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