Beltway Insider: Trump/Supreme Court, Biden Leads, COVID Totals, Boeing, Ginsburg Legacy

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President Trump, who is down in the polls with 44 days before the November 3, 2020 election, has announced he will move forward with a successor to fill the vacancy left by the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com, which tracked polls of likely or registered voters for the period ending September 20, 2020, increased by 0.2 percentage points to 43.2% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness remained consistent at 52.7%. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.


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Election 2020, according to the website 270towin, which tracks the latest Presidential Poll averages have President Donald Trump trailing Democratic challenger Joe Biden by 9.0% percentage points in ten National Polls. With an average of 51.2% of the sample audience indicating they will be casting their vote for Biden, and 42.2% of the voters sampled indicating they will be casting their vote for Trump.

Based on the state poll projections, the 270towin offers a color coded electoral map which projects, based on current state polls, the expected November vote. The map can be seen here.

Trump Expected to Nominate Ginsberg Replacement

President Trump and Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell have each announced it is imperative that the process of filling the Supreme Court vacancy.

"We want to respect the process, and the process will move.  I think it's going to move very quickly, actually.  I agree with the statement put out by Mitch McConnell.  I agree with it, actually, 100 percent.  I put out a very similar statement you saw.  So I think we're going to start the process extremely soon, and we'll have a nominee very soon," President Trump said before departing on Marine One.

The rush to present a nominee is vulgar, with statements from the President and Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell coming hours after Chief Justice John Roberts had announced Ginsburg's death, the move clearly reflects an insecurity over post-election results. It is without taste and reflects bad manners.

The same determination to name a right leaning nominee will hold until after the former Supreme Court Justice has been laid to rest. The fact that she is not afforded in her death, the same ceremony and respect as previous Justices, due to the coronavirus, is equally vulgar.

Battle Lines Drawn Over Nomination

More than the four Senate Republicans needed by the Democrats to stop, slow, or stall the Senate vote, nomination and if necessary, the confirmation hearings, have each voiced similar statements against moving ahead with the nominee in an election year.


Breaking News: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Has Died


"Voters should pick the president and the president should pick the justice to consider," McConnell said.

Former Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who broke ranks with his fellow senate republicans during the impeachment trial earlier this year, as not yet indicated his thoughts on the issue although, as he has proven, he is an independent thinker and is willing to vote his conscience as opposed to party line politics.

Republican Susan Collins, also up for reelection, has vocalized her opposition, which has drawn scrutiny from the President, said, "In fairness to the American people, who will either be re-electing the president or selecting a new one, the decision on a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court should be made by the president who is elected on Nov. 3," reported The New York Times.

President Trump replied to Ms. Collins' statement before departing on Marine One, "Well, I totally disagree with her.  We have an obligation.  We won.  And we have an obligation, as the winners, to pick who we want.  That's not the next President.  Hopefully, I'll be the next President.  But we're here now.  Right now, we're here.  And we have an obligation to the voters, all of the people — the millions of people that put us here in the form of a victory.  We have an obligation to them, to all of those voters.  And it's a very simple thing."

Biden Determined to Pick Next Justice

Democratic Presidential candidate has stated he should name the next justice and has previously stated he would add a female African American to the Nation's highest court.

In 2019, there were "only 46 African American women sitting on the federal courts, comprising just 3.4 percent of all sitting federal judges. Among active federal judges, only 4.9 percent are African American women," according to Center for American Progress.org.

As Supreme Court Justices are usually chosen from Appellate courts, Biden, to honor his pledge will choose from these 46 females.

Coronavirus Totals

The infection rates of the coronavirus have continued to rise around the world. For the week ending September 20, 2020, coronavirus cases increased globally by 2,044,900 confirmed cases, brings the total of confirmed cases worldwide to 30,835,500, with 957,362 deaths, an increase of 36,962.

Infections rates in the United States are also on the rise. For the week ending September 20, 2020, the total confirmed cases rose to 6,808,400 with new confirmed cases rising by 287,200. The coronavirus has claimed 199,300 total deaths, a weekly increase for 5,600 deaths. (Data from The New York Times).

Congressional Report Blast Boeing Over 737 Max

The Congressional Report released this week over the catastrophic failure of Boeing's 737 Max airplane, failed to provide any smoking gun statement, and essentially categorized what the public had already expected.

The 18month investigation by the House panel, blasted both Boing and the Federal Aviation Agency for deep, and egregious failures which lead to two separate fatal crashes, killing 346, and grounding the fleet permanently.


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The review found the crashes "were not the result of a singular failure, technical mistake, or mismanaged event. They were the horrific culmination of a series of faulty technical assumptions by Boeing's engineers, a lack of transparency on the part of Boeing's management, and grossly insufficient oversight by the FAA — the pernicious result of regulatory capture on the part of the FAA," Fox Business reported.

NYC Expected Full Furlough of All City Employees

NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio announce and this week a self-imposed furlough without pay of all workers, including himself, for one week, beginning October 1, 2020.

The city is facing a budgetary shortfall, due to the coronavirus shutdown, which caused the city to lose nearly $9billion in revenue. The unprecedented move will save the city approximately $1million.

"It was not a decision I made lightly," he told reporters. "To have to do this is painful for them and their families, but it is the right thing to do at this moment in history," Reuters reported.

Ginsberg Legacy

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg died this week. She has been remembered by many, from presidents to laymen, across the political divide. Able to engage in spirited debate with an encyclopedic knowledge of the law Ginsberg, was served a harsh dose of reality after graduating from Columbia Law School and chose to take the setbacks and continue to move herself into a position which provided opportunity to change the law. Remaining true to those early battles she continued, throughout her career, to voice support for equality, for both men and women, under the law.

"Women, like persons of different racial groups and ethnic origins contribute to what a fine jurist the late 5th Circuit Judge Alvin Rubin described as a distinctive medley of views influenced by biology, cultural impact and life experiences, In my lifetime, I expect there will be among federal judicial nominees, based on the excellence of their qualifications, as many sisters and brothers in the law, " the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Supreme Court Justice said during her swearing in ceremony, August 10, 1993.


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Remembering Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

President Trump said, "Today, our Nation mourns the loss of a titan of the law. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg served more than 27 years as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States—notably just the second woman to be appointed to the Court. Renowned for her brilliant mind and her powerful dissents at the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg demonstrated that one can disagree without being disagreeable toward one's colleagues or different points of view. Her opinions, including well-known decisions regarding the legal equality of women and the disabled, have inspired all Americans, and generations of great legal minds."

Vice President Mike Pence said in a released statement, "Today, America mourns the passing of a true public servant, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  Justice Ginsburg led an inspiring life, and her storied career paved the way for women in the law. As an advocate and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, she was a champion for women whose tireless determination reshaped our national life. A fierce defender of her judicial philosophy, Justice Ginsburg will always be remembered as a jurist who respected and commanded the respect of all her colleagues."

From the Independent Women's Law Center (IWLC)

Jennifer C. Braceras, director of Independent Women's Law Center, issued the following statement: "Justice Ginsburg was, by all accounts, a kind and thoughtful person. Her friendship with Justice Antonin Scalia is a model for all of us: We should be able to debate ideas with respect and without acrimony, and we should not let political, ideological or jurisprudential disagreements stand in the way of friendship. In this particularly divisive time, let us pay tribute to Justice Ginsburg by offering genuine friendship and goodwill to people with whom we disagree." 

Erin Hawley, senior legal fellow at Independent Women's Law Center, said: "Justice Ginsburg was an inspiring person who, like Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, helped to pave the way for future generations of women lawyers. Her long-term friendship with Justice Scalia reminds us that we can be principled while still being civil, even with those with whom we disagree."

Alliance Defending Freedom President and CEO Michael Farris said regarding the passing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: "We wish to send our condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We had the privilege of arguing many cases before her. While we often disagreed with her, there's no question that Justice Ginsburg left her imprint on the law. We pray that her loved ones are comforted as they mourn the loss of a truly historic figure."

Register to Vote - Snapchat Voter Registration

Snapchat, the popular online app, has unveiled a voter registration platform targeting the youth vote and in the first five days of its rollout has registered more than 400,000 new voters.

Snapchat, whose demographic is primarily under 30, is not the only social media platform pushing its users to become more politically active and aware.

"Other social media apps have also started rolling out voter registration and information boxes on their platforms. In July, Facebook started pinning voting information at the top of users' news feeds. In June, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company hopes to register 4 million people by Election Day. That would be double what Facebook achieved in 2016 and 2018. When users type "how to vote" into Google, the search engine populates state-by-state instructions," The Verge reported.

One Vote Won't Make a Difference. Or Will It?

The question may not be the most talked about question of the campaign and yet many American citizens are refusing to even consider voting with the impression that the singular vote they cast will not make a difference. Each vote becomes a total of all votes cast, win or lose, exercising the right to vote is part of a free society.

This election will choose the leaders who present the blueprint for the future which bests aligns with each voter's vision.

Check USA.gov for the local election office in all fifty states and US territories. Register to vote today, opt for the mail in ballot, and send it in as soon as possible.

For more information on President Donald Trump www.whitehouse.gov.

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