Wanted: healthy skepticism: the antidote to conspiracy theories.

 One of the greatest puzzles in my life has been how do so many believe in unproven theories fueled by a belief that there was some conspiracy involved that gives it credibility? A wanted sign for healthy skeptics ought to be posted.    We have become a nation of many beyond reason, unwilling to ask questions that may give inconvenient answers.   This blind belief in conspiracy theories is a danger to both those who believe in conspiracy theories and the rest of us who do not.  It is a danger to the health of advocates of such theories themselves and those around them.  These theories are also fueling a  serious attack on the continuation of democracy.  Missouri once was once known as the "show me state", famous for not accepting hot air and theories as truth, but demanding proof one can actually see.(I spent many summers visiting my maternal grandmother in Missouri). Long forgotten were those days. Instead, Missouri has become an icon of  Trump country with most in that state accepting whatever comes from Mar-A- Largo and amplified by Trump's media supporters as the gospel truth. , We need more of old-time "show me's". Considering sources is a legitimate approach, but at least ask about the hows, whats, and whys. That is healthy skepticism. 

On a recent exchange in a debate Facebook group, a post was made by someone who claimed in so many words that Biden was a feeble old man and incompetent.  In my response, he charged me with using too many words to respond. I used two brief paragraphs laying out a list of actual events to back up why I concluded Biden had done a bunch with so many issues, including passage of the infrastructure bill. My response was posted on my blog site, as well. The critic instead resorted to calling me a derogatory ideological name as if that constituted all of the proof he needed I was wrong.   I challenged him to tell me exactly what I wrote did not happen.  Radio silence. He could have responded, but he did not,  with "it was not enough", here is what Biden failed to do, or what he had done would have had undesirable side effects, or the conclusion I derived from what obviously happened was faulty for such and such a reason.  To satisfy his troll, I should have put it in a one-sentence meme or called him a right-wing expletive in response.  Either he did not the ability to comprehend the written words that exceeded more than a sentence,  or he did not have any facts, even alternative ones, to back up his name-calling,   This is not an unusual exchange whenever there is a rare opportunity for dialoguing with the other side.  In fact, it is the right wings' common response when they are challenged to "show me".   Memes, name-calling, and opinions have taken the place of reason, facts, and data.  For the mentally lazy or those who have an inability to do critical thinking,  it is easier to parrot memes and slogans as a response than to show and convince those who are not in their echo chamber they are right.  

Repeating conspiracy theories, again and again, are not words just uttered into the sky until they are accepted by the unthinking as gospel truth with no repercussions.  It is far more dangerous than just baying at the moon. Aside from the hospital data serving as a warning to the unvaccinated,  this state of public dialogue has serious ramifications for the continuation of our form of democracy.   That 60 federal judges of all ideologies and appointed by a wide variety of past presidents came to the same conclusion that there was not enough fraud in the 2020 election to change the outcome,  Nine months of attempts for devotees to Trump to find that evidence of enough irregularities and trying to justify conspiracy theories have failed.  Nonetheless, nearly one-half of voters still spout "the election was stolen" as a reason to make it harder for "undesirable voters" to vote. Half of Republicans polled approve of violence to overturn an election with results they do not approve.  Democracy is by definition rule of, by, and for the people, but overturning the popular will and putting it in the hands of one person is anti-democracy, especially when the pretext is a cooked-up version of reality, and spoon-fed to unquestioning loyalists.  One of the hallmarks of democracy is that the ballot box determines the winner, not a violent riot and bloody overthrow of the vote counters.

The current state of un-reason in our current political dialogue has deadly results,  The anti-vaxxer paranoids who believe computer chips are put into your arm so the government can control you or that the vaccinations are hyped because of the greed of pharmaceuticals are theories held by those needing serious education of how the virus spreads and works. That is not likely to happen.  Being receptive to education will not happen when ignorance is bliss.   That those promoting vaccinations are politically motivated to hurt Trump's legacy or to help the Democrats in 2022-2024 are fantasies believed by so many.    Israel, Austria, the UK, and the entire EU all are taking masks and vaccination-mandated steps.  Do they really believe the reason for all of these countries getting together to promote these mandates was to help Democrats in the US maintain control of Congress?  Show me.

 In Colorado, seeing its 5th  and worst spike,  where over 80  percent of unvaccinated accounts for the hospitalized and dying, do the conspiracy theorists believe the data they do not accept as fact was the result of  Colorado hospitals all getting together to lie about their daily data numbers? Or if given the data is correct, the conclusion is that the unvaccinated are proof the COVID epidemic is faux and shots don't work, so why bother with them?.   Since vaccines are not 100% effective, don't get the shots and just be 100% vulnerable? That logic escapes me. When 40% of Americans are still not vaccinated, they are ripe to act as a matrix for the development and spread of mutant variants and are responsible for continued spikes and spread.  When over a thousand are still dying from COVID a day in the US, including those infected by the Delta variant, do some seriously think they are immune because somehow they are superhuman, exercise a lot,  eat well,  are too young,  take quack remedies, or have the right political persuasion? Think political affiliation is not a factor? Republicans are three times more likely to be unvaccinated than Democrats.  Or do some seriously think all the world scientists got together to agree on the same lies about COVID and just wanted to raise alarm bells and advocate masks and shots for the heck of it?   Then, show me.

https://www.kktv.com/2021/11/05/91-percent-icu-covid-19-patients-across-uchealth-system-are-unvaccinated/?fbclid=IwAR0GeIcQLPy5kEszkx1Pc486JNXjcUGil5lCgdWx9zNIElm2dt038ILIRpU

1 in 38 unvaccinated Coloradans are infected with COVID-19, Polis says | Colorado Public Radio (cpr.org)   "82 percent of COVID-related hospitalizations are among the roughly 20 percent of Coloradans who are unvaccinated. "

Unvaccinated adults more than three times as likely to lean Republican: KFF analysis | TheHill

 

Not bad for less than a year's work...Biden got a bunch done

 Updated 12/3/21 

Not bad for less than a year's work...Biden got a bunch done in ten months. For that, we should be thankful and give him credit.. He has another year to go before the midterms that could turn Congress red and cripple his ability to do much through legislative action. Nonetheless, there are still cynics who voted for Biden who are sorry they did because he disappointed them. They have short memories, both of what he promised to do when he was a candidate and what he has accomplished since. . What he had promised was bi-partisan approaches and building back an economy that was better than before COVID. Unstated, many just voted for him becaiuse Biden was not Trump. Biden was not a demagogic, narcissistic, untruthful leader who governed with hate hyping, revenge, and fear, who did not respect the values of democracy. He was Trump's polar opposite by just being Biden. Here are the whats, hows, and whys he got much of that accomplished.

Four years of infrastructure week under Trump: goose egg.; Biden got it done with bipartisan support With the. 1.9 trillion dollar American Rescue Plan, COVID economic stimulus, in the spring, job figures are the best in years. Biden got it done. In the face of November inflation figures, he mobilized, using what executive powers he had. ; Sprung loose strategic oil reserves to deal with gas pump prices, organized other oil-consuming countries to do the same, and summoned federal agencies to make sure lower prices make it to consumers. Got the log jam at the import docks improved and working24/7 instead of 9 to 5 weekdays so major retailers are now well-stocked. Biden negotiated that; Kept a bi-partisan Fed chair to deal with monetary policy to meet inflation sensibly. All in 10 months. Stopped White House Oval Office hyping racial tensions, bullying, and use of violence to support Trump's agenda. Got Covid booster shots free and in arms...appreciated by us old folks at family gatherings this Thanksgiving, while the unvaccinated chose to sabotage efforts to end COVID Delta variant and preferred to risk landing in ICUs Biden returned to regular order and respected the process of democracy and did it with normal human behavior.

Here are the reasons he got things done: He did not govern by fear, revenge, turning races against each other, self-aggrandizement, demagogic pandering to his base, and wishing he had Putin's powers of dictatorship. Biden governed by patient negotiation, even keeping the big tent Democratic Party together in the House, by his experience of a near lifetime of a legislator, understanding how to use the levers of governance, and personal relationships built up over many years. There is still much to be done, The BBB, the social infrastructure, legislation is now in the hands of the Senate. His promised withdrawal from Afghanistan was chaotic, poorly executed, poorly planned, poorly messaged, though he got it done. . His anti-inflation measures are yet to be tested. His greatest asset is plain-spoken reason. It is also his greatest liability: and inability to inspire people with soaring oratory and self-promotion.

The 5-Minute Fix: How to talk about politics this Thanksgiving - feliciamuftic@gmail.com - Gmail (google.com)

What's in the American Rescue Plan? (investopedia.com)

Just rewards for Trump lawyers filing suit against Dominion voting machines

 This case has national implications. The lawsuit filed by Trump lawyers concerning Michigan suits against Colorado-based Dominion election machines was ruled frivolous since the attorneys did not present proof that fraud had taken place. Chances are the attorneys will pay through their teeth. The main issue: attorneys across the country who failed claims like this also failed to provide evidence or proof of the alleged fraud are facing disbarment and bankruptcy. The ultimate implications are that there was no fraud; the election was not stolen.

https://www.coloradopolitics.com/courts/federal-judge-tells-lawyers-to-pay-up-in-dominion-voter-fraud-case/article_cdad92ee-4c0a-11ec-8359-f3aa5a763f47.html

 Biden got the message.  Anti-inflation measures are underway

Updated Nov. 23, 2021 Listening to attempts by progressives and President Biden to show how their BBB legislation, the social infrastructure reconciliation bill, and the bipartisan infrastructure legislation just passed, will deal with inflation, has severe weakness in dealing with the general horror over inflation. The short and the long of actions are the problems. These Biden initiatives are only promises for long-term solutions while the political and consumer problem is short-term, The Biden efforts are hard to grasp promises for future relief. over this next year and beyond. The bipartisan infrastructure bill was signed into law, breaking the House logjam caused by in-party conflicts. The House finally passed the BBB, the human infrastructure, social safety net reconciliation bill, and now the action moves to the Senate.   Waiting for the public to understand the argument of how the BBB and the infrastructure legislation would reduce the price increases consumers are paying at the pump and retail will run up against 2022 midterms because of the time needed to start up, to see it actually working. . These long-term solutions look to consumers like a lick and a promise, ripe for skeptics to attack.  They want credible action now. In the meantime, for the next year, inflation could be on the top short-term voter list of disgust, and fears of inflation will make the BBB passage in the Senate even more problematic.   The Congressional Budget Office score of the BBB's impact on the deficit during the ten years of the program was not that clearcut...with the hit to the deficit coming in the first five years, and the offsetting income of tax policy would not be felt until the last five years, per Steve Rattner, influential financial asset expert, on Morning Joe, MSNBC Nov.22.  What the BBB will look like after it goes through the Senate buzz saw and intraparty fights will be a work in progress over the next several months.

 Some ideas being floated around for immediate,  temporary relief are to release some strategic oil reserves. Biden embraced and acted on some of them. On November 23, Biden led major oil users including  China and India, and the US to release oil reserves to increase supply and to lower prices at the pump) Biden also announced federal regulatory action to make sure the oil companies are not pocketing their increase in margins and that the lower prices are passed on to consumers. Another idea is to roll back Trump's Chinese tariffs on consumer goods, (Trump tariffs were just passed onto consumers, and only in a few sectors did it help the US manufacturing sector.  To avoid looking like Biden is catering to the Chinese, trade-off with some unfair trade practice measures). The jump in prices in early November was mostly a supply and demand problem, too many dollars chasing too few consumer products. Importation of consumer goods, had been clogged, but requiring ports; to work 24/7 had an effect.  On Nov. 22, major retailers, including Walmart, reported their shelves were full and ready for holiday shoppers. Fed plans for raising interest rates to cool off the economy may have long-term benefits, but it just increases the pain consumers feel now with the cost of credit. On November 22, Biden nominated the continuation of the current Fed chair, a holdover from the Trump administration, signaling a middle-of-the-road, bi-partisan, cautious approach.   To address the labor shortage problem as it affects agriculture, food supply, target a temporary year-long visa program for specific sectors including restaurants and domestic, eldercare workers. To avoid looking like open borders advocates, the Biden administration could increase the funding for enforcement for visa overstays and for visa processing in general. Sunset provisions for these measures keep these temporary. 

Why not a dictatorship? Can you spell "corruption" and "loss of human rights"

 Why not a dictatorship, an autocracy?  Two essays:

  I, Can you spell "corruption" and "loss of human rights?". 

 There are some in the world who think that the only way a government can function is to have an autocrat like Putin in charge. Be careful of what they wish.  They are a bunch of fools and it only works if it is "their guy" is the dictator and law is whatever he rules it to be.  Fine with them, they say. None of this sausage being made in Congress or politicians even caring about citizens' wishes other than their supporters. The various voices are not to be heard. Just those that support the dealer leader's ambitions and priorities.

  It is frightening to find a growing body of anti-democracy advocates in the US who are so devoted to Trump and his second coming, they are publicly vocal about it. it.  They wave the flag, say they are the patriots, and refer to 1776 violence to justify their words and piously say the pledge of allegiance, ignoring the part ": and to the republic for which it stands"  The "under God" phrase was added when I was in high school, but we went 200 years and fought two world wars without it.  Even then, it forces atheists and natives to choke that part down.  The off the rocker General Mike Flynn (ret) and QAnon Trump whisperer. has even cited the pledge of allegiance God part, claiming that someday we will have a nation all pledged to be the same religion. Great if you are an evangelical Christian; not so great if you are not.   Bye, bye freedom of religion; hello some white male pastor, the choice of the dictator. Many go on to claim a divine right or some special relationship with God, unless they themselves claim they are the equivalent.   Heretics, keep your mouth shut. Political dissidents, likewise.  Bad things will happen to you.

  All of those downsides are bad enough, but what eventually is the fate of them all?   Without any power left to check them, they satisfy their own greed for more power and/or wealth.  They may get to the top of the political food chain by lies and powerful oratory and striking fear in the hearts of their adversaries through a variety of means., They may be dressed in a democratic constitution, but it is lip service. They stay in power by abusing the laws that restrain them. They subvert, ignore, and abuse the existing words of a constitution or statutes. .  But what is inevitable in all cases, whether dictators rise from the right or the left, socialists or fascists or military putsch or by the ballot box at first, ,  it is personal greed for wealth and power without restraint that leads eventually to more corruption and suppression of any right of dissent.   By then, if populists break through the dictator's media control of the message, expose the Emperor's new clothes, it is too late to revolt peacefully and even with violence.  That is the sad story of kings, potentates, autocrats, fascists, and communist dictators for centuries until modern times.  Only for 250 years we have invented and tended the antidote, the "republic for which we stand" as Americans.

2. Democracy  in today's world is worth keeping . 

Ben Franklin:" We have a republic if we can keep it" One of the hallmarks and advantages of America's kind of democracy, rule by the people,  is the freedom of citizens, legislative bodies, the judiciary, and the press, to call out and expose the corrupt and the liars. One of the hallmarks of autocracies that do not permit criticism or challenges to their authority is their freedom to be corrupt and feather their nests.. Total control of the media allows lies to become truths. Public outrage over their corruption is the greatest challenge autocrats face and the response by autocrats typically is to make their rule even more oppressive and further increase control of the information their citizens get. Putin is one of the richest men in the world and hides it via his loyal oligarchs His critics are jailed or poisoned if they call out his corruptness.. He now has greater control over Facebook and social media. The newly minted autocrat in Hungary was enraged when his building of an extravagant dwelling was pointed out via alternatives to his control of 90% of the media. Autocrats are usually brought down when those they govern learn about and get angry about corruption, Usually, they are not brought down by the ballot box, because they had suppressed and controlled that vote and the voters, but by violence. That is also a hallmark of autocracies; violent overthrow. Democracies that still honor the integrity of the voting system can also have a peaceful transition. to more honest rulers..

The fierce urgency of dealing with inflation now

(Biden gets the message...see Nov 23 blogpost)

 Listening to attempt by progressives and President Biden to show how their BBB legislation, the social infrastructure reconciliation bill, and the bipartisan infrastructure legislation just passed,  will deal with inflation, have a severe weakness in dealing with the general horror over inflation. The short and the long of actions are the problems. These  Biden initiatives are only promises for long-term solutions while the political and consumer problem is short-term, The Biden efforts are hard to grasp promises for future relief. over this next year and beyond.  As  I write this, waiting for fora bad  CBO score on the BBB,, may even make the Democrats look more tone-deaf on the issue.  Waiting for the public to understand the argument of how the BBB and the infrastructure legislation would reduce the price increases consumers are paying at the pump and retail will run up against 2022 midterms because of the time needed to start up, to see it actually working. . These long-term solutions look to consumers like a lick and a promise, ripe for skeptics to attack.  They want credible action now. In the meantime, for the next year, inflation will be on the top short-term voter list of disgust.  

.  Some ideas being floated around for immediate,  temporary relief are to release some strategic oil reserves, and roll back Trump's Chinese tariffs on consumer goods,   (Trump tariffs were just passed onto consumers, and only in a few sectors did it help the US manufacturing sector.  To avoid looking like Biden is catering to the Chinese, trade-off with some unfair trade practice measures).To address the labor shortage problem as it affects agriculture, food supply, target a temporary year-long visa program for specific sectors including restaurants and domestic, eldercare workers. To avoid looking like open borders advocates, the Biden administration could increase the funding for enforcement for visa overstays and for visa processing in general. Sunset provisions for these measures keep these temporary. Fed plans for raising interest rates to cool off the economy may have long-term benefits,  but it just increases the pain consumers feel now with the cost of credit. ..

 Listening to attempt by progressives and President Biden to show how their BBB legislation, the social infrastructure reconciliation bill, and the bipartisan infrastructure legislation just passed,  will deal with inflation, have a severe weakness in dealing with the general horror over inflation. The short and the long of actions are the problems. These  Biden initiatives are only promises for long-term solutions while the political and consumer problem is short-term, The Biden efforts are hard to grasp promises for future relief. over this next year and beyond.  As  I write this, waiting for fora bad  CBO score on the BBB,, may even make the Democrats look more tone-deaf on the issue.  Waiting for the public to understand the argument of how the BBB and the infrastructure legislation would reduce the price increases consumers are paying at the pump and retail will run up against 2022 midterms because of the time needed to start up, to see it actually working. . These long-term solutions look to consumers like a lick and a promise, ripe for skeptics to attack.  They want credible action now. In the meantime, for the next year, inflation will be on the top short-term voter list of disgust.  

.  Some ideas being floated around for immediate,  temporary relief are to release some strategic oil reserves, and roll back Trump's Chinese tariffs on consumer goods,   (Trump tariffs were just passed onto consumers, and only in a few sectors did it help the US manufacturing sector.  To avoid looking like Biden is catering to the Chinese, trade-off with some unfair trade practice measures).To address the labor shortage problem as it affects agriculture, food supply, target a temporary year-long visa program for specific sectors including restaurants and domestic, eldercare workers. To avoid looking like open borders advocates, the Biden administration could increase the funding for enforcement for visa overstays and for visa processing in general. Sunset provisions for these measures keep these temporary. Fed plans for raising interest rates to cool off the economy may have long-term benefits,  but it just increases the pain consumers feel now with the cost of credit. ..

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exclusive-us-asks-big-countries-coordinate-releases-oil-reserves-sources-2021-11-17/

How Democratic candidates can message to suburban women in 2022

One of the problems that contributed to the defeat of Democrats in Virginia and an almost loss in New Jersey is that Democrats were slow to pick up on the GOP's tactics.  Democrats were flat-footed and deaf.  Democrats were still fighting the last war with Donald Trump when swing voters and suburban women had other issues, some concocted by the GOP and "cultural", and all were feeling it at the pump and the grocery store.   Acknowledging their attacks, showing how the BBB and other Biden initiatives counter them, and contrasting that with their opponents who are"just saying no". That is a better way than ignoring the GOP attacks as silly or racist or ignorant or unfactual while just stating your position and hoping voters can deduce the contrast with an opponent on their own.   Ignoring them did not work in Virginia and certainly will not work in 2022 in local races.    If the BBB is passed, and with the signing of the roads and bridges infrastructure law,  there is an opportunity to tie the suburban women and swing voters' concerns to how these two laws and other Biden actions will address them.  Democrats on the stump for 2022 can make the connection between what the Biden administration is doing and counter the GOP cultural and economic attacks in the same or a few sentences.

 For candidates on the stump in suburbia and swing areas, where Donald Trump is not on the ballot and the GOP candidate talks and looks like the Republicans of old.  here are some possible approaches.  Call them out if he/she still runs an underground Trump appealing campaign. First, say where you stand and why. ; Second, show how Biden/Democrats help you locally; third, contrast that with the GOP opponent's own words and deeds and how they just said, or say. no and did not. or does not,  care about you, the suburbanite individual.  Do it in simple,  sentences free of jargon and slogans. Put it in terms of how it helps individual people and their kids, not how it helps workforce development, gets mom back to work,  or society in general. Suburbanites are motivated by what helps them and their families, not what helps the poor or society  

Some examples: I support parents having a say in their kids' education.. Parents' voices need to be heard about what is taught in their schools.   That is the beauty of democracy. It can be done peacefully without threats or acts of violence.    Keep on letting your school boards know what you want. Here is where I stand.   CRT is not being taught and will not be, but what actually happened during slavery needs to be taught factually and accurately. 

 Even more important is to help your kids succeed in school. So let's talk about education and who cares about your kids succeeding in school..I supported free preschool. the child tax credit, child care support.   Pre-school education is tied to better graduation chances.  When it comes to  helping kids succeed in school, my opponent just says no, 

  To get an education after high school,  the Biden administration is increasing funding for pell grants to finance community colleges for those who otherwise could not afford it. They can learn a high-paying trade or boost their chances to get the remainder of four-year college education, 

 The best solution to school masks and mandates is to end the pandemic and that is what the Biden administration is doing..in getting the adult 80 percent of the adult population vaccinated, even those who were reluctant,  which is something to crow about. Giving parents the ability to get their kids vaccinated is even more to crow about.  Contrast that with what my opponent has done: deriding vaccines and catering to unfounded fears in the name of "freedom" that lets the unvaccinated keep on spreading COVID to others, making it harder to get rid of the pandemic.  The sooner we finish this task of getting even the reluctant vaccinated, the sooner the pandemic will go away.   

We have a problem: the cost of prescription drugs is the highest in the world and the BBB we are proposing requires competition to lower the cost while protecting drug companies' innovation and development of cutting-edge treatments. My opponent voted against that.

 Helping our elders stay at home as long as they can needs to be made more affordable and the BBB is tackling another problem. The BBB makes home health care more affordable. My opponent voted against that.  My opponent really does not care; he just says no.   

What about gas prices and inflation at the grocery store?  The US for years has been at the mercy of OPEC, the oil cartel that controls 50% of the supply even now after we cranked up our own oil production.  They are now restricting their production to limit supply to get more profits for themselves. We need to free ourselves from OPEC and fossil fuels beginning now and for years in the future. The BBB and the bi-partisan infrastructure bill is a major downpayment on switching to solar and electricity as the way to rid ourselves of OPEC and keep earth habitable. Contrast that with the GOP (my opponent) who denies we even have a problem looks with scorn at going "green" and opposes how we want to free our dependence on polluting energy.  We have the ability and technology to make this affordable and accessible. My opponent voted against that.

(It is critical the cost of these Biden programs does not get blamed for inflation,  and the CBO score compliance is important.  However, other forces are at work and it is an open question of whether these pressures are temporary.  Stay tuned on this and hope the day-to-day cost increases are as temporary as the experts say. The BBB helps those with kids and families in lower-income levels, but inflation hits many more than those targeted groups. ) 

Defunding police? I never supported this. In fact, I support giving police more help so they can do their jobs even better.  Stop lying about my position and instead let's work together to get this done right.

A very thoughtful opinion piece on policing that cites how Denver voters depoliticized police review boards on Nov. 2,2022  appeared in a recent Newsweek column. 

 The appointment to the police review commission was taken out of the hands of the mayor . https://www.newsweek.com/voters-verdict-policing-mend-it-dont-end-it-opinion-1647563?utm_source=PushnamiMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=automatic&UTM=1636547138622&subscriberId=60f87406e39e7cee356b5cf2

Denver's Citizen Oversight Board aims to appoint new independent monitor by April | Focus on Denver | coloradopolitics.com

He who laughs last laughs best: The 13 members of the House GOP who voted for the infrastructure bill will get the last laugh when they remind voters that the rest of their caucus put priorities to keeping in Trumps good graces over the interests of their own constituents.  https://www.yahoo.com/news/house-republicans-backed-infrastructure-bill-125747643.html

https://theweek.com/republicans/1006958/the-13-house-republicans-who-voted-for-the-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-are

An pollster after the Virginia governors race also confirmed my suspicions: A Pollster's Warning to Democrats: 'We Have a Problem' (yahoo.com)

https://www.yahoo.com/news/democrats-messaging-problem-124516408.html

https://www.yahoo.com/news/red-america-now-dying-covid-121640335.html

If you have a subscription to the Washington Post, this is an excellent analysis of the 2022 races and how the GOP can take back Congress....https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/WhctKKXHCWXDrMwLpPHfLMblcNQqdpSpVFFpHBSrkrhHqSnhgdWzFDjKThMVcNtGbjQKPzQ

A local issue of concern to those who live in the West.   The same approach can work in 2022 regarding votes on infrastructure, including $1billion for Colorado.  Every GOP representative from Colorado voted against the bill...They just said no...and they voted against Colorado.. :

https://www.skyhinews.com/news/wildfire-drought-provisions-in-infrastructure-bill-bring-new-funding-to-old-ideas-on-western-slope/ 

https://www.cpr.org/2021/11/08/colorado-transportation-projects-infrastructure-bill-funding/

https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2426335129329/colorado-s-democratic-delegation-cheers-passage-of-infrastructure-bill-amid-gop-scowls       The Colorado Republican congresspeople all voted no on this as well. More fodder in 2022 for Democrats

Wednesday morning quarterbacking Nov. 2 and looking ahead to Nov.2022

 Pointing finger time with the Nov. 2 results:

Much should not have been a surprise but it was; nothing like a kick in the seat of the pants election losses bring to bring clarity. First, the clowns in Congress thought they had a mandate with a 50-50 Senate vote to launch government social programs rivaling the New Deal..The elements were popular but not a motivating voter mandate, especially when voters did not even know what they were. Second, two senators were in the pockets of big coal and big pharma, an inconvenient political reality. Their stonewalling was an inconvenient reality but needed to be addressed early in the construction of the BBB, the social infrastructure bill. Only by the grace of Georgia did we have a 50-50 margin to even attempt passing such legislation. That was luck that progressives took advantage of, but Biden was not elected on the never defined BBB in the 2020 campaign, but that he was not Trump. There was no mandate: just an opportunity.

Trump was not on the ballot, but his followers thought so and turned out. ...His persona was a turnoff to enough GOP and independents to swing in 2020 and Youngkin was a clever wolf in sheep clothing. to the 2020 Biden voters. Sheep's Clothing worked to offset Trump's racism and hatred and a fear of a wannabe anti-democracy demagogue whose chief tool was fear of this or that.. The lesson for the GOP is that Trump as a candidate in 2024 is a loser. GOP candidates need to keep him at a degree of arm's length. The lesson for the Democrats ignored and had no response to the critical race theory red herring.. They should have said: it is not being taught now and it will not be...but burying historical truths is also fooling ourselves if we want to live in peace with one another. Even then, it was a cultural loser that should have been taken more seriously and used to get out the Democratic vote...

.Democrat's political malpractice: It may seem like a good strategy at the time to "hold the infrastructure bill hostage" to the BBB (Biden's Build Back Better that became the progressive's agenda), but the

progressives did not sell what it contained and instead focused on the cost. That opened the door to fears of inflation and the immediate impact at the gas station and cost of basic groceries. That made the Biden administration look like an impotent old man because it could not pass anything. That needs to change now. Pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill and pass the buck to the Senate on the social infrastructure bill...held hostage by two senators who are bought by big coal and big pharma. (Update 11//6: House passed the bi-partisan bill } Sinema compromised on drug costs, but the result is still significant. We cannot win over racists so we can call out red herrings and hate-mongering when we see it and show how harmful it can be to swing voters who are not comfortable with race-baiting. Once the BBB fails or passes, we at least will have each representative and senator on the record and in the 2022 midterms. All politics are local so paint the contrast between what anti-people they are with their votes against the BBB and make the case that the GOP does not care about you.. Mask mandates and vaccine mandates will be fewer factors as COVID becomes old news and threats subside.. The "steal the vote" issue will also fade as the red herring of that issue will lose its glamor as more evidence of the lie sinks in.

There is one matter of campaign and election laws and democracy that is unfinished business. Democrats must push reform regardless of popularity and pass the two voter rights bills and make fairness the issue. This means changing the rules on the filibuster in whatever way it will work to break the racist and GOP strategy to make their losses into wins. This is where painting the GOP as anti-democracy can still fit into a campaign slogan but without a wannabe dictator like Trump on the ballot, the urgency of this also fades.. On the economy, much depends what the fate of OPEC brings us but we need to take this seriously and counter the more immediate impacts. BBB is too vague and too targeted to certain demographics while everyone feels inflation.

Footnote:

To see why I was not that surprised by Virginia's results on Nov 2, go to my posting in Sep 3t and updated October 4. What worked for the GOP there was the last-minute racist dog whistle of CRT and the reminder of the "cultural" issues that energized the Trump base.. That was not predicted nor was the adroit wolf in sheep's clothing of the GOP candidate. Sept. 30 blog posting. A reconciliation compromise that will simultaneously make no one happy and everyone happy.

Nov. 4, 2021

It is clear from listening to Sen. Joe Manchin today that he will continue to keep moving goalpost, demanding that when the BBB reaches the Senate, he will keep moving the goalposts because he represents a Trumpist constituency even if the total is reduced to his demand of 1.5 trillion....or else get his commitment he will vote for the bill cost if it is reduced. Also not stated is that the reason he can survive as a Democrat in such a reality is that he has the support of big coal money. That will not change. He professes he wants the BBB $ reduced to 1.5 trillion, yet he wants more proof whatever is proposed will not be inflationary and he wants to have the Congressional Budget score first. Here is what Democrats should threaten to do and to make the midterms apply to each person who scuttled the bill or voted against it....and this will be the mantra: " did you know X voted against (child care, elder care, medicare expansion, etc)"; I voted for it. " and let them know that is what you will be running on (and it can be done whether the BBB gets kills in the Senate or passes). That the budget office score

analysis of the payfors will actually pay for the BBB contents will be helpful in either agreeing with Manchin or refuting his stance.. Also in the Senate pass the danged bi-partisan roads and bridges part now...so what if it reduces the BBB leverage. It has only made the Administration look like a bunch of manipulative fools

Per an analysis in the New York Times, Democrats are winning the better educated, while losing those with less than a four-year college degree. That outcome was reflected in the Nov, 2,2021 Virginia governor's race Biden is right: connect everything in these bills, the kinds of jobs that are created, and the relief with costs of child and eldercare that will help exactly both those with less than a 4-year college degree and those who still are struggling in the middle class to make ends meet. Biden has repeated that connection so many times that it has become background noise to voters too often burned by political promises that fail to materialize.. Perhaps eventually it will sink in with the actual experience as the infrastructure bill is implemented.. Trump gained a lot of traction when he won in 2016 by his America First agenda, pledging that he would raise tariffs on imported goods from China. However, the results were spotty and import distribution businesses simply passed the tariff costs onto consumers Biden's BBB goes at the problem a different way by helping 21st-century gree job sector of manufacturing get government contracts and subsidies to outcompete with China's trade.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/us/politics/how-college-graduates-vote.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20211104&instance_id=44581&nl=the-morning&regi_id=112373093&segment_id=73505&te=1&user_id=e8cfa3486f338e7b9b08b960e834c9e6

Visit the COVID-19 Information Center for vaccine resources.

Get Vaccine Info

Like

Comment

Share