Tag: US Congress

Dems–Same As They Ever Were

The election is over and the Dems have won a major victory they will control both Houses of Congress in January….and they promised the the voter change….they even have some very capable people now headed to the seat of power….then why try to do all this when they are the minority?

Democrats made their second big mistake in less than two days on Wednesday when they allowed a far-right veterans bill to pass the House on a voice vote.

A voice vote is when someone proposes the bill, the parliamentarian asks for the “yays” and the group yells then they ask for the “nays” and they yell. In this case, House Republicans declared the bill passed. A Democrat could have asked for a recorded vote, meaning the parliamentarian must call each name and record their vote.

“Some confusion here about what exactly happened. But this is another black eye for Democrats. Two in two days,” said Punchbowl News reporter Jake Sherman on X.

One anonymous Democratic staffer sent a message to a source: “It appears Democratic leadership just let a controversial veterans benefits bill pass by voice vote and didn’t request a recorded vote. Hence the disarray on the floor. This is a huge procedural mess-up. Texts in group chats of Dem staff right now include phrases such as: ‘How could they have let that happen?’ ‘We are not off to a good start.’ ‘This coming right on the heels of the attendance issue last night is incredibly damning of current leadership.'”

https://www.alternet.org/democrats-2678372634/

Let’s see so far they have brought articles of impeachment against Pistol Pete and it failed…..go figure….

Explanations are owed, not only by the 11 members, but by Democratic leadership. The American people had a right to expect that a vote of this magnitude would be taken with the utmost seriousness, because it is directly related to an illegal, expensive, murderous war and the individual cabinet member who has claimed unique responsibility for prosecuting it.

It is fair to ask what efforts Democratic leadership made to assure attendance for this vote. Did congressional staff alert their  bosses to vote? Ultimately, it is the member’s responsibility to show up, and there is a safety net: The congressional schedule, the floor action, one’s staff, the Democratic caucus, the paging system all provide clues that a vote is approaching.

Democrats Helped Stymie Hegseth Impeachment

Then the Dems helped pass a Donny give away to the fossil fuel industry…..

So far I have seen nothing that gives me confidence that change is coming.

I see the same terrible leadership that has had disastrous results in the past….

Now Donny threatens the Dems ….

The White House’s top lawyer is threatening a criminal investigation of Democrats for conducting what he alleges are illegitimate investigations into the executive branch — a stark escalation from the Trump administration as congressional Democrats prepare to launch an oversight onslaught when they assume the majority in January.

White House counsel Will Scharf, in a letter to incoming House Oversight Committee Chair Robert Garcia, says Democrats’ repeated public promises to use their new majority to investigate the president and his allies could cross constitutional limits — and even amount to illegal threats.

The letter, dated Monday but publicly revealed Wednesday, informs the California Democrat that the White House is “monitoring the abusive and capricious threats that are now proliferating from Democrat legislators who seek to abuse the legislative process to intimidate and to interfere with the lawful functioning of government.”

It also cites several statements from Garcia and his Democratic colleagues, attempting to paint their efforts as unmoored in a legislative purpose and instead as threats “designed to deter them from public service, or process designed merely to abuse or instill fear.”

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/11/11/congress/white-house-puts-garcia-on-notice-01160683

The same tit-for-tat game….

Will January be any different?

So far I am not encouraged that change is coming.

How about you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

What’s The Plan, Stan?

Now the Dems have made all their speeches it is time for them to get down to work on a plan to stop the slide of this country into chaos….but what will that plan be?

According to Democratic leadership, including House Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, the party plans a fast-paced legislative push focused heavily on cost-of-living and affordability issues:
  • Healthcare: Restore expired Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance premium subsidies and reverse $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts enacted by Republicans.
  • Trade & Tariffs: Advance legislation to rescind President Trump’s global tariffs, starting with a targeted push against levies on Canadian products.
  • Foreign Policy: Bring forward war powers resolutions to force an end to the U.S. military involvement in the war in Iran or require formal congressional authorization.
  • Taxes & Economy: Pursue tax proposals that raise taxes on high earners and large corporations to provide tax relief for lower- and middle-income families, alongside initiatives to lower grocery, gas, and housing costs.

Will this be where the Dems go or will they be seeking revenge and dive head long into investigations?

Jeffries has stated the plan….(not that I trust him to stand by this plan)….

Jeffries has said Democrats would harness the political capital of a new majority to reinstate expired Affordable Care Act health care premium subsidies and reverse nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts that were included in the president’s signature domestic policy law, the Working Families Tax Cuts Act.

“Well, Day One plan is going to be to make sure we’re going to be focused on healthcare, focused on driving down, right, the high price of groceries and gas and housing,” Jeffries told ABC News’ Capitol Hill correspondent Jay O’Brien during a sit-down interview in Nebraska ahead of the election.

House Democrats have also indicated they will quickly consider legislation to end Trump’s global tariffs and restore congressional power over trade policy.

As American voters send a signal to lawmakers rejecting the status quo, Democrats also promise to act to end the war in Iran and also plan to focus on addressing the “affordability crisis” they blame on failed Republican policies — promising to lower the cost of groceries, healthcare and gas.

(abcnews.com)

Lofty promises…..I do not trust the leaders as far as I can throw them….do you?

I will be watching their plans and actions from this day forward.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

What To Do? What To Do?

After a few days to let the wins sink in the Dems need to decide what will they do now that they have the Congress….

Democrats have flipped the US Senate and House of Representatives in a massive rebuke of Republicans and Donald Trump’s agenda. With Democrats majorities in both chambers, the final two years of Trump’s presidency will look markedly different from the first half. But what can Democrats actually do with congressional power?

After a string of wins in Republican districts across the country pushed Democrats past the 218-seat threshold needed to capture a majority, Hakeem Jeffries is poised to become majority leader and Republicans will lose their ability to pass legislation through the chamber without Democratic support. A Democratic majority can launch investigations into the administration, demand documents and testimony and subject senior officials to sustained congressional scrutiny.

If they decide to go after Donny and his minions then where do they begin?

Political reporter Joseph Gedeon laid out the most consequential investigations Democrats could launch. Here are a few of the investigations:

  • The family business: Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, has ranked Trump family corruption first on his list of priorities, while Representative Jamie Raskin has requested information on the business dealings of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and son Donald Trump Jr.

  • Epstein and the emails: Thanks to a tag-team effort by Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, the Department of Justice was forced to release millions of files related to Jeffrey Epstein last year. But off the bat, the justice department blew the legally mandated deadline to disclose the files. Then it released only about 3.5m pages of the 6m in its possession; it said it had deemed the rest duplicates. And there has been bipartisan consternation about heavy redactions in some places, and the apparently accidental disclosure of the names of victims in other places. The justice department is now facing a lawsuit from journalist Katie Phang over many of these issues. Even under a Republican-controlled Congress, the oversight committee under its GOP chair, James Comer, has been a rare spot of bipartisan comity, with members of both sides routinely (but not always) acting in concert to subpoena witnesses and hold them in contempt when they don’t cooperate. Expect that to continue in any new Democratic Congress.

  • The Pentagon and the war: Jason Crow, a Colorado congressman who sits on the armed services and intelligence committees and co-chairs the House end corruption caucus, says he will start with the Pentagon, citing reports of defense money steered toward companies linked to the Trump family.

  • Impeachment: Jeffries says Democrats have ruled nothing out regarding impeachment this time around, while the current Republican House majority leader, Steve Scalise, predicts an attempt on “Day 1”

I think that the Dems should demand accountability but they should also address all the promises they made to the people….the economy, healthcare, housing, etc.

If they concentrate on investigations then they will insure that next election they will be watching on TV for their chances will have been over.

Anything to add?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is Impeachment The Best Use Of Their Time?

The election returns are not in yet but many seem to think that there will be some sort of Blue Wave that sweeps Dems into Congress….and the idea of impeaching Donny is once again being floated if the majority switches to the Dems….

Personally I think it is a waste of time to attempt this thing again….the last time was nothing but an exercise in futility.  Donny was impeached and yet he remained to do as much damage as possible.

And now this same impotent situation returns…..personally I think it will be a waste and will divert the policies that will actually help us struggling masses.

I have not been a fan of Dem strategist, James Carville, I think he is a has been and a dinosaur, a throwback to the glory days of Clinton….but on this issue I tend to agree with Carville….

Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville urged Democrats to avoid pursuing a third impeachment of President Donald Trump if the party wins control of the House of Representatives in November, arguing it would be “highly unlikely” to succeed.

On the “Politics War Room” podcast on Thursday, Carville and his co-host Al Hunt argued that impeachment would be a waste of time and Democrats should devote their energy to investigating the president instead.

“I’ll tell you one thing that I think Democrats should steer clear of, and that’s impeachment,” Hunt said. “It’s not that Trump has not committed impeachable offenses, far worse than what he was accused of back in 2019 with Ukraine. I mean, he has. I mean, you could come up with a bill of particulars of, you know, a dozen at least. But you know something, James? It’s not going to happen, and it is a distraction.”

Carville agreed, arguing that the Supreme Court is protecting Trump from the consequences of his actions.

“So, you investigate, and, of course, what you’re going to find — and you’re going to find it quickly — is overwhelming evidence of criminal activity. Now, of course, he can’t commit a crime according to the Supreme Court because, well, he’s above the law,” Carville lamented.

“But suppose you say, ‘This is incontrovertible proof. We got to do something about this. How can he stay in office?’ And impeachment would be a very difficult thing,” Carville warned. “It’s time-consuming. It’s highly unlikely to be anything because of the — you need so many votes in the Senate. But we’re going to find out a whole bunch of stuff really fast at the beginning of the year 2027. I promise you.”

https://www.foxnews.com/media/james-carville-warns-dems-against-impeaching-trump-win-control-midterms

Like I said I agree with those that think another impeachment process will be a huge waste of time and energy….but after all is that not what Dems do best….waste time?

You thoughts on impeachment please.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

OMG! Dems Have A Plan

I know I have been harsh with the Dems in Congress but not without good reason….they are anticipating a ‘blue wave’ (whatever that will accomplish) and have set about formulating a plan for some oversight.

Democrats aren’t waiting for midterms results or more polls: They’re sketching out a post-Trump playbook. From politicians on Capitol Hill to outside advocacy groups, the Washington Post reports, Democrats are drafting bills and ethics plans aimed at narrowing presidential power, tightening conflict-of-interest rules, and rebuilding barriers between the White House and the Justice Department once President Trump is out of office. Ideas on the table include curbing emergency powers used to justify tariffs and troop deployments, forcing public review of White House renovations, barring presidents from taking foreign payments without Congress’ signoff, and blocking settlements that could shield a sitting president from tax scrutiny.

There’s also a push to prohibit politically motivated prosecutions, require blind trusts for wealthy officials, and bolster civil service protections so a president can’t easily oust career staff members. Backers frame it as a Watergate-style reform moment waiting to happen, noting a Pew survey that found broad unease with expanding presidential authority. Conservatives call the effort hollow, arguing that Democrats won’t constrain their own presidents and that Trump is operating within a long tradition of muscular executive action. Even some advocates warn the big test won’t be writing new laws, but whether a polarized Congress—and a public that may like decisive action—will actually enforce them.

The Post piece can be found here.

All that sounds very ambitious but does anyone see it going into action?

Let me say I do not see the success they are promising.

Keep in mind the Senate and the place where good bills go to die….I am not certain even if they win the Senate that they will vote for these changes.

The Dems in the Senate voted to block a bill that would curb insider trading but they did find a loophole to preserve their profit taking so they could vote against the legislation….

Senate Democrats swatted down a Republican-backed bid to rein in lawmakers’ stock trades, saying it barely touched the problem. The Stop Insider Trading Act, sponsored by Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, fell short on a 53-47 procedural vote, needing 60 to advance and drawing zero Democratic support despite having passed the House in July, the Hill reports. The New York Times reports that the bill’s failure was “predetermined” after Republicans attached voter ID restrictions that the Senate had already rejected six times.

That may be a legit reason to vote against the bill….but it preserves their profit taking…..good call.

How will this ambitious plan help the average American with rising prices on everything?

Another example of the Senate’s lack of focus….

The Senate killed a bill that would protect average Americans from rising power costs…..

The United States Senate has decided against advancing the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bipartisan bill designed to shield everyday Americans from rapidly rising electricity costs driven by data center buildouts nationwide. On September 30, the bill fell short of the 60 votes required to pass the bill by just three votes, ending 57-43, according to a Reuters report. The Ratepayer Protection Act bill had cleared the U.S. House of Representatives just two weeks earlier, with the Senate as the last procedural step before President Donald Trump could sign it into law. Following the vote, the bill is now officially dead.

Another reason why I do not believe the hype about bi-partisanship.

This is more an attack on Donny and his minions than helping Americans survive.

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Stop The Mad King!

This is a letter (reprinted in its entirety) to members of Congress concerning the war that Donny and his group of idiots started with Iran.

Dear Members of Congress,

In truly deranged remarks to world leaders at the UN, Donald Trump declared that “I have a big decision to make,” whether to negotiate a deal with Iran or instead to “annihilate the Islamic Republic” and drive Iran “into hell with no chance of survival.”

He posed it as his personal choice. The fact that the American people are dead set against Trump’s war means nothing. And as for the voters, he added that he gives “absolutely no credence” to the coming midterm elections in deciding on his actions and on Iran’s fate.

Nothing binds this President. He is not bound by law, the Constitution, the UN Charter, or public opinion at home and abroad. When asked at the start of the year whether he has any limits on his power, he said “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

Trump opened his speech with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, hailing America’s freedom. The fact is that Trump’s authoritarianism far outdoes that of King George III, against whom the colonies rebelled. Among the founders’ indictments of Mad King George was that “He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.” Yet our own mad king has decided that the survival of a whole civilization is in his hands alone.

Trump is emboldened in his contempt for Congress because the Republican members of Congress have abdicated their constitutional responsibilities, terrified of their own president, and forsaking their constituents for campaign lucre from AIPAC and the military-industrial complex.

The Constitution is unambiguous regarding Congress’s responsibility. Article I, Section 8 assigns Congress, not the President, the sole power to declare war. That is not a choice or an option. The Constitution doesn’t say that Congress can play dead and let the President declare war. The Framers made this choice deliberately, because they were explicitly rejecting the power of a king to take the nation to war.

In Federalist 69, Hamilton assured the public that the President’s war powers would be far less than the British monarch’s. Madison stated the principle plainly in a letter to Jefferson in 1798: “The constitution supposes, what the History of all Govts demonstrates, that the Ex. is the branch of power most interested in war, & most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care vested the question of war in the Legislature.”

The founders’ careful design has been overturned because of the unconstitutional subservience of the Republican members of Congress to Trump and to the military-industrial-digital complex. And yes, under Democratic presidents, most Democratic members of Congress also looked the other way when those presidents chose to go to war.

The war with Iran is Trump’s folly but Congress’s disgrace for not stopping it. It is a war without a purpose that has created mass suffering in Iran, tens of billions of dollars of direct outlays, and staggering damage to American military bases in eight countries of the Middle East. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent world and American prices soaring for oil, gas, fertilizers, and more. And the world has duly noted that Iran can hold its own against US aggression, albeit at great sacrifice to the people of Iran and the region.

America’s much vaunted AI battlefield has been exposed in the most horrifying way. On the first day of the war, an American missile struck the girls’ elementary school there, killing more than 150 people, most of them girls aged seven to twelve, and the military’s own inquiry reportedly found that over-reliance on artificial intelligence contributed to the targeting. Trump blamed “Iran or somebody else,” and seven months later the administration has offered no findings, no apology and no compensation to the families.

The President’s threat to annihilate a member state of the United Nations, delivered from the General Assembly podium, disgraced Trump in front of the world. It also violated Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which prohibits even the threat of force against another state. Nearly all the world stands aghast.

I write to you because you cannot simply walk away from Trump’s recklessness, shaking your heads silently. You have a job to do, so do it. The craven Republican Party has to find even a minimal level of guts to tell Trump, “No, you do not have the power to destroy Iran. Any war with Iran depends on us, and we don’t support you and our constituents want this war to stop.” A clear majority of Americans oppose this war, and poll after poll shows that the opposition to the war is growing. A few Republicans have found that courage. Last week three more Republicans broke ranks to support ending the war. Their colleagues should follow.

Many of you receive campaign contributions from military contractors and technology companies deeply involved in the war. Many of you take money from AIPAC, which champions the war that Netanyahu did so much to help launch. This has to stop, as it is a dereliction of your constitutional duty and a violation of your oath.

Congress holds the power of the purse. The fiscal year ends on September 30, and every bill that funds the Pentagon is your opportunity to prohibit funds for unauthorized offensive operations against Iran.

The right course for the US is simple. Congress should cut off funding, and the US should stop further attacks and go home. We need no agreement with Iran or anyone else to stop the war that we started. By ending the war you will immediately restore some sanity and safety to the world energy markets, food supplies, and prices faced by Americans and others around the world.

How America has declined from the glorious moment when John F. Kennedy stood at the same podium at the UN on September 20, 1963, after having negotiated the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union. He told the assembled leaders that the treaty can be a lever, and Archimedes, in explaining the principles of the lever, was said to have declared to his friends: “Give me a place where I can stand – and I shall move the world.” My fellow inhabitants of this planet: Let us take our stand here in this Assembly of nations. And let us see if we, in our own time, can move the world to a just and lasting peace.

Members of Congress, to save our nation’s honor and our Constitution, you must do your duty to stop this war, and stop Trump’s brazen, destructive, and unconstitutional grab for power.

Respectfully,
Jeffrey D. Sachs
University Professor, Columbia University

There is not one part of that letter that is not spot on….but will those corrupt toads in Congress pay any attention to a cogent argument against this lame war?

I for one thinks it will fall onto blinded by cash members of Congress.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Congress And AI

I have made it clear that I do not use AI and in truth I do not trust it….I prefer to do my own research and formulate my findings in my own words.

AI has wormed it’s way into just about all aspects of our lives from colleges to medicine to science to reporting and now it has a foothold in Congress.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has quietly wormed its way into drafting American laws, and the people responsible for getting bills right say it’s creating a mess.

According to Politico, congressional staffers and outside advocacy groups are increasingly turning to chatbots like Claude and ChatGPT to write legislative text, forcing the House Office of Legislative Counsel (OLC) to clean up after them.

“AI is good for a lot of stuff,” Daniel Schuman, executive director of the American Governance Institute, explained before warning, “But it’s not capable of drafting legislation that you would want to enact into law.”

One person who advises congressional offices said the OLC now spends “more time trying to fix AI-drafted legislation than it would take for them to draft it from scratch,” noting AI models reportedly stumble over fine legal distinctions, such as whether funding should be structured as “a tax credit, deduction, exclusion or grant.”

According to one congressional staffer tasked with doing a deep read of the proposed legislation, lawmakers have no idea what is coming down the road due to errors and citations that won’t hold up to scrutiny when conflicts arise.

“It’s absolutely terrifying, and no one is thinking about it yet,” they predicted.

The risks aren’t hypothetical, Politico is reporting. Case in point: In June, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s (R-FL) office published an amendment summary that still contained the unedited chatbot phrase “Claude responded.” Luna acknowledged on X that “my staff used AI to correct a draft text and didn’t edit,” which raised alarms at the time.

Ari Hershowitz, a lawyer and technologist who has worked with the office to integrate tech tools into the legislative process, admitted that without checks, it’s “a guaranteed way of introducing thousands of bugs into our legal system.”

(rawstory.com)

Just another attempt to not do their jobs…..allow AI to write the bills and then more time with the high dollar donors.

This is what our political system has become….and I find it disgusting and pathetic.

Anything to add?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Want To Save Lives?

If so then Medicare For All would be the road to travel….I have been a supporter of the idea since its inception….and now a new study has shown just how effective it could be….

Previous research has shown that shifting the United States to a Medicare for All system could save roughly 68,000 lives and $650 billion per year, but a new study by experts at Yale University suggests the savings would likely be even greater on both fronts.

In a Tuesday statement, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), lead sponsor of the Medicare for All Act in the Senate, highlighted the findings, published recently on medRxiv, a server for preprints, or research that hasn’t yet been peer reviewed.

…

“We estimate that such a system would reduce national health expenditure by $1,041 billion annually,” they explained. “Sources of savings include reductions in administrative overhead, pharmaceutical prices, fraudulent billing, and avoidable emergency care. Combined with the reversal of recent retractions, universal coverage would save over 114,000 lives annually.”

Specifically, as Sanders’ office detailed in a statement, Americans would save:

  • $377.5 billion by paying no more than other major countries for prescription drugs;
  • $286.3 billion by eliminating bureaucracy and waste;
  • $285.7 billion by curbing fraudulent billing;
  • $100 billion by preventing costly emergency room and hospital visits; and
  • $295.6 billion by reimbursing providers fairly for the care they provide.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/medicare-for-all-savings

I would say that is good news, right?

But not to worry….health insurance and other corporate donors will be fighting hard to defeat any chance of M4A having any success…

The investigative outlet Sludge published an analysis on Monday showing that the health insurance industry is among the corporate donors to Third Way, a think tank that is reportedly preparing to pour $15 million into an effort to combat the rise of candidates who support Medicare for All and other progressive policies.

Third Way, which has long been hostile to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and Medicare for All in particular, does not publicly disclose its donors. But Sludge’s David Moore uncovered some of the group’s benefactors by examining corporate tax filings, which revealed that the private insurance industry group Better Solutions for Healthcare (BSFH) donated $50,000 to Third Way’s advocacy arm in 2024.

Among BSFH’s members are the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and the health insurance industry trade group AHIP. Moore noted that BSFH is “run out of the offices of leading Republican digital and strategy firm Targeted Victory in Arlington” and was founded by GOP operative Alexander Schriver.

Sludge’s review of corporate tax filings showed other healthcare industry donors to Third Way, including CVS Health and Johnson & Johnson.

“Another corporate lobbying heavyweight, the Business Roundtable (BRT), gave $50,000 to Third Way in 2024, up from the $25,000 it gave in 2023 and down from the $75,000 it gave in 2022,” Moore reported. “Each year in 2019, 2020, and 2021, BRT gave $50,000 to Third Way. The CEO group’s health insurance members include the heads of UnitedHealth, Cigna, Elevance (formerly Anthem), CVS Health—all members of AHIP (formerly America’s Health Insurance Plans), save for UnitedHealth—as well as healthcare company Centene and many Big Pharma firms like Johnson & Johnson.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/third-way-medicare-for-all

Again not to worry the chance of getting good healthcare is small because the Congress is owned by the people that are fighting this attempt.

This is a little something for you to mull over while enjoying your morning coffee…..

Your medical records are private, right?  But for how long?

You might assume that what you tell a doctor stays between you, your physician and perhaps your insurer. But the reality is more complicated.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the federal privacy law that governs health information and is commonly known as HIPAA, is narrower than its reputation suggests. It regulates hospitals, physicians, insurers and their business associates, but not the health data you generate everywhere else: not the period-tracking application on your phone, the internet search you ran about a diagnosis, the DNA you mailed to a genealogy company or the wearable that counts your heartbeats.

Even the records HIPAA does cover can be shared, sold or handed to the government in ways that might surprise you.

This gap in protection matters more than ever because the U.S. government is pushing hard to gather health data domestically and abroad. This is happening even as a growing body of research shows that the safeguard which these efforts to collect data lean on – anonymizing data by removing identifying information to make it difficult to trace back to an individual – is far weaker than officials claim.

https://theconversation.com/us-government-is-pushing-to-gain-unprecedented-access-to-your-medical-records-as-data-protections-are-weakening-287021

Americans need to wake up and smell the manure in the road.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

One Step Closer?

For most of this year the Dems have been trying to make it a policy that the president cannot go to war without permission from the Congress and yesterday they may have come one step closer to making it so….

Lawmakers in the House just sent another warning shot over President Trump’s Iran policy. On Thursday, they passed a Democratic-backed war powers resolution aimed at curbing his ability to continue the conflict, with four Republicans crossing the aisle in a 214–208 vote. GOP Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Warren Davidson of Ohio, and Tom Barrett of Michigan sided with Democrats on the resolution to require congressional approval for the war, the Washington Post reports. The same four Republicans voted for a similar resolution last month, before the conflict reignited with daily US strikes on Iran.

The resolution’s sponsor, Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, said the war has “no clear mission, no strategy, no end goal.” The measure doesn’t go to Trump’s desk and is widely viewed as symbolic, and any binding curb on his authority would almost certainly face a veto. Still, with the Senate weighing its own war powers measure Thursday morning, the move underscores mounting bipartisan unease over a grinding conflict that has recently intensified, including the deaths of four US troops in the region over the weekend, Politico reports.

During debate on the resolution, Republican Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, read out the names of the 18 US service members killed since the war began, the AP reports. “To belittle this mission is to belittle and demean the very service these members gave their life for,” he said. “Their sacrifice was not meaningless. This operation is bringing reckoning for the hundreds of times Iran has attacked and killed people of the United States of America.” The committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, said presidents are supposed to obtain congressional approval for wars. The service members, he said, died in “an illegal unauthorized war that the American people don’t want.”

This is not a done deal but at least we are closer to making Donny ask permission before bombing more countries…..which is a good idea for he is considering another country to be bombed…..

President Trump is considering opening a new military front in another nation, with advisers weighing military strikes in Mali against an al-Qaeda-linked group known as JNIM, reports the Washington Post. The idea is reportedly championed inside the National Security Council by foreign policy hawks such as Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s counterterrorism director, but faces resistance from other senior officials, according to current and former unnamed officials who spoke to the Post. The militant group’s stronghold is in Mali, but it has launched regional attacks throughout West Africa.

The US is pressing African and NATO partners to support Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger in the Sahel region. All are ruled by juntas that have ousted democratic leaders and turned to Russia for security help, and the US faults Moscow for being a weak partner. Critics warn US strikes could entangle Washington with Russian forces, empower Islamic State rivals, or push JNIM to target Americans and deepen ties to al-Qaeda. Others argue force is needed to keep jihadist groups from cementing a stronger foothold in the region. If approved, Mali would become the eighth country where Trump has ordered strikes in his second term, after Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, and Venezuela, per the New Republic.

Time for the Congress to put on the brakes on Donny’s blood lust and he is not alone….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

AIPAC Under Fire

In the past because of their proportional influence over Dem candidates the DNC is offering up a resolution to not accept AIPAC money…

A Democratic National Committee member is proposing a symbolic resolution for consideration at a DNC meeting next month to reject the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s massive spending on Congressional races.

The measure, sponsored by a young DNC member from Florida, could put party leaders on the spot about the pro-Israel lobbying group’s outsized role in Democratic primaries.

A lobbying behemoth that for decades courted lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, AIPAC has become an increasingly toxic brand in the Democratic Party.

In recent years, Israeli leaders and their backers in Washington have become more closely aligned with Republican politicians. At the same time, however, AIPAC’s super PAC has focused tens of millions in spending on Democratic primary races.

DNC Resolution to Reject AIPAC Funding Puts Democratic Leaders in the Hot Seat

That was in 2024 and they are still trying to lessen AIPAC influence over Dem candidates.

Then in 2026, April to be exact the DNC voted down a resolution….

A Democratic National Committee (DNC) panel voted on Thursday to reject a resolution condemning “the growing influence” of dark money and corporate-backed outside spending in Democratic races, particularly the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

At the DNC’s spring meeting in New Orleans this week, the resolutions committee voted to kill the push, which would have been nonbinding, as scrutiny over the pro-Israel lobby grows amid the midterms.

“The use of massive outside spending to support or oppose candidates based on their positions regarding international conflicts or foreign governments raises concerns about undue influence over democratic debate and policymaking, potentially constraining elected officials’ ability to represent the views of their constituents,” reads the resolution, submitted by Florida DNC member Allison Minnerly, pointing out AIPAC in particular for spending some $14 million in the Illinois Democratic primaries last month.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5823840-dnc-aipac-resolution-fails/

So AIPAC keeps it’s control over the funds in DNC…..

There are a few individuals within the DNC that do not want the corrupting money from AIPAC…..

Rep. Ro Khanna has become the first member of the US Congress to sign a “peace pledge” promising to swear off funds from the Israel lobby and block US support for countries that violate human rights.

The pledge was created by the political action committee Citizens Against AIPAC Corruption, which runs the widely shared “AIPAC Tracker” social media campaign that names and shames politicians who receive support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and other pro-Israel groups that have spent tens of millions in recent election cycles to influence members of Congress.

Lawmakers who sign the pledge agree not to take money from AIPAC or pro-Israel lobbying groups and promise to make campaign finance reform a key priority.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/khanna-aipac-pledge

At least Khanna is doing the right thing….I will be watching to see who joins Khanna and who keeps their hand out to AIPAC….it will make a difference who I support.

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”