New GOP Rising Star Not Smelling Rosy

Virginia Governor, Bob McDonnell, was given the opportunity to respond to President Obama's State Of The Union speech last night and, if other people heard what I did, then the Republican party has just messed themselves and fallen back in it.

McDonnell almost sounded as if he would be the kind of Republican that would work together for the greater good instead of putting "party politics" first but then he took a sharp turn to what sounded like the Bush mantra all over again.

His "Republican Perspective", as he referred to it, includes things like cutting even more taxes , less regulation, and what sounded to me like restrictions on litigation for things like "malpractice". McDonnell wants America to believe that enacting such policies will "promote entrepreneurship and innovation so America can better compete with the world". The GOP stance is that "piling on taxation, regulation and litigation kills jobs and hurts the middle class".

If we take that head on and honestly it begins to resemble Swiss Cheese more than a real solution to anything.

Let's discuss taxation. George W. Bush's tax cuts for the most wealthy Americans was neither fair nor good policy. Those tax cuts, combined with the uncontrolled spending of the Bush administration put us in debt up to our eyeballs with a great deal less coming into the coffers, to put it simply, we did not have much income to pay expenses due to the tax cuts while the deficit exploded. This is actual black and white historical fact, so why, when we are so close to having our Nation collapse around our ears, would the Republicans still want to hang on to Bush's tax cuts?

Regulation, or rather the lack of it (GOP boondoggle) is the majority of the reason that Wall Street went bust in 2007. The lack of regulation is the sole reason why the big banks, insurance corporations and the auto corporations of America came to the American people with the excuse "we are too big to fail". Corporate America that is so set against socialism in favor of unbridled capitalism held out their greedy little hands for billions of dollars of socialist tax dollars in order to make their purely capitalistic profits

Mr. Dimon, Chief Executive of JP Morgan/Chase Bank, stated before a Congressional panel that. "I want to be clear that I do not blame the regulators ... however, it is important to examine how the system could have functioned better The current regulatory system is poorly organized with overlapping responsibilities, and many regulators did not have the statutory resolution authority needed to address the failure of large, global financial companies".

Mr Dimon appears to be implying, if not flat out saying, that we need regulation reform. It appears that the deregulation touted by the GOP as a good thing was, in fact, the basis for our latest financial disaster. I believe that a bank executive would know and understand more about it than a politician of any party.

Litigation is something the Republican party needs to leave alone. If a doctor screws up a person's surgery out of neglect or misconduct of any kind then there should not be a Republican initiated cap on what the victim of such malpractice is allowed to collect. That is for a court of law and a judge to decide. Again, a politician has no right or business interfering with a judicial event when a doctor does harm to a patient. Let the wife or child of a Republican get maimed by a doctor that decided to get drunk before their operation and then have McDonnell tell them to get over it because, "frivolous lawsuits against doctors and hospitals that drive up the cost of your health care".

I, personally, would rather buy my health insurance locally so that I can actually have a face to face conversation with my insurance company, not be forced to buy it across state lines so the only communication is by phone, fax or mail. Thanks, but no thanks. A rather poor solution from the GOP, is it not?

McDonnell quoted Thomas Jefferson by saying, "a wise and frugal government which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned", and then added, "he was right". I would suggest that Mr. McDonnell take a look at what the Republican party did from 2001 to 2006 when they lost control of the Congress and Senate. If he were to take an honest look at the facts without the rhetoric, he would find that he did not like "Republican cooking". Clinton left us without a deficit, we actually had a surplus. Within three months of being placed in the Oval Office, Bush had spent all of the surplus and doubled it in deficit. The Republican party has no business talking about frugality.

Bush also expanded our government to enormous proportions with unbridled spending without investing in our own country. We now watch our own country crumble around us without the support of the GOP to fix it.

McDonnell stated "we want cooperation, not partisanship" yet that is all the Republican party has offered since they controlled Capital Hill plus the White House.

Some of us really have been watching.

It is also sad when McDonnell states that "most Americans do not want to turn over the best medical care in the world to the Federal government". What planet does this man live on? Does he not read? COSTA RICA has better medical care than the U.S. does and we consider them to be a "third world country". I suppose you do not have to be a rocket scientist to be a Republican politician, but geez, most kids in grade school know that much.

I also suppose we should begin printing piles of Monopoly money because Mr. McDonnell wants us to believe that we do not have to raise taxes to pay for anything and we do not have to cut Medicare or shift Medicaid costs to the states...I know...it will magically pay for itself, right? No, I got it...GOD will pay for it so we do not have to pay the taxes which pays for our police, first responders...politicians.

America got tired of the "drill, Baby, drill" rhetoric from Palin and McCain in 2007. Nobody is going to find a sufficient amount of oil off the Virginia coast to merit the environmental risks that would go with the offshore drilling pipedreams. When the GOP puts serious effort into energies that come from other sources and leave oil on the back burner we may actually see significant change in America's energy consumption habits.

McDonnell claims that the "cap and trade energy taxes" kills jobs. What will it cost in human terms to pollute the air, advance global warming and KILL PEOPLE?

According to McDonnell, we are drawing down our troop levels in Iraq because of "the courage and success of our armed forces". Uhmmmm...did someone forget to tell this guy that the Iraqis wanted us out and refused to sign an agreement with Bush so we could stay after the U.N. mandate expired? I support our troops but not a lie told by a politician.

McDonnell seems set on inflammatory rhetoric when speaking about the "Undiebomber". He claims "This foreign terror suspect was given the same legal rights as a U.S. citizen and immediately stopped providing critical intelligence. Not really. The suspect gave up quite a bit of information before being read the Miranda rights and by then he had told all he knew. He did not "clam up". The man was caught red handed, so to speak, and will go to prison where he will have to take his chances with other inmates that probably will not like him very much at all...how does that make our tax dollars being used to protect him?

Mr. McDonnell, you can take all your rhetoric about how Republicans believe we all deserve equality and liberty to pursue the American Dream and stow it away in your Bible. I have seen too many do without over Republican policies that care little for the people who work hard while great rewards are heaped upon those who have never known what it is like to be hungry or unemployed. Over the past 20 years or so I have watched the rich get richer and the Middle Class disappear because of Republican policies.. The truth is something the GOP doesn't like to look at because you are too busy trying to be revisionists. I am smarter than you give me credit for and there are many more like me.

I am willing to give Obama a chance. I do not believe he would ignore a crisis and read "My Pet Goat" if he were told that we had been attacked. I believe WE are his priority. He seems to love America more than any Republican on the Hill and that is demonstrated by his lack of arrogance. He is more worried about our country than he is getting re-elected like most other, Democrats and Republicans.

"To whom much is given, much will be required." Think about your scripture, Mr. McDonnell, the next time you or your fellow Republicans are willing to sacrifice the rest of us just so the wealthy can have more tax cuts or you feel like regulation would hinder free enterprise.

Your free enterprise put us in the economic dungeon that we find ourselves in today.