Category Archives: ethics

“I’m no different than any other family”

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That’s what New Jersey Phil Murphy (D) says about his decision to hare off to Italy on a 10-day vacation at his—his!—23-room villa.

“After this past 17 months, just having a few days together is something that I think all of us want to do with our family, and I’m looking forward to that.”
The governor planned to leave last Tuesday for a visit to his 23-room multimillion-dollar villa in Umbria and return to New Jersey next Thursday[.]

My objection to Murphy’s move, which he’s in the middle of, has nothing to do with his being wealthy enough to own a vast villa in an overseas tourist mecca; I aspire to become stinking rich, too. Nor do I object to Murphy taking some vacation time.

No, my objection is to Murphy’s utter cynicism. He’s not looking to hav[e] a few days together with his family; he’s been doing that right along. So have we all, especially those of us in States like New Jersey where, through government-ordered lockdowns, we’ve been on-again, off-again prisoners in our homes. Murphy is looking to escape his duties.

He’s not looking to have a vacation, either; he’s looking to escape from his State—from our nation—during a period of crisis for his State. He’s looking to duck his responsibilities.

Murphy is Governor of New Jersey. His duties don’t go on vacation; they go with him wherever he goes. Except to Italy, where even were he aware of events back in New Jersey (he likely will be), he’ll in no position to deal with them in anything remotely like a timely manner.

Even President Joe Biden (D) hasn’t left our nation for his vacation—he’s just taking a few days of isolation from his duties in Delaware.

How obliviously out of touch with the average Americans in his State and around our nation is this Progressive-Democrat.

Or, how cynically unconcerned is this Progressive-Democrat with the ordinary American family, comparing himself only with his fellow rich.

“What’s the Goal Here?”

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That’s the question New York Assemblywoman Latrice Walker (D, 55th District) is asking on the matter of impeaching and bringing to State Senate trial soon-to-be ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo (D). He’s already resigned, she says. If the goal here was to move this particular governor out of office…, she says.

Other State Democrats are pressing for impeachment and conviction even after Cuomo’s resignation has taken effect.

Latrice misunderstands the situation, and those pushing for impeachment and conviction anyway, are clearer on the matter.

Cuomo resigned of the sex abuse allegations that have come to the fore, and that’s all he’s resigning over.

What about his other misbehaviors and abuses of his authority?

What about all the deaths that resulted from his demand that Wuhan Virus-infected elderly patients be put back into nursing homes to infect—and kill—thousands of other elderly?

What about his abuses of his authority regarding the Mario Cuomo Bridge?

What about his misuse of State government facilities and resources to write and peddle a book?

What about his abuse of his authority to give preferential virus testing treatment for family members and favored cronies during a time of limited testing resources?

What about his disbanding of the Moreland Commission when it began investigating his cronies?

What about his relationship with a crony convicted of bid-rigging for State government contracts?

What about the relationship between Crystal Run Healthcare’s donation of $400k in campaign donations to Cuomo’s 2016 campaign and Crystal Run’s subsequent award of a $25 million in State grants?

These, and especially the victims and victims’ survivors of Cuomo’s nursing home moves, badly want adjudication and justice. They, each of them individually and all of them together, badly need impeachment and a State Senate trial.

And: on conviction, the State’s legislature then would have the authority to bar Cuomo from State office for the rest of his life.

Reconciliation, Taxes, Debt, and Two Senators

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Senator Joe Manchin (D, WV) and Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D, AZ) claim they’re worried about their Progressive-Democratic Party’s reconciliation bill, even as they voted in the wee hours of last Wednesday morning, to pass their Party’s budget outline—that reconciliation bill.

Manchin:

I have serious concerns about the grave consequences facing West Virginians and every American family if Congress decides to spend another $3.5 trillion[.]

However.

Early this morning, I [Manchin] voted “YES” on a procedural vote to move forward on the budget reconciliation process because I believe it is important to discuss the fiscal policy future of this country.

Manchin expounded on his duplicity:

Adding trillions of dollars more to nearly $29 trillion of national debt, without any consideration of the negative effects on our children and grandchildren, is one of those decisions that has become far too easy in Washington[.]

Yet the reconciliation resolution that he voted up contains those trillions of dollars of added national debt, and supporting that seems to be one of those far too easy decisions that he also has decided to make.

Sinema, paraphrased by MarketWatch:

said two weeks ago that she does not support the $3.5 trillion package….

And, quoting Sinema:

While I will support beginning this process, I do not support a bill that costs $3.5 trillion….

Though, of course, she wants consideration of it. Especially since that process is purely Party, with no Republican input whatsoever.

Of course, were they serious, they’d have voted against the resolution until all of that was eliminated, reduced, or tailored to their satisfaction. The easiest time to block such nonsense is at the outset. The longer that stuff is allowed to remain in the reconciliation package, the more likely it’ll remain all the way through. And the more time there’ll be for their fellows to find things with which to buy off Manchin and Sinema.

Their fellows likely will find the price exacted for renting their…votes…to be quite low.

The proof of the pudding will be in how Manchin and Sinema vote when those matters come up for serious debate, and how they vote when the aggregated cost of the bill becomes operational.

I’m not sanguine.

More Progressive-Democrat Disingenuousity

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Now, with rising oil prices as demand increases as we start to come out from under the Wuhan Virus situation (which we’re doing despite the press’ and the Biden administration’s panic-mongering over the Delta variant), the Biden administration is pushing OPEC to boost their oil production to hold down prices.

The disingenuousness of this administration is breathtaking.

This is the same Progressive-Democrat administration that cut off our own, domestic, oil and gas independence by fighting our domestic production—to the ultimate benefit of Russia and the People’s Republic of China.

This is the same set of Progressive-Democrats that blocked an amendment to their reconciliation spend- and tax-a-thon that would have allowed new energy development—oil and gas drilling—to occur on Federal lands.

This is the same collection of Progressive-Democrats that unblocked Nord Stream 2 and pressured Ukraine to agree to it so Russia could benefit by selling its own natural gas production into Germany and western Europe.

This is the same collection of Progressive-Democrats who actively depress our own oil and gas production in the name of reducing atmospheric CO2 levels—while pushing for, allowing, increased production by others of atmospheric CO2-producing oil and natural gas.

This is the Progressive-Democrats elevating the welfare of foreign nations, including enemy nations, above our own.

Here is the Progressive-Democrats’ campaign slogan: Make Again Last, America. MAL America.

The Dumbing Down of America

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Ain’t gonna study, study reading no more, ain’t gonna think, think of writing no more
Ain’t gonna fight, fight the math no more, we’re giving them up, we’re gonna let them go

With apologies to Willie Dixon, that’s Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s (D) position on the education of Oregon’s—America’s—children.

Governor Kate Brown, the Oregon Democrat, signed a bill last month with little fanfare that drops the requirement that high school students prove proficiency in reading, writing or math, before graduation, a report said.

This dumbing down, this selling short, our children is abusive to our children and from that, as well as from the elimination of any pretense of education, is dangerous to our nation.