Tag: US Senate

Schumer Proves How Useless Dems Have Become

For years I have been saying and writing about how useless Dems have become…..their major concern is money not the people they pretend to care about.

Now the Senate minority leader has proven my point….

Progressive critics of Senate Minority Chuck Schumer had fresh reasons to speak out Sunday after the powerful New York Democrat said that “one of many of [his] jobs” in the US Senate was to fight for ongoing taxpayer-funded military and financial assistance to the Israeli government, a position that has been the focus of growing protest among rank-and-file party members and the public at large in the face of Israel’s brutal genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza.

“I have many jobs as [Senate] leader… and one is to fight for aid to Israel — all the aid that Israel needs,” Schumer said at a gathering of Jewish leaders and community members in New York on Sunday.

“I will continue to fight for it.,” Schumer continued. “We delivered more security assistance to Israel, our ally, than ever, ever before.”

According to Jacob Kornbluh, who provided footage of the remarks while reporting for The Forward, Schumer told the audience that his support for Jewish security funding will only continue growing under his leadership, calling it his “baby.”

“As long as I’m in the Senate,” Schumer said, “this program will continue to grow from strength to strength, and we won’t let anyone attack it or undo it.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/schumer-israel-aid

Warning Strong Words To Follow

Seriously you asshole….your job is not fucking Israel….your goddamn job is to serve this country not some sandy shithole half a world away.

This is the problem with congressional Dems….they are owned by lobbyists and special interests and we can thank that douchebag Clinton for this situation.

Time to take Schumer out and put him to pasture with the rest of the manure.

People Stop fucking trusting Democrats….they have not done anything substantial in decades….they are spineless and worthless lumps of crap.

Schumer is the poster child for how your mean NOTHING to these assholes….you are only needed for your worthless vote and then cast aside for the buckets of cash that awaits them once they are sworn in….

That is not my damn idea of representation….how about you?

+++Before some mindless asshole accuses me of antisemitism…let me state now….I do not give a shit about religious leanings….belief whatever you choose +++

Find a candidate that will do something constructive and not these fools that only see dollar signs or have some lame ass religious agenda.

I have had it with this puppets….none will see my vote…..Hell I would sooner vote for my dog than anyone of these worthless turds.

I apologize for the language but there are times that it needs to be said in anger.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

This Is Why Moderates Suck!

The news has broken that there may be a deal on the longest governmental shutdown in our history…..and the reason for this ‘miracles if miracles’ are those moderates that always throw a monkey wrench into to any plans the Dems may have.

Here is what is known as of this typing….

The longest government shutdown in history is now on track to end soon after a key procedural vote in the Senate on Sunday. Eight Democrats—technically seven Democrats and an independent who caucuses with the party—broke ranks and joined Republicans in the vote. Some key details:

The eight: They are Democrats Dick Durbin of Illinois, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, and Jacky Rosen of Nevada. Joining them was independent Angus King of Maine, per the AP.

No concession: Democrats did not win the key concession behind their holdout—a guarantee to extend health care subsidies, notes the Hill. But the eight moderates bucked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, arguing the shutdown is causing too much pain.

  • In common: Politico sees “few obvious threads connecting the group who broke the partisan impasse,” and its piece has details on their particular reasons. But a New York Timesanalysis sees one big thing in common: None are up for reelection in 2026 and could afford the “political hit.” Two, Shaheen and Durbin, are retiring.
  • Anger: Many Democrats, especially progressives, are seething over the moderates’ decision. Republicans have promised to hold a vote on the subsidies after the government reopens, but critics are skeptical it will result in an extension. It was “a very, very bad vote,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders in a video, per Fox News. “I think it’s a terrible mistake,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren. “The American people want us to stand and fight for health care, and that’s what I believe we should do.”
  • Justification: “I understand that not all of my Democratic colleagues are satisfied with this agreement,” said Shaheen, one of the eight. “But waiting another week or another month wouldn’t deliver a better outcome. It would only mean more harm for families in New Hampshire and all across the country.”

These eight have nothing to lose for they are not up for re-election so they would not have to answer for any transgressions they have.

This is why I hate moderates…..they are cowards and are only in it for their personal gain.

I lean Left and have never liked the crap about bi-partisanship….it is moderates that are keep this country down even when they are in the drivers seat.

And my leaning is getting further to the Left with each passing election.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Hey What’s That Sound? A Deal?

As long as were are on the shutdown meme it appears there maybe a break in the stalemate on finding an answer to the country’s longest shutdown….

The Senate voted to break the shutdown stalemate Sunday, paving the way for the government to reopen as soon as later this week.

The 60-40 vote to take the first step toward ending the shutdown came hours after enough Democrats agreed to support a package that would fund multiple agencies and programs for the full fiscal year, and all others until Jan. 30, 2026.

In exchange, Democrats have a commitment from the Trump administration to rehire government workers fired at the start of the funding lapse, and the promise of a Senate floor vote in December on legislation to extend expiring Obamacare tax credits.

The vote will pave the way for consideration later this week of a legislative package that would fund the Department of Agriculture and the FDA, the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction projects, and the operations of Congress for all of current fiscal year — the product of months of bipartisan, bicameral negotiations between top appropriators.

All other agencies would be funded through Jan. 30, according to the text of a continuing resolution released Sunday. The agreement still needs to pass the House before the government can be reopened.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/09/government-funding-deal-on-track-to-advance-sunday-night-00644110

I knew the Dems would cave eventually and as usual they do not disappoint.

Cool!

Is this a good sign or just a momentary lapse trying to make the people feel more like there could be an end to this misery?

Any comments in waiting?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Stock Trades

From time to time, I hate to admit it) a GOPer has a good idea that deserves consideration….and Sen. Hawley has provided me one of these times.

A proposal to bar members of Congress from buying or holding individual stocks cleared a Senate panel Wednesday, with Republican Sen. Josh Hawley crossing the aisle to join Democrats in an 8-7 committee vote. Hawley, who introduced the bill, said, “I practice what I preach,” noting he doesn’t own stocks and isn’t a billionaire—a not-so-subtle jab at some colleagues.

  • The measure would bar lawmakers and their spouses from trading or owning individual stocks, giving them 180 days to divest, CBS News reports Annual compliance certifications and periodic audits would be required. Lawmakers would still be allowed to invest in diversified mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, or Treasury bonds, reports Fox News.
  • The measure was originally called the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act—after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She has been under scrutiny for her husband’s stock trades, but there is no evidence he used inside information, Politico reports. It was renamed the Honest Act following negotiations. “While I appreciate the creativity of my Republican colleagues in drafting legislative acronyms, I welcome any serious effort to raise ethical standards in public service,” Pelosi said in a statement.
  • All the other Republicans on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs voted against the legislation. Sen. Rick Scott, himself worth hundreds of millions, argued there’s nothing wrong with being wealthy and called attacks on the rich “disgusting.” He said: “Anybody want to be poor? I don’t.” Some GOP senators pushed for blind trusts as an alternative, but Hawley dismissed those as “loopholes.”
  • In negotiations with Democrats, Hawley agreed to extend the ban to presidents and vice presidents, but only in future administrations, meaning President Trump and Vice President JD Vance are exempt, Axios reports.
  • During a press conference Wednesday, Trump said he liked the idea “conceptually,” claiming Pelosi “became rich” by having inside information.
  • Trump changed his tune later in the day. In a post on Truth Social, he blasted Hawley, accusing him of playing into Democratic hands and questioning why he “would pass a Bill that Nancy Pelosi is in absolute love with.” “It’s a great Bill for her, and her ‘husband,’ but so bad for our Country!” Trump wrote. “I don’t think real Republicans want to see their President, who has had unprecedented success, TARGETED, because of the ‘whims’ of a second-tier Senator named Josh Hawley!”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/senate-stock-trading-ban

I am not particularly fond of Hawley for his war mongering politics is abhorrent to me, but in this case I am with him on this….Congress as well as the president and his thugs should not be allowed to profit from insider information.

These do-nothing hacks in Congress are getting richer from their knowledge of events to come…..this should stop and stop NOW!

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Getting Closer To A Done Deal

That idiot sounding bill that has been all the rage in the MSM is this much closer to be a done deal….

Senate Republicans passed President Trump’s spending bill on Tuesday by the narrowest of margins, pushing past opposition from Democrats and their own GOP ranks after a turbulent overnight session. Vice President JD Vance broke a 50-50 tie to push it over the top, per the AP. The outcome capped an unusually tense weekend of work at the Capitol, where the president’s signature legislative priority was at times teetering on the edge of collapse. The legislation still must return to the House for final approval. Trump wants to sign it by July 4.

  • Three nays: In the end, three GOP senators voted against the measure: Susan Collins of Maine joined Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky, per the Washington Post.
  • House uncertainty: Passage in the House is no sure thing. Speaker Mike Johnson had warned senators not to deviate too far from what his chamber had already approved. But the Senate did make changes, particularly to Medicaid, risking more problems as they race to finish by Trump’s holiday deadline.
  • Impact: An analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill became law. Tillis in particular cited the impact on Medicaid recipients in his home state. The CBO said the package would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion over the decade.

$3.3 trillion added to deficit….and soon the GOP will be screaming about those goddamn Dems and their spending….so please STFU.

Some will ask where were the Dems?  Well they got a big win with this as well….

Senate Democrats were unable to stop their Republican counterparts from passing what has been called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” but they did score a symbolic victory by killing the name, reports the Washington Post. Democrats used parliamentary rules to ditch the Trump-centric “beautiful” label.

“Democrats are forcing Republicans to delete their farcical bill name,” said statement from the office of Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer. “Nothing about this bill is beautiful—it’s a betrayal to American families and it’s undeserving of such a stupid name.” Politico notes that such names often get stripped by the opposition party, but it doesn’t stop the party in power from continuing to use it. “So expect the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ to live on, if not in legislative text.”

Seriously?

That is the best they could deliver?

Useless and spineless…..Dems are the saviors waiting for their chance to shine. (Sarcasm)

I Read, I Write, You KNow

“lego ergo scribo”

OBBB Has Hit A Snag

Apparently the ‘beauty’ is choke full of ugly!

Donny super bill, One Big Beautiful ill the OBBB has hit a snag in the Senate…the Medicaid part has shown to be in violation of Senate rules….

The Senate parliamentarian has advised that a key Medicaid provider tax overhaul that’s central to President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” doesn’t adhere to procedural rules, delivering a crucial blow to Republicans rushing to finish the massive package this week.

  • Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled on Thursday that the section of the tax cut and spending bill covering the Medicaid cuts and tax overhaul violates the Byrd Rule, which determines what legislation can be passed with a simple majority through the budget reconciliation process, the Hill reports.
  • Guidance from the parliamentarian is rarely ignored, and it forces GOP leaders to consider options, the AP reports. Senate leaders could try to revise it or strip the iffy parts from the package. Otherwise, the provision could be challenged during floor votes, requiring a 60-vote threshold to keep it—a tall order in the narrowly split 100-member Senate. Democrats are unified against the bill.
  • The provision cracks down on states’ use of health care provider taxes to collect Medicaid funding, ABC News reports. The House-passed bill would freeze the provider taxes at current levels, while the Senate proposal goes deeper by reducing the tax that some states are able to impose.
  • Republicans scrambled to respond, some politically attacking the nonpartisan parliamentarian, while Democrats said her decision would prove devastating to the GOP package. Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said the GOP proposal would have been as much as a $250 billion cut to the health care program, “massive Medicaid cuts that hurt kids, seniors, Americans with disabilities, and working families.”
  • Some Republicans even called for challenging, or firing, the parliamentarian, who has been on the job since 2012 as the chief arbiter of the chamber’s historic and often complicated rules. But GOP leaders had already been struggling to rally support for the change. Several GOP senators warn it would harm rural hospitals that depend on the funds. Hospital organizations have been warning it could wipe out their balance sheets and lead to hospital closures.

The Parliamentarian has been busy with the OBBB….she also took on the oil lease provision of the bill….

Critics of Republican efforts to continue wrecking the planet celebrated some small victories after the U.S. Senate parliamentarian on Monday advised that multiple provisions cannot be passed as part of a megabill that only requires a simple majority.

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough found that some GOP legislative proposals about offshore drilling and mandatory public land sales could not be included in the package due to the so-called Byrd Rule, which bars provisions considered “extraneous to the purpose of implementing budget resolution policies.”

Specifically, MacDonough axed a provision that deems offshore oil and gas projects as automatically compliant with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), nullifying their environmental review processes. She also ruled against a proposal requiring offshore fossil fuel leases to be issued to successful bidders within 90 days after the sale, and a separate mandate for the sale of millions of acres of public land.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-public-lands

Read about all the problems (so far) with the OBBB according to the Parliamentarian…

https://www.commondreams.org/news/senate-parliamentarian-2672439563

This ought to chap Donny’s ass.

Do tell…..what changes will be made?

Will Donny try to flex his wimpy muscles?

Will the MAGA worshipers find a way to save Donny’s baby?

Is the bill dead until after the 4th of July break?

Where will it go….do tell.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Out With The Worthless

I have been saying for many years that I feel that our Congress especially the Dems are controlled not by you but special interests.

I have been bitching about our do-nothing Congress…..they let special interests run the country while their rhetoric sounds logical their actions are reckless.

One of the worse of the lot is Schumer of the Senate….now people are seeing just how worthless this toad has become.

Calls for him to step aside and get out of the way of any meaningful progress….

Dozen of advocacy organizations on Wednesday joined the growing call for U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to step down from his leadership position after caving to Republicans on a stopgap spending measure last month.

Given GOP control of Congress and the White House, people across the country saw the looming government shutdown as a rare opportunity for Democratic lawmakers to fight against President Donald Trump’s agenda. However, Schumer (D-N.Y.) led 10 caucus members in partnering with Senate Republicans to force through the spending legislation.

Since then, polling has made clear that voters are frustrated with the Democratic Party and Schumer in particular, and want political leaders to challenge the GOP’s agenda, which is primarily passing more tax giveaways for the wealthy and gutting the federal government—an effort led by Trump adviser Elon Musk, the richest person on Earth.

…

“Schumer’s inexplicable surrender and support for a dangerous and cruel MAGA spending bill amounted to a complete dereliction of duty and failure of leadership. For this simple reason, Schumer must step down as Senate majority leader immediately,” added Jones, whose group led the letter with Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD).

https://www.commondreams.org/news/chuck-schumer-trump

The Democratic Party as a whole is NOT progressive regardless f the BS they feed the public they are basically a conservative party….but the one bright spot is the Progressive Caucus within the House.

There is where a challenger to Schumer is emerging….AOC….she has the right stuff in my book but she needs to be more progressive…..she is staring down Schumer in the next election….

A poll released Friday from the progressive think tank Data for Progress has Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez besting Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, also a Democrat, by 19 points in a hypothetical matchup in the 2028 New York primary for a U.S. Senate seat.

According to the poll, which was was first shared exclusively with Politico, 55% of voters said they would cast a ballot for Ocasio-Cortez or leaned toward supporting her, and 36% said they would support Schumer or leaned toward supporting him, with 9% undecided.

The only subgroup that supported Schumer over Ocasio-Cortez were moderates, who favored Schumer 50%-35%, with 15% undecided. Ocasio-Cortez carried all other subgroups with an outright majority, except for voters over the age of 45, 49% of whom said they would support her or leaned toward supporting her.

The poll—while several years out from the actual race—comes in the wake of Schumer’s decision to throw his support behind a Republican-backed spending bill in early March, a move that roiled his own party and prompted calls for him to step aside from his leadership position in the Senate.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/aoc-schumer-poll-ny-primary-2028

I hope she keeps this lead and defeats Schumer for the US Senate needs some new blood the blood it has now is tainted ….new progressive blood would do wonders to help change the downward direction the Senate is sliding.

I know many moderate Dems do not like AOC….and just look where the Senate is and the country as a whole under the ‘guidance’ of these so-called moderates….sorry but there is nothing moderate about these garden slugs.

If you want change then make the change and stop pretend that all can work together….that pipe dream died decades go.

I read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Showing Their True Colors?

In my post from yesterday when the GOP and the Dems were in talks for the spending bill to avoid a government shutdown I asked the question….

“This is a problem….do they show backbone and fight the new spending bill which they will be accused of causing a government shutdown or do they support and betray a lot of what they say the are for?”

Last not my question was answered and answered predictably….

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor on Thursday that he’ll vote to advance the Republican funding bill and bring enough Democrats with him to avert a government shutdown. “For sure the Republican bill is a terrible option,” Schumer said, per the Washington Post. Democrats have called the bill a power grab by President Trump and Republicans. “But I believe allowing Donald Trump to take … much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option.” He added, “I will vote to keep the government open.”

The only other Senate Democrat so far to clearly state he’ll back the GOP bill is Sen. John Fetterman. But Schumer’s decision will give political cover to other Democrats, the Hill reports. He said that there weren’t enough votes in his caucus to pass the measure as of Wednesday but that many members were undecided. Schumer announced his switch during Democratic luncheon, shocking many of his senators, per the New York Times. Democrats in the Senate, House, and elsewhere, as well as party activists, have been pushing hard for Schumer’s caucus to block the bill and defy Trump.

But there are fears among Democrats that a government shutdown would give Trump and Elon Musk an opening to make greater cuts to the government, by decreeing which employees are essential and must work through a shutdown and which are nonessential. Senate Democrats have been wrestling with which option is worse. “For Donald Trump,” Schumer told the group, per the AP, “a shutdown would be a gift.” The procedural vote to which Schumer committed is scheduled for Friday afternoon.

The passage is not set in stone….but the leadership of the Dems proved my point ….time for a change.

In answer to ,y and others criticisms Schumer has taking to pen and paper….

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised enough Democratic support to pass the Republican funding bill that will avoid a government shutdown, despite admitting the bill is “terrible.” In a guest essay at the New York Times, he explains himself while calling President Trump a “nihilist” who’s “taken a blowtorch to our country” and now “wants full control over government spending.” Though the Republican bill is “deeply partisan” and, yes, “terrible,” it is the lesser of two evils, Schumer writes, arguing a government shutdown would give Trump and his billionaire advisor Elon Musk—who is reportedly very much in favor of a shutdown—”permission to destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can right now.”

The administration “would have wide-ranging authority to deem whole agencies, programs and personnel nonessential” and “congressional Republicans could weaponize their majorities … to reopen only their favored departments and agencies while leaving other vital services that they don’t like to languish,” writes the New York Democrat. In other words, fighting the six-month government funding bill would be playing into Republicans’ hands. In backing the bill to avoid a shutdown, Democrats can at least avoid piling more suffering for “the most vulnerable Americans, those who rely on federal programs to feed their families, get medical care and stay financially afloat.”

But Schumer’s arguments are unlikely to sway some Senate Democrats, particularly those in the party’s liberal and progressive wings, who Schumer has ironically worked hard to appease over the last five years, per Politico. Elizabeth Warren said the bill, with $12 billion in cuts to non-defense programs, offers Trump and Musk “a blank check to spend your taxpayer money however they want,” while Bernie Sanders said it would “literally take food out of the mouths of hungry children, take healthcare away from seniors, and give a huge tax break to the wealthiest people on the planet,” per the Hill. One senator anonymously tells the outlet, “I think people will see this as a massive sellout to an authoritarian president. You don’t stop a bully by handing over all of your lunch money.”

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Hegseth Express

I have made my thoughts known about the person that Trump wants as the Secretary of War…this Hegseth dude…..there are some in Congress that think like me that this slug is not qualified to oversee the nation’s largest budget and for that reason must not be confirmed.

It appears that Trump has stepped in and flexed his muscle to get his lackey through the confirmation process….

The most vocal opponent to his confirmation was Sen. Ernst but now that has changed….

A week ago, it seemed that Pete Hegseth’s chances of becoming the next defense secretary were doomed, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis floated as a possible replacement. Things look much different now, however, after what Punchbowl News describes as a “vibe shift” on Capitol Hill in favor of the nominee.

  • Key senator: Hegseth met with GOP Sen. Joni Ernst on Monday, who had been voicing serious doubts. Afterward, however, Ernst signaled her support, describing the meeting as “encouraging” and praising his “responsiveness and respect” for the process, per Axios. Ernst has been seen as a “tough sell,” notes Punchbowl News, because Hegseth opposes women in combat roles (she served in Kuwait and Iraq) and has faced allegations of sexual assault (she is a survivor of sexual assault).
  • Strategy: Ernst had faced a fierce public backlash from Trump allies who suggested she may not last in the Republican party if she opposes the president-elect’s pick. “The swarm of MAGA attacks” was “a warning of what’s in store for others who express skepticism of his personnel choices,” per a Politico analysis. Hegseth “became a cause” for Trump allies, one of them tells the outlet, and his success would bode well for other controversial nominees such as Kash Patel for the FBI and Tulsi Gabbard for national intelligence.
  • Still close: Hegseth is still not a slam dunk to win approval. He meets this week with two other female GOP senators, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins. But the New York Times notes that even if they and Ernst end up voting against Hegseth, he would be confirmed if the rest of the GOP coalition holds. A wild card would be if the woman who accused Hegseth of a 2017 sexual assault came forward. Police investigated the allegations but did not bring charges.
  • Hegseth’s campaign: The nominee appeared on Fox News Monday night and told Sean Hannity that the “left is trying to turn this into a trial in the media, a show trial” and that “we’re not going to let that happen.” He added: “I’m going to walk in the door of every one of these senators as an open book, willing to answer their questions because they deserve answers.” Trump himself and JD Vance also have voiced support for Hegseth in recent days, and Politico reports that Vance has been strategic in shifting sentiment in the Senate.

He will make it as the ‘king’ of budgets….and he will be one of the worse secretarys in recent history….

Show just how weak the GOP has become when one person can dictate their principles and at the same time screw the cfountry for the future.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

An End Of An Era?

The big news yesterday was that the leader of the GOP Senate would be stepping down after years and years of game playing….

Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader in history who maintained his power in the face of dramatic convulsions in the Republican Party for almost two decades, will step down from that position in November. The AP reports McConnell, who turned 82 last week, is set to announce his decision Wednesday. “One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter,” he said in prepared remarks obtained by the AP. “So I stand before you today … to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate.” What you need to know:

  • “As I have been thinking about when I would deliver some news to the Senate, I always imagined a moment when I had total clarity and peace about the sunset of my work,” McConnell said in his prepared remarks. “A moment when I am certain I have helped preserve the ideals I so strongly believe. It arrived today.”
  • McConnell said he plans to serve out his Senate term, which ends in January 2027, “albeit from a different seat in the chamber.”
  • Aides said McConnell’s announcement about the leadership post was unrelated to his health. The Kentucky senator had a concussion from a fall last year and two public episodes where his face briefly froze while he was speaking.
  • McConnell gave no specific reason for the timing of his decision, which he has been contemplating for months, but he cited the recent death of his wife’s youngest sister as a moment that prompted introspection. “The end of my contributions are closer than I’d prefer,” McConnell said.
  • But his remarks were also light at times. He noted that when he arrived in the Senate, “I was just happy if anybody remembered my name.” During his campaign in 1984, when Ronald Reagan was visiting Kentucky, the president called him “Mitch O’Donnell.”
  • “I love the Senate,” he said in his prepared remarks. “It has been my life. There may be more distinguished members of this body throughout our history, but I doubt there are any with more admiration for it.”
  • But, he added, “Father Time remains undefeated. I am no longer the young man sitting in the back, hoping colleagues would remember my name. It is time for the next generation of leadership.”
  • There will be a time to reminisce, he said, but not today. “I still have enough gas in the tank to thoroughly disappoint my critics and I intend to do so with all the enthusiasm which they have become accustomed.”

Say good-bye to Reagan conservatism and say hello to the dystopian crap of the now GOP.

Not to worry this will replay in a few weeks and then again later in the year….the games are endlessly with these spineless d/bags.

And then there was the not so big news later yesterday….the ‘shutdown two-step’ has ended (as I knew it would before a shutdown)….

Congressional leaders announced Wednesday that they have reached a tentative agreement to prevent a government shutdown for now, days before an end-of-the-week deadline that risked shuttering some federal operations. Under the plan, Congress would temporarily fund one set of federal agencies through March 8 and another set through March 22. In the meantime, Congress would intend to pass packages of legislation to fund the government for the remainder of the budget year, the AP reports. There was no immediate plan to approve the $95 billion emergency national security funds for Ukraine, Israel, and other allies.

This would be the fourth short-term funding extension in about a five-month span. The House and Senate next will need to vote and approve the deal with its temporary funds ahead of the Friday deadline, when some federal monies run out. “We are in agreement that Congress must work in a bipartisan manner to fund our government,” said the joint statement from Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, along with the Appropriation Committee leaders. Negotiators have been working furiously to finish up a federal spending plan while Ukraine and other American allies watched for Johnson’s next move on the aid.

Congressional leaders said they reached an agreement on six bills that will adhere to spending levels agreed to last year. Those bills involve Veterans Affairs and the departments of Agriculture, Transportation, Interior, and others and will be voted on and enacted before March 8, per the AP. The remaining six bills for the Pentagon, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, and the State Department still need to be finalized, voted on, and enacted before March 22. If the deal and the subsequent bills are approved, it would keep the federal government funded until the end of the budget year, on Sept. 30, and avoid more short-term measures.

Ukraine got its blood money but poor Israel left the table still hungry for US stuff.

What will Israel do?  Probably find an excuse to attack Lebanon.

And that was DC on a Wednesday.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”