Category: Politics

What Me Worry?

The choices for the Democratic Party nominee for president are mostly between flawed candidates. Could any of those appearing at the eighth debate stand up to Donald Trump and win?

Knowing that Trump will be calling his opponent names and portraying him or her as unfit and corrupt it is almost impossible for me to select the appropriate candidate that could win.

Alfred E Neuman in the guise of Pete Buttigieg is the smartest candidate, a combat veteran and a Rhodes scholar. At 38 years old he would definitely connect with younger voters. I personally have no problem with his sexual orientation but would Americans vote a gay man into the presidency? The E in Alfred E Neuman stands for Enigma. I am not alone in recognizing the similarity. For me the enigma is how do you sell this smart gay man to the American public?

Then there is former Vice President Joe Biden. This is his third time trying for the nomination. He has a long history in the Senate. He supported the invasion or Iraq and opposed busing to integration of schools. It is unclear what he stand for today but says he will bring people together. How he would bring Democrats and Republicans together in today’s fraught environment has not been explained. His appears frail. Just do not see him able to physically cope with the demands of the presidency. He would be 78 years old in a 2021 inauguration.

Bernie Sanders would be 79 years old on inauguration day. He recently had a heart attack. He is a declared socialist who calls himself a “democratic socialist.” He would try to remake American society. How many Americans want a socialist society? We all like Social Security and Medicare but the word socialist does not sit well with most Americans.

Elizabeth Warren is Bernie Sanders light and Amy Kobuchar seems to be a moderate with no specific agenda.

Michael Bloomberg represents Hillsborough, Bel-Air, Scarsdale, and Cherry Hills Village. People living there and similar communities need no help.

I have until March 3 to select my choice. As of today it is Alfred E Neuman. Oops I mean Pete Buttigieg.

The Ostrich Wins – America Looses!

Is this the end of the American Republic? Too many Americans have chosen to hide their heads in the sand. Too many have chosen to cover their ears. The very last thing they want to hear is testimony from John Bolton, Mick Mulvaney, Mike Pompeo or anyone else. Like any ostrich, the truth might hurt.

Donald Trump faced charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Sadly the Senate has decided that while his actions were inappropriate they do not rise to removal from office.

Donald Trump contends that the second article to the Constitution gives him power to do whatever he wants. The Republican controlled Senate agrees. They choose to ignore his high crimes and misdemeanors. This leaves us with a toothless congress.

If he wins a second term as president will he attempt to overturn the constitution? Could he run for a third term as president? Who would stop him?

Text of the 22nd Amendment. “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once.”

I am really frightened. We appear to be following the gullible in places like 1930 Germany, today’s Russia, Philippines, Venezuela, and Turkey.

Impeachment trial of the president could lead to an Unexpected Outcome

Trump angry over impeachment inquiry

John Bolton just tore up the impeachment script.

The NYT on Sunday night reported that JOHN BOLTON has written in a draft of his book that President DONALD TRUMP ordered aid to Ukraine held until it investigated the Bidens — reminds the United States Senate and the American people of a reality that was, until now, easy to forget: BOLTON is going to tell his story, it’s just a question of what medium it appears in first — a book, a television segment or a sworn testimony.

According to CNN Senator Mitt Romney is saying that more Republicans are likely to vote for witnesses.

Once Witnesses are called to testify in the impeachment trial the Trump defense will be difficult to make.

Holding an overwhelming GOP majority in the Senate, Trump believes he will be acquitted.  It might be a stretch to expect Trump to be removed from office but compelling testimony will be difficult for senators to ignore.

The Impeachment Trial of Donald J. Trump

Senators have a duty to conduct a fair and full trial. The Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, is trying to make sure they don’t. The strategy is obvious. Let’s get through this impeachment trial as quickly as possible. The senate finds the president not guilty and he will have another reason for re-election. Trump will point to his exoneration as proof of the great job he is doing as president.

Are the American people likely to buy this strategy? Of course I don’t know the answer but if we look at history we all can see that Americans know when the country is on a wrong path.

The best example is the presidency of Jimmy Carter. Two situations denied him a second term. The inflation rate rose from 6% to 12% rates while unemployment remained at 7.5% and 52 hostages were taken from the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran and held for over a year before the 1980 election. Those nightly updates on ABC’s Nightline about the hostages only reinforced public opinion that Carter was ineffective.

There is also a remote possibility that Republican senators will take a hard look at the constitution and realize that Mr. Trump is a threat to this American democracy.

The U.S. Economy is Great if your Wealthy

President Donald Trump will run on the economy. He will repeat over and over again the statistical information that says blacks are experiencing the lowest unemployment rates ever. He is already saying that more Americans are employed than ever in the nation’s economy.

So what’s not to like?

It’s an illusion. It sounds nice to say that more people are working but how much are they earning? The gap between the wealthy and the middle class and poor has grown dramatically.

In 2018 434,000 workers earned exactly the prevailing federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. About half (46.4 percent) of workers making less than $15 per hour are ages 35 and older. These are BLS statistics.

This Yahoo map of minimum wages is the eye opener.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen by 32 percent since President Donald Trump took office. But are Americans overall benefiting? What percentage of Americans own stocks?  80% of Americans own 6.7% of all shares.  84% of all shares are owned by the top 10% of the population.

Those numbers are the basis for many Democratic Party candidates campaign strategy. Their spiel is “I can fix this.”

This video is Tom Steyer’s appearance on CNN’s Smerconish is similar to what you will hear from Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

 

January Iowa Democratic Party Debate

The question for this debate was who should I vote for in the Iowa Caucus on February who can win the election in November?

The second question is who would be the best choice to lead the country in the 21st century?

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders were the clear winners in the debate. They impressed me with their knowledge on every subject. Tom Steyer was the big loser. Biden with the exception of his closing statement, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar were all mildly impressive but offered little in the way of a reason to gain my support.

I was happy that this debate was focused on foreign affairs. Arguing who voted in support of the invasion of Iraq gave us no idea of when and why we would become involved in another war. Buttigieg’s proposal that all authorizations should include a sunset provision is a wise idea. Warren pointed out that the generals have been saying for years that the war in Afghanistan is about to conclude.

Joe Biden’s closing statement is worth repeating here because it sums up my opinion about the Trump presidency.
“Character is on the ballot this time around. The American character is on the ballot. Not what Donald Trump is spewing out, the hate, the xenophobia, the racism. That’s not who we are as a nation. Everyone in this country is entitled to be treated with respect and dignity. Every single solitary person has to have in a position that may in fact we treat them with decency. It’s about fundamental, basic decency. We in the United States of America can put up with …
we can overcome four years of Donald Trump, but eight years of Donald Trump will be an absolute disaster and fundamentally change this nation. We have to restore America’s soul. As I’ve said from the moment I announced, it is in jeopardy under this President of the United States. We lead the world when we lead by example, not by our power.”

Sadly Joe Biden is too old to lead this nation in this century. Frankly, Warren and Sanders are also too old for this very difficult job. That puts Michael Bloomberg and me in the too old category as well. My reason is the stress is too high. Death of a senior citizen president puts the country in the hands of a vice president who is usually chosen for political reasons rather than capability.

My attention will now be on Buttigieg, Klobuchar, former tech executive Andrew Yang, and Former Mass. Gov. Duval Patriick.

In my opinion if Joe Biden is the Democratic Party nominee Donald Trump will be elected to a second term and then try to find a way to obtain a third term.

U.S. manufacturing activity hits worst level since 2009

This may be boring but it matters: The Institute of Supply Management‘s index of manufacturing activity released Friday hit its lowest level since the end of the Great Recession in December.  47.2 is their measurment. A number below 50 indicates a shrinking condition. It shows worsening conditions for the U.S. manufacturing sector, which has been in contraction for five straight months, and reignites concerns about the trade war’s impact on the economy.

The declining manufacturing sector is impacting states that helped Donald Trump win the presidency.

Nine states’ economies are expected to slide into contraction within six months — the most since the financial crisis ended more than a decade ago, according to the latest projections from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

West Virginia’s economy is forecast to shrink the most, while a decline in neighboring Pennsylvania is anticipated to be the most severe since May 2009. Add to that list of shrinking states are Delaware, Montana and Oklahoma Vermont, New Jersey, Kentucky and Connecticut.

Democrats will be praying that things get worse. Republicans will be saying we are only going through a soft patch and better days are ahead.