Beltway Insider: Harris, Trump Debate, Trump Sentencing Delayed, Georgia School Shooting, Hochul Aide Arrested

Details: Category: Beltway Insider; Published on Sunday, 08 September 2024 10:42; Written by Janet Walker

President Biden maintained his dedication to party over politics, during his speech on the August Jobs report confirming unemployment fell to 4.2% stating, "The Vice President and I are fighting to expand opportunity and grow the middle class."

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com for the period ending September 8, 2024, increased by 0.1% to 39.8% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness decreased by 0.5% to 55.0% of those polled who disapprove of his effectiveness. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

Averaging the National Polls, with the Tuesday, November 5, 2024 election in 58 days, Vice-President Kamala Harris's popularity with prospective voters has increased by 1.0% to 47.3% over the former president and convicted felon Donald Trump, whose popularity with prospective voters has increased by 0.05% remained constant at 44.2%.

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Polls Split, Electoral College is Key

The 2024 Presidential election is quickly reaching a fevered pitch. A political poll is available, everywhere, that will match every individual's hope or belief, the Republican candidate is ahead, the Democratic candidate is ahead. Polls are note votes, when every voter heads to their polling place, they cast their ballot for their choice.

Having an election day plan is essential. Know where your local polling place is located; changes over the last four years may have caused polling stations to move. Some states provide paid time off to vote, use it. Other states allow time off, use it. Every ballot is important. A state by state guide, which details which state allows paid time off, time off, or no time off, is available here.

Understanding the electoral college is also imperative for every voter, especially those aging into the voting process. More than 41 million Americans have aged into the voting process. The electoral college is based on the state's population, which is why states like Texas and California have large electoral vote totals, and states, like Wyoming and Montana, both large in square miles and larger than other states, but less populated, and so have less electoral votes. Political strategists review every past election ballot vote when determining a state's leaning. Gen Z voters have the opportunity to switch things up, level up the next election outcome, and ensure your vote and voice are heard. Vote

Harris-Trump Debate

Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President and convicted felon, Donald Trump will meet for their first and only Presidential debate on Tuesday, September 10, 2024. The debate will air on ABC and be hosted by ABC managing editor, David Muir, and ABC Live Prime Anchor Linsey Davis. There will not be a live audience.

The Harris-Trump debate will run for 90 minutes and have two commercial breaks. New to this debate will be control of the microphones, each candidate's microphone will only be "live" or carrying audio during the time they are responding, essentially stopping the former President from utilizing his bag of sharp, defamatory, mudslinging, one word and one-liners that he has used in past debates to defame and denigrate the other candidates.

The vice presidential debate between U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) will be held October 1, 2024 and air live on CBS News.

GOP Stalwarts Back VP Harris

Former Republican Vice-President Dick Cheney, who served under President George W. Bush, has announced his endorsement of Vice-President Kamala Harris, for President.

"Cheney said he was voting for Harris to fulfill his civic duty to "put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution," reported The Washington Post. His daughter, Liz Cheney, a former Wyoming Congresswoman, also announced her intent to support Vice-President Kamala Harris, in a recent event at Duke University, "Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris," reported The Washington Post.

James McCain, the son of the late Arizona Senator John McCain, who was also a Vietnam veteran and prisoner of war held at the Hanoi Hilton, one of the most notorious POW camps, has voiced his support of the Vice-President, explaining a recent altercation at Arlington National Cemetery when the former Presidents entourage took pictures in areas closed for photographs, deeply offended him. It was not the first time the former president has angered the McCain family.

Trump, 78, who never served his nation, received five draft deferments to avoid serving in Vietnam, and often said McCain was no war hero. "Numerous news outlets, along with retired four-star Marine general and Trump White House chief of staff John Kelly, quoted Trump calling soldiers who died at war "suckers" and "losers," reported The New York Daily News.

Hollywood Week: Entertainment CEOs Endorse Harris, Skydance Sets The Date, TIFF, Matthew Perry

Trump's Hush Money Sentencing Delayed

Former President and convicted felon Donald Trump has been granted a nine week delay in the sentencing for the fraud conviction, handed down by a jury in May 2024, by New York State Supreme Court Justice Judge Juan Merchan.

The sentencing, for the 34 counts of falsifying business records stemming from a $130,000 hush money payment made to then adult star Stormy Daniels, has been rescheduled to November 26, 2024.

As Trump is seeking to once again hold the highest office in the nation, voters will go to the polls and cast their ballot and invest their confidence in someone who may very well be sentenced to 10 years in a minimum-security prison.

If he is elected and sentenced to serve a prison term, Presidential succession would be the same as if he died, and would leave the office of the president in the hands of an inexperienced, newly elected, junior senator who has served the people for one year, his choice for VP, which will likely be Donald J. Trump, Jr., or a Trump political crony, who would plunge the nation, the economy, the stock market, and foreign relations, into chaos.

Georgia School Shooting

A 14-year-old student, opened fire on his fellow classmates in Jackson County Georgia, killing four, two students and two teachers, and wounding nine others, in the first school shooting of the 2024 school year.

Media reports since the Wednesday shooting have shown deep gaps in social services, and lax school administration, as the boy, Colt Gray, who has been charged with four counts of murder, begged authorities, including parents, and social services worker for mental help. He was rebuffed. Family members of Colt Gray explained the mental damage he suffered as a his mother was violent and abusive, and ordered by the court to have no contact with him.

To stop the unending mass shootings, Gray's father, Colin Gray, 54, was arrested and charged with two counts of second degree murder and "four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of cruelty to children," The Washington Post reported. It is the second U.S. case where the prosecutor has chosen to hold the parent accountable for the actions of his child and the harshest action to date. The older Gray allowed the son to posses a weapon.

Even as the boy's mother was not allowed to have contact with him, she found out that he had been having suicidal or homicidal thoughts, and immediately notified the school administrator, which has been confirmed, 30 minutes before the shooting began.

She explained, "I was the one that notified the school counselor at the high school," Marcee Gray texted her sister following the shooting on Sept. 4, according to a screenshot of the exchange. "I told them it was an extreme emergency and for them to go immediately and find [my son] to check on him," reported The Washington Post.

A mix-up in names and a failure to act on the immediacy of the information, may have stopped the shootings. The school security system, which each teacher had been taught on its use, had been in place one week, and local law enforcement has indicated the teachers activated the alarms and implemented all procedures in place to combat school shootings. Unfortunately, it was too late.

Texas Mass Shooting: 14 Children, 1 Educator Dead, 14 Others Injured

Coronavirus Total

The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens should receive at least one shot of an updated COVID-19 vaccine, annually. The death toll from Covid-19 has dramatically decreased, as has transmission of the virus. Even as confirmed new cases continue each week, fewer are dying from the newer variants.

For the 14 days ending September 8, 2024, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by The World Health Organization increased by 90,035 confirmed cases totaling 776,007,137. The total worldwide death toll increased by 1,231 to 7,059,612 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated August 18, 2024, from The World Health Organization).

Former Hochul Aide Arrested in China Espionage

A former political aide to both New York State Governor Kathleen Hochul and former Governor Andrew Cuomo has been arrested on espionage, acting as an undisclosed foreign agent for the Chinese government, under both administrations.

Linda Sun, who was arrested at her $3.5 million dollar home in the exclusive Stone Hill community located in Manhasset, Long Island, that she shares with her husband, Chris Hu, who was also arrested and arraigned as a co-defendant. The couple also own a $1.9million dollar condo in Hawaii. Online records link the couple to 80 different accounts, both financial and communication tools, which show both the acknowledgement of the relationship and the financial reward for service.

Sun was alleged to have said, "I have done many things to make the relationship flourish," and especially noted stopping access to government officials by representatives from the Taiwanese government.

"As alleged in the indictment, Linda Sun, a former New York State government employee, acted as an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government while her husband, Christopher Hu, facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars in kickbacks for personal gain. Sun wielded her position of influence among executives to covertly promote PRC and CCP agendas, directly threatening our country's national security. The FBI is committed to protect the American people from any threat actors who seek to influence officials at the direction of foreign entities," stated FBI Acting Assistant Director Curtis.

Sun and Hu entered a plea of "Not Guilty." Their next trail date is scheduled for September 25, 2024.

Former President Donald J. Trump Found Guilty on All Counts

No Longer The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Warnings of China's intent to dominate the world through nefarious means have been increasing over the past two decades, with concerns of clandestine espionage efforts, which were shelved by the Pentagon and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), over the protestations of human rights violation by the ACLU, being replicated by the PRC and used on U.S. citizens in positions of authority, power, and defense, unbeknownst to the individual.

Former National Director of Intelligence John Ratcliffe, in a 2020 Wall Street Journal article, said, "I call its approach of economic espionage "rob, replicate and replace." China robs U.S. companies of their intellectual property, replicates the technology, and then replaces the U.S. firms in the global marketplace."

The efforts by the People's Republic of China are like the efforts of cartel drug smugglers off the Florida coast, for every shipment stopped five, or 25, get through and reach their destination. For every undisclosed foreign agent of the PCR that is caught, others are operating, somewhere, through some means.

The origin of changes in the PCR social structure, including gamification strategies that use social persuasion and reward structure, like a social credit system, that essentially make each individual responsible for their neighbor, can be traced to the last two decades, when U.S. based undisclosed Foreign Agents made it clear that the majority of citizens, would commit crime, if they were sure they wouldn't get caught.

All PCR citizens were required to opt in to the app Xué Xí Qiáng Guó ("Study Xi, Strengthen China") by 2020. So, over the last four years, social scores and social persuasion have been rewriting the minds of the Chinese populous. Should a person in your social circle commit a crime, your entire social circle faces punishment and your good citizen social score falls. When you have a high score, travel visas, bank loans, and other government-controlled opportunities are easier to receive, when your score is lower, these luxuries are blocked. This system of control keeps everyone in line.

Beltway Insider: Biden/Inflation Reduction Act, Ukraine/Russia, China/Spies, COVID/Vaccine Totals, Whitey Bulger, Uvalde

For more information on President Joe Biden: Whitehouse.gov.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays, "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and the International Federation of Journalists.