Moderation in all things

   McCarthy Elections An example of both the Democrats and the Republicans putting party politics above the welfare of the country and its citizens: The votes on Kevin McCarthy’s election to Speaker of the House in January 2023 was one blatant example.   It took fifteen ballots to finally elect him, with both sides knowing that this would be the eventual result.   The Republican Party was being held hostage by the extreme right wing of the party, the Freedom Caucus. The Democrats voted for Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House Minority Leader on each ballot, even though they knew he had absolutely no chance of winning the position.   The Democrats thought that it would look bad that the Republicans had so much trouble elective a House Speaker.     On each vote, the extreme right Freedom Caucus forced new rules that even the other conservative Republicans didn’t want.   But the Democrats helped the extreme right gain power in order to make Mc...

  Part of the problem of the great divide in politics right now is how the two extremes react to the news.  The internet has made this much more complicated, with the extreme opinions shouting at you from all over.  But even the conventional news outlets have become more biased. When conservatives hear info that they don't like, they simply call it "fake news" or call out the "liberal media".  Even our conservative elected officials use this terms.  They tend to believe snippets they hear, often which are made up by someone and posted on some site, that are later proven to be false.  Examples are the autism / vaccine connection, that cat litter boxes were provided for students in some school systems, and that Michelle Obama is a man.   Many false rumors were related to Covid.  When liberals hear informaion they don't like, they tend to say "I haven't heard about that, I'll have to check into that", which of course, they never do.  I have...

My concern is growing.  On one side, President Trump is hinting at wanting a third term, which would be against the Constitution.  Some of his supporters are floating the idea of ammending the Constitution or trying some technical runaround to allow him to run again.  I don't think it will fly.  At least, I hope not. Trump's DOGE committee with Musk's leadership has become a mess.  They are slashing workers indiscrimnately.  For one thing, everyone is not convinced the Federal workforce is bloated, as they say.  If you look, even the highest estimate of the portion of the Federal budget going to Federal salries of workers  all over the country is eight percent ( 8 % ).  That includes workers at Veterans' hospitals, Social Security workers, the FBI, and the IRS among others.  The President's tariffs are also becoming a concern of how they will affect people's personal budget and also the overall national economy.      ...

 Already, we are hearing names for the Democrat nomination for the 2028 election.  Pete Buttigieg and Gavin Newsom have been mentioned.  I think these candidates would be a mistake.  I think that the Democrats should have a nominee who is moderate, who could appeal to Independents, who could also appeal to many Democrats who are turned off by the party's move to the left.  There are also Republicans who have made no secret that they dislike Trump, and who would like to see a change in philosophy in the Oval Office.  Chances are that the Republican nominee will be similar in beliefs to Donald Trump.  Possible leading candidates will likely be J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio, or Ron DeSantis.  Republicans who want someone more moderate might accept a moderate Democrat.  Now, who would that be?  We'll look at that next time.