New Is Old In California
It’s not a surprise to readers here that Governor Newsom won yesterday. The day the recall vote was announced we told you to watch the hype, because this was not going to be close. Consider these facts:
Gov. Newsom won in Nov. 2018 with 61.9% of the vote. As of this writing he has 64% in the recall.
Thus, he is stronger now. That could well strengthen his hand going forward.
Larry Elder did win the vote to replace (Newsom was not listed) with 46% of the votes in a crowded field.
Remember all the hype about Caitlyn Jenner? Well she got 1.1%.
Here’s an early take away from the left leaning Hill, which most of the left will share:
TAKEAWAYS FROM CALIFORNIA’S RECALL ELECTION:
“Newsom’s margin was bigger than expected”
“Donald Trump is hurting the GOP”
“Democrats have cover to pursue recall reforms”
Woodward Has Another Book
Bob Woodward, this rime with Robert Costa as a co-author, has another inside hit piece. Look at some of the leaks coming out:
General Milley, after a conversation with Speaker Pelosi, called his Chinese counterpart to promise we were not planning to attack, and if we were he (Milley) would let the General know in advance!
Wow, a General overstepping his bounds and acting as Commander in Chief? Milley should be gone for incompetence before this, but yet he is still there. Why?
One more message for General Milley. I’m sure you were proud of yourself when you did this and proud to report back to the Speaker that you did it. Now I have a question for you.
Since it was a conversation between you and her, who do you think leaked to Bob Woodward and told him this? I’ll give you a hint, it wasn’t you. Your friend the Speaker sold you out. RESIGN TODAY.
By the way, even your Democratic friends have turned on you. Did you know what Alexander Vindman, the Democrats’ star impeachment witness on Ukraine said.
“If this is true GEN Milley must resign, he usurped civilian authority, broke Chain of Command, and violated the sacrosanct principle of civilian control over the military. It’s an extremely dangerous precedent. You can’t simply walk away from that.” General, be careful in the future on how you pick your friends. RESIGN.
The book also reveals that Former President Trump is still angry with Republicans who blamed him for the insurrection, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. The book quotes him as saying:
‘This guy called me every single day, pretended to be my best friend, and then, he f’.. me. He’s not a good guy.’ They also quoted Trump as dismissing McCarthy’s attempts to get back into his good graces.
“Kevin came down to kiss my ass and wants my help to win the House back.”
Wait Now, The President Said
The book says that President Biden didn’t heed warnings from Defense Secretary Austin and Secretary of State Blinken or a slower withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
Oh really, you mean President Biden lied and not everyone was in lock step?
Both Blinken and Austin are an embarrassment and should resign.
Add this:
The top U.S. general on the ground in Afghanistan told top Pentagon officials that he opposed the total withdrawal of troops before President Biden made the final decision. In a closed briefing to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. Austin Scott Miller confirmed that he registered his dissent with Mr. Biden’s decision with the top brass — Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin; Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the head of U.S. Central Command.
Mr. Biden was asked in an interview last month whether his military advisers suggested that he keep a residual force in Afghanistan to avoid a total collapse. He told interviewer George Stephanopoulos
“No. No one said that to me.”
Sen. James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Tuesday after the closed briefing that “we heard enough to know that there are inconsistencies between what the administration has said and the truth.”
“Clearly President Biden didn’t listen to all military advice,” Mr. Inhofe said.
On Resigning
We’re far from alone calling for resignations for two weeks now. Look what Sen. Hawley is doing:
Sen. Josh Hawley pledged to hold up confirmation votes for all Pentagon or State Department nominees until key members of President Biden’s Cabinet resign over the Afghanistan pullout. Mr. Hawley issued the threat during a speech on the Senate floor when he introduced legislation honoring the 56 Missourians who died while deployed to Afghanistan.
He called for the resignations of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
For each nominee, unanimous consent of all senators is required to open the debate in the full chamber. If even one senator does not agree, a hold is placed on the nomination. Mr. Hawley said he would not “consent to the nomination” of any nominee for the State or Defense departments until Mr. Blinken, Mr. Austin and Mr. Sullivan step down.“ Leaders take responsibility for their failures,” he said. “And the failure of these individuals, the failure of this administration has cost Americans their lives”.
There are approximately 81 State Department and 12 Department of Defense nominees pending in the Senate.
He’s not alone in his anger at the administration. Read this:
The Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said that he may subpoena Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to appear before the panel to discuss the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and suggested he may consider blocking future Defense Department political nominees until Mr. Austin appears.
The sharp comments from Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey came at the opening of a long-awaited hearing with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the only Biden administration official so far to testify before Congress about the disastrous U.S. military exit from Afghanistan last month.
Mr. Austin refused an invitation, Mr. Menendez said.“I’m very disappointed that Secretary Austin declined our request to testify today.
“A full accounting of the U.S. response to this crisis is not complete without the Pentagon, especially when it comes to understanding the complete collapse of the U.S.-trained and funded Afghan military,” Mr. Menendez said.
The $3.5 Trillion
Back to President Biden. The book says he called Senator Manchin into the White House for a face to face in which he applied pressure after which Manchin agreed to the $1.9 trillion dollar spending program a few months back. Remember the one where Mnachin caved?
Well guess what?
Today the President has planned separate meetings with Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) on the $3.5 trillion dollar plan.
As they apply pressure to spend $3.5 trillion more, here’s what yesterday’s CPI reported on prices (inflation).
Price increases over last yr (CPI report)…
Gasoline: +42.7%
Used Cars: +31.9%
Gas Utilities: +21%
New Cars: +7.6%
Overall CPI: +5.3%
Electricity: +5.2%
Food away from home: +4.7%
Transportation: +4.6%
Apparel: +4.2%
Food at home: +3.0%
Shelter: +2.8%
Medical care service: +1.0%
How are they going to pay for it? Don’t worry, your kids and grandkids will. Here’s the NYT on payment:
The House Ways and Means Committee’s proposal to pay for $3.5 trillion in social spending leaves wealth gains and inheritances largely alone. It focuses instead on a more traditional target: income.
Oh that’s a good idea. I will say again, you can raise the rates as high as you want. It’s the deductions that matter.
And by the way, it’s not real income for the super rich, it is the value of the corporations that goes up. They don’t pay taxes on that each year.
But then again, this is about fooling the people, not solving anything.