Month: April 2021

The Reagan Era Is Over, And An Age Of Progressive Reform Is Upon Us!

One Hundred Days of Joe Biden, and there has been no leaks from the White House, and no scandals in the White House!

What a refreshing time, with competent, experienced, decent people working with the man everyone has underrated!

Joe Biden has surprised progressives, such as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, and he has shocked Fox News Channel and other right wing media, and the Republican Party, who have no real alternative to what he is doing, so are creating false stories and demonstrating pettiness, as they realize the age of Ronald Reagan is over.

Government is good, not evil, and the Reagan Era demonstrated how much we need MORE federal government, as states governments, overall, are a horror of incompetence, particularly in Republican governed states that are undermining democracy!

The petty attacks on Joe Biden over his age are part of ageism, pure and simple, as it is not only Joe Biden who is in his 70s, but indeed many members of Congress of both parties, and what it comes down to is the sincerity and commitment to the public good of Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and other older Democrats, as compared to the mean spiritedness and lack of concern of many Republicans of older age, including Mitch McConnell and Chuck Grassley.

Joe Biden Hits A Grand Slam Homerun, And Tim Scott Strikes Out!

President Joe Biden hit a grand slam homerun last night in his speech before a joint session of Congress, but with only 200 members present due to the COVID 19 Pandemic.

Anyone who watched and listened knows he gave a sensational speech, and this author is disgusted with those critics who claim Biden is demented, and has early Alzheimers, when he gave his speech with a great delivery, and has never in office shown any signs of such a condition, other than an occasional stutter, a problem that he had as a young man, and can revive as one gets older.

Biden has grand plans that will be difficult to accomplish as compared to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B, Johnson, as both Presidents had massive Democratic margins when they were President, and promoting the New Deal and Great Society.

The belief is that Biden will accomplish more than any President in domestic affairs in the last half century, however, and vast margins of public opinion in the 60s range supports such efforts.

Meanwhile, the Republican party opposition thought they would do well with the only African American Republican Senator, Tim Scott, giving the response to the President’s address. But clearly, Tim Scott struck out, and came across as totally pitiful in his response, making us realize how mediocre a Senator and a political leader that he is.

Scott may be needed for any kind of criminal justice reform, but he is not to be regarded as a serious person for national leadership, although there are rumors that he might seek the Presidency in 2024.

Based on last night’s mediocre, at best, response to President Biden, any possible plans to run for President, on Scott’s part, likely have been derailed!

Joe Biden Performing Greatly, And The Economy Is Soaring As Biden Speaks To Congress Tonight!

The economy under Joe Biden is soaring, possibly on the way to the best year since 1984, and the stock market has gone up about 16 percent.

More than 1.3 million jobs have been added since Biden took the oath of office about 100 days ago.

Kindness, empathy, and compassion, all Joe Biden traits, are helping to make him very popular.

Tonight, he will give a speech to a joint session of Congress, promoting a $1.8 trillion dollar “American Families Plan” that will dramatically expand access to education and safety net programs for families.

Two years of tuition free community college; pre Kindergarten for all 3 and 4 year olds; and paid family and medical leave for all workers are included in the plan. Hundreds of billions of dollars would be spent on fighting child poverty and ensuring affordable child care nationwide is also part of the package.

Wealthy Americans and investors would pay more taxes, and greater enforcement of tax laws by the Internal Revenue Service would be utilized also.

The Economic Stimulus plan spent $1.9 trillion, and the proposed Infrastructure plan would cost $2.3 trillion, and with the $1.8 trillion proposed Family plan, it would mean the government is spending approximately $6.2 trillion since Joe Biden became President.

It will face major opposition from the Republicans in Congress, as well as some moderate Democrats, so the question is how much of Joe Biden’s ambitious plans can be actually accomplished in 2021!

Is Joe Biden Promoting A New “Progressive Era?” It Sure Seems So!

There is a growing sentiment that President Joe Biden is promoting a new “Progressive Era”, and he has gained support from former skeptics, including Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and also, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez!

On Wednesday night, he will speak to a joint session of Congress, the equivalent of a State of the Union Address, although that does not occur in the first months of a Presidency, for no clear reason.

Joe Biden has had a great start, and has promoted activist government on a level not seen since Lyndon B. Johnson and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

And his popularity and support among the American people is high after almost one hundred days in office.

Whether this can be sustained over the long haul is of course the big mystery!

The 2020 US Census Has Surprises, As Announced Today

It is ironic that this author wrote about the 2020 Census yesterday, not aware that precise information would be given out today, Monday.

And there are a few surprises.

The total population of the US is over 331 million people, up from about 309 million in 2010.

Texas will gain only two seats, not three, and Florida will gain one seat, not two.

Colorado, North Carolina, Oregon and Montana will gain one seat each.

Arizona, thought to be likely to gain a seat, will not do so.

New York loses one seat, but only because of a shortage of population by the small total of 89 people!

Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, California, and West Virginia will lose one seat for each state, with California losing representation for the first time ever!

Minnesota and Rhode Island, expected to lose one seat each, avoided such a loss.

So now, with Montana gaining a seat, there will only be 6 states with one statewide House member—Alaska, Delaware, Vermont, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

This is the second slowest population growth in US history, after the 1930s.

And the trend of the South and West gaining at the expense of the Northeast and Midwest continues as it has for many decades.

When Census Figures Come Out Later This Year, It Will Affect Multiple States

The 2020 Census figures will come out in a few months, and will affect multiple states in Congressional representation in 2022 and beyond, as well as the Electoral College.

A number of the larger populated states will continue to lose representation and electoral votes, as they have faced for several decades.

This includes New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan, but also California is likely to lose a Congressional seat and an electoral vote for the first time ever in America history. Also, West Virginia, Rhode Island and Minnesota are likely to lose a seat and an electoral vote.

The states which will gain include Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, and Montana, with Texas and Florida gaining the most.

Montana will move from one statewide House seat to two, while Rhode Island will move from two seats to one, so Rhode Island will join Vermont, Delaware, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming as the seven states that have only one House member for each state.

Senator Josh Hawley Of Missouri Making His Mark As Worse Than Even Ted Cruz And Tom Cotton!

Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley, second youngest Senator, and only in his third year in the US Senate, is making quite a name for himself, but all in a negative fashion!

He is one of the villains who incited the January 6 Capitol Insurrection, refusing to accept the victory of Joe Biden over Donald Trump, and even after the insurrection, refusing to accept reality.

He has lost the support of his mentor, former Missouri Republican Senator John Danforth, who once admired him and saw great promise for the young man, but has now repudiated him totally.

Missouri has had a number of distinguished Senators in its past, including:

Thomas Hart Benton
Carl Schurz
Harry Truman
Stuart Symington
Thomas Eagleton
John Danforth
Claire McCaskill

Josh Hawley has the gall to be the only Senator to vote against an Anti Asian Discrimination Bill, beyond understanding!

Even Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, and others who are equally despicable in so many ways, ALL voted for this legislation!

Josh Hawley wants to be President, as much as Cruz, Cotton, and other disgraceful Republican Senators, but there is NO rationale for being the lone vote against a basic Civil Rights bill!

The aim must be to insure Josh Hawley goes nowhere in the Presidential competition and is prosecuted for treason and sedition for his involvement in the Capitol Insurrection, and end up forced out of the Senate and into a prison cell!

Joe Biden Popularity With The American People Much Higher Than Donald Trump Ever Was!

As Joe Biden reaches his First Hundred Days in office a week from now, his public opinion ratings are outstanding!

Ronald Reagan had 67 percent approval, and Barack Obama had 61 percent approval, but all other recent Presidents are lower than Joe Biden is right now.

Biden has 59 percent support, while George H. W. Bush had 58 percent, George W. Bush 55 percent, and Bill Clinton had 49 percent.

Donald Trump had 39 percent, and one must remember that Trump NEVER had a majority in any public opinion poll at any point!

And 72 percent of Democrats and 55 percent of Republicans support Joe Biden’s handling of the COVID 19 Pandemic.

And two thirds of the nation supports Biden’s $1.9 trillion dollar stimulus bill, including a majority of Republicans, even though Republican office holders are against everything Biden is doing.

Earth Day Creation (1970) And Richard Nixon Passing (1994) On 25th Celebration of Earth Day!

On April 22, 1970, President Richard Nixon declared the first Earth Day, an initiative begun by Wisconsin Democratic Senator Gaylord Nelson and others, but picked up by Nixon, one of his brighter moments, along with the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency by executive order later in the year 1970.

This is the 52nd Earth Day, and now President Joe Biden is promoting a massive effort against Global Warming and Climate Change, but sadly, most Republicans in Congress are coming out against it, making the fight against the threats to the planet ever more difficult.

Ironically, Nixon died on this day in 1994, the 25th Earth Day, and 24 years after its inception.

Gun Violence Escalates In 2021!

From January 2021 to yesterday, April 20, these are the statistics on Gun Violence:

12,882 Gun Deaths
7,260 Suicides
5,622 Homicide, Murder
10,176 Injuries
156 Mass Shootings
11 Mass Murders
91 Children 0-11 Killed, 193 Children 0-11 Injured
332 Teenagers 12-17 Killed, 801 Teenagers 12-17 Injured

Isn’t this enough for action by Congress, and to prevent continued massive loss of lives?