T-Minus 10 And Counting…And Who Is To Blame?

If you’re watching anything to do with the debt ceiling debate, you know as well as I do that the negotiations aren’t going very well. Of course, that depends on who you are listening to. But in case you’ve been busy getting ready for Memorial Day weekend coming up, there are 10 days left before the debt ceiling issue causes a default of the government.

And who is to blame?

Well, again, that is going to depend on where you get your information. The White House is still blaming the House Republicans for passing a debt ceiling increase that included going back to the 2022 budget, and cutting $4.5 trillion dollars from the overall spending over the next 10 years. It would raise the debt ceiling $1.5 trillion or until March 31, 2023, whichever comes first. Democrats have poo-pooed that and said they want a “clean debt ceiling bill”, without any negotiations on cutting spending. That’s what Democrats do, after all.

So, as I sit here and look at this and figure out who’s to blame for this mess, there are three places to put the blame.

The first is squarely on Joe Biden. For a guy that said initially that he wouldn’t negotiate with Kevin McCarthy on anything that included a reduction in spending to go along with the debt ceiling increase, he once again, apparently has lied. Or changed his mind…or read the polls that said it would be his fault if we defaulted on the debt. Biden hasn’t come out publicly and said that he has negotiated anything, and neither necessarily has his team that’s meeting with the Republicans. We haven’t heard of him budging from his “clean bill” status. McCarthy has moved the needle some, saying that the GOP has come off of the 2022 budget and have increased spending somewhat more than that. He hasn’t said how much.

Most Americans blame the Democrats at this point because they don’t believe that Biden is negotiating in good faith. Usually, negotiations are a give and take. You aren’t going to get everything you want and neither is the other guy. And if Biden is sticking to his guns that there won’t be any spending reductions, he is at fault and there is no question there.

McCarthy is right that he isn’t going to be able to pass a clean bill through the House. And while most Americans will blame the Democrats on this one (until the media slams the GOP), you have to understand that the Republicans are also at fault here.

Yes, the debt ceiling and over-spending is traditionally a Democrat caused problem. After all, it was the Democrats that have increased the spending on the federal budget by 30% just through three programs, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. That said, it was their programs that have put us in the position where all three of those programs are going to have to face draconian cuts up the road. But the Republicans have gone along with it. And if you look at who has raised the debt ceiling the most, it’s been the Republicans. Donald Trump raised it twice. George HW Bush raised it four times, George W. Bush raised it seven times for a total of 13 times. Bobo Obama raised it seven times, and Bill Clinton four for a total of 11 times.

The problem here isn’t which party raises it the most, or who wants the “clean bill” passed. It’s that neither party wants to do anything substantive about it. What they need to do is pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that would not allow Congress to spend a nickel more than they have taken in from taxes and fees. As it stands now, the American people don’t have a clue how much Congress is really spending. If they saw it in the form of tax increases every time Congress spent more than they took in (kind of like an assessment given to members of clubs at the end of the year), there would be all sorts of hell to pay. A balanced budget amendment is the only way to go. States must balance their budgets. So must cities and municipalities. Why can’t the federal government do the same thing?

And it’s both parties that have balked at this. Neither has issued a strong effort to pass a balanced budget, even though they controlled both Houses of Congress. It needs to be done, and the sooner the better!

T-Minus 10 and counting…

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

So What’s The Solution?

The Republican controlled House of Representatives passed a fix to the immigration crisis on the southern border last week. The vote was pretty much along party lines, 219-213. And that means that the Republicans have put forth the only bill so far that would tackle the very sticky, very partisan issue of immigration. I have one question for Joe Biden.

Where is YOUR solution?

Wasn’t it Joe Biden that mocked Kevin McCarthy about the budget and the debt ceiling debacle? Didn’t he chide McCarthy for “not having a budget, not having a bill”? And then what happened? McCarthy went out, and wrote and passed a bill regarding the debt ceiling. It basically allowed the debt ceiling to increase $1.5 trillion in exchange for $4.5 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years. It never saw the light of day in the Senate, because Chuckles Schumer was against spending cuts. Biden himself said it was a non-starter and had it made it to his desk, he would have vetoed it. Yet, Biden continues to say that America can’t and never will default on it’s debts. So, following this logic, if given the opportunity to pass legislation, and present a bill to the president, you would assume that avoiding default would be the biggest issue the White House could face. It would seem to a logical person that you’d sign anything, even if you disagreed with it, as long as you avoided default. Wasn’t that what happened back in 2011?

And now, McCarthy has done it again. Democrats have been saying that they want the GOP to stop screaming about the “crisis at the border” and stop harassing Alejandro Mayorkas who still is trying to fool the world that a) our border is shut, and b) there is no crisis at the border. McCarthy’s bill stops all that. It basically keeps those wanting asylum in this country in Mexico until their hearing. It sets guidelines for what is and isn’t acceptable as far as asylum is concerned. And it floods the region with a bunch of new Border Patrol agents that can handle the mess without requiring years of psychological appointments to deal with the mental problems Joe Biden has caused.

So, what’s Biden’s solution?

The man has no solution. He says that there is going to be “chaos” at the border “for a while”, but has no idea what he intends to do with all of the illegals breaking through out southern border. He is probably better aware than you or I that these people aren’t going to show up for their immigration hearing, so why does he put it on them to turn themselves in to immigration officials once they are released into the country? Does he really think that any of them are going to keep a court date, or turn themselves in to ICE? If he believes that, there is a bridge a few miles to the northwest of me in Lake Havisu City I’d love to sell the president!

McCarthy’s solution isn’t a long term fix. It fixes what needs to be fixed because Title 42, which wasn’t really working anyway, went away. It is a band-aid, nothing more. What is really needed is a permanent overhaul of the immigration procedure. And it can’t be that you just show up at the border and cross over anywhere you can, and hope you can stay. Based on what I’ve seen, about 92% of the people crossing and claiming asylum, would be denied in a court of law. That’s according to a recent study from Pew.

And yet, we haven’t seen any legislation from Democrats in the Senate. Nancy Pelosi is still in the House, yet we haven’t heard anything from her as far as a solution to the problem. Joe Biden just turns and walks away when asked about it. He’s got his head in the sand. It’s the symbol of a guy that’s in way over his head and doesn’t know what to do about it. K-baby Harris has already demonstrated to the world that she’s nowhere near ready to assume any position of power. She can’t handle simple tasks without cackling like a wet hen.

And so, we have yet another mess on our hands caused by the inability of the sitting president to actually do the job he was elected to do. Work across the aisle to bring America together? I’d be happy for him to show up to work and actually put a good solid day’s worth of work in once in a while!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

If I Were A Democrat…

If I were a Democrat, I’d be very worried about my party’s chances right about now. Oh, I know, we would have those tricks up our sleeves…those mail-in ballots that just seem to be dumped in a closet somewhere and not discovered until the election were really close and it looks like we might lose it. But when I sit back and try very hard with an unbiased eye to look at the state of affairs in our country today, I would be very worried if I were them.

And I don’t think it’s getting any better.

Just look at the polling, and that’s reason enough to be jittery. I know that polling today isn’t that credible because everyone lies to the pollsters. I mean, heck, I do. But when I look at the things America is telling one pollster who sends me their results all of the time, I’m wondering why in the world Democrats have any sort of hold on the country. Here’s just a sample:

Voters fear the US Government almost as much as they do foreign spies.

74% of us remain either very concerned or concerned about gasoline prices as we enter the summer driving season. I don’t know about where you are, but gas here in the desert is right at the $5 a gallon mark. And that 74% say that they support policies to increase US oil and gas production!

73% of us feel that Biden’s age is going to be a serious problem for Democrats in the 2024 election, including 49% that say it’s a “very serious problem”. Only 25% say it’s not a problem.

So, if I were a Democrat, I’d be worried that my party was on the wrong side of the bed with the rest of America. That doesn’t usually bode well for us to win elections.

Then I look at the presidential race. I see an 80-something old man that has no energy, no zip in his step, doesn’t hold news conferences, needs to have cheat sheets to tell him who to call on when he DOES talk to the press, and has, by accounts of major network and polling group surveys, the lowest presidential approval rating since they started taking the polls. And I worry that he’s not going to be able IF elected, to finish his second term, leaving us with a Vice President that is nothing more than a Chatty Cathy doll, with a very irritating laugh track.

I get worried when I see the storm brewing over Hunter Biden, and how it could pull the president into the mix. I wonder how we ever got to the point when the Democrats could be facing the worst scandal in US history, with a sitting president being accused of, and later proven to be involved in a bribery scandal. I wonder how Hunter Biden stays out of jail with over 80% of America feeling that he’s deserving of an orange jumpsuit.

I get worried when I sit and watch other Democrats worry about Biden’s abilities to govern, even today, and then do nothing about jumping in to save the party. I mean, yes, there’s Robert Kennedy Jr. He’s never held an elected office before. He’s an environmental attorney with an aversion to vaccines that failed the bar exam. He is a former heroin addict. He’s a terrible speaker, suffering from spasmodic dysphonia, a rare vocal box disease. And then we’ve got Marianne Williamson, one of the worst candidates next to K-baby Harris on the planet. Why hasn’t anyone else jumped in to save the party?

As a Democrat I worry about the left wing fringe of the party that seems to be taking it for a long ride down a very deep and dark rabbit hole. We’re doing things now that just don’t make any sense, and America knows it. Alvin Bragg indicting the former president for what? Sleeping with some porn star and then paying her off to keep quiet about it? What’s illegal about that? It seems to me that most of Washington would be guilty of that one. Wouldn’t Bragg be better serving his constituency if he cleaned up the rampant crime in New York City?

And those are just SOME of the things I would worry about…IF I were a Demcrat!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

How Biden Or The GOP Wins The Election In 2024

Joe Biden is in the race for reelection in 2024. He’s going to be facing a GOP challenger, which at the moment appears to be Donald Trump, in a rematch of 2020. Now, it’s not historical in the fact that there is a rematch for the presidency. It’s happened six other times throughout our nation’s history, the most recent being Dwight D. Eisenhower against Adlai Stevenson back in the 1956 election (they also met in 1952).

Donald Trump is currently leading the charge to be the Republican nominee. Now, the interesting thing here is that the country doesn’t want either Biden nor Trump to run. 73% according to the latest NBC News poll, say Biden shouldn’t run. Trump is nearly as bad with 70% saying they don’t want him to run. The reasons are obvious, but varied. People don’t want Biden to run again because he’s too old. They don’t want Trump to run again because he’s too controversial.

So, how does Biden win reelection?

He wins reelection IF he runs against Donald Trump. Put simply, he can do another hide-in-the-basement campaign, and unless there is something that turns the economy upside down between now and election day, or the Hunter Biden thing blows up and involves him, Biden will win reelection. There isn’t any way for Donald Trump to flip the five states that he lost in 2020 that cost him the election.

So how does the Republicans win the election?

If they nominate anybody but Donald Trump. Yes, I’ve seen the polls that have Trump beating Joe Biden by 7 points, and Ron DeSantis beats Biden by 8 points. But you know as well as I that this far out from election day, those polls don’t mean much at all. But let’s say for whatever reason, Trump doesn’t win the primary and doesn’t become the nominee. Let’s say for grins and giggles that Ron DeSantis does become the nominee. DeSantis doesn’t have the baggage that Trump has. He is more likely to flip Georgia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and even Nevada. If he does that, even if he does three of those states, he wins the election and puts Biden out of office.

The fact is that Trump is toxic right now to a lot of voters. Can you recall another time in our recent past when a candidate for president was actually toxic? How about 2016? Hillary Clinton had so much baggage with her that she couldn’t have won that race if Joe Kennedy had bought 40 states! It happens that way. And while Donald Trump did do some very good things while in office, he also didn’t do a lot of things he said he was going to do. How much of the wall was completed under Trump? If you’re talking walls and barriers where there were none before, that number is 15 miles. That’s it. If you’re talking about barriers that impede (but don’t stop) foot traffic and vehicular traffic, that number is 350 miles. That’s 350 miles of barriers over an area that is 1,954 miles long.

Trump also failed in rallying the world with his decision to pull out of the Iran Nuclear Deal, as bad of a deal as it was. Most of the world, certainly Europe would rather have better relations with Iran than what we would want. And the fact that Trump pulled out of the deal, which some say caused Iran to accelerate their nuclear program, caused a lot of consternation with western countries allied with the US.

Trump was going to “repeal and replace” Obamacare. That never happened, in part because Arizona Senator, John McCain voted against it, killing the chances of it happening. And, a lot of folks that are armchair quarterbacking the whole COVID thing say that while Trump did some things right, the whole mask thing, and closing of the schools was unnecessary. A lot of that had to do with the fact Trump placed a lot of faith in what Anthony Fauci had to say, most of which has been debunked now.

But if someone else were to run, and show America that they could have the ideals that Trump had as far as conservatism goes, and that they have better ideas and are more presidential, they will sweep to victory over someone that is seen as bumbling, stumbling, and antiquated in Joe Biden. And we haven’t even talked about K-baby Harris being on the ticket yet. That’s isn’t going to help Biden at all.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

The End Of Conservatism?

If I were to ask you to name where it is you go to get the honest to God up to date news on the Conservative movement in America, where would you point me? Fox News? Well, not much any more. They’ve lost quite a few folks in the ratings since the 2020 election, though they are still number one in cable news. What about newspapers? I’m just joking. That has as much sense as saying CNN, MSNBC, or the broadcast networks’ newscasts.

You’d probably point me to AM radio…which since Rush Limbaugh went national, has become a juggernaut that the left hasn’t figured out how to defeat…until now.

And now, AM radio is starting to look like it’s going to go the way of Limbaugh…and be a thing of the past.

It’s sad for me personally because I made my living on News/Talk radio, both as on-air host, and selling advertising on it. Rush Limbaugh made me a ton of money in my career! But I wince as I watch what is currently happening. The first AM station I worked at, a small market station in southeastern Michigan, has “gone dark”. It was purchased by the rival FM station in town, and they basically just shut it off. It was also the place that gave Phil Donahue his start (though he became a LOT more famous than I ever did!)

But Joe Biden’s love of electric cars may be the death of AM radio. And with it conservative talk. That’s because the auto makers that make those electric vehicles are saying that AM has some sort of interference with their cars’ engines, and the interference makes it almost impossible to listen to AM. So, Ford, Tesla, Volvo, BMW, Mazda, and Volkswagon have all said they are not going to include the AM band in their cars. That means no (or very little) News/Talk. It could actually be the death of talk radio. 73% of all radio listening these days is done in a car. And you should know that no medium can survive when three-fourths of it’s audience goes away. So, if EV’s catch on, either now or in the future, you can say goodbye to the oldest form of radio broadcasting…the AM band.

Now, the question becomes, is this part of a wider conspiracy the left has to once again, take over ALL of the media out there? Or is this just a problem that the engineers at these companies are too lazy to try and figure out? My initial feel is this is a concerted effort on behalf of the leftist socialists in this country to take away one of the most important vehicles of communications the conservatives have…the radio. Remember, Joesph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda under Adolf Hitler said, if you’re going to take over a country, you first need to control the media. And that’s EXACTLY what this does. Take away AM radio, and you take away talk radio, which liberals have tried to compete with since the 1990’s. They’ve failed every step of the way. It’s amazing to me that the one thing that could allow them a victory in this realm would be that carmakers decide that they can no longer put AM in their vehicles.

If you take away the News/Talk format from AM radio, where does it go? Some would trickle down to the FM band. There are a smattering of News/Talk stations on the FM dial these days, but it’s rare. I would assume most of it would be found right here, on the internet. I’ve said for years that the internet is going to be the one source for all of our information and entertainment in the future…until something else comes along (there’s always something else that comes along). And who controls the internet these days? Companies like Microsoft, Alphabet Google, Meta, and Twitter. Those aren’t exactly the most unbiased companies in this country, are they? And when they see that they can control the content of what goes out on the internet, as we’ve already seen, you’re going to get the liberalization of the internet like you’ve never seen before. You’re going to think the left taking over your kids’ education is just popcorn and peanut butter compared to the indoctrination you’re in for up the road.

There has to be something that conservatives can do to stop this, and the easiest thing is do not even consider buying an electric vehicle. History has proven that there are always bad ideas that companies throw big bucks into that end up being trashed before something better finally comes along and I think that is right where the EV’s in this country are. They aren’t a great idea, but if you’re trying to find alternative fuels, they seem to be a decent first step. And the easiest way to get away from this whole takeover happening is not to buy what they’re selling. It’s just that simple!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Proof Biden Lied? Or Hot Air?

House Oversight Chairman, James Comer (R-KY) lived up to his promise to “prove” that the Biden family is more of Biden Inc. He addressed the media yesterday and outlined what he says are bank records showing an incredible array of shell companies and bank transfers that ended up in the pocket of not only Hunter Biden and Joe Biden but seven other members of the Biden clan as well.

At least that’s the allegation.

The press conference by Comer suggested that they have the actual banking records that shows that millions of dollars from the Romanians, the Ukrainians, and the Chinese have made it’s way into Biden Inc. as a result of Joe Biden’s time in the White House through basically pay to play bribes. This was much like Hillary Clinton was accused of during her tenure at the State Department. There were a total of 15 companies that were formed by Hunter and his associates during the time Joe was VP, and that nine of the 15 were immediately shut down after the Obama’s left the White House.

Now, the question here is who do you want to believe. Alleging the wrong-doing is one thing. Getting Joe and Hunter and their attorneys to give you a viable explanation as to why it all happened is quite another. When asked about it yesterday, Joe Biden said that it was “false” and walked away. Of course he is going to say that. What else is a politician going to say these days? I’ve looked back at every single scandal I can find in Washington DC involving politicians, and when the initial story of the scandal broke, it was ALWAYS denied.

Let’s look at the initial White House response from Watergate. The morning after the “four Cubans” and James McCord were arrested at the Watergate complex for breaking in to Democrat National Committee Headquarters, press secretary, Ron Ziegler said that the president would have no comment on a “third-rate burglary attempt.” And we all know what happened after Woodward and Bernstein and the Washington Post began their investigation. What you may have forgotten was that the break-in occurred on June 17, 1972. Nixon resigned August 5, 1975, over three years later.

Knowing that, the mere fact that the whole Hunter Biden escapade has gone on for over five years in a highly partisan charged era isn’t surprising. No one back on June 18, 1972 felt that Richard Nixon was involved, nor going to resign. And don’t forget…1972 was a presidential election year, and Nixon won in a landslide, crushing George McGovern!

This whole thing with the Bidens needs to play out to be sure. Obviously there was something going on with the Chinese, and the Ukrainians, and the Romanians. Why else would millions of dollars be funneled into various Biden family member accounts? And James Comer and his committee have only been at this for five months! The FBI and the DOJ have been investigating Hunter Biden for five YEARS! And they may be close to filing some sort of charges.

I don’t think the charges that are going to be filed against Hunter are anywhere close to what Comer has uncovered yesterday. I’ve heard there were going to be a couple of misdemeanor charges, and a tax evasion charge. The one that is a sticking point is going to be the lying on the gun application. That’s a federal crime, and it’s a felony. That’s worth up to 12 months in prison and a $2,500 fine.

As Harold Ford Jr. always says, we need to let this play out. Democrats are rallying around the president and his son saying this is just politics. There’s no smoking gun, and nothing going on here. Of course, Republicans said the same thing about Adam Schiff and his lying on all of those allegations of “Russian collusion” with Donald Trump. It was all just an act and none of it were true. If that’s the same thing here, but on the other foot, it will hurt the credibility of the entire Republican party going forward.

But IF, just IF this is something, it IS indeed Pulitzer Prize material for the media outlet that decides to Woodward & Bernstein the whole thing and take it on. It IS one of the things that would make your career…not just in print, but in life. There is one thing I’ve learned about politics in DC from watching it from the sidelines for so long. With the exception of the Kennedy assassination, the truth always eventually comes out.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Can Somebody PLEASE Fix The Border Crisis?

This is going to be somewhat of a personal note today. As most of you know, I live in a border state (Arizona), and I’m only a short drive away from the southern border. No, I haven’t actually seen the hordes of illegal aliens tramping through the various lands of our great state. But I have seen footage. I have heard the interviews with our Border Patrol agents in our state saying they get shot at by cartel members who hide in the mountains with high powered rifles. And I have seen our current Governor kowtow to the illegals. Doug Ducey, our former Governor sent busloads to the major “sanctuary cities” in the north. Our current Governor doesn’t obviously know how to charter a bus.

So, today, I’m begging anyone in Washington DC to stop the carnage of this two plus year odyssey of what has become nothing less than a multi-million person invasion of our country. In the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be taking a trip to the great state of Texas, and will pass through one of the illegal immigrant hotspots, El Paso. Now, this is a city I’ve been to a dozen or so times before. It’s typically a nice city, normally. In fact, when my wife and I go to see our son in the Houston area, El Paso makes a nice halfway stop. They have a plethora of nice hotels and there is a steakhouse right across the street at the hotel we like to stay at.

But I do have to say, I’m a little worried this trip. I’m worried because Title 42 is going to expire a few days prior to my trip. That means that while there is already a large encampment of illegals in downtown El Paso (a part of town we usually don’t go to), there will be an even larger group of illegals taking over that city. There are 679,000 folks living in El Paso today. There are thousands of illegals camped out in that city, because they don’t know where to go. The picture above shows some of them.

Look, I’ve often railed about what needs to happen to fix this problem and do so in a timely manner. It’s a very simple process really that means both Republicans and Democrats in the Congress need to come together, pass a damn law and then watch and see if Biden will sign it. If he does, problem solved. If he doesn’t, that becomes the number one campaign issue as he is basically handing over our country, not only to the Chinese overlords who made him a multi-millionaire, but also to the illegals from Central America who want to come here for a myriad of reasons.

The way to fix this is simple. First and foremost, if you’re claiming asylum in the US and you came through Mexico, you’ve violated the process of seeking asylum in the first country you come to other than your own. You don’t get asylum in this country. If you don’t show up for your immigration hearing, you are going to be hunted down, and thrown in jail (not deported!) That means we are going to have to build huge jails to house these folks, as it could be in the millions. It’s rumored we have 13 million illegals living in this country today. Well, we’ve got quite a bit of open space here in the Grand Canyon State, and I think the Land of Enchantment next door also has quite an abundance of space for what I call “Sheriff Joe Arpaio prisons”. Just make desert encampments big enough to hold a million or so people.

Now you have to deal with those that want to come in. Simple. Just let them know when they get to the border they need to remain in Mexico until they have their immigration hearing. And we are going to want people to emigrate here that have skills. We don’t want folks that don’t know how to do anything or don’t speak the language. If you’re a doctor, or a skilled trades person, come on in. If however, you’re stone broke with no skills whatsoever, sorry, then, you have to either go back home or you become Mexico’s problem.

If you follow those two basic steps, trust me, the flood of illegals into this country will stop. Not just slow to a trickle, but stop. And yes, you’re going to have to put those 87,000 IRS agents Joe Biden has hired to work as prison guards. OK…so that’s what we do. If anyone listens to this diatribe, and wants to fix the border problem, take it from someone who lives here…that’s the ONLY way to do it. You can’t just open your door like we did back in the early 1900’s at Ellis Island. We aren’t in the middle of an industrial revolution!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Will Hunter’s Problems Make A Difference?

Hunter Biden appears to be in a world of hurt. He’s got investigations that have been going on for five years or so. And he’s got to be an embarrassment to his family…he just has to regardless what they say in public. You know when it comes to private discussions in some Wilmington, Delaware basement, Hunter gets called out on the carpet for the stupid stuff he’s done. Then again, Joe’s probably put him up to a lot of it, right?

But the over-riding question is, will it make a difference in the 2024 campaign?

I know the feeling that most of the conservatives out there have. There are two sets of rules…one for us, and one for them. You can go back to Hillary Clinton and see that anything and everything she and Bill did was gone unpunished. OK, so they lost their law license. That was such a big deal? They weren’t making squat with it anyway. It was only after they left the White House, and Hillary and Bill came up with the “pay to play” scam when she was Secretary of State that they really started making the big bucks. But they never got charged with anything. Will Hunter? Some talking heads are saying they are close to reaching a deal of a few misdemeanors and maybe one felony for tax evasion. But will Hunter spend any time in a jumpsuit because of it? I doubt it.

And the bigger question is, will it make a difference with Joe Biden running for president in 2024? Again, I doubt it. If you were to go back in time to the early 1970’s, you’d find an entirely different attitude toward politicians that broke the law. Look at what Richard Nixon did. Do you honestly think that covering up a Watergate break-in was more serious than the stuff we’ve been looking at over the past decade? Politicians that pay for phony dossiers to be written claiming that their opponent was a Russian agent? That’s not serious? Nixon lost the presidency because he covered up Watergate. I don’t think it’s ever been proven that he actually planned it or even knew about it before it happened. He did indeed help to cover it up. So, all of the crap the Clinton’s did…all of the crap the Obama’s did…all of the crap that Biden is supposed to have done don’t rise to that standard? Really?

Our nation needs to figure out what we are going to do. If we are going to become a “Northern Ireland” of sorts where it doesn’t matter what the debate is about, either you’re with one side or the other, then we are doomed to fail as a nation. We have always been a nation of laws. And we have pretty much followed those laws. When someone gets out of line, we prosecute them and if they were found guilty, we send their sorry butts to jail.

So, if indeed Joe Biden is guilty of taking bribes, as has been alleged by whistleblowers, when he was Vice President, is he going to wear an orange jumpsuit? If you go back to Spiro Agnew, he resigned as Vice President when he was charged with one count of tax evasion, and was sentenced to…are you ready for this? $10,000 in fines, and had been placed on three years unsupervised probation. Is that what is going to happen to Joe Biden? Back then Agnew resigned his office BEFORE he was ever found guilty and then disbarred, with the judge calling him, “morally obtuse”. Will Biden receive the same name calling? I doubt it.

And will it make a difference in the outcome of our presidential election next year? Again, I doubt it. We are so divided as a country right now, that what Donald Trump said in the run up to the 2016 election is actually very close to being true. Remember when he said, “I could shoot somebody on 5th Avenue and not be charged!” I think he was probably right.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

The McCarthy/Biden Meeting

Later today, long after I wrote this blog, Joe Biden will meet with “The Big Four”, the top members of Congress in each party. Hakeem Jeffries will be there. Mitch McConnell and Chuckles Schumer will be there, and yes, Kevin McCarthy will be there. They will meet in the Oval Office at 4pm. As I write this, the meeting hasn’t taken place. But I’m going to tell you what happened.

No, I don’t have a crystal ball. I have some common sense.

The meeting started out cordial as coffee was served to all of the participants. Then Biden explained his position that the United States has never defaulted on debt, and we can’t afford to do so now. Everyone in the room agreed with that statement. But Biden continued to say that he would be happy to have discussion about the spending limits that are currently in place, but now isn’t the time to do so. We need to act fast (before June 1st) and raise the debt ceiling or better yet, get rid of it altogether, so we never have that problem again.

Kevin McCarthy answers that he believes that the reason we’re in this mess in the first place is because of the over-spending. Both from the COVID pandemic, which cost the country trillions, and years of lost opportunities, and the many bills that the president has put forth that have spent roughly $4 trillion. Add to that the fact that the president has proposed a spending bill for the next fiscal year totaling over $6 trillion and we can easily see that the two are forever intermingled. We can’t separate them, because without one, you don’t have the other. When you have one, you have both.

And that’s the way the meeting went. McConnell tries to play conciliatory and tries to find common ground, but in the ends concedes that most of the Republicans in the Senate aren’t in favor of separating the two and it’s going to become very tenuous if a vote is taken on a “clean” debt ceiling bill. McCarthy chimes in that he can’t get a clean bill passed through the House. He just doesn’t have the votes to do it, and the fact that his bill did indeed pass the House was proof of that.

And Hakeem Jeffries calls the whole thing a white supremacy attempt to take over the world and keep the black man down. He calls for reparations to be included in the debt ceiling bill, and that all of the prisons in America be open, and people of color be released. He praises Alvin Bragg for turning his back on crimes committed by people of color while focusing on Donald Trump’s paying off some porn star to keep their affair secret.

And that’s the way it goes.

Well, in the grand scheme of things, this is the next “big thing” that Congress has to deal with. And as we’ve all learned over the past decade, Congress only acts when their backs are up against a wall some place. And I’m not talking about a border wall here. So, Congress will debate and cajole. They will argue and fight. And in the end, there is going to have to be compromise between the two sides. It has to happen that way.

It’s just a matter of who blinks first.

I don’t think that will be McCarthy. I think the GOP is actually right on this one, CBS did a poll recently that showed that 70% of Americans want the debt ceiling to be raised. However, they don’t necessarily want to see any spending cuts taken in the areas of Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. They want things cut in other areas. And in the end, there will be somewhat of a compromise similar to the one that Joe Biden himself negotiated back in the Obama regime. That brought us the reconciliation bill that no one liked. If they couldn’t agree on spending cuts, Congress would have automatic cuts across the board, with the military and social programs axed. While I’m a proponent of spending more on the military, especially in light of China and Russia’s aggression, there are a lot of programs that need to be cut. There are agencies we currently have that really could be dismantled and done away with (like Education, which is usually handled at the local level anyway).

I think Biden is going to have to eat some crow on this one at some point. He originally said he wouldn’t negotiate with McCarthy, yet here he is…negotiating with McCarthy! He’ll eventually come back to the table with a proposal that cuts spending somewhat. Not much, and certainly not the three times that the debt ceiling is raised. But it’ll have to be substantial if Biden wants to get it through Congress. I don’t think blaming the GOP for a default of debt payments is going to work this time. The GOP has already passed a solution. It’s the Democrats that are stalling on getting it passed.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

EXTRA! What ChatGPT Says About The Debt Ceiling Debate

The following wasn’t written by me. I asked ChatGPT to write an essay regarding the debt ceiling and spending cuts. The only restriction I placed on the chatbot was that the essay be about 500 words. Here’s what it came up with!

As the United States continues to grapple with the issue of its national debt, the concept of a debt ceiling has become a highly politicized and contentious topic. The debt ceiling, which limits the amount of debt the government can incur, has been raised numerous times over the years, but not without debate and controversy. One of the most persistent arguments in these debates is the need for spending cuts to be included in any debt ceiling increase. In this essay, I will argue that such cuts are essential to addressing the national debt crisis.

To understand why spending cuts are necessary, it’s important to first understand the root causes of the national debt. At its core, the debt is the result of government spending that outpaces its revenue. The government’s ability to borrow money has allowed it to continue operating despite these deficits, but that borrowing comes at a cost. Interest payments on the debt eat up an ever-increasing share of the federal budget, limiting the government’s ability to invest in other areas and increasing the likelihood of a fiscal crisis.

Given this context, it’s clear that the government needs to take action to address the national debt. While there are several approaches that could be taken, including raising revenue through taxes or reducing spending on certain programs, I believe that spending cuts are the most viable option for several reasons.

First and foremost, spending cuts are a direct way to address the root cause of the national debt. By reducing spending, the government can decrease its reliance on borrowing and begin to bring deficits under control. This is a more sustainable solution than simply continuing to borrow money to finance government operations, which only exacerbates the problem in the long run.

Second, spending cuts are politically feasible in a way that tax increases are not. While tax increases may be necessary in the long term to address the debt, they are often met with significant resistance from both the public and elected officials. In contrast, spending cuts can be targeted at specific programs or agencies, making them more palatable to some politicians and voters.

Finally, spending cuts can be implemented in a way that minimizes harm to vulnerable populations. While some programs may need to be cut in order to reduce spending, there are many areas where the government could make reductions without negatively impacting those who rely on government assistance. For example, the government could cut spending on wasteful programs or reduce spending on military operations overseas, while maintaining support for critical social safety net programs.

Of course, there are those who argue that spending cuts are not necessary, or that they will do more harm than good. Some believe that increasing revenue through taxes is the best way to address the national debt, while others worry that spending cuts will lead to job losses and economic instability. While these concerns are valid, I believe that spending cuts are ultimately the most viable and effective solution to the national debt crisis.

In conclusion, the national debt is a complex and pressing issue that requires action from the government. While there are several approaches that could be taken, I believe that spending cuts are essential to addressing the root cause of the debt and putting the country on a sustainable fiscal path. By reducing spending in targeted areas and implementing cuts in a way that minimizes harm to vulnerable populations, the government can begin to rein in deficits and address the national debt crisis.

If only we could get Joe Biden to listen to a chatbot!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!