By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Nov 3, 2011 at 12:30 PM ET
As I travel across the country on business, I’m constantly asked what my much-smarter and much-more-popular sister, Jennifer Miller, is up to.
Of Jennifer’s many projects, one is soon coming to fruition. Over the past year, she served as Co-Producer for “Hitting the Cycle,” a baseball-themed film that was written and directed by her high school classmate Richey Nash, and co-starring the legendary Bruce Dern.
I’m excited to report that the film’s trailer has just been released. Watch it below and let me know what you think:
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Nov 3, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
Yesterday, Jack Brammer, the dean of Kentucky’s political reporters (and one of the nicest guys in Frankfort), revealed GOP gubernatorial nominee David Williams’ “November Surprise”: The Senate President would overcome incumbent Steve Beshear’s 30 point lead in the polls by exposing the Governor’s participation in a traditional Indian ground-blessing ceremony for a new India-owned, 250-American-jobs-creating, manufacturing plant in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
“He’s there participating with Hindu priests, participating in a religious ceremony,” Williams said during a campaign stop in Shelbyville. “He’s sitting down there with his legs crossed, participating in Hindu prayers with a dot on his forehead with incense burning around him. I don’t know what the man was thinking…If I’m a Christian, I don’t participate in Jewish prayers. I’m glad they do that. I don’t participate in Hindu prayers. I don’t participate in Muslim prayers. I don’t do that…To get down and get involved and participate in prayers to these polytheistic situations, where you have these Hindu gods that they are praying to, doesn’t appear to me to be in line with what a governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky ought to be doing.”
After this coming Tuesday’s election, we will learn if the anti-Hinduism strategy works. If Williams can grasp victory out of an almost-assured landslide defeat, expect a whole new arsenal of Indo-phobic attacks in time for 2012. Consider these questions:
Will old photos of political candidates be scoured for evidence of forehead dots and/or smelled carefully for traces of incense?
Will the birther community find new life by exploring Barack Obama’s exposure to “polytheistic situations” during his childhood years in Indonesia? (Which sounds a whole lot like India, doesn’t it? Well, doesn’t it?)
Will Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative finally be scrutinized for its promotion of yoga poses that reflect the idolatry-minded principles of their Hindu teachers?
And will anybody discover an old Joe Biden quote referring to Ghandi as “articulate and bright but a bit disheveled”?
By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Nov 2, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
No Labels — a national grassroots movement co-founded by the RP — is formulating a comprehensive government reform package to address the devastating impact of hyper-partisanship on American politics. It is asking Americans to contribute their ideas for meaningful reform.
Below is the RP’s initial proposal — to address the horrible backlog of Presidential appointments for critical federal positions. To comment on the RP’s proposal, or to suggest your own ideas, click here.
Our government works well only if good people are in the right positions. But what happens if many of the top positions in government are left empty?
Such is the case in America. After the Obama administration’s first 100 days in office, only 14 percent of Senate-confirmed positions had been filled. Even at the end of 2010, nearly two years into President Obama’s term, 22 percent of the more than 500 government positions dependent upon Senate confirmation were still vacant or filled only by “acting” officials.
When a nomination comes to the Senate floor, Senators can vote in favor of the nomination, against the nomination, without recommendation, or choose to do nothing. Inaction is often the path of political expediency. But political expediency often leaves American citizens without a fully staffed and functioning government.
Former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray is a case in point. In July, President Obama nominated Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a new agency designed to increase oversight of the much-maligned financial sector. Although Cordray’s nomination was approved by the Senate Banking Committee in early October, it has not been scheduled for a vote in the full Senate. Without a confirmed director, the bureau is powerless to protect consumers from abuses by the same non-bank financial institutions that left America vulnerable to its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
President Obama is not the first president who has faced confirmation problems — during the Bush administration, America went without a confirmed national security team for six months. Presidents have struggled to staff the government for as long as politicians have put political games ahead of the country’s best interests. For real change to occur, America must commit to clear and efficient voting processes and not continue to be sidelined by petty delays.
To ensure Americans receive the government they pay for, No Labels proposes that all presidential nominations that require Senate confirmation receive an up or down confirmation vote within 90 days of submission. This will ensure government positions will be filled with qualified people. And if the Senate votes against a candidate, presidents can move on and find someone else to fill the role in a timely manner.
Read the rest of… The RP: No Delays — Confirm in 90 Days
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Oct 31, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
Louisville’s reputation outside Kentucky rests, in part, on baseball bats, fried chicken, Muhammad Ali, and a horse race, but now one must add the Festival of Faiths to that list.
There’s never been more of a cynical curmedgon than David Hawpe, the former editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal. So his glowing endorsement of this week’s upcoming 16th annual celebration of the Festival of Faiths is something for all to take notice.
This year’s event — entitled Sacred Air: Breath of Life — takes place from November 2nd – 7th, and it reaffirms our commitment to come together as many faiths, united in our mutual respect for each other, so that we can engage in common action on behalf of our community.
The chair of the festivities, Christy Brown, is one of Kentucky’s greatest treasures. Recently widowed from her extraordinary husband Owsley Brown II (whom I briefly eulogized here), Christy has shared her heart, soul, and considerable talents transforming the Festival of Faiths into an internationally-celebrated event.
Both the Mrs. RP and I are proud to take part in the festivities.
Lisa has helped organize a full day of Yoga, Tai Chi and Meditation exercise. A wide range of movement and breathing exercises will be available, suitable to every level from beginner to proficient, and appropriate for families as well as individuals. Classes will be offered continually throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday. For details, click here.
I will be joining a panel on Friday afternoon, from 3:00-4:30 PM in the Tavern Room at the Henry Clay at 604 South Third Street in Louisville. At this session, participants will be developing a Statement of Belief for the festival, in order to leave the week with a powerful call to action. The goal of the session is to come up with evidence of actions and steps to present to churches, synagogues, mosques, religious organizations, and other leadership bodies.
Read the rest of… The RP: Join Me at The Festival of Faiths
Apparently, the Great White North can’t get enough of the RP’s economic analysis. That, or Mrs. RP’s Canadian relatives have blackmailed CTV News, Canada’s CNN, into using the RP as one of their key sources for comment on the ups and downs of the American economy.
Whatever the reason, the RP returned yesterday to CTV — this time via a Sykpe interview from his office desk — to discuss yesterday’s dramatic stock market jump.
To watch the interview, click on the logo below, and then scroll down on the video player contents to find the RP:
By Kristen Soltis, on Fri Oct 28, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
If there’s one thing that American voters are uninterested in, it is more bailouts. Unfortunately for President Obama, there’s a serious chance that’s how many voters will view the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP.
President Obama is making a wise move focusing in on pocketbook issues and on choosing an initiative he can say is aimed at the middle class, particularly one that has an impact on so many key swing states.
Despite this upside, there are two critical risks HARP presents. The first is in expanding President Obama’s “credibility gap.”
When Obama claims to have the answer to a problem, voters are increasingly skeptical that he does. The disconnect began around the stimulus and TARP. Two-thirds of voters told Pew in 2010 that the stimulus did not help the jobs situation, and 49 percent said that loans to troubled banks also did not help.
If HARP costs large sums of taxpayer money and fails to turn the housing market around quickly, voters may feel that yet again Obama overpromised, overspent and underdelivered.
Read the rest of… Kristen Soltis: Make Sure Obama’s New Housing Plan is Not a Bailout
Yesterday, the RP took the airwaves at Fox News to spread the gospel about No Labels’ plans to introduce a comprehensive government reform package in December.
Tune in RIGHT NOW to Fox News’ Happening Now with Jon Scott and Jenna Lee — the RP is on LIVE to offer a sneak preview of No Labels‘ exciting plans to introduce a Congressional reform package this December.
The RP is back in the lion’s den this afternoon. He will be appearing on Happening Now with Jon Scott and Jenna Lee to offer a sneak preview of No Labels‘ exciting plans to introduce a Congressional reform package this December.
Tune in at 12:30 PM EDT to see the RP and learn more about No Labels important agenda.
By Andrei Cherny, on Tue Oct 25, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
The American Jobs Act is dead. It’s time for the “Steve Jobs Act.”
In the wake of the Senate’s blocking of his jobs package last week, President Obama took to the road to campaign for passage of smaller chunks of his plan. While Congress should do just that, this piecemeal approach highlights a deficiency at the heart of Obama’s plan: it is a series of good ideas disconnected from any big idea.
True, Americans struggling to put food on the table and pay the mortgage are not looking for grand notions; they need the kind of immediate relief Obama’s proposals would provide. However, an America struggling to find its way in a bewildering, humbling world needs something more — a sense of larger purpose and direction.
The eulogies and encomiums delivered to Apple founder Steve Jobs seemed to capture some of this longing. They were celebrations of greatness and vision in a middling, small moment. At the end of a decade that saw Iraq, Katrina, and Lehman Brothers become watchwords of American weakness, they were paeans to someone who believed, with Thomas Paine, that we had it “in our power to begin the world over again.” But, perhaps most of all, in a floundering economy, they spoke to a sense that it is entrepreneurs and innovators — and not merely infrastructure spending and payroll tax cuts — that are needed to rebuild the engine of economic growth.
Read the rest of… Andrei Cherny: The Steve Jobs Act; Why It’s Time to Invest in Entrepreneurs
