Category: Politics

Extraordinary Claims

That’s Carl Sagan. The guy from whom most of Generation X learned about space. A precursor to Neil deGrasse Tyson if you like. One of Mr. Sagan’s famous quotes is “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”

Let’s just say that there’s an election coming up. Party A is running Candidate A. Party B is running Candidate B.

Imagine if you will, that Candidate A claims that Candidate B will, oh, I don’t know, institute a death penalty for jaywalking (notwithstanding that jaywalking in some places can be deadly without judicial action). Wow, that’s pretty extreme. Now you might be having one of several reactions: maybe “wow that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard”; maybe “well it doesn’t surprise me that Party B would run someone with that kind of plan” or “well I always knew something was off about Candidate B”; and just maybe, you think “that’s kind of weird, maybe I should look into that a little further.”

If you thought the last thing, congratulations! You noticed an extraordinary claim and are at least looking for evidence, preferably the extraordinary kind.

You’ve got another week until Election Day. Go ahead and use that extraordinary brain of yours! Find out if Jewish Space Lasers or government hurricane control satellites are real. Learn what political parties and their candidates really think about guns instead of what their opponents claim they think. Take a read through Project 2025. Peek at the actual voting record and positions of your elected officials. Read about the Federal Reserve (from an actual reputable site, please). Learn how many houses sell in your area in a typical month and how many are available right now; come to your own conclusions about why housing costs what it does. Learn what an ectopic pregnancy, and read for just a few minutes about fatal birth defects (ah, you won’t want to spend a lot of time on that because it’s extremely sad and can be upsetting).

You’ll notice I’m not feeding you links. And you know I love links! I hope you’ll spend time on some relatively neutral sites like Wikipedia. When you go to the websites of the political parties, pay attention to what they want and ignore what they claim the other guys want. Don’t pay any attention to celebrities; they’re not running for anything. That includes the people on certain TV channels that claim to present news. If a candidate has a giant gap between what they say and what they do, pay attention to what they do.

When you are done, maybe you’ll be firmly convinced your initial opinion was correct. Maybe you’ll be looking for more information still. And just maybe you’ll have changed your mind about a thing or two. Whatever you decide, remember that what you do on your ballot is your business alone. It doesn’t have to align with your family or the sign in the yard, just with your heart. Whatever you learn, do the right thing.

Immigration Roundup

When the COVID Public Health Emergency ended, some immigration policies also ended. I’ve written multiple times about immigration both legal and undocumented in the past, with a focus on the broken system and why none of the “reform” ideas being floated are good ideas. But since Mr. Biden has a long rich history of disfiguring reform initiatives, he’s probably exactly where he wants to be.

Here’s one of my early efforts from 2007, where I look at the issues and the stakeholders.

By 2009, we had crazy machines to replace undocumented farm workers.

In 2014 we noticed the Children’s Crusade Redux at the border.

Oh, let’s not forget Chris Christie in 2015 wanting FedEx style tracking of visa holders.

in 2018 I brought you commentary on the Dreamers and a comprehensive post on the topic that I think still largely stands true. Real reform still must include a radical lifting of immigration caps, hiring a lot of staff to process people who want to be here legally, simplifying forms so someone with a grade school education and little knowledge of English can fill them out, and severe penalties for employers that don’t follow the law. Spoiler alert, we won’t be getting any of that.

What we will get? Another heaping helping of Joe Biden as Democratic nominee for President whether we like it or not.

A few thoughts on Voting

It’s that time of year again! If you are in a state that does early voting like Nevada, get moving! If you are in a state where you must vote on Election Day, make a plan! Just for fun, here’s some actual data on American voters.

This time of year also brings out some perennial ideas about how and when we should vote. Let’s look at a few of them:

Election Day as a National Holiday. Sounds like a great idea, everybody has the day off, everybody can get their butts to the polling place. Clearly this idea was hatched and is supported by people in nice little Monday through Friday jobs who never worked someplace that was open Christmas. This will not help people who work at airports, railroads, hotels, restaurants, firehouses, or hospitals. That includes the 4.2 million Registered Nurses nationwide, a highly educated and largely female block of voters who often work twelve hour shifts. If I were conspiracy minded (I like to think I’m not), I’d suspect this idea is meant to disenfranchise all those people whose jobs can’t shut down for Christmas and Election Day.

Online Voting. I know, you’d think that in a world where I can pay my bills, order almost any legal product online, have news of the world at my fingertips, hold a videoconference with colleagues in other time zones, and make friends on almost any continent, voting online should be a no-brainer. Still, many consider it a “huge risk” with “security concerns.” Really no idea why it’s ok for me to spend thousands of dollars online but not okay to cast one vote. That’s above my pay grade.

Voter ID. Many people think you should have to show valid identification to vote. I’ll support that on two conditions: the state must issue an appropriate ID completely free of charge; the agency issuing those IDs must be open from early morning until 10 at night, at least 6 days a week and preferably seven, with sufficient staffing at all times to handle all applicants in a prompt manner. That way people who work long hours and people with very tight budgets can get their ID. Otherwise, it sure looks like an attempt to make sure only the “right people” can vote.

Early Voting. For the record, we do this in Nevada and I freaking love it. There’s polling places all over town in convenient places like shopping malls and supermarkets, computer linked to prevent voting in more than one location. It helps people with hectic schedules and/or medical needs. Because there’s many locations and the voting load is spread out, there’s rarely a big line to go vote — handy for both convenience and limiting the spread of things like influenza (yes, it’s flu season). Only someone who “wants to control who is able to vote” would possibly be against it.

Vote By Mail and/or Absentee Ballots. Yes, vote by mail has always been a thing for people who physically can’t get to the polling place, either because they are hospitalized, or because they are deployed in our military. Saying no to vote by mail is saying you don’t want our Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen voting. Go on, say it, I dare you. Yes, there are potential security concerns. That doesn’t change the necessity. During the pandemic, Nevada also made it possible for every registered voter to vote by mail. As an added benefit, voters are able to research their candidates and ballot questions well before voting.

Did the CDC Contradict Itself?

Officially, the CDC says the definition of “fully vaccinated” is not changing. Here’s a source that is unlikely to go away — the CDC likes to “keep its website up to date” and get rid of what it said previously. But here’s what they say about post-exposure quarantine for health care workers (note that I’m adding an image from their site because it will someday “be updated” and disappear):

Source

Sure looks like unless you’re boosted, you might as well not be vaccinated under this guidance.

For right now, the official guidance on how long people who get COVID should stay home is here. This headline puts it succinctly: it meets corporate needs. I get that it’s hard to run an airline or a hospital when much of your staff is sick. Having them come to work while sick and make your remaining staff sick is not the answer. Nurses are concerned, and we’re the ones that make hospital care possible.

I have bent over backwards to both follow what the CDC says, do what they say, and not speak ill of them. My patience wears thin.

Reminder: Omicron may not make you as sick, but it is very easy to transmit. There are millions of new cases; between lack of hospital beds and sick hospital staff that can’t take care of patients, it’s a mess. Keep your hands clean and your mask up over your nose where it belongs. Stay safe out there.

Why the Vaccine Mandate Does Not Violate the Tenth Amendment

For your reference, here’s the announcement, and here’s the Tenth Amendment.

The mandate is broken into three big pieces, which will be addressed individually: government employees, health care workers, and employees of large employers.

Government Employees:

The Federal Government is acting as an employer, not as the government. The courts have long held that it’s ok for an employer to say “no smoking” or “we don’t cover birth control pills.” The courts have also said it’s ok to have requirements for a job. Schools — a specialized “employer” — have required certain vaccines since before I was a small child. That ship has sailed.

Health Care Workers:

The Feds are using their authority under the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services Conditions of Participation. They are in essence saying “If you want our money, you must do these things.” Since at least 99% of hospitals receive money from Medicare, Medicaid, or both, effectively all hospitals will be finding ways to comply with this rule once the actual rules are finalized (it’s already a done deal in some states like California). This is another case where the courts spoke years ago and the ship has long since sailed.

There are a few places that think they can legislate or make executive orders to make this go away. Florida’s governor appears to be backing down about a half step, only vowing to fight the mandate for businesses. Texas’s governor not so much. There are teams of hospital lawyers girding up for battle, because hospitals want to get paid and federal regulations overrule states.

The one aspect of this I find interesting is that the mandate as announced (no word on implementation yet) does not appear to have a loophole to regularly test employees that have legitimate medical contraindications to the vaccine. I do have a horse in this race. My building could lose employees if there’s not a loophole. However I’m the sucker who is going to be running a lot of COVID tests if there is.

Large Employers:

Here’s where stuff gets interesting. The rule would require employers with 100 or more employers to mandate vaccines. And there’s a testing loophole. This falls under OSHA. Fun thing about the law creating OSHA, the OSH Act. There’s a part of it called Section 18 that allows states to have their own OSHA rules. There’s your Tenth Amendment compliance right there. Done. However, those rules have to be at least as strong as the federal rules. You can have your state rules, but only if those state rules also include stuff like the vaccine mandate.

The Vaccine Mandate doesn’t violate the Tenth Amendment, stop saying it does.

The Actual “Far Left” Agenda

There’s been a great deal of scare talk about the “far left” and how they’ll create chaos and turn everything evil in this country. I thought I’d share what I believe the actual left stands for. I think you’ll find it not so terrifying. Heck, you might even agree with some of these points.

Getting health care shouldn’t cause bankruptcy.

Full time work should earn a living wage. Particularly for “essential workers,” now that we can agree who they are.

Infrastructure — things like safe drinking water, school buildings, roads, and bridges that won’t fall down — is important and we really need to spend money on it.

Police departments don’t need tanks. They don’t need rubber bullets. Defunding means no tank and rubber bullet money. They need to knock and announce themselves before trying to bust your door down. And they should refrain from shooting black people and dogs under the pretext of being scared.

We only have the one planet and we should try to take better care of it. Heck, even Jesus would want us to do that.

Speaking of What Would Jesus Do: don’t want an abortion or a gay marriage? Don’t have one. Want to prevent abortions? Advocate for better access to birth control, birth defect prevention, and rape prevention.

Almost nobody actually seriously wants to take guns away from law abiding citizens! Yeah, there’s a few crackpots among the left (and among the right too). We do want responsible gun ownership by people who follow and respect both the law and safety rules. That specifically excludes most of the nuts out there showing off or even aiming their weapons in public.

The rule of law is important. Lawmakers who actually work for their constituents are important.

Nobody wants anarchy. Trust me on this. I hope you find this guide helpful.

Every Government Office and Agency Actually Mentioned in the Constitution

So, this is meant to give some perspective. A lot of the government offices we count on and see as “normal” are created after the fact. A few that are perennial targets are Constitutionally mandated. You are welcome to double check against any copy, but I’m using the version up at the National Archives.

Article I.

Section 1: the Congress, including the House of Representatives and Senate.

Section 2: Representatives, “electors” (now known as voters), and taxes. Regular “enumeration” of citizens (the Census), and a Speaker of the House.

Section 3: Senators, the Vice President, and President Pro Tempore. The President, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Impeachment are also mentioned here, but more on them later.

Section 5: Congressional records. Of course the Founding Fathers never envisioned TV, but C-SPAN is an interesting way of supplementing those records.

Section 6: Ok, nothing new is created here. I just wanted to point out that you can’t arrest a member of Congress on his way to a session unless it’s for “Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace.”

Section 7: Bills and laws.

Section 8: This is a really meaty section on what Congress can do. They create money, regulate commerce and immigration, declare war, make laws, etc. Agencies created here include the Post Office, roads (so mail can be delivered), courts under the Supreme Court, the Navy, and the “Militia.” It’s worth noting that by the time this was written, the Marines were already a well established thing.

Article II.

Section 1: The President and Electoral College are officially created here.

Section 2: The Commander in Chief is also the President.

Section 3: The State of the Union address.

Section 4: Impeachment. Huh, pretty short Article here.

Article III.

Section 1: The Supreme Court and “inferior” courts.

Section 2: “Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls” are mentioned.

Section 3: Treason is a thing.

Article IV.

Section 2: Interstate extradition is a thing.

Section 3: How Baby States Are Made.

Articles V, VI, and VII

Constitutional Amendments are a thing. The National Debt — yes, really. Ratification.

Please note how few things really spring directly from the Constitution. No law enforcement agencies whatsoever: no FBI, Federal Marshals, or anything of the sort. Taxes but no tax agencies. Immigration but no immigration offices. Not a word about any sort of schools or colleges. While the Interstate Highway System or Department of Transportation isn’t mentioned, one can argue that they stem from the postal road system. No political parties.

I hope you have found this interesting reading.

Biden Their Time

Or, “Oh no, say it ain’t Joe”

As I write it seems pretty clear that the Democratic Party is hell-bent on ramming Joe Biden down our collective throats as the “Be Reasonable” candidate. This would prove that they learned absolutely nothing from 2016. There are literally thousands of reasons for millions of people to vote against Joe, however much political experience he has.

Biden’s role in criminal “reform.” Joe was instrumental in passing the 1994 crime bill. You know, the one where the Clintons were refering to “Super-Predators”? It’s also the one that made the United States the leading producer of prison inmates. Even Joe himself is no longer proud of his role in that. At least one opponent calls for repealing it altogether.

Biden’s role in bankruptcy “reform.” Joe actually cast the deciding vote on this one, doing the bidding of his Delaware corporate masters well. This bill made it hard to discharge credit card bills in bankruptcy, and impossible to discharge student loan debt. We have millions of people buried under debt due to these changes. Think they’re lining up to vote for Joe? Think they’re lining up to vote for any status-quo “Be Reasonable” candidate?

Biden’s role in health insurance “reform.” No mistake, I knew that health insurance reform was largely doomed early on, when The Powers That Be decided that they didn’t need any help from the one guy that had seen health insurance from every possible angle and gotten universal health care for every kid under 18 in his home state. But Joe actively tried to undermine contraceptive coverage in Romneycare 2.0 Obamacare.

So yeah, anytime Biden and “reform” come up in one breath, it sure seems like something bad is coming.

Biden and women. Ok, fine let’s say you want to overlook the whole contraceptive thing. If a picture really does say a thousand words, then there are many thousands of words said about Joe Biden having his picture taken with uncomfortable looking women. Dude is so stuck in the past that he still thinks it’s a brother’s job to defend his sister’s honor, or at least “keep the guys away” from her. As if she can’t say “no thanks, not interested” or accept a date on her own. This is not a big step forward for women in America, and non-penis owning Americans know it.

Biden and race. Recently his Freudian slip was showing when he said that poor kids were as smart as “white kids.” Oops, he apologized for saying what he seems to actually believe.

Biden’s continuing Foot In Mouth disease. G7. Two characters, three syllables, he managed to mess that up. Heck, he’s even willing to crack jokes about how he messes stuff up. One progressive source has compiled a list of some of his more choice, uh, statements.

Even Obama says don’t do it. Really, enough said.

AOC and Trump

Wow, that’s a funny combo, right?

And yet, the Democratic Party needs to learn the same thing from the success of both of them. And they need to hustle, because 2020 is closer than those of us outside politics like.

Both of these politicians, and the Tea Party before them, rose to power on the frustration of the American People. Voters — the people who actually decide who wins elections — are tired of being told to pipe down, be reasonable, grown ups are talking, and eat what your mother made I don’t care if you’re allergic to it.

We’re tired of being told the economy is doing great because after all look at the DJIA, when many people are barely scraping by. We’re tired of being told that employment is low, when wages are stagnant, benefits are shrinking, and our net worth is going down. Sure, unemployment is down, but so is the ability to pay the rent and buy groceries.

If you want to win elections, you need votes. And that means you have to actually address the issues that are important to normal Americans. Don’t tell us everything is fine and be reasonable. The people who voted for Trump and the people who voted for AOC are both tired of being told to be reasonable.

Some Random Election Day Thoughts

 

In Nevada, we have early voting. A lot of votes are long since cast. In fact, 40% of our votes are already done. We have some races with national impact, so please indulge me.

Multiple candidates have ads running against them that basically say “Votes like Pelosi.” Hmm, maybe my thoughts that Pelosi is part of the problem with the modern Democratic party have some merit.

Let’s just talk about Dean Heller for a minute. Last year, the President said “He wants to remain a Senator, doesn’t he?” This implied that he would tow the party line or else. The ironic thing is that in kowtowing to the party, he alienated all the centrist and mostly-but-not-rabid Democrats that had voted for him in 2012, all the people who had said “well, he’s done a decent enough job for Nevada so far.” This race is a toss-up.

One candidate for Congress is Republican Danny Tarkanian. Notice the long list of times he’s tried to get elected — including twice in 2018. Now look at the long section on legal issues. As nearly as I can tell, the only good thing this guy has done in his entire life is be born the son of a popular basketball coach. Oddly enough, this race still appears to be a toss-up too.

And that brings me to the concept of The Perfect Candidate. I first noticed this problem in the 2016 elections, and it’s gotten worse. The New York Times encourages us to “vote anyway.” Democrats are already being warned to suck it up and vote for the chosen one whoever it is or else. Oh, for completeness, here’s the other version. Well, ya know, maybe if the Democrats didn’t insist that they had the right to rig primaries they could have had a better shot in 2016. And stop with that “most qualified candidate in history” nonsense. The so-called “most qualified candidate in history” forgot that only electoral votes win Presidential elections, a mistake that no high school government student with a passing grade would make.

So I guess what I’m saying is I don’t need a perfect candidate, but I do need a good enough one. I don’t want to hold my nose to vote. I don’t want to “Be reasonable and vote for who we tell you to.”

And let’s just not get started on the mud-fest that is our Governor’s race.