The Killing Of Children In America's Schools Has To Stop. And It Has To Stop NOW.

 What has our country become when we accept the mass shootings and killings of children in school and just treat the tragedy as a foot note in the news and fail to hold those responsible for their inaction to address the repeated carnage?  The 19 grade students at Uvalde's Robb school should not have lost their lives because the tragic event did not have to take place.

Students should not have to die by gun violence at a place of learning when they are being educated to grow and be good productive citizens.  Stolen lives because there are elected officials who believe in the proliferation of guns on the streets of America without proper regulations that would prevent such tragic events.

So after every such tragic gun violence deaths, the survivors and the families are offered words of condolence but no words of actions to address the problem head on so we just move to the next gun violence deaths and go through the motions once again.

Elected officials who make it easy for guns to proliferate with their watered down gun legislation do not value life.  They value a corrupt extreme ideology that shame what Ameria stands for.  They lack character and courage and display their ignorance when they want to add to the burdens teachers are already exposed to when their answer is to arm the teachers.  A terrible idea from mindless officials.

The killing of children in schools should never be acceptable and those elected officials who refused through the years to take a stand and vote for positive gun control laws and a ban on assault type weapons should be voted out of office.  They have had much time to rethink their position but refused to change the status quo.  They do not belong in positions of power and failed the test of an elected public official.  

The tragic events that took place at Uvalde and other schools in the past should never occur again.  And the people of America can see that it does not with their vote and voice and hold those elected officials responsible for neglecting their duty to serve and keep the people  safe.  The innocent school children who have died in gun violence should not be forgotten.  They represent the core values of family life and are the future leaders of America the Beautiful.  They deserve a chance to live their dreams.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

There Is A Model and Precedent To Reverse Mass Shooting Deaths That Took Place In Uvalde, Texas.

 The model and precedent took place on President Clinton's watch when assault type weapons were banned and the record speaks for itself.  Those weapons are killing machines and do not belong on the streets of America.  That, coupled with needed gun control laws will reduce crime and the mass killing of innocent people, especially children.

The administration of President George W. Bush allowed the assault weapons ban to expire and gun violence deaths have been running rampant ever since.  And in the mean time, republican governed states have weakened gun laws and made it easier for people to buy weapons.  When gun laws allow an 18 year old to buy two assault weapons, one that was used to kill 19 grade students and two adults in Uvalde and the republicans say the answer is to arm teachers, that is a sickness America can not afford to have.

The NRA and the republican coalition to oppose logical  gun control legislation like a ban on assault type weapons are responsible for the carnage we see taking place today.  Their solution of citizens with guns will stop the violence is nonsense.  Police officers carry guns and they can not stop the killings because the streets are flooded with guns because of weak gun laws.

America needs a ban on assault type weapons now.  The evidence is duly noted again at Uvalde, Texas.  President Biden should  also give serious consideration for the federal government to put more police officers on the streets of America as Clinton did and have the federal government pick up the tab.  States and cities say they are short on police officers and do not have the financial means to hire more because politicians promise no new taxes instead of living up to their responsibility as elected officials to keep their states and cities and the people safe.

The answer to reverse the epidemic of gun violence deaths is known and within our power to correct.  The republican party has to be called out for their failure to act in good faith to solve the terrible problem.  We the people, must benefit  from what the Sumerians said they were taught 6000 years ago. "The key to a better future is  to understand the mistakes of the failed past."  The failed past took  place again this week in Uvalde, Texas.

Now is the time to learn from those past mistakes and take the proper action so the future will be better than the failed past.  

This  commentary written by Joe Lorio

Another Huge First For "Politidose: Wealth Continues To Be Transferred To The Already Wealthy.

 Politidose, in its commentary of 11/23/2007 titled, "Corporate America:  Leaving The Average American In The Dust" was one of the first commentaries of many later ones concerning the transferring of wealth from the middle class to the wealthy.  Now comes a new report from Americans for Tax Fairness and The Institute for Policy Studies that reports the following information.

The largest American Corporations CEO's pay in 2021 was $14.7 million, up 12% from 2020 which was $13.1 million.  It was the sixth straight year of record increases.  The top 25 CEO's earned more than $35 million.  That between March 18, 2020 and April 15, 2021 (during the pandemic) the combined wealth of U.S. Billionaires increased $1.6 trillion, a whopping 55% increase in just 13 months.  So the wealth parade continues to transfer wealth to the already wealthy.  And the above numbers are outrageous during a COVID pandemic when the economy lost 21 million jobs and a relief package had to be passed by congress to help the average American.  Those Corporations and CEO's are the same folks that Trump and he GOP gave a massive tax cut to in 2017 and declared it was necessary.

When a group of billionaires can increase their wealth 55% in just 13 months during a pandemic with millions out of work, there are no valid reasons.  It becomes clear why billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos oppose President Biden's plan to make the tax code fair by paying their fair share of taxes.  They also oppose the President's economic plans that are working and helpful to the average American.  Musk and Bezos use social media every day with their negative comments about the economy and how they will support the GOP, and like the GOP they use misinformation to try and bribe the voting public.  Musk even wants to buy Twitter so he can have more influence over the media.  Musk who owns Tesla, and Bezos who owns Amazon should be broken up because they are monopolies already and use that power to take advantage over their average workers and the economy.

Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor in a recent commentary told the story how Corporate America is raising prices to pay for the huge increases in CEO and executive pay and not using their record profits to do so.  As a result, the increase in prices contribute to today's inflation.  

The great enablers in the transfer of wealth is the media who fell in love with the Reagan, Bush 43 and Trump tax cuts that favored you know who but never achieved what those President's said it would and never offered the people the real facts that took place.  The media knows those 3 administrations gave the country a economic recession, two of the greatest bank failures in American history, the largest string of unemployment over 10% for ten straight months and during their 20 years of rule created far less jobs than Clinton created in the 8 years he served.  Clinton balanced 4 budgets, cut deficit spending every year during his first term and his surpluses exceeded the deficits.  And Clinton raised taxes on those same folks that Reagan, Bush 43 and Trump cut taxes for and never balanced one budget in the 20 years they served.   

President Biden's policies and plans, if given the chance to pass and work can start to reverse the transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthy.  The wealthy know that and that is why they engage in division, misinformation and the negative.  In America, we always hope that in the final analysis, the voting public will see the problem and vote accordingly.  The country is at an important juncture and the hand writing is on the wall.  It is past time for the media to tell the true story of "Greed" by Corporate America that is still leaving the average American in the dust.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

The Most Important Issue For The Saint's 2022 Season.

 It is not who the Saints recently signed or the newly signed players.  Nor is it the fact the Saints will start the second season with a quarterback that has not completed one full season as the Saints starting quarterback. (it is a problem and a issue though).  In fact the Saints have no such quarterback on their roster.

The Saint's most important issue is the head coach, Dennis Allen.  Will he be up to the challenge and demands of the job?  Will he be a successful and winning head coach?  The question has not been answered, yet we know his ability as a defensive coordinator but that is a huge difference than being a head coach.  Allen's head coaching experience was brief in the NFL and did not end up well.  The Saint's sports writers have been mostly silent on the question, usually speaking and predicting what may or not happen with the rest of the players and how they will perform.  The question will not be lost by the odds makers.  College and pro football have experienced many assistant coaches who were elevated to head coaches and did poorly.  It is nothing new.

So in this writers judgement, the Saints will be starting a new season with still a lot of questions.  We know what took place last season with an experience head coach.  The Saints organization took a chance in naming Allen head coach so now the Saints are his team.  The question will be, can he keep it?

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Note: Former Saints quarterback, Drew Brees recently hinted he could be back on the football field.  Every one should take that comment with a grain of salt.  It is really not newsworthy. 

Louisiana's Representative Danny McCormick: An Ignorant and or ill-informed Elected Official.

McCormick's House Bill 813 which would allow the state to prosecute women who have an abortion was stripped from legislation and set aside the anti-abortion measure without a vote.  As sponsor of the bill, McCormick said he was satisfied the bill will start the debate of "when life begins" which he says is at conception.

McCormick is ignorant concerning "when life begins" decision in Roe v. Wade and or ill-informed on the matter because the debate of "when life begins" was debated and addressed 49 years ago in the Roe decision and in the 1992 Supreme Court case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey.  Some of the findings in Roe are as follows:  (1)  The unborn have never been recognized in the law as persons in the whole sense.  (2)  States view the constitution protections begin at conception.  (3)  The constitution does not provide a definition of "a person."  (4)  It is not up to the states to define when "life begins."  (5)  We do not agree that by adopting one theory of life, Texas may override the rights of the pregnant woman that are at stake.  In the Planned Parenthood case, the courts settled on the "fetus viability" factor based on the fetus ability to survive out side the womb which was 28 months and could be 24 months.  

So the debate "when life begins" has been ongoing for the past 49 years and the courts recognized all those years that different people, states and religions have different views.  Many in the anti-abortion crowd opposed McCormick's Bill 813 because they can see how dangerous and extreme it is and what it could lead to down the road.  And there are some in the group who oppose abortion in total, even if to save the life of the Mother.

McCormick and the extreme want to punish women over the abortion issue.  What about the men who fail to use protection and impregnate the women?  Don't they have a responsibility?  Are there any cases where they are stepping forward asking the woman to carry the fetus to term?  That he will financially support her and the child?  Maybe even offer marriage.  How did he react when told his mate was pregnant?  Maybe the men are republicans who are only looking for sex and then walk away and want to punish the women like the republican party has been trying to do the past 49 years.

The abortion issue lacks the debate about the man's culpability, but Politidose Blog commented about the issue more than a year ago while the regular media has been AWOL.  And of course the anti-abortion crowd won't talk about it.  They just want to punish women and call people like Nancy Pelosi pro abortion when Pelosi choose life over abortion and brought 5 children into  this world.  Part of the abortion shame over the past 49 years falls to state government because they failed to take advantage of the role states can play in regulating abortions as outlined in Roe v. Wade.  Instead, they choose to make abortion a political issue.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Note:  Roe v.  Wade set out the criteria for states to manage abortion in their comments about the three trimesters which identified the courts thinking on  "when life begins."

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

The U.S. Labor Department reported Friday that the Economy added 428,000 jobs in April and that the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.6%.  It was the 15th straight month of positive job growth (Feb. 2021 - April 2022) for the Biden administration and its economic policy to put the economy back on track and the people back to work.  The negative voices who are still out there on their daily rant have been so wrong about Biden's policies over the l5 months.

The Labor Department reported that wages were up 5.5% in April compared to last year and up 0.3% from March 2022 and consumer spending is still strong.  Those who still claim to be surprised by the strong economy and job creation are the same ones who are ignorant on the subject matter and which party governs best.  They are the same negative voices that flood the media with misinformation and lies.  They talk about inflation being at a 40 year high but never admit that inflation today is not even close to the threat it was 40 years ago.

The greatest threat facing the economy at the present time is what will the Federal Reserve do to manage inflation.  If they over react and raise rates too high and too often it could cause an economic recession.  They have the right tools to be effective so the question is, do they have the right frame of mind to deal with the matter without destroying the economy.  

The President has sound policies to keep the economy on track and move the country and its people  forward and begin the transition to a greener environment.  Those who ask what's the rush to a greener world have been saying that for the past 25 years so only the ignorant would take them seriously.

The economy, job numbers and etc., since Biden took office confirm what precedent should have taught us in the last 100 years.  The liberal/progressive policies of democratic administrations work best for the country and its people and that democratic administrations are best at governing.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio  

President Harry Truman's Address in 1948 Are Words Of Wisdom For The Present Challenges Facing The United States.

President Truman on October 13th 1948 spoke at the St. Paul Municipal Auditorium in Minnesota and gave a campaign address that is viable today 74 years later.  President Truman knew the republican party well and called them the Wall Street Republicans, a description they have earned over the past 74 years.  The President's address covered a lot of territory and below are quoted some of his remarks the readers are sure to understand that address many of the issues being talked about today.

                                                              REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT

The Republican party either corrupts its liberals or it expels them.  It drove out Teddy Roosvelt in 1912.  It drove out fighting Bob LaFollette of Wisconsin in 1924.

It was the Democratic party of Franklin Roosevelt, not the Republican party, that held out the hand of welcome to Floyd. B Olson and to that hero of progressive idealism George Norris of Nebraska.

True liberalism is more than a matter of words.  It demands more than just sound effects.  It cannot hide behind the catch phrases of the Republican candidate for President-catch phrases like "unity and efficiency."  Unity for what cause?  Efficiency for what purpose?  I wonder.

The American people in this critical year, are entitled to a full and open discussion of the issues.  They are not getting it from the Republican candidate for President.

Thomas Jefferson did not seek unity by concealing the real issues between himself and Alexander Hamilton.  He made the issue clear, so that the people could reach a decision.  And their decision determined that democracy rather than autocracy should prevail in this great country of ours.

Abraham Lincoln did not seek unity with Stephen A. Douglas.  He made it clear that this Nation could not continue to exist half slave and half free.

Franklin D. Roosvelt in 1933, did not seek unity with the economic loyalists.  He proposed the New Deal.

And today, I do not seek unity by concealing the issues between me and the special privilege groups that control the Republican Party.

I never will seek that sort of unity.

Real unity is behind basic principles and concrete programs.  Real unity cannot be achieved without a definition of the issues, and a decision by the American people.

But I serve notice here and now that I shall feel at liberty to correct distortions and keep the record straight.

We did not  have unity in foreign policy in 1940.  Even then with half the world in flames, the Republican leaders were mainly isolationists.  They were against aid to the democracies, and they called Roosvelt a warmonger. 

There must be life and hope in government.  We must achieve and pioneer in the great frontier of human rights and social justice.

Faith is much more than efficiency.  Faith gives value to all things.  Without faith, the people perish.

Today the forces of liberalism face a crisis.  The people  of the U.S. must make a choice between two ways of living-a decision, which will affect us the rest of our lives and our children and our grandchildren after us.

On the other side, there is the Wall Street way of life and politics.  Trust the leader.  Let big business take care of prices and profits.  Measure all things by money.  That is the philosophy of the masters of the Republican party.

Well I have been studying the Republican party for over 12 years at close hand in the Capital of the U.S.  And by this time I have discovered where the Republicans stand on most of the major issues.

 Since they won't tell you themselves, I am going to tell you.

They approve of the American farmer - but they are willing to help him go broke.

They stand four-square for the American home - but not for housing.

They are strong for labor - but they are stronger for restricting labor's rights.

They favor a minimum wage - the smaller the minimum, the better.

They endorse educational opportunity for all -  but they won't spend money for teachers or schools.

They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine - for people who can afford them.

They approve of Social Security benefits - so much so that they took them away from almost a million people.

They favor the admission of displaced persons - but only within shameful racial and religious limitations.

They condemn cruelly high prices - but fight to the death every effort to bring them down.

And they admire the Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it.

Now my friends, that is the Wall Street Republican way of life.  But there is another way - there is another way - The Democratic Way, the way of the Democratic Party.

Of course, the Democratic Party is not perfect.  Nobody ever said it was.  But the Democratic party believes in the people.  It believes in freedom and progress, and it is fighting for its beliefs right now.

In the Democratic Party you won't find the kind of unity where everybody thinks what the boss tells him to think and nothing else.

But you will find an overriding purpose to work for the good of mankind.  And you will find a program-a concrete realistic, and practical program that is worth believing in and fighting for.

Now I call on all the liberals and progressives to stand up and be counted for democracy in this great battle.  I call on the old Farmer-labor party, the old Wisconsin progressives, the Non-Partisan Leaguers and the New Dealers to stand up and be counted in this fight.

Against us, we have the best propaganda machine money can buy.

With a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress you will have the right kind of unity in this country.

We will be united once more on the great program of Social justice which the Democratic party pioneered in 1933.

We will be united on the question of the rights of labor and collective bargaining.

We will be united for the expansion of social security, the improvement of our educational system and the expansion of medical aid.

Moreover, we will be united in our efforts to preserve our prosperity and to spread its benefits equally to all groups in the Nation.  

President Truman had it right about the Wall Street Republican Party y 74 years ago and the only thing that has changed is the party has become worse under President Trump.  It has become a traitorous party who govern by lies, misinformation and a anti-American extreme ideology.  President Truman's address is a reminder that today, the liberal progressive philosophy has proved the best at governing for the country and its people.

This writer believes that the people should take the time to read President Truman's statement.  It can easily be pulled up on the internet.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

The Supreme Court's Draft Report On Abortion.

 Politico's public release of a Supreme Court draft document concerning abortion has generated much speculation and commentary in the media and especially the Television media.  The speculation and commentary touched all the usual bases that has taken place since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.  But most of the talk so far failed to see the most important and critical failure of the court, if indeed, the courts final published decision confirms the draft's version.  

To understand just how devastating it will be for the court if the draft turns out to be final, one needs to visit a commentary published by "Politidose" dated 8/24/19 titled, "Abortion:  The Republicans, conservatives, the anti-abortion groups and the Johnny Come Lately President Donald Trump."  The era of the THEN appointed conservative republican Supreme Court Justices decided the Roe v. Wade issue in 1973, 49 years ago.  And they considered the facts and jurisprudence of the legal system to decide.  Politics was not involved because the THEN conservatives on the court were not political.

The NOW republican appointed conservative court came along after Roe v. Wade and was used to overturn the ruling by making the issue political and divisive and using any means possible to overturn for the past 49 years.  The NOW republican appointed Supreme Court Justices are appointed with the specific thought in mind to overturn Roe v. Wade.  The NOW conservative majority court represents an extreme ideology and want the court to rule by that ideology rather than the constitutions requirements.  That way laws do not matter and authoritarian rules.

If the Politico draft turns out to be the final result of the courts than one can safely say the NOW republican appointed Supreme Court made a political decision and not a legal one because they disregarded the courts historic Stare Decisis position and the fact that Roe v. Wade was established law as they testified to under oath before Congress at their confirmation hearing.  Will the draft report confirm the final report?  We will know in just a few short months.

This  commentary written by Joe Lorio