Daunting challenges await the president in his next 100 days
Could it be the best days of the Biden administration are behind it? After feeling good about an honest, straightforward president surprising many of us with an ambitious agenda reflecting a rejuvenated America, storm clouds are gathering. At home and abroad, signs of trouble are appearing. If half of them develop into crises, Biden’s honeymoon will be over. How might Biden do as a crisis manager?
The second hundred days of Biden’s presidency could see a series of challenges that will put the new administration clearly on the defensive. The problem areas are both foreign and domestic.
Foreign policy challenges…
Troubling tweets penned by Donald Trump, Jr. Is it time to recognize ageism as a hate crime?
President Biden’s first two months in office have been a resounding success. Or have they? The nation remains divided on the merits of the American Rescue Plan, border policy, and voting rights legislation pending in the House of Representatives. If you want to criticize Biden, there’s plenty of material available. So why not ignore all legitimate policy debates and seize on Biden’s age?
That’s a low blow, but is what else is to be expected from the ex-president’s namesake son, Donald Trump, Jr.? In a series of tweets focusing on the president’s recent stumbles while boarding Air Force One, Trump…
The Brand is Dead
The pending defeat of Trump, accompanied by the blue wave of Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, evidences the Republican party’s death. While parties have suffered severe losses in the past, this time it’s real. The party doesn’t stand for anything good anymore. There is nothing left to rebuild. Those nostalgic for the old GOP will find the current one is different. It is rotten, racist, short-sighted, and shrinking.
Why the GOP Won’t Come Back
Last summer’s remarkable Black Lives Matters protests prove that civil rights are not just for African Americans and other minorities. Large contingents of whites, people previously mostly absent from such…
Two Presidents Will be Elected on November 3 if Biden Wins
What is at stake in next month’s Presidential election? A lot, including the chance to select two Presidents at once. He has described himself as a “transition candidate.” In May, he did that referring to a promising future for Pete Buttigieg, but the comment could equally apply to his ultimate choice of a running mate.
Without his explicitly saying it, Biden is offering voters a two-for-one deal. Vote for him, and you get two Presidents, Biden and President-in-waiting Kamala Harris.
The Reality of Nominating a 77-Year-Old Nominee
Democrats have nominated a 77-year-old for President. That justifies taking a good look at Kamala Harris. If Biden wins the…
Trump triumphs as Republicans do his bidding
Will Congressional Republican leadership squander GOP chances to return to power in the 2022 elections? That is the question being asked in Washington after this week’s ouster of Liz Cheney from her House leadership position. Cheney’s politics are as Republican as a Ronald Reagan dream. Her offense: Rejection of Donald Trump on the grounds of the January 6 insurrection and his continuing lies about the 2020 election.
Cheney’s removal demonstrated the continued hold of Donald Trump on the party. Six whole months after his loss, Hill Republicans are afraid to cross him. Trump wanted Cheney punished. So she was.
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader McConnell
The GOP’s replacement for Liz Cheney is no longer unknown or interesting
Shortly after news surfaced that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had “had it” with Republican conference chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-WY), I decided to write about her apparent replacement, Elise Stefanik (R-NY). I knew a little about Stefanik. At age 30, she was elected to Congress. She graduated with honors from Harvard. And after challenging Trump on issues like quitting the Paris Climate Accords in 2017, she eventually became a full-tilt Trumper. She not only voted against impeaching him but more recently has been repeating Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
What happened to Elise between 2014, when she was…
It is the worst path forward for Republicans
All doubt about whether Donald Trump would continue to play an outsized role in the GOP after his defeat and the January 6 insurrection have been answered. With no anti-Trump Republican leader and weak leadership in the House and Senate, it’s Trump’s party now. At least until criminal prosecution, business failures, or something else distracts him, he will remain the head of the one-time ‘Party of Lincoln.’
Nothing better could happen to Democrats. Even before inciting the insurrection and anticipated criminal legal proceedings, Trump was easy to hate. His swagger, racism, lying, and incompetence made him an imminent threat to…
More accurate budget accounting could boost loan forgiveness programs
Few issues are more complicated than what to do with federal student loans. Are student loans a national crisis? Are proposals to forgive up to $50,000 in student loans a give-away to the educationally privileged? Will forgiving student loans today create an expectation that all future student loans will be similarly forgiven? And what will forgiveness cost?
Congress is likely to address these issues in the coming months. Before that happens, however, two House Republicans, Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the top Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, and Mike Bost (R- IL ), top Republican on the Veterans Affairs…
Don’t tell a Ranunculus that it is a poisonous weed
It’s springtime on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, a time of great beauty. That’s where the buttercups come in. A nearby farm has a large field that has become an ocean of yellow. That got my attention.
Did the farmer plant them? That seems probable given their dominance. But appearances can be deceiving. There is more on the web about how to control buttercups than how to cultivate them.
Creeping buttercup is in the Ranunculus family and known for its lovely flowers. However, buttercup is considered by many to be a weed due to its invasive and prolific nature. …
President Biden has adopted not only the Warren agenda but her strategies to secure its enactment
Elizabeth Warren went home a disappointed loser in 2020. Despite electrifying the progressive base, she lost the nomination to Joe Biden, a candidate seen for most of the 2020 primary campaign as past his prime and more of a look back than a look forward. Warren sucked it up and vowed to continue her fight. She joined up with the Biden campaign and helped him secure the support of progressives.
The Massachusetts Senator received her reward in 2021. Rumors circulated after Biden’s election that Warren wanted a seat in his cabinet. Alas, this was not to be. With Republican Charlie…
John Dean
Writer, blogger, lover of nature, music, photography, and Goldendoodles. Top writer in Government. Editor of Dean’s List.
