Tag: Congressional Debate

Congressional Cat Fight

I do enjoy political theater.

If find a political slap fight entertaining and when it is a cat fight then the entertainment quality goes up.

There are times when our lay-about Congress becomes a source of entertainment…..this is one of those times…..

Things got heated between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert on the House floor Wednesday after a move Boebert made to push her own resolution to impeach President Biden ahead of Greene’s competing resolution. Three sources tell the Daily Beast Greene accused Boebert of “copying” Greene’s articles of impeachment after Greene asked her to cosponsor them, to which Boebert replied that she hadn’t even read them. One source says they heard Greene tell Boebert, “I’ve donated to you, I’ve defended you. But you’ve been nothing but a little b—- to me.” The other two concur that the b-word was used. Boebert reportedly then shrugged and said, “OK, Marjorie, we’re through” and turned away as Greene responded, “We were never together.”

Afterward, Boebert reacted to the exchange to a CNN congressional correspondent, saying, “Like I said, I’m not in middle school.” Greene, for her part, asked to comment on the story, called it “impressively correct.” She also said of Boebert, “Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.” The two MAGA firebrands once had a “warm” relationship, per the Daily Beast, but things have been getting increasingly tense between them for months. The latest issue has to do with their competing pushes to impeach Biden, both of them seen as longshots, at least right now. In a surprise move, Boebert used a procedural tool to force a vote on hers within days, a move Greene did not make for hers and which apparently upset Greene. In the end, the AP reports, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated a deal with Boebert to put off a vote for now.

I have always said that Congress was a clown show and these two ‘women’ prove my point.

These two seem to try an out stupid each other.

Here’s an idea since these two are extremely pro-gun then reinstate dueling and let them settle it that way.

Looks like the Freedom Caucus has had enough of these two among others….

While it apparently hasn’t reached the loyalty oath stage yet, the House Freedom Caucus is struggling to maintain unity amid infighting and mutual distrust. Politico, citing “three Republicans with knowledge of the talks,” reports some members of the conservative caucus want to purge its ranks, with at least two hardliners proposing to caucus chairman Rep. Scott Perry that he kick out members who don’t meet its standards. The insiders say one leading candidate for expulsion is Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is seen as too close to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy—and too willing to openly criticize the caucus.

Tensions boiled over this week, when Greene called fellow caucus member Rep. Lauren Boebert a “little b—-” on the House floor for launching a competing effort to impeach President Biden. Greene confirmed that reports on her remarks were “impressively correct,” while Boebert complained that reporters focused on “pettiness” instead of her push for impeachment. “I didn’t leave my four kids and now my grandson to come up here and have cat fights and just to get in squabbles,” the 36-year-old told Politico. She declined to say where she stands on efforts to purge members from the caucus.

I still like the duel idea.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

No Accountability

Since the early days of the Ukraine/Russia mash-up I have been a staunch critic of all the cash we are spending in ‘defense’ of Ukraine’s sovereignty…..recently a GOP lead push for more oversight was attempted…..but as of this writing the attempt has failed.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday narrowly voted down a bill that would audit the tens of billions of dollars that Congress has approved to spend on the war in Ukraine.

The bill was rejected by the Democrat-led panel in a vote of 26 to 22. The legislation was introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and a small group of Republicans who oppose US aid to Ukraine, but it received strong support from more hawkish Republicans.

Republican Reps. Thomas Massie (KY), Matt Gaetz (FL), Barry Moore (AL), and Andrew Clyde (GA) cosponsored Greene’s bill.

Greene has said that she will reintroduce the measure in the next Congress when Republicans have a majority in the House. “It’s official the Democrats have voted NO to transparency for the American people for an Audit for Ukraine,” Greene wrote on Twitter after the vote. “But we take over in January! This audit will happen!”

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), who is expected to head the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the next Congress, has come out in favor of the audit bill. “The era of writing blank checks is over,” McCaul said, according to The Washington Post.

McCaul has been critical of the Biden administration for not sending longer-range weapons to Ukraine and wants to encourage Ukrainian strikes on Crimea despite the risk of escalation. But he represents the mainstream Republicans who want to keep arming Ukraine but agree there should be more oversight.

Democrats have been critical of the growing Republican calls for more oversight of the Ukraine aid. Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the head of the House Armed Services Committee, even dismissed the concerns as “Russian propaganda” and said the calls from Republicans to increase oversight “makes me a little crazy.”

This should leave NO doubt on who the Dems work for in DC….hint–ain’t you.

I have not been kind to MTG in the past….but in this case I agree with her, in principle.

I would expect the “Squad” to be on board with the oversight thing…..but they seem to be as much in favor of wasting taxpayer dollars as the GOP.

You really should be paying attention.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

All In The Name Of The “Deal”

This year has been a bust for the Dems in Congress….they failed on police reform and voting rights (2 bills) and as the midterms are quickly becoming a thing and the Dems need something to run on the president is willng to gut his famous infrastructure bill to try and help Dem candidates win their re-election.

The answer is as it always is to gut the great legislation to grab that elusive deal between the parties and to pass a bill.

Same as it ever was.

This time around the $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill is being gutted to the tune of 50%……

President Biden declared Thursday he has reached a “historic economic framework” with Democrats in Congress on his sweeping domestic policy package, a dramatically scaled-back deal announced hours before he departs for overseas summits, per the AP. Biden’s remarks at the White House came after he traveled to Capitol Hill to make the case to House Democrats for the still robust domestic package—$1.75 trillion of social services and climate change programs the White House believes can pass the 50-50 Senate. “It will fundamentally change the lives of millions of people for the better,” Biden said at the White House.

Together with a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill heading for final votes as soon as Thursday, Biden told lawmakers it would be a domestic achievement greater than those from Franklin Roosevelt or Lyndon Johnson. “I need your votes,” Biden told the lawmakers earlier, according to a person who requested anonymity to discuss the private remarks. Biden was eager to have a deal in hand before departing later in the day for global summits. But the revised package has lost some of the Democrats’ top priorities as the president’s ambitions make way for the political realities of the narrowly divided Congress.

  • Out: Paid family leave and efforts to lower prescription drug pricing are now gone entirely from the package, according to senior administration officials.
  • Still in the mix: Free prekindergarten for all youngsters, expanded health care programs—including the launch of a $35 billion new hearing aid benefit for people with Medicare—and $555 billion to tackle climate change. There’s also a one-year extension of a child care tax credit that was put in place during the COVID-19 rescue and new child care subsidies. An additional $100 billion to bolster the immigration and border processing system could boost the overall package to $1.85 trillion if it clears Senate rules.
  • The Hill has a comprehensive look at what’s in and what’s out.

This is not a done deal but it is close….but it ain’t over til the fat white guys vote.

I guess the old political saying still rings true….”something is better than nothing”…..unfortunately I do not think this will be the vote getter that the Dems think it will….2022 will be a bad year for Dems.

I am not disappointed for this is typical legislative drama that is in there for the optics these days.

And you wonder why the country has not moved forward….look no further than the legislative process and the unwillingness of the players to ‘stick tom their guns’.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Debt Ceiling–The Game

The big news other than abortion and congressional antics has been the debt ceiling….if it was not raised then the government would shutdown….and the game began……

The Repubs, as usual, played it tough before they cave and do a deal that would extend the functioning of government….at least for a short while……

As usual the game was all too predictable……

The Senate dodged a US debt disaster Thursday night, voting to extend the government’s borrowing authority into December and temporarily avert an unprecedented federal default that experts warned would devastate the economy and harm millions of Americans. The vote of 50-48 in support of the bill to raise the government’s debt ceiling by nearly a half-trillion dollars brought instant relief in Washington and far beyond. Congress has just days to act before the Oct. 18 deadline after which the Treasury Department has warned it will quickly run short of funds to handle the nation’s already accrued debt load. The House is likely to return to approve the measure next week. The White House signaled Biden’s support, with principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying the president would sign a bill to raise the debt limit when it passed Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday an agreement has been reached with Republicans to extend the government’s borrowing authority into December, temporarily averting a debt crisis. “We’ve reached agreement,” Schumer announced as he opened the Senate, reports the AP. “Our hope is to get this done as soon as today.” Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell had offered to accept a short-term extension on Wednesday, shortly before Republicans prepared to block legislation to suspend the debt limit until December of next year.

The agreement sets the stage for a sequel of sorts in December, when Congress will again face pressing deadlines to fund the government and raise the debt limit before heading home for the holidays. McConnell and Senate Republicans have insisted that Democrats would have to go it alone to raise the debt ceiling and allow the Treasury to renew its borrowing so that the country could meet its financial obligations. Further, McConnell has insisted that Democrats use the same cumbersome legislative process called reconciliation that they used to pass a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill and have been employing to try to pass Biden’s $3.5 trillion measure to boost safety net, health, and environmental programs.

McConnell said in his offer Wednesday that Republicans would still insist that Democrats use the reconciliation process for a long-term debt-limit extension. However, he said Republicans are willing to “assist in expediting” that process, and in the meantime Democrats may use the normal legislative process to pass a short-term debt-limit extension with a fixed dollar amount to cover current spending levels into December. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy’s take: Assuming final details in the emergency legislation are in order, “for the next three months, we’ll continue to make it clear that we are ready to continue to vote to pay our bills and Republicans aren’t.” McConnell: “This will moot Democrats’ excuses about the time crunch they created and give the unified Democratic government more than enough time to pass stand-alone debt-limit legislation through reconciliation.”

Does all that sound the least bit familiar?

The end result was all too predictable….it is the same game with the same result year after year.

Another waste of time because it is not something that needs the wasting of this valuable time….a ploy all too familiar……especially with the approach of an election year.

These are the games politicians play to avoid the heavy lift the country needs badly.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

DCCC Acting Like The Authoritarian Pricks

The Congressional Dems are trying to stop anyone from primary challenge to their members……in other words they are protecting the old fart cowards from being held accountable…..

Progressives made clear they have no intention of backing down to the party establishment after the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Friday threatened to cut off funds to firms and strategists that support primary challengers against incumbents.

“The DCCC can do anything it wants to try to prevent the next generation of Democrats from taking power. They will not succeed,” Sean McElwee—co-founder of Data for Progress, which is recruiting progressives to oust conservative Democrats—said in a statement.

The new policy was included in the DCCC’s list of vendor hiring standards, which state that the organization “will not conduct business with, nor recommend to any of its targeted campaigns, any consultant that works with an opponent of a sitting member of the House Democratic Caucus.”

According to National Journal, which first reported the policy change, “Democrats involved in crafting the standards intend for them to bolster members across the ideological spectrum, from the fiscally conservative Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas to the progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota—both of whom could be subject to contested primaries.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/22/progressives-refuse-back-down-dccc-moves-kneecap-primary-challengers
 
In other words the DCCC will decide who can run in the primaries….they want to take the people out of this decision and put forth the corporate owned toadies that we have had for the last 50 years.
 
I have a problem with any attempt, no matter what side of the aisle, that tries to eliminate the voter from making their choice of candidates…..this is a disastrous  attempt that cannot end well for the party….but they care not as long as the old farts are protected from a primary challenge.
 
Sounds like something of a “vanguard party” (anybody know what I mean?) leadership

Debate Over Issues

The screen grab below is from a Brit site but it would look like this if we had one for our Congressional debate over pressing issues…..

 

I see there is not much different between the US congress and the UK Parliament.

What do we pay these worthless lumps of humanity for any way?

But We Have A Spending Bill

Yes we do! The prez has signed it into law.  It is a 6000 page piece of toilet paper…..yes our government will be funded until September of 2015….that is good news, right?  Yes but what will it cost the country and its people for all this bi-partisanship?

I am so glad you asked!

The NT Times spent some time to pull out the BS that we are suppose to be thankful for…….since the bill was a 6000 page yawn they saved my a bunch of time….thank you….thank you……

DODD-FRANK Relaxes restrictions on big banks’ trading of certain risky financial instruments known as swaps. Restrictions were imposed by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial law.

CAMPAIGN FINANCE Greatly increases federal limits on individual contributions to national political parties and their congressional campaign committees.

PENSIONS Allows trustees of certain multi-employer pension plans to cut retirees’ benefits, keeping the plans solvent without a government bailout.

E.P.A. Cuts funds for the Environmental Protection Agency; prohibits the agency from regulating the lead content of ammunition or fishing tackle.

HEALTH Provides $5.4 billion to fight Ebola in the United States and abroad. Leaves the Affordable Care Act largely intact; limits certain subsidy payments to health insurance companies.

Those are the parts that will do the most damage…..and it will pass……because Obama is in bed with the GOP……

Oh Goody….The Torture Report!

Yesterday the all powerful torture report came out……and it even kicked the Royals to page two….go figure.

What was anticipated from this report?

the long-awaited Senate Intelligence Committee report on its use of torture—which one lawmaker on Sunday warned could bring “violence and deaths” overseas. Here’s what you need to know:

  • Who authored the report? Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee; Republicans opted not to participate. Though it was compiled between 2009 and 2013 and runs 6,000 pages, just the executive summary—at roughly 10% the length of the report—will be released.
  • How detailed is it? The New York Times describes it as “by far the most thorough study of the program to date,” and the result of a $40 million review of more than 6 million CIA cables, memos, and other records. It boasts 35,000 footnotes, reports the Washington Post.
  • What’s omitted from the executive summary: The identities of some CIA workers and the locations and host countries of secret prisons abroad will be redacted. The Daily Beast reports that about 15 staffers ran the CIA program, and that some fear their names could potentially be determined using contextual details. An unnamed intelligence official says the agency has offered to assess potential exposure of those who factor into the report, along with any security concerns potential exposure could bring. The CIA is not, however, providing security.
  • Is what’s left all new news? Nope. As the Times notes, we have leaks and Freedom of Information Act requests, among other avenues, to thank for some details that have surfaced over the years about the CIA’s interrogation program. For instance, we know about this Polish “black site” prison.
  • So what will we learn? The Guardian reports that the summary details the cases of 20 post-9/11 detainees who were tortured. Reuters talked to sources yesterday who say the details get fairly graphic: One detainee was reportedly threatened in a sexual manner with a broomstick; another detainee was intimidated with a power drill (neither instrument was used).
  • How does the CIA feel about its conclusions? Earlier this year, director John Brennan said the agency agrees with some findings but disputes others. The executive summary that the CIA approved for the public in August was slammed by Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein as overly blacked out; what’s emerging today is a compromise.
  • We’ll learn more about what the CIA thinks: The executive summary will be joined by a CIA rebuttal and a Republican minority report, NBC News reports.
  • What does Dick Cheney think? He’s the latest Bush administration official to defend the CIA program. “What I keep hearing out there is they portray this as a rogue operation, and the agency was way out of bounds and then they lied about it,” he tells the New York Times. “I think that’s all a bunch of hooey. The program was authorized.”

It was released in the AM……and the MSM is all lit up with endless analysis and total BS….but what did it all say?

But first one of the best findings these dudes found….I got this via Twitter after the report was released……

Among the many abuses the Senate Intelligence Committee found in its report on the CIA’s torture program, perhaps one of the more embarrassing for the CIA is that the agency actually tortured its own informants at one point.

Now for the rest of the story…….survey sez!

In short, the CIA shackled two detainees for approximately 24 hours in a standing position to deprive them of sleep — only to find out that the detainees were former CIA contacts who tried to let the agency know of their activities so they could provide intelligence. So the CIA tortured two people who not only were not terrorists, but had been trying to help the CIA fight actual terrorists.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has dropped its long-awaited report on the CIA’s use of torture, and it pulls no punches in its 528 pages, detailing a “brutal and far worse than the CIA represented” program that ultimately was “not an effective means of acquiring intelligence,” reports the Washington Post. The report unveils tactics such as “rectal hydration” that were designed to gain “total control over the detainee,” notes the New York Times, as well as waterboarding that was really a “series of near drownings.” Some key details:

  • The CIA lied: The agency “provided inaccurate information to the White House, Congress, the Justice Department, the CIA inspector general, the media, and the American public,” as per NPR. The Post notes that one memo ordered the program be hidden from Colin Powell, because he would “blow his stack if he were to be briefed on what’s going on.”
  • The brutality: Detainees were subjected to “slaps and ‘wallings’ (slamming detainees against a wall) … frequently concurrent with sleep deprivation” for up to 180 hours, nudity, and ice baths. One interrogator told a detainee he could never go to court because “we can never let the world know what I have done to you.” Detainees exhibited “hallucinations, paranoia, insomnia, and attempts at self-harm and self-mutilation.”
  • The fallout: The program “damaged the United States’ standing in the world,” “created tensions with US partners and allies,” and cost America its “longstanding global leadership on human rights in general and torture in particular,” the report says.
  • The CIA’s response: In a statement, Director John Brennan admits the program “had shortcomings and that the Agency made mistakes,” but contends that it “did produce intelligence that helped thwart attack plans, capture terrorists, and save lives.”
  • President Obama’s response: He hopes we can now leave the tactics “where they belong—in the past,” he says, per the AP. They “were not only inconsistent with our values as nation, they did not serve our broader counterterrorism efforts or our national security interests.”

The Washington Post highlights 20 key findings.

We mere mortals will only see less than 10% of the 6000 page report………..And the world is braced for the massive amounts of violence and deaths that some have predicted…….and the wait goes on…….

Will the world end or will it just be another sub[par day?