Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump Desreve Each Other

Both leaders get along well and support each other's policies especially concerning the Palestinian situation.  And both are corrupt according to those charged with enforcing the laws.  Netanyahu has been indicted and charged with fraud, breach of trust and bribery.  Trump has already had to settle two fraud law suits brought against him by New York's attorney general.  Trump settled the fraud law suit concerning his Trump University for $25 million and his fraud Charity Foundation law suit for over $2 million plus he dismantled the foundation.  And on top of that he has been impeached by the U.S House for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Netanyahu asked Israel's parliament to vote and make him immune from prosecution and then redrew the request after seeing little chance it would take place.  All the while Trump is using his fake news and Senate republicans to deny all impeachment charges.  Netanyahu and Trump are also liars in kind especially when it comes to Iran.  What a terrible situation Israel and the United States find themselves in with such corrupted leaders.  Corruption is the magnet that band both together.

It is easy to understand why the framers of America's constitution established impeachment as a means of removing a corrupt President from office and not rely on or have to wait for the next election to do so.  That is the strongest reason why the next election, which is 10 months away should not even be considered in the trial and vote.

Netanyahu and Trump are the type of leaders that will set their countries back years and in the process, the corruption continues.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Monday, January 27, 2020

Rich Lowry: Republican Opinion Writer Spreads Impeached President Trump's Fake News.

Rich Lowry loves Moscow Mitch McConnell, and like Mitch and Trump tries his best in an opinion column in the New Orleans Advocate of 1/24/20 to detract from Trump's impeachment and trial in the U.S. Senate.  Lowry apes Trump's fake news  and wants his readers to think the impeachment is about Mitch and Nancy Pelosi in order to detract the public from Trump's impeachable acts and the sworn testimony presented to the U.S. House.

Lowry has a long history of supporting so called conservatism and like the republicans in congress sold his soul to Trump's corruption.  His nose is out of joint because the democratic controlled U.S. House has held Trump accountable for his high crimes, corruption and his alliance with Putin to damage Hillary Clinton  The democrats are the constitutional party while Trump and his party are the anti American party who uses lies as policy and Lowry is the good ditto head with his fake news and his attempt to appease Trump and Moscow Mitch.

Lowry knows Trump is afraid to testify under oath in his own defense for the same reasons Trump will not allow his advisers to testify in his defense.  The reason is perjury.  Trump's lawyers also know it and that is why they want no witnesses to testify in defense of Trump.  So all they have left is fake news, distraction, a lack of testimony from witnesses that can not undercut the sworn testimony under oath given to the U.S. House.

And of course they have Rich Lowry who has no creditability on the matter.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio


Sunday, January 19, 2020

The LSU 2019 Football National Champions: Are They Really The Best College Football Team Ever???

Sports reporter for the New Orleans Advocate Scott Rabalais thinks they are and says so in commentary dated 1/19/20.  This writer, a long time fan and follower of LSU sports thinks Rabalais opinion is a stretch and the usual "apple polishing story" so many sports writers engage in.  Rabalais tries to back up his opinion with stats that are self serving and are not a good judgment for evaluating a team.  He also takes a shot at Clemson as a "pothole" LSU ran over.

Of course Clemson fans can say Joe Burrow as a starting quarterback for LSU will never accomplish in his two years at LSU, what Clemson's quarterback Lawrence and his team accomplished in his two years at Clemson.  Twenty nine straight wins and two straight national championship games participated in.  And as a starting quarterback, Lawrence only lost one game  Rabalais also forgot the great Oklahoma teams under Bud Wilkerson in the early to mid fifties that won 47 straight games and even the 1958 LSU national championship team that went undefeated and shut out Clemson in the Sugar Bowl.

Rabalais seemed to pay a lot of attention to LSU's offensive stats because he was so use to seeing Les Miles offensive failures.  But then again, Rabalais picked Alabama to beat LSU this year.  Everything is relative in life and sports.  Destiny has nothing to do with it because we are only destined to die.  But players,  like people, can choose their own fate and LSU and its coaching staff choose their own fate with a winning attitude and a will to win.  LSU had a great year, no doubt about it, but picking a greatest team ever is mythical like the national championship before the BCS playoffs began.

And the greatest college teams in the past will never have the opportunity to play each other and decide which team really was the best.  So every year college football will crown a national champion, but the best college football team ever will remain mythical.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Federal Court Refuses To Rehear Mississippi's Abortion Case.

According to an Associated Press report in the New Orleans Advocate of 1/18/20 a federal appeals court ruled it would not reconsider its ruling that Mississippi's law banning most abortions after 15 weeks is unconstitutional.  Mississippi will likely ask the U.S Supreme Court to step in and hear the case.  The ruling means Louisiana's similar law on abortion is now on hold since it depended on the outcome of the Mississippi case.

And once again, Mississippi and Louisiana are playing politics with the abortion issue.  Both states governors and state legislatures do not have the will, the character or the courage to fight for a constitutional amendment on abortion which is the best legal way and approach on the issue.  They would rather grandstand on the issue, playing politics looking for votes and try to look and sound tough.

At the heart of the Mississippi legislation is the viability of whether a fetus can survive outside the woman at 15 weeks.  The court said the Clinic provided evidence that viability is impossible at 15 weeks and that the state of Mississippi conceded that it had identified no medical evidence that a fetus could be viable at 15 weeks.  In other words, Mississippi and Louisiana's case is based on political motivation and not abortion facts.

The governors, states and legislatures who support the politicalizing of abortion and who have abandoned the right way of supporting a constitutional amendment have failed at leadership and failed their oath of office.  Louisiana's officials became ditto heads for Mississippi and had little confidence in their own bill when they tied it to Mississippi's bill.  It will be interesting to see if Louisiana's officials talk about the courts decision and if they urge Mississippi to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Federal Judge Rejects Another Executive Order From Impeached President Trump

Federal U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte blocked Trump's executive order that allowed states to veto refugees resettlement and said Trump's order was unlawful and it borders on Orwellian Newspeak for the administration to claim that the order is meant to merely enhance the consultation between the federal government and the states and localities.  It grants them veto power, period, the judge wrote in his order.  And giving that veto power to the states and local governments flies in the face of clear Congressional intent.

The bottom line is the judge has the awareness that congress is the body that has to address immigration reform and not executive orders from the President  And for those who read PolitiDose understands that because it has exposed Trump and the republican party in congress for their failure to address immigration reform with legislation and they have had 35 months to do so.  Yet, all Trump and his party have on immigration reform is their sorry rhetoric.  This is the same bunch who proclaimed during the 2016 Presidential campaign, they would address immigration reform after the 2016 election.  Yeah, right!!!


This commentary written by Joe Lorio


Friday, January 17, 2020

LSU Football: 2019 National Champions.


The LSU Tigers defeated Clemson and won their fourth national title.  It was a fitting tribute for an undefeated Tiger team that finished 15-0 and won more games in a single season than any past Tiger team.  It was also a record year for both the team and a few individuals for record stats.  And this writer's generation witnessed all four national championship teams.

And now we learn eight Tiger players will enter the NFL draft and two coaches have accepted positions with other teams.  So expect to hear a lot of thoughts thrown around about LSU's football future.  Some of the thoughts so far are the standard clichés that have no value in evaluating the future and LSU's performance in 2019 does not indicate a repeat in 2020.

This writer believes there will not be any ONE dominate team in the future and that the trend started several years ago.  There will be four or five teams that will alternate and share top honors for the future.  Alabama's fall from dominance was predicted here in PolitiDose several years ago and it has taken place.

LSU fans need to be realistic about LSU's offense next year and not expect the same offensive results.  Not because Joe Burrow is gone and passing coach Brady is gone, but because defenses always catch up to new offenses.  Every thing is relative and takes place in cycles.  This is the first year LSU has been in the BCS playoff system of the top four teams, so now LSU has to prove it can be a consistent team in making the playoffs in the future.  The 15-0 Tigers took place in the past, the future of the Tigers has yet to be written.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Saturday, January 11, 2020

The U.S. Economy and Job Creation for December 2019

The U.S. Labor Department reported 145,000 jobs were created in December and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.5%.  It was the 111th straight month of positive job growth.  The December numbers were lower than expected, lower than last month and lower than December 2018.  Manufacturing lost over 10,000 jobs in December and continues to be in recession mode.

The Department also announced that 2.1 million jobs were created in 2019, the lowest since 2011 and that both October and November numbers were revised downward from earlier reports.  So job creation in the Trump administration continues its downward trend for Trump's first 35 months in office when compared to President Obama's last 35 months in office.  And at the end of Trump's first term in office job creation will lag considerably from President Obama's last term in office.

The  job numbers explain how democratic polices work best for America and the economy.  President Obama's stimulus of $700 billion for the economy that was passed by the democratic controlled congress soon after Obama was elected to deal with Bush's great recession has done more for the economy and job creation than the Trump/republican $1.5 trillion tax cuts that cost so much more and that was meant to benefit the wealthy and corporate America.  The  Obama stimulus was directed toward projects and programs that actually stimulated the economy and job creation.  Where as the Trump tax cuts simply represents a failed ideology and their commitment to the wealthy.

So in Trumps first 35 months in office a total of 6,400,000 jobs have been created.  In Obama's last 35 months in office 7,559,000 jobs were created.  And no matter how Trump and the republican party try to spin the economy, democratic administrations still perform best for the country and its people.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio


President Obama Actually Accomplished With Iran What President TrumpNow Says He Will Accomplish

The impeached President tried to talk tough again the other day when he proclaimed, "Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon as long as I am President."  Well, thanks to President Obama's policies Iran never had a nuclear weapon at any time in the 8 years Obama served as President.  So Trump inherited a nuclear weapons free Iran and the only question that remains is this:  Can Trump keep Iran that way and follow in President Obama's footsteps?

We also know President Obama never had to send additional U.S. troops to the middle east to guard against Iranian retaliation against our troops like Trump did this week and it should be noted how Trump's actions in the middle east this week was a mirror image of former President George W. Bush when he said Iran's attacks against American troops in Iraq was an imminent threat but could not articulate to congress what those threats were.  If that sounds familiar its because you heard President Bush say that Iraq had stockpiled WMD ready to use but Bush never offered proof of those WMD to congress or the public because they did not exist at any time during the Bush administration.

This March the war in Iraq over WMD that did not exist will enter its 18th year and American troops are still paying the ultimate price while an impeached President Trump's rhetoric continue to fan the flames of war.  The middle east was a safer place when President Obama left office than it is today.  History has yet to be written if the middle east will be a safer place when Trump leaves office.

When the Iran nuclear agreement was in effect on President Obama's watch Iran was not allowed to produce any nuclear material to weapons grade.  But they are in the process of doing that now since Trump walked away from the agreement.  And the irony of it all is the agreement was enforced by inspection, something Israel, Pakistan and India have never allowed.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Minnesota Ends New Orleans Playoff Hopes As Vikings Defeat Saints 26 - 20.

The Minnesota Vikings beat the Saints for the second time in the last three years and ended the Saints chance at a Super Bowl run once again. The Saints were the favorite going into the game with home field advantage but the Vikings defense knew how to play defense against the Saints offense.  They were not about to let the Saints run loose like so many other teams did during the regular season and were ready to rumble.

The Saints are not accustomed to facing tight defenses because there are so many poorly coached teams in the NFL, but you will never hear the New Orleans sports writers or TV sports hosts say that and be objective in their reporting.  All fans read about or heard about the last two weeks were Brees' personal records like that was enough to win.

The Saints won 13 games during the regular season but beat only 4 teams with a winning record.  Sports writers lack objectivity in their evaluation of the Saints when they brag about Payton and Brees offensive genius.  The Vikings demonstrated with their defensive play that Payton and Brees were no more than average on Sunday.

Three years in a row the Saints have been eliminated from the playoffs and have only four winning seasons in the last eight years.  So why should expectations be so high every year about going to the Super Bowl?  Cliches and hype in reporting instead of an objective evaluation are one of the main reasons this writer believes.

And this writer still believes Payton should put down the cheat sheet and let his offensive coordinator call the plays so Payton can pay attention to what is taking place on the field.  Forget about all the sports talk about his offensive genius, it does not exist.  The most successful coaches in the NFL and college football never called the plays.  They simply make their offensive intentions known so they can track and pay attention what is taking place on the field.

Apple polishing stories by sports writers concerning Brees and Payton is just that and have no objectivity to properly evaluate the Saints.  In fact they never saw or understood how "bountygate" damaged the team.  It is now time to ask the question:  HAS PAYTON AND BREES SEEN THEIR BEST YEARS IN A SAINTS UNIFORM?  History will be the judge.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio





Sunday, January 5, 2020

Another First For PolitiDose

If any one thinks Mark Ballard's opinion column published in the New Orleans Advocate of 1/5/20  concerning tort reform and auto insurance rates sounds familiar, its because you read it here first in PolitiDose commentary a week or so ago.  And if more people realize the "fake news" tort reform story of Louisiana's republicans and start to speak out, such so called "tort reform" will be dead on arrival in the state legislature.

Mr. Ballard points out the obvious reasons why the Insurance Industry themselves do not think tort reform will in fact lower automobile insurance rates.  Louisiana's republican party in the state legislature have little to no credibility on just about everything they touch.  Beside tort reform, their latest 'fake news" is to withhold from the Governor, the estimated revenue numbers projected for the state's fiscal year that begins July 1.  They want that information withheld from the Governor for their own selfish reasons and try to sabotage the Governor's fiscal budget plans.

When one thinks about the do nothing republicans in the U.S. Congress and in the Louisiana state legislature it is a party that opposes everything and at the same time can not articulate any democratic values they have or accept.  They are truly the party of an extreme ideology that lie about everything, even to their own base, because like their leader President Trump, they have no respect for anyone.


This  commentary written by Joe Lorio

More American Troops To The Middle East Is A Foreign Policy Failure

President Trump's foreign policy failures continue to pile up in the Middle East that now require more American troops be put in harms way.  The idea was to reduce America's troop presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, end those wars and let those two countries defend themselves with all the training they received from American troops who stayed behind for that purpose.

But the President undermined all that by withdrawing from the Iran nuclear agreement rejecting our allies sound advise, refusing to believe Iran was in compliance and instituted sanctions against Iran that has once again destabilized the region.  Iran now has a larger role in Iraq than ever before and a larger say so in that government.

A successful foreign policy would not require more Americans to be deployed to the Middle East.  President Obama's decision to remove all of America's combat troops from Iraq and leave behind only those troops necessary to continue the training of Iraq troops was the right decision.  Any draw down of American troops now in Iraq will be speculative at best and could involve more combat operations for those troops in Iraq then they experienced since the draw down.

A reckless foreign policy is not in the best interest of America and certainly not in the best interest of our troops who give and sacrifice so much for their country.


This commentary was written by Joe Lorio

Thursday, January 2, 2020

The City of New Orleans Continues Its Progress In Lowering The Homicide Rate

And it all began under the administration of Mayor Mitch Landrieu who was the first Mayor to acknowledge the problem and make a commitment to do something about it.  The Mayor knew the police force was under staffed for a city the size of New Orleans and had a plan to add additional officers, and to her credit, Mayor Cantrell has continued to take the crime issue as a serious problem to address.

And now we learn that the homicide rate in New Orleans for 2019 was at the lowest level in five decades and on a downward slope the last three years.  New Orleans police superintendent Shaun Ferguson said there is much more work to be done to ensure the safety of everyone.  Any one homicide, any one shooting, any one robbery is one too many.  That approach is welcome and indicates our city leaders will do what is necessary to keep the downward trend alive.

So we say a job well done to former Mayor Landrieu, his successor Mayor Cantrell and Chief Ferguson for their actions, leadership and the hope of a future New Orleans where crime is the very least of the city's problems.  Vigilance is needed now to keep the city on a steady course in the fight against crime.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Berlin Wall and President Trump's Mexico Wall Shares A Related Issue

President John F. Kennedy traveled to West Berlin in 1963 to deliver a major address to the people of that city and to Europe.  The city, divided by a wall that separated communist controlled East Berlin and democratic West Berlin during the cold war to stop the flow of people from East Berlin to the West Berlin who sought a better life with freedom and democracy.  President Kennedy's speech before millions of Berliners was embraced by the people.

The President said it was obvious that the Wall represented the failure of the communist system.  We can flash forward to the present concerning President  Trump's Mexico Wall and it should be obvious that Trump's Wall represents his failure to send immigration reform legislation to the U.S. Congress to be acted on even though both houses of Congress were controlled by the republican party for Trump's first 24 months in office.  And after 34 months in office, his own party still has no immigration reform legislation agenda.

And we know according to Trump's own words he intends to make immigration a major theme of his re-election campaign in 2020.  Never mind that candidate Trump made immigration a top priority in the 2016 campaign but once elected, all America heard was Trump's rhetoric.  America needs immigration reform legislation to address the broad issues that are related to the problem and a good place to start would be the immigration reform passed by the democratic controlled U.S. Senate in 2013.

Brace yourself my fellow Americans because all you will hear from Trump this election year is what he said in the 2016 campaign and never accomplished if he is not convicted by the impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio