A Big Night Of Debates
It was an interesting night for the three debates that were held. The voters in each state will decide what direction they want the nation going. I am satisfied about one thing and upset about another.
I am satisfied that the issues came to the forefront. Forget the obvious health issue of John Fetterman, who should probably not be going through this.
Fracking, which has been cut and almost ceased is a contributor to the higher oil costs that have driven inflation. Republicans are for it, Democrats are not (despite the Fetterman change).
Voters can decide on higher prices vs more oil production in America.
In N.Y. crime was front and center.
Congressman Lee Zeldin brought it all out and challenged Governor Hochul.
It was clear Zeldin is ready to crack down and Hochul is just discovering the issue.
New Yorkers can now decide if they care enough to change Governors.
In Michigan the issue of shut downs was front and center.
The voters can now decide how they want their state run.
The shame is that these debates are so late in the process. With mail in voting well under way they should be conducted before mail in starts – or better yet, the early voting period cut to a reasonable time to allow debates prior.
America Today
This finding is so anti the American Dream that we hope people consider it before they cast their mid term vote:
Just 42% of US adults think today’s youth will have a better life than their parents — an 18-point drop since June 2019.
Don’t we all do as much as we can (except worry about the deficit) because we want and believe our children will have a better future?
We need leaders who project a vision to create that future.
Speaking of deficits – because we feel so strongly about them:
Just released data from the Treasury Department said that:
For fiscal year 2022 federal tax revenues reached an all-time high of $4.89 trillion.
As a share of GDP, revenues were at or near an all-time peak as well.
The bad news:
Thanks to the administrations spending spree the total outlays for 2022 were a world record $6.72 trillion.
So, even with the surge in tax collections the federal government still managed to run a $1.2 trillion deficit.
That number is one of the largest In our nation’s history.
Every time you hear the President boasting that he lowered the deficit, remember those numbers.
He “lowered” the deficit because of $2 trillion of spending due in large part to the pandemic.
It is false advertising, as I see it.
Even worse was this news yesterday on top of the declining math and reading scores we reported:
Schools have spent only a small fraction of the money earmarked to combat learning loss from the pandemic despite growing evidence that students are struggling to catch up, according to the analysis.
President Biden released $120 billion through his 2021 virus-relief package to reopen classrooms and help students who fell behind academically.
Two-thirds of the money was released within two weeks of the president signing the law.
Yet only 15% of the funding known as ESSER III was spent during the 2021-2022 school year, according to an analysis from The Washington Post, Georgetown University and Edunomics, an education finance group.
I say again, we need leadership as good as our people. Let me add one more thing here.
There was a data release yesterday from the National Assessment of Educational Progress indicate that students who attended Catholic schools were largely spared from the national decline in reading and math that we reported yesterday.
Why? Two reasons I think and a bigger issue that should be addressed:
First, Catholic Schools were open for in class far more than public schools.
Second, there is a different measure of discipline, involvement and review with the private school.
The larger issue is should parents have the right to choose a school for their children with the tax dollars expended?
Yesterday we mentioned voting in Georgia and the charges of “repression.” Then these stats came out:
About 838,000 Georgians had cast their ballots through Sunday — most of them in person at advance voting sites, the rest returning mail ballots.
That’s almost 60% higher than advance voting totals at this point in 2018, the last midterm election.
In fact, more than 10% of Georgia’s registered voters have already voted.
Does Major League Baseball want to apologize to Atlanta for their lost revenue from moving the all-star game?
Last week Speaker to be McCarthy put his foot in his mouth and gave the Democrats an issue when he said he was not wholly in favor of future aid packages to Ukraine.
A simply poor statement at the wrong time with his party gaining traction for the mid terms. How a seasoned public figure could say that, when he did, makes you wonder about his leadership ability.
Democrats were quick to label McCarthy and team – “Putin Republicans.”
The advantage did not last long.
A letter was released written by Congressional Progressive Caucus chairperson Pramila Jayapal and co signed by 30 fellow Democrats urging the President to conduct direct diplomacy with Putin and Russia over Ukraine.
The immediate reaction was “how could you do this?” We had an issue and you destroyed it.
The thirty then announced the letter was weeks old and not for publication and they were withdrawing it.
Too late, damage done.
So one side shoots itself and the other follows suit. Not good.
Who Do They Think They Are?
I bet you are as disgusted as I am with the climate activists who have been defacing valued art and then gluing themselves to the wall.
They did this in recent weeks with a Picasso, Botticelli and Van Gogh.
They were shouting this question: “What is worth more: art or life?” As if the art was polluting the air.
From my standpoint, we should leave them glued to the wall for a good period, then take them in, book them and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
What gives them the right to destroy century old paintings because they have a belief. We all have beliefs, and my belief is you should pay a price.
Let’s See What Today Brings.
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