Another Huge First For "Politidose" Commentary As State and National Opinion Writers Play Catch Up.

 Staff writer Tyler Bridges in a New Orleans Advocate column of 12/25 titled, "One Lap To Go" tells his readers how well the State of Louisiana has done on the watch of Governor John B. Edwards, especially on the state's fiscal matters.  And national AP congressional correspondent Lisa Mascaro on page 6A of the same issue explains how the democratic controlled congress accomplished so much since January 6, 2021.

And if it all sounded familiar, it's because you read it here first in "Politidose" commentary in 2015 and 2016 before Edwards took office and in December of 2020 and January of 2021 before President Biden took office.  The success of Edwards and Biden's administrations could be predicted beforehand because of precedent by past democratic administrations.

The past and present record is clear how democratic administrations are better at governing and especially concerning fiscal matters and it has all been explained in past "Politidose" commentaries for the past 10 years.  There is no such thing as a conservative GOP party on fiscal matters and their past  record is proof.  But opinion writers continue to enable them on the issue.  

So, my fellow Americans, reject all the hype of the GOP and their enablers and stay tuned to "Politidose" commentary for your daily dose of political commentary.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

What Will The New Year Bring: Past, Present and Future.

The present year of 2022 comes to an end in just a few more days.  It will mark 23 full months of the Biden administration and the democratic controlled congress. (Feb. 2021-Dec. 2022).  The year closes out on a positive note with legislation that avoids a national Railroad strike, the Respect for Marriage Act, a long term spending bill that prevents a government shutdown and finances the government thru the fiscal year that ends 9/30/23, lower inflation for November year to year, the consumer confidence index up for December and a third quarter GDP of 3.2%, up from the 2.9% reported earlier. And a record number of jobs added to the economy in the first 23 months.

Those 23 months also produced positive legislation for the country and its people, lower unemployment at historical levels, an economy where consumers continue to spend despite inflation because they have jobs and are making progress with rising wages.  Deficit spending decreased 50% to $1.4 Trillion compared to $2.7 trillion in Trump's last fiscal year.  Total federal spending also decreased 8% at $6.2 trillion compared to $6.8 trillion in Trump's last fiscal year.  Following the information given by Scientists, COVID was brought under control.  

The negative voices and their enablers who preached doom and gloom thru out 2022 and were predicting an economic recession in the third quarter were wrong on everything concerning the economy and job creation.  Politidose commentary in December 2020 and January 2021 predicted how the Biden administration would turn the economy around when the Trump/GOP failed so dramatically.  

So, what can we project and or look for in the new year 2023 and beyond?  The President will have a divided congress, the negative voices are still predicting an economic recession sometime in 2023 and supports the FEDS raising interest rates high and fast which could harm the economy, create loss jobs and higher unemployment in order to cool off a economy that is working beyond their belief.  They are willing to do that because they want to harm the President's policies that are working.  And so far, the FEDS. agree with them by their own actions.  The GOP who takes control of the U.S. Houe in January has already stated how they will oppose the President's future plans.

Those are the two greatest threats to the well being of the economy in 2023 along with the GOP's threat  to oppose climate change and the President's economic policies.  But precedent tells us that democratic administrations are better at governing during hard times as well as good times so this writer believes President Biden and his administration is the best answer to the problems the new year will bring.  They were the only sane voices on the economy for the past 23 months and will continue the tradition that democratic policies are not based on the belief the economy has to be weakened and accept higher unemployment and the loss of jobs to control inflation.  That is a corrupt ideology dogma proven to be wrong, unacceptable and dangerous.

It was progressive policies that put the economy where it is today and it will be progressive policies that will continue to move the country and its people in the right direction in the future.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Final CFP Rankings Are Released.

And the final rankings are:  Georgia #1, Michigan #2, TCU #3 and Ohio State #4.  That is the way it should be because those 4 teams have the best won-loss record in the rankings.  The CFP ranking committee made the right judgement because it is so elementary.  Unfortunately, in this writer's opinion, they erred in the #5 ranking with Alabama and the #6 ranking with Tennessee.

Tennessee should have been ranked higher than Alabama because they defeated Bama during the regular season and played 3 of the top 4 teams in the SEC.  They beat two, LSU and Alabama and lost to Georgia.  Alabama played two of the top 4 teams losing both games to LSU and Tennessee.  Both Alabama and Tennessee had an overall winning record of 10-2.  LSU and Alabama finished tied in the SEC west with a 6-2 record but LSU won the West because they beat Alabama during the regular season.  The SEC understands how important that factor plays out, but the CFP ranking committee does not.

Tulane finished ranked 16th and LSU 17th.  Tulane will go to the Cotton Bowl and LSU will go to the Citrus Bowl.  The final rankings will not please everyone and the committee's criteria for ranking is still flawed, but this writer thinks the rankings of the top 4 teams speaks loud and clear.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Georgia Defeats LSU 50-30, Wins SEC Championship.

 The Bulldogs from Georgia kept their undefeated record intact Saturday night with a resounding win over the Tigers of LSU.  The game featured a Georgia offense move the ball on LSU's defense at will much like the Aggies from Texas did the week before.  In doing so put more points on the board than any LSU opponent this season.  The final CFP rankings should keep Georgia in the #1 rated position and the Tigers will finish somewhere in the bottom ten positions.

It is this writers opinion LSU finished the last 4 games in a regressive position, just the opposite from its first 9 games.  LSU beat Arkansas 13-10, beat UAB, lost to Texas A&M and Georgia.  Their offense regressed in 3 of those games and their offense averaged 26.7 points per game compared to their regular games that averaged 32.5 points per game.  

LSU lost something in that 4 game stretch, probably due in part to the quality of coaching from Arkansas, Texas A&M and Georgia.  Arkansas's defense did the best job controling LSU's offense and quarterback Daniels.  A&M and Georgia simply dominated LSU's defense.  The Tigers will now play in the Fiesta Bowl if the reports are accurate and will have another opportunity to win another game.  

When all is said and done, the first season under a new coaching staff will have passed and the only thing it tells us at this stage is that LSU's season made progress over the last two seasons.  Every thing else is speculation.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The BCS College Football Playoff System Has To Be Changed.

The nature of sports is winning and therefore a team's won-loss record is the defining factor.  That all changed some years ago when conferences split into divisions.  The team with the best record in the conference may not win the conference championship.  That's because the leaders of each division have to play each other for the championship even though one team may have a poor record.  In other words, even though all teams play the same number of games and therefore have the same chance, a team with a poor record is given a second chance.  That in itself goes against competition.  

The CFP committee makes the selection even worse by their own process of how to rank the teams by using a number of criteria they impose on teams who have the same won-loss record.  The problem is once you get away from a won-loss record, the criteria used is flawed and worthless.  For instance, lets look at what Baton Rouge sports writer Scott Rabalais reported in a Times Picayune New Orleans Advocate article 11/25, the day before LSU played Texas A&M as follows:  COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN BOB CORRIGAN SAID LSU's STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE AND BETTER LOOKING DEFENCE ESPECIALLY IN THE WAKE OF USC's SHOOTOUT WIN AGAINST UCLA ON SATURDAY WERE THE DIFFERENCE IN LSU's FAVOR.  I THINK SOME OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS WANTED TO SEE A LITTLE MORE FROM USC's DEFENSE, AND THE OVERALL STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE FOR LSU DROVE THE DAY.

The commissioner's comment and criteria used about LSU's defense was destroyed the very next day when Texas A&M destroyed LSU's defense and the Aggies had only won one SEC game at that time and had an overall losing record.  Plus a so called shootout in the USC-UCLA game has no value.  Saying the overall strength of LSU's schedule was a factor is a fairy tale criteria.  

When choosing playoff teams rankings and getting away from the win-loss record you have to make up faulty criteria for judging what team to put ahead of another team.  This writer believes that playoff teams should be teams that won something and with the best won-loss record.  Losers have no right to a second chance because all teams have the opportunity to win during the regular season and play the same number of games.  If they don't win they go home and try again next year.  The same thing can be said about rematches.  The loser does not deserve another try, that is not competition.  If the loser wins the rematch it proves nothing because they will have played two games and each would have won one.    

The BCS and college football playoff committee are talking about a greater expansion to the playoffs.  It will get worse because there will be more teams and losers rewarded with a playoff berth and the criteria will become more of a fairy tale than it is now.  This writer believes the teams that have the best won-loss record should be the only ones in the playoffs and every year it is usually only 5 or 6 teams that have the best won-loss record.  It will be interesting to see how the committee handles and rates the teams in its final poll coming out this week.  Any surprises will not be surprises.  And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and The Unemployment Rate for November 2022.

The U.S. Labor Department reported the economy added 263,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate came in at 3.7%, same as in October.  It was the 22nd straight month of positive job growth and continues to shock the negative voices who for the past year were predicting doom and gloom, recession and spectacular job losses.  Bloomington and many Wall Street elites were projecting the job numbers to come in around 190,000. 

The Department also reported October inflation came in at 6%, down from year over year rise of last September.  Wages were up 5.1% in November from the same time last year.  Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported the 3rd quarter GDP was up 2.9% instead of the earlier reported 2.6%.  It was another good economic report that still confuses the uninformed and the negative voices who want to see the Biden administration fail.  Consumer spending in October rose 0.8% over September and continues to be strong.

The year 2022 will be a year of continued economic growth led by consumer spending and the President's economic policies that have worked for the country and its people.  Too bad the media has given so much time to the negative voices and failed its responsibility to fully inform the American people of the good economic news that continues to take place.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Evaluating LSU's First Football Season Under Head Coach Brian Kelly.

 Objectivity is the honest way understanding a team's progress or regression and it is not just a one year thing.  Some LSU sports writers reported their thoughts on evaluating the team during the year but that more or less was to file a story for the newspapers.  Now that the regular season is over, we know the facts to make an objective evaluation.

We do know that this year's team made progress from the last two years when LSU played 500 ball.  This year's team had an overall winning record of 9-3 and a 6-2 record in SEC play and won the West division.  Last year's team finished with a 3-5 record and was last tied with Auburn in the West.  LSU will now play Georgia on Saturday for the SEC championship.  Those are accomplishments and improvements that can be checked with facts and can be seen on the field.  

How do you balance that improvement against the following?  LSU beat three teams with an overall winning record, Alabama, Ole Miss and Miss. State, (4 if you count Southern).  They beat only one team in the SEC with a winning record, Alabama;  They beat 5 teams in the SEC with a break even or losing record, Miss. State 4-4, Ole Miss. 4-4, Auburn 2-6, Florida 3-5, and Ark. 3-5.  They lost to Tennessee 6-2 and Texas A&M 2-6.  Out of the 7 teams in the SEC West, LSU and Alabama were the only two teams with a winning record within the SEC.  Beside Southern, LSU also played two other teams not up to par with the SEC, New Mexico and UAB. 

How should LSU's schedule be rated?  There has always been talk about certain teams playing a weak schedule.  Would LSU's schedule be rated strong, average or on the weak side?  They beat only one team that had an overall winning record and a winning record in the SEC, Alabama by one point.  Having the many teams in the SEC West with break even and losing records, can that division be called a strong division this past football season?  

Out of the 14 teams in the SEC's two divisions, only 4 teams had a winning record in SEC play.  Georgia and Tennessee in the East and LSU and Alabama in the West.  Tennessee played three of those teams and defeated two, Alabama and LSU.  Georgia played one, Tennessee and defeated them.  LSU played Tennessee and Alabama beating Alabama and losing to Tennessee.  Alabama played two of those teams, LSU and Tennessee and lost both games.  Obviously, Tennessee was dealt the strongest hand but still defeated two of the three they played.  Ten of the 14 teams had a break even or losing record in SEC play.  Do the numbers represent a strong SEC conference in 2022?  The numbers indicate a good debate could take place on the subject.

This writer is of the opinion that LSU's schedule would be rated no higher than average and that the objective evaluation indicates that the team has made much progress from the past two years and still has a way to go before they become a consistent winning team.  This years progress represents only one year and those talking about a College Football Playoff position got ahead of themselves.  One season is not a track record, it is an indication of what might come to be.

The unknown part of evaluating LSU's progress is, what role if any did the weak SEC teams play in LSU's success.  Everyone has their own answer, but it is an area that is unclear.  What we do know is that LSU is an improved team over the past two seasons and that fans now see some hope of good things to come.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

P.S. Stay tuned to the coming commentary concerning the CFP ranking of the top teams which this writer thinks needs to be changed.  

Texas A&M Defeats LSU 38-23, Ends LSU's College Football Playoff Hopes.

 College Station was not kind to the LSU Tigers Saturday night as the Aggies offense dominated LSU's defense all night beginning with their first possession which ended with a touchdown after a time consuming drive.  The Aggies ended the regular season with an overall record of 5-7 and a SEC record of 2-6.  The Tigers ended their regular season with a 9-3 record and a SEC record of 6-2 and won the SEC west.

The loss ended any chance of LSU making the playoffs once again even though some thought they could do so with two losses.  So the Tigers are now off to the SEC championship game with undefeated Georgia next week to decide the winner of this years SEC title.  LSU ended the regular season Saturday night like they ended the first game of the season, with a loss.  The only difference was Saturday's loss was fatal for the Tigers playoff hopes, the first loss was not.

This writer believes that when the LSU coaching staff review the film of the game to evaluate what took place, they will conclude that the Aggies were a better prepared team than the Tigers and misjudged the offensive capabilities of the Aggies.  The Aggies offensive game plans took LSU's Perkins out of the game most of the night.

The next Politidose commentary will provide information to help evaluate LSU's first season under coach Brian Kelly and what the future might hold for the Tigers football fortunes down the road.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Note:  This writer believes LSU has some veery good running backs and should use them more and Quarterback Dainels less to run the ball. 

Dana Milbank's Commentary On The Media Represents Journalism At Its Best.

 In a Times Picayune New Orleans Advocate article dated 11/25 titled, "Biggest loser of the midterm elections is the media" Journalist Milbank clearly lays out the misinformation the news media gleefully laid on the public during the midterm elections and how wrong their reporting was from the beginning to the end.  The negative media noise machine during the midterm are the same negative voices of the anti- Biden- democratic party who would like to see them fail.

Those same negative voices for the past 8 months have pushed for, and predicted an economic recession that would take place in the 3rd quarter, but never did.  So now the negative voices are predicting the recession will hit sometime in 2023.  Those negative voices are bent on misinformation because they oppose the President's agenda which is working and moving the country forward.

Politidose commentary was there in previous commentary to report on the lies and misinformation of the negative media voices.  Dana Milbank lived up to his responsibility as a journalist to inform the people with his timely commentary that called the media out and correctly opined that they the media were indeed the biggest losers of the midterm elections.  

And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe  Lorio 

The GOP's Midterm Red Wave Tsunami That Never Was.

The same negative voices that flooded the internet the last 8 months predicting an economic recession before the end of the third quarter, which failed, were the same propaganda negative voices predicting a GOP red wave Tsunami where the GOP would gain upwards of 30 plus seats in the U.S. House.  The propaganda never stopped so the voters put an end to the nonsense.

In January the new congress will begin with the U. S. House under GOP control and the U.S. Senate under democratic control.  Leadership of the GOP house has already promised to go negative, but like the first two years of the Biden administration, the President and the democrats in congress will be the only sane voices in Washington representing the country and its people.  Many of Trump's ditto heads in the House will dominate the GOP's extreme agenda.

We will see in the new year a good part of the Biden agenda passed this year will start to kick in and assist the economy to continue to move forward in a positive way.  The GOP will not like that and the Feds need to stop raising interest rates and avoid an economic recession.  On the legislative side, the democratic controlled Senate and President Biden's veto power can put an end to any extreme legislation that the GOP tries to pass.

This writer is confident that the sane people in Washington will prevail in 2023 as they did in 2022.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

 

Saint's Sports Writers Are Wrong Again.

 Months before the Saint's season ever began, New Orleans Sports Writers were predicting rosy assumptions about the Saints season under first year head coach Dennis Allen.  Some saw the Saints winning the division and making the playoffs and that all would be well under the new coach.  The Saint's opening game win against Atlanta indicated all was well.

That all changed as the season started to play out and the losses started to mount.  Now the reporting from those same writers have turned negative and they have all the answers after the fact but they still don't get it.  That's because they lack objectivity in evaluating the Saints.  They were blind to the two huge problems the Saints were facing going into the season.  

The two huge problems concern the two most important people with the team, the head coach and the quarterback.  The Saints entered the season with a head coach void of a winning record as a head coach so it was impossible to predict how well he and the team would do.  It was and still is a situation of "time will tell."  The Saints have no quarterback on their roster that has completed one full season as a Saints starting quarterback, so there is no record to indicate Winston could do the job.  Plus, everyone knows he is injury prone, missed a good part of last season and has played only 3 games so far this year because of being injured.

In other words, the two most important people with the team has no real winning record to be judged which means the Saints season was bound to be a "wait and see" season.  What has taken place at quarterback should have never taken place.  Blame management for not signing a young promising quarterback 3 or 4 years before Brees retired so they would have a better quality at that position.  And make no mistake, management knew the Brees era was coming to an end.

For those who believe Allen's experience as a defensive coordinator qualifies him to be a successful head coach is sadly mistaken.  Picking the Saints to win their division and or making the playoffs was a nice dream far from realty and not very objective. 

Politidose commentary was there and told the real story months before the season even started.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Conservative Columnist George Will Should Hang Up His Shingle.

 In a Times Picayune New Orleans Advocate opinion column of 11/4 titled, "For good of country, Biden and Harris should bow out of the 2024 election" which follows the negative conservative voices who have clamored for the same thing the past 12 months.  Never mind that the President was elected to serve 4 years and as of this date has served less than two years but want the President to make the decision public now.

Their purpose of wanting the President to declare now is to divide the country even more.  If the President would do so now, they would be the first to claim he is a "lame duck President" which is a political ploy to divide the country and do nothing.  There is no reason why the President should announce his decision at this point and should wait until the beginning of 2024.

The problem with Will and the negative conservatives is once again it is a democratic administration that has turned around the economic disaster of the previous GOP administration.  A reduction in federal spending, the deficit, record job creation, consumers who are still spending despite inflation and low unemployment and a America that is once again leading democracy.

It was George Will who tolerated Trump's lies, misinformation, his corruption and was silent when Trump ran for re-election.  Will's article was published 4 days before the congressional elections and the last sentence of the last paragraph suggest Will swallowed the negative conservative voices who predicted a Red Wave for the GOP on election day.  Will also failed to explain why he did not suggest Trump bow out of the 2020 Presidential election knowing how corrupt he was.

This writer in a previous Politidose commentary months ago expressed the opinion that the President would not seek re-election in 2024 and the reasons why.  This writer is of the opinion that it is Mr. Will who should hang up his shingle and do so timely.  The future of journalism is at stake.

This commentary written by joe Lorio 

Froma Harrop's Editorial Commentary Is Right On Target: And It Is Another Huge First For "Politidose."

Harrop's commentary published in the Times Picayune New Orleans Advocate of 11/7 titled, "Contrary to rumors, Democrats are better at the economy" was right on target and confirms what "Politidose" commentary has been saying for the past 9 plus years.  The only difference is "Politidose" commentary tells the story that Democratic administrations are best at governing all the issues and not just the economy and explains why and the details.  A good example is "Politidose" commentary dated March 19, 2021 titled, Presidential Leadership:  The Economy and Fiscal Matters The Past 40 years.

When it comes to governing the economy and the government's fiscal house, GOP administrations are so bad they cannot campaign on the issues, the numbers or the facts so they depend on lies and misinformation such as, Democrats are job killers, record spenders and the party of debt when the actual numbers support it is their own party they are describing.  Democratic administrations are best at governing the economy because they govern with plans and policies that address the issues.

Harrop knows the facts and so does "Politidose."  There are many issues that affect the economy.  Look at just a few major ones.  (a)  Every GOP administration in the last 100 years has given the country an economic recession.  That includes Reagan, Bush 43 and Trump who passed trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations that failed the economy.  (b)  Reagan was the only GOP President in the last 74 years to leave office with a lower unemployment rate than when he took office.  Every Democratic President during that same time period left office with a lower unemployment rate than when he took office with the exception of President Carter when the unemployment rate stayed the same.  (c)  The worst banking failures took place on the GOP watch of Herbert Hoover during the great depression, the collapse of the Savings and Loan took place on Reagan's watch in the 1980'0 and the Wall Street banks collapsed on the watch of President George W. Bush in 2008.  (d) No GOP President has balanced the federal budget since President Eisenhower in 1960, but two Democratic Presidents balanced 5 federal budgets during that same time period.  President Clinton balanced 4 and President Johnson balanced one.  (e)  No democratic administration lost jobs on his watch in the past 93 years.  But two GOP administrations did.  Hoover lost 6.4 million jobs on his watch and Trump lost 2.7 million jobs on his watch.  And for those 93 years, job creation under Democratic administrations can be described as robust while under GOP administrations, job creation can be described as very weak.

No matter what the category, Democratic administrations preform much better at governing for the people and the country.  What is lacking in the media is their failure to inform the people of the facts that are available at their fingertips.  Instead, they run with the GOP talking points of lies and misinformation.

The media desperately needs more journalists like Froma Harrop who obviously follows the facts to report and inform the people like her commentary of 11/7 did.  True information is wisdom, and that coupled  with political understanding, will always be the foundation for a better America.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

 

Louisiana's GOP Congressional Representation in Congress: Such A Phony On The Issue.

FEMA is once again a topic, especially in Louisiana concerning flooding and FEMA flood maps.  It is really nothing new and has been ongoing for many years along with higher premiums for flood insurance.  Now comes the latest in a Times Picayune article of 11/4 titled, "La. Delegation Demands Answers On Flood Insurance Changes" by staff writer Mark Ballard.

La's delegation thinks FEMA has not been transparent concerning their latest flood RISK RATING 2.0.  FEMA says they have been transparent since April 2021and spells out how in the article.  But the bottom line to all of this is nothing new.  FEMA's maps, flood zones, rising premiums and etc, have been an issue before congress for many years and the GOP has never done anything about it and it came up the last time on Trump's watch when the GOP controlled congress and they still did nothing to answer the problem.

Flood insurance will be settled in a fair and equitable manner only when the Insurance Companies control over the situation is taken away from them.  And that should and could have been done in Louisiana years ago by government regulations that require residential homes be built off the ground at a certain level.  If that was done after hurricane Betsy, flood rates would be much less than they are today and taken the control from the Industry would set a standard.

The public lacks leaders, both business and political with foresight and a progressive attitude toward the future.  Innovation is far removed from their thinking about future events.  So the same properties keep flooding over and over which gives Insurance Companies more control and we still build slab homes on the ground that will continue to flood.  

La's GOP's delegation in congress is one of excuses with the FEMA thing.  Former Louisiana's U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu accomplished more for Louisiana than the whole lot of the GOP delegation. 

This commentary was written by Joe Lorio 

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and The Unemployment Rate for October 2022.

The U.S. Labor Department reported the U.S. economy added 261,000 jobs in October and the unemployment rate came in at 3.7%, two tenths of one percent higher than September when it was 3.5%.  It was the 21st straight month of positive job growth for the economy and October's job numbers exceeded the negative voices of doom and gloom who were predicting much slower growth.  The department also reported the September job numbers exceeded those earlier reported.

The good job numbers came a day after the Fed raised interest rates again to try and bring down inflation.  But the economy is not listening and is still going strong.  In fact, wages were up 0.4% in October over September's gains.  If the Feds continue their unnecessary actions, they will crash the economy, kill jobs and increase unemployment to unacceptable levels.  The negative voices do not care because they are the extreme who represent the big corporations whose profits are skyrocketing because they are inflating their prices to consumers.  The oil and gas industry is a good example and so are the food industry.  

President Biden and his administration are the only sane voices for the economy with the democratic controlled congress.  Their progressive positive policies have been able to survive the negative noise machine, their lies, misinformation and America is working and spending despite inflation.  It is the bright side the doom and gloom people are unable to accept. 

History and precedent tells us the democratic party has a record of governing the best.  The negative voices actually know that, they just have nothing left that is positive in their ideology to articulate.  And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

More Good News For The U.S. Economy, The Nation and The People.

 The Commerce Department reported that the third quarter GDP ending 9/30/22 expanded at an annual rate of 2.6%.  It followed on the heels of a negative first two quarters.  The GDP expansion was another blow to the doom and gloom GOP and their supporters who were predicting another negative quarter.

The Department also reported retail sales for September were up 0.6%.  It was a continuation of the good news concerning the federal budget that ended fiscal year on Sept. 30.  That budget recorded a 50% reduction in the federal deficit from the previous fiscal year and federal spending decreased 8% from the previous fiscal year.  The good economic news disappointed the GOP negative voices and their enablers who had predicted an economic recession before the end of 2022.  They are now saying it will take place sometime before the end of 2023.

The expansion of the GDP prompted   other negative pundits to predict that the Feds may hold back in the next round of interest rate hikes.  Those are the same pundits who urged the Feds to raise interest rates high and fast which they know would trigger an economic recession with the loss of jobs and an increase in unemployment.  But they don't care, they just want to see the President fail.

So, the economy continues to work, create jobs, lower unemployment and the consumer continues to spend despite inflation.  Maybe they remember that inflation in 1980 was 13.5% and 10.3% in 1981 and that from 1979 thru 1982 inflation averaged 10.32% per year.  And no one should forget that the average 30 year home mortgage rate from 1981 thru 1983 averaged 15.27%.  Yes, you read those numbers correctly.  

The negative voices want the country to fail so bad they can taste it.  They lack the character and courage to face the facts that the economy is working, despite their lies and misinformation and that it is a democratic administration who once again reversed the economic disaster of a previous republican administration.

And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Federal Spending and Federal Deficits Are Down Once Again Under A Democratic Administration. And It's Another Huge First For Politidose.

The U.S. Treasury Department reported that federal spending (outlays) for fiscal year ending 9/30/22 was $6.27 trillion, down $530 billion from the previous fiscal years (Trump's last fiscal year) federal spending of $6.8 trillion, an 8% reduction in fiscal spending.  The department also noted that the federal deficit was $1.38 trillion, down $1.4 trillion from the previous federal deficit of $2.78 trillion or 50% lower.  

Year to year federal spending (outlays) has been down 4 times in the last 12 years, and all by democratic administrations.  It was down in fiscal years 2010, 2012 and 2013 under President Obama's administration and now in 2022 under President Biden's administration.  The last time year to year federal spending was down by a Republican administration was in 1955 by the Eisenhower administration, 67 years ago.  It is also worthwhile noting that federal spending in fiscal 2022 was down also from Trump's 3rd fiscal year that ended 9/30/20 when  federal spending came in at $6.5 trillion.

The readers of Politidose commentary knew it would all take place because of the democratic party's precedent on fiscal matters that go back too many years to count.  And Politidose commentary in December 2020 before Biden took office and on January 23, 2021 soon after he took office predicted how President Joe Biden would reverse the fiscal disaster of the Trump/GOP administration.

Trump and the GOP's fiscal deficit in their third fiscal year ending in 2020 was a record $3.13 trillion and broke the previous one year fiscal record set by former GOP President George W. Bush when the deficit came in at $1.4 trillion in his fiscal 2009 federal budget.  So, as of this writing, Trump and Bush 43 hold the record for the highest single year fiscal year deficit.

The Treasury Department also announced that federal revenues for fiscal 2022 were $4.896 trillion, a record due to the workforce having jobs and spending money and the tax increases to those who have not been paying their fair share.  

Once again it is a democratic administration that is reversing the previous GOP's fiscal disaster despite the lies and misinformation of the GOP, it's supporters and the media who ae willing to run with the GOP talking points of the democrats being the big spenders crumbles with the facts.  Those are the same voices who started the big lie about record spending under the Biden administration the day they took office.

Politidose commentary has been there for the past 9 years with the true story and the facts how democratic administrations are best at governing and who have been the most fiscal responsible party.  So, stay tuned to Politidose, for your daily dose of political commentary and tune out the negative voices and news media and the GOP's lies and misinformation.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio   

Who Ever Thought It Would Take Place In America?

 The U.S. Economy is strong and has been for the past 20 months according to the economic data.  Job creation has been the best (over 10 million jobs) in any 20 month period, the unemployment rate has fallen from 6.3% when Biden took office to 3.5% in September 2022, wages increased 5.9% in 2021 and are increasing 5% so far this year.  Consumers are still spending despite inflation and driving the economy. (Consumer spending represents 70% of the economy.)  Unemployment is at a historically low rate.  Inflation will probably run 8% for 2022, a far cry from 11.2% in 1979,13.5% in 1980 and 10.3% in 1981.  The President's infrastructure and inflation reduction legislation will start to kick in and continue to move the economy forward, create more jobs and lower unemployment even more.  American manufacturing has announced plans to increase their manufacturing footprint domestically.  The positive news on the economy goes on and on.

Yet, all we hear from the GOP and their supporters are doom and gloom every day.  And the media is willing to wage its 24/7 news cycle to repeat those negative voices.  For the past 7 months the negative voices of recession said it would take place before the end of 2022.  Now, they say some time in 2023.  They are predicting millions of jobs being lost and higher unemployment,  A worldwide recession with $200 barrel of oil.  They talk about today's inflation being the worst in the last 40 years but during the inflation of the 1980's unemployment stood at over 10% for 10 straight months from Sept. 82 to June 83, the highest unemployment in the past 70 years.  But the negative voices continue to take up the media's time with their doom and gloom wishes for the economy.  Every month they are still predicting job creation to be a disaster and every month they are wrong, but the media still carry their negative voices.

The media has chosen sides and chose to ignore the good economic news for the country and its people for the past 20 months and instead enabled the negative voices by publishing their false statements 24/7 and flooding the news cycle with doom and gloom.  By their negative voices who just want to see the President and the country fail.  The media has failed the people and the country at a time when truth, facts and democracy are under attack by the negative voices.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

 

Journalist Dana Milbank Exposes The GOP's Fear and Lies Campaign About Crime in America. And, It's Another First For Politidose.

 In a New Orleans Advocate commentary dated 10/18 titled, "It's Just Murder Living In A Red State" Milbank presents the facts how violent crime and murder take place more in GOP led red states then democratic led states contrary to the lies and fears being spread by the GOP and it's supporters.  And that contrary to the lies, violent crimes is generally worse in republican run states.  

And if Mr. Milbank's article sounds familiar, it's because you read it here first in several past "Politidose" commentary that goes back to last year.  It was also "Politidose" past commentaries that exposed the GOP lies about the economy, the national debt, job creation and federal spending.  Dana Milbank is one of the nation's top journalists for reporting the facts and a credit to news reporting.  Too many people in the media are willing to always run with the lying talking points of the GOP and it's supporters and fail to report the facts or correct the lying talking points.

The Republican party is well known for using personal attacks, lies and misinformation as party policy because they have no real policy to govern with and therefore no accomplishments to campaign and run on.  They also have many enablers in the media who act as their ditto heads.  The country and its people deserve the facts and Dana Milbank delivered with his timely commentary on violent crime in America in the red states.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Economy, Job Creation and The Unemployment Rate for September 2022.

The U.S. Labor Department reported the economy added 263,000 jobs in September and that the unemployment rate came in at 3.5%. it was 3.7% in August.  It was the 20th straight month of positive job growth and unemployment matched the 3.5% low of the last 50 years.  Wages were up 5% for the year and 0.3% from August.

The negative noise machine once again got it wrong in predicting the job numbers would be disappointing for September.  They are also still calling for an economic recession that could take place if the Feds act irresponsible in raising interest rates.  The noise machine would like to see the President and the economy fail so bad they will stay in their negative mood of mis-information and lies into the future.  

The last time the unemployment rate was under 3.5% was in January 1969 when it hit 3.4%.  Job creation on President Biden's watch has been robust in his first 20 full months in office in keeping with the precedent set by past democratic administrations concerning job creation.  Job seekers are finding jobs and they have money to spend to keep the economy moving forward despite inflation.

The negative noise machine lacks the character to say anything positive about the economy, job creation, lower unemployment and how wrong they have been in preaching doom and gloom.  They are counting on lies and misinformation to sway the American voters because they have no positive record to run on.  

President Biden and the democratic party represent the few sane and steady voices in Washington on Democracy and the economy while the negative noise machine continue to live at the bottom of the barrel.  And once again it is a democratic administration that has reversed the job losses, higher unemployment and a failed economy of the previous GOP administration.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Another Balanced Budget For The State of Louisiana.

 Jay Dardenne, Governor Edwards Commissioner of Administration reported he is confident the state will report a balanced budget with surplus when the final budget numbers come in for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022.  Last fiscal year's surplus was $699 million according to Dardenne.  Governor Edwards plans and policies brought fiscal sanity to Louisiana's fiscal house after 8 years of unbalanced budgets by former Governor Jindal and the republican controlled state legislature.

And the Governor's administration accomplished fiscal sanity in a balanced way with state revenue increases, federal money, priority spending and budget cuts and adopting the ACA under the medicaid expansion for health insurance.  The fiscal turnaround was possible because democrats govern with plans and policy that address the real issues while the GOP govern by ideology, a personal code unrelated to the issues at hand.  The fiscal sanity was accomplished even though the Governor took office in 2016 with a projected $2.6 billion state deficit.  Governor Edwards plans and policies for fiscal sanity put an end to Jindal's massive budget cuts to education, health care and other needed services that took the brunt of Jindal's and the GOP controlled state legislature's cuts each year. 

Now that the state has balanced budgets and surpluses, some in the legislature are clamoring to eliminate Louisiana's state income tax that brings in approximately $5 billion annually in tax revenue, but they have no proposed plan to offset that lost revenue.  Dardenne warned, "we should not create a situation where the next governor or a new legislature has to immediately fix a problem we created."  Governor Edwards leaves office in January 2024.

Former Governor Jindal and the GOP controlled state legislature inherited a $787 million surplus from democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco and they blew it bid time with their fiscal disaster and governing by ideology.  Governor Edwards administration reversed all of that.  It is a mirror image of what the Trump administration left President Biden when he took office in January 2021.  That tragic gift to Biden was a $2.77 trillion federal deficit.  And one can bet when the Biden administration's first fiscal year ends on 9/30/22 the budget deficit will be much less than Trump's record deficit.

There is more good news that the Louisiana Workforce Commission announced.  The Louisiana unemployment rate for August was 3.8%.  The unemployment rate when Jindal left off ice was 6.2%, so as of August 2022 the unemployment rate has fallen 2.4% on Edwards watch.  The unemployment rate when Jindal took office in January of 2008 was 3.8% so unemployment increased 2.4% on Jindal's watch.

The fiscal sanity that has taken place on Governor Edwards watch is a mirror image that has taken place on the democratic watch nationally for the past 42 plus years.  And Politidose commentary was there calling the shots before they ever took place because of the past record of precedent.  So, forget the noise of the media in general and stay tuned to Politidose, your daily dose of political commentary.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and The Unemployment Rate for August 2022.

 The U.S. Department of Labor reported the economy added 315,000 jobs in August and that the unemployment rate came in at 3.7%.  The unemployment rate in July was 3.5%.  The department said more people entered the job market in August that counted for the increase.  It was the 19th straight month of positive job growth and wages were up 5.2% from the same period of last year.

So, the country's economic position is bright and still moving forward.  Energy prices continue to fall and August's inflation is expected to be released next week that most economist say will show a decrease.  But the negative noise machine is still out there predicting doom and gloom for the economy and urging the Feds to raise interest rates high and furious.  Their predictions are still all over the lot for a recession, higher inflation and a hard landing.  They still want that outcome so bad they can taste it.  Their motivation is to see the President fail.  It does not matter to them if the FEDS over react, create a recession and have millions of Americans lose their jobs.  They just want to see the President and the country fail.

The President and his party must  continue to address the negative noise machine for what it is and address the success of the economic achievements that have taken place for the past 19 months and are ongoing to continue the progress unfolding into the future.  Negative minds die of decay.  Positive thoughts are what makes America great and an informed voter will keep progress moving forward. 

With the congressional elections only two months away a democratic controlled congress will work for all to keep America the Beautiful and the best road to continue the President's economic expansion for the country and its people.  We came close to losing our country on Jan 6, 2020, we cannot let that take place again in the November elections.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio  

Louisiana's U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy: A "sad lot" Member of The GOP.

 In a Times Picayune article dated 8/25 by columnist Mark Ballard titled, "Louisiana delegation reaction mixed" concerning the President's plan to forgive some student loan debt, Cassidy's response was the usual GOP talking points they express about every democratic action.  And Cassidy's talking point actually represents what takes place when the government is controlled by his own party.

Cassidy said the President's action is a spit in the face of Louisiana families that will cost taxpayers $2,000 each because of the $300 billion cost, meaning the cost will be financed by deficit spending.  Of course, Cassidy dare not mention the $1.5 trillion Trump/GOP tax cut that he voted for that provided tax cuts to corporations and the most wealthy.  That $1.5 trillion tax cut cost five times the cost of the President's student load action and was paid for by deficit spending.  So, the cost to each taxpayer under the Trump/GOP tax cuts was 5 times greater than the $2,000 Cassidy alleges under the President's plan.

Columnist never seem to have an appetite to inform their readers of the hypocritical statements of the GOP and especially Senator Cassidy.  So, stay tuned to "Politidose" for your daily dose of political commentary. 

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Note:  As a reminder to all who are really interested in federal spending, Trump and the GOP ended their 4 fiscal years as the greatest spending administration in history.  In just 4 fiscal years federal spending passed the 4,5 and 6 trillion dollar mark.  

The State of Kansas Vote On The Abortion Issue Confirms What "Politidose" Commentary Said Years Ago.

The GOP and the so called conservative voices of anti-abortion rhetoric knew long ago that the best way to address the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision they opposed would be through a constitutional amendment or an act of congress.  But no republican President or republican controlled house of congress ever attempted to address the issue that way.  Instead, they made the issue a divisive one for political purposes using extreme charges and personal attacks against those who were pro-choice.  They also dare not admit that it was a republican appointed majority Supreme Court that legalized abortion in the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973.

"Politidose" commentary explained long ago why the GOP never sought to go the route of a constitutional amendment or an act of congress.  And their hidden reason was they knew they could not muster 3/4 of the states to ratify an amendment or a majority vote in congress to do so.  That outcome would kill any future talk by the anti-abortion crowd and kill their issue of division.  So, for 49 years, the GOP kept up their steady drum beat of misinformation concerning abortion.

The recent Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe passed the abortion issue to the states which was right up the GOP's ally.  Then along came the state of Kansas whose people voted 59%-41% to uphold the states constitution that provides for a woman's right to choose.  A group of Republicans then asked for a paid for recount. (Does that remind anyone Trump?)  And what do you know, the recount confirmed the original vote count.  That group was trying to keep the division alive for political purposes.

The Kansas vote confirmed what the GOP knew 49 years ago, the American voters believe abortion is a personal decision and should not be a political one made by politicians.  It also confirms what "Politidose"commentary said years ago about why the GOP never intended to go the way of an amendment or an act of congress.  For the GOP, abortion was their divisive issue to obtain votes.

This commentary written by Joe  Lorio 

 

Teen Age Gun Violence Deaths and The GOP

 According to a report in the New Orleans Advocate of Aug. 21, youths 1-19 years of age who died by gun violence hit a record number and exceeded that killed in auto related deaths.  The source of information comes from the 2020 CDC Kids Count Data Center which was the last full year account reported and covers the year 2020.

The article notes the top ten states with the highest average gun deaths per 100,000 people in 2020.  Number one on the list was Louisiana, followed by #2 Mississippi, #3 Arkansas, #4Missouri, #5 South Carolina, #6 Indiana, #7 Alabama, #8 Illinois, #9 Georgia and #10 Tennessee.  Eight of those top ten states are governed by the GOP while two are governed by democrats, Louisiana and Illinois.  The record deaths in 2020 for those youths ages 1-19 was 29.5% higher than in 2019 per the CDC report.

The report indicates that society as a whole is subject to gun violence deaths and that younger children are included in a large way.  And the rate keeps climbing.  There are stats that indicate that states with weaker gun laws tend to have the most violent gun related deaths in all categories.  

The gun related deaths the CDC and other groups track provide evidence over time that more needs to be done to control the sale and use of firearms.  The blame game has not resulted in a better out come and gun violence deaths have increased what should be an alarming rate to everyone since the assault weapons ban expired.  The Federal government also allowed President Clinton's financial help to the states expire that put 100,000 police officers on the streets of America.  That was a double whammy to a program that worked.  

Congress needs to step up to the plate, meet its obligation to protect and serve and reverse the carnage of gun violence deaths.  The second amendment has not kept us safe nor has the so called tough talk and without a doubt, the record increase in gun ownership has not kept us safe.  Congress must ack and must act soon.  It is the only answer left.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Mitch McConnell: The GOP's Senate Leader and Obstructionist.

 The GOP's long time leader in the U.S. Senate Mitch McConnell, once again shows his anti-Democratic ideology of governing with his recent statement about the lack of "quality" GOP candidates running in the November congressional elections.  It is another sad chapter of his obstruction and his party's attitude about governing.

For the past 6 months his party and the conservative media have predicted a red wave in the November elections and his party taking control of both houses of congress from the democrats.  And during that time Mitch never mentioned the lack of "quality" among GOP hopefuls and did not even care.  Then along came recent new polling that indicated the GOP would actually lose senate seats in the November elections and fail to regain control of the senate.

That news did not sit well with Mitch because he wants to control the senate so bad once again and foul up the rest of President Biden's time in office.  So, Mitch decided to strike against the GOP's lack of "quality" senate candidates going into the elections, many of which are supported by Donald Trump.  In other words, as long as the GOP could win, Mitch could care less about the "quality" of the GOP candidates.  The power is what is important to Mitch and the GOP so they can continue to seek rule over the country and its people which they have no regards for.

The American people should vote for democracy in November and keep the control of congress in the hands of the democratic party.  Democracy is at stake and so is our American way of life and the rule of law.  America the Beautiful is what America has always fought for through wars and peace since we became one nation under GOD with liberty and justice for all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Politidose Commentary Called The Shot On Donald Trump's Traitorous Act Back In 2016 While The News Media Remained Silent.

This writer's commentary in "Politidose" dated 7/31/2016 titled, "A Traitor Among Us:  Donald Trump, Vladmir Putin and Russia" recorded Trump's very first traitorous act as a Presidential candidate while the major news organizations were silent.  And they have been silent ever since on other traitorous acts of Donald Trump.

Donald Trump, the republican party's Presidential candidate committed his traitorous act and betrayed his country when he asked Russia's Putin to hack into Hillary Clinton's email in an attempt to find damaging information on Clinton to help his campaign for President.  Politidose commentary at the time was the only news media outlet that picked up on Trump's traitorous act.  Presidential candidates do not ask foreign governments to invade American privacy for political gain.  

And now 6 years later the media still enables Trump with their coverage and are afraid of Trump, like  so many of his ditto heads.  What took place on January 6, 2021 when President Trump urged his followers to storm the U.S. Capitol and try to intimidate congress to change the electoral vote was also a traitorous act and betrayal of America.  His failure to shut down his mob timely after urging from his advisers also was a betrayal of America. 

Politidose in 2016 also called America's attention to the fact that the GOP and Trump was one and the same and time has proven that to be true.  The media still has failed to cross that line and the enabling continues.  And as of this writing Trump and the GOP are one and the same even more with their anti-American rhetoric against America's institutions and law enforcement agencies.  Every day they attempt to undermine democracy with lies, misinformation and statements that betray the rule of democratic government.  Sad as it is, the media has enabled the Trump/GOP hateful rhetoric to poison and divide our great country.  Columnist Froma Harrop recognized the media's enabling of the GOP in a New Orleans Advocate commentary dated 8/15/22 titled "The media are doing the GOP's dirty work."  The article is right on target, easy to understand and timely.  It should be read by all.

At a time when America is under attack from the Trump/GOP lies and anti-American rhetoric, the democratic party is standing tall against their betrayal and desire of authoritarian rule.  The party is discharging their obligation as elected officials to stand up for the rule of law, our institutions and investigating the serious threat that Trump and the GOP represent.  The media has failed to do their part in exposing those who seek to betray America and the rule of law.  In short, the media has failed the people at a time of great danger to our country.  

The democratic party, America's party, needs the help of every citizen to defeat the effort of Trump and the GOP to overthrow American democracy and install authoritarian rule.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

 

President Joe Biden and Speaker of The U.S. House Nancy Pelosi Are The Sane and Steady Voices Among The Negative Noise Machine.

 President Joe Biden and Speaker of the U.S. House Nancy Pelosi's steady hand have accomplished much in the 18 months of the Biden administration.  Despite the negative noise of the GOP and the conservative media, their wisdom of having "political understanding" resulted in the passage of five major legislative bills in those 18 short months.  (1) COVID relief, (2) infrastructure, (3) Veteran's burn bill, (4) Chips bill, and (5) health and climate bill.

And through all the misinformation, lies and the ability of two ego driven democratic senators who blocked the President's BBB legislation, the sane voices of the President and the Speaker prevailed and moved the country and its people forward with a liberal/progressive legislative agenda that has worked and the new legislation passed in the last two weeks will have a positive effect on the U.S. economy into the future.  Former President Truman said in one of his famous sayings, "A PRESIDENT NEEDS POLITICAL UNDERSTANDING TO RUN GOVERNMENT, BUT HE MAY BE ELECTED WITHOUT IT."  That saying also applies to congress in this writer's opinion.

President Truman also said this in another one of his famous sayings:  " AMERICA WAS NOT BUILT ON FEAR, AMERICA WAS BUILT ON COURAGE, ON IMAGNATION AND AN UNBEATABLE DETERMINATION TO DO THE JOB AT HAND."  As everyone knows, the negative noise machine uses "fear" as a tactic to obstruct and divide.  That is all they have left to offer.  Sane voices are the ones who do the job at hand regardless how loud the noise gets.

The President and Speaker Pelosi's focus are on moving the country and its people forward despite the negative noise machine and its misinformation.  Their leadership and "political understanding" of government and their sane and steady voices are needed at a time of great threat to democracy that comes from within.

This writer is confident that America has the right leadership to face the challenges of today and the future.  Great progress has been made since the recession that began in February 2020 and the resulting 20 plus million job losses.  The recently passed legislation mentioned above will work to continue to move the economy in the right direction for all America.

Former President Truman would be proud of President Biden and Nancy Pelosi's "political understanding" to run government.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

The U.S. House Passes President Joe Biden's Health and Climate Legislation.

 Speaker of the U.S. House Nancy Pelosi and the democratic controlled House wasted no time in passing the President's legislation concerning health, climate change and taxes for those who do not pay their fair share.  The vote was 220-207 with all republicans voting against the bill.  The legislation was approved by the U.S. Senate last week.

Speaker Pelosi and her party could have caused trouble for the legislation in pay back to Manchin and Sinema's sabotage of the President's BBB legislation, but Pelosi and her members understood the legislation did contain portions of BBB and would be a positive for the country, the people and the economy.  So, they did what was best for America and not their own egos and voted yes.  They will have time now to come back later and take up other important parts of BBB that needs to become law.

The GOP in congress who opposed the legislation, both in the House and Senate gave the same old worn out excuses used since the Reagan era.  "The legislation is a job killer, too costly, taxes the middle class, will increase the deficit, will increase inflation and a litany of other excuses."  It reflects their opposition to the President's COVID relief legislation the democrats passed that worked so well putting America back to work.

Democrats in the U.S. Senate should learn a lot from Speaker Pelosi's leadership and the "political understanding" democrats in the House have to be better public servants.  It requires putting America's interest first and foremost and self egos and special interest groups aside.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

The Media Needs More Journalists Like E.J. Dionne, Jr., Froma Harrop and Dana Milbank.

 Opinion columnists are many but few are journalists.  The exception are E.J. Dionne, Jr. Froma Harrop and Dana Milbank who are true journalists in every sense of the word.  Journalists know and understand the subject of their writings and therefore speak to the real issues and how those issues affect the country, the people and the heart of the matter at hand.

Opinion columnists simply have an opinion based on their partisan view and are not up to date on the issues nor the facts concerning the issues or how it fits in the scheme of things.  They have a preconceived ideology/opinion that has to fit their partisan views.  Their real motive is misinformation and division.  It is all they have to offer.

Dionne, Harrop and Milbank speak to the issues facing the country and its people and have a grasp in what the issues are about and their affects.  Real journalists understand how to speak to their readers concerning both sides of an issue with facts to make a judgement and not to divide.  The partisan opinion columnists have nothing of value to offer the readers and therefore its readers lack information to make any fair judgement on the issues.

With so much negative noise out there in the media and the division it seeks, America and its people  are greatly in need of more true journalists like Dionne, Harrop and Milbank to tell the real story about the issues that affect the country and its people.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Recession Word and The Ignorance of The Negative Noise Machine On The U.S. Economy.

 For the past several months the negative noise machine has tried their best spreading misinformation about an economic recession.  The predictions have run something like this:  The recession is already here, or it will take place in the last quarter of 2022, or the middle or end of 2023.  The time frame keeps changing.  then after two quarters of negative GDP growth that is proof the country is already in recession and so on and so on it goes  J.P. Morgan, a large financial institution changed its tune about the time frame so many times one wonders "what's the point."

Well the negative noise machine is ignorant as to the definition of an economic recession and when it actually and or officially takes place.  The fact is The National Bureau of Economic Research, known as NBER established in 1920 is the arbiter of making the call on when a recession takes place.  NBER is a private nonpartisan organization network of over 1700 plus economist.  The division of NBER that makes the call after reviewing economic data is their "Business Cycle Dating Committee."  The committee takes into consideration a multitude of economic data and not just two straight quarters of negative growth like the negative noise machine would like the public to think.  The media who report and publish the negative noise are the enablers of passing on the misinformation from its sources.  My hometown newspaper, The Times Picayune in an editorial column of 8/4 titled, Semantics Aside, Economy Struggling seems to think that since almost everybody uses the two negative quarters to judge recession it must be true.  

The ignorance of those who pass on the negative comments surely have the means of knowing about NBER and that they are the officials in charge of making the recession call.  And keep in mind that NBER announced that the last U.S. recession began in February 2020.  That was two months before COVID hit the pandemic stage and two months before the labor department announced that the economy lost over 20 million jobs in April 2020.  Does any one remember the negative noise machine or the media mention that the U.S. economy went into recession in February of 2020, two months before the COVID pandemic?  In fact, Trump at that same time was treating COVID as just a word.  

The only answer as to why the negative noise machine and their enablers would want to promote a thing like recession and actually would want to see one would be to damage the President and his party going into the mid-term elections.  The negative noise is so bad Fox News tried to put a negative spin on the economy creating 528,000 jobs in July while those same negative voices were predicting 250,000 jobs.

The official word on recession if it comes, will have to be decided by the National Bureau of Economic Research and that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and The Unemployment Rate for July 2022.

 The U.S. Labor Department announced that the Economy added 528,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate came in at 3.5%, down from 3.6% in June.  It was the 18th straight month of positive job growth for the economy under the Biden administration and the unemployment rate stands at a 50 year low.  Hourly wages were up 0.5% in July and up 5.2% over the same period last year.  The Department also announced that June's job creation was 398,000 instead of the 372,000 first reported.

The good jobs report tells us the U.S. economy is still producing despite all the negative reports in the media who for the last several months has tried to sell recession talk to the public and an economic crash.  Those negative voices were predicting July's report would show 250,000 jobs created but were wrong as they have been all year.  Unfortunately, the media has been the enablers of the negative voices and have nothing to offer the people concerning the positive on the economic recovery from the GOP's economic recession of 2020.

President Biden and the democratic party understand that there is no such thing as a self-sustaining economy and have more economic legislation planned that will help the economy continue to grow, provide jobs, lower the unemployment rate, reduce deficit spending, answer the call on climate change and keep America and its people safe.

The main threat to the economy is inflation, which cannot be sustained on its present course very much longer.  The threat comes from the negative voices in the GOP, the conservative media and those who want to see the President and the country fail.  They, along with many financial institutions are urging the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates fast and high to address inflation and know that would throw the economy into a recession of their own making.  They will continue to lie, give out misinformation and obstruct to reverse the success of the President's policies in favor of their own failed past.

And all the economic good news and the noise machines negative response was predicted and foretold here in past Politidose commentary even before President Biden took office.  It was all laid out for everyone to read 12/7/20 in commentary titled, "Joe Biden:  The 46th President of the United States" and 1/23/21 titled,  "What Will The New Year Bring Politically:  The United States: Past, Present and Future.  And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe  Lorio

The United States Brings Another al Qaida Leader To Justice.

 President Joe Biden announced on Monday that al-Qaida leader Hyman al-Zawahri was killed in Kabul, Afghanistan by a missile strike from a CIA drone.  Hyman al-Zawahri succeeded Bin Laden when he was killed in Pakistan by a team of Navy Seals.  He and Bin Laden were the masterminds of the September 11,2001 terror attack on the U.S. that killed over 2000 Americans.  Both were brought to justice by a democratic administration that made the effort to do so a priority.  

And once again the capability of American intelligence made a difficult job possible to bring those to justice who take it upon themselves to harm America with the use of terror tactics.  President Biden displayed his wisdom in having the U.S. keep its focus on terror activity in Afghanistan after withdrawing our troops and ending the United States longest war.  Most never gave al-Zawahri much thought since he was not the outspoken leader that Bin Laden was when he was in the media news almost every day when he was alive and leading al-Qaida.  But the threat was there and the intelligence community and the President were well aware of the threat.

The successful operation that brought al-Zawahri to justice should also be a reminder that the U.S. does not need to have troops stationed every where to protect our country and its people and find those that wish us harm.  Hopefully the President can see a way to end our troop presence in Iraq and bring them home and out of harm's way.  Nineteen years and four months is long enough to be sitting on a powder keg waiting to explode.

The President should now make the withdrawal from Iraq one of his next priorities.  Congratulations to the President and his team who closed out another chapter on another al-Qaida leader.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

American Business Planted The Seed For Today's Inflation.

 Inflation is the result of too many dollars chasing too fewer goods and services.  It takes place because of a decreased manufacturing capacity and disruption and or shortage in the supply chain of distribution.  The U.S. economy lost over 20 million jobs in 2020 due to the economic recession and the COVID pandemic which included several major surges.  Those conditions and job losses shut down the economy and its infrastructure to a great extent.  People stayed home, consumer goods were in short supply and a back log of orders took hold.  The GDP in 2020 contracted to a minus 3.4% and the U.S. ended Trumps time in office with the worst job creation record since the great depression of 1928.  Unemployment went up and was higher when he left office than when he took office.

President Biden knew something had to be done to bring the economy back, create jobs and reduce unemployment.  As a candidate for President in 2020 he had a plan to do so and his number one priority was COVID relief legislation which included a stimulus check, expanded unemployment for those who lost their jobs, child care and other benefits that put money and buying power back into the consumer's pockets.  And the consumer was ready to spend.  The President also saw that America bought enough of the approved COVID vaccine to vaccinate every American and planned the distribution to do so to keep America safe and working.  

The President anticipated what needed to be done and the economy responded by adding over 8 million jobs in Biden's first 17 months in office, a record number in such a short time.  The GDP in 2021 was 5.7%, the highest since the 1980's and unemployment continued to fall.  Along came inflation because the business community did not anticipate nor did they give much thought that the economy would respond in such a positive way so soon.  As a result, manufacturing and the supply chain distribution was unable to handle the demand of consumer spending even though they knew the economy's growth was steady.  Inflation took off to what it is today.

The President did his job knowing what had to be done and what the country was facing without action.  The business community failed to do their job with manufacturing and the supply chain distribution even though they had the profits and financial means to do so to handle the challenge of consumer needs and a growing economy.  We know they had the financial means and profits because of the following information.

(1)  The Americans for Tax Fairness and Institute for Policy Studies reported:  Between March 18, 2020 and April 15, 2021 the combined wealth of U.S. Billionaires increased $1.6 trillion, a 55% increase.  That covered the period of COVID pandemic and we know it is billionaires who control Walmart, Amazon and other major monopolies.   (2)  The AFL-CIO Labor Union Board that tracks CEO and workers earnings reported just this week that:  Average CEO earnings of S&P 500 companies in 2021 was $18.3 million, up 18.2%.  The ratio average of CEO earnings to it workers earnings was 324-1 in 2021.  299-1 in 2020 and 264-1 in 2019.  (3)  CEO earnings of the major corporations have increased every year for the last 6 straight years.  The years those increases took place include the pandemic years so their companies were certainly making money.  The earnings ratio also tells the great disparity between executive earnings and the average workers earnings are still miles apart.  

So, the business community, especially the ones who are monopolies had the financial means to keep manufacturing and the supply chain of distribution running and open to avoid the delay of goods and the inflation we are seeing today.  Yes, my fellow Americans, "Innovation, Lost in America's Business Community" the subject of previous commentary here in Politidose is still taking place.  And it is still taking place despite the 14% decrease in Corporate Income Tax (from 35% to 21%) thanks to the Trump/GOP tax cuts, tax loop holes and other benefits the business community has been given by a generous Uncle Sam.   

President Biden's liberal/progressive innovation economic policy worked to move the country and its people forward.  The Business community had no policy or innovation and therefore planted the seed of inflation.  

This commentary written by Joe  Lorio

Note:  The increase in CEO earnings noted in (3) above were all at record levels.

The Price of a Barrel of Oil and a Gallon of Gasoline: Inflation Is Not The Cause.

 The people of Louisiana and those along the Gulf Cost should know the current price of Oil and Gas is not due to inflation.  The Oil industry and its supporters would like you to believe that and are doing their best to try and sell the idea while real inflation is taking place with other goods and services.  It's the old con game the industry plays.

Flash back to the Gulf War when President Bush 41 sent American troops to Kuwait to oust Saddam Hussein' troops from Kuwait's oil fields.  And when President Bush 43 ordered the invasion of Iraq over WMD that did not exist.  Both operations launched the speculation of oil disruptions, shortages and other claims that drove the price of oil and gas to record levels at the time during the Bush 43 administration.  No one called the rising prices and record prices "inflation."  It was manipulation by those who control the price and an excuse for much higher prices.  Today it is speculation about the Russian war in Ukraine and the alleged disruption and shortages that have drove up the prices to record levels again.  There are no shortages with a world economy we are told slowing down.

Those who follow the facts know that the Oil industry, Russia and OPEC lowers or and raises their production depending on the market and manipulates the production according to their needs.  And when prices go up, it is never called "inflation" and when prices go down it is never called "deflation."  So now the industry and the financial markets who hate the President's energy policy are riding real "inflation" as an excuse to justify their record price increases.

The U.S. is the world's leading producer of oil, can produce enough for America's needs but still exports at a time of crisis, has production that is shut in and thousands of acres of land they have yet to drill on and they have failed the country at a time in need with excuses and misinformation.  The idea that they need the federal government to let them drill and produce more is a fairy tale.  They already have that capacity to do so without government's approval.

So no, my fellow Americans, and especially those in Louisiana who are paying those high gas prices at the pump, it is not because of "inflation."  We have been there before, done that and it was never called "inflation" for good and obvious reasons.  And the Oil industry are the ones who have destroyed Louisiana's environment and have never been held accountable.

Prices at the pump are starting to go down as predicted by this writer and it is not related to "inflation"  but those inflation hawks will use negative information as long as they feel it suits their purpose.  The manipulation that takes place with the Oil industry and the resulting damage to consumer pricing is good reason and proof why fossil fuels should be a thing of the past.  The Oil industry has been in control long enough.  It is past time to trust the future with a cleaner and more stable energy source and take control away from the Oil industry.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Food for thought:  I wonder how many people remember there was a time when they pulled up to a gas station and an attendant filled up their car with gas, cleaned the wind shield, checked the oil and water, checked the tires and all was included in the price of gas.  Now you are the attendant and everything else.  You even have to pay for air if the machine is working.  Less service but higher prices at the pump. 

Columnists Steve Roberts and Ron Faucheux Join The Negative Noise Machine Media In Trying To Predict Who Will Replace President Biden As The Democratic Nominee In 2024.

 Today, July 20 President Biden has served 18 full months in office, a far cry from the 48 months he was elected to serve.  Yet, the news media in general and the so called conservative media in particular are trying their best to plant the seed that Biden will be too old to seek a second term and are trying to figure out what democrat will step forward to replace the President as the nominee for 2024.  Some has suggested that the President announce his intentions now even though Biden has said he would run for re-election.  

Now comes two commentaries published in the New Orleans Advocate dated 7/15 and 7/18 by Steve Roberts and Ron Faucheux who basically ask the question, "what democrat will replace President Biden in 2024."  They name several democrats as possible candidates.  But the story unfolding is an indication how the media is broken when there are so many other important issues to talk about.  The idea of being so negative about the President when he still has 30 months left to serve demonstrates how low the media has fallen.  It's an attempt to make Biden a "lame duck President."  A cliche festered by politics and the media.

Both Roberts and Faucheux make note of Biden's low poll numbers like the election is next month and the President cannot recover.  But neither one mentioned that recent polls concerning the media are less favorable to the media than the President.  One would think that Roberts and Faucheux could find something positive to comment on like the economy for the last 17 months.  Taking a shot at the President and what democrat may or may not replace him this early in the President's administration is childish, unproductive and destabilizing.  Time itself will work things out.

As this writer said in previous Politidose commentary, the President will not seek re-election and listed the reasons why and hopefully will not make the announcement until January 2024.  That will be time enough for any democrat who has character, courage and is worth his salt to enter the race at a time of his own choice.  As for the negative noise media, they made the choice to be negative early on and at the same time when their fellow opinion writers are predicting doom and gloom for the economy, recession and all sorts of negative comments about the administration,  The negative voices seem to be following the Trump/GOP play book.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin Reveals His Ignorance Again On The Economy, Inflation and President Biden's BBB Legislation.

 Once again Joe Manchin has used the same excuse to kill President Biden's BBB legislation.  The first time was early in Biden's Presidency when he said "what's the rush" he needed more time.  Last week he used the same excuse again saying he wanted to wait until July was over and see what the inflation numbers look like before he takes up BBB again.  At the present he only supports legislation concerning prescription drug reform and Obamacare funding.  

Manchin is ignorant concerning the economy and how it works.  The President's BBB legislation addresses the inflation issue and there is no need to wait for future inflation reports.  Biden's COVID relief legislation passed early in his first year and was a priority because he knew it would prime the economy and put America back to work.  The President did not take a wait and see attitude before passing the legislation like Manchin wants to do now on BBB for the second time.

At the same time Manchin announced he would not support BBB and blamed it on inflation, General Motors announced that the company and its partners Pilot Travel Centers and EVgo would build 2,000 charging stalls at up to 500 Pilot Flying J sites across the nation.  The plug in charging sites would be at 50 mile intervals along U.S. highways.  Construction will start this summer and the new infrastructure will work with the company's goal to build only electric passenger vehicles by 2035 and Biden's promise during the campaign to build 500,000 charging stations by 2030.  

General Motors decision is a boost to the clean energy proposed by the President to fight climate change and the company can see a bright future for climate change despite inflation that Manchin clearly does not understand because he is beholden to the present fossil fuel energy industry.  Climate change is part of the President's BBB legislation that Manchin objects to.  Manchin's negative attitude toward BBB displays how childish he really is.  On the other hand General Motors attitude is positive on the economy and climate change as indicated on their above commitment and are not waiting on the July inflation report.  

President Clinton's administration faced a similar problem early in his first term when his economic plan was introduced in his very first budget.  He too had a split Senate and his budget and economic plan raised taxes on the highest tax bracket and corporate America.  Several democrats in the Senate opposed the legislation but in the end all 51 democratic Senators voted for the budget and the President's legislation.  The GOP opposed the bill, claiming it would increase the deficit, cause a recession, increase unemployment and blow  out the national debt.  But just the opposite took place.  Those democratic senators who came around and voted for the legislation served their country, the people and their party well.  They put their ego aside for a higher calling.

Senator Joe Manchin has done just the opposite.  He has turned his back on the party, the people and his country and in favor of keeping the status quo with the present energy industry and their special interest.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Why President Biden Will Not Seek Re-election In 2024.

 The noise machine for months has engaged in dumping their negative thoughts on the country's economy predicting doom and gloom while willfully over looking the positives taking place such as the good job numbers reported for June.  And now the noise machine is in full swing trying to convince the voters that no one wants the President to run for reelection in 2024 etc., etc., etc.  But all the noise machine has to offer is misinformation they believe will help the GOP in the mid term elections.

It's time to set the record straight.  The President will not run for a second term.  There are several reasons why.  The President has a physical problem moving about which is noticeable and not uncommon for a person his age.  The President lacks articulation in his speaking, still stutters to some degree and does not make a vibrant appearance.  Some take this to be a mental problem but that is not the case.  He is just not a personality person to speak of.  Franklin Roosevelt, the long time democratic President had a physical handicap with polio and in later years spent most of his time in a wheel chair.  But he was a great communicator and speaker and overcame his physical problems.  Plus the media in those days were not in the business 24/7, television was no where around and most journalists were real journalists.

The President is mentally capable of governing and the progress made both domestically and internationally in his first 17 months in office was sound by any fair standard.  His priority after taking office was COVID Relief, Infrastructure and Build Back Better legislation.  COVID and infrastructure became law and moved the country forward, regained all public sector jobs lost due to the recession in 2020 and lowered the unemployment rate to 3.6%.  Over 8 million jobs were added to the economy in 17 months, a record.  The President's BBB legislation was put on hold only because two democratic senators wanted to satisfy their own ego with the power they held because of a split U.S. Senate.  They ignored the people's vote for the President and his policies.

President Biden is not the usual politician and puts his country and its people first.  He recognizes his physical problems and will be satisfied to see the country and its people do well on his watch, as they are doing now in spite of inflation.(which by the way is coming down).  Being President is not an ego trip for Biden and he has served his country well at a time in need in the congress and as President.  This writer believes the President will make his announcement at the proper time and will not be forced by the media or anyone else to meet their time schedule to make the announcement.

The President was elected to serve 4 years and has 31 more months in office.  The media and the GOP would like the President to make the announcement early, that way they can go to their usual BS of declaring Biden a "lame duck President and get nothing done."  Hopefully, the President will announce his intentions in 2024.  That is time enough for any democrat worth his salt and wants to run for President to make his case.

The bottom line is President Biden, a decent man and a different kind of politician, will not seek reelection and will be satisfied in knowing his administration moved the country and its people forward at a difficult time and that the country and its people will be in better shape than when he took office.

This commentary written by Joe  Lorio  

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and The Unemployment Rate For June 2022

 The U.S. Labor Department reported the economy added 372,000 jobs in June and that the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.6%.  It was the 17th straight month of positive job growth for the Biden administration. (Feb 2021-June 2022).  According to previous Labor Department reports approximately 8.7 million jobs have been added to the economy in Biden's first 17 full months in office.  By comparison, 6.6 million jobs were added to the economy in Trump's first 36 months in office and that was before anyone ever heard about COVID or a pandemic.

Prior to the release of the job numbers, the negative noise machines were predicting lower job numbers and that the June numbers will be a make or break month for the economy.  It certainly was not a break month for the economy.  But the negative noise machine will shake off the good news and continue to talk about an economic recession and doom and gloom for the economy.  Their goal is misinformation because they want to see America fail under the Biden administration.  They hate the President's policies to transit away from big oil, his support for higher wages, his support of unions and policies that support the middle class.  The people should remember it is the negative news calling for the Feds to raise interest rates high and faster which could cause an economic recession.

The good job numbers for June was followed by a report from Freddie Mac that the 30 year home mortgage interest rate fell to 5.3% from the 5.7% level.  The negative noise machine was reporting surging interest rates would hit 7%.  But for the record, the average yearly 30 year home mortgage rate from 1971-2022 averaged 7.7% annually.  So where is the surge?  Those are the kinds of words used to try to sucker the people to have a negative view of the economy.

The Department also reported that all the private sector jobs lost during the pandemic has now returned to work with more to spare.  Job creation for June was broad based over all sectors of the economy and manufacturing added 29,000 jobs and now has more jobs than before the pandemic.  June's wages increased 5.1% from the same period last year.  The latest numbers confirm that the President's policies are working and that so far, this economy is one of the best following a devastating recession and record job losses. 

And it was all predicted here in "Politidose" commentary before the President took office and a short time after.  The reasons were there for all to see by those who pay attention to the past records of democratic administrations and check the facts.  The GOP, the conservative media and the pundit's negative noise machine were not happy with June's job numbers report by the Labor Department.

And once again, it is a democratic administration's policies that is driving the economy and moving the U.S. economy forward for progress.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

A New Era Of LSU Football Is On The Horizon.

 LSU's two new head coaches, Kim Mulkey (Women's Basketball) and Jay Johnson (Men's Baseball) completed their first season as head coach at LSU so Tiger fans have a reasonable idea what to expect in the future.  This writer thinks the future looks a lot brighter based on performance.

The spotlight now turns to LSU's new head football coach Brian Kelly whose team kicks off the season September 4 (58 days from this writing) in the New Orleans Superdome.  It will be a home game away from home for LSU and the Tigers will pack the stadium.  No one is certain what the final results will be for Kelly's first year at LSU at seasons end but we do know the following.

Except for the 2019 season when LSU won it all, the Tigers have not been a consistent winning team and have made the BCS playoffs only once since it began 8 years ago.  LSU's 2020 and 2021 seasons both ended playing 500 ball and the 2021 team had a 3-5 losing record in the SEC and finished in a tie with Auburn for last place in the SEC west.  The football program took a giant step backwards during those two seasons.

So what does the future hold for LSU football under new head coach Kelly?  The judgement and answer must come down the road.  The answer will be very elementary regardless how LSU ranks in recruiting.  The real question is, "what will Kelly do with the players on his team."  Will he be the coach that will produce a consistent winning team that makes the playoffs on a regular basis and therefore has a shot at competing for the national championship more often?

If that does not take place, the future of LSU football will look like the past.  There is another unanswered question.  How did LSU go from a national championship team in 2019 to breakeven seasons in 2020 and 2021?  Does LSU have other internal problems that have never been addressed?  The future has the answer.

In the meantime, hope is always there for LSU fans and when the season ends everyone will be able to judge what the future will look like for LSU and its new head coach.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Sickness Continues In Rich Lowry's Opinion Column.

Rich Lowry, Trump's ditto head opinion writer for the Conservative National Review in a New Orleans Times Picayune article dated 6/30/22 says U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland should stand down and not indict Trump concerning his traitorous acts of June 6th.  Like his sick opinions, Lowry gives several excuses why Trump should not be prosecuted and follows the script of the GOP that they are elite, above the law and should not be held accountable for their own illegal acts.

Lowry's first excuse:  The people would  think the prosecution of Trump would be political since the Attorney General was appointed by President Biden.  Second excuse:  Lowry does not believe Trump acted in corrupt intent with his lying about voter fraud because Trump spent his whole adult life exaggerating, twisting and obscuring the truth to suit his interest and ego.  Third excuse:  He is naturally prone to conspiratorial thinking and no one is going to be able to establish his state of mind.  Fourth excuse:  Most of Trump's allegedly illegal acts were carried out on the advise of lawyers, and indeed in the company of lawyers.  Fifth excuse:  Those republican voters who voted for Trump twice have to be persuaded that it is time for him to go.

Lowry's sick excuses ape the sickness affecting the GOP and so called conservative media that GOP Presidents are above the law.  They are the same ones who spread the lies about Hillary Clinton's role in the Benghazi attack even though three GOP controlled committees in congress who investigated the incident found the charges against her not to exist.  But Trump and Lowry's crowd still chanted, "lock her up" over and over again and Trump said he would see that she would be prosecuted if elected.

The January 6th committee has already presented evidence that Lowry's excuses are just that, excuses to protect a traitorous President and his party.  Lowry admits in his column he knew Trump was a liar who twisted and obscured the truth to suit his interest and ego all his life.  But Lowry still voted for and supports Trump and is still his ditto head.   This writer wrote commentary long ago how Trump's corrupted business life was brought to the White House and continued the corruption in the political arena.  

It culminated in his refusal to transfer the powers of the Presidency peacefully, his attempt to corrupt the political process by claiming fraud he knew did not exist and his attempt to have Presidential electors overturn the election.  That Trump sickness torch was passed to the conservative media who enabled Trump's every move and his extreme rhetoric and continue today with Lowry's sick column of excuses for Trump and the GOP.

This  commentary written by JoeLorio

The Democratic Controlled Congress Passes Much Needed Firearms Legislation.

 President Biden signed into law new firearms legislation that will help reduce future mass shootings and gun violence deaths.  It was the first piece of firearms legislation since President Clinton's legislation that banned assault style weapons in 1993.  Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Murphy played a major role in keeping the conversation alive and before congress and the public and seeing it through to completion.

The Senate voted 65-35 for passage and all 50 democratic senators voted for the bill.  15 GOP senators voted with the democrats and 35 GOP senators voted against the bill.  In the U.S. House the vote of passage was 234-193.  All 220 democrats voted for the bill and 14 GOP reps. voted with the democratic majority.  193 GOP member of the House voted against the bill.  So all  together, 270 democrats voted for the bill while 228 GOP members voted against the bill.  A total of only 29 GOP votes were cast in favor of the bill so it was not a bipartisan passed legislative bill.  The  only Louisiana Senator who voted for the bill was Bill Cassidy and Louisiana's senator John Kennedy voted against the bill.  All Louisiana GOP House members voted against the bill and displayed their loyalty to the Trump/GOP extreme attitude.

Those who follow politics, mass shootings and gun violence find no surprise to find it was another democratic administration who did something concerning firearms regulations.  President George W. Bush and Donald Trump both had a GOP controlled congress but never did introduce any firearms legislation during the worst of times.  They just kicked the can down the road.

President Clinton's legislation made a difference and reduced the incidents of mass shootings and gun violence deaths and so will the legislation signed into  law by President Biden and passed by the democratic controlled Congress.  President Biden kept his word by seeking to include the GOP in his legislation efforts.  A stark contrast to the GOP's senator Mitch McConnell when he announced he and the GOP would not lift a finger to help or work  with President Obama when he was first elected to office because he wanted to make Obama a one term President.  

Democratic administrations don't have that problem.  They believe they are elected to serve the country and its people and they do so with plans and policy to move things forward.  After only 17 months in office, President Biden has accomplished much for the country and its people and he made good on his  remarks after the tragic Uvalde mass shootings when he told America and Congress, enough is enough and it was time to act.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio