New Deal

FDR Death, And Harry Truman Succession To The Presidency Commemorated!

Sixty nine years ago, in the midst of late stages of World War II, the longest serving American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, passed away at the age of 63 in Warm Springs, Georgia.

The impact of FDR in his years in office, and the continued significance of his policies and actions, reverberates in America seven decades later, and he is usually ranked second or third among all Presidents in polls and surveys of Presidential scholars.

Serving more than 12 years and starting a fourth term in office, he had a far greater impact in many ways than Abraham Lincoln, who is usually ranked as the greatest American President.

FDR’s “New Deal” still affects America, and his leadership in World War II was crucial for the survival of democracy in the nation and the world.

The death of FDR also led to the Presidency of Harry Truman, tremendously underrated throughout his Presidency and for a generation after his retirement.

But once Truman passed away, recognition of his courageous, principled leadership emerged, and now he is ranked in the top five or six of all Presidents!

His continuation and expansion of the New Deal through the Fair Deal, and his strong leadership in the emerging Cold War made his Presidency extremely significant!

Ohio Train Derailment And Nebraska Child Labor Scandal Signs Of Corporate Abuse!

Sadly, in 2023, we have examples of corporate abuse as seen with the recent East Palestine, Ohio derailment of dangerous chemicals, on a train two miles long, with only two workers operating the train.

Also, in Nebraska, we have early teens doing dirty and dangerous work as cleaning workers in a slaughter house, breaking the child labor laws, and exploiting immigrant children.

How this is possible is due to continued big business and conservative and Republican attempts to weaken federal regulation, as occurred under Donald Trump and earlier Republican Presidents, despite the work of Barack Obama to strengthen such regulation.

The issues of government regulation of business and labor rights were dealt with in the Progressive Era of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson; again in the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt; and again in the 1960s under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. It emerged again in the Obama Presidency, but then was backtracked on under Donald Trump, as with earlier Republican Presidents, particularly Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

It is essential to have actions to prevent the kinds of tragedies that have occurred recently. The answer is not to attack Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and President Biden. And the Republican attack on the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and other federal regulatory agencies must stop!

Effect Of John F. Kennedy Assassination Still Reverberates On America 58 Years Later!

This author and blogger was a sophomore in 1963, when John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963.

It was the most stunning event of my life until the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The Kennedy assassination transformed American politics dramatically, both in good ways and bad ways.

It brought about the possibility of the greatest period of reform since Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, with Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society.

But it also brought on a devastating long term war in Vietnam, and the beginning of disillusionment with government at all levels.

Had Robert F. Kennedy survived and won the Presidential Election of 1968, instead of being assassinated after winning the California primary in June 1968, the potential for more great reform and change, and to avoid the Presidency of Richard Nixon, would have existed.

WIth RFK’s death, after the earlier tragedy of JFK, America was put into a permanent decline in hope and optimism for the next forty years, as even the election of Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1992 did not revive the hopes of the Kennedy legacy.

Instead, we had Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush cause great regression in so many ways, as Richard Nixon had done earlier.

Barack Obama was a bright light, but faced great opposition, and the horrors of Donald Trump as his succession!

Joe Biden, who has a bust of RFK behind him on the left in all photos when he is sitting at his desk, is trying to revive the Kennedy legacy of hope and promise, and has made a good start.

But it is clear the two Kennedy assassinations in the early and late 1960s have left a permanent scar on the nation!

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

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!

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

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!

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

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!

Confirmation Of Justice Amy Coney Barrett Creates The Most Extreme Supreme Court Since 1930s!

The confirmation last evening of new Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett creates the most extreme Supreme Court since the time of the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s Great Depression, just as we are entering into the Second Great Depression.

The right wing narrow minded view of Justice Barrett is perceived as more so than even her mentor, former Justice Antonin Scalia.

The fifth woman to serve on the Court, she is the anti Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a great woman who we could only wish had been able to live two to three more weeks, preventing an appointment before the election.

And had she lived until December, even a lame duck President could not have replaced her before January and a new President.

This only accelerates the dire need for everyone to vote, and for the Republicans to be resoundingly defeated next week for the White House and the US Senate, and add seats in the House of Representatives.

With a 6-3 extremist Court, the following areas of law are greatly endangered:

Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in general
Women’s Rights
Abortion Rights
Gay Rights and Gay Marriage
Labor Rights
Voting Rights
Environmental Reforms
Consumer Reforms
Business Regulations
Separation of Church and State
Firearms Regulation

The answer must be to expand the Supreme Court to 11 members, adding two progressives or liberal voices to the Court, making for a slight 6-5 conservative majority, but promoting the concept that Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch will, at times, side with the liberals.

It does not guarantee progressive and liberal ideas, but that has been that way for a generation, but once either Clarence Thomas (age 72) or Samuel Alito (age 70) leaves the Court, likely in the next four years, a moderate Court will be achieved. And if Stephen Breyer or Sonia Sotomayor were to leave, it would insure a Democratic President choosing their successors.

Voting for Joe Biden and a Democratic Senate insures that the right wing tilt of the Court will be short lived!

COVID 19 Pandemic And Health Care Crisis Will Be Decisive Factors That Decide 2020 Elections

The 2020 Presidential and Congressional Elections are being decided based on the COVID 19 Pandemic and the Health Care Crisis related to it, and to the reality that 20 million or more Americans are in danger of losing their health care under the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care).

Obama Care is far from perfect, but to strip it away from desperate people who have it as their only lifeline is cruel, heartless, and terrifying, and the voters clearly will decide to punish the party and the President very willing to harm people, even though they claim to be the part of Life, while having no concern about the loss of 215,000 lives, likely to be doubled by Inauguration Day.

The American people may not love the Democratic Party and Joe Biden, but they do love living and having a government that cares about them, and they see in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris leaders of empathy, decency, compassion who would change the course that Donald Trump and the Republican Party have taken us on, causing the greatest loss of life since World War II, and in just seven months time.

So Joe Biden will win handily in three weeks, and the Democrats will gain control of the US Senate and add to their numbers in the majority of the House of Representatives, and will take action after January 20, 2021, with commitment to purse a policy similar to the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt nine decades ago!

Donald Trump (Mussolini) As He Crashes, And Joe Biden (Elements Of Lincoln, FDR, And Obama) For The Future

Donald Trump is acting like Mussolini, with elements of Hitler, as his administration is crashing around him.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden has elements of Abraham Lincoln, as he spoke yesterday at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and the future need for him, with the help of a Democratic Congress, and his Vice President, Kamala Harris, to act like Franklin D. Roosevelt, as Biden will face a series of crises on the level of Lincoln and FDR, and also, that of Barack Obama in 2009.

However, 2021 now looks as if it will be a combination of 1861, 1933, and 2009, and we are going to need wisdom, conviction, and strength as the new President will need to promote a New Deal and Great Society combination domestically, and need to have the guts and courage of Harry Truman in foreign policy, to restore our alliances and protect our national security.

Tonight’s First Presidential Debate: The Middle Class Guy Vs The Phony Billionaire And Bully

Former Vice President Joe Biden enters tonight’s first Presidential debate in Cleveland against President Donald Trump in a position of strength. He is far ahead in most state polls, including in the Midwest where Hillary Clinton lost the election in 2016.

Biden is the middle class guy who has had struggles and tragedies in his life, much like the vast majority of Americans. He possesses naturally great compassion, empathy, decency, and tons of government experience as US Senator for 36 years and as one of the two best Vice Presidents in American history, alongside Walter Mondale.

Biden comes in with public opinion polls showing great strength for him among college educated voters of both genders; suburban women; African Americans; Latinos except for Cubans; Asian Americans; Jews; Social Justice Catholics; mainline Protestants; moderates; Independents; young voters; and a small sliver of Trump voters in 2016 who realize Donald Trump is a phony billionaire and bully!

Putting Biden in the Oval Office will give us a President with more background knowledge and expertise than any President when he entered the Presidency—more than Lyndon B. Johnson or George H. W. Bush.

Biden knows world leaders and can restore US foreign policy so that foreign allies can against trust our government.

Biden can restore much of the damage done to our domestic infrastructure and our government agencies that are so necessary to continue the advancements of the New Deal, Great Society, and the later accomplishments of Presidents of both parties from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama!

We will have a President who does not lie 20,000 times in three and a half years;

who will not ignore medicine and science;

who will pay his fair share of taxes;

who will not cheat on his wife with other women;

who will pick judges who understand that originalism is the wrong approach to law;

who will work to cross the aisle when possible, instead of constant insults and bullying of opponents and critics;

who will have a Vice President, Kamala Harris, who gives us confidence should there ever be an emergency;

who will restore faith in our basic values of democracy and freedom;

who will bring back honor and decency to the Oval Office;

and who will support total exposure of all crimes committed by the present incumbent of the White House!