Fox Cuts Republican Debate to 8, Christie and Huckabee Out

Fox Business Network announced the debate has been narrowed to 8 candidates. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee have been moved to the lower tier of candidates. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and former New York Gov. George Pataki are out of the debates completely.

The new Fox Business Network lineup is as follows:

Businessman Donald Trump

Dr. Ben Carson

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush

Businesswoman Carly Fiorina

Ohio Gov. John Kasich

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul

Surprisingly, many pundits thought both Lindsey Graham and George Pataki performed well in the last debate, while especially Donald Trump performed in a lackluster manner, followed by Dr. Ben Carson.  If those pundits are correct, winning the debate is not necessarily what determines the next front runner.Trump has been flailing in the polls all week, though some recent polls put him as the front runner once again.  

Marco Rubio takes the third seat, though he is far behind both Trump and Carson.  Former Gov. Jeb Bush says he is not dropping out and insists the country, or at least the Republican Party, will soon come to its senses, despite having little support.The next presidential election will likely be one of the most partisan elections for many years.  


The only Republican candidate who holds a candle for the immigrant population is Jeb Bush.  All of the candidates appear to lean to the conservative side on a range of social issues from gay marriages, abortion, marijuana legalization to hawkish dealings with other countries.  Trump says he is going to build a grand wall on the Southern border of the U.S. and force Mexico to pay for it.  Sen. Ted Cruz says liberal media should be banned from hosting a conservative Republican debate.



Based upon the refusal of the GOP media credentials committee, which would not admit the immigrant friendly radio program, Un Dia Sin Fronteras from 1150 AM radio, into the Boulder Colorado debate, the GOP is sending clear signals about how exclusive it plans to be should its candidate win the White House.



"When the GOP Credentials Committee would not communicate with us about refusing us credentials, I filed a discrimination complaint with the University of Colorado," said talk show host, Tim Paynter.  "The University at least answered us, saying too many reporters applied, but all races were represented."  Paynter says the GOP credentials committee has yet to answer him.

              

Bennet, Part Of Bi-Partisan Senators Advocating Private Sector Fix To Problems At VA

In letter to President Obama, Senators urge top-level private sector review of VA systems

Washington, DC – Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet joined a bipartisan group of nine U.S. Senators to call on the Administration to accept private sector assistance in fixing the broken Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) scheduling system.  In a letter sent today, Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Patty Murray (D-WA), Richard Burr (R-NC), Al Franken (D-MN), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), urged the VA to follow the example of the Army, which in 2010 allowed a consortium of leading technology companies to provide expertise in designing a corrective plan, at no cost to the taxpayers, to fix widespread data management issues uncovered at the Army’s Arlington National Cemetery.

“Because of the immediacy of the many challenges at the VA, we urge you to work with us to implement a similar cost-effective, private sector initiative so we can begin restoring the trust of our veterans and the American public in the ability of the VA to meet the commitments our nation has made to our veterans.  Our military men and women, their families, and our veterans deserve nothing less.”

“Engaging the tech sector and the best minds from leading American IT firms produced a comprehensive business plan to help the Army modernize its workflow procedures and upgrade the data management systems at Arlington.  That effort, conducted at no cost to the taxpayers, represented the very best traditions of corporate citizenship,” the senators wrote.

Full text of the letter is below, and a PDF of the signed letter can be accessed here.

June 5, 2014

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW

Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. President:

Like most Americans, we are outraged at the documented misconduct at the U.S. Veterans Health Administration that has caused our military veterans to face long waits when seeking the medical care they have earned.  That some veterans actually have died while waiting for needed care adds urgency to our efforts to act immediately.  While last week’s preliminary Inspector General’s (IG) report indicated this is a systemic problem that dates back many years, it is our responsibility to take swift, decisive action now.

The IG report details widespread information technology challenges that enabled many of the unacceptable and inappropriate use of scheduling gimmicks and outright fabrication of performance metrics at the VA.  We should be able to move quickly to begin restoring confidence in the VA by addressing these technology and data management problems in the current scheduling system.

This is a crisis that requires immediate action, and we recommend enlisting the expertise of the private sector to provide an assessment and recommendations for improvements to the current IT and workflow challenges at VA.  By calling on our best minds across the private sector in a pro bono demonstration of solid corporate citizenship, we could create a blueprint for achievable action the VA should undertake within 60-to-90 days.  Our veterans deserve this quick action on these urgent issues. 

We already have an effective template that sorts through most of the legal and process issues to allow this type of private-sector assistance.  For example, a 2010 Inspector General’s investigation revealed widespread mismanagement at the U.S. Army’s Arlington National Cemetery, including misplaced and mishandled remains of our war-fighters.  The IG report also revealed that Cemetery managers continued to rely upon decades of vulnerable, hand-written paper files in managing burial records.  A consortium of technology companies operating under the auspices of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) jumped in quickly to provide their services and expertise at no cost to the taxpayer.  This task force ultimately worked with the Army to create a legal framework that enabled the Army and Arlington National Cemetery to accept their pro bono help.

Engaging the tech sector and the best minds from leading American IT firms produced a comprehensive business plan to help the Army modernize its workflow procedures and upgrade the data management systems at Arlington.  That effort, conducted at no cost to the taxpayers, represented the very best traditions of corporate citizenship.

We are confident that private sector expertise from across the country could be assembled to provide a similar pro-bono service to help fix the challenges at the VA, and we stand ready to assist the Administration in moving quickly to help empanel this group. 

Not every problem requires a government solution.  Because of the immediacy of the many challenges at the VA, we urge you to work with us to implement this cost-effective, private sector initiative so we can begin restoring the trust of our veterans and the American public in the ability of the VA to meet the commitments our nation has made to our veterans.  Our military men and women, their families, and our veterans deserve nothing less.

End

Senator Bennet has also been instrumental in passing immigration reform which remains stalled in the U.S. House of Representatives.  In the case of immigration reform, it will take not just governmental solutions to fix the problem, but more, governmental solutions at the federal instead of state level.  The State of Arizona provided it's own fix to the problem with disastrous consequences, costing the state billions of dollars in lost business.  There is a place for public-private partnerships in which the private sector aids government, as well as the role of purely governmental solutions.  Each has a place as America grows.