A tape surfaced of Chief Justice Roberts testimony at his confirmation hearing in which it appears he gave a dramatically different opinion about whether or not the President was immune from the law, essentially saying that no President is above the law without qualification. I am sure that when he is confronted with this, if he ever responds to such inquiries, it will be a nuanced answer, no doubt. This is just another example of the corruptness of Mr. Roberts and many of the other justices, in particular Alito and Thomas, in terms of them following Mr. Trump and his right-wing allies down many dangerous paths. This is an unfortunate situation for the country, but those people will pass on, new people will be appointed and likely we will see a swing to the left, maybe not tomorrow, but certainly in the future. What is most disheartening is that this group of six right-wing justices (and it is only a question of degree) are in the position to do so much harm, at least in the short-term.
England has a new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, who has formed a labor government for the first time in many years after literally decimating the conservatives in this snap election. As I noted in previous commentaries, England goes left while much of Europe borders on the right. France, however, on June the 7th, voted center-left, not far-right.
Unfortunately, I believe there is far more truth to the statement that this is the most important election of our time. We have a confluence of events in terms of the world (the Ukraine and Gaza), the growth of right-wing movements in many parts of the world, although interestingly enough, as I noted above, England and France seem to be moving at least to the center, if not slightly to the left.
Locally, we have a Congresswoman who has viewed to the extreme right, which after having had members of Congress like John McHugh and myself, who were clearly center leaning, this a major departure although it seems to be embraced our Republican neighbors.
We have clearly lost the ability to find common ground and essentially have stopped listening to one another, as I am sure you have all experienced those difficult conversations with friends and family members who are strongly pro-Trump and have incredible right-wing ideas, much of which is based upon Trump lies, so it makes it very difficult to have a discussion that can lead to any real exchange of thoughts. I am equally troubled by many of Mr. Trump’s economic proposals, particularly as it relates to the imposition of tariffs on everything coming from China, and the closing of the border and proposed deportations. He has no understanding of who does the work in this country in terms of agriculture and many other areas and we can see that locally on many of our dairy farmers and apple orchards benefit from migrant labor. He also does not comprehend or refuses to acknowledge that the Chinese are not paying the tariffs, they are being paid by the American people as those charges are passed on to consumers.
US job openings rose in June, layoffs rose to 1.65 million in May, and while the number of Americans quitting their jobs remained unchanged, which reflects the overall confidence of employees in being able to secure another job. Initial unemployment claims inched up modestly but continuing claims also held steady, which means those individuals have not found another job. 206,000 jobs were created in June, beating expectations. All of this, in spite of high interest rates being maintained by the Fed.
The Japanese yen is crashing. It’s impact, unclear.
It appears that many predictions that Mr. Biden would withdraw by Saturday the 13th of July were wrong. Mr. Biden, Justice Ginsberg, Mitch McConnell, and Diane Feinstein all bear the same characteristics and traits in this particular circumstance. In the face of mountains of countervailing evidence, they persist in staying in office when it would be in the best interest of the country, and the Democratic Party that they gracefully depart. All of their legacies will be tarnished by these acts and justifiably so.
Senator Vance’s comment that the attack on Mr. Trump was caused by statements made by President Biden was a dog-whistle to those of Mr. Trump’s supporters who are as lawless and as unhinged as the shooter. Mr. Vance should be censured by the Senate.
Bill Owens is a former member of Congress representing the New York 21st, a partner in Stafford, Owens, Piller, Murnane, Kelleher and Trombley in Plattsburgh, NY and a Strategic Advisor at Dentons to Washington, DC.
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