Riccards on New Jersey 2008

Swine Flu

2009-04-29T12:39:00.000-05:00

Since the Middle Ages, the great plagues have frightened us. We see the loss of large segments to something that is invisible to the naked eye, and some how linked up to animals and diseased carriers. Our responses are really often the same: fresh air, isolation, and prayer. So it was with the bird flu, with AIDS, and now with swine flu, except now we are more international, more porous, and thus more vulnerable.

The Hall Institute prints here the CDC link which is probably the very best information and the most current that we possess. The address is: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

Election Results

2008-11-04T21:55:00.000-05:00

The oldest political party in the world, a party founded by Virginia slaveholders in the eighteenth century, has nominated and elected the first African American president. Critical to Barack Obama's victory was the Democrats’ stronger showing among white college graduates than four years ago. The most salient issue was the deteriorating economy and health care coverage. The question of exiting Iraq, so important four years ago, became less important since the collapse of housing and financial industries. Tonight history was made in many ways.

Odd and Ends

2008-10-29T11:28:00.000-05:00

Now the McCain people are attacking Palin as a diva and a whack job. How come when others said that they got so much right wing hate mail.

Is anyone seriously talking about her and 2012. Come on guys, wake up, this nation is in serious straits.

McCain reported proudly how many Secretaries of State support him; unfortunately he could not remember George Schultz.

Word is Obama people are writing his inaugural address. Shouldn't they be spending their time on getting out the vote?

Caribou Barbie

2008-10-20T19:13:00.000-05:00

Wits have called Sarah Palin "Caribou Barbie"

New York Times is now blaming the current economic mess on Alan Greenspan, once revered by business and politicians

AP-Yahoo-Stanford poll shows Obama might be losing up to 6 points nationally because of his race

There Hillary Is

2008-10-16T08:17:00.000-05:00

In the last debate, McCain went on the offensive against Obama, but Obama decided as the front runner to grin most of the night. Hey, these are serious matters, guys.

Hillary was at Hofstra, sitting quietly and thinking. She said little. HOfstra does a fine job presenting special weeks on presidents of the past, including her husband, to tries and define their place in history. More interesting was their conference on Babe Ruth. I met their Bob Feller and Babe's old bat boy was in his 70s when we talked.

It appears that the American people have awoken from their vice presidential slumber and decided that Governor Palin is not qualified. And yes.....

She's No Tina Fey

2008-10-08T13:52:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday night, Senator McCain finally got his town meeting debate where he thinks he is so much better at. Unfortunately for him, the camera angles just made him look tired and decrepit. He kept on taking notes for some reason and repeated his old lines. Obama seemed clearer and lean, even though he was diffuse at time about the issues.

Sister Sarah Palin was in Florida trying convince people that Obama liked to pal around with terrorists, like Bill Ayres, the old Weatherman. She did not even know what the Weathermen were about and their record of anti social behavior. But on and on she went, looking like a bad imitation of Tina Fey.

Has anybody seen the Clintons?

Vice Presidential Debate

2008-10-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

Totally programmed Sarah Palin had set expectation so low she had to surprise you--if she did not go daffy duck.

You now know why Biden got two percent in Iowa. He is rapid fire boring.

To intimidate the moderate then noted she wrote a pro Obama book. If so the MSNBC and FOX people should be cut out today.

McCain will stop campaigning in Michigan. The economy is too dismal there and the GOP are seen as responsible.

Joe Biden's Vice Presidential Recomendation

2008-09-15T10:51:00.000-05:00

Sarah Palin insists she is ready to be a vice president. But she could not define the Bush doctrines???

She did argue that Georgia and the Ukraine should be in NATO and would thus mandate the US to attack aggressive Russia.

Senator Joe Biden says Hillary would have been a better vice president candidate that he is. Whey didn't he tell Obama that earlier?

Bill Clinton will start campaigning for Obama in very late Sept. Why doesn't he wait until late November. As for Hillary, she is campaigning and no one is noticing. The media has a new female icon now.

While General David Petraeus argues that the progress made in Iraq is fragile, the Administration with the Iraqi government argues that timetables for exiting are in order. Wasn't that Obama's position in late February?

How Secede In Life

2008-09-04T09:06:00.002-05:00

THE GOP convention showed a strange film that praised its greatest president, Abraham Lincoln. Earlier in the night the media was discussing if Sarah Palin was a member of an Alaskan party that advocated succession. Strange irony for the Republican spinners.

Obama and Biden were on Sixty Minutes and one can realize why people don't support Biden. He is too much of a hail and hearty boy, with his backslapping and jousting. Spare us the false macho stuff, Joe.

The best media story of the week is that the McCain people denied poor old Larry King an interview with the Senator because a CNN reporter implied that Palin has no real experience as commander in chief just because some units of the Alaskan National Guard are in Iraq.

As for Sarah, she just got her US passport two years ago. Just in time.

Iraqi Miscellany

2008-08-06T13:37:00.001-05:00

It appears that while USA is funding $48 billion in Iraq rebuilding costs, the Iraq government will have a surplus of $79 billion by the year's end - very little of which ($3.9 billion) is going into such projects. Who are the jerks in this commitment.

Also in Iraq, the government is saying that it is not ready to use its troops for peacekeeping in several provinces. How long does it take? Why not let Iraq use its oil profits to hire mercenaries like the Bush DOD does instead of having us involved in the transaction. Then we can leave and they can control the action.

Fund raising

2008-07-28T08:11:00.000-05:00

President Bush may be unpopular with the GOP rich. He has attended 36 fund raising events that have brought in nearly $68 million for the party and its candidates.

The End Of A Conservative Era?

2008-07-25T14:58:00.001-05:00

Sometimes in life it is better to keep your mouth shut. McCain insisted that Obama had failed as a candidate by not going to the Middle East. So Obama goes and gets a rock star’s treatment even by the US troops, and the Iraqi government agrees with his time table. The Bush Administration is left with its opposition to the time table and was furious with the Maliqi government, so the prime minister said he was misquoted and mistranslated. The problem is that the translator was his own aide.

George Bush II has criticized the Wall Street drunkenness that has led to the last economic crises. Where has he been in the last seven years?

One good side effect of the recession we are in, even the conservatives have begged the federal government to save the housing industry and Fanny and Freddie. Finally we have put to bed that silly economic philosophy of Milton Friedman that the market can rectify all problems. He did so much damage in the emerging nations that one would have assumed most people understood nonsense. Maybe also we can stop reading those excruciatingly long and boring Ayn Rand novels that praise selfishness and duplicity. So much for right wing prophets.

Speaking of prophets, John Lennon "the most overrated man on the planet" once said the Beatles were going to be bigger than Jesus Christ. Now he says that he was misunderstood, some forty five years ago, he is really a follower of Jesus. Not exactly a prompt rebuttal.

Odd & Ends This Week

2008-07-17T12:45:00.002-05:00

Poor John McCain looked confused when some reporter asked him--if insurance covers Viagra why not birth control pills.

The New Yorker's cover of Obama is less troubling than the inside analysis of his early career in politics.

While the Administration is chastising those who want a timetable for withdrawal out of Iraq, the Iraq government is demanding just such a timetable.

What Change Looks Like

2008-07-09T13:23:00.000-05:00

Barack Obama is complaining that his liberal friends have misunderstood his movments to the center. That is what happens when you look like you are changing your positions on Iraq, telephone survelliance, campaign financing and faith based social work.

Is Obama The Right Candidate?

2008-07-07T11:14:00.004-05:00

The New York Times has listed the top search terms used most for the presidential candidates. This tally tells one what the topics users were most interested in. The top search terms used by views for McCain are health care, environment, oil prices, education, global warming; For Obama it was abortion, education, global warming , heath care, and immigration.

Talking heads are still resurrecting Hillary as a possible veep for Obama. After all she did carry half the Democrat votes and half the delegates, especially in non caucus states. The recent article in Vanity Fair argues that Hillary lost because her major advisor, Mark Penn, tried to turn her into a tough talking male type and avoid the softer woman's image. The article by Gail Sheedy also makes a case that Bill was totally off the reservation, with disastrous results after South Carolina.

Poor John McCain does his thing with a trip to the nation of Columbia, and the major story there is the release of the long held hostages. Appearing with Joe Lieberman later, he looked very old.

Obama must be convinced that he has the liberal vote locked up. In the last several weeks, he has so turned to the right that one can't figure out what is happening to the campaign. He promised a new poltics, but we are getting the old Bill Clinton-Dick Morris trangulation where the Democrats take conservative positions. As Harry Truman once said if the Amerian people have a choice between the Republicans and Democrats who talk like Republicans they will choose the real thing.

Oil Prices

2008-06-30T14:46:00.000-05:00

We all are weary of the rising oil prices. But it is interesting to see the break down of who gets what from $4.00 a gallon: $3 for extracting crude oil; refining 40 cents ; oil profits 20 cents; gas station owners 10 cents; taxes (fed and state) about 40 cents. New Jersey has the second lowest tax in nation.

Still Going The American Way?

2008-06-19T09:26:00.002-05:00

Some yahoos in the GOP in Texas have made up buttons that say "If Obama wins, is the White house still white?" In North Carolina some fools have made up Curious George dolls with Obama on them. Is that the level we are operating on still???

Bush was in Europe saying how pro American they have become. He did not mention the Pew polls that show much of that increase is due to the fact that he is leaving office soon.

Some 82 percent of the American people think the nation is going the wrong direction. Who are the other 18%? Do they live in this land?

Odds and Ends

2008-06-02T10:42:00.005-05:00

Hillary overwhelmingly wins Puerto Rico, but only 20% of the people voted on an island where 80% percent of the people usually vote—that's about as big a turnout as the people who vote in the municipal fire department commissioner elections.

When can I get a copy of Scott McClellan’s book around here? Is there anything McClellan said that we don't know about? Imagine implying that the Bush administration is not on the level!

Obama's giving a speech in Mitchell South Dakota in front of a building built of corn cobs. Is that state for real?

Harold Ickey spent all weekend denouncing the Democratic National Committee’s rules on voting. Where was he when the rules were created? As I remember, he was there! How many Americans remember that his father was Franklin’s Roosevelt’s great Secretary of the Interior?

Speaking of FDR the co chair of the democratic national rules committee was FDR's great grandson. Boy, has the gene pool thinned out in that great family.

McCain denounced Obama for not having bee in Iraq recently. Last time McCain went we have to mobilize all sorts of American military security just to protect him and sycophant Joe Lieberman just so that they walk through the bizarre buying cheap rugs.

This weekend, with my wife, I saw the Sex and the City movie. Only three other hen-pecked guys were there in an auditorium that sat over three hundred people. When I walked in, the women gave me an ovation. Is this country becoming polarized by gender?

Bad Behavior, the Clinton Lot

2008-05-28T11:14:00.002-05:00

It appears that both Clintons have chosen a denial of reality as they try to explain how Hillary really deserves the nomination despite the delegate tally for Obama. They will simply redefine the rules and say that now she has the popular plurality in these races.

It is interesting that the Clintons now oppose freezing out Michigan and Florida for violating the DNC rules. Their agent, Harold Ickes, was one of the most vigorous in opposing those states that allowed voting before New Hampshire. Now he is crying that it is just unfair. These sorts of behavior from the Clinton lot is what troubles so many fair minded people, winning at all costs, warping language, changing the rules of the game depending where you are. Obama has good allies in his battle against the old politics.

Vote for Fresh Air in 2008

2008-05-12T12:00:00.001-05:00

McCain had his 96 year old mother on to show that he is not so old after all. She babbled on, proving that she could still remember what it was like to be 17 and in love. How that helps his case for being the oldest president in US history is a mystery. It maybe that his ideas are old, and the nation needs some fresh air after bush II.

For some reason, the Clintons insist on going on through the final primaries as if the nation owes special obligation to Puerto Rico or whomever. Her staff is bragging how much in money she has received since Indiana and North Carolina, who from is unclear.

George Bush, after neglecting the Middle East for two terms, is now pressing for a final settlement to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Has anyone seen Condi Rice? Maybe she is being held hostage and nobody realizes.

Bread and Butter

2008-05-08T17:30:00.003-05:00

Obama's victory in North Carolina, and near upset in Indiana is pretty much the ball game for Hillary. She has fought a long and honorable campaign but the public mood is clearly for someone and something else. The Clintons have been around too long, and with the general of the Bushes, perhaps it is time to end their lock on the modern presidency and get in some young blood.

McCain may not have that blood, but he is solidifying the party and getting ready to hit Obama hard on the usual patriotic issues that the GOP loves to fight on instead of the war, taxes, gasoline, and health care.

Obama needs to bleed the new politics he so advocates with bread and butter issues which have been so important to the Democratic party since FDR. No Democrat can win without raising the class warfare issues.

Hillary's Good Fight. A Battle Lost?

2008-05-02T13:58:00.000-05:00

Despite her splendid performance on O'Reilly on Fox, Hillary has to face the very difficult matthematics that make it almost impossible for her to win the nomination. Obama is substainially ahead of her in the delegate count, and it is unlikely that the superdelegates are going to bail her out. She has fought the good fight, now it is time to step down.

War and Taxes

2008-04-28T13:29:00.001-05:00

There is an urban myth that federal tax cuts lead to major fixes in the economy such that federal income taxes more than pay for the losses in revenue. Recent studies show that since the JFK tax cut that has not been true. Now McCain is proposing a tax cut and spending increases that will be three times those of Hillary and Barack. He seeks to cut the corporate tax rate by $100 billion cut; eliminate the $60 billion alternative minimum cut; double the personal exemption for dependents which is a cost of $65 billion and expand the military. It used to be that the GOP was the party of fiscal sanity.

All of us should hold our breath for the upcoming memoir of Douglas Feith, a neocon architect of the Iraq disaster. General Thomas Franks has called him "the dumbest ....guy on the planet." George Tenet of the CIA called his work:"total crap". Former ambassador to Iraq, Jay Gainer, remarked "He's a smart guy whose electrons aren't connected." In his memoir "War and Decision", Feith argues that it was Colin Powell and his deputy Richard Armitage who failed to challenge the logic of going to war. He blames his old boss Donald Rumsfeld for the post war chaos. He blames Condoleezza Rice for the way she managed the National Security Council and papered over issues. He notes that President Bush allowed insubordinate behavior in the bureaucracy

Hillary On Her Way Up?

2008-04-09T08:20:00.001-05:00

Despite Obama's lead in the popular vote, Clinon has a 421,000 lead over him among registered Democrats in the votes conducted so far.

There needs to be some facts about NAFTA:

2008-04-08T11:56:00.000-05:00

The Democrats have decided to criticize the North American Trade treaty, especially in declining industrial states during the primary campaign. But there are complex facts that come forth.

Exports to Mexico only account for $161 billion last year, only 1.1 percent of our economy.

Imports from Mexico have jumped five fold since 1993, but they amount only 1.7 percent of our $14 trillion economy.

Since NAFTA, the number jobs has jumped by 7 million between 1993-2007, and NAFTA accounts for 0.5 percent of the US economy.

We could reopen the treaty process, but Canada and Mexico will surely have demands as well. Canada's environmental regulations are stricter than ours, by the way.

Our First Black President

2008-04-08T11:47:00.002-05:00

There is talk about Barack Obama becoming our first Black president, but Beverly Gage of Yale reminds us that that may not be so. There has been the persistent rumor that President Warren Harding was in fact the "First Negro president", as they called it in his time. He was supposedly the great grandson of a black woman and under US race relations in which one "drop" counted. We will never know if this was just a racist attack on the Harding family strain or was a true oral legend until we have access to DNA of the late president.

50 Disillusioned...Is The Battle Lost?

2008-04-03T22:32:00.002-05:00

Hillary Clinton who advocates universal health care owes health insurance companies nearly $300,000 in payments to cover her own campaign staff. CareFirst provides coverage for her staff; but she is running up a $9 million debt as Obama outspends her 3-1 in Pennsylvania. Under the law, she is unable to dip into her money which has been allocated for the general election.

The Clintons never expected a major fight for the nomination and tapped their major donor base already.

In New Jersey, Clinton's lead over McCain has dropped. Now he is beating her 45-42% whereas last month she was ahead 50-39%. Her favorability rating has also dropped from 56% to 50%.

Even Rapper 50 Cent has indicated that he has withdrawn his support from Hillary Clinton, saying he doesn't follow the campaign anymore.

Making Relations

2008-03-26T13:26:00.000-05:00

We now know that Senator Barack Obama is related to Vice President Dick Cheney. Now we hear that he is related to President Bush and his father, Gerald Ford. Lyndon Johnson, Harry Truman and James Madison. He also is related 11 generations ago to actor Brad Pitt. Hillary Clinton is related to Angelina Jolie, Jack Kerouac, Madonna, Celine Dion, and Camilla Parker Bowles. Senator John McCain is related to Laura Bush. What this proves is that blood is not thicker than water.

A National Curriculum and Iraq

2008-03-19T11:40:00.003-05:00

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has unilaterally amended the No Child Left Behind legislation, an act that too few of us have supported over the years. Her new directives will essentially focus on urban schools and probably alleviate its impact on suburban and rural areas--areas surprisingly where Republicans are strongest. Her polices will basically let more homogeneous districts off the hook even if they would have qualified as deficient under the old administration of the law. That is too bad, for it eviscerates the law. It also puts back the notion of a national curriculum which many of us believe is the major need we have now.

The Congressional Budget office is saying that the endless war in Iraq has cost from $1 to 2 billion. How useful are these budget estimates that have such a fudge factor. Does anyone wonder? Do these guys have civil service protection in the CBO, or what? And these are supposed to be the most non-partisan and most professional experts that Congress relies on...

Patricia Ward Kelly Says The Comparison Stinks

2008-03-19T10:59:00.004-05:00

Well you knew it was coming: Maureen Dowd, the least capable of the New York Times pundits, wrote a column "Soft Shoe in Hard Times" in which she thought it would be cute to compare George Bush II to the great dancer Gene Kelly. That was clearly too much for Kelly's widow. She reminded readers that Gene had a degree in economics from Pitt, spoke multiple languages, wrote poetry, studied history, understood Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes, did the crossword puzzle in ink, and was delighted to be compared with Jack Dempsey, Wayne Gretzky and Willie Mays. But his widow bitterly protests that he should not be compared to that "clinker" who cannot communicate. "For George Bush to become Gene Kelly would require impossible leaps in creativity, erudition and humility." So there, you smarty New York lady.

That's amore?

2008-03-17T12:30:00.002-05:00

Just when we thought they said all they can say: the McGreeveys are back in the newspapers with explicit details of a ménage a trois with their driver. There seems to be no end to their ongoing story of life, love and romance. If someone had written a novel of this relationship, none of us would buy it. It would be too absurd.

Obama is fudging about his relationship with his minister who married him and who baptized his kids. Why is it that so many men of the cloth think that they have a right to use their pulpits to preach on non religious topics and spread venom when the Prophets preach love and mercy. I guess the gospels and scriptures are not powerful enough for these inspired guys who have to regale us with their prejudices and hatreds.

McCain is back in Iraq where he walking around checking on the surge in US forces. Even the commander of the forces has admitted that he is rather frustrated with the lack of progress in the political realm.
The whole idea of adding more forces was to create the time to let the politicians in Iraq solve their problems. That is not working.
They took months to decide on the color scheme of their flag. Somehow our fighting forces deserve better. McCain can not admit the obvious, since he has staked his campaign on the surge and on staying the course. Bush III.

The media and several books have suddenly discovered the obvious: that Condi Rice is a very poor secretary state, was a poor National Security advisor, and was even a very poor provost at Stanford. But in this administration, one's judgment is not a criterion for promotion, you just have to agree with Bush II's visions and apparitions on foreign policy.

The latest study of thousands of documents done by the Pentagon shows that there was absolutely no tie of Saddam to Al Qaeda.

And the New York Times just discovered in its March 17 issue that Ambassador Bremer destroyed the Iraq army and bureaucracy on his own, and probably only Rumsfeld and maybe Bush were aware, and even then it is not clear if they understood the magnitude of what they were doing.

So we are now in the fifth year of this endless war--it has taken Bush longer to foul up Iraq than it took Franklin Roosevelt to win the wars in Europe and Asia combined. People frequently ask me what makes a president great--just think about the last fact.

Obama and/or Hillary? Hillary and/or Obama?

2008-03-10T12:55:00.004-05:00

Even if Hillary Clinton prevails in Pennsylvania, Obama is expected to do well in Mississippi and North Carolina. She must get 2/3 of the super delegates to get the nomination and Obama needs to get 1/3 to prevail.

Now the scandal sheets are fronting the story that Obama is gay.
Pundits I talked to in Washington DC predicted that was coming months ago.

Bill Clinton is indicating that a Hillary-Barrack ticket would be unbeatable. Perhaps they would inherit each other's negatives. How could Hillary say he was qualified for the number 1 slot and for taking over from her if she is gone after she has said that he is simply inexperienced for the job? And if he is on top, does he really want Bill Clinton let loose in the West Wing? She would be better with Bill Richardson, and he would be better off with General Wesley Clark.

Meanwhile the media did a number on McCain saying that he lost his temper when he dared to confront a New York Times reporter on an old rumor that he was offered the number two slot on John Kerry's ticket.

If that is an explosive temper, the New York Times and the 24-7 television and radio media better toughen up in life. As for the New York Times, they had better watch for a major stockholders' revolt which is going to be more difficult than poor McCain.

Bread and Butter, America

2008-03-05T13:17:00.002-05:00

The Tuesday primaries in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island all featured victories by Senator Clinton. Senator Obama only carried the People's Republic of Vermont. The Chablis flowed freely in Burlington that night. Clinton won the popular vote but lost the small caucus vote in Texas. Her victories were apparently due to economic issues; she is a bread and butter Democrat, not an inspirational one. And as the recession deepens, people are very worried about bread and butter. So she recaptured the middle class last night. Still, with all her victories, the Democratic Party’s weird system probably gave her only a few more delegates than she had the day before. But she does have a sort of momentum, and can say that she delivers in the big states: California, New York, New Jersey, Texas and Ohio, and would probably have won Michigan and Florida.

An interesting aside, state Senator Karen Johnson from Arizona is sponsoring a bill that permits firearms on campuses. She had originally wanted to allow kids starting in kindergarten to carry weapons but a few of the right wing crazies said that was a bit much even for them. I kind of like the idea of tots carrying rods--so much for bullying. Johnson says some people consider her a wacko. A good candidate for vice president???

Oprah for Obama

2008-02-26T12:43:00.003-05:00

Sometime in the Iowa and New Hampshire primary campaigns, Obama went from being another candidate to being a major alternative to Hillary. I hate to raise the issue, but I think I have the answer--Oprah. Yes, I know—or I share the usual male attitude toward her show. It is an endless stream of sappy self help books, anti male rhetoric, and tips on the need to avoid bad hygiene habits by Dr. Oz. But still she has an enormous following among older women, and her support for Obama indirectly tipped the scales at the outset. How? Well, she helped turn out huge crowds, and that gave him the chance to present his message which more and more people came to like. She sold him, and he sold himself. Now the campaign is about him, his character, his readiness, and his rhetoric. Poor Hillary can not get us to focus on public policy, so she gets more frustrated and then sounds shrill.
She can't win because she and Bill are used to going bare knuckled against opponents all their careers. Now she can't do that with Obama--the people don't like her going after him. The latest New York Times poll shows him with a 54-44 margin over Clinton among all Democratic primary voters. Obama's problem is what happens when she is gone and he has to face McCain--a personable warrior who will stress national security experience and his heroic war record.

Churchill Didn't

2008-02-19T13:57:00.002-05:00

The Clintons, desperate for a victory, are charging Obama with plagiarism since he used language similar to that of his governor friend in Massachusetts. He was trying to say that language is important in politics. In fact, Winston Churchill’s' greatest speech in which he promised blood, sweat, toil and tear was borrowed from Garibaldi's speech to the Italian troops in their revolutionary war.

Obama Leader?

2008-02-15T09:42:00.000-05:00

While the New York Times is close to pronouncing Obama the democrats candidate, Hillary looks ahead in Ohio, Pennsylvania, maybe Texas, and likely to get Florida and Michigan in a floor fight. That is a big bloc.

Huckabee is continuing on in part because has nothing else to do. Who wants to go back to hope Arkansas?

Biden is out raising money to pay off his campaign debt. Too bad, he at least had a plan thought out to leave Iraq.

Odd and Ends, Election Updates

2008-02-13T12:34:00.002-05:00

The state of California spends over $30 million a year to protect its Governor. Wasn’t this fellow once the Terminator?

Obama is not only beating Hillary in a string of primaries but, more ominously for her, he is winning the Democratic primaries by very large margins.

Bill Clinton said recently that he always wanted to vote for a woman president and also for an African American president, so he understands why people are flocking to Obama. That does not help Hillary, Bill.

My grandson in Virginia voted for Obama; he is tired of the Baby Boomers presidents.

Super Tuesday Elections

2008-02-06T09:21:00.000-05:00

The Super Tuesday elections were a real mixed bag. McCain generally rolled over Romney, but his strength is in states that will likely go for the Democrats in the general election: California, New York, New Jersey. Huckabee cut into his opponents’ votes especially in the conservative South. He is all that is left for so called social conservatives, or people who want to tell others how to live their lives so they can feel saved. It is said, in the media, that Romney has a transparency problem, which is code words for saying that he does seem to a lot of people not to be telling the truth.

As for the Democrats, the picture is more complicated. Hillary did well in New York, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts as well as other states like Arkansas. Obama carried Connecticut, Illinois, and important states in the South and Midwest. She does well among older women and blue collar workers. Her ability to carry Hispanics, especially those more likely to watch Spanish language televisions, and Asians was critical to her election victory in California.
Someone said that in the Democratic contests it is a battle between those who drink Dunkin Donuts coffee vs. those who drink Starbucks.

Bill Bequeathed The Presidency?

2008-02-06T09:10:00.000-05:00

Big discussion about whether Bill Clinton can be nominated on a Hillary ticket and then could he assume the president if she is incapacitated or dies. Law professors and lawyers doing what they do best are really trying to confuse the Constitution which clearly says that one must be eligible to be president to run for vice president, and which prohibits a person from serving more than two elected terms (or two elected terms and less than two years if succeeding your elected predecessor) They have decided that the 22nd Amendment stops one from being elected a third time but not from serving as president. Thus they are arguing that the 12th amendment does not apply anymore--"no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to be that of Vice-President." That means he could not even be nominated or certainly be elected legitimately.

As for Bill, he said the Constitution should be amended so that one can not serve more than two consecutive terms. Right, Bill!!!

Clinton Wins NJ

2008-02-05T21:37:00.000-05:00

The Democratic primary shows that Senator Clinton has in New Jersey the same strengths that she exhibited elsewhere. She draws better from women, whites, those with high school and partial college education and with older voters who are supportive of her claims of experience on the national level.

The most important issues are the ones the Hall Institute identified last year in our open letter to the candidates -- the economy, health care and the war in Iraq.

McCain Wins NJ

2008-02-05T20:15:00.000-05:00

Although the issue of illegal immigration is important among Republicans, GOP voters in New Jersey overwhelming picked an advocate of immigration reform in Senator John McCain. Republicans stressed both experience and change as twin themes they want in the White House. That combination is appropriate for a long time Republican who is often a maverick in his votes and behavior.

Willie Speaks and The People Listen

2008-02-05T17:00:00.000-05:00

Song Meister of the people Willie Nelson has suggested that the elections could be canceled because our current president could refuse to give up the White House: "It's a long time until election day and some sort of national crisis could put off the elections and we could have George in there ten years longer."

Two Remain

2008-01-30T11:03:00.000-05:00

With the exit of Edwards and Giuliani before Super Tuesday, it is obvious that we are talking about a two person race. There is much excitement with the Obama candidacy but the Clintons have strong organizations in the 20 plus states that are up for grabs. McCain in Florida did remarkably well among those who say they are conservative and those who are concerned about the economy. Both appeals were keys to the Romney strategy.

The New York Times wonders what happened to Giuliani. Perhaps they may want to look at their own series of exposes of his years as mayor—they went out of the way to fly every piece of dirty linen. Part of the problem was his really tough style over the years, but The New York Times has a long history of anti-Italian and anti-Catholic sentiment going back nearly a century. There are many ethnic and religious angles in this long campaign

That Sad Face Couldn't Get Thompson a Presidency

2008-01-23T11:42:00.000-05:00

David Brooks of the New York Times has highlighted the work of Alexander Todorov of the Woodrow WIlson School at Princeton University who shows that rapid judgments of competence based solely on the facial appearance of candidates is responsible for the outcomes of gubernatorial elections senate and house about 70% of the time. Such rapid inferences influence voting choices. Tough news for those of us in public policy and political science.

Fred Thompson dropped out. After being hailed as another Reagan, he ended not with a bang but with a whimper. He was so tired looking that his debates and speeches were better than Ambien.

What this proves is that one must almost maniacally want to be president, which may not be good for the republic in the long run.

The Debate

2008-01-22T11:51:00.000-05:00

The Tuesday debate of the three remaining democrats vying for the presidency, showed the candidates in poor light. Hillary came off as a vulture especially with Obama, he looked tentative and confused about the major issues especially medical care and Iraq, and white male John Edwards seemed ill at ease in South Carolina and in the debate.

Rudi has argued that he was saving himself; it appears now that what he was saving himself for (the big states primaries) have become increasingly populated by the Romneys and McCains of the world.

It is fun to watch the GOP candidates lionize Ronald Reagan, who was himself one of the great trimmers during his political career. Nobody can say that, but the record speaks for itself on abortion, taxes, civil rights and even dealing with the USSR.

How Will Hillary Carry the South?

2008-01-16T15:01:00.000-05:00

For Hillary to beat Romney or McCain she must carry some southern states or more than 80% of the electoral vote everywhere else. What southern states can she carry that gore or Kerry didn't?

Giuliani has postponed his campaign rev ups. If he continues to postpone combat, people will forget him. His failing support in New Jersey is a good example.

The GOP in South Carolina

2008-01-11T10:30:00.000-05:00

The Republican candidates met in South Carolina last night and it was a strange meeting indeed. First, they fell over each other honoring the philosophy of Ronald Reagan especially for his domestic programs and budgeting balancing. Unfortunately for them, history shows that the Gipper compiled massive deficits during his eight years.

Then Fred Thompson, rising out of the weary sunshine of Law and Order, launched an assault against Rev. Huck citing him as Christian but liberal. Sort of like an old Gnostic heresy. Then Huck answered a non question on why he said that women should be subject to their men--a paraphrase of the misogynous St. Paul; the governor concluded that it was a religious not a political injunction. This distinction from a man who has made religious values entering into politics his calling card.

Rudy who has talked so often about how he is a leader seemed remarkably unable to say what he had done to earn that title. And John McCain, who is ahead in the polls, told the audience that he expected the U.S. would remain in the Iraq theatre for a century. John never knows when to quit.

They all tried to step on Congressman Ron Paul, who from some reason insists that we cannot continue to be an empire rather than a republic -- we cannot afford it and cannot man it militarily. A tough question, but they accused him of sounding like a Democrat. That is the death rattle. Actually he sounded like historian Arnold Toynbee who observed that 19 out of 22 empires fell from intently causes.

New Hampshire: The Morning After

2008-01-09T08:43:00.000-05:00

John McCain, war hero and maverick Republican senator, had been pronounced dead in his campaign for president. Now he has won a major victory in flinty New Hampshire overcoming Romney, Huckabee and Giulani. He has always run well in that state and he gave an impassionate and patriotic victory speech. Meanwhile. Hillary Clinton also overcame the pundits and talking heads and beat Obama. She apparently drew large numbers of women, a group that had somewhat deserted her in Iowa, and carried the large working class cities of Nashua and Manchester. As the nation slips into recession, the bread and butter Democrats are more likely to turn out over the inspirational Democrats. Clinton is the only major Democrat in the Michigan campaign; McCain and Romney will have a major battle there.

What the Iowa Results Mean for the Candidates

2008-01-03T22:50:00.000-05:00

Iowa voters chose Governor Huckabee and Senator Obama in their caucuses tonight. In defeating Governor Romney, Huckabee won very substantial numbers of Republican fundamentalist Christians. Obama's victory was due to strong support of young Democratic voters in a state where the young are leaving in droves.

Now what is in store in New Hampshire? Senator McCain has resurrected his campaign and looks strong in the Granite State. Can Romney afford to lose there too? He will not carry South Carolina. Hillary has a strong national organization and lots of money, but the myth of invincibility is gone. In Iowa, at least people of both parties voted for change over alleged experience.

What's With the News?

2008-01-02T16:47:00.000-05:00

The conservative Television Fox Channel has decided that Dr. Ron Paul cannot be a part of the upcoming GOP debate for the presidential candidates. It reminds one of when Ron Reagan refused to allow organizers of a debate in 1980 to limit use of a mic. Also why is Paul illegitimate. He has raised more money than most candidates. Fox is apparently troubled by what the old libertarian has to say....

The New York Times is the best newspaper in America. Why then are they not covering the issue differences among Democrat candidates in a lucid way. Also, why in the Sunday Christmas issue was the national section almost totally taken over by advertising for New York city department stores, and why has the new paper with its smaller size and higher price made so many of its pages unreadable with a black streak on the margins. Does anybody proof the paper anymore???

Katie Couric has lost 1.1. million viewers for CBS news in the last year. Part of the problem is that she does not seem to have much of a command of hard news; but a good deal of the problem is that many of us do not go to the three networks for our nightly news. Why? Well, they are 22 minute shows, with endless advertising for eight minutes, and a good deal of the story line is fluff. There are very few stories with any depth, no real follow up on stories from previous nights, few experts who make any sense, lame humor, and almost predictable topics. Truly, Edward R. Morrow is dead. So poor Katie, who is grossly over paid, will be out in a year or so.

The Oracle of Montel Supports Obama

2008-01-02T09:32:00.000-05:00

Popular psychic, Sylvia Browne, has predicted that Barack Obama will be nominated president on the Democratic ticket, and that the Democrats will win the White House. Show host Montel Williams was delightfully surprised.

Hillary and Bill and the Right Minded

2007-12-18T16:50:00.000-05:00

Bill Clinton is hurting Hillary in Iowa by his heavy handed treatment of Obama. They have had to be so tough in their dealings with the nasty right over the years that they have become too personal and too edgy. They have become their enemies.

A Military Man For Vice President

2007-12-17T12:47:00.000-05:00

For either Hillary or Obama, General Wesley Clark would make a good vice president candidate. A former career officer who ran for president, Clark would add to either ticket a miltiary and security dimension and also an aspect of international relations due his record in Bosnia.

Neither Clinton nor Obama has the credentials to face the increasingly difficult morale issues among the brass since the catastrophes of Don Rumsfeld. Neither has the credentials as logistical planners capable of removing the USA from Iraq's sesspool

Save Molly Pitcher

2007-12-14T13:24:00.000-05:00

We are getting the gruesome rumor that the Molly Pitcher rest stop on the Turnpike maybe be renamed to raise money. That would be a shame.

Molly Pitcher was a real person, and despite the escapades of a one time governor, she deserves better. She was Mary Hays, who followed her husband, John Hays, who fought in the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. She would carry pitchers of cold spring water to the wounded on the front lines.

When her husband was shot, she helped maintain the artillery and became a gunner. She was named by Washington a non-commisisoned officer and later remarried a man named McCauley. She is buried in Pennsylvania.

Let us save Molly Pitcher from corporate interests

On Primaries and Immigration

2007-12-11T15:05:00.000-05:00

The GOP primaries have witnessed a steady stream of anti-immigration and anti-immigrant rhetoric to court the nativists in rural Iowa and isolated New Hampshire. The Democrats capture now 57% of the Hispanic vote as compared to the Republicans’ 23%. The GOP has lost about 13 points since 2006. People, it seems, are listening to the debates on immigration and to the pre-convention politics.

Hispanic Disenchantment

2007-12-10T13:27:00.000-05:00

The latest Pew Hispanic poll shows great disenchantment by Hispanics with the GOP. Under Karl Rove and his boss, Bush II, the Republicans fused anti-Castro sentiments and Christian fundamentalism to court Hispanics - especially, at first, in Florida. Bush genuinely tried to get immigration reform through Congress, but Republicans refused.

Politics in the Middle East

2007-12-04T14:00:00.000-05:00

Now we find that Rudy's firm is working for an ethopian group that the Adminsitration finds to be a terrorist threat.

US intelliegence services reports that our long attacks on Iran for nuclear weapons were unfounded. Iran stopped producing the necessary materials in 2003. Cheney said it aint so, basing his statement on the same brilliant sources which duped the witless Bush to go into Iraq.

Hillary Lags

2007-11-26T18:03:00.000-05:00

In the new survey done by Zogby, Clinton trails McCain 42-38; Giuliani 43 to40, and Romney 43-40. Hillary also laggs behind Huckabee by 44 to 39 and Thompson by 44 to 40 percentage. The Democrats have the 08 election to blow.

Odd and Ends

2007-11-20T17:12:00.000-05:00

Bill Clinton's insistence on defending the little woman is counter-productive and makes her look more vulnerable than she is. Perhaps he should just focus on raising money for her. Let Hillary be Hillary.

The Sage of Crawford seems to have lost his Secretary of State, which probably doesn't mean much these days. She is going back and forth trying to die down a Middle East agreement which every president since Nixon has tried to accomplish. The problem is that the Palestinians won't give up violence even against their own, and the Israelis will not give up their settlements on the West Bank.

Corzine Headed for the Treasury?

2007-11-19T13:51:00.000-05:00

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine's friends are saying that his early support for Hillary will land him a cabinet post like Treasury or the FED.

For some reason this month's Atlantic magazine has decided to prop up Obama in its newest issue. Still he comes off as an imperious young candidate who is stand offish in private conversation and yet is compelling on the stump as he was in the recent Jefferson Jackson Day dinner.

When in Arkansas...

2007-11-19T13:45:00.000-05:00

Former co head of the 9-11 investigatory committee, Governor Thomas Kean, is supporting Senator John McCain for president. It may be that he knows how unprepared New York City was before 9-11 and under Rudy.

For two weeks Obama lacerated Hillary for her evasive answer on the issue of driver's licenses for illegal immigrants. Then he was asked the same question and he goes into a Daffy Duck routine.

Mike Huckabee insisted that he was one of the people; then it was found out he was a big present getter when he left the governorship. Mike argued that he was following the norms of Arkansas. Why couldn't Bill use that argument for his transgressions?

Ron Paul on the Move

2007-11-16T14:52:00.000-05:00

Ron Paul moves on and on. The cranky old man from Texas is raising money at an incredible pace. There is surely something one likes about Paul--he is straight-shooting, honest, and direct. Kind of refreshing. What will kill him is that he lives in a 19th century world of limited government that isn't possible or feasible anymore in a republic of 300 million souls.

George H.W. Bush Enjoying His Parachute

2007-11-16T14:42:00.000-05:00

80 plus year old George H.W. Bush recently jumped out of a plane in a virile display of parachuting. Who paid for that plane and for all those staff people with him?

Not Ready for an Italian American President?

2007-11-15T15:47:00.000-05:00

The latest Wall Street Journal-NBC polls shows that over 20% of the sample has a problem voting for an Italian American for president. Also, a new book out of England - Reagan and Thatcher: A Political Marriage. Those years seem a million eons ago in many strange ways.

John Bon Jovi for Governor

2007-11-15T15:38:00.000-05:00

Rumor is, singer Bon Jovi is considering running for governor of New Jersey.

New york post implies Bill Bradley and wife are breaking up due to infidelity.

At a McCain rally a woman asked him how to stop "the bitch," meaning Hillary. Unbelievably the great war hero did not stop her but simply answered the question. Do you remember when McCain was a man to admire?

Hillary in Decline

2007-11-13T10:16:00.000-05:00

Hillary lost ten points after her slip ups in the last debate, which shows observers how soft those polls are.

The Whys of Rudy

2007-11-13T10:10:00.000-05:00

What do RudY Giuliani and Pat Robertson have in common? Why does a three time married, lapsed, Roman Catholic, who favors abortion on demand and gay marriage get an endorsement from an old time, fundamentalist, Protestant, evangelical who once blamed 9-11 on New York City's lifestyle? The only answer is that they both love power and Rudi looks like the strongest GOP candidate to face Hillary. Not exactly rising to the level of theology.

Congressional Override

2007-11-08T14:24:00.000-05:00

Congress has overriden the President's veto of a huge water projects program; this is the same Congress that could not override the President's veto of the children health care bill. And this is the same Congress that was elected on a pledge to end the war, while it continues to docilely fund the war without end. Is it any wonder Congress' approval rating is even lower than Bush's???

The Pew poll, church and state

2007-11-06T10:47:00.000-05:00

Religion and ethnicity have always been major determinatnts in American Political live. The recent Pew polls asked people which presidntial candidates they thought were "very religous.

The rankings were:

Romney-46%
McCain-19%
Thompson-16%
Giuliani-14%

Edwards-28%
Obama-24%
Clinton-16%

George W. Bush -43%

The irony is that Romney is having problems with fundamentalists becasue of his Mormonism.

Once Upon a Time in Cleveland...

2007-11-01T09:12:00.000-05:00

I must admit I was with Dennis Kucinich when he saw the UFO over Cleveland. Since he confirmed that he saw the UFO and admitted it on a national debate for the presidency, I guess I can let the secret out once and for all. He and I were having a real Coke (he hates additives) and we were siting in his trailer watching the moon over the Cuyahoga River. At first, Dennis thought it was a blimp from an old Cleveland Indians game, and I thought it was a US plane looking for the Soviets. As it came closer, Dennis ran over to it and was transmitted or beamed up to the portal opening. There he and something carried on a long conversation. I think the other being was trying to convince Dennis that he should run for president and that galactic peace depended on it. Dennis, who was then unmarried, figured that it would be good idea to leave with the UFO beings in search of a better dating life. In any case, I am not sure how long he was transmitted up, but soon we were sitting together. Dennis had had a religious experience without conversion and or penance. He later talked to Shirley McLaine about his travels and she verified it must have happened. That is why we should support Dennis for leader of the free world in this election.

~ Michael P. Riccards

Photo From Sand Castle VI and The Why Files

Tancredo and Regula Leave the House. Is Huckabee Packing Any Heat?

2007-10-30T10:44:00.000-05:00

In the House, Republican Congressman, Tom Tancredo, has announced that he will not seek reelection. He has made a career out of stoking anti-immigrant fervor. What boat at Plymouth harbor did the Tancredos come in on?

Also leaving is Ralph Regula who has been a very conservative voice in education and now sees himself as a consultant to students in the future. The content of those consultations is a mystery.

More interesting is the notion that Governor Huckebee of Arkansas has been attacked for being too liberal. It appears that he is at heart a social conservative, a preaching minister, but also has taken some positions that are somewhat populist in nature, especially on the concentrating of wealth in the United States. I think that his best statement was telling Chris Matthews that the way to prevent violence on college campuses is to allow all students to pack guns. As a former college president, I can not imagine anything worse than my students packing iron on their way to psych 101 at 8 am after a bender on Thursday night. Sometimes, one has to come out of the Ozarks.

Lastly, Mike Gravel is not being allowed to be a part of the new Democrat debate on October 30.

Guiliani for the Sox and Ticket Predictions

2007-10-25T11:34:00.000-05:00

Guiliani has decided to root for the Boston Red Sox , a peculiar turn for a guy who is supposed to be the penultimate Yankee fan. Can it be that there are a lot of Sox fans in southern New Hampshire --living there for the GOP primary? Can it also be that he knows that Hillary will carry New York anyhow??

Speaking of Rudy, he is now advertising that he is advised by some of most ferocious neocon hawks in Foreign Policy. The leader is Norman Podhoretz, former editor of Commentary, who is arguing for immediate attacks on Iran; followed by Daniel Pipes who has called for profiling of Muslims in the USA saying that it is unfortunate but they are all suspect. Michael Rubin at the American Enterprise Institute is arguing that the US should be ending its ban on assassination especially as it related to North Korea and Iran leaders.

It is little wonder that Rudy was unable in Iowa to say if torture included waterboarding and that sleep deprivation is not torture, since he is tired also. Waterboarding which simulates feelings of drowning has been defined as torture since the Spanish Inquisition.

Also, political experts have told me that while they see my prediction of a GOP ticket of Rudy and preacher Huckabee, they cannot see Hillary and Richardson. He is seen as too much like Bill.....so they see her going to a moderate Midwestern like Bayh or the former governor of Iowa Tom Vilsack. Too bad for her that the Democrats don't control Texas, California, or Florida.

New Jersey Hall of Fame Inaugural Class Results

2007-10-25T11:14:00.000-05:00

New Jersey Hall of Fame results are in: Historical category includes Clara Barton (?), Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein; Enterprise includes Buzz Aldrin, Malcolm Forbes, and Robert Wood Johnson; Arts and Entertainment: Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen and Meryl Streep; Sports are Yogi Berrra, Bill Bradley, and Vince Lombardi; General - Harriet Tubman, Norman Schwarzkopf, Toni Morrison. Can we really forget president Woodrow Wilson who so impacted the twentieth century world and Caldwell born president, Grover Cleveland

These categories make no sense, Buzz Aldrin was a great austronaut, a true adventurer; Malcolm Forbes only lives here occcasionally; Bill Bradley is really from Missouri as is Yogi (but we can give Yogi a pass for his long time in Montclair), and Toni Morrison only draws a paycheck from Princeton University for teaching six students. Certainly Joyce Carol Oates is a more significant novelist. Where is Stephen Crane by the way? And the great Count Basie of Red Bank.

Also missing is actor Jack Nicholson, a more important actor than Meryl. How about Abbott and Costello or the greatest living New Jerseyan - Danny Devito

Obama Sinking In Hillary's Wake

2007-10-25T11:07:00.000-05:00

It looks like Barak Obama is tanking faster than Ellen DeGeneris' tearful dog adoption show. Why did a man of such charisma and promise sink? Some will say that it is because Hillary has a tremendous organization, but she also has a high set of negatives. Still, Hillary comes across as rather informed on the public policy issues before the nation. You see? Ideas still matter. Her well thought out medical care proposal won plaudits, especially in her party and among many voters concerned about costs. Yet, her proposal was very similar to John Edwards' earlier proposal which no one read. And one cannot see what Obama believes about universal medical costs; he seems preoccupied with criticizing her record on voting to give the president powers to go into Iraq. Ok, you have made the point, get on with running a campaign that is meaningful to more people.

The Cost of Congressional Healthcare and Some Predictions

2007-10-22T10:03:00.000-05:00

Early prediction---for Democrats it will be Clinton and Richardson and for the GOP, Giuliani and Huckabee.

Hillary is doing especially well with women due to the universal medicare issue.

The New York Times argues that we all can't have the same healthcare plan as Congress and four-million feds. It is too expensive for us!!!

Brownback will quit the GOP primaries. He was the most pro-life candidate. It may be that abortion is less of an issue among conservatives.

Politically fickle Republican women...

2007-10-19T08:27:00.000-05:00

Pollster Mark Penn has found that a quarter of Republican women will desert the party and go to Hillary.

Ron Paul is quoting Alan Greenspan about having his own doubts over whether the USA even needs a Federal Reserve Bank. How come Greenspan had none of these doubts when he was in office??

This Just In...

2007-10-17T09:56:00.001-05:00

Obama will open a campaign office in West Orange. Hillary's people keep visiting Douglas College. Latest polls show that Giuliani runs better in a state with large Italian American population. And Romney is having problems with fundamentalists over Mormonism. It looks like ethnic and group politics are alive and well in the USA.

On media and the presidential primary

2007-10-16T12:52:00.000-05:00

Thompson will drop out of the New Hampshire race by Thanksgiving and out of the GOP primaries by Christmas.

For some reason, Time magazine wants us to know that Hillary is cold and so is her daughter. Based on what research??

Why do the cable stations insist that we must see disputes between their own media talking heads? Who really cares if Bill hates Ken and vice versa.

The New York Times features the note that the hearings against the Knight Templar misfiled for centuries in the Vatican's secret archves shows the knights were innocent of charges of heresey in the 14th century. Actually, we knew about that report in 2001.

What Do Women Want... in 2008?

2007-09-19T22:36:00.000-05:00

By Michael Riccards and Mary Gatta

About a century ago, psychologist Sigmund Freud asked, “What do women want?” He never satisfactorily answered that question. Now as the United States approaches the 2008 presidential election, the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers University and the Hall Institute of Public Policy are attempting to determine women’s priorities for the nation’s next chief executive. To do so, we conducted a presidential forum at Rutgers with a panel comprised of women leaders from New Jersey's business, academic and media industries.

The session was part of a series of forums that the Hall Institute has been conducting throughout the state to identify the issues of greatest importance to New Jerseyans for the next president. To date, the war in Iraq, the need for universal medical coverage and immigration reform have emerged as the state’s top priorities.

At our women’s forum, panelists and audience members overwhelmingly stressed the persistent and growing anxiety over economic security. With rising unemployment, rollbacks of pension funds and the contraction of medical benefits, middle class and blue collar New Jerseyans have been affected by downturns in the economy, especially for women heading up families. One out of five working women live at or below the poverty level, and over 55 percent of women provide half or more of their family’s income.

Although there is a modest family leave policy in place in the United States, there was some concern that even this unpaid leave policy may be reversed by executive order at the end of this Administration. The current Department of Labor was also seen as showing little commitment to workers’ rights. Especially significant is the need for more money for worker training and development. Working women need the opportunity to move up the ladder of opportunity in order to earn more income and achieve some greater job security. Nearly all women are a part of the American workforce at some point in their lifetime, so what happens in the world of work is of critical importance to them and to their children.

In an advanced economy such as ours, the acquisition and updating of skills is one of the surest avenues for fighting poverty and unemployment. But college and university tuitions have escalated and Pell money (federal need based financial aid) has not kept pace As a result, the important track of social mobility is being closed off to large numbers of working women who want to go on to college. In this country income, health benefits, pension rights, home ownership all are linked. And in order to understand the standard of living in which people operate, there is a real imperative to examine different methodologies so one can appreciate the true costs of living in a particular area of the country. For example, New Jersey is an especially expensive in terms of housing and taxes. A simple definition of the “poverty level” is not useful for understanding what people need to survive.

Women have been and are the main caregivers of their families. Unlike Western European countries, we do not take into account those realities and additional burdens and responsibilities, usually borne by women. Many of these nations provide PAID family leave for fairly long periods of time. Providing some recognition of those burdens is a real definition of family values -- respect for providing support for caregivers.

Comments at the forum repeatedly stressed the traumas of economic insecurity and their destabilizing effects on our society. It is necessary to resurrect the American notion of community, of recognizing the common good that unites us. The forum’s speakers and its guests wanted the next president to hear clearly the need for more support for working women and their dependents. The costs of a prolonged war are diverting enormous resources away from our social problems. Working women need a re-ordering of national priorities and changes that allow them to accentuate collective efforts, organizing and national forbearance.

# # #

The Hall Institute of Public Policy - New Jersey is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that explores issues of social, economic, educational and cultural importance to the Garden State. For more information, visit the Hall Institute online at http://www.hallnj.org/ or email info@hallnj.org.

Campaign Odds & Ends

2007-09-14T13:29:00.000-05:00

Mike Gravel, Democrat candidate for president, has indicated that Americans are getting "fatter and dumber"--not exactly a bumper sticker that brings you votes.

Thompson has jumped to near the head of class in the GOP race. That means that it is better not to say anything in the presidency. He is supposed to be emulating Ronald Reagan. People forget that Reagan stood for clearly defined positions for decades before he came to the White House.

The President has somehow declared the mess in Iraqi a success in the making, and John McCain has fallen in line with his so called Victory Express, an old bus that is painted over--a rather appropriate symbol of his candidacy.

Bill Clinton continues his wearisome public appearances, this time to plug his new book on philanthropy.

Oprah held a fine fund raiser for Obama. Her endorsement of an obscure book can add 400,000 readers in two weeks. Maybe she can help Obama who is increasingly looks like a professor teaching an intro political science at 8 am.

Voter Turnout

2007-09-13T18:46:00.000-05:00

We give too much importance to the venerable voters in Iowa and New Hampshire who are supposed to take the nominations of presidential candidates so seriously. It seems that New Hampshire 's turnout is 44 percent; in South Carolina 20 percent of voters turned out in 2000. Iowa has a caucus system that attracts an even lower percentage of voters. Is it little wonder that the parties are so captive of special interests and nutty blog sites? By the way, fewer than 50 percent of the eligible voters cast their ballots in the last presidential election.

Time for MoveOn to move on

2007-09-13T17:47:00.000-05:00

Speaking of nutty blog sites, it is rather remarkable that MoveOn would plant an ad in the New York Times denouncing the integrity of General Petraeus. One wonders if MoveOn is either insensitive to attacks on the U.S. military or whether it is a front from Karl Rove. But in either case, it makes the anti-war case look bad and unpatriotic, which in turn rubs off on timid Democrats running for Congress. I disagree with Petraeus's analysis and his dressed version of "stay the course" as more Bushisms, but he has given his life to his nation and is a decorated veteran in the field. It is time MoveOn moved over.

Who Do Veterans Like?

2007-08-30T15:18:00.000-05:00

Rather remarkably Rudy Giuliani has a favorable rating of 64% among veterans compared to Mc Cain's 57%; Obama's 44%; Edwards 43%; Thompson's 40% and Hillary's 37%. The toughness stance is working with that group at least.

A Warning from Michael Dukakis

2007-08-23T19:19:00.000-05:00

Former Governor Michael Dukakis, the Democratic candidate for president in 1988, warns his party that it could lose in 2008. Indeed if a Republican can carry traditional areas and do well in Pennsylvania, Ohio and maybe New York or New Jersey, it could become a true forecast -- or to put it differently: What candidate can carry more big states beyond what Gore or Kerry did?

Weekend Musings

2007-08-13T12:13:00.000-05:00

To a voter in New Hampshire who asked Rudy if our difficulties with the Moslem world are due to their past historical problems, he sneered back --You have a liberal arts education....

Tommy Thompson has dropped out as has James Gilmore of Virginia, who was never in it. Thompson probably knew more about medical coverage, but he sure did not seem very concerned when he was Secretary of HHS. He never seemed to focus on the issues, and when he got a question wrong, he blamed his hearing.

The Village Voice claims that Rudy had the emergency nerve center in New York City put close to City Hall so he could use it as a love nest for his women. That center thus ended up in the Twin Towers. If this charge from the counter culture newspaper went forward, it could be very serious for his campaign.

A Hillary-Rudy fight would put New Jersey in place and maybe result in some real campaigning by them, rather than using the state as a money cow.

Dems Before the AFL-CIO

2007-08-10T11:42:00.002-05:00

Apparently nobody in America watched the Democrat candidates as they groveled before the AFL-CIO. Less than a million people tuned in. The most poignant moment was when an ill man whose wife is also ill told how he lost his health insurance when his company moved out of town. It summarized in a nutshell, the most important domestic issue in this campaign.

The GOP in Iowa

2007-08-10T11:42:00.001-05:00

As for the GOP, its candidates in Iowa discussed their personal sins on television. Rudy wisely bowed out of the discussion. Such stupidity is contagious. The worst is Tommy Tancredo, who thinks that the U.S. should bomb Mecca and Medina -- Islamic sacred cities. That is like bombing the Vatican becasue of the IRA. There ought to be a minimum IQ level to run for president.

Rutgers-Eagleton Poll

2007-08-09T11:10:00.000-05:00

Today's Rutgers-Eagleton Poll shows that the two New Yorkers continue to do well here, but most of the nation’s attention is focused outside of New Jersey -- on other states that have straw polls and on the various televised debates that are taking place.”

Betting Odds

2007-07-31T12:45:00.000-05:00

Call the primaries off. Intrade -- the betting website -- has odds that the next president will be Hillary with Richardson her veep.

Waiting for Godot

2007-07-29T16:35:00.000-05:00

The GOP faithful are awaiting Godot -- that is Fred Thompson. But his early campaign staffing has been chaotic. Watch for him to fold by Christmas.

Dress Code

2007-07-28T16:36:00.000-05:00

The great decider has struck again. The White House has insisted that in this 100 degree heat the security guard will strictly abide by a dress code for tourists -- no jeans, no shorts, no sneakers, no tank tops. no flip flops. Poor dress habits lead to Al Quaeda style tourism. If we don't stop it in DC, it will go on to the new George Bush Library.

Is Brownback Ready for Prime Time?

2007-07-25T15:57:00.000-05:00

Senator Brownback is trying to argue that only he is pro-life and therefore should be the candidate for the fundamentalist vote. Does anyone think this guy is ready for prime time? Sitting in the White House making real life lonely decisions? Come on, Americans.

A Strategy that Could Backfire

2007-07-25T15:55:00.002-05:00

There seems to be a bunch of bloggers who are not going to be satisfied until they bring articles of impeachment or at least censure against the president and vice president. There is no recognition that these actions just divert Democrats from the campaign coming up and also get the American people nervous about extremists on the left. Now we have Cindy Sheehan and Michael Moore weighing in the issue. Enough.

Presidential and Poised

2007-07-25T15:55:00.001-05:00

Even her enemies have to admit it: Hillary is getting better and better on the stump and on the television platform. She looks presidential and poised. Maybe just maybe she will win the presidential election and go on to become a very good president... Sorry Hillary haters.

Fred Thompson's Past

2007-07-10T13:48:00.000-05:00

Fred Thompson who is the new darling of the fundamentalist right was a lobbyist for a pro-abortion group. Can he be a casualty of that past?

Signs of Chaos

2007-07-10T13:45:00.000-05:00

McCain's chief strategist and campaign manager, Terry Nelson, has resigned immediately, along with John Weaver, another key strategist. It is another sign in the chaos of what was once supposed to be the frontrunner's campaign.

Advice for McCain

2007-07-09T13:49:00.000-05:00

McCain is being urged to resign from the Senate to focus on the presidency. Considering polls and fundraising he would be better to stay in the Senate and drop out of the campaign.

Across the NJ Border

2007-07-08T13:51:00.000-05:00

In Pennsylvania, the state chairs have voted Giuliani top choice with McCain number 5. Thompson followed by Romney and then Gingrich.

NJ Polls

2007-07-07T13:53:00.000-05:00

In New Jersey, polls show Guiliani beats Hillary, but when Bloomberg is added to the mix, she wins over Rudy.

Bad News for McCain

2007-07-07T13:52:00.000-05:00

With $2.4 million in the bank, Ron Paul has more money than John McCain - not good news for the once frontrunner.