Ole Miss Defeats LSU 32 - 24.

 THE GAME, the LSU-Ole Miss rivalry, the teams and the competition all took place Saturday night in Oxford, Miss. at Vaught-Hemmingway stadium despite the sport's media attempt to make Kiffin's return to Ole Miss the real story.  THE GAME's rivalry was on display before a packed stadium and as usual, the fans on both sides were loud and clear.

The first half ended with Ole Miss leading by 17 points 24-7.  LSU tied the score 24-24 in the second half and then late in the fourth quarter Ole Miss scored the winning points.  So, the rivalry continues in 2026 and Kiffin's return to Ole Miss is history.   But in Sunday and Monday's New Orleans Advocate, some in the media could not let it go, so, the made for media noise will continue for some time.

In the mean time, the LSU-Ole Miss game is still THE GAME, and the rival, despite the media.  It is a game about the teams, the players, the competition and the spirit of sports.  Anything and everything can take place in a rival game and usually does and in this particular game, the coach with the least experience at head coaching won the game.  

LSU and Ole Miss, along with their fans and supporters can be proud of THE GAME.  They also recognized the Kiffin thing for what it was, a media distraction.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

THE GAME, LSU vs. Ole Miss: No Longer The Great Rivalry It Once Was.

There was a time in college football when THE GAME, LSU vs. Ole Miss. was one of great rivalry.  It took place during the coaching era of Paul Dietzel and Charlie McClendon of LSU and Johnny Vaught of Ole Miss.  It was a time when THE GAME was about the teams and the players.  All three coaches were well known and were winners.  Paul Dietzel and LSU won the national championship in 1958.  Johnny  Vaught won 3 national championships at Ole Miss. in 1959, 1960 and 1962.  McClendon never won a national championship as a head coach but was Dietzel's defensive coordinator on the 1958 championship team and had a won-loss record of 137/59/7 in 17 years with the Tigers.  The media's thing was about THE GAME and the players and not about the coaches who represented their profession with dignity.

The build up to the game started the week before with chants from both sides saying "Go to hell Ole Miss and Go to hell LSU.  The chants continued well into game time.  Both sides liked to brag, many tricks were played and never ending.  It was a magical time as the game was always played close around Halloween and actually on Halloween.  The goblins were well represented.  

The rivalry produced many memorable moments of that era.  Who can forget Billy Cannon's magical 89 yard punt return for a touchdown that provided the winning score for LSU 7-3.  Conditions were horrible on  the field from the rain, so bad that both teams at times punted on  3rd down in case the punter fumbled the snap they would have another down to try and punt again.  Both teams entered the game with 6-0 records.  Cannon's punt return is still considered one of the greatest plays in college sports and in Louisiana, the run is replayed on TV every Halloween because THE GAME actually took place Halloween night on October 31,1959. 

There was Bert Jones, LSU's quarterback against Ole Miss. on November 4, 1972 with LSU trailing 9-16 with only one second left on the clock who shot a touchdown pass to Brad Davis in the end zone and then executed a two point conversion to win the game 17-16. That one second magic is still debated because most thought the clock had expired on the previous play when there was only 4 seconds left on  the clock.  Several years later a billboard went up on the state line that read.  "You are now entering Louisiana, set your clocks back 4 seconds."

Fast forward to this very moment, which is September 17, the week of THE GAME, LSU vs. Ole Miss, the rivalry of THE GAME and the players are absent from the sport's media, instead it is focused on Lane Kiffin, LSU's head coach and what may take place when he returns to Ole Miss this Saturday.  Their reporting is all about what may take place at game time and how the school will react along with the fans.  It is a rehash of their remarks after LSU signed Kiffin late last year.  THE GAME, the rivalry, the players, the history, has been passed over.  They even feel the need to report that Kiffin represents chaos wherever he goes.  

This writer was a young man during the above mentioned era and witnessed THE GAME and the great rivalry.  It was really a magical time seeing two rival teams whose players happened to be neighbors be so competitive.  Many words passed back and forth between the teams, but the players and coaches respected each other and were a credit to THE GAME.  The coaches of that era were gentlemen who cared.

The great memories of that era to those of us who are still living are still in place.  The great plays, the competition, THE GAME and the rivalry will never be forgotten.  It was truly a magical era.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

 

 

The National Debt, Deficit Spending and Total Federal Spending: The Real Facts and Numbers Part II.

 Ever since the Reagan era, he and his party claimed that democratic administrations were the big spenders in Washington.  The media caved to that rhetoric of lies and misinformation and ran with the false story.  The media is still today trying to push that false narrative with the Trump administration.  

The below numbers tell the story of federal spending during the 44 year period of those 7 Presidents who served.  It indicates what party were the big spenders with the greatest percentage increase in federal spending.   

In Reagan's 8 fiscal years, federal spending increased  75%

In Bush 43  8 fiscal years, federal spending increased  61%

In Trump's 4 fiscal years, federal spending increased  43%

In Bush 41 4 fiscal years, federal spending increased  28%

In Obama's 8 fiscal years, federal spending increased 25%

In Clinton's 8 fiscal  years, federal spending increased 24%

In Biden's 4 fiscal years, federal spending increased  19%

In addition to the above numbers, the Obama administration reduced year over year federal spending 3 times in fiscal years 2020,2012 and 2913.  President Biden's administration did the same thing twice in fiscal years 2022 and 2023.  The last GOP administration that reduced year over year federal spending was Eisenhower in 1955.

The numbers tell the real story and are taken from the official federal government historical records as published by the Office of Management and Budget which list the government's revenue, expense and deficits.  The government uses the term outlays instead of the word expense.  It describes the same thing but the word expense is used when politicians and the media sources use the word.  

All the numbers tell us that the republican party are not conservative when it comes to fiscal matters and dealing with the issues of deficit spending, increases in the national debt and federal spending.  The numbers also tell us, no matter the fiscal responsibility concern, the democratic party does a better job of governing America.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and the Unemployment Rate for August 2026.

 The U.S. Labor Department reported the economy created 162,000 jobs in August and the unemployment rate remained the same at 4.1%.  In Trump's first 8 months of 2026 the economy created an average of 80,000 jobs per month and noted that it was well below the 166,000 jobs per month the economy created under Biden in 2023 and 2024.  The Department also reported wages were up 3.1% over the previous August, but the weakest since May of 2021.  

We can now compare how the economy did during Biden's 8th month in office in his second year as President.  In August 2022 the economy created 315,000 jobs and the unemployment rate came in at 3.7%.  The average number of jobs created per month during the year 2022 was 497,000 jobs per month.  Trump's job numbers add up as follows for his 5 years and 8 months as President as of this writing, the economy has lost approximately 1.8 million jobs.  Only GOP President Herbert Hoover has a worse job creation record than Trump in the last 98 years.

Precedent continues to tell us that in the past 96 years, GOP administrations are terrible at creating jobs and Trump and his administration continue the precedent.  So, stay tuned to PolitiDose commentary for your daily dose of political commentary.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The National Debt, Deficit Spending and Total Federal Spending: The Real Facts and Numbers Part 1.

 Since the National Debt seems to be the subject of the media and some pundits, the real story should be told so people can understand the facts.  The real story has been told in PolitiDose commentary for the past 12 years so it is time once again to explain the facts.  The national debt was not a problem at the end of President Carter's last fiscal year when it ended on 9/30/81 when it came in at $997 billion, that is less than one trillion dollars. 

The explosion in the debt came during the administration of Ronald Reagan and at this writing the national debt stands at $40 trillion.  Listed below are the administrations that followed President Carter and what took place with the debt on their watch during their fiscal years.  The federal government's official records are kept on a fiscal year that begins on October 1 and ends on September 30.  The listings are in the order the President served.

At the end of Reagan's 8 fiscal years, the debt was $2.857 trillion, an increase of $1.895 trillion for a whooping increase of 186% in the national debt.  It took the nation over 200 years to reach a national debt of less than a trillion dollars and only took the Reagan administration 8 years to add $1.895 trillion to the debt.

At the end of George H.W. Bush's 4 fiscal years the national debt was $4.411 trillion, an increase of $1.554 trillion or an increase of 54% in the national debt.  

At the end of Bill Clinton's 8 fiscal years, the debt was $5.607 trillion, an increase of $1.395 trillion or an increase of 31% in the national debt.

At the end of George W. Bush's 8 fiscal years, the national debt was $11.909 trillion, an increase of $6.402 trillion or a 105% increase in the national debt.

At the end of Barrack Obama's 8 fiscal years the national debt was $20.2 trillion, an increase of $8.2 trillion for a 69% increase in the national debt.

At the  end of the Donald Trump 4 fiscal years the national debt was $28.4 trillion, an increase of $8.2 trillion for a 41% increase in the national debt.  (Trump's first term)

At the end of Joe Biden's 4 fiscal years the national debt was $37.8 trillion, an increase of $9.4 trillion for a 33% increase in the national debt.

Note:  Trump's first fiscal year of his second term ends this month on 9/30 and the national debt has already increased $2.2 trillion.   President Clinton reduced federal spending every year his first four fiscal years and then balanced the federal budget the last 4 fiscal years and his budget surpluses exceeded his deficits by $62 billion.  Clinton also paid down $400 billion on the national debt.  None of the other Presidents accomplished that.

The record clearly indicates that both parties are responsible for the increases in the debt but that the democratic party does the better job of controlling the debt.  The Clinton, Obama and Biden administration all completed their last fiscal year with a smaller federal deficit than the one left to them by the previous administrations.  All four republican administrations completed their last fiscal year with a larger federal deficit than the one left to them by the previous administrations.  President George W. Bush was the first President to have a single year federal deficit that topped $1 trillion.  His last fiscal year's budget deficit came in at $1.4 trillion.  President Trump was the first President to have a single year fiscal deficit of a $2 and $3 trillion federal deficit when his third fiscal year deficit came in at $3.1 trillion and his last fiscal year deficit came in at $2.7 trillion.  No democratic administration had a single year deficit that hit the one trillion dollar mark.  All 7 administrations had to deal with a number of negative issues.  

The record also indicates that President Clinton when leaving office, left the Bush administration 4 straight years of budget surpluses and the Bush administration turned those surpluses into deficit spending in his very first fiscal year and every one of his 8 fiscal years.  Those deficits are what President Obama had to deal with.  All four republican administrations gave the U.S. an economic recession that began on their watch.  No economic recession began on the watch of the three democratic administrations.  Reagan, Bush and Trump cut taxes for you know who that was supposed to help balance the budget but never did in all of the 24 years they served.   Clinton raised taxes on those same folks and the nation's fiscal house was in better shape on his watch.  

President Reagan started the fairy tale that the democratic party are the big spenders and the media ate it up and has run with the fairy tale ever since.  Conservative opinion writers are still trying to sell that same fairy tale but it won't wash with the facts.  The below list tells the readers the amount of deficit spending on each President's watch.

Reagan 8 fiscal years of deficit spending       $1.4 trillion.

Bush 41 4 fiscal years of deficit spending      $1.03 trillion

Clinton 4 fiscal years of deficit spending      $496.5 billion.

Bush 43  8 fiscal years of deficit spending     $3.5 trillion.

Obama 8 fiscal years of deficit spending    $6.5 trillion.

Trump 4 fiscal years of deficit spending         $7.5 trillion.

Biden 4 fiscal years of deficit spending           $6.4 trillion

Note:  President Obama's last fiscal year budget deficit was $666 billion and that is what Trump inherited.  On the other hand, Trump's last year fiscal deficit was $2.7 trillion and that is what Biden inherited .

The following lists the percentage increase in the national debt on each President's term in office.

Ronald Reagan, the national debt increased186%

George W. Bush, the national debt increased 105%

Barrack Obama, the national debt increased 69%

George H.W. Bush, the national debt increased 54%

Donald Trump, the national debt increased 41%

Joe Biden, the national debt increased 33%

Bill Clinton, the national debt increased 31%

No matter what way one looks at the numbers and the facts, democratic administrations did a better job on governing the economy and the country's fiscal house.  The record also indicates that democratic administrations passed on to republican administrations that followed a better hand fiscally than the republican administrations passed onto the democrats.  Part II will be about total federal spending and that will also illustrate how democratic administrations did a better job at controlling federal spending.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Note:  All numbers used above taken from the historical records of the CBO, the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Treasury Department.