Beltway Insider: Biden Bids Farewell, Trump 100 Day Plan, TikTok Fades, LA Fires Blowback

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Category: Beltway Insider

Published on Sunday, 19 January 2025 08:02

Written by Janet Walker

President Biden delivered his farewell speech this week passing the torch not to the incoming administration but to the American people to safeguard democracy until the next election, charging them with the protection of the nation's ideals.

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com for the period ending January 19, 2025, increased by 0.9% to 37.1% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness decreased by 0.08% to 55.8% of those polled. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

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President Biden Bids Farewell

President Joseph Biden delivered his last speech to the American people this week, as he prepares for the peaceful transfer of power to former President and convicted felon Donald Trump, is what is expected to be a starkly different scene from January 2021 when hordes of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building hoping to permanently disrupt the confirmation of the vote, in any way possible.

This moment punctuated his presidency, and likely his political career, as like many older American he has been forced to retire due to ageism, and he graciously stepped aside after being assailed on all sides. His speech recognized the beginnings of an experiment 250 years ago, the idea of democracy was revolutionary, of self-rule, self-governing, of "We the People."

Biden said, "I know that believing in the idea of America means respecting the institutions that govern a free society: the presidency, the Congress, the courts, a free and independent press. Institutions that are rooted not to reflect the timeless words, but they echo the words of the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident." Rooted in the timeless words of the Constitution, "We the People." Our system of separation of powers, checks and balances may not be perfect, but it's maintained our democracy for nearly 250 years — longer than any other nation in history."

Throughout the seventeen minutes the President spoke of the accomplishments of his administration, and some changes that will not and cannot be reversed during the first 100 days of the incoming administration. The welfare of the American people has been the backbone of this presidency, and while the hope is that demographics of people will not be lost, the sad truth is that there will be changes and it will now be each individual state to enshrine within their state Constitutions the rights of those they want to protect.

We, the people, cannot allow the great experiment of Democracy to fail. Passing the torch to the American people, not the few, those with extreme wealth, who attempt to use that wealth to wield power, to persuade and control for personal gain, but to all, voting had never been more important to the survival of our nation, that at this very moment. Our next election, the midterms in 2026, are the next opportunity for "We the People" to speak.

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Trump Inauguration

Incoming President Donald Trump's inauguration is moving indoors, as the weather had refused to cooperate slamming the DC metro area with plummeting temperatures and subzero wind chills. Not since Ronald Reagan's inauguration in 1985 has temperatures dipped to dangerous levels during an inauguration.

"There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country," Trump wrote on Truth Social midday Friday. "I don't want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way. It is dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of Law Enforcement, First Responders, Police K9s and even horses, and hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours on the 20th (In any event, if you decide to come, dress warmly!)," reported The Washington Post.

Trump First 100 Days

As this is Trump's second inaugural address, we can look to the past to see the future. Trump has surrounded himself with the best and brightest thinkers in tech innovation, possibly this will reflect in a desire to continue Biden's effort to revolutionize American infrastructure, so that every region of the United States will have access to high speed, broadband internet.  As Trump was once a New York builder he understands 100-year-old pipes rupture and fail, the infrastructure in America, in some places in on the brink of decay. A disruption in the infrastructure causes a chain of disruptions in the moving of goods, products, and services.

As both men, with vastly different ideologies, believed in America, perhaps those policies enacted by the Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure deal passed in November 2021. The legislation was geared to help ease inflationary pressures and strengthen supply chains by making long overdue improvements for our nation's ports, airports, rail, and roads. It is intended to drive the creation of good-paying union jobs, which is Trump's base, and grow the economy sustainably and equitably so that everyone gets ahead for decades to come. 

Trump is likely to reiterate his campaign promises emphasizing his first 100-day commitment to make enforce immediate changes including mass deportation in sanctuary cities including Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. By the end of week one, his administration is expected to quickly implement new policies and overturn several of the key initiatives from the previous government.

Appoints Hollywood Ambassadors

As the world braces for the transfer of power, President-elect Trump has also looked within and appointed three Hollywood A-listers, Sylvester Stallone, Jon Voight, and Mel Gibson as Ambassadors.

In a statement posted to TruthSocial on Thursday, Trump said, "It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone as Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California. They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, Back – Bigger, Better, And Stronger Than Ever Before! These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest."

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China's TikTok Fades to Black in U.S.

China's ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, which lost it's bid to operate in the United States after the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a lower court ruling "that effectively bans the wildly popular app TikTok in the United States starting on Sunday. The ruling ended, at least for now, a legal battle involving national security, free speech and a cultural phenomenon that had millions of Americans deliriously swiping their phone screens at any given moment," reported The New York Times.

ByteDance owner Zhang Yiming has posted this message on the platform, "A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!

Should President Trump decide to override the Supreme Court's decision, in any way, he could set himself up for failure on decisions that most certainly will affect his legacy and plans to revert some polices to state level control or outlaw decisions, such as Row v. Wade. The Supreme Court has been generous to the President-elect, this decision, which ByteDance expects Trump to override could be the first test of the quid pro quo relationship the court expects in return for their generosity.

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 seven days ending January 19, 2025, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by The World Health Organization increased by 183,972 confirmed cases totaling 777,310,393. The total worldwide death toll increased by 3,321 to 7,083,246 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated January 5, 2025, from The World Health Organization).

The Blowback from the Los Angeles County Fires Begins

The aftermath of the Los Angeles County Fires, which devastated the region over an intense five-day wind event, with some winds reaching Hurricane force category, disabling many of the firefighting resources Los Angeles County depends on during these wildfires, has initiated blowback of a different kind.

The 20 most devasting wildfire in California history rank the Eaton Fire, as the second most devasting fire, with 8,988 structures lost and 17 dead, as of today, and the Palisades fire, is ranked at the fourth most devasting fire with 10 dead, and 3,856 structures lost.  

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While both fires remain under investigation the sheer volume and shock of the aftermath, charred remains of neighborhoods, lives and property lost, have increased the call for accountability. While many remain confident in their decisions, the lack of deployed resources or innovated thinking to act as a deterrent to the raging and uncontrollable flames, has many calling for resignation or recalls for leaders in this disaster.

Understandably the high winds grounded ariel support, however, water tankers, not simply fire engines, but tankers holding up to 70,000 gallons of water were not deployed or activated. This type of ground recourse may have, in hide sight, made a difference in the volume of structure and property loss. If these types of tanker resources were not part of the Los Angeles County fire equipment structure, for this event they could have been requisitioned from local military installations or even those industries that utilize liquid transport.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass are both facing extreme criticism over the handling of the fires.

Even before the LA Fires Crowley was under the microscope for her cuts in department funding. "Complaints about funding for her department boiled over into a public dispute.[ . . .] This week, veteran fire managers charged that she and her staff should have positioned more engines in advance in high-risk areas like Pacific Palisades, where the fires began on Jan. 7. A Jan. 13 letter signed by unnamed "retired and active L.A.F.D. chief officers" accused her of a host of management failures and called for her to step down. "A large number of chief officers do not believe you are up to the task," the five-page letter read in part," reported The New York Times.

Even as these fires remain under investigation, what is sure is that when the dust has settled, the extreme failure to mitigate the changing conditions will result in terminations. That is little consolation to the hundreds of thousands of Angelenos who lost their home, life, possessions, loved ones and face an uncertain future as the post-traumatic stress disorder sets in and the rebuilding begins.

For those needing immediate assistance FEMA has activated it Critical Needs Assistance program which provides a one-time payment of $750 to survivors so they can quickly purchase critical items, like water, formula, gasoline, and prescription drugs.  All survivors should go to DisasterAssistance.gov or call 1-800-621-3362. 

The LA County Department of Mental Health (DMH) is providing 24/7 support and resources through its help line at (800) 854-7771 or via the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Resources on the LA County website include a variety of wildfire disaster mental health resources and downloadable tip sheets for the City of Los Angeles and at Ready LA County.

The California Lawyers for the Arts have posted an extensive resource list. It can be found here.

Breaking: Los Angeles Wildfire Resource List

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

Sources: Various © Articles covered by Copyright protection.

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 and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. 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 completing the non-fiction narrative, "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," which is expected to be released in early 2025. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a former member of the International Federation of Journalists.