09-13-2022 - Politicalizing the Courts, Arguing with the Chief Justice and Questions of Ownership

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 Mastering the Special Master & Politicalizing the Courts

Here’s the essence of a comment I posted the other day on Heather Cox Richardson’s daily newsletter, ‘Letters from an American.’

“Professor Joyce Vance (known to those who frequently see her on MSNBC as well as on her ‘SistersInLaw’ podcasts) concluded her analysis of Judge Aileen Connor’s decision concerning a Special Master who would be empowered to limit the evidence the Department of Justice can use in investigating the classified government documents purloined by the defeated former president by saying 'It is all up to the courts, now.'   

Bear in mind that the courts to which she refers include Judge Cannon's court, the Federal Court of Appeals for the Eleventh District, where the appeals of Judge Cannon's decision would be heard, and possibly even the Supreme Court. These courts are loaded with appointees made by the defeated former president and it is not unlikely that they would support him. Law school professors don't make legal decisions. Judges and justices do.

The Constitution's mechanism for appointing and confirming these judges and justices does not ultimately serve the interests of most Americans, as Dobbs vs. Jackson recently proved, when the SCOTUS did away with the right to an abortion . This will take months, if not years, to iron out. Meanwhile, national security and democracy will suffer.”

Please go back and read my posting of September 10, 2022 on this blog in which I delve more deeply into this problem tracing its trail from the Republican Party, to the Senate, and on to the Supreme Court.

JL

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Displeasure With SCOTUS Decisions and With the Senate

Roberts

Although I doubt that Chief Justice John Roberts reads my blog, he clearly is bothered by what he sees as attacks on the legitimacy of the Supreme Court.  My posting of September 10, again referred to above, did not attack that legitimacy, and in fact accepted it, although the Chief Justice probably would still consider it as such an attack. 

While recognizing the Court’s deficiencies, my posting focused on the difficulty of doing anything about them and settled on making the Court aware of the public’s displeasure with it and showing that by voting.  The last time I looked, expressing one's displeasure with our government or a part of it was still an acceptable part of democracy and not automatically an attack upon legitimacy.  And that includes displeasure with the Supreme Court.  If my comments on the blog attack anything, it is the way the Senate is composed and elected.  Making that more democratic would remove any concern among Americans as to the legitimacy of the Supreme Court, as well as of other things upon which the Senate acts.  My blog posting included the following paragraph: 

‘Long term solutions to repair the Supreme Court’s undemocratic deficiencies, such as increasing its number of Justices or removing that 'thumb from the scale,' changing the Constitution’s ‘two seats for each State’ composition of the Senate would take years to even attempt to accomplish. For the present, then, that leaves the American people with only one thing that they can do about this power given by the Constitution to the Supreme Court and that is to show their displeasure with them.’

Obviously, Justice Roberts has sensed such displeasure and has taken a glance into a mirror.  At least that is a beginning.  But he still claims, as the attached articles quote him, that ‘you don’t want public opinion to be the guide about what the appropriate decision is.’  But public opinion voicing displeasure with the Court is not, I repeat, an attack on the Court’s legitimacy.  If my posting attacks legitimacy, it is that of the Senate, which is where the real problem originates, and not the Supreme Court, although there isn’t very much that can be done about it.

Chief Justice Robert’s concern may be found by checking out any of the articles written about it.  The Washington Post article may be found at https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/10/supreme-court-roberts-legitimacy/ and the Associated Press article, as it appeared in US News and World Report, may be found at https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-09-09/chief-justice-john-roberts-to-speak-at-colorado-conference    And my comments are there in the September 10 posting of www.jackspotpourri.com (which may, for some of you, be tacked on at the end of today's posting.)

At another session of the same mee)ting at which Roberts spoke, Justice Gorsuch said that ‘Improper efforts to influence judicial decision-making, from whatever side, from whomever, are a threat to the judicial decision-making process,’ which also makes that same point. 

Do you agree with Roberts and Gorsuch?  There is a delicate balance between our government’s legislative, executive, and judicial branches, established by the Constitution.  Are these Justices too busy defending their own turf? 

Do you feel that the ‘thumb on the scale’ provided to the Senate by the Constitution may be giving too much weight to the legislative branch of which the Senate of course is part, injecting politics into their actions, upsetting this balance?  The composition of the Electoral College and the confirming of judicial appointments is where this imbalance is most clearly visible, although it exists elsewhere as well.

Some might dream of changing the composition of the Senate to more accurately represent the population of the States but believe me, that will not happen.  Making this kind of change would require a Constitutional amendment and because the Constitution requires that three fourths of the States approve it, it just will never happen.  Too many States like it just the way it is, cherishing their overrepresentation in the Senate.  End of story!  

Thus, reform of the Senate would have to occur within that body itself by changes in the rules by which it operates, such as the filibuster, which would be easier, but still very difficult and time-consuming to bring about.  So don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen either.

And that is where we stand today, counting on the extreme displeasure of the population with the actions of the Supreme Court being sufficient to convince at least three Justices to change their positions, giving more weight to the voices of the people than Justices Roberts and Gorsuch appear to think is proper.  Combatants usually don’t get to choose where they will meet.  But, inexorably, the battleground for this struggle will be Supreme Court deliberations dealing with the right of women to have an abortion. 

It is not illegal to show extreme displeasure with the acts of government, including Supreme Court decisions, and to work to defeat candidates who do not stand up for women’s abortion rights.  As a reminder, here is the salvo with which the blog’s September 10 posting concluded.  It is repeated here because THIS IS, in my mind, THE WAY TO GO! Day after day, advertisement after advertisement, debate after debate, this should be the message!

“. . . . IF PUSHED TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, MOST REPUBLICAN OFFICEHOLDERS AND CANDIDATES WILL ADMIT TO SUPPORTING THE REPEAL OF  ROE vs. WADE, even if only to get the votes of the minority who sincerely supported repeal.  

THESE REPUBLICANS MUST BE DEFEATED!

They enable and represent minority rule, which must not be allowed to be dominant in a representative democracy.  They must not be allowed to get away with it!   IT IS AN ISSUE THAT MUST BE USED AGAINST THEM, SPEARHEADED BY ATTACKING THEIR SUPPORT OF THE REPEAL OF ROE vs WADE.

Failing to defeat them opens the door for such minority rule to change the acceptance of same-sex marriage, contraception, LGBTQ rights, and interracial marriage, all made possible through Supreme Court decisions that are now as vulnerable as it turns out that Roe vs. Wade was.  

A Supreme Court which treats the doctrine of ‘stare decisis’ (basing decisions on precedent) so lightly is to be feared.

You must voice your opinion on November 8. Massively!” 

JL

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1857 and 2022 - Questions of Ownership and the SCOTUS

Dred Scott

This is not the first time that the American people expressed displeasure with a Supreme Court that felt its decisions should not be influenced by the legislative or executive branches, nor the opinion of the American people.  In 1857, it ruled that an escaped slave living in Wisconsin for years was still the property of his former masters back ‘down south.’  It’s a complicated story, but the American people expressed so much displeasure with the Supreme Court’s decision that they elected Abraham Lincoln to the presidency three years later.  The issue was supposedly resolved by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments and of course, the Civil War.

Current displeasure on the part of the government’s legislative and executive branches, along with that of much of the public, with the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health arises from another question of ownership.  In 1857, it involved ownership of a person, Dred Scott.  In 2022, it involves ownership, manifested by control over it, of a woman’s uterus.  But clearly, however much displeasure there might be with the Supreme Court’s decision, it must be resolved peacefully this time around.  The best way to do that is to defeat any candidate who supports that decision on November 8.  The votes of women may just accomplish that.

JL

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America Afloat 

 (A poem that is always worth repeating in these blog postings. To learn more, visit this blog's posting of July 30, 2022, accessible from the Archives off to the right.)       JL

 

America Afloat

 Jack Lippman

 The greatness of America

Is that it does survive

Attacks upon democracy

Whose flame it keeps alive.

 

The laws that blossom from the words

The Founding Fathers wrote

Still serve us well today to keep

America afloat.

 

This doesn’t happen by itself,

We cannot wish it true,

The bottom line, my friends, is that

It all depends on you.

 

 JL                        

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                         That’s Not Enough!

                                By a Longshot 

09-10-2022 - The Supreme Court's 'Supremacy'

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The ‘Supremacy’ of the Supreme Court’s Endorsement of Minority Rule Endangers American Democracy and is to be FEARED

The United States of America has a government based on the ‘rule of laws.’ Stated quite simply,

(1) Congress passes laws,

(2) the Executive Branch, headed by the President, administers these laws and

(3) disputes over the meaning of and the validity of laws are resolved by the Judiciary, with the Supreme Court as the final arbiter. 

That’s how our federal government was designed to work as documented by the first three articles of the Constitution, and in tandem with the governments of the states, united to form the ‘United States’ of America.

How are these three branches of our government in our representative democracy filled?   

(1) The voters elect the Congress, and also

(2) Vote for ‘electors’ who elect the President,

(3) who in turn appoints the federal judiciary with the approval of the Senate (the least representative part of Congress), including the Justices of the members of the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Building 

That body of nine Justices seems to have the last word in determining how this system works, being able to address the meaning of and validity of laws passed by Congress and carried out by the Executive branch.

Let’s look at a roadmap showing the circuitous and indirect route of your vote in selecting these Supreme Court Justices.  It follows a path that begins with your voting for electors every four years who choose the President, (the number of electors being determined by each State’s number of Senators and House Representatives combined), and then continues on to the Senate (not the House of Representatives) where the President’s nominees for judgeships, including those on the Supreme Court, are voted upon.  By quite a stretch, supposedly that’s democracy at work. 

Unfortunately, this system does not reflect the views of the majority of the people due to (1) the intentionally undemocratic nature of the Senate itself and also (2) its role in determining the number of presidential electors each State has.  (Without explaining this in detail, just consider that California with 40,000,000 residents, and Wyoming with less than 600,000 residents, each have two Senators.)  This 'thumb on the scale' in the Senate is reflected in both the composition of the Electoral College and of the forum where judicial appointments are confirmed. 

It can, and sometimes does, result in the Electoral College electing a president who did not win the ‘popular’ vote and whose judicial nominations are acted on by the Senate, approving judges who would never be approved by the more representative House of Representatives, which has no say on the nominations.  This is  intentional.  Giving two Senate seats to each State, regardless of population, is not representative democracy, and the Supreme Court reflects this, in terms of who is nominated and who is approved. 

Right now, as a result of this Constitutionally prescribed 'thumb on the scale,' we have a Supreme Court, which indeed does have the last word as to how our system of government works, but is a Court that is totally out of touch with a majority of the American people.  That is the way the Constitution defined our government.  The ‘Founding Fathers’ did not fully trust the voters.  In 1789, they had good reason, particularly those who represented, and often themselves were, owners of significant amounts of property, including slaves. They saw what the ‘have-nots’ were doing with their ‘freedom’ across the Atlantic in France.  Do we have similar reasons not to entirely trust democracy today as they did then?  But that is another question.

Long term solutions to repair the Supreme Court’s undemocratic deficiencies, such as increasing its number of Justices or removing that 'thumb from the scale,' changing the Constitution’s ‘two seats for each State’ composition of the Senate would take years to even attempt to accomplish. 

For the present, then, that leaves the American people with only one thing that they can do about this power given by the Constitution to the Supreme Court and that is to show their displeasure with them.

Their very unpopular decision overturning a woman’s right to abortion as established by Roe vs. Wade half a century ago spotlights this issue and gives the public a grand opportunity to do precisely that. 

If every elected official who fails to denounce the Supreme Court’s Dobbs vs. Jackson decision, which repealed Roe vs. Wade, were to be defeated on November 8, perhaps the Supreme Court would get the message.  A massive turnout of women voters from the Atlantic to the Pacific might just accomplish that!

Most Americans, other than six Supreme Court Justices, recognize that no judge or government official (or as in Texas, any interested citizen) should be able to interfere with private medical decisions made between patients and their doctors.  While our system is designed so that Supreme Court Justices are isolated from such popular opinion and pressures, who knows what would happen in the face of such a massive outpouring of voters disagreeing with them. 

IF PUSHED TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, MOST REPUBLICAN OFFICEHOLDERS AND CANDIDATES WILL ADMIT TO SUPPORTING THE REPEAL OF  ROE vs. WADE, even if only to get the votes of the minority who sincerely supported repeal.  

THESE REPUBLICANS MUST BE DEFEATED!

They enable and represent minority rule, which must not be allowed to be dominant in a representative democracy.  They must not be allowed to get away with it!   IT IS AN ISSUE THAT MUST BE USED AGAINST THEM, SPEARHEADED BY ATTACKING THEIR SUPPORT OF THE REPEAL OF ROE vs WADE! 

Failing to defeat them opens the door for such minority rule to change the acceptance of same-sex marriage, contraception, LGBTQ rights, and interracial marriage, all made possible through Supreme Court decisions that are now as vulnerable as it turns out that Roe vs. Wade was.  A Supreme Court which treats the doctrine of ‘stare decisis’ (basing decisions on precedent) so lightly is to be feared.

You must voice your opinion on November 8. Massively! 

JL

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America Afloat 

 

(A poem that is always worth repeating in these blog postings. To learn more, visit this blog's posting of July 30, 2022, accessible from the Archives off to the right.)       JL

 

 

 

America Afloat

Jack Lippman

The greatness of America

Is that it does survive

Attacks upon democracy

Whose flame it keeps alive.

 

The laws that blossom from the words

The Founding Fathers wrote

Still serve us well today to keep

America afloat.

 

This doesn’t happen by itself,

We cannot wish it true,

The bottom line, my friends, is that

It all depends on you.

 JL                        

  

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That’s Not Enough!

09-07-2022 - Election Reminder, Biden's Sept. 1 TV Coverage, Name a Country Game, Fourteenth Amendment, and Student Loans

 

Election Day Reminder

It is nine weeks to Election Day. Now is time for you to make your decision as to how you will vote:

Ø  Early voting at limited locations,

Ø  by mail, or 

Ø  at the polls on Election Day. 

Don’t wait.  Decide now.  And remind your friends and relatives to do the same.  For those who are not registered to vote, October 11 is the final deadline.  Help those who need help to register!  The Election Supervisor’s (Palm Beach County) telephone number is (561) 656 6200.

65(6566561) 656-6200 | (561) 656-6200 |

I will be voting (by mail) for Charlie Crist for governor and Val Demings for Senator.  Make your own decision but that is what I recommend.  I will be voting for the rest of the Democratic candidates on the ballot as well because, especially in the State legislature, Republicans do not represent the majority of the people of Florida.  Too many Florida Republicans still support the defeated former president.  Getting down to specific issues, DeSantis, Rubio, and both House of the Legislature do not represent the views of the majority of Floridians in these vital areas:

Ø  the State’s intrusion into personal medical decisions made between women and their doctors, 

Ø  real legislation to reduce gun violence, and 

Ø  guaranteeing voting rights to persons of color, which are under constant Republican attack through gerrymandering and purely political appointments. 

Oh, there are many other issues, including the Florida governor’s trashing of the First Amendment, but these three are the crucial ones, the things that will motivate voters.

Mark your calendars.  Speak to your friends and relatives.  Nine weeks remain and that isn’t very much time to mobilize the votes of women and persons of color, as well as others, who are specifically victimized by Republican positions.

JL

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Coverage of the President's September 1 Speech

While the traditional broadcast networks (ABC, CBS. NBC, Fox) did not carry the President’s September 1 address, pointing out the need for all Americans to rise to the occasion of defending our democracy against those presently attacking it, the ‘news’ channels did.   Between them, MSNBC and CNN had 3.91 million viewers of Biden’s speech. Add to these whatever PBS had and let's call it about 4 million.

Meanwhile, FoxSnooze carried the speech but with the President's voice muted, substituted by a running commentary by semi-fascist Tucker Carlson, drawing 2.89 million viewers, more than either MSNBC or CNN individually drew.  That is a bad sign, reflecting on the American public.  Carlson wins the Josef Goebbels Award for excellence in propaganda for this charade.  (He skipped accepting the prize, a swastika armband because one possibly is already tattooed on his upper arm.)  

That the regular broadcast networks that chose not to carry the speech drew larger audiences than saw it on the news networks confirms the fact that they are in business to make money and don't give a damn about the public service aspect which supposedly came along with their being given access to the airwaves. 

JL

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The United States of America is a Wonderful Country 

Can you name a country where a former president who behaved as our defeated former president has (without evidence, disputing the results of the election which he clearly lost, inciting violence to disrupt a peaceful transition of the presidency, stealing classified government documents to take with him) would not by now be either dead, imprisoned, hospitalized, under indictment, under house arrest, in exile, or strangely absent from all news media as if he never existed?  Name one.  Try hard. 

The United States of America is a wonderful country!  Smokers, helmetless bikers, seatbelt shunners, and the unvaccinated love it here, almost as much as liars in the media, the courts, the marketplace, and of course, in politics.  We have the freedoms to believe, and engage in, all kinds of crap.  I still believe that is a good thing.  

JL

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14^th Amendment – Section 3

It reads: No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

A federal judge in New Mexico just threw a county commissioner out of office. He had participated in the January 6 rioting at the Capitol, which the judge considered to be a violation of the Constitution’s clause quoted above.

 JL

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A Solution – Student Loan Forgiveness

I may have criticized this in an earlier posting, but I do have a solution!  Here's the ‘tweaking’ the President’s Student Loan Forgiveness proposal needs to make it more palatable.  I feel that It is necessary because most Americans either won’t accept nor understand the Administration’s argument that providing benefits for one type of borrower while ignoring others is no different than the way that tax legislation sometimes benefits those with investment income over those who just earn salaries. That’s too much of a stretch for most to swallow.  Here is what I recommend:

Allow those who have either paid off their student loans or whose loans under their terms are considered as ‘paid off,’ and whose income falls within the tight limits indicated in the proposal, to share in its benefit by being given an annual tax deduction broken down and stretched out over the next dozen years or so, adding up to no more than that same $10,000 or $20,000 ‘forgiveness’ (depending on type of loan) being made available to those still paying loans off. 

Sure, this will add to the proposal’s cost, but stretching it out over twelve years will make it much easier to fund.  Will that make everybody happy and take an argument out of the hands of Republicans? 

 JL

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Enough preaching to the choir.  Get out there and make sure you work to turn out a massive vote to save American democracy on Nov. 8.  That is what is at stake.

Remember that we are a government dependent upon the ‘rule of law’ and the documents on which laws are based.  Any political party that is willing to trade that for the comfort of having confidence in and dependence upon an absolute ‘leader’ (the *Germans call him a ‘Fuhrer') is giving up democracy and should never be trusted at any level of government, even as your local dog catcher.  That pretty much describes today’s sorry remnant of the Republican Party.   

*(Years ago, when I attended a concert in Germany, the 'usher' who led me to my seat wore a cap emblazoned 'Fuhrer,' his job being to lead people to their proper place.  That's fine in a theatre, but not in a democracy where all 'seating' is in the unreserved 'general admission' section.)

All Republicans, from local dog catchers on up to those who appoint and confirm judges, are infected with anti-democratic poisons. Too many support the 'big lie' and oppose abortion rights! The only antidote is the ballot. And local and state elections may be more important than federal ones.  Republican successes have proven that!  Democrats must learn from that!

Get to work. Now. Today. There’s a lot you can do.  Sign up to knock on doors, make phone calls, send emails or texts, send postal cards, show up at demonstrations.  Make donations.  If you need help, get started by contacting your local Democratic party, even if you’re not a Democrat. Do Something!

Now!  Today!  This minute!

 JL

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America Afloat 

 

(A poem that is always worth repeating in these blog postings. To learn more, visit this blog's posting of July 30, 2022, accessible from the Archives off to the right.)       JL

 

 

 

America Afloat

 Jack Lippman

 The greatness of America

Is that it does survive

Attacks upon democracy

Whose flame it keeps alive.

 

The laws that blossom from the words

The Founding Fathers wrote

Still serve us well today to keep

America afloat.

 

This doesn’t happen by itself,

We cannot wish it true,

The bottom line, my friends, is that

It all depends on you.

 

 JL                      

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                 That’s Not Enough!

09-03-2022 - The President's Speech, 'America Afloat,' Delays, Student Loan Forgiveness and Medicare Part C

 

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Tomorrow is Labor Day.  Enjoy your day off, if you are getting one.  Many of the advantages Americans enjoy today were made possible by the work of the labor union movement, including health insurance, retirement plans, Social Security, Workmens' Compensation laws, Unemployment insurance, Safer working conditions, sufficient wages to support a family, and a dispute resolution process through the National Labor Relations Board.  The only blemish on their history is labor's opposition to immigration.  All in all, it's a day to celebrate a lot that organized labor has accomplished.

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The President's Speech

President Biden’s speech on September 1 went right to the point, accusing MAGA Republicans (as distinguished from others of that Party) of attacking democracy in our country in the name of ‘patriotism.’  His frequent references to the ‘soul of America’ reminded me of Jon Meacham’s 2018 book, ‘The Soul of America.’  Meacham wrote that progress ultimately comes out of such conflicts as we are now enduring regarding the nature of our democracy when finally our memories heed the chords sounded by the ‘better angels of our nature, referred to by Abraham Lincoln in his First Inaugural address, spoken on the eve of the Civil War.  

(My poem, ‘America Afloat,’ included as part of each blog posting of Jackspotpourri.com, briefly makes the same points that the President addressed on September 1 in front of historic Independence Hall in Philadelphia.  See the blog's July 30, 2022 posting for more information on the poem.)

It was unfortunate that the President’s speech, while carried on the cable news networks, was not carried by the regular broadcast networks, Fox, ABC, CBS and NBC, which preferred to cater to America’s penchant for something other than reality.

Beyond the objections to the President's speech expected from a Republican Party that refuses to look at itself in a mirror are the threats of violence, including assassination, which it prompted by white supremacists, as documented by Yahoo news. The DOJ knows who these people are and clearly, they go far beyond the protection offered by the First Amendment. It is possible that we do not have time to wait for those 'better angels' mentioned by Professor Meacham, Lincoln, and the President, to be heard. 

Is it time for the nation to accept a reduction of our traditional freedoms in order to preserve our democracy?  The people making these threats must be arrested and charged before they act on their words. Things are THAT serious today. Charlottesville was a whisper and January 6 was a warning not to be ignored. 

Abraham Lincoln suspended the right to a writ of habeas corpus in battling a similar threat to the Union presented in 1861, which ultimately did not protect his life from it. There are many 'John Wilkes Booths' hiding under MAGA caps. 

Read the Yahoo news article by visiting https://news.yahoo.com/biden-speech-denouncing-trump-maga-ideology-sparks-threats-calls-for-violence-003139767.html or by simply CLICKING HERE.

JL

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America Afloat 

 

 

(A poem that is always worth repeating in these blog postings. To learn more, visit this blog's posting of July 30, 2022, accessible from the Archives off to the right.)       JL

 

 

 

America Afloat 

Jack Lippman 

The greatness of America

Is that it does survive

Attacks upon democracy

Whose flame it keeps alive.

 

The laws that blossom from the words

The Founding Fathers wrote

Still serve us well today to keep

America afloat.

 

This doesn’t happen by itself,

We cannot wish it true,

The bottom line, my friends, is that

It all depends on you.

JL

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Why Not to Watch Fox - Truth Day

While watching the 6 p.m. news on television a few evenings ago, reporting on the additional evidence discovered at Mar-a-Lago of the possible criminal actions on the part of the DFP (Defeated Former President) and his attorneys, I decided to see what Fox News was reporting and compare it to what was being reported on NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, CNN and MSNBC, 

I found them very busy covering anything else, and when having no alternative but to report what the president of the United States was doing and saying, they managed to do it in a manner unfavorable to him.  Their only reference to the purloined documents the DFP had taken to Mar-a-Lago was brief:  a sarcastic criticism of the FBI and a questioning of the validity of the evidence the investigators found and their methods in securing it.

What FBI Found

In response to this, Democrats quickly pointed out that what the FBI did sounds like pretty standard routine for any law enforcement agency.  They found evidence in a room, laid it out on a rug there on the floor to help identify the location where it was found and took pictures that might be usable later in court. I am sure the evidence was then filed away properly by the FBI, possibly after checking the documents for fingerprints. A word of free advice to the DFP and his lawyers and supporters: 'Keep your mouths shut. Your excuses seem to further incriminate all of you.’  That goes for the purveyors of lies on Fox as well.  The First Amendment’s protection only goes so far.

The day that Fox goes out of business, as it will when its many followers wake up to its dishonesty, only made possible by that First Amendment, and stop watching it, should be declared a national holiday.  It might be called ‘Truth Day.’

JL

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Delay - Stall - Postpone

The last two postings of this blog pointed out that the objective of the DFP’s legal strategies, including his request for a Special Master to be appointed, is just to delay the day of ultimate reckoning, giving the Democrats less time before the November elections to use any Republican’s endorsement by him, association with him, or even their failure to denounce his ‘big lie’ as a strong campaign issue.  Lacking any realistic response to the DOJ’s actions, the only tactic his attorneys can resort to is delay.  Next will come the bone spurs which were so useful to the DFP during the Vietnam War, or is the DFP saving them for when he is finally called to testify?

JL

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Student Loan Forgiveness - I Criticize Democrats Too!

Available statistics, which are confusing and very difficult to interpret, seem to indicate that perhaps 61% of student loans remain outstanding in some form or other.  That means that 39% of these loans have been paid back, or in some instances considered as ‘paid back’ after a significant number of years of regular payments.  Regardless, the image it presents is one of a benefit for as much as $20,000 for some of those who haven’t been able to pay off their loans, and a contrary image as a bunch of suckers for those who sacrificed to make their payments   This gives the Republicans a significant voting target at which to aim in criticizing President Biden’s Student Loan forgiveness proposal.  And as you can see, they are doing precisely that at the same time as their other talking points are evaporating!  They don't have much else going for them these days.

As I have already said, the idea is a good one, needing a bit more 'tweaking,' but its timing is horrible, typical of many faulty Democratic political strategies.  It forces Democrats to use their resources to respond to a weapon they handed to their opponents at the wrong point in time, just prior to an election.

JL

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Medicare Advantage Plans - Not Always Best Choice

Seniors who select a Medicare Part C ‘Medicare Advantage Plan’ may end up with a ‘Medicare Disadvantage’ plan.  If they want to be treated at one of the major teaching hospitals in New York City, Los Angeles, Houston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, or even Rochester, Minnesota, (where the Mayo Clinic is based), their Medicare Advantage plan may say ‘No, You must use the hospitals that the plan includes.’  

These choices may be more restrictive in HMO plans than in PPO plans, but a cancer patient who wants to go to NYC's Sloan-Kettering or Houston's M.D. Anderson, the two best cancer hospitals in the country, might still be limited to using nearby institutions, many of which are excellent, but not quite ‘top-tier.’  

In my opinion, If your finances allow it, stick with Medicare Parts A and B, and purchase a separate private Medicare Supplement Plan and a separate Part D prescription drug plan.

 JL

 

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