Beltway Insider: Biden/Fed Rate, Pres/VP Debates, Teamsters, Israel Exposes Hezbollah, War Strategy, Voter Registration

Details: Category: Beltway Insider; Published on Sunday, 22 September 2024 10:14; Written by Janet Walker

President Biden celebrated the Federal Reserve's lowering of interest rates as a declaration of victory, explaining, "It's a moment for individuals to feel greater confidence buying a home, a new car, starting a family, starting a new business."

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com for the period ending September 22, 2024, decreased by 0.5% to 39.5% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness increased by 0.3% at 55.3% of those polled. 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 43 days, Vice-President Kamala Harris's popularity with prospective voters has increased by 0.3% to 48.3% over the former president and convicted felon Donald Trump, whose popularity with prospective voters has increased by 0.2% remained constant at 45.6%. The political countdown site 270towin.com averages 12 national polls and places Vice-President Kamala Harris ahead with 48.6% and the former president Trump with 45.8%.

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2024 Election

As the 2024 Presidential Election is quickly approaching, the new organization CNN extended an invitation to Vice-President Kamala Harris, and to former President Donald Trump to engage in a second debate on October 23, 2024. Ms. Harris has agreed to the debate and terms and the former president said, "The problem with another debate is that it's just too late, voting has already started," Trump said at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina," CNN reported.

The Vice-President debate will be held Tuesday, October 1, 2024, at 9:00pm EST and will be hosted by CBS news, and will follow the same 90-minute structure. The debate will be moderated by Norah O'Donnell, CBS Evening News anchor, and "Face The Nation" moderator Margaret Brennen.

Teamsters Refuse to Endorse Either Candidate

For the first time in thirty years, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the nation's largest union with 1.3million members, has voted to sit this election out and not endorse either candidate.

Prior to President Biden withdrawal from the presidential race the teamster's straw vote favored him by 44.3 percent. Once the ticket shifted, the pendulum surprisingly moved toward an overwhelming support of the former president.

"Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business," Teamsters President Sean O'Brien said in a statement. The union had "sought commitments from both Trump and Harris," specifically about their union campaigns, core industries and right to strike, but was "unable to secure those pledges," he added," reported The Washington Post.

While the executive body of the Teamsters Union will not be endorsing candidates, local unions have already begin to express their endorsements.

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Israel Exposes Hezbollah Organization

The inevitable escalation of the Israel-Gaza war erupted this week, as Israel, after enduring weeks of missile strikes along the northern border, launched a counter-offensive that exposed even the hidden members of the terror organization.

By intercepting the shipment of pagers, and inserting a simultaneous trigger mechanism, either through coding or from a third-party activation, Israel continued its use of advanced technology to cripple its enemies. The Stunxt virus, a malicious computer worm used in 2010, was developed by the United States and Israel to target Iran's nuclear facilities. The use of the computer virus to dismantle the nuclear program was the first of its kind.

Israel's Mossad organization, similar to the FBI, CIA, and DARPA combined, handles intelligence, operations, and next generation weapons in the defense of its nation. Utilzing a computer virus was considered brilliant, and with the increase in messaging systems, and understanding Hezbollah members use a pager system, finding a possible solution to ensuring the exposure of every member of Hezbollah, was likely a decade in development.

Utilizing a pager device, which singularly does not emit signal to pinpoint a location, however, a large group of pagers would be concentrated, like a headquarters of created an opportunity to determine through radiolocation, an exact location.

The initial strikes, which exposed members throughout the nation, resulted in more than 2800 injured and eleven dead, including two young children. The injured overwhelmed the Beirut hospitals.

Follow-up strikes resulted in the deaths of senior members of the Hezbollah infrastructure. "The Israeli military and a security source in Lebanon said Ibrahim Aqil had been killed with other senior members of an elite Hezbollah unit in the airstrike, sharply escalating the year-long conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed group," Reuters reported.

Many have failed to realize that the United States has a terror top ten list, and the United States had a $7 million dollar reward for the killing of Aqil, who was responsible for the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Lebanon that killed 241.

Maintains War Resolve to End All Threats

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained his resolve to end all threats. Although Israeli allies, including the United States and the United Kingdom, had urged calm, and remain committed to a cease fire, Netanyahu's counter-offensive served to announce to all global partners his determination to dismantle and destroy all threats.

"The British government's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said in a statement that the deaths of civilians in the explosions were "deeply distressing" and urged "calm heads and de-escalation," The Washington Post reported.

"White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said he was not aware of any Israeli notification to the United States before the Beirut strike, adding Americans were strongly urged not to travel to Lebanon, or to leave if they were there. However, he added that, "war is not inevitable ... and we're going to continue to do everything we can to try to prevent it,"' Reuters reported.

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War Strategy

In what can only be described as a brilliant war strategy, Israel infiltrated Hezbollah's terror organization and exposed in one move, the entire organization's membership, including the hidden members. Never in the history of war has there been a strategic move that exposed an entire terror network in 24 hours.

War is war. To violate the territorial sovereignty of another nation, in an act of war. The Geneva Convention was created to draw defined boundaries on what tactics nations can employ in war. Not since honorability reigned, has the Geneva Convention been followed. The world has seen egregious violations of the Geneva Convention in the Ukraine, as Russian President Vladimir Putin, bombarded Mariupol in the early days of the war, targeting a maternity hospital and murdering newborns and pregnant women.

In war, destroying the spirit of the enemy or target is as vital as any military strategy which is why rape, genocide, and forcing family members to witness the murder of their loved ones is common dictatorial tactics.

Hamas violated the territorial sovereignty of Israel and brutally murdered men, women, and children, violating the Geneva Convention, raping and sexually assaulting women and children. Hamas is funded by Iran, who also funds Hezbollah, who routinely uses long range missiles to attempt to attack Israel. The northern border of Israel, borders Lebanon, that home nation of Hezbollah.

Before Wednesday's counter-offensive, Hezbollah issued a statement reiterating it's continued military support for the people of Gaza, which essentially translates to we have joined sides with Hamas in the war against Israel.

Military support for an enemy in war increases the likelihood of a counter-offensive. There is always casualties in war, the vulnerable and the innocent are the most likely to be injured for the egregious actions of others.

Tuesday's counter-offensive, in one strategic move, exposed the core of Hezbollah.

"Lama Fakih, the Middle East and North Africa director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Wednesday that international humanitarian law "prohibits the use of booby traps — objects that civilians are likely to be attracted to or are associated with normal civilian daily use — precisely to avoid putting civilians at grave risk and produce the devastating scenes that continue to unfold across Lebanon today,"' reported The Washington Post.

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 7 days ending September 22, 2024, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by The World Health Organization increased by 67,325 confirmed cases totaling 776,205,140. The total worldwide death toll increased by 3,050 to 7,064,380 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated September 8, 2024, from The World Health Organization).

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Voter Registration: Time is Running Out

The 2024 Presidential Election is the most pivotal election in modern times. For some the choice is clear, we, as a nation, can go back, and it doesn't mean reelect a former president, so much as it means return to policies that were ineffective and alienated the United States from partners around the world.

No man is an island, and no nation is one either. Former President Trump alienated our foreign partners, he ended America's involvement in the Paris Climate Accord, he had polarizing views on NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, that keeps smaller nations, such as the Ukraine, protected against autocrats and dictators like Russian President Putin.

All this may mean nothing to the individual voter. Voters are more concerned about their world, the day to day, their bi-weekly spend, stretching, ensuring there is enough. Republicans will cut social programs. The GOP, and Trump believe in the individual pulling themselves up by their bootstraps without assistance. No help from the government makes a stronger people he believes, cuts federal spending, and provides more for the wealthy.

America needs a new direction, a fresh start, America needs to return honor, dignity, and ethics to the White House. What American does not need is an election, followed by a sentencing hearing, followed by invoking the 25^th Amendment, followed by the Vice-president, with no skills, assuming the office of the President, followed by a new appointment for a new VP, while the individual that everyone put their faith in, is sent to prison. This is the future if the Republicans are elected.

A fresh start, a new direction, puts all that in the rear view. The contentious political spirit, the hatred of parties, the squabbling, the money for loyalty power play, while it may continue inside the halls of Congress, the people, the constituents, will be better off, better cared for with a Harris/Walz win.

If you haven't registered or are unsure if you can vote most states allow up to October 5, 2024, to register and vote in the November 5, 2024, election. Voting takes planning, and failing to plan is planning to fail. Know where your polling station is, hours of operation, or vote online.

If you have moved for work, or for school, and your residency is in a different state, you can vote online.

Follow this link: Vote.gov

If you are outside the country, for any reason, you can vote by absentee ballot.

Follow this link: Absentee

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.