MAINE, USA — The alleged Chinese spy balloon that invaded U.S. airspace and dominated the news cycle for days drew strongly different reactions from Political Brew analysts Ken Altshuler and Ray Richardson.
Altshuler, the Democratic analyst, said he thought the Biden Administration handled the problem properly and that Republicans were wrong to slam President Joe Biden for not immediately shooting it down.
"Republicans immediately went to town attacking Joe Biden. We are in a culture today where we attack the person in power," he said. "Joe Biden did what he should have done, which is take the advice of the miliary. ... And imagine what the Republicans would say if it were shot down and hurt someone.”
Richardson, the GOP analyst, said the administration failed by not taking the balloon down over Alaska or even Montana.
"Whatever the Chinese were hoping to get out of it, they got it, then it was shot down. They should have shot it down before it went across the country," Richardson said.
Both noted that the object shot down by military jets Friday over Alaska, which at last report had not been identified, was taken out quickly, likely as a result of the controversy over the Chinese balloon. Altshuler and Richardson agreed it seems likely the military and intelligence officials knew more about the spy balloon than was revealed to the public.
On other national issues, Richardson and Altshuler had dramatically different opinions on Biden’s State of the Union address.
Altshuler said he thought the president basically did a good job, but Richardson said it was a poor performance and accused Biden of lying about GOP desire to cut Social Security and Medicare.
On Maine issues, both agreed the Mills Administration did not properly handle or communicate on the question of taxing last year's COVID relief checks, which the IRS said late Friday it will not tax.
The move by activists and many Democrats in the Legislature to push for paid family leave—possibly paid for with an added payroll tax on employers and employees—brought agreement.
"We don’t need to be heaping more burden on Maine business," Richardson said. “I’m sympathetic to people needing time away, but that should be between employer and employee, not mandated by government with an employer tax on payroll.”
Altshuler agreed, saying any system should be based on actual need.
"I believe in helping people, but there should be a proven need, not a blanket, ‘You get this time off,' because if you can get it, who isn’t going to do it?”
The two analysts, however, had very different opinions on one of the week’s other Legislative issues: Voter ID.
Altshuler called it a "solution in search of a problem.” Ricardson supported it, saying, “if you need ID to buy a drink or open a bank account, this is the most sacred thing we do as Americans. This is our voice.”
In the past the voter ID issue has been decided along party lines, with Republicans supporting and Democrats opposing. Both analysts said they expect the same this time.