Page 34 – Political Puff

Joe Biden enters the Race

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26 Apr 2019

Joe Biden, the former Vice President of the United States, has run for the office of President of the United States twice before, both unsuccessfully.

Biden announced today that he is in once again for the long haul hoping to win over the Democrats hearts and votes at the Primaries.

According to Gallup Polls [Note 1], the general public have a more favorable view and opinion of Biden (56%) than towards Trump (32%). MSNBC YouTube – 3:31 mins.

But barely seven hours in, there came a reminder of some of Biden’s most glaring vulnerabilities, with a flare-up of the 1990s drama surrounding Anita Hill that reverberated with racial and gender overtones.

Archive footage of the hearings show a picture of an African American woman confronting skepticism about her claims from a hostile committee full of white middle-aged men. Vice News YouTube – 5:05 mins.

Generally however, Biden is viewed as the main threat for Bernie Sanders at the Primaries and for Trump at the General Election.

On a positive note for ‘woman power’ –

Over 20 candidates are currently seeking the Democratic nomination, the field contains an unprecedented number of women, including Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren.

Notes for Newbies.

[1] Gallup is a polling organization, however you must understand the limitations of polling. Polling does have weaknesses which depend on the various methodologies and details of the poll and its questions.
Currently, Gallup has a C+ grading. At one time, Gallup was the least accurate of all polls analyzed, with an average error of 7.2 percentage points. Quartz Article Oct, 2015

Border Security

Border Control

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25 Apr 2019

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Former acting ICE director Tom Homan [Note 1] says Democratic leadership has not done one thing to fix the crisis at the U.S. – Mexico border.

Fox News YouTube – 5:15 mins.

Faced with falling morale, increasing retirements and a shortage of new agents, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced a 5 percent bonus for agents willing to stay with the agency another year.

John Bash (Western District of Texas, US Attorney) says due to a massive number of apprehensions of illegal immigrants on the southern border, there are less Border Patrol agents in the field.

And, the U.S. is on target to receive more migrants at the southern border. BBC News YouTube 2:57 mins.

Democrats have largely avoided talking about border-security ideas. Most of the party’s presidential candidates have focused on expanding access to health care and other economic measures intended to boost the middle class, and have touched on immigration only in broad strokes.

Last week, Julián Castro ( Democratic Candidate for President) released a formal immigration policy, making him the first candidate to do so. MSNBC YouTube 11:17 mins.

Extra Note for Newbies

[1] Ronald Vitiello replaced Thomas Homan (who retired in June, 2018).

Earlier this month, Trump informed the Senate that he was withdrawing his nomination of Vitiello for Director of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

Speculative reasons for this has been that factions of ICE agents in the agency’s union are not supportive of Vitiello. Also, Vitiello has kept a lower profile than his predecessors. It’s possible that Trump wants someone who will be more vocal to undocumented immigrants.

Trump has since backed down from this threat.

Impeachment Drive by the Democrats

Impeachment

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24 Apr 2019

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Any President can be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi [Note 1], said that she was “not there yet” in supporting the initiation of impeachment proceedings.

The question of impeachment is consuming a great deal of energy from the Democrats, who may not be able to pursue this path to the end. Some members within the party are also questioning this direction and would like to focus on the issues that they consider are more important for the country.

There have ever only been two Presidents [note 2] who have been impeached in the past and zero who have been removed from office.

At least three [note 3] Democratic presidential candidates have continued their call for impeachment. Their demands have been backed by two prominent freshman Democrats, Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

Nancy Pelosi played down reports of divisions among Democrats over the impeachment issue, saying: “There are some people who are more eager for impeachment, many more eager to just follow the investigation … I don’t think it’s a growing number [who support impeachment.]”

Notes for Newbies

[1] Nancy Pelosi is the Presiding Officer in the House of Representatives. Her duties include administering the oath of office to Members, calling the House to order, preserving order and decorum within the House chamber and galleries, recognizing members to speak on the House floor, and making rulings about House procedures.
Nancy is a Democratic politician, notably being the first woman to serve as the speaker of the house. Nancy is the second in the line of presidential succession immediately after the vice president.

[2] Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives, but acquitted by the Senate. Richard Nixon resigned before he could be impeached.

[3] Presidential Candidates, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Julian Castro have called on Congress to launch impeachment proceedings.

Democratic Candidates for 2020

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23 Apr 2019

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The 2020 United States elections will be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.

From this point forward, you will hear a lot about the hopeful candidates throwing their hat into the ring, or throwing themselves out of it (voluntarily or by lack of popularity) to enter the General Election.

Some names to watch or listen out for from the Democratic Party, are Bernie Sanders, John Delaney, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Kirsten Gillibrand (all of whom have raised in excess of $10m. There are about 15 others and growing.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC), announced a schedule for 12 official debates, set to begin in June 2019. The DNC will be excluding Fox News from hosting any, due to concerns over the network’s tight relationship with President Donald Trump.

Primary elections will then be held to allow voters, either the general public (open primary) or members of a political party (closed primary), to indicate their preference for a Democratic candidate in the General Election.

Although, Trump is the obvious candidate to enter the 2020 race (from the Republicans), there is presently one person who has put his hand up to challenge him, William Welds.

A recent FiveThirtyEight piece calls Weld potentially “one of the weakest candidates that anti-Trump Republicans could put up in a national campaign,” as his social views set him apart from most mainstream conservatives.

Mueller Report Indictments

Mueller Report

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22 Apr 2019

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As an extension to the Mueller Report tale, which really has been the focal point in mainstream news lately, let us cover the indictments resulting from the investigation.

6 former Trump advisers,
26 Russian nationals,
3 Russian companies,
1 Californian man, and
1 London-based lawyer.

The charges include both election interference against the overseas Russians, and various other crimes by American Trump advisers.

The Trump advisers did NOT conspire with Russian officials to impact the election. Five of the advisors have pleaded guilty to other crimes. Manafort and Gates were charged with a series of offenses related to their past work for Ukrainian politicians and their finances. Papadopoulos and Flynn both admitted making false statements to investigators to hide their contacts with Russians, and Cohen admitted making false statements to Congress.

The Russian nationals and the three Russian companies face 161 total charges. It is highly unlikely that any of those indicted will ever be extradited to the U.S. to face the charges.