Tag Archives: Jack Lew

Tubman is a suitable symbol on the $20 bill

la-ed-tubman-20160420

Move over, Old Hickory.

Harriet Tubman is going to become the well-deserved face on one U.S. currency bill.

It’s not that former President Andrew Jackson wasn’t a consequential man during his two terms in the White House. He does, however, have a checkered history. Yes he was a war hero.

However, theĀ Trail of Tears got its name for good reason. Jackson was responsible for driving Native Americans from their land, causing the deaths of countless numbers of Cherokee citizens. Is that a legacy to make one proud? No.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-harriet-tubman-20-bill-20160420-story.html

Tubman’s contribution is quite different. She was a leader in the Underground Railroad that helped lead enslaved Americans to freedom. She was a tireless fighter for African-Americans’ rights at a time when such advocacy put its champions — such as Tubman — at enormous risk of death.

Old Hickory will be continue to have his face on the back of the $20 bill. Tubman, though, is going to be on he front side.

In a related matter, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew also announced that one of his predecessors, Andrew Hamilton, will remain on the $10 bill. Good call there.

As for the $5 bill, do not even think about replacing Honest Abe Lincoln with anyone else. My goodness, the 16th president’s face is carved intoĀ Mount Rushmore.

What gives with the Secret Service?

Every individual who’s ever run for president of the United States should expect the security detail assigned to guard the first family to be the best in the world at doing that job.

Not “one of the best,” but the very best. The tops. No. 1. The all-time champs.

The revelations about Omar Gonzalez bursting into the White House and then cavorting through the mansion before being caught by a security guard is troubling in the extreme.

Yes, these things have happened before. And yes, given that the Secret Service is populated by fallible human beings, there might be times when even the most secure network on the planet breaks down.

But this is frightening in the extreme?

Some heads needs to roll at the Secret Service.

Are you paying attention here, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, under whose command the Secret Service operates?

Julia Pierson heads the Secret Service. She needs to answer some serious questions about what went wrong. So does the individual who’s in charge of the White House security detail. To date, we aren’t hearing much from these individuals, as they cite an “ongoing investigation” as the reason for their relative silence.

I wouldn’t make so much of this matter, except that the Secret Service in recent years has been caught doing some highly unprofessional things — such as the episode about three years ago when agents were, um, enjoying the company of hookers in South America while doing security advance work for an upcoming presidential visit.

Now this. Omar Gonzalez not only broke through the perimeter but the knife-wielding intruder was able to penetrate deeply into the building.

Failure to secure the house where the first family lives is a disgrace.

GOP ‘playing with fire’ over debt limit

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is the latest Washington, D.C. official to turn himself into a Sunday news show hologram, making five appearances today on broadcast and cable TV to deliver a stern message.

Failure to increase the nation’s debt limit would be catastrophic to the economy, Lew said.

Is anyone listening on the Republican side of the aisle?

http://thehill.com/video/sunday-shows/326799-lew-congress-is-playing-with-fire

The debt limit stands at $16.7 trillion. If Congress doesn’t approve a measure to boost it by Oct. 17, the nation’s ability to pay its debts runs out. The United States would default on its obligations.

The Republican-led House of Representatives, though, is digging in on that one. The GOP wants to defund the Affordable Care Act so badly it has produced a partial government shutdown. GOP showboats like Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas say they’ll do “whatever it takes to defund Obamacare.”

Does that mean destroying people’s retirement accounts, downgrading the nation’s worldwide credit rating, forcing a stock market collapse? Is that what they mean by “whatever it takes”?

Lew’s message is stark. I happen to believe his prognosis. Does anyone in power in D.C. care about those of us out here who are going to pay the price for their foolishness?