech 2008-01-27 18:41:32 How many people will watch the State of the Union speech? I tried a quick search to see previous results and only found results for the 2006 speech, which was viewed by about 38 million people. The State of the Union speech should be something every American wants to watch. Unfortunately most Americans don't feel inspired to do so. I can't say all the blame for lack of interest can be placed on the American people. Even if it is painful we should be willing to suffer through it, but our government does very little to draw interest. The whole thing seems like a production that is done for those who are a part of the Washington establishment. Maybe the time has come to make some changes so that the speech is for all Americans.The first thing I would do is get rid of all the ridiculous applause during the speech. I'm not sure how much time is wasted during all this clapping, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was about the same as time spent talking. I believe in last year's spe ...

The Skinny on Pork 2008-01-25 03:46:49 It is no big secret that our government is spending too much money. Whenever the topic comes up it seems that the problem is blamed on pork-barrel projects, also know as earmarks. But are these pet projects of our elected representatives as big a deal as they are made out to be? FactCheck.org was asked about the percentage of spending that represents pork, it was less than 2%. To put it in perspective, if you earn $50,000 a year, that would represent less than $1,000 of your income. We certainly need to control spending, but it appears that pork-barrel spending is a very small part of our loose fiscal policy.There is a bigger underlying problem which gets far less attention. In 2006 it is estimated that there was 29 billion dollars spent on these projects. Also in 2006 we added about 527 billion dollars to our national debt. Even if we completely cut out all of these projects there still would have been almost a half of a trillion dollars added to the national debt. Thi ...

Left vs. Right 2008-01-23 16:49:00 The animosity that exists between the hardcore liberals and conservatives is quite unsettling. I sometimes wonder what it is that these people want. It's as if they want everybody to be like them, kind of a stepford nation. These are unrealistic expectations and it is time for partisan politics to come to an end. We hear the word partisan a lot, but do we fully understand the impact of the definition?Partisan - a firm adherent to a party, faction, cause, or person; especially : one exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance.I have to say that this is the perfect definition for the current state of politics. The blindness on both sides prevent them from seeing what could be. The prejudice feeds the hatred and fear. And the unreasoning allegiance leaves a nation divided that must be united. Included in another definition were the words, especially one who does not listen to other people's opinions. This points out the larger problem, neither side is listening to the ...

The Democratic Debate Winner 2008-01-22 03:28:47 I'm sure if you took a poll of who won this debate--the Obama supporters would say he won, the Clinton supporters would say she won, and the Edwards supporters would say he won. Those who are undecided would claim victory for the candidate towards whom they were leaning. Even among those who are truly objective, there would be disagreement on who was the winner. But in last night's debate there emerged a clear winner, the news media. With some heated exchanges, the media will have some great controversial material. They will of course hype the hell out of it and jam it down our throats. Hour after hour we will get expert opinion and in depth analysis. They won't be talking about the problems and issues or where the candidates stand on resolving them, but about the heated exchanges. The news media will be like excited children who received their Christmas wish. You will see the joy on their faces. Unfortunately this victory for the n ...

Changing Washington 2008-01-20 19:33:35 A little over a week ago I was listening to an interview; the guest made a comment that left me dumbfounded. The discussion was about how most Presidential candidates say they are going to change Washington, and even though they go there with the best of intentions the current system makes it impossible. The question was then asked, can anybody change Washington? The guest answered, "no". I couldn't believe what I was hearing. If nobody can change Washington, then the future of America looks bleak. I couldn't accept this, there must be a way to change Washington. After spending time thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that the answer is partly true. No single person can go to Washington and change it, at least not by themselves.The only way this change will come is if we the people make it happen. I believe we're ready, the only thing we need is a leader. Martin Luther King shows us what can happen when one person leads a movement. Imagine if the person leading the mov ...

The Richardson Effect 2008-01-19 18:59:22 I hate to see it, but it seems that those who vote in the primary are splitting down gender and racial lines. I can't help but assume that the same would hold true for ethnic lines. Hillary Clinton is getting a majority of the female vote, Barack Obama is getting a majority of the black vote, so it would stand to reason that Bill Richardson would have received a majority of the Hispanic vote. In the Nevada caucuses, Hillary Clinton captured a vast majority of the Hispanic vote. Is it coincidence that Bill Richardson, who is friends with and served under Bill Clinton, dropped out before the Nevada caucus? Had he run, it is highly probable that Bill Richardson would have received a majority of the Hispanic vote, which would have hurt Hillary Clinton. I can't understand why he wouldn't run in a state which is near his own and has a large Hispanic population. I'm pretty sure Mr. Richardson made reference to high expectations for Nevada early in his campaign. I know thin ...