Why John Kasich Scares Me Most

Okay, he’s not officially in the race, and in the early polls he’s near the bottom, but I predict one of the last Republican candidates standing in the race for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination will be Ohio Governor John Kasich.

First and foremost, in the last three decades, with one notable exception, voters have selected a president the way a seven-year-old selects a Barbie doll. They pick the one with the prettiest face. That’s why Hillary has undergone a complete makeover.

Republicans desperately want to win this one. That being the case, this beauty contest favors Marco Rubio or John Kasich. Both have boyish good looks. Even though Kasich is 19 years older than the junior senator from Florida, he still has what it takes in looks and personality to charm the voters. Continue reading “Why John Kasich Scares Me Most” →

Lessons from Denny Hastert (The real Scandal)

Former Speaker of the House Denny Hastert has been indicted for allegedly structuring bank withdrawals of $952,000 to evade bank reporting requirements and then making false statements to federal investigators.

According to various media outlets, quoting unnamed law enforcement sources, this was part of a $3.5 million “hush money” agreement he made in 2010 with a former student over some form of sexual misconduct more than three decades ago.

However, it’s the method Hastert used for the withdrawals and the coverup that landed him in hot water with the Feds, not his actions with the former student.

If these allegations are true, they would be despicable. Any sexual contact between an adult and a minor is against the law (although it may not be prosecutable due to the statute of limitations). The wrong would be compounded, whether or not the act was consensual, because, at the time of the alleged incident, Hastert was in a position of power and influence over the student. People in positions of power are held to a higher standard — or they should be —such as a doctor and a patient or a president of the United States and an INTERN. Anyone remember Monica? Continue reading “Lessons from Denny Hastert (The real Scandal)” →

Republicans Confront the Big Bad (Iranian) Wolf

Fairy tales are simple lessons for children of good versus evil. The villain is easy to spot. Often it’s a big bad wolf.

This week, frustrated Republicans, anxious to prove they are in control of Congress, penned a fairy tale of a letter and sent it to one of the world’s big bad wolves, the country of Iran. Ostensively, the purpose of the letter was to put Iran’s leaders on notice that any deal they sign with President Barack Obama could expire the day he leaves office. The real purpose of the letter was to make us believe they are doing something.

It would be laughable if it were not so pathetic. Continue reading “Republicans Confront the Big Bad (Iranian) Wolf” →

Obama Surrenders to Iran; Boehner Surrenders to Obama

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave John Boehner a lesson in leadership by risking his political career to come here to address a joint session of Congress. In that speech, Netanyahu made a compelling case for our country standing up to Iran over nuclear weapons.

With the Israeli election just two weeks away, Netanyahu faced enormous pressure in Israel and here in the United States from those urging him to stay home. Nevertheless, he threw caution to the wind and used his time to lecture Barack Obama on the dangers of striking a dangerous deal with Iran which will allow that country to remain a hair’s breadth away from becoming a nuclear power and essentially get nothing in return.

Unfortunately, this lesson was lost on Boehner. Shortly after Netanyahu left the House Chamber, Boehner offered his unconditional surrender to Barack Obama over his illegal amnesty and, in return, got nothing, nada, zilch! Continue reading “Obama Surrenders to Iran; Boehner Surrenders to Obama” →

Voters: Caught between a Democrat Rock and a Repubican Soft-Place

In the run-up to the November election President Obama rightfully said that he wasn’t on the ballot but his policies were. Voters responded and sent a strong message against those policies by kicking out a large number of Democrat office holders and putting Republicans in control of Congress.

It wasn’t because Republicans had a strong message. It was because the individual candidates running against those ousted Democrats all voiced their opposition to Obamacare and his illegal executive action granting amnesty to millions of alien lawbreakers.

Three months have passed since that message was sent and voters now find themselves caught between a Democrat rock and a Republican soft-place. Democrats have no power, but when the issue of Obama’s amnesty came up in the Senate, they put up a united front to shield the president from having to veto a popular measure — the bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security sans funding for amnesty.

When that happened, Republicans, who have all the power, grabbed their pacifiers and blankies and went into their soft-place hidey-holes. Continue reading “Voters: Caught between a Democrat Rock and a Repubican Soft-Place” →

Where the Rubber Meets the Road (On Illegal Immigration)

This is the month the rubber will meet the road when it comes to illegal immigration. Does the new Republican-controlled Congress mean what it says on this subject or is it all a political game?

This month we will find out if the Republican-controlled Senate will approve a radical left-wing ideologue as attorney general. In testimony before the Judiciary Committee Loretta Lynch let it be known that she has no intention of enforcing our immigration laws.

This is also the month that we will find out if Congress will defund Obama’s illegal amnesty.

Make no mistake. Republicans are in complete control of Congress and they have the support of the overwhelming majority of the public on this issue, but will they hold the line on illegal immigration or will they cave in to political pressure from the White House and the Washington press corps? Continue reading “Where the Rubber Meets the Road (On Illegal Immigration)” →

10 Predictions for the New Congress

Despite, thousands of letters, emails and phone calls, John Boehner was re-elected speaker of the House of Representatives but it wasn’t an overwhelming show of support. Twenty-five brave Republican congressmen (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/01/06/here-are-the-republicans-who-voted-against-john-boehner-for-speaker/ ) withstood pressure from within the conference and were willing to suffer retaliation in order to cast a vote for someone else or simply vote “present.” It was the largest number of congressmen to vote against a sitting speaker from their own party in 100 years.

Boehner ran up the white flag of surrender shortly after the election. It’s going to be a long, disappointing two years. That said, here are my predictions for the new Congress, predictions that I hope and pray will not come true. Continue reading “10 Predictions for the New Congress” →

Ring in the New Year by Ringing out the old Budget

The time has come to put away the holiday decorations and prepare for the new year. It’s also time to deal with an old piece of business, the 2015 CRomnibus budget deal that was rammed down our throats at the 11th hour by an unholy trinity: John Boehner, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

The 1600+-page CRomnibus was passed much like ObamaCare, cloaked in secrecy until hours before the vote. Lawmakers were urged to “pass it” before they could” find out what was in it.”

The time has come to take a cold, hard look at this pig in a poke. Continue reading “Ring in the New Year by Ringing out the old Budget” →

Can Boehner really be Dumped? (Yes! Here’s How)

Our system of government was designed to be run from the bottom up. Our founding fathers wanted to be sure that we the people would have the final say in matters of great importance, not the president or congressional leaders, and certainly not the Supreme Court.

They also recognized that it was we the people who must have absolute control of the power of the purse, not the other way around. That is why the Constitution mandates that all spending bills must originate in the House of Representatives and that the members of that illustrious body must stand for re-election every other year. They gave us the ability to rein in congressmen if they overstep their bounds.

To say that John Boehner has failed as Speaker of the House is to state the obvious.

Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to dump a sitting speaker. As the old saying goes, “Power corrupts, and absolutely power corrupts absolutely.” Congressional leaders have a lot of power and they do everything they can to maintain it. That is why the current Congress holds the elections for party leadership positions for the next Congress before the new members are seated. It’s all supposed to be a fait accompli but is it? Continue reading “Can Boehner really be Dumped? (Yes! Here’s How)” →

If I were King for a Day

I have mixed emotions this time of year. I love the holidays but I hate what our elected representatives do to us in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s the most dangerous time of the year.

While we are absorbed with the holidays, they are absorbed with seeing how much of our money they can spend or how many of their pet projects they can sneak through before they tiptoe out of town.

The Repubican-led House and the Democrat-controlled Senate are expected come together in a great kumbaya moment in the next few days to pass an omnibus (ominous is more like it) appropriation bill hashed out between congressional leaders behind closed doors.

It was released late Tuesday evening giving members only 48 hours to wade through the 1600 plus pages before the voting begins. Although a few details have been publicized, it would take days to fully digest all the gory details. It is wordy and purposefully difficult to understand, enough to challenge the most proficient Evelyn Wood’s graduate. Continue reading “If I were King for a Day” →