US House Of Representatives

American Jewish Alliance With Democrats Continues To Grow In Age Of Donald Trump

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The American Jewish community continues in 2019 a strong alliance with the Democratic Party, even in the age of Donald Trump.

It is true that about 25-30 percent of the Jewish population votes Republican, with most being either very wealthy, or being strict religious views, Orthodox Judaism.

Otherwise, the Jewish community has regularly voted in the high 60s or low 70s for Democrats, going back a century from Woodrow Wilson onward.

That is due to the Social Justice beliefs of two thirds or more of the Jewish community, as Jews recall the prejudices and discrimination visited upon their earlier generations in America.

In 2018, 79 percent of the Jewish community supported Democratic candidates for Congress, and that has now helped to lead to the movement to impeach Donald Trump.

Imagine if the Republicans had kept control of the House of Representatives, as that would have meant a complete cover up of Trump’s wrong doings.

While many groups contributed to the Democratic gain of 40 seats in the House, the growing Jewish support for the party is a blessing, and one can expect that Jews will vote for the Democratic Presidential nominee in similarly high percentages in 2020!

Historic Moment As First Impeachment Investigation In 21 Years Commences

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After months and a few years of speculation about an impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump, the die has been cast, and is proceeding forward.

This is only the fourth such case in American history, preceded by Andrew Johnson in 1868; Richard Nixon in 1974; and Bill Clinton in 1998.

Johnson and Clinton were impeached, and then found not guilty by the US Senate, although Johnson was only saved by one vote short of the two thirds needed to convict and remove him.

Clinton had votes in favor of conviction of 55-45 and 50-50, way short of the 67 votes needed.

Nixon resigned after the House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach him on three counts, but before a vote of the whole House of Representatives, which was ready to impeach him. And Nixon had been informed by top leaders of his Republican Party that there was no way for him to gain 34 Republican Senate votes to avoid conviction and removal by a two thirds vote.

This is an historic moment in American history, and how it will exactly play itself out is uncertain, but at least, finally, the Democratic House of Representatives is taking action against the flagrant abuse of power by Donald Trump.

Likely Shifts In Political Power In The House Of Representatives And The Electoral College After The 2020 Census

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With the 2020 Census only seven months from now, attention is being paid to the likely shifts in political power in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College, after reapportionment of seats based on population changes.

Normally, about 16 states see the number of their Congressional seats and their total number of electoral votes changed up or down.

Right now, subject to change, the following 7 states will gain seats in the House starting in 2022, and electoral votes for the 2024 and 2028 Presidential election cycles:

Texas–3 seat gain

Florida–2 seat gain

North Carolina–1 seat gain

Arizona –1 seat gain

Colorado–1 seat gain

Oregon–1 seat gain

Montana–1 seat gain

These 7 states will gain a total of 10 seats and electoral votes.

The following 9 states will lose Congressional seats and electoral votes:

New York–2 seat loss

Pennsylvania–1 seat loss

Ohio–1 seat loss

Illinois–1 seat loss

Michigan–1 seat loss

West Virginia–1 seat loss

Alabama–1 seat loss

Rhode Island–1 seat loss

Also, either Minnesota might have a 1 seat loss, OR California, for the first time ever, might have a 1 seat loss.

Rhode Island had two House seats throughout its history, except for one decade when it had three seats, but now will have a Congressman At Large for the whole state in 2023. Montana had two House seats from 1913-1993, then a Congressman At Large for the whole state, and will return to two House seats in 2023, due to rapid growth. Rhode Island has not grown much at all in population, and soon will be surpassed by Montana.

Note that the long trend of the Sun Belt states gaining House seats and electoral votes continues, and the Rust Belt states losing House seats and electoral votes. The South and the West will continue to gain, while the Northeast and Midwest will continue to lose influence.

Former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh As Challenger To Donald Trump

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Suddenly, with time short, Donald Trump is starting to gain opposition to his nomination for a second term as President.

Former Governor William Weld of Massachusetts, who was the Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee in 2016, announced months ago, with little to show for it, as polls indicate 85-90 percent of Republicans are ready to back Trump.

Weld is at least seen as a “legitimate” candidate, but now we have others who are much more right wing than Weld, and lack credibility as national candidates, who are emerging.

Already, former South Carolina Governor and former Congressman Mark Sanford, he of the sex scandal that forced him out of the Governorship a decade ago, saying he might join.

And now, this past weekend, we have a definite challenger, but of no greater reputation, former one term Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh, of Tea Party fame, who was a believer in the “birther” theory used against Barack Obama, and spewed poison and hate in his one two year term, followed by defeat and retirement to a career as a talk show host.

Walsh was reckless and confrontational in his one term, and came across as a mean spirited and nasty Congressman, with a record of driving on a suspended license, and failure to pay child support, and using racist and sexist language, often considered “a loose cannon”. And he supported Donald Trump in 2016, but now has regrets for that and has apologized and expressed regret on his treatment of Barack Obama.

The fact that Walsh is willing to attack Trump, and tell the truth about him as a horrendous man and President is great, but his own record and background, despite his trying to make amends now in 2019, make him suspect as someone to fully trust.

This is not a way to revive Republican fortunes, to consider Mark Sanford or Joe Wash as legitimate alternatives, when the real alternatives, as suggested in an earlier blog entry last week, would be Jon Huntsman or John Kasich.

The only good thing about Walsh is that he might, somewhat, convince a small number of Republican voters to abandon Trump, and weaken him enough that he will not win reelection. Any effort in that regard is certainly welcome.

And Walsh made an important statement, when he said that young people, women, and suburbanites were totally alienated from Trump. Let us hope that as if they are, in mass numbers, against Trump, and one adds African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, Jewish Americans, college educated people, and those that possess compassion and empathy towards the victims of Donald Trump, then we will be liberated from the cancer of Donald Trump.

Reflecting On The Age Issue Over Next Decade

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America is faced with many crises, but one not much paid attention to is the Age issue.

We are seeing more people in government who are reaching their 70s and 80s, and that is a worrisome trend.

Certainly, people in their 70s and 80s can be active, engaged, constructive, as this author, in his mid 70s is, as an adjunct college professor, lecturer, author, blogger, contributor of articles on history and politics, and participant on radio shows about history and politics.

But this author is NOT making government policy, and is not facing the daunting challenges of dealing with a multitude of challenges in domestic and foreign policy, that affects and will continue to affect hundreds of millions of Americans, and seven billion people worldwide.

We see Donald Trump in his mid 70s, showing signs of craziness and dementia. We see Joe Biden, who this author loves, not quite as swift and alert as he seeks the Presidency. We see Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren both seemingly very alert and energetic, but reaching 79 and 71 by January 20, 2021, both older than Trump when he was elected, and with Biden reaching 78 by Inauguration Day 2021.

We see the top three Democrats in leadership in the House of Representatives all nearing 80 in the next couple of years, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and the same with Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. There are about four Senators over 80 already, and Dianne Feinstein was elected at 85 in 2018, to serve another six year term to age 91. And at least two Senators will be added to that list over 80 in the next few years.

We have two Supreme Court Justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, who are 86 and 81, and their refusal to leave years ago has created the possibility of an extreme right wing Court if Donald Trump wins reelection.

There has to be recognition of the need for younger generations to inherit power, and for older generations to accept that their time has passed.

White Supremacists Emboldened By Trump Attacks On African American And Jewish Chairs Of House Committees Investigating Trump’s Abuse Of Power

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In the midst of recent white supremacist massacres in El Paso and Dayton, there should be growing concern about the House Committee chairs who are African American and Jewish becoming potential targets of hate mongers.

Elijah Cummings of the House Oversight and Reform Committee and Maxine Waters of the House Financial Services Committee are African Americans, and Jerry Nadler of the House Judiciary Committee and Adam Schiff of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence are Jewish, and all four are particularly in the center of controversy, and therefore, targets for hate, with a lot of verbal attacks by Donald Trump against them.

The investigation of the abuse of power of Donald Trump must go on, but extra security for these Chairs is essential!

What Is Nancy Pelosi Waiting For? The Need For Impeachment For Historical Reasons!

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The time has come for the impeachment inquiry regarding Donald Trump go move forward.

After the Special Counsel Robert Mueller testimony at the House Judiciary Committee and the House Intelligence Committee, there is no reason to wait anymore.

Some might say that Trump will not be convicted by the US Senate, so it is a waste of time.

But even though Trump will not be removed by the Senate, it is important to impeach for historical reasons, to make the record clear for all time that Donald Trump deserves to be impeached.

If Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton could be impeached for far less reasoning, then Donald Trump, with his multitude of sins as President, deserve to be impeached, and have his future obituary highlight the impeachment, as it has for Andrew Johnson and will do so for Bill Clinton in the future.

It is time for Nancy Pelosi to move ahead on impeachment.

Donald Trump Becoming More Authoritarian By The Day: A Danger To Democracy And The Constitution!

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Donald Trump condemns four women of color in the House of Representatives for ten days straight, and no end of such attacks on legally elected members of the Congress.

Donald Trump praises China’s leader for patience and standing by while there are massive demonstrations in Hong Kong, effectively giving a pass to China to crack down on the former British colony with force.

Donald Trump asserts that Article 2 of the Constitution allows him the power to do anything he wants, with no limitations.

Donald Trump leads a Nuremberg type rally in North Carolina, and allows the crowd to chant “Send them back”, without any interference or chastising as to how undemocratic such a chant is.

Donald Trump allows his Attorney General William Barr to order Special Counsel Robert Mueller to avoid straying from the published report on the Presidential Election of 2016, during his testimony to Congress being held today.

These are just five examples of abuse of power and the danger of Donald Trump to our Constitution and our democratic system of government.

The warning signs are there, that we are moving every day closer to a totally authoritarian government, which would eventually lead to censorship, including even the ability of this author and blogger to express his opposition to what is going on.

When will America speak up and say, “Enough is Enough!”

Future generations will look back and wonder why there was so little backbone in American government leaders to take action!

Time and the American future is waiting!

Donald Trump, By Far The Most Racist, Nativist, And Misogynist President In American History, Condemned By House Of Representatives Resolution

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Donald Trump has been officially condemned by the House of Representatives (H. R. 489) by a vote of 240-187, with four Republicans and one Independent (Justin Amash) voting in favor with all Democrats.

He was condemned because of his bitter attack on four Congresswomen of color for being critical of his administration, and challenging the leadership of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as the battle for the future of the Democratic Party continues. Pelosi and the Democrats are now more united than ever against Trump, as despite these four women’s criticism of Pelosi, they all just see it as a dispute within the family

Even more disturbing was Trump’s continued personal attack on the “squad”–Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota–in his North Carolina speech two days ago, which led to shouts from the audience to “Send her back”–referring to Omar, who was born in Somalia, and came to the United States at age 12, and is a US citizen.

The audience listening to Trump came across as white bigots who are racists, nativists, and misogynists, and reminded many of Nazi rallies held by Adolf Hitler 80-85 years ago in Germany.

Trump has outraged decent people for the past four years, but he goes lower and lower every day, and it is alarming to many how he is utilizing racial and religious animosity as part of his reelection campaign.

One does not have to agree with everything these four women utter and believe, but now there are serious death threats against them, and it is extremely worrisome as to their safety.

We do not want to see another wave of violence and assassinations, as occurred in the 1960s and early 1970s, and yet, even ordinary citizens of color and diverse religious beliefs now face daily threats from followers of Donald Trump, who feel their prejudices are acceptable because the President talks that way.

We are living in a nightmare scenario, where the terrible circumstances that exist could get worse, much worse.

Justin Amash And Howard Schultz The Potential Spoilers In 2020 Presidential Election

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In the midst of the battle for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2020, one can lose sight of the reality that a third party or independent candidate could affect the election result, as it did in 2016.

Third parties and independent candidacies for President have played a role in past elections, and the death last week of Independent and Reform Party Presidential candidate H. Ross Perot brings that to mind.

Presently, we have two potential spoilers–Michigan Republican Congressman Justin Amash, who might run as the Libertarian Party nominee against Donald Trump; and billionaire businessman Howard Schultz of Starbucks fame, who might run as an independent nominee, and harm the Democratic Presidential candidate.

Either or both could draw millions of votes, as Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Jill Stein of the Green Party did in 2016, when Johnson gained 4.5 million votes and Stein gained 1.5 million votes. Additionally, Evan McMullin of Utah, who ran as an Independent, gained about nearly three quarters of a million votes. So together, these three non major party nominees gained a total of about 6.75 million votes , about 5 percent of the total popular votes cast.

Ralph Nader and Patrick Buchanan had played roles in the 2000 Presidential election, as Ross Perot did in 1992 and 1996. And John Anderson was a factor in 1980, as George Wallace was in 1968.

Whether Amash and or Schultz will be a major factor in 2020, and draw millions of votes, is a center of speculation in the summer of 2019!