Image via WikipediaThe Dumbfuck Immigration Laws
The political landscape as it stands right now is a mystery to me. There are few things I can say for sure, but I can try and attempt and make a few guesses.
On immigration I don't know what to say. This issue is hard for me because (1) it touches me at the bones level, (2) I know Obama feels deeply about this issue, it touches him almost at the bones level, he understands it to be a civil rights issue, and (3) I would not want him to lose the House and the Senate over it.
How do you kill the snake without breaking the stick?
I first argued that immigration has to be saved for 2011. Then I argued it perhaps needs to be worked on now. Now I am thinking it has to be worked on now but only if work on it can be completed in two months. If you can be done and over with by the end of September, start work on it now. If not, save it for 2011. 2009: Stimulus. 2010: Wall Street Reform. 2011: Immigration. 2012: Deficit.
Immigration Now?
Save Immigration For 2011
So how to keep the House and the Senate? Obama could do it because he has done this before. He has defied history before. There was no rule in any book anywhere that said a black man could end up in the White House.
Obama's Got Momentum: He Could Defy History In November
There is a rule in the books that says a president does not get to keep the Congress during his first mid term elections. Defying this rule should be much less challenging than that first rule. After all, race is America's original sin.
There are a few pointers I could give.
- I like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, but it is the president who has to step up. This has to be his election. He needs to campaign and campaign vigorously. He needs to treat 2010 like it were 2012.
- He has to make the point that had he been the president from 2000 to 2008, there would have been no Iraq War and there would have been no Wall Street meltdown. Had there been no Wall Street meltdown, there would have been no bailout and no stimulus bill. The stimulus bill was expensive, but minus that we would have been in the middle of a Great Depression right this moment. If you think 10% unemployment is ugly, try imagining a 25% unemployment.
- The bailout was expensive but the banks already paid for it for the most part. The stimulus bill was expensive, but the economy will pay for it over time. That money did not go down the drain.
- We can not run these deficits forever, but now is not the time to cut back. If we cut back now, we run the risk of running the economy to the ground all over again. The stimulus will have gone to waste.
- The deficit will be eliminated, and that will happen while he is in the White House. But now is not the time.
- Health care reform happened. That was a once in a century thing.
- Wall Street has been reformed. That has been a once in a half century thing.
- It makes no sense to take a winning team out of the league.
- A hole that was almost a decade in the digging, I never promised to take you out of it in one year. We are not there yet fully, but we are on the right track, and we need to stay the course. Let me keep my team that has let me get this far. I have bigger and better things in mind that I want to do. And I need my team to stay with me.
- I want the unemployment rate to come down to 5% from near 10% more than anybody else. And that is why I need your continued support. Just like the deficit will be eliminated on my watch, unemployment will be brought down to about 5% on my watch, but I need to keep at it. And I need to get to keep my team.
Obama's 2010 election effort has to be about the economy first, second and third. I can see him defying history "but the arc does not bend on its own."
Pelosi Will Continue As Speaker
John Liu: Mayor Of NYC: 2013
Reshma Saujani: Top 10 Women To Watch In America
New York Times
Budget Chief Tried to Tilt Power to Executive Branch
Editorial:Keeping Politics in the Shadows
Early Word: Off to New Jersey and New York
Year of the Women in Oklahoma
Democrats Confirm More House Seats in Play
Obama Meets With Big Donors
Texas Battles Health Law Even as It Follows It
In Study, 2 Economists Say Intervention Helped Avert a 2nd Depression
From Blagojevich Lawyer, Final Argument With Drama
Massachusetts Nears a Change to Electoral Votes
How G.O.P. Senators Plan to Vote on Kagan
Obama Assails Republicans on Campaign Finance
New Health Official Faces Hostility in Senate
Blagojevich Corruption Trial Wraps Up
Panel Seen Approving F-35 Engine, Risking Veto
Lawmakers Seeking Cuts Look at Nonprofit Salaries
Washington Memo: Warren’s Candidacy Raises a Partisan Debate
When Race Is the Issue, Misleading Coverage Sets Off an Uproar
At the White House, Losing a Game of Phone Tag
Wedding Is Talk of the Town, but Nobody’s Talking
Cities View Homesteads as a Source of Income
Geithner Dismisses Concerns on Letting Tax Cuts Expire
Salon: Tea Party embraces billboards for anti-Obama message delivery
Huffington Post: Obama Could Face Primary Challenge Over Afghanistan (VIDEO)
The Politico: Rangel talks in jeopardy
Ezra Klein: How to end the filibuster with 51 votes
CNN Political Ticker: Santorum huddles with former aides to talk 2012
Interactive Feature: Fund-Raising in the Most Competitive Races
Interactive Map: Tracking the Races
Interactive Timeline: Barack Obama
Interactive Feature: Inside Congress
Interactive Timeline: Nearly 100 Years of Milestones and Defeats
On the Surface, Gulf Oil Spill Is Vanishing Fast| Concerns Stay
Maureen Dowd: Lost in a Maze
Thomas L. Friedman: Want the Good News First?
Videos Rouse Russian Anger Toward Police
New York to Pay $7 Million for Sean Bell Shooting
Op-Ed: Stop Raiding the Ivory Tower Restaurants Grading Begins in New York
Illegal Immigrants Caught on a Yacht, in a Web of Maritime Laws
Student Injury at Protest Leads to Battle in Israel
Campaign Finance Bill Is Set Aside
18 States and District of Columbia Are Finalists for Education Grants
Ex-Regulators Get Set to Lobby on New Financial Rules
U.S. Military Chief Presses Iraqis to End Deadlock, Citing Risks to Security Gains
China Pushes to End Public Shaming
Remarkable Creatures: Translating Stories of Life Forms Etched in Stone
Advance on AIDS Raises Questions as Well as Joy
Essay: Lifesaving Medications, Through a Back Door
Tobacco Funds Shrink as Obesity Fight Intensifies
Can Migraines Damage the Brain?
Economic Scene: The Case for $320,000 Kindergarten Teachers
On Education: Equity of Test Is Debated as Children Compete for Gifted Kindergarten
The Roller-Coaster Ride Called a Short Sale
Wind Drives Growing Use of Batteries
Disney Buys Playdom in $763 Million Deal, Becoming Hollywood Leader in Social Games
Telefónica Wins Control of Brazilian Operator After Raising Bid
Sprint Nextel Reports Gain in Subscribers
Indians 4, Yankees 1: Yankees Are Foiled by a Pitcher in His Debut
Mets 8, Cardinals 2: Francoeur, Possible Trade Bait, Makes the Most of an Unexpected Start
Practical Traveler: Avoiding a Large Phone Bill When Traveling
Next Stop: A Swedish Island for Respite or Revelry
A London Chef Looks to a Different East
The Curious Cook: To Enhance Flavor, Just Add Water
Drilling Down: Why Elite Shoppers Eschew Logos
G.M. Puts $41,000 Price Tag on the Volt
Appeals Court Rejects Effort to Create Hybrid Taxi Fleet
Editorial: Rethinking Criminal Sentences
Film: Duvall, Nearly 80, Is Still a Darling of Hollywood
Hero of Comic-Book World Gets Real
Surviving an Epic Night of Being Everything and Nothing
Theater Review | 'Notice Me': Angry, Bored, Conflicted. Group Hugs, Anyone?
Books of The Times: Love Found Amid Ruins of Empire
Political Times: Race: Still Too Hot to Touch
Facebook Is to Power Company as ...
The Web Means the End of Forgetting
The Yoga Mogul
New Orleans’s Gender-Bending Rap
More City Preschoolers Are Perfect, Test Scores Show
Poll: Older Americans Perplexed by Health Care Law
A New Concept in Health Care
No comments:
Post a Comment