Protect Social Security: Democratic Battle Cry

Posted on August 15, 2010 by billmanzi

The President used the 75th anniversary of Social Security to whipsaw the Republican Party on how to best protect the system going forward. And that issue appears to be heating up, with many Republican candidates being forced to backpedal from earlier support for privatizing Social Security. Tea Party Republicans in particular have been susceptible to this line of attack, having made statements that are now being trumpeted by Democrats everywhere. Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle has really stepped in it, with multiple references to her lack of support for the program, including implying that it is a welfare program. From the Washington Post:

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle says the nation’s Social Security system needs to be privatized, and that it was done before in the South American country of Chile.

With Democrats on their back heels they are going to try to bring this issue to the front quickly, looking for anything that might reverse Republican momentum. The President, in remarks last week, told Republicans that “I am pretty good at politicking too.” If it is going to be all politics all the time, and every issue is going to be exploited for political gain, then I guess the Dems have a pretty good one here. It very well may save Harry Reid in Nevada.

In a last note I couldn’t help but put up a new Sharron Angle ad attacking Reid over Social Security. In it she calls for Social Security to be put in a “lock box”. Didn’t the Republicans mock Al Gore, who advocated putting Social Security in a “lock box” when he ran for President. Angle is busted on this one, and she will not be able to escape the Reid onslaught on the issue, which will use her own words against her. The Al Gore Lock Box? Too little, too late!

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has put up a “Social Security Scorecard” calling out Republican Senate candidates for supporting privatizing Social Security.

Read the Sharron Angle Social Security story here.

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Some Nasty Poll Results and Morning Joe

Posted on August 12, 2010 by billmanzi

The new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released this week has some pretty ugly numbers for both Republicans and Democrats, as well as the President. I have attached the full file below. Which bad news to go over first. Is the nation heading in the right direction? Well 58% say no. Not a good sign for Democrats heading into the midterms. The President? His overall ratings are not bad, with 48% disapproving, and 47% approving of his job performance. But his handling of the economy does not get high marks, with 52% disapproving of the job he is doing in that area. It of course is still about jobs, and economic security. Those basic things are slipping away from more people, and the President and his Party will be blamed.

But Congress is in real tough shape, with over 70% disapproving of their job performance. Both Dems and Republicans showed record lows in voter approvals. And why would anyone anticipate anything different??? I have had a chance to watch “Morning Joe” this week and happened to catch NY Congressman Anthony Weiner on the show. Weiner was on talking about the failure of a bill to assist New Yorkers who aided people at the site of the September 11 attack. Weiner had attacked Republican Congressman Peter King of New York, (who supported the bill) in a very personal way for not delivering more Republican votes. Weiner’s House tirade made its way around the internet very quickly. But come to find out that the Speaker moved this bill as a “suspension bill”, which requires a 2/3 majority for passage. Suspension bills do not allow for amendments. The Speaker was trying to head off a Republican immigration amendment that would have caused a potential split in Democratic ranks. All of that is mind numbing gobbledook to most voters. But that argument derailed a $7billion dollar House bill that had a clear House majority. That is the essence of dysfunction, and why people hate both parties. Scarborough called Weiner out on why the bill was brought out as a “suspension bill”, and Weiner’s double talk here is further evidence of how out of touch these folks really are. Joe Scarborough was right on this one. Weiner was busted, but Republicans would not help to pass a bill without creating a sideshow, so they are not innocent here either. But these types of circus acts, where NOTHING gets done, is what lies at the root of why people hate Washington. After watching Weiner and King in action I am amazed that Congress could even get 20% approval. Wow!

Read the Fix on the poll results.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

wsj-nbc-poll

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Release Federal Money ASAP

Posted on August 10, 2010 by billmanzi

The President spoke on the $26 billion bill just passed by Congress to send additional money to state and local governments. I know that we will get some debate on the merits of the bill here (it is a rare bill that is actually paid for) but I would like to emphasize that the Commonwealth should be preparing to release the monies targeted towards public safety and teachers to the local governments immediately. Sitting on the money while localities struggle to put barely adequate resources into public safety and classrooms would not be in anyone’s best interest. And it would run against the explicit purpose behind the additional appropriation. Lets get the money where it belongs.

Posted in Methuen, Municipal Finance, National News, State News | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Baker Internal Poll Has Patrick Leading

Posted on August 9, 2010 by billmanzi

Charlie Baker released an internal campaign poll that had Deval Patrick leading Baker by a 39% to 32% margin, with Tim Cahill polling at 17%. Baker’s poll, by Public Opinion Strategies, highlighted some of the negative numbers that Governor Patrick has been carrying. From the State House News Service:

The poll also found 36 percent of voters believe Patrick deserves reelection and 59 percent believe it’s time for a new person to be elected governor, while 80 percent believe the economy is not getting better and 57 percent believe the state is off on the wrong track. In his “bottom line” findings, Newhouse wrote in his memo to the Baker team: “Despite being a first time candidate who was not that well-known coming into the race, Charlie Baker is clearly closing the gap in this race as Massachusetts voters continue to have doubts about Deval Patrick. Baker is picking up support not only among Independents, but among those voters who say the state is on the wrong track. He is gradually becoming the ‘go-to’ candidate for change’ in the state.

Good spin for Baker, but the gap has been very resilient, and Deval Patrick has yet to be up with paid media. In the money race the July numbers were Governor Patrick at $287,000, Charlie Baker at $260,000 and Tim Cahill with $26,000. Total cash on hand: Tim Cahill $2.8 million, Charlie Baker $2.3 million, Deval Patrick $1.2 million. Patrick’s fundraising has begun to pick up, and Tim Murray has a bunch of money in the bank as well. But it is still hard to explain how the Governor is this far behind in cash on hand. Labor day is right around the corner and that means all the candidates will be stepping it up a notch.

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The President on Medicare

Posted on August 7, 2010 by billmanzi

The President talked about the Medicare program and the new report showing that the changes enacted through health care reform will add twelve years to the program’s solvency. The President of course is referring to the Medicare “cost cuts” enacted to finance a portion of the new health care reform legislation. Unfortunately I think that the case can be made here that the President is fudging the Medicare numbers. The “savings” include reductions in payments to doctors that most certainly will be overridden by Congress. They also include other assumptions that are not likely to be realized for obvious reasons. From the New York Times:

The new law squeezes nearly a half-trillion dollars from Medicare spending in the next 10 years. The savings are based on an assumption that hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers will become more efficient, increasing their productivity to match productivity gains in the overall economy.

If that does not happen, the trustees said, Medicare will pay many hospitals and doctors less than the cost of the goods and services they purchase, and providers may “eventually become unwilling or unable to treat Medicare beneficiaries.”

The report also assumes that Medicare will cut payment rates for doctors’ services by 23 percent on Dec. 1 and by a further 6.5 percent on Jan. 1, as required under existing law.

This assumption is unrealistic, the report said, because “Congress is virtually certain to override” the scheduled cuts, as it has done in recent years.

I do not know what the impact on the twelve year number is once you remove the reductions in the doctor’s pay from the calculation, but the program troubles are far from over. And the Administration and Congress need to stop playing these silly games over this program and Social Security. Both Parties continue to play musical chairs with Medicare and Social Security, and it appears to me that the goal is not to solve the issues involved but to make sure that the other Party is blamed for the programs financial problems. This is a truly difficult problem, and the eventual real fix will likely cost the responsible Party heavily at the polls. The battle lines are now being drawn over the impending report of the “Deficit Commission”, with the left girding to “protect Social Security”. Can a democratic system built on compromise and fudging to protect political interests deliver solutions to truly difficult questions without a calamity occurring? A fair question in light of some of the doublespeak coming out of Washington these days.

Read the New York Times story here.

HHS Press release on Medicare solvency.

Posted in National News | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Governor Patrick on General Mills Solar

Posted on August 6, 2010 by billmanzi

Governor Patrick was kind enough to send a video for the General Mills event in which he talks about not only General Mills, but also about the Massachusetts efforts on renewable sources of energy. Nice job here by the Governor.

Posted in Methuen, State News | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Judy Scannell Named Interim Superintendent

Posted on August 5, 2010 by billmanzi

The Methuen School Committee, in a unanimous vote, selected Tenney/Timony Supervising Principal Judy Scannell to be the interim Superintendent of Schools in Methuen. The Committee voted to give Judy a one year contract. She is slated to replace Dr. Jeanne Whitten, who retires at the end of August.

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Sharron Angle: Pravda in Nevada

Posted on August 4, 2010 by billmanzi

Candidate for U.S. Senate in Nevada Sharron Angle seems quite determined to keep saying things that are quite extraordinary. Her latest? The press should ask questions that the candidates would like to answer, and press appearances should be designed to help the candidate raise money. I know Angle is the conservative in this race, but her press philosophy sounds much like the Soviet philosophy of a “free press”. Will an Angle victory bring a Pravda to Nevada? No wonder the dour Harry Reid seems to be smiling more these days.

Posted in National News | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The House Craps Out

Posted on August 4, 2010 by billmanzi

Speaker Robert Deleo, his gambling expansion plans in tatters, is blaming the Governor for the demise of the expanded gaming bill.

“I think saying no to local aid, saying no to 15,000 jobs, I think that could be an issue,” DeLeo said when asked about the governor’s re-election bid, adding that unions were “outraged” by Patrick’s decision to send the casino bill back instead of signing it.

Yes the Governor is taking the heat from the Speaker on this. In the meantime Senate President flies under the radar screen, shrugging her shoulders and saying she could not muster the votes for an override. Hmmmmm. Difficult road for the Speaker, but he was certainly outmaneuvered by the Governor and the Senate President on this issue. I am hard pressed to think that the Speaker should not have accepted a quarter loaf here, with a plan to fix up what he felt he needed to later. Difficult to believe (for me) that once you have slots in any form that additional slots would not be approved in a subsequent session at some point. He also forces Suffolk Downs to take the gas pipe on its resort casino ambitions, which would have been a big boon to his district. That is a lot of jobs going down the drain over multiple acts of political intransigence. The House certainly didn’t win on this issue.

Read the Herald story here.

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President Obama on Revitalized Auto Industry

Posted on August 1, 2010 by billmanzi

The federal bailout of the auto industry continues to stir strong feelings, but as time evolves the strength of the Obama policy has muted many of the political critics of the federal intervention. And what has happened since the federal intervention?

The administration says that the bailout and restructuring of the companies has put the entire industry on better footing than it has been in years. In the first quarter of 2010, GM earned a quarterly profit of $865 million, its first since 2007. Chrysler reported an operating profit of $143 million over the same period.

Preliminary figures suggest that auto industry employment in the United States may reverse a decade of decline.

General Motors is now having tremendous success in selling its autos in China, helping us to repatriate some of the trillions in dollar reserves China is sitting on. Even harsh critics appear to be satisfied that the investment might have been worth it.

The success of the program has earned acknowledgment from people like Corker, who says that without the auto industry bailout, “Who knows what would have happened?” He adds that, “I’m genuinely pleased that people across this country that are involved in the auto industry are seeing it come back and that Americans are being employed as a result.”

Many of our worldwide competitors have directly financed home industries, much to the detriment of American workers. The President appears to have gotten this one right. Jobs have never been more important, and just flushing these companies was never the right thing to do.

Read the Washington Post story here.

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