Polls Are Not the Tell-All Story When it Comes to Presidential Elections

 Is it a forgone conclusion that Hilary Clinton will be the next Democratic Candidate? Most people you ask say that is the case. But who will run against her? One of the people that will most likely not run WITH her is President Obama. Hilary most likely will distance herself from the President.
One of the gauges in politics that is used most often are the polls. In a surprising poll, a Bloomberg politics/At. Anselm poll, is in favor of Hilary Clinton over President Obama - 88% to 86%, and the President cannot even run. VP. Joe Biden comes in 3rd at 72% and Senator Elizabeth Warren comes in at 61%, even though Warren claims that she definitely is not going to run for President.
In the 2016 primary, Hilary overwhelming shadows her possible opponents and she hasn't even announced that she is running yet.  Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 62% to 13%, Sen. Bernie Sanders 6%, VP. Joe Biden 5%.

  Now in the Republican Poll, Bloomberg shows Mitt Romney over Senator Rand Paul - 30% to 11%, then Governor Chris Christie at 9% and Jeb Bush at 8%. So is Mitt Romney going to pursue the White House for the third time? Most people seem to be talking again about Mitt Romney, as he could be the Republican candidate that could actually compete against Hilary Clinton to win the White House in 2016. Maybe it's just the state of New Hampshire, because Mitt Romney is very popular there.

  One thing is for sure, the Republican party is definitely in need of a nominee. Romney for allot of people is the guy who can raise money, and who has the experience of running a presidential election. Even with all this said, it's almost meaningless to speculate as it is definitely too early to make such projections. That's why I believe that poll numbers are most likely not realistic, especially in presidential elections this early in the game.
Now for those Romneyites. Do you think that Romney will get in the race one more time? He definitely is stupid enough to. He has the money to waste.  He does happen to be a clear choice for allot of people. The one deciding factor might be if Jeb Bush runs or not. If he does not run, then I think Mitt Romney will go at it one more time. The question is whether he would be willing to put up with the sure to come criticism that will be hot and heavy by his contenders this go around. Mitt's problem is that all of his contenders, both Democratic and Republican already know what he is all about, and know just about everything about him that can help him or hurt him in the election. Mitt Romney has an advantage because he's done this before.

  Now, the polls do show that if Romney did run, he would be neck in neck against Hilary Clinton, as Clinton shows that Hilary is only up by one point 46% to 45% over Romney in the general election. Without Romney in play, the general election has Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul running side by side in the polls at 16%, 2 points over Job Bush at 16%. Others that might run are Mike Huckabee, Rep. Paul Ryan, and Senator Ted Cruz.
The field of contenders don't seem to be that very good for Republicans. Their stance on immigration is not good either. Their stance regarding equal pay for men vs. women are not good. Their stance for raising the minimum wage and help support the middle class are not good. Republican ideas most definitely favor the rich, so the Republicans will have a difficult time running against any Democratic candidate in 2016.
Until the Republicans change their ideas concerning immigration to say the least, they will not win the Presidency. Whoever wins the Democratic nomination to run for President will win the White House this year. If Elizabeth Warren decided to run if Hilary did not, she would beat Mitt Romney hands down in the General election, regardless of what the polls say at the moment. Obviously polls are not that convincing to me.

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Unemployment Insurance vs. Job Creation

Instead of talking about the latest media talk about Chris Christie and 'BridgeGate', I have decided to keep on a topic that is important to the American people, and that would be 'unemployment insurance' and 'job creation' and not discuss 'watergate' on this blog, at least not until more details regarding it are uncovered. 

All of the quotes I've actually come across during the last couple of days from members of the hill just seem to disgust me. Starting with Mr. Mitch O'Connell who says "It's only when you believe that government is the answer to all of your problems (for example) when you talk about unemployment insurance instead of job creation". Even President Ronald Reagan stated " Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem". The Republicans are saying that we must keep the big picture in mind, that finding jobs for people are more important than helping people with unemployment insurance that still do not have that job, and at no fault of their own. Rush Limbaugh said on his talk show program, " What is unemployment insurance? It is paying people not to work" Are you kidding me?!?!?! Talk about people out of touch with society.
These guys will be the first to tell you that there shouldn't be anyone out of work, and proof of this is the fact of the success of the stock market, now at record highs. So who does the stock market actually help? Does it help the poor or does it help the rich? Without question, the stock markets help the rich, as the poor have no means to contribute to the economy other than to put back into it for living expenses what unemployment provides, and that would be money for food, money for gasoline, money to heat their homes, money for clothes, and money to survive.
Mr. Rush Limbaugh and others with this type of thinking, and the one Senator that comes to the top of my mind is Senator Rand Paul. These guys actually believe that people who are unemployed are using the system to get free money, and do not want to work. First, I'd like to see one instance of proof of this statement that people would rather collect unemployment than provide for their family with a good-paying job. That's the other issue. The minimum wage of this country has been stagnant, and is proof that the "rich get richer, and the poor are getting poorer". Income for the poor has been the same for years, regardless of the rise in cost of living, and the income for the rich continues to climb, along with paying incificient taxes that also contribute to a slower recovering economy.
At the moment, we are in a cross-roads in time, at the point where people with jobs and have money to live and enjoy life, and the people who do not have money, who now have to support the additional fact that their own country is letting them down, leaving them to hang out to dry not only without a job, but without any substinance to survive.
The bill that was co-sponsored by both Democrats and Republicans is only a stop-gap bill, meaning that it would fund unemployment insurance for only the next 3 months. In this amount of time, Washington needs to come up with a better plan for support for the unemployed, and not just believe that the only place for someone to be in the United States without a job is to live under a bridge or in a cardboard box. The statistics are that by the end of 2014 if something permanent can be done to help the unemployed, there will be over 4 million people without any form of income to live on.
The longer the unemployed are not being helped with necessary funding to survive, the more our economy will sink. It is now estimated that all of the economic growth that has happened under President Barack Obama's two terms in office call all be for nothing if Congress doesn't get this done, to provide unemployment insurance to 1.3 million people, as soon as possible.
The bottom line here is that the Republican party does not want to help the poor, only help the rich. They believe that if you cannot find a job, then it is your fault. They believe that this country is known to be "the land of opportunity" and that you should be able to find a job. "Any job" is not what many want, but they want a job that they qualify for. Someone with a college education should not have to resort to driving a garbage truck, or become a blue collar worker fixing streets. But many of these people, the same ones with an education, just can't seem to find the right job or any job for that matter in their field of expertise. Another fact is that for every job now available to be filled by someone, even the ones who are qualified for them, there are at least three times as many people looking to fill those jobs, which mathmatically states that there just is not enough jobs for the unemployed.
So what is the answer? According to the Republican thinking, the reason why many people do not have jobs is because they do not want a job and want to stay unemployed. Again, who can live on just unemployment benefits? So the Republican thinking is so far out of touch with the working class of this nation.

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Republicans Continue NOT to Support Unemployment Benefits for 1.3 Million Americans

Yesterday was the first day of Congress for the new year of 2014. Even though Congress has so much to do this year, even knowing that their first order of business will be to extend unemployment benefits to 1.3 million people, the members failed to act. The matter was not even brought up on the floor, but it looks as if some of the right wingers known as Republicans are slowly coming on board to pass this legislation in the House. Needed to pass would be a minimum of 5 republicans, and it looks as if at least 2 are a sure vote for the extension.
These unemployed people who through their no fault of their own, are now without any income, and this week will be no exception, as the unemployment checks that normally would arrive this week will not come. Eventually the Republicans will be forced to vote for the bill, but not without making it difficult for the unemployed. When and affirmative vote is reached, the recipients will receive back pay for their benefits, that most likely last for only 3 months. Will the benefits be extended again, or maybe what should be done the next time is to make the unemployment benefits permanent. One of the reasons why the conservatives want to stop payments is because they believe that anyone still collecting unemployment benefits for nearly a year or so must not be seriously looking for a job. Of course, that is pure bunk. Most of these people lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Should they be forced to now take any job, regardless of their experience? I believe not. But what is important that these unemployed do not become homeless, as this will make their job search that much more difficult. An employer would rather higher someone who at least has a roof over his/her head, than someone who is living off of the street.
To me, this continuous blocking of laws to help the American people is just plain outright sick. How can anyone live with his conscience, like that of Rand Paul, who outwardly speaks of not supporting unemployment insurance to the needy and poor? Mr Paul enjoyed his Christmas and New Years holiday break this past year, and wasn't worried where his income was coming from, as he has a high income working in Congress. He may of had more turkey for Christmas, enjoyed eggnog, had many Christmas presents, sang Christmas carols, and enjoyed the warmth and security of his big home.
The poor, especially those of the now unemployed, compounded with no income thanks to people like Rand Paul, did not have a merry Christmas, as they had to worry about just receiving their last employment insurance paycheck, which in itself was not much, but enabled them to get by. No Christmas presents, no egg nog, no Christmas carols, and no big meal to celebrate the birth of Jesus, or the welcoming of the new year.
I have to think that normally in a second year of a Presidency, it would be difficult to not pass bills supported by the other party. But this year may be different, as the Republicans must try to save face and pass some bills that favor the American people, or there may be a chance that the House could go back with a Democratic majority.
Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate that even didn't come close in the election to beat the incumbent President Barack Obama, has been disgraced with his loss, mainly do to his flip-flopping of the issues, the hard right-wind stance he had on the issues. Known as a man that was responsible for people loosing their jobs, he learned the hard way that people would not elect him to be the President because of his past actions. Romney still flip-flops, even though he is not running in the primaries for the Presidency next year. Only a hypocrite like Romney would pass Romney Care in his own state when he was governor, to then denounce ObamaCare that was modeled off of his own plan that is working in the state he governed. People like his dear friend Ran Paul, openly does not support ObamaCare, openly does not want the poor to receive unemployment benefits and openly denounces Planned Parenthood. So now it is Rand Paul's turn. He may run for president with an announcement before the end of 2014, but he will never have the slightest chance of becoming the President of the United States. He is against abortions, and doesn't care what women feel about abortion, or what the Federal law is for that matter. Roe vs. Wade now makes it legal on the Federal level to have abortion, but many states namely who are run by a state house filled with conservative Republicans have passed laws that make it difficult to get an abortion. These women, thanks to people like Rand Paul, now have to resort to travel to Mexico to get an abortion, at the expense of the safety of these woman, even knowing that many of them are the same people who now have no income thanks to not voting on unemployment benefits. These poor just can't win, and eventually people like Rand Paul with get a taste of revenge for the very people that he as so deeply hurt and mis-represented.

Mr. Rand Paul truly is the Grinch of 2013, and so far it seems that he wants to be nominated for the same title this year in 2014.

UPDATE:   The Senate has now passed a vote and received the required number of votes (60) to at least now talk and prepare to actually vote on this issue. The problem is whether the Republican controlled House will actually vote on the measure if it now passes in a formal vote to extend unemployment benefits in a vote that will most certainly come in the Senate after a debate. With public opinion, which now is firmly in the place of Democrats for this issue, this problem will not go away for the Republicans, nor will it do the conservative party any good in the upcoming election year to benefit their party. It appears that the Democrats have truly won this battle, even before it has been waged.  

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