Month: March 2021

Joe Biden Perceived By Many Observers As Potentially Transformational, As Was FDR And LBJ

It may be hype, but many political observers, impressed with President Joe Biden’s fast start in his first 50 days, are speculating that the 46th President could be a transformational President, in the mold of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson.

One such viewpoint is expressed by NY Times Columnist David Brooks, who is a conservative, but sees elements in Joe Biden to unite the nation, as has occurred with the just signed COVID 19 $1.9 Trillion legislation today, which is seen as a law that will have a great effect on taking many people, including children, out of poverty, along with essential aid to small businesses, state and local governments, and the rapid availability, now said to be on May 1, of COVID 19 vaccine for all adults.

Joe Biden has surprised many in his ability to draw Republican registered voters to be totally supportive of assistance this legislation provides, even as Republicans in Congress refused to support the legislation, but are already claiming credit for some of the programs and aid being distributed rapidly, starting this weekend.

There certainly is great optimism, on this anniversary of the declaration of the COVID 19 Pandemic a year ago today, after the horrible loss of 525,000 Americans, the greatest loss in one year in American history!

Attorney General Merrick Garland Confirmed; Now Time For Prosecutions Of January 6 Traitors In Congress!

Attorney General Merrick Garland was finally confirmed today by a vote of 70-30 in the Senate.

It is now time for prosecutions of the January 6 Capitol Attack Conspirators, not only the men and women who stormed the building and threatened members of Congress, but also those traitors in Congress who promoted and encouraged the seditionist actions.

This includes the Senators and Congressmen who refused to support the Electoral College results, and those who took some of the people involved in the insurrection on tours of the building a day or two before.

The evidence is strong against Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Madison Cawthorn, Paul Gosar, Jim Jordan, Mo Brooks and others in the House, and against Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and six other Senators. Also, House Republican leaders, including Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise and others need to be held accountable!

It is time for them to pay the price for their treasonous actions, and they all need the full prosecution and punishment that they deserve!

The Republican Party Of 2021 Is A Disgrace, Refusing To Provide Aid In A Pandemic And Depression

The Republican Party of 2021 is a total disgrace, refusing to provide aid in a pandemic and economic depression, with not even one Republican Senator or House member voting for the $1.9 trillion legislation, that benefits children, the poor, struggling middle class people, schools, small businesses, and state and local governments who, without such aid, would have to fire teachers, firefighters, police officers, and so many other essential public employees.

With so many people harmed by the disaster of the past year, with Donald Trump doing next to nothing about it, the lifeline of $1400 checks is a blessing.

The Republicans supported, along with Democrats, the two earlier pieces of legislation, for $1200 and $600 aid in 2020, but the minute Joe Biden comes in, they refuse, and this will be remembered by average, every day voters, including Republicans, with many Republican mayors and some Republican Governors finding it hard to fathom why the Congressional Republicans refuse to the last man and woman to support essential aid.

This will reverberate on Republicans in the midterm Congressional Elections of 2022, and already, some veteran Republicans are bowing out of running for reelection, as they see Donald Trump dominating the party and destroying it piece by piece, so the Republican future is extremely dim!

Joe Biden Has Fast Start, After 45 Days In Office!

Joe Biden has had a fast start to his Presidency, accomplishing the COVID 19 legislation after only 45 days in office, with only a final vote this week, and then the greatest progressive legislation in a generation! Biden is also taking initiatives on a host of other issues that have been major agenda items, either unaddressed by Donald Trump, or harmed by Donald Trump.

Joe Biden is a man of decency, compassion, and empathy, and he has the potential to accomplish tremendous steps forward in so many areas of policy!

If only Biden had been able to run in 2016, and the assumption that he might have defeated Hillary Clinton for the nomination, many have speculated that he would have defeated Trump in the Electoral College, but of course, that is all speculation.

But thank goodness Joe Biden is now our President, and offers great hopes for progress in so many areas of policy!

Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, And MSNBC Rise To The Top Of Cable Journalism!

Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, and MSNBC have risen to the top of Cable Journalism in the first two months of 2021.

MSNBC has surpassed CNN and Fox News Channel in viewership, and Rachel Maddow is Number One, and Lawrence O’Donnell is Number Two watched news hour, and Rachel Maddow is more watched than any other show on Cable, news or otherwise!

This is a tribute to the brilliant journalism of both of them, and the station, and this occurs as Fox News Channel, continuing to spread lies and deceit, and emphasize preposterous issues, such as Dr. Seuss and Mr. Potato Head, continue to dim the brains of their followers, who would not comprehend the facts or truth of public affairs, and what really matters!

Time To Modify The Senate Filibuster So That Direct Action On Many Issues Can Be Taken!

The filibuster is a anti democratic tactic used for many decades to prevent progress.

For a long time, the requirement was 67 Senators, two thirds of the Senate, to overcome a filibuster.

Lyndon Johnson was famous for fighting the filibuster, and overcoming the barrier in 1964 to pass the landmark Civil Rights Act of that year.

In 1975, the barrier of the filibuster was lowered to 60 Senators to end debate, and allow for a vote on legislation and appointments.

With the Republican Party refusing to cooperate at all on the COVID 19 Pandemic legislation, after almost all House and Senate members of both parties did so twice in 2020, it is time to move, at least, to lower the threshold from 60 to 55 Senators, in order to be able to make progress.

Joe Manchin And Bernie Sanders: Polar Opposites Complicating The Ability For Legislation

The Democratic Party is a “wide tent” party, unlike the Republicans, but being a “wide tent” creates its own issues, particularly when we have a 50-50 Senate.

On the Left we have Bernie Sanders, who is really a Socialist more than a Democrat, and does not work well with others.

Any thought that Sanders might have been President would have been a nightmare, as he does not understand Compromise.

But then, on the Right, we have Joe Manchin, who is a Democrat, but more like a Republican, and makes life difficult for Democrats, but the alternative if he joined the Republican Party or was defeated by a Republican in West Virginia, would be worse.

So Joe Biden has to do a balancing act to gain the backing of both Sanders and Manchin, and that is extremely difficult, but important, in order to accomplish the goals of his Presidency!

Mike Pence Is A Disgrace To The Vice Presidency, And Assuredly, Has No Future!

Mike Pence will go down in Vice Presidential history as a total disgrace to the office!

Pence demonstrated no guts, no courage, ever to oppose the abuse of Presidential power by Donald Trump!

Pence was a lackey, servile, a sycophant, totally obsequious, even though he claims to be a devout Christian, or better said, “a good Christian”!

But if one was truly, he would show his ethics and morality on the way Donald Trump handled his office, but instead he kowtowed to the point of behavior that would embarrass any man who has a conscience!

Even when he was directly threatened by Donald Trump supporters on January 6, 2021, he just fled, kept quiet for two months, and now defends Donald Trump’s false claims of a fixed election, all for his naked ambition to be President!

But Mike Pence will never gain the backing of Donald Trump, who refused even to call Pence for five days after his close shave with possible harm and death!

Mike Pence is pitiful, a coward, a man who cannot control his own behavior around women and calls his wife “Mother”, indicating deep seated psychological issues!

We have had horrific Vice Presidents come to us from the Republican Party, including Dan Quayle under George H. W. Bush; Spiro Agnew under Richard Nixon; and Dick Cheney under George W. Bush, but with all of their faults, none of them would be perceived as lacking in manhood as Mike Pence displayed in office, and now as a former Vice President who desperately wants to be President, but will, thankfully, never reach that office!

Time To Raise The Federal Minimum Wage To $15 In Stages By 2025!

The last federal minimum wage increase occurred in 2009 during the first year of the Obama Presidency.

That minimum wage was $7.25, and yet, 12 years later, there are those who oppose an increase after more than a decade.

It is true that many states have a higher minimum wage, but it is more than past due to raise the federally mandated minimum wage in stages to $15 by 2025.

It is not as if there is a call for an immediate jump, but over four years, it is not too much to demand!

There are millions of low paid wage earners who cannot support themselves, and if the minimum wage had been based on the cost of living since its inception in 1938 under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, the minimum wage now would be $24!

So the Democrats need to push through this legislation, maybe separately from the COVID 19 Pandemic legislation, with or without much Republican support!

Texas Is Crazy To Drop COVID 19 Restrictions: Will Likely Lead To New Surge Of Cases And Deaths!

Texas is the second largest state in population and in land area, but Texas government under Republican dominance in the past four decades has been a total disaster!

It continues to discriminate against its African American and Latino population, making it more difficult for them to vote!

Its electric grid system led to disaster and loss of property and life last week, and no apologies from Texas Republicans!

And now, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has announced that COVID 10 Pandemic restrictions are ending in the next week!

This is a total disgrace, and undermines the fight against the pandemic, as Texas with more than 30 million people, and with so much commerce and travel in a state as large as Texas, is a prime area of the infection, and undermines what President Joe Biden, scientists, and medical personnel say needs to be done to overcome the pandemic, which has cost more than half a million lives in one year!

This is states rights gone mad, and already, Mississippi, the poorest state in America, is also abandoning the restrictions on the pandemic, and do not be surprised that Florida, with its moronic governor Ron DeSantis, will be next!

So the battle to overcome COVID 19 is being sabotaged, and will make the recovery be more extended, at much greater loss of life!