First, President-Elect Trump failed in his effort to get the Supreme Court to bypass New York appeals courts and toss his conviction for falsifying business records (see story here). The New York judge won’t punish him for his paperwork crime, but his sentencing on Friday, January 9, 2025, is [...]
Archive for the ‘Biden’ Category
Should Biden commute all the federal death sentences?
Forty people are on federal death row. Biden is under pressure to commute their sentences (read story here). I’ll skip over the usual anti-death penalty arguments: Botched executions, racial bias, the danger of executing an innocent person, etc. The best argument for leaving no one on federal [...]
December 17th, 2024 - 9:47 pm § in America, Biden, Democrats, Donald Trump, Economics, Foreign Affairs, Politics, Republicans
Kamala Harris won’t be president
Kamala Harris will never be president. I’m not saying she won’t run; but if she does, she won’t be elected. The 2024 election proved it. Sure, she was dealt a tough hand to play, and played it better than anyone had a right to expect. She was a last-minute nominee, saddled with Bid[...]
Why Democrats lost Latinos and Asians in 2024
Working-class Latino and Asian neighborhoods in Southeast Los Angeles went heavily for Trump in 2024, probably mirroring what happened across the country. Historically, the Democrats have been the party of the working class, while Republicans were the party of the rich. In policy terms, that hasn[...]
December 5th, 2024 - 6:20 pm § in Biden, Democrats, Donald Trump, Law and Courts, Politics, Republicans
Biden should pardon Trump’s “enemies”
A few days ago I argued (here) for pardoning Trump “because it would take the wind out of any efforts by him to seek retribution.” “How would it look,” I asked, “if he’s forgiven, but won’t forgive?” But let’s say Biden doesn’t pardon Trump, or doe[...]
Is Biden’s pardon of his son “pardonable”?
President Biden said he wouldn’t pardon Hunter. But things change, and he did just that on Sunday, December 1, 2024, a few days before his son’s sentencing for tax cheating and lying on a gun purchase form. Trump and Republicans in Congress are crying foul, but this reeks of hypocrisy a [...]
How enforcing antitrust laws might change under Trump
When a Republican president replaces a Democratic president, you expect a drastic shift in how America’s antitrust laws are enforced. Specifically, you expect Republicans to be more lax about enforcing them. America’s stable of antitrust laws sprang from the monopolistic abuses of the la[...]
Should Biden pardon everyone on Trump’s “enemies list”?
The Atlantic thinks so; their headline says, “Pardon Trump’s Critics Now” (see story here), arguing Biden has a moral obligation to do so. However, I can think of reasons why he shouldn’t. First and foremost, people who haven’t committed crimes don’t need pardons,[...]
PHOTOGRAPHY: Enjoy this picture while you can
Having Biden as president was comforting. He led us out of the pandemic in a sensible manner, his handling of foreign affairs was wise, his infrastructure bill addressed long-neglected repairs and upgrades to the sinews of America’s economy. His leadership style was compassionate and upbeat, a[...]
Biden’s gift to Trump
When Trump left office in 2021, he bequeathed Biden a nation mired in a deadly pandemic, which he had managed poorly. Biden led America out of it, and to an economic recovery featuring full employment, rising wages, expanded worker rights, and near-normal inflation. Voters punished his stand-in, H[...]