Doomsday Planning

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Fiscal Cliff Compromise

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An election night of GOP disaster – and the emergence of John Boehner

By Alan J. Steinberg

In a negative sense, the Republican Party accomplished the impossible last night.  In a year of economic stagnation and anemic job growth, the GOP failed to win the White House against an incumbent president who had begun the campaign with a negative approval rating.   At the beginning of 2012, most pundits expected the GOP to regain control of the U.S. Senate; instead, the Republicans appear to have incurred a net loss of two seats.

The reelection victory of incumbent President  Barack Obama was primarily a matter of demographics.  In my PolitickerNJ column of August 5, 2012, I described this demographic factor as follows:

 

“Obama’s larger electoral vote base is largely a function of what I define as demographic political inelasticity, namely the tendency of certain demographic groups to vote overwhelmingly for one party or the other, regardless of the condition of the economy.  Specifically, the Democrats have maintained the loyalty of African-American, Puerto Rican, Mexican-American, and single women voters, regardless of the current economic doldrums….”

One could also add voters under 25 to the list of these Obama demographic constituencies.

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What if Obama is declared ineligible?

What an unprecedented mess that would be.

In the unlikely event that any of the challenges to Barack Obama’s candidacy for a second term makes it all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court and succeeds, then what?

Before the case even got that far, would Judges and Justices appointed by Obama be eligible to hear and rule on the issue?   Can you imagine Hannity or Limbaugh if they do rule?  Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann (if he gets a job) if they don’t?

If Obama is ruled ineligible to serve as President of the United States, is he immediately removed from office?  If so, who becomes President?  If Obama’s 2008 election was invalid, it seems that Joe Biden’s election as Vice President would also be invalid.   Next in line would be House Speaker John Boehner.

If John Boehner assumes the presidency, would the GOP nominate him as the 2012 candidate?  Boehner isn’t ready to retire.  Why would he want to give up the Speakership in order to be President for a few months.  Would Boehner appoint Mitt Romney as Vice President?  Would the Senate confirm Romney?  Would Romney accept the job?

Would Boehner pardon Obama?

Who do the Democrats nominate for President?  Biden?  The party never warmed to him as a presidential candidate in his multiple tries.  Hillary Clinton?  John Kerry?  Al Gore?  Jesse Jackson?  Al Sharpton?  Keith Ellison (a real American Muslim)? Cory Booker?  Dennis Kucinich?

What happens to all the laws, executive orders and appointments that Obama signed?  Is ObamaCare the law?  Are Sonya Sotomayor and Eleana Kagan Supreme Court Justices?  Did Sandra Fluke really need all of that birth control?

Obama hasn’t signed a budget sinced he’s been President, but is the debt ceiling valid?  Is all of that debt backed by the full faith and credit of the United States of America?

Would Obama owe the U.S. Treasury his salary, rent on the White House?  Would he have to reimburse the Treasury for his security and vacations?   Does he has to reimburse all his donors from the 2008 and 2012 campaigns?

I can understand why Judges would look for procedural or jurisdictional grounds not to hear such a case.

What would be better for the country?  To pursue the issues raised by the Objectors or look the other way?

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APP Turns On Obama

By Art Gallagher

The newspaper formerly known as The Asbury Park Press (their print edition masthead now reads “THE PRESS”) has irrefutably revealed itself as a far left extremist publication.  In an editorial published on their website last evening, Obama caving in to GOP demands, the Neptune Nudniks have moved on to the left of the New York Times, the old Huffington Post, Daily Kos and Middletown Mike.

The Press called the President “weak,” “hardly a leader,” and said his speech Monday night was “too little, too late.” They said his speech “was not tough so much as it was petulance.”  As Dan Jacobson would say, hilarious, though hysterical would be more accurate.

“Left wing extreme, Art?” you might say, “that sounds like right wing rhetoric I might read on MoreMonmouthMusings.”  You’d be correct, except the nudniks are complaining that Obama “has alienated his base, gone back on what he held as rock-solid principles,” while drawing a “line in the sand” that is inside the Republican Tea Party right’s tent.  APP is now short for apparatchik.

The Press did get one important thing right in their rantitorial.  They correctly identified Obama’s reelection concerns and the only issue that is holding up a deal that would raise the debt ceiling, reduce the deficit and prevent a default.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, also not left enough for the apparatchiks, and Speaker John Boehner have already agreed on a plan that would raise the debt ceiling, reduce spending and not raise taxes.  Obama killed the deal because it only lasted for a year.  He doesn’t want to go through this again next summer only a few months before the Presidential election.

If Obama thought his economic policies and philosphy were popular with the American people, he would welcome having such a debate next year.  Instead, he’s willing to put the full faith and credit of the United States of America at risk rather than debate “redistribution of wealth”  and massive government expansion months before the American people decide whether or not to give him another four years. 

It is no accident that most of ObamaCare kicks in after the election.  This is more of the same.  Obama wants his lease on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave renewed before the American people realize what he has done to them.

The “Tea Party Republican” members of congress are controlling the debt ceiling debate because Obama is letting them control the debate.  If Reid and Obama agreed to Boehner’s proposal, Nancy Pelosi would deliver enough Democratic votes in the House to pass Boehner’s plan with moderate Republican support, thereby neutralizing the “Tea Party” Republicans who are uncompromising.

Obama would have to take a page out of Chris Christie’s book in order to make a deal like that.  And Christie says he’s not ready to be President.

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