Author: Ronald

Time To Modify The Senate Filibuster So That Direct Action On Many Issues Can Be Taken!

Ronald Leave a comment

The filibuster is a anti democratic tactic used for many decades to prevent progress.

For a long time, the requirement was 67 Senators, two thirds of the Senate, to overcome a filibuster.

Lyndon Johnson was famous for fighting the filibuster, and overcoming the barrier in 1964 to pass the landmark Civil Rights Act of that year.

In 1975, the barrier of the filibuster was lowered to 60 Senators to end debate, and allow for a vote on legislation and appointments.

With the Republican Party refusing to cooperate at all on the COVID 19 Pandemic legislation, after almost all House and Senate members of both parties did so twice in 2020, it is time to move, at least, to lower the threshold from 60 to 55 Senators, in order to be able to make progress.

Joe Manchin And Bernie Sanders: Polar Opposites Complicating The Ability For Legislation

Ronald 2 Comments

The Democratic Party is a “wide tent” party, unlike the Republicans, but being a “wide tent” creates its own issues, particularly when we have a 50-50 Senate.

On the Left we have Bernie Sanders, who is really a Socialist more than a Democrat, and does not work well with others.

Any thought that Sanders might have been President would have been a nightmare, as he does not understand Compromise.

But then, on the Right, we have Joe Manchin, who is a Democrat, but more like a Republican, and makes life difficult for Democrats, but the alternative if he joined the Republican Party or was defeated by a Republican in West Virginia, would be worse.

So Joe Biden has to do a balancing act to gain the backing of both Sanders and Manchin, and that is extremely difficult, but important, in order to accomplish the goals of his Presidency!

Mike Pence Is A Disgrace To The Vice Presidency, And Assuredly, Has No Future!

Ronald Leave a comment

Mike Pence will go down in Vice Presidential history as a total disgrace to the office!

Pence demonstrated no guts, no courage, ever to oppose the abuse of Presidential power by Donald Trump!

Pence was a lackey, servile, a sycophant, totally obsequious, even though he claims to be a devout Christian, or better said, “a good Christian”!

But if one was truly, he would show his ethics and morality on the way Donald Trump handled his office, but instead he kowtowed to the point of behavior that would embarrass any man who has a conscience!

Even when he was directly threatened by Donald Trump supporters on January 6, 2021, he just fled, kept quiet for two months, and now defends Donald Trump’s false claims of a fixed election, all for his naked ambition to be President!

But Mike Pence will never gain the backing of Donald Trump, who refused even to call Pence for five days after his close shave with possible harm and death!

Mike Pence is pitiful, a coward, a man who cannot control his own behavior around women and calls his wife “Mother”, indicating deep seated psychological issues!

We have had horrific Vice Presidents come to us from the Republican Party, including Dan Quayle under George H. W. Bush; Spiro Agnew under Richard Nixon; and Dick Cheney under George W. Bush, but with all of their faults, none of them would be perceived as lacking in manhood as Mike Pence displayed in office, and now as a former Vice President who desperately wants to be President, but will, thankfully, never reach that office!

Time To Raise The Federal Minimum Wage To $15 In Stages By 2025!

Ronald Leave a comment

The last federal minimum wage increase occurred in 2009 during the first year of the Obama Presidency.

That minimum wage was $7.25, and yet, 12 years later, there are those who oppose an increase after more than a decade.

It is true that many states have a higher minimum wage, but it is more than past due to raise the federally mandated minimum wage in stages to $15 by 2025.

It is not as if there is a call for an immediate jump, but over four years, it is not too much to demand!

There are millions of low paid wage earners who cannot support themselves, and if the minimum wage had been based on the cost of living since its inception in 1938 under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, the minimum wage now would be $24!

So the Democrats need to push through this legislation, maybe separately from the COVID 19 Pandemic legislation, with or without much Republican support!

Texas Is Crazy To Drop COVID 19 Restrictions: Will Likely Lead To New Surge Of Cases And Deaths!

Ronald 3 Comments

Texas is the second largest state in population and in land area, but Texas government under Republican dominance in the past four decades has been a total disaster!

It continues to discriminate against its African American and Latino population, making it more difficult for them to vote!

Its electric grid system led to disaster and loss of property and life last week, and no apologies from Texas Republicans!

And now, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has announced that COVID 10 Pandemic restrictions are ending in the next week!

This is a total disgrace, and undermines the fight against the pandemic, as Texas with more than 30 million people, and with so much commerce and travel in a state as large as Texas, is a prime area of the infection, and undermines what President Joe Biden, scientists, and medical personnel say needs to be done to overcome the pandemic, which has cost more than half a million lives in one year!

This is states rights gone mad, and already, Mississippi, the poorest state in America, is also abandoning the restrictions on the pandemic, and do not be surprised that Florida, with its moronic governor Ron DeSantis, will be next!

So the battle to overcome COVID 19 is being sabotaged, and will make the recovery be more extended, at much greater loss of life!

Donald Trump Remains A Menace, As He Lies And Continues To Spread Conspiracy Theories At CPAC

Ronald 2 Comments

Donald Trump put on a performance of lies and deceit yesterday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, and it is clear that he remains a menace, as he spread conspiracy theories and Fascist authoritarianism!

Trump claimed Joe Biden has had the worst first five weeks as President in American history, a totally moronic and preposterous statement, as reality is just the opposite, so it demonstrates how Trump is living in an alternate reality, but with millions of crazy people who seem him as a God like figure!

Trump spoke of having “won” two elections, when he lost the popular vote by a massive margin twice, and his two impeachments also add to the reality that never has Trump “won” anything in his political life, other than the Republican Presidential nomination twice! He has never had a majority public opinion rating, while Joe Biden now has a 59-63 rating, depending on which public opinion polls one follows!

It was sickening seeing the absolute flattery and obsequious nature and sycophancy displayed by the long list of Republicans who are acting slavishly to Donald Trump, and the the thought of any of these disgraces being the next Republican Presidential nominee if Trump does not run, which is likely reality, is enough to make one vomit!

Unless the Republican Party pursues the nomination of a mainstream conservative, such as Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Mitt Romney, or Ben Sasse, they are doomed to die in the next few years!

Asian Americans Under Attack Due To Donald Trump And His “Chinese” COVID 19 Assertions In Past Year!

Ronald Leave a comment

The history of Asian Americans has been a tragedy.

It goes back to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, enforced until 1943;

the discrimination and violence so evident in California history specifically toward both Chinese and Japanese immigrants;

the anti Asian editorial policy of the newspapers of William Randolph Hearst over the decades;

and the recent attacks on Asian Americans, particularly but not only Chinese ethnicity, caused by Donald Trump and his “Chinese” COVID 10 assertions.

Recently, there has been a massive number of attacks in New York City, San Francisco, and elsewhere toward Asian Americans, who have been stabbed and attacked in other ways, including against senior citizens, all due to the open racism of the 45th President’s rhetoric.

Other Asian immigrants, including Korean, Vietnamese, Indian, Pakistani and Japanese have been lumped together in the minds of racists and white supremacists, and the Republican Party has become the home of such hate groups!

CPAC Conference Clearly A Group Of White Supremacist And Evangelical Christian Extremists, NOT Conservatives!

Ronald 1 Comment

The Republican Party has become a party of white supremacists, evangelical Christian extremists, conspiracy theorists, QAnon crazies, misogynists, and nativists who see immigration as a threat to the dominance of the dwindling white Christian majority, which will be a minority of Americans in the year 2045 or sooner.

The speakers at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida this weekend are a horror show of the worst of humanity, and headed by former President Donald Trump, who will spew forth more lies, conspiracy theories, hatred, and work to divide the nation ever more, rather than work to unite and advance the nation in the midst of the COVID 19 Pandemic and the economic suffering it has caused.

The Republican Party no longer represents mainstream conservative ideas and principles, and has repudiated the small band of 10 House members and 7 Senators who truly represent the values the party used to believe in and follow.

A Milestone Reached: 7,000 Entries Since August 2008 Of “The Progressive Professor” Blog

Ronald 2 Comments

This website began when the author’s older son suggested that I start a blog, as I had strong opinions and background knowledge, and the desire to share my views and thoughts with others!

It has now been 12.5 years since “The Progressive Professor” began, what has become over the years a daily commentary, with only an occasional date missed, and some days in the past with multiple entries.

So the “magic number” of 7,000 entries is being accomplished after 4,584 days, meaning an average of 47 entries each month.

I wish to thank all those who have read my blog over the years, and those who have commented on entries, and added their own knowledge and thoughts, which has enriched the website.

I hope the various websites, radio shows, articles I have published, lectures, and other material is helpful to everyone who accesses this website.

The hope is that this website will continue to prosper for many more years, so thanks to everyone reading this!

With Donald Trump Appearing At CPAC, Republican Party Is In Process Of Suicidal Behavior

Ronald Leave a comment

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), occurring this coming weekend, is a situation of the Republican Party being in the process of suicidal behavior, by permitting Donald Trump to appear and rile his right wing base!

The Republican Party in Congress is imploding right now, between backing white supremacy and Christian Evangelicalism, and undermining the responsible conservative base, including Ben Sasse, Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Pat Toomey, Richard Burr, and Bill Cassidy in the Senate!

And the horrific reaction of Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader, to Liz Cheney, who has the principles and courage to make clear that Donald Trump cannot be allowed to be the future of the party, is a sign of long term decline. Instead of following Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and eight other principled House conservatives, McCarthy is hitching his star to the crazed former President!