President Joe Biden's legislative agenda took a bit of a hit when Sen. Joe Manchin announced that he could not vote for the Build Back Better Act [BBB] without substantial revisions. In their heart of hearts, most Democrats in Washington expected Manchin would make passage as difficult as possible. He's trying to hold on to a Senate seat in one of the reddest states in America and the climate portions of the bill are anathema to the coal industry in West Virginia. Manchin's a

To a majority of Americans, President Joe Biden's decision to mandate the Covid vaccine for a large portion of our population is just common sense. Most of us are tired of the inane excuses and bizarre conspiracy theories, and understand that the unvaccinated are the reason that the virus has space to mutate into increasingly dangerous forms. And, if I meet one more person who tells me that the vaccine is part of a plot to sterilize white people, I think my head will explode.

During the Trump years, America's standing in the world was reduced to what it could obtain through raw power and intimidation. That might have been enough for Great Britain in the 19th Century, but in the age of nuclear weapons, cyberwarfare, terrorism, and a globalized economy it's not enough to achieve the nation's international goals. You also need what IR expert Joseph Nye called "soft power." US President Joe Biden understands that you need both to reach your global obj

The reason that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is negotiating a compromise to President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan, called the American Jobs Plan [AJP], is that it is very popular with voters. Recent surveys found that about two-thirds of Americans approve of the proposed legislation and a majority support increased corporate taxes to pay for it. A new poll found that the AJP is also quite popular with small business owners and that's important because that group

Republicans in the Senate want to run out the clock in the hopes of preventing the Biden administration from passing a historic and much needed infrastructure package. Illuminate: "Biden's Build Back Better plan is the keystone to the President's agenda, the catalyst to revitalize the US economy and create the infrastructure necessary for America to compete with China and India. Moreover, it's not just a roads and bridge infrastructure plan; it will create the base on which w

Economists have started to weigh in on President Biden's infrastructure initiative and the response has been broadly supportive. It will dramatically ramp up employment opportunities for individuals with less than a college education, power long-term economic growth, and create a more competitive economy. Reuters: "About 75% of the infrastructure jobs created would go to workers with no more than a high school diploma, while the rest would require an associate’s degree or hig