David Ortez

This political cartoon was created over 90 years ago by Art Young.  It is quite fitting that the message still resonates to this day.

Notice that the elephant which represents the "Republican Party" is taking "the People’s" money "for the benefit of Big Business." It is ironic that the current Republican House is determined to "cut spending" this session. I wonder why they are fighting tooth and nail for tax cuts for the rich … perhaps one should look at who is benefiting from the GOP’s actions.

As Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr once eloquently stated, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

CBO Score On Health Care Bill Released: Boosts Democrats’ Hopes Of Passing Reform – Comprehensive health care reform will cost the federal government $940 billion over a ten-year period, but will increase revenue and cut other costs by a greater amount, leading to a reduction of $138 billion in the federal deficit over the same period, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, a Democratic source tells HuffPost. It will cut the deficit by $1.2 trillion over the second ten year period.

Click Here to Read my Houston Press Article!

Click Here to Read my Houston Press Article!

Who is Blair Holt and what does the bill that is named after him hope to achieve?

Blair Holt was killed on a public bus when he shielded a girl who was in the line of fire after a young man boarded the bus and started shooting in Chicago. The bill introduced into the House by Congressman Bobby Rush.

According to OpenCongress:

“The Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act would establish a nationwide system for prohibiting unlicensed gun-ownership. If approved, the law would require gun owners to apply for five-year licenses to own firearms, and would give the U.S. Attorney General broad authority over the program.”

So, you want to know why the heck Republicans took a backseat and then complained about the structure of the Economic Stimulus Plan even after Democrats compromised on infrastructure to include tax cuts?

It is elementary my dear … Republicans wanted to humilate President Barack Obama on his first major piece of legislation. Their strategy meant that a sound defeat of anything touted by the Democrats would remind Americans that they still had some clout even after suffering losses in the last two election years.

 The other objective makes sense once you entertain why we have to be passing an Economic Stimulus Plan in the first place. How else do you fix the last 8 years? You make the next 4 even worse!

Although my political views lean to the left, it does not mean that I will parrot back talking points by either party. I hold Democrats and Republicans accountable to their actions. It just seems that Republicans tend to be more of the hypocrites in this scheme.

Nonetheless, one campaign promise that President Barack Obama touted may have been forgotten or ignored upon the signing of the first bill last week.

The Sunlight Before Signing promise proposed:

“Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.”

There is a fight in Capitol Hill and it is not between Democrats and Republicans. Surprised? Do not be. This is the classic outcome when a party regains power and different factions within the party claim credit for the win.

Currently, the fight is between Old School Democrats versus New School Democrats. The Old School Democrats have been fighting the Republicans since Ronald Reagan and momentarily achieved success during the Clinton years but once W descended upon Washington, their clout diminished. These Democrats feel that seniority and loyalty to the party warrants them privilege and access to the higher echelons of the government.

Conservatives are creative when it comes to spinning issues; I have to give them credit for that. In light of the newest crisis to hit America, the Auto Industry is on the brink of collapse and the right wing pundits have released the newest memo with the culprit for this mess.

It turns out that the reason why GM, Chrysler and Ford are in this crisis is because of the United Auto Workers Union. What did these folks do that sparked this mess?

They fought to maintain wages and benefits for the workers that mass-produce the vehicles that the Big 3 sells.

This latest excuse for why the Big 3 are in a dire situation is laughable at best.

I mean come on … really the reason why the Big 3 are in a bad situation is because of the workers?