To Keep Mr Biden on the Ticket

For John, BLUF:  While my view of the situation in DC is different from Mr Cohen's in some respects, I think he does a good job of laying out why the Democrats should stick with Mr Joseph Biden.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Ridin' With Biden

Here is the sub-headline:

I look at both sides of the Biden vs. Harris argument and conclude that we're not living in an Aaron Sorkin and Democrats have one choice -- stay the course

From Truth and Consequences, by Opinionator Michael A Cohen (Speech Boy), 1 July 2024.

Here is the lede plus six:

Not Good Bob, Not Good

Over the last few days, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and talking to smart political observers about the dilemma facing the Democratic Party since the Apocalypse in Atlanta (trademark pending). I’ve tried to approach this issue in the most analytical and empirical manner possible. But I want to make one point at the outset.

I have no particular affection for Joe Biden.

He’s a politician and a means to an end. In an era of deep partisan polarization— and as the Republican Party has been taken over by a raving lunatic and has no attachment to basic democratic norms — no Democratic president or politician is sacred. They are all replaceable. The only question is a political one: who is best positioned to keep Trump and the GOP out of the White House?

Don’t get me wrong—Joe Biden has been an excellent president. He pulled the United States out of Afghanistan, handled the wars in Ukraine and Gaza with deftness and effective diplomacy, and his legislative agenda is one of the most impressive since LBJ. I’m not overly concerned about this ability to carry out his duties as president in a second term.

But, if I thought he was likely to lose in November and there was a better option in the wings to take his place, I’d be the first person to push him under the bus. This is not the time for sentimentality.

The problem is I don’t.

I think Michael Cohen makes a good case for retaining Prewident Joe Biden on the Democratic Party Ticket.  You may be a supporter of Candidate Trump, but it is good to undertand the terrain from other points of view.  This is such a chance..

And, you can subacribe to this substack at no cost for the basic output.  For the duration of the Election.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Stop Asking For Uncle Sm to Pay Your Bills

For John, BLUF:  We can't have it all and trying to do it will bankrupt the nation.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Pols want data on migrant sponsors

Here is the sub-headline:

Letter demands Gov. Healey conduct review, require reimbursement

From The Lowell Sun, by Boston Herald Reporter Gayla Cawley, 3 July 2024.

Here is the lede plus one:

A group of Massachusetts senators are demanding that the governor review how many migrant families being supported by taxpayers entered the U.S. on the condition of having their expenses covered by a sponsor, and that she make those people pay up.

Eleven state senators, led by Democrat Michael Moore and Republican Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, sent a letter to Gov. Maura Healey and Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Edward Augustus, calling for accountability for those who have made commitments to provide financial support for migrants under the federal Humanitarian Parole Program, “but have not fulfilled that commitment.”

All good stuff, but I want to focus on a paragraph further down in the story;:

“We appreciate the pressure you have placed on the federal government, and we continue to hope that Congress will act,” the June 25 letter states. “However, we ask that you also seek to hold to account those who have legally committed themselves to provide financial support for these migrants.”

While I am relatively confident immigrants are not clamoring to go to Alasks or North Dakota.♠  That said, immigrants do tend to be spread out across the fruited plain, if not by choioce, then by the acts of certain State Governors.

This, in turn, means that there are not large pockets of US tgaxpayers who can pony up the money for Massachusetts or New York City or Chicago to house immigrants.  The only way the Federal Government can hep the individual states to pay for the care and feeding of our millions of illegal immigrants is to print money.  We are financing it with debt.

As Senator Evertt Dirkson (R-IL) is reported to have said:  "A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you're talking real money."

This is not a good situation.  It is only aqdding to the inflaqtion problem we are alredy facing.  The TV Network CNBC said, in March o fthis year, "The U.S. national debt is rising by $1 trillion about every 100 days".  In February of this year Forbes reported that the Congressional Budget Office now says tht the interest on the US Federeal debt now exceeds the Defense Budget.

This growing debt will eat our budget.  Not just Defense, but also things like Social Security and Medicare.  It will damage, and then destory the US Dollar as the world reservre currency.  As US News and World Report told us in February of this year, "For the U.S., it would likely mean less access to capital, higher borrowing costs and lower stock market values."  That i bad news for ll families as they try to live from paycheck to paycheck.  It also means, in th eend, less support for those who need Government support.

We need to wake up and realize that we can not do everything.  We need to prioritize and look for cheaper solutions.  We need to stsrt paying down our natoinal debt before it eats the budget.

And, perhpas we should turn off the flow of illegal immigrants, who are costing us a lot of money, and interest payments.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  An old Air Force expression about Montana is "Why not Minot?  Freezin' is the reason."

Fire the DNC

For John, BLUF:  The author sees the current problems of the Democratic Party as a collective problem of the Democratic Natinoal Committee, reflecting on the broad leadership of the party, which seems to have adopted "go along to get along".  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Memo to the DNC:  You share the blame for Biden’s bait-and-switch

Here is the sub-headline:

The loyalty of millions of voters is being sorely tested by the failure of the Democratic National Committee to hold the president to his implicit campaign pledge to serve one term

From The Boston Globe, by Columnist Larry Edelman, 1 July 2024.

Here is the lede plus four:

If the Democratic Party were a publicly traded company, the mishandling of the presidential nomination process by its board of directors — the Democratic National Committee — would likely have sparked a revolt by investors. Here’s how an activist investor might respond.

To: Jaime Harrison, chair, Democratic National Committee
Re: Thanks for nothing

A lifelong Democrat, I’ve voted for each and every one of our party’s presidential nominees since 1980 — sometimes enthusiastically, other times not. I think I’ve pulled the lever for exactly one Republican in an election at any level: Bill Weld, for governor of Massachusetts. And he might as well have been one of us. (Even the Globe endorsed him in 1990.)

But my loyalty — and the loyalty of millions of Democrats like me — is being sorely tested by the failure of you and the rest of the DNC leadership to hold President Biden to his implicit campaign pledge to serve one term.

This is a view, and one worth considering.

I am a Registered Republican, but even I see the present problems within the Democrstic Party as not being good for our Democracy.  We do not need for the Democratic Party to implode, and then perhaps fragment,  While I don't expect the Democratic Party to emerge as the Party of my youth, I do hope it emerges as a party capable of winning elections, not as the representative of some angry minority that fails to reflect the values of the average American.

Regards  —  Cliff