The week in review with Bill Katz the editor of Urgent Agenda

The week in review with Bill Katz the editor of Urgent Agenda 01/31 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics: 

Guest: Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda.....President Biden and more executive orders...Texas fights back on energy....Impeachment # 2 coming......Students and teachers unions......

and more stories...click to listen:

Is Joe Biden's presidency the reincarnation of Jimmy Carter's?

Back in 1976, I voted for President Ford after supporting Governor Reagan in the primaries.  It was a close election, but Texas and a few others went blue that year, and Governor Carter was in.

Around 10 A.M. the next day, the election went for Mr. Carter, and I felt a bit depressed.  How did this happen?  After a few days, I said to my friends that the country would regret this decision.  Honestly, it was the same feeling I had when Mr. Biden assumed the presidency.

A day ago, I saw this article by Daniel Gallington, and it makes a lot of sense:

The reason Mr. Biden will fail so soon is that many more millions than voted for him will realize — and quickly — that they made a mistake.  In some ways, it will be a similar reaction ... to the election of Jimmy Carter in 1976, when many of his voters quickly realized they had screwed up.

So why/how did we elect the wrong person — both in 1976 and again in 2020?  The exact reason for this was/is the focused public voter reaction on a single and very specific set of circumstances, rather than as an endorsement of a generalized political agenda.

Isn't that the truth? 

President Biden's administration will quickly fail for two reasons, or maybe I should say two executive orders:

1. Gas prices will go up because you can't destroy supply without affecting the cost at the pump.  It's great to talk about "green energy," but we are still going to put something that comes from fossil fuels in our cars.

2. The border will explode.  You can't tell people you are going to reverse President Trump's border policies without giving inspiration to many to walk north and get legalized.

Just wait: that buyer's remorse is coming and coming fast.  In a year, many voters will remember President Trump's low gasoline prices and the order on the border.  They will want those good old days back, including the tweets!

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

The teachers unions are their own worst enemies

The teachers unions are not making a lot of friends these days.  Their insistence on keeping schools closed out of fears of COVID is damaging to children.  And they seem to be going out of their way to blow up relationships, especially with the parents who pay their taxes, i.e., teacher salaries!

It reminds me of that famous line from Napoleon: "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake".

 

Well, I am not going to refer to the unions as my enemy.  Nevertheless, I am not very happy with them and lots of others seem to agree with me.

 

David Brooks, writing in the New York Times, is right:   

 

The first fact is that remote learning is a disaster, especially for disadvantaged students.

I recommend an article Alec MacGillis wrote for ProPublica last fall on how things were going for students in Baltimore. It paints a finely grained portrait of chaos: online classes in which almost no students show up, schedules rearranged at the last minute, Zoom links that are inaccessible. The 12-year-old boy at the center of the piece was passionate about school before the pandemic, but by last fall he was talking about school in the past tense.

The broader data on school closure is horrendous. Mental health problems have increased. Many children have simply vanished from official oversight. Schools in Hillsborough County, Fla., started the year missing 7,000 students.

The children who are attending aren’t learning much. A Stanford study suggested that the average student has lost at least a third of a year’s worth of learning in reading and three-quarters of a year’s worth of learning in math.

Private and some public schools are already operating safely all around the country, with little evidence that attendance is spreading the virus.

 

That's correct and I can see it with my own eyes.  The Catholic schools and other private schools are up and running.  They are super-careful and go out of their way to protect the teachers and students.  The bottom line is that they are teaching students.

 

On the other hand, the teachers unions have managed to shut down in-class teaching for millions of kids, coast-to-coast.

 

Why are the teachers unions acting like this?   My guess is that they just wanted to oppose President Trump.  After all, they do support the Democrats most of the time.

 

My second guess is that it's a monopoly and parents face two alternatives: home schooling or pay tuition. Unfortunately, a lot of working couples can not afford to have one parent stay home and serve as a home school teacher.  Also, paying tuition may not be an option for many family budgets, especially the ones paying property taxes that finance schools.

 

So where do we go?  We are moving in the direction of many parents taking control of their kids' education.  I like that option.  I don't think that the teachers unions will when state legislatures start passing laws that support alternatives to public schools.

 

Memo to parents:  Be patient because the public school monopoly is destroying itself.  

 

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

If you remember ‘El LLanero Solitario & Toro’ (The Lone Ranger and Tonto)

Like some of you, I grew up watching “The Lone Ranger” on TV. In my case, it was the Spanish dubbed version of the show before we came to the U.S. 

Up here, his friend was Tonto. In Spanish, it was “Toro.” It did not take me long to figure that one out.

As I learned, the show started on the radio on this day in 1933, although I don’t know if there was a Spanish version for the radio. However, I do recall my father talking about “comics” in Spanish.. In 2010, I heard some of those old radio shows and they were great.

Eventually, radio became TV and “The Lone Ranger” was seen by millions of kids like me.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

Public education and parents plus climate change & jobs plus other stories

Public education and parents plus climate change & jobs plus other stories 01/29 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics: 

Public education and parents......Climate change and jobs.......Cuomo and COVID information......MLB Hall of Fame 1936.........and other stories......click to listen:

Friday’s video: Put the kids in the classroom

Friday’s video: 

Put the kids in the classroom 

Click to watch:

 

Executive orders plus impeachment and Jose Marti 1853-95)

Executive orders plus impeachment and Jose Marti 1853-95) 01/28 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics: 

33 executive orders and growing.....Impeachment # 2 is a total joke.......Jose Marti (1853-95)....Challenger tragedy 1986......and other stories......click to listen:

Thursday’s video: The Challenger 1986 and President Reagan’s speech Clic...

Thursday’s video: 

The Challenger 1986 and President Reagan’s speech 

Click to watch:

 

Week # 1 of the Biden presidency with George Rodriguez, political analyst

Week # 1 of the Biden presidency with George Rodriguez, political analyst 01/27 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics: 

Guest: George Rodriguez, South Texas conservative....Texas fights back on the deportations executive order......and the first week of the Biden presidency....

and other stories...click to listen:

Wednesday’s video: Does anyone remember Biden talking about this in the ...

Wednesday’s video: Does anyone remember Biden talking about this in the campaign? Click to watch:

Senator Leahy will preside over the Trump impeachment trial?

The U.S. House did it.   The House managers walked over to the U.S. Senate and dropped off the article of impeachment.  

In short, it blames President Trump for inciting a riot, but is that true?  Well, truth does not really matter in this case.  The snap impeachment was just one more effort to squeeze whatever juice out of the Trump orange.   

 

The Democrats cannot live without their "daily Trump" and that's what the impeachment was really about.

 

The trial will be bizarre.  Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts won't be there because no president is on trial.  It appears more and more that GOP senators will vote to acquit the former president.  

 

However, the strangest aspect of this trial will be the presence of Senator Patrick Leahy, the Senate president pro tempore, as presiding judge. 

 

So let me get this straight.  The Democrats have chosen one of the most partisan senators on their side to oversee this show.  After all, they don't call him "the ‘Nastiest’ Democrat" because he is a nice guy.  On the contrary, Senator Leahy plays hardball and is not someone who will give President Trump the "due process" that the U.S. House failed to do.

 

Let the circus begin.  President Trump will benefit from this travesty.  Again, God only knows why President Biden has not stopped this nonsense. Maybe he’s afraid to.

 

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

Impeachment is a joke plus filibuster stays in place and other stories

Impeachment is a joke plus filibuster stays in place and other stories 01/26 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics: 

Impeachment is a joke.....GOP keeps the filibuster in place.....Transgender rules will hurt girls' sports...........Happy # 85 Bob Eucker......

and other stories....click to listen:

Tuesday’s video: The impeachment is a joke

Tuesday’s video: The impeachment is a joke Click to watch:

Hurting the girls by helping the boys?

Over the years, I have seen a few high school "track and field" events.  As I remember, the girls were over here and the boys over there.  They competed separately because they are physically different.

Enter Biden and his new executive order about something called "transgenders."  This is from Ramona Tausz:   

The Biden presidency, we’re told, is a historic win for women. With Kamala Harris as his Madam Vice President and a record number of women in his Cabinet, the new commander in chief is advancing the female cause. “This is what breaking the glass ceiling looks like,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar enthused on Inauguration Day.

As is often the case, the gratuitous symbolic victories distract from more significant, material losses. Hours after Harris became the first female vice president, Biden signed an executive order that discriminates against her entire sex.

The directive, titled “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation,” spells disaster for women’s shelters, sports and health care in the name of transgender equality.

For instance: Institutions that receive Title IX funding must allow biological males who identify as female to compete in women’s athletics. “Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to . . . school sports,” the order states.

This is awful.   Nobody is denying children "access" to school sports.  We're just saying that boys and girls are different, i.e. boys are bigger and stronger and it's just biology not a violation of civil rights.

Furthermore, did any of this come up during the "basement campaign"?  Did any reporter ask then candidate Biden about his plans to do this?

Well, let's just say that the "devout Catholic" has a long list to go to confession about, from abortion to now confusing boys and girls.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

Border and remittances plus more executive orders & Tom Brady

Border and remittances plus more executive orders & Tom Brady 01/25 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics: 

Border issues and remittances going south........President Biden could be in real trouble with gasoline prices and border chaos........Biden and transgenders......Brady back in Super Bowl....Happy # 80 Neil Diamond......

and other stories......click to listen:

Monday’s video: Billions of dollars are going south

Monday’s video: Billions of dollars are going south Click to watch:

 

It’s the remittances not poverty

We hear that President Biden and President Lopez-Obrador spoke by phone.  According to news reports, the Mexican president said that the U.S. is offering US$ 4 billion to Central America.  

I guess that President Biden is hoping that money going south will keep caravans from going north, or something like that.  It sounds good but it won’t really work.

The biggest problem with Mexico and Central America is that the leaders have grown accustomed to remesas or remittances.  They flow south every week, from one guy in Texas sending mom a $100 a month to even bigger numbers.  These remittances are the social net for many of these countries, as we see in this WSJ report:    

Mexicans working in the U.S. sent record amounts of money to relatives back home last year, illustrating the resilience of the U.S. economy despite the shutdowns imposed to fight the pandemic.

The surge in remittances, which surprised analysts and migrants alike, provided a lifeline for many poorer Mexicans in the midst of the country’s biggest economic slump in decades.

Remittances rose 11% to $36.9 billion in the first 11 months of the year, more than the record $36.4 billion sent in all of 2019, according to figures released this week by Mexico’s central bank. The average remittance was 4.3% higher at $340, the bank said.

In Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras—the Central American countries that make up the Northern Triangle — remittances slumped in April but later rebounded, and were up 3.4% from January through October.

So the money goes south and keeps going south.  

In theory, dealing with the root cause of poverty is a noble idea.  In this case, they are not coming here because they are poor.  They are coming here because they can make more money and send dollars to mom.

Can it be stopped?  Not really.   Unfortunately, the politicians are used to having their folks outside taking care of the people inside.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

Tom Brady in Yogi Berra post-season territory

(You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).   If you like our posts, drop a dime here.)
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Congratulations to Tom Brady and his 10th trip to the Super Bowl.  He was 6-3 in his first 9 appearances with the Patriots.  

We have not seen this kind of post-season mastery since Yogi Berra, who played with 10 World Series champions.  

The week in review with Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda

The week in review with Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda 01/24 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics: 

Guest: Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda.....

President Biden week 1 and lots of executive orders from deportations to The Keystone Pipeline to others.....Impeachment trial # 2 set for the week of February 8th.......The violence in Portland.........

and more stories.......click to listen:

1954 was a great year for Hank Aaron

We learned of Hank Aaron's death.   Many of us remember that Monday Night Game of the Week when Hank Aaron hit #715 and broke Babe Ruth's home run record.  Or, our parents remember his home run in 1957 to clinch the NL pennant for the Milwaukee Braves.  Or, going into the Hall of Fame with Frank Robinson in 1982.

Today, we recall 1954 or Hank Aaron's first year in the majors.  Two years before, he was with the Negro American League champion Indianapolis Clowns.

 

Like other young players, Hank Aaron went to spring training in 1954 hoping to crack the major league roster.  It happened when veteran Bobby Thomson of "The Giants win the pennant" fame was injured.  Aaron made the roster and you know the rest of the story.

 

Early in the 1954 season, he hit # 1 of those career 755 home runs.  The pitcher was veteran Vic Raschi, the former Yankee now pitching for the Cardinals.

 

I saw Aaron play in 1971.  I followed his career closely, from collecting baseball cards as a kid to catching the games on TV.

 

Aaron was a great player and a gentleman.   

  

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

Another president with a busy pen.....

President Biden's pen has been busy.  At this point, he'll be out of ink soon and these executive orders will be challenged in the courts.   We understand that Texas is preparing a legal challenge to the deportations executive order.   More challenges are coming!

More importantly, the tsunami of executive orders confirm two things:

1) President Biden does not have the votes in the Congress to do any of this by law; and,

2) President Biden is too weak to stand up to the hysterical left, from immigration activists and environmentalists more concerned with pipelines than jobs.   

As we learned with DACA, executive orders are divisive and usually end up in the courts. 

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

Roe v Wade 1973 plus impeachment trial and RIP Hank Aaron

Roe v Wade 1973 plus impeachment trial and RIP Hank Aaron 01/22 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics: 

Roe v Wade 1973........Executive orders from the pipeline to immigration........Impeachment trial coming soon.....We remember Hank Aaron (1934-2021)...

and other stories......click to listen:

Friday’s video: Another anniversary of Roe v Wade

Friday’s video: Another anniversary of Roe v Wade Click to watch:

Biden Day 1 plus executive orders & a word about media coverage

Biden Day 1 plus executive orders & a word about media coverage 01/21 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics: 

President Biden spoke and now we start governing......Lots of executive orders but he needs to work with Congress.....Portland violence again.....The media and day 1 of the Biden presidency....Immigration will be tough if a path to citizenship is proposed.....Cuba terror state.......President Carter pardons draft dodgers 1977.....

and other stories......click to listen:

Thursday’s video: President Biden spoke but unity still a problem

 

Thursday’s video:

President Biden spoke but unity still a problem

Click to watch:

Keep Cuba on terror list

President Trump leaves one strong accomplishment:  The Trump administration designated Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.

I agree with Anna Rosa Quintana:  

Managing the Cuban regime will present a key challenge for the incoming Biden administration’s Western Hemisphere policy team. Circumstances have changed from when former President Barack Obama normalized relations and unilaterally conceded on a host of matters. Cuba continued enabling Maduro’s repressive regime, human rights on the island worsened, and dozens of U.S. and Canadian diplomats in Cuba fell victim to sonic attacks.

In other words, President Obama's Cuba card was a disaster.  

I recall watching President Obama's Cuba opening speech with my ailing father back in December 2014.  My father's words were that Raul Castro was looking for dollars and Mr. Obama for a legacy.  My late father turned out to be right that opening Cuba did not work as planned.

The incoming Biden administration will face pressure to erase everything with Trump's name on it, from the Keystone pipeline to naming Cuba as a terror state.  I hope that common sense prevails and they leave Cuba on the terror list.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

We will chat with Leslie & Dawn about the future of our politics

Guest: We will look at the Trump presidency and the new Biden administration with Leslie Eastman & Dawn Wildman.......

and more stories....click to listen:

Wednesday’s video: Biden in Trump out

 

Wednesday’s video:

Biden in Trump out

Click to listen:

The problem with the minimum wage

We understand that President Biden will propose increasing the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour, according to news reports.   Like before, increasing the minimum wage will do nothing to help the people it intends to help.   This is a good note from Andy Puzder:    

President-elect Joe Biden proposed increasing the federal minimum wage from the current $7.25 to $15 an hour as part of his coronavirus relief package announced Thursday night. Such a dramatic increase would exacerbate the devastating impact economic lockdowns are having on small businesses, while doing great harm to 10.7 million Americans who are unemployed.

The situation is so desperate for struggling small businesses that Congress recently increased the total funds available under the Payroll Protection Program to nearly $1 trillion to help them pay their employees and stay afloat.

In other words, most businesses can't meet their current payroll.  So what are we doing increasing the cost of payroll by changing the minimum wage?

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

The Paris Climate Accords are not binding on the US

The Paris Climate Accords are back in town.  According to news reports, President Biden will rejoin whatever is left of it. 

What could go wrong?  

 

First, we were never legally a part of the PCA, as Matt Margolis posted.   President Obama signed the agreement but failed to submit it to the US Senate for ratification.    Wonder why?  Could it be that he did not have the votes?

 

Second, the new version of the PCA will be challenged in the courts and found to be unconstitutional.   Remember that lesson about "the treaty clause" in the US Constitution class?

 

So enjoy all of the talk about the PCA because it's just "hot air" and not much more.

 

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, drop a dime here.

 

Trump said goodbye and immigration reform will be tough & other stories

Trump said goodbye and immigration reform will be tough & other stories 01/19 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics: 

Trump said goodbye and reminded us of his accomplishments.....Immigration reform will fail if they go for path to citizenship.......Presidential approvals......The Paris Climate Accords were never binding because it was not approved as a treaty........Robert E Lee (1807-70)......

and other stories......click to listen:

Tuesday’s video: Work visas is step 1

Tuesday’s video:

Work visas is step 1

Click to watch:

It’s more than Rasmussen

Over Sunday lunch, I mentioned to a friend that Rasmussen Reports reported that President Trump’s approval was 48%.  My friend was shocked and so was I.  After all, this number comes two weeks after we’ve had nothing but 24/7 “blitz” against Trump.

My friend asked:  What about another poll?  Are they showing the same thing?    The answer is “yes”.   Check out the NBC News poll:    

A poll released by NBC News on Sunday morning found that President Trump’s approval rating has remained relatively unchanged following deadly rioting by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month.

The new poll found that 43 percent of voters gave Trump a positive job approval rating, a result consistent with polling as recently as just before the November election. 

So what’s going on?  It confirms two things:

First, most Americans are smart enough to know that President Trump did not incite a riot.  There were over 100,000 people and 100 got out of control.  And now we hear that some of the marchers came to riot not participate in the day’s events.

Second, saturation kills whoever is doing the saturating.  The vicious attacks on President Trump just plain backfired.  It was too much, as Liz Peek wrote today.   

My advice to President Trump is to go into hiding for nine months and avoid public comments.   I wouldn’t be surprised if voters miss him after they watch what the left will do the country.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, drop a dime here.

Trump's approvals and Biden quiet about impeachment plus other stories

Trump's approvals and Biden quiet about impeachment plus other stories 01/18 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics: 

Trump's approvals holding up despite the 24/7 bad news....Biden is quiet about the crazy behavior from his side.....The coming executive orders.....Caravans are trying to come.......Phil Spector 1939-2021......Steelers beat Cowboys Super Bowl 1976........

and other stories.....click to listen:

Monday’s video: Trump’s approvals holding up

Monday’s video: 

Trump’s approvals holding up 

Click to watch:

Let’s come together by forcing girls to play with boys

The Biden unity train leaves on Wednesday at noon.  The theme is unity and coming together.   Unfortunately, the Biden team is planning to bring us together by tearing us apart.

This is from the AP:    

Transgender athletes are getting an ally in the White House next week as they seek to participate as their identified gender in high school and college sports — although state legislatures, Congress and the courts are all expected to have their say this year, too.

Attorneys on both sides say they expect president-elect Joe Biden’s Department of Education will switch sides in two key legal battles — one in Connecticut, the other in Idaho — that could go a long way in determining whether transgender athletes are treated by the sex on their birth certificates or by how they identify.

How is this bringing us together?  Have you met parents with daughters who can’t wait for boys to compete with their girls? I haven’t.

So we will see the new President in the courts.  My guess is that we will be doing a lot of that over the next couple of years, from transgenders to signing international agreements without going the treaty route.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

The week in review with Bill Katz the editor of Urgent Agenda

The week in review with Bill Katz the editor of Urgent Agenda 01/17 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics: 

Guest: Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda.....President Trump's last week in office......The new administration will face several issues at home and abroad.....Big Tech and censorship......a 50-50 Senate and small House majority will present governing challenges.....

and more stories....click to listen:

If you elect him we will come

On Wednesday, our new president and first lady will do the traditional dance.  We wish him well because he is going to need a lot of help, especially when he finds out that the caravans are moving north again.  It’s amazing how people will react to what you say in the campaign.

This is from Fox News:

A migrant caravan moving from Honduras toward the U.S. border is calling on the incoming Biden administration to honor what it says are “commitments” to the migrants moving north, amid fears of a surge at the border when President-elect Joe Biden enters office.

More than 1,000 Honduran migrants moved into Guatemala on Friday without registering, The Associated Press reported. That is part of a larger caravan that left a Honduran city earlier in the day. 

So they are coming.  Are you surprised?

The wild card here is President López-Obrador of Mexico.  He faces a tough COVID crisis and a rebellion by business-owners, such as those who own restaurants, who can’t make a living under the lockdown.

Why would he allow migrants to enter Mexico at a time like this?  My guess is that he won’t and keep the caravans south of Mexico.  At the same time, the caravans could start in Mexico, especially the many off work because of a bad economy.

No matter what, it will test the new president quickly.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

Will anyone be on social media by summer?

On January 1, I decided to quit Twitter and cut back my Facebook time to sharing photos of my grandson with close friends and family.  As for Twitter, I found it a waste of time.  

At first, I thought that I was going to lose contact with lots of people.  And then I learned that a bunch of friends had the same idea.

Well, another one of our favorite "apps" is navigating through controversial waters.  This is about WhatsApp:    

A controversial new privacy update has seen WhatsApp users flock to rival messaging apps, in what the founder of Telegram has described as “the largest digital migration in human history”.

In a blog post on Thursday, Telegram founder Pavel Durov revealed that Turkish President Recep Erdogan and Brazil leader Jair Bolsonaro were among those who had joined the platform in recent days.

Earlier this week, Mr Durov said the messaging app had seen a 500 per cent increase in new users amid dissatisfaction with the way WhatsApp handles people’s data.

The Facebook-owned app send a notification to all of its 2 billion users forcing them to accept its privacy policy before 8 February, or else lose access to their account.

I guess that the controversy has to do with "algorithms",  just a fancy word for invading your privacy.    

Looking back, maybe social media was just too easy.  In other words, we access a site for free and meet a bunch of other people.  Of course, it was not free because the site got our information and used it for whatever purpose.

Maybe my 91-year-old mother was right all along.  She never got an email account or fancy phone.  She said I'll call if I need you.   

Maybe that's the future, i.e. phone calls or letters!   At least, you didn't have to worry about ""algorithms" or whatever else happens when you enter one of these sites.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).