US Senate

The 80th Congress (1947-1949) Vs. The 118th Congress (2023- )

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It has often been claimed that the 80th Congress (1947-1949) under President Harry Truman was unproductive, or as Truman claimed it in his 1948 Presidential campaign, a “Do Nothing” Congress.

While it is true that the Republican dominated 80th Congress worked against Democratic President Truman and his “Fair Deal” proposals, most notably passing the anti Labor Taft-Hartley Act over the President’s veto, in reality a lot was accomplished in that Congress.

The following actions were accomplished:

The Truman Doctrine
The Taft-Hartley Act
The Presidential Succession Act
The National Security Act–including the Defense Department at the Pentagon in Virginia, the National Security Council, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, separate Department of the Air Force, and the Central Intelligence Agency
The Marshall Plan
22nd Amendment to the US Constitution

At the same time, NOTHING significant has been passed into law in the present first session of the 118th Congress, making it the least productive in modern times since the Great Depression 1931-1933 72nd Congress, split between a Democratic House of Representatives and Republican Senate under President Herbert Hoover!

118th Congress Least Productive Since Great Depression 72nd Congress!

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The 118th Congress (2023-2025) is fast becoming the least productive since the 72nd Congress (1931-1933) under President Herbert Hoover at the worst times of the Great Depression.

Both the House of Representatives and US Senate are responsible for such poor performance, but clearly, if the House of Representatives is poorly organized and operated, the Senate cannot make up for it.

Both Congresses had one house Democratic, and one Republican, which also caused stalemate and gridlock.

The fact that the House of Representatives Republican majority has just voted an Impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden, with zero evidence of such abuse of power, is a sign of how incompetent and hopeless the 118th Congress is, even with a small Democratic majority in the US Senate.

Clearly, the most productive Congresses have been when one party, in all modern times Democrats, has had a vast advantage in the number of seats in both houses of Congress.

So those most productive Congresses were, chronologically:

63rd Congress (1913-1915) under Woodrow Wilson
73rd Congress (1933-1935) under Franklin D. Roosevelt
74th Congress (1935-1937) under Franklin D. Roosevelt
89th Congress (1965-1967) under Lyndon B. Johnson
111th Congress (2009-2011) under Barack Obama

The most productive of all were the 73rd Congress under FDR, and the 89th Congress under LBJ.

The Horrible Potential Candidates For Trump Vice Presidential Choice!

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Speculation has begun for potential Vice Presidential running mates for Donald Trump, if he goes on to be the Republican Presidential nominee in 2024.

The emphasis is on race and gender, which is odd for Republicans who wish to deemphasize such factors, but a list has been drawn up that has individuals who would be, despite their race or gender, horrendous, and a danger to the nation if any of them were a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

They include:

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott
New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Florida Congressman Byron Donalds
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy
Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene

Also mentioned are former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who is fast becoming the major alternative to Trump; and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Those two and Kristi Noem and Tim Scott are the “best’ of a horrible lot, with the other five truly nightmare choices!

Trump has degraded the Presidency, and now seems likely to be ready to degrade the office of the Vice Presidency!

Congressman George Santos Likely To Be Expelled From NY House Seat

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Republican Congressman George Santos is in danger of being expelled from his New York House seat.

This would be a very rare result, as only 20 members of Congress in all of American history, 15 in the Senate and 5 in the House of Representatives, have been voted out by two thirds of their colleagues.

All but three were expelled due to their support of the Confederacy in the Civil War.

A few who have been threatened with explusion have resigned instead.

The proper thing would be for Santos to resign, but it looks as if he is not about to do so, despite having brought disgrace on the House of Representatives.

We shall see very soon whether Santos joins a very short list of expelled members!

Threat Presented By Third Party And Independent Presidential Candidates In 2024

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The possibility of third party or independent Presidential candidates affecting the election results in the Presidential Election of 2024 is real.

While no such candidate could win the Presidency, they could determine whether President Joe Biden or Donald Trump or any alternative Republican Presidential nominee wins the White House.

Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips is challenging Joe Biden in Democratic primaries, as is Marianne Williamson, but they are highly unlikely to have any impact, other than as an annoyance.

But Independent candidates such as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr; Cornel West; Jill Stein on the Green Party line; and the No Labels Movement, with a potential nominee in Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, could derail election results and lead to major election issues.

Nikki Haley Emerges As Only Possible Alternative To Donald Trump

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Former South Carolina Governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley has emerged as the only possible alternative to Donald Trump for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2024.

But the question is whether, even with growing business support, Haley can manage to overcome Trump in the upcoming Presidential caucus in Iowa and the Presidential primaries in New Hampshire, Nevada, and most significantly, her home state of South Carolina.

The decision of fellow South Carolinian, Senator Tim Scott, to drop out of the race certainly helps Haley’s bid, but leading South Carolina Republican figures, including Governor Henry McMaster and Senator Lindsey Graham, have endorsed Trump.

Also, can a woman of South Asian ancestry from India overcome those barriers?

The next few months will answer these questions!

Joe Biden, The Diplomat In Action

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President Joe Biden demonstrated his diplomatic skills these past few days, having what is described as productive meetings with the leaders of China and Mexico at the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference in California.

Twenty one nations are part of APEC, including, among others, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia.

Biden has had long experiences in diplomacy as Vice President under Barack Obama, and earlier was engaged in foreign relations in his 36 years in the US Senate, including time as Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman.

Along with George H. W. Bush and Richard Nixon, Biden stands out on a short list of Presidents since World War II with foreign policy expertise before becoming President, and that is a major asset for American national security!

Republican Party Disasters: House Of Representatives And Senate!

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The Republican Party is the party of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

It is the party of New York Congressman George Santos.

It is the party of Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin.

It is the party of Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville.

It is the party of Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.

It is the party of Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert.

It is the party of Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz.

It is the party of Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan.

Does anything more need to be said?

And this is just the tip of the iceberg on the disaster that the Republican Party has become!

Senator Tim Scott Drops Out Of Presidential Race: Ho Hum!

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South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott withdrew from the Republican Presidential race this week, and the reaction was “Ho Hum”!

Scott may be well liked by his Senate colleagues, and was the only US Senator running for President in this round of elections, but he contributed nothing at all to the race, coming across as very weak, and mostly invoking God to the point of turning many people off, as he is a supporter of church and state combination in government, which is NOT the plan of the Founding Fathers who started this nation!

His leaving the race emboldens his South Carolina colleague, former Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who actually appointed Scott to his Senate seat a decade ago.

Haley looks more than ever the prime alternative to Donald Trump, if he is able to be kept out of the race by legal matters, but Haley first would need to show her strength in New Hampshire and Nevada, and somehow, win her home state South Carolina primary on February 24, which seems quite a challenge at this point.

Clearly, Tim Scott did not make a dent in the Presidential race, so the Senate had no significance in this upcoming Presidential Election of 2024!

Joe Manchin Not Running For Reelection: No Great Loss For Democrats!

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West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has announced he will not run for reelection in 2024, as it seems clear that the heavily Republican state would be highly unlikely to reelect him, despite his basic conservative voting record.

His leaving the Senate will make it more difficult for the Democrats to keep the Senate majority, also undermined by Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona becoming an Independent, and likely meaning her Senate seat will be a very difficult seat to retain, as well as West Virginia!

Manchin was a necessary evil in the Democratic Party, a person tolerated despite his right wing orientation, and the US Senate is now a body that will ever more be in danger of ending up under the control of MAGA Republican forces. This scenario is likely, unless the Democrats, who have been successful once again in political races, are able to overcome their disadvantage with a total commitment to maximizing the struggle for American democracy in the Congressional and Presiential Elections of 2024!