Coat Hangers, Pipeline Jobs and No Taxes: Let's Be Serious, the Adult in the Room is Not Going to be a Repubulican

Let's get serious for a minute. I know, I know, it's not easy when a national humor magazine ran a faux headline last week: "Minnesota Braces for Bachmann 's Full Attention". As if on cue, Bachmann, not exactly Minnesota's shrinking violet, made her first public appearance in Minnesota in over a year at the annual Roe vs. Wade protest at the State Capitol proclaiming that at this time next year we will be well on the way to overturning Roe.

If past performance is in any way a good predictor of the future, we can expect that Bachmann will unveil her new legislative agenda, adding to that torrent of legislation that has flowed from Bachmann in her three terms as Congresswoman, she will soon introduce a bill protecting coat hangers, just like the incandescent light bulb. Why coat hangers? They will be in short supply if Bachmann and her Republican colleagues get their way in overturning Roe. I still have not heard one of these geniuses idea as to how we are going to avoid going right back to back alley and Mexican abortions for our mothers, sisters and daughters.

Item number two, why does Obama hate jobs? That must have been one of the Republican talking points last week. How do I know this? Because my red state sister asked me that in all seriousness yesterday, apparently in reference to the President refusing to short cut the permitting process for the Keystone oil pipeline, which would run near one of this country's most important bird sanctuaries in Nebraska. With the oil industry past performance in the gulf firmly in mind, one thing we do not need now is relaxing regulations on these bozos.

The question I have for Republican politicians, both state and national, is why are the only jobs you are willing to promote in the entire country are pipeline jobs? Historically speaking, ahem, Mr. Gingrich, bipartisan elected officials, both state and national, have helped to create public works jobs during times of economic slowdowns as a means of jump starting the economy, driven largely by consumer spending.

Unfortunately, the Republicans are playing politics with working class and middle income people's lives and would have the less informed believe that the only jobs in the whole country are the 2,000 to 6,000 jobs anticipated by the Keystone project. Don't believe me? Just read the paper, oh no wait, that is too much work when I can just turn on Fox news, be it radio or television and hear the Fox news readers mouth the latest Republican talking points.

Speaking of history, the good economic times that were the Clinton years were in part due to his Republican predecessor having the guts to do what was good for the country at the time and raising taxes. The fiscal problems facing the country is not due to a lack of taxes paid by the working and middle classes, but rather the huge tax cuts that went to the investment class during Bush II. That is why millionaire and billionaires like Buffet and Romney pay only 15% in federal taxes while you and I pay closer to 30%. If the electorate really wants to send Washington the message"It's the economy, stupid" not only must we re-elect the president, we must send him back with Democratic majorities in both houses.