A Different Republican Icon

[OSR stands with Israel]

Breaking News: Associate Justice Potter Stewart to retire



Chancellor: We have some stunning news to report to you and that is Associate Justice Potter Stewart has announced that he will be retiring from the court effective immediately. Given Justice Stewart's age it is surprising he decided to retire but he claimed 19 years is enough for anybody and it is time for new blood on the Supreme Court and also said he wanted to spend more time with his family

Brinkley: Well we are told he really never wanted to go past 22-23 years in the first place but many have said that he has been worried at the rightward shift of the Supreme Court over this past decade and due to that retired from the Supreme Court a few years early . Right now the court has 3 solidly conservative justices on the court: Justice Laxalt, Justice Lucas and Justice Hays, another who leans Conservative: Chief Justice Burger , 3 centrists: Justices Stewart , Justice White, Justice Brooke and 2 solid liberals : Justice Brennan, and Justice Marshall.  So given all this its not really surprising that Justice Stewart retired

Chancellor: Why not though retire in 1979 when President Hollings is still going to be President for sure.

Brinkley: Well we dont know if the Democrats will still control the Senate by then because if they dont then likely even then a more conservative justice will replace him even with Hollings as President.

Hollings signs bill that will give EPA more power to regulate toxic substances into law



Source: https://www.kcma.org/news/public-policy-news/congress-overhaul-toxic-substances-control-act-tsca

Brinkley: President Hollings earlier today signed a bill that will give EPA more power to regulate toxic substances into law . This bill as expected got bipartisan support and due to that it was able to quickly get passed into law

Education Secretary McNair releases Adminstration's Education Plan:

Brinkley: Secretary of Education Robert McNair is currently outlining the President's Education  Plan

Details of Plan:

- Increases teacher pay by 10% by 1980 and ties salary for inflation after that.

- Increases funding for the student loan program by 10%

- Expands National School Lunch Act

- Help states and cities set school boundaries in a way that minimizes busing but helps continue to integrate schools

McNair: Now people may ask how can we increase teacher pay if we have no control over that and the fact is we dont but we will allocate that money to the states and cities which can only be used on increasing teacher pay and nothing else. The other parts of the proposal are I think critical as the fact is the busing policy has to be reformed, we have to make sure every child at school doesnt go through the day hungry as its harder for children to learn while they are hungry and lastly it is a goal of this administration to increase the accessibility of college to all Americans.


Shortlist for Supreme Court Vacancy Revealed:



Shortlist:

- Wilfried Feinberg
Current Position: Judge of US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

- Donald P Lay
Current Position: Judge of US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

- Shirley Hufstedler
Current Position: Judge of US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

- Louis Pollak
Most Recent Position: Former Dean of Yale Law School


Brinkley: We believe the President will have make a choice by next week

[Tron1993]

Keep this up man!  Also have you ever considered doing POV bits like what ColdWarLiberal used to do so we could get an insight into the minds of major characters

[OSR stands with Israel]

Keep this up man!  Also have you ever considered doing POV bits like what ColdWarLiberal used to do so we could get an insight into the minds of major characters

I have considered it but I dont think it fits my style really well and I dont think it would be as good due to that.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Breaking News: Hollings makes history by appointing a women to the highest court as he nominates Appeal Court Judge Shirley Hufstedler to fill Supreme Court vacancy:



Brinkley: We have some breaking news to report to you today and that is President Hollings will become the first President to nominate a woman to the highest court as he nominated Appeal Court Judge Shirley Hufstedler to fill the Supreme Court vanacy created by the retirement of Justice Potter Stewart. Now lets go into the announcement

Hollings: Thank You, Thank You. As you know appointing someone to the Supreme Court is one of the most important choices a President can make due to the fact the Supreme Court is the highest arbitrator of the law and the fact that appointments to the Supreme Court are lifetime appointments as well. Due to this it is important that a President nominated a smart, qualified and someone who is faithful to upholding our constitution and that is why I am proud to announce that I will be appointing Appeal Court Judge Shirley Hufstedler to the Supreme Court. Throughout her career she has stood up for the rights of all Americans, and her 16 year career as a judge, 7 in the state of California and 9 at the federal career make her more than qualified for that job. Now please welcome, Judge and future associate justice Shirley Hufstedler.

Hufstedler: I want to begin by thanking the President for giving me the honor of serving this great nation as ours as a Supreme Court justice, it is a very humbling moment. I also want to thank Justice Potter Stewart for his service on the Supreme Court and wish him well on whatever he endeavors to do in the years ahead. When our constitution was written our founders realized that our nation needed an institution which above the nature of politics and defends our constitution from abuses by the two other branches of government and from the passions of the majority as well, and over our history, the Supreme Court has lived up to that promise, especially 23 years ago when our courts finally ended segregation in our schools and it is my intention to live up to its great history.

Thank You everyone

Brinkley: If she is confirmed like everyone thinks she will be by the senate then Shirley Hufstedler will be the first female Supreme Court Justice in our history


Details of US-Soviet Summit


Source:https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/06/obituaries/ernest-hollings-dead.html
Source:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brezhnev_1973.jpg


Brinkley: So far in this 4 day summit between the US and the Soviet Union the US delegation led by President Hollings, and Soviet delegation led by their leader Leonid Brezhnev have toured both West and East Berlin, have had multiple meeting on arms control including privat meetings and right now we are just waiting for the joint Press Conference to start. Well looks like it will start so we will head to that right now


Hollings: Over the past 4 days my team and Chairman Brezhnev's team have met in this summit for arms control negotiations and ways to reduce tensions between both of our nation and while we havent reached an formal agreement yet but we have made significant progress.

Brezhnev(Translated from Russian to English) What President Hollings said was correct as while we havent agreed to an formal agreement yet, we have agreed to many of the major points, and I would say the only thing what is left from reaching a deal is ironing out the details.

Media Member 1: So what are some of the major points

Hollings: Well we were just about to get to that but some of the major things we talked about was to ban the production of nuclear weapons, new missile programs, and further limitations of ballistic  missles as well. Now people may ask what about some of the details, and all I can say is at this moment that information cant be revealed as those details have not been ironed out yet

Media Member 2: So what are the next steps

Brezhnev: Well both of our foreign policy teams will continue to iron out the details and we also may try to do another summit some time next year as well

Hollings: That will be all for now, so thank you


Breaking News: Shirley Hufstedler to become the first female supreme court justice after Senate overwhelmingly votes to confirm her nomination to the court



Source: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/honorable-shirley-m-hufstedler-1925-2016-50477

Brinkley: Shirley Hufstedler today officially became the first female supreme court justice ever after being overwhelmingly confirmed by the senate. The League of Women Voters called today a great day for gender equality and will further encourage young girls all across the nation to believe that they can achieve anything they want. 

[Tron1993]

Don’t stop man. Keep this up!

[Tron1993]

When is the next update?  It’s been too long

[OSR stands with Israel]

When is the next update?  It’s been too long

A few days , I was out of town for the past couple weeks and was very busy the past couple of days so I haven’t had used my laptop in some time . I should have the next update up by Tuesday night at the latest  though

[OSR stands with Israel]

President Hollings tours Southern States and Vice President Muskie tours New England to build support for Tax Bill and Panama Canal Treaty :



Source: https://accesswdun.com/article/2019/4/782250

Brinkley: President Hollings earlier today began a one week tour around the south where he will be visiting every southern state with the exception of Texas and Virginia in an attempt to drum up support for his Tax Bill and the Panama Canal Treaty in an attempt to pressure Conservative Democratic Senators to vote with the rest of the party when both issues come up in the senate and even try to get some Republicans on board especially for the Panama Canal Treaty where he will need 67 votes to win ratification.In the states he visited that had a Democrat as governor he was joined by them as well.

Now the administration fully knows they must also procure votes from New England Republicans to get both the treaty passed and maybe even the Tax Bill and due to that Vice President Muskie began a 4 day tour of New England in an attempt to do so.


Tax Bill Passes in Senate:

Differences from House version:

- There will be 6 brackets instead of 8
- Top marginal rate will be 44% instead of 54%
- Top Capital Gains rate will be cut from 27% to 25%


Brinkley: These are the 3 major changes between the House and Senate versions and it only passed with 52 votes with President Hollings able to get all but 5 Democrats  Allen, Eastland, Stennis, Harry Byrd, Johnston to vote for the bill and get 4 Republicans as well : Lowell Weicker, Jacob Javits , Charles Mathias, John Volpe. Senator John Volpe was appointed by Governor Micheal Dukakis to fill now Justice Ed Brooke's vacant senate seat and while Volpe is a Republican he is a liberal one and Dukakis with support of many MA Democrats appointed Volpe to fill Brooke's seat who then won a special election in MA in 1976.

Now the bill will go to the conference committee where members of both the house and senate will try to reconcile the differences and we are told that Vice President Muskie will be leading that meeting.


1977 Off Year Election Preview:

Virginia : Lieutenant Governor John Dalton(R) vs Former Lieutenant Governor Henry Howell(D)- Likely Republican Hold

New Jersey: Governor Brendan Byrne(D) vs State Senator Raymond Bateman(R)- Safe Democratic Hold

New York City : Representative Ed Koch(D) vs New York Secretary of State Mario Cuomo(Lib) vs State Senator Roy Goodman(R)- Tossup between Dem candidate and Liberal Candidate

Brinkley: All The eyes in next week's general election will be in New York City which polls show currently Representative Ed Koch tied with Liberal Candidate Mario Cuomo at 45% and the Republican and Conservative candidates garnering a total of 9%. Virginia and New Jersey at this point seem almost a lock for the incumbent party which is why there isnt much drama in either race


Breaking News: Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat to make historic visit to Israel



Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_Sadat

Brinkley: We have some breaking and major news to report to you and that is Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat will make a historic visit to Israel and possibly even speak in the Israeli parliament on November 19th for historic peace talks. Secretary of State William Fulbright called today a great day for the region and hopes the meeting will eventually lead to a peace deal between the two nations.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Byrne reelected in New Jersey, while Mr.Dalton wins in Virginia. In Contested New York City Mayoral race, Koch prevails by 8 points



Brinkley: In Yesterday's off year elections , Democratic Governor Brendan  Byre was easily reelected in New Jersey to a 2nd term while in Virginia Republican Lieutenant Governor John Dalton easily defeated his Democratic Rival Former Lieutenant Governor Henry Howell and will be the next governor of Virginia. Neither result was a surprise but the race we were all watching was the race between Congressman Ed Koch and Mr.Mario Cuomo in the race to be the next mayor of the largest city in this nation, but in the end Congressman Koch won a surprisingly large 8 point victory over Mr.Cuomo to become the next mayor of New York City.

Chancellor: A lot of that is attributed to is tactical voting by many Republican voters who understood the Republican candidate had no chance so they voted for which major candidate was closer to them and that was clearly Mayor-Elect Koch.


House and Senate agree to a revised tax bill and pass it into law. Hollings immediately signs bill after passage



Source: https://www.sc.edu/uofsc/posts/2019/04/hollings_legacy.php

Chancellor: After two weeks of talks the House and Senate agreed to a revised tax bill and then passed it in both houses of Congress. After it passed the President immediately signed the bill into law and said this right before signing it to reporters

Hollings: Thanks to the passage of this tax bill by Congress, we now will have the ability in the next and in future budgets to help working families in this country and I can promise you that I will do all I can to make sure that every dollar in additional tax revenue we receive in tax revenue will be invested back into making this nation better and will be spent efficiently as well.

Chancellor: Here are some of the details of the bill


Details of Plan:

- There will be 6 brackets going from 10% to 44%

- Rate Increases won't apply to $35,000 or less

- Corporate Tax Rate: 33.3% Rate made Permenant

- Top Estate Tax Rate will be raised from 55% to 60%


Chancellor: In response to the bill , New York Senator and probably 1980 Republican primary candidate Jack Kemp called the bill misguided in every way and said raising taxes in a time when we are still in economic times like this will hurt the economy and ended by saying economic growth not new programs are the best way to help poor and working-class families.

The only question is which types of programs will pass in the upcoming year

Brinkley: Given the fact that this tax bill passed I think that gives the administration lots of leeway over the next year to pass their domestic agenda as a few moderate Republicans like Percy and Hatfield who didn't vote for this bill will be more inclined to support an expansion of programs like say Medicaid then they were for this bill.


Hopes of Peace between Israel-Egypt rise after Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat visits Israel and speaks at Israeli Parliament  



Source: https://www.history.com/topics/1970s/anwar-el-sadat-speaks-to-israeli-parliament-video

Brinkley: Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat made a historic visit to Israel today, becoming the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel where he met with Israeli Prime Minster Menachem Begin and then later spoke in front of the Israeli parliament where he spoke about ways he believes can create peace between both sides.  The speech was well-received and while it doesnt mean that both sides are close to reaching a peace deal yet, it is an important first step in reaching that goal.

President Hollings called today a great day for the region and hoped that today will be remembered in history as the day that eventually culminated in a peace deal between the Arabs and Israel.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Panama Canal ratified with no votes to spare as Senator Westmoreland and 19 other  Republican senators vote for it while only 6 Democrats against it



Source: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal

Brinkley: President Hollings went into the day needing the vote from 3 undecided senators and all of them: Senators  Burdick, Schweiker and Reinecke and when Senator Reinecke voted nay , almost everyone thought it was all over and that the treaty would be rejected but former General and current Senator Westmoreland shocked everyone and voted in favor of the treaty. Here is the list of Republicans who voted for the treaty then Democrats who voted against all in alphabetical order

Republicans who voted Aye: Allot(R-CO), Baker(R-TN), Bellman(R-OK), Bowen(R-IN),  Case(R-NJ), Chafee(R-RI) Danforth(R-MO), Hatfield(R-OR), Javits(R-NY), Mathias(R-MD), Myers(R-OR), Pearson(R-KS), Percy(R-IL), Ruckelshaus(R-IN), Romney(R-MI), Schweiker(R-PA) , Towell(R-NV), Volpe(R-MA), Weicker(R-CT), Westmoreland(R-SC)

Democrats who voted Nay: Allen(D-AL) , H.Byrd(I-VA), Eastland(D-MS), Johnston(D-LA), Stennis(D-MA), Zorinsky(D-NE)


Brinkley: After the vote Senator Westmoreland said while there are many parts of the treaty he disagrees with, he believes the President should have the powers to have the treaties they agreed to ratified in most cases and thus he voted for it.

Chancellor: I believe if Senator Reinecke voted for the treaty , Senator Westmoreland would have voted no knowing that voting no wouldnt have killed the treaty and thus could vote on detailed policy reasons instead of the overarching principle on treaty power .


Former President Barry Goldwater's son , Lieutenant Governor Barry Goldwater Jr announces that he will run for Governor after Reagan announces he wont run for 4th term

[im width=300]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Barrygoldwaterjr.jpg[/img]


Chancellor: After Governor Reagan announced that he would not run for a 4 term as Governor of California, the lieutenant governor of California, Barry Goldwater Jr, and the son of former President Goldwater announced he would be running for Governor of California but also promised that he would not stop campaigning for the passage of CA Prop 13 an anti-tax measure which will be on the ballots in June . Anyway, polls show him easily beating his Republican opponents and leading his Democratic rivals by 4-5 points in the polls.

We also talked to Governor Reagan if he was intrested in running for President in 1980, as polls showed he would be the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, and he said if someone with strong conservative vies like his own runs he will not run for President again. If asked would Senator Kemp be one of them , and while he didn't confirm it , it is clear that if Senator Jack Kemp runs for President then Ronald Reagan will not run.


President Hollings's year-end approval rating


Holling's Approval Rating:

Approve 59%(+4%)
Disapprove: 36%(-2%)


House Generic Ballot

Democrats: 50%(+1%)
Republicans: 44%(-)

[OSR stands with Israel]

Senator Ted Kennedy introduces bill which would create medicare for all system in 10 years Former President Goldwater announced he will reenter political arena if needed to stop passage of bill



Brinkley: Earlier today Senator Ted Kennedy introduced a bill that would expand Medicare to cover all Americans within 10 years. How the plan would work is it would expand Medicare to cover people under 65 with disabilities by the end of the first year, then by the end of the 3rd year would expand Medicare to cover people over the age of 55 and under the age of 20, then at the end of the 7th year would cover people over the age of 45 and under the age of 35 and by the end of the 10th year woud cover all Americans.

The bill would be funded with increases in the payroll tax

Chancellor: President Hollings said while he would consider supporting this piece of legislation, he would prefer a bill that preserves the role of private insurance and would be more realistic in terms of chances of passage. Also in response to this, former President Goldwater who has largely stayed out of the political arena would rejoin it to make sure this bill does not pass and would support primary challengers against Republicans who vote for it and will do rallies in Southern States to put pressure on Southern Dem senators to oppose it as well.

Brinkley: With senators such as Charles Percy, John Volpe, Mark Hatfield up for reelection this year and many Southern Democrats, it clear he will have a lot of leverage in his efforts to do so


Breaking News: Treaty Reached between US and Soviet Union regarding Arms Limitation



Brinkley: We have some breaking news to report to you and that is President Hollings has just agreed to an arms limitation treaty with the Soviets and will come up to announce it right now. Before he does so, we will put up the main details of the treaty

Details of Agreement:

- Bans New Missle Programs

- limits strategic forces to 2,250 of all categories of delivery vehicles

- Bans production of any new nuclear weapons

- Number of MIRVed ballistic missiles and long range missiles to 1,320


Hollings: Thank You, Thank You. Today is a historic day not for the world as the prospect of nuclear war will decline as of today. I am pleased to announce that the US has agreed to an arms limation deal with the Soviets that will ban new missile programs and production of new nuclear weapons and limit the current arsenal as well. We have also agreed to some enforcement provisions to make sure that the treaty is being followed as well.

Hollings signs treaty

Kennedy Healthcare Bill likely dead as Allen, H.Byrd, Eastland, Johnston, Stennis, Talmadge, Zorinsky all come out against it while only 1 Republican comes out in favor of it



Chancellor: With now 7 Democratic Senators against the Kennedy Healthcare Bill, the bill looks all but dead as so far only 1 Republican, Jacob Javits, has come out in favor of it and now the Democrats need 4 Republicans for the bill to pass and that looks unlikely with Senator Mathias, Hatfield, and Percy having all come out against this too.

Liberal Groups are calling for Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd to punish Democrats like Stennis and Eastland who constantly come out against the Democratic agenda and side with Republican economic and foreign policy over and over again but a huge problem with that is that without those senators the Democrats would not have a majority and if they in response could switch over and give the Republicans the majority.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Excerpts of Hollings's state of the union address:



Speaker O'Neill: Ladies and Gentlemen, members of Congress: It is my high privilege and distinguished honor to present to you the President of the United States(Standing Ovation)

President Hollings: Thank You, Thank You. Mr Vice President, members of Congress, distinguished guests, as you may know a President comes to this chamber to give a report on the state of our union and I am can proudly say that we enter this year stronger than we did the previous year(Applause). Unemployment is lower, inflation is lower, our government is investing in the people again, and tensions with our adversaries has been reduced(Standing Ovation ). We also ended last year by passing a tax bill that will make it possible for us to invest more money back in helping working families in this country and nothing is more important in doing so than addressing the issue of healthcare(Applause).

For many families across the country, the issue of lack of access to healthcare is a matter of life and death for them and it is our job as their representatives to fix that issue(Applause). I have no illusion that this fight will be easy, or short but like President Kennedy said we do this not because it is easy but because it is hard(Standing Ovation) and if you remember we did accomplish the thing he said was hard, going to the moon(Applause) and we will accomplish this as well. Now I know that there will be lots of disagreements in this effort but it should be about the details of the goal of universal healthcare not the goal itself(Applause) and I look forward to working with Democrats and Republicans in accomplishing that goal. Any plan, in my opinion, must also do these things: One , expand Medicare and Medicaid, two control costs of healthcare itself, and address the external problems with our system as well and if we are able to do all 3, I believe we can create a universal healthcare system as well(Applause).

Another important issue that we must address is our education system because the fact is educating our kids is our most important jobs because they will determine our future(Applause). The first thing we need to do is increase teacher pay across the board, and the reason for this is simple , if we want to attract the best and brightest to the profession of teaching, we must offer better wages than we do now as well(Applause) . Second, we must expand access to a college education for kids of poor and working families because the fact is having a college education is getting more and more important so to expand access, I believe Congress should expand the student loan program to make that possible(Applause).Lastly and most importantly we must work with our states to update our curriculum to get our kids prepared for not only college but a changing world as well(Applause).

Now none of this wont matter, if we dont effectively deal with the most pressing issue of our time: making sure a nuclear war never ever happens(Applause). A Nuclear War would end the world as we know it and there are many ways one could get sparked and it is our job to not only make sure to stop those sparks but to make sure all nuclear weapons from this planet get eliminated permanently(Applause). Over the past year , we have worked with the Soviet Union to move us forward in reaching that goal and just last week both our nations have signed a historic arms control treaty to move us in that direction(Applause) and it is crucial that the treaty gets ratified (Applause). Now critics have been saying that this treaty is a capitulation to the Soviets as they wont uphold their end of the treaty, but they are wrong as this treaty has strong enforcement provisions in there which will ensure the treaty is being upheld(Applause). It is our duty not as Democrats or Republicans but as Americans to make sure we do not slow down progress on this issue , and future generations will judge us on what we did today(Applause). Thank You, May God Bless You and May God Bless America
 

[OSR stands with Israel]

HHS Secretary Margaret Chase Smith announces administration's healthcare plan:



Details of Plan:

- expand Medicare to cover people under 65 with severe disabilities
- Expands Medicaid Eligibility to insured Americans whose income are at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level
- Mandates Employers to pay for the full cost of health insurance but they could pass on to their employees up to 35 percent of the premium
- Adds prescription drug coverage to Medicare and eliminates premiums and cost-sharing from Medicare
- Creates a Government-Run Plan which offers  catastrophic care which can be purchased either as a primary plan or supplemental plan


Smith: This plan we believe will make it possible for all Americans to have access to good and affordable healthcare.


Senator Jack Kemp opposes Healthcare plan, supports instead $1000 tax credit be given for people who have health insurance



Kemp: My belief is the plan given out by the President, would not do much to actually address the issue then create another goverment program to try to solve the problem which I believe is the exact wrong step. Rather I believe we should create a tax credit that would create a $1000 tax credit for Americans who have health insurance. To calculate the tax credit things such as income, cost of premiums will be taken into account and the max credit would be $1000.


1978 Early Preview: Can Republicans Senate in 1978 and get a conservative majoirty in the House:

Brinkley: Republicans need to gain 40 House Seats to get a majority in the House of Representatives which everyone believes is extremely unlikely to happen, but the fact is they just need 20 seats to recreate the Conservative Coalition in the house and the question is can they get that.

Chancellor: Well it will be difficult to do so as I see a pathway that gives them say 15 gains which isnt that difficult but getting those last 5 will be so I think if Republicans are to get 20 seats the deficit between the two parties must be less than one point and right now its between 4 and 5 points.

Brinkley: The Senate, on the other hand, is much easier as Republicans only need 4 gains

Chancellor: Yes Republicans have a much easier path as MS with Eastland retiring will be a battleground and so will races such as IA , MN, SD, ME so a Republican majority is not hard at all to come up with. Democrats though have a counter and that is Massachusetts and North Carolina because if they take those they still will hold the senate

[OSR stands with Israel]

House Ways and Means Committee passes the President's Healthcare Plan by a narrow 21-19 margin:



Brinkley: The House and Ways Means Committee today was able to pass the President's healthcare plan without making any major changes to any provisions by a narrow 21-19 margin meaning it will now go to the full house for a vote. We are told the President met with undecided members of the committee before the vote and that final meeting was able to sway the vote.

Chancellor: If that committee vote was translated to the House that would mean the Democrats would get 228 votes and while that is enough for a bill to pass , it is a very narrow magin and just 11 more Democrats flipping would result in the bill dying. We also have to remember the House Ways and Means Committe is more liberal than the House as a whole so that makes the margin for error even smaller. I believe at this point that there will be some changes made to this proposal for it to pass the house.

For it to become law , it is a whole different story and I dont think this proposal really has any realistic chance of passing the senate or even a modified version of this. For it to pass the senate it would have to be completely different which would then make the reconciliation proces also difficult.


Hollings signs into law bill that will expand student loan program:



Chancellor: The President today signed into law a bill that would expand the federal student Loan Program and gave these remarks at the University of South Carolina a college he himself attended.

Hollings: With the nature of our economy changing, it has become more and more necessary for our kids to attend college to get prepared for the workforce and it is our job to make getting that opportunity as easy as possible. This is why I am proud to sign into law a bill that would expand the student loan program which will make it possible for poor families all across the nation to send their kids to college, the amount of scholarships given to give kids who perform well in school to go to college without having to take out a loan as a reward for their hard work. That is why I am proud to sign this bill into law


Breaking News: US-China announce that they will establish Diplomatic Relations with each other by end of year



Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/18/what-us-china-trade-war-means-for-imports-exports-and-soybeans.html
Brinkley: The US and the Chinese will officially establish Diplomatic Relations with each other by the end of the year , ending a process which began in February of 1972 when then Secretary of State Richard Nixon visited China, in hopes that one day, diplomatic relations could be established and on December 30th of this year, that will officially happen.

Some of the terms of this agreement are that the US will transfer diplomatic recognition away from Taiwan to China and in return that the US would be able to carry on commercial, cultural and other unofficial contacts with Taiwan.

[OSR stands with Israel]

House passes a Healthcare Reform Bill by a slim 226-209 margin



Details of Bill:

- expand Medicare to cover people under 65 with severe disabilities
- Expands Medicaid Eligibility to insured Americans whose income are at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level
- Adds prescription drug coverage to Medicare
- Requires Employers to provide catastrophic private health insurance plus coverage without cost-sharing for pregnant women and infants

Chancellor: As you can see the bill that passed the house has made some major changes to the President's plan as this plan unlike the President's plan will be a fully private plan as it removes the government plan which would have covered catastrophic coverage and does not eliminate premiums for Medicare. The Democratic Whip found out that the President's plan didnt have enough votes to pass with them only getting at most 213 votes for it which would be 5 short of the necessary amount for a bill to pass


1978 Midterm Update: Hollings plans takedown of Helms and Thurmond in midterm elections




Brinkley: With the President's popularity in the Carolinas remaining high , he hopes to use that to unseat Senators Strom Thurmond and Senator Jesse Helms in the November elections. Former Lieutenant Governor John C West is running for the Senate in South Carolina this year and is hoping to use his high name recognition in the state along with the state's history of voting Democratic to his advantage but it wont be easy especially with Senator Strom Thurmond being a huge figure in the state but if anyone can do it it is Mr. West.

In North Carolina, Former Governor and Chief of Staff Terry Sanford is running for the seat and we are told he will be resigning his position as Chief of Staff at the end of this month to focus full time on the campaign. Polls currently have Sanford and Helms tied at 46% apiece and Mr.West trailing Senator Thurmond by 9 points .


President Hollings names Education Secretary Robert McNair as his new Chief of Staff and appoints  Congressman Carl Perkins to be the new education secretary



Chancellor: Earlier today President Hollings named Education Secretary Robert McNair to be his new Chief of Staff, replacing the outgoing Chief of Staff and Senate Candidate Terry Sanford. Since this created a vacancy for the position of Secretary of Education, the President named long time Congressman Carl Perkins to fill that vacancy.

[Tron1993]

Keep going man, I want more!

[OSR stands with Israel]

Keep going man, I want more!

don't worry I will , its just slown down due to my mini 2020 election TL but that should be over in a week or two and once that is I will start posting 3 updates a week for this TL.


Till then I will still write an update or maybe two but after a couple weeks I will be back to mainly writing this TL , I promise

[OSR stands with Israel]

Secretary Fulbright says he is optimistic of a peace deal happening between Israel-Egypt in the near future



Fulbright: As well all know the Israelis and Egyptians have had a hostile relationship for the past 3 decades but despite that history, I believe there is a very good chance of a peace deal being signed between Israel and Egypt in the near future. Both their leaders, Prime Minster Menachem Begin and President Anwar El Sadat are very committed to making this happen as both of the understand the best way to guarantee a good future for their citizens is through peace. This goal is also one of my top priorities as Secretary of State right now as the fact is it is my belief that it is the job of our nation to promote peace all around the world and this is one of the ways to do it.

As for any details of ongoing talks, I am obviously not at liberty to say anything at the moment other than I hope we can get the deal passed soon. Thank You


Vice President Edmund Muskie to work in the Senate building full time over the next few weeks to get deal passed for  healthcare reform



Brinkley: Vice President Muskie will be back at the senate building full time over the next few weeks in an attempt to get a healthcare reform deal passed and will be working out of the Vice Presidential Room in the senate. He though will be meeting with individual senators over the next few weeks, going over amendments and trying to make deals on behalf of the administration in an attempt to get this bill passed. Secretary Smith also will be trying to get some liberal Republicans on board with the bill as well


President Hollings approvals drop under 50% for first time in Presidency:

Hollings's Approval:

Approve: 49%(-4%)
Disapprove: 47%(+3)

House Generic Ballot:

Democrats: 48%(-2)
Republicans: 47%(+2%)

[OSR stands with Israel]

Former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller confirms reports that he supports and is lobbying for passage of healthcare reform bill



Brinkley: Reports are now circulating that you are lobbying Republican Senators to vote for this bill, is that true.

Rockefeller: Yes it is David, the fact is I believe we need to reform our healthcare system which makes it possible for all Americans to have health insurance and I think this bill is a major step to achieving that goal. Now getting this bill passed will require in my opinion the votes of a few Republican Senators which is why I am lobbying the party to do so.

Brinkley: But many argue do you still have any influence left in the Republicans ever since the Western Conservatives took over the party in 1968 and even the Republican Establishment which once supported you back in 1964 opposed you in 1976 in favor of Governor Ronald Reagan.

Rockefeller: The fact is there are many Republicans in the North East who people describe as liberal Republicans and John Anderson's candidacy in 1976 shows that we cannot abondon them. Second, the fact is while we have become the party of the West and suburbs in the Sunbelt, we have become toxic in Urban Areas in the Midwest and North East and a huge part of that is due to the fact we have moved so much to the right on economic issues that we have lost touch with the working class of our party and opposing the bill will make things only worse

Brinkley: Thanks

Senate Adds in Individual Mandate into healthcare reform bill and makes changes to employer mandate portion of bill


Chancellor: Due to the House Bill not having enough votes to pass the Senate added in an amendment which would implement and individual mandate into the bill and changed the employer mandate to just include a provision Requires Employers to provide catastrophic private health insurance and not the other parts of it. That concession got many Republican senators on board with the bill but many Democrats were also able to get subsidies for the individual mandate as well


Senate overwhelmingly passes modified Healthcare reform bill with many Republicans voting for bill as well



Source: https://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/howard-baker-obituary-108365

Details of Bill:

- expand Medicare to cover people under 65 with severe disabilities
- Expands Medicaid Eligibility to insured Americans whose income are at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Level
- Adds prescription drug coverage to Medicare
- Requires Employers with over 50 or more employees to provide at least catastrophic private health insurance
- Individuals who dont have health insurance beginning in 1981 will be charged an tax penalty of the higher number of  2% of AGI or $100 . Subsidies will be given to help people buy health insurnace as well


Brinkley: This bill passed with 15 Republicans voting for it and only 2 Democrats opposing it so it passed with a 66-34 margin. President Hollings also asked the House to pass this bill as well.

[OSR stands with Israel]

House Passes Healthcare Reform Bill and President Hollings signs it into law:



Hollings: Thank You, Thank You. Since Medicare and Medicaid was passed into law by President Johnson back in 1965 we have always been talking about how we can make that next step and today is the day we will be making that next step. Thanks to the work by Democrats and Republicans , we have passed a health care bill that expands Medicaid to make sure that poor and working families across this nation can have access to healthcare, required employers with more than 50 employees to offer catastrophic care to their employees to make sure Americans can get the catastrophic care they need , made sure people with severe disabilities can be eligible for medicare and the recipients of Medicare have their prescription drugs covered too. Now Im going to sign that bill so all that can happen

Hollings Signs Bill


Americans opinion on Healthcare Bill Passed:

Favorable: 67%
Unfavorable: 25%



Hollings Signs Bill that prohibits Employment Discrimination Against people who have declared bankruptcy into law



Brinkley: President Hollings signed a bill that would prohibit employment discrimination against people who have declared bankruptcy. The bill was passed overwhelmingly with it getting over 90 votes in the senate and 400 votes in the House and was quickly passed into law.


President Hollings approvals tick up after successes on Healthcare and  passing an Anti-Discrimination Law


President Holling's approval:

Approve: 57%(+8%)
Disapprove: 40%(-7%)

House Generic Ballot:

Democrats: 51%(+3)
Republicans: 46%(-1%)

[OSR stands with Israel]

Former President Barry Goldwater interviewed about son's Gubernatorial Campaign and other things



Brinkley: Nice to be with you today President Goldwater. Lets get straight to it your son , is runnign for Governor and I want to know how involved will you be in his campaign.

Goldwater: I will be involved, the how depends on how much I am needed cause the fact is I intend to be very involved in helping the Republicans winning the senate this year as well. So If 1 rally is all that is needed , that is all I will do as I intend to help as many Republicans across the nation as possible.

Brinkley: So you wont be treating it any different than any normal race

Goldwater: Obviously not as the fact is both his and my goal is not for us personally to get elected but to make conservative principles a reality as much as possible. Anyway I believe that my good friend Ronald Reagan will be campaining a lot for my son to help him make sure he becomes the next governor as the fact is we need someone who will continue the great work Ronald Reagan did and I believe my son will do a great job at that.


Brinkley: What is your opinion on the healthcare bill

Goldwater: Well if I was still in the senate , I would have voted against that bill because the fact is more government interventionism s not what we need and the mandate part of the bill really is concering but we will see over the years if it works or not.


Brinkley:  Last question, you along with your son and California Governor Ronald Reagan were very insturmental of ensuring the passage Proposition 13 which greatly reduces the tax power of the state into, is it something you think should be implented nationally

Goldwater: yes

Brinkley; All right thanks for coming on

Goldwater: No problem


Hollings signs bill which will ban redlining and will encourage banks to give loans to low-income families.



Brinkley: President Hollings signed a bill into today which bans a practice known as redlining which is are discriminatory credit practices against low-income neighborhoods and which will also encourage banks to give loans to low-income families. The Bill is called the Community Reinvestment bank and it easily cleared both houses of the congress and in the senate, it passed with every Democrat voting for it and all by 7 Republicans voting against it.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Israelis and Egyptians agree to a historic peace treaty in a secret summit at Camp David:



Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7964488.stm

Brinkley: We have some breaking news to report to you and that is the Israelis and Egyptians have agreed to a historic peace treaty in a secret summit at Camp David. Now lets put up the main provisions of the deal up so you can see

Summary of Peace Treaty:


- Both nations will immediately end all military hostilities with each other, with disputes being settled at international organizations such as the UN or through other bilateral agreements mediated by the US

- Israel must withdraw all troops from the Sinai by December 31st 1980, and in return Egypt must not send in any troops into the area either. To enforce this part of deal an interntational force will operate in the area to make sure part of deal is being followed

- Egypt must officially recognize the state of Israel and its right to exist

- Egypt must allow for free passage of Israeli ships through the Suez Canal

- The US and Israel will work to make sure Egypt remains in stable condition after signing of treaty due to potential backlash from Arab League



Brinkley: The President thanked both leaders and both leaders thanked each other and the President for mediating peace negotiations as they both believe it made a difference.



President Hollings to visit Israel and Egypt in December:



Brinkley: In the wake of the Peace Treaty, President Hollings announced that he would be visitng both Israel and Egypt in the first week of December to mark the agreement to kickoff new era of relations between the US and Israel and Egypt.


President Hollings Approvals tick up in September after dropping in August:

Hollings's Approval:

Approve: 55%(+1)
Disapprove: 42%(-1%)

House Generic Ballot:

Democrats: 51%
Republicans: 47%

[OSR stands with Israel]

1978 Midterm Elections Preview:



Chancellor: With less than a month to go till the midterms, lets go over some of the key races in this elections. Before we start though I just want to let you know the map behind us is not a map of the current makeup of Senate or Governors but rather just a test we are doing to see if everything is working. Ok lets start with the senate and we are going to show you the seats we consider vulnerable but first lets show you the map of the senate seats up and how they are currently controlled so lets change our map behind us to that map and note since Alabama has 2 races this year we are gonna use Florida as the marker for the special election in Alabama

Vulnerable Democratic Held Seats:


Alabama(Special): Alabama State Senator Donald Stewart(D) vs Former Congressman James Martin(R) - Lean Democratic Hold

Iowa: Senator Richard Clark(D) vs Former Lieutenant Governor Roger Jepsen - Tossup

Maine: Senator William Hathaway(D) vs Congressman William Cohen(R)- Likely Republican Gain

Mississippi: Attorney Maurice Dantin(D) vs Congressman Thad Cochran(R) vs Former Fayette Mayor Charles Evers(I) - Likely Republican Gain

South Dakota: Mr.Don Barnett(D) vs Congressman Larry Pressler(R) - Safe Republican Gain

West Virginia: Senator Harley Staggers(D) vs Former Governor Arch Moore(R) - Tossup

Vulnerable Republican Held Seats:

Massachusetts: Senator John Volpe(R) vs Congressman Paul Tsongas(D) - Tossup

Michigan: Senator Robert Griffin(R) vs State Attorney General Carl Levin(D)- Tossup

Nebraska: Mr. Donald Shasteen(R) vs Governor James Exxon(D) - Likely Democratic Gain

North Carolina: Senator Jesse Helms(R) vs Former Governor Terry Sanford(D)- Tossup

Oklahoma: Oklahoma State University President Robert Kamm(R) vs  Oklahoma House Speaker William Willis(D) - Tossup

South Carolina: Senator Strom Thurmond(R) vs Former Lieutenant Governor John C West- Lean Republican Hold

Texas: Senator John Tower(R) vs Representative Bob Krueger(D)- Lean Republican Hold


Brinkley: Since the Republicans have 47 seats , they need a gain of 4 to win control of the senate but it wont be easy as you can see from there we are only projecting only 6 Democratic senate seats will be vulnerable while 7 Republican seats are vulnerable so from the get-go that makes it hard. One piece of good news for the Republicans though is if we were to assign the races which are not tossup then that would give them a net gain of two seats and just from the pure tossup races there is more than enough seats for the Republicans to take the majority. The bad news is they must sweep the Tossups and just losing one of them would give the majority back to the Democrats.

Which is why Republicans are putting a lot of resources into the Alabama senate race as if they win that then they can afford to lose one of these tossups. On the other hand Democrats are pushing hard at South Carolina a race we believe is leaning Republican because the fact is if they win that Senate race , they will keep control of the senate no matter what the Republicans do.

Chancellor: Ok Now lets look at the Gubernatorial races and lets begin by showing you the current makeup of that as well

Vulnerable Democratic Seats:

Alaska: State Senator Chancy Croft(D) vs Former Bristol Bay Borough Mayor Jay Hammond(R) - Likely Republican Gain 

Florida: State Senator Bob Graham(D) vs Businessman Jack Eckerd(R) - Lean Democratic Hold

Massachusetts-  Mr. Edward King(D) vs State Legislator Francis Hatch(R) - Tossup
 
Minnesota - Lieutenant Governor Rudy Perpich(D)  vs Congressman Al Quie(R) - Lean Republican Gain

Nebraska- Lieutenant Governor Gerald Whelan(D) vs Congressman Charles Thone(R) - Likely Republican Gain

New York- Governor Hugh Carey(D) vs Commentator William Buckley(R) - Lean Democratic Hold

Ohio - Lieutenant Governor Dick Celeste(D) vs Former Senator Robert Taft Jr(R) - Tossup

Oregon- Governor Robert Straub(D) vs State Senator Victor Atiyeh(R) - Lean Republican Gain

Pennsylvania: Attorney Dick Thornburgh(R) vs Attoreny Peter Flaherty(D) - Tossup

South Dakota: State Senator Roger McKellips(D) vs State Attorney General Bill Janklow(R) - Likely Republican Gain

Tennessee : Banker Jake Butcher(D) vs Attorney Lamar Alexander- Lean Republican Gain

Texas: Governor John Hill(D) vs Former National Security Advisor George HW Bush(R) - Tossup

Wisconsin-  Lieutenant Governor Margin Schreiber(D) vs Chancellor of University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Lee Dreyfus - Lean Republican Gain

Vulnerable Republican Seats:

California: Lieutenant Governor Barry Goldwater Jr(R) vs Former San Francisco Mayor Joesph Alioto(D) - Tossup

Colorado: Governor John Vanderhoof(R) vs Former State Senator Richard Lamm(D)- Tossup

Georgia: Governor Bo Callaway (R) vs Lieutenant Governor Zell Miller(D) - Lean Democratic Gain


Kansas: Governor Robert Bennett(R) vs Kansas House Speaker John Carlin- Lean Republican Hold

New Hampshire- Governor Meldrid Thompson(R) vs Businessman Hugh Gallen(D) - Tossup

South Carolina- Congressman Edward Young(R) vs State Senator Richard Riley(D)- Safe Democratic Gain


Vulnerable Independent Seats:

Maine: Mr Herman Franklin(I) vs Maine Attorney General Joesph Brennan(D) vs State Legislator Linwood Palmer(R)  - Likely Democratic Gain



Brinkley: This night we could see potentially a massive amount of flips in Gubernatorial Races and of course the race we will be following the most will be the California Governor's race because if Mr.Goldwater Jr wins he very much would become a future Presidential contender, in 1984 if President Hollings is reelected and in 1988 if a Republican wins in 1980. Other than that some other races will be Texas , New York and Ohio three major major states

[OSR stands with Israel]

Hollings and Goldwater hold campaign rallies battleground Senate races in an attempt to give their respective parties control of the senate


Source: https://delphi.tcl.sc.edu/library/digital/collections/hollings.html

Brinkley: Over the past few weeks President Hollings and former President Goldwater have been giving competing rallies in key Senate battlegrounds with most attention being given to the North and South Carolina races where both Presidents have done at least 3 rallies each . Vice President Muskie and Former Vice President Rhodes are also campaigning a lot in the North East and Midwest for senate candidates.

For the Gubernatorial Races , former President Goldwater has done a rally for his son in California and one for his former National Security adivsor and Hollings has also gone down to Texas and done a rally there. The Republicans for the California and Texas Gubernatorial races have utlized Ronald Reagan a lot to give President Goldwater more time to campaign in the senate battlegrounds


President Hollings Approvals and House Generic Ballot:

Hollings's Approvals:
Approve: 53%(-2%)
Disapprove 45%(+3%)


House Generic Ballot:

Democrats 51%
Republicans 48%(+1)

[OSR stands with Israel]

NBC News: Election Night 1978(Part 1)



7:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ8dPRhuE1s&t=145s

Brinkley: Good Evening and Welcome to NBC News's coverage of the 1978 Midterm Elections where voters across the nation will decide who will control congress over the next 2 years along with whom their governors will be in many states.

In the Senate Races we have already projected that in Kentucky- Senator Loui Nunn will be reelected and we can now project that in Virginia - Senator Richard Poff will be reelected and in Georgia- Senator Sam Nunn will be reelected  Currently we are unable to make a projectin in South Carolina

Democrats 41
Republicans 28

Savitch: In the Governor's races we can project Lieutenant Governor Zell Miller will be the next Governor of Georgia , in South Carolina- State Senator Richard Riley will defeat the Republican to become the next Governor of the state. In Vermont- Governor Thomas Salmon will be reelected and we are unable to make a projection in either Florida or New Hampshire.

Chancellor: Looking at the exit poll in South Carolina Senate race and it seems like its going to come down to the wire being decided by less than 2 points in either way which is not good news for Senator Jesse Helms who is facing a tougher opponent than Thurmond.


Brinkley: I agree and it shows at this point the Democrats are probably a clear favorite to hold the senate even though its no where near a guarantee.



7:30:

Brinkley: The polls have closed in 3 more states and we are unable to make a projection in either the West Virginia or North Carolina senate races.

Democrats 41
Republicans 28

Savitch- We also are unable to make a projection at time in the Ohio Gubernatorial race

Chancellor: Who would have thought two years ago the Republicans had any chance to win the senate seat in West Virginia given the scale of their defeat there . Shows you how fast politics change .  Also its stunning Governor Arch Moore the guy who was in charge when everything collapsed for the West Virginia Republican party might be the one to win a senate race

Brinkley: Yes and at this point recent polls show they have a better chance to pickup West Virginia than hold North Carolina though obviously both races will be close



7:50

Brinkley: We have breaking news to project and that is the Democrats will retain control of the House of Representatives although we project that they will lose anywhere from 15 to 24 seats tonight

Breaking News: Democrats Keep Control of the House of Representatives




House of Representatives:

Democrats: 235- 244(-15 - -24)
Republicans: 191 - 200 (+15 - +24)

Chancellor: Not surprising as this was the type of result generic ballot polls had been suggesting for weeks now, but one key factor is this means their wont be an ideological liberal majority in the house and if Republicans are able to get around 199 seats there will be a Conservative majoirty in the house and the President's agenda will be probably stifled. Anything between 191 and 199 means likely Liberals in the House will have to put together coalitions more often that not to pass bills but the President could still get parts of his agenda passed without compromising too much of it.