State Governments

Political Polarization At Worst Point In Modern American History!

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Political polarization is at its worst point in modern American history under the Presidency of Donald Trump.

Not only is the House of Representatives with its tightest balance in recent times, with only a few seats edge for Republicans, the precise reason for the Texas mid decade Gerrymandering promoted by Donald Trump.

It is also the reality that in the state governments across the nation, there are a total of 41 states with single party control, meaning the Governorship, and majorities in both houses of the state legislature.

26 states are under Republican control, and 15 states under Democratic control, what is termed as “trifectas”.

The only states that are not in one or the other trifecta are:

New Hampshire
Pennsylvania
Virginia
Michigan
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Arizona
Nevada
Alaska

The following states have Democratic Governors and Republican majority legislatures:

Pennsylvania
North Carolina
Kentucky
Wisconsin
Kansas
Arizona

The following states have Republican Governors and Democratic majority legislatures:

Nevada
Vermont
Virginia

The First Hundred Days Of Trump Second Term More Revolutionary Than FDR!

Ronald 68 Comments

The First Hundred Days of Donald Trump, Second Term, is coming up on Wednesday, April 30.

The nation and the world have seen the most revolutionary, radical set of actions and statements by Donald Trump that the nation has ever witnessed.

One would have thought that Franklin D. Roosevelt’s First Hundred Days of the “New Deal” from March 4, 1933 to mid June 1933 would be a marker that would never be matched.

But Donald Trump has far surpassed the impact of FDR, and in many ways, trying to wipe out most of the last century and more of the federal regulatory state and the leadership of the democratic world in international relations.

Trump has demonstrated that Presidential power is way out of line, a growing problem since FDR onward, but with most occupants of the White House having good intentions in their assertion of power, unlike Trump.

The massive use of executive orders, 137 so far, an all time record for such a short time as President;

the threats and actions against universities, law firms, cultural institutions, corporations, state governments;

the bypassing of judicial interventions;

the Republican party in Congress refusing to assert their authority;

the growing dictatorial attitude of Trump appointees inside and outside the Cabinet;

the repudiation of our traditional alliances in world affairs;

the dangerous flirtation with protective tariffs that undermines the American economy;

the clearcut corruption and grift being conducted in clear vision;

and so much more not listed here,

all have created a whirlwind of chaos and anarchy that affects all Americans in deleterious ways!

Donald Trump And Elon Musk Attack On Federal Regulatory Agencies

Ronald 32 Comments

Donald Trump and Elon Musk have declared war on many federal regulatory agencies, creating a “clear and present danger” in so many areas of government policy.

These include the US Agency For International Development (USAID); the US Department of Education, which is a Cabinet post; the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

These agencies were created by John F. Kennedy in 1961; Jimmy Carter in 1979 for the second and third listed agencies; and the latter by Barack Obama in 2010, after vigorous advocacy by Elizabeth Warren, before she won election to the US Senate in 2012.

Additionally, there has been discussion of weakening or eliminating the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC); and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), all created in the early 1970s under Richard Nixon.

This is pure madness, but at this point, Trump and Musk are like “Bulls in a China Shop”, abusing their power and no clearcut response from Democrats, state governments, and the courts, although cases are being brought to the courts, and Democrats are up in arms!

Four “M” State Governments Now Are Democratic Controlled!

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The 2022 Midterm Elections brought about the taking of control of the executive and legislative branches of government by the Democrats in four “M” States—Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Minnesota.

This means these four states–two on the Atlantic Coast, and two in the Midwest–will now see the accomplishment of progressive goals that are not possible in the South and much of the heartland of America.

This includes promotion of gay rights, labor rights, and women’s rights, including on the subject of abortion, as well as gun regulations.

A total of 17 states will have full Democratic control, and a majority of Americans live in those 17 states.

However, the Republicans have control in 21 states, with the remainder of the states being divided in party control.

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

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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.

CoronaVirus Pandemic Proves Need For An Empathetic President, And Another “New Deal” And “Great Society” In Future!

Ronald 24 Comments

The present CoronaVirus Pandemic proves the need for an Empathetic President, and another “New Deal” And “Great Society” in the future!

“Big” Government is needed, as it was in the 1930s “New Deal” and the 1960s “Great Society”!

We need leaders such as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson, as with all their foibles, as all human beings have, they demonstrated empathy and understood the need for federal government action!

Yes, state governors, such as Andrew Cuomo, Gavin Newsom, and many others, have stepped up in this present crisis, but the lack of concern and competency of Donald Trump and his advisers, only concerned about politics rather than human lives, needs to be repudiated once and for all!

Conservatism and limitation of national government since the time of Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich and many others has led to this debacle, and now needs to be in their death throes, as they have caused this debacle!

We need a nation where we do not have a few people having as much wealth and assets as half of the nation!

We need a nation where everyone is entitled to decent, affordable health care, and the opportunity for an education that meets their needs and abilities!

We need a nation where we do not have a wide percentage of people who are homeless, or are unable to gain enough nutrition, and where racism, nativism, and misogyny are actively prosecuted, rather than becoming government policy!

We need the kind of nation where everyone has opportunity to move forward, as was the aim and policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson!

Donald Trump, The “Manchurian Candidate”, And Vladimir Putin: The Downfall Of The Western Alliance System

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The idea is finally sinking in that Donald Trump is similar to the main character in the 1962 film, “The Manchurian Candidate”, a candidate for President planted by the enemy of America.

His constant praise of Vladimir Putin of Russia, and his constant criticism of the leaders of Canada, Germany, France, Great Britain, and other allies in NATO makes one come to this conclusion as a rational thought, as the Western alliance system is in danger of disintegration.

His worship of the authoritarian leaders of China, North Korea, Turkey, Egypt and the Philippines among other dictators, is further proof that Donald Trump despises democracy, civil liberties, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and the traditions of American history in both domestic and foreign policy.

So for someone to assert that Donald Trump is dangerous to America’s present and future, is not just political hyperbole.

We are in a situation where Russia clearly intervened in the 2016 Presidential election, and is attempting to influence the 2018 Midterm Elections for Congress and the state governments, and is looking ahead to the Presidential Election of 2020.

The thought that Donald Trump might just win a second term, and then challenge the 22nd Amendment, and wish to stay on as President for life, is not just an idle thought, and everyone must work together to insure that such does not happen.

Trump Declares War On Federal Government, Wishes To Return to Pre Pendleton Act Spoils System

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Donald Trump has set out to declare war on the federal government bureaucracy, wishing to return to the pre Pendleton Act Spoils System, that reigned from the time of Andrew Jackson in the 1830s to the passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 under President Chester Alan Arthur.

Arthur, a Republican who succeeded the assassinated James A. Garfield, who had been murdered by a crazed office seeker, Charles J. Guiteau in 1881, made civil service reform his major accomplishment in his three and a half years in the Presidency.

The federal bureaucracy is certainly not perfect by any means, but at least it requires qualifications and the passage of examinations, rather than just political connections, to gain a federal government position.

Most federal bureaucrats are highly qualified and dedicated, but Donald Trump wants political hacks to operate federal government agencies, and to ruin union and labor rights of federal government workers, thereby returning America to the Gilded Age mentality that reigned 135 years ago.

Donald Trump will eventually leave office by hook or by crook, but the damage he is doing is detrimental to the long term stability and health of all federal government agencies, and will make many young people unwilling to consider federal government careers.

Every government agency from the State Department and diplomatic corps, through those agencies that deal with human needs, such as education, healthcare, housing, and also those which deal with the environment, the economy, defense and so many other crucial areas of government, will now become sewers run by incompetent, corrupt, and uncaring political crooks.

The state governments are already becoming worse operated than ever, and now the Republican Party is, in league with Donald Trump, conspiring against the American future in the name of the selfish interests of the wealthy and privileged.

The needs of the vast percentage of Americans who are not wealthy and privileged will be made much more difficult, and with the growing percentage of Americans who are not white, being governed by a white supremacy mentality of the federal government and the Republican Party, the seeds for future civil war and violence is growing. This endangers the civil order and undermines the great progress made over the past century plus by Presidents and Congresses of both political parties.

So the deleterious effects of Donald Trump are multiplying like cancer, and there is no sign of being able to stop this growing damage to the American Republic.

History Tells Us Many States Are Not Protective Of Their Population: Reason Why We Need Federal Government!

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Conservatives and libertarians love to promote the propaganda that “states rights” are the best government, and that state governments are there for their population’s needs.

History tells us otherwise, clear and simple.

“States rights” promoted 76 years of slavery under the Constitution, until it was ended by the Union winning the Civil War over the Confederacy.

“States rights” promoted segregation of the races for nearly a century after the Civil War until the 1960s.

“States rights” promoted laws against marriage, including blacks and whites, and gays and lesbians.

“States rights” promoted vigilante justice, including lynchings, chain gangs, and overly harsh criminal justice laws.

“States rights” promoted men having dominance over their wives in marriages, and resulting abuses toward women.

“States rights” promoted inferior education, including denial of historical facts, and of science, favoring religious ideas over facts.

“States rights” promoted violations of voting rights, with the intent of ruling white upper classes controlling who could vote.

“States rights” promoted denial of health care to people, while insisting on all fetuses being taken to birth against a woman’s wishes.

“States rights” promoted resistance to the Bill of Rights, and to federal government political, social, and economic reforms that made America pursue the goals of democracy, equality, and justice.

Those states that have regularly promoted “states rights” have been the most backward, the most discriminatory, the most regressive. the poorest, and have depended on the more advanced and open minded states for their economic existence.

It is the “Red” states, those in the old Confederate South, and in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain West, where we see the worship of “states rights”, as long as the elite political and religious hierarchy keep control over their populations, and keep them ignorant and under mind control.

History tells us that these states are not protective of the needs of their population, the reason we need a strong, assertive federal government, ready to step in, and having bettered life for people who are seemingly unaware how they have been manipulated by corrupt state governments.

The Alienation Of Millennial Voters Endangers Voter Turnout Which Could Undermine Democratic Party And Progressive Values

Ronald 4 Comments

Depending on which public opinion polls one follows and believes, it might be true that many millennial voters are “turned off” by the present election contest between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and might vote in large numbers for Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson or Green Party nominee Jill Stein in November. Or they might just stay home and not vote at all.

Millennials, defined as those under 30, but also sometimes including those under 35, are hostile to the “Establishment” and the normal way of dealing with politics and government, as represented by the stalemate, gridlock, and paralysis so common in recent years in Congress and in state governments, as the two major political parties refuse to work together and cooperate for the nation’s future.

The problem is that the present situation seems likely to be perpetuated, as the House of Representatives, at the least, still seems likely to remain Republican, maybe with a smaller margin, while the US Senate may go Democratic by a few seats, but not enough to avoid filibusters by the minority. So new people might be in charge, but the overall situation is unlikely to lead to the real possibility of progress on major domestic problems, and controversy over foreign policy may be further enhanced.

The danger is that alienation may bring about the possible election of Donald Trump, which would be a national nightmare, and undermine the Democratic Party and progressive values, including the future direction of the Supreme Court.

The nation can ill afford the possibility of a “loose cannon” with the backing of extremist right wing forces, termed the “Alt Right” by Hillary Clinton this week in a Reno, Nevada speech, gaining power and promoting ideas and programs that would undermine the Bill of Rights; promote confrontation and conflict between races, ethnic groups, and different genders and sexual orientations; and put the nuclear codes in the hands of a dangerous man who could undermine our relations with foreign allies and provoke war due to his lack of discipline and mental stability.