UPDATE: Well, Quiverin’ Qevin did it. He passed his “bill” 217-215, losing only 4 of the 5 he could afford, and benefiting from the absence of some Democrats that lowered the necessary number for his “victory.”
But what did he”win”? He had to give back the tax breaks on ethanol to get the midwestern votes; he had to make the onerous “work requirements” that would require people on Social Security to work not 20 but 30 hours a week to qualify for food assistance under SNAP, to keep the votes of the Taliban 20. He “won” at passign a bill that is DOA in the Senate and even has Republican opponents there. He “won” at a PR event making the GOP even more the crazy, evil, shitheads the public sees them as. He managed to wrap that “crazy evil shitheads” designation around the “Biden 18”, all of whom have targets on their backs and as a result of this vote are more likely to be single-term congressional representatives than the odds said they were yesterday before the vote.
Does he really think this “victory” gives him something to “negotiate” with President Biden? Such a negotiation would depend on Quiverin’ Qevin possessing a “credible threat.” What made Obama negotiate to his detriment in 2011 was that the House and Senate Republicans were united, and really could have fucked things up royally.
Qevin possesses a “bill” that has no future. It is a “threat” that has no ability to threaten. If Qevin is stupid enough to think this piece of toilet paper is something of value, and manages to let the nutballs push us into default, it will take about a week for him to lose power in the House in the aftermath of the default, and for a debt limit to be passed; one that includes killing the need to ever do this vote again. The country will experience real financial pain, and guess who will be blamed for it? Kevin and his merry band of traitors.
The last time the country was mad enough at Republicans to smack them as hard as they will be smacked for having done this - if it happens - was 1932. And it took 20 years for them to recover sufficiently to elect a popular war hero they weren’t actually sure was one of them as president - and Eisenhower was the only “Republican” who could have won. It took another 30 years after that for the memory of their culpability in creating the Great Depression to fade sufficiently that they could compete head-to-head on ideas and win.
Quiverin’ Qevin won’t be thinking this is such a victory when the economic cataclysm he is playing with gets wrapped around his neck by a politician much smarter than he is, and he and his party are strangled with it.
Well, I don't think I would characterize McCarthy as a "prisoner/hostage/victim of the MAGA extremists in the House." That's much too empathic and does not fully capture his role. I prefer "collaborator," as the French described those French citizens who cooperated with the Nazi regime on French soil. He deserves no less. They're all traitors.
You covered a lot of ground, as usual, Robert. E. Jean Carroll should win this lawsuit handily if Trump cannot control what he says or writes about. His hole is getting deeper and deeper. Mind you, I’m not complaining. Eric, the wayward son, is getting his dad into trouble too. I love it!
Here’s some messaging for those persuadable Independents.🇺🇸
“The Department of Veterans Affairs projected the bill would reduce its budget by 22% and immediately rescind $2 billion in funding to support veterans. Some lawmakers said Wednesday that the proposal will result in 30 million fewer veteran outpatient visits and significantly increase the backlog for benefit claims.”
I agree with your comments this Thursday morning, except “negotiating tactic threatening the global economy because McCarthy is a prisoner/hostage/victim of the MAGA extremists in the House.”
McCarthy is not being held hostage by MAGA extremists, he is one. He may not wear an ULTRAMAGA T-shirt around DC, but he was enabled that group, appointed ULTRAMAGAS to important committee seats, and given them a voice totally disproportionate to the electorate they represent.
Thank you for writing about what is happening g in Montana and anti-trans legislation and how voices against the legislation are being silenced within the government. This is eerily similar to what happened in Tennessee. Elected officials are punished and silenced for speaking up about life and death issues. It is so hard to keep up with all that is happening so I really appreciate your efforts to keep so many of us informed. As a mother of a non-binary masculine presenting daughter these issues cut close to my heart. There are more and more states where I feel my daughter is not safe to travel to. Happily we live in NYC! We need to bolster the voices of those lawmakers who are taking such risks to speak out.
"Better to demonstrate to Republicans that managing the debt limit is not a partisan exercise but a constitutional duty." Wise words from an intelligent American lawyer with common sense and a love of democracy, and who always bases his observations on evidence and the enduring spirit of the rule of law. In other words, unfortunately, "a voice in the wilderness" within the context of a GOP run House of Representatives with TCinLA's "Quivering' Qevin" at the helm of a sinking ship of apathy and corporate control attempting to pirate the structures of democratic governance. Qevin and his crew of marauders will apparently do anything to please Trump and their corporate masters and have made it clear that want nothing to do with the concept of "duty." Their interests are those of the Big Banks, the arms manufacturers, the fossil-fuel industry and a wide array of neofascist organizations with agendas that take precedence over the needs of the American people.
It's unlikely that the MAGA extremists will ever answer the Constitutional call of duty, as they swore an oath to do when they were elected. Well, "so much for democracy," it's tempting to say, but it's imperative to keep Hubbell's "better" scenario in focus and continue to work for its realization, despite the forces now assembled against it. A better government is possible, but not when a minority faction of what Hubbell calls "domestic terrorists" impose their fascist protocols on the rest of the population. As Hubbell says, "You can't negotiate with terrorists." Well, that leaves us with only one option: rise up in solidarity and sweep these aberrant jackals into the dust bin of history!
Perhaps someone can help me with this. Congress controls the "national wallet". That obviously means that Congress appropriates funds for the government to spend. But is there anything in the Constitution that suggests that one House of Congress can unilaterally unfund, defund the government? McCarthy and Company can pass all the bills they want, but if the Senate won't vote on it and the President vows a veto, isn't it possible for the government to simply march on by declaring the "debt ceiling law" unconstitutional? Let it go to the Supreme Court when the black mailers sue. I think five of nine would vote to keep the US of A afloat. No?
Would it not make sense for the White House to get out in front of this and direct the Secretary of the Treasury to make a statement that America will honor its debts as the Constitution directs and requires?
This morning while I was watching Good Morning America, the chryon across the bottom of the screen said something like “business leaders call for Biden to negotiate on the debt ceiling”. This is the kind of BS that influences people to think this is a legitimate effort. The business community especially should be educating the people on what this actually is and forcing McCarthy to drop this ridiculous charade.
I am really struggling with what is going on in the GOP led legislatures expelling or diminishing the voices of other elected representatives who share different views, ie TN and MT. This will spread to the other states. We really are living through a time I think most of us never thought we would see in our country. This clip did, however, give me some (and much needed) hope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct_OiUukV8c
I live in Montana. My local state Representative is R, and she voted to expel Zooey. Our governor's own son identifies with the LGBTQ community, and felt the urge to go public that he formally requested an appointment with his own dad to lobby for not being cruel. I am waiting to find out if Gianforte (the jackass who punched a reporter for asking him a question) is willingly dehumanizing and cruel to his own family as well as Montanans. My guess is the man who believes the Earth to be 6,000 years old will be.
I wrote an email to my local House Rep for all the good it will do. I want to share it because I assume it will fall on deaf ears with her. I kept it short and to the point: I am disappointed to know you support cruelty in our state by wanting to take away medical decisions from some people and their own bodies. I assume you will dismiss my opinion just like you have dismissed those speaking up. You do have blood on your hands, and I am embarrassed that you represent me.
I am grateful for this place to vent to people who understand.
Re the debt limit scrum - I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:
Democrats (probably the Senate) should introduce and pass a bill that ENTIRELY ABOLISHES THE DEB LIMIT.
Flush out the Republicans. Give the debt limit issue the importance it deserves by having spokespeople explain, graphically, *in plain English* (not the half-academic jargon Biden Administration spokespeople keep using), what a default would mean, and why it’s past time to excise debt limit struggles from our yearly politics.
Politicians and right wing broadcasters engage in alleged illegal and questionable behaviors and knowingly make unsubstantiated false statements and nothing happens until someone takes them to court. Unfortunately it takes deep pockets to engage in these law suits and the “ little people” who have been attacked get no redress and their lives ruined. It’s so important that the facts in these law suits be not only made public but get the same amount of coverage and attention of the original lies and attacks. We need to make those individuals attacking people maliciously and unsubstantiated pay a price for their behavior. Words matter.
Nancy Mace (SC 1). So deeply disappointed in her as she had seemed to successfully resist the deep suction of the MAGA crowd heretofore. Now she's finally joined Kevin McCarthy's sham budget with her blinders fully functioning and her integrity teetering. Oh how the mighty have fallen under the MAGA smog.
I posted this at TAFM about the feckless Qevin:
UPDATE: Well, Quiverin’ Qevin did it. He passed his “bill” 217-215, losing only 4 of the 5 he could afford, and benefiting from the absence of some Democrats that lowered the necessary number for his “victory.”
But what did he”win”? He had to give back the tax breaks on ethanol to get the midwestern votes; he had to make the onerous “work requirements” that would require people on Social Security to work not 20 but 30 hours a week to qualify for food assistance under SNAP, to keep the votes of the Taliban 20. He “won” at passign a bill that is DOA in the Senate and even has Republican opponents there. He “won” at a PR event making the GOP even more the crazy, evil, shitheads the public sees them as. He managed to wrap that “crazy evil shitheads” designation around the “Biden 18”, all of whom have targets on their backs and as a result of this vote are more likely to be single-term congressional representatives than the odds said they were yesterday before the vote.
Does he really think this “victory” gives him something to “negotiate” with President Biden? Such a negotiation would depend on Quiverin’ Qevin possessing a “credible threat.” What made Obama negotiate to his detriment in 2011 was that the House and Senate Republicans were united, and really could have fucked things up royally.
Qevin possesses a “bill” that has no future. It is a “threat” that has no ability to threaten. If Qevin is stupid enough to think this piece of toilet paper is something of value, and manages to let the nutballs push us into default, it will take about a week for him to lose power in the House in the aftermath of the default, and for a debt limit to be passed; one that includes killing the need to ever do this vote again. The country will experience real financial pain, and guess who will be blamed for it? Kevin and his merry band of traitors.
The last time the country was mad enough at Republicans to smack them as hard as they will be smacked for having done this - if it happens - was 1932. And it took 20 years for them to recover sufficiently to elect a popular war hero they weren’t actually sure was one of them as president - and Eisenhower was the only “Republican” who could have won. It took another 30 years after that for the memory of their culpability in creating the Great Depression to fade sufficiently that they could compete head-to-head on ideas and win.
Quiverin’ Qevin won’t be thinking this is such a victory when the economic cataclysm he is playing with gets wrapped around his neck by a politician much smarter than he is, and he and his party are strangled with it.
Careful what you ask for, Qevin.
Well, I don't think I would characterize McCarthy as a "prisoner/hostage/victim of the MAGA extremists in the House." That's much too empathic and does not fully capture his role. I prefer "collaborator," as the French described those French citizens who cooperated with the Nazi regime on French soil. He deserves no less. They're all traitors.
Montana Representative Zephyr's brilliant and courageous speech today, 4/26/23, starts at 13:28:55 in this video posted by the legislature:
https://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00309/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20230427/-1/49784
(If you can stand it, to hear the fascist gaslighting of the GOP rep introducing the motion to punish Representative Zephyr, start at 13:25:45.)
You covered a lot of ground, as usual, Robert. E. Jean Carroll should win this lawsuit handily if Trump cannot control what he says or writes about. His hole is getting deeper and deeper. Mind you, I’m not complaining. Eric, the wayward son, is getting his dad into trouble too. I love it!
Here’s some messaging for those persuadable Independents.🇺🇸
“The Department of Veterans Affairs projected the bill would reduce its budget by 22% and immediately rescind $2 billion in funding to support veterans. Some lawmakers said Wednesday that the proposal will result in 30 million fewer veteran outpatient visits and significantly increase the backlog for benefit claims.”
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2023-04-26/veterans-debt-ceiling-spending-cuts-9930863.html
I agree with your comments this Thursday morning, except “negotiating tactic threatening the global economy because McCarthy is a prisoner/hostage/victim of the MAGA extremists in the House.”
McCarthy is not being held hostage by MAGA extremists, he is one. He may not wear an ULTRAMAGA T-shirt around DC, but he was enabled that group, appointed ULTRAMAGAS to important committee seats, and given them a voice totally disproportionate to the electorate they represent.
Thank you for writing about what is happening g in Montana and anti-trans legislation and how voices against the legislation are being silenced within the government. This is eerily similar to what happened in Tennessee. Elected officials are punished and silenced for speaking up about life and death issues. It is so hard to keep up with all that is happening so I really appreciate your efforts to keep so many of us informed. As a mother of a non-binary masculine presenting daughter these issues cut close to my heart. There are more and more states where I feel my daughter is not safe to travel to. Happily we live in NYC! We need to bolster the voices of those lawmakers who are taking such risks to speak out.
"Better to demonstrate to Republicans that managing the debt limit is not a partisan exercise but a constitutional duty." Wise words from an intelligent American lawyer with common sense and a love of democracy, and who always bases his observations on evidence and the enduring spirit of the rule of law. In other words, unfortunately, "a voice in the wilderness" within the context of a GOP run House of Representatives with TCinLA's "Quivering' Qevin" at the helm of a sinking ship of apathy and corporate control attempting to pirate the structures of democratic governance. Qevin and his crew of marauders will apparently do anything to please Trump and their corporate masters and have made it clear that want nothing to do with the concept of "duty." Their interests are those of the Big Banks, the arms manufacturers, the fossil-fuel industry and a wide array of neofascist organizations with agendas that take precedence over the needs of the American people.
It's unlikely that the MAGA extremists will ever answer the Constitutional call of duty, as they swore an oath to do when they were elected. Well, "so much for democracy," it's tempting to say, but it's imperative to keep Hubbell's "better" scenario in focus and continue to work for its realization, despite the forces now assembled against it. A better government is possible, but not when a minority faction of what Hubbell calls "domestic terrorists" impose their fascist protocols on the rest of the population. As Hubbell says, "You can't negotiate with terrorists." Well, that leaves us with only one option: rise up in solidarity and sweep these aberrant jackals into the dust bin of history!
I love this, TC! Qevin’s quickly done, haphazard budget will and should backfire on him. I am hoping he will, indeed, be ousted. He’s such an SOB.
Perhaps someone can help me with this. Congress controls the "national wallet". That obviously means that Congress appropriates funds for the government to spend. But is there anything in the Constitution that suggests that one House of Congress can unilaterally unfund, defund the government? McCarthy and Company can pass all the bills they want, but if the Senate won't vote on it and the President vows a veto, isn't it possible for the government to simply march on by declaring the "debt ceiling law" unconstitutional? Let it go to the Supreme Court when the black mailers sue. I think five of nine would vote to keep the US of A afloat. No?
Would it not make sense for the White House to get out in front of this and direct the Secretary of the Treasury to make a statement that America will honor its debts as the Constitution directs and requires?
This morning while I was watching Good Morning America, the chryon across the bottom of the screen said something like “business leaders call for Biden to negotiate on the debt ceiling”. This is the kind of BS that influences people to think this is a legitimate effort. The business community especially should be educating the people on what this actually is and forcing McCarthy to drop this ridiculous charade.
I am really struggling with what is going on in the GOP led legislatures expelling or diminishing the voices of other elected representatives who share different views, ie TN and MT. This will spread to the other states. We really are living through a time I think most of us never thought we would see in our country. This clip did, however, give me some (and much needed) hope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct_OiUukV8c
I live in Montana. My local state Representative is R, and she voted to expel Zooey. Our governor's own son identifies with the LGBTQ community, and felt the urge to go public that he formally requested an appointment with his own dad to lobby for not being cruel. I am waiting to find out if Gianforte (the jackass who punched a reporter for asking him a question) is willingly dehumanizing and cruel to his own family as well as Montanans. My guess is the man who believes the Earth to be 6,000 years old will be.
I wrote an email to my local House Rep for all the good it will do. I want to share it because I assume it will fall on deaf ears with her. I kept it short and to the point: I am disappointed to know you support cruelty in our state by wanting to take away medical decisions from some people and their own bodies. I assume you will dismiss my opinion just like you have dismissed those speaking up. You do have blood on your hands, and I am embarrassed that you represent me.
I am grateful for this place to vent to people who understand.
Re the debt limit scrum - I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:
Democrats (probably the Senate) should introduce and pass a bill that ENTIRELY ABOLISHES THE DEB LIMIT.
Flush out the Republicans. Give the debt limit issue the importance it deserves by having spokespeople explain, graphically, *in plain English* (not the half-academic jargon Biden Administration spokespeople keep using), what a default would mean, and why it’s past time to excise debt limit struggles from our yearly politics.
Politicians and right wing broadcasters engage in alleged illegal and questionable behaviors and knowingly make unsubstantiated false statements and nothing happens until someone takes them to court. Unfortunately it takes deep pockets to engage in these law suits and the “ little people” who have been attacked get no redress and their lives ruined. It’s so important that the facts in these law suits be not only made public but get the same amount of coverage and attention of the original lies and attacks. We need to make those individuals attacking people maliciously and unsubstantiated pay a price for their behavior. Words matter.
Nancy Mace (SC 1). So deeply disappointed in her as she had seemed to successfully resist the deep suction of the MAGA crowd heretofore. Now she's finally joined Kevin McCarthy's sham budget with her blinders fully functioning and her integrity teetering. Oh how the mighty have fallen under the MAGA smog.