The GOP Has Earned The Right To Be Called The Party Of Lies and Misinformation.

 After the tragic mass shooting and killing of 19 young students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas by a lone gunman with an assault rifle, the republican party continues to lie and give out misinformation about the assault weapons ban of 1994.  They are still trying to sell the lie that the ban did not reduce mass gun shootings and deaths and therefore gun controls do not work.

In a 2019 report from Michael Klein dated 6/9/22 for Market Watch, Mr. Klein, Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery, New York University, reported on a study of assault weapons incidents and deaths from 1981 to 2017 using the FBI's definition of a mass shooting as 4 or more deaths, not counting the shooter.  His findings are as follows.

(1)  From 1981 to 1994 when the assault weapons ban went into law, mass shootings were on a steady increase.  (2)  During the ban from 1994 to 2004 the number of deaths and the number of incidents from mass shootings slowed down.  (3)  After the ban expired there was an immediate and steep rise in  mass shootings and deaths.  (4)  Risk of dying from mass shootings was 70% lower during the ban.  (5)  During the  ban saw lower average annual rates of both mass shootings and deaths than before the ban.  (6)  From 1981 to the ban in 1994 the yearly average of deaths from  mass shootings was 7.2 per year.  (7)  From 1994 to 2004 during the ban, the yearly average of deaths from mass shootings was 5.3 per year.  From 2004 to 2017 when the ban was no longer in effect, the yearly average of deaths from mass shootings was 25 per year.  

If the ban was in effect throughout the period of the study 1981 thru 2017 it may have prevented 314 of the 448 mass shooting deaths that occurred during the years in which there was no ban, the report suggest.  The study is a powerful one and confirms an elementary belief that assault weapons, weapons of war do not belong on the streets of America because of their ability to do carnage to human life.  Assault weapons are killing machines of war and should be understood by even the least educated.  

Contrary to the GOP's lies and misinformation and their commitment to the IRA and the Gun Lobby, the assault weapons ban did have a positive effect on lowering the instances of mass shootings and deaths.  Allowing the assault weapons ban to expire in 2004 by the  Bush 43 administration was a decision that opened the door to an epidemic of mass shootings and deaths that put more of those weapons of war on  the streets of America and in the hands of teenagers.

As of this writing teenagers still are able to purchase an assault style weapon of mass destruction of  human life.  And the GOP are still opposed to raising the age to 21, following the lead of the NRA and the Gun Lobby.  President Biden was right when he said the assault weapons  ban of 1994 reduced the mass shootings and death of Americans.  Elected  officials who lack the character and courage  to stand up to the NRA and the Gun Lobby to this killing epidemic and continue to  lie and hand out lies and misinformation, they have lost all respect and dignity for themselves and human life.  They are unfit to serve in the U.S. Congress or  any part of government.

If the assault weapons ban was still in  effect, the study indicates there was a good  chance the Uvalde, Texas mass shootings and deaths would not have occurred. And that is so tragic.   

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Note:  The assault weapons  ban was part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 during the Bill Clinton Administration.  

The Unbalanced News Media: A Disgrace In American Journalism and It's Obligation To Inform;

 The Internet and Cable News are flooded each day and night with commentary from media sources in general, individuals, polls, organizations, the GOP and the major networks whose commentaries are unbalanced and gives priority to negative thoughts.  Every day the negative news is about a predicted recession that changes daily, the President's low poll numbers, Biden is in over his head, Inflation is almost as high as the 1980's (it is not), Biden's energy policy is to blame for everything, the economy is a wreck (it is actually good) the coming recession will be historic, the President is inept, the American worker is being left behind, etc.,etc., and etc.  The negative unbalanced dead beat goes on and on and that is what people read, see and hear.

The news is never balanced with the positive news of the economy with the best job creation ever after a GOP recession that lost over 21 million jobs.  It put America back to work and with wages that increased over 5% in 2021 and are still increasing at the same rate so far this year.  An unemployment rate of 3.6%, it was 6.3% when Trump left office.  An economy that grew 5.7% in 2021, the highest rate of growth since the 1980's and over 8 million jobs added to the economy in only 16 months.  Consumers are spending and have been since Biden took office thanks to the President's COVID relief legislation and infrastructure package.  The transition from fossil fuels to a more stable energy source friendly to the environment.  Lower deficits, a more stable alliance with our NATO allies standing against Russia.  A democratic President and democratic controlled congress instead of a traitorous President and GOP.  A democratic party willing to stand up to Trump and his GOP operatives who tried to steal the 2020 President election.  A January 6 committee of congress with the character and courage to stand up, investigate and expose the threat to democracy that Trump and his operatives took  upon themselves to accomplish.  That investigation started it's public hearings this week.

The positive news for America and its people out weigh the negative news ever since President Biden took office.  But you never hear that from the unbalanced news media and it's sources.  This writer actually predicted the negative slant the media would take in commentary before the President took office.  The media actually has such a predictable record of such unbalanced news in the past.  And to top it off, many in the media are still enabling Trump, predicting he will run again in 2024 and taking polls on a Trump-Biden re-mach.

The public is fed so much unbalanced news to the extent it influences thinking.  That is why lies and mis-information play a major role in their unbalanced news.  As a result the January 6 committee has the task of informing the American people just how traitorous Trump  and his operatives were in their insurrection to over throw the democratic process of the Presidential election of 2020.  They attempted to over throw the peaceful transfer of power to a new administration.  The media looked the other way and never told the American people how democracy died on that day of insurrection and the damage it inflicted.  But every day the media can find time to be unbalanced and negative.

The American voter should  turn off all thoughts of electing a GOP controlled congress in the November elections.  The facts and the records are clear, the democratic party are best at governing America and on every issue.  All the media and the GOP have left are lies, mis-information and unbalanced news.  All a by-product of their inability to lead, govern and a un-American attitude.  

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

LSU Ends Its First Baseball Season Under Coach Jay Johnson.

 The LSU baseball team was eliminated from the regional NCAA tournament in Mississippi which officially ended LSU's first season under coach Jay Johnson.  Number one seed Southern Miss defeated LSU in the double elimination tournament defeating the Tigers two straight after dropping their first game with the Tigers.

LSU's over all won-loss record for the season was 37-18 and their record against SEC opponents was a winning 17-13.  Last season the Tigers overall won-loss record was 38-25 and their record against SEC opponents was a losing 13-17.  So some comparisons can be made as to what progress was made this year, if any, compared to last years team.

It is this writers opinion that this years LSU team did improve and make progress in hitting, especially with runners on base and driving those runners home.  LSU for the past several years were weak in that department and showed no improvement.

On the other hand, this writer believes the Tigers made no progress or very little in pitching.  LSU still has no starting pitcher they can count on to win that one game when they need to.  And the problem of weak starting pitchers has been around for several years.  Coach Johnson knows that and tried to move pitchers around to help out the situation but it is the Tigers weak spot and has to be corrected.

LSU was in the drivers seat in the Regional when they beat Southern Miss in the first game but let it slip away.  Many do not understand that "stats" are mostly meaningless in a short series.  The fact that LSU had a good road record had no bearing on their chances of winning as some thought.  So Southern Miss, a team that plays in a conference rated below the SEC proved a point when they defeated LSU.

Jay Johnson did a good job this season with the team this writer believes and demonstrated he understands what LSU lacks and what LSU has to do to keep improving.  LSU's last year team advanced farther going to the Super Regional then went two and out.  This years team had a better won-loss record in SEC play but the pros and cons of each team tell this writer the big need for the future of LSU winning and having an opportunity to play in the CWS is the recruiting of capable starting pitchers.

This commentary written by JoeLorio 

Note:  Next up is LSU football with their new head coach and what might be.

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and The Unemployment Rate for May 2022.

The U.S. Labor Department reported the U.S. Economy added 390,000 jobs in May and that the unemployment rate remained at 3.6%.  It was the 16th straight month of positive job growth for the Biden administration.  The Department also reported that wages in May were up 5.2% from the same period in 2021 and that jobs were added in all sectors of the economy which was broad based.

Prior to the report the internet was full of negative reports about May's job numbers to be lacking and under 200,000.  They were wrong of course and have been for the past 16 months, but the negative beat goes on to try and influence the November elections.  A coming recession is another theme the negative news machine is pushing and hoping for so bad they are predicting it will take place sometime in 2022 or 2023.  Just a guess of course, they just want to plant that seed.

The economy does have a distraction with inflation, but so far consumer spending is still strong and wages continue to increase and reduce some of the burden.  The most important thing is for congress to pass the balance of the President's economic agenda in order for the economy and jobs to continue moving forward and bring inflation under control.  

The economy has come a long way since President Biden took office in January 2021 and in spite of the setbacks caused by COVID, supply chain problems, fuel cost increases and inflation, the President's policies has worked.  Over 8 million jobs have been added to the economy in just 16 months and that is a record first.  Still there are issues that are there that have to be addressed for the economy to maintain momentum and be progressive.  That is why the rest of the President's agenda is important.

This writer predicted in Politidose commentary when Biden was elected the GOP would begin their campaign of personal attacks, lies and negative comments about the President, his agenda and the democratic party and would never let up.  That prediction came true and is still in progress because the GOP has nothing left to offer America and its people.

The GOP's noise agenda has been good for, well, the noise it makes.  The President's policies have  produced  a good economy for America's well being with job creation and increased wages.  Plus federal spending is down from last fiscal year and so is the deficit. And all of that is good news for all Americans.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

 

The Killing Of Children In America's Schools Has To Stop. And It Has To Stop NOW.

 What has our country become when we accept the mass shootings and killings of children in school and just treat the tragedy as a foot note in the news and fail to hold those responsible for their inaction to address the repeated carnage?  The 19 grade students at Uvalde's Robb school should not have lost their lives because the tragic event did not have to take place.

Students should not have to die by gun violence at a place of learning when they are being educated to grow and be good productive citizens.  Stolen lives because there are elected officials who believe in the proliferation of guns on the streets of America without proper regulations that would prevent such tragic events.

So after every such tragic gun violence deaths, the survivors and the families are offered words of condolence but no words of actions to address the problem head on so we just move to the next gun violence deaths and go through the motions once again.

Elected officials who make it easy for guns to proliferate with their watered down gun legislation do not value life.  They value a corrupt extreme ideology that shame what Ameria stands for.  They lack character and courage and display their ignorance when they want to add to the burdens teachers are already exposed to when their answer is to arm the teachers.  A terrible idea from mindless officials.

The killing of children in schools should never be acceptable and those elected officials who refused through the years to take a stand and vote for positive gun control laws and a ban on assault type weapons should be voted out of office.  They have had much time to rethink their position but refused to change the status quo.  They do not belong in positions of power and failed the test of an elected public official.  

The tragic events that took place at Uvalde and other schools in the past should never occur again.  And the people of America can see that it does not with their vote and voice and hold those elected officials responsible for neglecting their duty to serve and keep the people  safe.  The innocent school children who have died in gun violence should not be forgotten.  They represent the core values of family life and are the future leaders of America the Beautiful.  They deserve a chance to live their dreams.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

There Is A Model and Precedent To Reverse Mass Shooting Deaths That Took Place In Uvalde, Texas.

 The model and precedent took place on President Clinton's watch when assault type weapons were banned and the record speaks for itself.  Those weapons are killing machines and do not belong on the streets of America.  That, coupled with needed gun control laws will reduce crime and the mass killing of innocent people, especially children.

The administration of President George W. Bush allowed the assault weapons ban to expire and gun violence deaths have been running rampant ever since.  And in the mean time, republican governed states have weakened gun laws and made it easier for people to buy weapons.  When gun laws allow an 18 year old to buy two assault weapons, one that was used to kill 19 grade students and two adults in Uvalde and the republicans say the answer is to arm teachers, that is a sickness America can not afford to have.

The NRA and the republican coalition to oppose logical  gun control legislation like a ban on assault type weapons are responsible for the carnage we see taking place today.  Their solution of citizens with guns will stop the violence is nonsense.  Police officers carry guns and they can not stop the killings because the streets are flooded with guns because of weak gun laws.

America needs a ban on assault type weapons now.  The evidence is duly noted again at Uvalde, Texas.  President Biden should  also give serious consideration for the federal government to put more police officers on the streets of America as Clinton did and have the federal government pick up the tab.  States and cities say they are short on police officers and do not have the financial means to hire more because politicians promise no new taxes instead of living up to their responsibility as elected officials to keep their states and cities and the people safe.

The answer to reverse the epidemic of gun violence deaths is known and within our power to correct.  The republican party has to be called out for their failure to act in good faith to solve the terrible problem.  We the people, must benefit  from what the Sumerians said they were taught 6000 years ago. "The key to a better future is  to understand the mistakes of the failed past."  The failed past took  place again this week in Uvalde, Texas.

Now is the time to learn from those past mistakes and take the proper action so the future will be better than the failed past.  

This  commentary written by Joe Lorio

Another Huge First For "Politidose: Wealth Continues To Be Transferred To The Already Wealthy.

 Politidose, in its commentary of 11/23/2007 titled, "Corporate America:  Leaving The Average American In The Dust" was one of the first commentaries of many later ones concerning the transferring of wealth from the middle class to the wealthy.  Now comes a new report from Americans for Tax Fairness and The Institute for Policy Studies that reports the following information.

The largest American Corporations CEO's pay in 2021 was $14.7 million, up 12% from 2020 which was $13.1 million.  It was the sixth straight year of record increases.  The top 25 CEO's earned more than $35 million.  That between March 18, 2020 and April 15, 2021 (during the pandemic) the combined wealth of U.S. Billionaires increased $1.6 trillion, a whopping 55% increase in just 13 months.  So the wealth parade continues to transfer wealth to the already wealthy.  And the above numbers are outrageous during a COVID pandemic when the economy lost 21 million jobs and a relief package had to be passed by congress to help the average American.  Those Corporations and CEO's are the same folks that Trump and he GOP gave a massive tax cut to in 2017 and declared it was necessary.

When a group of billionaires can increase their wealth 55% in just 13 months during a pandemic with millions out of work, there are no valid reasons.  It becomes clear why billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos oppose President Biden's plan to make the tax code fair by paying their fair share of taxes.  They also oppose the President's economic plans that are working and helpful to the average American.  Musk and Bezos use social media every day with their negative comments about the economy and how they will support the GOP, and like the GOP they use misinformation to try and bribe the voting public.  Musk even wants to buy Twitter so he can have more influence over the media.  Musk who owns Tesla, and Bezos who owns Amazon should be broken up because they are monopolies already and use that power to take advantage over their average workers and the economy.

Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor in a recent commentary told the story how Corporate America is raising prices to pay for the huge increases in CEO and executive pay and not using their record profits to do so.  As a result, the increase in prices contribute to today's inflation.  

The great enablers in the transfer of wealth is the media who fell in love with the Reagan, Bush 43 and Trump tax cuts that favored you know who but never achieved what those President's said it would and never offered the people the real facts that took place.  The media knows those 3 administrations gave the country a economic recession, two of the greatest bank failures in American history, the largest string of unemployment over 10% for ten straight months and during their 20 years of rule created far less jobs than Clinton created in the 8 years he served.  Clinton balanced 4 budgets, cut deficit spending every year during his first term and his surpluses exceeded the deficits.  And Clinton raised taxes on those same folks that Reagan, Bush 43 and Trump cut taxes for and never balanced one budget in the 20 years they served.   

President Biden's policies and plans, if given the chance to pass and work can start to reverse the transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthy.  The wealthy know that and that is why they engage in division, misinformation and the negative.  In America, we always hope that in the final analysis, the voting public will see the problem and vote accordingly.  The country is at an important juncture and the hand writing is on the wall.  It is past time for the media to tell the true story of "Greed" by Corporate America that is still leaving the average American in the dust.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

The Most Important Issue For The Saint's 2022 Season.

 It is not who the Saints recently signed or the newly signed players.  Nor is it the fact the Saints will start the second season with a quarterback that has not completed one full season as the Saints starting quarterback. (it is a problem and a issue though).  In fact the Saints have no such quarterback on their roster.

The Saint's most important issue is the head coach, Dennis Allen.  Will he be up to the challenge and demands of the job?  Will he be a successful and winning head coach?  The question has not been answered, yet we know his ability as a defensive coordinator but that is a huge difference than being a head coach.  Allen's head coaching experience was brief in the NFL and did not end up well.  The Saint's sports writers have been mostly silent on the question, usually speaking and predicting what may or not happen with the rest of the players and how they will perform.  The question will not be lost by the odds makers.  College and pro football have experienced many assistant coaches who were elevated to head coaches and did poorly.  It is nothing new.

So in this writers judgement, the Saints will be starting a new season with still a lot of questions.  We know what took place last season with an experience head coach.  The Saints organization took a chance in naming Allen head coach so now the Saints are his team.  The question will be, can he keep it?

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Note: Former Saints quarterback, Drew Brees recently hinted he could be back on the football field.  Every one should take that comment with a grain of salt.  It is really not newsworthy. 

Louisiana's Representative Danny McCormick: An Ignorant and or ill-informed Elected Official.

McCormick's House Bill 813 which would allow the state to prosecute women who have an abortion was stripped from legislation and set aside the anti-abortion measure without a vote.  As sponsor of the bill, McCormick said he was satisfied the bill will start the debate of "when life begins" which he says is at conception.

McCormick is ignorant concerning "when life begins" decision in Roe v. Wade and or ill-informed on the matter because the debate of "when life begins" was debated and addressed 49 years ago in the Roe decision and in the 1992 Supreme Court case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey.  Some of the findings in Roe are as follows:  (1)  The unborn have never been recognized in the law as persons in the whole sense.  (2)  States view the constitution protections begin at conception.  (3)  The constitution does not provide a definition of "a person."  (4)  It is not up to the states to define when "life begins."  (5)  We do not agree that by adopting one theory of life, Texas may override the rights of the pregnant woman that are at stake.  In the Planned Parenthood case, the courts settled on the "fetus viability" factor based on the fetus ability to survive out side the womb which was 28 months and could be 24 months.  

So the debate "when life begins" has been ongoing for the past 49 years and the courts recognized all those years that different people, states and religions have different views.  Many in the anti-abortion crowd opposed McCormick's Bill 813 because they can see how dangerous and extreme it is and what it could lead to down the road.  And there are some in the group who oppose abortion in total, even if to save the life of the Mother.

McCormick and the extreme want to punish women over the abortion issue.  What about the men who fail to use protection and impregnate the women?  Don't they have a responsibility?  Are there any cases where they are stepping forward asking the woman to carry the fetus to term?  That he will financially support her and the child?  Maybe even offer marriage.  How did he react when told his mate was pregnant?  Maybe the men are republicans who are only looking for sex and then walk away and want to punish the women like the republican party has been trying to do the past 49 years.

The abortion issue lacks the debate about the man's culpability, but Politidose Blog commented about the issue more than a year ago while the regular media has been AWOL.  And of course the anti-abortion crowd won't talk about it.  They just want to punish women and call people like Nancy Pelosi pro abortion when Pelosi choose life over abortion and brought 5 children into  this world.  Part of the abortion shame over the past 49 years falls to state government because they failed to take advantage of the role states can play in regulating abortions as outlined in Roe v. Wade.  Instead, they choose to make abortion a political issue.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Note:  Roe v.  Wade set out the criteria for states to manage abortion in their comments about the three trimesters which identified the courts thinking on  "when life begins."

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and The Unemployment Rate for April 2022.

The U.S. Labor Department reported Friday that the Economy added 428,000 jobs in April and that the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.6%.  It was the 15th straight month of positive job growth (Feb. 2021 - April 2022) for the Biden administration and its economic policy to put the economy back on track and the people back to work.  The negative voices who are still out there on their daily rant have been so wrong about Biden's policies over the l5 months.

The Labor Department reported that wages were up 5.5% in April compared to last year and up 0.3% from March 2022 and consumer spending is still strong.  Those who still claim to be surprised by the strong economy and job creation are the same ones who are ignorant on the subject matter and which party governs best.  They are the same negative voices that flood the media with misinformation and lies.  They talk about inflation being at a 40 year high but never admit that inflation today is not even close to the threat it was 40 years ago.

The greatest threat facing the economy at the present time is what will the Federal Reserve do to manage inflation.  If they over react and raise rates too high and too often it could cause an economic recession.  They have the right tools to be effective so the question is, do they have the right frame of mind to deal with the matter without destroying the economy.  

The President has sound policies to keep the economy on track and move the country and its people  forward and begin the transition to a greener environment.  Those who ask what's the rush to a greener world have been saying that for the past 25 years so only the ignorant would take them seriously.

The economy, job numbers and etc., since Biden took office confirm what precedent should have taught us in the last 100 years.  The liberal/progressive policies of democratic administrations work best for the country and its people and that democratic administrations are best at governing.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio