Category: Politics

everything to do with the execution of politics

Florida Bans Picketing

It is Saturday and as the weekend begins I will do my best to be as informative as I can…..since most news these is days is redundant, silly and useless……

Florida makes the news again….this time they want to ban the use of the tactic of picketing…..

Think you might stage a demonstration outside someone’s private residence in Florida later this year? Think again. The state’s governor on Monday signed a bill that will ban “picketing and protesting” outside a home when it takes effect Oct. 1, CBS News reports. “Sending unruly mobs to private residences, like we have seen with the angry crowds in front of the homes of Supreme Court justices, is inappropriate,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis in a statement, referring to the protests that have taken place over the high court’s apparent plan to overturn Roe v. Wade. “This bill will provide protection to those living in residential communities and I am glad to sign it into law.”

ClickOrlando reports that lawmakers started working on the bill in the wake of protests over George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in 2020, when protesters gathered to demonstrate outside a Windermere vacation home owned by the officer convicted in Floyd’s death. Police at the time did not have the legal right to disperse demonstrators in a residential neighborhood. When the new law takes effect, law enforcement authorities will give protesters a warning, and will only arrest anyone who does not peacefully disperse, DeSantis says. Violation of the law is a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days behind bars and a fine as high as $500.

Since states are attempting to eliminate the use of boycotts and other tactics like picketing I thought I would look into other stuff that is banned…..

Several things like honking a horn or high heels…..

https://www.indy100.com/news/buffalo-shooting-gun-violence-america

This article was prepared to show that some dumb stuff is banned and yet guns , the worse killer in our society, gets a free ride…..

All this is silly…..in my town it is banned from spitting on the sidewalk….

Anything silly that is banned in your town?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Convention Of The States

This is a draft of mine from those dark days before we became fixated on Ukraine…..

Or as we use to call this thing….a Constitutional Convention….

A Convention is the mechanism used to amend our US Constitution……or as some call it exercise the Article Five of the Constitution…..

For those that are ignorant of this article…..

Article V Convention, amendatory convention, or a convention of states, applied for by two-thirds (currently 34) of the state legislatures, is one of two processes authorized by Article Five of the United States Constitution whereby the United States Constitution may be altered. Amendments may also be proposed by Congress with a two-thirds vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate…..

Article V of the Constitution says how the Constitution can be amended—that is, how provisions can be added to the text of the Constitution. The Constitution is not easy to amend: only twenty-seven amendments have been added to the Constitution since it was adopted.

Article V spells out a few different ways in which the Constitution can be amended. One method—the one used for every amendment so far—is that Congress proposes an amendment to the states; the states must then decide whether to ratify the amendment. But in order for Congress to propose an amendment, two-thirds of each House of Congress must vote for it. And then three-quarters of the states must ratify the amendment before it is added to the Constitution. So if slightly more than one-third of the House of Representatives, or slightly more than one-third of the Senate, or thirteen out of the fifty states object to a proposal, it will not become an amendment by this route. In that way, a small minority of the country has the ability to prevent an amendment from being added to the Constitution.

Article V does potentially provide a way for the states to bypass Congress, although it has never been used. Article V says that “on the Application of two thirds of the Legislatures of the several States, [Congress] shall call a Convention for proposing amendments.” The convention can propose amendments, whether Congress approves of them or not. Those proposed amendments would then be sent to the states for ratification. As with an amendment proposed by Congress, three-quarters of the states would have to ratify the amendment for it to become part of the Constitution.

Article V also allows Congress to choose between two ways that the states might ratify an amendment. An amendment can be ratified by the state legislature—the part of the state government that enacts laws for the state. But Congress can provide instead that the states must call conventions for the single purpose of deciding whether to ratify an amendment. So far, though, with one exception (the Twenty-First Amendment), every amendment has been ratified by state legislatures.

Now the Civics lesson is over let’s move on…..

The last attempt to ratify was the Equal Rights Amendment…..and that was a clusterf*ck……

I have been saying for decades that we need a convention to clarify the Constitution…..the Founders did a helluva job in being vague which in my mind leads to all the confusion and chaos around our Constitution.

Let me return to the thought of the day……

The latest attempt to ratify is going to be the same chaotic mess as the ERA…..

Conservatives in states have put together a campaign of ratify the Constitution in their favor…..mostly it deals with money……

Georgia, Alaska, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Indiana, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arizona, North Dakota, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Utah and Mississippi have also approved resolutions of their own.

It will take 34 states to trigger a Convention of the States. COS organizers  said “momentum” is on their side.

For me there are several problems with this attempt by conservs……

Calling a Constitutional Convention is very dangerous. If Congress called a Constitutional Convention, or attempted
to do so, the country would be thrown into great turmoil, a period of extraordinary tension and deep anxiety, and
likely find itself quickly mired in momentous, lengthy legal and political battles of great consequence to the nation’s
future.
 States cannot limit the agenda of a Constitutional Convention. A Constitutional Convention would open up the
Constitution to whatever amendments its delegates chose to propose, just as the convention that produced the current
Constitution ignored its original charge, to amend the Articles of Confederation, and instead wrote an entirely new
governing document.
A balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution would be a highly ill-advised way to address the nation’s longterm fiscal problems. By requiring a balanced budget every year, no matter the state of the economy, such an
amendment would raise serious risks of tipping weak economies into recession and making recessions longer and
deeper, causing very large job losses. That’s because the amendment would force policymakers to cut spending, raise
taxes, or both just when the economy is weak or already in recession — the exact opposite of what good economic
policy would advise.

This is just another attempt to exclude portions of our society from the government….a typical conserv ploy that goes back for decades…..the same trivial games these conservs always play.

I say if you call for a convention then the attempt should be made to clarify all the vagueness in the Constitution….not pick and choose what will be addressed.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Revisionist History

There is a plan under foot, especially in Red States, to teach an sanitized version of history….to the point of banning some of our history from being taught.

These attacks on education is making the Red State citizens a stupid pack of idiots…..non-issues are being used to re-write American history….

Apparently these attempts are successful so successful that even Russia will try there hand at rewriting history…..

After being accused of committing atrocities in Ukraine, and facing global opposition for its invasion, Russia is taking a step to control the narrative among its people early. The Education Ministry has announced the starting age for compulsory history lessons in its schools will be 7, down from 10. It’s part of a campaign to stress patriotic education, the Moscow Times reports. In Russia’s history lessons, Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov said: “We will never allow it [to be written] that we somehow treated other nations—our fraternal nations of Ukraine and Belarus—poorly. We will do everything in our power so that historical memory is preserved.”

Historical education will be added to the teaching of other subjects, as well, per the Times. It’s important that students learn their nation’s history, President Vladimir Putin told “The Power Is in the Truth,” a schools forum. “A deep understanding of our history, and a respectful, thoughtful attitude to the great patriotic, spiritual, and cultural heritage of the Fatherland enables us to draw correct conclusions from the past,” Putin said. As of Sept. 1, schools will begin each week by raising the Russian flag and singing the national anthem, Kravtsov said.

Think about that!

Russia is doing the same thing that our Red States are doing….suppressing history…revising events to suit an ideology…..

Online and offline, digi-fascism thrives from designing an illusionary world of individual experiences and spaces in which the supposedly oppressed and insecure can feel at ease. Now they are protected from an accelerated and ever increasing complexity of modernity.

Right-wing extremist’s propaganda constructs this idyllic and pre- or better: anti-modern world as a place in which an imagined white majority no longer needs to fear the loss of its social privileges. Ideologically speaking, digi-fascism follows an old but proven playbook.

The Rise of Digi-Fascism

States like Texas and Minnesota want to do away with the Public Education Act…that is they do not think they should be educating children….how damn sad is that movement?

All I can do is shake my head at the stupidity and the wholesale ignorance in this world….it is a pandemic and I refuse to let stupidity and ignorance infect me.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Why Is CRT So Damn Important?

A subject that gets little coverage these day….so who better than me to resurrect the subject.

We all have heard about the Critical Race Theory (CRT)…..ever wonder why this obscure issue has become so damn important in our political discourse?

Red States are spending an inordinate amount of time trying to prevent the teaching of CRT…..the catch is this waste of time is seldom taught and when it is it is a class for law degree.

Like my state of Mississippi…..

The same Mississippi Legislature that proclaimed racial reconciliation after removing the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag nearly two years ago passed a bill Thursday to limit how race can be discussed in classrooms. Several Black legislators said during the six-hour debate that the bill could squelch honest discussion about the harmful effects of racism because parents could complain if history lessons make white children uncomfortable. The Republican-controlled House voted 75-43 to pass Senate Bill 2113. It will go to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who has pledged to sign it into law, the AP reports. All House votes for the bill on Thursday came from white Republicans.

The bill’s short title says it would prohibit “critical race theory.” But the main text of the bill does not mention or define the theory, and many supporters of the bill also have said they cannot define it. The bill says no school, community college or university could teach that any “sex, race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin is inherently superior or inferior.” Democratic Rep. Zakiya Summers of Jackson said she has been told by some colleagues that the bill does nothing substantial but it gives them a talking point at election time. “Censoring teachers, dismantling education bit by bit, attempting to erase the past, refusing to acknowledge the hurt and the horror and the heinous acts that have been done to my people and then hiding behind this ‘inferior versus superior’ argument—that’s what this bill will do,” Summers said.

No legislators gave speeches in support of the bill. Republican Rep. Joey Hood of Ackerman, who is white, did not define critical race theory as he explained the bill Thursday. “History will continue to be taught—American history, Civil War history, Mississippi history,” Hood said. When the bill passed the Republican-controlled Senate in January, all of the Black senators withheld their votes and walked out in protest. Critical race theory is an academic framework that examines how racism has shaped public policy and institutions such as the legal system, and how those have perpetuated the dominance of white people in society. State Superintendent of Education Carey Wright said critical race theory is not taught in Mississippi schools. The University of Mississippi law school offers an elective class on the theory.

Well after all the energy spent by numerous state legislative bodies…..we know that it is banned from being taught to our children….but why is this?

My state would not surprise me if they started a campaign to ban the US Constitution….I wouldn’t be surprised if the Constitution itself is ultimately banned in states like Mississippi because if students are permitted to read the 3/5s & fugitive slave clauses it will become clear to them that the principles of America’s founding included the idea of people as property.

Texas (go figure) has yet another bill  before the legislature about teaching CRT….

Texas college and university professors may soon lose tenure if they teach critical race theory (CRT) in their classrooms, according to the Lone Star state’s lieutenant governor, who has vowed action by the state.

In a warning message to educators this week, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he will work to strip them of their job security in the state if they teach CRT.

“The critical race theory people are trying to take us back to a divided country,” Patrick told reporters at a press conference.

“Tenure to these professors who voted 41-5 telling the taxpayers and the parents and the legislature, and your own board of regents, to get out of their business that we have no say what you do in the classroom… You’ve opened the door for this issue because you went too far.”

“What we will propose to do is to end all tenure for all new hires,” Patrick said, vowing that the state legislature would take action against those who teach the subject in their classrooms.

“The law will change to say teaching critical race theory is prima facie evidence for good cause for tenure revocation,” he said. In addition to his comments concerning tenure, Patrick said he wants annual reviews for the professors rather than six year reviews.

(FOX News)

Then there is yet another of those ‘go figure’ states that has tried to limit the teaching of race….Georgia (the state not the country)

Legislation prohibiting Georgia schools from teaching nine racial and ethnic concepts it defines as divisive has passed the state Senate. The bill cleared 32-20 on Friday, CNN reports, with Republicans voting yes and Democrats no, and goes next to the House. The measure also would apply to training in state agencies. Republicans in other states are pursuing similar legislation. The movement was sparked by the uproar over “critical race theory,” which isn’t taught in Georgia schools anyway, per WXIA.

The prohibited concepts include that one race or ethnicity is inherently superior to another and that the US and Georgia are “fundamentally or systemically racist.” It specifies that teachers would not be allowed to make students feel demeaned or guilty because of their race, skin color or ethnicity. The legislature has four similar bills before it, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This one would withhold up to 10% of schools’ funding for violations. Colleges and universities also could be docked, but the bill doesn’t specify how much. Another bill would penalize schools up to 20% of their funding.

The sponsor of one of them said history could still be taught but teachers would not be allowed to include their political beliefs. GOP Rep. Bill Wade said he worked with school board and teacher groups on the bill, but they’ve said they’re opposed to his bill. “All this bill does is muzzle our teachers and make them into a straw man for political gain from the true divisive voices in our communities,” said Democratic Rep. Matthew Wilson, a former elementary teacher. “This bill is whiter than the paper it’s printed on,” said the lawmaker, who is white.

These idiots are doing exact what they claim the CRT is doing…..dividing the country.

What are these people so afraid of would be the next logical question….

Maybe there is a good answer after all…..

What nobody is talking about, though, is the why of this particular issue at this particular time. As a result, we’re mistaking the tool for the goal.

Moral panics, when driven by politicians, are usually just tools. This CRT moral panic is a tool being used by a coalition of interests to achieve their own goals, none of which have anything to do with teaching or not-teaching the history of race in America.

  • Imagine you’re part of a group of libertarian billionaires who don’t believe in public education and who see any such sort of taxpayer-funded effort to improve “the underclasses” as an absurd waste of the tax dollars you “worked so hard to earn” and the “gummint” now wants to take away from you “at the barrel of a gun.”
  • Imagine you’re a leader in the Republican Party who’s seeing the average age of the Fox audience — 70 — as a threat to your own political longevity because old white people don’t go into politics and you need 30- and 40-year-olds to learn their basic political skills locally (like on a school board) so you can groom and propel them up into state or federal politics.
  • Imagine you’re a multimillionaire white evangelical preacher who’s looking for an issue you can use to more tightly bind your congregation — your donors — to you by portraying yourself as a crusader who’s going to save their children from a horrible fate.
  • Imagine you’re a white supremacist militia leader who’s looking to expand his base by bringing in white middle-class adults and therefore you need an issue to get yourself into the headlines “taking on authorities” but that won’t also end with you going to jail.
  • Imagine you’re a Republican politician who’s looking at a serious challenge in the upcoming primary elections and you need an issue that’ll be both popular and energizing for your base voters, even if the larger population doesn’t much care, because base voters are all you care about in the upcoming primary.

https://www.rawstory.com/a-disparate-group-of-billionaires-republicans-televangelists-and-white-supremacists-has-found-common-cause/

There you have your answer….it is a wedge issue that does nothing but create chaos and confusion……and these are the two issues that the GOP excel at giving the people of this country.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Saturday’s News From The Dumpster

The weekend and I need a break!

As per my tradition I would like to offer up some news that was missing from your nightly report.

I write a lot about education because I think the some states are failing the people and children under their care all in the name of party politics…..like…..

Gov. Greg Abbott said Texas may fight a Supreme Court ruling mandating that public education for all children, including undocumented immigrants, be provided free by the states. Texas already sued the federal government over the cost of complying with the ruling, the Hill reports. That was a loss for the state, in the Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe. “I think we will resurrect that case and challenge this issue again, because the expenses are extraordinary and the times are different than when Plyler versus Doe was issued many decades ago,” Abbott said.

Texas changed its laws in 1975 to keep children who were not “legally admitted” to the US out of its public schools and refuse funding for their education, per KHOU. The US Supreme Court voted 5-4 in 1982 that the law was unconstitutional. The ruling guaranteed all children, documented and undocumented, a free public education. Abbott made the comments Wednesday on “The Joe Pags Show,” a radio program.

And Texas is not alone in their hate of education.

Speaking of Texas (why?  only a pack of morons can be this stupid)…..

Some experts are warning that Christian nationalism is on the rise, shaping American politics. Hate crimes recently skyrocketed to the highest point in 12 years, led by a spike in offenses against Black and Asian people.

But certain Texas Republicans see things a little differently, according to a new poll. Some believe it’s white people and God-fearing Christians who face the most hate.
We have all seen the stats on what has happened during the Covid pandemic….but here is a stat that was missing from national dialog…..
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on a variety of fronts, and gun violence hasn’t escaped its path. According to a new report from the CDC, the firearm homicide rate in 2020 reached its highest rate since 1994, increasing nearly 35% from the previous year, reports Axios. “That’s nearly 5,000 more lives lost to firearm homicides in one year,” Thomas Simon, associate director for science at the CDC’s Division of Violence Prevention, said during a Tuesday news conference, per NBC News. About 79% of homicides and 53% of suicides in the nation were linked to firearms during that first year of the pandemic, with the CDC calling both of those types of deaths in America a “persistent and significant concern,” per Axios. The report also parses the demographics: The largest spikes in gun murders were found among Black males ages 10 to 44, and among Native American or Alaska Native men ages 25 to 44

“Unfortunately I am not surprised, but it is heartbreaking,” Debra Houry, director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and acting principal deputy director of the CDC, tells ABC News. The outlet notes that the rise during the pandemic in the buying of firearms, as well as the associated violence and murder, can be tied to the accompanying pressures of the last two years, such as people losing jobs and not being able to pay for rent or arrange for child care. “The COVID-19 pandemic might have exacerbated existing social and economic stressors” already in place due to “long-standing systemic inequities and structural racism”—all of which could have contributed to the violence, the CDC report notes.

The CDC researchers point to pandemic lockdowns and social distancing as adding to the overall tension. Houry cites an urgent need to modify policies to curb the current trends in the US. “[Gun] violence is not inevitable, it’s preventable,” she tells ABC. The CDC report’s suggestions include bolstering welfare initiatives, looking more closely at urban renewal proposals, and hospital-based violence prevention programs (ie, helping young people who are brought to hospitals with gunshot wounds). Meanwhile, though the report gives us a lot of figures to absorb, Simon reminds us of the people behind them. “Our reports contain statistics and numbers, but it’s also important to reflect on the individual lives lost,” Simon said at Tuesday’s presser. “Even one homicide or suicide is too many.”

Did you know that supposedly there a 2 jobs for every unemployed person?   The AP points out that, on average, two jobs are now available for every unemployed person, which is the highest proportion in history. Related to that, a record 4.5 million quit their jobs in March, apparently unworried about landing another one.

A small bit of good news….

The Biden administration said Monday that 20 internet companies—including Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T—have agreed to provide discounted service to low-income Americans. The program could effectively make tens of millions of households eligible for free service through an already existing federal subsidy, per the AP. The $1 trillion infrastructure package passed by Congress last year included $14.2 billion funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides $30 monthly subsidies ($75 in tribal areas) on internet service for millions of lower-income households. With the new commitment from the internet providers, some 48 million households will be eligible for $30 monthly plans for higher-speed service—making internet service fully paid for with the government subsidy if they sign up with one of the participating providers.

  • Providers: The providers are Allo Communications; AltaFiber (and Hawaiian Telecom); Altice USA (Optimum and Suddenlink); Astound; AT&T; Breezeline; Comcast; Comporium; Frontier; IdeaTek; Cox Communications; Jackson Energy Authority; MediaCom; MLGC; Spectrum (Charter Communications); Starry; Verizon (Fios only); Vermont Telephone Co.; Vexus Fiber; and Wow! Internet, Cable, and TV.
  • Eligibility: American households are eligible for subsidies through the Affordable Connectivity Program if their income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, or if a member of their family participates in one of several programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA), and Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefit.

Ukraine’s newest ‘hero’……

A very special awards ceremony was held over the weekend in Kyiv to honor the nation’s newest hero amid the Russian invasion: a 2 1/2-year-old dog named Patron, reports the BBC. A medal was bestowed upon the Jack Russell terrier at a Sunday news conference by none other than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was in town on a surprise visit, at his side. Patron—whose name means “cartridge” or “ammo” in Ukrainian, per the Washington Post and New York Times—received his badge of honor for sniffing out more than 200 land mines across the country.

Zelensky praised Patron, “a wonderful little sapper … who helps not only to neutralize explosives, but also to teach our children the necessary safety rules in areas where there is a mine threat.” Patron is already a well-known character across the land, seen in videos on social media and serving as the inspiration for kids’ artwork and knit toys. It’s not clear if Patron, decked out in his trademark safety vest for the occasion, totally understood the weight of the moment, but Trudeau, who announced $50 million in added military aid from Canada to Ukraine, seemed to get the pooch’s attention when he patted his pockets as if searching for a dog treat, causing Patron to bark. “Even if the dog barked at me, we’re helping fund that,” Trudeau joked.

There you have the news that I dived into the news dumpster to retrieve for your enjoyment.

Have a great day…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

What Is A “Spin Doctor”?

I am sure this ought get some interesting comments….that is if the post is read….most times the title alone gets the juices flowing for some.

We hear the term ‘spin’ daily….every issue that we think is important has a group that will make you believe their spin (propaganda)…..

But what is a ‘spin doctor’…..a spokesperson employed to give a favorable interpretation of events to the media, especially on behalf of a political party.

But let’s look at the idea…..

Ever since the ideological mastermind of modern public relations – Edward Bernays – suggested to modernize the word “propaganda” by calling it public relations, PR and Spin (a form of propaganda) had been with us. And, today, our world is overflowing with ideas that are shaping “professional” spin doctors.

The top ten firms employing rafts of spin-doctors are companies, for which most of us have probably never heard of, namely: Edelman, Weber Shandwick, BCW, FleishmanHillard, Ketchum, Brunswick, MSL, BlueFocus, Real Chemistry, (and my personal favorite) Hill+Knowlton. They are ready to give the pathologies of capitalism a nice face.

These propaganda companies – euphemistically re-labeled “PR firms” – employ thousands of communication experts. These firms seek to achieve what PR’s Godfather, the aforementioned Edward Bernays, had set out for them to do when he said:

“the significant revolution of modern times is not industrial or economic or political but the revolution which is taking place in the art of creating consent among the governed.”

Creating consent among “the governed” (as he called us) to have a positive, if not supportive, attitude to capitalism, is the job of public relations. Its spin is a form of propaganda. This is achieved, for example, through knowingly providing a biased interpretation of an event. Unsurprisingly, this also includes corporate campaigning to influence public opinion – creating a positive image – about companies, corporations, and ultimately – capitalism.

What Spin Doctors Do

There is no better example of ‘spin’ than the current situation in Ukraine…..the media with the help of ‘spin doctors’ have the American people oozing with admiration for Ukraine’s leader…..they helped turn chicken manure into sirloin for the defense industry and in turn created a ‘hero’.

I admit that I have been leery of the Zelensky admiration society….there is something more there…..more than the orchestrated appearances and speeches.

It must be understood that escalation takes us in the wrong direction, because a war against a nuclear armed power can’t be won. Without this crucial realization the most impossible things become possible, like a hero saving the world. Of course it’s essential to have inspiration and motivation in trying times, but it’s also essential to be practical.

The reason why we should not admire Zelensky is because he doesn’t seem very committed to de-escalating the war. He has said that acquiring more weapons will definitely make him win the war; a powerful argument on its own, but when one considers that only a negotiated settlement can end the war, it dissolves into an impossible promise.

Zelensky’s seeming intransigence makes the possible solutions to the war even more bewildering. If a noble goal is to prevent a nuclear war, shouldn’t there be more emphasis on diplomacy? Yet Zelensky relentlessly implores the world for more and more weapons. Without any appearance of alternatives it’s very easy to assume that more weapons are the answer to ending the war and bringing peace.

Why We Should Not Admire Zelensky

I am not saying that we should totally abandon Ukraine….all I am saying is that there is always two sides and so far our cracker jack media gives one side and one side only….they seldom do what they were trained to do….look beyond and beneath every story.

‘Spin’ is just a more acceptable term for propaganda…the problem is few bother to check the stories out as a complete report of one side of the coin.

Where does your opinion come from….?

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Biden On Inflation

Inflation is roaring to new heights daily…..high gas prices….runaway food prices….everything is making life difficult for most Americans…..

With an election approaching Biden has decided to sound more in control than he is…….

How about those gas prices?

About a month ago, President Biden ordered the release of a million barrels of oil a day from national reserves to help curb steep gas prices. On Tuesday, however, those gas prices reached their steepest point on record—an average of $4.37 across the US, reports the Hill. No state has gas for less than $3.90, and drivers in California are paying $5.84. When adjusted for inflation, Americans paid more in 2008, the equivalent of an average of $5.37 a gallon in today’s dollars. But Biden himself on Tuesday acknowledged the hit to people’s wallets from rising prices in general.

“I know that families all across America are hurting because of inflation,” he said in a White House speech Tuesday, per Reuters. “I want every American to know that I am taking inflation very seriously and it is my top domestic priority.” Biden, apparently trying to head off voter resentment before the midterms, sought to blame Republicans for holding up his agenda and contrasted his plans with one floated by GOP Gov. Rick Scott of Florida for a minimum federal income tax, reports the Washington Post.

“The bottom line is this: Americans have a choice right now between two paths reflecting two very different sets of values,” Biden said. “My plan attacks inflation and lowers the deficit. … The other path is the ultra MAGA plan.” Emma Vaughn, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, counters: “Voters know that Republican-led states are leading in economic recovery and job creation, and will vote for Republicans and our proven agenda come November.”

This is all so much bullsh*t!

How will he work ‘lower deficits”?

I mean we are throwing money at Ukraine in a shocking amounts….money that is needed here….but no somebody somewhere has decided war is more important (read profitable) than the people of this country.

I want to see this ‘plan’ more in detail….but what little information I have it is nothing more than election posturing that is no help to those Americans struggling with their monetary lives.

But what the big story is that inflation may be slowing before the plan is announced…

Inflation slowed in April after seven months of relentless gains, a tentative sign that price increases may be peaking while still imposing a financial strain on American households. Consumer prices jumped 8.3% last month from 12 months earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday. That was below the 8.5% year-over-year surge in March, which was the highest rate since 1981, reports the AP. On a month-to-month basis, prices rose 0.3% from March to April, a still-elevated rate but the smallest increase in eight months. Consumer prices had spiked 1.2% from February to March, mostly because of a sudden jump in gas prices triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Still, the Wall Street Journal points out that the so-called core-price index—which drops some volatile categories, like food and energy—was up 0.6%, a “sharp pickup” from March’s 0.3% rise. Nationally, the price of a gallon of regular gas has reached a record $4.40, according to AAA, though that figure isn’t adjusted for inflation. Gas had fallen to about $4.10 a gallon in April, after reaching $4.32 in March. The April report “suggests that the deceleration is going to be painstakingly slow,” Principal Global Investors chief strategist Seema Shah tells CNBC.

New disruptions overseas or other unforeseen problems could always send US inflation back up to new highs. If the European Union decides, for example, to cut off Russian oil, gas prices in the United States would likely accelerate. China’s COVID lockdowns are also worsening supply problems and hurting growth in the world’s second-biggest economy.

My question now is…did Biden make his announcement because he saw the news for political gain?

I guess it did not matter for the inflation news was worse than the media had pretended otherwise….

Stocks fell on Wall Street Wednesday, led by more drops in technology companies, after a report on inflation came in worse than feared. The S&P 500 fell 65.87 points, or 1.6%, to 3,935.18. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 326.63 points, or 1%, to 31,834.11. The Nasdaq fell 373.44 points, or 3.2%, to 11,364.24. Wednesday’s report from the US Labor Department showed inflation slowed a touch in April, down to 8.3% from 8.5% in March. Investors also found some glass-half-full signals in the data that inflation may be peaking and set to ease further. Nevertheless, the numbers were still higher than economists forecast.

They also showed a bigger increase than expected in prices outside food and gasoline, something economists call “core inflation” and which can be more predictive of future trends. Economists said the inflation report will keep the Fed on track for rapid and potentially sharp increases in interest rates in upcoming months, the AP reports. “Core inflation came in hot, and that’s what really matters to the Fed at this point,” said Brian Jacobsen, senior investment strategist at Allspring Global Investments.

Where will this American nightmare end?

I will be watching!

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

SCOTUS Does A First

For a change of pace let us go to our Supreme Court and a ruling to come…..

SCOTUS will be hearing a Roe v Wade petition….and it is not looking good for the pro side…..

A draft opinion in the closely-watched Mississippi abortion case that was leaked to Politico shows that the Supreme Court has voted to side with Mississippi and overturn abortion rights. Politico notes that nothing is final until the opinion is published, which will likely happen sometime in the next two months, and that justices could potentially change their votes during deliberations. However, the draft opinion written by Samuel Alito in February and circulated among the justices Feb. 10 minces no words in stating that, according to the majority of the justices, both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which largely maintained the abortion rights established by Roe, should be overturned. If that happens, federal protection of abortion rights would end, and it would be up to each state to decide.

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” it states. “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.” In a separate piece, Politico looks at 10 key passages from the draft opinion here; the site says there’s an almost “mocking tone” to some portions of the draft opinion, as well as Alito’s signature “caustic rhetorical flourishes.” A source says Alito and the four other conservative justices (Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett) stand behind the draft opinion, while the three left-leaning justices (Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan) are working on dissents. It’s not clear how Chief Justice John Roberts will vote.

In a third piece, Politico looks at the exceptional rarity of a leak from the Supreme Court. For more on that, click here; for the 10 key passages, click here; for the Politico exclusive in full, click here. Hours before Politico published its piece, the Washington Post was out with a piece looking at “the next frontier for the anti-abortion movement.” According to the paper’s sources, if SCOTUS does in fact roll back abortion rights in the Mississippi case and Republicans take power in Washington, anti-abortion groups and their congressional allies are working on federal legislation that would ban abortion nationwide after the 6-week mark of pregnancy. Per AZFamily, Arizona will be the state most affected if Roe is overturned, followed by Michigan and South Carolina. In December, NPR looked at the 21 states likely to ban or significantly restrict abortions if Roe falls.

I think this is just wrong….we are talking about a personal decision that has no place being decided by SCOTUS.

What is next for the conserv court?

Which right will we be denied next time?

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Founders And Political Parties

As yet another election approaches I thought since political parties are all the rage I would take a look at the beginning of the American experiment…..

In the beginning (all great sagas begin with that intro) our Founding Fathers while I may not agree with some of their thoughts did have the right idea about the possible rise of political parties, factions if you will…..

Today, it may seem impossible to imagine the U.S. government without its two leading political parties, Democrats and Republicans. But in 1787, when delegates to the Constitutional Convention gathered in Philadelphia to hash out the foundations of their new government, they entirely omitted political parties from the new nation’s founding document.

This was no accident. The framers of the new Constitution desperately wanted to avoid the divisions that had ripped England apart in the bloody civil wars of the 17th century. Many of them saw parties—or “factions,” as they called them—as corrupt relics of the monarchical British system that they wanted to discard in favor of a truly democratic government.

“It was not that they didn’t think of parties,” says Willard Sterne Randall, professor emeritus of history at Champlain College and biographer of six of the Founding Fathers. “Just the idea of a party brought back bitter memories to some of them.”

George Washington’s family had fled England precisely to avoid the civil wars there, while Alexander Hamilton once called political parties “the most fatal disease” of popular governments. James Madison, who worked with Hamilton to defend the new Constitution to the public in the Federalist Papers, wrote in Federalist 10 that one of the functions of a “well-constructed Union” should be “its tendency to break and control the violence of faction.”

https://www.history.com/news/founding-fathers-political-parties-opinion

Then there is Jefferson who liked the idea of factions….

Thomas Jefferson, who was serving a diplomatic post in France during the Constitutional Convention, believed it was a mistake not to provide for different political parties in the new government. “Men by their constitutions are naturally divided into two parties,’’

With Jefferson as secretary of state and Hamilton as Treasury secretary, two competing visions for America developed into the nation’s first two political parties. Supporters of Hamilton’s vision of a strong central government—many of whom were Northern businessmen, bankers and merchants who leaned toward England when it came to foreign affairs—would become known as the Federalists. Jefferson, on the other hand, favored limited federal government and keeping power in state and local hands. His supporters tended to be small farmers, artisans and Southern planters who traded with the French, and were sympathetic to France.

And so it began!

Fast forward to the 21st century…..

This country has become the embattled nation the Founders feared….

America has now become that dreaded divided republic. The existential menace is as foretold, and it is breaking the system of government the Founders put in place with the Constitution.

Though America’s two-party system goes back centuries, the threat today is new and different because the two parties are now truly distinct, a development that I date to the 2010 midterms. Until then, the two parties contained enough overlapping multitudes within them that the sort of bargaining and coalition-building natural to multiparty democracy could work inside the two-party system. No more. America now has just two parties, and that’s it.

The theory that guided Washington and Adams was simple, and widespread at the time. If a consistent partisan majority ever united to take control of the government, it would use its power to oppress the minority. The fragile consent of the governed would break down, and violence and authoritarianism would follow. This was how previous republics had fallen into civil wars, and the Framers were intent on learning from history, not repeating its mistakes.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/two-party-system-broke-constitution/604213/

Sadly this nation is far from finding a solution to this chaos….if it ever will is still debatable….my thought is that it is doomed….parties will bring ruination to this country….that and the corruption that goes hand in hand with parties.

Any thoughts?

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Warhawks Gain Footage

There are some in our Congress that are more than willing to put US troops in the thick of the fighting in Ukraine….the latest is Dem Senator Coons of Delaware….

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) signaled that he wants the US to send troops into Ukraine to fight Russia in an interview on Sunday. When pressed about the issue, Coons said Russian President Vladimir Putin “will only stop when we stop him.”

Coons was asked on CBS News’s Face the Nation about comments he made last week in an address to the University of Michigan. In the speech, Coons said the Biden administration and Congress should “come to a common position about when we are willing to go the next step and to send not just arms but troops to the aid in defense of Ukraine … If the answer is never, then we are inviting another level of escalation in brutality by Putin.”

When asked in the CBS interview if President Biden was wrong to say he’ll never send troops into Ukraine, Coons said, “The American people cannot turn away from this tragedy in Ukraine. I think the history of the 21st century turns on how fiercely we defend freedom in Ukraine, and that Putin will only stop when we stop him.”

(antiwar.com)

Coons is not alone…..

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an ultra-hawk who has been one of the biggest proponents for a no-fly zone, signaled he favored sending troops in a tweet on Sunday. “It’s time to understand that Ukraine must win… and negotiation is not in the cards at the moment,” Kinzinger wrote. “Our generations are getting a lesson that our grandparents understood: the only way to defeat evil is to destroy it.”

The UK has already sent some troops into Ukraine…for training purposes…..

Over the weekend, The Times reported that the British Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers have deployed to Ukraine to train Ukrainian forces on anti-tank weapons provided by London, the first known NATO troop presence in the country since Russia invaded on February 24. While meant as a training mission. the presence of British troops in Ukraine risks provoking a response from Moscow.

Coons is earning his money from his masters by beating the war drums…..

My thought is he needs to walk the streets in Ukraine and see for himself what his actions will bring.  He needs to stand beside Irene’s only son and experience the blood, mud and death before he fires off a inexperienced mouth.

My thought is he needs to STFU about the involvement of US troops.

Hopefully he will not spread his crap any further than to make the news bite for back home.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”