OBAMACARE: AN AVOIDABLE NATIONAL DISASTER

 

The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) began as poorly crafted legislation that became a train wreck then turned into a national disaster that will take many years to recover from. Here’s what we should have done and still can do. (Read the full column at EWRoss.com)

Filed under: Healthcare, automobile insurance, democrats, Department of Defense, Ed Ross, ewross, F-22, healthcare, healthcare exchanges, Healthcare reform, House, legislation, national disaster, obamacare, pre-existing conditions, President Obama, republicans, Senate, Senate Finance Committee, train wreck, Virginia class submarine, White House

WHY THE BENGHAZI STORY WON’T GO AWAY

President Barack Obama has been adept at deflecting Republicans’ continuing questions about the 9/11/12 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. Still, the story won’t go away because the explanations he and his administration have provided don’t add up, and a strong odor of cover up lingers in the air. It’s been five months since the Benghazi attack. Even if we accept the Obama administrations explanations for what happened before, during and after the attack, we still don’t know full story. What difference does it make, at this point, whether or not we know the full story? It makes a difference whenever the President of the United States attempts to deceive the American people.  (Read the full column at EWRoss.com)

Filed under: Terrorism, 9/11/12, Admiral Mike Mullen, al-Qai’da, Ambassador Chris Stevens, Ambassador Thomas Pickering, Ambassador to Libya, American people, anti Muslin video, Benghazi, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CIA, consulate in Benghazi, cover-up, covert activities, covert paramilitary activity, Department of Defense, Department of State, Ed Ross, ewross, fell through the cracks, fog of war, General Martin Dempsey, Hillary Clinton, intelligence community, Iran Contra, Libya, List of terrorist incidents, mistakes were made, Muammar Qaddafi, Mujahedeen, Muslim rebels, Obama administration officials, Obama’s reelection campaign, Osama Ben Laden, President Barack Obama, President of the United States, President Ronald Reagan, pro-American, republicans, Russian occupation of Afghanistan, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Secretary of State, Senate Armed Services Committee, Syria, talking points, Turkey, U.S. government, U.S. Navy SEALS, UN Ambassador Susan Rice

SUSAN RICE VS. JOHN KERRY

Republican senators, faced with the prospect of either Amb. Susan Rice or Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) as the nominee for the next secretary of state, have to hope President Obama will nominate Sen. Kerry. Both Rice and Kerry are technically qualified for the position, Rice by virtue of the fact that she is the current U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and Kerry by virtue of the fact that he is a sitting U.S. Senator. Both have ample résumés. Amb. Rice, however, has neither the experience nor the temperament necessary to do the job well; and nominating Sen. Kerry for secretary of state will keep him away from the Department of Defense.  (Read the full column at EWRoss.com)

Filed under: Politics, 2004 presidential election, 9/11/12, abrasive personality, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/MIA affairs, Amb. Rice, behaved like Sen. Joe McCarthy. Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, Benghazi, black female, capitol building, chain of command, Clinton administration, Co-Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, Colin Powell, commander-in-chief, Condi Rice, confirmation hearings, D.C., Department of Defense, Department of State, Ed Ross, ewross, first choice for secretary of State, Foggy Bottom, Foreign Service, geographic combatant commanders, Iran, John Kerry, John McCain, Joint Staff, Kelly Ayotte, Libya, Lindsay Graham, military departments, National Security Council, national security team, nomination, obama administration, President Barack Obama, President Obama, racists, Republican Senators, Secretary of State, Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH), Senate confirmation, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sunday news programs, Susan Rice, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, temperament, terrorist attack in Benghazi, trial balloons, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Vietnam War medals, Vietnam War Veteran, Washington

CHINA’S MILITARY POWER: A GROWING THREAT

China’s growing military power poses a serious long-term threat to U.S. national security interests and makes a future military confrontation with China increasingly likely, if not inevitable. Last week, the Department of Defense (DoD) provided Congress its “Annual Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China.” It’s another in a long list of reports and assessments chronicling the incessant rise of China’s military power that increasingly will challenge America’s dominant power in Asia, the Pacific, and around the world in the 21st century. (Read the full column at EWRoss.com)

Filed under: China-Taiwan, 2012 U.S. presidential election, 21st century, access, Africa, American power, American power in Asia, and influence, Annual Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China, area-denial weapons, Asia-Pacific region, blue-water navy, China’s growing military power, Chinese, Congress, consumer-driven, debt-ridden United States, Department of Defense, DoD, economic growth, economic implosion of Europe, Ed Ross, Europe, ewross, former Soviet Union, global superpower, international relations, Iran, Latin America, middle east, military confrontation with China, military expansion, north korea, nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines, People's Liberation Army, PLA, PRC, quasi-ally, reciprocity, recovery of Taiwan, South China Sea, strategic deterrent, taiwan strait, territorial claims, the Pacific, threat to U.S. national security, Tiananmen massacre, U.N., U.S. Armed Forces, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, U.S. China policy, U.S. defense spending, U.S. economy, U.S. Pacific Fleet, United States, upheaval in the Middle East, war between Israel and Iran, Western economies, window of strategic opportunity, world war II

CUTTING DEFENSE AND AMERICA DOWN TO SIZE

Budget cuts already proposed by President Obama and those that could take effect if the “supercommittee” in Congress fails to agree on $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction could cut the defense budget more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years, devastating U.S. military capabilities. The Congress, as currently configured, is unlikely to allow such deep cuts in defense; but that doesn’t mean they eventually won’t happen. Despite our debt, America still has vast resources, but there’s growing disagreement on what we should spend them on, what threatens us, and the missions the U.S. armed forces should undertake, with one side of the argument wanting to cut America down to size. (More)

Filed under: National Security, across-the-board defense cuts, aircraft, America's self image, armored fighting vehicles, big government, blood and treasure, china, collectivism, Congress, counterinsurgencies, counterterrorism, cutting defense, democracy, Department of Defense, Ed Ross, education, entrepreneurship, European-style social democracy, ewross, F-15, F-16, F-22, F-35, freedom, gutting the defense budget, healthcare, individualism, Iran and Afghanistan, islamic world, John McCain, Leon Panetta, Military budget, military retirement, national debt, peace dividend, President Obama, Secretary of Defense, Senator, ships, social justice, social services, social-democratic state, supercommittee, threats, U.S. military, U.S. military capabilities, United States Congress, US Air Force, US Army, US Navy, utopianism, war weariness, weapon systems, withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, world war II

RAISING THE DEBT LIMIT: SEPARATING FACT FROM FICTION

If you are even a little bit confused about what’s truth, what’s political propaganda, and who’s winning the argument in the debate over raising the national debt limit, you’re not alone. The facts that most everyone can agree on are that the national debt is over $14 trillion. Given current trends, spending will exceed 25 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year and will hover around 22.5 percent for the next five years. The spending spree began under President George W. Bush and got much worse under President Barack Obama. That’s where the consensus ends.  (More)

Filed under: Politics, 2012 election, barack obama, Charles Krauthammer, Congress, Department of Defense, Ed Ross, ewross, Franklin Roosevelt, game of chicken, GDP, George W. Bush, Great Depression, gross domestic product, IRS, Jimmy Carter, John Boehner, Karl Rove, Keynesian model, Medicade, Medicare, Mitch McConnell, political propoganda, President Barack Obama, raising the debt limit, republican, Republicans in Congress, Ronald Reagan, separating fact from fiction, Social Security benefits, spending cuts, truth, US economy, Warren Harding, White House

WARNING TO DEMOCRATS: AVOID FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATIONS

Image by CR Artist via Flickr

Every Fourth of July American patriots celebrate much more than Independence Day. We celebrate our political heritage, our freedom, and American Exceptionalism. This year, however, if the findings of a new Harvard University study are true, Democrats may wish to avoid the parades and fireworks displays. According to the study; “Fourth of July celebrations in the United States shape the nation’s political landscape by forming beliefs and increasing participation, primarily in favor of the Republican Party.” I’m a conservative Republican, but I am compelled to rise in defense of Democrats. (More)

Filed under: Politics, academia, African American, American Exceptionalism. Harvard University study, American flag, American patriotism, American patriots, Anthony Weiner, Assistant Professor Andreas Madestam, Assistant Professor David Yanagizawa-Drott, Bocconi University, Congress, Constitution, cultural and ethnic diversity, Declaration of Independence, Democratic Party, democrats, Department of Defense, Ed Ross, equality, ewross, fireworks displays, Forth of July, founding fathers, freedom, Harvard Kennedy School, Hispanic, Independence Day, Italy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, National Anthem, parades, Pledge of Allegiance, political heritage, politically biased, politically correct, progressive Democrats, public displays of affection, Republican dominated counties, republican party, Revolutionary War, right-wing extremism, social justice, social-democratic state, Tea Party goers, the entertainment industry, the media, U.S. Armed Forces, United States

BEARING THE BURDENS OF WAR: Something Other People Do

Robert Gates

Speaking at Duke University last week, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates expressed his concerns about the cost of maintaining an all-volunteer force and too few Americans bearing the burdens of war. But is he sending Americans a mixed message that, coming as it does in the midst of the growing U.S. fiscal crisis and two prolonged and controversial wars, risks adopting solutions to one problem that only make the other problem worse? (More)

Filed under: Military, National Security, 401K plans, admirals, airmen, all-volunteer military, burdens of war, compulsory service, Congress, Department of Defense, DoD bureaucracy, Duke University, Ed Ross, ewross, freedom, generals, Joint Forces Command, maines, military compensation, military healthcare, Norfolk Virginia, retirement pay, Richard Nixon, Robert Gates, ROTC, sailors, soldiers, something other people do, United States Secretary of Defense, US defense budget

REDUCING THE DOD BUREAUCRACY: Less is More

Secretary Robert Gates wants to make sweeping budget cuts in overhead at the Department of Defense (DoD). For starters, he has proposed eliminating Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) in Norfolk, Virginia, a 10 percent cut in contractors, the reduction of at least 50 generals and admirals, and the elimination of 150 Senior Executive Service (SES) civilians. I applaud Gates for his initiative. Not only will it save money for the needed modernization of weapons and equipment necessary to maintain our military capabilities, but it will make DoD more efficient and effective. (More)

Related Articles

• Officials: Belt-tightening will cut major command (sfgate.com)
• Scrapping the Defense Department CIO (informationweek.com)
• Secretary Of Defense Gates Announces Plan To Disestablish Joint Forces Command, Cut Civilian And Military Personnel (minx.cc)
• Gates Says Defense Bureaucracy Swollen, Declares Cuts (businessweek.com)
• Pentagon Cuts Come Under Fire (online.wsj.com)

Filed under: Healthcare, Military, National Security, Africa Command, bureaucratic politics, CIA, defense acuisition reform, defense budget, Defense Department, deficits, Department of Defense, DoD bureaucracy, DoD civilians, efficient and effective, fighting wars and deterring aggression, Government, grade creep, GS-14, GS-15, Horn of Africa, Joint Forces Command, less is more, Military, military capability, national defense, National Security Council, Norfolk Virginia, Parkinson's Law, personnel costs, precision guided munitions, Reagan administration, reorginization, Robert Gates, Senior Executive Service, stealthy bomber, United States, United States Department of Defense, United States government, United States Joint Forces Command

THE OIL SPILL IN THE GULF – Obama’s Leadership Crisis

President Obama’s critics have called him many things. Now, criticizing him for his reaction to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, they’ve begun to call him “incompetent,” comparing him to Jimmy Carter. If that label sticks, the Obama presidency, like Jimmy Carter’s, is doomed. Even worse, if President Obama doesn’t act decisively and quickly to stem the tide of destruction, the oil spill will cause irreparable damage to millions of people’s lives and to the country. (More)

Filed under: Climate Change, The Presidency, BP, Deepwater Horizon, Department of Defense, Eric Holder, Gulf of Mexico, Harry Reid, Healthcare reform, Hurricane Katrina, Janet Napolitano, Jimmmy Carter, Ken Salizar, Lisa Jackson, Nancy Pelosi, Obama's leadership crisis, obamacare, oil spill in the gulf, political operatives, President Obama, Robert Gates, Thad Allen, U.S. Coast Guard, White House