8.21.22. August Burn and the Mid-Term Churn

We'll admit right at the top that this probably won't be a lengthy column because frankly in the heat of the August summer burn, we're a little too crispy to discuss the mid-term churn. Today's program was 'ok' (purposely lower case), but it was one of those times where "Meet The Press" is bogged down in its 'the beltway is the country' mode, mostly talking about the mid-term elections. 

The problem with discussing the mid-terms is that said discussion is based on polls, which will certainly change and the uncertainty of speculation. If you have read this column before, you know that we try to stay away from that as much as possible.

With that said and because we're feeling a touch of summer burn out, we'll quickly touch on three topics from today's program that earned our attention.

First, Mr. Todd pointed out to Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), head of the DCCC, about the Democratic party putting money behind attack ads on moderate Republicans so that the Democrat in the race will face someone extremely right-wing. 

As we've said before this is a dangerous strategy and as Mr. Todd was right to call out the hypocracy of the Democrat party that calls for Republicans to be more moderate and then gets involved in the Republican primary. Mr. Malony didn't have a good answer for this in terms of putting country over party.

Secondly, the Secretary of Education Miguel Cardoza is correct when he says there is a lack of respect for the profession. What he didn't include that while there is this lack of respect, teachers are also used as a political football, which damages them in further. Lack of respect means lack in pay, hence shortages of properly trained professionals. Plus in states like Florida, who wants to be a teacher when if you accidentally say something that's not OK with the state, you're fired. No one wants that hanging over her head.

And in terms of loan forgiveness for college students, we say that to qualify for loan forgiveness, you have to give back with some kind, any kind, of service.

Lastly, and most importantly, forty million people in the United States rely on the Colorado Basin and River for their water and starting in 2023 because of decades of drought, there will be drastic reductions in distibutions. The United States has to rethink and modernize its entire fresh water distribution system if we are going to continue to have food grown in Arizona and California.

Mark our words, in the next century the greatest fight for any natural resource will be for fresh water. 

 

Panel: Ali Vitali, NBC News; Symone Sanders-Townsend, MSNBC; Mark Caputo, NBC News; Brendan Buck, Republican Strategist

8.14.22: All The Dumb Questions the Former President Makes Us Ask...

Let's get right to the point: The Department of Justice and the Attorney General Merrick Garland need to get national security experts, The Joint Chiefs and leaders of both parties in a secure room to review the documents and have them explained to them so that it's unequivocal as to what the former president was storing at his home.

Then those same individuals need to figure out how to tell the American people without compromising national security. And when we say individuals, we're talking serious people, not bomb-throwers. And though Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) is not one of the latter, he is not a leader as he oviscated on his answers with regard to the former president having not only having classified, but classified/special compartmentized information, the most sensitive to national security, in his possession in the first place.

The 'pending' question of whether the president can declassify the documents or not is immaterial because even if they're not classified, they do not belong to him. They belong to the United States government. That aside, and for the sake of argument, if the documents are classified/SCI the president can not simply say they are declassified and that's it. It can not be done be decree, but first with review from several intelligence agencies to make certain that sources and methods can not be revealed.

But these are the dumb questions that the former president makes us ask because of the double standard that Republican politicians have assisted in creating, because of a shrinking yet increasingly violent supporter base.

A lawyer for the former president signed a written affirmation that there were no more classified documents at the Palm Beach residence and that turned out to be false. If it's anyone else, anyone, there are three words in your future: Search. Warrant. Lawyer. So by that measure, the Department of Justice and specifically the Attorney General did the right thing.

Senator Rounds did say that there are a lot of questions to be answered, in his signature Dakota gentlemanly tone, and we'd agree with that. We think we're just a bit more patient, but on heels of this discussion, he stated unequivocally that South Dakota is ready for Mr. Trump to annouce another run. As scary a prospect that it is, it's a matter of when, not if. However, his point is taken that inflation is still high and the people of his state and around the country are dissatisfied with that, no doubt. 

The Cook Political Report's Amy Walter had an interesting take in terms of which party has motivation going into the midterms explaining that the Republican base is already motivated and the events of this past week aren't going to make it any more so. She also said that the events of the week put Trump on the midterm ballot motivating Democrats more who are gaining in the generic polling against Republicans. As it looks the Republicans will take the House, but the Senate, which Republicans really want is as of right now, unrealistic. Eugene Robinson buttressed the explanation, saying that it only reminds everyone of the chaos that the Trump years wrought on the country and people don't want to return to that. The choice becomes starker. 

And yes, Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) is going to lose her seat in Wyoming, but as Andrea Mitchell pointed out, the state has one congressperson, which is like a senator to them, and if the state's congressperson doesn't have support of leadership then the return on investment for the state is less. 

However, as we've said before, Ms. Cheney isn't done in politics, and as Matthew Continetti predicted, if she loses her congressional seat you'll see her next on a debate stage opposite Mr. Trump.

We so hope he's right.

Panel: Betsy Woodruff Swann, Politico; Amy Walter, Cook Political Report; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; Matthew Continetti, American Enterprise Institute; Michael Beschloss, Presidential Historian

8.7.22: In Consideration of the Midterms, Good Week for the President But a Huge Week for Democrats

Well, we guess it is that time to talk about the mid-term elections. If you noticed, we try and hold off on commenting about all the hypotheticals the pundits throw out there because most of them end up poor conjecture. 

Case in point: Kansas' referendum vote on a state constitutional amendment to ban abortions in the state. That measure was shot down 59 percent to 41 percent with double the normal turnout you see for an off-year election. Republican state legislators were as shocked as the rest of the country by the result. However, one has to agree with Democratic strategist Cornell Belcher when he explained that suburban women who may be against abortion but do not like Republican overreach in legislating women's bodies. With that, as Punchbowl New's Anna Palmer described, the culture wars have shifted i favor of the Democrats, at least on this issue.

Of course the economy is top of mind for everyone, but will women's health autonomy also be on the ballot? Considering that over half of registered voters are women, it will be a certainty.

Will it be enough for Democrats to maintain a majority in the House, we'll have to wait and see. However, Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC), bless her heart, spoke on moderation on both sides on the aisle to come to an agreement on abortion, but the fact remains that her party will not and can not negotiate in good faith. Any compromise will have dire political consequences for Republicans from the evangelical rightwing of the party. She spoke about her objection to the idea of women not being allowed to travel out of state to receive an abortion, but her state of South Carolina wants such a restriction, the constitutionality of which strongly comes into question.

Another factor in determining the mid-term outcomes will be President Joe Biden's approval rating, or will it be? What ever factor you think it will have on November, it will be less than that. Trump hovers over the midterms even more than the president and they have both have an equally poor approval rating, which renders their influence a moot point. As the panel agreed, candidates on the trail from both parties aren't embracing either man. 

It was a big week for President Joe Biden as it was a huge week for the Democratic party behind him. Rights for women's reproductive freedom, which the Democratic party espouses won a big victory. Under the president's leadership, the CIA took Al Qaeda's mastermind of 9/11 - Ayman Al-Zawahiri, with a missile that didn't explode but had shredding blades mounted to the front that cut him to pieces on a balcony while no one else in the house was injured... by the way. The Democrats made jerks out of Senate Republicans in a two-for. First, the Veterans' PACT Act passed in which Republicans first voted against it only to vote for it four days later after being shamed. Since Senators Manchin (D-WV) and Schumer (D-NY) outmaneuvered Mitch McConnell, the Democrats are going to pass a reconciliation bill with the biggest investment in climate in U.S. history, not to mention it will also lower Medicare prescription drugs prices and overall energy costs. Something in there for the young, old and in the middle. 

And lastly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) with praise from both sides of the aisle didn't cancel her trip to Taiwan and rightly stuck it in Xi and China's face. As Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) explained in his support of the trip, China should not be able to dictate where U.S. leaders choose to travel and who to visit. Xi is so thin-skinned that he thought it necessary to fire off military hardware, a temper tantrum on a national scale. But what that means back home is that Democrats are projecting strength internationally.

It was a good week for the president but more importantly, considering the midterms, this was a huge week for Democrats.

Panel: Anna Palmer, Punchbowl News; Susan Page, USA Today; Cornell Belcher, Democratic Strategist; Pat McCrory, fmr. Governor of North Carolina (R)

 One more thing...

You gotta love this, like an icing dagger decorating Donald Trump's moldy cake...