Future Landscaping: Time to Plant Another Bush?

Future Landscaping: Time to Plant Another Bush?  One of the more popular exercises in presidential politics lately is gauging exactly how serious Jeb Bush is about seeking the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.  He seems to have fired the starting pistol for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.  Now I have no intellectual foundation from which to prognosticate major party nominees.  I don’t read tea leaves too well at all and have no friends in high places that can feed me reliable tidbits of information.  Not being a registered Republican, Jeb would not be my first choice as a nominee.  But I will venture a comment or two regarding Jeb’s prospects…if he decides to pull the trigger.

Even though most consider it a foregone conclusion, I am still not wholly convinced that Hillary Clinton will pursue the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.  If she does not, it will get just as interesting on the left side of the aisle as it will likely be on the right.  But for the sake of discussion, let us assume that Hillary runs for and claims said Democratic nomination.  We now have a Democratic nominee who wears couch covers as dresses, has a face on two sides of her head to address the moderate and left wings of her party, will be 69 years old (and bless her heart, she looks every day of it) the day she takes office if she is successful, and has more baggage to tote into a campaign than the New York Giants (her adopted Senate state) could manage.  Oh...did I mention that the woman has the personality of a door knob and occasionally goes all "Oliver Stone" with her conspiracy theories?  One last point: I do not believe that running as the first female president will have quite the luster as running as the first black president.  The Democrats have gotten just about all of the mileage out of their “War on Women” that is possible and women simply will not vote as monolithic for one of their own as black Americans have.

I readily concede the folly of trying to predict a Republican nominee from the lengthy list of possible candidates.  But there are some points to be made in favor of Jeb Bush.  Unless the national political climate changes dramatically in the next two years, Obama will not be leaving office as a very popular president, many folks will still harbor some buyer’s remorse, and polls be damned…many moderates of all stripes will still prefer W over O in a comparison contest.  After Obama’s circus vacates WDC, I have to believe that many folks will be looking for and will welcome some degree of competency and accomplishment in their candidate and will take a favorable view of a successful ex-governor.  

 

I will venture to say that with the specter of "W and Bill's" ghosts hovering around each campaign, it will pretty much be a political wash.  Will the right wing of the Republican Party prevent Jeb from acquiring the nomination?  For all of the rap about him not being conservative enough, the fact is that his record shows he is quite conservative in all but two major areas of governing: immigration reform and common core education.  Whether or not you agree with his stance on either subject, they are without a doubt issues that need discussing and merit more than one sensible approach.  In other words, if he can sell his positions on each as “reasonable”, I see no problem with him winning over a significant number of Republican votes in the primary season.  Additionally, a close examination of his record will show that he is very much a fiscal conservative; much more so than his brother.  This will appeal not only to many Republican primary voters but to many Independents and moderate Democrats who prefer a “social moderate/fiscal conservative”.  

 

Say what you will about the Romney and Jeb comparisons, but I do not recall Mitt ever telling the right wing to back up and rethink their positions on major issues; I like the spunk Jeb has shown in doing just that.   Some in the liberal press have already begun to spend ink on publicizing how well Jeb has done in recent years with his “off shore “investments.  Two points here: Does anyone really think that between “Wall Street Connections”, “Pork Belly Futures”, and “Whitewater” that Hillary wants the debate to head down that alley?   After watching the media’s “carnival of the absurd” that accompanied Romney and his wealth, I marvel at the fact that no one mentions that Republican presidents tend to come into office wealthy, while Democratic presidents tend to acquire their wealth while in office and afterwards.  Let me think….wasn’t it Hillary that said they came into the White House broke?

Now Jeb might not be my choice for the Republican nomination and he may not even be in the running when the contest becomes serious, but I will predict this here and now: If the 2016 presidential race is between Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush, not only will Jeb Bush be our next president; but he will also come into office with a Republican Senate and House. 

 

 

 

Is the College Playoff a Good Idea?

Is the College Playoff a Good Idea?  It is soooooo very “Good Idea”.  While not the gold standard set forth by Yahoo sportswriter Dan Wetzel http://sports.yahoo.com/news/wetzels-playoff-plan-money-talks-085100096--ncaaf.html , it is nonetheless a great start and a marvelous replacement for the idiotic BCS formula.  Now there is legitimate debate that will be forthcoming about the composition of the selection committee and that will be tricky indeed.  The people who have the experience and the context to make the best decisions are the very same people that will likely have a vested interest in one of the teams being considered.  As long as they maintain a high degree of integrity and independence, and keep the process transparent, this will eventually take care of itself.  The larger question is, of course….what exactly is the right number of teams to put in the playoff?  That, my friends, is a very interesting question and should bring forth a fascinating discussion by college fans all across the nation.

Without putting forth a specific number, I will put forth a specific rationale for selecting that number.  I will also go on record as saying that “4” is not the right number.  This year, the magic number would have been “6”; the four that have been selected plus TCU and Baylor.  Why?  Because any of those six would have a reasonable chance to win out and capture the championship; the drop-off that occurs after six does not cover that contingency.  The guiding principle in setting the selection number should be this: Any team that would have a reasonable (as defined by the selection committee) chance to win out in a playoff should be in the playoff.  The seed is not nearly as important as simply giving every team that might be the best the chance to prove it.  Now some that have put forth the magic number as “6” have said that the teams should be seeded and numbers 1 and 2 should receive first round byes.  This is worth considering, but I submit that if you are conducting a championship playoff with as few as 6 teams, it is difficult to justify giving two of those teams the huge advantage of a first round bye.  This year, six would be the correct number; but would it be correct every year?  No, it would not.  Some years, the selection principle might limit the teams to 4; other years, it might be more than 6.  The selection number needs to consistent and set in stone.  So, we now consider bumping the number of playoff teams up to eight.  If we move up to eight, we eliminate the prospect of first round byes; I like that.  However, we bring in the distinct possibility that there will some teams, in certain years, selected for the playoffs that really have no business playing for a national championship.  Two points about this…If the selection committee is going to err, I would prefer they err by putting a lesser team in the mix rather than leaving a worthy team out of the mix.  After all, if a team considered “lesser” wins out; they were not “lesser” after all, were they?  Secondly, if the selection committee does a decent job of seeding the playoff teams, the last teams in will have the most difficult first round games and that should deal rather effectively with any question regarding their worthiness.  One thing is fairly certain: Any number larger than eight, without implementing a full-blown Wetzel plan, would be too many.  How many years can you think of where you thought more than the top eight teams in the first post-season rankings had a chance to be the best team in land?  I can’t think of a single one in my lifetime; eight ought to cover it.

So as we celebrate the death of the BCS, let’s enjoy some potentially great matchups in this inaugural college playoff and look forward with interest to the debate that will follow.  The first step to the playoffs was the most difficult; it will only get better from here on in.  Settle…it…on…the…field.

 

Reconciliation A Nonstarter for the Senate; But Leave the Nuclear Option Intact.

Reconciliation A Nonstarter for the Senate; But Leave the Nuclear Option Intact.  A key part of the Obamacare passage without a single
Republican vote was the illegitimate use of the reconciliation process.  There is now serious discussion by some Republicans to use that same process to dismantle it.  At the same time, it appears that the incoming Republican majority will not take the “Harry Reid” nuclear option off the table.  In one of these cases, two wrongs don’t make a right; in one, two will.

I have said many times before that any legislation that cannot acquire at least token opposing party support should not be passed.  Any bill with any merit whatsoever should be able to garner some votes from across the political aisle.  The Democrats passed Obamacare in an abnormal fashion and have been paying the price for that act ever since.   Well over 20 Senate Democrats who voted for it have now been voted out of office or decided not to run for reelection.  Obamacare remains a predominantly unpopular program with the public and continues to damage the Democratic brand.  This is the predictable and proper results when a political party chooses to abuse their majority position in Congress.  This is the first reason that Republicans should not use the reconciliation process to attempt repeal or revision of Obamacare.  When a piece of legislation is as sweeping and impactful as Obamacare, it should not be changed in any fashion other than bipartisan.  Lest the Obamacare curse spread across the aisle and begin to infect Republicans, the Grand Old Party had better get a few Democrats on board before trying to dismantle Obama’s byzantine trophy.

On the other hand, the nuclear option is a separate and distinctly different matter.  In today’s world of activist judges and executive overreach, federal judges and agency officials have huge and immediate impact on the everyday lives of American citizens.  Even when proven to be illegal or improper from the get go, our system takes so very long to deal with these judicial transgressions of power and trust that oftentimes the damage is irreparable by the time the original action is overturned.  In the case of federal judges, there must be something astronomically liberating about a lifetime appointment to the bench.  Some of these black-robed monoliths are on such a power-rush that they appear to see our country and its people as nothing more than a human chess board ala “Alice in Wonderland”.  Their irrational and idealist rulings are no less than breathtaking in their boldness and breadth; and since the implementation of the Senate nuclear rule, the Obama administration has loaded up the judicial system with these mavericks at a level never seen before.  In this instance, the danger is so immediate and omnipresent that remedial action must be taken as soon as possible in any possible way.  The need to restore some type of ideological balance to the federal judiciary is so pressing that it would be foolish for the Republicans to shelve the nuclear option at this point.  That genie will likely never go back into the bottle from whence it came.

 

After Three Quarters...Trailing Hopelessly and Flailing About Shamelessly.

After Three Quarters…Trailing Hopelessly and Flailing About Shamelessly.  It is a mystery of life that oftentimes events coalesce in such a way that brings a new clarity and focus to a truth that has been obscured for some time.  To me, that is where we find ourselves with the combination of the state of international affairs, domestic affairs, political affairs, and cultural affairs and how all of these taken together reflect on our president and Liberal philosophy.  Taken individually:

·      And now our president has turned his deft diplomatic skills (tic) southward to the island of Cuba; changing with a few pointed words what has been USA policy towards that government for over 50 years.  As with so many of his foreign policy actions, he has once again stumbled into the right thing for the wrong reasons.  A strong argument can be made that an easing of the trade and commerce barriers between the US and Cuba holds the potential of impacting their social fabric in a positive way.  But that is not Obama’s primary concern.  Once again, his past rhetoric is contradictory to his actions; he changes his mind depending on wind gusts in Oklahoma (and the wind blows a lot in Oklahoma!).  His effort on Cuba is made largely to put an exclamation point on his executive initiatives and his liberal bent in foreign policy.  And once again, he takes a sweeping foreign policy initiative without any semblance of consultation with Congress or those minds in and around government who might have a valuable opinion on the matter.  Combine this Cuba escapade with Putin/Ukraine, the Middle East, and China/Nork and the spontaneous brew simply gets more bizarre.  What we have is a president who allows passing whims to dictate his impactful actions and decisions.  Pathetic.

·      Race relations are at their lowest point in the last 25-30 years.  Obama and Holder have squandered the opportunity to heal some racial wounds and have instead injected racism into every conceivable aspect of our society; into many places where it do not previously reside.  His treasury policy continues to drift, based on the premise that if the idea appeals to him, then there is no reason not to spend the money to finance it; the end justifies the means.  Legislation be damned; Obama chooses to rule by fiat and God forgive the heathens that oppose such glorious wisdom.  Less than half of our population now supports not only themselves, but the other half as well.  Entitlement is the new battle cry of the left and much of our youth.  Obamacare continues to eat away at our nation’s health care system, while inflicting terrible financial costs on our people and our government.  Young professionals now graduate from college with crippling debt, a head full of liberal nonsense, and the prospect of moving back in with their parents.  Yes…our president has done a remarkable job of pouring gasoline on the fires he found and creating many new ones to go along with them.

·      It is difficult to conceive of a political environment that promises to be as unproductive and chaotic as the one we now have.  And instead of stepping forward to provide leadership that attempts to address that situation, our president is hell-bent on seeing how far he can expand executive authority.  He has always been lazy when it comes to the heavy lifting of making law; but now as he enters his final two years, it appears he is simply going to do all he can to totally wreck the hotel room before moving on to the next gig.

·      The media bias towards the Left has been somewhat subdued since the humbling effects of the recent mid-term elections; but Obama’s Friday press love-fest has got them standing and cheering on the sidelines.  First off, this administration has zero credibility on any manner of data that they release.  They lie.  They cannot be trusted.  So the folly of extending that data to conclusions that put administration efforts in a positive light should be of little surprise to anyone paying attention.  As the polls and our lying eyes continue to tell us all, the public is not buying the “wonderful and booming economy” fairy tale being put forth by this administration.  Entitlements continue to erode the ethics of our population; the debt continues to balloon; in spite of record tax revenue, our federal spending is totally out of control; government is evermore dysfunctional each day and made more so with the rash of executive narcissism that builds the wall between the Executive and the Legislative even higher.  Obama is like a  petulant child who has been rebuked by his parents, goes to his room, looks around to see how many toys he can mangle, and sets forth to do the maximum amount of damage in the least amount of time; all the while screaming “Look at Me!”.  It is fascinating to me that while the press credits Obama policy (extremely convoluted logic) with rendering Putin impotent, the same impotency-rendering of Obama by the mid-terms simply strengthens his hand and “reinvigorates” his leadership.  The fact is that Obama opposed the very market directions that have devalued the ruble; this has all happened in spite of his policies.  Though they are both fraught with peril, I fear the “wounded bear” much more than the “reinvigorated weasel”.

The “fourth quarter” analogy being put forth by this administration is a stark reminder to all of us of exactly how Obama and his ilk view his job; it is a game to them.  They overly-celebrate the wins, exaggerate the victories, shamelessly hype their perceived achievements, and simply ignore their failures and shortcomings; all the time aided and abetted by the mainstream media.  This pathetic child and his loyal friends have turned our White House into a playroom for six years.  He has now publicly declared that he will do his dead level best in the time remaining to lose a few pieces of every puzzle, break an arm or leg off of every action figure, lose a wheel or two off of every vehicle, and mark up the pages in every storybook.  As much as we can celebrate that his time in office is 75 percent over and Congress will provide a bit of firewall between him and his maddening agenda, we should all shudder at the potential damage he can continue to inflict on our nation over the next two years.  We can only hope that the fourth quarter passes quickly, common sense can maintain possession through an effective ground game, and the referees don’t come up with too many bizarre calls to make the score closer.