Tag Archives: Joe Biden

economic news

Get a Plan B ready

Here’s a word of advice for you, President Biden: Get a Plan B ready in the apparently likely event that your fuel-tax holiday doesn’t make the grade in Congress.

I reluctantly endorsed your idea of suspending the fuel tax for 90 days, Mr. President, only because I want some immediate relief from these monstrous fuel prices. Hey, I just returned from an errand this morning, stopped to put some diesel fuel into my truck, stopped the pump at $35 … and then saw that I barely moved the fuel-gauge needle.

What would suspending the diesel fuel tax do for me? Not much, Mr. President. But it’s something!

Whatever you have on the back burner, sir, well … I am thinking you’d better dust it off and get it ready to present.

I am among those Americans who continues to seethe that Republicans continue to resist every single idea that comes from the White House, Mr. President.

I know that’s why we pay you the big dough, Mr. President. Still, just a little give from the “loyal opposition” would give me a glimmer of hope that good government is still possible.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

economic news

Gas tax holiday? Sure, let’s do it!

President Biden is considering a temporary suspension of the federal fuel tax we motorists pay every time we put the go-juice into our motor vehicles.

I have kinda waffled on this one, but I’ve decided that it’s worth doing to give Americans — such as my family and me — some relief from the pain we are enduring at the fuel pump.

The “tax holiday” would save us about 18 cents per gallon of fuel with each visit to the service station. The savings over time isn’t a huge amount, but it’s significant enough to give us a little bit of a break from the gouging (I believe) that is occurring.

Energy companies are raking in huge profits while soaking us at the pump. Joe Biden is trying like the dickens to talk the oil company moguls into drilling for more fossil fuel, which would shore up the supply. He has ordered the release of 1 million barrels of petroleum each day for six months from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Surely, there’s a downside to the tax holiday. The federal fuel tax pays for infrastructure maintenance and improvement. That money will dry up, forcing the government to find other revenue sources to pay for the necessary improvements to our highways and bridges.

For now, though, I will — with reluctance — endorse the idea of a tax holiday … just go get some relief from the pain and sticker shock.

It won’t allow me to continue driving the way I did before this monstrous spike in fuel prices. It just won’t hurt quite as much whenever I park next to the pump.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Strange world, indeed

We have entered a strange time in our nation’s history when two sides of a great — and widening — divide cannot seem to make themselves heard by the other side.

I am going to refrain from the “both sides do it” argument; I will aim my fire at those on the far right of that divide, the Donald Trump cultists who — despite mountains of evidence to the contrary — continue to live in the fantasy created by The Big Lie.

That the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from their guy and that the theft lies at the heart of all that is wrong with the government. They refuse to cede an inch of that turf to reality, to the truth, to the facts that are spread before them.

Donald Trump brought in a fellow named Christopher Krebs to tighten the integrity of the 2020 election. Krebs did his job. He did it so well that when he declared that the most recent presidential election was the “most secure in the history of the nation,” Trump fired him. He didn’t want to hear the truth from his own guy!

And so … a needless, pointless and feckless battle rages on. There is no way in the world, or so it seems, to persuade the Trump Cultist Corps that their guy lost a free, fair and legal election to Joseph Biden Jr. They hang their message on The Big Lie that Trump keeps telling. Indeed, the Texas Republican Party just concluded its weekend meeting in Houston with a resolution that declares President Biden to be “illegitimately elected.”

Where in the world do we go from here?

I hate to think there is no way out of this blind alley. So, I won’t think it. I will retain my eternal optimism that eventually self-restorative sanity will take its resume in our national discussion. The alternative, as we have seen, is unacceptable.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

education news

‘No’ on loan forgiveness, Mr. POTUS

1 Comment

I have declared that I would be critical of President Biden when the issue presented itself. It has done so.

Thus, I want to declare that I believe Joe Biden’s desire to forgive student loan debt is a mistake. Regardless of the push he is getting from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, I want the president to rethink this notion, as it serves as an incentive for future college students to borrow past their ability to repay their loans.

Then what?

The Dallas Morning News has weighed in on the subject, calling the forgiveness idea regressive, partisan and unfair. I want to focus on the fairness aspect.

The DMN editorialized today: Forgiving billions in current debt only incentivizes future students to borrow more, in hopes of their own free ride. And it sends a troubling message to former students who did not borrow. Those who worked two jobs, took night classes, or took on military service to pay for college.

Hey, I understand that these loans burden budding career-seekers. Not to mention their parents. My wife and I took out parent loans to help our sons through college. We paid those loans off, but there were times I wondered if we’d ever see the light again.

Student loans are skyrocketing. We shouldn’t cancel them (dallasnews.com)

I also am aware that higher education isn’t cheap, not even in Texas, which once used to grant in-state residents a big-time bargain if they enrolled in Texas public colleges and universities.

I don’t object to allowing these institutions to work out revised repayment plans with borrowers. I just am dubious of the idea of forgiving debts that students take on knowingly … with the expectation that they would have to pay them back — in full!

I am not concerned about the political consequences that President Biden and his fellow Democrats are facing in this year’s midterm election. As the DMN notes: Other than to curry favor with voters, there is little reason to pursue student debt forgiveness. Biden should abandon this plan and take his midterm lumps.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

economic news

Fuel costs take big bite

Well, there’s a first time for everything, I suppose. Consider, therefore, that for the first time in our more than 50 years of married life together, my wife and I are forced to amend our travel plans because — get ready for it — the cost of fuel is making extensive travel unaffordable.

I keep hearing about how the price of motor fuel nationally is averaging $5 per gallon. Then we hear from analysts who tell us there’s “no end in sight” to the skyrocketing price increases.

All I am left to do now is plead with the authorities who can control this madness to get a handle on the price of fuel.

Our sole vehicle — at the moment — is a three-quarter ton, diesel-fueled pickup. The price of diesel in Texas is selling for something a bit north of $5 per gallon. Out west it’s going for a whole more than that. We intend to travel out west sometime this year, but only if the price of motor fuel comes down.

We’re getting a new vehicle soon. It is a gasoline-powered pickup; it’s a smaller vehicle to boot. Its fuel rating is pretty good, about 22 miles per gallon. But that’s when it’s not pulling a travel trailer. Then the fuel-efficiency rating will decline.

I never thought I would have to lament how the price of fuel is affecting our retirement journey.

However … it damn sure is taking a bite out of our best-laid plans.

I am not going to blame President Biden for this cost spike. I do want to insist that the president do whatever he can to pressure whoever he needs to pressure to put an end to this madness.

My bride and I are not alone. We are among millions of Americans living on a fixed income who want to enjoy our time on this good Earth by venturing outside of our North Texas home community. We cannot afford to do much of it now.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news

And the war slogs on

We have been fixated – and rightly so – on gun violence and ways to reduce it, if not end it altogether. I just want to remind everyone that we have a war underway on another continent that deserves our attention as well.

Those damn Russians continue to bombard Ukrainian targets and they continue to kill Ukrainian civilians in their attempt to further the aims of the dictator who sent them into battle illegally. That would be Vladimir Putin, the despot about whom Donald J. Trump used to speak so glowingly in his effort to make nice with a known killer.

Joe Biden has all but declared Putin to be a pariah among world leaders. Which is an apt description. He has called Putin a war criminal. By my reckoning, war criminals need to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity and, if convicted, they deserve to be punished.

Does that mean Putin needs to go to prison for his crimes against Ukraine? For his targeting of hospitals, schools, churches and apartment complexes?

Well, uh, yeah! Do you think?

The Ukraine War slogs on. It continues to break my heart, which already is shattered by tragedy here at home.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

My outrage is real

Mr. President, I have some news for you: I happen to be ahead of your call to make my “outrage” over gun violence central to my vote.

I made that call actually long before the Uvalde tragedy. Or even before the Buffalo slaughter in the supermarket.

You see, Mr. President, I am as outraged as you are — maybe even more so — at the cowardice exhibited by your Republican “friends” in Congress and their unwillingness to enact what you refer to as “sensible” gun-control legislation.

I listened intently to your remarks the other evening and I continue to stand with you as you grapple with the myriad crises that have befallen us.

President Biden Speech On Mass Shootings: “Make Your Outrage Central To Your Vote” In November | Video | RealClearPolitics

Our governor and lieutenant governor are up for re-election this year. Mr. President, I have heard your pleas for “unity” among Americans. I just cannot support either of these guys, Greg Abbott or Dan Patrick, because of their stubborn resistance to even discuss or debate gun legislation.

I also am going to ask our Third Congressional District candidates where they stand on gun control. I know what the GOP candidate will say; he’ll be a solid “no” on any legislative measure.

Furthermore, I also stand firmly on the notion that legislation does not have to mean we trample on the Second Amendment. I get it, Mr. President! So, to that extent you are preaching to the proverbial choir in our North Texas home.

I just feel the need to assure you, Mr. President, that you have many of us out here in your corner. Keep fighting, sir.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

State news

Tragedy transcends politics

Some moments of crisis would seemingly dispel any notion of partisanship, or of division between the major political parties and those who lead them.

Such as, oh, the massacre of school children and their teachers.

It happened again the other day in Uvalde, Texas. President and Mrs. Biden came to Texas to hug the necks of victims of the madman who walked into Robb Elementary School and slaughtered his victims before a Border Patrol tactical squad shot him to death.

My question, though, is this: Why weren’t the Democratic president and the Republican governor, Greg Abbott sitting next to each other, sharing in the nation’s grief, pledging a joint effort to rid the nation of this scourge of senseless, insane gun violence?

Abbott has decided to forgo any such appearance with a man he criticizes at will. Biden deserves a brickbat, too, as he could have extended an invitation to meet with the governor while he was visiting the victims in Uvalde. He didn’t.

I don’t expect these men to share a solution. They damn sure should share the goal of ending the violence. Of seeking common ground. They could proclaim their joint dedication to putting an end to this madness while vowing to work out the details later. Is that an impossible task?

The great chasm seems only to widen these days when crisis strikes. It mustn’t be that way.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Bidens coming to pray and to seek solutions

President and Mrs. Biden — both of whom are familiar with the intense grief of burying a child — are coming to Texas to grieve with the families and friends of the 21 people who died in that horrific massacre that erupted at Robb Elementary School.

For the Bidens, this marks the second such community they will visit in the past two weeks. Recall that they went to Buffalo, N.Y., to extend the nation’s sympathy to the families of the10 victims of the shooter who walked into a supermarket and opened fire.

Now comes this latest unspeakable event.

Nineteen third- and fourth-graders died at the hands of the madman along with two teachers who were trying to shield the children from the bullets.

What does the president say? What can Jill Biden tell them? Yes, they buried an adult son who died from cancer in 2015. What’s more, the president’s infant daughter died in a tragic 1972 car wreck just before he took office as a U.S. senator from Delaware.

They have walked this lonely path before.

Their task, though, ought to be as well to mobilize men and women in Congress to do what they can to prevent future occurrences of this scope and misery. That, I dare say, will be a much steeper mountain to climb than merely hugging victims’ family members.

Still, it is good that they will come to Texas to express the nation’s sorrow over this hideous tragedy.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news

How do we measure Kim’s ‘sincerity’?

President Biden has laid out a fascinating pre-condition were he and North Korea’s tinhorn dictator Kim Jong Un ever were to meet face to face.

Biden said Kim must demonstrate that he is “sincere” about talks with the United States. Well … that seems to rule out any such bilateral meeting any time before the next Ice Age.

Kim Jong Un met with Donald Trump a couple of times during Trump’s term in office. I don’t recall the POTUS laying out any such pre-meeting requirement. Instead, he spoke publicly of the “love letters” he and Kim exchanged. It sounded a tad kinky, if you want my take on it.

Joe Biden isn’t inclined to shake Kim Jong Un’s hand without first getting some assurances that I do not believe Kim is capable of delivering.

No one on this side of the ideological divide can possibly trust a single thing that Kim ever would say. The guy has killed members of his own family; his people are starving while he pours billions of dollars into nuclear weapons.

Can Kim Jong Un be trusted? Nope. Thus, President Biden would be wise to keep his distance.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com