Senator James Shields (1806-1879) | New NY 23rd

James Shields served as US Senator from Illinois from March 5, 1849 to March 15, 1849 (sic) and again from October 27, 1849 to March 3, 1855. His first election was invalid: he had not been a U.S. citizen for the nine years required by The Constitution, having been naturalized October 21, 1840 and elected on January 13, 1849. He resigned from the Senate on March 14, 1849, returned to Illinois, campaigned once again for the seat he had resigned, and won a special election when he had been a citizen for nine years, replacing himself as Senator.

This is a precedent in the case of Rep. George Santos, should it turn out that he hasn’t met the constitutional citizenship requirement.

Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Senator James Shields (1806-1879) | New NY 23rd

Elizabeth Kolbert on Hyperpartisanship | New NY 23rd

Elizabeth Kolbert, in an article titled “How Politics got so Polarized”, which appeared in the Jan. 3 issue of “The New Yorker,” discusses hyperpartisanship. She notes that only about a quarter of new posts on facebook by Democrats are viewed by Republicans and vice versa. She writes: “When people confer with others who agree with them, their views become more extreme.”

Kolbert concludes: “Could “superordinate goals” help depolarize America? There would seem to be no shortage of crises for the two parties to work together on. The hitch, of course, is that they’d first need to agree on what these are.”

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/03/how-politics-got-so-polarized

This entry was posted in Political and tagged Elizabeth Kolbert, Hyperpartisanship. Bookmark the permalink.

Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Elizabeth Kolbert on Hyperpartisanship | New NY 23rd

Can the President do what he likes? | New NY 23rd

Can the President do what he likes? Pretty much, I think.

The President is expected to faithfully execute the laws, but the President can veto bills, take exception with signing statements, or direct subordinates to ignore laws. The courts might intervene, but the resources of the Dept. of Justice can be used to formulate an appeal, and the Supreme Court is historically reluctant to intervene when a question of presidential power is debatable.

Can the President do what he likes? Here are some examples:

  • President Ford pardoned former President Nixon who had appointed him as VP before resigning. Several Nixon Administration officials were convicted of crimes, served time in jail, and were not pardoned.
  • Reagan Administration officials secretly arranged an illegal sale of arms to Iran. They plan to use the money to fund Contras in  Nicaragua. Reagan denied ordering this, and defended his subordinates by withholding documents. Reagan Administration officials charged with crimes were pardoned by Reagan’s successor, President G. H. W. Bush.
  • President Clinton signed several pardons at the end of his second term. If the only penalty for audacious pardons is impeachment, then there is no effective penalty during the last few months of an administration as impeachment takes time.
  • President G. W. Bush instigated two wars, ignoring opposition.
  • President Trump continues to profit from his business interests as no other government official can.
  • President Trump ordered a missile attack on Syria, reportedly influenced by a TV news program
  • Trump Administration nepotism would be illegal for others.
  • President Trump’s lawyer argues that he can block whom he likes on social media.
  • President Trump reportedly was advised that presidential power to pardon is unlimited; he might even pardon himself. If done at the end of his term, there would be no practical recourse.

Could the President order a nuclear war. It is likely he or she could. It is extremely dangerous for only one person, whomever it might be, to be empowered as our president reportedly is:

Pacific Fleet commander Scott Swift recently told a security conference in Australia that having sworn an oath to obey the US President as commander-in-chief to defend the constitution, he would launch a nuclear attack on China if ordered to do so by President Trump.

Perhaps Admiral Swift wanted to call attention to a problem. If they receive dubious or dangerous orders, I would prefer that commanders would use their best judgement instead of blind obedience.

http://themessinglink.com/TrumpReedBlocking

Trump’s Control Over Nuclear Weapons Worrisome

Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Can the President do what he likes? | New NY 23rd

Nikki Haley | New NY 23rd

America needs to be more like Iowa. That’s my main takeaway after spending time this week holding town halls across the state – my first visit since declaring my candidacy for President earlier this month. Iowa is strong and proud, with conservative leadership all the way.–Nikki Haley

(Of course, Iowa isn’t typical of America.)

Nikki Haley is a candidate for President. This is from her 2024 campaign website:

About herself she writes:

Governor Haley brought sweeping reform to South Carolina. She passed ethics reform and signed into law a bill that for the first time required lawmakers to put their votes “on the record”. She improved education and empowered parents by signing a charter school bill that expanded school choice. And she brought South Carolinians together when tragedy struck – both in the aftermath of the racially motivated murders at the Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, and following the destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew.

Here are her views on issues (excerpts from her campaign page):

Nikki cut taxes, nixed burdensome government regulations, and made small businesses a state priority.

She took on the establishment in both parties by introducing and ultimately signing a bill that put votes on the record. Nikki also championed and signed an ethics reform package that created an ethics commission to investigate legislators for misconduct (instead of legislators investigating themselves) and required politicians to disclose their private income.

Nikki was one of the most pro-life governors in America.

She aggressively cracked down on illegal immigration and took on Barack Obama and the D.C. liberals when they stood in the way. In 2011, she signed one of the toughest immigration laws in the country, giving law enforcement more power to check whether people are illegal immigrants.

Nikki is a vocal advocate for voter ID and signed a voter ID bill into law early in her first term as governor.

As governor, Nikki successfully pushed for education reform that focused on improving education for South Carolina’s poorest students. She also signed a charter school bill that expanded school choice, and signed a bill eliminating the federal government’s Common Core standards.

Nikki rejected Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion because she knew another unfunded mandate would be disastrous for taxpayers. She also defended South Carolina’s right-to-work laws when Obama’s National Labor Relations Board sued the state.

Nikki is a strong defender of the Second Amendment and fought to protect gun owners’ rights as governor.

She focused on easing the transition to civilian life and helping veterans find jobs.

Nikki turned people’s grief into action, signing the first body camera bill for law enforcement in the country. When natural disasters came to South Carolina, Nikki was proactive with life-saving evacuations, and was a constant and comforting presence throughout the recovery process.  

From her first day as UN ambassador, Nikki worked to clean up the corrupt and politically-biased UN. She negotiated $285 million in cuts from the UN budget and reached agreements to restructure the UN, including rightsizing UN peacekeeping missions to make them more effective and accountable. She put our enemies on notice and started a process to slash U.S. foreign aid to countries that refused to have America’s back. 

Nikki has long been a strong defender of Israel.

Known as the “Iran whisperer,” Nikki played a prominent role in President Trump’s decision to repeal President Obama’s disastrous Iran deal.

Nikki negotiated a groundbreaking arms embargo on South Sudan through the UN Security Council after the council rejected the same effort by the Obama administration in 2016. When Cuba offered up its annual resolution condemning the U.S. embargo on Cuba in 2018, Nikki didn’t just vote against it—she used the opportunity to force UN votes on amendments condemning the communist regime’s human rights abuses. She also led the United States’ withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council, highlighting the council’s terrible record on human rights.

Nikki turned up the heat on China after decades of soft-on-China U.S. policies. Nikki was a strong advocate of withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, arguing that it was a flawed agreement that gave China a free pass and would destroy American jobs.

Nikki pushed for a tough stance on North Korea from day one, arguing that American presidents have been kicking the can down the road on the brutal regime for too long.

When it came to denouncing Russia, Nikki did not mince words. Her first speech before the UN Security Council in 2017 criticized Russia for invading Ukraine.

With a renewed focus on Latin America, Nikki hammered the region’s communist and socialist dictators.

Nikki Haley’s positions focus on traditional Republican talking points: abortion, taxes, regulations, immigration, voter ID, charter schools, anti-union, guns, Israel. She has a great deal to say about the past and nothing about her plans should she be elected–we can infer it would be more of the same.

This entry was posted in Political, President and tagged 2024, Nikki Haley. Bookmark the permalink.

Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Nikki Haley | New NY 23rd

Safe Air Travel | New NY 23rd

The Pilot’s union likes the current rules, the employer’s association doesn’t. Our representatives chime in. It is unlikely that any party is primarily concerned with safety.

Regional Airline Association

We need to look at the training that happens at the foundation and ensure we are providing the right supplemental training and bridge programs. And we need to make sure we’re not relying solely on flight hours as a proxy for experience because that’s not serving us well today.–Regional Airlines Association CEO Faye Malarkey Black

Our Representatives overlooked Ms. Black’s testimony.

Rep. Brian Higgens (D-NY)

The mere suggestion that we should put Americans on an airplane with pilots that are undertrained is absurd and dangerous. In Western New York, we learned the risks that come with this thinking the hard way. The families of Flight 3407 have worked tirelessly to see that other families don’t face the same fate. Together we will continue to fight for the safety of the flying public.

No one suggested that we should put Americans on an airplane with pilots that are undertrained.

Rep. Nicholas Langworthy (R-NY)

I’m proud to join with my colleague Congressman Higgins, the families of Flight 3407, and the Air Line Pilots Association in this bipartisan fight to protect airline safety. Since the 1,500 hour training requirement was implemented, there hasn’t been a single crash of a U.S. airline and making any changes this rule would undermine passenger safety. We can never get back the souls we lost on Flight 3407 but we can fight to ensure that no other travelers of U.S. airlines suffer the same tragic fate. No business decision should ever trump public safety.

It’s not possible to ensure that there will never be another accident.

Airline Pilots Association

Responding to industry problems that arose during the pandemic with permanent changes to pilot training and qualification requirements is ill-considered and dangerous. Attempts to undermine or otherwise alter or repeal the lifesaving set of requirements established in 2010, including moving from an experiential-based training and qualification regime to a simulation-based system, threatens the traveling public and should be summarily rejected. The current production of certificated pilots has outpaced U.S. airline hiring needs to replace retiring pilots and has also covered the new hiring demand created by flying increases before the pandemic and today. 

Labeling current rules as “lifesaving” begs the question.

Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Safe Air Travel | New NY 23rd

Hoover Inst. | New NY 23rd

The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law … shall not be questioned.–Fourteenth Amendment In an opinion article in The New York Times, Michael W. McConnell, a senior fellow at the right-leaning Hoover Institution, argues … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, Constitution, Political, President, Uncategorized Tagged debt ceiling, Default, Hoover Inst., Michael W. McConnell

Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Hoover Inst. | New NY 23rd

Treasure Island | New NY 23rd

Seventeenth century pirate crews were nominally democratic much like today’s House. They had norms and rules. The Captain held office at the pleasure of the crew. As in Treasure Island, the Captain could be given “the black spot,” a demand … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, Economics, Political Tagged black spot, Blackbeard, debt ceiling, Speaker McCarthy, Treasure Island, vacate the chair

Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Treasure Island | New NY 23rd

H.R. 1138 | New NY 23rd

S.2038 – STOCK Act 112th Congress CRS Summary (Excerpts, read the whole thing here.) Public Law No: 112-105 (04/04/2012) Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 or STOCK Act – (Sec. 3) Requires the congressional ethics committees to issue interpretive guidance … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, Ethics, Political Tagged H.R. 1138, Insider trading, NY-23, Rep. Langworthy, The STOCK Act

Posted in Blog | Comments Off on H.R. 1138 | New NY 23rd

Ron DeSantis | New NY 23rd

The tired dogmas of the past are inadequate for a vibrant future — we must look forward, not backwards.–Ron DeSantis

Tired dogmas?

Ron DeSantis is a candidate for President. He explains his views on his web page.

Our country is going in the wrong direction.  We see it with our eyes and we feel it in our bones.

  • Our southern border has collapsed and drugs are pouring into our country, killing tens of thousands of our fellow Americans
  • Our cities are being hollowed out by spiking crime — the result of weak, ideologically-driven policies
  • Our federal government is making it harder for the average family to make ends meet and to attain and maintain a middle class lifestyle
  • Our president lacks vigor, flounders in the face of our nation’s challenges, and takes his cues from the woke mob 

But it doesn’t have to be this way. 

Ron DeSantis’ announcement is a litany of complaints. I find few specific policy suggestions; he would build a wall; he tells us what we see and feel; better we should see and feel for ourselves.

  • Laws and walls have never stopped drug users.
  • Florida has more crime than NYS, and three times NYS’s gun death rate (CDC data)
  • By weak, ideologically-driven policies, he must mean policies not reflecting his far-right ideology.
  • DeSantis’ ideology may be so-called Christian Nationalism and doesn’t reflect justice for all.
  • Yes, it is harder to maintain a middle class lifestyle, primarily due to Republican belief in social Darwinism and a laissez-faire economy.
  • What DeSantis calls “the woke mob” are those of us, perhaps a majority, who favor a kind, truthful, inclusive national policy.

What tired dogmas of the past Ron DeSantis finds inadequate for the future, one can only imagine. Presumably, he doesn’t have any Republican dogmas in mind, pricing hard-working Americans out of a good standard of living through inflationary borrow, print and spend policies, for example.

This entry was posted in Campaigning, Political, President and tagged Ron DeSantis. Bookmark the permalink.

Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Ron DeSantis | New NY 23rd

Republican Main Street Caucus | New NY 23rd

We’re conservatives who understand that America has given us an opportunity to govern, and that’s an obligation that we can’t squander. Our leadership is, on average, more conservative than the House Republican Conference as a whole.–Caucus Chair Dusty Johnson (R-SD)

The Republican Main Street Caucus, a House caucus with 70 members, released a list of priorities, conditions for raising the debt ceiling. Mostly, they reflect common Republican talking points.

  • Retrieve unspent Covid funds: this reflects the view that Covid was a one-time event long past so that the unspent funds are no longer needed.
  • Cancel student loan relief: the only apparent justification is to save the expense.
  • Cut spending: what spending would be cut isn’t specified.
  • Limit growth of spending: reflect the idea that the government should spend less without justification.
  • Study growth of Social Security and Medicare: reflects the desire to reduce the cost of these.
  • Strengthen work requirements for SNAP: Republicans have long wanted to make it harder to qualify for SNAP benefits.
  • Enact H.R. 1: The House passed it, and that is as far as it will go.
  • Congress to review regulations: a common talking point, impractical to implement.

The Republican Main Street Caucus, shouldn’t be confused with the late Amo Houghton’s former Main Street Partnership. The Republican Main Street Caucus sees itself as conservative and pragmatic rather than moderate. Rep. Stefanik (R-NY) is a member. It isn’t clear if their suggestions could be the basis of agreement among Republicans, or if a bill based on them could pass the Senate and be signed by President Biden.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/415

Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Republican Main Street Caucus | New NY 23rd