NEWS AND OPINION:
One South Carolina Republican has stepped up to praise the years that former President Donald Trump was in office.
“What we need to know is that under President Trump, we were just better off. World peace — think about this. Before President Trump, there was an incursion in Ukraine. After President Trump, a war in Ukraine,” Sen. Tim Scott told “Fox News Sunday” anchor Shannon Bream.
“The one thing that is completely clear is when President Trump was in office, world peace was not only objective — but we were experiencing it. Under President Biden, botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, war in Ukraine. We have conflict in the Middle East, instability in the Indo-Pacific, and our southern border might be, in my opinion, the greatest national security risk we have today,” Mr. Scott advised.
He was not done yet.
“We’ve lost 70,000 lives because of fentanyl coming through our ports of entry across our southern border. President Biden refuses to close our southern border. And it is the No. 1 issue according to the American people,” Mr. Scott advised.
“The one thing we know for sure with President Donald Trump as our president, we are certainly better off. And that’s not even talking about the economy, which is the No. 2 issue, low unemployment, low inflation. We’re talking demographically for Hispanics, for African-Americans, for Asians, for women a 70-year low,” the lawmaker noted.
“When you look at law and order, there weren’t the challenges that we’re seeing in the poorest communities around the country. We had the kind of law and order where people could walk the streets in their neighborhoods. All that can be back with four more years of Donald Trump,” Mr. Scott said.
LIBRARIES TURN THE PAGE
The public library was traditionally thought of as a quiet refuge full of interesting resources and intriguing reads. That mission appears to be expanding.
“Public libraries have morphed into all-purpose community centers amid soaring demand for social services. Libraries are enjoying a renaissance in usage. They’re also battling book bans and bearing the brunt of a host of societal issues — from caring for unhoused people and migrants to distributing COVID tests and Narcan for drug overdoses,” Axios correspondent Jennifer A. Kingson writes.
“Librarians, while still helping kids with their homework, are helping migrants apply for asylum, and jobless people write resumes. Libraries are offering expungement clinics to help people erase their rap sheets, and ‘digital navigators’ to help boost patrons’ computer skills. On-site social workers are assisting people with mental illnesses,” Ms. Kingson said.
Patrick Losinski, CEO of the Columbus Metropolitan Library in Columbus, Ohio, said that “libraries have never been more important than they are in 2024.”
“I’d much rather have these challenges for additional services and pressures than have people saying that our time has passed,” he told Axios.
ADVICE FROM YOUNG FARMERS
Let us pause to consider the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, which has released the results of the 2022 Census of Agriculture.
The Census, conducted every five years, is a count of the nation’s farms and ranches and the people who run them, and provides an outlook on the future of farming in the United States.
One nonprofit organization in particular has noted those results.
“There was a 7% increase in farmers under 44 with the largest jump being in the youngest producers, under 25 years of age,” the National Young Farmers Coalition said in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.
“However, the farming population is still aging, with farmers 65 and older making up over 40% of total farmers. The average age of a U.S. farmer is now 58.1 years old, It is also encouraging to see there was an over 10% increase in beginning farmers since 2017, though most of that increase was in farmers with 6-10 years of farming experience,” the group said.
“Enterprising young people face an uphill battle in establishing themselves in agriculture, given prohibitive land prices, student loan debt, and limited health care options. Our federal farm policy must do more to address these barriers to entry, and support our next generation of farmers and ranchers,” the coalition said.
Find the organization at YoungFarmers.org.
PEEK AT PRESIDENT’S DAY
Those who have Monday off: Enjoy your day. And consider the history too.
“Washington’s Birthday was the first federal holiday to honor an individual’s birth date. In 1885, Congress designated February 22 as a holiday for all federal workers. Nearly a century later, in 1971, the Uniform Monday Holiday Law changed the date to the third Monday in February. The position of the holiday between the birthdays of [George] Washington and Abraham Lincoln gave rise to the popular name of Presidents Day,” the official description of the day from the U.S. Archives advises.
Meanwhile, here’s what’s taking place on Monday during the 31st Annual Presidents’ Day Celebration at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
“Fun for the whole family — including crafts, musical entertainment, storytelling, and presidential and first lady look-alikes. Take advantage of the spectacular performance by the Doo-Wah Riders Country Band and Los Angeles Police Concert Band. Presidents’ Day activities are free to the public. We officially break ground for our new Charters of Freedom Monument located near our Gold Star Memorial. Program includes keynote remarks and photo opportunities for our guests,” advises a public notice.
POLL DU JOUR
• 27% of U.S. adults rate the current U.S. economy as “very bad”; 44% of Republicans, 30% of independents and 10% of Democrats agree.
• 31% overall rate the U.S. economy as “fairly bad”; 33% of Republicans, 39% of independents and 20% of Democrats agree.
• 27% overall rate the economy as “fairly good”; 16% of Republicans, 22% of independents and 44% of Democrats agree.
• 10% overall rate the economy as “very good”; 4% of Republicans, 6% of independents and 20% of Democrats agree.
• 5% are not sure; 2% of Republicans, 3% of independents and 6% of Democrats agree.
SOURCE: A CBS News/YouGov survey of 1,744 U.S. adult residents conducted Feb. 12-14.
• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, on Facebook @HarperUniverse,