John Boehner Needs Coffee

That or the Democrats seriously need a restraining order between him and the Tea Party.

Boehner's problem is of all things the Tea Party Caucus, run by the insanity that is Michele Bachmann. I should thank the Lord that my mother is Laura Baci Clark and not Michele Bachmann. She, Sarah Palin and my stepdad's ex-wife all have that charm about them-a lack of charm.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid, who is no angel himself, said "It would be a shame if Republicans abandoned productive negotiations due to pressure from the tea party, as they have time and again." I'm going to play Keith Olbermann for a second and say "So it seems the GOP is ACTUALLY losing touch with reality. They want their cake AND they want to eat it."The problem is the Tea Party has too much control over what goes on in Congress, and progress isn't what they strive for. Of course that's just my observation.

I feel this way: the Tea Party and anti-government Republicans need to come out and just say it: they will not rest until the United States government resembles that of 1789 or even 1900. But the world is a different place, and the Republicans refuse to factor that in. The Republican obsession over shrinking the United States government is more damaging than productive. If I was President Obama, I'd include some of the major Tea Party players in discussions, since they have so much power in Congress. I don't think I could trust anyone in Congress with the federal budget. And CNN gives a scary (and slightly whacked out) explanation. If the Tea Party and someone with more courage than Boehner were in office, this whole issue would be moot. I'm a bit of an extremest when it comes to proving points, but I'll say it: the US government credit rating should be downgraded until the agencies (S&P and Moody's for example) see the nation run by competent legislators. Term limits anyone? America needs to change, even if it comes down to kicking and screaming.

But that would backfire on everyone. The Tea Party is less favorable than it was two years or even a year ago. And people would question Obama in so many ways. And for Obama to give the Tea Party attention would be an ego boost that the Tea Party does not deserve.

So, it appears New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority chair Joseph Lhota is expected to step down from his position as Chairman to run for Mayor of New York City. I wish him luck, both humorously and in all seriousness. The MTA, for those of you who are not familiar with the Tri-State area, is constantly getting bad press for service problems, fare hikes and general perception of corruption (although that could generally be a result of a pension program that is quite possibly TOO generous). The question now would he who to replace Mr. Lhota with.

My issue with Mr. Lhota is he just doesn't have that Mike Bloomberg-esque charm. Yes, I believe that Mayor Bloomberg has a certain charm to him, being open-minded, calling people out when necessary and despite being a native of Beantown (Boston), he comes off quite New York-ish. But I will give Mr. Lhota credit. Except for the Long Island Rail Road and a section of the IND Rockaway line,

However, New York City, as liberal as a city it is, has elected two Republicans* since 1993. But nonetheless, even Mayor Bloomberg's critics have an once at least of respect for him, some even more, for speaking clear conscience.

And in other news, Apple didn't get their way. Samsung was given a favorable judgement, which allows them to continue selling their most popular smartphones here in the U.S. I give kudos to Judge Lucy Koh for seeing competition in the digital ecosystem necessary.

I have told people for years that I will never buy an iPhone unless it were for work and if it were only a GSM model. But I have problems with the way Apple goes about the iPhone route. The SIM is for all practical purposes locked, meaning that you need to go to AT&T to get international roaming, which is monopolistic. In general however, I believe the smartphone subsidy system is absurd. Just like data caps. I understand having limits on cell phone data, since no one should use a cell signal for streaming Netflix. But for using the internet at home? The average American household goes through close to 2TB of data transmission a month. I know I go through quite a bit myself, through flight simulator addons, movie streaming, Facebook (which is surprisingly data hungry) and online gaming, which is another data hog if I recall correctly. If everyone were to get data caps for whatever internet they use, YouTube and Netflix would be out of business. America (and the world) needs unlimited internet.

And as I write this, there's a move to have Ben Affleck represent Massachusetts in the US Senate. And with what qualifications? Sure, he's a liberal and he seems like a nice guy. But still. 

To close, I had my interview with jetBlue. Other than the fact I mentioned I'm at the moment ineligible to get a pilot's license due to meds and that I want to be an airline vice-president and/or start my own regional airline, I think I did pretty well. I was a little nervous, but not as nervous for when I interviewed for Premier Technologies. If jetBlue wants a company historian one day, count me in! ;-)

*Mike Bloomberg ran and was a registered Republican when he ran for Mayor in 2001. He left the party a few years later, citing disagreements with the party on social and environmental issues, both crucial to a mayor in a city as populated and diverse as New York City.