May 16, 2008
The War Inside America (John Feehery)
The New York Times had an interesting story on the front page today called “Immigration and Gang Violence Propel Crusade,” about the bubbling war between African-American gangs and Mexican gangs in Los Angeles. Apparently, members of the African-American community are asking the police to start checking on the immigration status of suspected Mexican gang members.
According to the Justice Department’s National Drug Intelligence Center report, “Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations control the transportation and wholesale distribution of most illicit drugs in every area of the country except the Northeast; their influence is increasing. Their established overland transportation routes and entrenched distribution networks enable them to supply primary and secondary drug markets throughout these regions. They have gained a greater share of the drug market by forcing African American street gangs out of midlevel drug distribution and relegating them to lower-level retail distribution.” > Read More
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What's This May 14, 2008
The Manhattan Project (John Feehery)
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) unveiled a good idea the other day. He announced a plan to focus our nation on the science of energy security. He calls it the Manhattan Project, which hearkens back to the last time we used our scientific resources to win the future.
What if we as a nation decided to actually invest serious resources into finding the energy source of the 21st century? What if we decided, through better science, to find a better way to run our motor vehicles, heat and cool our homes, use our PCs and iPods — a way that would protect the environment, make us completely energy-independent, and make electricity cheaper for all Americans? > Read More
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What's This Three Makes a Trend (John Feehery)
First, it was the Hastert seat. Then Richard Baker’s seat. And now, Roger Wicker.
Four years ago, the House GOP would have easily won special elections in these three districts. But it is not four years ago.
It is amazing how quickly things can change. Four years ago, things seemed to be OK. But that is not the case today.
Most Americans think this country is going in the wrong direction. Many Americans are scared about their own financial futures. Most Americans are worried about their mortgages, about rising gas prices, about rising food prices. Many Americans are worried about the decline in the value of the dollar. > Read More
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What's This May 13, 2008
Country Roads (John Feehery)
Take me home, country roads, to the place, I belong, West Virginia, blah blah blah.
I doubt Barack Obama is singing that song today.
After barely going to the state, Obama won’t even acknowledge his primary loss there today. He is going to Missouri — a battleground state, as the media likes to helpfully point out — in order to make the case that what happens in West Virginia stays in West Virginia.
But can Obama afford to ignore West Virginia, and other states like it, for his match-up this coming fall with John McCain? By figuratively throwing in the towel early, he risks sending the message that West Virginia is McCain territory, saving McCain resources as he plots his course to an electoral map victory. > Read More
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What's This May 12, 2008
The Media’s Dream Ticket Would Be Obama’s Nightmare (John Feehery)
The media continue to push the storyline that Barack Obama should pick Hillary Clinton as his running mate. It ain’t going to happen, though, because Obama knows that Clinton would be a drag on his ticket.
Obama would be better off picking a governor, like a Ted Strickland or an Ed Rendell.
Obama’s biggest weakness in the so-called Rust Belt states has been with white men. These voters have flocked to Hillary Clinton in recent primaries, especially in Pennsylvania. But is that because white men have suddenly fallen in love with Hillary Clinton? My guess is that this vote is not such much for Hillary Clinton as it is against Barack Obama. > Read More
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What's This May 9, 2008
Pincer Movement (John Feehery)
The Wall Street Journal reports today on the content of computer files closely tying Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez with FARC, a terrorist organization that makes its money running drugs to the United States and kidnapping people inside Colombia: “These documents indicate Venezuela appears to be making concrete offers to help arm the rebels, possibly with rocket-propelled grenades and ground-to-air missiles. The files suggest that Venezuela offered the FARC the use of one of its ports to receive arms shipments, and that Venezuela raised the prospect of drawing up a joint security plan with the FARC and sought basic training in guerrilla-warfare techniques.”
This is the same Hugo Chavez who has been praised repeatedly by Joe Kennedy in television commercials, and who Kennedy called his good friend. Such Hollywood left-wing luminaries as Kevin Spacey have paid visits to Mr. Chavez, giving the dictator even more credibility in the eyes of an unwitting public.
In related news, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refuses to allow a vote on a free trade agreement with Colombia, a slap in the face of this struggling democracy. Pelosi cites concerns with labor and with the plight of unions in Colombia, but her refusal to send Colombia a lifeline works very nicely with the Chavez plan to arm the FARC rebels. It is almost as if it were a pincer movement meant to cut off democracy in a critically important area. > Read More
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What's This May 8, 2008
Eyes Too Big for the Stomach (John Feehery)
As the Democrats look to pack on additional spending on a war supplemental, it appears that the Democratic leadership’s eyes are too big for the Blue Dogs’ collective stomach, causing a bad case of indigestion.
As Mike Soraghan points out in The Hill today, “A small group of fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats is threatening to block the emergency war spending bill over a program for veterans’ benefits not offset with tax hikes or spending cuts.”
Now, that sounds like a nice start on the road to rebellion, but let’s not kid ourselves. The Democratic leadership is going to exert enough pressure on these Blue Dogs to make them buckle. They want to get this pork-laden package of spending goods to the president by Memorial Day to ensure that he vetoes it. Does this strategy help the troops? No. But in the view of the Democratic leaders, they get the chance to score some political points. > Read More
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What's This May 7, 2008
Catch-Phrase (John Feehery)
In thinking about a match-up between Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), I am trying to look into the future and guess which senator’s catch-phrase would stand up best under the scrutiny of history.
By catch-phrase, I don’t mean campaign slogan. I mean the phrase that a president has delivered, usually as a candidate, in a speech that becomes the theme of his presidency. It has to be short, usually two, three or four words.
Here are some examples: > Read More
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What's This Gas Tax Holiday (John Feehery)
The gas tax holiday took a hit tonight, as Hillary Clinton got creamed in North Carolina and barely edged out a victory in Indiana. John McCain should learn this lesson, drop the idea and move on to talking about the deeper problem behind the steep increase in gas prices, which is the declining value of the dollar.
McCain and Clinton tried to tag-team Barack Obama on this issue. But that played to Obama's argument that he is the authentic candidate who is willing to speak truth to power. > Read More
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What's This May 2, 2008
The Four-Corner Offense (John Feehery)
One of Dean Smith’s innovations when he was the coach at North Carolina was the four-corner offense. His teams would build up a small lead, get possession of the basketball, and then hold onto it for the rest of the game. It was a horrible tactic, and it ruined the game for a while, until the NCAA put in a shot clock, which forced Smith to allow his players to play the game.
Congressional Democrats are doing their version of a four-corner offense, basically running out the clock in this session, avoiding real work, and punting most big issues until next year. > Read More
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