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NEWS PLUNGE: BLOG

Monday
Apr152024

CASE FOR THE THIRD PARTY CANDIDATE

When the two presidential candidates of the mainstream Democratic and Republican political parties cannot muster enough votes to guarantee a substantial or even comfortable lead in the nationwide polls - political desperation creates chants of begging the third paty candidate to drop out. 

Blaming the independent third party candidate for ruining the chances of the weak, uninspiring, poorly performing Octegenrian candidates - one who is facing numerous criminal trials for misrepresentation of his real estate wealth - while the other over-aged candidate continues to verbally missteps speech after speech, noting the wrong "20th century" in his latest gaffe.

IT IS NOT the responsibility of the Third Party Candidate to save the political future - the political viability of the Democratic or Republican candidate for President. 

IT IS THE responsibility of the Third Party Candidate to offer an alternative to the over-aged political candidates and change the political discourse in the political landscape to include the vast divide between the wealthy class and the working-class in America - the haves and the have nots - the divide is impossible to ignore.  Inflation continues to destroy the dreams of the working class, destroying the wallets of the working class - who may never be able to home ownership anymore - a baseline rock of the American Dream.

 Robert Kennedy Jr. sites, "We can restore the American middle class by reversing the missteps of the last 50 years. A massive military machine has nearly bankrupted this country. Rampant corruption in Washington has put corporations in charge, enriching the wealthiest as working people have dropped out of the middle class. Official unemployment is low — but most of the new jobs are in the low-pay service sector. Wealth inequality in the country is at a 100-year high. More than 60% of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck, with no savings for an emergency. Take-home pay after inflation and taxes has fallen 9% since Biden took office."

Kennedy posted on X Formerly Twitter this week arguing that he is not an “ultra-left radical” by saying that he’s “soooo liberal that [Trump’s] emissaries asked me to be his VP.” Kennedy also claimed that he “respectfully declined the offer,” ... ”I am against President Trump, and President Biden can’t win.”

“Judging by his new website, it looks like President Trump knows who actually can beat him,” Kennedy wrote.

THAT IS THE IDEA OF being a Third Party Candidate - Creating a candidate that can actually win by promoting economic policies that will enable the current and future generations to live better economic lives than their parents, to buy homes, to live beyond paycheck to paycheck - and halt the insanities promoted by the Now Ultra Right Presidential Candidate Donald Trump - Former Studio 54 NightLife Party Goer.  Trump candidacy is based on the premise that the last election was stolen, that the Capitol Riot on Jan. 6 attendees are now "hostages" in the arms of the laws and The Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 - was not instigating anti-blackvand anti-semitic violence.

 IT IS time to take the candidacy of Robert Kennedy, Jr.  very seriously - this country needs the next generation to lead the country away from the out of control extroardinary military expenditures overseas....   "The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Libya already cost us over $8 trillion."  These military expenditures that can bankrupt the future of our country.
IT IS TIME to take hold of the future by embracing the viability of the next generation of political leaders, when the Democratic and Republican parties refuse to ... endorsing Octogenarian candidates.... it is time for a Third Party Candidate - to take on the political establishment and support the younger generations who will live with the consequences of the actions of the 47th President of the United States.  

 

 

 

Wednesday
Mar132024

TRADER JOE'S NOT UNITED - YADA, YADA, YADA

Trader Joe's likes to promote their offbeat grocery chain as an enlightened alternative to traditional grocery store market chains - serving the illusion that they care about people.

Yet, prosecutors at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) say "Trader Joe’s illegally interrogated workers and threatened to take away their pay raises when they were trying to form a union last year."

The alleged threats were revealed during the January 2023 election at the Louisville, Kentucky  store - when workers voted in favor of joining a new union, Trader Joe’s United. The company challenged the election results by claiming the union illegally influenced the vote.

According to the NLRB complaint filed this past week, prosecutors stated that it was Trader Joe’s that committed “unfair labor practices” meant to sway workers against unionizing.

The complaint states that an assistant store manager threatened workers with the loss of their raises as well as “a loss of flexibility with taking days off and scheduling work” if they voted for the union. It also alleges the company forced workers to “participate in one-on-one conversations” meant to hurt the union’s support.

The NLRB will hold a trial on the allegations if officials can’t reach a settlement with Trader Joe’s. Trader Joe’s has not issued a company response nor comment.

Connor Hovey, a worker whom Trader Joe’s accused of illegally pressuring co-workers to vote for the union, said he was happy to see the complaint issued. Over the last year, Trader Joe’s has taken every opportunity to throw me under the bus and to make false claims in federal hearings that I violated federal labor law,” Hovey told HuffPost. “Today it’s vindicating to see that the company was just projecting their behavior onto me, and the government recognized that.

This isn’t the first time labor board officials have accused Trader Joe’s of breaking the law in an effort to beat back the union organizing campaign. NLRB also alleged that Trader Joe’s illegally fired a union supporter at a Massachusetts store and withheld retirement benefits from workers who unionized.

Workers at a store in Hadley, Massachusetts, created Trader Joe’s United in 2022 and became the chain’s first to form a union that year. They were soon followed by workers at stores in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Oakland, California; and Louisville.

The company claimed union supporters at the Louisville store had intimidated other workers and interfered in a “free and fair election,” but a regional director for the labor board rejected all of Trader Joe’s arguments after a hearing. The company has appealed the case to the NLRB’s board in Washington for review.

Seth Goldstein, an attorney for the union, previously told HuffPost that Trader Joe’s was trying to overturn the will of voters  - “They like democracy until they lose,” Goldstein said. “When they win, they win. When they lose, they still want to think they win.”

Trader Joe's Not United - Yada, Yada, Yada

Saturday
Mar022024

GRUMPY OLD MEN - SUPER SNOOZE TUESDAY 

The crazy primary season is over - the same two old candidates as last time are being recycled -as food prices soar in grocery stores, home ownership remains out of reach for most, and endless surges of migrants are overwhelming the borders... the resurgence of Former President Donald Trump gliding toward the Republican nomination for president as many voters believe President Biden’s policies have hurt them.

Poll after poll on the political site 538 - with its remarkable record of predicting winners - shows a majority of voters disapprove of President Biden’s job performance and that Former Republican Donald Trump is on the path to reclaim the Presidency - after winning 14 of the 15 state contests on Super Tuesday - every state except Vermont - the sole state that went to Haley.

Nikki Haley has left the hopes of centrist Republicans in shreds ...Nikki Haley has left the building.

President Biden won the Democratic voters in every state - without any real Democratic competitor -  yet poll after poll shows that Democrats are deeply divided about 81-year-old President Biden leading the party forward and that Biden should not be the nominee in 2024 - with opposition strongest among voters younger than 45 years old.

Trump also won 97 percent of those who voted for him four years ago and then cast a ballot for Trump in the recent state primaries. In contrast, Biden won only 83 percent of his 2020 voters - with 10 percent saying they now back Trump.  Interesting findings in the polling is that historical groups that Democrats held - working-class voters, voters of color and Hispanic voters is eroding - working class voters, voters of color and especially Hispanics are now choosing to support Trump.

"...Biden won 72 percent of those voters in 2020, according to exit polling, providing him with a nearly 50-point edge over Trump. The Times/Siena poll showed Mr. Biden only narrowly leading among nonwhite voters who did not graduate from college: 47 percent to 41 percent.... only 23 percent of Democratic primary voters said they were enthusiastic about Biden — significantly more Democrats said they were either dissatisfied or angry at Biden being the leader of the party (32 percent) than Republicans said same about  Trump (18 percent)."

Nationally, pollling reveals that both Trump and Biden are unpopular in the general electorate. Trump has only 44 percent favorable rating but Biden fared worse, at 38 percent.  Moreover - unhappiness with the state of the country is overtly hurting Biden’s prospects. Two-thirds of the country feels the nation is headed in the wrong direction — Trump is winning 63 percent of those voters.

“If we get Trump for another four years, we get a little better on economics,” said Oscar Rivera, a 39-year-old independent voter who owns a roofing business in Rochester, N.Y.

Trump’s economic policies were viewed more favorably by voters than Biden’s. 40 percent of voters said Trump’s policies had helped them personally, compared to only 18 percent who felt the same on  Biden’s policies. The share of voters who believe the nation is on the right track remains only 24 percent. Only 12 percent of independent voters said Biden’s policies had helped them, compared to 43 percent who said his policies had hurt them.

Rivera, who is Puerto Rican, said he doesn’t like the way Trump talks about immigration and the southern border, but is planning to vote for him anyway. “Biden? I don’t know,” Rivera said. “It looks like we’re weak, America’s weak. We need someone stronger.”

Biden and Trump are split even among independent voters, drawing 42 percent each. The Times/Siena poll revealed how Trump has cut into more traditional Democratic constituencies while holding his ground among Republican groups. The poll showed Trump edging out Biden among Latinos, and Biden’s share of the Black vote is shrinking. The gender gap is also no longer benefiting Democrats. Women, who strongly favored Biden four years ago, are now equally split, while men gave Trump a nine-point edge. 

The country remains divided on domestic and international issues. By a narrow margin, more voters favor making it more difficult for migrants at the southern border to seek asylum (49 percent to 43 percent). When Trump and Biden made dueling appearances at the border last week; illegal border crossings set record highs at the end of 2023.

As the Israel-Hamas conflict continues into its fifth month, 40 percent of voters said they sympathized more with Israel compared to 24 percent who said they sympathized more with the Palestinians. Trump was winning 70 percent of those who backed Israel primarily; Biden was winning 68 percent of those who sided with the Palestinians, even as he has faced demonstrations and a protest vote over his pro-Israel stance.

With the same two old candidates as last time are being recycled these two old men will talk their usual partisan lines  - the return of the reluctant Democrat is the one reason the Biden campaign has been optimistic despite the poor polling numbers - and eventually flip, choose Biden as the Trump and Biden rematch enters the later stages in the campaign.

Yada... Yada.... Yada

Wednesday
Feb282024

PRESIDENT "FRAIL AND MUMBLY" GRANDPA - YIKES!

Former aides who worked with then-Vice President Biden in the Obama administration have spoken - calling Biden's age “a very real issue” - noting that the oldest Biden has become more “frail” and “mumbly.”

“If you watch Joe Biden speak, oftentimes he sounds.... more frail than he used to, even in 2019 and 2020,” said Jon Favreau, former chief speechwriter for Obama when Biden was vice president. Favreau made these remarks in his recent podcast episode - "Pod Save America". 

“The voice sounds frail, and he shuffles more because of the arthritis in his back,” said Favreau, admitting that the oldest-ever president also appears “mumbly.”  He noted that polls show almost 80% of Americans have expressed concern about the president being age 81 — stating that the age issue needs to be tackled head-on because voters can see his clear decline.

The oldest president ever has made awkward verbal gaffes, and he stutters and he stumbles, “When world events seem like they are overtaking him and he’s not out there enough forcefully, that’s what’s getting people concerned,” Favreau argued.

Podcast co-host Jon Lovett, another ex-Obama speechwriter agreed, but argued that the Biden campaign should get the president out in public to offset the perception of his declining mental and physical abilities. 

“I’m sure that going out there means more missteps … more gaffes that start circulating, but if you don’t view Biden being out there as a net positive, then the argument he shouldn’t be running is right.”

Yes, like the famous fable 'The Emperor Wears No Clothes' - when the throngs of citizens were afraid to tell the King that he had no clothes on - while the King paraded naked through the streets - the sycophants in the Democratic party are afraid to tell President "Frail and Mumbly" Grandpa - that he appears old physically, and frail, disoriented mentally, thus weak. 

When the average American man can expect to live 76.1 years - it is time for the Democratic Party to admit what the public's eyes cannot help but see - that President "Frail and Mumbly" Grandpa is too old physically and mentally to run the most powerful nation on earth at a time of: intense Middle East warfare, Ukraine and Russian ongoing warfare, mounting evidence of the destructive force of global warming to the environment.

It is time for President "Frail and Mumbly" Grandpa to retire and let the next generation have the chance to LEAD this nation forward, let the next generation prevail - since they will live with the consequences.


Monday
Feb192024

TRUMP - THE SNEAKY SNEAKER KING

Former President Trump has been ordered to pay $355 million in fines in a civil fraud trial in New York -  Judge Arthur Engoron found that Trump had approved the overvaluation of his New York properties and exaggerated his net worth in order to secure loans and business deals.

The valuation of Trump's well-known properties cited in the ruling by Engoron included the Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, the triplex apartment at Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street -in New York City.

Trump, the former 45th President of the United States, could face the reality that many of his properties would be sold by the government at "fire sale prices" if he refuses to pay the fine issued to him at the civil fraud trial in New York. The hard-hitting ruling also fined Trump associates- including his dullard sons Donald Jr. and Eric, banning the former president "from serving as an officer or director of a New York company for three years".

"Can he stiff them? No," explained John Dean, counsel under Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. "What's going to happen is the attorney general will come in, they'll seize the properties and they will liquidate them at fire sale prices... that will take more buildings than he could probably negotiate."

Trump's wild response was to have a Wild Sneaker Sale.

Former President Trump stopped by at "Sneaker Con" at the Philadelphia Convention Center to promote his new $399 Trump-branded sneakers at “Sneaker Con” - the footwear gathering marketed as the “The Greatest Sneaker Show on Earth.”

Trump was greeted with loud boos and cheers at the Philadelphia Convention Center when he introduced "the first official Trump footwear". 

The leading Republican presidential candidate, our 47th president of the United Stated - if reelected - needs to be seen wearing shiney gold high top shoes -  being sold as "Never Surrender High-Tops" - the complete marketing trifecta of Sports, Politics & Fashion.