Beltway Insider: Trump/Pence, House/Senate Adjourn, Jobs, COVID-19 Totals, Derecho, Election

President Trump responded to the choice of Senator Kamala Harris as the vice-presidential choice of presumptive democratic challenger Joe Biden, saying, "She treated Joe Biden worse than anybody else" referring to her verbal attack during the democratic debates.

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com, which tracked polls of likely or registered voters for the period ending August 9, 2020, increased by 0.3 percentage points to 41.7% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 54.6%. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.


Beltway Insider: Trump Pitches In, Dem/GOP Derail, Jobs, COVID-19, Daisy Coleman, Election


Election 2020, according to The Wall Street Journal, which tracks the latest Presidential Poll averages have President Donald Trump trailing Democratic challenger Joe Biden by 9.0% percentage points. With 41.0% of the sample audience indicating they will be casting their vote for Trump, and 50.0% of the voters sampled indicate they will be casting their vote for Biden.

Trump Tout Administrations Success

President Trump, who has made himself more accessible to media held a press conference from the Trump National Golf Club, touting the successes of his administration as the Republican party is gearing up for the Republican National Convention.

Speaking on Senator Kamala Harris . . .

"She treated Joe Biden worse than anybody else." I watched those debates. They were very boring, but they were debates nevertheless. And I watched, you know, pretty good parts of them, and she treated Biden worse than anybody else, by far. There was nobody — including Pocahontas — nobody treated Biden so badly as Kamala."

On the Coronavirus. . .

"Nearly 85 percent of jurisdictions all across our country are reporting a very steep decline in cases, and that's despite the fact that we have the number one testing program anywhere in the world. We're up to almost 70 million tests, far beyond any other country. This week, cases nationwide have declined by 6 percent; the test positivity rate has fallen to just 6.5 percent, a 71 percent reduction from April and a 15 percent reduction from mid-July. That's a big reduction. The hospitalization rate for the virus has been reduced by half since April."

On The Economy . . .

"Thanks to my administration's decisive action to save American jobs, we're currently witnessing the fastest economic recovery in American history. And that's because the foundation that we set previously, before the virus came and hit our shore — the foundation was so strong; we had such a strong foundation that we're recovering much faster than anybody anticipated. It turns out that it will be a very, very strong "V," and you'll see that in just a second."

President's Brother Dies

President Trump released a statement on the passing of his younger brother Robert, who died Friday from injuries sustained in a fall.

"It is with heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight. He was not just my brother, he was my best friend. He will be greatly missed, but we will meet again. His memory will live on in my heart forever. Robert, I love you. Rest in peace," the president said.

Former Vice-President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic Presidential Candidate released the following: "Mr. President, Jill and I are sad to learn of your younger brother Robert's passing. I know the tremendous pain of losing a loved one — and I know how important family is in moments like these. I hope you know that our prayers are with you all," reported TIME magazine.

House/Senate Adjourn Leaving the People

Like children in a divorce, millions of unemployed Americans depending on the federally provided unemployment benefits, have now been abandoned by their elective representatives and moreover each use the other for leverage in a battle that only prolongs the financial hardship.

Treasury Secretary Steven Munchin and the Republican lead Senate's unspoken plan is to force the much touted "V" economic recovery plan by forcing unemployed Americans to take a job, any job, even an underqualified job, to bring the unemployment numbers down quickly.

For the American people, the end of the additional benefits under the CARES Act has been a lifeline, and while both sides have postured the fault lies with the others the facts remains that the people, those caught in the middle are left to fend for themselves.


Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden Names Kamala Harris VP Choice


"They should have put the things in — whether you call it the CARE Act or phase one, phase two, phase three — but they didn't do that," the President said during a press conference.

However, many who are unemployed are not required to apply or accept employment that undercuts their previous wages. The idea of evangelizing disincentive wages with government aid, is refusing to face the bigger problem of a minimum wage that falls egregiously below the poverty level.

"The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards affecting employees in the private sector and in Federal, State, and local governments. FLSA Minimum Wage: The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009," the U.S. Department of Labor states.

The disincentive could be circumvented simply by raising the federal wage to $15.00 an hour. Currently six states have a $15.00 an hour minimum wage and many others have passed variations of a 21st Century Labor contract touted by many democrats.

Jobless Claims Drop below 1Million

For the week ending August 8, 2020, first time unemployment claims fell just below one million with 963,000 seeking unemployment assistance. It is the first week since March that claims feel below one million.

"The latest jobless claims figures from the Labor Department, which cover the week ending August 8, show that 963,000 workers sought aid last week, pushing the total number since the shutdown began to nearly 56 million," FOX Business reported.

Derecho Rips Midwest With Hurricane Strength Winds

The Derecho that pummeled America's heartland, traveled across ten states in the Midwest, peaked at 112mph, lasting more than fourteen hours spawning seventeen tornadoes, and obliterating everything in its path.

Defined as "an line of intense, widespread, and fast-moving windstorms and sometimes thunderstorms that moves across a great distance and is characterized by damaging winds," the derecho that annihilated the Midwest flattened and destroyed more than 14million acres of farmland.

Traveling across South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Ohio, the Hurricane force winds, moved like a wall, sustaining 96 to 110mph winds which according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale produce extensive damage with well-constructed frame homes expected to sustain major roof and siding damage. Many shallowly rooted trees will be snapped or uprooted and block numerous roads. Near-total power loss is expected with outages that could last from several days to weeks.

"As the winds howled outside, gusting at over 100 miles per hour, families hid in their basements and wondered what would await them when they emerged. Many across the Corn Belt of central Iowa were stunned by what they saw: millions of acres of corn and soybean fields left toppled, tangled and torn apart; roofs torn off grain bins; buildings leveled — another daunting setback in a farming community that has had too many of them," reported The New York Times.

The White House has yet to comment on the Derecho or authorize any disaster relief for the region.

Coronavirus Totals

The infection rates of the coronavirus have continued to rise around the world. For the week ending August 16, 2020, coronavirus cases increased globally by 1,805,900 confirmed cases, brings the total of confirmed cases worldwide to 21,486,400, with 771,557 deaths, an increase of 44,200.

Infections rates in the United States are also on the rise. For the week ending August 13, 2020 the total confirmed cases rose to 5,389,740 with new confirmed cases rising sharply by 366,717. The coronavirus has claimed 169,665 total deaths, a weekly increase for 7,413 deaths. (Data from The New York Times).

Sumner Redstone Media Icon Dies

Sumner Redstone, the behemoth owner of Viacom/CBS, died this week at the age of 97. Redstone, who over his nearly 100 years, changed the media landscape ushering in the age of the Music television, and the MTV generation.

"Despite his brains and ruthlessness, he was still a second-tier player when he was in his 60s, at least by Hollywood standards. The entertainment executives with alpha status were not mere exhibitors, but owners of the films that made the theaters come alive. Mr. Redstone wanted that power. The glamour, too. Almost overnight in 1987 — a few months shy of his 64th birthday — he became one of the country's most powerful media chiefs in a $3.4 billion hostile takeover of Viacom, the parent of the cable networks MTV and Nickelodeon," reported The New York Times.

He and his family, at the time of his death retained 70% controlling stock of Viacom/CBS and Paramount Pictures. It is expected his daughter, Shari, will assume full control. A falling out wither brother in 2006, resulted in a buy back of his holdings and an undisclosed settlement.


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Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar Defeats Challenger

Rep. Ilhan Omar on Tuesday defeated her Democratic primary challenger, attorney Antone Melton-Meaux, who garnered attention for out-raising her during the campaign, the Associated Press reported.

The last of the four progressive freshman democrats, including representing a new generation of representation Alexandria Occasion-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, have also won second terms facing strong and financially backed opponents.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley,of Massachusetts 7th District, remains unopposed in the September 1, 2020 primary according to Ballotpedia.

Election: The Ballots in the Mail?

The fallout from the coronavirus have changed life across America. The battle rages between those who believe the medical advice and mandates of face coverings, social distancing and hand washing, while the others believe it is their right as American citizens to intentionally create the possibility of cluster cases and expose hundreds, in not thousands, to the virus.

The right to exercise the privileged of voting on November 3, 2020, or not, is also changing. Both Democrats and Republicans are touting the vote by mail campaign as "safe." Ballots, like Tax filing deadlines, must be postmarked on Election Day, and how long before the last of the votes are tallied.

Many believe the U.S. Postal system is in complete disarray. The phrase "going postal" is a clear indication of the mental state of the workers that make up the 600,000 employees nationwide.

It's doubtful one disgruntled worker, in one city, or town, in anywhere U.S.A., can turn the election by destroying ballots but, one worker in every postal branch in multiple cities across American can change the election.


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Depending on voting by mail needs even greater scrutiny, including a postmarked date between October 1, 2020 and October 15th, 2020 which allows time for delivery and board of elections employees on problematic locations and main postal drop sites.

Moreover, the President, who ran his initial campaign more like a hostile boardroom takeover which translates to an any means necessary to win, can effectively use the known loopholes in the postal system to throw the election.

"Universal mail-in voting is going to be catastrophic. It's going to make our country a laughingstock all over the world. You can't send out millions of ballots," the President said, in a press conference.

Voting by mail as an implemented and stand-alone system has its flaws, and no elected official wants the testing to play out when their results are at stake. Absentee ballots, for military, ex-pats, and others has remained effective and had limited overall bearing on the final tally.

In person voting could be expedited by handing out numbers, and having the Board of Election workers call a total spots available at the voting machines with a line of equal number of persons, on deck, while the others wait outside the facility. Mandating face masks and implementing other safety measure.

Utilizing voting by mail in the age of coronavirus is tricky. Are we willing to risk the outcome?

For more information on President Donald Trump www.whitehouse.gov.

Sources: Various © Articles covered by Copyright protection.

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