EDITORIAL
BY DHIREN SHAH
Hello Readers,
The Election was a surprise for the Republican Party. They were expecting way more seats in Congress and 3 more seats in the Senate. The Senate already has 50 seats for the Democrats, with the deciding vote by chairperson and VP Kamala Harris to give them a majority. The Republicans have 49 seats so far and one runoff election of Georgia will decide if there is a clear majority or not for the Democrats. As of Nov. 16, Republicans have 217 congress seats and the Democrats have 206 seats in the House, with 12 seats not declared yet. While many of the remaining 12 seats will be in favor of the Democrats, the Republicans only need one more seat to clinch the majority.
The pollsters were predicting about 232 seats for the Republicans, but it will not be close to that. It was a disappointing result for the Republicans. Despite a tough economy, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the highest illegal immigrant count in years, the Democrats had a strong showing, alleging that many in the GOP posed a threat to democracy and abortion rights.
The progressive Caucus of the Democrats has 98 members, led by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. Out of 98 members, 30 members of the progressive Caucus of the Democrats signed a letter urging President Biden to negotiate a settlement between Russia and Ukraine. After a few months it was mailed to the President. I think Biden and his team did not like the idea, so after a long and furious debate they retracted the letter. Now there’s a problem. As usual, politicians know how to blame others. 30 congresspersons signed the letter, and I think they all raise their hands, except one. The blame game started, and they blamed the staff for forwarding the letter to the President. As you all know, the staff follows the instructions, but their employers do not care about the people. They blame the staff, rather than being courageous to accept something as their fault.
The letter states, “If there is a way to end the war while preserving a free and independent Ukraine, it is America’s responsibility to pursue every diplomatic avenue to support such a solution that is acceptable to the people of Ukraine…In recent weeks, the risk of nuclear war has increased, fighting escalated, and global economic insecurity deepened. Thousands of people are dead and tens of millions more impacted.” They also requested that the United States should explore possible avenues to settle the war.
According to The Guardian: “In the original letter, sent to the White House on Monday and first reported by the Washington Post, the progressive Democrats called on Biden to make ‘vigorous diplomatic efforts’ towards a ‘negotiated settlement and ceasefire.’ They highlighted the global hunger and poverty that could ensue from Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine as well as ‘elevated gas and food prices at home,’ concluding that America’s top priority should be to seek ‘a rapid end to the conflict.’”
Per CNN: “The committee has previously held witnesses in contempt of Congress for defying the panel’s subpoenas but has little ability to force compliance with the subpoena quickly through the courts. Trump sued the committee on November 11 as a way to challenge its subpoena according to filings in a federal court in Florida. His lawsuit sought to challenge both the legitimacy of the committee – which multiple courts have upheld – and claim he should be immune from testimony about the time he was president.”
As expected, Donald Trump announced on Tuesday for his 3rd run for the presidency. It was not a surprise. By announcing his presidency, he might stop legal proceedings against him for the time being, but not all of them.
Have a wonderful week. I’ll talk to you next week.
