Racist Democrats?

I know, I know. Saying that all Democrats are tolerant diverse embracing people is just as erroneous as saying all Republicans are prejudiced bigots. But truth of the matter is Democrats pride themselves in being tolerant and diverse embracing and are quick to call Republicans as prejudiced bigots.

It is under this premise that the Democrat primary has been so interesting and fun to watch: it is exposing the fact that there is racism among the Democrat lines. The Chicago tribune has a great article with interesting facts.

In the poll, 10 percent of white Democrats said they would cross party lines and support McCain if Clinton is the nominee. But twice as many—20 percent—said they would back McCain if Obama is nominated. White Democrats without a college degree were even more likely to defect if Obama is nominated: 24 percent said so.

In Ohio, a fifth of voters in the Democratic primary said race was an important factor in their vote, according to exit polls; voters favored Clinton, 59% to 39% suggesting that 12% of Democrats there are resistant to a black candidate. And that counts only voters willing to tell a clipboard-bearing stranger that race was an important factor in their decision to vote against a black man.

Interesting, don't you think? Especially when you consider the lengths Hill is willing to go to include those pesky FL and MI primaries.

Words, Race and Politics

Arianna Huffington, of the HuffPost, failed McCain on a litmus leadership test for the senator's lack of passion in disagreeing with racially charged insults hurled at Obama by one of the senator's backers.

How quickly the tides change. Let's see what grade the Clintonistas get.

Are you enjoying this as much as I am?

Barack Obama?

He shocked in Iowa, came second in New Hampshire, and routed in South Carolina. So who is this candidate? I figured since he has momentum and is the media darling it was the right time to post on Barack.

His website is here. The candidate for change: Black, young, and inexperienced. That is a change in itself. So what does he stand for? Let's review the highlights

Foreign Policiy - out of Iraq and invite all to the tables - friends and foes - in hope that by showing America is willing the world and the enemies would sort of gain respect for us again. IMHO, too naive, too inexperienced. Showing the world that we are willing to talk to Iran, North Korea, Cuba etc. will only appease people into thinking ok so far they are not going to war. Will it do anything to advance our purposes with our enemies? No. Will it disarm North Korea? Only when he has no choice left and has realized his tantrums are getting nowhere. Will it halt Iran's nuclear development? Support for Iraq's insurgents? Acceptance of Israel? No, No and No. But then again nadie aprende por cabeza ajena. If he becomes president he will soon realize he will be the only one sitting at that table. The out of Iraq part, at least in definition seems like everyone else.

Immigration - pay a fine, pay taxes, go to the end of the line. Can they become citizens? Apparently so; I'm against any illegal immigrant becoming citizen. They should only be able to get legal residency status. He favors border security, he just doesn't say in which order he would deal with the issues. End of the line? How do you ensure this will happen? They will be in front of new applicants that are sitting in their countries waiting for the process. Anyway you spin this it just does not seem fair. End of the line should mean, go home, fill out paperwork and wait like everyone else. On top of that, pay a fine and pay taxes.

Energy independence - he has the right goal, I just cannot understand what he is proposing

Healthcare - here is a biggie for me. He supports a national health insurance - bad idea. There is no way I can support this. He wants to expand S-Chip - another bad idea. How can you guarantee that only people who truly cannot afford their kids insurance are the ones benefitting? I know families that get their kids in Schip so as not to have to pay the Family insurance and maintain single insurance at their jobs. He does have one thing in his favor here: reduce health care costs....yes! Finally someone realizes the root of the problem. My advice to Obama is to start there first, with the costs. Once healthcare is actually affordable, the insurance problem will be greatly diminished as will the necessity for Medicaid and Schip.

Economy - he brings all his plans in here. I differ with the fund to prevent foreclosures though I agree with making sure lending practices are fair. People should read what they sign; consumers have accountability too. The government is not our parent and we are not helpless children; it is in our best interest and it is our responsibility to know what we are getting into and defend ourselves. I don't get the mortgage tax credit for everyone; everyone has access to it you just have to fill out the correct form. The rest of his ideas we've all heard before, so there is nothing new. It does seem to entail more government involvement, which I oppose. One good thing is the idea of not taxing some senior citizens.

Homeland security - he really doesn't say much other that we are still not safe. Wow, enlightening.

Education - same old same old. Some tax breaks for colleges and those of us with student loans are still getting screwed. How about some relief for those of us whose education turned us into a walking mortgage? Will there be a rescue fund for us as well? Will the government also help us buy a home? Let me tell you it is not easy to secure a mortgage when you have a debt of 50K+ for your education.

Poverty - I don't see anything about migrating people out of welfare, or making welfare a transitional program. That is not good.

Social Security - how he will save this is not known. He addresses other retirement options, but remains silent on how to make sure I will have my check when I reach 65.

Veterans - hey, I'm all for whatever makes veterans taken care of. Healthcare, housing, food, anything. These people risks their lives for us; we should all be second class citizens next to them.

The Rightification of the EU

I hear liberals complain about the right wing here in the states; and sometimes even cite Europe as an example. Granted, not all liberals are ignorant enough to think Europe is more liberal than the U.S. - it is actually conservative on more issues.

So it was with great interest that I read about the European Union's new party. I wonder what would happen if the far right here would follow suit.

Iraq and Election 2008

There might be a new agreement in place by July, that would pretty much render the Iraq war as a non-issue in the Election 2008 race. If this happens, I wonder how the Democrats will differentiate themselves from the Republicans - given that a large chunk of their platform is based on the Iraq war - since the agreement will not be "breachable".

While this probably will not sway Democrat voters, it might have an effect on independents. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Call it Bush's last coup de grace.

Immigration Reform

Think the topic is dead? That there are no more bills around the subject? Think again.

This is the first sensemaking bill I see in a long time because it focuses on the problem -border security and internal enforcement - rather than on the symptoms - illegal aliens.

It's not perfect, but it is definitely a step in the right direction - solve the problem first - and most importantly, according to the article, it has garnered bi-partisan support in almost equal numbers.

We can figure out what to do with the illegal aliens after we secure our borders and our systems.