Daily Archives: December 11, 2014

Federal Politics

Senator Elizabeth Warren Is Right

Senator Elizabeth Warren and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are absolutely right to push back against President Obama for supporting the Continuing Resolution and Omnibus (Cromnibus) bill that the Republicans are trying to pass at the last minute before they head out of town.  Minority Leader Pelosi has been there for President Obama time-and-again in the past when he sought her support.  This time, however, she said that she is disappointed in the White House.

I, too, have always been a strong supporter of President Obama and I remain as such but I agree with Senator Warren and Minority Leader Pelosi that this so called Cromnibus should not pass with the help of the Democrats because it once again throws average Americans under the bus while putting big banks back in a position to take advantage of taxpayers and, potentially, put America at risk again of the need to bail them out just like in 2008.  In the meantime, they will make a lot of money.  I hope that it does not pass at all but if it does, let it be with the sole support of House Republicans.

The Republicans have not been sincere in working with the president via compromise or any other reasonable method since he was first elected so why are they so suddenly interested in doing so now?  They are not.  They are employing the old sleight of hand trick that magicians use.

They are skillfully directing our attention to the meaningless hand while they are just as skillfully manipulating the system with the other.  And when all of the voting is completed something will pop out of the hat…, I mean system as a result of all of the caucusing, meetings, and whip sessions; but I am afraid that it will be something that most Americans won’t like.  Not to worry though, the big banks and Wall Street will love it.  Hold on…  Update!  Cromnibus passed the House with the help of 57 Democrats.

I started this article before the House members gathered for a final vote.  You now know what the outcome of that vote was.  During a test vote earlier during the day, only 2 Democrats supported the bill.  But if what Representative Maxine Waters said during an interview on MSNBC is correct politics indeed make strange bedfellows.  Representative Waters said she was told that both President Obama and Jamie Dimon – chairman, president and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase, were lobbing House members before the vote was taken to vote ‘yes.’

The Senate still has to approve the bill before it goes to the President for his signature.  The House vote, which split 219 to 206 to pass Cromnibus, was close despite lobbying by the White House and other supporters because Senator Elizabeth Warren came out against it and lobbied House members to vote ‘no.’

Although President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell support the bill, since Senator Warren opposes it, it will be interesting to see how things flesh-out over the next day or two.  Another ingredient that should help to make things even more interesting is Senator Ted Cruz.  Showtime!  Or, maybe not.

Eulus Dennis

Federal Politics, Local Politics, State Politics

A Political Decision

Do you remember that movie ‘The Firm’ where a law enforcement agency suspected that a prestigious law firm was breaking some major laws so they forced a young lawyer employed by the firm to help them secure information they needed to indict and prosecute the responsible executives?

Even if you don’t, try to follow me anyway because there is a point that I want to make that is exemplified by that movie and many others like it.  Anyway, this law enforcement agency was able to force this young lawyer to help them because they had incarcerated his brother who would face a lot of years in prison unless he cooperated with them; and if he cooperated, his brother would be released and his record would be completely cleared.

The truth of the matter was that the law enforcement agency had no real intentions of releasing the brother.  The plan was to release him for a short period of time as a show of good faith and once they had the documents that they needed they would put him back in prison to complete his term.

The young lawyer agreed to cooperate but somewhere along the way found out about their plans so demanded to renegotiate the deal and, because of their attempt to scam him, also demanded that a large sum of money for himself be included.  The law enforcement agency agreed to the new terms but planned to stick to their original plan to place the brother back in prison with the only new part of their plan being to take back the money as well.

By now you might be thinking, how is this story in any way related to politics?  Here is how.  My point is wrapped up in what this law enforcement official said to the young lawyer when he became concerned that he was on to them again and about to outsmart them.  When the young lawyer demanded that the money be wired to an offshore numbered account ahead of time the official exploded in anger.  This is what he said when the lawyer refused to withdraw this demand; and what he said is also my point.

I’m the government.  I can kick your teeth down your throat and pull them out of your backside (he used a more colorful word) and there’s not a (expletive delete) thing that you can do about it.  When the young lawyer showed the law enforcement official that he had recorded his words on a tape housed in a remote location, the official calmed down and agreed to wire the money.

In other movies like ‘The Firm’ many law enforcement officials have made the well worn ‘I’m the law’ statement.  Unfortunately, many of these officials have come to believe that they are the law personified and not an instrument that is there to enforce the law.  And since they are ‘the law’, it applies to everyone else but not to them.

This is not something that happens just with low-level law enforcement officials but instead ranges from the most low-level local official to law-enforcement officials at the highest levels in the United States government.  As a matter of fact, it is not just law enforcement officials but many other powerful officials as well who are exacerbating and perpetuating this problem.

I gave this particular example because there was a time when most of us looked at movies like these as unquestionably pure theatrical entertainment.  But take a close look at what is happening in our country right now and the rhetoric in those movies no longer seem so far-fetched.

There are two key situations that are at the forefront right now, one of which symbolizes a deep-seated American problem that is playing out in a number of cities around our country.  The other is something that is wrapped in a domestic and foreign policy wrapper.  One is associated with race and the other is associated with torture.  Despite what might appear to be a great gap between them, they are both deep-rooted in human rights and who we are as Americans.

In both of these cases the words political decision seems to be a common thread and it appears that these officials also expect to be placed above the law.  Don’t you get tired of hearing the words ‘it was a political decision’ from pundits?  Wouldn’t it be refreshing to hear the words ‘it was a governance decision’ being tossed around by them at least as often as ‘it was a political decision’?

Politicians like the perks of the office.  They like the photo ops, the admiration of their constituents, the special treatment that they receive and making the easy decisions.  But when it comes to the tough decisions that they were also elected to handle – like indicting a cop and assuring that the indictment process is fair or confronting the problem that we need to address concerning torture and, if they are different, the enhanced interrogation techniques, they cower and refuse to do their job.  They take the easy way out and make a ‘political decision.’

I guess we can’t blame them because if they confront these things and make an actual governance decision, they might not be reelected.  And if they are not reelected, they will no longer have a platform to not confront problems like those in Ferguson and the one regarding torture.  Wouldn’t that be a shame?

America must address and solve tough problems like those mentioned or, rather than us controlling our own destiny, those problems might play a key role in the outcome.  As voters we can force politicians to do their job, including the unpleasant parts of it, or be fired.  It is as simple as that.  But in order for that to happen, we must first do our job.

Eulus Dennis