Republicans and President Near a Bush Tax Cuts Compromise

After lots of debate, the Democrats are nearing a compromise with the Republicans on the subject of the Bush tax cuts and whether they will stick or not. Many senior Democrats have admitted defeat over the issue and are dismayed by it. The number two Democrat in the Senate, senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois was asked if the Bush tax cuts would be kept in place even for the wealthy, and he said "We’re moving in that direction, and we’re only moving there against my judgment." The Republicans have thrown out that they may agree to extend jobless aid for the long-term unemployed. Many Democrats are upset over the direction of this decision, given that they do not believe that the rich should continue to have tax cuts. However the White House is eager to reach a decision soon, even if that means compromising with the Republicans. The Democrats only have hope in that it will be a temporary extension, although the Republicans seek to extend as long as is possible.

I believe that the rich should not have tax cuts, because the country is so needing money in this time that to let the rich get away with this is unfair. However I do think that a decision does need to be made, even if that means the Democrats need to give in to the Republicans. If they move on quickly, then perhaps they can move on to other issues like focusing on the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/us/politics/06cong.html?ref=democratic_party

California Midterm Election Governor Results

Jerry Brown is officially the next governor of California. He won this week's midterm election with 4,086,579 votes, totally around 53.5% of the votes. He beat Meg Whitman by 934,213 votes and 12.2%. Brown released a statement saying that he wants an end of the "polarization, hostility, and division" that has been in politics these past years. Because of the sweep of Republican wins all over the country, Brown promises that "I will be a frugal governor who will make hard decisions, who won't tax people without their approval." In response to her defeat, Meg Whitman said "It is now time for California to unite behind the common cause of turning around the state that we love...This election was much bigger than Gov. Brown or me ... our challenges are daunting, and they won't be solved by politics as usual. ... It is my hope that a new era of bipartisan problem solving can begin tonight...The journey is ending, but our mission is not. We did not achieve the victory we worked so hard for but if we all work together to demand change a new California will rise."

I am personally very pleased that Jerry Brown won the election. If I was old enough to vote, I would have voted for him, and my family voted him as well. I wanted a Democrat as the governor, because our previous governor was a Republican and he put us in this mess. Schwarzenegger was also a political outsider like Whitman, and I think it would have been unwise to put someone else who is inexperienced into office. Jerry Brown was governor thirty years ago when California was dealing with a similar financial crisis, and he helped pull the state out of it, so I have hope that he will have success again. I think that having a seasoned politician in office, who knows how politics in California work from personal experience will help because he'll know how to go around bureaucracy and what to look out for that can stand in his way.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/02/MNB91G53TG.DTL#ixzz14TC6xK51

Midterm Election Research

-Why are Republicans hopeful their party will gain Congressional seats during the
2010 midterm elections? What factors might disrupt these hopes for the Republicans?

Republicans are hopeful that they will gain senate seats because many Americans have grown restless with president Obama and the Democrats who promised change when they were elected. Their hopes are that people will want to vote Republican because after two years of the Democrats struggling to make change, the public does not see enough result to be appeased. In California at least, the Republicans may be at a disadvantage mainly because the candidate, Carly Fiorina, is a business woman and many people don't like the idea of a non-politician whose reputation from her former company is outsourcing jobs being the representative of the state.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16486078?nclick_check=1

-Explain the reasons the Tea Party formed and what message this sends to both Republican and Democratic parties. What impact do you think the Tea Party will have on the 2010 midterm elections?

The Tea Party formed in 2008 after the economic crisis in response to the bailouts of big banks by the Bush and Obama administration. They are conservative and libertarian who are against big government spending, recent economic reform, and the recent health care bill. The message it sends to both the Republicans and the Democrats is that many people feel like they are not represented in government, and that many people believe that America needs to get back to its original principles. They want to make a statement that the people won't sit back and take what the government is doing if they don't agree with it, just like the Boston Tea Party when our founders protested in extreme ways because of things the government was doing that the people didn't agree with. The Tea Party will definitely have an impact on who is elected into office and how politicians present themselves in their campaigns for the upcoming midterm elections.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_movement

Latest Governor Polls

The latest polls of the two candidates for California's governor are now up. Republican candidate Meg Whitman has 44% and Democrat Jerry Brown has 50%. The other 2% said they would vote for someone else and another 4% are undecided. In the past weeks, Whitman has gone from 48% to 44%, many think is attributed to the illegal immigrant housekeeper scandal that occurred several weeks ago. In the beginning of the month, Jerry Brown had a 49% lead, and now his lead is increasing even more. In addition, his polls has raised since the beginning of the summer where he was at only 40% in the polls.

I was somewhat surprised when I saw the results of these latest polls. I understand that Whitman's polls have gone down due to her illegal worker scandal, but I also would have thought that Brown's polls would have gone down due to his "whore" calling scandal. I would have thought his polls would have gone down also especially since Whitman has been pushing his slip up to the extreme trying to get the female demographic enraged. But I can't say that I am unhappy with this, I think that Brown would be a better candidate because he has more experience and I trust his political view as opposed to an outsider who doesn't know what she is doing. Whitman presses so hard that her advantage is that she's an outsider, but the governor we have now was an outsider and how well did that work out for us?

Meg Whitman Called a "Whore"

When Jerry Brown called a union official and left a message, he forgot to hang up the phone, and the conversation between Brown and his aides that followed would made quite a turning point in the race for governor. Brown was discussing how unions will turn to Whitman because she will promise to protect their pensions. He says he won't cut people deals like her. Then someone says "What about saying she's a whore?" Then Brown says that he will say she's cutting secret deals to protect the pensions in an ad. Whitman seized the opportunity to smear Brown in her own way. She said that the term was derogatory to her and all the women of California. Brown's people apologized, but didn't say much more.

In my opinion, I understand why Brown is used the term "whore." He meant that she was going around to different groups and promising them things so that they would support her campaign. I don't agree with what she is doing, but I also cannot condone what Brown said. IN a short amount of time, bad things form both candidates have been the talk of the media, so at this point I would say that the two are even. Between Whitman's illegal worker fiasco, and now Brown's phone call mishap, the tow ahve both had their share of trivial bad publicity, and I think it would be wise for us all to go back to the real issues here, which are their policies and stances on issues that will need addressing when one is elected governor.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/meg-whitman-called-whore-jerry-brown-phone-message/story?id=11833112

Meg Whitman Hired Illegal Housekeeper

Meg Whitman reportedly hired an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper, Nicky Diaz Santillan, for over nine years. Whitman claims that she had no idea that she was an illegal, but the housekeeper says otherwise. Santillan claims that Whitman did not pay her fairly and that she refused to help her find an immigration lawyer. The housekeeper's lawyer, Gloria Allred, said that the worker was "exploited, disrespected, humiliated, and emotionally and financially abused." Whitman has since fired the worker and cut off communications with her. Whitman is down in the polls, and one can only guess if it has anything to do with this latest scandal.

I think that Whitman most likely had full knowledge that her housekeeper was an illegal immigrant. However I also think that the woman is now exploiting this as a way to get publicity, and possibly could be getting help to become a citizen by Whitman's opposition as incentive to go through this publicity stunt. I wouldn't really mind about Whitman having an illegal as an employee if it weren't for the fact that during her campaign she has been saying how against illegals she is. I highly doubt that Whitman was as horrible as this woman is saying she was, but then again, I may never know.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20018062-503544.html

Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown Debate

In the debate this Tuesday, both Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman did their best to paint themselves as responsible leaders and the other as unfit for the task. Whitman said that Brown had too many ties to public employee unions and that putting him in charge would be like "putting Count Dracula in charge of the blood bank. Nothing will get done." Brown responded by saying that he was a supporter of cutting taxes, mentioning prop 13 which cut property taxes when he was governor previously. Brown attacked her saying that she was inexperienced and would be "flummoxed by the shark-infested waters of Sacramento." Brown tried to introduce himself to the younger generation of voters, using humor, while Whitman was straightforward the whole way through. In a counter to Whitman saying he would favor the unions, Brown revealed that her tax plan would favor the rich and leave out the middle and lower class, the very people that funded her campaign.

I think that there are ups and downs to both of the candidates, but I think that Jerry Brown's experience will help him exponentially when it comes to actually running the state. He's done it before, and he knows how to run government. Running a business and running a state are very different things, whether Meg Whitman wants to believe it or not. Her huge investment in her ad campaign only weakens my confidence in her actual abilities, making her look like she has to shove her image in our face in order to get our attention, instead of with effective policy.

Meg Whitman Has Never Voted

The republican candidate for California governor has admitted to not voting for most of her adult life. When asked why, she merely said that she should have, but didn't. Veterans and students were angered by this, and wrote letters to Whitman's campaign. Whitman apologized for not voting "as often as she should," but will it be enough to appease her rivals?

I believe it sets a bad example for a candidate for governor to show such apathy towards local government in her own personal life. If Whitman wanted people to take her seriously as a politician and not just a former CEO, she should have played a more active role in government beforehand. To me it seems like she's just bored and wants some form of power now that she's no longer in charge of a major business. However the state isn't a business, and it can't necessarily be run like one as she always says in her ad campaigns.