On The Night Before (in PA)

Editor's note: the author of this post has been a long-time Specter supporter

Tomorrow is the Democratic Primary race between Congressman Joe Sestak and Sen. Arlen Specter. For those of you that do not know, Sestak is a retired Navy Vice Admiral and Specter was a long-time Republican senator and used to be Senate Judiciary Committee (the ones who approve Supreme Court nominees to go to the Senate floor for a vote) Chair.

Rep. Sestak has been attacking Sen. Specter for switching parties in order to keep his job and saying how he (Sestak) has been a life-long Democrat, like in this add:



However, the clip is cut short:



For as long as I knew of Senator Specter, I have been a fan of his. I find myself to be an independent thinker and I have the ability to discern wolves in sheep's clothing. I knew for a long time that Senator Arlen Specter was a Democrat at heart.



I was in the audience when this video was taken (it was cut due to time purposes). The senator explained his reason for being a RINO (Republican In Name Only) and the story he gave. He grew up as the son of European Jews that escaped after the Nazis came to power. This was also during the midst of the Great Depression. The Senator's parents were both Democrats due to support of FDR's New Deal. Specter was raised in that same sort of mindset. Later in life, he decided to be a local district attorney with the promise that he would be a strong prosecutor. However, the local Democratic Party did not want a bulldog prosecutor to run with them. So, the Republicans took him with open arms. The rest was history.

Until, he voted for the Stimulus Package. He explained that being the son of poor immigrants, he saw the economic downturn the United States could have faced and knew how essential the Stimulus Package was to ensure there would never be another Great Depression.

This blog post has no real message except for that people should not look at a candidate based on party affiliation, but more on the experience, plans, and personal vision the person has for the position. Speaking as a New York City resident D and R are simply characters. If someone looked at Mayor Michael Bloomberg's stances on the issues, one would see that the only difference is merely a letter after his name

How's This for Excessive Spending?

As I am sure we all heard, there was a major tea party in D.C. this past weekend. The protesters complain about taxation and spending. They hate the Stimulus Package. They hate the health care bill. They hate foreign aid. They hate progressive taxes.

They also hate excessive government bureaucracy. I have one piece of excessive spending and government bureaucracy that no one has ever mentioned.

Next time you are hanging out in Downtown D.C., walk to the Department of Agriculture, then walk to the Department of Commerce, then Labor, and continue walking around to all of the cabinet-level departments that everyone forgets. Then, to finish it off, head to the Capitol. You will notice that each bureau has its own police force. I understand that each government office should have some security, but its own police force?

First off, I am curious to know who has the jurisdiction to prosecute someone who the, say Capitol police, arrest.

I do not know why there is a need for this much bureaucracy and excessive spending. But, however, our friends on the Right have never mentioned this. They seem to care more about social spending

Here is my solution to the police force issue: The President nominates a Governmental Police Commissioner that shall be in charge of all police forces within the government (with the exception of special cases such as Military Police forces and the Secret Service) and a joint committee of the House and Senate confirm. The Police Commissioner, then, appoints police chiefs for each department (i.e. Agriculture Department Police Chief). Those Chiefs, then, manage all of the police that are stationed in that department.

My plan gives a direct chain of command and provides necessary resources to other bureaus when needed (like when other police precincts are called to a scene). If there is a fault with my plan, please comment.

Let's see what the so-dubbed 'teabaggers' have to say about this.