President Biden's QUIET Administration Is A Holiday Gift Among The Toxic Rhetoric And A Enabling Media.

Sanity in politics is the best gift a politician has to offer, especially during an election being pushed too early by the negative voices and a enabling media.  President Biden understands the situation and will not prematurely entertain the negative voices and their toxic rhetoric.  And as of this writing there is no GOP nominee for him to campaign against.  It should be noted that the negative voices with their toxic rhetoric on the President's policies were predicted in PolitiDose commentary before the President took office and also soon after he took office.   

The year 2024 will be another story when the President lays out his agenda for the new year.  It will be with policy that continues the economic progress of the past 3 years and policies that will answer the issues to continue to move the country and its people forward to future progress.  Sadly the people will hear the negative voices throughout the new year and the media will be there to enable their negative voices.  

The year 2023 will come to a close like the year 2022.  The economy is strong, creating jobs, unemployment is at historical low levels, consumers are still spending and the President is still a strong leader at home and abroad while promoting democracy.  Those negative voices who were predicting recession for 2022 and then 2023 and now 2024 were and are still wrong about the economy.  The inflation rate never came close to what it was in 1980 when it came in at 13.5%.  And in 1981,1982 and 1983 the 30 year home mortgage rate averaged 15.2% for those 3 years.  Yet, the negative voices called the recent inflation and mortgage rates for the last 2 years whooping increases with the media's blessings.  The year 2024 will also see more infrastructure legislation kick in to assist the economy in its progress.

The SANITY and QUIETNESS of the present administration is a welcome relief from the negative voices who have no record of accomplishments.  And to top it off, the administration has moved the country in the right direction under our democratic system and the rule of law that our founders would be proud of.  

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Oil Industry Firms Settle Law Suit With the State of Louisiana and Cameron Parish.

 According to a report in the New Orleans Advocate of 12/12 several firms settled the law suit brought against them concerning the state and Cameron Parish for environmental damage caused by the firm's operations.  Jury selection for the trial was going to begin the following week.  The bottom line to this issue is very elementary to everyone concerned.

The issue was a state issue and not a federal government issue as the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed when they refused to hear the case.  (2)  The suit was narrowed to state issues which means that the state of Louisiana could have moved against the oil industry years ago for the destruction they caused to the environment.  (3)  State regulators failed to do their jobs and enforce the provisions violated by the oil industry.  (4)  The oil industry paid no attention to the state regulations that governed their responsibilities and continued to violate the state's environment with their operations and also failed to restore the land.  (5)  Louisiana's elected officials who backed the oil industry just because they created jobs cared nothing about the state, it's people or the environment.

Louisiana's voters should never forget the oil industry's environmental damage and their daily denial of doing so.  The voters should also never forget the state's failure to enforce its regulations and hold the industry accountable long ago.  The 50 plus years of environmental damage supports the notion that the industry has not been a friend to the state, the people or the environment.  The settlement also proves a failed political system without checks and balances and a failed government-business partnership that resemble the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico when many elected officials in La. and the industry opposed President Obama's actions to hold BP responsible for its own actions.  

Will this settlement and future settlements bring change to the status quo of the last 50 plus years?  The people need to make their voices known and let the state and industry know the failed past will not be tolerated in the future.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Another First For PolitiDose Commentary Concerning The Administration Of Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards.

Now comes a New Orleans Advocate commentary by Tyler Bridges dated 12/24 concerning the accomplishments of Governor JBE's administration as he prepares to leave office next month.  It is a well written article and a highly deserved one of the Governor's performance and especially the progress made on fiscal matters, health care, jobs and lower unemployment.  

PolitiDose commentary predicted the positive changes would take place even before JBE took office and several times early after he took office.  It could be predicted because democratic administrations govern with plans and policies to address the issues and problems while the GOP administrations govern with an extreme ideology and therefore never address the real issues or problems.  

PolitiDose commentary did the same thing on the national level how President's Obama and Biden would reverse the carnage left by the George W. Bush administration and the Donald Trump administration.  Those commentaries were also written before they took office and early after they took  office because of precedent.

The general media lacks the character and will to report on precedent during election campaigns to give the people insight to what might be.  They are more interested in the every day sound bites of the campaign that misinforms instead of informing.  It's a tit for tat of each candidate's rhetoric when there exist an actual record of what is likely to take place.

A good example can be found in the media's love for the negative voices who have been preaching doom and gloom for the economy with a recession since early last year.  That story is at the top of their agenda while the good economic news is seldom told.  PolitiDose commentary has told the true story according to facts, so tune out the misinformation media and stay tuned to PolitiDose, your daily dose of political commentary.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio   

What Will The New Year Bring For The Country and It's People?

 The only thing that separates us from the time we are born until the time we no longer exist is TIME.   No one can see TIME but we know how to measure it on Earth.  The 24 hour clock, the week, the month and the year.  The passage of TIME exposes the facts, the truths, the lies and the misinformation.  When the year 2023 ends, will the TIME'S that passed portend what the TIMES of 2024 and the future will look like?

Will the media in general continue to enable the Trump/GOP and the negative voices lies of doom and gloom on the economy, recession, massive layoffs and high unemployment continue their toxic rhetoric.  Will they still promote an economic recession that they have been predicting for the past 20 months spill over to the new year.  Will Trump and the GOP's anti-American and anti-democratic attacks on the constitution, the DOJ, law enforcement, the democratic process and etc., etc. be the leading story once again in 2024.  

The media has already made it clear, Donald Trump will be the GOP Presidential nominee because of the garbage polls they report on.  And they have also made it clear they will be reporting in a negative way the economy just like they have been doing this year despite the good economic numbers the economy has posted, low unemployment, a reduction in federal spending and smaller deficits.  And despite their doom and gloom reports about a slow holiday season, the reports are already positive about retail sales for this holiday season.  PolitiDose commentary predicted early on when President Biden was elected President how the GOP would keep up their negative barrage about the President beginning day one and never let up.  And that is exactly what has taken place and unfortunately the media has been their enablers afraid of correcting the GOP's lies and misinformation.

TIME has a way of exposing the lies and the truths and this writer does not believe Trump is a shoo in for the GOP nomination.  The odds are he will be convicted and serving time in prison before the election.  The future of 2024 looks good for the economy, the country, the people and so does our national security because the country has a sane President in the White House.  Progress will continue and comprehensive immigration reform legislation will begin to take place.  Do not expect any change from the Trump/GOP and their ally negative voices nor from the media that enables them.  

Consumer spending represents 70% of the U.S. economy and the people are still spending.  That indicates confidence and a understanding that the economy is doing well.  Something all Americans should be proud of.  But a corrupted Trump/GOP alliance hates a successful democratic administration that has managed to be above it all with policies that have worked for the people and the country.  And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

PolitiDose Picks The Four Finalist For The BCS Football Playoffs Of 2023.

 The BCS football playoff committee made its choice for the four top spots in this year's championship playoff for the national title.  They ranked Michigan #1, Washington #2, Texas #3 and Alabama #4.  Both Michigan and Washington were undefeated and deserved to be in the playoff.  Texas and Alabama each had one loss and all four teams won their conference championships.  

PolitiDose disagrees with the rankings and believes the top four should be as follows:  Michigan #1, Washington #2, Florida State #3 and Alabama #4.  This writer is of the opinion that Florida State, who finished the season undefeated, won it's conference championship and was 13-0 should make the playoffs and should be an elementary decision.  How can you leave out an undefeated team from the final four?  It goes against everything.  The reason Alabama should stay #4 and Texas should be out is also elementary.  They beat Georgia, the #1 ranked team that was undefeated. won 28 straight games and two consecutive national championships.  Alabama also won the SEC conference and won  12 straight games after losing to Texas in the very first game of the season.  Alabama's win over Georgia, over shadowed their loss to Texas early in the season.

PolitiDose commentary has taken issue concerning past BCS final four rankings and how they were selected.  And next year's format will make things worse.  One can imagine the 11th and 12th ranked teams and beyond with the same won loss record and the scramble to decide who gets the 11th an 12th spot.  The committee now uses nit-picking issues to settle the question and is a horrible situation.  A good example is ranking Texas ahead of Georgia in the final poll.

The question  that should be asked and answered is:  Have all the changes to college football in the last several years made college football better or more competative as a whole?  This writer thinks not.  And next season the SEC will  do away with the East and West divisions and  have only one division.  In other words like it was years ago.  

This writer is of the opinion that college sports was more enjoyable before it developed into a game of money.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and Unemployment Rate for November 2024.

 The U.S. Labor Department reported that the economy added 199,000 jobs in November and that the unemployment rate came in at 3.7%, down from the 3.9% in October.  It was the 34th straight month of positive job growth and the unemployment rate has stayed in the 3% range for the past 24 months, the longest consecutive period in any Presidential administration the past 72 years according to the Labor Department's historical records on unemployment. 

And once again the negative voices were shocked that their predictions were wrong once again.  Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen took the so called economic experts to task for predicting unemployment would explode and layoffs would be great.  Those negative voices are now pushing for a recession sometime in 2024, a far cry from the second quarter of 2022 when they first reported the recession would take place.  

There has actually been no data to support a recession and or massive layoffs as predicted by the negative voices for the past 18 months.  They are just bent on seeing the President and the country fail because they oppose his policies, especially those that transition from fossil fuels to a green economy.   The economy has handled the negative voices well which indicate how strong the economy really has been.  

What the media should do from now until November of 2024 is inform the people how well the economy has performed despite inflation (which is on its way out) and buzz off the negative news that they have enabled like they enable Trump and the GOP.  

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

What Will The New Year Bring For Louisiana And It's People?

 A triple history will take place in 2024 for Louisiana and it's people.  A new year will begin, a new Governor will take the oath of office and the GOP will control the state legislature and a majority of state offices.  Will those changes signal a new beginning of progress or a return to the failed policies of past GOP administrations.  The answer can be projected because of precedent and past actions.  Democratic administrations govern with plans and policies to address the issues while the GOP govern with an extreme ideology that never address the issues.

It is accurate to report that the GOP are not conservative on fiscal matters.  The Jindal administration left the Edwards administration a fiscal deficit of $2 billion that Edwards had to deal with.  The state is now reporting when Edwards last fiscal year ends on June 30, 2024 there will be a budget surplus of several million dollars unless the new GOP administration blows it.  Governor Edwards brought fiscal stability to Louisiana's fiscal house after Jindal failed to balance one state budget in his eight years in office, despite the fact that former Democratic governor Blanco left him a $700 million budget surplus.  

We know that governor elect Landry supports the ideology of Trump and the GOP's divisive policies and personal attacks against others.  Landry, who supports Trump's attempt to  overturn the 2020 Presidential election, supports the state's telling the people what they can and can not read in public libraries and believes the state should control people's lives.  We know that in the past 28 years, the state has progressed more on the democratic watch of Blanco and Edwards, compared to the years of Foster and Jindal.

This writer believes when one examines the past 28 years in Louisiana and the present make up of the GOP nationally and in the state, their extreme ideology and anti-American attitude come the conclusion that the future of Louisiana under the new GOP administration will be like the failed GOP past.  

Food for thought:  The powers that be in Louisiana, including the media, like to remind us that Louisiana is a Trump/GOP state like that is something to be proud of.  This writer believes just the opposite and why the future of the new GOP administration will be a failure like the failed past.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The LSU 2023 Football Regular Season Comes To An End.

 The LSU Tigers football regular season came to an end on Saturday defeating their rival SEC opponent Texas A&M 42-30.  The season closed out on a positive winning note unlike last years team and ended with a 9-3 won-loss record, same as last year.  So, now is the time once again to evaluate the team's performance.

This writer believes the program took a step backward this season and did not make progress.  The won-loss record was the same;  LSU defeated only one team with a winning record in SEC play, Missouri;  LSU defeated only two teams with an overall winning record, Missouri and Texas A&M;  LSU was defeated by Ole Miss and Alabama, two teams they defeated last year.  LSU finished third in the SEC west, a division they won last year.  LSU defeated only one of the top four teams they played, Missouri and were defeated by Florida State, Ole Miss and Alabama.  LSU's defense dropped off big time and their failure to stop their opponents on third down situations was glaring.

None of this was expected by the Baton Rouge sports writers and finally realized after LSU's defeat by Bama, they would not win the SEC west again and started to push Jayden Daniels for the Heisman award.  That award is about an individual's stats and not the ability a team needs to compete for a national championship. 

This writer in a PolitiDose commentary of last November that wrapped up LSU's first football season under a new head coach gave the opinion that last year's record would not be an indication of what this year's program would bring and was just a one year record.  That turned out to be the case.  To read the full commentary log onto politidose.blogspot.com.

Now, LSU awaits a holiday bowl invite.  Some sports writers are saying it will give the Tigers another opportunity to have a 10 win season, but that is a stretch and moving the goal posts because in the past only the regular season record was used to brag about a 10 win season.  What will a third season bring under coach Kelly will be discussed in a future commentary.    

What This Writer Would Like To See President Biden Do.

 With a new year fast approaching, this writer would  like to  see President Biden announce that he has selected former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu as his Vice Presidential running mate for the 2024 election.  If the President changes his mind about running for re-election, I would like to see Mitch Landrieu announce that he would be a candidate for the Democratic party's nomination. 

Mitch would be the ideal candidate for either job.  Young, served as Lt. Gov. of Louisiana, Mayor of  New Orleans for 8 years, served in the state legislature and is a proven public servant who has political understanding that is necessary to run government.  He is articulate on the issues and talks the issues, never runs from a fight and believes in solving problems.  He understands the problems that face cities and state governments and serves as President Biden's director for the distribution of infrastructure funds approved by congress.  His office set up the program to work with the states and the cities concerning the matter that distributes billions of  dollars.

Mitch does not kick the can down the road on tough issues and knows how to work with others.  He does not rain personal attacks on others or blame others as the problem like we see some of today's so called leaders do.  He is the guy who rolls up his sleeves and acts.  This writer wrote a commentary in PolitiDose while Mitch was still serving as Mayor of New Orleans dated 2/7/2014, titled, Mitch Landrieu,  A Serious Public Servant.  Following is one of the paragraphs from that commentary that is still relevant today.

THIS WRITER BELIEVES MITCH LANDRIEU HAS A BRIGHT POLITICAL FUTURE WHEN HE FINISHES HIS LAST TERM IN OFFICE.  I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM RUN FOR A NATIONAL OFFICE AT SOME POINT BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE SERIOUS PUBLIC SERVANTS ARE SO LACKING AND HE COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE.  THE MAYOR ALSO PERFORMS HIS  JOB IN A PROFESSIONAL WAY THAT IS SUCH A CONTRAST TO THOSE LEADERS THAT ARE ALWAYS COMPLAINING ABOUT SOMETHING AND PLACING BLAME ON SOMEONE ELSE.

In this writer's judgement, Mitch Landrieu represents the future of the democratic party and the country needs someone like Mitch now to serve on the national scene to help protect the constitution, our institutions and the democratic process of our elections which are all under attack. 

This commentary written by Joe Lorio  

Columnist Rich Lowry Remains Blind Concerning The federal Budget Deficits and Debt.

 Lowry's commentary published in the New Orleans Advocate of 11/8/23 titled, "Biden blind to looming deficit risk" demonstrates his ignorance about the federal budget deficits as he joins Trump, the GOP and their love for mis-information and lies.  Confessed conservatives like Lowry and his pundits are comfortable with their feelings of being inadequate and their inability to compete with the truth so they stop being real men of character and courage.  Instead they live the life of mis-information and untruths.

The first sentence of his commentary started out with a lie that Biden's last year deficit was $2 trillion.  Fact:  The U.S. Treasury reported that last fiscal year which ended 9/30/23 the deficit came in at $1.69 trillion.  Lowry's second lie was when he said the deficit doubled to $2 trillion.  Fact:  The deficit for the previous fiscal year ending 9/30/22 came in at $1.38 trillion, no where near doubling as Lowry reported.

Lowry's next lie said the national debt increased about $7.8 trillion during Trump's administration.  Fact:  the national debt increased $8.2 trillion during Trump's 4 fiscal years.  It was $28.4 trillion at the end of his last fiscal year and $20.2 trillion at the beginning of his first fiscal year.  That $8.2 trillion increase in the national debt was the largest increase of any President's 4 fiscal years.

The federal  deficit at the end of Trump's third fiscal year was a whopping $3.1 trillion, the largest yearly increase in the federal deficit of any President.  The federal deficit at the end of Trump's last fiscal year came in at $2.7 trillion, the second largest single year deficit of any President.  So yes, President Biden's administration in his first two fiscal years decreased the federal budget deficits from what it was on Trump and the GOP's watch.  And to top it off, another GOP President George W Bush gave the country it's very first ever single year trillion dollar deficit when it came in at $1.4 trillion at the end of his final fiscal year.  

Lowry could not bring himself to talk about Trump's record debt and deficits because he and his ditto  heads feel so inadequate they cannot bring themselves together and report the facts.  They are truly a sad, sad bunch.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Note:  All above numbers provided by this writer taken from U.S. Treasury and CBC historical records.   

Alabama Defeats LSU 42 - 28.

The Crimson Tide from Tuscalousa on Saturday night prevented the Tigers of LSU from successfully defending their SEC West title this 2023 football season.  The game was a track meet between two talented quarterbacks with exceptional talent.  Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe had the least playing experience of the two but in the end his team won the game.

No one knew it at the time, but Alabama won the game after the Tigers took the third quarter kick off and marched to a touchdown putting them in the lead 28-21.  Alabama came roaring back scoring three unanswered touchdowns on their next three possessions and took the  lead for good 42-28.  The Alabama defense then took over and shut out the Tigers the rest of the game.

LSU's Daniels rushed for 163 yards on 11 carries and Milroe rushed for 155 yards on 20 carries.  LSU's other rushers rushed for 43 yards on 13 carries and Alabama's other rushers rushed for 133 yards on 23 carries.  Daniels scored one rushing touchdown while Milroe scored four rushing touchdowns.  

The outcome of the game and the way things played out should be no surprise to LSU fans who are objective in evaluating the chances against the Tide.  LSU's defensive problems have been there all year long and gave up big points.  Also, LSU has only beaten one team with a winning record as of this date, Missouri.  Also, every SEC team they have beaten this year had either a losing record or a break even record in SEC play.  The two SEC teams left to play are Florida and Texas A&M and neither have a winning record in SEC play as of this date.

It was notable that three of the four Baton Rouge sports writers for the Advocate in Saturday's edition picked Alabama to beat LSU, however, their reporting during the season talked about LSU winning the SEC west again and making the BCS playoffs.  Saturday's loss to Bama eliminates LSU from the BCS playoffs again this year, the last year of the present set up.  So, in the 10 years of the present playoff system, LSU has made the playoffs only one time in 2019 when they won it all.  

What is left now is to see how LSU and the coaching staff handle the final three games.  This writer commented in PolitiDose commentary after last season was over that the results of the first year under new head coach Kelly would not indicate what the 2023 season would bring.  That turned out to be accurate,

This commentary written by Joe Lorio   

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and The Unemployment Rate for October 2023.

The Labor Department announced that the economy added 150,000 jobs in October and that the unemployment rate came in at 3.9%, up from 3.8% in September.  It was the 33rd straight month of positive job growth and the unemployment rate has stayed in the 3% range for 21 consecutive months, the longest stretch in the past 70 years.  

The negative doom and gloom voices said the lower job numbers indicate a decline in the jobs market while some reported the reason was the ongoing actions of the Feds to cool off the economy.  Both are wrong because one month is not a trend in either direction.  Over 13 million jobs have been added to the economy in just the last 33 months, a record for such a short time period for any President.  

In another good report earlier, the Commerce Department reported that the economy expanded at a 4.9% annual GDP rate in the 3rd quarter, a much larger expansion than was predicted or anticipated.  Also reported for the 3rd quarter, American business productivity grew while cost were down, a good prime for a farther reduction in inflation.  For the first 3 quarters of the year, the GDP grew at an annual rate of 3%.

All in all, the American economy is still doing well, creating jobs, consumers are still spending, unemployment still at historical low numbers and business are predicting retail sales to increase 3-5% this holiday season.  The SANE party is still in the White House and the negative voices of doom and gloom have been wrong about the economy for 33 months.  And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The United States Gross Domestic Product For The Third Quarter Of 2023.

The nations GDP for the third quarter came in at a robust 4.9% annual rate according to the U.S. Commerce Department.  It was a far cry from the low number predicted by the negative doom and gloom pundits who were once again disappointed to see the economy do so well.  It was also reported that productivity was up and cost were down for the quarter and that led some folks to remark that the Feds actions are working.

The GDP for the first three quarters of 2023 averaged 3% on an annual basis.  The GDP for President Biden's first two years in office averaged 4% on an annual basis.  The GDP under the Trump administration for 4 years averaged 1.07% on an annual basis.  The yearly GDP on Trump's watch never achieved 3%, not even before COVID.  And Trump promised a GDP of 5%.

Despite the negative doom and gloom voices, America, the economy and the people are doing well.  The country is safe, standing up for democracy at home and abroad and staying SANE despite the GOP's anti-democratic rhetoric, lies, misinformation and their love for a traitorous former President.

And the country is still America the Beautiful.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio  

Federal Spending Was Down Again For Fiscal Year Ending 2023.

 The U.S. Treasury Department reported spending for fiscal year ending 9/30/23 was $6.13 trillion, down 2% from last year's fiscal spending which came in at $6.27 trillion.  It was the second year that the Biden administration reduced year to year federal spending.  Federal spending at the end of Biden's first fiscal year was $6.27 trillion, down from Trump's last fiscal year spending which came in at $6.8 trillion for an 8% reduction.  Trump's third fiscal year spending came in at $6.5 trillion.

Federal spending for Biden's first two fiscal years did not exceed federal spending in Trump's last two fiscal years.  Does anyone remember how the GOP told the American people how Biden's policies would lead to record spending, job losses, higher deficits, higher unemployment, etc., etc., and etc.?  I know the media must remember it,  but like always, they are enablers of the GOP talking points, false information and lies.  

PolitiDose commentary for the past 15 years has been there telling the real story.  President Eisenhower was the last GOP administration to reduce year to year federal spending in 1955.  Democratic Presidents Lyndon Johnson, Barrack Obama and now Joe Biden reduced year to year federal spending.  And once again it is a democratic administration who can walk the talk of reducing federal spending.  

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Federal Budget Deficit for Fiscal Year Ending 9/30/23.

 The U.S. Treasury Department reported that the federal deficit for President Biden's second fiscal year came in at $1.69 trillion, up from the previous year's fiscal deficit of $1.38 trillion.  And the internet's ignorant pundits as usual described the increase as soaring and whopping.  It is the usual BS rhetoric by the so called conservative community and opinion writers.

"Soaring and Whopping increases in the federal deficit describes what took place on Trump and the GOP's watch in Trump's last two fiscal years when the deficit hit $3.1 trillion and $2.7 trillion.  Of course those conservatives blame those record increases on COVID spending but failed to mention COVID spending took place on Biden's watch also.  The Biden administration just did a better job at governing.  Trump's last two fiscal year deficits totaled $5.8 trillion.  Biden's first two fiscal years deficits totaled $3.07 trillion.  That is $2.7 trillion less than Trump's deficits.

President George W. Bush's last fiscal year deficit was a record (at the time) $1.4 trillion.  That is what President Obama inherited from Bush.  Obama's last fiscal year's budget deficit was $666 billion and that is what President Trump inherited.  Trump's last fiscal year deficit was $2.7 trillion and that is what President Biden inherited.  And at the present, Biden's latest budget deficit is $1.69 trillion.  

Past PolitiDose commentary dating back 15 years exposed the GOP myth of being fiscal conservatives and exposed their lies and fraudulent information.  Yet today, the media remains their enablers of those big fat lies.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio.

Note:  No GOP administration since President Eisenhower completed his last fiscal year with a lower budget deficit than the administration he followed.    

 

Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney: Wasted Years With The GOP.

U.S. Senator Mitt Romney announced he would not run for reelection because he is at a crossroad with the Republican Party.  Liz Cheney, who served in the U.S. House until her defeat last year is out of public office.  Both are good people who served in office during Trump's term.  Romney voted with Trump 75% of the time and Cheney voted with Trump 93% of the time according to political records.

Cheney has accomplished more than Romney because she served honorably on the January 6th committee.  Both voted to impeach Trump.  Both would have been better off being democrats and could have accomplished more for the country, its people and the people they represent.  Although neither one has been politically opposed to the GOP's long standing personal attacks that began with Newt Gingrich, both are more moderate than the GOP is as a party.  Both have demonstrated their ability to work with the democratic party.

This writer thinks they could have accomplished more as a democrat and the reasons why are spelled out in my PolitiDose commentary dated 3/19/21 titled, "Presidential leadership:  The Economy and Fiscal Matters The Last 40 Years."  The commentary says it all and does not have to be repeated here except to say it tells the story of democratic administrations that have accomplished all the GOP has talked about but never accomplished themselves.  

Romney and Cheney should log onto that commentary and read it themselves, they just might agree and realize how little the GOP has accomplished in the last 40 years referred to.  And when it comes to foreign policy, it should be remembered that President's Reagan and Bush came to office talking tough about terrorist, but the worst foreign terror attack against Americans on foreign soil took place on Reagan's watch in Lebanon when terrorists blew up the  Marine compound killing 241 Marines.  The planners were never brought to justice by the Reagan administration.  And the worse foreign terror attack on U.S. soil took place on Bush 43 watch on 9/11 when terrorist toppled the world trade centers in New York killing over 2000 people.  President Bush never brought Bin Laden to justice for that act but President Obama did bring Bin Laden to justice.  

There is  no  doubt that Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney could have accomplished more as a democrat.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio   

 

Did Louisiana's Voters Give Jeff Landry A Mandate?

 Landry, the GOP, some pundits and pollsters seem to think  so.  But this writer thinks not.  Less than 40% of Louisiana's registered voters turned out to vote, so there is no mandate.  Obviously, the majority of registered voters lacked confidence in all those on the ballet who wanted to be governor.  That is what takes place when you have an electorate bombarded with lies, misinformation and down right un-truths from the GOP and a enabling media.  

What a GOP administration will now bring is higher unemployment, less service for the people, more control over the private lives of citizens and what they can do or read.  Budget deficits will return and the state will just be another game for the GOP and Landry's hero, Donald Trump.  How does this writer know that?  Well, it goes back to precedent of past GOP administrations.

So, stay tuned to PolitiDose, your daily dose of political commentary.   

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Violent Crime and Murders Down On The Democratic Watch.

 The FBI in its annual crime report said violent crime in America was down 1.7% and that the murder rate decreased 6.1% in 2022 compared to 2021 rates.  It follows the same path where violent crime and murder were down in 2021 compared to the 29% increase in 2020, Trump's last year in office.  

The report also states that the FBI's report are in line with a July report by the Council On Criminal Justice that reports data from 37 surveyed cities found that murders dropped 9.4% in the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of 2022.  So, the numbers tell us that violent crime and murders are on the down side for the past two and half years and that the full year of 2023 will show the same when the final numbers are released next year.

There are those who say the 29% increase in violent crime on Trump's watch in 2020 can be blamed some what on COVID.  However, President Biden had to deal with COVID also and those rates decreased.  With Biden, the rhetoric changed to a sane atmosphere where the adults were in charge of governing.  And once again it is a democratic administration that does a better job at reducing crime and murder and not the loud mouth GOP who continue to try and weaken the criminal justice system with their lies and attacks on the rule of law.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio  

Steve Scalise and The Toxic GOP.

They deserve each other because they allowed Donald Trump to be the face and leader of their party and its ugly ideology of un-American and anti-democratic values that threaten the country, the constitution, the rule of law, our institutions and the peaceful transfer of power during our democratic elections.  And the ugliness it created is being played out now in the GOP controlled U.S. House of Representatives.  

Steve Scalise, the majority leader of the GOP controlled House was nominated by his party to be Speaker of the House and then dropped out of the race when he could not secure enough votes to be elected.  Some local Louisiana opinion writers blamed it on the right wing conservatives and their right wing agenda.  But the atmosphere in the House was helped created by Scalise himself, the party and Donald Trump who they still support and his lies of a stolen election.  

The fact is Scalise and the GOP are no longer a political party that represents America, its people, its national security or the rule of law.  They are an organization that support authoritarian rule and government that has been confirmed by their own actions and or inaction.  No one republican can trust another and it is obvious by the actions of the GOP controlled House.  They cannot even agree on a simple resolution to keep the government open and running so the federal government can go about executing their responsibilities.   

The end of  the GOP as a political party was self determined and there exist no leader in the party to change the status quo.  And Scalise was always part of the madness.  It is a story of a toxic rhetoric up and down the GOP's ranks that has actually encouraged violence.  And as everyone knows, Scalise and the GOP backed Trump's agenda when he was President the majority of  the time and just let everything slide.  

The country now finds itself in a position of having a President and democratic controlled Senate trying to do business for the country with a GOP controlled House bent on obstruction and willingness to sabotage democracy.  No one living can remember a time of such a toxic republican party.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Is It Any Wonder Why The People of Louisiana Are So Politically Confused?

 Two editorial commentaries published in the New Orleans Advocate of 10/8 and 10/10 tells the sad story why.  The first by Stephanie Grace titled, "Even after Jan 6 vote, Scalise is the best hope" confirms her choice of Steve Scalise as being the next Speaker of the House for the GOP and lists the positives and negatives why.  Unfortunately her comments are a contradiction piece of work because her own negative views of Scalise outweigh her own positive views.  Scalise has been the number two man in the U.S. GOP controlled House for over 6 years and is a Trump ditto head.

The second commentary of 10/10 by the editorial board titled, "Graves must put La first and back Scalise for speaker" was just as bad.  The editorial urges Louisiana's GOP rep. Garret Graves to support Scalise as speaker and notes that only one of several Louisiana reps. in the House has supported Scalise for the position.  The editorial then goes on to say how Scalise could be a positive for Louisiana if elected speaker.

Both commentaries let slide the fact that Steve Scalise and the GOP all are Trump ditto heads and that is who they take orders from.  They still support Trump's lies about a stolen presidential election in 2020 and as a result still support the over through of America's democratic process.  

The bottom line is the GOP is no longer a political party that believes in our constitution and democratic process of governing.  Their actions remind us of that every single day.  What the New Orleans Advocate editorial board should be writing about is how the GOP and its elected officials turned their backs on the country and its people in favor of autocratic governing, extreme rhetoric against America's institutions and the rule of law.  And that, really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe lorio

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and the Unemployment Rate for September 2023.

 The U.S. Labor Department announced that the U.S. economy created 336,000 jobs in September and that the unemployment rate came in at 3.8%, same as last month.  It was the 32nd straight month of positive job growth  and exceeded the 180,000 jobs predicted by the pundits.  The negative voices still have a hard time finding an answer why they have been so wrong about their negative predictions concerning the economy.

As of September, the unemployment rate has stayed in the 3% range for the past 20 straight months.  The last time that took place was on President Lyndon Johnson's watch from Feb. 1966 -September 1967.  The good news prompted the negative voices who have predicted recession for the past 15 months to once again try to guess what the Feds will do with interest rates.  The negative voices, the crazies in the GOP controlled U.S. House and the Feds won't be satisfied until they wreck the economy.  They are really a sad bunch.

The President and the democratic party in Congress need to continue to be strong and be the sane party in Washington who govern.  President Biden has been in office for 32 full months (Feb.2021-Sept.2023), has presided over a good economy, low unemployment, lower increases in federal spending, a strong foreign policy that supports and defends democracy at home and abroad.  Consumer spending is still positive despite inflation and inflation is still receding.  Deficit spending in Biden's first two fiscal years is down from Trump's last two fiscal years.

But the media in general and the conservative media in particular in their broadcast and opinion writings devote most of their time to the extreme voices of a traitorous former President Trump, the GOP negative views and the negative voices who want to see the President fail.  They seem to take pleasure in paying so little attention to the positive accomplishments of the President and his party and how well the economy has done so far.

The media has chosen sides with the negative voices instead of the positives that make America the beautiful.   So stay tuned to PolitiDose, your daily dose of political commentary for the facts of what takes place in the political arena.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

GOP Looks To The Democratic Party To Avoid Government Shutdown.

 Speaker of the republican controlled U.S. House Kevin McCarthy failed in his attempt with his own party's extreme plan that was voted down by his own party to keep the government operating.  Instead, McCarthy with the help of the democrats vote passed a bill that the U.S. Senate agreed upon and President Biden signed into law that kept the government up and running until November 17.  The bill provides government funding at the 2023 level with an increase of $16 billion for federal disaster assistance as Biden asked for.  

The bill did not include funding for Ukraine as Biden wanted but the President made it clear to McCarthy that the U.S. cannot under any circumstances allow Ukraine aid to be interrupted and expected McCarthy to keep his commitment to the people of Ukraine and secure passage of the support needed.  The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 88-9 and the House by a vote of 335-91.  The bill passed only after coward McCarthy gave in to the extreme demands of steep budget cuts by the crazies in his party who like Trump wanted to see a government shutdown.  It failed for good reasons.

McCarthy could have passed the bill much earlier if he was a respected leader and not wait to the last minute because he had enough democratic votes to do so.  But like the coward he is, just caved to the crazies demand and dodged his responsibility to the country and the people.  The threat that lingered over a government shutdown should never have been.  

What the people  of America witnessed was a sane President and a sane democratic party of those in congress who are governing and taking care of the people's business.  The adults in Washington are doing their jobs.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

America Was Not Built On Fear, America Was Built On Courage, On Imagination And An Unbeatable Determination To Do The Job At Hand.

 Those words were spoken by former President Harry Truman long ago and became one of his many sayings that explained his wisdom about America and government.  Sadly, today in the America of Donald Trump and the media in general, fear, intimidation, lies, misinformation and toxic rhetoric are being displayed on a regular basis instead of the positives taking place in America every day.

The media are willing to enable a traitorous former President Trump and his GOP supporters to tear down America with their toxic rhetoric of un-American behavior and opposition to  the country's democratic process.  The toxic rhetoric dominates the news cycle because the media allows it to take place.  The courage that President Truman speaks of cannot be found in the media's reports that tell the story of what America and democracy is all about.  They have allowed the negative voices to take over center stage by their own willful acts.  They have succumbed to fear tactics and failed to remember the courage that Ameria was built on and the imagination that still burn daily in the American people.

America the beautiful has been betrayed by a media bent on filling up time and space with negative voices at the expense of the positives going on in America that are working for the people and the country.  The ability was lost to have an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand when the media allowed the former traitorous President Trump to swamp their own news cycle with toxic rhetoric and lacked the courage to tell the real story of  America's success and progress. 

It is past time to shut down the former President and his continued threats of violence to people and let the legal system do it's job of bringing him to justice.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Froma Harrop and The Immigration Issue

 Harrop's article in the New Orleans Advocate of 9/15/23 titled, "Obama tried to fix the border and we can, too" tells the story how President Obama was the most effective in addressing the border crisis.  The letter tells how the democratic controlled U.S. Senate passed comprehensive immigration legislation on a bipartisan vote on President Obama's watch only to see in fail in the GOP controlled House because they refused to give the legislation a hearing or debate it and just let it die.  The article was on target but the media in general failed to tell that story timely and failed to use the story every time the GOP opened it's mouth about immigration reform.  

 

PolitiDose commentary told the story timely and in more detail in it's commentary dated 4/5/2018 titled, Immigration Rhetoric Grows Louder as Trump and Others Follow The Lead of The Fox News Network.  The media is so willing to run with the GOP's misinformation and lies about the problems instead of calling them out for missing an opportunity to legislate immigration reform legislation in 2013.  That is when the democratic controlled U.S. Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform named above by a vote of 68-32.  Fourteen GOP senators voted with the majority democrats.  That vote took place 10 years ago.  Just think how far along the nation would be on the subject if the GOP controlled House had followed the Senate and voted yes.  It should be noted at the time the bill passed the Senate the CBO said the bill would increase the GDP.  And the George W. Bush Institute said the bill is bullish on the U.S. economy.  

The GOP will try to use immigration as an issue during the 2024 election but don't expect the regular media to take them to task for killing comprehensive immigration reform in 2013 and their lack of action as a party when they are in power.  Trump and the GOP talked tough on immigration when in power but did nothing and had no plans to introduce any bill of legislation to address the situation.  They just kicked the immigration issue down the road using their extreme rhetoric as usual.  

PolitiDose commentary will be there during the 2024 election and continue to expose the GOP's anti-American ideology and lies concerning immigration reform.  So stay tuned to PolitiDose, your daily dose of political commentary. 

This commentary written by Joe Lorio  

Mark Ballard's Non Informative Commentary About A Possible Government Shutdown In Washington.

 In a New Orleans Advocate article of 9/10 under Louisiana Politics, Ballard talks about a possible government shutdown when Congress returns to work this week.  It is a familiar story of the GOP's threat to shut down government when the democratic party controls the White House and use government spending as their lies and misinformation to threaten the process.  It is a different story when the GOP controls the White house and they not only increase spending to record levels, they also increase deficit spending to record levels and never talk about shutting down the government when in control.

Ballard notes that the Treasury Department reports that federal spending now stands at $5.3 trillion for the present fiscal year that ends September 30, 2023.  But Ballard fails to note that under Trump and the GOP, federal spending for Trump's 3rd fiscal year came in at $6.5 trillion and in Trump's 4th and final fiscal year federal spending hit $6.8 trillion.  Both were records.  So Biden's fiscal year which ends at the end of this month will come in under $6 trillion which means his administration will once again reduce federal spending.  And for the record, Biden's first fiscal year, federal spending was $6.2 trillion, down 8% from Trump's $6.8 trillion federal spending.  When it comes to reducing federal spending, the democratic party can walk the talk, the GOP can not.

Shutting down the government has been a play thing for the GOP since the Newt Gingrich era.  However, play things go along with fairy tales.  No GOP administration has reduced year to year federal spending since President Eisenhower in 1955, but President Obama did in fiscal 2010, 2012 and fiscal 2013.  And President Joe Biden did in fiscal 2022 and may likely do so again in fiscal 2023.  In the past 43 years the largest reductions in federal spending took place on President's Clinton and Obama's watch and the largest increases by far took place on Reagan's, Bush 41, Bush 43 and Trump's watch.  

Mark Ballard's article was a rehash of previous GOP threats to shut the government down and was non-informative in nature.  Bill Cassidy and the GOP in congress who support the government shutdown were all silent the four years that Trump and his party were setting spending records.  They were all ditto heads without plans or policies.  Instead, they followed an extreme agenda of tax cuts for you know who when it was not necessary that reduced government revenues that were needed to finance needed services.  

The media will  continue it's negative reports on GOP threats to shutdown the government and fail to report the true facts, especially when it comes to increased spending.  The public will hear only one side of the story every time as they are hearing now.  This writer wonders if that is how they like it.

This commentary written by Joe  Lorio 

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and The Unemployment Rate For August 2023.

 The U.S. Economy added 187,000 jobs in August as reported by the Labor Department and the unemployment rate came in at 3.8%, it was 3.5% in July.  It was the 31st straight month of positive job growth and the 19th straight month of unemployment in the 3% range, the best showing since the Kennedy-Johnson administration over 60 years ago.  The Department also announced that wages grew 0.2% in August over July and that year to date wages are up 4.4%.  

The Federal Reserve announced that inflation is now at the 3% level, down from the 9% level previously recorded.  The negative voices within the Feds, the GOP and Corp. America are now saying that raising the interest rates are the cause of the lower job numbers and the higher we raise them will slower wage growth and lower inflation.  Those negative voices have a corrupt economic mentality.  They represent the same voices that supported the tax cuts of Reagan, Bush 43 and Trump that deprived the government of trillions of dollars of revenue and each administration gave the country an economic recession.

The Feds under Reagan raised interest rates to the double digit level and unemployment stood in the 10% range for 10 straight months, the highest sustained level of unemployment in over 60 years.  Bush 43 left office with one of the worst Job creation records since the great depression and the economy lost 2.7 million jobs on Trump's watch, the worst job creation record since the great depression.  The negative voices seem to want the country to revisit those times of hardship for the people.

The economy is still performing and creating jobs, employment ads are still running ahead of pre COVID times and inflation is still falling.  What the country needs to hear is the positive news that put America back to work and how it can continue to work for the people.  Failed policies of the past and negative voices with extreme rhetoric have never moved the country forward.  And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Florida State Defeats LSU 45 - 24 In Sunday Nite Football 2023.

 The Seminoles from Florida State teed it up Sunday Nite against the Tigers of LSU in Orlando, Florida, just a hop, skip and jump from the Magic Kingdon but there was no Magic available for the Tigers of LSU.  Florida State dominated LSU in the second half scoring 31 unanswered points which turned out to be an embarrassing moment.   

The embarrassment extends to the coaching staff and the players who were out coached and out played.  The Seminoles were a more physical team than LSU and during several plays pushed LSU players around like they were flies.  Coach Kelly acted like he thought the game was a preseason one when early in the game LSU had first and goal from the one yard line and then inside the 5 yard line and decided to go for it on 4th down instead of attempting a field goal.  The result was zero points.  Did Kelly forget it was LSU's first game of the season that counts?

The only thing we now know about LSU after the first game against a team they played last year is they lost again, this time big time and ugly and by 3 touchdowns;  LSU did not play well overall;  Their many good running backs (according to sports writers) were not a factor in the game; The offensive and defensive lines have too many questions still to answer;  The defensive backs were burned time and time again;  The quarterback was again the team's leading rusher (which is not good); The coaching staff did a poor job preparing the team; The team showed no progress from last year's game against the same team.

This writer's predictions for the 2023 season that were made in commentary after LSU completed its 2022 regular season came true after Sunday's game.  And so did its commentary a few weeks ago about this season.  Sunday's game leaves a lot of questions to be answered especially in light of LSU's schedule which can be described as lighter than last year's schedule.  The only team on LSU's schedule that had a winning record in SEC play last year is Alabama.  All other SEC opponents on the schedule had a break even or losing record last year in SEC play.  LSU had a 6-2 record in SEC play last year.  That tells this writer that LSU's 2023 schedule should not be thought of as overbearing.  

The question now is how will LSU respond after Sunday's embarrassment and disappointment.  Having the potential does not count, results do.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Bidenomics and Demonomics Are One and The Same Economic Policy.

When it comes to the economy and economics for the past 90 years of Presidential terms, one would think the media and so called business community would understand best why the economy under President Biden has done so well especially at creating jobs, lowering unemployment and being responsive.  The record for the past 90 years tells the story of what is taking place.  And it was all written in PolitiDose commentary in December 2020 and January 2021 before Biden took office.  And as of this writing the negative voices, the media and the business community still don't understand why the economy has been so strong for the past 30 months.  

The media is well known for going with the negative talking points of recession for the past year only to be out of step with the facts.  The ignorance is shameful because it is all misinformation and if they studied the economic information and policies of past democratic administrations in the past 90 years they would find a precedent for what is taking place in the economy today.  Just take one economic stat: No GOP administration who followed a democratic administration created as many jobs as the democratic administration it followed.  Not even Reagan.  The economy created 10.3 million jobs under President Carter in 4 years.  Under Regan's first 4 years 5.3 million jobs were created.  

There is no economic stat where a GOP administration can claim to have done a better job than the democratic administrations in that 90 year period.  The record is clear, the past can be used to determine the future and PolitiDose commentary was there to predict the economic failure of the Bush 43 and Trump administrations and how President's Obama and Biden would reverse the economic damage inflicted by those two GOP Presidents.

And those who are too ignorant to explore and report the facts, continue the ignorant behavior for almost 3 years, shame on you.  For a more detailed commentary on past administrations economic facts check PolitiDose Commentary dated March 19, 2021 titled, "Presidential Leadership" The Economy and Fiscal Matters the Last 40 Years.  The bottom line facts tell us that democratic administrations are better at governing fiscal and economic matters because they govern by policies to meet the  issues.  The GOP govern by an extreme ideology that is anti-American in nature and therefore never relates to the real issues.  Yes my fellow Americans, understanding the mistakes of the past is still the key to a better future.  Trump and his ditto head GOP are still living in the failed past.  

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The New Orleans Saints and The LSU Tigers Kick Off The 2023 Football Season: Food for Thought.

 Kickoff is just around the corner and sport's writers have already given their take on what might take place for the Saints and Tigers this football season.  So, it is now "PolitiDose" commentary to take a shot of what might be.

The New Orleans Saints:  The Saints will start the season just like they did last season with a second year head coach who lacks a winning record as a head coach and that is still the Saint's number one issue.  Can he win?  For now the record says no.  The number 2 issue is quarterback.  The Saints will start the season for the third straight year with a quarterback who does not have a record as a Saint's starting quarterback that has played one full season as a Saint's starting quarterback and that looms large.  In the New Orleans Advocate of 8/19, 26 local media members predicted the Saint's outcome this season and only one, Ed Daniels predicted the Saints would have a losing season at 8-9.  This writer thinks there will be no change in the Saint's defense.  Some games they will play great and some games they will just be there.  This writer also feels that the Saints are in the same position as last year dealing with the same 2 major issues and only time has the answer.

The LSU Tigers:  High  expectation in Baton Rouge this year and the key to LSU's success or failure falls to the running backs.  We are being told the Tigers are loaded at that position but if the Tigers can not produce a running back that can carry the ball 15-20 times a game and be effective, quarterback Daniels running will be neutralized.  Daniel's running will not be as effective this year as last year because LSU's opponents now know his ability and a one dimensional running game is not good enough in the SEC.  In just a few weeks we will know just how good the LSU running backs are and better yet, if they are, we will find out if coach Kelly knows how to use them.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Nancy Pelosi Stands Tall For America, The People, The Constitution And The Rule Of Law.

Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi recognized what took place at the Nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021, knew something went wrong and had the character and courage to say so and support a House bi-partisan committee to investigate all the facts and ramifications of went took place.  The GOP objected and their House leader rejected the 4 GOP House members Pelosi appointed to the committee.  

Nancy Pelosi stood tall for America, the committee did its work, held public hearings, gave the public its final report and sent the report and its findings to the Department of Justice to act on.  The DOJ acted on the report, did its own investigations and former President Donald Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury for what took place on January 6.  Nancy Pelosi, the January 6 committee and the democratic party stepped up to the plate to bring the facts of what took place on that toxic day to the American people and by doing so, carried out their responsibility as elected officers of the government to defend the constitution and the democratic process of our democratic elections. 

Even now with Trump's indictment the GOP in Congress are still enabling him and blaming government an others for Trump's own corrupted behavior.  No telling where America would be today as a democratic nation had the GOP controlled the U.S. House on January 6 attacks and thereafter.  As of this commentary the media has been no help.  The media still devotes a large part of its time to Trump, his lies and personal attacks on everyone and everything like the truth does not really matter.  

Nancy Pelosi understood that President Trump tried to undermine democracy on January 6 and that his plan to deny the peaceful transfer of power to President elect Biden was an un-American act for a sitting President and what harm that could do to the democratic process of our elections and the future peaceful transfer of power.  The former Speaker did what she should have done without hesitation.  And as an elected official of congress, performed her duty and responsibility well.

Very few elected officials have "political understanding" to hold high elected office.  The nation can be thankful that Nancy Pelosi leads the current list who has "political understanding to run government."  That is why she is a successful leader who has character and courage.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and the Unemployment Rate for July, 2023.

The U.S. Labor Department reported that the economy added 187,000 in July and that the unemployment rate came in at 3.5%, down from 3.6% in June.  It was the 30th consecutive month of positive job growth and the unemployment rate has stayed in the 3% range now for the past 18 months.  Wages in July grew 0.4% over June and 4.4% year over year according to the Department.

The report was greeted by some as a positive sign that the Feds program is working at slowing down the economy, the result of slowing down job creation, but worry wages are not falling far enough to halt inflation.  The negative voices are still trying to sell their negative thoughts no matter what is reported.  The Feds themselves reported that a recession is not in sight.

This Labor Department report is positive all the way.  The jobs market is still robust, claims for unemployment are still at historical lows, job wanted ads are at 9.7 million and wages are still growing.  Some business centers are cutting back hours instead of laying off workers because of the tight jobs market.  That makes sense.  The 187,000 jobs created in July was a good number considering the circumstances.  During the first 36 months of the Trump administration (that was 3 months before COVID and the economic recession) job creation averaged 183,000 jobs per month.

Those negative voices who want to see wages fall more and willing to see the continuation of higher interest rates to cool the economy more with weaker job creation still have no economic answers and only painful rhetoric to deal with a good working economy.  Those who continue to doubt the 30 months of a growing economy and job creation and why it is taking place are ignorant of the democratic record on the economy for the past 100 years.  Keep in mind, the GOP does not govern with economic policy.  That is why every GOP administration in the last 100 years has given the country an economic recession.  That is not just a coincident.  It is the same reason they cannot accept a good economy when they see one.  

JP Morgan, one of the largest financial institutions now says there will be no recession.  They are the same ones who has been predicting a recession for the past year.  Not very smart for a company who should know something about the economy.  I wonder how many people's mind was affected by their predictions.  Thanks to PolitiDose commentary, the positive news has been delivered and will continue.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Louisiana's U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy: His Lack of Courage and Character Continues.

 Cassidy's announced endorsement of Attorney General Jeff Landry for governor of Louisiana offers proof how close he is still aligned with Trump and his corrupt policies.  Landry, a Trump ditto head continues to support the former traitorous President and his attempt to over turn the 2020 Presidential election.  Tyler Bridges, a staff writer with the New Orleans Advocate wrote of Cassidy's support in a column dated 8/1/23.

The column suggests that Cassidy's support for Landry is more about improving his political relationship with members of congress and the state's GOP.  It is the usual cop out by elected officials who have no courage or character.  Cassidy is obviously afraid of defending his own position on policies.  During President Trump's 4 years in office, Cassidy supported Trump's policies and extreme rhetoric the majority of times.  So now he supports Landry who backs Trump and his policies and extreme rhetoric.  

Former U.S. Representative GOP Liz Chaney served on the January 6th committee after Speaker of the House McCarthy pulled all GOP appointees to that committee after being appointed by then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.  Liz Chaney and former GOP representative Adam Kinzinger were the only two GOP members in the House willing to serve.  They understood the importance of the issue at hand and had the character and courage to serve even though both were subject to their party's hurtful rhetoric.   Liz Chaney and Adam Kinzinger put their country first, Bill Cassidy put politics first with his endorsement of Jeff Landry.

Liz Chaney and Adam Kinzinger recognized what is important when one takes the oath of office to serve and protect.  They also recognized what should be political theatre and what should not.  And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

MSNBC Continues To Saturate The Air With The Lies and Falsehoods of Donald Trump.

 Instead of reporting the positive news of President Biden's policies and the economy, MSNBC prefers to flood the air waves with Trump's ongoing lies and falsehoods which the people are well aware of.  They just can not get enough of the trumpet man and are now a negative news source of prime time reporting.

At a time when the legal system is dealing with Trump, the country is exposed to the daily headlines of Trump, the GOP and their anti-American agenda.  All the while the people are surrounded by a media that is bent on confusing the public instead of reporting the positives taking place in America every day.  The country no longer has a news media who can say they are in the business of informing the public on matters that really matter and make a difference.  

The media is still giving the disgraced and indicted former President all the air time he seeks for his next campaign.  Donald Trump, the GOP and today's brand of conservative ideology, along with their cultural wars at the state and federal levels, are the greatest threat to American democracy and the media continues to enable them by flooding the air waves with their unAmerican agenda.  

The bottom line is simple.  A traitorous former President who tried to overturn the last presidential election by force on January 6 and continues to lie about the election being stolen deserves no press coverage.  It is time to let the courts do their job and take care of Trump's traitorous acts.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and The Unemployment Rate for June 2023.

 The U.S. Labor Department reported that the economy added 209,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate came in at 3.6%, down from May's 3.7%.  It was the 29th straight month of positive job growth and the unemployment rate stayed in the 3% range for the 17th straight month.  The numbers tell the story of an economy that has been solid since President Biden's policies took root even though one would think  not so if they listen to the negative voices in the media and the GOP whose recession predictions and doom and gloom projections for the economy have been wrong for the past year.

Thanks to PolidiDose commentary and commentary from journalist Froma Harrop. the positive news concerning the economy is being told.  There was a time in America when the media informed the people on the facts and the positive actions taking place to move the country and its people forward.  Now the main street media has joined the likes of the Fox News Network and the GOP with their negative attacks on everything good about the U.S. economy.  Ms. Harrop in her excellent commentary titled, "Biden's economy is Boffo" takes the GOP and the media to task for their negative voices on the economy and like previous PolitiDose commentary spells out the accomplishments of the Biden economy and its positive benefits.

The greatest threat to the U.S. economy comes from those negative voices because they ae the same ones who urged the Feds to raise interest rates high and fast originally and believe the only way to fight so called inflation is to weaken the economy, raise unemployment and see wages fall.  In other words, they have no answer, they just oppose the President's agenda.

In the mean time the economy continues to move forward, create jobs, lower the unemployment, reduce inflation and the consumers are still spending and wages are still rising.  And all the while, the GOP is still the "do nothing party."  PolitiDose, in its commentary will continue to inform the public of those positive issues that are taking place in America so the people can judge against the negative voices of doom and gloom.  And this writer believes Ms. Harrop will continue to do the same.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

The Positive News On The U. S. Economy Continues.

 The U.S. Commerce Department reported that inflation for May increased only 0.1% over April's inflation and that inflation is up 4% over the previous 12 months, the lowest in over 2 years.  Another piece of good news on the economy reports retail sales were up 0.3% in May.  Economist were predicting retail sales would be down for the month.  With job creation at 339,000 for May, the month was positive despite the negative doom and gloom voices.

After 28 full months in office (Feb 2021-May 2023) the Biden Administration's policies are still working for the economy and producing results.  The consumers are still spending, unemployment has stayed in the 3% range for the past 16 months, the longest string since the Kennedy-Johnson Presidency, record job creation, rising wages and America is leading the free world and democracy at home and abroad.  For those 28 months the negative voices have been wrong on every phase of the economy.

The media during those 28 months unfortunately, for the country and its people decided to push the negative doom and  gloom predictions about everything connected to the economy rather than the positive results of the economy and the President's policies.  So now they are pushing the negative voices predicting an economic disaster later this year.  

The sane voices of the President and the democratic party are working for America and its people in a positive and progressive way that continues to move the country forward for a better economic future.  The democratic party represents America's best interest and are the only party that is working for America and its people.  And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and the Unemployment Rate for May 2023.

 The U.S. Labor Department reported the U.S. economy created 339,000 jobs in May and that the unemployment rate came in at 3.7%, up from 3.4% in April.  It was the 28th straight month of positive job growth and over shocked the usual negative voices who predicted only 160,000 jobs would be created.  So the negative doom and gloom voices who have predicted an economic recession for the last 15 months now say maybe before the end of the year.  They want to see it so bad it is driving them crazy.  The negative voices have been wrong on the economy for the past 28 months, ever since Biden took office.

There are so many ignorant voices on the economy just like there are on the federal budget.  Opinion writer Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post in a New Orleans Advocate of 6/6 titled, "What the heck is going on in the U.S. economy?" still don't understand and offers several suggestions.  The key to the economy is jobs because consumer spending represents 70%  of the economy according to the CBO.  Democrats understand that and that is why their priority policy is related to job creation.  And precedent over the past 92 years supports that.  From 1929 -2021 when Trump left office seven Democratic Presidents and 8 Republican Presidents served a total of 92 years.  Democrats 48 years, Republicans 44 years. 

Those democratic administrations created 84.1 million net jobs and none lost jobs.  Those republican administration created 25.5 million net jobs and the administrations of Herber Hoover lost 6.4 million jobs and Trump lost 2.7 million jobs.  So far, the Biden administration has created a reported 13 million jobs in his 28 months in office, a record not included in the above numbers.  Past PolitiDose commentary has broken down each President's job creation separately.  Past PolitiDose commentary has also called the shots how the Obama and Biden administrations would bring the economy back with job creation, lower unemployment, lower deficits and reduced increases in federal spending and did so before they took office.  Precedent was on their side, the reason being that democratic administrations govern with policies and plans that address the issues at hand.  The GOP govern with ideology, an extreme one at that and tax cuts for you know who that never address the issues.  The disparity in job creation between the two parties tell an accurate story why the economy does so much better on the democratic watch.

Reagan, Bush 43 and Trump all cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy that were supposed to do wonders for the economy and job creation but all  three administrations gave the country an economic recession, 20 years of unbalanced budgets, record deficits and federal spending at the time.  Clinton raised taxes on those same folks, balanced the budget with surpluses and created more jobs in 8 years than Reagan, Bush 41, Bush 43 and Trump did in the 24 years they served.  Yes, my fellow Americans, precedent and policy tell the real story and how that can be a gauge to judge the future. 

What has taken place in that 92 year period is not a coincidence and is still playing out before our very eyes this day.  As the Sumerians said they were taught almost 6,000 years ago, "understanding the mistakes of the past is still the key to a better future" is alive and well.  And for the GOP, their future has been like their failed past.  And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Louisiana's Representatives Steve Scalise and Garret Graves: Still Ignorant On The Federal Budget.

 When Bill Clinton took office as President, some in Congress were shocked to learn his knowledge about the federal budget.  How could this be, a kid from Hope, Arkansas knew more than many in Congress who worked with the budget for many years?  There lies the secret why the government and its people did so well fiscally and economically on his watch.  Twenty two years later, the GOP, the media, Garret Graves and Steve Scalise are still ignorant on the federal budget.

In a New Orleans Advocate article dated 6/1 titled "House oks bill to avoid default" by four Associated Press writers, they quote GOP representative Graves as saying: "Republicans were fighting for budget cuts after Democrats piled on to deficits with extra spending."  Graves statement shows he is not  serious about deficit spending he is ignorant.  Deficits were not piled on by any extra spending or any spending at all.  Federal spending at the end of the Trump/GOP's last fiscal year was $6.8 trillion, a record.  Federal spending at the end of Biden's first fiscal year that ended 9/30/22 was $6.2 trillion a reduction in federal spending of 8% as published by the CBO.  And when it comes to deficit spending, the Trump/GOP administration holds the record.  The federal deficit in Trump's last fiscal year came in at $2.7 trillion.  The budget deficit in Biden's first fiscal year came in at $1.3 trillion, a 50% reduction.  Plus in just 4 fiscal years under the Trump/GOP crowd, federal spending crossed the $4,5 and 6 trillion mark.  The very first administration to exceed the trillion mark three times.  It has actually been the GOP who has piled on the deficits and the national debt with extra spending.

Scalise demonstrates his ignorance of the federal budget in the article and was quoted as saying. "For once in a long, long time, Washington is actually going to spend less money next year as it did this year and that's a reform that all of us can support."  That statement is false and displays Scalise's ignorance on the federal budget.  As stated in the paragraph  above Washington spent less money last fiscal year than it did the previous fiscal year which was Trump and the GOP's last fiscal year.  The reduction was 8%.  So it has not been a long, long time ago since spending was less.  And since 1946. year to year federal spending declined 8 times.  It was down 3 times on Truman's watch in 1946, 1947 and 1948.  It was down 3 times on Obama's watch in 2010, 2012 and 2013.  It was down one time on Biden's watch in 2022.  It was down one time on Eisenhower's watch in 1955.  Scalise's ignorance goes back a long, long way.  

President Biden and past Democratic administrations have "walked the talk" of fiscal responsibility.  The GOP has not.  They recently proved that under Trump and that was not a long, long time ago Mr. Scalise. 

This commentary was written by Joe Lorio.

  

President Biden and His Administration Delivered For America and It's People As The GOP's Debt Ceiling Charade Comes To An End.

The U.S. House and Senate voted to end the GOP's debt ceiling charade with the democratic party supplying the majority yea votes in both chambers of Congress.  The total democratic yea votes was 210, (165 in the House and 45 in the senate.)  The total GOP yea votes total was 166. (149 in the house and 17 in the senate.)   The legislation suspends the debt ceiling for two years and will not be a factor in the next Presidential election as a hostage issue.  The GOP's weakness in their votes was an indication of their charade all along.  The legislation also ended the GOP's legislation passed earlier in the House that called for major cuts in federal spending and President Biden's priorities.  

Those who are familiar with the federal budget know that the GOP's debt ceiling charade and their rhetoric are incapable of "walking the talk."  THIS generation of the GOP has it's roots in the Reagan-Gingrich era that began when Reagan was elected in 1980.  Since then, Reagan, Bush 41, Bush 43 and Trump during the 40 year period they served, never "walked the talk" of fiscal responsibility or large cuts in federal spending as demanding the democrats do in the House bill they passed a few weeks ago. 

As a reminder how those 4 GOP administrations brought fiscal disaster to the federal budget lets recall what Vice President Dick Chaney said when he said, federal deficits don't matter.  Evidently President Bush agreed with his V.P. because federal spending increased 61% during Bush's 8 fiscal years, never balanced one budget, the national debt increased 105% and Bush's last fiscal year saw a record one year deficit that hit $1.4 trillion.  Trump broke that record with a $3.1 trillion deficit in his 3rd fiscal year and than a $2.7 trillion deficit in his last fiscal year.  

The Trump generation of the GOP have no record of being fiscal conservative and join Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 in that regard.  That is why they loss the debt ceiling charade before it even started.  The facts escaped the media because they are ignorant when it comes to the budget numbers and therefore are enablers of the GOP talking points concerning the budget.  

The CBO reported the debt ceiling agreement would reduce deficits $1.5 trillion in the next decade, a goal of the GOP.  Well President Biden's administration reduced deficit spending $1.4 trillion in his very first fiscal year budget.  The deficit came in at $1.3 trillion compared to Trump and the GOP's last fiscal year deficit of $2.7 trillion, a reduction of almost 50% in just one short year.  So the GOP is happy to reduce deficit spending close to President Biden's number but they want to take 10 years which is what a decade is.  

Opinion writers who are ignorant concerning the federal budget numbers and the two parties performance, never picked up on the facts and reported that democratic administrations have already cut federal spending long before the GOP's debt ceiling charade.  In fact year to year federal spending was down on the watch of 3 democratic Presidents that took place 7 times.  Year to year spending under President Truman was down 3 times, in fiscal years 1946,1947 and 1948.  It was down 3 years on Obama's watch in fiscal years 2010, 2012 and 2013.  It was down in fiscal 2022 8% on President Biden's watch.  It was down only one time in the last 68 years on President Eisenhower watch in 1955.  For the record federal spending in Trump and the GOP's last fiscal year budget was $6.8 trillion.  It was $6.2 trillion in Biden's first fiscal year budget. 

THIS generation of the Trump/GOP has no record of "walking the talk" of fiscal responsibility and that is why their debt ceiling talk has been a charade.  The President, the democratic party, the country and its people have won the debt ceiling debate and continue to be the only sane voice for America to move forward and leave the toxic rhetoric behind. 

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

PolitiDose Told The Real Story About Donald Trump in Commentary in 2015 and 2016.

In 2015 Donald Trump announced he would seek the GOP nomination for President of the United States.  That was 8 years ago and the general news media (TV, Radio and Printed) are still enabling Trump with massive news coverage of being a viable candidate despite his traitorous acts as a Presidential nominee and President of the United States.  The latest example was CNN's town hall meeting with Trump just this week after a jury found Trump guilty of sexual abuse and defamation of a woman and fined him $5 million.  CNN gave Trump  another forum to lie about the verdict, lie about the election of 2020 and the riot at the Capitol on January 6.

PolitiDose was not fooled by Donald Trump and said so in commentary in 2015 and 2016, commentary that explained 8 years ago how Trump and the GOP were one and the same liars.  Also, how Trump as a presidential candidate asked Russia to spy on America seeking Hillary Clinton's emails.  That was a traitorous act the media said little about.  But PolitiDose commentary told the story when Trump made the traitorous comment.  And when Trump the President tried to overthrow the government on Jan. 6, PolitiDose also told that story of his traitorous act when it took place.  The full corruption of Trump and his toxic rhetoric was also exposed by PolitiDose commentary those two years early on.  

During those telling two years the media treated Trump as a star and devoted most of their news cycle to him and his lies.  It was the media who helped create Trump and his toxic influence and are doing the same thing today billing him as a legitimate Presidential candidate.  It's the same as supporting a known and convicted fraud and ignoring what America really needs at this difficult time.  The media's support for Trump and his party's un-American attitude and anti-American government ideology is totally unacceptable in a democratic society.  

Eight years ago PolitiDose understood what Trump and the GOP were all about and said so in commentary.  The media did not, let it all slide and today are still enabling Trump and the GOP's toxic and corrupting ideology to flood the air waves.  Yes, my fellow Americans, understanding the mistakes of the past is still the key to a better future.  There are hose who will never learn because they do not want to.  So stay tuned to PolitiDose, your daily dose of political commentary.    

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Conservative Opinion Writer Byron York Is Still Ignorant Concerning The Federal Budget.

 In a New Orleans Advocate column dated May 10 titled, "Recession and the 2024 Campaign" York of the Washington Examiner continues to display his ignorance concerning federal spending in the federal budget.  His ignorance is also displayed in his comments concerning the GOP's predictions of an economic recession they have been pushing for the past 15 months that has failed to take place.  Is it really ignorance or just the plain fact that York is a ditto head of the Trump/GOP alliance that enjoys dealing in misinformation to his public audience and reader ship?

York writes Biden's federal spending has been stratospheric.  But, stratospheric federal spending actually defines what took place on Trump and the GOP's watch when federal spending hit the $4, $5 and $6 trillion mark in only 4 fiscal years for the first time in American history.  And as of this day, federal spending under Biden has not exceeded Trump's spending and in fact Biden's very first fiscal year budget came in 8% lower than Trump's last fiscal year budget which was $6.8 trillion.  Trump's third fiscal year budget came in at $6.5 trillion.  Biden's first budget came in at $6.2 trillion.  

Trump and his GOP were the very first administrations to cross the trillion dollar threshold 3 times and in only 4 years.  Reagan crossed the threshold one time being the first President to cross the trillion dollar mark.  Bush 43 crossed it twice being the  first to cross the 2 and 3 trillion mark.  In 8 years Clinton never crossed the trillion dollar mark and Obama never crossed the 3 trillion mark in his 8 fiscal years.  

What York, Trump and  the GOP will never talk about is the record deficit number Trump added to the national debt in just 4 short fiscal years, $8.2 trillion.  No other administration has come even close to that number in any one term.  The large increases in federal spending and the national debt since Reagan was elected can be defined as devastation on the republican watch and the record backs it up.  York and his ditto heads have nothing to offer the American people but deception.  And sadly, they like it that way.  

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Governor Edwards Should Veto "Don't Say Gay" Legislation If Passed By The GOP Controlled State Legislature.

 If and when the GOP controlled state legislature passes "Don't Say Gay" legislation, Governor Edwards must have the character and courage to veto such legislation and stand tall against the GOP's assault to discriminate against certain people's right of privacy, the pursuit of happiness and to live their own lives like all Americans.  Anything less than a veto should be unacceptable.  

The drive to deny constitutional rights both statewide and nationally by the GOP ditto heads are so un-American in nature, real leaders have to stand up, be counted and fight the good fight to protect all citizen's right to live their own lives.  The corrupted GOP has no business to try and regulate other lives, nor do they have any moral authority to do so.  

Governor Edwards turned around the failure of 8 years of GOP control when elected and moved the state forward.  And now as he prepares to leave office, he cannot afford the state to slip backwards again and allow such harmful legislation to become law.  Leaving office on a positive note by displaying character and courage will define the difference between good government and those who want to use government to deny people their right to live their own lives.  

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and the Unemployment Rate for April 2023.

 The U.S. Labor Department announced that the economy added 253,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate came in at 3.4%, down from 3.5% in March.  It was the 27th consecutive month of positive job growth under the Biden administration.  The Department also reported that wages were up 0.5% from March.  The economy continues to create jobs at a monthly average rate much higher than recorded before COVID.

The unemployment rate has stayed in the 3% range for 15 consecutive months since February 2022.  That is the lowest string of unemployment since the Lyndon Johnson administration when it stayed in the 3% range for 20 consecutive months in 1966-1967.  And for those who are ignorant on such matters, in the last 94 years only one Republican President has left office with a lower unemployment rate than when he took office and that was Ronald Reagan.  Every other Republican President, Hoover, Nixon-Ford, Bush 41, Bush 43 and Trump left office with a higher unemployment rate than when they took office.  No democratic President during that same period of time left office with a higher unemployment rate than when he took office.  And for the record, the nation lost 6.4 million jobs on Hoover's watch and 2.7 million jobs on Trump's watch.  

The jobs and unemployment numbers for April, once again shocked the negative voices of doom and gloom who were looking for a major slowdown and still predicting a recession to take place same time this year that keeps getting pushed back from their original prediction of the third quarter of 2022.  The negative voices still are incapable of saying anything positive about the economy.

The media in general is just as bad as the negative voices giving priority to negative news instead of the positives concerning the economy.  They know democratic administrations have a long historical record of creating jobs and putting America to work but never report the facts even though the numbers back it up.  They also know the GOP has no such record and are afraid to report it because their record is a disaster.

Even good economic conditions and results. when they exist, needs attention to keep progress moving forward for the country and its people.  No economy is self sustaining.  But we have a Federal Reserve, many corporate leaders and other negative voices who think you have to destroy jobs, raise unemployment and ruin the economy to make it better.  That is pure nonsense with no original thought and those are the same people who could help move the economy forward with a different policy attitude and support of the President's policies that turned the economy around for the better.

It is past time to get behind and support the President's policies that have worked and to support those issues that will keep the economy creating jobs, lowering unemployment, raise wages, reduce inflation and put the country in position to balance future budgets.  With political understanding we can keep the economy growing.  A positive attitude, policy and working together will get us there.  A negative attitude and division will not.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio  

The U.S. Economy: President Trump's First Two Years Vs. President Biden's First Two Years.

President Trump took office at a time the U.S. Economy was in it's 8th consecutive year of economic expansion, job creation was positive and unemployment was down 3.1% on President Obama watch.  Budget deficits were falling and federal spending was increasing at lower level than the previous administration.   There was no economic recession on the horizon to worry about.  During Trump's first 24 months in office the GDP (Gross National Product) grew at an average of 2.5% per year.  Unemployment was down 7/10th of 1%.  It was 4.7% when he took office and 4% two years later.  Job Creation for Trump's first 36 months in office (before COVID) averaged 183,333 jobs per month.  

President Biden took office with an economic recession and COVID pandemic in full swing, job creation in negative territory, an unemployment rate of 6.3%, negative GDP, the largest federal spending spree in the history of the U.S., increasing deficits and a record number increase in the national debt for any Presidential term.  During President Biden's first 24 months in office the GDP averaged 4% per year.  The unemployment rate was down 2.9%.  It was 6.3% when he took office and was 3.4% two years later.  Unemployment has stood in the 3% range for 14 consecutive months, the longest stretch since the Kennedy-Johnson years.  Job creation in Biden's first 24 months averaged 458,000 jobs per month, a record for any 24 month period.

The 24 month period tells us how each President's administration performed after what they inherited from the previous administration and how they responded.  We know the full details of how the Trump administration ended because it is already in the history books and is not a flattering one. 

The story tells us the country and its people did well the first 24 months of the Biden's administration despite inflation and the negative voices of doom and gloom who refuse to talk about the positive accomplishments that took place in America.  The President's report card is not the final judgement, but that day will come when his full term can be measured and recorded. 

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

The GOP Trys To Define Others and It's Opponents In Order To Influence Public Opinion and Divide The Country.

 A good example over the years in their attempt to define democrats as "liberals" but define the term as something other than the true meaning of "liberal."  They use the word to divide the people and misrepresent what "liberal" really stands for.  A large part of the GOP's reason to do so is that they cannot articulate what their own party stands for or compete with the facts on the issues because of their own extreme ideology.  

President Kennedy, who was very articulate in his speech and was willing to debate the merits of "liberalism" vs. "conservatism" with U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater who was running against Kennedy for a second term said this about being a "liberal" in his book, "Profiles in Courage."  (in which Kennedy defined the true meaning of "liberalism.")  IF BY A LIBERAL THEY MEAN SOMEONE WHO LOOKS AHEAD AND NOT BEHIND, SOMEONE WHO WELCOMES NEW IDEAS WITHOUT RIGID REACTIONS, SOMEONE WHO CARES ABOUT THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE-THEIR HEALTH, THEIR HOUSING, THEIR SCHOOLS, THEIR JOBS, THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS AND THEIR CIVIL LIBERTIES-SOMEONE WHO BELIEVES WE CAN BREAK THROUGH THE STALEMATE AND SUSPICIONS THAT GRIP US IN OUR POLICIES ABROAD, IF THAT IS WHAT THEY MEAN BY A "LIBERAL" THAN I AM PROUD TO SAY I AM A "LIBERAL."

Now, with the Republican party in decay and toxic under their leader Donald Trump, they discovered a new word to try and define the democratic party for the people using the word "woke."  After losing the popular vote 7 times in the last 8 Presidential elections, participating in Trump's corrupted administration that tried to over throw the 2020 election, supported Trump's effort to turn America into an autocratic governing body , created a fiscal calamity and economic recession that lost 21.5 million jobs, the GOP thought they needed a new word to define the democratic party so they hung their hat on the word "woke" to try and redefine the democratic party for the people.

President Biden who is not even close to President Kennedy when it comes to being articulate, demonstrated the true "liberal" spirit and definition with his policies that moved the country and its people away from the Trump/GOP failures of the previous 4 years.  And every step to true progress in moving America forward began with the "liberal" philosophy and the record speaks for itself.  

This commentary written by Joe Lorio