Chuck Schumer

MAGA Republicans In Charge In House Of Representatives: Its Implications!

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Having “slept” on the elevation of Mike Johnson to the Speakership of the House of Representatives, this author and blogger has woken up to the horrors of this MAGA Republican, who seems to be a “nice” person on the surface, but has horrendous views on so many issues!

This man, now two heartbeats away from the Presidency, is a rabid social conservative who is vehemently opposed to abortion, gay rights and gay marriage, and has a hardline Christian view of marriage and family, more like the 1950s and earlier!

Johnson also led the Election Denier movement in support of Donald Trump, and has never backed away from refusing to accept that Joe Biden is President.

Also, he has spoken in favor of changing Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid.

Johnson is the Speaker with the least government experience since the 1880s.

He is also not a supporter of Ukraine in its war with Russia under Vladimir Putin, and is likely to have a difficult relationship with President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

So, while the whole fiasco of the Speakership battles is likely to harm the Republican Party in 2024, for the next year, and including through the lameduck session after the Presidential Election of 2024, there could be a massive crisis in acceptance of the election results with a Trump supporting MAGA Republican in charge in the House of Representatives!

The Joe Manchin Problem

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West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin is a real problem for the Democrats in the US Senate.

While he is a Democrat, and has supported all actions so far by President Joe Biden in legislative votes, he has now made it clear that he will NOT work to end or modify the Senate filibuster. This despite great disappointment that ten Republican Senators could not be found to support the creation of the January 6 Commission.

Manchin is a conservative who, if he was to retire or lose support of his voters, he would be most likely replaced by a Republican, so this creates an impossible situation in a 50-50 Senate.

This mess creates great problems for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and could do great damage to the Joe Biden agenda, in a way similar to what Barack Obama faced after the first two years of his Presidency.

The ability to have a voting rights law to overcome the actions by many Republican legislatures to limit voting rights for racial minorities will be hampered, as well as a serious infrastructure legislation, gun control legislation, immigration reform, and so much else.

“Reconciliation”, which would not require 60 votes, might be possible, but is based on some bipartisan support, which is far from guaranteed.

Mitch McConnell Has Conceded Democrats Control Senate With 50-50 Tie, A Major Step Forward!

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After five days with a stalemate in the US Senate, Mitch McConnell has conceded that the Democrats and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer control the Senate with a 50-50 tie, allowing the opportunity for progress, after standing in the way of approval of Cabinet members expeditiously.

The Donald Trump Impeachment Trial will start in two weeks, and work will begin on the COVID 19 Pandemic legislation, and the confirmation of all of the Cabinet appointees of President Joe Biden will now move forward rapidly.

Joe Biden wants a very activist first 100 Days, possibly the greatest since Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal in the years of the Great Depression.

This is a time for optimism and hope as we move forward!

What A Wonderful Inauguration Tomorrow Of Joe Biden And Kamala Harris!

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What a wonderful inauguration takes place tomorrow, Wednesday, January 20, 2021!

A President and Vice President who have empathy, compassion, common decency, and exceptional character to lead us out of the nightmare of Donald Trump and his racist, antisemitic, Islamophobic, nativist, and misogynist followers, offer recovery and advancement in the next four years!

If Donald Trump had won, our nation would be in the throes of a full scale Fascist dictatorship, and the attempted coup on January 6, thankfully, was overcome, but showed just how dangerous a situation we would be in if Trump had won, or stolen the election, as he clearly did with Russian collusion in 2016!

To deny the truth and reality is no longer going to be acceptable, and this author and blogger will not associate with anyone who tries to deny truth and reality about Donald Trump!

So tomorrow, we will have our second Catholic President of Irish ethnicity (after John F. Kennedy); our first woman and African and Asian heritage as our Vice President; and with our first Latina (Puerto Rican) Supreme Court Justice (Sonia Sotomayor) giving the oath to Kamala Harris; and with the first Second Gentleman, Douglas Emhoff, who is Jewish, bringing the highest level person of Jewish ethnicity into the top levels of government! We also will be bringing a true educator, Dr. Jill Biden, in as First Lady!

And also, we have our first Jewish Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer; and our first Jewish Senator from Georgia, Jon Ossoff; and the first African American Senator from Georgia, the Reverend Raphael Warnock (who was pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, earlier having Martin Luther King, Jr as its pastor; and the first Latino Senator from California, Alex Padilla, with all three Senators being sworn in tomorrow when the Democrats take control of the US Senate!

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have major challenges not matched since Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and let all of us wish them the best, and knowing they have our backs!

A Very Emotional Time With Many Thoughts Which Will Require Time To Process

Ronald 10 Comments

The last 48 hours have been the most emotional roller coaster imaginable!

It began with great excitement as Georgia saw the victory of both Democratic Senate candidates, the Reverent Raphael Warnock and John Ossoff, marking the first African American Senator from a Deep South state since Reconstruction, and the first Jewish Senator in the history of the state.

It also meant that the Democrats would control the US Senate under new Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and that Joe Biden would be able to have more success with a Congress controlled by his party, even if paper thin control.

But then, we had the first attack on the US Capitol Building, the home of Congress, since the British attacked on August 24, 1814 during the War of 1812, and done by a right wing Fascist terrorist, insurrectionist group of Donald Trump supporters, and egged on by Trump himself, as well as his son, Donald Trump, Jr. and Rudy Giuliani, former NYC Mayor. These three men are guilty of treason and sedition and need to be held accountable!

The Capitol was defiled, and our national security was in danger, and it caused America to be ridiculed in the eyes of the world, which have seen America as the image of democracy being threatened by an egomaniac who wanted absolute power!

So even though at this writing, there are only 13 days to the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the push is on to impeach and remove the President, a second attempt, or to invoke the 25th Amendment, with great pressure being brought on Vice President Mike Pence by Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to prod the Trump Cabinet to join him in taking the Presidency away from Trump, and giving the authority for the remaining days of this term to Mike Pence.

There will be much need to process these events, as the nation and its future remain at risk, as this author and blogger publishes this entry!

Two Georgia Senate Seats Crucial For Joe Biden Presidency

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The future of the Joe Biden Presidency will hang in the balance, based on the runoff races for the two Georgia Senate seats, to be held on Tuesday, January 5.

Both Republican incumbents, one elected (David Perdue), and one appointed (Kelly Loeffler) have ethics violations in their stock dealings in the early days of the COVID 19 Pandemic, and both are miserable wretches, corrupt to the core, and they do not truly represent the interests of Georgia!

Instead, we have the Reverend Raphael Warnock, the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta since 2005, the former home of Martin Luther King, Jr, running against Loeffler, and having been first in the November elections, but not having a majority of all votes in that election.

And we have Jon Ossoff, who would be the youngest Senator at 33 if he were to win the seat of David Perdue, who displayed antisemitic attitudes toward Ossoff, who is Jewish, and who also made fun of Kamala Harris’s first name, seen as a racist act.

If both seats are won by the Democratic candidates, the Senate will be 50-50 and Kamala Harris would organize the Senate, and make Chuck Schumer the Senate Majority Leader, instead of the despicable Mitch McConnell.

This will be very important for the Biden Presidency and its agenda, so lots of effort and funding is going into this massive commitment to try and win both seats!

“Socialism” And “Defund The Police” Killed Democratic House Numbers, Endangering Majority In 2022

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The Democratic Party needs to realize that if it goes too far to the Left, it will doom President Joe Biden’s efforts for success!

Unfortunately, the Congressional Elections of 2020 demonstrated that the nation is still very split on what is desirable to accomplish, as the Republican opposition and Donald Trump utilized fear of the word “Socialism”, as if Joe Biden and the Democrats are equivalent of Communist leaders in Cuba, China, the Russian Federation, and other left wing regimes, such as Venezuela and Nicaragua!

This shows total ignorance of the term “Socialism”, and the reality that America is a mixed Capitalist-Socialist nation, with the Socialist party of Eugene Debs and Norman Thomas in the first half of the 20th century contributing many ideas, which over time, were part of the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, and many other progressive reform since then.

But it is clear that had Bernie Sanders somehow been the Democratic nominee for President, he would NOT have been able to win, as only a moderate centrist with a tip to the Left, as Joe Biden has been his whole life, could possibly have won back the Midwest states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, along with the Sun Belt states of Georgia and Arizona, and not lose any of the 20 states that Hillary Clinton won in 2016.

Also, while there have been too many outrageous examples of police abuse and brutality, and particularly against African American males and Latino males, and really even females, the answer is police reform and accountability, not “Defund the Police”, as they are still essential.

Sadly, the Senate only saw two Democrats elected (Mark Kelly, John Hickenlooper), while one (Doug Jones) was defeated, gaining only one seat, to 48, although Georgia creates an opportunity in its runoff election for the chance to have a 50-50 Senate, that Vice President Kamala Harris could organize as a Democratic Senate, with Chuck Schumer as Senate Majority Leader, instead of the horrible Mitch McConnell.

But there is danger of the House of Representatives, in a midterm election, going back to the Republicans, since they have gained at least 5-7 seats in the 117th Congress, and with the reality, that the party in the White House usually loses seats in the following midterm election.

The Senate will have, again, twice as many Republican seats up for election in 2022, but this scenario did not work out in 2020, so no assurance there either of retaining or gaining a Democratic Senate majority, which is so urgent to make Joe Biden a successful President!

Kamala Harris Will Bring Uniqueness And Challenge In Her Role As Vice President

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Kamala Harris will bring a sense of uniqueness and challenge to the status quo as she takes on the new role as Vice President of the United States on January 20, 2021.

As the first woman Vice President, and as a person of color with her African American and South Asian American heritage, Harris will draw attention just on that basis, but also with the reality that she may have to spend a lot of time in the US Senate, if the Democratic Party can win both open Georgia seats coming up for a vote on January 5.

If that occurs, she will organize the Senate as Presiding Officer, and make New York Senator Chuck Schumer the Majority Leader, and will have to break ties on many issues that may arise.

Even if a Democratic controlled Senate does not occur, she will have an extremely active role as Vice President, and will be utilized by President Biden in a way only that Biden himself had with Barack Obama, and Walter Mondale had with Jimmy Carter, and Al Gore had with Bill Clinton.

Harris will be combative, as she was as a California Senator for four years, and she will be constantly judged by the news media, and by opposition Republicans.

And with the strong likelihood that Joe Biden may retire after one term, she will certainly be the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency in 2024.

Believe it or not, the speculation over the next Presidential race has begun in earnest!

Toughest Democratic Race To Take Sides: Ed Markey Vs. Joe Kennedy III In Massachusetts

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The toughest Democratic race for Congress is coming to a conclusion on Tuesday, September 1, when Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts faces Congressman Joe Kennedy III for the nomination for the US Senate.

Both are clearly progressives, but Markey is seen as more Left than Kennedy.

Markey has been endorsed by Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, former Vice President Al Gore, former Democratic Presidential nominee (1988) Michael Dukakis, documentary creator Ken Burns, Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda, Carole King, Tom Steyer, many environmental groups, and the Boston Globe Editorial Board, as well as most Massachusetts mayors and many Democrats in the state legislature. and half the Congressional delegation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has endorsed Kennedy, and the Kennedy Family is, of course, behind Kennedy, and also many Congressmen, including the late John Lewis and Joaquin Castro, but he has alienated many who think he should have waited until Markey retired, or Warren ended up in a potential Joe Biden cabinet.

The seat is guaranteed to whoever wins the primary on Tuesday, as Republicans have not won state wide except with the first African American Senator since Reconstruction (Edward Brooke) decades ago, and Scott Brown, who succeeded Ted Kennedy and then was defeated by Elizabeth Warren.

Markey has served since 1976, 44 years in Congress, starting when he was 30 years old, with 37 in the US House of Representatives, and then he took over John Kerry’s Senate seat when Kerry became Secretary of State under Barack Obama in 2013. In so doing, Markey set a record as the longest serving Congressman, who then ended up in the US Senate at age 67.

Markey is just about the most liberal Democratic Senator, while Kennedy in eight years in the House, and now nearing 40, is also liberal, but it could be argued not as much, whatever that means!

So two men, who started off at 30 and 32 in Congress, now face each other, as the old guy with the long record, and the young guy, who is a Kennedy, but seems likely to lose the primary, based on recent polls, which show Markey 12 points ahead of Kennedy!

This might mean the end of all Kennedys in Massachusetts always winning, and it could be that Joe Kennedy III might not get another chance to go to the Senate, and might not be able to run again for the House of Representatives.

This is quite a gamble by a Kennedy, and it seems likely to be a lost cause!

The inclination of this blogger and author is that if I lived in Massachusetts, I would vote for Markey, but not be happy about rejecting a talented Joe Kennedy III!

This race should not have happened, as Joe III should have waited for either Markey or Warren to leave the Senate, without this pitched battle now coming to its end on Tuesday!

Donald Trump Tweet Storm Greater Than Ever, And Threatening Adam Schiff And Other Democrats Involved In Impeachment Trial

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Donald Trump is now engaged in a furious tweet storm, greater than ever, and threatening Adam Schiff and other Democrats involved in the Impeachment Trial, continuing this week.

Trump sounds more like a Mob Boss, a Mafia Chief, as he talks about Schiff, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and others “paying the price”, as if they are committing treason by investigating and bringing the President to trial.

It now seems unlikely there will be any witnesses or new documents entered into the trial, and that means the trial will likely end by the weekend, with an acquittal.

This will embolden Trump ever more, making him more dangerous in the nine months up to the election, and it is now possible to believe he could find an excuse to declare martial law, and suspend the Constitution and Bill of Rights!

And the fear, if he loses the election in November, that he will refuse to concede, and will not give up the Presidency on January 20, 2021, requiring the military and Secret Service, under the rule of law, to remove him bodily from the Oval Office.

This could, however, lead to the danger of bloodshed and violence, and a serious threat of the breakdown of law and order, leading to civil war!

This is a very sobering time!