Will The Supreme Court Leak Matter Come November?

It’s a question that will get you a million different answers depending on whom you ask. If you talk to Democrats, it’s the issue that they’ve been waiting for. If you talk to Republicans, it’s no big deal because there are a million other issues that are more prevalent. Will it matter at all?

I am not sure at this point. First of all, if the Supreme Court never had this leak, would it had changed the outcome next month? Doubtful. If they are going to find that the whole national abortion strategy should be a states’ rights issue, it wouldn’t matter if it came out in April, May, or June. When it comes out, regardless the outcome, it will have some impact, for sure.

Is it going to be the calm of the “big red storm” everybody has been predicting? Nope. Sorry, but there are just as many people that feel that abortion shouldn’t be legal and those that feel it should. It’s about as evenly divided as can be in this country. The last poll I saw said 51% said the Supreme Court should not overturn Roe. 49% said they should. That’s not what I would call enough to be the number one issue in an election.

When you look at inflation, supply chain problems, immigration out of control, crime in the streets, a looming recession, and a Congress that can’t get anything done, even though the Democrats control both houses of it, those are issues that matter more to people than abortion. And, even quite a few Democrats (Ruth Bader Ginsburg among them) have said that the logic behind Roe passing muster in 1973 was flawed beyond belief. Justices totally bypassed the 10th Amendment to get to the14th Amendment in finding a way to get it done.

Is this going to tip the balance of power in Congress? Nope. I know Dems are out there fundraising right now trying to tell people that “women’s health” is becoming the number one issue in the country. It hasn’t been for decades, and it won’t be this time around either. I don’t care what side of the abortion issue you’re on, there just aren’t going to be enough people fighting for it to really care and really make a difference. The Supreme Court, if indeed the leaked decision stands, is just correcting a mistake that it made some fifty years ago. I’m surprised actually, that it took this long to get it done.

I still think there is going to be somewhat of a red wave this November. This was a shock to Democrats, but only because they lost and they weren’t thinking they were going to lose. There is nothing that they can do at this point to right that ship because it’s sailed. Packing the court isn’t going to do it because a) there isn’t time and b) even if they got it through both houses of Congress, and got Biden to sign it into law, the blowback from the American people would be vicious. Deciding that the Justices should have term limits of some sort, works a little better in the minds of the public, but then the call for Congress to have term limits will be front and center and that’s something they don’t want to come within a hundred miles of.

And of course, you’ve got conservatives on both parties that are fundraising as well, saying that if Democrats succeed in keeping Congress, it pushes the US further and further to the left and the Supreme Court will be “punished” for what it did to abortion.

Breathe deep and don’t worry. November will be here soon enough!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Dems’ Increase Call For Filibuster Removal

The apparent overturning of a key Supreme Court case from 50 years ago is fueling a blazing fire in the Senate and beyond. And while it’s got something to do with Roe v. Wade being potentially overturned, it has more to do with the filibuster in the Senate staying or being removed.

First of all, a quick reminder. The filibuster has been in place since 1806. It wasn’t a part of the Founding Fathers’ original design of the government. But early lawmakers realized that the makeup of the Senate was markedly different from that of the House. So, they created a way to slow things down and deliberate the ideas a little longer. They created the filibuster, which basically said that anyone can stand on the Senate floor and talk for as long as they want. If, by chance, they talked until a quorum wasn’t available, then the topic they were debating would be called for a vote, and it would die for lack of a quorum. It was rarely used and made headlines when it was used for the first 200 years or so. Then in the 1970’s the rules were simplified. Instead of having a Senator speak for 24 hours (which is still available today), if a filibuster was threatened, they’d just move on to other business. Nowadays, if a bill doesn’t have 60 votes, they don’t even try to get it passed unless they want to show the world who is voting for and against something.

OK, with that in mind, the Democrats are calling for a filibuster removal so that they can “codify Roe v. Wade” in law. That means they would pass a federal law that would make sure that abortion was legal in all 50 states. However, according to what I’ve read in the leaked ruling that is coming out next month, that probably wouldn’t fly either. It wasn’t the legality of abortions that was in question in the Mississippi case the court was hearing. It was more of a states’ rights issue. It sounded like abortion could still be legal where you live if your state decided it to be a good thing. Therefore, if the federal government decided to “codify” the law, it would still violate the 10th Amendment, and would most likely end up back in the Supreme Court, where it would get batted down.

But what the Democrats fail to understand is that the filibuster move may hurt them more than it helps them. Filibusters help the minority party, and hurt the majority party. And while a filibuster in codifying Roe would in the short term, help the Democrats, in the long run it will kill them. If they were to lose control of the Senate in November, starting next January, they wouldn’t have any filibuster in place to protect them against anything the Republicans wanted to do. It would be what I call the “Harry Reid fiasco” all over again.

Reid went nuclear when he couldn’t get Bobo Obama’s federal judge picks confirmed, so rather than tell Bobo to get somebody less socialist, he did away with the need for 60 votes for all presidential appointees except Supreme Court Justices. That helped out Obama, but it also helped Republicans more. When they got into power, they expanded the Reid fiasco to include the Supreme Court nominees. And that’s how we got a 6-3 conservative court. Had Reid never pulled that trigger, the high court would be a LOT less conservative.

The word to Democrats is caution. Be careful what you wish for today, because as we’ve seen in the past, it can bite you in the butt tomorrow!

Carry on world….you’re dismissed!

Can The Senate Pass Anything?

Of course they can. The problem is the Democrats that run the Senate have learned over the last year that they have been doing it all wrong. I think they’re starting to realize that.

The Senate is supposed to be a deliberative body. They are the part of Congress that doesn’t rush into things. Hence, the filibuster. Hence the fact that it takes so many votes (60) to cut off debate. And the current rulers of the Senate seemed to forget that even when you have the Vice President there breaking tie votes in a 50/50 Senate, you’re going to need to work across the aisle. That’s something the Democrats have been unwilling to do this past 16 months.

They’re learning they need to do that or they are going to continue running into brick walls. The Dems are realizing very quickly they really haven’t done much of anything since taking over with a 50/50 split. Reconciliation is in limbo because most of what the Dems want to pass, immigration reform, election reform, and climate change legislation isn’t going to fly with the folks sitting across the aisle with them. And unlike in the House, where Pelosi can ram it down the Republican’s throats, Chuckles Schumer can’t do that. Or at least it’s starting to look like he’s learning that lesson.

Democrats need to pass what they feel is real legislation with teeth. The bad thing for them is the Republicans have been solidly in opposition because Democrats don’t want to include the GOP in any discussions. And then you’ve got the likes of Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema that have come out against a few of the signature Biden bills, and oops. Nothing gets done. They don’t even have the votes to pass the easiest bills by themselves.

Democrats need to learn that they can’t just ram the bills through like they do in the House. They need to negotiate. They need to compromise. They need to realize that what passes in the House isn’t going to pass in the Senate. Either they reach a compromise and get half a loaf, or they’ll go hungry. They haven’t realized this so far, and it’s a little late in the game to want to change strategies. I mean, it’s May! They’ve got about six months before the midterms. And they’ve got all the recesses and holidays ahead of them to force them into a corner.

The question is, can the Democrats convince upwards of 12 Republicans to switch their tune? Of course they can get Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Mitt Romney, the three biggest RINO’s in the party to switch. That’s not the problem. With Manchin and Sinema voting with Republicans on a lot of the key issues, where are the other nine votes coming from? The answer is, they ain’t coming unless you compromise and get rid of stuff. You’re going to have to come up with a way to shut down the illegals pouring into the country. You’re going to have to shut down mail-in ballots that magically appear two days after all the votes have been counted. You’re going to have to realize that Green New Deal and climate change legislation is pretty much a non-starter.

And my answer is, I have no faith in the Democrats who have wanted to rule with an iron fist to be able to do any of that. They enjoy swinging the hammer. And it’s going to get them one thing. A seat on the back bench where they can sit quietly or bitch to the heavens that life just isn’t fair. The thing to remember is, they brought it on themselves.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Is “Build Back Better” Dead?

Nope. Not in the least. At least that’s the way several Democrats in the Senate are playing it today. You’ll remember that back in December, Joe Manchin (D-WV) was the one that killed the $2 trillion tax and spend bill that would have brought glee to most Dems. Not so with Manchin. And with a 50/50 split in the Senate, even if they called this a “reconciliation” bill, they couldn’t pass it on their own without Manchin.

There have been talks between Manchin and Senate Majority Leader, Chuckles Schumer (D-NY) to try and find some common ground that would and could pass the Senate. The two met at length this past Tuesday, and this is reportedly what came out of the meeting.

Manchin said he would be voting FOR a new Build Back Better plan if it did two things. First it had to control inflation, which is running as high as it has in the last 40 years. Second, it has to bring down the federal deficit. Manchin, sounding more like a Republican than a Democrat here, said that he would indeed be willing to increase the corporate tax levels to 25% (it’s currently 21%), and would raise the capital gains tax to 28% (currently 20%). He also wants to see the loopholes closed so “that everyone pays their fair share in taxes”.

Now comes the kicker that might kill any chance of it passing. Manchin said that if all of that was done, half of the revenue would have to go toward deficit reduction and couldn’t be used to spend on new social programs like Green New Deal. That will most likely be the sticking point.

I don’t think that anyone in the Democrat party is going to be upset with a tax increase on either corporations or capital gains. And certainly not one that closes loopholes. What they will go absolute bat-crazy about is the half of revenue generated will be going to offsetting the deficit. Democrats don’t seem to think that a deficit is that important of a deal. Oh, they screamed a little bit about it when Donald Trump was president, but that was only because it was Trump in the White House spending the money. Had it been Bobo Obama, or Joe Biden, they would have gleefully approved the spending.

If Manchin sticks to his guns on this one, I can’t see any real compromise that gets the likes of a Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to jump on board. They interviewed Dick Durbin (D-IL) about the meeting, and while most Dems are tight lipped about what went on, or just plain don’t know, Durbin said he was the “most skeptical” that a deal could be reached. What is most telling is the fact that Republicans are opposed to any corporate or capital gains tax increase, and joining them on the “no” side is Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema. That means that without a Republican joining the Dems, even Manchin’s best wishes won’t come to fruition!

Remember, if the Democrats lose one seat to Republicans in the midterm elections, they lose the chance to pass any of this stuff come next year. That’s why I think you’re going to see a major push over the summer and early fall (a rarity during a campaign year) to pass as much of Biden’s programs as they possibly can. They know the handwriting on the wall and can see that their chances of getting anything else done between now and next January is the only way that happens.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Is It A Big Deal Harris Gets COVID?

If you’re like me, you probably chuckled when you heard the news that the Second Cackler had gotten COVID. After all of the protocols that have been put in place to see that these VIP’s in our government stay healthy, Vice President K-baby Harris came down with it anyway. Why? Well, she will probably tell you it wasn’t because she wasn’t wearing a mask! Now, having said all that, I certainly don’t wish that anyone, on either side of the political spectrum catch this disease. The good news for Harris is that she’s not showing any symptoms. She had been scheduled to receive the Tuesday morning President’s Daily Brief, but after the test, she went home where she’s self-isolating.

So, is it a big deal that Harris got COVID?

In short, yes. For Democrats, it’s a huge deal. K-baby Harris is the tie-breaking vote in the Senate. They basically have their entire week screwed up for this week and probably next week because they can’t get anything passed.

What is probably just as upsetting to Majority Leader Chuckles Schumer is the fact that both Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Chris Murphy (D-CT) have tested positive for the virus. That means that there are only going to be at most 48 Democrats in the chamber, and no Vice President to break a tie should a couple of Republicans like Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney decide to jump ship and join them. Basically, until all of these folks get back to work, the Senate is basically in limbo.

Scheduled to come before the Senate was the nomination of Lisa Cook to sit on the Federal Reserve Board, and Alvaro Bedoya to join the Federal Trade Commission. Cook’s vote will most likely take place and fail, though Bedoya’s vote will take place later. But if the GOP also objects to moving Bedoya’s vote, that could also fail. Other than those two nominations, there really isn’t anything super pressing for Democrats. All it is going to do is compact the already tight time line they have to get things done before the November election when you figure in all of the recesses and breaks they take.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

What Is Going To Be Democrats’ REAL Problem In November?

I think we’ve all been conditioned by both the mainstream snowflake media and the less biased, regular media to the fact that the Republicans are poised to take over the House of Representatives in the fall. I’ve seen figures ranging from a ten seat majority upwards to a sixty seat majority! No one, not even Nancy Pelosi herself questions that fall from grace that is about to be bestowed on the Dems. Meanwhile, over in the Senate, you’ve got an equally tenuous situation, where the Republicans and Democrats are tied at 50/50, with K-baby Harris acting as the Democrats only shield in votes…that is when Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema don’t screw up the process for them!

So, what is the real problem Democrats are going to be facing in both sides of Congress this year? It’s simple. It’s over-promising. And yes…you can most likely blame Joe Biden for that. Think back to the 2020 campaign, and Biden was making promise after promise. He was going to do away with student loan debt (before he decided to limit it to $10,000). He was going to rejoin the Paris Accords, which he did, and usher in a Green New Deal of sorts (which he didn’t do). He was going to reopen the Iranian Nuclear Arms Deal that his old boss, Bobo Obama claimed as him legacy item in foreign policy. And he was going to bring Americans together in a way that Donald Trump never was able to do. He was going to work across the aisle. He was going to solve the COVID problem, because while he touted that Trump didn’t have a plan, he did.

It was that over-promising that has gotten the Dems in trouble. The voters wanted to see voting rights reform, immigration reform, and to do away with the filibuster in the Senate. They wanted to see some sort of Build Back Better plan, which was DOA in the Senate.

Biden promised the world to voters. He delivered a few things, such as the $1.4 trillion infrastructure bill. He was finally able to deliver Stimulus 3.0 to the tune of $1,400 (not the $2,000 he promised), only two months late. But as far as the other stuff? Nope. Hasn’t come close.

So, those in the House and the Senate that are running for reelection are going to have to ask their Congressmen and women, and their Senators why it is, with Democrat majorities in both houses of Congress, so little actually got done to help the American people? Instead, they printed money so fast and furious that inflation soared to 8.7% so far this year and only has signs of going up. You and I are paying more for groceries, and gasoline than we ever have in history. And, we are still dealing with hundreds of ships sitting off the coast of California, because our supply chain problems are still with us.

Not only that, but we have about ten million open jobs, and no one to fill them. We’ve coddled so many people with so many extended unemployment checks, and universal income child care checks that those folks would rather stay at home, sit on the couch and watch Dr. Phil than actually be a productive member of society.

Over-promising is fine, if you can deliver. So far, in the minds of the voters, what mattered in 2020 hasn’t been delivered, and we’ve got new problems that no one seems to be addressing. THAT is why the Democrats are going to lose come November. And truth be told, I’m not sure a Republican Congress can do any more to right the ship. May they can just bail the water a little faster.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Is It Possible For Dems To Salvage Congress?

Well, anything is possible. But in the long and short of it, it’s going to be, as we say in golfing vernacular, a very long putt. Congress needs to do several things in order to stay in Democrats’ hands, and it won’t be easy.

First and foremost, everyone running this election cycle needs to distance themselves as far away from Joe Biden as they possibly can. That’s priority one. Biden is political poison. I would be exceptionally surprised to the point of a heart attack if anyone currently in Congress asks Biden to campaign for them. The latest polling shows Biden with a 33% approval rating, and what’s worse is his rating with independent voters is now at 26%. Those numbers are the lowest in history. The longer he stays below 40%, the less chance he has of doing anything.

The second thing Democrats in Congress need to do is pick a side. Either they are going mainstream liberal Democrat, or they are going socialist. They have spent the last two years waffling and fighting each other, rather than the Republicans. That’s first of all not a good message to send to voters, and second, it’s terrible for the economy. It’s a well-known fact that Democrats love to spend money and don’t care about deficits. That doesn’t play very well when you are looking at the highest inflation levels since Jimmy Carter’s recession at the end of the 1970’s.

The last thing the Democrats need more than anything really, is to understand that their way of governing just doesn’t work. They cannot reverse their current course by continuing to pass social spending programs that the country simply cannot afford. Now, I’m not going to blame the entire federal debt on Dems, Republicans have also been more than a little guilty of bloating our debt. But the Democrats relish it. It’s their belief that if they spend enough money on the lower and middle classes, those folks will automatically vote for them. They are learning early through all of the polls that’s just not the case. When Mom & Pop American can’t afford to put food on the table, clothes on their kids’ backs, and take them to the doctor’s office when they are sick, they aren’t going to be happy. The old adage, “America votes with it’s pocketbook” is certainly going to prove out to be true in November.

And there you have it. Three simple, yet highly unattainable steps that Democrats need to maintain control of the Congress, and allow Joe Biden (or whomever is handling him) to govern and spend money like the drunken sailor he appears to be.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Is Trump Still Strong?

Now if you listen to Donald Trump, he’s stronger than ever, and ready for a fight in 2024. Oh, he hasn’t said he was running yet, but he’s toyed at the idea, certainly. But we’re going to find out the answer as to whether or not he’s strong enough politically to go for the White House for a second term all within the next month or so.

This past week Trump endorsed J.D. Vance for the Senate primary in the state of Ohio. The last poll in that race, taken by the Trafalgar Group was released this past Friday. It showed Josh Mandel still in the lead with 28%, but Vance has climbed to 23%. The primary is on May 3rd, some two weeks away.

That’s not the only Trump endorsement that is in the news. He also has given the nod to Mehmet Oz running for the Senate in Pennsylvania, and Ted Budd running for the Senate in North Carolina. In Pennsylvania, Oz has a three point lead over Dave McCormick, and is best known not for being a Friend of Donald, but for being “Dr. Oz” on TV. Budd is currently up by 10 points over former Governor, Pat McCrory in North Carolina. Pennsylvania and North Carolina both have their primary on May 17th.

And there are rumored to be more Trump endorsements coming. It’s rumored that Missouri and Arizona will be receiving a Trump nod, which should be interesting here in the Grand Canyon State, because there are five Republicans vying to unseat freshman Senator Mark Kelly. The best known is Attorney General Mark Brnovich. Also running is the head of the Arizona Department of Energy Management, Mick McGuire; Depcon Power Executive, Jim Lamon; Blake Masters, an ally of billionaire Peter Thiel; and Justin Olson who is serving on the Arizona Corporation Commission.

In Missouri, eight Republicans are running, three of whom are in the 20’s as far as their percentage. A Trump endorsement may put one of the three over the top. Whomever is nominated from the GOP will start out with about a 5-8% edge of the Democrats in the General Election.

The whole thing boils down to the fact if Trump gets more than half of his endorsements sent through the primary, it should signal, he’s still a force to be reckoned with in the GOP. If he can’t do that, it may make a severe statement as to his electability come 2024. We’ll have to wait and see. Should be an interesting month!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Does Ketanji Brown Jackson Deserve A Supreme Court Appointment?

Now, this is going to upset some of you. I get that. But if you look at the whole nomination process of a Supreme Court Justice, you need to realize something. According to the Constitution, which is really the only thing that matters in cases like this, the President of the United States, as part of his duties gets to nominate whomever he feels is appropriate for the Supreme Court. And the United States Senate, with it’s supposed deliberative character, is supposed to vet that choice with “consent”. That has come to mean holding hearings, and holding a vote on the President’s choice.

And just as Democrats screamed bloody murder with Donald Trump’s three appointments to the high court, with Neil Gorsuch being confirmed after a struggle, Brett Kavanaugh having to face all sorts of sexual abuse charges that were totally false, and Amy Coney Barrett that the Dems said shouldn’t have been appointed at all, because it was just a couple of months away from a presidential election, Republicans are kinda/sorta doing the same thing with Jackson.

And they are no more correct for doing it than the Democrats were for opposing Trump’s nominees.

Look, I think Ketanji Brown Jackson is not a good choice. She’s far too liberal. She believes in things that I have no idea where they came from, but it certainly wasn’t the Constitution. And she is going to try and spread that liberal gobledegook to the rest of the court. But does that mean she’s not qualified to be a Supreme Court Justice? No.

I would much rather have seen someone more moderate get appointed to the high court bench. And I’m sure Democrats would have loved to have seen Jackson get nominated in place of Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But that’s not their choice. And it’s not my choice, or Republicans’ choice with Jackson. It’s Joe Biden’s choice. And as addle-minded and fraught with ineptitude as the man is, he is the president, and he does get to name someone.

I said early on in this battle that it doesn’t really matter what the Republicans say or do in this matter as long as people like Kirsten Sinema and Joe Manchin go along with it, and K-baby Harris is there to break the tie, it will most likely happen. And while Jackson didn’t score any points with me during her confirmation hearings, she didn’t necessarily give the Senate a reason not to vote for her either. Ideology aside, she didn’t come across as a law breaker, a felon, or a rapist. No, I don’t like her stances on several issues, but again, not my fight…and not the Republicans fight.

If the GOP Senators want to vote against her, that is certainly their prerogative. But it’s still Biden’s choice. And to do to her, what the Democrats did to Robert Bork back in the day, knocking an extremely intelligent jurist from the high court simply because of ideology is totally wrong.

The thing that is at the very least comforting is, Jackson will be replacing an almost equally liberal Justice. At least it’s not like Barrett replacing RBG!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Does Thomas Need To Recuse?

Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas has had a lot of calls, mainly from Democrats, that when it comes to anything to do with the January 6th attack on the Capitol, he needs to recuse himself. Now, before we get into this, let’s realize that Thomas has sat on the high court bench for some 30 years. He has NEVER recused himself, nor has there been a reason to.

But the Dems say this is different.

They say because Thomas’ wife, Ginni pushed to overturn the 2020 election and said that it was stolen because of voter fraud, Thomas needs to recuse himself. This is so far out of mainstream thought, it’s surprising that anyone on the left would even dream of going there.

First of all, let’s understand why you recuse yourself in the first place. It’s because you have what’s known as “a conflict of interest”. That is defined as “a situation in which a person is in a position to derive personal benefit from actions or decisions made in their official capacity.” So, let’s ask ourselves a question. Does the fact that Ginni Thomas sought to overturn the 2020 election, and believes that the election was stolen put Clarence Thomas into a position where he can derive personal benefit from actions or decisions made as a Supreme Court Justice?

I think the answer is no. If you’re going to say that because a spouse’s comments causes a conflict of interest for the spouse that holds a position of power, then it would stand to reason that Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi’s husband, has put Nancy into a conflict situation because of his trading stocks and options, right? I mean, I don’t know what personal benefit Thomas would derive from his wife’s spouting off about an election. But I can tell you I certainly know what personal benefit Nancy would derive from her husband making hundreds of millions on stock trades, especially if she told him insider trading information on certain stocks. THAT would be an open and shut case of conflict of interest.

Just because your spouse has a position in government does not mean that you cannot express an opinion. Nowhere does it say that you give up YOUR First Amendment right of Freedom of Speech, just because your spouse is in a position of power. That’s not to say that it was a prudent or smart thing to do. That’s a different animal altogether. But is it conflict of interest? Nope. No way.

I know many couples that have much different views on politics. Hell, look at James Carville and Mary Matalin. Those two have totally opposite views when it comes to politics. If you were to apply the liberal thinking that they are trying to apply to Thomas to Matalin and Carville, they’d never say a word!

Chuckles Schumer, who called on Thomas to recuse himself needs to understand something that isn’t even in first year law. It’s beneath it. It’s something so basic that a third grader can read the definition and decide that there isn’t any conflict of interest here. And that, my friends, is the ONLY reason Clarence Thomas would need to recuse himself over any issue!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!