Musings:
1. The U.S. Congress recently passed a “defense” bill totaling $783 billion, including $25 billion the White House and the Pentagon didn’t ask for. It was the military’s Christmas present for FY 2022, and was passed almost unanimously by both chambers. The Congress could not, however, find $3.5 trillion – reduced to $1.2 trillion – spread over a 10-year period for president Joe Biden’s build back better social-spending package.
What’s wrong with this picture?
America’s priorities are totally screwed up. We are stockpiling weapons of war in preparation for a war we don’t want to fight. The sole purpose which is being served is the continued profitability of the military-industrial complex.
Let’s take that $783 billion and divvy it up between the Departments of Transportation, Interior, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture, Energy, and Veterans Affairs where they will do some actual good. In order to provide funds for “defense,” we can sell the Pentagon to the highest bidder and put it on the property-tax rolls.
Is that a plan, or what?
2. President Biden wants to purchase 500 million COVID-19 test kits and give them to every man, woman, and child in the U.S.. Assuming there are that many available for purchase, where’s he going to get the money to pay for them? Oh, wait, I know. He’ll take it out of Anthony Fauci’s paycheck. The good doctor can afford it, seeing that he’s making fistfuls of money from the sales of vaccines.
In any event, the test kits are worthless. They are inefficient and produce too many false positives. You don’t read any statistics in the “news” media about the people who are discharged from hospitals when it’s discovered that they don’t have any symptoms after all. Bad for business, don’t you know?
3. A group of liberal Democrats are urging the president to introduce legislation which would authorize him to expand the make-up of the U.S. Supreme Court. They want four more liberal justices in order to counteract the three conservatives nominated by Donald Trump and therefore to hand down decisions more to their liking. Even if such legislation could be passed by a divided Congress, expansion is inherently a bad idea.
The Constitution is silent on the matter of the number of justices on the High Court. The first Court had four members, one each to represent the four regions of the nascent Republic. Over the years, the numbers oscillated between five and 12 before settling upon nine. All these changes were motivated by political partisanship when the two major parties vied with each other over mastery of the Federal judiciary. But, jurisprudence in these United States ought not to be a sports venue.
A better idea is term limits for the justices. The Constitution states (Article III, Section 1) that “The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior…” (emphasis added). Down through the years, this clause has been erroneously interpreted as “for life.” “Good behavior” and “for life” are not necessarily synonymous, because the Federal judiciary are liable to impeachment and dismissal (and a handful have been impeached). Term limits, say, 12 years, would invalidate packing the Court and provide fresh, non-partisan thinking.
4. Some conservative Republicans want to proclaim U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as “Politician of the Year.” The Chas thinks this is a good idea. In fact, he would go so far as to proclaim senator McConnell as “Politician of the Century” (any century!). McConnell is the quintessential politician; that is to say, he will tell people what they want to hear rather than what they need to know. And he is a past master of talking out of both sides of his mouth. All through his political career, he has said one thing one day and said just the opposite thing the next day (check the National Register for proof) — and still kept a straight face – in order to make a point.
If that weren’t bad enough, senator McConnell should really be called “Senator No.” No to voting rights, no to immigration reform, no to gun control, no to climate-change relief, no to environmental protection, no to workers’ rights, no to social spending. His approach to compromise goes like this: if you give him what he wants, he will give you a great big smile. It’s his way or the highway.
All in all, Mitch McConnell is a poster boy for term limits for members of Congress.
Just a thought.