Barack Obama

Hooray! :) 14 Year Anniversary Of The Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare)!

Celebrations are in order for the 14 year Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), President Barack Obama’s greatest achievement, despite constant attempts of Republicans to destroy it over these years since 2010!

The Affordable Care Act now gives health coverage to 21 million Americans, and is a further extension of health care coverage beyond Medicare and Medicaid, all brought about due to Democratic Presidents, as well as Social Security!

It is not a perfect law, as nothing is, but far better than if these laws had never been passed.

And it is ironic that in 2017, it was a critic of the Affordable Care Act, Arizona Senator John McCain, who was the opponent of Barack Obama in the Presidential Election of 2008, who saved the legislation, and this just a year before his passing.

This anniversary is being celebrated by both President Obama and President Joe Biden, and everyone well knows that President Donald Trump tried so hard to destroy this legislation and coverage, and pledges to do so if he is returned to the Oval Office, along with threats against Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid being targeted yet once again by Republicans!

Mark Robinson, NC Republican Gubernatorial Nominee: A Major Right Wing Extremist!

The Republican Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina, Mark Robinson, who is African American, is the party nominee for Governor in November 2024, running against North Carolina State Attorney General and Democrat Josh Stein.

This upcoming election is a crisis for the state of North Carolina and the nation, as Mark Robinson is an out of control right wing extremist.

His past record and utterances demonstrate the following:

He is a strong supporter of the National Rifle Association, and spoke out against gun control legislation after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Massacre in Parkland, Florida in February 2018.

He is vehemently anti abortion; denies climate change as reality; wants to promote charter schools and school voucher programs at the expense of public schools; and wants to remove science and social studies from the curriculum for first graders through fifth graders.

He has promoted Holocaust denial, and has made strongly antisemitic statements, alarming the Jewish community in North Carolina and nationally.

He has been harshly critical of African Americans who are Democrats, and bitterly denounces Barack Obama and has called Michelle Obama a man, and called Martin Luther King Jr a Communist, along with the Civil Rights Movement.

He has been strongly anti gay and anti transgender, and is also strongly anti Muslim, and a nativist against various immigrant groups.

He has strongly denounced the COVID 19 Pandemic as a threat, and has praised past dictators, including Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Fidel Castro, while at the same time calling his critics “Communists”!

He also has a record of bankruptcies, owing back taxes, and having misused campaign funds for his 2020 campaign for Lieutenant Governor.

This character is a clear and present danger, and it is essential that Democrat Josh Stein be elected Governor, to succeed Democrat Roy Cooper, who has had to deal with the nightmare of his Lieutenant Governor being totally uncooperative and confrontational in the past four years!

Mitch McConnell, Longest Serving Senate Leader, To Leave, After Tremendous Damage Done Over The Years! :(

Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who has served longer in party and Senate leadership than anyone in American history, will leave his role in the Senate after the Presidential Election of 2024.

Arguably the single most important Senate leader since Lyndon B. Johnson was Majority Leader from 1955-1961 before his rise to the Vice Presidency and Presidency, McConnell single handedly caused tremendous damage in so many ways.

Among them was his refusal to allow a Supreme Court nominee by Barack Obama in 2016 after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia; McConnell’s ramming through the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett in the Fall of 2020 before the election after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; his promotion of a massive number of right wing judges onto the federal courts; and his unwillingness to vote to convict Trump on impeachment charges in the days before the end of the Presidential term after the horrendous events of January 6, 2021.

The extremist right wing tilt of the Supreme Court, and its moves against abortion, affirmative action, and promotion of lack of regulation of guns, is primarily due to this man, and he will not look good in the annals of history, for having helped emboldened Donald Trump, even though Trump does not appreciate what McConnell did!

APSA Presidential Greatness Poll 2024: The Next President On Mt. Rushmore, And Most Polarizing And Least Polarizing Presidents!

The American Political Science Association Presidential Greatness Poll 2024 also asks participants who they would consider should join George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt on the Mt. Rushmore National Monument in South Dakota.

The overwhelming choice was Franklin D. Roosevelt by a wide margin (65.4%), with Barack Obama second with 11%, and a three way tie at 4% among Dwight D. Eisenhower, James Madison, and John F. Kennedy.

And the most Polarizing Presidents were Donald Trump, Andrew Jackson, Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, and George W. Bush in that order, with the least Polarizing Presidents being George Washington, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Abraham Lincoln, Harry Truman, Franklin D.Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy in that order.

APSA Presidential Greatness Poll 2024: Significant Rises In Rankings

The American Political Science Association 2024 Presidential Greatness Survey reveals dramatic rises in rankings for a few Presidents, from earlier APSA surveys in 2015 and 2018.

The most dramatic rise is Barack Obama, up 9 in rankings to number 7 since 2015; and an equal rise up 9 of Ulysses S. Grant to number 17 over the same period.

The next most dramatic rise is up 4 in rankings for John F. Kennedy from 14 to 10; and an equal rise up 4 for Jimmy Carter from 26 to 22.

Also, up 3 in rankings is Lyndon B. Johnson from 12 to 9.

Note that all of these 5 Presidents mentioned, except for Grant, are Democrats!

APSA Presidential Greatness Poll: Top 10 Presidents In 2024 Survey

The American Political Science Association Presidential Greatness project has published its findings, just in time for Presidents’ Day today.

This is the first in a number of days of discussion of the results.

The top 10 Presidents in the Survey demonstrates the rise of Democratic Presidents, who now number five of the group—with Franklin D. Roosevelt as number 2, behind Abraham Lincoln, surpassing George Washington who is now number 3; Harry Truman remaining number 6; Barack Obama amazingly rising to number 7, the highest he has been on any Presidential scholarly survey; and Lyndon B. Johnson surpassing John F. Kennedy, with Johnson number 9 and Kennedy number 10.

Additionally in the top ten is Truman successor Dwight D. Eisenhower as number 8, making five presidents in a row from FDR through LBJ part of the top ten.

Theodore Roosevelt as number 4 and Thomas Jefferson as number 5 remain consistently in their positions in the top 10.

So besides five Democrats in the top 10, there are three Republicans (Lincoln, TR, Ike), along with Federalist George Washington and Democratic-Republican Jefferson.

Presidential Inauguration History Since 1937

The 20th Amendment to the Constitution established January every four years since 1937 as Presidential Inauguration Day.

So there have been a total of 22 Inauguration Days on January 20 since 87 years ago.

This includes historic inaugurations, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama—the most dynamic and memorable such moments.

Today also marks three years of the Joe Biden Presidency, with the next inauguration precisely a year from today, falling on a Monday.

Let us hope that the next Presidential Inauguration will occur after a peaceful election and transition!

Supreme Court Could Be Repealing The 20th Century In Challenge To 1984 Chevron Case Decision

Conservative right wing groups are now attempting to repeal the 20th century concept of federal government regulation of the environment, financial markets, public health, and the workplace, in a challenge to the Chevron USA vs National Resources Defense Council case of 1984, decided by a unanimmous 6 member court of Republicans and conservatives.

The decision was written by Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, and agreed with by Chief Justice Warren Burger, and Associate Justices William Brennan, Lewis Powell, Harry Blackmun, and Byron White. All but White were appointed by Republican Presidents. And three Justices did not participate, Sandra Day O’Connor, William Rehnquist, and Thurgood Marshall, with only Marshall appointed by a Democratic President.

So the Court of 1984 had SEVEN Republican appointments, but reasonable Justices, as compared to the present Supreme Court of six Republican appointments.

So the case now being considered is an attempt to wipe out the federal regulatory state–in effect wiping out the Progressive Era of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson; the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt and followup by Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy; the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, and followup by Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton; and the commitment to further reforms by Barack Obama and Joe Biden! Notice that Richard Nixon is included with this list of Democratic Presidents who promoted federal regulation and reforms, the one Republican, who despite his shortcomings, actually added to federal regulation!

We are at a turning point, where our federal government could be weakened and go back as far as the Gilded Age of the late 19th century by an extremist Supreme Court. This is a constitutional crisis of massive proportions, and puts American democracy at risk!

Iowa Caucus History, And Caucuses Elsewhere In 2024

In the past, there were up to 15 states that held Presidential Caucuses, with them first evolving in the 1970s.

Today, in 2024, there are only a few states that hold caucuses, with the overwhelming majority having Presidential primaries.

The only states in 2024 with caucuses being held by both major political parties are:

Hawaii
Idaho
Iowa
North Dakota
Wyoming

Two other states have Republicans having caucuses, while Democrats have primaries

Those two states with this odd situation are

Missouri
Nevada

Notice none of these total seven states have large populations, with Missouri being the largest.

At the same time, the Iowa Caucuses have NOT been a good example of accuracy as to who would be the nominees or winners of the Presidency.

The only Presidents who won in Iowa and went on to the White House were:

Jimmy Carter 1976
George W. Bush 2000
Barack Obama 2008

Walter Mondale in 1984, Al Gore in 2000, John Kerry in 2004, and Hillary Clinton in 2016 won the Iowa Caucuses but lost the Presidency for Democrats, while for the Republicans, only Bob Dole in 1996 won in Iowa and then lost the Presidency.

The Disgraceful Fawning Of Republican Women Who Want To Be Donald Trump’s Vice Presidential Running Mate!

It is an unbelievable disgrace how several Republican women politicians are fawning to Donald Trump, in hopes that one of them will end up as his Vice Presidential running mate.

These include the following:

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem

New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene

Former South Carolina Governor and Republican Presidential contender Nikki Haley

This last possibility is highly unlikely, as now Trump is accusing Haley of being ineligible, not being born in America, which is a falsehood.

This was the same “Birther” tactic Trump used against Barack Obama, Ted Cruz, and Kamala Harris.

Haley is also the only one of these women who we could trust being a heartbeat away from the Presidency, as the others are “light weights”, not having the credentials to serve in the Oval Office, and nowhere near the qualifications of Vice President Kamala Harris!