ICE Changes / Shutdown

 Hopefully they get rid of the masks and random non-judicial warrant raids. We need law enforcement, not ruffians in the streets.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-latest-trump-s-immigration-chiefs-called-to-testify-in-congress-following-protester-deaths/ar-AA1W3X0J

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrats-say-white-house-offer-on-ice-is-insufficient-as-homeland-security-funding-set-to-expire/ar-AA1W1F9u

Immigration UP Crime DOWN

Something the GOP wants to deny.

Conservatives Hate America?

Mocking Officers, Athletes, Voting Rights, Free Speech, Immigration, etc 

That is a pretty interesting piece that attempts to explain what I have been sensing. I mean Conservatives are to supposed to be for:

• Free speech and expression. And yet the current conservatives seem to like attacking anyone who says or does anything they disagree with.
• Supporting the police. And yet conservatives are mocking and attacking members of the Capitol Police force who were attacked on Jan. 6th.
• Keeping deficits low and shrinking the national debt. And yet they passed a large unpaid for tax cut while increasing spending. Then they happily passed multi-Trillion dollar bailout packages.
• Law and order. And yet conservatives seem okay with their leaders pardoning cronies.
• Honesty and transparency. And yet conservatives applauded Trump's attempts to hide information and block testimony.
• Rule by Local Governments. And yet conservatives are promoting State and Federal mandates and control.
• Investing in America's infrastructure / future. And they drag their feet on a bi-partisan bill.

I just do not understand how the GOP became the "America is BAD" party!!! :-O  Maybe they should take their own advice...  If you do not like our America, please free to leave at anytime!!!

Whether you like it or not, America is becoming less white, more diverse, more tolerant, younger, less religious, less racist, etc.  And if our democracy continues to function correctly, that new mix of citizens is going to determine what America looks like in 50 years. And the old conspiracy loving White Baby Boomers will be gone. For better or worse.

Black Problems Start at Home

I have been discussing the causal / correlation issues involved in BLM matters on FB, and getting no where as usual.  This White savior woman wants to paint the Black households as helpless victims who need White action to save them.  I agree that society can help some, but I believe that the heaviest lifting needs to be done by the Black families themselves.  The unfortunate reality is that no group of citizens is going to escape poverty and crime if their non-marital birth rate is above 50%. 

These 2 graphs indicate Asian Americans have been escaping poverty the old fashioned way, getting and staying married. Really, it takes 2 involved adults to raise children well.  Or one may do okay if they have great external support or can hire help. Whereas the Black and Native American numbers are really unfortunate for their kids.  I am not sure what to make of the Hispanic numbers since the number of them has been growing so fast via immigration.

She also tried to tell me that police kill so many minorities vs white folks. However we must remember to normalize data before it is actually useful.  Per the graphs below.

• Whites make up 60% of the US population and Blacks make up 13%
• Whites make up 11% of gang members and Blacks make up 35%
• 850 shot by officer in 2020. White: 54%  Blacks:15%
• Whites committed 46% of violent crimes and Black: 36%

In summary, the Black population is significantly over represent in gangs, violent crime, etc, and under-represented in officer shootings.  No matter what the media tries to tell you.

Now I do not know what needs to happen to help poor people make better decisions (value education, delay child bearing, stay married, etc), but until they figure it out... They and we will continue to have problems. :-(  And their kids will bear the worst of the consequences.

Why No Blue Wave?

 This explains it well.  And here is another.

Laurie asked... "Why do you think the democrats have trouble getting people to vote for them - that they almost lost the election to a terrible president / candidate?"

My answer is fairly simple...  Biden and the DEM Party's relatively progressive platform.

As long as the DEMs seemingly want to:

• let a large number of asylum seekers / border jumpers into the USA, refusing to deport many who are here illegally and going as far as to give them "sanctuary" from the Federal Immigration Officials
• give trillions of tax dollars to legal and illegal residents who are poor with pretty much no improvement expectations or accountability
• give trillions of tax dollars to public employees / unions with pretty much no improvement expectations or accountability
• blaming the justice system and police officers for legal and illegal residents making bad life choices.
• demand that a fetus is NOT a human and deserves few protections

I am pretty sure the DEMs will have a hard time winning over more moderate states / districts.  Socialism is the wrong word, but Progressive DEMs seem unapologetic about their believing that everyone is "owed" a bunch of things that many of us believe people should work for.

GOP Recycle 2016 Platform

And swears to support Trump Agenda. (below)
GOP 2016 & now 2020 Platform

Yes it is official...  The GOP is DEAD, it is now the party of Trump...  May it Rest in Peace and be buried in November...

I thought about going through all of the points, but decided it was a waste of time.  It is for the most part Trump saying everything that he thinks will get him votes. Even though unless some miracle occurs and the GOP takes the House back, he does not have a snow balls chance in hell of getting anything passed except spending increases that will bloat the National Debt even more.

JOBS

• Create 10 Million New Jobs in 10 Months
• Create 1 Million New Small Businesses
• Cut Taxes to Boost Take-Home Pay and Keep Jobs in America
• Enact Fair Trade Deals that Protect American Jobs
• "Made in America" Tax Credits
• Expand Opportunity Zones
• Continue Deregulatory Agenda for Energy Independence

ERADICATE COVID-19

• Develop a Vaccine by The End Of 2020
• Return to Normal in 2021
• Make All Critical Medicines and Supplies for Healthcare Workers in The United States
• Refill Stockpiles and Prepare for Future Pandemics

END OUR RELIANCE ON CHINA

• Bring Back 1 Million Manufacturing Jobs from China
• Tax Credits for Companies that Bring Back Jobs from China
• Allow 100% Expensing Deductions for Essential Industries like Pharmaceuticals and Robotics who Bring Back their Manufacturing to the United States
• No Federal Contracts for Companies who Outsource to China
• Hold China Fully Accountable for Allowing the Virus to Spread around the World

HEALTHCARE

• Cut Prescription Drug Prices
• Put Patients and Doctors Back in Charge of our Healthcare System
• Lower Healthcare Insurance Premiums
• End Surprise Billing
• Cover All Pre-Existing Conditions
• Protect Social Security and Medicare
• Protect Our Veterans and Provide World-Class Healthcare and Services

EDUCATION

• Provide School Choice to Every Child in America
• Teach American Exceptionalism

DRAIN THE SWAMP

• Pass Congressional Term Limits
• End Bureaucratic Government Bullying of U.S. Citizens and Small Businesses
• Expose Washington’s Money Trail and Delegate Powers Back to People and States
• Drain the Globalist Swamp by Taking on International Organizations That Hurt American Citizens

DEFEND OUR POLICE

• Fully Fund and Hire More Police and Law Enforcement Officers
• Increase Criminal Penalties for Assaults on Law Enforcement Officers
• Prosecute Drive-By Shootings as Acts of Domestic Terrorism
• Bring Violent Extremist Groups Like ANTIFA to Justice
• End Cashless Bail and Keep Dangerous Criminals Locked Up until Trial

END ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AND PROTECT AMERICAN WORKERS

• Block Illegal Immigrants from Becoming Eligible for Taxpayer-Funded Welfare, Healthcare, and Free College Tuition
• Mandatory Deportation for Non-Citizen Gang Members
• Dismantle Human Trafficking Networks
• End Sanctuary Cities to Restore our Neighborhoods and Protect our Families
• Prohibit American Companies from Replacing United States Citizens with Lower-Cost Foreign Workers
• Require New Immigrants to Be Able to Support Themselves Financially

INNOVATE FOR THE FUTURE

• Launch Space Force, Establish Permanent Manned Presence on The Moon and Send the First Manned Mission to Mars
• Build the World’s Greatest Infrastructure System
• Win the Race to 5G and Establish a National High-Speed Wireless Internet Network
• Continue to Lead the World in Access to the Cleanest Drinking Water and Cleanest Air
• Partner with Other Nations to Clean Up our Planet’s Oceans

AMERICA FIRST FOREIGN POLICY

• Stop Endless Wars and Bring Our Troops Home
• Get Allies to Pay their Fair Share
• Maintain and Expand America’s Unrivaled Military Strength
• Wipe Out Global Terrorists Who Threaten to Harm Americans
• Build a Great Cybersecurity Defense System and Missile Defense System

Who Needs Insurance or Money?

VOX Trump quietly cut legal immigration by up to 65%
This is what immigration restrictionists have been waiting for.

I have to wonder how many of us would be US citizens if Trump had been President in the 1850 to 1900 period?

CNBC rump suspends entry of immigrants who cannot pay for healthcare

This is so ironic given that Republicans do not want to mandate that citizens meet the basic requirement.

"Some immigrants, mostly family members of US citizens or green card holders, can apply for lawful permanent residency abroad and obtain a green card almost immediately. Otherwise, immigrants can come to the US on two types of visas: those for immigrants who intend to settle in the US permanently and eventually obtain a green card, and those that only allow an immigrant to remain in the US temporarily.

In order to get a green card, an immigrant will have to prove to a consular officer that they will obtain health insurance within 30 days of their arrival in the US. If they can’t, they must demonstrate that they will be able to pay for their medical expenses.

The proclamation does not lay out clear procedures for determining whether immigrants meet the proclamation’s requirements — it will be up to individual consular officers charged with evaluating visa applications and the State Department, which is expected to issue internal guidance on it. 

But based on insurance coverage alone, the majority of adults who were granted green cards over the last three years would have been shut out."

So if this is an acceptable position for immigrants...  Why is the GOP against this for US Citizens?

No More Poor Immigrants?

NYT Trump Immigration Plan Offers a Ticket to the American Dream. The Poor Need Not Apply.


This is an interesting and disturbing piece.  It makes perfect sense that we do not want to bring a bunch of welfare recipients into the country.  I mean we have enough of them without importing more. :-)


And yet it does seem Un-American to not welcome some of the world's struggling masses. 


I assume most of us would not be here if these standards were in place when our family members came here with nothing.  On the other hand there was no Medicaid, food stamps, social security, Medicare, education grants, etc for them to receive.  Just some land out in the middle of no where...


Thoughts?

FOX Poll - Interesting Results

Fox News Poll: Tariffs hurt economy, Trump has gone too far on immigration

That gives me hope... :-)
Now we can only hope that Trump listens...

Christianity and Border Crossings?

Here are some interesting pieces ...

VOX The border is in crisis. Here’s how it got this bad.

VOX The US has made migrants at the border wait months to apply for asylum. Now the dam is breaking.

FOX Border arrests skyrocket in May, as officials declare 'full-blown emergency'

And for some historical perspective.

PBS Trump’s Mexico tariffs would affect U.S. consumers. Would they also slow immigration?

Guardian: Fleeing the Hell USA Helped to Create

It seems the US fight against the Communists and our desire for drugs have really made unbearable for many in Central America...

So how can we best help people and stop the illegal flow of migrants?

Especially you supposedly Christian folks out there who are tasked with caring for the poor and down trodden?

We Need More Unskilled Immigrants?

VOX How Trump’s new immigration plan could hurt the economy
The US needs more low-skilled immigrants, not fewer.

It absolutely fascinates me when people:

• on one hand complain that wages are too low and that we need the government to mandate higher wages and more welfare benefits...
• and on the other hand saying that we should allow more unskilled immigrants into the country?

Here is a creative idea...

1. Keep limiting the immigration of unskilled workers
2. Cut the welfare benefits
3. Have people take the jobs that will now pay "a living wage"
4. Even if they are unpleasant demeaning hard jobs...

How did American low skilled low educated workers become so fussy?

And why did our society encourage it?

Reverse Discrimination is Okay?

FB is hopping lately, we were discussing the Boy / Native American incident and Phillip's perceptions and judgments. And my friend made an interesting comment.

John, again you are lost in the weeds. The MAGA hat has become a big FU to those who embrace diversity and threaten the power of the majority race. It is the old white person’s Little Big Horn. It will last longer, but the outcome will be similar.

To which I responded.

So somehow being:

• against ILLEGAL immigration
• against harboring ILLEGAL workers
• for protecting the jobs and wages of legal low knowledge and low skill workers from unnecessary competition from ILLEGAL workers

has become being against "diversity"?  

I will never understand how tribe liberals think... Please remember that I work with dozens of immigrants from all over the world and they are great !!! However they followed the legal process and did not cut in line. 

Are you ready to take a shot at answering some of my questions yet regarding what an ideal immigration system looks like to you?

Then I gave it more thought...

I gave your comment more thought. So are agreeing that Tribe Left has become very prejudiced racist and sexist?  

I mean it sounds like being a young white man wearing a MAGA hat is now an excuse for treating them poorly?

Is this the equivalent of the young black man in a hoodie being pre-judged?  

That is an interesting concept. Thanks for the idea!!!

 Thoughts?  If I choose to where a certain hat it is then acceptable to consider me a alt right racist and attack me as you wish?

Facebook and Tribes

One of my Conservative Tribe FB Friends started to post things that made fun of the people in the immigrant caravan. Of course, me being me I have to question people who post very "Tribal" beliefs on FaceBook.  I do this to both Tribe Liberal and Tribe Conservative members.  Some of the past occurrences:

• Liberal who I know had some highly questionable events occurring in High School questioning regarding Kavanaugh. She took it with a grain of salt and asked that we "not go there"... :-)
• Conservative who I know posted regarding gun control, liberal conspiracies, etc. He and his friends have been patient with my questions and disagreements.
• Liberal who was a big supporter of Black Lives Matter and angry at police in general. She did not accept my questions and comments very well...  She then unfriended me.
• Conservative person I barely knew that posted so many pointless and somewhat hateful things that I finally unfriended him.
• Liberals who post regarding climate change, school systems, welfare, taxes, LGBT rights, religious rights, etc. They sometimes get frustrated with me, but usually they are good sports.

With this in mind, I was a little surprised recently to be unfriended by the older guy over the immigration topic. Here is some background:

• He posted this image of the caravan that says they should be marching on their government, not marching to the USA for free stuff.
• I commented that they would likely be killed or imprisoned, and that we in the USA are very lucky to be able to march our government.
• He and another of course got defensive, asked me why I was commenting there and changed the subject to how their ancestors had done it very differently.  Somehow "more legally" apparently.
• They shared stories of poor people risking their lives and sometimes dying on the ship to get here.  And how there was no welfare and freebies back then.
• At which time I felt compelled to remind them that many folks got really really cheap land when they came here... Many of our families still own that 160 acres and it is worth ~$600,000 now...
• Things went okay up to that point and we let the topic drop. Then the original poster who is usually a very nice guy took a parting shot at me. He posted a meme about people who support immigration should provide their names and addresses so they will have a place to live, and tagged it to me...
• Well my competitive nature took issue with that, so I asked how are these poor families who are different from our ancestors? Why should they not be allowed to come to the border and have their claims heard? If we should open fire on them or something? Should Americans ~150 years ago have shot at the ships carrying our great grand parents?
• Finally I did the judgmental moralistic thing... :-( I wrote that I was did not understand how good Christian country folk could dehumanize these potential refugees that they see them as a "problem / threat" instead of as people.
• And please remember that I am against sanctuary cities, harboring illegal workers, etc.  However I do believe these are people that deserve a chance to be heard. Not "problems". 

I'll finish this later... Now I am going to the Anoka Halloween parade. :-)  Well, that was fun.  :-)

To end the story... Of course he gave no answer as to why these folks should be treat less humanely than his grand parents...  He just unfriended me instead.  The good news is I will not be exposed to his tribal memes anymore. The bad news is that he will not have any feedback loop questioning the tribe's hateful dehumanizing rhetoric. :-(

Good News and Liberal Hypocrisy

First the news topic, MSN Federal Judge Orders Family Reunification The judge also set time limits which is good.

The second speaks to the Liberal elites hypocrisy:

"Sessions spoke Tuesday to a crowd at the conservative-leaning conservative Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, and accused critics of his “zero tolerance” immigration policy of hypocrisy.

“These same people live in gated communities, many of them, and are featured at events where you have to have an ID to even come in to hear em speak. They like a little security around themselves,” he said.

“If you try to scale the fence they’d be even too happy to have you arrested and separated from your children.”

The last line brought laughs and a few cheers from the audience in Los Angeles, which was greeted with protests by those who see the separation of children from their undocumented parents as inhumane."  MSN Session Jokes about Child Separation

Along those lines, here is an interesting study I heard about one day on NPR.  WAPO Researchers put two Spanish-speakers on a train and changed commuters’ views of immigration


It pretty much aligns with what I have experienced in the behaviors of suburban and rural Liberals.  They are very supportive of the poor, the immigrants, the minorities, etc until they start to move into their neighborhoods or schools.  I mean SO MANY middle and upper class Liberal households have moved to get their kids into that Whiter more affluent district.


Thoughts?

Democrats Blocking Immigration Bill

CNN The depressing predictability of the immigration debate. Apparently the DEMs will block the GOP Moderate's bill over border security funding... It is very odd that DEMs are against government spending in this case... I mean they have no problem spending hundreds of billions each year on social programs, however they won't make a one time payment to protect the Dreamers and to put the immigration topic behind us.

"What's more: Even if, by hook or by crook, the House manages to pass this compromise bill, it's virtually certain to be dead on arrival in the Senate. Even if all 50 Republican senators voted for it -- John McCain remains in Arizona battling brain cancer -- the bill would need 10 votes from Democrats to bring it to the floor for debate. And unless you have been living on another planet for the last few years, you know that 10 Democrats ain't voting for legislation that provides $25 billion in funding for a southern border wall."

It is interesting how the DEMs seemed to have no more desire to solve this immigration issue than the GOP folks. Maybe they are the ones wanting to use the Dreamers in the election.

Sean said the following in the previous post's comments. "The Democratic Party or "liberals" aren't generally supporting open borders, no control, no limits, or any of the other nonsense you've tried to attribute to them in this thread. You can see what they voted for in 2013. You can see the sort of proposals brought forward earlier this year (like McCain-Coons or Graham-Durbin)."

Since they are reluctant to compromise now, I am thinking this is more about DEM politics than helping people. Over there I posted the following comment and questions:

"Ultimately this comes down to what is the purpose of the American Immigration policy? 

1. To help 1+ million people a year enter the "American Lifeboat".
2. To help America succeed by bringing in people who can help our country thrive. 

Or just assuming 1 million per year...What mix of the above? 

I think 200,000 "Life Boaters" and 800,00 "Make America Greaters" sounds much wiser than our current mix. 

That way we can afford to keep helping people in their home countries.

We apparently let ~1.6 million people immigrate her in 2016, and we are near a record rate...  So:  

• How many immigrants per year is the correct amount?
• What should be the characteristics of people we allow in?

Liberals and the Southern Border

I keep asking of people with more Liberal views.

"So what is your proposal to control access on our Southern border?

Or do you support no Southern border control and allowing anyone who gets to the border to enter our country?

Please think before you answer... There are ~7 BILLION people on earth and many of them are poor destitute and would love to live in the USA.  

How many do you want to let in? Remembering that we are already at record levels. And our poor have a hard time making a living wage here...

And just raising taxes and government spending is not an adequate answer.

Instead of complaining and name calling...  Give us solutions. "

And all I receive in exchange is the sounds of crickets. Which leads me to believe that they support pretty much uncontrolled unlimited legal / illegal immigration.


Does that mean anyone who shows up at our border and says...  "My (our) life sucks in my (our) home country"... is allowed in?  Without yearly quantity limits?


Help us more conservative folks understand your plan...

Greed and Social Mobility

RB and I were discussing Ayn Rand concepts and Social Mobility when MinnPost Ryan's Farewell fell of their front page. So here goes.

"My KISS interpretation of Randian beliefs. Different people have different beliefs and behaviors:

1. Some are highly driven to learn, work, improve, create and to be independent
2. Some are happy to do a solid days work for their pay.
3. Some have lower ambitions and are happy to receive from others.
4. Some are highly driven to try to con, steal or take from others.

Now you can deny this simple reality if you wish, however the first two categories are who make our country great. The second two categories are a drag on the country. The question is how to use social norms and government laws to push everyone into the first 2 categories?" G2A 

"Omitted from the List. 5. Our choice of behaviors, while in theory unlimited, is in practice circumscribed by factors out of our control." RB 

"Yeah I just don't see 5 making the list for American citizens.. We are all very lucky to live in America. I do agree that some choices are limited by the luck of birth, however given our free K-12 education system, welfare systems, job training programs, higher ed programs, extensive library systems, free internet access, family planning programs, etc.  

I am thinking each citizen is in large part responsible for their own choices, behaviors and results. We won't all become Jeff Bezos, however we should all be able to attain a nice family and reasonable income if we make solid choices, learn and work at it..

1. Some are highly driven to learn, work, improve, create and to be independent
2. Some are happy to do a solid days work for their pay.
3. Some have lower ambitions and are happy to receive from others.
4. Some are highly driven to try to con, steal or take from others.
5. Our choice of behaviors, while in theory unlimited, is in practice circumscribed by factors out of our control." G2A

"The US ranks 13th in social mobility among OECD countries. That's behind all of Scandinavia, Finland, Canada, and Australia. We are, however, ahead of the United Kingdom, Italy, Chile, and Slovenia. We are behind countries that have a much stronger and more extensive system of public welfare (meaning, not just cash benefits) than the US does. 

Many years ago, I a guest at an "Engineers' Day" dinner put on by the employer of my then-current inamorata. The keynote speaker talked about the trends of the future. Afterwards, someone at our table remarked that what the man said was fine if you were a member of the Tucson Chamber of Commerce, but if you had been working for the last 20 years at Dodge Main, it wasn't so cool. "He's just told us that the blue collar middle class is on its way out." That seems to have happened. The blue collar middle class that was able to send its kids to a decent public university without having them accumulate mountains of debt is gone. It took with it an important part of upward mobility; namely, a parent's ability to make it so much easier. 

While individual choices are important, I don't think it's entirely possible to let late-stage capitalism entirely off the hook." RB 

"I agree that capitalism rewards those who are most effective, efficient and provide quality. And as I often say our American consumers are exclusively focused on features, quality, performance, personal value (ie cost), etc. 

Thus we reap what we sowed... We wanted more government benefits, regulations, easy immigration and lower cost products and services... And we got them. 

The consequence was jobs moving over seas and a glut of low end workers. Now what do you want to do to turn this around? " G2A

"You are putting too much blame on the American consumer, and on liberalism generally. 

What about technological advances, and greed? Let's say the owner of the Susquehanna Hat Company needs 10 sewing machine operators (median salary $24,000/yr.) to maintain production. If he installs the proper equipment, the whole shebang can be done by robotics, overseen by a single technician (median salary $57,000). How is that one going to pan out? If he saves money, is that going to result in lower prices, or are the prices going to stay the same, with shareholders reaping the difference? How many robotics technician jobs are going to be available for those who do the smart thing and retrain? 

I know how I'm betting. My example uses displacement of low-wage jobs because those were the ones I could think of offhand, but the same pattern is going to be replicated even in better paying professions (e.g. truck driving)." RB

 

RB, As I said... "capitalism rewards those who are most effective, efficient and provide quality" 

And American consumers are exclusively focused on features, quality, performance, personal value (ie cost), etc. And I will add one, people with IRAs / 401Ks / Pensions do not invest in funds that return lower than average. 

And these same "greedy" people will reward companies who offer good products for a good cost, and the companies who give them a higher rate of return. Now is that really "greed" or is it common sense? 

And they will punish companies that do not automate, off shore or do other things to remain competitive. And yes this going to be a big problem with limited knowledge, skills and/or flexibility. 

So back to my question... How do we make America be the most effective, efficient, trained, flexible and quality provider? Just making it more expensive to do business and invest in America certainly is problematic. 

I mean as I often note: many Americans don't "Buy American" even today.

https://www.american.edu/kogod/research/autoindex/" G2A

Mayor Warns Illegals

I am still stunned by the news that the Oakland Mayor warned ILLEGAL workers about pending ICE operations. What in the world are California Liberals thinking?


And how do we law abiding citizens stop them from sheltering illegal workers who are harming the income potentials of our most vulnerable legal citizens?


CNN Sessions California and Illegals
FOX News Oakland Mayor Warns Illegals
NPR Oakland Mayor Supports


Is Massive Immigration an Unmitigated Blessing? An Interview on Immigration With Harvard Economist George Borjas

Immigration Costs / Benefits

From Laurie.


This is the first I have ever heard of him and based on SPLC link I have no interest in learning more about him.

Here is an interview I came across that seems to support some of John's views on immigration:

Is Massive Immigration an Unmitigated Blessing? An Interview on Immigration With Harvard Economist George Borjas

The DEMs Could Have Done That?

The Hill: Trump, the DEMs could have passed gun control
Wiki 111th Congress

Now I know that Obama and Congress spent much of their majority years on ACA and Financial regulations.  However I have often wondered why they did not do more on gun control, immigration, etc when they were in control?

I understand why they would not want to raise taxes given that the country was in the midst of a economic disaster....  But the other normally DEM hot button issues seemed pretty low priority at that time.

That was in my pre-blogging phase, so I really did not watch politics very closely.  Thoughts?