by Dick Pilling | Jun 8, 2024 | 250 Words
Admittedly, I am old enough to remember the Carter presidency, but, happily, I still retain some degree of mental competency — however limited — and am therefore able to compare it to that of Biden’s administration and note that there are some similarities.
For instance, both men subjected our country to international humiliation arising from the disrespect visited upon our embassies during their respective tenures. Carter lost control of the Tehran facility when it was overrun by militants, and Biden, not to be outdone, was forced to evacuate facilities in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Belarus and Sudan.
Also, both Carter and Biden experienced economic problems but, in defense of Carter, he inherited high inflation with slow economic growth, rising crime and high gas prices, but due to his apparent inability to set consistent policy goals, made these situations even worse.
Carter’s decisions could be considered textbook examples of what not to do.
Biden, on the other hand, inherited a low inflation of 1.9 percent, the lowest gas prices since 2004 and, overall, a much better economy.
Unfortunately, he then made the same mistakes as did Carter, which have boosted the cumulative inflation rate by 20 percent and raised gas prices to be the highest average of any president in past 15 years.
Truly, Biden had to work hard to screw things up as much as he did.
Guess he didn’t read Carter’s textbook. So really, all things considered, Carter was actually a pretty good president.
But only, of course, if you compare him to Biden.
Dick Pilling
by Dick Pilling | Jun 5, 2024 | 250 Words
President Biden, with his vast knowledge of the auto industry, will set a target reflecting that all new auto sales be electric by 2030, but,truly, I wonder if he has thought this through. Sounds like a half-vast idea to me.
Firstly, the idea of allowing regulators, especially our present president, to decide what car I am allowed to buy smacks of central planning, which, history tells us, usually fails.
And, apparently, the major car manufacturers are familiar with historical central planning failures and are now scaling back future production plans.
Further, EVs, due to their increased weight, really produce more particulate pollution than do conventional vehicles, not to mention the air pollution produced by the additional generating plants essential to meet the needed electricity requirements.
Secondly, Biden announced that he will propose legislation to halt production of all new coal plants and impose power plant emission regulations that are impossible for coal plants to meet.
He also proposes to dramatically reduce methane emissions from the oil and natural gas industries which amounts to a de facto ban on natural gas.
So let me get this straight. Our elected officials say they want to eliminate all gas cars in favor of those that run on electricity thereby nearly doubling the demand on our nation’s electricity grid.
And then they propose to severely limit the efficiency of many of those power plants that produce electricity. Or just shut them down.
What are they thinking? Or, rather, are they thinking at all?
Dick Pilling
by Dick Pilling | May 30, 2024 | 250 Words
As a recovering engineer, it is part of my healing journey to eliminate my preoccupation with numbers but, truly, this presents a personal challenge.
For instance, I find myself fascinated with the soaring number of illegal border crossings — 5.4 million since Biden took office — plus another 1.5 million “got-aways” (cornyn.senate.gov). Moreover, the number of “paroled” migrants entering the U.S. under Biden simply dwarfs the numbers entering under both Obama and Trump (“Trump vs. Biden on immigration: 12 charts comparing U.S. border security,” washingtonpost.com).
One can only wonder at where this overwhelming number of new arrivals are going and what they are doing. And are they helping or hindering our economy?
Another attention-grabbing number is the $7 trillion increase in taxes projected by the Biden administration in 2025 (“The Biden Tax Hike Will Likely Exceed $7 Trillion,” gop-waysandmeans.house.gov) which, oddly, targets those who are relatively poor as evidenced by the fact that fully fifty percent of the audits would be directed to families making less than $25,000 (denver7.com).
Obviously, this tax hike is not about relief for the middle/lower classes but more about supporting increased exorbitant government spending and which will be “crushing for hardworking Americans struggling under Bidenomics”(“Biden’s proposed tax hike would crush workers and the economy,” thehill.com)
Lastly, some more numbers deserving of interest is our dramatically increasing poverty rate whereby some 12.4% of the population now lives in poverty which is up from 7.4% in 2021. Even more concerning is that child poverty more than doubled to 12.4% from 5.2% the year before and, obviously, these are not good numbers. (“Why poverty is rising in America,” americaninequality.substack.com)
Seems that, wherever one looks, numbers are way up.
Hopefully, come next election, Biden’s number will be up as well.
Dick Pilling
Port Angeles
(as published in the Sequim Gazette)
5/29/2024
by Dick Pilling | Mar 3, 2024 | 250 Words
Some of us may remember the movie “The Sixth Sense” which recounted the story of a boy, played by child star Haley Joel Osment, who is haunted by ghosts and claimed he could see and talk to dead people.
Now, not to be out done, our own President Biden has claimed a similar ability.
In a New York fundraiser, Biden related how he discussed the January 2021 Capitol riot with German Chancellor Helmet Kohl.
Of course, this alleged conversation took place four years after Kohl’s death.
And, in a recent G7 gathering, he claimed to have recently chatted with former French President Francois Mitterrand but many will remember that Mitterrand passed away in 1996.
In truth, the often confused and ever-forgetful Biden was referring to Germany’s Angela Merkel and not the deceased Helmet Kohl and to French President Emmanuel Macron instead of the long-dead Mitterrand.
Obviously, President Biden misremembered, a term first seen in the circa 1500 writings of Thomas More, and which he does frequently.
Like when he misremembered, or just plain forgot, the years that he served as vice president or the date that his son died.
But it’s too bad that President Biden cannot actually talk with dead people because it would really help him with his misremembering thing.
Because if he could, he should cease chatting with less-than-effective European politicians but, rather, seek advice from a successful leader.
Perhaps he could arrange a chat with former President Ronald Reagan.
And he should take copious notes.
Dick Pilling
Port Angeles
by Dick Pilling | Feb 26, 2022 | 250 Words, Letters to the Editor
For the past 35 years, nearly every U.S. president has given a State of the Union speech attesting to the fact that the state of our union is strong.
And then provided examples of how strong it is and, unsurprisingly, tried to take some personal credit for this state of strength.
I suspect that President Joe Biden will, in the spirit of past such addresses, make similar assertions, but I am not sure what examples of strength he will be able to cite and seek recognition for.
Maybe he could speak to our booming economy, but he can’t, because it ain’t — unless you favor inflation, now at a 40-year high, and skyrocketing prices.
And it would be great if he could cite how crime has decreased, but he can’t, because it ain’t.
In fact, statistics reflect that crime, particularly violent crime, is spiking in cities across the country.
Perhaps he could point to the U.S. being energy independent, but he can’t, because it ain’t.
Of course, it was for a while until we managed to wreck our fossil fuel industry and become dependent on others.
He could brag about our powerful military, but he can’t, because it ain’t.
Not when an out-gunned, under-manned, ill-equipped army ran us out of Afghanistan.
As a patriotic citizen, I would like to believe that, during Biden’s administration, our country has improved economically, strengthened militarily, and continues to be respected by our friends and feared by our enemies.
But I can’t, because it ain’t.
by Dick Pilling
by Dick Pilling | Nov 20, 2021 | 250 Words
November 2021
Sometimes, when reviewing Joe Biden’s actions since becoming president, I wonder whether he has the best interests of America at heart.
For instance, his cancellation of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, as well the potential of similar action to pipelines three and five, would seem to undermine our goal of energy independence thereby causing a continuation of our reliance on oil-producing countries that may not be the best of allies.
Biden’s apparent aversion to an energy-independent America reflects in his nomination of Soviet-born Saule Omarova for Treasury Department’s Comptroller of Currency who wants traditional fuel companies to go bankrupt and refers to our banking system as a “quintessential a****** industry” while advocating “the complete migration of demand deposit accounts to the Federal Reserve”.
Not limiting his antithetical attentions to the energy industry, he also weakened border security by appointing Alejandro Mayorkas as Homeland Security Secretary and who repeatedly claims that “our borders are not open” even though, under his administration, illegal border crossings are at record highs.
Not forgetting his other questionable appointees like Secretary of State Blinkin who dismissed the idea of Taliban takeover or Treasury Secretary Yellen who would abolish the Federal Debt Limit or Attorney-General Garland who would have the FBI investigate protesting PTA parents to name a few.
Remembering a political thriller – The Manchurian Candidate – wherein a sleeper agent, bent upon the destruction of America, nearly became President causes me to wonder if President Biden is a sleeper agent. Or merely asleep…
Dick Pilling
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