A report card on the Biden administration

Manchin and Sinema are on record of joining with Republicans to defeat voting rights legislation, freeing up state Republican legislatures to pass more laws to make it harder for Americans to vote.

The Republican Party has no shame in restricting voting access.

Vladimir Putin, who wanted Trump to become our President in 2016, could not be more pleased. Why? Restricting voting access restricts American democracy as fewer people have a say in their government, and that is the entire intent of the Republican Party.

CNN reports, "Senate Democrats suffered a major defeat Wednesday evening in their efforts to pass voting rights legislation -- a key issue for the party, which is under pressure to take action ahead of the midterm elections just months away.

"An attempt by Democrats to change filibuster rules in order to pass a voting bill failed amid opposition from moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. The vote was 52-48, with the two moderates joining all GOP senators. After the vote failed, there was a loud round of applause from Republicans."

"After the vote failed, there was a loud round of applause from Republicans."

Sinema provided some politicalese B.S. to justify her vote. She said she was opposed to "actions that would deepen our divisions and risk repeated radical reversals in federal policy."

In other words, the Democrat voted against the wishes of her party and the Democratic President because some disaster may happen some time in the future while allowing a disaster to happen in the present.

Between January 1 and September 27, at least 19 states enacted 33 laws that make it harder for Americans to vote. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-october-2021

"As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis runs for president and looks to the final year of his first term in office, he is, again, turning to the nonexistent notion of widespread voter fraud to bolster his appeal with the Republican base. His latest proposal is the creation of something called the Office of Election Crime and Security. That move comes just months after DeSantis signed one of the most restrictive voting bills in the country into law," CNN.

Manchin's excuse is even more lame, bordering on the surreal, something about favoring bipartisan compromise. That's a dream. With the exception of infrastructure funding, the GOP is the party of "NO." They want the Biden administration to fail.

As do Manchin and Sinema.

It is self-evident both Manchin and Sinema want exactly what the Republican Party wants -- make it harder for Americans to vote and make it impossible for President Biden to achieve his agenda.

 

As the January Sixth Select Committee closes in, Donald Trump is having a very bad week.

The Times reports, "The House committee investigating the Capitol riot requested cooperation from the former president’s daughter and revealed what it has learned about what unfolded inside the White House that day.

"The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot on Thursday requested cooperation from Ivanka Trump, as it revealed pieces of what it has learned about a scramble inside the White House that day to get President Donald J. Trump to denounce and call off the mob that was laying siege to the Capitol.

"In a letter to Ms. Trump, the former president’s eldest daughter who served as one of his senior advisers, the committee said it had obtained evidence that multiple White House officials — including Ms. Trump, at least twice — had implored Mr. Trump to call off the violence, only to be rebuffed."

In addition to Trump's daughter, Trump's son, Eric, and the Supreme Court rejection, Trump's lawyer received a subpoena. Giuliani is deeply involved in the stolen election scheme, and that could have an affect on Trump's guilt or innocence.

Giuliani was not doing this on his own. He was being financed by Trump.

CNN reports, "Trump campaign officials, led by Rudy Giuliani, oversaw efforts in December 2020 to put forward illegitimate electors from seven states that Trump lost, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the scheme.

"The sources said members of former President Donald Trump's campaign team were far more involved than previously known in the plan, a core tenet of the broader plot to overturn President Joe Biden's victory when Congress counted the electoral votes on January 6.

"Trump and some of his top advisers publicly encouraged the "alternate electors" scheme in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, Nevada and New Mexico. But behind the scenes, Giuliani and Trump campaign officials actively choreographed the process, the sources said.

"One fake elector from Michigan boasted at a recent event hosted by a local Republican organization that the Trump campaign directed the entire operation."

The scheme was integral to Trump's plan to get then-Vice President Mike Pence to throw out Biden's electors and replace them with the GOP electors on January 6 when Congress counted the electoral votes.

 

"In the longest Presidential press conference in American history, President Biden answered questions from 24 reporters from the White House Press Corps. The questions were on every conceivable subject, and the President, using his vast experience, answered each in concise terms."

Very often a gaffe is revealing about a person's true beliefs. This may be true of the Republican Senator from Kentucky.

"This outrageous mischaracterization of my record as a result of leaving one word out inadvertently the other day, which I just now supplied to you, is deeply offensive," the Kentucky Republican said Friday in Louisville.

CNN reports, "On Wednesday, at his weekly policy news conference at the US Capitol, McConnell was asked whether voters of color would be hurt if Democrats' election legislation did not pass, and he replied: "The concern is misplaced, because if you look at the statistics, African American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans."

McConnell's explanation only made matters worse.

"He again misspoke on Friday and incorrectly stated what the omitted word had been and had to come back to the mics to clean it up again. At first he said he had meant to say the word "almost" before Americans in his comment. At the end of his news conference, he returned to the mics after consulting with an aide, who seemed to tell him he had misstated it again, clarifying he had meant to say the omitted word was "all.'"

And Republicans are telling us that our President is senile!

 

Politico reports, "A draft executive order that then-President Donald Trump considered signing in December 2020 would've directed the Pentagon to seize voting machines in key states and hunt for evidence of fraud, according to a draft published by Politico.

"Trump never signed the executive order. But it would've directed the Secretary of Defense to "seize, collect, retain and analyze all machines, equipment, electronically stored information, and material records" related to Trump's false claims of an international vote-rigging conspiracy to deprive him of a second term in the White House, according to the draft.

"It is unclear who wrote the draft order, which is full of legal language asserting presidential powers to seize the election equipment and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election."

On its surface this matter is superfluous. Many draft orders are written for the President, and many go unsigned.

The significance of this draft order is that it illustrates how far around the bend the President had gone.

In addition, the draft order illustrates the mood of the White House. Order "the Secretary of Defense to "seize, collect, retain and analyze all machines, equipment, electronically stored information, and material records" related to Trump's false claims of an international vote-rigging conspiracy to deprive him of a second term in the White House."

It is surreal to imagine an order like that, signed or unsigned, being written in the White House.

But it was written in the Trump White House.

This is just the start of the evidence being compiled by the January Sixth committee as a consequence of the Supreme Court's rejection of the Trump lawsuit.

 

Fake News. Republicans work to make it Easy to Vote, but, Hard to Cheat.

​

 

California’s GDP is larger than Russia’s.

There are serious doubts Russia will invade Ukraine. Wars are very costly, and Ukraine has a respectable, battle hardened military. In addition, she will get military assistance from NATO. If she invades, the sanctions placed on Russia and Russian leaders by the NATO countries will likely be more costly than the war itself. Russia is bluffing to obtain security assurances.

I wrote that several days ago, and as matters are supposedly worsening, I stand by my statement.

ABC News reports, "As tensions rise in the standoff over Ukraine, the Department of Homeland Security has warned that the U.S. response to a possible Russian invasion could result in a cyberattack launched against the U.S. by the Russian government or its proxies."

CNN reports, "As many as 8,500 US troops have been put on heightened alert for a possible deployment to Eastern Europe as Russian troops mass on Ukraine's border, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday.

"US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued the prepare to deploy orders at the direction of President Joe Biden, the latest step the US has taken to prepare for a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine that officials have warned could be imminent."

Significantly, "no final decision to deploy the troops had been made," CNN.

Of course, the State Department had to get into the act. NPR reports, "The State Department ordered the family members of staff at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, to leave the country, as fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine grow."

"Ukraine criticized the move to withdraw diplomats’ families as “premature, and a result of "excessive caution,'” NBC.

The fact that Ukraine is critical of the U.S. moves is highly significant. Apparently, Ukraine also has serious about a Russian invasion.

Because of my belief that Putin will not order an invasion, I have suspicions as to why the Biden administration is doing all this. Is it because they want to draw attention away from domestic problems such as inflation, the long suffering pandemic, legislative failures, and very low marks in the polls, as well as other issues?

Just asking.

 

I got a real charge out of this when I read it.

CNN writes, "The White House pivot comes with Biden now under searing pressure from Republicans to show more strength in the confrontation and follows a week in which he was heavily criticized for hastily walked-back comments that played into the Russian leader's hopes of dividing NATO.

"Several Republicans accused the President of showing weakness and appeasing Putin in talk show appearances on Sunday. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo struck a jarring tone by describing the Kremlin strongman as a "very talented statesman" who knew how to use power. GOP critiques of Biden ignored the party's tolerance of ex-President Donald Trump's craven deference to the Russian leader and some came across as an attempt to use a national security crisis to damage Biden politically ahead of midterm elections in 2022 and the 2024 presidential election."

Now that's funny, and here's why. Republicans are counting on Americans forgetting Helsinki.

July 16, 2018, "Helsinki, Finland CNN US President Donald Trump, in a stunning rebuke of the US intelligence community, declined on Monday to endorse the US government’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, saying he doesn’t “see any reason why” Russia would be responsible.

"Instead, Trump – standing alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin – touted Putin’s vigorous denial.

“I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today,” Trump said during a joint news conference after he spent about two hours in a room alone with Putin, save for a pair of interpreters."

No one, and I mean no one, knows what transpired during those two hours, not any of Trump's closest advisors, and certainly not the news media.

We only know, at great expense, Putin managed a campaign in 2016 to get Trump elected. Considering Trump's continued attack on America's free elections -- from Putin's viewpoint -- it was an effort that keeps on giving.

"Several Republicans accused the President of showing weakness and appeasing Putin."

Aw, man, that's rich.

Today, Trump is the acknowledged leader of the Republican Party.

 

The White House said a Russian invasion was "imminent," and American troops have been placed on high alert to deploy to Europe in a show of reassurance. President Biden told reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin “continues to build forces along Ukraine’s border,” and an attack “would be the largest invasion since World War II. It would change the world.”

Not so fast, according to Ukraine's leadership.

ABC News reports, "Ukraine's leaders sought Tuesday to reassure the nation that an invasion from neighboring Russia was not imminent, even as they acknowledged the threat is real and received a shipment of U.S. military equipment to shore up their defenses.

However, as ABC points out, "Several rounds of high stakes diplomacy have failed to yield any breakthroughs, and tensions escalated further this week. NATO said it was bolstering its deterrence in the Baltic Sea region, and the U.S. ordered 8,500 troops on higher alert for potential deployment to Europe."

“We have no intention of putting American forces or NATO forces in Ukraine,” President Biden has said.

ABC continued, "Ukrainian authorities, however, have sought to project calm. Speaking in the second televised speech to the nation in as many days, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians not to panic."

"We are strong enough to keep everything under control and derail any attempts at destabilization,” he said.

"The decision by the U.S., Britain, Australia, Germany and Canada to withdraw some of their diplomats and dependents from Kyiv “doesn't necessarily signal an inevitable escalation and is part of a complex diplomatic game,” he said. ”We are working together with our partners as a single team."

"Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told parliament that “as of today, there are no grounds to believe” Russia will invade imminently."

All of this is getting curiouser and curiouser.

 

This is an interesting aside to the current crisis involving Ukraine.

CNN reports, "An undersea pipeline set to deliver gas from Russia to Germany has become exactly what the two countries have always insisted it would never be: A weapon in a geopolitical crisis.

"The United States, United Kingdom, Ukraine and several European Union member states have fiercely opposed the pipeline ever since it was first announced in 2015, warning the project would boost Moscow's influence in Europe.

"The 1,200-km (750-mile) pipeline was completed in September and is now awaiting final certification. But even though the pipeline isn't operational yet, it has already acted as a huge wedge between the traditional allies at a time of huge tensions between Russia and the West.

"According to experts, that on its own is a win for Russian President Vladimir Putin."

 

The leader of the Republican Party is an enigma when it comes to the Republican Party.

CNN explains. "Former President Donald Trump has been relentless in his attacks against Senate Minority Mitch McConnell, making Republicans uneasy as they battle for the majority in the November midterms.

"But McConnell doesn't see his clash with the former President emerging as much of an issue -- at least not yet (or so he says).

"In an interview with CNN, the GOP leader noted that he and Trump are on the same page in backing the same candidate in two of the hottest Senate races -- Nevada and Georgia. He has stayed neutral in Alabama where Trump endorsed a primary contender. And the Kentucky Republican believes that no matter which GOP candidate emerges from intraparty battles in Pennsylvania, North Carolina or Ohio, his party will be well-positioned to hold the GOP seats there."

Then there is the Big Lie.

CNN continued, "But one issue continues to percolate over the party: Whether the 2020 election was rigged and stolen, a lie that Trump continues to peddle and which a growing number of GOP candidates are embracing to curry favor with the former President.

To which McConnell responded, "It's important for candidates to remember we need to respect the results of our democratic process unless the court system demonstrates that some significant fraud occurred that would change the outcome."

CNN added, "The delicate dance underscores the stakes for the 2022 midterm elections. While Republicans have the most favorable environment in years, buoyed by President Joe Biden's sinking approval ratings, historical trends and voter anxiety over Covid-19 and the economy, the GOP knows full well that battle for control of the Senate remains on a knife's edge -- and that any single factor could upend a majority-making race."

And that single factor most certainly could be Trump and the events before, during, and after January Sixth, 2021.

As has become customary, there will be no response to the issues by the forum's Republicans. Their inability to defend their own party is truly remarkable.

 

NBC News reports, "Justice Stephen Breyer will step down from the Supreme Court at the end of the current term, according to people familiar with his thinking.

"Breyer is one of the three remaining liberal justices, and his decision to retire after more than 27 years on the court allows President Joe Biden to appoint a successor who could serve for decades and, in the short term, maintain the current 6-3 split between conservative and liberal justices."

Now the only question remaining is, inasmuch as Sinema and Manchin are acting more like Republicans than Democrats, blocking everything the Democratic President is trying to do, will either one or both block Biden's appointment to the Supreme Court?

 

Sienna and Manchin aren’t blocking everything Biden tries to do, they’re blocking very specific actions they think are bad for the country. They ate still Democrats and I see no reason they would block his Supreme Court nominations.

 

It's pretty funny how many times the op repeatedly derails his own thread by changing the topic to Trump.

Tells you there's not a hell of a lot good to report on Biden.

Anyone else tired of your social media constantly being flooded by your liberal friends with biden's many accomplishments?

.... Yeah, me neither.

 

The Republican Party is dominated by education challenged Trump cultists from the rural counties of America. In other words, farmers, ranchers, and rural shopkeepers with limited education. They hear what they want to hear from Fox News and far right sources, and they don't want to be bothered by reality.

A majority of Trump Republicans are so naive, gullible, and misinformed they are unaware that the Russian communist dictator, Vladimir Putin, is the enemy and our President is the good guy.

How else would you explain this?

That is not rhetorical question. I really would like to know.

A recent poll found that 62% of Republicans consider the Russian ruler more capable than our President.

Yahoo News reports, "With at least 100,000 Russian troops massing on the border of Ukraine, more than 6 in 10 Republicans and GOP-leaning independents (62 percent) now say Russian President Vladimir Putin is “a stronger leader” than Joe Biden, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll.

"Fewer than half as many Republicans (25 percent) decline to take sides, saying neither leader is stronger than the other.

"And just 4 percent of Republicans say Biden is stronger than Putin."

That is sad and pathetic. In recent years the Republican Party has changed drastically. On the grassroots level, Trump Republicans practically worship Donald Trump, and, against all evidence to the contrary, they really believe the election was stolen from their idol. In the upcoming mid-terms, many Republicans who are in the hunt support Trump's Big Lie.

But, at the very least, Trump Republicans were considered patriotic Americans.

That is now in serious question.

It is expected that the forum's Republicans will stay silent about all this. After all, what can they say? Best to let it blow over.

But will anyone reading this forget the misplaced loyalty and betrayal on the part of Republicans?

These same Republicans expect to win control of Congress in the November mid-terms.

Can we let that happen?

 

President Biden isn't the only one having problems keeping his flock in line. Mitch is having problems of his own.

Chris Cillizza explains. "Mitch McConnell is a very careful politician. He rarely acts rashly or speaks without thinking first. Which means that when he does talk, it's usually worth paying very close attention to what he says.

"Which brings me to an interview CNN's Manu Raju and Alex Rogers conducted with McConnell, the Senate minority leader, about Republican prospects in the 2022 midterms -- and, in particular, former President Donald Trump's ongoing insistence that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him."

"It's important for candidates to remember we need to respect the results of our democratic process unless the court system demonstrates that some significant fraud occurred that would change the outcome," McConnell said.

"And McConnell is right that focusing on the idea of a stolen past election is the surest way to lose a future election. Elections are usually decided by a candidate's vision for what comes next, not by dwelling on what has already happened."

But are Republicans running for office listening? There are doubts.

"I need to say something that I get attacked by the media for saying this, I get attacked by my opponents for saying this, but I believe it very strongly and so I want to say it up here: I believe the election was stolen from Donald J. Trump," Josh Mandel, the Republican front-runner in the Ohio Senate race.

Eric Greitens, the current leader of a crowded Republican field in the Missouri Senate race, "We need to have audits across the country because we must get election integrity back," Greitens said.

Rep. Billy Long, who is running in that same Missouri GOP primary, recently released a new ad in which he says this: "Democrats rigged the election. Now we have Biden and the far-left crazies letting inflation rise faster than an auctioneer rattling off numbers," Long says. "I'm running for Senate to stop the insanity, stop the wokeness, and stop the Democrats from stealing another election."

Rep. Ted Budd, the Trump-endorsed candidate in the North Carolina Senate race, voted against certifying the Electoral College results on January 6, 2021. As did Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks, another Trump-backed candidate in the state's open Senate contest.

There is much more, but the reader gets the point.

 

It sometimes appears as if the Trump Rs' WANT a form of authoritarianism............. as that is how they perceive "strength." Also because Trump is so enamored with "strongmen"......( dictators )........they seem to follow suit.

 

Biden says 14.5 mln Americans have signed up for health insurance since November

WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden said on Thursday 14.5 million Americans have signed up for health insurance since Nov. 1, attributing the progress to the passage of his pandemic relief package and the re-opening of an online health insurance marketplace last year.

The data includes more than 10 million who enrolled through a U.S government website HealthCare.gov during an open enrollment period, Biden said in a statement. He said the numbers were the "highest ever produced" during such an event.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bi...p-health-insurance-since-november-2022-01-27/

 

Biden vows to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court by end of February, saying, ‘It’s long overdue’

President Biden told reporters at the White House that he intends to announce his choice to replace Justice Stephen G. Breyer before the end of February. He promised during the 2020 campaign to select a Black woman for any vacancy and maintained Thursday that he would fulfill that pledge.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...Q.1fUyptske3kqax0bow9Hfk3sf3D23Ezb2UeAc75PqN8

 

When Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announced his impending retirement, Democrats rejoiced. Stepping down will ensure President Joe Biden will nominate a replacement who could maintain a seat on the bench for decades to come.

CNN reports, "On paper, it should be smooth sailing for Biden to get his nomination confirmed. Since Senate Republicans removed Supreme Court picks from the filibuster in 2017, the President only needs a simple majority to move through the confirmation process.

"But the reality is likely to be messier. With the midterms approaching, Senate Republicans are likely to oppose the nomination -- whoever it is -- and use it to rally the base.

"Biden should be able to ignore all of that -- if he has the support of Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. But this raises the question of whether the President will face a repeat of the Build Back Better battle, with just two Democrats tanking the party's ability to move forward and allowing the Republican minority to rule the roost."

We shouldn't underestimate the willingness of these two senators to go against the grain, having forged identities as the voices of "moderation, compromise, and bipartisanship."

But what if Republicans are not the least bit interested in moderation, compromise, and bipartisanship? Their only interest is to make sure Biden fails.

Manchin and Sinema have no answer to that question.

 

Biden deserves exactly as much cooperation by Republicans as Trump was given by Democrats. You created the rules.

 

No real basis for this concern, unless Biden nominates a real screwball he'll even pick up a few GOP votes, though if he rushes the process the likely GOP pick-ups will not support a rush job.

​

63% of Arizona Republicans view Sinema favorably versus just 16% of Arizona Democrats

Lock-stepping dems do not tolerate intellectual diversity.

 

Manchin's net is on wheels. What they are both doing is fund raising off of big corps and Trump's base (the folks' ripe for the picking). Sinema's on borrowed time.

 

That's not really in question.

 

CNN reports, "Recently, ex-President Donald Trump proudly declared, "What's happening with Russia and Ukraine would never have happened under the Trump administration. Not even a possibility!"

"That may actually be true. After all, just a couple of years ago, Trump was impeached for trying to use Ukraine to dig up dirt on his potential presidential rival Joe Biden. He tried to push Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to "do us a favor" and investigate Biden and his son, Hunter -- all while holding up almost $400 million in crucial military aid.

Beginning with 2016 election campaign, during which Vladimir Putin went all out to get Trump elected, it is safe to say Trump and Putin have been allies.

This is borne out by the events in Helsinki in 2018.

July 16, 2018, "Helsinki, Finland CNN US President Donald Trump, in a stunning rebuke of the US intelligence community, declined on Monday to endorse the US government’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, saying he doesn’t “see any reason why” Russia would be responsible.

"Instead, Trump – standing alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin – touted Putin’s vigorous denial."

“I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today,” Trump said during a joint news conference after he spent about two hours in a room alone with Putin, save for a pair of interpreters.

No one knows what transpired during those two hours, not any of Trump's closest advisors, and certainly not the news media.

CNN added, "Given Trump's predilection to hug Russia it's probably a good bet that Russian President Vladimir Putin wouldn't be pulling these particular tricks right now. Trump was his guy. When Bill O'Reilly pointed out to Trump that Putin was a killer, he demurred. "There are a lot of killers," Trump said. " ... You think our country's so innocent?"

Many remember that comment. It was a remarkably stupid statement to make, particularly for an American President.

But Trump was just going with the flow as far as his devout followers were concerned. The majority of Republicans are no different in terms of their allegiance to Putin.

This is quite astounding.

A recent poll found that 62% of Republicans consider the Russian ruler more capable than our President.

Yahoo News reports, "With at least 100,000 Russian troops massing on the border of Ukraine, more than 6 in 10 Republicans and GOP-leaning independents (62 percent) now say Russian President Vladimir Putin is “a stronger leader” than Joe Biden, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll.

"And just 4 percent of Republicans say Biden is stronger than Putin."

So, yeah, Putin wouldn't be doing this if Trump and the Republicans were in charge. After all, why rock the boat?

Trump and the Republicans expect to gain control of Congress in the November mid-terms.

Just as they always do, the forum's Republicans will remain silent on the issues of this report.

 

Have you ever considered that American citizens who say Putin is stronger than Biden might be correct? The truth is Biden is putting our country in danger by proving to be a weak, pathetic leader, in way over his head in his Job. China, Iran, and Russia all know it and will take advantage of the old fool.