Veterans' Day Tribute to my Father-in-Law

Last year on Veterans' Day, I wrote a post to this blog honoring the service of my ancestors in wars throughout American history from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War to my father's service in WWII and the Korean War at http://jaxonnews.blogspot.com/2010/11/salute-to-my-familys-veterans-on.html.

This year I want to honor my father-in-law, Howard S. Payne, pictured above in his Army uniform during WWI. Yes, that was in the FIRST World War when it was generally referred to as the 'Great War" since no one ever expected there to be another global conflict of such scope.

It is fitting that the DC War Memorial in honor of WWI veterans is having an official re-opening today after recent restoration work. A Washington Post story on this ceremony can be found here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-memorial-to-world-war-i-reopens/2011/11/10/gIQAh9zM9M_story.html.

Howard S. Payne (1897 - 1982) joined the Regimental Band for a Virginia unit that was sent to the Texas border (at Brownsville, Texas) in 1916 to protect the American border during the Mexican Revolution led by Pancho Villa. The US military commander during that border assignment was General John J. Pershing (also known as "Black Jack" Pershing), who became the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe after America declared war on Germany in 1917.

When the US entered the Great War, Howard Payne entered the Army infantry and joined the 116th Infantry of the 29th Division. He served in France from June 1918 to May 1919. During that time, he took part in the defense of Alsace-Lorraine from July to September 1918.

Howard Payne left his military service with the rank of Sergeant and returned to the US to work for the US Printing Office in DC for 45 years. He married my mother-in-law (Elizabeth Thomas) in 1940 and raised five children (three girls and two boys). My wife, Margaret Byrd Payne, is the middle child - between two older sisters and two younger brothers.

Veterans' Day was originated by what was once called Armistice Day based on the fact that at 11 a.m. on 11 November 1918; "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month"; a ceasefire that ended WWI came into effect. It is, therefore, fitting that on 11/11/11, I honor my father-in-law who helped bring about that successful result in 1918.
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Campaigner-in-Chief

Ever since President Obama started September with his speech to a joint session of Congress in which he urged action on his Jobs Bill "right away" about 17 times, he has been traveling the country by bus and Air Force One meeting voters and supporters in town hall settings attacking Congress and Republicans for failing to pass the bill. I cannot recall any President in my lifetime who started such a blatant campaign for re-election more than a year before the election. At the least, this series of town hall events, which also seem to coincide with major fundraising dinners with wealthy donors sponsored by the Democratic Party in whatever cities the President's Jobs Bill Tour takes him, raises qusetions about whether the taxpayers or the Obama Re-election Campaign is paying for the travel expenses.

While the President repeatedly states that Republicans in Congress are blocking his Jobs Bill, the key problem seems to be that the Senate, which is still controlled by Democrats, cannot pass anything but the Trade Agreements with Colombia, South Korea and Panama. Republicans had been urging the White House to send those Trade Agreements to the Senate for ratification for several years. It was only when the President decided that the agreements could indeed help create jobs that he included them in his Jobs proposal and sent them for ratification. This piece of his Jobs package, therefore, truly had bi-partisan support and passed quickly.

Other aspects of the Jobs Bill had features that Republicans, and even some Democrats, in both houses of Congress could not support without some changes. This, of course, is not unusual in a deliberative body of over 500 members from every region of a large and diverse country. To ask this group of politicians to pass exactly what the White House sends to them "right away" is totally unrealistic.... and even the White House staff knows it.

Since Obama commenced his town hall tour of the country within a week of his Joint Session speech and began "right away" blasting Republicans for obstructing his efforts to create jobs, it has become quite clear that this entire Presidential exercise has been orchestrated to demonize Congressional Republicans and try to establish a campaign theme of attacking a "Do-Nothing" Congress, as Harry Truman did in 1948. Unfortunately for Obama, Truman was running against a Congress in which both houses were controlled by Republicans. Obama has a Senate controlled by his own party. And the Senate has been a continuing bottleneck to progress.

The Republican controlled House has passed 15 bills designed to help businesses create jobs that have not been acted on in the Senate. The 15 House passed bills are listed here: http://majorityleader.gov/JobsTracker/. This record by the House thoroughly disputes any description of the House Republicans as a "Do-Nothing" house of Congress blocking action on Jobs bills. The legislative process Obama is complaining about stops at the Democratic controlled Senate.

Regardless of the facts, as described above, Obama knows that his speeches and town hall meetings get press coverage because of the President's "bully pulpit". So his attacks on obstructionist Republicans get the headlines and lead stories in the TV news whenever he talks. Speaker John Boehner's attempts to point out the progress made in the House get no coverage outside the Beltway. In fact outside of the Beltway and his home district in Ohio, there are likely not many voters who even know who the Speaker of the House is and probably even more who never heard of the name "John Boehner".

While Obama is cleverly using the power of his position to begin an early re-election effort, the nation is being shortchanged by having our duly elected head of state distracted by partisan politics aimed at dividing the country by attacking those who agree with Republican positions and values. When Obama was elected he said that he would not be the President of just the Blue States, Red States or the Purple States, but of all the United States of America. That was a nice sound bite, but he certainly is not governing in a manner that seeks to bring Americans together. Sphere: Related Content