Hillary Clinton's Personal E-Mails At The State Department

The news networks, their hosts and their guest are having a field day concerning the subject matter since it became public.  This writer has followed the coverage which borders on comedy.  The networks/hosts/guest, especially if the guest also represents the news media all follow the same pattern

(A)  They are put out that Mrs. Clinton has chosen her own time line to address the subject instead of the networks time line.  (B)  Her delayed answer will give republicans a reason to attack her.  (that is really comical)  (C)  She has damaged her campaign for President.  (D)  She may have violated the law.  (E)  Its typical of the Clintons.  (this writer does not remember President Clinton being Secretary of State.  (F)  She used private account email to conduct State business to avoid transparency.  (G)  And a host of other allegations.

The networks and their hosts are chapped because Mrs. Clinton has not yet formally announced she will be a candidate for the democratic Presidential nomination.  As a result she has been silent and out of the public's eye.  That has left the networks only the republican candidates to cover and they have been in the news frequently.  Its tough for the networks to report on them because the republican candidates are saying the same thing that Newt Gingrich was saying 30 years ago.  Some things never change.

The real reason the networks want Mrs. Clinton to speak on the emails is they have too much air time to fill up and once she speaks they will be talking about the matter until election day.  The networks and the republicans will keep this story alive no matter what.  Fox news has already named it a scandal when they have no idea what the word means.  If they did they would have called O'Reilly's repeated lies a scandal.

The bottom line on Mrs. Clinton's personal emails at State is as follows:  Did her personal emails violate any federal laws or regulations and if so to what extent.  Will she be able to articulate a sound reason for maintaining a personal email file instead of using State's email system   The American people will be the judge on whether this issue will affect Mrs. Clinton's chances of becoming President if she decides to run.  The networks would like to make that decision for the people.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Iraq War, Al Queda In Iraq And ISIL

Twelve years ago this month in 2003 President George W. Bush ordered the invasion and occupation of Iraq over WMD that did not exist.  And today, Iraq and its people are worse off than they were prior to the invasion.  The Middle East, including Iraq has been destabilized, suicide bombings are still a regular occurance by terrorists and other groups entering the country.  Saddam never let that happen while he ruled.

The war created Al Queda in Iraq who inflicted most of the damage on U.S. troops.  They did what Saddam and his military could not do despite President Bush telling the world Saddam and his military was a danger to the security of the U.S. and its people.  The President announced "mission accomplished" 3 months after the invasion and 12 years later the mission has yet to be accomplished and the invasion and death of Saddam did not stabilize Iraq nor was the U.S. welcomed as liberators like V.P. Chaney said would happen.

ISIL is a part of Al Queda with the same goal Bin Laden wanted to achieve, that is to see the middle east as an Islamic state.  The growth of ISIL like the creation of Al Queda in Iraq would never have been possible in Iraq with Saddam in office.  The war gave both groups the opportunity to grow and spread their terror.  Yet we still have those in congress who want to see President Obama make the same mistake and have American troops once again have an active combat role in Iraq and else where in the middle east.

Our men and women in uniform and their family have paid a huge price with multiple deployments because there is no draft.  President Obama does not have to send them down that road again.  So far he has been steady on the issue.  The answer to a stable Iraq and middle east can only come from that part of the world where a united front comes together to destroy the threat and improve relations between all of its various factions.

The U.S. is a nation of values and should never again be so willing to commit our country to an unnecessary war where only our military is asked to make sacrifice.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Is ISIL Changing Their Strategy?

There has been very little military gains by ISIL in Iraq since the U.S. and its allies committed its air power to stop their advance.  In fact the Turks and different tribal forces in Iraq have rolled back ISIL at several locations and Jordan and Egypt have entered the battle against them.

ISIL now seems to be changing their tactics because they know militarily they can not win.  Christians are more and more their target along with foreign kidnapping and now recently are bent on destroying ancient historical monuments in Iraq.  The news media rarely reports on their military power any more.

The latest reports puts Iraq's largest offensive with Iraqi troops and shiite militiamen in advancing to oust ISIL's military who are holding the town of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's birth place.  Iraq and the Iranian backed shiite militia have about 30,000 men in their offensive to defeat ISIL at Tikrit.  There are fears among the U.S. and its allies that Iran is gaining more and more influence in Iraq and Iraqi decision making.  If Iraq can take back Tikrit, ISIL's military will pull back even more and try to find other means to make the middle east an Islamic state.  The next big military step for Iraq is to retake Mosul from ISIL control which will be launched in the near future according to reports.

Both operations will be a test of the Iraqi military and if they have what it takes to defend their own country.  As far as Iran gaining more influence in Iraq, this writer predicted several years ago in "PolitiDose" after the Iraq war started, that no matter how the war ended Iran would have more influence in Iraq and that the two nations would become allies.  When Saddam was alive both nations kept each other in check.  The Iraq war changed all that and not for the better.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Economy, Job Creation, Lower Unemployment Continue To Move In A Positive Direction While The Republican Party Continues To Be AWOL.

The U.S. Economy created 295,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate fell to 5.5% from the 5.7%  the previous so says the U.S. Labor Department.  It was the 60th straight month (five years) of positive job growth and a reflection of the positive economic policies of the Obama administration.  And yes, republicans in congress still have nothing to contribute.  They have less than two years to do some thing positive for the economy during President Obama's last and final term in office.

February also marked the 12th straight month that job creation topped over 200,000.  The last time that happened was in the 1990's when Bill Clinton was President.  Health services continue their job growth and the overall  growth of job creation once again dismiss the phony charge by republicans that the ACA is a job killer.  Walmart and other companies have announced that they were raising their employee's wages and is another positive that will give consumers more buying power that will continue to fuel the economy.  An there should be no doubt that had the U.S. House taken up and passed the U.S. Senate's legislation to repair the nations bridges, highways and etc., the country would be at true full employment.  Plus those construction jobs pay good high wages.

A President's policies on the economy do make a difference and democratic administrations prove over and over they perform best for the country and its people.  History and the numbers support that fact.  And understanding the past is still the key to a better future.


This commentery written by Joe Lorio

Louisiana's Uninsured Ranks Fall Thanks To The Affordable Care Act

The uninsured rate for adults dropped from 21.7% to 17.2% since the ACA began accepting applications in 2014 according to a Times Picayune article of 2/25.  Louisiana's enrollments in the ACA 2015 plans were up to 184,532, close to 83,000 more than in 2014.

The ACA is working in Louisiana despite the obstacles thrown up by governor Bobby Jindal  It is another case of a federal program that was made available and is working.  Like Jindal, other governors across America have failed to address the uninsured issue themselves inside their own states.  The federal government is also doing right for Louisiana by enforcing federal laws that cover the BP oil spill.   A federal judge will be issuing his ruling soon as to how much BP is assessed for the spillage.

On the other hand, Jindal and the Louisiana legislature has failed to enforce state laws to recover the environmental damage oil, gas and pipeline companies caused to Louisiana's marshes, wet lands and coastal areas.  They even opposed the Levee Board's law suit.  Serious public officals are lackingt when it comes to enforcement of state laws.  And because of that lacking, the public has been and will continue to pay the price.  Those who read "PolitiDose" understand how this writer feels about the importance of having serious elected officials at the helm.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Democrats Save The Republican Controlled U. S. House

One more time the minority democrats in the U.S. House furnished the majority vote to fund the Homeland Security Department for the balance of the fiscal year and avoid a shut down of that agency.  The republicans who control the U.S. House used that majority and voted aganist the bill because it was a clean bill without the defunding of Obama's executive order on immigration.

The vote was 257-167 and the democrats picked up enough republican votes to pass the legislation.  Republican Steve Scalise and Democrat Sedric Richmond voted for the bill.  All other republicans in the U.S. House who represent Louisiana voted against the bill.  Scalise and Boehner caught flax for bringing up a similar bill with the defunding a few days before that was defeated.  Evidendly Scalise failed to count heads before calling for a vote.

Next in line for the republicans is to see if they can overide the President's veto of the XL Pipeline legislation   they passed.  Mitch McConnell said the Senate would take up that veto this week.  If they fail to overide the President's veto it would be wise to pass the minimum wage, immigration reform and legislation to rebuild the nations roads, bridges and etc., the President would sign that in a New York second and the republicans could save face.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Another Huge First For "PolitiDose."

Sean Illing, an Air Force veteran who teaches political science at LSU wrote a "Point of View" commentary in the Times Picayune of 3/1 titled, "Beware of Candidates Talking About Obama Instead Of Louisiana."  The gist of his commentary is that Louisiana elected officials who continue to attack the President and not tell the people what they stand for and what they would do to move Louisiana forward mislead the people at best and deliberately deceive at worst.

He also said (1)  the current administration in Baton Rouge has been utterly dishonest, lying and that budget gimmicks have run their course.  (2)  Louisiana is facing serious problems and serious leaders are lacking.  (3)  Louisiana's future is in serious jeopardy if the state legislators do not force Jindal's hands.  (4)  If you are a republican voter you should demand more from your candidates.  If you don't like Obama, fine.  But don't give a free pass to politicians.

And if all of that sounds familiar its because you read it all here first in "PolitiDose" many times over in the last several years in many commentaries.  The attacks on the President by republicans with out offering any policies to move Louisiana or the country forward, the lack of serious public officials, Jindal's budget gimmicks, voters being hoodwinked by the personal attacks on Obama, state legislators rubber stamping Jindal's policies and Louisiana's future being in serious jeopardy have all been subjects of commentary in "PolitiDose."

Mr. Illing's "Point of View" commentary is a little late but is a welcome change from a political science teacher who understands what has been taking place in our political system.  Too bad the editorial writers at the Times Picayune are so blind and so far removed from political truths.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Benjamin Netanyahu Is No Friend Of The United States

The U.S. House majority leader John Boehner invited Israel's Prime Minister to address congress which will take place Tuesday March 3.  Boehner failed to speak with President Obama about this situation and disregarded protocal.  This administration and previous U.S. administrations have not met with foreign leaders close to election and Netanyahu faces reelection in the next two weeks.  As a result of Boehner's actions it was announced that the President would not meet with Netanyahu while he were here and many democrats in congress said they would skip the Prime Minister's speech.

Boehner said he wanted Netanyahu to tell America why Iran can not be trusted with an agreement even while the U.S. and other countries are in talks with Iran concerning their nuclear program at this very moment.  Netanyahu will oppose any agreement with Iran and so will most republicans.  They would rather no agreement and use that as an excuse to go to war.  Israel is the dominant military power in the middle east, has WMD and nuclear weapons and the delivery systems to hit Iran and has had that capability for many years.

Netanyahu said Iran wishes to destroy Israel and that they do not believe the holocaust took place.  Iran certainly does not have the capacity to destroy Israel and would not take on that challenge even if they possessed nuclear weapons because they know Iran would be wiped off the face of the map.  What Israel wants and already has is the ability to use their military power with impunity in the middle east and want to maintain the status quo.

In this writers judgement Netanyahu and Israel can not be trusted.  They would love to see the U.S. start another war in the middle east.  They would like to dominate the foreign policy of the U.S. and Netanyahu speech before congress will try to do just that.  President Obama should not let that happen.  And to think it was an American, John Boehner who invited Netanyahu to try and influence the foreign policy of the U.S.

In the book, Body of Secrets by James Bamford he documented that the leaders of Israel (at the time) ordered the attack of a U.S. Naval vessell Liberty that was operating in international waters killing 34 U.S. service men and wounded many others.  Damage to the vessell was several million dollars.  Israel lied and said they did not know it was a U.S. ship when they did know.  The book should be read by all Americans to understand the true nature of Israel and their military judgement.

President Obama should continue to run foreign policy without interference from Israel or Netanyahu/  The well being of our country and its people are at stake.

See my previous commentary on Israel dated December 1 and 19, 2007 titled, Nuclear Arms in The Middle  East and Israel's Sad Excuse For Leadership.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

President Obama Vetoes Canada's Keystone XL Pipe Line Legislation

The President kept his word and cast a veto of the above pipeline.  Obama indicated congress's passage of the legislation was an act that conflicts with established executive branch procedures.  He also reported that the process to evaluate the pipeline is still in progress.

The republicans response was the same old story of how the President gave in to the environmental extremist and vowed to continue the fight.  Louisiana's U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy said Obama's veto shows allegiance to his supporters.  I guess that means the republicans vote to pass the legislation shows their allegiance to the oil and gas industry.  Is this supposed to be a checkmate game the republicans are playing?

This writer in a previous commentary pointed out how the pipeline, if built, will do nothing that the republicans claim it would do and why.  In fact the CEO's of the Canada pipeline still can not tell America how much of that oil will stay in the United States.  The Company also wants to claim eminent domain of the private property of land owners where the pipline will pass.  That is now tied up in the courts.

The bottom line is that the republican controlled congress failed to produce positive legislation at a time when the country should be moving forward on issues the President will sign into law.  Minimum wage, Immigration   Reform, rebuilding the nations infrastructure and etc., that will create more jobs than the pipeline and over a longer period of time.  And to make things worse the U.S. House has said they are ready to shut down the Home Land Security Department if funding is not tied to the repeal of the President's executive order on immigration.

Taking over control of Congress should be a humble experience for the republicans to produce for the country and its people but todays republican ideology is self defeating because they do not want this administration to be successful.  They can not articulate any positive economic policy that came out of the last republican administration so they lack any original thought as what to do now except obstruct.  And that really says it all.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio