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