A report card on the Biden administration

[Sandy Shanks]

Krysten Sinema has left the Democratic Party.

The Times reports, "Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona announced on Friday that she would leave the Democratic Party and become an independent, unsettling the party divide anew just days after Democrats secured an expanded majority in the Senate.

“I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington,” she wrote in an opinion column published in The Arizona Republic.

"Still the move by the first-term senator, who was facing a likely Democratic re-election challenge in 2024. The Democrats have long had to contend with her unpredictability and diversions from the party line. The bigger practical effect was likely to be on Ms. Sinema’s political standing in Arizona, where she would have had difficulty prevailing in a Democratic primary.

"Ms. Sinema would keep her committee positions through Democrats, meaning the party would still hold a one-seat edge on the panels next year, giving them new flexibility over nominations and legislation.

"Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, noted that Ms. Sinema has strongly backed major Biden administration initiatives such as the infrastructure package."

Conclusion: Not much will change, but Sinema will have a better chance of being reelected in 2024.

 

[Fearandloathing]

Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser on the COVID-19 pandemic and White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, conducted a refreshing, highly professional, and informative press briefing today. What a change.

They did so without President Biden hoovering over them or dominating the proceedings. A true leader is able to delegate authority. Biden is that kind of leader even a conservative like me can appreciate.

Trump was never able to delegate authority for two reasons. He didn't trust others to speak for him, and he didn't want to share the limelight with anyone. In the Trump White House, Trump was the spokesman.

But all that is gone now, replaced by professionalism and openness with the press.

...hoovering over them or..."

I don't know if that was intended, either way its a hit!

 

[Fearandloathing]

Ummmm, Trump did not do any such hoovering, he hovered.
Stormy Daniels did the hoovering.

View attachment 67314718

To 'hoover' is modern slang for 'suck the air out of out of a room'

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Russia wants the U.S. to free a murderer held in Germany for Paul Whelan.

CNN reports, "Russia refused to release Paul Whelan alongside Brittney Griner unless a former colonel from Russia’s domestic spy organization currently in German custody was also released as part of any prisoner swap, US officials told CNN, even as the US offered up the names of several other Russian prisoners in US custody that they would be willing to trade.

"The US was unable to deliver on the request for the ex-colonel, Vadim Krasikov, because he is serving out a life sentence for murder in Germany.

"US officials made quiet inquiries to the Germans about whether they might be willing to include Krasikov in the trade, a senior German government source told CNN earlier this year. But ultimately, the US was not able to secure Krasikov’s release. The German government was not willing to seriously consider including Krasikov –who assassinated a Georgian citizen in broad daylight in Berlin in 2019 – in a potential trade.

"The US made several other offers to the Russians to try to get them to agree to include Whelan in the swap," but to no avail.

 

[Integrityrespec]

President Joe R. Biden, how refreshing that sounds. What a refreshing day. Our divisive, erratic, foolish, conspiratorial, narcissistic President is gone, replaced by a President who deeply wants to unite us. Barring ill-advised preconceived notions about President Biden, his task should be easy. We are all Americans.

That said, although I voted for Biden for obvious reasons, not unlike 81 million Americans who did the same, I am a conservative Independent. That's official. In CA, we have to declare our political posture. Until I was driven out by Trump, for over a quarter of a century I was a declared Republican. I voted for Biden, but I have some reservations concerning him, mostly having to do with taxation and spending.

I said all that because I want to be honest with readers. I want them to know where I am coming from.

Whether or not Biden will be a good President is obviously an open question, but I think he is a good man. He will do his best to unite us and adopt policies that benefit all Americans, while removing those policies that do us harm. He wants the United States to rejoin the community of nations, and the days of isolation and making unitary decisions that involve other nations, in particular our traditional allies, are over.

The European Union's top politician, Ursula von der Leyen, said it best. "After four long years, Europe has a friend in the White House."

For the first time in four years, there is optimism in America created by a popular President. 59% of Americans approve of Biden.

On day one, Trump's approval rating was 40%, and, although it went lower than that, it never got much higher. Thus the reason for American optimism.

LOL! Didn't last long did it. All that BS and all the corruption between Twitter and democrats and FBI to sway the election is now getting laid our in front of us. Next, more Biden financials from the Hunter laptop. This is just getting good.

 

[Integrityrespec]

Krysten Sinema has left the Democratic Party.

The Times reports, "Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona announced on Friday that she would leave the Democratic Party and become an independent, unsettling the party divide anew just days after Democrats secured an expanded majority in the Senate.

“I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington,” she wrote in an opinion column published in The Arizona Republic.

"Still the move by the first-term senator, who was facing a likely Democratic re-election challenge in 2024. The Democrats have long had to contend with her unpredictability and diversions from the party line. The bigger practical effect was likely to be on Ms. Sinema’s political standing in Arizona, where she would have had difficulty prevailing in a Democratic primary.

"Ms. Sinema would keep her committee positions through Democrats, meaning the party would still hold a one-seat edge on the panels next year, giving them new flexibility over nominations and legislation.

"Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, noted that Ms. Sinema has strongly backed major Biden administration initiatives such as the infrastructure package."

Conclusion: Not much will change, but Sinema will have a better chance of being reelected in 2024.

Conclusion: Step one in the transformation to the Republican party for Sinema, next Joe Machin, Angus King.

 

[yankintx]

So foolish. Half the nation, the democrats may be having a feelingof optimism but the other half, republicans don't share that feeling.
So a former press secretary for Biden has come out with more dirt on the Bidens, Joe and Hunter. I'm curious, if we find out that all the dirt on Hunter and Joe taking money from Ukraine, China and Russia is true, what would be your reaction?

Desperately looking for that CT

Give it up

 

[yankintx]

W

Conclusion: Step one in the transformation to the Republican party for Sinema, next Joe Machin, Angus King.

Wishful thinking there ?

It's the GOP who are in the toilet for 2024, stuck with Trump.

 

[yankintx]

LOL! Didn't last long did it. All that BS and all the corruption between Twitter and democrats and FBI to sway the election is now getting laid our in front of us. Next, more Biden financials from the Hunter laptop. This is just getting good.

Oh man

The twitter dumpster

Lol

How long you going to chase a coke heads laptop ?;

 

[Sandy Shanks]

LOL! Didn't last long did it. All that BS and all the corruption between Twitter and democrats and FBI to sway the election is now getting laid our in front of us. Next, more Biden financials from the Hunter laptop. This is just getting good.

Know what, you didn't say a thing. All Republicans can do is make threats. They are unable to substantiate their threats.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

To 'hoover' is modern slang for 'suck the air out of out of a room'

Yah, I know.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

A few days ago I wrote, "Thursday's report from the Commerce Department showed that prices rose 6% in October from a year earlier. That was the smallest increase since November 2021 and was down from a 6.3% year-over-year rise in September. Gas prices nationwide have plunged to their lowest level since February.

"The economy added 263,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate stayed 3.7%, still near a 53-year low, the Labor Department said Friday.

"The Biden economy is on fire, full employment, job growth, robust spending, and now an easing of inflation combined with lower gas prices. What's not to like?"

CNN reports, "Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is striking a cautiously optimistic tone about 2023, predicting a major inflation cooldown and stressing that a recession isn’t required to get prices back under control.

“I believe by the end of next year you will see much lower inflation, if there’s not an unanticipated shock,” Yellen told CBS’s “60 Minutes” in an interview that aired on Sunday.

"Yellen cited plunging gas prices — AAA said Monday the national average is down by 52 cents per gallon in the past month — tumbling shipping costs and shortening delivery lags."

Finally, an econ expert is predicting good news about our economy. Most experts are predicting gloom and doom, and that a recession is just around the corner.

Particularly Republican experts.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection is considering criminal referrals for at least four individuals in addition to former President Donald Trump.

Originally, Trump's federal district judge, Aileen Cannon, complied with everything Trump's lawyers were asking for, slowing the DOJ's investigation of Trump's theft of classified documents.

Her rulings were consistently voided by the 11th Appeals Court comprised of three Republicans, two appointed by Trump.

It has finally dawned on her that she hooked her star to a loser.

Now she is overruling herself.

CNBC reports, "A federal judge on Monday dismissed former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit challenging the government’s access to materials seized from his Mar-a-Lago resort, marking the formal end to Trump’s months-long legal fight following the FBI’s raid of his home.

"The judge’s order came four days after Trump declined to appeal a higher-court ruling that canceled the appointment of a special master to review the thousands of items taken by federal agents during an Aug. 8 raid of Trump’s Florida residence.

"Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, signed a one-page order dismissing the case for lack of jurisdiction. The order, filed in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, also terminated all hearings, deadlines and motions that were still pending in the case. That includes Trump’s effort to obtain an unredacted version of the search warrant affidavit that was used to sanction the raid."

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Question: Besides investigating our President and his son, Hunter, is the Republican-controlled House going to try to solve any of our nation's problems?

 

[Sandy Shanks]

There is every indication that the former President will be indicted, probably on multiple charges.

That is why the forum's Republicans are remaining silent on the issues presented.

CNN reports, "Newly-appointed special counsel Jack Smith is moving fast on a pair of criminal probes around Donald Trump that in recent months have focused on the former president’s state of mind after the 2020 election, including what he knew about plans to impede the transfer of power.

"Smith has made a series of high-profile moves since he was put in charge last month, including asking a federal judge to hold Trump in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena ordering him to turn over records marked classified.

"Since Thanksgiving, Smith has brought a number of close Trump associates before a grand jury in Washington, including two former White House lawyers, three of Trump’s closest aides, and his former speechwriter Stephen Miller. He has also issued a flurry of subpoenas, including to election officials in battleground states where Trump tried to overturn his loss in 2020.

 

[Taylor]

Biden is an awful President.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

More on the Special Counsel. He has been busy.

The Post reports, "Special counsel Jack Smith has sent a grand jury subpoena to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, bringing to five the number of 2020 battleground states where state or local election officials are known to have received such requests for any and all communications with Trump, his campaign, and a long list of aides and allies.

"State and local officials in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have received similar subpoenas — all of them, like Georgia, central to President Donald Trump’s failed plan to stay in power after the 2020 election. State and local officials in Nevada, the other contested battleground from 2020, did not respond or declined to say whether they had heard from the Department of Justice."

 

[Sandy Shanks]

The [Republican] Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday [4/21/2020] reaffirmed its support for the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the goal of putting Donald Trump in the Oval Office. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/...rms-russia-aimed-to-help-trump-in-2016-198171

Is Putin regretting he backed a fool?

CNN reports, "Donald Trump is heading for a period of maximum legal and political risk over his role in the US Capitol insurrection and hoarding of classified documents that will collide with his efforts to electrify a low wattage 2024 White House bid.

"A quickening special counsel probe, now focusing on the alleged attempt to steal Georgia’s election, the climax of the House January 6 committee and a new trial of pro-Trump Oath Keepers extremists underscore the breadth of attempts to secure accountability over one of the darkest days in modern American history. These new signs of a net possibly closing around Trump and his allies come a month after voters sent a signal of disapproval with his obsession over the 2020 election by repudiating many midterm candidates in swing states who bought his claims of voter fraud.

"But each sign that once slow burning efforts to work through the trauma of the post-election period are heating up brings a parallel warning that the future threat to truth and democracy remains acute."

This follows on the heels of Trump dining with a white supremacist and an antisemite. A few days later he called for the termination of our Constitution.

Putin might be concerned, but Trump is the Republican Party leader and the Republican candidate for the Presidency in 2024.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Are the rural voters who have been backing Trump for the past six years finally giving it up? It is way past time.

The conservative New York Post reports, "GOP backing for former President Donald Trump’s third consecutive White House bid has fallen apart over the past several months, with most Republican voters saying they’d prefer another candidate to carry on his policies in 2024, according to a poll released Tuesday.

"While 31% of Republican and Republican-leaning independents want Trump to run again in two years, 61% say they would rather have another GOP standard-bearer, the USA Today/Suffolk University survey found.

"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 44, is their preferred choice.

"DeSantis, who cruised to re-election Nov. 8, leads Trump by 23 percentage points — 56% to 33% — in a head-to-head primary matchup, the poll shows.

"Nearly two-thirds of Republican and GOP-leaning voters (65%) say the governor should run for the White House in 2024, with just 24% saying he shouldn’t."

 

[Sandy Shanks]

A few days ago I wrote, "Thursday's report from the Commerce Department showed that prices rose 6% in October from a year earlier. That was the smallest increase since November 2021 and was down from a 6.3% year-over-year rise in September. Gas prices nationwide have plunged to their lowest level since February.

"The economy added 263,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate stayed 3.7%, still near a 53-year low, the Labor Department said Friday.

"The Biden economy is on fire, full employment, job growth, robust spending, and now an easing of inflation combined with lower gas prices. What's not to like?"

More good news about the Biden economy.

ABC reports, "Monthly inflation fell significantly. Prices rose 0.1% in November, cooling down from a 0.4% increase in October.

"The top contributor to the monthly price increase came from shelter costs, which rose 0.6% in November. Food prices also jumped over the month, rising 0.5%.

"But prices fell for a host of goods, including gasoline, used cars and trucks and medical services."

"In a world where inflation is rising at double digits in many major economies around the world, inflation is coming down in America," the President said. "Make no mistake, prices are still too high. We have a lot more work to do. But things are getting better, headed in the right direction."

ABC continued, "The decline in inflation follows a string of aggressive rate hikes from the Federal Reserve aimed at bringing prices down to normal levels.

"The inflation data arrives a day before the Fed is expected to impose another borrowing cost increase. Economists project the Fed will raise rates by 0.5% on Wednesday, a slowdown from three consecutive jumbo-sized rate hikes of 0.75% but still a significant intensification of its fight against price increases."

"The labor market has proven resilient. Hiring last month exceeded expectations and wages grew a blistering 5.1% compared to a year earlier, offering welcome relief for workers strained by price hikes."

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Trump? Biden? Americans do not want either one in 2024 according to one poll. The poll is fairly accurate in showing the mood of the American people.

CNN reports, "There’s little appetite for a 2020 rematch in the coming presidential election, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS, as majorities of registered voters within each party say they’d rather see someone new nominated in 2024.

"About 6 in 10 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they want their party to nominate someone other than former President Donald Trump in 2024 (62%), while a similar 59% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say they’d like to see someone other than President Joe Biden at the top of their ticket in the next presidential election. When pressed, though, a majority of Republican-aligned voters who say they’d like someone other than Trump to win the nomination indicate they would ultimately vote for him if he did emerge as the nominee. An even larger majority of Democratic-aligned voters with a similar opposition to Biden as their party’s nominee say they would vote for him in a general election if he won their party’s primary."

Trump is simply incompetent, and he is likely to be indicted for several crimes by the DOJ.

Biden is quite competent, but he is too old for another four-year term in office beginning in 2025.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Why do leading Republicans -- Trump, DeSantis -- act like complete jerks?

CNN reports, "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday asked his state’s Supreme Court to green-light an investigation of “any and all wrongdoing in Florida with respect to Covid-19 vaccines,” his latest move to cast doubt on the vaccines’ effectiveness and amplify fears about side effects.

"In the petition filed with the Florida Supreme Court, the Republican governor requests the empaneling of a grand jury to investigate a broad group of entities associated with the development, distribution and promotion of the vaccines, including pharmaceutical manufacturers and their executive officers, as well as medical associations.

"DeSantis also said Tuesday he was launching a public health integrity committee – a panel that would counter the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which DeSantis said “is not serving a useful function; it’s really serving to advance narratives rather than do evidence-based medicine.” The panel would assess guidance and actions from federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, US Food and Drug Administration, and the CDC."

The Covid-19 vaccines have kept more than 18.5 million people in the US out of the hospital and saved more than 3.2 million lives, a new study says – and that estimate is most likely a conservative one, the researchers say. The research comes from the Commonwealth Fund and Yale School of Public Health. Their study, published Tuesday, found that without Covid-19 vaccines, the nation would have had 3.8 times more hospitalizations and 4.1 times more deaths than it did between December 2020 and November 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/13/health/covid-19-vaccines-study/index.html

 

[Sandy Shanks]

When the Republicans take over the House on Jan. 3, are they going to be able to govern?

They don't even know who their speaker is going to be.

CNN reports, "Republican leader Kevin McCarthy is far from assured of winning sufficient support in his party to become House speaker next month. But even before the vote, his authority is already weakening by the day – in a way that could make him a speaker who is in office but not in power.

"The tiny GOP House majority that takes over in January, after a disappointing midterm performance, would mean a fragile governing mandate for any party at any point in American history. And the ideological struggle being waged by pro-Donald Trump extremists inside the party would have made even a more comfortable majority volatile.

"But the compromises that McCarthy is facing in his increasingly bitter campaign for the speakership threaten to leave him as a tool of the most radical members of his conference and could diminish his capacity to hold the job."

 

[Sandy Shanks]

It is crunch time for Trump and his co-conspirators.

The Hill reports, "The House committee investigating the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, will meet Monday at 1 p.m. to vote on potential recommendations to the Justice Department to prosecute suspects for their roles.

"Vote Monday, release report Dec. 21: The chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told reporters the meeting would include votes on recommendations and the final report, which would be released on Dec. 21, according to reports on CNN and ABC News. Besides criminal referrals, the panel could also make recommendations to state bar associations about lawyers, to the Federal Election Commission about campaign violations, and to the House Ethics Committee about lawmakers who ignored Congressional subpoenas, Thompson said."

 

[Sandy Shanks]

The conservative New York Post reports, "GOP backing for former President Donald Trump’s third consecutive White House bid has fallen apart over the past several months, with most Republican voters saying they’d prefer another candidate to carry on his policies in 2024, according to a poll released Tuesday.

"While 31% of Republican and Republican-leaning independents want Trump to run again in two years, 61% say they would rather have another GOP standard-bearer, the USA Today/Suffolk University survey found.

It appears that the Republican Party is moving on and leaving Trump behind. This according to a prominent Republican governor.

CNN reports, "New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu makes one thing clear: His vision for the future of the Republican Party does not include former President Donald Trump.

"In the latest episode of “Being…”, the GOP governor told CNN’s Dana Bash, “He’s done his time. He’s done his service. We’re moving on.”

"Taking it a step further, Sununu – who just won a fourth two-year term in the Granite State by 15 percentage points – said it’s “un-American” to “be a country where the best opportunity for our future leadership is the leadership of yesterday.”

"Unprompted, Sununu brought up Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a stronger potential candidate than Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary."

Unfortunately for the GOP, the educationally challenged rural voters that dominate the party at the grassroots level are hanging on to Trump. No one knows why, and they are not talking.

CNN adds, "According to a new CNN poll, DeSantis’ favorability among Republicans and Republican-leaning independent voters overall outpaces Trump: 74% view DeSantis favorably while 63% have a favorable view of Trump.

Trump's major announcement today? The former President unveiled a “limited edition collection” of NFT trading cards featuring cartoon-like images of himself depicted as a superhero. This follows his announcement that our Constitution should be terminated, which was preceded by his dining with a white supremacist and an antisemitic.

Maybe that's why farmers and rural shopkeepers like him.