Milbank: Boomers are terrible political leaders

Everything wrong with U.S. politics is the Baby Boomers' fault [emphasis mine]:

Boomers inherited a system based on compromise and sacrifice — and they gave us the current standoff. They received a United States victorious in the Cold War and atop the world economy — and they gave us the Iraq war and the Great Recession. They are the parents of the first generation in U.S. history — the millennials — to have a lower standard of living than previous generations. And, in retirement, they will probably break Social Security and Medicare.

“Boomers are the scorched-earth, values-driven generation,” said Neil Howe, who with William Strauss chronicled the recurring patterns of generations in the United States. “They invented the culture wars and they’re taking it with them as they grow older, which is this complete polarization and gridlock. It’s very hard to compromise over values.” 

As leaders, boomers are a bust

By Dana Milbank

June 27, 2014 | Washington Post

URL: http://wapo.st/VtTfJg

Gov. Beshear to Mitch McConnell: Obamacare is working

Excellent!  This is from a Democratic governor in a Red State who isn't afraid to tell it like it is to his conservative constituents:

[O]ver 421,000 Kentuckians have signed up for health insurance through "kynect" -- about 75 percent of whom didn't previously have insurance and about 52 percent of whom were under age 35.

That's almost 1 in 10 Kentuckians.

...[I]f each of the over 421,000 people who signed up via "kynect" could grab 10 minutes of Sen. McConnell's time to explain what health care coverage means for their families, and if the Senator had the endurance to listen 24/7, it would take eight years to hear from each enrollee.

I'll say it again, "Big Government" programs like ACA and Social Security aren't just debits, they aren't just financial obligations, they represent real assets -- because they sustain and improve millions of real Americans' lives. Somebody living longer and being more productive -- that's harder to quantify in dollars and cents the same way we can track federal spending, but heck if it isn't just as real.

(Every other corporation says, "Our people are our most important asset;" and this is even truer for the U.S. Government of its citizens!)  

It's high time Republicans stopped ignoring half our nation's balance sheet, i.e. ignoring the assets that government produces and sustains all around us.

P.S. -- Unless something changes soon, I'll become an Obamacare "customer" in June. I've already shopped for plans and consulted on the telephone with kynect representatives, who were very friendly, helpful and knew their stuff. I was impressed, especially compared to the experience of calling an insurance provider for answers!

The Affordable Care Act in Kentucky: It's Working

By Gov. Steve Beshear

May 29, 2014 | Huffington Post

URL: http://huff.to/1mw6ekw

Cox: McConnell's win is a victory for the Tea Parties

My friends in the Tea Parties won't see it this way, but Cox is right: Bevin, et al, have successfully moved the GOP even farther to the Right. Indeed, McConnell is consistently rated as one of the most conservative voters in the U.S. Senate:

McConnell didn't win because he became a Tea Party member – he's so conservative, he didn't have to. (A vote analysis casts him as one of the top 25 conservative members of the Senate, and Tea Party darling and intrastate rival Paul is at number 19.) Instead, McConnell's win just shows how easily the GOP grows over its fringes.

What's happening in the Republican party is the worst of both the Tea Party and more traditional "free-market" (but never really as free as advertised) economics: an aggressive "pro-business" agenda combined with radically retrogressive social policies.

But I don't expect the TP maximalists to take any heart from Bevin's loss.... Even worse, most of them will probably hold their noses and vote for Mitch against his formidable Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes.

UPDATE (30.05.2014): Here's middle-of-the-road political analyst Bill Schneider over at Reuters saying much the same thing as Cox on the same day: "How far right can Republicans go?"

Don’t be fooled: McConnell’s victory in Kentucky is also a Tea Party win

By Ana Marie Cox

May 21, 2014 | Guardian

URL: http://gu.com/p/3pda9

Obamacare IS working...especially in McConnell's Kentucky!

California, the most populous state in America, is on track to hit its Obamacare enrollment targets for 2014!

"But," said MSNBC host Chris Hayes, "the most fascinating Obamacare success story comes from the state of Kentucky. It is the only state in the South both expanding Medicaid and operating a fully state-based exchange."

The irony of Kentucky being Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's home state was not lost on Hayes. McConnell "just happens to be up for re-election next year, a race he will now have to run from a state where health reform is working."

Obamacare: Working the way it’s supposed to

All In With Chris Hayes

November 19, 2013 | MSNBC

KY Senate race could break spending record

Famous Kentucky politician Henry Clay, if he were alive today, would be so proud that three candidates (and their super PACs) are about to spend the yearly income of more than 4,300 Kentuckians in their campaigns for the U.S. Senate.

Seriously though, what will the Tea Parties say when their hero Rand Paul either stumps for McConnell, the face of "establishment Republicans," and/or refuses to endorse McConnell's rival from the Tea Parties, businessman Matt Bevin?  Won't they feel just a teensy-weensy bit manipulated and taken for granted in Paul and McConnell's game of thrones?

Kentucky Senate race could top $100 million

By Chris Cillizza

August 11, 2013 | Washington Post

URL: http://wapo.st/1cF4eVA

McConnell filibusters his OWN proposal after Reid calls his bluff

You know, America's Founding Fathers wanted the Senate to do a few things. They wanted it to be a check on the power of bigger/more populous states, a great leveler in Congress. And, by having states appoint U.S. senators (before Progressives passed the 17th Amendment in 1913 to have the American people elect them), the Founding Fathers wanted senators to be above the noise of "mobocracy," and deliberate, debate and make decisions based on the best long-term interests of the country.  

Well, thanks to abuse of Senate filibuster rules -- the terms "filibuster" and "cloture" are not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, by the way -- our senators don't do much debating or deliberating anymore: merely the threat of a filibuster means a bill cannot be brought to the floor of the Senate for debate. That means that all the real talking our senators do, if any, happens behind closed doors in smoked-filled rooms. Unfortunately, our senators spend a lot more time posturing in front of the media than they do talking to each other, or heaven forbid, actually putting their views on the Congressional record on the floor of the Senate!

That's why Harry Reid wants to reform the filibuster rule.

Dems Look on in Wonder as Mitch McConnell Filibusters His Own Proposal

Quite a moment in Senate history.

By Martin Longman

December 7, 2012 | Booman Tribune

URL: http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/dems-look-wonder-mitch-mcconnell-filibusters-his-own-proposal

Wall St. spent $4.2 billion lobbying since '06

More precisely, the entire Finance Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE) sector spent that money lobbying, of which $879 million went directly to politicians' campaigns. That comes to $1,331 per minute spent influencing our elected leaders.  

How do you think your influence stacks up against theirs?  And remember, these titans of finance are the greediest and supposedly the smartest guys in America; if they spend that much money it means they think they'll get a good return on their investment.

You can use this Legislative Scorecard from Elect Democracy to see how much your Congressmen took from FIRE, and how loyal they were to FIRE in voting.  I can see, for example, that Rep. Geoff Davis [R-KY] took $1.6 million from FIRE and has a loyalty rating of 86 percent.  And KY Sen. Rand Paul [R-KY], who hasn't been in office long and has taken only $66,000, nevertheless has a 100 percent loyalty rating.  But nobody tops Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who took $6.2 million from FIRE since 2006... and of course displayed 100 percent loyalty.  

Actually, that's not entirely true: President Barack Obama received $44 million from FIRE since 2006.  Gee, I wonder where his loyalty is?

Washington's Wall Street Sugar Daddies

By Hillary Lehr

August 14, 2012 | YES! Magazine

URL:  http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/washingtons-wall-street-sugar-daddies

Bush: McConnell urged Iraq troop withdrawal

So which Republican hawk is a liar, Dubya or Mitch?

The answer is "both," but in this particular case only one of them.

Editorial: McConnell's True Colors

November 11, 2010 | Louisville Courier-Journal

URL: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20101111/OPINION01/311110017

McConnell: If Iraqis ask us to leave, 'we'll... comply'

Now we're talking! Finally, the GOP has offered a face-saving way to leave Iraq, which also happens to respect Iraqi democracy. Now all we have to do is work behind the scenes and push the Iraqi parliament to schedule a vote on the U.S. occupation. To borrow a much maligned term, their "no" vote would be a slam dunk!

Sen. McConnell on Iraq: "If they vote to ask us to leave, we'll be glad to comply"

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke of his growing frustration with the Iraqi leadership today on CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer. McConnell said: "The Iraqi government is a huge disappointment. Republicans overwhelmingly feel disappointed about the Iraqi government. I read just this week that a significant number of the Iraqi parliament want to vote to ask us to leave. I want to assure you, Wolf, if they vote to ask us to leave, we'll be glad to comply with their request."

About the two month vacation the Iraqis had been planning, McConnell said "That's completely and totally unacceptable."

--From CNN Associate Producer Jennifer Burch

Posted 5/13/2007 01:33:00 PM