Constructive gadfly
stevendedalus's Articles In Politics » Page 26
December 17, 2007 by stevendedalus
 The new darling of the internet has broken his own record of raising over $4mil in a day over the internet by $6mil yesterday. It just goes to show that donations by credit card is a hell of a lot easier than checks in the mail. It doesn't seem to matter what the candidate Ron Paul stands for when the Libertarians and the Birch Society are in accord! How do you figure?   
December 10, 2007 by stevendedalus
Ridiculous! Huckabee a frontrunner in Iowa—give me a break. Rather, he is a product of born-again zeal. The Christian Right is determined to keep alive its proselytizing the nation to messianic politics: even to the point of making Romney, who heretofore kept his Mormonism to himself, announce, as it were, his faith a close second to evangelism and modestly but consistently growing here and globally. Welcome to the automat of religious twists and turns. This shows the danger of Iowa’s...
December 6, 2007 by stevendedalus
Unlike Bill Clinton I did oppose the war in Iraq as proposed “from the beginning.” But like Bill Clinton I acknowledged that the Gulf War was ongoing. It was in a state of continual truce interrupted by numerous Saddam infringes such as Kuwait border troop movement and repeated offensives on the no-fly zones. To be sure Saddam was a blundering strategist, having had to agree to a truce, not to mention the truce with Iran debacle, and being a damnable nuisance. On the strength of its being ...
November 24, 2007 by stevendedalus
Hillary’s flipflop—undermining her governor’s stand on driver’s license for illegal immigrants—is a disappointment beyond belief. Her befuddled circumlocution was more than enough to defeat Spitzer’s proposal, which, granted needed pragmatic tweaking but at least it was an effort to face up to this insurmountable issue of what to do about the undocumented already here to stay.
November 10, 2007 by stevendedalus
Snowflake[Rumsfeld]: “Make sure the American people realize that they are surrounded by violent extremists.” This same useless propaganda is the basis once more for a presidential election as perceived by the prominent candidates of both parties, though the Republicans will relentlessly pursue it—particularly Giuliani if he wins the nomination. This same rhetoric was played out during the Korean and Vietnam wars in the guise of the domino theory and before then the McCarthy era to whip up a fr...
November 6, 2007 by stevendedalus
Another pock on US leadership is the escapist mess in Afghanistan. Though we and major allies—European, Australian and Canadian—make up the bulk of NATO there, the forces are underfunded as a the stepchild of the Iraqi skirmish and unable to contain the resurgence. To make the matter worse, the remainder of NATO refuses to consider itself a combat force but rather there to do nation building. Moreover, the battle of the poppy fields are doing as poorly, not a surprise, as our own domestic war on...
November 5, 2007 by stevendedalus
Overreaction to global warming is the same tactics of exploitative fear as was the carried on, and still is, in the rush to Iraq. These piecemeal inconvenient truths do not forge a systemic strategy—on the contrary, it generates greater negatives. Who among the poor would not resent a lecture on the good graces of organic foods originated from the elite holier-than-thou image-seekers who can afford them? No one of moderate means would pay triple the price for a head of cabbage. Who among us shav...
October 30, 2007 by stevendedalus
 Despite Hillary Bashing by not only Republicans but Democrat candidates, I pragmatically but ambivalently lean toward her as the next president. Unquestionably the perception is that she has high negatives by both sides and the pundit myth-makers—all of whom still think she should stay home and bake cookies—and I too feel low vibes but not for her personality—at least she has one which has been lacking in the White House—rather, I dislike her ties with shady fund-raisers and her cosy relat...
October 30, 2007 by stevendedalus
Why do we continue the desperation of clinging to the frayed rope of private health insurance? Even Hillary wants the upper middle class to keep their existing employment related policies. This is in face of an accelerated belief in the business realm that private insurance is wrecking its global competitiveness. Essentially she wants to return to the same old “regional” concept under the guise of generating greater competitive health insurance industry. The whole point of “insurance” competitio...
October 5, 2007 by stevendedalus
Frustration over illegal immigration is a kind of Catch 22. The Washington Post points out that even though funds for border patrol and its technology increased 1000 percent from 1986-2002; that is, from $150 million to $1.6 billion. Manpower increased threefold over the period. What once was three million illegals has increased to 12 million and still counting. The Post estimates $7.6 billion will be the projected cost by 2011 and some say as much as $30 billion. While immigrants keep coming ov...
September 25, 2007 by stevendedalus
Tax Change A tax commission established to determine the best and fairest method of revenue to replace the current unwieldy tax system.Payroll tax shall be reduced 2% divided equally by employee and employer but the maximum cap will be increased to $400k with the modification to opt out over $250k. Medicare deduction, however, shall be increased by 1%. Trade All nations that trade with the USA must undergo strict standards that not only protect consumers here but the right of worker...
September 24, 2007 by stevendedalus
Federal Reserve A Federal Reserve more attuned to the economic welfare of ordinary citizens in lieu of checking the pulse of the captains of Wall Street. For instance, the Reserve’s action on the current subprime disaster was more concerned over the lenders’ losses than the thousands of foreclosures. Healthcare Unquestionably there should be healthcare for everyone—why, even the Republicans are trying to compete, though still timid—including immigrants, illegal or otherwise who c...
September 20, 2007 by stevendedalus
What is going on with fund-raising?—obscenity, that’s what. Already candidates are breaking the bank and the presidential election is more than a year away. Hillary goes so far as to support lobbying—don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Candidates obviously are for sale and there are simply too many corners—ethnic, religious, bloggers, pioneers, rangers, hill-raisers, unions, corporations—of power that are ready to buy; candidates might just as well put themselves on E-Bay. Is this not known as...
September 20, 2007 by stevendedalus
Abandon Iraq Foremost, a plan for the US to abscond from the civil war in Iraq within a year of his/her administration at which time all troops and residuals are home. All military bases there must be swept clean with absolutely no armaments left behind. This withdrawal is to be done unilaterally, though diplomatic efforts such as an appeal to the UN and coöperative efforts from allies and the Arab League will be tested.Aggressive Diplomacy A strong State Department to mend relations with th...
September 19, 2007 by stevendedalus
The Webb amendment to ensure that troops in Iraq and Afghanistan get a fair shake in tour rotation is a well-intentioned humane caring for our men and women in combat, but in reality it is but a coward’s ploy to draw-down troops through the backdoor, especially in Iraq. Not least, it capitalizes on the fact everyone knows our armed forces are thoroughly strained and at its lowest ebb. The amendment, moreover, does not specifically target combat units; it assumes that anyone overseas is enti...