US House Of Representatives

Mike Pence Historical Reputation At Stake As He Leaves Vice Presidency Next Month

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Vice President Mike Pence, the 48th Vice President, has been a total disaster in that office, and has added to the horrendous record of recent Republican Vice Presidents, as compared to recent Democratic Vice Presidents.

Just going back a half century, and one can see how different the historical reputation is of the two party’s Vice Presidents.

There are two Republican Vice Presidents since 1969—Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush—who later went on to become President, and despite controversies, stand out as reasonably decent Vice Presidents. Nelson Rockefeller, under Gerald Ford, also comes across as having had a decent record and historical reputation worth defending.

But then we have Spiro Agnew under Richard Nixon, who was forced out of the Vice Presidency by corruption, and it remains terrifying that he came so close to becoming President.

We have Dan Quayle, who was a not very bright man, and very scary as potential President when George H.W. Bush had some health crises.

And we have Dick Cheney, often considered more a President in the first term of George W. Bush, who was terrifying in his “Darth Vader” type evil, and committed war crimes and abuse of power while Vice President, demonstrating the potential for harm done by a very bright man, who was transformed by September 11 in a dangerous way.

Now compare this to the Democratic Vice Presidents since 1969. We have Walter Mondale under Jimmy Carter, recognized by scholars as the most active, engaged and exceptional Vice President in American history, and still living 40 years after his time in office, and reaching the age of 93 on January 5.

We have Al Gore, who served Bill Clinton in a very reputable fashion, and influenced Clinton on environmental and other matters. And he had the dignity after a contested Presidential election in 2000, to concede in a manner that showed respect for the Constitution and rule of law.

And we have Joe Biden, who is seen as either equivalent of importance to Barack Obama or just second to Walter Mondale under Jimmy Carter, and now will be the 46th President of the United States in less than a month! Certainly, Biden’s Vice Presidency prepared him for the challenges he will face on January 20, 2021!

All three of these Democratic Vice Presidents in the past half century stand out as successes, and all three also ran for President, and they add to the dignity and significance of the office of Vice President.

The Republican Vice Presidents, at least Agnew, Quayle, and Cheney were, by comparison, true disasters!

Now, Mike Pence, who has demonstrated a complete lack of guts to challenge Donald Trump on anything he says or does, has an historic role he faces on January 6, to go through the ceremonial duty as President of the US Senate, to conduct a formal counting of the electoral votes before a joint session of Congress.

Every one of the Vice Presidents in office at the end of the term from Hubert Humphrey in 1969, through Nelson Rockefeller in 1977, through Walter Mondale in 1981, through George H. W. Bush in 1989, through Dan Quayle in 1993, through Al Gore, in 2001, through Dick Cheney in 2009, and through Joe Biden in 2017, have followed procedure and refused to allow challenges or controversies during that solemn ceremony.

But the odds are good that Mike Pence will allow such characters as Congressmen Mo Brooks of Alabama, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Jim Jordan of Ohio; and Senators Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin to delay the counting of the vote as they try to deny Joe Biden his rightful win in the Electoral College and in the popular vote nationally!

If Mike Pence does that, he will be condemned in history on the level of such disgraced Vice Presidents as Aaron Burr and Spiro Agnew!

Trump Moves Toward Insanity In Last Month, And Has Supporters Ready To Destroy The Transition

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Donald Trump is moving toward insanity as the days tick down until he leave office on January 20, 2021.

He is lashing out at everyone imaginable in stormy, screaming matches in the Oval Office, including against White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, White House Counsel Patrick Cipollone, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and even Vice President Mike Pence.

Those encouraging his insane, reckless behavior include a rag tag group of characters, including newly elected to the House of Representatives QAnon conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene, and wacko Congressmen, including Louie Gohmert of Texas, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Mo Brooks of Alabama, along with Senator Elect Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, and Senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Rand Paul of Kentucky.

The plan is to create a crisis on January 6, when Vice President Pence must have a joint session of Congress to open up 51 envelopes, and finish the process of the formal election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as President and Vice President, two weeks before the inauguration.

Ordinarily, it is a simple ceremony, but those listed above plan to challenge the final results, and a lot of attention and pressure is being brought against Pence in his last official, constitutional duty to do the electoral vote ceremony in a dignified manner.

It is not as if Vice Presidents have had to announce the defeat either of their own candidacy for President (Richard Nixon in 1961, Hubert Humphrey in 1969, Al Gore in 2001) or the defeat of their ticket for reelection (Walter Mondale in 1981, Dan Quayle in 1993), or the defeat of their party ticket not including them (Nelson Rockefeller in 1977, Dick Cheney in 2009, Joe Biden in 2017).

The Joe Biden “Cabinet” Is Well Balanced, Diverse, And Talented!

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Joe Biden promised diversity in his “cabinet”, both the official Cabinet members, but also others, and he has shown he means business!

At this point, still incomplete, Biden has appointed a group of talented people that includes:

45 percent whites
27.5 percent black
12.5 percent Asian
10 percent Latino
5 percent Native American
50 percent men
50 percent women
5 percent gay

Only three House of Representatives members are in this group, and no US Senators as of yet, and only one rival of Joe Biden during the Presidential campaign, former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Hopefully, the positions left open at this point, including Attorney General, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, and Secretary of Education will be filled soon, with lots of speculation about who might be under consideration!

A Glorious Day For Democracy, The Rule Of Law, And The Supreme Court Saying “NO” To A President!

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Friday, December 11, 2020, will go down in history as a glorious day for Democracy, the Rule of Law, and reaffirming the Supreme Court for, once again, having had the courage to say “NO!” to a President who thought he was unaccountable!

In 1974, in US V Richard Nixon, the Supreme Court ordered that the Watergate Tapes be handed over to the Special Prosecutior, by a 8-0 decision, leading to the resignation of the President. Three of the votes against Nixon came from Justices he had appointed.

In 1997, in Clinton V Jones, the Supreme Court ordered that the President testify in a civil trial dealing with sexual harassment, leading to his impeachment for lying before a grand jury. The vote was unanimous, with even the two Clinton appointees in the majority!

And now in 2020, the Supreme Court unanimously, with even the three Justices appointed by Donald Trump, throwing out the frivolous case backed by 17 state Attorneys General and 126 House Republicans (two thirds of the party in that chamber), that wished to throw out the votes of the four swing states that went to Joe Biden, insuring him of victory in the Presidential Election of 2020!

The Supreme Court has its critics, and has some members whose ethics and morals are suspect, but the Supreme Court proved its mettle in a crisis moment, and once again limited Presidential power. It prevented a dictatorship from being established by the most corrupt President in American history who, even with a potential pardon by himself (which would be illegal) or by Mike Pence, will pay the price for his violations of the law in New York State, and face likely conviction and a prison sentence!

The Hall Of Shame: Rudy Giuliani, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy Lead The Pack!

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The Republican Party has become a total embarrassment and disgrace, which will scar the memory of great Republicans of past generations.

Republicans are refusing to acknowledge the massive 7 million popular vote win of Joe Biden, as Donald Trump continues to act in an unpatriotic, uncooperative manner, including showing grace in defeat, inviting Joe and Jill Biden to the White House, and cooperating with the transition team on so many important matters, including the COVID 19 Pandemic and the National Security of the United States.

The Hall of Shame includes many, but leading the pack are the following:

Rudy Giuliani, once the much celebrated Mayor of New York City, who has made a fool and mockery of himself in his endless quest to destroy the victory of Joe Biden, and it is clear that Giuliani is seriously demented, mentally ill, and needs to retire from public life, although he also faces the danger of prosecution, that even a Presidential pardon may not totally exonerate him from a potential prison term.

Ted Cruz, who has humiliated by Donald Trump regarding his wife and father, and yet has become a total sycophant, and was willing to argue a case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court until the Supreme Court yesterday rejected in one sentence any challenge to the results of the Presidential Election of 2020. This blogger and author has always found Cruz to be the most despicable possible would be President, and thought in 2016 that Cruz on paper was more dangerous than Donald Trump, and the recent escapades of Cruz just add to the total disgust felt about this disgrace!

Rand Paul, who also alarmed this blogger when he ran for President in 2016, advocating the preposterous libertarianism of his father, former Congressman Ron Paul, who is now retired, but has a horrid history of antisemitism and racism in his past, and his son, if anything, much worse, in his delusions. This includes his denunciation and regular attacks on Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is the true hero of the present Covid 19 Pandemic. This monster plans again, like Cruz, to seek the Presidency in 2024, and both of them are a cancer on the future of the Republican Party!

Mitch McConnell, who hopefully will NOT be Senate Majority Leader after the Georgia Special Senate Elections Runoff on January 5, as he has been the most destructive Senate Majority Leader in memory, going back to making clear his desire to make Barack Obama a one term President. He also denied Obama the right to the appointment of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court in 2016; refused to have dignity and prevented a Supreme Court replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg with only weeks before the Presidential Election of 2020; and lacks respect for his former colleague, Joe Biden, in refusing even now to acknowledge that Biden will be inaugurated on January 20, 2021.

Kevin McCarthy, the Republican Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, from California, who has been a horrid leader of his party, making former Republican leaders Paul Ryan and John Boehner, look good by comparison, when both were obstructionists, and in the case of Ryan, like McCarthy, total sycophants to the evil of Donald Trump!

Republican Party Digging Its Grave, With Only About Ten Percent Acknowledging Joe Biden Victory

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The Republican Party is digging its own grave, with their reprehensible behavior, with only ten percent, or approximately 27 out of about 250 members of the party in Congress, acknowledging Joe Biden’s overwhelming victory in the Presidential Election of 2020.

The Republican Party refusal to stand up to Donald Trump and his childish temper tantrum behavior is going to reverberate on them in the future, as droves of voters abandon the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, as they become a more extremist right wing group of lunatics!

Twelve US Senators and 15 House members have publicly accepted that the election is over, with the Senators being the following:

Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
Susan Collins of Maine
Mitt Romney of Utah
Ben Sasse of Nebraska
Lamar Alexander of Tennessee
Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania
Marco Rubio of Florida
Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
Deb Fischer of Nebraska
Shelley Moore Capito Of West Virginia
Jerry Moran of Kansas
James Risch of Idaho

The two most notable Congressmen are Will Hurd of Texas, who is retiring from Congress, and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who is notable for speaking out against Trump before the election.

Additionally, three Senators have indicated that they will accept Joe Biden as legitimate, when the Electoral College declares him the winner, with those three Senators being Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and Mike Rounds of South Dakota.

The rest of the Republicans are “Missing in Action”, failing to do their job, and refusing to show proper respect and acceptance of the person elected by a margin of 7 million popular votes, and for that, they will be condemned in history!

Poorest States Never Get The Message, Still Vote Republican Despite Lack Of Action On Poverty

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The ten poorest states in America are all in the South and Border South, with the one exception of New Mexico, which is the only one of those ten states which votes Democratic.

Despite their poverty, with large numbers of poor whites, these states continue to vote Republican, and have among the most incompetent and uncaring state governments and political leaders.

Why these states’ voters do not get the message that voting Republican insures no action is taken on their poverty situations is clearly due to their lack of education and awareness of reality.

These ten states, in order of poverty are:

Mississippi
New Mexico
Louisiana
West Virginia
Alabama
Kentucky
South Carolina
Arkansas
Tennessee
North Carolina

Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty in the 1960s was a beginning, but not followed through on under later Republican Presidents, including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Donald Trump in particular.

When Democrats Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama attempted to move forward, Republican intransigence prevented much progress, and this issue remains one that needs to be addressed by Joe Biden, although with the Republicans potentially controlling the Senate, and with a smaller Democratic margin in the House of Representatives, it will be very difficult to do so.

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

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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!

A Suggested Joe Biden Cabinet For 2021 Difficult To Formulate Before The Election Results Are Clear!

Ronald 3 Comments

Thinking ahead about a suggested Joe Biden Cabinet for 2021, it is difficult to formulate before the election results are clear.

If the Senate goes Democratic massively, to say 53-55 seats, then it might be possible to have one or two US Senators in the Cabinet, but having to take into consideration whether the governor in such states is a Democrat, so that Republicans do not gain a seat by such Senator joining the Biden Cabinet.

The same goes for the US House of Representatives, which hopefully will see a 10 gain seat for the Democrats to about 245-250 seats, and then allow some House members to be Biden Cabinet officers.

Of course, there are former members in the Cabinet or sub Cabinet from the Presidencies of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, who might be factored in to possible Cabinet posts under Joe Biden, with one example being former National Security Adviser Susan Rice in the Obama Administration.

So trying to formulate a list is difficult, and much of it may be too speculative and or unrealistic at this time.

So just a few suggestions of who might be selected to be part of the Biden Cabinet or other top aides and advisers. besides Susan Rice mentioned above.

It would seem likely at least one Republican would be put into the Biden Cabinet, as is customary, and it would seem to me that the most appropriate would be former Ohio Governor and former Congressman John Kasich.

Also possible is former Pennsylvania Congressman Charlie Dent or former Arizona Senator Jeff Flake.

At the same time, some former Democratic contenders in the Presidential Primaries of 2020 would seem fit to put into the Cabinet, including possibly the following:

Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg

Entrepreneur Andrew Yang

Former San Antonio Mayor and Secretary of Housing And Urban Development Julian Castro

Former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke

Notice just from this list the wide diversity of just this short list of potential candidate for the Biden Cabinet—African American female; former Republican Governor, Congressman, and Senator; former Mayors; former Obama Cabinet member; a gay male former Mayor Presidential candidate; and a Latino and Asian contender for President

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

Ronald 8 Comments

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!