Year: 2018
In Memoriam: President George H. W. Bush (State Funeral)
The 41st president of the United States and the father of the 43rd, George H. W. Bush who steered the nation through a tumultuous period in world affairs, has died at 94 (NY Times):
His death, which was announced by his office, came less than eight months after that of his wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush.
Mr. Bush had a form of Parkinson’s disease that forced him to use a wheelchair or motorized scooter in recent years, and he had been in and out of hospitals during that time as his health declined.
Mr. Bush, a Republican, was a transitional figure in the White House, where he served from 1989 to 1993, capping a career of more than 40 years in public service. A decorated Navy pilot who was shot down in the Pacific in 1944, he was the last of the World War II generation to occupy the Oval Office.
Mr. Bush was a skilled bureaucratic and diplomatic player who, as president, helped end four decades of Cold War and the threat of nuclear engagement with a nuanced handling of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the liberation of Eastern Europe.
Yet for all his success in the international arena, his presidency faltered as voters seemed to perceive him as detached from their everyday lives. In an election that turned on the economy, they repudiated Mr. Bush in 1992 and chose a relatively little-known Democratic governor from Arkansas, Bill Clinton, a baby boomer, ushering in a generational shift in American leadership.
In Memoriam: Ed Pastor (Memorial Service)
Arizona lost another legend this week. Former Rep. Ed Pastor, Arizona’s first Hispanic member of Congress, dead at 75:
Former U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor, Arizona’s first Hispanic member of Congress whose low-key style obscured his behind-the-scenes effectiveness in directing federal money to local projects, has died. He was 75.
Pastor suffered a heart attack according to multiple family friends on Wednesday. The Phoenix resident is remembered as a hardworking lawmaker who fought to bring federal resources to his constituents and was respected on both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill.
He leaves behind his wife, Verma Pastor, two daughters, Yvonne and Laura — a Phoenix City Council member — and four grandchildren.
His daughter Laura Pastor said in a written statement. “At this time, the Pastor family asks for privacy as they mourn the loss of their husband, father, brother, grandfather, uncle and leader.”
The Democratic congressman did not seek re-election in 2014 after serving 23 years in Washington. At the time, he was the most senior member of Arizona’s House delegation and served on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
Thankful to have Raúl in the Fight
Ok, it’s a little late for Thanksgiving. But I was too busy cooking to give thanks properly, and to do it properly I have to tell you a story. Last week, I wrote about a Mexican man I met in South Tucson who wanted to build a wall, and why I feel like we have … Read more
House Democrats have won an historic mandate
FiveThirtyEight now projects The Last Unresolved House Race Of 2018, the California 21st is likely to be the 40th Democratic pickup. Democrat TJ Cox will turn out Republican Rep. David Valadao.
NBC News reports, Democrats smash Watergate record for House popular vote in midterms:
Democrats won the House with the largest margin of victory in a midterms election for either party, according to NBC News election data.
While votes are still being tallied, Democratic House candidates currently hold an 8,805,130 vote lead over Republicans as of Monday morning. The Democrats’ national margin of victory in House contests smashes the previous midterms record of 8.7 million votes in 1974, won just months after President Richard Nixon resigned from office in disgrace amid the Watergate scandal.
Of the more than 111 million votes cast in House races nationwide, Democrats took 53.1 percent — retaking control of the House of Representatives by flipping nearly 40 seats — while Republicans received 45.2 percent of the vote.
Brent Budowsky writes at The Hill, House Dems won a historic mandate (excerpt):
In the most important midterm election in a century, after voter turnout of epic and historic proportions, House Democrats won a popular vote majority of more than 9 million votes. By contrast, Donald Trump lost the 2016 popular vote by some 3 million votes, and is now viewed as a great divider and dangerous pariah by peoples and leaders of democratic nations throughout the world.
Politics is about power. Effective January 2019, no bill will be enacted into law, and no dollar will be authorized or appropriated, without the support of the Democratic House. House Democrats have won a dramatic mandate to propose — and ultimately pass — legislation to lift the health, wages and lives of Americans, as well as to set the stage to elect the next Democratic president and Democratic Senate in 2020, when most senators running for reelection will be Republicans.