Thanks Joe, You Had Your Turn!

President Joe Biden is in serious trouble despite the fact that his infrastructure bill has been passed. His social infrastructure bill of $3 Trillion has been striped down to a mere $1.75 Trillion and is looking to be stripped to an even smaller size. Inflation reports by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) just reported that inflation rose 6.2% in the past year. Add to that the supply chain issues that are causing shortages in the things we want, the sloppy withdrawal from Afghanistan, the unconquered COVID-19 pandemic, the likely control of Congress passing to the Republicans next November and you have the formula for a one term president.

The infrastructure bill that will be signed on Monday November 15 will deliver $550 billion of new federal investments in America’s infrastructure over five years, including money for roads, bridges, mass transit, rail, airports, ports and waterways. The package includes a $65 billion investment in improving the nation’s broadband infrastructure, and invests tens of billions of dollars in improving the electric grid and water systems. Another $7.5 billion would go to building a nationwide network of plug-in electric vehicle chargers, according to the bill text. The public is not impressed.

In a new WaPo-ABC poll In a new WaPo-ABC poll

63% of respondents said Biden has accomplished “not very much” or “little or nothing” so far in his presidency. A full 45% said he’s done “little or nothing” — that’s worse than the numbers for then-Presidents DONALD TRUMP, BARACK OBAMA or BILL CLINTON at comparable points in their presidencies.

Just 31% said he’s kept most of his major campaign promises — also a worse figure than Trump, Obama or Clinton received.

70% rated the economy as “not so good” or “poor.”

While the 2024 presidential election is three years away likely candidates are laying their plans now. The winner will not be President Joe Biden nor past president Donald Trump. We want a unifier but politics will be getting in the way.

Restoring Confidence In Our Democracy

Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election have become a driving force inside the GOP, and a deep distrust in the voting process has spread across the country.

If most people do not trust the electoral system to select our leaders what are the alternatives? The United States really does not have a direct election voting system. We select “electors” who actually do the voting. The country has abandoned the original selection process as established but not required in the constitution. The states now require the “electors” to select the presidential candidate who received the most votes in each state. That could be changed by the legislatures of each state. It would be a choice that would most likely have selected Donald Trump for a second term.

Trump’s complaint is that there was fraud in the election. Miscounts, dead people voting, voting machine tampering, destroyed ballots, etc. None of those claims were proven and that is why Joe Biden was certified the winner.

Where does this leave us? We need a new leader for this nation who will retore our confidence in our government and the electoral system. Neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump is that person. If no one steps forward we could be seeing the disintegration of the great experiment.

That would be a sad ending.

It’s all about Leadership

Thanks to a divided Democratic Party the original $3.5 trillion social safety net and combat climate change bill has been whittled down to $1.75 trillion over a decade.

The 1.5 trillion dollar infrastructure bill contains basic needs of the country such as roads, lead-free pipes, bridges, and funds for public transportation. These are clear necessities of the nation that fit the very definition of infrastructure.

So what’s the problem?

The progressive wing of the Democratic Party insists that both of these laws be passed together or they will vote for no bills. Essentially they are saying if we can’t get what we want we would rather have nothing. On the moderate side of the Party two senators want the $3.5 trillion bill cut to $1.5 trillion.

President Biden says it’s all about compromise. The GOP is thrilled. The Democratic Party is giving the Republicans a campaign gift in 2022.

The Republicans will be telling everyone that the Democratic Party cannot govern.

The dictatorships of the world are clapping their hands with joy. They are saying to their people “see, democracy doesn’t work.”

My question is not just why should these two bills be linked but instead why not introduce a series of laws to address different issues? For example, why not create legislation to make Medicaid more accessible? Why not pass legislation that will enable Medicare to negotiate lower prices? Why should these things be linked to anything else?

Public perception is everything. As it stands today the Democratic Party is likely to lose both houses of Congress next November. That will put President Joe Biden in the same category as other one term presidents. Those who were unable to unify the nation and successfully address real issues.

It appears likely Americans will be voting for a Republican president in November 2024.

What Was The Wall Street Journal Thinking?

On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal opinion’s section posted a lengthy letter from Donald Trump in which the former president repeatedly pushed conspiracy theories about the 2020 election in Pennsylvania.

“Well actually, the election was rigged, which you, unfortunately, still haven’t figured out,” Trump wrote at the top of his op-ed, insisting — contra facts — that he actually won the state of Pennsylvania.

Before we go any further, let’s revisit what happened in Pennsylvania in 2020.

Joe Biden won 3,461,221 to Trump’s 3,379,055, according to the Almanac of American Politics. That’s a margin of 82,166 votes.

Which is close!

And the closeness of that result led Trump to make several attempts in the wake of the election to have courts step in. A federal judge dismissed Trump’s lawsuit in November 2020, writing: “One might expect that when seeking such a startling outcome, a plaintiff would come formidably armed with compelling legal arguments and factual proof of rampant corruption. That has not happened.” Around that same time, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected an attempt by Trump’s campaign to stop the counting of some absentee ballots in certain areas that included Philadelphia.

On November 24, Pennsylvania certified the results in the state after all 67 counties had certified their results individually.

There is simply no there there. None. Zero. Zilch.

Which, of course, the Wall Street Journal and its editors know. (Sidebar: Trump’s letter was published in the “Opinions” section, which is separate from the news and reporting end of the publication.) And that knowledge makes what they did all the worse.

The op-ed section at the Journal will likely hide behind 1st Amendment free speech arguments to defend themselves. But that misses the mark, since our speech is bound in all sorts of ways already. You can’t yell “bomb” on a plane without repercussions. Or “fire” in a movie theater. (Remember when we used to go to the movies? Yeah, that was fun.)

Under that same logic, you can’t simply allow lies about the 2020 election to be printed in a major national newspaper under the guise of free speech. There is absolutely no evidence that any of what Trump wrote in the letter is true. (He appears to have cobbled much of it together from a group known as Audit the Vote PA, which touts a number of debunked theories about the Pennsylvania vote count.) And by giving Trump such prominent space, you are conferring some credibility to what we know are wild and fact-free conspiracy theories.

So, why did the Journal do it?

Well, their opinion section has long been quite conservative. And a letter from the former president of the United States is not the easiest thing in the world to say “no” to. Plus, the letter was sure to be a massive traffic driver for the Journal’s website; it is currently the third most popular Opinions piece on the site and spent much of the first hours after publication in the number one slot.

None of these reasons, however, are good enough to justify the publication of a lie-filled letter from Trump, a letter which will continue to foment the misguided belief among his loyal supporters that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Especially since we saw on January 6 what all of those lies can create.

Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

A Donald Trump Test

Police vastly outnumbered protesters around the U.S. Capitol during a sparsely attended rally by supporters of the people who breached the building on Jan. 6, trying to overturn former President Donald Trump’s election defeat.

About 100 to 200 protesters showed up, some carrying the flags of the right-wing group Three Percenters over their shoulders. It was far fewer than the 700 people organizers had expected and the thousands who brought mayhem to the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Donald Trump was not in Washington D.C. for the protests. The NYT reported that Trump thought the demonstration was “a setup.” Organized by Matt Braynard, a former data official for the Trump campaign, was held in support of those who have been jailed or have faced other punishments in relation to the Capitol riot of January 6.

Earlier this week, Braynard said attendees would not be allowed to wear clothing in support of Trump or Biden, adding that the event was not about the election or the candidates.

This does not signal the end of the Trumplicans. As the 2022 elections are approaching Donald Trump will likely endorse candidates. That will be the test for Trump mania. If his endorsed candidates win he will be running for president. If that doesn’t happen it is unlikely he will be a candidate in 2024.

California’s Government is a Failure

Larry Elder was a gift to Governor Gavin Newsom. Follows are his views.

Elder opposes the minimum wage and gun control. He’s said he doesn’t believe that a gender wage gap exists, and has called the climate crisis a “crock”. He has suggested that fatherless families drive up crime rates in Black communities. During the coronavirus crisis, he has given a platform to Covid-19 conspiracy theorists, including a self-identified physician who promoted the false claim that coronavirus vaccines were being pushed in minority communities as “population control”. Elder has said he has been vaccinated but has vowed to repeal California’s mask and vaccine requirements if he wins the governorship.

The Elder platform is the reason Newsom was not recalled.

Forget the social issues that divide Democrats and Republicans. California’s state government has failed.

The list of things that our California government has failed to address is long. Neither Jerry Brown nor Gavin Newsom and the Democratic Party controlled legislature has addressed any of these issues in a meaningful way.

In the long term climate change is an issue but there are many other issues that demand immediate attention.

-The income gap. California has more millionaires than any other state but also has one of the highest poverty rates.

-Low minimum wage law. The low rate of pay perpetuates poverty.

-Homelessness. It’s not just the drug addicted and mentally challenged. The poorly paid cannot afford an apartment. Many are living in motorhomes.

-Lack of affordable housing. Low cost housing units are in short supply and the building codes and zoning laws prevent construction due to regulations and high construction costs.

-Poorly managed state agencies. Examples are the delays in payment of unemployment benefits, long lines at DMV facilities.

-High cost of college education. $46 per unit at two year community colleges. State university’s fee is $396 per semester unit and $264 per quarterly unit.

-Water shortage. Yes it is a natural disaster but where is the plan to ensure both agriculture and urban areas have adequate supplies?

-Death penalty. A ballot measure retaining that law was passed by the public but Gavin Newsom has suspended its use.

-Bullet train. In their voter guides, Californians were informed of an estimate from the California High-Speed Rail Authority estimating that, “the total cost to develop and construct the entire high-speed train system would be about $45 billion.” Current estimates place the possible cost as high as around $100 billion. Newsom has scaled back the project to 171 miles from Merced to Bakersfield.

-Taxes. California has the highest income tax rate in the nation.

First there is the issue of jobs that pay enough to live comfortably without the need for food stamps and rent subsidies.

The big employers have either closed or moved

Toyota: 3,000 jobs moved to Texas
Walt Disney: 2,000 jobs moved to Florida
Lockheed Martin: 5,000 jobs moved to Georgia
Rocketedyne
General Motors
Price Pfister
Hewlett Packard Enterprise

When all of those companies left California the state government was silent in the press.

California needs new leadership.

Twentieth Anniversary of 9-11

Ten years ago on the anniversary of 9-11 I wrote:

Television, news magazines, and newspapers have beaten us over the head with non-stop discussions, ceremonies and interviews. It has been ad nauseam repetition. It’s as if no one is aware of what had happened and the media needs to keep retelling the same thing over and over.

Unfortunately the cost to all Americans is great. We have spent lives and money chasing an enemy that will not be easily stopped. Our government has done a mediocre job of preventing another attack. Travel to NYC, San Francisco, Los Angeles or any other city and you will see that ports are unprotected, bridges poorly guarded, and large entertainment media facilities unprepared for another attack. Just the other day, I read in the Los Angeles Times that fire and police agencies still do not communicate on the same air frequencies.

Overseas, rather than chasing al-Qaeda we have focused on nation building in Iraq and Afghanistan. Arab terrorists must be happy to watch us waste our resources in battles we cannot win.

There seems to be a light in the tunnel as conservative Republicans have questioned our purpose in other nations. It appears we are starting to learn we cannot steer world affairs. There is hope!

What changed in the past ten years? Nothing.

President Biden finally ended a war that the past two presidents tried to end but politics got in the way. Sadly our military and embassy led our government to believe Afghanistan was being built into a western style democracy that could survive and stand on its own.

Have we learned anything? I doubt it!

Wars Make Money

The military–industrial complex describes the relationship between a nation’s military and the defense industry that supplies it, seen together as a vested interest which influences public policy.

Dwight Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States

President Eisenhower’s farewell speech to the nation the retiring president warned of the dangers of allowing a Military-Industrial Complex to take control of the United States. The Military-Industrial Complex is a term that denotes a symbiotic relationship between a nation’s military, economy, and politics.

The U.S. sent to Afghanistan nearly 600,000 small arms, 76,000 vehicles and 208 airplanes to Afghanistan’s military and police from 2003 to 2016, according to a 2017 Government Accountability Office report, one of the few such compilations. The U.S.-led military coalition documented deliveries of 174 Humvees, nearly three million rounds of ammunition, and nearly 100,000 2.75-inch rockets during the period, night-vision goggles and even small drones for intelligence gathering.

The Department of Defense has a handful of arms manufacturers. You may recognize some or the names: Colt, Daniel Defense, Remington Arms Company, and FN America. FN is also working to help develop new guns featuring revolutionary technology. Lockheed Martin Corp. is the largest arms manufacturer in the world. Boeing, Northrup Grumman, and Raytheon rely on the U.S. military for anywhere from 44% of their revenue (Boeing) to 89% of their revenue (Lockeheed).

“FN America was recently down-selected and contracted to produce two prototypes for the U.S. Army’s Next Generation Squad Automatic Rifle program,” says Greg Livermore, FN’s vice president for product management.

All of those arms manufacturers are now trying to negotiate a situation that will result in fewer arms sales. Don’t you know they will be promoting another war? They don’t care where it is and how many lives are lost or how many injuries are sustained?

It was WWII followed by the Cold War that created jobs for Americans in those arms manufacturing companies. Many have said that wars are what keeps America out of depressions.

Are they correct?