It Is Balloon!                                                    #260     

By Hank Silverberg                                                                                                    

Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's not Superman. However, it WAS a Chinese spy balloon! 

While most of America was suffering from severe cold or nasty ice and power outages this past week, the Republicans in Congress were screaming about a Chinese balloon that was flying over America's heartland, taking pictures and possibly collecting intelligence. Let us not forget for a minute that it's 2023, and the Chinese have 35 spy satellites in orbit, some of which pass over our country several times a day. They already know where our missile launch sites and military bases are located. 

(The Chinese Balloon
 social media screen shot)

One ongoing theory is that the Chinese were seeking communications information like cell phone numbers, etc., from strategic sites. What we all didn't know was that the President had given an order last Wednesday to shoot the balloon down as soon as it was feasible without creating any debris that might fall to Earth and hurt people or property. The military waited until that was possible and shot the thing down off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday. Agencies involved included: NORAD, which tracked the balloon way before it hit U.S. airspace; the Air Force, which eventually shot it down; Cyber Command, which apparently jammed it from getting any real information; the NSA and eventually the Navy and Coast Guard to help recover the debris. Then there was the FAA shutting down civilian airports at the right time to prevent any mix-up with civilian traffic, and even NASA which had chipped in with a quick assessment of a probable debris field had it been shot down over land (seven square miles of debris). In other words, our defense system worked pretty well. So did the White House decision-making process, despite all the squealing from GOP members of Congress.   

 We may never know the motivation from the Chinese for sending this "aircraft," but it has heightened tensions between the U.S. and Communist China, and already led to the cancellation of one diplomatic initiative. In the end the whole thing may have damaged China more than the U.S. in terms of intelligence gathering.  

The U.S. apparently was able to block the gadgets on the balloon from getting any real information, while at the same time studying the technology. We will get an even closer look as the wreckage is pulled out of the Atlantic. 

China issued a statement saying the shoot-down would have "serious repercussions," and condemned it as an "over-reaction." The statement said China reserved the right to use necessary means to deal with "similar situations." Tough luck, China. It's our air space. You need permission to fly through it. It's not like this is something new.  Remember the infamous U-2 incident in 1960 where a U.S. spy plane was shot down over the old Soviet Union and pilot Gary Francis Powers was captured? If you don't, you can check it out at this History Channel link: U-2 Spy Incident - HISTORY  

The only thing that made this unique in the spy game is that millions of people could see the balloon as it crossed the country, and folks at the shore in Myrtle Beach captured video of the shoot- down on their smart phones. 

It also made the knee-jerk politicians (almost all Republicans) at the Capitol look ridiculous. They look even worse after the Pentagon confirmed that the Chinese had done the same thing three times before during the Trump administration when the balloons were not shot down, and the public was never told about the incidents.  

If you add in all the rhetoric of late about Taiwan and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it's beginning to look more like 1963 than 2023.  Maybe we should bring back hula-hoops? 

One thing is clear, though. What we don't need in the near future is a Republican-led Congress that cares more about political revenge for perceived past wrongs or legislation that takes us back to the 1950's, instead of any real progress towards a better world.  We also don't need their red-headed authoritarian leader who has false visions of his own grandeur at the helm.   

There was a lot of humor involved with this incident, but when you think about it seriously, the spy game is not a laughing matter.   

Student Loans

If you or someone in your family is waiting for that student loan forgiveness plan outlined by President Biden a few months ago, don't hold your breath. The issue is before the newly conservative Supreme Court, and now 128 Republicans in the House and 43 GOP Senators have asked the high court to block the plan. 

In their amicus brief, the lawmakers argue that Biden does not have the authority under the Heroes Act of 2003 to modify the debt as he has proposed.   

Biden's plan would forgive up to $20,000 in student loan debt owed to the government by literally millions of people. But the people taking it to court say Congress is the only body which can make such a change. 

The original lawsuit was filed by two conservatives who are seeking to permanently block any loan debt relief.   

The Heroes Act of 2003 gives the Secretary of Education the power to waive or modify any student loan balances in connection with a national emergency.  

The Act was used to suspend student loan payments during the pandemic. More than half a (T) trillion dollars is involved, even though total student loan debt is more than $1.59 (T) trillion. That's more than Americans owe on auto loans or credit card balances.  

 Student loan debt has been a major drag on the economy. Those who favor the "forgiveness" say it could keep millions of dollars in the hands of Gen Xers and Millennials who could then use it for other things that stimulate the economy, like home purchases or new cars.  

The average student loan debt as of 2021 was $39,487.  

https://news.yahoo.com/over-half-house-gop-nearly-204422102.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on the lawsuit on February 28th.

Here's Some Confusion! 

The unemployment rate hit a 53-year low the first week in February when 517,000 new jobs were added. The Labor Department says the jobless rate fell to 3.4% in February, the lowest level since May of 1969, with 11 million job openings posted this past December.   

I am not an economist, but it seems to me that people working is a good thing. The same report says average hourly earnings increased 4.4% from a year ago. 

Jobs report January 2023: Payrolls increased by 517,000, unemployment rate at 53-year low (cnbc.com)

The problem of course, is the 6.5% inflation rate in the last year. People may be working and making more money, but it doesn't feel like a good thing when the gas and food prices keep going up.  

So, despite some good economic numbers, a new poll released this past Sunday from ABC News and The Washington Post shows four in ten Americans feel they are worse off financially since Joe Biden became President. That's the worst rating on the "are you doing better off" question during the 37 years this poll has been conducted.   

Americans also don't want a repeat of the 2020 election either. Six in ten Democrats polled say they don't want to see Biden nominated for another term, and more than 50% of the Republicans polled don't want Donald Trump on the ballot either. 

If the election were held today, 48% of those polled favored Trump, while 45% backed Biden. With a 3% margin of error in the poll, that's a statistical dead heat indicating the country is as divided as ever.  

Biden takes a big hit over the economy with 41% saying they are doing worse financially than they were when he took office. Only 16% said they were better off.  More details on the Poll at this link: Record numbers of people are worse off, a recipe for political discontent: POLL (msn.com)

Bottom line, there seems to be a disconnect between the actual economy and what people are thinking. That may be the result of the constant barrage of negativity about the economy from Republicans and their media strategy. 

Inflation is a big problem. But unemployment or lower wages would be a bigger issue for most people. Considering where things were a year ago in the middle of the pandemic, we are not so bad off.  

Dumbest Quote of The Week!

I know, I have had Georgia Congresswoman   Marjorie Taylor Green in the "Dumb Quotes" segment many times before. It's easy because she rarely says anything that is intelligent. So, of course her comments on the Chinese spy balloon fit right in. Here is just one of the dumb things she said: 

"Literally every regular person I know is talking about how to shoot down the Chinese Spy Balloon. It would be great if an average Joe shot it down because China Joe won’t. Regular Americans can do everything better than the government and actually care about our country."

The balloon was 60,000 feet up, higher than our fighter jets can fly, so no local yokel is going to shoot it down with his hunting rifle. Sorry, Marjorie. The Jewish Space Laser is not available. 

Republicans in general have been notably silent on the balloon since the Pentagon confirmed that such spy balloons crossed the U.S. three times during the Trump administration, and they were not shot down or even made public. 

(Your comments and suggestions for this blog are welcome, see comment section below)  

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