Blogger Is Back

Hello Everyone:

Blogger supposes you all are wondering where she went. Yours Truly has had a week where everything seemed to not work or be motion. Allow Blogger to explain.

A week ago yesterday, the radiator began to leak, leaving large puddles under the carpet. Maintenance came to cap off the offending radiator but left an extremely noisy de-humidifier that made sleeping an impossibility.  Adding to the misery was a shop vac that added to the sleepless night. By Wednesday, Blogger and The Candidate Forum were complete zombies.  This would made taking glee over Republican dirty trickster Roger Stone's arrest and indictment out of the question. Sleep is vitally important to the free flow of thoughts. Thus, The Forum needed to take last Wednesday off. Further, e excessive rain has knocked network service at Blogger's hide out which made working remotely a complete no go. Finally, Yours Truly had an important work-related appointment. It was a good meeting, filled with a lot of good feedback.   Neededless to say The Forum was pleased that Mr. Donald Trump yielded to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and re-opened the federal government.

The president agreed to re-open the 25-percent of the federal government that had been either shutdown or working without pay.  The joy over the 800,000 federal workers going back to work and receiving their overdue pay is tempered by the fact that this only a temporary situation. A bipartisan Congressional committee has been form to continue negotiations over the budget for the new fiscal year. The biggest obstacle is an agreement of what constitutes border security.  Whether you call it a sea-to-shining-sea or a comprehensive package, including a physical barrier, the bottom line is nobody, Democrat or Republican, disagrees about the need for incresed control at the southern border or a more comprehensive immigration policy. The problem is the president is so intent on building a wall, that he is willing to take the extreme measure of calling for a national emergency. 

A national emergency is not something presidents lightly. Typically, a national emergency is reserved for times of war or similar situations.  The last time a national emergency was declared was after 9/11. A declaration of national emergency is not a bargaining tool. The president should not dangle this threat as a way to get the $5.7 billion he is demanding for what is nothing more than a vanity project.

The re-opening of government also prompted Speaker Pelosi to re-issue her invitation to the president, who has accepted, to present the State of The Union now scheduled for tomorrow February 5, at 6pm Pacific Standard Time. Already, political blog The Hill alluded to a border bombshell the president is getting ready to denotate. 

On a personal note, Blogger is happy that a federal worker family member is back at work. 

Alright, that is where Yours Truly has been.  Tomorrow, we will be back to the usual business of the blog with a story on how 2020 will be the year of the mayor. Should be good. Wednesday, The Forum is back in business with a wrap up of the State of the Union. Should be good.