- Attention lawmakers in Washington: With the run up to the impending gov't shutdown, I want to remind you Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is 2nd in line to the presidency, not 3rd in line as so many electeds recently have said on TV. This may sound like a small, inconsequential point, but it is important to remember.
- Earlier this week, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia suggested slashing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's salary from $221,000 to $1.00. On Wednesday, the House voted to approve Greene's proposal. Now that the precedent has been set, I wonder if lawmakers ever will vote to cut their own salaries to $1.00?
- Among those impacted during the last gov't shutdown, were furloughed federal firefighters. Despite not receiving a paycheck, they showed up for work nonetheless. When I discovered several local firefighters were having trouble feeding their children or filling up their gas tanks, I created a GoFundMe account. Thanks to people's generosity, I was able to pass out $100 bills to needy families. If there is another prolonged shutdown, I may have to ask friends to chip in again.
- As expected, Wednesday night's Republican presidential debate at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley produced its share of winners and losers. What wasn't expected was the moderators' mishandling of the proceedings.
At times, the moderators seemed powerless to prevent candidates from shouting over each other. Other times, their admonishments simply were ignored. Finally, in what appeared to be a last ditch effort to regain control, the notion of cutting off one of the candidate's microphone was invoked.
Going forward, if and when the next GOP presidential debate occurs, the moderators need to do a much better job controlling each candidate's behavior on stage. I think The Gipper would agree that voters deserve to hear thoughtful answers to questions, not which candidate can yell the loudest.
-DF