It’s time to Break It Down!

Certain groups would have you believe the scourge of black initiated violence is responsible for virtually every negative trend in this country. This applies, especially, to developments that lead to increased mortality rates. If you are a consumer of Right Wing talk radio, or cable news, or dare I say, a number of the GOP Presidential candidates’ spiels, you will hear it suggested that blacks, particularly those ensconced in urban areas are engaged in wonton drug use, hyper gang violence, and random killing sprees. I sometimes wonder if all of what they say is true, how could there possibly be anyone left to buy drugs, join gangs, and/or execute the incalculable numbers of murders we are constantly reminded occur on a nearly daily basis.

Nobel Laureate, Angus Deaton and his wife, Anne Case, both Princeton economists, received international attention for their research, which was published earlier this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). According to the study, since 1999, we have been experiencing a significant spike in the death rate for a large group of middle-aged whites in the United States. The rise in death rates was accompanied by an increase in illness.

However, their work was not immediately received with robust approval. Before presenting it to PNAS, they submitted it to two prestigious medical journals, both of which rejected the study.

First, they tried to get it published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). According to Deaton, who was interviewed while attending a conference, sponsored by Princeton University, on Ebola and global public health in Dublin:

“We got it back almost instantaneously. It was almost like the e-mail had bounced. We got it back within hours.”

Next, Deaton and Case tried the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), after framing their work in the form of a two-page “Perspective” summarizing the alarming trend they had discovered in government mortality statistics. Two tries, two rejection notices. According to Deaton, the NEJM said that their work does not explain why the historically anomalous surge in mortality occurred. He compared that response to calling the fire department to report that your house is on fire:

“And they say, ‘Well, what caused the fire?’ And you say, ‘I don’t know,’ and they say, ‘Well, we can’t send the fire brigade until you can tell us what caused the fire.’”

Staff members at both Journals were reluctant to offer any details surrounding their respective responses to the study. Ms. Jennifer Zeis, media relations manager for the NEJM, said via email that the NEJM could not comment on the fate of any submissions because “The publication process is confidential.” Similarly, Jim Michalski, a spokesman for JAMA, also cited the journal’s confidentiality policy. “We can neither confirm nor deny whether an author has submitted a manuscript for review, or why a manuscript may have been rejected, also conveyed through an email.

The study’s findings apply to the mortality rate for white men and women ages 45-54 with less than a college education. The death rates for this group, based on the results of the study increased markedly between 1999 and 2013. The most likely drivers for this increase are thought to be problems with legal and illegal drugs, alcohol, and suicide. Deaton said of the causality:

“Drugs and alcohol, and suicide…are clearly the proximate cause. Half a million people are dead who should not be dead. That is about 40 times the Ebola stats. You’re getting up there with HIV-AIDS.”

Prior to the time frame cited in the study, death rates for the group had dropped steadily, and at an even faster pace. Historically, increases in mortality rates for any large demographic group in advanced nations, which “Exceptional America must surely be, have been virtually unheard of, with the notable exception of Russian men after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Undoubtedly, this overarching trend narrative is at least in part, the reason that JAMA and the NEJM were less than embracing of the Case’s study and findings.

Since at least 1970, Americans and residents of other wealthy countries have generally enjoyed longer and healthier lives, as smoking has declined, better treatments have been developed and preventive measures and lifestyles changes have had a substantial impact.

The findings of this study could have far-reaching implications as the surviving members of this sizable population segment continue toward retirement and Medicare eligibility. A more sickly population, less able to prepare for the costs associated with old age will place an increasing burden on both society at-large and federal programs.

Such a reversal has not been seen in blacks or Hispanics or among Europeans. The study points specifically to a surge in overdoses from opioid medication and heroin, liver disease and other problems that stem from alcohol abuse, and suicides.

Upon reflection, Deaton noted that he understands the related research will be subjected to political commentary, including that of a conservative Web site’s analysis that blamed President Obama for a trend that began during Bill Clinton Presidency. According to his resulting analysis:

“There is a widening between people at the top and the people who have a ho-hum education and they’re not tooled to compete in a technology economy. …Not only are these people struggling economically, but they’re experiencing this health catastrophe too, so they’re being hammered twice.”

Jonathan Skinner of Dartmouth College, another economist who reviewed the study for PNAS and co-authored a commentary that appears with it, used very similar words to summarize the findings:

“An increasingly pessimistic view of their financial future combined with the increased availability of opioid drugs has created this kind of perfect storm of adverse outcomes.”

Skinner also went on to say:

“This is the first indicator that the plane has crashed. I don’t know what’s going on, but the plane has definitely crashed.

“High school graduates [and] high school dropouts [are] 40 percent of the population. It’s not just the 10 percent who didn’t finish high school. It’s a much bigger group.”

Deaton and Case examined death rates for other developed nations, as well as for U.S. blacks and Hispanics as they continued their steady decline of recent decades. Whites in other age groups between 30 and 64, and more educated whites also had lower death rates. However, the other age groups did also experience substantially higher death rates from drug and alcohol overdoses, suicides, chronic liver disease, and cirrhosis of the liver.

David Weir, director of the health and retirement study at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, noted that while the death rates for African Americans continues to be greater than that for whites, the reversal among whites is shocking because of the advantages they enjoy. He added:

“Typically, socioeconomic circumstances gang up on African Americans, who have lower education, lower incomes, and race all working against them. In this case, that’s not happening.”

Weir surmised that economic insecurity, the decay of communities and the breakdown of families probably have had some impact on death and illness rates, in addition to the nation’s opioid epidemic and the factors the authors identified. Yet, he counters, the study clearly shows they are not the result of diseases such as lung cancer or diabetes, which are declining and increasing slowly, respectively. He interjected:

“I think it has to have something to do [with] the pain underlying it, both physical and psychic. That is the age when people have their midlife crisis…I think it has to do with that stage of life, and physical ailments do start to accumulate at that age. This paper really is a question, not an answer.”

Angus Deaton was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on individual consumption choices. He has long studied measures of well-being, health and pain. He and Case authored a paper in June that found reports of physical pain “are strongly predictive of suicide in many contexts” and that reports of pain are increasing among middle-aged Americans.

Their findings have been corroborated by other research, including a report from the National Heroin Task Force established by the Justice Department, which puts the number of overdose deaths from legal and illegal drugs at 110 every day. The heroin death toll has quadrupled in the decade that ended in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A study in the journal JAMA Psychiatry last year reported that 90 percent of the people who tried heroin for the first time in the last decade were white. Three-quarters said they were introduced to heroin through the use of prescription drugs.

In January, the CDC reported that an average of six people die every day because of alcohol poisoning and that 76 percent are ages 35 to 64. Three-quarters are men. But just last week, researchers reported that the U.S. death rate for all causes declined 43 percent between 1969 and 2013, from about 1,279 per 100,000 people to about 730. The rate of death caused by strokes, heart disease and cancer all declined significantly, researchers reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

As you reconcile the veritable cornucopia of data that support the findings in this post, do not fail to appropriately integrate and consider the degree to which these maladies precede the Age of Obama, as well as the disproportionate involvement of, and impact on white folks rather than black folks. Why? Because the next time you hear some ill-informed member of the media, the GOP, or perhaps your family spout off about either the role of President Obama in the decline of life as we know it, or the failure of blacks to respect life and authority, play this study like a high trump card in a game of Spades, complete with theatrics and histrionics. So there you have it…“More White People Are Dying: Newsflash – It’s Not President Obama’s Fault!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-group-of-middle-aged-american-whites-is-dying-at-a-startling-rate/2015/11/02/47a63098-8172-11e5-8ba6-cec48b74b2a7_story.html?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_evening

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/11/03/death-rates-rising-among-middle-aged-white-people-study-finds.html

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a39400/middle-aged-white-americans-dying-fast/

http://fortune.com/2015/11/03/middle-aged-white-death/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/health/death-rates-rising-for-middle-aged-white-americans-study-finds.html?_r=0

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-death-rate-is-rising-for-middle-aged-whites-1446499495

http://time.com/4097521/middle-aged-white-americans-death-rate/

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/nov/02/death-rate-middle-aged-white-americans-aids

http://www.healthline.com/health-news/more-white-people-are-dying-at-middle-age-110215

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/11/02/453192132/in-reversal-death-rates-rise-for-middle-aged-whites

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/11/03/1443633/-White-middle-class-America-Half-a-million-people-are-dead-who-should-not-be-dead#

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3300978/Silent-epidemic-suicide-drug-alcohol-abuse-triggered-shocking-rise-death-rates-middle-aged-white-Americans.html

http://finance.yahoo.com/video/death-rate-white-middle-aged-154647286.html

http://globalnews.ca/news/2313699/suicide-and-substance-abuse-blamed-for-death-rate-increase-in-white-middle-aged-americans/

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2015/11/02/Death-rate-of-white-middle-aged-Americans-has-grown-seen-since-1990s/4991446497125/

It’s time to Break It Down!

In 1987 current Presidential Candidate Donald J. Trump wrote a book entitled, “Trump The Art of the Deal.” This post is not about that. Rather, it is about the budget deal tentatively struck by Congress and the White House Monday evening. The measure will likely be voted upon today. This is key, and leaves no margin for error.

The urgency, in part, stems from the desire of House Speaker John Boehner to execute and dispense of the matter prior to the vote to elect a new Speaker, also tentatively scheduled for today, to elect Rep. Paul Ryan to the Speaker’s position. In the world of Washington politics, a lot has to go right for all this to happen.

First, not everyone is on board with the new budget. That includes Rep. Ryan; sort of. In fact, Mr. Ryan strongly condemned even the way the accord was put together. He explained he had not even laid eyes on it. He said:

“About the process, I can say this: I think the process stinks. Under new management, the people’s business will be conducted differently.”

Beyond the Ryan objections, it’s fair to say a number of the House and Senate’s most conservative members have reservations, objections, or concerns about the deal. In fact, to reach the deal, compromise, a word that has become anathema in the hallowed Halls of Congress in recent years, had to be reached. And it was.

The House Rules Committee met late into last night in an effort to ensure the deal reached the House floor by today. One key sticking point was a reduction in crop insurance payments; a move designed to raise $3 billion over ten years. A number of the top members of the Senate Agricultural Committee released a statement yesterday opposing the deal. Committee Chairman Michael Conaway (R-Texas) said:

“Make no mistake, this is not about saving money, it is about eliminating Federal Crop Insurance. The House Agricultural Committee was not consulted regarding any changes to policies under the jurisdiction of our committee.”

Also on the concerns side of the ledger, following Tuesday morning’s meeting, some conservatives complained that the budget negotiations were conducted without the input of committee chairs and rank-and-file members. It is however, unlikely that they will have the numbers to derail the pact, that is, presuming Democrats and moderate Republicans stay onboard. Representative John Fleming, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said:

“I don’t know if this thing could pass. It could break apart, and we could begin tackling this piecemeal well into Paul Ryan’s Speakership.” Or so it would seem, he hopes.

Representative Tom Cole, a centrist, said:

“The deal isn’t perfect, but it prevents default and gives certainty to the military, while making long-term reforms to Social Security and Medicare. I think it’s a pretty good choice to make. It’s a compromise and that means we had to give some things up that we don’t want, but we got some great things.”

Concerns notwithstanding, aides downplayed the risks that reservations about the issue could alienate enough votes to damage the deal.

The gist of how, why, and when all of this came about is tied directly to politics and timing. It has been two years since Congress and the White House has reach genuine bi-partisan budget compromise. This…is that. Speaker Boehner, who resigned a few weeks ago, effective October 31^st, wanted very much to craft/negotiate a budget deal, and get it approved before he left his position, and his Congressional Seat. He considered this a parting gift to Mr. Ryan, who will likely assume the reins of the Speakership tomorrow after the vote on the budget, if successful. Speaking about brokering the compromise yesterday, Speaker Boehner admitted he was cleaning a “dirty barn” for his likely replacement, Rep. Ryan, who was not involved in the secretive negotiations.

More precisely, Boehner said that he crafted the deal before his departure because he didn’t want the new Speaker “to walk into a dirty barn full of you know what.” He conceded that the package should have been assembled in a more inclusive way. He went on to add, “This is not the way to run a railroad.”

Ultimately, the leadership of the House and Senate privately negotiated the deal. Those actively involved included Speaker Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. The group kept a tight lid on the negotiations. They revealed the deal only after it was complete.

Minority Leader Pelosi embraced the agreement yesterday, signaling that the 188 House Democrats could provide a large portion of the vote needed to get a majority in the House. She indicated:

“The bi-partisan budget package unveiled Monday night represents real progress for hard-working families across the country. I look forward to working toward House passage of this proposal this week. Next, we must move forward to complete the appropriations for FY2016 and keep government open.”

If Representative Pelosi and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer can deliver votes from most, if not all, of their members, Mr. Boehner will have to win the support of only about 40 to 50 Republicans to pass the deal.

The Vice President, Joe Biden, praised the deal yesterday. He said:

“The last seven years, we’ve gone from crisis to recovery, and we’re on the verge of being able to have a genuine economic resurgence here. And what we’ve put together is a good deal. No one got everything they wanted. But it will last for two years and it will prevent us from lurching from crisis to crisis.”

Yesterday, Senator McConnell said to reporters that the agreement reaches issues important to Republicans, including more money for defense programs and offering funding increases through spending cuts rather than increases. He added:

“I’m hopeful and optimistic that the bill will come over to the Senate, and when it does, we’ll take it up.”

By most early accounts, key Senate Republicans are also on-board. Among them, Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said he would support the deal because “It restores all but $5 billion of the defense requirements.” He noted that if the budget agreement passes, he could move quickly to adjust and pass the National Defense Authorization Act that was recently vetoed by President Obama over budget concerns. Backing by McCain virtually insures the support of other defense hawks, including Senator Lindsey Graham, a GOP Presidential Candidate. About the deal, Senator Graham said:

“We’re in a box here. But if Senator McCain is okay with it, then I’ll probably be okay with it.”

The White house also weighed in. One White House official said:

“The agreement reached by congressional leaders last night meets these key tests: It provides substantial relief from harmful spending cuts, and it does so equally on the defense and non-defense sides of the budget.”

It should be noted that the deal is not a complete victory for Democrats, who wanted even more spending increases and hoped to pass an increase without including it in a broader budget deal. President Obama has insisted that the debt limit not be used as a negotiating tool for spending cuts. The proposal will allow the President to say he secured a bargain on a scale that has not been seen since the 2013 agreement between Mr. Ryan and Senate Budget Committee (then) Chair Senator Patty Murray.

Democrats will still get to celebrate a messaging victory and will probably take credit for the deal. Senator Charles Schumer pointed out that that the proposal is the kind of spending agreement he and other Democrats have been promoting. He also said:

“For months, we Democrats have asked for a budget that increases spending significantly above sequester levels and does so in a way that is equally balanced between defense and key middle-class programs. The agreement does both.”

There are several key elements of the bipartisan deal, which constitutes a win for both the economy and budget discipline. Some of these points include:

Bipartisan Debt Deal

• Removes the cloud of uncertainty over our economy at this critical time, by ensuring that no one will be able to use the threat of the nation’s first default now, or in only a few months, for political gain;
• Locks in a down payment on significant deficit reduction, with savings from both domestic and Pentagon spending, and is designed to protect crucial investments like aid for college students;
• Establishes a bipartisan process to seek a balanced approach to larger deficit reduction through entitlement and tax reform;
• Deploys an enforcement mechanism that gives all sides an incentive to reach bipartisan compromise on historic deficit reduction, while protecting Social Security, Medicare beneficiaries and low-income programs;
• Stays true to the President’s commitment to shared sacrifice by preventing the middle class, seniors and those who are most vulnerable from shouldering the burden of deficit reduction. The President did not agree to any entitlement reforms outside of the context of a bipartisan committee process where tax reform will be on the table and the President will insist on shared sacrifice from the most well-off and those with the most indefensible tax breaks.

Mechanics of the Debt Deal

• Immediately enacted 10-year discretionary spending caps generating nearly $1 trillion in deficit reduction; balanced between defense and non-defense spending;
• President authorized to increase the debt limit by at least $2.1 trillion, eliminating the need for further increases until 2013;
• Bipartisan committee process tasked with identifying an additional $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction, including from entitlement and tax reform. Committee is required to report legislation by November 23, 2011, which receives fast-track protections. Congress is required to vote on Committee recommendations by December 23, 2011;
• Enforcement mechanism established to force all parties – Republican and Democrat – to agree to balanced deficit reduction. If Committee fails, enforcement mechanism will trigger spending reductions beginning in 2013 – split 50/50 between domestic and defense spending. Enforcement protects Social Security, Medicare beneficiaries, and low-income programs from any cuts.

When you come right down to it, there are many angles to this proposed deal. There are forces that promote it; factions that oppose it, and a fringe that is watching to see who is for it and who is against it. I don’t have a crystal ball, but my reading of the tealeaves suggests, despite Senator Rand Paul’s pledge to filibuster the bill, the President, Democrats, and a fragile and fleeting coalition of Republicans, buoyed by the urging of outgoing Speaker Boehner will carry the day. That result would in effect provide the Speaker with a parting victory, Mr. Ryan with the gift of a clean slate…or barn, as it were, and the American People with a winning budget proposal, courtesy of “The Art of the Deal: The Budget Deal, That Is!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://abc7.com/news/white-house-congressional-leaders-work-out-budget-plan/1053855/

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/congress-and-white-house-reach-two-year-tentative-budget-deal/

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/white-house-congressional-leaders-near-possible-budget-deal-n451786

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/26/politics/congress-budget-talks-hill/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/12/politics/congress-budget/index.html

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/white-house-congress-reach-tentative-173654848.html

https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheet-victory-bipartisan-compromise-economy-american-people

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/28/us/politics/congress-white-house-budget-deal-boehner.html?_r=0

http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/la-na-congress-budget-deal-20151026-story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2015/10/27/budget-bargain-faces-first-test-today-with-house-republicans/

http://www.amazon.com/Trump-The-Deal-Donald-J-ebook/dp/B000SEGE6M?tag=duckduckgo-osx-20

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_Rules

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/28/us/politics/obama-boehner-budget-deal.html?ribbon-ad-idx=14&rref=homepage&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Home%20Page&pgtype=article

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/10/27/rand-paul-will-filibuster-debt-ceiling-bill/

It’s time to Break It Down!

The very high profile and discordant GOP stalemate appears to be coming to a merciful end; the dispute nearly over. Maybe!

A few weeks ago, in the midst of Pope Francis’ American DC-NY-PA Tour, House Speaker John Boehner underwent an epiphany and announced he would resign from his Speakership, and retire from Congress. At that moment, it appeared Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Leader, was most likely to pursue the Speaker’s position.

Indeed, he had Speaker Boehner’s blessing and endorsement. It should be noted, that was always going to be problematic for McCarthy. Boehner had become a less than popular leader, especially among the ultra conservative wing of the GOP, which includes the Tea Party element.

As if the onus of being close to the Speaker were not enough, in a Truth Serum-like induced moment of candor, Mr. McCarthy admitted in a Fox News interview that he was part of a Benghazi probe that had resulted in deflating Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers. Oops!

Quicker than a magician could say abracadabra, Representative McCarthy’s SNAFU ascended to a top-tier Twitter trending item, and part of a continuous loop in the 24-hour news cycle. Can you say liability? In a matter of days Mr. McCarthy evolved from a candidate who hoped to survive a spirited and contested battle for the Speakership to someone who lost all hope. He entered a meeting at which a vote on the matter was expected, and left, having taken himself out of the running.

On some level it was not a surprising move; yet it was totally unexpected. He had given no indication he would recuse himself from running. In some ways, it was a most artful sleight. It allowed him to proactively disengage from what was sure to be a figurative intra-Party OK Corral kind of gymnastic. Score one for the Kev.

As much as his “Smooth Operator” move made matters less complicated for him in the long run, and less contentious for the GOP in the short term, the tactic further roiled the waters for the Party, which at its core needed to get on with the business of electing a New Speaker, and complicated Mr. Boehner’s level of duress. After all, he hopes to gavel to a close his final meeting by October 31st.

Almost immediately after McCarthy’s exit, a Draft Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan movement emerged in full bore. There had been some level of interest in his becoming a candidate for the post, all along. His advocates, whom, represent various elements of the Party largely agree that he is one of the few, if not the only person whom, at this time, could persuade the requisite number of House colleagues to coalesce around and elect a candidate.

From the outset, Paul Ryan navigated the ensuing process in an arm’s length fashion. By most accounts, the job (Speaker of the House) is one he did not want, and in fact opted not to seek. There are a number of reasons for this, including, the nature of the job called for, from his perspective:

– Too much travel

– Too much fundraising

– Too much jousting and in fighting

Ryan is currently Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. He assumed the Chairmanship in January of this year. Prior to that, he spent four years as Chairman of the House Budget Committee. The Committee on Ways and Means has a wide range of oversight and responsibilities. The Committee on Budget is also the kind of high-level policy-heavy assignment that Ryan considers right in his wheel well. He is a policy wonk that wants to reform the tax code, and would ideally like to take a crack at running for President. He was on the ticket as Mitt Romney’s choice for Vice President in 2012.

The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Members of the Ways and Means Committee are not allowed to serve on any other House Committees unless they apply for a waiver from their party’s congressional leadership. The Committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other programs including:

• Social Security
• Unemployment benefits
• Medicare
• Enforcement of child support laws
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a federal welfare program
• Foster care and adoption programs

The U.S. Constitution requires that all bills regarding taxation must originate in the House of Representatives. Since House procedure is that all bills regarding taxation must go through this committee, the committee is very influential, as is its Senate counterpart, the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance.

The U.S. House Committee on the Budget, commonly known as the House Budget Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Its responsibilities include legislative oversight of the federal budget process, reviewing all bills and resolutions on the budget, and monitoring agencies and programs funded outside of the budgetary process.

Last night, Mr. Ryan took the first step toward what Republicans, at least the group that considers itself of the mainstream variety hopes will be the beginning of the end of the Speaker selection impasse. At first blush, it seems promising. But the contemporary Republican Party is almost not one Party in the traditional sense.

Ryan, understanding just what he is working with laid out a series of caveats that the Party must accept, in order for him to “reluctantly” take the job. The gist of those points his colleagues must agree to include the following:

• He must receive the support of all three groups inside the House Republican conference: the House Freedom Caucus, the Republican Study Committee and the moderate Tuesday Group.

• He wants changes to House rules made as a team — a major demand of the House Freedom Caucus; he wants to make it harder to overthrow a sitting speaker.

• He wants a better work-life balance than out-going House Speaker John Boehner had.

• He also emphasized the importance of unified support for the next speaker. Ryan told his colleagues he is willing to take “arrows in the chest but not in the back,” a GOP source inside the meeting told CNN.

Ryan closed his remarks by adding, should the conference agree to his stipulations, “I am happy and willing to get to work.” He went on to say, “I hope it doesn’t sound conditional, but it is.” According to members inside the room. He paused after saying the word “conditional,” for effect.

In explaining his insistence on the aforementioned terms of engagement, Ryan said, “This is not a job I ever sought; this is not a job I ever wanted. I came to the conclusion that this was a dire moment.”

Observers close to the process also weighed in. Peter King (R-NY) by most accounts a moderate, said, “If Paul Ryan can’t unite us, no one can. Who else is out there? That’d be a sign of utter dysfunction, total madness.”

Ryan’s allies say his conditions for becoming speaker are likely to include an understanding that he would have a free hand to lead without a constant fear of mutinous reprisals. One, Peter Wehner, a former adviser to President George W. Bush, said Ryan wants House conservatives to make clear that they would not seek to “cripple him” from the start.

Wehner added, “He doesn’t have a moral obligation to get Republicans out of the rubble they’ve created for themselves. Asking for their goodwill is completely reasonable.”

Perhaps the most challenging element for Ryan to get his arms around, and to whip or coerce, or coddle into line is the group known as the Freedom Caucus. This is a group of hardline Republicans who were not enamored with Speaker Boehner, and who tried to unseat him on a number of occasions.

In the initial stages of the group’s existence, which came to power in 2011, after the Tea Party swept a number of 2010 midterm election, the focus was primarily on reducing government spending. Latter day emphases have included specific targets such as Planned Parenthood, and its funding. But as time wears on, it is increasingly clear that what the Freedom Caucus wants more than specific legislation is power.

The clock is ticking, and the brinksmanship, while interesting in a sociological kind of way, is a totally counterproductive endeavor. We will soon see if the Representative from Wisconsin’s First Congressional District has constructed an acceptable path forward, via “Ryan’s Rules: Demands, Conditions, Stipulations…Pick the Semantic of Your Choice!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ryan-nears-decision-on-speakers-race-as-congress-returns/2015/10/20/b0e4998c-7687-11e5-bc80-9091021aeb69_story.html

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/20/politics/paul-ryan-house-speaker/index.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/us/politics/republicans-paul-ryan-house-speaker.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Caucus

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/us/politics/republican-freedom-caucuss-revolt-in-house-is-stoked-back-home.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ryan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boehner

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_McCarthy_(California_politician)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_Ways_and_Means

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_the_Budget#Role_of_the_House_Budget_Committee

It’s time to Break It Down!

As many of you did, I spent much of last night watching this season’s first Democratic Party Presidential Debate. I was extended, and accepted an opportunity to attend and participate in a Focus Group to discuss the Debate. Instead of creating a post after viewing the debate, I chose instead to repost a story I logged a year ago.

On Friday we will observe the 20^th Anniversary of the Million Man March. Last year I wrote about what I felt the MMM represented for my generation, from my perspective, of course.

A natural query to pose is, “But what about the March this past weekend; why not focus on that one?” It is a fair question. The same controversial leader, Minister Louis Farrakhan, who was a central figure in the 1995 March was at the forefront of last Saturday’s Million Man March for Justice or Else; the Washington Mall facing the Capitol was the same location, and tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people, mostly blacks, assembled from all across the country.

All of that is true. What is also true is I did not attend this past weekend’s event. I chose to reprise the 1995 March because of my personal connection to memories of that March. To that end, what follows is the unedited post from October 15, 2014, titled as above.

Tomorrow will mark the 19^th Anniversary of the Million Man March (MMM). Before moving to the narrative, I know there are those who are disturbed that I would deign to conflate or equate The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; the March of A. Phillip Randolph, of Bayard Rustin, and of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I understand completely, and that is not what I’m doing.

On August 27^th and 28^th, 1963, I was nine years old. My participation came courtesy of my vantage point, seated in front of our 19-inch Black & White TV. It was informative, and inspiring, but it was not in-person (for me). Rustin, Randolph, King, and their co-participants and contemporaries, through their actions, reframed the trajectory of the landscape of American society, as we knew it. All of us are forever in their debt…each and every one of us. If you are an American today, whether you were born by then, or lived here at that time, if you are here now, you are obliged to credit, or blame if you choose, them for the country we have become.

By October 16, 1995, I was forty-something. I had been aware of the planning and development of the Million Man March from its early stages. From the outset, I was committed that this time, I would be fully present and accounted for. This time, timing was on my side. I actually had a job that made it not only acceptable, but also desirable to be there. I went, on my own aegis, not for work. But with a job title, Minority Affairs Director, I had no doubt; it was meant for me to be there.

Most of the rest of this post will be devoted to a verbatim recounting of an essay I wrote about my first person experience attending the March. The essay was one of three that appeared in the November 1995 Edition of OUTLOOK (Vol. 26 No. 11), the Newsmagazine for employees of Mecklenburg County, NC. All three were captured under the broad heading, “Reflections on the Million Man March.”

Here’s my essay:

For me, this event was at once a culmination and a commencement.

Nearly a year ago Minister Louis Farrakhan spoke here in Charlotte and announced plans for a Million Man March to be held in Washington, D.C. I left the Convention Center that evening committed to be at the March. My interest and enthusiasm culminated with my participation on Monday, October 16, 1995.

The March also was the point of commencement for the strategies and action to create positive and deeply rooted change in the social fabric of our individual communities and in the entire nation.

Though estimates of the actual attendance are in dispute, whether the number was 400,000 or more than a million, the turnout was epic. By the former measure, it is the largest civil rights rally in the history of this country; the latter would make it simply the largest gathering ever on the Washington Mall.

Being there was to be engulfed by the spirit of the moment; surrounded by a sea of positively focused humanity. It was an endeavor whose moment had come. It had to be done!

The day was characterized by its organizers as a time for collective atonement, reconciliation, responsibility, and absence: atonement for having been AWOL from familial responsibility; reconciliation to the women, children, families, and communities that had been abandoned; responsibility for our own actions and the consequences of those actions; and absence from normal daily employment and consumption (buying) patterns. These steps underscore the seriousness of our circumstances, and provide a vehicle to penetrate the nation’s consciousness. (Mission accomplished).

Minister Farrakhan and the Reverend Benjamin Chavis are correctly viewed as principal symbols of “The March.” They played central roles in conceiving and organizing the effort. In the final analysis however, “The March” belonged to THE PEOPLE. No one, two, or twenty individuals could adequately represent the total spectrum of this undertaking. It spanned wide ranges of economy, geography, religion, politics, ideology, age, gender, disability, and general point of view. African-Americans united to respond to the beleaguered condition of people…not against anyone.

Speaker after speaker – Maya Angelou, Charles Rangel, Kwaisi Mfume, Jesse Jackson, Rosa Parks, Jawanza Kunjufu, John Conyers, Stevie Wonder, Tynnetta Muhammad, Kurt Schmoke, Marion Berry, Benjamin Chavis, and Louis Farrakhan – in their own way, challenged and urged those in attendance, those watching at home (or at work) and those who would later hear about it, to work together to heal our society.

Minister Farrakhan specifically outlined several steps that participants should take, including:

1. Register to vote and actively work to make sure others do;
2. Affiliate with an organization(s) focused on improving the Black Community;
3. Join a church, synagogue, mosque, etc., and put your religion to work in the community;
4. Adopt one of the 25,000 black children waiting for adoption;
5. Develop a relationship with a prisoner and help that person in their transition to life after prison;
6. Establish a black United Fund to help our communities.

These steps alone will not alleviate all the problems we face. But if these measures are adopted, we will have taken one giant step forward.

Those of us assembled on the Mall on Monday, October 16, 1995 were prayerful, powerful, respectful, and reverent. More importantly, we were inspired by having been there, and we left committed to begin, continue, or accelerate our personal efforts to implement solutions to the trenchant social problems we face in our communities. I’m ready to do my part.

Peace!

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Arguably, a dozen years before I conceived and introduced The Sphinx of Charlotte/Break It Down, this essay was my very first blog. Who knew? Now, you do. I hope you enjoyed this narrative version of Throw Back Thursday (remember, tomorrow is the anniversary), brought to you on Wednesday. So there you have it, “A Look Back at the MMM: My Generation’s March on Washington!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Washington_for_Jobs_and_Freedom

http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_march_on_washington_for_jobs_and_freedom/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Man_March

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/382949/Million-Man-March

http://www.noi.org/about-million-man-march/

http://www.blackpast.org/aah/million-man-march-1995

http://www.c-span.org/video/?67630-1/million-man-march

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8UB-shmJfQ

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/27/million-man-march-black-history-photo_n_2774778.html

http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2010/10/the_million_man_march_15_years_later.html

It’s time to Break It Down!

Allow me to flout convention and begin with the end. In summary, the perpetrator’s effort to address the subject is a start, but falls short, far short in fact, of what’s necessary to make right an immeasurable injustice.

How did we arrive at this point?

In recent years there has been a not so subtle effort to reimage American History, or at least a key part of it. A certain element of the country has increasingly flexed its growing political and cultural muscle by successfully lobbying to change the way textbooks express the emergence, growth and development of the United States as a World Power.

Legislatures in several States have voted to participate in this unsavory practice. Even the Republican National Committee has gotten in on the act. Conservatives scrutinized the 2014 edition of the College Board’s release of its new Advanced Placement U.S. History teaching guidelines for not being patriotic enough. The Republican National Committee issued a resolution describing the framework as a “biased and inaccurate view of many important events in American history” and calling on Congress to withhold federal funding from the College Board.

Read: New AP U.S. history teaching framework released after controversy

It can be argued that, at best, this deception dilutes the truth quotient associated with the course of American human events. At worst, it totally whitewashes, no pun intended, the atrocities visited upon millions of erstwhile Africans. These men and women were violently separated from their homeland, and transported across an Ocean under the most brutal of circumstances. The conditions the human cargo was subjected to; shackled in cramped quarters, and barely fed, effectively killed countless men and women during the transcontinental voyages. Those who survived had their lives leveraged for free labor, while they essentially built significant portions of the infrastructure of this country.

As previously referenced, a number of States engage in this unpalatable behavior. However, none is bigger and/or more influential than Texas, if for no other reason, than because of the sheer number of textbooks the State purchases. Moreover, due to the large number of books prepared for Texas, that version of the texts is likely to be marketed to other smaller states that cannot command, based on volume, a different, truer-to-fact, version of the texts.

Publisher McGraw-Hill is contracted to prepare and provide World Geography textbooks for the State of Texas. In the version of events approved by the Texas Legislature, African slaves are referred to as “workers” and “immigrants.” In one passage, the book notes:

“The Atlantic slave trade brought millions of workers…”

OK, hold on, wait a minute! This low-grade historical rewrite has been kicked around in newspapers and Internet news sites for some time. Finally a student and his mother, Coby Burren and Roni Dean-Burren, respectively, collaborated to kick-off a Facebook post that went viral. The ensuing smoke apparently made its way all the way up the communications chimney to McGraw-Hill executives.

The Dean-Burrens recoiled at the manipulatively nuanced characterizations that referred to individuals whom we know were slaves, as workers and immigrants. In response, Mrs. Dean-Burren asked:

“Workers implies wages … yes?

In one more testament to the viability and velocity of the inherent in general, and of Facebook in particular, her post had drawn 1.4 million page views on Facebook through Sunday before last. The higher-ups at McGraw-Hill not only heard (or saw/read, as it were), they responded.

Once confronted by the outcry emanating from the Dean-Burren family, McGraw-Hill reviewed the section. After a quick refresher, they concluded that the phraseology comprised in that particular section does not live up to their standards. As the Company put it, in a post on its own Facebook Page last Friday:

“We believe we can do better to communicate these facts more clearly, we will update this caption to describe the arrival of African slaves in the U.S. as a forced migration and emphasize that their work was done as slave labor.”

The company noted the edits will appear in the online version of the book immediately and will be included in the book’s next printing.

In response to the news, Mrs. Dean-Burren said on her Facebook Page:

“This is change people!!! This is why your voices matter!!!” And they do.

In citing a couple of specific examples of the reinvention of history in the text, Mrs. Dean-Burren elevated a passage from the section called “Patterns of Immigration.” In that section the text provides snapshots of how various ethnic groups arrived…in America. It notes:

“The Atlantic slave trade between the 1500s and the 1800s brought millions of workers from Africa to the southern United States to work on agricultural plantations.”

Immigration? Really? Mr. Trump and his immigration foes must not have received the memo. There is an immigrant pool that not only works but also does so for free.

A separate passage describes the arrival of Europeans who came to work as indentured servants “for little or no pay.” Here, they note that English and other Europeans received little or no pay, yet, no mention that Africans were slaves…just workers.

Mrs. Dean-Burren accurately calls this characterization of slavery in the text an “erasure.”

“Erasure is real y’all!!! Teach your children the truth!!! ‪#‎blacklivesmatter”

Coby, a ninth-grade student at Pearland High School south of Houston, brought the textbook and its loose-with-the-facts language to his mother’s attention. Texas has been a battleground in the fight over changes to textbooks that some say concede too much ground to conservative viewpoints on subjects such as climate change, religious liberty and especially slavery.

Read: Texas OKs school guidelines after ideological debate

While Mrs. Dean Burren took solace in having been a catalyst for a degree of change in McGraw-Hill’s posture on the subject of describing slavery in appropriate terms, some believe the changes aren’t enough and are asking the publisher to recall existing versions of the book and replace copies for schools that can’t afford to buy new books. I support this view. One comment on McGraw-Hill’s Facebook Page read:

“Thanks for the gesture, but that doesn’t help the school districts that can’t afford to purchase new textbooks! Kids will continue to read the same incorrect & inconsiderate information for probably the next 5-10 years! There must be a better way!”

Others say the publisher’s revised language still plays down the horrors of slavery.

“Forced migration? I believe the words you’re looking for are kidnapped and stolen,” wrote a commenter.

With those observations, I will end this post as it began, as I said I would. In summary, McGraw-Hill’s effort to address the subject is a start, but falls short, far short in fact, of what’s necessary to make right an immeasurable injustice. Therefore, when you reflect on this sordid episode, all you really need to know is, this was “A Tale Of The Great African Migration: Emphasis On Tale!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/04/living/mcgraw-hill-slavery-textbook-mom-complaint-feat/index.html

http://khon2.com/2015/10/05/mcgraw-hill-to-rewrite-textbook-after-texas-moms-complaint/

http://wtkr.com/2015/10/05/mcgraw-hill-to-rewrite-textbook-after-moms-complaint/

http://fox6now.com/2015/10/05/mcgraw-hill-to-rewrite-textbook-after-moms-complaint/

http://time.com/4060687/mcgraw-hill-slavery-trade-textbook/

http://www.metro.us/news/mcgraw-hill-to-rewrite-textbook-after-online-outrage-over-whitewashed-history/zsJoje—7CBMCh9Hw/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/rewriting-history-texas-tackles-textbook-debate/

http://fox13now.com/2015/10/04/mcgraw-hill-to-rewrite-textbook-that-describes-african-slaves-as-workers-and-immigrants/

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/10/05/mcgraw-hill-to-rewrite-textbook-passage-identifying-slaves-as-w/21245107/

http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/connectedcar/mcgraw-hill-to-rewrite-textbook-passage-identifying-slaves-as-‘workers/vp-AAf8yM

It’s time to Break It Down!

It was bound to happen. I’ve written about what was at the time a totally new thing when the NBA hired its first female coach. Then, football entered the game, so to speak. It was almost certainly only a matter of time before a third member of America’s Big 4 sports franchises took a seat at the table. Sure enough, the inevitable transpired when Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Oakland A’s and Justine Siegal made MLB history yesterday, as the Oakland Athletics announced she would serve as a guest instructor for their Instructional League club, making her the first woman to coach in big league history.

On July 29, 2015 I wrote:

“Jennifer Welter was hired as a training camp and preseason coaching intern for the inside linebackers position for the National Football League’s Arizona Cardinals. The signing made her the first female coach in the NFL.”

On July 22, 2015 I wrote:

“Coach Gregg Popovich and the Spurts made Ms. Hammon the NBA’s first full-time Regular Season female Assistant Coach on August 5, 2014. It was clear at that time she had cultivated a history with the Spurs, and that she had established a relationship with both Coach Popovich and a number of Spurs’ players. Other women had served in support roles, one as an Assistant during the Summer League, and another as a Volunteer Assistant during the Regular Season. Hammon, however, assumed full coaching responsibilities, and traveled with the team.

On Monday evening, Ms. Hammon led the Spurs to the Championship of the Vegas Summer League, as the Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns 93-90. By doing so, she became the feature attraction in yet another chapter in the annals of history, after having added one just two weeks ago, when she became the first woman to serve as Head Coach of an NBA Summer League Team. The Spurs lost their first Summer League game to the NY Knicks, but rallied from that point, winning the rest of their games, including in the end, persevering in a hotly contested Title Game.

On August 6, 2014 I wrote:

“But that’s a tale that will not be told until next spring.  Apparently, the Spurs wanted to make a statement now, and that they did.  Yesterday, they announced the hiring of Rebecca (Becky) Hammon as an Assistant Coach.  In doing so, they made her the first female to become a full-time Regular Season Assistant Coach in the League.  This year, Natalie Nakase, an assistant video coordinator for the Clippers, was hired to help run the Summer League.  Also, during the 2001-02 Season, when John Lucas coached the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lisa Boyer served as a Volunteer Assistant with the Cavs.  However, Ms. Boyer did not travel with the team.  In contrast, Hammon will operate in the capacity of a full-time Assistant, and will travel with the team.

Hammon, a veteran WNBA player had already announced her retirement, slated for the end of the WNBA Season.  As a member of the San Antonio Stars, she and the Spurs were already familiar with each other.  In fact, she had previously worked with the Spurs; a key factor in Coach Popovich’s comfort level with her.  CNN reported that Popovich, in speaking of Hammon said:

“I very much look forward to the addition of Becky Hammon to our staff.”  Having observed her working with our team this past season, I’m confident her basketball IQ, work ethic and interpersonal skills will be a great benefit to the Spurs.””

Today it’s Major Leaguer Baseball’s turn to grab a proverbial 15 minutes of fame for its foray into the world of female coaching hires. At first blush, it appears they are doing a fine job, and that they have selected an excellent candidate. Dr. Siegal, who has a Ph.D. in Sport and Exercise Psychology, has completed the Major League Scouting Bureau School. As a rookie coach, she will assume a slate of duties that comprises an array of responsibilities, including, hitting infield practice, throwing batting practice, offering her knowledge in meetings, and, as she says, “helping out wherever they want me to help out.”

Dr. Siegal went on to say:

“And I do like talking about life skills—I like to help people achieve their life goals.”

Siegal, became the first woman to coach men professionally in 2009 when she was the first-base coach for the independent league Brockton Rox. She will work with A’s minor-leaguers from Oct. 4 through Oct. 17.

Her hiring continues an upward trend for women in men’s professional sports. The San Antonio Spurs’ hired Becky Hammon as an assistant coach, and she led the Spurs’ summer league team to a championship this past July. This summer the Sacramento Kings followed suit by hiring Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman to serve as an assistant under head coach George Karl.

At the moment it appears that Siegal’s situation is best compared to that of Dr. Jen Welter, who served as a coaching intern with the Arizona Cardinals during training camp. Like Welter, Siegal was not hired for a permanent position but as temporary help during a time when a team needs all hands on deck.

A’s Assistant General Manager David Forst put it this way:

“Justine knows that nothing has been promised, but we’re not ruling that out,” referring to a full-time position.

For her part, Dr. Siegal responded:

“I think it would be incredible to coach full-time.” But for now, I’ll do my best every day to help out any way I can, from carrying water to throwing BP to using my Ph.D.”

When questioned about the potential reaction of the A’s minor-league players, Mr. Forst believes they will be as accepting of Siegal as they would be of any other coach. He added:

“I’ve found from experience that men are surprised to have a woman coach, but when they realize you know what you’re talking about and that you care, you fit right in with the rest of the staff.”

Siegal has served as co-chair of SABR’s Women in Baseball Committee and she directs a program that champions gender equity in sport for Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society. She is the founder of Baseball For All, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing instruction and opportunity in baseball, especially for girls; Baseball For All will hold a national event for girls aged 7-15 in San Francisco in July.

The A’s are one of a handful of teams to have employed a woman in a scouting capacity in the front office; Kate Greenthal was a scouting assistant with the team from 2012 through ’14. Former A’s assistant GM Farhan Zaidi, now the Dodgers’ GM, is one of the few Muslims in baseball administration, and Oakland’s director of player personnel, Billy Owens, is African American.

That leaves the NHL as the only major professional sports league that has not had a female coach. The Athletics previously employed Kate Greenthal in their scouting department from 2012 to 2014, and this hire shows they’re still among the most progressive organizations in baseball. Even if Siegal’s just a guest instructor, this is progress worth celebrating and, hopefully, a sign of things to come.

So there you have it, “Act III: Baseball Enters the Game!”  All-in-all, not a bad way to create a little pre-World Series buzz.  Way to go A’s, and MLB!

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2573727-justine-siegal-hired-by-athletics-becomes-1st-female-mlb-coach

https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2015/07/29/jens-turn-apparently-its-in-the-cards/

https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2015/07/22/the-spurs-and-becky-hammon-another-chapter-added/

(http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2014/08/first-spurs-won-title-now-they-are.html)

http://www.sfgate.com/athletics/article/Oakland-A-s-hire-woman-coach-Justine-Siegal-to-6538183.php

http://www.mercurynews.com/athletics/ci_28896649/make-justine-siegal-first-female-coach

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/09/29/justine-siegal-oakland-athletics-female-coach

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2015/09/29/as-make-justine-siegal-first-female-coach-hired-by-mlb-team/

http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2015-09-29/athletics-hire-justine-siegal-female-coah-oakland-baseball-mlb

http://www.insidebayarea.com/athletics/ci_28896649/make-justine-siegal-first-female-coach

It’s time to Break It Down!

Words matter; any number of words can be used to signify the Pathos of American culture. However, perhaps none does so more aptly than Capitalism. It is arguably, the spirit, zest, and emotion that propel us to so frequently achieve greatness. There are most certainly terms that better reflect the American Ethos, and our sometimes, slippery connection to communal ethics. In addition, we can point to more poignant vessels to accurately capture the Logos that is the essence of the way we in America reason. Today’s word, however, is Capitalism, so perhaps we will examine those other elements of persuasion at another time.

In this election season especially, a number of politicians are poised to place an extra fine point on the distinction between Capitalism and other primary systems of organizing and managing government’s economies. The term Capitalist means owner of capital. Capitalism is an economic system that emphasizes that trade, industry, and the means of production are largely or entirely privately owned and operated for profit. Central characteristics include private property, capital accumulation, wage labor and, in some situations, fully competitive markets. In a capitalist economy, the parties to a transaction typically determine the prices at which they exchange assets, goods, and services.

The degree of competition, the role of intervention and regulation, and the scope of state ownership vary across different models of capitalism. These models include laissez-faire or free market capitalism, welfare capitalism, crony capitalism, corporatism, “third way” social democracy and state capitalism.

The American Way, purists will insist, is punctuated by free enterprise. At its core, in a free enterprise system, business is governed by the laws of supply and demand; not restrained by government interference, regulation or subsidy. This apparatus is also referred to as free market.

The American combination of Capitalism and Free Enterprise is considered to be one of the most successful economic experiments in the history of the world. The United States is the world’s largest national economy, representing 22% of nominal global GDP and 17% of global GDP (PPP). The United States’ GDP was estimated to be $18.124 trillion as of Q2 2015. The U.S. dollar is the currency most used in international transactions and is the world’s foremost reserve currency. Several countries use it as their official currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. The United States has a mixed economy and has maintained a stable overall GDP growth rate, a moderate unemployment rate, and high levels of research and capital investment. Its seven largest trading partners are Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, Germany, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.

The US has abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity. It has the world’s ninth-highest per capita GDP (nominal) and tenth-highest per capita GDP (PPP) as of 2013. Americans have the highest average household and employee income among OECD nations, and in 2010 had the fourth highest median household income, down from second highest in 2007. It has been the world’s largest national economy (not including colonial empires) since at least the 1890s. It’s abundantly clear that our national economic bona fides are firmly entrenched and indelibly established.

The numbers are not just staggering on the macro level. The United States, not surprisingly, also has a number of incredibly wealthy individuals. Our Country has more billionaires than any other. As of 2015, the U.S. was home to more than twice as many billionaires, 536, as the second closest Country, People’s Republic of China, 213. In fact, to sharpen the focus to an even higher degree, the State of California has more billionaires than every Country, except China and the U.S.

California spawned 23 new billionaires over the past year, bringing its total count to 131 — or nearly a quarter of America’s 10-digit club. It not only has more billionaires than any other U.S. state, but also tops Germany, India, Russia and the UK. In fact, if California were a country, it would be home to the third-highest number of billionaires in the world, surpassed only by the United States and China. California’s billionaires own a combined $560.1 billion in wealth, which is more than the GDP of 49 countries, including Argentina, Poland and Taiwan. All in all, it is fair to say, that is good!

Not surprisingly, the United States is home to the world’s wealthiest man. In 2014, Bill Gates, the Microsoft Tech Titan, was the world’s richest man, according to Forbes. As of July 2015, Gates remains at the top of the list.

While you have undoubtedly heard of Bill Gates, the name of a very wealthy man that has bludgeoned its way into the consciousness of Americans this week is Martin Shkreli. He is the CEO of a company known as Turing Pharmaceuticals, which bought the 62-year-old drug called Daraprim in August of this year. The company immediately raised the price of one pill from $13.50 to $750. Just for the record, I’ll submit, that is bad!

This increase drew protests in the medical community from those concerned that many patients will no longer be able to afford the drug. According to Mr. Shkreli, however, the move is simply a smart business decision.

“Why was it necessary to raise the price of Daraprim so drastically?” CBS News correspondent Don Dahler asked Shkreli.

“Well, it depends on how you define so drastically. Because the drug was unprofitable at the former price, so any company selling it would be losing money. And at this price it’s a reasonable profit. Not excessive at all,” Shkreli responded.

Daraprim was developed in 1953 as a treatment for toxoplasmosis, an infection caused by a parasite. It comes from eating under-cooked meat or drinking contaminated water, and affects those with compromised immune systems, like AIDS and cancer patients.

As one might imagine, there were stark economic repercussions stemming from Mr. Shkreli’s “reasonable profit” motive. When Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of Daraprim to $750 per tablet, the average cost of treatment for patients rose from about $1,130 to $63,000. For certain patients, the cost can go as high as $634,000.

While Shkreli acknowledged that the move might look “greedy,” he said there are “a lot of altruistic properties to it.”

“This is a disease where there hasn’t been one pharmaceutical company focused on it for 70 years. We’re now a company that is dedicated to the treatment and cure of toxoplasmosis. And with these new profits we can spend all of that upside on these patients who sorely need a new drug, in my opinion,” he added.

Oncologist and CBS News medical contributor Dr. David Agus disagreed.

“Patients shouldn’t be taxed and charged for future research and development. Patients should pay for the drug they’re getting and what they need in the situation that they are” Agus said.

“It’s predatory practice and it’s inappropriate,” he added.

The topic entered the political debate on Monday, with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeting: “Price gouging like this in the specialty drug market is outrageous.”

Her rival Bernie Sanders sent a letter to Shkreli demanding information on the price increase and called the rate hike “…the latest in a long list of skyrocketing price increases for certain critical medications.”

Sanders and Congressman Elijah Cummings have been investigating drugs that have seen jumps in prices.

Suffice it to say, Mr. Shkreli got the message. The 32-year-old Shkreli has been called everything from a boy genius to a vulture. Take your pick, but one thing the wealthy Capitalist is not is slow on the uptick.

Turing’s increasing the price of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 a pill represented an increase of over 5,500%. Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton generously called that drug “price gouging.” OK, you knew it was coming; that is ugly!

The Daily Beast declared Shkreli the “most-hated man in America,” surpassing the dentist who killed Cecil the Lion.

Mr. Shkreli insists he has heard the outcry.

“We’ve agreed to lower the price of Daraprim to a price that is more affordable,” Shkreli said on ABC World News Tonight.

He didn’t say what that “affordable” price would be, but stressed that the company already gives away the drug for free to about half the patients who use it and that Turing plans to expand its charitable drug program.

In a somewhat ironic confluence of circumstances, Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio), the former Cardinal of Buenos Aires, and the 266^th Roman Catholic Pope is visiting the United States this week, week stops scheduled in Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New York. While there is no real expectation that Pope Francis will delve into or weigh in on Shkreli-gate, the Pontiff is a well-known critic of Capitalism.

In fact, this Pope’s Socialist posture, and his affinity for an array of issues including Climate Change/Global Warming, Restoration of formal Cuban-American relations, abolition of the death penalty, and a duty to the poor and marginalized has resulted in many Conservative politicians, a number of whom are seeking the GOP Nomination for the Presidency, to openly state their opposition to positions taken by the Pope. This just heightens the irony for a number of folks who happen to be Catholic, but do not bond with the 266^th Pope.

Neatly summarized, there you have it…”Capitalism: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capitalism

http://www.investorwords.com/2085/free_enterprise.html

https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-difference-between-capitalism-and-free-enterprise?share=1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Shkreli

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/21/martin-shkreli-is-big-pharma-s-biggest-asshole.html

http://www.salon.com/2015/09/22/martin_shkreli_on_his_altruistic_motives_im_a_capitalist_i_want_to_create_a_big_drug_company/

http://gawker.com/pharmaceutical-greed-villain-martin-shkreli-will-fight-1732104723

http://www.turingpharma.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Francis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_the_number_of_US_dollar_billionaires

http://www.forbes.com/sites/katiasavchuk/2015/03/04/california-has-more-billionaires-than-every-country-except-the-u-s-and-china/

It’s time to Break It Down!

Almost everyone I know well who purports to follow politics avers that they believe the Donald Trump phenomenon will eventually dissipate, evaporate, or in some form or fashion, just go away. I should amend that statement to note I have not had this conversation with persons who admit to being Republicans. Therefore, it is certainly not meant to be representative of how a typical Republican feels about the situation.

Nevertheless, if that affirmation proves to be an eventuality, it surely cannot come too soon for the GOP Establishment, nor for the other GOP Presidential candidates, regardless of whether they consider themselves to be a part of the Establishment. Three weeks ago I wrote a post discussing the conundrum that the Republican Party faces in dealing with Mr. Trump and the immigration issue (https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2015/08/26/the-team-gop-conundrum-trumping-the-immigration-issue/).

The bigger story, undoubtedly, is that it is not just the Club Leader’s position on immigration that is troubling to the Party hierarchy. It’s his deep pockets money stream; his prickly, mercurial, unpredictable nature, it’s his penchant for “counterpunching” anyone with the temerity or effrontery to take him on in mano a mano terms.

The first 2015 GOP Presidential Debate was held six weeks ago tomorrow on August 6^th at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. I wrote about the pending festivities on August 5^th (https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2015/08/05/and-then-there-were-10-lets-get-ready-to-rumble/).

The abundance of contestants for the GOP Nomination, in concert with predetermined Party Rules, resulted in a split debate format for the first Debate. The schematic consisted of 7 candidates appearing in what amounted to the Early Show, and the remaining 10 candidates appearing at the Prime Time event later that evening.

This evening’s Debate will operate in a format slightly altered from the first contest. It will convene at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Semi Valley, California. At 6:00 p.m., 4 candidates, down from 7, will appear in the first session. Those individuals are George Pataki, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, and Lindsey Graham. CNN amended the Debate Criteria by adding this caveat:

“In the event that any candidate is polling in the top 10 in an average of approved national polls released between August 7th and September 10th, we will add those candidates to our top tier debate, even if those candidates did not poll in the top 10 in an average of approved national polls between July 16th and September 10^th.”

This change opened the door for Carly Fiorina to be promoted to the main stage. Rick Perry suspended his campaign, and therefore dropped out of the field. Jim Gilmore failed to attain the necessary threshold for inclusion.

That means the Prime Time Show expanded from 10 to 11 participants. The post-debate polls, which were used to determine the participants, were also used to determine the order that the candidates would appear on stage. Trump will anchor the center of the stage for the 8:00 p.m. debate, flanked by Carson to his right and Bush to his left. Walker, Fiorina, Kasich and Christie, in that order, will stand to Bush’s left, while Cruz, Rubio, Huckabee and Paul will appear to Carson’s right.

Up to this moment in the campaign, which many experts continue to insist is still early, The Donald has been the straw that stirs the GOP Presidential Candidates’ Drink. There is a fair amount of speculation that a number of the candidates may actually try to gain traction by attacking Donald Trump. This has been a largely unsuccessful, and in some cases fatal flaw in strategy for those with the gumption to try it. See Rick Perry, who no longer lists himself among active candidates, and Lindsey Graham, whose campaign has appeared to limp along.

One of the next, certain to take up the gauntlet is Bobby Jindal. Governor Jindal wrote an Op-Ed that appeared on CNN’s website yesterday, in which he lambasted Donald Trump as, among other things, “a madman who must be stopped.”   Are you ready yet?

So in the Apprentice, Donald Trump ran the show. When a contestant didn’t live up to his lofty standards, Trump would, with great fanfare and bluster, utter the phrase, “You’re fired!” It will be interesting to see if Trump tweets some scathing message about/to Jindal between now and the Debate this evening, or whether he will take the opportunity to launch a broadside attack (he likes to say he only counter punches) during the Debate.

Here’s the opening salvo from Jindal’s CNN commentary:

“President Trump today announced that the first season of “The Apprentice: White House Edition” will air on CBS this fall. Contestants, including Gary Busey, Ted Cruz and Kanye West, will vie for Cabinet positions. The announcement came as the newly renamed “Hair Force One” touched down in South Dakota for the unveiling of President Trump’s face on Mount Rushmore. Meanwhile, first lady Melania had reason to celebrate as her White House-branded perfume, Trump, by Trump, hit Macy’s shelves …”

No, this is not a story from The Onion. It’s a vision of our future. The only people who would enjoy a Trump presidency are Trump, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert. The jokes, as he said, will write themselves.

Jindal is clearly, desperately seeking a breakout moment. So much so that he did not limit his targets to Mr. Trump. What Right Wing/Tea Party diatribe would be complete without a nod to President Obama? Definitely this one, by Governor Jindal, will not be the first. To further shore up his macho Trump imitation bona fides, he said:

“The liberalism and incompetence of the Obama administration have pushed us to the edge of a socialist abyss.”  So much for creativity.

In analyzing The Donald, Jindal proclaims not only that he will never be President, but that his nomination would be tantamount to delivering the White House to Mrs. Clinton, at least in part because he is sure to self-destruct in a general election. Apparently, Trump is venom and he (Jindal) has, or is the antidote.

He insists that everyone knows Trump is not the answer, but…no one has the courage to say so…except him, of course. He noted that he said last week:

“Donald Trump is a shallow, unserious, substance-free, narcissistic egomaniac. It’s pointless arguing policy with someone not intellectually curious enough to care and who makes it up on the fly. According to him, his plans will be “fabulous” and “something terrific. His problem with Washington isn’t big government, it’s that he’s not running it. He’s not liberal, moderate or conservative. He’s not Republican or Democrat. Donald Trump is for Donald Trump. He believes only in himself.”

Jindal did eventually concede that Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, and the aforementioned “no longer a candidate,” Rick Perry called out Trump for lacking adherence to conservative values. Alas, it was a fruitless gambit because Trump is not a conservative.

He panned Ted Cruz for “clinging to Trump like a limpet to an oil tanker, hoping to suck up his votes when Trump eventually sinks.” Senator Cruz may be hoping to jet with Trump’s votes, should he falter, or he may be making space for a Trump-Cruz ticket, but it’s not likely he and Bobby will be making up anytime soon.

Showtime is 8:00 p.m. There may be more histrionics and fireworks when the lights come up. In fact, I’d say you could depend on it. Put the kids to bed early, get the beer and your popcorn. It’s about to be on and poppin’. “Next on Deck The Apprentice II: Otherwise Known As the GOP Debates!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor_baby

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Jindal

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/15/opinions/jindal-debate-donald-trump/index.html

https://twitter.com/BobbyJindal

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/14/politics/2016-cnn-republican-debate/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Rubio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Rubio

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/reagan-debate-gop-cnn/2015/08/11/id/669509/

http://www.dailynews.com/government-and-politics/20150908/simi-valleys-reagan-library-prepares-for-gop-debate-with-more-than-400-staff-volunteers

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/01/politics/cnn-debate-criteria-amendment/

It’s time to Break It Down!

This is another of those weeks. For anyone interested in reading or writing about current events, the list of relevant topics is both inviting and long.

• If you have a Right-leaning religious bent, the now famous Kentucky Clerk, Kim Davis, was released from jail yesterday.
• For tennis fans, Serena beat Venus (no last names necessary) in the U.S. Open Quarterfinals last night. She’ll play Roberta Vinci in the semifinals Thursday.
• For those for whom politics is their wheel-well, Round 2 of the Republican Party Presidential Debate series kicks off a week from today…Part I at 6:00 p.m., followed by the Prime Time nightcap at 8:00 p.m.
• If you are just dying for the juiciest details of the latest violent jump-off, a pair of Atlanta teens landed in jail for allegedly attempting to murder their parents.
• If you love Hillary…or you love to hate Hillary, she has executed yet another tack in an effort to subdue or escape e-mailgate; she apologized.
• If you’re a tech titan, Apple releases the new 6S today.
• If you are a football fan, over the weekend, two Texas high school football players executed blindsided tackles on an unsuspecting referee, allegedly after a slur was uttered.
• For fans, and perhaps detractors of Pope Francis, on yesterday, the Holy Father radically revised the process by which Catholics may annul their marriages, streamlining steps that many in the church considered too cumbersome and costly.
• If you are a hoops fan, yesterday was huge…because President Obama entertained the reigning NCAA National Champion Duke Blue Devils at the White House. As an aside, I must note, that in itself was not the top aspect of that news, though it certainly was newsworthy.

The actual significance of the encounter stemmed from the fact Duke’s Coach, Mike Krzyzewski, actually praised President Obama. It was well delivered, well deserved, and surely setting appropriate. Coach K said:

“On behalf of our Duke community, we want to thank you for serving our country over these last two terms. You’ve been an amazing leader for our country. And it’s not just you, but your family and the sacrifices. So thank you very much for your service.”

He even urged the crowd to give the President a standing ovation.

Of course, the reputedly conservative Duke Coach has publicly expressed other opinions about President Obama. Krzyzewski is the same man who criticized the administration’s strategy regarding ISIS and said in 2009 when Mr. Obama didn’t choose Duke for the Final Four:

“The economy is something he should focus on, probably more than the brackets.”

Coach K may very well be an ideologue. But he is suave, and capable of being glib, despite his fiery on court persona. I’ve seen him deliver the goods in person. He did a good job yesterday.

• Of course, if you are a student of history, you know that Friday marks the 14^th Anniversary of the September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th, or 9/11). These attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The attacks consisted of suicide attacks used to target symbolic U.S. landmarks.

That’s an auspicious Top 10 for considering a blog topic. Yet, none cut the mustard in terms of my choosing today’s subject. I believe the President’s phenomenal accomplishment gets the nod. At least it gets mine. Moreover, as I’ve noted before, to use a basketball analogy…my court my rules.

To wit, despite historic measures and wide-ranging attacks by opponents of the Iran Deal, President Obama and his team have not just withstood the often vicious and ad hominem attacks from within the borders of the United States and abroad, they have managed to construct a coalition that is not merely capable of sustaining a veto; as of yesterday, the President amassed enough votes (41) to prevent a Senate vote against the Deal from occurring.

It is without question, the Iran Deal is controversial. Republicans have initiated a number of desperate attempts to scrap the deal before it ever materialized, including issuing an unprecedented invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before Congress, without first advising the President…just weeks before the Prime Minister’s election in Israel

That affront took place prior to the completion of the Deal. So did a broadside attack in the form of an open letter to the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran signed by 47 senators and instigated by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). It was, in modest terms, a stunning breach of protocol. While many observers insist, it would be beyond the pale to characterize or dub the signers as “traitors,” it was definitely another slap in the face of President Obama and an affront to the presidency,

When the question was put to retired Major Gen. Paul D. Eaton for perspective, he wouldn’t say Cotton and Co. were “traitors.” However, he did not hold harmless the Senator from Arkansas. As he put it:

“I would use the word mutinous.”

Eaton has had a long career, which includes training Iraqi forces from 2003 to 2004. He is now a senior adviser to VoteVets.org. He went on to say:

“I do not believe these senators were trying to sell out America. I do believe they defied the chain of command in what could be construed as an illegal act.”

Eaton certainly had stern words for Cotton. As he framed it:

“What Senator Cotton did is a gross breach of discipline, and especially as a veteran of the Army, he should know better. I have no issue with Senator Cotton, or others, voicing their opinion in opposition to any deal to halt Iran’s nuclear progress. Speaking out on these issues is clearly part of his job. But to directly engage a foreign entity, in this way, undermining the strategy and work of our diplomats and our Commander in Chief, strains the very discipline and structure that our foreign relations depend on, to succeed.”

The consequences of Cotton’s missive were plainly apparent to Eaton. He went on to say:

“The breach of discipline is extremely dangerous, because undermining our diplomatic efforts, at this moment, brings us another step closer to a very costly and perilous war with Iran. I think Senator Cotton recognizes this, and he simply does not care. That’s what disappoints me the most.”

That’s among the more frightening aspects of this entire episode. The freshman senator from Arkansas and 46 of his Republican colleagues sought to Bigfoot Obama on a deal not yet done whose details are not yet known. This demonstrates in a classic fashion how contemptuous so many members of the Radical Right are of this President. Yet to paraphrase the late Maya Angelou, “And Still He Rises!”

In yesterday’s edition of the Washington Post, Michael Gerson makes a point that one would think would have been clear to all 47 signatories of Senator Cotton’s letter.

“If Republican senators want to make the point that an Iran deal requires a treaty, they should make that case to the American people, not to the Iranians. Congress simply has no business conducting foreign policy with a foreign government, especially an adversarial one (See the Netanyahu invitation). Every Republican who pictures his or her feet up on the Resolute Desk should fear this precedent.”

There was a time one could have imagined Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) making this point. That was back when he fancied himself a statesman. Instead, he signed the letter.

In wrapping up his thoughts on Senator Cotton, General Eaton said:

“I expect better from the men and women who wore the uniform. And the American people deserve better from the Senate.”

So the huge, in Joe Biden parlance, “Big eff’n deal,” news is, three Democratic senators announced Tuesday they will vote in support of the nuclear deal with Iran, paving the way for a possible filibuster of Republican-led attempts to disapprove of the controversial agreement. Given the pressure on Democrats, on Jewish legislators in both Houses, on anyone in a heavily Jewish precinct, district, or state, that the President whom Republicans targeted from his first day in Office, in an attempt to deny him any political victories at all…ever, could marshal the requisite number of Senators to potentially avoid even having to issue a veto is a simply amazing feat of nuanced Presidential leadership. Add it to the list!

Pro-deal statements from Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) mean 41 senators are now publicly backing the deal, enough to keep a disapproval resolution from emerging from the Senate and making its way to President Obama’s desk and forcing a veto.

In related news, a fourth Democrat making an announcement Tuesday, Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), said he would vote to disapprove of the deal, as did the last undecided Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, thus dashing White House hopes for bipartisan Senate support.

Republicans are still engaging in discussions designed to avoid a 60-vote minimum requirement to scuttle the Deal. Democrats, understandably oppose such a move, in part due to precedents set by Republicans when they were in the Minority. It appears likely at this point that the 60-vote requirement will stick, and that Democrats will filibuster attempts to bring the measure to a vote.

Who would have thunk it possible? President Obama is wearing this Lame Duck thing extraordinarily well thus far. “Game, Set, Match: POTUS Style!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/09/08/sen-joe-manchin-opposes-iran-deal-making-obama-veto-more-likely/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_evening

http://abcnews.go.com/US/kentucky-clerk-kim-davis-set-released-jail/story?id=33601309

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/08/tennis/serena-venus-williams-us-open/index.html

http://wn.com/cnn_changes_criteria_for_next_gop_debate

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/08/us/georgia-brothers-charged-attack-parents/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/08/politics/hillary-clinton-private-email-abc-news-apology/index.html

http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/07/technology/apple-ipad-pro/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/08/sport/texas-football-official-hit/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/07/living/pope-francis-annulments-preview/?iid=ob_homepage_deskrecommended_pool&iref=obnetwork

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/08/politics/obama-duke-coach-k/index.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks

http://www.smh.com.au/world/iran-nuclear-deal-democrats-have-enough-us-senate-votes-to-stifle-opposition-20150908-gji4cz.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/03/13/tom-cotton-picked-apart-by-army-general-over-mutinous-iran-letter/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Cotton

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Netanyahu

It’s time to Break It Down!

This week President Barack Obama became the first sitting President to visit Alaska and the Arctic. While there, he’ll discuss climate change and its effects, evident in Alaska and elsewhere.

In addition, he is set to appear on a Survival TV Show, “Running Wild with Bear Grylls,” NBC and the White House announced Monday. The show will be aired later this year, as will the interview filmed when he visited the Oklahoma Prison.

PETA, among others, criticized him for his decision to appear on the show. For good measure, however, the President took another action, an Executive Action; one that left Conservatives peeved. He changed the Name of Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in the United States, in fact, the highest in North America (20,237 feet), to Denali, or Great One. The U.S. Government renamed Denali, Mt. McKinley in 1917.

The President’s opponents immediately condemned him for acting like a dictator, taking unconstitutional action, overstepping his authority, engaging in a partisan stunt and, of course, exhibiting racial animus.

Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio), said:

“I hope my colleagues will join with me in stopping this constitutional overreach,” vowing to work with the House natural resources committee to reverse Obama. “President Obama has decided to ignore an Act of Congress in unilaterally renaming Mount McKinley in order to promote his job-killing war on energy. This political stunt is insulting to all Ohioans.”

Former Rep. Ralph Regula, also from former President McKinley’s home state of Ohio, weighed in too, in an interview with the Columbus Dispatch, saying:

“Obama “thinks he is a dictator and he can change the law.”

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) framed it as:

“Yet another example of the president going around Congress.”

Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) scolded Obama for moving to:

“Undermine a prior act of Congress.”

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a GOP Presidential candidate utilized social media, and:

Tweeted that “POTUS once again oversteps his bounds.”

House Speaker John Boehner, also from Ohio, pronounced himself:

“Deeply disappointed.”

However, lest the surge of exuberance by Ohio Republicans deludes you into thinking this matter was simply a provincial dispute, fostered by individuals from a State that had its local hero’s name decommissioned, and removed from a Mountain 3,000 miles and several Time Zones away, au contraire mon frère! It was no such thing.

One Representative, Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill), said on Fox News, he thought the move might be related to McKinley having been a Republican. He noted:

“People feel like this president is constantly trying to, like, stick it in our eye, and put his thumb in our eye.”

The conservative website Gateway Pundit posted an item titled:

“Obama Renames Mt. McKinley (Named After Some White Guy) to Denali.”

At the conservative outlet Breitbart.com, Ben Shapiro asked:

“Why did Obama choose to change the name now? Presumably because Obama has now solved all the world’s problems, and decided against his second choice, Mt. Trayvon.” He continued a “more serious” explanation was that Obama “opposes the legacy of President McKinley,” which includes the Spanish-American war and annexing various territories. Asked Shapiro: “[W]hen will President Obama change the name of the American Southwest to Aztlan?”

The deeper one wandered into the conservative blogosphere and Twitterverse, the uglier the messages became – about President Obama’s presumed anti-American views, his Muslim practices, and his primal and unquenchable urge to defecate on his predecessors.

Here’s the almost comical, truly ironic, best-kept non-secret. The President is actually perfectly within his authority to make this change. If his opponents are really outraged, they can overrule him in Congress, or they can elect a president who will change the name back.

The sticky-wicket, tricky little problem with both of these possible options is that Alaska, run by Republicans, wants the name to be Denali and have been trying to make the change for decades. The Alaska delegations — Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young, Republicans all — heralded the move (even as Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, who represents McKinley’s hometown, joined the opposition).

That, however, is not the only fly in the proverbial ointment, in this case. There is the (elephant in the room) not so small matter of Conservatives professing to support local control, and lamenting the devolution of power at the local level. Yet, oddly, it seems to this casual observer, in this particular case, they are demanding the federal government overrule a state’s wishes. Oh what a conundrum, a tangled Web, I believe Mr. Shakespeare dubbed these kinds of matters. As Washington Post Columnist Dana Milbank said in an Opinion piece Monday, perhaps a more ideologically suitable solution would be to rename something actually in Ohio for McKinley. A city, a river, an Interstate…the possibilities are endless.

As for Denali, Mr. McKinley hadn’t even visited the Mountain, named for him by a prospector before McKinley was elected the 25th president. A prospector, William Dickey began proposing the name Mt. McKinley in 1896, after traveling the Mountain Range. Eventually, sixteen years later, after McKinley’s assassination on September 14, 1901, Congress renamed the Mountain. For hundreds if not thousands of years of years prior to that, natives of the land had referred to it as Denali.

In 1959, Alaska gained Statehood. Afterward, Alaskans – many of whom had never stopped referring to the mountain as Denali – started wondering why their State’s natural crown jewel was named for a President from Ohio. The Alaska Legislature has been backing a proposal to change the name back to Denali since 1975. To wit, it’s fair to say, this idea is not only not some egomaniacal, brainchild of President Obama, since it predates his 1961 birth (in Hawaii, by the way). In point of fact, the most fervent backers of the idea are republicans. Go figure.

Mr. Milbank speculates, and I believe, that the dustup over renaming the mountain will be added to the other molehills of the President’s supposed overreach, which have been turned into mountains, and already includes:

• Obamacare
• The Stimulus
• Dodd Frank
• The IRS
• Immigration
• Executive Appointments
• Saving General Motors
• Contraception
• The ATF
• Prosecution of Low Level Drug Offenses

That’s just to name ten; not necessarily a Top 10, just ten, although Obamacare is likely at the top of almost everyone’s list. I’m sure any Conservative worth his or her salt could tick off another dozen without drawing a second breath. The real rub here is, the common objection to all of these is less about what was done…than who did it. IJS!

Yes, Conservatives’ heads will once again spin due to an action taken by President Obama. Ultimately, though, the rest of us can be at peace knowing…”The Mountain Wouldn’t Come To Obama…So The President Changed Its Name!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/31/politics/obama-bear-grylls-running-wild-survival-show/index.html

http://dailycaller.com/2015/08/31/petas-reaction-to-obama-bear-grylls-appearance-is-pure-gold/

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/obama-highlight-climate-change-first-ever-presidential-visit-alaskan-arctic/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mt-mckinley-becomes-the-newest-conservative-molehill/2015/08/31/057ae37e-5014-11e5-933e-7d06c647a395_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obama-will-rename-the-highest-us-peak-dropping-mckinley-for-denali/2015/08/30/c9f822ee-4f4b-11e5-8c19-0b6825aa4a3a_story.html

http://newsone.com/3173014/president-obama-renames-alaskas-mt-mckinley-to-denali/

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-alaska-obama-climate-change-20150831-story.html

http://www.inquisitr.com/2382623/president-obama-running-wild-with-bear-grylls-in-alaska-first-president-to-visit-alaskan-arctic-for-global-warming-awareness/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/us/us-makes-urgent-appeal-for-climate-change-action-at-alaska-conference.html?_r=0

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/obama-warns-almost-too-climate-change-041419471.html

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/obama-says-climate-changing-faster-011427093.html;_ylt=A0LEVvJvN.ZV5FMAmZcPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTEzZjZpNzAxBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDRkZVSUMwXzEEc2VjA3Nj

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/us/politics/obama-to-urge-aggressive-climate-action-in-visit-to-arctic-alaska.html

http://www.ibtimes.com/obama-visits-alaska-itinerary-events-presidents-trip-addressing-climate-change-2075470

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denali

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McKinley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama