Sunday, January 12, 2025
Honestly, Judge Merchan Wimped Out
Appearing virtually in a New York Courtroom, he received his sentence for the 34 convictions he received last spring for the business fraud committed when he sent hush money to Stormy Daniels while he was a Presidential Candidate in 2016.
Mr. Trump will be inaugurated on January 20, 2025, as the first President to ever be a convicted felon.
He already has the dubious distinction of being the first twice impeached President to be re-elected and the one ranked dead last on his first term Oval Office performance by the nation's historians.
What a sad commentary on people's amnesia on the Trump years that they voted for a return to this.
The Judge, Juan Merchan, opted not to sentence Mr. Trump to any jail time or impose any fines. This is known in New York Judicial Circles as Unconditional Discharge which labels the defendant a felon but does not penalize him.
Personally, Judge Merchan, maybe because he feared more threats toward him and his family, wimped out.
If Trump's subordinates like Michael Cohen can receive criminal sentences for their part in this transgression, the person at the top who helped perpetrate these felonies should have received some punishment.
While jail time was obviously not feasible given Trump becoming President in the next nine days, Merchan could have imposed a multimillion-dollar fine on him, demonstrating that indeed, no one is above the law.
Trump and his lawyers are going to appeal these convictions anyway so why the Judge decided not to hand down some fine is mystifying and sends the wrong message to the American People, including those who wrongly feel Trump did nothing wrong in the first place.
Bad decisions all around.
"You Don't Know What You Got Until it's Gone:" Bidenomics Finishes With 48 Straight Months of Job Growth
From Facebook.
This is for all the low information and historically illiterate voters who felt a failed and convicted President who presided over, thanks in part to his mismanagement of the Coronavirus, a net job loss (2.7 million) in his first term is better for the economy than the current White House occupant or his Vice President.
President Joe Biden, whose economic slogan of Bidenomics-to expand the middle class and lift working families up, will finish with positive job growth in every full month of his Presidency.
The December 2024 Jobs report saw the unemployment rate drop to 4.1 percent and 256,000 new jobs created.
Currently, the Biden/Harris Administration can boast that 16.6 million jobs have been created during their time in office.
Once upon a time, before the days of misinformation and yes, gross obtuseness and gullibility from millions of Americans, these numbers would have warranted a re-election landslide.
Issuing a White House Statement, President Biden said:
"With today’s report of 256,000 new jobs in December, we have created over 16.6 million jobs over the course of my administration and this is the only administration in history to have created jobs every single month. Although I inherited the worst economic crisis in decades with unemployment above 6% when I took office, we’ve had the lowest average unemployment rate of any administration in 50 years with unemployment at 4.1% as I leave. Although forecasts were projecting it would take years to achieve a full recovery, we have had the strongest growth and employment creation of any advanced country, brought inflation back down, and achieved the soft landing that few thought was possible. My administration has achieved record-high employment rates for working-age women and the lowest black-white unemployment gap on record. Incomes are up almost $4,000 more than prices."
"There is more to do to lower costs, but we’ve taken action to lower prescription drug prices, health insurance premiums, utility bills, and gas prices that will pay dividends for years to come. This has been a hard-fought recovery, but we’ve made progress for working families, showing what can be accomplished when we build from the middle out and bottom up."
Vice President Kamala Harris posted on social media:
For those who have not paid attention to President Biden's comments on the economy over the last four years, he has always acknowledged the squeeze the American People were feeling.
He always proposed programs that would make life better for all Americans.
In many ways he delivered. A second term, either with Biden or Harris at the top, would have likely continued that same forward thrust for the American People and the country.
Unfortunately, a slightly larger plurality of voters in the last November elections forgot history, ignored reality, and were once again suckered to support a snake oil salesman-huckster who almost destroyed the country the last time he was in the Oval Office.
Those Americans who voted for Biden/Harris in 2020 and sat home and those who amazingly switched their vote to Trump/Vance despite the facts and the records are about to experience the Joni Mitchell quote:
"You don't know what you got until it's gone."
Please watch President Biden's comments about the December Jobs Report and other topics. Do you think the other guy can speak in factual complete sentences like this?
Congressional Democrats Need to Present an Alternative Legislative Agenda to the Country
Photo from the Arizona Department of Economic Security
Shortly after the November elections, I presented an article calling for Democrats to articulate a pragmatic progressive program that would move the country forward and lift working and middle-class Americans up.
Borrowing the phrase "A Better Deal," the policy proposals included many ideas that the Biden/Harris Administration proposed in their original Build Back Better Agenda that were left out when the final version of the Inflation Reduction Agenda passed.
In the article, I remarked that perhaps the one error the Biden/Harris and later the Harris/Walz Campaign made in the last campaign was putting forth a more robust progressive program followed up by saying on the trail:
"We know things have been difficult since the Pandemic and we know there is still more to do to help lower costs and allow you to achieve the American Dream. During the first four years, we passed legislation that turned the tide on the Coronavirus and helped rebuild America, providing many good-paying jobs, especially blue and green-collar ones. We know our work for the American People is not done and if you give us four more years and more Democrats in the House and Senate, we will do this to help you live a better life and help achieve the American Dream."
In states like Arizona, Democratic Leaders Priya Sundareshan and Oscar De Los Santos have presented their ideas for how to lower costs and make lives better for Arizonans.
Democrats in Congress and on the national stage need to offer that pragmatic progressive program today even though they did not prevail in November.
With Donald Trump coming into office with slim majorities in Congress, promising retribution, advancing policies that hearken back to America's Plutocratic Gilded Age and Manifest Destiny/Imperial Empire, and a domestic program already plagued by broken promises to lower prices and no real solutions to help lift up Working and Middle-Class Families.
Earlier today (January 8, 2025) when House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries was asked about Mr. Trump's insane comments about renaming the Gulf of Mexico, taking over the Panama Canal, Greenland (at the expense of Denmark, a N.A.T.O. ally,) and Canada (a sentiment frighteningly shared by several Congressional Republicans,) he responded:
"House Democrats believe we are not sent to Washington to invade Greenland, rename the Gulf of Mexico, or seize the Panama Canal by force. We were sent to Washington to lower the high costs of living in the United States of America. America is too expensive for working-class families and middle-class folks all across the country. That should be our mission and that's what we're going to focus on over the next few years."
Democrats need to offer their own solutions to lower costs for Americans.
These should include:
- Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit.
- Expanding the Child Tax Credit.
- Providing subsidies-tax credits for child care.
- Providing free breakfasts and lunches in the nation's public schools.
- Expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program.
- Providing additional subsidies for people applying to the Obamacare/Affordable Health Care Marketplaces.
- Universal Full Day Pre-School and Kindergarten.
- Free Community College with increased opportunities for paid apprenticeships in blue and green-collar professions.
- An increase in the Federal Minimum Wage.
- Increased tax credits to buy a home.
- Expanding Medicare to include dental, vision, and home care.
- Tax cuts on tips.
- Student Loan forgiveness for individuals in blue and green-collar professions.
These programs can be paid for by not renewing the 2017 Trump tax cuts for the rich.
Democrats need to offer this compelling alternative to the American People.
History has shown that trickle-down economics, from Reagan to Bush II to Trump only works for one group: the wealthy. Everyone else suffers and the nation's fiscal ledger always bleeds more red when these tax policies are enacted.
Democrats should put forth a pragmatic progressive agenda like the one mentioned above that is fully paid for and fiscally responsible.
History has proven that these programs, like other investments like Head Start, Pell Grants, and Research and Development Tax Credits, do benefit the country and the people.
Democrats should also take the lead in reminding people that they are the ones for fiscal discipline, smart government, law and order, and immigration reform.
Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden are the last three Presidents who have presided over budgets that have reduced annual deficits.
Clinton left office with a fiscal surplus that Bush II and his Republican allies squandered on tax cuts for the rich and two misguided wars that blew up the nation's debt.
Not one Republican President since Ronald Reagan can make the claim that they were trustworthy fiscal stewards.
Remember the Republican's Incoming President is a convicted felon, adjudicated sex offender, and an enabler of a Domestic Terrorist attack on the Nation's Capitol that injured over 100 law enforcement personnel.
Most Republicans also voted against the American Rescue Plan which included funding for local police forces.
Nothing law and order about the Republican Party these days.
Also, remember that it was the Democrats that have advanced bipartisan immigration reform and border security which MAGA-type Republicans have repeatedly obstructed since 2004.
For Republicans to say that they are the party of the people, fiscal discipline, law and order, and strong borders are four of the biggest lies in recent political history.
Commenting on what Democrats should consider, Third Way Senior Communications Director Kate deGruyter offered:
"It’s clear that voters are deeply frustrated with the status quo and hungry for change. Too many associated Democrats with more of the same and enough were willing to back Trump, who they thought represented more change. We have supported the child tax credit, for example. But there is more work to be done on an economic message that resonates broadly with Americans frustrated by high prices and a sense that Washington is out of touch with their struggles. We also believe that there is a space for Democrats to recognize the need to embrace fiscal responsibility and smart government reform as tax policy takes center stage under the Trump Administration.
Interest on the debt already exceeds spending on children and Medicaid spending and it is likely to exceed all defense discretionary spending by 2027. A nation that spends more on past obligations and older generations than it does on future-oriented spending on children and investment is not positioned to lead a new generation. Our Economic team noted in a paper last year that if the enhanced child tax credit returned, it would only increase children’s share of the federal budget by about one percentage point. And the challenges facing the party on Social Security are real and the fixes are not simple.
Undoubtedly, as we discussed, Democrats will need to be mindful of policies that will be meaningful to workers without degrees, who significantly outnumber Americans with college degrees. With that said, we aren’t at a point yet where we are weighing in on individual policy proposals you outlined in the two emails. We discussed some broad ideas, like standing for order at the border and emphasizing accountability alongside prevention in public safety."
Democrats need to better engage with the people in as many media venues and get out the message that they are the ones that are out for them and the country.
Do not give the perp
With the Nominations of Hegseth, Gabbard, Patel, and Noem, Trump Threatens America's Security
From Pew Research Center.
Next week, the Senate will start confirmation hearings for President-Elect Donald Trump's cabinet nominees.
The American People need to pay attention to all of them, especially the ones for Secretary of Defense (Pete Hegseth,) National Intelligence Director (Tulsi Gabbard,) F.B.I. Director (Kash Patel,) and Secretary for Homeland Security (Kristi Noem.)
To be frank, none of these individuals is remotely qualified to lead the agency or department they have been nominated for.
Hegseth is a Fox television host with a history of alcoholism and multiple instances of adultery. However, he defended the insurrectionists who stormed the Nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021. That was probably good enough for Trump.
Gabbard is a known apologist for Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin and deposed Syrian Dictator Bashir Assad. But she supported Trump so that is okay.
Patel is a second-bench federal attorney and conspiracy theory fanatic with a list of Trump's enemies he would like to investigate. A member of my family who saw one of his headshot pictures, mistakenly thought he was the driver who attacked the people in New Orleans last month. Scary.
Noem is a landlocked Governor who has virtually no experience in dealing with Homeland Security matters but has had a relationship with Trump confidant Corey Lewandowski. She also danced with Trump at that weird campaign event when the candidate played his greatest musical hits rather than answer people's questions. So that makes her more than acceptable to the incoming American Duce and Felon in Chief.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the Al Qaeda attack on 9/11 occurred when the United States government was helmed by public servants in international relations and law enforcement who were well-qualified and regarded by their contemporaries at the time of those attacks.
Does anyone think these nominees are qualified to protect the country and the American People?
Does anyone really think that Hegseth and Gabbard are qualified to take that 3:00 a.m. crisis call with other members of the National Security Team?
Does anyone think that Patel will effectively run the F.B.I. and follow its core mission which includes investigating all forms of domestic terrorists, including the Anti Government and MAGA-supporting ones?
Does anyone think Noem will know the first thing about protecting the nation's ports and borders?
With these nominations, Donald Trump is opening the door for America's Enemies, both foreign and domestic, to act.
In essence, with these poor choices, he is compromising America's Security.
Contact your Senators. Tell them to vote against confirming these disastrous nominees.
Protect America.
Nothing good will come from letting these people take the posts they were nominated for.
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