Category Archives: America
Taking a Break on Presidents’ Day
Washington’s Birthday sign, c. 1890–1899
Today, Monday, Feb. 15, is Presidents Day, also known as Washington’s Birthday.
It’s a federal holiday that is always celebrated on the third Monday of February. The first incarnation of this holiday was in 1796 to commemorate George Washington’s birthday.
Washington’s Birthday is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the third Monday of February in honor of George Washington, the first president of the United States, who was born on February 22, 1732. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1971 moved this holiday to the third Monday, which can fall from February 15 to 21, inclusive, says Wikipedia.
The day has also become widely known across the country as Presidents’ Day. Nearly half of the state governments have officially renamed their Washington’s Birthday observances as “Presidents’ Day”, “Washington and Lincoln Day”, or other such designations.
For us here at The Ellis Insight, with the federal government shut down, which includes the U.S. Postal Service as well as most banks and some businesses, that means a day off. We’ll be back tomorrow with our regular schedule of updates.
Election Day Results & Analysis
By Jim Ellis
Nov. 4, 2020 — Last night’s national election, as predicted, is now it in political overtime.
The presidential race won’t be decided for more than a day, and possibly not until all ballots are received and counted in Pennsylvania, which as of this writing could drift into Friday. The state’s post-election ballot reception deadline, is Nov. 6, at 5:00 pm.
It appears that former vice president Joe Biden (D) has the inside track to unseat the president, but Trump still has a narrow path to victory.
It is likely that the Republicans have held the Senate majority despite what appears to be a close loss at the top of the ticket. Defending 13 of the most vulnerable 16 Senate seats, the GOP may break even. Converting Alabama and leading in Michigan offsets the loss of seats in Arizona and Colorado. Four races remain undecided.
Republicans had a much better night in the House than expected. With 43 races still uncalled, a reasonable projection suggests the Democrats will return to the House with a majority margin approximately seven seats less than in the current Congress. This would make the new majority 226D-209R, and certainly put House control front and center for the 2022 election cycle.
In the 11 governor’s races, we saw one state flip from Democrat to Republican, the open Montana race that completed a Republican sweep of the top four statewide offices. At-Large Rep. Greg Gianforte (R) was elected the state’s new governor, replacing term-limited Gov. Steve Bullock (D) who lost the Senate race to incumbent Steve Daines (R).
MEMORIAL DAY, 2020
Memorial Day, May 25, 2020 — Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for honoring and mourning the military personnel who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
We remember and honor those on this Memorial Day who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom, their country and their families.