Tag: Biden/Harris Administration

Opinion

Juneteenth is a big deal

President Biden signed the bill into law creating a new federal holiday to recognize the end of legal slavery in the United States. The Juneteenth Federal holiday is a big deal. It is not the reparations that are owed to African-American citizens targeted for disrespect mixed with social and economic warfare; but it is something. America has benefited from free labor, underpayment, and theft targeting Black people. The truth must come out before justice can be strengthened in America. Sadly an American political party (Republicans), and a percentage of citizens are fine with lying and injustice targeting their fellow citizens. How this all turns out is yet to be determined. Research and act to make the moral arc of the universe bend towards justice!

Opinion

Is America based on fear?

Is the American way of life based on fear of poverty and failure? For many people born into the right families poverty is not a possibility, but for others it is a daily threat. America is rated low for social mobility because the rich get richer and the rest remain anxious. No healthcare, universal pre-school, family leave for essential workers (or people in the gig economy) in our country. Many Americans live with the threat of missing a few checks leading to homelessness and poverty. Most school-aged children before the Biden tax plan lived in poverty. America is reputedly the richest country in the world but desperation is everywhere. Untreated mental illness leads the headlines on a daily basis. Are we going to do anything about the death and mayhem that are regular features of American life? Research, vote, and act to build a better future.

Opinion

Looking for root causes

It is refreshing to see Vice President Kamala Harris traveling to Central America to discuss root causes of desperate immigration trying to reach the United States. We often receive emotional appeals from Republicans to appeal to our fears, but rarely hear empowering ways America can use it’s power to create win-win solutions. Our future as humans on planet Earth is in jeopardy, as is our republic. Every adult American has an opportunity to help good to triumph over evil; but we will have to think and act to do it.

Opinion

Double whammies are a real threat due to climate change

The twin dangers of climate change and the failure to upgrade our power grids pose a large-scale lethal threat to Americans. Research has projected that American cities and power grids are not ready for heat waves that are increasingly common due to climate change. Heat waves have brought on rolling blackouts in cities that are not prepared to provide emergency cooling facilities for 98% of their populations. High temperatures without air conditioning lead to heat related deaths, and we could see them by the thousands in the near future. President Biden’s American Jobs Plan has provisions for upgrading out power grid. Make sure that you help to avoid thousands more American deaths (after more than 550,000 due to Trump foolishness) due to heat waves and inadequate power grids. Make sure that your representatives know where you stand on the American Jobs Plan.

Opinion

Investing in Americans

President Joe Biden is working to gain support for large investments (American Family Plan and the American Jobs Plan) in the American people after years of trickle down economics failing us. The president says that taxes on corporations and the top one percent will pay for the investments without driving up national debt (remember that the one percent have become much more wealthy in the last 50 years and can afford higher tax rates). Economist like Paul Krugman say that investments in Americans will actually increase GDP and make the United States a wealthier country. The other large impact of the Biden investments will be a healthier happier citizenry with more education, healthcare access, and job skills. I believe that President Biden’s proposal are the way to go for America, and the time for them is now. Research the Biden proposals and support Democrats if you believe the time for investment in the American people is now.

Opinion

Climate change and power grids

President Joe Biden is working to get an infrastructure bill passed that will create several hundred thousand good paying jobs. The passage of the bill will be timely because the window to eliminate carbon as a destructive force in our atmosphere is closing. Republicans may argue that the price tag for a multi-trillion dollar infrastructure bill is too high, but the cost of not getting the job done is the end of civilization as we know it. The good news is that we are already making important gains in clean energy. California spent several seconds at 94.5 percent renewable energy usage in late April of 2021. Operating at nearly 100 percent clean energy even on a good day is a big deal. This is great news because we are still in the early stages of renewable energy development and power grid updating. Clean energy costs are declining and are cheaper than fossil fuels for power generation companies. The infrastructure bill could push the United States into the fast lane of clean energy and efficient reliable power grids. No more Texas power grid nightmares and likely cheaper prices for electricity. Tell your representatives to get on board with the Biden infrastructure plan.

Opinion

We live in exciting times

The last four years of Trump and the spillover from the hatred and malevolence that flowed from it are an ongoing threat in our lives, but there are reasons for hope. The Biden/Harris Administration and the Democrats have the opportunity to build back a better United States with the following legislative actions: 1) The COVID response will lift potentially millions of children from poverty, 2) The For the People and John Lewis Acts will strengthen our democratic systems if passed, 3) Infrastructure legislation will lead to reduced carbon emissions, safer and more accessible transportation, a more robust and resilient transmission system, lower costs for citizens and business while producing high paying jobs for Americans. 4) Raising taxes on the wealthy while maintaining lower taxes on households making less than $400,000 per year. 5) A Healthcare bill could build a system worthy of the name that will be affordable to every citizen while providing support for mental and physical health. Mental health accessibility could reduce homicides , police killings, and societal stress. The possibilities for improved living while creating a sustainable world are real reasons for hope, but so are the good paying jobs that will be created building a healthier, resilient, socially mobile, and more fair society.

Opinion

Will immigration destabilize America?

Reports of increased numbers of immigrants at the US border with Mexico are making waves in local and national news outlets. Immigrants are reportedly saying they are coming because they believe that the Biden Administration will allow them more humanity. Immigration issues helped to power Trump to the presidency with his rhetoric about the wall (that immigrants now climb over) and policy of cruelty toward immigrants. Biden wants to return America to it’s status as a defender of human rights and decency, but news reports about increased undocumented immigrants threaten this idea. The Republicans will say that cruelty worked and Democrat’s policies of decency encourage undocumented immigration. Morality, truth, science, and human dignity mean little to power hungry Republicans. If they can make you believe that evil works better than decency their program of degenerating Democracy and seizing power will be further along. Immigration is about more than Black and Brown people showing up at the southern border; Climate Change, unstable countries, corruption, and criminality are causing people to flee to the US. The Biden Administration faces another critical test, but the real people being tested are the American people. We are the deciders who must choose the harder dignified path of an immigration system, or the cruel degenerate short-term lie of border walls and brutality leading to success.

Opinion

Voting Rights and Infrastructure

The Democrats have confronted COVID19 with vaccines, resources, and plans to put America back on a path to normalcy. Now the Biden Administration and Congressional democrats must confront more existential threats to the future of the United States as a republic. Republicans pursuing policies of white supremacy and voter disenfranchisement in states must be confronted by a strong voting expansion and protection measure. Currently we are nowhere near 100% participation by eligible citizens in our elections, although high turnout is a worthy goal that strengthens democracy and justice. Climate Chaos is a regular feature of life today with the Texas power grid fiasco being the latest manifestation of the danger to our civilization. An infrastructure bill that puts Americans to work strengthening our physical capacity to protect citizens and commerce from strengthening weather events is existentially important. Any failure to immediately begin development of a resilient society is to accept large-scale Climate Chaos death that will make the half-million souls lost to COVID19 look small in comparison. Joe Biden and the Democrats have to move mountains, and do it quickly, because Republicans just want to play politics with race and economics, they aren’t ready for this moment. America could not afford Trump and his wasted 4 years that damaged the country while morally bankrupting the Republicans. We are climbing out of another ditch as we did under President Obama (after the markets crashed), but this time we cannot afford to wait for, or count on, Republicans.

Opinion

When is a failed coup practice?

MSNBC host Ari Melber is reported to have said something like “a failed coup that is not punished is practice”. The impeachment hearings wrapped up with Republican lead senator Mitch McConnell saying that Trump was responsible for the assault on the US Capitol, but the court system should deal with him. Every sensible American should push for their government and representatives to be strong in dealing with the insurrection. Our politics may be rough right now but they are heading to a far worse place that may destroy the country. There are a reported 400 million guns in the United States, and there are many right-wing zealots who threaten to use 2nd amendment solutions to get what they want (meaning gun violence). If our government is not strong, the bullying will continue and get worse as it would on a proverbial schoolyard. Harsh penalties for the insurrectionists whether they broke into the US Capitol, or were urging on the assault from the White House are unavoidable. We cannot wait for the next assault by better prepared terrorists. Push or support your legislators and government officials toward providing a strong defense for our republic.