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Romney in Iowa
Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) visited what many in Iowa call the Socialist
Republic of Johnson County and was hosted by the University of Iowa College
Republicans, according to the U of I College newspaper:
At the event, hosted in part by the UI College Republicans, the possible
candidate for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination spoke about his work to
improve education, provide universal health-insurance in his state, and
strive toward energy independence - issues that he said can be achieved
through small government and low taxes.
"Unlike the Democrats, we can actually solve problems in those areas," he
said. "We can improve education, we can improve health care, and they
can't."
Democrats' direction
Analysis by: Roger Wm. Hughes
The
NY Times reports on the Democrats' search for a big idea that can lead
them to victory:
Many of these analysts, both liberals and moderates, are convinced that the
Democrats face a moment of historic opportunity. They say that the country
is weary of war and division and ready — if given a compelling choice — to
reject the Republicans and change the country's direction. They argue that
the Democratic Party is showing signs of new health — intense party
discipline on Capitol Hill, a host of policy proposals and an energized
base.
But some of these analysts argue that the party needs something more than a
pastiche of policy proposals. It needs a broader vision, a narrative, they
say, to return to power and govern effectively — what some describe as an
unapologetic appeal to the "common good," to big goals like expanding
affordable health coverage and to occasional sacrifice for the sake of the
nation as a whole.
This emerging critique reflects, for many, a hunger to move beyond the
carefully calibrated centrism that marked the Clinton years, which was
itself the product of the last big effort to redefine the Democratic Party.
The Times article offers what the Democrats are up against in the last half
of the story. William Kristol leads the point:
William Kristol, a leading conservative thinker and editor of The Weekly
Standard, counters that parties are ultimately defined not by big visions
from intellectuals but by real positions on real issues.
"Foreign policy is critical," said Mr. Kristol, whose magazine was
considered an important influence on the Bush administration's foreign
policy. "Do they share a basic understanding that there is a global war on
terror, and Iran is a threat that has to be dealt with? Is the next
Democratic presidential nominee going to raise taxes or not?"
He added, "It needs to be brought down to earth."
Democrats continue to struggle with who and what they are. Their struggle
begins with the split in the Franklin Roosevelt administration. The split
with wife Eleanor loving all things socialist, and Franklin who gave more
speeches on balancing the federal budget than Ronald Reagan. (For those
wishing to blame Franklin for Social Security, he never meant this monster
to be what it is today. He set it up so that most people at the time died
before the date they could draw benefits.)
However, Michael Tomasky ( editor of the liberal journal The American
Prospect) offers that the War on Terrorism and Katrina shows the need for a
strong government that can deliver. He argues that the post modernity global
world is about us and the greater good. The sum effect being that the world
no longer benefits from individualism. Thus, Socialism wins.
So, will Democrats be Democrats, and what constitutes being a Democrat?
Democrat lawyer protection action
Dana Milbank of the
Washington Post editorializes on the Republican-controlled Senate’s
failure to protect doctors from the trial lawyers' get-rich provisions in
malpractice:
It's not for lack of creativity. Yesterday's efforts were marketed as the
"Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies Access to Care Act" and the "Medical
Access Protection Act." Earlier attempts surfaced in the "Health Act," the
"Better Health Act" and the "Physician Relief Act."
But opponents aren't buying it. "Nothing has changed from the prior
Republican bill," Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) charged on the Senate floor.
Actually, plenty has changed. Eighteen states have taken action in the past
six years, and 45 either have some form of malpractice-award caps or are
working on them. That has complicated the "crisis" cry.
Murdock backing Hillary
The Drudge Report comments on Rupert Murdock's decision to raise funds for
Hillary Clinton:
Rupert Murdoch has agreed to host a political fundraiser for Hillary Clinton
this summer, the FINANCIAL TIMES is reporting!
Murdoch's surprise decision to raise money for Clinton in July, on behalf of
NEWS CORP., parent company of FOXNEWS and the NEW YORK POST, underlines a
dramatic turn of relations between Murdoch and Clinton, who in 1998 coined
the phrase "vast rightwing conspiracy" to denounce critics of her husband.
Some say the move by Murdoch reflects approval of her Senate career, notes
FT's Caroline Daniel. Others point to Murdoch's record for picking future
national leaders. Last century, he threw over the British conservatism he'd
long supported to back longshot Tony Blair.
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