Politics

And Justice For All

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Rod Rosenstein(RR) resigned yesterday effective May 11, 2019.  RR went to the White House Monday and personally delivered his resignation letter face to face with the President, according to an administration official and a Justice Department official.  It was only fitting that he do that since in his short stint as Deputy Attorney General he often went toe to toe with President Trump.

On Monday, Rosenstein wrote in his resignation letter to Trump, “We keep the faith, we follow the rules, and we always put America first.”  Sounds like a great idea we suppose.

Regardless of which side of the aisle you prefer it was hard at times to keep the faith in RR because one wondered whether he was following the rules.  It’s hard to put America first if you don’t.
President Trump nominated RR to serve as Deputy Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice on February 1, 2017.  He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 25, 2017.  A quick, but very busy, two years later he’s out.
But, in the span of 24 months RR wrote a letter to Trump recommending James Comey be fired, appointed Robert Mueller as Special Prosecutor in the Russia mess, either did or did not want to wear a wire when talking to Trump, attempted to recruit cabinet members to invoke the 25th amendment to have Trump removed from office, and approved along with AG Robert Barr the findings of the Mueller Investigation.  Trump tells us that he sleeps about four hours a night.  Our guess is that RR sleeps about four hours a week.
Research shows he is a registered Republican.  Trump didn’t get that feeling, wanting on numerous occasions to fire him.  Bad idea Trump’s team told him.
Eleven House GOP members filed articles of impeachment against Rosenstein on July 25, 2018, alleging he has stonewalled document requests from Congress and he mishandled the 2016 election investigation.  But they backed down for fear of slowing the Kavanaugh Supreme Court approval process.  Bad idea other congressmen told them.
He was in the very good graces of the Democrats until RR added his signature to Barr’s that Mueller’s investigation found no Trump Russia collusion and felt like any instances of obstruction of justice failed to rise to the level of criminal activity.  Bad conclusion Democrats told him.
So Trump didn’t like him.  Congressional Republicans didn’t like him.  And, now Congressional Democrats don’t like him.  If everyone disagrees with you up there in the swamp maybe you are putting America first?
So Rod Rosenstein went out like he came in-face to face and toe to toe with his biggest of many critics.  Maybe justice was served after all.

Just a Bit Inside!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Last evening Philadelphia Phillie Rhys Hoskins homered off of NY Mets reliever Jacob Rhame in a 6-0 win.  This came just one day after Rhame buzzed two consecutive fastballs just above Hoskin’s cranium in the meaningless ninth inning of Mets 9-0 blowout.  Hoskins basked in the moment, taking a very long 34 seconds to touch all of the bases.

Joe Biden hopes he hit a home run too.  Just one day after he was supposed to release his presidential campaign announcement video he did.  His video is a good bit longer than 34 seconds(209 to be exact) and he doesn’t touch all of the bases.  Rather it appeals directly to his base.  It buzzes a fastball or two right at the cranium of President Donald Trump.

And so the race to rally the base is on.  In the very first inning of Biden’s video he remembers the conflict (and tragic death of one innocent bystander) between far right-wing groups and anti protesters in August of 2017 in Charlottesville, VA.  He calls out Trump’s comments that there were “a lot of good people on both sides there.”  So the race for 2020 among 20 Democrat hopefuls is joined.  Biden wasted no time telling us that Trump was bad.

Old school baseball at its finest, or at its worst if you prefer, was on display in NY.  “He got me,” Rhame said. “Make a better pitch, he doesn’t get to run the bases.”  Added Mets manager Mickey Callaway: “I really don’t have any thoughts on it. That’s their team. They can do what they wanna do.”  “If a ball goes over your head the night before, the best way to get back at the pitcher is by putting the ball in the seats,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said.  Unapologetic it was. Old school it is.

So too is Joe Biden.  Old school politician he is.  The last time he had to raise funds he shook many a hand and hugged and hugged and hugged many a lady.  Today, the world-wide web is your fundraising friend.  Obama’s campaigners ran breathlessly to Beto’s camp. What a breath of fresh air this Beto guy is they said.  He reminds us of a certain guy named Barrack in 2008 they said.   O’Rourke is 47.  Joe turns 77 this year.  He’s old enough to be his crazy uncle.  He could be related, but can he relate?

But Joe is apologetic.  A month or so ago he apologized to all women, saying about the Anita Hill testimony during the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nominee hearings ” I wish I could have done something.”  “To this day I regret I couldn’t come up with a way to get her the kind of hearing she deserved, given the courage she showed by reaching out to us.”  Joe forgot, or forgot to tell us, that he was the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee that ran the hearings then.  And just a couple of weeks ago he apologized for hanging on too long during all of those uplifting hugs.  He said “I will be more respectful of people’s personal space.”  He even noted that today is more about taking selfies.

Hoskins said that the slow homerun jog wasn’t about retaliation. “A couple of guys kind of said the phrase, ‘Don’t poke the sleeping bear,”‘ he said.  And with that baseball continues to slog on with some of yesterday’s traditions.  Perhaps far too comfortable insiders are still running the show.

Today Biden can take a 209 second video trot around the diamond. The 24 hour news cycle will provide the stadium.   Tomorrow he should expect two fastballs high and tight.  Eventually he will have to stop apologizing for his past.  Eventually he will have to stop telling us who Trump is.  Eventually he will have to tell us who he is, won’t he?

Or, he just pokes the bear that President Trump is.  And The Donald never sleeps.

 

 

 

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

With 5G technology and artificial intelligence on our doorsteps we will very soon be able to see, hear, and do things better and faster than ever before.  So what will America prioritize to see, hear, and do better than ever?

While that conversation, driven by capitalism, evolves in boardrooms and meeting rooms the world over, Wall St. has certainly has bought in.  A record-setting day yesterday had most indices closing at new all time highs.  This writer took a Uber ride Friday night and the driver was eager to give us stock tips.  A good stock tip might be “when Uber drivers give stock tips it’s time to sell stocks.”

Regardless, Main St. seems to have bought in too.  Employment is at all time highs too.  Inflation is low.  Interest rates are tame.

All is well, eh?  Well.  Maybe not.  A quick trip around the newsrooms in the last 24 hours shows us just how bad life really is apparently.

Brick and mortar is dead.  Brick and mortar is dead.  Maybe not.  Kohl’s Department Stores announced yesterday that they are expanding their agreement with Amazon to increase the number of their retail stores from 100 to all 1100 to accept Amazon returns.   Traditional stores teaming up with fierce internet competitors that were going to drive them out of business sounds crazy. It’s about foot traffic, always.  Both stocks rose sharply.  Bernie Sanders called Amazon criminal the other evening in a town hall.  It turns out that they very legally pay less taxes than Bernie wants them to.  Sounds like they help employ a few folks that do pay taxes.  “Crazy Bernie” someone calls him.  We’ll be back after this commercial break.

California wants to eliminate those tiny plastic shampoo bottles that hotels provide.  Turns out that they are being found in the oceans at an increasing and alarming rate they say.  First it was those plastic rings around so many six packs of cola strangling all of the seals.  Once eradicated, the plastic straws that you drank the cola with started floating in the seas.  What could be next?  Could it be all of the plastic syringes lying in the streets that were handed out to drug users up the coast to insure clean needles for all?  More after these commercial words.

A few of the now 20 and counting announced Democrats for president have endorsed giving voter rights to either all Americans 16 and over, or all people living in this country, or all people living in this country that are incarcerated, or all three of the above.  We wonder if the cry for sixteen year olds to vote coincides with them being 18 and of legal age to vote come 2020?  First come, first served.  We wonder when it became a right of a non US citizen to vote, period?  See if you can vote in the country of your choice the next time you travel abroad.  We wonder if the plan is to bring the polling booths to the prisons, or to bring the prisoners to the polling booths?  We’re up against a hard break.  Back in two minutes.

We are back.   Elizabeth Warren one upped Bernie Sanders’ free tuition giveaway.  She wants free college too, but first wants to forgive 50k of student debt per individual that had to pay.  Meanwhile, Maxine Waters, Chairperson of the House Finance Committee, wants to know what the big banks are going to do help these million or so yearly student loan defaults.  She “grilled” several bank CEO’s  two weeks back asking what they were going to do about this crisis.  After the third CEO in a row reminded her that the government took over the loan program from these greedy bankers in 2009, she relented.  Awkward.  To summarize, the debt isn’t being repaid.  Warren wants to forgive and forget about it anyway.  It’s our government that is running the loan program even though the Finance Chairperson doesn’t know it.  Lets just make college free.  Banks are bad.  We’ll be back with some final words right after this important message from our sponsors.

We wind down our 5G broadcast to you tonight on a lighter note with a look at this brief video of the latest advances in robotic programming.  Wow.  Artificial intelligence is creepy.

And, just before we close we have breaking news.  It is confirmed that Joe Biden, who has been bidding his time, will announce tomorrow that he is entering the crowded Democratic field of announced candidates for president in 2020.   Wow.  How ironic is it that we mentioned Biden, artificial intelligence, and creepy all at the same time?

Thank you for watching.  Good day.

Ya Gotta Believe!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Back when the 1973 New York Mets, aka “The Amazins,”  were making their very improbable run all the way to the World Series, team member Tug McGraw coined a phrase.    It was “Ya Gotta Believe.”  And believe the Mets did, going from last place in their division on a very late in the season August 30th all the way to a 4 games to 3 World Series loss to the Oakland A’s.  Tug’s tug on his teammates passion to unite behind a cause was a winning formula.

So too it is in politics.  Tell people something enough and eventually they will accept it as the truth and a way of life and unite behind a cause.  Just a few months back, and several hundred billions less in debt, the US Senate held a hearing to either approve or reject Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court.  Quickly Christine Blasey Ford became the centerpiece of the effort to block his confirmation.  She claimed a then teen Kavanaugh about 30 odd years ago  attempted to rape her at a party.  Where?  She didn’t know where.  When? She didn’t know when.  Her friend that she said was with her at the party said she wasn’t.

It mattered not.  You gotta believe her some said.  Kamala Harris, Democratic Senator on the Confirmation Committee said she did. She is now a candidate for President.  Others did too.   Hawaii Senator Hirono went so far as to state that Ford needed to believed, she believed Ford, and that men needed to shut up.  This was before the testimony to reveal any credible evidence.  You know, everyone is guilty if they are on the wrong side of the argument until proven innocent.  When the hearings concluded, the unconvinced of guilt lefties felt like yet another “victim,” who just came forward, needed to be heard.  She was represented by the honorable, but now indicted for attempted bribery of nike, Michael Avenatti.  Nothing credible came of that either.   Shocker.  Another delay.

Eventually Kavanaugh was confirmed.  But, that was only after the delay and the narrative could be heard and heard and heard.  After all, what better free advertising for the party attempting to regain control of both houses in 2018?

Enter the Trump Collusion Mueller Investigation.  Enter Adam Schiff, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee (House and the word Intelligence together, like politicians, make strange bedfellows).  Pencil Neck, as someone calls him, claims to have evidence that Trump colluded with the Russians.  Twenty-three months of Mueller, his cadre of lawyers, investigators, over 500 subpoenas and over one million pages of info requests of Trump’s team later, we have the Attorney General Robert Barr echoing Mueller that there was no collusion.  And, Mueller stated no legal reason to think Trump obstructed justice.  Barr said, too, that it fails to meet the legal bar for it.

Harry Reid said that he had evidence that Mitt Romney cheated on his income taxes.  Give em hell Harry.  No evidence yet.  None ever coming.

“We need Mueller to testify before the Oversight Committee,” comes the cry.  “Surely there is more to this,” comes the cry.  “What’ll we do with all of these pitchforks and lanterns,” comes the cry.

We now have government officials asking for government officials to interview under oath a government appointed special prosecutor who investigated the executive branch of our government for two years and came to no legal wrongdoings.  Ya Gotta Believe says Adam and others.  Adam, show us your evidence.  It was your civic duty, not political hay to make, 23 months ago.

Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good narrative it seems. Oh, and if we can keep this up till, say, 2020, we can use this cloud hanging over Trump to beat Trump, can’t we?

Seems like one party would rather try to win running on what the other party did wrong (ya gotta believe) rather than what that party did itself right.  Right?  Wrong?  The American citizens lose either way.

 

Come On In, The Water Is Fine

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

A whole flock of small rubber ducks just hit the river.  And, with it, the great race for 2020 has begun.  If you are watching it on TV it’s abundantly clear that the race downriver is from right to left.

The flapping, quacking, and invisible web-footed paddling is robust.  It’s about 20 such newbies or not so newbies all looking for the right current to power their way to the front.  What’s first prize?  It’s power in the race that wins the power out of the race.

There is but one problem.  By far the biggest and loudest quacker is, for now out front.

The biggest duck is none other than, ahem, Donald Duck.  As we breathlessly wait for the now neutered Mueller Report (less than 24 hours away) The Donald is swimming in fresher, clearer, and not so deep nor hot water.  Every opponent will have a staff member read the report and be able to find the worst moment and whale away.  This will last about 24 hours.  Then, reality will set in.  While they have had their scope sighted on the biggest duck for two years, they’ve shot blanks thus far.

So, then, what now a mere 17 months from the election?  Well, the swim to the hard left seems to be the rip tide of choice.  Remember a short three months ago when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez jumped in with the Green New Deal.  It seemed like a swimmingly good far left idea at the time.  Quickly, it’s been overtaken by paddling of cute orange feet even further to the left.

Good old Bernie Sanders, he of a few feathers missing on his crown, has one upped his desire for free college tuition with a proposed 52% tax take on the income rich.  When asked in a Monday night town hall if he and his $562k income of a year ago were ready to ante up, he went dead left and talked about Google and Apple, and other capitalistic successes not paying any taxes.  And, he called it criminal.  Silly us, we thought “criminal” was doing something against the law.  He said nada, or not a thing, about his willingness to go along with his own proposal.

The newest duckling, Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, told MSNBC’s Rachael Maddow last evening that this Electoral College thing, written into the Constitution by our founding fathers, was so yesterday.  And with that he shook his tail feathers and motored past the previous left.  He said, we paraphrase, that it no longer represents the true will of the United States.  We wonder how his friends and family from the great state of Indiana feel about his desire to minimize their voice?

And from the left coast, Northern California Congressman and now announced candidate as well, Eric Stalwell quacked loudest of all.  He declared that when elected he would push legislation to make all assault type rifles illegal.  He then swam into the deep, deep left side of the river by stating that if anyone refused to surrender their guns, they would be convicted of a crime and sent to prison.  To recap, he wants to make a legal part of the Second Amendment illegal and take away legally owned guns.  And, then he wants to convict those certain gun owners who won’t surrender them of illegal possession.  He suggested that other rifles and such only be stored in gun clubs, shooting ranges, and hunting clubs.   There is a duck hunting joke in here somewhere.

Our guess is that Joe Biden, who someone labeled as Creepy Uncle Joe, is waiting at a turn in the riverbank.  He is busy making sure his feathers can repel any water that his past might have taken on.   If he (when he) waddled in, the river’s course splinters.  With somewhat limited tact, he might find a different tack to the finish line.

With so many baby ducklings in the river, fresh air (time) and space (on the stage) to maneuver is tight.  The 17 month race is on. Soon enough Mother Nature will take its course and the flock will lose members.

And the mother of all ducks for now, Donald, will vigorously attempt to pluck what’s left (did you see what we just did?).

Meanwhile the race is on and the quacking is incessant.

 

 

Down Goes Biden, Down Goes Biden!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yesterday we offered up our four best runners-up for the top five countdown of Donald Trump’s best (from the right) or worst (from the left) nicknames on his road to, and now, as President of the United States.  In the era of “play nice in the sandbox”  The Donald never shies away from a good jab or a right (saw what we did there?) cross.

Today, below, are our top five in ascending order of punch strength.

5.  Low Energy Jeb Bush– The Republican old guard and its committee for election in 2016 mostly had aligned its effort and huge money behind the brother of one and the son of another former president.  Hey everyone, get excited about another Bush!  The problem was twofold.  One, America was screaming for less of the same and wanted a fresh feel.  Two, Jeb’s a nice guy, but Jeb doesn’t exactly energize.  Then candidate Trump sensed all of the above and labeled him Low Energy Jeb.  Republican’s from near and far collectively agreed that Jeb didn’t exactly light up a room.  Soon, he wasn’t any longer in the room.  It was a Trump TKO.

4.  Pencil Neck Adam Schiff–  The newest nickname is only a week old.  It makes its debut at number 4.  We were quite tempted to place it higher, much higher.  It was the impetus for this post actually.  It’s not higher because of the significance of the remaining three, but like a fine wine (or whine if you are Schiff) it will only gain more character with age.  Schiff, Chair of the Intelligence Committee, has put himself on the front burner as one of Trump’s biggest critics.  When one sticks his (pencil) neck out attacking President Trump one might get burned.  No further explanation is needed.  It’s as if a flyweight stepped into the wrong ring.

3.  Crooked Hillary– As Secretary of State under President Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton had a small problem with too many phones in hand, and way too many emails erased.  After Trump stumped his way past Lil Marco, Lyin Ted, and Low Energy Jeb, he focused his energy on the highest office in the land.  Clinton’s Bengazi problem and use of personal technology while conducting official and perhaps top-secret US business was under investigation.  Trump decided that she was guilty, naming her Crooked Hillary.   America, almost silently it seemed, had grown tired of the same old, same old Washington mess.  Jeb Bush had no energy and the wrong last name.  Hillary was labeled crooked and had the wrong last name.  Drain the swamp Trump said.  He hit her right on the nose.

2.  Pocahontas- Like Pencil Neck Adam, we were tempted to put this one higher, meaning number one.  It easily could be.  Elizabeth Warren, senior Senator from Massachusetts, claimed many times in her past that she was of Native American heritage.  She did so repeatedly on college entrance applications and law bar applications alike.  Being a minority helps in such pursuits.  As she rose in recognition and importance the lie, exaggeration, or stretch (however you wish to look at it) grew in stature.  Her outspoken opposition of The Donald caused him to drop the name Pocahontas on her.  Politically incorrect, said many.  Racist said many more.  But, now Warren has had to say she was sorry about that more and more.  With a one word nickname Warren, now an announced presidential candidate for 2020, has a handle that she will struggle to shake.  It’s a shot to the body by The Donald that takes the wind away.

1. Rocket Man–  A ripple of shock rolled through Twitter and the global media when President Trump called North Korea’s Kim Jong Un “Rocket Man” on the floor of the United Nations.  How dare he inflame an already very strained relationship with a dictator who sent a few nuclear test missiles over South Korea and Japan?   Heck, we even heard that North Korea’s capability had reached a range that could target the left coast of America.  Undeterred, on a world stage, Trump pressed on.  Perhaps he knows when he has the better cards?  Two years and two summits later Rocket Man has not yet been completely neutered, but the rockets haven’t glared red in a long while.  And, Trump and team continues to press hard for complete disarmament.  Given what was and is at stake on a global stage, this nickname is the knockout.

It’s only a matter of time before Trump recognizes another exposed chin and takes a swing.   The BBR money is on Joe Biden.  With accusers aplenty, Biden might wear himself out before he ever gets into the ring.  Trump is just bidding his time before he jabs.

Say it ain’t so, Joe.

Mr. Magoo and the Haymakers

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Emboldened by what he called “total vindication,” President Trump took a victory lap after the knockout to Grand Rapids, MI. and back for one of his feel good pep rallies of his base.  The Mueller Investigation findings, though not yet totally released, proves, he says, what he told us all along.  That is, no Russian Collusion.

Some Democrats, like a dog on a bone, won’t yet let go.  One such bow-wow, from the great state of California, Adam Schiff continued his diatribe into the weekend that he knows Trump is guilty and he has proof.  When he became Chair of the House Intelligence Committee in 2019, Schiff made it his personal mission to investigate Trump’s connections to Russia, separate from the investigation by the Special Counsel.  Schiff came under significant fire when asked if he would accept it if the Special Counsel’s investigation concluded that Donald Trump did not collude with Russia.  He stated that he has great confidence in Mueller but that “there may be, for example, evidence of collusion or conspiracy that is clear and convincing, but not proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” as is needed for a criminal conviction.

So, President Trump, once the star of the hit show The Apprentice, took his show on the road.  No apprentice at assigning nicknames to friend or foe, “The Donald” offered a new one in describing the House Intelligence Chairperson.  It played quite well in Grand Rapids, and we suspect it’ll play quite well in red states coast to coast.  Of course there aren’t many red states on any coast really unless you include the Gulf Coast.

So, since he has such an affinity for nicknames, BBR decided to countdown our thoughts on his best (if you are from the right) or his worst (if you are from the left).  The hit list is the same either way.

Many honorable mentions are possible.  We chose four that follow.

Little Marco – Then candidate Trump went from stage left to center stage after just one Republican debate.  He bullied several believed to be serious candidates right down podium row.  Marco Rubio, of diminutive size, took a shot to his ribs, lost his composure more than once, and never recovered.

Crazy Bernie- Bernie Sanders pushed Hillary Clinton much further left than she wished to gain the Democratic nomination in 2016.  The now Prez relabeled “free college tuition” Bernie as Crazy Bernie.  Bernie’s glasses and uncoiffed grey hair could, given a lab white lab coat, come across as a bit out there to anyone to his right.  And we think many are to his right.

Lyin’ Ted- Ted Cruz stayed above it all for much of the Republican campaigning and debating.  As also ran’s ran out of support or money or both, Ted stayed firmly in the race.  Mr. Trump took exception to a few of Ted’s characterizations of him and labeled him Lyin’ Ted Cruz.  Trump trumped Ted in the debates by pulling out the nickname early and often is his rebuttals of Ted’s shots across the bow.  Ted eventually bowed out.

Mr. Magoo- President Trump appointed Congressman Jeff Sessions as his first Attorney General of the United States.  Alabamian Sessions was an early, avid, and outspoken advocate of candidate Trump.  Trump spoke glowingly of Sessions.  He did at least until Sessions recused himself in the beginning stages of the Russian Investigation that led to the appointment of Special Prosecutor Mueller.    Sessions decided to not participate.  He concluded “I should not be involved in investigating a campaign I had a role in.”  Trump denies that he ever called AG Sessions “Mr. Magoo.” Of course he denies any Stormy relationship that turned stormy for him as well.   We think the nickname is too good for Trump to not take credit.  So, we included it here, authorship be damned.

Remember, President Trump says that he never starts a fight, he just counter punches until he ends one.  Maybe.  But, there is no doubt that he’s a heavyweight champion of nicknames.  The one he put on Schiff is a punch straight to his manhood.

Tomorrow we count down his top five haymakers.

They all hit like Mike Tyson.

 

And the Pendulum Swung

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Sixth grade science teaches us that a pendulum can only swing so far in one direction.  It’s momentum is slowed, then eventually halted, by its center of gravity and gravity itself.  That wise professor Nancy Pelosi gave several freshman Democrats a refresher course in just how that pendulum “thing” works yesterday.

Just six weeks or so after hugs and smiles and poses for group pictures had the Democrat freshman representatives positively giddy about a progressive future without greenhouse gasses and that gas-bag Donald Trump guy able to get in the way, Nancy became the center of gravity.  And, suddenly the swing to the left met gravity.

Alexandria Octavio Cortez (AOC) has The Green New Deal and dozens of other far left newbies had the pitchforks and lanterns.  The hunt for green October and the head (figuratively) of Donald Trump was on.

Nancy cleared her throat and in her best Lee Corso voice, pencil in hand, said “not so fast my friends on the left.”  That’s right.  It took a left coast, left leaning liberal to slow the roast.  She said, “I’m not for impeachment. Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he’s just not worth it.”   And just like that the old guard put the new guard in place all the while taking a cheap shot at The Donald.

And just like that the old guard put the new guard in place in 2014.  Then it was John Boehner, who took the gavel from Nancy, and Mitch McConnell who relegated the Tea Party incoming revolution to the last row of the Senate and House floors.   Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and a band of brothers had the music momentum stopped.  These upstarts had gone just far enough.  Rhinos forever!  And just like that the darn center of gravity, like Father Time, remained undefeated.  The pendulum headed back towards the middle.

So, where to from here?  AOC and her nearly 60 new Democrat friends feel empowered by the progressive wave that retook the house.  Surely they can push the Green New Deal.  Cost might be a problem though.  Estimates to actually act on its merits range from 40 trillion to nearly 100 trillion, or between 8 and 25 times the yearly federal revenues tax dollars received.

The cost of a Chick-fil-A meal is far less than that.  Sarah Palin left an aforementioned Tea Party rally in 2013 and proudly bought a couple of no. 1 value meals. It made international headlines as a show of support for the conservative christian right led Tea Party and the conservative christian right leadership of Chick-fil-A.  The restaurant chain was under fire then because they closed (and still do) on Sundays.  Heathens demand that the right give them the right to chicken seven days a week.

Support came to the left led Green New Deal yesterday when noted nutritionist, right coast NY Mayor Bill de Blasio proudly announced that soon NY public school lunches would enact, drum roll please, “meatless Mondays.”  Surely this will be a great first step in reducing those pesky emissions all the while helping our young eat healthier.  Government sure knows how to look out for its tired and its poor who know no better.

Perhaps the long running,successful, cow survival campaign by ChickFilA is now dated.  In place of “Eat Mor Chikin” sparing cows it could be “Eat Mor Letus.”  You would save (not kill) two animals with one slogan.  PETA would be so proud.

Speaking of “Letus,” let us pray that sanity returns soon.

Or, it returns at least before the cows come home.

 

 

 

$22,103,879,734,119 and Counting. But, Who is Counting?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

As a gloomy February gave way late last week to a gloomy early March, $21 trillion in US debt and climbing gave way to $22 trillion in US debt and climbing.  But who is counting?  Talking about grey skies and cold temperatures is about as sexy as talking about debt.  It depresses one we suppose.

But, we wonder as out loud as we can, shouldn’t we talking about the debt NOW?  And shouldn’t we do something about it NOW?  We wonder if this isn’t something that both sides of the very parted aisle in Washington could agree on.  Last year’s roughly $800 billion deficit (money the US government spent in excess of what it took in) will look like it’s been on the Keto diet compared to the $1 trillion guesstimate that 2019 is shaping up to be.

By the time Barrack Hussein Obama left the White House in early 2017 the debt of ALL of the nation’s drunken overspending actually doubled under his watch.  Before anyone says he had to do it to stimulate the economy, the answer is no he didn’t.  You don’t have to do anything except pay taxes.  And, apparently you aren’t paying enough, that is, unless you think you are already paying too much.

And there in lies the crux of it all.  Both sides of the argument want to spend on programs and projects that appeal to their base.  And both sides talk around a game of “we need to spend less.”  Yet, at least one side thinks that we are taxed too heavily.

Obama wasn’t the only prez in charge to see wildly ballooning debt.  George W. liked to dole it out big time too.   He may have gotten that bad habit from his dad who rang it up like another round with the boys at the club.

In round numbers the debt has now reached $60 thousand for every legal US citizen and $180 thousand for every taxpayer.  We could solve this today if you would reach for your checkbook, dust off the dust, and write a quick one to the US Treasury for $60k.  One problem is that each of your children would need to as well, and it’s doubtful that they will ever even know what a checkbook is.  Has anyone named a child Venmo yet?  Our guess is yes.

Donald Trump spoke about the debt while campaigning.  He said on a live broadcast to his biggest cheerleader, Sean Hannity, that he favored the penny plan to reduce the deficit and eventually the debt.  The penny plan simply was a commitment to spend 99 cents on all of that which you spent a dollar on the year prior.  If you did this in seven years you would actually retire the entire debt, then $20 trillion.  Meanwhile, in his first two years the debt has leapt up two more rungs.  Sad.

However doing so would be like committing to the Keto diet, or any diet for that matter.  What are you willing to give up?  Or, would you just prefer to gorge yourself to death?

US Debt live billboards are posted in a few places in our countryside, a very few places.  Each time we hit a another depressing trillion milestone somebody grumbles about it and then we forget about it until we hit another milestone.  It reminds us of the assault on “assault weapons.”  Children at school are shot.  Proponents of gun control say we told you so.  Someone in Congress introduces new, stricter gun control legislation.  It dies without a vote  just like the very unfortunate children whose tragedy prompted the legislation.  Then, no one talks about it until it happens again.  It’s like the instructions on the back of a shampoo bottle.  Wash.  Rinse.  Repeat.

The Keto diet craze is sweeping across America.  How about we put America’s spending on the same healthier path?

In the time it took to write this (about and hour) the debt has ballooned to $22,103,949,632,268 which is an increase of nearly $60 million.

Keto for President in 2020.  MALA.  Make America Lean Again!

 

 

Elijah and the Karaoke Singers Hit a Few Low Notes.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Infrequent visits to karaoke bars have all resulted in the same result for this writer.   Friends, family, strangers, and bouncers alike all highly recommended that I “keep my day job.”  Well, their point is understood to a point.  Yesterday, if you had a day job good for you.  Those job responsibilities hopefully kept you safely away from a live stream or TV and therefore from watching the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee hearings.

The plea deal guilty Michael Cohen, aka Donald Trump’s decade long plus personal lawyer, took an oath to tell the truth to answer questions from blood thirsty Republican and Democrat Representatives.  It was the same pledge he took a while back then summarily lied through his pearly whites.

His 30 minute long (unprecedentedly long some said) opening manifesto only occurred after a vote to postpone was rejected by the majority Democrats.  It seems like the Republicans didn’t take too kindly to the prior night’s coaching and prepping session Cohen took part in with honorable reps, Adam Schiff among them.  And so Cohen began his 1800 second assault on anything his attorney, Lanny Davis (the Clinton family’s honorable lawyer and confidant) and he could think about to poke, jab, and stab at President Trump.  The speech touched on racism, womanizing, Stormy Daniels, hush money, repayments, son’s of Trump, Russian collusion (except he couldn’t call it collusion because of that silly under oath thing), payoffs, Trump Towers, and the like.

It even painted a picture of a Donald Trump picture, er portrait.  Cohen orated that Trump instructed Cohen to insure that a straw bid occur at an auction where Trump’s portrait was up.   As the last item in the auction a 60k bid secured the piece and secured the fact that it was the highest price paid for any portrait offered.  Cohen told us in this rundown that Trump has a big ego.  The hearings likely cost taxpayers far greater than 60k a minute.  So America paid about 180k to learn that Trump has a high opinion of himself.  Quite revealing isn’t that?

Then the fun really began.  Democrats asked if Cohen knew of any Trump drug use.  They asked if he ever provided money to any woman for “personal healthcare.”  Each of the Republican reps spent their five minutes calling Cohen a convicted felon, known liar, jealous lawyer, and scorned “White House employee want to be.”

What substance came of all of it?  Little.  The Russian collusion theory should now be put to rest once and for all.  But it won’t be. Trump reimbursed Cohen over 12 months for silencing Stormy days before the election.  Shameful perhaps.  Criminal? Nah.  Paging the Mueller Investigation.  Mr. Mueller what have you?

When it was all done Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings eloquently and passionately told the honorable committee’s rank and file, Cohen, and a worldwide TV audience that “WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS!”  He also asked that we leave our democracy in a better place than we found it.  It sounded like he wanted to Make America Great Again.

Was this entire day the first step, launched by the Lanny Davis aided Cohen speech towards finding something/anything to eventually vote to impeach Donald Trump?  Perhaps.  Perhaps.

And perhaps it is once again a loud, Cummings loud, reminder that votes really, really matter.  The American people voted Trump into office in November 2016.  The American people voted and enough Democrats won in November 2018 to flip the House to the Democrats.  The Oversight Democrats voted to make disgraced and disbarred Michael Cohen their star witness to dig dirt on you know who.   It was these same Democrats that voted to not postpone the hearings with the coaching so fresh in Cohen’s mind.  If the House stayed red there would have been no Cohen testimony.

Will the next big vote that matters eventually be cast by the House to attempt to over throw Trump?  Or will it be in the general election in November of 2020 to vote for or against Trump?  Cohen warned us in his closing remarks that if it were the latter that he had concerns that the transition from Trump to “fill in the blank” could be accomplished peacefully.  Over Cohen’s right shoulder Lanny smiled.  Mission accomplished.

We looked carefully at how the committee conducted itself in its “day job.”

We hope that they can sing.