The Next Congress

Since the '10 election, the Republicans have dropped, but haven't tanked in public opinion. The next Congress will have to deal with at least three things: (1) the debt ceiling, the sequester (the required cuts the budget super-committee didn't make), and the Bush tax cuts; (2) repeal Obama-care; (3) tackle the Ryan budget.

In 2013, they will need to figure out how to make the country solvent, in lieu of how much they can spend. Rapid change will not happen even if the Republicans have both houses and the presidency, but the force to change will be there. A highly ideological election is more likely if the Supreme Court does not repeal Obama-care. That would fire up the conservatives. If the Supreme Court repeals Obama-care, there is concern that many conservatives will relax. That would be dangerous. The President has a natural advantage in all of the news coverage.



Obama will campaign on the politics of division. Democrats will try to ignore Obama-care, or say "it was a good start and just needs a little tweak."

Republicans need to offer politics of inclusion. Stewardship, or just managing the government, is not a good campaign strategy - they need to explain why Obama's plan is bad and must be changed.
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Start of Our Cruise

I have seen the glory...
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What a long day. Got up at 7:00 to get ready to go to the airport. Check in, security, and the long walk to C13 for an hour wait to board. Fly to Spokane, fly to Denver, change planes. Fly to Ft. Lauderdale - my butt hurts from 10 hours of sitting. Nearly 11 PM when we landed and got our luggage. The Hilton Marina didn't answer the phone, so we took an uneventful taxi to the hotel! (Always a plus, since our trip to Falls Church, VA., and our near-death experience in Los Angeles). The hotel was not quite a dump, but it was sub-standard for a Hilton. No drinking glasses in the room - a Motel 6 has glasses in the room! The air conditioning system was odd - it clunked when turning off - I mean CLUNK! I thought a truck had rammed the building the first time it shut down. Must have gotten used to it, because we slept for 10 hours.
But there is a bright spot (pun intended)!
Flying into Denver, coming in on a northbound route we saw a phenomenon. Sometimes you see the shadow of the plane on the clouds when flying above the clouds (I know, "Well, Duh!"). When the lineup of the sun, plane, and shadow is just right, there is a halo around the shadow, a rainbow ring. I asked the flight attendant what that particular phenomenon was called (couldn't recall what it was called). The attendant didn't know, but suggested I ask the captain. When I caught up with him in the terminal, he thought it was a rainbow. Yeah, I knew that. So we looked it up in Wikipedia (you know, you can't trust everything you read there...)
We saw a 'glory'. When you see one from a plane, it is called a 'glory of the pilot'. Never saw the captain again to let him know. Oh, well.
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TWS Cruise - Day 1

The First Day
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Whoa! $60 for breakfast - OJ, omelette, and the killer, Eggs Benedict. A definite rival to the present administration's $16 muffins.
The check-in to the ship took a little over an hour. Not bad for getting nearly 2000 people through the ID desk, photographed, and across the gang-plank. We were "sheople" - getting in line where told, waiting when told, filling out forms when told, Our room isn't luxurious, nor big, but it's just fine. Couldn't figure out how to turn on the lights - none of the switches worked, except the reading lights on the headboard.


As we were going to lunch, I asked a crew member about it. You put your room key card in a slot by the door, which allows the room lights to be used. He said, "The slot says ''CARD' right on it, practically begging you to turn on the lights." Really?! The slot says 'card' and nothing else; there were no instructions or any other
information - how does CARD drop a big hint to turn on the lights?
It worked quite well, actually - I see how it conserves electricity. BtW: this is the first ship (Holland American line) to have this feature. We were not the only ones to have trouble with this 'feature', doncha know.
Later, at a meet-and-greet function, we met Mary Katherine Ham, and Juan Williams; got to stand close to Bill Kristol and Scott Rasmussen. Donna talked with Juan. She told him she enjoys his comments; she shouts at the TV, but he doesn't listen. He said, "Wow. You'd think we were married." Met a couple of the people who will be on the discussion panels. Found out there are three Oregonians, and three Washingtonians on the TWS Cruise. Six of us from the Left Coast (People's Republic of Oregon & Washington).