Tragedy: The War In Afghanistan and Iraq.

In October, the war in Afghanistan will be 16 years and counting.  It started when President
George W. Bush sent U.S. forces there to bring Bin Laden to justice after his attack on America on 9/11/01.  The war was also for the stated purpose of destroying the Taliban who allowed training camps to be set up in their country to train terrorists.  The war did not bring Bin Laden to justice or destroy the Taliban.

And now, almost 16 years later, reports are circulating that President Trump will send approximately 4000 more U.S. Troops to that country to try and bring that same Taliban under control who controls more territory once again and are a threat to the Afghan government and U. S. troops.  And in fact in the last two months 5 U.S. Troops have been killed and 7 wounded.

It is a war with no limits and factions among the Afghan people who have yet to find a way to govern themselves. Ten years of war and Russian occupation and soon to be 16 years of U.S. occupation and war has not solved the problem.  So now a U.S. troop surge of 4000 troops is supposed to bring the country together.  We have been there and done that and the results never seem to match the promises.

In March of this year the Iraq war hit its 14 year and still counting.  It was a war and occupation over WMD that did not exist and ordered by President George W. Bush.  It was a war of lies including the statement that Saddam was a threat to the national security of the U.S. and that our troops would be welcomed as liberators.  It was a war with terrible consequence to our men and women in uniform and America's intelligence community for being used by the President and Vice President for the purpose to remake the middle east.

Because the stated purpose was a lie and failure, Iraq was destabilized.  That opened the country and its doors for Al Queda in Iraq to enter, kill a lot of Americans and then expanded to ISIS and other terror groups never heard of before.  ISIS took it to the most extreme level and spread their terror all through the middle east and beyond.  Almost every country in the middle east is fighting terrorists or some forces within their own country.  The civil war in Syria is still raging and could blow up any minute in a full scale war.  And our U.S. troops are smack in the middle and still there.  Good thing President Obama had the wisdom to move most of our troops out of harms way.  But those that are still there still can not always define the enemy.  Some of the latest troops death came at the hands of some Afghan government troops that were trained by our men and women in uniform.

After 14 and 16 years it is late, but it is time for congress to step in and show leadership.  War is the is the responsibility of congress not just the President.  Our men and women in uniform have paid the price for too long and congress and the President need to decide and identify the real threat to our country's national security.  Tough talk has had no effect on solving the problems in Iraq  or Afghanistan or ending the occupation.  Leadership, responsibility and wisdom are in need now more than ever before.  The most powerful military and economic country in the world needs to change its thinking.



This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The State of Louisiana Finally Has A Budget For Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2017

The republican controlled state legislature finally passed a budget during the special session called by governor John Bel Edwards.  In fact the budget that passed was almost a duplicate that the House failed to pass in the regular session.  This time the House passed the senate's budget with little changes.  As a result the budget that passed was in tune with what the governor, the House democrats and the senate was pushing.

The budget could have passed the regular session if handled properly but the leader of the House would not take up a proposal to pass the senate budget and then closed the regular session.  The down side of both sessions was the legislature's failure to address tax reform and other tax matters.  It also failed to address the $1.2 billion projected budget deficit for fiscal year starting 7/1/18 because of expiring taxes that will take place next year  That is a huge problem to over come without tax reform and a workable increase in state revenues.

There is also the question of the budget just passed by the legislature.  Will they have to come back 6 months from now like they have done for the past 8 years and say the budget is out of balance.  Or will this be the state budget that puts our fiscal house on the right path to fiscal responsibility.

The budget process still remains flawed because the republican leadership in both houses are not good at governing and that applies also to their party.  And until they commit to a tax reform where everyone pays their fair share of all taxes, Louisiana's fiscal problems will only become worse.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Gun Violence and Other Threats: The Phoniness of So Called Tough Talk

According to the Huffington Post, Gun Violence Archive who tracks mass shootings across the country (described as 4 or more people killed or injured by guns) reported that 154 mass shootings has taken place since the first of the year thru June 14.  That includes the 5 shootings in Virginia at a baseball field and 4 killed at a UPS station in California.  During the same period last year 142 such mass shootings were recorded.

The increase took place even though Donald Trump as President and Presidential candidate said that would all stop when he became President.  Phony tough talk with out a plan accomplishes zero.  A number of police officers have also been killed since Trump took office but his administration never spends time talking about that because Trump said he was going to stop that also.  President Trump also criticized President Obama when North Korea test fired their missiles and said it would not happen on his watch.  Yet North Korea continues to test their missiles on Trump's watch and at a more frequent rate.

Wednesday's gun violence that wounded 5 people in Virginia including a U.S. House member, occupied the news media all day and over shadowed the 4 killings in California.  It also provided the same old conversation about gun violence that has yet to be converted into sensible solutions because of the NRA, the gun lobby, the gun industry and the republicans in congress.  And of course, once again the talk is about the nasty threats via the social media such as Facebook.

But Trump's supporters loved the threats of "lock her up" and "crooked Hillary."  Trump even told his supporters at a campaign rally that he could shoot some one and his supporters would still vote for him.  And that statement by a Presidential candidate was accepted by his supporters with out any push back.  The news media paid little attention to such a horrible statement.  Trump also urged his supporters at more than one rally to eject protesters.

The phoniness of the so called tough talk and a ideology that defies logic is astounding and will never solve the problem of gun violence in America.  Every year that proves to be true.  Is it not sad that the killing of hundreds of innocent school kids in school over a period of years is not taken serious enough by congress to take action.  The gun lobby just don't care so responsible people need to step up to the plate and act.

President Trump with all of his nasty and ugly comments about people during the campaign and his Presidency does not represent a competent leader who can unite people.  He is a person about division, distrust and a desire to harm people's character.  And that is by his own choosing.  In fact as of this writing he has chosen the road of regression.  The phony tough talk needs to take a back seat to the real world.  Does Trump have the capacity to change?  Time will be the judge.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

 

LSU Baseball: On A Roll, Going Back To Omaha and Another Big First For PolitiDose

Sports writers for the New Orleans Advocate and the Times Picayune who cover LSU baseball continue to be caught up in their stories of hype and cliches and just can't be objective in their evaluation of the team and its needs.  But PolitiDose's commentary in March out lined the needs of the team in order for them to return to the College World Series.

And all of the observations on LSU's needs as outlined in PolitiDose were accomplished and once again the Tigers have an opportunity to compete for a national championship in Omaha.  LSU did not put it all together during the early part of the season but that changed as the season progressed.

LSU's problem for the past several years, the need for a third starting pitcher, more timely hitting with runners on base, more home runs, use of the sacrifice bunt and better coaching have all been met this season and the Tigers go to Omaha as one of the hottest teams.  It has been several years since LSU has been in this position and there should be no reason to think negative at this point.  So good luck to LSU, the fans and to the state of Louisiana.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Another Trump Temperament Flaw Exposed By The President Himself

Hillary Clinton exposed Trump's lack of Temperament to be President long ago and of course the President has demonstrated almost every day how right she was.  The latest example was Trump's statement after he fired FBI director Comey when he said and tweeted, Comey better hope his comments with the President were not taped. Trump knew Comey would be a private citizen after being fired and might talk so he wanted to intimidate Comey with the tape threat.

But Comey did not blink and gave devastating testimony against the President in a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee under oath.  He also expressed to the committee his hope Trump would make the tapes public if they do exist.  He called Trump's bluff because Comey made notes of the conversation with the President.  This writer has never known a President to threaten someone but Trump's lack of temperament allows him to strike back against anyone who crosses him.

It is this writers belief Trump has no tapes but if they do indeed exist, will never be made public because they would confirm Comey's notes.  Since Comey's testimony, more people are coming forth concerning their distrust of the President and his often told lies.  Donald Trump will be in office 5 months on June 20 and so far his administration has been one of regression and scandal.  The White House is occupied by an Autocrat who believes he is above the law.

Our law enforcement agencies and the Congress need to make sure a final report is complete and the true story is told about the Trump-Russian affair and its related counter parts.  Democracy demands that.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

A Dis-functional State Legislature Fails Louisiana and Its People Once Again

It is not like the republican controlled legislature does not know the problem and answer to the state's fiscal problems because they do.  The problem stems from the fact that republicans are not very good at governing their own body politics.  As a result the legislature ended its regular session with out a fiscal budget so the governor has called another special session (the third one he has called and he has been in office less than 18 months) to deal with the same old worn out problem of the last eight years.

Walt Leger, democrat from New Orleans wanted to make a motion that the House pass the senate budget but speaker of the house, republican representative Taylor Barras would not allow the motion and instead ended the regular session.  The Times Picayune reported Leger had enough votes in the house to pass the senate budget.  So once again, it became the usual obstruction by republicans to move forward on fiscal matters of importance.

The Times Picayune reported an anti tax group funded by conservative Charles and David Koch, help kill any tax bills in the session.  Once again it is business that control the tax conversation and the republican controlled legislature that allow it to happen.  The legislature pays more attention to the Koch brothers who live out of state than they do to governor Edwards who gave the legislature his plan to deal with Louisiana's fiscal problems and was rejected with little debate.

The republicans will not use the special session to solve the problems they have kicked down the road for the past eight years.  And that really says it all.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Republican Swamp Becomes A Cess-Pool

Former FBI director James Comey's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee concerning President Trump continues to bring out the worse from republicans in congress.  They and conservative journalists have defended the President's lies from day one and now the republicans sorry excuse for defending the President after Comey's explosive testimony, was Trump's inexperience at being a public official, he does not understand government or how government works, every thing is new to him, etc, etc, and etc.

The swamp that Trump said he would drain has become a cess-pool aided and abeted by the republicans in congress.  And just on Thursday this week the republican  controlled House passed legislation eliminating all the safe guards put in place that brought the wall street banks under control by the Dodd-Franks legislation after the big banks failures of 2008.  Trump supported the Thursday bill and has placed wall street bankers in key positions in his cabinet and administration.  Hopefully, the democrats in the U.S. Senate can defeat this bill.

I doubt seriously if there is any living person today who has witnessed a more corrupt administration than the Trump administration or a more corrupted party than the republican party.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Former FBI Director James Comey Confirms President Trump Is A Liar

In testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, former FBI director Comey said UNDER OATH President Trump lied and gave out FAKE NEWS  concerning morale at the FBI workplace and who originated the phone call to arrange a dinner meeting between Trump and Comey.  Comey's comment is creditable as he was under oath and there is a public record of Trump saying Comey set up the dinner meeting.  The lies just keep coming from the President, one after another, no matter the subject matter.

It is a very sad time for the country, our people, the Presidency and our democratic form of government.  To make matters worse, the President tried to influence the FBI investigation into the Russia-Trump thing by asking then director Comey to let go of the Flynn investigation.  Flynn was Trump's choice for his national security adviser who met with Russian officials before Trump took office and discussed the removal of sanctions placed on Russia by the Obama administration for Russia's hacking the 2016 Presidential election.  That act undermined the Obama administration who was still serving as President and Commander in Chief.  Coupled with Trump's son in law's attempt to set up a secret back channel link with Russia using Russian facilities to avoid U.S. detection was a treacherous act.  And make no mistake, Trump knew what was taking place.

Donald Trump has brought his autocrat governing to the federal government.  But a democratic government has a President and a structure where no one is above the law and the President does not have the final word.  Trying to obstruct a federal investigation is an impeachable offense and congress needs to keep that in mind as more evidence comes to light.  This writer believes there will be more impeachment offenses by the President that will come into view as more information surfaces.  It is only a matter of time.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Another Piece Of Propaganda By Louisiana Representative Steve Scalise

In his opinion column of 6/7 in the Times Picayune titled, "Defending the coast is top priority", Louisiana's representative Steve Scalise gave this writer a good laugh.  The column started out to be about Hurricane season but was really about federal revenue to rebuild Louisiana's coast and land loss.  Scalise states, THAT THIS IS A CRITICAL ISSUE AND ONE THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME.

That statement by Scalise has already proven false by his own actions.  Like other republicans, Scalise opposes holding the oil industry responsible for the damage their operations have done to Louisiana's coast, wet lands and marshes.  He also opposed several suits brought against the industry for their failure to pay for the damage they caused.  He also opposed the moratorium on Gulf drilling that President Obama placed on the industry after the BP explosion that killed 11 rig workers and the record oil spill.

What Scalise and the republican party wants is to make the federal government foot the bill through revenue sharing so as to keep their commitment to protect the oil industry and their rape of Louisiana's environment.  Scalise's voting record and his actions tell the story of a Louisiana congressman who is committed to special interest and not Louisiana or its people.  He and others can continue their talk about the federal government coming up with the money, but until they demand the oil industry pay for their share of the damage, the conversation is hypocritical.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Another Huge First For PolitiDose

The Times Picayune editorial of 6/4/17 titled, "Lawmakers lack the will for fiscal reform" comes about seven years too late.  The article talks about:  (1)  the failure of the state legislature to reform the state's unfair, unstable and convoluted tax system:  (2)  Ignoring the fiscal cliff of the $1 billion deficit projected for fiscal 2018:  (3)  The need for predictable revenue and (4)  Tax proposals that were ruled out of the current session of the legislature.

And if all that sounds familiar, its because you read it here first in PolitiDose many times during the last eight years.  And during that same time span the Times Picayune's editorial writers praised republican governor Jindal and the republican controlled legislature for cutting the budget and at the same time handing out tax breaks to the business community.  During that same period every state budget that Jindal and the legislature proclaimed balanced, ended up being out of balance before the fiscal year ended.

The eight years of Jindal and the republican controlled legislature was a time of praise by the Picayune and the business community even though they were in a position to see and understand what was happening to Louisiana's economy and fiscal house.  The national economy and jobs were growing but Louisiana was lagging.  Unemployment was dropping on the national level but Louisiana was not keeping pace.  The unemployment rate in Louisiana when Jindal took office was 3.8%.  It was over 6% when he left office.  Democratic governor Kathleen Blanco left the Jindal administration a $800 million surplus when she left office and Jindal blew it big time.

Yes, Louisiana had many people who were and still are a large influence who remained silent while the do nothing republican controlled legislature and Jindal were wrecking havoc with the Louisiana economy and its fiscal house.  The corporate welfare cycle of the business world is a corrupting influence whose appetite will never be satisfied because its all about them and never about us as a society and community.  And even worse, the business community has been allowed to control the conversation on taxes.

The people of Louisiana deserve better from our elected officials, the news media and the business community.  The states's future has been a repeat of its past failures.  Will the year 2017 be the year Louisiana can say the required steps were taken so that the future for our citizens will not look like the failed past?  Stay tuned because time will tell.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio