Electability, America's Problems, Florida (a Love/Hate Relationship) and American Exceptionalism

                               

  (Trying a new alligator this posting in an attempt to add more bite to the blog.)


On Justice Scalia's Passing

While America mourns the passing of Antonin Scalia, the longest serving Justice on the Supreme Court, it should be remembered that he was one of those jurists hewing to a literal, conservative interpretation of the Constitution.  The only son of Italian immigrants, he rose from humble origins to become the anchor of the conservative Justices sitting on the highest court of the land over the past three decades.

 

It is sad that many Republicans who have admired the late Justice's firm belief in sticking to the Constitution’s words as closely as possible are now willing to ignore Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States where it is clearly stated that “The President ... shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law....”  

Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsberg share an elephant on an Indian vacation. 

The fact that there is a Presidential election in ten months is no reason to ignore the language of the Constitution.  The President should nominate a Justice to replace Justice Scalia, and it should be passed on to the Senate for whatever action they deem appropriate.  I believe this would be the position of Justice Scalia, who was a far, far more decent man than some of the Republicans who now say it is time to ignore the Constitution.  

Jack Lippman

                              

Electability

Electability is the magic word in 2016.  Both the Republicans and Democrats want to win the White House in 2016, and along with it, the opportunity to nominate Supreme Court Justices to replace any that may pass away or resign during the next President's tenure. What the candidates actually stand for becomes secondary to the question of their electability in the General Election, when image and “spin” become more important.

So let’s look at the candidates on both sides from an “electability” standpoint.  Remember, this is “in my opinion” and somewhat subjective, and recognizes that “electable” candidates still may be significantly flawed and that an “un-electable” candidate might make a pretty good President.  And remember, we are talking about "electability" by the entire American population, not just the members of one party, which is what news coverage, up to now, has provided. Here goes.

These are the "electables."
 

Electable Republicans:  Bush, Kasich, Rubio

Un-electable Republicans:  Trump (too inexperienced, too undemocratic and too insulting to too many), Cruz, Carson (both too conservative for the country)

Electable Democrat:  Clinton

Un-electable Democrat:  Sanders (too progressive; with a "socialist" label)

The problem is that in the heat of the primary campaigns and ultimately, the party conventions, whether a candidate is “electable” or not might be ignored, as it was in 1972 when the Democrats nominated an un-electable George McGovern.

  
 George McGovern, for whom most Democrats, but nobody else, voted in 1972.

Suffice it to say that:
IF ONE PARTY NOMINATES AN "ELECTABLE" CANDIDATE AND THE OTHER PARTY NOMINATES AN "UN-ELECTABLE" CANDIDATE, THE "ELECTABLE" ONE WILL WIN.

IF BOTH PARTIES NOMINATE "ELECTABLE" CANDIDATES, WE WILL HAVE AN INTERESTING CAMPAIGN AND A CLOSE ELECTION.  That is my guess as to what probably will happen.

IF, HOWEVER, BOTH PARTIES NOMINATE "UN-ELECTABLE" CANDIDATES, WE WILL HAVE A REAL PROBLEM.  

Perhaps Ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg might then, for a moment, consider running as a third party candidate.  But such a third party candidacy very well may result in no one candidate getting the required 270 electoral votes needed to become President.  This would throw the election into the House of Representatives where the top three candidates (in electoral votes) would compete for the votes of the 50 state delegations, each state getting one vote.  (That's what the 12th Amendment to the Constitution requires.)  Given the anticipated make-up of the House of Representatives, it is likely that the otherwise “un-electable” Republican candidate would then become President! (This is how John Quincy Adams, after significant "wheeling and dealing,"  became President in 1824, much to the chagrin of Andrew Jackson and the American people.)

 

This is probably why, if Michael Bloomberg becomes involved in the election, it will not be as a third party candidate but rather as a candidate for the Republican nomination itself. 


Bloomberg

I would classify him as being among the “electables” and he is likely to take this step only when it becomes evident to him that both parties are likely to nominate “un-electables.” This is to say that Bloomberg will be content to stay out of the race if he is sure that either Clinton, Bush, Rubio or Kasich will be somewhere on the Presidential ballot.  Bloomberg’s decision will be made sometime in March, after the numerous primary elections held on Super Tuesday, March 1, give him a substantial clue as to who will be getting the Presidential nominations from both parties.

JL
                           

American Exceptionalism

We often here the phrase “American Exceptionalism” loosely tossed about.  But is America really “exceptional”?  Fareed Zakaria, noted journalist featured on CNN and in the Washington Post, certainly believes so, putting him in the same boat with many others, often having different views.  Find out who, as some believe, is out to change what is “exceptional” about America?  Read about it in Zakaria’s recent WashingtonPost Column.

Zakaria

JL

                              


 

Solving America's Problems

We have some big problems and providing jobs for Americans is only the beginning. 

Without taking serious steps to protect our environment and dealing with climate change (the Supreme Court just put a “hold” on our cooperating with the worldwide, multi-nation Paris Accords aimed at doing that), we may face a natural crisis which will overshadow the disappearance of many jobs from our economy.

 

Without spending what is necessary to update our aging infrastructure (most of our dams, bridges, highways, airports and railroads are at least a half a century old and showing real signs of wear), our country may literally fall apart at its seams. 

 

New Jersey's Pulaski Skyway opened in 1932, eighty-three years ago.  It is still heavily traveled today.

Without revamping our educational system to produce more STEM trained (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) citizens, we may fall further behind the rest of the world than we already are.  The emphasis on sports at the high school and college level takes away resources and valuable hours which might be better used to develop brain power rather than muscle power.  Note how many of our scientists come from outside of the country, and how foreign students dominate many of our graduate programs in science.  The Asian colleges at which they were undergraduates did not have the football teams and 100,000 seat stadiums which you find here. This emphasis must be changed.

All of this will cost a lot of money.  But we still are the richest country in the world.  We have the wealth which is necessary to pay the bill to get these tasks accomplished.  But that money has to be made available to do this work; transferred from those that now hold it to the government pay for public and private projects to solve these problems.

But this doesn’t call for bringing in a Robin Hood to rob the rich and give to the poor.  There is no reason why such wealth redistribution cannot be accomplished by simply increasing taxes on the wealthy and on corporate profits.  That’s where the money is, and despite what believers in obsolete economic theories say, it just doesn't manage to "trickle down." The enormous amount of money to be spent to do these things will end up in the pockets of working people who will spend it as consumers, pumping it back into the economy.  All will profit, especially businesses. 

If, however, individuals and corporations object to this, they must be made to understand that their refusal to participate in such wealth redistribution would amount to killing the goose that laid the golden egg.  Arm-twisting to induce the cooperation of businesses and individuals could take the form of penalties to be included in a revised tax code, giving them a “damned if you do,” but even more “damned if you don’t” choice to make. 

America's "problems" must be solved in order for not only its citizens but its businesses as well to benefit. After all, that is what our American economy is all about.

JL

                                                 
                             

Florida:  The Best and the Worst 

The weather in Florida is just fine.  Better beaches are hard to find.  There are plenty of excellent restaurants too!  And sports and entertainment venues to satisfy every taste abound.  There are plenty of places to just take a walk, be it by the ocean, on a swinging urban street or amidst the beauties of a winterless natural environment. Highways to get you anywhere are plentiful and airports and seaports from which to travel are nearby.  And there's no income tax, either!  But outside of this, the place sucks.  Why? 

• Public schools are overcrowded and underfunded.
• Policemen are quick on the trigger.
• The State legislature is infatuated with guns, privatization, and ways to reduce a woman’s right to an abortion.  
• The state’s largest public utility prevents the Sunshine State’s homeowners from installing solar panels on their roofs to lower power costs.   
• Nobody likes the governor, but Floridians somehow re-elected him, even with Medicare fraud touching the reputation of the company of which he was CEO back in the 90’s. 
• The courts are overcrowded.
• Congressional and legislative districts are gerrymandered so that a disconnected minority of the population elects a legislature which makes the state’s laws. 
• There are poverty-stricken urban ghettos, mostly Afro-American, just like in our northern metropolises, but far too little is done in Florida to remedy the problem.  
• Protecting the state’s water resources is secondary to keeping the sugar cane industry happy.   
• Preserving green space takes a back seat to keeping real estate developers happy.  
• Homeowners’ insurance is an expensive joke, mostly available from two-bit companies no one has ever heard of.  (Major national insurance companies won't do homeowners business in Florida.)   When the next "big" hurricane strikes, and sooner or later it will, we will find out how "real" those tiny companies collecting our premiums here in Florida are.
• Businesses should be flocking to Florida but hesitate to do so when they survey the skill levels of the available workforce.

So, it’s a great place for retirement or a vacation.  Period.

JL

                              

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